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the Earth without having minutely examined it, yet what is it to us how the earth was made-a thing impossible to be known! This system the Doctor did not reject without having severely studied it; but all at once he makes up his mind on such important subjects as whether we be the outcasts of a blind Idiot, called Nature, or the children of an all-wise and infinitely good God. Whether we spend a few miserable years on this earth, and then sink into a clod of the valley, or endure the anxieties of mortal life only to fit us for the enjoyment of immortal happiness,these subjects are unworthy philosophers' investigation; he deems that there is a certain self-evidence in infidelity, and becomes an atheist by intuition. Well did St. Paul say, Ye have an evil heart of unbelief." "

The concluding part of Memorials of Oxford has appeared, and every one who feels an interest in that most beautiful city, must feel really indebted to the artist who has represented the character of its various parts so well. The success of the work has encouraged the same artists to undertake a similar work for Cambridge. It is curious that, so far, no one has been successful in conveying the peculiar character of the back of the walks there.

Another Number of Mr. Bell's very beautiful work on British Quadrupeds has appeared.

The Second Volume of Lord Mahon's manly and sensible History of England has appeared. There is nothing to add to the remarks made on the first volume, except that the account of Wesley is very temperate and judicious.

MISCELLANEA.

AN INAUGURAL DISCOURSE,

Preached in the Parish Church of Leeds, on the 16th day of April, 1837, being the Third Sunday after Easter, by the Rev. WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, M. A., VICAR.

ACTs, xx. 27" To declare unto you all the counsel of God."

AVERSE though I am from any allusion to myself in the pulpit, yet I feel that in taking possession of this vast and important cure, and in addressing you for the first time from this pulpit, it may be fairly expected on your part, and cannot be improper on mine, to state to you plainly and frankly the principles upon which I propose to act, and the doctrines of truth which it will be my endeavour to promulgate.

Let me tell you, then, in the first place, my brethren, that you see before you one to whom God has given a desire to do his duty in that station of life unto which by the providence and grace of his Saviour he has been called,—a fallible and sinful man, it is true, but one in whom, if the flesh be sometimes weak, the spirit is undoubtedly willing. But it is among fallible and sinful men that I, a fallible and sinful man, am appointed to labour;-let us remember this on both sides. May you, my brethren, judge without severity of my infirmities; and God Almighty grant that I may ever set an example of Christian charity in my feelings towards you.

When I have said that I am willing, desirous, anxious to do my duty, as these are not mere empty words, I have said much. In so extensive a field, it is not possible that I can become personally acquainted with all of my parishioners-scarcely possible that this should be the case with respect even to all the members of my immediate congregation. But to the fartherance of every public work which I believe to be conducive to the welfare, whether temporal, VOL. XI.-June, 1837.

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intellectual, moral, or religious, of the inhabitants of the parish, I shall rejoice to give my labour and my time; and, though deriving my authority to minister in sacred things from no human source, receiving my commission from Christ himself, in the exercise of that commission and authority I shall consider myself as your servant. And I entreat you to summon me whenever or wheresoever you think that my ministry is needed. As far as my physical strength will admit, I shall be ready to obey when summoned by any parishioner, be he rich or be he poor, be he high or be he low, to the bed of sickness or to the house of mourning. Whoever wants a friend with whom to take counsel or to pray, will find in me one ready to stand in such a relation to him; perhaps not always skilful to advise, but ever with a heart prepared to sympathize, whether in affliction or in joy, ever anxious, in season and out of season, to awaken the impenitent, to convert the ungodly, to warn the timid, to infuse hope into the dejected, to solace the dying. My poorer brethren, to you especially I would be a friend, ready to assist you in your temporal distresses, in proportion to my means, and certainly most ready to administer to you those spiritual consolations needful to all, but especially to you.

I know not how better than this I can make out the course of pastoral duty I would prescribe to myself. Each day that I kneel down before the throne of grace, I will commend to the care of my heavenly Father the whole body of my parishioners, imploring him to direct me by his special providence to those abodes where I may be in his hands an instrument of good; and of you, my brethren, I ask, not only that you send for me wherever you think my attendance can be of service, but also (this I do earnestly, fervently entreat of you,) that you remember me in your prayers, so that in my weakness God's strength may be manifest.

And now as to my doctrine. You see before you a firm, determined, consistent, uncompromising, devoted, but I hope not uncharitable son, servant, and minister of the honoured church of England. It is as a minister of the church of England that I am placed here. I am not placed here to indulge in speculations of my own as to what I may think to be useful, or what I may think to be expedient-I am instituted under the bishop to administer "the discipline, the sacraments, and the doctrines of Christ as the Lord hath commanded, and as this church and realm hath received the same." I am to labour for the salvation of souls and the edification of the church, but not in ways and modes of my own devising, but according to the laws, the regulations, the spirit, of the English church. And immediately that I find that I cannot conscientiously adhere to those rules, and act in this spirit, I shall tender my resignation to the bishop, and feel myself bound, not only as a Christian, but as a man of honour, to retire from a situation the duties of which I cannot discharge. The church is not infallible, but as we find her now in existence in this country I believe her not to be in error, and my conduct shall always be regulated by her authorized decisions. I shall do more than thisI shall ponder on the spirit in which the Reformation of the church of England was conducted, and I shall thus endeavour to act, not coldly according to the letter of her rubrics, but according to the fulness of their spirit and meaning. Does the church of England direct us for guidance in doubtful cases to the four first general councils,-does she in her canons enjoin, "Let preachers above all things be careful that they never teach aught in a sermon to be religiously held and believed by the people, except that which is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testament, and which the catholic fathers and ancient bishops have collected from that doctrine?" I will endeavour to act upon this rule. So far as my intention is concerned, you shall never find me

The reader need scarcely be reminded, that by catholic fathers, the church alludes to the early writers of the church-universal. To speak of the Roman catholics or papists as catholics, is quite a modern error, the result of inadvertence or of igno

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confounding doubtful conjectures with indubitable facts; you shall never find me splitting hairs or contesting about chimæras; you shall never hear from me those fanciful interpretations of prophecy which, like bubbles, break as soon as they are blown, and are like the last year's flies, forgotten; but, without being dangerously lax or impracticably rigid, I will lay before you the great duties of your profession as Christians, and carefully and prayerfully compare all the doctrines I advance with those which have universally been received in the primitive ages. What the church asserts I will lay before you, assuming you to be churchmen, and I will prove from scripture that the assertions of the church are scriptural. When this cannot be done, when the church and the scripture are at variance, I shall adhere to the scripture and quit the church. For most heartily do I subscribe to that grand protestant doctrine, that "holy scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor can be procured thereby, is not required of any man that it should be believed, as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." Where scripture is quite clear, there all parties are agreed. But the question must often occur-(else whence comes dissent?-whence disputes in the church itself?)—the question must often occur, what is proved thereby. The Trinitarian tells us that his doctrine is proved thereby; the Socinian says the same of his, so is it with the Papist, the Independent, the Anabaptist, the Churchman. Now it is in these disputed questions that the Churchman refers, not to the opinion of this reformer or that, not to the conjecture of one doctor or of another doctor-but, where it can be ascertained, to the practices of those first churches which were instituted by the apostles themselves, and the universal practice of those early churches is taken into account as throwing light upon a litigated scripture; not, observe, as superseding scripture, but as indicating, when two or more meanings may be attached to one and the self-same passage, which is the meaning, as enabling us to ascertain, not what the scripture can be made to say by ingenious men, but what actually is the mind of the spirit. For example, when texts are adduced to prove the doctrine of the Trinity, the Socinian has recourse to his lexicons, and says, these texts may by possibility receive another interpretation. Our answer is, the meaning that we attach to those passages is precisely the meaning attached to them by the early Christians, who certainly held the doctrine of the Trinity, and therefore we conclude that the plain literal meaning in which we understand them, is exactly the sense in which they ought to be received. The Papist then advances with his doctrine of transubstantiation, and, quoting the words of Christ's institution, claims the literal meaning as being on his side. We can silence him at once by shewing that this doctrine of transubstantiation was not heard of till the ninth, nor authoritatively received till the thirteenth, century. Here, again, then, we have antiquity assisting us in our interpretation of scripture-as is the case, also, with respect to the change of the sabbath day, the rite of infant baptism, and other doctrines or practices of importance. But does the English church speak slightingly of the scriptures because she adopts this mode of interpretation when the meaning of a scripture is ambiguous; because she thus looks to the Fathers as to light-houses for guidance when the sun of Revelation happens not to be shining in its meridian brightness? No: in one of the Homilies she appropriates the words of one of the ancients whom she delights to honour, and says that "These books, the books of scripture, ought to be much in our hands, in our eyes, in our ears, in our mouths, but most in our hearts. For the Scripture of God is heavenly meat for our souls, the hearing and keeping of it maketh us blessed, sanctifieth us, maketh us holy; it turneth our souls; it is a light lantern to our feet: it is a sure, stedfast, everlasting instrument of salvation; it giveth wisdom to the humble and lowly heart; it comforteth, maketh glad, cheereth and cherisheth our conscience; it is a more excellent jewel or treasure than any gold or precious stone; it is more sweet than honey and the honeycomb; it is called the best part which Mary did choose, for it hath ever

lasting comfort." Believing all this, and more than this, if more can be said, of the blessings which result from a prayerful study of scripture-having myself experienced the blessings which attend that sacred and pleasant exercisebelieving that in the Bible you will find your wisest Counsellor, in the pride and gaiety of youthful spirits and the busy scenes of active life-your support, your staff, and your stay in the infirmities of age,-your sweetest solace, your dearest consolation in the day of your sickness or your sorrow,-I will let no man surpass me in my zeal for the circulation of the sacred volume, though I may use for the medium of its circulation, in preference to any other institution, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge-that society which has been conducted by churchmen for nearly a century and a half, and which, during nearly a century, was the only society established for the distribution of the scriptures;-just as, for missionary purposes, I give my support to the sister society, that for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts,-both being under the superintendence of our bishops--the chief pastors of our church.

Thus, taking my doctrine from the scriptures, which I reverence and love, under the guidance of the church, to whose authority I am bound by the most solemn vows to defer, until I quit it, I shall lay before you all the counsel of God. I shall not select one or two doctrines, and, representing these, because fundamental, as all-sufficient, overlook in carelessness or reject in rashness all the rest, for if this kind of preaching would suffice, why should the bible be so thick a book, or rather such a large collection of books? No. Whatsoever God has thought fit to reveal, whether it relate to doctrine, to the conduct of individuals, or to the discipline of the church; "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, or if there be any praise," to these things I shall, as occasion offers, call your thoughts. I shall never forget to remind you of the fallen, sinful, helpless, hopeless, condition of our nature-of the remedy, the only remedy, provided for our redemption in the atoning blood and sanctifying spirit of Jehovah manifest in the flesh,-of him, the Lord Jesus Christ, that name beside which there is none other given unto man whereby we can be saved, of his spotless virtues, his unparalleled sufferings, his inconceivable agonies of the propitiation effected by the cross,-of the pledge afforded by his resurrection, (that resurrection, the proof, the cause, and the model of our own)-that by divine justice this propitiation was accepted-of the Holy Ghost the Comforter, who came down from heaven on the day of Pentecost, to confound and to convert the world, and who still abideth with the church to cherish, actuate, and inform us with spiritual life and motion—of the awful mystery of the divine nature subsisting in three co-equal, co-eternal persons, the holy, blessed, and undivided Trinity-of the tremendous day when all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own works, when they that have done good shall go into everlasting life, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. Of these things, I shall, by God's blessing, constantly preach, so enforcing the necessity of good works as never to forget that they are to be based upon faith; so enforcing faith as never to forget that, if it be a living faith, it must, of necessity, lead to holiness of life; so insisting upon holiness of life as always to remember that it must result from that newness of heart which can only be effected in our fallen nature, through the supernatural operation, the sanctifying influences, of God, the blessed Spirit, upon the soul. "If any man," says St. Paul, "be in Christ, he is a new creature." It is by the Holy Ghost, and by him only, that "the love of God can be shed abroad in our heart. Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It is by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost that he must be saved." Verily," says our blessed Saviour himself, in the 6th chapter of St. John, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you."

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Ever, then, my brethren, will it be my duty to exhort you, and to remind

myself, that we are to seek the renewal of our nature by the sanctification of the Holy Ghost-and this we must do by meditation and by prayer, and by reading of the scriptures, and by hearing of the Word, but above all, and éspecially by the due and proper use of the sacraments-for, as the church teaches, (instilling the doctrine into the minds of the very babes in Christ,) the sacraments are "outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby," by which," we receive the same," i. e., the inward spiritual grace, " and a pledge to assure us thereof," i. e, to assure us that we have received the inward grace, when we have worthily received the sacraments. As the church teaches, so shall I, the minister of the church, that "the inward and spiritual grace in the sacrament of baptism is a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, for being by nature born in sin, we are hereby," i.e., by baptism, "made the children of grace." And yet as the church teaches so shall I, that "the infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated,” and that “after we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin." As, then, the grace given in baptism may be unproductive, like seed hid in uncultivated ground, so shall I never cease to exhort you to make your calling and election sure, by turning from dead works to serve the living God, by stirring up the grace that is in you, by living a life of repentance, by praying that God, who forgiveth the sins of all them that are penitent, may create in you new and contrite hearts. I shall never cease to exhort you to sustain and support your spiritual life by frequent communion with God, in the other sacrament, the sacrament of the Lord's supper. And while with the church I shall contend against the papist, that "Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions," I shall ever tell you for your comfort, and shew from scripture the truth of what the church asserts, that in that sacrament "the body and blood of Christ," in some mysterious inexplicable manner, "are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful to the strengthening and refreshing of their souls."

Nor shall I fear, moreover, to contend for what one would think common sense must suggest, that for the administration of these means of grace we ought to be able to produce the proof that we have commission and authority, not from man but from Jesus Christ himself, the only source of spiritual authority and power; and therefore I shall take occasion, whenever it shall be needful, to shew that, by an unbroken succession, traced step by step (through the same accredited records of historical fact by which the volume of inspiration is proved to have a divine origin) from the apostles down to our present bishops, the bishops, priests, and deacons of the church of England can sa¬ tisfactorily prove to the inquirer their commission to act as the ambassadors of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. And in asserting this, shall I give unnecessary offence to my dissenting friends, and many such I hope to have? I say no. I, for my part, think better things of the candid, honest, conscientious dissenter. By vindicating the doctrine and discipline of the church of England, I do indeed by implication assert that he is in error. But does not he do the same by us? Does not he imply that we are in error when he secedes from our communion or refuses to conform to it? This he must do if he would justify his secession. And if he does think us in error, he will never find in me one who will censure him for explaining to his hearers the ground of his dissent. However erroneous I may consider those grounds, I shall ever contend that he is more than justified, he is bound to state them honestly and fairly to his people; only let all things be done in charity and gentleness and courtesy. What I ask, then, for myself, is no more than what I am fully prepared to concede. If the dissenter tell his people why they ought to secede, thereby implying that the conformist is in error, let not the non

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