the truth of the Gospel-that mankind may understand his mission as really divine. We are aware how fully this prayer was accomplished in the first days of the Church, when her heathen adversaries could exclaim with admiration, How these Christians love one another!' There existed not then those deplorable divisions, which unhappily characterize the Christian world at present. At present might it be remarked, says a recent writer, How these Christians are disunited.' While we lament the prejudices and the passions, that have thus mingled themselves with the pursuit and enquiry after truth; while we confess with shame that Christianity, does not indeed discover that appearance, which would accord with this most solemn supplication of the Redeemer himself; while as our profession requires of us, we presume not to condemn those who walk not in the same path with ourselves, let us at the same time beware of contracting that spirit of indifference to religious unity which under the abused names of liberality and charity is one of the most mischievous enemies of our progress towards perfection. That is no matter of indifference for which our Saviour supplicated heaven in the last and most solemn night, even the night in which he was betrayed. If God has pleased, that we should be established in that way which patience and candid investigation shall have led us humbly to believe the right, duty enjoins us to 'hold fast our profession without wavering,' but without presumption. Divisions among brethren we must not esteem of no importance, yet must so conduct ourselves as to recommend the opinions entertained by ourselves, not by violence of assertion, but by the better evidence of charity and piety and holiness of life. Thus shall we best evince our zeal in the cause of truth and Christian union: thus best display our love and obedience to that Redeemer who by the inestimable sacrifice of himself has purchased us to love and to good works." P. 98. As these lectures are intended as a manual rather than as a work of deep theology, the author naturally avoids the discussion of curious questions, of which a cursory review will always perplex the faith rather than inform the understanding, and holds up the sublime mysteries of our religion as lessons from which we may learn to believe in all humbleness of mind, to be conscious that our faculties are limited, and to lay a restraint upon a profane and dangerous curiosity. Of this mysterious nature were the agonies of our Saviour in the garden, those agonies which were properly called άγνωστοι κόποι και βασανοι, Sorrows and sufferings that pass the knowledge of man; and in dwelling upon these inconceivable, these inexpressible woes, the Bishop proceeds with pious caution, with diffidence in his own powers, with deference to the only authority, holding the judgment in suspence, and not pretending to wisdom beyond that which is written. The example of our Saviour's resignation does not require the same hesitation, and is placed in its proper light. "But whatever were the peculiar sorflicted, or however aggravated, until the rows of that agony, by whomsoever intorture of his mind forced from his sacred body the dreadful and almost supernatural tokens of intense and indescribable anguish within; whatever these might be, not less his patient and invincible resignation to conspicuous and still more instructive, was the will of his heavenly Father. • Not my will, but thine be done.' Doubtless my brethren here is an example, that we Master. Here is a lesson which we can unshould follow the steps of our most holy derstand, and which we must pray to that God, whose angel strengthened the sufferAmidst the vicissitudes and dangers of this ing Jesus to give us grace to practise. mortal condition, we must all of us expect to be called, as he who disposes of our lives shall think most fit, to trial and to suffering,-pains of body or affliction of mind. We are in this world, heirs of our father Adam, joint heirs with our brethren of the same nature, of the physical and moral evils, which sin brought into it. In the next world we trust through Jesus Christ our Saviour, to be admitted as heirs of the second Adam, and joint inheritors with Him who humbleth himself to call us brethren to a state, where evil hath no place. But in the present life we must have tribulation, the universal doom of man; and He who hath borne it for us, hath thereby instructed us how to bear it for ourselves. His resignation was not insensibility. It was a willing obedience to the will of His heavenly Father: and He felt the trial but he mastered it: and we with so affecting an example before us, must likewise strive such must be ours. against the impulse of our frail and mortal temper, assured that the endeavour for his sake will not be fruitless, and that from the Spirit which enables us to say like him, 'Not my will but thine be done,' we shall derive as he did the strength to act our part in the fulfilment of that will." P. 109. The fifth Lecture concludes with a remark, not new indeed, but most important to re-establish the faith of those, whose peace has been disturbed by the gratuitous but confident assertion of the Unitarians that our Lord never declared his own divinity. "I concluded my last Lecture with a remark on the attestation furnished by our Lord's language in his prayer of intercession to the doctrine of his own pre-existence and divinity. I shall conclude, at present, with a similar observation. The high priest in the most solemn form of adjuration, asked him and said unto him, 'Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am-and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. For this declaration the council convicted him of blasphemy, and condemned him to death. Our blessed Lord and Saviour sealed the doctrine with his own most precious blood. He was the first martyr to its truth." P. 126. The vacillating conduct of Pilate occupies the principal place in the sixth Lecture (on Good Friday) and the several passions with which he was agitated, and over all of which self-interest eventually prevailed, are delineated with the clearest discrimination of the sentiments, which he would entertain, and the conduct he would wish to observe as a Roman, and of the accommodation of his natural manners and sentiments to the prejudices and practices of the Jews, and especially to the charges of blasphemy and sedition, which the Jews imputed to our Lord. This Lecture shews the advantages which classical learning may contribute to the illustration of Christian truth. In the last Lecture it is shewn, that our Lord did actually expire upon the cross, and that such ex traordinary care was taken of the body after the crucifixion, as leaves no doubt of its identity, at the time of the resurrection. In the conclusion is a remark on the distinguishing plainness of the Evangelical narration, which may be applied to the regulation of our affections in the pursuit and investigation of the truth. "It is one of the most striking characteristics of the sacred historians, that while they relate his actions and his discourses, such as never man spake,' none of those exclamations of wonder, admiration, and affection escape them, to which, as we read, we are impatient to give utThis simplicity of narration is a convincing mark of truth, especially when combined with the unspeakable excellence and wisdom of Jesus, such as no human powers however cultivated, could invent, and far less the humble fishermen of Galilee. terance. But doth it not instruct us likewise to read in humility and silence, to forbear the attempt to enlarge on subjects, which the heart indeed must feel, but which the tongue of man is unequal worthily to express." P. 178. The contents of this volume are properly adapted to call forth the solemn meditations of the Passion Week, but to the true Christian the theme is always interesting; to him it is always satisfactory to dwell on the peculiarities which demonstrate Him that came from God, to study the digested history of his sufferings for the redemption of mankind, and to contemplate the high and holy example, which he hath left, that we may follow his steps. In the writings of Bishop Sandford religion is always put in an amiable and captivating form: and in this volume the reader will be more and more persuaded to love the Lord for his goodness; his affections will be exalted by the spirit of unaffectLectures, and his mind will be ined piety, which pervades all the structed and his faith established, by the perspicuity, with which both the history and the discourses of our Lord are harmonized, and by the clear judgment and unpretend. ing wisdom, with which various passages of Scripture are illustrated and explained. But the great advantage will be to fix his thoughts upon the chief end and object of a Christian's meditations, and if from these he shall arise with a melancholy reflexion upon the degeneracy of Christian practice, the Bishop's concluding admonition will recall his reflexions to his own improve ment. "Sometimes when we look around us in the world, we may be tempted to ask: Are these whom we observe engrossed by the pursuits of this generation, enslaved by the gain, the pleasures, or the honours of this fleeting day, are these aware, that they have been redeemed from sin and death not with contemptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot? Are they conscious that their vocation is to a state eternal and immutable; that here they are bound as strangers and pilgrims, to use present things with a due remembrance of their uncertain tenure,' and above all to abstain from carnal lasts, from the corruptions of an evil world, that war against the soul.' 66 My brethren, in as far as conscience may suggest, such a question to ourselves; we may have reason to fear that we are not walking worthy of the vocation, where-, nal lives! May the sense and memory of all Review of the Life of Archbishop (concluded from p. 310.) WE quitted Archbishop Sancroft at the conclusion of that interview with King James, in which a declaration against the Prince of Orange was so earnestly requested on one side, and so steadily refused on the other. We are now to see him as steadily refusing to take the oath of allegiance to King William, and submitting to be deprived of his archbishoprick rather than consent to such a step. The motives which influenced his conduct, and the consequences to which it led, are worthy of very serious and dispassionate consideration. When London was left to itself by the first departure of King James, other eminent persons, was held at a meeting of peers, magistrates, and Guildhall, for the purpose of preserving the peace of the metropolis. Archbishop Sancroft attended this meeting; and the result of it was a declaration, signed by him and temporal peers, in which it was retwenty-seven other spiritual and solved, that the departure of King James had disappointed their hopes of a free parliament; that they would apply to the Prince of Orange, who had undertaken "to rescue them with as little effusion as possible of Christian blood, from the imminent dangers of popery and slavery;" and that they would do their utmost to assist him in his endeavours, and to preserve the peace of the cities of London and Westminster. The declaration, it is to be observed, said nothing of conferring any authority upon the Prince; and a proposal made to that effect appears to have fallen to the ground without being seconded. His attendance at this meeting was the last public act in which Sancroft bore a part. was well received by King James when that monarch was brought back from Feversham to Whitehall; He and he, also, was honoured with one of the first letters which King James wrote after his arrival France. But there is no reason to suppose that any correspondence was kept up between them. The Archbishop affected nothing so much as privacy and retirement; he refused the chancellorship of the University of Cambridge, which was vacant at this juncture by the death of the Duke of Albemarle, and confined himself entirely to Lambeth. The following extracts will explain the manner in which his time was employed. "During all this period, the Archbi shop, although he forbore to come forward in public, or to take any steps which would pledge him to an opinion on the important question of settling the govern ment, was very anxiously employed in private in discussing the subject, and thereby endeavouring to come to a right decision. Amongst his papers which now remain, written with his own hand, are full and copious statements of the arguments adduced on all sides of the question; and from the pains and labour manifestly bestowed on collecting and putting these together, we have the most convincing proof that he formed his ultimate judgment on no light view of the subject, and not without a mature consideration of it in all its bearings. "One of the principal papers referred to, is entitled The present State of the English Government considered.-January, 1688 t.' A few extracts from this will give an interesting view of the manner in which he discussed the subject, and of the views of it which principally struck him. "It begins as follows: "The fact.--The king, by reason of some unhappy principles, opposite to the religion and interest of his people, acted contrary to those laws wherein the people "See Tanner's MSS. particularly vol. 459, which is almost entirely written with the Archbishop's own hand, and contains copious discussions respecting the settle ment of the govermnent, the new oaths, the statute of præmunire, and other similar topics." +See Tanner's MSS. 459. 1. The paper consists of twenty-five pages, written in the Archbishop's very close hand writing" esteemed their greatest security to be, and against reason of state, to that degree that most people wished for any means to be relieved, and many encouraged a foreign force to invade England. This succeeding, all the people deserted the king, some by joining with the foreign force, others by sitting still, and wishing well to the refor mation intended'; and the king, having no power to resist, leaves the kingdom without any provision for carrying on the government in his absence. By these means, the government is without a pilot, The captain of the foreign force, (in whom the visible power rests,) at the instance of the nobility, and some commoners, accepts the administration of the public affairs, both military and civil, until a convention of the estates of the kingdom meet, to consider and resolve how to settle the government legally and securely. "For this three ways are mentioned in discourse. "1. To declare the commander of the foreign force king, and solemnly to crown him. 2. To set up the next heir of the crown after the king's death and crown her; who, being the wife of the said commander, he will hereby have an interest in the conduct of the government in her right. "3. To declare the king, by reason of such his principles, and his resolutions to act accordingly, incapable of the government, with which such principles and resolutions are inconsistent and incompatible; and to declare the commander Custos Regni, who shall carry on the government in the king's right and name. "I'am clearly of opinion that the last way is the best, and that a settlement cannot be made so justifiable and lasting any other way." Vol. I. p. 413. After having shewn the absurdity of contending that the government was dissolved by James's misrule, and having observed that the Prince of Orange made no pretence to a right by conquest, and that our monarchy never was, or was thought to be, elective, he startles us by the following declaration, in answer to the argument from abdication, and then proceeds to confirm his own view of the subject. How far a prince may withdraw from his government I will not dispute by the rules of the civil law, or by the opinion of Grotins-but I do affirm that, by the common law of England, which is to judge be tween the king and his people in all cases that can happen; the king and people, that is, the mutual ties of protection and subjection, cannot be separated or dissolved by any human mean whatsoever, much less by the king's act alone."" Vol. I. p. 418. "He then comes to consider the third plan of proceeding, to declare the king inhabilis quod regimen Angliæ, and to appoint a custos, who shall carry on the goverment in his name, and by his authority.' 'It has been observed,' he says, that the political capacity or authority of the king, and his name in the government, are perfect and cannot fail: but his person being human and mortal, and not otherwise privileged than the rest of mankind, is subject to all the defects and failings of it. He may, therefore, be incapable of directing the government, and dispensing the public treasure, &c. either by absence, by infancy, by lunacy, deliracy, or apathy, whether by nature or casual infirmity, or, lastly, by some invincible prejudices of mind, contracted and fixed by education and habit, with unalterable resolutions superinduced, in matters wholly inconsistent and incompatible with the laws, religion, peace, and true policy of the kingdom. In all these cases (I say) there must be some one or more persons appointed to supply such defect, and vicariously to him, and by his power and authority, to direct public af fairs. And this done, I say further, that all proceedings, authorities, commissions, grants, &c., issued as formerly, are legal and valid to all intents, and the people's allegiance is the same still, their oaths and obligations no way thwarted.' "After considering the right of the proposed plans, he proceeds to the advantages or disadvantages resulting from then, and concludes with the following excellent passage, in which, whatever may be thought of his application of the principle, he admirably lays down the principle itself, so valuable in the judgment of every sound statesmau and moralist, that the practice of what is just and right will always prove the best policy in the main issue of events. "Upon the whole, having compared the expedients of a king de facto and a custos regni in point of security, I think the latter of the two is the more firm and secure settlement. But then, adding that it is the only just one, too, what reason can be pretended against the using of it. For, after all, it is a great truth, that the mind and opinion of every individual person is an ingredient into the happiness or ruin of ■ government, though it be not discerned till it comes to the eruption of a general discontent. Things just, and good, and REMEMBRANCER, No. 30. grateful, should be done, without expectation of immediate payment for so doing, but in the course and felicity of proceedings, wherein there will certainly, though insensibly, be a full return. For all things, in which the public is concerned, tend constantly, though slowly, and at last violently, to the justice of them: and if a vis impressa happens and carries them (as for the most part it doth) beyond or beside what is just; yet that secret vigour and influence of particular and private men's inclinations brings them back again to the true perpendicular. And, whoever he is that hath to do in the public, and slights these considerations, preferring some political scheme before them, shall find his hypothesis full of flattery at the first, of trouble in the proceeding, and of confusion at the last.' "The difficulty of taking the oath of allegiance to a new sovereign, during the life-time of a former, evidently struck him forcibly at this period. In one part he says, There is a further difficulty in the way of a king de facto, which is not in the way of a custos, from the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and fealty. For how can he, who hath sworn that King James II. is the only lawful king of this realm, or that he will bear faith and true allegiance to him, his heirs and successors, take those oaths to an usurper? And, if he takes them not, bow can there be regular parliaments or officers, all being disabled that do not take them? But, so long as the government moves by the king's authority and in his name, all those sacred ties, and settled forms of proceedings are kept, and no man's conscience burthened with any thing he needs scruple to undertake.'" Vol. I. p. 419. These are the principal passages which Dr. D'Oyly has selected from the Archbishop's MS.; and we take it for granted that he has published all that bears upon his subject.But as the foregoing extracts contain the principles upon which Sancroft did not act, it is to be regretted that his papers do not furnish any statement of the stricter doctrines to which he subsequently adhered. From the time of the famous interview between King James and the Bishops to the meeting of the convention which called William to the throne, there is nothing like passive obedience or non-resistance to be seen in Sancroft's conduct: and the 3 A |