"If by such proceeding there would be no injury to their liberty, why have the ministers and churches in Britain so rarely adopted this practice?" To this question it may, perhaps, be difficult to return a definite and specific answer. The query, however, implies that the practice has sometimes been adopted. Several causes may have operated to prevent its more general adoption. Till within comparatively the last few years, County and District Associations were (unhappily for our denomination) scarcely in existence; consequently there were not the means of either seeking or obtaining that particular kind of advice to which the question refers. Where there have been the means, and where, at the same time, these means have not been rendered available to the object in question, it may not be greatly incorrect to conclude, that the want of duly considering the matter has been one of the chief causes. I will not allow myself to suppose that any minister, or any church, would be disposed, through selfishness, or through the influence of any other unscriptural feeling, wilfully to forego the advantages likely to result from such a mode of procedure. Nor will I arrogate to myself the liberty of affirming that there are any amongst us so utterly acquainted with the real nature of Independency, as to imagine that by soliciting and receiving counsel in cases of painful emergency, they would be acting inconsistently with their professed principles.

The preceding questions seem to have been proposed chiefly as preparatory to the last, which, in my opinion, assumes considerable interest and importance. "What would be the probable advantages to ministers and churches of soliciting and observing, in all their difculties, the advice of such associated bodies?"

The recent establishment of County and District Associations must be hailed as propitious in no ordinary degree. It is not too much to affirm, that, independently of their other advantages, which are neither few nor small, they have been, secretly at least, preparing the way for the establishment of that general and tangible union amongst us, which is SO fondly anticipated by many, and the want of which is too justly regarded as a reflection upon our principles, a stain upon our character, and a reproof to our supineness. From such associations, we trust no minister, whose official and moral qualifications are recognized by his brethren, and no church which aims at its own advantage, and is desirous of co-operating with others in the accomplishment of scriptural and praiseworthy undertakings, will stand aloof. Such reservedness, in either case, would argue a selfishness which ought ever to be deprecated, and an indifference to the general interests of religion, which stands directly opposed to the loving, social, and expansive spirit of Christianity. When ministers and churches are thus leagued in an ostensible and holy brotherhood, those facilities are presented for the expression of Christian sympathy, and for the soliciting and giving judicial and salutary counsel, which could not otherwise exist.

causes which, lacking the aid of experience, are in danger of falling into palpable errors as to conduct and discipline; and likewise to many of those churches which may, for a time, be destitute of pastoral guidance and admonition. Nor would he forget just to state, that the young and inex perienced, although able and pious minister, might, peradventure, find his benefit in the conduct supposed. Were the churches and ministers now alluded to, and, in deed, others, to advise, under the circumstances stated in the queries, with their brethren in an associated capacity-did we all, under the influence of a hallowed sympathy, thus endeavour, as far as the entire independence of our churches would permit, to assist each other in our difficulties and perplexities, the cause of the Redeemer amongst us would be materially strengthened. Pardon me, gentlemen, if I venture to express a sentiment, which my limited observation has induced, viz. That, hitherto, as pastors and churches, we have not manifested that practical regard for each other's spiritual welfare which our fundamental principles not only admit, but absolutely demand.

This observation leads me to specify another very obvious, although rather indirect advantage, which would result from this mutual exchange of tender feeling and affectionate concern. Such procedure, it is presumed, would tend most powerfully to strengthen that visible chain of brotherly attachment, which would not only bind our hearts in closest union to each other, but would likewise obviate successfully an objection frequently started against our sys. tem by our opponents-an objection drawn from the apparent

looseness and vagueness of our external polity. Our ministers and churches, under the circumstances supposed, would gradually become better acquainted with each other; and they would learn to feel a more lively interest in each other's trials and prosperity. The success of one particular minister or church would be felt to be the success of all; and the discouragements of one would be mitigated by the participation and sympathetic expressions of all. In fact, there would be a greater and more palpable concentration of energies, and a more simultaneous, and, therefore, humanly speaking, a more effectual attack upon the powers of darkness.

The writer cannot dismiss this subject, without gratefully adverting to the encouragement which he and his brother ministers, in a certain limited district of the country, feel from their stated and periodical intercourse with each other. We form part of a County Association, and our practice is to meet quarterly, at each other's place of abode. At our meetings,

we take into minute consideration

every thing which we deem necessary and important, connected with our respective churches and our individual spheres of labour. While we erect no authoritative tribunal, we deem it our duty and our privilege to advise with each other, when necessary, as to our modes of operation. The influence upon our own minds is salutary and beneficial in several respects. We find our mutual sympathy increase; rejoice in the liberty with which Christ has made us free; and return to our homes and to our people, we hope, with increased activity and zeal.

J. W.

A VOICE was heard, amid the wilderness;
It was a voice prophetic, that foretold
Th' advent of the Messiah. He who spake
Was with a garment wrapp'd of camel's
hair;

While simply round about his loins was girt

A leathern girdle; his meat was locusts, And wild honey was his daily sustenance, Which suited well his life's austerity; The gathering multitudes around him throng'd

From all Judæa, whose fame had ev'n reach'd

Jerusalem, and the region skirting Jordan; crowd following crowd, press'd eagerly,

Awe struck, to gaze, upon the holy man Of whom Esaias spake, in olden time; The Anchorite appearance which he bore, The deep seclusion of the life he led, Lone dweller of the howling wilderness; Wild beasts that couch'd beneath their hidden lair,

O IT is good, when all alone

To feel the deep, the holy calm,
Soft stealing on the heart; unknown,
Save when the Spirit sheds its balm;
Then to the soul new life is given,
It breathes the atmosphere of heaven.
The wandering of desire returns,

And not a thought a moment strays; The heart is fixed; the incense burns, And God accepts the song of praise; Faith spreads her wings, and, upwards borne,

Beholds the lessening world with scorn.
Ah! would that I could always dwell,
Thus of the dawn of heaven possess'd;
Temptation, with her broken spell,

Might try in vain to break my rest;
But when the vision disappears,
I find me in the vale of tears.

I. S. H.

But soon from all this dark turmoil,
My soul shall take her silent flight;
Then shall I cease from sin and toil,

And see the beatific sight

Of that best Friend, whose smile below Made earth to me no world of woe. That blessed hour I'll longing wait,

As watchman for the break of day, And while I wait, anticipate

Heaven's work, and song, and company. This, this my joy in sorrow is, The secret of my happiness. And oft I'll seek to be alone,

And pray, and wait to feel the calm That steals upon the heart; unknown, Save when the Spirit sheds its balm, And dwelling in the tranquil breast, Gives prelude of eternal rest. Selinginsk.

W. S.

TRUE, not in desert caves and dens, Where forest creatures hide and sleep; Nor in deep woods, or distant glens,

Do churches now their vigils keep.
Yet, should not apathy be shed,

By still security and peace;
But though no martyrdom we dread,
The martyr's spirit should not cease.
Homerton.

38.

Like them devoted, humble, pure,
Obedient to our Master's call;
We, waiting, should our time endure,
Ready to do and suffer all.
Pattern of suffering! guide divine!
Thou sacrifice and martyr too!
All that is ours we yield for thine,
Purchas'd by thee, to thee 'tis due!
JAMES EDMESTON.

The Ecclesiastical Polity, and other Works of Richard Hooker, with his Life, by Isaak Walton, and Strype's Interpolations; to which are now first added the "Christian Letters" to Mr.Hooker; and Dr. Covel's" Just and Temperate Defence" in reply to it; accompanied by an Introduction; a Life of Thos. Cartwright, B.D and numerous Notes, by Benjamin Hanbury. In 3 vols. 8vo.

66

Holdsworth and Ball. £1. 11s. 6d. WHATEVER reverence is due to the of the memory judicious," "learned" and " godly" master, Richard Hooker, (and we have no heart to depreciate a character so long and so deservedly esteemed,) yet we believe there are none of his admirers, whether they be high churchmen or low churchmen, who, if they will analyse their admiration, will take upon them to say, that it arises mainly from the efficiency of his work as a defence of the Church of England. It may have originated in the majesty of his style-in the charms and fascination of his genius in the ingenuity and ability of numerous passages, or the distinct treatises on particular topics, with which the work abounds, and in many cases, perhaps, from the mere dictum of some great author or learned critic; but we would put it to churchmen as a question well deserving their serious consideration, whether they can say their admiration of Hooker arises from the satisfaction, the complacency they feel in the reasonings of his great work, and its sufficiency to vindicate the church of England against the Papist on the one side, and the Protestant Dissenter on the other? We

conceive there are few candid Churchmen who would affirm this. Hooker is admired, and justly, but it is for the eloquence-the

dignity of his composition-for the exalted merit of certain episodesthe extensive learning the great ingenuity-or the discriminating judgment he displays in questions of general science and polemical theology: and hence we verily believe he is admired as much, perhaps read as much, by Dissenters as by Churchmen. The reason is obvious; his work is an intellectual refreshment; it excites no alarm; it inflicts no wound; we can read it and feel that the controversy with the church of England stands just where it did. To a Dissenter, a more amusing circumstance can scarcely be conceived, than to hear Churchmen talking about the immortal defence of their establishment, and the impregnable bulwarks which Hooker has supplied, and the rich armoury which they have always at hand in his immortal works, and all that—while it is clear, that the Ecclesiastical Polity, as to Dissenters, is really as powerless as a wooden sword, and as to the church itself, just as thriftless a defence as a hedge of brambles. Even in the age when this lauded vindication first appeared, it accomplished nothing. The book was admired, but the cause sank. Richard Hooker was praised, but the church was not benefited; and, subsequently, after the principles of the work may be supposed to have been duly digested, when they had exerted their utmost vigour, and put forth all their efficiency, they made church bigots and state tyrants more intolerant in spirit than they were before; while, to dissenting principles, a stimulus rather than a check was ministered, by a sad mischance, no doubt, or a pe

culiar perverseness of intellect in those days, or any thing else that the friends of the church may be pleased to imagine. Yet so it was the Church of England, with this vaunted defence, in the freshness of its youth, and the flush of its surpassing beauty, fell into deeper delinquencies than ever, and but for the principles of dissent, which, happily for the nation, had spread deep and wide their immortal roots, would have re-established popery and arbitrary power. The plain fact is, Hooker's principles brought on the crisis of the church of England. Hooker's book powerfully contributed to recommend and reinforce those principles among the dominant party in church and state. The men who took upon them the defence and government of the church were the men who ruined the church, and would have ruined the liberties of the nation too, had not the principles of the puritans been an overmatch for prelatical power.

We do not wonder to find that Master Hooker's work was a great favourite at Rome-that it was the means of inducing some Protestants to prefer the Romish Church; our greatest wonder is, that men, calling themselves Protestants, could ever have approved it; and that men pretending to understand the state of the question between church and dissent, in the present age, should be so absurd as to recommend it as an antidote to dissent. It is read; but what Churchman feels that he is a whit more secure in this panoply than without it? or what Dissenter, who has perused it, feels his principles, in the slightest degree, invalidated by the elaborate argumentation of the judicious Hooker? The work is to be met with in almost every dissenting minister's library; it is to be picked up at every book stall for five shil

lings or less; and here is a sumptuous and unique edition of it, comprising the heads of the controversy which it originated, with an able life of the author by Walton, the whole edited by a Dissenter, who feels himself, after his work, more a Dissenter than ever and here is the additional consideration, that with Hooker's defence, so common and so much read, the Church of England is rapidly sinking in the esteem of thinking men, and the cause of dissent without the church, and the principles of dissent within it, every day advancing. Let Church of England men digest these matters, and see to them. The times are not to be met by Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity. The Church of England, if it is to be defended, must draw forth advocates of another class. Its friends must not expect to prop up their corrupt cause by pointing us to this elaborate treatise. all beside the mark they must meet us with other weapons, and with another kind of armour than Hooker's; that is antiquated, and is preserved now only to be deposited among the curiosities of a by-gone age, never again to be used.

It is

The "great work," as it is called, is doubtless an able and eloquent plea for the introduction of human authority in the affairs of Christ's kingdom, and, as an argumentum ad hominem to certain parties in his own day, who admitted the lawfulness, and pleaded for the necessity of such human legisla tion, is at least perplexing. The work is not destitute of power, though its principles are essentially anti-protestant, and would, if legitimately pursued, land us finally in Rome. But with those who deny in toto the foundation of Hooker's work-those who disclaim the authority of human law, and the necessity for