us no longer sleep. While we are delaying, thousands are perishing. The money is in the bank which would enable more than one missionary or catechist to go forth proclaiming the glad tidings. And yet it rests there. O cruel prudence, that will not cast forth the rope because thou hast not yet exactly calculated the distance betwixt thee and the drowning man! This is being wise in little to the loss of much. Away, such worldly calculations! Where is our faith! this is not faith, this is sight. If we cannot have a man of our own, let us give our money to others we can trust, and who can put it out to such usury as shall return God glory; let it not lie idle; leave it not wrapped up in a napkin. When our own man is found we will find the wherewithal for his due support. At the first call our people responded cheerfully. They will not be offended if their mite is put into another branch of the Lord's treasury; and when again called on for new exertions, we feel assured they will not be found wanting. Let those then with whom this matter rests see to it, that the Lord's money is no longer hid in the earth, but be forthwith applied to its noblest use.* Let them take care that it become immediately the sinews of a holy war, under whichever of Christ's banners is most meet, and they will speedily find it true with regard to their treasury, "There is that scattereth and yet encreaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty." Glasgow, July 1847. 66 THE BANNER OF ULSTER AND THE COVENANTS. In the Monitor and Missionary Chronicle of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ireland, we meet with a statement to the effect, that the Banner of Ulster, in reviewing the third number of the Original Secession Magazine, had advised the Original Seceders to give up their opinions about the Covenants, as a preliminary to union with the Free Church, and that he had for ever settled the question of the obligations of these Covenants, by the sage affirmation, that if our forefathers could pledge us to what was right, upon the same principle they might pledge us to what was wrong." The argument, that the Covenants cannot be binding on posterity, because, if our forefathers could pledge us to what was right, they might, on the same principle, pledge us to what is wrong, is certainly a very notable one. It places truth and error entirely on a level, and involves a principle which utterly annihilates, if carried out, all moral responsibility. He might just as well have said that our fathers could not pledge themselves to what was right, for on the same principle, they might pledge themselves to what was wrong. No pledge to do wrong could bind our fathers themselves, and much less could it be obligatory on their descendants. Nevertheless, the Banner will admit that a pledge to do right would have been binding on our fathers as individuals, and it does not require any very large amount of discrimination, we should think, to see, * Our own sentiments, on this point, which are somewhat different from those of our correspondent, were fully explained in our last number. that though the pledges of our ancestors could not bind posterity to do what is wrong, they might, notwithstanding, be an additional obligation on posterity to do what is right. Such at least has been the common sense of mankind in all ages, and in all nations, hitherto, and we rather suspect that the principle is so deeply inwrought into the texture of our moral nature, and so closely interwoven with the whole moral government of God, as revealed in the Bible, and as exhibited in the entire range of history, that it can only be subverted by a complete revolution of the universe. Not having seen the notice in the "Banner of Ulster," we should have judged that the "Monitor" had misapprehended the meaning of that highly respectable periodical, were it not the case that Reformed Presbyterians are well informed on all such questions, and not much in danger either of speaking nonsense themselves, or of causelessly ascribing it to others. As it is, the sentiment, that our fathers could not pledge posterity to what is right, because "they might, on the same principle, bind them to what is wrong," is so very extraordinary, as coming from a Presbyterian, and especially from an Irish Presbyterian, who are usually distinguished for accurate opinions, and high-toned principle, that we should still hope there has been some mistake. As to our throwing the principle of covenant obligation over-board, as a means of union with the Free Church, this would neither be for her honour nor for ours. It is an historical fact, that from the Reformation to the Revolution, the Church of Scotland was a Covenanted Church. By disowning the covenants, the Free Church would lay the axe to the root of those wide spread and deeply seated feelings, the growth of ages, by which she is connected with the Church of the First and the Second Reformations, and such an act would be injurious to her own stability. It is also an historical fact, that from the Revolution down to the Secession, all the faithful men in the Church of Scotland believed in the continued obligation of the National Covenant. There was, however, a party in the Revolution Church who all along were of opposite sentiments; and if the Free Church were to deny the obligation of the Covenants this would be to connect herself historically with that party, and leave the historian of opinions no other alternative than to trace her genealogy backwards, until he found it terminating in the curates and time-servers of the Revolution Church, who, among Scottish Presbyterians, were the first parents of the whole anticovenanting progeny. But by identifying herself with the Church of the First and of the Second Reformation, the Free Church would present an unbroken line stretching backward, through the pious minority in the dark days of moderatism, and the faithful men in the Revolution Church, to the martyrs" for Christ's crown and covenant," during the persecution, and through them going backwards even to the times of "the lords of the congregation," whose "bands" and whose swords, notwithstanding the assertion made to the contrary by Dr Keith, with all his usual accuracy, were, under God, the external defences in its infancy, of that cause to which Scotland owes all the elevation she has since attained. Some of our readers may have been expecting that in this number we would say somewhat respecting the discussion on this subject in the Free Church Assembly, but we must delay this to a future opportunity. THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF ELI. “And she named the child Ichabod, saying the glory is departed from Israel.” Heroic female! brave but broken-hearted, High were the words with which thy soul departed, They told thee of thy youthful husband slain By the Philistian sword on battle plain,— They told thee of the aged Eli's last, And well thou knewest thy own death hastening fast. Thy care was Shiloh, and thy fear the ark; And still thy noble Israelitish breath Was heard low murmuring in the pangs of death,— The glory is departed from the land!" AND THEY CRUCIFIED HIM. O sorely clouded sacred head Of Jesus, that great storm Which should have wrecked the world instead, Now, but for thee, may Israel say, All we had perished from the way! Calm, and without one grievous word, Did recognise him as the Lord,- Unto the cross, where he that hour abode Yet did he no iniquity at all; No wonder, that in scorn The sun fell back in the ethereal hall, And was eclipsed at noon. Hark to the Sabacthani cry, Behold the God of nature die! CAMBELL STREET CASE. We wish it to be understood by our readers, that the remarks which we made in our former number, and, in particular, those which had respect to the necessity of diligent study in the ministers of the gospel, did not originate in facts which had been brought up in evidence shewing a want of diligence on the part of Mr Clarke. No evidence whatever, in regard to the manner in which Mr Clarke conducted his studies, was brought before the Synod, and, therefore, at the time of writing these remarks, we were, and at present we still are entirely ignorant on that point. What we said was designed to be a general improvement of the lamentable fact that such a case had occurred, and not to be a comment upon the proven facts of the case itself. Mr Clarke's case was the occasion of our writing as we did, but we had not the slightest intention of assailing his conduct. While we make this explanation in deference to the feelings of others, we offer no apology for the remarks themselves, which we thought when they were written, and which we still think, are of a kind that may be useful. CRITICAL NOTICES. The Light of Prophecy let in on the Dark Places of the Papacy. By the REV. ALEXANDER HISLOP, East Free Church, Arbroath. Edinburgh; W. White & Co. From the days of Knox to our own, so far as we are able to remember, the whole authorship of Scotland, voluminous and varied as it has become, does not contain a single volume, on the subject of Popery, of such dimensions as to come within the designation of being a work on that subject. The explanation of this, which at first sight may seem an unaccountable defect in our controversial literature, is founded on the following remark of the author of the Wealth of Nations "It is in Presbyterian countries only, that we ever find the common people converted without persecution, completely and almost to a man, to the Established Church." The presence of a vigorous unhampered territorial Presbyterianism, with its complement of bibles, schools, and resident living agency, constitutes a power which neither the Romish nor any other form of superstition is long able to resist. Before such a power, that mental and moral darkness departs, amidst which alone superstition can breathe freely, or go at large. Acted on by this power, Popery in Scotland, as a formal creed, had, within less than two generations, almost ceased to exist, except in those localities where powerful family influences were exerted to shield it from the assault of the light, before which, in the other parts of the kingdom, it lapsed into extinction. Since then the efforts of the religion and the patriotism of Scotland have been concerned with it chiefly as a foreign enemy, hovering upon our frontiers, or watching to effect a descent on our coasts, in order to regain the ascendancy it had lost. Hence the warfare against Book 5th, chap. 1, art 3. it has consisted either of a succession of blasts from the trumpet of alarm, uttered with the force of Acts of Church Courts; solemn, fervent and rational renunciation of it in public covenant; or in works like that of Mr Hislop, than in any regular hand to hand conflict with the system. Through almost three centuries the spirit of God has accompanied these means with success. In some remote districts, indeed, the baneful superstition has dragged on a lingering existence, but, except these, it includes among its victims almost none of the native population of Scotland. It is encamped among us, however, in the persons of the immigrant population of Ireland. It grows, it is putting forth every where, especially in our towns and cities, its stately churches, convents and seminaries of education; and in aid of these, the press and the priesthood ply their powers of deception, and almost persuade themselves that Scotland is a paradise which might yet be regained. We could afford to look with derision on this opposition, were it not for certain circumstances in our social condition which make such a state of mind both inappropriate and criminal. portion of our lower population who have their moral abode in the stagnant marshes of ignorance and profligacy, can be counted by hundreds of thousands; on them superstition builds its hope, among our more educated classes thousands have on this subject resigned the use of reason, and have become the victims of an infatuation more mysterious than perhaps any which the history of social insanity records. Our circumstances therefore demand such exposures of the Romish superstition as the work of Mr Hislop. The qualities which he brings to the task are, The a minute acquaintance with the system in its doctrines and practices, a strong and distinct perception of its tendencies and results, and a Christian and manly ardour and boldness in stating and exposing them. His superstructure of argument and illustration is reared on that broad and solid foundation, laid by a wise and inspired master-builder in 2 Thes. ii. 3, &c. That day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," &c. As the work proceeds it becomes more and more manifest that the gigantic temple of Romish error answers to the apostolic description as face to face in a glass; and the effect is at once to confirm our faith in prophecy-quicken our sympathies with the victims of this great modern sorcery-rekindle our desires for their deliverance, and prompt us to venture to utter the sublime and affecting expostulation and prayer of Patrick Hamilton amidst the flames,"How long, O Lord, shall darkness overwhelm this land-how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men?" It is superfluous to add that we cordially commend the work of Mr Hislop to our readers and to the public in general. The exterior of it is hand some, and the interior is lucid in arrangement, thought, and expression, and displays a thorough knowledge of the subject, in union with a vigorous and truly manly spirit, and with a judgment that we have rarely seen surpassed in the capacity of selecting the best and most appropriate arguments and illustrations. We venture to assure our readers, what we would not do respecting many works now issuing from the press, that this is a volume which they will read, and after having read it, we feel confident that they will all acquiesce in the high opinion we have expressed of its merits. We shall be happy to meet again with Mr Hislop as an author. He is one of those writers, who, amid the prevalence of a weak and puling sentimentalism on the one hand, and of a servile and degrading affectation of foreign forms of thinking, and feeling, and writing on the other, has retained the simple and manly form of thought natural to his country; and it is from this independent class of writers, and not from the flashing imitators of German transcendentalism, nor from the laborious dulness of those who imitate the unwieldy and lumbering forms of German disquisition, that we expect any good, either for our native land or for the human race. Letters to a Romish Bishop on the Character, Tendency and Influence of the Papacy, by Kirwan. With an Introduction, and Affectionate Address to Roman Catholics. By OCTAVIUS WINSLOW, M.A. Edinburgh; W. P. Kennedy. This is the production of an Irish gentle man, who was educated within the pale of the Roman Catholic Church, but afterwards had his eyes opened to the superstitious nature and demoralising tendency of the Papal system. Originally these letters appeared in a transatlantic journal, "The New York Observer," and were addressed "to the Right Reverend John Hughes, Roman Catholic Bishop of New York." They are obviously the production of a very superior mind, and characterised by great energy and precision, both of thought and expression. We have not, for a long while, met in The with a production that more entirely rea- |