The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-29 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICE.

Sabbath Profanation and Intemperance: or a Depraved
Population, a Distracted Country, and an Offended God,
loud calls to National Repentance. A sermon, preached at
Halton, by the Rev. R. Tweddell. Liverpool. Perris.
1859.

We feel quite assured that no nation can continue to
prosper, or can contain within itself the elements of true
happiness, if the Lord's Day be openly neglected, and the
Sabbatical Ordinance of God despised. To this cause may
be attributed the gradual downfal of the Jewish nation, as
set forth in the stringent exhortations and awful warnings of
the prophets ; and this neglect of the Lord's Day prepared
them for every other sin towards God, and crime to their
felloW man. Now we believe this to be true with regard to
Christendom, for all times ; and we fearlessly point to the na-
tion that has forsaken this sacred ordinance of the Omnipotent
for a proof, that national degradation and-decay follow
inevitably in the wake of national indifference towards the
Sabbath. We are firmly convinced, that were every great
landowner, manufacturer, master, or any other in authority,
to make a fixed rule, that they would have no tenant, artificer,
mechanic, or servant, who did not go to some place of wor-
ship every Sunday, and was no drunkard ; were this, we say,
made an absolute rule, we have no doubt that the necessity
for a rural, if not an urban, police, would in a great measure
cease ; and such a happy revolution take place in our land,
that we should verify abundantly the devout thanksgiving of
the Psalmist. " Happy is that people that is in such a case,
yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord !"
These thoughts have been forced upon our attention by the
excellent discourse, the title of which is at the head of these.
observations ; and which has been published in accordance
with the expressed wishes of Sir Richard Brooke, and other
members of the congregation.

PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY.

(From the London Record.)

The author of Ancient Christianity has published the third
number of his work ; and we think it our duty to call to it
the attention of our readers. Our previous notices of the
former numbers are remembered, we have no doubt, by most
of those who peruse our columns. The favourable opinion
we have expressed of this performance is more than confirmed
by the present number; and we entertain a strong confidence,
that thd remainder of his work will be altogether worthy of
what has already been published.
The misapprehensions that have long prevailed respecting
the primitive Church, will, we trust, be at length effectually
and wholly removed. The exorbitant and unfounded notions,
entertained of its orthodoxy and purity, have long proved ex-
tremely injurious to the interest and progress of scriptural
truth, and have occasioned most of the discords and dissen
sions in our Church since the Reformation. The deference
paid to the pristine Fathers has often led many to sanction
views and practices wholly unauthorized by Scripture. ,The
false idea, that they retained and handed down to posterity
some things not recorded by the apostles, has no doubt gene-
rated this deference ; and what has confirmed it, has been
the high notion entertained of their purity and abstraction
from the world. Let our views on these two points be rec-
tified, and then the deference, rightly due to the Fathers, will
be reduced to its proper measure and proportion. And we
know of no work more calculated to set us right on these
points than the one now under our consideration.
The present number embraces several particulars connected
with " the ascetic institue," the bane of the early Church,
the overflowing spring from which emanated the most turbid
and the most polluting streams. It is shown what celibacy
is, according to the New Testament, and that it is quite
another thing from what the Fathers made it. The most sa-
tisfactory evidence is adduced to prove, that the ascetic sys-
tem includes the particulars constituting the apostasy pre-
dicted by St. Paul in 1 Tim. iv. The extent of the system,
and the sanction given to it by the early Fathers, are deline-
ated and clearly proved, and also the partial opposition made
to it by some reformers even in the Nicean age. Its charac-
ter is there developed, as dealing in dreams, visions, and
lying tales. Its effects also on the monks, on Christians in
general, and on the clergy, are very ably and clearly de-
sFribed. And, lastly, its connexion . ith ritual notions and
practices, is proved—and proved by such reasons and argu-
ments, as must satisfy all who are capable of understanding
them and of appreciating their strength and solidity.
It is curious to observe how some of the errors of the pris-
tine Church originated in, or rather, how they were deft nded
Ly Scripture. Some portions were adduced, separated from
the context, and unrestricted by the modifications included
sometimes even in the passages themselves. Our author
mentions particularly, two cases of this kind—celibacy and
martyrdom. The motive, and the restriction, and the de-
sign, were wholly lost sight of by the Nicene doctors, though
some of these were to be found in the passages which were
referred to on the points. There is an if as to celibacy,
which was unheeded—" if any man is able to receive it."
And as to martyrdom, the fleeing " to another city," when
practicable, was commonly deemed a denying of the faith.
In both instances the Scripture rule was disregarded, and
another was introduced. And thus a door was opened to
much that was enthusiastic, fanatical, and superstitious. The
marked difference between modern and ancient martyrdom
is thus noticed and accounted for by our author :

" Why have not our Protestant y preachers been used to
spend their choicest rhetoric upon the commemorations of
the martyrs of Protestantism ? why is it that a very little of
this sort of declamation has been felt to be more than enough ?
why have we seen uo pilgrimages to the spots where our Eng-
lish worthies suffered ? why have we not been used to en-
treat, for ourselves and the Church, the all-prevailing advo-
cacy (patrcinium) of Latimer, and Ridley, and Hooper, in
the heavens? why have no miracles been wrought by their
rescued finger-bones or teeth? why do not our churches
boast of bottles of the blood and locks of the hair of our mar-
tyrs? No such things have been done or tolerated in the
Protestant Church, simply because the Protestant Church
has understood something of the first principles of Chris-
tianity, and has in the main been not merely Orthodox but
Lvangelic; and has, therefore, abhorred the practices and
scorned the sentiments, which were in universal esteem in
the Nicene Church."—P. 280.

We add the following passage, and view the sentiment it
contains strictly correct :
" It cannot be necessary in this place to describe what has
so often found a place in modern church histories, namely"—
first the enthusiasm, then the fanaticism, and then the un-
bounded superstitions, which were connected with, and which
utterly spoiled, the otherwise noble constancy of the ancient
church. To say all in a word, the sufferings of the second
and third centuries became, the curse and the ruin of the
fourth and the fifth. And so •it was, that the enemy, who
had altogether been foiled in his rage, tritunphedin his craft."
—P. 280.
It is a mistake to suppose that the pristine Church sup-
ported its views and practices commonly or mainly by tradi-
tion. The alleged foundation was Scripture: and it was by
isolated passages and a capricious mode of interpretation,
that its errors were iticnicated and &fended. The wily
enemy, having failed to des:troy the authority of the Divine
word, succeeded early, to an enormous extent, in leading the
rulers of the Church to adopt his own way of misapplying
and preventing it. No modern enthusiasts have at any time
been more led astray in this respect than
,some of the early
Fathers. Let us listen to our author on This point:
It is even now asked by some Did not the ascetic sys-
tem support itself by an appeal to some,
? Yes,:—and so
has every, superstition of the Papacy,—and so did the
enormities of the Donatists —and so the atrocities of the
fanatics of Munster ; so the lawless bloodshed and cruelty of
the Crusades,—so the horrors of the Inquisition,—and so (to
return to our point) the enthusiasm of martyrdom. But in
all such cases, how specious soever may be the plea of the
deluded party, a simple course, clearing every difficulty, is
open to us. Let but the great principle of the Gospel bare-
"stored to their place in the heads and hearts of Christians,
and then the practical misinterpretation of single texts is at
once obviated ; for not merely are such misinterpretations
then seen to be opposed to the spirit and tendency of the
New Testatnent ; but, as they severally spring from modes of
feeling, which will not consist with genuine Evangelic feel-
ing, they, in fact, find no place where better motives are in
vigour. A man whose mind is fraught with Apostolic senti-
ments, will neither adore a relic—nor worship the image of a
saint—nor pray to the Virgin—nor burn a heretic—nor offer
himself to be hurned—nor drive spikes into his sides—nor,
if he be unmarried, will he call himself, or allow himself to
be called, a terrestrial seraph. All these follies and enormi-
ties, whether sustained (ostensibly) by many texts or by few,
belong to darkened souls and to a diuk age."—P. 281.
We must confess, that according to our author, the religi-
ous and moral state of the Nicene Church was considerably
worse than we ever conceived it to have been. But we see
no reason to doubt the correctness of his statements. His
proofs fully justify his assertions. His evidence is wholly
commensurate with what he advances ; and lf.s facts suffici-
ently and satisfactorily confirm his reasonings. The depar-
ture from the faith on many material points, which had then
taken place, was truly and awfully great, and very little short
in some things, of what Popery is in the present day. The
ascetic system—including the doctrine and practice of vir-
ginity, celibacy and monkery—had, to a great extent, con-
verted the apostolic religion, the religion of the Bible, into
sheer Heathenism. The leading doctrines of the Gospel were,
indeet', retained ; but they were incrustated with principles
and practices that were wholly heathen in their origin. And
this deteriorated Church, whose apostacy in many respects
had advanced to an awful extent, is what the wise men of
Oxford are now attempting to resuscitate. Were their ef-
forts snccessful, no greater evil could be brought on this
land. That some are helping on this evil work, through ig-
norance we are inclined to admit. But the main cause is to
be found in wrong and defective views as to true and vital
religion, eombined with love for pre-eminence and a super-
stitious spirit. May the genuine religion of the Bible nourish,
and then we are safe.

The Duke of Rutland and his visitors, during their recent
shooting excursions on the moors of Derbyshire, killed about
1,000 grouse and 100 black game.
FESTIVITIES AT. WYNNSTAY.—The anniversary of the
natal day of Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., will be celebrated on
Monday neat, on which occasion covers will be laid at Wynn-
stay for 250 guests. In the evening a splendid ball and sup-
per will take place. As a sample of the sort of hospitality
the Wynns of Wynnstay have been addicted to, we give the
following bill of fare provided for the festival in honour of
the coming of age of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, father of
the present respected baronet, on April 19th, 1770, on which
occa,ion it was believed that there were at one time at least
15,000 persons taking refreshment in the park at Wynnstay
—3O bullocks, 1 ditto roasted whole, 50 hogs, 50 calves, 80
sheep, 18 lambs, 70 pies, 50 guinea tbwls, 37 turkeys, 12
turkey poults, 84 capons, 25 pea fowls, 300 chickens, 360
fowls, 96 ducks, 48 rabbits, 15 snipes, 1 leveret, 5 bubks, 421
lbs. of salmon, 30 brace of tench, 40 ditto of carp, 36 pike,
60 dozen of trout, 108 flounders, 109 lobsters, 96 crabs, 10
quarts of shrimps, 200 craw fish, 60 barrels of pickled oysters,
1 hogshead of rock ditto, 20 quarts of oysters for sauce, 166
hams, 169 tongues, 125 plum puddings, 108 apple pies, 104
pork pies, 30 beef pies, 34 rice puddings, 7 venison pies, 60
raised pies, 80 tarts, 30 pieces of cut pastry, 24 pound cakes,
20 Savoy cakes, 39 sweet cakes, 12 backs of bacon, 144 ice
creams, 1,300 eggs, 150 gallons of milk, 60 quarts of cream,
50 bushels of potatoes, 1,000 asparagus, 200 French beans, 3
dishes of green peas, 12 cucumbers, 70 hogsheads of ale, 129
dozens of wine, brandy, and shrub ; rock work, shapes, land-
scapes, blancmouge, and a great quantity of small pastry ; one
large cask of ale, holding 26 hogsheads.—ln little more than
a year his son and heir apparent, worthy scion of this ancient
family, will attain his majority, when probably the present
generation will have an opportunity of witnessing the sumptu-
ous and truly British mode in which events of the kind have
heretofore been celebrated.—Chester Chronicle.

SOMNAMBULISM.—Negretti, an Italian servant, whose ce-
lebrated history is related by two different physicians, would
rise in his sleep, go into the dining-room, spread a table for
dinner, and place himself behind a chair, as if waiting on his
master. When in this place with which he was not perfectly
acquainted, he was embarrassed in his proceedings, and felt
about him with his hands; and sometimes he struck himself
against the wall and was severely injured. He sometimes
carried about with him a candle, as if to give him light ; but
when it was taken away, and a bottle put in its place, he
failed to perceive the difference. Galen says of himself that
he once walked about in his sleep, till awakened by stumbling
against a stone which, lay in his way. _ Thus it appears that
the long-continued habit of performing certain operations en-
able the individual, with the aid of feeling alone, to repeat
them in his sleep,—Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity.

LIVERPOOL INFIRMARY REPORT.

October 26, 1839.

nisclut uurn. ADMITTVT.
In-patients cured 2-I f In-patients 'to
Relieved and at own request
Made Out-patients 2 i Casuals during the last week 3
Irregular 3 , Remain in the house . 214
Dead • 4

COnsulting Surgeons, Mr. Forshaw ann Mr. Dawson.
House Visitors . Mr. W. ..T: Browne and Mr. Gibbon.
Chaplain - Rev. R. Davies.
Apothecary, Mr. W. Burgess.
House Surgeon Mr. Nottingham.

LOCK HOSPITAL.
Admitted
Remain in the house