"No, there is nothing great but God," In Majesty sublime. Almighty and All-merciful

Throughout the lapse of Time.

"No, there is nothing great but God,"

Our Father, Friend above, Our Saviour and our Great High Priest, Our God of light and love.

To Him beneath this noble Dome,

Where "Arts" and "Science" shine, Where sons from ev'ry land have come To own His Hand Divine.

To Him be all the glory due,

And praise for evermore,

For there is nothing great but God,
All Nations Him adore.

"Twas God who gave th' immortal soul, The genius and the mind,

And He would have us these controul
In actions good and kind.

Then thro' the world may Concord's voice
Bid all dissensions cease,

As gathering nations now rejoice
To bless a God of Peace.

"No, there is nothing great but God,"
And He to man has given

A land that passeth not away,
A heritage in Heaven.

C. P.

"WHEN I WAS YOUNG." Forget the days when I was young? that brightest, loveliest time,That morning dream, ere being woke, to sorrow, or to crime,

Its cloudless morns, its purple eves, its never-fading flowers;

How oft I sit and sigh in vain for one of

those bright hours!

I loved those spotless flowers below, those glorious stars above,

Kind, holy friends were they to me,-I

sought not human love; Then Faith was real, and Hope was

strong, I asked not How or Why,

I felt a guardian Angel near, a Heavenly Father by.

The nights they seemed too long for rest, the days too short for play,They said 'twould not be always thus, as life should pass away;

They spoke of Summer's parching heat, of Winter's cold and snow,

Alas! I knew fair nature's face, its lessons did not know!

Too soon I left the child-like way, the path by Angels trod,

To pierce my bleeding feet with thorns mine own self-will had sowed;

Then came the ghosts of blessings spent, the demons of past years,

The dusty day for toil too short, the bitter night for tears.

Scarce dare I gaze upon the stars, or 'mid the flowerets be,

The Holy with the Holy suits, but never more with me:

No more I see the white-winged guide, nor hear his angel song;

Oh, would that I had ne'er outlived, "the days when I was young." J.E.W.

"I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST."

I knew a little sickly child,

The long long summer's day

When all the world was green and bright Alone in bed he lay.

There used to come a little dove

Before his window small,

And sing to him with her sweet voice
Out of the fir tree tall.

And when the sick child better grew
And he could crawl along,
Close to that window he would creep
And listen to her song;
And he was gentle in his speech

And quiet at his play,

He would not for the world have made
That sweet bird fly away.

There is a Holy Dove that sings

To every Christian child,
That whispers to his little heart
A song as sweet and mild.
It is the Holy Spirit of God

That speaks his soul within,
That leads him on to all things good,
And holds him back from sin.

And he must hear that still small voice
Nor tempt it to depart,

The Spirit Great and Wonderful
That whispers to his heart;
He must be pure, and good, and true,
Must strive, and watch, and pray,
For unresisted sin at last

Will drive that Dove away.

C.F.H.

ESNEH

Although we looked forward to spending, at least, four and twenty hours at Esneh, in order to enable our sailors to bake bread, according to the stipulation in the contract, yet we lost no time in visiting the ancient Temple of Kneph, of which the portico has recently been excavated from the accumulated mounds of rubbish. At dinner we talked over Mr. W's exploit in hitting (but not killing) a crocodile, with his carbine that morning, which B., with his rifle, had missed. At night some of our party went to see the Almëh, or dancing-women, who have, of late years, been banished from Cairo to Esneh.

On the following morning, the 10th of January, we visited Abbas Pasha's palace and gardens. The gardens, though small, are about the neatest I had seen in Egypt. With regard to the house, (or socalled palace), I was struck with the entire absence of all decoration in the rooms. The walls were whitewashed and the doors and fittings of unvarnished deal. For furniture, there were stone dewàns and rush mats. From the palace we proceeded to the cotton factory, established here by Mehemet-Ali. This Eastern Prince had heard of Manchester, and had fancied that he too could roll out gold from those magic wheels and jennies which have converted the Lancashire village into that mighty town. But it was a dismal sight to see the invention of Arkwright in so forlorn a plight, and so utterly neglected as we beheld it at Esneh. There was not a soul at work in the spinning rooms. In another portion of the factory there were some people at

work at plain hand-loom weaving, who, on seeing us, left their looms and clamoured for baksheesh. Later I returned to the Temple of Kneph with my drawing-book. There is much beauty in the lofty columns terminating in the Lotus capital.

While I sat sketching the Temple, some persons came within the enclosure and presently I perceived a young Copt standing near me, and afterwards retreating to converse with the sailor who had accompanied me from the boat. In their conversation I overheard them using the word Nasr or Christian. In a short time he again came up to me, and told me he was a Christian, a piece of intelligence which gave me pleasure-a pleasure which I found difficult to

express in Arabic otherwise than by the word "Tyeeb" (or good) and "Tyeeb kiteer" (very good), almost the extent of my vocabulary. To this he answered "Nasr Tyeeb "-Christian good man, and I rejoined "Nasr Tyeeb kiteer"-Christian very good man, and so on. Fortunately I knew that the word keneeseh signifies Church, besides I had my Murray's Guide under my arm, containing a vocabulary, and I asked my new friend to take me to see the Christian Church of Esnèh. Meanwhile he had sent out his attendant for some coffee, and he shortly presented me with a delicious cup of that beverage.

When I had finished my attempt at a sketch I followed my guide to the Coptic Church. The Christians are numerous at Esnèh and it is the residence of a bishop and about ten priests, the former was away at the time of my visit. The Church was divided, by means of arches and

a

wooden screens, into three compartments. The western compartment is reserved for the women, the centre compartment contains raised gallery, used, I imagine, for the reading of the Gospel; and the eastern compartment comprises the screened Altars of which there are no less than five, side by side. This eastern compartment was matted, (like the raised part of a Mosque), in front of the Altarscreen. We entered the centre compartment first, and there my Coptic guide paid no particular reverence to the place, but, on passing into the eastern compartment he took off his shoes. The Altar-screen was of inlaid woods, and suspended against it, were rude pictures of our Blessed Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and St. George. There was no holy water-nor is it common in Eastern Churches.

In this Church, I imagine that the Blessed Sacrament was reserved, and I followed my guide's example in kneeling before two of the five altars. With the single exception of the inlaid altar-screen, and the rude paintings suspended against it, the Church was as plain as a Mosque, of which also, in its shape, it strongly reminded me. I observed among the inscriptions, the sacred monogram IHS., so common among ourselves, which may serve to remind us of the ancient Unity of the Church and to testify against its present diversities and schisms.

During our day at Esnèh, one of my companions, B., fell in with two of his friends coming down the river, their boat laden with a fine crocodile, which they had killed, and were conveying to Cairo. They subsequently captured second which, though badly wounded, remained alive until they reached Cairo, where they caused a portion of it to be dressed and served up at the Table d'hôte

a

of the Hotel d'Europe. The crocodile steaks were served up boiled and roast, but the guests were not informed of the nature of either dish until they had partaken of them. The flesh was something like veal, but not particularly good.

We did not sail till late on the 11th of January, owing to the absence of our Dragoman and Reis who were beguiled away by the Syren Almèhs. Our Reis, Ibrahim, is said to be more active and experienced than Aboo-Zeyd, the Reis on our friend's boat, the Lotus; but the latter is always steady and sober, the result of being a good mussulman and constant at his devotions. A religious man, even under a mistaken creed, is a good man; and it is certain that all sincere religious principle must result in upright moral conduct, and the reverse where it is not found.

EDFOO.

Early on the 12th of January, we came within sight of the great Pylon (or Gate-Towers) of Edfoo, but did not reach it till near eleven o'clock. On landing I lost no time in starting to inspect the Temple, which is half surrounded by the modern mud-built town. I presently found myself in front of the magnificent Pylon. The Temple is as late as Dendara, being of the Ptolemaïc period. It was dedicated to the worship of Hor-Hat, the husband of Athor, who, together with their son Hor-Senet-to, was also worshipped in this city. HorHat was the good spirit, represented by the winged globe on this and most other Egyptian Temples. The Roman name for Edfoo was Apollinopolis Magna. The Pylon is formed by two Pyramidal-shaped towers, resembling those of ̃El Karnak, connected by the squareheaded door-way which in this

case, unlike El Karnak, remains perfect. The Pylon has an appearance of massive strength, which gives it the air of a fortress, and yet the entire surface of its walls is decorated with colossal bas-reliefs of the divinities of the place. Upon the massive cornice over the connecting door-way, is the winged globe of Hor-Hat, magnificently sculptured. Passing through the door-way, I entered the vast court or peristyle, with colonades right and left, and a screened and roofed portico supported by three rows of magnificent columns, facing me. Beyond this, the interior of the Temple is inaccessible, with the exception of three rooms or cells, to which I gained admission, through a narrow cave, by crawling for some distance in a snake-like posture, being almost choked with dust and the nauseous odour of a crowd of baksheesh-seeking Arabs, to be repaid by the sight of a few sculptures and hieroglyphics of no extraordinary merit. I have no doubt, however, that with a little excavating, the whole interior might be brought to view, and would be found as perfect as, and far more stupendous than, that of Dendara. The great beauty, however, of Edfoo is in its portico, with its capitals of palm, and lotus, and reeds. The view from the summit of the Pylon is magnificent, extending northwards to Esnèh. Near to this great Temple is a miniature fane to the Triad, Hor-Hat, Athor, and their son. In the bas-reliefs of Athor (the divinity of love) with her child Hor-Senet-to in her arms, there seemed a type of that great verity by which the world has been redeemed.

While endeavouring to sketch the beautiful Portico of the great Temple, and its columns and hieroglyphics, I was much struck with

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the wonderful symbolism with which this grand Egyptian structure seemed to be replete. In a Greek Temple beauty is the idea, and "the beautiful" is chiselled out in its pediments, its cornices, its capitals, and its fluted columns. There is beauty"-Feast your eyes upon it enjoy it-there is nothing beyond it. What can there be beyond the beautiful, since beauty is the quality of the gods? Not so, the architecture of Egypt. The mystic faith of Egypt kept in view the world of spirits-the unseen existence-the unending future, that thought more sublime than nature, more beautiful than art. It was a dim tradition handed down from the primeval days, when the "Sons of God visited the daughters of men"; and elaborated by a long line of hierarchs, priestkings, who used the belief in the future for the control of the actual, making faith an engine of the State. The true faith itself has been so used by men, and the greatest atrocities of history have been perpetrated under its professed sanction. State-craft has made that brightest jewel on earth, God's Church, the tool of its evil designs; but the days of Emperors and Autocrats are passing away, and God's Church will still last on, the holier and the purer for being despised and hated by the rulers and the great men of the earth!

In the middle ages the Church reared symbolic structures, more sublime than the Temples of Egypt. At an earlier period her children had worshipped in the catacombs. She may lose her Cathedrals and gorgeous Churches, and be again reduced to caves and catacombs, but the sacrifice of the Eucharist will continue to be offered in memory of her One Lord's One Sacrifice of the Cross, and her people will lose no one essential of their faith

by the exchange. Such was not the case with the Egyptians. Their faith was so bound up with its symbolism and its Temple-rites, that with the fall of the shrines the whole fabric was at an end. Such is the distinction between the false creed and the TRUE.

We re-embarked on our boat at twelve o'clock, and early on the morning of the 13th of January came in sight of the caves of Gebel Silsileh. The quarries of Silsilis supplied the blocks of sand-stone used in most of the old temples, and among these quarries are small temples (or chapels) hewn in the rock for the use of the work-people. They contain painting and sculptures. After this there was little of interest until we came in sight of the ruins of Kom Ombos, which I visited on my return. Its ruined Temple of Savak and Aröeris stands upon a rock (overhanging the Nile) with which the ruined fragments seem confounded. The situation is beautiful, and the ruin among the most lovely sights in Egypt. As we left it in the distance, rising abruptly and tower-like from out the broad waters, its appearance struck me as more and more exquisite.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE

PENNY POST.

My dear Sir. As you have kindly forwarded me the letter of a correspondent, desiring to be informed more particularly of the details and practical working of the NChurch Guild, than the length and nature of the Article at p. 230 allowed me to do, I take the liberty of supplying him and others, through the medium of your columns, with a few hints for the formation of

such a Guild among the industrial and middle classes of our towns. And first, it will be well to keep constantly in mind the Apostolic Rule of Charity, and, if possible, to avoid giving offence to any for the sake of mere words and phrases. We are all of us too fond of cant expressions and set phrases. There are weak brethren who object to red lines and gothic letters in our books, and who at once lay aside any book so ornamented.

It is possible that the word Guild may offend some persons. If so, call it Society or Conference, or by any other name which shall not give offence. There is no principle involved in such a name which can at all compensate for the offence of wounding a weak conscience. It is, nevertheless, true that there are great priciples which must never be sacrificed, and these are the principles for which the framers of such an Institution should especially contend. The Faith once for all delivered to the Saints must be preached in season and out of season. The Truth must never be lost sight of. Thus, in commencing such a scheme, it will be well to keep prominently in view these two great principles of CHARITY and FAITH. Now, the main Objects of a Church Guild (similar to the one we described,) will be the attainment of a certain Unity in Faith, Devotion, and Practical aim. All members of The Church are supposed to be united in faith and doctrine, and all consistent members of The Church are, in truth, so united. Therefore, all that is required is to watch (as far as is possible), that the Conference be composed of consistent Churchmen, or such as desire to be consistent Churchmen. To this end the members must have been baptised and confirmed, and ought to be habitual frequenters of the Lord's Supper, and the other ordi