630 



MACRIE MADEIRA. 



Presbytery, maintained, in the most unqualified 

 terms, the doctrines which had been originally 

 held by the leaders of the reformation, both in this 

 country and on the continent; and which are so 

 clearly expounded in the systems of Calvin, Tur- 

 retine, Voetius, Mark, and Pictet. In the exam- 

 ination of this question, Dr Macrie was irresistibly 

 led to engage in a minute and patient survey of the 

 writings of the reformers, and having at the same 

 time been induced by domestic circumstances to 

 pass much of his time in seclusion, he was gradually 

 brought to form a most intimate acquaintance with 

 the fundamental principles of the Protestant 

 churches, and the characters of the illustrious men 

 by whose labours and conflicts these churches had 

 been constituted. In the year 1812 he published 

 The Life of John Knox," which not only gave 

 a juster view of the character and conduct of that 

 intrepid champion of Christian liberty than had 

 ever before been exhibited, but shed a brighter 

 lustre over some of the most obscure periods of 

 our national history. This masterly work com- 

 bined the highest excellences of which biography 

 is susceptible, and at once placed its author in the 

 first rank of historical writers. It was succeeded, 

 after an interval of seven years, by " The Life of 

 Andrew Melville," which, though possessing a 

 less attractive title, is in no respect inferior to the 

 life of Knox. It is indeed the more curious and 

 instructive production of the two, abounding with 

 an endless variety of facts illustrative of the pro- 

 gress of religion and learning not only in Scotland 

 but in other nations. As Melville was the most 

 active instrument in maturing the ecclesiastical 

 constitution of his country, and introducing that 

 efficient system of general and scriptural education 

 which diffused such inestimable benefits over the 

 whole mass of the population, the perusal of this 

 work furnishes the surest means of becoming fully 

 acquainted with all the peculiarities of the Presby- 

 terian establishment, while it imparts a vast store 

 of information, no where else to be found, on many 

 collateral topics of the deepest interest. The sub- 

 jects which are discussed by Dr Macrie in these 

 volumes throw the most important light on the 

 principles of religious establishments, a question 

 which no man was more capable of solving, and 

 which he was accustomed to treat in a manner 

 more favourable to popular claims than speculative 

 men in general have been accustomed to regard as 

 being altogether consistent with the legitimate 

 exercise of ecclesiastical authority, or with the 

 implied alliance between the Church and any state 

 in which republican principles do not predominate. 

 Besides many valuable contributions to periodical 

 publications, in which Dr Macrie gave additional 

 proof of the inexhaustible amount of his historical 

 learning, and of the singular acuteness and vigour 

 of his mind, he published the following instructive 

 works: "Memoirs of Mr William Veitch and 

 George Brysson," Edinburgh, 1825 " History of 

 the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation 

 in Italy, in the sixteenth century," Edin. 1827, 

 and " History of the Progress and Suppression of 

 the Reformation in Spain in the Sixteenth Cen- 

 tury," Edin. 1829. For several years before his 

 death, Dr Macrie was engaged in the preparation 

 of a Life of Calvin. Through his own indefatiga- 

 ble industry, aided by the active and intelligent in- 

 vestigations of one of his sons, who spent many 

 months at Geneva, he bad accumulated such a mass 

 of materials, and had made such progress in the com- 



position, as to give good ground for expecting that 

 the work will yet be given to the world. In pri- 

 vate life, Dr Macrie was much beloved. To that 

 native modesty and simplicity of disposition, which 

 is the surest indication of a great mind, he added 

 an unaffected kindness and cordiality which could 

 not fail to gain the hearts of the youngest and most 

 inexperienced of those who applied to him for 

 counsel or for comfort. He was peculiarly acces- 

 sible to all who were addicted to studies akin to 

 his own, and was ever ready to refer them to the 

 best sources of information. But amidst all his 

 attentions to the claims of private friendship, and 

 to the pursuits of that profound erudition, by the 

 cultivation of which his health was impaired and 

 his days shortened, he never lost sight of the para- 

 mount value of the pastoral office to which he had 

 devoted his talents. From his early years his pro- 

 fessional studies had been conducted with equal 

 assiduity and judgment, and in every department 

 of theological learning his reading was extensive, 

 but especially in that most essential branch which 

 furnishes the best aids for the skilful and profitable 

 exposition of the Scriptures. In the illustration 

 of divine truth he was at once perspicuous and 

 faithful, and, without being ambitious of fame, his 

 earnestness of manner gave an elevation and ten- 

 derness to his speech more capable both of capti- 

 vating and bettering the heart, than the most ad- 

 mired specimens of artificial eloquence. 



MADEIRA, AND THE AZORES, (a.) Madeira 

 belongs to the Portuguese, and is situated in 17 of 

 west longitude, and 32 30' of north latitude, off 

 the western coast of Africa. It rises for the most 

 part abruptly from the Atlantic, and its highest 

 summit exceeds six thousand feet. Its pictur- 

 esque and beautiful appearance has been often 

 described. The air is loaded with perfumes, 

 the large leaves of the banna wave over the walls, 

 and the splendid palm trees overtop the houses. 

 The coffee trees form hedges and copses, and 

 the mimosas, protea, and a variety of the most 

 gorgeous and fragrant plants, of which we see 

 mere fragments in our hot-houses, here rise, says 

 Von Buch, "to tall and stately trees, display, 

 ing their far glittering blossoms in the most de- 

 lightful climate upon earth." Madeira is liberally 

 supplied with rivulets and cascades, that leap from 

 rock to rock, through bushes of rosemary, jessa- 

 mine, laurel, and myrtle. Groves of chestnut and 

 pine trees stretch out along the declivities of the 

 mountains, and the air is filled with the warb- 

 lings of thousands of canary birds from their 

 branches. 



" Named from hpr woods, with fragrant bowers adorned, 

 From fair Madeira's purple coast we turned. 

 A shore so flowery, and so sweet an air, 

 Venus might build her dearest temple there." 



The uniformity of the temperature of Madeira 

 is almost unexampled. The average range of the 

 thermometer, from the observations of an English 

 physician long resident in Funchal, is from 68 to 

 76 of Fahrenheit during the summer, and from 

 57 to 65 in winter. The mean temperature de- 

 duced by Mr Bowdich from his observations was 

 66. Every desirable variety of temperature can 

 be enjoyed, with the accompanying changes in ve- 

 getation, until the continued snow is entered at 

 the height of five thousand one hundred and forty- 

 eight French feet, At this height the precipices 

 and chasms are numerous, and many of them fright- 

 ful and inaccessible. 



