any regard to it, when its paid, cherished, patronized, and licenced guardians show to it, and their own solemn engagements, no serious regard. Between such ministers and themselves, they can see no difference but what is in their own favour. Nay, they conceive themselves to have greatly the advantage; and therefore they are by this confirmed in their sceptical notions. Their conduct being more consistent with the principles they hold, they readily conclude that they are the more honest, and therefore the more deserving of the general esteem, than those who, professing religion to be of the utmost importance to the souls of men, neither seriously attend to it themselves, nor teach it to those to whom both

by law and duty they are so solemnly

bound.

"Beside these, there are others, who, on witnessing such improper and inexcusable conduct, make it the ground of their secession from the Established Church. Whether they are justified in this, is a different question; but such a handle being given for the keen remark and sarcasm of those who are opposed to that form of religion which the state provides, they naturally conclude that they will be better instructed and cared for in a religious sense, by those who

make it their constant business and unwearied and personal care to attend upon the very thing, than by those who by their constant absence from their charge, render it impossible for them to give, as well as difficult for others to believe that they have any, the least regard for their spiritual welfare. To defend such persons and practices, is out of the power of any conscientious man. To rebut the charges brought against them, or against the rulers of the church for permitting or tolerating them, much more for abetting them, is utterly impossible. On all sides, therefore, the church is exposed to contempt, reproach, and danger. She

has lost the respect, esteem, and confidence of millions, who, had things been otherwise, would never have left her pale. The consequence is, she is so rapidly on the decline, that without a speedy, and I had almost said an unlooked-for change for the better, she will certainly fall; and I will leave those who are wise in politics to say, what will then become of the civil constitution of the state.". pp 136-138.

Let the representations and warnings of this volume be attended to by all whom they concern. Let it not henceforth be said that we are Dissenters without cause.

The ground of our dissent, indeed, is very different from stated by Mr. Alcaster, and inany thing dependent of the specific evils of which he complains. We believe that Christ's kingdom is not of this world; but that the Church of England, and all Established Churches, are of this world. We believe in the divine right of any Christian congregation to choose its own officers; which the Church by law established does not allow. We believe in the exclusive lord

ship and authority of Christ in his own church, and cannot submit to human authority in religion; no, not for an hour. We believe that it is a glorious privilege to draw near to the throne of God in our own words, when expressing our own feelings, or called to express the feelings of others; and cannot submit to have our desires restricted, and our language dictated by any human being. All this, and much more, is, with us, matter of firm and undoubted faith; so that, though the Church of England as pure as Mr. Acaster could devise or effect, we should still claim our right and privilege to worship according to the way which he would "call sect, the God of our fathers.' If asked to furnish additional reasons, however, we shall not in future refer to Towgood, but to the "Church in Danger from herself," by the Rev. John Acaster.

were

Mr. A. is afraid of his church; he trembles for the ark of God.

He is looking for nothing short of an ecclesiastical suicide; a spiritual felo de se. We would admonish him to save his own soul in time. He is trying to heal what never can be healed; to reconcile what is irreconcilable. To make that which is carnal, spiritual; and that which is worldly, heavenly. We know nothing of him, but should be glad to see him employ

2. The Debates in both Houses of Parlia

ment relative to the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, as reported in "The Times" Newspaper, with a Preface by the Rev. John Burder, A. M. To which is added, a List of

the Majority and Minority in both Houses, and a Copy of the New Act. Baldwin and Co. 8vo. pp. 230. 4s. 6d. 3. The Repeal of the Sacramental Test a Cause of Gratitude and Joy. A Discourse delivered in Camberwell Meeting House on Lord's Day, May 25, 1828. by William Orme. Holdsworth and Ball, 8vo. pp. 50. 1s. 6d.

4. A Sermon in grateful Commemoration of the Repeal of the Sacramental Test, preached in New Court, Carey Street, May 18, 1828, by Robert Winter, D.D. Black, Young, and Co. 8vo. pp. 28. Price 1s.

5. Report of the Speeches and Proceedings at a Dinner to commemorate the Abo lition of the Sacramental Test, on Wednesday, 18th of June, 1828, at Freemason's Hall: H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex in the Chair, Wm. Smith, Esq. Deputy Chairman. Taken in short hand by Mr. Gurney. R. Hunter, 8vo. pp. 78. 3s. DID these pamphlets relate to events of momentary excitement,

or of transient influence, we might deem it necessary to explain why our notice of them has been thus long delayed; but as they embody principles which are uninjured by the lapse of time, and have only commenced the exhibition of their potency over the public mind, we make no apology for their delay, which indeed has secured this advantage, that we are able to bring before our readers, in one article, all the memorials of the bloodless victory that has been achieved, the date of which will form an epoch whereby the future bistorians of our country will be able to compute the commencement of England's perfect religious freedom!

Two centuries have not passed away since the founders of our Congregational Churches first advocated the rational and righteous principles of religious freedom. Persecuted by the State, and reviled alike by the Episcopalian and Presbyterian advocates of Uniformity, some of them fled to the American wilderness, while others endured at home the cruel taunts, and more cruel tortures of those who imagined that the minds of men were to be cut to pattern like college caps and cowls, episcopal stoles or Geneva cloaks. Noble hearted men! They went forth scattering the precious seed which was nourished with their tears and their blood, while it is our happiness, as their descendants, to return from the field rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with13.

"the year of release was at hand;" "the time to favour our Zion, yea, the set time, was come."

With the triumphant discussion of this measure, on the memorable 28th of February, 1828, all our readers must be familiar. They will recollect, to use the felicitous language of Lord John Russell, "that the Government took a clear, open, and decided part against us; they summoned their followers from every part of the Empire, nay, they issued a sort of hatti scheriff for the purpose; they called upon every one within their influence, who professed the faith of a true Mussulman, to follow them in opposing the measure, but notwithstanding their opposition in the debate, their arguments were found so weak, and, in the division, their numbers were found so deficient, that nothing could be more decided than our triumph, both in the debate, and upon the division.”*

It is not our business, however, to write the history of the bill, in all the stages of its parliamentary progress, until the 9th of May, when the Commissioners, in the name of His Majesty, gave to it the constitutional finale, le roy le veut. These are fully recorded in the pamphlets before us, and we cordially agree with the remark of Rev. John Burder, "that there is an evident propriety in the press, which was indirectly the instrument of this success, becoming the monument on which the record of the victory may be inscribed."

The Test Act Reporter was a monthly publication, instituted to assist the late application, by diffusing statements and reports of the case, and its discussion in all the modes which the free institutions of our country permit. Besides a

* The numbers were, For the motion 237 Against it....193

Majority.. 44

full report of the proceedings of the United Committee, and other bodies, it contains a long and original report of the debates, which took place in both Houses of Parliament, and which is the most full and complete that has been published.

"The Debates," &c. are avowedly a reprint from the Times Journal, which, though generally distinguished for its accuracy, yet cannot be supposed to give so full, or correct a report, as those which were not prepared to meet the urgent demands of a diurnal paper. Mr. Burder informs us, "that a young tradesman, at some risk, has voluntarily undertaken this work," and we, therefore, do not wish to injure its sale by establishing a comparison. The following extracts from Mr. Burder's preface will be acceptable to our readers."

"It would be strange indeed, if, as a For, notwithstanding that for more than Protestant Dissenter, I did not rejoice. a hundred years, we and our forefathers had been allowed to worship God, unmolested, yet, so long as those excluding

statutes existed, Dissenters were treated as a company of evil-doers, tolerated indeed, but only tolerated. Now, the stigma is effaced, and the fact that Dissenters are worthy of the confidence of the State, (a fact which had been long admitted by all persons not remarkably deficient in knowledge or candour) is practically recognized by the Government of the empire.

"More than ever then are we now

disposed to honour the King; a duty which we did not neglect even in less happy times, having learned both from the precepts of the Bible and from the example of our ancestors to associate loyalty with the fear of God' and the love of the brotherhood.' It is true that in the days of King Charles I., and of King James II., the Puritans were but it should be recollected that it was generally found on the side of liberty; not until after they had endured much and grievous provocation that they ceased to be loyal. When the constituent parts of the Legislature were broken asunder, and it became necessary to determine to which portion of the divided government they should attach themselves, can it be

deemed wonderful that they should side with the party which seemed at least to be disposed to protect them, rather than with those who aimed to extinguish their dearest rights and privileges? We verily believe that there is not one Englishman in a thousand, now living, be he Dissenter or Churchman, Whig or Tory, who, had he lived in the days of the Stuarts, would not have then acted the same part. Yet it must not be supposed that the nonconformists of those times approved of all that was done by the Parliament and by Cromwell. The taking away of the life of the King, for example, was particularly displeasing to many of them.

"Since the year 1688, when, to the manifest advantage of both parties, the mutual duties of governors and of the governed were clearly defined, Dissenters have been uniformly distinguished for loyal conduct. Successive princes of the House of Brunswick have reckoned them among their most orderly and devoted subjects. Every extension of privilege must needs augment our attachment to those from whom the boon is received; and considering the great importance of the measure lately adopted in our behalf, in connexion with other liberal acts of government which affect the community at large, we are warranted in saying that there never was a time when the Dissenting portion of the population of England entertained a more cordial good-will to the constitution and to the sovereign than that which is now felt.

"But 1 rejoice in the event which this book records, not as a Dissenter merely,

but as a Christian.

"Is it possible to conceive of any thing more directly opposed to the design for

which our Lord and Saviour instituted

the Holy Supper than the abominations to which the acts in question gave rise? It is truly matter of thanksgiving that, in this respect at least, our national guilt will be diminished; and not a little gratifying will it be to the pious reader of these pages, to observe, in some of the speeches here recorded, the stress which was laid on this point, not by ecclesiastics merely, but by laymen. In fact, the joy which this event produces, springs not only or chiefly from the benefit which Dissenters, as such, anticipate from it, but from the indication it affords of the prevalence of just notions, among the influential classes of society, to a degree not before fully known, on the subjects both of religion and of religious liberty, particularly on the distinction which should be made between what a man is as a member of society, and what he is as a worshipper of God. N. S. No. 57.

"I rejoice also as an Englishman, satisfied as I am that this auspicious event will promote the welfare of my native land. How can it be other than beneficial when it most obviously tends to conciliate parties who have been too much disposed to regard one another as aliens ? The members of the Established Church, perceiving the confidence which the National Senate and the Sovereign repose in Dissenters, by making them eligible to office, will be more inclined than ever to check those feelings of superciliousness and suspicion with which it is but too natural for persons who are in possession of exclusive privileges to regard those who are not so highly favoured; while Dissenters, on the other hand, remembering the generous conduct of their fellow-subjects of the National Church, in their having almost universally abstained from endeavours to prevent the success of the late application to Parliament for the Repeal, and by their having, in many instances, rendered essential service towards obtaining the Repeal, will feel themselves compelled to look upon their conforming neighbours with the most perfect good-will. The liberality evinced by the dignitaries of the Church of England, especially while the question was under discussion in Parliament, can never be forgotten."pp ii.-iv.

The sentiments of Mr. Burder are in accordance with those of his brethren who rejoiced in the Repeal, not merely as partizans and patriots, but as Christians, and therefore, in most of their pulpits, devout acknowledgments were presented to the Almighty, by whose gracious providence it was achieved, and sentiments were offered for the meditations of their people, calculated to promote loyalty to the Sovereign, tranquillity in the nation, and charity amongst all men.

We have two very favourable specimens of these thanksgiving discourses before us. Mr. Orme discusses the religious part of the question with his accustomed energy and perspicuity, and closes with the following impressive and practical remarks.

"As I firmly believe, that the measure under consideration has been intended by the Legislature of the country 3 S