rate members of their community, though they all agree in rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity, and that also of the divinity and satisfaction of Jesus Christ.* Arian, as it is used in modern language, is susceptible of different significations; and that, in consequence, the persons to whom it is applied cannot be all considered in the same point of light with the ancient Arians, or supposed to agree perfectly with each other in their religious tenets. quence of a legal toleration, but through the indulgent connivance of the civil magistrate.* Some of them have embraced the communion of the Arminians; others have joined with those Anabaptists who form a sect distinguish- VI. After the Socinians, as there is a great ed by the name of Galenists; and in this there affinity between the two sects, it is proper to is nothing at all surprising, since neither the mention the Arians, who had several celebratArminians nor Anabaptists require, from those ed writers in this century, such as Sandius and who enter into their communion, an explicit or Biddle. Of those who also passed under the circumstantial declaration of their religious sen-general denomination of Anti-Trinitarians and timents. It is also said, that a considerable Unitarians, there are many that may be placed number of this dispersed community became in the class of the Socinians and Arians; for members of the religious society called Colle- the term Unitarian is very comprehensive, and giants. Amidst such frequent changes and is applicable to a great variety of persons, who vicissitudes, it was not possible that the Soci- agree in this common principle, that there is nians could maintain a uniform system of doc- no real distinction in the divine nature. The trine, or preserve unaltered and entire the reli- denomination of Arian is also given in general gious tenets handed down to them by their an- to those who consider Jesus Christ as inferior cestors. On the contrary, their peculiar and and subordinate to the Father. But, as this distinctive opinions are variously explained subordination may be understood and explainand understood both by the learned and illite-ed in various ways, it is evident that the term most striking inconveniences. Besides, few ecclesiastics, or writers of any note, have adopted the theological system now under consideration, in all its branches. The Socinian doctrine relating to the design and efficacy of the death of Christ had, indeed, many abettors in England during the seventeenth century; and it may be presumed, that its votaries are rather increased than diminished in the present; but those divines who have abandoned the Athanasian hypothesis concerning the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, have more generally gone into the Arian and Semi-Arian notions of that inexplicable subject, than into those of the Socinians, who deny that Jesus Christ existed before his appearance in I. It will not be improper to take notice the human nature. The famous John Biddle, after here of a few sects of inferior consequence and having maintained, both in public and in private, during the reign of Charles and the protectorship of note, which we could not conveniently menCromwell, the Unitarian system, erected an Inde- tion in the history of the more extensive and pendent congregation in London, the only British important communities, that we have been surchurch we have heard of, in which all the peculiar veying, and which, nevertheless, we cannot doctrines of Socinianism were inculcated; for, if While the disputes we may give credit to the account of Sir Peter Pett. omit, for several reasons. this congregation held the following notions: "That and tumults, produced in Holland in 1619 by the fathers under the old covenant had only tempo- the Arminian system, were at the greatest ral promises; that saving faith consisted in universal obedience performed to the commands of God height, a religious society arose, whose memand Christ; that Christ rose again only by the power bers hold at Rhinsberg, near Leyden, a solemn of the Father, and not by his own; that justifying assembly in every half-year, and are generally faith is not the pure gift of God, but may be acquir-known by the denomination of Collegiants. ed by men's natural abilities; that faith cannot be. This community was founded by three brolieve any thing contrary to, or above reason; that there is no original sin; that Christ has not the same thers, of the name of Vander-Kodde, who body now in glory, in which he suffered and rose again; that the saints shall not have the same bodies in heaven which they had on earth; that Christ was not Lord or King before his resurrection, or Priest before his ascension: that the saints shall not, before the day of judgment, enjoy the bliss of heaven; that God does not certainly know future contingen cies; that there is not any authority of fathers or general councils in determining matters of faith; that Christ, before his death, had not any dominion over the angels; and that Christ, by dying, made not satisfaction for us." See the preface to Sir Peter Pett's Happy future State of England, printed in 1688. CHAPTER VII. Concerning some Sects of Inferior Note. *Many examples might be alleged in proof of this. It will be sufficient to mention that of the learned Crellius, who, though he was professor of theology among the Socinians, yet differed in his opinions about many points of doctrine, from the sentiments of Socinus and the Racovian Catechism, and would not be called a Socinian, but an Artemonite.* See the Journal Literaire, tom. xvii. part i. and the account I have given of this celebrated man in my Syntagm. Dissertationum ad sanctiores Disciplinas pertinentium, p. 352.-Unschuld. Nachricht. 1750, p. 942.-Nouveau Diction. Historique et Critique, tom. ii. p. 88. This last citation is erroneous; there is no account of Crellius in the place here referred to. For an account of Sandius, father and son, see Arnold and other writers. The life of Biddle is to * The Socinians, who reside at present in the district of Mark, used to meet, some years ago, at stated times, at Koningswald, a village in the neighbourhood of Frankfort, on the Oder. See the Recueil de Literature, de Philosophie et d'Historie (pub- be found in the Nouveau Diction. Historique et Cri Jished at Amsterdam, in 1731,*) p. 44. They pub-tique, tom. i. p. ii. p. 288. Dr. Mosheim places lished, in 1716, at Berlin, their confession of faith, in the German language, which is to be found, with a refutation thereto annexed, in a book entitled, Den Theologischen Heb. Opfern, part x. p. 852. This community, of which an account is given in the following chapter, called their religious meetings Colleges, that is, congregations or assemblies; and hence they were denominated Collegiants. The author of this collection was one Jordan, who was pastor of a church in the neighbourhood of Berlin. Biddle improperly among the Arians; it is manifest that he belongs to the Socinian sect, since, in the third article of his Confession of Faith, he professes to believe that Christ has no other than a human nature. See the Socinian Tracts, entitled, the Faith of one God, &c. published at London in 1691. See also notes [*] See note [t] in the preceding chapter. *After Artemon, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Severus, and denied the pre-existence and divinity of Jesus Christ. * See the Dissertation sur les Usages de Ceux qu'on appelle en Hollande Collegiens et Rhinobourgeois, in the Ceremonies Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde, tom. iv. p. 323; as also a Dutch book, containing an account of the Collegiants, and published by themselves in 1736, under the following ti passed their days in the obscurity of a rural || be extremely different; that it is kept together, life, and are said to have been men of eminent and its union maintained, not by the authority piety, well acquainted with sacred literature, of rulers and doctors, the force of ecclesiastiand great enemies to religious controversy. cal laws, the restraining power of creeds and They had for their associate Anthony Corne- confessions, or the influence of positive rites lius, a man also of a mean condition, and who and institutions, but merely by a zeal for the had no qualities that could give any degree of advancement of practical religion, and a deweight or credit to their cause. The descen- sire of drawing instruction from the study of dants and followers of these men acquired the the Scriptures.* name of Collegiants, because they called their II. In such a community, or rather amidst religious assemblies Colleges. All are admitted such a multitude as this, in which opinion is to the communion of this sect who acknow-free, and every one is permitted to judge for ledge the divinity of the Scriptures, and endea- | himself in religious matters, dissensions and vour to live suitably to the precepts and doc- controversies can scarcely have place. Howtrines contained in those writings, whatever ever, a debate attended with some warmth, their peculiar sentiments may be concerning arose in 1672, between the merchants John and the nature of the Deity and the truths of Paul Bredenburg, on one side, and Abraham Christianity. Their numbers are very consi- Lemmerman and Francis Cuiper on the other. derable in the provinces of Holland, Utrecht, John Bredenburg had erected a particular soEast and West-Friseland. They meet twice ciety, or college, in which he gave a course of in every week, namely, on Sundays and Wed- lectures upon the religion of nature and reanesdays, for the purpose of divine worship; and, son; but this undertaking was highly disapafter singing a psalm or hymn, and addressing proved by Lemmerman and Cuiper, who were themselves to the Deity by prayer, they ex- for excluding reason altogether from religious plain a certain portion of the New Testament. inquiries and pursuits. During the heat of this The female members of the community are controversy, Bredenburg discovered a manifest not allowed to speak in public; but all others, propensity toward the sentiments of Spinosa; without any exception founded on rank, con- he even defended them publicly, and yet, at dition, or incapacity, have a right to commu- the same time, professed a firm attachment to nicate the result of their meditations to the the Christian religion. Other debates of less assembly, and to submit their sentiments to the judgment of the brethren. All likewise have an unquestionable right to examine and oppose what has been advanced by any of the brethren, provided that their opposition be attended with a spirit of Christian charity and moderation. There is a printed list of the pas-tle: "De Oorspronck, Natuur, Handelwyze en Oogsages of Scripture, that are to be examined and illustrated at each of their religious meetings; so that any one who is ambitious of appearing among the speakers, may study the subject beforehand, and thus come fully prepared to descant upon it in public. The brethren, as has been already observed, have a general assembly twice a year at Rhinsberg, where they have ample and convenient houses for the education of orphans and the reception of strangers; and there they remain together during the space of four days, which are employed in hearing discourses that tend to edifi- anity were in direct opposition to each other; but cation, and exhortations which are principally maintained, on the other, that we were obliged to designed to inculcate brotherly love and sanc-believe, even against the evidence of the strongest mathematical demonstrations, the religious doctrines tity of manners. The sacrament of the Lord's supper is also administered during this assembly; and those adult persons who desire to be baptized, receive the sacrament of baptism, according to the ancient and primitive manner of celebrating that institution, that is, by immersion. Those Collegiants, who reside in the province of Friseland, have at present an annual meeting at Leewarden, where they administer the sacraments, as the distance at which they live from Rhinsberg renders it inconvenient for them to repair thither twice a year. We shall conclude our account of these sectaries by observing, that their community is of a most ample and extensive kind; that it comprehends persons of all ranks, orders, and sects, who profess themselves Christians, though their sentiments concerning the person and doctrine of the divine Founder of Christianity merk der zo genaamde Rynburgsche Vergadering." comprehended in the Scriptures; (this, indeed, was adding absurdity to absurdity.) He affirmned, that truth was two-fold, theological and philosophical: and that those propositions, which were false in theology, were true in philosophy. There is a brief but accurate account of the character and sentiments of Bredenburg, in the learned work of the Jew, Isaac Orobio, entitled, "Certamen Philosophicum propugnatæ Veritatis, divinæ et naturalis, adversus Jo. Bredenburgii Principia, ex quibus, quod Religio Ra. tioni repugnat, demonstrare nititur." This work, which contains Bredenburg's pretended demonstrations of the philosophy of Spinosa, was first published at Amsterdam in 1703, and afterwards at Brussels, in 1731. His antagonist, Francis Cuiper, acquired a considerable reputation by his Arcana Atheismi detecta, i. e. the secrets of Atheism detected. He was a bookseller at An sterdam; and it was he that published, among other things, the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum seu Unita. iorum. Those who have a tolerable acquaintance wit the literary history of this centu ry, know that Cui er, on account of the very book which he wrote against Bredenburg, was suspected of Spinocism, though he was a Collegiant, and a consequence arose in this community; and the || of this sect, there were some, whose learning effect was a division of the Collegiants into two parties, which held their assemblies separately at Rhinsberg. This division happened in 1686; but it was healed about the commencement of the following century, by the death of those who had principally occasioned it; and then the Collegiants returned to their former union and concord.* III. The Labadists were so called from their founder John Labadie, a native of France, a man of no mean genius, and remarkable for a natural and masculine eloquence. This man was born in the Romish communion, entered into the order of the Jesuits, and, being dismissed by them, became a member of the reformed church, and exercised with reputation the ministerial functions in France, Switzerland, and Holland. He at length erected a new community, which resided successively at Middle- || burg in Zealand, and at Amsterdam. In 1670, it was transplanted to Hervorden in Westphalia, at the particular desire of the princess Elizabeth, daughter of the elector Palatine, and abbess of Hervorden. It was soon driven from that part of Germany, notwithstanding the protection of this illustrious princess; and, in 1672, settled at Altena, where its founder died two years after his arrival. After the death of Labadie, his followers removed the wandering community to Wiewert, in the district of North-Holland, where it found a peaceful retreat, and soon fell into oblivion; so that few, if any, traces of it are now to be found. Among the persons that became members and abilities gave it a certain degree of credit and reputation, particularly Anna Maria Schur man, of Utrecht, whose extensive erudition rendered her so famous in the republic of let ters. The members of this community, if we may judge of them by their own account, did not differ from the reformed church so much in their tenets and doctrines, as in their manners and rules of discipline;* for their founder exhibited in his own conduct a most austere model of sanctity and obedience, which his disciples and followers were obliged to imitate; and they were taught to look for the communion of saints, not only in the invisible church, but also in a visible one, which, according to their views of things, ought to be composed of none but such persons as were distinguished by their sanctity and virtue, and by a pious progress toward perfection. There are still extant several treatises composed by Labadie, which sufficiently discover the temper and spirit of the man, and bear evident marks of a lively and glowing imagination, not tempered by the influence of a sober and accurate judgment; and, as persons of this character are sometimes carried, by the impetuosity of pas * Labadie, always declared, that he embraced when he was called to perform the ministerial functhe doctrines of the reformed church. Nevertheless, tions to a French church at Middleburgh in Zealand, Be. he refused to subscribe its confession of faith. ficient to lead men to salvation, without certain zealous defender of the Christian faith, as also of particular illuminations and revelations from the the perfect conformity that subsists between right Holy Ghost; that, in reading them, we ought to give reason and true religion. Dr. Mosheim said a less attention to the literal sense of the words, than Little before, in the text, that Lemmerman and Cui- to the inward suggestions of the spirit, and that the per were for excluding reason altogether from reli-efficacy of the word depends upon the preacher;gion; how then can he consistently say here of the latter, that he was a defender of the conformity be-, tween reason and religion? Beside the authors who have been already men. tioned, those who understand the German language may consult the curious work of Simon Frederic Rues, entitled, "Nachrichten vom Zustande der Mennoniten," p. 267. From this expression of our author, son.e may be led to imagine that Labadie was expelled by the Jesuits from their society; and many have, in effect, entertained this notion. But this is a palpable mistake; and whoever will be at the pains of consulting the letter of the abbe Goujet to father Niceron (published in the Memoires des Hommes illustres, tom. xx. p. 142,) will find that Labadie had long solicited his discharge from that society, and, after many refusals, obtained it at length in an honourable manner, by a public act signed at Bordeaux, by one of the provincials, on the 17th of April, 1639. For a full account of this restless, turbulent, and visionary man, who, by his plans of reformation, conducted by a zeal destitute of prudence, produced much tumult and disorder, both in the Romish and reformed churches, see his Life, composed with learning, impartiality, and judgment, by M. Chauffepeid, and inserted in that author's Supplement to Bayle. This illustrious princess seems to have had as strong a taste for fanaticism as her grandfather king James I. of England had for scholastic theology. She carried on a correspondence with Penn, the famous Quaker, and other members of that extravagant sect. She is, nevertheless, celebrated by certain writers, on account of her application to the study of philosophy and poetry. That a poetical fancy may have rendered her susceptible of fanatical impressions, is not impossible; but how these impressions could be reconciled with a philosophical spirit, is more difficult to imagine. that the faithful ought to have all things in common; that there is no subordination or distinction of rank in the true church of Christ;-that Christ is to reign a thousand years upon earth; that the contemplative life is a state of grace and union with God, and the very height of perfection; that the Christian, whose mind is contented and calm, sees all things in God, enjoys the Deity, and is perfectly indifferent about every thing that passes in the world; and that the Christian arrives at that happy state by the exercise of a perfect self-denial, by mortifying the flesh and all sensual affections, and by mental prayer." Beside these, he had formed singu. lar ideas of the Old and New Testaments, considered as covenants, as also concerning the Sabbath, and the true nature of a Christian church. It is remarkable, that almost all the sectaries of an enthusiastical turn were desirous of entering into communion with Labadie. The Brownists offered him their church at Middleburg, when he was suspended by the French synod from his pastoral functions. The Quakers sent their two leading members, Robert Barclay and George Keith, to Amster. dam, while he resided there, to examine his doctrine; and, after several conferences with him, these commissioners offered to receive him into their communion, which he refused, probably from a principle of ambition, and the desire of remaining head of a sect. It is even said, that the famous William Penn made a second attempt to gain over the Labadists; and that he went for that purpose to Wiewert, where they resided after the death of their founder, but without success. We do not pretend to answer for the truth of these assertions, but shall only observe, that they are related by Moller, in his Cimbria Literata, on the authority of a manuscript journal, of which several extracts have been given by Joach. Fred. Feller, in his Trimest. ix Monumentorum ineditorum, sect. iii. A. 1717. p. 498-500. sion and the seduction of fancy, both into er- || roneous notions and licentious pursuits, we are not perhaps to reject, in consequence of an excessive charity or liberality of sentiment, the testimonies of those who have found many things worthy of censure, both in the life and doctrine of this turbulent enthusiast.* rable patrons of this fanatical doctrine, we may reckon Christian Bartholomew de Cordt, a Jansenist, and priest of the oratory at Mechlin, who died at Nordstrand, in the duchy of Sleswick;* and Peter Poiret, a man of a bold and penetrating genius, who was a great master of the Cartesian philosophy.† The latter was IV. Among the fanatical contemporaries of shown in a striking manner by his own examLabadie was the famous Antoinette Bourignon || ple, that knowledge and ignorance, reason and de la Porte, a native of Flanders, who pre-superstition, are often divided by thin partitended to be divinely inspired, and set apart, tions; and that they sometimes not only dwell by a particular interposition of Heaven, to re- together in the same person, but also, by an vive the true spirit of Christianity, that had unnatural and unaccountable union, afford been extinguished by theological animosities mutual assistance, and thus engender monand debates. This female enthusiast, whose strous productions. religious feelings were accompanied with an unparalleled vivacity and ardour, and whose fancy was exuberant beyond all expression, joined to these qualities a volubility of tongue, less wonderful indeed, yet much adapted to seduce the unwary. Furnished with these useful talents, she began to propagate her theological system, and her enthusiastical notions made a great noise in Flanders, Holland, and some parts of Germany, where she had resided some years. Nor was it only the ignorant multitude that swallowed down with facility her visionary doctrines, since it is well known that several learned and ingenious men were persuaded of their truth, and caught the contagion of her fanaticism. After experiencing various turns of fortune, and suffering much vexation and ridicule on account of her religious fancies, she ended her days at Franeker, in Friseland, in 1680. Her writings were voluminous; but it would be a fruitless attempt|| to endeavour to draw from them an accurate and consistent scheme of religion; for the pretended divine light, that guides people of this class, does not proceed in a methodical way of reasoning and argument; it discovers itself by flashes, which shed nothing but thick darkness in the minds of those who investigate truth with the understanding, and do not trust to the reports of fancy, that is so often governed by sense and passion. An attentive reader will, however, learn something by perusing the writings of this fanatical virgin: he will be persuaded, that her intellect must have been in a disordered state; that her divine effusions were principally borrowed from the productions of the Mystics; and that by the intemperance of her imagination, she gave an additional air of extravagance and absurdity to the tenets which she derived from those pompous enthusiasts. If we attend to the main and predominant principle that appears in the incoherent productions of Bourignon, we shall find it to be the following: "That the Christian religion neither consists in knowledge nor in practice, but in a certain internal feeling, and divine impulse, arising immediately from communion with the Deity." Among the more conside * Moller's Cimbria Literata, tom. iii. p. 35, and his Isagoge ad Histor. Chersones. Cimbricæ, p. 2, cap. v. p. 121.-Arnold's Hist. Eccles. v. i. p. ii. lib. xvii. cap. xxi. p. 1186.-Weissman's Hist. Eccles. sæc. xvii. p. 927. For an account of the two famous companions of Labadie, namely, Du Lignon and Yvon, see Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 472, 1020. V. The same spirit, the same views, and the same kind of religion that distinguished Bourignon, were observable in an English, and also a female fanatic, named Jane Leadley, who, toward the conclusion of this century, seduced by her visions, predictions, and doctrines, a considerable number of disciples, among whom were some persons of learning, and thus gave rise to what was called the Philadelphian Society. This woman was of opinion that all dissensions among Christians would cease, and the kingdom of the Redeemer become, even here below, a glorious scene of charity, concord, and felicity, if those who bear the name of Jesus, without regarding the forms of doctrine or discipline which distinguish particular communions, would all join in committing their souls to the internal guide, to be instructed, governed, and formed by his divine impulse and suggestions. She even went farther, and declared, in the name of the Lord, that this desirable event would happen, and that she had a divine commission to proclaim the approach of this glorious communion of saints, who were to be collected in one visible universal church, or kingdom, before the dissolution of this earthly globe. This prediction she delivered with a peculiar degree of confidence, from a notion that her Philadelphian society was the true kingdom of Christ, in which alone the divine spirit resided and reigned. We shall not mention the other dreams of this enthusiast, among which the famous doctrine of the final restoration of all intelligent beings to perfection and happiness held an eminent place. Leadley was less fortunate than Bourignon in this respect, that she had not such an eloquent and ingenious patron as Poiret to plead her cause, and to give an air of philosophy to her wild reveries; for Pordage and Bromley, who were the chief of her associates, had nothing to recommend them but their mystic piety and contemplative turn of mind. Pordage, indeed, was so far destitute Diet. at the article Bourignon.-Arnold, vol. ii. See also Poiret's Epist. de Auctoribus Mysticis, of his book, de Euriditione solida et superficiaria. sect. xiv. p. 565. This treatise is inserted at the end * Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 149. f Poiret dressed out in an artful manner and reduced to a kind of system, the wild and incoherent fancies of Bourignon, in his large work, entitled, L'ŒEconomie Divine, ou Systeme Universel, which was published, both in French and Latin, at Amsterdam, in 1686. For an account of this mystic philosopher, whose name and voluminous writings † See, for an ample account of Bourignon, Mol-made such a noise, see Bibliotheca Brem. Theolog. ler's Cimbria Literata, and his Isagoge. Bayle's || Philol. tom. iii. p. 75. of the powers of elocution and reasoning, that || of awe by a high-sounding jingle of pompous he even surpassed Jacob Behmen, whom he words.* admired, in obscurity and nonsense; and, instead of imparting instruction to his readers, xvii. decenn. x. p. 90.-Petri Poireti Bibliotheca did no more than excite in them a stupid kind || Mysticor. p. 161, 174, 283, 286. Jo. Wolf. Jaegeri Historia Sacra et Civilis, sæc. A SHORT VIEW; OR, GENERAL SKETCH OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. I. THE History of the Christian Church | faint and superficial notions of the doctrines of during this period, instead of a few pages, the Gospel; for it is well known, that several would alone require a volume; such are the congregations of such Christians have been number and importance of the materials that formed by the Jesuits in the East-Indies, and it exhibits to an attentive inquirer. It is there- more especially in the Carnatic, the kingdoms fore to be hoped that, in due time, some able of Madura and Marava, some territories on the and impartial writer will employ his labours coast of Malabar, in the kingdom of Tonquin, on this interesting subject. At the same time, the Chinese empire, and also in certain proto render the present work as complete as pos- vinces of America. These conversions have, sible, and to give a certain clue to direct those in outward appearance, been carried on with who teach or who study ecclesiastical history, particular success, since Antony Veri has had through a multitude of facts that have not yet the direction of the foreign missions, and has been collected, or digested into a regular order, taken such especial care, that neither hands we shall draw a general sketch that will ex- should fail for this spiritual harvest, nor any hibit the principal outlines of the state of reli-expenses be spared that might be necessary to gion since the commencement of the eighteenth century. That this sketch may not swell to too great an extent, we shall omit the mention of the authors who have furnished materials for this period of church history. Those who are acquainted with modern literature must know, that there are innumerable productions extant, whence such a variety of lines and colours might be taken, as would render this group and general draught a finished piece. the execution of such an arduous and important undertaking. But these pretended conversions, instead of effacing the infamy under which the Jesuits labour in consequence of the iniquitous conduct of their missionaries in former ages, have only served to augment it, and to show their designs and practices in a still more odious point of view; for they are known to be much more zealous in satisfying the demands of their avarice and ambition, than in promoting the cause of Christ, and are said to corrupt and modify, by a variety of inventions, the pure doctrine of the Gospel, in order to render it more generally palatable, and to increase the number of their ambiguous converts. II. The doctrines of Christianity have been propagated in Asia, Africa, and America, with equal zeal, both by the Protestant and Popish missionaries. But we cannot say the same thing of the true spirit of the Gospel, or of the religious discipline and institutions which it recommends to the observance of Christians; III. A famous question arose in this century, for it is an undeniable fact, that many of those relating to the conduct of the Jesuits in China, whom the Romish missionaries have persuaded and their manner of promoting the cause of to renounce their false gods, are Christians only the Gospel, by permitting the new converts to as far as an external profession and certain re- observe the religious rites and customs of their ligious ceremonies go; and that, instead of de-ancestors. This question was decided to the parting from the superstitions of their ances-disadvantage of the missionaries, in 1704, by tors, they observe them still, though under a different form. We have, indeed, pompous accounts of the mighty success with which the Jesuistical ministry has been attended among the barbarous and unenlightened nations; and the French Jesuits, in particular, are said to have converted innumerable multitudes in the course of their missions. This perhaps cannot be altogether denied, if we are to call those converts to Christianity who have received some Clement XI., who, by a solemn edict, forbade the Chinese Christians to practise the religious rites of their ancestors, and more especially those which are celebrated by the Chinese in honour of their deceased parents, and of their great lawgiver Confucius. This severe edict was, nevertheless, considerably mitigated in 1715, in order to appease, no doubt, the resentment of the Jesuits, whom it exasperated in the highest degree; for the pontiff allowed |