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Thomas Aquinas, and that Milton, speaking their lordships would decree in his favour by of our first parents, says:

"Prevenient grace descending had removed

The stony from their hearts, and made new flesh,
Regenerate grow instead."

Mr. Badeley, after proceeding for some way with his citation of patristic authorities in favour of the dogma of baptismal regeneration, was questioned by Dr. Lushington, the bishop of London, Lord Campbell, and Mr. Pemberton Leigh, as to the precise doctrine he was aiming to establish; which drew from him the explanation, that "he contended that the grace and the regeneration were tied to the sacrament." He was then allowed to go on without further interruption for an hour or more, when the bishop of London interposed with, "Do you deny that the stipulation of sponsors is necessary?" Answer: "I do." A series of questionings followed on the part of Dr. Lushington and Lords Campbell and Langdale. The most important interlocution, however, was occasioned by Mr. Badeley's "indecorous" remark, that he laboured under some disadvantage, inasmuch as he saw before him two most reverend prelates, who had committed themselves more or less, on the opposite side of the question. On being called upon by the archbishop of Canterbury to explain himself, the learned advocate referred to his Grace's having preferred a gentleman in the church, (the Rev. Mr. Goode,) who had taken a very violent part in this matter. The archbishop explained, that he gave the preferment to that gentleman, in consequence of his valuable work, entitled, "The Rule of Faith and Practice," published five or six years ago, and that his book on "Infant Baptism" had not been published at that time. Mr. Badeley expressed his thankfulness for his Grace's explanation, and apologized for his improper observation. Shortly afterwards, he concluded his argument; and the Court adjourned for an hour. On resuming, Mr. Turner commenced his reply, in the course of which he said, he had heard nothing to displace the argument he had urged, that the Prayer Book is the book of devotion, while the articles are the code of doctrine. Lord Campbell: "They may be pari materiâ, but passed alio intuitu." Mr. Turner: "Exactly so." And all doubt, he contended, was determined by the fact, that the prayer-book was in the articles of 1552; but was struck out of the articles of 1562. Another long series of questions, on the part of the Court, ensued. Lord Langdale said, it must be considered, as Dr. Addams and Mr. Badeley both admitted, that, as to infants, the opus operatum applied; but not so as to adults. Mr. Turner concluded with saying, that "the doctrines of Mr. Gorham were within the limits which were to be allowed in construing the doctrines of the church; and that, if they were not contrary to those doctrines,

reversing the judgment of the Court below." The sort of cross-examination to which the learned advocates were subjected, strikes us as rather a novel feature of such proceedings, although it was certainly not uncalled for; and, from the tenor of some of these interrogatories, we might infer a considerable difference of opinion, or of leaning, among the noble and learned personages constituting the Court, which renders their ultimate decision the more doubtful. Our contemporary, the British Banner, says: "There seems some reason to suppose that it will take a very unexpected turn. From gentlemen who are attending professionally, and carefully watching the arguments, noting, at the same time, those significant hints dropped by their lordships, which are as notes sounding afar, and giving sign of something to comewe have learned, that it is not improbable, that the judgment of Sir Herbert Jenner Fust will be reversed. It is rumoured that Henry of Exeter is willing to have it so, it having been distinctly understood that, in the event of a confirmation of the judgment of the Court below, the government will interfere and deal somewhat liberally with the rubrics and the articles, which would have the effect of tying up the hands of Henry and all his successors; and it seems that the right reverend father in God prefers to be the subject of a little temporary humiliation to having the fabric of his hot idolatry mutilated. Such is the rumour-we can say no more."-The Patriot, Dec. 20.

"Like begets like" is a truism; but it is no less undeniable that every abuse begets its opposite, and gives birth to an antagonism that, like the monster of Frankenstein, will not rest till its creator is destroyed. Excess of luxury begets extremity of wretchedness; and the loud revels of the palace are ever answered by deep curses from the hovel, which grow louder and louder in their dreadful earnestness till their sound is like the thunder of heaven above the puny voices of men. The licentious parent finds his children growing up around him only to blast his sight and wither his heart with that most sad and mysterious of all spectacles, the innocent suffering for the guilty. Every vicious system warms into life and fosters in its own bosom the snake that will sting it to the death.

Few instances of this, whether historical or contemporary, could be adduced more satisfactory than the trial now pending before the Privy Council of " Gorham versus the Bishop of Exeter." We have there two zealous adherents of the same church pursuing each other to the utmost extremity, because of a difference of opinion in the construction of the same words and the performance of the same ceremony. Two Christian brothers

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differ in judgment, and the more powerful does his best utterly to ruin the weaker, who, in his turn, seeks protection from the highest Court of Appeal in the kingdom. What state of things must exist to give rise to such a disgraceful proceeding as this! and what must be the condition of that church which, taking for its text-book the gospel of peace, thus breaks out into fierce contention at the sightest diversity of sentiment! All that we can say of it is this, that it is a monstrous contradiction, a consecrated inconsistency, a ruinous device of the father of lies. In it, as a great man once said, are to be found "a Calvinistic creed, an Arminian clergy, and a popish prayer-book "— elements so utterly hostile, that nothing but a cement of gold could have held them together for a single year. The wonder is not, then, that disagreement should arise, but that any agreement should exist for a day. We can only compare it to a noisy and discordant crowd, kept in humour by the liberal distribution of good cheer. The cause of quarrel will be forgotten, and politics sunk during the absorbing process of mastication; but, alas! the appetites and passions of men are unstable, and the peace of undeserved plenty is ephemeral. The strong man seizes on the portion of the weak; the weak cries out against the strong, and the very cause of contentment becomes the fruitful source of discord. And so it will ever be, as long as property is unjustly distributed, whether it be to an indigent and idle crowd, or to a rapacious and incapable clergy. Let men work for their bread, and their work will prevent their strife; but once make their title to public money accidental, without reference to qualification or desert, and you lay a foundation on which a building shall be erected, splendid it may be, but rotten as the grave and unsubstantial as a dream.

The decision in the case of " Gorham versus Phillpotts," whatever it may be, will be one which, but for the "patent cement" we have alluded to, would rend the church of England from end to end. The question of baptismal regeneration has given rise to more bitterness and caused the perpetration of more horrors than almost any other. The thumb-screw, the iron boot, the rack, and the gibbet, have been enlisted on its side. Men have been skinned and salted alive, burnt, sawn asunder, hung, drawn, and quartered, for denying it. With the exception, perhaps, of the consecrated wafer, we know of no more prolific source of dissension than the question, "Does or does not the child become regenerate in baptism?" "Yes!" says the papist, bishop Phillpotts, and the rubric. "No!" say common sense, Mr. Gorham, and the articles. Who shall decide? Shall the court of arches? The court of arches has already decided, and Mr. Gorham is non-suited. But there is yet a higher court, and if it should say "No," who shall then decide? Will the bishop of

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Exeter and all honest men "of this gentleman's way of thinking" evacuate? Will they stick to their principles? A question to be asked. Will they give up their livings? A question not to be asked. But, seriously, will the matter be so decided that all those who have been solemnly initiated into the Christian church, and made heirs of eternal life, will be, as it were, excommunicated by that decision? Must they indeed doff the lion's hide of the bishop, and put on the calfskin of the vicar? If so, we shall tremble for the consequences; and shall begin to cry out with the loudest, "The church is in danger!"-The Nonconformist, Dec. 19th.

Leaving, therefore, entirely the question of fact, and looking merely at the circumstance that such things are spoken, let us see how matters would stand in respect to all the courses which the judicial committee of the privy council might, by possibility, adopt.

Supposing, in the first place, that the judgment should be in favour of the bishop of Exeter, by the confirmation of that of the Court of Arches; in this case, it would be felt to be secure and absolute, as being in opposition to the supposed bias and wishes of the government. Nothing but the most obvious and unavoidable reasons for the decision, would be possible to account for it. The issue would be felt to be unalterable, and the Anglican party would achieve a triumph.

But, in the second place, supposing the judgment to be in favour of Mr. Gorham, it could have no real weight with thinking men. It would save, indeed, the status of the evangelical clergy, and confirm them, legally, in their position; but doubts and suspicions would rest upon it; while the men who exulted in the advantage it might confer, would be thought of as shielded and saved by

a manœuvre.

Again, taking the third course, and supposing the sentence to heal the breach by some tranquillising and liberal interpretation, by which neither party should be pronounced wrong, or both parties be authenticated and endorsed; this, surely, instead of a triumph to our evangelical friends, would be "a heavy blow and great discouragement." It would deprive them for ever of their exclusive pretensions as the only legitimate sons of the church, and would rob the church of the character they attribute to it, of being the "great witness for, and the great defender of the evangelical faith." After all their assertions, and all their boasting of the purity of the articles and formularies of the churchafter all their denunciations of the "poisonous," and "destructive," and "soul-destroying errors" of the Anglican party-they would be obliged to confess, in the language of the Record, in April last, that the church had always" tolerated, embraced, and availed

herself of the services of both classes;" those, that is to say, who "raised their hearers to the gates of heaven," and those "that led them down to the chambers of death." Evangelicism, in the Church of England, would sink down into one of the forms of opinion which it permitted to be professed; it would cease to be the profession of the institution itself. "Another gospel" would be legalised along with it, and the one or the other would equally and authoritatively be ruled as acceptable and approved in her sons! Mr. Bickersteth says, that, by the confirmation of Sir Herbert Jenner Fust's judgment, 66 our beloved church would be placed in a false position;" but we ask, and we ask with confidence, on the issuing of a decision which should legally authenticate evangelical and anti-evangelical alike, would not the former party be then placed in a false position too? And if, as he says, that the doctrine of the latter "flatters the sinner, deadens the conscience, and deludes the soul;" and "is the grand error of the perilous times of the last days;" and that from such as hold it "we are to turn away;" and, if he means what he says, when he feelingly asks," What faithful minister but will testify against such a false position?"-we ask, Will he carry this out in the circumstances we have supposed? will he either "testify" against his own "false position," or turn away "from the erring brethren with whom he would be identified? In all these reasonings, and those of our last and previous papers, we proceed on the principles and protestations of our evangelical friends themselves. We take them according to their own showing, and appeal to them out of their own mouth. For ourselves, we like and admire latitude of opinion. We rejoice in the liberty which is practically enjoyed in the English church. We can see everywhere, and on all sides, how the sects are enslaved, and men are made "offenders for a word." There is no tyranny like the tyranny of the people-generally the ignorant, the forward, and the prejudiced,-who, in political and religious republics alike, crush and restrain the free utterance of the oracles they should reverence. But liberty in the church is purchased too dear; it has to be bought at the expense of promising at the threshold to repudiate it for ever; and it can only be exercised by the violation of vows; while, on the evangelical hypothesis, to enjoy liberty on a principle which awards it, at the same time, and in the same church, to those teachers who "flatter the sinner, deaden the conscience, and delude the soul," -this, surely, is something which the conscientious and "faithful minister" ought to find it somewhat difficult to accept! "Who," in the language of Mr. Bickersteth-"who would not testify against so false a position?" But how? Quakers give their "testimony" by suffering wrong; nonconformists gave theirs

by secession from the church; in what way will Mr. Bickersteth "testify?" By continuing, he says, even on the worst supposition-the confirmation of the judgment of the Court of Arches-in the church, and seeking redress, a reversal of the sentence, by applying to the "highest ecclesiastical and CIVIL authorities of the country!" Asking, we suppose, such an assembly as parliament to decide and pronounce on the scriptural doctrine of regeneration!!-Christian Times, Dec. 21.

THE LATE REV. JAMES HARRINGTON EVANS.

His

"The Rev. J. H. Evans, M.A., pastor of the baptist church in John-street, Doughty-street, for nearly thirty years, died on Saturday, Dec. 1, 1849, at Stonehaven, in Scotland, in his 65th year, after a lingering and painful illness, occasioned by being thrown from a carriage. The deceased gentlemen had not preached since August, 1848. It is pretty generally known that most of his relatives were connected with the establishment. father, the Rev. Dr. Evans, was prebend of Salisbury Cathedral; and Mr. Evans, at a very early age, became the minister at Milford, in Hampshire, a small village about five miles from Lymington. Here he continued for a time; but his opinions upon several doctrines having altered, he felt he could no longer conform. Mr. Evans continued in the village of Milford, where a small chapel was built, which still remains, and, by the assistance of the present church in John-street, has been continued, it being a cause always near his heart. On one of his visits to Taunton, where he occasionally preached, Mr. Drummond, who was in that locality, was induced to go and hear Mr. Evans. From this circumstance a friendship sprung up between them, which ultimately led Mr. Drummond to build the chapel in John-street, and present it entirely free to Mr. Evans for life. He has left behind a widow, two sons, and one daughter (by his first wife). Mr. Evans's remains were brought to London. The funeral took place on Thursday, Dec. 6, at Highgate Cemetery, and was attended by about four hundred members of his church and congregation."

The preceding paragraph is appended to an address delivered in the chapel of the Highgate cemetery by the Rev. C. A. M. Shepherd, on Thursday, December 6, 1849, at the interment of the late Rev. J. H. Evans, as it appears in The Pulpit of December 15th. In that address Mr. Shepherd referred to Mr. Evans's last illness in the following terms.

"As he glorified God in his life, so he was permitted to glorify him by his death. Although a great sufferer for three months, both

bodily and mentally his sun did at last go down without a cloud, and he passed out of time into eternity without a struggle. Jesus was to his soul as a morning without clouds, and gave him a peaceful end. 'I 'Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.' Being asked on one occasion how he felt, he said, At peace with God.' But subsequently to this, and on the Sunday (November 25) previously to his death, he was enabled to speak sweetly of Jesus, whom he had so much honoured in his life and in his ministry; and the expressions he used show the deep views he had of the pollution of his nature, and the clear perception the Holy Spirit vouchsafed to him of his acceptance in the person of the Lord Jesus. The following extract from a letter written by his beloved wife to one of the deacons of John-street church, November 26, will show that the glorious truths he preached so powerfully to others were the food of his own soul in a dying hour.

"Yesterday morning I said to him, that I felt sure much prayer was made for him that day; that I had written to you to tell you he was worse, as I felt the church ought to know it. You should tell them the state of my mind,' was his reply. I then asked him if he had any message; and he answered, 'Tell them I stand accepted in the beloved, notwithstanding all my sin, and infirmity, and hellishness.' In a minute he proceeded, 'I never felt more than I do now my sin and hellishness; but in Jesus I stand-Jesus is a panacea.' "" (In the light of God's holiness we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and feel ourselves worthy of death; but by faith in Christ we see ourselves worthy of heaven.) "I had previously remarked how soon he would be with Jesus, and had spoken a little on that subject; and as his mind began to wander, I left the bedside, and sat down by the fire; when, in a few minutes, he said, And am I so near eternal glory, and not rejoicing in it?' I replied, But I think you do.' To which he answered, 'In a measure.' He was, however, then exhausted, and could not speak more. This morning I read to him parts two and three of the three hundred and sixty-third hymn in our selection, which, from his manner, he much enjoyed, though he did not speak; nor did he when I read some passages of Scripture; but, some time after, when I expressed some sympathy and tenderness, he said, But soon to be with Jesus, whom I love; who loved me before I loved Him.' After this, (Nov. 26,) it may be said, he scarcely spoke at all; but, when released from a body of sin and death, (Dec. 1,) his voice was heard in heaven singing, Salvation unto our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb."

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On the following Lord's day morning, the Rev. Octavius Winslow delivered a sermon

on the occasion in John Street Chapel, from the words, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." "Mr. Evans," said the preacher," entered upon the office of the Christian ministry-as alas! many have done -while yet a stranger to the converting grace of God. For some years he preached, but preached as a man upon whose spiritual eyes the seal of darkness was impressed. It pleased God, however, to remove this seal, and to open his blind eyes to see the truth, and him who is the substance, the glory, and the sweetness of the truth. And from the moment that it pleased God who had called him by his grace to reveal his Son in him,' to the day of his death, his one and earnest aim was to follow Christ, as the light of Christ shone upon his way. There are two periods or points in his history which justice to his memory, a regard for the honour of truth, and the glory of our Lord, demand should not he passed over in perfect silence, and to which with all tenderness and humility would I allude.

"There was a period in the early part of his ministry in this place-why should I conceal it?-when his views on two essential doctrines of the gospel underwent a mournful change. Losing sight, for a moment, of his Model, guided and ensnared by the teaching of man-for this, my brethren, was the secret of his error,-he ceased for a moment to hold fast the profession of his faith without wavering. Need I say that it was a mental and not a moral defection from the truth? For during the whole of the period that he walked beneath this cloud, his single and honest aim was to know and to do the will of God. But what, my brethren, were the effects upon himself of the views which he adopted, preached, and published ?-a drying up of all unction, a withering of all power, a thinning of his congregation, and an end of all success-indeed, an entire paralysis of his ministry and usefulness. Beware how you tamper with the Godhead of the Saviour, and with the divine personality of the Holy Spirit! But it pleased God to recover his servant from these views; and from the moment that he emerged from this temporary cloud, the Sun of Righteousness shone forth in him, and through him, with greater efful. gence than ever, nor ceased to shine, but increased in its lustre until he arrived at the perfect day. Oh! what true contrition of heart, what sincere repentance, what deep self-abasement marked his return to the truth! With what touching, heart-melting language-his eyes often suffused with tears -was he wont to advert to the period of his error. You are witness how earnestly ever after was he both by his pen and his pulpit to repair the injury he had done, and to establish the doctrines he had impugned. He entirely bought up and destroyed every copy of his work; and on every occasion

exalted the Lamb of God in the essential | deity of his nature, and in the atoning character of his work; claiming at the same time on behalf of the Holy Spirit an equality with the Father and the Son. Never did he appear greater, never did his whole soul kindle with truer eloquence than when his subject led him to touch upon the essential and absolute deity of the Son of God, and the consequent atoning character of his work. "I am aware that the idea was at one time prevalent in some quarters, and even found its way into the public prints, that he regretted his secession from the establishment, and would gladly, could he have evaded a three years' silence, have retraced his steps, and returned to the bosom of the English church. I stand here to vindicate the honour of my friend and brother for sincerity and consistency of principle, and do most solemnly affirm, upon the strongest evidence, that he never for one moment faltered in his course, or regretted the step he had taken. That he still loved and associated with many of his ministerial brethren who yet ministered within the pale of the church which from the most conscientious conviction he had left, was natural, lovely, and proper: but he declared to me most solemnly on one occasion, that if the alternative were offered to him of the largest church in London, or a couch of sickness, and suffering, and silence, he would choose the latter rather than yield the principles which he had avowed. I speak not this to wound the feelings of any dear brother who differs from me-and many such there are whom I yet tenderly love, and with whom I cordially labour,-but to vindicate my friend's character as a holy, consistent man of God, who, in the spirit of Caleb, desired, be the opinions of others and the consequences what they might, to follow the Lord fully."

earnest, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!'' Go, brethren, and do the same. Again the tares and the wheat are gathered-they are not severed yet-they are not gathered in bundles yet to be burned; there is time yet, hope yet. Oh! if you did not listen to many awful appeals, to many solemn warnings, to many affectionate entreaties, while he lived, think of a voice that is now dead, and that you shall hear no more, and go to the God that lives, that like this reclaimed blasphemer, this converted infidel, you too may be the trophies of redeeming love, added to the church of Christ on earth, and meet triumphant with your departed friend, in the kingdom of God's glory!

THE PAST AND THE FUTURE.

The year that is just closing upon us has been less prolific in startling events than that which preceded it. But, if we judge aright, the lull which has come over the nations is rather the precursor of a still fiercer storm, than the incipient quietness of a permanent peace. It is impossible that the elements which are fermenting in the bosom of European society should not work disturbance. Nothing will neutralise them but that antagonistic and divine element which is the salt of the earth. Civilisation and the arts of social life, commerce and the intercourse of nations, science with her almost miraculous control of the elements, and the marvellous facility with which she seizes the vapour and the lightning and bids them obey the will of by long-oppressed nationalities of civil and man, political revolutions, the achievement religious freedom, the multiplication of books, the circulation of knowledge, the spirit of inquiry, these and similar means may contribute to ameliorate the temporal condition, In the evening, Mr. Noel addressed the and supply the physical and even the intelcongregation from the words, "That ye be lectual wants of man; and no lover of his not slothful, but followers of them who through species but will rejoice in the pre-eminence faith and patience inherit the promises." At of the present times, in all these respects, the conclusion of the discourse, the preacher over every preceding period of history. But introduced the following anecdote:-"It is the malady of human nature lies deeper than just now twenty-three years ago," writes an to be touched by any of these. Give him estimable minister of Christ, the pastor of a knowledge-give him science-give him church in the country, "since I first entered civilisation-give him freedom-give him John street, an avowed infidel and a bold commerce-and man will be an unhappy and blasphemer. Our late dear pastor was in the a hopeless creature still, without an object, or pulpit. His text was, 'Let both grow toge- an end suited to his nature, or worthy of it. ther until the harvest, and in the time of He may yet live to be miserable, and die to harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye be lost. But give him the gospel, make him together first the tares, and bind them in acquainted with the cross of Christ, and in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat that he will find the cure of the most ininto my barn.' I can see his countenance veterate evils, and the spring of whose healing now, beaming with a peculiar expression of waters if he drinks he shall live for ever. holy feeling that rivetted my attention, while The dignified and the lovely, the just and the great Spirit of God so took possession of the benevolent of human character are the every faculty of my soul, that before I reached fruit, not of philosophy, but of the gospel home I for the first time prayed in real-not of reason, but of faith. Nor until

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