in their attempts to escape. Thus were the sanguine expectations of the Spaniards completely disappointed, and the invincible batteries in one day totally annihilated.' During the siege the most common necessaries of life were exorbitantly dear. Bad ship-biscuit full of worms was sold at 1s. a pound; flour, not in much better condition, at the same price; old dried peas at Is. 4d.; salt, half dirt, the sweepings of ships' bottoms and storehouses, at 8d.; old salt butter at 2s. 6d.; and English farthing candles at 6d. apiece. Fresh provisions commanded much higher prices. Turkeys sold at £3 128.; sucking pigs at £22s.; and £1 1s. was refused for a calf's pluck. The effect of the red-hot shot, recommended by General Boyd to be used against the Spanish works, exceeded the most sanguine expectations. The damage done was extensive, and for a time irreparable. An immense amount of ammunition was expended on both sides. Three hundred and twenty of the enemy's cannon were in play throughout the day, and to these were opposed only ninety-six guns from the rock. Upwards of 8,000 shot and 716 barrels of gunpowder were fired away by the garrison. The siege had lasted for three years, seven months, and twelve days; and for the elaborate magnitude of the attack, and above all for the skill and heroical energy and fortitude of the defence, it was one of the most remarkable sieges, perhaps the most remarkable, of which mention is made in history. The news of the failure was received by the Ministry at Madrid with dismay, and by the King with despair. In Paris the intelligence was equally unexpected and unwelcome. So certain had the fact of the capture of the fortress been considered, that a drama, illustrative of the destruction of Gibraltar by the floating batteries, was acted nightly in Paris to applauding thousands.* For nearly eighty years Spain had thus exhausted her treasury and sacrificed her armies and her navies to gain the rock fortress; but now, after a countless expenditure of men and money, she found all her efforts vain and futile. No wonder that Florida Blanca said, after the discomfiture of the besiegers, 'No British Ministry will have the courage to look the question 'fairly in the face, and I will think no more of it. For 158 years Spain has acquiesced in the fortune of war and the provisions of treaty law; but of late a semi-official journal, the Epoca, and a Senor Lobo, said to be a distinguished officer of the Spanish fleet, have talked of the possession of Gibraltar by Great Britain as 'a disgrace and a perpetual cause of humili'ation." 'Gibraltar," says the official scribe, 'ought to be a * Barrow's Life of Lord Howe, p. 157. 'Spanish city, and its re-capture should in future be the most 'sacred aspiration for the nation; for while the fortress is occu'pied by England, we are invaded in our territory, and are pre'pared to adopt any alliance which may be for the interests of 'Spain.' They say on the other side of the Pyrenees, 'Palabras 'de boca piedra de honda' (Words of the mouth are like a stone in a sling). They are sometimes thrown back on the slinger with redoubled force. To this thrasonical Spanish rhodomontade, it may be answered that we hold Gibraltar by virtue of conquest and of solemn treaty, and that we shall continue to hold it by right and by might against all comers. Our title, according to European law, is unimpeachable and without flaw; and the descendants of the brave men who had the courage and the skill to take the rock, have now the power, the ability, and the will to hold it against any one power, or against a coalition of France and Spain. The Manchester school, with Messrs. Cobden and Bright at their head, may rail at the expense of the garrison, but the people of England do not sympathise with them, for they think with Fox that the surrender of the fortress should never be allowed to become a subject of discussion, and they think with Burke that the fortress is invaluable as a possession, because it is impregnable. 'Give up to Spain,' said Fox, 'the fortress of 'Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean becomes to them a pool, a pond in which they can navigate at pleasure, and act without 'control or check.' 'Deprive yourselves of this station,' said the great debater, 'and the States of Europe who border on the Mediterranean will no longer look to you for the free naviga'tion of that sea; and having it no longer in your power to be ' useful, you cannot expect alliances.' That Gibraltar is much better governed under Great Britain than it would be under any other power is a proposition selfevident. There is perfect freedom of opinion and belief, and there is boundless toleration; and these things are unknown in Spain. In 1830 a charter of justice was given to the city, a magistracy was established, and the advantage of civil liberty accorded to its inhabitants. It is urged, however, that England has no grounds for keeping the fortress, and that it would be an act of justice to restore it to Spain. But the history of the last century and a half shows that Spain was not able either to hold or to retake it. Were Gibraltar restored to Spain to-morrow, Spain could only hold it during the good pleasure of France. Gibraltar under England defies attack, and is unassailable. Gibraltar under the Spaniards, as Captain Sayer says, would be a third-rate fortress, the prey of an unscrupulous military and maritime power, making war under the false pretence of an idea, but with real prepense purpose of spoliation of a neighbour, of aggrandisement, and annexation. exation. To cede Gibraltar would be to forfeit the safety of the overland route, would be putting to hazard our power and our influence, not merely in the Mediterranean but over the whole habitable globe. The Gibraltar of the present day is invulnerable. Almost impregnable by nature, it has been rendered completely so by art. When France and Spain attacked it in 1782 there were but 100 guns; now 1,000 guns are in position. Gibraltar gives to us the command of the Straits; it affords accommodation to our vessels, it separates the harbours of France and Spain, and renders the junction of their fleets difficult. These are advantages we cannot part with to please a small and crotchety school of politicians among us. And if Marshal O'Donnell seriously asks Lord Palmerston or Lord John Russell for a surrender of the rock fortress, both will respond with a will, 'Take it if you can.' The old rule practised in the past will be practised in the future That they should take who have the power, ART. V. (1.) The Religions before Christ. By ED. DE PRESSENSÉ. Translated by L. CORKRAN. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. 1862. (2.) Les Deux Théologies Nouvelles. Par J. F. ASTIÉ. Paris: Ch. Meyrueis & Cie. 1862. (3.) Etudes Critiques sur la Bible-Ancien Testament. Par MICHEL NICOLAS. Paris: Michel Lévy Frères. 1862. (4.) Sermons. Par T. COLANI. Deuxième Recueil. 2me Edition. Strasbourg: Treuttel & Wurtz. 1860. (5.) Mélanges de Critique Religieuse. Par EDMOND SCHÉRER. Paris: Cherbuliez. 1860. (6.) Essais de Critique Religieuse. Par A. RÉVILLE. Paris: Cherbuliez. 1860. (7.) Du Protestantisme en France. Par SAM. VINCENT. Nouvelle Édition avec une Introduction de M. PRÉVOST PARADOL. Paris: Michel Lévy Frères. 1860. FRENCH Protestantism entered a new era of its history in 1802. The memorable year 1789 saw the Protestants of France admitted to the possession of the same civil and religious rights as the rest of their countrymen; but in 1802 this newlygained position was most materially affected by the connection then formed between the State and the two Churches which represented the Protestantism of the Empire-the Reformed and the Lutheran. By this step they lost the right of self The First Consul and the Protestants. 339 government, and placed their liberties in the hands of the civil power. Various causes had long been tending to destroy all religions life among the Huguenots. As early as the end of the 17th century their principal leaders, together with large numbers of their most devoted and intelligent men, had either been put to death, or had escaped from the country. Thus weakened, Protestantism was but ill fitted to face the spirit of persecution that lingered in the country, or to encounter the attacks of that infidelity which became so prevalent under the auspices of Voltaire, Rousseau, and others. Their faith and zeal diminished from year to year, until the Revolution came and subjected every belief and institution to its fearful ordeal. It can, therefore, be no matter of surprise that, when some degree of order was re-established, and the temples were re-opened, and the scattered and diminished flocks began to re-assemble, the only traces of religion observable, except in a very few instances, wer the external forms of worship, together with a strong feeling of opposition to Roman Catholicism. Such was the general condition of the Protestants when the Government offered to insure them a certain status by taking their Churches under its patronage, and paying the salary of the pastors. The offer was a tempting one. It is true they would no longer have the sole direction of their affairs, and their church organizations would become subservient to the State. But, all things considered, the balance turned decidedly in favour of the proposals of the Government. For a short period it had appeared probable that the First Consul would follow the advice of his Ministers, and leave all religious parties, except the Catholics, to pursue their own course, unfettered by any limitations save those necessary for the preservation of order and morality. The Concordat of the 15th of July, 1801, declared the Roman Catholic religion to be the religion of the majority of Frenchmen, and stipulated that the Government should pay the stipends of the ministers, on condition of its having the right to nominate the principal ministers, and to exercise surveillance over the subordinate ones. The Protestants were assured that these arrangements with the Holy See would not in any way affect their interests, and for a short time they enjoyed perfect religious freedom. But such a condition of affairs did not accord with Napoleon's governmental theory. He wished his authority to extend over all the institutions of the country. Hence the proposals made by him to the Protestants, which, as we have stated, they gladly accepted. The law that settled these new relations between the civil power and the French Protestant Churches, both Reformed and Lutheran, is dated 18th Germinal, year X. (April 7th, 1802). ، As that law, except in a few particulars to be mentioned hereafter, continues to determine the relations between the Government and the two Protestant communions, it becomes necessary to give a general view of its provisions. The Reformed Churches and it is to these only that we shall at present refer-are to have 'Pastors, local Consistories, and Synods.' The Consistories are to be composed of the pastor or pastors of the church, and of not less than six, and of not more than twelve elders, chosen from among the Protestants of the neighbourhood, who pay the largest amount of taxes. Every two years, half of the members are to withdraw, but may be re-elected. The ordinary meetings of the Consistories are to take place on certain fixed days. No extraordinary meeting can be held without the permission of the sub-prefect or mayor. There is to be a Consistorial Church for every 6,000 members of the same communion. Five such churches form the district of a Synod, which is to consist of the pastor, or of one of the pastors, and of an elder from each church. In these Synods matters pertaining to ecclesiastical affairs, religious teaching, and the celebration of worship, are to be discussed. They are not to be convoked without the permission of the authorities, and are not to last more than six days. All the subjects to be taken up must be communicated beforehand to the Minister of Worship, to whom also a copy of all the deliberations must be forwarded. The meetings must take place in presence of the prefect or sub-prefect of the district where they are held. Such are the principal regulations. Not a word is said respecting General Synods, one of the essential features of a Presbyterian form of Church government, nor respecting the doctrines to be believed and taught. Such omissions are strange and significant. The Reformed Church, as thus constituted, is, if we may admit the supposition, like an arch without foundations and without a key-stone. As the Government of the First Consul ordained no Confession of Faith, and did not even mention that of La Rochelle, which, from 1561, had been considered the standard of doctrine, it is clear that either they did not deem it to be within their province to deal with such matters, or else they wished to leave the pastors free to adopt and proclaim what doctrines they pleased. The former hypothesis is untenable; for in art. iv. of the law of 1802 we read, 'No doctrinal or 'dogmatic decision, no formulary, under the title of a Confession or under any other title, may be published or become the basis |