doctrine of final perseverance. At least it says, (Art. X.) "We condemn the anabaptists, who deny that persons once justified can lose the Holy Spirit again." -The subject of the sacraments likewise appears to be slightly treated in the confession, as compared with our articles.

66

me

With all its zeal, also, against justification by works, or dependence upon our own works, it is les scrupulous in the use of certain terms, than almost all have now learned to be. It hesitates not to say of repentance," meretur remissionem peccatorum;" of good works, (those of the justified believer) rentur præmia." Mereri, however, though usually rendered to deserve, the lexicographers tell us, means, to gain, "whether by desert or otherwise: and such is evidently its sense in the writings of the reformers.-Luther himself, two years after this, in his lectures on the Sermon on the Mount, expressly admits the use of the word merit (meritum) in a qualified sense; namely, “if it be used for the gracious reward, or gratuitous recompence, which God hath promised to piety and patience." -What we are to learn from, this is, not to revive so abused and dangerous a term, but never to make a man an offender for a word."

Further like a few incidental passages in our Homilies, it seems sometimes to approach too near to confounding faith with the assurance of personal acceptance-which must be rather the consequence of believing, than believing itself; an inference drawn from comparing what is wrought in us, with what is declared to us in the holy scriptures. -We must however remember, that the reformers had so much to contend against those, who, on principle, or to answer their own interested purposes, kept men in perpetual suspense, and distressing uncertainty respecting their acceptance with God; and they had themselves felt so forcibly the bondage and unprofitableness of such a state; that it cannot be matter of surprise, if occasionally they verged a little to the other side-while in general their doctrine concerning the proof, as well as the ground, of acceptance is perfectly clear and scriptural.

But the point, on which I should be inclined to judge the confession most defective, is the work of the Holy Spirit; particularly that part of it which relates to "the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good

I notice this especially for the purpose of remarking, that the fashionable way of speaking of the grace of God' assisting our endeavours,' and of branding every thing beyond this as fanatical, is a mere cover for practically excluding the grace of God altogether. When we speak of assisting a man's endeavours,' it implies that he is already willing and active himself: but is this the state of fallen man with respect to the service of God, previously to the influence of divine grace upon his mind? Prevenient grace must go before, and "work in us to will," or assisting grace will find nothing with which to cooperate. The language now frequently in use also implies, that any thing beyond assisting grace must be a compulsory influence. But it has been justly observed, that there is much said in scripture, and in all our best divines, of an influence inclining the heart, though not forcing it; all which is thus overlooked. Nothing can be further from my intention than to admit, that the Confession of Augsburg countenances any such system as this: it has merely omitted to guard against it so clearly and distinctly as our articles have done.

But these are only specks in the sun. As a whole, the work is admirable; a noble monument of what the reformers contended for,-namely, Christian truth, liberty, and spiritual worship, as opposed to "will-worship" and mere outward observances, to intolerable burdens imposed upon conscience, and to the prostitution of every thing high and holy to subserve the purpose of acquiring gain or power.-Pp. 43-47.

There can be no doubt that furious as the designs of the persecutors of the church were, and severe as the "recess," or edict of the Diet was, the whole turned out "to the furtherance of the gospel." The public reading of the Confession filled Luther with joy, because he knew that in this way many heard the truth who were never likely to hear it in any other way.

Truly," says he, "Christ is not silent in the Diet!-Thus is that

accomplished which is written, The word of God is not bound! No: if it is prohibited in pulpits, it shall be heard in the palaces of Kings."

The second chapter continues the history down to the Pacification of Nuremberg. The protestants were greatly alarmed at the proceedings of the Diet, and Luther, who was prepared for every thing, and whose courage never forsook him, felt it necessary to ward off the threatened blow of Papal and Imperial indignation by a powerful address to his countrymen, calculated to expose the conduct of his adversaries, and to vindicate that of his friends. This was followed by other publications of a similar kind. Meanwhile the protestant Princes were not inactive. They met at Smalkald, and there formed a league for their mutual defence against the common enemy. Another still more formidable impediment to Charles' ambitious designs, was a renewed aggression of the Turks ; and this concurring with other circumstances, produced the pacification of Nuremberg, which put a stop to all legal proceedings against protestants, and sanctioned religious toleration till the meeting of a general council. Soon after this pacification died John the Constant, of whose genuine piety, and deep humility, there is ample proof; he was succeeded by a successor in every way worthy of him, John Frederick, who entered into all the views of his pious father, and protected with all his power the cause which he had been early taught to espouse.

The third and fourth chapters occupy a period of about six years, extending to the Convention of Frankfort. Much of this time was occupied in discussing the project of a general council which Pope Paul III. pretended greatly to desire, while secretly straining every nerve to prevent. Erasmus, at this juncture, again appears in the field, assuming the tone of a mutual

friend to both parties, rather than the avowed advocate of either. But Mr. Scott well detects the insidious conduct of this wily adversary of the protestant cause, who under the pretence of recommending concord, would re-establish the power of the Pontiff over the whole of Christendom. George Duke of Saxony, a more furious opposer of the rising cause, strove by the opposite means of persecution, to produce the same effects, but with no greater success; even his own court and family were not free from the general infection. Indeed the truth now began to spread widely and rapidly. Italy itself was moved at the report of the gospel, and sighed for emancipation from papal bondage. Among other places in which the reformation prevailed, we notice particularly the city of Nordlingen.

As early as the year 1522, Theobald Billicanus had been called to the office of preacher there, by the senate, who had obtained the right of patronage; and two years after, the reformed state of the city of Nuremberg being reported to them, they requested Billicanus to conform things at Nordlingen to the same model : and “ with such mighty influence of the Holy Spirit, and such forcible eloquence" did he proceed in his work, that the evangelical doctrine was universally received, and, “with the exception of the stewards of certain abbots, who held estates there, not a professed papist remained in the city.” The very monks, and that with the consent of their respective provincials, resigned their monasteries, with the revenues attached to them, stipulating only for life-annuities to themselves; and desired that, 66 as they were convinced from the divine word, that the state in which they had lived was displeasing to God, and perilous to their own souls, and those of others, the senate would commit the charge of all to Billicanus and other proper persons, and provide that henceforward nothing should be taught contrary to the sacred scriptures." Peter Steurer, prior of the Carmelites, and Jerome Jæger, warden of the Franciscans, are particularly mentioned as having adopted this course. Some popish observances, however, were retained longer than they should have been: but

in the year 1536, Billicanus having retired on account of his health, and Caspar Kautzius, formerly a monk, having succeeded him, the reformation was carried forward to perfection; and it is remarked, that it remained here less injured, amid the changes which followed the suppression of the league of Smalkald, than in most other places.— Pp. 179, 180.

"

The League of Smalkald was the signal for a counter-league entered into by the Catholic Princes of the empire, and called the "Holy Alliance." This was to have been kept secret, but was soon known to the parties against whom it was formed, and filled them with the greatest apprehension. This however was removed by the Emperor, who agreed to maintain the Pacification of Nuremberg for fifteen months. longer. The agreement was entered into at Frankfort 1539, and was hence styled the Convention of Frankfort.

We cannot here withhold from our readers, the following striking

extract.

On leaving Smalkald, Luther let fall an expression, which, being reported abroad, called forth the virulent animadversions of his enemies. Looking back on the city, where all the protestant powers were assembled, he exclaimed, 66 May God fill you with hatred of the pope e!" The sentence indeed sounds harsh, especially in the form of a prayer: but we may fairly ask, What was there in it so much to be condemned? It surely need not be said, that neither in this, nor in other instances which have been adduced against him, did Luther intend any thing like personal hostility to the individual who filled the papal chair, or to any other individual whatever: he referred to that antichristian system, of which the pope is the official head and representative, and to that only. And does either piety or charity require us to keep any measures with that system itself, abstractedly considered —a system which, laying hold of God's best gift to the human race, the religion of Jesus Christ, converted it, through successive centuries, into the very reverse of all for which it was designed; making it the instrument of darkness instead of light, of impurity instead of holiness, of tyranny, both spiritual and

civil, instead of freedom, and even of renewed idolatry instead of the pure and spiritual worship, which was to have subverted superstition and banished all false religion from among men. Surely, in consistence with the most perfect good will even to its votaries, we may desire to see such a system "consumed by the spirit of the Lord's mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming." Yes, whatever indulgences we may be desirous of extending to the professors of the Roman Catholic religion, (and let them have every indulgence, every privilege that they can enjoy consistently with the common safety,) yet let us never forget what popery was, and is essentially in itself, and what it will ever shew itself to be in proportion as it is enabled to act freely, and display its true character. It is one of the fashionable and threatening errors of the present day, that, in their zeal to shew themselves liberal, and candid, and indulgent towards Roman Catholics, men are apt to soften down and lose sight of the enormities, doctrinal and practical, of the papal system. Here we are in danger of realizing the observation of the poet :

Vice is a monster of so foul a mein As, to be hated, needs but to be seen, Yet, seen too oft, familiar with the face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. Persecution, it is true, is a crime to which our fallen nature is prone, and into which almost all parties have in different degrees fallen; but let us not on that ground, with affected philosophy, but with real indolence and indiscrimination, and in defiance of all historic verity, pretend, that popery stands, in this respect, on the same footing with other religious systems. No, persecution is inherent in the very principles and constitution of the Romish church: she has been in this, as in so many other respects, "the mother of abominations" to the earth. If other professedly Christian bodies long retained the persecuting spirit, it was mainly because they found it so difficult wholly to eradicate the seeds of instruction which they had reccived from her hand: and, while they have undoubtedly been occasionally stained with the blood of those who dissented from them, she hath been even steeped in it-in the strong language of scripture prophecy," drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus."-And the testimony which has fallen in my way, from the pen of her sanctioned and remunerated advo

cate, Pallavicini, to her unaltered and unalterable adherence to her principles, however she may, from policy, suffer her unaccredited members for a time to deviate from them, or even to deny them, is so striking, that I cannot but here transcribe it." The whole of our faith,"

he says, 66 rests upon one indivisible article, namely, the infallible authority of the church. The moment, therefore, we give up any part whatever, the whole falls: for. what admits not of being divided, must evidently stand entire or fall entire." (Pp 327-229.)

Our limits will not allow a continued analysis of the remaining chapters of this valuable work, we cannot however omit the following extract which exhibits a correct view of the character of John Frederick the Elector of Saxony.

The firmness and zeal of the elector of Saxony, throughout the whole of these proceedings, were most conspicuous. "No one," said he, "would more gladly see peace established in Germany than I should do, but I would not for the sake of it yield any thing contrary to the will of God and the dictates of my own conscience; and he, I trust, will keep me free from all such sin. Peace established on those terms would be a judgment from God, and would prove the occasion of irreconcileable discord." He reprobated the counsels of those who "put religion and outward peace on the same footing, whereas, when the two came in competition, the latter ought always to give way to the former." He looked with great jealousy upon a sort of middle party which he thought had risen up among the protestants, and in which he reckoned the elector of Brandenburg : and he feared much more, he said, the caresses of Ratisbon than the severity of Augsburg. He would have his representatives, therefore, adhere to the very terms, as well as to the sense of the confession, and reject all ambiguous language which might be twisted to opposite meanings." He declares that, if Luther himself should give way, which he trusted would never be the case, it should not be with his concurrence."-All this will be condemned as bigotry by the lukewarm and latitudinarian but the better informed Christ

even

ian will pronounce it a "zeal according to knowledge"-the result of a deep acquaintance with the word of God, and an accurate observation of the history of the church.-(P. 290.)

The death of Luther, the great champion of the Reformation ; prepares the way for a well and accurately drawn character of this distinguished man; than whom no one has ever been so highly extolled, and so iniquitously aspersed. If the character of Luther is to be determined by the general course of his conduct--by the examination of his private as well as public history-by the documents of the age in which he lived-by his own writings, and by the judgment of those who most intimately knew him; then we must come to the conclusion, that notwithstanding many and obvious faults, yet for sincerity of intention, for undaunted courage in the cause of truth, for devotedness of heart to God, for deep humility before the glorious Majesty of heaven, for strong unfeigned faith in the power and promise of God, for the spirit of powerful and prevailing prayer, the world has not seen his equal since the Apostolic times. To all this may be added an intellectual power which was quite unrivalled. Others might be more learned than Luther, yet no man was so fitted by energy of mind for undertaking and executing the greatest of projects as he was. He was by nature formed to astonish the world, even if he had not by divine grace been fitted to improve and bless it. And while any thing that is holy in religious privileges, or any thing that is valuable in religious liberty shall remain among men, the name of LUTHER will be revered as that of the best benefactor of mankind and the most exalted character which through the divine mercy has been raised up in the latter days of the church: and the names of Milner and of Scott will be honoured by every friend of truth distinguished servant of Christ for having ably vindicated this from the unfounded aspersions of Papists, Infidels, and Latitudinarians.

The Unity of the Church the Conversion of the World: A Sermon preached before the London Missionary Society. By Thomas Mortimer, M. A. Seeleys. 1826.

THE subject chosen by Mr. Mortimer as the basis of his observations, is John xvii. 20, 21; which he considers as exhibiting a glorious object, proposing an important mean, and suggesting a constraining motive. The object is, "the conversion of the world;" the mean, "the unity of the church;" the constraining motive, "that the unity of his people lay so near the heart of our Immanuel, that it formed a prominent feature in the last prayer that he offered for his flock, previous to his crucifixion." This brief outline is filled up with many pious and glowing sentiments, which are accompanied with some very unnecessary apologies.

All Protestant churches we conceive will agree with Mr. M. in seeking for unity by a profound deference to the Scriptures, an ardent love to the Saviour, and fervent prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit. Nay, most of them will go still farther; they will fervently pray for the promotion of Christ's kingdom in the world, even by those who follow not with them --they will cordially rejoice in every accession to his dominion, which is obtained by any Christian society -they will sympathize with their brethren under trials and disappointments, and be ready under any extraordinary calamity, or pressure, to stretch out the helping hand to comfort and relieve.

Mr. M.'s apologies, however, relate not so much to the sentiments advanced in this sermon, as to his own conduct at the two last Anniversaries of the London Missionary Society; and which many of his brethren disapprove. They think it not adviseable for clergymen of the Church of England to

OCT. 1826.

take any very active part in the cause of Missions, conducted mainly and principally by persons of different denominations-whether the London, the Moravian, the Methodist, the Baptist, or any similar Missionary Society. The union of persons embracing opposite sentiments on church government, &c. in preparing and sending forth missionaries, is necessarily productive of serious practical inconveniences. The experiment was tried on a grand scale at the formation of the London Missionary Society; and those who remember that era, will recollect of course the triumph with which the obsequies of bigotry were then celebrated :--and yet we believe that many of the actors and speakers on those occasions, are now fully convinced that the cause of Missions is most effectually promoted by each grand. denomination forming and supporting its own Society-regulating' its movements by its own unbiassed sentiments and opinions, and regarding all other Societies as separate corps of the same grand army going forth under one Captain of their salvation, but placed under different subordinate leaders, and equipped, and provided in various ways as the judgment and experience of those leaders may suggest. Mr. M. we believe, was not born, at the commencement of the London Missionary Society; but the information contained in its first publications, and in the earlier volumes of the Evangelical Magazine, may convince him, that if his elder brethren now withdraw from its platform, it is not from any unwillingness to stretch out the right hand of fellowship to dissenters, but from a continually increasing conviction, that the Church Missionary Society, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, have a prior claim to clerical countenance and support.

3 E