The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-07-19 00:00:00

.asoft 1. ~), .... THE ItENEWED RIOTS AT BIRMINGHAM. • (From the Morning Herald of Wednesday.) BIRMINGHAM, Tuesday night. Last evening, for full an hour and a quarter, the town of Birmingham, owing to the criminal negligence of our borough magistrates, was in the hands of the chartists, and subjected to the rioting, pillaging, and burnings of the scum and refuse of that political union, of which Mr. Attwood and Mr. Scol field were and are the acknowledged leaders. A rumour had been circulated that on Monday (yesterday) Mr. Thomas Attwood would arrive in Birmingham, and at tend a meeting of the chartists, at Holloway-head, in order, no doubt, to condole with them upon the defeat of their darling panacea for all evils, in the House of Commons, on Friday night last. This rumour, " with its thousand tongues," caused a considerable number of those Monday loungers, who are regularly to be met with in our streets, to congregate. About noon small groups might be seen wending their way towards Holloway-head, and between two and three o'clock, there might probably be 200 lasy.looking mechanics assem bled on the top of the hill, whilst numbers might be seen stretched upon the grass. Others were smoking their short dingy tobacco-pipes, and a number of boys playing at pitch and toss. Such was the nucleus from whence sprang the serious disturbance which took place in the evening. One of them proposed that, as Mr. Attwood was not present, (all parties must have been equally honored had he been there), they should adjourn the meeting to the Bull-ring. A person on horseback, whose name we understood to be Bradshaw, coming up at the moment, said the man who proposed the adjournment to theßull-ring ought to be .hanged up to the nearest lamp -post. The mob gave Mr. Bradshaw great ap plause for this suggestion, which however, they did not seem desirous to carry into effect. Immediately afterwards a tall figure, with a piece of blue paper round his hat, and a large bell in his hand, called the attention of the chartists to the following important announcement " This is to give notice that there will be a public chartist meeting in this place about half-past six o'clock this evening. Every inhabitant of Birmingham and its vicinity is requested to attend ; and it is also requested that every man will bring a newspaper with him !" At hall-pist six o'clock, according to this announcement, the chartists assembled at the appointed place ; and, when little more than a hundred got together in the valley, near the road, a person, whose name we could not learn, addressed the mob. Although two or three disaffected periodicals were displayed, the injunction of the bellman, for every man to bring a newspaper, was not complied with. The speaker called the attention of the people to the cruelty of the magi strates and the police, and the determination of the govern ment to disregard the cries of the working classes. He entreated them to be firm and united, and not to cease till a fair price was obtained for their labour. He wished them to bear in mind that the working man earned, daily, four times as much as what he was paid for, and he trusted that they would ultimately obtain better prices. If, however, the rulers of the nation were determined not to redress their grievances, the people must rise, one and all, and their tyrants would perish in the wild confusion. The speaker went on in this strain for upwards of half an hour. During the meet ng a car was passing, containing three or four persons, whom the mob imagined to be policemen in disguise, and the shower of stones with which they were assailed was tremendous. The chartists imagined that the car would pass by the church, and numbers sallied forth in that direction, but the driver took another route, and thus eluded their violence. Another speaker' then addressed the meeting, and, at the conclusion of his speech, proposed that they should form lines, six abreast, and proceed from Holloway-head to Suf folk-street, and along the principal streets of the town, in order to show the authorities that the chartists of Birming ham could conduct themselves peaceably and orderly. This suggestion might be very well meant on the part of the speaker, but it was attended to by the mob in a very dif ferent manner. Although the man who first addressed them requested that his bearers would not go near the Bull-ring, still the seeds of mischief were already spread. The spirit of rebellion was aroused—the meeting had been held without molestation—it was whispered that the police dare not inter fere with them—the multitude congregated in small groups, and it was quite evident that each little band was plotting some scheme of serious mischief. The mob did not form -lines, as the speaker wished, but, to the number of about 2,000, departed with all speed into the town, and, as might naturally be expected, the Bull-ring was the rallying point. For a considerable time after the arrival of the multitude the tumult kept increasing, without any apparent effort on the part of the authorities, to stop the disturbances. Several of the rifle-brigade passed along the Bull-ring, without even their side-arms, and it did not appear as if there was the slightest anticipation of the devas tation which was about to take place. The cry amongst the mob was " The police dare not face us !" " The soldiers dare not face us ! ' and the crowd increased considerably, until the crash of windosss, and shouts of the infuriated assailants, gave notice that the work of demolition had com menced. The first intimation of approaching tumult in the centre of the town was the departure of the messenger sent to Warwick with Collins's release. They left the Red Lion, in the Bull ring, shortly after four o'clock, and soon after that hour the mob began to asemble in the thoroughfares leading towards Warwick. It was evident, even at this hour, that mischief was intended, but then, as at subsequent hours of the night, there did not appear to be the slightest precaution taken on the part of the civil authorities. At eight o'clock affairs as sumed a serious aspect. No person of decent appearance could pass along the Bull-ring without being subject to the insolence of the mob, and in many instances to the most un provoked and brutal assaults. Mr. John Bond, a respect able solicitor of the town, was stoned and otherwise attacked, and so serious were the injuries he received that he was carried to the George inn, Digbeth, as it was at the time supposed, in a very dangerous condition. In a few minutes after this occurrence, the mob, to the number of some thou sands, were observed coming up Digbeth, armed with wea pons of all descriptions. For this purpose they had broken down the palisades in the outskirts of the town, particularly Bradford-street, High-street, Deritend, and thus armed with iron and wooden bludgeons, they proceeded in the direction of Moor-street. Amongst other weapons, one fellow carried a rusty.old scythe, and from the varied manner in which they were provided with arms it was clear that the chartist mob were determined upon the most violent measures. From the Bull-ring the mob proceeded along Moor-street to the public office, and here the innat F.traordinary scene ensued. The re. 74.? A envision of the London police still left in Bir mingham, under the command of Mr. May, were stationed in the prison-yard, but, notwithstanding the violent conduct of the mob, they appeared at once spell-bound. Not an arm was raised in defence of the office, and in the course of a few minutes the whole of the front windows were demolished. The apparent indifference of the police was afterwards, with shame be it spoken, satisfactorily explained. It appears that the magistrates, ignorant of, or indifferent to, the threatened violence of the chartists, had given orders that the police should act without their orders ; and the consequence was that the constabulary force, prepared and anxious to do their duty, were penned up in the public office, unable to wield a weapon or move a step in protection of the public peace. Thus elated with unchecked success, the rioters now re turned into the Bull-ring and it became apparent that riot and turbulence would reign triumphant. The mob, being armed with iron bars and other formidable weapons already described, proceeded to dig up the stones with which the street was paved, which they continued to throw with con siderable force against the shop windows of Messrs. Bourne, wholesale grocers. This, as it were, acted as a signal for a general and indiscriminate attack upon all the houses in the Bull-ring. Stones flew in every direction, and in less than five minutes scarcely a whole pane of glass could be observed in the houses which were the object of the rioters' attacks. For a time the shop-shutters of Messrs. Bourne resisted the violence of the mob, notwithstanding the rapidity with which the stones rebounded against the windows. This seemed to increase the number of rioters, and being thus reinforced they proceeded with the weapons with which they were armed to demolish the shutters. The wood and iron bars yielded to the force of the blows levelled against them, and in a few minutes the whole window was completely gutted. This was a glorious opportunity for the vagabond chartists to indulge in riot,. plunder, and destruction. Parties entered the shop, and seizing upon tea-chests, tea-canisters, and every other description of property, threw them out to the multitude, who speedily demolished them with their bludgeons. The shop of Mr. Leggett, feather-merchant, now became the ob ject of attack, and impunity, together with success, had ren dered the rioters more daring. The maddened multitude almost instantaneously shattered into atoms the frontage of the building, the contents of which they dragged out and threw to . the rioters outside. The mob having collected various articles, such as chairs, tables, feather-beds, linen drapery, and other articles, from the shops of which they had demolished, lit a bonfire in the centre of the Bull-ring, upon which they plied the tradesmen's goods. It now became evident that the " torch and dagger" suggestions of Mr. Feargus O'Connor were to he put in fearful application. The multitude (some of whom, we are sorry to say, appeared by their dress to move ii a more respectable sphere than the generality of the chartists) now seized fragments of burning materials, and proceeded deliberately to set fire to the house of the Messrs. Bourne. This was speedily accomplished amid the cheers of the incendiaries. The house of Mr. Leg gett was the next object of attack by the mob, and, in a short time, both buildings blazed with frightful fury. The mob, yet untired of riot and incendiarism, now made a desperate attack upon the shop of Mr. Wainwright, liquor-merchant. The windows and the elegant lamp which projected from the shop door, were very quickly demolished. Contemporary with this attack, another was made on the Nelson Hotel, and the adjoining houses. Burning fragments were thrust into the shops of Mrs. Brinton and Mr. Arnold, pork butchers, and these buildings, too, would soon have fallen a sacrifice to the blind fury of the incendiaries, had not the police ar rived at this alarming juncture. It was now about a quarter to ten o'clock, the mob having been in undisturbed posses sion of the Bull-ring for an hour and a half. Nothing could exceed the terror of the inhabitants, and the universal cry of the inhabitants was, " Where are the magistrates ?" " Where are the police?" " Where are the military ?" And echo answered " Where?" At the hourlnentioned (a quar ter or ten minutes to ten) the London police sallied forth from Moor-street, accompanied by Mr. Walker, one of the borough magistrates, Mr. George Whately, and other re spectable inhabitants of the town. The military followed immediately, and the cowardly mob instantly took to their heels in all directions. The mischief, however, was done, and sorry , n e are to say that to the culpable negligence of the magistrates all the blame is to be attributed. In addition to the conflagration of Messrs. Bourne's and Mr. Leggett's premises, which were now raging, the mob had succeeded in entirely or partially demolishing the shops of Mr. Belcher, printer ; Mr. Banks, druggist ; Mrs. Martin, jeweller ; Mr. Dakin, grocer ; Mr. Price, glass warehouse ; Mr. Naden, grocer ; Messrs W. Dakin& Co. grocers; Mr Horton, silver smith ; Mr. Parkes, Tobacconist : Mr. Wainwright, wine merchant ; Mr. Gooden, Nelson Hotel; Mrs. Brinton, pork butcher ; Mrs. Allen, biscuit baker ; Mr. Arnold, pork butcher ; Mr. Perkins, brush-maker ; and Mr. Heath, cheese monger. Mr. Weston, a radical town-councillor •, Mr. Ford, a radical; and Mr. Aston, ironmonger, ditto, although their shops are in the very centre of the destruction, most mira culously escaped, without, we believe, suffering the loss of a single broken pane of glass. In some of the instances of destruction enumerated, the circumstances were peculiarly aggravated and appalling. The valuable goods of Mr. Hor ton, jeweller and silversmith, were kicked about the streets like foot-balls, and even used as weapons of offence against the windows of the neighbouring shops. Mr. Belcher, sta tioner, and his female servant, were rescued through the chamber window by means of ladders, as it was feared, in consequence of the contiguous fire at the shop of Mr. Leg gett and the determination of the mob, that they would have fallen a sacrifice, if not to the fury of the flames, to the fury of the multitude. The police and military, having at length scoured the streets of the rioters, we were able to form some estimate of the da mage which had been committed. In the Bull-ring, the conflagration continued for some hours, but the fire-engines, which arrived as soon as they could in safety, at length sub dued the flames. The interior of Messrs. Bourne's exten sive premises was, however, together with a l arg e portion of their stock, entirely consumed. The damage done to these premises alone, including the loss of stock and furniture, is estimated at £lO,OOO. Fortunately the family of Mr. Bourne, usually resident in the house, were from home, and, happily, not a single life was lost. At one period, just previous to the arrival of th e m ilit ary , t h e N e l son H ote l was i n i mm i nent peril ; the mob succeeded in breaking :the window-shutters of the wine vaults, and attempts were made to tire the es tablishment ; hut the timely arrival of the police and mili tary frustrated the intention of the incendiaries. Similar at tempts were made upon the shops of Mr. Arnold and Mrs. Brinton, pork butchers. H av i ng, w i th the aid of the pon derous iron ra ils, which were literally torn up from around Nelson's monument, broken open the shutters, the mob ':feet prupPdscl to throw lighted embers into the shops ; it so t,,iprrtecl, however, that Belem the hellish design was carried into effect, the malignant ruffians were discomfited and put to the rout. In the first onset several of the mob were ap prehended, but the principal leaders made their escape be fore the arrival of the police. Being nearly dark, the inha bitants in the Bull-ring, who were spectators of the riot, have great difficulty in identifying the offenders. One of the most active was a fellow with a wooden leg, and, if met with, there can be little mistake about him. The rioters dispersed, and the civil and military powers in occupation of the streets, the night passed off in comparative quiet. By twelve o'clock, the mayor, Dr. Booth, T. Clark, S. Beale, C. Shaw, Joseph Walker, and other magistrates, were in attendance at the public office. It is due, however, to the mayor and some others to state that, late as it was, they were at the public office by ten o'clock, just time enough to witness the clearance of the Bull-ring. The magistrates have been occupied during this day in in vestigating. the charges against the persons apprehended du ring the night, which amounted to nearly 50. Many were discharged on their recognizances, and others were commit ted to take their trials at the assizes. It is expected that the parties implicated in the outrage at Messrs. Bournes will be brought to justice. _ Tlie streets are lined with troops, and the police are active. The shops have been closed all the day. This evening the following memorial was signed by about 50 of the principal inhabitants of the centre of the town, who had principally suffered from last night's proceedings. It was forwarded to Lord John Russell by post this evening. "TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD JOHN RUSSELL, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT. " We, the undersigned inhabitants of the borough of Bir mingham, and chiefly resident or having property in High street and the Bull-ring, in the said borough, beg to repre sent to your lordship that from about half-past eight to a quarter to ten o'clock last night, the 15th of July, the pro perty and lives of your memorialists were left unprotected to the violence of an organised mob, although full and authen ticated information had been early given to the mayor and magistrates of the borough of the intentions and plans of the rioters. Your memorialists, therefore, feeling that the mayor and magistrates have been guilty of a gross dereliction of their duty, request your lordship forthwith to institute such pro ceedings as are necessary for bringing them to trial for their misconduct, and that you will in the mean time suspend them from any further controul or interference in protecting the lives of your memorialists and their fellow-townsmen, and in preserving the peace of the borough." (From the Morning Herald of Yesterday.) BIRMINGHAM, THESDAY ThC excitement of the public mind is still very great here ; but the cause is to be found more in the recollections of the imbecility and in decision of the magistracy than in any real danger. Now, that the houses of the inhabitants have been pillaged and burnt by a mob of vagabonds and thieves, which might have been dispersed by 50 resolute men, the magistracy would ap pear to be extremely active, as well in preventing open air meetings, as in apprehending those who attend or indeed come in the neighbourhood of them. Whether they will be found to act in the hour of danger is a matter of some doubt with many. The indignation of the inhabitants at the ex traordinary indecision of the magistrates is both deep and general, and the questions heard in every quarter and among all classes still are—" Where could the magistrates have been? What could they have been thinking about? Ought they not be compelled to make good the losses incurred by pillage and tire? And the inhabitants may well ask these questions, for this gross outrage in the midst of our chief manufacturing town was, in a great measure, it would appear, commenced and indeed carried on by mere boys. They were observed to be the most active in assisting to break into the houses, and in furnishing materials with which to destroy the shop fronts and windows. A considerable number of persons have been brought be fore the magistrates to-day, on the charge of illegally assem bling at Holloway-head, and others for robbery at the fires in the Bull-ring on Monday night. The circumstances at tending the apprehension of the prisoners had something of the appearance of novelty in them. The chief evidence against them was the serjeant of the rifle brigade, who de posed that he was at Holloway-bead on the previous night, saw the prisoners there, and that they were taken into cus tody by the men under his command. There was not, in the majority of the cases, any evidence whatever given beyond the fact of the prisoners having been apprehended in the vicinity of or crossing Holloway-head. Several of the pri soners most solemnly declared that they were not only not present for the purpose of attending any chartist meeting, but that they were most averse to the proceedings of the chartists. In some of these cases the masters of the pri soners gave evidence as to the bad odour in which the latter held chartist principles. Many of the persons exa mined bad the best possible characters given to them by their masters, who attended and bailed them. It was very evident that the military had in this matter seized persons who were merely making their way home from work. In one case it was proved that a poor fellow who bore an ev cellent chardcter was seized by a soldier in his own house, which he had not been out of for half an hour previous to the arrival of the military. Arrests continue to be made. In possession of one of the persons apprehended this morning there was found a pike (it was exhibited before the magistrates) of a very formi dable description. The folloWing notice was circulated yesterday: " The Riot Act has been read this morning. All persons are required not to assemble in the streets, as the magistrates have given orders to the troops to act against every one so offending. They are also strictly enjoined not to be out of their houses after eight o'clock at night, as the magistrates cannot hold themselves responsible for any accidents or in juries that may occur to parties neglecting this notice. By order of the mayor and magistrates,"W. H. GEM, ARTHUR RYLAND, WILLIAM BARLOW, " July 16,1839." _ Clerks. It is rumoured that a large number of men have turned out at Dudley, and that considerable alarm exists among the in habitants of that town. The yeomanry of the adjoining counties were last night brought to the suburbs of the town, and have been quartered on the respectable inhabitants, where they will remain until the present excited state of the town has entirely subsided. - 'THURSDAY EVENING.--No further outbreak took place this day, and probably the steps that have at length been taken will prevent any further serious rioting. _ We are Quite tinahip to give any particulars of tha extiounaLiun or the prisoners which took place to-day. NOVEL IMPORTATION.—The steam-ship Montrose, Capt. Murray, which arrived at Downe's wharf, Lower East Smith field, on Sunday, from Montrose, brought about six tons of perriwinkles for the London market! A minute was on Saturday signed by the lords of the trea sury, giving their assent to the design for the monument to Lord Nelson, selected by the committee. The committee cannot, however, proceed to the erection of the monument until the commissioners of woods and forests shall have de termined upon the necessary arrangements as to its site, or rather, as to the alterations which the erection of the monu ment may render necessary in Trafalgar Square. EXTENSIVE FRAUD.—ADULTERATED BUTTER.—A me morial has just been presented to the lord provost and ma gistrates, by the victuallers of the city of Glasgow, complain ing of a quantity of adulterated butter imported from Ireland, a melted sample of which they produce, and which certainly has more the appearance of verdigris, and dirty chalk than good wholesome butter. The complainers, in their petition say, that in consequence of certain statements in the public prints respecting the adulteration of butter, a meeting was held to consider the same, when it appeared to all present that a very general fraud was committed in the sale of adul terated butter, disposed of under the name of repacks, to an extent little known and scarcely credible. It is stated that there are 10,000 casks of this adulterated butter annually im ported from Londonderry alone valued at £20,000, twenty five or nearly thirty per cent. of which is not butter at all, but adulterated stuff, coloured with certain ingredients which are considered to be detrimental to the health of the com munity. In addition to all this, the memorialists allege that an equal quantity is imported annually from other quarters ; so that thereby a fraud to the extent of not less than £lO,OOO annually is committed on the public, even at the rate of 25 per cent. The memorialists also state that they believe the adulteration to be on the increase, and, of course, crave of the lord provost and magistrates to adopt such measures for the suppression of the evil as may prove effectual. This is certainly a most important matter, and we have no doubt the authorities will do everything in their power to check the evil.— Glasgow Constitutional. ATTEMPT AT FRAUD ON THE GRAND JUNCTION BAIL WAY.—On Tuesday, a decently-dressed man took a ticket at the station, Liverpool-road, in this town, for Warrington ; but when the train arrived there, he kept his seat, and after being allowed to proceed as far as Crewe, his ticket was de manded, and of course it was found that he had then gone much further than he was entitled to do. He admitted, we believe, that he intended to go forward to Birmingham, where he intended to seek work. However, he was brought back to this town, and was given into custody of the borough po lice last evening. Whether the borough magistrates have jurisdiction in a case of this nature, which perhaps would not become an offence until they had entered Cheshire, is more than we can say, not having the Company's act at hand to refer to.—Manchester Guardian. DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF A MOTIIER.—A woman, named Alice Allan, was brought up at the New Bailey on Monday last, charged with deserting her children, under the following circumstances :—Mr. Diggles, the deputy consta ble of Salford, stated that the prisoner had four children, and was in work. On Saturday night she received her wages, which amounted to 10s. ; but, instead of going home. and providing for her children, sfie spent the night elsewhere ; and, indeed, had not, yet been home. On that (Monday) morning he heard of the circumstance, and went to her house, when he found that the children had been left without a morsel of food in the house since Saturday ; and lie was in formed, that one of the neighbours, on going in the preceding day, found one of the children picking up a little meal from the floor. He afterwards apprehended her drinking gin in a vault. The prisoner had nothing to say in her defence, and she was ordered to find two sureties to answer the charge of misdemeanour at the next sessions.—Manchester Guardian. ROCHDALE CHURCH-RATE.—After an unexampled con test, which commenced on 'Monday, and was continued until six o'clock on Friday night, the rate was carried by a ma jority of eleven votes. The poll was opened on every day at twelve o'clock precisely, and closed as exactly at four, ex cepting on Friday, when, in consequence of finding, that a considerable number of persons had not voted, and could not vote in the time specified, the vicar, with the consent of both parties, prolonged the poll until six o'clock. The votes on the five days were declared as follows : Monday Tuesday Wednesday 437 349 Thursday 467 738 Friday 2897 2886 Majority for the rate 11 ERRORS OF THE CIVIL REGISTRATION ACT.-It appears by a statement made by Mr. Goulbourn in the House of Commons on Thursday night, that the return of births and deaths Of the metropolitan parishes, as furnished by the Re gistrar-General, gives the deaths at 53.511, while the births are only 37,735. This is the formal and official return, while it is notorious that the population is increasing, and that the births exceed the deaths. Then in St. George's parish, Hanover-square, the births are set down in the civil registry of the last year at 878, while the books of the vestry show that 1306 were baptised. In Marylebone the civil register record 8700 deaths, and but 5500 births. THE NATURE OF WHIGGISM.—In after times, if England, by the help of great councillors, shall renew her strength, and be capable of growing wiser by the misfortunes of her ancestry, men will reap from our age the true knowledge of Whiggism. They w ill see with what fatal f ac ilit y i t i s hatch ed—like the serpents eggs—in any soil which supplies but heat and corruption; with what suddenness, like the serpent, it matures its venom, and with what dangerous strength it recovers from the torpidity in which it seemed dead, and swells into public mischief. It will alike see with what readi ness it creeps to heights where nobler natures cannot climb, and marks its slippery way by its trail, defiling all that it can not devour, and adding the sentiment of disgust to dange r and ruin. Yet we do not recollect to have ever seen even Whiggism exhibited in so low a condition as the present. The Whiggism of Fox and Grey was vicious; but it is now vulgar. Their wild boar, that tore down the fences of the constitution, was a sufficiently savage and stubborn brute; but he is now wallowing in the mire, a "porcus de yrege epicuri," fed on palace offal, and happy to sun himself and sleep ale basest rejections of the public stehle,—T.AB THE GOSPEL, AND THE GOSPEL ONLY, THE BASIS OF EDUCATION: A SERMON, PREACHED IN ST. PETER'S CHURCH, LIVERPOOL. BY WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, D.D. VICAR OF LEEDS, AND CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY [The following Sermon has been published in deference to the wish expressed in a requisition, signed by twenty clergymen who were present when it was delivered, and to whom it is respectfully and affectionately inscribed.] MARE xvi. 15, 16. " And he Said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." In the command here given by our blessed Lord to His Apostles and their successors, - we clearly perceive the great object we ought to have in view in all the instructions we give either directly, as clergy, from our pulpits, or indirectly, clergy and laity united, in our schools,—namely, the propa. gation of the Gospel, the propagation of those truths of reve lation which shall lead men to Christ. In justice to those persons who, with feelings the most conscientious, are from circumstances, induced to take of the great subject of national education a view rather political than religious, and yet would defer to the sentiments of others whose authority in matters purely religious they respect, this fact ought to be fully, frankly, and unequivocally stated,—the fact that when we speak of an education based on religion, we mean by religion, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing else,—the fact that we desire in our schools not merely that the Bible may be read, but that the Gospel may be taught. And why has there been hitherto any hesitation in assert ing this? Why has the real state of the question been kept in the back-ground ? It is because our friends are well award that the assertion of this principle must at once lead to the question, What is the Gospel? Let the question be asked, and each sect is heard to give a different answer ; Arminian sects saying one thing; Calvinistic sects anathematizing the Arminians, and saying the reverse ; Socinian sects con demning both. Stunned by this Babel of discordant sounds, the practical politician is led to the conclusion, that, amid these various contradictions, no answer can be found. And our opponents, in all the triumph of a bitter sarcasm, ex claim, in their public discussions, The Gospel! aye, but what is the Gospel? what is Christianity? (1) what is the truth? Yes, it comes at last to this,—to the insinuation that di vine truth is nowhere to be found. Contemplating the dif ferences which exist amongthose who profess and call them selves Christians, practical men who 'have not given to the subject that attention which its importance demands, insinu ate that to ascertain divine truth is impossible ; that for one man to assert that he possesses the truth, thereby implying that his opponent has it not, is uncharitable and popish. (2) Alas ! even pious persons, until what they think a funda mental doctrine is attacked, are too much inclined to coun tenance this delusion Looking to truth rather in its applica tion than in its reality, they lead to the conclusion that di vine truth is not objective but merely subjective. But, how ever the error may arise, let us not shut our eyes to the ac tual state of the case. If, as it is insinuated, there is no such thing to be ascertained as divine truth, then, of course, one of two things must follow : either, God has not revealed His will to man ; or, He has so revealed it as to make it worse than no revelation, since it is impossible for man to know what the revelation really is. If there be a revelation, and that revelation be intelligible, then, of course, divine truth is discoverable ; and it is a question, not of charity, but of fact, whether we know what the truth revealed is. If we have the truth, and others are opposed to it when we assert it, it is a mere matter of fact, having nothing to do with charity one way or the other, that we are not, and that they are, in error. The want of charity would be, indeed, in our not endeavour ing to propagate it. We may be called presumptuous, but a little charitable presumption is sometimes necessary. The philosopher presumes, when he acts as if he knew more than an idiot; but when we see him employing his superior wisdom to save that idiot from impending but.unperceived destruction, we pardon his presumption in admiration of his charity. And many a wise man after the flesh is in spiritual things little better that an idiot, simply because to those things he has not sought grace to direct his mind, while he ventures, cer tainly not in humility, to dogmatise on a subject on which he is notoriously ignorant. To sum up the whole matter: Is there a revelation? If there be, then the truth is discoverable. Is the truth not as certainable ? If it be not, then there is no revelation ; or if there be, that revelation is a mockery. Either, then, cease to profess yourself to be a Christian, or if you do profess to lie a Christian, while you earnestly implore the aid of God the Holy Ghost, labour with all the powers of your mind to discover that truth as it is in Jesus, compared with which we may well count all other knowledge to be as dung. Now this is precisely what is meant by the Gospel,—the truth as it is in Jesus. The question is, how are we to as certain what this is ; and in answering this question we are brought immediately into controversy with the Romanist ; for the Romanist adduces as part of the council of God, as a portion of the truth as it is in Jesus, doctrines not contained in Holy Scripture. And the point to he debated with the Romanist is, not whether it is possible that a doctrine may have been revealed which is not contained in Scripture, for this unquestionably is possible, but the simple fact, how can you prove that any doctrine which is not in Scripture has come by inspiration from God. Where is the proof ? We refuse to receive any such doctrine as an article of faith be cause your proof of its being a part of Goll's revelation to man is defective. For what mean we by t/16 Scriptures ? By the Scriptures we mean the volume which contains all of those sacred books, of which the plenary inspiration can be proved. Prove the plenary inspiration of any book whatever, and we at once admit that it ought to form part of Holy Scripture ; but, relying as we do on the testimony, not of the Church of Rome, not of the Church of England, but of the Chin ch Universal, we assert, on the authority of the Univer sal Church, that such proof of plenary inspiration can be brought in favour of no other books except those which we receive as canonical. But if " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation ;" the conclusion of course is, that " Whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be re quired of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." (3) Here, then, is a principle, which unprejudiced common sense must at once admit : deferring as we do, and as the Ro manist does not, to the testimony of the universal Church, we receive the Bible, and the Bible only, not indeed as our religion, but as our Rule of Faith. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word," we say of every preacher,—of every framer of a theological sys tpm, it 4. 5x....• is no light in them. Every preacher w teacher is bound to prove that any doctrine he propounds is scriptural. But our opponent asserts that, admitting this, we have ad vanced no way in solving the difficulty, since the doctrines which Protestant sects and parties elicit from Scripture are different, and very oft= contradictory. The objection, you observe, is this—that Scripture gives an uncertain sound; that it has no definite meaning, which is, of course, tanta mount to saying that it has no meaning at all ; for that which may mean anything can mean nothing certain. But this is absurd : it is manifestly absurd to say of any book that it was written without any definite meaning ; that the writer intended it to be understood in any sense that the reader might be pleased to put upon it. Therefore, besides the Bible, it is absolutely necessary that we should have some plain rule laid down to guide us in the interpretation of the Bible, to lead us to the right sense of the Bible, to enable us to know, not what the Bible can by ingenious men be made to say, but what the Lord our God has revealed. NOW this has for for some time past, not only been over looked, butabsolutely denied, by many well meaning Chris tians. But circumstances have now occurred, sufficient, we may hope, to convince them of their error. Making the Bible a kind of idol, they have emulated the idol-makers at Ephesus, and have been calling out, the Bible, and the Bible only,—the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Pro testants. (4) And now the ministers of the Crown have taken them at their word. They have heard men talk of an educa tion to be based on religion, and they have said, the educa tion we propose shall be based on religion ; they have heard men declare that the Bible, and the Bible only, is their reli gion, and they have answered, the Bible shall be introduced into our schools, and the Bible shall be the only religious book so introduced ; they have heard men declaiming on the right of private judgment, and they have offered to grant that right to the parent of every child in these schools. How ever mistaken they may have been, their intentions were, doubtless, honest; and they had a fair right to expect that their measures would be received with enthusiasm by all, ex cept a few bigoted unenlightened high-churchmen, who, for refusing to assent to these propositions, had been assailed in a manner rather hard to be reconciled to the common notions entertained of Christian charity. But the practical evil likely to result from the adoption by government of the prin ciple long and vehemently advocated in ultra-protestant pub lications, was immediately apparent. For no sect, no party, act more consistently on the principle, that the Bible, and the Bible only, as interpreted by each man's private judg ment, is the Christian religion, than those who assume to themselves the denomination of " Unitarians." But by us Churchmen, by the Universal Church, theirs is regarded as a God-denying heresy, and they are ranked among the most insidious enemies of the Gospel. And in this view of the subject, we are joined by the more respectable sects of Dis senters. The danger, then, of allowing national schools to be so arranged, as to authorise " Unitarian" teachers to draw from Scripture inferences subversive of all Gospel truth, was recognised; and with an inconsistency at which I rejoice, those very Churchmen, who had been most loud in their cry of, The Bible, and the Bible only, in their loyalty to Christian truth, have united with their more consistent bre thren, of what is nick-named the high-church party ; and, by opposing the Government scheme, have virtually declared, that, if we wish to ascertain what our God has revealed, something more than the Bible is necessary ; namely, some clearly defined system for the interpretation of the Bible. Of the necessity of this, the Reformers, foreign as well as domestic, had a clear perception, as every one else must have, if they will impartially consider the subject. As in a great sphere, it is impossible for the limited vision of man to take in Ala once, but now this side, now that, must be e.x hibited to him ; so it is with respect to Scripture, wherein first one truth, then another is gradually, and often inciden tally brought to light, while their connexion and their bear ing upon the whole of Revelation cannot always he clearly seen. There is danger, that, when insisting on one doctrine, we shall so exaggerate its importance, as to make it contra dict another doctrine by which it ought to be qualified ; that when our attention is, by the circumstances under which we are placed, directed to one class of duties, we shall overlook another class of duties ; that we shall not perceive the pro portion which parts have to the whole. Hence, to arrive at the truth, we must, besides having recourse to humble prayer, compare spiritual things with spiritual, we must com pare one Scripture with another, and with respect to each separate text, we must interpret it according to the analogy of faith. And to supply us with this analogy of faith, to as sist us in arriving at the truth, by enabling us to overcome these difficulties, the Church provides us with her creeds and confessions of faith, her articles and formularies. Nothing can be more absurd than the conduct of modern ultra-Pro testants, who, while pretending to be the only mai defenders of the Reformation, unite with the Papists in denouncing, as contrary to Protestantism, the use of creeds, confessions, articles, and formularies, as if they were additions to Scrip ture. To add to Scripture, were indeed to bring down God's curse upon us ; and it is because of her additions to Scrip ture, no doubt, that the curse of God hangs over the Church of Rome, a cloud blackening her horizon, and prepared to burst in thunder upon her (unless she reform), in that storm of destruction in which, when anti-Christ shall come, all will be involved, who have in any measure been his type, as Popery undoubtedly is. But by our creeds, and articles, and formularies, and confessions, we do not seek to make any additions to God's word, any more than by making a map of our country, or by supplying a traveller with a guide-book, we should be seeking to add to our territories. Creeds, con fessions, and articles, are intended only to supply us with a general outline of revealed doctrine, by adhering to which you will be able to put the right construction on what is written in Scripture. This was the object of Luther and Melancthon, when they drew up their confessions of faith ; this the object for which Zuinglius and Cavin wrote, when they discovered the system of Luther to be defective ; to cor rect the errors of Calvin's system was tie design of Armi- 1 What is Christianity? was the question asked by Lord Broughaka of the assembled sectarians, when it was discussed whether instruction in the principles of Christianity should be given in the University of London. His acute mind at once perceived the difficulty. _ 2 This was repeatedly said in the late debates in the House of Commons on the education question, and said, too, rather inconsistently by the very advocates of Popery. 3 See Article VI. 4 There are, I fear, Bible worshippers, men who think that if you believe in the Bible, you believe all that is useful. But what we are required to believe is, what God has revealed ; and if we so read the Bible, as not to understand from it what God's.reiielatiou.,reallxis t Avg read thpj3ibia, Qf cPurg't in vain. nius and Episcopius ; and to improve or to correct some one or all of these older systems of theology, is the cause why sects innumerable are continually starting into existence. I am not vindicating the particular system of any one of these illustrious theologians ; I only allude to these facts to show that they recognised the principle, that to guide men to the truth of Revelation, something besides Scripture is neces sary ; and that they did not consider the use of a theologi cal system to imply, of necessity, an addition to Scripture. Whether the systems propounded by them did, peradventure, add to Scripture, is quite another question, to which allusion will be hereafter made: It is, indeed, a ridiculous self-de ception for any parties to deny that they are influenced in the interpretation of Scripture by some system extrinsical of Scripture, merely because they do not formally subscribe to some confession of faith. For if they do not formally swear to the words of Luther, or of Calvin, or of Arminius, or of Socinius, they receive' the system of some one or other of these theologians as tradition : else, what is meant by the denomination they assume? What is meant, when a man calls himself a Calvanist, but that he adheres to Calvin's system, if not as read in his writings, yet certainly received ds a tradition in his sect or party ? What is meant by an Arminian, a Wesleyan, an Irvingite, but ore who adheres to the system of interpreting and harmonising Scripture—to the general scheme of doctrine invented by one or either of these eminent men? Thus it is that all parties tacitly admit, if they do not, as we do, openly avow, that in order to ascer tain what the Gospel really is, what the truths are which Scripture actually propounds, what is it that God in very truth reveals, the interpreters of Scripture require some sys tem for their guidance, either written or traditional. And the real question is, not whether some system is needed, but what is the right system. But our opponent still objects, that, even admitting this, the difficulty ig.not solved, for how are we to decide what the right system is? And I answer, Let prejudice be set aside, and common sense will suffice to direct us in our decision. It will be plausibly said by some persons , that we must test any system proposed for our adoption for Scripture, and then abide by that which is scriptural. But what is one of the chief objects for which a system is required ? is it not to guide the inquirer to the true sense of Scripture ? To refer; then, to Scripture to prove that any particular system is the correct one, is merely to argue in a circle. You may be able to ascertain that it does not contradict the clear and undis puted statements of Scripture ; and if it do this, of course, you will at once reject it. But there are very few doctrines which are not disputed ; and when you come to these, you must remember that each system that is presented to us by Protestants professes to be scriptural. When you pronounce, then, on any one system, that it is exclusively scriptural, what is it that you do but beg the whole question, and as sume, without proof, the very point which it is your business to prove? The very thing that the Arminian says of the Calvanist, on the points wherein they differ, is that the Cal vinist system is unscriptural; and this again is the very thing that the Calvinist predicates of the Arminian. Who is to decide? Will you take the decision upon yourself? But why should you be more infallible than he is, upon whom you presume to sit in judgment? Are you more learned, more wise, than Arminius or than Calvin, both among the most learned men of their respective ages ? Will you say that you have prayed, and that therefore you feel sure that you are guided by the Holy Spirit unto the truth ? But what is this but an uncharitable insinuation that he who takes a different view of Scripture truth from yourself has not prayed?_ And what right have you, with an uncharitable Judgment, to assume this ? We know it, as an historical fact, that most of the founders of sects and systems have de clared that their prayer to be guided into truth has been earnest and frequent. What right have you, in any case, to assume that in saying so, one man was, and the other was not, a hypocrite? It is on the moral nature, not on the in tellectual, except so far as the intelleetual is influenced by the moral, that the Holy Spirit operates when he prepares our minds, not so much to discover what the truth is, as to receive it with humility when discovered. In order, then, to decide what system we ought to adopt, we must inquire into the general principle on which that sys tem professes to be based—the principle by which those were influenced who drew up the system. Now let us ask the Arminian on what ground he recom mends his system : his answer is, that his system is the Scripture system, having been deduced from Scripture by Arminius, a great, a good, a learned, and a pious man ; he prayerfully studied the Bible, and in that harmony of Scrip ture doctrine drawn up by him you may confide : true, is the reply ; but Arminius was not 'infallible, and for embracing his system the Calvinist consigns me to perdition. But then was his the authority on which the Calvinistic system rests ? The same answer is to be given, that Calvin was a great, a good, a learned, and a pious man ; he prayerfully consulted the Scriptures, and his is the scriptural system : true, is the reply ; but Calvin, after all, was but a fallible man ; why should he be more right than Servetus, whom he condemned to death? We can only adopt one or other of these systems, either as a tradition,—a tradition of no value, since it origi nates merely in the dicta of uninspired man,—or a system originating in one whom we are willing, from certain circum stances, though directly in opposition to the plain injunctions of Scripture, to call our master ; or as a system which we take it upon ourselves to pronounce to be scriptural, which, as I have shown, is a mere petitio princpii. Ido not think, then, unprejudiced common sense would lead us to rely on these. With respect to the modern Unitarian, there is some difference, though it is more apparent than real. He says, I take the Bible, and the Bible only, without reference or de ference to any system ; but in fact he defers to his own par ticular reason. Out of his own opinions he forms a system for himself, and thus makes his own opinions to be of equal authority with Scripture ; and then, when he finds that the Bible and his own opinions do not accord, he has recourse to his Lexicons and all the apparatus of verbal criticism, to see if he cannot force upon Scripture a different meaning from that which it ordinarily bears. (5) The Romanist is as bad, if not worse ; for he interprets Scripture according to the sense which his own particular Church has arbitarily put upon it, either at or since the Council cf Trent. But now let us see whether there is not some system not liable to these objections, according to which we may obtain a certain sound,—a definite sense, from the Bible. Suppose we were desirous of ascertaining the meaning of some book, referring to usuages and doctrines formerly existing. There would of course, as there is in the Bible, be many things so plain that there could not be two opinions with respect to them on the part of those capable of understanding the lan guage in which it was written. But on those many points of Importance on which there might be a di - vision or opinion, what would be thd course which common sense would sug gest for our adoption? Should we not think that the sense in which the book had been understood by all who had con versed with the writer, (if their had been several writers, the case would be the stronger) most probably the correct sense ? Should we nbt feel this the more powerfully, if the writers, before composing the book, had been accustomed to converse on its subject-matter—if they had desired the per sons with whom they conversed to treasure up their doc trines, to keep them as a sacred deposit, and to hand them on to their posterity ; and if these persons had been their devoted disciples ? And if we find that in providing for us a system for the better understanding of Scripture, those who drew up that system had an especial regard to this prin ciple, should we not conclude that this system is the system most worthy of adoption? should we not say these persons went the right way to work ? And so did the English Re formers frame their system on Scripture, and on Scripture only; but wherever Scripture had been doubtful or ambigu ous, instead of deferring to the conjectures of an individual critic, they have understood it in the sense in which it was understood by those early Christians who had been con versant with the Apostles, and who treasured up their teach ing as the apple of their eye. To ascertain this sense, on all important points,—on all those doctrines on which, and on which only man has a right to dogmatize, was comparatively easy, because the same system for the interpretation of Scrip ture had been universally adopted in the primitive Church. Whenever a doubt was raised as to the sense in which'Scrip ture was to be understood, the. inquiry among orthodox Christians was not,—what can such or such a learned man make Scripture say (for that was the course adopted by here tics), but what did our predecessors in the faith receive from their fathers—their fathers, who received their doctrine from the Apostles themselves. If a difficulty occurred, inquiry was made as to the fact of what had been taught from the beginning, not in one Church only, but in all the Churches throughout the world, either corresponding by letter or meeting in council. It was soon noised abroad it a preacher deviated from this received system : as we can ourselves easily understand, for if a person brought up in obedience to Calvinistic tradition, if A person always accustomed to hear the Bible interpreted in the Calvinistic sense, enters a sanctuary where the • Bible is interpreted according to the tradition of the Church, he immediately, almost as it were by intuition, detects that the Scriptures are expounded in a sense different from that to which he has been accustomed ; and with the intolerant presumption of his party he denounces the preacher as one who does not preach the Gospel,—the Gospel and Calvinistic tradition being identified in his mind. This shows how easily the primitive Christians could detect any deviation led to the inquiry, first, as to the plain mean ing was disputed, as to the sense in which it had been under stood from the beginning. If, then, this as the principle on which the English Reformers invariably acted, and none but a man blind by prejudice beyond all conviction can deny that they did so act ; if their system tell us not what is taught by the Bible and Luther, not what is taught by the Bible and Calvin, not what is taught by the Bibl e • an d an y un i ns pi re d individual, but what the Bible, as understood by the primi tive Christians, reveals ; does not common sense, I ask again, suggest that this must be the right system ?(6) And this is the system provided for us by our wise-hearted Re fOrmers in the Book of Common Prayer. All the offices of the Prayer-Book are ancient offices : for we are not to sup pose that the Liturgy was the invention of a few Reformers three centuries ago. You may still find in the breviary and missal of the Roman Church 'the prayers and devotions which we of the Church of England still use ; our Reformers were maligned as papists for retaining theta ; all that they did was to reform the old Liturgies used in the Church of England from those additions and abuses which had crept into them during the middle ages, through an endeavour, in each age, to adapt the ritual to the spirit of the age. The sin of the Roman Church is, that it has retained these novel ties, in 'doctrine and practice, which, because they were novelties, were abscinded by our Reformers, who retained in, the Liturgy all that was ancient and catholic, rejecting all that was new and peculiar. In doing this, our Reformers, intent on pleasing the people, not on gaining popularity, not on consulting the spirit of the age, but on establishing and maintaining the truth as it is in Jesus, compared the ancient Liturgies of the Church of England, in the first instance, with Scripture, discarding at once what was plainly and palpably contrary thereto ; such customs, for example, as praying in an unknown tongue, and seeking the intercession of dead saints : they then compared them with the ancient rituals, renouncing all usages not clearly primitive ; and studying deeply the writings of the Fathers, they embodied the doctrines which had been universally received in the primitive Church in that which is the result and glory of their labours, the Book of Common Prayer.(7) And 5 By contending with " Unitarians" on their own sys tem, instead of attacking the system itself, those who defend the cause of orthodoxy, but not on Church principles, are, in their public discussions with " Unitarians," sometimes apt to do injury to the cause to the defence of which they have rashly come. 6 It is very true, that to understand the Old Testament thoroughly, we must be acquainted with the language, anti quities, customs, and modes of thinking prevalent among the Jews : at th e same ti me , we ma y o b serve , th a t s i nce the New Testament is a commentary on the whole, it is not very likely when we have ascertained the doctrines of the New Testa ment, that we shall fall into dangerous error when studying the Old. 7. Here is a point on which I venture to differ from the great, and good, and pious writers of the Oxford Tracts. We are all agreed, as the English Reformers were, in our deference to primitive tradition. But there appears to be a diflerepce of opinion between some of the Tract writers, following herein the non-jurors, and the Reformers, as to the . value of certain u sages , w hich, according to the learned writers of the Tracts, ought to have been retained at the Reformation. Now no one can doubt of the patristical learning of Ridley, and Parker, and even of Cranmer. The question then for plain persons to decide is this, Shall we on certain points give credit to the Reformers who thought such usages no t t o b e pr i m iti v e and essential, or shall we give credit to the Oxford Tracts which assert that these are primitive and essential? I confess that in all such points I should recommend people to defer to the Reformers, since their authority is more established than that of our contem poraries. I am aware that the answer is, that the judgment of the Reformers may have been warped on certain questions by a strong pressure from without, and that, as I fear we all of us sometimes almost unconsciously are, they were some times influenced by motives of expediency. And this is un doubtedly true. But then it is equally true, that in their zealto couqtera9t.th4 4ra.protestant spirit which is in our age loading to Mfitlelity, the judißent of the pious and this it is which supplies us with an answer to those who, when we speak of primitive tradition, observe that this is all very well for the learned, but what are the unlearned to do ? We point to the Prayer-Book in reply, and say, in taking the Prayer-Book for your guide to the right understanding of Scripture, the whole Prayer-Book, catechism, articles, baptismal office, office for the Eucharist, office for the ordaining of bishops, priests, and deacons, you take for your guide the consentient voice of the universal primitive Church. I may add, that it is the privilege of the English Prayer-Book to be the only work which even professes thus to preserve and embody the primitive tradition. For the Church of Rome, be it observed, does not profess even to defer to anti quity. We have already seen that the ultra-protestants do actually bend to tradition (though not the primitive tradition) while they reject the word. The papist, on the contrary, retains the word, perceiving its vast importance in argument, but rejects the thing, for by tradition in the Church of Rome is meant, not the ancient doctrines of the ancient Church, by which the Church of Rome is as much condemned as by the Bible, but whatever the particular Church of Rome has at any time, or may at this time decree. (8) So much misrepresentation has taken place with re ference to those, who, with all the great divines and reformers of the Church of England, interpret Scripture ac cording to primitive tradition, instead of that Calvanastic tradition which our opponents would compel us to adopt, that I must be pardoned for again remarking, that they at tempt not to supersede the Holy Scriptures, or to add to them : all that they do is, when seeking, as all persons must do, some assistance to guide them to the right understanding of Scripture on fundamental points, to refer to the doctrines directly or indirectly brought before them in the Prayer- Book, the authority of which rests on its embodying the primitive system : and when they find the doctrine taught by the Bible, and the doctrine taught by the Prayer-Book, or, in otheg words, by the primitive tradition, confluent,—flow ins- like the waters of the Rhone and the Saone in one stream, though b with- distinguishable currrents—they then feel sure that the meaning they attach to Scripture is the right mean ing,—that they know what the Gospel is, what it is that God has revealed, they listen not for one half moment to the " Unitarian," when lie tries by the very fanaticism of cri ticism to attach some new meaning to the different texts by which any doctrine is supported. The old Scriptures, un derstood in the old sense, lead us to the old doctrine, which was delivered of old and once for all to the saints. (9) But though the principle of adopting a system to direct us to the right interpretation of Scripture be an important one, though into some system or other we cannot help falling, still it is liable to abuse, and in its abuse may lead to con sequences much to be deplored. In order to avoid this, let me remind you of the legitimate object of every theological system, which is to keep before the mind all those fundamental truths which the Bible, rightly interpreted, makes known to us. But in framing their theological systems divines have frequently erred by attempting to do !tore than this, by attempting, at the same time, to harmonize the truths which are thus revealed. They have laboured to show one truth has depended upon another truth, and how, from certain premises, conclusions, deemed inevitable by those who frame the system, must ensue. And in so doing they have blended with those articles of faith, which have been clearly revealed, their own deductions therefrom ; and when these, the in ferences of man s are dogmatically propounded with the same authority as the truths on which they rest, the Popish error is unintentionally, though inevitably, committed, of adding to Scripture, an error not necessarily attached to our principle, but one into which, as I have hinted before, the framer of a system may peradventure fall.(10) When Luther, for ex ample, not only asserts the revealed fact, that the consecrated bread in the Eucharist is in some sense the body, and the consecreated wine in some sense the . blood, of Christ, but by his doctrine of consubstantiation, appends to it, as of equal authority, his own explanation of that fact, he as much adds to Scripture as the Papist does by his dogma of transub stantiation : and equally guilty of this error is Calvin, when to the doctrines of the omnipotence, the omniscience, the unaccountable sovereignty of the Deity, he adds, as if it were part of Revelation, his dogma on the Divine decrees.(ll) But these compact, harmonizing, theological systems com mend themselves to the indolence and the pride of man. What they profess is, that they contain the whole pith of Re velation, the marrow of theology ; that, within a small com pass, they present us with all that is important in the Bible. Indolent as the mind of man is, it , will gladly exert itself, when seriously impressed, thus to master, once for all, the whole counsel of God. And he who imagines that he is fully acquainted with the whole of that mighty and mysterious scheme for the redemption of man, into which angels desire to look, and which more scripturarChfistians conceive will not be known, in its fullness, until the end shall have come— he, I say, will indulge in that pride which thinks scorn of all whose views of divine truth appear to be less harmonized than his own ; and, what is equally bad, he is precluded from in quiring further into the truth as it is in Jesus. If a man supposes that he knows all that it is important to know, he regards an accession of knowledge as unimportant ; a nd in stead of being a humble disciple, seeking the truth, seeking to be enlightened more and more, he is exalted, in his own mind, into a judge of others. All he desires is, to have the chosen doctrines of Revelation, on which his chosen system of theology insists as important, placed before him in some new point of view, supported by new arguments, or illus trated by the flowers of rhetoric. Every doctrine, however scriptural, which is not at once reducible to the line and measure of his system, he spurns as useless, or rejects with thoughtless indignation. And thus, instead of using his sys tem as a guide to the understanding of Scripture, he may be said rather to make use of Scripture to illustrate his system. Whoever preaches according to his system is a gospel preacher; whoever produces from Scripture doctrines oppOsed to his system-is treated as an enemy of God; ,and thus, at length, we find his system superseding the Bible : whole portions of Scripture are unstudied because they bear not on that sys tem to which he has given the exclusive title of the Gospel ; and we actually hear, yes, we hear those who are most loud in complaining of Popery for its want of deference to Scrip ture and its human inventions in religion—we actually hear them complaining of the Psalms, the sweet songs of Zion, given by inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, that they are not sufficiently spiritual !—we do actually find in some Pro testant congregations, where human inventions in religion are most loudly deprecated, the inspired Psalms superseded by the hymns of uninspired fallible men ! And does not this fact, my brethren, tell its own tale ? for why is this done ? Can it be because the Psalms are unscriptural ? No ; but human hymns may be rendered more comfortable to human ayOtcma of But, not to pursne these oblervations fo___Et-hr, I have re ferred to these circumstances to shew, that the very fact which is sometimes brought as a charge against the Church system, is, in truth, its recommendation. In our system you will find no attempt to harmonize the truths of scrip ture ; they are, on the contrary, simply stated, or blended with our devotions, in the plain, unconnected, independent form, in which you find them in Scripture itself; there is no endeavouring to supply any imaginary defects of Scripture, by filling up the scriptural outline ; articles of faith, as re- excellent writel's of the Tracts may be also warped. Of course men of learning, will inquire into the fact, whether, in estimating the value of any ancient usage, the Reformers in rejecting it, or the Tract writers in wishing its retention, are right. But in conversing with those who are unable to make the inquiry, I should advise them to stand by the Reformers. In making these observations, I do not mean to say that in instituting these inquiries the writers in ques tion have not done right. The object of true Christians is not to maintain Protestantism as a faction, but to preserve in its purity the Gospel. In this good cause no persons have laboured more piously, with a more gentle and truly Chris tian spirit, and, blessed be God, with more success, than the writers of the Oxford Tracts. But they themselves are most anxious not to form a party ; they are most patient in hear ing those who in the application of a common principle may differ from them. And we ought to read their works for information, rather than quote them as authoritative, until, by the consent of the learned world, their authority has been established. 8 It may be seen from what has been stated above, why the true-hearted sons of the Church of England set their faces, as it were a flint, against any proposal for an alteration of the Book of Common Prayer, so . as to make it, as th ose who propose to do so would make it, more conformable to modern customs and modes of thought, They are not swayed by prejudice or by blind attachment to the things of days gone by, (though such prejudice and attachment would be laudable,) for if it were proposed calmly and candidly to act in the spirit of the Reformers, and to examine our present Prayer-Book by the existing records of antiquity which we possess in the canons of the first councils and writings of the Fathers and other Liturgies, so as to be quite sure that every thing really valuable has been preserved by us, the opposition would be probably relaxed. But knowing how in times past, from a desire to accommodate the Liturgy to the spirit of the existing age, the errors of Popery were gradu ally introduced, they may greatly fear in any alterations, the ' introduction of errors, it not precisely similar, yet equally bad, were we to act now on the same principle; for men are quite as likely to be fallible in an age of Latitudinarianism, as in an age of superstition. It is not with religion as it is with science ; for in religion, except as prophecies are gra dually fulfilled by the event, no fresh discoveries are to be made, In a revealed religion, a religion once, and once for all, delivered to the saints, the business of the Church is to preserve old truths, not to discover new ones. Well, then, may we fear that by any alteration in the Prayer-Book, if it gain in symmetry, would lose some portion of that autho rity which it now possesses, as the interpreter and handmaid of Scripture. 9 The late, or rather the prevailing controversy, on the sutiject of education, is likely to lead to the re-establishment of certain almost forgotten principles. The supporters of the government measure naturally supposed that when they introduced the Bible, and the Bible only, as the basis of re ligious instruction, into their schools, those who have been so loud in their censures of high Churchmen, and have been proclaiming that the Bible, and the Bible only, is their re ligion, would be contented. But not only has it been dis covered that the propagation of the Gospel is their object as well as ours, for which purpose the Bible and something else, by their own showing is necessary ; it has been, also dis covered that by the Bible, and the Bible only, is meant, not what the words would seem to imply, but the authorized version, and the authorized version only. But the authorized version is the Bible and something ( Ise, for every version must, to a certain extent, be a commentary. In a disputed passage . it conveys the sense of the passage according to the notions of what is correct in the translator. If this were not so,' why should we object to the Douay version, or to the " Unitarian" version ? and why do Romanists and " Uni tarians" object to ours ? We may fairly ask, then, On what grounds do ultra-protestants insist on the exclusive use of the authorized version? Have they compared it with the original ? Have they compared it with the versions which they condemn ? The papists and the " Unitarians" ask of those who so strongly contend for the exclusive use of the authorized version, Do you think that the translators in the reign of James I. were infallible men ? It is replied, per haps, the Romish and " Unitarian" translators weft pre judiced. This is indeed to call names, but it is quite open to the Romanist and Unitarian to retort, that King James's translators were equally prejudiced : or shall the reply be, though I have not been able to examine the different versions myself, yet the learned Mr. A. and Dr. B. have done so, and they pronounce our version to be the correct one ? Then, surely, the answer of the Romanist is.equally valid, Cardinal C. and Cardinal D. have examined and approved the Douay version. It seems to me that those who, on these grounds, insist upon the use of the authorized version, and the authorized version only, act in spirit decidedly popish. Not so the true Churchman ; he says, I object to the Romish and " Unitarian" versions because they were avowedly conducted on a principle Which a child may see to be erroneous. The Romish version was made in subservience to the novel dog mata . 0f the Church of Rome, the " Unitaria 1" version in deference to the private judgment of the translator. We, , on the contrary, can prove, from the directions given to our translators, that our version was made in deference to primi tive tradition. We claim, therefore, authority for that ver sion which was professedly made on a principle which common sense must perceive to be right. Our translators were not infallible, but they acted on the right principle. By revising the version on their principle you may correct any errors they may have committed, but we protest against the introduction of a version avowedly conducted on a wrong principle. Our principle being observed, no errors, of course, of serious moment can have been committed: but on either of the other principles it is scarcely possible to avoid error. 10 Because framers of systems have without doubt gene rally falleninto this error, men have drawn the hasty con clusion, which in the former part of this sermon I have com bated, that all systems must thus err. 11 . 0f course, neither Luther nor Calvin, nor any other framer of a system, would have advanced his peculiar tenets without appearing to have some scriptural authority for them. Their errors consists in having assumed that their deductions from Scripture were infallible, and in having con sequently introduced their opinions, whetbor right or 'wrong' wrong articles of faith, 12 We sometimes hear of Calvinistic Churchmen repre sented as more liberal than their brethren. Why? because they fraternize with a few Calvinistic Dissenters. But then it is to be remembered that they anathematize as non-gospel preachers all their non-Calvinistic brethren in the Church that is to say, two or three Clergymen in a di s t r i ct cons i gn to perdition two or three hundred of their brethren in the neighbourhood, and are styled liberal because they associate with two or three Dissenting ministers who do the same. 13 Is. liv. 5. 14 Is. lxii. 4, 5. 15 Is. lii. 1. 16 See Theodoret's admirable Commentary on the Song of Solomon, a translation of which, by the learned Mr. Poole, Incumbent of St. James's Church, Leeds, is in the course of publication in The Voice of the Church, 17 Rev. xxi. 9. 18 Rev. xlx. 7. 9. 19 Blackstonb; 01: i. p: 441, p) 1 cor, P. O tti • requires faith in all who approach her ordi nances ar e the ta • r lec bse those who approach without faith tpeY race, but of condemnation. He is not safe ws e u c e l e o ordinances merely ; and he is not safe who, t e J the tf"l e divinely-appointed ordinances, has merely faith,:f, to be united. Nothing is clearer tha this, l i t r te; from your mind modern traditions, you Srill cool tures. As to union with the body, we are told re se.°: many, are one body in Christ, and that , there'leinssl members one of another. We are told that as is the head of the wife, even so Christ i s the ct'scottvit Church, and He is the Saviour of the body . bode' °to how and when it is we become members o fthat d is one Spirit, even the Holy Ghost, we are al:6000i body, and being in inve continue in it by being Por se t t o , one bread, even Jesus Christ, who, as He is the the the body in all his ordinances, is especially sol$ 1! , to e; ment of his body and" blodd. And in the bode to l e Ephesians we are taught that there is one l e d bf f ts spirit; and when it is said our hearts are lon t jig y that we are justified by faith, that we are se the it is clear that we are attached to the soul of the ttsc iS 4 faith. Hence, if we would be safe, we must behri.4,lli the body and soul of the Church, the sponse of ef s. 111 4 reception with faith of the sacraments and o rdinal) e l not scriptural who says, I have faith, and there ter n 76 1; the sacraments and ordinances ; and he is not scr says, I observe the sacraments and ordinanceseetqas i r o e to I need net faith. And yet we may easily i nt 'sot which exceptions may be made. For instance, bo a l , ,t 4 baptism is attached to the soul as well as t be f eeer i) !S Church, but ceases to be attached to the soul ru faith:4 when he grows up, if he does not likewise g,r°', a 1051 becomes (to revert to my former comparison) epo').ety paralyzed, dead member of the body. Again' Arie•OAll in a heathen land is deprived of those ordinance-sti!" might attach himself to the body of the Churcalobe4 faith he may be united to her soul. The same kn ee e 0 of those who, through unavoidable ignorance,lol,.; the true Church is, and therefore neglect one II; . th , 0 duty, but are, though not sacramentally, stint)). wir with her. desk ' l Thus we see why our Lord, in the text, hes., • 4 0 us to preach the truth as it is in Him, directs a. 3 0., to a minister the sacrament of baptism. ' We °e br :4 men the truth that they may have faith, and (ne t os , tiro sufficient) to unite them to His Church,—thes. roc! end being to unite men. to Christ. And thu; see how possible it is to avoid the extreme, to to o 0 0,4, of which•l have before 'alluded. Rest not on Y° :r 4°l • ' : but on Christ. And yet attend carefully to Yt ith to of because, as you increase in religious knowledgee`;,,ei4o in view, you will be ever finding fresh means 01,:tioojiy munion with Christ and of receiving communw' e on Him : the more you know of His will the better,l 0 9 able to serve Him. Rest nut on your faith, bn e ‘ e ° ,,ii o r but seek for grace to persevere.in good works , sili o sild by a patient continuance in well-doing that Yon. for' sl dared meet for the glory which Christ is preP llasrigki who love Him. Rest not on the Church , but nGe.irelef through the sacraments and ordinances of th e e ir ose communion With. the Church; because it is ' O O9 munion with his spouse that you are to haven ° rO O l 9, Christ, and through communion withChristhav,e, 0,1 with God, the divine and human natures beg: 0 . 9 united. And so, too, we, add, rest not on ' 1 ; 0 1; 4 ) theology with which the' Church provides Y° ll ,„' 0 . 0 4 system with humility, that you may, by its hendett your Bible, and thence learn more and more ot _ f 0; of God which is ever to be our study until all a e tta ist known,—a blessing in this life never to be foll ) n d oldrOc, , These are the principles, my brethren, the g l:h l i ttefi e , pies of the religion of Christ, for holding wbic duced and maligned, misrepresented by desinatie9 ness, and misunderstood by uninquiring fb l , l Y; 11, 1 '2 what are denominated high Church prinei,P l „, e 'the"V, which, if in the world ' s eye we are re sat "" a te to were, fools and the offscouring of all things, weet9 able to give a reason for our conduct when sre our aid to the establishment of any plan 0f educpits though professedly based on religion, and the r e is / Bible, and the Bible only, (for remark , this ,neo3 lately offered to us,) does not tend, in our bring men to Christ, that one great °.O s e knowledge as well as of all religious ordinanee%esrettf are those principles on which we may with to you in behalf of the charity schools of t or z` i e, important town. The pious parents of the 1; ea to through me, to enable them to bring their chil"!i t 111 5 and to teach them all things whatsoever CillTrutil• manded. Are you Christians in deed and in O il s' are 14 to the appeal.you must respond; for if You tsy verily and indeed, not by profession only, pri"Z only, but by the due use of those high sP ititli b e art s "lr s , which in baptism you were elected, then youtek glowing with love to God and man; and it t r C 0 °"(11 11 ; surely say to you, as the Apostle did to t,"e•.. "as touching the ministering to the saints cl et r' e t!:,o for me " to speak to you. Your hearts a r e %.e. P; you have freely received, freely you will g ive itg 11 • 1 4 let me add, some poor children here, the ofsPr i • tb e r c i 10 o ct parents, poor children who have been hea r infamy, and whose young ears, in their homes , at to4 o but the sounds of blasphemy ;—they, toe, appeal fl y Ai me; they implore you to rescue them fronl their homes, to enable them to breathe the l'ii! oe ,1)1 1 4 of these schools ; they entreat, they imPl° re ) tid: i rd merciesof redeeming love, to administer an 39 d i poison which 'would otherwise destsnY the d ing those who ought to be their protectors are 'e - t eer, the way of Satan, they supplicate you, died to Lord Jesus Christ, it is the Saviour who . c'' rtoot O is your God; who commands you to suffer ttt e e i,sol s tk come unto Him ;—by the support of these " eoPp vide that the Gospel may be preached to thee i ,i is te e and so taught, that they may know all things.Soo l 4 has commanded, while, united to Christ by t he)" !;(4!') the sacraments and ordinances of religion, ssi.go. grace and strength to fulfil the same. Agt i n il iaier s ,119 you verily and indeed the servants an d , - " c oo ' Christ ?If you' be, when He commands' 0• 4/ You know what His command.. in this resPer'sal you look upon these little ones your .heatts nestie think that His command anti y o ur own i ne tide. lIRLIMOI.IWaIarre4V7.IMO, -- VenrlVi i Ang STATE OF THE DISTRICT ARMIN.- to 1.1.4' We learn from concurrent statements, inn ° d, d, PitV residing in different parts of the neighbourl)°°,,eW the last few days, the agitators, who ate nn i;ci working classes, - have been displaying to° r '; of st i ,ts'reij" their mischievous calling ; and that a nualh e ; ec i, t• 4; —not meetings regularly and publicly con r t, .4'2 0 0 1 blages of a more secret character, and f° l. l',1e11,7; 0 5 ! pose—have been held in various places, at i w- sna )Ici the most illegal character has been uttereu e of proceeding to acts of violence openly T e o o / of this description have, we understand , been t he w bs o:l in Salford, and in several other places ill p rd' neighbourhood of this town, as well as in W a l e d 0 0 0 7 4 of man other towns and villages in the hurl ss lY pf s sf,' and at several of them arms- have been 0 P„ -- Sie l ti orra' We understand also that near Burnley, ° o g c l, there were assemblages of a very thret ite Tail te 'aOso, which caused so much alarm, that the taagjey the military to be kept under arms, ali d remained assembled to a very late hour et n'l;ool'`iou'iifi also that the fabrication of pikes and otheetve reece'boalef ceeding with great activity on all sides. , It o, 7 1 terday, a letter from a correspondent at that several blacksmiths in that town atej t ' s tol ! ' , O 4 / in this work, and are actually labouring nig ° 1 ,, fil e o correspondent, who had seen them at w°` . .. 0 0 0019 grinding the pikes, states that upwards °I i s ,eci factured in Bolton last week. We have' e, i l - sse 0,,j,r0, 0 • r to the same effect from another source; „std tre-ei9'r magistrates have been taking evidence u t r ,,tbe t 'so t 4 4 Similar statements, with respect to severne t i e as i l)o hoods, have reached us ; and there are in • c 3 0 10 dri r s„ mistaken, of the intention of the designloge..dflolZie'V unfortunately acquired influence among st then, `'hit to to urge on their misguided followers to e tgao which, if resorted to, they will have "e u`',„ o :l tde'Y deplore. We still trust, however, that theebets rte;; people, and a knowledge of the arrange)°`- down disturbance, will, have the effect 0 1 ,2: 60, 11 , ',1 , outbreak in this neighbourhood,--'hunt >,t IMPORTANT TO BENEFIT SOCIETIV: petty sessions, on Monday last, Samuel i` l e r i, e • the Male Friendly Sickly Society, held at Westhoaghton, was summoned to shoo' c 3 ';' for 'o'l'g( not be proceeded against, according to 1 :." 0 :: 0 0°., 1 1e,, 5 his and refused to pay to Thomas 11a the his regular weekly allowance, according' aver, sf get !f society.—Mr. John Foulkes, of 111anclietpereliel,'101 the defence. The ground of objection %I'd fl e e , plainant, who is 86 years of age, was not l o t ° I ".0 0 0 4 cause he did not claim through sickn e '''foni t ''') , ! unable to follow any.eraployment. — M r. to rel''iligqo that, unless sickness prevailed (accordieg too,'„,1104, could be granted; and that the precedent -0 : die ss',fetfLis old age would cause other members to threii ut 0 1 ;104 the funds of the society for subsistence. jo the 17th rule, it was found to contain the ke wor o r Co "Any member being sick, or unable O cov e pp way advised him to get over the di.,1,, ; . fae, 1 0, 1 ! 0 ;,,, rules, and then he would talk to hirn.--,Y"'aril his objection on this head overruled, conteneivile ing to the 30th rule, the magistrated n te 1 , ..„ tO; that article provided, ' that, in cases of ho :P :l ee of a,;:'.4 the matter should be referred to a cornnntk. oiso.Dcl.dt„ —lllr. Ridgway said he did not conceive th a l l i b rll iog r i t t , gr 7,3 of dispute exactly, because a person waS eI:46CLI (0 ,: ably to the articles, and the society r l3- I . e. fer therefore, it would be..perfect nonsense T., owaisegiet aid p mittee of' five. • The complainant, froin, l ' i. e , s 9 e (1)1 01 0 • sub,tribtl nearly fifty years to the soc' e loco t) iti! e ivF received fifty pence from it ; and it was 3 Ihi t o to say the least of it, to attempt to aerl iit e. ' s ce tt sras of his money, at his advanced period o ', t hs V , / , replied, that he had nothing to do thing ; all he was contending for wa.s the , s eer; r ilde said, that his view .of tho law was, that t 1 .7 , 00 10 the .demand ; and if they did not do so, be ' e V rant of distress to be issued against the sto . ;i1 Guardian. • air.ee tt PacuatuND PALAcr..—Of the ancient r3„eil, of England whh stood on Riclintot.i.e HOW except the ft gatewa, and• that satisfy the gaze of any but the mere iottol"eer look old and venerable enough fo the If e : 4.te d ° eerv' e d 0 1 ) rescue, being so patched up by, en d .,nost i t,nb t . s o ,l gro sFrouncling house?, as to have alin a ',i• (=meter. Several kings and (lace"; res s P s ir"bes• 0 0 died upon this spot. Edward I. no° t test Di 4•4 Edward 111. died here, deserted Oa „ p oi o i( 1 ' 1 4 tiatterers and parasites who • had fartenel.ooo,o ;tosp.oil even Alice Pierce, the mistress of his i na l ls his side, and leaving him Pe witit g G , e ee to the t , than if he had been a beggar, giving wi n the o f 1 11 `, , ,,P r At, Richard 11. the next king,. passed Inu n ' we .are gre:bet` t i, manor; in whose days, at Sheen , as e t ,•l . the': t ei•• , Sot that veracious chronicler, Stowe, ing among the gnats !" " 'rho' were Jo says he, " that the air was darkened )Brtt; at .iv isc o fought and made a great botle. T``; ° , pa! t , ,,%e ‘be slain, fell down to the ground ; the t' s ii , r she a.• victory, flew away, no man knew wms wei ,s 05 tO oe the dead was such that they might b' ~drat $ 004 and bushels filled with them." With a ee tto_ ro p lie old historian describe this battle ! be n° (10 1' 6 1 1 1 of its truth! and with what a relish N r i est der. o . c eti h i l a expectation to find the same in his r e be` b)".11, batt a _ every circumstance ! Many of the , s , ol isfe. bst - hearses of York and Lancaster are 01 - o f It Tt libfl , hardly more notice. Anne, the queer he lc , ` l , in this building. She was - so band, that he cursed the place wher e t sat e 'el i e , !, of never afterwards inhabit it. T h e vetr irec tiO°:',alY tendri4e tSe.t,litd; so moved him to grief, that he gac e ., ( ov .00 e :0 • be pulled down. The order was ,5 3 , ,, s c ots _ t s ; r aw_ but the building remained in a rain(4, fo il ' v! reign of Henry V. who repaired it, 01 ,* ‘, tire jil;fi..e 11 / 1/' 0115 hOuses near it. It was desteos e a , 0 8,5 , ,, e ' ,A Henry VII., who built it up agai n c> before, and first altered the naive, ° e :IT t o .polfel: to Richmond, which it has ever "o o also 'resided here in the early part th e stituted a grand tournament on re hae gte ; ),„ tee it e j fought in disguise. He afterwards exti vo ill - i i' e eV:e t for the more magnificent peinN. • -ter, r • etl .4"' after the fall and death of th 9t reverted to the crown. Elizaheh ; A c t short time, during the reign of nibs e, _ et o f „ t Da ' CO tutu 1, 01 broken-hearted for the death of • . ~alO 1 10 te .1 5 „ r. 0 4, .. the dissensions of the revolutt , a we - s i n e. ic s• treatment from the hands of the rl' s ne eer of part of it - was pulled down. it " 'oed ° ' i fje f ri +all; Pi ih head in the world, but has gra- L 4 fiiveg? eendition.l---Ra*ko :77.0;";•P THE ATRE NOn 4 , 011 Nen„ l of the a R p, Peried at re, • - yuarlei For the ' A e nefit of 411 e / nd p os i t; ""st Night of O e S And ° f present FRI 'fl , edv • , t wo a ul4acic, Air. K MA At the end eoefle 1 G A, 11). T \ • .0 ,erro• • TAI 11 .4 ei ll ea:4 1 :1 111 0 : :: d f — a A g E l t i o t n hl i i wlti the tn e !,, and n_ DOc. ,ctorv),)uw• • ° • • (his or , Afterl s• r • aced9rth sv _ i s e s Bolie ,1, Alad.ll Qu rr At p ert° St r T e d bY he r ; pd To conclud, (ALI ' 4l T ubbs "' , t) •ft e • • 11. 41 0 4:e " " Pla nes it Will 2t, ar e ta o: ta Qce r r rerfo - rs to - It A - !lati ce t —Peni 11 5 uto ° celnoi Ore 'SELL] t b j 22nd l i z,t l 2 Marx t ,, .e i... 0vi n ,,..„ „ Live ] iteatr i Ztely he Li LI 0 N YpU,o,;7s At Conti jue l l 't pei i pNG witpAy_.y_. „ w p, s o-w; •La tie 0 , of Nf r , a nd HTS, a () ken Z OOL terent of the el% tvg„ , ,,,the GI Wte °a LXG , thi s aNn . A.y ea..so4•tahibition ti t r, r , y lY 44e e litile:e r:;-.Nisitilff:t:i°1:1411 tr ,pilot, \ r V st e 4,,, l l l ' B it Nb we are ' ll4n :i s o. 11 ) eas s Ut i ni , 111 1"rnpo .t 44 4 0 8 11 . 24;11 hiral):: tth 'kt iail i t B :ll re : s . e_r : o : bt tat, ii ref°r4l°llB 11 rteptictrid i o e e rer s---- th r s k i 18 t 'l it' MPin' I'llo lead l er Y ' It lit:l;3r tgooo ,titilli h : the e , ! or to P litike : a ti oge (I t Z r o t y : htrit4l genuine NINIIy ref 4ed 1„ everTil re to Pay a bet 6 of Parliament th e \Vhi b it pr krkii7Perit; ti. : I. ` 04 of Paper it etlia ble . d il e i i ' . „ 4 of NI; Ply 11 1 „, A 4 t , re ' "'4 ea Vi l e • a fi, p, le are grUrfil ' , 40 t 0 b e b ll Char k,crt illit has 0 4:t. g thi ng` i4ll l e Britishteh a R it ee, he ni. h Prov . tilt 4 .. _ ld m eas ures Cares t. , eel a :o'4 of t rll 4a aki he t 4e. n it, . ay tiu ay 'iliu m al A 1101 of t , Ile _011,,,, 4 41e4 trialce _er S h ark fri \%' the ~.. t b,. hist° t : ,it (1 1.,,,i440 - 1) 4 0 t a it y r le ,. te?, t hat la Zot,,etiord the: tet. __q r r ; I . '' -1 41 ii a a( i tt oeate .-ord e„: Y ' hand sof Ilt ' a l i 6410i ti , t Mlle NI kti 4 a h e Plat, Ile tilti ties it i I , theeit ---wh ~ , Mar e ,14 ltre Libe I 4.1 \\.llet ? rills tris4 ? 4 e t ra t ih t Mr. ''ce ' iill.oke have• Hill 11 1 1 (1 i n th BP°k s I.l itt ed h ave C„ ' t. te 4,e4 their -11 g , 10 4 Ila h ti tir n iitil , Aga t heeti of Cl: (:41404 0 fear 4: ptr 4ted - : fli cia t l ht ite;ir fo„ r e 4e Y Wei l ru ! 111141 t be whici I ter be them o ,_ Pat .1, Petsl4' Club cn'e h ( ry . itt.• HI t: _in g i (t i ti le til tri _ r th e ht et4 o l 4 4e ßior ee (:tagQf °l'' ' kzle was pc o . lq , 'nor 1-e' 1, 1 3 / 1 , 11( 1 th of t: -(tr t ° (); ~„: ti Ite d a(i ? 4 t ° Il t I.i, Meade y I tl 14 (1 h ) nti : i. ot 11 NV ' e atia 41 1 . 11 1 ' 41 1e do Iteititi Prince - lit ll'l 's uw th q e t 44 b la 1 eti' t . r.: jell,' _ lav e ,I . l ,, J i ,4Pl)er it t i stl.4 4.1‘ Was , lYi t 111" 0 114 4 e d s i t , i h at , lli_ l l el i. , lti ze of eoi to v4ithe Esi Zati, uri ° I t tr ,,_ ~ e o f f t ,' f t o o; : t1 J the Pet :n ;. < < the N„ 4 2 i ng e Nvi. Iv t i tleti ge, ;() c‘ . 111 1}1 we 41 tv b' g ate a ae' Ne have s i x Hal iiei e 110 ? i t l . '11 1 :a o urs l- 1.k44,, test il t, t ie: ' Pos of th er ta g ( tit:4lou e e 1 dik e lou s e a tit eru te 8 0 V4 gtl eat4:' _ , 00 4 ; Pie a v +•l t ,,, t i 41 4 (1 ' I ' V hj e l l (4e d ‘ e. 'r• i t ' ial 4, L i r , l ittl t ' 4 , It' rid 1 )1104 .14, 1e .1 hl ) 11-‘eie' „ ell, c 1 ~,, I . eel vealed by Scripture interpreted according to primitive tra dition, are asserted, and, as in the Athanasian Creed, vin dicated from misrepresentation, but no deductions are made them, except such as rest on the same authority. The sick man, for example, is merely examined whether he still be lieves the Articles of the Apostles' Creed, which at his bap tism he professed, but no questions are put as to his assu rance, or as to his experiences. In our system the founda tion is laid, but as to results, more or less remote from the foundation, no dogma•is propounded ; in short, those funda mental truths are brought before us, which in the interpre tation of Scripture are never to be lost sight of, and which being kept in view, it is scarcely possible to fall into heresy ; but no nicely compacted scheme of theology is presented to us • we have still to study the Bible, still to grow in know ledge as in grace, still to keep our place among learners, carefully watching for, and gratefully receiving each glimpse of additional light, which may make us better acquainted with the will of that God whom we love, and whom to serve is our delight. Now, the consequence of this undoubtedly is, that there are with us many open questions, many matters of opinion, many points of theological doctrine and Christian prudence on which the divines of our Church may differ without any impeachment of their orthodoxy. But this liberty which the Church allows is disrelished by men of sectarian minds and overbearing tempers, and they, desiring a more stringent sys tem, add to the doctrine of the Church some other system, very frequently that of Calvin, which would bind us not only to principles but also to opinions. And as many of the opi nions of Calvin, those, for example, which relate to the sa crament of Baptism, are scarcely reconcileable with the prin ciples asserted by the Church, they are very often led into those inconsistencies of which all must be guilty who endea vour to serve two masters e sometimes they have to explain away the principles of the Church, sometimes the dogmata of Calvin. But were they only consistent, our cause of coin plaint against them would be comparatively slight; but not slight is our cause of complaint, when we find them actually venturing to anathemize as heretical all who do not, as they do, make additions to the system of the new Church, and sub scribe to the traditions of a Zuinglius, or a Calvin, or of some other fallible man, whose opinions, by a mere petitio prin. eipii, they are pleased to pronounce to be scriptural. They assume that their system is the Gospel, and then they treat the opponents of that system as the enemies of God. And is not this popery ? Why does Popery so stink in the nos trils of our people? It is because the fires of Smithfield are not vet forgotten, and however zealous, however devout Mary andher assessors may have been, that system of reli gion is justly odiouss which generates a temper directly the reverse of that which genuine Christianity would instil into our minds. Why did the Romanist in times past have re course to the thumbscrew and the stake ; It was only to si lence the opponents of that system of theology which he had conscientiously, though erroneously, identified with the Gos pel. And to what are we to attribute the evil-speaking, i ly ing, and slandering by which the ultra-protestant press s so sadly distinguished, to what the propagation if not the in vention of these calumnies against all who are opposed to Calvinism, to what but to the same persecuting spirit and unchristian temper which seeks the same end, to silence an opponent by means different indeed, but equally unjustifi able ? My brethren, you have heard much said of late of those members of the Church of England, who in interpret ing Scripture defer to primitive rather than to Calvinistic tradition, as if they were introducing among us the distinct ive principles of Popery : if the charge be true, I, for one, regret it, for I believe the distinctive doctrines of Popery to - be as unseriptural as the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism : but let me for once be permitted to change the theme, and let me warn you cf an evil worse than all the doctrines of Po pery put together; let me warn you of the evils of a Popish temper. And to a popish temper, as we have seen, too great a devotion to a harmonized theological system is ever likely to lead. For one of the tendencies of such an attachinent to system is to make men confound religion with their opinions. And as men generally mantain their opinions, as we daily see in the case of politics, or even in the chance argument of conversation, with a degree of violence, intolerance, and bi gotry, which sometimes almost amounts to dementation, so will they act with respect to their religious opinions: So violently do men contend for their opinions, that in a dis pute about the mere meaning of a word you will find com mentators acting as if they would tear one another to pieces ; and of course when men have in their minds identified these opinions with religion, the violence with which they will sup port these opinions will be in proportion to the increased importance of the subject. Idolaters of a system they love, like other idolaters, to lash themselves into a fury, and then, because wrath is forbidden in Scripture, they call it zeal. (12) Now to guard against these sins, resulting from an abuse of the principle I have before enforced, let me warn you that the fault of these persoes consists in their regarding their system as an end in itself. Whereas, even the right system is only to be valued as a means,—the means to enable us to understand God's word. Even the knowledge of God's word is itself to be regarded not as an end but as the means, like the Sacraments, of bringing us to Christ; and this uni on with Christ is the end of the Gospel. For Christ is our all in all. It is only by reference to Christ that any doctrine is valuable, and if it has reference to Christ, there is no doc trine whatever (however trivial those may think it who regard as trivial all that bears not on their chosen system), which does not by that very fact become of value. Man is nothing; Christ is every thing. In Christ is salvation, out of Christ is condemnation. In Christ is the law of the Spirit, out of Christ the bondage of the flesh. In Christ man can please God, out of Christ God is to man a consuming fire, a terri ble God. In Christ man partakes of the divine nature, out of Christ he is only one remove from the beasts that perish. In union with.him, is health, safety, and life; in separation from him, insecurity, misery, death. Yes, my brethren, union with Christ is the one thing needful : our first main care ought to be that. we may be one with Christ, and Christ one with us. Hence we find in our text, that with an injunction to preach the Gospel, our Lord combines a command to administer the sacrament of baptism, as if on purpose to impress upon our minds the fact that it is not mere religious knowledge that we Are to impart, bat such knowledge as shall lead us to union with Him ; that our object is to make not evangelical philosophers, but Chris tians ; that our object ought to be not merely to make men hold such and such opinions, as opinions, but to embrace that faith which will lead them to God through Christ, and to Christ through the Church. Through the Church, I say; for we must always remember that to impress upon our minds the importance of union with the Church, the Church is represented. in Scripture as the spouse of Christ; that of the Church it is said, Thy Maker is thine Husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the holy one of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. (13) I will betroth thee unto me for ever, saith the Lord; yea, I will betroth thee unto me. (14) It is impossible to read the • Old Testament without being struck with the many, the con stant applications of this figure of speech, which would hot, of course, be so often, so constantly used, if it were not in tended to convey a deep and important meaning —a meaning expressive of love on the part of God, of confidence on the part of the Church. Many and touching are the allusions to the virgin daughter of Zion, the betrothed of Jehovah; many the exhortations, Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, 0 Jerusalem, thou holy city.( 15) Many are the denunciations against the daughter of Jerusalem (when by committing sin, when by some na tional act, she gave countenance to idolatry, and deserted the Lord), under the character of a wife committing adultery. It is this, indeed, which gives its deep spiritual meaning to the Canticles—a book truly evangelical in its meaning, when understood as primitive tradition teaches us to understand it, as relating to the mystical union betwixt Christ and His Church—a book, except thus understood, utterly destitute of a spiritual sense.(l6.) Nor let it be surmised that these say ings of Scripture have only reference to the Church under the Jewish dispensation : Come hither, said the angel to St. John; I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife ;( 17) and then follows a mystical description of the Church. It was as a chaste virgin that St. Paul espoused the Church to one husband, Christ. Of this mystery the same holy Apos tle represents the union of man and wife to be but a type. And what says John the divine? I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ; let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Wife hath made her ready. _ And lo her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and while; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saint's.(lB) Now would all this, I ask again, be said in Scripture, and said so often, for no purpose ? with no object in view ? No. The second person of the blessed Trinity, our Lord and Sa viour Jesus Christ, is in very deed the bridegroom and hus band., and the Church is His bride and spouse. Be it so. And what follows ? Our Lord says of man and wife, that they are no more twain but one flesh, and His inspired Apostle, St. Paul, iterates the assertion, " they two shall be one flesh." And this divine principle is admirably expanded by the old law of England, the excellence of which, though but little noted, is the fact of its being based on Scripture. "By marriage," says the learned author of the Commentaries on the laws of England, " the husband and wife are one person in law, that is the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose wing-, protection, and cover, she performs every thinz."(l9) So that what the husband has belongs equally to the wife, what the wife has belongs equally to the husband ; they are perfectly identified. And so are Christ and His Spouse iden tified in the sight of God—so identified that the Church is often denominated the very body of Christ, the fulness of Him who filleth all in all, and the members of the Church are regarded as members of Christ : because Christ is holy, the Church (though consisting of sinful men) is accounted in the counsels of God as holy : as the Spirit of God dwelleth, without measure in Christ, so He abideth for ever in the Church : as Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father till his enemies be made his footstool, so the Church confides in his protec tion that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her : and if we, individuals, be living members of the Church, doing all such good works as God hath prepared for us to walk in, to us the merits of Christ will be imputed, and we shall be, with the Church of whiph we are part, accounted holy i to us the 'Spirit of Christ will be imparted, and we shall be made holy: against us 'the powers of darkness will never prevail, for He who cherisheth the Church, and every living member of the same, is almighty : and thus, as the Apostle concludes, all thin . gs are yours, whether Paul or Appollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life and death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (20) But suppose the Chu; htobe as she is represented, a person, we cannot any one of us be the wnole of that person : we can only be, as it were, one of the particles by the aggregate of which she is formed :and again we must remember that a living person consists of two parts, of body and of soul ; and so, therefore, it is with respect to *the Church ; consequently, with both the body and the soul of the Church we shall be connected if we are really mem bers of the spouse of Christ. Owing to the circumstance of their looking to one class of texts to the exclusion of another class of texts, men are found to err; some in supposing that they are safe when attached merely to the body of the Church, others when attached. merely to the soul of the Church. It is clear that we are at tached to the body of Christ's Church by those ordinances which the Church, with the divine sanction, has ordained for the purpose. But a limb, though attached to the natural body, may be paralyzed or putrefied ; a wen, a wart is at tached to the body, but is regarded merely as an unsightly excrescence : it is only the healthy parts of the body which, being animated by the soul, have life and vigour ; animated, I say, by the soul; for as soon as the soul departs, each part of the body becomes like the putrefied limb, —a life less lump. So may it be with respect to the Church. By the reception of the sacraments, mid the observance of tilt,. ordinances, we may be attached to the body of the Church, and yet all the while be but dead members of it, paralyzed portions of it, worse than useless. We are then only living members, when, attached to the body by ordinances, we are attached also to the soul by faith. Thus it is that the Church