wealth;* and at another time stir ring heaven and earth against the bishops, for the continuance, not the original enactment, of a few indifferent ceremonies, merely because they chose to think, that those cere monies, rather than another Directory for ceremonies of their own, would operate fatally against the spirit of the Gospel? Well might Mr. Brook quote from Strype," It is marvellous how much these habits were abhorred by many honest, wellmeaning men; who styled them antichristian ceremonies, &c." It is marvellous, on the one hand, how their judgments should have been so misled, as to think that they had either right or power to bring the whole nation under the Geneva Cloak; or, on the other hand, how their consciences should have been so misinformed as to imagine that no pure Gospel could issue from beneath a surplice, a tippet and hood. It was certainly not marvellous, that "300 scholars in St. John's College should throw away their surplices with one consent," (p 25.); and we marvel if their Euclids and syllabuses did not idly float after them in the Cam. But that grave and solid divines, professing godliness, and claiming to themselves the meekness of wisdom, should have made it a turning point with themselves as to preaching the pure and reformed religion of Jesus, under the wing of an acknowledged Protestant government, and a learnedly orthodox episcopacy, that "the popish government and ceremonies" (which after all were not or Popery, but long prior to it)," should be left indifferent, and some liberties indulged in the use of the common prayer," (p. 20.) does, we own, make us marvel, and that greatly! 66. Some," we are told, " did in part comply, in hopes of the removal of

* Yet the well known confession of Ballinger, a reformed pastor of Zurich is remarkable," Satis facit piis Edwardi

reformatio."

these grievances at some future period;" and we should maryel much if either they or their parishes were the worse for the compliance. And so far from owning ourselves indebted to the superior wisdom, piety, or constancy of those who did not follow the example, it is a marvel to us, that they saw not at the time what the plainest understanding, if unbiassed, can now see in their proceedings; 1st, that in rejecting a milder whilst they would have agreed to a stricter imposition, they were in fact forging future and heavier chains for the consciences of the nation; 2d, that in every appeal they made to Government for regulating those impositions, they in fact recognised the power which enforced submission to them; 3d, that in consequence in every departure from the final determination of the Government, except where the word of God lay against the express ceremony itself, (as in the case of worshipping images, a case which they could never prove against the Protestant forms), they were guilty, by their own acknowledgment, of rebellion against the state; 4th, that therefore, by a most singular infelicity, they established an inseparable association, in the minds of men, between purity in religion and disorder in the state; 5th, that their very doctrines, on which at first all were agreed in the main, must in time share the prejudice raised against their discipline; 6th, that therefore, every additional imposition of forms, every departure from pure doctrine, which they successively complained of in their adversaries, was ultimately chargeable upon themselves; 7th, that such prejudice against their doctrines and against their cause was, in the nature of things, likely to be perpetual; so that in all succeeding ages dissension and division were almost sure to exist in the Church of Christ; and a plausible argument would be furnished to the enemies of truth, as if its friends were the enemies of the

state; and whereas till then it had -been calumny, that Christians "turn the world upside down:" from thenceforward it would come to look like truth; and the bitter spirit, and implacable language in which their opposition was too often acted, would for ever cast an indelible slur, (as it has done to this day,) upon all pretenders to vital religion.

It should never be forgotten, that the earliest persecutors of the Puritans were, like themselves, Calvinists in doctrine. None more rigid, as the Lambeth Articles testify, than Whitgift himself. It was not till 60 years after these discussions about discipline began, that the deeper doctrines of that school were prohibited, from the pulpit: when, as Fuller quaintly observes, a kind of "sermon-surfeit" had taken place; and, by a strange and mischievous transposition," the people heard of nothing but the duties of the court; the court of nothing but the duties of the people." This curious species of Antinomianism was in time suspected to grow out of the favourite doctrines carried to excess: and if, after that suspicion, the bishops and the court inclined to the low Arminian school, we leave it to the world to judge who at least shared the blame of the change. At any rate let not low and secular principles of religion be supposed at the bottom of the Puritanical oppressions, when Puritanical pertinacity, in all human probability, laid the foundation for these. If bishops who had forfeited all but their lives by opposing Popery under Queen Mary; if kings and queens who had been nursed with favour in the lap of Protestantism, and even Puritanism, according to Mr. Brook, both suddenly turn about when in power to the side most opposite to Puritanism, we really must look further for the cause, than to the predilection of either for Popery, or for the low doc. trines of later Protestantism. We must look for it in the conviction Christ. Observ. No. 162.

they felt of the total impossibility of introducing so rigid a code of doctrine and discipline into so wide, so diversified, so free, perhaps so ignorant, and so immoral a nation and govern. ment as that of England. We must look for it in their firm belief of the sacred origin of Episcopacy, in opposition to the alleged jus divinum of Presbytery. We must look for it in their more correct and liberal views of a church-establishment, as requir ing indeed strict submission to what it does ordain, but as leaving the greatest possible latitude in its ordi'nances, whether to men of stricter principles to carry instruction to its greatest height of purity, or to men of lesser principles not to rebel against its discipline; in short, as conciliating all parties. And if, in their doctrinal views, we are to look for any cause of their conduct, those doctrinal views, we must recollect, they had originally in common with their adversaries If violence was added occasionally to severity, arrest and imprisonment to suspension and deprivation, and frequent personal abuse and invective to all the rest, these, we have too manifest proof, they shared likewise with the Puritans; and since they had nothing else in common, but originally their Calvinistic creed, let Mr. Brook, if he pleases, attribute their common violence to that. We shall only hint at the possibility, that that creed, not yet fully exorcised from the spirit of Popery and crudely derived by some otherwise eminent reformers from the Popish schools, may have produced an exasperated state of feeling on both sides, from which modern Calvinists will do well to prove their exemption. And whilst we equally shrink from the haughty and towering attitude of episcopal despotism, and the self-applauding and vindictive tone of Puritan me nace, whatever sanction each may claim from their common orthodoxy of sentiment; taught in a better age, we are bold to say, that genuine 3 G

Christianity, and therefore real Protestantism, disclaims them both; and that to neither are we indebted, except by accident, for those incomparable blessings of a mild

orthodox establishment, together with a safe and full religious toleration, which divines of other times and other schools at length devised. (To be continued.)

GREAT BRITAIN.

In the Press: A work on the Breeding, Rearing, and Management of Poultry, Pigeons, and Rabbits, the Result of 40 Years' Practice, with Experiments on hatching Eggs, by B. Mowbray, Esq.;A new edition in 8vo. and 4to. of Strype's Ecclesiastical, Historical, and Civil Memorials, relating chiefly to the Reformation, in seven vols. to be followed by his Annals of the reformation during the first twelve Years of Elizabeth's Reign,-Baxteriana, or Selections from the Works of Baxter, by Arthur Young, Esq. in one vol. 12mo; -(By Subscription) the Mosiad, an Epic Poem, on the Deliverance of Israel from Egypt, by Mr. C. Smith;-A new edition in 8vo, of Burnet's History of His Own Times;-An Account of the Pursuits encouraged and enforced in the University of Cambridge, by the Rev. L. Waenewright of Emanuel College.

Preparing for Publication: The Life and Correspondence of the Lady Arabella Stuart (cousin to king James I.) whom it was intended to place on the throne after Elizabeth, compiled from her original letters-A Universal Telegraph and general Code of Signals for Merchant Vessels of all Nations, by which they may communicate with each other at Sea, without deviating from their course, by Mr. R. Crowgie of Falmouth.

At Oxford, the Prize Compositions have been adjudged as follows, viz: Chancellor's Prizes-English Essay; "The Effects of Colonization on the Parent State." Mr. T. Arnold, B. A. Scholar of Corpus Christi college, and Fellow Elect of Oriel-Latin Essay: "In illa Philosophie Parte que Morali dicitur tractanda, quænam sit præcipue Aristotelica Disciplinæ Virtus ?" Mr. C. G. Daubeny, B. A. demy of Magdalen college. -Latin Verse; " Europe Pacatores Oxoniam invisentes." Mr. A. Macdonnell, Student of Christ Church. Sir Roger New

digate's Prize-English Verse: "The Temple of Theseus." Mr. S. Rickards, Commoner of Oriel college.

At Mr. Edward's late sale, the Bedford Missal was bought by the Marquis of Blandford for 6871 15s.; and the splendid copy, on vellum, of the first edition of Livy, Roma 1469, was purchased by Sir M. M. Sykes, Bart. for 9031.

A most extraordinary letter of Dr. Kipling, the Dean of Peterborough, has lately found its way into the public prints, It is addressed to the Rev. John Lingard, a priest of the Romish Church, and is marked by something of the same strange perversity of judgment which has appeared in former publications. He tells Mr. Lingard, that he is amenable to a court of justice, for having, in his strictures on Professor Marsh's "Comparative View," applied the words "the new," and "the modern," to the "Church of England;" such words tending to a breach of the peace; and the Church by law established being so inseparably interwoven with the Constitution, that a calumny on the former is a calumny on the latter.

"If, however," he proceeds, " you shall assure me in the course of a few days, that within a reasonable time"(which he explains to mean, "a few months only"), " you will publish a vindication of this defamatory language, I will defer to prosecute you, not only till sufficient time has been granted you for that purpose, but also till an opportunity has been allowed the public to peruse my reply to it. By a vindication is here meant complete proof of this position, that the structure of the Church of England and the materials of which it is composed, are new and modern. Should it appear to be the general opinion, when the reasonings of us both shall have been maturely considered, that your vindication is complete, I will

then make a recantation, and cease to be a member of the Established Church. If by the generality of our readers it shall be thought defective, you will be summoned to answer for your offensive demeanour in Westminster-hall."

There is something truly ludicrous in this public challenge to polemical debate, accompanied by the threat of Westminster-hall to sharpen the wit of his antagonist-Dr. Kipling would probably maintain, that his own works exhibit the sentiments of the Church of England. If so-if the doctrines of the Church of England are to be identified with those of the learned Dean, then Mr. Lingard will have no difficulty in proving them to be innovations on the views, not only of the Apostles, but of the reformers. But, after all, we are half inclined to view the state. ment rather as a hoax practised by some enemy of the Dean of Peterborough, than as a sober reality; and this opinion gathers strength from another circumstance.-The same paper in which we first saw an account of the letter attributed to the learned Dean, contains a manifest calumny on the Bishop of Lincoln, in the shape of a report of a Charge delivered by his lordship to his clergy, at Bedford, on the 1st instant. This libel states the bishop to have represented the Bible Society as "very dangerous to the established religion, and to the orthodox principles of those who attended its meetings;" and "however sincere the motives which originally induced unsuspicious clergymen of the Church of England to join it, they must now have seen enough in the published accounts of its meetings, and in the proceedings and speeches there, to induce them to withdraw from it; or at least to raise some misgivings in their minds, as to the real views of many of its most active members" He is said to have declared, that " though it be our duty to show gentleness, and forbearance, and charity towards all our Christian brethren, yet, that we are not authorized to give the right hand of fellowship or co-operation to those who cause divisions, or to unite in religious associations with those who publicly avow the falsest doctrines, the most notorious heresies, and the most determined schisms. As strange would it be to see loyal Britons

forming a political association with, or furnishing money and arms to, those whom they knew to be exciters of sedition, abettors of privy conspiracy, and promoters of rebellion" Whatever may be the fate of Mr. Lingard, we trust that his lordship, for the sake of public justice, will at least take care that the author of this atrocious calumny "shall be summoned to answer for his offensive demeanour in Westminster-hall."

FRANCE.

We have already alluded to a Decree of Bonaparte, founded on a report of Carnot, recommending the establishment of schools in France, on the model of Bell and Lancaster, for the education of two millions of children who require primary instruction. The following is a copy of the Decree; and though Bonaparte appears now to approach the crisis of his fate, we trust that this decree will not be reversed.

Considering the importance of education for improving the state of society; considering that the methods hitherto used in France, have not attained that degree of perfection which it is possible to reach, and desiring to place this branch of our institutions on a footing with the intelligence of the age, we have decreed, and do decree as follows:

"Art. 1. Our Minister of the Interior shall invite around him the persons who deserve to be consulted as to the best methods of primary education. He shall examine and decide on those methods, and direct the experiment of such as he shall deem preferable.

"2. There shall be opened at Paris, an experimental school of primary education, so organized as to serve for a model, and to become a normal school, to form primary teachers.

"3. After satisfactory results shall have been obtained from this school of experiment, our Minister of the Interior shall propose to us the measures calculated to enable all the departments to enjoy all the advantages of the new methods which shall have been adopted."

THEOLOGY.

tical Dictionary; by John Robinson, D. D.