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remember that there were any to execute against Protestants; or perhaps it was owing to the discontent and apprehension which were excited among the episcopalians themselves, by the dispensing power, which the king exercised so unconstitutionally in favour of the Romanists, that James found it expedient to court the Presbyterians. Whatever may have been his motive, he permitted them in 1687, after having frequently extended the terms of indulgence, to exercise religious worship in the manner they might think conformable to the word of God.

The arbitrary and bigotted principles of James had already alienated from his government and person the great body of the English nation. His exercise of the dispensing power, his supposed attempts to convert the Princess of Orange, his endea vours to compel the clergy to read a declaration which they, considered hostile to the Protestant Church, the imprisonment of the bishops who made a noble stand for the religion and the. liberty of their country, these and other causes induced the people of England to solicit the interference of William, whom they regarded as the bulwark of the Protestant faith. James had a greater number of adherents in Scotland, than in this part of the island. Both the council and the dignified clergy supported his rights, and declared their readiness to sacrifice all in maintaining them: nor do we think that it requires more than common candour to account for this devotedness, on the ground of sincerity, and deep-rooted principle. The Scottish prelates held as a fundamental maxim, the "jus divinum" of kings to the throne of their ancestors, and no argument or inducement which the Prince of Orange could employ, was found sufficient; to prevail with these churchmen to transfer their allegiance to a new master. It is well known that William was inclined to continue episcopacy in Scotland, and that, with this view, he had even made overtures to the Scottish bishops, upon condition that they would acknowledge him as their lawful sovereign; but, they, with an attachment, to their legitimate ruler, of which he seems hardly to have been deserving, consented to sacrifice both their individual interests and those of their Church, rather than give the sanction of their authority and names to him whom they regarded as an usurper. The principles of James were arbitrary, and his measures were despotic in the extreme, nor had he manifested for the Protestant episcopalians, in Scotland, that care, or partiality which might have bound them to his government; it is impossible, therefore, to explain the conduct which the bishops pursued, without giving credit for sincere. belief in the divine right of kings. It has, indeed, been in.. sinuated, that the episcopalians did not regard the enterprize of William, as at all likely to end in the establishment of

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power in Britain, and that they, perhaps, looked forward to a second Restoration, as the means of strengthening their interests, and of extending their influence with the crown. In reply to this surmise, it will be enough to state that, neither in England nor in Scotland, did the zeal or principles of the jacobite bishops die away with their hopes :-on the contrary, although many of them not only ceased to hope, but even ceased to wish, to see the exiled family brought back, at the expense of a civil war, none of them ever renounced their adherence to the sacred doctrine, that monarchs hold their power from God. We enter not into the merits of this absolute question; we would even readily admit that the tenet is without foundation, in Scripture, or in reason; but we are not the less convinced that thousands of well-informed men have acted upon it, and among them the jacobite clergy at the Revolution.

It was the intention of William, and of the moderate Presbyterians, by whom he was directed, to found the restoration of presbytery on the wishes of the people, without entering into the question of its divine institution; to permit all the episcopal clergy, who were willing to subunit to the Presbyterian polity,' and to acknowledge the new government, to retain their benefices, and to preserve to patrons the right of presentation to ecclesiastical livings. The great body of the Presbyterians, however, says Dr. Cook, elated with the victory which they had obtained, were not disposed to acquiesce in these calm proceedings; they insisted upon a declaration that their form of polity was sanctioned or prescribed by the word of God; they were eager that patronage should be abolished, and they did not look with the eye of kind forbearance upon their episcopal brethren.

In 1690, the Earl of Melvil, who acted as his Majesty's commissioner in Parliament, and in the General Assembly, yielded not only the king's supremacy, but also abolished patronage, sanctioning, at the same time, an act to authorize the clergy of the new establishment, to appoint visitors to try and purge out all insufficient, negligent, scandalous, and erroneous ministers, by the due course of church-process and censures. This power, as might have been expected, was greatly abused, and the severity exercised upon the episcopalians was carried so far, that the king dissolved the Assembly which was held in 1692, and it was not without the utmost difficulty, that he was persuaded again to countenance its meeting. The government, in fact, took a decided part with the episcopal ministers, moderating the fury of the more intemperate of their enemies, and thus secured for many of these clergy, who would not conform to the new order of things, the enjoyment of their benefices to the end of their lives.

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The Cameroniaus, or original protestors and remonstrants, would accede to no terms with the new rulers, and we believe, they still remain, a small body of disaffected dissenters in Scotland, demanding not only that the sovereign should be a Pres. byterian, but that he should take and enforce the solemn league and covenant.

We conclude in nearly the words with which our author winds up his history, and agree with him that, in the reigns of the Stuarts, from the date of the Reformation, ecclesiastical and civil arrangements were so intimately connected, that the former decidedly influenced, and indeed generally produced the latter. The effect of this upon religion, was most deplorable. It converted the clergy into the instruments of faction. It weakened the energy of government, whilst it associated with those doctrines which should wean us from the world, or counteract its power, the worst and most violent passions which agitate and deform our nature. Attachment to particular forins of ecclesiastical polity, completely extinguished all Christian love and forbearance; and the different denominations, into which the community was split, no sooner escaped from persecution, than they directed it against all whom their own party did not comprehend. It was, in fact, the question of Church government, rather than the mode of worship, which divided the people of Scotland, after the Restoration; for, although Charles invested the hierarchy with greater dignity and power, than Protestant bishops had heretofore enjoyed in that part of the island, no liturgy was used by the episcopal clergy during his reign, or that of his brother. It was not till the reign of Anne, when the episcopalians in Scotland, were protected and allowed by Act of Parliament, that the liturgy of our Church was introduced amongst them; and it should seem, that the service-book, which was framed by the Bishops of Dunblane and Ross, and afterwards revised by Laud, had been used but a very short time.

We gave our opinion of Dr. Cook's merits in the outset of our review. He is candid, moderate, and impartial; he is seldom chargeable either with credulity or ignorance, and never fails to make the proper distinction between men and measures. He is a rational supporter of liberty, while he despises the arts of the demagogue; he is a conscientious Presbyterian, but never mixes with his censures of particular bishops, any illiberal strictures on the form of Church government, which they are appointed to administer. His work is executed without ostentation of style, or display of learning; it is read with ease, for his connections are obvious, and his reasoning perspicuous; and no one will lay down his volumes, without esteeming the man as much as the historian.

ART.

ART. VI. The Invisible Hand; a Tale. 12mo. pp. 160. 5s. Cadell and Davies.

1815.

To the spirit in which the tale before us is written we have nothing to object, nor can we doubt the good and pious intentions of its unknown author. Upon its execution, however, we are concerned that we cannot bestow the same unqualified praise. The style is too sombre, and the narrative too heavy, to give it any chance of popularity among its brotherhood of religious novels. This perhaps may be in its favour; but we cannot approve of the specimens which the author has given us of what he considers most impressive discourses, and still less of his hymns, such, for instance, as occur in the following passage:

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"That fond hope is now destroyed, and he has actually sailed before this time: he left me for Portsmouth on Saturday. On the day preceding there was a consultation held at Hanover Square; when this resolution, so fatal to my happiness, was taken. When he returned from his uncle's, embracing me with more than common ardour, he said, My Harriet, HE who first brought us together, will bring me home in safety. We have received good at the hand of the Lord: why should we anticipate evil?'-Before he left me yesterday, he read with me several passages of Scripture, and commended me and our lovely trio to our fathers' God. In closing his prayer, he sweetly introduced those words which are my hourly support; Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.' His allusion was to the mystery of this dispensation. My fears carried me to their literal import.

"To-day I have been mercifully sustained by an attendance. on the holy services of the temple. You know our privilege in having Mr. B. for our shepherd. I supected that he must have known the state of my mind, but I have found he did not. He read for his text, in his emphatic and tender manner, those words, Ps. lxxviii. 78. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided him by the skilfulness of his hands." Every word he spoke fell on my bosom as the oil of consolation. After enlarging on the character of David as the type of his greater and better son, and descanting beautifully on the integrity of his heart, which he considered as importing the entire and indissoluble affection he bore his people, in his own peculiarly happy way, after having read, He guides them by the skilfulness of his hands,' he suddenly and as in joyful ecstasy exclaimed, What hands are those I behold stretched out for my guidance and support! hands torn and impressed with crucifixion nails!

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then I am passive-I am contented-I am grateful. O Jesus! though thou slayest me, yet will I trust in thee.'-Then turning to his auditory, and laying his finger on the text, he added, Yes, my dear hearers, He here shews us his hands and his side. Let us be glad, now we see the Lord.'-Indeed, my beloved Emma, I heard little more during the entire discourse. I saw Him who had guided my parents by his counsel, and has received them to glory; and thought I could say, I have none on earth I desire besides Him.' But, oh the treachery of my heart! As the solemnly expressive tones of the organ swelled in tender and pathetic sounds to that verse which closed the service,

"The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,

Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship none but Thee!'

Neither do we think the author borne out in teaching his readers to consider every trivial circumstance in their lives as the spring and origin of some important event. That every, even the most trivial circumstance in our lives is under the influence of the INVISIBLE HAND, we know, but how that influence is exercised, and in what manner each minor event is directed to fulfil the great ends of the Divine Government, except in very few cases, we neither can, nor must we expect to know. As far as it inculcates an unshaken confidence in our Almighty Protector, the tale before us is excellent, but when it teaches us to search too deeply into the mysteries of his Government, it can be productive only of difficulty and disappointment.

ART. VII. Barilove; or, the Great Lord of Mount Taurus: an Eastern Tale. Translated from the French of Adrian de Sarragin. 12mo. pp. 187. Sherwood and Co.

1815.

THOUGH the charm which the marvellous possesses, in the hands of a writer of moderate inventive powers, to awaken curiosity and secure delight, is almost resistless; the author of Bardoue has proved himself no adept in the magic by which our fancy is generally enchained by oriental fiction. The incidents of the tale, which possess no great interest in themselves, are incumbered by an unartful and tedious allegory, which perplexes the mind in following the clue of the story. The companions of the hero, who possesses few qualifications to

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