The Sun.
London, England, 1822-10-19 00:00:00

as it Of
- te
its
ee°r!le:
eP,t
ail a~
the sP
Jllt
niTor
and wl

of 1;
,ort,
B rivet`

a twice
toor°'
z• o,
our
pl., a° °
the or'
geefr
a tor
,forel
Floor
' all
;ern°
rshir-

19
he ge-ct-
,usba:a
m, and.
of the
it wee
ray de,
into tileo
ice ivs,i

FOR THE SUN.

I).'PEN.CE of BISHOP BURNET and the BISHOP oi

WlNClikg;r-61‘.
Alr• EDITOR—Some time ago I had great plea-
Sur., •
in reading, a letter of the Rev. W. ROWLATT
to the Rev.
A. BUDD upon his visitation sermon,
which though it has been said by the friends of
that Reverend Gentleman to attack only the
"tworks, appears to me, as far as it goes, to de-
41°Iish the citadel itself. I therefore took no pains
lan° ; inquire
after a building which I conceived, to be
but by chance I met with the work itself,
liep was surprised to see some of the sacred relics
Cht. These were untouched, because, perhaps,
Y were considered below the notice of the
ureh
but as my maxim is to leave no stone
huoiturtied that could be thrown at any part of that
va°7 edifice, or any of its members, however in-
few erahle,
propose to send, by your favour, a
pr remarks to your Paper, which has hitherto
hat
So- zealous an advocate in its cause, upon
4 is subjoined in Mr. Budd's composition as
te-Te, but which, in fact, is equal in dimension
W
of tu,e sermon itself, and the sense and substance
one
mostOdi
shtiins an unwarranted abuse of two.of the
guished Prelates of our Church, the
bp in a former age and the other in the
~,•eseet.
prWith what injustice does he revile these two great
f ates that have arisen in our church, the one
erMer times who is so distinguished for his
in sotnrY of the ReTormation itself, and the other
fota-,/lr°wn,who is no less distinguished for his re-
attZell of Calvinism ; the one he condemns for
ext,--Ptiag an exposition of our articles, without
tironding one of them, but rather giving the va-
tertis ;exPositions of others, and leaving us to de-
kirri'lle which is most conformable to scripture
a vare,("monsense,admittinaus to the meaning by
tait-.'et7 of approaches, and the other for per-
in Lion.
z aeCeSS to it by one way only, and exclud-
ve-e,"'s from all the rest. Before, however, he
,s 0 'llres to condemn with so high a hand persons
tioe'calted in their talents no less than their sta-
4th?„and so strongly recommended to publicity,
tiree—st one of them, by " the Archbishops of the
444 several Bishops . and other learned
.to co es," after a careful peiusal, he ought at least
41;°sider what were the views of each in their
Wh'eirate Publications, and then it will prove, that
to i; here said in condemnation will turn out
the e' Praise, and that each has accomplished
an Particular object at the time in contemplation;
view lore the first 'Prelate distinctly explains his
is sos Particularly upon the articles in which lie
tee,i;:vieillzently attacked. "I have stated," says
especially on predestination, the argu-
thas s of all sides with SO much fairness, that
hove Who knew my own opinion on this point,
thie awned tb me they could not discover it by any
Not fl had written. They were inclined to
to was of another mind than they took me
aod when they read my arguings of that side ;"
Who -11 another article lie says—" it becomes one
ChorcTdertakes to explain the doctrines of the
Noilse:, and not his own, to propose other's opi-
tenses-4,h all sincerity, and to spew what are the
liave „W"ich the learned of different persuasions
both upon words • to judge as favourably
tl • -
4°t to a• 'em and their opinions as may be, and
:isturb the peace of the Church, by in-
tieo Loo
h Much on matters of doubtful disputa-
to 1,4"i11t 'Willingly to leave them that liberty
all eh th
ows tk e Church has left them, and still
"em."
can
cihat true Christian of meekness and humility
.411 d fii,"4trel with a publication evincing so pure
Ire -eral a spirit ? and who is there that arises
the,
ereiitu.Work not imprest with its candour and
di ff -7 5 and at the same time well informed in
hitherent Opinions brought closely to view,
elabor,lMlst otherwise have been • the fruit of
misliocae research, but are now made easy of
everti°ll to the most moderate understanding ?
htte there is occasion to decide this able Pre-
°4eBs"rill
partks not from the decision, and therefore
b of his observations upon this article,
,"aists `e.saYs, seems more Plainly to favour Cal-
vart, might be construed into a victory on their
15ation e 18 cautious to declare by way of antici-
Vlvitlisa,-:
env hiS Preface, most expressly against
. Cal-
i °aid en from this very article, which they
:14 ek,i`laote in its favour. " I have not," says he,
14air ahation of this article, "told What my own
to °4 wa
ow 8 ; yet here, I think it•may be fitting
ifth a) fro;
ntlrch f I follow the doctrine of the Greek
tr4l4 tom which St. Austin departed, and
11•,°,t1,) 1 neW system. After this declara-
C 11.14 Y now appeal both to Saint Aus-
-44 Se'
Pies and the Calvinists, whether I
stated . . .
both their opinions and argu-
es4ll 5 riot
POS • Only with truth and candour, but with
sq.)!
41A Le advantages." This plain declaration
WI • hns%.
'lel t the same time, to the objection
thi, ' is made
to ,:s this to the other Prelate, who main-
-111.1114131, ,same article to be by no means con-
forel_`° the principles of Calvin. For when
th °Ploievr Prelate so openly declares it to be
it 411) he n' that this article is not in favour of
y,o'eeks must be understood, when he says that
sp se m k're plainlN to favour them, that it
151,14 roe:8 in the letter alone and not in the
-wre
14.2er aila plainly, or such as may suit the
'olth More vulgar sense, and might satisfy
ed eYo ° hav
,nd, b„, e neither time nor talent to look
tleq:lvin'esm`_ll°t men like himself, or other learn. -
.Stuvetil,
who are not content with what only
iu aPpr,a carefully explore and rest not till
Its cc -end the real truth as it is, not only
viii pre f .., but its full meaning".
the VII lirelate however is condemned for be-
11esa then is f°l the variety of his interpretations,
Pa °I his. or lacing
exclusive from the narrow-
-14! of his, if we only look into the title-
ef tZeir Mode last if
We shall find
•they only differ
differ of treating the articles, on account
tth,sition tones,eof their views; the one is an
14,1,.r are
ihe learned and unlearned, and the
\VCIII4I4II'7 elements of theology, designed
eld the 10°r the use of ,young students in divinity.
Ati€ coottle) therefore, roams at large into the
leap of
0 r°vers7, and brings all the contend-
test es the each side to fight their battles, and
) Ipho
arintelligent to be umpires of the con-
e to enter into a minute exposition

(of every clause, and of every member of every
clause in the article, for which he lays a good
foundation, by bringing forward in so clear a
light the different opinions either against it or in
its favour ; the other, more consistent with his
design, which was to instruct the Catechumen in
the elements of theology, not to distract his
attention, contents himself with a simple
and brief explanation of the different terms
in the articles according to the sense of the
Church to which he belongs, and no doubt his
exposition was chiefly intended to such as are
about to enter into its pales who were therefore
naturally anxious to know what the sense of the
Church is, in as plain, and perspicuous, and con-
cise a manner as it can be delivered. That the
exposition deserves this character it is quite
superfluous to any one at this time of day to at-
tempt to prove, as it is sufficiently proved al=
ready by its popularity and unparalleled success.
Neither can there be occasion to defend the par-
ticular interpretations which this Prelate gives,
as he himself has defended them in an elaborate
work, not only by his own arguments and the
arguments of the Church, but by most of the
antient fathers, whom he has proved to be on his
side, even by some of them who used to be
brought in favour of Calvinism, but whom he has
made like the elephants of old, to assist in dis-
comfiting. the very host which was brought against
him. These elements of theology, are not only
as elements likely to , be. less excursive than the
expositions of the other prelate, but also as
standards of those articles to which candidates
for orders were to subscribe; to be closer in their
form and more definite in their expression. For
it is not at all improbable, from the spirit of this
Anti-Calvinistic champion of the Church, that he
had more than a shrewd suspicion that there were i
many Calvinists who were then attempting, as
they are now, to enter upon the ministry, whom,
therefore, he guards against, as some of his col-1
leagues since have,more minutely, and by particular
questions endeavoured, to guard the Church from
what he believes to be contrary to its real spirit.
In this sense, therefore, he may be called exclu-
sive, as he boldly asserts the opinion of the
Church, and excludes all those who are not of
that opinion, and who cannot complain when
they come before him that they were ignorant of
the test that was to try them.. While, therefore,
the Calvinist may exclaim against his system of
exclusion, as to thim it undoubtedly is, they who
happen to be of the general sentiment in theo-
logy would rather congratulate the Church upon
having as its guardian one so pre-eminent for
penetration into the designs of those who would
boast to be his friends, and for publishing such a
system as would tend, if acted upon by the rest
of his colleagues, to exclude from its bosom those
who are, in his conception, its greatest and most
insidious adversaries.