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themselves that these abuses continue. So long as people contentedly pay for those religious services in their own Chapels, which they are entitled to from the National Church, matters will remain as they are. Where the intelligent and pious men in a village or town hear their own pastors, and have their own dissenting meeting-house, the residuary adherents of the Establishment are those who neither know nor care much about the arrangements made in the parish church. These Conventicles and Meeting-houses are the safety-valves of the Anglican Establishment. But, fortunately, the clergy are shortsighted enough not to see this, and things are working out their own remedy. When the present successful attempts to extend the Church of England, and to put down Dissent, have been carried to sufficient length, then will be our time for acting. At present the spirit of English independence and Christian zeal, by which a reformation might be effected, is wasted in the outfields of irregular and scattered dissent. But the laity and the people are now being compelled to attend more to ecclesiastical affairs, and it is not likely that the absurd and unjust arrangements of the English Church will be long tolerated. Most of the great political questions by which attention has been absorbed are now settled, and the time is coming for ecclesiastical reform. The questions of Education and Endowments will hasten on inquiry into other subjects, which it is desirable for the moral and religious welfare of the country should be speedily discussed and settled. If there is to be an Establishment, it should be a truly National Church, supported for the good of the people, not of the patrons and their dependants. The clergy are for the use of the people, not the people and the livings for the use of the clergy. In Scotland the Evangelical clergy rather gave up their endowments and all the privileges of the National Church than even appear to sanction abuses by remaining in it. How is it that in the English Church the good men (who are many) do not so much as lift up a feeble testimony or protest against abuses so

notorious?

ENGLISH LAW IN INDIA.

IN the Supreme Court at Madras, on May 3d, another important case has been finally settled, on which the progress of Christian Missions much depended. Mooniatta, a Hindoo girl, twelve years of age, living at the Mission House of the Free Church of Scotland, was claimed by her mother, who applied for the writ of habeas corpus, on the plea of the girl's nonage. After full pleading and examination of the girl and witnesses, the Chief Justice, Sir Edward Gambier, and Sir W. W. Burton decided, that she was at full liberty to make choice, and go where she pleased. It is now declared by law, that, provided a Hindoo girl is competent to exercise a choice on matters of religion, and is found on examination by the judges to be competent so to do, she shall be at liberty to act according to her will. The age of discretion is to depend not on years, but on intelligence. A wide door is thus now open for the emancipation of the Hindoo females from the degrading yoke of caste, domestic slavery, and idolatry. The shield of British law has at length been cast over those defenceless females, who, in renouncing idolatry, might have been otherwise handed over to be cruelly treated by their unfeeling relatives.

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The decisions of the Chief Justice and of

"Will you not

Judge Burton were accompanied by speeches | to sit down and rest himself. exhibiting much firmness, and the true spirit sit down on the stair and rest you." she said. of Christian justice. "Sit down on the stair! (said the Doctor, losing patience, and applying his shoulder to the door) Sit down on the stair! You would not have me sit there, would you? (pushing his way into the passage) were you going to shut the door against your minister? How are you, Mrs. Smith?"

In closing his speech, Sir W. Burton said:"The question is of vast importance to the community. It is the right of a Hindoo female claiming the protection of English law. The Court has been instituted in this territory for the purpose of bestowing the benefits of that law and the protection of it on this great community, and it is bound to give that protection."

Sir W. Burton then gave instances in the matter of slavery, marriage, and other occasions where protection would be granted to the female against the power of the parent; and argued that the will and conscience of the child in regard to religion should also be protected, and not handed over to have idolatry enforced by the parent.

"It cannot be doubted at all," said he, "that by establishing a Christian Court, and not a Hindoo or a Mahomedan Court, the Parliament of England intended that, in all matters not specified by the Charta, the Court should be guided by English law. And, however it may be received by some parties, of the common law the Christian religion is part and parcel. There has been too much pandering to popular prejudices in this matter; too much abandonment of principle; and on the part of those who have had the audacity, I may say, to lay down the proposition, that in questions of this sort we have nothing to do with Christianity. I did say on a former occasion, as a Christian Judge, that truth is but one, and that Ragavooloo had chosen the truth; and I say so again, whoever may be offended at it. And I think it material to be known what the truth is, and what rights this Court of Justice will recognise; that it should be known throughout the length and breadth of this land, that it will protect every person in those rights which God and nature has given him.'

We wish that Judges and Legislators in our own land dared to display something of this love of truth as opposed to latitudinarianism, and the love of liberty as opposed to liberalism. How seldom it is remembered by public men that the Christian religion, and not Popery and Socinianism, any more than Hindooism and Mahomedanism, is part and parcel of the common law of England!

CLEANLINESS.

"Looking upwards, Doctor, always looking upwards."

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Very good, my friend;-but," said the Doctor, (who by this time was in the room, and was told by other senses than his eyes what was the cause of the woman's backwardness to admit strangers) "very good to look upwards! but it is quite as necessary for you to look downward sometimes; cleanliness is next to godliness, at least there is little godliness where cleanliness is absent. This is horrible! You must come out of this tomorrow."

And so indeed she did, and was lodged elsewhere till the accumulated ashes and dust were removed, and the place purified, when she returned greatly the better for the lecture she had received, which was of a much more practical and useful kind than pulpit discourses usually are. Such lessons may sometimes be as needful in trim English almshouses as in the cottages of Glenburnie.

This anecdote we had from one of Dr. Fletcher's congregation who knew the case well; and we think it worth recording, in order to remark how there are many people who pass for good Christians, being regular at ordinances and sound in doctrine, who, nevertheless by their bad tempers, or dirty habits, or ungenerous dispositions, or disagreeable manners, prove that the power of grace is not acting on their life and conduct. Godliness is profitable for all things, for this life as well as that which is to come, and we always suspect the genuineness of that grace which fails to produce "decency and order," as well as more inward and spiritual fruits.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SITES. THE Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the refusal of sites, with the remainder of the evidence, has at length been printed. We subjoin the Report, which is a clear, temperate, and fair statement of the

case:

Your Committee, having carefully considered the subject referred to them, find, upon an inTHERE was an old woman some years ago investigation, which they have conducted at some the Stepney Almshouses, connected with length, that there are a number of Christian conthe late Dr. Joseph Fletcher's Church, who gregations in Scotland who have no place of wor was known to many as a regular attendant at ship, within a reasonable distance of their homes, where they can unite in the public service of public worship, and was esteemed a very Almighty God, according to their conscientious pious Christian. But no one knew anything convictions of religious duty, under convenient of her private habits, nor was any visitor ever shelter from the severity of a northern climate. seen in her dwelling. Some of the deacons Your Committee have received general evidence of the Church had tried to obtain admission, confined to any one part of Scotland, but appear with respect to these congregations, which are not but they were always received with the door to be scattered over different districts of the in her hand, open not more than a few inches, through which chink she held parley with the unwelcome visitors. Old Mr. Alers Hankey, the banker, one of the Trustees of the Almshouses, and senior deacon of the church, having made the attempt one day with no better success, thought it best to tell Dr. Fletcher, who said he should go and see what was the matter, and should get inside by hook or by crook.

On the Doctor knocking, he was received at the door in the usual away, only that there was more than ordinary regret expressed at her inability just at that time to receive visitors. The Doctor said he was not particular while visiting, and besides he wanted

Highlands and Lowlands; chiefly in the counties of Dumfries, Inverness, Argyle, Moray, and Aberdeen. It has been proved to your Committee, that the members of these congregations are in the habit of meeting for public worship in places, and under circumstances, which are unfit for the administration of the sacred ordinances of the

Christian religion, and which expose both the ministers and the people to weather injurious to their health, and to inconveniences which ought not to attend the free exercise of religious privileges. These congregations belong to the Free Church of Scotland; a religious body which separated from the Established Church of that country in 1843, and which contains within its pale a considerable portion of the Scottish people. The present painful position of these congregations, worshipping without churches, appears undoubtedly to be attributable to their

IRISH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

THE General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland has closed its annual session
at Belfast.

connexion with this body. Your Committee do "The Glens of Antrim, as a seat of Presbynot feel it necessary to enter into the causes, or the terian Irish schools, are invested with an interest circumstances of that separation, which they and clothed with a glory which will not pass unite in lamenting; but which, in all probability, away. The excitement occasioned by the Priest's is now likely to be permanent. When the disCurse is gone, and the minor circumstances of the ruption occurred, it became necessary to provide famous trial, M'Loughlen versus Walsh,' are forplaces of worship for a large number of congrega- The Rev. Dr. Morgan, moderator, opened gotten; but it will not be forgotten that, in the tions, and your Committee find that by means of the business of the Assembly with the usual Glens of Antrim, a poor Presbyterian convert grant, lease, or purchase, sites have been obtained, devotional exercises, and a sermon in the from Popery, whom a priest by his bishop's auwhereon 725 churches are either already built, or are in progress of being built. The sites refused, Rev. Dr. Cooke's Church in May-street. The thority had cursed with bell, book, and candle, not only maintained his integrity against all peraccording to the evidence adduced before the Rev. William McClure, of Derry, was ap-secution, but, appealing to a jury of his countryCommittee, do not exceed thirty-five in number. pointed moderator for the present year. A men, vindicated the cause of conscience and of The members of the Free Church in Scotland are portion of the time was set apart during the liberty, and taught proud Rome to her cost, that, said to amount to a number varying from 700,000 meeting of the Assembly, for special devo- however she may rule with an iron rod in Italy, to 800,000; and it is also stated, that congregational services in reference to the great dis- both Protestant and Roman Catholic are free, and or crush her prostrate slaves in Spain, in Ireland tions numbering about 16,000 in all, are at present deprived of church accommodation, by the refusal tress in the country. In many parts, and that, as citizens of a free country, their wrongs to grant sites, on the part of landed proprietors. especially in the town where they were meet- are redressed, and their rights maintained, by the There appear to be two classes of cases, where the ing, fever and sickness had made great havoc powerful arm of British law. congregations in question remain without sites, and in the Churches. consequently without churches; the first, which is the most numerous, are those, where the proprietor, from whom the site is sought, absolutely refuses to grant the application. In most of these cases, the extent of territory, possessed by the refusing proprietor, is such as to preclude the congregations, seeking a site, from having recourse to any other proprietor, from whom they might obtain a more favourable consideration of their request. The other less numerous class of cases is, that where a site has not been absolutely refused, but has been offered in a situation considered by the congregation so inconvenient for their general access, as to induce them to prefer submitting to all the inconvenience of their present mode of worshipping. During four years, in most of these cases, repeated applications seem only to have led to renewed refusals; but your Committee rejoice to think that these cases of

refusal are exceptions to the general course of conduct which has been pursued in this matter, towards the bulk of the congregations of the Free Church; and they observe with satisfaction, that, in many cases where sites had been refused in 1843, the objections at first entertained have been waived or removed, and sites have now been granted. Your Committee refer with peculiar pleasure to these instances of concession, which are in accordance with public opinion, and which are conducive to the re-establishment of religious peace in Scotland. With a view to the promotion of this most desirable end, your Committee concur in the expression of an earnest hope, that the sites, which have hitherto been refused, may no longer be withheld. The fact of their refusal to several congregations, and the consequent hardships suffered by them, keep alive a sense of injury and wrong among the whole of the large religious body, of which those congregations form a part; and the peaceful subsidence of angry feelings, to which the events of 1843 necessarily gave rise, is thus both obstructed and endangered. It appears from the evidence, that in the first heat of the secession, hostile intentions and feelings affecting the safety, and even the existence of the Established Church of Scotland, were avowed by certain leading members of the Free Church. It also appears that language, to be regretted on account of its violence, was used by members of the Establishment. This heat has abated; but

the compulsion to worship in the open air, withont a church, is a grievous hardship inflicted on innocent parties; and while your Committee abstain from judging the motives which have led, either to the secession or the refusal of sites, they hope that every just ground of complaint may speedily be removed by the voluntary act of those whose property gives them the means of redressing a grievance, and of thereby conciliating the good-will of a large body of their countrymen. -July 5, 1847.

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A deputation from the Church of Scotland,
consisting of the Rev. Messrs. Moody Stuart
and Campbell, and Mr. McFie, addressed the
Assembly. The Rev. Mr. Gillespie and Pro-
fessor Lorimer were heard as a deputation
from the English Presbyterian Synod. A
resolution was adopted to the effect that the
Assembly should appoint a deputation to
attend the next meeting of the English Synod,
and convey to them an expression of brotherly
Christian feeling, and to assure them of their
desire to cultivate union with that Church.
The Rev. David Wilson addressed the House
as a deputy from the Munster Presbytery.
Of the Reports laid before the Assembly
that of the Home Mission Committee, given
in by the Rev. Dr. Edgar, was the most inte-
resting and important. We are glad to lay
some extracts before our readers :-

:

"One chief use of Irish schools is, as a means

to an end, the noblest of ends, the free promulgation of God's glorious gospel. This end has now, to a goodly extent, been obtained in the Glens of Antrim. Ground for a house of worship having been generously granted by General Cuppage, to whom the thanks of the Assembly are due, it remains for the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, in gratitude to the God of missions, to build in Cushenden a suitable church, both for the neglected Presbyterians of the district, and as a gathering point for the fruit of Irish schools and of mission stations throughout the glens. The attendance on the ministrations of our missionary are good; large numbers assemble for worship even in the wild glens; and, as the Lord is prospering His way, the duty of the Church is plain.

"In addition to the places just referred to, the with regular preaching New Ross, Moate, and the Board of Missions have, during the year, supplied various preaching stations connected with the Assembly's Churches in the south and west."

The Report then adverted to the labours of the Scripture-readers, and the appointment of Dr. Dill as itinerating missionary agent:

has eaten the arm of Romish power, and left in many cases to priestly tyranny only an unburied corpse, while many around it are ready to cry,'Let us bury it at the nearest cross-roads, and pray God that it may know no resurrection.'

"The history of the Presbyterian Home Mis-
sion in Ireland records no year like the melancholy
"It is a subject of congratulation, that, by an
for what connected with Ireland is unmingled with
past. Other years have had their tears of sorrow, overruling Providence, the famine has introduced
our missionaries to many of the excellent of the
grief, but 1847 lies seared, and forsaken, and deeply earth, whom otherwise they would never have
sad,-widowed victim of afflictive wrath. While known, and that it has elevated their position
Ireland was boasting of the power of her peasantry, and extended their influence; but the great sub-
a mysterious Providence struck them down help-ject of exultation and gratitude is, that famine
less as infants, and hurried tens of thousands to
premature graves. Ireland, proud of her resources,
was claiming a ruinous independence, when, in the
midst of her dream of madness, an article of food
failed; hunger, like an armed man, rushed in; the
shout of defiance sunk into the low moan of the
dying, or rose into a hopeless wail over the un-
coffined dead ; and they who but yesterday defied
the world, are the world's poor paupers now, fed
by the charity of those they maligned, and
struggling at the soup-kitchen window for a scanty
meal from the Indian corn field of the far west.
Even the green is now the place of skulls; the
angel of death has passed through her, and black
unroofed cabins and villages, without a dog alive
to watch the firelees hearth, are memorials of his
terrible march. The infant dropped dead from
the bosom of a famished mother, or sought life in
vain from the cold dry breast of a mother's corpse;
the able-bodied youth, who had toiled for his
and died as the spring set in, and the widow, re-
sisters and mother through the winter snow, sunk
turning weary and worn from her dead husband's
place on the public roads, found that her father
and mother's skeleton forms, on their heap of
straw, breathed no more.

"The poor Romanist, in the day of calamity,
found that the arm of the proud ecclesiastic, on
which he had long leaned, was powerless to save.
He had paid his priest to cure the potato, but
the potato was gone; he had paid him again to
bring fish into his bay, but, after long wakeful
nights, his net was drawn empty in the morning;
his child that had begun to lisp its father's name,
sickened and died, but no priest came, in the
Saviour's name, to say-Suffer little children to
come unto me.' Fever, looking haggard and
wild over the shoulder of famine, came stealthily
in at his door, and his beautiful girl, whose soft
hand had pressed his own temples in sickness, was
laid on the bed, from which she would never rise;
and beside her lay his fond wife, who had clung
closer to his bosom as the night of sorrow closed
in, and, in ministering so kindly to his wants, had
forgotten her own; and yet, because money and
means were gone, no priest came to perform the
last rites for the mother and child; and when
"Mingling with the dying, and surrounded by their corpses, wrapped in straw, were carried to
the dead, it has been the sad privileges of your the grave on the old ass which had carried them
missionaries to show Romanists, deserted by their
so cheerily in the day of their pride, no reverend
own priesthood, what the spirit of Presbyterian- father was there to commit them to their last
ism is, and what the generosity of Protestantism resting-place with imposing rites and holy clay.
can do. Nearly all the immense sums subscribed And yet, notwithstanding all that childhood had
by Protestants have gone to Roman Catholics, learned, and all that superstition believed, a hus-
an appeal from one minister of the Irish Presby-band and a father's heart could not believe that
terian Church produced about five thousand
a wife and daughter were lost for want of the act
pounds; and Romish Connaught gets the whole. and the clay-oh, no!-would not believe that
the avarice of man could stop the full, free flow
Multitudes live now who owe their lives to Pro-
testant charity; and they, and many more
of the mercy of a sovereign God; and as his
have been taught in the evil day to know, and it sympathies were more stirred, and the fountain
is hoped to prize, their friends. Though, there- of his love gushed more fully for the hapless
fore, 1847 has been a year of sorrow and death, it fate of those that were gone, he became gradually
of the Lord's presence has been on the one side a
has not been a year of despair; though the pillar more and more alienated from the heartless man
who deserted his friend in the day of his need, and
cloud and darkness, it is light and life on the
came with no word of comfort or peace when he
other.
was burying his heart in the grave.

The Report then proceeded to take a review of the Assembly's Mission Churches and stations:

"Let it go forth, then, this day to all the Church and to all the world, that the God who brings order out of confusion, and light out of darkness

has overruled the famine in Ireland, to open up Ireland for Protestant missions; the Protestant Scripture-reader is everywhere welcome; the Protestant missionary is respected and loved; a secretary of Presbyterian missions in Ireland has preached to Roman Catholics in the school-house, the dwelling-house, the barn, the open field, and, in broad daylight in wild Connaught, has had as many Romanists in attendance as the priest of the neighbouring chapel; and the same Roman Catholic people who heard a Presbyterian missionary denounced by their priest on the Sabbath, carried him in triumph on their shoulders before the week had closed."

After a review of the present state of the Irish schools, the Report concluded thus:

"A mysterious Providence thus summons us to higher work, and bids us concentrate our energies in a noble sphere. The missionary's road is open into the very heart of Romish Ireland; famine has been the breaker up of his way. Thousands, freed from their shackles, disgusted with their priests and tired of Rome, have deserted the chapel; and, with a deep sense of gratitude for Protestant benevolence which preserved them alive, are anxious to learn the faith from which such generous practice flows. Preaching, therefore, is our business now. How long the famine yet may last, how many victims may yet fall, none knows. Oh, thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet; put thyself up into thy scabbard, rest, and be still ! It is in the hand of a just God, and how long the scourge may sweep, or its salutary impression last, we cannot tell. But present duty is ours; and the motto of the whole Presbyterian Church, and of its every minister, should be one,- Wo is me if I preach not the Gospel.""

DR MERLE D'AUBIGNE.

DR. MERLE D'AUBIGNE was a youthful student in Socinian theology in the College of Geneva; when, in the year 1816, it pleased God to send Mr. Robert Haldane, a remarkable Scottish Christian, on a visit to that city. This man soon became acquainted with a number of the students, and conversed with them familiarly and profoundly concerning the Gospel. He found them in great darkness. "Had they been trained," says he, “in the schools of Socrates or Plato, and enjoyed no other means of instruction, they could scarcely have been more ignorant of the doctrines of the Gospel. To the Bible and its contents their studies had never been directed. After some conversation, they became convinced of their ignorance of the Scriptures, and of the way of salvation, and exceedingly desirous

of information.

The two students with whom Mr. Haldane at first conversed brought six others in the same state of mind with themselves; and with them he had many and long conversations. Their visits became so frequent, and at such different hours, that at length he proposed they should all come together; and it was arranged that they should do so three times a-week, from six to eight o'clock in the evening. This gave him time to converse with others, who, from the report of the students, began to visit him, as well as leisure to prepare what might be profitable for their instruction. He took the Epistle to the Romans as his subject; and, during the whole of the winter of 1817, until the termination of their studies in the summer, almost all the students in theology regularly

attended.

This was a most remarkable movement of Divine Providence, one of the most remarkable to be found on record. What renders it more astonishing is the fact that Mr. Haldane at first was obliged to converse with these students through an interpreter, in part at least, so that he could not then have conveyed to them the full fervour of his feelings, nor the fire of the truth as it was

burning in his own soul. Nevertheless, movement among the students had doubtless
these singular labours, under circumstances been greatly helped and forwarded by the
so unpromising, were so blessed by the remarkable and almost simultaneous con-
Divine Spirit, that sixteen out of eighteen version and efforts of Dr. Malan among the
young men, who had enjoyed Mr. Haldane's ministers and teachers. It was of God that
instructions, are said by Dr. Heugh to have Mr. Haldane should visit Geneva at that time.
become subjects of Divine grace. And
among the students thus brought beneath the
power of the word of God was the future
historian of the Reformation, young Merle
D'Aubigné.

D'Aubigné himself has described this re-
markable movement. Rev. Adolphe Monod,
of Paris, was a fellow-student at this time
with D'Aubigné, and dates his own conver-
sion also to the efforts of Mr. Haldane. The
professor of Divinity in the University of
Geneva at that time, instead of teaching the
students the peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
confined himself to lecturing on the immor-
tality of the soul, the existence of God, and
similar topics. Instead of the Bible, he gave
them quotations from the writings of Seneca
and Plato. These were the two saints, whom
he delighted to hold up to the admiration of
his students. A work on the Divinity of
Christ having been published by an Evan-
gelical clergyman, to such an extent did
the opposition against the truth prevail, that
young D'Aubigné and the rest of the students
were induced to meet together, and issue a
declaration against the work and its pious

author.

At this juncture it was that D'Aubigné heard of the visit of Mr. Haldane. He heard of him as the English or Scotch gentleman who spoke so much about the Bible, a thing which seemed very strange to him and the other students, to whom the Bible was a shut book. He afterwards met Mr. Haldane at a private house, along with some other friends, and heard him read, from an English Bible, a chapter from the Epistle to the Romans, concerning the natural corruption of man, a doctrine in regard to which he had never before received any instruction. He was astonished to hear of men being corrupt by nature; but clearly convinced by the passages read to him, he said to Mr. Haldane, "Now I do indeed see this doctrine in the Bible." "Yes," replied the good man, "but do you see it in your heart?" It was but a simple question; but it came home to his conscience; it was the sword of the Spirit, and from that time he saw and felt that his heart was indeed corrupted, and knew from the word of God that he could be saved by grace alone in Christ Jesus.

Felix Neff, that Alpine missionary of apostolic zeal and fervour, was another of these young converts. Never was the seed of the Gospel sown to better effect than in these hearts. Such an incursion of Divine grace within the very citadel of error was anything but acceptable to its guardians; but, how could they resist it? Who knows how to shut the heart, when God opens it? What "Venerable Company of Pastors" can stand before the door, and keep out the Divine Spirit, when he chooses to enter? The strong man armed must give up his house when a greater than he comes upon him. Nevertheless, an attempt was made on the part of the "Venerable Company" to have Mr. Haldane banished from the country, and it was proposed that he should be cited to answer for the doctrines he was teaching to the students. They would more justly have cited Paul in the Épistle to the Romans; all was of no avail; the light of the Gospel was diffused to a remarkable degree, and the religious excitement and knowledge in Geneva went on steadily increasing. The

Dr. Merle D'Aubigné finished his Univer sity studies and repaired to Berlin in Germany. Thence he was invited to Hamburgh to become Pastor of a French Protestant church in that city. After five years spent in that station, he was called by the King of Holland to Brussels, where he became Pastor of an Evangelical Church and Chaplain to the King. At the time of the Revolution in Belgium in 1830, when D'Aubigné was four days and four nights amidst cannon balls and conflagrations in the city, he escaped with no small risk of his life into Holland, and thence returned to his native city. Immediately after this step, the New School of Theology was founded and established, and D'Aubigné accepted in it the office of Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Homiletics.

While on his way to Berlin, the mind of D'Aubigné encountered the extraordinary impulse which was the germ of his great work on the History of the Reformation. He had passed through the little town of Eisenach, which was the birth-place of Luther, and was visiting the Castle of the Wartburg, where the great Reformer had been, at such a critical era, safely imprisoned from his enemies. He gazed upon the walls of the cell that Luther occupied. How many men of piety, of learning, of genius, have stood and gazed in like manner! But in the mind of D'Aubigné a great thought was rising; the drama of the lives of the Reformers passed in vision before him; what if he should write the History of the Reformation? The impulse was strengthened by reflection, he devoted himself to ecclesiastical researches, and so the providence of God led him to the commencement, as we trust it will preserve him for the completion, of that great work. It is a work which will one day cluster around its own history a series of associations and reminiscences, like those that crowd the cell of Luther in the Wartburg. And we should like to see a picture of D'Aubigné standing in that cell, gazing on those walls, and listening to the inward voice which was saying to him, Thou art to write the History of this great Reformation. The visit was of God, as much as Robert Haldane's visit to Geneva, but it is not often that the links of Divine Providence can be so distinctly traced, espe cially when they pass from outward events into inward purposes.

D'Aubigné was prepared for that work by many qualities and studies, but by none more than that earnest simplicity of character which makes him understand and sympathize perfectly with the simplicity and earnestness of the Reformers, and that deep piety which leads him to see and to trace God rather than man in the Reformation. To make his history, he went to the Reformers themselves, and not to what men have said about them; and both the Reformers and their work he has judged by the word of God. By his dramatic and descriptive power, he sets the Reformers acting and speaking in his pages: the work is a great Historical Epic.

But the greatest charm and value of his history is the heavenly impression it leaves upon the soul-the atmosphere of love to Christ, and of fervent spiritual feeling per vading it, which makes it, indeed, a true book of devotion. It is precious for the clearness and power with which it presents the work of the Spirit of God, especially in tracing the

deep conflict and experience of Luther, Zwinglius, and others, the great process of inward and external trial, through which God carried them, to fit them for the part he would lead them to perform. D'Aubigné's views of Christian doctrine, and of the Institutions and ordinances of the Church of Christ, his views, also, on the nature of the liberty with which Christ makes his people free, eminently fitted him, in an age when the fetters of a great spiritual despotism are again sought to be clasped upon mankind, to show to the world the Church of Christ in her simplicity, her freedom, her true unity and beauty.

By this great work he has gained the reputation of the greatest modern historian; a work translated, it is said, into the tongue of every Protestant people, and of which already there are no fewer than five translations in the English language. The truth is, there never was a work more remarkably adapted to the wants of the age, and the nature of the trial, through which the Church of Christ is still passing. The same may be said of the character and experience of D'Aubigné himself, with his coadjutors in Geneva, in the work and way in which God is there leading them.

I shall not soon forget an evening's walk and conversation of great interest which it was my privilege to enjoy with D'Aubigné, just before I left Geneva. We passed along the magnificent face of Mont Blanc in the sunset, and returned over the hill by the borders of the lake beneath the glow of twilight, in the deepening shadows of the evening. He spoke to me with the kindest openness and freedom of his "History of the Reformation," especially the part he was then engaged upon, the length of time before he should be able to issue another volume, and the impossibility of pleasing the opposing parties in his account of the Reformation in England. He told me that he was quite beset with the multitude of letters which were sent to him, urging him to set this, and that, and the other points in such and such a light, beseeching him to do justice to the English Church, each man wishing to colour his history through the medium of his own opinions and prejudices.

testant population of Geneva. Let Rome
triumph at Rome; it is natural. Let
Rome, as she assures herself, triumph at
Oxford; the conquest will be great. But let
Rome triumph at Geneva; then she will
raise a cry that will echo to the extremity of
the universe. Genevese! that cry will
announce to the world the death of your
country."

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The faith of our fathers made Rome
tremble at the name of Geneva; now, alas!
Geneva trembles at the name of Rome. Are
we sure that Popery, triumphant, and
perched upon our high towers, will not one
day, and quickly, mock with bitter derision
the blindness of our citizens? The air is
heavy, the atmosphere is choking; the night,
perhaps the tempest approaches.
Let us
enter, then, into our bosoms-let us reflect in
that inner temple, and raising our cry to
heaven, let us say, O God, save the country,
for men come to destroy it."

Such was the tenour of D'Aubigné's con-
versation this evening; it was painful to
see what a deep gloom was before his mind.
His trust is in God, though he seemed as one
at sea, in a frail bark, who beholds in a dark,
tempestuous night, the dim shadow of a
great ship driving fast upon him. He has
himself referred, in one of his works, to his
oppressed feelings, saying, that he had un-
availingly played the part of Cassandra to his
blinded countrymen.

that make Oxford one with Rome, he drives each of these great principles of Christianity against them with such stedfast tread and condensation, that nothing can withstand the shock. Such a description of so brief an essay might almost seem hyperbolical; but the little essay condenses thought for whole volumes, and I beg you, if you find fault with me, to read it, and test its power for yourselves. See if it does not make upon your own mind the impression of victory, of greatness.

The manners of D'Aubigné are marked by a plain, manly, unassuming simplicity, no shade of ostentation, no mark of the world's applause upon him-a thing which often leaves a cloud of vain self-consciousness over the character of a great man, worse by far than any shade produced by the world's frowns. His conversation is full of good sense, just thought, and pious feeling, disclosing a ripe judgment, and a quiet well balanced mind. You would not, perhaps, suspect him of a vivid imagination, and yet his writings do often show a high degree of that quality. A child-like simplicity is the most marked characteristic to a stranger, who is often surprised to see so illustrious a man so plain and affable. He is about fifty years of age.

You would see in him a tall commanding form, much above the stature of his countrymen, a broad, intelligent forehead, a thoughtful, unsuspicious countenance, a cheerful, pleasant eye, over which are set a pair of dark, shaggy eyebrows, like those of Webster. His person is robust, his frame large and powerful, and apparently capable of great endurance; yet his health is infirm. Alto

D'Aubigné's style in writing is often strengthened by powerful antithesis, the compelled, condensed result of profound though strict logic. Where the two come together in a focus, so to speak, upon great principles, it is like the galvanic action in a com-gether, in face and form his appearance might pound battery, illustrating and burning with be described in three words-noble, grave, intense power and beauty. Some of the and simple. The habit of wearing spectacles best examples of this great excellence are has given him an upward look, in order to to be found in what, though brief, is one of command the centre of the glass, which adds D'Aubigné's greatest productions,—the con- to the peculiar openness and manliness of cise discourse upon the heresy of Puseyism. his mien. He has great earnestness and It is full of pregnant suggestions and veins emphasis of manner in his discourses to his of thought, which, pursued and elaborated, students. would lead to a great mine, if a man were able to work it. He defines the nature of religious liberty, which, in truth, is the great stake in this conflict-true religious liberty, without which all other liberty is but a dangerous plaything. Take the aphorism, ye Maynooth statesmen, and worshippers at the shrine of expediency, and dwell upon its meaning. Without true religious liberty, every other liberty is but a useless and dangerous plaything.

But what characterizes this work of D'Aubigne especially is the announcement of its three ONLYS. We thank D'Aubigné for THE THREE ONLYS. They are the Christian army, the army of Christian doctrine, in the form of battle; a triangular phalanx, every point, each wedge of which, pierces the opposing mass of error, and makes a breach, through which in rushes the whole Gospel, and sweeps the field. These are the the three ONLYS:

It is not difficult to see to which side the sympathies of the author belong; but the tenour of the history thus far assures us that it will be strictly impartial and faithful to the truth. A great work is before him in the history of the Reformation in Geneva; another in France; another in England. How vast the field! how varied the incidents! how full of life and thrilling interest! D'Aubigné spoke this evening with much anxiety of the future prospects of his own country, in consequence of the increase of Romanism, and the incapacity of the Church, in her humiliating dependence on the State, to prevent the evils that threaten the Republic. He seemed to feel that the single measure of separating the Church from the State, and rendering it independent, would save his country; and, under God, it would: it would put religious liberty in Geneva beyond reach from any invasion of Rome. His conver-The formal principle, the material principle, sation on this point was like what he has written in his "Question of the Church." "We are distressed," said he, "and know not whither to turn. All around us Rome is advancing. She builds altar after altar upon the banks of our lake. The progress is such among us, from the facility which strangers have in acquiring the rights of citizenship, that quickly (every one acknowledges it) the Romish population will exceed the Pro

The Word of God ONLY;
The Grace of Christ ONLY;
The Work of the Spirit ONLY.

and the personal principle of Christianity, are
here enunciated; and D'Aubigné has set
them in such direct and powerful array
against the corresponding counteracting
enormous errors of Rome and of the Oxford
Theologians, that the moment you look upon
the battle array, you see the victory; the
masterly disposition of the forces tells you
beforehand the history of the combat,
Singling out each of the columns of error

The residence of D'Aubigné, embowered in foliage on the banks of the lake opposite the Jura mountains, commands the loveliest sunset view of that mighty forest-covered range, reflected, with the glowing purple clouds and evening sky, in the bosom of the quiet waters.

[The above extract is taken from Cheever's "Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc," one of the volumes publishing by Mr. Collins, of Glasgow and London, a series of works well worthy the attention of our readers, both from their remarkable cheapness, and the excellence of their matter.]

THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE.

"An Apostle of Jesus Christ." I shall not now speak of his apostolic office; it died with him, and I believe will never rise again: for it was an office only adapted to a particular state of the Church of Christ; which state will never return, and therefore the like offices will never be renewed again.

(Acts i. 21, 22.) For the apostolic office was, as you have often heard, to be a witness unto, and the apostle one of personal acquaintance his death and resurrection.-Traill's Sermons with the man Christ, both before and after on 1 Peter i. 1, 2.

PAUPERISM.-Begging is a shame to any country; if the beggar is an unworthy object of charity it is a shame that he is permitted to beg; if the beggar is a fit object it is a shame he is compelled to beg.-Defoe.

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IN our last number we suggested some matters for the consideration of the laymen, and especially the office-bearers, of our Church. We spoke of the great want of organization and united action amongst us, and stated that our congregations are too much left_to struggle on individually, as if they were Independent Churches, instead of belonging to an united Presbyterian Church. No doubt this is partly owing to the extent of territory over which our few Churches are as yet scattered; but as every Presbytery has the Episcopate of its own district, there ought at least to be union and co-operation among the Churches within the bounds of each Presbytery. Some congregations are rich, and firmly established, others are weaker and in poorer circumstances; and this is one chief point in which the Presbyterian system (in theory) excels the Independent, that the rich help to support the poor, and the strong to bear the burden of the weak. For it happens generally that the poorer congregations are situated in localities where there is the greatest misery and vice and ungodliness, the greatest neglect of religious services, and therefore the best field for missionary and evangelistic work. If the object of the richer Churches were merely to extend Presbyterianism, and to increase the worldly influence and fame of our body, of course the best policy would be to leave these poor localities, which can yield little return of money and éclat, and to concentrate attention on wealthier and more con

spicuous enterprises. But, as the object of all right-hearted Presbyterians is, not the mere advancement of their ecclesiastical system, but the spread of the Gospel through its instrumentality, we need scarcely say, that the support of ordinances in poor and destitute localities, is a duty incumbent on the stronger and wealthier Churches, that is to say, if there be any missionary spirit among these Churches. If you wish to do good to the souls of others, here is your first field, in providing for your own countrymen, and for those in the household of your own Presbyterian connexion. We have been favoured in a remarkable manner in obtaining so excellent a labourer in the mission to China; and in this, and the Corfu Mission, we have a suitable channel now provided for the liberality of all whose hearts are inclined to promote the cause of Christ among the Jews and Heathen. Let the Home Mission receive its due share of support also; and let the wealthier Churches look more to the things of others less able. To build up and strengthen those stations which it seems advisable to erect into permanent Churches; to send men to visit and give occasional ministrations in places where there are large bodies of Scotch and other Presbyterians; to be collecting statistics, and taking actual survey, of

More than once an eligible site or the purchase of property has been within reach, but the requisite funds have not been at Whether this field is to be occucommand.

the fields most promising or most requiring | be the case, from the distance of our places attention; these are duties of the Home of worship, warm adherents of our Church Mission Committee, which do not seem to be will be lost, and all hope of re-occupying the by the present arrangements attainable. We district may be abandoned, as it will be refer our readers to what was said in our July a hundredfold more difficult to establish a cause without any nucleus for its comNumber (p. 456) on the necessity there is for better organization; and also individually mencement. We have many wealthy laymen spirit and energy in the present position of as well among our office-bearers for greater public connected with our body in other places as in London, by a few of our Church. congregations in our Synod. We have seventy or eighty whom this object might be effected with Of these how little trouble and trifling sacrifice. many are in a flourishing condition? how many are self-supporting? how many are aidgiving? how many have associations in support of the Schemes of the Church? Is there sufficient intercourse kept up, and sympathy felt between the various congregations, or even between the various Presbyteries within our bounds? Is the interest in our schemes widely diffused throughout our body? How can greater interest and unity and organization be effected? These and other questions, we trust that the office-bearers of our Church will be weighing, in order that, at the meeting of Commission of Synod in October, there may be free conference, out of which much good

may result.

On our educational affairs, both as to the College and our Schools, we have some suggestions to offer, which we defer for the present.

LEICESTER-SQUARE DISTRICT.

WHEN the Church Extension Society was formed, it was resolved that six stations in London should be aided by it in the erection of churches; of which six, Leicester-square District was one. That Society, however, has been unable to act on this resolution. But the importance of the station is not the less apparent, and we trust that by other parties the matter will be taken up. Taking a range from Regent-square Church on the north, Marylebone on the west, and London Wall on the east, it is unwise policy to leave so large and important a district of the metropolis without one place adequately to represent our English Presbyterian Church. Whether we consider the locality so central, or the population so dense, and comprising a large proportion of Scotchmen; or the distance of these other churches, the nearest of which is nearly two miles off, the place was wisely selected as one of the metropolitan stations. We may add that in this neighbourhood by far the greater number of strangers coming to town on business reside, many of whom would attend one of our Presbyterian Churches if at hand. There is a small congregation in our connexion in the district, but they meet in a temporary place, of great discomfort, and in a locality almost undiscoverable by strangers. This congregation, although very small in numbers, have maintained ordinances during the past three years, since the time of the disruption, when they formed the secession from Swallowstreet Church, adhering to the principles of the Free Church, and of our English Synod. They have waited patiently, while seeing other stations of more recent origin suc cessively taken up, assisted, and established. They are able and willing to support the ministry and Divine ordinances in the district, but they are not able to build or procure a suitable church, without which their existence can be only temporary. If this locality is to be occupied by our Presbyterian Church, here are the means for carrying on the work if once set on foot. If, on the other hand, the present congregation is scattered among other denominations, as must

pied, or to be left to others hostile to the interests of our Church, is now to be determined. The London Presbytery have appointed a Committee, of which Messrs. Nisbet, Wm. Hamilton, J. Thomson, and others are members, to confer with the congregation on their position and prospects. We have taken this method of making the circumstances known, and we trust that the members of that Committee may receive from friends throughout our Churches communications by which their determination may be guided.

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WE called attention, some time ago, to what was said to be a 'Mission of the Established Church of Scotland to the Jews in London." We took the liberty of informing our Scotch friends in Edinburgh, who seemed to be very ignorant of such matters, that Belgravesquare is not the Jewish quarter of the metropolis, and that if they had set their mission in Houndsditch or the Minories they would be nearer their mark. But this would not serve the purpose of the correspondents and advisers of the Scotch Church in London. And, therefore, the credulous adherents of the Establishment are made to support a mission to the Jews in Halkin-street, Belgravesquare! We have been greatly amused with the ingenuity displayed in the last Report of the Jewish Committee of the Established Church of Scotland, where it is said :-"The distance from the Jewish quarter has proved an advantage, inasmuch as those who desired to receive instruction were enabled to do so without being exposed to the censorious review of their brethren." This is a good idea! We have no objection to a Scotch chapel in Halkin-street, although it is rather near our own church at Chelsea; and we wish all success to the Jewish Missions. But we like things called by their right names.

WE are not justified by believing in Christ, but by Christ believed in; as a man is not healed by the applying of a plaster, but by the plaster applied, so faith is not our righteousness, for our righteousness is by faith.

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