but the echoes, we are fain to stop our ears till they have died away. It is not only in later days that the enigmas to which we allude have presented themselves. We cannot forget, that the sublimest poetry, the loftiest prophecy that ever kindled the heart of man, passed from the lips of one, who was of earth, the earthiest, who, when he knew the will of God, followed it not; of one, who desired indeed to die the death of the righteous, but who suffered the doom With hope of life, how should I linger, when like a crimson flower We were reading not long since of a (so-called) Christian priest of other days, whose voice was heard aloud in a dire hour of carnage, "Kill, kill, and spare not!" Yet from the same lips at another time, melodious thoughts poured, which though not saintly, are so gentle in their music, that they would scarcely jar upon the ear of the most delicately nurtured daughter of fashion. In all ages of the world, well might it have been told of genius, as in latter days it has been sung― "How with that strong mimetic art Which is its life and soul, it takes "So grant me, God, from earthly care, My soul, as home she springs; Thy freedom on her wings.' While musing over these things, and others of a similar nature, we could almost conjecture that, as for a space the Spirit of the Highest turned the heart of the worldly-minded seer of Pethor, whither he would not, so, even in the present day, a holier influence than we wot of breathes oracles from lips, which no amount of charity can induce us to believe have been verily touched by a coal from the altar. Certain it is, that utterances very much like holy oracles we at times hear, and yet he who spake remains powerless for all wise and useful offices, as in other times the priestess of Apollo might have been seen, the laurel leaves dropping from her brow, or fading on her sepulchral cheek, no audible sound passing the colourless lips that so lately poured forth a torrent of mystic words which shook the fane to its lowest depths, while subtle priest and crafty statesmen trembled at the sound, for they had evoked a spirit, to whom their cunningly wrought fetters were but as a thread of tow. Such are too often the chil tion must indeed, as we have seen, fall heavily and justly on many of the children of song whose spirits have been stringed instruments, that every wind of heaven has swept at will, the breath from barren and scorching deserts, quite as often as the sweetm southern gale that had just left a bank of violets. T dren of song, and such, it may be, it is their peril ever to become, so long as the fleshly house is a frail tabernacle for the fiery and impetuous soul. Ordinary minds share the same infirmity of nature, and exhibit oftentimes the same perplexing phases, but in their case inconsistencies, however important to the individual, are of course less regarded by the world. All who have attempted, for any purpose, however excellent, to influence their brethren by the communication of their own keen perceptions, must be aware how frequently it has happened, that when thought has flowed most freely, when language has been most energetic, on retiring to their more immediate sphere of action, they have found themselves nerveless to carry out in some of the simplest concerns of life, the counsels so lavishly bestowed on their neigh-qualified to be a handmaiden of the bours, the beam in their own eyes they could scarcely remove a hair'sbreadth. Happily it is not always thus with the teachers of righteousness; but we think the best regulated minds must, at some period of life, have felt themselves sinking beneath a moral torpor and exhaustion most difficult to strive against, and an enemy by no means to be resisted without that strength from above, granted to all who, in sincerity, seek it. How, in such an hour, have the words of the Master rung through the desolate and rayless chambers of the heart, "Without me ye can do nothing" how have palsied spirits aroused and girded themselves afresh for the struggle of life, feeling, though hearing not, the words of power that pierce as a two-edged sword, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth, arise and walk." A remembrance of these things may incline us to a greater exercise of charity than is altogether common; we may feel the deep meaning of the injunction, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," and may forbear to bring hasty accusations of hypocrisy against some, whose inconsistencies are in human eyes altogether inexplicable; we may pass on our way circumspectly, uttering rather in sorrow than in bitterness, the angelic denunciation, "The Lord rebuke thee." This denuncia We cannot solve the enigmas that ever and anon present themselves, not even with a remembrance of the frailty, by reason of which we can none of us, at all times, stand upright: we freely admit that as poetry and a veritable gentleness and sensibility of heart, are not necessarily one and the same, so assuredly religion and poetry are far from being identical, but this admission will not hinder our reiteration of the persuasion that the latter is, by her very nature, temple, liable, as indeed are all other servitors, to go far astray, and memorable in her wanderings, but not for this reason to be degraded into a mere hewer of wood and drawer of water in some obscure corner of the holy edifice. Because this has too often been her position there, her high spirit has sometimes rebelled, and shaking the dust from her sandals, she has fled, harp in hand, to some idol fane, where her sweet music has attracted a crowd of worshippers.dt ར 19 10 10 Will the reader pardon us, if, in bidding farewell to the subject, we return, for a moment, to a point on which we have already lightly touched. The poor and uneducated are, we feel assured, better able, than many suppose, to understand the mystic language of the poet, and more alive than many dream to his mild influences. We shall always believe this, so long as daisies, in their red-fringed vesture start up amongst the grass, sots long as the light curls of the woodbine, and the fragile garlands of the wild rose hang in the hedge-row, w where only the peasant and his child can behold them. The turbulent and the unbelieving amongst us have discerned this, and therefore, if we are rightly informed, have sent poetry on their mission to the humblest doors of Britain, now carolling of flowers, and brooks, and sunshine,* 6 ST ร้อง till the little ones gather around her, and then with a deeper purpose seat ing herself by the hearth, and pour ing into ready ears the dread records divine, though we do not now discuss the point, but content ourselves by expressing the earnest hope that cer tain elements of the poor of the prison, her dreary tones ever ture thus acted upon, wi man's na anduanon relieved by a snatch of melody and pathos. What such an agency is likely to effect we can remain a forgotten, as too often they are, by a holier instructors. (By the Rev. M. Brock, M. A., Chaplain to the Bath Penitentiary.) IN the preface to the dedication prefixed to his sermon on the "Unity of the Church," Archdeacon Hare remarks:-"The spirit of catholic comprehension has seldom found a home in more than a very few hearts within our Church; the majority have mostly cared for little except maintaining their own position." And again: "The rock on which we are splitting . is the notion that the only way of preserving the unity of the Church is by enforcing a rigid uniformity." 1. But on what ground is uniformity in the externals of Christianity to be expected? Uniformity is not to be found in man, either in his physical or mental formation; for though throughout the human family, in form and substance, there is an invariable unity, yet in development what an entire absence is there of uniformity! For, who has ever yet found any two faces or two minds perfectly to resemble each other? So with the rest of creation, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, though unity pervades each department, in each there is an endless variety. 2. Thus it is in art. Enter a city after nightfall; in all the houses there is light. Here is unity. But what an absence of uniformity in the causes which produce, as well as in the character and form of that light! Among the houses of the city, one is entered. It is the dwelling, we will say, of a clock-maker. The ears are assailed by the discordant beats, and different tones of his noisy instruments. The 10 eyes are dazzled by the incessant swing of a multitude of pendulums, all eagerly at work, and each seemingly emulous to differ in motion from his neighbour. It is enquired if all these clocks keep time, for none of them beat or move together. The reply is, "Assuredly;" and whilst two chronometers are placed before the enquirer, he is informed that though these instruments may be taken round the world, and will scarcely vary in time, yet that no artist in Europe can make them go exactly together. I 1209 3. Considerations such as these must not be pressed too far; but if there be this absence of uniformity in God's creation, and the same also in works of human art, then, since the God of creation is likewise the God of revelation, one might suppose it not improbable that in revelation, also, some variety in development might be consistent with the same harmonious unity which pervades, His other works. And is it not so? EM A perfect unity exists throughout revelation both in the Old and New Testament. There is one Father, one Son, and one Holy Ghost; one faith, one hope, one baptism. The doctrine is one. But what variety is manifested in its illustration and application. The Gospels, how varied are they! The Lord's miracles and discourses, how differently given by each historian! Even the Lord's Prayer is diversified by the Evangelists, or rather, the discourses and 68 * This valuable extract is published on a separate tract, and sold by Nishet, London, CI prayer are diversified by the Lord himself. 4. If, then, the unity of the highest and most essential truth is not in Scripture combined with uniformity in statement, why must there be a strict uniformity in the means adopted for the preservation and diffusion of that truth? Whilst there is a constant diversity in the development of the unity of creation, and throughout the word of God an almost equal variety in the manifestation of the unity of revelation, is there alone to be a rigid uniformity in the method employed for the maintenance of the latter? We apprehend not. It does not seem agreeable to reason, and we believe that it is not to be proved from revelation. Different usages, different forms, and different modes of church government, are, as experience daily proves, not inconsistent with true unity.* And, it has been remarked, "Every one will acknowledge, without hesitation, that the highest unity, the most perfect catholicity, is that which comprehends, combines, and reconciles the utmost fulness of diversities."+ To this statement some may object, as if the benefit of the result warranted the existence of divisions. It need not, however, be thus understood. And, as in the case of the fall of man, 66 Even the Church of Rome allowed amongst us some diversity! "Some followed Salisbury use, some Hereford use, some the use of Bangor, some of York, some of Lincoln.-See one of the prefaces to the Prayer Book. Archdeacon Hare advocates the use of double forms. "Much," says he, were it to be wished that certain double forms of prayer might be introduced here and there for the relief of scrupulous consciences, - painfully wounded by having to read offices which pre-suppose a totally different state of discipline in the Church." And again, "How easy would it have been to have introduced a few more double forms, leaving it to the discretion of the minister to choose which he preferred. In fact, this very course, which doubtless would otherwise be branded as a device of modern liberalism, is pointed out explicitly in the king's admirable declaration (pp. xii. & 41)." In the Episcopal Church of America this plan, to a certain extent, is adopted. † Nizches: quoted by Archdeacon Hare, as above. the consequent manifestation of divine grace does not at all extenuate human guilt-so, whilst divisions are indefensible, yet do they, beyond all doubt, illustrate the power of that triumphant catholicity, which, rising with majestic tide, overflows them all, submerges their aspirations in the depths of its sufficiency, and quells their conflicts in the expansions of its overwhelming flood. 5. As to enforcing uniformity, were it desirable to attempt it, in a country like ours, it never could be effected. With the light of truth which we possess, and with our free constitution, it would be as absurd as to expect unity to result from force. For who can force mind? But the attempt has been made. It has been recently made in our own country; and with what result let the experience of the last few years testify. Let the confusions, and the strifes, and the heart burnings, and the open wounds of the community, yet bleeding, bear witness. Disregarding the experience of past ages, to which allusion will be presently made, we have been again attempting to erect the idol Uniformity. But before the liberty of the Gospel, and genius of the free institutions of our Protestant land, it has fallen to the earth, reading us of the clergy_a lesson, that the laity of the Establishment have not forgotten that they form an integral portion of the Church. Alas! that so much time, thought, and temper should have been spent on such trifles. Yet in one sense are they not trifles; for, as a piece of bunting is in itself a thing contemptible, but is saluted with the cheers of thousands, when as the flag of our country, it waves at the topmast of a ship of war, and men will yield themselves to the death for it, so do surplices, crosses, lecterns, altars, cruets, and such like, being the badges af a religious system, assume an importance which naturally belongs not to them. And these things in their use or abuse men resist, and do well to resist; for they who introduce them perfectly know, that, once familiarize the people to the sign, the system will easily follow. They who resist, resist not the things, but the system they symbolize. The subject seems trifling; but the question is, to take the lowest view, whether the system of Laud shall be introduced, or whether the religion of the Gospel and the Reformation shall stand. These are the points at issue. No wonder, then, that both sides are fully alive to the struggle. 6. An absence of uniformity, it has been above observed, is perfectly consistent with true unity. It is charity, Love, coupled with knowledge, which is the only real unity; and every true Christian knows, and proves, that of this divine principle there is between sincere believers an interchange, however much in externals they may differ. Thus, at the time of the Reformation, how sweet it is to hear Jewel, of our Church, salute the brethren of foreign Churches. Addressing Peter Martyr, at the close of his letter he writes, "Farewell, my father, my pride, and even the half of my soul." And again, "Farewell, my most beloved father, and my soul's better half.”* Much in the same style he writes to Bullinger, and most affectionately commends himself to the brethren at Basle and Zurich, with whom, though of different discipline, in the bonds of their common catholicity he was one in heart and spirit. 7. Further, a complete uniformity may exist with an absence of unity. Consider the Church at Corinth. There, as far as we know, was only one outward Church in that city. But, in that Church what endless divisions! In modern days we see the same in the Church of Rome. There we observe an extensive uniformity. But where is unity? Let her conflicting monastic orders answer. Rome, which presents the the most extensive manifestation of sectarianism the world has ever beheld, exhibits also the most widespread uniformity, as a substitute for unity. For such is the pretended unity of Rome, it is like that of those creatures of different habits sometimes exhibited in a cage together, hawks and sparrows, foxes and fowls, living in apparent harmony. Repletion and the rod restrain their natural * Zurich Letters. instincts. So is it with Rome. Selfinterest and fear induce a constrained uniformity, and this is the pretended unity she boasts. Give for a moment liberty of conscience, and all would be wind and confusion. She, also, who is of all Churches most anti-catholic, exclusively appropriates the name of catholic! Sectarian in her doctrine, sectarian in her practice, Rome likewise especially bears the infallible mark of sectarianism, hatred and persecution of all real Catholics, i. e. of the true people of God. Rome, like other sectarian Churches, looks to uniformity, instead of unity, able only to comprehend what is gross and external, altogether blind to what is spiritual and internal. Thus has it ever been. There have always existed two classes of men, governed by two principles-one sectarian, looking to uniformity and a visible head, patriarch, pope, or bishop; the other catholic, looking to unity and an invisible head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Men are deluded by Satan, who substitutes things external for things internal, shadow for substance, formality for reality, uniformity for unity, a hierarchy for Christ, a church for the Spirit, bond service for filial obedience, the letter for the spirit, sectarianism in all its selfish, anti-social tendencies, for the catholicity of that sacred society, "the church of the living God." And men believe his lie, "having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them." 8. Again, nothing, we apprehend, can be a greater mistake than to suppose that we can attain to unity through uniformity. Uniformity may satisfy the shallow perceptions of that observer, who can see no farther than the surface of things: but, what is uniformity save a mere gilded exterior, containing beneath it every harsh and jarring element? What absence of unity, for instance, is there within the uniformity of our own Church! And, does not experience prove the fact, that the more, beyond a certain point, we press uniformity, the more we recede from unity? As we are not made partakers of Christ through the Church, but being first, through the |