advance with the progress of the times; and every individual should act as if the whole interests of religion depended on his personal character, and the faithful exertion of his powers within his allotted sphere. In all ranks of society are numbers of persons who are qualified to judge of our learning, of the soundness of our doctrine, and the efficiency of our instructions, and who regard with disgust even the slightest inattention to duty, or impropriety of moral conduct. And far be it from us to consider this as an evil. If such conscientious censors had the direction of public opinion, their honest inspection would be of the greatest advantage to all classes of men, and, without offence be it said, to the Clergy. But where knowledge is extensively spread, the power it gives will be often exerted detrimentally. Even the spirit of piety will sometimes act on erroneous views, will be found in combination with attachment to party, which gives an obliquity to its motions, or defeat its own intentions by an alliance with enthusiasm or folly.

"It is not easy to calculate the multiplied difficulties which, from these and similar causes, increase on the Clergyman, as the world advances in knowledge, and create a corresponding necessity of discretion in his conduct, and energy in the discharge of his duties. There have perhaps been times in the Church, when reverence to official station might protect the infirmity, or throw a veil over the failings of the Minister: but now, when he is subjected at every step to the scrutiny of inquisitive malice; when opposition is created to his honest endeavours to be useful, from so many various causes; when the establishment of a School, or the enlargement of a Church, is resisted by one man from some wretched political prejudice, by another through caprice or perverseness, and by a third in resentment for some fancied neglect, which disposes him to mortify the pastor in the tenderest point by defeating his schemes for the benefit of his flock, we see how great the necessity of the utmost assistance, which personal qualifications can lend to his sacred function. But if the Minister has on the one side to contend with the opposition of adversaries, he is assailed on the other by the judicious zeal of real or apparent friends; who, pursuing beneficial objects without due regard to the means which they employ, or sacrificing general principles to the prospect of some immediate good, are disposed to accuse him of indifference, or bigoted attachment to forms, if, through regard to good order

or apprehension of distant consequences, he refuses to co-operate in their favourite schemes. In the midst of these difficulties our only real security will be found in a fixed resolution to act in every instance on deliberate views of duty, and a sincere and sober love of truth, under a controlling sense of that Supreme authority, from which we derive our commission, as the guides and teachers of our brethren, The natural tendency of these principles to enlighten and tranquillize the mind, affords the strongest of safeguards as well against error and indiscretion (more frequently the effects of some undue bias on the affections, than of natural weakness of judgment) as against the transports of passion, which irritate, offend, and disgust, and produce lasting resentments and divisions. A Clergyman who acts on these motives will have the advantage of moving with authority, dignity, and freedom; he will retain his influence over his friends, though he may refuse compliance with their prejudices; he will treat the gainsayer with kindness, whilst he exposes the unsoundness of his principles; and will shew courtesy and friendliness to the dissenter, without being supposed to approve his errors. The general rule of his proceedings will be, to " overcome evil with, good," by conciliation to all men, as far as it is consistent with the interests of truth, and that enlightened attachment which he feels to the Church, from a thorough persuasion that the best interests of religion are concerned in its stability, and that no particular advantage which can be expected from popular favour, or the exertions of irregular piety, would counterbalance the evils arising from the neglect of its discipline and ordinances, or the diminution of its salutary influence. This, I conceive, is the genuine liberality, which is the grace and ornament of the true Christian; a virtue as far removed from indifference, as from the contentious spirit which assumes the disguise of zeal. The sentiment misnamed liberality, which looks with equal approbation on every sect that profess Christianity, is, in its most innocent form, a low and contemptible vanity; it is more frequently, perhaps, a profligate indifference to religion, or insidious hostility intending its ruin, by depressing the established Church. But true liberality is firm in its own principles, while it looks with indulgence on the mistaken views of others; and never approaches so near to perfection, as in union with zeal, under the direction of charity and prudence. It would ill deserve the character of a Christian virtue, if it could lend its countenance

however indirectly, to error or falsehood, or shrink from the defence of truth." P. 11.

If any thing can increase the effect of such advice as this, it is the conviction universally felt throughout the diocese of London, that the character here sketched is not imaginary or unattainable, but that there is an individual among them who" acts in every instance, on deliberate views of duty, and a sincere and sober love of truth," and whose genuine liberality is not less firm than indulgent, not less under the direction of charity than of prudence.

With regard to the manner of executing the duties of the parochial charge, the Bishop adverts to the allegiance which is owing from the Clergy to the Church; and reminds them that substantial obedience to her directions is due to her wisdom, not less than to her authority. Her liturgy is represented as establishing a system of parochial discipline by which the pastor is connected with his flock, and both parties are directed in the performance of their duty. A judicious use of the office of Godfathers and Godmothers is particularly recommended; and the catechising of young persons, if possible in the Church, is shewn not only to be required by the letter of our ecclesiastical laws, but to be an essential part of the clerical office. And the general and more extensive duty of a superintending National and other charity schools, is pronounced to be the only method by which the clergy can hope to succeed in convincing the people that if it is the office of the minister to teach, they are under an equal obligation to attend on his ministry and receive his doctrine.

His Lordship closes this valuable Charge, with some consolatory and encouraging remarks which we have read with peculiar pleasure. With a disposition, as far as we know our own disposition, to confide

rather than despond, we do occasionally feel alarmed at the signs of the times, and an apprehension that we may not pay sufficient attention and deference to the forebodings of less sanguine men. We cannot help fearing that as their experience is more extensive, and their intel, lectual vision more distinct, so their expectations and anticipations may be better founded than our own. In such occasional misgivings, we are of course sincerely delighted to find that the Bishop of London does not participate; and we imagine that the spirits of every friend to religion and order will be refreshed and revived, when he finds a Prelate of so much discernment and practical wisdom concluding an Address to his clergy in the following terms.

"In conclusion, allow me to observe, that while the Clergy maintain that elevation of character which in their situation

can only be gained by wisdom, piety, and virtue; while they labour with the zeal, which becomes their profession, to train up the rising generation in the principles of sound morality and Christian faith, and secure the attachment of their flocks to their persons and office, by conscientious attention to their duties, there is little cause to apprehend that either dissent or irreligion will be finally victorious in their assaults on the national Church. It is true, that while the reason of man is obnoxious to error and prejudice, while his affections are warped by the influence of partialities, interests, and passions, we must never hope to accomplish the entire extirpation of infidelity, or the union of the whole population in the profession of one common faith. But, whatever impediments are opposed to the complete success of our exertions, we have no reason to think that, as long as we labour with sincerity in the service of God, they will prove altogether fruitless. The heart of the people is still sound. If the ebullitions of desperate wickedness, at a period of incidental excitement, occasioned a temporary alarm, the opposition by which they were instantly met, and the rapid return of tranquillity, have evinced the steady preponderance of better principles and feelings. I am indeed fully persuaded, that the extravagancies of frantic infidelity are means in the order of Providence for

the promotion of virtue and truth, by provoking discussions which lead to the dispersion of error, by disposing the careless to reflection, by determining the irresolute to enquiry, by awakening energies which might otherwise have slumbered in inaction, and rousing the horror and indignation which vice and impiety, when they throw off the mask, will never fail to inspire in generous and honest minds. Such, on all former occasions, has been the uniform result of the violence directed by infidels against our holy religion, in this country: and when I consider the general expres. sion of disgust at the blasphemous libels which were lately put in circulation; when I recollect the number and excellence of the popular tracts in defence of the religion so basely traduced, and the reception which they experienced from the public, I cannot but think that the evidences

of the Christian Revelation, and the nature and grounds of the Christian Faith, are in consequence more generally understood, and the people, on the whole, more firmly attached to the creed of their fathers, than if it had never been called in question. When I behold, on the other hand, the continued exertions of piety, in the distribution of the Scriptures and Scriptural tracts,—in the enlarging of churches,-in the erection of schools, at home and abroad, in founding extensive establishments with a view to the conversion of the Heathen, I am compelled to infer from this active munificence, that the breath of

impiety has neither quenched the flame of religion among us, nor sullied its purity, nor abated the intensity of its power.

"With such grounds of encouragement before you, I exhort you, my Reverend Brethren, to persevere with unwearied fidelity in your labours of faith and charity; and I conclude with humble supplication for the blessing of Divine Providence on our national Church, that an able succession of pastors may never be wanting to sustain its prosperity, till the consummation of all things, when the conflict between evil and good shall be finally terminated by the sentence of the SUPREME JUDGE."

P. 20.

ture.

Archdeacon of Ely, Rector of Cotgrave, and late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Published at the request of the Clergy. 8vo. 98pp. 3s. Rivingtons. 1822.

WE are not aware that the conductors of the Christian Remembrancer have given any just cause of offence to Archdeacon Browne. But they appear to have fallen under his severe displeasure, and he has taken so peculiar a method of expressing it, that our readers must be troubled with 'some brief remarks upon the subject.

The Archdeacon recommends his Clergy to preach the scriptural doctrine of man's total corruption, and goes over the different arguments by which that doctrine is established, in a style to which there is not much to object.The principal fault in the work is its want of precision. It overwhelms the Socinians and Pelagians; but leaves the difference among Churchmen precisely where it was. The words total and universal depravity and corruption are terrific in sound, but indefinite in signification; and while we object to the frequent use of them recommended by Archdeacon Browne, we admit that they often mean nothing more than the truth. But it is to be regretted that the Archdeacon should have laboured so painfully in proving what nobody will deny, and have omitted all allusion to the important point in dispute. He has neither answered nor even stated the opinions to which he so vehemently objects. Supposing some men to exist, who, without being "Arians, Unitarians, or Pelagians," are still opposed to the Calvinistic notion that "man is an utter mass of pollution," such men, if such there be, are passed over sub silentio, in this elaborate charge. Whether this be the Archdeacon's usual mode of conducting a controversy, will perhaps appear hereafter; if it be, we must confess

that it is a very strong argument in support of his opinion respecting human nature.

But to come at once to the point. The attack upon the Christian Remembrancer is opened in Appendix, No. V., with the following alarming declaration :

"The subject of the foregoing Charge has undergone much discussion in the pages of the Christian Remembrancer, more especially in the different numbers of that periodical publication, which issued from the press in the course of the

year 1821. An investigation of the opinions promulgated in that work relative to the corruption of human nature will give me an opportunity of bringing forward the testimony of the accredited for nularies of our Church upon the subject and, further, as the conductors of the publication in question appear to claim an exclusive patent of orthodoxy, this inquiry may, in some measure enable the reader to appreciate the validity of such a pretension." Appendix, p. L.

The investigation thus announced is continued through upwards of twenty pages, in the course of which Archdeacon Browne truly says, that we have represented the Homily on the Misery of all Mankind as teaching that "there is no perfect good in man, no good that can merit reward, no good that can put away offences," to which he might have added to complete, our statement respecting the drift of the Homily, "but that we must flee to God for pardon through the merits of Christ, or else we shall never find peace, rest or quietness, much less acceptance and glory.' But this is the only part of the opinions promulgated in our work relative to the corruption of human nature which Archdeacon Browne has the candour to produce. He sneers at a long and laboured article in which we reviewed a controversy respecting Original Sin, and in enquiring into "the validity of our pretensions to orthodoxy," the Archdeacon might have taken the trouble to seek our sentiments in that place. If he can extract Pelagianism or any other heresy from that article, we shall REMEMBRANCER, No. 48.

deserve the severest censure. If he can answer the anti-calvinistic portions of the Review, we trust that he will furnish it in an Appendix, No. VI. But while he is unwilling or unable to perform these feats, let him not mislead his readers by pro. mising to investigate our opinions, and then leaving them wholly igno rant what those opinions are. Much more, as he desires the character of a fair controversialist, let him not misrepresent and garble the sentiments of our correspondents, and then affirm that such sentiments are virtually our own. Having quoted several passages from the Essays of N. R. and especially one passage respecting the children of wrath to which we have stated our insurmountable objections, the Archdeacon exclaims,

"It would be superfluous to enter into a formal refutation of these opinions; for they carry their own refutation with them, But what is to be said for the orthodoxy of a periodical work, which gives currency to such doctrines as these? It is true that the Editors in their final review of the controversy, to which the communications under the signature of N. R. gave rise, express their dissent from this writer in some points, and admit that he is not alto

gether judicious in the choice of his terms; but they deny that there is any fair ground for charging him with Pelagianism or Socinianism. In short, I do not see how any person can read the long and laboured Article which appeared in the Christian Remembrancer of December, 1821, upon the doctrine of Original Sin, and not be convinced that the main drift and purport of it is, to vindicate the general statements of N. R. upon that subject-statements which cannot, as it appears to me, be in any way reconciled with the Homilies, Articles, and Liturgy of the Church of England, or, by consequence, with Scripture rightly interpreted." P. 72,

We exclaim in our turn that it is superfluous to enter into explana. tions with a writer who imputes to us doctrines and opinions which we disclaim-and asserts that we think one thing when we have assured him that we think another. Had Archdeacon Browne condescended to meet us fairly, we should have 5 D

replied with all the respect and attention to which he is entitled. For some reasons to us unknown, he has thought proper to pursue a different course-thereby saving us the trouble of a detailed reply to his objections, and leaving us nothing more to do than to request that his read. ers will not pass sentence against the Remembrancer, till they have examined our opinions for themselves. The sentiments attributed to us by Archdeacon Browne, are not the sentiments which we have expressed or which can be justly inferred from our writings. This is a point on which our feelings are strong, and we cannot consent to soften or conceal the declaration of them.

Ecclesiastical Polity in British Colonies; or Strictures on an Article in the London Christian Remembrancer, relating to a Controversy on Church Affairs, which took place in the Province of New Brunswick, in the Year 1817-18. By George Burns, D.D. 8vo. 66 pp. Younghusband. Saint-John. 1822.

HERE is another gentleman extremely angry with the Christian Remembrancer, and publishing a pamphlet, by subscription, in New Brunswick, for the purpose of revealing his wrongs to the transatlantic world.

Some remarks upon the Ecclesiastical Policy or impolicy of Great Britain, as it regarded colonies beyond the seas, were presented to our readers a year ago, in a review of three pamphlets by Mr. Milne and Dr. Burns. The greater part of the article was devoted to the question of Episcopacy, and of the general state of our foreign Church affairs. The specific demerits of Dr. Burns were passed over with very gentle castigation. This is an indignity

which he refuses to bear.

"What had he done to sink so peacefully to rest!" He is resolved that the

whole world shall ring with his ribaldry, and actually republishes it with additions and corrections. Hoping that the Presbyterians upon this side of the water will not consider themselves compromised by the imprudence of their distant brother and advocate: and believing that the dulness of our pages may be enlivened by a few of the sallies of American controversy, we bumbly submit the following extracts to the reader's notice and approba. tion.

"I am aware that it has been asserted that this was my disposition before I left Scotland, and in fact that that very circumstance rendered the country too hot for me. Now I must beg leave to contradict all this in the fullest and most unqualified terms, and to assert, without the fear of contradiction, that I never wrote one line of a controversial tendency, nay that my pen was never dipt in gall, till I reached the shores of New Brunswick. Indeed I never found it necessary. Our National Dissenters, both Episcopalians and Presbyterians, know their place and keep their distance, and have scarcely ever excited even the jealousy of the Established Church. And even since I came here, the aggressions have all been from the other side, for even the original pamphlet which is the subject of the Review in question, was brought before the public in a way (to use the words of the Reviewer himself) 6 as unexceptionable as the ostensible purpose and design.' Really to suppose that I could sit still and witness the Church to which I belong decried by the blind admirers of an establishment which they vainly imagine ought to overwhelm and annihilate every other

religious society, is to charge me with an imbecility and insipience most contempti ble and degrading. Nay, I am clearly of opinion that the man who endeavours to reason or laugh them out of their bigotry and intolerance, does an essential service both to themselves and to their Church. For what can be more unreasonable than

their conduct in arrogating to themselves the right of attacking other churches without politeness and without measure, whilst they enjoin upon them forbearance and moderation? Their language is "Be so good as to let us pommel you with all our might; and if you do retaliate, which we rather wish you would not, let your retaliation consist only in one or two soft, and kindly, and affectionate, and genteel, pats