and the commission and authority conferred on them by Christ, is recorded only in certain passages, not exceeding three or four in number, which occur in the gospels. In these thirty or forty words,-for in so small a compass lies the whole proof,-the least error, omission or misconstruction, would make a vital difference. Now until we are satisfied that these books were given by inspiration of God, and are therefore wholly free from error, we cannot possibly feel the least certainty that some mistake may not have crept in,-that some little omission or insertion, trivial in appearance, but making a mighty difference in the tenor of the whole, may not have occurred. Consequently so long as 'we have any doubt whether these records are the work of fallible men, or of the infallible Spirit of God, so long must we hesitate to base upon a doubtful foundation, so vast a matter as the supreme authority claimed by Rome. And thus we see, that the Romish church itself cannot even find ground whereon to stand, until the inspiration of the scriptures has been proved; and thus the very same difficulty which Dr. W. objects to us, belongs quite as much to his own scheme.

Inq. Rather more, I should imagine; for you have found and established your Rule of Faith, as soon as the divine inspiration of the scriptures is proved: Whereas that is only the first point in the argument with our friend here, who, when he gains this first position, has in the next place to prove from scripture, the authority of his church; a task which is certainly not an easy one. But our time is nearly gone; shall I endeavour to state in a few words, the remaining three of Dr. W.'s alleged difficulties? They are,--the difficulty of bringing your rule of faith, the Bible, into general use, by translating the scriptures into all languages; the difficulty of provid

ing, especially before the invention of printing, a sufficient number of copies; and the difficulty of making the book intelligible to all, even when so dispersed.

Prot. And Dr. Wiseman seriously alleges these as reasons, why the scriptures could not have been intended by God to be the Rule of Faith for all mankind. Observe, the Rule of Faith; the standard held up; not the chief or the only means of bringing sinners to the knowledge of the truth. I am not arguing against that great institution of Christ, the preaching of the gospel. The question is not, whether preachers as well as Bibles, shall be sent throughout the world:-the question is, What is to be the standard, -the Rule of Faith, -to which these preachers shall appeal.

Now we say, Send the preacher, and with him send the word of God. Let him preach only what he finds in that word, and let him constantly appeal to that word for confirmation of every doctrine he advances. But the Romish church sends the preacher without his credentials and without his divine warrant. He may preach Jesuitism or Jansenism, the decrees of the council of Trent or the decrees of the council of Ephesus; he may preach, in short, what he will, for no chart or compass will the church of Rome send with her pilots.

But it is said that translations are made with difficulty and are often erroneous. Is it so much easier, then, to preach, than to write, in an heathen tongue? Do the Romish missionaries address the Hindoo or Japanese in Latin? If not,-if they can preach to them in their own languages without liability to any serious blunders, what should prevent them from providing for them the gospel of St. Matthew or the New Testament itself? The objection of the difficulty of making translations, when advanced by those who boast of their

missions to the heathen, is perfectly frivolous.

And equally absurd is that of the cost and trouble of procuring a sufficient number of copies. It is not seriously proposed by Dr. Wiseman, that men shall be left without any rule, or any instruction in divine things. He would send preachers. Now we are not objecting to the use of living missionaries: but when the point mooted as a serious objection to the use of the Bible as a rule, is, the cost and trouble of procuring copies, the obvious answer is, that a single living preacher must cost from £100. to £300. a year; and that for that sum you might supply, every year, from five hundred to a thousand bibles!

The last point mooted is that of the difficulty of understanding the Scriptures. Now no Protestant will attempt to deny that there are deep and holy mysteries in the word of God. We could hardly suppose it to be a Revelation from heaven if it were without them. But we do mean to assert that by far the greater portion of the Scripture is plain and level to every man's capacity, and full of every necessary instruction. Nor, when David declares it to be "a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his path," is it either decent or comely for Dr. Wiseman to represent it as unintelligible and bewildering.

But the real question is, is it the Rule, prescribed by God himself? The existence of some lofty and still obscure prophecies in its pages is nothing to the purpose in this question. Here is a Book, given by inspiration of God, for the use of man. It is, by the admission of all parties,

wholly free from error or obliquity. It declares itself, again and again, to be sent to mankind as their infallible guide. And where is there any other? You, who tell us that the Scriptures are not to be understood,-shew us "the voice of the Church;" and let us see if that be more lucid and intelligible. But this" voice of the Church" is no where to be found, save in some three-score volumes of records of councils, whereof the one half deny and rescind the decisions of the other half. You ask, "who ever heard of the propriety and wisdom of placing in men's hands a code or rule, which it was impossible for the greater portion of them to comprehend.' But we demand, in reply, who ever heard of the propriety or wisdom or placing in men's hands no code or rule whatever;-of leaving them without any other guide or director than a fallible man like themselves; and of taking away from them that which is not denied to be God's own word, merely because there are some passages in it which are too high for most men's comprehension!

Ing. Well, I must give it as my opinion, that you have, in the main, made out your case: that is, that you have clearly shewn, that in every point suggested by Dr. Wiseman, as a ground of disbelieving that God intended the scriptures as a rule of faith to man, -the rival rule, put forward by Dr. W. himself,-to wit, THE CHURCH, is in a still worse situation. There must be greater difficulty in estatablishing the authority of the Rule, and a greater difficulty in applying it, if it could be established. But time warns us to part for the present.

SIR-As your pages seem always open to whatever may promote the interests of religion, I venture to draw your attention to a subject which, partly from the privacy of its nature, partly perhaps from a false delicacy, has hitherto obtained little notice or animadversion from the friends of religion; a circumstance always more or less prejudicial, and render Christian Societies less efficient than they might and were intended to be.

These remarks I think particularly apply to those well-known, but little regarded, monthly or periodical assemblies of neighbouring clergymen, called CLERICAL MEETINGS. To say that their first design and tendency is obviously good, is only doing them justice; but to assert that they are effecting any visible or practical benefit in the places and districts where they are held, either in promoting morals or religion in those places or parishes, or correcting those public reigning evils and immoralities, which destroy the souls of men; would be nothing less than a violation of truth. This, however, in my view, should be a first object in all their consultations, and a visible consequential result, more or less, of every such meeting of associated clergymen. Yet these, so far as my experience reaches, are objects and effects not attaching to, or even coming within the contemplation of any Clerical Meetings that I am acquainted with, in any part of the kingdom.

It follows, Sir, if the fact be so, and my reasoning either correct or important, that these Clerical Meetings are, in their present shape, either ill-constituted or unwisely managed, and certainly not

effecting the good they were designed for, and that they stand in great need of reform. In attempting to point out how the latter may best be effected, I beg to disclaim all idea of dictating to my respected brethren; and in mentioning a few regulations that occur to me, I would beg they may be regarded rather as suggestions to be discussed and improved upon, than as any thing like fixed or determinate rules to be adopted.

Three or four such suggestions I will without further preamble, subjoin.

I. It is taken for granted that every such meeting be opened by the president (for the time being) with a short introductory prayer, and with reading of the Scripture. That the master of the house select a portion for the purpose, of such a description as may give as little occasion as possible to critical

or

merely verbal disquisition. That each gentleman in order be asked whether he has any remarks to offer-if not, pass the inquiry to the next. That no one exceed a few minutes in his remarks, and the next in succession be left either to comment on what has just been observed, or on the sacred text itself, as he shall judge best; but in all cases with brevity and simplicity, and a direct reference to practical faith and godliness. That this devotional exercise shall not exceed three quarters of an hour, and be closed by the master of the house rising up, and saying,

Brethren, let us pray,' himself offering up the prayer, and asking a special blessing on what has been read, and for guidance and blessing on the deliberations that are immediately to follow.

II. The above being concluded, and always within the compass of one hour;-That a discussion be immediately originated on the existing state of morals and religion, (first, in the congregations and parishes of those present,) by a question to each in succession by the President, to this effect,

Have you any thing to report, Mr. A. as having taken place within your charge since we last met, in which you desire the opinion, advice, or assistance of this meeting ?' According to the answer returned there will of course be discussion or otherwise, but always with a view to a practical settlement of the case, (if such there be,) and with the utmost possible brevity. The state of the congregations and parishes being thus disposed of, let the state of the district generally, as to any thing calling for cognizance since the last meeting, come under the serious consideration of the clergy assembled.

III. The state of every parish and place of chief population, with the moral evils, abuses, or other difficulties they may present, having been thus discussed, and the remedies best suited to each suggested and settled,-That the remaining portion of time, if any, be devoted to a consideration of any occurrences since the last meeting, either affecting the interests of the church generally, or those of the diocese in particular, and how far any (and what) cognizance of them by the associated body may be likely to prove conducive to the cause of divine truth, the correction of error, and the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom and righteousness among

men.

IV. Let the meeting then be closed, as it commenced, by prayer -in brief compass and with a threefold reference: first for a divine blessing on the proceedings of the day: secondly, on the Church of

Christ generally in these kingdoms: thirdly, for the outpouring of the Spirit of God on the ministers then assembled, their congregations, and their parishes. This may either be deputed to one clergyman or to three, (and not more), as the meeting shall direct, and chosen alphabetically or otherwise.

These, Sir, are the substance of my general views as to what CLERICAL MEETINGS ought to be, and to do, and the regulations which seem to me the best adapted to promote their efficiency, and meet those errors or defects in their present management, by which their usefulness is in a great measure destroyed-or at least of no visible practical avail, either to the correction of reigning evils and errors, or the promotion of morals and religion, in the districts and parishes where they are accustomed to assemble. I had much rather that the errors or defects alluded to should be inferred from the nature of the rules suggested, than take upon me the invidious task of descanting on them at length, and on the mischiefs thence resulting. Yet this delicacy, I am aware, may be carried too far. To suppress all explanation whatever of what is in my view objectionable, would possibly be a prejudicial reserve. Suffice it to add thus much, that in my apprehension, the great error of the case has been in presuming, that the first or chief object of CLERICAL MEETINGS is the religious profit or spiritual enjoyment of the parties themselves, rather than the promotion of morals and religion in the subjects of their charge, and in the parts and places thereto adjacent. It does not seem to have been yet discovered, that the counteraction or suppression of those immoralities, vices, and errors in our several parishes and neighbourhoods, by which the Gospel is hindered and disgraced, the souls of our people endangered, our preaching rendered

vain, and crime, pauperism, Sabbath-breaking, and misery on all sides extended; that these, I say, are not only proper objects of a CLERICAL MEETING, but amongst its principal and most urgent duties; this, strange as it may seem, does not appear to have entered into the calculation of those with whom such meetings originated, nor, so far as my information reaches, is it found to occupy any of the employment, the discussion, or even the solicitude of such meetings in any quarter of the kingdom.

The consequence on the whole amounts to this, and it is a most painful part of the subject, that no one visible or public benefit to society, or to the cause of MORALS and RELIGION, in the parishes and districts concerned, has yet in any one instance, so far as I know, resulted from the CLERICAL MEETINGS. Is not this at once a very strange and a very melancholy circumstance? Is it calculated to exalt the ministerial character in the estimation of the people, or to strengthen the hands of such few of the Laity as are really attempting, under many discouragements, to do good, and to suppress vice and profaneness in their respective neighbourhoods? They see or hear from time to time of a body of ministers of religion assembling in their vicinity, to consult, it is naturally presumed, for the interests of religion and the public morals, yet not a single proceeding or operation of any kind in furtherance of those great objects, do they ever witness as resulting from such MEETINGS after they have separated or dispersed. What estimate, I would ask, must they form of the zeal, the piety, the practical wisdom of such a body of religious functionaries? Have they not a right to expect that after every such meeting held in the parish where they reside, they should hear, ere long, of some

plan, or project, or operation thence resulting, tending in some way or other to benefit the cause of morals and religion, at one time by suppressing vice and profaneness where they notoriously exist, at another by adding fresh sources of power to the means already existing, for dispersing the errors, and removing the corruptions of a dark, disorderly, and depraved popula

tion.

But I forbear to enlarge further on this most painful part of my subject, at least at present. Much, very much in the shape of details, both as to the suggestions offered for the improvement of CLERICAL MEETINGS, and the correction of particular errors in their present management, remains of course to be brought forward and discussed, before such associations can be expected to be placed on such a footing, and under such rules as shall best secure their efficiency, in furtherance of the objects which have been attempted to be explained and enforced in these hasty and very imperfect remarks. This I leave to more experienced and competent persons amongst my Reverend brethren, who take an interest in this important subject, satisfied and thankful to God, if the poor efforts of my pen, in dependence on his gracious blessing, may have the effect of engaging more able hands to take up the subject, and tend ultimately in any degree to the glory of God, in the reformation (if it may so please him,) of those evils which abound on every side and which threaten-if not met by measures equally speedy and vigorous on the part of the clergy, to reduce our population to a state of demoralization, universal and extreme, and bring back upon us the barbarism and all the worst vices and huge impieties of the heathen times and countries.

ARCHIPPUS.