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ing, fidelity, and enterprise; but of combined and united exertion. What, let us respectfully ask, has the evangelical body in the Church done, as such, on any of the great and grave questions referred to? Have they brought any organized and well-directed opposition to the tendencies of Statesmen to provide education at the public expense, sometimes on a narrow and sectarian principle, as in the Factories' Bill, and at other times on a secular principle, as in the case of Lord John Russell's measure? What, again we ask, has the evangelical body done unitedly and publicly to repudiate, to check, to expel from the bosom of the Church, the pestilent Oxford heresy? It may be said, obedience to episcopal authority renders such organized opposition impossible; that the Clergy are bound to obey their Bishops; that such a combination as is here supposed would be factious; and that the creation of a party-spirit would be injurious. We are no advocates for anarchy, for factious proceedings, or for disobedience to legitimate authority. But, although we say this in all sincerity, we are fully convinced that truth does not always dwell in mitred heads; that it scarcely ever radiates from the highest to the lowest, but often, vice versâ, from the lowest to the highest; that the episcopal bench are not impervious to influences brought to bear upon their offices, either from Priest or people; and also, that it is the duty of those who have been taught of God to know his Gospel, to take measures to cause this truth to be recognised and acted upon by even the Bishops of the land. We see nothing of this. It is the same with respect to the aggressions of Popery. We know, indeed, as everybody knows, that individual Clergymen of the evangelical party have nobly exerted themselves to arrest the tide of Popish error and domination. This we say with unfeigned pleasure and admiration. But we again remind our readers that we are speaking of combined exertions. We are sure such a combination can be organized; because, in another spirit, and for other purposes, it exists already. The Puseyites are a party, a union, a combination. They have adopted a set of common principles; they propose the same object; they have held meetings; they have discussed all questions affecting their conspiracy; they have taken measures to put their machinery in motion; and, it should seem, work by the same rules. Now here we have the proof of a possible union of persons in the Church for a common object. But in case it be said, that it would be an unseemly thing for Ministers of the same communion to array themselves in aggregate bodies against each other,—as must be the case, if the evangelical party were to imitate the tactics of the Tractarians,—we remark, that this objection can have no weight in the matter of Popery. Yet here again we have no united action. Their warfare is desultory, loose, and accidental. It is the warfare of outposts, and of guerilla bands, rather than the compact and skilful movements of a great army, led on by experienced Generals. Our remarks might, we are aware, be carried beyond the evangelical party, and be legitimately applied to the whole hierarchy. All sections in the English Church, exclusive of the Puseyites, have a deep and equal interest in arresting the progress of an ecclesiastical despotism which is pledged to the destruction of the Establishment. Why do not the heads of the Clergy meet and concert measures for this purpose? The miserable and childish objection, that it would be uncanonical, now that the Convocation is no longer permitted to assemble, can only be considered as the expression of imbecile or of cowardly minds. Do not the Irish Roman Catholic Bishops meet to take counsel, whenever they judge it necessary to do so? Does not the Bri

tish constitution allow of voluntary assemblies of men, whether clerical or lay, whether for spiritual or secular purposes? Whilst we are writing this, Popery is being endowed by the Maynooth Bill; and this measure, taken in connexion with the general favour shown to that system of falsehood, together with the rapid strides it has made in the past few years, one might imagine, would arouse the great body of the Clergy more than any other class of men. Do we witness any assemblies of the "overseers" of the Church, surrounded by their grave Presbyters, for the purpose of coming to a mutual understanding on the question, and then adopting an energetic course of opposition? We have heard of no such assembly.

But we are speaking more especially of the evangelical party. We confess it is to us a matter of surprise and grief, to perceive that men whose views of the truth of God, one might suppose, would oblige them to endeavour to render them influential in the great national movements of the day, take no effective step to accomplish this object. We are much disposed to think that the position assigned them by their multitudinous enemies, as a sect in the Church, rather than its true members and representatives, has been, though perhaps not professedly, yet tacitly, taken by themselves. Do they not submit to be treated as aliens and strangers in their own house? Hence their zeal and energy is discovered to work in societies founded by themselves; some of which appear as little clubs and knots of individuals, for the purpose of prosecuting some favourite scheme of piety and benevolence, good in itself, but having no very apparent bearing on the evangelical action of the Church as a body. How differently the Tractarians and Laudeans! They invariably speak of themselves as the Church; they write as the Church; they propound their doctrines as the doctrines of the Church; they endeavour to establish their ceremonies, or, as they say, the rubrics, canons, and discipline of the Church; their movement, as a whole, is the revival of life in the Church! Have they any right to assume this distinction? We believe not. We cannot but know, as everybody knows, that all the leading opinions of the party are in direct opposition to both the doctrines and the economy of the Church. They are, in truth, schismatics in the Church, and alike alien to its spirit and its creeds. Can this be said of the evangelical Clergy and members of the Establishment? If we understand the Articles, the Creeds, the Liturgy, and the Homilies aright, they are certainly in harmony with evangelical Christianity. The method of a sinner's justification before God may be taken as a certain test on this point; and a comparison of these legal and authorized standards will show, that on this fundamental question the Church is sound and clear. In matters of ceremony, the sacraments, the priesthood, and subjects of ecclesiastical order, the case is not so, because too much of the old leaven was left in these arrangements: a compromise for the sake of peace, or with the idea of gaining over the Papists, we fear, was designedly conceded by the Reformers. But it is impossible to suppose that they intended that any of the merely economical arrangements, for the sake of order, which they adopted, should ever be interpreted so as to neutralize the fundamental doctrines of Christianity which they established in the Creeds of the Church. Why do not the evangelical body take advantage of this circumstance, and found their exertions on this basis? They have a right to occupy this noble position. With whomsoever the doctrinal Articles and Creeds of the Church are found, that body must constitute, properly speaking, the Church itself. We are aware that the parties opposed to the true sons of the Establishment are numerous, and occupy the highest places in both the ecclesiastical and civic

state. But those who have the undoubted suffrages of truth on their side enjoy great advantages, and might wield a mighty power and influence, in spite of any inferiority of position. We are persuaded that unity and energy amongst the evangelical Clergy and laity would, in a short time, place them at least in an attitude to conserve the highest interests, and greatly to benefit the nation at large.

Taking, then, the entire Church-system as developed in the Establishment, it is our idea that the evangelical body ought to assume to be the only parties representing this system, and to conduct their operations vigorously on this principle. Surely, with due attention and combined effort, they might establish their power in the educational institutions of the nation. Not, certainly, at once, so as to secure a predominance of influence, but to diffuse a leaven of truth and principle which might, in the end, lead to that result. We see no reason why evangelical men should shun, on account of their principles and religious feelings, the most perfect devotion to these departments of service. Certainly, if the spiritual system we are referring to is incompatible with the highest branches of mental culture, and the profoundest knowledge attainable by man, why, then, we must abandon the hope of seeing the cause we esteem as so essential to the well-being of the nation and of the world triumphant. The age is preeminently one of mental activity. Nothing can stop the progress of knowledge we say nothing ought. This being the case, it becomes a question of vast importance, whether or not evangelical sentiments-or rather the system of the New Testament, the economy and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ-can plant itself as the centre of this universal knowledge, diffuse its mild and gentle light, and exist concurrently with a universal and profound philosophy, impregnating the whole with its beauties of holiness and truth. Are religion and science incompatible? We think not. Truth is one, though its constituent elements are many; and the spiritual and heavenly element can, as we think, co-exist with all other truth. Why should it not be successfully introduced by the side of the greater, as well as the lesser, pursuits and movements of the mind, of society, of the world? It is greater than any of them: it, in some sort, comprehends them all, Religion embraces all the departments of nature; it touches mind and morals in all their phases; it blends with poetry, eloquence, beauty, sublimity; it is the foundation of states; and it is the only true, safe, and equitable guide in political science. What, then, should prevent the attempt to bring evangelical truth to bear on the universal education of the nation?

But wherefore limit these exertions to elementary subjects? We see no good reason why the principles of the Gospel should not be brought to bear on the higher interests of the community. There must be points of coherence somewhere betwixt spiritual and secular affairs; the kingdom of God, and the government and well-being of states; the rights of the divine law, and the title to earthly power; the economy of God, and that of the republics of man; the glorious world, hidden from our sight, and that which is physical and apparent; the claims of Messiah's throne, and those of Cæsar; the mercies of the cross and mediatorship of Christ, and the faith and obedience of man; the immutable perfections of the Divinity and his dispensations, and the progressive advancement of the world in all wisdom, holiness, and happiness. We say there must be some points at which one truth may touch another, one interest blend with other interests, and the

heavenly and the earthly, God and man, meet in harmonious concert. It has been too much the practice of evangelical Christians merely to look upon their system of doctrine as intended for individuals, for the use of the closet, for the guidance of the mind and heart in their secret aspirations after spiritual happiness, for the purpose, in fine, of regenerating the man, and fitting him for heaven. "My kingdom is not of this world," is a passage often quoted as if the Saviour meant that his kingdom is not in this world. We have no desire to weaken the impressions of those eminent and useful Christians who so apply the teaching and grace of the Gospel to themselves, as to realize its blessings and its power. But we cannot limit its design to these personal cases. If a large portion of the prophetic scriptures ever receive their fulfilment, and "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ," then the truths and blessings of Christianity must, in some way, become connected with states and nations as such. To minify and to isolate Christianity; to consider and employ it as a single truth, a separate department, an etherial power, refusing to blend with anything human; has, we fear, been the great failing of evangelical Christians.

God forbid that we should desire to see them sink the Gospel to a level with the world. This is not our notion of duty, or of what is desirable. It is, on the other hand, our conviction that its sublime and glorious truths should be felt by the world. Sunbeams warm and cheer by extending their radiance and heat through the realms of nature: though of a much higher quality, this solar influence blends with everything in mysterious power, giving vitality, variety of colour, and fertility to the whole. Jesus Christ is "the light of the world ;" and his doctrines, his mediatorial grace and mercy, his rectoral glories, his spiritual dominion, his holy precepts, together with the high and sublime purposes of his dispensation, made known and embraced by nations, must have the effect of exalting them in everything which dignifies the human race. If it be folly and weakness for Statesmen to expel the Gospel from the region of politics, what is it but equal short-sightedness for evangelical men to repel politics from the Gospel? There is much mistake, we are persuaded, on the part of men holding our own views of divine truth on this momentous point. Politics are branded as something to be abhorred and shunned by all Christians,—as detrimental to the spiritual life, and dangerous to piety. If by politics is meant the party-spirit, the intrigue, the arts of deception, the clamour for power, the ambitious antagonism of debate, the clashing and equally empty theories of economy, the exactions of tyranny, the tumults of democracy and agitation, the cruelties of war, the villanies of slavery, the bloodstained crimes of the colonial system; if, by politics, these things alone are meant,—which, we grant, constitute the staple commodity of the times,— then we are ready to allow that all good men ought to keep at the utmost distance from such abominations. But this is not what we mean. Politics, as we understand the subject, embrace the important matters of civil government, of wise and equitable legislation, of the uncorrupt administration of justice, of the relations of people to one another, of the social obligations of communities, of the prerogatives of Princes and governors, and the liberties and rights of mankind; and, moreover, of the blending of the divine Power with all these interests. Can these great questions be rightly understood, or the principles on which the balance of one thing with another depends, be truly apprehended, without the light and sanc

tion of religion? Then, again, is this religion a bauble to be sported with by mere men of the world, or is it a great truth, a spiritual and moral system, a divine economy in actual and living power? If it be not a real and pervading dispensation, reaching earth, embracing the human race, and exacting homage and fealty even from nations, then what is it? Is Christianity an undefined and general notion and sentiment, or a class of moral or traditional opinions; or is it a spiritual and administrative system in the hands of God? We believe it to be the latter; and that the true, and the only true, representation of this existing system is to be found in the New Testament; and is, in fact, only understood and held by men taught by that sacred book. It follows from this, that all political science which excludes the light of the word of God, and repudiates the fact of Christianity as therein exhibited; sets aside the doctrines of the divine atonement, the priestly throne of Christ, the grace of God, the agency and influence of the Holy Spirit, the actual and immutable dominion of the Deity, and, in fine, the whole system of Christianity; and rests the administration of human affairs on the hollow foundation of expediency; is not only lamentably defective, but equally false. Whether men will acknowledge and act on the principle or not, the Christian religion is the moral system of the universe, the great law on which the Divinity proceeds in all his dealings with men and nations, the truth by which everything is tested as to its being right or wrong, the pervading power which gives life to all interests approved by God, and which withers and crushes those which are inimical to its spirit and claims.

This being the case, it becomes a matter of transcendent importance that the legislation and policy of a country should be in conformity with the Gospel. In His inscrutable wisdom, the divine Being has consigned much to man, in giving effect to Christianity amongst the nations. To whom, then, does this belong? Who are the parties charged with this great commission? The reply is, undoubtedly, that on every individual knowing the truth, and possessing the least amount of power, some responsibility will rest. But if Providence has placed one class of men in a more advantageous position than another, on them a peculiar obligation must devolve. We cannot dispossess ourselves of the belief that the evangelical body in the Church of England occupy this position of honour and obligation. It is not enough that they should perform their parochial duties; that they should promote education on their own principles; that they should even seek to guide, as means are afforded, the young mind of the higher classes: they are bound -so we humbly think-so to organize their forces as to give effect to the doctrines of the pure Gospel in all the departments of the State. It humbles us to think of the small modicum of talent now brought into public debate, and the counsels of the nation, by this party; and we are led to reiterate our conviction that they have allowed themselves to be put into a false position.

It may be disagreeable to peaceful and pious men to leave their seclusion, and to engage in strife and contention; to take an active part in a popular movement; to expose themselves to the odium of adversaries, not likely to be very scrupulous or sparing in their reproach; to adopt measures which may in some degree compromise them with men in power; and, above all, to expose the cause dear to their hearts to the animadversions of their opponents. But there are duties above all calculations of human prudence, and obligations which set at nought the refined tastes of retiring piety. This we believe to be the case with this much-respected class of men.

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