gulf, they appeared situated on a rising plain of interminable extent and elevation. The fabric appeared now of one uniform material of inconceivable brightness and beauty, and, by the strength and brilliance of its reflected rays, looked like a temple" clothed with the sun." Multitudes of cheerful people, arrayed in glorious attire, seemed passing in and out of these buildings; and the firmament of heaven above them seemed as though it might resemble, in purity and serenity, that arch of the empyreal circle, which forms the glorious canopy of the celestial Paradise.

My eye was pained with the steady contemplation of such brightness, and I was fain to remove the glass, but here the scene ended, and I awoke, and my first recollection was the following incomparable lines :

"Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thine eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on ev'ry side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend:
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs!

For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,

And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow ;
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Or evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ;
But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts-the light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains ;
Thy realm forever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns !"

S. C. S.

No. II.

Frequent allusions have been made, in the preceding numbers, to the religious tenets of the Reformers, and it is well known how the public is imposed upon by the specious pretences of several divines, who claim the exclusive merit of preaching the doctrines of the Reformation. I had measurably satisfied myself with the animadversions already made on that subject, but an ancient and very extraordinary work having fallen into my hands, I deem it an imperious duty, and it will certainly be a very great pleasure, to lay some documents before the public, which I presume few have seen, and many will read with interest. As to the authenticity of these documents, the reader will entertain no doubt, after perusing what follows. And I shall give them verbatim, in the style and orthography in which they were published.

"These Articles, hereafter written, were agreed upon at Marpurge, by those whose names are heere vnder written, the 3 of Octob. Anno 1529.

"For the first, that we on both sides beleeue and hold, that there is one only true naturall God, creator of all creatures, and that the same God is one in essence and nature, and three fold in person; viz. Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost, after the same manner as was confirmed in the council of Nice, and as is sung and read in the Nicen creed, in all the christian churches in the world.

"For the second, we beleeue that not the Father, nor the Holy Ghost, but the Sonne of God the Father, naturall God, became man by the operation of the Holy Ghost, without the helpe of the seed of man, born of the pure virgin Mary, bodily, compleat body and soule as another man, sinne excepted.

"For the third, that the same God and Maries sonne, unseparable person, Christ Jesus, was for us crucified, dead, and buried, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, sitting on the right

hand of God, Lord over all creatures, to returne againe to iudge the quicke and the dead.

"For the fourth, we beleeue that original sinne descends unto vs from Adam, by birth and inheritance, and is such a sinne that it damneth all men: and if that Christ had not come to relieve vs with his death and life, then had we perished thereby everlastingly, and could neuer have come to the kingdom of God.

"For the fifth, we beleeue that we are deliuered from the said sinne and from ail other sinnes, together with euerlasting death, if so bee we beleeue in the said sonne of God, Jesus Christ, who died for vs, and that through such a faith, not through works, degrees, or orders, we may be deliuered from any sinne.

"For the sixth, that such a faith is a gift of God, which we haue not purchased by any foregoing workes or deserts, neither can attaine there unto by our owne powers; but the Holy Ghost giues and prouides it, as it hath pleased him, into our harts when we attend unto the gospel of Christ.

"For the seventh, that such a faith is our righteousnesse before God, for which the Lord esteems us just, righteous, and holy, without all works and deserts, and thereby delivers from sinne, death, and hell, takes to grace and saveth for his sonnes sake, in whom we so belieue, and thereby are made partakers of his sonnes righteousnesse and life, and of the benefit of all his treasures; therefore al cloister liuing, and Abbey lubber life, as unprofitable to salvation, are vtterly condemned."

The subsequent articles relate to the visible ordinances of the gospel, viz., of preaching, of baptism, of confession, of magistracy, of the Lord's Supper, &c., which have no peculiar interest in this place. In reference to the holy supper they

say:

"And though it be so that at this time we cannot agree whether the true body and blood of Christ, bee bodily in the bread and wine, yet ought the one part to performe Christian loue to the other, so far as euery man's conscience will beare, and both sides entreate the Almighty God, with al feruency,

that he would settle vs in the right vnderstanding by the Holy

The above declaration of doctrine was the result of a famous conference held between Luther and Melancthon on the one part, and Zwinglius and Bucer on the other, together with their principal adherents, to come, if possible, to an agreement on the great points of religion, and particularly, concerning the sacrament of the supper, in which Luther could not get fully clear of the Romish doctrine of the real presence in the bread.

These were the distinguished leaders in the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, and among the best and ablest of their divines. If the reader will turn to the statement I have given of the doctrine of original sin, in the first series, he will, at first sight, perceive it not to differ from the views of these great Reformers. The ground there taken is, that "original sin descends from Adam to us by birth and inheritance," and is a part of the grand constitution of nature, that every thing, propagated in a series of generations, shall produce its own likeness.

Though the view of the leading doctrines, in the above statement, is exceedingly concise, yet no part of the Triangle is there discoverable. As to the atonement, it is well known, to all the world, that the German Reformers, almost to a man, held to the doctrine of universal propitiation. It was certainly so with Luther and Melancthon, Zwinglius and Bucer, and all the ten, whose names are signed above. But I shall detain the reader with few remarks here, since the above is but a quotation from a much more full and complete confession of faith, of the Psaltzgrave church, in the founding and forming of which, Zwinglius was the principal leader. To that I shall imme diately proceed. INVESTIGATOR.

No. III.

The work is entitled,

"A full declaration of the faith and ceremonies professed in the dominions of the most illustrious and noble Prince Frederick V., Prince Elector Palatine. Published for the benefit and satisfaction of all God's people: according to the originall, printed in the High Dutch Tongue. Translated into English by John Rolte, and published in London, A. D. 1614."

The English translation is dedicated to the Right Honourable Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of England.

"A full declaration of the faith and ceremonies of the Psaltzgraues churches.

"CHAP. I.

"That we have not such a detestable faith as is measured to vs abrode by peace-hating people.

"Now to begin: we protest before God, and whole Christendome, that we have not, in any sort, such a detestable faith, as peace-hating people ascribe vnto vs, whereas they say:

That we deny God's omnipotency.
That we make God the author of sinne.

That we make God to be a tyrant.

That we deny the Godhead of Christ.

That we deny the personal union of both natures in Christ. That we say, that the divine and human nature in Christ have

no actuall and working fellowship with each other.

That we deny originall sin.