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be apprehended; and turn to extracts from the golden remains of the ever memorable JOHN HALES, which form the eighth Tract. This eminent man lived in the time of James the First and Charles the First, and was patronised by Archbishop Laud. Accounts of him by Lord Clarendon, and by Bishop Pearson, who published an edition of his works, are prefixed to the Tract. We shall extract a passage from the noble historian, as likely to lead our readers to refer to the treatise concerning Schism, which occupies the greater part of the Tract.

Nothing troubled him more than the brawls which were grown from religion; and he therefore exceedingly detested the tyranny of the Church of Rome, more from their imposing uncharitably upon the consciences of other men, than for the errors in their own opinions; and would often say, that he would renounce the religion of the Church of England to-morrow, if it obliged him to believe that any other Christian should be damned; and that no body would conclude another man to be damned, who did not wish him so. No man more strict or severe to himself; to other men, so charitable as to their opinions, that he thought that other men were more in fault for their carriage towards them, than the men themselves were who erred, and he thought that pride and passion, more than conscience, were the cause of all separation from each other's communion; and he frequently said that that only kept the world from agreeing upon such a liturgy as might bring them into one communion; all doctrinal points upon which men differed in their opinions being to have no place in any liturgy. Upon an occasional discourse with a friend, of the frequent and uncharitable reproaches of heretic and schismatic, too lightly thrown at each other, amongst men who differ in their judgment, he writ a little discourse of schism, contained in less than two sheets of paper; which being transmitted from friend to friend in writing, was at last, without any malice, brought to the view of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, who was a very rigid surveyor of all things which never so little bordered upon schism, and thought the Church could not be too vigilant against and jealous of such incursions."

To the Treatise on Schism are annexed some extracts from sermons, of which we shall quote a passage from that on private judgment.

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"It is a question made by John Gerson, some time Chancellor of Paris, wherefore hath God given me the light of reason and conscience, if I must suffer myself to be led and governed by the reason and conscience of another man ?' Will any of you befriend me so far as to assert * this question? For I must confess I cannot. It was the speech of a good husbandman- It is but a folly to possess a piece of ground except you till it.' And how then can it stand with reason, that a man should be possessed of so goodly a piece of the Lord's pasture as is this light of understanding and reason, which he hath endued us with in the day of * Clear from difficulty, explain, answer.

our creation, if he suffer it to lie untilled, or sow not in it the Lord's seed?"

We now come to the ninth Tract, on the Nature of true Religion,' by Sir Mathew Hale, who was Chief Justice both in the time of the Protectorate and the reign of Charles the Second, having resigned his office a few months before his death in 1676. He was a member of the Church of England, but lived in friendship with several Non-conformists, and amongst others the celebrated Baxter, who was the first publisher of the treatise. The spirit and tendency of this work may be judged from the following extract, which in all that is essential, is as applicable to the present time, as that in which it was written, though the subjects of controversy are not as prevalent.

"There are some superadditions to religion, that, though I do not think they are to be condemned, yet are carefully to be distinguished from the true and natural life of religion; and so long as they are kept under that apprehension, they may, if prudently applied and managed, do good. But if either they are imprudently instituted, imprudently applied or inconsiderately over-valued, as if they were religion, they may and many times do harm.

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It is a pitiful thing to see men run upon this mistake, especially in these latter times; one placing all his religion in holding the Pope to be Christ's vicar; another placing religion in this, to hold no Papist can be saved: one holding all religion to consist in holding Episcopacy to be jure divino; another, by holding Presbytery to be jure divino; another, in crying up congregational government; another, in Anabaptize; one, in placing all religion in the strict observation of all ceremonies; another, in a strict refusal of all: one, holding a great part of religion in putting off the hat and bowing at the name of Jesus; another, judging a man an idolater for it; and a third, placing his religion in putting off his hat to none; and so, like a company of boys that blow bubbles out of a walnut shell, every one runs after his bubble, and calls it Religion; and every one measures the religion or irreligion of another by their agreeing or dissenting with them in these or the like matters; and at best, while we scramble amd wrangle about the pieces of the shell, the kernel is either lost, or gotten by some that doth not prize any of their contents.

"Believe it, Religion is quite another thing from all these matters. He that fears the Lord of heaven and earth, walks humbly before him, thankfully lays hold of the message of redemption by Christ Jesus, strives to express his thankfulness by the sincerity of his obedience, is sorry with all his soul when he comes short of his duty, walks watchfully in the denial of himself, and holds no confederacy with any lust or known sin, if he falls in the least measure is restless till he hath made his peace by true repentance, is true in his promise, just in his actions, charitable to the poor, sincere in his devotions; that will not deliberately dishonour God, though with the greatest security of impunity;

that hath his hope in heaven and his conversation in heaven; that dare not do an unjust act, though never so much to his advantage; and all this because he sees Him that is invisible, and fears him because he loves Him, fears Him as well for his goodness as his greatness ;—such a man, whether he be an Episcopal, or a Presbyterian, or an Independent, or an Anabaptist, whether he wears a surplice or wears none, whether he hears organs or hears none, whether he kneels at the communion or for conscience' sake stands or sits, he hath the life of religion in him, and that life acts in him and will conform his soul to the image of his Saviour, and walk along with him to eternity, notwithstanding his practice or non-practice of these indifferents.

“ On the other side, if a man fears not the eternal God, dares commit any sin with presumption, can drink excessively, swear vainly or falsely, commit adultery, lie, cozen, cheat, break his promises, live loosely,though he practise every ceremony never so curiously, or as stubbornly oppose them; though he cry down bishops or cry down presbytery; though he be re-baptized every day, or though he disclaim against it as heresy; though he fast all the Lent, or fasts out of pretence of avoiding superstition,-yet, notwithstanding these and a thousand more external conformities or zealous oppositions of them, he wants the Life of Religion."

We noticed the tenth and eleventh Tracts in our former Number, p. 97; and though we would willingly give extracts from the latter, which is peculiarly applicable to Scotland, we refrain, from a fear of tiring our readers. The twelfth consists of five small tracts, called "Golden Testimonies on behalf of Religious and Christian Liberty." We thank the editors for the service they have rendered to this great cause by the republication of so much valuable matter, which, though in great part written in a style which may appear antiquated, should be "embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." It is, indeed, delightful to be able, amidst the raging bigotry of the present day, to refer to Milton and Hale and Foster amongst lawyers and statesmen, to Hoadly and Hales amongst Churchmen, not to speak of some distinguished moderns, as favouring the opinion that religion consists not so much in the peculiar doctrines advocated by different sects, as in purity of heart and life, and in enlarged and universal benevolence, which may exist with any of those doctrines, and which are not necessarily connected with any of them. Whilst we feel it a sacred duty to use the light of reason and conscience bestowed upon us, and to seek truth without regard to the authority of Creeds or Churches, we avow there is nothing so odious to us, wheresoever found, as that assumption of infallibility, which leads a man to condemn his fellow-man because, in exercising the same right, he may arrive at a different conclusion.

Δ.

ART. V.-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.

Observations on the Statutes of the University of Cambridge. By the Very Rev. Dr. Peacock, Dean of Ely, Vice President of the Royal Society, and Professor of Astronomy and Geometry in the University of Cambridge. London : 1841. Clerical Education considered, with an especial reference to the Universities. By the Rev. Charles Perry, M.A., Fellow and late Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: 1841.

UNIVERSITY Education is justly regarded with much interest, by the higher classes of Society, in England, at the present day, and the observations of clergymen of learning and practical experience on this department of national improvement, must be received with attention, even when they do not altogether command the unqualified assent of all denominations of the laity to the whole system of changes which is earnestly proposed for adoption.

The ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge are fortunate in possessing the power of instructing a large number of the youthful aristocracy and gentry of this country; they also enjoy the privilege of educating the sons of the clergy of the Church of England, who are compelled to obtain a university degree, as an introduction to episcopal ordination, which can alone qualify them for holding church livings;-students who are intended for the legal profession find it frequently advantageous to pass through the routine of University instruction before they are called to the bar, and several medical students are always found among the resident members of these venerable seats of learning.

In addition to their aristocratical and professional advantages, the universities are also enriched by large sums of money, which are placed at the disposal of the college authorities of Oxford and Cambridge, as the rewards of successful learning.

The total annual value of the pecuniary benefits thus conferred upon learned men, and especially upon learned clergymen, has been recently estimated in the following table, by the Rev. H. L. Jones, M.A., of the University of Cambridge.

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A small proportion, comparatively, of this vast amount of college preferment is placed in the hands of the government of the country; and the Mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge, is probably the most valuable and the most influential college endowment in either University, which is held at the disposal of the sovereign: but the pecuniary importance of this Mastership, which is usually estimated at £1,500 per annum, or £2,000 at the very utmost, is of slight consequence, when compared with the educational influence, which may be exercised by the master of such a large and popular institution, as he possesses also the appointment of the college tutors.

After the experience of a residence of nearly a quarter of a century in Trinity College, Cambridge, as a fellow and tutor of the college, and after a minute and searching examination into the ancient statutes of the University, and the principal colleges of Cambridge, the Dean of Ely has recently published a very interesting work, at the commencement of which he declares his opinion, that very few vestiges remain, at the present time, either of the former system of University Education, which was prescribed in the old statutes, or of the practical regulations which they enforce.

The learned Dean also states, in the same volume, that the task of reform has either been considered hopeless and impracticable in the University itself, or that it has been checked by the VOL. III. No. 12.-New Series.

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