A measure of this kind has since passed both honses of parliament by large majorities. It was preceded in each house by a report of a secret committee relative to the state of the country since the examinations of last session. The reports particularly enter into the late riotous proceedings in the connties of Derby and Nottingham, and the West Riding of Yorkshire, which have been long before the public in other shapes. Both committees express their full conviction that all the arrests which took place under the Suspension Act were fully justifiable; and that in no one case was a warrant of detention issued except in consegnence of information upon oath. They add, that the prisoners thus arrested were, from time to time, liberated as early as the general well-being of the country, and the particular circumstances of each case, would permit. They state, also, their deliberate opinion, that ministers have acted with all due moderation and discretion in the discharge of the duties vested in thein under the enactments of Jast session; and also that the great care and exertions of the magistracy in general had materially contributed to preserve the public peace, and were highly deserving of applause and gratitude. Under these circumstances, the Bill of Indemnity obtained the concur rence of both houses, though not without considerable opposition, grounded chiefly on the following allegations, viz. :— that no formidable conspiracy had ever existed; that a less coercive and unconstitutional system of measures would therefore have been adequate to the end proposed; that in the exercise of their powers, even supposing such powers necessary, the ministry had acted with undue severity, and had employed as their agents and spies men of bad principles, who had actually excited and fomented the disorders which they were employed only to discover and disclose; that it was most important that such men should not be screened by a bill of indemnity against future inquiry; and that, even if it could be alleged that the conduct of ministers had not been unnecessarily rigid, yet it was essential to the credit and character of government, that full opportunity should be allowed of investigation, and also of redress, to innocent sufferers. These arguments were very satisfactorily answered, by a reference not only to the deliberate judgment of the se cret committees, before whom abundant evidence had been adduced, but to the notorious facts of the case the existence of a wide-spread spirit of disaffection, which threatened the overthrow of the government; the lenity with which the powers entrusted to ministers had been exercised; and the beneficial effects produced on the peace and prosperity of the country by that measure of seasonable vigour, to which so many objections were row raised. Besides, it would be pregnant with the most injurious consequences, if, by leaving ministers of state and magistrates liable to actions at law, they should be under the necessity, in their own vindication, of laying open all those valuable sources of information which had enabled them to preserve the country from civil com.. motion, and of exposing loyal and patriotic individuals to the vengeance of men whose treasons they had been instrumental in detecting. Much was said, in the course of the debates on this subject, respecting the employment of spies; but few, we were sorry to observe, protested against the use of such questionable instruments on Christian principles. We object to them, in common with those few, on the simple ground that to employ men to personate conspirators, with a view to the detec tion of conspiracies, is doing evil that good may come. On this ground, we cannot but lament that our rulers should have deemed it necessary to resort to such disingenuous and frandful means of effecting a good and lawful object. We cannot believe that the moral government of a pure, and upright, and holy God, is so constituted, as to render such means necessary to the security and happiness of his creatures; and we cannot regard their employment, therefore, in any other light than as a virtual distrust of His wisdom in having prohi bited them, and a national act of disobe dience to His authority. Both the secret committees speak in the most consoling terms of the present disposition and rising prospects of the country. No fresh instances of conspi racy or disaffection had come before them. The Lords' report remarks, that "not only the country in general, but even in those districts where the designs of the disaffected were the most ac tively and unremittingly employed, the great body of the people remained untainted, even during periods of the greatest internal difficulty and distress. Still, however, the committees feel it right to advert to the necessity of continued vigilance, on the part both of the government and of gentlemen of local influence throughout the country, to watch over that restless infovating spirit which, though coufined to a comparatively small number of individuals, and for the present apparently suppressed, appears to them to be by no means wholly eradicated, and may, therefore, discover itself again, should any general reverse in the condition of the nation occur to elicit its latent malignity. Under all these circumstances, the moment appears peculiarly favourable for adopting such cautionary and prospective measures as will act most for cibly, though perhaps indirectly, and almost unsuspectedly, upon the character of the lower orders of the community. We are greatly rejoiced, therefore, to find that parliament is proceeding vigorously in its inquiries relative to the poor laws, and the education of the poor. Whatever may have been the more immediate steps of the process, we cannot doubt that the deficiency or positive inexpediency of our political code on these two great subjects, have been amongst the ultimate and origin ating causes of much of the difficulty and disorder which we have lately had to lament. The poor laws, both by their tendency to increase the population beyond the means of obtaining a comfortable subsistence, in the case even of such a temporary failure as lately occurred in our foreign and domestic commerce, and by enervating and demoralising the population thus increased, to the destruction, in many cases, of all principles of true virtue and moral freedom, have, on the one hand, inevitably aggravated the distresses of the times; while, on the other, they have rendered the poor less capable of sustaining those distresses, and more ready to listen to the suggestions of such evil-disposed persons as are ever ready to render a season of calamity, as far as possible, a scene of insubordination and confusion. Here, also, the want of a due education, and consequently of those habits which such an education would have diffused, have been extensively felt. The poor were the more easily made discontented on account of their ignorance; for it appears from incontrovertible evidence, that scarcely any persons of moderate intelligence, and none of respectable rank in society, with the exception of a few inflammatory writers, have been found either among the instigators, or the tools, of those machinations to which the present remarks have reference. It is not, however, simply to any regulations, wise and excellent as they may be, relative to our poor laws and the education of the poor, that we look for the best and most permanent repose of the country. It is mainly from the general diffusion of religious principle that we can hope for those happy effects which legislatures, with their utmost industry and wisdom, cannot attain without making the revealed will of the Almighty the basis of all their regulations. That there has been for many years some defect on this subject, appears but too clearly from the state of most of our large towns with regard to the facilities for public worship. To say nothing of the hopes and comforts of the poor themselves, to say nothing of the dishonour that has accrued to the Established Church, and the injury that has doubtless arisen to the souls of men from this long-lamented deficiency, we cannot but think that the late political disorders have been not a little aggravated by the circumstance. The religious poor are never found among the active partisans of disaffection and tumult; and in this, as in other coun tries, so closely is the altar connected with the throne, that to dishonour the one has ever been a prelude to the destruction of the other. If higher principles, therefore, had not suggested the propriety of increasing the number of charches, as well as providing for the general education of the poor in the principles of the Establishment, political considerations, and a general desire for the repose and welfare of the country, might have suggested the measure. The parodies on the Liturgy, and the numerous attacks on religion and religious institutions, by the partisans of faction, might long ago have taught us both where our strength and where our weak, ness lies. Thus, even independently of religious considerations, strictly so called, we should have hailed with pleasure the suggestion from the throne relative to increasing the facilities for the religious instruction of the poor, by the erection or enlargement of churches, wherever additional accommodation is required. This suggestion, we greatly rejoice to state, has already begun to be acted upon. The chancellor of the ex chequer, in bringing forward the subject to the house of commons, dwelt at some length on the great inadequacy of the places of worship in connexion with the Established Church. From the returns before the house, it appeared that there were twenty-seven parishes in which the excess of population above those which could be accommodated, was more than ordinarily great. Of these he stated, that eleven were in the metropolis, and the rest in the manufacturing districts. He did not mean to say that churches were to be built sufficient to contain the whole of these numbers; for as service might be performed several times a day, and deductions must be made for infants, &c., he thought that if a church would contain one-third of the inhabitants of a parish at one time, it was quite sufficient. He mentioned Mr. Yates's work, entitled, "The Church in Danger," as deserving particular notice. From this it appears, that out of a popu lation of 1,129,000 souls in London and its vicinity, 977,000 have no means of attending Divine Service. In the city of London itself, as in all our ancient cities, there is ample provision; but places which have risen into notice since the Reformation, are lamentably deficient. He proposed that a million of money should be issued in Exchequer Bills to commissioners, in such sums as might be gradually wanted, for erecting new churches. The commissioners were to lend their assistance only in furtherance of the best exertions of parishes them. selves. It might be proper, he thought, to vest a power in his majesty in council to divide parishes, with the consent of the patron; and where that could not be obtained, to erect chapels of ease, the curates of which should not be removed, without the consent of the bishop. He made no deduction on account of Dissenters, thinking, as he did, that the Church ought to provide ac commodation for all, and that many left the Church only because they could not find admission within its walls. The patronage of the New Churches is to follow the present patronage. Measures are to be taken for extending a similar benefit to Scotland, the manufacturing and commercial districts of which, and still more the Highland districts, are in some cases extremely deficient as to the means of public worship. We have the satisfaction of adding, that the public at large are taking up this object with a zeal due to its importance; and that to promote it a Society has been established in London under the highest patronage, both lay and ecclesiastical. We refer our readers for particulars to our Religious Intelligence for the present month. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. W. H.; H. G; MACKINNON; C. C.; J. S- H.; C. E. S.; L.M.; PARENS; M. and the Essays on Cowper's Poems, will appear. Several Defences of the Peace Society have been received, the principal arguments of which we shall take the earliest opportunity of inserting. AUSTEN; B.; H.; A COUNTRY VICAR; A STAFFORDSHIRE CURATE; JUVENIS; N-E; VERAX; and S. are under consideration. A Letter has been left at our Publisher's, from a Correspondent, for J. D. L We do not know the Address to which J. C. alludes. We thank Z. Z. for his very important communication. What use may be made of it has not yet been determined; but it will be preserved with care. We are much obliged to a Correspondent for copies of two letters written by the late Rev. John Newton; but as we do not intend, for reasons which it is needless to explain, to use them, we shall be ready to return them, if desired. The work alinded to by N. had not, as he supposes," escaped our notice;" but he must surely be aware that its details are not adapted for our pages. We beg to inform the Author of the History of the Jesuits, that we had nothing to do with the inquiry at p. 93, which has excited bis surprise. It was the inquiry of our valuable Correspondent, not ours; and we are entire strangers to the grounds on which it was made by him. The Author of the History of the Jesuits states, in reply," that the leading publications of the Catholics, although they have repeatedly and severely attacked his History, have never, in any one instance, disputed the correctness of one fact us to Stonyhurst." This is doubtless strong. ERRATUM. Page 162, col. 1, 1. 16 from bottom: for Dr. Buckerham, read Dr. Buckenham. THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER. No. 196.] APRIL, 1818. [No. 4. Vol. XVII. RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS. For the Christian Observer. CURSORY REMARKS ON UNITARIANISM, AND THE ARGU as applied to our blessed Saviour, the original word is that by which the Greeks always translated Je MENTS BY WHICH IT IS USU- hovah; and then let him examine ALLY SUPPORTED. HA (Continued from p. 139.) No. IV. TAVING in the preceding papers answered Mr.Wright's principal and more general objections to the doctrine of a Trinity of persons in the Unity of the Godhead, it is necesary that I should further meet the specific objections by which he would disprove the Deity of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: and with that view I proceed, first, to consider his mode of obviating the force of those texts in which the name of God is given to JesusChrist. Mr.Wright observes "It has been taken for granted that Christ is called Jehovah; but this has never been proved to be the case in a single instance: and if it could be proved, no more could be justly inferred from it, than that through him the Most High will shew himself the promise-fulfilling God: it would no more prove that he is God, than the connecting the name of Jehovah with the church, or with certain altars, proved them to be deities." Has it not been proved that Christ is called Jehovah in the Old Testament, and by the name which corresponds to it in the New? Let, then, the English reader only bear in mind, that, wherever the word LORD is printed in capitals in our translation, the original word is Jehovah; and that, wherever it occurs in the New, CHRIST, OBSERV. No. 196. the following texts:-Jer. xxiii. 5, 6; "The days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby heshall becalled, The LORD our Righteousness."-Mal. iii. 1; "The LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in."-Phil. ii. 11; Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."-These are a few out of a multitude of texts, in which our Lord Jesus Christ is either expressly called Jehovah, or is called by a name which was universally substituted for that name both in the Septuagint and by the writers of the New Testa ment. And where, I would ask, is the church, or in what part of the Scripture are any altars, called by the name Jehovah? Or what parallel can be found to that unlimited application of the name to the person of the Son, which occurs in every part of Scripture? Our author says, indeed, "Before it be concluded, from the titles of Jesus Christ, that he is more than man, it should be proved that they are not given to him as man in the Scriptures." But can it be neces sary to prove, that the name JEHOVAH is not given to our Lord, as man; that the name GOD is not 2 E given him as man; that the title, THE LORD FROM HEAVEN, is not given him as man? Then must it be necessary seriously to prove, that God does not mean man, or man God; and that the holy Scripture in saying one thing does not intend exactly the contrary! Far be from us such liberties with the word of truth! But the name of God also is given to Christ as well as the name of Jehovah: and this testimony again the author evades in much the same way as he had done the other. "He may be a God by office, yet not by nature; by the appointment of the Father, yet not be absolutely supreme. The name denotes government and dominion, and the government is on the shoulder of Christ: he is constituted Lord of all." In my humble conception, however, the word GOD denotes much more than government and dominion. Is nothing more than dominion and government implied by the name in the following texts? Gen. xvii. 7; "I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee."-Hos. xi. 9; "I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man!"-Micah vii. 18; "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?"-Matt. xix. 17; "There is none good but one; that is God."-Rom. iii. 4; "Let God be true, and every man a liar!" In deed, so far is it from being the case that the word GOD does not in Scripture denote true and proper Deity, with all the perfections and attributes that belong to his character, and make up the compound idea of his holiness, that in several of the passages above quoted the application of the name to created beings is visit ed with the severest language of reproof and indignation. Yet our author expressly asserts, "The word God is now used to denote true and proper Deity; but this was not always the case." And, "When applied to the Supreme Being, other terms are frequently connected with it to describe his character and perfections. He is called Jehovah God, the Most High God, the Almighty God, the only Wise God, the Invisible God, &c. titles never applied to any other being. If the term God, by itself, expressed true and proper Deity, the addition of other terms, to distinguish the MostHigh from all other beings would be superfluous." -Does Mr.Wright really mean, that the name God, when taken by itself and without any thing in the context to determine it otherwise, can signify any other than the Supreme Being? What becomes then of the text, "God is love," which he has often quoted, and which is indeed a fit subject for the purest gratitude and delight? Of whom is this said? Of the Supreme or of some inferior being? Or, if he would refer us rather to the Scriptures of the Old Testament for the justification of his remark, who is meant by that name in Deut. iv. 7? "What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?" Indeed, is not the name expressly and exclusively appropriated to the Most High, so as even to fix a charge of blasphemy upon the profanation of it? Isa. xliv. 8; "Is there a God besides me? Yea, there is no God, I know not any." Isa. xlviii. 11; "Should my name be polluted? I will not give my glory unto an other." And yet the addition of epithets expressive of his unspeakable perfections is in no degree superfluous. They are sometimes used, indeed, in contradistinction to those false deities, who were too often set up to deprive him of his due honour. But they often serve only to remind us of |
