and State from conviction, custom, to the many afforded by history, that not many rich, not many noble, not many mighty, are called-much less chosen: in all ages, the vast majority of disciples and martyrs have been drawn from the lower orders of society, and the results of the present reformation enforces the same truth. If a second Luther were to appear now, he would make no impression, if he could promise nothing tangible. If the results were to spring from great principles sown broadcast in the field of humanity, and therefore requiring long ages to bring them to their full ripeness-if he proposed principles like these, he would be at once pronounced guilty of not being "a practical man." Or, if he showed the fiery zeal of a reformer, they would only sneer, and boast of their own sleepy souls under the euphonious name of "well-regulated minds." The time for the great work is not yet come, for Dissenters are not even equal to Churchmen in policy, much less in learning and ability. They have said much, and with justice, concerning the efficiency of the voluntary principle. and interest. These powers, conjoined with these motives, are too powerful to be vanquished by Dissent in its present unhealthy state. For, after all that is said concerning the intelligence, piety, and energy of Dissenters, they do not possess one half the amount they lay claim to. If they did possess such a portion of these qualities, they would do more towards the dissolution of the union between Church and State. "Every tree is known by its fruit." The greater proportion of Dissenters lies in the manufacturing districts, and among the middle classes of society. Now virtue, intellect, and energy, belong pre-eminently to no single class, but are distributed pretty equally through all. It is true that there is among the middle classes more outward decorum-more desire for "respectability" more mock religion; but when the men are examined individually, and compared with their vaunted claims, they present but a sorry appearance-they are about as good as the rest, and that is all. They are very sharp-sighted in detecting puffing and hypocrisy in the other classes they never mistake a brass farthing for a guinea; but they are uncommonly prone to declare that their own brass farthings are genuine guineas. Persons like these, who are immersed in the temporal business of this life, having a keen eye to the "main chance"-(what an awful expression, to be used by a being with an immortal soul!) and being, moreover, exceedingly thin-skinned, and frightened at the very idea of being called "eccentric" (though the poor word only signifies that you stand outside the common herd of men) persons like these cannot be organized into a great moral power, which can only produce moral results -they like the results to be manifested in hard cash. They are the last persons to move, and the first to stand still, adding another testimony Well, the StateChurchmen have adopted the voluntary principle in the collection of immense sums of money for church building and church endowment: instead of one pocket they now have two. Dissenters pride themselves upon possessing the innocence of the dove; but it would be well for them to adopt the other half of the exhortation, and add the wisdom of the serpent. In a case like this, the one is of little use without the other. The Churchmen, by voluntary contributions, have built and endowed a great number of national schools, training schools, &c. which give them an immense amount of influence, or unseen power, in addition to the state power which they already possess, and which they have greatly enlarged by the appointment of State-Churchmen as Commissioners of Council on Education. By this last manœuvre they being composed of Englishmen, wiser than the priesthoods of other nations, so that thy intelligence gives thee no extra advantage over these priests? When two religious systems which contain about an equal amount of truth and error, are engaged in close contact, as are Episcopalianism and Sectarianism, in the present case, the result depends on the capabilities and acquirements of the leaders; just as where two contending armies possess equal valour and resources, the victory inclines to that which possesses the most skilful general. On the side of the have obtained the control of the national schools lately established; indeed, wherever there is state education, it unavoidably falls into the hands of the state priesthood. This has been the result in France, Prussia, Saxony, the lesser German States, as well as in Austria and Russia. But we fancy we hear some one muttering, that the intelligence of the English people" will prevent it. Ah! that pet phrase, "the intelligence of the English people," is made to stand sponsor to a large family of ugly bantlings, promising that they shall do no mischief; and it fulfils its obli-State Church are ranged such leaders gation, like all god-parents! We have as Whately, Hampden, Thirlwall, discovered all at once that we are the Copleston, Hare, Whewell, Maurice, wisest nation under the sun-that the Trench, Froude, Pusey, Keble, Croly, schemes which ruin other nations will Milman: men illustrious for purity not harm us. We are like Ramo of character, and immense attainSamee, the Indian Juggler, who used ments. What can Dissent oppose to to swallow a long sword, to the won- these? Vaughan, Pye Smith, Harris, der of the spectators. Now the Eng- and Davidson. We are sorry we lish nation does certainly swallow cannot include on the latter side one things quite as perilous, and with as who is equal to the greatest we have much apparent ease. We have swal- mentioned, Isaac Taylor; but, on aclowed an increase of Bishops, Church count of his avowed State Church Appropriation clauses, and more espe- principles, we cannot call him a Discially a National Education Bill; and senter. So long as the Dissenting people say, "We will see there is no ministry and their congregations are damage done." If we go on much inferior to their adversaries in learnlonger with this system of hocus- ing and ability, their attempts to pocus, we shall certainly finish it, like crush the power of the Established poor Ramo Samee, by one day acci- Church are futile. The English nadentally cutting our own throats. tion is the jury before which the cause The wisest of kings once said, "Seest is to be tried, the civilized world thou a man wise in his own conceit, being the audience. It is a great there is more hope of a fool than and holy cause; but if Dissenters enhim." Therefore, since the English gage unskilful and unlearned advonation is become so wise in its own cates, who know not how to make the estimation, it is certainly about to best of a good cause, the jury will not exhibit its folly. The nation is com- find them a verdict. When some one posed of individuals; therefore, my told Martin Luther that the truth was good friends, never again swallow any mighty and would prevail that the such two-edged sword as an Educa- word proclaimed was every thing, tion Bill, trusting to that wide gullet, and the proclaimer and the method, "the intelligence of the English peo- nothing-the Doctor listened to him ple." And did the thought never till he had concluded, and then destrike thee, that in proportion as molished the foolish sophistry by one Englishmen are more intelligent than of his own true and daring sayingsother nations, in exactly the same "Sir, God hath need of learned men." proportion is the English priesthood, True, brave Martin, he does need them; they are the instruments he desires to do his work, and they are accursed if they do not help the Lord against the mighty" of earth and hell. Let Dissenters reflect on this. We have often heard exceedingly hopeful individuals promise great advantage to Dissent, and detriment to the State-Church, from the secession of Baptist Noel; but where is the detriment to the State Church, when for every seceder there are fifty men every way his equal, ready to take his place?* If one hundred clergymen were to secede with him, they would only add a fresh sect to Sectarianism, or be amalgamated with the different sects they joined. In either case Sectarianism is no stronger, for it is one of its strange features, that increased numbers only give increased weakness. As soon as the Methodists became the most numerous sect, they basely deserted their brethren, and made love to the State-Church. And the State-Church would be no weaker, because the Bishops have always more than a sufficient supply of candidates for the vacancies occasioned by death or secession. There are some who say that the Established Church will fall from internal division; but they have never reflected upon the fact, that the Puseyites and Evangelicals, though they differ in some respects in doctrine, are both attached to the State alliance. The former, from the haughty claims of their doctrines, cling to this alliance, in order that they may enlarge their power by grants from the State revenue, and if possible, render the State the servant of the Church-the latter desire the alliance from their dread of the power, learning, and zeal of their brethren the Puseyites, as well as from natural inclination: and both parties present a united front to aggression from without. But what is * We presume the talent of the preacher is here implied. If equally unselfish and candid as Baptist Noel, they would assuredly decline all connection with the State Church. ED. Look at the A number of the power that strives for victory over this well-organized priesthood? A body which is at war with itself—an army whose divisions are engaged in fighting each other, when they have nothing else to do! Look at Sectarianism. There are three sorts of Methodists - Primitive, Wesleyan, and New Connection three sorts of Baptists-General, Scotch, and Particular; besides Unitarians, Quakers, Independents, Plymouth Brethren, Huntingdonians, Muggletonians: but our pen is so shocked at the last name that it refuses to mention any more at present. A body composed of such materials can never work in an efficient manner: all their attempts at organization fail. Evangelical Alliance. sects who generally refuse communion to one another, agree to meet yearly upon certain foundation principles, and for the sake of unity to lay aside, pro tempore, certain characteristic tenets! Of course the men can care nothing for those characteristic tenets, and must therefore be deficient in sincerity and zeal the alliance will, then, be a huge carcase without energy or life. But if the men do value their principles, they will not sacrifice them for this alliance, and the scheme will be dissolved by a mutual quarrel. In either case it is impracticable: there never has been so ridiculous a scheme since the attempt to build Babel. The oak that is the growth of centuries may be overthrown by the hurricane which sweeps along in single and fearful power; but if it blow a dozen ways at once, though it may scatter a few leaves, they will appear again in the spring time, and soon there will be no trace of the storm. And the State Church is like that oak: Dissent, with its various currents, only serves to blow off the dead leaves - the useless, the inefficient parts; but from what quarter is the continuous blast to come, the rushing storm which can alone destroy it? Dissent looks, and is despicable, because the principles of Christianity have been perverted— because it has no foundation principles broad enough and massy enough to sustain the myriads of earth. It is one of the great features of Christianity, and significant of its divine origin, that its principles are so simple as to be adapted to the capacity of a child; while they have a breadth and fulness which baffle the comprehension of the most profound intellect: however far we penetrate, we discern fresh glories. An angel might bend his strong wings and float for ages over the starry fields of space, and yet behold the bright scene widening as he gazed and the moral universe has the same vast beauty, and therefore is it that the angels desire to look into these things. But Dissent presents no pleasaut prospect to them; in the place of these broad foundations, men have substituted themselves and their puny creeds. For, mark! in Christianity the man rests upon, and is made by, his creed; but in Sectarianism the creed rests upon the man who made it, and like a pyramid set on its apex, it must fall. Dissent or Sectarianism, then, as it now exists, is a corrupt material, and utterly unable to accomplish the subversion of the State Church; and therefore the State Church will never be destroyed till pure Christianity has obtained a vast majority of disciples. But if this should never come to pass, it will be destroyed by a political revolution, which will awfully punish the sleepy, faint-hearted, and idiotic souls who have neglected their great task-nay, rather, glorious privilege-of undermining evil institutions. It is true that it will be a long struggle, but when has anything glorious been gained without one? If thou art a Bullionist or anti-Bullionist, Tory or Radical, the labour of fifty years shall certainly show thee whether thou art conqueror or conquered; but if thou art a Christian, thou shalt labour, if life be given thee, for an age, and yet discern no outward sign to tell thee whether God is victor, and thy labour not in vain. Thou shalt be like the holy prophets of the olden time, who were zealous for God's glory, and yet saw not his salvation, the fruition of their words and of their hopes; but wilt thou, therefore, be faint-hearted? Saint Augustine, one like thee, has said, "God is patient, because He is eternal ;" and thou canst sleep in peace, for God has promised for thy consolation, that His own word shall not return unto Him void and fruitless. And can God lie? Surely to help God is a great and awful privilege, not lightly to be undertaken, nor vainly to be despised. Art thou faint-hearted ?-does thy soul cleave to the earth ?—sayest thou "I have no talent, no influence, nothing to give to God, no power to assist man ?"-it is an avowal that, if charged upon thee by another, would bring the hot flush of shame and anger to thy cheek. Be assured that however thou mayst palter with the commands of God, and the answering dictates of thy conscience, the hour shall come when thou wilt stand before the omniscient Judge, thy soul bare and naked, under the gaze of that calm and inexorable eye-all thy being merged in conscience, and thy thoughts and actions, the children of thy heart, thine own accusers. Wherefore, reflect! To obtain the crown of life-to live and reign with God-is given to those only who have been "faithful unto death," and who have honestly sought "the advancement of God's glory, and the relief of man's estate.' And now our task is ended. J. G. LEE. September 28th, 1849. [NOTE. We shall shortly issue the fourth in the series of the "Questions of the Present Age."] his lucid, manly, and energetic description of [We feel greatly obliged to Brother Lee, for the ecclesiastical horizon which surrounds us. His new series will be thankfully received. ED.] REFORMATION-No. XII. THE unscriptural language current amongst the religious parties of the day, affords to the reflecting mind one of the strongest evidences of their need of reformation. Such is the intimate connection between words and things, and such the influence of language upon the human mind, that a departure from the "spiritual words" of inspiration necessarily implies a departure from the "things of the spirit." Hence, it is not without reason, that the Apostles enjoin the use of a "sound speech that cannot be condemned," and urge a careful adherence to the "form of sound words" which they delivered, and a cheerful consent to "wholesome words, even the words of the Lord Jesus Christ." Hence, too, it is one of the prominent characteristics of the present religious movement, to insist upon a strict adherence to the express language of the scriptures in regard to every thing belonging to Christianity. phrases in which they are wont to express their favorite views of religion, are really contained in the New Testament - a conviction, which, arising from their opinion of what ought to be, rather from their knowledge of what is, shows that the phraseology in question is, in their estimation, of greater significance and importance, than the less familiar diction of the Holy Spirit. The use of unscriptural language is, as we have said, an evident proof of a departure from the truths revealed in the scriptures. It is an evident proof of this, because it implies that the words used by the inspired writers are insufficient to express the thoughts of the sectary, or that he supposed they might lead to some different or even opposite conclusion. Hence he finds it necessary to add or subtract a qualification, or otherwise to alter or amend them. Now there can be no doubt that they were perfectly fitted to express the thoughts revealed by the Holy Spirit, and their failure to express the thoughts of the sectary is indubitable evidence that his thoughts or views on the subject of religion are not thus presented in the word of God. The doctrinal dissensions by which the religious world have been so long distracted ; the untaught questions which have been introduced since divine revelation ceased; and the The liberty which men have taken partial views of Christianity adopted thus to introduce a new religious lanby each party, required, of course, guage, and to qualify and change the not only that various qualifying terms employed in the scriptures, is epithets should be added to terms of most presumptuous and unwarrantholy writ, but that many terms and able. It is true that this innovation expressions, wholly new, should be has been effected by slow degrees, and invented, in order to express with that the plea that it was necessary to accuracy the views which men have guard against some pestilent heresy been pleased to entertain. These may be urged in defence of all such terms and expressions, consecrated attempted amendments; but however by time, and endeared by their asso- gradual change may account for, it ciation with the favorite tenets which cannot justify that corruption of the they embody, have naturally gained pure language of truth now so genea credit and a currency even greater ral; neither can the existence of any than those of the word of God. In heretical extreme excuse the alterfact, we should hazard nothing in ations and interpolations which partysaying that nine-tenths of the mem-ism has virtually made in those oracles bers of any existing religious party of heaven which should ever be held will be found fully impressed with sacred as the infallible and unalterable the conviction, that the familiar expression of the mind of God. If |