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The same thing was urged, with great earnestness, by MAURICE, the illustrious Prince of Orange, and Governor of confederated Belgium. When the remonstrants saw that their opinions were in danger of being subjected to the judgment of a national Synod, they had recourse to several expedients to prevent it; but proving unsuccessful in these attempts, they began to manifest and encourage, in many places, a spirit of revolt and sedition. But these disturbances only served to show in a more convincing manner, the necessity of calling, with as little delay as possible, a national Synod. Accordingly, a decree was made by the States General, that a national Synod should convene on the first of the next November, and letters were addressed to each of the States of each of the provinces. The method prescribed for the constitution of the national Synod was, that a provincial Synod should meet in each of the provinces, from which six persons should be delegated, and the letters of convocation required that their deputies should be learned and pious men, and greatly loving peace; three or four of the six were required to be pastors; the others, persons well qualified to sit in the general Synod, and examine and remove the existing controversies.

Special and equitable regulations were prescribed for appointing deputies from those classes in which part held with the remonstrants, and a part were opposed to them.

In addition to the letters of convocation addressed to the United Provinces, the States General addressed letters also to James I. King of England; to the Reformed Churches of France; to the Elector Palatine; to the Elector of Brandenburg; to the Landgrave of Hesse; to the four reformed Republics of Helvetia; to the Counts of Correspondentia and Wedevarica; and to the Republics of Geneva, Bremen, and Emben, requesting them to send of their own theologians, excelling in learning, piety, and prudence, to aid the deputies of the Belgic churches to settle the controversies which had arisen, and to restore peace to the same.

All these preparatory steps having been taken, the Synod, according to appointment, convened at Dort, or Dordrecht, on the 13th day of November, A. D. 1618.

Deputies from all the provinces of Holland, and from all the foreign reformed churches which had been invited, attended; except that the theologians of the reformed churches of France were prohibited by the King from attending.

Papers containing elaborate discussions of the five points of controversy, were also sent to the Synod by theologians of eminence, who could not attend, which were read, and inserted in the acts of the Synod.

The theologians who composed the Synod, were among the most learned, pious, and moderate, who ever met in any ecclesiastical council. And that the divine blessing might be obtained on the labours of this venerable body, a day of fasting and prayer was appointed by the government in all the Belgic churches, to deprecate the wrath of God, and to implore his gracious assistance. The Synod being met, and the divine aid and blessing being solemnly invoked, every member bound himself by a sacred oath, THAT HE WOULD TAKE THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ALONE AS THE RULE OF JUDGMENT; AND ENGAGE IN THE EXAMINATION AND DECISION OF THE CAUSE WITH A GOOD AND UPRIGHT CONSCIENCE.

The result of the deliberations of this venerable Synod, may be seen in the translation of the decision to which they came on the five disputed points, as given by Doctor Scott, in the little volume from which we have abridged the above history; and we believe that a knowledge of the facts here stated, may be useful to the American churches at the pre

sent time.

But to those who are capable of reading them, we would strongly recommend the perusal of the whole of the acts of this very important Synod, and of all the theological discussions which were read before it; all of which have been printed, and furnish as able a defence of the doctrines of grace, as can be found in any language. And as to the small diversities of opinion which appeared among the theologians of this Synod, they only serve to prove, that while they were firm and zealous in defending the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, they knew how to exercise a tolerant and liberal spirit towards those who differed from them in matters of minor importance.

Dr. Scott, in speaking of the solemn obligation under which the members came to judge of all matters according to the Holy Scriptures alone, gives this testimony: "In fact, I must give it as my opinion at least, that they did fulfil their solemn engagement; and must confess, THAT FEWER

THINGS APPEAR TO ME UNSCRIPTURAL IN THESE ARTICLES, THAN IN ALMOST ANY HUMAN COMPOSITION I HAVE READ ON THE SUBJECT."

ART. VIII.-MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOSEPH STIBBS

CHRISTMAS.

Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Stibbs Christmas.

By E. Lord. New York, Haven & Leavitt. 12mo. pp. 213. 1831.

THIS is a memorial of a remarkable young servant of Christ, who, to highly respectable talents, added fervent piety, unwearied activity during his short course in the cause of his Master, and those peculiary attractive and amiable qualities which excite ardent affection, as well as respect, and which rendered his early removal by death, a peculiarly mournful event to those who knew him.

Joseph Stibbs Christmas was born in Georgetown, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April 10th, 1803. His father was a native of England, who had settled in this country a number of years before. He very early manifested an ardent thirst for knowledge, and an elegant taste in the imitative arts. After passing through the usual preparatory academic course, he entered Washington College, Pennsylvania, in which institution he graduated in 1819; the first honours of his class having been, without hesitation, conferred upon him by the Board of Trustees. In the summer of that year, while a member of college, his mind underwent a happy revolution on the subject of religion. In his own opinion, and that of his friends, he then practically embraced the faith and hope of the Gospel. It was not, however, until the month of May, 1821, that he united himself in full communion with the Church. The account of his religious experience, which he delivered, in writing, to the Church Session, on that occasion, is preserved in this memoir, and affords a pleasing proof, at once, of the intelligence, the candour, and the piety of the writer.

Soon after thus becoming united with the Church, he resolved to devote himself to the work of the ministry; and, with that view, in the autumn of 1821, he entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton. Here he continued nearly three years; and in the course of his connexion with the institution, manifested that piety, talent, love of knowledge, amiable temper, and polished manners, which distinguished him to the end of his course.

Mr. Christmas was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in the month of April, 1824, a few days after he had completed his twenty-first year. He immediately received an urgent invitation to visit a Presbyterian Church, which had been recently organized in Montreal, Lower Canada, with which he thought it his duty to comply. After preaching to that flock three or four Sabbaths, he was unanimously called to become its Pastor. This, also, he was prevailed on to accept. And having transferred his relation, as a licentiate, from the Presbytery of Philadelphia to that of New York, he was, by an act of the latter Presbytery, ordained to the work of the ministry, and installed Pastor, in the city of Montreal, August 1st, 1824, when he took his seat as a member of the Presbytery by which he had been set apart to the ministerial office.

In the month of June, 1825, he formed a matrimonial connexion with Miss Louisa Jones, daughter of Mr. Perez Jones, of the city of New York, a young lady who, as the writer of the memoir assures us, "by her piety, intelligence, and wisdom, her meek and affectionate spirit, and the dignity and amiableness of her manners, was singularly well suited to him, and to the station she was called to occupy."

In Montreal he continued to reside, and to labour with indefatigable diligence for about four years. The climate, indeed, was soon found to be too rigorous for his delicate constitution; and the inconveniences and disabilities to which he was subjected by the operation of the ecclesiastical establishment, under the malign influence of which Canada is placed, threw many obstacles in the way of a comfortable discharge of his duty. Nevertheless, amidst infirmity, opposition, and many trials, with zeal, firmness, and perseverance, he held on his way: and God was pleased to crown his labours with a very gratifying degree of success. Early in 1827, his ministry was attended by a powerful revival of religion, as the result of which, about one hundred souls appeared to be savingly benefited, and were added to the communion of his Church. In the autumn of the same year, his ministrations were blessed to the hopeful conversion of about thirty more, residing at St. Andrews, a town about forty-five miles west from Montreal, to which he paid a visit of a few weeks. And near the close of the same year, a renewed religious attention appeared in his own pastoral charge, and about twenty more were added to the communion of the Church. VOL. IV. No. II.—2 K

It is gratifying to find, from this memoir, that amidst all the active labours which were necessarily connected with these revivals of religion, and amidst all the trials of his faith, arising from infirm and frequently interrupted bodily health, and the obstacles thrown in his way by government, and by individual adversaries, he was not only sustained in remarkable constancy and fortitude of mind, and animated, from time to time, with new degrees of zeal and ardour of pursuit; but that he also redeemed time enough to make very sensible progress in the cultivation of his mind, and the enlargement of his knowledge. Besides preparing for the pulpit, he studied daily to improve his acquaintance with the original languages of Scripture; to become more intimately familiar with every part of the English Bible; to extend and mature his acquirements in systematic theology; and to make a liberal use of his pen, composing a number of small works, several of which were subsequently published. This was a noble example. It is deeply to be lamented, that so few occupants of the sacred office, even in early life, seem to take this view of their obligations, or to be inspired with this laudable thirst for knowledge. That pastor who is called upon to address the same people from Sabbath to Sabbath, for a considerable time, who does not, besides making immediate preparation for his public services, take pains to enlarge his stores of knowledge; above all, to become more intimately acquainted with the Bible, and, in some good degree, to keep pace with the progress of literature around him-may be a zealous preacher, may be in some measure useful, and may maintain an ephemeral popularity; but he cannot "feed the people continually with knowledge and with understanding;" he cannot "let his profiting appear unto all;" and he will be apt, by and by, to sink down into a dull, vapid repeater of his own "common places," and to fall into mental imbecility, for want of that intellectual exercise and aliment which our better part, as well as our corporeal nature, undoubtedly demands.

When Mr. Christmas left Montreal, he seems to have seized upon the occasion, as an epoch in his life, to settle the account of his acquirements while there. He drew up a general statement of what he had attained and done; the books he had read; the works he had written; the departments of knowledge in which he thought he had made some progress, &c.; to which he added, what he called "an esti

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