Calvinistic Theology.

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pay the Annuity Tax subjected him to no little obloquy, and he nobly defended himself against the most virulent of his defamers in his "Law of Christ respecting Civil Obedience,”—a treatise which vindicates civil liberty on scriptural grounds, and breathes the old Scottish spirit of protest and defiance against tyranny in all its shapes. Well might Lord Brougham write. to the late Lord Cunninghame-" I have never seen the subject of civil obedience and resistance so clearly and satisfactorily discussed." The slavish theories of Hobbes, Parker, and Filmer are exposed and blasted with scorching eloquence; for certainly some of the theories which he refutes vilified the martyrs and murdered patriots of all times, and would, if strictly carried out, have ordained the hundred and twenty members of the Church at Jerusalem to pay an assessment to defray the expense of the execution of their Friend and Master, had Pilate or Caiaphas seen fit to impose it.

He

Dr Brown's theology was eminently Calvinistic. We have never heard higher Calvinism from any pulpit than from that of Broughton Place. It was Calvinism after Calvin's own type, and not after that of some of his successors. The Atonement Controversy in the United Secession Church clearly showed that he held firmly to Calvinism, but held it in perfect harmony with what most other men practically preached, but to which they do not give such theoretic prominence. did not hold the hypothetic universalism of Cameron and Amyrauld, which had disturbed the Reformed Churches in France, and against which, in 1675, was launched the famous Swiss Formula Consensus. He taught the theology of Boston, of the Erskines and Adam Gib, and taught it in the language of the minor symbolical books of the church to which he belonged. Dr Balmer also, who, as Dr Brown's colleague, was implicated in certain charges, cheerfully and eloquently defended himself, but was soon removed from the scene of quarrel, hidden by the Master in His "pavilion from the strife of tongues." We cannot, however, in this journal review the controversy, only remarking, as we pass, that the dispute became at length a logomachy, and that Calvin, in whose system the elective Divine sovereignty holds such prominence, in his testament made four weeks before his death, prays to be purified and washed, sanguine summi illius Redemptoris effuso pro humani generis peccatisuniversal applicability with limited application. Dr Brown, indeed, had peculiar views as to the nature of faith, and it is said that his worthy father was wont to tell him that he had "clipped its wings." His knowledge of all the various forms and modifications of Calvinistic theology was minute and extensive, and his writings remain a witness that he held tenaci

ously by the leading tenets of Scottish theology, and regarded it as a system thoroughly compacted, and as imparting strength and symmetry to vital godliness. Yet it is a system which, while disowned by the creeds of some other churches, may yet be read in their hymns and heard in their prayers, for it probes man's deepest spiritual necessities and supplies them.

Dr Brown was no mere man of books, though he had such delight in them. He loved the scenery of nature-hill and dale, wood and water. During his residence at Biggar, when a thunderstorm occurred, he used to throw up his window, gaze with great delight on the conflict of the elements, and listened to its reverberations among the hills. His soul could not be confined to sect or party; he was a lover of all good men. He hailed the Evangelical Alliance at its origin, and always adhered to it. On the memorable day of the Disruption, he was in Tanfield Hall ready to welcome Dr Welsh and the protesting phalanx which followed him. In the missionary enterprise he was ever fervent, and, along with Dr Heugh, contributed not a little to give the United Presbyterian Church that impulse which is still far from being exhausted.

He was very conscientious, and yet very charitable. But he could not bear pretence and affectation, nor could he admire some German commentators with "their unduly high estimate of themselves, and their unduly low estimate of the sacred books and their authors." His absorbing interest in his own studies did not weaken his interest in all his friends-in all, especially, who were afflicted or bereaved. Many letters of condolence and sympathy were written by him, in a simple and scriptural style, without extravagance of phrase or feeling. One of these letters he sent to one of the bluntest of his accusers, on whom a severe domestic affliction had fallen; and it so melted him that he spoke of the writer of it in unbounded eulogy, as if up to that period he had grievously misunderstood him. At some inconvenience, and in peculiar circumstances, he went to the funeral of one of the two brethren who had formally libelled him; and it is remarkable that, in the biography of that venerable minister, published some years after, there is not a syllable of allusion to the most momentous and responsible act of his life, his formal accusation of one of the professors of his Church for holding and teaching grave theological error. Dr Brown's bearing was manly, generous, and noble, and his smile was a benediction. A prince in Israel, he was a kind and genial host in his own house. He had little outflow of words, and his conversation soon became a professional monologue on books and authors. He was often ludicrously hampered in expressing himself, and seemed sometimes helpless for want of topics of common interest. Key-words, oft recurring,

Scenes and Sayings on Death-bed.

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characterized both his sermons, prelections, and ordinary talk. He seemed almost unable to express the same thought in two different phrases. When he had formed an opinion of a man or a book, he delivered it usually in the same unvarying words. To his old age he retained much of the sensibility and fervour of youth"a young lamb's heart amidst the full grown flocks." Humour sometimes gleamed in his conversation, as when some one, speaking of a certain individual, said, "Some say he is a little vain," and he replied, "Some say he is not a little vain." This species of humour depends mainly on the position of words, and the accent given to them. Thus too, after he and Dr James Buchanan exchanged cordial salutations in the Hall at Tanfield on the day of the Disruption, the latter said, "Dr Brown, I am glad to see you here," he at once replied, " And I am glad, sir, to see you here." He had passed his ministerial jubilee, which was solemnly celebrated, and at which he gave a last and striking proof of his generous nature, when he became enfeebled, and his constitution began to break up. Yet, as he lay on that couch of suffering, his mind was ever active, and literary plans were begun and so far prosecuted, for his faith never wavered, and his hope was never clouded. His was calm and unruffled assurance. Doubts, fluctuations, and uncertainties never perplexed him, for he had the confidence that knows no shaking, and the "perfect love" that "casteth out fear." After passing through a crisis in which death seemed imminent, he remarked to his daughter how near eternity he had been, but, alluding to the Pilgrim, added, "I felt the bottom, and it was good." Nor did he ever mourn, as Niebuhr did in his want of faith and spiritual support. Counting himself an unprofitable servant, he still felt that he could not be accused to his Lord of having "wasted his goods," though he might murmur with Tycho Brahe, Ne frustra vixisse videar. He used to say that the lives of Jeffrey and Sydney Smith were a reproof to Christians, for these men seem to have acted up to their imperfect religious convictions. His bed was often filled with books, but a large print Bible had always the post of honour at his head. He felt, probably as most men do, that he was willing to work, but he was not so sure if he was as willing to suffer. As often happens, too, the simple and more devotional parts of Scripture were his last and favourite readings, so much so, that he remarked to a friend that he thought David was going to displace Paul. At length he passed away peacefully, on the morning of October 13, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, and the city of Edinburgh, with ministers from many churches and denominations in Scotland, did honour to his remains on the day of their interment.

In conclusion, and in estimating Dr Brown's influence, we are far from affirming that studious minds are incapacitated for active exertion. With Brougham and Gladstone before us as living examples of the combination of scholarship and aptitude for public business, and with the reproof of Socrates to "the handsome and clever Hippias" ringing in our ears, we will not make the assertion. But we must add that it is a common but a fallacious measurement, when it is supposed that a man who has lived more in thought has less influence for good than another who has lived more in action. The latter makes a more immediate impression, but his own hands may reap the entire harvest which he has sown; whereas the former, by the silent tuition he has imparted to other minds, often transmits through them his influence to distant lands and other ages. The pulpit wields a greater energy than the platform; more power is generated in the study than in the committee room, but the press of to-day may perpetuate thoughts which shall not have grown obsolete or feeble at the end of a century. Few are or can be equally great in all these departments, and little choice of spheres is left to a diligent Scottish clergyman. Dr Brown appeared in all the three spheres. He was good on the platform, better far in the pulpit, and his wisdom was listened to in the midst of counsellors framing modes of business. But though these opportunities have gone, by his printed writings, "he, being dead, yet speaketh," and will speak. And in years to come, when the children's children of those who enjoyed his ministry shall have passed away, and traditionary anecdotes of his person and character shall have waxed faint and few, he will yet hold his place as an expositor of Scripture, and wear the title first proudly given to the Grecian Alexander and then to the Arabian Averroes, for he has earned it in a higher sphere than theirs—the title of onynths, the Commentator. In a word, it was his consecration to the Master of himself and all his mental endowment and furniture, that made him what he was, one of the most accomplished divines of his age and country; for, to use inspired language, "if such brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ." How delightful, then, the thought, that they who have served Him on earth shall be assembled with Him in the skies, where no alienation shall happen, and no cloud overshadow their intercourse; where they can part from each other no more than they can part from Him; where the coffin, the procession, and the sepulchre, shall never be witnessed; where the services never terminate, and the song never loses its newness; and where the complaint shall never be raised in surprise or sorrow, "Our fathers, where are they, and the prophets, do they live for ever?"

Scottish Nationality-Social and Intellectual.

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ART. III.-Scottish Nationality-Social and Intellectual: Installation Address of the Right Hon. HENRY LORD BROUGHAM, etc., etc.

THE installation address recently delivered by the venerable and famous Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, amongst many other questions of wider interest, stirred several which appeal peculiarly to Scotchmen, and which, in some form or other, are rarely absent from their thoughts. The questions to which we refer are:-Whether Scotland still possesses a separate nationality, and, if so, in what this nationality consists, and has consisted, since the political autonomy of the country ceased? Whether it is of such value to Scotland, and to the kingdom generally, as to render its preservation desirable? and lastly, supposing the latter question to be answered in the affirmative,— By what means, if any, can its existence be perpetuated?

It is true that these questions were rather suggested than stated by Lord Brougham, and that the answers which he would have given to them were rather indicated than announced. But even indications of opinion from such a quarter deserve at all times our very serious consideration, and more particularly when they have reference to a subject regarding which Lord Brougham is probably more in a position than any living man to make up his mind. That even he has done so, is more than anything which he said would warrant us in assuming, for he is too wise to dogmatize on a subject which, in some of its aspects at all events, is hidden. by the future. But it seems to us that the solution which he hinted at had at least the merit of limiting the question, by placing the true issue before us; and by showing us that if we possess now, and in any sense are to continue to occupy, a distinctive and individual position amongst the nations of Europe, that individuality is, and in future must more and more become, not political, or even institutional, but social, and, above all, intellectual. Those of our readers who remember the line of argument which we adopted several years ago, when, alone amongst our contemporaries, we advocated those measures of University reform which have borne at least the one good fruit of Lord Brougham's appointment, know that the train of thought which he has thus awakened is by no means new to the pages of the North British Review. Our object in the present article shall be to test its validity, and, in so far as we are able, to follow it out into its practical consequences. We commence with a slight historical retrospect of the various phases through which the question of Scottish nationality has passed in the minds of our countrymen, since the union of the crowns in 1807.