like person. "Thus among the Greeks," added Cameron, Cameron, "a pigmy was equivalent to the French homme de main, and the English arm-strong.

This explanation his Majesty approved, and Cameron was proceeding to confirm by farther illustrations, when a favourite buffoon, throwing himself suddenly at his royal master's feet, attracted the whole attention of the court, and threw the learned divine into irrecoverable embarrassment. It happened that Armstrong was the name of this buffoon. He broke out into rapturous plaudits, and thanks to Cameron, for having established, by prophetic authority, the antiquity of his name; he taunted the nobles, that not content with genuine nobility, they aimed at showing a pedigree farther back than the days of Codrus, or Chronos, or even the Titans; and he facetiously challenged some present, who were far gone in that disease, to a contest with him, for the antiquity of their respective families. "Thus," adds our author, jokes and laughter took place of serious discussion, and regained possession of an apartment by long and daily use devoted to banqueting."-Morinus de Bocharto et ejus scriptis apud opera Boch. fol. 1692. H.*

66

་་་ཨ་་་་་

DR. J. P. SMITH ON THE RELI

Vaud. The exertions which many friends of religious liberty in this country made, for the relief of those worthy sufferers, by no means commit us to the approval of all they have said or done. We have contributed to their aid, believing, on abundant evidence, that they are suffering for the sake of Christ and a good conscience, but not supposing them to be immaculate or infallible. On the contrary, we seem to lie under a stronger obligation of using whatever means are in our power of calling the attention of those excellent persons to any serious errors, or apparent tendencies to error, which may have insinuated themselves into their minds, or their strain of preaching. This is the part of christian friendship. Human infirmity, and the devices of the great seducer, are never inactive in the production of evil; but most especially are they to be guarded against at seasons of a remarkable revival of religion. The history of the Reformation, and of other memorable epochs in the influence and effects of the Gospel, abundantly prove the necessity of this caution. "It has been a common device of the devil," says that prince of divines President EDWARDS, set a revival of religion, that when he can keep men quiet and secure no longer, then he drives them to excesses and extravagances. has been by this means chiefly

"to over

It

several instances, to overthrow most hopeful and promising beginnings. Yea, the principal means by which the devil was successful, by degrees, to overset that grand religious revival of the world in the primitive ages of Christianity, and in a manner to overthrow the Christian Church through the earth, and to make way for the great Antichristian Apostacy, was to improve the indiscreet zeal of Christians, to

acquaintance with the idioms, allusions, and antiquities of the Hebrew people; and this acquaintance is to be derived only from the study of appropriate books, or from equivalent oral instruction. The principle against which I remonstrate, would forbid preaching and all other human instruction, as well as human writings. Yet it is remarkable, that the persons who maintain, or at least countenance, that principle, are seldom backward to print and circulate their own writings. Too often, indeed, their declamation against the reading of human works is apparently aimed at the writings of some of the most holy and judicious authors, the study of whose works would lead, not to the undervaluing and neglect of the Bible, but to its just exaltation, by causing it to be read with more intelligence, its doctrines to be placed in the clearer light of comparison and evidence, and its practical tendency to be more deeply impressed on the heart, and exemplified in the temper and conduct. I must acknowledge my apprehensions that the indiscreet persons whose influence shows under the simplicity of the good young woman's letter, are unfriendly to the circulation of such books as the "Essays on the most Important Subjects in Religion, by the late Rev. THOMAS SCOTT;" a work eminently adapted to counteract the tendency to enthusiasm and unscriptural confidence, which has, to our extreme grief, shown itself in the scene of the recent revivals of religion in Switzerland. A French translation of this inestimable work, by one of the pastors in the Canton of Vaud, Monsieur Burnier has been lately published at Lausanne,

But the principal reason of my addressing this letter to you, is the avowal, in the young person's letter, of the dogma, that no person has TRUE FAITH who has

not ASSURANCE of his or her own salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. That such assurance is a proper fruit of faith, and that the attainment of it is the duty of all real believers, I firmly believe; but to hold that it is essential to sincere and saving faith,

that the specific act of faith consists in my believing that " pardon is mine, grace is mine, Christ and all his spiritual blessings are mine;" and that, in preaching the gospel, we are to exhort and require all persons, who manifest a concern for their salvation, to believe forthwith this appropriating proposition, without waiting for any evidence of the sanctifying operations of the spirit of God upon their souls; to hold and promulgate these notions, appears, to my most deep and serious conviction, the readiest of all ways to betray the souls of men into present delusion and eternal perdition, and that, therefore, this is to be numbered among the most dangerous of all the errors that have ever been brought in, by satanic artifice, to poison the church of Christ.

I cannot pursue this alarming topic further, but must hope to make it the subject of another communication. J. P. S.

Oct. 1826.

ON THE PROPRIETY OF CULTIVATING AN ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF NONCONFORMITY.

THE present age is distinguished by its philanthropy. The benevolent feelings of the human mind are called forth into energetic action. The "walls of partition" which have so long opposed the diffusion of christian charity and brotherly love, if not levelled with the dust, have, at least, received so many breaches, as to threaten, at no distant period, their utter demolition. The disciples of Christ, although dif

fering on minor points, are to be seen uniting in one mighty body, and directing all their energies to one glorious end. Different parties are ranged under the same banner; prejudices have, in a great degree, vanished away, and love and harmony bind in silken cords the followers of Jesus. The prospect is truly delightful. It is a It is a relief to the mind, after contemplating the bigotry and prejudice of past ages, to behold the full flow of christian feeling which is now exhibited, and to reflect upon the unanimity which prevails, on many subjects, among the different portions of the church of Christ. But the best things are liable to abuse; and there is danger of candour and liberality degenerating into mere indifference, on points which, although not essential to salvation, are nevertheless of great importance. It is not necessary that, while we give the right hand of fellowship to Christians of all denominations, and welcome to our hearts, as brethren, all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth, we should abandon our principles, or become insensible to their powerful claims. In looking abroad upon our various churches and congregations, how many do we find who have scarcely ever thought upon the subject of nonconformity, and are totally ignorant of its peculiar characteristics. They may be Dissenters from education, or from a variety of adventitious circumstances; but they are not Dissenters from principle. They range themselves under the standard of nonconformity; but, if asked, they can hardly tell the reason why: and as to giving a satisfactory exposition of their principles, or reasonable grounds for their conduct, it is altogether out of the question. Now it is very obvious that such a state of things ought not to exist. If the principles of nonconformity are of so little im

portance as to be unworthy of investigation by those who profess them; if it be a thing of so indifferent a nature as to render it altogether unimportant whether its true grounds be understood or not, surely it becomes such individuals to consider whether they are not guilty of a sectarian spirit in separating from the Establishment of their country. For if there is no good end to be answered by the separation,. then would it not be prudent to return to the bosom of the "Mother Church," and confess their folly and ingratitude in leaving its communion? But if the subject involve in it considerations of the highest interest; if the question be, whether we are to obey God rather than man, whether we are to admit human authority to dictate to us in matters of religion, and whether we are to act according to the monitions of our conscience, or follow the prescriptions of fallible men like ourselves, on subjects which relate to the soul and eternity; then does it argue an inexcusable negligence, and a criminal indifference to the interests of truth, if we refuse to examine into the true nature of the principles which we profess, and use no efforts to satisfy our reason and our conscience, as well as our feelings, as to the propriety of the conduct we are pursuing. That these important points are involved in the question, every conscientious Dissenter must admit; and if such be the case, then the subject is not of so indifferent a nature as some may be ready to imagine. The principles of nonconformity did not spring from the heated and distempered imagination of some wild enthusiast; they did not take their rise from a malignant hostility and deep-rooted aversion to the established system. They are neither the production of the hot-bed of fanaticism, nor the offspring of hatred and malice.

The great fathers of nonconformity were men of sound and vigorous judgment, of strong and commanding intellect, of enlarged and liberal views, of profound erudition, and of sincere and ardent piety. Their character and their motives are placed above suspicion. But they felt and acknowledged the paramount claims of conscience, and they acted in conformity with their convictions. They were men of peace, but they would not sacrifice truth for its preservation. Though separatists, they were not schismatics. They resigned their connexion with the Establishment, only when they could no longer, with a clear conscience, maintain it. They did not seek for faults; they did not search out reasons to justify an unnecessary secession. They were absolutely compelled to withdraw themselves, and were driven, by the strong hand of power, from their pulpits and their flocks. Those holy and devoted men, for whom we profess such high admiration, were not a body of envious, dissatisfied, and ambitious individuals, endeavouring to spy out every imperfection in the church to which they belonged; or wishing to carry every thing their own way; and then, because they were disappointed in their aims, and baffled in their efforts, dissolving all connexion with that church, and forming another distinct body, of which they were to be considered the heads and leaders. No; they were holy and devoted men of God, anxiously concerned for the souls of their fellow-creatures, and abundant in their labours for the glory of God; and although, as the issue proved, of firm and uncompromising integrity, they were men of conei liatory spirit, of christian meekness and kindness, and would go to the utmost lengths which conscience and the word of God

would warrant, in order to live in peace with all men.

And yet these individuals felt themselves bound to leave the communion of the church in which they occupied an official station ; and so important did they consider the question at issue, that rather than submit to human authority in matters of religion, rather than allow the principle of the right of any mortal to lord it over the church of which Christ is the only head, they voluntarily submitted to privation and distress, poverty, persecution, and imprisonment. In numerous cases they abandoned all their worldly possessions; and chose to cast themselves on the providence and goodness of that God whom they served, and whose honour they so nobly vindicated, rather than retain their livings at the expense of truth and sincerity.

Now, if such men as these thought their principles of so high importance, as to justify the severe and costly sacrifices which they made in order to maintain them; if they, so far from thinking them of an indifferent and unimportant nature, were willing to forego the comforts of life, to submit to suffering and reproach, and even, if called upon, to death itself, rather than abandon the cause of truth which they had espoused; surely it is the bounden duty of all who profess to imbibe their sentiments, and to follow their example, to investigate this interesting subject, and not to rest contented until they have satisfied themselves of the truth and reasonableness of the principles they profess, and until they come to a clear and full understanding of the question, in all its varied, comprehensive, bearings,

and importaut

The design of this paper is not so much to explain the principles of nonconformity, as to awaken