The gospel is here preached to the people in the tongue of the country, so that they may comprehend and profit by its truths; which is no more, indeed, than what reason or mere common sense itself would point out to human beings, let them be ever so stupid in every other respect. Yet, as if it had adopted for its maxim and motto the adage of Omne ignotum pro magnifico, the church of Rome still continues to use in its service a language which has no more meaning, to the greater part of those who listen to it, than the tinklings of bells or inarticulate sounds would have. It is but sorry consolation to say, that it is to this custom we are indebted for the preservation of the Latin tongue and our present knowledge of it, when we also reflect how many millions have been benighted in consequence of it. Oh! the wiles-the craft of that church, which seeks to found its dominion on the spiritual darkness and ignorance of those whom it is bound to instruct, not with either senseless sounds, or with cunningly devised formularies of its own, but with the unobscured meanings of Holy Writ !— Notes abroad by a Veteran Traveller.

Faith

DISSENT. In whatsoever shape dissent is viewed, their appears to be something radically defective about it. It was cradled in fraud. There is abundant evidence that the chief instigators of it in England, were disguised Papists. ful Commin and Heath, two Jesuits, were apprehended at Rochester, in 1567, under the disguise of Puritan preachers so when Calvin proposed an union with the Church of England, the Papists assembled at the Council of Trent, sent over emissaries to sow dissensions in the country. Baxter, in like manner, detected several Friars employed in propagating the doctrines of the Quakers and Seekers. Again, it was persevered in, contrary to the advice of all sober Protestants abroad, who though holding the same doctrines, condemned the separation as needless, and therefore sinful. Again: the very authors of it repented of what they had done. Cartwright, who more than any other, may be called the founder of dissent, returned to the Church of England, and died in her communion. So did Robert Browne, the first originator of Independency. Extract from Dissenters Recalled to their Duties.-A Tract in Four Letters.

ROMANISM. Those who value it mainly for the encouragement it affords to art -and the strain of argument they adopt, compels us to conclude that their regard is founded upon such grounds-must admit that art has not always made the return it ought. What a number of absurd, puerile, and mean conceptions, rendered endurable only by the allurement of execution, have painters displayed in endeavouring to illustrate by sensible images, what can never be so embodied as to be rendered visible, lying as it does beyond the utmost grasp of the human faculties. To this class belongs such scenes as the Last Judgment, than which it would be easier for the pencil to give lineaments and express form to Milton's personification of Death. It is to be apprehended too, that so far from exciting any religious feeling, all representations of the kind tend to suppress them most in those who can best appreciate and relish their merits as mere productions of art; since it is not so much the idea intended to be expressed, as the mode of expression, and the mastery shown by the artist, which occupy connoisseurs. They may feel the sublimity of the painter's conceptions, and may be actually warmed into enthusiasm, yet it will be of a very different kind from religious fervour, or faith. No one has ever become a proselyte to the polytheism of the Greeks through his admiration, however excessive, of ancient mythology, as employed by poets and artists. Neither can pure devotional feelings be excited by the delight received from works of the pencil or the chisel, although people are apt to deceive themselves, and to give themselves credit for being devout, when the emotion they experience is altogether of a different kind.- Notes abroad by a Veteran Traveller.

LITERARY NOTICE.

In the Press, The Harmony of PROTESTANT CONFESSIONS, exhibiting the Faith of the Churches of Christ, Reformed after the Pure and Holy Doctrine of the Gospel, throughout Europe. Translated from the Latin. A new edition. Revised and considerably enlarged, by the Rev. Peter Hall, M.A., Rector of Milton, Wilts: and Minister of Tavistock Chapel, Broad Court, London.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Communications have been received from Corneille.-T. C. O.-Philadelphos G. Nagus tine.-R. H. N.-and W. A. B.

THE CHURCHMAN.

66 FEAR GOD: HONOUR THE KING."

JUNE, 1838.

Original Papers.

OPPOSITION TO THE CHURCH.

Ir cannot be otherwise than highly gratifying and encouraging to the real and pious Christian, to contemplate that, numerous, bitter, and unceasing, as are the attacks made upon the Church from every quarter, she still stands, like the stately oak, amid the howling tempest, not merely unscathed, but taking deeper root in the hearts and affections of her sons and daughters, and faithfully guarded, as the apple of His eye, by Him who has promised that "the gates of hell shall never prevail against her." Upon this promise the mind of the Christian finds rest and security amidst the disturbances to which, in these latter days, the word of prophecy leads us to anticipate a constant exposure. As a more lively and flourishing branch of Christ's Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which, as its Founder and Head, he has made such precious promises, the Church in England needs not fear for her integrity, while she is faithful in the discharge of her duty to her Lord, to herself, and to her sons individually; for, protected by her Lord, defended by her ministers, beloved by her members, and shedding her benign influence and blessings all around her, how can she be otherwise than esteemed and praised by the wise and the great, who value goodness and regard the best interests of mankind? There are men who in common with the atheists and infidels of every age, and under the mask of reform, wish to become her masters-her tyrants, to desecrate her altars and crush her to the dust, that they may not be disturbed by her exhortations to virtue and holiness, and may revel undisturbed in their licentiousness of opinion and practice. There are others who cannot be classed with the above, but who are still like them in their hostility to the Church-the noblest institution in the world, and its real glory-uniting with them in their unhallowed attempts to rase her to the ground and to blot out her remembrance from amongst men. VOL. IV.-R

But

shall this rancour and envy, this rage and malice, of the ungodly alliance of Atheists, Infidels, Deists, Papists, and other dissenters, conquer? Shall they succeed in their unholy designs of destroying all that the Christian and right-minded Briton esteems as essential to the well-being of mankind both here and hereafter? Every Churchman unhesitatingly says, No! they assuredly shall not. And many are, thank God, coming forward boldly to prove the sincerity of their professions by their conduct; and, as our past pages will abundantly testify, we firmly believe that all that is now wanted to render (under the blessing of God) the Church and the country secure from the efforts of their enemies, is to propagate with untiring assiduity-with Christian perseverance and unflagging zeal, both in season, and out of season, the grand distinguishing principles, the Scriptural and marked peculiarities of the Church of England. We rejoice to find that this is now being done in every part of the land. The essentiality of union to the ensurance of peace and harmony, and the repeated commands to maintain it written in the book of life; and the great sin of dissent of every kind and degree, and the constant cautions to avoid it uttered by our blessed Lord and his Apostles, are daily becoming more clearly understood and felt; and the result of this is no other than just what every friend to Christian union and peace must be delighted to witness. The great bond of Christian and Catholic unity is the doctrine of the Apostolic or Episcopal succession upon which Episcopacy is based, and without which it has no real existence. It is utterly useless, and a vast absurdity, for any man who does not firmly hold that doctrine, and observe it in his conduct, to call himself an Episcopalian, or to attempt for one moment to defend Episcopacy against the attacks of the various sectaries, many of whom would be glad to have it, if they could possess it compatibly with that self-conceit and spiritual pride which is almost inseparable from dissent. Episcopacy is from God, and requires submission, order, and decency, which are not often to be found with dissent, which is now very consistently considered as synonymous with the exercise of the "voluntary principle," which allows every man to do as he pleases without the slightest control, and to rank himself with those so expressly described by St. Peter as presumptuous and "self-willed," that is, determined to act on the "voluntary principle," and not to "Obey them that have the rule over them and submit themselves."

We repeat it, the chief remedy for the evils of dissent and heresy, is, the propagation of the doctrine of the Apostolical succession and Episcopacy, and the concomitant principles and doctrines of the Church of Christ here in England. Against these, dissent cannot stand, as is evident from the sensitiveness which is now everywhere manifesting itself in opposition to those principles. This is good evidence of the utility of making them generally known and understood. To Churchmen then in general, and to the Clergy in particular, as the stewards of God, we would again and again repeat our conviction, derived in a great degree from experience, of the paramount importance, at the present crisis, of the unceasing and zealous inculcation of the sound Catholic principles of the Church on all matters of government and discipline. If this had been done years ago,

we should not now have been so troubled with such swarms of sectaries. The remedy is at hand, and let it only be applied, and under the gracious blessing of God, success will not fail to follow the application.

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THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND INDEPENDENT OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ALL AGES.

*

[Continued from page 125.]

THE adversaries of our Church are loud in their assertions that our ancestors, in the tenth century, recognised the supremacy of the Pope, because, (as they maintain,) Hywel the Good carried his laws to Rome to obtain the sanction of his Holiness. This account is for several reasons unworthy of credit. Can we reasonably suppose that he would have been accompanied thither by the Bishops of St. David, Bangor, and St. Asaph, who were avowedly at variance with the Church of Rome? Yet that forms a part of the tale. Moreover, there are certain enactments in his laws which would never receive the approbation of any Pope. For instance, that which regards divorcement, which was an allowed act at the end of seven years.* This law was in force in the time of Llewelyn the last Prince of Wales, who was reproached with it by the Archbishop of Canterbury, "that the Welsh repudiated their wives on the authority of Hywel the Good, contrary to the gospel law." The same person further observes, "that the Welsh avenge injuries according to the mode instituted by Hywel the Good, to whom the devil had delegated his authority.” If the Archbishop had supposed that the Pope had given his sanction to these laws, he would not have thus spoken. Neither would the Pope have approved of the law which gave all the property of a Bishop, at his death, with few exceptions, to the King. Much less the law which rendered every land subject to the King's authority; or another which enjoined that the satisfaction for an injury done by the dependent of a Bishop to the dependent of a lay lord should be adjudged in the lay lord's court, and vice versa. A manuscript at Wignustay, containing a specification of the charter of Hywel the Good, informs us that the first of the four powers which he reserved for himself in the formation of his laws, was to maintain his own prerogative over his Bishops and Abbots; and this his intention is manifest from several of his laws. This would certainly have been condemned at Rome. Indeed, if his laws had been really sanctioned there, we might have expected to see the mode and form of the sanction recorded, and different effects derived from it in Wales.|| Caradog, of Llangarfan, in his chronicle, makes no mention of Hywel submitting his laws to the Pope, for his judgment and assent. His account runs thus:-" In the year of Christ 926, Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, King of all Wales, went to Rome, and with him three Bishops, who were Martin, Bishop of St. David's; Mordaf, Bishop of Bangor; and Marchlwys, Bishop of Llandaff,; and the latter took with him Blegwryd ab Owen, Chancellor of Llandaff, the brother of Morgan, King of Glanmorgan. The object of their going there, was, to advise with wise men as to the means of improving the laws of the realm of Wales; and to obtain a knowledge of the laws of other kingdoms and cities; and the laws that the Roman Emperors put in force in the island of Britain, during their sovereignty. After they had obtained information respecting these things, and the advice of wise men, they returned to Wales. Thereupon Hywel summoned to him all the heads of the tribes of the * Myf. Arch. vol. iii. p. 377. Ibid p. 400. + Ibid p. 400. Il Collect. Cambr. Appendix, p. 340.

country with their family representatives, and all the wise and learned men of the clergy and laity, at a conventional high court at the White House, on Taf, in Dyfed. After a careful research respecting every country and city, the laws of Dyfnival Moelmud were found superior to the whole, therefore, through the learning and instructive exertion of Blegwryd, those were systemized, and were presented for the judgment of the convention, so as to obtain every possible illustration, improvement, and amplification of them. After they had passed the judgment and national vote of the convention, the laws were put in force, and they were constitutionally established over all the territories of Wales. This being accomplished, Hywel went to Rome a second time, in the year 930, to procure the sentiments of wise men there, and to be certified that those laws were in concurrence with the law of God, and the laws of the various countries and states of Christendom. Then he returned to Wales, and laid the laws before the judgment of the hundreds, and the communes, and upon the voice of the nation; and thereupon they became of effect in all the dominions of Wales, and in the court of every lord and tribe; so that there was not found an obstacle against them; and there were no other institutes in the court of the country, or of the sovereign, in Wales, and on account of the excellency of his laws, he is called, Hywel the Good.*

Thus, if our countryman repaired with his laws to Rome, his object was not to obtain for them the individual approval or sanction of the Pope, but "to advise with wise men;" to examine the different laws of other countries, and select the best for the basis of his own code. "And after a careful research respecting every country and city, the laws of Dyfnwal Moelmud were found superior to the whole." He went the second time to compare his revisions, and see whether they accorded with other ancient and useful laws. No place could have afforded such extensive information on this subject as Rome, from the many opportunities she enjoyed of testing the regulations of the several climates her triumphant arms had reached. Therefore, Hywel the Good's conduct in thus visiting that once mistress of the world for legislatorial purposes, evinces the prudential taste of a patriotic statesman.

The enemies of our Church desisted not from their virulent attacks during the eleventh century. In the year 1011, the Saxons laid waste St. David's, and in 1021 the Danes plundered the same place, and ravaged Demetia; in 1071 both St. David's and Bangor were desolated; in 1079 St. David's was again ravaged by the Saxons; in 1087 the same cathedral was plundered of the shrine of St. David, together with its other gold and silver treasures; in 1088 the church was again plundered, and the town set on fire.

After a tedious struggle thus characterized with courage and devastation, the Romanists, in this century, gained possession of the Episcopal Church of Llandaff, which was the first Church of any note in Wales that fell into their hands. From henceforth that see became subject to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

As St. David's lay claim to patriarchal jurisdiction over the churches of Wales, great were the endeavours of the enemies to gain possession of

Cambr. Biography, sub voce Hywel.