The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-15 00:00:00

use : but therefore we have the justice and the goodness, our
own necessity and the veracity of God for our security, that
this is a sure way for us to walk in. But then when this is
reduced to practice in matters of belief, it will come to this
only, that she bears witness to the Scriptures, that they are
the word of God; but beyond what is contained in Scripture,
she bath no article of faith."

" The consequent of this, which I have largely proved and
explicated in the place above cited, is, that all her sermons,
and all her explications of doctrines, must be by that measure.
If it be agreeable to Scripture, it is that which she hath re-
ceived : but if she hath not received it, she cannot make a
doctrine, nor deliver a proposition, with authority, nor oblige
the conscience."
" It is to be considered that the Church is a net that hath
fishes, good and bad ; it is a field of corn and tares ; and but
that the Apostles were guided by an infallible spirit, there
could have been no certainty ; but then after them there was
no more to be looked for ; when they left we were to use, but
to look for no more. For the Catholic church never was,
since the Apostle's time, without error. By Catholic church,
I do not mean the right believing part of the church, (for in
questions of faith the dispute was, which was the right be-
lieving part ;) but I mean all that profess the faith of Christ,
who, when they are divided, will never allow the opposite
party to be their judge : and therefore it cannot be supposed
that God should appoint one to be the judge, who must al-
ways be supposed a party, and will never be accepted by the
other, unless he had given infallibility to that one part, and
we had all known it. To the Apostles he did, and they were
the fountains of tradition : but when they were gone, the only
way that was left was to see what they left, and that every
part was to conform." _

" In most places men dare not speak what they think, and
dare not believe what they find dangerous, and dare not in-
quire into what they dare not disbelieve.; so that if you had
been at Trent and asked the Fathers, it would have signified
nothing : for whatever their belief was, they were borne down
by the congregations, and the congregations by the Legates,
and the Legates by the Pope •, and that's the Catholic church."
" Councils ecclesiastical have pretended to a power over
the conscience, so as to require both the obedience of the
will, and the obedience of the understanding. Concerning
which I am to say, that nothing can oblige to Divine faith
but a Divine authority : to which Councils can no more pre-
tend for being general, than for being provincial; and to
which great assemblies have no other title or pretence of
promise, than the private congregations of the faithful, who
though but two or three, yet shall be assisted by the Divine
presence. But general Councils are so wholly of human in-
stitution, that though by the dictate of right reason and na-
tural wisdom they are to be convened, yet to make them a
formal judicatory, and to give them a legislative power, or a
dominion and magistery in faith, there are so many conditions
required both to their indiction and convention, to their con-
stitution and integrity, to their conduct and proceeding, to
their conclusion and determination, that men are not to this
day agreed about any one of them ; and therefore they can-
not be a legal judicatory obliging any but them that do con-
sent, and so oblige themselves."
_

Bishop Taylor-shews in these and other passages, as clearly
as Stillingfleet or Tillotson have done in their invaluable and
never-refuted treatises, the fatuity of attempting to make
tradition, orgeneral councils, or the writings of the Fathers,
a rule of faith, or a joint-rule, or an authoritative guide, or
any thing beyond a fallible though often useful testimony.
As tvitnesses' the ancient Christian writers are to be respect-
fully listened to, and their averments are frequently of great
value ; as when they depose to early usages, such as the pre-
valence of episcopacy, infant baptism, and the sanctification
of the Lord's-day. In such cases, we are not to make the
usage a substitute for Scripture authority ; but it is to be
fairly weighed in spewing what Scripture authority was early
accounted to be ; nor are we at all disposed to resign, either
to Romanists on the one hand, or to Protestant Dissenters
on the other, the powerful testimony of the early Christians
in favour of the doctrines and discipline of the Anglican
Church.

As we are reviewing a bishop's Charge, we have kept our
remarks very much within the line of episcopal references.
Popular nomenclature would assign very different names to
the schools of Taylor, Stillingfleet, Tillotson, and Daniel
Wilson ; but all happily unite in rejecting the Oxford Tract
notion of tradition being a joint-rule with Scripture—nay,
equally divine and authoritative with it ! We wish that the
Charges of our prelates during the last two or three years,
had abounded in explicit testimonies against the dangerous
and unscriptural notions maintained in these publications.
We think the urgency of the case would have justified, and
indeed demanded, such avowals ; especially as this forbear-
ance has been urged by the advocates of the Tracts in various
publications, and still more in private intercourse. to prove
that the great majority of our bishops approve of them ; and
that, with scarcely an exception, even those who think they
" go too far," yet consider their mistakes as " on the right
and safe side." A thorough-going publication of the New-
man and Pusey school, entitled "The Oxford Tracts, the
Public Press, and the Evangelical Party," by " G. P. de
Sancta Trinitate," boasts that " The Bishop of Oxford hav-
ing been appealed to for the exertion of his episcopal au-
thority in silencing the Oxford heretics, [it is very unfair and
invidious to pretend that they were called by this opprobri-
ous name] has pronounced a decision in their favour ;" and
the Archbishop of Canterbury is claimed as upholding the
same doctrines ; so that, says the writer, " The charge of
heresy made against these gentlemen ought in reality to be
made against the Bishop of Oxford and the Primate of all
England, or be abandoned altogether." The pamphleteer
is probably as much mistaken when he undertakes to specu-
late upon the Primate's opinions, as he is when he says of
some other persons, that " The Evangelical party in the
Church are only restrained by the accident of their position
from the destructive power of Rationalistic and Socinian
principles ; the spirit is already there, only its full develope-
ment is restained." Nor is it true, that we are aware of,
that even the Bishop of Oxford " has pronounced a decision
in their [the Tractators] favour;" though, as we have often
said, his lordship has virtually countenanced them, and in
his Charge has exculpated them from all blame but that of
possibly going somewhat too far on the right side.
(To be continued in our next.)

MARVELLOUS LIGHTS AT SKIBBEREEN.

It was our wish to have gone from Bantry to Skibbereen,
investigate the marvellous appearances in its neighbour-
hood, about which people were talking through the whole
south of Ireland, but circumstances would not permit it.
Many well-informed people who had visited the scene, had
spoken of it in terms that kindled curiosity. All allowed—
the ladies in particular—that there was a mystery about it ;
many were persuaded there was something supernatural. In
a cottage about two miles from Skibbereen, lived a man of
the name of Harrington, poor, yet intelligent, and believed
to be very pious. The situation of his honie was singularly
desolate ; on a low, dreary beach, the sea in front, and a
marshy swamp behind. Its interior was poOr, and like other
Irish cabins, without windows; two rooms, with a damp
earthen floor—a cheerless home even in health and strength,
but in disease and helplessness, the clod of the valley would
be sweeter, and the head would ache no more. Three years
since, Harrington fell very ill, and was confined wholly to his
bed, yet able to read and converse ; his books were wholly re-
ligious. His only companion and attendant was his mother.
A few months afterwards lights began first to be visible in
the cottage ; the rumour of them soon attracted people from
Skibbereen to the spot, whose report induced others from a
greater distance, from Bantry, Cork, and the interior, gra-
dually to come and examine for themselves. It seems that
all were struck, and none satisfied, with what they 'saw.
Their appearance was first like a faint moonlight that fell on
the wall of the chamber; at times it was a bright light that
covered the whole wall, or moved in portions up and down
it, and often deepened into a yellow tint. Among the nu-
merpus visitors were ministers, men of science, families
from the country-seats, fox-hunters, and devotees, carriages,
pedestrians, and horsemen. It was called at last the Skib-
bereen lights, and baffled every attempt of the clever and
credulous to discover fraud or imposture. In the inner
room, on a low bed, beside the wall, destitute of every com-
fort, lay the desolate Harrington ; in the calm light of whose
eye, and the composure of his tone, there was evidently no
pain of conscience or depravity of heart. He said he was
happy night and day, though his suffering was great. He
never solicited help or charity ; the little he possessed seemed
to be sufficient for his wants, and he did not seem to care for
more. A few of his visiters sometimes left a trifle behind
them, but the greater part gave nothing.
He was so emaciated, that it seemed as if life could not long
remain in such a frame ; the ,arm was but skin and bone;
and after nearly a year had passed, those who saw him again
were surprised to perceive still the same emaciation. He was
about thirty-five, and passed his time in reading and prayer,
chiefly it was said in the latter. It should be mentioned
that he was a converted Papist ; the deceptions of the Priest-
hood, said to be so often practiced on the credulous, had
nought:to do here, though many were of opinion there might
be deception of another kind. A lady of literary powers
atuisneeessi related to us, while at henhouse, a visit of some
dayvelrieh she had paid to this scene. To the cottage she
went often, and saw, again and again, the lights, and ob-
served them keenly and coolly, but could not trace or ima-
gine the cause of their startling appearance. They fell
suddenly on the wall, always of the sick man's room ; they
flashed- brightly before the eye, and moved slowly, or man-
tled the side of the wall in s steady light, remaining for
some minutes, or passing away as suddenly as they came.—
There was no crevice or aperture in the chamber through
which light could enter. There were a fireplace and chim-
ney, but no fire was ever lighted while the visitors were
there, and cloths were hung over the door and one or two
places in the wall, at the wiel of those who came, that no
gleam could enter ; so that on these occasions, the dark
chamber was darkened still more. The confined floor was
often covered with visitors ; handsomely dressed women,
and the gay, the serious, and the wealthy were there : and
many a face was pale, as if touched by the unearthly light;
and every voice was hushed. The dying man as he seemed
to.all, was before them ; in whose skeleton hand was the
mystery, true or false, of this extraordinary appearance.—
They waited on some occasions, long in suspense ; at others,
expectation was quickly gratified.
A gentleman whom we know, and who was several times
on the spot, said that he saw them once at noon. The day
is not the usual time of their appearance, but the evening
and night. There is no noise or confusion about the house,
no Irish sounds of wonder, wail, or alarm ; there is a quiet-
ness and a decency about the manners and demeanor of the
people. Their conduct is closely observed, and at these
times, when the mother is generally in the chamber, with
an inquisitorial exactness. There is a cabin at no great
distance from the home of Harrington, where it was sus-
pected at first that some collusion might be carried on ; in
this cabin, therefore, a person was stationed to detect any
suspicious signs, but there were none. The roof also of the
sick man's cottage was carefully examined ; no clue to arti-
fice or hypocrisy was found. So many intelligent, educated,
and watchful observers could not thus be deceived ; such at
least was their own opinion. It was conjectured that from
the desolate and marshy places behind the house some va-
pour or miasma might be the cause. On examination, this
did not appear to be possible. Among the visitors was one
of considerable eminence in the scientific world, whose calm
and philosophic spirit of investigation could not discover the
cause of the celebrated " Skibbereen lights," which he saw
more than once.

It was a fit situation for the wonderful and wild : the lone
cottage of the friendless man, on a dreary shore, on which is
the ceaseless moan of the sea, and, half the year, of the wild
winds ; and behind is a sullen marsh. Many of those who
have come here in the wintry season, or even in a dull and
cloudy day, have felt the influence of the scene. If there
be deception here, so long and still kept up, there must be
exquisite art and management in the actors ; rarely has a
spot so delicate, and reft of human agency, been chosen
wherein to deceive mankind. The delusion is then as mas-
terly as that of Mesmer ; and, if the feebleness of the agents
be considered, it is more successfully maintained. The sim-
plicity of the machinery, which requires no aid from the
imaginations or sympathies of the observers, gives this mar-
vellous appearance on the desert shore the advantage over
each German pretension. Seeing is believing : one sense
only is exercised, and that the most difficult to be mistaken,
in so confined a space—the waves in front, the marsh behind
—no fire or light within—the only shadow that falls is that
of the passing cloud.—Letters from Ireland in the New
Monthly Magazine.

The present establishment of an infantry regiment of the
line, not serving in India, consists of-1 lieut. col., 2 majors.
10 captains, 12 lieutenants, 8 ensigns, 1 paymaster, 1 adjutant,
1 quartermaster, 1 surgeon, 2 assistant-surgeons, 800 rank
and file, including non-commissioned officers and drum-
mers. The establishment of an infantry regiment, therefore,
employed in India is as follows :-2 lieut. colonels, 10 cap-
tains, 22 lieutenants, 8 ensigns, 1 paymaster, 1 adjutant, 1
quartermaster, 1 surgeon, 2 assistant-surgeons, 976 rank and
file, including non-commissioned officers and drummers.—
United Service Gazette.