and that none have any reason to fear who are under his protection." The following is important in this age of awful departure from the truth "The heresies of the second century were neither numerous nor important. A denial of the Deity of Christ could not find any patron within the pale of the Church, for the first two hundred years." Again :-"No fact in church history is more certain than this, and the demonstration is clear from thence, that Socinianism, in the year 269, was not suffered to exist within the pale of the Christian Church. I use that term, because it is now well understood. ‹ We believe,' writes Felix, the successor of Dionysius of Rome, we believe that our Saviour Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary; we believe that he himself is the Eternal God and the Word, and not a man whom God hath taken into himself, so as that man should be distinct from him: for the Son of God being perfect God, was also made perfect man, being incarnate of the virgin." " EIGHTH CENTURY." "The two evils which have risen to view during the last century, will not soon be paralleled. The papacy, gathering its foul exhalations to quench the light of truth; and the imposture of Mahomet, like a cloud from the bottomless abyss, withering, wherever it falls, with instant desolation. Both alike prove the corruption of the human heart, and the importance of relying alone upon Him, whose promise still is, the gates of hell shall not prevail. Both the eastern and the western Churches given up to darkness! the whole orb of Christianity! But the Lord reigneth.” 66 THIRTEENTH CENTURY.-Waldo and the Waldenses." "We are approaching the dawn of a brighter era, and it becomes us gratefully to contemplate its commencement. Enjoying the pure light of the Gospel, we ought frequently to look at the trials and the efforts of those who were the instruments of preserving for us that light." * * The following suggestions of the thirteenth century, should not pass unnoticed in this age of fashion and dissipation "Against the disorders of taverns, and the mischief of dancing, they are exceedingly severe. Remark one sentence: They, who deck and adorn their daughters, are like those who put dry wood to the fire, to the end that it may burn the better.' A tavern is the fountain of sin, and the school of Satan." * * * * It is astonishing to what an awful extreme the sale of pardons and indulgences was carried in the sixteenth century. Well might the soul of Luther be aroused to take the lead in the work of reform. My brother thus closes the second volume "We behold abundant proofs of the faithfulness of our God, as we contemplate his presence with his Church. He has permitted her to pass through various trials, but his own right arm has always defended her. In the storm of heathen persecution, he supported and strengthened his people. Amid the insidiousness of heresy, he raised up firm defenders of the truth. In the darkest periods of popery, he was not without tens of thousands who refused to bow the knee to Baal. The valleys of Piedmont bore testimony to his love. When corruption had run its course, and, as is always the case, when it is permitted so to do, had displayed its deformity, he gave to shine like stars to a midnight sky, Wickliffe, Cranmer, Luther, Calvin, and all those who revealed the long hidden light of truth. He has preserved his cause even amid the errors of his servants, and in these latter years, he has so poured out his Spirit from on high, and so aroused and directed the energies of Christendom, 288 MEMOIR OF REV. BENJAMIN ALLEN. that he has added proof to promise, that all shall know him, from the least to the greatest. A view of the progress of the Church, gives us at the same time, the strongest evidence of the depravity of man. Who, that sees the corruptions men have introducd; who that marks the errors with which they have deformed the fair aspect of truth; who that reads of the massacres and inquisitions of Rome, of the intolerance of the Protestants, of the attempts to deny Christ's essential glory; who that reads of these, but must confess that man is desperately wicked?" My brother, in his benevolent labours, had wheels within wheels, and endeavoured to accomplish a variety of good, by one effort. In the publication of the Church History, his object was, not only to promote the cause of the Redeemer, but a secondary consideration is displayed in the following notice to the public, by Mr. E. Bacon, into whose hands my brother had thrown the work for publication. "The publisher is unwilling to obtrude his private concerns upon the attention of any, but he feels that an additional interest will be excited in every benevolent mind, when informed that he has obtained of the Reverend Author, permission to publish this work, in order that he may provide for the education of his children." CHAPTER XVIII. CLERICAL PRAYER-MEETING-PROMOTES THE ERECTION OF ST. ANDREW's CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA; ALSO ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH, FRANCISVILLE. My brother endeavoured to break down the middle wall of partition, which separated the different portions of our Church. By his conciliatory manner he so far succeeded, that the brethren in Philadelphia were enabled to act more in concert in the promotion of the common cause of their Redeemer. For some time, they assembled once a week in each other's houses. On these occasions they engaged in prayer, and listened to an essay on some branch of clerical duty. Thus they pursued a course well designed to unite brother to brother in closer bonds, and to excite each other to love and good works. My brother's views and labours were not confined to the particular Church of which he was Rector; he also displayed an anxiety to promote the cause of Christ, the cause of the Church throughout the City, the Diocess and the World. As the necessities of the Church in his immediate vicinity arose to view, he not only endeavoured to direct and animate the efforts of his fellow-labourers, but he strove to enlist for that field, the labours of faithful brethren from other quarters. As early as the spring of 1822, we find him actively engaged in endeavouring to direct the attention of the Rev. Gregory T. Bedell to Philadelphia; this appears, by letters received from him, in answer to my brother's solicitations. Mr. Bedell was at that time pastor of a Church in Fayetteville, North-Carolina, and contemplated a removal from that climate, in consequence of the health of his wife. My brother's first object was, that Mr. B. should receive a call to fill a vacancy then existing in the city. As this was otherwise filled, he proposed that Mr. B. should give his labours to the erection of a new Church in the city. From the first, Mr. Bedell was pleased with the prospect of a location in Philadelphia, though he had invitations to settle in other places. My brother's movements, and the true state of the case, may be more distinctly discovered, by the following extracts of letters to him “FAYETTEVILLE, March 26th, 1822. "Rev. and Dear Brother :-I received your's this morning, mentioning the appointment of Mr. D. The mere assistantship to the Bishop, is not a situation which I should have particularly desired. I should, however, have been pleased with a residence in Philadelphia. "You speak of an effort to build one or two new Churches. I would suppose there might be room for them in Philadelphia, but as to their ever being built, is quite another matter. Episcopalians generally have the reproach of being backward, and they have not the zeal and activity of other denominations, who seize on every opportunity. I hope it will not always be so. It is my intention, God willing, to be in Philadelphia on the first or second Sunday in May, and as I probably shall not find a situation altogether agreeable to my feelings immediately, I should be willing, after I have placed my family at Hudson, to return and spend a few weeks with you, for the sole purpose of giving what portion of leisure I may be master of, to the furtherance of any views in Philadelphia, which the friends of the Church may deem important. And whether it should ulti |