became the author of a miserable schism, in a sense in which he himself would have reprobated it as a miserable schism. The tone and tendency of his proceedings, which were bad, overcame in his successors even that fixed and avowed principle which was good. Even so we too often find it in the world. The gentle unsuspected workings of a temper, or a character, of which we are not even conscious, by their continual operations wear away, or bear down laws, and protestations, and expressed principles, or whatever barriers we may have purposely erected to restrain ourselves from wandering into devious paths.Pp. 10–11.

Most seriously do we commend the above letter to the Wesleyan body. Mr. Poole now proceeds to demolish Mr. Ely's objections seriatim. We transfer to our pages Objection III., and its lucid refutation.

Mr. Ely proceeds to his second specific objection:

"We see such an utter impracticability of discipline within that Church, where every parishioner may claim a right to church ordinances,"—that we must

dissent.

Now let us inquire in what sense every parishioner may claim a right to church ordinances :-and we shall find that it is in a sense which the dissenter must strangely overlook, to make the fact an occasion of triumph against the Church.

I repeat, then, with as little reserve as possible, that each parishioner may claim the ordinances of the Church, but not every parishioner is fully informed what those ordinances may be in his own case. I go yet farther, and say that we, not as protegées of the State, but as servants of the Church, claim that as a right, from the burden of which some men seem to think that we would shrink. We demand that all our parishioners come to us for the ordinances of the Church, and for all those ordinances; each, that is, for the particular ordinance which is appropriate to his case. The unbaptized for instruction and baptism; the notorious offender for rebuke and discipline; the pious and humble christian for the blessed Eucharist; and so of the rest. We call upon all those before whom the address of Mr. Ely was delivered, (the ministers of congregations as well as their flocks,) to come to us for the ordinances of the Church, according to circumstances, for the ordinances appointed for catechumens, or for the ordinances appointed for penitents; that we may eventually admit them to the For to all the Church ordinances appointed for the reλetot, for men in Christ. of Christ hath her appropriate message: to those that are within, and to those that are without her fold. And all those who are baptized are baptized into her

"I never had any design of separating from the Church. I have no such design now. I do not believe the Methodists in general design it, when I am no more seen. I do, and will do all that is in my power to prevent such an event. Nevertheless in spite of all I can do, many of them will separate from it: although I am apt to think not one half, perhaps not a third of them. These will be so bold and injudicious as to form a separate party, which consequently will dwindle away into a dry, dull, separate party. In flat opposition to these, I declare once more, that I live and die a member of the Church of England: AND THAT NONE WHO REGARD MY JUDGMENT OR ADVICE WILL EVER SEPARATE FROM IT. Dec. 1789.

'JOHN WESLEY.

"He was consulted how to proceed with a society who threatened to leave the Connexion, unless permitted to have the sacraments administered by their own preachers. His answer was, Modern laziness has jumbled together the two distinct offices of preaching and administering the sacraments. But, be that as it may, I will rather lose twenty societies than separate from the church.' This was only about three years before his death."-Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, p. 151. And see "Reasons against a Separation from the Church of England, by the Rev. John Wesley." Lately republished by Harrison, Leeds, price one halfpenny.

body, or they are not perfectly baptized at all. Every man who has been baptized is baptized into the Church of Christ: every man who is baptized in England is baptized into the Church of England; not because it is established, but because it is the Catholic Church in this nation,-or his baptism is either wholly null, or as yet imperfect. He cannot avoid this conclusion, for there is one baptism, one faith, one church; and if baptism admits not a man into the one church, it admits him into no church. And if it admits him into the Church, he cannot by any heresy or schism, or any other act, avoid the claims of the Church upon him. He cannot deny his spiritual relationship. He may become an undutiful son, but a son he still remains. He may become a traitor, but he is still a subject.

Nor do we make the slightest difference in reasoning with a Romanist upon this subject. Not only because his church, not ours, was the schismatical church after the reformation; but also because the present Romanists are not, ecclesiastically speaking, the descendants of that section of the English Church, which became at the Reformation Romish instead of catholic, since they adhered to modern errors, while the Church herself went back to primitive antiquity and truth. If the modern Romanists in England were the ecclesiastical descendants of those men, their case must be met by different arguments; but they are, in truth, a faction, originating in papal intrigue in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Their bishops were, at first, mere obtruders, in the most offensive sense, upon the sees of other and catholic prelates. They transgressed the very first principles, and broke the strongest bonds of church unity, and were therefore plainly in schism. And what was thus evil in its commencement, does not become good by continuing in the same state; that which was once null, does not by often repetition become valid. Even if (which God forfend), the Romish, instead of the catholic faith, should ever again be the religion of England; and supposing yet farther, which we utterly deny, that Romanism can become catholic, without much essential change;-even supposing these things, the present succession of bishops would not be sufficient to warrant the catholicity or the validity of the orders which might be transmitted through them; and a new succession should in prudence be obtained from Rome, or elsewhere.*

These remarks are not here introduced apart from the immediate subject of these pages; nor by way of attacking Rome indirectly. We are obliged to show that our position is good against Rome, to avoid one of two evils: either the direct charge of Popery, which we might not so easily repel, if we were really maintaining our ground against other dissenters, by reasoning which would elevate the Romish sect in England into a true church;-or the turning against us, by the sects with which we may have to contend, of those Popish arguments to the force of which we may seem to lay ourselves open. No improbable alternative either of them for no man need be ignorant of the Popish origin and character of some of the common arguments against our Church; and no man can be ignorant, if he have but his ears open, of the cry of " Popery" raised against the best defenders of our Church against the Papal system, in the present day-which they share, to their glory be it spoken, with the greater part of the greatest English divines since the Reformation.+-Pp. 16-19.

The following must make a Congregationalist wince. Let the abject removable-at-will ministers read the following.

There are other difficulties attending the orders of the Romish clergy in England, for which the reader may refer to "Palmer's Treatise on the Church of Christ." Part vi, ch. 11.

The Preface to Dean Stillingfleet's "Unreasonableness of Separation," is so full of proofs of the Popish origin of many of the objections urged by Dissenters against our Church, and of their Popish character and tendency, and also of the general cry of Popery against sound Churchmen, that I only wish it were not too long to be given entire.

Now I affirm that there is in the system of the Independent Congrega tionalists that which tends to make the exercise of discipline far more ditficult than any thing in our position. There is the unlimited and unqualified dependence of the minister on his flock. From this the parish priest, and every Anglican minister in his appointed cure, is wholly relieved and in consequence it might be expected, and I do believe that the fact does not disappoint the expectation, that by him, more than by any other, the reins of discipline are held with an equal hand, upon rich and poor, great and little, learned and unlearned. One or two remarkable illustrations of this assertion occur to me.

King George IV. desiring, in his sickness, to receive the holy eucharist, had appointed an hour at which the Bishop of Winchester should administer to him that blessed sacrament. Through carelessness, or mistake of one of the attendants on his Majesty, the bishop received a summons for half an hour after the time appointed by the king. His Majesty was not unjustly angry with the attendant, but when he seemed to carry his anger beyond the bounds of a christian temper, the pious prelate warned his sovereign of the danger of celebrating the holiest mysteries of our faith in so improper a spirit, and refused to administer the sacrament under such circumstances. His Majesty immediately recalled the attendant to his presence, and it was not until he had expressed his sorrow for his too hasty expressions, that he was admitted to communion.

The Right Rev. the Bishop of London, with similar effect, exercised the like discretion with our present gracious sovereign. Her Majesty was desirous of receiving the Lord's Supper; and being doubtless ignorant that it was only to the sick that the sacrament ought to be administered in private, according to the rites of the church, she desired the Bishop of London to administer the sacrament to her in the palace. His lordship represented to her Majesty the impropriety of his complying with such a request, and her Majesty, conforming to the ecclesiastical rule, received the communion in the Chapel Royal.

These cases surely challenge comparison, both for their propriety and wisdom, and in their results, with the harsh treatment of princes, under the name of discipline, by such men as John Knox, and Andrew Melville. I believe, too, that they really indicate a character which pervades the exercise of the Church's discipline by her servants in general, from the bishop, down to the stipendiary curate in the most retired parish, each in his several and appropriate sphere. This we might expect from the independence of the minister on his flock; and this I verily believe we find.-Pp. 21, 22.

We had marked several other passages for notice, and have many other remarks to make, which must be delayed to another opportunity. In particular, the tenderness of them of the Solemn League and Covenant is beautifully contrasted with the intolerance of our Church. The terms of lay communion are very satisfactorily treated, as also the errors which arise from a want of precision in the use of terms on the vital doctrine of baptismal regeneration. We beg to thank Mr. Poole for this able vindication of the character and authority of the Church; and to express a hope that Churchmen will possess themselves of the pamphlet, as one every way worthy their careful perusal, and free from the mere local allusion of which its title might lead persons to suppose it would be made up. It is a spirited brochure of Church principles, characterised throughout by learning, energy, and catholicity.

ART. V.-Prayers for Plain People; with Directions how to Pray. London Burns. Pp. 4.

THE above are so intrinsically excellent, and so admirably adapted for the purpose for which they were expressly composed, that we feel great pleasure in complying with a request that has been made us, to insert them entire in our pages. They are, moreover, published at so moderate a price (three shillings and sixpence per hundred), that they are placed within the reach of the poorest; and we have no doubt our clerical readers will thank us for introducing to their notice such a practical manual, for those members of their congregations who may be desirous of praying with the understanding as well as with the lips.

1. Christ has taught us when we pray to call God "Our Father in heaven;" therefore we may begin our prayers with some such words as these, " O God our heavenly Father." Recollect he says "Our Father," not " My Father;" to remind us that God is the father of all, and that we should pray for the good of all men, considering them all as our brethren.

2. Christ has taught us to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" therefore we should pray that God will make us good and holy, before we pray Him to give us food, or clothing, or bodily health.

3. Christ has taught us that God "knows what things we have need of before we ask Him;" therefore, though we are commanded to pray, yet we should remember that our heavenly Father knows best what is good for us and we should follow our Lord's example in desiring that not our will, but God's will should be done.

4. Christ has taught us that the "very hairs of our head are all numbered," and that "not a sparrow" is killed without God's knowledge and permission; therefore we must think that God minds little things as well as great, and that He watches over each of us, so that nothing can do us harm unless He suffers it.

5. We are taught by St. John that "if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;" therefore we should carefully examine ourselves when we pray: we should call to mind all that we have done amiss, and confess our faults to God, that He may mercifully forgive them.

But,

6. Christ has taught us that " if we do not forgive others their trespasses, our heavenly Father will not forgive us our trespasses;" therefore we must be careful also to forgive every fault that another has committed against us; and not only to forgive, but as Christ says, to "love our enemies," before we dare to pray to God.

7. Christ has taught us specially to "watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation;" we should therefore earnestly beg that God will keep us both from our own evil thoughts, and from bad company, for fear we should be tempted to commit sin.

8. Nobody can expect further favours, if he is not thankful for those which he has already received; therefore when we pray, we must not forget to thank God; in the morning for having taken care of us during the night past; in the evening, for all the blessings we have enjoyed during the day. And at all times we may specially thank God for his great mercies to us through Jesus Christ.

9. We are particularly directed by St. Paul to pray" for kings and for all that are in authority:" we should not forget therefore to beg God's blessing on all our rulers, both in Church and State; on the Queen and her government, as well as especially on the Bishops and Clergy.

10. We are taught in the Gospel that God will hear our prayers if we ask in His Son's name; therefore we must pray to God through Christ, and trust that

God will receive our prayers for Christ's sake. We also end our prayers may with some such words as these, "Hear me, O God, and grant my prayer, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord."

11. Always stop a minute before you begin your prayers, that you may think who it is that you are going to pray to; and at the end of your prayer say Amen," to show that you are in earnest, and believe that God hears you.

The following Prayers will be found to fall in with these directions, and may be used according as they severally suit the occasions and circumstances in which men pray.

In time of any special distress or need, a person will pray acceptably, if he will but plainly, and in few words, ask God to have mercy on him and relieve his sore distress, or supply his pressing need, for Jesus Christ's sake. Only, let this be done with a feeling of sorrow for sins committed, of thankfulness for such blessings as are still granted, and with humble trust that God will, in all cases, do what is best for them that love Him.

As a Morning or Evening Prayer, where there is time for a Family to meet together, the following may be said.

"O God our heavenly Father, sanctify us and all thy people, that we may be holy in thy sight, and may set forth thy glory in the kingdom of thy Son Jesus Christ. Thou, O God, hast seen all our misdeeds, and we confess unto Thee our secret sins. Enable us from our hearts to forgive every one who has wronged or hurt us; and then do Thou, for Christ's sake, forgive all that we have offended against Thee. Thou knowest all our wants, and hast promised of thy great goodness to give us what we need. Grant not what we vainly or foolishly desire, but grant what Thou seest to be best for us in thine infinite wisdom. Watch over us this day [or, if said in the evening, this night], and evermore to keep us from all harm; and especially keep us from every temptation to sin. Make us thankful to Thee for all thy mercies in time past; [if said in the morning, for the rest and safety we have enjoyed during the night;} [if said in the evening, for the blessings we have enjoyed this day;] and, above all things, for our redemption by Jesus Christ. Continue thy favour and protection to us, and send thy blessings of health and happiness on us, and upon all men. Bless all the members of this family. Bless also thine anointed servant the Queen, and all the Bishops and Ministers of thy Church. And hear us, O God, according to thy Son's most gracious promise, and grant this our prayer for his sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

When a person would say this prayer by himself, let him put I for we, me for us, my for our, &c.; and instead of the words "Bless all the members of this family," let him say more particularly, "Bless my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, my wife and children," &c., according as he has one or other to pray for.

By persons who are much occupied with daily labour, the following short prayers may be used, when there is not time for more.

In the morning, before going to work.

"O God our heavenly Father, look favourably upon me, who have been made at my baptism thy child through Jesus Christ. I pray for thy blessing on all my labours this day. Grant me health and strength to work, and make me honest, and diligent, and faithful to those who may employ me [or in all my dealings]. Above all, grant that while I labour for daily food, I may not forget Thee, and that heavenly food which will bring me to eternal life, even the Holy Word and the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, for whose sake I beseech Thee, hear this my prayer. Amen."

In the evening, before going to bed.

Almighty and merciful Father, who hast made all things, and whose watchful care is over all thy works, I beseech Thee protect me while I rest;