to Margaret, daughter of S. Sharwood, At Walcot, Bath, the Rev. Henry At St. John's, Paddington, the Rev. At St. John's Paddington, the Rev. At St. Paul's, Cork, the Rev. William At St. Andrew's, Dublin, the Rev. At St. Pancras, London, the Rev. J. At Broomsgrove, the Rev. J. P. Al- At Exning, Suffolk, the Rev. S. Smith, At Everton, the Rev. William Henry Rev. C. Fawcett, Rector of Boscombe, Rev. C. R. E. Awdry, of St. John's College, Cambridge, son of the Rev. J. Rev. Charles Evans, late of Sher- Rev. William Henry Henslowe, M.A. BIRTHS. At the Rectory, South Cadbury, the At Tilshead Vicarage, Wilts, the lady At Sutton Place, near Guildford, the At the Grove, Blackheath, the lady of At Guernsey, the lady of the Rev. P. At Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset, the At the Vicarage, Britford, the lady of At Sunning Hill Vicarage, Berks, the At Cawston Rectory, Norfolk, the lady At Frampton-upon-Severn, the lady The lady of the Rev. Sir Herbert At Sandling, Kent, the lady of William son. At the Vicarage, Great Straughton, At Gambier, the lady of the Rev. S. The lady of the Rev. Ebenezer Tem- NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. We think the "absurdities" should be exposed, and shall therefore be happy in receiving them. To "H. P." Through whom shall we forward the Index, which was published with our January Our other correspondents shall receive early attention. THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER. DECEMBER, 1836. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ART. I.-1. The Church and Dissent,* considered in their Practical 3. The Churchman's Plain Appeal. By NATHANIEL HIGGINS. London: Rivingtons. Whitchurch: Walford. 1835. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. viii. 85. 4. Letters to a Friend whose Mind had long been harassed by many Objections against the Church of England. By the Rev. A. S. THELWALL, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: Seeley & Burnside. 1835. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xxviii. 387. 5. Twenty-Four Strong Reasons why I dare not become a Dissenter. By the Rev. M. A. GATHERCOLE. London: Sherwood & Co. 1836. 12mo. Pp. 12. 6. The Dissenter, Nos. I. & II. London: Groombridge. 12mo. Stockton-upon-Tees: Robinson. THE Church of England owes her best thanks to the Dissenters. Their mendacity on all points connected with her doctrine, discipline, and revenues, has been the means of eliciting the truth on all these subjects, while it has disgusted every mind retaining a spark not only of religion, but of common moral principle. Their gross invasions of The above, for the purpose of more extended distribution, has been divided into and published in the form of Tracts, the religious liberties of the Church, in seeking, under the name of relief to themselves, to impose upon Churchmen measures to which they conscientiously object; their absurdities and inconsistencies ;* their rabid hatred of the Church, for the destruction of which they would sacrifice all the souls in the kingdom, their own not excepted; their hollowness, their violence, their meanness, have naturally enough induced an examination of their pretensions to superior spirituality. John Bull is an unsuspicious, because a noble and generous creature ; he may therefore be the more readily imposed on, and be brought for a little while to believe for a moment that his Church is opulent, indolent, luxurious, and unevangelical, because the Dissenters tell him so; and, for the same reason, that the only school of true piety is the conventicle. But John has eyes and ears, and good strong sense; and, better than all, (thanks, under God, to his Church) he has his Bible. John, therefore, with all his charity and unsuspectingness, cannot continue to hold opinions in the face of facts; and while he sees the Clergy at work around him, with incomes for the most part vastly inferior to those of the lay gentry, and certainly very inferior to what their education might have procured them in other professions, and yet contributing more than their quota to objects of public good,† he cannot be prevailed on to designate them indolent and luxurious. On the other hand, he cannot, with his Bible before him, persuade himself that pride, rancour, calumny and falsehood are the best possible vouchers for heavenlymindedness. Accordingly, indignant at the cheat attempted to be put upon him, and the slander heaped upon his Church, he revolts from the hypocritical effrontery which dared the outrage, and with an attachment more ardent, as well as more enlightened, clings to the altar of his fathers. It is remarkable that, of the works whose titles head this article, four are written by men educated in some one or other of the forms of Dissent. Indeed, the religious Dissenters are rapidly becoming ashamed of their connexion with communions professing ultra Protestantism, but admitting Mr. O'Connell to their platforms :§ professing In addition to some of these already exposed by us, we may notice their objection to having any part of the London Cemetery unconsecrated; they having been employed from the first moment of their existence in ridiculing the very idea of consecrated ground, and shrinking from the contact of churchyards as a contamination. "It is proved, by very extended and close inquiries, that a very small proportion of the subscriptions to public hospitals, dispensaries and other similar institutions, is derived from Dissenters; in fact, that to charities in which all the community have an equal interest, the subscriptions of THE CLERGY ALONE exceed those of THEIR WHOLE BODY."-Church and Dissent, p. 120. Mr. Osler says he was brought up a Dissenter and educated under the roof of a Dissenting minister (p. 2.): the author of " the Churchman's Plain Appeal" informs us that he was educated for the Dissenting ministry; and actually became a Dissenting minister, (Preface.) Mr. Thelwall (son of the celebrated lecturer) intimates that his early education was not precisely that of the Church of England, and L. S. E. is a well known convert from Dissent. Mr. O'Connell actually spoke at a meeting of " Protestant" Dissenters. ultra purity, but selecting for the representative of the tabernacle the dandy of the theatrical saloon; professing themselves incapable of conscientiously contributing to the support of the Protestant Church, but finding no conscientious scruples in the way of supporting a popish college by the public purse; protesting against establishments, but never scrupling to accept endowments; denouncing the connexion between Church and State, but gulping the regium donum. We have frequently put forth our humble but earnest entreaties to those Kenites among the Amalekites, the religious Dissenters whom we love and respect, to come out from their unhallowed habitation; and they are daily perceiving that the struggle between the Church and Dissent is now truly between Christ and Antichrist; and that, if they would effectively fight the battles of the former, they must sacrifice minor scruples, and become Churchmen at once. Some Churchmen there still exist who even now will not give the Dissenters credit for the objects and conduct with which we deliberately charge them. We shall probably take an opportunity of establishing our accusations by proofs drawn from their own authentic acts and writings. Nothing is easier, with a file of the Patriot, the Advocate, and other prints little seen by Churchmen; adding a spice or two from the pulpit oratory of the Binneys and Sibrees-men who are indebted for whatever notoriety they may possess, to nothing save their " envy, hatred and malice, and all uncharitableness." Our present business is less to shew the animus of the Dissenters in regard to the Church than to avail ourselves of the excellent materials before us in pointing out the soundness of Church principles and the erroneous and evil character of Dissent. Of the works before us that of Mr. Osler is beyond all comparison the most valuable. It enters thoroughly and methodically into its subject; it brings the Church and Dissent fairly into juxtaposition, and weighs them in the balance of severe historical truth and sound Christian philosophy. It is throughout calm, dignified, temperate; the work of a gentleman, a scholar, a Christian; not one word will the most captious Dissenter be able to detect which will betray the smallest inconsistency with either of these characters. Its style and spirit are the antipodes of the ecclesiastical-ignorance-Society's tracts: beautifully Christian, convincingly logical. It is a book that will, that must, make a deep impression on the numerous readers which it will certainly find. Mr. Allen has stated some valuable arguments, and adduced some important facts. "The Churchman's Plain Appeal " is an admirable little book of 85 pages, where a great body of valuable matter is cast into the compendious form of question and answer. The 'Strong Reasons" well support their title, and are still more concise. Mr. Thelwall's work, otherwise excellent, is disfigured by that lament 166 able party spirit, always odious, but never more perilous than now, when all sound and zealous Churchmen should agree to postpone unessential differences to the support of their common Church. “The Dissenter" we shall notice occasionally. We are happy to observe that in all these works issue is joined upon the right point-the Apostolical succession and authority of the English Church. Even Churchmen themselves, in some cases, need instruction on this subject. This is one of the advantages which have arisen from the voluntary embarkation of the Dissenters in the revival of the Nonconformity controversy. Mr. Osler has stated so well the circumstances which led to this general ignorance of true Church principles, that we cannot do better than quote his own words. The dangers of the country combined all partics against the common enemy, till every difference seemed to be forgotten, and Churchmen united generally with Dissenters even for religious objects. Those who felt the inconsistency and foretold the consequences of these unions, were condemned, even by their own friends, as narrow-minded bigots. Thus Dissent became exalted by the direct sanction, and almost equality, conferred upon it; while Church principles, sunk to obtain the union, were at last scarcely remembered, except as the exploded prejudices of a less enlightened age. It became fashionable to express the utmost deference for Dissent, until Churchmen attended and supported the Church, not as an institution of Divine authority, but merely as the sect which they preferred; which, in fact, is to support it upon Dissenting principles.— Church and Dissent, pp. 71, 72. The Church, however, will now be better understood, and it need be ; for in the controversy with Popery, with which we have principally to do, we can only stand upon Divine ground. Dissent, as a matter of pure argument, might be safely left to fall by its own weight.† 46 'My view of the present state of that Church is simply this-That those who think as I do, and are stigmatized by the world as Evangelical, as Methodists, Calvinists, Fanatics, and so forth; and who really cleave to, and endeavour to preach, the doctrines of our Articles and Homilies, are indeed the real Church of England. That those who so stigmatize us, and (though perhaps they call themselves High Churchmen) preach (in fact) nothing but a compound of popery and heathen morality, are mere intruders and pretenders-Dissenters of the worst and most dangerous sort and certainly I would turn them out if I could. If the Lord turns them all out, by an utter subversion of the National Establishment, I shall not be surprised; but shall glorify Him for His righteous judgments." Letters, &c. Pp. 33, 34.-"Those who think as I do,-are the real Church of England! all others are mere intruders and pretenders! Certainly I would turn them out if I could!" To get rid of all Churchmen who are not Calvinists, Mr. Thelwall would utterly subvert the Establishment! This is as bad as the ravings of the Record. The Protestant Journal, a periodical of great energy and ability, has lately, in its zeal for the unity of Protestants, adopted a most erroneous and dangerous course; denying altogether the apostolical succession in our Church, and the necessity of such a succession in any. The line of argument, of course, exhibits a total ignorance of the very nature of the subject treated. It is assumed that the ordinations of the Church of Rome cannot be valid on account of the corruptions of that church; but why the Apostolical succession in that church should be more corrupt than the Paternoster and the ancient Creeds, which have been retained by that church, the Protestant Journal has not explained. A diamond does not lose its nature or its value by being buried in a dunghill; nor is the essence of the suc |