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REVIEWS-MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. BICKERSTETH.

clerk who got through so much business as Mr. Bickersteth, nor one whose heart seemed so little in it." This latter clause leads us to notice the formation of his religious character, respecting which the memoir furnishes ample details, drawn from his private journals. In a "review of life," written after his twenty-second birthday, after noticing some religious impressions received in childhood, he says,

"In January, 1801, I came to London. Highly inflated with pride, I thought I was coming to be independent and happy. In a great measure, I was careless about true religion.. My religious duties were cold, formal, and altogether lifeless, without meaning, done from fear, and as meritorious actions.... At Easter, 1803, I received the sacrament, and made some good resolutions, but as usual, I resolved to do far more than I did. I seemed now to have got more just ideas of the duties of religion, though none at all of the way by which I could be enabled to perform them."

The extracts from his diary, as given in the memoir, are deeply interesting, as exhibiting the steps by which he was led first to a knowledge of his own sinfulness, and then to a higher standard of conduct, until at length the law, as a schoolmaster, led him to Christ.

At the time of his being articled, he writes:

"I am entering a profession which is particularly exposed to temptation, and I resolve, in a better strength than my own, even that of the promised assistance, to those who seek it, of my Heavenly Fa ther,

"1. To trust for salvation in the alone merits of my Saviour.

"2. To live as devoted to God, never gratifying my own desires when inconsistent with His revealed will.

"3. Therefore to observe all His ordinances, and to let no temporal inducement, but charity, or great and evident necessity, induce me to neglect them.

"4. To be diligent in reading His word, and learning His will; in prayer and praise.

"5. Never to do a dishonourable or dishonest thing, whether it be to gain a thousand pounds or a penny; whether it be to please my dearest friend, my superior, my equal, my inferior, or my greatest enemy.

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"6. Not to trust in my own strength, but in God; not to expect I shall never fail, but to strive to fail as little as I can.

"7. To endeavour to do every action because it is acceptable to God,—not because it will please my master, gain me reputation, gain me the love of friends, raise my character, gratify my desires or passions, or in short, on account of anything but the favour of God, which I will strive to look to with a single eye, as the only desirable thing."

From this time, the tone of his piety became much more deep and earnest; and ere long, thoughts of entering the ministry occupied his mind, and imparted a new feature to his prayers. But he had yet another appointed sphere of duty to fill, before difficulties were removed, and the object of his most ardent desires could be accomplished.

While still settled in London, he became acquainted with Mr. Thomas Bignold, a young man of his own age, who had come up to see the agency practice of Messrs. Bleasdale and Co.'s offices, previously to becoming an attorney at Norwich. Mr. Bickersteth was immediately introduced to him. A lasting friendship sprang up, from a similarity of tastes and principles; and at length a proposal was made by Mr. Bignold that his friend should at some future time share his business at Norwich. the autumn of 1811, in the course of a conversation on the proposed partnership, Mr. Bignold found that Edward Bickersteth's mind was set on a still closer connexion. An attachment to Miss Bignold resulted in marriage, and the partnership in business was happily effected. In the course of two or three years, however, he quitted an income of some £800 a year, to enter the ministry, and take a prominent part in the great cause of missions to the heathen.

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The settlement of Mr. Bickersteth at Norwich led to still more active labours in the christian vineyard. "In London," says the memoir, "he had been one of a little band of Christians, united by close ties of mutual affection, and labouring together in many benevolent and religious societies. He was now to stand comparatively alone, in the midst of a very dead and cold

city, and to originate and carry forward works of love amidst difficulties

and opposition." One of his first

efforts was the establishment of a large Sunday School. Not long after, a Benevolent Society was formed, as far as possible on the model of that in Spitalfields, of which he had been secretary. A flourishing Bible Society had been established some time before, and on his arrival this association received his warmest sympathies. "But why," asked Mr. Bickersteth, "should we not also have a Church Missionary Society?" The attempt was made, but Mr. Bickersteth met with discouragement on almost every hand. Well," he exclaimed in a party of friends, where one and another were vacillating, "a Church Missionary Association there shall be in Norwich, if I stand alone on the Castle Hill to proclaim it, and my wife be secretary.' "You shall not be alone,' said a friend; and then others came forward with offers of help. At length, four pulpits were obtained; a meeting was held, and in one day £700 were raised for the society.

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It was at Norwich, also, that Mr. Bickersteth began his labours as an author, by publishing a pamphlet entitled "A Help to the Study of the Scriptures, which was afterwards much enlarged. The first occasion of its being written was a Bible meeting held at Norwich. Now, friend Bickersteth," said J. J. Gurney, "they have got new Bibles, thee must tell them how to read them." A simple, practical exhortation was accordingly given. Now, friend," added Mr. Gurney, "thee must put that into a little book, that they may have it to read." The hint was considered, and acted upon, the result being Bickersteth's Scripture Help.

Thus, with an important worldly business, the subject of this memoir found time to bestow on the interests of others. 66 Attention," he says in one of his letters, "to the cause of Christ, and our religious duties, does not distract, but it bears up and strengthens the mind to go with zeal and patience through all the duties of

life."

Here we must, for the present,

pause-commending to our readers the study of the character of Edward Bickersteth; a man whose literary attainments, though not brilliant, were respectable; a christian minister whose faithful service and loving spirit must endear his memory to the Church.

ANGLICANISM CONSIDERED IN ITS RESULTS. BY WILLIAM DODSWORTH, M.A. (Continued from p. 236.)

We have been too long detained from our main point. We have already referred to that part of Mr. D.'s pamphlet which relates to the Thirty-nine Articles; and we have observed that this, which ought to have been the most forcible portion of it, is in fact the feeblest. And the reason is, that, not merely in this pamphlet, but always, Mr. D.'s method of dealing with the Articles has been Jesuitical and dishonest. He shews clearly, that Anglicans have always dealt with them as something that lay in their way which opposed them; — and which, as a hateful and dreaded enemy, must be assailed with all the arts and stratagems of a cowardly and treacherous warfare. So it is. The

contest is about the Articles. Not so much about their meaning, as about the place and authority that belongs to them. In short, the real question is, Whether "the Articles of the Church of England (which have been allowed and authorized heretofore, and which our clergy generally have subscribed unto) do contain the true Doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to God's Word"? Or-to express the same thing somewhat differently-Whether they be of any force and value for their avowed and special purpose,- that is to say, "for the avoiding of Diversities of Opinions, and for the establishing of Consent touching true religion"?

Mr. Dodsworth, and many others of his school, (we wish it could be said with truth, that it is only those of his school) assume that the Articles were intended to be articles of com

prehension; and that on the whole they admit of a Catholic sense as much as of a Protestant sense :" and

REVIEWS-ANGLICANISM CONSIDERED IN ITS RESULTS. 279

(though he is compelled to allow, "that some of the Articles do not admit of a Catholic sense ")-he reasons continually upon the assumption that this is the general character of the Articles; and that, on the whole, the principles of Tract XC. may be fairly, or at least without much impropriety, applied to them.

Now if this were only the notion of Mr. Dodsworth, cum suis, it might not be so needful to say much about it. But, with some modifications and limitations, the notion prevails very widely. We meet with it, or something which in principle is not very different from it, in quarters where we might have expected better things. "Articles of comprehension"! What is the meaning of this phrase? What does it amount to?

If the Articles were indeed intended to include, or comprehend, men, not merely of differing views upon some minor points-men whose differences are rather verbal than real,-but men of opposite and contradictory views, and that on vital points-Is it not evident, that they do not avail at all "for the avoiding of Diversities of Opinions"?-or "for the establishing of Consent touching true Religion"? In fact, Is not this to assume that they have, really and truly, no meaning at all? and therefore, no force or value whatsoever ?

If the truth be spoken in plain terms, this is, in fact, what is assumed by the Anglican or High Church party; and indeed by all who do not adopt and maintain the true principles of the Protestant Reformation.

We denounce this notion-by whomsoever it is maintained; and howsoever it may be disguised.

We affirm, on the contrary, and are fully prepared to maintain it against all opponents, That the Articles of the Church of England are definite and precise; that they mean what they say; and that there is but one sense in which they can be honestly subscribed. Whether there be important truths which they do not attempt to define or decide upon (as, for example, the Third Article-setting aside the interpretation of "the going down of Christ into Hell," which

was

So

adopted in the Articles of 1552-is content to leave that an open question, and decides nothing in regard to it) is quite another matter. They might have spoken decidedly on points which they do not touch: but, where they do speak, they speak decidedly: they were drawn up by wise and honest men, who knew what they meant, and said what they meant: "and other sense they cannot yeeld, then their words doe impart.' said honest old Thomas Rogers in 1607: and we say the same now. We propose nothing new. We offer no interpretation of our own. But we say, that the statements and exposition of the said Thomas Rogers do truly and faithfully set forth "The Faith, Doctrine, and Religion professed, and protected in the Realme of England, and Dominions of the same." And the sense of the Articles which he gives in a book "Perused, and by the lawfull authority of the Church of England, allowed to be publike," in 1607, is the only sense in which they can be honestly and intelligently subscribed now. For those who do not subscribe, and preach them too, in that sense, we will only say, that the truly faithful ministers of the Church of England have a duty to discharge, which we cannot better express than in the words of the Prophet Isaiah :

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Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Is. lviii. 1;

compare Tim. iv. 1-5.) And we must request attention to the communications of our correspondent who signs himself "J. C. C. S." in pp. 283, 284, and 323-327, of our last volume; for he has anticipated several of the remarks which we might else have made upon Mr. D.'s pamphlet: and we must not now enlarge.

But we must go a step further. Mr. D., and those of the school to which he belongs, evidently assume, that the Articles of the Church of England have no meaning. If we look a little deeper into their real principles, and examine closely what is implied in their statements respecting private judgment and the authority of the Church, the question must

to?

be asked, What does all this amount Take such a passage as the following, (among others which are much to the same purpose) :

"In connection with this point another consideration presents a great difficulty to the Anglican. Compelled as he is to pronounce Rome wrong, whom can he believe to be right? He must have some authority to rest upon; it is an element in the position of the Anglican. He denies private judgment to be the foundation of his faith as earnestly as the Catholic does. If then he looks out of himself for some authority to rest upon, what reason has he to believe that the doctors of Trent were wrong, and the reformers right. If he says the decisions of one party were more scriptural, more in accordance with the fathers, or with the decisions of the first councils, what is this but to appeal to his private judgment ? How can he refuse to another the right of forming the contrary opinion? And of course if this be so, all authoritative foundation for faith is at an end. Christians may then believe in the correctness of their own judgment, or in the conclusions of their own reason, but they do not believe in the word of the Living God, AS SUCH.

What is all this but really assuming, that the Scripture itself has no meaning?-that God has given us a Revelation which reveals nothing till the Church is pleased to give us an interpretation?

What is this, but mere Infidelity? The way in which he speaks of the Protestant having nothing to rely upon but his private judgment,-proceeds in fact, upon the blasphemous assumption that the Living God has spoken to men in a language which plain and honest men cannot understand! And the truth is, that men fly to the authority of the Church, and seek refuge at last in the arms of the Romish Apostacy, because "they do not believe in the Word of the Living God, AS SUCH.'

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We must desist. But we hope that some of the points to which we have referred, and much more that is contained in Mr. D.'s pamphlet, will be taken up more fully than our time and space permit.

CHRIST! NOT ANTI-CHRIST; or, Papal Heresies, attempted to be introduced into the parish of East Farleigh by the late Vicar, the REV. H. W. WILBERFORCE, M.A. By the REV. T. WATSON, M.A. Fcap. 8vo. p. 72.

J. H. Jackson.

This Pamphlet has reached our hands at too late a period for us to do more than very shortly notice its contents. The course of Mr. Wilberforce is well known, from his first Tractarian proceedings at East Farleigh to his final perversion to Rome. Few, however, are prepared for the boldness of statements by which, according to Mr. Watson, Mr. Wilberforce proves how long and how dishonestly he was a Roman Catholic before he threw off the mask of a Protestant clergyman.

"Your late pastor, Mr. Wilberforce, has, as you are aware, written a pamphlet, and caused it to be circulated throughout the parish. My first impression was to take no notice of it whatever, as it appeared to me so full of error, mis-statements, and groundless assertions, that it carried on the very face of it, its own refutation. Even the arguments, if such they may be called, which Mr. Wilberforce adduces to support his cause, are not only weak in themselves, but still more weakly defended.

"Several friends, however, on whose judgment I can rely, have strongly urged a contrary course, and have advised me not to allow such an attempt to pervert the minds of the people entrusted to my care, to pass by unnoticed, and the rather as he designates all teaching as fundamentally untrue, except the Popish doctrines, which, unhappily, he has, for some years, been inculcating as a clergyman of the Church of England in the parish of East Farleigh.

"That I may do Mr. W. no injustice in this statement, I quote his own words:

Do not think that I have changed from the things I used to preach to you in church, or in private. They are all true, and most important.'

"Again, These things I have always taught you, and they are all true; never think I have given them up, or give them up yourselves. It would not matter that you should think I have been a long time in the wrong, but it would greatly matter if you gave up any of these things; for,

INTELLIGENCE-PRINCE ALBERT'S SPEECH.

whoever contradicts any of them, contradicts the eternal truth of God although, perhaps, he may not know that he does.""

Passing by this disgraceful instance of Romish duplicity, so utterly unlooked for in a descendant of the great and good William Wilberforce, Mr. Watson proceeds shortly to examine, and simply, yet completely, to destroy the several points relied upon by Mr. Wilberforce in his mission of further, and now openly, beguiling and perverting his late parishioners to take the same fatal step that he himself has done. Mr. Watson therefore attacks the following claims and arguments adduced by Mr. Wilberforce in support of his Popish doctrines,-1. The Antiquity of the Papacy. 2. Infallibility. 3. Supremacy. 4. Catholicity. 5. The Uniform Teaching of the Romish Church.

6. Its

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Sovereignty. 7. Absolution. 8. Extreme Unction. 9. Transubstantiation. 10. Uniformity of Interpretation. 11. The Counsels of Perfection. 12. Miracles. 13. The Roman Church hated by the World. All these points have been repeatedly and perfectly dealt with by countless champions of Protestant truth; yet Mr. Watson has rendered essential service, not only to his own parish and neighbourhood, but also to the entire Church, by presenting in so concise and clear a manner the utterly false and untenable nature of Mr. Wilberforce's statements, dished up as they are with his new and wily glosses, and strengthened by the example of his own perversion. We can sincerely recommend the wide circulation of this pamphlet, especially in places infected with Tractarian or open Romish heresy.

Entelligence.

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His

fulness that some, we might say that
many, of its missionaries have been
real and successful propagators of the
simple Gospel of Christ Jesus.
Royal Highness Prince Albert's ad-
mirable speech at the opening of the
meeting, was of so decidedly Chris-
tian and Protestant a character, and
so suggestive of apt and practical
thoughts in this crisis of our Church's
history, that we have resolved to re-
print it for the benefit of those among
our readers who may not have met
with it, as well as thankfully to pre-
serve in our columns the memorial of
so excellent an address.

THE Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts has been
this month holding the celebration of
its third jubilee. A long array of
bishops and clergymen preached si-
multaneously in various parts of Lon-
don; two full cathedral services were
performed, the one in St. Paul's and
the other in Westminster Abbey.
These, with a crowded meeting in
St. Martin's Hall, at which the illus-
trious Prince Consort presided, formed
the proceedings of the jubilee. We
always feel deep regret at the doubt-
ful position this venerable Society
occupies in the minds of our own sec-
tion of the Church of England,-
position the more to be regretted, as
it is commonly understood by us to
arise from the fear that the proceed-rated
ings of the Society are not in entire
harmony with the object avowed in
its title. While, however, we cannot
but express hesitation as to the com-
position and acts of the Society as a
whole, it is a matter of great thank-

-a

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'My lords, ladies, and gentlemen, we are assembled here to-day in order to celebrate the third jubilee of the foundation of the Society for the Propagation by Royal charter, and one of the of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, incorpo

chief sources of the spiritual aid which the Established Church affords to our extensive colonial dependencies. We are not commemorating, however, an isolated fact, which may have been glorious or useful to the country; but we

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