Articles, is this-Man is turned by the preventing grace of God to faith, or to a firm persuasion of the efficacy of Christ's merits to procure for him pardon and acceptance on his sincere repentance,-is baptized for the remission of sins, or justified ; and then, through the grace of God, co-operating with his will already duly prepared through preventing grace, his faith produces its natural fruits, good works. According to the Decree, the preventing grace of God, influencing the heart of man, gives birth to faith, hope, and charity, and excites the desire to receive baptism: in baptism, a spiritual quality, called justifying grace, is infused into his soul, which renders him acceptable in the sight of God; the righteousness of God, which is the formal cause of his justification, being not merely imputed, but communicated to him. Justification, according to the Decree, is not merely the remission of sin, but also sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man; or, according to the late Mr. Alexander Knox, it is not merely external, having reference to that which Christ has done for us; but also internal, having reference to that which Christ, through the Holy Spirit, works in us.

But is this, it may be asked, any thing more than a verbal difference: a difference of definition? Justification, in the Article, means one thing; in the Decree, another; but is not the doctrine of both substantially the same? According to both, it is God who justifies, on account of the merits of Christ; and it seems to matter little, whether we say, that in conferring justification, God has respect to a faith, to which he himself prepares the heart, and from which through the influence of his spirit, all christian dispositions necessarily flow; or that he has respect to a spiritual quality, infused by himself into the soul, in which all these dispositions, so to speak, inhere, and which renders man just. Both Barrow and Burnet, while they shew, the former at great length, that the sense affixed to the word Justification, in our article, is the scriptural sense, yet admit, that the difference, if it extended no further, might be easily adjusted. But the Decree goes on to declare, that the infused righteousness of God is also the righteousness of the justified man; so that the good works which he performs, through the grace of God, are meritorious; they merit for him, increase of grace, and eternal life. Here then, the Article and the

* On Redemption and Salvation.-Remains, Vol. ii. p. 42.

"Now all these acts, as by the general consent of Christians, and according to the sense of the ancient Catholic Church, so by all considerable parties seeming to dissent, and so earnestly disputing about the point of justification, are acknowledged and ascribed unto God: but with which of them the act of justification is solely or chiefly coincident; whether it signifieth barely some one of them, or extendeth to more of them, or comprehendeth them all, according to the constant meaning of the word in scripture, are questions coming under debate and so eagerly prosecuted. Of which questions, whatsoever the solution may be, it cannot methinks be of so great consequence as to cause any great anger or animosity in Dissenters one towards another, seeing they all conspire in avowing the acts, whatever they be, meant by the word Justification, although in other terms: seeing all the dispute is about the precise and adequate notion of the word Justification: whence those questions might well be waved as unnecessary grounds of contention; and it might suffice to understand the points of doctrine which it relateth to in other terms, laying that aside as ambiguous and litigious."-Sermon of Justification by Faith, p. 68.

Burnet on the eleventh Article says, "Yet after all it is but a question about words for if that which they call Remission of Sins be the same with that which we call Justification; and if that which they call Justification be the same with that which we call Sanctification, then here is only a strife of words."

Archbishop Wake, after distinctly stating the doctrine as held on the one hand by our Church, on the other by that of Rome, says, "It appears by this, that were these things clearly stated and distinguished, the one from the other, the difference between us (himself and Bossuet) considered only in the Idea, would not be very great." Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England, Art. v. of Justification.

"I grant the Article emphatically excludes all human merit: "that is, all efficacy or value of self-wrought performances." Letter to Mr. Parken on Justification. Remains, Vol. i. p. 265. On the doctrine of Merit, Archbishop Wake observes that, if it were understood as xplained by Bossuet, there would be little to object to it; but that his explanation is very different from that of Bellarmine, Vasques, and Maldonate.

Decree are directly opposed. Mr. Knox, while contending that the framers of the Article did not consider justification as exclusively reputative, yet admits, that they have carefully excluded all human merit; and it is from the doctrine of the merit of human actions, that many of the worst of the practical abuses of the Church of Rome take their rise. But even this difference is slight, in comparison with that which exists, with respect to the restoration of those who fall into sin after baptism. That the justified man may fall away from grace, is affirmed both in the Articles and the Decree. But, according to our Church, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is the appointed sacramental means, through which, by faith and repentance, the merits of Christ are applied for the remission of sins committed after baptism. The Church of Rome has introduced an additional sacrament for the purpose -the sacrament of penance of which, contrition, confession, and absolution, are parts; but which is effectual only to the taking away of the punishment of sin in the next world, leaving a temporary punishment to be undergone, either on earth or in purgatory.

What then is the result of the comparison of the doctrines of the two churches? That at which the great* Hooker long ago arrived, and which I will state in his own forcible language, though I may perhaps only be quoting that with which you are already familiar. "Wherein then do we disagree with the Church of Rome? we disagree about the nature of the very essence of the medicine, whereby Christ cureth our disease -about the manner of applying it-about the number and power of the means which God requireth in us, for the effectual applying thereof to our soul's comfort. When they are required to shew, what the righteousness is, whereby a Christian man is justified; they answer that it is a divine spiritual quality; which quality when received into the soul, doth first make it to be one of them, who are born of God; and secondly, endue it with power to bring forth such works, as they do, who are born of him; even as the soul of man, being joined unto his body, doth first make him to be in the number of reasonable creatures; and secondly enable him to performi the natural functions, which are proper to his kind; that it maketh the soul gracious and amiable in the sight of God; in regard whereof it is termed grace; that it purgeth, purifieth, washeth out, all the stains and pollutions of sin; that by it, through the merit of Christ, we are delivered, as from sin, so from eternal death and condemnation, the reward of sin. This grace they will have to be applied by infusion-to the end, that as the body is warm by the heat which is in the body, so the soul might be righteous by inherent grace; which grace they make capable of increase-as the body may be more and more warm, so the soul, more and more justified, according as grace should be augmented--the augmentation whereof is merited by good works; as good works are made meritorious by it. Wherefore, the first receipt of grace is, in their divinity, the first justification; the increase thereof, the second justification. As grace may be increased by the merit of good works, so it may be diminished by the demerit of sins venial-it may be lost by mortal sin. Inasmuch, therefore, as it is needful, in the one case to repair, in the other to recover, the loss which is made the infusion of grace hath its sundry aftermeals; for which cause, they make many ways to apply the infusion of grace. It is applied to infants, through baptism, without either faith or works; and in them really, it taketh away original sin, and the punishment due to it. It is applied to infidels and wicked men in their first justification-through baptism, without works, but not without faith, and it taketh away both sins actual and original, together with all whatsoever punishment, eternal or temporal, thereby deserved. Unto such, as have attained the first justification, that is to say, the first receipt of grace, it is applied further by good works, to the increase of former grace, which is the second justification. If they work more and more, grace doth more increase, and they are more and more justified. To such as have diminished it by venial sins, it is applied by holy water, Ave Marys, crossings, papal salutations, and such like, which serve for reparation of grace decayed. To such as have lost it through mortal sin, it is applied by the sacrament, as they term it, of penance; which sacrament hath force to confer grace anew, yet in such sort, that being so conferred, it hath not altogether so much po ver as at the first; for it only cleanseth out the stain or guilt of sin committed, and changeth the punishment eternal, into a temporary satisfactory punishment here, if time do serve, if not, hereafter to be endured; except it be either lightened by masses, works of charity, pilgrimages, fasts, and such like; or else shortened by

* Discourse of Justification, § 5. Ed. Keble.

pardon for term, or by plenary pardon quite removed and taken away. This is the mystery of the man of sin. This maze, the Church of Rome doth cause her followers to tread, when they ask her the way of Justification."

Such, according to Hooker, is the amount of the disagreement between the Churches; and every part of the statement is borne out by the comparison which has now been instituted between the Articles and the Decree. It is a disagreement which no ingenuity-no subtlety-can explain away. If then the Churches are to be reconciled on the doctrine of Justification, it can only be by the explicit confession of error, on the one part, or the other;-and we cannot be at a loss to know from which the confession must proceed,-Rome will not, indeed cannot, until its claim to infallibility is renounced, make concession.

I have said, that some of the worst practical abuses of the Church of Rome arise out of the doctrine of human merit-which is founded, as we have seen, on the notion of an infused righteousness. It causes men to lose sight of Christ, as the author, the continuer, the finisher of their justification; and to place their reliance on their own works and deservings. The learned Romanist may assert, that when rightly understood, it can produce no such effect, since Christ is constantly kept in view; the merits of man being declared, though his own, to be the gifts of God through Christ. The learned Romanist may make this distinction, but it is too subtle and refined for the great mass of mankind. They are told that their works are meritoriousmeriting grace here, and glory hereafter; and they consequently rely on their own works for acceptance with God. Let us not, however, conceal from ourselves the fact that gross abuses have also flowed from the perversion of the doctrine of imputed righteousness. Men may turn the grace of God into lasciviousness; may make that which Christ has done for them, a plea for being careless about their life and conversation; may pretend that all endeavour to advance in personal holiness, to grow in grace, and to go on to perfection, is derogatory to the merits of Christ-implying that there is something wanted in his righteousness, which our righteousness must supply. Men may, in a word, fall into that most deadly of all heresies, Antinomianism. Still, this error, and that of the Romanists, how widely soever different in appearance, spring from the same source-the aversion of the natural man to the spiritual life his desire to escape from the obligation to enter upon the task of disciplining his heart with its affections; of bringing his will to an unreserved subjection to the Divine will: his desire to devise some mode of reconciling the continued indulgence of his appetites, with the persuasion that he has not forfeited the favour of God. The Romanist applies an opiate to his conscience through the belief that by acts of mortification, by fastings, pilgrimages, almsgivings, he can make compensation for the violations of God's law of which he is guilty; the Antinomian, through the persuasion that, clothed as he is in the robe of Christ's righteousness, God can see no sin in him.

I have said also, that the lesson which ecclesiastical history most forcibly inculeates, is that of moderation. Let me now add, that it affords no brighter example of moderation than that which was set by the Anglican Reformers. At a season of the greatest excitement, amidst the storm of conflicting opinions striving for the mastery in the public mind, they maintained a steady and even course,-running into no extremes, never losing sight of the peculiar character of their vocation; å vocation, not to erect a new edifice, but to restore to its original integrity and beauty that which the Apostles had erected, by disencumbering it of the rubbish heaped around it in the lapse of centuries. To be satisfied of their just title to this meed of praise, we have only to compare the Articles of our Church with the Decrees of the Council of Trent: the sober statements of doctrine in the one, with the multiplied and unsparing anathemas of the other. It has been said that the peculiar position of our reformers would have imposed upon them the necessity of moderation, even if they had been inclined to act in a different spirit: nor can it be denied that their policy-in a worldly sense-was, by merging minor differences, to aim at uniting in one body, all who concurred in the desire to correct the abuses and to resist the unwarrantable pretensions of the Church of Rome. But experience teaches us that, when the minds of men become heated, they are apt, in their eagerness to gratify their angry passions, to disregard that which in their cooler moments they acknowledge to be their true interest. It must, therefore, be with us a matter of great thankfulness to the Most High, that our reformers, in the midst of so many

* Dr. Hey, Introduction to book iv. sec. 3. This section contains a very just estimate of the character of the framers of the Articles.

causes of excitement and irritation, were preserved from running into any violent course. My object, however, in drawing your attention to their moderation is, not to pay a tribute to their memory, but to hold up their example to your imitation. We are told that we are on the eve of a great religious crisis: that a religious ferment exists in the public mind, such as has not existed since the Reformation: that all that our reformers did, is to be undone and that Englaud is speedily to be unprotestantized. If the fact be so (and we know that some at least are labouring unceasingly to effect this consummation) it becomes, my everend brethren, the more incumbent upon us, earnestly to pray that we may be endued with the spirit of the reformers: that we may be enabled to imitate their moderation and to emancipate ourselves, as completely as they did, from the dominion of passion, of prejudice, of an excessive desire or an unreasonable dread of change. Their example may be made a subject of profitable study by us all; but more especially would I commend it to the attentive consideration of the younger portion of my reverend brethren. Vehemence and confidence are the characteristics of youth: it is sanguine it sees no difficulties: it is reckless of consequences: it readily adopts new theories, particularly if they address themselves to the imagination and the affections: having adopted them, it is impatient of opposition, unwilling to review its own decisions, to listen to the arguments which may be urged on the other side the very warmth and sincerity of its feelings hurry it into extremes, and often betray it into acts which afterwards become the subject of deep and unavailing regret. Most earnestly, therefore, do I entreat the younger portion of the clergy of this diocese' before they take a part in the questions which now unhappily disturb the peace of the Church, to consult with some of their elder brethren in whose longer experience, more matured judgment and more extensive reading, they may find a salutary check to their impetuosity, a corrective of their own crude opinions and hasty conclusions, a preservative from error.

Twelve years ago, I spoke, on a similar occasion to the present, of the danger to which the Established Church was exposed from the attacks of external enemies. For preservation from that danger, it was, under the Divine blessing, indebted to its own increased energy and zeal, but still more perhaps to the violence and intemperance of its adversaries. Its danger now is from within: from the differences of opinion which divide its members, and the acrimonious temper with which the contending parties assert their respective views. We know, on divine authority, that a house divided against itself cannot stand. What just hope then can we entertain of the permanence of the National Church, if these divisions are to continue? May God in his mercy awaken us to a due sense of our danger, before it is too late! May He breathe into our hearts the spirit of harmony and peace; so that all speaking the same thing, and being joined together in the same mind and in the same judg ment, we may be no longer diverted by doubtful disputations and questions gendering strifes, from an undivided attention to the great end of our ministry, the promotion of His glory through the salvation of the souls of men.

SINGULAR CONDUCT OF DISSENTERS.-It would seem to be a standing rule of these societies, (sectaries of different denominations) that wherever one sect has established itself, another shall break ground, and endeavour to form a rival establishment. Meeting-houses are often built, not because the neighbourhood contains members of the sect by which they are erected, but with the hope of forming congregations, and making proselytes. As population advances, and collections of houses are built, Meeting-houses almost invariably spring up, and we know with what ease, and on what terms funds are procured for raising those cheap and homely buildings. These are things which give much pain to those who know, that in the will of God, and the design of our blessed Master, the Church is a city that is at unity in itself, a spiritual body, in which there ought to be no schism, no divisions in the public worship of God, no differences of faith or practice, no breaches of Christian fellowship and union.-Bp. Bethel's Charge, 1844.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

On Self-Supporting Schools of Industry and Mental Discipline; where Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, &c., are taught, and united with the healthy exercise of Garden-Farm-Culture, as practised at Eastbourne in Sussex. By JOHN NOWELL, Esq., Farnley Tyas, near Huddersfield. Huddersfield, T. Kemp; London, Simpkin and Marshall. pp. 34.

We know not that we ever felt greater pleasure than on the receipt of a copy of this pamphlet from our long valued friend the author. He has rendered a great service in thus drawing attention to that system which is in operation in the township where he resides, and is likely to be so in Slaithwaite, under the care of the Rev. C. A. Hulbert; in both cases under the patronage of the Earl of Dartmouth, the landed proprietor. We attach very great importance to the allotment system, and the more, because out of it has grown this new application of it for the purposes of education. A problem which we have had on our mind for a quarter of century is thereby solved. We know the difficulty of raising salaries for masters and mistresses of national schools, even in wealthy places; we have rejoiced in the success of self-supporting schools in populous districts, where the weekly payments of the children raised a maintenance, or nearly so, for the teacher. But how could either result be obtained in small villages, except where the landed proprietor or the clergyman, as in very numerous cases, supplied the stipend? But this could only be the case in some places. We have often suggested, in the pages of this Magazine and elsewhere, the adoption of circulating schools, that a teacher might be provided for several villages which singly could not support one. But the Industrial Garden-farming Schools, whether in the smallest or largest parishes, remove the difficulty. A few acres of land attached to a school, enable a master to subsist without any salary. The plan is especially applicable to villages, whether agricultural or manufacturing, but will only in some cases be practicable in our larger towns. The subject is of so much importance, that we shall devote a portion of our small remaining space to extracts from the pamphlet. The Willingdon School, near Eastbourne, was built by Mrs. Gilbert after a visit to Belgium in 1837, with its appendages for stall feeding and a garden-farm of five acres.

To the foregoing remarks of visitors I must not neglect to add those of Mr. MADGE, the paid Schoolmaster of JOSEPH YORKE, Esq. of Forthampton, near Tewkesbury, who, after spending a week in inspecting the crops of the unpaid schoolmasters near Eastbourne, writes in substance as follows;

66

August 11, 1843.

Also

Seeing masters and scholars looking happy at their work, I enquired of G. CRUTTENDEN the secret of his keeping a school without a salary, with land at a high rent; when he told me that this year he expected his income from the land, after paying all outgoings, would be about £55. I asked him if he would like to give up the land and take £40 a-year. He replied, he should not for less than £50 a-year. I saw the boys in his school and I thought they were making great progress the school at East Dean where J. HARRIS, an infirm man, is the master, who told me he would not give up the land for £60 a-year. I saw the children's writing, which was very good, and being there about five minutes before two o'clock, found them ready to go to work, which they told me they liked, and I feel sure the dear little fellows enjoyed it. I have seen most of the allotments near Eastbourne, and the tenants all bear testimony to the great produce of the land. One man relinquishes 16s. a-week as foreman at East Dean to rent poor looking land at 20s. an acre, but his crops are very fine. I therefore leave Eastbourne fully persuaded of the great benefits which result, and I am quite willing to relinquish my salary and become a self-supported master."

During a trial of three years, the schools have answered so well, that in praise of them the testimony of numerous visitors from all parts of Great Britain and Ireland, and members of both houses of parliament, has been given in the visitors' book ; and