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passages in his Sermon which, being ill-understood or unsuitable, gave rise to censure. This commission was executed.

April 11, 1817. As the greater part of the congregation who heard M. Malan, concluded that he preached the inutility of good works, he is requested not to repeat that sermon.

On the 30th of May 1817, the Moderator was instructed to summon M. Malan, on his demanding the use of the pulpit, to explain to him the inconsistency of his making that demand, and continuing his opposition to the Regulation; the Moderator was desired to prevail on him to submit to it, were it but for a short time, that he might give due notice to the clergy, if he afterwards wished to free himself from his engagement.

1st August 1817. Several pastors reported that they had seen M. Malan, but had vainly endeavoured to make him listen to reason; that he had declared that if the pulpit were still refused him he would preach in private assemblies. The Moderator was directed to send for him, to entreat him, for the sake of the peace of the Church, to abstain from proceedings which would disturb that peace, and if he persevered in his intentions, to declare to him that he alone would be responsible to God for the dissensions he would occasion, and that the only duty which remained for the pastors to perform was, to inform the Government of the efforts they had made to prevent the division with which the Church appeared to be menaced.

May 15, 1818. After some complaints had been heard, the Moderator was desired to induce M. Malan to set down in writing the reflections which he introduced into his public devotions, lest his imagination should lead him to digressions injurious to himself and unprofitable to his hearers. On the 14th of August 1818, it was reported that great complaints were every where made, both in the country and in the city, on the subject of M. Malan's latter sermons; it was therefore resolved that the pastors should not again admit M. Malan to their pulpits until they received further orders.

August 21st, 1818. M. Malan had holden conferences with some of the

pastors, and received letters from them calculated to inspire him with better sentiments; but he remains inexorable.

August 28th, 1818. Another letter from M. Malan. Answer from the Secretary, informing him that the pastors had come to their last resolution from the effect produced by his recent sermons, and the complaints made of them by his pious hearers. To avoid wasting all their time in revolving an affair which, from the perseverance of M. Malan, remained constantly under the same circumstances, the pastors determined that in future they would not deliberate on any letters they should receive from that minister, unless the deliberation were required by nine or ten

members.

On the 28th of May, the 4th of June, the 16th of July 1819, and the 4th of February 1820, M. Malan again demanded admission to the pulpit; his letters were left unanswered, in conformity to the above-mentioned resolution, which was strengthened by M. Malan's asserting, in one of the letters declaratory of his opinions on the controverted points, that all contrary sentiments were worthy to be regarded with horror.

From this time till about Easter in the year 1823, the most profound silence was observed respecting the conduct of M. Malan, who ceased not, in private and in his public instructions in a chapel which he erected in his garden, to declaim against the pastors of Geneva and to cast contempt on the worship and the temples of the National Church. At length, as he continued to encroach more and more, exercising the pastoral functions even in the parishes of the Genevan clergy, the ecclesiastical bodies felt it right to take cognizance of his proceedings: they suspended him from the office of a minister, and finally deprived him of the ecclesiastical character of which he made so improper an use. The following details will put the conduct of both parties in its proper point of view.

M. Malan underwent the first examination before the venerable Consistory, after which the members of it were called upon to vote on the following articles, and they decided on the facts unanimously.

1st. It is proved that M. Malan has violated the ancient and legal usage, which enjoins every minister to send the catechumens he has instructed to the pastor of their district, for examination and admission to the Lord's Supper.

2ndly. It is proved that M. Malan has acted so as to lead the catechumens to believe that in whatever place they are, and without legal admission, they are authorised to approach to the table of the Lord.

3rdly. It is proved that M. Malan has left his catechumens free to apply for admission into a Sectarian Church. 4thly. It is proved that M. Malan has violated the rule of the Consistory relative to the abjuration prescribed for those who would pass from the Romish Church to the Reformed Church of Geneva, by declaring that such forms of abjuration are not ne

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8thly. It is proved that the conduct of M. Malan attacks the authority with which the pastors of the Genevan Church are invested by the ecclesiastical laws, and diminishes the respect and confidence which they must enjoy to render their ministry efficacious.

All these facts being established, the venerable Consistory, having again deliberated, decreed that the Moderator should ask admittance to the Council of State, to make known its determination, and its motives in the following terms:

(29th April, 1823 :)

"After having deliberated twice on two different days, the Consistory has resolved to suspend M. Malan from the sacred office of the ministry; forbidding him to preach the word, to administer the sacraments, to celebrate marriages, as a minister to instruct catechumens, in a word, to exercise any ecclesiastical function; and the Moderator of the Consistory is directed to present, with this ex

tract from the records, the following address to the honourable Council of State.

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MOST HONOURABLE LORDS! verified the correctness of the details The venerable Consistory having concerning M. Malan, were led to inquire what use he had made of the privileges conferred on him by his ordination to the Christian ministry, and this is the result of their inquiry.

"Contrary to the order established by law and custom, the minister Malan, after having instructed and examined them in a public assembly, holden at young catechumens, has exhorted his house, to receive the Lord's Supper, without having sought the consent of their pastors, without having applied enforce on them the duty of receiving to them for examination; nor did he it publicly in the temples of the National Church, which the Consistory regards as the proper mode of its reception. M. Malan has not respected the rules which he promised never to infringe. He encouraged a young lady not to appear before her pastor. A youth of the Commune of Plainpalais, instructed, examined and received by him, shook off the pastoral authority, and received the communion last Christmas, under the auspices of M. Malan alone. After this fact was known, and the youth had undergone parish, who had summoned him to an examination by the pastor of his ing, he refused to appear in the temple correct the irregularity of his proceedto be admitted with the young catechumens, alleging that the officiating truth, and did not preach the doctrine pastor was not acquainted with the of Christ. The clergyman was M. Cellerier, the younger.

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in the Church, contrary to the written Contrary to the order established Consistorial rules long in force, M. Malan has permitted a great number of Catholics to partake of the sacraprevious abjuration, asserting that ment with the Reformed, without the act of abjuring was needless.

"Contrary to established order, he assumed the appellation of pastor in

This was a most extravagant assertion; no man in Geneva is a more sincere Christian than Professor Cellerier, and no one is held in higher and more deserved estimation.

writing his name to communion-tickets, given to several young ladies; thus making them suppose that he was invested with a character and a power which, in our Canton, cannot be assumed and exercised till after the election of the body of the clergy, confirmed by your Lordships, and approved by the flock.

"We have ascertained that during several years, both in his writings and in what he calls his chapel, he has frequently railed at the members of the National Church, denying them the precious and honourable appellation of Christians, and appropriating it to himself and those who are his humble auditors.

"We have ascertained that in various ways M. Malan strikes at the pastoral authority. He has robbed the pastors of the confidence of many of their parishioners, by representing them as the blind who are leading the blind; he speaks contemptuously of our religious assemblies; he makes a distinction between those pastors whom he calls evangelical, (whom he has offered to name to the Consistory,) and those from whom he withholds that epithet; exhorting his adherents to absent themselves from the public worship when the officiating pastor is not what he terms evangelical. In short, he does every thing in his power to monopolize the confidence and pastoral authority, of which he unjustly deprives those who have been his instructors, and who are his superiors, according to the order of the Church. "Most Honourable Lords! Although several doctrinal points taught by M. Malan are not contained in the Sacred Writings; although the doctrine, in particular, of the influences of the Spirit on the minds of individuals, on which he has been so fond of expatiating, is attended with incalculable danger, in the first instance exciting pride, and afterwards urging on to the excesses of fanaticisin, yet it is not of this we complain; in fact, he has taught it publicly during four years, in the midst of us, and we have not made the slightest remonstrance; but we complain of the violation of order, of the infraction of rules, of the substitution of a new and arbitrary discipline, for the discipline which your Lordships have made us swear to maintain. We took no

cognizance of M. Malan until we were compelled to do it by the offensiveness of his conduct, and by the fears and remonstrances of numerous members of our Church, and until we found the pastoral authority, with which you have entrusted us, questioned, and by a natural consequence the very existence of our Church endangered. Our pastors already feel the effects of conduct hitherto unknown in this country: when they find it needful to enforce the observance of rules established by ecclesiastical authority, for the spiritual benefit of the people; for example, when they consider that catechumens are neither old enough nor sufficiently well-instructed to participate worthily of the Lord's Supper, and feel it right mildly to resist the impa tience of the relatives of those young persons, the latter reply by declaring that they will go elsewhere.

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'Elected, as they are, to preserve or re-establish peace and good order in families, our pastors see their advice contemned by those whose minds have been poisoned against them; and it is a minister of the gospel who is interrupting, and threatening still more grievously to interrupt, our harmony; he violates our regulations, and with self-complacency hesitates not to declare in the face of the whole Consistory, that what he has done he will persevere in doing.

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"Most Honourable Lords! hering to our rules, obeying the imperative voice of duty, considering what is required of us by the religion of which we are the ministers, what is due to the flock entrusted to our charge, and what is due to ourselves, we have determined to suspend M. Malan from his sacred functions; we, therefore, deprive him of the rights which we had conferred upon him for the promotion of unity, and which he has made use of to cause division.

"Pursuant to the rules which we have submitted to your Lordships' notice, we have resolved to keep our deliberations and our determination secret, till that determination, which we are ordered to communicate to your Lordships, shall have been confirmed by you.""

Notwithstanding the force of the considerations and the evidence of the facts produced in the foregoing address, the Council of State replied to

the Consistory on the 30th of June following, merely to induce them to make fresh efforts to restore M. Malan to better feelings, and to bring him again into the bosom of the Church; and the decree of the Consistory was not confirmed.

The Consistory, thinking it right to defer to the wishes of the civil authority, decided that M. Malan should be again sent for, interrogated and exhorted, and that the pastors should be invited to reunite their efforts and exert their influence, to lead M. Malan to submit to order, and to the ecclesiastical authorities.

He appeared then a second time before the venerable Consistory, July 8, 1823, and the Moderator gave him the following exhortation :

"M. LE MINISTRE MILAN! "The venerable Consistory, after having reviewed the whole of your conduct, and having heard you affirm that what you had already done you would persevere in doing, considered that your offences were too serious to be longer borne, and consequently took the resolution of suspending you from the sacred office of the ministry. "The noble Council of State have likewise seen with displeasure the conduct you have pursued as a minister, and the sectarian spirit you have manifested; but believing it possible to bring you back into the bosom of the Church, before they should proceed to confirm the resolution submitted to them, have persuaded us still to hope for your submission, and to neglect no admonition or remonstrance which might influence your mind.

"In deference to the wish of our magistrates, we have again required your attendance. Yes, Sir, although various attempts to convince you have been made without effect in former years by individuals, and by the body of the clergy; and even although when such efforts have been made, you have at the moment subscribed to resolutions, and violated them immediately afterwards, we will once more endea vour to convince you of the inconsistency, and the dangerous nature of your discourses, your writings and your conduct. May He from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift, assist us to enlighten your mind and touch your heart!

"At the time of your ordination, you

promised submission to your superiors, engaging to comply with the commands of the pastors and the Con sistory. You were reminded of those engagements by subsequent instructions, against which you did not except. You were acquainted with the regulations and usages of our Church, and the spirit of peace and charity which reigned amongst our clergy and their congregations.

"Our ecclesiastical ordinances, pronouncing penalties on those who break the union of the Church, and rebel against its discipline, the example of all your colleagues, the interests of religion, the love of your countryevery thing, in short, enforced the duty of fulfilling your engagements and cherishing the sentiments of con cord and humility, which must animate faithful Christians and good citizens. Have you cherished those sentiments? Have you, under those characters, fulfilled the engagements entered into at your ordination? We appeal to public opinion, and to your own conscience.

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Though still calling yourself member of our Church, and professing not to have separated from it, have you not long acted in such a manner as to shew that you are a separatist, and that it is your wish to be at the head of a separate Church? Is not this proved by a great number of publications, in which you attack the pas tors and the other members of the National Church? Is it not proved by the erection of a house of prayer in which you conduct a religious worship in opposition to that of the National religion? Is it not proved by the sort of adherence which you acknowledge to Messrs. Guers and Empaytar, who have openly and boldly avowed their separation from our Church? Not satisfied with these public acts of separation, you have more than once represented the greater number of our pastors as not being evangelical, since you apply that epithet to a small minority, whom you have offered to name to this Consistory; you have detached many persons from our Church, and, if we may judge of the tree by its fruit, we must believe that you have inspired them with hurtful prejudices against our instructions and our faith; for several of them unhe sitatingly declare that they will not

join in our worship, and some have refused to send their children to the public instruction of the catechumens, under the pretext that that instruction was not consistent with Christianity, or to ratify their own baptismal vow in our temples, under the pretext that the officiating pastor was not evange lical.

"Next, how shall we address you on your manifest usurpation of the title and the functions of a pastor; on the permission you have given to young people, of fourteen or sixteen years of age, to receive the communion wherever they please, either in the National Church, or amongst the Separatists; on the fatal pride with which you inspire them, by leading them to believe that they are directed by the Spirit of God, and that they cannot err, whatever they may think proper to do?

"What shall we say to you of those insulting expressions you have more than once employed in speaking of our religious assemblies, and of the prohibition you have given to those whom you denominate your flock, to be present at our public worship, when the officiating pastor is not one of the small number whom you approve! "Do you not feel, Sir, that this conduct is altogether intolerable? Consider what would be the effect, if the authority of the Consistory were not employed to put a stop to it. The effect would be, that the oath of the ministers would be accounted as nothing; that every minister would think himself entitled to erect an oratory to conduct public worship in whatever way he chose, to set himself over a flock without being legally appointed its pastor, to receive at the communion those catechumens whom he alone had instructed and examined, without any title to admission but that conferred on them by his arbitrary will.

"Again, the effect would be that members of the Romish Church would become members of ours, without any previous declaration of their opinions, without examination of their motives and their religious knowledge, without means of ascertaining to what Church they belong.

The effect would be that very young persons, and even children, would think themselves capable of acting without the direction of their

parents or their pastors; that they would take the suggestions of selflove and the operation of pride for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and fall into serious errors by imagining themselves infallible.

"The effect would be discord, family disunion, (of which we have seen too many examples,) and the destruction of all order and discipline in the Church.

"Reflect seriously, then, Sir, and acknowledge that a Christian Church, like every other society, has need of laws, of regulations, of rulers, and that he who will not submit to the order of that Church, ought freely and honestly to avow that he does not reckon himself amongst its members.

Acknowledge your mistakes and your faults; the avowal would shew greatness of mind, it would entitle you to your own esteem and the esteem of your superiors; you would enjoy the approbation of your conscience, and the approbation of that God who, as we are taught in the gospel, regards humility and charity as the distinctive marks of a Christian, and the chief virtue of his ministers.

"Yes, my brother, if you are not desirous of troubling the Church and of making yourself conspicuous at any rate; if you are aware of the duty of a true disciple of Jesus; you will not refuse to be convinced, to observe proper discipline, and to make reparation for the injury you have done, which is already too extensive, and the fearful responsibility of which will rest on your own head, at the great day of retribution.

"You formerly inspired us with delightful hopes what has thus led you astray? Is it not the influence of the enemies of our peace, who have excited you to enthusiasm and caused you to swerve into the path you have hastily chosen? If when you entered it, you had been shewn whither it would lead; if it had been possible to give you a foresight of division in your own family, of rebellion against the discipline of the Church, of calumny uttered against those who instructed you and ordained you to the ministry of the gospel, of schism, of the abandonment of the evangelical principles of humility and love, you would have shuddered ! Return to more humble, more chari

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