scarcely encircled the Mediterranean with a belt of Churches; it had hardly penetrated to the centre of any of the large nations (under Rome there were no large States,) which bordered on that great sea. But, during the little-known and less-valued interval, of which we now write, that faith had spread over all Europe, over Western, and much of Central, Asia, and had for a length of time stamped its impress upon a wide extent of Northern Africa. Nation after nation, tribe succeeding tribe, had come from the far north, or the farther east, to assail Rome's decaying Empire. If seldom equal in council, they were generally superior in battle; yet the fiercest of these warriors yielded to the lessons of the mildest of teachers. The warlike many became submissive disciples of the defenceless, but instructed, few. Nor was it only over unlettered barbarians that the triumphs of Christianity were gained. The lessons of the Gospel proved attractive to the finest intellects of the time. The greatest minds of the age illustrated those lessons by learning, defended them by argument, and enforced them by eloquence. It is easy to report of the inferiority, in some respects, of the greatest of the Fathers to the highest intellect of the more strictly ancient or the more thoroughly modern world; but their defects were those of their times, their merits were their own.

We have as much right to claim the ancient ecclesiastical writers as High Churchmen have. Supposing Cyprian or Basil were to rise from the grave, they would find the English Establishment as alien from the spirit of their Church as any Nonconformist denomination could be. High respect they should meet with from all; perfect sympathy they could look for from none.

There is little fear that study of the Fathers would, among us, produce evils of moment, as has recently happened in the case of the Tractarians. To us they would be merely a branch of study, neither its root nor its stem. The influences of the modern world, of the contemporary Church, surround us so thoroughly on every side, penetrate so deeply into our intellectual and moral being, that we are in little danger of giving more than its due to the remote past. Studious research is, in itself, no antagonist to intellectual discipline. Patristical Latin, ecclesiastical Greek, need not impair the strength or antiquate the simplicity of that English which is our so well-adapted instrument of general and popular useful

ness.

The traditional confines of our predecessors' studies have been now overpassed. The speculations of Germany, at once ingenious and erudite, have exerted on not a few minds among us a wide extent of influence. One class has been dazzled by their light, another has been repelled by their shadow; while a third, more judicious than either, has aimed to avoid enthusiastic acceptance or ill-informed disdain; to separate the solid from the doubtful, the valuable from the frivolous, the real from the fancied.

Another subject of research has been opened up in the revived taste for the seventeenth century divines. The Puritans, often masters of thought, though rarely masters of style, have, by their profound piety,their vast, though frequently cumbrous learning,—their searching knowledge and scrutinizing exposure of the human heart, attracted the studious regard of not a few. In both the one and the other of these investigations we see much to admire, and not a little to sympathize with; though we should dread either being carried to excess, and should ill like to see our contemporary England subjected to the religious treatment of either a

merely imported Germanism or a merely revived Puritanism. What we freely concede to others, we frankly claim for ourselves. We reckon it no unworthy topic of investigation to study the literature, the manners, the worship, the religious life, of the ancient Church in its various compartments; Alexandrian in Clement, or Asiatic in Chrysostom, or African in Cyprian, and Augustine. Even as a mere matter of intellectual curiosity, it is surely worth while to contemplate that after-matter, that second harvest of the Greek and Roman tongues which sprung up after the former had long ceased to move. It is worth while to inquire how that wondrous vehicle of human thought which, on either side of the Ægean, from Homer to Demosthenes, had for centuries been progressively refined and developed, how the Greek language was employed (after the lapse of ages spent in echoes and copies) by the earnest and cultivated thinkers, the fervent and eloquent orators of the Hellenic Church. And not less deserving of study is the less flexible and varied, but still masculine and majestic, Latin,—when the Council had succeeded to the Senate, and the` Basilica was at once another Forum and a noble temple,—when the stirring to its depth of man's heart had recalled the powers and re-awakened the energies of his mind,-and when thought, long tame, and speech, long feeble, and action, long decaying, found a fresh impulse and a new support in the motives supplied by the religion of the cross. That surely is the wisest state of mind which, with perhaps a decided bias to one department of religious study, has a comprehensive respect and a Catholic sympathy for all the rest. Taking, as an analogous instance, the example of English poetry; surely, while, either from mental constitution or early associations, or the tastes of those whose company we chiefly keep, we have an individual preference for the antique, as seen in Spencer and Milton, or the middle age, as represented by Dryden and Pope, or the modern, as exemplified in Wordsworth and others, lately dead, or still alive,—we need find no difficulty in admitting the merits of those whose works we leave others more especially to relish, and more fondly to admire.

In conclusion, we hold it as a position, which prejudice may question, but reason thoroughly supports, that each Church, our own among the rest, should contain within its bounds a certain number of persons who have the ability and the inclination to devote themselves to the different compartments of ecclesiastical investigation. Christian antiquity, in short, merits the exaggerating idolatry of none, but rightfully claims the sincere respect of all, and will, alike in research and result, reward the patient attention of some.

Biography.

THE LATE COLONEL FORDYCE.

His accom

THIS distinguished and deeply lamented | admonition of the Lord.
officer was the eldest son of the late
Thomas J. Fordyce, Esq. of Ayton,
Berwickshire, an extensive landed pro-
prietor, of great worth and intelligence.
Under the parental roof he was trained
from his earliest years in the nurture and

plished and truly Christian mother, who
had no greater joy than to see her
children walking in the truth," was her
son's faithful instructress in that know-

ledge which maketh wise unto salvation. A portion of the sacred volume was com

mitted each morning to memory, and around the family altar prayer was offered daily unto the Lord.

At the age of twelve, the subject of this mournful tribute had mastered several of the higher Latin classics, and acquired a tolerable knowledge of Greek. For the acquisition of languages he discovered peculiar aptitude, analysing with much facility the passages of his favourite authors.

It was manifest, from the enthusiasm with which he followed Cæsar and Hannibal, and other heroes of antiquity, through their respective fields of conflict, that he was destined, by a sparing Providence, for a military life. The writer of these observations has a vivid recollection of the graphic skill with which, after rising from the pages of Livy or Tacitus, he described the successes or discomfitures of the combatants, and pronounced on the equity or injustice of the causes of warfare. Before leaving home for a private seminary in England, he was thoroughly conversant with the works of our best modern historians, travellers, and poets. After his return, he completed his literary curriculum in Edinburgh, and was resident for some time with Doctor (now Bishop) Terrot, enjoying, under his able superintendence, advantages equivalent to those of an English University.

Endowed with a masculine understanding, a capacious and retentive memory, and indomitable perseverance, ample promise was afforded of literary distinction. Highly gifted as was his intellect, which, as if by intuition, separated the accessories from the essentials of any subject, his moral qualities commanded still higher admiration. His bosom was the very soul of honour and generosity. "Truth in the inward parts," manly independence in forming his opinions, and unflinching courage in expressing them, were united with the meekness of wisdom and an unaffected modesty of demeanour which shrank with sensitive aversion from all ostentatious display. In personal appearance Colonel Fordyce was considerably above the ordinary height, with a high massive forehead and a countenance which revealed profound thought, calm decision of purpose, and delicate sensibility. There was frequently also a look of pensive reflection, which indicated that he had been no stranger to the affections and sorrows of life. By a stranger, indeed, he might sometimes appear chargeable with a degree of reserve bordering even on hauteur; but those who knew him thoroughly could best appreciate the depth and constancy of his friendships, and his warm-hearted sympathy with his fellow-men, both "of high and of low degree."

Deprived in youth of his excellent parents, to whom he was ever a dutiful and loving son, he fulfilled with unwearied fidelity and tenderness the part of an elder brother towards all the other members of a family, whose present heavy sorrows the Heavenly Comforter alone can alleviate.

His first commission as an ensign in the 34th Regiment was dated in 1828. He served with that corps (then in Nova Scotia), until 1832, when he obtained an unattached lieutenancy. The same year, however, he returned to full-pay, first in the 94th, and soon after in the 21st. He served in the 21st North British Fusiliers until 1836, when he obtained his company in the 35th Regiment, from which In no feature of character was the late he exchanged to the 11th Foot in 1839. Colonel Fordyce more remarkable than in Having in 1844 obtained his step as major his strict conscientiousness. Every transin the latter regiment, he exchanged the action, private or public, was conducted same year into the 74th Highlanders. with a sacred regard to the authority and In 1846 he became lieutenant-colonel the glory of God. This profound sense and commanding officer of this regiment, of responsibility for his stewardship distinin which important position he gained the guished him, not only in the more promiesteem of the military authorities and the nent departments of duty, but in the most affection of all who served under him. minute details of every-day life. As an Though possessed of a good private officer who had been called to occupy a fortune, so strong was the esprit de corps high position in the British army, he was of this noble officer that in March, 1851, ardently and indefatigably devoted to his he embarked with his regiment for the professional avocations, cheerfully exCape of Good Hope, where, after months pending time and strength and pecuniary of severe and harassing warfare, he fell at resources in promoting the temporal and the head of his gallant and beloved High-spiritual welfare of the Regiment which landers in the prime of his manhood, and with a name already one of renown.

he commanded. Whilst stationed in Glasgow a few years ago, opportunities

"To those even slightly acquainted with the army, it will not sound strange to hear, in the published accounts from the Cape, 'that the whole colony deplores the loss of this noble officer. Both men and officers feel his loss severely, and at this juncture the loss the Service has sustained is incal--considerations which it is superfluous in culable.' But those who knew Colonel

Aliscellaneous Papers.

HOLLAND.

IN continuation of the paper headed popular theological works which, though "Dutch Church," in our last number, we proceed to give