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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ffitbrarg KINGSTON, ONTARIO 'rttfessor of I 7 PKESBYTERIANISM IN CANADA. AUGURAL ADDRES8 DELIVEHED UY REV. ALLAN POLLOK, • » V Fessor of Pastoral Theology and Church History, Theological Halk Halifax, 3rd November, 1875. HALIFAX, N. 8. PRINTED BY WILLIAM MACNAB, No. 12 PRINCE STRKJiT, 1875. ; L f/ 2 '<6 PR No ON acknowle constantl; word of ( of characi events an of indivic are to pre nrhich we io not ^ iccomplis sf a wan1 jcripture, :.his is als :o enquin ;he chang ipparent- revelatioE In con country, > Tor a min< swell witl iimits, an fairest poi )wii; wh ioleration, I c^i^ui'ch ( t is natu ik^y to PRESBYTERIANISM IN CANADA. No ONE, who is familiar with that book which we continue to acknowledge as the rule of life, can have failed to observe how constantly we arc warned against judging by appearances. The word of God teaches by declaration and example that, in judging of character, of the effects of conduct, of method and results, of events and their consequences, of preparations and their success, of individuals and their future, of nations and their destiny, -ve are to proceed further and dive deeper. There is an inner world which we do not see, where there are powers at work which we io not know, and which the Ruler of all things employs to iccomplish His will. But it ought to please those who complain ji a want of harmony between the will of God, as interpreted by jcripture, and the works of God, as interpreted by reason, that •bis is also a primary lesson in philosophy ; whose business it is :o enquire by phenomena into realities, — to distinguish between ;he changeable and the unchangeable — between the real and the ipparent — and so ascertain those general laws which constitute that revelation which the priests of science unfold to the world, [i] iln contemplating the spectacle of a great church in a great country, we should be careful to abide by this rule. It is natural Tor a mind, moved by the view of a great country like Canada, to swell with some vanity, and to expatiate upon vast geographical limits, and upon a region that possesses all that distinguishes the 'airest portions of the earth, together with peculiar features of its )wii ; where various nationalities and churches, in freedom and ;oleration, are building up a nation diverse from all nations, and I cfcui'ch diverse from all churches. Inflamed with the spectacle, t is natural for us to dwell upon it. And hence we are ikely to have much of that cloud-scenery which mimics the - .; 119695 , . • tn look bi'-becevuse cvevytWng around it is V,ig. Let ,.s c-'f""y P-f; ;",^^^; ,,e case of a nation, sue As in the case of an ind. ulua^ ^o ^^^^^^^^^^ .^ ^ ^.^^.^^^^^„„_ eess depends especially on chuva e • ^^^^^_^^.^^ ^^.^ _^^ ^; It is the result of a process .he .^^ ^^^^ ^^^^,^,.^. , , „f fied by circumstances. Ihts const ^^^ ^^^^,^^^ ^j j,,,, education, [u.] In ^^ ?'''^^:^o<^.^o.^,^^^^^<^'>^''T land, its climate, rts -'.''^^'f.',, travelling facilities, its scho- ol conditions, its physrcal ^^^^^ .^^^^^ ;t, churches, tts poh- U„ic education, its --l'"^" ^^Xtures and various industrtes tioal condition, its trade and --f' ^J arcnmstances so varred whether useful or orn^^^^^ ^„J^,„,e them-are poterrt that it would be vatn o at . n pt t ^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^,p„„ agencies. And there rs - - f . ;,„„ .^at none but exter- such influences as '« Pvo ; ^^^^ ^,^,^^^„,,, energy and „al causes are at work , thu . . ,„sceptibility to ,nflu- wealth of the humarr spunt and ^- P ^ p,o,;dence whtch ences from above. B^>\- f ^,7,J,,;:;,u-ation of the Spirit, we i. not a mere name, and n an ^^„,,_ eunnot accept such views r n; m ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^„„. With this explanation, then, ^^__ ^^^^^ „po„ ditions common to a^ -J — ^^^^ „„ ,,Hieved civilization their task with all ho ''^""^' i^,,„„s of a long and Political and religious 1'^- Y.lfuwful inheritance. They dearly-bought experience are abundance of space ,eap what °»'^-\ Xir^^^mploients . And while all ob- and can take their choice J «/ ; ^^,,. .,hrown thus upon structions are removed, so a.e Jl^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^_.^,^^, ,,„ their own resources, their po traditional reverence evoked. With the growth of^se»,^^^ ^^^.^^_^ ^^^^^^„ ^^.^.^.^^ and all the tasteless virtues ot ^i„^^Xi.,^ in modes of disappear, and a f^^ff.";" "".,■,., ,e Character is developed thought and modes ol ^^''f'lj;^^,, interchange of thought and is esteemed above office , v, m . ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^,„ i„p.oves minds -"^'^ J t o- and most obvious effects of colonial 1 J) A wc Some additional cliaractoristics are developed in Aiuuilca. l**hysicully, the American constitution is the European, toned down and reKncd. European features appear in each generation less distinctly. The lines of the face are HniJ- and the structure of the body is less robust. We wish that we could be certain that in the course of time tliere has not been a considerable dete- rioration. With the blending of races local peculiarities disap- pear. This change reveals itself in the language, which discards all dialects and becomes a conmion speech, aualagous to that, of the Greek colonies of Asia Minor. So that while a man's speech betrays him in the mother counti-y, it ceases to mark his oricrin on these western shores. An independent condition, and the perio- dical interruption of labour by a long winter, rentier the people readers and purchasers of books. Many British authors probably obtain more readers in America than in Britain, America is truly a great field for authorship. While no social and political obstruction to the admission of lltei-ature, roimd an immense sea border, indented with harbors and visited by ships of all nations, exist, the only remaining hindrance — inability to read — is being everywhere removed by common schools. A huge population, cultivating thousands of miles of generous soil, in a peaceful se- clusion where virtue has few seductions, diminishes those vices which most seriously interfere with habits of reflection. Viewed in this light America has been called " a magnificent spectacle of human happiness." If it be not so, it ought to be. It ought to be a field where intellect might search calmly into the mysteries of life, where fancy might perform some excursions, and where affection might seek a congenial home. Close and long -existing bonds between this colony and Great Britain render us accessible to all influences at work on the other side. Every discussion there is repeated here. The echoes of every burning question are heard at once. Every chang:? in opi- nion wings its flight here, where such fluctuations spre; d over a wide area of readers. The settlement in almost unbroke.i masses of ScotcHi, Irisk and French, is a peculiarity, by wdiich national prejudices, antiquated fashions and long-exploded errors receive 6 a long lite, to the immense injury of a new nation. In such dis- tricts the traveller is amused to find things which have disap- peared in the mother country religiously preserved out of loyalty to a country that has long forgotten both the "worsyiip and the worshippers. Companionships, speech and daily habits keep such people out of the general current of thought and away from the movement of the nation. This condition is intensified in some districts by the existence over all, but especially in the centre, of the most decent, most moral, most respectable and best organized Romish Church in the world — qualities which it owes to the proximity of Protestants and not to its inherent excellencies. We admit its importance as a witness to certain great fundamen- tal doctrines and Ideas ; but it is more and more losing sympathy by its Jesuitical management. Its opposition to freedom in every- thing, and its gradual consolidation into a mere political weapon in the hands of men who have no principle but one — adhesion to the Pope. The absence of an established church, does not dimin- ish sectarianism — rivalry organizes the sects more perfectly in self-defence. While there may be some advantage in diversities of opinion, no benefit can come from want of that charity -which is a prime condition of health and happiness, [m.] Thus we see amid all this intellectual, moral and social life two great competing tendencies which have ever battled in the world — and which are formulated in conservative and liberal creeds. There is no battle to fight here for political freedom. We have only to admire the noble edifice of political liberty, and pre- serve and, if possible, improve it. But it has never been known that superstition and Intolerance and sacerdotal oppression have existed long without a reaction. An age of scepticism will fol- low, and, if it has not come sooner, it is because political freedom has rendered men Indulgent and blinded them to the existence of such obstructions. There are, however, many indications that it is coming now, and wherever such evils exist — among Protestants or Papists — they will produce the usual eflfect. The reaction will be proportioned to the disease. There are movements at work that no caste can arrest — fires that no discipline can smother. dl 'J^ p- ty he ,ch Lhe me .of zed tlie nen- athy revy- apon on to imin- ;ly in rsities lich is fe two world creeds. We id pre- known m have yrill fol- reedom tence of 8 that it otestants tion will at work smother. Let us now see what preparation we have in our common Preshy- terianism for such present or future conditions. It constitutes an iniportuit aiUtiity that the Presbyterianism, which has been planted here, possesses a long eventful historv. Whether brought from Scothmd or the North of Ireland, it is an offshoot of the Scottish Church- -ihe fruitful mother of nearly all the Presbyterian Churches of the English speaking race, [iv.] The formation of separate Presbyterian communions has certainly tended to interrupt the current of histoiical association and sym- pathy, [v.] The natural effect of s(!paration has been to lead men to cherish the history and principles of the division, and justify and tecch it, and, by withdrawing attention from the best part of their history, to discourage Christian unity. But they have always professed to be the true children of the old prophets, whose tombs they have rebuilt — whose works they have printed and circulated, and whose monuments they have restored. Thus the phrase : " the church of our fathers," has been bandied about among all parties. Nevertheless, a true filial instinct has been preserved, and union ought to reawaken the ancient love, and recall old and valuable traditions. The Presbyteiian Church of Canada, as one of the Churches of the Reformation, is entitled to refer back to that great epoch of religious life for examples and associations. It is an edifice which has accumulated innumerable monuments of the past. The church of Knox, of the Melvilles, of Henderson, of Binning, of Robertson, of Gillespie, of the Guthries, of Ruther- ford and Carstairs, and Boston, of '' the Cloud of Witnesses," and the historians, metaphysicians, natural philosophers, and political economists of the eiifhteenth centurv — the church of the coven- anters who were the apostles of spiritual light and political free- dom, whose faults were due to the most malignant and most unjustifiable persecution that ever stained the annals of our race, and who conquered — can not be a church of which any one need be ashamed, [vi.] Within her walls the present and the past meet together. Here we feel the smallness of the individual, and the greatness of the institution. Here a single life is but a fraction of a life whose line runs out throi gh centuries. Every peculiarity of luT •worshij) has a history wlilcli l)cgct.s emotions of tlie hiiifhost and pin est land, and wlicn tliat liistory is studied, it ouf,dit to finnish some check against heartless and frivoh)ns inno- vations. Its Acts of Assembly arc the fee))Ui (>choes of the strug- gles of other days. Its heroes have obtained a Ix'tter inheritance, and they have left better things to us who can read their good M'ork in those titne-honored inscriptions. It is deplorable when any religious system becomes favorable to personal religion but unfivorable to science ; and vice versa. Without religion a man has no happiness, and without science he has no light. Without religion society has no stability, and with- out science it has no progress. Human nature does not ac([uirc a du(* equilibriuin unless the cultivation of the intellect and the cultivation of the affections go together. The two great evils of the world are ignorant religion and irreligious knowledge. It can scarcely be doubted that the Calvinistic system is more favor- able to spiritual d(>pth than any system which seems to make man the cause of his own actions and the world's history a succession of unaccountable a'-cidents. The opinion, that all that comes ^o pass is predetermined by God, coupled with the postulate that He brings His determinations to pass by the aid of general laws, is strictly accordant with the maxims that everything must have a cause and that certain causes must produce certain effects. Such maxims M'ill become the familiar topics of our children and no where more than among the people of this advancing country. Suchmaximsgivea determinate character to scientific inquiry ; and they exalt historical science, which unfolds the play of well under- stood motives, exhibits the calculable results of character, and in- spires us with cheering hopes of futiu'e advancement. A belief in the uniformity of the laws of nature has led many to look coldly on dogmas which teach a supernatural interference with the course of things. But this becomes a question of fact, which rests upon evidence of its own. And be it remembered, that the Bible teaches that such declared interferences have been very rare, and that there has been a great economy of miracle. The wonders of science would have seemed incredible to ourselves 9 II lO it no- il N'- ICC, oofl able )-S(t. ho Mth- uire i tlio lis of . It avor- 3 man cssion nes ^^ lat He aws, is have a Such and no ountry. ;-y ; and L under - and in- Al belief to look ice with t, which that the 3en very le. The ourselves some years ngo and could oidy have been received as niiracles. All such si'cniiu^' inteiferences admit of beiiij; referred to luj^dier and yet undiscovered laws. 'Ihis "ball which men call earth," is an incalculably small fraction of a i^n'cot whole, and the eternity and inunutability of the Divine plan is the mo>t feasible ap])roach which supernatural doctrine could make to the maxims ; that all niitural laws work uniformly and ])roduc(> their conse(juences by a determinate connexion between e.uise and effect, [vii.] The church as contrasted with the indivldiud is utimistakeably a prominent object in the word of CJofl. Those churdi ideas, wjilch merge the individual In the community and produce a common syinpathy, analogous to what is called public spirit in the state, are of frec^uent occurrence ; while individual liberty and personal responsibility to Cod are equally sanctioned. WIhm'c the one idea ha? predohi'-ated, the liberty and responsi1)ility of the individual have too much declined, and where \\\v other has prevailed, diversity, d' Ision and v a.vness have been the results. As the great probh m in politics, luider all forms of gov(u•nmen^ has been tO unify the ".atum without invasion of the rights of individuals, so the great ])roblem in ecclesiastical government, whether directed to belief or admin' .^ration, has been to maintain a due balance between the unity of the who'e and the diversity of the parts. All churches, while they ought to aim at this, pursue it in different ways. The church of Rome gives the pro- blem a brief solution by ordaining absolute submission and uni- versal conformity. It is well luiown that even there this is found unattainable, but its internal divisions and diversities are unac- knowledged. That saying of Archbishop iNIagee may be quoted, not because of its truth, because it is a pointed expression of the two tendencies to which I have referred : " Th^^ church of Home has a church but not a religion ; the dissenters have a religion but not a church — but the church of England has both a church and a religion." We do not know whether the Arch- bishop incluood Presbyterians under the name of dissenters ; but we do know, that his pithy description is very inapplicable to the Presbyterian church, both as to its principles and practice. 10 Whether its ideal has been attained or not, the idea appears in all the formularies and symbols of the Scottish church, and occupies a prominent feature in the writings of the reformers and their suc- cessors for over a hundred years. They not only exalt the church or "the kirk," but they speak of schism as a crime deserving punishments which were too often inflicted. In fact, tliey had no idey of more than one church in any one country. It is lamentable when such views become causes of oppression, [viii.] We would be sorry to maintain that separation never becomes necessary or that all separations are crimes. But while civil pains and penalties on account of religious belief or deportment aro happily now and for- ever discarded, we do not know any system under which, while unity is favored by subordination of courts composed of lawfully ordained church rulers, on the one hand, and there ought to be a fair representation of all classes on the other, schism can be less likely or less defensible. In our church all are protected by a well digested system of "forms of procedure." Every one is placed under the guardianship of law, which is the glory of our political constitution, and while his individual liberty is controled, it is only to an extent which is defined and formulated, and which he knows and accepts. Thus he obtains as much protection from the whims and caprices of church rulers or subordinate courts as laws can give ; while the church is equally protected against the pas- sionate outbursts of popular rage, the dictation of numbers or the arbitrariness of too powerful individuals by which truth and righte- ousness — the eternal laws of the eternal God — are assailed. When church ideas prevail, as they seem to have done in the primitive church, the individual loses little and gains much. He gains in power and influence — in dignity and defence. As a part of a great whole, he appropriates all its glories to himself. His heart is expanded by a wider sympathy and his mind by a larger inter- est. Innumerable questions that spring up, tinged with that diversity which must ever characterise the operations of a free spirit, become a school of enlightenment. In a sentiment of gene- rous loyalty he feels that the individual is nothing when compared to the institution. To him, church rulers and preachers, great It -•e 11 and small, are but servants, and, when they pass away, the edifice remains unmoved by the transitoriness of this life, and enduring as the covenant of God, " the word he has commanded to a thou- sand generations." The members are mortal, but the body is un- dying. — The parts are temporal, but the whole is eternal. The individual worshipper worships God. The law to which he yields submission binds hearer and speaker alike, and, while the one speaks as an ambassador whose message is to be judged by its conformity to truth — while his message is likely to be honest and true and useful, just because he feels himself nothing and his office everything, so the other hears a message for which the speaker is only half responsible. Thus the worshipper gains in self respect and is spared the degradations of man worship, and all the vaga- ries of religious fashion. Our Presbyterianism combines firmness in principles, with elasticity in details. A rigidity has been fastened upon it, which does not belong to the system, and which was never designed by its founders. For this rigidity we are indebted to its enemies ; whose attempts to oppress the people and coerce them into a system and worship, which they abhorred, embittered their minds and produced a change in Presbyterianism itself. This is much to be regretted, but Presbyterians are not to blame for it, though they may be to blame for keeping it up, and making that a part of the system which was engrafted on it by its enemies. No one will suspect the Scots of being indifferent to Calvinistic doctrine, but it must be remembered that if they had held ext'-eme views in reference to confessions of faith, they would not have had re- ceived the Westminster confession, which is almost entirely an English document. The Assembly that sat in the Jerusalem chamber in Westminster Abbey was the greatest Protestant As- sembly that has met since the Reformation, and the Westminster standards have been most influential ; but it is none the less true, that the Scots had compatively little to do with them, [ix.] Yet for them they forsook their own old confession, which was then disused, but has never been abolished, and which can never lose interest as a historical monum 3nt of the Reformation, [x.] In I ■,^;ij;i--.}^^^ 12 , ^ 1 lv,.undei-^one many changes. No church has sec. - ""'J'^.^;; a>cu presbyters alone the.x ..ell as presbyters, '^e b J«P „^,„^^ „„aov the pre- blshops, and now presbyte » a p,,,byterianism rs pro- ,e„t revolution settlement wh r ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^_^^^ ^^^^^^.^y jounced to he only f""""^^:'; ""...bytery is, that there are no thereto. The cssenUal J^' ^ ^^^ ^..iy.ers. But the detarls church rulers above arrd no^^ be P_^ ^ ^^^^^^^, ^^ by which this principle i, can e ^^^ ^^^ ^^„,.^b in the ,;„„ement.-Again, as to f°"";;;,^^^„.,,, them so often now. It lad has changed thenrso « &-> o -^ -; ^^^ ^„„.,, ,,bat order has come to this, that no one know ^^^ .^^.^^ ^^„,^,,, te arc to have ; for that lepcn U e^tu y ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^ In the Scotch church *«---&; ^,^^ ^..^ctory, winch '. lUnro-v then no i^^^^o-)^' . „„ lit-ur"-v and tVipn Knox s nUUj,}, . ^ usmg a iunio)' ter took much hold, then a mrxue^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ me not, and, lastly, ^^"iX Canadian church not anv authorized form oijo..\nV- ^^^^ ^^^ ^^rer AVest- onlv the confession b- been ac«pte ^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^„,.,,,p „;„ster standards ; so that, at Ust .^ ^^ .^^^ V b some shew "f ^^'^^ ^„,.^' "^ this'matter of wo. rp eially in a new and large "»- ^ .^^ „„ ^He part ot h^, comes home to every one and cl man ^^^^^ ^^.^^^^^ .^ ^,^, f. church ; that what >s essential may be ^^^ ^_^^^^ ^^^^^ ^, ferent and changeable may be .egtdae ^^.^^^^^^ ^^ held, but they should be ^^^^, .^e people, under the ,vants and in some measure the ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^.^^ , jes guidance of scripture, so far as it rves „ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ :f reason and human P^-e.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ .^^^^ ,,, ^.igh- every man, who fights tor /us i hou^^s, troubles Israel and ^-P-^;^^^;^, ^,^,, and learning. Our system has always sought to com ,^^^ ,.po„thlcombinationIneeaii.i— ^^^^^^^^^ piety has no ^b-ee <> -ftuenc ^^^ _^^ ^^ ^^.^^ i,npietyistoprevad r mustb ^^^^^^^ .^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ f^,„, , among religious people. 13 as leii »re- iro- Liblo } no •tails 1 ar- i the V. It order [lister. »rayer, which ry and vithout •ch not West- worship i, espe- wori>hip rt of the IS iudif- must be e to the uder the cral rules tood that lis neigh- learning, u ignorant if scientific le learning 3h favors a division of labor — in which every man is specially and carefully trained fen- his work — have an educated ministry. Presbyterians will not dispute this necessity. Hence the importance of our four halls, of which this is the oldest in Canada — havinsr existed more or less for half a century. Notwithstanding many diilicul- ties and changes it has done a work which can never be forc^otten. Its annals are written in indelible characters in the life and la- bors (^f ministers who have toiled at home and missionaries who have preached in savage lands — martyrs who have proved their zeal and courage, by the sacrifice of their lives, and earnest and wise apostles who have planted the church in remote islands of the sea. The principle of a church conducting its own education is good, and is sanctioned by Knox and the example of every re- formed church in the world, and has been tested here by its suc- cess and the failure of every other plan. Here good men have labored with little reward or recognition. The teachers, and a vast number of the taught, have alike departed this life. They have finished their course and now rejoice together. But in one respect there has been a failure — namely, in the support of the people. By this time this hall should have been amply provided with funds ^or all purposes, and been able to enlarge with the wants of til times. Endoivment is needed, because as an annual charcre it would be far too hcavv, and annual collectiot ,i aie needed, because no hall can afford to lose the constant sympathy of the people. The Church of Scotland has come forward at this time with its aid, upon the understanding that eflbrts are made to place matters on a proper footing. So long as so much is done in other quarters and so little is done here, this hall cannot be expected to compete with other schools. If students in those places are amply provided for by bursaries, it is vain to expect them to study in this place. It remains then to be seen wdiat the Presbyterians of the Maritime Provinces, who would resent the extinction of this hall, will do in the circumstances. We do not believe much in what is called pleading a cause. When a need is explained and is not met by the contributions of the peo- ple, it is a sign that something else should be done, [xii.] /I 14 We have endeavored to take a present and prospective view of our field and the kiad of Presbyterianism required. A race natur- ally shrewd, often thoughtful and generally intelligent ; accessible to all modern ideas, quick in taking the benefit of all modern im- provements, rapidly imbibing the speculations afloat in older countries, especially those with which they are allied, enjoying the leisure, if they have the inclination, to reflect, and having every prospect of attaining some eminence in science, for which they have opportunity and adaptation, preserving loyally traditions, which are soon to die, and developing a nationality which is sure to emerge in the course of time — a nationality in which European vigor is not diminished, but intensified by being freed from all the tram- mels of caste and rank — such a race must go forth to pursue the common impulses of humanity. This people are brought face to face with Romanism whose strength in our midst must gravely complicate the future of this country ; because, with many merits and with many great truths embedded in its bosom, it carries down from mediaeval times a superstition which is debasing, but which was harmless, when compared with modern and recent addi- tions to the old Popish creed, — additions by which the whole Ro- man Catholic body are at the feet of the Pope or those who con- trol the Pope for the purpose of keeping out the light and spreading darkness among the fresh and virgin glories of this land of the setting sun. Whether Protestant missionaries shall accomplish much or not, the light will and must break in, and when it does, it will be followed by the recoil of scepticism — such is the invariable effect of outraging man's intellect. — To meet this state of things, we must have a church which, while it does not discourage a healthy sentiment of reverence for the past, favors intelligence and the spread of useful knowledge ; which studies history not for precedents but for lessons ; which encourages his- torians, not antiquaries ; which attempts no stolen march upon the friends of improvement by the aid of the old shoes, fusty garments and mouldy bread of the Gibeonites of a past age, but reforms the present out of the past and adapts the past to the present, and which will therefore not seek to plant another rl 15 his- ipon justy but the kher Scotland or another Scotch church in America, but will, by an independent study of all that is truly valuable in Scottish Presby- terianism, seek to unite the venerable traditions of the Scottish church with the zeal and energy of the once separated parts. Such a church will not enter upon a mean and perilous crusade against new thoughts and new opinions (as the church has almost invariably done hitherto), but it will subject them to the test of inquiry, and hold out some word of encouragement to the rising light and natural curiosity of young people, and utter some words of sympathy with the feelings, wants and difficulties of the coming generation. At such a transition time as ours the Lord Jesus warned men against putting old wine into new bottles or new wine into old bottles. The one method is bad for the wine, and the other worse for the bottles. The more we admire an in- stitution, the more we should repair and improve it. Time will not leave it alone, and we must fight a battle with time for its preservation, and when we are arrested in this work by death, our children must carry it on till the Lord comes. Experience has shown that when a sceptical movement against received opinions begins among a people, repression is unwise and suppression is impossible. The one attempt is a crime against political and the other against moral liberty. The one is a viola- tion of the social contract, and the other of the personal rights of man. The one expedient can only end in giving an extraneous importance to error, and the other brings a suspicion and reproach upon the truth. And both must end in failure. When Strauss's book appeared nearly forty years ago, attacking the gospel upon grounds which rendered it necessary for the author to tear up by the roots the old irreverent rationalism by which it was preceded, some theologians wished the Prussian Government to interfere with the pains and penalties which are the only weapons which government can employ ; and those, who would not wish this, were so afraid of its effect that in England it could not find a respectable publisher for many years. The influence of Neander prevented the employment of such an unjust and unwise method of dealing with error. He pled that a deeper study of the gospels, 18 tiYiii a iiBw direction to learning, whereby it would accomlnodate ltd labors to the necessities of the truth, and so, as the great Teacher always did, meet error upon its own field, and refute it upon its own principles, were the only remedies. The effect of this course was that the truth became more firmlv established, and Christian- ity having cast aside much that was foreign to itself, and learning having greatly multiplied its resources, both became niore widely influential for good over the educated minds of that country. We can conceive of the Creator forming a world of beings among whom doubts and difficulties might not arise, and there have been periods in the history of our own world in which the human mind has appeared stagnant for centuries. Such, however, have not been periods of progress but of material ahd spiritual death, ending at last in corruption and misery. The world sup- posed is not the world in which we live, and, though scepticism may be attended with many evils and much suffering, yet the re- sult has ever shown that, while without a free spirit, without a spirit in which little is taken for granted and presuppositions are almost wholly disallowed, we can have no real progress, and the conflict is only reserved for another age, to be fought amid in- creased dangers ; on the other hand, truth has triumphed in the end, errors have fallen into the category of antiquated weapons t £ war, curious subjects for the harmless antiquary, but useless for the warrior, and no longer deadly to truth, and christian learning- has increased its armory and enlarged its power. To know what we are to do and how we are to direct our studies at any particular time, let us remember what has been the general history of the conflict between truth and error in our own mother country. ISIarking out the time somewhat roughly, we observe that this spirit of inquiry has sprung up at intervals of about a hundred years. In the sixteenth century the energies of the human mind rose up against the 23apal church. In the se- venteenth century it rose up against the existing Protestant churches, and a multitude of sects appeared, the mere enumeration of which exhibits sucU an inconceivable variety and number of new opinions, all battling against the existing order of things^ 01 bel ofl 17 our the own we ,1s of cs of e se- jstant ation )er of ingS) that the mind is appalled at the rehearsal. In the eig'liteelith century the battle turned itself against revolation, when dei^^ni obtained many followers in England, and, on the continent, gave birth to German rationalism, and now in the nineteenth century, prompted by the generalizations of physical science, and led by the introduction into moral and religious qties- tions of those severe laws of investigation which are proper and necessary to scientific discovery, the human mind rises up in re- bellion against the doctrines of natural religion — the being, the providence and the perfections of God, and especially the Jirt^ iippt'Rrances.*^ — See at leiig'th Int. to Morel's Ilistorv (,f Spt'culative Philoaopliy. II.- The intluence of I'hysical (laiisus upon <;haractHr is lar^rely treated bjr Buckle, in his Ilintory of Civilization. I'o.ster, on thu .stuue .subject. Kubordi- nates jihy.sicul to moral caii8e.«>. III. — When ptople lire bein;,' ])erpetuiilly stirred up, and tau;_'ht to feel that thef must be relifjious in .•^onie way or other, they lire not aver.se to take a ,seo- tarinn line of action, for they (!.in do .so without eradicatinjj a. single bud pa-ssion, —yea, by ^rratifyin^r some of them immensely, and tliat in the name of relifjfion. V IV. — The Irish Presbyterian (Jhurch was I'ounded by Scotch emigrants tit the beofininiij,' of the 17th century. King James found it easier to make bish- ops than J'lpiscopalians. V. — The first Seceders were the ''High f'htirch' party in the Scotch They were the lineal descendunts of those who held the scriptural Church. authority of Presbyterianisni. Tiie followers of (Jillespie, afterwards the Synod of Relief, were ''Low Chun.'h" and very much in advance of their nge, in point of liberality. VI. — Woodrow's accounts prove that millions sterling were exacted in tines, and thou.sands banished to .Vmerica or birbar(tu?!ly slain, with and withoul form of law. They were the most learned and enlightened jjeople in the land. In a few years the whole nation did what they were doing — resisted thv tyrants, and what tliev were not able to do — drove them out. Kven Buckle says : — " The reader of the history of that time sickens and faints at the con- trivances by Avhich these abject creatures .sought to stifle public opinion, and to ruin forever a gallant and high-spirited people." VII. — Science rejects miracles as opposed to its princii)les, but prophecy is the Lireatest of all miracles. Up till its ftdlilnient it is a sUindinf/ miracle, ( un- le.ss we abolish all hi.storical science) and it remains unaffected by physical ob- jections. It implies knoirl("l(/e by ways unknown, as miracles imply pmoer from sources unknown. VIII. — There were divisions, but not separations in the primitive Church. IX. — Besi(ies these, a third was prepared and presented to the .Assembly in tlie Near 1016. "The As.semblv sanctioned it.' See "Scottish Litui'gies, edited by Rev. G. W. Sprott, B.'A. • X. — To the AVe.stniinster Assembly the Scotch Church sent seven eommi»- sioners, including Ilender.son, Baillie, Uutherford and Gillespie. McCrie, ii> his "Sketches'' says: — "The chief burden of tlie debates fell upon our divines."' His authority for- tb.is is '• liaillie's Letters.' The "Minutes' of the Assembly, lately published, bc-ar this out. XT. — Those wdio charge the covenanters witb want of spirituality, cati neither be acquainted with their writings, their lives nor their deaths. No- where are to be met sucih fervent and higldy-wrought expressions of love to Christ, and ardent desires after Him. In their religious frames, they wrought. 1/ so tht'instflveHinto statk?M of tvvcitHiiieiit in wliicli tlic veil of (lesh n»'»'ttn'il to full and they looked into eteriuil and iiivisibln ri'jilitit's. They Imd jxrivfr, iiiid a rolif^-ion without irnnnth \\;\n no |)ower. XII. — Tlu> American {u-oplc are heconiinj,' aware that thf most intellii/xnt nation is certain to lie the most powerful, and, so far as money can accomnlisli this, they are determined not t(» be beliind Jutnd. The sums they have neen ?\\\x\\i to collei/es diirinjjT the last ten yearw, are ineredibie. A well-informed _, ,.1,0(0,000 at least; to* Yale Oollefro at least $1,000,000; to AnilierHt from $r>0<),(MK) to $1,(K)0,000; to Harvard at least $1,000,0(J(). I dare not venture further than to say that Union Seminary and Auburn Seminary have each received at least luilf a million, and several other I*reabyterian Seminaries and ('ollej^'es have received severally one or more hun- dreds of thousandft." See furtlier an interestinji- article in "Good Words" for October, on "American (-olleffes," by Principal Tulloch, I». J). 4' 1 ,1 1 1 •i) ; « ' '"iiv ^Vi i. ■ > V ^ « ■;.:t,.y<'tf Jl