In p. 330, speaking of the Conversion of Cyprian, whose opinion of Regeneration by Baptism perfectly agrees with that now maintained by the generality of our learned Divines, his words are: "He (Cyprian) seems to record a remarkable influence of Divine Grace as having accompanied his Baptism." And page 331 he adds, "In Cyprian's time to call Baptism itself the New Birth was not very dangerous; in our age it is poison itself." He acknowledges this to have been the doctrine of the Primitive Christians. Why should not the same be taught by us at the present day? and why should we be considered guilty of disseminating poison if we persist in that course?

In summing up the character of Cyprian, p. 468, he says:

"The frequency of such Bishops in Europe is devoutly to be wished! What avail good sense, taste, learning, without Christian simplicity, and a heart above the world, its flatteries or its frowns! Contemplate study the character of the Prelate of Carthage, and you will learn what Christian Bishops once were, and what still they ought to be."

What an invidious comparison! Examine the whole Bench of our Bishops, and a more exemplary assemblage of Divines, eminent for learning and piety, I will venture to assert,

4

without fear of contradiction, can no where be found.

But the manner in which he speaks of the Regular Clergy, at the conclusion of the first volume, is, in my opinion, the most objectionable in the whole book.

They are apt to wonder that the common people have no ears for them. selves have no voice for the people. The They do not consider that they themviews of God, of Christ, and of human nature, which they exhibit, suit not the unsophisticated taste of the common people; but rather accord with the pert and vain notions of dabblers in Theology and Metaphysics. In a word, they contradict experience; and it is not to be wondered at that those of their hearers who have any reasonable modesty, and the least tincture of humility, canonly food which is adapted to the taste not relish their discourses, because the

of a miserable sinner is not ministered to them. Deserted by the populace, such Ministers as these usually betake themselves to the higher classes. The favour of a few persons of rank compensates to them the want of regard from the multitude: and if they cannot boast of numerous congregations, they console themselves at least with the thought, that their's are genteel. Their own account of them is, that they are fairs of the nation-the reformation of genteel and rational.' Politics-the afStates-these are to them the grand scenes which agitate their passions.To instruct Ministers of States is their ambition; to bring souls to Christ is left to those whom they contemptuously call Enthusiasts. Nor does the least true pathos appear in any of their writings and orations, except in support of civil liberty—a subject most important and most valuable, no doubt, but with them ever carried to excess; and even when treated in its best manner, belonging rather to the province of Statesmen and Legislators, than to that of Divines. Whoever has attended to the demeanour of these men, cannot fail to have marked them as evidently haughty, overbearing, impatient of contradiction; and of all others the least fitted in their tempers to suffer for the Cross of Christ. They are, however, exceedingly prone to represent themselves as actually persecuted, to enlarge on the iniquity of all restraining and excluding laws in ecclesiastical concerns. And lastly, with much arrogance to boast of their sincerity and soundness in matters of Religion; and in an age when every one knows that there is not the least

probability of their being compelled to

undergo

tions and additions. What proof is there that the two first Chapters, which now form the commencement of St. Matthew, were not among these additions? The fact, I am convinced, is otherwise; but is there any work in which this particular point is made the subject of discussion?

I know that several of your Correspondents are distinguished, not only by their classical erudition, but by a profound knowledge of Theology; and I have therefore taken the liberty of proposing these questions. Yours, &c. CLERICUS.

rienced Reader against those unfair insinuations against us, which lie scattered in various parts of the first volume; and I fervently hope that in a future edition the learned and dignified Editor will omit these offensive passages. CLERICUS.

I

Mr. URBAN,

May 18. SHALL be much obliged to any of your learned Readers to furnish me with an answer to the following queries:

1. Among other proofs of the genuineness of the Genealogy in St. Matthew's Gospel, the following quotation is said to be translated from the Stromata of Clemens Alexandrinus." In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, the genealogy from Abraham is brought down to Mary, the mother of the Lord." In what part of the Stromata is this passage to be found, or is it taken from some other work of Clemens ?

2. Objections have been advanced

by a few latitudinarian writers against the reality of the Flight of Joseph and Mary with our Saviour into Egypt, when the circumstances stated by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke are accurately compared. In what author is the best solution to be found, of the difficulties said to

exist in this case?

3. The Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew in use among the Nazarenes, was allowed by Jerome (according to the best Writers) to have been originally identical with our present Gospel of that Evangelist, but to have been greatly corrupted by interpolaGENT. MAG. Suppl. LXXXVII. PART 1.

C

Mr. URBAN,

N

June 3.

p. 103, some notice was taken of an Edition of Melmoth's "Great Importance of a Religious Life," in which certain and important alterations were made by the Editor J.D.; with how much candour and honesty it is not now my business to enquire.

From circumstances which came to my knowledge, and not by any means from the initials only, I then concluded the Editor of that book to be no other than the late Dr. John Disney, of whose publications you have given an ample account in your present volume, p. 189; into which I accordingly looked, fully expecting to have seen it mentioned: but I have been disappointed.

The grounds upon which I rest my opinion are far from being light. An unauthorised contradiction of it, therefore, will fail to convince me that I am mistaken in attributing the work in question to him.

Mr. URBAN,

O-N R-D.

Somers Town, June 10.

ONE of the greatest blessings ap

pertaining to a candid and impartial press, is the facility afforded to expose falsehood and detect imposition. In furtherance of this object, I make bold to address you, deeming it a sufficient apology for requesting the insertion of my letter in your very valuable publication.-It is not my intention to enter into the heavy charge of Intolerance brought against the Church of Rome, because she stedfastly adheres to her constant discipline of refusing an indiscriminate distribution of the Holy Scriptures; but I cannot help bringing before the

notice

notice of your Readers the unjustifiable and disgraceful practices pursued by some individuals who espouse an opposite opinion, to sustain the charge, and keep alive those groundless prejudices which unhappily exist in this kingdom against the tenets of the Catholic faith. I have now before me a Pamphlet, published by Mr. Hatchard, bookseller to the Queen, which is stated in the title to be "A Report of the Speech of John Leslie Foster, Esq. in the House of Commons, on a motion made by the Right Hon. Henry Grattan, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee on the Petition of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, on Friday, May 9th, 1817.”—To this Report is attached an "Appendix," containing two documents in Latin, the one purporting to be a "Bull, or Pontifical Letter, to the Archbishop of Gnezn, Primate of Poland;" and the other a "Bull, or Pontifical Letter, to the Archbishop of Malines."-By the reports published of Mr. Foster's speech in the daily papers, we were informed that this Senator read a long extract from the former document; and by this pamphlet we are further told that Mr. F. quoted the following from the latter instrument, to the Honourable House, as the sentiments of the See of Rome on the great work of distributing Bibles to every class of mankind in the Universe: "We are worn down with poignant and bitter grief at hearing of the pernicious designs not very long ago entered upon, by which the most holy books of the Bible are every where dispersed in the several vernacular tongues, and published contrary to the most wholesome rules of the Church, with new translations, which are craftily perverted into bad meanings. But we were still more deeply grieved when we read certain letters signed with the name of you, our Brother, wherein you authorised and exhorted the people committed to your care to procure for themselves modern versions of the Bible, or willingly to accept them, and carefully and attentively to peruse them.-Nothing certainly could more aggravate our grief than to behold you, who were placed to point out the ways of righteousness, become a stumbling-block; for you ought carefully to have kept in view what our Predecessors have

always prescribed; namely, that, if the Holy Bible in the vulgar tongue were permitted every where without discrimination, more injury than benefit would arise." "The whole of this document" (adds the Pamphlet, p. 43) "is much too long for repetition here: it finally enjoins the Archbishop to emulate the example of illustrious men, which procured for them such honour, and consider how he might reprobate these his deeds by a solemn and formal retractation." Although, on the appearance of the first of these documents, it was evidently not of Roman origin, but of British manufacture; yet the means of detection were not so easy to satisfy the public mind as are afforded by the publication of the second.→ The authenticity of the Bull to the Primate of Poland rests on no other authority than the assertion of an anonymous writer; but that the mandate to Flanders is a palpable forgery cannot be doubted for a moment, when your readers are informed that there is not in existence, at this moment, such a character in the Catholic Church as an Archbishop of Malines. The Bull is said to be dated on the 3d of September, 1816, and issued to the venerable Archbishop Stanislaus; but a reference to the celebrated Remonstrance of the Belgian Bishops, to the King of the Netherlands, dated July 28, 1815, will prove that the Archdiocese was then vacant, and under the government of a Vicar-General; and an appeal to the "Almanach Royal de la Cour, des Provinces Meridionales, et de la Ville de Bruxelles, pour l'an 1817," will shew that the See is still unfilled, being directed by the same Vicar-General. Such a fatal error as this completely invalidates the genuineness of the document, and stamps it as a gross counterfeit.

This being the case, perhaps the Gentleman whose name is attached to this Pamphlet, as the pronouncer of the Speech in question, will candidly disavow any participation in what may appear an attempt to de lude the publick. To offer any further animadversions on the disgraceful and unwarrantable practice of forging official instruments for the purpose of maliguing the characters of Foreign Princes, would be to insult the reasoning faculties of your

readers;

THE

source,

ON THE REPUBLICAN MANIA. Hâc Fonte derivata Clades, In Patriam Populumque fluxit. Unceasing slaughter took from hence its [course, And o'er the world display'd its fatal HE Jacobin spirit, which has disturbed the world for many years, and deluged it with blood, has greatly arisen from the spirit of Infidelity. This spirit was prevalent among some men in France, who falsely called themselves Philosophers. But the greatest leader in Jacobin principles, to the disgrace of human nature, was an ignorant scribbler, who had been bred a stay-maker, Thomas Paine. It is a certain and indisputable fact, that this pestilent fellow, who was an enemy to Christianity as well as to Monarchy, was a principal promoter, if not the author, of the Revolution in America. It was through him that the wide arch of the rais'd empire fell." He published a large Pamphlet under the title of "Common Sense," which caused the declaration of Independence in the United States of America, against the better opinion of General Washington, and many of the most respectable and intelligent people in the country.

When I went to America after the unhappy Revolutionary war, Governor Livingston, of the Jerseys, told me that General Washington had mentioned that he lamented the separation of the United States from Great Britain (in which he, Gover nor Livingston, agreed); and that they both wished Great Britain had go

verned constitutionally, as they feared the Americans would never make a permanent government. There was nothing to justify a Revolution in America. The Revolution was not only injurious to Great Britain, but may be prejudicial to America itself. A Republic will never do in a large country, but tends to produce anarchy and despotism. But where the Republic of the United States became particularly mischievous, was in the desire of the Americans to make Republics universal through the world. That apostle of the Devil, Thomas Paine, went to France with this express view, and too fatally succeeded in his design. What seas of blood, what rapes, what robberies, what tyranny, what gigantic evils, proceeded from the Republic in France, it is almost unnecessary to mention. The hurled upon the Americans for provengeance of Heaven seemed to be ducing the accursed Republic in France. As it is said in Scripture, "They provoked the Almighty to wrath by their inventions, and the plague brake in upon them.”

19

In the year 1793, soon after they had instituted Liberty and Equality, as they called them, in France, and sung their frantic songs of "Ca Ira,' the Black Plague of Africa broke out in Philadelphia, where I then resided. This was improperly named the Yellow Fever. In the West Indies those who die of the Bilious, or Yellow Fever, have a yellow appearance, and give no fear whatever of

contagion. In the disorder at Philadelphia, and in other parts of the United States, those who die are black, and in the large cities spread contagion all around. In the year 1793 I was in the custom of going round to those houses in Philadel phia where people had died of the disorder; and upon asking what appearance those bore who were lying dead, was told, "They are as black as your hat." The Right Honour able Sir Robert Liston, who had been the British Embassador at Constantinople before he was in that situ ation in America, and is now again at Constantinople, said the disorder called the Yellow Fever in America was a much more violent and * infec

the

tious disorder than the plague at Constantinople. We could not produce a more satisfactory evidence upon the matter. It was asserted by ignorant men, that the disorder at Philadelphia was not the plague, because it was devoid of the characteristic eruptions. The Asiatic plague is attended with eruptions, and is more easy to be cured than the African plague, which has no eruptions, but is attend-. ed with a black vomit, and is similar to the Yellow Fever of America, as two peas are like one another. I was in Philadelphia at the time the disorder broke out, as I have mentioned, and saw in the river with my own eyes, the vessels which had brought the Bulam Fever (as they call it), or African Plague, from the West Indies, where it had been first imported from Africa.

It is very remarkable that any thing like this disorder was but little known in America before the year 1793; that it has since incessantly continued its ravages in the United States*, without afflicting the British provinces in America; which seems (we may say without the imputation of fanaticism) that it were a judgement, that something like the hand of Heaven directed the beginning and the progress of the disorder.

It is against the principles of our Religion to kill kings, according to the wishes of Thomas Paine and his disciples. The Apostle of God enjoins us expressly to "Fear God, and honour the King." A Christian cannot, consistently with the Gospel, be a Republican in the British dominions, where a Monarchy has been long established.

The Sacred Prophecies declare, at the final restoration of the Jews, which is not very distant (though the time has been anticipated by some

false prophets +, for all the twelve tribes must be first converted) that "Kings shall be their nursing fathers, and Queens their nursing mothers;" or, in other words, Kings and Queens shall be their patrons and patronesses. If we could universally establish Republics, and put down Kings, we should defeat the designs of Providence, divulged by the Prophets of the Almighty. The Republican delusion is therefore somewhat similar to the madness of the Roman Emperor Julian, who attempted in vain to build the Temple at Jerusa lem before the time appointed by the true Prophets of God.

The American Republic, therefore, in attempting to procure the general establishment of Republics (I must say at the same time that I am a warm advocate for the civil and religious liberties of America) has be come a nuisance to the world, a mischief, a foe to peace, and an enemy to liberty. For a Republic in a large Nation in the end is destructive to Liberty; while a constitutional Monarchy is calculated to produce liberty, permanently, with order.

LOYALTY AND LIBERTY.

Mr. URBAN,

July 2.

YOUR Correspondent, D. A. Y. ap

pears to have been led to an unfavourable opinion of Dr. Nicholas Bounde's religious principles, as far at least as respects the observance of the Fasts and Festivals of the Church, by the remarks of Dr. Heylin, cited in your last Number. It should, however, be recollected that, much as the name of Dr. Heylin is respected to this day in other respects, he has always been considered as very eccentric, to say the least, in his notions on the obligation of the Sabbath. His very censure of Dr. Bounde almost

manifests