The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-21 00:00:00

,•
• ILLEGAL PAWNING.—At the Police-court, yesterday, a
young man, named Richard Morris, was placed at the bar on
a charge of stealing a watch from a fellow lodger, named
Morrow. It appeared that he bad pledged the watch for 165.,
but had afterwards given himself up to the police-officer em:
handed over the ticket. Mr. Rushton ordered that he si:ott id
pay 165., and a fine for illegal pledging of 505., or be' i-
soned for two months.
PETTY GAMBLING.—An elderly man, named Luke nee-
ney, was, yesterday, placed before Mr. Rushton, charged
with having defrauded a number of boys of their half-pence
by inducing them to stake them on " blue" or " red," ou
circularly painted board with u moveable handle—the name
of which we lia,c not got in our vocabulary. The prisoner
said, " I had nuts in the barrow below, for which they were
playing, and if it came the right colour they got the worth o
their money,—and that's what the officer calls gambling." A
gentleman who had witnessed the play, however, said, that
the prisoner got the lads to stake their money, and that he
ever and anon said " It's blue," and forthwith swept
the board of all the coppers upon it. Mr. Rushton said that
no doubt the prisoner knew how to make it come blue when-
ever he liked, and ordered that he should be imprisoned for
a month, and that the board with its brass hand should be
taken to the office of the commissioner of police to he de-
stroped—at least so far as regarded the object for which it
was designed.

TRAVELLING BY THE OVERLAND -MAIL—We inserted,
a few publications since, a paragraph, stating that the ex-
pense of a journey from London to Bombay is £l3-1. A
correspondent of the Albion says " six weeks are generally
required for the passage, by land and sea, from Liverpool to
Bombay. A trader returned a short time ago to this port in
forty days. The fares hence to Marseilles are £6 14s ; from
the latter to Alexandria less than £l2. :My travelling ex-
pet-Ise by diligence, in France, were invariably ss. per day ;
on board the Mediterranean steamer Scamander, 3s. 4d. for
breakfast and dinner, including a most excellent ein rouge,
ad libitum; consequently, a voyageur, on his arrival in
Egypt, would not have expended £25. This statement is
made in reference to the second class. A French diligence
contains four compartments; a steamer has likewise four
divisions, or classes, but there was not a single traveller going
to India at the first fare, nor yet one returning Le Minos,
who paid the highest charge, though there were several both
going to, and returning from Bombay, in the second. When
at anchor in the Bay of Naples, a Spanish merchant, on his
way to India, assured me that £4O would pay all his fares
and expenses from Alexandria to Cairo, Suez, and Bombay.
If this be correct, a journey from London to Bombay may be
accomplished for £63, instead of £134."
NEW STAGE AT THE SEACOMBE SLIP.—The improve-
ments at the Seacombe Slip (on this side the river) are
rapidly approaching to completion, and will doubtless prove
a great convenience to the public. The large stage for land-
ing and embarking at low water, and which will run out on
the slip, or inclined plane, about sixty feet outside of the

.
sea-swell, so that steamers of large burthen may come up to
its extremity, has been placed on the wide iron railways laid
down for it. It weighs about twenty tons, and will be
worked by a powerful winch in a new building at the top cf
the slip—manual power being alone necessary; and as the
drag required to move it upwards on the incline will not pro-
bably exceed five tons, it will be drawn up by 2 or 3 men.
On Saturday night last, about eleven o'clock, a large cog
wheel of the winch fixed to move it, accidentally broke in
two, and the chain being consequently let loose, the stage
(whicE is mounted on iron wheels) rolled rapidly down the
inclined plane to its extremity, burying itself in the water—
the tide being then over the lower part of the slip. No
damage, beyond the breakage of the wheel, took place, the
stage having stopped on the ways at the extremity of the slip,
as if it had been let down on purpose. We notice the cir-
cumstance merely in consequence of a rumour having gone
abroad that the stage had rushed far into the bed of the river,
and disappeared after damaging the floating stage anchored
opposite to it. It would certainly have gone further than it
did but for its meeting with the resistance of ,the water.
Wool. TRADE.—Messrs. Browne and Co.'s statistics of
. .

the wool trade have just appeared, comprising the imports and
exports of the general description of the article for the last
three years ending 1842. According to these, it appears that
the total imports of foreign for the last year have decreased
to 96,827 bales, while in 1841 they were 148,980 bales, and
in 1840 137,198 bales. For the last year the return shows the
port of London as the receiver of 35,031 bales, Liverpool of
22,581 bales, and Hull of 39,266 bales. The decline which
is exhibited in the import of foreign wool is made up in a
measure by the increase apparent in colonial imports ; and
the statements of those arrivals for the last year is a total of
70,499 bales, weighing 18,554,5571 b., against 67,936 bales,
weighing 17,867,4001 b. in 1841, and 52,732 bales, weighing
13,159,0741 b. The supplies were received as follows :-37,627
bales from New South Wales; 14,071 bales from Van Die-
man's Land ; 6,431 bales from the Cape of Good Hope ;
11,865 bales from the East Indies; and about 500 bales from
sundry places. Exports, including English, are stated as
under for the three years :
London. Liverpool. Total.
lb. lb. lb.
1842.... 1,836,851
1841 .... 1,772,896 ...... 845,149
1840.... 717,405
The quantity of foreign wool cleared for home consumption
for the three ports of London, Liverpool, and Hull, gave as
results a gross amount of 30,981,376 lb. for the last year,
33,553,3281 b. for 1841, and 38,304,1421 b. for 1840. Alluding
to the large decrease which has occurred in the import of
foreign wool, Messrs. Browne and Co. attribute it principally
to th quantity of small bales imported from the west coast
of South America, but also to the decline of German, Danish,
and Spanish. The only increase alluded to is from Russia,
to the extent of about 3,300 bales. It is observed that the
quantity of foreign material actually paying duty for home
consumption had not decreased in anything like the same pro-
portion as imports, the difference between 1841 and 1842
being but rather more than 2,500,0001 b., whereas the imports,
at the lowest calculation, had decreased upwards of 9,000,000
lb. Taking into account the increase of the imports of colo-
nial wool, estimated at 2,576 bales, arid which it is stated
would average about 780,0001 b. against the decrease, the de-
duction is thence drawn that thet decrease in actual consump-
tion for the past year, as compared with 1841, is not more
than 1,700,000.

THE LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

This society's second undress concert took place last even-
ing at the Collegiate Institution ; there were at least 1,000
persons present. Mr. 11. F. Aldridge led, Mr. Tiveudell
presided at the organ, Mr. William Sudlow conducted.
The concert commenced with Weber's wild and beautiful
overture to Oberon; it was executed with much precision
and effect. Herold's overture to Ludovic was equally well
done, which opened the second part. The madrigal, " When
all alone my pretty love," was charmingly sung, and elicited
considerable applause. We cannot say much for the glee,
" Soft and safe •" it was about the performance of the
evening. The solo and chorus, "Welcome lady fair," brought
Miss Stott forward in the solo parts; her voice is greatly
improved—her tones were bell like and clear—and her singing
evidently created much delight; but, her enunciation is not
a jot better than it used to be. In this composition her voice
sounded like some sweet instrument—and as an instrument
only. The words and the sense of the words were wanting.
Some little curiosity was excited to hear a Mr. Shirmacher
play on the piano, Thalberg's fantasia, Lea Huguenots. It
is not pleasant to say anything in dispraise, but we may as-
sert safely, that if it was not the best description of piano-
forte playing, his was not the worst. Rossini's Ah se questo,
and Bishop's " Loud let the Moorish tambour sound," con-
chided the first part of the entertainment.

In the second part, the gem—indeed the veritable jewel of
the evening—was a trio by Pucetta, " 01 dolce tranguitlata,"
which was encored, and deliciousty sung by an amateur (a
capital tenor), Miss Stott, and Miss Aldridge. This might
have been given anywhere, in any place, and would have
proved a prominent and most pleasing feature amongst the
best productions. It was done in a masterly manner. In
Bishop's " Daughter of Error," Miss Aldridge sang the
solo parts charmingly. She possesses a sweet, melodious
voice, and evidently thoroughly understands what she is
about. Goss's splendid glee, " There's beauty on the moun-
tain," was famously sung. Winter's sweet duet, " Vag hi
Colli," by Misses Aldridge and Stott, may be pronounced
to have been done with much taste and ability.
The concert went off well, and gave further proof, if any
were necessary. of the excellence of this society, and its claims
upon the musical public for support. We were glad to learn
that the subscribers are daily on the increase. It certainly
for cheapness—if it had not great attractions on the score of
merit—stands alone. There are eight concerts for two gui-
neas, at which three tickets to' each subscriber are given ;
and two concerts (dress ones) to which two are allotted. At
th 9 latter, metropolitan talent will be brought forward.

CORRESPONDENCE

SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SIR,-It was well remarked by two of the Fathers at the
Council of Basil, that we must rather believe one simple
layman alleging Scripture than the whole council to the con-
trary" ; nor is that sentiment less truthful now, or less im-
portant, than it was then. We live in eventful times, and
change after change " comes o'er the spirit of our dreams" ;
and we are falling from one heresy to another, until we are
likely to be bewildered, if not lost, in the dreams and super
stit

ions of Paganism and Popery. To this the prevailing
errors of the present day tend ; and we want, therefore,
calling back to first principles in religion. These are only
to be found in the Scriptures of eternal truth. It is no solid
argument to say that some books are lost, and thus insinuate
that all the revealed Word of God has not come down to us,
and that the deficit, therefore, must be supplied by tradition.
That certain books referred to in Scripture are lost, is readily
admitted ; but were these books a part of the inspired wri-
tings? or can any man say that they contained anything
necessary for man's salvation, or what we have not in the
Scriptures as we now possess them ? The books were lost
before Jesus Christ came into the world, and, had they con-
tained anything necessary for us to know, would not he have
revealed it? All the actions and words of our Saviour are
not recorded, as St. John distinctly records; but have we
not sufficient? What was not recorded is lost to us—irre-
coverably lost. Then how shall tradition supply these unre-
corded words and actions? What the Spirit did not think
proper to record, we cannot supply. To the Scriptures as
we possess them—and as God intended we should possess
them—must all our appeals be made—" to the law and to
the testimony." "If an angel from heaven should preach
any other doctrines than those revealed therein, let him be
accursed," says the inspired apostle. That many doctrines
are now being put forward not enjoined, and others reserved
which are positively declared, is a distinctive feature of, our
days ; and as many simple laymen " have net such reten-
tive memories or quickness of perception that they can at
once quote passages of Scripture to refute erroneous doc-
trines boldly advanced or gently insinuated, I would humbly
suggest to some of the ministers of the Church of England,
mighty in the Scriptures, the necessity of a few very cheap
tracts on the subject, on something like the following plan :
—Take, for instance, an erroneous doctrine, and under. or
in an opposite column, give the passages of Scripture which
refute the opinions put forth. Such tracts as these would,
I think, be very useful. " Feed my lambs," says Jesus
Christ himself ; and it would be following up the command,
and a duty of heartfelt satisfaction to any one, thus to feed
the lambs for whom our Saviour cared. May God incline
the heart of some one to follow out these hints !
I am, sir, yours sincerely,
A CHURCHMAN.

On Saturday morning, Thomas Pickard, Esq., of South-
hampton-place, New-road, London, committed suicide by
cutting his throat. He has left an innnenbe property behind
him.

SAILORS' HOME.—At a meeting in aid of the lSa •lo -'
Asylum, Durham, the Rev. Dr. Gilly, related the followingrs
anecdote :—" Many years ago," said the rev. doctor " a
young midshipman was amusing himself with some of his
companions in a boat near his ship, when a voice was heard
overboard, and saved the
shouting ' a man overboard,' and a body was seen floating
past. The midshipman jumped
man's life, but it was at the cost of his own health for many
years. Twenty years after, when that midshipman had been
promoted for his services, and was in command of the coast-
guard, a tempest occurred in a November morning, such as
those we have lately witnessed, and a wreck was seen float-
ing by at some distance. He called on his men and said,
' who will volunteer to go to the relief of that vessel?' The
whole party volunteered, and he was obligedto select V
number. They approached the vessel, a furious wave sr- ek
the boat, and the whole party was drowned. That 018, waa
my brother."

CONSECRATION SERMON AT THE CHURCH OF
ST. SILAS, LIVERPOOL.

BY THE REV. HUGB WNEILF,,

Nci'her pr iy I for tlicte alcre, 1 ilt for thrill nlco
beiieve on me through their wcitl, ghat il,ey :Al in

ther. art in me and in thee, that they also n:ay
one in us, that the Well. may believe that thou I

The election of another Louse of prayer, its sepatation
from all the ordinary uses of this present evil world, its
consecraticn to the special service of Almighty God, that in
it tie united supplications and thanksgivings of adoring
multitudes may be poured forth before Him, His own sacra-
mental institutions duly administered. and the everlasting
Gospel of His grace fully end boldly proclaimed—these are
circumstances of lively and unfeigned interest to the Chris-
tian heart, not for their own sake, ultimately as ends, but
for the sake of the great and glorious end towards the at-
tainment of which they are among the most efficient of ap-
pointed means.

We are zealous in the use of means. We set a high value
upon the ordinances of the church. We entertain, and are
neither ashamed nor afraid to avow and cultivate, an affec-
tionate fondness for the circumstantials of our religion, and
for the order and regularity, the punctuality and perseve-
rance, with which they are performed. Accusations of irre-
gularity have indeed been ads anced against a class of the
national clergy, but more, it would seed, for the sake of an
antithesis in writing than for any foundation in fact. In-
stances of the kind are so rare, they are so notoriously ex-
ceptions, as to establish the rule of regularity instead of
supplying any fair or impartial ground for general condem-
nation : the antithesis, however, between ultra-lormalism
and ultra-spiritualism, between Popery and Puritanism,
was too tempting to be emitted, especially as it went to
soften, by dividing, the reproof which was deemed indispen-
sable. But, after all, everything is comparative; and thus
far many of us are willing to plead guilty, if it be guilt, that
while we sincerely love the courts and avenues and precincts
which surround the royal citadel of our Zion, our soul's chief
delight is in Him who dwells within the citadel itself, the
light of the presence-chamber, the glory of the throne; all
is but preface and introduction at the best till we come to
Him: all our best means are but as temporal scaffoldings
needful through our infirmity, for the erection of the temple
of his body, and then to be removed for ever.
Called upon, therefore, my brethren, in obedience to the
commands cf our Bishop, to address you upon this occasion,
I have determined to pass by all comparatively preliminary,
although important topics, all statistical exhibitions, for ex-
ample, of the need of church accommodation, all arguments
to shew that nothing short of the instruction we have to tire
can really and permanently benefit the community ; and I have
selected a portion of Scripture which will lead us at once to
the contemplation of that " temple not made with hands,"
of which the Lord Jesus Christ is declared to be the " foun-
dation stone," the " chief corner stone," the " head-stone
of the corner," and which is described as " an habitation
for God through the spirit."
Considering the Church of God thus, not in the narrow-
ness of any temporary or local interest, but in the genuine
catholicity of all ages and .all nations, even to the end, the
prayer of our Saviour in the 17th chapter of John may, with
much proprie; y, be called his great coosecrational prayer.
Having colic:tided his address of affectionate consolation to
his disciples. he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and addressed
himself to God the Father : his prayer was rot mental
only, but vocal also ; the disciples beard it ; and the
Holy Spirit, according to the promise, brought it with
such clearness to the remembrance of John, that he
was enabled to write it down that it might. be preserved
from age to age without omission or adulteration at the
hands of Math If it had not been written, it would,
in all probability, have shared the fate of many other
things which Jesus Christ said which were not written—that
is, it would have been altogether lost or so misrepresented
as to be worse than lost. A remarkable instance of this kind
is supplied by an incident recorded in the twenty-first chap-
ter of this gospel. Hearing our Lord's prophecy concerning
himself, and seeing John, Peter said—
" Lord what shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him, If I will
that he tarry till I come what is that to thee? Follow thou me.
Then went tins saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple
should not die, yet Jesus said not to him lie shall not die: but if I
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ?—v. v. 21, 22, *23."
Thus, a saying went forth among the apostolic brethren pro-
fessing to be a saying of Jesus Christ, and yet Jesus Christ
had hot said it ! How plainly does this prove that even
those who had the advantage of hearing our Lord himself
speak could not be trusted for the transmission of anything
with accuracy from mouth to mouth ! And how humbly and
heartily thankful it should make us for the statement con- I
tamed in the conclusion of the 20th chapter—
" And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written
that ye must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing ye might have life through his name."—v.v. 30, 31.
It is strongly intimated here that if nothing had been written
we could not have believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, at least with any confidence ; but in the divine mercy
enough is written for faith and life :—" these are written that
ye might have faith and life." Whatsoever more than is written
man requires for the arrangement in detail of man's affairs,
whether civil or ecclesiastical, must be acquired by the exercise
of his own reason or from the instrnction of his fellow-
men ; and with regard to all such subordinate matters, every
wise man will carefully exercise his own reason, and every
prudent and modest man will gladly avail himself of the ex-
perience, wisdom and judgment of those 'who have lived be-
fore him. But whilst, with regard to such matters, he does
so, he will as carefully guard against admitting any addition
to the written Will of God as of necessity to salvation ; he
will remember that it' anything beyond the boundaries of the
written Word be admitted as divine, an indefinite &or is
opened, and no man can afterwards with any accuracy define
what or how much of what claims to be divine is divine in-
deed. That it does not carry with it its own evidence, and
so put an end to controversy, is clear, because even its own
advocates are not agreed as to its extent; therefore, instead
of being the rectifier of interpretation and the terminator of
controversy, such a claim becomes of itself a source of per-
petual contention. The interpretations of it vary as widely
as the interpretations of Scripture ; and, therefore, in ad-
mitting it, whilst we gain nothing in point of harmony, we
lose everything in point of definiteness and consequent sa-
tisfaction. If divine revelation be indefinite in its contents,
which it must be if it be not all written, then no conscientious
man of a tender spirit can ever enjoy what it is the privi-
lege of every Christian man to enjoy—peace with God,
because he can never be sure that the whole of God's
will concerning him has been made known to him,
and the part which may not have yet reached him may
contain something vital, of which he is still ignorant.
To propagate such a view of divine revelation is to pro-
pagate tantalizing torture to the awakened. sinner, instead
of " peace on earth, good will towards men."
Our Lord's intercessory prayer is conveyed to us with
written accuracy. It is first for himself in the concluding
stages of his earthly struggles ; it is then for his first and
immediate disciples, distinguishing them from the world,
" I pray for them, I pray not for the world ;" then, ex-•
tending his views along the succeeding- ages of his church to
the end, he prays, not for those first disciples alone, but he
adds " for them also who shall believe on me through their
word." To this description of the persons here prayed for
1 invite attention.
If we would interpret aright the unity implored in what
follows, we must begin by understanding aright who are the
persons for whom that blessing is sought,—" them which
shall believe on me through their word." The distinguishing
mark here laid down of the persons for whom Christ prays
is, not that they shall hear the word of the Apostles ; it is not
that they shall be baptised ; it is not that they shall be en-
rolled as members of any visible community however pri-
vileged ; but it is that they shall believe on Him. To be as-
sured that this contrast is not casual but real compare it with
the description elsewhere given by our Lord of the whole
company that should be called by his name. That company
should not be confined to those that believe on Him; it
should contain foolish virgins as well as wise ; tares as well
as wheat ; bad fishes as well as good ; guests without a wed-
ding garment, as well as guests properly and acceptably
clothed. He frequently describes that company in its inter-
mixture for a time, and then in its separation to the right
hand and to the left, at the last. Speaking in parables, he
also speaks in prophecy, the imagery of the parable supply-
ing a vehicle upon which the general outline of events is con-
veyed until the harvest, the end of the age. He describes as
it were a great river, flowing through this lower world ; its
course and its boundaries are visible to man, the margin of
its banks is easily discerned and separated from the surround-
ing waste of heathenism ; it is all without discrimination
called by the name of Christ, but advancing closer to it, and
looking into it more carefully, he detects and invites us to
contemplate a two-fold stream therein—one muddy and de-
filed from the earth through which it flows—the other clear,
retaining, without pollution, the character of the spring in
the rock from whence it originally issued. For this pure
stream he prays that its purity fail not. He describes a
large company of travellers passing through this world; they
are all, without discrimination, called by his name : the king-
dom of heaven is likened to them all; but approaching them
more closely, he discerns two companies, and describes them.
Some have entered by a wide gate, and are travelling upon a
broad road, which, he tells us, leads to destruction ; others
have entered by a strait gate, and are travelling upon a nar-
row road, which, he says, leads unto life—for these he prays.
He describes a large multitude of hearers; they all hear the
word given by inspiration to the apostles and prophets : the
seed is the word of God, which is sown indiscriminately
among them all, but approaching them more closely, be de-
scribes way-side hearers, stony-ground hearers, thorny-
around hearers, none of whom bring any fruit to perfection.
The word profits them not, riot being mixed with faith in
them that hear it. He also describes good ground hearers,
who receive the word, and keep it, and bring forth t'ruit,
" some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold"—for
these he prays.
This serves clearly to point out the difference between the
word considered in itself and the effects which may be pro-
duced by its instrumentality among men. Considered in it-
self the word is not necessarily attended with any saving
effects. It is a communication from God to the senses of
men : our eyes see it written, our ears hear it spoken, but no
communication to the senses can, of itself, reach so as to pu-
rify the heart, and influence so as to save the man. This is
true not only of the word as a communication to our eyes
and ears, but also of water as poured upon our bodies,
and of bread and wine as taken into our mouths. No
external communication can, of itself, reach and purify the
heart. Only by faith, " the evidence of things not seen,"
bringing men' into communicatku with the unseen world,
and especially with God; only by faith can the heart
be purified, and only by the immediate power of God, who
made the heart, can that "evidence" be thoroughly con-
veyed into it. In so speaking 1: do not advance a private
interpretation of the Scriptures but also the verdict unani-
mously pronounced by our chu; b reforn,:rs, who do, upon
both sides, separate tile outward ~•dinance, from the spiritual
blessing, and upon both sides alike the ulessing with faith.
1 refer especially to the 29th article, is compared with a
remarkable rubric in the Service for he Visitation of the
Sick. The article says :
"The wicked,and such as be vol. of a lively faith,although they do
carnally and visibly press with the'r teeth the sacrament of the body
and blood of Christ, yet in no w.t, are they partakers of Christ."
—Art. xxix.
The rubric referred to says:—

of",Nlarf aoimoganio, ecittoheerttoy
oretaosoi
iic `extremitycurate,
receive with him, or by any o, xreceive
just impediment do not re e t
the sacrament of Christ's be and blood, the curate shall instruct
t ..,,,,
r forof sliacokkn eosfs ,o or
ooi f
po
at
n wantyt,
o
him that if he do truly repe alin of ',lts sins and stedfastly beli •
that Jesus Christ bath suff.ed death_ upon the cross for him, and
shed his blood for his redemption, efirnestly remembering the be-
nefits he hath thereby, ara giving 'nim hearty thanks therefore, he
Both eat and drink the
,dy and blood of our Saviour Christ pro
-
fitably to his soul's her t. altho,',;h he do not receive the sacrament
with his mouth."—bp - r le Communion of Sick.
Here, upon the, whete there is no faith, a man
may receive the ke• -.lent with his mouth, and yet be in no
wise
re partaker 'f
mast,' And upon the other side, where
thea i s faith, r man eat the body and blood of Christ
cmraadrueetnhte P , ;
foacfboc.nosniEdv
eexyrt,ie,
ntrignoanfla, thin
itthh attg sti
hnme at
hhyei
as
itn;indeedtebruc
et be
is e_t
" profitably -0 his se - health," without receiving the sa-
n"shtwrouhrnii,st-
..:,. .prcher :e prayer of Christ, the only external in-
ssist°rle:3:%.e.ervnt7Y fai,4 he mentions is the 'Word. His other ex-
tettlaVar„,p-o=iitycients in his church—as water, and bread and
r knt-- -are, ri her, instruments for the conveyance of snore
•:,rEoe where faith already exists : " faith is confirmed and
grate increased" by them when rightly received, but they
cannot be rightly received except where faith already exists,
and it may be confirmed. The Word, upon the contrary, is
the divinely-appointed instrument fcr conveying the first
actings of faith into the human heart. So writes St. Paul—

" Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
So writes St. James—" Of his own will begat he us, with
the Word of Truth." A most comprehensive statement !
" He," the agent, God ; the instrument, " the Word of
Truth" ; the act, " begat he us," the first movements of

savin; grace; and, to complete the list, the originating
the distinguishing blessing " of his own will."
ed a description of the persons for
nut next observe that he in-
tl anwer to that description,
lie prays nct for those who

V,ilo

" that they all
shall believe upon him in any cue cot

but fo

or in any one age;
nil all

who shall believe on him in all countries
ages, so long as he is au object of faith, that is,nitil his com.
ing again, when faith shall be changed into sight. If all
these be not included in the prayer, how shall it be proved
that we of this age are included? If he prayed for only
some of those that shall believe upon him, the persons so
specified may have all lived and died ages ago, and we may
have no interest, no part or lot, in this precious prayer; but,

_ .
upon the contrary, if we be included, if the prayer bare
application to us of this age, upon what principle shall it be
denied that it has application also to thew that shall believe
in ages future also ? Thus we are naturally, I had almost
said irresistibly, led to the conclusion that the period con-
templated in this prayer has not yet arrived. This is cha-

racteristic of him who uttered the prayer, of him who sees
the end from the beginning, whose truly catholic talon could
not be localised or circumscribed by any temporary or any
local interests in his church, and whose soul cannot be satis-
fied in the result of its travail until the work shall be com-
pleted, until the last of the living stones that are to compose
his temple shall be set upon their appointed places, polished
into the reflection of his image, and the head-stone brought
out with consecrating shouts of " Grace, grace !"
The next point to be considered is. the unity for which be
prays; and now I hope this will not be a difficult exposition.
future unity. This is proved by the reason just now as-
.d—many of the persons included in the prayer who are
to enjoy the blessing, are not yet in existence. Some of
those included in this prayer are horn in the flesh, and not
yet horn again in God; some have fallen asleep in the faith ;
their spirits, absent front the body. are present with the
Lord, and their bodies are mouldering in the dust. The
prayer includes them all. Their unity, that is, their visible
unity, is clearly, under existing circumstances, impossible ;
a unity they have certainly, but it is only in the mind and
purpose of Him who calls things that are not as though they
were. And in no other sense as yet—

" One army of the Living God
At his command we bow !
Some of the host have passed the flood,
And some are passing now;"
:,onie stand matured in years and grace
Lipe ripening shocks of corn ;
Some are jest stating on the race,
And some are not yet horn !

When all these should be ready, when all who shall believe
on him have believed on him, then—but not possibly till
then—shall the perfected unity anticipated in this prayer be
manifested to the world l Then they shall be all one in Christ
Every one shall then have the mind in him which was in
Christ Jesus; and the body or every one of them shall be
changed and fashioned after the similitude of Christ's own
body! This is what St. Paul calls " the manifestation of the
Sons of God," for which he says " the whole Creation is
waiting, groaning, and travading in pain " until now; and
even we ourselves, be adds, who have " first fruits of the
spirit," and do " groan within ourselves waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body." Till then,
though there be sons of God in every age, yet are they hid-
den ones; the world knows them not, even as it knew not
their Lord and Master; the world, unbelieving and uncon-
cerned till then, shall then be constrained to acknowledge
that God sent his Christ, and that his work is divine. Let
it be c 'refully observed, that this is what Christ prays for—
riot that tie: world may believe upun Him to salvation. In
that sense the Lord had said, " I pray not for the world " :
his language here is, " that the world may believe that thou
had sent me"—which is a very different thing. The devils
believe it now and tremble ; the world does not. believe it
now, and is careless; but the world shall believe it then, and
then it is that the unwilling confession, so frequently antici-
pated in the prophetic Scriptures as giving glory to God,
shall he extorted from the world. " Verily," they shall say,
" verily, after all, there is a reward for the righteous ; verily
there is a God that judged' in the earth."
What, now, I would ask, has this passage to do with the
supposed unity in visible things of the Christian church
during the present dispensation ? And yet this passage, for
want of better authority for the notion, is perpetually cited,
and cited with triumph as if it were conclusive, to prove that
the unity of the Christian church now ought to be a visible
unity, such as would produce converting effects upon the
world ! If we understand our Lord as praying for a conti-
nuous visible unity in each succeeding generation of his
church upon earth, then we must admit that, so far, lie has,
in point of fact, prayed in vain : no such unity has existed.
This interpretation, then, as it regards the world, is self-
destructive; for if the unity of the church in any age had
been such as to lead to the conversion of the world, the dis-
tinction between the world and the church would have ipso
facto ceased, and the consummation he desired would have
been at once attained. The interpretation, therefore, is ir-
reconcileable with the efficacy of the prayer and the facts of
the case—a serious consideration ; for if the Lord's inter-
cession be proved ineffectual on this point, what confidence
can be placed in it upon any other point?
The unity here prayed for must be such as should strike
the observation of those who are not included in it ; yet it
must be such as should include all that shall believe on Jesus
Christ. Contemplating the successive generations of the
Church of God upon earth we observe that of those that •
shall believe upon Jesus Christ, and for whom he prays
here, but a small number have ever bee❑ at any one time
upon the earth; and even those few have been so separated,
inevitably so. as not to have been conscious of one another's
existence. But they must all enter into the enjoyment, into
the conscious enjoyment, of the unity here prayed for: an
unity has existed among them, but not such as this, not such •
as the world could see or themselves appreciate—an unior
which has been an object of faith not of sight, an unity in the
truth which God teaches,and which is the same here ancrevery-
where, but not an unity in the ceremonies and traditions, the
rites and ordinances which men teach and which have been
and may he divers. " There is one faith," says an inspired
apostle ; and another says, " it is the faith once delivered to
the saints"—delivered, we observe, duripg the time of the
apostles in its oneness, and in its complt it-hiss, and, there.
fore, not waiting for any vital addition to be added by their
uninspired successors. Concerning this one faith, St. Paul
writes with unswerving, with war

" But though we, or an angel from heaven, I.reach any other
Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. As NVQ said before so say I now again, If any man
preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let
him be accursed."—Gal. i. 8, 9.

Here is no liberality! Here is no compromise! Here is no
admission, falsely called " charitable," that differing state-
merits may be equally true! No ; Divine truth is one ! It
is possible for a man to err from that truth ; it is possible for
an apostle to apostatize—one did so;
it is possible for an
angel to fall into falsehood--many have so fallen ; but it is
not possible for the word of God, once delivered by his au-
thority, to alter or to deceive any who confides in it. Such is
the tone of the Apostle when he writes concerning the faith
revealed of God; bnt hearken with what conciliatory sweet-
ness this same bold Apostle sings when his subject is differ-
ent, when it is not the unvarying faith which God has re-
vealed, but the many and different forms and ceremonies
which men with different degrees of light and equal sincerity
of conscience may, or may not, adopt. He says when this
is his theme :

"One believeth that he may eat all things :
another who is weak
eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not ;
and let not him who eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath
received him. One man esteemeth one day above another; another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded hr
his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the
Lord ; and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doeth not
regard it. He that eateth eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God
thanks ; and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not and
given' God thanks. Let us not therefore judge one another any
more ; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or
an occasion to fall in his brother's way2t—ltorn xiv. 2, s, 5, ti, Is.
Here is no bigotry ! Here is no exclusiveness! Here is no
schismatical demand for outward uniformity because here
God had not commanded, and therefore men might be per-
mitted to prefer.
This is the true secret of Christian unity, to its utmost
practicable extent, during this present fallen estate. It is
rendered utterly impracticable by the rigid demands of
outward uniformity. Unity by coercion may be secured
for a season by human tyranny: unity
by conviction can
only be secured by divine truth ; and, therefore, where
God has not spoken, no
man, or class of men, has any
right to insist upon unity, There may be reasons which
appear good and satisfactory to themselves for preferring cer-
tain ecclesiastical arrangements, as not only more conducive in
themselves to the attainment of the desired end, but as also
more in accordance with the general tenor of the Holy Scrip-
ture and with the practice of Christians in ages past ; but
even so, though it may be right and fair to require compli-
ance with these arrangements as an indispensable condition
of membership in any particular or national society, it may
still be unfair and false to represent them' as indispensable
conditions of membership in our common Christianity. A
practice, which may be existing for any given number of
centuries, is still an essentially different thing from a com-
mandment of God. A practice,
obtaining for a time, without
any rigid scrutiny comes, upon the first enquiry, to be de-
fended upon the ground of its having been a practice : that
defence being once admitted, and the practice thereupon
continued, the plea of prescription is, of course, upon every
subsequent examination, urged with
increasing cogency.
The practice becomes more general as it becomes more
ancient, and thus gathering numbers as well as years, it pre-
sents itself at last in the overwhelming attributes of the
semper, the übique, and the ab onimibus ; and yet, after all,
the origin of it may have been neither more nor less than a
mistake. A wise man will not rest simply contented with a
practice because it is old, but he will carefully examine
whether it deserves to grow old by having been good when
it was young. This distinction between the truth of God
and the ordinances of man, and this combination of intole-
rance and charity which we have traced in the apostle, are
strikingly characteristic of the protesting purifyers of the
church in the sixteenth century ; and the whole is admirably
condenced in the celebrated aphorism of Martin Luther—
" Charity bears all things—faith nothing." And this serves
to explain the position in which we ourselves now stand—a
position in which, I trust, we shall be all found standing and
maintaing our ground with meekness and firmness in these
days of trial. As touching the truth of God revealed in
Scripture, and therein declared to be necessary to salvation,
we are inflexible, exclusive, intolerant: we deem it no un-
kindness to any man to reiterate faithfully
what was spoken
plainly by Him who tasted death for every man; and, there-
fore, concerning " the faith once delivered to the saints," we
have no hesitation in declaring that "except a man believe
it faithfully, he cannot be saved. ' Here, therefore, we are
entrenched in a Scriptural position of interminable hostility
against Romanism and against Unitarianism in all its grades,
ofrtotmhatt hheelrieigshye.st
But,Ari chtaongthheig our subject, descending fromlowest Socinian modification
this high ground, and proceeding to speak of the ceremonies
which men have constructed with judgment and discretion as
seemed to them most in accordance with Scripture, and most
attainable under the circumstances and times of each, here we
become tolerant—here we become charitable—here we become
conciliatory. We do indeed say, and we publish our reasons
for saying, that we think our own arrangements the very
best, and most in accordance with Scripture, that are existing
in the world ; but, even so,although we find therein excellent
reasons for preferring them ourselves, we do not find therein
reasons for imposing them as of divine authority upon others.
What man, with the common reason and candour of a man,
‘w,einthtuSrecrtioptsupreeakanodf
the
ycebseaCn him, would, for divisionsexample,or of our kingdom, the
effectual oversight of some of which has been rendered pity-
' sically impracticable by the prodigious increase of population
—who would speak of those divisions as we all cordially
speak of the divine institution of episcopacy itself rightly
administered? I cannot, of course, attempt to define at
present what appears to me to belong to its right adminis-
oPri.daPYse tr;tbolte, of our ecclesiastical ar-
chitecture sponsors in baptism.
of adminis-
tration
presenttipnes mode
sentiail
without
y'orwh fllatadteaviy deviations
might be made from
our vitiating the divine institu-
tion; but I ask again, what man of common sense will take
our permanent
kne e ling
upon him to speak of our parochial divisions, of our printed
and
faotr ntshse L
of
in its details, of our singing or not singing before
the prayers are read, of our reading or not reading any par-
ticular prayer after the sermon—who will venture to speak
of these, or of such things as these, as we all speak of " the
faith once delivered to the saints," that unless a man be-
lieves it faithfully, he cannot be saved? Concerning these
things, we do indeed say, speaking of our own countrymen—

judgment willingly and pur-
poselyio and ceremonies of the
ns
W hdoostoheveorpetnhlryoubgrhealkiis
church which be not repugnant to the word of God, and be or-
dained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked
openly (that others may fear to do the like) as he that offendeth
thPerivtraatedi t