Scotland's church and the flower of her nobility convened in Edinburg, as if a voice of magic had called them from their hills, and in 1638, signed a declaration, some in letters of blood, some adding until death," that they would abide by the pure faith of their fathers; and thus became that opprobrium of genteel romance, that glory of the annals of true heroism, the COVENANT ERS. Things went on in England not better but worse for the restraint imposed on the king by the petition of rights. A monopoly was asserted over every article of commerce, every means of comfort among the people, soap, sea-coal, hackney-coaches, wines, the dressing of meats, the marking of iron, the erection of houses. Patents and licenses were granted, and the holders were afterwards fined for availing themselves of the privileges. The Star chamber and the high commission raged as BedlamNew oaths were imposed under penalties; new courts erected with limitless powers; the orders of the council board were directed to be received as law. In 1636 came the famous writ for ship-money, which Hampden refused to pay; and to which his resistance before a judicial tribunal, though unsuccessful, was said at the time, no doubt correctly, to have been of far more benefit. to the cause of the vanquished than to that of the victor. It was as a rocket thrown up in the night in the sight of all; foreshowing the coming of the morning and of the combat in earnest. The Long Parliament met in 1640, and entered upon a vindication of the liberties of the people, upon which if they had not entered, instead of claiming the thanks and the eulogies of posterity, they would have taken their places in history along with the cravens of France who heard Louis XIV. submissively, when he bade them not meddle themselves with the registry of his edicts. In August 1642 the royal standard was raised at Nottingham, and the civil war began. Of small force as to a correct judgment between these parties is the Jacobite offset, that if the king was oppressive, so also was the parliament in its turn, in the extraordinary means of redress which they adopted. These were not more extraordinary, far less so indeed, than the grievances which demanded them; nor were they resorted to until ordinary means became folly. An affectionate sympathy for criminals, and a nervous horror of punishment, much charity for injustice and little for the injured. is one of the least promising moral inclinations of our times. Parliaments, laws, courts are monsters when they inflict but justice; Straffords, Lauds, Stuarts, culprits, are angels when they suffer it, though their demerits be scarlet or crimson. Could there be a restoration here, the power, the principles, and the pens of the monarchists of the old world again prevailing, then the characters of Washington and Adams, of Jefferson and Franklin, of Henry and Otis, would probably appear in the annals of history, an hundred years hence, in colours not brighter than those in which Eliot and Pym and Hampden and Vane now appear on conservative pages across the Atlantic; far less bright than those in which they justly appear in the pages of Mr. Forster. But it may be hoped that the elements of history are purifying; and that our vision no longer attracted only by the gay tournaments, the fields of the cloth of gold, the decorations and the physical prowess of man, which charmed the sensualist ages that are past, is rising higher up the mountain sides; that the wish of Goethe for us may be fulfilled in history as well as in poetry: "America thou hast it better Than our ancient hemisphere; Good luck wait on thy glorious spring, May some good genius guard them all From Baron, Robber, Knight, and Ghost traditional!" We may hope to see a wiser and better estimate of human character, of its necessities and its privileges, its weakness and its strength; a fondness to contemplate the characters of those in past days who have lived near to Christ in living faith, holding the existence of eternal truth and of a world of spirits, as matters of conscious reality; an admiration for the spiritual ornaments of man. And in that day, if it come, we believe these old English PURITANS will be seen to have been the tall trees on the eastern hills, that earliest caught the rising light, and glowed richly in its golden lustre. ART. IV.-General Assembly of 1848. Organization of the House. THE General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in the United States of America, met in the First Presbyterian church in the city of Baltimore, on Thursday, the 18th of May, and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Thornwell on the text"And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter." Acts xvii. 32. After sermon the moderator took the chair and opened the sessions with prayer. The permanent clerk, from the standing committee on commissions, reported the roll of the Assembly. The stated clerk reported the organization of the New Synod of Memphis, which was accordingly recognised. After the appointment of a committee on Elections, the Assembly adjourned until half-past four in the afternoon. In the afternoon, after the minutes of the morning session had been read, the assembly proceeded to the election of Moderator, and the roll being called, it appeared that the Rev. Alexander T. McGill, D.D., had received a majority of votes, and he was, thereupon, declared duly elected. The Rev. D. V. Maclean was elected temporary clerk. After the appointment of the usual standing committees, the Assembly assigned certain hours for hearing the reports of the several Boards of the church. We propose to present a brief record of the more important decisions and acts of the Assembly. Death of the Reverend Doctors Green and Matthews. On the second day of the sessions of the Assembly, the Rev. Dr. Cuyler announced in an address replete with feeling, that he had just received the intelligence that the venerable Doctor Green had on the morning of that day expired at his residence in Philadelphia. Dr. Cuyler gave a brief sketch of the life and services of this venerable patriarch of the church, and concluded by moving the appointment of a committee to report to the General Assembly a minute in relation to the death of Dr. Green, and that the Assembly do now adjourn as a further mark of respect. This motion was adopted, and the committee subsequently reported the following minute, which was approved and entered on the records of the Assembly "The decease of the Rev. Ashbel Green, DD. LL.D, of Philadelphia, at 6 o'clock, on Friday morning, the 19th of May, having been announced to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in the United States of America, it was ordered that the following record be entered on their minutes, as expressive of their high esteem for his character, and of their gratitude to God for his long continued and eminently useful life, the greater part of which has been spent to the glory of God in the service of our beloved Church. "Dr. Green was born at Hanover, in the state of New Jersey, on the 6th of July, in the year of our Lord 1762, so that he died far advanced in his eighty-sixth year. He was the son of the Rev. Jacob Green, the pastor of the Presbyterian church of that place. "Of the events of his early life, we know little. He probably received the rudiments of his education from his father; and while it was in progress, he was, for a short time, actively engaged in the war of the American Revolution. He completed his literary course at Princeton College, New Jersey, during the presidency of the late Dr. Witherspoon. Not long afterwards he became successively a tutor and professor in the same institution. From this field of usefulness, he was called, in the winter of 1787, to the pastoral office in the second Presbyterian church in Philadelphia, as a colleague to the late Rev. James Sproat, D.D., whom he succeeded as sole pastor upon his demise in the autumn of 1793. His ordination took place in the month of May, 1787. In this relation he continued till he was called to the Presidency of the same college, in the autumn of the year 1812. This call he accepted, and he continued to discharge the important duties of that office till he resigned it, in the year 1822. He then returned to Philadelphia, where he resided till the time of his death. "While the Congress of the United States, held its sessions in Philadelphia, Dr. Green and the late Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, officiated as its chaplains. "Dr. Green was, for many years before his death, the only surviving member of the Convention which framed the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. dently attached to the doctrines and order of this Church, he not only firmly maintained her cause in trying times-and always in the spirit of the Master-but had the happiness of assisting until his death, and of witnessing the successful operation of the institutions of this Church, in whose inception he so largely participated, and the strength of her constitution to conduct and sustain her efficiently and triumphantly through the various important crises which have distinguished her career. He was also one of the Trustees of the General Assembly, having been for many years before his death, the only surviving member of the Board named in the charter, and continued to fulfil the office until his death. "His time, after returning to reside in Philadelphia, was principally occupied in editing the Christian Advocate, which was. for several years the leading exponent of the faith and practice of the Presbyterian Church. Among its contents we find the first imprint of his lectures on the Shorter Catechism, since published in two duodecimo volumes by the Presbyterian Board of Publication-a work by which he may be fairly judged as a practical writer and an accomplished theologian. After he discontinued the publication of the Christian Advocate, he occupied himself, for some time, very laboriously, in preparing the works of Dr. Witherspoon for the press, together with an extended memoir of his life, and several of his works-neither of which have yet been published. He has also spent much time in revising his diary. These literary labours will constitute a valuable legacy to the Church he loved and served so well. After his return to Philadelphia, he never had a pastoral charge, although he frequently preached, and at one time statedly, in the First African Church, Philadelphia, for a year or two. "He was, to a very late period of his life, a diligent and successful student. He also read much for his own edification. Among other devotional reading, he was wont to read a chapter in the Greek Testament in connexion with Scott's practical remarks every day. His habits were eminently devotional. He spent hours daily in secret prayer and communion with God, in which he delighted; and to be deprived of the opportunity of which, evidently gave him pain. "His decline was very gradual, and he suffered but little pain of body. Generally speaking, he enjoyed a calm and comforta |