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reasonably concluded, that his labours would bring him the necessary succours. Still, not satisfied with these noble deeds, they have engaged in the work of City Missions, and in the course of ten short years, have contributed to the London Missionary Society the sum of £1,200. Still extending, and desiring to bless all whom the Gospel has not yet reached, they have now formed the Society to which the report refers, which will necessarily involve them in a considerable and permanent annual expenditure. It will be seen, as we have said, that it came out on the occasion, that since the arrival of Dr. Ross, the church has actually raised for subjects connected with the cause of God, on an average, the large sum of £1,200 per annum.

RULES OF CHURCH FELLOWSHIP.

To the foregoing we shall now append a document of a somewhat interesting character:

RULES OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UNDER THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE REV. DR. ROSS, SYDNEY.

I. As a Christian Church ought to be composed exclusively of pious persons, who make a public profession of Religion; acknowledge Christ as their Divine Prophet, Priest, and King; recognize their fellow-members as brethren; and appeal to the Holy Scriptures as the sole rule of their faith and practice:-it is expected that those who are admitted into this Church shall possess a competent knowledge of the Gospel; give practical evidence of their conversion to God; depend wholly on the merits of the Saviour for their acceptance with the Father; strive, by the help of the Holy Spirit, "to maintain good works;" watch against an unholy temper: train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; contribute according to their ability for the relief of the poor members, and the general diffusion of the Gospel; cherish a spirit of brotherly love; and conduct themselves in all things as Christians professing godliness.

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II. When a person wishes to become a member of the Church, he shall, in the first instance, make known his desire to the Minister. proved of by him, his application will be laid before the Church, when the Minister will make such statements regarding his religious history, experience and knowledge, as he may deem necessary. One or more of the Deacons will then be appointed to see and converse with the candidate during the following month. Their report will be given in at the next Church-meeting; if favourable, he will be proposed for admission; and if elected by three-fourths of the members present, will be received into full communion, and allowed to sit down at the Lord's Table on the following Sabbath. Should any member object to the admission of a candidate, it is expected that the ground of such objection should be stated privately to the Minister and Deacons,

that it may be investigated and disposed of as truth and justice may require.

III. It is expected that all the members of the Church shall contribute, according to their ability, towards the expense necessary for the support of the Minister, the due administration of the Divine Ordinances, and keeping in repair and decent order the House of God; either in the shape of pew-rent, or voluntary subscription, or both:--and no member who refuses to do so shall have any voice in the management of the affairs of the Church.

IV. As the Public ordinances of Religion are means of Divine appointment, and highly conducive to the edification, comfort, and stability of the soul, it is expected that every member of this Church will adopt the exemplary custom of attending them as regularly as possible on week-days, as well as on the Sabbath; and will avoid visiting or receiving visits when it would interfere with or prevent such attendance.

V. If a member be absent from our public services four successive Sabbaths without a reasonable excuse, he shall be visited by one of the Deacons. If the case require expostulation, and he disregard it, it shall be made known to the Church, and a deputation of two Deacons or members be appointed to obtain an interview; but if he reject their admonition, and continue to absent himself one month more, he shall be declared to be no longer a member.

VI. If a member be absent from the Lord's Supper three months in succession, without a satisfactory reason, that person shall be admonished for his neglect. If he persist in his nonattendance for three months longer, he shall be excluded from the Church.

VII. If a member know anything against the religious character and profession of another which does not amount to a public offence, he shall expostulate with him privately, in the spirit of Christian love. If he reject the admonition, and persist in the offence, it shall be reported to the Minister or Deacons, if he disregard their expostulation, it shall be laid before the Church, and treated as a majority of the members may decide.

VIII. To preserve the purity of the Church, public and scandalous offences committed by any member, shall be brought before the Church, and decided by a majority, without the intervention of private admonition.

IX. To prevent the interruption of harmony and peace, nothing shall be brought before a Church-meeting by any member, of an accusatory nature, or in which there is likely to be a collision of opinion, without its being previously communicated to the Minister and Deacons, and approved of and introduced by them; and nothing that transpires at Church-meetings, shall be made known to any person who does not belong to the Church.

X. If a member removes his residence to such a distance from Sydney as to be unable to attend the services of the Church, he shall inform the Minister thereof, so as to obtain a certificate of his Membership, or a Letter of Dismissal to any Church of the same order with which he may wish to be united, near the place of his new abode. Should any member omit this precaution, he shall, after six months' absence, be considered as no longer connected with the Church.

XI. If a member, who has been excluded, shall evince contrition, he shall be received again

into Church-fellowship, upon his own application, after sufficient time has elapsed to give his repentance the character of maturity, and to prove its genuineness.

XII. These regulations, which we deem agreeable to the spirit and tener of the New Testament, and necessary principles of Christian practice and discipline, shall be printed, and a copy presented to each candidate for approval previous to admission; and shall be read at the first Church-meeting in every year. Signed in the name and on behalf of the Church, ROBERT Ross,

Minister.

JAMES HAYWARD,
JOSEPH THOMPSON,
AMBROSE Foss,
DAVID JONES,
JOHN FAIRFAX,
STEPHEN OWEN,
Deacons.

It may be proper to state that these rules came to our hands, not from Dr. Ross, nor from any of his officers, or people. Their transmission is, in fact, the result of dissatisfaction with them, on the part of a very worthy man who knows and loves the Gospel, and who feels it a privilege to do his part in support of it and its institutions, but who objects to its being made a condition of

a voice in the management of the affairs of the church," and who has appealed to us, whether he be not correct in having taken the course he has pursued in withdrawing from the fellowship. On that occasion, a correspondence passed between him and Dr. Ross, which has been transmitted to us, and which did both parties much credit, being such as became Christian men. Now we must respect a man who reverences conscience, even when we think it errs; and hence our regard as to our Australian Correspondent, although we have no hesitation in declaring against his views, for we approve entirely of the rule in

question. We are deeply convinced of its propriety, nay, of its absolute necessity, if the cause of God is to be carried on among men with the vigour which is necessary to its ultimate triumph. Too long has the Voluntary Principle been abused, misunderstood, and trifled with. No question on earth is more important to the interests of true religion; no lesson is more simple, and yet there is none on which there is so much real or pretended ignorance. It may be doubted whether there be one man among a thousand of professed voluntaries, who has made a conscience of understanding his duty on the point with a view to its performance. There are multitudes of whom it is no breach of charity to say, that their whole lives are one continued compromise with conscience and a mockery of God! Their study is to keep down everything to a minimum that appertains to the support of Christian Institutions; and not only so, but by what methods they may evade the fulfilment of even this minimised contract! The Deacons, Elders, and Stewards of the various churches of the land could tell strange tales illustrative of this allegation. Altogether the rules aforesaid are admirable; and we have much pleasure in laying them before our readers. It may be doubted whether, at this moment, there be, throughout the whole of the Colonies, another church in a state so efficient as that of Dr. Ross, as will appear by the statement in the preceding article, and we think our readers will be at no loss, with the rules before them, in part, to explain the extraordinary progress and prosperity of that church. Other churches, with their pastors, both Home and Colonial, may, from these rules, learn a lesson by which they may be profited.

Review and Criticism.

Nineveh and Persepolis: An Historical Description of Ancient Assyria and Persia, with an Account of the Recent Researches in those Countries. By W. S. W. VAUX, M.A. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Hall and Co. MR. VAUX as "Assistant in the Department of Antiquities" in the British Museum, is favourably situated for the accomplishment of such undertakings as that of the present volume, and he has not failed laudably to avail himself of its advantages. The present work constitutes a digest of all ancient knowledge on the subject. No work exists which combines the general results of all the

discoveries which have been made by Niebuhr, Porter, Morier, Rich, and others, and which brings down to the present time the general information which has been collected. It was, therefore, judged that a small volume, uniting within moderate compass the achievements of travellers, with such knowledge as can be acquired from other sources, might serve as a convenient digest of much valuable

information at present scattered through many scarce and expensive volumes. With this view, the present volume has been prepared, and is now presented to the public; and it will not be denied that the man who shall successfully execute this idea has deserved well of his country. Such a man is Mr. Vaux. Original views, scientific research, is not to be looked for in such a compilation. To select, combine, and adjust, weaving up in a clear, continuous narrative, the divers descriptions which travellers have furnished us, is all that was to be expected, and just expectation here will not be disappointed. The present period was specially favourable to such an attempt. The minds of men have of late been strongly attracted and closely fixed on the Babylonic monuments, the stupendeus excavations of Layard, Rawlinson, Botta, have wrought wonders; in this way the men of the present century are brought into domestic contact with the inhabitants of the earth thousands of years back. The East has by this means assumed that interest which it possessed in the earlier pages of history when the earth was new and men were young. For a long time the records of oriental nations have, with the solitary exception of those of India, been allowed to sleep in undisturbed slumber; the minds of European students have but too much pursued a course which seldom led them beyond the walls of Rome, and Athens, and classical glory-the time of Greece and Rome-the language of the greatest republic and the mightiest empires, have retained strong and too exclusive hold of the imagination and the labours of the ripe scholar. It was not thus of old; the deeds of our fathers, as Mr. Vaux has well judged, and the oft-repeated though futile attempts to maintain the independence of the Holy City, induced a love for oriental studies which long influenced the mind of Europe, and produced a lasting impression on some of the greatest men of the West. The fall of Constantinople and the consequent revival of ancient learning, for a while succeeded in effacing the interest in the East, and the discovery of Greek MSS. and the invention of printing in the West had the effect on the literary labours of Europe which must have been anticipated. The work before us, then, has for its object the elucidation of two distinct points of history of Assyria and Persia, and as connected with it, that of the Medes, the Jews, and the Chaldees, so far as it can be

VOL. VIII.

ascertained from the Bible, and the works of Classic authors; and, secondly, the results of those modern inquiries, which have been carried on for above three centuries by European travellers. Mr. Vaux has omitted no pains to bring forth these points by the aid of the pen and the engraver. The illustrations are very numerous, and excellently executed. We have here a winged human-headed lion; a winged human-headed bull, men and monkeys, a lion-hunt, a bull-hunt, figures standing before the king, priests, processions, fragments of a king's head, men and camels, the pontiff-king, the Tomb of Cyrus, and many other subjects of interest, as illustrative of ancient story.

Such works as this must be scothing to the pride of the sons of Abraham. All nations are but of yesterday compared with him. All history is the product of the passing-hour, compared with his history. What a blank among men would be its extinction! What a loss to the world, considered simply as history, poetry, and morals, would be the loss of his books! Compared with them, in one volume collected, the loss of every line of Greek and Roman literature would have been as nothing, since they have contributed but little to the moral riches of mankind, and their histories are but novelties.

The present volume will be especially precious to the student of Scripture and of antiquity. The man who has fancy may regale it here; he who has intellect may exercise it here; and it may be interesting to our readers to see how it acted upon the vigorous mind of our countryman, Layard:

"I used," said Mr. Layard, "to contemplate for hours these mysterious emblems, and to muse over their intent and history. What more noble forms could have ushered the people into the Temple of their Gods? What more sublime images could have been borrowed from Nature, by men who sought, unaided by the light of Revealed Religion, to embody their conception of the wisdom, power, and ubiquity of a Supreme Being? They could find no better type of intellect and knowledge, than the head of the man; of strength, than the body of the lion; of ubiquity, than the wings of the bird. The winged human-headed lions were not idle creations, the offspring of mere fancy; their meaning was written upon them. They had awed and instructed races which had flourished 8000 years ago. Through the portals which they guarded, kings, priests, and warriors had borne sacrifices to their altars, long before the Wisdom of the East had penetrated to Greece, and had furnished its Mythology with symbols long recognised by the Assyrian votaries. They may have been buried, and their existence may have been unknown, before the foundation of

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the Eternal City. For twenty-five centuries they had been hidden from the eye of man, and they now stood forth once more in their ancient majesty."

It is impossible by description to give any really adequate idea of the work, which must be examined to be fully appreciated; but it may suffice to say that it is a most valuable compound of all the main facts of this interesting subject. Nowhere is to be found so complete and graphic a sketch of the results of Layyard's discoveries with regard to the history of ancient Assyria as is given in Chapter VIII. This constitutes about one-third, certainly more than one-fourth, of the entire volume; and in thus exhibiting the essence and condensing the main facts of expensive volumes, Mr. Vaux has done an excellent service to the public, and we consider even to Mr. Layard himself. For the sake of such of our readers as may not have read the great excavator's account of his own remarkable performances, we shall cite an extract or two, from which it will be seen that it was no easy matter to do the things he did, under the circumstances in which he was placed. The following cannot fail to interest:

THE HISTORY OF THE REMOVAL OF THE BULL.

"I formed," says he, "various plans for lowering the smaller lion and the bull, for dragging them to the river, and placing them on rafts. Each step had its difficulties, and a variety of original suggestions and ideas were supplied by my workmen and the good people of Mosul. At last I resolved upon constructing a cart sufficiently strong to bear any of the masses to be moved. As no wood but poplar could be procured, a carpenter was sent to the mountains with directions to fell the largest mulberry tree, or any tree of equally compact grain, he could find; and to bring beams from it, and thick slices of the trunk, to Mosul. By the month of March this wood was ready. I purchased from the dragoman of the French consulate a pair of strong iron axles, formerly used by M. Botta in bringing the sculptures from Khorsabád. Each wheel was formed of three solid pieces, nearly a foot thick, from the trunk of the mulberry tree, bound together by iron hoops; across the axle were laid three beams, and above them several cross beams, all of the same wood. A pole was fixed to one axle, to which were also attached iron rings for ropes, to enable men as well as buffaloes to draw the cart: the wheels were provided with moveable hooks for the same purpose. Simple as this cart was, it became an object of wonder in the town; crowds came to look at it as it stood in the yard of the Vice-Consul's khan; and the Pacha's topjis or artillery-men, who, from their acquaintance with the mysteries of gun-carriages, were looked up to as authorities on such matters, daily declaimed on the properties and use of this vehicle, and of carts in general, to a large circle of cu

rious and attentive listeners, But when the news spread that it was about to leave the gates and to be drawn over the bridge, the business of the place was completely suspended. The secretaries and scribes from the palace left their divans; the guards their posts; the bazaarз were deserted; and half the population assembled on the banks of the river to witness the manoeuvres of the cart. A pair of buffaloes with the assistance of a crowd of Chaldæins and shouting Arabs, forced the ponderous wheels over the rotten bridge of boats. The multitude seemed to be fully satisfied with the spectacle. The cart was the topic of general conversation in Mosul, until the arrival from Europe of some children's toys, barking dogs, and moving puppets, which gave rise to fresh excitement, and filled even the gravest of the clergy with wonder at the learning and the wisdom of the infidels. To enable me to move the bull from the ruins, and to place it in the cart in the plain below, a trench was cut nearly two hundred feet long, about fifteen feet wide, and in some places twenty feet deep. A road was thus constructed from the entrance in which stood the bull to the edge of the mound. As the bull was to be placed

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on its back, the unsculptured side of the slab having to be lowered upon rollers, I removed the walls behind it. . . . An open space was then formed large enough to admit of the sculpture when prostrate, and leaving room for the workmen to pass on all sides of it. principal difficulty was of course to lower the mass: when once on the ground or on rollers, it could be dragged forwards by the united force of a number of men, but during its descent it could only be sustained by ropes. If, not strong enough to bear the weight, they chanced to break, the sculpture would be precipitated to the ground, and would, probably, be broken in its fall. The few ropes I possessed had been expressly sent to me across the desert from Aleppo, but they were small, From Baghdad I had obtained a thick hawser made of the fibres of the palm; in addition, I had been furnished with two pairs of blocks and a pair of jackscrews belonging to the steamera of the Euphrates expedition. These were all the means at my command for moving the bull and lion. The sculptures were wrapped in mats and felts to preserve them as far as possible from injury, in case of a fall, and to prevent the ropes chipping or rubbing the alabaster. The bull was ready to be moved by the 18th of March. The earth had been taken from under it, and it was now only supported by beams resting against the opposite wall. Among the wood obtained from the mountains were several thick rollers. These were placed upon sleepere or half beams, formed out of the trunks of poplar trees, well greased, and laid on the ground parallel to the Eculpture. The bull was to be lowered upon these rollers; a deep trench had been cut behind the second bull, completely across the wall, and consequently extending from chamber to chamber. A bundle of ropes coiled round this isolated mass of earth served to hold two blocks, two others being attached to ropes wound round the bull to be moved. The ropes by which the sculpture was to be lowered were passed through these blocks; the ends or falls of the tackle, as they are technically called, being led from the blocks above the second bull, and held

by the Arabs. The cable having been first passed through the trench and then round the sculpture, the ends were given to two bodies of men. Several of the strongest Chaldæans placed thick beams against the back of the bull, and were directed to withdraw them gradually, supporting the weight of the slab, and checking it in its descent, in case the ropes should give way. My own people were reinforced by a large number of the Abou Salman. I had invited Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman to be present, and he came attended by a body of horsemen. The inhabitants of Naifa and Nimroud, having volunteered to assist on the occasion, were distributed among my Arabs. The workmen, except the Chaldæans who supported the beams, were divided into four parties, two of which were stationed in front of the bull, and held the ropes passed through the blocks; the rest clung to the ends of the cable, and were directed to slack gradually as the sculpture descended. The men being ready, and all my preparations complete, I stationed myself on the top of the high bank of earth over the second bull, and ordered the wedges to be struck out from under the sculpture to be moved. Still, however, it remained firmly in its place. A rope having been passed round it, six or seven men easily tilted it over. The thick ill-made cable stretched with the strain, and almost buried itself in the earth round which it was coiled. The ropes held well. The mass descended gradually, the Chaldæans propping it up with the beams. It was a moment of the greatest anxety. The drums and shrill pipes of the Kurdish musicians increased the din and confusion caused by the war-cry of the Arabs, who were half-frantic with excitement. They had thrown off nearly all their garments; their long hair floated on the wind; and they indulged in the wildest postures and gesticulations as they clung to the ropes. The women had congregated on the sides of the trenches, and by their incessant screams and by the ear-piercing tahlehl, added to the enthusiasm of the men. The bull once in motion, it was no longer possible to obtain a hearing. The loudest cries I could produce were lost in the crash of discordant sounds. Neither the hippopotamus-hide whips of the kawasses, nor the bricks and clods of earth with which I endeavoured to draw attention from some of the most noisy of the group, were of any avail. Away went the bull, steady enough as long as supported by the props behind; but as it came nearer to the rollers the beams could no longer be used. The cable and ropes stretched more and more. Dry from the climate, as they felt the strain, they creaked and threw out dust. Water was thrown over them, but in vain, for they all broke together, when the sculpture was within four or five feet of the rollers. The bull was precipitated to the ground. Those who held the ropes, thus suddenly relaxed, followed its example, and were rolling one over the other in the dust. A sudden silence succeeded to the clamour. I rushed into the trenches, prepared to find the bull in many pieces. It would be difficult to describe my satisfaction when I saw it lying precisely where I had wished to place it,-uninjured! The Arabs no sooner got on their legs again, than, seeing the result of the accident, they darted out of the trenches, and seizing by the hands the women who were looking on, formed

a large circle, and yelling their war-cry with redoubled energy, commenced a most mad dance. The musicians exerted themselves to the utmost; but their music was drowned by the cries of the dancers. Even Abd-ur-rahman shared in the excitement, and throwing his cloak to one of his attendants, insisted on leading off the debkhé. It would have been useless to put any check on these proceedings. I preferred allowing the men to wear themselves out,--a result which, considering the amount of exertion and energy displayed both by the limbs and throat, was not long in taking place. I was now prepared by the aid of Behnan, the Bairakdar, and the Tyari, to move the bull into the long trench which led to the edge of the mound.

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"The rollers were in good order; and as soon as the excitement of the Arabs had sufficiently abated to enable them to resume work, the sculpture was dragged out of its place by ropes. Sleepers were laid to the edge of the trench, and fresh rollers were placed under the bull as it was pulled forward by cables to which were fixed the tackles held by logs buried in the earth on the edge of the mound. The sun was going down as these preparations were completed. I deferred any further labour till the morrow. The Arabs dressed themselves, and, placing the musicians at their head, marched towards the village, singing their war songs, and occasionally raising a wild yell, throwing their lances in the air, and flourishing their swords and shields over their heads. The night was of course looked upon as one of rejoicing. Abd-ur-rahman and his brother dined with me; although had it not been for the honour and distinction conferred by the privilege of using knives and forks, they would rather have exercised their fingers with the crowds gathered round the wooden platters in the court-yard. Sheep were, as usual, killed, and boiled or roasted whole; they formed the essence of all entertainments and public festivities. They had scarcely been devoured before dancing was commenced. There were fortunately relays of musicians, for no human lungs could have furnished the requisite amount of breath. When some were nearly falling from exhaustion, the ranks were recruited from others; and so the Arabs went on until dawn. It was useless to preach moderation, or to entreat for quiet. Advice and remonstrances were received with deafening shouts of the war-cry, and outrageous antics, as proofs of gratitude for the entertainment and ability to resist fatigue.

"After passing the night in this fashion, these extraordinary beings, still singing and capering, started for the mound. Everything had been prepared on the previous day for moving the bull, and the men had now only to haul on the ropes. As the sculpture advanced, the rollers left behind were removed to the front, and thus in a short time it reached the end of the trench. There was little difficulty in dragging it down the precipitous side of the mound. When it arrived within three or four feet of the bottom, sufficient earth was removed from beneath to admit the cart, upon which the bull itself was then lowered by still further digging away the soil. It was soon ready to be dragged to the river. Buffaloes were first harnessed to the yoke; but although the men pulled with ropes fastened to the rings attached, and to other parts of the cart, the animals, feel

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