The Sun.
London, England, 1823-09-09 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS.

[From the Dublin Correspondent, Sept. 2.1
THE REFORMATION AND MR. COBBETT.
(PART II t )
We have endeavoured to sketch, in a loose and
general manner, a few of the advantages which England has
obtained by the Reformation—and, in adverting to those, the
necessity is avoided of specifying what Europe has gained by
it also—what good reason, humanity, letters, liberty, have to
exult in its consequences. England it great anti happy,
wealthy and glorious, because the Reformed Religion has
spread its benign and luminous influence among her people—
Ireland is neither one or the other, because the same Religion
has not extended in the same degree. Before the Reformation
the Clergy in England were possessed of immense revenues
and of unbounded power; both of which were more or
less exerted in resisting the progress of knowledge. Since
the Reformation the Clergy of the Established Church
are bound by principle and interest to promote the advance-
ment of knowledge of all kinds. It is not necessary to state the
advantage of such a change. During the reign of the Church
of Rome over the concerns of nations, whether spiritual or po.
neither her authority nor her power were to be question-
ed —and the absence of all investigation was a consequence.
The authority of that Church prohibited the instructing in the
oriental languages, and the studying or even the reading of the
books of the Old and New Testaments. The whole of its sys-
tem was then founded on certain passages and certain expres-
sions in the Sacred Writings, to which it gave its own con-
struction--and on traditions, passages from the Holy Fathers,
decisions of Councils, Bulls, Decretals, Charters, and other
historical muniments, the truth of many of which were long
doubted, and the falsehood of others well known. We
speak of the system of this Church before the Reforms-
tion—since, it has in many. respects reformed itself', though
more in secondary than in primary matters of .concern.
To attack the system ill it stood at the period alluded to, the
Protestant theologians were compelled to make themselves
masters of the languages, and of all their idiomatic peculiari-
ties, in which the Holy Scriptures were Witten; and also to
qualify' themselves by deep and general study for that criticism,
which was not confined alone to the language of the sacred
books, but to the various branches of sacred history also, as
well as of ecclesiastical history. They had to detect the passages
from Holy Writ which were mutilated, as well as those which
were m isin terpreted—todistinguish between the meanings which
words curried with them at different periods, and in the shifting
varieties of popular use. Without some knowledge of the
Roman manners and customs, every candidate for Holy Orders
in the Church, of England feels, in his probationary course,
that a mere translation of many passages in the writings of St.
Paul would nut imply their true and full meaning. The theolos
glans alluded to were obliged to attain a precise knowledge of
places, of manners, events, prevailing ideas at various periods,
the political and internal civil state of nations, as well aa.the in-
tellectual culture of different people, according to the particle.
her periods when certain Prophets wrote, or certain Evangelists
recorded or preached the gospel of Christ. The practical im-
purities which corn pounded themselves with the administration
of religion during the course of ages, were attacked—not by
refractory ignorance, by
inquisitive learning--not by puerile
subtlety, but by manly reason, conducted in its course by con.
science, and lighted by the pure lamp of the gospel. The
1111111C4 of the Protestant scholars who were enlisted in this glo-
rious warfare of light and truths would fill our paper; it is
out of our view to enter into minute specification of this noble
nomenclature, still less to enumerate the victories won by their
learning and talents and zeal; but from the first grand impulse
came, which has touched and moved every principle in society
'
—and out of these felicitous agitations no land on earth has
reaped half as much advantage as England, idtho Mr. Cushiest
pleases to shut his eyes upon them. 'lf we were to narrow the
benefits of the lieformation—and tied forbid that we should !
to the services rendered.to learning alone, to classics, criticism.
and Philology, to science in all its branches, we should conceive
tnere would he sufficient to warm the gratitude of Europe but,
of all particular nations, the gratinote of England preeminent-
ly. If nothing better resulted from the labours oldie Protes-
tant theologians, titan their acute and assiduous study of the
Oriental and Greek arclgeologia, directed to the interpretation
of the Sacred larritinos, and a critical exams aation of their text
with the collateral ace uirements of
of tut:, noble armv of scholars and martyrs, to which he ewes
his paramount religious d'''''°“ti".
AVe never, for our
parts, are more roorll to !spleen, than when we perceive a
ehttffiing, lioteana.cola fallow, bearing the appellation of a
Protestant, not only insensible to the glory upon which
he ought to felicitate himself in all his -meditation*, but
actually joining
ergs reapectiug the Proteaßant Establiehment, which the li.
in the shallow sneer* and. ignorant taunt.