THE LORD OUR GOD,to continue in the profession and obedience of the said true religion; that we will defend the same, and resist all contrary errors and corruptions, according to our vocation, and to the utmost of that power that God hath put into our hands, all the days of our life."-Perhaps a more presumptuous and sanguinary Covenant, than this, had never been made since the time that more than forty men bound themselves under a curse not to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul; yet such was the light, or the darkness, which prevailed in Scotland but five years prior to the Westminster Assembly. B. Permit me here to ask, did the Covenanters say they would persecute and put men to death, who should dissent from them? A. No otherwise than by swearing to act in conformity to such bloody laws as made it rebellion against the king, to dissent from the creed of their church; and which exposed men to "be punishable as rebellers or gainstanders-who shall not give their confession and make their profession of the said true religion." Neither papists nor protestants were willing to admit, that they were persecutors in torturing and burning those who dissented from them; but each with the greatest truth accused the other of persecution. B. Proceed, Sir, if you please, with your narrative. A. In 1641, two years prior to the meeting of the Westmin-, ster Assembly, the popish mas sacre took place in Ireland. This was one of the most horrid scenes that was ever witnessed in our guilty world. 40,000 is the lowest calculation, and some writers swell the account to 150,000 or more of the English protestants, who fell a sacrifice to the vengeance and fanaticism of the papists. Men, women, and children, and people of every rank,were indiscriminately butchered by these savage christians, and with circumstances of the most dreadful barbarity. This Irish rebellion had not been quelled when the civil war in Eng. land commenced. In the second year of the civil war, the king's party had gained some advantages, and the parliament were in need of aid. They sent commissioners to Scotland to form a kind of alliance, and to procure help. These com missioners proposed and obtained what was called "A solemn League and Covenant," to effect a uniformity of faith throughout the three kingdoms. In this League the subscribers in Scot land and England, mutually and solemnly bound themselves to aid each other, and to do all they could to extirpate popery and prelacy, or the episcopal form of church government. The di In the same year, and in furtherance of the same party design, the English parliament called together the Westminster Assembly of divines. vines who met were appointed by the parliament while at war with their king, except five commissioners who were sent from Scotland. This Assembly, therefore, met under all the disadvantages which result from the passions and prejudices excited by civil war, when both religion and politics are blended in the quarrel. B. If the Assembly was called under such circumstances, why have these fathers been so renowned for piety? A. I suppose that some of them were eminently good men; but we know that party spirit makes strange work in estimating characters, as well as in judging of other things. The divines were evidently chosen for a party purpose, and they must have been eminent indeed, if they were above being influenced by party considerations, in such a time, and under such circumstan ees. B. The people of England and Scotland did not surely long continue their religious connexion; what then became of the Solemn League and Covenant? A. About seventeen years after the league was formed, Charles 11. having been restored to the throne, the parliament of Scotland passed an act "declaring the Covenant to be unlawful, and its obligation void and null." B. What was done on the part of England to get rid of the League? A. They restored prelacy, and ordered the Solemn League and Covenant "to be burnt by the hands of the hangman." B. It is probable that in the course of seventeen years, many of the subscribers had died, but I do not know what the survivers did with their consciences. A. They probably did as other people do, who, under the in fluence of party zeal, subscribe articles of faith not found in the Bible, and which they do not understand. When they come to their senses, they condemn their own rash conduct in subscribing, and then feel at liberty to act according to existing cir. cumstances. B. All the circumstances you have mentioned do not amount to proof, that the members of the Westminster Assembly were not godly men; nor that the articles of faith drawn up by them, were not according to the gospel. A. They however, show, that the time of their meeting was not a time of so great light in the church, as you and many others have supposed; and that the opinions of the Assembly are not entitled to such credit, as to be made the standard of truth or faith, nor to be admitted at all, without the most careful examination. I think the Assembly did as well as could be expected, of good men, who had just emerged from the midnight darkness of popery, and who were called together for a party purpose, in a time of civil war. B. Our forefathers who first settled New England, were of the sect called puritans; I hope you will allow that they were eminent for piety. A. I have no wish to cast any odium on the character of the Westminster Assembly, nor on the first settlers of New England. Making proper allowances for the opinion and manners of the age in which their lot was cast, I am disposed to judge favorably of them. There was, however, probably a great diver sity of character among them, as well as among their descendants. To speak without reserve, I cannot have a very high opinion of the light that prevailed at that period, on either side of the Atlantic; for it is my settled belief, that the principle and spirit of persecution in any sect, are not consistent with the prevalence of a great degree of either christian light or christian love. B. I am aware that such a spirit did prevail in that age, and that there were some bloody effects of it among our forefathers in this country. A. I will then ask, Do you find any thing worse than this, in those ministers whom you accuse of departing from the faith and purity of their ancestors? Would it increase your charity for them, should you see them so converted, as to embrace the Catechism by wholesale, and with it the principle and spirit of persecution, so far as to attempt the support of their doctrines by inflicting on dissenters imprisonment, scourging, banishment and death? B. Perhaps I have been under a mistake in estimating characters. You have brought to view some things which I had not duly considered. I need some time for reflection. I will think of what you have said, and perhaps have another interview on the subject at a future time. A. Be assured, Sir, that it affords me no pleasure, to dwell on the imperfections of our ancestors. But when I see a kind of respect paid to their characters and opinions, which tends to make of "no effect" the com mandments of our Savior respecting brotherly love, long suffering and forbearance; and which disposes christians of the present time, to feel themselves justified in censorious judging, and authorized to establish criterions of a christian character and terms of communion, not so much as hinted at as such in the gospel; I feel in duty bound, to do what I can to correct the mistake, by a fair statement of facts. By an undue veneration for opinions, received by tradition from their fathers, the Scribes and Pharisees of our Savior's time, not only made the word of God of no effect," and justified the most flagrant violations of the divine commands, but also rejected the Son of God, loaded him with reproach, and put him to death. We should take warning by their dreadful example, lest by a similar delusion we should be led to a violation of the commands of Jesus, and to condemn those who make it their aim to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. We should remember that loving the speculative opinions of our ancestors, is a very different thing from loving the Lord Jesus, or loving one another as he loved us. far as any of our ancestors possessed the christian spirit, they possessed the spirit of love and kindness-love to God and love to their fellow creatures; and the more there is in any sect or any person of LOVE TO ALL, the more there is of "PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION." So B. I think there is some truth in your remarks, but I must have time for reflection. Where shall the fainting soul repair? Can sympathy to life restore, The sleeping eye again illume? Blest Jesus! on thy sacred breast, Spread o'er the cheek health's vivid From the cold grave, thy friend arise. bloom; before "The Massachusetts Missionary Society," in the Old South Church, from Gen. xxii. 16, 17, 18, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord," &c. on the nature, extent, and perpetuity of the Abrahamic covenant, and the encouragement hence derived for missionary exertions. A collection was then tak en. Ar the General Election, 31 May, the Rev. James Flint of Bridgewater preached, from Deut, iv. 9. “Only take heed to thyself," &c. In the evening of the same day, the Rev. Nathaniel Thayer of Lancaster preached the first sermon in Boston, before "The Evangelical Missionary Society," in the Old South, from Mark xvi. 20. "And they went forth, and preached every where," &c. There was then a collection of $165, 73. This Society was instituted at Lancaster in 1807. Officers chosen at the last yearly meeting in October. Hon. ELIJAH BRIGHAM, Pres, Trustees. The President and Vice President, Rev. Aaron Bancroft, D. D. Joseph Allen, Esq. Dea. John White, Rev. Reuben Puffer, D. D. Dea. Moses Coolidge, Rev. Asa Packard, Thomas W. Ward, Esq. Rev. Richard R. Eliot, Isaac Fiske, Esq. Mr. Josiah Bridge, Rev. John Foster, Rev. Isaac Allen. The next annual meeting will be at Shrewsbury, 4 October, at which the Rev. Joseph Chickering is to preach. The second preacher is the Rev. Isaac Allen of Bolton. This Society originated the plan of locating their missionaries; and from the experiment they already begin to find the happiest results. Any person may become a member, on paying two objects of the institution. dollars a year to aid the benevolent 28 |