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long been in the hands of the public. Having obferved that the Civil and Ecclefiaftical Conftitutions of the Jews were fo completely incorporated as to admit of no feparation, and that the former, if in idea they could be diftinguished from each other, was fubordinate to the latter, he proves, in a very convincing manner, that the case must be far otherwife in the nations profeffing the religion of Chrift.

"Now," fays he, "was formed a community of the difciples of Jefus, which was called his church, a word that denotes no more than fociety or affembly, and is fometimes ufed in the New Teftament with evident analogy to the common ufe, to fignify the whole community of Chriftians confidered as one body, of which Christ is denominated the head, and fometimes only a particular congregation of Chriftians. In this general society, founded in the unity of their faith, their hope, their love, cemented, as it were, by a communion or joint participation, as occafion offered, in religious offices, in adoration, in baptifm, and in the commemoration of the fufferings of their Lord, preferved by a moft friendly intercourfe, and by frequent inftructions, admonitions, reproofs when neceffary, and even by the exclufion of those who had violated fuch powerful and folemn engagements; in all this, I fay, there was nothing that interfered with the temporal powers. They claimed no jurifdiction over the perfon, the liberty, or the property of any man. And if they expelled out of their own fociety, and, on fatisfying their conditions re-admitted thofe who had been expelled, they did in this only exercife a right, which (if we may compare great things with fmall, and heavenly things with earthly) any private company, like a knot of artists or philofophers, may freely exercife. The Chriftians every where acknowledged themfelves the fubjects of the State whether monarchical or republican, absolute or free, under which they lived; entitled to the fame privileges with. their fellow-fubjects, and bound as much as any to the obfervance of the laws of their country.-Far from being pertinacious affertors of their perfonal and private rights, they held it for an invariable maxim, that it is much better to fuffer wrong, than either to commit or avenge it.”

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We agree with Dr. Campbell, that this is "the true footing on which the apoftolic church stood in relation to the fecular powers; but we cannot affent to every thing afferted in this paragraph, and there is in it one expreffion, which we do not understand. The word nuanca fignifies indeed a fociety; but it does not fignify an affembly, if by the word be meant a number of men met cafually or even by voluntary agreement among themfelves. Exxhold, in its original fenfe, denotes a felect fociety a concio avocata, and must therefore confift of members felected by fome perfon or perfons either authorised or, at leaft, affuming authority, to make the selection. Accordingly, in the New Teftament, the word is ufed, not fometimes, but very often, to fignify the whole community of Chriftians chofen out of the world and put under the government of Chrift; but we know not what is meant by this general fociety being cemented by 3 communion or joint participation in baptifm! It is indeed true, that members can be admitted into this fociety only by baptifm; but by the very import of the word ennλnsia it is likewife true, beyond conoverfy, that a fet of unbaptifed believers have no authority to con

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ftitute themselves members of this fociety by baptifing one another; and there is furely no text of fcripture indicating it to be the duty of the difciples of Jefus to partake jointly, as occafion offers, in baptifm, as it is unquestionably their duty to partake jointly in what is here called "the commemoration of the fufferings of the Lord."

When our author fpeaks of the expulfion of members from the fociety, and their re-admiffion into it, upon fatisfying certain conditions, he must furely mean their expulfion from, and their re-admiffion into, fome particular church; because it is impoffible that the merits or demerits of individuals can be immediately judged of by the church univerfal; but when he compares this jurifdiction of particular churches, to the juridiction, of any private company, of a knot of artifs or philofophers, he is either deceiving himself or deceiving his reader. A man may be a philofopher, and univerfally acknowledged as fuch, though he be a member of no philofophical fociety; but no man can be a Chriftian, or would have been acknowledged, as fuch, in the apoftolic age, who is a member of no particular church; for we are exprefsly enjoined " not to foriake the affembling of ourfelves together as the manner of fome is; but to remember them who have the rule over us, who have fpoken unto us the word of God; to obey them, and fubmit ourselves; for they watch for our fouls, as they that must give account.' Hence, in the opinion, of St. Cyprian," he cannot have God for his father, who has not the church for his mother."+

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A man may be expelled from one philofophical fociety without lofing any of the privileges of another; from the Royal Society of London for inftance, and yet continue a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Nay, we believe it would not be difficult, to give inftances of men being admitted into fome of the Scotch Universities, and even obtaining degrees in thofe univerfities, though they were known to have been previously expelled from the Univerfities of EngJand; but whoever was expelled, in the apoftolic age, from one particular church (we enquire not at prefent whether that church was congregational, claffical, or diocefan) found himfelf expelled from all particular churches, or, in other words, excommunicated by the church univerfal. That fuch was the practice of the primitive church is known to every man who has looked into the earliest Chriftian records; and that it was a practice founded on divine authority, is evident from our bleffed Lord's giving to the Apoftles "the keys of the kingdom of heaven, declaring that whatfoever they fhould bind on earth, fhould be bound in heaven; and that whatfoever they fhould loofe on earth, fhould be loofened in heaven." That power is, by those words, given to the church to expel unworthy members, and to re-admit them on their reformation, is acknowledged by Dr. Campbell himself, and can indeed be denied by no man who attends to the context; but the kingdom of heaven certainly means the univerfal church and not a particular congregation, and therefore the expreffion, "Whatfoever ye fhall bind on earth, fhall be bound in + Lib. de unitate ecclefiæ. heaven."

Heb. x, 25 xiii, 7 & 17.

heaven," can imply nothing less than that the canonical expulfion from one church is attended with exclufion from all churches. This is farther evident from the words immediately preceding, in which it is said, that, if the offending brother" neglect to hear the church (or as Dr. Campell chooses to tranflate Tys Exиλas the congregation) "let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican," but if expulfion from one particular church did not imply exclufion from all churches, the expelled brother could not have been treated as a heathenman and a publican; fince we are here told, and told truly, that "the general fociety, founded in the unity of their faith, their hope, their love, and cemented by a joint participation, as occafion offered, in religious offices, &c. was preferved by a most friendly intercourfe, &c.

The jurifdiction of the Chriftian church, therefore, was not, in the apoftolic age, like that of a knot of artifts or philofophers; and the ingenious Lecturer, in enumerating the bonds by which that church was kept together as one body, fhould have added to thofe, which he has very fairly given, agreement in difcipline administered by perfons in each church (no matter at prefent of what conftitution) whom the members of that church were by the express command of the Apoftle enjoined to obey as those who watched for their fouls.” As Dr. Campbell makes a kind of apology for comparing the jurifdiction of the apoftolic church to that of a private company, or knot of artists, we fhould not have taken fuch pains to fhow that the comparison will not hold, had his object been, by a fair induction of facts, to discover truth wherever the might be found. But he exprefsly fays, that the enquiry, which he thus prefaces, " may lead to the detection of the latent fprings, whence originally flowed that amazing torrent of corruption, by which, in procefs of time, our moft amiable religion has been fo miferably defaced" thus taking for granted, at the commencement of a course of ecclefiaftical history, a fact, the reality of which that courfe alone can afcertain. Whether our religion has been miferably defaced fhould have been confidered as wholly unknown; for such is the influence of a popular profeffor on the minds of his pupils, that his affertions will always be admitted as proofs. It is therefore neceffary, when a man of uncommon ingenuity thus prejudges a caufe, to point out the fallacy of every principle from which he reafons; for if the principles be admitted, a mafter of logic will find no difficulty in eftablishing his conclufion, whatever it may be.

(To be continued.)

Gleanings in England, defcriptive of the Countenance, Mind, and Character of the Country. By Mr. Pratt. Vol. II. 8vo. Pp. 624. Longman and Rees. 1801.

THIS

HIS volume is dedicated to the Marquis of Lanfdown. "If I had the felicity (fays Mr. Pratt) to grace my first volume with the name of a Mora, it is with no lefs pleasure I prefix that of a LANSDOWN to the fe

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cond."-"Should fortune again put it in your power, my Lord, to be in ftrumental in compofing, at this tremendous hour, the jarring interests of Europe, and to ftop the effufion of human blood, which has flowed fo long, fo profufely, and to fo little purpofe-from your uniform conduct, as an able and enlightened politician, it must be as grateful to your own mind, as it will be glorious to your fame, to forward this falutary end!"?

Though our political opinions coincide not exactly with Mr. Pratt's, yet we cannot withhold that tribute of applaufe which we think due to his elegant dedication.

In examining the work, we fhall proceed with as little ceremony as we begun. After having expatiated fo largely on the former volume, we confidered a formal or regular critique on the prefent, as unneces❤ fary. We fhall content ourselves with a few defultory remarks.

In the first letter, a very odd character, at Cromer, is reprefented with a great deal of humour; and, we doubt not, to the life; for we were once well acquainted with a fimilar character. The Norfolk plan of going "a neighbouring," a curious fyftem of vifiting, is well defcribed. (Letter II.) We were pleafed with Sybilla's poetry: It flows from the heart. (Letter III.) The letters on Quacks and Quackery (IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX) are to us the leaft agreeable in the volume. They contain, it is true, fome good fatire; but in a fhort chapter of the fpiritual Quixotte, we have the effence of them all. Sybilla's Snowdrop" (Letter X) is not equally happy with her former ftanzas.-The Political Reflections" have nothing ftriking. (Lett. XI)The lines" to a Friend" (Lett. Xil.) are the genuine effufion of fenfibility. That English charities are a Glory of our Ifle" is a truth, to which every Briton will affent with hea tfelt pleafure. And we were much interested in the perufal of the XIIIth Letter on this fubject. The ftanzas to "Sufpenfe" (improperly called à fonnet) at the end of the XIVth Letter, we shall transcribe.

66

"What art thou, dubious power, that to the earth
Now finks the fadden'd heart, now lifts it high,
At once of human and of heavenly birth;
Mortal, thy fire, thy mother of the sky,
Or borne by feraph Hope thro' fields of air,
Or plunged in caverns, by the fiend defpair?
"E'en now thy double fway divides my breast,
Thy tyrannizing poize 'twixt good and ill;
Yet equal both to rob the mind of reft,

As each alternate works thy torturing will:

O then to certain joy, or certain grief
The balance turn, and give my foul relief!
"Give me the worft to hear, or beft to know;
This dread delay unfits that foul to bear
With wonted fortitude new loads of woe;

And blifs deferr'd must mix corroding care.
Too late the fun his stronger rays fhall dart,
When flower-worms feed upon the Rofe's heart."

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We are not among thofe who would infinuate, that Mr. Pratt's politics, contained in Letters XV, XVI, XVII are introduced, with the view of fwelling the volume. Venerating with him, "our good old Caftle on the English Rock," we give the Gleaner credit for "glorying in the name of Briton." We confidered with pleasure amidit the Ruins of Caftle-Acre-(Lett. XVIl.) The Legends of Thetford are amufing (Lett. XIX. XX.) Letter XXI. Juft Obfervations on English Elections. Letter XXII. Haymaking, Harvefting, &c. &c. happily delineated. Letters XXIII, XXIV. Excellent Remarks on the prefent Scarcity. The conduct of the AvarusAgricola deferves all Mr. Pratt's cenfure. His abominable greedinefs and rapacity ought, furely, to be checked by the Legiflature. The expediency of a corn-rent, (not a maximum) might, perhaps, be worth confideration. Letter XXV. Legends of Bury-St.-Edmunds. Letter XXVI. Defence of our Attachment to favourite Animals. Letter XXVII. Newmarket; Horfe-racing; Cock-fighting; Bullbaiting. Here are fome lively defcriptions in our Author's best man

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Letters XXVIII-XXX. Defcriptions of Cambridge and Oxford. Letter XXXI. A very good one; correct, elegant, in all that relates to Lord Duncan. Letter XXXII. Sketches of the Hiftory of the County of Huntingdon. Letters XXX¡II, XXXIV, XXXV. Homefelt Feelings. Sacred Gleanings. The Village of Woodhurft. Here the volume concludes in a ftyle and manner characteristic of the poet of "SYMPATHY." As a fpecimen of this performance, we shall extract a paffage or two from the thirty-third Letter.

"A thousand emotions, my friend, attach me to St. Ives (in Huntingdonfhire.) It is my birth-place; and, returning to my native hearthfor I write in the houfe where I was born-I feel at this moment, every line, every fyllable of that exquifite picture of a poet's fenfibility, which, as it has been fomewhere expreffed, is a combination of the moft pleafing ideas that calls the memory back through the fubtle maze of paffing events, to the place from whence we derive our exiftence, and there fixes it with a partial, and melting tendernefs on fcenes of juvenile pleafure."-"With what fincerity did I renew my intimacy with feveral old ftubbed trees, leading from the houfe to the fchool. Thefe, I had been in the habit of feeing twice a day, and under every impreffion which the varieties of youth can take. Were a timber-merchant, or even a common carpenter; or, indeed, moft men of bufinefs, to look at them, while I thus defcribe, they would think I intended every word ironically !"-" And then the garden oppofite my natal manfion-the old and unaltered part of a farmhouse-the very railing before the door, and the dilapidated wall of brick, which remains the fence of the farm-garden; the wall of mud, likewife, gapped and tottered as it now is; with its ftubble roof, and the well remembered barn adjoining with its roof of thatch, the very mofs of which came into my recollection!” "These are all objects of ancient amity; and the very fight of them revives a variety of circumftances interefting to thought; and excites the Local Attachment," fofweetly painted in the poem under that title."

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