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THE 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY 
 
 PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 By A. ALISON, ESQ. 
 
 ADTJtOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION, &C 
 
 " We enjoy peace, order, wealth, and advancement in all material and social matters. 
 Rut let us beware. The whole world, old and new, tells us how soon all this may he 
 suddenly checked, thrown into ruin, and laid under clouds and darkness." — The Times. 
 
 WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 LONDON: 
 G. H. NICHOLS, EARL'S COURT, LEICESTER SQUARE 
 
 AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 1862. 
 

GENERAL PREFACE. 
 
 The present work may be considered a history of the times in which 
 we live, as well as a complete system of Morals, Religion, and Politics ; 
 and as it treats of Progress and Regeneration, it is one of no ordinary 
 interest to us all. 
 
 The Reformation movement may now be considered un fait accompli, 
 for the recent proceedings in Yorkshire have placed that beyond a 
 doubt. Nothing, therefore, now remains, but to spread the movement 
 by means of Lectures and Essays throughout the length and breadth 
 of the land. Human nature being the same everywhere, it follows, 
 that what has been done in one locality, may be done in another ; and 
 we doubt not that very soon every city and town will have its Reforma- 
 tion Society, and its Ladies' Committee to give circulation to this work, 
 and to collect funds to meet necessary expenses. 
 
 Having fearlessly told the whole truth, we are rewarded with a degree 
 of progress which is perhaps unprecedented in the history of any pre- 
 vious movement, either religious or political. It is true that the times 
 have been particularly favorable to us, but it will not be forgotten, that 
 with all the advantages we have enjoyed, we had our own difficulties to 
 contend with. Now that all difficulties have been fairly overcome, 
 we hope a monument has been reared to Truth and Justice which will 
 endure for centuries yet to come. 
 
 Truth, consistency, and impartiality, have been our object from first to 
 last ; and these are the principles with which the name of the Reforma- 
 tion Society will ever be identified. We have stood midway between 
 the laity and the clergy ; and in awarding to each their due we trust we 
 are acting in a manner to command the confidence of both. The same 
 may be said of the political world. We stand half way between the 
 whigs and the tories; and in holding the scales of justice equally 
 balanced, we receive support from both. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Long, too long, have we been contented to sit in comparative dark- 
 ness, but we shall now see the light, when peace, good- will, and con- 
 tentment will take the place of all the evil passions which govern man 
 in a partially civilized state. 
 
 It may be necessary to explain that we do not desire the establish- 
 ment of any new Church, but only the reformation of the existing 
 Churches. We shall accordingly discourage all proposals for a new 
 Church, for that would only defeat our object of reforming the ex- 
 isting Churches. 
 
 While we seek the reformation of the Churches, we shall give our 
 attention at the same time to the reformation of Politics, for the in- 
 terests of the body, as well as the soul, must be attended to, if we 
 desire a result in which no want or schism shall exist. By introducing 
 the principle of "responsibility" into the affairs of the State, as well 
 as of the Church, we shall reduce the expenditure of the country to an 
 extent which will relieve us from a large portion of taxation which 
 presses so heavily on us all. 
 
 Truth is principle, or that which is right. Conscience is the per- 
 ceiver of Truth; and, in submitting these pages to the consideration 
 of our readers, we appeal to the Conscience, as to a judge in whom 
 we have every confidence. It is ignorance and delusion which blinds 
 the consciences of men and makes them to differ, but let that evil be 
 removed by the information which these pages supply, and the conscience 
 will be free to judge without prejudice. Principles are easy to find, 
 and when found, are as easy of belief. As to matters of fact, and any 
 thing where principle does not apply, there must of course be differences 
 of opinion. 
 
 A word in conclusion to the reader. This book ought to be read 
 through, and as it treats of the causes of action, it may be read again 
 and again, until it is fully understood. Weigh and consider every sen- 
 tence on its own merits. Your own good sense shall be the judge by 
 which to test one and all its statements, and when you find a sentence 
 to be true, accept it, and pass on to the next. You will thus read to 
 profit, and your soul will grow in that which is good and honoring to 
 God and Man. 
 
 London, 
 
 January, 1862. 
 
THE REFORMATION IN YORKSHIRE. 
 
 The Chairman of the New Reformation Society, of London, being 
 at present a resident in Scarborough, was asked to deliver a series of 
 lectures in the Prince of Wales' Hotel, to explain the object of the 
 society to which he belongs. Two meetings were accordingly held on 
 the 22nd and 23rd inst., (September, 1861), which were attended by 
 large and influential audiences of ladies and gentlemen. The meetings 
 gave great satisfaction ; and that the matter might take a practical 
 turn, a series of resolutions were prepared, printed, and circulated previous 
 to the last meeting, of which the following is a report : — 
 
 M Mr. Alison commenced by saying that the meeting last night was 
 confined to the subject of religion, but to-night he would extend his 
 subject of reform into the vast world of politics. He explained that 
 Lord Bacon committed the great mistake of separating Religion from 
 Politics, an error which was fatal to progress ; for, unless all the causes 
 of action are reformed and perfected, the world cannot be moved or 
 reformed. This error on the part of the great philosopher of the 
 sixteenth century will be corrected by the present movement, which, as 
 you all know, embraces both religion and politics. 
 
 " The first practical object of the society is the repeal of the Income 
 Tax, and the Tea Duties ; this great reform is to be effected by the 
 introduction of a new department into government, as is fully explained 
 by Essay No. 4 of the society. The next practical object is the reform 
 of the Church ; this reform, I may explain, will exclusively affect the 
 preaching of the clergy, and by improving that, by the adoption of the 
 new Articles of Belief published by our society, we shall reform the 
 minds of men, and so improve the world. 
 
 "Earl Russell told us the other day that the time has gone by for 
 Electoral Reform Bills, and he is quite right. The people have dis- 
 covered that no good is to come from reforms of that kind. We want 
 reforms that are to put something into our pockets, and reforms which 
 will make us better and happier men. Why is it that our statesmen 
 have allowed the Church to remain unreformed so long ? The reply is 
 that the people have never asked for such reform ; but now they will not 
 have that excuse to make for allowing the people to remain so long with 
 a state of ignorance and delusion as to their real interests. 1st, the 
 Evil Passions of Men want reforming ; 2nd, the Church Articles want 
 reforming ; and 3rd, the Government wants reforming, and it is to pro- 
 mote these general reforms among the people and in Parliament that our 
 society has been organized. The first of these reforms you can carry 
 out yourselves, and the two last you can help us to carry by sending 
 up your petitions to Parliament. It will not be necessary that I should 
 go into details as to the precise nature of these reforms, as the publica- 
 tions of our society are in your hands, and to these I must refer you for 
 all particulars. 
 
VI NEW REFORMATION IN YORKSHIRE. 
 
 " The world has improved, as every man may ascertain, by comparing 
 the Middle Age with the Nineteenth Century, and that is the proof that 
 it is capable of improvement. What is Civilization, but the improve- 
 ment of Nature, or the abolition of evil. Away then with the idle 
 nostrums of the sceptics, who deny that the world is capable of improve- 
 ment. These men think they are wise, but, alas, their wisdom is folly ! 
 Good and evil exist, and every man is endowed with the faculty of dis- 
 tinguishing the one from the other, and of producing good and reducing 
 evil. The Reformed Religion which we uphold is a Religion of Belief, 
 for we believe in man's capacity for self-improvement, whereas the un- 
 reformed religion now existing in the church is, to a great extent, a 
 religion of negatism, as it ignores the power of man to improve himself. 
 Some men have no heart for suffering humanity, and are so evil-disposed 
 as to avow their dislike to all amendments. Of such men we can only 
 say they are not Christians, for there is no man who is animated by 
 the feelings of a Christian, who would desire that the world should re- 
 main unreformed. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — It has been said that we intend to make men religious 
 by Act of Parliament, but what is the fact ? At present, the preaching 
 of the pulpit is regulated by Act of Parliament (Act of James I, 1603). 
 Now, all we propose, is to amend that act, so as to improve the preaching 
 of the pulpit, and through that great reform, afford improved instruction 
 to the people. That is the whole of our scheme of Church Reform, and 
 you will find it is as simple as it will be efficacious. 
 
 " On the ways and means, I wish to say one word. We have no am- 
 bition to be a wealthy corporation — all we ask is that those who can 
 afford it, will give us One Guinea, which will entitle them to a Life 
 Member's Ticket, and certain privileges as to the purchase of the 
 Society's publications. We cannot continue to pay printers' bills and 
 the expenses of meetings without money, and I hope you will remember 
 this and send your contributions to the Treasurer, 27, New Bond Street, 
 London. I may further explain, that sums of Five Shillings and up- 
 wards, will entitle the donors to become ordinary members of the 
 Society. 
 
 "One word as to India. Our excellent chairman told you last 
 night that if they had had the Reformation Society in operation in 
 India only ten years ago, the late disastrous mutiny in that vast empire 
 would have been entirely prevented; and I can confirm all he said. 
 With a lucid and consistent creed, instead of an inconsistent one which 
 the natives cannot understand, and never will accept, the whole of the 
 Hindoo and Mahometan population would have been converted to 
 Christianity, which would have rendered mutiny as impossible in India 
 as it is in England. This consideration shows that the future prosperity 
 and peace of India depends much on the success of our movement, as 
 the improvement of religion will powerfully tend to prevent future 
 rebellions and mutinies, and enable us to improve the condition of India. 
 
 With reference to the Oxford Essays and Reviews, I beg to explain 
 that when I noticed that book in my Work on Civilization, I had not 
 had time to read it, but now that I have perused the book, I have no 
 hesitation in saying that I cannot approve of it. 
 
 " The grand difficulty in all constitutional states is how to deal with 
 
NEW REFORMATION IN YORKSHIRE. Vll 
 
 the franchise. To place the power in the hands of an illiterate populace 
 — to make the peasant equal to the educated squire or merchant — seems 
 preposterous ; and yet it is difficult to resist that result. Now, there are 
 three ways in which this difficult problem may be solved, with safety to 
 the state. The first is to maintain the qualification at a high rate, say 
 a £10 franchise. 2. — To have a strong government, as in France, and 
 reduce the franchise to universal suffrage. And, 3rd. — To enlighten 
 the people, and, after that to reduce the franchise, so that every man 
 may have a vote. 
 
 " With any of these modes there would be safety, but it is manifest 
 that the latter mode is the only one that combines safety with liberty. 
 We say that to educate and enlighten the people by a competent system 
 of instruction, and then to lower the franchise is the way to deal with 
 the Elective Reform question in this country. It will be found that the 
 new reformation movement which we support is competent to effect that 
 great object which has hitherto baffled all our statesmen to solve. 
 
 " Universal suffrage in connection with an illiterate mob has brought 
 America to the verge of ruin. How is it possible to expect any other 
 result by placing the power in the hands of those who know nothing of 
 the complex and difficult art of government. It is obviously impossible 
 for America, after having lowered the franchise, to raise it. We there- 
 fore, do not propose that, but we propose that they should elect a king, 
 and then America will have universal suffrage in connection with a 
 strong government, and that will deliver them from the tyranny of a 
 government of corruption and misrule. 
 
 " It is our wish and desire that every man should have a vote, and if 
 the people of England will support our Bill for the Reformation of the 
 Church, that will give improved instruction to the people, and, within 
 one year after the passing of that Bill, we shall propose a great reduc- 
 tion of the franchise. Intelligence and the franchise must always go 
 together, or there will be danger to the state ; and in reforming the 
 Church so that we may enfranchise the people, we hope, not only to 
 receive the approval of the upper classes, but likewise the warm 
 support of the people, who are to be the gainers by the change. 
 
 " I have to announce that two Provincial Societies are to be formed 
 in Yorkshire, the one in Leeds and the other in Scarborough. These 
 Societies are to be entirely independent of the London Society, and 
 are to be constituted on the sound principle of being self-supporting. I 
 need scarcely say that I wish these Societies all success, and if they 
 should at any time desire that I should deliver lectures to them, I shall 
 be most happy to do so." 
 
 The Chairman, W. Greer, Esq., now moved the adoption of the 
 printed Resolutions, approving of the movement, and of petitioning both 
 Houses of Parliament in favor of the Reforms in Church and State, 
 which have been proposed by the Reformation Society. The motion was 
 seconded by Captain Le Strange. On a show of hands being called 
 for, the Chairman declared the Resolutions to have been carried 
 unanimously. A vote of thanks having been voted to Mr. Alison for 
 his interesting and instructive lectures, and to the Chairman for his con- 
 duct in the Chair, the meeting separated. — Scarborough Times. 
 
 At Meetings held at Scarborough on the 22nd and 23rd September, 
 
Vlll THE NEW REFORMATION IN YORKSHIRE. 
 
 1861, the ^following Resolutions in support of a General Reformation 
 were agreed to unanimously. Wm. Greer, Esq., M. A., in the Chair : — 
 
 1st. — "This Meeting having heard A. Alison, Esq., of the Reforma- 
 tion Society of London, explain the principles and objects of that 
 Society, do approve generally of the movement." 
 
 2nd. — " That a Committee be appointed to promote the movement 
 throughout the United Kingdom. A. Alison, Esq., to be Chairman, who 
 will sign the Petitions." 
 
 3rd. — " That the Committee be instructed to call the special attention 
 of the Press to the paramount importance of this movement in the pre- 
 sent critical position of the country, that the objects of the movement 
 be disseminated among the masses." 
 
 4th. — "That the Committee be likewise instructed to communicate 
 with the Clergy in all parts of the country, and to urge on them the 
 necessity of bringing the reformation under the notice of their flocks." 
 
 5 th. — " That a Petition from this meeting in favour of the proposed 
 Church Reform Bill, of which a draft is given in Essay No. 1 of the 
 Reformation Society, be presented to the Queen, the Convocation, and 
 to both Houses of Parliament." 
 
 " The world-wide subject of Mr. Alison's Lectures last week may 
 well beget a spirit of sound enquiry among the nations of Europe and 
 America, in the present critical position of affairs. Even Englishmen 
 must be taught to think, for it may be that the changes going on 
 abroad may very soon produce troublesome times in England ; and 
 if the learned lecturer should succeed in stirring up the dormant 
 spirit of the Nation, he will do us all a service which shall never 
 be forgotten. A new thing has happened in this dull world of ours. 
 Protestants, Catholics, Churchmen and Dissenters have met together, 
 and after hearing the Articles of Belief of the Reformation Society 
 read over, they vote together in accepting them, and of petitioning 
 the Crown and Parliament to convert them into law ! All parties are 
 now convinced that a Reformation is indispensable ; and as sound- 
 minded men fear that there are breakers ahead, if the American War 
 is to go on, they hail the new movement as one that is well timed, 
 and the guarantee of future peace. It will be observed that along 
 with the Religious reformation is associated a Political reformation. 
 The government is to be reformed ; and that is expected to produce a 
 saving of twelve millions sterling per annum — a sum sufficient to repeal 
 the Tea Duties and the Income Tax ! In accepting these reforms 
 all men are agreed ; and we hope the Lancashire and Yorkshire men, 
 who have promised to Mr. Alison to raise a subscription of one 
 hundred thousand pounds, to be presented to the committees of the 
 Reformation Societies, on the completion of their glorious scheme, will 
 soon be called on for the money. The boon of a General Reforma- 
 tion will be cheaply purchased at ten thousand times that amount, and 
 we say the sooner the purchase is completed the better. There is 
 1st, Personal Reform; 2nd, Church Reform; and 3rd, Government 
 Reform ; and these movements must all go on simultaneously, for without 
 the first, the two last could not be carried out in their integrity. We 
 have all been waiting for a new movement, and now we have got one 
 equal to the requirements of the age." — Scarborough Times. 
 
IX 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. 
 
 We purpose, within the compass of a single chapter, to offer such 
 remarks on the manners, habits, and customs of Society as may be 
 calculated to improve them, With this object, we shall treat of the 
 various motives of human action under different heads, which may serve 
 as rules of thought, speech, and action. The following table is printed 
 in double columns — on the one side are the practice of Nature, and 
 on the other, Civilization. We hope, by these rules, to deliver the 
 great subject of Human Nature, which has hitherto been considered an 
 inexplicable riddle, from much of its mystery and difficulty. Should 
 we succeed in our object, the complete emancipation of Society from the 
 tyranny of ignorance and delusion will be achieved — a result devoutly 
 to be desired. 
 
 NATURE. 
 
 1. Selfishness or Malevolence. 
 
 2. Pride, Haughtiness, Conceit, & Vanity. 
 
 3. Dishonesty, Falsehood, and Cheating. 
 
 4. Envy and Jealousy. 
 
 5. Hatred, Malice, and Evil Speaking. 
 
 6. Hypocrisy. 
 
 7. False Indignation. 
 
 8. Anger and Bad Temper. 
 
 9. Resentment, Retaliation, and Revenge. 
 
 10. Evil Conscience. 
 
 11. Unreasonable Wishes. 
 18. Discontent and Disappointment. 
 
 13. Prejudice. Obstinacy. 
 
 14. Scepticism, Irreligion. 
 
 15. Love of Evil. 
 
 16. Pain and Regret. 
 
 17. Love Marriages. 
 
 18. Love of children. 
 10. Dress and parade. 
 
 20. Good living. 
 
 21. Love of money. 
 
 22. Amusements. 
 
 23. Fashion, Indolence. 
 
 24. Bad Manners, Vulgarity. 
 
 25. Melancholy and Despair. 
 20. The Natural Soul — a Wilderness. 
 
 These are the Natural Passions or 
 affections, before they have been acted 
 on by Reason and Experience. 
 
 1. Selfishness. — We shall now proceed to comment on the most im- 
 portant of these rules, and we shall begin with Selfishness, and its 
 opposite Benevolence. Selfishness produces Pride, Haughtiness, and 
 contempt of others. It depresses and persecutes others in order to exalt 
 itself and is the parent of Envy and Jealousy. A selfish person only 
 thinks of himself, and his own desires. All his feelings are bestowed 
 on his own family and connexions, his own town, parish or county, and 
 his own profession and hobbies. This is Nature in its rude beginnings, 
 for it cannot be called Civilization, which is built on principle and 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 0. 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 1C. 
 17. 
 18. 
 10. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 2G. 
 
 CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Benevolence, Absence of Selfishness. 
 
 Respect for others Nobleness. 
 
 Integrity and Fairness. 
 
 Kindness and Forgiveness. 
 
 Liberality. 
 
 Sincerity. 
 
 Righteous Indignation. 
 
 Good Temper. 
 
 Patience and Forbearance. 
 
 Good Conscience. 
 
 Moderate Wishes and xVspirations. 
 
 Happiness and Contentment. 
 
 Conviction of Truth. 
 
 Love of God, Religion. 
 
 Love of Good. 
 
 Pleasure, Satisfaction. 
 
 Suitable Marriages. 
 
 Moderation. 
 
 Plainness and Simplicity. 
 
 Moderation. 
 
 Money not the chief aim. 
 
 Amusements in moderation. 
 
 Self-Reliance, Intelligence. 
 
 Gentility and Good Manners. 
 
 Hope and Gladness. 
 
 The Regenerated Soul — a Garden. 
 
 The Regenerated Passions or Affections, 
 after they have been acted on by Reason 
 and Experience. 
 
X IMPROVEMENT OP SOCIETY. 
 
 generalization, the opposite of selfishness. The selfish would not care 
 though the whole world were destroyed or ruined, so they and theirs 
 were saved. On the contrary, some would even delight in a catastrophe 
 which might exalt themselves by the depression of others. While 
 Selfishness is the bane of society, Benevolence is its life and soul. 
 Benevolence is the salt of the earth, without which society must go to 
 decay. Man is born to love, and those who have nothing on which to 
 place their affections but evil are to be pitied. Let us hope that the 
 good and the noble will show themselves, and they will leaven the whole 
 mass with a new and better spirit than that which now governs society. 
 
 2. Pride and Haughtiness. — These feelings are built upon the 
 assumption that we are better than our neighbours. That feeling causes 
 us to look down with contempt on others. Pride depends on self-decep- 
 tion, for the moment that the knowledge of truth comes in, pride 
 goes out. Where talents and excellence are, there envy and jealousy 
 point their poisoned darts. The cultivation of the good feelings can 
 alone reduce these evil feelings. Why envy the good and noble, when 
 you can be as good and noble as they, if you will do as they have 
 done, and cultivate the better feelings ? 
 
 3. Integrity. — If an honest man is the noblest work of God, a dis- 
 honest man is the vilest. That honesty is the best policy is a truth no 
 less certain, for dishonesty not only mars the countenance, but vilifies 
 the conscience, and renders happiness and peace an impossibility. 
 What but happiness is the object of all ? and instead of dishonesty 
 bringing that, it sends it away. These, and many other truths we have 
 to speak of, are truisms, but that is no reason why they should not be 
 reiterated in the hearing for all, but the reverse, for we are apt to forget 
 the rudiments of morality from their very commonness. 
 
 4. Hypocrisy. — The hypocrite is a self-deluded man, and when he 
 meets with anything which convicts him of error, which is a constant 
 occurrence, indignation and anger are the necessary result. We have 
 no pity for the pain which such men suffer, for it is all their own fault. 
 Let them correct their opinions, and they will be freed from their 
 sufferings. 
 
 5. Liberality. — Nobleness of character we have defined to be, 
 respect for others. This is the essence of the christian character, and 
 who is able to do justice to its claims on the human mind ? He is our 
 father, and brother, and child, who is able to overcome self-love, and feel 
 the same respect for others that he has for himself. Ignorance is the 
 chief cause why Liberality, that noblest of faculties, is not more general, 
 for we cannot love what we do not know. 
 
 7. Indignation. — This faculty is at the command of the bad feelings, 
 as well as the good feelings. The indignation of the mobs of Paris, at 
 the Revolution of 1789, was an instance of vicious indignation ; and the 
 indignation of a court at the conviction of crime, an instance of a righ- 
 teous indignation. Devotion is no test of religion — neither is indignation 
 any test of crime. 
 
 8. Temper. — Anger, hatred, and malice, are the attributes of a bad 
 temper. What but self-love and pride is the cause of this consum- 
 mation of wickedness ? To such persons we say — Cultivate the good 
 feelings ; and all that is necessary to that, is, to free your mind from 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. XI 
 
 ignorance and delusion. Instead of turning away from truth, boldly 
 face it, and you will reap the rewards of peace and contentment. 
 
 10. Evil Conscience. — To those whose affections are set on evil, 
 the conscience is in a diseased state ; this is shown when we become 
 indignant of the good and noble. Conscience, in a healthy state, is the 
 perceiver of truth, but when the necessary knowledge is withheld, it 
 cannot perceive truth, and consequently the conscience follows the 
 natural tendency and bent of the mind, irrespective of truth. The 
 remedy for a weak and defective conscience, is, to go boldly forward to 
 the truth, and then the conscience will be renovated, along with the 
 other, faculties of the mind. 
 
 11. Unreasonable Wishes. — To aspire to that which nature cannot 
 give, is to condemn ourselves to disappointment and unhappiness. 
 Nothing is so miserable as the life of a discontented and disappointed 
 man. Knowledge is power, and the more real knowledge we acquire, 
 the more power we have. In this way our wishes may be moderated, 
 when disappointment will give place to contentment and happiness. 
 
 13. Obstinacy. — When the mind is biassed in favour of that which 
 is wrong, we submit to the tyranny of prejudice. Here, again, know- 
 ledge of truth is the sure and certain remedy. The way to cure our- 
 selves of this bad habit is, to practise giving in whenever we are wrong. 
 A fortnight's moral drill will cure the most obstinate person of the 
 habit. Only learn to say, M I see you are in the right," and the cure 
 is complete. It is pride that makes us " although convinced, argue 
 still ;" and, although the habit is strong and powerful, yet we know of 
 nothing that is easier of cure, for, once the habit is broken, it is impos- 
 sible to revive it. Such is the nature of light, for, once it is admitted, 
 darkness is gone for ever. 
 
 14. Irreligion. — Where there is no belief in the existence of truth 
 and justice, there can be no feeling of Responsibility, and where that is 
 wanting, there is no religion. The religious man is a believer in truth, 
 and to believe in truth and its author is to love God. Without the 
 restraints of religion to exercise an authority over us, man is like a ship 
 at sea without a rudder ; but with religion as his friend and support, he 
 can ride out the storms of life in peace and confidence. 
 
 15. Love of Evil. — The cause of this scourge of the human race, 
 is the want of the knowledge of Good. We must love something, and 
 when knowledge of Good is wanting, we love Evil. Nothing is easier 
 than to set this affection right. We can improve the preaching of the 
 pulpit, and we rejoice to say that this great reformation will now be 
 accomplished, when the Love of Truth will govern the world. 
 
 16. Pleasure and Pain. — These powerful feelings are ordained so 
 that all the Works and Laws of God might have the tendency to good and 
 perfection. Pleasure follows a good and noble action, and pain a bad or 
 disreputable action. It is true that pain often follows from acts which 
 cannot be called either good or bad. This shows that we ought to look 
 to all our thoughts and doings, seeing that errors in these things produce 
 the pain of regret. We may rely upon it that we cannot neglect even 
 common things without offending the Laws which are the Will of God. 
 
 17. Marriage. — The most important act of life is, in most cases, 
 determined by Impulse and Self- Will. Instead of making love the 
 
Xll IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. 
 
 motive for marriage, " suitability " ought to be the object. Love is 
 blind. What is the cause of bad temper but ignorance and delusion ? 
 and if that be so, then blind love is one cause of temper. How often do 
 we hear the remark, that the greater the love, the readier people are to 
 quarrel. If people would marry for Good Sense and the Domestic 
 Virtues, they would place their happiness on a more stable foundation 
 than mere love. In one respect, love may be considered a weakness, 
 for when the reasoning powers are strong, love is changed into a 
 sentiment. Ordinary love is an instinct rather than a sentiment, and 
 as man advances in civilization the dominion of instinct decreases. If 
 we could tell the tale of disappointments which have followed > love 
 matches we should fill volumes, but we trust we have said enough to 
 show that other motives besides love ought to govern marriage. 
 
 18. Love of Children. — This feeling, which is likewise an instinct, 
 must not be carried too far. Many parents make themselves slaves to 
 their families, by allowing these feelings to govern them. This weak- 
 ness not only spoils the children, but is fatal to the peace and happiness 
 of the parents. In remote districts of the country, and particularly in 
 many parts of Scotland and Ireland, the home affections are carried to 
 such excess, that the children are not allowed to leave home, until 
 after they have acquired habits of idleness which they are never after- 
 wards able to overcome. 
 
 19. Dress and Parade. — Nothing shows an empty mind more than 
 the love of dress and show. Plainness and simplicity are the attributes 
 of good taste. Where the mind is vulgar and uncultivated, the taste is 
 bad, and runs into show and extravagance. The remedy for this evil is 
 the cultivation of the mind, which will purify the taste. Real educa- 
 tion will save the pockets of fathers and husbands to an extent they 
 little imagine. 
 
 20. Good Living. — The mark of civilization is to eat little and 
 seldom. This habit of moderation in eating gives time and capacity to 
 attend to the duties of life, which the habit of constant eating does 
 not. Eating is necessary, but instead of making that the object of life, 
 we must keep it in subordination to the numerous calls of duty which 
 otherwise must either be very imperfectly fulfilled, or entirely neglected. 
 Some people can do nothing without eating and drinking. When any 
 business is to be done, we say — work first, and then eat ; for work is 
 the object, and eating can be attended to afterwards. In country 
 houses, the clock-work return of meals is a perfect nuisance. It is a 
 tyranny which interferes with every rational employment and enjoy- 
 ment, and we hope these hints may have some effect in reducing an evil 
 which exists, more or less, in every class of society. 
 
 21. Love of Money. — The love of knowledge and moral worth 
 having gone out, the love of money has come in. It is imagined that 
 money can give everything, but those who talk in that way only show 
 their ignorance. Money can only give food, house, and clothing, and 
 that most people have whether rich or poor. Money cannot elevate the 
 character or improve the habits and tastes. Depend upon it, that a well 
 regulated mind is greater riches than all the treasures of the Indies ; 
 for, while moral worth can give happiness and contentment, money can 
 give neither. 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. Xlll 
 
 22. Amusements. — So utterly aimless has life become from the 
 want of moral worth, that amusement has come to be the sole aim of 
 life. Money-making is the means, amusement the end of existence. 
 Yes, society has come to that, and of all things amusement and plea- 
 sure are the most deceitful. Of all the parties, balls, and excursions 
 that take place, how many produce pleasure, and how many pain and 
 disappointment. Let the votaries of pleasure answer that question, and 
 they will see the folly of such things. The more amusement is 
 stimulated by excursion trains and holidays the more will the love 
 of money and the dislike of labour and diligence increase. 
 
 23. Fashion. — To follow the leaders of Fashion, requires no thought 
 and involves no responsibility, it is therefore the course taken by the 
 vulgar, who have no capacity for any higher course of action. To act 
 independently of the tyranny of fashion, Self-Reliance is requisite, and 
 that involves thought and discernment. The victim of Fashion is a 
 slave, but the man of moral worth and character is free-born. The one 
 is the sport of every silly story he hears, the other knows what to 
 believe and what to reject. The one declines, while the other is always 
 advancing in knowledge and virtue. These are the two sides of the 
 picture, and we leave our readers to take their choice. 
 
 The Manly Character (Self-Reliance) is the manhood of Civilization. 
 Fear not, therefore, to be called eccentric or peculiar, for, to think and 
 act independently, you must be called such. Fear rather to be called a 
 copyist or an imitator. To follow the fashion, as a flock of sheep follow 
 their leaders, is the act of the crowd, but those who rise above medi- 
 ocrity avoid the crowd and act for themselves. By following public 
 opinion rather than the dictates of our own thoughts we pass life in a 
 vain show, neither changing nor learning anything, and no faculty to 
 know good from evil, or true from false, is created within us. 
 
 24. Good Manners. — Mental culture accompanied by experience pro- 
 duces good taste, and that is the parent of gentility and good manners. 
 Birth or riches have therefore nothing whatever to do with gentility. 
 We shall often have occasion to deplore the moral dwarfage of the men 
 and women of our day, and the want of Good Manners, which is daily 
 increasing, confirms all we have said. Where there is no moral culture 
 there can be no manners, except such as are hypocritical, artificial, and 
 superficial. Good manners are essential to the comfort and happiness 
 of society, but before society can enjoy that luxury, a reformation in all 
 that affects the thoughts and actions must be carried out. The more 
 we see of the progress of the reformation, the more do we perceive that 
 there is no difficulty in the way, as we have not found any, either high 
 or low, who are not ready to accept the reformed principles when 
 explained to them. 
 
 25. Melancholy. — To take an interest in self-reformation is the best 
 antidote for melancholy. Reformation being the first principle of life, it 
 is an object which may be extended over the whole term of life. We 
 never can become weary in well-doing, and where progress is there can 
 be no melancholy. Occupation removes melancholy, and as reformation 
 must not be confined to reading and contemplation, but be accompanied 
 by action, an everlasting fund of joy and confidence is opened up to the 
 soul by the new reformation. We have often wondered why weeping 
 
XIV IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. 
 
 should be so common among the women and even among the men. Bo 
 those who give way to such folly know that tears are the letting down 
 of the whole moral system, for the more we give way to crying, the 
 weaker we become. Manliness (self-reliance) and not effeminacy 
 (fashion) must now be the object of both sexes, for nothing but loss can 
 result from encouraging indolence and weakness of any kind. Be 
 strong, therefore, and you will rejoice all your days. 
 
 26. The Soul. — The object of existence is the enlargement and 
 improvement of the soul. God did not give the soul or cultivated mind 
 originally, for his purpose was to produce that out of its own experience. 
 But if we neglect this duty of cultivating the mind, the object of the 
 world is entirely lost. A soul in the state of nature can scarcely be 
 called a soul at all, for it is only a desert and a wilderness, producing 
 nettles and sour fruit. The Cultivated Soul, on the other hand, is a 
 garden, which yields the fruits of righteousness. 
 
 The Emperor Augustus laid it down as a rule never to go to 
 war unless the chances of gain exceeded the chances of loss. The 
 result of following this wise policy was a peace which continued all 
 his reign, extending over a period of forty years. The reason why 
 the Temple of Janus was shut by Augustus, and continued closed for 
 forty years, almost for the first time in the history of ancient times, was 
 the wisdom and moderation of the Emperor, and not from any other 
 cause. The lesson we draw from this bright example is, to adopt 
 " Self-interest," as our rule in determining all questions of Peace or 
 War; To go to war to vindicate our honor, would certainly not be our 
 interest. What is usually taken for honor and glory is, the ravings 
 of those who neither know nor care for the interest of the nations 
 which are to be sacrificed, so that their own personal feelings may 
 be gratified. The history of England is filled with instances of Wars 
 begun and carried on, on no better principle than false honor and 
 glory, and the disastrous result of such Wars has been the destruction 
 of life and property without anything to set against it. But there 
 is another power which is supposed to govern Peace and War inde- 
 pendent of all that mortal man can do. That power is sometimes 
 called Fate, sometimes Predestination, and sometimes Fortune, Destiny, 
 or Necessity. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans believed in Fortune, which was another 
 name for Predestination. The Christians and Mahometans believe in 
 Predestination, and the Rationalists in Fate and Necessity. We know 
 of no church or party which believe in Free- Will — a statement 
 which will surprise many of our readers, but, on reflection it will be 
 found to be literally correct ! Now, what is the truth. Are all things 
 governed by Predestination? for, if that is true, there is no use to 
 attempt to make or prevent war, as that will come or go whatever 
 we may do. Now that is utter folly, for it is Man, and not God, who 
 makes War. Any other belief than Free- Will, is opposed to the very 
 existence of Religion and Responsibility. Until we give up all such 
 false notions as to the causes of wars there can be no end of war and 
 misery in the world, for, so long as we believe that we have no power 
 to prevent war, of course war will continue. 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. XV 
 
 We must be honest and consistent in our belief, or all our knowledge 
 will go for nothing. Let us not believe in Free- Will in the abstract, 
 and disbelieve it in its applications. It is our own evil passions which 
 cause war, and if we wish to see war prevented we have only to act 
 upon principle and disregard the dictates of feeling and passion. War 
 then is the rule of the evil passions or nature, and Peace the rule of 
 the intellect or civilization. 
 
 The power of thinking has very much gone off. We are so ac- 
 customed to read the opinions of the press instead of thinking for 
 ourselves, that we have insensibly lost the power of thought. This 
 fact shows how necessary it is to make the press a responsible insti- 
 tution like any other institution of the country, for on it depends the 
 welfare of our country. We know of no class who read books of any 
 real value, except those who are obliged to read them in carrying out 
 their profession. Literature — what has it come to ! Write anything 
 of value, and not a publisher will look at it. But write trash, and the 
 greater trash the better, and they will speak to you. Yes, the people 
 have ceased to have the taste for real knowledge of any kind. Money 
 and amusement is all they appreciate, and real knowledge does not give 
 that of a kind which they can appreciate. 
 
 America boasts of her ten thousand newspapers and periodicals, and 
 they have proved so many deceivers, which have brought their country 
 to the verge of ruin. In England we are fast following the footsteps 
 of America, and we shall now state the reason. The Press, as it is 
 now constituted, is an irresponsible body. There is no check upon it, 
 and no encouragement to prefer good to evil. The consequence is, 
 that for the most part, the press is governed by passion and self-will ! 
 The only remedy for this fearful evil — which is common to all the 
 nations of Europe, as well as of America; — is a censorship. We do 
 not mean direct interference of any kind, but an authorized journal, to 
 comment, weekly, on the opinions of the press, as they appear. Let 
 the Moniteur of Paris, the London Gazette, and the government paper 
 of every other country devote a portion of their " non-official " space 
 to the criticism of the opinions of the press, and that will raise up an 
 independent and responsible press, worthy of the age in which we live. 
 License is not liberty, and when the errors of our press are reviewed 
 as they ought to be, we shall be able to judge the right and wrong of 
 everything. 
 
 The New World, owing to the rapid decline of morality and civiliza- 
 tion, which has been silently sapping the foundations of society, is in a 
 state of collapse. But for the able generalship of the ruler of the 
 French people, the Old World would have been in the same position, 
 and if anything should happen to Napoleon before something be done 
 in the way of reformation, European civilization will follow the sad 
 course it has taken in America. In these grave circumstances we shall 
 act wisely if we hasten to build up new institutions fitted to the extra- 
 ordinary exigencies of the times, to take the place of the old institutions 
 which have spent their force and are ready to die. Let the English 
 Government proceed to the election of a public critic. Let this public 
 servant be liberally paid for his work, and let him be held responsible 
 for all his writings. If the appointments to this new office are made 
 
XVI IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY. 
 
 annually, the public will be in a position to make new appointments 
 whenever they please, so that public opinion will always be able to 
 exercise a proper control. 
 
 The necessary result of fashion is to make all men alike, but that is 
 not civilization but a return to nature. Progress in civilization comes 
 exclusively from individual thought and action. Look at the rise of 
 civilization in any state, and you will find it came from individual action, 
 but so long as public opinion and fashion are so powerful as they have 
 become in our day, there can be no heroism or individual action. Look 
 at the origin of any reformation. It begins with one individual. The 
 present movement began with Mr. Alison. When he began, there was 
 not a single person to agree with him ; the New Reformation is conse- 
 quently as much a discovery to the world as the discovery of the planet 
 Neptune. This fact is sufficient of itself to dispel the idea that in 
 moral things there can be nothing new. The idea is utterly absurd, for 
 if there could be nothing new in morals, there can be nothing new in 
 physics. A nation is made up of parts, and unless the parts grow, the 
 nation cannot grow. There may be leaves, but examine society closely 
 and there is no fruit. Test Public Opinion and Fashion by their fruit, 
 and you will know of what value they are. 
 
 The grand secret of success in life is to go slow. Be quick and 
 diligent to execute, but slow to design. Always enquire, read, and 
 think before you decide. What would you think of a judge who 
 decided a case before he heard the witnesses ? and yet that is the course 
 which most men and women take in the affairs of life. They decide 
 first, and then enquire. How can we expect success, when we act on a 
 principle which can only produce disappointment. When men rise to 
 eminence, it is not in consequence of mental ability, but solely by using 
 the method of thinking first, and after that, deciding. First im- 
 pressions are supposed to be best, but that is the language of nature 
 not of reason, for first impressions must be wrong if we decide before 
 we read or listen. 
 
 We have now completed our survey of the motives, habits, and 
 thoughts of human nature. We have endeavoured to show what is 
 wrong and what is right, and how the former may be reduced to the 
 latter. It is a new attempt, and we have done our best to ensure 
 success, but no doubt the picture will contain faults. These we hope 
 to correct and perfect as we proceed in these Essays, for as yet we 
 know but in part. On a subject which comes within the experience of 
 all, we hope our readers will assist us with any suggestions that may 
 occur to them, that our future Essays may have the benefit of their 
 experience. Our wish is to gather in the opinions of all, and give 
 them forth to the world in a condensed form in the present publication. 
 Already we have received valuable assistance from our friends, and we 
 hope to receive more as we proceed. 
 
 The beginning of all reformations is to know the truth, for pride 
 and self-conceit must be humbled, to make room for the new prin- 
 ciples. If the mystery which has always surrounded the subject of 
 the Passions is now dissipated in any considerable degree, we may rest 
 assured that the end of the kingdom of Satan, which is DARKNESS, 
 is near at hand. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 We live in extraordinary times. Since the world began, perhaps 
 there was never a time in which such great changes were in progress as 
 now. In England we have a moral and religious reformation. In 
 France the same progress is making. In Italy a political reformation 
 has just been consummated, which is, doubtless, the forerunner of a 
 corresponding religious advance. In Prussia a religious reformation 
 is imminent, and as for Austria, she is about to become the scene 
 of vast changes. 
 
 If we now pass into Asia, we find Turkey in a very unsettled state. 
 It is the same with India, and as for China, if we may accept the late 
 manifesto of the new King of Nankin as sincere, of which we have no 
 reason to doubt, the Christian Religion is about to supplant the 
 Idolatrous Churches of the East. Such is the transition state of the 
 Old World, and the same may be said of the New World. The great 
 American Republic has just been broken up ; and looking to the 
 corruptions which that Confederation has produced, we recognise in 
 that catastrophe the precursor of a great Reformation, political and 
 moral. Such are times in which we live, and in now attempting to give 
 consistency to the Moral and Religious movement going on amongst 
 ourselves, we trust we shall not be accused of entering the field a 
 moment sooner than the times demand. 
 
 We have been told that the World is not yet far enough advanced 
 for a True Church, and that we ought to wait until it is better prepared 
 for a reformation, before we propose one ; but that is obviously a 
 fallacy ; for who can believe without a preacher ? The mission of 
 reformers is both to prepare the soil and sow the seed ; for it is 
 impossible that the Church and the World can be improved, unless 
 reformers come forward to tell the truth, and so produce a reformation. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 We have had no reformers since the times of Granmer, Ridley, and 
 Latimer, but now the good work of reformation is happily renewed. We 
 have hewn out to ourselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water ; 
 and now, in our necessity, we are obliged to replace the faulty vessels 
 with such as may be good and true. Whether we look at the Church, 
 at Politics, at Literature, at Education, at Commerce, or at anything 
 else, we find nothing but disappointment, and hopeless complications. 
 The universal cry is for a Reformation ; and to the call, " who will 
 show us any good ? " we cannot turn an inattentive ear. We have 
 faith in Truth, and in the capacity of Man to receive it when it is 
 fairly brought under his notice, and although the work we have under- 
 taken be an arduous one, we feel assured, that if we use the means at 
 our command, we shall reap the desired harvest. 
 
 Rome was not built in a day ; neither will error and evil be rooted 
 out all at once, but we shall plant the seeds of reformation deep in the 
 ground, and if we do not see the work finished, we shall have the 
 consolation of knowing that we have done our duty, in bequeathing 
 to our children a legacy of which they shall reap the fruits. 
 
 It will be observed, that the "New Reformation" is altogether Con- 
 servative, for true reform is only another word for true conservatism ; 
 and, trusting to the righteousness of our cause, and the good sense and 
 public spirit of the people of England, we respectfully submit these 
 pages to their consideration. 
 
 25, Conduit Street, London, 
 
 February \Qth, 1861. 
 
THE NEW REFORMATION SOCIETY. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 This Society has been formed for the purpose of promoting a General 
 Reformation throughout the United Kingdom and the Colonies. The 
 want of an institution of this kind has long been felt, for none of 
 the existing Societies occupy a field of operations sufficiently wide to 
 meet the daily increasing wants of the country. This great movement 
 may be said to have arisen from three distinct causes, all of which 
 have come from the prolonged absence of Reform of the Articles 
 of Religion. The first Cause is the rapid progress of Supernaturalism 
 and Puritanism among the middle and industrial classes, of which the 
 Revival Movement, as it is called, is the evidence. The next cause is 
 one in the opposite direction, namely, the progress of Necessitarianism 
 and Rationalism among a portion of the higher classes. The third 
 cause is the unsatisfactory state of our Ecclesiastical and Educational 
 establishments, which cannot be improved until a general Reformation 
 is produced in the public mind in the direction of Unity and Concord. 
 
 The principles of the Society are, the recognition of the Authority 
 and Inspiration of Scripture, and of the Divinity of Christ. 
 Occupying an independent position, we shall act impartially towards 
 all parties. Having no party objects to serve, we shall feel ourselves 
 at liberty to communicate freely with all parties, with the object of 
 uniting them on the neutral ground of Reform. 
 
 The Society will co-operate with kindred societies throughout 
 England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies, with the object of 
 producing a simultaneous and harmonious movement among all classes 
 and denominations of Protestants. Although the Society's operations 
 will be exclusively confined to the Established Church, yet as all 
 churches have a direct interest in the Reform of the National Faith, 
 Protestants of all denominations are expected to take part in the 
 movement. 
 
 The Constitution of the Church comprises, first, the Thirty-nine 
 Articles, containing the Creed of the Church; second, the Prayer Book, 
 comprising the Services of the Church ; and third, the Canons, or 
 the Acts of the Crown and Convocation, constituting the Church. 
 To begin right, is almost to end right; and in beginning with the reform 
 
4 ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 of the Articles, which form the basis of the Church's Constitution, the 
 remedy will be applied at the source from which all the evils which 
 afflict the Church spring. 
 
 Immediately after the passing of the Church Reform Bill by the 
 Crown and Parliament, the Society will take up the subject of Reforms 
 in the Prayer Book, Services, and Canons. They will likewise turn 
 their attention to Educational Reform ; but until the Reform Bill of 
 the Articles is passed, it would be premature to enter on these subjects. 
 It will be observed, that the movement is entirely a religious one, 
 and in no respect political. This is a hopeful circumstance ; for, 
 although the necessary changes are great and numerous, yet, owing to 
 their non-political character, there is the prospect of the Bill passing 
 through Parliament with the consent of all parties. We desire no 
 controversy or agitation, and unless the opponents of Reform provoke 
 such, there will be none. 
 
 Prevention is ever better than Cure, and the new Reformation is 
 essentially preventive. We spend above six millions annually on our 
 poor, raised by compulsory assessment, and double that sum by voluntary 
 contributions. We spend some millions on our courts of justice and 
 reformatories, many millions on superfluous drinkables, several millions 
 on hospitals and such-like, and a sum more than all these twice told, on 
 useless schemes arising from ignorance and delusion. We do not say 
 that the whole of this vast expenditure of capital will be saved by the 
 reformation, but this we may say, that a moiety of these sums will 
 certainly be saved when our moral and religious creeds are placed on 
 the basis of liberty and truth. 
 
 Incredulity has often deprived the world of untold riches, and in 
 now asking the public to place faith in Truth and Justice, and in the 
 bountiful provisions of Providence, we feel assured that the result, great 
 and glorious as it may be, will not fall short of all we have said. Let 
 it not be imagined that we are increased with goods and have need of 
 nothing more ; for while the few are rich the many are poor, and in 
 advocating the claims of the Reformation we seek not the interests 
 of those who have need of nothing, but rather of those who are in want 
 of all things, for Religion and Civilization will not be complete until 
 their blessings are extended to all classes of the community. 
 
 The Revenue of the Society will be derived from the sale of the books 
 and tracts which it proposes to publish, and from voluntary subscriptions 
 which already amount to a sum sufficient to meet preliminary expenses. 
 General meetings of the Society will be called from time to time, of 
 which due notice will be given by advertisement. The object of the 
 first meeting will be, to elect office-bearers, and to appoint a 
 committee to draw up the Revised Articles of Religion to be attached 
 to the proposed Bill. Gentlemen in London and elsewhere, desiring 
 to join the Society, are requested to send in their names by letter, 
 to the Secretary, Mr. M. W. Miles, at the Society's Office. 
 
 The Reform of the Church will be the counterpart of all the Reforms 
 carried out during the last forty years — a consummation which will 
 perhaps be recognised by succeeding generations as the Magna Charta 
 of England's Religious Liberty. If we may estimate the good 
 
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. 5 
 
 results of this great Reformation by the importance of the changes 
 proposed, and the ages which have elapsed before the proposal could 
 be made with any prospect of success, we may be assured that they will 
 exceed all that the heart of man can conceive. 
 
 London, December 18M, 1860. 
 
 CHURCH REFORM BILL. 
 
 Draft of an Act of the Crown, to amend an Act of the Crown, 
 passed in the Reign of James the First, 1603, anent the 
 affairs of the Church. 
 
 VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, in virtue of our Prerogative Royal 
 in Causes Ecclesiastical, and with the advice and consent of the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Bishops and Clergy of the 
 Church, Do hereby Ordain and Decree, subject to the consent of 
 the Houses of Parliament, the Reformation of the Thirty-nine 
 Articles of the Church, and that in the manner following : — 
 
 First. That in place of the Thirty-nine Articles, originally en 
 acted by Henry VIII, amended and re-enacted by Elizabeth in 1571, 
 and finally ordained by James I, in 1603, the Thirty-nine New 
 Articles annexed hereto shall henceforth constitute the Creed of the 
 Church. 
 
 Second. That after the Ratification of this Act by Convocation and 
 Parliament, no Clergyman shall be admitted to Orders until he has 
 first subscribed the New Articles. 
 
 Third. Notwithstanding the subscriptions to the Articles, the 
 Clergy shall be entitled to hold their own private opinions (the right of 
 private judgment), so that those private opinions do not amount to 
 a practical nullification of the Articles as a whole. 
 
 Lastly. It shall be competent to the Clergy now in Orders to 
 subscribe the "New Articles," and thereby free themselves from the 
 obligations of their present subscriptions ; but those Clergymen who 
 prefer to hold the Old Articles shall be entitled to do so, in which case, 
 such Clergymen shall not be bound by the "New Articles," but 
 remain bound by the Old Articles. 
 
 FORM OF PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. 
 
 To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, (and a 
 Petition to the House of Commons to the same effect.) 
 
 Humbly Sheweth — 
 Your petitioners, inhabitants of the City (or Borough, or Parish) 
 of are of opinion that the time has come for a complete 
 
 Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church, so a& to place 
 the National Faith on a basis more in harmony with Scripture and 
 Experience, than is the case with the existing Articles. 
 
6 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 Your Petitioners believe that when the Thirty-nine Articles are 
 reformed on the principles contained in the publications of the Refor- 
 mation Society of London, those Religious Animosities, so destructive 
 of independent thought and of social peace and liberty, would be 
 entirely removed. 
 
 Your petitioners further believe, that the reform of the Articles, in 
 restoring unity and concord to the Church, would open the way for 
 those Reforms in the Prayer Book and Services, and in the Educational 
 Institutions of the Country, on which the further progress of Religion 
 and Civilisation seems to depend. 
 
 May it therefore please your Honourable House, to take this 
 important matter into consideration, and to lay a Petition before Her 
 Gracious Majesty, praying her to take such steps as she may think fit, 
 for the Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles, upon the principles 
 herein set forth. And your petitioners will ever pray, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 " Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." 
 
 The Church is the only unreformed portion of the State ; for since 
 1559, when Elizabeth came to the throne, it has not been reformed. 
 Now as the Church happens to be the chief element in Civilization, 
 our attention must be mainly directed to it ; for to reform the Church 
 as it ought to be reformed, is almost to reform and complete Civilization. 
 It is clear that we must look to the Laity, in the first instance, for 
 Church reform. If a Catholic writes on the Church, he only magnifies 
 the infallibility of his own Church ; and if a Protestant writes, he 
 advocates the views of his own party. 
 
 Religious Animosities have for the most part extinguished all 
 independent thought. To remain blind to our own faults, and alive to 
 the faults of others, is the characteristic of our times. Before this 
 morbid state of the public mind can be improved, men must be taught 
 to distinguish truth from error. When men begin to correct their own 
 opinions, by thinking independently and without reference to this creed 
 or that, they will see less to complain of in others, and thus will tolera- 
 tion and love be increased. True religion teaches Love to others, and 
 seeing that Religion has hitherto taught men rather to dislike each 
 other, we have a practical proof that something is radically wrong. 
 With this fact before us, surely we must be blind indeed if we see not 
 in a New Reformation the germ of a bright future in the history of this 
 country. If there was no such thing as Truth, and if every man was not 
 endowed with the faculty of perceiving Truth when fairly brought 
 under his notice, there would be no remedy for Erroneous Opinions ; 
 but seeing that Truth is a reality, there is no excuse for the present 
 non-progressive state of Civilization. 
 
THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 7 
 
 Mr. Baden Powell says that no man can prove a Miracle of the Bible. 
 But as he might as truly say that no man can disprove a Miracle, the 
 statement goes for nothing. To go into historical questions such as 
 these, is only to take up the attention of the Church, with that which 
 cannot possibly be settled one way or the other ; and instead of such 
 a course leading to concord and unity, it must have the,, opposite effect. 
 It is strange that discussions on Religion should have always turned on 
 the question whether the Bible be a revelation from God, or not, — of 
 which Paley's Evidences, down to Rawlinson's Bampton's Lectures, are 
 examples — and not on the question of Doctrine. Whether this be 
 accidental, or done with the object of diverting attention from the 
 question of Reform of Doctrine, we cannot say ; but whether it be acci- 
 dental or intentional, one thing is certain — that it has had the effect of 
 keeping the World in the dark as to its true interests. 
 
 There are two ideas which very few minds can take in at the same 
 time. One is, that Scripture is an inspiration of G-od ; and the other, 
 that man may have misrepresented, misinterpreted, and misapplied 
 Scripture. The two things are perfectly compatible, and yet we have 
 seldom met any who can accept the self-evident proposition. Let the 
 reader boldly examine Scripture, and he will find that he may reform 
 his Creed without rejecting his Bible or his Religion. To act upon 
 the principle of either accepting the Bible as it is now interpreted and 
 applied, or to reject it altogether, is as illogical as to say that because 
 we cannot know everything we can know nothing. Reformation is the 
 course we take in every other affair of life, and why we should treat 
 religion either as everything that is good and perfect, or nothing at all, 
 is the greatest folly imaginable. We all know and acknowledge that 
 Religion is not perfect, and that, being so, why should we refuse to 
 reform and perfect it ? Why seek its destruction until we have first 
 proved that it cannot be reformed ? What should we think of a politi- 
 cian who assumed that the British Parliament could not be reformed, 
 and who therefore proposed to abolish it ? and if that is folly, the folly 
 of those who refuse to look into the facts upon which Religion stands, 
 and who, in ignorance of these facts, assume that it cannot be reformed, 
 is equally great. 
 
 Three different paths are open to us. The first is to remain as we 
 are, and see the World go on from one folly to another in an endless 
 circle. The second is to ignore Religion altogether, and then we shall 
 have the World worse than ever. The third is to keep our Bible, and 
 conform our Religious belief to it, and that, we think, is the only 
 course consistent with True Religion. 
 
 At the Christian Era there existed three great parties : 1st, the 
 Pharisees, whose religion was hypocrisy; 2nd, the Sadducees, whose 
 religion was scepticism; and 3rd, the Christians, who took a middle 
 course, rejecting hypocrisy on the one hand and scepticism on the 
 other. Such was the state of the World in the first century, and it 
 is practically the same now in the nineteenth century. We have 
 1st, the Anti-Reform party, who are contented to remain as they are, 
 and in rejecting Reform assume that they are perfect ; 2nd, the Ration- 
 
8 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 alist party ; and 3rd, the Reform party, who advocate a Reformation on 
 the principles of the Gospel. 
 
 The Christian Religion is a religion of love — Love to God, and Love 
 to our fellow men. The Jewish Religion is a Religion of fear, on 
 which the Catholic Church is built — hell-fire and purgatory being the 
 great instruments used to compel obedience. The Protestant Church 
 is an improvement on the Catholic Church, for it acts upon love more 
 than fear ; but it is not perfect, and requires to be further reformed by 
 passing more completely from fear to love. We have been accustomed 
 to interpret the New Testament by the Old Bible, an error which 
 almost entirely nullifies the Gospel. It is clear that we are bound to 
 invert this order, and interpret the Old Testament by the Gospel. 
 We all know that the last document modifies or annuls all previous 
 documents in the affairs of life, and we have only to apply this 
 self-evident principle in reading the two Books of Revelation, to come 
 to the Knowledge of what the Christian Religion really is. 
 
 The World was originally created Good and Perfect, as a means to 
 an end, and it is left to man to develope and complete its destiny as a 
 Civilized World. Original Evil, or Want, is the means by which Man 
 is compelled to exert himself, and so convert an uncivilized World into 
 a civilized World. Man cultivates External Nature, and turns a barren 
 wilderness into a fruitful field. He cultivates the Mind, and turns a 
 field overgrown with weeds into a fruitful garden. 
 
 The doctrine of Original Sin is arrived at by reading the allegory of 
 the Fall in a literal manner, but as that doctrine is opposed to the 
 doctrine of the Perfection of God in goodness and power, it is necessary 
 to reject it. If God could not prevent Satan from ruining mankind, 
 that would indicate a want of Power, and if he did not prevent Satan's 
 work, that involves the want of Goodness ; so that, in any case, the 
 doctrine must be given up. As our Saviour never alludes to " Original 
 Sin," it is quite certain that that doctrine forms no part of Christianity. 
 
 It is because Church reformers ignore the question of Doctrine that 
 not the slightest approach to a settlement has been made for the last 
 twenty years, although compromises of every possible description have 
 been offered, first by one party and then by the other. The Clergy have 
 yet to learn that reform involves sacrifice ; and until all parties are 
 prepared to sacrifice error on the altar of truth no progress can be made. 
 
 This is an age o^ discovery and invention greater than that of the 
 sixteenth century. Now what does all this progress mean ? Is it to 
 stop here, or to carry us forward to a corresponding moral advance ? 
 This question will be answered if we look to the experience of the 
 past. Invention and discovery in the sixteenth century were immediately 
 followed by a moral advance, — the Reformation of Luther ; and if this, 
 the second age of discovery, is not followed by a second Reformation, 
 such a result will be altogether opposed to experience and the natural 
 sequence of cause and effect. 
 
 On reference to an Article on "The Revival Movement," as it is 
 called, in the North British Review, lately published, the fearful progress 
 of that malady in all parts of the United Kingdom, will be seen. The 
 
THE TltOTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 -Movement began in America in 1857; and crossed over to Ireland in 
 the following year, and now in England and Scotland it is all but 
 universal. The mind of the people is being broken down and demoralized 
 by the follies of Supernaturalism, and we all know that it would require 
 almost a miracle to restore minds once demoralized to a healthy state. 
 Not a day must be lost to arrest the evil, and nothing can remove it but 
 by placing our Articles of Belief on a basis which will give no coun- 
 tenance to such false views of Religion. The Gospel is Miraculous in 
 its origin, but the effect of the Gospel on the soul is natural. This fact 
 proves that Conversion is not a miracle at all, but Natural. There 
 being no evidence of Miracles, either internal or external, since New 
 Testament times, as the doctrines of Baptismal Regeneration and Elec- 
 tion involve Miraculous Conversions, they must be rejected. Love to 
 Christ furnishes the motive for obedience to the precepts of the Gospel ; 
 and with that Motive every man is able to work out his own Salvation, 
 for there is no such thing as Miraculous Conversions. 
 
 The fact that the Protestant Churches have not made a single Reform 
 of Doctrine for the last three hundred years, proves how lifeless and 
 unfruitful the Churches are. Unless we are prepared to assert that the 
 Protestant Creed is perfect and free from error, what we have now said 
 must be true. The fact is, Religion consists not merely in remaining 
 contented with the faith we already possess, but in adding to our Faith 
 new and better Doctrines, for unless the Soul grows as well as lives, it 
 must be dormant and fruitless. 
 
 To raise the Character of the Individual is the banner of the New 
 Reformation. Under its influence our little men will become great, and 
 our weak men strong ; strong in counsel and strong in action. The 
 national character will be raised, and the influence of the Reformation 
 will cross the Channel and perhaps induce other nations to follow our 
 example. Controversy and War followed Luther's reformation ; but 
 the New Reformation is Peace. Contradictions produce controversy 
 and war, and such was the result of Luther's imperfect work. The 
 first reformation was based, not on principle, but on compromise ; but 
 the glory of the New Reformation is, that it is based on Truth. Such 
 is the wide difference between the two reformations, and that difference 
 is sufficient to account for the failure of the one and the predicted 
 success of the other. 
 
 It is not unusual to hear Evangelical preachers state from the 
 pulpit, that the effect of the Gospel on the soul is wholly natural ; 
 and, as for the High Church, that is the avowed doctrine of the 
 party. Now, all that is wanting to produce the desired Reformation 
 is, that the Church shall give its corporate sanction to that great 
 doctrine, and annul all other doctrines which trench upon it. Such 
 may be regarded as the dawn of the New Reformation, a great and 
 glorious light, which was unknown to the Church in any former 
 period of her history. The grand difficulty in all reformations is 
 to find a scheme of Reform which will be generally acceptable. 
 What remains after that is comparatively easy. With Books, News- 
 papers, and Tracts, to publish the new principles, as seeds scattered 
 broadcast over the land, a visible improvement in the Opinions and 
 
10 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 
 
 Manners of all classes — from the cottage up to the drawing-room — 
 will speedily be effected. The tone of our pulpit ministrations will 
 improve, and the character of the people will be nourished and re- 
 freshed, like the land after a long and dreary winter. It was a 
 glorious day when Elizabeth came to the throne, and set the conscience 
 and the intellect comparatively free. It was more than a repetition 
 of that day, when William III. met his people in St. James's, and 
 congratulated them on their victory over Rome ; and it will be a thrice 
 glorious day when Victoria enters St. Paul's and gives her hearty 
 assent to a Church Reform Bill, embodying the principles of the New 
 Reformation. 
 
 The Catholics speak of the Protestants as heretics, and the Protestants 
 treat the Catholics no better, for they consider the Catholics Antichrist 
 and the Scarlet Lady. But this is not all, for one class of Protestants 
 consider another class mere professors, devoid of all vital religion; while 
 these very professors retort on their accusers that they who consider 
 themselves the favourites of Heaven, are quite as insincere as them- 
 selves. These being the facts of the case, we ask where does all this 
 Intolerance come from ? We answer, that it arises from the prevalence 
 of Error in our own opinions. Those who have no errors to uphold are 
 never intolerant, for to such truth is ever pleasant and welcome ; but 
 to those who indulge in error truth produces anger and resentment. 
 
 If Devotion were the test of truth, the Irish are the most religious of 
 the British people, the Scotch the next, and the English the least 
 religious of all. But it is certain that "Devotion" is not a test of 
 truth, for a Brahmin is more devout than a Mahometan, a Mahometan 
 professedly more religious than a Catholic, and a Catholic apparently 
 more pious than a Protestant. In these circumstances we must look for 
 some better test than " Devotion." We should say, that the nation which 
 is least Intolerant, and acts most faithfully upon the principles of 
 Christianity, is the most religious. 
 
 True Opinions produce Sincerity, or faith and practice in unison ; 
 consequently error must produce hypocrisy, or faith and practice at 
 variance. The reason why error produces hypocrisy, is that we cannot 
 carry error into practice without being ashamed of it, we therefore cover 
 over our thoughts and actions with the cloak of hypocrisy. Give us 
 true and consistent opinions, and we may almost answer for it that the 
 actions will be in accordance with them. It is because no Church has 
 never yet adopted a creed entirely free from error, that hypocrisy so 
 much abounds in the world. It therefore follows that any general im- 
 provement of the world must be preceded by a reformation of doctrine. 
 
 The Law of Toleration is as necessary to peace and progress as the 
 law of jurisprudence ; and looking to the evils which the constant 
 violation of that law of liberty in every age has led, — and in no age 
 more than in our own, — it is to be regretted that no Court of Justice 
 should have been set up to enforce obedience to it, similar to that which 
 has happily been established for the protection of life and property. 
 To take away a man's character or reputation because he freely 
 and honestly expresses his opinions, or because he is not so great 
 a hypocrite as others, is surely as great a crime as theft, for what is 
 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 11 
 
 life without character ? The Conscience is the divine means for 
 maintaining Toleration ; but that means is insufficient in the earlier 
 stages of Civilization, for then Conscience is weak. What is the 
 history of the Middle Ages but the history of wars and persecutions 
 arising from Intolerance, showing how much a Court of Law, to protect 
 liberty of thought and discussion, was then wanted. We do not 
 propose to establish a Court of Justice for the protection of liberty of 
 discussion in this country, for there is a much more simple way of 
 effecting that object, — viz., the Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles 
 of the Church. When that Reform becomes the law of the land, the 
 Law of Toleration will receive legislative effect, and no one will then 
 have to complain of the want of Liberty of Thought and Discussion. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 
 
 " Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." 
 
 The following extract from Mr. Alison's Work on Civilization 
 places the question of Catholicism in its true light. 
 
 " The Popedom attained the zenith of its power in 1207, in the reign 
 of Innocent III., notorious for his cruelty and ambition. Then for the 
 first time the Pope became a King, and claimed the sovereignty over 
 Central Italy, the greater portion of which has been lost to the Church 
 in our day (1860). Once more was Rome mistress of the world, 
 having only exchanged the title of Emperor for that of Pope. The 
 dogma on which the usurpation of Rome rests, is a saying of our 
 Lord to St. Peter : " On this rock will I build my church ; and behold, 
 I am with you to the end of the world." The reply to this claim is, of 
 course, that the Catholic Church is not the only Church of Christ, and 
 as she does not represent the Gospel in its purity, she has no right to 
 take these words of our Lord to herself, far less to assume that they 
 were addressed to her exclusively. But this claim is disproved by her 
 own words, those of the last, the greatest, and the best of the Fathers, 
 Gregory the Great. Fortunately a letter of St. Gregory remains, which 
 is so important that I shall give it : — 
 " ' The Bishop of Rome, to The Bishop of Constantinople. 
 
 " ' This I declare with confidence, that whosoever designates himself 
 Universal Priest, or in the pride of his heart consents to be so called, 
 is the forerunner of Antichrist.' Rome, a.d. 590. 
 
 " The Greek Church, which includes Syria and Jerusalem, existed in 
 great power and splendour for centuries before the Roman Church was 
 more than a mere province dependent on the Greek Church. The 
 Greek Church laid claim to be a Universal or Catholic Church, and it 
 was to refute that usurpation that Gregory wrote the letter I have 
 quoted. That important document proves two things: 1st, that if 
 there exists a Universal Church, the Greek and not the Roman, is that 
 
12 THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 
 
 Universal Church ; and 2nd, that neither the Greek nor the Roman 
 Church is entitled to assume any such authority." 
 
 The Catholic Church, always alive to the signs of the times, will 
 soon perceive that to oppose the New Reformation will be hopeless in 
 her present unreformed condition. She will therefore proceed to 
 reform herself. What the impending reform of the Catholic Church 
 will be we cannot pretend to say ; but that it will be a great advance in 
 the direction of truth and liberty there is no doubt. The extent of 
 this reform will of course depend upon the character and extent of the 
 Protestant Reform, for it will be such as is calculated to keep the 
 Catholic Church together. While the reform of the Catholic Church 
 may be expected to fall short of that of the Protestant Church, it will 
 be a substantial reform; and every right-minded man will rejoice in 
 such a result, although it may come short of all that is to be desired. 
 
 We have had enough of Church controversies and wars ; let us in 
 the nineteenth century be wiser in our generation than our ancestors of 
 the sixteenth century. The several powers of Europe have learnt to 
 live together in brotherly fellowship, although no two nations are 
 equally advanced in liberty. And why should not the spiritual powers 
 of Europe do the same, although no two Churches are equal in point 
 of purity? There is no reason why they should not; and if the 
 reformed Church acts upon its own principle of Toleration, such may 
 be expected to be their policy towards their Catholic brethren. Aud 
 in seeking to extend the biessings of truth and liberty to all the world, 
 we shall tolerate the existence of all Churches, Sects, and Opinions. 
 
 It is generally imagined that all reformations must in the first 
 instance emanate from the people ; but when we examine history we 
 find the reverse to be the fact. The Reformation of Germany in the 
 sixteenth century came from the princes and statesmen of Germany, 
 aided by Luther and others of the clergy ; and we all know that the 
 Reformation of England commenced with the King, aided by Thomas 
 Cromwell and Cranmer. This is only what was to be expected, for it 
 is impossible to imagine that the people could originate anything so 
 comprehensive as a general reformation. For this reason the New 
 Reformation must in all probability be taken up in high quarters in 
 the first instance, and from thence come down to the people. 
 
 The temporal and spiritual powers of the Popedom came together, 
 and it is most probable they will go together. It may soon be said of 
 these two powers, that in their lives they have been united and in their 
 deaths they are not divided. It was Hildebrand and his immediate 
 successors who, in the thirteenth century, raised the Popedom to the 
 height of power in spiritual and temporal things which it has ever 
 since maintained. For nearly six centuries the hierarchy of Rome has 
 lorded it over the consciences of Europe, and if the present opportunity 
 — when the Pope is about to lose his temporal power — be allowed to 
 pass, without at the same time depriving the Papacy of its power as 
 Universal Priest, the reformation of Garibaldi will not be permanent. 
 
 It will be useful to trace the probable proceedings of the Church of 
 Rome under the new circumstances in which she is placed by the 
 Political Reformation of 1860 on the Continent, and the Religious 
 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 13 
 
 Reformation of England. Let us go back to the history of the six- 
 teenth century for our materials. The Reformation of Luther began 
 about the year 1518. The Council of Trent was called in 1545, for 
 the purpose of reforming the Catholic Church, and after sitting for 
 eighteen years, it rose in 1563. Now, what was the cause of the calling 
 of this Council, but the Reformation of Luther ? In saying that the 
 advent of a New Reformation will produce the calling of a General 
 Council of the Catholic Church, in our day, in each of the Catholic 
 Countries of Europe, we only indicate a coming event of vast 
 importance to the World, which is inevitable, for a further Reform of 
 one moiety of the Christian World, is certain to produce a similar result 
 on the other moiety. In speaking of the " New Reformation " as 
 belonging exclusively to the Protestant Church, we take a very short- 
 sighted view of the movement, for it must embrace the Catholic, as well 
 as the Protestant World within its grasp. Now what are the Reforms 
 which the impending General Councils of the Catholic Church have 
 to deal with ? We can only afford room to mention a few of them. 
 
 The Catholics, both lay and clerical, are characterised by great 
 liberality as regards Secular Knowledge, but unfortunately their Church 
 possesses no Code of Articles answering to our Thirty-Nine Articles. 
 The first thing, therefore, to be done is to construct and legalize a Code 
 of Belief for the Catholic Church. When that is done, a mass of 
 Priestly Doctrines and obsolete Rites and Ceremonies, which serve no 
 other purpose but to divert the attention of the people from vital 
 Religion, will pass away. The Light of the Intellect must be allowed 
 to enter the Catholic Church before that Church can recover its lost 
 influence over the World ; and we trust the publications of this Society 
 will be useful in pointing out, from time to time, how the Catholic 
 Church may be renovated and perfected. 1. The fiction as to the 
 Power of the Keys must be given up, — a dogma which rests on no 
 evidence whatever, and the sooner it is abandoned the better. 2. Belief 
 in Modern Miracles must pass away. 3. The Priests must be allowed to 
 marry, like other men. 4. The Prayer Book must be translated into the 
 Modern Languages. 5. The Confessional, perhaps the worst feature that 
 ever disgraced any Church, must be given up. 6. Belief in Purgatory and 
 in the efficacy of Penance and Monastic Vows, must cease. 
 
 Let not the Catholic Church boast of her antiquity, which does not ex- 
 ceed ten centuries, for the Jewish Church (which still exists in undi- 
 minished vigour) boasts of a history of forty centuries, proving that age is 
 not a Test of Truth. The time has passed away when any Religion can 
 subsist on the history of the past. A new order of things has happily 
 commenced, in which the works of the Fathers will not avail. The 
 Catholics have yet to learn that the future is not a mere development of 
 the past. It is strange that the Catholics should have to learn this truth, 
 seeing that they are believers in Free Will, and if they will only be con- 
 sistent in such belief they will perceive the folly of resting their Faith 
 and Church on what the Fathers have said or done. They, like the Pro- 
 testants, must bring every Doctrine to the light of Truth and Evidence, 
 and make the necessary reforms which such light may dictate, if they wish 
 to hold their position as a Church, distinct from the Protestant Church. 
 
14 THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 
 
 Our Catholic Brethren must be quite aware, that, in offering these 
 remarks, we are animated by the best feelings towards them, for we do 
 not propose a Reformation in the Catholic Church, without at the same 
 time proposing that of the Protestant Church. One-fourth of Her 
 Majesty's subjects are Catholics, we cannot, therefore, be indifferent to 
 their interests. Although it is beyond the sphere of the Reformation 
 Society to take any active steps to promote a Reformation of the 
 Catholic Church, yet, at the same time, we should not feel ourselves 
 justified in allowing so important an element as the Catholic Church 
 to pass unnoticed. 
 
 The reason why it is so difficult to refute the Catholics in theory, is, 
 that our own Creed is faulty; but once let that be purified and placed on 
 the rock of truth and consistency, and the errors of Rome will pass 
 away like a tale that is told. It is because Error cannot cast out Error, 
 that the Reform of Protestantism must precede that of Catholicism, 
 and in saying that the reform of the Protestant Church is the proper 
 antidote for the errors of Rome, we only state a truth, which we hope 
 these pages will prove to the satisfaction of every candid reader. 
 
 Truth ever lies between extremes, and it is so with Religion. While 
 the Catholics do not spiritualize the Gospel sufficiently, the Calvinists 
 spiritualize it over much, and between these extremes lies the Truth. 
 Religion has always moved in one great circle. It began with Judaism, 
 out of which came Catholicism, and out of Catholicism came Pro- 
 testantism — a Church which is ever apt to return to the place whence 
 it came — Catholicism and Judaism. And in now going boldly forward 
 to a New Reformation in the direction of truth — which stands in 
 the centre of the circle, inviting the surrounding Churches to come 
 to it, we arrive at the safe anchorage of Reformed Protestantism. 
 
 The High Church being built on Free- Will and the Works of Re- 
 generation, its theology is more practical and truthful than the theology 
 of the Low Church, which is built on Predestination, the negative of 
 free-will and the works of man. As regards Conversion, both parties 
 are equally at fault, for both derive Conversion from Internal Miracles 
 — the one from Baptismal Regeneration, and the other from Election. 
 Such being the comparative merits of the two parties, it is plain 
 that a middle party (the Reform party), which repudiates the errors 
 of both, is that which every consistent Christian ought to represent 
 and encourage. 
 
 The Reformation of Luther was effected by spiritualizing certain 
 passages of the Bible, such as " This is my body ; " and it will be by 
 pursuing the same course still further that the New Reformation will be 
 effected. The fault which Luther committed was in making changes of 
 doctrine arbitrarily, and not upon principle. To this error the Protest- 
 ants owe all the dissensions and controversies which have ever marked 
 their course ; but that will be studiously avoided now, — for the New 
 Reformation will spiritualize the Bible on principle by means of a Test 
 of Truth. Such are the glorious prospects which the New Reformation 
 opens up to the World, a Reformation which will be felt in the Catholic 
 Church quite as much as in the Protestant Church. 
 
lo 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 "Go on to Perfection." 
 
 If we are asked what the Articles of Religion are, that we should 
 think it necessary to organise a Society to promote their revision, we 
 answer, that until these Articles are reformed, neither public opinion, 
 religion nor civilization can be improved or advanced. The following 
 words from Professor Sedgwick give a melancholy picture of the 
 present state of Moral Science. " It is unfortunate that there is no 
 English work on Moral Science which is unexceptionable in its 
 principles." Now, what is the reason why no author has ever yet been 
 able to write an unexceptionable book on Morals, but the existence of 
 an exceptionable code of Religion on the Statute-book of the Church ? 
 It is obvious that no author, either lay or clerical, can write indepen- 
 dently on Morals or Religion, so long as the Thirty-nine Articles 
 contain Error, of which the numerous inconsistencies and incongruities 
 to be found within them, are the proof. 
 
 Professor Sedgwick further states, "that Natural Religion is the 
 necessary basis of Revealed Religion, — if the foundation of our 
 Belief will not bear the most searching examination of Reason, it seems 
 to be impossible that our Religion should remain secure, or have any 
 continued acceptance, as the ground of hope or the rule of life." We 
 trust these preliminary remarks will be a sufficient apology on the part 
 of the Reformation Society, for proposing the Revision of the Articles, 
 on a basis adequate to that which the learned Professor has laid down 
 in his Work on " The Studies of the University of Cambridge." The 
 Reform of the Thirty-nine Articles, will be to the Church, both Lay 
 and Clerical, what the Electoral Reform Bill of 1832 was to the State. 
 We do not, of course, mean to say that the Reformation of the Articles 
 is in itself Reform, — any more than we should say that the Electoral 
 Reform Bill was Reform. But this we do affirm most positively, that 
 the reform of the Thirty-nine Articles, on the principles of 
 truth and consistency, will assuredly remove all difficulties in the way 
 of Church and Educational Reform, by the Reformation of Public 
 Opinion, which it involves. 
 
 Of God. — God is a Spirit, invisible, omnipresent, and eternal, who 
 created all things by the word of His Power. Nothing, which is not 
 contrary to God's own nature, is impossible with Him. All Theology, 
 as the word itself signifies, rests on our conception of God, and, 
 accordingly, the perfection of the Divine Attributes constitutes the 
 proper test of Theological Doctrine. By applying this searching and 
 comprehensive test, there is no difficulty in discerning truth from error 
 in the doctrines of Religion. 
 
 Nature. — The system of Nature under which we live is the creation 
 of God, by whom it is continually sustained and preserved, and that 
 
16 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 system, both mental and physical, is governed on the principle of general 
 laws. Man is apt to imagine that such cannot really be the invariable 
 government of God; but when we remember that our Maker is a just 
 God, and that a system of general laws is the only conceivable system 
 which would deal out equal justice to all, we become convinced that 
 such is really the method of the Divine Government. 
 
 Miracles. — With the exception of the miracles of the Bible, there 
 is no evidence of miracles, either external or internal, since the Canon 
 of Scripture was closed. As miracles are an exception to a general 
 rule, evidence is necessary to establish a miracle ; and, in the absence of 
 all such evidence, we are bound to reject all belief in Modern Miracles, 
 either spiritual or material. 
 
 Object of the World. — The object of the world is, the production 
 of the Matured Soul ; and to produce a Soul good and true, we must be 
 careful how we use the abilities with which we have been endowed, and 
 the opportunities we enjoy for self- improvement ; for, on the right use 
 of these blessings, depends the progress of the Soul. 
 
 Immortality. — The Soul is Immortal. It came forth from God, 
 with nothing beyond the capacity of becoming a Matured Soul in this 
 life ; and it will return to God with a Character inscribed on it, and live 
 with Him to all Eternity. 
 
 Free- Will and Responsibility. — Unless Man is a Free Agent, he is 
 not a Responsible Being, for without liberty there can be no respon- 
 sibility. This is a truth which all who cavil at the doctrine of free-will 
 would do well to consider, for, in denying or limiting free-will, we 
 thereby deny man's responsibility. In this manner, we reduce man to a 
 mere machine, the slave of circumstances, and the echo of his Maker's 
 will. Nor is this all ; for, to deny free-will, is to make God the author 
 of Evil ; for, if man exercises no independent will, it is God and not 
 man who is responsible for all the evil in the world. The proof of free- 
 will is the power of choosing and judging, and the proof of respon- 
 sibility is the Conscience, or the existence of Truth, and these proofs 
 are universal, and common to all men. 
 
 The basis of the Mind, which may be likened to a machine, is carried 
 on by general laws, but that machine is worked by an independent Will. 
 This double nature of the human mind, in which Causation as well 
 as Will is observed, has given rise to the fallacy of Necessity, on 
 the one hand, and Predestination, on the other. All experience 
 proves man to be a Free Agent, and if he will not use his Free- Will, 
 it is his own fault, for assuredly he actually possesses that power. So 
 long as the Church remains in doubt on this fundamental point, we 
 cannot be surprised at the want of fruits ; for, until we know that 
 we possess the power to improve, we cannot improve. 
 
 The Trinity.— God manifests Himself to the World in three different 
 ways. As the Father, God is manifested in the works of Creation and 
 Providence. As the Son, He is manifested in Jesus Christ, the 
 Mediator and pledge of Reconciliation. And as the Holy Ghost, He is 
 manifested in the Souls of all believers. " I am the Way, the Truth, 
 and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." " I will 
 send the Comforter unto you, even the Spirit of Truth." — John xiv. 
 
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 17 
 
 Evil and its Remedy. — All Nature begins with Evil and Error, 
 and goes forward to Good and Truth. It is only by the eradication 
 of Evil and Error, that Truth, and all that is Good, can be reached. 
 It was to proclaim this universal truth, and to point out the Remedy 
 for the evils which this constitution of the World involves, that Christ 
 came into the World. The race of man is born in Darkness, and it is 
 only by degrees, by the progress of Truth and Justice, that man begins 
 to see the Light, and to rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ has 
 promised to set the World free. " Ye shall know the Truth, and the 
 Truth shall make you Free." 
 
 The Old Testament. — This book is chiefly a history of the dealings 
 of God with the Jews. The Old Bible has almost no reference to the 
 Nations of Christendom ; and, accordingly, it is only to be read by 
 Christians as illustrative of the New Testament. The Religion of 
 the Old Testament consists mainly of burnt offerings, rites, and 
 ceremonies, which the Saviour and His Apostles declared to be 
 useless and burdensome. It is manifest that if the Religion of the Old 
 Testament is to be kept up, there would be no room for the Religion of 
 the New Testament, for we cannot serve two masters. Christ said that 
 He had come, not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it, and what was 
 the fulfilling of the Law but the Law of Love. " Love is the fulfilling 
 of the Law." — Romans, xiii. 10. 
 
 Secular Knowledge. — It is necessary to add Knowledge to Faith; 
 for man does not live by bread alone, as we are told by the Saviour. It 
 has been imagined, that the knowledge of the Bible is alone sufficient 
 for Salvation, and that the knowledge of Nature and Experience is not 
 essential ; but when we consult the sayings of our Lord, we find that 
 the Church has erred greatly in this respect. If we read the Book 
 of Revelation, without at the same time reading the Book of Nature, 
 we can neither understand the one or the other. The same Bible which 
 only produces a partial Revelation in a dark age, produces a more per- 
 fect Revelation in an enlightened age, for although the Bible does not 
 change, the capacity of man to interpret the Bible does change, showing 
 that Religion, both natural and revealed, is progressive. The Reforma- 
 tion of Luther was the interpretation of the Scripture of the sixteenth 
 century ; and it is because Secular knowledge has greatly advanced 
 since that period, that a new and better interpretation now becomes 
 possible. 
 
 The New Testament.— The New Testament consists of twenty- 
 seven books, written by eight of the Apostles. As these writings were 
 published to the world four centuries later than the last written books 
 of the Old Testament, it follows that the New Testament must qualify, 
 or entirely annul, the Old Testament. Accordingly, we shall do violence 
 to the testimony of our blessed Lord, if we do not use the New Tes- 
 tament as the interpreter of the Old Testament. On comparing all the 
 books of the New Testament with each other, it will be found that the 
 Gospel message is Love and Self-denial ; and if we keep this two- 
 fold principle in view, we shall find no difficulty in interpreting 
 Scripture. 
 
 Religion. — True Religion consists in thinking or believing aright, 
 
18 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 and in acting in accordance with that Belief. Such being the true 
 definition of Religion, it follows, that man, in being justified by his 
 Religion, is justified, not by faith alone, but by Faith and Works, 
 or in thinking and acting aright. 
 
 Object of Religion. — Regeneration is the object of Religion. 
 Church-going, or Ordinances, is neither Religion nor its object; for 
 these are only the Means of Religion. It is that change of Heart and 
 Soul, the natural results of Regeneration, which is the object of 
 Religion. 
 
 Conversion. — Conversion means Regeneration or Reformation. 
 This change, which is gradual, and operates in a variety of degrees in 
 different persons, is produced in the Soul by the natural operation of 
 the Gospel. While the Gospel is miraculous in its origin, the effect of 
 the Gospel on the Soul is entirely natural. New and better feelings 
 are produced in the regenerated mind, and these new feelings are 
 natural. It is by confounding these two things, which are quite 
 distinct, that all the misunderstandings and schisms in the Church 
 have arisen. If Conversion and Regeneration are not natural, they 
 must be miraculous, seeing that there is no halfway-house between 
 nature and miracle. It is above all things necessary, that a clear and 
 definite conception of this truth be maintained in the mind ; or 
 Methodism and Revivalism will continue to desolate the world. 
 
 End of the World. — One half of the World is not yet inhabited, 
 neither has the Gospel had its perfect work on any part of it. Now, 
 as God creates nothing in vain, it is clear that, as the purpose for 
 which the world has been created has not yet been consummated, we 
 are bound in using our reasoning powers, to believe that, the world will 
 yet exist for many thousand years to come. The World will probably 
 last until the day when sorrow and suffering shall hide their faces, when 
 all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. 
 
 The Resurrection. — At death, while the body remains in the 
 grave, the Souls of Believers immediately pass into glory, and in all 
 probability, they are then judged, without the intervention of any 
 intermediate place, either of punishment or probation. Let us 
 remember the words of St. Paul, when he looked forward to his eternal 
 change, — which indicate that there is to be no intermediate state ; and 
 we shall not give ear to vague notions about a middle state, which 
 would deprive us of the presence of the Saviour for thousands or 
 perhaps millions of years after our decease. 
 
 Rewards and Punishments. — God being the God of Love, and 
 having no pleasure in the punishment of the wicked, we may assure 
 ourselves that the punishments of the future, will not be nearly so 
 severe as we are accustomed to think. Without punishment, Respon- 
 sibility would be an empty name ; and it is equally true, that if God 
 were to punish His erring creatures beyond what was absolutely 
 necessary for maintaining the feeling of Responsibility in the Soul, he 
 would not be a God of Love, but of vengeance and malignity. 
 Keeping these definite principles in view, all ideas of punishment by 
 fire, torments, and such like, are to be deprecated in the Church. 
 Every man will be judged according to his works, with reference to the 
 
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 19 
 
 opportunities which he has enjoyed, and the abilities with which he has 
 bee Disendowed. Of him who has received much, much shall be 
 required r jand of him who has received little, little shall be required ; 
 for every man shall be judged according to his works. It is, of course, 
 impossible to prove that there is no fire in hell, beyond the proof which 
 the character of the Almighty furnishes. But that is a proof which 
 ought to satisfy every reasonable mind, for we are certain that the God 
 of Love will not act contrary to His own character as to the punish- 
 ment of His erring creatures. 
 
 Evil. — Pride may be said to be the mother of Selfishness, Envy, 
 Jealousy, Evil-Speaking, and all Uncharitableness. While these Evil 
 Passions are injurious to others, their evil consequences are ten-fold 
 more injurious to ourselves ; for, to the proud and selfish, disappoint- 
 ment and unhappiness must ever be the experience of life. It was to 
 subdue this master-evil of Pride and Selfishness, that our Lord taught 
 the doctrine of Self-Denial figuratively in these remarkable words — 
 " Unless ye forsake fathers, and mothers, and houses and lands, and 
 take up your cross and follow Me, ye cannot be my disciples." These 
 Passions, which are natural, and remain more or less in power from 
 birth to old age, are personified under the figure of Satan, in the New 
 Testament. But now that men have come to understand Human Nature 
 better, they have learnt to read the sayings of our Lord on this 
 important point, in a spiritual sense ; when the true import of the 
 passages becomes apparent. To believe in the Personality of Satan, is 
 to raise up a power in the World more potent than God himself — a 
 fallacy which is sufficient of itself to mar the whole scheme of 
 Redemption, which is a Religion of Love and not of Fear. 
 
 The Incarnation of Christ. — The Incarnation is the union of the 
 Divine and Human natures in the person of Christ Jesus. In this 
 way was the Invisible God manifested visibly to man. That the inter- 
 vention of Christ was necessary to bring man to the knowledge of God, 
 as well as to the knowledge of his own Want of Righteousness, and the 
 remedy for that want, is a truth which every one who is learned in the 
 school of Christ knows from his own experience. 
 
 The Atonement. — The Atonement of the New Testament is not 
 blood, but a new creature. It is not by washing in blood, either 
 actually or figuratively, but in following the example and precepts of 
 our Lord, that we are made like unto Him. It is by Faith in Christ, as 
 our Redeemer, Representative and Mediator, and by the Works which 
 follow that Faith as a natural consequence, — that we become New Men 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Baptism. — This Rite is a sign of Discipleship, and nothing more. 
 Parents present their children to be baptised in the name of Christ, 
 as a badge of discipleship. And when these children grow up, they 
 confirm, in presence of the Bishop and the Church, the vows under- 
 taken for them by their parents or godfathers. 
 
 The Lord's Supper. — This Institution was ordained by our Lord 
 the night before His Crucifixion. It is to be held as a memorial, in all 
 ages, of the Love wherewith Christ loved the World. " Do this in 
 remembrance of me" is the sum and substance of the Institution. 
 
20 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 How beautiful and soul-sustaining is this greatest of ordinances, when 
 viewed in its proper character ! To make the Lord's Supper more than 
 a Feast of Commemoration, only mars it ; for its whole force arises 
 from the solemn circumstances out of which it arose, and to com- 
 memorate which it is instituted. 
 
 The Works of God and Man. — External Nature was made by 
 God. The Mind and the Body were likewise made by Him ; but the 
 Thoughts, Words and Actions belong exclusively to man, and for these, 
 accordingly, he is responsible. In rightly dividing between the things 
 which are God's and the things that are man's, we shall render to Caesar 
 the things that are his, and to God the things that are God's, and thus, 
 shall we understand our true position in relation to our Maker. 
 
 Opinions. — We are responsible for the Opinions we hold, not merely 
 as to Religion, but to every other thing ; for we cannot hold erroneous 
 Opinions on any subject, without producing evil both to ourselves 
 and others. 
 
 Self-Reliance. — Without the exercise of Self-Reliance, no progress, 
 either in Religion or anything else is possible ; for, unless we believe 
 in our own capacity to improve in our thoughts, words and actions, it 
 is very certain that we shall never improve. It is not Religion, to sit 
 down idly, in the vain hope that God will order Miracles to be 
 performed on our behalf; but it is Religion, to be up and doing, to 
 perform our duty according to our abilities and opportunities, in the 
 belief that God will give the increase. This virtue of Self-Reliance 
 is closely connected with Self-Denial, Self-Control and Self-Reforma- 
 tion ; for without Self-Reliance to perform these Christian duties, there 
 can be no Conversion. 
 
 Belief. — Belief and Thought being synonymous, it follows, that 
 having the power to change and improve our Opinions at the call of 
 Truth and Evidence, we have likewise the power to change and improve 
 our Beliefs ; and as we are responsible for our Opinions, we are 
 responsible for our Beliefs. Without Belief, no Religion, or progress 
 in Religion, is possible ; and we all know how low Belief has fallen in 
 this Country, in our day. It is only by the increase of Knowledge that 
 Faith can be increased, and in reforming the Church Articles, that 
 increase of Faith and Knowledge so necessary to the very existence of 
 Religion, will be inducted into the System. 
 
 Regeneration. — Regeneration, is the end for which all things else 
 are the means. It is the very gate of Heaven. It is by the exercise 
 of Love to God and our neighbour, on the one hand, and the Denial of 
 Self-Love, on the other, in all we think, say and do, that we are 
 changed and re-generated. The Evil Passions are subdued, and wither 
 away under the influence of the Gospel, and such is the power of 
 Love and Self-Denial to regenerate the World. 
 
 The Will. — The Old or unregenerated Will, which tendeth to 
 bondage, gives place to the New or regenerated Will, which is Liberty. 
 The first Will is of the Earth, earthy ; but the second Will is of the 
 Heavens, heavenly. " Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be 
 born again." 
 
 Truth and Conscience. — These faculties or principles are almost 
 
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 21 
 
 identical, both feelings being universally applicable. Every Man is 
 endowed with the faculty of perceiving Truth. There is no diffi- 
 culty in finding Truth to those who are diligent in seeking after it, 
 the sole difficulty in the matter is in obeying Truth after it has been 
 found. To love Truth, is to love God, for God is the God of Truth. 
 
 Sincerity and Hypocrisy. — True Religion produces Sincerity, or 
 Faith and Practice in unison; but Religion which is a mixture of 
 Truth and Error, produces a walk and conversation mixed with the 
 leaven of Hypocrisy. Christians must therefore be careful to understand 
 Religion, lest they fall into the error of the Hypocrite, which is the 
 disgrace of any Church. 
 
 Intolerance. — True Religion is never Intolerant ; for to those who 
 have no errors to protect, Truth is ever welcome. We may almost 
 estimate the amount of Error in any mind, by the Intolerance that mind 
 displays towards others. Truth and Toleration are ever in company ; 
 and where the one is supposed to exist without the other, such is the 
 proof that Error is not yet cast out. 
 
 The Feelings and the Intellect. — The Intellect must in every case 
 be allowed to govern the Feelings. What is Intellect or Reason 
 given for, but to guide us as to what we are to think, and do ? and if 
 we allow our feelings to dictate our Actions, there is an end to Right 
 Conduct. To suffer Feeling to govern, is to make void the Gospel ; 
 for what is that Self-Denial which our Saviour speaks of under the 
 figure of a Cross, but, giving effect to the Intellect, by crucifying the 
 Feelings ? 
 
 Reason. — This Faculty is given for the express purpose of interpret- 
 ing the Bible and Nature. Accordingly, if we read the Bible without 
 the use of this greatest and best of all God's gifts, the Bible, instead of 
 guiding us aright, will mislead us. Not to use Reason, is to put our 
 candle under a bushel, as if we were ashamed of the only faculty which 
 distinguishes us from the lower animals. When the Mind of any one 
 is not open to Conviction, that person must be considered in a state of 
 moral bondage ; but when the Mind is able to submit to Reason when 
 convinced, it is in a state of Liberty. 
 
 Love. — The Christian Religion is built upon Love. Now abideth 
 Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is Love. The Love 
 of God to Man is the first table of the Covenant. The Love of Man 
 to God, constitutes the second table. The third table is the Love of 
 Man to his fellow Men. In carrying out this latter Commandment, we 
 are to respect, tolerate, and love all Men ; and such are the marks by 
 which every Christian is known. "Respect for Others," which is 
 one of the phases of Love, is the basis of all right character ; and such 
 is the Christian character. Is not respect for others at once the essence 
 of humility and the test of nobility ? 
 
 Redemption. — Forgiveness and Redemption are offered to him who 
 loves and follows Truth more than Error, and to him whose walk and 
 conversation is becoming the Gospel. " This is the condemnation, 
 that men love darkness more than light because their deeds are evil." 
 
 Divine Grace. — The change of Will from its natural condition to a 
 condition in harmony with the Divine Will, is that Grace of which 
 
22 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 the Gospel speaks. The word, however, in some texts, signifies Love, 
 and sometimes Pardon. 
 
 This Life. — Life is a time of Trial and Probation to all Men, 
 high and low, rich and poor, from the time they enter the World to the 
 time they leave it. The trials and difficulties of this World are so 
 numerous and constant, that it is necessary ever to be learning and 
 re-learning, so as successfully to contend with the Evil Passions 
 within, and the difficulties which surround our lot. We must be ever 
 watchful and careful to use all our opportunities and abilities to make 
 the most of our time, while health and strength are vouchsafed to us. 
 It is this constitution of the World which necessitates the Institution 
 of the Church, and of the Lord's Day ; for unless men are reminded 
 periodically of their duties, they would soon forget them, when the 
 World would become a moral wilderness. 
 
 The Lord's Day. — This Day has been set apart for the Celebration 
 of Public Worship and Instruction. As the Lord's Day is an Eccle- 
 siastical Institution, it cannot be lawful to forbid Recreation on that 
 day, — an error which could not fail to be injurious to the best interests 
 of Religion. (See Bampton Lectures, 1860.) 
 
 Preaching the Gospel. — Pastors are bound to instruct themselves 
 on the subject of Human Nature ; for unless all their discourses 
 have reference to Nature as well as to the Bible, their preaching 
 cannot reach the understanding of the People. To preach to the feel- 
 ings is one thing, and to preach to the feelings through the understanding 
 another. One feeling cannot improve another, it being the office of 
 the Intellect alone to convince and convert. While the Feelings may 
 be said to be the foundation of the Soul, the Intellect is its architect, 
 guide, and governor. It being as necessary to understand Religion as 
 to believe it, it is desirable that Preaching should be conducted upon 
 a definite plan. If a Code of Articles, such as the New Articles 
 will be, were made the subject of our morning discourses, system 
 would be introduced into the pulpit. Professors of colleges deliver 
 their discourses upon a system, and there is no reason why the 
 Clergy should not do the same. By so doing, the Clergy will see 
 their flocks grow in Grace, and in all that is honouring to God and 
 man ; for who is able to estimate the benefits of unfolding the hidden 
 treasures of Truth upon a system, and not in a desultory manner, as 
 heretofore ? The Churches will be filled by intelligent congregations, 
 who will feel it a privilege and a pleasure to meet together for 
 Worship and Instruction ; and in this way will the glory of the reno- 
 vated Church greatly exceed that of any former period of her history. 
 The mission of the Church is to supply Spiritual Instruction to the 
 whole population, and there can be no doubt, that, if the Church is 
 faithful in the fulfilment of this, her duty, the People will not be 
 behind in availing themselves of the privilege, seeing that nothing is« 
 more grateful to Man than the exercise of all his faculties. 
 
 If we have erred in any respect in the compilation of these Articles, 
 we shall be glad to be set right, for our object is truth, and that alone ; 
 and, so that we are not asked to introduce inconsistencies into the 
 system, we shall be ready to entertain any suggestions, from whatever 
 
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 23 
 
 quarter they may come. We hope these Articles will be found to 
 contain nothing but what any Clergyman or Layman may accept. To 
 induce unity among all parties is our object, and to effect that, we must 
 aim at a code of belief which is as liberal and general as is consistent with 
 the Spirit of the Gospel. These Articles may not include all that the 
 reader believes, but if they contain nothing which he may not accept, that, 
 in our opinion, ought to be sufficient to gain his approval. It is clear 
 that we ctmnot please all parties, and if the reader will remember this, 
 he will be the more inclined to waive private opinions, for the sake of 
 unity and the general good. In compliance with the precept, to "go on 
 to perfection,'''' we have not sought a Reformation in vainly trying to 
 reconcile opposites, but rather in boldly going forward to new truths, 
 and in thus forgetting the things that are behind, we have pressed 
 forward to those that are before. 
 
 Having, as we hope, said enough to show the errors of Supernatu- 
 ralism, or the Religion of Miracles, we now turn to the opposite error 
 of Naturalism, of which the " Phases of Faith" and " The Soul and 
 its Aspirations,'" by Professor Newman, are perhaps the best exponents. 
 This Faith, which may either be called Naturalism or Spiritualism, may be 
 characterised as a Religion without a doctrine ; and, of course, a Religion 
 without a doctrine is no Religion at all. Naturalism is the Religion of 
 the Feelings, irrespective of the government of the Intellect. While 
 the Spiritualists deny miracles, they assume that every man possesses a 
 power, within himself, to make his own Religion. This may be liberty, 
 but it cannot be called either Religion or Civilization. With the Ration- 
 alist Creed (Spiritualism), neither Articles nor an Organised Church 
 are possible ; for every man would then be a Church to himself. With 
 this Religion, we might bid adieu to Liberty and the progress of Civil- 
 ization; for we maintain that, without Articles and a Church, there could 
 be neither. The Christian Religion is not Nature, but that which is 
 built upon Nature. To go back to Nature, as the Spiritualists would 
 have us do, is not Civilization, but the opposite ; for, as already said, 
 Naturalism is the rule of the Feelings, and we all know what to expect 
 when the Feelings govern. Let the Spiritualists subject Nature to the 
 Law of Truth, and they will come to the same result as ourselves. 
 
 Some of the Clergy complain of the efforts now making for the 
 Reformation of Religion, but we must be allowed to tell such very 
 plainly that they have themselves to blame for all this, in so long 
 remaining deaf to every proposal for Reform. We have shown that there 
 is only one way of strengthening the Church, namely, the Reformation 
 of her Articles of Faith, but that only Salvation the Church has all 
 along refused, and, now that the Church is in danger, the Clergy are at 
 their wit's end, and know not how to turn. " 
 
 We have shown that Truth is not only the remedy for Supernatu- 
 ralism, but the remedy for Naturalism, and we trust the New Articles 
 of Religion now proposed by this Society will be found to be fully 
 competent to deliver the Church out of all her difficulties, if the necessary 
 reforms are carried out before the Church crumbles to the ground from 
 her defects from within and the attacks of her enemies from without. 
 It is manifest, that if the Protestant Church is to be saved, every friend 
 
24 SCRIPTURE INTERPRETED. 
 
 of Religion and Liberty must now rally round the Bible, and demand a 
 complete Reformation of the Articles, so as to bring them into conformity 
 with the Scriptures. 
 
 The reason why the Church makes no progress is, that discussion is 
 confined to historical questions. In the Law Courts, many years are 
 constantly lost in discussing preliminary points, but the moment the 
 merits are reached the case is disposed of. It is the same with the 
 Church. Three centuries have been taken up with preliminary dis- 
 cussions on historical questions, but if the Church will now come to 
 the " merits " of the case by entering boldly on Doctrine, as we have 
 endeavoured to do in these pages, we shall come to a reformation when 
 all disputes will be finally settled. 
 
 While little progress has been made in the diffusion of Knowledge, 
 substantial progress has been made in the minds of the few, — an ad- 
 vance which only requires to have its expression in Literature and the 
 National Creed to become universal. If we are told that a Literature 
 and a Religion equal to the intelligence of the few, would to the many be 
 a dead language, we answer, that such is a fallacy, for to supply a good 
 article is to create a market. This is a truth which is every day seen 
 in the ordinary affairs of life, and there is no reason why the rule 
 should not hold in Literature and Religion as well as in other things. 
 But we will go even further, for we have no hesitation in saying that 
 
 TO BELIEVE IN A BETTER FUTURE IS TO CREATE ONE. 
 
 FINIS, 
 
 PRINTRD BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, EARL'S COURT, LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW REFORMATION 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 
 
 " Give us true and consistent opinions, and actions will accord with them. It is 
 because no Church has adopted a Creed free from error, that evil abounds in the world. 
 It therefore follows that any improvement must be preceded by a Reformation of Doc- 
 trine; for it is precept and not practice that is at fault" — Philosophy of Civilization. 
 
 ESSAY No. 2. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, 
 
 EARL'S COUET, LEICESTER SQUARE, AND MAY BE HAD OF 
 ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1861. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 ESSAY No. 1. 
 
 General Preface 
 
 Chapter I. — Address of the Society, and Draft of 
 Act of Parliament . 
 
 „ II. — The Protestant Churches 
 
 „ III. — The Catholic Churches .... 
 
 „ IV.— The Eevised Thirty-Nine Articles . 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 ESSAY No. 2. 
 
 Chapter I. — Politics and the Press 
 
 II. — The Thirty^Nine Articles 
 III.— Calvinism *#..-.»• 
 IV. — Revivalism . 
 V. — Free Libraries . 
 VI. — The French Reformation . 
 VII. — The English Reformation 
 Prospectus of the Society 
 
 27 
 30 
 35 
 39 
 43 
 46 
 52 
 56 
 
 N.B. — The whole Series is expected to be completed in seven or 
 eight Numbers. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 POLITICS AND THE PRESS. 
 
 Since the publication of our first Essay, the Reformation has made 
 steady progress. Not only have the English public responded to the 
 call, but the French public, to whom the subject was not new, have 
 taken it up in right earnest. The Protestants of England have met 
 the Catholics of France on the neutral ground of Reform, an event 
 which is sufficient of itself to change the destinies of the world. 
 It may take some of our readers by surprise to hear that France, 
 which is a Catholic country, should be on the eve of a reformation ; 
 but when we remember that Truth is of no time or place, but is ap- 
 plicable to all Churches and times alike, that surprise will cease. The 
 times in which we live are such, that events which would have occupied 
 centuries in former times, are now possible, as it were, in a day. 
 
 That France and England should not only be yoked together in com- 
 merce, but in Religion, is truly astounding, an event which indicates 
 very clearly, that a class has risen up on both sides of the channel, 
 who are devoted to the reformation of civilization, not only in England 
 and France, but throughout the world. The Free-Trade movement, 
 which is based on the principle of self-sacrifice, has probably given 
 birth to this new spirit ; and in extending the principles of truth and 
 liberty to Religion, we enter on a new era in history. 
 
 Austria, Prussia, and Russia, in concert with the Holy See, are said 
 to have entered into a new " Holy Alliance," to maintain the interests 
 of despotism. France, true to her high mission as the leader of the 
 liberal interests, is increasing her armaments, so that she may be pre- 
 pared to meet the coming storm. But this is not all ; for France is not 
 only adding to her armies, but she is preparing to put an end to the 
 Papal power in France, by establishing a National Church — a Church 
 which will be neither Catholic nor Protestant, but a Reformed Church 
 which repudiates the errors of both. This is an indispensable step to 
 ultimate success ; for, so long as the despotic powers can influence the 
 people of France through the Confessional, it is not to be expected that 
 
28 POLITICS AND THE PRESS. 
 
 the liberal interest could come victoriously out of the conflict. France 
 cannot go to war with the Catholic powers with any prospect of success 
 so long as she remains part of the Catholic Church. As the interests 
 of Religion and Civilization demand that she should constitute for 
 herself a Church independent of Rome, we may look forward with 
 confidence to a great Reformation being immediately carried out, which 
 will be the precursor of Universal Peace; for when the Confessional 
 ceases, the last hope of despotism is gone. We cannot say that there 
 will be no war, for the usurped power of Rome will not die without a 
 struggle, but we can safely say, that with the Reformation in progress, 
 the horrors of war will be lightened, and their duration shortened. A 
 protracted war is now impossible ; for, with the banner of Universal 
 Toleration unfurled, war will soon give place to peace. 
 
 A new feature in the annals of warfare was evolved last year, which 
 it would be well to remember. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was 
 wrested from the despotism of Francis II more by moral force than by 
 bayonets ; for, like Jericho of old, the walls of the besieged cities fell 
 down, after they had been compassed about with armies, heralded by 
 the sound of the trumpets of peace and liberty. The moral of this is 
 simple enough. Let the trumpets be sounded in the hearing of the 
 people, and they will open their gates to those who come to their 
 succour. Such has been the experience of the Italian war of inde- 
 pendence, and if the same policy is pursued in future we may expect 
 the same glorious results. If war can be avoided this year, it will be a 
 great blessing ; for, ere another year has run its course, the Hungarians 
 and Poles may, by the moral force that has been evoked in the councils 
 of Europe, achieve their wishes without any appeal to arms. 
 
 We observe that some of the journals fear that the Reformation 
 will endanger the stability of the Church of England. That any one 
 should entertain such short-sighted ideas only shows that they have not 
 considered the subject, for the tendency of the Reformation is to build 
 up and not to destroy the Church. When it was proposed to reform 
 the Parliament in 1832, we were told that the Constitution was in danger, 
 but the result has more than falsified that fear, for Parliament is now 
 stronger than ever. It was the same in 1846, when the Corn Laws 
 were repealed. The land was to be thrown out of cultivation, but the 
 result has been that the value of land has greatly encreased. It will be 
 the same with the Church, for when she is reformed, she will stand on 
 a rock which cannot be shaken. Our design is to elevate and enlarge 
 Religion, and we hope we have taken the only method of effecting these 
 objects by proposing that the Creed of the Church should be purified 
 and perfected. 
 
 But there is another misconception which we must meet. Some say 
 we have more need of a Political than of Religious Reformation. Such 
 short-sighted reasoners would reap the harvest without the trouble of 
 sowing — they would take the fruits, but refuse the labour and the 
 sacrifice. But what is the state of the case ? Without a Religious 
 Reformation to set public opinion right, we cannot have a Political 
 Reformation, of which the case of France and the Confessional is a 
 notable example. How can there be Civil Liberty if there is no Moral 
 
POLITICS AND THE PRESS. 29 
 
 or Religious Liberty ? Is not the one the effect of the other ? As well 
 expect to gather figs of thistles, as to reap where we have not sown. 
 
 We hope we have now made it plain that the Reformation, to be 
 general and permanent, must be Religious as well as Political. We 
 must reform the causes of evil as well as their effects, and in combining 
 the religious with the political element, we take the only method which 
 can possibly produce the desired result. Let both Reformations go on 
 simultaneously, and the issue will not be doubtful. 
 
 The state of the English Press at this momentous epoch of history, 
 is anything but satisfactory. The events going on within our own 
 Church have not been discussed with any appreciation of their important 
 bearings. The disruption of the American Republic has been deplored, 
 instead of being hailed as the harbinger of a better state of things in that 
 country. The coming extinction of slavery is a topic which, instead 
 of calling forth the congratulations of the press, is entirely ignored. 
 Why should the public be obliged to read day by day, the threadbare 
 topics of bygone times, which can serve no other purpose but to keep 
 up dissensions and angry feelings, which otherwise would die away ? 
 Are there not enough of new topics of paramount interest going on 
 around us, with which to delight, instead of wearying their readers ? 
 
 We desire to see the press take its proper place as the instructors 
 and advisers of the public : but this high position it can never reach 
 until editors take courage to speak their real sentiments without reserve. 
 We should be glad to see the public take up this important question ; 
 for public opinion cannot be improved if the press makes no progress. 
 It is neither talent nor scholarship which is wanting ; for the press 
 can boast of both ; but it is the want of public spirit. It is not pho- 
 tographs of current opinions that are wanted, for we see enough of 
 that in our intercourse with the world. We naturally look to the press 
 for information as to what is right and good, for it has access to sources 
 of knowledge which the people have not, and to furnish us with this is 
 the proper mission of the newspaper press. 
 
 Although the past state of public opinion may be some excuse for 
 the deficiencies of the press, the time has happily come when that 
 excuse will no longer be listened to. It has been said that the British 
 Press is not a Free Press — that although it is free from Government 
 control, it is not free from the more galling bondage of an intolerant 
 public. This is a truth which every statesman and author knows from 
 personal experience. We say, let that stigma on the British name be 
 washed out ; let bygones be bygones ; for a better day is at hand. 
 
 The change that is going on in political circles is very encouraging, 
 for the old distinctions of party are passing away, and new and better 
 ones are taking their place. High and Low Church are already almost 
 obsolete terms, for both parties are being lost in the new distinctions of 
 reformers and anti-reformers. The old names of Whig and Tory are, 
 however, likely to remain, the one representing the progress party, and 
 the other the anti-progress party, designations which are so well under- 
 stood that it would be a pity that they should undergo any change. 
 
 While there may be many different churches in 'the world, there 
 ought to be only one creed, seeing that there is only one Truth and one 
 
30 
 
 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 
 
 Gospel. So far from wishing to unite all churches in one, as some 
 have imagined, we think a diversity of churches more conducive to the 
 general welfare: for all experience goes to shew, that both Unity and 
 Individuality must be preserved, if we wish to see a Civilization grow 
 up which is true to nature. We say, therefore, let all Churches advo- 
 cate the same creed, but at the same time, maintain their distinctive 
 characters as respects Church Government and Ecclesiastical Polity, 
 and that we think is the language of toleration and sound statesmanship. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 
 
 "Prove all things and hold to that which is good." 
 
 In our former Essay, we treated of Theology positively — giving in 
 the form of articles an interpretation of the Scriptures. We now pass 
 to the negative aspect of the question, which we shall treat of under 
 the head of Calvinism and Revivalism. In this way, we hope to ex- 
 haust the subject, by presenting the reader with a complete system of 
 Theology, both positive and negative. The Thirty-nine Articles, 
 which we are now to revise, will be found in the Prayer Book — of which 
 the following is a list. 
 
 1. 
 
 On Faith in the Holy Trinity. 
 
 22. 
 
 On Purgatory. 
 
 2. 
 
 Christ the Son of God. 
 
 23. 
 
 Ministering in the Congregation. 
 
 3. 
 
 His going down into Hell. 
 
 24. 
 
 Speaking in the Congregation. 
 
 4. 
 
 His Resurrection. 
 
 25. 
 
 The Sacraments. 
 
 5. 
 
 The Holy Ghost, 
 
 26. 
 
 The Unworthiness of Ministers. 
 
 6. 
 
 The Sufficiency of the Scripture. 
 
 27. 
 
 Baptism. 
 
 7. 
 
 The Old Testament. 
 
 28. 
 
 The Lord's Supper. 
 
 8. 
 
 The Three Creeds. 
 
 29. 
 
 The Wicked which eat not the 
 
 9. 
 
 Original or Birth Sin. 
 
 
 Body of Christ. 
 
 10. 
 
 Free-will. 
 
 30. 
 
 Both Kinds. 
 
 11. 
 
 Justification. 
 
 31. 
 
 Christ's one Oblation. 
 
 12. 
 
 Good Works. 
 
 32. 
 
 The Marriage of Priests. 
 
 13. 
 
 Works before Justification. 
 
 33. 
 
 Excommunicate Persons. 
 
 14. 
 
 Works of Supererogation. 
 
 34. 
 
 The Traditions of the Church. 
 
 15. 
 
 Christ alone without Sin. 
 
 35. 
 
 The Homilies. 
 
 16. 
 
 Sin after Baptism. 
 
 36. 
 
 Consecration of Ministers. 
 
 17. 
 
 Predestination and Election. 
 
 37. 
 
 Civil Magistrates. 
 
 18. 
 
 Obtaining Salvation by Christ. 
 
 38. 
 
 Christian Men's Goods. 
 
 19. 
 
 The Church. 
 
 39. 
 
 A Christian Man's Oath. 
 
 20. 
 
 The Authority of the Church. 
 
 — 
 
 The Eatification. 
 
 21. 
 
 Authority of General Councils. 
 
 
 
 Article 1 teaches that God is one person, and at the same time 
 three persons, — which is a palpable contradiction ; for it is certain that 
 one cannot be three, and yet remain one. Article 8 ordains that the 
 three Creeds of the Prayer Book are to be received and fully believed 
 in, and these Creeds teach the same contradictory doctrine very fully. 
 
THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 31 
 
 The explanation of the mystery of the Trinity is probably this : — 
 God is One. Christ is the supernatural union of God and Man, not 
 only on the Earth, but to all eternity in Heaven. The Holy Ghost 
 is the spirit of God in Man, when sanctified by the truth. The 
 Mediator is not a second God, but God united with Christ Jesus. 
 The Holy Ghost is not a third God, but the Spirit of God in Man. 
 We see God in Himself manifested in the works of creation ; we see 
 God miraculously in Christ ; and we see God naturally in Man ; and 
 these are the three aspects in which the Eternal God is manifested 
 to the World. There is no contradiction here, the whole being in con- 
 formity with scripture and experience. 
 
 It will be found that the Trinity of the Prayer Book receives no 
 countenance from any part of the Bible, either Old or New, and there- 
 fore we ask why the Thirty-nine Articles should not be immediately 
 reformed, so as to bring them into harmony with Scripture ? Let it not 
 be imagined that this is a matter of little practical importance, for, so 
 far from that being the case, there is not a doctrine of Religion which 
 is not affected by it ; and if we are to reform the subordinate doctrines, 
 we must, of necessity, begin with the reformation of the fundamental 
 doctrine. 
 
 We once heard an eminent professor of theology preach a sermon on 
 the Deity ; and as the subject is one rarely touched on from the pulpit, 
 we were curious to know what the clergy really believe. The pro- 
 fessor said that there were two errors to be avoided in approaching 
 the sublime subject of his discourse ; the one was, in supposing that 
 God is a person, and the other that he is a principle. God is 
 neither the one nor the other ; but something between the two ! 
 The learned preacher was obliged to come to this extraordinary con- 
 clusion, in order to vindicate the doctrines of the Church. Here we see 
 the deplorable results of allowing contradictions to remain in the 
 Articles of Religion ; for such must, of necessity, produce Scepticism 
 and negation. There is no wonder that there should be so much scep- 
 ticism in the Church, when the fundamental doctrine of all theology 
 contains so many contradictions. Nor can we wonder that the Church 
 makes so few converts among the Jews, Mahomedans, and Heathens, 
 when she offers them a Religion which they cannot understand, owing 
 to the mass of contradictions which surround it. But let these defects 
 be removed, and there is no reason why the Gospel should not become 
 co-extensive with the world. 
 
 Christ performed innumerable Miracles. He was a Miracle himself, 
 both in his life and resurrection. He spoke by inspiration ; in other 
 words, miraculously. The origin of the Gospel is therefore entirely 
 miraculous. The doctrine taught by Christ was often a reliance on 
 Miraculous Grace, but although that was obviously the intention of our 
 Lord's preaching as regards the Apostles and Disciples, it does not 
 follow that He intended that the nations of the world should interpret 
 such sayings as applicable to them, after the Age of Miracles had 
 ceased ; or, after the occasion for Miracles had passed away, and the 
 Canon of Scripture had been closed. The destruction of Jerusalem, 
 and the dispersion of the Jewish Nation, may be considered the ending 
 
32 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 
 
 of the Dispensation of Miracles, and to those Christians exclusively 
 who lived previously to that time, are the words of our Saviour 
 which teach the doctrine of Miraculous Grace applicable. 
 
 The following words are from the Gospel of St. John : — 
 
 " Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you 
 into all Truth ; for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He 
 shall hear, that shall He speak ; for He will show you (the apostles and 
 disciples) things to come." — John \^th. This passage is an example of 
 a text which is not applicable to Christians of modern times, in its 
 literal sense ; for, although the doctrine was to be taken in that sense 
 by the immediate followers of our Lord, it is obvious that, unless we 
 accept the doctrine of Modern Miracles as still going on, we must 
 reject the literal reading of such passages, and only accept them as 
 having reference to modern times in their non-miraculous sense. The 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are to be received as the 
 inspired Word of God, but it is necessary to distinguish between 
 passages which apply to modern times, and passages which exclusively 
 apply to the Apostles and Disciples, and the times in which they lived, 
 for if we apply the former in their literal sense, we must nullify the 
 Gospel by continuing in the Church belief in Modern Miracles. 
 
 If we are told that our system exalts the understanding or reason 
 above the Scriptures, we refer all such objectors to the following words 
 of our Lord, which are clear and definite on the subject of Reason: — 
 
 " He that receiveth the seed into good ground, is he who heareth the 
 Word and under standeth it; who also in an honest and good heart 
 bringeth forth fruit with patience." — Mark 4th and Luke 8th. 
 
 " Being born again by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth 
 for ever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto 
 you." — 1 Peter, chap. 1. 
 
 Here the whole mystery of Conversion is explained — the Word 
 preached being the cause of conversion, and the conversion the natural 
 effect. It is the understanding of Religion (Reason) which produces 
 Conversion, — for unless the Word preached enters the understanding, 
 the heart is not convinced, and no change of soul is produced. 
 
 The time is now come when the Church must decide either to accept 
 the doctrine of Supernaturalism without reservation, or abandon it 
 altogether. Modern Miracles, both spiritual and material, are either 
 true or false, and, as all Protestants agree in this, that there is no 
 evidence of Miracles, either spiritual or material, in modern times, we 
 are forced to reject the idea of Miraculous Grace. 
 
 The Catholic Church openly avows belief in modern Miracles, and it is 
 impossible for us Protestants consistently or conscientiously to say that 
 that Church is in error, if we ourselves believe in Miracles under other 
 names. Until the Protestant Churches give up the doctrine of Miracu- 
 lous Grace, the Catholic Church is able to say with truth, that while 
 she is consistent in all her doctrines, the Protestant Church is not. But 
 the moment that the Protestant Churches repudiate the idea of super- 
 natural influences, and give effect to that Reformation in all their 
 Articles of Faith, the Protestants will not only be consistent in all their 
 doctrines, but those doctrines, taken collectively, will be consistent with 
 
THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 33 
 
 Truth, which the Catholic Church cannot say, so long as she remains 
 unreformed. 
 
 The Articles of the Church have an effect on the Religion of the 
 Land which few men fully comprehend. They interpret the Bible by 
 authority, so that it is of vital importance to Religion that they should 
 be free from error ; for if they contain anything contrary to Scripture, 
 they must have the effect of depriving the Clergy and Laity of the 
 benefits of Revelation, to the extent of the errors which they may con- 
 tain. Let us, therefore, carefully compare the Articles with Scripture, 
 which we shall review under three heads. 1st. the works of Man; 
 2nd. the work of Christ, as Mediator between God and Man ; and 
 3rd. the works of God. 
 
 1. Free Will (Article 10th). — This Article, instead of granting 
 the Doctrine of Free Will, as the title of the Article indicates, denies 
 Free Will altogether. The Article states, that in consequence of 
 " Original Sin" Man has no power of himself to do anything good ; 
 he is, therefore, nothing more than a passive machine in the hands of 
 his Maker. Man is absolved from all responsibility whatever ; for 
 where there is no Liberty of Thought and Action, there can be no 
 Responsibility. Having no power to perform anything good (Art. 11), 
 the Doctrine of "Faith without Works" follows as a matter of course, 
 and that Doctrine is fully taught by those two Articles. 
 
 2. The Atonement (Art. 15.) — The Atonement of the Old Testa- 
 ment is the sacrifice of bulls and goats ; and the Atonement of the 
 New Testament is the sacrifice of the body of Christ. This Doctrine 
 transfers the Religion of Moses into the Religion of Christ, the only 
 difference being, that the one sacrifice is infinitely more precious than 
 the other. In refuting this doctrine, we ask if any one is able to recon- 
 cile this version of the Christian Religion with the acts and sayings of 
 our Lord and his Apostles? We think not. Christ came on purpose to 
 repeal the Religion of Moses, which had been mixed up with Sacrifices, 
 which are declared to be an abomination to the Lord ; and not to apply 
 that Religion to the World at large for all time coming. In proof 
 of this opinion we may refer to the following passages from the 
 Gospels t)f St. Matthew and St. John. " The Law came by Moses ; 
 but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ." — John, ch. 1. " They that 
 be whole need not a physician ; but they that are sick, but go and 
 learn what that meaneth, I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice ; for I am 
 not come to call the Righteous, but Sinners to Repentance." — Matthew, 
 ch. 9. The meaning of this remarkable passage is very plain. The 
 self-righteous Pharisees, to whom these words were addressed, made 
 themselves whole by Faith in Sacrifices ; and to such, Christ was not 
 wanted ; for they that are whole need no physician. It is by inter- 
 preting the Old Testament by the New Testament that we are enabled 
 to arive at this important result. There may be some passages in St. 
 Paul's Epistles which will bear a construction favorable to the doctrine 
 of " Justification without Works;" but it must be remembered that 
 these writings of St. Paul are letters addressed to particular Churches, 
 with special objects in view, and not writings for general application in 
 all countries and all times, as the Gospels are. St. Paul himself points 
 
34 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 
 
 out this difference in very plain language, when he says, " To the Jews 
 I became as a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews" — 1 Cor. ix., 20. 
 With regard to the Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul cannot be charged 
 with it, for the style of that epistle is quite different from St. Paul's 
 style, nor does it bear the Apostle's name, as do the other epistles. — 
 See Conybeare's "Life and Epistles of St. Paul," vol. 2, p. 605. 
 
 3. Predestination and Election (Art. 17.) — Every Man is chosen 
 of God, either for salvation or damnation, irrespective of his merits. 
 The thoughts and acts of Man do not affect his destiny for good or evil ; 
 for this article teaches us to believe that the predestinated Acts of our 
 Maker have fixed our destiny before we were born. Such is the read- 
 ing of this article ; and with such erroneous doctrines before us, it 
 will surprise no one when we state that the word Responsibility does 
 not occur in this or any other of the Thirty-nine Articles! The whole 
 scope of these articles is opposed to the idea of Man's Responsibility, 
 and accordingly, that fundamental doctrine of all true Religion and 
 Morality is wanting. Now what is the doctrine of the Gospel but 
 this — " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish " ? Christ 
 teaches the doctrine of Responsibility ; but the Articles of our Church 
 do not ; and what in such circumstances can we say of these Articles, 
 but that they are in opposition to the Gospel, both in letter and spirit. 
 
 The Religion of the Thirty-nine Articles has not made Men good, 
 and never can make them good. It will not be till man's capacity to 
 improve himself (Free Will) is recognised by the Church Articles, that 
 any fruits of the Gospel can be expected ; for, so long as Man is taught 
 that he cannot improve himself, it is quite certain that he will not 
 improve. It has been imagined that the reason why Man remains 
 unregenerate, is the want of practice ; but that fallacy is now set at 
 rest ; for it is precept and not practice that is at fault. 
 
 If it is said that the Clergy and Laity have the Bible for their guide 
 as well as the Thirty-nine Articles, we answer that it is only true 
 in a limited sense. The Articles are the authorised interpretation 
 of the Bible, and no Clergyman is permitted to teach any Doctrine of 
 the Bible in any other sense than that set forth by the Articles. It is 
 practically the same with the Laity ; for if any Layman expresses 
 opinions at variance with the Articles, although those opinions may be 
 much more true to the Bible than the Articles themselves, he is certain 
 to be denounced as a freethinker and an infidel. These facts go far 
 to show that the want of fruits in the Church do not arise from any 
 fault in the Bible, but from a wrong interpretation of the Bible con- 
 tained in the Articles. People are apt to imagine that the Thirty-nine 
 Articles, which are seldom or never read, exercise little or no influence 
 on Public Opinion ; but these facts indicate the reverse ; for so long 
 as erroneous Articles remain the law of the land, Public Opinion must 
 partake of the same errors. 
 
 It has been imagined that no Clergyman can dissent from any 
 of the Thirty-nine Articles, and yet consistently remain in the Church ; 
 but to show that such is a fallacy, we need only refer to the 
 Articles themselves, which fortunately provide for that contingency. 
 Article 6th. — "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for 
 
CALVINISM. 35 
 
 Salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein, or may be proved 
 thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed 
 as an Article of Faith." It is obvious that if every Clergyman who 
 discovers errors in the Thirty-nine Articles was bound to retire from 
 the Church, these Articles must be branded with the name of 
 "Finality," for in that case, any reform or improvement of the 
 Articles would be rendered impossible. Those Clergymen who desire 
 a reformation of Religion are, on the contrary, bound to remain at 
 their posts ; for that is the only way they can render a service to their 
 Church and their country. When the great Wycliffe discovered errors 
 of the Church in his times, he did not basely leave his post; and in boldly 
 advocating a reformation of those errors, he has left a memorial of 
 his courage and public spirit which will be remembered with 
 gratitude while the World lasts. 
 
 In this review of the Thirty -nine Articles, we have only been able 
 to mention a few of the principal Articles, but we trust we have said 
 enough to enable our readers to form a judgment of the whole. Some 
 ask what is the use of Articles at all, but such might as well ask what 
 is the use of the Bible, for without Articles to enable the people to 
 know how the Church interprets the Bible, the Church and the Bible 
 would be comparatively useless. Consistent Articles of Belief are the 
 best guarantee of Religious Liberty that a nation can possess, they 
 are moreover the only security for the maintenance of toleration, or 
 social peace and liberty. Such being the importance of purity in the 
 National Faith, we feel assured that the subject will receive that careful 
 attention and consideration which its great importance demands. 
 
 It has been said that the Thirty-nine Articles are partly Arminian 
 aud partly Calvinistic, but after a careful examination of these articles, 
 we have found them to be wholly Calvinistic. There may be a word, 
 or sentence, here and there which will bear an interpretation at variance 
 with strict Calvinism, but that does not alter the fact which we have 
 stated, for we know of no book which might not be perverted in that 
 way. The creed of the Church of England being Calvinistic, it will 
 be necessary to examine more particularly the nature of that Religion, 
 but this we must reserve for the next Chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CALVINISM. 
 
 " Every man shall be judged according to his Works." 
 
 To test the reality of the Calvinistic theory, let us ask what is the 
 object of that religion. Regeneration is not the object of the Calvin- 
 istic Churches, since they repudiate Works, and these are necessary 
 to regeneration. To glorify God is not the object, for that is worship, 
 and worship is not an object but a means. Belief is not the object, 
 for unless belief be followed by action it can produce nothing. Prayer 
 
36 CALVINISM. 
 
 is not the object, for with Election and Predestination it is difficult 
 to see the use of prayer. Church-going and Sabbath-keeping are 
 not the object, for these, like worship, are only means. In short, the 
 Calvinistic theory of religion has no object, and a religion without 
 an object is a negation. Is it not true, that unless religion be a prac- 
 tical thing, it is nothing? It may at first sight be feared that when 
 Calvinistic error is taken away, little will be left, but the case is just the 
 reverse. The evil of the Calvinistic doctrines is, that they contradict 
 and obscure the Gospel light, and thus curtail its fullness and freeness, 
 but take away errors, and G-ospel truth comes out in bold relief, and 
 a great expansion of faith is the consequence. Let us state the result. 
 The first and great boon which the sacrifice of Calvinism bestows 
 is Free Will ; for while Election and Predestination remain there is 
 no Will, for a will that is not free is not a will. This recognition of 
 the Will for the first time in the Churches will be the Magna Charta 
 of religious liberty. With Calvinism we have nothing but to brood 
 over our own nothingness ; but now made free with the liberty whereof 
 Christ has made us free, we are called on to be up and doing, to 
 work out our salvation. Nothing is so pleasant and beneficial as 
 employment, and in exchange for empty comtemplation, which ends 
 in negation, we shall have a positive and practical Religion to interest 
 and employ the soul. 
 
 But Free Will is not all, for now the Christian has a sure and stable 
 foundation for his faith, in a God who is good and just ; no perception 
 of which is to be found in the God of the Calvinists, who saves one 
 and condemns another irrespective of their deserts! Further, in ex- 
 change for the gratification of the feelings, which the Calvinists may 
 have, the Reformed Church will, in addition, have the higher gratifi- 
 cation of the intellect ; and we need only remark that, while the 
 feelings are often made to blush when met by the arguments of truth, 
 the intellect is never put to shame. In short, in exchange for the 
 Calvinistic theory we shall have a faith ten thousand times better and 
 larger, so that the sacrifice which truth demands is great gain. 
 
 If we are told that faith is to be proved by works, that is salva- 
 tion by the combination of faith and works ; and if the Calvinistic 
 Churches will grant that, we are agreed. But it is plain that the 
 Calvinists cannot do so consistently with their own theory, for the 
 moment that works are introduced, Election and Predestination must 
 be given up ; for it must not be forgotten that Predestination and 
 Regeneration are opposed to each other ; the one being the work of 
 God, and the other the work of man. It may be pleasant for indolent 
 man to be told that Works are not essential to Salvation, as that 
 relieves him from the trouble of Self-exertion, Self-control, and Self- 
 reformation; but, in exchange for that delusion, he must bend his 
 neck under a yoke of burdensome and impracticable doctrines, which 
 ignore liberty and the power of self-improvement, — a yoke which 
 neither we nor our children are able to bear. If we take up this burden, 
 we go back to the Jewish Religion, from which the load is borrowed, and 
 then Christ has risen in vain — we are under the law of bondage, and 
 not under grace. 
 
CALVINISM. 37 
 
 The following extracts from the Works of Mr. J. S. Mill and Mr. 
 Alison, show the withering effect of Calvinism on the character, which 
 is as sad as it is true. 
 
 " Human Nature being radically corrupt, there is no redemption for 
 any one until Human Nature is killed within them. To those holding 
 this theory of life, crushing out the human faculties, capacities, and 
 susceptibilities, is no evil; man needs no capacity, but that of surren- 
 dering himself. Such is the theory of Calvinism, — and it is held in a 
 mitigated form by many who do not consider themselves Calvinists." — 
 
 Mill on Liberty. 
 
 "The first and greatest cause of the decline of civilization is of 
 course the great revival of Calvinism in the course of the present cen- 
 tury. This will appear, if I now describe the character which that 
 theory of Religion produces. Calvinism kills the inner man, for in 
 ignoring self-reliance, self-exertion, and self-reformation, it must have 
 that effect. What is the type of the present age, but the absence of 
 individual character, and what but to the revival of Calvinism can we 
 ascribe that fearful result? The whole nation has been dwarfed by 
 that revival; we have become a nation of little men, the essence of 
 weakness, and with such men there is no saying what calamities may 
 come upon us. The spread of the Revival Movement, as it is called, 
 in all parts of the United Kingdom, is one of those calamities, the evil 
 effects of which will soon be apparent, and I might easily mention other 
 calamities equally great, which may be expected to befal us in our 
 present defenceless state. To the Calvinistic movement must, therefore, 
 be traced the great cause of the present decline of Civilization." — 
 
 Philosophy of Civilization. 
 
 If we are asked, what is the point in Theology, on which the present 
 controversy ought to turn, we answer that the doctrine of Free Will is 
 that point ; for that is the only doctrine which is sufficiently com- 
 prehensive to embrace all other doctrines and controversies. Then, 
 how is this momentous question of the Will to be set at rest ? We 
 say, once admit that the Law of Truth exists in the mind of one and 
 all, and the question is settled ; for if Truth is a reality, Free Will is 
 the same. Truth convinces the Reason and bends the Will ; it changes 
 opinions and beliefs, and of course, if we had no liberty to make these 
 changes, we could not make them. Here we have the proof of Free 
 Will, as clear and certain as it is possible to conceive anything certain. 
 The following extract from " The Philosophy of Civilization," ought 
 to set this important matter at rest. 
 
 " That every man is endowed with the faculty of perceiving Truth, 
 when it is fairly brought before him, is a fact which I have proved 
 fifty times over by actual experiment. I have submitted a series of 
 propositions to a mixed company, and before I left the room every 
 one assented to all the propositions laid before them. This proves 
 that there is not only such a thing as Truth, but that every man's 
 mind is impressed with the faculty of perceiving it. No sooner was 
 this important discovery made, than I set to work to complete the 
 project I had in view, of which the present Work is the result ; in 
 the assured confidence that I had only to define Truth, by applying 
 
38 CALVINISM. 
 
 it to all knowledge, and lay it plainly before my readers, to produce a 
 uniform result in the minds of all. This will no doubt startle many 
 of my readers. They will be apt to exclaim, that it is contrary to 
 all experience to find any set of opinions commanding the assent of 
 all. To this I reply, that if opinions are true they will certainly 
 produce the same effect on all honest minds. When dissent is pro- 
 duced, that is the proof that the opinions offered are not true, or at 
 least not the whole truth. I maintain that the test of a good style of 
 writing is its facility of being understood ; and in like manner, the test 
 of the truth of opinions is the facility of their commanding universal 
 assent." 
 
 Having now ascertained the existence of Truth and Free-will, all 
 the subordinate doctrines of theology may easily be settled. Man 
 having a free-will to think and act for himself, his thoughts and acts 
 cannot have been predestinated by God. Neither can Original Sin be 
 the cause of Evil within Man ; for, as Man possesses the ability to 
 follow Truth, the idea of Original Sin, as the cause of the Evil Pas- 
 sions, becomes altogether untenable. Man having the capacity to work 
 out his own Salvation by following the precepts of the Gospel, Re- 
 demption cannot come directly from the acts of God, but from 
 the acts of Man. It follows, therefore, that the Atonement does not 
 consist in the sacrifice of blood, but in the sacrifice of our Natural 
 Affections. We have now shown that the beginning of Religion, 
 worthy of the name, is » belief in Free-will ; for having made sure of 
 that safe resting-place, we have no difficulty in dealing with all the 
 subtleties with which theologians have mystified Religion. 
 
 The difference between Ecclesiastical and Religious opinions or 
 doctrines is, that while Ecclesiastical opinions are particular, and admit 
 of a variety of different opinions, Religious Doctrines are general, and 
 admit of only one opinion. Truth admits of only one opinion, but 
 error of many difterent opinions. In following the course of truth, 
 there can be only one opinion ; but to deviate from that course is to 
 produce a diversity of opinions. It is a Reformation of Religious 
 Opinions alone which we have undertaken to expound and direct, 
 and in undertaking this great and responsible duty, on the principles 
 of truth, consistency, and impartiality, the result cannot fail to be 
 a great increase of unity and concord, not only in the Church, but in 
 the political circles into which the Laity is at present divided ; nor 
 do we hold out these bright prospects without at the same time giving 
 sufficient reasons for entertaining them. 
 
 The Protestant Churches may be divided into two great classes — 
 the Arminians and the Calvinists. The Arminian Creed makes Man 
 something ; but the Calvinists' Creed makes him nothing. In other 
 words, while the Arminian accepts the doctrine of Free Will, which 
 makes Man something, the Calvinist ignores that doctrine. The one 
 theology is in direct opposition to the other; and to be consistent every 
 Christian must either be the one or the other ; for, we cannot serve two 
 masters, or be of two opposite religions. There is no other alternative 
 consistent with truth and a good conscience, but to take the one Religion 
 or the other ; and we trust the time has gone by when Religion, 
 
REVIVALISM. 39 
 
 the most important part of Man's estate here below, can be allowed to 
 remain everything and yet nothing ; for, while our Religion is in that 
 primitive condition, we must ever be learning, and never coming to 
 the knowledge of Truth. 
 
 The Calvinists, instead of teaching men to exert themselves, rely 
 on the miraculous Grace of God to do everything for them ; and, 
 consistently enough, they deprecate Self-reliance in Religion, directly 
 and indirectly in everything else. Now, if God's Government was 
 miraculous, which the Apostle Paul tells us was not the case, — that 
 very convenient doctrine of non-reliance would be all very well ; but 
 as all experience goes to prove that miraculous agency is not true, 
 we are only resting on a broken reed to listen to such teaching. We 
 need not wonder that Religion and Civilization make no progress in 
 the land, and consequently that sorrow and suffering experience no 
 diminution, when we are taught to lean on that of which we have no 
 evidence ; for, unless we are prepared to say and to prove that Man 
 is governed by miraculous influences, what we have now said must 
 be true. 
 
 Such is the Religion which bears the name of Dr. Calvin, of which 
 the Thirty-nine Articles and the Westminster Confession of Faith are 
 the authorized versions. This Religion, which its founder borrowed 
 from St. Augustan, who lived about the year a.d. 430, is likewise held 
 by many who do not consider themselves Calvinists, but whose opinions 
 are a practical embodiment of that faith. We now pass to a modern 
 phase of the same religion — which is known as Revivalism — which 
 may be said to be Calvinism in its worst form. 
 
 €HAPTER IV. 
 
 REVIVALISM. 
 
 " Be not overcome of Evil, but overcome Evil with Good." 
 
 We now come to one of the darkest spots of our history, namely, the 
 rise and progress of Revivalism, an evil which is perhaps the greatest 
 national calamity which has ever visited our shores. The importance of 
 throwing light upon this subject cannot be overstated, and, knowing as 
 we do, its vast power for evil to the destinies of this country, we 
 shall not shrink from our duty. 
 
 Revivalism may be described as Naturalism, for it is the ebullitions 
 of Nature apart from the government of the intellect. The religion of 
 nature is impulse, and the religion of Christ principle, and out of these 
 two come Civilization and all that is good. Principle is one thing, 
 nature another, and so different are they that the one may be said to be 
 divine and the other human. It follows from these considerations that 
 Nature without principle to govern it is evil, — it is neither Religion 
 nor Civilization — in short it is retrogression and not progress. 
 
40 REVIVALISM. 
 
 Revivalism is not the act of God, nor yet the act of a devil, but the 
 act of man himself when left without the law of Truth to rule and 
 guide him. The anarchy in the church, arising from the want of 
 reform in her articles, has left man practically without a ruler, and it is 
 therefore no wonder that he should have run to weeds. To say that 
 Revivalism comes from God is to say that God is not the God of Truth, 
 seeing that Revivals ignore that principle. Again, if we say that 
 Revivals are the act of a devil, we encourage Satan's work in becoming 
 the abettors of Revivalism. The moment we penetrate below the sur- 
 face we find that Revivalism is neither more nor less than the evil 
 passions of man stirred up by those who are ignorant of the constitution 
 of human nature, and of the glorious scheme of the Gospel which 
 Christ hath worked out for its redemption. 
 
 But if we are told that after a Revival the catalogue of crime is 
 reduced, we answer that may be so, for although one evil may cast out 
 another, it does not follow that any cure is effected. By giving a new 
 direction to the mind we may change erring mortals into fanatics, and 
 although crime and drunkenness may in this way be arrested, other 
 worse evils take their place. Depend upon it there is only one way of 
 making men good, and that is, by recognising his capacity to improve 
 himself, and by submitting to the dictates of truth and principle. That 
 is a different religion from anything taught at revival meetings, for such 
 meetings are popular, because they gratify the feelings instead of 
 denying them. Exaggerated ideas of sin, and* equally exaggerated 
 ideas of punishment by hell-fire, are the weapons of revivalists — a 
 religion as unlike the gospel, which is a religion of love, as it is possible 
 to conceive. We may as well expect to gather figs of thistles as to find 
 men bearing the fruits of Righteousness without submitting to the law 
 of Truth. If it is bad morality to say that the feelings are to rule 
 the intellect, it must be bad religion to allow the natural feelings to 
 govern. 
 
 In America it was found that the commercial distress of 1857 greatly 
 increased the Revivals in that country, and if, in the providence of God, 
 England should be visited with hard times owing to the failure of the 
 harvest of last year, we may expect an increase of Revivalism in this 
 country, unless in the mean time the reformation movement we have 
 undertaken shall have attained a power equal to counteract the evil. 
 In the event of bad times coming upon us it will be too much to expect 
 that the reformation, let it be ever so successful, could change bad times 
 into good times ; but this we may promise, that the hardness of the 
 times will be greatly lightened, and their duration shortened, by the 
 reformation. As material prosperity depends for the most part on 
 moral prosperity, we may hail the advent of the new Reformation as 
 the herald of a better time, for instead of the energies of the people 
 being crippled by fanaticism, they will be strengthened by true religion. 
 Let us take courage therefore, for the gloom of the present will ere 
 long produce a reaction if we only sow liberally, and at the same time 
 keep down the weeds. 
 
 Not only is Religion threatened by the spread of Revivalism, but 
 Civilization itself — for a nation given over to the dominion of the 
 
REVIVALISM. 41 
 
 feelings is a nation in which Civilization is at a low ebb. With the 
 decline of Civilization we must expect the decline of every interest 
 in the country ; and we call the special attention of our statesmen 
 to the matter, so that they may be induced to pass the Church Reform 
 Bill with as little delay as possible. 
 
 Hitherto the people have only heard of religion without works, now 
 they must learn that without works religion is dead. Luther said 
 that all the devils in hell would never be able to overturn his doctrine 
 of " Justification without Works,'" but we say that erroneous doctrine 
 has at last worked its own cure, for now that we see its evil effects, 
 nothing can save it from destruction. 
 
 If we are told that Revivalism is only an excrescence on religion, 
 and that the Clergy are not responsible for it, we answer that it is 
 only partially true. The Church teaches men to doubt, if not entirely 
 to deny their own capacity to improve ; and when men are thus practi- 
 cally left without a Doctrine, what can they do but have recourse to 
 another doctrine, even the religion of nature ? Had the clergy appre- 
 hended what the gospel really was, they would have taught a very 
 different religion, in which case, the revivals would have had no 
 existence. 
 
 From Judaism and Catholicism we have gone to Calvinism and 
 Armenianism, and from these to Spiritualism and Revivalism. But all 
 these forms of religion we reject as more or less erroneous, and in their 
 stead we take the true gospel. ( See the revised Articles of Faith, 
 an outline of which will be found in Essay I, to which we 
 specially refer our readers.) There is nothing hidden which shall not 
 be revealed ; and we shall do our best to forward that glorious work 
 of universal enlightenment, which is destined to set the world free from 
 sin and misery ; and if we may say that darkness or ignorance is the 
 kingdom of Satan, that kingdom must come to an end. 
 
 The Evangelical Alliance have in an evil hour ordered a day of 
 general prayer for the increase of revivalism, and we mention the cir- 
 cumstance in the hope that that influential society may see the necessity 
 of reconsidering the matter and of aiding us in our efforts for a reforma- 
 tion. Instruction as to what is good and true is that which is wanting, 
 and if the Evangelical Alliance will turn their attention to the enlighten- 
 ment of the world, they will become evangelists in the proper sense of 
 the word. 
 
 If we, like others, had confined our efforts to the reformation of 
 practice, we could have effected nothing, for practice is an effect, not 
 a cause. It is precept that is at fault, accordingly we seek the refor- 
 mation of private and public opinion, and of the standards of the 
 Church, contained in the Thirty-Nine Articles, which may be said 
 to form the basis of public opinion. To teach the doctrine of non- 
 self-reliance, and then to blame men for the want of better practice, 
 which can only come from self-reliance, is neither truth nor justice; 
 and in saying that the fault lies in the want of better precept we only 
 state a truth which every man who considers the subject must acknow- 
 ledge. It is a happy circumstance that the want of the Fruits of 
 Righteousness should arise from the want of good doctrine, for if the 
 
 B 
 
42 REVIVALISM. 
 
 evil had arisen from the want of practice, of course there would be no 
 remedy. 
 
 Were we to leave the doctrine of the atonement unreformed, there 
 could be no Reformation — the world must continue to grope on in the 
 dark as heretofore, and instead of sin and misery being reduced, they 
 would increase, for the more we cling to the idea of a "Sacrificial 
 Atonement," as the Jews did, the more must the world increase in 
 disobedience. 
 
 What was the state of the Jewish nation, when they had filled up 
 the measure of their iniquity by their manifold atonements ? It was 
 this. The prophets prophesied falsely, the priests ruled by their means 
 and the people loved to have it so (Jer. v. 31). And if Calvinism and 
 Revivalism have not yet brought us to the same hopeless state as they 
 brought the Jews, we are to all appearance rapidly approaching it. We 
 shall not dwell on this sad picture, for our prophets and priests are at 
 length preparing to set their houses in order, so that the present deplor- 
 able state of the Church and the world may be exchanged for a great 
 day of reformation and regeneration. 
 
 The doctrine of sacrifice exclusively belongs to the Mosaic Dispen- 
 sation, and it is because we have adopted that doctrine in a mitigated 
 form in the Christian Dispensation, that a Reformation is now called 
 for. We hope, therefore, that those who make objections to the new 
 doctrine of the atonement will consider the matter maturely, for 
 unless a complete change of that doctrine is effected, there can be no 
 reformation. The object of the New Reformation is to make the world 
 better, but if we are refused those doctrines which are indispensably 
 necessary to effect that object, of course nothing can be done. Every 
 man has a direct interest in the reformation of the doctrine of the 
 atonement, and we trust no objections on that point will be offered, for 
 if there are, the Reformation cannot be carried. Instead of Revival 
 Meetings, let us have Reformation Meetings in every church and 
 chapel of the empire, and the Reformation will be carried in less than 
 a year. 
 
 We now conclude the theological part of this work. Essay No. 1 
 has shown what Religion ought to be, and No. 2 what it ought not to 
 be. The result of the whole enquiry shows that there is ample room 
 for a much greater reformation than the Reformation of Luther. 
 Let us therefore rejoice, for that fact, once known, indicates that we 
 we are about to enter on a new era in which peace and good-will shall 
 take the place of the evils which at present afflict society. Let us not 
 look back with regret on the things that we are obliged to leave behind 
 us, but rather forward to those that are before, lest we deprive 
 ourselves of the benefits of a Reformation which are offered for the 
 acceptance of all. 
 
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 43 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 
 
 " They who sow bountifully, shall also reap bountifully." 
 
 Look at the Books which form the stock of nine-tenths of our 
 Libraries, and tell us the amount of reality to be found in them. 
 This literature is the growth of the present century, and indicates 
 a departure from reality and intelligence, and the abuse of the 
 imagination. Now, what is the imagination to which these writings 
 are addressed, and after the fashion of which the character of the 
 age is being moulded ? The best answer we can give is, that 
 the abuse of the imagination is spiritualising over much, or rather 
 spiritualising on nothing. We grant that the abuse of the imagination, 
 like the abuse of everything else, has its peculiar pleasures; but we 
 may rely upon it that these pleasures are obtained at the expense of 
 the higher faculties. In the absence of knowledge and moral worth, 
 the mind fills up the blank with the imagination, — a faculty to which 
 one thing is as true as another ; and so that the things imagined give 
 pleasure, that is the great consideration. 
 
 The remedy for this state of society is very simple : let Free Public 
 Libraries be established in every parish, in which works of fiction shall 
 be excluded. Then the people will have free access to the best books, 
 and authors will be encouraged to write books addressed to the intellect 
 and good-sense of the people. One reason why novels are read more 
 than any other books is the high price of good books compared with 
 the price of novels and cheap literature. Would any one believe that 
 in a great city like Brighton not a single library possesses a copy of 
 Mill's "Liberty"? The only remedy is Public Libraries; and if we 
 think the education of the people of any value, these libraries will be 
 established. What is to prevent the Committee of Council on Education 
 from assisting in the establishment of public libraries in the chief towns 
 and cities of the empire, and to encourage authors by taking from five 
 hundred to a thousand copies of every good book which comes out, for 
 the supply of these libraries ? That Committee spends £800,000 a year 
 in teaching boys and girls to read and write, but gives nothing to keep 
 up the education of those children after they leave school ; and if the 
 Privy Council would bestow a twentieth part of that sum on free 
 libraries they would be repaid a thousandfold. That, we think, is the 
 way to encourage Literature and Education among the people. 
 
 It was thought that Cheap Literature was only another word for 
 the Diffusion of Knowledge, but alas ! the very reverse has been the 
 result. With the diffusion of books their quality has gone off — the 
 public taste has been vitiated by trash, and no market is left for any- 
 thing else. We have come to this, that all that is of value cannot be 
 
 b 2 
 
44 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 
 
 had, and all that is worthless is forced upon us at every corner of our 
 streets. Many of our readers may think we are too severe on the weak- 
 nesses of the age, but there is nothing like being candid, if we desire 
 any reformation, and we shall be glad if any one will have the courage 
 to say that we have drawn a picture which the actual state of Literature 
 does not warrant. Nothing now can avert this downward course but 
 the Public Libraries we propose. Mr. Milner Gibson has done good 
 work in relieving knowledge from taxation : will he now lend us 
 helping hand in the establishment of these Libraries, without which all 
 that has been done is worthless ? That Lord Brougham and Mr. Gibso 
 and a host of others should have paid so much attention to the diffusio 
 of knowledge for the last thirty years, without at the same time doing 
 something to improve its quality, is to us inexplicable. We are decidedly 
 going backwards ; and what our state will be this time ten years, if 
 nothing be done to stay the evil, we leave our readers to say. 
 
 Oliver Goldsmith says, "Above all things never touch a Novel or 
 Romance which paint beauty in colours more charming than nature, 
 and describe happiness which man never tastes," and he might have 
 added, which never existed. This remark of course can only apply to 
 Novels which are not true to nature. 
 
 Our plan is this We intend to apply to the Privy Council for a 
 grant of £10,000, which will be sufficient for the establishment of one 
 hundred Libraries. Should this sum be granted, we undertake to dis- 
 pose of it, to the best of our judgment, in the establishment of Libraries 
 and Reading Rooms in the chief towns and villages of the country. 
 We propose that the Provincial Libraries shall pay their own expenses, 
 and that we shall supply them with books free of cost, as explained 
 by the following Prospectus : — 
 
 1. The Library and Reading Room is to be supported by voluntary 
 subscriptions, and its affairs are to be managed by a Committee, to be 
 elected by the subscribers, who will pay the salary of the Librarian, 
 the rent of the Rooms, and the cost of Newspapers and Periodicals. 
 
 2. The Committee will apply to the Reformation Society of London 
 for the books they require for the original stock of the Library, and 
 also, from time to time, for new books, free of charge. 
 
 3. All persons residing within three miles of the Library to be 
 entitled to be members, without payment, on their presenting a card, 
 filled up and signed by any respectable householder of the district ; blank 
 cards to be furnished by the Secretary or Church Warden. 
 
 4. The Library books and furniture, to be vested in the names of 
 three Trustees, to consist of the Mayor or Magistrate, and such two 
 others as may be chosen. 
 
 5. Every member to be entitled to not more than one volume at a 
 time, and to have a right to frequent the Reading Room and Library 
 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., subject to the Bye-Laws. of 
 the Library. Dictionaries and Books of Reference are not to be lent 
 out, but read in the Library and Reading Rooms. 
 
 6. Although the books are to be supplied gratis by the Refor- 
 mation Society, it is distinctly understood that that Society is not to 
 exercise any control over the Library or the Committee of Management. 
 
 d 
 
 s 
 
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 45 
 
 The only condition which the Society makes, is, that books of fiction 
 shall not be introduced into the Library. To do that, would have the 
 effect of defeating the object of inducing the people to avail themselves 
 of the benefits of sound Literature, fitted to form and exalt the 
 character. 
 
 To keep up the interest of the Libraries in their respective localities, 
 it will be necessary to furnish them with a constant supply of new 
 books. To supply the new books as they issue from the press, we 
 propose to establish a great Central Library or Depot in London, from 
 r hich we shall lend to the Provincial Libraries such books as they may 
 •equire, free of cost. The Depot will consist of nothing but new books, 
 of which from two hundred to five hundred copies of each book will be 
 kept constantly in stock or in circulation. Such, then, is our scheme 
 for establishing one hundred Libraries as a beginning, and of supplying 
 them with the best New Literature. 
 
 To ensure the success of our Library scheme, we think it essential 
 that the carrying it out should be placed in the hands of a private 
 association, who will be responsible to the Government and the Public, 
 in preference to its being undertaken directly by the Government. Now, 
 as our Society is unconnected with any party either Political or Reli- 
 gious*, it is in a position to do full justice to it ; we trust, therefore, that 
 the proposal now submitted to the consideration of the country, will 
 meet with the cordial support and approval of all parties. 
 
 We are willing to take upon ourselves all the trouble and respon- 
 sibility of conducting this, one of the most important measures for 
 educating the people that was perhaps ever proposed in any country, 
 and as our Annual Reports will place us under the control of public 
 opinion and Parliament, the interests of the public will be carefully 
 guarded. 
 
 We must explain that our object is not merely to encourage reading 
 among the working classes, but also to provide the people with a com- 
 fortable and profitable place of resort, so as to divert them as much as 
 possible from the public-house, which is at present the only place open 
 to our artizans, on whose well-being the interests of the nation so much 
 depend. 
 
 The following extract from the Observer is valuable, as a testimony, 
 from one of our most esteemed journals, that the opinions we have 
 expressed, as to the weakness of Literature, and the necessity for its 
 reformation, are correct. 
 
 " Our author considers that, at this moment Literature is overrun 
 with weeds, and in this he is certainly right — the sorriest trash being 
 now the food of the public appetite for knowledge ; and he advocates, 
 as a remedy for this inundation of unhealthy books, the establishment 
 of a free public library in every parish of the empire. ' With the dif- 
 fusion of books, their quality has gone off, the public taste has been 
 vitiated by trash, and no market is left for anything else.' In illustra- 
 tion of this proposition — and a pregnant illustration it is too — he says, 
 * Would any one believe that in a wealthy and populous place like 
 Brighton, not a single library possesses a copy of Mill's ' Liberty ? ' " — 
 
 Observer. 
 
 
46 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 In conclusion, we have to request that those parties who may 
 desire to have a Free Library established in their localities, will put 
 themselves in communication with our Secretary — so that our hands 
 may be strengthened when we come before the Privy Council for a 
 grant. We shall tell that Council, that, if they will give us the 
 money, we shall save millions, which would otherwise be spent on 
 strikes among workmen, and other evils arising from the want of intelli- 
 gence ; and if we are supported by hundreds of applications for Free 
 Libraries, we shall not be sent empty away. 
 
 Should the Committee of Council prefer to establish Public Libraries 
 themselves, we shall have no objections, neither shall we be disappointed 
 if they employ some other Society to do the work for them ; on the 
 contrary, we should prefer to be released from the undertaking. All 
 we say is this, that if the Committee choose to entrust us with the 
 money, we shall lay it out to the best of our judgment, in the manner 
 we have specified in these pages. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 By J. M. Cayla, of Paris. 
 
 The interest which for some time past has attached itself to religious 
 questions has equalled, if it has not even surpassed, the question of 
 politics. In fact, in all the states of Europe the question of Religion 
 is the one great topic, and it is publicly and anxiously discussed. 
 
 It is not only against Austria and against the King of Naples that 
 Italy has opposed herself, but also against the temporal power of the 
 Pope, — so hostile to the independence of the Peninsula. In France 
 the discussions upon the temporal power, and even upon the spiritual 
 power of the Pope have taken such a form, that the project of consti- 
 tuting a National Church has been seriously proposed. 
 
 It may be truly said that we are arrived at a period of the world 
 when Religion requires modifications and reforms like the time of 
 the sixteenth century; and it is not only in Catholic countries that 
 the necessity of modifying, or rather of regenerating, the old system 
 is felt, for we find it in an equally strong degree among Protestants, 
 and especially amongst our allies in Great Britain. This feeling is 
 now almost universal in England ; and the New Reformation Society 
 has been established under the influence and patronage of parties of 
 the highest position, and with the very best intentions. The treatise of 
 Mr. Alison, of which we give the translation, very plainly indicates 
 the spirit and objects of this Society, and the reasons which have made 
 it almost indispensable. 
 
 Mr. Alison, who is the author of the Philosophy and History of 
 Civilization, one of the most remarkable books, in all respects, of 
 modern times, has extracted from it the principles of the New Refor- 
 
THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 47 
 
 mation — and we hasten to make them known in France — by doing 
 which we render a double service to our Catholic and Protestant fellow 
 countrymen. The new Reformation is neither exclusive or intolerant, 
 as nearly every other Religious Society hitherto formed has been. 
 
 On reading the pages of Mr. Alison's work we have felt almost a 
 Divine inspiration ; and we can imagine that we are at last approaching 
 that happy epoch of toleration and brotherly love, — the glorious and 
 sublime end of modern Civlization. These words of concord and 
 peace, amidst the exciting discussions now going on, have caused us a 
 most heartfelt joy, for they show us plainly that the day of true 
 Christian fraternity is not far distant. 
 
 The treatise on the new Reformation addresses itself to Catholics 
 as well as to Protestants. The writer, after having plainly shown that 
 Religion requires to be regenerated, because it is no longer equal to 
 the Avants and aspirations of the nineteenth century ; after having 
 demonstrated that considering the immense advancement which has 
 taken place during five hundred years in civilization generally, Religion 
 alone ought not to remain in a state of utter immobility. Mr. Alison 
 addresses himself first of all to the Protestant Churches, which is, 
 as he truly informs us, the only portion of the state which has not 
 been reformed since 1559. 
 
 Our author shows that the times in which we live are much more 
 eventful from the importance of our discoveries, and by the rapid 
 strides of our civilization generally, than the sixteenth century, and 
 the brilliant epoch of the Renaissance. He is quite right — 
 Protestantism requires to be reformed, and if Luther and Calvin 
 could come again into the world, they would work ' along with 
 Mr. Alison to make the Reformation perfect. 
 
 The great obstacle which all reformers have hitherto met with has 
 been the impossibility of striking out a plan whieh would command 
 general approval. Mr. Alison has happily triumphed over this obstacle, 
 which was thought insurmountable ; a,nd the reason is, that he has 
 founded his principles on the laws of toleration and love, which are 
 as necessary to enable us to arrive at a peaceful end in religion, as 
 ordinary laws are in civil matters. The writer does not propose to 
 establish a court of justice to protect liberty of discussion ; but he 
 thinks, and he is quite right, that the reform of the Thirty -Nine Articles 
 of the Protestant Church will be sufficient ; and that once accomplished, 
 a visible improvement will take place in public morals and manners. 
 
 The chapter devoted to Roman Catholicism is equally conclusive 
 and remarkable. Some passages in the treatise on Civilization 
 demonstrate the false position which the Roman Catholic Church has 
 placed itself in by its exaggerated pretensions ; and he places the 
 Roman Catholic question in its true light. Governments have learned 
 to live in unity with one another, and what is practicable in politics, 
 ought to be equally so in Religion. 
 
 The spiritual and temporal power of the Pope were established about 
 the same time, and it is tolerably certain that they will fall together. 
 But the question is, in what way can the Roman Catholic Church 
 refoim itself? The answer is, by the assembly of a Council General, 
 
48 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 which would be one of the most important events of the age. Mr. 
 Alison also very properly insists on the priests being allowed to 
 marry ; the book of prayer being translated into modern languages ; 
 the giving up of the confessional, of modern miracles, of the belief in 
 purgatory, &c, &c. 
 
 We will not anticipate the decisions of the forthcoming Council 
 General. Luther committed one great fault in changing in an ar- 
 bitrary way the existing faith, instead of establishing it on certain 
 principles. This great, and much to be regretted error has been the 
 cause of the many controversies and schisms which have so frequently 
 agitated the Protestant Church. By adopting the new Reformation, 
 both Catholics and Protestants will escape the errors, the intolerance, 
 and the priestly exaggerations which now so unhappily exist. 
 
 The writer consecrates his final chapter to the proper interpretation 
 of the Bible. We will not anticipate by analysis, these religious 
 axioms, in which the sublime ideas of the author will be found ex- 
 pressed with as much clearness as precision. Catholics and Protestants 
 will find in them an ample harvest of good doctrine. 
 
 We do not hesitate to assert that the treatise on the new Reformation 
 is a work of the most valuable description; and when the object pro- 
 posed is attained, there will be established in Europe a Christian union 
 under the happy influence of Toleration and Charity — virtues unknown 
 among barbarous nations, and only practised by people really civilized. 
 For too long a time have Protestants and Catholics looked upon each 
 other as condemned to eternal damnation. Happily, the first call for 
 Reformation comes to us from London, and this appeal will be listened to 
 and felt by all sincerely Christian men, who care for progress and truth. 
 
 What is more than probable, is that this step, in doing away with 
 the religious prejudices which have always existed, will have greater in- 
 fluence than any Government measures could have, in bringing France 
 and England together in the bonds of common love. National hatreds 
 and rivalry will soon be effaced and will disappear; and we doubt not 
 that the concessions which have been already made in political matters, 
 will serve as a lesson to be learned and adopted by Catholic priests and 
 English clergymen. Treaties of Commerce and of friendship have been 
 concluded. The flags of the two nations, so long rivals, have floated 
 together, uniting their colours like the colours in a rainbow. 
 
 And truly, if the two Churches will agree to the reforms Mr. Alison 
 points out so wisely, it will be one of the strongest pledges for the 
 peace of the world. For there is little doubt, that the chief obstacle 
 which has hitherto existed to that great end, has been the difference of 
 religion, and the intolerance and bad feeling it has engendered. 
 
 The Alliance of France and England, those two heads of civilization 
 — those two great centres of progress, will for ever be indissoluble, 
 when the two nations shall have adopted one single reformed faith. 
 This, indeed, is a great event to work for, and it would formerly have 
 appeared impossible ; but in these days, events march rapidly, and 
 enormous changes are at hand. Blind faith in the Church doctrines 
 has had its day, and now human reason will surely advance and re- 
 conquer its rights. 
 
THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 49 
 
 The initiative of this movement comes from Protestant England, 
 which demands a Reformation ; and it is now plain that Catholicism 
 will take the same determination. The first step indeed is now being 
 taken, and ere long the temporal power of the Pope, if not his spiritual 
 power, will be at an end — a consummation most devoutly to be wished. 
 
 Christ has said, "Peace and goodwill among men" We say, in con- 
 clusion, to all Catholics and Protestants, Christianity ought no longer 
 to be what was sufficient for the middle ages; it must no longer be left 
 in the mire of the past, but it must be made to 'enter in its purity into 
 the souls of all. Protestantism is imperfect, and Catholicism has its 
 great defects. Let each take his part to enlighten and improve the 
 people — to make them really better, first of all by the spirit of tolera- 
 tion, and then by new precepts combined with practice. 
 
 The new Reformation proposed by Mr. Alison, and the Society to 
 which he belongs, seem to be able to carry out this great object, — and 
 for that reason, we now lay before the people of France his most admi- 
 rable work. 
 
 J. M. CAYLA, 
 Author of " The Pope and the Emperor." 
 
 Paris, 10th February, 1861. 
 
 The important announcement now made by M. Cayla, that France is 
 preparing to call a General Council of the Church, with a view to the 
 establishment of a National Church, independent of Rome, is news of 
 no ordinary character, for we may now look forward with confidence to 
 a reformation of the Catholic Church all over Europe. When we 
 remember the position of France, with regard to the Press, we can 
 understand why the French public should have taken up the idea of a 
 religious reformation with such avidity. France possesses no intelligible 
 Articles of Religion, consequently Public Opinion and a Free Press 
 were apt to become a Babel of tongues. The Emperor and his Ministers, 
 ever anxious to give the people Liberty of discussion, doubtless 
 desire a Code of Articles which may serve as a point around which 
 discussion may cluster. The object of a definite code of opinions is not, 
 of course, to dictate to the people what they are to believe and receive, 
 but merely as an authorised standard around which their discussions 
 may turn, for in legalising Articles of Religion, the right of private 
 judgment will be recognised by these Articles. Such being the nature 
 of the proposal which we have been the humble instruments of bringing 
 under the notice of the French public, we are not surprised that our 
 allies, who have been so long deprived of the privileges of a Free Press, 
 should have welcomed it in the way they have done. 
 
 France cannot be free until she has Religious as well as Civil Liberty, 
 and those who now so ably rule over the destinies of that great country 
 know full well that it will be much easier to effect the object desired by 
 carrying on a Religious as well as a Political Reformation, than if they 
 were to confine their efforts to a Political Reformation, for to leave 
 Religion unreformed is to leave behind them an element of discord 
 which would sooner or later overturn any possible Civil Reformation 
 that could be devised. 
 
50 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 It is only deceiving ourselves to imagine that the Pope can be perma- 
 nently dethroned as a King in Italy unless he is dethroned as a Universal 
 Priest all over the world, for the Spiritual Kingdom will do battle for 
 the Temporal Kingdom so long as it remains. The public spirit and 
 wisdom of the Emperor is equal to the exigencies of the times over 
 which he has been called to preside, for the day that Napoleon gave a 
 Free Press to France the knell of Catholic usurpation was virtually 
 rang. Nothing can now save the Pope, but half measures on the part 
 of his opponents, and if the liberal party are so blind as to attempt to 
 carry on the Political Reformation without the aid which a Spiritual 
 Reformation will give, they will not only deserve to lose the day, but 
 will assuredly lose it. We are glad to see that our own press is 
 beginning to read the signs of the times in a better spirit than hereto- 
 fore, of which the following article from the Times, is an example : — 
 
 "We have no objection to be blamed, we should feel the greatest 
 disgust at being praised, by such orators. (The ultramontane party in 
 the French Parliament). Their taunts are as much without point as 
 their menaces are without strength and their counsels without wisdom. 
 We cannot wonder that those who counsel France to link her destiny 
 with an exploded Theocracy, to ally herself with all that is retrograde 
 and feeble among the Monarchies of Europe, should advise her to keep 
 aloof from the alliance of such a country as England. We cannot 
 wonder that those who are never weary of promulgating a policy of 
 Selfishness and Jealousy, should select England — which has no obsolete 
 party interest to serve, and no superannuated hatreds to gratify — as 
 the mark of their rage and pointless denunciations. They, the Tory 
 party, are worthy of their cause, and deserve to live under a Pope and 
 a King of Naples, rather than under the existing government of France. 
 The Emperor has no reason to regret that his opponents have shown 
 themselves in their true colours. He has proved to the world that his 
 policy can stand the test of the most rancorous public attack, and 
 come out all the brighter from the ordeal. He has shown that he has 
 no occasion to silence men who have only to speak freely to call down 
 upon themselves the reprobation of the wise and good of all nations, 
 and he has probably done much to reconcile France to his domination 
 by giving her a convincing proof of the quality of the men from 
 whose hands he has snatched her." — Times, 14th March, 186L 
 
 The following confirmation of the opinions so feelingly expressed by 
 the Times, is from the Presse: — 
 
 "The English press has shown surprise at seeing the policy of 
 the Government attacked with sueh violence and bitterness by those 
 very men whom the Prefects had pointed out with so much solicitude 
 to the electors. The first use which the old parties have made of the 
 Liberty of the Press now restored to them is to attack liberty, and to 
 preach the restoration of principles which admit neither the freedom of 
 discussion nor of thought. The fact is, the Papal tory party of 
 Franee are always the same ; they neither advance nor reeoil ; they learn 
 nothing and forget nothing. It is of no use to think of enlightening 
 them, of reasoning with or of changing them. It is only time that can 
 act on them, by causing their disappearance. England has taken more 
 
THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE. 51 
 
 than a century to rid herself of the partisans of the Stuarts ; she still has 
 her incorrigible Irish, who yield in nothing for violence and unreason- 
 ableness to the French Legitimists and Ultramontanes. What is certain 
 and tranquilizing is, that neither the one nor the other represents the 
 majority of the two nations." — Presse. 
 
 Some say that the Catholic Church will be the first to reform, others 
 that the Protestant Church will be first ; but we say that the Refor- 
 mation will in all probability go on simultaneously in both Churches, 
 for it is impossible to conceive that the one Church can be reformed 
 without producing a reformation of the other. As well suppose that a 
 weight can be put into one scale without effecting the other scale. 
 
 We are entirely opposed to the Republican form of Government 
 under any possible circumstances. Republics did not answer in Ancient 
 times. In the Middle Ages they were a failure ; and now, in Modern 
 times, we have probably seen the last of them, in witnessing the down- 
 fall of the great American Republic. The evil of a Republic is, that 
 it creates ambition, envy, and jealousy, for every one expects to be 
 President some day ; whereas, with a Hereditary King, that office is 
 placed beyond the reach of all. This difference between the two sys- 
 tems is sufficient of itself to account for the success of the one form of 
 Government, and the failure of the other. This opinion is fully sup- 
 ported by the experience of the great revolutionary years of 1848 and 
 1860. In 1848, a Republic was tried in France and Italy, and both 
 attempts proved utter failures. In 1860, a Kingdom for all Italy was 
 tried, and has entirely succeeded. 
 
 The object is, of course, not one form of Government more than 
 another, but the Liberty of the People and the Peace of Europe ; and 
 we trust the experience of the last twelve years has shown to a demon- 
 stration the vast superiority of a Constitutional Regal Government over 
 any other form of Government whatever. We are satisfied, that if 
 Garibaldi and his friends adopt the Republican policy this year, they 
 will run the risk of losing all they gained last year ; whereas, if they 
 take the opposite course, and tell us plainly and frankly what they are 
 going to do, so that England may be united as one man in their favour, 
 that their most sanguine wishes and expectations will be realised. 
 The issue of the conflict will depend very much on the course 
 England takes, for if this country was to be divided in opinion, and 
 thus be forced to remain neutral, the liberal interest would be deprived 
 of the aid of one of the Great Powers, and, without that aid, France 
 and Italy will scarcely be able to contend successfully with their 
 opponents. In these circumstances, it is of vital importance that the 
 Liberals should be united in opinion as to the form of Government 
 which is henceforth to form the policy of Europe. 
 
 With the exception of the Reformation movement all things betoken 
 war, but let that movement spread itself over all Europe, and the causes 
 of strife and war will be rooted out when universal war will be turned 
 into universal peace. 
 
52 THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 
 
 " There is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed." 
 
 It has been said, that our movement is similar to the celebrated 
 " Essays and Reviews" — -but, so far as we can understand that volume, 
 we differ materially from it. On the doctrines of Free Will, Original 
 Sin, and the Atonement, we seem to be as one, but on Conversion and 
 Inspiration we apparently differ. The Essayists do not put forward 
 their views as a complete system of theology; it, therefore, appears to 
 us to be premature to judge of their scheme of reform until they have 
 completed it — which they will probably do so soon as they feel them- 
 at liberty to speak without reserve. As the Essays and Reviews disap- 
 prove of Revivalism and Puritanism, we do not see how they can con- 
 sistently countenance Spiritualism — -for, as already explained, Revi- 
 valism and Spiritualism are only two phases of Naturalism. In these 
 circumstances, we must wait for a new issue of Essays and Reviews 
 before we can offer any opinion beyond this, that they are essentially 
 different from our Work. 
 
 We understand that Messrs. Parker and Son, the original publishers 
 of the " Essays and Reviews" have refused to go on with the publi- 
 cation in consequence of the interference of the Bishops and other 
 members of the Convocation. This incident, which may be considered 
 a species of persecution, shows the state of bondage in which the book 
 press is, and we hope our mentioning the circumstance will be approved 
 of, for publicity is the only way of achieving the liberty of the press. 
 With regard to ourselves, we beg to say that if any of the Clergy have 
 objections to make to our Essays, that they will answer them. If they 
 have a good case it will bear the light, and if not, they will but consult 
 their own reputation by remaining silent, and allowing us to proceed in 
 peace with our work. 
 
 The trumpet of Reformation shall sound seven times ; and if the 
 opponents of reform and improvement are so much disconcerted by 
 the first blast, what may we not expect when the trumpets which are 
 yet to sound shall be heard. We are but at the beginning, of the end ; 
 and if our opponents were wise they would take some better mode of 
 effecting their purpose than by tampering with booksellers. Let such 
 look to their flocks, for there they will find that religion only exists in 
 name, and if they can account for this deplorable result, except in the 
 want of a Reformation, we shall be greatly obliged to them to say so, 
 for nothing but the necessities of the case would have induced us to 
 take the trouble of reforming the Church. 
 
 An incident has just occurred in connection with the present move- 
 ment, which is so characteristic of a section of the Protestant Church, 
 
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 53 
 
 that we hope we may be allowed to mention it. One of these Tracts 
 was handed to two clergymen, with a respectful request that they would 
 read it over, and give us the benefit of their opinions. After two days, 
 the Tract was returned to us, with a polite message to say, that it was 
 not such as they could read. We have heard of this phase of intole- 
 rance among the Jews, and even among the Catholics, but we did not 
 expect to find it among Protestants, more especially among Clergymen 
 of the Church of England. The self-righteousness of the unbelieving 
 Pharisees of old was nothing to this; for they listened to Christ, and 
 put questions to him; but behold, the Pharisees of modern times will 
 neither listen nor read. To such men the Gospel is not sent; for they 
 that be whole need no physician. 
 
 If we should be told that it is Belief and not knowledge that is 
 wanting, we answer that Belief is measured by knowledge. Where 
 there is little knowledge there is little true belief; but where know- 
 ledge abounds true belief abounds. Such being the origin of true 
 belief, it follows that the enlightenment of the world is all that is 
 wanting to produce good and reduce evil. 
 
 Again, if we are told that we are destroying Fear, and make too 
 much of love, we answer, that we read that love is destined to cast out 
 fear. Fear and love are opposite feelings ; and although fear may be 
 good and necessary in an early stage of Civilization, it does not follow 
 that man is always to be under that bondage. Let it not, however, be 
 said that we cast away fear, for although we deny the existence of 
 fire in hell, and the personality of Satan, we make man responsible 
 for all his opinions, which the Church does not, — the only difference 
 between the unreformed faith and ours, being in the things to be feared. 
 In the Reformed Church, fear will not interfere with love, whereas, 
 with our present faith fear and love run counter to each other, and 
 bring the soul into bondage. 
 
 There is only one more objection which we must meet. We are told 
 that we give too much to man, and too little to God — that in building 
 up Human Nature we dethrone God. This is a grave charge but is 
 it true. What are facts but truth, and the evidence of facts has 
 compelled us to make the division we have made, for we have no choice 
 in the matter. To assign to God any of the works of erring mortals, 
 is not only to involve God in the sins of man, but to produce super- 
 stition, for what is superstition but belief in that which is opposed to 
 reason and evidence. We may rely upon it that instead of honoring 
 God by assigning the works of man to Him, we must dishonor Him ; 
 and if our readers will only look into this important matter in the 
 light of their own experience, they will think as we think. 
 
 What is principle, what is conscience, what is the feeling of responsi- 
 bility, yea, what is truth ? Are not all these the spirit of God ? and 
 do not these pages bring that voice within the hearing of all ? Those 
 who are animated and governed by the spirit of truth become the 
 temples of the living God, which cannot be said of those who ignore 
 that principle. Let it not be said that we rob God that we may enrich 
 man, for in exalting man we exalt our Maker. 
 
 Who is able to discover God to perfection, but he who is changed 
 into His image. Do not say look here or look there, for behold God is 
 
54 THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 
 
 with you. A time shall come, and it may not be far off, when all shall 
 know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, and it is by the progress 
 of truth and its operation on the mind, that this sublime end of Religion 
 and Civilization is to be reached. Let it not be said that by following 
 the course of truth we keep God at a distance, which is so often said of 
 those who attempt to reform Religion, for on the contrary, we bring 
 God near, even within the experience of all who are willing to submit 
 themselves to the rule and guidance of truth. 
 
 Again, if we are told that we make man better than he really is, we 
 say, look at the chapters we have written on Calvinism and Revivalism, 
 and say if we could have written these if we thought man so very good. 
 Is it not because we think man is in need of a Reformation, that we 
 propose one ? 
 
 We have said that the time of universal enlightenment is at hand, 
 when darkness, error, and evil, will for the most part cease. Let us 
 therefore wait with patience and hope, for we greatly mistake the signs 
 of the times in which our lot is cast, if the glory of our day falls short of 
 all we have said. What truth is more in accordance with scripture and 
 experience than this — that man is a fellow-worker with his Maker for 
 the production of good and reduction of evil in the world, and now 
 that that great and glorious truth is fairly recognised, and is about to be 
 carried out in practice, we cannot doubt that the Kingdom of Darkness 
 will now actually come to an end. Darkness, that mystery of iniquity, 
 the true Anti-Christ, the god of this world, which ruleth over the 
 nations, is about to fall ; let us therefore look on with wonder and great 
 joy, for great will be the fall thereof. 
 
 The reformation of opinions set forth in these Essays may be com- 
 pared to a house which has been swept and newly furnished. The 
 sweeping is the expulsion of the old opinions, and the refurnishing is 
 the new opinions. In refurnishing, we clear out the accumulation of 
 old furnishings, collected at different times and under different circum- 
 stances, none of which are in keeping; some are patched, some worn 
 out, and none fit the places in which they stand, or answer the purposes 
 they were intended to serve. Not so the new furniture, which is all of 
 a piece. The old furniture is heavy, bulky, and always in the way; 
 but the new is light, simple, and easily handled. The old furniture 
 was made for ostentation rather than use, but the new is unpretending 
 and useful. 
 
 The only direction which a Reformation in harmony with the Gospel 
 can take is that of Reason, for to go in the opposite direction is to 
 go to naturalism. In reforming the Jewish religion Christ introduced 
 Reason, and in now returning to pure Christianity, Reason is once 
 more introduced. It is the presence of Truth and Reason in religion 
 which constitutes the offence of the Gospel ; but that offence will cease 
 so soon as the Reformation is carried, for it is only at first that the mind 
 takes offence when it is called on to reform its opinions. 
 
 In the compilation of this work we have not forgotten the religious 
 wants of the people, both rich and poor, neither have we forgotten the 
 wants of those who are to come after us. The Reformation of Cranmer 
 and Latimer has continued to be the Religion of the Land for three 
 hundred years ; and it may be that the Reformed Religion will continue 
 
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 55 
 
 the religion of future generations for a similar period, and keeping 
 this in view we have endeavoured to make the Reformation as complete 
 and comprehensive as it was in our power to make it. Bit and bit 
 reforms are not possible in religious movements, as they are in matters 
 of less importance ; for unless we can place Religion on a satisfactory 
 footing once for all, it would be better not to touch it, for that would 
 only unsettle everything without settling anything. 
 
 Some will be apt to reply that if the Reformed Religion is true, it will 
 last for ever, and why then speak of limiting its duration ? To this 
 we reply that although we have made our system as good and true as it 
 was in our power to make it, we do not say that it is perfect, on the 
 contrary, we think that after the lapse of time, it will require retouching. 
 Truth is a word of comparison. We have good, better, best ; we have 
 likewise true, truer, truest. Finality belongs not to man, for if he is a 
 progressive being, his knowledge of truth must always be susceptible 
 of encrease. 
 
 The majority of the Clergy are anxious to see the Church thoroughly 
 reformed, of which Lord Ebury's movement for the reformation of the 
 Prayer Book, and the Oxford movement for a revision of the Articles, 
 is the evidence. Our movement embraces whatever we have found 
 good in both movements; and while these conflicts are going on within 
 the Church, we are extending the Reformation to the Laity, as well 
 as to the Clergy. The Clergy see no fruits of all their labors ; for so 
 long as hatred usurps the place of love, there are no fruits, and to 
 conscientious men this is a sad trial ; accordingly, they desire a Re- 
 formation of the Church. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon tells us that a Reformation is impossible, and 
 yet we had a Reformation in the sixteenth century ; and if a Reforma- 
 tion was possible in one century, it is possible in another. That a man 
 professing to be a Minister of the Gospel should delude his congrega- 
 tion in this way is truly deplorable. The obvious meaning of this is — 
 Our Religion is truth, and truth admits of no improvement — we are 
 perfect, and need no reform. If the preacher had said we desire no 
 reformation, we could have understood him ; but when we are told that 
 a Reformation is impossible, what can we say ? Should these lines 
 meet the eye of the reverend gentleman, we trust he will be able to 
 give some explanation of so extraordinary a statement. 
 
 We do not rely either on the press or the pulpit for success, for the 
 powers that be are rarely or ever reformers, but we confidently rely 
 on the Power of Truth, which like a hammer breaketh the rocks in 
 pieces. By means of Tracts we shall bring the truth to bear on the 
 public mind, and by Petitions, we shall act on the Legislature, and in 
 due time we shall gather in a plentiful harvest. 
 
 That the public have few real friends, is a fact we all know and 
 acknowledge ; for all are too apt to seek their own interests rather than 
 the interests of the public. We have more than enough of reformers 
 of that which can do the public no good ; but we have few or 
 no reformers of that which would benefit all classes, both high and 
 low. Instead of being thanked for their work, true Reformers are 
 usually covered with the reproaches of those who ignorantly imagine 
 that their interests are to be injured by reform. We say ignorantly, 
 
56 PROSPECTUS. 
 
 for it cannot be that any real reform can actually injure the interests 
 of any one. On the eve of a great reformation it is right we should 
 mention these things ; for the progress of the present movement de-' 
 pends on the encouragement which the public give to those who 
 interest themselves in its promotion. The Society itself can do little 
 without the countenance and support of the public at large ; for, while 
 the harvest is great, the labourers are, as yet, comparatively few. The 
 liberal mind deviseth liberal things ; and if the public meet this appeal 
 in the spirit in which it is made, we shall all live to see man raised to 
 his true position, as the masterpiece of his Maker's work here below. 
 
 PKOSPECTUS. 
 
 The New Reformation Society. 
 
 The object of this Association is the general enlightenment of all 
 classes on the subject of Politics and Religion. Ignorance being the 
 great cause of the evils existing in the world, the Reformation Society 
 will not cease in its efforts to reduce ignorance and delusion. 
 
 1. All Subscribers to be considered Members of this Society. 
 
 Subscribers of One G-uinea to be Life Members, and of Five 
 Guineas to be Governors. 
 
 2. Members shall enjoy special privileges in the purchase of the 
 
 Society's Publications, of which particulars shall be given. 
 
 3. Provincial Societies will be entirely independent of the Metro- 
 
 politan Society. 
 
 4. The London Society will correspond with the Provincial Societies, 
 
 and render them every assistance in its power. 
 The two great practical objects which are to engage the atten- 
 tion of the Society are the following — 
 
 I. To carry the Church Reform Bill for the Reformation of 
 
 the Thirty -nine Articles through Parliament. 
 
 II. To establish Free Public Libraries in all the towns and cities 
 
 of the kingdom, consisting of the best literature of the day. 
 
 We know of no difficulty in completing our work but the want of 
 funds, and we feel assured that we have only to make this known to 
 call forth the liberal contributions of every friend of civil and religious 
 liberty and progress. 
 
 With a revenue of £5,000 a year for five years, we may almost promise 
 to complete our work. Prevention is ever better "and less expensive 
 than cure. For every thousand pounds spent on " prevention," millions 
 will be saved on " cure," and as the New Reformation movement is 
 entirely preventive, we trust the comparatively small sum we ask will 
 be freely given for so good and so noble a cause. 
 
 Subscriptions may be sent to Alexander Alison, Esq., Chairman 
 of the Committee, 4, Cannon Place, Brighton ; to the Treasurer of the 
 Society, G. Dean, Esq., 27, New Broad Street, City, London ; or paid 
 to the credit of the Society, at the London and Westminster Bank. 
 
 New Reformation Society's Office, 
 
 25, Conduit Street, W. 
 
 20th March, 1861. 
 
THE 
 
 POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS 
 
 I860 & 1861 
 
 EUROPE AND AMERICA. 
 
 It is the business of a Journal to be hopeful, to expect prosperity, 
 and to teach progress." — The Times. 
 
 ESSAY No. 3. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SOLD BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, EARL'S COURT. 
 
 LEICESTER SQUARE. 
 1861. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The grand object of the reformation movement is the reformation 
 of Civilization. Now what is Civilization but the improvement of 
 Nature ? — the one being built on the other. Nature means the absence 
 of legislation ; and Civilization the effect of legislation. It follows 
 therefore that we must look to legislation mainly for the reformation 
 of Civilization. 
 
 Political writers have of late years run into the error of assuming 
 that the evils of Civilization have arisen from over-legislation. They 
 say, let us alone and all will go right ; but that idea has been proved 
 by experience to be a fallacy, for when things are left to take their 
 own course they usually take a bad course. The fact is, the evils of 
 society arise not from the excess of legislation, but from the want of 
 legislation ; and this is amply proved by the passive nature of our own 
 government, which permits evils to grow up faster than their legislative 
 remedies are applied. 
 
 What has caused the Revolutions of 1848, and those of 1860 and 
 1861, which we are to treat of, but the want of legislation? — for if 
 the necessary reforms had been previously carried out, these disastrous 
 events could not have occurred. 
 
 The more population increases, and the greater the area over which 
 Civilization extends itself, the more necessary does legislation become ; 
 we must therefore not content ourselves with such legislation as was 
 sufficient for times in which population was less dense, but go boldly 
 forward to meet the new wants of society in a manner commensurate 
 with their increase. 
 
 A reformation may come with or without a revolution. Where no 
 reformation can be carried a revolution must come, but wherever a state 
 has sufficient vigour to carry a reformation before it is too late, that 
 prevents a revolution. And it is to those countries where there is no 
 revolution, as well as to those where there is, that these pages are 
 addressed. 
 
 London, May 25th, 1861. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 ESSAY No. 1. 
 
 General Preface 
 
 Chap. I. — Address of the Society, and Draft Act of 
 
 Parliament 
 
 II. — The Protestant Churches . 
 III. — The Catholic Churches 
 IV. — The Revised Thirty-Nine Articles 
 
 PAGE. 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 ESSAY No. 2. 
 
 Chap. I. — Politics and the Press . 
 II. — The Thirty-Nine Articles 
 III. — Calvinism ... 
 
 IV. — Revivalism 
 
 V. — Free Libraries 
 VI. — The French Reformation 
 VII. — The English Reformation 
 Prospectus of the Society 
 
 27 
 30 
 35 
 39 
 43 
 46 
 52 
 56 
 
 ESSAY No. 3. 
 
 Chap. I. — The American Revolution 
 
 II. — Low Church and High Church 
 III. — The Ottoman Empire 
 IV. — The Catholic Reformation . 
 V. — The New Reformation . 
 
 61 
 69 
 
 75 
 78 
 82 
 
POLITICAL EE VOLUTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 
 
 The object of the present Essay is to give an account of the various 
 political Revolutions going on in Europe and America, and the means 
 which ought to be taken to bring these movements to a satisfactory 
 conclusion. There is a peace which means the rule of the sword and 
 despotism ; and there is a peace which means Liberty and Goodwill. 
 To sit down and allow things to take their course, is certain to produce 
 the peace of despotism ; but if reformers step in and support the cause 
 of true reform, the issue will be the peace of Liberty ; and it is with 
 the object of producing this result that we venture to come forward 
 with our plans of reform, both in Church and State. 
 
 It has often been said that a pure Democracy would never answer 
 upon so large and complicated a scale as that of America, but the 
 reasons why have never been very clearly stated. The unfortunate 
 issue of the American Republic has fully justified these evil prognosti- 
 cations, but it remains to be shown why it should be so. Our previous 
 essays have demonstrated that without a national code of opinions to 
 define the basis on which public opinion is to act, that full liberty cannot 
 be attained, especially in a nation which has no National Church, and 
 this has been proved beyond doubt in the present deplorable state of 
 anarchy into which the American nation has fallen. 
 
 Truth and Liberty are or ought to be the objects to be sought in any 
 government, and we are prepared to show, and to prove, that without a 
 Regal Government and a National Church these ends cannot be real- 
 ized, and it is solely with the view of effecting these objects that we 
 come forward as the advocates of Royalty, not only in America, but in 
 all other countries. It is quite certain that if Royalty is the best form 
 of government for England and France, it will be the best for America, 
 and we repeat we are prepared to prove that such is beyond all com- 
 parison the best. 
 
 Captain Maury, of New York, in treating of the Science of Weather, 
 tells us that we must treat of the atmosphere as one whole ; and in 
 treating of the Science of Civilization, which it is our object to reform, 
 
2 THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 
 
 we must treat of the race of Man as one whole. Every nation and 
 every individual has reference to every other nation and every other 
 individual, and when in our present Essay we are found to be writing 
 first of America, next of Italy, and then of Turkey, the reader must 
 understand that we do so in order to treat of Man as a whole, and make 
 all nations contribute to the general good of the World. Without 
 further preface, we shall at once address ourselves to the great and 
 difficult question of America and its Government. 
 
 The United States, as such, exists no longer. The Union of thirty- 
 two States, which has existed over eighty years, has abruptly come to 
 an end, and the wonder is, not that so unholy an alliance should have 
 terminated at last, but that it should have gone on so long. From the 
 first it was rightly predicted that the Free States would eventually 
 separate themselves from the Slave States, and although such an unequal 
 union has gone on longer than Truth and Reason foresaw, yet the result 
 has shown that Truth and Justice, in the long run, will and must 
 prevail. 
 
 Union is all very well, but we may pay too much even for a good 
 thing, and that the Free States should have consented so long to be 
 yoked together with the Slave States, only proves that the Americans 
 in professing Liberty were not sincere. Had the American nation been 
 true to their professions of Liberty, they would long ago have told the 
 Slave States that unless they put away slavery they must leave the 
 Union. Although this was the natural result, yet predicted events 
 rarely happen in the way people expect, and the disruption we have 
 just witnessed is a noteable example of the fact. The secession has 
 not originated with the Free States, but with the Slave States, but 
 although the movement has come from the wrong quarter, yet we hail it 
 as one of the greatest events in the march of Civilization and Liberty 
 of which history has any example. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to raise the cry of no slavery, and 
 to pass an Act of Congress declaring Slavery at an end. President 
 Lincoln is about to send an army into the Slave States, and this 
 army must carry the banner of " No Slavery." The opportunity of 
 putting an end to slavery is now offered to every true-hearted American, 
 and we trust the opportunity will not be allowed to pass unimproved. 
 The slaves, which number no less than four millions of souls, have a 
 right to be free, and if the Army of Freemen goes forth as a liberating 
 army, the war will not only be speedily brought to an end, but the black 
 population will be freed. Presuming that such will be the glorious 
 termination of the civil war now going on, let us ask what ought to be 
 the future government of America, for it is obvious that the whole sub- 
 ject must now be reconsidered, and placed on a different basis to that 
 from which it has just fallen. 
 
 Republicism has been tried in America and has signally failed, 
 so that form of Government must be abandoned. A constitutional 
 Government, presided over by a King, is unquestionably the best form 
 of government which has been discovered by man, and there is no 
 reason why America should not adopt that form. The Republic, 
 
THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 63 
 
 instead of producing real liberty, has destroyed liberty. Let the 
 Americans become Royalists, and they will enjoy a degree of liberty 
 which all experience proves to be impossible with a Republic. But 
 not only will a Regal Government be more free, but it will likewise be 
 much less expensive. At present, America consists of thirty -two petty 
 states, each with its President and Parliament, and a host of officials, 
 who consume the earnings of the people, whereas with a Regal Govern- 
 ment, there will be only one President, the King, and one set of officials. 
 Simplicity is the soul of any government, and with one government 
 instead of thirty-two, real unity will be accomplished, and the welfare 
 and progress of the country guaranteed. We do not say that America 
 should copy the Constitution of England, for that has many faults which 
 produce a government much too passive to meet the wants of modern 
 civilization, — no, let America adopt a constitution for themselves free 
 from the faults of the existing Governments of Europe, and they will 
 show themselves worthy of their high destiny, and teach us a lesson 
 which we shall gladly follow. 
 
 It will be found that truth and right always lie between extremes, 
 and keeping this axiom in view, it will be the wisdom of the people 
 of America not to make the future kingdoms too large. The United 
 States would make at least three large kingdoms: — 1st. jNew York 
 and the Free States ; 2nd. Carolina and the Gulf States ; and 3rd. 
 California and the States beyond the Rocky Mountains. But the 
 question will now be asked, in the event of these countries resolving to 
 become independent kingdoms, who are to be their Sovereigns, and 
 how are they to be chosen ? We say, let the Kings be elected by 
 Universal Suffrage, as in Italy, and let the nominees be chosen from 
 the Royal Families of Europe. We are confident that the Governments 
 of Europe would give every encouragement to the carrying out of this 
 scheme, and if the hopes of the New York States should rest on an 
 English Prince for their Sovereign, it is not impossible that England 
 would cede Canada to New York, and thus what she loses in the south 
 she will gain in the north. 
 
 We trust the American people will consider this important matter, 
 not in the light of habit and prejudice, but as to what is best for their 
 own interests, and for the interests of future generations. What is a 
 Constitutional Government such as England, but a mixture of Republi- 
 canism and Royalty — it has all the benefits of a Republic without its 
 evils, and if such is really true, we cannot doubt that America will vote 
 for a Revolution in favor of Royalty. 
 
 We now come to the no less important question of a National Church, 
 for without such, America cannot possess a Code of Articles, and with- 
 out articles liberty of thought and discussion has nothing to protect it 
 from intolerance. There are two kinds of Liberty — 1st. the liberty of 
 nature, which is not liberty rightly so called, for it is only liberty to 
 oppress our neighbours. 2nd. The liberty of civilization, which means 
 submission to the rules of truth, justice, and toleration. At present, 
 America, where there is no National Church and no Code of Articles, 
 may be said to have the liberty of nature, but not that liberty which 
 belongs to a high state of civilization. And it is to exchange the latter 
 
64 THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 
 
 for the former that we say America should at once call a general 
 assembly of the Clergy and Laity with the object of constituting a 
 National Church. 
 
 The question now arises whether the proposed National Church 
 should be Episcopal, governed by Bishops, or Presbyterian, governed 
 by Clergymen. When we look to the New Testament we find that 
 both forms of Church Government are equally scriptural, we are there- 
 fore free to choose either. Now as a Presbytery in the Church is 
 analogous to a republic in the State, and Episcopacy is analogous to 
 Royalty, it follows that the American Church ought to be episcopal if 
 the State Government is to be Regal ; and for these reasons, we say 
 the New Church ought to be episcopal. Its constitution would pro- 
 bably be to the following effect : — 
 
 1st. — The Crown to be head of the Church, with right to call 
 Councils, and take the initiative in all changes of the Church's con- 
 stitution. 
 
 2nd. — The Bishops and other Dignitaries of the Church to be chosen 
 by the Crown. The Parochial Clergy and Lay Deacons by the People. 
 
 3rd. — The temporalities of the Church to be vested in the Houses of 
 Parliament, and the spiritual interests in the General Assembly of the 
 Church. 
 
 4th. — The General Assembly to be called at least once every three 
 years by Royal Writ, and to be dissolved by the same. 
 
 5th. — Two clergymen and twelve deacons to be appointed to each 
 parish. The clergy to have charge of the spiritual interests, and the 
 leacons of the temporal interests, including Education, and the care of 
 the poor and sick. 
 
 6th.— Books of Articles, Services, and Canons, to be prepared, and 
 sanctioned by the Crown and Parliament. 
 
 7th. — No acts of the Crown anent the affairs of the Church to have 
 the effect of law, unless they are ratified by both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 Supposing this Act to be passed, let us see how it would work. 
 Clergymen of all denominations of Christians would be entitled to 
 become Clergymen of the National Church on signing the Books of 
 Articles, Services, and Canons, when they would be appointed to 
 various parishes. The Clergy so appointed might either receive their 
 stipends from the Government, or depend on voluntary contributions as 
 at present, as might be thought best. 
 
 Of course, those Clergymen who prefer to remain as they are will be 
 allowed to do so. They will then be Dissenters, who will enjoy all 
 the rights and privileges they now possess, and be recognized as such 
 by Acts of the Legislature. Those Clergymen who decline entering 
 the National Church would thus have no cause to regret its establish- 
 ment, — for if they do not join it, that will be their own fault. 
 
 Such then is the outline of a scheme of Church and State Reform, 
 which will be found to be based on principles which are both liberal 
 and conservative. 
 
 America, like England, has not made a single reform in any of her 
 numerous creeds — all are left to go from bad to worse, never from evil to 
 
THE AMEKICAN REFORMATION. 65 
 
 good. No reformers have arisen throughout the length and breadth of 
 the vast continent of America, to lead her sons to victory over her pre- 
 judices and errors, which abound in her churches and sects. The 
 natural consequences of this state of immobility are soon told. Selfish- 
 ness, intolerance, and hypocrisy, are the ruling passions. True Re- 
 ligion is practically lost, and over its ruins are built Revivalism, 
 Calvinism, and Spiritualism. In England we plead guilty to the same 
 sins, and lest our American readers may think us too severe, we shall 
 proceed to prove all we have said from one of the best of their own 
 writers — the talented author of "Representative Men" and the 
 " Conduct of Life." 
 
 Mr. Emerson says : — " We live in a transition period, when the old 
 faiths which made nations have spent their force. I do not find the 
 religion of men at this moment very creditable to them, but either 
 childish and insignificant, or unmanly and effeminating. The fatal 
 trait is the divorce between religion and morality. Here are know- 
 nothing religions, or churches that proscribe intellect; scortatory reli- 
 gions; slave-holding and slave-trading religions. The lover of the old 
 religion complains that our contemporaries, scholars as well as mer- 
 chants, succumb to a great despair — have corrupted into a timorous 
 conservatism, and believe in nothing. In our large cities, the popula- 
 tion is godless, materialized, — no bond, no fellow-feeling, no enthusiasm. 
 These are not men, but hungers, thirsts, fevers, and appetites walking. 
 How do people manage to live on — so aimless are they ? 
 
 A silent revolution has loosed the tension of the old religious sects, 
 and, in place of the gravity and permanence of those societies of opinion, 
 they run into freak and extravagance. In creeds never was such levity; 
 witness the heathenisms of Christianity, — the Revivals, — the Mormons, 
 — the squalor of Mesmerism, — the deliration of Rappings. 
 
 All the great ages have been ages of Belief. When great national 
 movements began, when arts appeared, when heroes existed, when 
 poems were made, the human soul was in earnest, and had fixed its 
 thoughts on spiritual verities. 
 
 The religion which is to guide and fulfil the present and coming ages, 
 whatever else it be, must be intellectual. Let us have nothing now 
 which is not its own evidence. There is surely enough for the heart 
 and imagination in Religion itself. Let us not be pestered with asser- 
 tions and half-truths, with emotions and nonsense. 
 
 There will be a New Church founded — a babe in a manger again, the 
 algebra and mathematics of ethical law, the church of men to come ; it 
 will have heaven and earth for its beams and rafters ; science for its 
 symbol and illustration ; and it will gather beauty, music, picture, poetry. 
 
 Our author speaks of incorporating Science with Religion, but it 
 will be remembered that the science which he intends is a very different 
 thing from the science now in vogue, a sentiment which has our entire 
 concurrence. He says : " Our Books approach very slowly the things 
 we most wish to know. What a parade we make of our science, and 
 how far off is it from its proper objects. 
 
 The motive of science is the extension of man, on all sides, into 
 Nature till his hands shall touch the stars, his eyes see through the 
 
66 THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 
 
 earth, his ears understand the language of beast and bird, and the sense 
 of the wind ; and through his sympathy heaven and earth shall talk 
 with him. But that is not our science. These geologies, chemistries, 
 astronomies seem to make wise, but they leave us where they find us. 
 The invention is of use to the inventor, of questionable help to any 
 other. The formulas of science are like the papers in your pocket-book, 
 of no value to any but the owner. Science in England, and America, 
 is jealous of theory, hates the name of love and moral purpose. 
 There's a revenge for this inhumanity, for what manner of man does 
 it produce ? 
 
 All our science lacks a human side. The tenant is more than the 
 house. Bugs, and stamens, and spores, on which we lavish so many 
 years, are not finalities. The human heart concerns us more than the 
 poring into microscopes, and is larger than can be measured by the 
 pompous figures of the astronomer. In confirmation of all this, we 
 give a beautiful passage from the "Westminster Review" of October. 
 
 "Religion, to regain the world, must not only be not contrary to 
 Science, but it must be in entire and close harmony with science. Not 
 with one science only, but with all. Not only must it have a place 
 beside philosophy, morals, and politics ; but it must guide and elevate 
 all these. Religion, to have strength, must have a Doctrine ; and a 
 doctrine, to endure now, must embody the outgrowth of human thought. 
 If it be not distinctly proved therefrom, it must at least flow from and 
 sum up the whole. Its intellectual basis must be broad and unimpeach- 
 able. The highest efforts of the brain must guide the best promptings 
 of the heart." 
 
 We agree with Mr. Emerson, that science as it now exists is robbed 
 of its counterpart, for its facts are never traced up to their divine 
 origin. Our scientific men busy themselves with collecting facts, never 
 of making use of the facts already collected. Now as all new knowledge 
 of truth comes from thinking, and not from collecting, science must take 
 a new and more extended phase before it can touch the heart ; in short, 
 it must become theological before it can be generally useful to man. 
 
 Lest it is said that, by quoting Emerson and the Westminster, we 
 are playing into the hands of the opponents of Scripture, we annex 
 the opinions of an eminent professor of divinity of the Free Church, 
 who is quite as liberal as any class of men we know. Dr. McCosh 
 says : "We have often mourned over the attempts made to set the word 
 against the works of God, and thereby excite, propagate, and perpetuate 
 jealousies, fitted to separate parties that ought to live in closest union. 
 In particular, we have always regretted that endeavours should have 
 been made to depreciate Nature with the view of exalting Revelation ; 
 it has always appeared to us to be nothing else than the degrading of 
 God's works." — Method of the Divine Government. 
 
 We have next a description of Human Nature, which will help the 
 reader to discover himself. 
 
 The fossil strata show us that Nature began with rudimental forms ; 
 and rose to the more complex, as fast as the earth was fit for their 
 dwelling-place. Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. 
 We call these millions men j but they are not yet men. Half-engaged 
 
THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 67 
 
 in the soil, pawing to get free, man needs all the music that can be 
 brought to disengage him. If Love with tears and joy ; want with his 
 scourge ; war with his cannonade ; Christianity with its charity ; trade 
 with its money ; art with its portfolios ; science with her telegraphs, 
 can set his dull nerves throbbing, and by loud taps on the tough chry- 
 salis, break its walls, and let the new creature emerge erect and free, 
 the age of the brain and the heart will come in. Man is to convert all 
 impediments into instruments, all enemies into power. And if one may 
 read the future of the race hinted in the organic effort of Nature 
 to mount and meliorate, we shall dare affirm that there is nothing he 
 will not overcome and convert, until at last culture shall absorb the 
 chaos and gehenna. He will convert the furies into muses, and the 
 hells into benefit. 
 
 We conclude with a few excellent hints on the conduct of life: — 
 
 " The basis of good manners is Self-reliance. Necessity is the 
 law of all who are not self-possessed. Those who are not self-possessed 
 obtrude, and pain us, they appear to feel that they belong to a Pariah 
 caste, they fear to offend, they bend and apologize. 
 
 Manners require time, as nothing is more vulgar than haste. Friend- 
 ship should be surrounded with ceremonies and respects, and not crushed 
 into corners. Friendship requires more time than poor busy men can 
 usually command. A little Integrity is better than any Career" 
 
 Having indicated the causes of the present troubles in America, and 
 the remedy for them, we shall conclude with some remarks on the war. 
 
 The French Revolution was bad enough, but unless something ade- 
 quate to the exigencies of the present crisis be adopted, the evils in 
 store for America may even exceed those of France in 1 789. A nation, 
 with a population of thirty millions, and a country the size of all 
 Europe, in a state of anarchy and civil war, is a fearful thing to con- 
 template, and when we remember the corruptions which have grown up 
 with its defective Constitution, which will add fuel to the fire which is 
 devouring the land, it becomes us to throw our prejudices to the moles 
 and the bats, and sit down like men and see what can be done to stop 
 the evil. Half measures will do no good, for nothing less than a Revo- 
 lntion will be powerful enough to furnish a remedy for so great an evil. 
 
 Our advice is this. Let the Congress meet and appoint a Dictator, 
 and then dissolve. Let them appoint General Scott, or some other 
 military man of judgement and experience, in whom they have confi- 
 dence to the responsible office, and leave it to the Dictator to put 
 down the rebellion and give a new Constitution to his country. There 
 is no other resource left, if life and property are to be saved ; and in 
 adopting the alternative of a Dictatorship in the present emergency, 
 the American people will follow an example which was invariably 
 followed by success both in ancient and modern times. 
 
 These are not times to be trifled with, when the very existence of 
 society and civilization is at stake. Only conceive the state of affairs 
 if Washington and New York were in the hands of the rebels, when 
 slavery and despotism would be introduced into every state of the 
 Union, for that may be the issue if Congress continues to govern the 
 country in times like these. A Republic may get on very well in or- 
 
68 THE AMERICAN REFORMATION. 
 
 dinary times with no civil war to introduce anarchy and confusion into 
 its councils ; but when war is at the door, a republic is practically 
 inoperative, as has been so often proved in France. We say, let Con- 
 gress be immediately dissolved, and let a Dictator take its place who 
 will proceed to put down the rebellion in the south, and divide the 
 Union into three Kingdoms, in the manner we have ventured to sug- 
 gest, or in any other way that may be thought best for the interests of 
 all parties. 
 
 Let a Reformation Society be immediately established in New York, 
 with ramifications throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
 No time is to be lost ; for since the world began, never did such an 
 opportunity for good present itself, — and we must be careful to take 
 the tide at its flow if we wish to gain the prize. We recommend our 
 American readers to consult Mr. Alison's work on Civilization, where 
 full details on every subject connected with politics and religion are to 
 be found; they may likewise peruse our Essays, Nos. 1 and 2, which 
 contain a code of Articles suitable for the proposed National Church of 
 America. 
 
 Whatever happens, one thing is certain, that American Slavery will 
 come to an end. Compromises of all kinds will be tried, but all will 
 fall to the ground which are not based on emancipation. It would 
 occupy too much space to explain how this should be so, but we have 
 thought of every alternative, and have always come to the same 
 result. If the Southern States wish to anticipate the compulsory 
 emancioation of the slaves by a voluntary act, either with or without 
 compensation, there is nothing to prevent their doing so. Let each of 
 the Southern States forthwith liberate their slaves, and compensate the 
 Slave owners by assignats, to be issued by the respective State Govern- 
 ments. These assignats to bear interest, and be negociable in the 
 market like other state bonds. If the Southern States promptly, and 
 in good faith, act upon this suggestion, it will remove the great barrier 
 to peace, and we sincerely trust they will adopt it. 
 
 In addressing our friends in America in their present trials and 
 afflictions, we hope our sympathies will be all the more prized when 
 they are accompanied with suggestions which may open the way for 
 a great deliverance. Authors are much too reserved in giving forth 
 their plans for improving the world. From the want of moral courage 
 they are apt to withhold their best thoughts, and thus the world is left 
 to grope its way in the dark. It is our wish to break through this 
 reserve, and in now laying our plans frankly before the public, we shall 
 put humanity to the test as to its capacity for a higher state of civiliza- 
 tion than it has yet realized. It is because we think the world capable 
 of all we have desired, that we have come before it in the garb of 
 reformers. And we know that we shall not be disappointed, — for it is 
 not the want of practice, so much as the want of precept, that the 
 world instead of advancing is going backwards. It is an old proverb, 
 that "When things come to the worst they begin to mend;" and it is 
 to give consistency to the tendency to re-action and reformation which 
 isnow so visible throughout Europe and America, that we take our 
 stand in the cause of a General Reformation. 
 
LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 69 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 
 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 If we may venture to give a definition of the terms " Low Church " 
 and " High Church " we should say that the one term describes the 
 party who take a low opinion of man's capacity ; and the other, those 
 who take a higher opinion of that capacity. Without waiting to 
 discuss definitions, which we have a particular dislike to do, we shall 
 at once describe the two parties, beginning with the Low Church. 
 We propose to give a series of extracts from the preaching of Mr. 
 Spurgeon, who is a leader of the Calvinists, and may be taken as a 
 good representative of the Low Church party. The Discourse we are 
 now to revise will be found in No. 212 of the New Park Street Pulpit, 
 where the preacher enters into all the fundamental doctrines. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon begins with giving us his opinions of God. He next 
 descends to man, whom he places almost on a level with the lower 
 animals. He then proves that man is incapable of reformation ; and 
 lastly, that all reformation must come in a miraculous manner, and not 
 in a natural way, as predicted by Bishop Butler in his Analogy of 
 Nature and Revelation. Mr. Spurgeon says: — 
 
 "Many men are forgotten, despised, and trampled on by their fellows; 
 but never was man so despised as the everlasting God. Many a man 
 has been slandered and abused, but never was man abused as God." 
 
 The preacher here unwittingly proclaims a truth, viz. — that we heap 
 our sins upon God until He is represented to be no better than man. 
 Calvinism makes God judge men irrespective of their works; and if 
 our Maker really judges man irrespective of his being good or bad, as 
 the Calvinists say, He would be an evil God, or rather not a God at all 
 — for a God that is capable of evil is not a God, but a devil. So much 
 for the character of God, — let us now turn to man : 
 
 " The very beasts are better than man — for man has all the worst 
 attributes of the beasts and none of their best. He has the fierceness of 
 the lion without its nobility; he has the stubbornness of an ass without 
 its patience; he has all the devouring gluttony of the wolf without the 
 wisdom which bids it avoid the trap. He is a carrion vulture, but is 
 never satisfied; he is a very serpent with the poison of asps beneath 
 his tongue, but he spits his venom afar off as well as nigh. If you 
 think of human nature as it acts towards God, you will say indeed it is 
 too bad to be mended." 
 
70 LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 
 
 Here the preacher, in reviling man reviles his maker, — for if there is 
 no good in man, the masterpiece of God's works, it is certain there can 
 be no good in God — for every tree may be judged by its fruits. Not 
 only is man bad, but, what is a great deal worse, he cannot better 
 himself : — 
 
 " Human nature is too far gone to be mended. It is not a house that 
 is a little out of repair. No, it is rotten throughout — the very founda- 
 tions have been sapped; there is no soundness in it, but all rottenness. 
 God doth not attempt to mend ; but he determines that the old house 
 shall be entirely swept away, and that he will build a new one. 
 
 It is quite certain that human nature cannot be made better, for 
 many have tried it, but have always failed. A man trying to improve 
 human nature, is like trying to change the position of a weathercock, 
 by turning it round to the east when the wind is blowing west ; he has 
 but to take his hand off and it will be back again to its place. I have 
 seen a man trying to restrain nature — he is an angry, bad-tempered 
 man, and he is trying to cure himself a bit, yet it burns within his bones 
 till they grow white with the heat of malice, and there remains within 
 his heart a residuum of the ashes of revenge. You may try and reform, 
 dear friends, but you will find you cannot do it, and, remember, even if 
 you could, still it would not be the work which God requires, for He 
 will not have reformation." 
 
 The reason why Mr. Spurgeon does not succeed in changing the 
 weathercock is that he turns it in a false direction. Let him turn it 
 in the true direction, and he will find that although the winds and the 
 waves beat upon it, it will stand secure ; for it will then be founded on 
 a rock, even the rock of truth. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon has tried the experiment of reformation on himself, 
 but instead of getting better, he only gets worse and worse. The reason 
 of this is obvious. He is ignorant, not only of the constitution of 
 Human Nature, but of the whole scheme of the Gospel which has been 
 provided for its reformation and redemption. It is quite certain, that 
 neither Mr. Spurgeon nor any one else can improve, so long as they deny 
 man's capacity for improvement. Only think of a man being able to 
 ascend to the top of Mount Blanc, who denied the possibility of such 
 a feat. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon makes a difference between Reformation and Renovation, 
 but that is a distinction without a difference. Improved opinions and 
 beliefs produce new and better feelings as a natural consequence, and 
 that is renovation as well as reformation. The testimony of fact and 
 experience are sufficient to establish all we now affirm, so we may easily 
 set aside the sophistries of the Calvinists on that point. 
 
 But while Mr. Spurgeon denies to man the power of self-improvement, 
 he admits that God has that power, by means of what he calls Irresistible 
 Sovereign Grace, but which in plain language is " Miraculous Grace" 
 Here are his words : — 
 
 To sanctify a man is the work of the whole life, but to give a new 
 heart is the work of an instant. In one solitary second, swifter than 
 the lightning flash, God can put a new heart into a man, and make him 
 a new creature. You may be sitting where you are to-day, an enemy to 
 
LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 71 
 
 God, with a wicked heart within ; but, if the Lord wills it, the living 
 spark shall drop into your soul, and in that moment you will begin to 
 tremble, to feel, to confess your sin, and fly to Christ. Eegeneration is 
 the intantaneous work of God's sovereign, effectual, and irresistible 
 grace." 
 
 In our former Essay, we said that Calvinism made man nothing, and 
 here that statement is fully verified. The possibility of self-improvement 
 and self-reformation is taken away, and nothing is left to man but to 
 remain passive, and wait for miracles to be performed in his behalf. 
 This is no trifling matter, and we wish to speak plainly, for until 
 the people get rid of reliance on modern miracles, they will never 
 improve. 
 
 To prove that the Calvinist party, which forms the mass of the 
 nation, believe in miracles, we need only quote from the Record news- 
 paper, which is the recognised organ of the party : — 
 
 " The great doctrine of the New Reformation is, * That while the 
 gospel is Miraculous in its origin, the effect of the gospel on the soul 
 is Natural.' To the first part of this doctrine the Oxford Essayists 
 barely, if at all, assent, and from the second part, we doubt not, 
 1 Drs. Candlish, Cunningham, and Guthrie,' will most cordially dissent. 
 The Gospel acts in a Natural manner according to the constitution of 
 the human mind, but its acting at all is Supernatural — its effect is as 
 miraculous as its origin." 
 
 We may explain that Mr. Alison, in his work on Civilization, men- 
 tions that he learned the new doctrine of Conversion from Dr. Candlish, 
 of Edinburgh, a statement which has been before the world for six 
 months without any refutation, and that being so, we are entitled to 
 assume that the statement is correct. We can only find room for one 
 more extract from Mr. Spurgeon : — 
 
 " We all deserve to be damned. If God damneth us, not a single 
 word will be heard against His doing it. We lie entirely in His hands, 
 like a moth that lies under the finger. What reflections ought to cross 
 our minds, if we believe that ? " 
 
 We are asked if we can believe that ; and we can only reply that we 
 do not believe one word of it. We believe that our God is a good and 
 just God, and that He will choose those whom He will save solely in 
 consequence of their works, with special reference to their abilities and 
 opportunities. Let us remind Mr. Spurgeon, and all who think with 
 him, that no other belief is consistent with belief in a perfect God, and 
 as we believe in a good God, we reject Mr. Spurgeon's teaching in every 
 particular. Let the preacher apply the test of God's perfections to one 
 and all of his doctrines, and he will find he has not one doctrine left, for 
 from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness 
 in him. 
 
 Let us imagine a stranger from a distant country coming to London-— 
 a Christian, free from the malady of Calvinism. What would such a 
 person say after he had been to the Great Tabernacle, and heard the 
 great preacher of the day ? He would say, I have heard of the follies 
 of Calvinism and Puritanism, but now that I hear them from their own 
 lips, I can say that the half had not been told me. Man is laid flat on 
 
72 LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 
 
 his face, and those who try to lift him up, are denounced, instead of 
 being praised for their help. 
 
 We have now given a brief, and we hope a faithful account of the Reli- 
 gion of nine-tenths of the English people ; and with a Religion which 
 teaches men to remain passive, instead of using the powers with which 
 they are endowed, we need not wonder that the world is so bad, nor 
 need we wonder that a new Reformation to improve man is univer- 
 sally called for. We read that a tree may be known by its fruits, 
 and proving our Religion by that test, it is bad indeed. We have letters 
 from all parties in the Church, and all agree in one thing, that man 
 is universally bad, and that although they have tried everything to 
 improve him, he, instead of getting better, only gets worse ; and we 
 hope these Essays may help our correspondents to discover the reason 
 why man is bad, and why they cannot make him better. 
 
 It has often been said that it is practice that is at fault, but never 
 was there a greater mistake. The quotations we have given from 
 Mr. Spurgeon are the proof that precept is at fault, and that accounts 
 for the want of better practice in the world. We say, therefore, let us 
 improve precept and practice will improve, as the one is the cause of 
 the other. 
 
 We now pass from the Low Church to the High Church, where we 
 shall discover an entire change of Religion from that we have been 
 considering. 
 
 Great difficulties have been felt in describing the High Church, for 
 although in one sense that party is more liberal and truthful than their 
 opponents of the Low Church, yet, in another sense, they are less 
 liberal. It is of great importance that the principles of the High 
 Church party should be known, and fully understood, and we shall do 
 our best to unravel them. 
 
 All primitive Churches, such as the Jewish and Catholic Churches, 
 make religion consist of Sacraments and Priestly authority, and not 
 of theology. The latter religion belongs exclusively to churches which 
 a superior stage of civilization can alone render practicable. Now, as 
 the High Church seeks her religion from outward things more than 
 from the spirit of truth, she goes back in the scale of civilization. We 
 freely grant that the High Church is an example of a good doctrine in 
 theology; but we say at the same time, that her heart is not in her 
 theology, but in her priestly doctrines and observances. Now, as the 
 High Church cannot serve two masters, we must judge her mainly by 
 her outward observances, for there her heart is. 
 
 Now, what are these priestly doctrines and outward observances 
 which we so much condemn ? First. The Priestly Office. Second. 
 Baptismal Regeneration. Third. Transubstantiation. The whole of 
 the offending doctrines of High Churchism may be comprehended 
 under these heads, and we shall proceed to treat each separately. 
 
 The Priestly Office. — The High Church holds that a priest is spe- 
 cially set aside by the Holy Ghost for his office, and consequently that 
 ke exercises an authority from God to perform acts which involve 
 miracles. The act of the bishop in ordaining a priest acts miraculously 
 
LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 73 
 
 on the priest so ordained ; and the ordained priest in his turn acts 
 miraculously on the laity, for whom he ministers. In this way the 
 bishops and priests become mediators between God and man. They are 
 a race distinct from the laity — called and chosen specially for the priest's 
 office. It will be perceived that this is nothing less than a restoration 
 of the Mosaic religion, and of the priestly office after the order of Aaron. 
 It is a restoration of the Catholic Church, which may be said to be 
 almost a fac-simile of the Jewish Church. 
 
 The High Church Clergy may be considered " High " because they 
 arrogate to themselves a high office ; but as that claim necessarily de- 
 presses the laity in the same ratio as it exalts the priesthood, they can- 
 not justly be called " High," — for their doctrines involve a low opinion 
 of the capacity and position of man. On a careful examination of the 
 Articles of the Church, we find no authority for any such pretensions ; 
 and so far as the High Church is concerned, no alteration of the Thirty- 
 nine Articles is called for. 
 
 Clergymen are called " Priests " in the Prayer Book, but never in 
 discourse, either from the pulpit or in conversation — showing that the 
 idea of a Priesthood existing in our Church is purely visionary. 
 Clergymen of the Church of England are not specially called and 
 annointed for the holy office by divine authority, as they were in the 
 Jewish Churches, — for now that the reign of a Theocracy has ceased, 
 all the machinery for a primitive Church has likewise passed away. 
 A Priest of the Christian Church means a minister or servant of the 
 Gospel. If this is not so, we have yet to pass from the bondage of the 
 law of Moses to the liberty of the law of Christ. But we shall be 
 asked, what becomes of the " Ordination Service," if no miraculous 
 virtue is connected with it ? We answer, that the Ordination Service 
 is a solemnity to mark the vows which the Clergy take to devote them- 
 selves to the office of the ministry, in the same way as the " Confirma- 
 tion Service " marks the vows undertaken by the Laity. 
 
 Baptism. — To imagine that a child is regenerated because a priest 
 sprinkles water on it in the name of Christ, is truly a primitive idea. 
 It is a belief in modern miracles as obvious as the miracles of the 
 Blood of St. Januarius, or of weeping pictures of the Virgin Mary, 
 We know that many sensible men give ear to this theory of Conversion, 
 and for that reason we must speak with discretion, if not with 
 reserve. 
 
 If we believe that man is regenerated by water, we cannot consis- 
 tently believe that he is regenerated by right belief accompanied by 
 right action. It is vain for the High Church to preach " Work out 
 your own Salvation" if they at the same time teach that salvation has 
 already been worked out by Baptism. We are surprised that those 
 Clergymen who make so much of the text just quoted do not see this. 
 We cannot have two religions, or serve two masters. Either Baptismal 
 Regeneration or Actual Regeneration by Works is true, — and as it is 
 certain that both cannot be true, we must reject the one or the other. 
 The High Church may justly charge their oponents of the Low Church 
 with inconsistency in holding both Free Will and Predestination ; 
 but they themselves are no less inconsistent in holding "Baptismal Rege- 
 
 B 
 
74 LOW CHURCH AND HIGH CHURCH. 
 
 neration" and "Actual Regeneration," — for these two are as opposite to 
 each other as the doctrines of the Calvinists are. 
 
 Transubstantiation. — We have charged the Low Church with error 
 in their belief in blood as an atonement for actual sin; and that error 
 must likewise be charged to the High Church. In believing in the 
 "Real Presence" of Christ in the Sacrament, they actually, as well as 
 theoretically, crucify the Lord afresh in their daily and periodical 
 atonements of the Sacrament. 
 
 The act of offering Sacrifices consists in slaying an ox, sheep, or goat, 
 and burning it upon an altar. The ideal part of sacrifices, in which all 
 their significance consists, is that the sacrifice so made takes away the 
 sin for which it is offered. Take away the idea from the act, and there 
 is no sacrifice at all ; proving that the idea is the reality, and the burning 
 of the victim only the shadow or sign of the thing signified. The act 
 without the idea is nothing, but the idea without the act is everything. 
 It is the same with Idolatry. The idols are nothing apart from the idea 
 with which they involve ; take away the idolatrous idea from an image, 
 and the image is nothing. These considerations prove that there may 
 be both sacrifices and idolatry, without either actual burnt-offerings or 
 actual images. In other words, it does not follow that a nation or 
 Church gives up Idolatry and Sacrifice when it demolishes its images 
 and altars. We offer the following propositions, to prove that a Pro- 
 pitiatory Sacrifice cannot be the Religion of the New Testament, as it 
 was of the Old Testament. 
 
 1st. — By obeying the precepts of the Gospel, we atone for our sins; 
 and there is no other atonement spoken of by our Lord. 
 
 2nd. — If the blood of bulls and goats cannot atone for sin, neither 
 can the blood of a Man — the Man Christ Jesus — atone for sin. Now, 
 as Christ's Divine Nature did not, and could not die, it was only the 
 blood of a man which was shed on the cross. 
 
 3rd. — Christ is the author of the New Testament atonement, for He 
 is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 
 
 The Jewish Church had — 1st. an Altar; 2nd. a Victim; and 3rd. a 
 Priesthood, to minister at the altar, and the Catholic has the same ; 
 and it is now proposed to introduce the same Catholic doctrine of tran- 
 substantiation into the Church of England ! Will there not be an end 
 of the Gospel when such a gross belief obtains entrance into the 
 Church ? The faith of the Calvinists, who make so much of a blood- 
 bought atonement, is bad enough, but an actual atonement, must be 
 much worse. We might enter more fully into this matter, but we trust 
 enough has been said to show how false and dangerous all such Romish 
 Doctrines are. 
 
 We observe from an article in the Christian Remembrancer, the 
 recognised organ of the High Church, that Oxford, which gave birth to 
 that party, now knows it no more ; and now that the fountain is fairly 
 dried up, we may reasonably hope that the branches will wither and die 
 away. If Dr. Pusey, instead of introducing one fallacy to cast out 
 another, which appears to have been his object, had taken Truth, and 
 that alone for his weapon, Calvinism would long ago have been dead. 
 But that he did not do, and instead of seeing his opponents cast out, 
 
THE OTTO?iAN EMPIRE. 75 
 
 he himself is the first to fall. We trust this lesson will not be lost on 
 the present generation, and that in all future movements of the Church 
 Truth will be the ruling passion. 
 
 Having treated of the High and Low Church, it will now be expected 
 that we should speak of the " Essays and Reviews," which may be 
 considered an attempt to introduce a third party into the Church ; but 
 on this subject we must be very brief, for our space is limited. In our 
 first Essay, we explained that the "Essays and Reviews" enter on a 
 region of debate which is eminently calculated to produce discord and 
 not peace, of which the flood of answers they have already produced is 
 the evidence. So ill-judged a movement we could not have expected 
 from authors who stand so high in the world of letters. The Essays 
 and Reviews are founded on the works of Baron Bunsen, a writer 
 whom we never could understand, for he does not appear to have any 
 practical object in view beyond mere scholarship. The Essays and 
 Reviews leave off where we begin. They treat of History while we 
 treat of Principles, and as it is the latter and not the former which 
 belong to Religion, the Essayists have mistaken their province, if they 
 have any ambition to become reformers. 
 
 The Soul, like the dove let loose from the ark, first tries the Low 
 Church, but finds no place on which to rest the sole of its foot. It then 
 tries the High Church, but here too it is disappointed. As a last 
 resource, it either sits down in despair, or tries the Church of Rome, 
 which may be called the slough of despond. 
 
 We may well be asked how it happens that all parties should have 
 combined to keep up a system so replete with faults, and we shall 
 endeavour to explain the mystery. Error within the Church excites 
 opposition from without, but as that has unfortunately always been of a 
 negative kind, the only resource the Clergy had was to resist all pro- 
 posals of amendment, as a Church cannot proceed to reform itself until 
 a definite and complete scheme of reform has first been placed before 
 it. There has been a grave fault on the part of the Laity, and it goes 
 far to absolve the Clergy from blame in the matter. Now, however, 
 that a complete system of reform is before the world, the position of 
 the Clergy is entirely changed, and if they refuse the proposal of the 
 New Reformation Society without giving a sufficient reason for so 
 doing, they will take a course of which no conscientious man could 
 approve. Delusion has had its day, let reality now take its place, and 
 all will be well. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 The recent massacres in Syria and Damascus, the ancient capital of 
 the Saracens, have appalled all Europe, and call for interference. Since 
 the Massacre of St. Bartholomew by the Catholics, nothing half so 
 revolting as these massacres by the Mahometans has befallen the world. 
 The time is approaching when the eastern empire will return to the 
 
 b 2 
 
76 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 cross, after having been under the dominion of the crescent for upwards 
 of twelve centuries. In the eleventh century, the empire of the Turks 
 was saved from annihilation by the help of some of the Christian powers; 
 and in the nineteenth century the same unseemly alliance saved the 
 Ottoman power; but it is now to be hoped that all Europe will unite to 
 regenerate the Turkish empire. All are now convinced that the sick 
 man is utterly beyond recovery; and looking to the safety and welfare 
 of the population, the sooner the Turkish empire can be restored to the 
 dominion of the cross the better. 
 
 In the middle ages, Europe was divided into petty states ; and in 
 putting an end to that unsatisfactory state of things, modern civilization 
 has run into the opposite extreme of making the empires of the world 
 too large. We have often had occasion to shew that truth and right lie 
 between extremes; and if we could manage to increase the number of 
 independent States, it would certainly be an improvement on the present 
 system. Why should we have only six great powers? would it not be 
 better if we had twenty moderate powers? The interests of peace 
 and liberty would, we think, be consulted if several new kingdoms of 
 sufficient extent were established in the east; and if the Turkish empire 
 were divided into at least three new kingdoms, that would probably meet 
 the interests and wishes of all parties. 
 
 The permanent peace of Europe cannot be achieved until something 
 be done to give a better Government to Turkey than it now possesses. 
 It will, therefore, excite no surprise that we should have turned our 
 attention to the subject. We are glad to say that at last the Wallachians 
 and Bulgarians are beginning to move in the matter. They have heard 
 of the regeneration of Italy, and they naturally wish to imitate so noble 
 an example. 
 
 If the people will take the matter into their own hands, it will be 
 much better for diplomacy to retire from the field for the present, and 
 allow the people to work out their own regeneration. The moment the 
 great powers attempt any new schemes for Turkey, each power in 
 its turn lays claim to some special privilege for itself, and thus all hope 
 of producing any practicable result for the benefit of Turkey is taken 
 away; and this is our reason for deprecating any new attempt on the 
 part of the great powers — at least until after the wishes of the people 
 have been definitely ascertained. 
 
 It is only throwing our capital into the sea to attempt to prop up so 
 rotten a system as that of the Sultan's Government by new loans and 
 so forth. The sooner the inevitable issue is allowed to come the better 
 it will be for Europe", and the people themselves, for no power exists 
 that is capable of stopping the natural end of the Turkish Government; 
 and it will be our wisdom not any longer to fight against it. 
 
 The proposal is to erect European Turkey into a separate kingdom, 
 distinct from the Asiatic portion of the Ottoman Empire, under the 
 sovereignty of the Sultan, the Hospodar of the Danubian Provinces, or 
 whoever the people may elect. When this noble scheme is carried out, 
 it will be a regeneration equal to that which has been effected in Italy 
 with such signal success. Let another Cavour and Garibaldi arise on 
 the banks of the Danube, and the thing will be done. 
 
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 77 
 
 The proposed new state extends from the Danube to Greece Proper, 
 and from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. It will have Constantinople 
 for its capital, and become a country quite equal in importance to Italy, 
 both as regards extent, population, and national resources. The popu- 
 lation exceeds eighteen millions — of which fourteen millions are said 
 to be Christians, about two millions Mahometans, and the rest Jews. 
 
 It is manifest that so long as this country is connected with Asia, 
 where Mahometanism is the ruling Religion, it will be impossible for it 
 to have a National Christian Church. Without a National Church to 
 allay religious animosities, and give coherence to its numerous races, it 
 would be impossible to introduce a representative Government with any 
 reasonable prospect of success; and it is for that reason, as well as for 
 many others that might be named, that a complete separation must take 
 place between the European and Asiatic Provinces of Turkey. 
 
 Asiatic Turkey consists of Asia Minor and Syria, as far east as 
 Persia. This vast range of country is composed of a great variety of 
 races and religions, some civilized and others uncivilized, and living 
 independent of all government. This country must of course be dealt 
 with in an entirely different way from that of European Turkey. An 
 absolute government is indispensable, and as regards a National Church 
 that is quite out of the question. The population is nearly equally 
 divided between Christians, Mahomedans, and Jews, and in these cir- 
 cumstances the only way will be to have no National Church, but to 
 tolerate all religions alike. 
 
 The recent disturbances in Syria and Damascus have shown that the 
 Turkish Government is incapable of governing the country, and we 
 think France and England are bound to give the country a King and a 
 settled Government, as they did with Belgium and Greece. 
 
 It is proposed to withdraw the French troops from Syria, but to do 
 that would undo all the good that has been done by that intervention ; 
 and instead of withdrawing troops, a similar number of English troops 
 should be sent out to assist the French troops. A garrison must be 
 maintained in all the large towns, such as Smyrna, Beyrout, Jerusalem, 
 and Damascus, if we expect order and progress to nourish, for it is 
 well known that nothing but the show of a military force in the chief 
 towns has any effect with the Orientals in commanding that respect 
 for the laws which is essential to prosperity. 
 
 Too long has Europe suffered this important country to die as it 
 were of old age ; but now that Europe in the West, and India and 
 China in the East, are regenerating, the present disgraceful state of 
 things cannot be allowed to remain. To Syria we owe our Religion ; 
 and if we are bound in gratitude to assist any country to regenerate 
 itself, surely Syria is that country ; and in making this appeal in 
 behalf of the Armenians and Jews, we trust we shall not plead in vain. 
 Let us shew the Jews that we are Christians in deed as well as in 
 word, and that will be the best argument we can offer to induce them 
 to embrace our religion. 
 
 The first thing to be done, is to send out troops to act along with the 
 French, and when security of life and property is guaranteed, we may 
 
78 THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION". 
 
 expect that the people will be as anxious that the French and English 
 Governments should take steps to give them a King and a settled 
 Government as we can be, when the troops may be withdrawn. Should 
 the Cabinets of London and Paris be so heartless as to denude Syria of 
 their troops, and thus leave her to shift for herself as she best can, on 
 them will rest the responsibility of the outbreaks which may be expected 
 to follow. We entreat our rulers to pause before they take such a step, 
 for if they do, the latter end of the Syrian affair will be worse than the 
 beginning. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION. 
 
 Christianity was originally propagated from the City of Rome, and 
 consequently the Bishops of Rome claimed authority over the Provincial 
 Churches in all the nations of Europe. This claim of one Bishop and 
 one Church to rule over all other Bishops and Churches has been ob- 
 jected to in all ages, of which St. Gregory's testimony, quoted in a 
 former Essay, is sufficient evidence ; but unfortunately, Rome, about 
 the year 1200, succeeded in fairly establishing all its usurpations. 
 What would we think of the Church of England if its Archbishop 
 was to claim the right to govern all the Bishops of the numerous 
 Churches planted by England in her colonies ? This is precisely 
 similar to the usurped authority of the Bishop of Rome, and until the 
 Catholic Laity assert their rights, and demand of their Clergy the 
 abandonment of all such pretentions, they cannot enjoy religious liberty 
 either in Italy or in any other country. 
 
 Like the slaveholders of America, who quote scripture in favor of 
 their traffic in human flesh, the Catholics can do the same in support of 
 a claim which rests on no evidence whatever. What this usurpation has 
 cost the nations of Europe for the last six centuries we shall not stop 
 to enquire, for it is well known that the major part of all the wars and 
 persecutions of Europe have arisen from this cause. It is high time 
 that the papal dominion over Europe should cease, that the nations may 
 enjoy Religious liberty as well as Civil Liberty, and that time has 
 now come. 
 
 It was in the revolutionary year of 1848 that signs of reformation 
 first made their appearance. The Churches of Rome were deserted, 
 and when we remember how they used to be thronged with devotees, it 
 was not difficult to see that the days of the Papacy were numbered. 
 In France the movement did not take a tangible shape until last year, 
 when the celebrated pamphlets of M. About and M. Cayla, made their 
 appearance. The one writer attacked the Temporal power of the Pope, 
 and the other the Spiritual power, and we may imagine the sensation 
 produced by these publications. 
 
 The Catholics received the proposal for a National Church in France 
 
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION. 79 
 
 with the mingled feelings of regret and satisfaction. They naturally 
 deplored the sacrifices which they were called on to make, but they saw 
 at the same time that Civilization had outgrown the religion of the 
 middle ages, and that sooner or later, the Church must be reformed. 
 It was therefore a relief to the mind to know what was coming. The 
 Protestants evidently did not quite relish the idea of the Catholic 
 Church being reformed. They exclaimed — can dry bones live ? One 
 would naturally have expected that the news that the Papacy was about 
 to fall would have overpowered the Protestants with joy, but that has 
 not been so. We regret to say that the Pope and Cardinals received 
 this proposal in a very unchristian spirit, of which the following Bull, 
 issued on the occasion, shows : — 
 
 " A lively grief had seized us on account of a most infamous Pam- 
 phlet lately published in Paris. What is intolerable is the audacity and 
 impiety of this writer, who, not having feared to attack the Civil and 
 Ecclesiastical principality of the Roman Church, has endeavoured to 
 contrive a particular species of Church, to be founded in the French 
 Empire, and organized so that it should be removed from the authority 
 of the Sovereign Pontiff and completely separated from it. What in- 
 justice does the author of the afore-mentioned pamphlet not do to the 
 most illustrious French nation, in believing that that nation, the most 
 attached to Catholic unity, could allow itself to be drawn into schis- 
 matical error." — Rome, December, 1860. 
 
 Instead of language so unworthy of ministers of the gospel of 
 Love and Self-denial, the papal manifesto ought to have run in terms 
 like these. " We grant that there is an urgent call for a reformation of 
 the Church, and if it is the will of Europe that a General Council of the 
 Church should be called, with a view to its reconstruction, I shall give 
 the movement every encouragement." If the Pope had taken that course 
 he would have followed up in acts, what he professed in 1848 in words, 
 but now his house is left to him desolate, for he was offered a way of 
 escape and he has refused it. 
 
 Napoleon has made concessions to the spirit of the age in granting 
 the liberty of the Press. The Emperor of Russia has done the same 
 in granting liberty to the Serfs. The Emperor of Austria has made 
 concessions in calling a Parliament ; but the Pope, by refusing ail con- 
 cessions, has only himself to blame for his fall. 
 
 The Catholic Church has not been reformed for three centuries, for 
 since the Council of Trent, she has undergone no legislative change. 
 It is therefore necessary that the Church should now be completely 
 reformed, in order to meet the vast strides made in Civilization and 
 Religion since the sixteenth century. But how is the Catholic Church 
 to reform herself? We say, let Italy take the initiative in the great 
 work of reformation. Let the new King of Italy call the Clergy and 
 Laity to a great Council, that a new Church may be formed. This im- 
 portant matter settled, the other nations of Europe will follow the 
 example, when the entire Church will be reformed, and placed upon a 
 satisfactory basis all over the world. We shall now proceed to give the 
 outline of a Church Constitution suitable for Italy, that our readers may 
 understand the nature of the reforms proposed. 
 
80 THE CATHOLIC EEFORMATION. 
 
 1. The King, as head of the State and representative of the Nation^ 
 to be recognized as the head of the Church. 
 
 2. The Temporalities of the Church to be vested in the Houses of 
 Parliament ; and the Spiritualities, in a General Council, to be consti- 
 tuted on a representative basis. 
 
 3. The Bishops and other Dignitaries of the Church to be elected 
 by the Crown. The Parochial Clergy and Lay Deacons to be elected 
 by the People. 
 
 4. Two Clergymen and twelve Lay Deacons to be appointed to 
 each parish. The Clergy to attend to the spiritual interests of the 
 parish, and the Deacons to the temporal interests, including Education 
 and the care of the sick and the poor. Presuming the nation to be 
 unanimous in accepting these propositions, as the basis of the New 
 Church, let us see how the proposal may be carried out. 
 
 The King, as head of the Church, will convoke a General Council of 
 the Bishops, Clergy, and leading Statesmen, that he may consult with 
 them as to the proposed Reformation, and to lay before them the draft 
 of the New Constitution for their consideration and approval. So soon 
 as the matter has been fully discussed, the Assembly may be dissolved, 
 when the King would publish the Constitution, subject only to the 
 ratification of Parliament. 
 
 The following are the heads of the proposed Constitution : — 
 
 1. The General Council of the Church, which will meet at Rome, 
 and be presided over by the Bishop of Rome, to consist of about two 
 hundred members, to be composed of Clergy and Laity in equal pro- 
 portions. 
 
 2. The Council to be called by Royal writ at least once every three 
 years, and may be dissolved at any time by the Crown. 
 
 3. The duties of this body will be, to settle any disputes that may 
 arise between the Bishops, Clergy, and Deacons, and generally to 
 manage the affairs of the Church. 
 
 4. A Book of Articles, based on Scripture, defining the Creed of 
 the Church, to be prepared and duly ratified by this Act. 
 
 5. A Book of Common Prayer, in the spirit of the Articles, to be 
 prepared for the use of Churches, and duly ratified. 
 
 6. A Book of Canons to be prepared, as to the ordination of Bishops 
 and Clergy, and defining the power of appeal to the General Council. 
 
 The Italian Parliament will soon meet in the city of Rome, where 
 the General Council of the Church will assemble, and will probably be 
 presided over by Pius IX, as Bishop of Rome, and metropolitan of all 
 Italy. This act would, of course, limit the power of the Pope to Italy, 
 and deprive that potentate of his double crown, as King of Italy, and 
 Sovereign Pontiff of half of Europe ; but in exchange for these obsolete 
 crowns, he will receive the reward of a good conscience, in resigning 
 pretensions which are incompatible with liberty and progress. 
 
 In the event of the Pope refusing to accept the Chair of the New 
 Church, as he did when Napoleon too generously offered him the Pre- 
 sidency of a Confederated Italy, by the treaty of Yillafranca, there 
 will be no alternative but to appoint an Archbishop of Rome, who 
 will take his place as Metropolitan Archbishop of Italy. Such is the. 
 
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION. 81 
 
 -only solution of the Papal question ; and when we remember the diffi- 
 culties which have always surrounded the question, we ought to be 
 thankful that at last we begin to see our way to a final settlement. 
 
 The Italian people will only deceive themselves if they imagine that 
 they will be free until they have Religious Liberty as well as Civil 
 Liberty, and as the Reformation movement has supplied the materials 
 for the compilation of the Books of Articles, Services, and Canons, there 
 is no reason why the "National Church of Italy''' should not be at 
 once constituted. 
 
 Count Cavour and the Italian Parliament must not imagine that their 
 mission is accomplished when the Civil Institutions of the country are 
 completed, for unless they can go forward to a Religious Reformation 
 they will not have conferred the boon of personal liberty on their people. 
 Liberty does not consist solely in protection from civil abuses, but in 
 protection from social intolerance and religious disability as well, and 
 until the Church is reformed, the latter, which constitutes the major 
 part of the liberty of a nation will not be achieved. Presuming that 
 this is granted, the question arises — is the present time, when United 
 Italy is only in its infancy, the best for introducing the necessary Church 
 Reforms ? 
 
 To this we reply, that unless Church Reform can be carried now, it 
 will be impossible to carry it at any future time without a new Revo- 
 lution. Macaulay, in his History of England, points out this very 
 clearly, when he says that the reign of Elizabeth was the time for a 
 Religious Reformation in England ; but, having allowed that oppor- 
 tunity to pass, it was impossible in the reigns which followed to apply 
 any remedy to the woes which ensued from the want of Church Reform. 
 Let Italy take a lesson from the disastrous history of England in the 
 time of the Stuarts, and she will not hesitate in at once proceeding with 
 the necessary Church Reforms. 
 
 It requires no gift of prophecy to foresee that the wars and anarchy 
 in store for Italy will equal, if not surpass, the wars of the Stuarts, 
 which desolated England for one hundred and fifty years, if the Parlia- 
 ment of Italy, after the example of the Parliament of England, con- 
 tents itself with Civil Reforms. 
 
 The only opposition which a reforming Parliament will have to meet 
 is from a few of the noble families who are personally connected with the 
 hierarchy, and with the ignorance of the peasant class, over whom 
 those families may have influence ; but a good cause will easily over- 
 come all such opposition. It is not difficult to show that there can 
 be no peace while liberty reigns in the state, and despotism in the 
 Church ; and that it is necessary to make the Church harmonize with 
 the state before Italy can be a free and a united Kingdom. 
 
 The new Articles proposed for the Protestant Reformation will be 
 equally suitable for the Catholic Reformation, for as there is only one 
 Truth and one Gospel, so there ought to be only one Creed. We 
 specially refer our Catholic friends to these Articles, which they will 
 find to be such as they can accept with a good conscience. 
 
 Our desire is to see Catholics and Protestants united in one faith and 
 one doctrine, although they may not be united as one Church ; and who 
 
82 THE NEW REFORMATION. 
 
 is able to conceive the benefits which such a union will confer on the 
 human race. The two Churches have hitherto been always at variance, 
 but they will now go hand in hand, for their interests will henceforth 
 be one. No longer will host encounter host on the battle field of a 
 religious war, as in the days of Walestein and G-ustavus, for the great 
 causes of war will have ceased. 
 
 If the Catholics complain of the sacrifices they have to make, we 
 answer that the sacrifice of Luther's doctrine of Justification without 
 Works is equal to all the sacrifices of the Catholics. The Christian 
 religion is love to others and the denial of self-love, and both Churches 
 will act on that principle by submitting to the call now made for a 
 general reformation. Let both Catholics and Protestants take a dis- 
 passionate view of the matter, not under the influence of prejudice, 
 habit, and education, but with reference to the interests of the whole 
 human race, and the world shall rejoice in that Liberty which is the 
 birth-right of all. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE NEW REFORMATION. 
 
 " Old things are passing away ; behold, all things are becoming new." 
 
 It surprises many that along with Political Revolutions there should 
 exist a tendency to reformation in things moral and religious. The 
 Political Revolutions and the New Reformation are opposite currents, 
 the one indicating the rule of the Feelings, and the other the rule of 
 the Intellect, and it is not difficult to account for these events coming 
 together, for necessity is ever the mother of invention. 
 
 The Emperor Nicholas was the first to make a move in the interests 
 of despotism when he occupied the Danubian Provinces in 1854. This 
 aggression called forth the armies of France and England, and at 
 Sevastopol the first blow was given to that interest. The Emperor of 
 Austria took the next step when he occupied Italy, contrary to the 
 understanding with France, that the Austrian troops, instead of being 
 encreased, were gradually to be withdrawn. This second aggression 
 provoked the hostility of France and Piedmont, and on the plains of 
 Villa Franca, the second blow to despotism was given. The third act 
 in the drama originated with the liberals, who now feel themselves 
 strong enough to adopt the offensive. 
 
 Garibaldi can no longer be restrained. He sets sail from Genoa with 
 a handful of followers, and succeeds in uniting all Italy under one 
 Government. There is nothing in history to compare with this heroic 
 act, both as regards its origin and its consequences, for it is destined to 
 regenerate not Italy only, but the whole world. Napoleon has done 
 much, and Cavour has done much, but it may be that history will 
 award the palm to the noble Garibaldi. 
 
 We read that he who conquers himself is greater than he who takes 
 a city ; and after witnessing the recent reconciliation of the conqueror 
 of Palermo and Naples, with Cavour, the great statesman who directs 
 
THE NEW REFORMATION. 83 
 
 the whole Italian movement, we may well accord to Garibaldi the 
 honour of having conquered himself as well as great cities. Hence- 
 forth let no man be called great who is unable to conquer himself; and 
 the careers of Napoleon, Cavour, and Garibaldi are conspicuous for 
 this noblest of qualities, — a virtue sufficient for the conquest of the 
 world. 
 
 We have now shown that the present excited state of Europe has 
 not originated with the liberals, but with their opponents of Russia 
 and Austria ; and if these powers complain of the reforming spirit 
 which their ambition has everywhere evoked, they must know that they 
 have themselves to blame for it, — for it was they who took the initiative 
 as we have explained. 
 
 Such was the state of parties when a new element began to show 
 itself. Hitherto the combatants had been so busy with their military 
 affairs, that they had no time to think of anything else. Now, how- 
 ever, they begin to ask what causes the evils they have been contending 
 with at the risk of their lives, — and these are found to be Religious as 
 well as Political. The Reformation movement breaks out in England 
 with great force ; and the note is no sooner struck than it vibrates in 
 every capital of Europe. 
 
 No one interested in peace can fail to see the extreme importance of 
 ihe new movement. While parties were equally balanced, it was to be 
 feared that the disastrous times of Walestein and Gustavus were to be 
 renewed. Now, however, that is impossible, — for, as the forces on 
 the side of liberty are now so preponderating, we may safely predict 
 that there will either be no war, or at least only a very short one. 
 It is the balance of power that produces protracted wars; for when 
 the preponderance is overwhelming, there can be no warfare of any 
 continuance. 
 
 Union is power, and as the Reformation movement will unite all 
 nations in one grand fraternity, devoted to the Reformation of Civil- 
 ization, the sure and certain foundation of a better world is laid. The 
 Reformation Societies will help those nations who have drifted into a 
 Revolution to convert such into a Reformation, and those nations which 
 are only threatened with a Revolution we shall help to avoid such, by 
 inducing them to carry out a Reformation for themselves. Such is the 
 great mission of the Reformation Society, and as we take the world 
 for our province, so we ask the co-operation of all nations in carrying 
 forward our work to its completion. 
 
 The great and ultimate object of the New Reformation is to make 
 men good. We do not of course say that man is bad, but only that 
 the Reformation is intended to make him better. The object is to pro- 
 duce soul and character ; and here again we must explain that we 
 do not say that men are without soul, but merely that our object is to 
 improve, or add, to the soul. For one man who can discourse on prin- 
 ciples, ninety-nine are only able to discuss personalities, — showing that 
 a great want of soul and character exists; and it- is to supply this want, 
 and so improve man, that the Reformation movement has been inau- 
 gurated. Peace, Happiness, and Contentment are the great objects in 
 view; and to make the soul equal to the production of these enjoyments 
 is the object of reformation. 
 
134 THE NEW REFORNATION. 
 
 Mr. Emerson, in his "Conduct of Life," says: — "When souls reach 
 a certain clearness of perception, they accept a Knowledge and Motive 
 above Selfishness." Yes, we are to strive to make man less selfish ; and 
 in thus depressing self, we shall be able to feel for our fellow-men, 
 when "Respect for Others" will take the place of pride and haughtiness. 
 
 The Soul once enlightened must be sustained. Nay more, it must 
 increase in strength day by day, or it will go backwards — for unless 
 the soul advances it will decline, for in nature there is no standing still. 
 The constitution of Human Nature is this. Enlightenment will cer- 
 tainly destroy Selfishness, but it must never be forgotten that we must 
 trim our lights daily, or they will grow dim or go out, when selfishness 
 will resume its sway. 
 
 We wish to place the whole case plainly before our readers, that they 
 may not be over sanguine that when they begin to see the light they 
 have once for all overcome their evil passions, for they will find that it 
 takes a lifetime to vanquish self. No — we must go on slowly, and step 
 by step ; we must moreover walk humbly, for over-confidence usually 
 precedes a fall. Reformation is a work of degrees, to be spread over 
 a whole lifetime. What is the use of this world, but the faithful 
 discharge of this duty of life ? 
 
 It is to help man to perform this work of reformation that Christ 
 founded His Church, and without the Lord's Day on which the gospel 
 is to be preached, or without the Grospel itself, man could not have 
 reached his present state of civilization, or be able to go on from thence 
 to perfection. 
 
 Men do not like Truth and Principle until they understand them, 
 but when they are explained and fully comprehended, men are willing 
 to submit as a duty, and afterwards, when they become a little 
 accustomed to them, they rejoice in them. Everyman thinks he knows 
 truth, and it is not until we are persuaded to read and think that 
 we begin to give way ; and we may add that we do not know a case 
 where the whole truth has been told, where the reformation has not 
 taken effect. 
 
 We have been told we have the four gospels, and with these, what 
 more do we want ? To this we reply the gospels only give the basis 
 on which to build a Church ; they are the raw material but the Church 
 is the edifice. Without the Church to interpret the Bible, the gospels 
 produce a different religion in the minds of all, according to the state of 
 intelligence in which each mind is ; and in order to meet this unavoid- 
 able difficulty, a Church has been happily instituted, and it follows that 
 instead of wishing to destroy the Church by depriving her of her 
 Articles, we must build her up by giving her a new and better Code of 
 Articles. A Religion or Church without Articles may be compared to 
 a quantity of beads unstrung, and a religion with Articles to the same 
 beads when strung. The beads being the raw material, and the string 
 which unites them and makes them useful, the articles. 
 
 The moment that men lose their love of the Christian Religion, which 
 they are so apt to do with our present defective Articles to repel 
 them, they fly to Nature. They wish to be free from all restraint, like 
 ;the nomades of primitive times. Men have not yet learned to distinguish 
 between Nature and Civilization, or between the religion of Nature 
 
THE NEW REFORMATION. 85 
 
 and the religion of Christ. They do not perceive that in rejecting 
 Christianity they necessarily go back to Nature, for if Christianity is 
 Truth, and we reject it, of course nothing but Nature is left. If our 
 readers will only take the trouble to consult the " Philosophy of Civil- 
 ization," to which we have so often had occasion to refer, they will find 
 this most important distinction clearly stated. 
 
 Let us repeat, the liberty of Nature is not liberty, but bondage, for 
 where there is no rule of conduct there can be no protection to liberty. 
 The more ignorant people are, the more necessary is a Church, and 
 instead of the prevailing ignorance of the world being an argument for 
 doing away with articles, it is the reverse. Were all men cognisant of 
 the truth, we could then do without articles, and without a Church, 
 but that time has not come yet. 
 
 Depend upon it, that a Church is the right hand of Civilization and 
 Liberty, and although, owing to its imperfections, it has been the source 
 of evil as well as good, yet that is no reason why, when the Church is 
 reformed, it will not become an unmixed good. If the world would 
 suffer loss to be deprived of the Bible, it would suffer still greater loss 
 to be deprived of the Church, for then the people would be left without 
 teachers, and practically without a Bible. 
 
 There are only two ways in which a Reformation can come — the 
 one in a Miraculous manner, like the reformation of Christ ; and the 
 other in the Natural way, like the reformation of Luther. That we 
 are not to expect the repetition of a miraculous reformation is the 
 uniform testimony of eighteen centuries, in which no miraculous inter- 
 ferences have taken place ; and on reading the Scriptures, we find 
 nothing to indicate that any second Revelation is to be made. The 
 following is the opinion of Bishop Butler : — 
 
 " And as it is owned the the whole scheme of Scripture is not yet 
 understood, so, if it ever comes to be understood without Miraculous 
 interpositions, it must be by the continuance and progress of learning 
 and of liberty, and by particular persons attending to, comparing, and 
 pursuing intimations scattered up and down, which are overlooked and 
 disregarded by the world. This is the way in which all improvements 
 are made ; by thoughtful men tracing on obscure hints, as it were, 
 dropped us by Nature accidentally, or which seem to come into our 
 minds by chance. And possibly it might be intended that Events, as 
 they come to pass, should open and ascertain the meaning of Scripture." 
 
 Why should we always be so anxious to put good far from us, by 
 saying that a Natural reformation is impossible ? Is not that the 
 way to continue the reign of darkness and evil? "It is the duty," 
 says the Times, "of a journal to be hopeful, and even sanguine — to 
 expect prosperity, and to teach progress." We trust this most season- 
 able advice will be taken, for if we desire to improve the world, we 
 must believe in the possibility of it, and help others to believe the same. 
 
 Neither the Clergy nor the people generally, were prepared for any- 
 thing half so good as a Reformation, when the present movement com- 
 menced. They had their fears of coming evil ; but not their hopes of 
 coming good. The people have been taught to expect evil, and now 
 when good comes they are put out, and say, surely this is too 
 good to be true. Such is the state of the public mind at this momen- 
 
86 THE NEW REFORMATION. 
 
 tous crisis of the world's history ; and we hope the Clergy will follow 
 the advice so opportunely offered, to prepare the minds of their congre- 
 gations for the coming changes. 
 
 The necessary changes of doctrine are great and complex; and unless 
 the clergy will take the trouble to explain the principles of the refor- 
 mation to their flocks, the people will be like sheep without a shepherd. 
 We throw out this hint as we happen to know how the matter stands; 
 but if the clergy will not act upon it, on them must lie the responsibility 
 of withholding information from their people, which they have a right 
 to expect at the hands of their pastors. Let our monrnmg be turned 
 into joy, and let the pulpits be hung with garlands, for assuredly the 
 time of the Church's reformation and regeneration has come. 
 
 We can assure the clergy that we have no wish to trespass on their 
 domain further than is absolutely necessary to carry the Church Reform 
 Bill through Parliament. So soon as that Bill is carried, we shall with- 
 draw from the field, and confine ourselves to the other objects of the 
 Society. We shall rejoice when the Clergy enable us to lay down 
 our mission as Church Reformers, for we shall do so with the satisfac- 
 tion of those who have planted a goodly vineyard, and have lived to 
 eat the fruits thereof. We shall have a better world in which to live, 
 and that shall be our reward. 
 
 The success of our movement depends greatly on the circulation of 
 these Essays, — for which we must look mainly to the exertions of our 
 friends. One lady has distributed two hundred copies, and the letters 
 she has received are quite a treat to read, and we hope amply repay the 
 expense and trouble she has taken in the matter. We mention this 
 incident in the hope that so noble an example may be followed by all 
 who can spare the time, and who have a heart for suffering humanity. 
 A cookery book sells 150,000 copies, but as yet the sale of our Essays 
 has been comparatively small. The people as yet care more for direc- 
 tions as to how to please their palates, than for directions how to think 
 and act. Now all this indifference as to good reading will soon pass 
 away if our friends will help us to circulate these tracts. One hun- 
 dred may be got for thirty shillings, and as the book postage is only 
 one penny, what we now ask ought not to be considered a heavy demand 
 in so good a cause. 
 
 We could say many things for the women that we cannot say for the 
 men, but in one thing the former fail, and that is in liberality. If the 
 women would enquire and think before they decide, they would be less 
 intolerant and more liberal; and that lesson we must all learn if the 
 world is to be improved, for there is no greater barrier to the advance- 
 ment of morality and religion than intolerance. One lady is said to 
 have burned our Essay No. 2, as soon as she had read it ; and it is in 
 order to put a stop to such intolerance that we have found ourselves 
 called on to make these remarks. The following extract from Mr. Mill's 
 celebrated Essay on " Liberty," ought to protect us from intolerance in 
 future, and we recommend the lady who burned our Essay to learn it 
 by heart. 
 
 " So natural to mankind is intolerance in whatever they really care 
 about, that religious freedom has hardly anywhere been practically 
 realised. Though the yoke of Opinion in this country is perhaps heavier, 
 
THE NEW REFORMATION. 87 
 
 that of Law is lighter than in most other countries. It is often argued, 
 and still oftener thought, that none but bad men would desire to weaken 
 popular beliefs. The Truth, of an opinion is part of its utility. If we 
 would know whether or not it is desirable that a proposition should be 
 believed, is it possible to except the consideration of whether it be true 
 or not. Social Intolerance roots out no opinion, but only induces men 
 to conceal them. In our times, from the highest class of society down 
 to the lowest, every one lives under the eye of a hostile and dreaded 
 censorship." — Mill on Liberty. 
 
 But avc must conclude. Mr. Mill says in his new work on Constitu- 
 tional Government, that " When things are left to themselves they usually 
 go to decay" or as the Rev. Mr. Py croft expresses it, when things 
 are left to take their course they take a bad course. The truth of 
 these statements being admitted, it follows that if we desire the good 
 of religion — the progress of civilization — and the good of the Church, 
 we must not allow the Church to take its course. No, we must 
 step in and apply the remedy. Let every congregation send up its 
 petition to Parliament for the passing of the Church Reform Bill, 
 and the Church will be saved. Until that is done there will be no 
 Peace and no Religious Liberty. 
 
 These are no ordinary times in which we live. Every post brings 
 us news of wars and rumours of wars and revolutions, and when we 
 again address the public it is hard to say what we shall not have to 
 communicate. The present is a time of dread reality, as well as of 
 hope, let us therefore meet it like men, and not allow ourselves to be 
 overcome by evil. 
 
 The Revolution and anarchy which have visited our relations in 
 America may well fill us with amazement, and at the same time teach 
 us a solemn lesson. What is going on in America, is only what took 
 place in France some eighty years ago, and what may visit ourselves if 
 we do not do something to forestal the coming evil. The absence of 
 Reform caused the French Revolution. The same cause has produced 
 the American Revolution, and it will be the same should England fall 
 under the like calamity. What saved the Constitution in 1848, when 
 it was to be overthrown by Chartists, but the Reform Bill previously 
 passed by Lord John Russell, and if the Church Reform Bill is now 
 passed, we shall be able -to point to it as the salvation of England 
 in years to come. 
 
 To remain passive and do nothing to enable us to meet the 
 coming storm, will be suicidal, and that course must not be tolerated 
 for a moment; for, as already said, to leave things to take their course 
 is to court destruction. Let us take warning, for these are not times to 
 be trifled with, and although it pains us to write in words like these, 
 yet we feel we should ill discharge our duty as reformers if we were 
 to preach peace when there is no peace, for that would only purchase 
 present indulgence at the cost of future suffering. 
 
 The error which Wilberforce and Chalmers committed was in not 
 going to the root of evil, by reforming the Church, for they contented 
 themselves in attacking evil at the outside. When will men be wise, 
 and deal with evil as a whole, and not in detail? — the one method being 
 the remedy of " cure," and the other " prevention." As well try to 
 
88 THE NEW REFOKMATION. 
 
 stop a river at its many exits, instead of going to the fountain head, 
 where the remedy is comparatively easy. 
 
 We complain of the hardness of the times and of every thing going 
 wrong, but it never occurs to us to ask why things do not go more 
 smoothly. Now all this jarring might be corrected if we would only 
 address ourselves to its cause. What causes differences of opinion but 
 the prevalence of error ? and we have shown how error may be expelled, 
 and how those differences may be brought to an end. 
 
 The present is a time for action and noble deeds, in which timidity 
 and compromise shall not be allowed to enter. Let it not be said that 
 our rulers are afraid that when the people are enlightened they will be 
 more difficult to govern, for that is opposed to reason and common 
 sense, for it is darkness and delusion which are the adversaries of any 
 government. It appears to us that we must make up our minds either 
 for a reformation or a revolution, and in these circumstances we cannot 
 doubt that all parties will prefer the former. 
 
 To those who reply that a general reformation is too much for 
 one generation, we answer, the sooner the great and indispensable work 
 is begun, the sooner will it be accomplished. If we do not ourselves 
 reap the full reward of our exertions, we shall at least prepare the way 
 for our children. , We may rely upon it, if we do not begin a refor- 
 mation in our time, that the world will be much worse for our children 
 than it has has been for us ; but if we will begin the work now, the 
 world, instead of being worse to our successors, will be better. It 
 is in the interests of ourselves, and our children, and children's children, 
 that we make this appeal, and in touching the heart we trust we shall 
 have a response which shall transfer itself into the pages of history, 
 for all time coming. 
 
 Political reformers have to contend with private interests ; but 
 our movement contends only with Satan's Kingdom of ignorance 
 and delusion, for when the reformation is carried, it will be found 
 that not one private interest has been affected by it, except for the 
 better. The Statesman with an improved Public Opinion to deal 
 with, will be able to proceed with legislation in peace and satis- 
 faction to himself and those for whom he labours. Editors of 
 the press will have an intelligent public to deal with, when their 
 shackles will fall off. The Clergy will be free men, making havoc of 
 every stronghold of Satan, and gathering around them a people who 
 will rise up and call them "blessed." The People will throw their 
 differences to the moles and bats, and henceforth live in peace and 
 goodwill with each other, with none to make them afraid. Such are 
 the glories of the New Eeformation ; and if the work is great, the 
 fruits to be gathered are still greater. 
 
 FINIS 
 
 PRINTED BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, EAEL'S COURT, LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 
 
 " We enjoy peace, order, wealth, and advancement in all material and social matters. 
 But let us beware. The whole world, old and new, tells us how soon all this may be 
 suddenly checked, thrown into ruin, and laid under clouds and darkness." — The Times, 
 August, 1861. 
 
 ESSAY No. 4. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SOLD BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, EARL'S COURT, 
 
 LEICESTER SQUARE. 
 
 1861. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 It has often been said, that without a Revolution or some external 
 aid, no nation is able to reform itself, and with one or two exceptions 
 in history the statement is universally true. The present being an 
 epoch when Revolution is widely spread, we may expect great changes 
 to result from it, but without external aid, as well as revolution, the 
 process of Reform will be as slow and imperfect as in former times. 
 
 It is with the object of supplying external aid, in the shape of counsel 
 and advice, that these Essays of the Reformation Society have been 
 written. Our purpose is to let all nations know that the good of one 
 nation produces the good of every other, and that by one nation re- 
 forming itself it assists others to do the same. In this way the present 
 time of revolution and change may be turned into a time of general 
 good — a result which will deliver the world from the mass of evil which 
 holds it in bondage. 
 
 The issue of all previous revolutions has been a mixture of good and 
 evil, and for that reason, new revolutions to correct the faults of the 
 former revolutions are called for. With the assistance of a definite 
 system of reform, applicable to all nations, these imperfections will be 
 remedied, and the result will be unmixed good. 
 
 In reviewing the present state of the world we shall begin with 
 England and America ; and having surveyed the condition of the 
 Anglo- Saxon race on both shores of the Atlantic, we shall cross the 
 Channel and portray the position of the various nations of Continental 
 Europe. The present extraordinary era of history is peculiarly 
 suitable for such a survey, for it presents a struggle between good and 
 evil, which was perhaps never before so general, or so strongly marked. 
 
 It is deplorable to witness the excited state of the nations, coupled 
 with the want of definite objects to direct the movements of the 
 contending factions into which every country is divided. The press, 
 instead of aiding us to arrive at the knowledge of what ought to be 
 done, only seems to perplex us. The vast magnitude of the interests at 
 stake is another source of difficulty ; for to cope with times like these 
 much study and reflection are wanted ; and few men unfortunately have 
 either the time or the inclination to fit themselves for the office of 
 public instructors. 
 
 As all parties are alike interested in producing the greatest possible 
 amount of good out of the revolutions now in progress, we trust our 
 motives in urging the necessary Reforms on public attention will be 
 appreciated. 
 
 25, Conduit Street, W. 
 
 London, 11th August, 1861. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 ESSAY No. 1.— Published February, 1861. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 General Preface . 1 
 
 Chap. I. — Opening Address of the Society, with a Draft of their proposed 
 
 Church Reform Bill 3 
 
 II. — The Protestant Churches, and how they are to he Reformed . 6 
 
 III. — The Catholic Churches, and how they are to he Reformed . 11 
 IV. — The Proposed New Articles of Religion to he substituted for 
 
 the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church . . . . .15 
 
 ESSAY No. 2.— April, 1861. 
 
 Chap. I. — Foreign Politics and the English Press 
 
 II. — Criticism on the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church 
 
 III. — The Errors of Calvinism 
 
 IV. — Revivalism and its Errors 
 
 V. — Free Libraries, and how they may be Supported 
 VI. — M. Cayla's Essay on the New Reformation 
 VII. — The New Reformation Society and its Progress 
 
 27 
 30 
 35 
 39 
 43 
 46 
 52 
 
 ESSAY No. 3.— June, 1861. 
 
 Chap. I. — The American Revolution, and the Reforms which are called for 61 
 II. — Mr. Spurgeon and Dr. Pusey. The Low Church and the 
 
 High Church 69 
 
 III. — The Ottoman Empire and its Destiny 75 
 
 IV.— The Papacy, and its Downfall 78 
 
 V.— The Objects of the New Reformation 82 
 
 ESSAY No. 4.— August, 1861. 
 
 Chap. I. — England, and a New Office to Centralise the Government . . 93 
 II. — Public Opinion Reduced to Principles. The Sixty-one Thesis 
 
 of the New Reformation 100 
 
 III. — The Kingdom of Italy, and how her Difficulties may be met . 109 
 
 IV. — Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and the Reforms that are necessary 112 
 
 V. — France and Napoleon III 115 
 
 VI. — The Civil War in America, and the basis of a General Peace 
 
 with the Southern States 118 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ENGLAND, AND GOVERNMENT REFORM. 
 
 America is like a ship at sea imperfectly equipped, which has been 
 rent in twain. From the first she was badly put together, and although 
 she continued to exist for a time, yet it was always under difficulties, 
 and now the inevitable crash has come. The great fault was the inde- 
 pendence of the individual states, and the want of a National Church. 
 By keeping the ship in compartments, opposing interests grew up ; 
 and by ignoring the religious wants of the people, conflicting opinions 
 prevailed in all the states to an extent unprecedented in any other 
 country ; and out of those two causes has the catastrophe come. 
 
 England reels under the shock of the American revolution. 
 Threatened as we are with the loss of a large portion of our trade 
 and manufactures, on which several millions of our population depend, 
 there is no wonder that grave fears for the future peace of the 
 country should be entertained. In these circumstances it becomes us 
 to set our house in order, so that we may meet any possible contingency 
 in the attitude of preparation. With this object in view, we shall 
 state what we think ought to be done to give new life to our govern- 
 ment, which has fallen into a semi-dead state. 
 
 If we are asked whether the country is prosperous or not, we answer, it 
 is not, for all classes complain more and more of the increasing hardness 
 of the times. But how can this be, in the face of a flourishing exchequer, 
 and increasing imports and exports ? Are not these tests of prosperity ? 
 Certainly not. The rapid increase of transactions often precedes ruin 
 and insolvency in private affairs, and that which damages the public inte- 
 rests fills the exchequer. The best test of prosperity is the experience 
 of the people themselves, and we ask the reader to go into any town, 
 large or small, or to any class of the people, and tell us where he does 
 not find an increasing amount of privation and suffering. To the slow 
 progress of reform must be attributed the cause of this suffering, and 
 in order to show how that should be, we give the following speech from 
 Mr. Palmer, the new Solicitor-General. 
 
 "It is for the advantage of a country that a government should be 
 reasonably strong. There are two kinds of conservatism — the one is 
 destructive, and the other common to all true liberals. The destructive 
 stands still, is selfish, advocates class privileges, thinks everything 
 as good as it should be, and dislikes all change. True conservatism 
 is Progress. That which is stationary goes to decay and dies ; that 
 which is progressive lives and grows. The progress of reform should 
 be constant and steady, for on that the prosperity of the nation depends." 
 — July, 1861. 
 
 It is admitted by all parties that our government as it now exists 
 is much too passive to meet the wants of modern civilization. Take 
 the state of the great metropolis as an example of our legislative 
 
94 ENGLAND. 
 
 capacity. London is provided with fine wide streets where there is 
 little traffic, and nothing better than lanes where the traffic is greatest. 
 Private interests rule everything, and the public interest nowhere ; and 
 that is the reason why London is not provided with streets, to the 
 eternal disgrace of our government. 
 
 Look at Parliament. There the mass of Bills are private Bills. 
 The public Bills are few, and those few of little or no importance. 
 Everything is left to private interests, and the public interests are 
 entirely sacrificed. In these circumstances there is no wonder that 
 evil and suffering abound more and more. The passive system can 
 be tolerated no longer, for if Parliament will not make the necessary 
 reforms, the nation will. Nature will take its own course in a way 
 which we may live to regret. 
 
 The passive system has always been the policy of England, but that 
 is no reason that it is right. The past history of England proves the 
 opposite, for what caused the civil wars and revolutions of England 
 but the want of reform. The want of reform causes disaffection and 
 treason, and that is the reason why all bad Governments are tyrannical — 
 want of reform being the cause, and tyranny the effect. Our statesmen 
 have been accustomed to look for great statistical results more than the 
 good of the people. Large imports and exports fill the exchequer, and 
 to short-sighted statesmen that is sufficient. But to benefit the few and 
 leave the many as ignorant and dependent as ever is not true states- 
 manship. The following remarks are from the London Correspondent 
 of the " New York Times." 
 
 "Parliament sits and talks with all the pertinacity of an American 
 Congress, and with not half its vivacity. Reform moves so slowly in 
 every branch, that it is impossible not to believe that at some not very 
 far distant day, some sudden shock will give a final impulse to popular 
 opinion, strong enough to break down in a moment all those vexatious 
 and unreasonable barriers which now impede free action and circulation 
 of blood in Church and State. This has been predicted so often, that 
 it seems mere folly to repeat it ; yet I am inclined to believe, from a 
 pretty long experience of Englishmen, that they regard some such 
 result as a mere question of time, and like Lord Palmerston, content 
 themselves with believing that the present state of things will last 
 their day." 
 
 These sentiments are certainly not very flattering to English states- 
 manship, but when we consult the speeches of the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, we find them fully confirmed. Here are the words of 
 Mr. Gladstone : — 
 
 "Mr. Gladstone had no hesitation in saying that this and other 
 circumstances of a like kind were entirely owing to the lamentable 
 and deplorable state of our whole arrangements with regard to the 
 management of public affairs. Vacillation, uncertainty, costliness, ex- 
 travagance, and all the conflicting vices that could be enumerated, were 
 united in the present system. There was a total want of authority to 
 direct and guide. When there was anything to be done, they had to go 
 from department to department, from the Executive to the House of 
 Commons, from the House of Commons to a Committee, from a Com- 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM. 95 
 
 mittee to a Commission, and from a Commission to a Committee, — so 
 years pass away, the public are disappointed, and the money of the 
 country is wasted. He believed that such were the evils of the system, 
 that nothing short of a revolutionary reform would ever be sufficient to 
 rectify them." 
 
 After these remarks from the Government itself we trust we shall 
 hear no more boasting of our incomparable Constitution and so forth. 
 The Americans boasted of their Constitution up to the hour of its dis- 
 ruption — let both nations come to reality, and they will have little to 
 boast of. The "London Review," a weekly journal lately established, 
 which, in its advocacy of sound principles, is second to none, has the 
 following remarks on Mr. Gladstone's speech : — 
 
 " But what sort of revolutionary reform ? for there's the rub. Tell 
 the country what is the remedy, and the country, we are certain, will 
 take it. The people would not stop short of revolution, if only it 
 could be made to see what revolution would do, how it would act as a 
 medicine, what precise effects might be expected from it. England has 
 already tried revolution, and found great good to come of it ; but then 
 it saw beforehand that the work which revolution would produce was 
 precisely an efficient cure. Revolution got rid of a tyrannical and in- 
 curable dynasty ; it put a better one on the throne, and the country 
 obtained a security which it had never before enjoyed. 
 
 " The true cause of the absence of responsibility in England is the 
 want of a master to whom the public servants are accountable. Mr. 
 Cobden accurately describes the French process. The Emperor wants 
 an efficient navy ; it is his own direct affair ; the advantages of a well, 
 and the losses of an ill-managed navy fall on him; and, consequently, 
 he chooses for Minister of Marine a man who is up to the work, and 
 will do it well. He selects him on just the same principle as a gentle- 
 man chooses his gardener, or a manufacturer his foreman. In England, 
 it is quite otherwise. A man is placed at the head of the various 
 departments, not because he has the ability and the knowledge to 
 qualify him to discharge the duties of those several departments, but 
 because he is a man of political weight. Hence the members of an 
 English Government never feel themselves really answerable for the 
 goodness or badness of the work done in their several offices." 
 
 The late Mr. Joseph Hume thought to remedy the evils of Govern- 
 ment by a new Electoral Reform Bill ; but, alas, we have no hope 
 that any new Parliament would be better than the one we have got. 
 To offer the people votes instead of good legislation will deceive them 
 no longer. The people have at last discovered that that is offering 
 them a stone when they ask for bread ; of which the indifference 
 which the people now display towards reform agitations is the evi- 
 dence. 
 
 The remedy which we propose for our passive Government is the 
 creation of a new office — to supervise and control the whole. Nature 
 is a unity as well as a collection of parts, and if we either allow the 
 parts to be lost in the whole, or the whole to be lost in the parts, we 
 offend the laws of nature and produce evil and distortion. It is the 
 same with a Government. Centralization is as necessary to good 
 
96 ENGLAND. 
 
 Government as division, and the new office we propose will supply 
 the want of centralization. 
 
 The new office may be called the Board of Public Bills. It would 
 be presided over by the Premier who would be responsible for its acts. 
 The duties of this Board would comprise the following, — 1st, to take 
 the initiative in all reforms, and to prepare the necessary Bills to carry 
 them out. 2nd, to receive reports from the other departments of 
 government ; and 3rd, to report its proceedings weekly or monthly as 
 might be necessary ; these reports to be published as soon as they are 
 ready. The Board of Customs and Inland Revenue would report on 
 the state of their accounts, and at the same time point out any improve- 
 ments they might desire. The War Office and the Naval Board would 
 report on the state of their accounts, and what reforms they wish. In 
 this way would the whole public affairs of the nation be brought 
 into one focus, when the wants of the country would be properly 
 attended to. 
 
 If we are told that what we ask is already in operation, for the 
 Cabinet Council controls the whole Government, we answer, the 
 Cabinet is practically an irresponsible body. Its transactions are not 
 published, and as it consists of a number of members, it is impossible 
 to say who is responsible for its acts. If it be said that the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer is responsible for the expenditure of the 
 country, we answer, that he exercises no control over the other 
 departments, and is, therefore, not responsible for what they do. 
 
 We have an Attorney and a Solicitor-General to attend to the legal 
 and judicial interests of the nation, but no officer to attend to its 
 legislative interests, which are of much greater importance ; and it is 
 to supply that want, that we have proposed a Public Bill Office. This 
 is not a revolutionary measure, and if it is adopted, there will be no 
 occasion for the organic changes which Mr. Gladstone thinks necessary. 
 What makes the French Government superior to ours ? but that it has 
 the Emperor to control the whole, and propose the necessary reforms ; 
 and with the new office, our system will be as perfect and complete as 
 the French system. 
 
 With the Public Bill Office in operation, everybody will know what 
 is doing, and if acknowledged abuses are not met by the introduction of 
 the necessary Bills, we shall know who is to blame. The resources 
 of England and the Colonies will be vastly encreased, and the expenses 
 of the nation reduced, which will enable us to get rid of burdensome 
 taxation. In this way will the government fulfil its great mission of 
 producing good and reducing evil. 
 
 The cost of the army and navy is about thirty millions sterling per 
 annum. We are satisfied that when responsibility has been introduced 
 into the system in the manner we propose, that this vast expenditure 
 may be reduced at the very least one third. This great saving will be 
 effected without reducing the pay of the men or the officers, — nor will 
 the strength of either service be reduced by one man. The saving will 
 arise solely from better management ; and even after the expenditure 
 on the army and navy is reduced to twenty millions, that sum will still 
 exceed what the French spend on their army and navy. 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM. 97 
 
 With the ten millions of saving, and other savings which we could 
 name, we propose entirely to abolish the tax on tea, and the tax on 
 income. These are the taxes which press severely on the people ; and 
 large as the revenue derived from these sources is, yet the proposed 
 Government Reform will enable us to abolish them root and branch. 
 The relief from the pressure of these burdensome taxes will be great 
 beyond conception — and we call on the people of England to send up 
 their Petitions to Parliament, so that our proposal may be carried 
 without delay. 
 
 If the night work of the Houses of Parliament could be got rid of, 
 it would be a great improvement. With day work instead of night 
 work, which is quite unworthy of an enlightened age, we shall have 
 more business and less speaking. Another discouragement to talking 
 would be given if Editors would abridge the speeches in their journals. 
 Why fill up the papers with long speeches, which not one in a hundred 
 ever look at ? 
 
 Presuming that the Government and Parliament will be reformed 
 in the manner we have pointed out, the question arises, how are such 
 sweeping reforms to be put into operation, for we might easily waste 
 several ordinary sessions on the discussion of such questions. To this 
 we answer, let a short session be called this winter for the special 
 purpose of carrying out the proposed reforms, and for laying down a 
 new set of " Standing Orders " for the Houses of Parliament. When 
 that is done, Parliament will enter on its new duties without loss 
 of time. 
 
 An important debate in the House of Lords, on Lord Ebury's proposal 
 to reform the Liturgy of the Church, has just taken place, and as it 
 shows that the Lords are disposed to entertain the question, we give 
 the following extracts. 
 
 " The fatal and revengeful Act of Charles II. was passed in the year 
 1662 ; next year will be the 200th anniversary, and he (Lord Ebury) 
 trusted their lordships would feel sincere pleasure in substituting for 
 it something more in harmony with the Christianity of our age. 
 (Hear, hear.) " 
 
 The Bishop of London said : — 
 
 " The noble lord (Lord Ebury) presses the necessity of a General 
 Revision of the Liturgy. Now, that course has only been taken at 
 a period of Revolution. When the Church recovered from the convul- 
 sion into which it was thrown at the time of the Reformation, there 
 was, of course, a General Revision. When Charles II. was restored 
 after the Commonwealth, and again when James II. was compelled to 
 leave the throne, there was a General Revision of the Liturgy. It 
 seemed out of the question to propose a General Revision of the whole 
 Liturgy of the Church of England at a time like the present. As to 
 the terms of subscription, it was of great importance that the public 
 should not suppose them to be more rigid than they really were. His 
 impression was, that a man who conscientiously believed the Church of 
 England to be the Church in which he wished to live and die, and who 
 was not more attached to any other form of Christianity than to the 
 
98 ENGLAND. 
 
 Church of England, might fairly and safely make the subscriptions." 
 —■July 22nd, 1861. 
 
 The present times present a striking resemblance to the times to 
 which Lord Ebury has referred, just two hundred years ago. The year 
 1662 saw the Conformity Bill of Charles II. passed, when two thousand 
 Clergymen seceded from the Church. Four years later (1666), the Great 
 Plague and fire of London took place ; and two years after that calamity 
 (1688), came the Great Revolution, which placed William III. on the 
 throne. Let our Parliament consider these things, befere it rejects the 
 Reforms of the Church which are now called for. 
 
 Let us remind the Bishop of London that to refuse reform in the 
 present circumstances of the Church and the country is to encourage a 
 Revolution, for it is not by refusing reforms, but by submitting to them, 
 that Revolutions can be prevented. We trust one of the first acts 
 of the new Bill Office will be, to lay the Church Reform Bill of our 
 Society on the table of the House of Lords, and then the Bishops 
 will not have to complain that they do not know the precise nature of 
 the reforms which are demanded by the people. The speech of the 
 Bishop of London is sufficiently liberal to induce us to hope that he 
 will give us his powerful support in the House of Lords next session. 
 
 The voluntary controversy which begun in 1834, has unfortunately 
 divided this country almost equally between two great factions — 
 the aristocrats and the democrats. No writers have arisen to throw 
 light on this great controversy ; the consequence has been that the 
 nation is divided, and the question remains as unsettled as when it first 
 began. We have endeavoured to hold the scales of justice equally 
 balanced between those great factions, and by producing a system at 
 once conservative and liberal, we receive support from all parties. 
 
 The voluntary principle is the absence of legislation, which is a 
 step in the direction of nature. Let every one do as he likes, let there 
 be no articles of belief, no national church, no national school, and all 
 will go right. That is the language of the voluntary principle ; but 
 when we look to the other side of the Atlantic, where the voluntary 
 principle has been tried and failed, we find that instead of everything 
 going right, everything goes wrong. It is clear that if everyone is 
 to do as he likes there can be no government, and no liberty ; and as 
 those are essential to our well-being we cannot follow that course. 
 What has given strength to the voluntary movement has been the 
 error of their opponents in keeping up the abuses of the Church and 
 the State; but let these be removed, and the cry for no Church and no 
 Articles will pass away. We say it is the want of reform in the 
 Church and the State which creates discord and disaffection. Let that 
 want be supplied and disunited England will again be united. 
 
 The degree of Intelligence and Public Spirit in any country may 
 always be tested by the amount of moral courage it possesses. Now 
 where are we to look for moral courage ? Our statesmen and members 
 of Parliament immediately abandon any public measure the moment 
 they descry the symptoms of opposition. It is the same with the Press 
 — for they will notice nothing that will displease any of their readers. 
 Here we see the reason why Good makes no progress, and why Evil 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM. 99 
 
 superabounds. Of Moral Courage, there is none, and as for Pnblic 
 Spirit, that has long ceased to animate the hearts of any portion of the 
 community with which we are acquainted. This selfish spirit is the 
 natural consequence of a system of government which is not based on 
 " responsibility ; " but when that evil is remedied, public spirit will 
 revive, and Civilization will go on prosperously. 
 
 We shall conclude with some remarks on the slave question, in 
 which England as well as America is interested. The nations which 
 still hold slaves are the following : — 
 
 The United States have ... 4,000,000 slaves. 
 
 Brazil 3,000,000 „ 
 
 Cuba 1,000,000 „ 
 
 Dr. Mc'Clintock, in a speech at the anniversary of American Inde- 
 pendance, held in London, the other day, says : — 
 
 " They had 20,000,000 of people on one side, and 8,000,000 on the 
 other. A great man had said, ' a single man, with God on his side, was 
 a majority against the world.' They were 20,000,000 with God on 
 their side, fighting for the constitution, for freedom, and for justice." 
 
 These words from a minister of the Gospel when he knows that his 
 countrymen are not sincere in their professions of liberty to the African, 
 are something astounding. The insincerity of the North is proved 
 beyond doubt by what is going on in Virginia. Numbers of the slaves 
 have deserted their owners, and taken refuge in the camp of the North, 
 now in Virginia. Instead of at once emancipating these slaves, the 
 Washington government has received them as so many goods and 
 chattels, and reserve them in bondage, to be delivered up to their 
 owners when peace is declared. While the South is honest in a wrong 
 thing, the North is dishonest in a right thing. 
 
 No longer will Europe listen to the excuse so often made, that the 
 Free States have no power to liberate the slaves, for now that they have 
 the power they refuse to free them. How can the North hope to retain 
 the respect of Europe when she professes one thing and does another? 
 How can Dr. Mc'Clintock say that God is on the side of the North, 
 when the North thus acts the hypocrite ? No ! his countrymen must 
 first act up to their professions, before they can be accepted by Him to 
 whom they appeal. 
 
 Until slavery is abolished the slave trade must continue, and it sur- 
 prises us beyond measure that Wilberforce and Brougham, who so nobly 
 procured the abolition of the slave* trade, should not have gone to the 
 root of the evil, by abolishing slavery itself. What these reformers 
 feared to touch, is now to be swept away by the hand of dire necessity, 
 and we shall see what a mass of blood and treasure it will cost the 
 world to do it. Neither President Lincoln nor President Davis can 
 stop the march of emancipation now, and we trust the people will 
 consider this, and set themselves right with Europe by encouraging 
 the great work of emancipation. Let America take the initiative, and 
 Cuba and Brazil will follow, and the traffic in human flesh will forthwith 
 come to an end. 
 
100 PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PUBLIC OPINION REDUCED TO PRINCIPLES. 
 
 " The faith of the nation is by no means a perfect thing. Its practical 
 basis is habit and custom, more than reason. It is apt to be more loud 
 and clamorous than it has any right to be ; it assumes its own earnest- 
 ness to be much greater than it is ; it likes controversy, quarrelling, and 
 disputing ; it is wanting in fairness, it will not listen, it will speak, and 
 not always decorously ; it is abusive, it imputes motives, it calls names/' 
 — Times, July, 1861. 
 
 Such is a pretty accurate report of the Religion and Public Opinion 
 of England, and if we could describe the erroneous action, in politics as 
 well as in religion, which that unsatisfactory state of things produces, 
 we should indicate the precise cause of all the evils which afflict society. 
 It is, however, neither possible nor desirable that we should go into these 
 particulars. It is enough if we can show how this chaotic state of 
 Public Opinion can be reduced to principles, for then the evils arising 
 from chaos and disorder in the public mind will, for the most part, dis- 
 appear. It has all along been said that, sooner or later, the world must 
 come to principles, and we hope we do not take an over sanguine view 
 of the future, when we say that that time has now come. 
 
 The reader will now have an opportunity of interrogating us on our 
 principles. Nothing can bring peace, either at home or abroad, but the 
 triumph of principles, for such is the only remedy for erroneous thinking 
 and acting. Much evil and misery exists in the world, and to reduce 
 that, we must go back to its cause, for nothing is to be done by attacking 
 evil itself. It will be our object, therefore, to attack the causes of evil, 
 not evil itself. By treating of principles, and these alone, we hope to 
 produce a Science of Morals which will be able successfully to contend 
 with evil and misery in all their endless variety of forms. 
 
 It is usual to hear writers take credit to themselves for avoiding 
 Religion and Politics in their books ; now that which others pass over, 
 we shall boldly grapple with, for that is the only way of improving the 
 world, and expelling evil from it. What are Religion and Politics but 
 the causes of action, and unless we can improve these, we can do 
 nothing. 
 
 If the answers which we are now to offer are found to be good and 
 true, they will be like pure water in a dry and thirsty land ; and if they 
 are false, they will still be useful, for they will force the reader to think, 
 and to discover truth to refute them. In any case, therefore, we promise 
 
REDUCED TO PRINCIPLES. 101 
 
 that the reader will not spend his valuable time in vain over these 
 pages. Let us begin. 
 
 1. What is God? — God is a Spirit, perfect in Goodness, Justice, 
 and Truth. The perfection of God in all His attributes is a necessary- 
 truth, and that is the proper test of all the doctrines of Theology. 
 
 2. What is the nature of God ? — Prior to creation there would be 
 no worlds, no gravitation, no motion, nothing but God and space, His 
 essential attribute, would exist. The elements of matter being latent in 
 space, all that was wanted to produce creation was the will and act of 
 God. God possesses a double nature : the one nature being material, 
 filling all space ; and the other spiritual, animating and governing the 
 material nature. Now if the one nature acts on the other, we at once 
 discover a power adequate, not only to call nature into being, but to 
 sustain and govern it ever after. Intelligence being found in man, that 
 faculty, only in an infinitely greater degree, must be ascribed to the 
 Creator. It is therefore not a speculation to infer that there must be 
 an intellectual nature as well as a material nature, in the Divine 
 existence. 
 
 3. Is God all-powerful ? — All things which are not contrary to God's 
 own nature are possible with Him. It is this necessary limitation which 
 gives rise to evil. 
 
 4. Is Reason God ? — Certainly not. Reason is a principle, devoid 
 of personality, and although it partakes of the Divine nature in a pre- 
 eminent degree, it is not God himself. 
 
 5. Where is the proof that God is a person and not a principle ? — 
 The world abounds with the evidence of purpose, and that involves 
 intelligence, foresight, and will, as well as power. We therefore con- 
 clude that our Maker is a Personal Being, and not a mere principle, as 
 the sceptics say. 
 
 6. Your reply does not quite satisfy me. — We shall give you another. 
 The omnipresence of God is the proof that God is not a mere principle, 
 for where a substance is there is more than a principle. — See "Phi- 
 losophy of Civilization," ch. 1 and 2. 
 
 7. Has the promised time come when all are to know the Lord ? — 
 The new reformation of religion will certainly go far to accomplish the 
 fulfilment of that sublime prophecy. The Church will now be placed 
 on a basis to admit of progress, which is not the case at present, and 
 that opens up a field of knowledge, as yet scarcely entered on, which 
 will in time produce the fulfilment of the prophecy. 
 
 8. What practical effect will the discovery of God to perfection have 
 on Religion, and on the destiny of the human race? — All theology 
 depends on our knowledge and conceptions of God, and as our know- 
 ledge of God advances, so will our well-being advance. Darkness and 
 Delusion being the great causes of evil, it follows that evil will decline 
 as the knowledge of God and His works advances, showing how 
 extremely important is the discovery of God. 
 
 9. What is the method of the Divine Government ? — God governs 
 the world, not by direct acts, but by indirect action through the medium 
 of nature. Nature being the creation of God, every natural result may 
 be said to be the indirect act of God. 
 
102 PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 10. What is a Miracle ? — All special acts of God out of the course 
 of nature are miracles, whether these acts affect external nature or the 
 inner man. Miracles are therefore of two kinds, spiritual and material, 
 and the miracles of the bible are of both descriptions. 
 
 11. You believe in Scripture miracles, but not in modern miracles ; 
 but where is the proof of the former ? — There is no other proof beyond 
 the records of the bible, and these are well authenticated documents. 
 
 12. Have there been no miracles, either external or internal, since 
 the canon of Scripture was closed ? — We have no evidence of any such, 
 and as miracles are an exception to a general rule, we are bound to 
 reject belief in modern miracles without sufficient evidence. 
 
 13. The "Essays and Reviews" deny miracles — what is the diffe- 
 rence between that movement and yours? — The "Essays and Reviews" 
 deny scripture miracles and accept modern miracles. Our movement 
 is the opposite — for, while we accept scripture miracles, we deny modern 
 miracles. 
 
 14. What is Man?— Man consists of two natures — a normal and a 
 progressive nature. The first we call nature, the last civilization. Be- 
 fore the spirit of truth begins to operate, man is all nature, and when 
 principle enters, he is a combination of Nature and Civilization. 
 
 15. Then God creates man devoid of Reason, and afterwards allows 
 him to gather that principle (aided by revelation) out of his ex- 
 perience ? — Exactly so. Man is born in the want of original righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 16. What is the cause of Evil? — All unavoidable evil may be traced 
 to one original source, viz : the impossibility of God doing anything 
 contrary to his own nature. God cannot make two and two to be 
 five, — he cannot do two things which are contrary, and so forth. These 
 are impossible alike to God and Man. For instance, it is impossible for 
 God to make the wind blow east and west at the same time and in the 
 same area of space. 
 
 17. Then God could not give Righteousness originally to Man? — We 
 are not prepared to say that, but this we do say, that God could not 
 create original intelligence consistently with his purpose of creating 
 intelligences out of the experience of the world. 
 
 18. Is not Man a fallen creature? — The history of Man is this: 
 after many ups and downs, he has made progress in civilization from 
 the low condition in which was at first created. There is no evidence 
 either in history or in nature of any fall. 
 
 19. But how do you account for the barrenness of external nature ? 
 — Unless nature had required the work of Man's hands, Man could not 
 have made progress in knowledge and civilization. 
 
 20. But do we not read of a Fall in the book of Genesis? — That is 
 merely an allegory to teach us that originally 'Man was devoid of 
 righteousness, and that it was his de'stiny to rise above that primitive 
 condition. 
 
 21. But where is the proof that the account of the Fall is an allegory, 
 and not the account of an actual Fall ? — The test of God's Perfection 
 in Goodness and Power is the proof. If we take the account of the 
 Fall in its literal sense, we rob God of his attributes of Goodness and 
 
REDUCED TO PRINCIPLES. 103 
 
 Power,— for in allowing Satan to ruin Man, and in cursing Man for 
 Satan's work, neither Goodness nor Power can be ascribed to God. 
 
 22. But what injury can it do to believe in an actual Fall ? It is 
 pleasant to think that God or the Devil is accountable for the faults of 
 Man, and why then seek to change that belief? — The injury is simply 
 ..this — that belief in Original Sin takes away all belief in Man's capacity 
 for self-improvement. Original Sin says that Man is incapable of doing 
 anything good — a statement which is opposed to fact, for we know from 
 experience and history that Man is actually capable of improvement. To 
 believe in Original Sin, is the essence of scepticism, for it is disbelief in 
 Man's capacity. 
 
 23. Your doctrine tends to raise Man in self-esteem, but I would 
 rather keep him down. — You wish to keep Man down, thinking thereby 
 to gratify your own self-love. If that is not the motive, I cannot dis- 
 cover the reason why you should wish to deprive Man of that which 
 actually belongs to him. It is not humility, but pride which dictates 
 such feelings. 
 
 24. Why do the clergy persist in the doctrine of Original Sin, when 
 it is opposed to belief in a perfect God. — Original Sin is a convenient 
 doctrine by which any possible error may be excused and supported. 
 
 25. You believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are only 
 one God manifested in different aspects. — Yes. To believe in three 
 separate persons, is to believe in a plurality of Gods, which is a return 
 to Heathenism. 
 
 26. Why does the Church hold the contradictory doctrine of three 
 separate persons in one God? — All the erroneous doctrines of Religion 
 receive support from the idea of God being one, and at the same time 
 three, which is an absolute impossibility alike to God and man. 
 
 27. There is a wide difference between your doctrine of Natural 
 Grace and the Church doctrine of Miraculous Grace, and I should like 
 to know who is to decide between you. — The Church holds that 
 Miracles have ceased since the time of the Apostles, consequently we 
 must reject the idea of miraculous grace, for if miracles have ceased, 
 of course there can be no Miraculous Grace. 
 
 28. Your conclusion is perfectly logical, and I begin to see my 
 way through the controversy. To restore belief in miracles still going 
 on is quite out of the question, for that is opposed to all experience. — 
 Do not misunderstand us. Our doctrine stated correctly is this. " While 
 the Gospel is miraculous in its origin, its effect on the soul is natural" 
 
 29. I understand you perfectly. The Gospel is of miraculous 
 origin, and its effect on the soul is natural. Nothing can be more 
 scriptural or more satisfactory to all who wish to know the truth. — 
 You have now accepted the great doctrine of the New Reformation. 
 
 30. Then the Doctrines of Original Sin and Miraculous Grace, are 
 the chief doctrines to which you object. — They are; and until these 
 doctrines are given up there can be no progress in morals or religion, 
 nor can there be any reduction of sin and misery in the world. 
 
 31. You say that Man is a responsible Being. Can you define the 
 limits of that responsibility ? — Yes. The thoughts, words, and actions 
 come from Man, and for these he is responsible. 
 
104 PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 32. That is a sweeping statement. How do you know that God 
 does not influence the thoughts and acts of man ? — We can only say 
 that if God interfered with our thoughts and actions, Man would not 
 be a responsible being, for in that case, the acts of Man would in 
 reality be the acts of God. 
 
 33. I have been accustomed to believe that God gives me my good 
 thoughts and the Devil my bad thoughts. — That is a primitive idea 
 which only proves that you have not considered the subject. If God 
 and the Devil dictate your thoughts and actions, you are a mere machine. 
 
 34. Has man a Free Will ? — Naturally man has no Free Will, for 
 in a state of nature he is the slave of his feelings and the sport of 
 circumstances. The moment reason begins to operate, a Free- Will 
 begins. 
 
 35. That is a new doctrine, and I should like you to explain it. — 
 Let the reader try " to give in," on a point of dispute, when he sees he 
 is wrong. The moment he can do that he will be a free man — and 
 one more Free Will will be added to the world. — See "Philosophy of 
 Civilization." Chap. 12. 
 
 36. But what do you make of Predestination. — Every man is born 
 a Predestinarian. It is only with the advance of intelligence within, 
 that man begins to discover that he is capable of choosing and willing, 
 independent of all causes. 
 
 37. Is Man good or bad naturally ? — As a means to an end, Man is 
 good. He is created capable of rising to a degree of perfection which 
 is beyond the power of the mind to conceive ; and, that being so, we 
 are entitled to say that he is created good. Because land in a state of 
 nature, or badly farmed, brings forth weeds, you would not say that the 
 land is bad, but only that it wants culture. The want of proper culture 
 is the reason why Man has not yet arrived at his destined state of 
 perfection. 
 
 38. Your recognition of the great principles of Free Will and 
 Responsibility gives a much larger range to Religion than was ever 
 contemplated by Luther or Calvin. — Yes, the object of the New Refor- 
 mation is to elevate and enlarge Religion, and in so doing we shall raise 
 man's position and enlarge his soul. Man is the heir of eternity, and 
 our desire is to see him take a position worthy of his high calling. 
 
 39. Will not raising Man have the practical effect of lowering God? 
 — No. By raising Man we shall exalt God, and glorify our Maker. 
 
 40. But if God does not interfere with the thoughts and acts of 
 Man, where are we to look for the acts of God? — 1st. — In the wonderful 
 upholding of the whole system of nature in undiminished vigour and 
 beauty. 2nd. — In the gift of the appointed fruits of our hands whether 
 in the garden of the soul or in the field of the husbandman, for there 
 we witness the finger of God continually at work. We must look 
 without, and not within, if we wish to discover the hand of God. 
 
 41. Is Religion progressive as well as everything else? — Certainly. 
 The Bible does not change, but the capacity of Man to understand it 
 does change, — it therefore follows, that Religion, both natural and 
 revealed, is progressive. 
 
 42. Is History progressive? — Yes. The events of History do not 
 
REDUCED TO PRINCIPLES. 105 
 
 change, but Man's capacity to interpret these events does change, show- 
 ing that History, like Theology, is a progressive science. 
 
 43. The Religion of the New Reformation is pre-eminently a Reli- 
 gion of Belief? — Yes. The Church as it now stands is a Sceptical 
 Church, because it ignores Man's capacity. All ages of improvement 
 have been ages of Belief, and we trust Belief will speedily become the 
 characteristic of the extraordinary age in which we live. 
 
 44. What is a Religious reformation ? — That is only another word 
 for Christianity. Christianity means regeneration, or being born again, 
 and that is reformation. Christ is the means, Reformation the end. 
 To deny the possibility of a Reformation is to deny Christ and his work, 
 and to go back to the beggarly elements of scepticism. 
 
 We shall now pause for a moment to give time for reflection. To 
 those who confine their reading to the Bible, or to one particular class 
 of books, the principles we have arrived at will appear novel ; but to 
 those who read all sides of a question, it will be otherwise; and we trust 
 our readers will weigh and consider each question on its own merits, 
 and not reject anything merely because it appears new to them. Dr. 
 Arnold says, " He who reads deeply in one class of books, only gets 
 views which are almost sure to be perverted. If I have a confident 
 opinion on any one thing in connection with the human mind, it is on 
 this." The order of progress of all minds is this. We begin with the 
 knowledge of isolated facts, which is the state of childhood. The first 
 step towards manhood is to put two and two together, and in this way 
 we go on, connecting one thing with another until all knowledge is gene- 
 ralized. The mind is now furnished and filled up — the character is 
 formed. 
 
 It is generally imagined that men like novelty, but never was a 
 greater mistake. The mind is naturally indolent, and does not like to 
 be disturbed by anything new which requires thinking, and that is 
 doubtless the reason why men dislike anything which is really new. 
 This is one of the greatest barriers we know to the progress of truth, 
 and we mention it that our readers may be prepared against the tendency 
 of the mind to object to truths merely because they are new. A thing 
 may be true, whether it be new or old, and we ask our readers to judge 
 of every statement on its own merits, and without reference to any 
 other consideration whatever. 
 
 It is well known that it is useless to quote texts of scripture in 
 support of any opinion, for these may be selected to support almost any 
 possible opinion. It is in consequence of this that we have studiously 
 avoided the use of texts; and if the reader wishes to overcome error 
 and prejudice in his own mind, he must not trouble himself with texts 
 of scripture until he has first learned how to select them. We must 
 first compare the books of the Bible w T ith each other, and ascertain what 
 the Gospel message is, and having done that, we may then use the Bible 
 without the certainty of perverting it. The present chapter ought to 
 be a good preparation to the study of the Bible, from its bringing under 
 review many principles which are essential to the right understanding 
 of scripture, which would not otherwise occur to the mind. 
 
 To select texts in an arbitrary manner, and not upon principle, is 
 
 B 
 
106 PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 certain to produce a contradictory creed, and that is the cause why 
 the creeds of all the Churches are more or less contradictory. We 
 must use our reasoning powers in discovering the truth of the Bible, as 
 well as the truth of science. 
 
 45. Having discussed the theology of the new reformation, I am 
 anxious to know something of its political creed. To open this 
 matter, I ask what is the object of Government? — The great object of 
 all governments is, or ought to be, the production of Good, and 
 the reduction of Evil. 
 
 46. Where is your authority for assigning so wide a range of 
 operations to Government? — Political economy we are happy to say 
 does not depend on authority. The experience of the wants of man 
 is the best of all authorities, and to that we appeal. 
 
 47. Then an enlightened Government is bound to see to the 
 instruction of the people as well as to their material wants? — Yes; to 
 attend to the one and neglect the other, is like making bricks without 
 straw. 
 
 48. There can be no doubt you are right. There must be a 
 National Church and a National School, the one to instruct adults, 
 and the other children, if there is to be any liberty and good govern- 
 ment. — Yes, every nation stands in need of religious and educational 
 institutions quite as much as houses of parliament and courts of justice. 
 To attempt to govern a people who are not under the influence of truth 
 and principle, or who are under the power of ignorance and delusion, 
 except by brute force, is utterly futile. 
 
 49. How do evils in a state like England or America show them- 
 selves ? — Revolutions, Civil Wars, Commercial Distress, and Monetary 
 Panics are the outbreaks of the accumulated evils of modern times. 
 
 50. Why do you prefer the Monarchical form of government to the 
 Republican form ? — Simply because republics have been tried in all 
 ages, and have always failed, while kingdoms have generally succeeded. 
 
 51. Can you explain the Italian affair? — Cavour's idea was to unite 
 all Italy under one government, and Napoleon went to Italy to help 
 the Count to carry out his idea; but our idea is something much greater. 
 Cavour's idea is nothing without our idea superadded ; for the Church 
 must be reformed as well as the state. The Reformation of Queen 
 Elizabeth left the Church unreformed, and the result was the wars of 
 the Stuarts which desolated England for 150 years. And so it will 
 be with Italy if they allow despotism to reign in the Church, and 
 liberty in the State. These conflicting elements are certain to produce 
 civil war and revolution. 
 
 52. Why has the idea of a National Church been so little acted on in 
 the world ? — Simply because of the difficulties of finding a standard 
 of belief on which to base it. 
 
 53. Do you think the New Articles of Belief published by the 
 Reformation Society, a standard which will be generally acceptable ? — 
 We do ; and it is with the object of explaining that standard that we 
 have treated so largely of Theology in these Essays. 
 
 54. I grant that if every man was endowed with the faculty of 
 knowing truth, that it would be easy to reform the world and expel 
 
REDUCED TO PRINCIPLES. 107 
 
 evil from it. — Essay No. 2 goes into that question very fully, and 
 demonstrates that man actually possesses that faculty. " The soul is 
 the perceiver and revealer of truth, let sceptics and scoffers say what 
 they please." To ask what truth is, is like a man who asks what a 
 principle is. It is sufficient to know and acknowledge its existence, 
 and feel its effects on our thoughts and actions. 
 
 55. Explain the difference between a Revolution and a Reformation 
 — A Revolution is the upturning of all things, and a Reformation is the 
 re-formation of the elements of civilization into a new and better 
 order of things. 
 
 56. Can there not be a Reformation without a Revolution ? — History 
 rarely furnishes examples of such. The Reform Bill of 1832, which 
 was carried without a Revolution, is an instance. People naturally 
 dislike all real reforms, and it is not until necessity presses hard, that 
 they will consent to sacrifice their prejudices and customs on the altar 
 of truth and the public good. 
 
 57. Must England pass through the agonies of a revolution before 
 she can have a reformation? — We hope not. The experience of 1832 
 and 1846 show that England had strength sufficient to effect great 
 reforms without the impulse of a revolution. 
 
 58. Would not a legalized^ Code of Articles take away that liberty 
 which you intend to give? — No. The right of Private Judgment 
 will be distinctly recognized by the new Articles, and that being so, 
 the interests of all parties will be protected. 
 
 59. You think you have only to propose the right thing, and all 
 will accept it. — Yes ; we believe in man's capacity to accept truth when 
 it is fairly placed before him. Without faith in man's capacity we 
 could do nothing, but with that faith we can remove mountains of 
 difficulties. 
 
 60. Where do you get all this faith in Man ? — It is by looking below 
 the surface of things, and applying the proper remedy to the actual 
 disease. By treating of the causes of evil, and not of evil itself, we 
 may be said to penetrate below the surface. 
 
 61. You teach men to reform their opinions, in the hope they 
 will conform their actions to their new opinions. — Yes ; give a man 
 right ideas, and he will go right. All experience proves this, for prac- 
 tice, for the most part, follows precept. Belief produces motive, and 
 motive produces action, consequently action is good or bad, as belief 
 is the one or the other. Precept and practice stand in the relation of 
 cause and effect. 
 
 Should we be told the effect of these discussions must produce a 
 revolution on the Mind, and that a mental revolution is the forerunner 
 of a political revolution, we answer, that a revolution in the right 
 direction is peace. The experience we have had of the present 
 movement proves this beyond all question. Not one answer has 
 appeared to any of these Essays. What is still more encouraging 
 not one journal has applied names to us, which is a new feature in 
 religious controversy. We have no wish to boast, but we should be 
 ungrateful indeed, if we did not take this opportunity of making our 
 acknowledgments. 
 
 b 2 
 
108 PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 The great difficulty we have to contend with, is indifference. All 
 belief in good seems to be fairly rooted out of the mind, and until we 
 actually force men to read, it is impossible to get them to take any 
 interest in the reformation, for they have no belief in its possibility. 
 Everything is sacrificed to private interest, and when the public interest 
 is spoken of, it produces no response until men are induced to consider 
 the subject. We have been taught from childhood to disbelieve in a 
 reformation, and it is a lesson we have learned most thoroughly. Indif- 
 ference and want of belief are no doubt great trials to all reformers, but 
 patience and perseverance will overcome every difficulty. 
 
 Not many years ago it was said that England and Scotland could 
 never be connected by rail owing to the mountains which intervened, 
 but now we have three or four lines of communication. The same has 
 been said of a Reformation. Mountains have been raised above moun- 
 tains to stop the way, but at last all these mountains have been de- 
 molished, and the road is open. What remains is to go in and possess 
 the land. 
 
 Macaulay complains that the ancients never examined the foundations 
 of their knowledge, and for that reason they could make no progress 
 beyond a certain point, and lost all. The moderns have committed 
 the same error, for until now, the foundations of our knowledge have 
 never been examined. We have only been working on the surface, 
 and for that reason we have made no progress. Physical science makes 
 progress, but what is that, without a corresponding advance in moral 
 science. The one progress, without the other, only increases the 
 schism in the body politic, and instead of removing evil, it encreases 
 it. If moral science is now reformed all things will combine to 
 regenerate and perfect the world. The ancients were not reformers, 
 and for that reason civilization perished; but, if we become reformers, 
 civilization shall live and prosper. 
 
 The search after truth is finished, and in looking back on the 
 numerous new opinions proposed, let us ask what is the prominent 
 feature which overtops every thing else. It is the idea of a National 
 Church. A national church based on true principles is the panacea 
 for modern civilization. That is our "idea," and if the nations adopt 
 it, they will find in it the sure and certain remedy for the evils of 
 anarchy, oppression, and despotism under which they groan. Those 
 who would cure evil, by using a less effectual remedy will only be 
 disappointed. They may in that way, remove one evil by taking in 
 another, but that is not a cure, for until the causes of evil are removed, 
 evil remains. 
 
 We have now completed our design of reducing Public Opinion to 
 true and well defined principles. If we are asked why our writings 
 partake so much of the theological character, we answer that all princi- 
 ples are necessarily theological. They who treat of politics apart from 
 principle only skim the surface of things. On entering on his great 
 work of the first Reformation, Luther posted his sixty-four thesis on the 
 church doors of Wittengen, and in giving forth the thesis of the second 
 reformation, we trust the cause of truth may have free course and 
 govern the world. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF ITALY. 109 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF ITALY. 
 
 Mazzini held Rome for three months in 1848, and what was the result 
 but the restoration of the Pope ? Was the reason of this unfortunate 
 issue the act of the French in taking possession of the city of Rome, 
 or the act of Mazzini, in refusing to reform the Church ? We say it 
 was the fault of Mazzini, and not the fault of the French. Mazzini con- 
 tented himself with expelling the Jesuits, and opening the Inquisition 
 buildings to public inspection, and left the Papal system unreformed and 
 unchanged. If a single honest reformer had been there to have fore- 
 told what would be the result of this short-sighted policy, Italy would 
 have been freed twelve years ago. 
 
 Mazzini lost one of the finest opportunities that ever was placed at 
 the feet of mortal man, to deliver the world from the tyranny of the 
 priesthood, but allowed the golden opportunity to pass unimproved. 
 He had only to proclaim a Reformation, and all Rome would have 
 flocked to him, as to a father, and a deliverer out of worse than Egyptian 
 bondage. We say "worse," for in primitive times nothing half so 
 debasing as the Confessional had been invented. 
 
 Although Mazzini is sincere, he is crotchety, and will not look at 
 more than one side of a question. All that can be done, he cannot be 
 made to see that without a Religious reformation a Political reformation 
 is impossible ; and because he could not turn his mind to the whole 
 question, he lost all. He acknowledged that the great curse of Italy 
 was the priests, and yet he refused to reform the Church. Was there 
 ever such folly in a man who professes to think and to write for the use 
 of others ? Italy must look to men of a different stamp if she intends 
 to be a nation. 
 
 Such was the unfortunate issue of the Revolution of 1848; and we 
 shall now proceed to show and to prove that Ricasoli and Garibaldi are 
 committing the very same error as Mazzini, and that unless they adopt 
 a complete change of policy, the issue of the Revolution of 1860 will 
 be similar to that of 1848. 
 
 Nothing has surprised us more than the speeches of the late Cavour 
 and of his successor, Baron Ricasoli — who, instead of opposing the 
 Papal power, profess to support that power. Can anything be more 
 inconsistent and more suicidal. They (the Italians) take away the pos- 
 sessions of the Pope, and yet they profess friendship to him. That is 
 
110 THE KINGDOM OF ITALY. 
 
 the way to stultify their own proceedings, and bring disgrace on the 
 cause. And before that cause can be supported as it ought to be, the 
 policy of Turin, as respects the Church, must be reversed. We have 
 prepared a scheme of Church Reform for Italy (see page 80), which 
 every friend of liberty said would be received with open arms by 
 Cavour, but as yet our proposal has received no support from the Go- 
 vernment of Turin. The choice lies between the Bourbons and the 
 Pope on the one hand, and a Reformation on the other; and if the 
 Italians refuse the latter, they must accept the former, as the necessary 
 result of their inconsistent and blind policy. 
 
 When we last wrote, reformation was going on favourably, but now 
 stagnation and reaction begin. The statesmen of Turin do not seem to 
 have a clear conception of the real cause of their difficulties, accordingly 
 they do not apply the remedy to the actual disease, for when they 
 ought to be reforming the Church, they content themselves with reforms 
 of the State. But there is a revenge for all this lenity. 
 
 We must explain that we do not ask the Italians to become Protes- 
 tants, but only to reform the Catholic Church, for until that is done 
 Italy cannot be united, or become a nation. Nothing but avowed 
 opposition to the Papal system can justify Victor Emanuel in seizing 
 the States of the Church. If it is right to take the temporal crown of 
 the Pope, it is wrong to leave the spiritual crown, and it will not be 
 until Italy throws off the papal dominion, that the King of Italy will be 
 able to justify his acts in the court of Public Opinion. 
 
 We are not surprised that Napoleon has all along felt a difficulty in 
 recognising the new Kingdom of Italy, and that he has only done so 
 now in very measured terms — a coolness which no doubt arises from the 
 shallowness of the ground taken up by the Cabinet of Turin. If Italy 
 means to keep the Pope as her Spiritual King — if the priests are to rule 
 the Italians as in times past — we must bid adieu to Italian patriotism, 
 and cease to interest ourselves in their affairs. But if Italy will say 
 she is resolved to reform the Church, and redress every acknowledged 
 wrong, she may rely on the hearty support of the English and the 
 French people. 
 
 If Italy retains the Pope, France and Austria must keep the Pope 
 likewise ; but if she throws off the Pope, then a National Church in 
 France and Austria is not only possible, but certain to be established. 
 Let Baron Ricasoli hesitate between two opinions, and he will soon have 
 nothing on which to deliberate — but let him act in conformity with the 
 dictates of principle and true statesmanship, and he shall liberate all 
 Europe from a tyranny which has held her down for ten centuries. 
 
 The following letter is from the Times Correspondent at Turin. 
 
 " Truly it would puzzle a keener man than the keenest Italian citizen 
 or statesman to make out the reasons which advise the Emperor to tarry 
 at Rome. He alleges the strong Catholic feeling in France, and the 
 exhibition of it in the two houses of the French Parliament. But he 
 has the assurance of the whole French press, except the Monde and 
 Union, and the declaration of the most respectable part of the Catholic 
 people, that nothing could be more beneficial than to free the Church, 
 and build her on the rock of spontaneous persuasion which alone would 
 
THE KINGDOM OF ITALY. Ill 
 
 give it an unbounded moral ascendancy. Take the sovereign papacy 
 from the Church, and you have a Reformed Catholicism." — July 6. 
 
 The writer of this letter is puzzled to know why Napoleon keeps his 
 troops at Rome; and we shall tell him the reason. The Cabinet of Turin, 
 instead of overthrowing the Pope's authority as universal priest, 
 professes to uphold it. That fatal course retains the French troops 
 at Rome. The only solution of the difficulty is, for the Govern- 
 ment of Turin to plant the standard of Church Reform in every 
 town in Italy, and then the Emperor will have no difficulty in with- 
 drawing his troops. In that case, the French intervention will no 
 longer be wanted to support a power which has fallen. If a motion 
 in the Parliament of Turin was made for calling a Council of the 
 Nation, to consider the question of reconstructing the Church upon a 
 basis in harmony with the new constitution of the state, the initiative 
 would be taken in a movement which would bring about a final settle- 
 ment. There is a remedy for every evil, and we hope we have now 
 shown how the knot of Italian difficulty may be cut with the consent 
 of all parties. 
 
 One would certainly think that the day for the restoration of lost 
 dynasties had passed away, especially when we remember that Russia 
 and Austria have been humbled in the late wars, and rendered for the 
 time powerless, owing to internal dissension. But so far from that being 
 the case, we have no hesitation in saying, that the King of Naples, the 
 Duke of Tuscany, and the Pope, will be restored to their thrones ere 
 long, if in the meantime the spiritual power of the Pope over Italy and 
 Europe is not destroyed. John Knox wisely said, " Take away the 
 nests, and the rooks will return no more ; " but if the Italian people 
 will not follow this advice now that they have the power, they must not 
 be surprised to see a re-action set in, which will re-instate all the 
 deposed sovereigns. 
 
 The Cabinet of Turin fears to touch the Church, and would rather that 
 the Emperor of the French did the work, and leave Italy to reap the 
 fruits! Now France cannot move in this matter, — for it is only 
 in times of revolution that such great changes could be brought about. 
 There is, however, no reason why Italy, which is passing through a 
 revolution, should not reform the Church. Napoleon cannot take the 
 initiative, but will be ready to follow up whatever Italy may do in the 
 direction of liberty and peace. The Italians have their destiny in their 
 own hands, and they will only have themselves to blame if, through 
 their own blindness and supineness, they allow re-action to overtake 
 them. 
 
 The Italians want some aggressive movement to unite them, and that 
 movement must be Church Reform, and not a military attack on the 
 dominions of Austria in Venice, as has been proposed. By attacking 
 Austria, the Italians risk their all in the issue of a battle ; but by 
 reforming the Church, they will enlist all the liberals of Europe on 
 their side — a support which cannot fail to ensure success. Let the 
 sword return to its scabbard, and let a Council of the Church be called 
 to unite all parties in the cause of Church Reform. 
 
 We have now shown the straight road to Peace and Liberty, and the 
 
112 AUSTRIA, RUSSIA, AND PRUSSIA. 
 
 perils which surround any departure from it. Having done that, we 
 must leave the matter in the hands of the Italian Government, for we 
 can do no more. If Garibaldi and Ricasoli attack Austria instead of 
 the papacy, we shall despair of their cause, and, in the name of Europe, 
 we protest against so suicidal a course — for they who take to the sword 
 without a good reason shall perish by the sworcL 
 
 Let it not be said that the Cabinet of Turin fears the Priests, for 
 surely their opposition is not so formidable as the 400,000 troops of 
 the Austrian Empire. The Priests are already plotting againt the 
 Italian Government to the utmost of their power — of which the distur- 
 bances in Central and Southern Italy are the proof, — so that the open 
 opposition of Turin to the Papal Government will not provoke more 
 opposition than that which they already experience. 
 
 Let Italy remember that it is not by refusing reform, but by submit- 
 ting to reform, that a nation can be regenerated; and if liberty, and not 
 military glory and national aggrandisement, is the object, Italy will 
 confine her efforts to self-reform, and remain at peace with Austria. 
 
 Italy will likewise commit a grievous error if she trusts to France to 
 carry her through her difficulties, for France can do nothing if Italy 
 will not act for herself. No; let Italy depend on herself — let her 
 boldly strike off the shackles of the Popedom, and she will want 
 no assistance from any one. Should she, however, prefer indolence, 
 and allow things to take their course, her fate is sealed — she will return 
 to her former state of bondage and dis-union, with no man to sympathize 
 with her in her sorrows. We have not feared to tell the whole truth — 
 for nothing but the triumph of principles can save Italy; and history 
 shall be our judge whether we have said one word which is not justified 
 by the facts on which we have based these conclusions. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AUSTRIA, RUSSIA, AND PRUSSIA. 
 
 Austria is ripe for a revolution. Unless the Emperor meets the 
 present emergency by granting the necessary reforms, nothing can 
 save the empire from going to pieces. Hungary will form a separate 
 kingdom; Venice will join Italy; Gallicia will declare itself indepen- 
 dant; and Austria and Bohemia will become a second-rate German 
 power. The aristocratic feeling is strong in Austria, while the demo- 
 cratic feeling is equally strong in Hungary. In these circumstances, 
 the impending separation of Hungary from Austria seems to be de- 
 sirable, — for countries so opposite in nationality and character, cannot 
 be expected to go on harmoniously. 
 
AUSTRIA, RUSSIA, AND PRUSSIA. 113 
 
 Religious questions present the great barrier to Reform in Austria 
 and Hungary, so that the Church question is the first which must be 
 met. Let a National Church, independant of Rome, be established for 
 Austria, and another Church for Hungary, on a basis suitable to the 
 feelings of each country, and the Emperor may hope for a better 
 future. For the Emperor to think of pleasing the Court of Rome, and 
 at the same time the patriots of Pesth, is quite out of the question. He 
 must either throw over the Pope or the Hungarian party; and if he 
 wishes to retain his power and influence with the people, he must take 
 their part, and not consult the wishes of a priesthood, whose interests 
 are all opposed to the interests of the people. 
 
 Russia is inhabited by a people only partially civilized, but capable 
 of making rapid progress. The Emperor Nicholas promised to liberate 
 the slaves, which number over twenty millions; but before he was able 
 to bring his benevolent purpose to maturity, he was cut of by the hand 
 of death — hastened by the failure of his ambitious designs on Turkey. 
 The present Emperor, Alexander II, on his accession, pledged himself 
 to carry out his father's design; and by a Proclamation which appeared 
 in March last, the whole serf population of the Muscovite empire was 
 liberated. 
 
 The object of any slave-holding Government is to keep the people in 
 ignorance — and such has hitherto been the policy of Russia; and it is 
 in consequence of this policy that the disturbances have taken place. 
 In almost every Government of Russia the serfs refuse to work, — 
 they say we are now free, and have become landowners, and will work 
 no more. The consequence is, that the fields are in many places left 
 untilled — the authorities have interfered, and hundreds have been shot. 
 The fault was in not preparing the minds of the people for freedom 
 before they were actually freed. While these disturbances are going on, 
 trade is paralyzed, and a money crisis has ensued, which will seriously 
 affect the resources of the Government. 
 
 In 1848, when the Hungarians were about to achieve their indepen- 
 dance, Russia sent 160,000 troops to aid Austria to put down the 
 rebellion — an interference which was a distinct breach of the law of 
 non-intervention. That false step, however, Russia will not repeat — 
 for she has now neither the wish nor the power to interfere. 
 
 Poland is the weak side of Russia, and the sooner Russia gets rid of 
 a nation so different in language and religion the better. Were she 
 fairly free from Poland, she would have a united kingdom to deal with; 
 and with a free population, she might go on prosperously until she 
 would rival in power any of the nations of Europe. Russia's aim has 
 hitherto been to add to her possessions: but if she will now turn her 
 attention to the improvement of what she has, as she appears to be 
 doing, she will command the respect and admiration of Europe. 
 
 The religion of Russia is the Greek Church — a Church which is 
 even less advanced than the Catholic Church. The following descrip- 
 tion of the Russian Church is from the Times Correspondent at 
 Moscow : — 
 
 " There has never, until quite lately, been any progress of -thought 
 
114 AUSTRIA, 
 
 in the Greek Church, for the character of its theology is essentially 
 unlogical. There has never, till the most recent times, been progress, 
 owing to the character of their religion. Their Reformation was not a 
 reformation of doctrine, but the alteration of a few petty details of 
 ritual — the shape of a cap, the number of fingers to be used in bene- 
 diction, the tunes of their church music. Their very dissenters dissent, 
 not out of desire for change, but from abhorrence of it. Not truth, 
 but orthodoxy, is their watchword. One outward sign, at once of their 
 childish simplicity and of their fondness for antiquity, is their intense 
 devotion to pictures, not as works of art, but as a sort of " fetish/' We 
 know how in the Russian war, every Russian prisoner that was taken, 
 every Russian corpse that was stripped, had an amulet in the shape of 
 a holy picture." 
 
 The Greek Church, which represents the religion of sixty millions of 
 people altogether, begins to show signs of new life. In Wallaehia and 
 Bulgaria this movement is very evident, and but for the want of a free 
 press in Russia, we should probably hear of similar movements in many 
 parts of Russia. Before a Free Press is given to Russia something 
 ought to be done to purify the Creed of the Greek Church, and as a first 
 step to that most necessary element of Civilization, a reformation of 
 doctrines must be carried. This could easily be done by the calling of 
 a Council of the Clergy by the Emperor, who is head of the Church. 
 When the Church is reformed, then the question of a Free Press and a 
 Parliament will follow as a matter of course. 
 
 Prussia is the head of the Protestant interests of Continental Europe, 
 but alas ! she is far behind the age. The Government fears the Repub- 
 licans, and in order to keep them in check, she discourages progress as 
 much as possible. 
 
 The way to damage the cause of the Democrats, is not to refuse 
 reforms, but to grant them, for it is the abuses in Church and State that 
 produce disaffection, and strengthen the hands of the republicans. The 
 first and great reform that is wanted is proper Church Reform. The 
 King is head of the Church, let him, therefore, call an Assembly of the 
 Clergy and submit to them a scheme of Reform. The existing creed of 
 the Church has long ago ceased to command the respect of the people, 
 showing how necessary a reformation is. 
 
 We are now treading on classic ground, for we must not forget that to 
 Germany we owe the Reformation of Luther. Her Dukes and People 
 were the first to throw off the shackles of Rome, and we ask their suc- 
 cessors to assist us to carry a new reformation, with the object not only 
 of improving the Protestant Church, but of enabling the Catholic Churches 
 to throw off the Roman yoke. Many of the towns of Germany are 
 divided equally between Catholics and Protestants, showing how impor- 
 tant a General Reformation must be to Germany. 
 
 The literature of Prussia is in many respects objectionable. It consists 
 mainly of scholarship, and consequently exercises little or no influence 
 on the people, beyond giving them a taste for idle controversy. Heavy 
 dry books which nobody can read have had their day. Let Prussia 
 remember the warning of Macaulay — " the world will never be converted 
 
PRANCE. 115 
 
 by quartos " — and they will come to reality. Scholarship interests no 
 man; and when real information occupies the press of Prussia, the 
 progress of the nation will begin, but not till then. 
 
 Hegal, Strauss, and Baron Bunsen, have all failed to work out a 
 system which meets the wants of man. Something much more natural 
 and simple is wanting — something to reach the heart, as well as 
 exercise the brain. It is not Scepticism but Belief that is wanting, and 
 if the principles of the New Reformation should find their way to Ger- 
 many, a Reformation in the right direction will be the consequence. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FRANCE AND NAPOLEON III. 
 
 About 150 years ago Louis XIV. overran all Europe, and after a war 
 which desolated the nations for nearly fifty years — 1665 to 1713 — 
 France came out of the struggle, loaded with debt, and oppressed by a 
 military despotism. Napoleon I. trod in the steps of his predecessor, 
 and after a warfare of nearly twenty years, Europe was again desolated, 
 and France fared no better than in her former mad career after military 
 glory and universal empire. When the present Emperor came to the 
 throne, fears were entertained that the same tragedies were to be reacted 
 for the third time, but happily these fears have not been realised. 
 
 Napoleon III. has been sole ruler of France for twelve years, and, 
 possessing as he does a power, in money, fleets, and armies, which his 
 uncle never possessed, he has steadily rejected every temptation to 
 follow his footsteps. Napoleon has declared his empire to be peace, 
 and we are prepared to show that he has nobly fulfilled that pledge. 
 
 While the first Napoleon had no command over himsalf, the third 
 Napoleon has given many proofs that he can rise above selfishness, and 
 command his temper under circumstances which are perhaps unparalleled 
 in the career of any other man. Nothing is more trying to the temper 
 of an honest man than to have base motives imputed to him, and if we 
 were to collect a hundredth part of what the press has said of him for 
 the last twelve years, it would show that the character of Napoleon will 
 favourably compare with any statesman either of modern or ancient 
 times. Show us a man who can rise above prejudice and selfishness, as 
 reason shall dictate, and we have confidence in that man. 
 
 It is a remarkable coincidence that Louis Philippe's government, 
 which covered eighteen years of misrule and corruption, was praised 
 all through by the English press, while the enlightened government of 
 Louis Napoleon, which has existed for twelve years, has been uniformly 
 denounced. 
 
 On two great occasions (the Crimea and China), we have gone to war 
 in concert with Napoleon, and in both cases the Emperor has acted as 
 became a friend and an ally. The Coup oVEtat and the Savoy affair 
 
116 FRANCE. 
 
 are now the only faults we have to find with the Emperor, and although, 
 in looking back on these events, we can see how they could have been 
 better managed, yet we can see nothing in them but what has repeatedly 
 been done in political affairs without condemnation, for necessity has 
 no law. The Coup oVEtat was managed to spare bloodshed, and in 
 that respect it signally succeeded, for the greatest revolution which 
 France ever saw was effected with the loss of only some thirty lives. 
 As to Savoy, the cession of that province arose from the request of 
 Cavour that Napoleon would assist him to unite all Italy. Before 
 Napoleon could consent to so great an extension of a neighbouring 
 power he naturally looked to the interests of France ; and if it was a 
 loss to Italy to part with Savoy, that was the fault of Cavour in offering 
 to give it up. Savoy and Nice have cost France fifty millions of 
 capital and some thirty thousand lives, so she has paid dearly for the 
 purchase. 
 
 It is easy to find fault with anything, where there is a wish to 
 do so, and for reasons which are best known to their authors, there 
 has existed a desire to misunderstand and misrepresent everything 
 that Napoleon has said or done. We are glad, however, to see that 
 Mr. Cobden, who has resided for some time in France, and knows the 
 Emperor, vindicates his policy from first to last. 
 
 But we must now come to the French and English Alliance. What 
 would we think of a member of a commercial firm quarrelling with his 
 partner ? we should say it was suicidal ; and the same might be said if 
 the Emperor was to turn his arms against the English, with whom he 
 is in close alliance. The alliance has been followed by complete success 
 in all that is good for both nations. But for it, Constantinople would 
 have been the capital of Russia, and Italy would have remained disunited 
 Let the Alliance cease, and let France and England go to war, and 
 Napoleon's power would be paralyzed ; showing how improbable it is 
 that the arms of France will ever be turned against her best friend 
 and surest ally. 
 
 The absurd cry, so often repeated, of French invasions, has cost this 
 country many millions of capital. It has induced us to build ships, 
 raise great fortifications, and arm 130,000 volunteers. All that is only 
 money and time thrown away, for at no time was there the slightest risk 
 of any French invasion. We may soon have to return to the old times 
 of retrenchment, to make our expenses meet a falling revenue, and then 
 we shall see the folly we have committed in wasting our valuable capital 
 on useless armaments. 
 
 America has lately raised the cry of English invasion — a thing which 
 never entered into the mind of an Englishman to conceive as possible. 
 The cry has arisen from jealousy, and a desire to induce the American 
 people to consent to the raising of large armies and fleets. This folly 
 on the part of the Americans, explains the reason why the English have 
 so often raised the cry of French invasion. The two cases are analogous, 
 for we believe the French to be as innocent of any idea of attacking 
 England, as the English are of attacking America. 
 
 It is the alliance of England and France, which has made the present 
 age glorious in the annals of the world, beyond any previous epoch. 
 
FRANCE. 117 
 
 England has gained greatly by that alliance, and so has France. Let it 
 not be imagined that the benefits can be one-sided, for if it were so, the 
 alliance would soon be broken up. Let both nations try to realize this 
 necessity, and not look with jealousy on the rising interests of each 
 other, on the contrary, let each nation rejoice in each other's prosperity. 
 The interchange of commodities between the two countries used to be 
 measured by units, now it is to be counted by tens, and it would be 
 vain to predict what will be the limit of trade in years to come, with an 
 alliance so well arranged as that which has resulted from the enlightened 
 policy of Napoleon and Palmerston. 
 
 It is a well known principle that we are not entitled to impute motives 
 to others without sufficient reason, and those who may be inclined to 
 differ with us as to the policy of the Emperor, are bound to state their 
 reasons for so doing. If any such reasons can be offered, we shall be 
 glad to see them distinctly stated, and we shall promise to give them 
 every consideration in our next Essay. We are not infallible, and we 
 shall be glad to be set right, if in any respect we have said a single 
 word for the Emperor which the facts do not fully warrant. 
 
 If we should be told that a time may come when the Emperor will 
 not be able to control his people, and then there will be danger. To 
 this we reply that we may imagine anything, but that it will be time 
 enough to doubt the sincerity of our allies when they show any desire 
 to withdraw their confidence from their Emperor. 
 
 France leads the van in the march of regeneration and civilization, 
 but what is she to do with the Church ? To maintain the Church in its 
 present unreformed state the French nation must be contented with 
 liberty in the State and despotism in the Church, and these two con- 
 flicting elements are certain to produce wars and revolutions sooner or 
 later. The object is peace, but that object cannot be obtained until true 
 principles animate and rule every department of the Government. 
 
 Now, assuming that Napoleon is sincere in his policy of Peace and 
 Liberty, we shall be asked what difficulty can he have in at once estab- 
 lishing a National Church in France, independent of the Church of 
 Rome ? Is not the great Emperor powerful enough to act without con- 
 sulting the Pope of Rome — for who is to say nay to a ruler with an 
 army and fleet sufficient for anything ? There is a difficulty, however, 
 and we shall explain it. 
 
 The Church of France, as it now exists, is subject to the Church of 
 Italy, and so long as the Italian Church is unreformed, that subjection 
 of the French Bishops to the Bishop of Rome must continue. Napoleon 
 waits to see what the King of Italy is about to do with the Church, 
 before he acts, for the great work of Church Reform ought to begin in 
 Italy, and not in France. Italy is the centre and fountain of the Catholic 
 system, and before that system can be reformed, and made to conform to 
 the principles of Truth and Liberty, the Cabinet of Turin must act. It is 
 action, not words, that are now wanted, for until action is taken in the 
 affairs of the Church, the politics of Europe cannot be settled. This 
 complicated state of things is well known to the Government of France, 
 who have shown every desire to reform the Church, but owing to the 
 want of action at Turin, it cannot, for the present, move in the matter. 
 
118 UNITED KINGDOM OP AMERICA. 
 
 Never before in modern times did so much power fall into the hands 
 of one man, as in the case of Napoleon, and if the Emperor fails to 
 use that power in the interests of Peace and Liberty, according to his 
 professions, he will never be forgiven. Let him know that the lives and 
 happiness of millions yet unborn hang on the issue of the present 
 struggle between Civilization and Despotism, and that the nations look 
 to him more than to any other man to give them the victory. We need 
 scarcely say that we shall continue to watch the issue with the keenest 
 interest, nor shall we be slow to sound the alarm if danger or reaction 
 show themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM OF AMERICA. 
 
 To explain the Slave question, we offer the following imaginary con- 
 versation with President Lincoln. 
 
 1. "Why do you, President Lincoln, not propose some amicable 
 arrangement with the Southern States ? Every great war that has ever 
 taken place might have been avoided if the contending parties had come 
 together at the outset, and tried to settle their differences on the basis 
 of justice between man and man. — Simply because we have nothing on 
 which to negotiate. The Southern States have violated the Constitution, 
 and it is our duty, as honest men, to force them to fulfil their obligations 
 to that Constitution. 
 
 3. Are you in favour of the Abolition of Slavery ? — Yes ; my election 
 turned on that question, and there is not a member of my Government 
 who is not pledged to that policy. 
 
 4. Then why does not your army in the State of Virginia emancipate 
 the slaves who take refuge in their camp? — The Constitution does not 
 permit us to authorize the army to do so. 
 
 5. But why may not that be done by the Generals in command of 
 the army ? — To allow the army to over-ride the Constitution, would be 
 the introduction of a Military Despotism. 
 
 6. Then there is no remedy for the fix into which the secession has 
 brought you. — None, except the remedy of the sword. 
 
 7. Would not a Revolution, to set aside the existing Constitution, 
 and adopt a new one, be a better remedy than the remedy of war ? — 
 Public opinion must decide whether we are to stand to the Constitution 
 or proclaim a new one. 
 
 8. Do you hold it to be your duty blindly to obey the Constitution, 
 whether it is good or bad ? You are a private citizen, as well as a 
 public man ; and if you see that there is no constitutional remedy except 
 war, is it not your duty to propose a new Constitution, seeing that the 
 present Constitution does not allow you to liberate the slaves, as you 
 desire to do ? — That is a matter more for the Public than for the 
 Government. 
 
UNITED KINGDOM OP AMERICA. 119 
 
 9. We must say we do not think your reason sufficient to justify a 
 war which threatens to be the ruin of both parties. The English 
 Government of 1832 did not stand by the Constitution, when they 
 passed the Reform Bill. — England certainly reformed the Constitution 
 in 1832, but the Government had the support of the People for what 
 they did. 
 
 10. Then if the People of America petition Congress to reform the 
 Constitution you would advise Congress to grant it. — I do not feel 
 myself at liberty to reply to that question. When the petitions for 
 a Revolutionary Settlement make their appearance, it will be for Con- 
 gress to deal with them as they think right. 
 
 11. You say you are honest men, but I cannot say you will be 
 consistent men, if you come into power on the principle of " No Slavery," 
 and refuse to give effect to that policy in the present eventful crisis. — 
 Let us drop the subject. 
 
 The States of the South may now be considered irrevocably lost to 
 the Union, and it will be the wisdom of the North to let them go. 
 The first loss will be the least loss, for if the war to enforce reunion 
 is to continue, the ruin and dissolution of both North and South is 
 inevitable. If the war goes on, there will probably be more secessions. 
 Instead of only two contending groups of States there may be several 
 groups all asserting their independence, and on these circumstances, 
 the sooner the war is brought to an end by the acknowledgment of 
 the independence of the South the better. President Davis says, 
 " let us alone" and that demand is so reasonable that no enlightened 
 Government will be able to resist it. 
 
 In treating of the proposed " United Kingdom of America," 
 we refer exclusively to the twenty-two States of the North, of which 
 Washington is the capital. We shall consider 1st, the plan of a 
 National Church ; 2nd, the union of the states of the North into 
 one nation ; and 3rd, the Election of a King, and the changes of the 
 Constitution which that change would render necessary. These are the 
 three great reforms that are called for, and we shall take them in the 
 order we have stated them. 
 
 The Disruption of the Union has arisen out of causes which have 
 been in operation from the commencement of the Republic down to the 
 present time, and that being so, unity cannot be restored until those 
 causes are removed. 
 
 Had a National Church been provided by General Washington, co- 
 herence would have been given to the various States of the Union ; 
 but as that was not done, a disruption in the long run was the inevitable 
 result. There is no example in history of a great nation being pro- 
 duced without a National Church ; and if the States desire to see their 
 nation attain the height of power and splendour they anticipate, they 
 must begin the work of regeneration by founding a Church. 
 
 The new Articles of Religion proposed by the Reformation Society 
 for the Church of England, are suitable for all other Churches, both 
 Catholic and Protestant, and to show that these articles will in all 
 probability be acceptable to the American people, we give a letter of the 
 Hon. C. M. Clay, Minister of America at the Court of St. Petersburg. 
 
120 UNITED KINGDOM OF AMERICA. 
 
 The text of the new Articles, on which Mr. Clay comments, will be 
 found in Essay No. 1, of which the following is a list : — 
 
 1. 
 
 Of God. 
 
 21. 
 
 Baptism. 
 
 2. 
 
 Nature. 
 
 22. 
 
 The Lord's Supper. 
 
 3. 
 
 Miracles. 
 
 23. 
 
 Works of God and Man. 
 
 4. 
 
 Object of the World. 
 
 24. 
 
 Opinions. 
 
 5. 
 
 Immortality. 
 
 25. 
 
 Self-reliance. 
 
 6. 
 
 Free Will and Eesponsibility. 
 
 26. 
 
 Belief. 
 
 7. 
 
 The Trinity. 
 
 27. 
 
 Begeneration. 
 
 8. 
 
 Evil and its Bemedy. 
 
 28. 
 
 The Will. 
 
 9. 
 
 The Old Testament. 
 
 29. 
 
 Truth and Conscience. 
 
 10. 
 
 Secular Knowledge. 
 
 30. 
 
 Sincerity and Hypocrisy. 
 
 11. 
 
 The New Testament. 
 
 31. 
 
 Intolerance. 
 
 12. 
 
 Keligion. 
 
 32. 
 
 The Feelings of the Intellect. 
 
 13. 
 
 Object of Eeligion. 
 
 33. 
 
 Beason. 
 
 14. 
 
 Conversion. 
 
 34. 
 
 Love. 
 
 15. 
 
 End of the World. 
 
 35. 
 
 Bedemption. 
 
 16. 
 
 The Kesurrection. 
 
 36. 
 
 Divine Grace. 
 
 17. 
 
 Eewards and Punishments. 
 
 37. 
 
 This Life. 
 
 18. 
 
 Evil. 
 
 38. 
 
 The Lord's Day. 
 
 19. 
 
 The Incarnation. 
 
 39. 
 
 Preaching the Gospel. 
 
 20. 
 
 The Atonement. 
 
 
 
 These Articles have been well received by the Catholic people of 
 France and Italy, as represented by M. Cayla and the liberal press of 
 the Continent, and now, as will be seen by Mr. Clay's letter which 
 follows, they will receive an equally warm reception by the Protestants 
 and Catholics of the New World. 
 
 St. Petersburg, June 28th, 1861. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — Your second favour with the pamphlets Nos. 1 and 3, 
 is received, for which accept my thanks. I am much interested in 
 the plan of a new reformation. I have most profoundly felt 
 the want of a religion, where the reason and sentiments are brought 
 into harmony, which none of the present Churches do. 
 
 The blind fanaticism of Calvinism as set forth in Spurgeon, and the 
 fruitlessness of all such false ideas of God and man, are confessed, not 
 only by their failure, but by the admissions of their own defenders. 
 I heartily concur with your effort to overthrow the false system by a 
 new one ; and am not one of those who refuse an approach towards 
 truth, because all truth is not at once found. 
 
 To ignore man's good nature is just as absurd as to ignore his bad 
 nature. Man is by nature neutral ground, which may be made to produce 
 tares or wheat. It is just as absurd to expect corn to grow without 
 culture, as morals to improve by the doctrine of idleness. The 
 agency of priestcraft, blind expectancy or any other of the absurd 
 nostrums of empiricks, who fail to look upon man's free-will and the 
 God-given-laws of nature, can produce nothing but evil. 
 
 Without further preface I come to the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
 New Reformation, and shall attempt to show and avow how far they are 
 true, for upon that principle only, can we base the happiness of our race. 
 
 1. God. — I assent to this article. 
 
 2. Nature. — I assent to this. 
 
 3. Miracles. — I assent to this also, except that it is not broad 
 enough. Ancient miracles are just as worthy of belief as modern 
 
UNITED KINGDOM OF AMERICA. 121 
 
 ones, no more, no less. I will not, however, refuse to go with you 
 half way towards truth, because you will not go with me all the ivay. 
 (This is truly noble). 
 
 4. Object of the World. — There is much truth in this, but not all 
 the truth. I think you enumerate but one out of the many designs 
 of God in creation, and that you put the cause for the effect. I think 
 one of the prime designs of God in creation, is the happiness of all his 
 creatures, man and the lower animals. Man's happiness is goodness and 
 truth, which form the prime elements of a matured soul. But I cannot 
 enlarge here. 
 
 5. Immortality. — I assent to this doctrine because it is lovely to 
 the sentiments. As I do not perceive that it violates any known truth, 
 I am willing to accept it, till a better theory or fact, is made or dis- 
 covered. That is the way all advances in knowledge are made. 
 
 6. Free- Will and Responsibility. — I assent most cordially to this 
 Article. In reasoning about Free-Will, the argument is not at all 
 weakened by the fact that events or surroundings, material or immaterial, 
 sometimes overbear or thwart our free-will, or will. That admission 
 goes only to this, that we are not omnipotent, that the will is not all- 
 powerful, overcoming other laws of God or nature. To contend that 
 the will because it fails at times is not free, is simply to contend that 
 it is not free because it is not God, and who ever contended that 
 it was God. 
 
 7. The Trinity. — I cannot assent to this article in the fair sense of 
 the words used. I think it a waste of time and metal to attempt to 
 make anything out of that old source of obfuscation. 
 
 8. Evil and its Remedy. — I do not clearly see that you are right 
 here. I rather think nature begins in chaos or neutrality, or rather 
 passive or inert capabilities, which may be evolved in two directions, 
 which for want of better terms we may call good or evil. I see an 
 earth and a seed, it may expand into a beautiful and fragrant rose — or 
 somewhere short of that, make only proper refuse for a dunghill. 
 
 9. The Old Testament. — Good, I assent. Perhaps better — the 
 dealings of the Jews with God. 
 
 10. Secular Knowledge. — I assent to this in the main. I had 
 rather leave that word "faith" out of the system. Blind trust is the 
 cause of all our woes ! I go for that faith which is the natural assent of 
 the understanding. With regard to its obscure connection with the 
 sentiments, our psychological being, Faith had best be dropped as too 
 indefinite. 
 
 11. The New Testament. — I do not see any essential objection 
 to this article. 
 
 12. Religion. — I see no great objection to this definition. There 
 is a little tautology in speaking of "true" and "right." There 
 may be some remissness in getting at facts, but when the facts are 
 presented, it seems to me that belief is involuntary, and neither 
 worthy of approbation nor the opposite. No man is condemned for 
 seeing that two and two make four. Moral evidence, though more 
 obscure and intricate, is based upon the same laws as matters of fact 
 in mental comprehension or physical expression. " Justified " seems 
 
 c 
 
122 UNITED KINGDOM OP AMERICA. 
 
 to me an extraneous entity here, and had best be left out, and some term 
 of real meaning substituted. (There is certainly no merit in belief of 
 that which we know, but there is merit in obeying what we know.) 
 
 13. Object of Religion. — I assent. 
 
 14. Conversion. — I assent. Some other word than " conversion" had 
 best be used, for that word is greatly damaged by ignorant inter- 
 pretation and false meanings, or assertions of fact. (Mr. Clay's 
 acceptance of this important article is extremely encouraging.) 
 
 15. End of the World. — Very well put. 
 
 16. The Resurrection. — I hope you are right. 
 
 17. Rewards and Punishments. — If virtue is its own reward 
 so is vice. The end of all pain moral or conscientious, and physical, 
 seems to be corrective or preservative. When I put my foot into the 
 fire it pains me, else this body might be destroyed. So when I violate 
 the moral law, give to a parent for her loving-kindness, insult and 
 outrage, instead of tenderness and protection, God cries out against 
 the abuse by remorse. 
 
 18. Evil. — This is fairly put. I define "evil" to be a violation of 
 God's laws in mind and body — the poverty of language makes us call 
 the effect the pain ensuing also — " evil." 
 
 19. The Incarnation of Christ. — The proposition is more compre- 
 hensive than the facts warrant. It does very well however for the 
 cure of the old theologies. 
 
 20. The Atonement. — I like this well enough as to definition. 
 It is a remnant, however, of Judaism. It is a little obscure, and 
 slightly timid. 
 
 21. Baptism. — That is more of the lumber of the past; and 
 Judaistical. 
 
 22. The Lord's Supper. — I do not object. It is a touching and 
 appropriate memento. 
 
 23. Works of God and Man. — Good, I think. 
 
 24. Opinions. — I cannot go the whole length of this. It would 
 take too much metaphysical twine to make the whole web. The 
 Mahomedan imbibes his faith with his mother's milk ; I cannot say 
 exactly how far he is responsible. As their doctrines are erroneous, 
 they are reaping the bitter fruits. 
 
 25. Self-reliance. — Very well. 
 
 26. Belief. — The definition is neither complete nor true. Thought 
 and belief are not the same. Fiction is the creature of thought — 
 mental energy and creation are very different from the assent of the 
 mind. The corollary is well enough. 
 
 27. Regeneration. — Is well enough. It is, however, too meta- 
 phorical for life actions. 
 
 28. The Will.— A little too clerical; and covered up in old 
 vestments. 
 
 27. Truth and Conscience. — I do not see that you emit much light 
 here. Truth would be the same (all outside of man), if man did not 
 exist. Conscience is rather the perceiver than the perceived. The 
 whole sentence wants the ability elsewhere displayed. 
 
 30. Sincerity and Hypocrisy. — This is, alas, too true for our self- 
 
UNITED KINGDOM OF AMERICA. 123 
 
 elation. Hypocrisy is always cruel, for it avenges upon others the 
 pains of its own humiliation 
 
 31. Intolerance. — All Gospel. 
 
 32. The Feelings of the Intellect. — I think them of equal force 
 and dignity. None of God's works are superfluous, or in vain. (We 
 hope Mr. Clay will reconsider this — all are good in their places, but the 
 place of the one is to rule and the other to be ruled.) 
 
 33. Reason. — Well. But I am of opinion the Deity had not the 
 bible especially in mind, when He created man. 
 
 34. Love. — Very well said. 
 
 35. Redemption. — Well enough. The words are, however, obsolete; 
 and rather judaical. 
 
 36. Divine Grace. — All Grace is Divine. Rather technical for use. 
 
 37. This Life. — I like the text, but dissent from the corollary. I 
 do not believe — do not begin to believe, that the world would become a 
 moral wilderness without "the Clergy and the Sabbath." They may be 
 made very efficient instrumentalities in moralizing the world, but now 
 they are the greatest obstructions, hanging upon the haunches of all 
 reformers, and crushing them down. It is against these powers that your 
 society now struggles; and where you will find the heaviest weight 
 in its progression. 
 
 39. Preaching the Gospel. — Yes, we must preach the Gospel — but 
 it must be a new one. The Gospel of maris free-will — capability — 
 development — creative power — of love and aspirations after an approach 
 to the Divine nature — in one word the Gospel of Truth. 
 
 There is much in your letter on a national church for reflection. 
 A National Church — that is to say a system sustained by the nation — 
 causing a central interest, will prove a great bond of the nation. The 
 trouble will be to get clear of sectarian personal interests. But in a 
 consummation so devoutly to be wished, the end will justify much 
 labor. What you propose will meet with the approbation of the first 
 minds of the country, especially as most sensible persons see that some 
 change must be made, or worse will come of it. When Truth is once 
 fairly recognised, hypocrisy and intolerance will cease. 
 
 Such is a hurried and frank criticism of the principles of the New 
 Reformation — take it in the spirit in which it is given. Should 
 my official duties allow, which I trust they will, it will be a pleasure to 
 me to continue this discussion. — Yours very truly, 
 
 To A. Alison, Esq., C. M. CLAY. 
 
 It is impossible to over-value the importance of this letter. America 
 is not to be despaired of, when, in the hour of her extremity, she 
 produces a statesman who has the moral courage to stand forth and avow 
 his principles in the face of the world. We have no hesitation in saying 
 that civilization, not only in America, but in England and throughout 
 the world, has at last received an impetus which will soon show 
 itself in action. 
 
 The following article is from the Opinione Nationale, of Paris : 
 
 "In every direction Governments are beginning to understand that 
 there is only one way of avoiding destruction and ruin, and that is, for 
 Governments to keep pace with the increased wants of the people. In 
 
124 UNITED KINGDOM 01" AMERICA. 
 
 France very important Religious and Political changes are going on, as 
 indicated by the openly sanctioned and extensive circulation of books 
 and pamphlets on Religion and Politics, some of which are known to 
 have been inspired from the highest quarters. Among these writings 
 may be cited a very important work on ' The Regeneration of the 
 Catholic Church,' by the Abbe Michau, and a series of pamphlets by 
 M. Cayla, on ' The Approaching Reformation of the Catholic Church 
 in France and Italy.' 
 
 " In England, where liberty of association and worship is greater than 
 it is as yet in France or Italy, there has lately been established a society 
 of gentlemen, eminent for great abilities and high character, with the 
 object of reforming the inconsistencies which exist in the Protestant 
 Church, and the promotion of the social interests of the nation. The 
 New Reformation Society is the title which it has most appropriately 
 adopted, and, although established less than a year, the Society already 
 reckons many warm adherents in every part of Europe. The translation 
 into French of the first Essay of the Society by M. Cayla has appeared, 
 and has been read in France with the deepest interest. 
 
 " Mr. Alison, as President of the Society — 4he distinguished author 
 of ' The Philosophy and History of Civilization,' a work of the deepest 
 interest — has just published a plan for a National Church for Italy, 
 which has been approved by every sound thinking politician who 
 has perused it. The plan contains the following propositions, in which 
 we cordially concur: — 1. The King, as head of the State and represen- 
 tative of the Nation, to be recognized as head of the Church. 2. The 
 Temporalities of the Church to be vested in the Houses of Parliament; 
 and the Spiritualities in a General Council, to be constituted on a repre- 
 sentative basis. 3. The Bishops and other Dignitaries of the Church 
 to be elected by the Crown. The Parochial Clergy and Lay Deacons 
 to be elected by the People. 4. Two Clergymen and twelve Lay Dea- 
 cons to be appointed to each parish. The Clergy to attend to the 
 spiritual interests of the parish, and the Deacons to the temporal inte- 
 rests, including Education and the care of the sick and the poor. 
 
 " The approaching meeting of the Italian Parliament at Rome, and a 
 Council of the Church, under the presidency of the Pope, who will 
 either accept the proposed reforms or be replaced by an Archbishop of 
 Rome, are commented on. In this way will an end be put to the tem- 
 poral and spiritual difficulties which have so long embarrassed the Italian 
 question, and which for the last twelve years have held the most able 
 French diplomatists in check. This is, indeed, a noble and sublime 
 programme which Mr. Alison and his coadjutors have devised so ably, 
 and most fervently must every true Christian wish to see it carried. 
 
 "Paris, 24th May, 1861." "M. Silvestre." 
 
 No one believed us when, at the outset of our career, we announced 
 that the capacity of perceiving Truth existed alike in the minds of all 
 men; and now that the problem is proved, we trust the reign of scep- 
 ticism will come to an end, — for a universal Code of Belief has been 
 submitted to the world, and the world has accepted it. 
 
 The want of a National Creed to serve as an authorized centre on 
 which Public Opinion might turn, has been severely felt in America. 
 
UNITED KINGDOM OP AMERICA. 125 
 
 Public Opinion and the Press have become a babel of tongues. The 
 consequence has been, an accumulation of all the evil passions of which 
 man is capable — of which we may name selfishness, pride, intolerance, 
 hypocrisy, jealousy, and the splitting up of the Churches into endless 
 divisions and sects. 
 
 Society must have bonds, and these bonds have hitherto been the 
 bonds of a dreaded and hostile censorship — the very opposite of what 
 they ought to be. With a National Church to foster the salutary feelings 
 of reverence and good feeling, the bonds of love, sincerity, and liberty, 
 will take the place of hatred, hypocrisy, and oppression. Without a 
 National Creed to give cohesion and consistency to Public Opinion, 
 society is like a rope of sand, held together not by love but by fear. 
 Look at a family circle, allow its members to disregard the rules of 
 conduct, and feaV, and not love, becomes the ruling power. 
 
 When Washington and his coadjutors founded the United States 
 Government, they were well aware that the want of a National Creed 
 was a defect; but not knowing how that desideratum was to be 
 supplied, they were forced to do without it. If it was right to found 
 a National School, it was wrong not to found a National Church — for 
 the education of adults is surely as necessary to the well-being of a 
 state as the education of children. This was an error — for which 
 America is paying severely, — but under the circumstances perhaps there 
 was no other alternative. There will, however, be no excuse now 
 if the statesmen of America attempt to patch up the constitution with- 
 out introducing a National Church; and the way in which our efforts 
 have been met by Mr. Clay bids fair for a speedy settlement. 
 
 Having shown how a National Church may be established, we come 
 to the no less important object of uniting all the States in one United 
 Kingdom. Unrestricted trade is built on the principle of self-sacrifice, 
 and so is Civil Liberty ; and in asking the independent States of 
 America to sacrifice their individual independence on the altar of the 
 public good, we appeal to the highest principle of which man is 
 capable. 
 
 With regard to the question whether a republic or a monarchy would 
 be best, we cannot do better than point to South America, which, 
 with one exception, is governed by republics. These governments 
 have all fallen into a state of lassitude and misrule ; and if North 
 America is henceforth to be ruled by Republics, and without the aid of 
 a National Church, its future history may yet partake of the same 
 character. 
 
 The new Italian nation found that the system of independent states 
 would not work, and the genius of the great Cavour wisely overruled 
 it. Let all the States of the Union be merged into one, as has been 
 done in Italy, and let independent municipal governments be given 
 to the towns, and every reasonable desire for self-government will be 
 gratified. 
 
 The advantage of a King over a President is, that the one is hereditary 
 and the other elective. What caused the fall of Poland, and her 
 extinction as a nation, while all the other monarchies, her contem- 
 poraries, have survived to this day ? The reason is that the crown of 
 
126 UNITED KINGDOM OF AMERICA. 
 
 Poland was elective. The fate of Poland, therefore, is a lesson to 
 America. The occasional cause of the disruption of America, was 
 the election of President Lincoln. The jealousy and party feeling 
 which that election produced, brought the United States to an end, as 
 was the case in Poland ; and so long as the King or President of 
 America is elective, the States of America will always be exposed to 
 similar catastrophes. 
 
 It may be right to explain that the new Kingdom, if that be decided 
 on, will of course employ those who lose their offices by the Revolution ; 
 and if the whole cannot be so employed, the remainder will be entitled 
 to compensation for the losses they may thereby sustain. It is right 
 that we should explain this, so as to remove obstacles to a great refor- 
 mation, which is essential to the peace and welfare of the whole conti- 
 nent of America. 
 
 When the whole nation is united by the fusion of its provinces, 
 and by the adoption of a National Church, it is ripe for going forward 
 to the third and final step of electing its sovereign, and of deciding 
 upon a new Constitution upon a representative basis. Let the future 
 King of United America be chosen from the Royal Families of Europe, 
 and by the suffrages of the people, and the new nation will be second to 
 none, either in resources, or in the enjoyment of every blessing of which 
 the world is capable. 
 
 Two things are almost essential to the progress of a Reformation — 
 the first is a Revolution, and the second a movement from without, 
 and these two accompaniments of a Reformation are now in progress. 
 A Revolution has come at a time when a Reformation was going on in 
 England, and these great events coming together is highly favourable to 
 the future of America. The only consolation to those who suffer from 
 a revolution is, that it will produce a reformation — that present evil will 
 produce future good, and in the hope that such will be the experience of 
 America, we have done our best to press the matter on their attention. 
 
 In England we know the difficulty of carrying reforms without the 
 impulse of a revolution, or some aid from without, and now that America 
 has that which England wants, it will be inexcusable if she remains 
 unreformed. Prove to the people the benefits of a united country, 
 presided over by a King, and checked by a Congress representing 
 the people, and they will, with one accord, go to the polling booth and 
 vote for a King. 
 
 We shall conclude, as we began, with the difficult question of Slavery. 
 It has been said, that President Lincoln has offered to guarantee the 
 maintenance of slavery to the South if they will rejoin the Union. 
 Now, this is a rumour which bears its own refutation. Lincoln holds 
 his high office solely in consequence of his opposition to slavery, and to 
 imagine for a moment that he would receive the Secession States back 
 into the Union, and allow them to carry on their slave projects as before, 
 is not conceivable. Should the Washington Government attempt any 
 thing of that kind, the people would hurl them from power, as traitors 
 to the cause of Freedom. 
 
 If we are asked what the South should do, we say — offer to the Lin- 
 coln Government to free the slaves, with or without compensation, and 
 
UNITED KINGDOM OP AMERICA. 127 
 
 rejoin the Union as a United Kingdom, and if they refuse that most 
 reasonable offer of compromise, you will be able to appeal to all Europe, 
 in behalf of a good cause. 
 
 The North allege that slavery was the cause of the secession ; but 
 that cannot be, for it was the South who seceded, and they, of course, 
 have no objection to slavery. The real causes of the rupture are — first, 
 the loss of power and patronage owing to the election of Lincoln, for 
 the South had always before held the election in their own hands. The 
 President has about 50,000 places in his gift, and the loss of that patron- 
 age was one cause. The second cause was the growing evils of Demo- 
 cracy, which the South was willing to bear so long as the elections 
 were in their own hands ; but the moment they lost power they were 
 unwilling any longer to remain under a system of government of which 
 they did not approve. Such, we think, will be found to be the origin 
 of the Civil War and Revolution now going on in the States. 
 
 The United States Government is decidedly a despotism. In England, 
 only a limited number of offices are at the disposal of the Government, 
 and these few change hands with every change of Government. These 
 changes may take place at any time — an arrangement essential to every 
 representative Government. Now, look at the United States. There 
 all the Government offices are in the gift of the President, and they 
 cannot be changed for five years at least. The effect of this is to place 
 the Chambers entirely in the hands of the Government ; and as to Public 
 Opinion, that has no power whatever. Now, all this despotism will be 
 removed, when America becomes a Kingdom. 
 
 If America, blind to her interests, adheres to her present Constitution, 
 and refuses to adopt a new one, what will be the consequence ? By a 
 protracted war she may subdue the South, but a peace, the child of mere 
 force, will only be peace in name. The old sources of evil and dis- 
 cord will remain. She will have an elective President as before, to 
 keep up the old strife between the north and the south at every return 
 of the election. She will have no true Church, to encourage and foster 
 habits of order, reverence and love, and will suffer accordingly. 
 
 The American people have now the opportunity of correcting all the 
 vices of the present system, but if they will not listen to the voice of 
 reason, but to the voice of habit and prejudice, they must suffer, even 
 though the present war should for a time be brought to an end. What 
 is so common in the history of the world as a renewal of wars, one after 
 the other ? and that will be their fate, if the present war is not cut short 
 by the hand of Reform. Destroy the causes of civil war, and there will 
 be no renewal of it ; but let these causes remain, and periodical returns 
 of Revolutionary Wars are certain. 
 
 The one object which at present fills the mind of the people is, 
 the recovery of lost territory and military glory; but when the attention 
 of the public is turned to internal peace and improvement, they will 
 look on the acquisition of new territory, or the recovery of that which 
 is lost, as comparatively empty shadows. Moral worth and character 
 is the true glory of any nation, for that alone can give peace and 
 contentment. That being so, a treaty of peace, offensive and defensive, 
 will easily be arranged with the Southern Confederacy. To the South 
 
128 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the North will say, you have asked to be let alone, and we answer — go 
 in peace, — henceforth the two nations shall only vie with each other 
 which shall be the greatest in all that is worth contending for. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 We have now completed a rapid, but perhaps a more comprehensive 
 sketch of the present state and future prospects of the world than has 
 ever before been attempted. We have submitted the present state of 
 Public Opinion to a thorough sifting, and shown how disorder and 
 imperfection may be turned into order and principle. To one and all 
 the nations we have preached principle and peace, and have shown how 
 the present state of revolution may be turned into a state of peace and 
 confidence. 
 
 To England we have said — centralize the Government and reform 
 the Church. To Italy we say — transfer the spiritual power from the 
 Pope to the King while you have the opportunity, or very soon the 
 Pope will be restored to his lost dominions, and all that has been done 
 for Italy will be lost. To Austria, Russia, and Prussia we say — reform 
 the Church, and think no more of extending empires which are already 
 too large. To France we say — you are far from peace, and it will not 
 be until you have a National Church, independant of Rome, that you 
 can be a free and contented people. And to America we say — follow 
 the example of England, France and Italy, and complete your Consti- 
 tution by the election of a King. 
 
 We said at the commencement, that the great difficulty in reforming 
 the World, was to find a scheme of Reform which would be generally 
 acceptable, and that difficulty may now be considered overcome, by the 
 very general acceptance of the New Articles of Belief. Nothing now 
 remains, but to follow out in action what has been accepted in principle. 
 
 If principle in every case is allowed to precede action, there will 
 either be no wars, or at least no unjust or aggressive wars. And if 
 reforms are allowed to be passed by the ruling powers, there will either 
 be no revolutions, or at least none which are not desirable. And in the 
 hope that we do not labour in the field of reform in vain, we commit 
 these pages to the earnest and candid consideration of our readers in all 
 parts of the world. 
 
 FINIS 
 
 PRINTED BY GEO. H. NICHOLS, EARL'S COURT, LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
ESSAY No. 5. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PERSONAL REFORMATION. 
 
 Iii this, the fifth Essay of the series, our purpose is to devote a 
 chapter to each of the three great objects of our movement, viz., 
 Personal Reform, Church Reform, and Government Reform, and with- 
 out further preface, we shall commence with Personal Reform. 
 
 We have three words to denote Goodness, viz. — Holiness, Virtue, 
 Righteousness. The first is applied almost exclusively to the Deity, 
 and the two latter to Man. The use of these words having almost gone 
 out of fashion, it will be useful if we attempt to define what Goodness 
 is, and how it operates. A good man is a man of principle, a man of 
 integrity, in short, a man who acts upon principle rather than impulse, 
 in all he thinks, says, and does. Such men may be rare, but there is 
 no reason why the majority of men may not, even in our own day, 
 answer to the description now given. 
 
 We have always considered Plutarch's Lives (written about the year 
 100, a.d.) better than any other biographical work, either ancient or 
 modern, as it treats so fully the motives of action. Shakespeare, who 
 took all his best parts from Plutarch, falls woefully short of his great 
 original. Well, what does Plutarch say of Goodness ? He, who has 
 analysed the motives of all the celebrities of ancient times, ought to 
 be able to tell us whether Goodness is a reality, or only a devout 
 imagination. Here are his words: — 
 
 " The beauty of Goodness has an attractive power. It kindles 
 within us an active principle, which forms our manners and influences 
 our desires." This is most encouraging, but is it true ? Has the ex- 
 hibition of Goodness really that wonderful power over the mind ? We 
 say it has. Then why, are there so few good men in the world ? This 
 is a pertinent question, and we shall state the reason. 
 
 There is an Evil principle in the world as well as a Good principle, 
 and hitherto the Evil principle has prevailed. We have been taught 
 that no such thing as Goodness exists, and therefore, that it is idle 
 to seek after it. That is the reason why Goodness has never had 
 a chance to prevail. Precept has been bad, and that has produced bad 
 practice, but let precept be good, and we shall have practice good. We 
 say that the practice of the world is quite as good as its precept. 
 Nothing can be clearer than this, so that the argument drawn from the 
 scarcity of good men falls to the ground. 
 
 Let us not be cast down because the good and the noble are not 
 to be found, for it may be that they only keep in the background, and 
 wait until they can show themselves without fear. Let us remember 
 the case of the Prophet, who imagined that he was left alone in the 
 world, but when the time of deliverance came, four thousand men joined 
 him. It is the fashion to scoff at Goodness and public, spirit, but 
 
 C 
 
136 PERSONAL REFORMATION. 
 
 when that cloud passes away, the public spirit of the people will revive 
 and show itself. 
 
 Man, when originally planted on the earth, was little better than the 
 brute creation, of which, the savage tribes still existing are an example. 
 But this is not all, for the child of every civilized man begins with the 
 animal propensities, and must convert these into new and better pro- 
 pensities, and this conversion from Nature to Civilization is only very 
 imperfectly effected in the case of the vast majority. Nature is 
 stubborn and obstinate, and will not be converted if it can help it. 
 Another quality, however, exists in the mind, which acts powerfully in 
 the opposite direction, and that quality is Reason. These two powers 
 of Nature and Reason are ever contending with each other, the one 
 stoutly maintaining the rights of Nature, and the other as manfully 
 sustaining the rights of Civilization. 
 
 The education of the men at school and college is extremely defec- 
 tive. It consists chiefly of the Classics, Logic, and Mathematics. Now 
 these studies may make scholars, but they cannot make men. What is 
 wanted is a knowledge of Human Nature, its wants and capabilities, 
 and how the former may be supplied and the latter cultivated. Our 
 young men are thrown on the world quite ignorant of it, and allowed 
 to push their way in the best way they can. But bad as the education 
 of the men is, the education of the women is even worse. The women 
 are educated to be pretty toys, whereas they ought to be educated to 
 make good wives and mothers. No wonder that marriages are going 
 out of fashion, and that Sir Cresswell Cresswell's hands are full of work, 
 when the men are crammed with useless scholarship, and the women 
 have nothing but showy accomplishments to recommend them. Neither 
 the one nor the other are provided with the materials to make life 
 happy and useful, and when a couple rise above mediocrity, that is 
 not in consequence of anything they have learned at school but in spite 
 of it. A complete reformation in education must take place, and so soon 
 as our Church Reform Bill is passed — for it would be useless to attempt 
 anything in shape of a real reform sooner — we shall take the matter up. 
 
 A young lady is reported to have told her family that she had been 
 reading our books and that she was reformed. The astonished mamma 
 exclaimed, why child, you were never bad, and how then can you be 
 reformed. "Yes, mamma," replied the daughter, "for / was very 
 obstinate.'' 1 Here the whole secret is revealed — nature requires to be 
 subdued by reason, for until that operation is performed, we are very 
 obstinate. Civilization or principle triumphed over nature in the case 
 before us, and all who conquer themselves in the same way, may say 
 they are reformed. 
 
 We have been asked whether bad tempers abound most among the 
 men or among the women, and the answer we have always given is, 
 that they probably abound most with the latter. This must be so. 
 The women are not so easily made to think and reason as the men, they 
 are therefore more obstinate, and that is only another word for temper. 
 
 Our wish and desire is to raise the character of the women of all 
 ranks, and through them to raise the character of the men. Men are 
 too much occupied with their farms and their merchandise to give much 
 attention to these matters, at least, at the outset of the movement^ we 
 
PERSONAL REFORMATION. 137 
 
 therefore look to the women to show the example. Now the first 
 step in all reformations is to know the truth. We are satisfied from 
 what we know of the women, that they do not wish to be flattered at 
 the expense of truth, and when we say that they are generally speaking 
 less amenable to reason than the men, they will agree with us. 
 
 Unhappy marriages are fast becoming the rule instead of the ex- 
 ception, and what is the main reason of that, but the want of sufficient 
 reasoning powers to enable the women to meet the difficulties and 
 annoyances of married life, A mother told us that when she chided 
 her daughters for talking nonsense, they replied, that if they talked 
 anything else, they would be cut by society. To this we reply. When 
 the accomplishments of women embrace more than music and languages, 
 and what little they gather from novel reading, the men will discover, 
 that if they wish to be popular they must talk sense, so that the women 
 have the matter very much in their own hands. 
 
 But why are the women less advanced than the men ? There are 
 many instances on record of women rising to great eminence as thinkers 
 and actors, and as to their powers of endurance under difficulties, they 
 even surpass the men. We are free to admit that the women are as 
 highly gifted naturally as the men, the difference must therefore arise 
 from some other cause. 
 
 The want of suitable employment for the women is universally felt 
 and acknowledged. In the higher ranks, the women have ample time 
 at their disposal, and yet they have no useful employments for it. 
 Good reading is all very well, but that without suitable occupation is 
 not enough, for idleness must always end in frivolity. Now the 
 employment so much wanted will be supplied by the reformation 
 movement. Committees of Ladies, for the promotion of the movement, 
 are to be established in each town and district of the country, and these 
 will furnish ample work in which ladies may interest themselves with 
 credit to themselves and benefit to those for whom they labour. The 
 women complain that they are cut off from all opportunity of dis- 
 tinguishing themselves, so here the opportunity so much wanted is sup- 
 plied, and if the Ladies' Committes do not produce many Florence 
 Nightingales, we are greatly mistaken. 
 
 We lately made a survey of the lowest localities of one of our large 
 towns, and when we reported that our worst fears as to the neglected 
 state of the population were confirmed, we were told, " How can the 
 people improve, when there are none to tell them what to do." Here is 
 a wide field of operations. Having instructed themselves in the 
 principles of the Reformation, let the Ladies of the Committee go forth 
 as missionaries, to the poor and needy, and tell them what they are to do. 
 
 To take in without giving out produces comparatively little fruit. 
 We therefore say be not selfish;, do not hide your treasure in your own 
 hearts, but freely as you have received freely give. We once presented 
 a book on the New Reformation to a lady, and some months after 
 we asked for the loan of the book for the use of a friend. The book 
 was produced, but with the leaves uncut ! Unprofitable servant, we 
 exclaimed, you have hid your treasure in the ground, neither using it 
 yourself nor allowing others to use it. We mention this incident that 
 our friends may not be niggardly with. any information they may acquire, 
 
 c 2 
 
138 PERSONAL REFORMATION. 
 
 but freely communicate all they know that the progress of the reforma- 
 tion be not hindered. 
 
 When our library scheme is in operation that will greatly aid the 
 work of the Ladies' Committee. They will see that the people avail 
 themselves of the books provided for their instruction, and in ministering 
 to others, they themselves will share the benefits. We have now shown 
 how the female character may be raised, and how that is to conduce to 
 the general good of all classes. 
 
 Hitherto, missionary work has been confined to the few, now a new 
 era will commence, in which the rich will operate on the poor upon a 
 scale adequate to the enormous mass of evil which everywhere abounds. 
 We have the promise that a day is coming when all are to know the 
 Lord from the least to the greatest, and we hope we have indicated the 
 means by which that prophecy is to be fulfilled. The age of miracles 
 has gone by, and there is no other way in which the prophecy can be 
 fulfilled but by instructing the people in a way that is calculated to 
 effect that object. The result of past efforts has shown that the Clergy, 
 without the help of the Laity, can do little in the work of evangelizing 
 the masses. England, so renowned for her public spirit and missionary 
 societies, is weighed in the balance and found wanting, for in tending 
 the vineyards of others her own vineyard she has not kept. 
 
 The reformation will be a practical carrying out of the Divine precept, 
 " Let your moderation be known unto all men." " Be not righteous 
 over-much," i.e. righteous in that which is not righteousness but 
 hypocrisy. Should it be said that the reformation tends to secularize 
 religion, we reply that it will sanctify politics, and what the one loses 
 will be gained by the other. But the fact is, religion will lose nothing 
 but what it ought to lose, viz. its hypocrisy and intolerant spirit. 
 
 But why be moderate in that which is good ? We answer that even 
 a good thing may be carried too far, for that which is good in modera- 
 tion becomes evil in excess. This rule is true in religion, for if we 
 were to apply our whole thoughts and time to religion, we should 
 neglect everything else, which would soon bring us to beggary and 
 every evil under the sun. No, the duties of life are numerous, and in 
 discharging them, we must be careful not to allow any one duty to 
 occupy more than a fair share of our time and attention. 
 
 The Alliance for the promotion of Temperance has lately met in 
 Manchester. Now, if the object of this great alliance, comprising 
 twelve hundred societies, is the good of the people, their object is 
 identical with our own. Instead of trying to make men good by for- 
 bidding them the use in moderation of any of God's mercies, we ask 
 them to assist us in enlightening the people. In this way the Alliance 
 will effect their great object — which they can never do by an Act of 
 Parliament, or the doctrine of total abstinence. 
 
 Instruction as to what is Good and Evil is all that is wanting to 
 produce an extraordinary change for the better among all classes, for as 
 Ignorance and Delusion cease, so will Goodness encrease. The masses, 
 at present, are so ignorant, that they are at the mercy of every 
 demagogue who chooses to lead them astray. This is the way how 
 strikes among the workmen are got up. The loss to the workmen and 
 the community at large from this cause is incalculable, and in estimating 
 
CHURCH REFORM. 189 
 
 the money value of the reformation— which would remove this evil— 
 this enormous item must not be overlooked. Nor is this all. At 
 present, the people are apt to be led away by every political and 
 religious fallacy of the day, whereas, with an enlightened populace, that 
 source of evil will be lessened, if not entirely removed. Riots and 
 Revolutions are happily unknown to England in our time, but let us 
 beware. The state of revolution in which our relations in America 
 have fallen, shows very plainly that we too may suffer from the same 
 cause if something be not done to improve the condition of the people. 
 When Plutarch began to write, Rome was at her lowest ebb, in the 
 reigns of Nero, Caligula, and Domitian, and soon after in the life-time 
 of Plutarch, the golden age in the reign of Trajan began. Now, what 
 but to Plutarch's book can we ascribe so great a revolution. On reading 
 the book itself, we think it competent to produce the reformation, which 
 actually took place, and there is no reason to doubt that " the Lives of 
 Plutarch " produced the change. Plutarch and the other great men of 
 his day saved Civilization for a whole century, but, alas ! it fell soon 
 after. The reformers of those days did not lay their schemes sufficiently 
 deep, and after their death their work was lost. This error will now 
 be avoided. By the Church Reform Bill on the one hand, and Personal 
 Reformation on the other, the work now begun will be stereotyped, 
 and such as may be transmitted from generation to generation. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHURCH REFORM. 
 
 We have been struck with the way in which some people speak of 
 the Bible. They say if so and so be in the Bible it is true, and if not 
 it is false. Now this is to idolize the Bible, and to shut out all the 
 light which nature gives. Such men imagine that we have only one 
 book of revelation, whereas we have two — the Book of Revelation and 
 the Book of Nature. The Bible was never intended to shut out the 
 light of nature; and they who use it in this way make the Bible an 
 idol — an evil, the magnitude of which it would be vain to attempt to 
 describe. If we now look at the contents of the Bible, this will be 
 apparent. The first half of the old Bible, down to the book of Chroni- 
 cles, is a history of the wars of the Jews, and the giving of the law — 
 no portion of which can possibly interest or instruct the nations of 
 Christendom. The latter part of the Bible consists of prophecies, 
 which can be of little use to us, for they do not predict any event plain 
 enough to make a practical use of them. The study of these prophecies 
 only serves to turn man's attention away from the proper duties of life, 
 which do not consist of attempts to penetrate into the secrets of the 
 future, beyond what the use of reason enables us to do. 
 
 The New Testament is intended for the use of all times ; and there 
 we may reap a rich harvest of instruction if we will use it side by side 
 with the light of nature. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles 
 are historical, and abound with precepts which are eternally true. The 
 
140 CHURCH REFORM* 
 
 Epistles, which form the remaining half of the New Testament, are 
 commentaries on the historical part ; and as their authors, with one 
 exception (St. Paul), had the benefit of hearing our Lord preach, their 
 authority is almost equal to that of the Gospels themselves. 
 
 Having shown what the Bible contains, let us see what it does not 
 contain. The Bible, either old or new contains no history of any nation 
 except the Jews. It contains no scientific account of the heavenly 
 bodies, or their movements, by which we learn the art of navigation, 
 and a variety of other arts. It contains no account of the geological 
 formation of the earth, by which we carry back the history of the world 
 for millions of years. It contains no information as to the properties of 
 heat, air, water, and matter, by which we multiply the comforts and 
 supply the wants of man. In short, the Bible contains neither Sciences 
 nor Arts, — and without these, civilization could have no existence. 
 
 Such being the facts of the case, we ask what becomes of the wisdom 
 of those who see nothing in anything that is not in the Bible ? It is 
 only indolence, ignorance, and folly which dictate such sentiments; and 
 instead of honouring God by using the Bible in that way, they dis- 
 honour Him. The object of God is the progress of the world in all 
 that is good ; and unless it be held that Civilization is evil, that object 
 can only be advanced by using the Book of Nature as well as the Book 
 of Revelation in the reflected light of each other. The immoderate 
 use of the Bible creates intolerance, and prevents reason and experience 
 having their perfect work on the soul, and we trust these remarks may 
 have some effect in removing so great an evil. Intolerance is ex- 
 cuseable in a false religion, but to a true religion it is a scandal. 
 
 We have been accustomed to interpret the whole of the New Testa- 
 ment by St. Paul, although he is the only writer who had his gospel 
 from hearsay. We interpret the gospel by an interpretation, instead of 
 going to the gospel itself. Now if we reverse this process, and interpret 
 St. Paul by the gospel, we shall understand what the apostle means. 
 As St. John, St. Peter, and St. James wrote subsequently to St. Paul, 
 and as their gospels give no countenance to the peculiar views attributed 
 to St. Paul, it is quite certain that we err, almost to a complete nullifi- 
 cation of the gospel, by using St. Paul in the way we do. Let us first 
 ascertain what the gospel is, and then the whole of the New Testament, 
 including St. Paul, may be interpreted from that as a starting point. 
 We have found that the gospel means LOVE and SELF-DENIAL ; 
 and I am sure St. Paul, who dwells so much on these duties, will not 
 be found 'less evangelical than the Evangelists themselves. To open 
 St. Paul and pick out passages to support Calvinistic opinions, is not a 
 mode of interpretation which would be tolerated with any other book ; 
 and it is very certain, that until we interpret the Bible on a better 
 principle than that of arbitrary selection, we shall never come to a 
 knowledge of what it really contains. 
 
 Original Sin. 
 
 The allegory of the Fall is intended to testify to the presence of evil 
 or want, and to illustrate the subtlety and malignity of human nature 
 before it has been civilized ; and, taken in that sense, its meaning is 
 obvious, and in accordance with fact. It was as necessary to teach the 
 ignorance of primitive times by the allegory of the Fall, as it was to 
 
CHURCH REFORM. 141 
 
 prepare the Jews for the advent of the Saviour by the burdensome 
 worship of the ceremonial law. If it is difficult to read the account 
 of the Fall as an allegory, it is much more difficult to understand how 
 the Jewish religion was ordained by God, and afterwards abolished by 
 Christ. Further, if we are not to be allowed to read the account of 
 the Fall allegorically, why are we permitted to read the account of the 
 Creation, which also occurs in Genesis, in a sense different to its literal 
 meaning ? For " six days," Dr. Chalmers tells us, we must read six 
 periods of time, and as these periods are not to be counted by hours, 
 but by millions of years, it shews to what degree of error the literal 
 reading of Scripture may lead, when that is opposed to fact and reason. 
 Again, we read that death came in consequence of Adam's sin ; but as 
 we know that not to be true, we are allowed to allegorise that statement. 
 Further, the account of the Fall debars man from the knowledge of 
 good and evil. Now, if we were to take that statement literally, we 
 must burn our libraries and shut up our churches and schools ; for, if 
 knowledge is evil, of course education would be the same. 
 
 The spirit of evil in man is nothing more nor less than the natural 
 feelings unsubdued by reason and experience. Self-love in such cir- 
 cumstances creates envy, jealousy, revenge, and uncharitableness, and 
 these wicked feelings we call the Devil. 
 
 But it will be replied, that God destroyed the perfection of the world 
 that he might show forth his own glory in the gift of Christ ; but our 
 Saviour himself does not allude to the Fall, or to his supposed mission 
 in regard to it. Not only does our Lord give no countenance to the 
 idea, but he asserts the very opposite: for he tells the Jews that if he 
 had not come to them they had not had sin. Again, he defines in what 
 the sin of the world consists, when he says that " This is the condem- 
 nation that light is come into the ivorld, and men have loved darkness 
 rather than light" and not that Original Sin is the condemnation of 
 the world. With the theory of Original Sin, no perfection can be 
 assigned to God, — for in not preventing Satan from effecting his evil 
 purpose, and in punishing all men for the sin of one, even for his own 
 glory, is not the act of a God who is all love, goodness, wisdom, justice, 
 and truth. If the literal reading of the tradition of the Fall could be 
 shown to be consistent with the idea of a perfect God, it might be 
 harmless; but seeing that it is the reverse, we are bound to consider it 
 only as an allegory, which was necessary to teach the Jews in their 
 primitive condition, but quite uncalled for and positively hurtful in our 
 day, who live under a better dispensation. 
 
 We are told that we ought not to reason on religion, but that of 
 course would be putting our candle under a bushel, — for, without the 
 light of reason there would be darkness. Is not reason the noblest gift 
 of God ? and, if so, why are we asked to wrap it in a napkin and bury 
 it in the ground ? Without reason, Scripture would be useless. Did 
 not our Saviour reason when he addressed the understanding and the 
 feelings of the people who surrounded him ? Do not the clergy reason 
 when they address their hearers from the pulpit or the press ? and 
 unless we are prepared to assign the power of reasoning to the clergy, 
 and deny it the laity, as the Catholics do, we have not only a right to 
 reason on the Scriptures, but it is our bounden duty so to do. What is 
 
142 CHURCH REFORM. 
 
 the " Right of private judgment" but the right we now claim? We 
 may be told the danger is that, if reason be allowed in matters of reli- 
 gion, we shall open the floodgates of infidelity, impiety, and atheism. 
 Nothing of the kind. A little reasoning and a little knowledge may 
 produce, and actually do produce, infidelity; for there is more hypocrisy 
 and profession in the Church than positive belief; but the whole truth, 
 which is only to be gained by reasoning, produces actual belief, and is 
 the end of scepticism, infidelity, and controversy. In support of this 
 statement, we oiFer the present work; and if, after its perusal, the slightest 
 trace of infidelity, superstition, or scepticism is felt, we shall be greatly 
 mistaken. It has often been remarked, that underneath the popular 
 faith lies a substratum of scepticism. This must be the case so long as 
 our ideas of God are vague and undefined, — for on that foundation all 
 theology rests; and in bringing this important subject under discussion, 
 we trust the reader will find his faith greatly enlarged and strengthened. 
 
 Sacrifice. 
 
 St. Paul's Epistles are generally interpreted as meaning a Material 
 sacrifice and atonement ; but that the apostle meant a spiritual atone- 
 ment may be proved from his own writings. The apostle says, "All 
 things by the Law are purged by blood, and without blood there is no 
 remission; but if we take that passage literally, we make the apostle 
 contradict himself. What the apostle means is simply this, that unless 
 Christ had died, his work and atonement would not have been complete; 
 and not that the blood of Christ, taken in a material sense, could take away 
 sin. If the blood of bulls could not take away sin, it is impossible that 
 the blood of Christ's human nature could have that effect, — for none will 
 say that Christ's divine nature could die. It is important to bear this 
 in mind, — for if we interpret St. Paul literally we shall go back to the 
 Jewish doctrine of Sacrifice, which Christ himself denounced, and 
 which the prophets said was an abomination to the Lord. We are to 
 trust in the blood of Christ in a spiritual sense, — for unless Christ had 
 sealed his testimony with his blood, the Gospel could never have reached 
 our ears, and consequently we should have remained under sin. 
 
 We may read hundreds of passages on the body and blood of Christ 
 in the Bible to support the literal interpretation, but that does not alter 
 the fact, that the literal meaning is opposed to the spirit of the Gospel 
 and the evidences of fact and reason. If it is difficult to read St. Paul 
 in any other than a literal sense, how did the reformers of the six- 
 teenth century manage to read St. John in a spiritual sense as to the 
 real presence, who spoke even in a more decided manner on that 
 question than St. Paul does on the question of sacrifice, as the following 
 passage will show : " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and 
 drink his blood, ye have no life in you." (John vi.) The reason why 
 Christ and his Apostles often speak positively, and not figuratively, is 
 the defective nature of all the Oriental languages, for these tongues 
 have no word to denote "signify." Now although the New Testament 
 is written in Greek, Christ and his Apostles spoke in Syriac, and for 
 the want of the necessary words their preaching when rendered into 
 Greek occasions much misconception. 
 
 It is the characteristic of all primitive Churches to read the Scriptures 
 literally, of which the Catholic Church is a standing example, for that 
 
CHURCH REFORM. 143 
 
 Church reads the Bible much more literally than the Protestants do, of 
 which we have given examples. As Religion advances towards per- 
 fection, it will be found that progress can only be effected by reading 
 the Bible still more spiritually than heretofore. This must be so if we 
 only consider the nature of man. Place the Bible before an illiterate 
 man, and he will read it all literally ; but place it before a man en- 
 lightened in knowledge and truth, and he will at once spiritualize a 
 large portion of it : and if the test of human nature has enabled us to 
 spiritualize many passages which have hitherto been taken literally, 
 that is the natural effect of knowledge and truth. 
 
 If we are asked why the Bible was not made more plain than it is, we 
 answer that question by asking another. Why did our Lord teach his 
 Gospel in parables and not by a plainer method of speech, and why 
 does God effect his purpose in creation not by giving knowledge 
 directly, but by withholding it ? The reason is, that an independent 
 intelligence might be created, and keeping this purpose in view the 
 Supreme Wisdom has only partially revealed his will orally, and left 
 man to do the rest himself. If it is wrong to spiritualize the Bible, as 
 we have ventured to do, then the reformation of Luther is wrong, for 
 that reformation abolished the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the 
 Confessional, Absolution, and a variety of other doctrines by that 
 method; and in now going forward to another reformation, we shall 
 only carry out that which Luther so nobly began. 
 
 It will not meet the requirements of truth if we sometimes take the 
 literal and sometimes the spiritual sense, as it may suit our own opinions 
 or wishes, for then we may make the Bible say anything we please. In 
 these circumstances, what is to be done ? Has God given to man a 
 revelation of his will and denied to him any certain mode of discovering 
 its meaning ? Better far that revelation had never been given, for in 
 that case it would mislead rather than guide. Certainly not : God's 
 works are all perfect and complete, and the gift of revelation is no 
 exception to the rule. 
 
 If we make use of facts, — and what are facts but truth ? — we shall 
 possess a test which, like the needle always pointing in one direction, 
 will invariably point to the right. Nothing is so easily known as a 
 fact, and we all know that facts admit of no denial. Here therefore we 
 have a certain test of truth, by which a large portion of the difficulties 
 constantly occurring in the perusal of the Bible may be solved and set 
 at rest. This test shall be our guide to direct us when to apply the 
 literal and when the spiritual interpretation. We shall then apply 
 ourselves to the study of the Bible upon a definite principle, and no 
 longer without any rule to guide us. As the revelation of Nature and 
 Scripture have come from the same author, both must be of equal 
 authority ; and if apparent discrepancies show themselves, we may be 
 assured they are only apparent, for God cannot contradict himself. 
 
 Test of Perfection. 
 
 The doctrine of the Divine Perfection is a test which will meet every 
 case. All theology, as the word itself signifies, is based on the divine 
 perfection. This being so, it is manifest that no doctrine which con- 
 
144 CHURCH REFORM. 
 
 tradicts or in any way jars with that governing doctrine can be true ; 
 and so searching is this test, that I know of no erroneous doctrine which 
 may not be detected and refuted by it. 
 
 Let us now take one or two doctrines to show the operation of this 
 comprehensive test. The first doctrine to which we refer is that of 
 man's original depravity. We read that sin came into the world by 
 Adam's transgression, and that death came in consequence of that sin. 
 We grant the fact of the existence of original evil, but not the doctrine 
 that God first created Adam free from evil, and afterwards allowed one 
 of his creatures to spoil the goodly work. To hold such a doctrine either 
 implies a want of Power in God to prevent the work of Satan, or the 
 want of Goodness in allowing Satan to effect the ruin of mankind. 
 Here the doctrine of original sin is distinctly proved to be opposed to 
 the doctrine of God's perfection. The next doctrines to be noticed are 
 those of Free Will and Predestination. It is evident that if God has 
 denied to man a free will, and has predestinated all things, that God 
 himself and not man is responsible for all the evil in the world. There 
 is no escape from this deduction, awful as that may be ; and as such a 
 deduction would deprive God of all perfection whatever, we are bound 
 to reject it, for we must vindicate the character of Jehovah even at the 
 sacrifice of our most cherished opinions. When we reject Predestination 
 and accept Free Will all is clear ; then we can understand how man is 
 responsible for his acts and how God may punish the guilty. 
 
 It is idle for people to argue that the Eeligion of the Church is not 
 Faith without Works, but Faith proved by Works, — for here is the 
 Eleventh Article of the Church, which defines what the Religion of 
 our Church really is: — " Article XI. — Of the Justification of Man. — 
 We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own Works or 
 deservings : Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only is a most 
 wholesome doctrine." 
 
 Dr. Lushington, in pronouncing judgment in the Court of Arches in 
 the Rev. Mr. Heath's case (Nov., 1861), stated that every clergyman 
 was bound to preach in accordance with the Thirty -nine Articles, and as 
 Mr. Heath's doctrine was contrary to the Eleventh Article just quoted, 
 he pronounced against him. We mention this to show that the Religion 
 of the Church of England is Faith without Works, and not Faith and 
 Works. It is now manifest, that every clergyman of the Church 
 who wishes to know and preach the true Gospel is bound to petition 
 the Legislature for release from the existing Thirty-nine Articles, for 
 these have been found by the supreme court of the Church to be opposed 
 to the Gospel. 
 
 The ancient heathens and Jews atoned for their sins by sacrificing 
 animals, or by burning them with fire on an altar. But this was not 
 all, — for when they were in any great distress, they not only multiplied 
 the number of their sacrifices, but increased their value. They cast 
 their sons and daughters into the fire, and sacrificed them — thinking 
 thereby to appease the wrath of the Deity against them, and thus atone 
 for their sins. Such was the Religion of the Jewish Church, The 
 
CHURCH REFORM. 145 
 
 modern doctrine of "Faith without Works" is practically the same 
 Religion spiritualized — the sole difference being that the moderns do 
 not use an altar, a victim, or fire. 
 
 This false Religion may be a pleasant one, for if men can be absolved 
 from sin by sacrifice, they will never reform their lives. And to that 
 it owes its success in all ages. Instead, however, of having the ten- 
 dency to improve the morals of the people — which is the only object of 
 any true Religion — it has the opposite effect — of which the history 
 of the past offers ample evidence. When will men be wise, and cease 
 to delude themselves with a Religion which is the opposite of Chris- 
 tianity. Surely it is a better and pleasanter Religion to aim at the 
 beauty of goodness set forth in the Life and Precepts of our Lord, than 
 to follow the footsteps of the Pharisees who made themselves whole by 
 Faith in Sacrifice. Faith without Works was the ruin of all the ancient 
 civilizations; and unless the modern civilizations give it up, it will be 
 their ruin as well — for it is a direct encouragement of hypocrisy and all 
 the evil passions. Custom, habit, and the love of evil, will make war 
 against the return of the Christian world to the pure Gospel ; but the 
 Light of Truth is powerful, and will prevail over darkness. 
 
 Jeremiah was the first to announce that the people loved evil, when 
 he said the priests prophecy falsely, and the people love it to be so. 
 Then came Christ proclaiming the same truth — men love darkness and 
 mystery more than light — in other words, evil more than good. Our 
 own experience of the world has led to the same result, — for there is no 
 other way of accounting for the non-progressive state of the Church 
 than that " the people love it to be so." The reason why people like 
 evil is the power of habit and custom. We have been accustomed to 
 hear of little else but evil, and from use and want we have not only 
 come to like it, but to dislike the opposite. Not knowing good from 
 our own experience it sounds strange to us. There is, however, no 
 reason why we should dislike good, on the contrary, there is every 
 reason we should like it. While good elevates the character, evil 
 depresses it, and those who once taste the sweets of good will ever 
 afterwards dislike evil. 
 
 The infidelity, or want of all religion of the Men in our time, is 
 something quite frightful. This deplorable and alarming result has 
 come from the advance of intelligence on the one hand, and the want 
 of a corresponding progress in the Church. The Laity demand reforms 
 of the Church, and in the absence of all reform, they throw off the 
 restraints of religion, and become infidels. Such is the actual state of 
 the case, and as Mr. Clay remarks, if reforms are not soon made, worse 
 will come of it. 
 
 We complain of the increase of unhappy marriages, the prevalence 
 of crime, immorality, and improvidence, and yet, we never think of 
 asking what is the cause of all this ! The cause is the want of Religion 
 amongst the Laity, and the reason is, the want of reform in the Church. 
 Let our statesmen consider these things, and lose no time in passing 
 the Church Reform Bill when they have the opportunity, for a day may 
 soon come when the people will refuse all reforms, as they have done 
 in other countries under similar circumstances. 
 
146 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOVERNMENT REFORM. 
 
 It is with feelings of no ordinary pride that we have to announce 
 that the great Petition, on which the Church Reform Bill is to be 
 founded, has been presented to Her Majesty by Sir George Grey. 
 
 This Petition, which ' may be called the MAGNA CHARTA of 
 Religious Liberty, occupies sixteen pages folio, and is too long to be 
 inserted here, it will therefore be published separately for general 
 circulation. We may mention however, that it contains a draft of the 
 Bill, and the text of the Forty-one Articles which are to be substituted 
 for the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church. When Parliament meets, 
 both Houses will probably call for the production of this Petition, which 
 will bring the matter before them, and in the event of Parliament 
 petitioning the Queen to pass the Bill, we may expect to see it become 
 the law of the land this session. 
 
 An ignorant deluded people is what we have to fear. Now the 
 only way to remove that evil is to improve the preaching of the Gospel, 
 in the manner proposed by the Petition we have submitted to Her 
 Majesty. An improved Pulpit will soon enlighten the people, and then 
 there will be no danger that England will become a second America. 
 If the people of Paris had been enlightened prior to the revolution of 
 that country in 1789, they would have submitted to reason, and accepted 
 the reforms that were offered to them, but instead of that they asked 
 for blood, and universal ruin was the consequence. 
 
 The Legislature will do well to remember that they have not only 
 given votes to the people by the Reform Bill of 1832, but they have 
 put arms into their hands by the Volunteer movement of 1860. It is 
 manifest that nothing can now protect the Constitution but the enlight- 
 enment of the people into whose hands the reins of Government have 
 fallen, and the only way to effect that is to reform the Church, and 
 improve the preaching of the Pulpit. In this way the gospel of peace 
 and good government will have its perfect work on the understanding 
 of all classes. The governing classes will become more tolerant and 
 reasonable, and the governed classes will be easier to govern. 
 
 There can be no Social liberty without the knowledge of Principles, 
 and when a complete code of principles is placed on the statute book, 
 and preached weekly to the people from the pulpit, there will be Liberty. 
 Let the people of England prove that they are fit for liberty by sending 
 up their petitions to Parliament in support of the great Charter of 
 Liberty now submitted for their approval. Dr. Blair says the object of 
 preaching is to " make men good" and Mr. Disraeli says that the object 
 is to "civilize and solace." Now the New Articles will enable the 
 Clergy to fulfil their great mission of civilizing the world, which they 
 are unable to do under the present system of Articles. 
 
 It was only the other day that the Emperor of the French astonished 
 the world by granting a Free press to France, and now he has a second 
 time taken us all by surprise by transferring the power over the Public 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM. 147 
 
 purse from himself to his Parliament. We have always said that 
 Napoleon was a true man, and the moment he saw that it was for the 
 benefit of his country to abdicate a portion of his power he has nobly 
 done so. Since the times of Cromwell we have not heard of a self- 
 denying ordinance, but nothing is too strange for our times. 
 
 The deficiency in the French exchequer is announced to be forty 
 millions sterling, and if that sum is spread over the last six years 
 in which the money was spent, it will give the sum of £8,300,000 
 a year extra to be extorted from the people. Now we are all ready 
 enough to see the faults of our neighbours, but let us look at home 
 and we shall see the same thing. The expenditure of this country 
 has been increased twenty millions per annum since 1854, so that we 
 are even in a worse position than the French. Retrenchment must now 
 be the order of the day. Let us not be behind the French in the great 
 and indispensable work of retrenchment, and if our plan of Govern- 
 ment Reform is carried out, we promise that very soon this sum of 
 £20,000,000 will disappear from the estimates. 
 
 In 1851, the cost of the army was £9,000,000, and the navy, 
 £6,000,000, together £15,000,000. In 1861, the army cost £17,000,000, 
 and the navy, £13,000,000, together £30,000,000. In ten years the 
 cost of our armaments has been doubled, and until we reduce this 
 enormous expenditure to the limits of 1851, we cannot expect to enjoy 
 peace or prosperity. 
 
 It has been said that the great object of all Governments is to keep 
 their places and do nothing, and looking to the mass of work to be 
 done, we cannot say that there is no truth in the remark. The day 
 of reform, however, is at hand, as the following speech of Mr. Leatham, 
 M.P., shows. 
 
 " Does any one suppose that England, which is the very centre of free 
 opinion, at a moment when the whole civilised world is beginning to 
 tremble with the pulsations of a new and sudden life, can remain 
 sleeping in indolence, and altogether insensible to the universal vibra- 
 tion ? More than once the dignity and safety of the empire seemed to 
 tremble in the balance ; and if there is any man in this company who, 
 from the recurrence of that inevitable agitation — for it is only a question 
 of time — fears peril to the State, let him apply himself to removing 
 that ignorance which is danger. If this be our endeavour, and if our 
 efforts be crowned with success, the storm may burst upon us — it may 
 shake to the foundations many things ; but I feel convinced it will pass 
 away, leaving neither desolation nor mourning behind it, but bracing 
 all things that are great and noble in the character of our people, and 
 adding new life to the State, new lustre to the Crown, and glorious 
 centuries to the history of England." 
 
 The great value of these remarks is, that they show the connection 
 between things moral and physical, which is so apt to be overlooked in 
 this material age, but which must be taken into consideration before 
 the country can be restored to a healthy state. Mr. Leatham seems to 
 expect a reformation or revolution in this country, and we are of the 
 same opinion. Unless a complete system of reforms in the Church and 
 the State are immediately carried out, a revolution is certain to break 
 out sooner or later. The sole question is a question of time, i.e. whether 
 
148 GOVERNMENT REFORM. 
 
 the expected "outburst" will come next year or the year after. A 
 dead lock would have come with or without the withdrawal of the 
 Cotton supply, the only difference which that makes is, that it hastens 
 the advent of the necessary reforms. But let us not be alarmed at the 
 coming changes, for as Mr. Leatham says, they will bring good and 
 not evil, for it was impossible that the present unsatisfactory state of 
 things could go on much longer. 
 
 Some short-sighted politicians talk as if everything had been 
 reformed, but now that we have examined into the actual state of 
 affairs, it turns out that reform has hitherto only been applied to the 
 surface, and instead of having arrived at the end of reform, we have 
 only come to its beginnings. We lately asked an experienced Member 
 of Parliament if he did not think we were coming to a dead lock, and 
 he replied, that nothing effective would be done in the way of reform 
 until we came to a dead lock ! We do not take so gloomy a view of 
 the future as this, for we hope and believe that Parliament will pass 
 the necessary Reformation Bills before we come to a dead lock, and 
 thus prevent anything of the kind. 
 
 We observe with dismay a general gathering of the Electoral Reform 
 societies at Leeds. This is a new attempt to restore life to the defunct 
 reform agitations of the past. The evil of this movement is, that it 
 occupies the ground which would otherwise be taken up with real and 
 practical reform. While it can do no good it can do much harm. 
 There is no party in the House of Commons who really wish Electoral 
 Reform, and to agitate for an impossible thing is as idle and injudicious 
 as the O'Connell agitation of 1839. If the good of the people is the 
 object of the Leeds Conference, they will keep Electoral Reform in 
 abeyance for the present, and go for such reforms as are practical and 
 suited to the present circumstances of the country. 
 
 To propose the Ballot and Universal Suffrage to England, at a time 
 when these institutions are on their trial in America and Australia, is 
 truly preposterous. As well propose anarchy and revolution at once, 
 for the Ballot and Universal Suffrage have already produced these in 
 America, and may soon do the same for Australia. Mr. W. Jackson, 
 M.P., who has hitherto voted for the Ballot, takes the proper view 
 of the matter. He said the other day, that if he found the Ballot did 
 not answer in America he would abandon it. Let the Leeds reformers 
 follow this sound advice, and they will act like men of business, who do 
 not shut their ears to the language of experience and common sense. 
 
 About forty years ago the idea of providing Mechanics' and Scientific 
 Institutions began, and now there are no less than two thousand of 
 them. These institutions have done some good, but their day has passed 
 away. The reason of this is, that dry science and mechanics do not 
 touch the heart, and that being so, they can never convert the mind, or 
 produce that enlightenment which is necessary. We believe that our 
 plan of enlightening the world (by the pulpit) is the only proposal that 
 has met the necessities of the case. While that does not run counter 
 to mechanics and science, it will supply what these do not and cannot 
 give. The difficulty which stood in the way of bringing the pulpit to 
 bear on the many was its imperfections, but that difficulty will now be 
 entirely removed by the new Articles of Religion. 
 
GOVERNMENT REFORM. 149 
 
 Rub cloth the wrong way and see how rough it becomes, but rub it 
 right and it will be smooth. So is it with reform. Begin Church 
 Reform with the Articles and you will have no opposition, but begin 
 with the Church Services and you will find how rough the way is. 
 Begin Electoral Reform by enlightening the people and you will pre- 
 pare them for power, but place power in their hands before they know 
 their right hand from their left, and there will be danger. Begin 
 Government Reform by mere retrenchment without improving the 
 management, and you will be pound-foolish and penny-wise. 
 
 By beginning at the causes of evil every one will see the necessity 
 of the proposed reforms, but begin at the effects and no one can see it. 
 We are all too ready to jump to conclusions. We have not patience to 
 go the right way to gain our purpose, and for that reason reform makes 
 no progress. We hope we have now shown to a demonstration the 
 cause of all the failures of the past, both as regards reforms in the 
 State and the Church, and we trust our statesmen and politicians will 
 take the hint and begin their reforms not at effects but at causes. 
 
 If any thing is needed to prove that a new Reformation is essentially 
 conservative, we need only refer to the national debt. With a reformed 
 Church and an enlightened people there will be no danger of revolu- 
 tions, but with the Church unreformed, and infidelity and ignorance on 
 the increase, revolution and danger to the national debt are only 
 questions of time. Let the rich and the noble look the future fairly 
 in the face, and no longer sit still and allow things to take their own 
 course, for assuredly that course will be a bad one. 
 
 Churchmen fear to meet dissenters half way, and dissenters fear to 
 meet churchmen, lest either should lose by proximity. But why 
 should they fear contact with truth and justice ? Is it possible that 
 either can lose caste in such good company. On the contrary, is it not 
 certain that both will be infinite gainers thereby. We say, therefore, 
 let neither fear to meet each other on the neutral ground of the new 
 reformation, for its ways will be ways of pleasantness, and its paths 
 peace. There is nothing so unworthy of men as jealousy, let us there- 
 fore leave such feelings to children, and act as become men and brethren. 
 
 The other Church reforms which will probably follow the passing of 
 the Reform Bill of the Articles, are the following — 1st, the reformation 
 of the Convocation ; 2nd, reform of the Patronage of the Church ; and 
 3rd, the reform of the Prayer Book. By the present constitution of Con- 
 vocation, that body does not truly represent the Church, for while it only 
 represents one-third of the Clergy, the Laity is not represented at all ! 
 
 By the existing system of election, no Clergyman can rise by merit. 
 This is a serious drawback, for no encouragement is held out to the 
 Clergy to distinguish themselves, and this is the great reason why so 
 few eminent men exist in the Church. The simple way to effect the 
 desired object is, to give the election of the Clergy to the people. The 
 people have an inherent right to the election of their pastors, and so 
 soon as this right is conferred upon them, the Clergy will exert them- 
 selves, and we shall see progress in the clerical profession as well 
 as in other professions. The papers are filled with complaints from the 
 Curates of the Church, who are compelled to do all the work, and are 
 half-starved into the bargain. Now the simple remedy for this is, to 
 
150 GOVERNMENT REFORM. 
 
 give the election to the people, and then the Curates will rise to be 
 Rectors and Deacons according to their merits. The Prayer Book and 
 Services of the Church want great reforms, but as these ought to be the 
 carrying out of the Articles, it would be impossible to touch them until 
 the question of the Articles is first settled. 
 
 To carry any or all these great reforms, more unity of opinions 
 is required than at present exists, and that want will be supplied the 
 moment our Bill of Articles is passed. Do not let us waste our strength 
 on impossible things, and in deferring the consideration of these indis- 
 pensable reforms until after the great Charter of Religious Liberty is 
 accepted and ratified by the nation, we act upon the sound principle of 
 taking one thing at a time, and of beginning at the beginning. To 
 begin at the end as some would have us do, is to act like children, 
 which could end in nothing but adding to the confusion and anarchy 
 already existing. 
 
 We have been told that men are not made to act in harmony with 
 each other, but yet that progress is desirable. Let us tell such false 
 reasoners that if men are incapable of uniting that they are likewise 
 incapable of progress, for without unity there can be no progress. To 
 say that men are not born to agree, is the language of scepticism, a 
 conclusion which is falsified by the history of man, for we know that 
 he has made great progress, and that such progress has been made by 
 advances in the direction of unity. It is ignorance and delusion that 
 keep men divided ; let these be removed, and it will be impossible for 
 men to disagree. 
 
 It is a well known proverb that "a foreseen dearth never comes," and 
 we may add that " a foreseen revolution never comes." Foresight is 
 the faculty by which to prevent coming evils, and by showing the 
 danger that is now threatened of a revolution we take the best means 
 of preventing it. 
 
 Revolutions and Civil Wars are like the letting out of water, for we 
 never know where they may stop or when they may be brought to an 
 end. Although we may not like reform, we must recollect that the 
 choice is now between reform and revolution, and those who would 
 prefer the latter only show their ignorance of what a revolution is. 
 Look at America, which is involved in universal ruin, and we may 
 learn a lesson to make any possible sacrifice to prevent a revolution. 
 The new reformation will give a new lease of peace, progress, and 
 prosperity, and we shall once more be honored to be known as the 
 nation which fights its revolutions in the Press and the Parliament, and 
 not in the field or the streets. 
 
 We have now taken a rapid glance at the three great reforms under- 
 taken by our Society, viz., Government reform, Church reform, and 
 Personal reform, and it is only necessary to show the arrangement 
 which have been made for carrying them out. The General Committee 
 of the Society is to be divided into three sections, to each of which is 
 to be assigned one of the three reforms. There will be one committee 
 for Government Reform, another for Church Reform, and the 
 third for Personal Reform. Such is our plan of operations, and the 
 moment the committees are completed the names shall be published. 
 
151 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The great object of the Reformation is to overthrow Satan and his 
 Kingdom. Now what is Satan and that Kingdom of which we hear so 
 much, and of which we know so little ? We answer that Satan is the 
 natural feelings and affections when they are not ruled by the under- 
 standing and the reason. Allow the reason and the intellect to govern 
 us, and Satan and his Kingdom are utterly destroyed. 
 
 "The trite remark is not true, that men and nations are uniformly 
 governed by their real interests. They are not even governed by what 
 they believe to be their interest, for Passion and Prejudice, Likings and 
 Aversions, have their full sway in political as well as in private life." — 
 The Times, October, 1861. 
 
 Here we learn a great truth, that Self-interest is not the only ruler of 
 the world, but that another power exists more potent still. This wicked 
 and rebellious spirit which overrules self-interest we are accustomed to 
 call the Devil. We are all cognizant of this sad reality from our own 
 experience, but let no man despair. There is a remedy for every evil, 
 and the remedy for the devilish spirit within us all is reformation. 
 True opinions produce new and better feelings, and these new feelings 
 will now gain the mastery. 
 
 It is because good feeling is not as yet powerful enough to overrule 
 bad feeling that evil preponderates, but let reformation principles prevail, 
 and the kingdom of Satan will come to an end. It is useless to attempt 
 to change our bad feelings directly or all at once, for that has often been 
 tried, and has always failed. No, we must attack the evil at its source 
 by expelling ignorance and delusion, and that which was impervious 
 to a direct attack will yield to an indirect attack. 
 
 Let it never be forgotten that one evil feeling cannot improve or cast 
 out another evil feeling, for Satan cannot cast out Satan. It is only by 
 improving our opinions and beliefs, by the adoption of true opinions on 
 the one hand, and the casting away false opinions on the other, that 
 we can effectually operate on the corrupt feelings of the heart, and 
 improve them. 
 
 Many men have conquered themselves in the way now explained, and 
 there is no reason why all men may not do the same. We say, therefore, 
 let no man or woman despair, for all may deliver themselves from the 
 tyranny of their evil passions by following the dictates of truth and 
 justice. There is not a man, woman, or child, who is not personally 
 interested in carrying the reformation, and that being so, we ask one and 
 all to lend us a helping hand in the great and good work we have under- 
 taken. Let us not be overcome of evil, as heretofore, but let us hence- 
 forth overcome evil with good. 
 
 D 
 
152 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 God, the author of our being, is the Perfection of Righteousness. 
 That is the pattern to which we are to aspire — of which Christ Jesus 
 God manifest in the flesh, is the expression. To aspire to the likeness 
 of God is the religion of the Reformed Church, and in giving effect to 
 that aspiration. — the highest of which man is capable — we thereby 
 glorify our Maker. We cannot deceive God, and to profess to glorify 
 Him with words without actions, will not avail with Him who seeth all 
 things. Self-reformation is the only true Religion, and in fulfilling this 
 duty we become fellow -workers with our Maker in working out the 
 happiness of our race. It will be observed that this doctrine is the 
 opposite of what we hear from the pulpit, and shows how necessary a 
 reformation is. 
 
 The proper test of Divine Truth is the perfection of God in Wisdom 
 and Holiness, and that is the test by which the Reformed Articles have 
 been compiled. It is by using the searching and comprehensive test of 
 God's perfection that we have been able to separate the wheat from the 
 tares, and produce a result which must command the assent of every 
 christian. By imitating the perfections of God on the Earth we shall 
 respond to the words of our daily prayer, when we say " Thy will be 
 done on the Earth as it is in Heaven? That is the object of the new 
 creed, and we commend it to the earnest and attentive study of our 
 readers, for, if we do not mistake the signs of the times, the new Articles 
 are destined to bring the kingdom of Satan to an end. 
 
 Amusement, idle frivolity, and to scoff at all that is serious, has come 
 to be thought the perfection of manners. But, alas, this life is a reality, 
 and they who thus disregard the dictates of truth and justice must pay 
 the penalty. Those who spend the best of their days in such folly, will 
 find that there is nothing left to them to solace their riper years but a 
 soul that is worse than useless. 
 
 When we turn to the working classes, we find them no better. In- 
 stead of improving they are going backwards. Their minds are being 
 fed by trashy publications, and there are none to raise their voices 
 against an evil which will, unless checked, humble this country in a way 
 that is little expected. Whether we look at the high or the low, we find 
 a gradual falling off in the moral standing of the people. Surely we 
 have had enough of what is called fast manners, and that now at last 
 men will be serious, and set themselves to work out a reformation. 
 
 The good and the noble have almost died out, for go where we will, 
 we know not where to find good people. We have arrived at the 
 bottom of the ladder, and we knew it not. All have, as it were, to be 
 remade — everything has to be done, but where is the power equal to so 
 great an achievement as the regeneration of this world of ours. We 
 have found that power — hundreds and thousands have already joined 
 the movement, and although these comprise members of every church 
 and every party, they are linked together in one common bond — even 
 that of reformation. Here then we discover a power equal to the 
 conquest of the world, for union is power. 
 
 Mr. Clay has said, that the new reformation reconciles the Reason 
 with the Sentiments, which none of all the numerous existing Churches 
 or Religions do. Such being the favourable circumstances in which we 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSION. 153 
 
 come before the world as reformers, it is only what is to be expected, if a 
 great and glorious result, unknown to the world before, is now achieved. 
 
 The New Articles of Belief will change and improve the whole 
 character of our pulpit ministrations. The Clergy are at present bound 
 to preach in conformity with the Thirty-nine Articles of the Prayer 
 Book, but when the New Articles become the law of the land, the 
 Clergy will conform their preaching to them, and in proportion as the 
 New Articles are superior to the Old Articles, so will the preaching of 
 the Churches of the New Reformation be superior to the preaching of 
 the Churches of the Old Reformation. 
 
 It is by means of the Clergy and the Churches that we propose to 
 reform the world. At present very little is learned from the pulpit, 
 and if this is doubted, we point to the men and women the unreformed 
 Churches have produced. What amount of real knowledge do the 
 people possess, and how far have they passed from nature to a state 
 of civilization and regeneration. We have not said, "be ye warmed," 
 and have not at the same time given the necessary clothing, for we 
 have not only said, reform the preaching of the pulpit, but we have sup- 
 plied — by a definite Code of Articles — the means by which that object 
 is to be accomplished. When order and consistency are introduced into 
 the pulpit, the progress of the people in the knowledge of all that is 
 good and true will be sure and certain. 
 
 When we began our work we were told we were visionaries, 
 striving after an impossible improvement of the world. We replied 
 that we did not think so, and that it was time enough to predict defeat 
 when our proposal had had a fair trial and was rejected. Months passed 
 on, essay after essay made their appearance, and the threatened opposition 
 never came. Committees were formed, public meetings held, and all 
 passed off in harmony and good will. After having been before the 
 world for twelve months, and passing successfully through the ordeal 
 of the press and the lecture room, the Reformation has carried the day. 
 
 Nothing but an imperative sense of duty would have induced us 
 to undertake the responsible office of directing the movement; but 
 having once put our shoulder to the wheel we shall not look back. The 
 times are ominous, and we doubt not the next six months will prove 
 to every one that if we had not had a Reformation, we should certainly 
 have had a Revolution. 
 
 The present being the first attempt that has ever been made to 
 reform the Churches upon Evangelical principles, we shall be asked, why 
 a reformation was not tried long ago ? The simple answer is, that no 
 one possessed the moral courage to make the proposal. The amount of 
 intolerance in the world exceeds belief, and that is the reason why no 
 one has ventured to tell the whole truth. Now that the difficulty has 
 been met, we shall be able to estimate the amount of suffering which 
 intolerance has entailed on the world, for up to the present time it has 
 deprived us of the blessings of a reformation which might have been 
 carried a hundred years ago as well as now. 
 
 It was Lord Bacon who introduced the short-sighted system of keeping 
 Religion and Politics apart, and we have unfortunately followed his ad- 
 
154 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 vice ever since. There was great excuse for this weakness on the part 
 of Bacon, for if he had touched Religion he would have been sent off to 
 the Tower to atone for the indiscretion ; but we live in happier times, 
 and that which he was not at liberty to do, we can do without the 
 slightest danger to personal liberty. 
 
 To do right in politics is religion as well as to do right in other things, 
 and unless we take theological considerations along with it in our political 
 movements we cannot know right from wrong, nor can we unite people 
 so as to carry any measure of general importance. It is the same with 
 the Church, if we treat Church matters apart from Politics we leave 
 behind a source of discord which will effectually prevent any possible 
 reform. The experience of the last two centuries fully confirms what 
 we have now said, and if we are allowed to refer to the meetings which 
 have been held in connection with our own movement, in which both 
 Politics and Religion have been introduced, and where nothing but con- 
 cord was the result, we shall have a further confirmation of the same 
 thing. Nature is one, and unless we legislate for it, upon principles 
 which embrace the whole, we cannot expect to produce a result which 
 will be acceptable to all parties. 
 
 Nothing but the blindness and perverseness of human nature prevents 
 the world from being improved and perfected, for true it is that man has 
 his destiny in his own hands if he would only believe it. If any one 
 expects evil, evil will come, for that very expectation produces the thing 
 which is expected. Now reverse this and you will have the opposite 
 result. Let every one expect good, say a general reformation, in morals, 
 manners, customs, and religion, and that expectation will be realized, for 
 then every one will act in accordance with his expectation, and that very 
 action produces the good expected. 
 
 The great difficulty is to induce Belief in the minds of men. But if we 
 are able to show how the desired reformation may be effected, as we have 
 endeavoured to do, this want of Belief ought to be supplied. No com- 
 plaint has been made by the people that they cannot understand our 
 books, and that being so, there is no reason why Belief may not take 
 the place to unbelief. Too long have we fed on the empty husks of 
 unbelief, now let us take a plentiful meal of wholesome food, and we 
 shall be fed and nourished. 
 
 Population goes on encreasing, and unless some general improvement 
 ensues, the wants of man will infallibly outstrip his resources, when the 
 world of the future will become worse than the world of the present. 
 We must either go forward to an improvement, or fall backward into a 
 decline, and when we have shown how a great reformation may be 
 carried, it will be our own fault if we turn our backs on a movement 
 so full of promise. Away then with doubts and fears, for why should 
 we complain of the world not being better than it is, when we may im- 
 prove it. 
 
 Scepticism and Self-condemnation have done nothing for us, now let 
 us give Belief and Self-reformation a fair trial, and we answer for it 
 that the world of the future will exceed in glory the world of the past, 
 as much as the sun exceeds the moon in splendour. In saying so much, 
 we only predict the natural results of the movement. While we do not 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSION. 155 
 
 wish to raise expectations too high, it is only right that we should not 
 state the case less favourably than the facts warrant. 
 
 We must not conclude without one word to the press. There is no 
 class who are more vitally interested in the movement than the Daily 
 press ; for, without a reformation, the press cannot be a free press. The 
 Church Reformation Bill of our Society is to be brought before Parlia- 
 ment in March next, and it is highly desirable that the press should 
 bring the matter prominently before their readers without delay, so that 
 the public may be prepared for it when the Bill comes to be discussed in 
 Parliament. The Press has hitherto given us almost no assistance. All 
 the work has been thrown on ourselves. Now this ought not to be. 
 The office of the press is to keep the public informed as to what is going 
 on, and we call on them to do their part. There was some excuse for 
 the silence of the press when the movement first began, but now that the 
 matter has been taken up by the public, we have a right to expect assist- 
 ance from those who occupy the influential position of public journalists. 
 
 Those who look for any thing new, either in our principles or objects, 
 will be greatly disappointed. Our object is neither novelty nor change, 
 for the truths we have spoken are not new but old. All we ask is 
 order and consistency, for with these alone mankind will assuredly be 
 changed and regenerated. We have sifted the wheat and cast away the 
 tares, and that is all we have done. 
 
 The tendency of human nature is to take a wrong course. Naturally 
 man does not like principle ; he may therefore be considered to be 
 naturally opposed to a reformation. This fact will account for the pro- 
 longed absence of any new reformation. At first sight it seems strange 
 that although all men see the want of a reformation none should have 
 proposed one. But when we remember that man is naturally disposed 
 the other way, the enigma is explained. Now, how are we to counteract 
 this evil tendency? SELF-INTEREST is our weapon. Consult 
 Self-interest, and you will vote for the reformation. 
 
 Evil produces want, poverty, discontent, and unhappiness, and good 
 produces wealth, comfort, and happiness. Those who object to reforma- 
 tion, choose evil, and those who accept a reformation, choose good. 
 Nature is powerful, but Civilization is more powerful still, for we believe 
 these facts only require to be universally known and understood to in- 
 duce all men to deny their natural feelings at the call of reason. To do 
 that is to produce a reformation, and to change a partially civilized world 
 into a civilized world. 
 
 To attempt to estimate in money the gain which is offered by the 
 reformation would be impossible, for the major part of that gain consists 
 not of dollars, but of happiness. That the reformation will double the 
 resources of England and greatly reduce the expenditure of the country 
 we have no doubt, but, as already said, any money consideration can only 
 indicate a small part of the promised gain. We have said that the new 
 reformation is peace. We are not going to set every man at variance 
 with his own household, as in primitive, on the contrary, we are going to 
 allay all differences by introducing a religion based on principles which 
 can produce nothing but peace and concord. 
 
 The great error into which the Churches have fallen is in ascribing 
 
156 GENERAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 everything to God and nothing to man. Now, although God is the 
 original cause of all things, Man is the immediate cause of every thing 
 he has to do with. Every thing has an original cause, and a proximate 
 cause, and it is necessary to distinguish between these if we wish to 
 know the truth. This is particularly necessary in matters of religion, 
 for if we ascribe the acts of Man to God, which we are so apt to do, 
 in order to release ourselves from the responsibility of our own acts, we 
 throw the whole system of religion into disorder and hopeless confusion. 
 In the New Articles of Religion we have studiously avoided this great 
 error, and that is the reason why so many of the doctrines of Religion 
 have undergone important changes at our hands. 
 
 The want of a Moral Science, worthy of the name, has long been 
 felt, but all men saw this was impossible so long as the church was un- 
 reformed. Now there is no obstruction to this perfection of the science, 
 and we hope the present work will lay the foundation of a moral science, 
 the object of which will be the expulsion of ignorance, want, and evil, 
 from the world. Any object less than that is unworthy of the name of 
 " Moral Science," and any system less comprehensive than our own 
 will be insufficient to accomplish its great mission. 
 
 If it should be said that we pass too rapidly from one subject to 
 another, we answer that it is only in taking a view of all subjects that we 
 can get a correct view of any one point. Nature is one whole, and if 
 we wish to know and understand nature, we must survey the whole. 
 We might easily write volumes on any one doctrine, but when that was 
 done the reader would be as far as ever from his object. As already 
 said, we must look at the whole circle of truth, and to do that we must 
 be brief on the particular points, or we would fall into the error we con- 
 demn so much in others, of writing many volumes which no man can 
 read. The Rev. Sidney Smith says, that brevity is to literature what 
 charity is to religion, and with so great an authority in favor of our 
 method of writing, we cannot doubt that we have chosen the only plan 
 which could accomplish the object we have in view. 
 
 We now conclude the history of the rise and progress of the new 
 Reformation ; and if we may estimate the time that will be necessary 
 to complete our work by the progress made during the ten months of 
 our existence as an organized society, we should say that the Reformation 
 will certainly be completed within the space of five years, as originally 
 contemplated by the prospectus of the society. 
 
 Great and world-wide events come to maturity much more rapidly 
 than minor events, for the more widely the sphere of operations is 
 extended, the greater is the impulse produced, and for that reason we 
 feel assured that the New Reformation will be rapid in its progress 
 beyond all precedent. The pen, the printing press, and the penny 
 postage have done their several parts, let action now follow, and the 
 noblest Reformation the world ever saw will be consummated. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
159 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Articles of Belief, New 15, 84, 106, 128 
 
 Augustine, St 39 
 
 America 1,61,63 
 
 Atonement 19, 33, 42, 144 
 
 Anti-Christ 54 
 
 Articles of Religion .... . . 84 
 
 Army and Navy 96 
 
 Austria 112 
 
 Bible . . 8, 17, 139, 143 
 
 Baptism.. .. 19 
 
 Belief 20,154 
 
 Baptismal Begeneration . . . . 75 
 
 Blair, Dr 146 
 
 Ballot 148 
 
 Bacon, Lord . . 153 
 
 Brevity of Style 156 
 
 Butler, Bishop 85 
 
 Bill Office, Public 96 
 
 Bunsen, Baron 115 
 
 Brougham, Lord 99 
 
 Court of Arches . . 144 
 
 Constitution of the Church . . 3 
 
 Church Reform Bill 5 
 
 Clergy 8,15,85,86 
 
 Character 9 
 
 Conversion 9, 18 
 
 Catholic Church 11, 32, 78 
 
 Catholic Reformation 12 
 
 Confessional 13 
 
 Circle of the Churches . . . . 14 
 Church, High and Low . . 14, 69 
 
 Christ 19 
 
 Conscience 20, 32 
 
 Convocation Reform 149 
 
 Conversion of the Heathen . . 31 
 
 Calvinism .. . . 35 
 
 Civilization . . . . 23, 39, 40, 59, 136 
 
 Cayla, M 46, 124 
 
 Cavour 81,106 
 
 Chalmers, Dr 87 
 
 Candlish, Dr 71 
 
 Centralization 95 
 
 Clay, C. M., Letter of 119 
 
 Council of Trent 13 
 
 Custom . . 145 
 
 Dissenters .... . . . . 3, 149 
 
 Doctrinal Reform . . . . 7, 9, 24 
 
 Devotion 10 
 
 Democracy . . 61 
 
 Dictator 67 
 
 Disraeli, M.P., Mr 146 
 
 Essays unanswered 107 
 
 Ebury, Lord 55, 97 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Evil 17, 19, 102 
 
 Evangelical 41,138,153 
 
 Ecclesiastical Doctrines , . . . . . 38 
 Essays and Reviews . . . . 7, 52 
 
 Enlightenment 54, 153 
 
 End of the World 18 
 
 External Aid 91,126 
 
 Emerson • . . . . 65 
 
 Foresight 150 
 
 Free-Will .... 16, 33, 104, 144 
 
 Feelings 21 
 
 France .. 27, 46, 49, 50 
 
 Faith and Works 36, 144 
 
 Fear 53 
 
 Faith in Man ,. . 107 
 
 French Alliance 116 
 
 God 15,53,101,152 
 
 Gregory, St 11 
 
 Gladstone, Mr. ... . .... . . 94 
 
 Government, Office of.. .* .. 106 
 
 Garibaldi 12, 82 
 
 Goodness .. .. » 135 
 
 Hypocrisy 21 
 
 Hume, Joseph 95 
 
 Hungary 113 
 
 Human Nature 154 
 
 History, Progressive 104 
 
 Holv Alliance 27 
 
 Heath, Rev. Mr 144 
 
 Italy 106,109 
 
 Inspiration 3, 31 
 
 Incredulity . . . . 4 
 
 Intolerance 10, 11, 21 
 
 Integrity 67 
 
 Income Tax 97 
 
 Indifference 104 
 
 Infidelity of Men . . » . . . 145 
 
 Jewish Church 13 
 
 Jeremiah 145 
 
 Knowledge 17 
 
 Leeds Conference 148 
 
 Love of Evil 145 
 
 Libraries . . 43, 138 
 
 Luther's Reformation . . . . . . 9, 12 
 
 Lord's Supper .. 19 
 
 Lord's Day 22 
 
 Love and Self-denial . . . . 21, 140 
 
 Life, This 22 
 
 Leatham, M.P., Mr 147 
 
 Legislation • . , . 59 
 
160 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Liberty .. .. * 61,146 
 
 Lincoln, President . . . . 118, 125 
 
 Missionaries 137 
 
 Man .. .. .. ..2,41,102,104 
 
 Morals, Science of .... 15, 156 
 
 Miracles .. «-. ..- ..9,16,102 
 MiU, J. S. .. ..< .. .,37,43,87 
 
 Miraculous Grace . . . . 39, 103 
 
 Maury, Captain .. *. .. .. 61 
 
 Money, value . * 155 
 
 Moderation .138 
 
 Magna Charta of Liberty . . . . 146 
 Mechanic's Institutions . . . . 148 
 
 McCosh, Dr. * . 66 
 
 Manners 67 
 
 Monarchy .. 106 
 
 Mental Revolution * 107 
 
 Macaulay 108 
 
 Mazzini 109 
 
 McClintock,Dr. .. .. w .. 99 
 
 Moral Courage 99 
 
 Marriages 137 
 
 Night Work 97 
 
 Nature . . . . 15, 84 
 
 Naturalism 23 
 
 Newly-furnished House . . . • 54 
 National Church for Italy . . . . 80 
 
 Natural Reformation 85 
 
 Novelty disliked 105 
 
 Napoleon in 115,146 
 
 Newman, Professor .. .. .. 23 
 
 New York Times .. .. . . .. 94 
 
 Order of Reform . . . . . . . . 148 
 
 Original Sin . . . . 8, 103, 140, 141 
 
 Object of the World 16 
 
 Opinions . . ...... • • . . 20 
 
 Opinion National of Paris . . .. 123 
 
 Oriental Languages • . • • . . 142 
 
 Public Spirit 98 
 
 Public Opinion 100 
 
 Prayer Book Reform . . . . 4, 149 
 
 Prevention 4 
 
 Pharisees and Sadducees .... 7 
 
 Punishment's 18 
 
 Preaching 22, 146 
 
 Political Reformation 29 
 
 Press, The 29, ] 55 
 
 Predestination 34, 144 
 
 Precept at fault 41, 135 
 
 Priests 72 
 
 Papal Bull 79 
 
 Principles •• 84 
 
 Pusey, Dr 74 
 
 Progress and Unity 150 
 
 Perfection, Divine 143 
 
 Patronage Reform .. .. •• 149 
 
 Personal Reform 135,151 
 
 Prayer 152 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Panacea for Civilization . • . . 108 
 
 Poland 113 
 
 Prussia 114 
 
 Palmer, Roundell 93 
 
 Private Judgment . . . . . . 107 
 
 Reform only begun 148 
 
 Reformation Society, 3,4, 54, 83, 124, 150 
 
 Reformers 1, 2, 55 
 
 Rationalism 3, 23 
 
 Revivals 8,39 
 
 Responsibility .... . . 16, 103 
 
 Religion 17,18 
 
 Regeneration . . 20 
 
 Reason and Sentiment 21, 54, 152 
 
 Revealed, Everything to be . . 41 
 
 Republics 51 
 
 Russian Serfs • . 113 
 
 Revolutions . . 91, 150 
 
 Record, The 71 
 
 Religion, Progressive 104 
 
 Ricasoli . . . . 109 
 
 Retrenchment 147 
 
 Sincerity 10,21 
 
 Sedgwick, Professor 15 
 
 Satan 53, 151 
 
 Slavery 62, 68, 99, 118, 126 
 
 Science 66 
 
 Self-Interest 155 
 
 Syria 75 
 
 Soul, The .. 84 
 
 Social Intolerance 86 
 
 Subscription to Articles . . . . 97 
 
 Silvestre, M 124 
 
 Southern Confederacy 126 
 
 Spurgeon, Mr 55, 69 
 
 Smith, Rev. S 156 
 
 True Church 1, 120 
 
 Truth 20, 37 
 
 Truth, One only 29 
 
 Truth, not final 55 
 
 Truth, a hammer 55 
 
 Trinity, The 16,30,103 
 
 Testament, New 17 
 
 Transubstantiation 74 
 
 Times, The .. .. 100,110,113,151 
 
 Tea Duties 97 
 
 Texts of Scripture 105 
 
 Theses, The Sixty-one . . . . 108 
 Temperance Societies 138 
 
 Will, The 20 
 
 Whig and Tory 29 
 
 Westminster Review 66 
 
 Walestein .. 83 
 
 Wilberforce 87 
 
 Washington 124, 125 
 
 Women 136 
 
 Working Classes 149,152 
 
CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 Death of St. Gregory, and the 
 beginning of the Papacy . . 600 
 
 Mahomet 650 
 
 Defeat of the Turks at Tours . . 732 
 
 Venerable Bede 735 
 
 Charlemagne 772 
 
 Greek Church separates • . • • 853 
 
 Alfred the Great 878 
 
 Cardinals begin 1062 
 
 William the Conqueror • . . . 1066 
 
 Hildebrand Pope 1073 
 
 Magna Charta ♦ 1215 
 
 Koger Bacon at Oxford . . 1214-1292 
 Pope at Avignon . . . . , . • . 1308 
 Pope's return to Kome • . . . 1377 
 
 Artillery first used 1383 
 
 Wicliff at Oxford 1384 
 
 John Huss burned at Prague . . 1415 
 
 Printing invented 1440 
 
 America discovered 1494 
 
 Luther and Tetzel 1518 
 
 English Beformation . . . . . . 1534 
 
 Council of Trent rises . . . . 1546 
 
 Death of Luther 1546 
 
 Cranmer burned at Smithfield . . 1555 
 
 Elizabeth Queen 1559 
 
 St. Bartholomew 1572 
 
 Edict of Nantes passed . . . . 1598 
 Lord Bacon . . . . . . 1560 to 1626 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus 1632 
 
 Galileo at Florence 1642 
 
 Peace of Westphalia, end of the 
 Thirty Years' War 1648 
 
 Oliver Cromwell 1654 
 
 A.D. 
 
 Charles II 1660 
 
 Two Thousand Clergy secede . . 1662 
 
 Fire and Plague of London . . 1666 
 
 William HE 1668 
 
 Peter the Great 1682 
 
 Louis XIV 1684 
 
 Edict of Nantes revoked . . . . 1685 
 
 Battle of Boyne 1690 
 
 Treaty of Utrecht, end of the Wars 
 
 of Louis XIV 1713 
 
 Sir I. Newton 1719 
 
 American Independence • . • • 1776 
 
 Voltaire 1778 
 
 James Watt .1780 
 
 States General meet at Paris • • 1789 
 Adam Smith at Glasgow . • • . 1790 
 
 Partition of Poland 1795 
 
 Napoleon L, Emperor . . . . 1804 
 
 Pitt dies 1806 
 
 Moscow burned . . 1812 
 
 Vittoria 1813 
 
 Waterloo 1815 
 
 EeformEiots 1830 
 
 Keform Bill carried 1832 
 
 Victoria Queen 1837 
 
 Corn Laws repealed 1846 
 
 Irish Famine 1847 
 
 France a Bepublic 1848 
 
 Napoleon III. Emperor . . . . 1852 
 
 Crimean War 1854 
 
 Indian War and Kebellion.. . . 1859 
 
 Chinese War I860 
 
 American Civil War . . • . • . 1861 
 The New Reformation .. .. 1861 
 
WORK ON THE NEW REFORMATION. 
 
 This day is Published, 8vo, Price 10s. 6d. 
 
 Philosophy and History op Civilization, by A. Alison, Esq. 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL. 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 1. The Nature of God and the Perfection of His Attributes. 
 
 10; 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 16. 
 17. 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 
 Chaos Created out of Space. 
 
 The System of Nature Created out of Chaos. 
 
 How the Government of Nature is carried on. 
 
 The Constitution of Human Nature. 
 
 The Plan of Redemption. 
 
 Doctrinal Reform the basis of the New Reformation. 
 
 What Civilization is, and how it may be Reformed and Perfected. 
 
 The Order of Progress and Politics. 
 
 Literature on the Decline, and how it may be Improved. 
 
 The Philosophy of the Fine Arts. 
 
 The Formation of Character. 
 
 The Persian, Greek, and Western Roman Empires. 
 
 The Eastern Roman Empire. 
 
 The Middle Ages, and the Decline of Liberty. 
 
 The Reformation of Luther, and the French Revolution. 
 
 The Louis Napoleon Period to 1861. 
 
 The History of England to 1861. 
 
 The Present Condition and Future Prospects of. England. 
 
 The Coming Struggle, political and religious, and how to meet it. 
 
 English Literature, and how to Choose our Reading. 
 
 The Search after Truth concluded. 
 
 A Reformation Society is suggested. 
 
 FROM THE "OBSERVER" 
 
 " This is in every respect a remarkable book ; remarkable for the extent and variety 
 of its information, remarkable for the sincerity of its convictions, remarkable for the 
 boldness of its views, and remarkable for the out-spoken fearless manner in which it 
 is written. It is unquestionably honest ; it is characterized by a profundity of thought, 
 and, above all, by an unflinching devotion to Truth, which cannot be lightly con- 
 sidered in any general estimation of its value to the world." 
 
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