CHAPTER III.

Containing a brief View of the leading Doctrines of the Christian Religion, and a Caution against mistaking the outward Form of Religion for the inward and spiritual Grace.

WHEN the young party met again at the manor-house, they appeared with more cheerful countenances, and with considerably less embarrassment, than on the former occasion. Two of the young party informed the lady of the manor, that they had been studying Baxter's Saint's Rest since last they met. Others said, that they had been engaged in reading their Bibles. And Miss Sophia added, that she had found out the most delightful place which could be imagined, wherein to sing hymns, and read the Bible, without interruption. "It is, Madam," said this amiable little girl, "the corner of a coppice near my papa's garden, in which I am allowed to walk by myself; and there is a brook which runs murmuring among the trees, and many bees are there."

The lady of the manor smiled with pleasure on the young lady, as she described, with youthful animation, the sweet place of retirement which she had chosen for her meditations; remarking, that she hoped the time would come, when every thicket and every forest, every mountain and every fruitful field, would resound with the praises of the Lord. "For his glory," proceeded the lady of the manor, "shall cover the heavens, and the earth shall be full of his praise; and his brightness shall be as the light." (Hab. iii. 3, 4.)

Thus cheerfully did the party continue to converse, till the tea-equipage was removed; immediately after which,

the lady of the manor, taking down the Book of Prayers of the Church of England from her book-case, and opening to the Order of Confirmation, or laying on of hands upon those that are baptized and come to years of discretion, she asked her youthful audience if they had ever heard the service read? to which, the greater part of them answered, that they had not.

The lady replied, "We will then, my dear young people, begin this evening, by reading as much of this form as will give you an idea of the general tendency of the ordinance to which it relates. Yet, before I begin to read, I must just remark, that confirmation, from its very nature, supposes that the persons who are to be confirmed have been already baptized. But as I shall have occasion at a future time," continued she, "to speak to you largely on the subject of baptism, I shall here content myself with observing, that there exists in this country, and also in other countries of Europe, a denomination of Christians who do not approve of infant baptism. It is not now necessary to allege what they say in favour of their opinion; I would here merely remark, that there are, and have been, many of the excellent of the earth among this denomination of Christians; and, as the point upon which our Church differs from them is not essential to salvation, we are bound to them, as to other professing Christians, in the bonds of brotherly love, and should be prepared to meet them cordially on all those points in which our sentiments coincide with theirs. But, to leave this matter, and proceed to the more immediate business of the day.

"I will first inform you, my dear young people," said the lady of the manor, "that the laying on of hands, in which the ceremony of confirmation chiefly consists, is understood in different ways, both in the Old and New Testament.

"In the first place, it is taken for the ordination and consecration of priests and ministers, as well among the Jews as Christians.

"Secondly, it is sometimes used to signify the establish. ment of magistrates in their various offices.

"But the sense in which laying on of hands is understood in confirmation," proceeded she, "is clearly pointed out in Acts viii. 17.—They laid their hands on them

that were baptized, and they received the Holy Ghost. And though," added the lady of the manor "we do not believe that the inward and spiritual grace of God always and necessarily accompanies or follows the outward ordinances of religion; yet of this we may rest assured, that if we do not rightly profit by the means of grace, it must be wholly owing to our own carelessness and want of faith."

The lady of the manor then took up the Prayer-Book, and began to read as follows:

666

Upon the day appointed, all that are to be then confirmed being placed, and standing in order before the bishop, he, or some other minister appointed by him, shall read this preface following:

"To the end that Confirmation may be ministered to the more edifying of such as shall receive it, the Church hath thought good to order, that none hereafter shall be confirmed, but such as can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and can also answer to such other questions as in the short Catechism are contained: which order is very convenient to be observed, to the end that children, being now come to years of discretion, and having learned what their godfathers and godmothers promised for them in baptism, they may themselves, with their own mouth and consent, openly before the Church, ratify and confirm the same, and also promise that, by the grace of God, they will evermore endeavour themselves faithfully to observe such things, as they, by their own confession, have assented unto.'" (See Order of Confirmation.)

At the end of this address, the lady closed the PrayerBook, and thus spoke.-" You may see, my dear young people, from what I have just read, that our Church has made what provision it could for the due preparation of the candidates for confirmation, although these pious precautions are but too frequently rendered null and void, through the impiety and carelessness of parents and spon

sors.

The lady of the manor then proceeded to point out to the young people, that it was of more consequence for them to consider the great end and purport of this ordinance of confirmation, than to dwell largely upon the particulars of the form itself. This ordinance," continued she," is a general

call on young people to inquire into the state of their souls, and to ask themselves, whether they are actually in such a situation as may afford a reasonable hope of salvation, or whether they are still living in that unrenewed state of mind which is the sure earnest of everlasting destruction? "This question-namely, whether they are actually in a state of salvation-is a question no doubt very often proposed," added the lady of the manor, " by parents and teachers to their children and pupils; but it cannot be satisfactorily answered by any young person who knows not what it is to be in a state of salvation. For certain it is, that no one can form a just judgment on this point, unless he be acquainted with the leading doctrines of our holy religion; for want of which knowledge, many have long wandered in the way of error, supposing that, by a scrupulous attention to the forms prescribed by the peculiar denomination to which they belong, they are perfectly secure, while the heart and affections have remained in that state of utter deadness towards God, concerning which we are taught, that, while we continue therein, we are children of wrath, and heirs of hell."

Here the lady of the manor paused; and the young people looked at each other, like persons just waking as it were from a deep sleep, without being yet able to comprehend by whom or what they were surrounded.

The lady of the manor, perceiving their confusion, proceeded to make this remark.-" Religion," said she, “is in itself of so pure and spiritual a nature, and has so little reference to that part of us which is corporeal, that it constitutes the chief pleasure and delight of those spiritual beings who inhabit the regions of everlasting bliss, even that innumerable company of angels and archangels, who surround the throne of God, and who rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev. iv. 8.) Notwithstanding however the high and spiritual nature of religion," continued she, “it is necessary for the purpose of bringing its divine truths and sacred duties down to the level of man's capacity while he remains in the body, that certain forms of worship should be prescribed in the Visible Church on earth, and that the time and manner of certain ceremonious observances among every denomination of Christians should

be fixed and determined. Now, concerning these outward forms and modes of things, there always will be some difference of opinion among men; and, in proportion as the religion of any denomination or assembly of Christians loses its spirituality, they are invariably disposed to lay an increasing stress upon its outward forms and ordinances, till at length, a set of superstitious observances and customs is substituted in the place of spiritual worship. And hence," continued the lady, “proceed all those violent contests which we witness among the different sects of Christians in the world, and for which no complete remedy will be found until the spiritual nature of our religion is more thoroughly understood."

In this place, the lady having paused a moment, one of the young people ventured, though modestly, to remark, that such was her own state of ignorance with regard to spiritual subjects in general, that she had no clear view of what was really important or what was not so, in religion. She had, she said, been brought up as a member of the Church of England, had been a constant attendant with her parents on divine service, and had hitherto been in the habit of considering, that every person must be wrong, who differed in any point from the Established Church of this country.

"I am, my dear Miss Emmeline," replied the lady of the manor, "a member of the same Church with yourself. I was brought up in it, and am the daughter of a clergyman. But I do not continue in this Church from either of these reasons, but because I believe its articles and liturgy are agreeable to Scripture. At the same time, I plainly see that there are many lesser points in which other denominations of Christians may think differently from us, and yet be members of that Universal Church, of which, we trust, we form a part, and of which Christ himself is the head. But," added she, "I could not have thus made up my mind upon this subject, had I not been enabled (I trust by the teaching of the Holy Spirit) to discern what is essential to religion, and what is not; and to understand, that there are certain fundamental doctrines, which cannot be rejected without rejecting Christ himself-which doctrines are wholly independent of the external forms and modes of divine worship.

The lady of the manor then proceeded to draw out a