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is assigned to it by the Saviour, of its ultimately becoming a universally recognised proof of membership in the great christian family: "hereby shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." The direction of our Lord to one who comes to offer his gift, and is at variance with a brother, to suspend his gift until he is reconciled, has always appeared to us to enjoin it with a tremendous emphasis. Tholuck well observes, that the passage "places us at that conjuncture, when the Hebrew has brought his oblation into the outer court, and is waiting for the priest to receive it, that it may be slain in the forecourt of the Levites, and presented upon the altar. At a moment like this, when the Deity was waiting for the oblation, to interrupt the sacred rite for the sake of any other business, presupposes that to be of the very highest importance." Yet the rite is to be interrupted, the offering suspended, and the altar left, for the practical display of brotherly love. "O benignity," says Chrysostom, "O affection beyond all language to express! For what can be conceived more kind than these words, Stop my worship that your love may be preserved”” Ω τῆς ἀγαθότητος ! ” τῆς Φιλανθρωπίας τῆς τάντα λόγον υπερβαλλούσης ! Τί γὰρ ἄν γένοιτο τούτων ημερώτερον τῶν ῥημάτων; Ἐκοπτέσθω φησίν, ἡ ἐμὴ λατρεία, ἵνα ἡ σὴ ἀγάπη μείνη. Hence arose the beautiful custom of the members of a family in the primitive church, asking from each other the forgiveness of all mutual injuries, before partaking of the Lord's Supper; and this, with kindred practices, originated the honourable testimony, which, according to Tertullian, the adversaries of the faith bore to the conduct of its professors, vide inquiunt, ut invicem se diligunt," See how these Christians love one another." Calvin displayed the right spirit, when speaking of Luther's severity towards him; he declared in an epistle to Bullinger, "If Luther a thousand times call me devil, I will acknowledge him a famous servant of God!"

The temper that is opposed to this spirit involves in it the essence of schism; and it may be proper to enquire how far we, as nonconformists, are chargeable with it. Our churches are not formed of the "spirit of just men made perfect," but of those who voluntarily unite in a profession of faith in Christ, and whose conduct justifies their pretensions. Possessing, however, no discernment beyond that of others, we cannot read the heart: and hence, we are liable to be imposed upon by persons who have the "form of godliness, but deny its power." Even truly converted men are still " compassed about with infirmity," and under the influence of excitement are apt to betray unhallowed passion. That troubles should occasionally arise in our Israel from these causes is to be expected; and when harmony is interrupted, when fraternal feelings are discarded by our members towards each other, or any other communion of saints, the scriptural idea of schism is realised. In such cases we apply the corrective discipline of the New Testament: we seek to restore the offenders to a right mind, and, if still contumacious, they are "rebuked," "marked," and "avoided." We are bound, however, thankfully to own the merciful preservation of our churches in general, from unchristian dispositions, erroneous tenets, and inac

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curate deportment, and most earnestly would we entreat them to cultivate the fellowship of the Holy Ghost," to be "kept in the good and right way."

Loudly, however, are we charged with schism by the members of the church of England, solely on the ground that we stand aloof from their pale. In estimating our claims to a christian recognition, our general manner of life and temper of mind are passed by as insignificant items; they may be as distant from the statements of divine truth as Sirius from the Sun, but such men as Pusey, Keble, Palmer and Newman, appear quite indifferent to the matter; simply because we do not move in the orbit of diocesan episcopacy, we are denied to be either primary or secondary planets, or attendant satellites in the spiritual system, and are denounced as "wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." To such views we have only one reply to make, "What saith the Scriptures?" "It is a small matter to be judged of them or of men's judgment." It would be easy for us to show that schism is one of the last sins which the members of the Anglican establishment should attribute to others, when they themselves are as much divided in their opinions and feelings as Joseph's coat was in colour; but we forbear recurring to the acts which past history and present observation bring before us, heing "unwilling," as Bishop Watson once wrote, "to reflect upon the dead, and exasperate the living." How such men as Mant and Bickersteth, Sumner and Pusey, Sidney Smith and Blunt, Dr. Wade and Close, Gathercole and Gisborne, Baptist Noel and Charles James Bloomfield, can by any ecclesiastical chemistry be made substantially one, is a problem which we have not wit enough to solve. Perhaps the editor of the Christian Observer-the eagle-eyed detector of all nonconforming discrepancies-the facile untier of every Gordian knot supplied him by his dissenting brethren-will have the goodness to "mark well" these "bulwarks" of his own Zion, and then to inform us how to reduce them to the same order of architecture. For ourselves the task would be quite as difficult as to throw the pyramids of Ghizeh upon the dome of St. Paul's, or to toss a Seythian barrow upon the spires of Westminster, and produce a structure fair and uniform.

With a reference to one of the last prayers of our Lord, we commenced this review; and with a reference to the same invocation we will close it. "That they all may be one, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me ;" as much as if he had said, "I want the world to believe, I wish to save it from guilt, and darkness, and death; for this purpose I pray that my followers may be one;" plainly implying that it was likely to remain an unbelieving world while the church continued a distracted and divided body; that sinners were not likely to be converted, while disciples quarrelled-that men were not likely to be drawn in love to Him, while roots of bitterness flourished in his own fold. Solemn is the thought here presented to the attention of the Christian-that by his daily spirit he is either attracting the world to the Saviour, or repelling it from him; either aiding in bringing it nearer to the faith, or confirming it in its career of infidelity and sin. Sacred are the obligations of all who

name the name of Christ, to present nothing antichristian to the gaze of men, for, by so doing, they are operating unfavourably upon the great mass of mind around them, causing the Master they profess to serve to be rejected by those whom he seeks to win, and when in words they confess him, while in works they deny him, they act over again the part of Judas, who said, "Hail, master, and betrayed him with a kiss." We would urge all who may read these pages, to consult the volumes specially devoted to this subject, and to open their hearts to the influence of their Saviour's love, which embraced the worst of his foes, and was tenderly fixed upon the least of his friends; then will they assist in realising the design for which he came into our world, which one of the fathers justly states, kai yàp τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἔργον ἐγένετο τοῦτο, συναγαγεῖν τὰ διεστῶτα καὶ καταλ λάξαι τὰ ἐκπεπολεμωμένα, “ For this was the work of the Only Begotten, to unite the divided, and reconcile the hostile."

At the risk of unduly lengthening this article, we must make room for the following extract from Mr. Noel's preface to Howe.

"Let us own each other as brethren on all proper occasions, without fearing the anger of our fellow-creatures. The anger of Christ is more fearful than theirs, and can we escape it, if from fear of man we show unkindness to a portion of his people, whom he commands us to love? When, therefore, tempted to refuse all public indications of brotherly kindness to our brethren, because it will bring down on us the anger of others, let us think of those words of Christ, 'Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.'

"Let us patiently tolerate all those differences of opinion which exist among real Christians. No longer let us try to secure brotherly union by requiring others to think on disputed points as we do; but let us allow the purity of their motives, honour their integrity, be modest in our own conclusions, and candidly weigh all the arguments by which their views are maintained.

"Let us seek to show the world, not on how many points we differ, but on how many points we are agreed, and bear this continually in mind ourselves; observing not merely the fewness of the things in which we differ, but also their comparative insignificance." pp. xx. xxi.

We thank Mr. Noel for these advices; and, in return, beg to recommend to his notice, as embodying our views, "The ultimate object of Evangelical Dissenters avowed and advocated, by T. Binney," than whom no one better understands the principles of catholic communion, or is more disposed to practise them. We believe Mr. Noel to be sincerely seeking the "peace of Jerusalem," but there is to us a mournful discrepancy between his spirit as a Christian, and his position as a clergyman; and we think it a question worthy his grave consideration, whether he can consistently write and preach about union, when the establishment to which he belongs forbids him to exemplify in public what he writes and preaches. He may give in private a brotherly salutation to Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Tholuck, Dr. Bunting, and Dr. Smith, but the moment the threshold of St. John's is crossed he becomes isolated from the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Wesleyan, and the Independent: he may commune with them in the closet and on the platform, as "servants of the altar," and "fellowheirs of the grace of life," but he cannot do this in the desk and in the pulpit: no matter what was the prayer of Christ, or what is the will of God, and the temper of his own mind, the establishment

principle obliges him to forego church fellowship with by far the larger portion of the family of the faithful; he is compelled to draw a line of distinction between episcopal Protestantism, and all other communions, as though their relative position was that of the glorified and the damned; as though the difference indicated in that awful passage existed, "besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." We put it seriously to Mr. Noel's heart, understanding, and conscience, Is this right? Is it christian? Is it in harmony with our Lord's supplication? So long as he remains connected with an establishment which refuses a ministerial and christian recognition to the ministers and members of other evangelical denominations, we hold that he is no more in circumstances to advocate union, than Sampson was to boast of his strength, when shorn of his hair, in the hands of the Philistines.

Voyages aux Iles du Grand Océan, contenant des Documens nouveaux sur la Géographie physique et politique, la Langue, la Littérature, la Religion, les Moeurs, les Usages, et les Coutumes de leurs Habitans; et des Considérations générales sur leur Commerce, leur Histoire, et leur Governement, depuis les Temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours. Par J. A. Moerenhout, Consul Général des Etats Unis, aux Iles Océaniennes. Paris. 1837.

Voyages to the South Sea Islands, comprising original Statements respecting their physical and political Geography, and the Language, Literature, Religion, Manners, Habits, and Customs of their Inhabitants; also general Reflections on their Commerce, History, and Government, from the most remote Times to the present Day. By J. A. Moerenhout, American Consul General at the South Sea Islands. Paris. 1837.

Ir it be true that every age and every section of the christian church has some one peculiar trial of its faith and obedience, then is it an important and interesting inquiry, What is the present test of the principles of the British churches? She is not called, like the father of the faithful, to lead a nomadic life, in long expectation of an earthly Canaan, nor, with his immediate posterity, to groan under the yoke of Egyptian bondage; she is not wandering, like the Israelites, through a desert, a pensioner on miraculous bounty; she has not, with the primitive Christians, to endure a great fight of affliction, nor with the Waldenses, to hide herself from persecution in the fastnesses of the mountains; by the mercy of her King, she is now delivered from beholding her name and her place usurped by creeds that disowned her doctrines, and teachers that scorned her morality, while she herself was thrust aside into the mean chamber or the lowly conventicle. Is she then without that which alone can test the reality and the strength of her faith? and if not, where, in these times of external prosperity, is it to be found? Probably a careful

scrutiny will recognise it in a quarter whence many have looked only for pleasurable excitement and proud triumphs in the missionary enterprize.

The providence and grace of God have so ordered events, and so influenced the opinions and feelings of society, that the last command of the ascending Saviour to his church, to evangelize all nations, is now almost universally admitted to be binding on every member of that church according to his ability and circumstances; and the spread of the gospel throughout the earth is also generally anticipated; but when the claims of duty are really brought home to each individual; when the sacrifices already made are counted up, and the more extended efforts which the work still requires are demanded; then we become impatient of the delayed blessing, and anxiously ask, when the prophetical announcements are to be accomplished, and all things to be renewed? Perceiving that the world is not converted, and that the contest with the powers of darkness may continue for ages, if not for centuries to come, the faith of some is likely to give way, and they are ready to act toward God like distrustful creditors, who will make no further advance until an equivalent has been received for what they have already lent. A tendency to this is obvious in the constant demand which is made for "encouraging reports," "exciting anecdotes," and "interesting details," in connexion with the missionary enterprize, and this will suggest the probable reason why the fitful flames of enthusiasm are so often required to supply the place of the steady glow of principle.

The natural temperament of diverse classes of Christians has given to their thoughts on the present state of missionary affairs two very opposite directions. The smaller class are desponding, and intimate their doubts whether indeed a millennial state of glory will ever really bless our globe, as they have been led to believe; while the majority are sanguine, and exaggerate the importance of favourable indications, while they overlook every fact of an opposite description. The former doubt the very existence of a millennium to come -the latter exclaim, "It is already here!" The former complain they have laboured in vain, and spent their strength for nought-the latter expose themselves to the ridicule of the worldling, by mistaking the morning star for the rising sun.

We would not be understood to say that there are no favourable indications of success in the wide field of missions, or that they are either less in number or in importance than we might reasonably have expected. Looking at the present propagation of the gospel, it will not, perhaps, suffer by a fair comparison with the results of the first forty years of the apostolical missions to the Gentiles, and it admits of a question whether it does not bear the same proportion to them that the world does to the ancient Roman empire. In estimating, however, the present state and future prospects of the missionary cause, it is desirable not to confound two distinct branches of the divine procedure. A church may be planted amidst a people not all converted; a garden may be enclosed while the surrounding wilderness, though enlightened, is not reclaimed; souls may be