have submitted to it, and the people having been taught that regeneration is inseparable from the rite, they have learned to view the rite and the regenerating works of God, as one and the same thing; and thus has baptism been identified with regeneration.

The publication of the two Tracts, on Baptismal Regeneration in 1815, by the then Rector of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, and the controversy to which they gave rise, showed how deeply the Church of England is tinctured with the baptismal heresy; for her doctrine undoubtedly is that of the inseparable connexion between the outward and visible sign, and the inward and spiritual grace; but the opinion of a large body of her ministers is decidedly against the view then taken by Bishop Mant, and is consequently opposed to the doctrine of their own church.* Some of her most pious and gifted sons at that period felt how necessary it was to expose, through the press, its deceptive and unscriptural character, and we fondly hoped that, having argued away the truth of that prime dogma of their church, they had at least convinced their own party of its

We cannot be justly chargeable with illiberality, for ascribing this view of the Baptismal service to the Established Church. It was well known by those who framed the Act of Uniformity, that our nonconformist forefathers could not comply with it. Among other reasons which they urged as their apology for their refusal, was this, "That the book of Common Prayer teaches the doctrine of Baptismal regeneration, and certain salvation consequent thereupon." We admit this was not their only objection ; but if it did not occupy the whole of the ground, it was yet placed in a very prominent situation. But while it was not the only reason, it would have been an amply sufficient reason.

It ought to be a sufficient reason now to every man of piety and

fallacious and mischievous tendency, and had in effect subverted the whole theory on which their ritual is framed.

The influence of their scriptural opinions on the church controversy has been seen by the evangelical clergy, and we fear that some of honourable name, in their zeal to uphold the Church of England as at present constituted, are seeking to modify, if not to defend, the exploded doctrine, and are tempted to maintain what Mr. Hall has called a damning deception, that their idolized ritual may be free from the charge of error.

We own that that ritual is formed on a beautiful theory. It is intended exclusively for regene rated persons, for the "members of Christ, the children of God, the heirs of the kingdom of heaven." Such they are supposed to be constituted by their baptism; as such they are recognised at their contirmation; when united in marriage, the rite itself is "holy," and the parties contracting regarded as members of the church, and therefore holy too, and when death severs them from communion with the church on earth, their perishing mortal tabernacle is committed to the ground, in "sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life." The theory, we say, is beautiful. It is well arranged and compact in each of its parts, and its foundation stone is baptismal regeneration. Prove the truth of this doctrine, and the building remains

principle. For it certainly is not the doctrine of the Bible. The Common Prayer Book and the Bible are, therefore, on this point opposed to each other. We give, as Christians, our unfeigned assent and consent to the latter; and for this reason we cannot give our unfeigned as sent and consent to the former. We are therefore nonconformists.

secure in its own strength, admirable for its exact proportions, and glowing with the most attractive beauty-the glory and safeguard of the realm. On the other hand, show the fallacy of the doctrine, from the multitudinous facts obvious to every eye; and its unscriptural character, by an appeal to the unerring records of inspiration, and the foundation is taken away, and the edifice appears intangible as an optical illusion, and worthless as the "baseless fabric of a vision."

Mr. Hall is quite aware that this inseparable connexion ought to be maintained; that all the members of the Established Church who have been made such by baptism, ought to be regenerated, sanctified, and justified persons, or the theory of the Church of England is worthless. He wishes therefore to bring back the Church of England to this state; to see it existing according to its nineteenth article, as a "company of faithful men," uncontaminated with worldly admixture, and freed from the alloy of ignorance and formalism. The desire is praiseworthy, and we know of only one objection to the attempt-the object aimed at is wholly unattainable. For first Mr. H. seeks to restore the Established Church to a state from which she has never fallen; for we ask, when did she possess this character? When were all her members regenerate? When were her baptisms, her confirmations, her communion services, her visitations of the sick, inseparable from grace in the objects and grace in the acts? Was it in the reign of Henry the Eighth, that English Nero, that guardian and defender of the Roman Catholic faith, who took to himself the merit of Reform; and changed the whole realm at once from Papal to what has incorN. S. NO. 144.

rectly enough been termed Protestant? Was it in the short reign of his pious son, or in that of either of his daughters? Did that model of kingly wisdom, James the First, find the church in that state to which Mr. H. wishes to bring it back, or did he leave it in that state?

Did his son, who warred with reason and common sense, when he battled with his Parlia ment; or his son's son, when he violated his own promise, and put two thousand of the burning and shining lights of the church "under the Bartholomew Bushel?" Was it in the time of the second James, or at the epoch of the glorious revolution of 1688, when the true state of the Established Church was disclosed by the conduct of the nonjuring clergy; or was it in the Augustan age of English literature, when Steel and Addison flourished, and when Swift wrote; or descending to the days of Watts, of Doddridge, of Whitfield, and of Wesley, was it then that the theory of the Established Church was realized? If of all these periods no one can be selected and pointed to, as that in which the Established Church of these realms was not theoretically, but practically a spiritual church, is it not obvious that the work to be done is not so much that of reformation, but regeneration, a new creation. The first step towards this desirable end is, we believe, the entire disruption of the Church from the State. While thus connected she may do the drudgery of a mere political instrument, but she will be a most inefficient spiritual agent. She may continue to malign Dissenters, condemn the voluntary principle, and sigh for better days; but she will have determined enemies among all classes, and some of her most strenuous foes will be found within the enclosure of her own borders. Let 51

her burst in sunder the unhallowed tie; let her sever herself from the worldly influence, companionship, and wickedness with which she is at present so closely associated; and then-but we recollect her thraldom-she cannot. She is a spiritual instrument in the hands of a secular agency, and she must move as she is moved; she must act as she is acted upon. To this Dissenters cannot submit. Like the Puritans and Nonconformists of former days, they love liberty of conscience too well. They esteem it as more valuable than the favour of the state, the smiles of the aristocracy, or the richest secular endowments. Liberty of conscience is the only element in which they can breathe freely; and rather than have this "enthralled by unholy laws," or restricted by the limits of forms of faith and modes of worship of mere human manufacture, they would take "cheerfully the spoiling of their goods," go "to prison or to death," or seek on some distant foreign shore a place in which to pitch their tents during their earthly sojourn; and there, unobstructed by civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, they would rear a house for the worship of that God, who is the only Lord of conscience, and the final judge of conduct. And if the Rector of Milston once obtain a clear view of that great earthly blessing religious freedom, he will prize it too highly to be much longer subjected to the thraldom of" any "unholy law."

64

Brief Records, of the Church of Christ, of the Independent Denomination at Southampton, from its establishment to the present time; accompanied with Observations argumentative and explana· tory, respecting the Principles on which it is formed. By T. Adkins, Pastor of the Church. 12mo. pp. 211. Westley. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY is a class of reading with which the scholar and the divine are alike

familiar. It has engaged the attention of the one as unfolding the operations of intellect, in reference to the sublimest subject which can occupy human thought; and it has been received by the other with still more intense regard, as developing the progress and efficiency of those means which God has appointed for the salvation of mankind. Christianity itself has been the subject of speculation and contempt by infidels, of profound investigation by the intelligent and patient enquirer after truth, and of devout admiration by the believer. It may, however, be questioned, with the exception of the last class of persons, whether any of the others have seen it apart from its general aspect; and while some intelligent and sincere enquirers have looked at it as a sublime system of religion for the benefit of the world, they have formed opinions respecting some of its circumstances, which are alike at variance with its real nature and magnificent design. Its intrinsic beauty and value can only be accurately perceived by viewing its individual forms. Strip it of things which are merely adventitious; take from it that dense cloud which has covered it, by its approximation with the civil politics of nations; deprive it of all the insignia of glory with which the nations of Europe have decorated it; let the long train of bishops, priests, and deacons with which it has been incumbered, be changed to the simple order of ministers presented by divine authority; reduce it to the simple form in which it first appeared, amidst all the splendours of ancient Greece, and to its individualities, as it was seen in Galatia, and Judea, and Asia. It will then appear almost as novel a spectacle to an astonished world as when it was first planted by the ministry of the apostles.

The New Testament contains a history of the church generally, yet permits us at the same time to see some of the individual sections of which the whole spiritual temple is built. Instead of confounding the church with a mere national profession of Christianity, we see many separate congregations of believers united in the faith and practice of the Gospel, distinct from all others of the human race by whom they are surrounded. At the same time a remarkable unity is visible between them and all other believers, in different parts of the world; thus giving the lofty idea of the Holy Catholic Church, the General Assembly, without losing the individuality of the churches of which it is composed.

The volume before us assumes the principle in the title which it bears, that the church is a body of faithful men, distinct in its circumstances from all others, having a unity of faith with all believers, yet perfectly independent in the management of all its spiritual and temporal affairs. It is, therefore, not a church history, in the conventional use of the term, but it is the history of a church. The "Record" consists of historic facts, brief memorials, interesting statements, and powerful arguments. It is one of those agreeable publications which at once gratify the taste, and instruct the mind. The esteemed author deserves well, both of his church and the denomination to which he belongs, in presenting the world with this lucid memorial of the efficiency of the voluntary principle.

The circumstances which led to the publication of the work were these:-The church at Southampton resolved to free their noble place of worship from the incumbrance of debt, and without levy

ing a rate either on its members or pew-holders, by one noble effort, as spontaneous as it was voluntary, they conceded the pecuniary obligation. The object being attained, their pastor preached to them a sermon suitable to the occasion, the substance of which is the basis of the publication before

us.

The work is divided into four chapters; in the course of which the great principles of nonconformity are stated and defended. The Independent Church at Southampton is of considerable antiquity, and the rise and progress of that church, to the present period, is a fine specimen of the operation of Christian principles, both in the formation and increase of a church, when they have their legitimate exercise, accompanied by the grace of the Spirit. Mr. A. is not among that class of divines who imagine that the New Testament affords no rule for the constitution of a church; while he denies the jus divinum of episcopacy, and contends with considerable eloquence and strength of argument against all state establishments, he as unflinchingly avows his belief of a regular system of ecclesiastical polity contained in the New Testament. He affirms, it would be as great a fallacy to maintain the contrary

"As it would be to maintain that we have no code of morals, because the precepts of the decalogue are not ramified in their practical application to all the possible occurrences in the economy of human life."—p. 54.

The historical parts of the work are very interesting. The memorials of the departed pastors, as they are presented one after another, are touching, and remind us that other men have laboured, and we are entered into their labours. It appears that some of the members

of this church had to suffer for righteousness sake. The father of Dr. Watts was among their number. A letter written from him to his children, which is inserted in the volume, shows his parental affection, his dignified character, and his deep-toned piety, in a very interesting light. We would wil lingly transcribe this document, but it is too long for our pages, and too beautiful to have its parts separated. The church at Southampton had the high honour of introducing Dr. Watts as the poet of the British Churches. His efforts in composing "Hymns and Spiritual Songs," were employed for the benefit of the church, here, and the volume which is now in almost " every land and every tongue," originated with the holy family belonging to this flock.

In Mr. A.'s concluding remarks, he stands forth as the undaunted champion of the voluntary principle. The facts which he has adduced, and the argu. ments which he has employed, are such as demand the serious consideration of those who think it right to make one man pay for the religion of another. After giving a statement of the various charities connected with the church at Southampton, our author justly and pungently remarks:

"These efforts to advance the religion, morality, and happiness of the community, have not, it should be remembered, cost the government of the country the smallest fraction of pecuniary support.

p. 176.

This is a point constantly overlooked. What, we ask, would have been the intellectual, moral, and spiritual condition of the country (conceding the alleged efficiency of parish churches and "our excellent liturgy;") what, we ask, would have been the religious state of the nation, had it not been for Dis

senters. Mr. A. has enriched his volume with some admirable concessions of churchmen, on this point, which we would recommend those who can see no good thing amongst us calmly to "read, mark, and inwardly digest." In discussing the superior excellence of the voluntary principle to all human enactments for the establishing of religion, our author says, in language alike elegant and scriptural.

"That Christianity has outlived the influence of such means is only to be atable nature of that very principle which tributed, under God, to the inextinguishmany so severely reprobate, but so little understand. A higher and better order of things, the author believes, is by the about to dawn upon the universal church. copious effusion of the Spirit of God Under the bland but irrresistible power of truth the frost and fretwork of secular establishments of religion, in which hardness is substituted for durability, and glittering show for real grandeur, will be melted gradually away. All that is really valua ble in such institutions will remain to act in harmony and blend in character with the general scene."-p. 189.

Speaking of the ministry in such a state of things, Mr. A. says

"They will occupy a higher position in public estimation, not standing forth as the fed and mercenary stipendiaries of a temporal government, but on the vantage ground which apostles and primitive pastors trod, where what they lose in earthly pomp and wealth, they will gain in moral dignity and influence."

p. 189.

We must close our remarks with this extract, which is a fair specimen of the spirit and style of the work. With the exception of a few artificially constructed sentences, we have nothing to censure.

We give the work our warm commendation, and wish it were in the hands of all the members of our churches in the kingdom; it is a beautiful model of an ancient church, which all our modern churches will do well to imitate.