apathy of the church. William Whiston delivered three lectures at the Royal Exchange coffee-house early in March, which deepened this conviction and added to the general consternation. Quackery flourished under this novel regime, as it had done on previous occasions. The historic incident quoted by Addison in the "Tatler" in 1710 (No. 240) is still quoted. "I remember," he says of that earlier time," when our whole island was shaken with an earthquake some years ago, that there was an impudent mountebank who sold pills, which, as he told the country people were very good against the earthquake.'

Lady Hervey wrote to her friend, Mrs. Morris: "The Ides of March are come, and will, I am persuaded, be past in all safety before you receive this letter, in spite of prophets and prophecies. The newspapers are filled with accounts of a hundred little subaltern earthquakes, which have been felt in many different places, but which I take to be only the ghosts of the more considerable one which haunts the timorous. Fear is an epidemic distemper; there is scarcely anything that is more contagious. I daresay at this minute nine parts in ten of the inhabitants of Westminster are shaking as much from this fear as they would from the earthquake if it were really to happen."

The chief share in the panic-though Horace Walpole thinks that he must rank below the Bishop of London-was due to a fanatical dragoon who called upon the citizens to set their houses in order because London and Westminster would be destroyed by an earthquake on the 4th of April between twelve and one o'clock at night. fanatical preacher was sent to Bedlam the day before the earthquake was predicted to take place, but he had effectually sown the seeds of craven fear in the minds of all classes. This soldier was

The

in Lord Delawar's troop. His lordship sent for the man's wife and asked her if her husband had ever been disordered in his mind before. She cried: "Oh dear! my lord, he is not mad now: if your lordship would but get any sensible man to examine him, you would find he is quite in his right mind." Few men kept their heads in this time of disturbance. Horace Walpole says that Dr. Burton, rector of St. Andrew's, was "the only sensible or at least honest divine upon the occasion. When some women would have had him pray to them in his parish church against the intended shock he excused himself on having a great cold. ' And besides,' said he, 'you may go to St. James's church; the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Secker) is to preach there all night against earthquakes.'

A prayer was appointed to be read in the churches, and forms of prayer, tracts, and sermons, issued freely from the press. Dr. Sherlock, then Bishop of London, published a fortnight after the shock in March a letter "To the clergy and people of London and Westminster, on occasion of the late earthquakes." He warned the people of the just judgment which must fall on those who did not repent.

"The Gospel," he said, "had been not only rejected, but treated with malicious scorn. The press swarmed

with books, some to dispute, and some to ridicule the great truths of religion, both natural and revealed. Blasphemy and horrid imprecation might be heard on every hand. . . . Histories or romances of the vilest kind were published. Friendly visits for conversation had degenerated into meetings for gambling; and men who had lost all principles of religion, and were lost to all sense of morality, in time of sickness, when fears of futurity were revived, became an easy prey to popish priests, and greedily swallowed their absolution cordials, which, like other cordials, gave present ease, but wrought no cure."

Sixty thousand copies of this twelve-paged tract were eagerly bought. When the sinners returned unrepentant after the April scare they tried to lay the responsibility for their foolish panic on the prelate, but his letter was timely and faithful as their stricken consciences bore witness.

Hyde Park.

London was in a ferment. There was something like a public reformation of manners. People grew more charitable. Oaths were seldom heard, or, as Smollett puts it: "The streets no longer abounded with execrations." Gambling houses were well-nigh deserted. Churches and chapels were crowded to excess. George Whitefield preached to the crowds that encamped in Hyde Park. Charles Wesley's journal gives a picture of the times as seen from a Methodist pulpit, which is of singular interest. On March 9th, the day after the shock, he writes: "Many flocked to the morning word, and were yet more stirred up thereby. I have scarce ever seen so many at intercession. At the chapel (still standing in West Street, Seven Dials) I preached on the occasion from Psalm xlvi. with very great awakening power." Next morning he expounded Isaiah xxiv.: "A chapter I had not taken much notice of till this awful providence explained it." He had an awe-inspiring theme. Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." He preached in Spitalfields to a crowd of weavers, English and French, who heard him gladly; then at Snowsfields in Southwark he urged his congregation to enter into the Rock now that the Lord had arisen to shake terribly the earth. His own spirit and that of many others had, as he says, been greatly revived by the events of the time.

As April 4th drew near, London became more excited. Two days before that time Horace Walpole wrote to his friend Sir Horace Mann :

"Several women have made earthquake gowns, that is, warm gowns to sit out of doors all to-night. These are of the more courageous. One woman, still more heroic, is come to town on purpose; she says all her friends are in London, and she will not survive them. But what will you think of Lady Catherine Pelham, Lady Frances Arundel, and Lord and Lady Galway, who go this evening to an inn ten miles out of town, where they are to play at brag till five in the morning, and then come back, I suppose, to look for the bones of their husbands and families under the rubbish?"

The London Evening Post published some sensible

"QUERIES

"Proposed to those Persons of Distinction, who are gone or going from town, on account of the late earthquakes.

"I. Whether they can hope, by a change of place, to flee from the face of that God who is everywhere present? "II. Whether they think the Divine displeasure, expressed in those convulsions of nature, is against the spot of ground on which London stands, or against the wickedness of the persons who generally reside in this capital? "III. Whether their own particular vices ought not to be put into the account, when they are meditating on this motive, and considered as the chief cause of their particular danger? "IV. Whether it be not their interest, therefore, as well as duty, to depart from their vices, be they of a public or a private nature, rather than from their habitations?

"V. Whether public vices, such as betraying the interest, or living on the spoils of their country, may not justly be thought peculiarly provoking, as the consequences of them tend to the oppression of the whole community?

"VI. Whether the reformation of those, and an abhorrence conceived against all corrupt and encroaching measures, would not have the best and most comfortable effect on their own private conduct, as their example must necessarily have on the private conduct of their inferiors?"

Charles Wesley's Sermon.

The Methodist places of worship-the Foundery and West street, Seven Dials -were "crowded by frightened sinners as also was Whitefield's Tabernacle. Charles Wesley says, on April 4th, "Fear filled our chapel, occasioned by a prophecy of the earthquake's return this night. I preached my writen sermon on the subject with great effect, and gave out several suitable hymns. It was a glorious night for the followers of Jesus." The sermon entitled "The Cause and Curse of Earthquakes may still be read in Wesley's works [VII. 386]. The text was "O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord; what destruction He hath wrought upon the earth!" Psalm xlvi. 8. The opening words must have been profoundly impressive at such an hour.

"Of all the judgments which the righteous Lord inflicts on sinners here, the most dreadful and destructive is an earthquake. This He has lately brought on our part of the earth, and thereby alarmed our fears, and bid us prepare to meet our God!' The shocks which have been felt in divers places, since that which made this city tremble, may convince us that the danger is not over, and ought to keep us still in awe; seeing 'His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still' (Isa. x. 4).”

He described earthquakes as the work of God and sin as the moral cause; dwelt largely on the dreadful catastrophe in Sicily and Jamaica in 1692; as well as the visitation which destroyed Lima and Callao in 1746. He closed his moving narrative with these stirring words :

"With what horror are men struck when they hear the earth groan; when her trembling succeeds her complaints; when houses are loosened from their foundations; when the roofs fall upon their heads, and the pavement sinks under their feet! What hope, when fear cannot be fenced by flight! In other evils there is some way to escape, but an earthquake incloses what it overthrows, and wages war with whole provinces; and sometimes leaves nothing behind it to inform posterity of its outrages. More insolent than fire, which spares rocks; more cruel than the conqueror, who leaves walls; more greedy than the sea, which vomits up shipwrecks; it swallows and devours whatsoever it overturns. The sea itself is subject to its empire, and the most dangerous storms are those occasioned by earthquakes.”

He closed his sermon with a mighty appeal to sinners.

"Yes; thou hast now another call to repentance, another offer of mercy, whosoever thou art that hearest these words. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I warn thee once more, as a watchman over the house of Israel, to flee from the wrath to come! I put thee in remembrance (if thou hast so soon forgotten it) of the late awful judgment, whereby God shook thee over the mouth of hell! Thy body He probably awoke by it; but did He awake thy soul? The Lord was in the earthquake, and put a solemn question to thy conscience: 'Art thou ready to die?' 'Is thy peace made with God?' . . . Call upon Him now, O sinner! and continue instant in prayer, till He answer thee in peace and power! Wrestle for the blessing! Thy life, thy soul, is at stake! Cry mightily unto Him,- Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!' 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' 'Lord, help me!' 'Help my unbelief!' 'Save, or I perish!' 'Sprinkle my troubled heart!' 'Wash me throughly in the fountain of Thy blood; guide me by Thy Spirit; sanctify me throughout, and receive me up into glory!'”

Earthquake Hymns.

The sermon was published anonymously at the time. Some of the "suitable hymns" to which the poetpreacher refers are still preserved in the Wesleyan hymn book though few remember as they sing them the stirring events which gave Charles Wesley's muse its inspiration. Nineteen of them entitled "Hymns occasioned by the earthquake, March 8th, 1750. In two parts" issued from the press at the same time.

In one of these the poet vindicates the Divine origin of the visitation in opposition to wild and infidel explanations which were rife. One sage in the "General Advertiser" for March 13th argued "that in all probability it was only an airquake, or explosion of combustible matter in the atmosphere." He upheld this odd opinion by pointing out that the

noise seemed to be in the air, not to arise from any subterranean explosion; whilst the windows, bed and other things were shaken, not from the centre but laterally. A vast ball of fire was also seen in the west just before the earthquake and the shock was more sensibly felt in that quarter. The air during the winter had been full of sulphurous exhalations as the unusual thunder-storms in most parts of England and the frequent appearance of meteors bore witness. The writer went on to suggest that the continual exhalations from the coal fires might have contributed not a little to the particular explosions near London. From this theory he drew the comforting conclusion that such portents were not likely to be more dangerous than a clap of thunder. Tottering walls and chimneys might be damaged but the purification of the atmosphere was compensation enough for these small troubles.

Another genius, who propounded his theory in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for April, thought that the severe winters and comparatively cold summers which had been experienced since the great frosts of 1739 had kept the usual exhalations of the earth locked up. The deep

stratum of earth frozen in 1739 had only just been melted by the warm summer and mild winter that preceded the earthquake.

Mr. Stukely thought that electricity was accountable for the troubles of the time. Sermons, poems, essays, descriptive accounts and exhortations abounded. Every one had his theory to propound as to the cause and purpose of the visitation.

Charles Wesley deals with these philosophers in a hymn written during the days of excitement.

"From whence these dire portents around,
That strike us with unwonted fear?
Why do these earthquakes rock the ground,
And threaten our destruction near?
Ye prophets smooth, the cause explain,
And lull us to repose again.

"Or water swelling for a vent,

Or air impatient to get free,

Or fire within earth's entrails pent,Yet all are ordered, Lord, by THEE; The elements obey Thy nod,

And Nature vindicates her God."

The poet strikes a higher key in some verses still sung in Methodist congregations.

"How weak the thoughts, and vain, Of self-deluding men;

Men who, fixed to earth alone,

Think their houses shall endure, Fondly call their lands their own, To their distant heirs secure.

"A house we call our own,

Which cannot be o'erthrown;

In the general ruin sure,

Storms and earthquakes it defies; Built immovably secure,

Built eternal in the skies."

Flight

from London.

The dreaded night which was to lay London in ruins came at last. Thousands of people had fled from town. The roads at the west end were full of coaches hastening into the country. During the three days before the "set time" seven hundred and thirty carriages passed Hyde Park Corner bound for Windsor and other places of safety. It was like a procession to the gardens at Vauxhall or Ranelagh. On Wednesday one paper inserted this advertisement. "On Monday next will be published (price 6d.), a true and exact list of all the nobility and gentry who have left, or shall leave this place, through fear of another earthquake." Those who could not escape from town were in great consternation. People whose nerves were quite unstrung ran through the streets crying "An earthquake! An earthquake!" Tower Hill, Moorfields, Hyde Park, and other spaces in and around the metropolis were filled with crowds of men, women and children consumed with terror, who waited with bitter laments the fatal catastrophe which they expected to come upon them at any moment. Whitefield took his stand in Hyde Park and appealed with great power to the consciences and hearts of the crowd. Charles Wesley went quietly to bed after preaching his "written sermon," and rose at four next morning refreshed by a sound night's rest. Some of the Methodists spent the night in prayer.

The "Gentleman's Magazine" thus describes the strange sight which the metropolis presented on that night of terror. "Incredible numbers of people, being under strong apprehensions that London and Westminster would be visited with another and more fatal earthquake, on this night, according to the predictions of a crazy lifeguardsman, and because it would be just four weeks from the last shock, as that was from the first, left their houses, and walked in the fields, or lay in boats all night; many people of fashion in the neighbouring villages sat in their coaches till daybreak; others went to a greater distance, so that the roads were never more thronged, and lodgings were hardly to be procured at Windsor; so far, and even to their wits' end, had their superstitious fears, or their guilty conscience driven them."

Charles Wesley wrote next day to his wife's mother, Mis. Gwynne, in Wales: "The vulgar were in almost as great consternation as their betters. Most of them watched all night; multitudes in the fields and open places; several in their coaches; many removed their goods. London looked like a sacked city. A lady just stepping into her coach to escape, dropped down dead. Many came all night knocking at the "Foundery door, and begging admittance for God's sake. Our poor people were calm and quiet, as at another time."

Smollett says: "In after ages it will hardly be believed, that on the evening of the eighth day of April, the open fields that skirt the metropolis were filled with an incredible number of people assembled in chairs, chaises and coaches, as well as on foot, who waited in the most fearful suspense, until the morning and the return of day disproved the truth of the dreaded prophecy." When the

fearful moment passed, he says, "their fears vanished; they returned to their respective habitations in a transport of joy; and were soon reconciled to their abandoned vices, which they seemed to resume with redoubled affection, and once more bade defiance to the vengeance of Heaven."

One poetical satire on the returned fugitives may be quoted as a mirror of the times.

"TO THE FUGITIVES ON ACCOUNT OF THE EXPECTED EARTHQUAKE.

“COME,—come out of your holes, for you've got a reprieve,

O ye sons, and ye daughters, of Adam and Eve;
Like that naughty pair, by your vices confounded,
Without guilt, without shame, without sorrow, sur-
rounded,

You have fled from the call, unreformed, though afraid, When the voice of the Lord was in earthquakes conveyed.

O wonderful work of a reasoning creature!
Quite stript of all virtue, how naked is nature!
That nakedness then, which your follies discover,
No mortal device can sufficiently cover;

To hide so much shame all but one it surpasses; And should he use skins, none would fit you but asses'."

The excitement soon subsided. London breathed freely again and began to enjoy a laugh at the expense of those who had been most affected by the panic. A few years later, in 1756, there was another scare which lasted for several days. The news of the terrible earthquake in Lisbon had reached this country at the beginning of the year; and there was much dread of a French invasion. Men's hearts were filled with fear. But gradually this terror also passed away. London slept in peace; and no earthquake has shaken it out of bed since the memorable visitation of 1750.

JOHN TELFORD.

"Saul who is also called Paul."

"John whose surname was Mark."

Obviously, we should be ready to say, for the same reason that surnames are common among ourselves, simply that a man may be better recognised when he is spoken of. Just as Our ancestors, where, for instance, there were several Johns in the same neighbourhood, called one John the Little, he being short of stature, and another John the Black, he being dark of complexion, in order to distinguish them from other Johns living round about ;-so it might be said, Saul of Tarsus was surnamed Paul (the Little), and the Simeon of Acts xiii. 1 was called Niger (the dark complexioned).

But then comes the question, why, if this was the only reason, was not the surname-like the name of Hebrew origin? One reason, no doubt, was because the Hebrew was no longer a living language. It was lost in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. The few poor people who were left in the land, learned to speak in the language of their Syrian neighbours, and when the captives returned, they brought back the language of Chaldæa with them, so that the result was a mongrel mixture of Syriac and Chaldee, called Aramaic, as the language of Palestine; and thus, even in the Holy Land, the old sacred Hebrew was only used in the worship of the synagogue, and was only to be found in the sacred writings, while, in the cities of the empire, where Greek was the prevailing tongue, the Greek version of the ancient Scriptures was read, and the worship was in the Greek language.

"Simeon that was called Niger."

"Jesus which is called Justus."

But why should they have taken a Latin surname? Why not a surname in the language of the country in which they were dwelling? The answer to this question is, no doubt, to be found in the fact of the Roman occupation, at this time, of the eastern as well as of the western world. Of all men, the disciples of Christ would be prepared to do anything short of sacrificing their Christian principles, in order "to live peaceably with all men," and to conciliate the military and other officials of the empire. And, if a Latin name became a sort of passport by means of which the ordinary commerce of life was made more easy, we can wel believe that it would be readily adopted by the Christians in different parts of the empire, even if they had not already adopted it, as peaceable and well-disposed Jews.

But there is another, and perhaps a more palpable, reason. The Hebrew language was by no means easy of pronunciation by foreigners, and to a Roman, or a Greek, this difficulty would be even greater than it is with us. To English lips, Saul is as easy to pronounce as Paul, but while Paul in Latin is Paulus, Saul in Hebrew is Sha-ull (pronounced as Shah-who'll). John is Latinised into Johannes, but the Hebrew name from which it is taken is Ye-ho-cha-nan; and the ch is a hard guttural, as it is in German; both words very uncouth for Greek or Roman lips.

These two reasons, therefore, no doubt sufficiently explain why it is that we find in the four instances given above, the Latin surname in addition to the old and original Hebrew name. Many of the Jews of the Dispersion, the "Scattered Strangers"