Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

All stretches of power by the ruling authority, over a people, ought to be cautiously guarded againft by every conftitutional exertion and the frame of the British conftitution is confeffedly moft wifely contrived for this falutary purpose, by the confent of the reprefentatives of the people being effential in the formation of all the laws by which they are governed. If the conduct of thefe delegates difplease them, the power they exercife expires, and returns into the hands of the people, who may then chufe others. Here the popular fhare in governing themfelves, which can never be too highly extolled, begins; and, from the impracticability of going farther, here it ends. To replace power in the fame hands that are charged with having already misused it, is a tacit acquittal from that charge; and if we coolly appeal from the daily reproaches with which our reprefentatives are fo plenteously loaded to the ftatute-book, in which their tranfactions are truly and indelibly recorded, from thence, and thence only, a mature idea of their principles and conduct is to be formed.

M

ART. VI. The Ancient and Modern Hiflory of the Brethren: or, a fuccin& Narrative of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren, or Unitas Fratrum, in the remoter Ages, and particularly in the prefent Century. Written in German by David Crantz, Author of the Hiftory of Greenland. Now tranflated into English, with Emendations; and published, with fome additional Notes, by Benjamin La Trobe. 8vo. 6 s. 6d. in boards. Robfon, &c. 1780, ORAVIANISM may not improperly be called the bright fide of fanaticifm. Its principles indeed lie very remote from common sense; and having their origin in certain interiór feelings, that have little connection with the general phenomena of Nature, or the regular fyftem of the human understanding, are very difficult to be comprehended by a mere speculative enquirer. And yet the most obfcure theology of the German myftics hath a dialect peculiarly fuited to it, which makes it intelligible to thofe whom a plainer fyftem would difguft. There is a certain perverfion of intellect which can relish nothing but what is dark and enigmatical; and though many of the fpeculations of vifionary enthusiasts are, when accurately fifted to the bottom, nothing but plain and common truths; yet the mo ment they are brought out of the obfcurity into which a wild and irregular imagination had thrown them, they lofe all their efficacy, and that which is thoroughly comprehended, ceafes to affect. There is undoubtedly a fafcinating charm in language. Poets and orators have long availed themselves of its influence; nor have the great leaders of fanaticism been lefs attentive to the magic of language-in their own way. They have ever found their account in that species of it, which is equivocal

5

equivocal to the underftanding that, to which no decifive. ideas can be affixed; that, which eludes all logical definition,' and leaves the fancy to range at liberty in an unbounded wildernefs, where the little light it hath a diftant glimpfe of, ferves but "to make darknefs more vifible."

Fanaticifm is not confined to one fpecies of fpiritual abfurdity. Its fource may be the fame; but it hath a variety of ftreams branching from it. The gloomy and fombrous myfticifm of Jacob Behmen affumed an appearance very different from the cheerful enthufiafm of Count Zinzendorf. The former partook of that fullen referve that afterwards diftinguifhed the great leaders of Quakerism; the latter was enlivened by that ardor of the paffions, which was the ruling fpirit of Methodifm. The former founded religion in a certain ineffable abftraction of the foul from the objects of fenfe; the latter, in an enraptured elevation of the affections in devotional exercifes. The one refembled the character of that uncheery being, fo admirably depicted by Mr. Pope,

whofe foul

Still fits at fquat, and peeps not from its hole; the other, full of the frifkinefs of the fpirit, preferves a gay fmile on its countenance, and would readily fubfcribe, as the firft article of its creed, that truly focial and good-humoured declaration of Solomon, that two are better than one; for if two lie together, then they have heat; but how can one be warm alone?' Indeed its peculiar fondness for this maxim hath brought the church of the Unity" into great difcredit; and many, through fome warm expreffions of Count Zinzendorf, ill-understood, or too literally interpreted, have infinuated, that there was a carnal magic in his fpiritual rhapfodies, well underftood, and ftrongly felt by thofe who had been initiated into the interior recefles of the Moravian myfteries; and that every fong to the fide-hole was nothing but a revival of certain Heathen rites, difguifed by Chriftian names.

This reflection on the purity of Moravian worship received fome credit from the public and folemn declarations of many of its members, who pretended that their feparation from the Society of the Brethren arose from the horror which they conceived at the celebration of fome myftic rites, which furpaffed in impurity the ancient inftitutions of Eleufis. There was one in particular, who bore his open teftimony againft Moravianifm, whofe fituation and character were, by many, fuppofed to place him above the temptation of falfehood,-fuch aggravated and damning falfehood, as he must have been guilty of, if his affertions had not been founded on fact. The perfon we allude to is RIMIUS. His folemn appeals-repeatedly made, and in terms "the moft unequivocal and explicit that could be used on any occafion,

occafion, or under any conviction poffible; appeals founded, as he avers, on a direct and perfonal knowledge of the facts alleged, fupported too by other, and apparently inconteftable, evidence :-thefe appeals gained the full confidence of many not naturally difpofed to credulity and uncharitableness; and there were others who, though they would not permit themselves to think fo ill of any clafs of religious profeffors, as Rimius wifhed to have the nation in general, and the legislature in particular, think of the Moravians, yet their former good opinion of them was confiderably leffened; and though they did not openly execrate them, yet they fecretly fufpected them, and withdrew that countenance and favour of which they had formerly thought them deferving. The good bishop of Exeter (Dr. Lavington), meafuring the honefty of others by his own upright intentions, implicitly relied on the representations that were made to him, particularly the reports of Rimius, and instituted a curious parallel between the doctrines and practices of the Moravians and those of the ancient heretics.

For our parts, we must candidly acknowledge, that however abfurd Moravianifm may appear to us when viewed in a speculative light, we can by no means confider it as a system of practical immorality, nor even of that licentious tendency, which its adverfaries have reprefented it to be. That its hymns are, in general, very filly and childish, we readily acknowledge; but that heart must be grofs indeed, that can find in them any provocations to lewdnefs! Nothing is perfectly fecured from abuse." The mind and confcience that is defiled" will “turn the grace of the gospel into wantonnefs." All we mean to fay in excufe for thefe hymns is, that however extravagant and enthufiaftical they are, they only become injurious to morality by accident, and not by defign. They were not, we are perfuaded, written with any lafcivious view. As to a few exhibited by Rimius, which he pretends to have taken from the German, we greatly doubt their authenticity. They conftitute no part of the established fervice of the Moravians. As to the hymns which are in general and approved ufe in the churches of the Brethren, we fincerely believe them to be very harmless, and never attended with any immoral effect.

If we were to reason a priori on the nature of society, whether political or ecclefiaftical, we should be ready to infer, that an inftitution fo corrupt in its fundamental principles, and fo licentious in its common practice, as Rimius hath represented the Moravian church to be, muft long ere this time have effected its own diffolution. The eternal laws of morality cannot long be violated by any affociation of men without detection. If detection did not take place from without, its deftruction would be the inevitable confequence of its own inherent principles.

6

ciples. No femblance of piety, no efforts of devotion, could preserve the union of a church that fanctified the most deteftable immoralities. At leaft, a fociety fo vicious in principle and prac tice, could not long preferve even a decent appearance in a Chrif tian country, whatever toleration might have been afforded to fuch corrupt inftitutions in fome of the æras of ancient Heathenilm.

But reasoning on more certain grounds, we are convinced from obfervation and experience, that the Moravian discipline, however erroneous in a theological light, yet, in a civil and moral view, is perfectly innocent of the atrocious charges which malice and ignorance have alleged against it. The profeffors of the Moravian doctrine have had a long trial; and the general honefty and purity of their characters are before the public. 'Tis abfurd to fuppofe, that perfons of such characters can fupport a profligate affociation; or that those who are blameless as individuals, fhould as a fociety be abandoned.

Thefe conceffions in favour of Moravianifm may be thought to militate too much against the opinions of fome of the most learned divines of the church of England, and many of the moft eminent Diffenters. But to us it is evident, that these gentlemen confided too implicitly in the affeverations of Rimius. Dr. Warburton indeed condefcends to quote Mr. John Wefley's authority, to corroborate the facts alleged against the Moravians. But that authority is with us very equivocal. The bitterness of sectaries against fectaries exceeds all common wrath. Their interference with each other creates a thousand jealoufies; and "who can ftand before envy?" But what did Mr. Wefley allege against the Brethren? Nothing in particular. He gave his head an emphatic shake, and, like the Ghost in Hamlet, faid, that he could a tale unfold." And what hindered him from doing this effential fervice to the church? Why did he not unfold the hideous mystery, and detect imposture and wickedness in their dark retreats, that others might take warning, and either avoid the fociety of the fe atrocious men, or come out from amongst them, and be feparate, that they might not be partakers of their evil deeds?" Why did he not-But we forbear to ask him any more queftions. We are convinced that his tale would have loft all its terror if it had been unfolded. He hath artfully thrown it into the fhade, that imagination might conceive ftrange ideas of it from not feeing its extent. But fuppofing Mr. Welley hath fome terrible ftory to relate of the Moravians of Bedford a story "a thoufand times worfe than any thing that hath yet been related of thefe wretches," we afk him, If the conduct of individuals is allowed, in the scale of justice or charity, to throw a reflection on a whole fociety? Does he think that the actions of "these wretches" (as REV. March, 1781.

Р

[ocr errors]

he

he calls them) received a sanction from the principles or customs of the Moravian church? Is then that church to be branded with infamy, becaufe fome of its members have wickedly abused its inftitutions, and others, through ignorance, expofed them to ridicule? Mr. Wesley, for his own fake, and the fake of Methodism in general, muft answer these questions in the negative.

But what becomes of Mr. Rimius?-All we shall fay of him, and his affeverations, is this-that charity would rather fuppofe that one man was abandoned, than that a whole fociety was fo. We think his charges have been thoroughly difproved by the best of answers :-fince in the course of thirty years (for fo long ago Rimius wrote his Appeal), not one circumstance hath turned out that could fairly establish the truth of his more atrocious allegations against the general conftitution of the Church

of the Brethren.

We need make an apology to our Readers for detaining them fo long from the immediate object of the prefent article. We have spoken our candid and moft mature fentiments on a subject that bath, we think, been greatly misreprefented by the wickedness and malice of fome unprincipled apoftates, and equally mifunderstood by others, whofe credulity was made the dupe of artifice, and afterwards the inftrument of detraction.

The refpectable Author of the prefent Hiftory of the Brethren gained fome reputation by his curious and interefting account of Greenland; a country little frequented, and less known to Europeans. The Moravians attempted to eftablifh a church in that region of drearinefs and defolation; and Mr. Crantz was fent thither as a miffionary. The difficulties he struggled with, and the fortitude and perfeverance with which he furmounted the moft toilfome and hazardous enterprises for the accomplishment of the pious defign of his miffion, are related by him with great fimplicity in the work juft referred to, and of which we gave an account when it firft made its appearance in English.

The prefent Work is drawn up with the fame plainnefs and unaffected fimplicity which characterized his former publication. The integrity of the Author,' fays Mr. La Trobe,

may be relied on. He had the most authentic materials for his Work; and his impartiality is as well known to those who were acquainted with him as his ability. He has evidently avoided painting in ftrong colours the beauties of the church to which he belonged: he is rather disposed to show the miftakes and defects of its members in many inftances, than to give a flattering picture of them..... This book hath paffed. through two editions in Germany, and answered the proposed

end,

« AnteriorContinuar »