held out, in the way of honours and rewards, to proficiency in the first instance; and then to the establishments it possesses for the support of a great number of individuals whose profession is literature, and among whom it were strange if one or two should not be found who became enthusiasts in their profession, and, having nothing else in the world to attend to, really profound and erudite scholars. This seems to me the true secret of Oxonian erudition: not that as a body the men brought up at Oxford are more learned, far less better informed, than the men educated at Edinburgh,-but that Oxford does not, like Edinburgh, let her scholars go just at the moment when they have got over the preliminaries, when they have got the command of their tools, and might, if they were not called away to active service in life, begin to explore the arcana and become initiated into the greater mysteries. Put up a hundred or two rich sinecures in Edinburgh for learned men, as such, and out of the hundred you will certainly find one or two in a generation who will turn these sinecures to their intended use,-the undisturbed cultivation of the pursuits of erudition. Whether the gain be worthy of the price is another question; but that is the way, if you wish it, to turn Edinburgh into an Oxford."

"January 30, 1829.

"I have been introduced to Dr B, the

librarian of the Bodleian, and have procured permission to reap there. This celebrated library is in the form, which used to be such a favourite with our forefathers, of the letter H. In the lower part of the room are all the folios and quartos, which you are at liberty to take out and replace as you think proper. In the upper part, to which the access is by a gallery, are the octavos and smaller books, which you procure by application to the under-librarians. The reason of this I suppose is, that it would not be easy to secrete or carry off a folio or quarto unobserved, while it would scarcely be safe to trust the smaller books on similar terms to bibliographers, whose honesty is generally rated on a par with that of antiquarians. The old practice of chaining the books to the reading-tables is now quite obsolete. It is something of a sublime feeling which you have in studying under the roof of the Bodleian. The human mind dilates itself when surrounded so with the collected trophies of its own power,-the eternal pyramids of thought,-the temples of the soul,-the mausoleums of departed but unforgotten genius.

"We have had a great accumulation of holidays this week. To-day is King Charles' Martyrdom ! On Sunday was the feast of St Paul's Conversion, when we had a clever sermon on Paul's mode of preaching the Gospel; on Thursday, that of the King's Accession (and my twenty-fifth birthday), when there was a choral service in St Mary's, con

cluding with the Coronation anthem,-a magnificent burst of music, which ends, however, feebly, if I dare trust my ear. I like, by the by, the composition of the choirs in England much better than that of bands in Scotland, where they are introduced; I allude to having the treble performed by boys, and not by women. For a woman to bear any public part, however trivial, in the service of the church, seems to me, if not unscriptural, inappropriate at least and indelicate; besides, it seems to my ear as if the puerile were a much softer and sweeter melody than the female treble, at least if I may judge from the 'liquid lapse' of St Mary's in Oxford, compared with the screaming (I always felt the female voices so) of St George's in Edinburgh. And then one always thinks, when looking on that youthful band singing laud to God and to Christ, of the words of the Bible, Out of the mouth of babes have I perfected praise ;' and of the children of Jerusalem crying Hosanna' in the temple."

"March 14.

"To-day I have been chiefly employed in writing to Dr C― an account of the theological education of this university. Every candidate for a degree, whether lay or clerical in his views, is required to pass an examination in theology before being even admitted to trials in human learning. The requisite qualifications for this examination are: 1st, In critical divinity, so much knowledge as shall enable him to con

strue and interpret the Four Gospels; 2d, In literary divinity, a competent acquaintance with Scripture history, chronology, and geography; and, 3d, In systematic divinity a familiarity with the Thirty-nine Articles, and Bishop Burnet's Exposition. The examination on these points is a bona fide one, though, of course, it varies in strictness according to the character and will of the examining master. Sassures me, that in point of fact no one can graduate at Oxford without your being able to say of him, ‘That man knows at least the scheme of salvation, whether he obeys it or not.' And this he holds up as the distinctive glory of the university. For those who are looking to the church as a profession, the university provides no additional means of instruction, except a short course of lectures read by the King's divinity professor, at present the Bishop of Oxford. These lectures, his lordship told me, are chiefly occupied with advices in regard to the private prosecution of theological study, and recommendations of such books as he thinks best adapted to furnish forth a well-accomplished minister. Perhaps, considering the limits of the course, this is the best way he could employ it."

We could easily have multiplied extracts from Mr Patterson's Oxford Journal, equally illustrative as those we have now given of the wealth and moral qualities of his intellect, but our limits admonish us to forbear.

PART III.

1830-1835.

Mr Patterson receives a Presentation to the Parish of Falkirk— Letter announcing the Fact-Spirit in which he entered upon the Ministerial Office-Extract from Clerical Discourse on Ministerial Responsibility-Parochial Economy-His Character as a Preacher-Extract from Clerical Discourse on Experimental Preaching-Prayers-Systematic Course of Sermons-Summary of Christian Doctrine-Lectures on the Gospel of JohnReasons for his inadequate Popularity-His Character as a Churchman-Speech on the Chapel of Ease Question-Circular to Elders-Pastoral Character.

TOWARDS the close of the preceding section, the reader has been made aware of a disposition on the part of Mr Secretary Peel to promote the settlement of Mr Patterson in some sphere of ministerial labour. This he was soon enabled to do. In the course of 1829, the large and populous parish of Falkirk in Stirlingshire becoming vacant by the death of the Rev. Dr Wilson, Mr Patterson was presented to it by the Crown. In a letter to one of his most intimate friends, he thus announces this important event in his life: