Church is in danger," and the standards of a thousand | pal object for which the Pope established the Inquisi. warlike leaders were unfurled to defend her from injury, or inflict vengeance upon her foes. Nor was this zeal allowed long to cool. The Pope finding that the Barons of Provence but feebly secorded, or altogether opposed, his violent attempts to suppress the Albigenses in their dominions, proclaimed a Crusade against both superiors and vassals, and added to the dreaded thunders of the Vatican, the yet more dreadful cruelties of Simon de Montfort, who for twenty years, desolated, by an exterminating warfare, the fairest provinces of France. From amid such scenes of slaughter and bloodshed arose the Inquisition-fit birth-place for an institution which has been fostered by the blood of three hundred thou- | sand human victims ! tion, the inquisitors were directed not to stop there. Many Christians might entertain heretical opinions which prudence induced them to conceal. The familiars of the holy office were, therefore, strictly charged to watch for the slightest symptoms of a wavering faith in any member of the Church, and instantly to drag the doubter to their bar. Many crimes which came under the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate were con sidered by his Holiness as proofs of an unsound creed, and if the unhappy criminal should escape all the pains and penalties of the civil law, with life, the inquisitors were directed to proceed against him, in order to ascer tain whether he had transgressed from inherent depravity, or from an idea that transgression was not sinful. In either case he was found guilty by his ghostly on earth, that he might thereby escape, as they piously said, the more dreadful torments of hell. It was not, however, until Pope Gregory IX., in 1233, had taken from the bishops the power of dis-judges, who might send him to expiate his sins by fire covering and bringing to punishment the heretics of their respective dioceses, and intrusted that duty to the friars of St. Dominic, that the Inquisition was erected into a distinct tribunal. They erected their first court in the city of Toulouse, from which it was introduced into the neighbouring countries of Europe. In the course of the thirteenth century inquisitorial tribunals were introduced into Aragon and Navarre, and an attempt was made to erect one of their courts in Castile; but either from the lack of heretics, or from the oppo- | sition of the Castilians to such a sanguinary mode of converting them, the holy office does not seem to have made much progress in that province for more than two centuries after its first institution. It was, however, firmly established there also in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and soon stretched its iron sway over the whole nation, upon which it lay like a monstrous incubus, paralysing its exertions, crushing its energies, and extinguishing every other feeling but a sense of weakness and terror." The mode in which the inquisitors proceeded was, at first, comparatively simple, and their examinations were conducted in a manner similar to the ordinary courts of justice. But this simplicity suited not the genius of monkery, and was soon superseded by a more tortuous and complicated procedure. They seemed to aim, not so much at the truth of the accusation, as the conviction of the accused. They had an established maxim, "that the Inquisition could do no wrong," in accordance with which they considered it an indelible reflection on their proceedings if any individual | whom they had once apprehended should clear himself from suspicion. They were not contented with pronouncing judgment upon the words and actions of men, but were intent on laying bare the hidden secrets of the soul. It was not sufficient that a man could prove himself innocent of any expression or act of hostility to the Church of Rome: if they could only torture him into a confession that he had wronged her in thought, they at once proceeded to pronounce him guilty. In their zeal to support the Church, and in the full belief that the end sanctified the means, they scrupled not to employ, in the detection of heresy, any artifice, however gross or deceitful. It mattered not what were the means resorted to so that their victim was ensnared, and betrayed into a confession which might throw the colour of justice over his condemnation. Although the punishment of heresy was the princi There were many species of crime which exposed individuals to suspicion of heresy ;-sorcery, invocation of demons, remaining more than a year under the sentence of excommunication, doubting the authority of the Pope, as vicar of Jesus Christ, and head of the Church, concealing, or any way favouring a heretic and his adherents, resisting the authority of the holy office, refusing to make war upon heretics at its bidding, giving ecclesiastical sepulture to a heretic, and all law. yers, notaries, or other persons belonging to the law, who should assist heretics by their counsel or advice, or should be guilty of concealing any records, papers, or other writings which might facilitate their crimination. By these means, the wretched objects of inqui sitorial jealousy were deprived of all assistance in their perilous situation, and left to encounter alone the torturing examinations of their judges. No wonder that many of them were induced to criminate themselves, and, by a speedy death, seek an escape from their dreadful sufferings. They knew that the heavy clank of their dungeon door sounded the knell of their de parted happiness, for henceforth their reputation was gone. They might outlive the murderous trials to which they would be subjected, and be again permitted to look upon the sun, but the foul breath of the Inqui sition had blasted their character, and ruined their peace irretrievably. Life was therefore, to them, an object of little value, and the grave was welcomed as the only refuge from their tormentors. But alas! even there, they were frequently not secure from the vengeance persecution. The Popes, to render the crime of heres! as much detested as possible, had decreed that the bodies of dead heretics should be disinterred and burnt, and their name and memory to be pronounced for eve infamous. Dreadful tribunal! whose sentence withered in a moment the fairest hopes of young ambition, and blasted the well-earned reputation of centuries!whose terrible denunciations caused the hearts of millions to tremble, and the very grave to give up its dead! Printed and Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, 2. Hunter Square, Edinburgh; and sold by J. R. MACNAIR & Co., 19, Glassford Stree Glasgow; JAMES NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GROOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junr. & Co., Dublin: W. M'COMB, Belfast; and by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland. Subscribers will have their copies delivered at their Residences, THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION AT KILSYTH: MY DEAR SIR,-As you expressed an earnest mind with regard to religion; judging, at the same time, as accurately as I could whether their language and conduct were those of truth and soberness, or whether they were merely the result of some strange and temporary excitement. But before proceeding to state what came under my own observation, it may be expedient briefly to mention the circumstances which preceded the events which at present have attracted, and still attract, so much of public attention. I cannot, of course, in this be very minute, nor shall I attempt it; as in all probability a full account of the matter will ere long be given to the public by the much respected minister of the parish himself. It appears, that for many years the utmost pains have been taken by Mr Burns, the minister, to promote the progress of vital religion among his people. Sabbath schools were established as early as 1809, and have been in operation ever since. In 1826, the parish began to enjoy the benefit of an able, pious, and zealous schoolmaster, all whose labours were based upon the principles, and conducted in the spirit, of scriptural religion. A gradual change was consequently effected in the rising generation, the fruits of which are now be coming extensively apparent. In 1829, the kirksession appointed a fast-day to be observed, expressly for the purpose of humbling themselves on account of the prevalence of vice and immorality, and the low state of personal religion among them. Though this was opposed by some, yet many were awakened to a degree of serious concern on account of their sinful condition. From this time forward a greater degree of earnestness in religious matters began to appear among the people. In 1832, the terrible scourge of the cholera excited an unusual degree of alarm in the minds of great numbers; and many prayer-meetings were formed, which were numerously attended. Nor [SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. they were wrung even to agony. Nor did this awakened state of feeling pass away like a mere transient emotion. Day after day, they requested that the word of God might be preached to them. They did indeed "hunger and thirst after righteousness;" and could not be satisfied till they obtained an interest in the perfect righteousness of Christ. From that time, till now, there has been preaching every evening in the Church, neighbouring ministers willingly lending their aid in so good and important a cause. These particulars I learned from various persons who had been personally cognizant of the whole matter, from its commencement till the period of my visit. I must now state a few particulars f what I myself witnessed. I conversed with many who had experienced these impressions, and endeavoured to ascertain their beginning, progress, and present state. I found that they had been invariably impressed with a deep conviction of sin; and that not in the vague manner which too often leads to nothing, nor merely on account of some individual sins of peculiar enormity, but of the sinfulness of the heart, the deep depravity of human nature, and of their own in particular, which they felt to be the source of all actual sins. They felt intense, almost overwhelming sorrows on account of their sins; but chiefly on account of their heinousness in the sight of God,-their agginvated character when viewed as committed against infinite goodness, mercy, and redeeming love. did they drop into neglect upon the termination | relief from the deep convictions of sin by which of that awful pestilence, but were continued; and the object for which special supplications were offered up to God, was very frequently that He would be graciously pleased to awaken a spirit of earnest and vital religion among them, and throughout the Christian Church generally. In 1835, at the March communion, many were seriously impressed, and gave proofs of having obtained a saving change of heart and principles. There had thus been gradually growing a sort of serious under-current of religious inquiry, though without making any very decided appearance till of late. A short while previous to the last dispensation of the Sacrament, the people were impressed with an earnest desire that God would be pleased to make it a period of more than usual refreshing from his gracious presence; and many prayermeetings were held, expressly for the purpose of supplicating a more than usual outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that solemn occasion. These meetings, it is of importance to notice, were held by the spontaneous impulse of the people themselves, not got up by the importunity of their minister, as is generally the case in America, and sometimes elsewhere; and the tenor of them was chiefly that God would bless his servants, the ministers, and their ministrations, for the promotion of his own glory. Along with this spirit of prayer, there was a dim, indefinite, hope that it might be granted, a wish ripening into an expectation, that the prayer of faith would be heard. The ministrations of the Sacrament Sabbath were attended to with deep and earnest seriousness, and great solemnity; but not beyond what had been the case on former occasions. On the Monday after the Sacrament, a stirring of the mind of the congregation began to appear. Next day Mr William Burns, son of the minister, preached to those young persons who had been his own early friends and companions. His sermon was a sort of farewell discourse, as he was about to depart to another scene of labour, and ere long to enter upon the missionary enterprise. At the close of some urgent and affectionate appeals to their conscience, the impression became manifest. From countenance to countenance, from eye to eye, from heart to heart, it spread, like the thrilling of the electric spark, or the rapid gleam of lightning. Tears streamed down many a face, and many a bosom heaved with strong emotion; yet the excitement was, upon the whole, mental rather than bodily; or if bodily, only so because the mental emotion could not be concealed. The state of mental feeling was also purely scriptural. It could not be more accurately expressed than in the account given of the Pentecostal converts,-"They were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Or, in the language of the jailer of Philippi, they cried out, "What shall I do to be saved?" Next day, numbers came to the minister, desiring to inquire how their souls might obtain They sought not to shelter themselves under the frivolous excuse, that they had not been worse than others; nor under a searching sermon did they evade its force, by imagining how well it might apply to others; but each took the admonition to himself,-cach felt the plague of his own heart,-each felt his own burden to be greater than he could bear, and yet entirely his own. Some endeavoured to shake off the impression, betaking themselves with double assiduity to their worldly pleasures or labours; but were again arrested by the power of Divine truth, and compelled to flee for refuge to Christ, finding all their devices ineffectual. Those who thus sought relief, found it after a longer or shorter period, where alone it is to be found;-in contemplating with earnest faith, the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world ;"-only in that complete "change of heart" which is the result of being "born anew of the Spirit." In all of them with whom I conversed, I found the main features the same, yet diversified in conformity with the varied shades of character and circumstance of those who had experienced the power of the same Divine truths. They all expressed deep humility, entire abandonment of all trust in themselves,-faith in the finished work and perfect righteousness of Christ, as the only and the all-sufficient ground of salvation,deep and grateful adoration of their great God and Saviour, and love to every Christian, ac companied by pity for every sinner, and an earnest desire for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, the reign of peace, and holiness, and love. The external effects are also deserving of notice. Drunkenness, which formerly prevailed to a great degree, strife, railing, evil-speaking, political agitation, and animosity, are, for the present, completely suspended. The master manufacturers by whom the workmen are chiefly employed, were at first apprehensive that such a degree of religious excitement would seriously interfere with the duties of the people, but they have found that the time devoted to religion is much more than compensated by the greater regularity, faithfulness, and alacrity with which they attend to their work, and by their increased sobriety, and the obliging and attentive manner in which they conduct themselves. This has naturally given rise to a corresponding degree of kind, considerate, and generous conduct on the part of the masters and employers, thereby proving that vital Christianity is the very life and cement of society, that "godliness is profitable for all things," and that to be "fervent in spirit" promotes "diligence in business." It should be added, that in walking along the streets about bed-time, instead of the boisterous din of drunken revelry, which formerly abounded, there is now only to be heard, as I can myself testify, the solemn tones of prayer and praise to God, through Christ, and by the Spirit. As I was desirous to explore the matter as thoroughly as possible, I not only conversed with the people in their own houses, but also went with them to church in the evening. They came as they had left their work-it was a week-day evening-grey-headed men and women, others in the prime and strength of life, others still young, down to almost childhood, not a few mothers with their infants in their arms, displaying at once the sweet solicitude of maternal love, and the earnest anxiety of immortal creatures seeking the way of life eternal. The deep, devoted seriousness with which they listened, the bright looks of awakened life which beamed from their eyes, the heart-warm earnestness and fervency with which they sung the praises of God, surpassed any thing I ever saw or heard. Instead of the discouraging uncertainty whether people are attending and receiving benefit, which too often strikes a chill into the heart of a minister, it was impossible not to feel that every word found ready entrance into hearts prepared to receive the truth in the love of it, with the simplicity and the teachableness of little children. They seemed as if they could never tire listening to the tidings of salvation; and I felt (for I too addressed them) as if I could never tire proclaiming these glad tidings. I have frequently met and conversed with pious individual Christians, and felt my heart refreshed by the converse, while I regretted deeply that such intercourse is comparatively so rare. But never have I witnessed any thing at all to compare with what I saw and heard at Kilsyth. I could have imagined that eighteen centuries had been rolled back, and I had been permitted to obtain a glimpse of pure, true, living Christianity, as it was seen in apostolic times! I could not help saying in my own mind, "What hath God wrought!" "This is the doing of the Lord, and wondrous in our eyes!" "God hath visited his people!" I could give you anecdotes illustrative of each and all of these statements, from the intercourse I had with the people both in my first and my second visits to Kilsyth,-for I may mention that I made a second visit, which has only confirmed in my mind the impressions produced by the firstbut I think it premature yet to relate any such anecdotes, and scarcely consistent with the respect due to private conversations-scarcely expedient, lest it should subject individuals to troublesome, and perhaps injurious, intrusion. I may add, that there is, no doubt, a considerable degree of excitement in the place, which must needs abate, for it is "first joy, then peace in believing," but not more than is due to a state of mind awakened to a right sense of the respective values of earth and heaven, time and eternity, sin and holiness, and to the infinite importance of these considerations, as involving the welfare or the woe, for ever, of their own immortal souls. The wonder is, not that such deep interest is occasionally felt, but that it is not always felt when such topics are brought before the mind. If this work be of God, as I believe it is, my earnest prayer is, MAY IT BECOME UNIVERSAL! THE OLD DOCTOR. [Translated from the " Archives du Christianisme," a religious newspaper or journal published once a fortnight in Paris.] In a small town of North Germany lived, not very long ago, a physician, noted through the country round for his professional skill, and well known for his kindness to the poor and the sick, whom he delighted in reliering. The old man, nevertheless, wanted one thing, without which nothing here below can give happiness, the peace of God in Christ crucified. youth had slipped away at a period when unbelief reigned triumphant in the German universities, and in the cultivated circles of society, and he had not resisted the torrent of the "progress of light," as was then His called the denial of the "Light of the world,"_without which all is profound darkness and real barbarism, disguised under the outward deceptive form of a civilization alike corrupted and corrupting. Erdmann (this was the name of our Doctor) had a pious father, a faithful minister of God's Word, who had made his son acquainted with divine truth, and familiarized him with the name of the Saviour; but his son had rejected these doctrines, as incompatible with-I know not what philosophical system, fresh concocted from the university; and now he had lived for fifty years without prayer, without the Bible, without form of worship, without communion, and, as he himself afterwards expressed it, "without God in the world!" He looked upon all such things only as means in the hands of Government for keeping in awe the vulgar and uneducated. He had but one rule, and that rule was,-Do what is right and fear no one; and as, by "fear no one," he understood fear not God, it is useless to add, that he alone de termined what should mean, "Do what is right." | who had been intimate with the pastor ever since they Live and let live; this again was the practical maxim of his life. The pleasures of the table, of society, of gambling, had been sufficient, with his professional occupations, to exclude from his mind any serious reflections respecting his future state. Thus he arrived at his seventy-sixth year. Then came the infirmities of age. Obliged to stay at home, solitary, and with an obstinate cough, he began to be extremely miserable. His bad humour was felt all around him. Never having been married, his coachman and old housekeeper were the only beings he had to torment. All his sleepless nights were passed in ringing the bell, scolding, and threatening. It is with individuals as with nations, when they do not enjoy internal peace, they are ever accusing their neighbours as the causes of the troubles which disturb them. Our old man felt himself bowed beneath the hand of One more mighty than himself, saying to him, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live." But he did not readily obey the call. Often he invited to his table men as far from serious thinking as himself, before whom he affected gaiety and good appetite, on purpose to hide from himself and others the feebleness of that spark of life which still burned within him. Nor did his parasites ever fail to be enraptured with his fine appearance, and his vigour, and to entertain his mind with the thoughts of the fiftieth anniversary of his doctorate, which they were to celebrate in a few months. If by these means the old Doctor contrived to pass his days smoothly enough, it was not so with his nights! About this time there came to the little town in which Erdmann lived, an old preacher, a university friend of our Doctor's. No sooner was the latter alone with his old friend, than with some apparent uneasiness, he addressed to him this grave question,-Do you think there are well-grounded reasons for believing the soul to be immortal? This question gave rise to a conversation, the result of which was, that the proofs deduced from philosophy of the immortality of the soul are not conclusive; that therefore no certainty is attainable, but still that it were a happy thing if we could believe the soul to be immortal. It is useless to say that this conversation much increased the anguish of the old man. He opened his mind upon the subject to one of his friends who was assisting in making his Will, adding, that if the immortality of the soul could be demonstrated to him he should die in peace, a new and fatal error this wherein so many unbelievers are wont to take refuge, as if immortality, considered apart, should not become to them the most frightful of all miseries! Thus the Bible does not in any part teach the simple abstract doctrine of immortality, it speaks of an everlasting happiness, an eternal misery; of a resurrection to life, or a resurrec tion to condemnation. And even the word generally employed in the New Testament, and which versions render by immortality, should be rendered incorruptibility, which is very different. "God alone possesses immortality," 1 Tim. vi. 16; and he alone who has life, even that eternal life which is in God, possesses an immortality which, as such, is a real ground of joy and consolation. Jesus Christ often even joins the promise of the resurrection of the body to the present possession of spiritual life, (John vi. 40, 54.) our Erdmann was advised to call in the new parish minister, who had just entered on his duties, and to converse with him. He shook his head with an incredulous air, "Do you think," he said, "that I could learn from a young man, that which my friend, so learned, so full of experience, was unable to tell me, a man who has lived and studied fifty years longer than this young preacher." However, through the persuasion of a young physician who then attended his patients, and Vide Amos v, 18, 19, and 20.-Translator. studied together, Erdmann invited the latter to visit him, and from that time these two young friends met frequently at the old Doctor's house. But generally the conversation was not such as the servant of God could have wished. He wished to have spoken plainly of death and judgment to an old man on the brink of the grave, but as often as he tried to lead the conversation to religious subjects, the Doctor used that ascendency, which his age and his conversational talents gave him, to give it another direction. The minister was really pained at this, and in spite of his inexperience of the world and its customs, he determined at last, after in vain waiting for a favourable opportunity, to be frank with the old man, who had always deterred to another time that which concerned his soul. He felt that his important duties made his time too precious to waste in such a way, and accordingly one day when the Doctor was taking leave of him, putting off to a more convenient season, like Felix, and yet inviting him to come again, the minister said to him meekly, but seriously, "My dear Sir, I am very grateful for the kindness with which you have received me, though yet a stranger in this town, and I earnestly desire to show you my gratitude; but my ministerial duties render my time so valuable, that I can no longer employ it in useless conversations; if you seriously desire to converse with me about your soul and your eternal prospects, be so good as to let me know, and I shall be at your service at any hour." The Doctor looked for an instant at the speaker, with a mixed air of astonishment and irritation; but soon recovering from this first feeling, he, in a friendly manner, held out his hand to him, saying, "Very well, when I send for you, be so good as come and see me." Three days after, the minister saw the old Doctor's coachman coming to his house with a message begging him to go and see his master. He went immediately, and found him in bed, although the old man had hitherto avoided confining himself to bed, in order to conceal from himself and others the progress of his illness. After the first salutations, the sick man renewed the question which had often distressed hin, and thus arose the following conversation :— 66 "Reverend Sir, do you really believe the soul to be immortal?" "Without doubt, Sir, and it would be little to believe that; I believe, moreover, that you and I after death shall be eternally happy or eternally miserable.' "Prove this to me." 66 Methinks, without many words, that you yourself carry the proof in your own breast. From whence comes that fear, that uneasiness to which you are a prey, at the thought of approaching dissolution? Is it not your conscience testifying within you that there is after death something to fear or something to hope?" Very well, but prove to me that all this is true; for I require proofs, and you do not, I suppose, imagine that I can believe on the word of a man so young as yourself." "Assuredly not; neither my person nor my age have any thing to do with the question; and since you require proofs, let us hear them from the mouth of One older by eighteen hundred years than you or me, nay more from One who was before all worlds. You have a Bible?" The Doctor considered for an instant, "Yes," said he, "I have one." Then having summoned his old housekeeper, he desired her to go and look for his Bible in a commode filled with antiquities. The book of God, which he had never read since his confirmation, was brought to him. The pastor took it, and, not without some emotion, read the following words, written on a blank page of the Bible,-words which seemed to him an indication that the hand of the good Shepherd was extended towards this man's soul, until now far from him: "I give this Bible to my dear son Goltwerth, on the day of the eighth anniversary of his birth, and I earnestly pray the God of all grace, that it may please |