as they were to maintain in all its integrity the principle of an establishment, could have made to this memorial. We are very decidedly and strongly of opinion, that the demand of the non-intrusion party was utterly unwarrantable; and, in direct contradiction to the first and soundest principles of political morality. So long as these clergymen received the sustenance of the state, they were, and ought to be, under the control of the state. Nobody in the state-community would be so dangerous, so offensively opposed to judicious and salutary reforms, as a religious corporation nourished by the state, but at the same time, independent of that which supported it. Such a society would be an imperium in imperio, prejudiced, bigoted, contumacious, and a perpetual thorn in the side of the ruling power. The claim of the non-intrusionists was utterly unprecedented; and the bold determination with which they pressed it upon the government, caused them to be regarded in a very unfavourable light by the greater portion of the empire. The claim was quite incompatible with the retention of the state-endowment; and had wiser counsels prevailed, so ill-judged and impolitic a missive would not have been obtruded upon the government. It is within the range of probability that the non-intrusionist leaders hoped, that the threat of relinquishing the temporalities of the church would frighten the cabinet into a partial acquiescence with their demand; but they misjudged the temper and quality of the tory ministry.

The reply of the government to this memorial decided the non-intrusionist clergy to withdraw from their connexion with the state. Indeed, after the rejection of the memorial, no other course was open to them. They had drawn the sword, and the government compelled them to throw away the scabbard; but we fear, after a very careful consideration of the question, that necessity chiefly decided them on the ultimate step. The 18th of May was the day appointed for the convening of the General Assembly in St. Andrew's church in Edinburgh, and as it had been for some time rumoured that the disruption would take place on that day, vast crowds of strangers poured into the city, and the ordinary business was for the time almost entirely suspended. After the ceremonies of the day had been opened in the usual manner, Dr. Welsh, the moderator, rose to protest against any further proceedings, for the reason that there had been an infringement upon the rights of the church, and that, accordingly, he and they who were with him in opinion would withdraw to a separate place of meeting. But it would be unjust to Dr. Hanna not to quote his admirable narrative of this eventful congress:—

Having finished the reading of this protest, Dr. Welsh laid it upon

the table, turned and bowed respectfully to the commissioner, left the chair, and proceeded along the aisle to the door of the church. Dr. Chalmers had been standing immediately on his left. He looked vacant and abstracted while the protest was being read; but Dr. Welsh's movement awakened him from the reverie. Seizing eagerly upon his hat, he hurried after him with all the air of one impatient to be gone. Mr. Campbell of Monzie, Dr. Gordon, Dr. Macdonald, and Dr. Macfarlan followed him. The effect upon the audience was overwhelming. At first a cheer burst from the galleries, but it was almost instantly and spontaneously restrained. It was felt by all to be an expression of feeling unsuited to the occasion; it was checked in many cases by an emotion too deep for any other utterance than the fall of sad and silent tears. The whole audience was now gazing in stillness upon the scene. Man after man, row after row, moved on along the aisle, till the benches on the left, lately so crowded, showed scarce an occupant. More than four hundred ministers, and a still larger number of elders, had withdrawn. A vast multitude of people stood congregated in George's-street, crowding in upon the church doors. When the deed was done within, the intimation of it passed like lightning through the mass without; and when the forms of their most venerated clergymen were seen emerging from the church, a loud and irrepressible cheer burst from their lips, and echoed through the now half-empty assembly hall. There was no design on the part of the clergymen to form into a procession, but they were forced to it by the narrowness of the lane opened for their egress through the heart of the crowd. Falling into line, and walking three abreast, they formed into a column which extended for a quarter of a mile and more. As they moved along to the new hall prepared for their reception, very different feelings prevailed among the numberless spectators who lined the streets, and thronged each window, and door, and balcony, on either side. Some gazed in stupid wonder; the majority looked on in silent admiration. A few were seen to smile, as if in mockery; while here and there, as the child or wife of some out-going minister caught sight of a husband's or a father's form accomplishing an act which was to leave his family homeless and unprovided, warm tear-drops formed, which, as if half ashamed of them, the hand of faith was in haste to wipe away. There were judges of the Court of Session there, who had placed themselves where they could be unseen observers of what took place, who must have felt perplexed, it may be shuddered, when they saw realized before their eyes the fruits of their decisions. Elsewhere in the city, Lord Jeffrey was sitting reading in his quiet room, when one burst in upon him, saying, "Well, what do you think of it; more than four hundred of them are actually out?" The book was flung aside, and springing to his feet, Lord Jeffrey exclaimed, "I'm proud of my country; there is not another country upon earth where such a deed could have been done.'"-pp. 338, 339.

Dr. Hanna throws all the blame of this disruption on the British government. He views it as a great calamity, although he regards the disruption as the necessary carrying out of a principle conscientiously maintained; and the conclusion is not in harmony with the premises. He seems still to long

for the comfortable manses and the venerable kirks of the establishment; and altogether confirms us in the opinion we have long held, that he and his 470 seceding brethren would gladly resume again the state-emolument, if they could receive it on their own terms. The demand of these gentlemen upon the government was unprecedented, contrary to political morality, and indeed indecent. The government, pledged by their very office to maintain the integrity of the establishment, could not but refuse to allow the nonconformists to dictate to the state the terms on which they would consent to accept its support. The Free Church holds voluntaryism in positive disfavour, although she is entirely indebted for her present position to that decried principle. She remembers with regret the days when she reclined on the silken couch of the state, and casts a longing, lingering look behind' on the parted endowments. By the latest accounts, it would appear that her finances are not so prosperous as they were. Probably, had she more faith in that voluntaryism which hitherto has sustained her, the evil alluded to would speedily disappear.

The non-intrusion secession contrasts unfavourably with that other great event in the history of our country-the withdrawal of the two thousand English nonconformists, compelled to abandon their churches by the tyranny of the remorseless Stuart. In the former case the seceders had friends in almost every parish in Scotland; vast sums of money, it was known, would speedily be collected for them; persecution in any violent form was rendered impossible by the spirit of the age; and they had the sympathy of all those to whom liberty is dear as life, not merely that which belongs to man as a citizen, but that which to the enlightened and the devout is of far higher moment-freedom to worship God. But in the case of the English nonconformists, everything which man regards as of the greatest worth was unhesitatingly relinquished. Those illustrious men did not chaffer with the government of the day as to the terms on which they would receive its support. They did not for a moment calculate the results. The red hand of the persecutor was against them; they were expelled from pulpit and hearth; banned and watched by a cruel government; abhorred by the national clergy; and driven out from ease and plenty with none to help them but their God, and with no trust but in His almighty arm. If the two can for a moment be compared, certainly caution and deliberation are distinctive of the Scotch, but majestic integrity and heroism are as a crown of unfading glory to the English seceders.

None perhaps of the Free Church clergy had made greater sacrifices by the withdrawal than Dr. Chalmers; and he had

certainly all along been the chief agent in maintaining the agitation, and in effecting the secession. He converted his house at Morningside into a church, and there the old man eloquent' weekly taught to crowded congregations the truths of Christianity. In his youth and vigorous manhood he had laboured for the establishment; and now that he was exiled from the beloved kirks in which he had often unloosed the torrent flow of his eloquence, he resolved to give what remained to him of mental and bodily vigour to advance and strengthen the Free Church. By his counsels the general sustentation fund was established-a wise and politic provision; and before the close of 1844, he had the satisfaction of knowing that £300,000 had been contributed to it. Immediately after the disruption, Dr. Chalmers resigned his chair in the university of Edinburgh; and accepted the office of Principal and primarius professor in the proposed Free Church college. Thus employed in pursuing his Daily Scripture Readings,' in occasionally contributing to the North British Review,' and in many labours of the noblest philanthropy, the holy and beloved pastor, the illustrious and venerated philosopher, fulfilled the mission to which his Maker had called him, and for which he had received the noblest endowments; working while it was day; and then passing away, in the mellow glow of his life's evening, to that higher existence, which is the goal of faith and virtue, and to the abodes where the eternal are.' On the Sabbath, May 30th, 1847, he felt an unusual feebleness; but recovering himself, he retired to his chamber in the evening, in his most happy mood.' On the morrow he rose not at the usual hour. His family entered the room, but received no reply to their inquiries. The kindly voice was hushed; and, on opening the window-shutters, they let in the gladsome light of spring upon all that was mortal of Thomas Chalmers. They found him seated on the bedside; his head resting on the pillow; and his countenance expressing a fixed and majestic repose. The destroyer had released the ready spirit without inflicting probably any pain. Thus calmly he passed away into the presence of Him who giveth His beloved rest.'

And here we must take leave of these instructive and interesting volumes. We differ in many important matters from their author; but we heartily congratulate him on having concluded his lengthy but admirable memoir, which will rank highly among British biographical works.

307

ART. IV.-Nicaragua; its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the proposed

Inter-oceanic Canal. By E. G. Squier, late chargé d'Affaires of the United States to the Republics of Central America. London: Longman and Co. 2 vols. 8vo.

AMONG the striking consequences of the recent discovery of two regions of gold at extreme points of the globe, under the rule respectively of the United States and Great Britain, not the least important is, the improvement of our joint relations in that part of Central America which is described in Mr. Squier's volumes. The gold of California not long ago led the government of Washington to look seriously into the condition of the countries through which its citizens throng in search of treasure; and that new interest concurring with our ancient commercial connexions in Central America, and with our general concern for the welfare of its inhabitants, an amicable diplomatic arrangement was entered into in order to check ambitious views on both sides. The treaty of Washington, of 1850, pledges the United States and ourselves to abstain from all territorial acquisition in Central America; and that treaty also encourages all land and water passages between the Atlantic and Pacific. At first the Americans took the lead in the construction of such passages, after they had been speculated on for three centuries. Accordingly, Mr. Squier was sent, not only to promote friendly intercourse between the republic of Nicaragua and the United States, and to assist the liberal cause against unjust attacks, but also to support the construction of the inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua by certain citizens of the United States-a mission which, conducted with somewhat overheated zeal, must be admitted to have contributed to satisfactory results. We have since given up certain offensive pretensions rashly sanctioned at home, and our reasonable claims in Central America are respected. absurd taunts, therefore, of Mr. Squier, against all the aristocracies and monarchies of the world, and against the Britishers as their mainstays, may be borne with composure, since the good sense of his own government has directed its intervention in the affairs of Central America to much more useful objects than the total exclusion of the powers of the old world from the affairs of the new.

The

Pending these proceedings, which took place when all the passages by the Isthmus seemed comparatively less useful to England than to the United States, the gold of Australia is