vation beyond the requisitions of the Gospel! God has founded our duty upon our interests; he has thought proper to administer the world, by the method of rewards and punishments; and to dispense with that method of administration, under pretence of greater purity, is to arrrogate a "wisdom above what is written," and to ensure the disgrace of religion, by attempting more than the Creator ever intended to be performed. Much, however, may be urged in favour of Mr. Brainerd, which most modern Calvinists cannot claim; a Missionary must be an enthusiast: for what but the fervour of enthusiasm could sustain him amidst the privations, and fatigues, and discouragements of the task he has undertaken? The first preachers of the Gospel were missionaries; but they were strengthened by the Holy Spirit miraculously imparted; the modern missionaries have nothing to rely on, beyond the natural constitution of their mind, but the ordinary aids of grace; and how great the difference between the power thus bestowed, and that communicated on the day of Pentecost, may be judged by their respective success. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied, that strong testimonies are given of the good effected by Brainerd, in reclaiming some of the Indians from drunkenness, and converting them from savage paganism, to habits of Christian piety and order; but then, he was an amiable and benevolent man, as well as an ardent preacher; and no doubt his success may in good measure be ascribed to his winning their hearts by kindness; for having persuaded them, to the number of one hundred and thirty, to form a compact set tlement, in order to cultivate their lands, he took care of their worldly concerns, giving them directions relating to their business;" "I daily," says he, "discover more and more, of what importance it is to their religious interests, that they REMEMBRANCER, No. 39. become laborious, and industrious." (P. 407.) This is indeed a rational system of conversion; in another place he says, he was obliged to instruct them in the performance of their work, and take the oversight of all their secular concerns, and that the care of managing their worldly business, cost him more labour and fatigue, than all his other work among them. (P. 459.) Frequently too, he paid money out of his own pocket, to enable them to discharge their debts. (P. 462.) The truth is, that Brainerd had naturally a strong understanding, but in early life, it was disordered by extravagant perturbations; at one time the floodtide of his feelings overflowed the banks of reason; at another the receding ebb left its channel dry: but in process of time, as he became more intimate with the realities of life, and experience dispelled the visions of speculative religion, his views of human nature grew to be more rational, and his estimate of appearances more correct; and when the delirium of ultra-Calvinism abated, he sobered down into a sensible, useful, and laborious Missionary; not that he abandoned his opinions, or his ardour; but he saw the mischief of enthusiasm, and the danger of false religion, and reprobated the "sudden suggestions which many are so pleased with," "those delusions of Satan, which are thought to be the immediate witness of the Spirit, and impressions, made only on the animal affections." (P. 221.) "I fear," said he in a letter to his brother, written a short time before his death," you are not sufficiently aware how much false religion there is in the world: many serious Christians and valuable ministers are too easily imposed upon by this false blaze. Seriously endeavour to crush all appearances of this nature among the Indians, and never encourage any degrees of heat without light." (P. 214.) "He often," U says the writer of his life," manifested his great abhorrence of all such doctrines and principles, as savoured in any degree, or had only a remote tendency to Antinomianism; of all such notions, as seemed to diminish the necessity of holiness of life, or to abate men's regard to the commands of God, and a strict, diligent, and universal practice of piety and virtue, under a pretence of depreciating our works, and magnifying God's free grace. He spake often with abhorrence of the spirit and practice of the Separatists, in their condemning, and separating from the standing ministry and churches, their crying down learning and a learned ministry," &c. P. 234. The struggle between his natural good sense and Calvinistic love of morbid sensibility is sometimes sufficiently amusing; for instance, he congratulates himself, that the convictions he has produced, have not been attended with those disorders, either bodily or mental, that have sometimes prevailed among persons under religious impressions; no convulsions, or swoonings, or bodily agonies. And yet, in the same sentence, he boasts of their tears and groans, and that numbers have been made to cry out from a distressing view of their perishing state, and some for a time deprived of their bodily strength, (P. 363.) not to mention a multitude of heavy groans and bitter sobs, which occur ever and anon all through his journal. Now, which of these accounts are we to credit? For surely it will be granted, that groans are expressions of agony, that sobs are convulsive, that deprivation of bodily strength is tantamount to swooning, and that tears and cries are disorders, both bodily and mental; such are the contradictions, into which a man of veracity may be hurried, by an overwrought and ill-regulated ima. gination; but where he leaves the region of Experiences, and spiritual extravagance, his observations are accurate, and his judgment sound his statement of the difficulties attending the conversion of the Indians, is full of interest, and may be read with pleasure and advantage, especially by those who are anxious for the propagation of the Gospel by missions to savage tribes. Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain. No. III. The Romans renounced their authority over Britain in the year 410; and having returned on two different occasions for the purpose of repelling the Picts, departed finally from the Island about the year 435. The events which occurred between that period and the landing of St. Austin in 597, may form the second portion of the Ecclesiastical History of our country. The first circumstance which demands attention is the arrival of two Gallican bishops, Germanus and Lupus, for the purpose of putting a stop to the progress of Pelagianism. Pelagius himself is said to have been born in Wales, and to have studied in that country during his youth. But he had resided many years in Italy, before he broached his heretical notions respecting the sufficiency of human strength, and it is supposed that he never returned to Britain. The doctrines which set aside the necessity of grace were introduced by his followers into the country which gave him birth, and the Roman Catholic historians assert that Germanus was dispatched by the Pope with authority to correct the error. But the more authentic narrative of Bede makes no mention of the interference of Rome. The mission appears to have been undertaken at the request of the British clergy-and the clergy of Gaul were the only persons consulted upon the subject. The landing of Germanus took place about the year 440, and though nothing that is reported of him by the historians can be implicitly believed, his embassy in one point of view is of considerable importance. It proves the humble state of the Church which he was called upon to assist. Bede and the Monks attribute his success to miracles-but there is nothing in their relations which can command our belief; and if he succeeded, as it is unanimously agreed that he did, in suppressing the heresy of Pelagius, the inference is that the native disputants were few and unlearned, and easily silenced by the authority of a stranger. If the orthodox divines had been numerous or powerful, they would not have solicited the assistance of a foreign Monk. Nor would the assistance have been so effectual, or the remedy so prompt, if the disciples of Pelagius had been learned or accomplished men. The mission of Germanus has been adorned by various legends and wonders. Bede represents him as traversing the kingdom at the head of a host; and conducting his newly baptized followers to a victory over the Picts and Saxons. Nennius states that he remained many years in Britain: presiding over the British Church endeavouring to convert the weak and profligate king Vortigern. But his own countrymen declare that he merely paid two short visits to this island, and that having re-established the orthodox faith and introduced monkery, he returned and ended his life in Gaul. Nothing is known respecting the arguments by which he defended his cause, but he is stated to have held a public disputation with his adversaries, and convinced the whole country of their errors. The Saxons under Hengist and Horsa were invited into Britain by Vortigern, in the year 449: and their coming, which was rendered necessary by the vices and corruptions of Christians, produced little less than an extirpation of Christianity itself. When their conquest of the accessible parts of the coun try had been completed, and the Britons driven into the mountains of Wales and Cornwall-the true religion was confined within the same narrow limits; and idolatry re-established throughout the rest of the land. And although we cannot be said to possess a detailed account of the progress and termimination of this severe calamity, yet in the history of Gildas, we have a summary description of the whole, in which the cause and the effect are clearly traced out and explain. ed. This writer has been spoken of in most contemptuous terms by Gibbon; and his veracity has been questioned by more impartial critics. Yet, with the single exception of the miracles which preceded the martyrdom of Albanus, there is not one marvellous or improbable circumstance related by him and his history is reconcil able with every other authentic narrative. The age in which he lived is accurately ascertained; he states himself to have been born in the year of the battle of Badon Hill, the greatest and the last of the British victories over the Saxons, and which is supposed to have been obtained in the year 514. Gildas adds, that he wrote at the distance of forty-four years from this date; and his sketch of the events which he witnessed, and the manners of the men by whom he was surrounded, enables us to form a better estimate of the times in which he lived, than can be drawn from any other source. The Monkish writers love to dwell upon the lives of their he Gildas has been condemned for speaking of the Britons as engaging in commerce, and receiving ships from various quarters in the Thames and the instruction from the Romans in the art of Severn, and yet at the same time requiring fabricating warlike instruments. The very same thing would occur at the present day, if Europeans attacked or defended China. roes and saints; and Pendragon and Arthur, and Dubritius and Ďavid* are to be heard of in every feudal romance or popish legend. But all, if not more than all, that can be certainly known of these worthies, is that they flourished during the Saxon wars, and were more or less successful in arresting the arms, and the Idolatry of the invaders. If antiquarians derive pleasure from searching out their casties and ca. thedrals, or children derive amusement from perusing their lives, such innocent gratifications may safely be indulged; but the historical student must always remember that the fictions of monastic writers ought not to be used for the elucidation of the times and countries which they describe; and are only applied to their proper purpose when they serve to make us acquainted with the ages in which they were written. The men who could compose, and the men who could credit the History of the Saints, furnish curious and important subjects of enquiry and consideration +. But many centuries must elapse before they can be brought upon the stage, and for the present we return to Gildas, and the Saxon conquerors of Britain. The account of contemporary * Fuller remarks upon the British bishops of this age: "Most of these men seem born under a travelling planet; seldom having their education in the place of their nativity; oft times composed of Irish infancy, British breeding, and French preferment, taking a cowl in one country, a crozier in another, and a grave in a third-neither bred where born, nor beneficed where bred, nor buried where beneficed, but wandering in several kingdoms." Fuller did not perceive that these circumstances originate in the fabulous nature of their lives. + The life of St. David by Giraldus Cambrensis, who was born in the year 1146, is made up of silly and laughable fables. But one miracle is deserving of peculiar notice. An Irish Abbot, named Barrocus, paid a visit to St. David-who resided in the town that bears his name, morals, which has been handed down to us by this historian, is truly shocking and deplorable. He accuses his countrymen of every crime; and extends the accusation to every class. Kings, judges, soldiers, priests, and people are condemned en masse; and the subsequent exceptions, and restrictions are few. The kings whom he especially enumerates and addresses are said to have been monsters of injustice, cruelty, lust, and impiety-murdering women and children at the altar, marrying their own daughters, plunging their countries into horrid and needless civil wars, breaking the most solemn oaths, and inflicting the most undeserved punishments. The clergy are not handled in a gentler way. They are represented as wolves rather than shepherds; as giving advice without setting examples, as ignorant themselves, and hostile to knowledge in others-as covetous of riches, and careless of heaven, as entering into the ministry simoniacally, and obtaining preferment before they are in orders; as travelling abroad to foreign countries, and there gaining admission into the ranks of the Priesthood, when their character and their conduct would have prevented them from being received at home. The Abbot, who came from Cork, was detained so long by contrary winds, that he was alarmed for the safety of his shepherdless flock-and accordingly he begged a blessing and borrowed a horse from the saint; and put to sea without oar or sails. When he had advanced à considerable distance into the water; another Saint named Brendanus, made his appearance upon a whale-travelling in the opposite direction, and bound to St. David's. They exchanged salutations and compliments, and proceeded on their respective voyages. Barrocus arrived at Cork in safety, and a cast of a man and horse, one of gold and one of silver, was pre served to the days of the historian in the church of St. Barrocus at Cork, and possessed many wonderful properties. Wher ton's Anglia Sacra, Vol. II. p. 635. These charges are brought forward in a declamatory tone, and we are not bound to believe that they are literally true. Yet the arguments by which they are followed, shew that, for the most part, the accusations must have been believed by their author. For he appeals both to the Kings and the Priests in the words of the Bible, and urges them to reflect and repent, and be saved. In his Epistle, he recites the principal passages of the Old and New Testament, which convey threats to the impenitent, or promises to the contrite, and ap. plies both the one and the other to the various classes whom he is addressing. The peculiar duties of governors, and still more especially of priests, are pointed out with a degree of accuracy which could not be attained but by an intimate acquaintance with the Bible. The Law and the Gospel are appealed to, each in its turn; and the writer is equally versed in the strictness of the letter, and the mildness of the spirit of Revelation. He convicts the offender of gross violations of the commandments, and then comforts him by a reference to the covenant of grace. And much error and mischief will be avoided or cured, many controversies will be concluded, and practical Christianity will extend its influence as soon as modern preachers learn to regulate and qualify their discourses with the sound discrimination of Gildas. Comparing his works with those of happier times, we are not at liberty to exaggerate their merits. His style is harsh and barbarous, his Scriptural interpretations allegorical and fanciful; and there is a complaining dejected spirit in all he says, which has justly procured him the name of querulous. Still he is our earliest and most authentic historian. He presents us with a striking picture of the times in which he flourished-and his short and scarce book is of greater consequence and value, than all the Gildas pompous fables which have been invented by his successors. did not live to witness the complete triumph of the Saxons-and his his tory appears to have been written in a season of more than usual prosperity. Yet in his time churches were plundered and destroyed, priests and people consumed in the same fire; and of all the flourishing towns which the Romans left in the Island, few had escaped the general ruin; and still fewer had risen from their ashes. The mountains and fastnesses of Wales offered an asylum to some, others fled beyond the seas, and founded or recruited a colony in Armoricum-or Brittany. In this place Gildas himself is reported to have sought refuge; but it is much more probable that he remained in Wales and assisted in preserving the small but primitive Church which was found in that territory on the arrival of Austin. The country now called England was gradually subdued by various Saxon tribes. The Britons who remained in their native land were reduced to the condition of serfs or slaves; the Christian religion was overthrown, and Idolatry was established on its ruins. The Saxon worship differed materially from that of the Druids. There is not the slightest pretence for saying that they acknowledged or knew the One true God. They worshipped the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and all the host of Heaven. They deified dead men; and distinct traces and memorials of their ignorance and superstition are still to be found in the names of our days and seasons. The most powerful, the most warlike, the most voluptuous of their forefathers, Thor and Woden, and Frea, and Eoster are still commemorated in the words, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, and Easter. Other idols were admitted into the unhallowed ranks; and were worshipped with equal cruelty and superstition. Human sacrifices were offered up on every solemn |