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sion. The most popular poets, such as Pope and Prior, sent forth in their volumes compositions which at this day no man could read aloud in any respectable company; compositions which would only be tolerated among the most degraded and licentious classes. This one fact speaks volumes as to the habits of the people. Addison, the most popular writer of the age, who attempted to correct the manners of the people by delicate irony, is singularly reserved on the subject of Gospel truth. Of the three hymns he published, two refer entirely to creation and the providence of God; and the third, which was written on his recovery from a dangerous illness, while it denominates Christ a "Saviour," and speaks of His "dying groans," is very ambiguous as to the manner in which those "groans" are made available in the salvation of sinful men. Addison simply prays that they might "give weight" to his own penitential sorrows. In the early part of the century of which we are now speaking, William Whiston, the Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, avowed and defended the Arian scheme, and was deposed from his office on that account but Dr. Sámuel Clarke, the friend of Sir Isaac Newton, who held the rectory of St. James, Westminster, and enjoyed the patronage of Queen Caroline, appeared as the public advocate of the same tenets, and retained his preferment; and Bishop Hoadley, his contemporary and friend, departed quite as widely, if not more so, from the catholic faith. The common people of those times could not, of course, be expected to understand all the questions at issue between the Arians and the advocates of the Nicene faith; but they were shrewd enough to know that men who solemnly repeated in the church creeds which they did not believe, and who uttered in their prayers to God doctrines which they attempted in their writings to disprove, very much resemble tradesmen who enter into engagements which they do not intend to fulfil. In other words, they are not men of truth. In those times Locke commanded a considerable share of the public attention by his theological as well as his philosophical writings. He contended for the "Reasonableness of Christianity;" but whether by Christianity he meant anything more than the miserable theory of Socinus is doubtful. It certainly was not the Christianity of the New Testament, in which the Divinity and Atonement of Christ are prime articles.

During the period of which we have spoken, namely, from the Restorstion of the monarchy in the person of the Second Charles to the rise of Methodism, many earnest and godly men appeared, who put forth strenuous efforts to arrest the progress of sin and error, and to maintain the cause of truth and practical religion. With a reference to these objects Religious Societies were formed in London, towards the end of Charles the Second's reign. They consisted of men who were deeply concerned for the salvation of their souls, and agreed to meet once a week for the purpose of united prayer, of religious conversation, of reading the Holy Scriptures, and of singing psalms. At their regular meetings the members presented pecuniary contributions, to be applied to pious and charitable objects. They also

pledged themselves to spend some time in prayer every day, to receive the Lord's Supper weekly where it was practicable, to keep a constant watch over their own hearts, and to practise strict truth and justice in their general intercourse with mankind. These Societies gradually increased in number; they were not confined to London, but were formed in several provincial towns, and consisted exclusively of persons belonging to the Church of England. At first they were regarded with suspicion; but at length they were generally approved by the Clergy, and obtained the direct patronage of the bishops.* These Societies existed about seventy years; and it was at one of their meetings, in a house in Aldersgate-street, London, that John Wesley obtained, what he earnestly sought and desired, a manifestation of God's forgiving mercy.

Out of these Societies at length arose the "Society for the Reformation of Manners," in which Dissenters and Churchmen united to put the laws in force against profane swearers, drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, streetwalkers, and the keepers of houses of ill-fame. By this Society some thousands of offenders were brought to justice, and subjected to various penalties, such as whipping, imprisonment, and the payment of fines. Considerable sums of money, obtained from these delinquents, were from time to time given to the poor. After being for several years a terror to evildoers, this Society was paralysed, and at length broken up, by an adverse decision in one of the civil courts.

Among other agencies that were employed in opposition to abounding ignorance and immorality, was the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which was instituted at the close of the seventeenth century, and combined the energies of many earnest and able men, cleric and lay, who expended large sums of money in the printing and distribution of books and tracts against prevalent evils, and in recommendation of religious and moral duty. In these publications a regular and devout attendance upon the public worship of Almighty God was earnestly enforced, as well as frequent communion, family prayer, and the practice of a strict morality.

To counteract the leaven of infidelity, the Boyle Lecture was instituted about the beginning of the eighteenth century, by means of which some of the highest talent the nation could supply was called forth, and a vast amount of argument in defence of revealed religion was adduced in opposition to the Atheism and Deism then in vogue. With the elaborate and forcible reasonings of the Boyle Lecturers, the advocates of infidelity have never ventured to contend.

In opposition to the Arian and Socinian theories the Lady Moyer Lecture was instituted a few years afterwards, and for several years was carried on with great ability and encouraging success, leaving little that was new for subsequent writers to advance in proof of the Divinity of the Son of

* See An Account of the Rise and Progress of the Religious Societies in the City of London, &c., and of their Endeavours for Reformation of Manners. By Josiah Woodward, D.D. Sixth Edition. 1744.

VOL. X.-FIFTH SERIES.

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God and of the Holy Spirit. Taken as a whole, these Lectures are invaluable, bringing as they do the light of Holy Scripture and of Christian antiquity to bear upon the subjects just mentioned.

The benevolent and zealous men connected with the Religious Societies, and with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, aware of the importance of a right training in early life, united with other devout persons in the formation of numerous Charity Schools, in which the children of the labouring classes were taught the elements of useful learning in connexion with Christian truth and morals; being regularly catechized, and accustomed to attend their several parish churches.

For the purpose of providing for the religious wants of the metropolis, and to leave the neglecters of public worship without excuse, these enterprising philanthropists made application to Parliament for a grant of public money for the erection of fifty new churches in the most needy districts of London and the neighbourhood. The request was complied with, and an adequate sum was voted by the House of Commons in the year 1710.

It is natural then to inquire, What was the result of all this expenditure of labour and of money? That a large amount of religious and moral benefit was thus secured, there can be no doubt: yet the root of the existing evils was not reached; for the mass of the people, in respect of religion and morality, grew worse and worse. On this subject the testimonies of contemporary writers, of the highest credit, are numerous, explicit, and unequivocal..........

nesses.

It will be observed that these writers speak in terms of deep regret of the general neglect of public worship, of which they were the sorrowful wit The people who despised the clergy absented themselves from the house of God and yet not a few of the regular church-goers gave ample proof that they derived little benefit from the religious services which they were accustomed to attend. In his beautiful sermon on the death of Lady Cutts, Atterbury describes that young gentlewoman as an attentive hearer of God's word, and a devout worshipper in His sanctuary. Her conduct in both respects he speaks of as so unusual, that many people who were present spent their time in looking at her, apparently wondering what such behaviour meant. The bishop adds, "She often expressed her dissatisfaction at that indecency of carriage which universally prevails in our churches ; and wondered that they should be most careless in their behaviour towards God, who are most scrupulously nice in exacting and paying all the little decencies that are in use among men.' "*

But this kind of disgusting profanity, which was prevalent in those times, receives its fullest exposure from the pen of the Rev. Philip Skelton, an earnest Irish clergyman, who for some time exercised his ministry in London, and dedicated one volume of his sermons to the clergy of the Church of England, and the other to the citizens of London. This eloquent and honest Hibernian had learned to call things by their proper names, and not

* Atterbury's Sermons, vol. i., p. 213. Edit. 1730.

to conceal the essential wickedness of the times under the garb of a soft and fashionable phraseology. Thus he describes scenes which he had witnessed, and which had awakened his disgust, and exercised his patience, in the fashionable congregations of the metropolis :-" They who call themselves the polite people of the world, and have indeed some delicacy in matters of ceremony and external civility, are, generally speaking, so grossly corrupt and wicked, so foul in their affections, so outrageous in their passions, so enormous in their actions, that hell, opened in the most heightened descriptions, seems to be the very doctrine of Christianity that is peculiarly adapted to them. But if they will not bear such descriptions, let them stay away from the house of God; and then we shall have less foppery and vanity, less bowing and grimace,* less whispering and ogling, less inattention in the house of prayer; less pride, pomp, and parade, in the house of humiliation; we shall, in a word, have again congregations of Christians in our churches, instead of our present genteel assemblies; which want nothing else but wine, dancing, and cards, to turn them into ridottos. Then the plain, wellmeaning people, who come hither to confess their sins, and deprecate the judgments of an offended God, will not be perpetually called off from that solemn work by every new idol that enters to flaunt it in silk and jewels. We Christians meet here for no other purpose but to worship God, and hear His word; and we shall do both the better for having none among us but such as come with the same intention." †

It will be observed that the persons whose behaviour in public worship was so scandalous and irreverent were not the unlettered poor, but ladies with their glittering diamonds, silk dresses, and fashionable fans; and gentlemen, bowing to one another according to the strictest rules of politeness. Even of "these" it might be said, as of the same class of people among the ancient Jews, "They have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.".........

Nearly all the evils which then prevailed, we believe, may be justly ascribed to the defective and in some respects the erroneous theology which was then in vogue. The Church of England declares, in her Eleventh Article, "That we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort." But the "doctrine" itself, and the "comfort" connected with it, were equally overlooked in the popular theology of those times; and thus one of the essential elements of the Gospel was withheld from the people. From the pulpit and the press they were taught that it was their duty to believe all the articles of the Christian faith, and to keep the Ten Commandments; but they were not taught, according to the Apostolical Epistles, and the Protestant formularies, how to obtain the

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+ Skelton's Sermons, vol. i., pp. 303, 304. Edit. 1754.

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forgiveness of their sins, so as to be justified before God, and to have their hearts purified from an evil conscience. Bishop Taylor says that men are justified as they successively gain the mastery over their evil propensities and habits; Tillotson teaches that regeneration is the grand condition of justification; Bishop Bull, Dr. Scott, and Dr. Waterland teach that men are justified by faith and good works combined; and Dr. Lucas boldly says, "It is plain to me, that no man can be accounted righteous before God till he really is so: and when he is sanctified throughout in spirit, soul, and body, then he is certainly justified, and not till then." This was no matter of mere speculation. Luther declares that the doctrine of justification by faith only is the test of a standing or of a falling church. Think of a penitent man, groaning under the intolerable burden of conscious guilt, inquiring of his spiritual guide, "What must I do to be saved?" and to be told that he must attain to a state of inward and outward holiness, and then, but not till then, will God for Christ's sake forgive him. Certainly it was not thus that Christ and His Apostles sought to "heal the broken in heart." William Law, the most popular practical writer of the age, urges upon all classes of people the duty of entire devotedness to God, to the very end of life; but never attempts to answer the question how the guilt of past sin is to be cancelled; and it may be fairly doubted whether he ever entertained just views of the death of Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice, or ever recognised its connexion with the justification of a sinner, in the forensic sense of that term....... What the people really wanted was the Gospel in its complete form, exhibiting Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and a Saviour from it; declaring the forgiveness of sin as a present blessing, freely bestowed, and obtained by faith in His blood; faith exercised in a penitent state of the heart; followed, not preceded, by peace and joy, and by all the graces which constitute "the fruit of the Spirit."

THE PILGRIM MISSION IN THE UPPER NILE.

DR. KRAPF sends the following recent report of the Basle Pilgrim Mission in Nubia.* Khartoom, the capital of that country, situated on one of the heads of the Blue Nile, a mile and a half above its confluence with the White Nile, is one of the selected stations of the well-known apostolic highway.

How remarkably we have been protected by the Lord on our long and tedious journey from Cairo to Khartoom, you will have learned from Mr. Stamm, my colleague; and you will, doubtless, have united with us in praising the faithful Keeper of Israel. You will also have been informed by that report, that our brethren appointed for the station at Matamma left us on the 26th of April last, on a boat bound for Abu-Harras, on the Blue River. Their journey was attended by many difficulties in consequence of the rainy

* Christian Work, Oct., 1864.

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