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REVIEW OF BOOKS.

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OF the few and faint glimmerings of hope with respect to unhappy Ireland, one of the brightest rays arises from the recent promotions on the episcopal bench. Without entering into particulars, or attaching undue importance to the changes which have lately taken place, we may at least express our confidence, that the Irish episcopate contains several individuals who add to the ordinary qualifications of talent and learning, the still more valuable endowments of unfeigned piety and conscientious devotion to their important trust.

Of these distinguished qualities, this primary Charge of the Archbishop of Dublin affords a striking instance. The eminent talents, the elevated character, and the theological productions of Dr. Magee have already attracted considerable attention; and the delivery of this Charge has been followed by one of those violent attacks upon His Grace, which mark the intolerant character and the ever virulent disposition of the Romish hierarchy, and may well afford to British statesmen a salutary warning not to tamper with what is commonly, but absurdly, called Catholic emancipation.

His Grace, commences the Charge by noticing the difficulties under which the Established Clergy of Ireland at present labour. He then adverts to his own responsibility, and calls upon his brethren to consider their character, duties, and obligations, as described in the Ordination Service: after introducing a great part of the admirable Exhortation to Priests, His Grace proceeds to remark;

It will, surely, be admitted by all, that the person who has engaged himself by

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such solemn obligations, should have something to distinguish him, in his life and

conversation, from those who live after the

ordinary habits and manners of the world.

And yet, is this always found to be the case in fact? Let us ask ourselves honestly the question, Are there not some among us, who present no such distinctive appearances? Are there not some, who manifest no anxiety for the salvation of those who are committed to their spiritual charge? some, who seem to view the church, merely as the means of livelihood; who appear to consider the promises made by them at their ordination, but as words of form; and who, provided they discharge, with tolerable regularity, such external acts as are indispensably required for the tenure of their office and its emoluments, afford but little reason to suppose, that they concern themselves about its weightier duties; or rather, indeed, seem desirous to escape from every appearance of sanctity or piety, which might bear the stamp of their sacred profession, deeming it a higher honour to mix upon equal terms with the general mass of society, and to merge the minister of the Gospel in the gentleman and the man

of the world?

It were a lamentable thing, if such cases were numerous. I trust in God they are not. In the diocese from which I have been lately removed, they were rare indeed. My very recent introduction into this diocese does not enable me to pronounce with the like certainty upon it. But, from what I have seen, there seems reason to form the most favourable anticipations. Yet, it is to be feared, we have, all of us, too much cause to apprehend, that, even with our best exertions, we have fallen far short of the demands of duty; and that, by a deficiency of zeal and devotedness in the one great cause, we and those who have gone

before us in the ministry of the Established

Church, have to answer for no small portion of that irreligion, which now too fatally prevails among our people; and which, whatever be our share in its production, repays it by the severe retaliation of obloquy and ill will, which it heaps unsparingly upon our Order.—Pp. 11—13.

His Grace then adverts to the designs of those whose avowed object is to overturn the established religion of the country, and who, the better to effect their purpose, labour to enlist the rapacity of the unprincipled in their unholy warfare; and in the immediate view of these dangers adds,

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And

Upon the whole, our course is a plain Whatever be the obloquy or the dangers which we have to encounter, we have one single line to pursue. We have to preserve our allegiance to our heavenly Master. We have bound ourselves by the most solemn vows to his service. We have bound ourselves to advance his glory, and the interests of his kingdom amongst men, by all the powers which we possess. we have, therefore, to pass onward, through good report and evil report, fulfilling his holy will, and labouring, in the true spirit of self-devotedness, by every means that can be employed, by instruction, by example, by the very expenditure of life itself, if necessary, to promote the cause of God, and the well-being of our fellow men. ・・

Without such exertions, it is plain that we neither can nor ought to stand. If the salt has lost its savour it is good for no

thing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden

under foot. Common exertions, it is manifest, will not now suffice. Irreligion, and false religion, abound. We have fallen on evil days and evil tongues. And there is no slumbering on our post. We may rest assured, that if we join lukewarmness from within, to the unceasing hostility which assails us from without, and assails us in every form and degree, from the false and hypocritical pretence of a desire for the improvement of our Order, to the open violence which avows the purpose of its extinction-the triumph of those who labour for the downfall of our church will soon be completed.

It will not do, to boast of our orthodoxy, and show no fruit of right opinions in our practice; to content ourselves with exclaiming against what is called new light, without endeavouring to extend to our flocks the benefit of the old; to be fearful of an excess of zeal, without any alarm as to the consequence of indifference; and to reserve for the appearance of sanctity and separation from the world amongst our brethren, the indignation and which should be bestowed upon levity of demeanor and habitual carelessness about spiritual concerns.-Pp. 16-18.

censure

He then adverts to the apostolical origin and succession of the Christian ministry; to the peculiar situation of the Irish clergy, which, as it has been the ground of an attack upon His Grace, we shall advert to shortly; to the importance of residence; of not appointing curates without the consent and examination of the diocesan; and to the necessity of repairing old, or

erecting new churches and chapels, where such are requisite.

On some of these points we cannot entirely coincide with His Grace; though the general train of his reasoning meets with our most decided approbation. Great care has indeed been taken, as he intimates, that there shall be no idle clergyman, that is, none without some church or fixed station to which he shall be appointed; but we are be no means sure that this is a salutary provision. The present law, with respect to titles and curates in general, appears to us to proceed on very questionable grounds. Of idle clergymen, strictly speaking, we have more than we want; but we conceive, a few more supernumeraries, a few more unemployed clergymen, would in many cases afford a desirable relief to those whose stated labours exceed their strength. We have felt some little jealousy also, lest an inference should be deduced from one or two expressions in this Charge, in favour of the late attempt of the Bishop of Peterborough to reexamine every clergyman about to remove into his diocese. We cannot, indeed, for one moment suppose, that His Grace's enlarged mind should in the least countenance so absurd an idea as the introduction of the eighty-seven Questions, than which a more impolitic and dangerous measure has seldom of late years been attempted *; but little men, and weak men, often justify their mistaken and dangerous measures by distorted views of the unguarded

*It was a common remark, at the late

election for the University of Cambridge, in discussing the merits of the rival candidates, "Better have a Pope at Rome than at Pethat the votes of many persons, decided terborough." So strong was this feeling, against the Roman Catholic question, remained in suspense until Mr. Banks declared his disapprobation of the Peterborough Questions,

expressions of great and distinguished characters.

From this general view of His Grace's Charge, we proceed to notice the passage which has excited such lively indignation in the Papists of Ireland, and called forth the most violent and intemperate language. It is as follows:

and fanciful grounds which are pleaded in justification of dissent from our Protestant Establishment. They did not object to a surplice, an organ, or a few insulated expressions in any of the offices; expressions liable perhaps to be misunderstood, but capable of fair and consistent explanation. They pleaded absolute necessity. They considered, that the Scriptures themselves, and the principles contained in them, had been laid aside and departed from; and that penances, pilgrimages, image-worship, and purchased indulgences, had become the religion of Christendom. And this they justly regarded as sinful superstition, a form of relividual judgment as to the reasons of their gion without the power; or, in the faith, that they deem it their duty to resist Archbishop's words, a Church all authority in matters of religion. We, without any thing which could promy brethren, are to keep clear of both ex-perly be called a Religion." tremes; and holding the Scriptures as our great charter, whilst we maintain the liberty with which Christ has made us free, we are to submit ourselves to the authority to which he has made us subject.-Pp. 25,

We, my Reverend brethren, are placed in a station, in which we are hemmed in by two opposite descriptions of professing Christians: the one, possessing a Church, without what we can properly call a Religion; and the other, possessing a Religion, without what we can properly call a Church: the one so blindly enslaved to a supposed infallible ecclesiastical authority, as not to seek in the Word of God a reason for the faith they profess; the other, so confident in the infallibility of their indi

26.

The Archbishop adds, in a note,

Protestants, whose first principle it is, to hold the free use of Scripture to be essential to true religion, can never admit that to be true religion, which forbids the free

use of Scripture: nor ean they who build the entire profession of the Christian faith upon the Word of God, concede the attribute of Christianity, in its vital character

and in its proper sense, to a form of belief,

which subjects the Word of God to the

authority of man. The sentence in the Charge, which is referred to in this note, has given offence. But as it only speaks the language of the REFORMATION, and

merely gives in few words that which every

sincere Protestant must maintain, it can offend only so far as Protestantism is itself an offence. It is painful to hurt the feelings of individuals. But it is impossible to compromise vital principles. And, that would be a severe state of things indeed, in which a Protestant Bishop should not dare to utter a Protestant sentiment.-P. 45.

Now, in all this we observe nothing but an old principle couched in a new form of expression. Our forefathers did not leave the Church of Rome on the same slight

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This being the case, it might have been expected, that the mere expression in an episcopal charge of a well-known Protestant sentiment would not have excited any particular surprise or indignation among the Papists. Such an anticipation, however, would have been most erroneous. So violent is their resentment, that we might almost conclude they were ignorant that any individual entertained a doubt of the purity and genuineness of their principles. The Roman Catholic Archbishop, Dr. Curtis, asserts, that Dr. Magee must have been aware of the revolting falsehood of his whole accusation:" while a Friar Hayes advertises a pamphlet in reply to "the insolent

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Charge of His Grace the Most "Reverend Dr. W. Magee, not "by the Grace of God, or by the "Mission, ordinary or extraordinary, of Jesus Christ; but by royal Commission derived in legitimate Succession from Harry "of bloodless Memory and Bess of virgin Fame, Lord Archbishop "of Dublin, and Primate of Ire"land."

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It may be gathered from these

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These advertisements, however, afford redoubled proof of the justice of the Archbishop's expression. This said Friar Hayes, who might and would be instantly silenced if his language was considered by his superiors as at all improper, in another of his newspaper effusions, has the following words: "Then the Tract and "Bible Societies might chaunt "Victory; then our holy Religion “might be insulted with impunity." So that victory to the Bible is to bring insult to the Popish religion. The one is placed in exact opposition to the other. Where is the wonder, then, that a person resting his hopes upon the Bible should utterly reject the creed of Rome? Protestants have long been aware, that such must be the result; a consequence which the Papists have uniformly affected to deny, but which Friar Hayes is at length excited to confess.

But there is another point of view in which the complaints of the Papists ought to be considered. What has been their uniform conduct towards Protestants? When have the Romanists ever treated the Protestant Church as 66 possessing a religion?" And what right have they to be so excessively indignant at their own language being retorted upon them? They constantly assume, that there is but one Church, that one Church their own, and that there is no salvation out of its pale. The Church, the Catholic Church, is the title they adopt; and they authoritative ly pronounce and declare, that all Protestants, without exception, are out of the Church-out of Christ's fold-are the children of

the devil, and both ought to perish and will perish everlastingly. Now, Protestants never retorted this or any similar language. They contend, and contend justly, that the Church of Rome is corrupt, inasmuch as it lays aside the word of God, and makes the Scriptures of nonc effect through its traditions; but they are ever ready to acknowledge, that many members of the church of Christ may be found in the Romish communion; and console themselves with the pleasing hope, that amidst all the mummery, and folly, and absurd and bewildering superstition which has for so many ages overspread so large a part of the western empire, there are many whose hearts are better than their heads, and who are enabled on the wings of faith and love to pierce the dark clouds with which they are surrounded, and to contemplate with joyful and well-founded hope that Saviour whom yet, in various respects, they so ignorantly and erroneously worship. No intimation of this nature is ever to be met with in a Popish writer concerning a Protestant.

And what is the argument of a Papist? The Protestant asserts, Here are the Scriptures, and here are arguments drawn from them against image-worship, against Papal infallibility, against indulgences, against works of supererogation, and various other positions which you maintain. The Romanist replies (we quote the Right Rev. Dr. Milner, the present Vicar-apostolic of the midland district), "Close your Bible and cease your argument, for this is my position, the Church is infalliblethe Church has decreed that point; and the Church, being infallible, has decided in favour of all which you question. The dispute is, therefore, at an end. Submit, or else you come under the curse of the Church, and are accounted heretics, who ought by public authori

ty, either spiritual or temporal, to be chastised or EXECUTED*!" And not only do the Romanists assert that heretics ought to be chastised or EXECUTED, but they venture to denounce judgments upon those who transgress their unscriptural requisitions, and announce to the world the afflictive dispensations of divine Providence, not as the chastisements of a heavenly Father, but as examples of divine vengeance. We insert the following extract from the last month's Catholic Miscellany, as illustrating our position.

At the beginning of the present month (December) died at Nottingham, the Rev. J. Trochet, a priest, who having confessed the faith in his own country (France), by degrees lost the vivifying principle of it in this, so far as to enter into a sacrilegious contract of matrimony with a woman of the

above-mentioned town. He did not, however, renounce the Catholic religion, but attended its worship, and listened to the reproaches that were made to him by his pious brethren and the pastor of the place, with seeming compunction. He was particularly moved to this by a letter which bis prelate sent to him, on his visitation of Nottinghamshire, the summer before last; but his unfortunate connubial ties still kept bim fast in the mire of sin. The prelate

denounced to him, in particular, the untimely end of other apostate priests: he wept, but he wept in vain. At length, God struck him with a mortal paralysis; he acknowledged to his pastor, who had one opportunity of seeing him, his sorrow for his crime, and promised to do what might be required of him; but, before he could receive the rites of the church, stupor overcame him, and his wretched partner took effectual care that his spiritual physician should not again see him!—P. 571.

The question of Roman Catholic emancipation, as it respects Ireland, becomes every day more perplexing. In England, the submission of a small minority to restrictions necessary to the safety and welfare of the general body of the people, is scarcely a hardship; but in the sister country, the immense majority of the population

* See Dr. Troy's Bible; Notes on Matt. iii. 29.

are compressed and kept down by the ascendancy of not more perhaps than about one eighth of their number. Yet every attempt to relieve them is accompanied with the utmost peril. At this very moment, the Papists openly express their wishes, and their hopes also, speedily to banish every Protestant from Ireland. The Romish clergy have lately circulated immense numbers of a pretended prophecy, that "in 1825 not a Protestant shall be left in the country;" and the deluded people, presuming upon these predictions, are already in many places giving warning to the Protestants to quit. Admit, then, their leaders to power and authority, and the same spirit will at once excite them, according to the suggestion of their own authorized New Testaments, to the extirpation of heresy.

And what must be done in this dilemma? Must Ireland still be governed by force? or must we at length submit to see our brethren driven from their habitations, and the fairest jewel of the British Crown, and one of the firmest supports of the British empire, be for ever dismembered and torn from her? There appears to us but one remedy.

Enlighten the people of Ireland. Remove, as speedily as possible, from their warm and generous minds, the inhuman, blinding, and destructive dogmas of Popery. For this purpose, teach them to read the Scriptures in their own tongue, whether Irish or English. Supply them with copies of the word of God, encourage the national system of education, establish Irish readers, and let no means be lost sight of which may, under the divine blessing, be effectual to pour a flood of light on their benighted minds. An awful crisis is rapidly approaching; the population of Ireland is increasing with overwhelming rapidity. If true Protestantism does not make corresponding advances-if some

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