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ingly, we discover, from Dr. Milner's pamphlet, that some incredulous beretics, like myself, have anticipated me in suggesting, that a tub of cold water at Wolverhampton would have produced the same effect as the water at Holywell. It is not a little amusing to notice the altered tone which the doctor assumes, upon the introduction of this tub of cold water. In the words already quoted, he had just been saying, "I will not hesitate to declare, that an evident miracle hath been wrought amongst us." But the tub of cold water produces such a sudden effect on the feverish state of the doctor's imagination, that for a moment he seems to come to his senses, and exclaims with as much reverence as if the tub had contained holy water, "Far be it from me to deny the natural efficacy of cold bathing, and of drinking cold water, either at Holywell, or any where else;" and then, in a subdued tone, "but I think I am warranted in maintaining, that these, as natural remedies, never yet cured a patient in the lamentable situation of this young woman." Instantly, however, rising up to fever heat again, he exclaims, "Thus much I am perfectly sure of, that whatever considerable good effects have ever been produced by these or other natural remedies, have taken place gradually, and by a repetition of them." Let not the vicar apostolical be too positive upon this point: I beg to present him, his Right Rev. brethren, and also Mr. Stubbs, with the following translation of a com ment upon those verses (b. i. epist. 15.) of Horace.

Nam mihi Bäias Musa supervacuas Antonius, et tamen illis

Me facit invisum, gelidà cum per

luor undâ

Per medium frigus.

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Dr. Edward Baynard, a man of the
highest credit and celebrity. At a
place called Harrow-on-the-Hill,
the ancient name of which was
'Herga,' or 'Castra super Colla,'-a
place well known in the county of
Middlesex, and to myself particu-
larly, who there first paid my court
to the muses, there is a certain
countryman now living, who was
afflicted for the space of almost
six months, with dreadful pains of
wandering gout, paralysis, and
spasm, so as to be unable to
stand. Numberless medicines were"
administered without affording
any relief; when, astonishing to
relate! upon being only once
plunged into this cold bath, he
was entirely delivered from all
these alarming complaints, and was
restored to perfect health. He in
deed was advised to repeat the use
of the bath two or three times; but
it was only to confirm his health
which had been re-established......
..." But I must not here omit men
tioning those springs, which have
been celebrated amongst the inha-"
bitants of North Wales for above
three centuries, on account of the
wonders said to be wrought there.“
I give them the name of Albi-
collinæ frigidæ,' because it answers
to the old Welch words Gwenvre,
or Gwenbre, which in Latin is
Albus Collis:' and as wy in the
Welch tongue means water,' it is
evident that it was the old Welch
word Gwenvrewy, or Gwenbrewy,
which afforded a handle to John
Pennant, abbot of Shrewsbury, for
patching up, according to the cus-
tom of those barbarous times, a
vulgar traditionary tale; and for
daring to pretend, that a certain
divine person, or nymph, had ex-
isted, to whom he gave the Saxon
appellation of Winifred*."

"But behold what happened in London, at a spring called Par son's Well,' (Fons Clericorum.) The account I received from an eminent. Fellow of the College of Physicians, -biosos bus :enoivdo ¿197 ei eial

2

Now, Mr. Editor, I do not intend to institute any formal comparison between the cure of Winifred White and that of the country? man. It is not mine to adjust the * Vol. ii. Q. Horat. Flacc. Op. tis var. Lond. Browne et Warren, 1793. 1979 98 LGS <130359) 2696.10 9500

⚫ conflicting claims of these rival wonders. Let Dr. Milner, if he pleases, maintain, that a nervous complaint, and disease of the spine, affecting half the body for above three years, although during that time the patient could walk with a stick, and even without one, is worse than dreadful pains for near half a year of wandering gout, paralysis, and spasms, so that the patient could not stand on his feet. Let the doctor have every benefit that can result from the comparison. I still must contend, and 1 call upon the doctor, his Right Rev. brethren, and Mr. Stubbs, to disprove it, if they can, that the cases are in kind precisely similar; that if the cure of Winifred White was miraculous, that of this man was miraculous also; that if the cure of this man was natural, though extraordinary, the same must be true of what has been recorded respecting Winifred White.

But Dr. Milner has not done with miracles. We are presented, by way of an episode to that of Winifred White, with three others;-one of a woman cured at this celebrated well of St. Winifred of a cancer; another, the case of a Presbyterian, cured at the same place, and converted to the Romish faith; and a third of a woman who had a dislocated joint reduced by an apparition.

the strongest impressions of terror. After this incident he lived many years, free from any symptoms of the gout." (Faulkner on the Passions, p. 92.)-What will he say when we inform him from the best authority, that the troubles in Scotland, in the years 1745 and 1746, almost exterminated hysteric affections? (Vide Faulkner, p.129.) But we have yet more surprizing wonders than these, though they have not been regularly sanctioned as miracles by ecclesiastical authority. "When the scurvy, amongst other misfortunes, made its appearance during the siege of Breda, in the year 1625, and carried off such great numbers that the garrison were inclined towards a surrender of the place, the Prince of Orange, anxious to prevent its loss, contrived to introduce letters promising the most speedy assistance. These were accompanied with medicines against the scurvy, said to be of great price, and still greater efficacy. Three small vials of medicine were presented to each physician. It was publicly given out, that four drops were sufficient to impart a healing virtue to a gallon of liquor. We now displayed our wonder-working balsams. Not even the commanders were let into the cheat upon the soldiers, who flocked in crowds about us, every one soliciting that part might be reserved for his use. The effect of this delusion was truly astonishing. Such as had not moved their limbs for a month before, were seen walking in the streets, with their limbs sound, straight, and whole.” “This curious relation," observes Dr. Lind, "is given by an eye-witness, an anthor of great candour and veracity;

But what will Dr. Milner say, if we Protestants can assure him, that we also have treasured up in our archives the account of a very severe complaint cured by an apparition. "Van Sweeten relates from Hildanus, that a man, disguised to represent a ghost or spectre, took another, labouring under a gouty paroxysm, out of his bed and car-who, as he informs us, wrote down ried him upon his back down the stairs, dragging his feet and legs, which were the seat of the pain, down the steps, and placed him at last upon the ground. The man, thus treated, immediately recovered the use of his limbs, and ran up the stairs with great swiftness, under

every day the state of his 'patients." (Faulkner, p. 150.)

What have Dr. Milner, with his Right Rev. brethren, and Mr.Stubbs, to say to all these Protestant wonders? Here is the gout suddenly cured by a ghost; a complaint frightened out of a country by a

civil war ; and many persons unable to move from disease are immediately seen walking about the streets, merely from having tasted some of the Prince of Orange's diluted essence. What would Dr. Milner have said, if these wonders had been wrought in Ghent, instead of Breda?. What would he have said, if that city had been besieged; if the people had been dying of the scurvy, and if the touch or the sight of some holy envoy from the pope had caused those who had not moved their limbs a month before, almost instantly to walk in the public streets, sound, straight, and whole?

But, sir, in conclusion, to speak more gravely respecting the charge so often reiterated by Papists, that Protestants are unable to work miracles, and that the Romish Church has this privilege exclusively, that sentiment of St. Chrysostome appears to me to be a very weighty one:-" Once it was known by miracles who were true Christians, and who were false: but now the power of working miracles is wholly taken away; the pretence of it is to be found amongst those who pretend to be Christians." Nor are the words of St. Augustine of less weight: "Against those miraclemongers my God hath put me upon my guard, by admonishing me that in the last days there shall arise false prophets, who shall work such signs and wonders as to deceive, if possible, the very elect." When, therefore, the Papists demand miracles of us, we say with a divine worthy of being classed with Chrysostome and Augustine, (Calvin), "To demand miracles of us is highly wrong; for we have not been the inventors of a new Gospel, but we retain that very Gospel which has for its confirmation all the miracles which Christ and his Apostles have wrought." We do not boast, indeed, of miracles such as the Papists pretend to; but we thank our God and Saviour that we have miracles of grace and spiCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 192.

ritual mercy to which we humbly can appeal. As the Apostle says, "Now the dead body does not open its eyes by a miracle of the Lord; but the blind heart is enabled to see by the word of the Lord. Now the deaf ears of the body are not unstopped; but how many have the ears of the heart closed, which nevertheless are opened when pierced by the word of God?" These are the miracles which we covet earnestly, which we witness thankfully; and, beholding them, we do not doubt, notwithstanding every denunciation from the Vatican, that "God is with us of a truth."

But to revert once more to Dr. Milner's pamphlet-Who can fail of observing the identity of the Roman-Catholic religiou in every age and in every place? Let those who think that the superstitions of Popery are not the same as they ever were, peruse these Authentic Documents of the Vicar Apostolical. What a difference do we find between the apologists for the Romish faith, and the apologists, in the primitive times, for the faith once delivered to the saints! They were remarkable for their rare appeals to any undoubted miracles, excepting those of Christ and his Apostles: they chose rather to adduce the evidence of Scripture, particularly the sure word of prophecy. Whereas these seldom refer to the Bible; but are for ever exhibiting their false miracles. Even the cover of Dr. Milner's pamphlet contains intimations that various works may be obtained treating of miracles; and the public are at the same time invited to purchase the Roman Missal, together with the evening office of the Church, or vespers, &c. &c.

What a consolation is it, whilst we witness these unwearied efforts making by the Romish Church, to reflect, that the Scriptures are daily becoming more and more widely diffused! Those who read them with prayer and humility, will 5 L

gradually see through the delusions of Antichrist: they will know the Shepherd's voice, and will not follow strangers. They will distinguish the words of Jesus, and the works of the Apostles, from papal decrees, and the declarations of vicars apostolical: they will discern truth from error, and will be in no danger of confounding the gold tried seven times in the fire those Divine miracles, for

instance, which were wrought on Peter's wife's mother, on the sick of the palsy, and on the man who was laid at the gate of the temple with the tinsel and the dross of such wretched compositions as the reduction of a dislocated joint by the help of an apparition in the night, or the cure of Winifred White, of Wolverhampton, at the well of St. Winifred.. D. H. Q.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Sermons, chiefly designed for the or to the brief, condensed, paren Use of Families. By JOHN By JOHN thetical style of the inspired penFAWCETT, A. M. Rector of man. Not only are such labours Scaleby, and perpetual Curate no unprofitable employment of of St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle. talent and erudition, but they are 2 vols. 8vo. Carlisle: Scott. of essential service to mankind. London: Richardson. It is the part only of enthusiasm or ignorance, to decry those scholastic labours by which the Oracles of Truth are opened to the unlearned.

the

It is not unusual for criticism to carry an ungracious aspect towards sermons which make no attempt to explain what is obscure, or to amend what has been depraved, in the Sacred Writings. We are far from disallowing the application of critical sagacity and theological learning to the elucidation of the Word of God. Much, very much, is due to those eminent scholars who have circumscribed the wanton flight of conjectural ingenuity, and ascertained the genuine text of Scripture, by the sure though wearisome process of successive collation; who have thrown light upon many of the darker passages, by refer ence to the peculiarities of ages and nations, of religious sects and political parties; who have settled the force and import of ambiguous words, by tracing them through the perplexities of a long and devious etymology, to their original stock; or who have displayed, more clearly than their predecessors, those portions of holy writ which owe their obscurity, to the nature of the subject discussed,

But while we acknowledge the deserts of studious men, whose diligence is employed in resolving biblical difficulties with the help of human learning, we must not undervalue those labourers in the cause of godliness whose chief aim it is to impress upon the heart the doctrines and precepts which lie within the compass of common understandings; and this is the object which the author before us has successfully accomplished. His sermons are modestly entitled "Family Sermons ;" and to adopt that appellation is to disclaim the praise of elaborate research and rhetorical ornament. That he has not attained that praise is only, perhaps, because it lay below the scope of his wiser ambition. Many passages in his volumes attest the sound divine and accomplished scholar: and the attentive reader will remark some incidental criticisms, that seem to have escaped from our author almost unawares, which

warrant a belief, that he has not been prevented by the penury of his resources from dispensing them more largely. But the main design of this writer is, to penetrate the heart and conscience with those sacred truths" that accompany salvation." To the sickly taste of the present age for curious conceits and fantastic interpretations, the pages before us afford no gratification. No obsequious concessions are made to conciliate the worldling; no impure mixtures are prepared to delight the Antinomian palate. But the lover of sound and practical doctrine, and luminous exposition- the humble disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is more studious of improve ment in holiness than of comfort under the empire of sinful infirmity -will set a just value on this addition to his religious library. He will especially delight to see the scriptural character impressed on these discourses. The foundations here laid are such as become a Christian architect, and are competent to sustain a building that aspires to eternity: and the struc ture corresponds with the foundation; for nothing less is demanded of the Christian, as suited to his high and holy calling, than the uniform influence of a faith and love which detach the soul from worldly objects, and maintain it in an uninterrupted commerce with the invisible glories of heaven.

Among the excellencies of these compositions, we feel pleasure in noticing the due combination of evangelical doctrines and precepts, Occasionally, it has been our painful duty to remark in writers not chargeable with doctrinal unsoundness, and who sometimes array religious truth in warm and imposing colours, a deficiency in the truly apostolic art of conducting moral disquisitions upon Christian principles. In the body of the sermon, there may. be much to recommend the pure morality of the Gospel, and the spiritual elevation

of a renewed heart may be beautifully pourtrayed; and, yet, "the Author and Finisher" of all faith and holiness may not occupy that prominent station in which the believer delights to behold him. The writer will, perhaps, proceed in a strain of pious and fervid exhortation, without any distinct reference to the "High Priest of our profession," until, at the close of his discourse, he seems to start into a consciousness of his defect, and immediately tacks on a meagre summary of evangelical truths, as if to vindicate his orthodoxy or to pacify his conscience. The salutary "unction" of a discourse from the pulpit depends very much on a reference to the person, the offices, the love, the example, the doctrines of the Redeemer being perceptible through all its parts: and when this quality is wanting in the body of the discourse, we ought not to be satisfied by an attempt to supply the deficiency in an ill-timed peroration. It is indeed true, that, when the preacher's aim is a minute delineation of some feature in the Christian character, or an extensive application of some Christian precept, his composition must suffer in regularity and distinctness, by interlacing it with points of doctrine. We are not advising that the mysteries of faith should be thrust into every chink and crevice of a disquisition with which they have no immediate concern. We have certainly no great sympathy with those who approve of throwing together the most discordant materials, without taste or order in the selection and arrangement: and we are not better entertained with that species of theological legerdemain which can elicit any given dogma from any given text of Scripture. Yet are we persuaded that, where, the mind is deeply imbued with the transcendental doctrines of Christianity, an evangelical tinge and colour will be communicated to whatever is poured forth upon sacred sub

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