only made the real wickedness the more hateful,-the early reformers permitted themselves to be hurried into an opposite extreme. The consequence has been, that, for centuries, the prayers of the Presbyterians have been much exposed to the ridicule of the scoffers.

The third day of the assembly is employed in the arrangement of business for the ensuing week: of course, it can exhibit little that is interesting, except to those who are curious as to the forms in which business is conducted. The great mass of the business comes through what is styled the Committee of Bills-indicating that the procedure commences in the form of bill. The learned may perceive in this, as in the analogous procedure in the civil courts, that the form has been derived from the chancellary of Rome. Greatly as all our institutions have varied from those of Rome, there is no doubt that the germ of by far the greater number may be traced to that original. It will surprise those who have had no occasion to attend to such matters, to be told, that at this day the forms and the expressions in the Inquisition are not very dissimilar to those which are in daily use amongst ourselves. There is in fact a remarkable similarity in the expressions which are used in all the ecclesiastical courts. The Scottish ecclesiastical lawyer finds himself quite at home in the consistorial courts of England, Spain, and Rome; as in all these courts, some of the members rest their distinction on minute acquaintance with formality. Accordingly, at this season, those of the reverend body who have acquired a name for their accuracy as to forms, may be found displaying their small excellences, in objecting to the production of papers, and pointing out all the little mistakes into which those have fallen, whose attention has been occupied with weightier concerns. The humble suitor for redress is frequently turned round, because a slip has been committed, probably by his agent. At such times the lynx eye of some sharp foe is always on the watch. But no tribunal is to be blamed for a firm adherence to its forms: let these be broken down, and justice itself will soon be overcome. The business arranged-the first part of the work, which, be it observed, has occupied about the half of a week, is now completed; and the assembly is adjourned till the Monday following.

It will be admitted, that the representative of sovereignty, exhibiting the fostering care of his master for the church, should be faithful in attendance upon its ordinances. The sabbath accordingly is a day of very high festival, and, it has been thought, should be solemnized by the administration of the sacrament; but for reasons unknown to me, it has not been usual to dispense the sacrament at this season. The Scotch church is averse to the frequent administration of this rite, and acts, in this respect, I think, with great wisdom. The constant observance of the ceremonial by the dissenters deprives it of much, if not all the solemnity, which the renewal of the sacred covenant should ever inspire: the daily celebration of mass is known to have this effect; and the monthly dispensation of the sacrament in the parish churches of this country-to say nothing of the more frequent observance in our cathedrals-is attended with a similar result. To avoid such consequence-and to avoid the interference, which the passing affairs of the assembly might have with the duties

which are enjoined, as the companion of the sacrament,-is probably the reason why it is not observed by the commissioner, or the assem bly as a body.

Next to the opening of the assembly this is the time which is chosen for offering respects to the king's lieutenant. The cortège by which he is surrounded on Sunday morning is unusually brilliant. The company generally attend the commissioner to divine service indeed it is part of the understanding implied in waiting on his grace, that this should take place; and it would be rude to imagine, that the honourable personages who are found in the levee should have any disinclination to this duty. But it so chances that it is the custom to invite all who thus honour the commissioner to dinner on that day, and it is further ordered that the dinner shall be given at a certain hour. Seemingly this is of slender moment, but the continuance of the sederunt in the assembly on other days is so uncertain—and is often protracted so late, that nothing of the nature of dinner proper can reasonably be calculated on: a very late supper it sometimes is; but a dinner, in the usual sense of that term, it rarely can be of course, an invitation to dine with his grace, on any day betwixt Monday and Saturday, does not infer that the entertainment will hold. It is otherwise on Sunday; and it is thus pleasant, loyal, and dutiful, to select this, of all other days, to honour his grace by your respectful presence at his morning levee. The probability is that you find yourself in exceeding good company. Peradventure the Prince of Branxome, the bold Buccleugh, has rode from Dalkeith to offer his duty. Assuredly the Marquis of Queensberry, -"Glamis and Cawdor too," and all the resident nobles, have come to grace the presence. If you choose to go to church, as you surely ought, an indifferently good sermon may be expected: it is the practice to name some of the junior clergy to officiate, and the appointment is justly considered honourable; but I have been told by those who have frequently heard the discourses on these occasions, that they are seldom successful. Display is in some respects necessary, but it is too much the object. I understand that one of the preachers acquitted himself admirably. This gentleman's name is Geddes, the minister of Paisley. I readily assent to his praise, having witnessed some of his harangues in the house which bespoke endowments of a superior order. The services of the church being completed, the day is concluded with the entertainment, which is acknowledged by all to be a suitable and most agreeable sequel. It is to the credit of the gastronomy of the north that the dinners of the commissioner can scarcely be surpassed by any thing that could be knocked up at Escudier's or the Clarendon.

When I commenced these notes, it was my intention to narrate the proceedings in several of the matters which formed the subject of discussion and judgment. I could not perhaps better convey a notion of the institution; but the questions did not in general possess more than a very transient interest. There were one or two exceptions, and these it would be improper to pass over.

For some time past the West of Scotland has been infested with all manner of religious fantasies, to the great scandal of the sober

minded. A family of the name of Campbell, respectable I have no doubt, but certainly unknown and no-wise meriting renown, were pleased to lay claim to preternatural gifts. A member of this family had died, and she was canonised in one of the Legh Richmond kind of pamphlets, by which the virtues of deceased maidens are wont to be celebrated by the pious young persons who have been edified by their godly discourse. This was well enough: the pamphlet was read--some folks smiled-nobody disapproved-and the affair might soon have been forgotten even in the remote parish where it arose. By and by, however, there was more talk about the business; and it was said by some--believed by a few-and laughed at by a great many, that these Campbells were something exceedingly out of the way of ordinary good people. The rumour went, that they or some of them could work miracles, they could walk on the sea, raise the dead, heal the afflicted, speak unknown tongues, and exhibit the wonders of inspiration. As usual, there was a great deal more of exaggeration than truth in their stories: still they were unhappily too true; and one heard instance after instance of people, reported intelligent, becoming the victims of the mania which was evidently abroad. The females were the chief sufferers. Ballrooms were changed into conventicles; and they, who formerly met to waltz and recreate, now met to commune on the mysteries of their new state. There was no limit to the absurdities which gained credit, and I should scarcely be believed were I to relate the follies which were actually witnessed. The devotees were full of the most indescribable fancies. One lady, esteemed for her unquestionable virtues, and respected for her understanding, chose to be persuaded that the advent of our Lord and his apostles was at hand; and, in token of her belief, her table was generally graced by two or three empty covers for the strangers. About the same time, Mr. M'Leod Campbell, the clergyman of the parish of Row, was much mixed up with these enthusiasts, and betook himself to the propagation of certain very gross heresies: his errors may justly be so called; because, whatever foundations might exist for his opinions, it was indisputable that they were directly at variance with the tenets which he had sworn by his God to maintain. The doctrine of the church was plain; and so long as he remained a member of that church, it is clear that he had no right to uphold any other creed. Mr. Campbell thought otherwise: he preached his errors in defiance of all discipline, and he soon attracted a crowd-1 had almost said a vulgar crowd, but it was not so-of ignorant admirers. From the first it was certain that he could not escape the lectures of the church. All order in the establishment would have been at an end if he could be permitted, within the walls of the church itself, to assail that doctrine which had been pronounced by her canons to be the true rule of faith. With the certainty of chastisement, if not destruction, Mr. Campbell proceeded in his absurdity, waxing bolder at every step, and elevating himself in his warmed imagination to the rank of a martyr. The false fame which he had raised up was not a little infectious, and one or two youths of similar calibre were pleased to follow his bad example: the principal of these was Mr. Wylie of Carlisle, of whom a word

afterwards. The proceedings in the West, which was the scene of miracles and heresies, gave the greatest offence to all right-thinking people. Religion was scandalized and endangered. In the progress of time the mischief might have worn away, but meanwhile its effects must have been, and really were, most baleful. It was impossible, therefore, that the ecclesiastical authorities could overlook the very gross offence which was imputable to Mr. Campbell. Had his error been one of difference in opinion on some unsettled point, it would assuredly have been passed over. To the honor of the Scottish church, it must be said, that for a very long time intolerance has not been her fault: but no church could suffer its vital doctrines to be spurned, decried, and openly condemned, by a man who had sworn fealty to that church, and lived by its bread. He was tried before the local courts: the proceedings against him were conducted with great temper and judgment. It was in sorrow that his brethren, by whom he was personally esteemed, undertook that duty which their sacred obligations imperatively called on them to discharge. The result of the trial in the different local tribunals, before which the case was investigated in the first instance, left no doubt that he must ultimately be cut off from the church. Before judgment could be pronounced below, Mr. Campbell and his friends carried the cause by appeal to the assembly, which is the court of last resort; and it now came on for final argument and decision.

I should fail if I attempted to depict the interest which was raised by this singular suit. They, who have been accustomed to witness the eager thronging of the female part of the religious world to Freemasons' or Exeter Hall, at slavery meetings or the like, will be able to form an idea of the beautiful crowd which surrounded the throne, to listen to the harangues in this celebrated cause. From an early hour in the morning, the seats in the vicinity of the Commissioner were completely occupied. Gallantry forbids that I should be critical on the appearance of the damsels who interested themselves in the cause of Mr. John M.Leod Campbell. It does not often happen that the blue is softened by those graces, which give to the artless and unlearned amongst the softer sex that witchery over men, which no science can gain. More than one lady was however pointed out to me, in whom were united great personal charms with great mental accomplishments. Had a sculptor been present, he must soon have discovered a subject worthy of a Phidian chisel. Either my recollection or fancy are at fault, if I have not seen, in some study or other, a delightful bust of one member of this circle. Could the spirit of David Hume have been evoked to witness this discussion, with what surprise must he have learned that one of its most anxious auditors and, if fame erred not, one of those who had drunk deepest of that heresy-a heresy which implied no disbelief of miracles, but an excess of credulity on the other side, was a very near relative of his own!

- At the commencement of the cause, the combatants were arrayed in most hostile and formidable plight. Each of the parties was furnished with an ample store of polemical munition: tome piled upon tome gave promise of a long war of authorities. The aspect of the opposing forces was extremely interesting. Much as I condemn September, 1831.-VOL. II. NO. v.

H

Mr. Campbell and his wanderings, it was impossible not to admire the meekness with which he carried himself before the encounter began. He is still but a young man, and in former years was a person of easy carriage and buoyant spirits: some people would have styled him a clerical dandy. He was now sobered down to a great degree of quietude. On one side sat the Reverend Mr. Story of Roseneath; and on the other, Mr. Wylie aforesaid. It was apparent that their anticipations were for any thing but victory. On the other side sat the Presbytery of Dunbarton; and, without any leaning in favour of this body, I must say that the appearance which they made was most creditable to their learning and good taste. It is the fault of the clergy to embark with infinitely too great eagerness in all their polemical strifes: the charities of our nature are forgotten in the keen struggle for superiority; and I have been told, what I believe is but too true, that there are few contests from which gentlemanlike demeanour is more effectually banished. A different spirit pervaded the Presbytery in regard to the case in question. I was particularly struck with the calmness, the charity, and the extreme good sense of all that was advanced by a reverend gentleman of the name of Fleming, who was put forth as one of the leading promoters of the prosecution. His address as a party formed a singular contrast to the speech of a Dr. Barr, who was one of the judges, but whose address was full of every thing that could be reprehensible on the part of an individual holding the office of a judge. There were counsel on both sides; but all were agreed that the case was one in which the assistance of lawyers could afford no substantial benefit.

The business was opened by a speech from Mr. Wylie: any thing more offensive was never heard. In an instant the orator was lost, as if of set purpose, in the mazes of the most inextricable nonsense. He pitched his voice at a height which no strength could sustain ; and he was at pains to involve any meaning which he may have had in parentheses so innumerable, that the close of any given sentence left no impression but that of noise and violence without a scintilla of point. Many of his auditory left in vexation and disgust. All were anxious to comprehend the exact nature of the heresy, and its defence; but no mortal could have gathered the views of the heretics from this pleading. The inevitable consequence was, that a cause, bad in itself, was ruined by a defence which it is wrong to call silly, seeing that it was much worse. Mr. Campbell's bitterest foe could not have wished his cause to be in more unfitting hands: I speak this without prejudice against his friend; for I never heard him open his lips before, and every report which I had heard of him was rather favourable. Fourteen or fifteen hours were spent in the discussion which ensued; but no one could doubt as to the result which must follow. The truth was, that the arguments were bruta fulmina on the great body of the assembly, to whom the subject had been familiar for months before, whose minds were settled, and from whom it was idle to expect any change. The question was so utterly devoid of difficulty, considered as a question before a tribunal having a certain canon to guide their deliberations, that all the oratory which Mr. Wylie had not could not have produced an opposite conviction. Many fruitless efforts were made to effect an adjournment, but these were