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is the construction which may be put on our sentiments by a world which is at enmity with its God, and even connects some idea of melancholy with devotedness to his service but malignant indeed must be the soul that could harbour such a thought. On the contrary, to suppose that a religion of glad tidings would spoil the youthful cheek of one single smile; to suppose that it will not augment and endear its playful simplicity; is to contradict experience, if fairly appealed to, and to cast a reproach upon that religion, and its blessed Author.

Let the more advanced stages of Christian education be a continuation of the same plan. I am not ar guing against human learning: I am not for converting the school-boy into a polemical divine; nor for hanging the walls, which are the witnesses of his labours, with the black pall of monastic superstition. I look up with veneration to the great models of taste and eloquence. But let not the lambs of the Christian fold be left destitute of their spiritual nourishment; let not our schools be under any other governing influence than that of the unsophisticated tenets of Jesus Christ. Let the Bible, as in the early controversies of Christians, be placed upon a throne high and lifted up, as the only rule of life and salvation; and the most admired volumes of antiquity, if considered in this respect, lie at its feet. Let the possibility and method of a most strict and yet most cheerful and happy observance of the Lord's day, be repeatedly instilled into the minds of our youth; the spirituality of social devotion be strongly pointed out; habits of selfexamination, secret prayer, and private study of the inspired volume, be inculcated; systematical delineations of the sacred history, familiar expositions of the whole of the New Testament at least, and examinations of the classes by question and answer as to every branch of their religious instructions, be regularly adopted; heathen virtue, as repre

sented in the classical lessons, be contrasted, as far as the scholar's capacity admits, with Christian holiness; the Gospel plan of salvation be studiously delineated, and frequently recalled to his mind; emulation be placed upon its only lawful footing of entire subserviency to the love of God :-in a word, let not the religion of a crucified Saviour be any longer viewed as an awkward appendage, an incoherent part of our public seminaries, which seems a clog upon the whole machine; let it rather be the main spring of every movement; let it rule and influence every thing, like the etherial fluid, the supposed cause of attraction; or rather, like the Divinity itself, whose searching energy pervades all space, and originates as well as directs the gravitations, motions, and actions of all the bodies in the universe.

I would observe, in conclusion, that the questions discussed, whatever may be thought of the conclusions at which we have arrived, are not to be disposed of bythe commonplace observations, that reformation is hopeless; that the world will still follow its own way; that allowances must be made for the levities of youth, and the like. Painful, too, would it be to think, that the impression excited by subjects of this nature should be considered by any individual as a sort of stage effect, contributing to the amusement of the passing hour, but leaving nothing awfully practical behind. Yet such is the too frequent custom of the world. The mere man of business will easily overlook the momentous interests of Christian nurture and admonition; the philosopher will sneer with grave indifference; and the libertine will treat them with rude derision. But let everyone beware how he thus shuffles off serious and solemn convictions. Let us rather imagine ourselves placed as parents at the foot of that throne of glory, upon which a triumphant Redeemer will one day sit to judge an assembled world; let us imagine ourselves (for such will then most assuredly be our

situation) called upon to render up an account of our stewardship in reference to our families. How shall we bear to meet, in that dread solemnity, the accusing eye of our trembling offspring,involved, through our neglect of their religious education, in the sentence of everlasting perdition! On the contrary, how joyful will our meeting then in so august a presence prove, if, through our instrumentality, they have been brought into subjection to the omnipotence of Gospel motives, and made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light!

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PARENS.

Can it be that the anniversaries, com

monly called school-meetings, begun and consecrated by solemn acts of devotion in the house of God, are designed for no higher end than retracing in imagination the employments of school, enjoying the society of the companions of our boyish days, and conversing upon ordinary topics? Can we suppose that it permits now, what is never consistent at any time with the happy cheerful

ness of the Christian character, boisterous

merriment and thoughtless jollity, or, what is confessedly scandalous to the Christian naine, the dignified gratifications of gluttony and intemperance? It is to be deeply regretted that our school-meetings are too often, perhaps generally, thus abused by some few individuals. But they were never instituted in order that the glutton and the wine-bibber might enjoy greater facilities for indulging their sensual passions, nor that the professed disciples of Jesus might transform themselves into the herd of Epicurus. The only ground upon which they can claim the attendance of truly Christian scholars is,

that they are designed to promote the glory of God, by encouraging human learning, when controuled and guided by the religion of the Gospel, and by supporting the particular seminaries to which they are attached, as far as those seminaries make the religion of the Gospel the directing principle of their whole system. If such be the views of those who meet on such occasions, there is a beauty and consistency in commencing the business of the day with the devout service of the church, and exhortations from the word of God: otherwise, those hallowed acts of adoration and attendance upon the preaching of the word of God, can wear no other aspect, in the eyes of a heart-searching God, than that of solemn mockery and presumption.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I FIND, in the Christian Observer for April, a correspondent, styled PHILALETHES, makes several objections to a paper I sent you for insertion some time ago, which I believe to be a Pope's bull. He doubts its authenticity, and therefore deems it "a clumsy forgery;" and as I am as much a lover of truth as he can be, I should be sorry to have it thought I wished to pass any thing of that description for an authentic docu ment. As to following him through his train of objections, it would be unprofitable and tiresome: let him balance them against statements I know to be true; such as, that the said Henry Goldney certainly lived in this parish at the time described, being well remembered by some of the present inhabitants; that he was originally a Papist; that he renounced the errors of the Church of Rome, and for this was excommunicated; and I find his name in the register of burials a few years after. All these collateral coincidences, connected with the existence of the document in question, surely leave no just grounds for doubting its authenticity. As to the objection that the language is English, I believe they are always translated, so as to be comprehended by the offenders. They may be originally issued by the Pope in Latin, but are translated previous to publication by the Roman Catholic bishops resident in England, who, no doubt, make them known to the unfortunate victims in all the horrors that intelligible language can convey. I confess myself ignorant of Roman Catholic discipline, and know little of the general modes of proceeding in the church of Rome; but for the sake of the name of Christian, which the Papist claims, I must say, that little often makes me wish I knew still less.-As a friend to religion, I am little inclined to believe it possible such an infamous instrument could ever be drawn up to serve the ends of any sect; but facts are stubborn

things; and we all know that this is not the worst specimen of papal tyranny when left uncontrouled. In what I have said, Philalethes may still complain of want of proof; but I know incredulity is hard to conquer. I will excuse his doubts, and sincerely pray that they may never be removed by the production of a counterpart of such a document. I am, Mr. Editor, the real Rector of Hampreston,

MATTHEW PLACE.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. I AM just arrived at that age, Mr. Editor, when, having left school, I am beginning to mix with the gay world. I have been one of the four pupils of an excellent clergyman, who has attended both to my mental improvement and to my morals, with a care almost paternal. This I am sure of, that he had my best interests at heart; but whether he well understood them, I am not sure. I am equally uncertain whether his notions of moral good, and desirable knowledge, were just. His code of moral obligations is certainly an oldfashioned, and I am beginning to think that it must be also a mistaken, one. I left him, Mr. Editor, with a perfect veneration for a good man; for his sort of good man; one, that is, who regulates all his actions by the precepts of the Christian religion, and labours continually to bring his passions into complete subjection to his sense of duty. This is what my revered instructor taught me to understand by a good man, and this is the scale by which I have been accustomed to estimate the merits of my neighbours. I am sure that my master firmly believed what he told me; but I have to lament that his great seclusion from the world left him ignorant of what, in the opinion of the many, does, in this more enlightened and improved age, really constitute a good man, or a man with a good heart, or a good fellow, which I look upon to be nearly sy nonymous terms. But if these terms

are not synonymous, why, then, I have to regret that Mr. B-— should have neglected to inform me what is the precise meaning of the two latter; for in the society with which I now mix, these are used a hundred times where the other is used once. It is the commonest thing in the world for me to hear it said of such an one, who games, and drinks, and gives into all sorts of sensual indulgences, that he has an excellent heart. Another never pays his debts; but he is a good fellow. And this is not the only difficulty into which I am thrown; for there are some men, certainly not more sensual than those I have spoken of, and generally not so much so, whom I hear reprobated as good for nothing, contemptible, and entirely without worth. Now, Sir, the only difference which I can find out between these two descriptions of men is, that the former give better dinners and wine, and keep a more splendid equipage than the latter. Before I altogether adopt the opinions of my companions, I should like to have your sanction, and also your definition of a good man, a good fellow, and a good heart. Be so kind as to tell me too, whether hunting, and shooting, and driving, are really subjects of more moment, and better worth discussing, than questions of literature and morality. Here my prejudices and inexperience would decide in the negative; but I hear nothing else talked of, and surely it would be the height of vanity to set up my single opinion against that of the world.

I am, &c.

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Some years ago, a young girl entered the shop of Mr. B., a bookseller, desiring him to exchange a Prayer-book, which she brought with her, for a Bible; stating, as a reason, that she had lately attended a dissenting meeting where the Bible was used, but not the Prayer-book. The bookseller, feeling anxious to meet her wishes, and desirous, at the same time, that she should not forsake the national church, of which he was himself a member, gave her a Bible, and bade her keep the Prayer-book also. Some time after, this girl was taken into the service of the Rev. Mr. Cecil. On her first coming into the family, Mr. Cecil inquired if she had a Bible; to which she answered in the affirmative, and told him from whom she had received it. Mr. Cecil was pleased with the circumstance; and finding out Mr. B., recommended him to his friends. During Mr. Cecil's absence from town, however, Mr. B. became involved in serious pecuniary difficulties, and was compelled to give up his business and return to a mechanical employment, which he had learned in his youth. The violent exer

tion attendant on this occupation occasioned a painful illness: he remained some time in an hospital, but at length left it, and retired to an obscure lodging, without any adequate means of support for himself and family. To this place Mr. Cecil, on his arrival in town, with difficulty traced him. An early interview took place, and Mr. B. having stated his misfortunes, "Well, B.," said Mr. Cecil, "what can be done for you? Would a hundred guineas be of any service to you?”

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I should be truly thankful for such a sum," said B.: "it would be of great use to me, but I cannot expect it." Well," returned Mr. Cecil, "I am not a rich man, and I have not got a hundred guineas to give you, B.; but," continued he, putting his hand in his pocket, "I have got one: here it is, at your service, and I will undertake to make it a hundred in a few days." Mr. Cecil represented the case to his friends, fulfilled his promise, and the Bible, which B. had formerly given to a child, procured the means of once more opening his shop, and affording him. a subsistence.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

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miseration. Ours, it will be said, is a voluntary labour; and some will think us amply repaid by the opportunity which anonymous judgments afford of gratifying the pride of censorial dignity. For ourselves, however, we can most sincerely declare, that there are some subjects on which we would willingly be exempted from its exercise; and, after all which we have already written, we need scarcely add, that those on which we are once more compelled to enter are amongst the foremost of that ungrateful number. Yet, since it must be so, it is some consolation, that in again venturing amidst the thorny wilds of Calvinism, we shall

be accompanied by so sober and intelligent a traveller as Mr. Scott. In reading the Bishop of Lincoln's work, it is scarcely possible to avoid concluding, that all who are called Evangelical clergymen are also Calvinists; and that they may not only be generally and popularly so denominated, but that they hold all the opinions of Calvin, and in the manner in which he held them. This is evidently (to say the least) the impression intended to be made on the public mind by that performance; but, as we have often said, nothing can be much farther from the truth

than such a representation. In entering, therefore, on the subjects of "universal redemption, election, and reprobation," Mr. Scott observes, that he must be more general in his remarks than in his first volume; because a part only of that body whose cause he advocates, coincide with him in judgment on those points. This is undeniable, and perfectly notorious to those who have any tolerable acquaintance with the present state of the church; and can only be unknown to those who are either unwilling to take pains to be informed of the fact, or who are determined to remain ignorant of it. For himself, however, Mr. Scott declares, that though, for reasons which afterwards appear, he does not willingly assume, or even receive, the name of Calvinist; and though he shews, in a subsequent part of his work, that Calvin held some opinions which he, for one, of the body now called Calvinists, cannot approve, yet he fully avows, that he believes and maintains the leading doctrines which are generally, though inaccurately, called Calvinistical. "My grand object, however," says Mr. Scott, "is not to proselyte men to Calvinism, but to exonerate Calvinists from a load of criminality which they now bear, because their sentiments are misunderstood." And again, in a subsequent passage: "I would desire to be considered rather as an apologist for those who hold the doctrine

of personal election to eternal life, and such other tenets as are inseparable from it, than as an eager disputer for Calvinism. I would wish to make it understood, what we really do believe, and what we do not, and on what grounds; to obviate misapprehension and misrepresentation; and, if it might be, to procure for us somewhat more candour, and fairness, and equity, from our opponents, than we generally meet with." Vol. ii. pp. 70-136.

This is surely the language of sobriety and modesty; and though we lament, as Mr. Scott also does, that too many Calvinists have held a different tone, we cannot, at the same time, but think, that it may be very advantageously compared with the exaggerated and intolerant statements of many Anti-calvinists. The view which the Bishop of Lincoln has given of the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, is well known, and has been already considered by ourselves. Mr. Scott justly objects to it, as inaccurate in various particulars, even as it respects the opinions of Calvin, and still more so as referring to the great body of the Evangelical Clergy. We shall notice some of his remarks on the Bishop's statements, which will serve also to exhibit Mr. Scott's own sentiments; and then offer some general observations on this mysterious and much controverted subject.

In the first place, Mr. Scott remarks, that it seems to be the established opinion of the Bishop of Lincoln, that the Evangelical Clergy, especially such of them as believe the doctrine of personal election, hold what is called particular redemption; whereas, in fact, very few of them adopt it: and that he himself, above four and twenty years since, was led to avow his dissent from it; and was surprised, and rather amused, to find, that, on this point, his lordship deduces nearly the same conclusions, from many of the same premises, which he before had done! The term, indeed, which Mr. Scott had used to express his

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