lers, we thought it best to renew the same amity, and to confirm it by these our letters; most earnestly desiring you, that we may altogether teach and practise that true knowledge of God's word, which we have learned in this our banishment, and by God's special providence seen in the best reformed churches: that, considering our negligence in times past, and God's punishment for the same, we may with zeal and diligence endeavour to recompense it; that God in all our doings may be glorified, our consciences discharged,

and the members of Jesus Christ relieved and comforted. Which the Lord God, who hath mercifully visited and restored, grant and perform: to whom be honour, praise, and glory, for ever and ever. Your loving friends."

This affectionate epistle was subscribed by Coverdale, Goodman, Gilby, Pullain, Whittingham, Knox, and some others, in behalf of the church at Geneva; to which their brethren at Arran and Frankfort returned the most friendly answers.

(To be concluded in our next.)

CAUSES WHICH RETARD THE PRO

GRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN IN

HIS COURSE.

WHEN a man has entered the strait gate, and the narrow way which leadeth unto life, and the first difficulties have been surmounted, he is too apt to calculate upon a smooth and unobstructed path. This is a mistake, which it is of some importance to remove. Not that we should give a gloomy and repulsive view of personal piety, for it is the only spring of genuine peace and happiness; but from the state of man and of the world, obstacles and hindrances must be expected through the whole course we have to pursue. He who sets his face towards Zion, and lifts his heart to the New Jerusalem, should beware of imbibing a party spirit. The social sympathies of nature are very strong; and when any one under the influence of conscience has broken away from the connexion of a dissolute and corrupt world, and begins to adhere to some distinct body of religionists, a new passion is often engendered, which, if analyzed, may be found to have more of power in it than of purity.

Attachment to his new friends, quickly identifies him with all their interests, opinions, aims, and objects. But party spirit, whatever promptitude and activity it. may produce in one direction, has an undeniable tendency to cramp and contract the mind with reference to the grand realities and paramount concerns of the kingdom of Christ. It supplies a pungent stimulus, which quickens certain movements of the inner man, but weakens and impairs its general habit of spiritual health and prosperity.

Perhaps

Another cause which retards the progress of the Christian in his course, is the entanglement of worldly cares. We are far from thinking the duties of religion, and the ordinary pursuits of agriculture, trade, or commerce, inconsistent with each other. there is no condition exposed to more temptations, than a state of leisure and independence. But while a Christian is commanded to be diligent in business, as well as fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, he ought to take heed that he be not absorbed in the cares of the world. One successful project or

undertaking opens the way to another, till engagements multiply and thicken, so as to perplex and harass the mind, and encroach upon that time which has been devoted to God. Yet he who makes it a point of conscience to abstain from the light and frivolous amusements of the gay and fashionable, is not equally alive to the danger which the sober plodding drudges of the world incur. By his very exemption from the former, he is the more liable to be, unawares, involved in the latter.

Nor is the advancement of a good man in his Christian course a little checked, strange as the assertion may appear, by taking a too prominent and engrossing part in those valuable institutions, which are designed to enlighten and meliorate mankind. It may sound like a paradox to say, that a person may be actively employed in promoting the religion of others, and losing the power and savour of it himself, at the same time; but facts have frequently demonstrated, that this is sometimes the case. When the bustle and business of public meetings draw us into the focus of splendid patronage, warm admiration, and marked notoriety, and detach us from the necessary and all-important duties of the family and the closet, the mournful consequences may be confidently predicted. All the

healthful movements of the divine life are impeded; all the enjoyments of devotion are blighted and soon wither away. He who has said, "Them that honour me, will I honour," withdraws the light of his countenance, and the grace of his good Spirit, and then inward darkness and death-like torpor pervade and oppress the soul. Another cause which retards the Christian in his course, is the turning of that anxiety to ascertain the evidence of his state, which ought to be directed to its advancement. "Some," says Archbishop Leigh

ton, "are employed almost entirely on considering whether they are in the right way, or in childishly telling their steps. They would know, at every pace, whether they advance or not, and how much they advance; and thus spend the time of action, the time of making progress, in questions and doubts. Would it not be a far more wise

and comfortable course, to be pressing forwards, and if we make little progress, at least to desire and labour to make more; to be praying and striving for this purpose, not satisfied with any thing we have already attained, but yet not discouraged, but rather excited by the view of our defects, to proceed with fresh vigour? So it was with St. Paul. Forgetting the things which were behind, and reaching forth unto the things which were before, he pressed forward, as if nothing had yet been done; and as one who runs in a race, does not look back to see how much he has already run, but forward to the ground he has yet to pass, and to the mark and end of the race."

But it is an easier matter to point out the obstacles of our way, than to remove them, to describe incumbrances, than to shake them off. The Christian is called to lay aside every weight, every pressing load of care, every besetting sin, that he may so run as to obtain the prize before him. While he seeks and esteems the fellowship of the saints, let him not wear the fetters of party-spirit; while he sets an example of industry in business, let him not submit to the trammels and shackles of the world. And when he takes his part in aiding the public institutions, which spread the knowledge and grace of God among men, let him beware that he do not neglect the sacred duties of home.

The grand secret of soul-prosperity, is intimate fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus

Christ. He that is much with God, shall receive much from God. He lives a life of faith, of prayer, of peace. The light of heaven shines upon his path, and he runs without weariness, and walks without fainting. As there is a fulness of joy in reserve for him, there is a foretaste of that joy given as he journies towards it. He is per· mitted to eat of the hidden manna, to draw water from the wells of salvation, to triumph in the savour of the knowledge of Christ, to sing in the ways of Zion, and to look with ardent desire and confident hope to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for him.

AMICUS B.

γε ύποτάσις τῷ πατρός, ΑΛΛΗ το ὐιω, ΑΛΛΗ τῇ ἁγιό πνεύματος : For there is one Hypostasis of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost." But the Nicene Creed pronounces anathema on such as say "the Son is of another Hypostasis: 'Hét ΕΤΕΡΑΣ ύποτάσεως — φάσκοντας εἶναι—τάτες αναθεματίζει.” Can contradiction be more palpable?

As these Creeds oppose each other, it is difficult to say what is the established doctrine concerning the person of Christ. Modern Churchmen are very loud in their declarations, that the Articles are neither Calvinistic nor Arminian. Perhaps it may, with equal propriety, be affirmed, that they are neither Trinitarian nor Arian, exclusively, as they sometimes favour one hypothesis, and sometimes the other.

DISSENTING ACADEMY.

On looking over a Report of one of our Dissenting Academies, I was struck with the assertion, that the theological tenets maintained in that Institution were agreeable to the doctrinal Articles of the Church of England. As I have long considered the Articles of the incorporated sect to be favourable to Arianism, I hope the above declaration is to be taken with considerable limitations.

The eighth Article seems intended as an epitome of the established Creed, and affirms, that "the Nicene Creed, Athanasius's Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed; for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Scripture." But, with deference to these dogmatists, it is certain these Creeds cannot be proved by Scripture. They therefore ought not to be thoroughly received and believed. And, in fact, they are not, and cannot be, thoroughly believed by any man; for the Athanasian Creed affirms, "AAAH

places in the Liturgy" where the phrases favour the Nicene doctrine, and but 27 places where they lean to the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed. The Nicene doctrine, therefore, seems to have the best claim to be considered as the doctrine of the Church of England.

"If I were an Arian," says Dr. Wilton, "I should have no objection to the phraseology of the Nicene Creed.-It professes a belief in Jesus, as Ocóv éκ Oε, God of God, one God derived from and dependent upon another God for his existence. The phrase is not used in respect to any subordination of office, but in reference to his Being and divine nature." Dr. Clarke, of St. James's, is generally considered an Arian; yet his scheme is perfectly consonant to the Nicene Creed, and with the second Article, which teaches, "The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God of one substance with the Father," &c. This is not spoken of our Lord's human,

but divine nature. But to assert that the Saviour's divine nature was begotten, is downright Arianism. Bishop Bull tells us, the Nicene fathers held, that the Father was to the Son αίτιον τῷ εἶναι, the cause of his existence. A living author of considerable celebrity, (Dr. Adam Clarke,) says-of the Nicene fathers, "Their method of explaining the divine nature of our blessed Lord is liable to many exceptions. Begotten of the Father before all worlds—begotten, not made. How can such expressions be admitted, and the eternity of Christ's divine nature be credited? It is said Arius subscribed this Creed; and well he might; and so may every Arian in the universe, and be an Arian still. But a genuine Trinitarian, who believes the infinite and eternal godhead of Christ, and who properly considers the import of the terms made use of by the Council, could not, in my opinion, either subscribe it peace or conscience' sake." The reflection of Dr. Wilton is both just and solemn: "An honest subscriber is brought into a very critical and dangerous situation. By the Nicene Creed he is sentenced to everlasting damnation, if he believe the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed; by the Athanasian Creed he is anathematized, if he believe the doctrine of the Nicene Creed. To render his damnation inevitable, he is required by the Church of ENGLAND to believe them both, upon pain of being devoted to the devil, for his rejection of either; and by subscribing, ex animo, to the truth of the Article, he sets his own Amen to the complicated curse."

for

It may be proper to observe, that the damnatory clause of the Nicene Creed is not now printed in the Book of Common Prayer, as the placing the anathema of this Creed and that of the Athanasian Creed side by side, could not fail to expose the church to contempt. NEW SERIES, No. 8.

REMARKS ON THE BARREN FIGTREE.-MARK, xi. 13, 14.

IT is well known that the Redeemer's cursing the barren figtree, has given occasion to the following objection.-With what propriety could Christ curse the tree for not having fruit, when it is expressly declared, "for the time of figs was not yet?" And does it not charge absurdity upon any person who should expect fruit before the time? or, who should' reflect upon a tree for not appearing fruitful out of its usual course? This objection has been met in several different ways; but, as it would seem, not to the entire satisfaction of every pious reader. Without adverting to the solutions in general, I shall only state that of the judicious Dr. Doddridge. He paraphrases the last clause of the 13th verse thus-"The time of gathering figs was not yet come," that is, the figs of the last year's growth, which frequently remain on the tree until the putting forth of the figs and leaves of the next season, by which they knew that summer was nigh; and, that then, seeing its barren state, he pronounced it cursed by dooming it to perpetual barrenness, saying, "No man eat fruit hereafter of thee for ever." Should this carry conviction to any reader, it is far from the writer's wish to disturb 3 F