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Now all this is good and eloquent ;-from Mr. M'Neile, how could it be otherwise. Yet, besides the fault already alluded to, of not being à propos to the present state of the controversy; there is one other questionable point which ought to be adverted to.

Both the anonymous letter-writer, and Mr. M'Neile himself, speak of an approaching time, when stakes and dungeons will be again prepared for the English Protestants, and when the Inquisition itself may coerce the people of this country. Now, can we wonder that worldly politicians should smile in utter disbelief and scorn, when we must admit the existence of a sort of incredulity in our own minds.

We do not forget that Rome is despotic, cruel, and persecuting. She never was, and never will be, otherwise. Nor do we think lightly of our national perils. But we think that they are of a different class, and that a Popish ascendancy, with Protestants as victims, is not yet a probable thing.

The Romanists in England at the present moment, are, after all, a mere handful. Any one of the leading Dissenting sects, would numerically far exceed them. We believe that the Wesleyan Methodists of England could actually confine every Romanist in the realm, if necessary, in the vaults of their chapels.

We cannot, therefore, look for a Popish persecution in England, at the present day. Before that day arrives, there will have been some desperate struggles.

The first of these, it appears to us, must be that of Religious Equality-or, the Endowment of Popery or Dis-endowment of Protestantism. This great controversy is now opening; it must, apparently, last many years; and we should delight to see Mr. M'Neile's great powers devoted to the elucidation of this great question: "Is it not the duty of the State to endow and propagate Truth? Is it not the duty of the State to discourage and discountenance Error?"

The second tract, the title-page of which we have copied, is newly arrived from Scotland. It is an earnest letter to the Protestants of Great Britain; and our chief disappointment arises from the inflation and turgidity of its style. The following is the first paragraph:

"Brethren,-you are on the brink of a great CRISIS!-the crisis of your national Christian existence !-whether shall you continue a Christian Empire or become an Infidel Power? The movements of a giant party are seen in the near horizon? The captains of a fearful host are busied in preparations for the coming struggle !—and, Christians, what are they doing? Do they sleep?-nay, would-yes, Brethren, -would to God, you slept,-unconscious of your danger!-rather than that one, and another, among you, should rise up here and there, in the confusion of an half-awakened slumber, to blow such blasts, as now twice-aye, thrice,-have sounded in the midst

of our, as yet, but, our God favouring us, not long to be,-divided ranks." -(p. 3.)

Yet most true and important are the exhortations of this writer. Being apparently, himself a Presbyterian, he yet thus addresses the Anti-State-Churchmen" of England and Scotland.

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"I care not a jot, if every finger in the land be pointed against me, on the one hand for endeavouring now to raise the cry of "No POPERY!" in Great Britain, which, God helping me, I will yet more and more endeavour to do and on the other, for what may convey to your minds, Brethren, the appearance of an endeavour to turn the attention of certain-and believe me, esteemed and honoured Brethren among you-from your meditated attack on what you will call my favorite section of Protestantism, by pointing to Popery; but, as I care not for the first, so would I indignantly repel the second; and yet, for the truth's sake, I will rather beseech you-yes, I implore you, my Brethren, not so to judge me. Shut your eyes, I entreat you, no longer to the fact-much as some of our beloved Christian Brethren of various Dissenting denominations in England, ridicule the impression, that the danger with which we are now immediately threatened-the quarter from which the fiercest onset is about to be made on the whole body of Protestants in Great Britain-is through the instrumentality of Popery!-will some of you immediately rise up and say, 'It is for this we are determined to oppose existing Establishments. You deceive yourselves-nay, the arch-enemy of the Protestant Church deceives you-if by any means he may divert your attention from the real danger. True it is-and' Oh! that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people,'-by means of the very evils, which weigh with you to fight against Establishments!-evils, truly, which I see as strongly and as keenly as the must enthusiastic among you-nor mourn less-nor strive less against-than the most eager of your number!--but not in the way that must involve brother slaying brother!

66

Brethren, I conceal it not,-nay, I would be behind none of you in proclaiming it-that 'wolves in sheeps' clothing' have got within the fold of the English Establishment. But will any among you be so forgetful of the principles of justice and of righteousness, as to slay the innocent with the guilty? Oh! let this be far from you, as it ever has been from your Father which is in heaven. And yet, if you will not hear me, Brethren, then stay not at Establishments, for there is work enough to keep your blood-stained hands employed, down to the moment of your Lord's return!-I say, stay not until you have made a full end of every denomination of vital Protestantism in the land!-saving, of course, and by all means (at least until you have made an end of the rest,) all those sects who may conspire with you in this noble deed! For where, Brethren, will you find a fold into which 'wolves in sheeps' clothing' have not crept? Is the Free Church of Scotland -the last formed fold among us,-'Free' in this respect? I trow not! See, then, oh! see, where the principle of a war of extermination against existing Establishments will hurry you!-into what, if consistently followed out-and you surely mean to be consistent!-into what enormities it would lead you!

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God'! And yet hear me, for when I admit that wolves' have got within the pale of existing Establishments, I would have you to remember, that the very formation of those Establishments is such, as virtually neutralizes the power of the wolf's ferocity-yes, despite the smiles of party with which such an announcement will be received-I reiterate the expression-nay, further, I would have you to weigh well, and seriously, and candidly, the assertionand not receive it with derision and contempt-when I add, that there is no bulwark, no barrier, which the united Protestantism of Great Britain at this moment presents-and which may be turned to such powerful account-as an instrument for stemming the on-rushing tide of Popery, -as that very

bulwark of our Protestant privileges-the Establishment of the Church of England, which so many among you, most truly-not knowing what you do -are so madly bent upon subverting? Brethren, be persuaded! it is the evil that has crept within the Establishments, and not the Establishments themselves against which it is your Christian duty to exert your influence and power.”—(pp. 26—28.)

One more passage we must give,-it is the closing page of the tract,-because of the important suggestion contained in it.

"And now, Brethren, for the present I have done; and, in taking leave of you, I would earnestly reiterate all I have urged.

"1st, Of Reconciliation-in other words,' Union.'

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2d, Decisive, prompt, immediate Action.

"The last without the first is useless-it is madness-it is downright sinfulness!

"And not to leave you, Brethren, with mere words, in one short sentence, I propose, in conclusion, to receive communications from all bodies of Evangelical Protestants, who feel, who mourn over, and who seek the removal of dissension from the midst of us; and, at the same time, earnestly desire the adoption of immediate measures, to stay the alarming progress of evil, by which we are on every side surrounded. In view of this great object, I now formally solicit communications from all parties, to whom this Appeal on behalf of God and Man,' is made, within the British Isles! And, Brethren, if you, in any degree, second this effort generally, for I publicly declare to our enemies, as well as to yourselves, that any other effort is worse than useless-then, I propose, God willing, to offer to you, in a yet more tangible form, certain measures immediately applicable to every town, and borough, and city, where a body of Evangelical Protestant Electors are to be found, without distinction of sectarian differences, in order to the organization, in each several locality, of a fixed plan of combined operations, to meet the approaching crisis. In other words, to secure the return, at the coming election, of members, who will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God,' within the walls, at least, of the Commons House of Parliament of Great Britain; Great,' only, so long as she continues Christian Britain !! and Brethren, I intreat you, whatever you do-do it at once? do it with all your might! lose not a moment, for the enemy is already before you in the field! Delay,' you well know, is always' dangerous!' in the present instance, it is certain destruction to yourselves! and ruin to your beloved country! As Christian members of the nation, exert yourselves in this outer court-this wide circle of your Christian responsibilities! 'Work' in this sphere- while it is day,' the day of your visitation' the day-time' of opportunity! the night cometh'-the night' of evil! the night' of opportunity for ever fled!' when no man can work!' And lastly, at all times, Brethren, remember-that, 'In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains-truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel!' "”—(pp. 47, 48.)

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As we wish to assist this writer, unknown though he be, to the utmost of our power, in this his attempt, we will observe, that communications for him should, we apprehend, be addressed to

"The Author of

'A Solemn Warning for the Times,'

Care of Mr. Ritchie,

Publisher,
Edinburgh."

LECTURES ON THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, AND ON
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN
B. CHEEVER, D.D., of New York.
Collins. 1846.

BUNYAN. By GEORGE
Glasgow and London :

THAT Bunyan is a favourite of ours, we need not say. Next to the Bible we think his Pilgrim decidedly the best guide to the heavenly city, and hope we shall not offend against orthodox Churchmanship by placing him on this high pedestal. Coleridge himself thus writes (our eye falls accidentally on the sentence as we trace these lines)" I know of no book, the Bible excepted, as above all comparison, which I, according to my judgment and experience, could so safely recommend as teaching and enforcing the whole saving truth, according to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, as the Pilgrim's Progress. It is in my conviction the best Summa Theologica Evangeliæ ever produced by a writer not miraculously inspired." This is perfectly true, and we think it an ill sign of the times that Bunyan and the Bible, as original writings, are both of them less read, less understood, less felt than they once were. We hope it will not long be so: but the great multiplication of books, schools, lecturers, and teachers of all kinds, has tended very much of late to dilute the best things-and among them the Bible itself, and to a considerable extent, the immortal Bunyan-a genius who, to be duly appreciated, must be seen in his own light-a writer whose pure Saxon style and clear flowing thoughts render him his own best interpreter. We are therefore not over anxious to introduce lecturers on Bunyan; but if lecturers we must have, we know of none better than Dr. Cheever-himself a man of considerable original power, and who, as a scriptural divine and deeply experienced Christian, thoroughly enters into the spirit of his author. We have read his lectures with much interest, and think they may be very useful in recalling attention to Bunyan, and assisting those who from time to time may adopt the useful practice of making the Pilgrim's Progress a cottage or family lecturebook. Mr. Philip, who well deserves to be regarded as the historian of Bunyan, says that Dr. Cheever "has eclipsed the whole host of Bunyan's commentators, in both point and pathos, and placed himself like the Apocalyptic angel, full in the very sun' of the vision, as well as clothed himself with its rainbows."-He' further adds, and with considerable truth-" Such an American as

'Remains, vol. iii. p. 391.

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Dr. C. was just the man to make Englishmen aware of the peculiarities and beauties of Bunyan's prose. They would have struck him more than they do English readers, and thus have struck sparks from his own spirit, which would have set our curiosity on fire, as well as consumed the dross of our familiarity with our own idioms. For, just as American travellers make us look as with new eyes upon our own scenery and architecture, because they bring both to a standard that we never judged of them by, so they discern more readily than ourselves the force of the mother-tongue, because they have less of it in familiar use, or in its original forms. America has a vernacular of its own, and thus it is as much alive to the peculiarities of our idiom, as we are to those of the New World." But besides this literary qualification, we can conceive that the descendants of the pilgrim fathers have some peculiar relish for a writer like Bunyan, and having probably studied him more profoundly of late than ourselves, are thus better qualified to exhibit his spirit, and come forth with a con amore enthusiasm as hierophants of the glorious Dreamer.' On these accounts we think it our duty to make special mention of Dr. Cheever, just hinting however that there are some things in his Lectures on the Life and Time of Bunyan to which we must not be thought to set our imprimatur. At the same time there is very much truth in the following rough (though somewhat angry) sketch, and we give it for the simple purpose of suggesting to churchmen of the present day a very careful review of that important period, and of the subsequent course of events, ecclesiastically considered, up to this time; the present and future not being forgotten. To every Churchman we would say in the language of St. Bernard, pice, Aspice, Prospice; and sure we are that a sketch like the following is well calculated to provoke to it.

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BUNYAN AND HIS TIMES are thus introduced by Dr. Cheever.

"If a man were to look about the world, or over all the world's history, for that one of his race in whose life there should be found the completest illustration of the providence and grace of God, he could hardly fix upon a more perfect instance than that of John Bunyan. The detailed biography of this man I shall not attempt to present in so short a sketch as that to which I must of necessity confine myself. But there are points in his life where the Divine providence is unfolded so gloriously, and junctures where the Divine grace comes out so clearly and so brightly, that nothing could be more simple, beautiful, and interesting than their illustration. On some of these points I shall dwell, premising in order to a right view of them, a rapid but important glance at the age in which he lived.

"It was an age of great revolutions, great excitement, great genius, great talent: great extremes both in good and evil: great piety and great wickedness: great freedom and great tyranny and oppression. Under Cromwell there were great liberty and prosperity under the Charleses there were great oppression and disgrace. Bunyan's life, continuing from 1628 to 1688, embraces the most revolutionary and stirring period in English history. There

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