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object, there is something very painful to the mind in passing any sentence of blame or censure upon them; and assuredly, in these days, a proposition, which, like ours, as will appear in my next discourse, tends to cast a shade on all the congregations of Christians which reject an apostolical Ministry, will be received with dislike and repugnance. For the plan of the present age is to admit that all men, however unfounded, however wild, and however extravagant their schemes, are equally right or equally likely to be so with ourselves-to fraternize with every class and every opinion-and by the aid of unmeaning and indefinite expressions, to give to falsehood and disorder, a participation in the blessings and the honour of order and truth. And this is termed charity, this is dignified by the specious and imposing name of liberality, and the outery is raised against all who dissent from the practice! A superficial liberality-a false and hollow charity. For Christian charity is something higher, oh! far, far, higher than this. The first of all things in the eye of a Christian, is Truth. That is the jewel he seeks, the pearl of great price which he gives all his treasure to buy. That must be taught plainly, simply, and only, without fear of offence, and though with discretion, without fear of consequences, or of imputations. It can make no compromise with falsehood, it can invest her with no ray of its own divine splendour, but must proclaim eternal and irreconcilable war with all that bears her name. But because it so wars against falsehood, so detests and so exposes it, does it therefore detest those who are deceived, or feel any bitterness against those who are in conscientious error? God forbid. The Christian, while he regrets their error, and seeks to avert its evil effects on the cause of the Gospel, remembers ever that they who hold it are his brethren— the children of the same Father, with one hope and one home. He beholds them with sincere and unaffected love, his earnest wish and desire is to reclaim them from error and to lead them into truth, and when all his efforts are vain, he sees their defeat with regret, but without bitterness. He must still proclaim the truth, for that is a sacred duty to truth and its eternal fountain, the holy and everlasting God; he must still speak the language of condemnation to falsehood, but he still speaks the language of love and of kindness to those whose opinions he condemns. He reverences the conscientious, and prays for the perverse. He looks forward to that day when truth shall shine forth and error be reproved, and while he believes his own humble trust for acceptance in that day to rest on the sure and covenanted mercy of God, he remembers that his God is a God of love, that with him there is uncovenanted mercy, and that by himself we are assured, that it is his earnest desire to bring all the children of his love to one heavenly flock.-Pp. 20-22.

The text of the second sermon is from John xx. 21; and its object is to establish, by the evidence of Scripture and of history, the truth of the probability assumed in the previous discourse. Theological students are well acquainted with the nature of the proofs here introduced. But Mr. Rose has admirably condensed them, and interposed some more recent observations derived from his consideration of the objections made to certain texts, especially those relating to the call of the twelve apostles, by Schliermacher, and others. The great points in debate,—the nature of the apostles' embassy; the extent of their sphere of action; the limit of their duties as to time; the orders of their various dignities, and their offices;-are all explicitly and succinctly stated and determined. And the power of their commission is exemplified and proved by testimony not to be gainsaid,

The question of Episcopacy is so clearly disposed of, that we transcribe the close of that part of the discussion.

To argue the necessity of the episcopal order merely because it is an Apostolic institution, is to argue it on very insufficient grounds, for many Apostolical institutions might be, and doubtless were, of a temporary nature. But when we know that the episcopal order was instituted by the Apostles with the power of conferring the commission, and that no other order possessed the power, the intention of the Apostles as to the continuance of the order is proved by the consideration on which we have been dwelling; namely, the permanent necessity of a commission, and the impossibility of any man's becoming a minister of God without it. The same consideration, even without historical evidence, is a sufficient proof of the uninterrupted succession of the episcopal order; for if no man was admitted to minister without a commission, there must ever have existed those who had the power of bestowing it. It is on the authority of this uninterrupted succession alone that any one of us can presume to act as ministers of God, for if that succession had ever failed, no earthly power could have restored, what no earthly power had given.—Pp. 38, 39.

This "divine right of the priesthood," does not however interfere with the human authority permitted in the details of Church Government. And this Mr. Rose has also briefly mentioned and explained, adducing the great evil of improper interference in the office and the sphere of duty, to which an individual has not been expressly appointed. He then reverts to the objections urged against the divine commission, in a series of impassioned inquiries, which demonstrate the fallacy of that argument which is sometimes alleged by those who appeal to the Old Testament; which, as he says, “never touches on the subject in dispute without refuting their arguments and negativing their assertions."

The real and capital objection rests in the abuse of power of the corrupt Romish Church; in its assumption of the power of positive absolution and forgiveness of sin, and in some other matters. But the abuse is no argument against a proper use of any authority. And even the errors of the priest in administering, or the inability of the penitent to receive, the succours of religion, are no impediment to a just conclusion on this or any other head of inquiry. For with respect to the power of absolution, as claimed by Protestant ministers, it depends on certain conditions, partly arising from themselves, partly from the penitent; which conditions are in themselves of chief importance, insomuch that their absence may make the act null; although the nullity, when the conditions are absent, can be no proof of its nullity when they are fulfilled. The last point is the railing accusation brought against the words in the Ordination Service, "Receive the Holy Ghost." The solution of this difficulty is familiar to our readers; but in Mr. Rose's book it is more ably given than in any other work we have yet seen.

Remove (says he, quoting from Hooker) what these insulted words imply, and what have we wherein to glory? But now since that blessed Spirit which our Saviour gave at his first calling of mankind to his ministry, concurs with spiritual vocations through all ages, we have for the very least

of our duties that to dignify, to grace, and to authorize them, which no other officers on earth can challenge. Whether we preach, pray, baptize, communicate, declare God's wrath or his forgiveness, as stewards of God's mysteries, our words, our judgments, and our deeds may, while our hearts and hands are holy, be guided by him, and so be his rather than ours.— Pp. 47, 48.

In the third sermon (on Malachi ii. 7) he brings the preceding arguments to bear upon his hearers, by shewing how the facts there stated ought to operate on the neophyte, and the ordained minister; pointing out the obligation of diligence and study; the necessity of application; the imperative solemnity of the ordination vows; the duty of cultivating the growth of spiritual graces; and the practice of prayer, and active love to God and man. He dwells, very properly, on the caution and the prudence requisite to a successful ministry; shewing how difficult the task will be, if the nature of the mind to be impressed is overlooked in the application of the instruments employed to work the beneficial change; and that the task of a minister is the hardest of all tasks, "for he has to counteract prejudice, and subdue passion; to make men resign the present gratification of their fondest wishes for distant and future expectations; and to teach them that truth which at first they are unable, and ever continue unwilling to believe." Well may he ask, "Who is sufficient for these things?" And well may he, as he has ably done, reply, that unassisted man, with all these means at command, unless he himself be teachable and willing to learn, will never teach others; and that, therefore, all helps from learning, and all aids from diligent investigation of God's word, are necessary. Especially so, in this age, when superficial information, mistaken by enthusiasts, in their wretched weakness, for a general increase of real knowledge, is so generally diffused: and when truth is corrupted, virtue and holiness are openly assaulted, error inculcated, and Scripture vilified and assailed. These things. require deep and frequent meditation! Then, again, there are the evidences, and the interpretation of God's word; and many other things which we cannot now name particularly. All these, however, lead, if properly managed, to the exaltation of the human character: and surely such a consideration would lead alone to a cultivation of the studies necessary to form the true "man of God." Those studies, indeed, embrace such a round of learning, that theology may well be called the queen of studies; and sadly, therefore, do men err, when they would charge it with the sin of retarding the growth of the mind, or, in Mr. Rose's words, of "preventing the fairest flower of God's earthly garden from blossoming into the perfectness of beauty." We would gladly introduce, but cannot, the application of these things to those of his auditors, who, in the retirement of a college life, are, perhaps, too apt to consider themselves as altogether excluded from

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the duties of the ministerial office which they hold, and in consequence give themselves up to the blandishments of literature, or the pursuits of science, neglectful of that loftier and sublimer study, before which all human learning, and all human skill, must fade away like a mist in the sun-beam. To his younger hearers, also, the animated preacher did not fail to direct a portion of his kind advice; and coupled with it, he gave some very good instructions on the course of study, and the plan to be pursued most likely to benefit and perfect, concluding his discourse with the inculcation of that heavenly and holy humility, which teaches the wise man, as well as the simple, to look only unto Him who can alone make fruitful or make welcome the seed his servants may be willing or prepared to sow in the barren wilderness of human nature.

We have already taken up so much room, that there is little space for our remarks on the concluding Sermon (on 2 Cor. iv. 1): but as the subject will amply bear us out, we will yet a little longer intrude on our readers' patience. This discourse is, as may be supposed, altogether practical, being confined to the application of the preceding observations. The chief topics insisted on are, the devotion of our lives as ministers to the service of our calling and profession; the renunciation of such pursuits as militate against, and the cultivation of such means as are likely to increase our usefulness; the blessing which awaits the faithful, and the awful condemnation which will overtake the careless shepherd. And in such a way are the duties of the holy office set forth, and its responsibilities demonstrated, that the reward or the ruin which depend on their adoption, of necessity, appear to be a worthy consequence. The whole concludes with some most admirable warnings on the final prospects of

By way of a note to this remark, we beg leave to add a very interesting passage on a similar subject, from a recently-published Address of Dr. Hobart, the Bishop of New York, delivered in the Chapel of the General Theological Seminary of New York, to the Students assembled there, on the 27th of January, 1828, which for beauty of language and illustration yields not the palm even to the Discourses of Mr. Rose:

"As the exclusive seat of sacred science, most interesting is its character. No fount of Helicon indeed sends forth its inspiring current; but here is opened the well-spring of salvation, from which will issue, we trust, the perennial and increasing streams that will fertilize the Zion of our Israel, and make glad the city of our God. The torch of truth, brighter than that which illumined the porch sacred to Heathen wisdom, is here lighted at the altar of Heaven, and sheds undecaying and celestial radiance. Here traverse not the selfish, the stern, or the sensual votaries of Pagan sages, but the disinterested, the cheerful, the pure disciples of Him who spake as never man spake; and who seek to learn from the volume which his inspiration indited, the lessons with which they are to illume, to purify, to save, a benighted, corrupt, and ruined world.

"Sacred then be this mansion. Never let it resound with the notes of boisterous merriment; hushed in it be the sound of discord; far removed the hand and the foot that would rudely desecrate it. Placid and benign as divine wisdom be the spirit that reigns here; blessing the sacred hours of devotion and study; uniting all its inmates in the fellowship of love and peace; making it the emblem of that abode where truth shines forth in unclouded lustre, and love and peace dispense unmingled, ineffable, and eternal joy."-Pp. 16, 17.

ministers; and he that is leading a careless or a wicked life, would find such a picture of his state as would, we hope, point out the darkness of that soul in which the light itself, which should be fed by fire from heaven, is almost, if not altogether, extinguished in the gloom of a wilful ignorance, or of a still more sinful disobedience to the law of the Almighty.

Let us draw a veil over its horrors, in the certainty, that earth has no sight in woe or in terror, like the death-bed of the faithless servant of God, the careless shepherd of the souls of his brethren, who is going to his own place to receive from the Master he has dishonoured, the portion which he has righteously earned: and let us all who are, or are about to become ministers of God, pray, from our inmost hearts, and on our bended knees, that such a dying hour, such a place, and such a portion, may not be ours.-P. 103.

The notes contain a great body of very useful information on many points of theological inquiry, as well as references to many other works so that this volume is a manual of instruction for the conscientious candidate for the ministry. It has been, we doubt not, of use already; as the author tells us, in the Preface, it was printed principally at the request of his younger hearers: and it would, we think, in a rather cheaper form, be still more abundantly useful in a larger sphere, and among a greater body of his brethren and fellowservants in that sacred calling, for whose honour and usefulness he is so zealous an advocate. We shall, in a succeeding article, continue our remarks on subjects connected with the ministerial character and offices, in treating on three publications which have come to our hands at this time.

ART. II.-1. The Teaching of Jesus Christ; the model of Pulpit Instruction; a Sermon. By the Rev. RICHARD WARNER, F. A. S. &c. Rector of Great Chalfield, Wilts; and Author of a Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, on the Character, Errors, and Tendency of Evangelical Preaching. London: Rivingtons. 1828. pp. x. 31. Price 28.

2. The Doctrines of Christianity, especially the pre-eminently Evangelical Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, shewn to be essential to give effect to a moral Education: a Sermon, preached in St. Paul's Church, Bedford, at the Visitation of the Venerable Henry Kaye Bonney, D.D. Archdeacon of Bedford, April 29, 1828. By THOMAS MARTYN, M. A. of Queen's College, Oxford, and Rector of Pestenhall, Bedfordshire. Oxford: Parker. pp. 38. Price 1s. 6d. 3. Horæ Catechetica; or, an Exposition of the Duty and Advantages of Public Catechising in Church. In a Letter to the Lord Bishop of London. By W. S. GILLY, M. A. Prebendary of Durham, and

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