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cal proofs. Are they, indeed, so far divided in opinion, that they cannot agree relative to the most obvious facts? I can readily conceive that they must refuse to prefix to the Bible any systematic summary of the doctrines which are derived from its pages. This precaution is most wise: it would be highly dangerous to depart from it. It must be left to every man to ascertain for himself the doctrines of religion. Christians must raise with their own hands the edifice of their faith, in order that the foundations of it may remain unshaken. For nothing can remove men from a religion which themselves, in the sincerity of their hearts, have demonstrated to be supported by the authority of Revelation. But we are clearly engaged in an incomplete and fruitless labour, if we obstinately persist in refusing to accompany the Scriptures with some such abridged historic testimony of their authenticity. No, assuredly, the disciples of the Reformation are not so widely divided in views and intention, that they cannot meet in the design to prepare a summary of facts; or even to explain the motives which influenced the Reformers to break the yoke of a Church that was not evangelical.'

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The above suggestions we leave to be considered by those whom the business concerns: certainly, they are worthy of being very seriously considered. To return to the state of religion in France. Such observation as we have had opportunity to make; inclines us to believe, that Mad. de Stael, concentrating by her genius a variety of influences belonging to the times,-formed, and has left behind her, a numerous sect in France, now constituting the soundest and the best informed portion of the educated class.

The opinions of this sect,-but we would not shock them by talking of their opinions, car ils n'ont point de dogmes,—well, then, their sentiments are founded upon the two or three following articles l'immortalité de l'ame; respect pour l'Evangile; (of which, however, they do not think it necessary, in the present enlightened age, often to unhook the clasps ;) an absolute neglect de tous les dogmes speculatifs; and the principle that, while religious observances are quite superfluous pour les hommes éclairés,-the gens du peuple must be provided with un culte, des prêtres, and des spectacles. These well intentioned but ill instructed persons lend their willing aid to every liberal and benevolent design; and so bland is their philosophy, such is the vagueness of their own opinions, and such their ignorance of the specific grounds of existing religious opinions, that they might be drawn into almost any course by an influence that should be congenial with their temper. This easiness offers, as we fear, too strong a temptation to the polite and compromising spirit which just now prevails among us; for nothing is needed to secure the friendship and aid of this liberal party, but an extension of the policy with which we have become fa

miliar at home. And if our object be to win, at any price, long and euphonous lists of brilliant patronage, such practices must not be condemned. But, in truth, it is a serious thing, even for the sake of smuggling the Bible into a country, to lull our unthinking coadjutors in their fatal errors, by a complaisant avoidance of all but the most vague generalities.

Little will it avail, that we take occasion now and then to whisper to our foreign friends some vapid truisms. For when the minds of men have travelled far from the way of truth, they can hardly ever be recalled, except by a direct reference to specific facts, and specific opinions. Thus, for example, the party to which we have just alluded, look back upon the religious history of their own country through an illusive medium, which utterly conceals from them the lesson they ought to read in it. One may hear them, with all the serenity and all the benignity of supernal intelligences, speaking of the Waldenses as simple creatures-the victims of an innocent enthusiasm, &c. &c.; of the Hugonots, as pitiable and in many instances estimable, though obstinate fanatics, &c. &c.; and of the Jansenists, as fierce and devout dogmatists, whose energies were spent upon their austerities, and the fruitless pursuit of metaphysical subtilties, &c. &c. And by these and many such like sage inanities, the eyes of these persons bien instruits, are tight-bandaged against the possible admission of true religion. Now this baudage ought to be removed by the first Christian friend, whose intercourse with them shall give him the opportunity to say:-The men whom you thus lightly speak of, were, in substantial knowledge, in true wisdom, in purity of manners, in force of character, immeasurably your superiors. They are the very men whom you must take as your patterns. You must peruse their lives, inspire yourselves with their zeal, and fortify your courage by the recollection of theirs. You must follow their faith, read the Scriptures as they read them, and if, in these studies, you want direction, seek it in their writings. You will not have made a first step in religion, until you have entered upon the path that bears the prints of their feet. In contemning the martyrs and the worthies of ancient France, you do but take up the theme of a school-boy. For what smatterer in history does not know, that men who have been closely pent up between surrounding absurdities, have always unavoidably been forced into some opposite distortions of opinion? Who does not know, that the best and the wisest men, if all their days they have been crushed under intolerable oppressions, have at times been maddened by their sufferings? Who does not know, that the loftiest spirits, having to contend for important principles, against crafty, shameless, and

profligate sophists, must often have been obliged to pursue their adversaries home to their dens, through all the briars and the poisoned marshes where they haunt? Leave, then, these jejune and obvious topics to those who can look only at the surface of things, and who, in every subject they examine, must needs find some ground of self-gratulation. But rather learn this lesson from the history of religion in your own country; That if formerly there existed purity of manners in France, it must have been derived from doctrines that are now utterly unknown there; that if formerly there was found in France a serious and manly spirit, capable of enduring sufferings for conscience sake, it must have been supported by a faith that has long since disappeared; that if formerly there were in France, men able, by their learning and their intelligence, to confound popes, cardinals, and jesuits, they must have been trained in a school of which no vestige remains, When pure manners, and a serious religious spirit, and substantial learning shall be recovered in France, it must be by a return to the faith, the manners, and the spirit of its persecuted worthies. Instead, therefore, of looking back upon the dissi dents of France, in successive ages, with affected pity, you must call them your Fathers; you must follow their faith, and follow their courage.

With language such as this we should boldly put to the test the sincerity of our liberal friends in France. To us it seems, that one of the most promising means that could be used with the hope of wakening the Protestants of France from the dead sleep of heresy,-of inciting in the liberal party serious and efficient thought, and, if it be possible, of bringing some few of the pious Romanists out of their corrupt communion,would be the compilation and dissemination of a concise history of Religion in that country, during the last five or seven centuries. Such a history, to answer any good purpose, must, indeed, unite some rare excellencies. It must be absolutely free from the taint of sectarianism, as well as from all political malignancies: it must not be written by an indignant dissident, any more than by an arrogant priest. It must be at once truly Christian and truly philosophical; but it must neither adopt the phrases of the religionists of this country, nor the inane and disgusting philosophical cant which is at present in fashion in France. The leading object of such a history would be, to shew, that whenever the substantial excellencies of the Christian religion have appeared in France, it has been among the small and oppressed party;-that these excellencies have been of a kind and degree, not to be accounted for by the shallow and arrogant theories of infidel philosophists;-that

the faith and the spirit of these successive parties,-whether within or without the pale of the national church, have been essentially the same;—and that this faith and this spirit are also essentially the same that have been derived from the Bible in all ages, by all who have made it their study and their sole authority. The style of thinking and reasoning in France upon moral, political, and religious subjects, is vague, pompous, antithetical, and inconclusive, far removed from all laborious inquiry, strict adherence to facts, and close deduction. Such a style naturally belongs to the shallowness and the levity of scepticism; but it is wholly unfit for the serious discussion of positive principles. In our friendly intercourse with our continental neighbours, instead of adapting ourselves good-humouredly to their bad manner of thinking and talking, we should resolutely adhere to our own; and presume upon their good sense, while we constantly confine their attention to actual facts, to particular and closely drawn inferences, and to the direct proofs of specific principles. Especially we should avoid all the flattering phrases of a false charity. Mere absurdities of opinion may be exposed, while we conciliate the vanity of the party with whom we have to do; but men are never reclaimed from grave errors, until self-love be deeply wounded.

To the writer before us, we give credit for the best intentions. His speculations on religious subjects would seem, perhaps, rather vague to English readers; but we will not question their being likely to benefit those to whom they are addressed. If we understand aright one of M. Coquerel's notes, he promises a volume of a more specific kind, on the subject of religion. We heartily wish him the diligence, the seriousness of spirit, and the aid from above, that are requisite for such a work.

Art. II. 1. The whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore: with a Life of the Author, and a critical Examination of his Writings. By Reginald Heber, A.M. 15 Vols. 8vo. London, 1822.

2. The Life of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. By the Right Rev. Reginald Heber, Lord Bishop of Calcutta. 2 vols. London, 1824.

WE hold ourselves indebted to the enterprising publishers of this well-edited and well-printed collection, for the very high gratification of possessing a uniform edition of the entire works of one of the greatest men of an age fertile in genius and virtue. With all our predilection for old folios, as well as for the black ink and solid type of former times, we VOL. XXII. N.S.

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are not insensible to the advantage of ranging on our shelves, in a convenient form for use and reference, a series of volumes enshrining the rich remains of the brilliant intellect of Jeremy Taylor. Many of his works were rare; the different editions frequently vary in their contents; and in the best, the printer has by no means done his work with accuracy. Hence it became peculiarly desirable, that the whole should be brought together, that a correct transcript from the most complete copies should be made under the eye of a competent editor, and that a full apparatus of indices should be appended. All this has been done in such a way as to leave nothing to be desired. The correction of the press, the verification of the ' numerous quotations and references, and, in some instances, the rectification of the previous readings,' have been carefully and judiciously attended to by the Rev. J. R. Pitman; while the general arrangement and superintendence could not fail of successful execution in the hands of Reginald Heber. A difficulty occurred in the outset, which has, we think, been met, not altogether in the best, though certainly in the most convenient and systematic manner. It was necessary to determine the order of publication; and, though the obvious advantages of a chronological series were not overlooked, there were many reasons which rendered it adviseable, in Mr. H.'s view, to adopt a different method. The works have been accordingly divided under the several heads of Practical, Polemical, Casuistic, and Devotional; but, subject to this division, they have been arranged, as nearly as possible, according to the ⚫dates of their respective publication.'

In 1815, the Rev. Henry Kaye Bonney, whom Mr. Heber is pleased to designate as his learned and amiable friend,' put forth a Life of the Right Reverend Father in God, Jeremy

Taylor, D.D.' which was reviewed by us in December 1816. That volume was so far from exhibiting the moral trait selected by Mr. Heber as one of the characteristics of his predecessor, that we were compelled to stigmatize it as betraying an ill-concealed design of making the memoirs of the bishop, a vehicle of invective against the enemies of the Star-chamber and the opponents of Episcopacy; an occasion of preferring the most extravagant claims in behalf of the hierarchy, and a channel through which flattery of a most fulsome and indiscriminate nature might be lavished on its more dignified 'members.' This miserable production seems to have occasioned some little embarrassment to Mr. Heber; he greets it, however, with the courteous observation, that it would have precluded the necessity of all succeeding labourers in the cause, had not a more detailed and critical examination of

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