UNION OF CHURCHES.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

SIR,-When and in what way the prayer of the Great Head of the Christian Church will be accomplished in behalf of His believing people, we know not; but doubtless it will be fulfilled in due time, and "they all will be one" with the Father and with the Son in spirit and in truth, forming "one fold" under "one Shepherd." Christian "unity and godly love" is strongly inculcated in Holy Scripture, and prayed for in the formularies of the Church. In the prayer for the Church Militant we beseech the Divine Majesty "to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord; and (to) grant, that all they that do confess His holy name may agree in the truth of His holy word, and live in unity and godly love." Also, in the prayer for all conditions of men, we pray for the good estate of the Catholick Church; that it may be so guided and governed by Thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and righteousness of life." Christian love and unity is a thing to be devoutly prayed for, rather than hoped for, in the present day. When we look abroad in the world, and even through our own highly-favoured land, what contention and strife do we see among professing Christians, and what hatred and ill-will, so very contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, and to the character given of the early disciples, who were known for their "love of one another." Apparently certain dignitaries of our Protestant Church seem restless and ill at ease within her borders, and are yearning for communion with the corrupt Churches of the Continent. The Bishop of Salisbury with the French Church, and Dr. Pusey and others with the Russian Church. As members and ministers of the Protestant Church of England, we should have rather expected them to have expressed their anxiety for Christian intercourse with the Church of Scotland, and the Continental Protestant Churches, than with Roman and Greek Churches. Union and Christian intercourse with the Nonepiscopal Protestant Churches in Great Britain and Ireland would be far more desirable than with corrupt episcopal Churches of other countries. What possible hope can be entertained of bringing our Church into union with either of the Churches alluded to, while there remains so wide a divergence as at present in their tenets and constitution, I cannot conceive. Our High Church clergy seem to ignore all Non-episcopal Churches: not so her gracious Majesty our Queen, who, when resident in Scotland, has the good sense to attend the public services of the Established Church of that part of her dominions. It is certain that the Pope will not abate an iota of his infallibility, or alter a single dogma, to please those whose bias is Romeward; and unless they are prepared to submit wholly to his authority, all their hopes and longings will prove vain and futile. As to union with the Russian Church, the first preliminary laid down by Prince

Orloff was that the English Church must renounce her Protestantism, and prove her Catholicism; and it seems to appear by his letter, "that the most holy philaret, the Archbishop of Moscow, and lofty patriarch of the Church," was quite as likely to be as opposed to union with the English Church as the Pope himself, unless she was prepared to give up her distinctive Protestant doctrines. Can it be possible that Anglican bishops and clergymen are disposed to give up and forego the Evangelical principles and Scriptural doctrines of their Church for the sake of union with the corrupt Churches of France and Russia?

To show the bias of the Bishop of Salisbury's inclinations, he has very recently, and with much ceremony, officiated at the dedication of a re-cast bell in Sherborne Abbey. Such a ceremony surely is near akin to those "fond things" spoken of and condemned by the 22nd Article.

We have the consolation of knowing that, whatsoever may be the expectations and longings of some of our bishops and clergy, ours is an Act of Parliament Church (which, by-the-by, is often spoken of by some as an opprobrium), and that no alteration can be made in our Church, or union effected with other Churches, without the consent of Queen, Lords, and Commons.

AN AGED READER.

[We are quite willing to encounter some obloquy, and say fearlessly that our aged friend, and other laymen of influence, would render an important service to the cause of Christian charity and to the Church of England, if they could raise a vigorous protest against our misbehaviour to the Church of Scotland. It was not so from the beginning; the two Churches were one in heart, though not in discipline. There is the well-known case on record of a dean of Durham, a Scotch Presbyterian, who was admitted without reordination, merely on his promise to conform to our doctrine and discipline. The Act of 13 Elizabeth, when the Reformation period was drawing to a close, shows that this was the settled purpose of our great Reformers both in Church and State. Even in 1605 the bidding prayer commands us to pray in public for the Church of Scotland. Attempts have been made to shew that the Episcopal Church in Scotland is here meant, but unfortunately in 1605 no such Church existed. For many years this clause in the bidding prayer was omitted in the University pulpits, not much, we are bound to say, to the credit of those venerable seats of learning. It was not till the Act of Uniformity of 1662 that this fraternal union was unhappily dissolved. If it be held by any of our readers that none but those episcopally ordained have a right to minister in the Church, and that none but Episcopal Churches are true Churches of Christ, we refer them to Hooker, the venerable Hooker. If his arguments fail to convince them, it is in vain for us to attempt the controversy; and yet Hooker was no indifferent Churchman. It is a curious fact, indeed, that in the early days of the Oxford Tracts, his book appears on the list of those which were recommended by the Tractarian writers.-ED.]

NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

"The Christian's Pattern; or, a Treatise on The Imitation of Jesus Christ." By Thomas à Kempis. Translated from the Latin by Dean Stanhope. New and Revised Edition. London: William Tegg. It is a strange and remarkable fact, that while in the present day men seem so willing to return to the errors and superstitions of Popery, so far back as the thirteenth century a solitary monk in a Dutch monastery, through the grace of God, and by the earnest study of the Bible, penetrated through the mist and darkness of monkish fables and superstitions, into the clear light of the Gospel. In these meditations there is rather too much on "doing," for Him by whom the "one sacrifice was once offered." Perhaps he himself did not fully realize that all was "done." And yet the man who could write the following words as being spoken by Christ to a disciple, could not have believed there was such a thing as "works of supererogation":"If, therefore, thou hast received or done any good thing, take care of misplacing the honour and thanks due for it upon thyself or any other person. For this is robbing God of His due, from whom all men receive whatever they have, or are, and stand in duty and equity bound to pay him their acknowledgments. Since, therefore, the whole is My gift, when I demand the whole thanks and praise, I demand but the product of My own; and this is what, as I injure no man in requiring, so I resolve never to depart from." Of course there are many things in the book with which we cannot entirely agree, such as his views on monastic life; but there is much that is admirable, and which shews a mind of exalted piety. Every Christian will find an echo to the longings and aspirations of his own heart, and A Kempis may be a comfort and blessing to many. In the bustle and hurry of every-day life, there is far too little time given to devout meditation and reflection. Though we by no means advocate a withdrawal from the cares and duties of life, still we feel sure that if more time were given to prayer and meditation, we should see more of that holiness, and deadness to the world, which we ought to see in all those who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great and good John Wesley highly prized this work, and published a small edition of it. The edition now under our notice is taken, as we are informed in the preface, from the Latin of "Castalio." Dean Stanhope says:-"In this attempt the Latin of Castalio is chiefly followed. He hath taken some liberty in places peculiarly relating to Romish superstitions. And the present translator hath not only trodden in his steps thus far, but, in the chapters which concern a monkish life particularly, hath endeavoured so to express himself, for the most part, as that such meditations might be accommodated to the circumstances of any pious Christian, who declines the pleasures, business, and other interruptions of the world, and sequesters himself to the exercise of devotion and the severer virtues."

Manual of Devotion, from the Writings of Saint Augustin. Edited and translated by the Rev. Marcus Dods. Edinburgh: Inglis & Jack. -Augustin was the only one of the Fathers whose writings are entirely Scriptural, without the childish hyperbole and mysticism of the early Fathers, or the incipient Popery of the later ones. He was the author of that system for which, in these later days, credit is given to Calvin, who was in fact no more than his obedient disciple. But in this volume no controversy finds place. Would the reader know what Augustin thought on the points on which the Church of Rome has so grievously erred, the following passage will enable him to form a judgment. Yet even here there is an Orientalism in the style, which was productive of evil consequences afterwards :

"To Thy fatherly love I give thanks, and from my whole heart do I render many praises to Thee, who, in Thine unutterable love wherewith Thou didst deign of Thy marvellous goodness to love us wretched and unworthy, didst send forth from Thy bosom Thine only begotten for our common good to save us sinners, then the children of wrath. To Thee I render thanks for His holy incarnation and nativity, for His blessed mother from whom He condescended to assume flesh for the sake of us and our salvation, that as He was true God of God, so might He be true man of man. To Thee I render thanks for His passion and His cross, for His death and resurrection, for His ascension into heaven, and His session at the right hand of Thy majesty. For on the fortieth day after His resurrection, ascending in view of His disciples above the heavens, and sitting at Thy right hand, He has thence poured out according to His promise the Holy Spirit upon the sons of adoption.

"To Thee I render thanks for that most sacred shedding of His precious blood, wherewith we are redeemed; as well as for the holy and life-giving sacrament of His body and blood, whereof daily in Thy Church we eat and drink, whereby we are washed and sanctified, and made partakers of one divine nature. To Thee I render thanks for Thy wonderful and ineffable love wherewith Thou hast thus loved and saved us unworthy by Thine only and beloved Son. For so hast Thou loved the world as to give Thine only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And this is life eternal, to know Thee, the (only) true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent, by right faith, and works meet for faith." (pp. 100-102.)

Discourses Delivered on Special Occasions. By R. W. Dale, M.A., Author of The Jewish Temple and the Christian Church." London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder.-We can seldom notice even the best sermons, unless, like those of Mr. Elliott, in our present Number, they have acquired additional interest by having been preached in an university pulpit, or before some public bodies of importance. If we are asked, Why, then, do you make an exception in favour of the Discourses of a Nonconformist ? we answer, that it has always been the practice of the Christian Observer to do so. Not only to shew a catholic spirit on our part, but with the intention of letting our readers see, from time to time, what was the state of the Dissenting pulpit, and comparing it with our own. Mr. Dale is the successor of the honoured Angell James, and certainly, with regard to pulpit talent, by no means his inferior. The subjects of this volume are, "On Worship, Morality and Religion, Common Prayer, the Old Worship and the New, the Living God, the Saviour of All Men, Missionary Enthusiasm not Irrational, the Influence of Christianity on the Temporal Interests of Mankind, Genius the Gift of God, the Mutual Relations of Physical Science and Religious Faith, and the Suburban

Pastor." The following is not a bad specimen of the style of Mr. Dale. He seems, without his wordiness, to have taken Dr. Chalmers for his model :

"The works of God, patiently studied and fearlessly interpreted, can never reveal a truth from which a Christian man has any reason to shrink. Let us know all that can be learnt from the structure of living men, from submerged dwellings, from fossils and flints, from the peculiarities of languages, concerning the history and origin of our race. Meantime we fall back upon the truth that the living God is the Saviour of all men.' While the natural unity of the race is being brought into dispute, we are laying the foundation of a diviner brotherhood; while the common origin of all mankind is denied, we are gathering all into one in Christ; while differences of language and of physical structure are affirmed to prove that the noble words of the Apostle are a dream, and that all nations are not of 'one blood,' community of faith, of holy affec tions and of spiritual joy, shall vindicate for the human family a higher, and nobler, and more lasting unity than that which is imperilled by arguments founded on the structure of the skull and the texture of the hair; and while science is trying to prove that we have sprung, not from a common parent formed by the hands of the Creator, inspired with His breath, and made illus trious with the image of His perfection, but from base and ignoble types of life, we, God helping us, will demonstrate the dignity of his destiny, will exalt him once more into communion with his Maker, restore in brighter splendour the faded likeness of God's moral attributes, and then, when man is crowned once more with honour and glory, and bears himself right royally--as to the manner born-we will challenge those that reproach us, to deny that he was created a king."

We notice with great regret that Mr. Dale has chosen the anniversary of Shakspeare's birthday for a sermon, "On Genius the Gift of God." Why Shakspeare of all poets? Was his genius, his life, especially devoted to the glory of God? Would not the birthday of the author of Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes have answered his purpose? We remember that the unhappy Robertson, whose life is reviewed in these pages, gave some young men at Brighton the advice, if they had no time for much reading, to make themselves familiar with Shakspeare and the Bible. We know that, for a few years, this became a fashionable folly; nay, we know one Evangelical clergyman who gave way to it, persisted in it, and became in consequence just such a preacher as no one ever desires to hear again. Let Mr. Dale take good heed. In the mind of hearers, of the class whom he addresses, Shakspeare and the theatre are as closely associated as Dr. Watts' fame with their own Psalms and Hymns. The genius, ability, and eloquence of these sermons it is impossible not to admire. Our young clergy will perceive that in dissenting pulpits they have rivals or co-workers equal to themselves. Yet ours is the more excellent way. We go more simply and more directly to our work. The admiration and the large congregation may be wanting to us, but if believers are edified, if sinners are converted, if Christ is magnified, let us lie in the dust and be contented. Dr. McIlvaine, on his late visit to England, addressed a large assembly of clergymen at the house of one of their number. In the course of his address, which has been printed for private circulation, he made the following remarks, which may be equally useful to Dissenting Ministers and to many amongst ourselves:

The bishop then pointed out the difference between the evangelical