But in the third place, there is still further evidence that the Apostle did not include dissenters in the language of the text, and did not use it in the sense in which dissenters would have people to understand it; inasmuch as he does not say, Grace be with everybody, whether saints or sinners, whether members of the Church of Christ or separatists from it; but "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." And with all our strength, and mind, and heart, and soul, do we also cheerfully say, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." But then the question arises, who do love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and what is the evidence of that love? Our blessed Lord himself at once answers the question most decidedly. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."—" If a man love me, he will keep my words."—" He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Then again, "he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings." (St. John xiv. 15, 21, 23, 24). Now our blessed Lord here says, that those only are the persons who love him who keep his commandments; and one of the greatest and most prominent and most important of all his commandments is that his disciples should all avoid strife and discord, and dissent of every kind, and be all united together in one bond of unity, peace and concord, and should all love one another. Indeed, of such paramount importance does our blessed Lord consider brotherly love and union, that he speaks of it as though there were no other commandment, calling it especially as His commandment, and as the new commandment :"This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." (St. John xv. 12). "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (St. John xiii. 34, 35). And so much did the necessity of union dwell upon the mind of our blessed Redeemer, that in his touching prayer just before the solemn hour of his crucifixion and death he prayed to his Father for union amongst his disciples three times over, thus :-" Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be ONE, as we "Neither pray I for these alone [the disciples who were then about Him], but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; "That they ALL may be ONE," -"that they may be ONE, even as we are one." (St. John xvii. 11, 21, 22). Now it is impossible to find a commandment more expressly binding upon all Christians than this of union and love; and obedience to it our Lord mentions as evidence of love to him, and disobedience to it as evidence of not loving him. Now this very commandment is constantly broken and disobeyed by all dissenters, who, instead of being all united in ONE, are split and divided into many; and instead of loving one another as Christ commanded his disciples, they hate and shamefully abuse one another, and more especially the members of Christ's Church, as we shewed by the specimens of their "keen hatred and round abuse," which we gave in our last number. And again, God commands us in his Word, as we have already seen, to "mark them which cause divisions," as contrary to the prayer and command of Christ," and avoid them." All these passages, and a multitude of others which might be quoted, unanswerably prove that dissent -disunion-is directly contrary to the commands of Christ, and very heinous

are.

in the sight of God. And as our Lord says, "He that loveth me not

keepeth not my sayings," so he that keepeth not Christ's sayings or commandments loveth him not. Dissenters keep not our Lord's commandments, and therefore they love him not, and cannot be included by the Apostle St. Paul in the number of "them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;" for as our Lord says, If ye love me, keep my commandments," and thus

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shew and prove that you do love me. Those only can be truly said to love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, who obey his commandments by being all united in one, all members of the Church, the body of Christ, who is the Head, and all living in love to one another, and in harmony and peace together, in one united society, or family, or household, continuing steadfastly in the fellowship, or union, or oneness of the Apostles, as well as in their doctrine. (Acts ii. 42).

Thus we have made it as clear as that two and two make four, that in no respect whatever is the meaning in which the dissenters use this passage of God's holy word the true meaning, because it is not the sense in which St. Paul used it, nor the sense in which any Christian ought ever to quote it. Dissenters may say that they love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, but our Lord says, "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true" (St. John v. 31), and how much more, then, if they bear witness of themselves, is their witness untrue. Their saying so is not doing so; for deeds are the fruits and proofs of love; words are mere wind. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."—" If a man love me he will keep my sayings." Dissenters do not keep Christ's sayings, and therefore they do not love him-they do not love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; and St. Paul, therefore, does not include them at all in his benediction, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."

We shall of course be met with all the usual palliations and excuses for sin, such as ignorance and education, and prejudice, and good motives, and all the rest of it, but we beg leave to cut them all down at once by asking for one single instance in which our blessed Lord framed excuses for the sins of those whom he rebuked. We have nothing whatever to do with men's ignorance or prejudices, or motives, but simply with their acts—their fruits, not by their words or their motives, but " by their fruits ye shall know them." If a man does a good deed we are bound to conclude that he does it from a good motive; and on the same principle, if a man does a bad deed, we have no right to suppose that he does it from a good motive. Motives and intentions can only be known to God, and we have therefore only to do with men's actions, for it is by them alone that we can know what men are. Dissenters live in the constant and habitual violation of the new and great commandment of the Gospel of Christ, and not only in simple violation of it, but by their malignant spirit of hatred, abuse, and persecution of the members of the fold of Christ and household of God, their sin is greatly aggravated in the sight of God. And to say that such persons love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, is to make ourselves equal with them "that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah v. 20). And for Churchmen to do so is to set their judgments in direct opposition to that of the Church, of which they are members, as shewn by her first twelve Canons which we have quoted in this and other numbers. Let us remember that real charity is founded on truth only, and that the best and only scriptural evidence we can give of our charity is to shew people their sins and dangers, and to warn them against them. Faithfulness to the truth of God should ever be our first object; and let us then not seek our reward in the applause of men, by palliating and making excuses for their sins, lest we subject ourselves to the guilt and woe of those "which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." (Isa. v. 23). (See also Prov. xvii. 15, and xxiv. 24). our most hearty prayer for ourselves and others constantly be "From all false doctrine, heresy and schism [or dissent]; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment,-Good Lord deliver us."

Let

CORRESPONDENCE.

ON PREPARATION FOR HOLY ORDERS IN SCOTLAND. REV. SIR,-In the number of your Magazine for this month (October), you reply to a correspondent, "that you believe the Bishops of the Church in Scotland do ordain gentlemen who have never been at any college.' As this statement is likely to mislead your friend, and also to convey an unfavourable impression to those who have no means of knowing better, I beg to send you an extract from the canons of our Church, which will place the matter in its true light.

It may be necessary to mention, that the extract alluded to, and with which the canon commences, is taken from those drawn up for the Church of Scotland in 1635. "In conformity with the spirit of this extract, it is hereby decreed, that no person be received as a candidate for Holy Orders in this Church, who shall not have first gone through a regular academical course in some university or college. It is, moreover, expressly ordered, that no person shall be admitted into the holy order of Deacons in this Church, until he shall have been properly examined as to his literature by two or more presbyters, appointed for that purpose by the Bishop who is to ordain him, and whom, as his examiners, he must satisfy of his being sufficiently acquainted with the whole of the New Testament in the original Greek, and at whose bidding he must compose a short treatise in Latin on some article of faith, as also a discourse in English on any text of Scripture which they shall prescribe, and answer such questions connected with theology and ecclesiastical history as they shall think proper to put to him; and before his admission to examination, the Bishop must, by sufficient letters testimonial, and by an attestation, that the form usually called Si Quis has been publicly read-be satisfied of his good life and satisfaction, as well as of his good learning. It is also required that he produce a certificate of his having attended at least one course of the Lectures of the Pantonian Professor of Theology, and of our Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Edinburgh, unless peculiar circumstances in his case may have rendered such attendance impracticable, of which the ordaining Bishop is to be the sole judge and no one shall be promoted to the order of priest, until he shall have passed a still more full and complete examination."

:

Will you allow me to add an observation or two? I need not tell you of the severe trials to which this Church has been exposed, from her zealous attachment to Catholic truth. But so little is known, generally, of the history of the Church in this part of the kingdom, that many of your readers will hardly believe the fact, that within fifty years from this date the Clergy of the Episcopal Church in Scotland were prohibited from officiating to more than five individuals at one time, under penalty of six months imprisonment for the first offence, and of transportation for life should they a second time transgress. The effect of such an enactment, which also laid many legal disabilities on those who attended the ministrations of our Clergy, soon appeared in the dispersion of our flocks. Still a few, both Clergy and laity, remained faithful, and handed down to others the ministry and the truth which they had preserved under such trying circumstances. But so diminished in numbers, and so poor in worldly circumstances were our congregations, that they could with difficulty provide any means for the support of a pastor among them. In many cases, all that they could offer barely amounted to the hire of a labouring man. Under these circumstances, it was not surely wonderful that our Bishops should have great difficulty in procuring regularly educated men for the work of the ministry. A hard necessity forced them, in many instances, to overlook, in some measure, the intellectual acquirements of the individual, and to avail themselves of the services of men whose piety and zealous attachment to the Church were strongly evidenced by their willingness to enter upon this labour of love. And, through the goodness of God, devoted men were always found, whe, though they might, now-a-days, be considered deficient in learning, were very faithful to the trust committed to them, as we have reason, at this day, to acknowledge with hearts full of gratitude to Him by whose power they were supported. At the time, then, of which I speak, our Bishops did, in particular cases, ordain men "who had never been at any college:" and as the circumstances, which at first rendered this almost unavoidable, continued to operate, for a time a discretionary power was allowed to the ordaining Bishop, to dispense with the requisitions of the canon. But as the canons now stand amended, it is required that every one, before being admitted to the

order of Deacon, shall produce certificates of having attended a regular course of education at some college or university.

This information may be useful for your friend, especially if he has any intention of looking for ordination to this quarter of the country, under the idea that he may succeed more easily than in the south. Our Bishops would be thankful for the services of several devoted young men from your universities, could you spare them yourselves. A desire for the services of an apostolic ministry has lately been expressed in several quarters, which our Bishops can hardly comply with, from want of candidates for the ministry. Many, wearied with the discord around them, seem to be turning their cyes to the fold, where rest and peace are to be found. It would, therefore, be a great satisfaction to have faithful pastors, to whom to commit them. But still I would earnestly beg of you, unless your friend be a sound member of the Church, to advise him to remain at home. Our native Clergy have hitherto been, and are at this moment, united as one man in maintaining those principles of primitive truth and order by which the Church is so happily distinguished. Where any difference has appeared, I am sorry to say that it will be found among those who have moved northwards

to us.

I allude to this from no bad feeling; rather from great anxiety that it may be known how strongly we feel our responsibility in this matter. May the Lord, who has blessed us with a regular ministry, and preserved to us a pure faith, enable us to profit as we ought under such privileges, and may He raise up faithful men to whom they may be committed, for the future guidance and comfort of this humble branch of his Church. Yours in haste, but very sincerely, M.

[We are greatly obliged to our good friend for his communication. We have the canons of the Scottish Church, and have read them, but, like many other persons, we cannot recollect every thing we read, and are always glad to be reminded.—ED.]

FEMALE PREACHERS.

SIR,-Can you or any of your correspondents afford a clue as to the religious sects who do, and those who do not, admit of female preaching? Women oratory, among the Quakers, is a very common, indeed general, case; but beyond their prayerless, praiseless assemblies, I think examples of this sort are rare. By the way, I once remember an unmarried (!) lady being placarded to play the priest at a Baptist meeting-house in a retired part of this county; and in some instances the Methodists allow women to speak.

As a matter of discipline, nothing throughout the marzes of dissent appears more untenable, more scripturally unlawful; and of all the strange vagaries and novelties of those "who separate themselves," this surely is the strangest.

What may be advanced in defence, I know not. That it is in direct opposition to apostolical views of decorum, and decidedly guarded against in the "New Testament Church," let St. Paul declare. After saying that "God is not the author of confusion,” he proceeds:"Let your women keep silence in the Churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the Church. Let all things be done decently and in order."-1 Cor. xiv. 33, 34, 35 and 40.

Again, "Let the women learn in silence, with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man; but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve."-1 Tim. ii. 11—13.

Further, Mr. Editor, is such a masculine display in accordance with that "shamefacedness and sobriety"--that "meek and quiet spirit"-that "fit submission in the Lord," which the same holy man mentions? Is this discreet?-If it is, then have words no meaning, and the plain word of God goes for nothing.

Female preaching is even a libel on that privacy observed in all other respects in civil society. It would be an anomaly, were a lady to intrude upon the platform of politics, or take part in a public address! And what would be our astonishment to hear of female lecturing on any branch of the secular sciences! But religion-says the practice of dissenters-is a profession needing no such fence. Its sublime theories are to be discussed by whomsoever will-fit or unfit, come and welcome! Our great lexicographer and moralist, Dr. Johnson, used to have a trite jest on this

absurd custom-observing that " a woman's preaching is like a dog walking on his hind legs. It is not well done; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

I would just advert, by way of conclusion, to the prominent part which some of the fair sex (even of our own Church) take, both doctrinally and argumentatively, in many of the publications of the religious world.' But in your excellent Magazine, the Apostle's declaration to Timothy (1 Epist. ii. 12) has been (so far as I can remember) strictly observed. I remain, Sir, yours,

Southport, St. Matthew's Day, 1840.

A LANCASHIRE SUBSCRIBER.

[Our correspondent need not be at all surprised that, in practising and defending the preaching of women, dissenters unceremoniously reject the word of God. We have repeatedly heard St. Paul denounced as ignorant of the will of God, and not half so enlightened in those distant times, when the Church was in her infancy, as we now are, under the present blaze of Gospel light. The followers of George Fox the Quaker, and of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist religion, are chiefly those who patronize the preaching of women. One Wesleyan woman, when commencing her preachment, said that "she was aware that many people disapproved of women preaching; but for her part she thought they were much better adapted for preaching than men, because their tongues were so well hung." This was actually the language used by a woman preacher, immediately on her succeeding a Reverend sister, who concluded her preachment by saying "I have now spun my yarn, and so I shall sit down, and let somebody else begin." We have now before us a placard announcing a "chapel opening" in the "Horsemarket, Northampton," on Thursday, the 10th of September 1840, when three sermons were to be preached; "that in the morning, at half-past ten, by the Rev. S. Tillotson of Birmingham; that in the afternoon by Miss M. C. Buck of Wellington; and that in the evening by the Rev. R. Tunley of Northampton." On the Sunday following, there were to be three other exhibitions by which money was to be drawn from the pockets of the people; and at that in the evening, "Miss M. C. Buck" was to perform again. We have many curiosities of this sort in our "Cabinet;" but what puzzles us in this business is, why this impudent woman is not termed "The Rev. M. C. Buck." She has precisely the same right to the title Reverend, as Mr. Tillotson or Mr. Tunley. Messrs. Tillotson and Tunley may plead that they have passed through the farce of a mock ordination;-but so may the Rev. M. C. Buck have been ordained, for aught we can tell! If the young girl has been ordained by half-a-dozen old washerwomen over the wash-tub, her ordination and right to be called "Reverend," is quite equal to anything which her preaching comrades, or any dissenting teachers, possess. They blasphemously pretend to be called immediately by God-and so does she; and her call, and her word, are just as good as theirs can possibly be: for they are all fraud, falsehood, and imposture together. Each one declares that he or she is called to the office of preaching by God, and bears witness of himself or herself; and our blessed Lord, when on earth, said, "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true," (John v.31); and therefore as these persons, and every dissenting preacher, whether man or woman, bear witness each one for himself or herself, their witness is not true. St. Paul says (2 Cor. xi. 14, 15), "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works." All such self-sent, self-appointed, pretended, sham ministers, St. Paul calls "false apostles; deceitful workers, transforming themselves" [they are not transformed by persons properly appointed, but "transforming themselves," pretending to be] "ministers of Christ." Now, I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and AVOID them."-Rom. xvi. 17. ED.]

DISSENTERS AGAINST THE PRIVILEGES OF THE POOR.

SIR, Having perused your Magazine with pleasure and improvement to myself, I venture to write you a few lines on one or two things, which to me, shew the inconsistencies (not to say injustice) of the dissenters in the most glaring light.

I happened to be present at the burial of a dissenter, and indeed was one of the followers (the deceased being a distant relation of mine), and I could not but consider how unjust it was in the dissenters to force the burial of their dead upon that Church which they habitually malign and oppose in every shape and way. It was my fortune