pudiating Mr. Macaulay, and substituting one who professed to object to it on principle, but who would take no steps to rescind it; regarding it, now, to be an established institution of the country. Mr. Fox Maule, who voted against the grant on Free-Church principles, boldly declared that, as regarded the election, it was "a mere stalkinghorse for the gratification of some paltry, miserable, mean personal feeling." However true this might be of individuals, it was not true of the minority generally. But they were certainly chargeable with great inconsistencies and narrow-mindedness. The Voluntary Churchmen of the minority found in Sir Culling a singular representative of their out-and-out principles. The Free-Churchmen of the minority, who would extirpate Maynooth to-morrow if they could, and who would not be at all scrupulous about exterminating the English, Irish and Scottish Establishments, unless these Establishments were reformed after the Free-Church fashion, were equally ill represented. There were one or two electors, more known as political than as religious zealots, whose sentiments were still less in accordance with those of Sir Culling, and who are presumed to be more particularly the subjects of Mr. F. Maule's harsh allusion. But perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the contest is, that a Society (or a Committee) has recently been got up here, consisting of self-constituted protectors of Protestantism and of Evangelical principles, who are inimical to all existing religious establishments, though not, as a body, inimical to the establishment-principle, whose names are kept concealed, and who seek to influence all the elections in Scotland in favour of such persons as themselves, by keeping up a secret correspondence by means of an accredited Secretary, with some chosen person or persons in every town whom they, in their wisdom, deem worthy of their confidence. This piece of jesuitical machination has been very effectually paralyzed by the simple process of exposure at the hustings by Mr. Gibson Craig, who publicly charged Sir James Forrest with being one of the manœuvrers, and called on him to publish the list of the names of his associates.

The Peel Tories and the Established Churchmen of Edinburgh were for the most part neutral. Those who did vote were generally among Mr. Macaulay's supporters. The fanatics of this

and of all other sections were of course with Sir Culling. These persons are in the habit of talking as if they had the power of returning whom they will; which makes the practical lesson they have received all the more valuable to themselves, and to those who are often too easily intimidated by their confident assumptions. Last year, a number of them sent a letter to the Members immediately after their Maynooth vote, in which they did not condescend to argue, but used the high tone of dictators, and threatened to vote against any future candidate for Edinburgh who would not strenuously oppose Maynooth. Mr. Macaulay treated it as an attempt to deprive him of his deliberative rights and to intimidate him into a self-contradictory vote on the third reading of the Bill. We present our readers with the means of judging of the spirit of the Edinburgh anti-Maynooth voters, and of the spirit of the present representatives of Edinburgh. Mr. Gibson Craig's reply was less epigrammatic, but equally firm.

"SIR,-We the undersigned Electors of the city of Edinburgh, have observed with deep regret, that, in the list of votes on the Maynooth Bill, your name occurs among its supporters; and as in itself sinful and unconstitutional, we look on that measure, not only as but as fraught with many most disastrous consequences, we strained by an imperative sense of duty vote for any one at a subsequent election to state to you that we cannot possibly by whom such a measure will not be strenuously opposed in Parliament."

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"Albany, London, April 30, 1845. "MY DEAR SIR,-I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter, and the accompanying letter.

"I have no apologies or retractions to make. I have done what I believed and believe to be right. I have opposed myself manfully to a great popular delusion-I shall continue to do so. I knew from the first what the penalty was, and I shall cheerfully pay it.-I have the honour to be, my dear Sir, Your faithful servant, T. B. MACAULAY.

"Sir James Forrest."

DOMESTIC.

Manchester New College-Professor Wallace's Valedictory Address. In the brief report which last month we were able to give of the Examination in the Theological department at Man

chester New College, we stated that at the close of the examination on the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion, Professor Wallace delivered an address to his pupils. That admirable document (for which, at the meeting on the following day, the Professor received a unanimous vote of cordial thanks from the Trustees of the College) we are now enabled to give to our readers. Before doing so, it may be well to record, that the questions were close and searching, and that the answers prepared and read by the young men were full and perfectly satisfactory, shewing that the instructions offered them had been of the best and soundest kind, and that they had been fully comprehended by those for whose benefit they had been prepared.

Address.

As my official connection with Manchester New College will soon cease, and the present is the last public opportunity I may have of personally addressing its assembled friends, I wish to give utterance to a few valedictory words.

Six years have now elapsed since I was appointed to the office of Theological Professor in this institution; and have been most anxious, during the whole of that time, that the interests of religious truth should not suffer in my hands. My object has been rather to set before those of my classes which are strictly theological, the results which have been attained by the most eminent men in the departments of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation, than to exalt into undue importance the passing novelties of the day. Young men are apt to look with too partial an eye upon the speculations of their contemporaries, and to regard as antiquated and obsolete all which passed before their own time. This they will find, as life advances, and the sphere of their knowledge is extended, to be a great mistake. The truth is, that, in some branches of study, and not least of all in Theology, the reason why so many crude theories are now broached is, because so much has been accomplished by preceding writers, that comparatively little remains to be done by their successors; and for my own part, though I would by no means depreciate the labours of living authors, I can state with some degree of confidence, as the result of a long and careful study of the subject, that, compared with what was done in the department of

Theology by the writers of the last generation, the achievements of those of the present day are trifling and insignificant. I have endeavoured, therefore, to the best of my ability, to lead the young men who have attended my classes, through a course of study which, while it recognized every thing that is valuable in the new schools of Theology, did not aim at doing this by sneering at the labours of previous writers;-a course, in short, which was adapted to inform, rather than to entertain and amuse those who attended it, and to prepare them for fulfilling the office of religious instructors to others, and becoming able and judicious expounders of the sacred records. This it has been my wish to effect, with as little of a theological bias as was compatible with a faithful performance of my duty. I have never dissembled my own honestly-formed opinions, when I felt called upon to state them; and I have never intentionally concealed or misrepresented the opinions of others. No attempt has ever been made by me to restrain that freedom of inquiry which has in times past been the characteristic and honourable distinction of the Nonsubscribing Dissenters. I have spoken freely myself; and have left those whom I have addressed to think and act freely. But it has ever been my object to treat Christianity with respect, as a revelation emanating from God, and confirmed by the attestation of miracle. Had my views respecting it been at all different from this, I should have deemed myself an unworthy occupant of the theological chair in this Christian institution.

Of course I cannot be answerable for the effect which these views may have had upon the minds of others. But I shall retire from my office with a consciousness that I have done my duty towards those whose theological studies it was my business to superintend, and shall continue to hope well concerning their future respectability and usefulness in the church and in the world.

I have now to express my thanks to the members of the Committee, and to my brother Professors, for the courtesy which I have uniformly received from them.

To the Students also, who have attended my classes, I beg to offer my acknowledgments for the respectful manner in which, with scarcely an exception, they have been in the habit of listening to my instructions.

In America also, we learn, an important decision in the same liberal direction has been given. A suit has been going on, it seems, for seven years in respect to a congregation in Forsyth Street. The first decision was adverse to the religious liberty of the congregation. The congregation appealed to the Court of Errors, and succeeded in reversing the judgment of the lower Court. Not content, the party who wished by judicial authority to resist all religious ameliorations at the epoch of the Synod of Dort, filed a new Bill and brought the matter again before the Chancellor. The case and the result are thus lucidly stated by a writer in the Inquirer: "The question was, whether a trust for the German Reformed Church (originally a Calvinistic body) could be applied to Lutheran objects; and the view of the Court of Appeal particularly, as expressed by Senator Barlow, is precisely that which we have always conceived the true legal view of the matter. He draws the obvious distinction between a trust for a particular congregation, and a trust for advancement of particular opinions; and he holds that, in the absence of any express declaration of a doctrinal intent, it will enure to the benefit of the society, rather than to the advancement of particular doctrinal sentiment."-The order to shew cause in the case was discharged with costs, and a temporary injunction allowed by the Assistant Vice-Chancellor was dissolved.

New School-rooms, Bradford, Yorkshire.

In the list of English Presbyterian chapels which the Dissenters' Chapels Act had prompted to improvements, (C. R., 1845, p. 841,) mention is made (p. 847) of the congregation at Bradford, Yorkshire, being about to extend their chapel-buildings by the addition of a new school-house. The necessities of the school had long demanded it; and its increase, keeping pace with the progress and operation of that most auspicious measure, and most objectionably compelling the use of the chapel for its purposes, was anxiously turning the thoughts of its friends upon the best means of providing for its accommodation. Its actual rooms occupied a small space at a front corner of the chapel-yard. It was first proposed to enlarge these, or to rent rooms any where near, if such could be found: other plans suggested themselves, as

building new rooms somewhere in the neighbourhood, or (as land was so high) in a back corner of the chapel-yard, at the same time securing the very important advantage of the school not being off the spot of the chapel. A very desirable scheme had crossed some minds, without, however, appearing within the prospect of fulfilment. The chapel-yard is beset on three sides with buildings; two sides of these were small cottage-houses. Those on the back in particular had long been a great nuisance to the chapel. Could any part of these be obtained, they might both afford convenient school-rooms and put an end to a grievous annoyance. The extent and value of the property, however, seemed to forbid the hope. Amid various schemes and hindrances, delay was disheartening, though success in some quarter was sure. Inquiries were made and events were propitious. The scheme of converting the back-property approved itself to the Trustees and other friends. The most suitable portion of it could be obtained for £300. A most liberal subscription, therefore, was immediately commenced, and early in the spring of the present year the property was purchased. It comprised two cottages fronting to a back street, and a contiguous cottage and yard adjoining the chapel-yard. The contiguous front and back cottage have been laid into two excellent school-rooms (upper floor); communication with the third cottage and the street to which it fronts has been stopped; and the yard, by a descending step or two and neat railing, made one with the chapel-yard. On Whit-Sunday (May 31), the rooms were opened, a short service marking the occasion; and the next day, WhitMonday, June 1, the annual holiday of the scholars, ushered in by the brightest of suns, and enjoyed in the new Public Garden which their own order has established, was more than all signalized by its celebrating the opening of their own new rooms. It is with pride and pleasure that we record that the subscription to those rooms equably ranges, among high and low, rich and poor, among members, teachers, parents and children, from £50 to two-pence. The number of children in the school is at present about 120; and the third cottage can at any time be added to its accommodation. The door, too, on the

The Woolsorter's Garden; to which Her Majesty the Queen graciously contributed £100.

street-side of the lower school-room, which is at present closed for Sundayschool purposes, seems, as it were, ready to be opened for a Day-school, for which a much-needing district loudly pleads. The improvement which the whole change has made in the chapel-yard is most marked and cheering, notwithstanding the indignities which the venerable structures of our Presbyterian forefathers must, in the lapse of ages, of necessity tolerate within their precincts. It had been hoped that the opening of the new school-rooms would have been still further marked by their reception of the West-Riding Meeting of Ministers and Tract Society (held this year at Bradford), in the week following its own celebration. This honour, however, was gladly ceded to others more commensurate with the large attendance eventually anticipated and actually taking place.

Mr. Gathercole and the Press. We observe with no little surprise (if, indeed, we ought to be surprised at any proceeding of Mr. Gathercole) that this well-known clergyman has ordered proceedings to be taken for a second time against Mr. Miall, the Editor of the Nonconformist, for libel, and has laid the damages done to his character and reputation at £5000. The alleged libel consists of some articles in the Nonconformist, which appear to us to be upon the whole temperate and judicious. The strongest of them are extracts from the newspapers, containing comments on the former trial, certainly more complimentary to Mr. Miall than to his clerical opponent. There is also included in the charge of libel the speech delivered by Mr. Miall on the occasion of receiving from his friends at a public meeting a purse of money, contributed with the view of bearing him harmless in what was regarded by them as an oppressive and vexatious action. There is, we believe, no doubt that, technically speaking, Mr. Miall was on the former occasion guilty of libel. It is possible that some portion of the articles now selected for action may again expose him to an unfavourable verdict. Should it prove so, we, in common with a large portion of the public, shall greatly regret it, and shall consider him deserving of sympathy and such aid as we can render him. The public will generally think that no man ought to be twice punished for the same offence. If Mr. Gathercole's character were injured by

the libel, (which we must be permitted to doubt,) he received from the hands of a jury compensation in the shape of £200. We have yet to learn that, besides the payment of awarded damage, the defendant is bound to make a confessio delicti. Even in Ecclesiastical Courts, if Blackstone tell us right, penance, their favourite punishment, is redeemed by "a sum of money" as its "equivalent." If Mr. Miall is liable to punishment for his treatment of Mr. Gathercole since the first trial, so also should be the editors of newspapers and magazines without end; so also should be every subscriber to the Miall fund.

In whatever light we look at these second proceedings, we can only regard them as a hardy (we trust the result at Ipswich will prove an unsuccessful) attempt to curb the rightful freedom of the press, and to give to the clergy an immunity from criticism which is denied to every other class in the community. With a portion of Mr. Gathercole's former writings we have some acquaintance. They abound in coarse and libellous attacks on Dissenters and liberal Churchmen. If, as is sometimes said, clean hands be necessary to a plaintiff in an action for libel, his chances of a second verdict are small indeed. For not all the waters of the Cam, nor "all the perfumes of Arabia, will sweeten" the hand of the editor of "The Churchman," a very scurrilous publication, conducted for several years by the now Vicar of Chatteris.

Bristol Lancasterian Schools.

We

We had prepared a brief narrative of the very extraordinary proceedings at Bristol of the managers of the British and Foreign School, and extracts from the admirable speech delivered by Rev. George Armstrong on the evening of the 12th of June, in which, with irresistible force, he exposed the gross violation, not only of religious liberty, but of the constitution of the Society, by the introduction into the school of exclusive doctrinal instruction. find ourselves at the last reluctantly compelled to put aside the article, but we cannot refrain from tendering to Mr. Armstrong our hearty thanks for the courage and ability with which he threw himself into the battle for religious liberty, and rebuked the fraudulent bigotry of his orthodox neighbours. Happily, his labours were not in vain. His speech aroused the attention of the Trustees of the school, who upon con