4

any baptism which his Church does not admit as lawful, can not register any Dissenter's baptism. And waste! Baptism and Christian marriage are connected by some secret affinity, it is equally qually clear that the Church can never recognize marriage as a 'civil contract, without contradicting the order of Christ, who has made it a religious covenant, though, strange to say, Dr. Silver says, it is no sacrament. It is not clear, that the State Priest ought to be required to marry unbaptized persons, excommunicated persons, as all the Dissenters are; and accordingly, we have had two instances lately, of clergymen refusing to perform the rite under such circumstances. Of course, being unbaptized, and unmarried, in the eye of the Church, Dissenters cannot legitimately hold real property, freehold tenure being mysteriously dependent upon the regeneration imparted in baptism. Nor can their oath be legitimate, because such oath ' must be that of a Christian;' and persons not regenerated by the State 'Priest,' and not paying Church-rate, are not Christians. Our readers may smile at all this; but we can tell them that, had they lived five hundred years ago, they would have found that to dispute these positions was no laughing matter. The Church has been slumbering for ages over this doctrine of the Dominium Rectum tenure and the Donum Deo et Ecclesiæ, called by the ancient Jews, Corban; but, says Dr. Silver, the clamours of confiscation have roused us from our slumbers; and the revolutionary fires glow so near us, that we may read by them our old statutes. By the help of this fire-light, he has detected among the laws of King Canute the Dane, in the original Anglo-Saxon, this ordinance: To the Church-rate ought all the folcto cons tribute according to law."

But here a question arises, which, not having access at this moment to the Leges Canuti, we are unable to resolve, viz., Who are the fole here spoken of? Folc means, in general, people; but it had evidently a specific meaning among our ancestors. Folcland is copyhold land; and folcmote seems to mean a parish meeting. If fole means here, as no doubt it does, parishioners belonging to the Church, and there were no Dissenters in the days of Canute, except in the Welsh mountains, then, the statute merely provides, that all people who go to church ought to contribute towards the support and decoration of the edifice, the ringing of bells, washing of surplices, burning of tapers, &c., according to law; a very reasonable requirement. But, looking at the intention of the Danish legislator, we question whether such folc as the Dissenters, of whose birth, baptism, marriage, and burial the State priest can lawfully take no cognizance, would either have been deemed parishioners in those days or have been expected to bring their offerings into the holy

treasury. And that this is no gratuitous query of ours will presently appear.

Our readers may recollect that in "A Letter to the Members of both Houses of Parliament on the Dissenters' Petitions, by a Late Fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford," reviewed in our eleventh volume*, it was expressly stated that if the payment of Church-rates, Easter-dues, and other ecclesiastical demands were voluntary on the part of the Dissenters, it would be improper, not to say unlawful, to receive such offerings to the Church; since the primitive discipline forbade the clergy to receive into 'the treasury of God's house the offerings of excommunicated persons, which our Church in her canons plainly declares the Dissenters, as long as they continue such, to be.' This may serve to explain why, in many parishes, where a voluntary subscription has been tendered by the objectors to a compulsory rate, it has been haughtily spurned and rejected by the Church. But in an offering from the Dissenters, adds the Writer referred to, it clearly is not; as they only pay it upon compulsion. In what light is it to be regarded? Simply as an offering from the king, who is a communicant, or from the nation, of whom about nine-tenths' (we pass over this mis-statement) profess to worship God according to the true religion,' be taught by the Church of England. This consideration,' it is added, may serve ⚫ at once to remove all scruples. All that we need look to is the character of the offerer.' Now, if such be the case, that it would be unlawful for the Church to receive the voluntary offerings of Dissenters, surely it must be admitted that Dissenters ought not voluntarily to concur in the granting of Church-rates. For the honour of the Church, and to remove all possible scruples on the part of its ministers, let them yield to compulsion only. Should it, however, appear that they have both a choice and a power in the matter, it is clear that they ought to resist the ex action; otherwise their tribute, lawful only when compelled, will become a benevolence. Now that they have a choice and a power of resistance, the Louth Case makes plain enough; and the public. are under the highest obligations to Mr. Paddison, who has so ably argued the whole question in the pamphlet before us. We had intended to give an abstract of his very eloquent and argumentative speech; but our limits restrain us, and we must conclude with strongly recommending the tract to the attentive perusal of our readers.

* March, 1834. Vol. XI. P. 169.

ART. VII. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

169pp lin In the press, Christian Consistency; or, the Connection between Experimental and Practical Religion, particularly designed for Young Christians. By the Rev. E. Mannering.

Early in December will be published, the Salvation and Death of a Christian. By William Davis, Hastings.

Preparing for publication, the History of Protestant Nonconformity in England, from the Reformation under Henry VIII. to the Accession of the House of Hanover. In 2 Vols. 8vo. By Thomas Price.

In the press, a Third and corrected Edition, in 3 Vols. small 8vo, with Portraits, of the Life of Wesley; and the Rise and Progress of Methodism. By Robert Southey, Esq. This edition will contain Notes by the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Esq., written in the margin of his copy, bequeathed by him to the author; and Remarks on the character and conduct of Mr. Wesley, by the late Alexander Knox, Esq, written with reference to this work, and now, according to his permission, first published.

Mr. Grahame has just completed, in four 8vo. volumes, the History of the United States of North America, from the Plantation of the British Colonies, till their Revolt and Declaration of Independence, in 1776.

A very interesting History of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, its Establishment, Subversion, and Present State, has just been completed by John P. Lawson, M.A., Author of the Life of Arch bishop Laud.

"

The Rev. John Aiton has now ready for publication, the Life and Times of the Rev. Alexander Henderson, giving a complete. History of the Second Reformation of the Church of Scotland, and of the Covenanters during the reign of Charles the First.

Those interested in the Trade with China, will be pleased to hear that a British Merchant, resident in Canton, has a Work nearly ready," entitled "An Address to the People of Great Britain," explanatory of our Commercial Relations with the Empire of China, and of the means by which they may with facility be extended.

The Author of Sketches of Corfu has a Work in the press, under the title of Evenings Abroad; being Sketches of Manners and Scenery gleaned during a Continental Tour; with Historical Notices, Tales and Legends of the places visited.

In the press, History of the Condition of Women in all Ages and Nations. By Mrs. Child, Author of "Child's Own Book," " Mother's Book," &c., &c.

In the press, the Prophetica Character and Inspiration of the Apocalypse considered. By George, Pearson, B.D., Christian Advocate in the University of Cambridg

In the press, Paley's Evidences of Christianity Epitomized; intended to exhibit his Argument in as small a compass as is possible, without omitting or weakening any of its component points. To which is subjoined A Brief Summary of the Evidences contained in the First Two Parts of the same Work.

ART. VIII. WORKS RECENTLY

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Conquest of Florida. By Hernando de Soto. Written under the superintendence of Washington Irving, Esq. By his nephew, Theodore Irving, Esq. In 2 vols. price 17. 1s.

A History of Halley's Comet, with an account of its return in 1835, and a Chart showing its situation in the Heavens. Translated from the French of G. de Fontecoulant, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin. By Colonel Charles Gold, C.B., Translator af Arago's Work on Comets in general. Fcap. 8vo, sewed, 1s 6d.

Musical History, Biography, and Criticism. By George Hogarth, Esq. 7s. 6d.

The Psalmist, a Collection of New and approved Psalm and Hymn Tunes, suited to all the varieties of Metrical Psalmody. Part II., and a Second Edition of Part I., price 5s. each, newly harmonized for Four Voices. By Vincent Novello.

NATURAL HISTORY.

A Familiar History of Birds; their Nature, Habits, and Instincts. By the Rev. Edward Stanley, M.A., F.L.S., Rector of

JBLISHED.

The Imagery and Poetical Ornaments of the Book of Psalms; its Prophetic Language and Apocalyptic Character; with the Modes of using the Psalter from the earliest to the present time. By the Rev. Henry Stoddart, A.M., of Queen's College, Oxford. 2s. 6d.

Christian Sympathy. By John Howard Hinton, M.A. 32mo.

The Parent's Gift to Baptized Children. In Letters to a Friend, containing Arguments, Anecdotes, and Dialogues on Christian Baptism and Early Piety. By the Rev. C. Dewhurst. 12mo, 45.