| | | | | For three centuries there has not been such a running to | and fro among the Scottish clergy as during the last three | years. They have been like bees swarming; such a | restlessness and bumming, ay, and stinging too. Whether | all this noise and turmoil shall tend to the increase of | knowledge, piety, and charity, remains to be seen. | The author of the volume before us does not, however, | belong to the modern itinerancy. He is the pastor of the | largest of those Independent congregations of Edinburgh | which arose, forty years since, from the movement of the | Messrs. Haldane and Aikman; and his Swiss Tour was | altogether a private undertaking; his object being to | examine some old records and the religious state of | Switzerland. By a happy after-thought of his publisher, | he has written a narrative of his personal adventures, | which gives interest and zest to the graver details of the | book. When we have added, that Dr. Alexander belongs | to that party, comprehending several sects, which, being | strictly Calvinistic in regard to the distinctive dogmas of | Calvin, assume the name of | Evangelical, which they deny is every other | Christian sect, we have sufficiently cleared the way, and | prepared the reader for the bias with which Dr. Alexander | views all religious bodies who differ from that termed, by | itself, Evangelical. But

"Time and the hour"

| are working remarkable changes, even among the | disciples of unmitigated Calvinism, and especially among | the younger brethren. Dr. Alexander, for example, | eloquently denounces the people of Geneva for having | raised no monument to the memory of Calvin, while they | have thus honoured the infidel Rousseau; but yet, like | others among the younger evangelicals, | par excellence , such as the Rev. | Mr. Trench, (whose tour in France we introduced to our | readers last year,) he can quote such profane writers as | this same Rousseau, and Byron, Moore, Walter Scot, and | Burns, and shows himself intimately conversant with | many

"heathens and publicans,"

whose works | his elder brethren would burn by the hands of the | common hangman, and rigidly exclude from the reading | clubs of their flocks; ~~ of which, by the way, they claim, | and would, if they could, hold the sole direction. We | were, lately, greatly edified by reading one of the rules of | a Parish Library established, some years since, in the | Island of Arran, and we believe the instance is not | solitary in Scotland. It ran, in substance, that no book | whatever should be admitted that was not either selected | or approved by the minister; and this fundamental rule | was made as absolute and unalterable as the laws of the | Medes and Persians. It was not altogether without some | show of reason that the

"Papist"

O'Connell, | described Presbyterian Scotland as the most priest-ridden | country in Europe; not the less priest-ridden that it is not | always aware of the incubus which presses it down. We | lately witnessed a stout argument held with a worthy, if | not very enlightened, minister of the Free Church of | Scotland, who, without disguise, contended for the right | of the Minister to choose books, ay, and newspapers, for | his flock; and who frankly admitted that he would | exclude "Burns' Poems," and "Scott's Novels" from their | library; and doubtless many more obnoxious though very | popular works, with which Dr. Lindsay Alexander and | Mr. Trench are familiar, and quote freely. We trust that | heir evident familiar acquaintance with modern | humanizing literature, is indicative of a more liberal spirit | among the younger clergy. Our friend of the older school | was nothing daunted by being told that his principle was | no whit short of the most rigid censorship of the press, | and virtually the same with the power exercised by the | Pope and the Czar in their dominions, in excluding works | obnoxious to them. A law, or rule, subversive of every | lay Protestant's best rights, was perfectly sound if | administered, not by the State, but by the Clergy of the | Free Church, for the protection of the minds of the laity | from the dangerous doctrines and writings of the poets, | novelists, and journalists. | But, to our subject: With a mind liberalized by genial | literature; by the careful study, it would appear, of the | poets and dramatists of England and Germany; with a | love of Art, unencumbered by the pedantry and | technicalities of art, and a memory well stored with | inspiring historical associations, Dr. Alexander, upon a | fine day in August, found himself in the city of Strasburg, | en route for that lovely and romantic land | which, from boyhood, had haunted his imagination. The | cathedral of Strasburg, he describes as . Hence, | we may conclude that he would not have lent a hand at | the

"Dingin' down of the cathedrals"

of | Scotland. And again he says: ~~ | Dr. Alexander was in some danger of bringing himself | into a premunire, by | witnessing the celebration of the mass in the cathedral; | where the bishop appeared | dressed, and the attendance was good; but, alas! | five-sixths of the worshippers were weaker vessels. | On the same day, he attended | | the French Reformed church ~~ where the men and | women, for good reasons doubtless, sit apart, like | Quakers with us ~~ and occasioned some scandal by | innocently planting himself among the ladies. After the | service, by which he was edified, Dr. Alexander spent the | evening with a person whose character and pursuits are | significant of the changes of the times. | M. Cuvier here claimed a freedom which, we imaging, | the Free Church would not allow to him nor to any | layman. | The next station was Basle, lately the scene of a religious | emeute, much exaggerated at a | distance; and here Dr. Alexander calls kindly to mind, | among the other notables of the city, that Erasmus, whom | he afterwards, somewhat inconsistently, denounces as a | man who, in face resembling Voltaire, would in Voltaire's | day and place, have been just such a man; thus degrading | | to the low moral level of the person whom he describes as | . | At Boudry, the tourist met with a friend, Mr. Mackenzie, | the author of a Concordance of the French scriptures, | who accompanied him to Neufchatel, where he made the | acquaintance of a very mercurial and amusing unnamed | professor. | There is a very interesting description of the primitive | little Independent Church at Boudry, its simple form of | worship, and apostolical pastor. Here an Irish gentleman | labours in the villages as a missionary. | Dr. Alexander was so fortunate as to reach Geneva just in | time to witness the proceedings of a society closely | analogous, in more respects than one, to our British | Scientific Association. Agassix, among others, was | present; and M. de la Rive, the celebrated chemist, filled | the chair. We have said, in more respects than one | analogous to our learned, ambulatory, and gustatory | society, ~~ and here is our proof: ~~ | Upon this great occasion, Mrs. Marcet, the well known | authoress of many excellent elementary or juvenile works | on science, and once a resident in our own city, gave a | fete, which took place on the same evening, and at | which Mr. Alexander had the good fortune to be present. | This lady's son is now a professor in the college of | Geneva, in the environs of which is her beautiful | chateau of Malagny. We must look in upon this | Genevese reunion of Science and Philosophy, with the | Beauty and Fashion of the Republican city, ~~ which, by | the way, an angry American vituperated as | anything but | free, because a sight of his passport was demanded. | . But the Republic did all honour to Mrs. Marcet and | her guests. | | Nine o'clock! How primitive an hour! Our parties would | not have been assembled. | Dr. Alexander laments sadly over the fallen state of the | city of Calvin. On the Sabbath morning, the pleasant | visions called up by old association, were rudely | dispelled by the actual. , he exclaims, ! | But sound doctrine is still preached at the | Oratoire; and so early as nine in the | morning Mr. Alexander repaired to this purer sanctuary. | | A more novel, and much more interesting scene was | witnessed in the interval of worship, during which Dr. | Gaussen, the Professor of Theology in the Theological | school of the Oratoire, teaches a Bible class. | But the Cantonal Church has not been satisfied either | with Dr. Gaussen's doctrines or mode of tuition, and he | had consequently been put out of the church; we cannot | exactly tell why, hearing but one side of the case. In the | afternoon Dr. Alexander attended Dr. Malan's small, | primitive chapel. The prophet has sometimes, if not less | honour, then less popularity in his own country. The | audience was small, and mostly strangers, who were | recognised as persons already seen on the journey. Dr. | Malan's sermon was generally good, but there was one | drawback. The Doctor has what Dr. Alexander considers | his hobby or crotchet, namely, which he | dragged in per force, and probably often does so, as in | expounding these notions he is only logically following | the doctrines of Calvin to their legitimate consequences. | The notions, according to Dr. Alexander, are, ~~ | | | The tourist made an excursion to Chamouni , and enjoyed | the customary sights; watched for the unveiling of Mont | Blanc; saw the sun rise; traversed and philosophized; and | quoted poetry on the Glaciers, and was so fortunate as to | witness a tremendous thunder storm among the Alps. All | this may be left to the reader's imagination; yet the time | of the storm, sublimity notwithstanding, proved a weary | time, shut up in that Alpine hotel with curious specimens | of

"humans,"

gathered from all nations. | , says the wearied traveller, ~~ | | At Berne Dr. Alexander introduces his readers to an | interesting person, whose history he afterwards details, | namely, M. Carl von Rodt, pastor of the Independent | Church of the city. This gentleman has in his possession, | portraits, (said to be original,) of Luther and his wife, | painted by Cranach; the former, one is glad to learn, | showing more intellect and dignity, and consequently less | animalism and coarseness than the common pictures of | the great Reformer. | As a specimen of Dr. Alexander's descriptive style, or | genius for scenic painting with a pen and written | characters, we select this brief passage, though we could | find many more elaborate and highly finished. | The guide, with his many good qualities and amusing | touch of the Gascon, though a Protestant, a stout hater of | the Jesuits, and prepared to fight for his religion if | needful, did not by many degrees come up to Dr. | Alexander's standard in spiritual matters. He was indeed | neither chargeable with Infidelity, Romanism, nor | Socinianism, the prevailing errors of Switzerland, but | very liable we fear to the imputation of | indifferentism. He was, as Charles Lamb says, not | a Dissenter, but an Assenter, which, however, Lamb liked | much better; disposed to forbear with | everybody, his | own Catholic wife included, and to assent to | everything. | No doubt he had last year fought at the "Revolution" of | Lucerne, on the rising of the patriots against the Jesuits. | Even now, as he shouldered the traveller's knapsack, he | exclaimed, ! But Michele, if zealous, was | prudent, and before taking the field, would | | have the crop secured; a Swiss Revolution, being a | healthy and invigorating, but a winter pastime. Thus Dr. | Alexander laments over the condition of this honest | fellow: | | And after this Dr. Alexander expatiates upon the scenery | of the Jungfrau and her brother Alps, and aptly quotes | Shelley. This is as it should be. It is at this stage that the | tourist sets in earnest to the proper business of his book, | the account of the Swiss churches. He broaches some | singular Montesquieuish notions | about the influence of climate and other physical causes | in forming the religious character of a people; or, to make | the thing plain, he illustrates the differences that from | external causes must exist between the religion of a | Sutherlandshire Highlander, who is a Celt, and that of a | reading, lecture-hearing, talking, speculating Glasgow | weaver, a Saxon. There may be some truth but there is | more fancy in the theory which would make the devout | but ignorant and superstitious mountaineer, a more truly | religious man than the better-instructed citizen. | The , | as Dr. Alexander phrases it, may, he says, be classed | under three heads, Romanism, Infidelity, and | Protestantism. There are nearly million of Catholics, and | of the various shades of Protestants | no-one can speak | positively either as to numbers or dogmas; but there is | this grand distinction between the Catholics of the Swiss | cantons, that in the mountains | and in the plains | . In brief, the mountaineers are honester | men, and therefore we should say, with deference, better | Christians. The Protestants are represented as being | better instructed and more full of intelligence, and | enterprise than the Catholics, who have, however, one | superiority, thus described: ~~ after it has been stated, | that nearly all the science manufactures, and commerce of | Switzerland are in the hands of the Protestants, while the | Catholics content themselves with agriculture, warlike | exercises, and rustic sports. | Superior purity in morals, and | , is also allowed to the | Swiss Catholics; an immense admission, but, as Catholics, | yielded to them only. We would fain hope that the | accounts which Dr. Alexander received on the spot may | have led to unconscious exaggeration in his picture of the | prevailing Infidelity of Switzerland, especially of the | coarse, conceited folly of those who are called Socialists. | Infidelity, it is said, . But we must quote. | | The riots of the populace of Zurich, Dr. Alexander fears, | originated rather in political partisanship than in any | deep-rooted regard for Christianity. The opposition of | Strauss, therefore, | | goes for little. The Genevese Church is described at | being too truly in the deplorable condition that previous | evangelical reporters have represented it, if not worse. | The doctrines of Calvin were first undermined by a | heterodox professor of theology, Turretin, about the | beginning of the last century, who was ; and his | successor, Jean Jacques Vernet, went beyond him, and | taught Arian doctrines. | Farther, they promote those suspected, or known to | entertain Socinian sentiments, and discountenance the | Evangelicals. Something like reaction is now visible; yet | Mr. Alexander has to say, ~~ | The Church of the Canton of Vaud was even in a worse | condition than that of Geneva; but about twenty years | since there was a general revival throughout Canton, and | recently a disruption or | secession from the Cantonal Church, in consequence of | the interference of the State with what were considered | the especial rights of the Church. The seceding clergy | and laity of the Canton of Vaud show, according to Dr. | Alexander, a much better case than is made out by the | Free Church of Scotland. A season of spiritual revival | and prosperity had, as we have said, been experienced, | though, in the minds of the mass of the people, | The struggle lasted for some years. Many of the laity | seceded; but the disruption of the clergy only took place | in 1845. We shall take one passage from the account of | this secession, as it bears closely upon the late events in | Scotland: ~~ | The difference between the Dissenters from the National | Church of Vaud, and the Free Church Dissenters, is | farther elucidated by an extract from a publication issued | by M. Baup of Vevay, and read at a general conference of | pastors. It is entitled, "A View of the Condition of the | National Church of the Canton of Vaud in 1845;" and | shows that, on the Continent, the real merits of the Free | Church question, as one of mere | , of mint and cumin, begins to be | understood. The publication is moreover important, since | it may be regarded as an authorized declaration of the | opinions of the dissenting clergymen of the Canton. It | states, ~~ | | | When the dissenters of the Vaud have got a little more | light, they may farther discern, that it is less for the rights | of their flocks, to which extent popular sympathy went | with them, than for the supremacy of their Presbyteries, | Synods, and Assemblies ~~ of their Order, in short ~~ | that the clergy of the Free Church so valiantly struggled. | When the civil courts, in protecting individual rights, | dared to interfere with the mandates of their Church | courts, the veto on the | appointment of a minister, all that after years of conflict | had been gained for the People, was declared | a worthless thing, not worth | contending for, when the power of ecclesiastical courts | was brought into question. And what, at this moment, is | the constitution of the Free Church? In what Acts of its | Assemblies are the new or revived rights that were to be | conceded to , defined or | embodied? In what consists their freedom, except in | being made over from lay patrons ~~ objectionable, we | admit ~~ to a metropolitan junta, or a body of clerical | patrons, at least as likely to interfere, dictate, and | domineer, where they have power, as any lay patrons | whatever. Two evils existed; but it remains to be seen | whether the lesser evil has been chosen. | Among the various sects in Switzerland, Dr. Alexander | naturally paid much attention to the Independent Church. | Its organization and discipline appear simple, reasonable, | and scriptural; and if not showing many signs of outward | prosperity, the Independent Congregations appear to be | prospering in spirit and usefulness. Yet divisions have | arisen even among these little scattered flocks; and in | alluding to these Dr. Alexander is led to make the | following judicious remarks: ~~ | | We cannot tell at length how Mr. Darby, in his turn, was, | according to Dr. Alexander

"routed"

by an | Independent minister named Rochat. How the Catholics | must exult in these things ~~ exult without cause! | One important object of Dr. Alexander's tour was to trace | the personal history and opinions of Jean Baptiste Morelli, | whom Sir William Hamilton has described as ; | and whom Dr. Alexander recognises as the first great | advocate of Congregational views of Church polity; and a | man, consequently, whose history must be most | interesting to those who have adopted similar views. | Morelli was a native of Paris, and wrote, about the middle | of the sixteenth century, on the Discipline and Polity of | the Christian Church. His principles were truly | Independent. He was a genuine advocate for the rights of | the Christian People. One can understand what the man | would be at, of whom Beza, reckoning his doctrines | erroneous, and such as would unsettle the order | established in the Reformed churches, thus writes: | | Need we tell that Morelli's book was condemned by the | Synod, and the author finally excommunicated: | This is a highly edifying narrative. The system of | persecution was continued, until, ~~ | The persecution did not cease here; but time and the | strength of truth made it needful to temporize, ~~ for | Morelli would not give up his

"errors."

Of the close | of his life there is no trace. Dr Alexander throws out a | conjecture that he may have perished in the massacre of | St. Bartholomew. Independency for the time seems to | have either died with him, or to have been let quietly die | out. Such was the severity shown to the | , the first advocate of the | rights of

"the Christian people."

If the people | of Geneva have erected no monument to perpetuate the | memory of the excommunicators and persecutors of | Morelli and Servetus, neither modern Independents nor | worse heretics need be very deeply grieved. If | magistrates will no longer | with men denounced by very orthodox and zealous | ministers, the cause of regret to private Christians is still | less. But we have already dwelt too long on Dr. | Alexander's book, as we wished to give those of our | readers not likely early to fall in with it, a taste of its | quality. It is directly an exceedingly agreeable and | instructive work, and indirectly one much more | instructive. | Dr. Alexander reached his residence in Edinburgh in | thirty-seven hours after leaving Ostend, and spent an hour | and a half at Dover, and two hours in London.

"Such | are the achievements of steam!"