*

the question,-whether he was a genuine Bishop, whether his Persian cloak was an apostolic vestment, and whether his Church regarded the sacred number "three" in the orders of her ministry. Instead of inquiring of him, "What is the condition of your people in that land of Heathens? Is there a church there? Are there good men? Are there tokens of the influence of the Holy Spirit? What is the state of knowledge and instruction? What are the morals ?"-questions which Christian benevolence would have been forward to suggest ;-their first and invariable inquiry was, "How many orders have you ?" If the Bishop answered, "Three," the word operated as a charm to allay their anxiety: it not only made them sure of his salvation, but gave them new assurance of their own. Thenceforth nothing could disturb their peace, or awaken their solicitude, in respect to the Nestorians, but the thought that that simple and grateful people, through their intercourse with "separatists," might learn to value the Gospel more than their hierarchy,—a living, spiritual faith in Christ, more than a “valid ministry and ordinances." Indeed, it seems to have been seriously apprehended, that the offence which they had already committed against the Church, in allowing the Presbyterians to hold an ordination in one of their consecrated places, would be sufficient to consign the entire people to "uncovenanted mercy." +

While formalism is thus coming into collision with an evangelical faith upon Missionary ground, it is intrenching itself more strongly in Christendom. Popery, deeming centuries of exile from her ancient seats at Canterbury, Oxford, and Westminster, a sufficient penance for her past indiscretions, is attempting to regain possession of the soil of England. She looks upon the abbeys, the minsters, the cathedrals, which, notwithstanding the shocks of successive revolutions, remain as monuments of her former magnificence, and longs to restore to them her Monks and Priors, her Priests and altars, her incense, her music, and her ritual. She feels that she has a lien upon these venerable piles,-that the ground on which they stand belongs to her by right of pre-occupancy; and she appeals to all that is superstitious or romantic in the present possessors, to their love of pomp and ceremony, to their admiration of the picturesque and beautiful, to their veneration for antiquity, and their filial affection toward their "mother Church," to restore her to her former privileges and possessions. Nor does she make the appeal in vain. It is responded to from the halls of Oxford, by those who would keep that ancient University "moored in the stream of time." It is responded to by all who covet spiritual domination and temporal ease. It is echoed through many a "long-drawn aisle and fretted vault," from many a lonely ruin and deserted tower.

66

The effect of the magnificent architecture and pompous ritual of a Roman Catholic cathedral, even upon the imagination of a Protestant and an American, may be illustrated by the following extract, taken at random, from the correspondence of a travelling New-Yorker" (evidently a man of intelligence and education) with one of the leading journals of his native city. Speaking of the various objects of attraction to a stranger in Belgium, he says, "The cathedrals are among the most interesting objects in

robe. But, unfortunately, he only wore the common Persian cloak, as used alike by all sects and classes in Persia; nothing in his dress, but his cap, being peculiar, and distinctive of his ministerial office.

* Mar Yohannan's letter in Mr. Perkins's "Residence in Persia," p. 365. + See New-York Churchman of Nov. 12th, 1842.

all Catholic countries; but in Belgium they are remarkably attractive. In Bruges, the cathedral of St. Sauveur has little external beauty, though highly ornamented within. We entered during the celebration of high mass, as the notes of the organ were echoing through the long-drawn aisles,' and the incense was making the air heavy with perfume. An old woman brought us chairs from a huge pile of them in a corner, (the pavements of these churches being undefaced by pews or benches,) and we seated ourselves till the conclusion of the services. How bare and naked seem our churches in comparison with these! All around hang old paintings of scriptural and legendary events, oftentimes masterpieces of art. The painted windows give the interior a 'dim, religious light,' and repeat their richcoloured figures upon the tesselated pavement. Porphyry, agate, and other precious materials, adorn the walls; and the columns and pilasters are of variously-coloured marbles: smaller chapels occupy recesses branching off from the main building, and each has a glittering shrine dedicated to a different saint. The votaries of each lavish decorations upon their favourite ; a lamp burns before each shrine night and day; and there is always some one kneeling there, absorbed in devotion. Statues, busts, and effigies surmount the tombs of the great men who are buried there; and on the very slab over which you walk is often seen a famous historical name, ‘familiar as household words.' The pomp of the ritual, with its accessories of music and incense, and the kneeling of the multitude, cannot fail to impress even the most rigid Protestant, and force him to admit that we may have gone too far in our sweeping ecclesiastical reforms."

Now, the mere existence of so many monuments of the palmy days of Popery in England, invested as they are with the romantic associations of feudal times, appeals strongly to the organs of "veneration" and "ideality" in the admirers of a religion of taste and sentiment, or rather to the deeperseated superstition and vanity of the human heart, and awakens a desire for the restoration of a system which developed itself under such forms of beauty and grandeur, as to be more splendid even in its ruins than others in their prime.

The truth is, Romanism never was uprooted in England. Its branches were lopped off; but the trunk remains, and the sap is in it. Occasionally it sends forth fresh and vigorous shoots; and it will again spread its arms over the land, unless the axe is laid at the root, and the ploughshare driven deep into the soil. The English Church Reformation,-a movement not like the Reformation on the Continent, which had its origin in an honest inquiry after truth, incited and directed by the Spirit of God,—a movement begun in the caprice of a licentious King, and terminated by the statutes of an imperious Queen ;—this partial, temporizing Reformation must be invigorated, spiritualized, and made triumphant, by the faith and zeal of the nineteenth century.

The struggle between the evangelical and Romish elements in the established Church of England, (the evangelical spirit of her Articles, the Romish spirit of her Liturgy,) is looked upon with intense anxiety by every intelligent observer of the signs of the times. What the issue will be, is doubtful. Whether we shall witness the overthrow of a corrupt and oppressive Establishment, or the ejection of the friends of evangelical religion from the bosom of a dominant and tyrannical hierarchy, no human sagacity can predict. We hope for the former; we fear the latter. The endeavour to infuse the spirit of humble and energetic piety into the whole body of the Anglican Church, in spite of its Prayer-Book, its Rubrics, its

petrified forms and frigid constitution, is almost as futile as the early dreams of Luther about the reformation of the Church of Rome. The only reformation to be hoped for is, such a reformation of individual souls as will lead them to throw off the huge mass of formalism under which they are buried, and come out into the life, and light, and freedom of the Gospel of Christ. But we doubt whether even such a reformation is practicable, to any extent, within the bosom of the English Church. We fear that Puseyism, with the standards,* the Liturgy, and, above all, the very nature of man, so much in its favour, will eventually triumph over all the efforts of the evangelical party, zealous and praiseworthy as they may be. That our fears are not altogether groundless, may be seen from the rapid spread of the Oxford divinity, the general revival of Popish ceremonies in the established Church, and the exultation of the Romanists over the new allies whom they have found in England, and whom they hope, ere long, to welcome in all respects as brethren. The Jesuits have not been indifferent to the approximations toward the superstition and idolatry of their own Church, which have been made in the worship of the Church of England. The following extract from a late Number of the Dublin Magazine, will show us how narrowly they are watching every retrograde movement of Protestants :

"It is to us a matter of considerable gratification, that we have it in our power to communicate to our readers the result of inquiries instituted in order to ascertain the progress made towards Catholic unity in England.

"The parties employed in the London district report as follows :-Out of two hundred and fifteen churches and chapels of the Establishment visited, there are one hundred and fifty-three in which the congregation bow reverently to the altar at the naming of our Saviour, evidently acknowledging his presence in the holy elements; in the remaining sixty-two churches there appeared some confusion of ideas upon the point, both with Clergy and flocks; in some few instances, the altar and holy eucharist appeared to be altogether despised; in thirteen churches the Clergy bow lowly on passing and re-passing the altar; in twenty-seven the sacred elements are placed on the altar before the worshippers at each service, the reverence tendered being therefore to them, rather than to the altar itself; in all these last-mentioned churches the Clergy and the whole congregation turn to the altar; in seventeen of these the altar is decorated with tapers; in nine churches the blessed crucifix is placed near the altar; in fortyseven the holy emblem of the passion is placed before the congregation, either on or above the altar. It is most gratifying to observe, that the blessed Virgin is represented (mostly in the windows over the altar) in twenty-five instances, besides many other Apostles and canonized saints; in twelve instances these representations of the Virgin have remained from Catholic times unmolested; in all the churches recently constructed, a space for processions has been left in front of the altar; and, in some few instances, shifting benches have been substituted for pews. In forty-seven churches the hours of service have been assimilated to those of matins and high mass of our holy Church. The unhallowed service formerly read on the 5th of November, charging the Catholic Church with the crime of the Gunpowder-Plot, is almost entirely discontinued: it is only observed in twelve churches out of two hundred and fifteen visited. Surely every

* See Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, on the tendency to Romanism imputed to doctrines held of old, as now, in the English Church.

member of our holy Church should redouble his prayers, seeing how they have availed to bring about this blessed approximation to Catholic unity. We may anticipate shortly, should liberal councils prevail in the nation, that at least one Catholic service may be performed each Sabbath in the churches of the Establishment, without at all interfering with those who may continue to differ from us, and without any material alteration in the arrangements of the national churches. This, surely, is the least concession which we can require from those who monopolize at least nine-tenths of all the buildings erected by the Catholics."

Such are the confident expectations of Papists respecting the recovery of the ground which they have lost in England. The evangelical party in the established Church feel that there is just occasion for alarm at such tendencies to Romanism in their worship as have been mentioned. And yet how feeble often are their remonstrances against these growing corruptions! A very popular female writer,* who manifests much of an evangelical spirit, suggests, as an all-important reformation, that hereafter worshippers should not "face the table" when they bow at the name of Christ! She cannot release herself from the bondage of form sufficiently to abandon the idle and superstitious ceremony altogether. There is much of such superstition finding its way into churches in our own country, which trace their origin to the Church of England. Mar Yohannan, who was a shrewd observer of men and things, detected at once those tendencies to idolatry here, over which Jesuits are exulting in England; and, like Nestorius of old, he gave his testimony against them. In replying to the uncharitable and abusive remarks of the "Churchman," respecting himself and his people, he says, "Your Church came out from the Church of the Pope. Is there not some leaven of the Pope still remaining in many of you? Take care; if you say, 'No, this word is a mistake;' I have proofs. What are those pictures in some of your churches? This is a mark of the Pope! I know you do not worship the pictures; but your children, who rise up after you, seeing them in the churches, will worship them." This observation accords equally with sound philosophy and uniform experience.

One of the most able and discerning theologians of the Roman Catholic Church (Dr. Wiseman) remarks, in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, "It seems to me impossible to read the works of the Oxford Divines, and especially to follow them chronologically, without discovering a daily approach towards our holy Church, both in doctrine and in practice." We presume that minds of less discernment than his have perceived the same dangerous tendency.

In France it is well known that Popery is regaining the power and influence of which the Revolution deprived her. The King lends his ear to the counsels of the Jesuits; the courts give their sanction to the oppression of Protestants. An attempt to establish Protestant worship in any commune where it has not been hitherto sustained is frowned upon by the Police, and suppressed by the authority of law. There is no true toleration in the kingdom, though it was for this in part that she waded through seas of blood. The struggle between Protestantism and Popery there may lead to another civil war.

Nor can America be indifferent to a controversy covering so wide an extent, and involving principles so important. The Roman Pontiff covets this fair inheritance, and would make it the seat of his dominion. He has

* Charlotte Elizabeth.

not only sent his spies to survey our land, but he has sent some of his most skilful Generals to conquer it. He is entrenching himself strongly within the United States, and we must meet him, not only on the prairies of the west and the savannas of the south, but among the hills and valleys of NewEngland; on this very soil of the pilgrims, where the pure faith of the Gospel has dwelt unmolested for two hundred years. And though there can be no reason to apprehend the triumph of Popery here, if we are vigilant and faithful, we are called to contend against no mean foe, but one well skilled in controversial tactics, of vast resources, and amazing subtilty.

Besides, there is a considerable class of nominal Protestants in the midst of us, who have a stronger affinity with the hierarchical features of the Romish Church than with the evangelical features of the various bodies of Christians around them, and who are ready to form an alliance with Romanists under the banner of the "one Catholic church," as soon as they can agree upon the terms of union.* There has been a large importation of Oxfordism during a few years past, and both Bishops and Presbyters are struggling to discharge their indebtedness to the mother-country, and to manufacture the same system for the United States. We think, however, that they will need a protective tariff; for hitherto the domestic article has been quite inferior to the foreign, both in material and finish. It is altogether too coarse a thing for the American market.

From this hasty survey of the moral aspect of the world, it is apparent that everything is tending towards a decisive struggle, not merely between false religions and the true, but between different forms of Christianity itself. And there are interpreters of prophecy who believe that there are intimations in Scripture that Satan is to marshal all his forces on earth under the banner of a false Christianity, and that God will then pour out his wrath upon the "Prince of the power of the air," and thus achieve the triumph of truth and holiness. From this universal war of principle no man can shrink. It will be waged in our land, and in the land of our fathers; in the islands of the sea; on the plains of India and the mountains of Khoordistan. Every man must decide in his own soul between the power and the form of godliness, between Christ and the Priest; and every man must contribute, by his example and endeavours, to advance the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, or to uphold the dominion of that "wicked one." But to evangelical Ministers, far more than to any other class of men, this controversy is invested with peculiar interest and importance, and upon them it must bring peculiar duties and responsibilities. They are to be the leaders of one of the conflicting parties; the champions of truth, and liberty, and holiness. On their skill, their judgment, their decision, their energy, their faith, will depend, under God, the glorious result. He who enters the ministry unprepared for this great controversy with error and sin, is without preparation for the work to which the providence of God, the wants of the age, and the voice of prophecy alike are calling him. Ministers of the Gospel everywhere, and especially those with whom life has not yet passed its meridian, should be carefully inquiring, and helping each other in the inquiry, respecting their duties in reference to this great controversy of the age. Let them ask how this controversy ought to affect their studies, their preaching, their intercourse with each other, their relations to churches of various names and sys

*See Letter of Dr. Samuel F. Jarvis.