manner so affecting, must be owned a very dark and melancholy providence, yet many have thought this lord's father's matching with the lady Anne, daughter of the famous Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, (which earl was such a prodigy of wickedness in the reign of James I.) when he might have had his choice of any lady almost in the kingdom, might somewhat help to account for it!"

"At the death of Charles, and his brother's accession, few tears," says Burnet, "were shed, nor were there any shouts of joy for the new king." But Calamy says, "Never did I see so universal a concern as was visible on all men's countenances at that time. I was present at the proclaiming of king James, and my heart ached within me at the acclamations made upon that occasion, which, as far as I could observe, were very general. And it is to me a good evidence," he sweepingly concludes, "that all the histories that fall into our hands are to be read with caution, to observe that bishop Burnet positively affirms it was a heavy solemnity; a dead silence followed it through the streets; whereas I, being actually present, can bear witness to the contrary. The bishop, indeed, who was then abroad, might easily be misinformed; but methinks he should not have been so positive, in a matter of that nature, when he was at a distance." Calamy was now at the age of fourteen years.

James, on his accession, had given the most prompt and solemn assurance to the council, that, though of a different religion, he would carefully preserve the government in church and state, as established by law. "This," observes Burnet, "gave great contentment, and the pulpits were full of it, and of thanksgivings for it. The common phrase was -we have now the word of a king, and a word never yet broken." Calamy confirms this, from an ear-witness, a person of character and worth. "Sharp, afterwards archbishop of York, so far forgot himself in preaching," says Calamy,

as

to use an expression to this purpose'As to our religion, we have the word of a king, which, with reverence be it spoken, is as sacred as my text."" Sharp was one of the first who experienced the royal displeasure, and discovered the brittleness of the security.

Young Calamy's early education was chiefly at Merchant-Tailors' school, and

with a private teacher in Suffolk. At eighteen, he was sent to Utrecht for academical instruction. It does not appear why he did not go to Cambridge, where his father and grandfather had been educated,—where an uncle had recently been a distinguished tutor at Catharine-Hall, and a maternal relative was then viceprovost of King's College,-and where subscription was not demanded on matriculation, as at Oxford. At Utrecht, a fellow-student with him was lord Spencer, son of the first earl of Sunderland-a connexion which, in the reigns of Anne and George I., facilitated his occasional introduction with addresses to the court. After spending two years in the close pursuit of his studies, and making the tour of the country, he returned in 1691 to England; and shortly after took up his residence at Oxford, not as an academical student, but for the advantage of reading in the Bodleian library. The preaching of one dissenting minister at Oxford was connived at, and this was Dr. Joshua Oldfield. With this gentleman Calamy soon became acquainted, and was very much with him. Oldfield had only a small congregation, and very little encouragement in all the pains he took. He had little conversation with the scholars, nor did he affect it: for which Calamy, who had already the interests of dissent close to his heart, with more resolution, and firmer nerves to promote them, was inclined to blame him. “Had he been less shy," he says, "and more free in conversing with them, it would have been better." Of this he was the more convinced, when, being persuaded to accompany him occasionally to the coffee-house, he entered freely into conversation with such scholars as he there met, and they frankly allowed he had a great deal more in him than they had imagined. Calamy himself associated with the Oxford men with the utmost freedom, and was, on all occasions, treated by them with great civility. He listened to their sermons, attended their public lectures and exercises, and mixed on equal and easy terms with the young men-some of whom would occasionally banter him for consorting with such a despicable sort of people as the nonconformists; but he firmly resisted their smiles and their wiles, and never failed to express his hearty respect and esteem for the real worth of the party.

Calamy now resolved to settle in hi

own mind the question of conformity; and, after a diligent study of the authors on both sides, he declared himself a conscientious non-conformist, and boldly preached in a sectarian pulpit. This decisive step, however, did not break up his intercourse with his academical friends he was still on friendly terms with Henry Dodwell, a most uncompromising advocate of church authority. Calamy sought his society for the sake of his "great reading." His account of a man who once made a great noise in the world is worth quoting." I soon disI covered his usual time of being at the coffee-house, and would often contrive to be there, that I might have his company. Nothing pleased him better than to have a question proposed to him upon a difficulty in chronology, a piece of history, either civil or ecclesiastical, or about ancient customs. Upon the starting any thing of this kind, he would pour out a flood of learning, with great freedom. I carefully forbore contradicting him, which he could not bear from any one, and this made him the more free and open in conversing with me. I have come into a room where he has been sitting at a table with academics belonging to several different colleges, who took pleasure in disputing with him, contradicting and thwarting him, and he has left them all and applied to me while sitting at a table by myself; and he was no sooner come than he would ask me if I had any question to propose to him, with which I usually took care not to be unprovided. He would on a sudden, and off hand, make returns that would sometimes be very surprising, though not always equally satisfactory. In order to the proof of a point that he laid stress upon, he used to lay down a chain of principles, and, if they were all granted him, his proof would be good; but, if any one link in the chain failed, his whole scheme came to nothing. He was no great reasoner, nor at all remarkable for his management of an argument."

After refusing invitations to Bristol and other places, Calamy fixed as an assistant to Mr. Sylvester in London. He was shortly after ordained, according to the presbyterian form, but not without some difficulty. Public ordination had ceased to be practised among the dissenters since the act of uniformity; but Calamy, conceiving that publicity would tend to

forward the interests of dissent, insisted upon a public ordination. The leading men declined to make themselves thus conspicuous, and others stipulated for subscription to terms and articles. But Calamy, and some young friends with him, persisted in demanding a free ordination, as ministers of the catholic church of Christ, stating expressly to those concerned, that, if any narrow, confining, crampling notions were intermixed in the management, he would drop the matter, and take the liberty to withdraw, even though the work of the day were begun, or considerably advanced. This resolute expression of his sentiments encouraged others, and they carried their point.

On the accession of queen Anne, the dissenters of the three denominations the presbyterians, independents, and baptists-for the first time joined in a courtly address. Not long after, Calamy succeeded Mr. Alsop in the Westminster congregation, a station which gave him considerable influence among his brethren; and from this time he was very conspicuous, especially in getting up addresses of loyalty on all occasions that could be seised for such a purpose. He now also distinguished himself by his Defence of Moderate Conformity,' and was intensely occupied, through much of this reign, in mustering and marshaling the dissenting forces to resist the bill, introduced in various sessions, for putting an end to occasional conformity, which, howeverthe high church strengthening daily under the queen's auspices-was finally carried in 1712. Tenison warmly defended the principle of occasional conformity-conduct which, looking coolly as we now do upon the question, seems marvellous in a man remarkable in his day for piety, sincerity, and intelligence. The principle could only lead to quibbling and jesuitical sophistry. The test was at first, undoubtedly, directed professedly against the catholic, but it was seen to be applicable likewise to the protestant dissenters, and the party who advocated it were equally (or, if not equally, the difference is not worth calculating) hostile to both, and were glad to sweep both in the same net. The dissenter, if he could compromise and descend to occasional conformity, might very well have stretched his loose conscience a little farther to complete conformity, and made no more ado. Occasional compliances only gave

a handle to opponents for opprobrium -to ridicule their pretences to conscientious scruples, and charge them with factious opposition. It was found that they could conform for special purposes, where worldly interests were concerned.

The church party, advancing with rapid strides, a few weeks only before the queen's death, carried the act against schism, in despite of all the opposition of the dissenters, among whom Calamy was still conspicuous. By this act, dissenters teaching at schools, except for reading, writing, and arithmetic, were liable to three-months' imprisonment; and every schoolmaster allowed by the act was to take the test, and, if afterwards present at a conventicle, to be incapacitated and imprisoned. Still greater severity was intended by the Tory ministers; but, on the first of August, 1714, that "glorious and most signal day," which (said Dr. Benson) ought never to be forgotten, the queen died, and the accession of the Hanover family gave an instant pledge of a change of system. Nearly one hundred dissenting ministers went up with an address of congratulation, and were graciously received. They were all clad with the black Geneva cloke, similar to that used at funerals. A nobleman asked, "What have we here?a funeral?" "No, my lord," cried the well-known Tommy Bradbury, a resurrection!"

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The first effect of the change of dynasty, as far as the dissenters were concerned, was the non-enforcement of the act against schism; but their fond hopes of favor were not gratified either by the 'new king or his immediate successor. They found great difficulty in extracting from the treasury money for repairing the damages done to their conventicles by the violence of church mobs; and the obligation to doctrinal subscription was not revoked, we believe, before 1779, when it was commuted for a declaration of belief in the Scriptures; and the abolition of the test was reserved for our own days.

In 1723, George I. was prevailed upon to grant an order of 500l. for the benefit of the poor widows of dissenting ministers. This bounty is still conti nued, and passes annually among the supplies; the exact amount does not appear, being mixed up with other sums granted to the French protestant clergy, &c,

While the Trinitarian controversy was raging, especially among the dissenters, from which, however, Calamy stood cautiously aloof, he dedicated a volume of sermons, on the subject of the Trinity, to the king, and was allowed to present a copy in due form. "The king," he says, "received me very graciously, took it into his hands, and looked on it; and then was pleased to tell me, he took us dissenters for his hearty friends, and desired me to let my brethren in the city know, that, in the approaching election of members of parliament, he depended on them to use their utmost influence, where-ever they had any interest, in favor of such as were hearty for him and his family." Calamy was, of course, delighted with this, which he took for a special commission. He assembled the heads of the three denominations forthwith, and they, in their turn, commissioned him to state how thankful to his majesty they all were for the honor he did them, and their intention not to disappoint his expectations, a compliance with which they considered both as their duty and their interest,

From the prevalence of theology in the mind and feelings of Dr. Calamy, there is not in this "Historical Account" that variety which the generality of readers would wish or expect to find in a work of this kind. The volumes, however, tend to supply deficiencies in compiled histories, and may therefore be consulted with considerable advantage.

THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND,

by Sir Walter Scott. Vol. I. POETS and novelists, we think, are not

so well fitted for the composition of history, as the generality of learned or talented writers. They are more inspired with the ideas of fiction or of romance, more fond of the wonderful or improbable, than attentive to truth or to fact. They revel in fancy, and deride the ordinary coldness of historians. That the admired author of Marmion and of Waverley has indulged in this course, we do not venture to assert; at the same time, we have a right to suspect him of occasional deviation; or, if such suspi cion should be deemed illiberal, we ought at least to stand upon our guard against eventual (we do not say wilful) misre

presentation. We entertained this idea, perhaps erroneously, when the present work was announced.

Dr. Lardner, a professor of the London university, has projected a "Cabinet Cyclopædia," of which this history forms the first volume. We apprehend that Sir Walter, though he undertook this task for the honor of his country, has not sufficiently attended to his own credit in the execution of the work. It is too concise in some parts, and tedious in others; and, like his "Life of Napoleon," it bears evident marks of haste and of carelessness. Yet, in various portions, the narrative is vivid and forcible, and the hand of a master appears.

We offer the following passages as specimens, which are neither the best nor the worst in the volume. One relates to the close of the life of Robert Bruce, the other to the intended journey of Douglas to the Holy Land with the heart of that prince.

"Bruce seemed only to wait for the final deliverance of his country to close his heroic career. He had retired, probably for the purpose of enjoying a milder climate, to his castle of Cardross. Here he lived in princely retirement, and, entertaining the nobles with rude hospitality, relieved by liberal doles of food the distresses of the poor. Nautical affairs seemed to have engaged his attention very much, and he built vessels, with which he often went on the adjacent frith. He practised falconry, being unable to sustain the fatigues of hunting. We may add, for every thing is interesting where Robert Bruce is the subject, that he kept a lion, and a fool named Patrick, as regular parts of his establishment. Meantime his disease (a species of leprosy, which had origin in the hardships and privations which he had sustained for so many years) gained ground upon his remaining strength. When he found his end drew nigh, that great king_summoned his barons and peers around him, and affectionately recommended his son to their care; then singling out the good lord James Douglas, fondly entreated of him, as his old friend and his companion in arms, to cause the heart to be taken from his body after death, conjuring him to take the charge of transporting it to Palestine in redemption of a vow which he had made to go in person thither, when he was disentangled from the cares

brought on him by the English wars. Now the hour is come,' he said, 'I cannot avail myself of the opportunity, but must send my heart thither in place of my body; and a better knight than you, my dear and tried fri nd and comrade, to execute such a commission, the world holds not.' All who were present wept bitterly around the bed, while the king, with almost his dying words, bequeathed this melancholy task to his bestbeloved follower and champion. On the 7th of June, 1329, died Robert Bruce, at the almost premature age of fifty-five. He was buried at Dunfermline, where his tomb was opened in our time, and his reliques again interred amid all the feelings of awe and admiration which such a sight tended naturally to inspire.

"Remarkable in many things, there was this almost peculiar to Robert Bruce, that his life was divided into three distinct parts, which could scarcely be considered as belonging to the same individual. His youth was thoughtless, hasty, and fickle; and, from the moment he began to appear in public life until the slaughter of the Red Comyn, and his final assumption of the crown, he appeared to have entertained no certain purpose beyond that of shifting with the shifting tide, like the other barons around him, ready, like them, to enter into hasty plans for the liberation of Scotland from the English yoke, but equally prompt to submit to the overwhelming power of Edward. Again in a short but very active period of his life, he displayed the utmost steadiness, firmness, and constancy, sustaining, with unabated patience, the loss of battles, the death of friends, the disappointment of hopes, and an uninterrupted series of disasters, on which scarce a ray of hope appeared to brighten. This term of suffering extended from the field of Methven-wood till the return to Scotland from the island of Rachrin, after which time his career, whenever he was himself personally engaged, was almost uniformly successful, even till he obtained the object of his wishes-the secure possession of an independent throne.

“།

"When these things are considered, we shall find reason to conclude that the misfortunes of the second or suffering period of Bruce's life had taught him lessons of constancy, of prudence, and

of moderation, which were unknown to his early years, and tamed the hot and impetuous fire which his temper, like that of his brother Edward, naturally possessed. He never permitted the injuries of Edward I. (although three brothers had been cruelly executed by that monarch's orders) to provoke him to measures of retaliation; and his generous conduct to the prisoners at Bannockburn, as well as elsewhere, reflects equal honor on his sagacity and humanity. His manly spirit of chivalry was best evinced by a circumstance which happened in Ireland, where, being pursued by a superior force of English, he halted, and offered battle at disadvantage, rather than abandon a poor washerwoman, who had been taken with the pains cf labor, to the cruelty of the native Irish.

"His personal accomplishments in war stood so high, that he was universally esteemed one of the three best knights of Europe during that martial age, and gave many proofs of personal prowess. His achievements seem amply to vindicate this high estimation, since the three Highlanders slain in the retreat from Dalry, and Sir Henry de Bohun, killed by his hand, in front of the English army, evince the valorous knight, as the plans of his campaign exhibit the prudent and sagacious leader. The Bruce's skill in military art was of the highest order; and in his testament, as it is called, he bequeathed a legacy to his countrymen, which, had they known how to avail themselves of it, would have saved them the loss of many a bloody day.

"The parliamentary settlement at Cambuskenneth had nominated Randolph as regent of the kingdom; a choice which could not have been amended; but after circumstances occasioned it to be much regretted that, by devolving on Douglas the perilous and distant expedition to Palestine, Bruce's bequest should have deprived the country of the services of the only noble who could have replaced those of the earl of Moray, in the case of death or indisposition. And attention is so much riveted on this most unhappy circumstance, for such it certainly proved, that authors have endeavoured to reconcile it to the sagacity of Bruce, by imputing it to a refinement of policy on his part. They suppose that, fearing jealousy and emulation between Douglas and Ran

dolph, when he himself was no longer on the scene, he found an honorable pretext to remove Douglas from Scotland, that Randolph, his nephew, might exercise undisputed authority. The recollection of the field of Stirling, where Douglas reined up his horse, lest he should seem to share Randolph's victory over Clifford that, too, of Biland-Abbey, where Randolph joined Douglas with only four esquires, and served under him as a volunteer, seem to give assurance, that these brave men were incapable of any emulation dangerous to their country or prejudicial to their loyalty; and it will be probably thought that Bruce nourished no such apprehensions, but, lying an excommunicated man upon his deathbed, was induced to propitiate Heaven by some act of devotion of unusual solemnity.

"The issue of the expedition was nevertheless most disastrous to Scotland. The good lord James, having the precious heart under his charge, set out for Palestine with a gallant retinue. He landed at Seville in his voyage, and, learning that king Alphonso was at war with the Moors, his zeal to encounter the infidels induced him to offer his services. They were honorably and thankfully accepted; but, having involved himself too far in pursuit of the retreating enemy, he was surrounded by numbers of the infidels when there were not ten of his own suite left around his person; yet he might have retreated in safety had he not charged, with the intention of rescuing Sir William Sinclair, whom he saw borne down by a multitude. But the good knight failed in his generous purpose, and was slain by the superior number of the Moors. Scotland never lost a better worthy at the period when his services were more needed. united the romantic accomplishments of a knight of chivalry with the more solid talents of a great military leader. The relics of his train brought back the heart of the Bruce with the body of his faithful follower to their native country. The heart was deposited in Melrose-Abbey, and the corpse of Douglas was laid in the tomb of his ancestors, in the church of the

same name."

He