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ances, with whom he took sweet counsel. He remains the same as when his espousals with the church were recognised. He is the same, physically, mentally, morally. He is the same man, the same minister as he was, when at their solicitation, he became their pastor. He retains the same unimpeachable moral character; holds the same denominational views; and proclaims the same essential truths. His hand is still as open, his heart as disposed to sympathise, his mind to study, and his tongue to preach. But how changed the treatment he is doomed to experience! where he once met the cordial and bland smile, he now encounters the cold forbidding frown; lips that once pronounced his praise are silent, or, if they move, it is only to mutter the language of censure or condemnation; the door that was thrown wide open for his reception, is now closed, or creaks reluctantly on its hinges to allow him access; the hospitable board, and the family altar, where he was hailed as an honoured guest, he is now excluded from, or only admitted by sufferance. His public discourses are now criticised and condemned, by individuals whose views are most contracted, and who, whilst they profess to have "an unction from on high, and to know all things, even the deep things of God," are really most imperfectly versed in the rudiments of Christianity, and need again be taught that which they cannot acquire, the first principles of the oracles of God. These profoundly wise and learned men sit in judgment on their minister, and with a dignified air and oracular tone, as ludicrous as it is preposterous, they avow their opinions, and pronounce their verdict, and with an authority as commanding, and a confidence as unblushing as though inspired by extraordinary power, they were invested with a Divine prerogative to become exclusive censors in the church, from whose decisions there would be no appeal. As it regards the faults and imperfections of their minister, (and no minister arrogates to himself infallibility,) they detect them with a microscopic eye, and expand them with a magnifying glass, through which artificial medium they present them to the intellectual eye of others. Such persons are the first to withdraw their pecuniary support from the pastor, and who can doubt their motives, they cannot conscientiously support a minister they do not approve, and

from whose ministry they derive no spiritual benefit, though the man of their own choice. As soon as a person reaches this stage, he will not long remain there. The minister he cannot support he would degrade and expel. A dissenting mi nister cannot be forcibly ejected from his charge, neither the usages of our churches, nor the law of the land permits this. The suffrages of our churches that present the minister a call to the pastorate give him a freehold interest for life in the chapel, investing in his hands an undisputed and legitimate right to the pulpit, from which no ecclesiastical or civil authority can depose him, except an injunction from the Lord Chancellor, based on substantiated evidence of immorality. As no act of coercion can exclude a minister from his pulpit, those who wish to be fairly rid of him must either tire him out, or wear him out, or starve him out. This, however, can be seldom accomplished by a single indivi dual. There must be a conspiracy, arising from the spread of disaffection. Unhappily, a small faction, even one or two persons in a church, have sometimes the power, and that without much personal risk, to spread the views of disaffection. When the resolve is once made, “our minister shall go," give the parties time, and let them have some scanty materials to work with, and they will generally effect their purpose; it matters not to them, the pastor's personal attachment to the people, the pecuniary sacrifices he may incur, the difficulties he may have to encounter from the stigma which their conduct affixes on his professional character, the plans of usefulness he must relinquish uncompleted, and the spiritual children, begotten by him, he must abandon. All these are thrown overboard in the attempt to remove the minister from the helm. He has only the alternative, in the spirit of independence, to retire from a people amongst whom there are those in the constancy of whose affections he is bitterly disappointed; or to remain firm to his post, and, in a Christian spirit, to encounter all the nameless insults and unkindnesses from which a sensitive and an affectionate spirit recoils, and risking peace of mind, tranquillity of spirit, and health of body, with the heroism of a martyr, to adopt the language of the apostle, and to exclaim, "Yea, and if I be offered up on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." And

there are those who have fallen as the victims of disaffection, and whose hearts have been broken by the unchristian conduct of their people. Some churches, (though we would fain hope, but few,) are so notorious for the vacillation of their affection, that their history is mainly one of ministerial ordinations and resignations, they have not known a minister close his services and his work amongst them, and leave his ashes to mingle in their sepulchres. Such churches, that think and act on the principle that frequent changes are desirable, as they differ from their sister churches, who deem a long-standing connexion between a pastor and his charge alike creditable and honourable to both parties, should deviate in some measure from these plans, and instead of inviting a minister to become their pastor, to provide for him a furnished house or lodging, and hire him by the year, with the agreement of a quarter's warning or a quarter's wages. Such a scheme would have its obvious advantages. It would enable the community, without difficulty, to dismiss the man, and prevent the risk incurred of having one of iron mould, who would maintain his ground, and bid defiance to those who would attempt to turn him out; it would also be advantageous to the individual himself, as he would know the precarious tenure of his engagement, and would be prepared for any sudden change of the atmosphere, from the softness of the summer's southern breeze, that fans his

brow, to the wildness of the northern blast, that up-roots him from the soil, and bears him away.

This disaffection towards ministers, that occasions their removal, has a most baneful tendency when it recurs again and again within short intervals. It is injurious to the minister, though the injury is often only temporary, and often ultimately is subservient in removing him to a church of a far different order, where his acceptance is permanent. It is injurious to our denomination, affording to those who differ from us in our ecclesiastical polity, one of the most specious arguments against our system, although the defect is not in the system, but in those who have the working of it, and do not really understand and appreciate its principles; and, therefore, do not carry them into full operation. But it is more injurious to the churches themselves. From an extensive acquaintance with our congregational churches, we can assert, those communities are manifestly the most healthy and thriving, where there is a permanent alliance between pastor and people. And the vast bulk of our churches, where such a well-sustained and perpetuated connexion exists, there is the aspect of moral strength and spiritual life; whilst feebleness marks the character of those that are, like the Athenians, always wanting to hear or see some new thing-to see a new minister's face, and to hear a new minister's voice.

RICH. WIN. HAMILTON.

ON A MOTHERLESS CHILD.

The earth was wan when she was born;
The summer suns were flown;
The last leaves trembled on the thorn;
The winds began to moan.

But then she had a mother's breast,

And all a mother's eye:
Let summers go-she has her rest:
Let wild winds whistle by.

Another autumn's tempest sweeps;
And leaves are funeral-piled:
Still in those gentle arms she sleeps-
Winds! rock some orphan child!

Another autumn came again,

And flowers began to fade: The light of day began to wane,

And night prolonged her shade.

But now, when damp dews settle chill,
And leafless branches wave,
Oh, wintry storms of life! be still:
Her mother's in the grave.

Her little feet sought not the sod;
Her infant sorrow slept :
But one for her a mourner stood-
There, surely, "Jesus wept."
But sheltered in his warm caress,
And carried in his arms,

Come life's autumnal dreariness Come all its wintry storms!

P. H. D.

OUR FATHER LAND.

By the Author of "Home." QUICKER than thought, more fleet than air, The will of God resplendent moves, In answer to the voice of prayer, When prayer ascends from those he loves.

There is a sense in which the Lord

Loves all the creatures of his hand; But those who love and trust his word, To them he gives the heavenly land. Quicker than nature paints the day,

More swift than heat absorbs the dew, Does God his powerful grace display, To cheer the soul that's born anew.

Swifter than eagles cut the air,

Or fish can swim in ocean deep, The Lord our God extends his care To those his mercy loves to keep. Oh may my thoughts in rapture rise, Rapid as shadows mark the sand, Above the ruinable skies,

There to enjoy my "Father Land."

John Murray, Albemarle-street.

A proud pre-eminence belongs to this country among the nations, from its sympathy with the oppressed-its taking the lead in the abolition of the slave trade, and the noble sacrifice which it made to secure the emancipation of its slaves. These are deeds which reflect greater honour on Britain than the splendour of all her victories; and it is an honour which will not wax dim, but will shine forth with a brighter lustre as the world advances in knowledge and piety. Reflecting calmly upon the statements and reasonings of Mr. Buxton in the volume before us, we think that a greater glory in the same cause will yet be won. The information indeed which he has collected is of the most depressing character, and would leave the mind full of gloom, were it not for the thought that a merciful

God reigneth in the heavens, and is working in our world to bless and regenerate mankind by the Gospel of his Son. Bearing this in mind, we cannot despair about the fate of Africa; and though Mr. Buxton demonstrates the absolute failure of the efforts that have hitherto been tried to benefit that quarter of our globe, we hail his disclosures as the prelude of a great effort on the part of British Christians-a very different thing from Christian Britons-to accomplish its freedom and salvation.

The principal part of this volume is occupied with a description of the slave trade, as it exists at present-" the extent to which the traffic is now carried on, and the sacrifice of human life which it occasions." One great merit which it possesses is a straightforward faithfulness. On the subject of slavery, and especially of the slave trade, it is difficult for one possessing the ordinary sympathies and sensibilities of human nature, to speak or write with calmness. Where one is so

sure that his judgment agrees with the judgment of God, he is apt to assume the tone of denunciation. Mr. Buxton has been on his guard against this tendency. He is never declamatory, and hence no one can suspect him of exaggeration. He asserts only what he can prove; and startling as is the proposition, "that upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand human beings are annually conveyed from Africa, across the Atlantic, and sold as slaves," we hardly think it possible for any one to rise from the examination of his details without the conviction, that had he said two hundred and fifty thousand he would not have been beyond the truth.

The principal slave-markets are those of Brazil and Cuba. Into the former there are imported every year seventy-eight thousand, and into the latter, sixty thousand individuals, direct from Africa. These two items, with the amount of captures, and a very small allowance for casualties, make up the hundred and fifty thousand. But we may be sure that the returns of a contraband trade are always below its extent; and the same traffic is carried on all along the Brazil coast, in Porto Rico, and most of the South American republics; and to a considerable extent under the sanction of the American flag. As it was not possible, however, to confirm the testimony of private individuals, as to the extent to which such traffic thus prevails, by official reports, nothing is added on its account to the general estimate.

But Africa is not the prey of so-called Christian nations merely. Fifty thousand of its inhabitants are dragged annually from their homes to supply the various Mohammedan markets. On what seems to us a very low calculation, it appears that two hundred thousand Africans are annually subjected to slavery. And these are not all the victims of the slave trade. Like some of the fiercest beasts, it destroys more than it can devour. These two hundred thousand are but the remnant which the various agents of death that wait upon it have spared. A much greater number perish "in the original seizure of the slaves, the march to the coast and detention there, the middle passage, and the sufferings after capture." The statements by which this position is supported, surpass in their reve. lations of atrocity those by which Clarkson and Wilberforce formerly set the public mind on fire; and though "the voice of our brother's blood" is not now, as then, crying loudly against us, they cannot be read without producing mingled feelings of grief and indignation; we hope they will not be read without causing the resolute purpose to be formed, and the solemn vow to be en. rolled. The result is, that the slave trade

annually subjects to the horrors of murder or slavery four hundred and seventy-five thousand natives of Africa.

Since Clarkson and others began their noble task, the evil which they attempted to remove has increased. The tide of misery which they endeavoured to roll back from Africa has rolled over it with redoubled fury and more devastating power, Mr. Buxton has proved, "by documents which cannot be controverted, that for every village fired, and every drove of human beings marched in former times, there are now double. For every cargo then at sea, two cargoes, or twice the number in one cargo, wedged together in a mass of living corruption, are now borne on the wave of the Atlantic. But whilst the number who suffer have increased, there is no reason to believe that the sufferings of each have abated on the contrary, we know, that in some particulars these have increased: so that the sum total of misery swells in both ways. Each individual has more to endure; and the number of individuals is twice what it was. The result, therefore, is, that aggravated sufferings reaches multiplied numbers."

Such is the result of our labours and sacrifices, our beseechings and treaties with foreign nations, and "painful as this is," observes the author, "it becomes still more distressing if it shall appear that our present system has not failed by mischance, from want of energy, or from want of expenditure, but that the system itself is erroneous, and must necessarily be attended with disappointment."

Mr. Buxton thinks that we have failed because we have attempted to put down the slave trade by the strong hand alone, and that perseverance in such an attempt will continue to be attended with discomfiture.

All that we have done, according to him, is to effect a change in the flag under which the trade is carried on-to cause the Spanish flag to be substituted for the French, and the Portuguese for the Spanish; for now the Portuguese Governors, as if anxious that nothing should be wanting to perpetuate and complete the infamy of their nation in its dealings with foreign and pagan countries, openly sell to slave traders at a fixed price, the use of Portuguese papers and the Portuguese flag. The United States likewise have peremptorily refused to accede to the constituting all slave-trading piracy; and, but lately, in the space of four months, there sailed from Havannah, for the African coast, ten vessels bearing the American flag. Reading this, one is strongly tempted to confound liberty and religion with license, hypocrisy and, fanaticism. It is of no use, therefore, attempting to put down the slave trade in this way. There would

be requisite a universal confederacy, and that we cannot obtain. "It will avail us little that ninety-nine doors are closed, if one remains open. To that one outlet, the whole slave trade of Africa will rush."

In fact, neither Spain, nor Portugal, nor America is accessible to generous motives and Christian principle. Slavery and the slave trade have enslaved the two former, and are going on to enslave the latter. The retributive providence of God is manifest in their case and condition; and if the other repent not and turn from its iniquity, it likewise will experience the judgments of the Most High. Something may be done by negotiation with other countries, and let all that our Government can do be done; but supposing that a universal confederacy were formed, and the "strong arm" effectual in preventing the spoliation of Africa, this would be far from satisfying the wishes of the philanthropist and the Christian, and far from repaying cur debt to that region, and fulfilling our duty to God. For the suppression of the slave trade, as well as for the permanent benefit of Africa-the promotion of its civilization and evangelization-Mr. Buxton "places his main reliance, not on the employment of force, but on the encouragemen which we may be able to give to the legitimate commerce and the agricultural cultivation of Africa."

So far as the slave trade is concerned, his argument is this, and it is sound. The African is in that condition,-so far elevated from the savage,-that he must have the productions of the civilised world, but to give for them he has only the person of his brother. For this purpose, the parent barters his children, the chief his subjects and his enemies, and one man kidnaps another. But show them how by attending to commerce and cultivating the soil, they can obtain productions, at a smaller expense of labour and danger, to exchange for those which they want, and you lay the axe to the root of the tree of which slave-dealing is the production; or rather you hew down the tree, and its fruit falls with it.

Accordingly the second portion of the volume is devoted to the commercial and agricultural capabilities of Africa. It was the intention of the author to point out likewise, how the African nations were to be made aware that they possessed these capabilities. This he has deferred, because, in his opinion, "the time has not yet arrived when it would be expedient to publish in detail the measures which are necessary, in order that the African may be taught to explore the wealth of his exuberant soil, and to enjoy the sweets of legitimate commerce. These views have been communicated to her Majesty's Government. It is

for them to decide how far they are safe, practicable, and effectual. When their decision shall have been made, there will be no occasion for any farther reserve. The second portion of the work will then be published."

We consider it of much more importance that Mr. Buxton has shown, that Africa has very great capabilities of both the kinds which have been mentioned, and that her people have an energy of mind wherever they are not crushed and unnerved by the influence of the degrading traffic-which invariably produces the tyrant and the imbecile, the fiend and the brute-sufficient to make those capabilities effectual to the purposes of foreign merchants and traders. He has directed attention to its geographical position and contiguity to Europe, the Senegal being within twenty-five, and the Congo within fifty-five days' sail of London-to its natural productions, especially of minerals, timber, dyes, and cotton-to its commercial resources, aided by its extensive coast and mighty rivers, navigable to immense distances inland, and insuring communication with the nations of the interior, which as they occupy the place, so they exhibit the activity of the heart; and to its rich and alluvial deltas, and extensive and fertile plains, which present a boundless field for cultivation. It is important likewise to observe that the articles which the Africans require "are many of them the produce of manufactures of our island, or of our colonies; and we may thus obtain the treasures of this unexplored continent, by direct barter of our own commodities; and while we cheapen luxuries at home, we shall increase the means of obtaining them, by giving increased employment to our productive classes. It so happens also, that a considerable portion of the goods which best suit the taste of the natives of Africa consists of fabrics to which power-looms cannot be applied with any advantage. Any extension then of the trade to Africa will have this most important additional advantage, that it will cause a corresponding increase in the demand for the labour of a class of individuals who have lately been truly represented as suffering greater privations than any other set of workmen connected with the cotton trade."

These views will have their due weight with those whose business it must be to

follow them up. We do trust that our Christian merchants-surely there are many such-will diligently examine the subject, and if it be possible, occupy this field of commercial enterprise. In opening it there will be great difficulties-difficulties induced by the sort of intercourse to which the natives have hitherto been subjected. We shall