any novelty of incident or pomp of circumstance, is calculated to plead the cause of the captive and the stranger, with all the energy of feeling and all the simplicity of truth.

ART. IV.-On Terms of Communion; with a particular view to the Case of the Baptists and Podobaptists. By ROBERT HALL, M.A. Third edition. Button and Son, Paternoster Row, London; Deighton and Sons, Cam bridge; James, Bristol; and Combe, Leicester. 1816. THOUGH this is but a new edition of a comparatively old work, such is its own intrinsic merit, the importance of its subject, and the reputation of its author, that we should hardly hope to be excused, were we to pass it by unnoticed. The number of editions through which it has already gone, shews that the public is sensible of its excellence, and affords a strong presumption that the principles it inculcates will gain ground in the world;-and, for the sake of religion, we heartily rejoice at it. We fear it will be very long before the unanimity that existed among the professors of Christianity, in its earliest and purest ages, shall again exist among them before the bright prospect held out to us by our Redeemer shall again be realized in his Church, by its consisting of "one fold under one shepherd." An examination into the state of religious parties in this country, would certainly not lead us to suppose that any reconciliation can speedily be effected; nor even that the difficulties which stand in the way of a general re-union are at all less now, than at any other assignable time since the reformation. Men, it is true, have began to think more liberally on subjects of religious controversy, as well as upon most other subjects; but they are not the less firmly attached to their opinions, because they are the result of profound study, and laborious investigation.

We have always thought that men distinguished for their piety and learning, however irreconcileable their tenets may appear to be, differ in reality less than one would be led to imagine by the obstinacy, and sometimes animosity, with which their disputes are maintained. Their differences are almost always more about words than things: while, however, the unavoidable imperfections of language shall continue, disputes about words will, we fear, always be kept up, No. XIV. VOL.II.-Aug. Rev.

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and sometimes be productive of serious consequences. Ridi culous disputes on "trifles light as air," are frequently not less important as to their effects than graver controversies; for contentions are seldom less violent, or more easily settled, because they want a good foundation. But, as the minds of men become more enlightened, the principles of just reasoning better known, and the contenders better acquainted with the virtues, the talents, and the real opinions of each other, the absurdity of all pretensions to infallibility begins to be seen and acknowledged; the tenets of the opposite party are more carefully examined, and more impartially weighed; the tone of the controversialist becomes more moderate, and, instead of dealing out ridiculous threats of eternal condemnation for opinions which he has not proved to be erroneous, he makes his appeal to reason and to scripture, and requires the assent of his readers, only when he has convinced their understanding. The natural result of the strict examination which the subject is thus made to undergo, is that all great errors and extravagant dogmas must, more or less, give way among the sensible part of mankind; and that the opinions of eminent men must continually ap proach nearer to the truth and to each other. And this we affirm to have been already the case. Important differences still subsist among the best and most intelligent Christians, religious controversies are still carried on, and the church is divided into numerous sects, not in communion with each other; but the differences are not of that dangerous and irreconcileable kind of which they formerly were, nor can we expect that the spirit of party will ever again display itself on religious matters as it formerly did. Whatever some illboding politicians may apprehend from the full restoration, in a considerable part of Europe, of the errors of popery, with its powerful agents the Jesuits and the inquisition, we feel assured that, even in that least enlightened of all Christian churches, the instructions of experience have not been received in vain, and that the most important improvements will be found to have been brought about, by the extensive diffusion of knowledge in later times.

We always observe (what indeed it is natural to expect) that the violence and intolerance of the members of any religious society, are exactly in proportion to their ignorance and fears. It is policy to endeavour to prevent an investigation which must be fatal to their cause; and to assume a terrible appearance, in order to intimidate those whose

a'tacks they would not be able to withstand. But it is impossible, in a time of inquiry like this, that any church should gain ground, whose prosperity and influence depend upon the ignorance and blind superstition of the people belonging to it. The evils of ecclesiastical domination are too well known, for any system of priestcraft to flourish in the world. Secular power will now avail but little, when it is exerted in opposition to the well-informed consciences of Christians. If there be any church, which shall hereafter embrace and swallow up all the rest, it must be that whose tenets can best bear the light, and stand the test of reason and scripture; and the moderation of whose practice is the most conspicuous. When, however, a society so decidedly superior to all the rest can reasonably be expected to discover itself, or whether any such be already in existence,are questions which we must leave unsolved. Such is the nature of that momentous subject, and such the constitution of the human mind, that the general concurrence of such a world as this in support of any possible system of religion, is thing of which the possibility is as hard to be believed, as man's infallibility. If it be possible, it seems necessary that the system should be one of the most undefined and Ïatitudinarian nature, that it should insist upon nothing as fundamental or necessary to be believed, and comprise nothing that can offend the freest thinker or the freest liver upon earth. A creed of this convenient and accommodating kind might, it is true, be drawn up with little difficulty; but would it be right to call a church which should adopt it a Christian assembly, or its doctrines the doctrines of our Redeemer? The evils arising from religious separation, are nothing to those that would spring from an union like this. The observations of the present author on this interesting subject, are well worthy of the reader's attention.

"Nothing more abhorrent from the principles and maxims of the sacred oracles can be conceived, than the idea of a plurality of true churches, neither in actual cominunion with each other, nor in a capacity for such communion. Though this rending of the seamless garment of our Saviour, this schism in the members of his mystical body, is by far the greatest calamity which has befallen the Christian interest, and one of the most fatal effects of the great apostacy foretold by the sacred penman, we have been so long familiarised to it, as to be scarcely sensible of its enormity, nor does it excite surprise or concern, in any degree proportioned to what would he felt by one who had contemplated the church in the first ages. To see Christian societies regarding each other with the jealousies of rival empires, each aiming to raise itself on the ruin of all others, making extravagant boasts of superior purity, generally in exact proportion to their

departures from it, and scarcely deigning to acknowledge the possibility of obtaining salvation out of their pale, is the odious and disgusting spectacle which modern Christianity presents. The boud of charity, which unites the genuine followers of Christ in distinction from the world, is dissolved, and the very terms in which it was wont to be denoted, exclusively employed to express a predilection for a sect. The evils which result from this state of division are incalculable: it supplies infidels with their most plausible topics of invective; it hardens the consciences of the irre ligious, weakens the hands of the good, impedes the efficacy of prayer, and is probably the principal obstruction to that ample effusion of the Spirit which is essential to the renovation of the world.

"It is easier, however, it is confessed, to deplore the malady, than to prescribe the cure; for however important the preservation of harmony and peace, the interests of truth and holiness are still more so; nor must we forget the order in which the graces of the Spirit are arranged. The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable.' Peace should be anxiously sought, but always in subordination to purity, and, therefore, every attempt to reconcile the differences among Christians which involves the sacrifice of truth, or the least deliberate deviation from the revealed will of Christ, is spurious in its origin, and dangerous in its tendency. If communion with a Christian society cannot be had without a compliance with rights and usages, which we deem idolatrous or superstitious, or without a surrender of that liberty in which we are commanded to stand fast, we must, as we value our allegiance, forego, however reluctantly, the advantages of such an uniou.”—p. 2.

Unhappily, all this is but too true. We must not equivocate with our consciences. We must make up our minds from the evidences that are laid before us; and no considerations, either of fear or interest, must induce us to profess more or less than we believe. We must not purchase peace at the expense of the purity of our faith. But if no party is to be allowed to make concessions, how is it possible we should ever come to an agreement? An union of such discordant elements seems indeed impossible: but the language of scripture induces us to believe that it will one day take place; and with God all things are possible. The Almighty Being, who joined a reasonable soul to our human flesh, is able to direct us how to make the best use of our faculties, and to remove the veil which is now partially suspended between them and the truth.

But, if there must be dissension, let it not be carried farther than the necessity of the case requires. Let not the unruly passions of men be let loose upon a subject, which, more Than any other, requires to be treated with temper and mode. ration. In our ambition to prove ourselves better acquainted with the truths of Christianity than all who differ from us, let us be careful not to lose that great distinction, by which the disciples of our Lord were to be known-that of loving one another.

"

Mr. Hall, the author of the work which is the subject of this article, is well known perhaps to many of our readers, as a man eminent both for learning and general worth. Whether or not he is the acknowledged leader of the sect of the Baptists to which he belongs, we cannot say with certainty; but we are very sure that they have not among them a man better qualified in every respect for any duty they can assign him. By his congregation in Cambridge, where he formerly resided, he was held in the highest veneration; even those who disapproved of his religious principles admired his talents, and acknowledged his virtues.-It is not our design to enter into the controversy respecting the validity of infantbaptism, (or rather, as he would call it, infant-sprinkling,) which is the principal point on which he differs from us of the establishment. The object of his book was not to enforce the opinions of his party, but to recommend an increase of charity among Christians in general. Far from wishing to inflame the divisions that already subsist, he does his utmost to allay the animosities to which they have unhappily given rise. Such an intention is honourable to the writer, and stamps a value on the work, which no controversial treatise can derive from its own merits alone; and we should shew ourselves but little moved by the fine example he has set us, should we suffer the spirit of controversy to break out in our remarks upon it.

But though we are silent upon the question in dispute, our silence will not be understood to imply a renunciation of our private opinions. Our sentiments are decidedly fixed, and we trust we do not want arguments to defend them: nor will the opinion we have formed of Mr. Hall allow us to suppose, that it would be less difficult to turn the sun from his course, than him from his deliberate conviction. We are not, however, fond of useless contentions, and fortunately this occasion by no means calls for any thing of the kind. If ever we should be drawn into a contest with him, we will contend as brothers and Christians; but with such a man we would not be at variance.

The design of the author is very clearly laid down in his luminous introduction, from which the preceding extract was taken; and we shall use the more freedom in our selections from it, as by so doing we shall prevent the necessity of borrowing much from the body of the work. The mathematical precision with which the question is here stated, before he enters upon his argument, is not the least convincing