to some of their irritable, canting, epistolizing Ministers, an opportunity of venting a portion of their spleen, their impertinence and abusc. "One source of violent opposition to Episcopacy arises from enthusiasin, and from confounding the extraordinary gifts of the spirit with the ordinary powers of the Christian ministry. Yet nothing is more obvious than the distinction between these. They are very clearly distinguished even in Scripture. The latter were conferred by our Saviour himself, by a sensible form, and, as we have seen, were intended to be continued før ever in the Church. The former were also communicated visibly from heaven, not to alter or increase the latter; but in circumstances of pecu. liar difficulty, and for a limited time, to render the efforts of the first preachers of the Gospel effectual, in establishing the doctrine, which they were before commissioned to publish. The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, as appears plainly from the Acts and Epistles, added nothing to the ministerial powers. The former were possessed in full perfection by Philip the Deacon; but he enjoyed only a portion of the latter. He had power to preach and to baptize, but he had not power to perform that ceremony to which the rite of Confirmation, among us, has succeeded.In effect, the extravagant claims of enthusiasm, without any visible or fixed criterion of judgment, without any check to passion, and without any means of detecting hypocrisy, seem essentially to confirm the grounds on which our form of polity rests. In considering this form, however, as important in itself, and in its consequences, we would not run into the extreme, not less extravagant and hurtful, of mere formality, as enthu siasts are apt to accuse us of doing. We know, and we have never shewn any disposition to conceal, that our religion is spiritual, and that our forms and polity are worse than useless, unless they serve the spiritual purposes which the Gospel was intended to promote. But we are very certain that the former may be retained, without injuring the latter: and we are disposed to believe that the chief advantage of our system consists in the direct tendency which it has, when sincerely followed, and candidly applied, to promote all the best purposes of genuine religion." We recommend the following to the serious attention of all those whom it may concern, and hope that its excellence will atone for its length. "Our principles are exclusive. But is not every judgment the same, which men form decisively on any subject? Trath is one; and it is exelusive. Every proposition, whether it respect abstract or historical truth, is either true or false; and its truth or falsehood is to be determined by evidence proper to the class or department to which the proposition belongs. Nothing can be more absurd, nor is there a more fruitful source of error, than to decide our judgments in one department, by reasoning drawn from another: as, for example, to determine the truth of an his. torical fact, by moral or metaphysical disquisitions on its probability or improbability, its propriety or impropriety. The matter in question we certainly consider as a historical fact, and to be decided by historical evidence. In asserting its truth, we as certainly deny and exclude the con trary opinion; but, in like manner, and with equal decision, they who deny deny it must exclude ours. In all this, however, there is neither bigotry, nor narrow-mindedness, nor uncharitableness. But is it not more consistent with the liberal spirit of the Gospel, and the enlightened huma nity of modern times, to be a truly Catholic Christian, attached to no exclusive system or party, and equally well disposed and candid to all? To be well disposed, and candid, and charitable towards all men, is certainly the duty of every Christian; but the spirit of indifference which is recommended along with this, and which is very slightly concealed under a fair name, is equally contrary to the spirit and precepts of the Gospel, and to the nature and powers of man. If, indeed, it were just, why not extend it a little farther, and include Jews, Turks, and Infidels ? But Christianity is an exclusive religion, and he who professes it, denies the truth of every other. It does not follow, however, that he is thereby entitled to persecute, to despise, or to condemn, those who unhappily differ from him." Again "The exclusive nature of our principles then admits of a very satis factory apology; and certainly merits not the derision, and ignorant, opposition, to which we have been so often exposed, perhaps beyond all other orders of Christians. Our Church neither is, nor ever was, as a religious society, contemptible, nor such as any of its members had reason to be ashamed of. Its preservation, in circumstances of uncommon difficulty, is astonishing; that it is not now very numerous, can excite no surprize; but as a distinct religious society, it is still in a high degree respectable. In our doctrines, worship, and discipline, we perfectly agree with the United Church of the greater part of the Empire. We are Dissenters, indeed, from that which is established in this part of the kingdom; but our reasons of dissent are not frivolous; nor are they ever impertinently obtruded; nor is any part of our practice dangerous. Neither can our principles be condemned as novelties. It is even pardonable if we wish to distinguish ourselves from the growing mass of Sectaries, by reflecting that ours was once the Established Church of our native land, as it still is of the southern part of our island. To the United Church of England and Ireland, we are most sincerely and cordially attached; and our most earnest prayers must ever be, that she may ever retain the advantages which she enjoys. When we are called to live within the limits of het jurisdiction, we are her faithful adherents, as the most zealous of her own children. But we are the enemies of no church nor party, however diffe. rent from our own; and least of all are we disposed to reproach or to injure that which is established among us. What the Established Church of Scotland may have to fear from the numerous Sects which have separated, and which daily separate from her, it becomes not us to judge; but from us, who never separated from, because we never belonged to her, most certainly she has nothing to fear." Mr. Walker states a just and very necessary distinction between a political, and a purely spiritual Episcopacy; between such an Episcopacy as exists among ourselves and in Ireland, and such as exists at present in Scotland and in America, and did formerly exist in England during the usurpation of Cromwell, and, wherever Christianity was was known, universally before the time of Constantine. Persons born and educated under an Episcopal Establishment, like our own, have been accustomed to contemplate the character of a Bishop, as uniformly combined with that of a Baron; and, from the principle of association, are very naturally led to suppose them inseparable.Happily for our ecclesiastical establishment they are united, and, we trust, so indissolubly united, as never to be separated. But in truth the latter is by no means essential to the former; for were it so there could not, at this moment, be a Bishop in the world. For what purpose, it may be inquired, did those American Clergymen, who some years ago were sent to this country, receive consecration at the hands of our Prelates? Was it to entitle them to revenues, to seats in Parliament, or to the appellation of My Lord? No. It was to make them Bishops in the strictest sense of the word; it was to empower them to "feed the flock of Christ, over which the Holy Ghost then made them overseers." But we shall let our readers once more hear Mr. W. himself. "One considerable cause of uneasiness, respecting the views of our humble society, arises from the strange absurdity, of not distinguishing between the spiritual character of a Bishop, as that office existed in the three first centuries of the Church, and the temporal power and dignity, which, in a state of civil establishment, have been connected with it.We see, and most readily acknowledge, the great and numerous advantages derived from such establishments. But every human advantage is probably followed by some corresponding evil. In such circumstances, many individuals will be disposed to rest satisfied with the civil sanctions of their Church policy, and with the protection of the laws; and to overlook that spiritual source of the Christian ministry and stewardship, which, for the purposes of religion, is its most important mark of dis. tinction. If that source for which we contend, be real, the loss of temporal favour cannot annihilate it. But it has a natural tendency to induce all those who in such circumstances still acknowledge it, to remain at tached to their principles with more zeal, perhaps, than in circumstances of greater external splendour. Now, if this be the case with ourselves, can we be justly blamed? But, most certainly, we connect not, in the most secret thoughts of our hearts, with the spiritual character which we revere, the most distant notion of temporal power or dignity; nor is it very easy to conceive, why we should be suspected of doing so. Bishop is, with us, merely a spiritual Minister, essential indeed, we think, to the being and unity of our Church, and necessary for offices to which the inferior Clergy have never, among us, been esteemed compe. tent. His character, indeed, we think as sacred, as that of him who unites to the same spiritual name and office, the rank and consideration of Peer of Parliament. The various sects, which abound in England and among ourselves, look, it is presumed, in as high a light on their Ministers; nor has their right to do so ever been questioned. But why that which is allowed to them with impunity, should be denied to us, and blamed, or thought extraordinary, in us, it would be hard to account for, on principles of equal justice." A The The concluding sentence of the above extract forcibly recals to our minds a subject which we early noticed in this article: but in a note at page 51, Mr. Walker expresses himself still more explicitly. "The number of Episcopalians in Scotland," says he, "compared with that of other Dissenters, is very small indeed. These latter, numerous and increasing as they are, seem however to excite little or no attention; while every step we take appears to be followed with some degree of jealousy and suspicion. It is not easy to account for this." To us it appears impossible, and therefore we wish for farther information, and if it be such as from this sermon we are led to suspect, we pledge ourselves to reserve a corner in our Review for such animadversions as the occasion may require. The decent, orderly, and respectful conduct and principles of the members of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, seem to form a perfect contrast to those of some of their narrow-minded intolerant countrymen; most assuredly to those of our restless, levelling turbulent Dissenters; and the mild, though dignified, expostulations of our author are such as would not have been unworthy of a primitive Christian pleading for toleration before a heathen emperor. On the whole, we cannot fix upon a single sermon which stands higher in our estimation than that which we have just reviewed, whether we consider the importance of the subject, or the masterly manner in which it is treated; and we earnestly, most earnestly, recommmend the attentive perusal of it to all our readers of every description. Our extracts have been so copious, that we are now coinpelled, with reluctance and regret, to take leave of Mr. Walker, trusting, however, that we shall soon meet with him again in the walks of literature. The Preface informs us, that the Sermon is published at the unanimous recommendation and express request of the author's ecclesiastical superiors and brethren, before whom it was delivered. The Beauties of England and Wales; or Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Descriptive, of each County. Embellished with Engravings. By Edward Wedlake Brayley, and John Britton. 8vo. Vol. iii. PP. 574. l. Vernor and Hood, &c. 1802. THE two first volumes of this interesting work were reviewed by us in our twelfth and fourteenth volumes; when we observed, that as these beauties held a middle place between tours and county-histories, they could not fail to be acceptable to a very large description of readers. And the event has verified our remark. The volume now before us, contains an account of Cumberland, the Isle of Man, and Derbyshire. In their description of the beautiful lakes and hills of this county, the Editors have had recourse not only to the best autho rities for facts, bu to the most elegant writers, for description; and among the latter, Mrs. Radcliffe stands pre-eminent. Her description of the ascent to the summit of Skiddaw, and of the view from thence, cannot be read without feeling alternate horror and delight. The manners of a Cumberland Village, Great Orton, as described by Messrs. Brayley and Britton, are such as, we should have thought, were not to be discovered in this island, in the nineteenth century. We are happy, however, to find some vestige of primitive, or, at least, most ancient, manners still remaining in our native land. Long, very long, may such rustic scenes, all rude as they are, of simplicity and innocence, continue to be witnessed, uncorrupted by the luxury of the age! We are too well pleased with the description, not to transcribe the passage which contains it. "The customs and phraseology of the inhabitants of this village, and its vicinity, are in several respects exceedingly peculiar, but were still more so, before the introduction of what are here termed south country fashions, or, in other words, the manners of the metropolis, which, latterly, have made a rapid progress northward. The change which the lapse of twenty or thirty years has occasioned in Cumbrian amusements has been very considerable, and especially, as to the UPSHOT, or recreative merry meet. g; once a favourite diversion, though now but rarely planned, and yet more rarely carried into effect. Some of the circumstances attending this scene of rustic festivity are singular, and we shall insert a brief statement of its nature, from the explanatory notes to an unpublished Rhyming Narrative,' in the Cumberland dialect, with the perusal of which we have been favoured by its ingenious author, Mr. Lonsdale, a native of Orton, who, with singular and happy effect, has combined the phraseology, sentiments, and idioms of the inhabitants, into a dramatic and descriptive poem. ' "An upshot is a merry-meeting, where the visitors are assembled for the purposes of dancing, and playing at cards; and the expences attending it are defrayed by a collection from the female part of the company, as well as from the males. It is generally projected by a few of the most lively young fellows of some particular neighbourhood, who having provided a sufficient stock of bread and cheese, and ale, and fixed on a commodious place for the reception of their expected guests, make the time of meeting known to the inhabitants of the adjacent villages from a Throughh, or flat tomb-stone, in the Kirk-Gath, or church-yard, which, in a north-country village, is the High Change of the parish, and the place where general information is circulated. In the poem alluded to above, the Orton Lads are represented as having chosen their assemblyroom, and going to the church to make their intentions public: They went to Kurk off hawn' ye see, To lwose nea teyme about it; An'ther Wull Brough stude on a Throughh, An' 'midst o' th' Kurk-Fwoke shout it!' "The place of dancing is generally the up-stairs, or loft of a farm-house, whose owner readily lends it for the occasion free of expence, together with every other corner, above and below, for the accommodation of the drinkers |
