the poetry, our readers shall judge for themselves from the following specimen : TIME. What is so swift, thou foaming river, Time is more swift, for while the finger Grieve not that thus, by Heaven directed Who steals our misspent hours away.' We congratulate the public on the appearance of the first volume of The Gallery of Scripture Engravings,' considering it one of the most finished works in our illustrated literature; and believing it to be worthy of a place on the library shelf, when it has served its purpose in the drawing-room and social circle. If picturesque illustrations of the events and localities of scripture history, are in themselves worthy of notice; they are rendered doubly so by the explanations and descriptions given in this volume, by Dr. Kitto, the able editor of The Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature. The Landscapes, 'represent the most interesting of the sites mentioned in the sacred Scripture; and while they largely gratify the desire so generally felt, to become acquainted with the distinguishing characteristics of the spots made venerable by the acts and sufferings of Christ, and by the presence of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; the combination of historical and landscape engravings, cannot but be deemed as natural as it is unquestionably interesting. The Historical subjects gratify the taste, and assist the imagination by realising the circumstances and action of the scriptural incidents, while at the same time, the landscapes represent in faithful characters the places where these circumstances were witnessed.' The work is rendered more valuable by the accuracy which marks its descriptions;-an accuracy which has been secured by extensive research, and the author's personal acquaintance with the East. The publishers have done wisely in 'leaving the literary department in the care' of Dr. Kitto, whose well-known productions in biblical literature' constitute an ample guarantee for the truthfulness of the descriptions, and for the soundness of the views which they embody.' We find the names of Rubens, Rembrandt, Raffaelle, Correggio, Vandyke, West, and other eminent artists amongst the masters, from whose paintings, the plates, which are sixty-five in number, have been taken. They include The last Supper, The destruction of Jerusalem, The Convent of Mount Carmel, Hagar sent away, Hagar in the Desert, Samuel and Eli, and many others which might be selected. We recommend The Gallery of Scripture Engravings as a work of intrinsic value to all who are interested in the localities of the events recorded in Holy Writ. Art. IX.-1. An Address on behalf of the London Branch of the Provisional Committee, 1845. 2. Narrative of the Proceedings of the Meetings held in Liverpool, October, 1845. 3. Minutes of the Meetings of the Aggregate Committee held in Liverpool, October, 1845, and January, 1846. 4. Minutes of the Meetings of the Aggregate Committee, held in Birmingham, April, 1846. 5. On the Evangelical Alliance; its Design, its Difficulties, its Proceedings, and its Prospects, with Practical Suggestions. By the Rev. Dr. Chalmers. 6. Abstract of the Proceedings and final Resolutions of the Conference, held in Freemasons' Hall, London, on August 19th, 1846, and following days. 7. Minutes of the Proceedings of the Conference. 8. Appendix to the Report of the Proceedings of the Conference. 9. Historical Sketch of the Evangelical Alliance. We have before us all the documents, legitimately within our reach, relating to the history and proceedings of the Evangelical Alliance. These we are about to use with exclusive reference to the question of religious fellowship with slaveholders, and particularly American or United States slaveholders. We shall leave all other questions regarding the Alliance wholly untouched in the present article, and shall, as far as possible, write uninfluenced by any opinions we may entertain concerning the origin, objects, principles, and tendencies of the Alliance. Apart from all other considerations, we should have been disposed to bestow the heartiest commendation on that body, if its course on the subject of slavery had been consistent with our views of religious integrity, and the nature of the abomination to be dealt with; while, neither personal esteem for the men who composed, in great part, the late Conference, nor the most sincere love for the professed object of the Alliance-Christian Union-will prevent us from stating the facts of the case, or from pronouncing our judgment upon them. In this matter we have no discretion. Our duty to truth, and the sacred cause of God and man, demand from us a fearless and honest review of the events which have taken place during the past year, on the subject of slavery, in connexion with a proposal to unite in a grand Ecumenical Alliance, Christians of Evangelical sentiments throughout all the regions of the earth. During the period necessary for the preparations for a meeting, at which such an Alliance should be formed, the question of slavery, and slaveholding by professed Evangelical Christians, came to be considered, and disposed of. At the meeting recently assembled in London, it again came under consideration; it occupied four days, and was again disposed of. Since the meeting in London, it has been forced upon the attention of a meeting composed exclusively of British members, assembled in Manchester, and has been again disposed of. Let us review these several discussions, and their results. A deeply solemn and unutterably momentous subject has been again and again made the theme of deliberation, and the matter of divers decisions, by assemblies of men met for the purpose of promoting a hallowed, tender, and heavenly union among the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ,- a union in spirit and holy effort, for high and sanctified ends, among men superior to the influence of names, and parties, and forms, and shades of doctrine-men capable of recognising, admiring, and loving the image and the character of Christ, in disciples who might not happen to sit upon the same form in the divine school, or to bear the same denomination in the church militant. That subject was slaveholding,-the buying, selling, and retaining of human beings as articles of merchandise. The question was,- Is a man who buys and sells his fellow-creatures eligible for admission into an Evangelical Alliance? An alliance of those who are to furnish to the world the most sublime proof, since the days of Pentecost, of the purity and power of the religion of Christ?' The days of Pentecost! When the disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost,' and 'spake the word of God with boldness;' neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possesed was his own; but they had all things in common.' 'Shall a man, known to be in unlawful possession of his fellow-men, and to claim them as his property, in the same way as his furniture and farm implements,-who claims them in virtue of laws, which not only allow him to possess them as chattels, but forbid him at the same time to instruct them either for time or for eternity, be a member of the Evangelical Alliance?' That was the question which had to be determined-not by those who claimed to be ranked as evangelical Christians, while they held slaves, and trafficked in the persons of men; but by an overwhelming majority of non-slaveholders; of British Christians, whose acts were to proclaim to the world, whether or not men might be the disciples, the messengers, and the ministers of Christ, while they were slaveholders. Before we look at the conduct of the parties connected with the Alliance, let us glance at the progress of religious opinion in this country on the subject of slave-trading and slave-holding. The movement in favour of the abolition of slavery, whether in this country or in America, had its origin in a deep religious sentiment, and a profound and conscientious examination of the word of God. The prize essay of Clarkson, especially his preface to the second edition; the writings of Granville Sharpe ; the journals of John Woolman; the appeal of William Wilberforce; and the life-long labours of Sandiford and Benezet, will abundantly prove this. The torch of freedom in this holy cause was lighted at the altar of God. The sustaining motive in the souls of those who consecrated themselves to the work, was not mere humanity. No; they not only pitied the sufferings of the victim of oppression, and yearned for his deliverance, but saw, with the vision of men 'pure in heart,' a stupendous and most guilty violation of the law of God, calling for vengeance, not alone on the immediate perpetrators of the deed, but on the nations sanctioning or permitting the impious and inhuman traffic. Religion led the way. Religion, 'pure and undefiled,' supported the men who fainted not, until the reluctant senates of the land pronounced the doom of the accursed trade. To Christianity belongs the glory of redeeming our nation from the crime of making merchandise of slaves and of the souls of men. As it was in the case of the abolition of the slave-trade, so was it also in respect of slavery. It is true that the Christian world did not at once admit the crime of slave-holding under all circumstances; and yet there was an instinctive revolt from the act, wherever the judgment and feelings were uncorrupted. Nothing, however, was wanting; but some powerful voice to enunciate the unadulterated and eternal truth, to call forth an universal response. That voice was at length heard; it was the voice of the late Dr. Andrew Thomson, of Edinburgh, who, on unfurling the banner of Immediate Emancipation, declared, with the authority of God, and the attestation of all human hearts in his favour, the essential, invariable, and everlasting sinfulness of slave-holding. Slavery,' he said, 'is hostile to the original and essential rights of our humanity,-contrary to the inflexible and paramount demands of moral justice,-at eternal variance with the spirit and maxims of revealed religion,-inimical to all that is merciful in the heart and holy in the conduct; and, on these accounts, exposed to the curse of Almighty God. The guilt does not consist merely in making slaves; it consists as much in keeping them slaves. The present slaveholders, and their advocates in this country, cannot escape by setting up such a distinction. It avails them nothing; for if it be unlawful, iniquitous, and unchristian to steal a man, and force him into bondage, it must be equally unlawful, iniquitous and unchristian to retain him in that state; whether he has been purchased, or received as a gift, or got by inheritance, or obtained in any other way whatever. The unfortunate victim, in either case, suffers a wrong which is denounced by the law of nature, and by the law of revelation, and which cannot be persevered in by us, or receive countenance from us, without involving us in deep moral guilt.' The language of the divine was echoed by the statesman, when Mr. Brougham, with kindred eloquence, exclaimed, in the Commons' House of Parliament : Tell me not of rights; talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. I deny the right-I acknowledge not the property. The principles, the feelings of our common nature, rise in rebellion against it. Be the appeal made to the understanding or to the heart, the sentence is the same that rejects it. In vain you tell me of laws that sanction such a claim! There is a law above all the enactments of human codes-the same throughout the world, the same in all times— such as it was before the daring genius of Columbus pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world sources of power, wealth, and knowledge; to another, all unutterable woes;-such it is at this day: it is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, eternal, unchangeable, while men despise fraud, and loath rapine, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in man! In vain you appeal to treaties, to covenants between nations. The covenants of the Almighty, whether the old covenant or the new, denounce such unholy pretensions. To those laws did they of old refer, who maintained the African trade. Such treaties did they cite, and not untruly; for by one shameful compact you bartered the glories of Blenheim for the traffic in blood. Yet, in despite of law and of |