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event which will set the Church of England free; | my mouth in the dust, and cry, but a terrible one, if it be such a freedom as TracDiscourses, p. 65. tarians would wish to enjoy and wield.

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"THE WORKS OF THE REV. DR. CUMMING." THE imposing announcement at the head of this article must be as familiar to our readers as it is to ourselves. Few can take up a newspaper, or glance over the advertising lists of a magazine, in which "THE WORKS of the Rev. Dr. Cumming" do not protrude themselves into notice, popping on one at every corner, and staring, through great goggle-eyed capitals, in one's very face. Rowland's Kalydor," and "Holloway's Ointment," have not been more industriously puffed, nor insinuated themselves into our unguarded and unsuspecting confidence under more provokingly seducing paragraphs. We are greatly mistaken if we have not even seen an advertisement headed "Dr. Cumming's New Work!" These persevering attempts to gull the public have not been wholly unsuccessful. Some poor birds, fascinated by the constant glare of the monster advertisements, must have fallen into the snare; and we confess, that we among others have been simple enough to purchase and swallow the whole "Works of the Rev. John Cumming, D.D." Let not the reader, however, imagine that in doing so we have accomplished any great feat. Let not fancy suggest to him anything resembling the Works of Shakspeare, or Bacon, or Pope, or the Puritan Divines. No, "The Works of Dr. Cumming," though pretty numerous, are far from being ponderous. They might, in fact, be all inserted in a lady's reticule, without incumbering her much more than so many card cases, an article which most of them strikingly resemble, and a similar purpose with which, when displayed on the drawing-room table, they were clearly got up to serve.

Yet, were we to judge of these works by the esti mate formed of himself by the author, they would certainly occupy no inferior place in our admiration. It seems to be an amiable weakness of Dr. Cumming, that he can hardly write on any subject (and he has tried a great variety), without writing about himself. There may be a latent satire on this "infirmity of his noble nature," implied in " A list of Works by the Rev. John Cumming, D.D.," appended to one of his volumes, which includes among others, as No. xi., "A Portrait of Dr. Cumming." As no name of painter or engraver is mentioned, people are left to draw the wicked conclusion, that the portrait of Dr. Cumming forms one of Dr. Cumming's own works. The idea of a man sitting down before a glass to take his own likeness may be considered ridiculous, but it is not uncommon; and sure we are, that if Dr. Cumming has really “ done himself," he must have done his best to

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"Give the world assurance of a man."

If he has not achieved it on canvass, he has certainly attempted it on wire wove, and after exhibiting himself in the pulpit, he has committed to large pica, what we now give in small :

And now, having read the picture of a faithful minister,* one in labours abundant, in tears, in prayers, in toils, in zeal, in devotedness, unparalleled, I put the question to myself, Does this character answer to mine, as face answers to face in a glass? I have read it over once, twice, again and again, and all that I can do is, to put my hand on my mouth, and *The whole chapter," Acts xx., had been read in the course of

the Service.

"Unclean!"-Occasional

Let us not suppose, however, that the Doctor means to keep his hand on his mouth for any length of time. He is up from the dust, and at his own picture again in a page or two. There we find him beseeching his hearers to pray that their minister might be made, "if he should be rough as the Baptist, or eloquent as Apollos-faithful as Paul." Ibid. p. 67. The meaning of which broken-winded sentence is, that he would be made faithful as Paul. Now, as it

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would be obviously out of all character to identify the sleek Dr. Cumming with the uncombed figure of the rough Baptist," we are driven to the other alternative of the "eloquent Apollos." And before he has finished his picture, we shall find that the Doctor has contrived to appropriate to himself, "as face answers to face in a glass," the leading features both of "the eloquent Apollos" and the "faithful Paul." Reserving a few specimens of the former, we may now present a few traits of the latter. Was Paul an enthusiast? My dear friends," exclaims Dr. Cumming, "I am an enthusiast; and if there be no enthusiasm in a man's heart on that subject that ought to electrify the affections of the whole world, it is because he knows not the gospel." Was Paul assiduous and abundant in labours? My dear friends," says our Doctor, "you know little of the toil that a minister must undergo in his study; you fancy that it is a very easy thing to appear in this place and preach two sermons every Sunday; that it costs very little labour. It takes often very great labour in preparation, and occasions no little exhaustion in delivery. What a man feels very deeply in his heart, often like fire passes through all his system, and shatters and tries it more than you imagine! Many a day have I laboured for you, and then torn to pieces what I had prepared— and had to begin anew; and the agony of the conflicting feelings none but a minister of the Gospel can tell, because none else has experienced them!"

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"If I were con

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After this affecting passage, we might be allowed to rest and recover ourselves; but the Doctor is not done with his portraiture. Was Paul then distinguished for a blameless character? scious," says the preacher, "that I was living in the practice of those sins which I reprobate and condemn from this pulpit, the words would falter on my tongue, conscience would stare me in the face, and say, in its own deep and terrible accents, Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself.' We have a word or two to say to Dr. Cumming on this head before parting: meanwhile, we shall allow him to give the finishing touch to his own picture. Did Paul anticipate a crown of glory as the reward of his faithfulness? "As a Christian," says Dr. Cumming, "I have one reward: as a minister, I anticipate another, and it rests with you, not how certain, but how great shall be the weight of that crown of glory which shall be mine." Occas. Disc. pp. 82-90.

Our quotations may seem to savour of profaneness; but we are merely letting the Doctor exhibit himself. As a practical proof of the apostolic boldness which characterizes our author's ministrations, we may refer to another discourse, entitled "Our Queen's Responsibilities and Reward," which we are informed was "Preached on the Sunday after the Coronation of her Majesty." The text is, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." This extraordinary oration is given in the form of a direct address to her Majesty. Debarred the enviable pri

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vilege of officiating before royalty, Dr. Cumming In another sermon, which is said to have been determined to preach at if he could not preach to our preached to a congregation of Roman Catholies" Queen. "Your Majesty," he begins, with great (though where he found such a congregation is not solemnity and pomp, as if she had been seated be- recorded, and how they sat patiently listening to such fore him in the "Scotch National Church, Crown a discourse is not explained), we meet with the folCourt, Little Russell Street, Covent Garden"-lowing extraordinary flight, which we give at some "Your Majesty has in your own bosom an immortal length, as a specimen of his style:tenant, more precious by infinitude than all the jewels of your crown." Undeterred by the royal presence, he hints very plainly how much she was in danger by indulging in " the midnight revelry of the opera, the injurious stimulants of the theatre, the profanation of the Sabbath, and contempt of the house of prayer;" and waxing bolder as he advances, he ventures to say to her Majesty, "You are (I say it with profound reverence), comparatively, a child in years, as well as in empire. Yours must be a share of the thoughtlessness of the one and the inexperience of the other. Acquainted with the headlong impulses of youth," &c. &c.

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Now we venture to say, in downright earnest, this is one of the choicest specimens of clerical foppery that we ever had the luck to encounter. True, in a note appended to this effusion of conceit, we are told, "It is needless to add, that the form of direct address was adopted on the publication of the sermon; and this was done out of no assumption, but for the sake of giving greater emphasis to the address." This does not mend the matter much, since it has been published in the form of direct address; but we cannot well see how it could have been delivered in any other form, though this is here faintly denied, probably from feeling, on reflection, the absurdity of the minister of the Scotch Church having adopted such a mode of saying, “ Guid mornin' to your Majesty." How, for example, would the following sentence, "We allude to this, not to sudden but to sanctify your Majesty," have sounded, had it been delivered, "We allude to this, not to sadden but to sanctify her Majesty." But the beauty of the whole lies in the preacher taking as much credit to himself for faithful dealing with royalty, as if he had been really "in the pulpit of the royal chapel," and acting as Chaplain of the Queen." Just as if he would have spoken in such a strain had this distinction been awarded him! As if he would have been guilty of such a flourish of trumpets in the royal ears, as the following, which would not only lose its " emphasis," but become doubly ridiculous, if spoken without the fiction of direct address :

I have been free and faithful. I am one of a long race of apostolic presbyters, who have ever been noted for uncompromising honesty. We have never learned to ask pardon for the utterance of truth. FELIX MAY TREMBLE BEFORE PAUL, BUT PAUL MUST NOT BEFORE FELIX! It [that is, not Paul or Dr. Cumming, but truth] is too vital to be trifled away in compliments, or buried in cowardice. It is required of a steward that he be found faithful. To me, [the italics are his own] to me, as to your majesty, are addressed the words, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." -Occasional Discourses, pp. 96–126.

Having had now rather more than enough of the "faithful Paul," we might next give a few identifying traits of the " eloquent Apollos." The following is what the Cockneys, no doubt, would call " very fine"

What is the Gospel? It is just the accents of that silver trumpet that poured forth its first melody in dismantled paradise, and is destined to be heard in yet more glorious tenes, spreading every year and century, onward and onward, until

the whole heaven and earth, reconciled and blended into one deep concord, shall be vocal with the praises, &c., &c.

Let me here observe, that I tried some time to find out what creature under heaven was the likeliest personation of a Romish priest, and what of a Christian and Protestant minister. I ransacked the whole of the records 'of ornithology and zoology, and I could neither find the four-footed creature, nor winged fowl, the beast of the field, nor the bird of the air, that was so inconsistent or so untrue to the great laws by which we ought to be regulated, as the minister of a corrupt and apostate Church. But at last, I discovered, after much searching, one creature that seems to me the perfect type of a Roman Catholic priest. And what think you is that creature? It is THE OWL; and the more you look at it,

the more you will be struck, while I hope you will not be offended with the resemblance. The owl is the bird of night, he never shows his face in daylight; he likes the dark and murky air of midnight, where he can perch upon his roost and enjoy the surrounding darkness, flapping his wings and dreading nothing so much as the beams of day. And is it not a fact, that the fourth rule of the Index of the Council of Trent prescribes and prevents the indiscriminate reading of the Scriptures, which give light, &c. Is not this very owl-like? But further, it is a known fact, that the owl feeds not upon pure grain, but upon all sorts of garbage, dead mice and dead birds. There is nothing like this characteristic of the Christian. He may not perhaps feed upon the viands which earthly riches can furnish, but he feeds by faith upon the living bread and the living streams, &c.-Occasional Discourses, P. 212,

From this and the other publications by the same author, we had culled a few flowers of rhetoric, to present in a posey to our readers, but must content ourselves with the following:

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Very Fine.

Thus we exert a posthumous influence which either adds an impulse upon the advancing chariot of salvation, or throws stumbling-blocks in its way.

The Gospel sets no limits to reason but truth, none to affection but love, none to desire but duty, none to hope but infinitude.-Baptismal Font, p. 15.

This river wafts a sanctifying energy to the inmost thoughts and imaginations of the human heart, and makes the dismantled wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the rose.

But we have spent more time and space on the Works of Dr. Cumming than they really deserve. In consideration of the attention we have paid to them, we hope he will permit us, in conclusion, to give a word or two of advice to himself. And "for the sake of giving greater emphasis to the address," we would put them in the form direct. And, first, Reverend Sir, we would humbly but earnestly recommend a more modest appreciation of your own gifts. Not that we deny you the possession of talents. You have talents of a peculiar order, eminently qualifying you for small jobs-such as manuals for Scripture readers and Sabbath School teachers-for smart little tracts or for illustrating your subject with apt stories and nick-nackeries gathered in the course of your reading. You seem to have an itch for controversy, for hardly is there a heresy extant, but you have made a snap at it as it crossed your path. In this

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present to lay before our readers the more material points adverted to in it. The writer sets out with a just eulogium on the Scottish Reformers, as enlightened educationists, and then briefly suggests the reasons for his writing on the subject.

The object which I have in view in this communication is, to lay before your Lordship a plain statement of matters of fact, furnishing what appears to me to be a demonstration that our existing parochial school system is exceedingly imperfect, being inadequate to the wants, and unsuitable to the present condition, of society. If I succeed in convincing your Lordship of the real amount of existing evils, I may, at the same time, convey to the public information which may serve to quicken their exertions in pressing upon the Government the necessity of considering the subject in all its bearings. Prompt efforts to awaken the attention of Government are indeed called for by the avowed intention of the Privy Council to allocate a portion of the public money, under certain consay-ditions, to the parish schools, for increasing the endowment of the teachers, while the defects of the system are to be suffered to remain in all their magnitude. Such an appropriation of any part of the grant for educational purposes, will irritate every individual in Scotland who looks upon the parish schools as public property, and fitted, under suitable management, to become great national blessings, but who sees, in their existing state, evils of which the public have just reason to complain, and which it is the duty of Government speedily

line also you might be useful, as the Scotch terrier is, by picking up the smaller species of vermin which infest the streets and lanes of our crowded cities. But it would be well for you, even for your own sake, to study the Horatian maxim, "Quid valeant humeri, quid ferre recusant"--in other words, "not to exercise yourself in great matters, or in things too high for you." In the next place, we would seriously exhort your reverence to eschew the sad affectation of putting an Episcopalian dress over poor old Presbytery, and compelling it to assume, in your person, the mincing airs of modern Puseyism. It was too bad of you to "christen" that small work of yours on baptism by such a Popish-looking name as "The Baptismal Font." It is apt to remind us of your old story of John Brown of Priesthill, whom, if we recollect aright, you represented as kneeling down on a cushion, before he was shot by Claverhouse, and ing his last prayer from a prayer-book. Remain no longer, we would say, in this chrysalis state, but either come out at once in the full glory of the painted butterfly, or retire within the plain integuments of Presbyterian simplicity. Otherwise, rest assured the incongruity is as apparent and laughable, to use one of your own striking metaphors, as an elephant with feathers, a centaur in fact as in fable." In fine, Reverend Sir, we would, in friendship, warn you against the naughty practice of making anonymous attacks on "brethren better than thyself," after having, in propria persona, made high and honeyed professions of brotherly love and respect for them. We remember reading in Scottish history of a certain warlike bishop, who was so vehement in protesting his pacific and friendly intentions, that, swearing by his conscience, and smiting on his breast, the corslet hid beneath his pontifical robes rung responsive to the action; upon which the ambassador whom he addressed replied, "My Lord, methinks your conscience clatters!" We leave your reverence to make your own application of the story.

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"THE NECESSITY OF A REFORM IN THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM OF SCOTLAND." *

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We took the liberty of suggesting, some time ago, that the question which has been raised in regard to Mr. M'Douall and the Hebrew chair, is one of a very wide application, including not merely the four or five collegiate institutions of Scotland, but the whole parish schools-in fact, the whole public education of the country. It is one of deep importance, and we are happy to see that it is beginning to be felt to be of general interest. We hail the appearance of an admirable pamphlet on the subject, in the form of a letter to the Lord Advocate, by one who has long witnessed the existing defects" of the parish schools, embodying a great mass of valuable and well-digested information. It is written in a calm spirit, and leaves an irresistible impression upon the mind of the reader of the crying necessity for a sweeping change. The grand point is to begin filling the minds of the people with correct information on the subject, and all the more because of late an attempt has been made to gloss over the manifest defects of the existing system, and to secure, by mere round assertions, an increase of salary without a change of system. For the purpose of diffusing more widely the information contained in this pamphlet, we propose at • Edinburgh : Adam and Charles Black.

to remove.

But

For many years past the unsatisfactory condition of the parish schools of Scotland has been severely felt by a large portion of the population, and several substitutes have been devised to avert the evils of a defective education, consequent private tutors to secure for their children even an ordinary on existing arrangements. Many families have employed education, which the parish school could not furnish. the want of energy, consequent on the absence of rivalry and other sources of excitement, prevents, independent of other considerations, any such arrangement from being considered with favour. Private schools and academies have likewise been instituted in different districts, to meet educational wants; but in too many instances the youth must be sent from under parental inspection, "to strange and unknown places, while they cannot rule themselves." Hence the public have a right to demand from the Government a due consideration of the subject; and I have no doubt that the wishes of the community, feeling an interest in the subject, will be duly attended to. But until the origin of the present defects be deliberately contemplated and distinctly understood, an efficient movement toward reform need not be looked for. Let the attention, therefore, be directed, in the first instance, to the evils complained of.

The "defects of the present system of parish⚫ schools" are pointed out under a variety of heads; the first of which, is the " Patronage." Every department of the State and of the Church Establishment groans under some flagrant form of abuse in connection with patronage. There is little free scope for merit, except in so far as the country has broken loose from official restrictions in Church and State. Everywhere we see an inveterate tendency to jobs; and whereas one class of politicians formerly professed more purity than the other, a short period of office seems to obliterate all distinction of this kind. The smallest situations equally with the largest afford scope for corruption. For there is no situation so paltry as not to be an object of desire on the part of many in such a country as ours, and unless the mode of appointment be regulated by right principle, the best qualified man has little chance of success, and of course the country suffers. These remarks are strikingly applicable to the mode of appointing parish teachers, which is as follows:

The right to elect a suitable schoolmaster for any particular parish is vested in the heritors and "minister of every parish," under very peculiar limitations. By the Act of Geo. III. above referred to, sect. 22, it is enacted, in reference to the

beritor as an elector, "That it shall not be lawful for any teritor, who is not a proprietor of lands within the parish to the extent of at least £100 Scots of valued rent, appearing in the land-tax books of the county within which such parish is situated, to attend or vote at any meeting held pursuant to this act; but every heritor qualified as above may vote by proxy, or by letter under his hand." Such being the electoral board, as constituted by statute, its practical character now falls to be examined.

The right of election being confined to those heritors of a parish possessed of £100 Scots in valued rent, is equivalent to the exclusion of very many proprietors and feuars, and the restriction of the privilege almost entirely to the larger proprietors. Now, it happens that very many of these proprietors of £100 Scots of valued rent, are not in the habit of sending their children to receive any part of their education at the parish school. Either private tutors are employed, or the children are sent to academies and other places; and all this for the purpose of procuring a better education, or to avoid the vulgarities of ordinary life. In too many instances all that is of local character in their education is derived from the game-keeper or the groom of the establishment. In these circumstances the electors are destitute of that personal interest fitted to secure for the parish a suitable or sufficiently qualified teacher.

These large proprietors, selected by statute, are likewise, in very many instances, non-resident (a circumstance apparently contemplated by the act, since it provides for voting "by proxy, or by letter under his hand"), and, consequently, too often ignorant of the wants, and indifferent to the interests of the youth of the parish with which they are, by property merely, connected. In consequence of their non-residence, their property is usually managed by law-agents, who are themselves ordinarily aggregated at the seat of the Sheriffcourt or county town, and thereby, in reference to the country parishes, equally non-resident with their constituents. Much of the patronage of the parish schools thus fall into the hands of these lar-agents; and there is ground for believing that, in too many instances, it is employed to gratify the importunity of friends, or to strengthen private interests, considering the exercise of the patronage as one of the perquisites connected with the management of an estate.

In consequence of these statutory arrangements respecting the qualification of heritors, it happens that those become electors who have little personal interest in the matter, or depute their right to agents, who usually have still less; and thus the educational interests of the community, instead of enjoying protection, are placed in jeopardy.

It may here be said, that the minister of the parish is one of the electors, and that he, from his position, must necessarily exercise a great and salutary influence at the election of the schoolmaster. This, however, is a very mistaken idea. The minister is frequently obliged, from the incapacity of the schoolmaster, to employ a private tutor for his own family, or combine in an equivalent arrangement with the resident heritors and farmers of his neighbourhood; and occasionally, therefore, at an election, has less interest in the matter than ought to prevail. Besides, by the peculiar provisions of the Act, the control of the minister is studiously circumscribed, and there is indicated a peculiar dread of clerical influence, ven where that influence was likely to take a salutary direction; while there is displayed an extreme anxiety to secure to £100 Scots proprietors the exclusive disposal of the appointment. It is enacted: "That in every parish where there is only one heritor qualified as hereinafter prescribed, such heritor shall have two votes at every meeting directed to be held pursuant to this Act; and in all meetings where no preses has been chosen, the heritor present possessed of the highest valuation shall have the casting vote."

The patronage of the parish schools of Scotland, as thus constituted, is, apparently with intention, placed in other hands than those whose children are to derive the benefit of good teaching by a qualified schoolmaster, and where it appears to be liable to the greatest amount of abuse.

The next head of reformation is peculiarly important, viz., "the kind of instruction" communicated in the parish schools, upon which our author remarks as follows:-

What are those branches of knowledge to which all the youth of Scotland have access through the medium of the

parish schools? The reply to this important question is determined by statute; for in every particular case the heritors of £100 Scots of valued rent are invested with the power of ordaining those branches of education which are to be taught, and which they may please to have "deemed most necessary and important for the parish."

Under this arrangement it is obvious, that in one parish, accidentally under the influence of intelligent and conscien tious heritors of £100 Scots of valued rent, all the important branches of a modern education may be satisfactorily provided for at the election of a teacher; while in another parish the electors may be men of narrow selfish views, and fully disposed to avail themselves of their vested rights in retarding the progress of knowledge, in the foolish belief that ignorance and obedience are co-ordinate. I have heard of an elector of far. more than £100 Scots of valued rent declare, as his reason for selecting a teacher of very limited acquirements, that a good education given to the sons of the lower classes prepared them for being formidable rivals for those places of honour and profit which should be exclusively occupied by the scions of the aristocracy; adding, if a farmer's son could determine by measurement the number of cartloads in a dunghill, he had gained all the mathematics he required.

With this state of feeling in the minds of perhaps not a few of the electors, it too frequently happens that the branches of knowledge "deemed most necessary and important for the parish" are determined so as to suit the attainments of the favourite candidate, who, with such patrons, is not always the best qualified.

So far back as 1560, it appears to have been the wish of the Church that every schoolmaster should be "able to teach grammar and the Latine tongue;" while, at a later period, viz., 1706, the General Assembly recommended that "such as have power of settling schoolmasters are to prefer thereto men who have passed their course at colleges, and have taken their degrees, before others who have not, cæteris paribus." It

would have been a source of vast comfort to the fathers of families in Scotland if these enlightened views of the Church had been carried out by the patrons of our schools. But, alas! the heritors qualified by statute had no sympathy with this high standard; and I have known eight contiguous parishes in a neighbouring county, the seat of the oldest of our universities, none of the schoolmasters of which could teach "grammar and the Latine tongue."

I am well aware that an opinion very generally prevails that the presbytery of the bounds have a right to test the attainments of the teacher, after his election, or before entering upon office, and must, therefore, be held responsible for his qualifications being suitable. This, however, is a mistake, the power being limited by the minute of election. If, for example, the favoured applicant has not been ordained by the minute of election to teach " grammar and the Latine tongue," the presbytery of the bounds cannot proceed to examine him on these branches of knowledge, because the heritors of £100 Scots of valued rent have excluded these as not "deemed most necessary and important for the parish."

The main defect in the existing system, of course, is said to be the present system of "tests," by which all but members of the existing corrupt Establishment are excluded from the situation of teachers or professors. This state of matters is justly reprobated, now that the members of the Establishment have degenerated into a decided minority, and the least zealous minority of the community on the subject of education. Even in England no such sweeping control over the whole education of the kingdom is either conceded to, or claimed by, the colossal Establishment.

The recognition of the Formula by the schoolmaster determines the Practice of the teacher, as far as external appearances are concerned. He must be, by the existing law, a member of the Established Church, or outwardly, at least, in connection with that body of professing Christians. But the members of the Established Church of Scotland do not constitute one-third of the population, and, from their limited num ber, ought not to possess the power of restricting the individuals who are eligible to those of their own communion, although in other respects fully qualified for the office. Besides, the possession of this known power may be used, and recently has

been used, for the purposes of persecution. The indecent haste with which the Presbyteries of the Establishment proceeded to the ejection of all the parochial schoolmasters and others attached to the principles of the Free Church, stamped at once the sectarianism of the present arrangements, and furnished an unanswerable argument in favour of a change. The Free Kirk having teachers thus cast upon their charity, proceeded at once to give them support and employment, and thus commenced a Scheme of Education," necessarily sectarian in aspect, and by which there has been withdrawn a very large amount of our youth from all connection with the parish schools.

It probably would admit of conclusive proof by accurate returns, that the parish schools do not at present contribute to the education of one-sixth of "the youth-head."

This state of matters is monstrous, and we trust that ere long an universal outcry will be raised such as no Government can disregard. Every Government is disposed to act on the principle of doing as little as possible, and giving offence to as few interested parties as possible. To keep quiet and to keep in office, are the objects, not to rule the country with a view to the greatest amount of general and permanent good. Meanwhile, we have much pleasure in commending the excellent and seasonable pamphlet to which we have referred to the attentive perusal of our readers.

DR. CHALMERS.

RECOLLECTIONS OF MORNINGSIDE.

BY AN AMERICAN."

Now that this great and good man is dead, everything relating to him is invested with a double interest. It was the privilege of the writer, in the summer of 1844, to pass a few hours in his company at Morningside, the charming retreat about two miles from Edinburgh, where he spent the closing years of his life, and where he died. Before leaving home, on that summer's tour, when the whole prospect was before me, of wonders to be seen in Britain and on the Continent-above London, above Edinburgh, above Paris, above all places, Morningside, and above all persons, its illustrious inhabitant, filled my eye. Dr. Chalmers was to me Scotland, Britain, Europe. These were the frame, he was the picture-these the casket, he the diamond. And now, after the lapse of three years, little as it was my fortune to see of him, Dr. Chalmers, in the retrospect, is the great central object on which my eye loves to dwell, and about which my thoughts love to linger. I have a passion for wonderful places, and for wonderful creations of art; but above all, I have a passion for wonderful men-and to me, Dr. Chalmers was the wonderful man of his age-the best, the wisest, the mightiest. From my earliest childhood his name has been associated in my mind with all that is great, and excellent, and venerable.

Enthusiast as I was on this subject, let my disappointment be imagined when, on reaching the Scotch metropolis, I learned that the Doctor was absent on an excursion, upon which he had gone some days before, and that it was only possible he might return during the fortnight that I had to spend in that vicinity. My delight also may be imagined at receiving, when my time was nearly gone, intelligence of his return. I had previously left my letters of introduction at his house, with my address in the city; and almost simultaneously with learning of his arrival, I *Extracted from the Episcopal Recorder, published at Philadelphia.

received a note from him, inviting me to breakfast on the following morning. It may be supposed that I did not send a declinature pleading a prior engagement, which I might have done, for a prior engageThe prior engagement was

ment there was.

broken, with an explanation which was perfectly satisfactory to the parties concerned; for my Edinburgh friends would scarcely have been less grieved than myself, had I missed of seeing the Doctor; and his invitation was embraced with joy. I met at breakfast Dr. Candlish, and two other gentlemen whose names I have now forgotten.

My first feeling on meeting Dr. Chalmers was one of agreeable surprise. I had expected to see a tall, brawny, loose-jointed, and rather uncouth man. This impression had been received from reading, years ago, a description by some one of his appearance in the pulpit, in which the writer rather aimed, I suppose, at depicting his eloquence than his person, and sought to heighten the colouring of the former at the expense of the latter. The picture in my mind was in no way justified by the reality. He was not tall, but rather, as concerns height, of middling stature, with a well-filled, and in all points, a wellformed person-fleshy, not fat; large, not corpulent -just right in these respects for a man of sixty-four; and a face which, if the finest expression of benignity, and all imaginable marks of unbounded genius, have anything to do with beauty, might surely be called beautiful in the highest degree. If you had looked upon his face in repose, you would have pronounced it remarkable; in the glow of animated conversation, you would have pronounced it beautiful.

In an instant, I felt myself at home with him, and at home in his house. There was something in his reception of me that implied all manner of things fitted to make me comfortable. Not for a moment did he let me feel that I was a stranger; but having in an easy way presented me to his guests, and to the various members of his family, he drew us at once all around into a lively conversation, which ran on to the end of the table-scene as freely as if we had been the ordinary family circle.

Breakfast over, the gentlemen who were present, except Dr. Candlish, took their leave. The ladies retired, and Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Candlish, and myself, sought the study. A moment after, the Doctor was called out for some purpose; and, on leaving the room, he said to me, pointing to a writing table, on which a few books were closely piled together, "There, Mr. there are the books that I use. All that is Biblical is there. I have to do with nothing besides, in my Biblical study." Of course, when he was gone, I had the curiosity to explore this Biblical library of Dr. Chalmers, and found that it consisted of the following books: A Pictorial Bible, London edition, published by Charles Knight & Co.; an old Cambridge edition of the Bible; a Hebrew Bible and Lexicon; a Scripture Concordance; a volume of Pool's Synopsis; a volume of Henry's Commentary; and Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine. There was, besides, a manuscript volume of his own, partly filled, and lying open at the place, as if he had been just writing, entitled on the back, "Hora Biblica Quo

tidianæ."

Referring to Robinson's Researches, when the Doctor returned, I said, "I am proud to see my countryman's book in this collection." He replied, "You may well be proud of your countryman. In my time a better work has not been given to the

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