The room was, indeed, a small one; probably, if well packed, it might contain 150 or 175 persons. Still, small though it was, a mighty host has risen out of the few that there listened to that convincing reasoner, and witnessed his admirable dissections of the brain. There are yet two small rooms, of skulls, adjoining that in which he lectured, in which Bro. Henshall and myself spent some hour or two; speculating upon all conceivable models of heads, gathered from all the world; from Mexico to China, and from Nova Zembla to the Cape of Good Hope. If men's brains can differ so much from one another, and if the volume, density and tenacity of the organized marrow are so diverse, in diverse heads, what marvel is it if the character of those minds operated upon, and operating through, such greatly diversified machinery, should be marked with corresponding variations of thought, and feeling, and action! But my sheet is full, and I must bid adieu to Edinburgh and hie away to Aberdeen, in the morning. Yours as ever. A. CAMPBELL. LETTERS FROM EUROPE-No. XXVII. Dy dear Clarinda—IN company with brother John Dron, of Auchtermuchty, and brother John Ingles, of Banff, I left the city of Edinburgh, Saturday morning, 14th of August, for the city of Aberdeen, north of Edinburgh one hundred and nine miles, and distant from London 501 miles. It was the first Sabbatic Saturday that I had enjoyed for some time, and never did I need one more. The evening before I had made a two hours speech, in response to the allegata of Rev. James Robertson, in the Waterloo Rooms. It often seemed, during the speech, as though I were addressing a mob, rather than a calm, deliberate and moral assembly. I retired at a late hour, and awoke at a very early one in order to secure my seat in the omnibus that carried us to the steamer. 1, therefore, soon as I got aboard sought repose, and occasionally found a little in a crowd of some hundred and fifty passengers. We had a beautiful day, a smooth sea, along a rocky coast, where, for miles on miles, we saw a wall of rock worn into every form by the continual attrition of waves lashed by fierce winds, and sometimes bearing in their bosoms masses of ice. The steamer kept, during most of the day, so near the coast as to afford a clear view of many a projecting cliff; of many an overhanging rock, and of many a curious cave that might have made an Ossian eloquent, in setting forth their claims upon our admiration. We arrived at.the mouth of the river Don a little before sunset. This river forms a convenient haven, and quite accessible in good weather. In a quarter of an hour we were within the precincts of Old Aberdeen. Brother Dunn, of the Baptist Church, was anxiously waiting our arrival; and, in a few minutes, we found ourselves more comfortably lodged, in his delightful mansion, in the bosom of his very kind and hospitable family. There is no passport to the human heart comparable to that which Christianity confers upon its true disciples. Christians have a common key to the hearts of all the children of their Father. They know one another the moment they recognize the relationship. We feel ourselves always at home, always safe and happy in the bosom of a Christian family. I wonder not to hear the Messiah say, that whosoever forsaketh father or mother, wife or children, houses or lands, for the kingdom of heaven's sake, shall receive a hundred fold more- -fathers, brothers, houses, lands, &c., &c., in the present world, as an earnest of the life everlasting to be enjoyed in the next. True, our natural and political relations of husbands and wives, of parents and children, &c., remain as before; but we receive from our Christian relatives all that kindness, attention and comfort which our fathers, or our children, our husbands, or our wives could bestow upon us. A very refreshing and profound repose, during the night, so much invigorated me that I addressed a large and respectable audience twice on the Lord's day, morning and evening, besides meeting with the brethren in the afternoon and delivering an exhortation. On Monday morning we hastened, by stage, to Banff, almost due north some 45 miles distant from Aberdeen. It was a pleasant day and a pleasant ride, on the top of a staunch coach, through a highland looking country, not at all highly cultivated, but rather bleak. We sew not much to relieve us save now and then an Inverness Mountain on our west, and the Ocean on the east. But every thing and every place in Scotland is interesting to any one well acquainted with its religious and political history, and with the leading characteristics of its ancient and modern population. The Earl of Fife's rich estate is the only highly cultivated vicin ity I noticed, from Aberdeen to Banff, with, perhaps, a single exception. This solitary old gentleman lives in a castle of large dimensions, yet unfinished and likely to be so for another generation, in the midst of what we would call a very extensive and rich domain. But rising from bed at five in the evening, and retiring to repose at five in the morning, one cannot conceive why he should live in the midst of such fine gardens and groves, ornamented with beautiful walks, summer-houses, alcoves, bowers, jetteaus, &c., ase nviron his splendid residence, to be surveyed by himself for an hour or two in the evening of the day. Such, however, are the eccentricities of man. There is one excuse for him.. His good lady, bitten by her own rabid lap-dog, fell a prey to canine madness; and in the midst of all that could gratify the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, left her lord the Earl, childless and alone, the solitary occupant of his large estate and splendid residence. The noble Earl has, however, acted the nobleman in a very prominent respect. His domain and gardens, running up to the very precincts of the town of Banff, though surrounded with ten feet walls of solid stone, are generously thrown open to the citizens to walk through them, and to enjoy all their beauty and comforts, and they are neither few nor trivial; only that they are not allowed to handle or injure any thing adhering to the soil. To walk through them is, indeed, a feast to both body and soul; for if there be the sentiment of piety in the human heart, the combined beauties of nature and art, so well displayed here, are admirably calculated to rouse into an ecstacy that sentiment, and to awaken every grateful emotion to the Giver of all good. I was gratified to learn, that the privilege was not abused, by the citizens of Banff, by any improper liberties taken, as respected either the flowers and fruits, of which we saw so rich a variety. Brother Dron and myself had two or three pleasant walks through these delightful gardens and pleasure grounds, much to our refreshment and comfort. I addressed the brethren and citizens of Banff on two successive evenings, and had a large and a very attentive audience. The church there is not very numerous; but they are choice spirits. We had one love feast with the brethren assembled from the town and country; and from all that I could see and learn, a purer and more devoted company of disciples, of primitive simplicity and fervent p'e y, I met not any where in Great Britain. Brother Ingles and brother Cameron are the leading men of the church in town, and they appear to be altogether worthy of the place they hold in the affections and esteem of the brethren. Some truly excellent spirits from the country round, for twenty miles, attended our meetings, and never did a purer, or more undissembled godly sincerity and honesty of purpose to cleave to the Lord through good and evil report, appear to my view, than amongst these and many other Scotch brethren. Whether from the pure air of latitude 57° 40, or the less fertile soil of Banff county, or a more religious education, or other more propitious circumstances, I speculate not; but all of these may SERIES III-VOL. V. 23* have, together with the grace of God, contributed something to the perfection of their Christian character. From Banff we returned to Aberbeen, in the same manner by the same route, and were again gladly received by the brethren in that city. From this excursion to Banff, and from several baths in the Northern Sea, I felt much invigorated. I felt a strong impulse to visit the two universities of that city, especially the Marischal College; honored by the lives and labors of the justly celebrated Professors -George Campbell and James Beattie. I made an excursion through the university premises, and the adjoining church, where repose the ashes of these two celebrated men. It was vacation in the university, and all there was silent as the grave-yard. Much of it has been rebuilt. I had no guide, but finding, through brother Dunn and the Sexton, the tombs of these two men of renown, I sat me down and transcribed from their plain monuments the following inscriptions: Memoriae Sacrum Georgii Campbell S. S. T. D. Collegii This inscription was upon a plain marble slab, which, in our language, is equivalent to Sacred to the memory Of George Campbell, Doctor of Divinity, And minister of the word of God, Who, on the sixth day of April one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, Also sacred to the memory of Grace Farquharson, his wife, In the sixty second year of her age. After much research, and through the aid of the veteran sexton, we found also the sepulchre of the distinguished Dr. Beattie. On his tomb we found the following inscription: A most meritorious Professor of Ethics in the Marischal Academy A man pre-eminent in piety, probity, genius and learning. He was born Nov. 5th in the year 1735, and died Aug. 18th, 1803. The eldest of whom, James Hay Beattie, Died In the 23rd year of his age. While reading the inscription, on this plain monument, I was forcibly reminded of that beautiful poem, "The Hermit," written by the elder Beattie; the last stanza of which vividly came to my mind: ""Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more; I mourn, but you woodlands I mourn not for you! |