ness, but for quickness and despatch sake,” which has beguiled him into such strange fancies. As there is the letter M both in Monmouth and Macedon, so there are certain common particulars to be found in the several systems which he would identify with Calvinism; but there are such differences and •such important elements lost sight of, that the analogy is most imperfect, and converts into loose declamation, upon Calvinism and other subjects, an address which might be expected to elucidate the creed. We have no intention of discussing whether the system is, or is not, a scheme of theology in strict accordance with the revealed word of God, but it is a system which, rightly or wrongly, professes to derive its origin, and all its sanctions and declarations, from revelation, and which we conceive cannot be considered apart from it after the fashion of Mr. Froude. To eliminate, for instance, the substance of the Lambeth Articles from Calvinism, and then to confound with it Stoicism,-which neither knew of, nor comprehended, norwould, if it had known, have received such statements,-is simply an illusion, notwithstanding that there may be certain philosophical tenets which both systems accidentally comprehend. We admit it to be quite allowable, in recognizing analogies, to omit subordinate and adventitious points, especially if they have been subsequent accretions to a main system ; but to overlook principal and essential features is so inadmissible, that it wholly vitiates the comparison or the analogy intended ; and this, we think, Mr. Froude has done in his address. There is also a point which seemed to be temptingly in his way; and on which, with his wealth of learning and force of language, he might have dwelt with profit, and upon which we would have heard him gladly. We allude to the influence which Calvinism has exercised on minds not only of the highest order, but of the most refined and cultivated character. The general impression is, we know, wholly different. Mr. Froude does justice to the higher qualities in a passage which we must add to our quotations:-

“It is enough to mention the name of William the Silent, of Luther-for on the points of which I am speaking Luther was one with Calvin,-of your own Knox and Andrew Melville and the Regent Murray, of Coligny, of our English Cromwell, of Milton, of John Bunyan. These were men possessed of all the qualities which give nobility and grandeur to human nature-men whose life was as upright as their intellect was commanding and their public aims untainted with selfishness; unalterably just where duty required them to be stern, but with the tenderness of a woman in their hearts; frank, true, cheerful, humorous, as unlike sour fanatics as it is possible to imagine any one, and able in some way to sound the keynote to which every brave and faithful heart in Europe instinctively vibrated.” (p. 9.)

Vol. 70.--No. 402.

Even here, however, he has omitted that to which we refer, and which, we think, lies at the root of much of the indifference with which many, strongly under the dominion of Calvinism, view what the catechism tersely sums up as “pomps and vanities,” finding expression in music, in poetry, in painting, in sculpture, in what are comprehensively termed the fine arts. It is not, we imagine, that they are insensible to dulcet sounds, to melodious verso, to exquisite delineation of art or nature, but that when they are “ drawn by the cords of love to God,” and have “ by faith endured to see Him who is invisible,” and have "been caught up as it were into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words” there, they are unable to satisfy themselves with any expression of their own feelings or the embodiment by others of the conceptions with which they are labouring. In contrast, we have often been struck with the fact that many who have been led away from the simplicity of the faith by Ritualism and Romanism, have been persons almost entirely devoid of any intelligent appreciation of art or music, which would seem essential to the enjoyment of such religious delusions. The solution seems to be that in such cases the performances they witness are the utmost which their imaginations are capable of realizing, and they rest satisfied with some sensual enjoyment arising from them. We are never more impressed with this than when entering a Jesuit Church; the heavy tawdry gilding and drapery, the suffocating fumes of incense, the elaborate sensuous music, the showy idolatry, the tout ensemble, invariably recall to us Louis XV. and Madame de Pompadour. It is a relief to lift the curtain and to pass forth again out under the blue sky, and to feel no longer cabined, cribbed, confined in such a hall of Comus. Can it be any marvel, then, that not only intellects of the highest order, but also of the most delicate refinement, have adopted the stern creed of Calvinism, and have often, as we deem it, through incapacity to realize adequately by outward embodyings the emotions which sway them, turned away from the attempt as resolutely as a monk of La Trappe turns his back upon society.

There is yet a further concert, for we know not what else to term it, on the part of Mr. Froude, which we may not overlook. He is pleased to consider that the power of Calvinism has waned. This may in a measure be true so far as relates to its general acceptance, or to the profession of it by states, Unquestionably, in the Protestant Churches on the Continent, it has been largely undermined by philosophical scepticism, and the rejection of belief on the part of hereditary Calvinists. Mr. Froude, however, (p. 58) ascribes this to the fact, that “duty, the loftiest of all sensations we are permitted to experience, has been resolved into the acceptance of a scheme of salvation for

the individual human soul.” Then, by what we consider one of the most astonishing perversions of a text we have almost ever noticed, he says it was written long ago, “He that will save his soul shall lose it," from which he argues that those who use religion only as a means of escaping from the wrath to come “are under the burden of death, for they care only for themselves.” How he reconciles this with his own statement at p. 18, which we have already quoted, we will not stay to inquire; but if there is one thing more than another which distinguishes the Calvinistic creed, it is the concern which each man who is “converted” has for his own individual salvation. The free grace of God which has been exercised on the sinner's behalf in rescuing him from a death of trespasses and sin; the full assurance of faith that his sins are forgiven and that he shall be everlastingly saved by Christ; the consciousness that he has been drawn to Christ by the Father; these are the influences which have constrained those mighty spirits, of whom Mr. Froude speaks so enthusiastically, to bow their necks under the yoke of Christ; and out of their realization of His love to themselves they have overflowed in love to their fellow men, and have wrought marvels for their deliverance from spiritual tyranny and worldly oppression. Of many ways in which this spirit moves them Mr. Froude would speak slightingly, we dare say; but such are their favourite occupations, and many in silence and obscurity so spend their lives in the service of their God. It is not always that the sound of the trumpet waxing louder and louder in the hour of great danger calls them to step forward from the ranks and to come to the front to do mighty deeds for the salvation of their brethren, which shall be enrolled for ever among the brightest annals of the history of their country. A notable instance is within the memory of us all. Possibly, had Mr. Froude himself been in India, he too would have overlooked the humble lieutenant of whom it could only be said that he was scrupulously exact in every point of duty, and that he was unwearied in preaching and singing psalms among the men. Who was more careful, more jealous over himself, more concerned for his own individual salvation, than Henry Havelock? But when our empire in India was rocking on its foundations, who more mighty than he, and those who shared his creed, to jeopard their lives in the breaches ? Nor is the reason far to seek. To them “ to live was Christ and to die was gain,” for them “to depart and to be with Christ was far better ;" but they were willing, if needful, to abide in the flesh, and, in Havelock's phrase, to make it manifest to all men that “a saint could be a soldier.” And so also did Henry Lawrence, till he was laid in his lowly grave in Lucknow, with his own word written over him, that he had tried to do his duty. What nerved him to the conflict? What inspired him to try to do his duty ? What made him mightier than walls in the defence of his brethren ? We might safely leave such a question to Mr. Froude himself to answer : he would not say that it was from a fondness for paradoxes; that it was from a delight in curious metaphors, or because he had lost himself in labyrinths of metaphysical speculation ; but because a living principle had been infused into his soul by the Spirit of the living God, that he strove and laboured for Him who had loved him and given Himself for him. We doubt the fact, therefore, whether true Calvinism has waned, stillmore the reason which Mr. Froude assigns for its waning. When there is no urgent paramount call, its professors may not always be conspicuous, for the world is not interested in their avocations; but when grave necessity arises, those who are leaders of men, because they go not in their own strength, come forth from hiding places to which others are betaking themselves, in a spirit as consuming and irresistible as that which sent forth Gideon from the winepress in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, or Cromwell from his farm and brewhouse in Huntingdonshire. Calvinism wanes in families, Calvinism wanes in churches, Calvinism wanes in states. All this we readily concede to Mr. Froude, but we do pot admit that Calvinism wanes in itself; it exercises more or less outward dominion according to many exigencies, but its professors are still discoverable by those who are careful to look for them. We say all this in no controversial spirit; for we think the most enthusiastic Arminian, although earnestly maintaining the superiority of his own views of the divine scheme of salvation, would admit the truth of much, if not all of our statements; but from an earnest desire to vindicate the importance of that divine revelation which Mr. Froude so strangely overlooks, and beyond the reach of which he struggles to transport a subject, which probably beyond all others might have seemed to be inextricably bound up with theology.

We would desire to thank him for much that he has said, and for the manly spirit which has enabled him to speak justly so far as the imperfect view which, unfortunately, as we think, he has adopted, has enabled him to do so. We may be permitted, we trust, to regret, that that which to so many noble spirits has been a pillar of fire to guide them to deeds of the highest emprise, presents itself only to him, so far as we can judge from bis essay, as a pillar of cloud in which he does not apparently discern the presence which animated them. We should rejoice in the belief that in this respect we are mistaken, but there are sentiments expressed in this address which lead us most reluctantly to such a conclusion. We would wish to part from him in a friendly spirit, with all the respect due to his learning

whighty inth, to finder the neevident si

and abilities as well as his evident sincerity. We would far rather not be under the necessity of parting from him, but would wish to find him heartily ranged on the side of that mighty influence, and avowedly pervaded by that holy spirit, which he has upheld before the students of St. Andrew's as so mighty and efficacious an agent in every high and holy endeavour for right as against might, for duty as against sloth and sensuality, for the truth of God as against all which savours of false. hood and superstition. We trust he will pardon remarks dictated by no discourteous or unfriendly feeling towards himself, though on sundry important points we have been constrained to differ from the views he has enunciated.

CHRISTIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN ANCIENT GAUL. Inscriptions Chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au Huitième

Siècle. Par M. Le Blant. THERE are few more important questions in history than the establishment of Christianity, in its early days, in the various countries of Europe. Tradition has too often thrown a bright halo around the success of the early preachers of the Gospel, which history confutes. Every city wished to glory in its bishops, confessors, and martyrs, that it might surpass its immediate rivals, and attract a crowd of votaries to its shrines. This brilliant antiquity disappears when the sterner hands of the archæologist and historian decipher old manuscripts long hid in libraries, or trace the worn characters of tombstones and epitaphs, and show that the first advances of the new religion were in many instances secret and slow, and that multitudes were not prepared to receive this doctrine. The mass of the people were simple ignorant countrymen, who, reflecting little, easily contented themselves with the old superstition, and felt no need of another creed. Where the Roman influence had more deeply penetrated and impregnated civilized minds with its qualities and vices, there were wearied souls who longed for some satisfying teaching; and it was in such a soil that Christianity most easily took root. But these favourable conditions were not usually found in Gaul; the Roman Conquest was recent, and it is probable that in the country districts its influence had not effaced the national spirit. The East had fewer relations with Gaul than with Italy : we need not therefore be surprised to find that Christianity was first established in