and enjoy them. O glorious condition of martyrs! whom conformity in death hath made like their Saviour in blessedness; whose honour is to attend him for ever, whom they have joyed to imitate. What are these, which are arrayed in long white robes, and whence came they? These are, says that heavenly Elder, they, which came out of great tribulation; and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are in the presence of the throne of God; and serve him day, and night, in his temple: and he, that sitteth on the throne, will dwell among them; and govern them; and lead them unto the lively fountains of waters; and God shall wipe all tears from their eyes. "All the elect have seals in their foreheads; but martyrs have palms in their hands. All the elect have white robes: martyrs both white and long; white, for their glory; long, for the largeness of their glory: once, red with their own blood; now white with the blood of the Lamb: there is nothing in our blood, but weak obedience; nothing, but merit, in the Lamb's blood. Behold, his merit makes our obedience glorious. You do but sprinkle his feet with your blood: lo, he washes your long white robes, with his. Every drop of your blood is answered with a stream of his; and every drop of his, is worth rivers of ours. of "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints: precious in prevention; precious in acceptation; precious in remuneration. Oh, give willingly that, which you cannot keep; that you may receive, what you cannot lose. The way is steep; but now you breathe, towards the top. Let not the want of some few steps lose you an eternal rest. Put to the strength of your own faith. The prayers God's Saints shall further your pace; and that gracious hand, that sustains heaven and earth, shall uphold, and sweetly draw you up to your glory. Go on to credit the Gospel with your perseverance; and shew the false-hearted clients of that Roman court, that the truth yields real and hearty professors; such as dare no less smart, than speak for her. Without the walls of your restraint, where can you look beside encouragements of suffering? Behold, in this, how much you are happier than your many predecessors those have found friends, or wives, or children, the most dangerous of all tempters suggestions of weakness, when they come masked with love, are more powerful to hurt. But you, all your many friends, in the valour of their Christian love, wish rather a blessed martyr, than a living and prosperous revolter. Yea, your dear wife, worthy of this honour to be the wife of a Martyr, prefers your faith, to her affection; and, in a courage beyond her sex, contemns the worst misery of your loss; professing she would redeem your life with hers; but that she would not redeem it with your yieldance: and while she looks upon those many pawns of your chaste love, your hopeful children, wishes rather to see them fatherless, than their father unfaithful. The greatest part of your sufferings are hers; she bears them with a cheerful resolution: she divides with you, in your sorrows, in your patience; she shall not be divided in your glory. For us, we shall accompany you with our prayers; and follow you with our thankful commemorations: vowing to write your name in red letters, in the Kalendars of our hearts; and to register it, in the monuments of perpetual records, as an example to all posterity. The memorial of the just shall be blessed.” We live in an age in which we hear of the vaults and racks of the Inquisition, the stakes and flames of Smithfield, and the dragooning and massacre of the Huguenots, as tales of by-gone days. Blessed be God we have not been called to resist unto blood striving for the faith; but Popery has never disavowed the duty of persecuting, even to death, those who will not yield to its rule; and that modification of it called Tractarianism has avowed the most intolerant principles; for there is no essential difference between the doctrine of the fourth Lateran Council, which Mr. M'Ghee has shewn that the Irish Romanist Church has adopted, and the declaration of Mr. Newman quoted in your last Number, that those who exercise the right of private judgment, and who are set down as of course becoming "heretics or infidels," ought to be silenced or put out of the community (does he mean only by incarceration or banishment?)" as disturbers of the King's peace are restrained in civil matters;" and that such would be the case "in a healthy state of things," but that unhappily "our times being times of confusion, we are reduced to the use of argument and disputation," instead, I suppose, of being able to use the more powerful logic of chains, stripes, dungeons, thumb-screws, racks, and flames. In Great Britain there may be no special cause to ask whether we are prepared for martyrdom rather than swerve from the faith which we profess; but our Protestant brethren in Ireland may be and indeed are-exposed to that peril, not indeed by judicial process, but by popular outrage; for a man is as much a martyr who is shot over a hedge for his testimony to the truth of God, as though he were burned at the stake; and Ireland has had many such martyrs of late years, especially among her clergy, as, for instance, the sainted Whitty; and the lowering horizon portends fearful scenes yet to come. It was under less threatening circumstances that Bishop Burnet, at the close of the reign of Queen Anne, when the Sacheverellites were urging their false doctrines and intolerant principles, and preparing the way for the restoration of Jacobitism and Popery, had that remarkable interview with Dr. Evans, the author of the admirable treatise on "The Christian Temper," which shewed how seriously the prelate and the nonconformist regarded the aspect of the times, and the duty of being prepared to suffer persecution for Christ's sake. "A short time before the demise of Queen Anne, as Bishop Burnet was riding in his coach slowly round that part of Smithfield whence so many blessed martyrs ascended to the rest that remaineth to the people of God,' he observed a gentleman standing on that distinguished spot, in a musing, pensive attitude, and apparently quite absorbed in thought. The bishop ordered the carriage to be stopped, and sent his servant to the person with a request that he would come to him. It was Dr. Evans. 'Brother Evans,' said Burnet, 'give me your hand, and come up hither-I want to ask you a question. After he was seated, the coachman continued to drive slowly round, and the bishop asked the nonconformist minister, 'What directed your steps to Smithfield, and what were you thinking of as you stood there?' "I was thinking,' answered Evans, of the many servants of Christ who sealed the truth by their death in this place. I came purposely to feast my eyes once more with a view of this precious spot of ground. As public matters at present have a very threatening aspect, I was examining myself whether I had grace and strength enough to suffer for the Gospel if I should be called to it; and was praying to God that he would make me faithful even unto death, if it should be his pleasure to let the old times come over again.' I am per "I myself came hither,' replied Burnet, on the same business suaded that if God's providence do not interpose very speedily, and almost miraculously, those times must, and will, soon return; in which case you and I shall probably be two of the first victims who will be called to suffer death at that place' -and the bishop pointed to the PAVED CENTRE! that marked hallowed spot where the stakes for the martyrs were set up, and whence the Christian worthies were wafted in flames to heaven." Happily, by the gracious providence of God, the threatening aspect of the times changed, under the influence of the House of Brunswick, and Sacheverellism and Popery seemed finally quelled within these realms. I cannot believe they will again triumph; but they are making strong efforts to do so; and though they quarrel between themselves, they are twin sisters, and would be glad to unite against their common enemy-Scriptural Protestantism. A WATCHMAN. ON READING SCRIPTURE TO THE SENSE. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. I ABOMINATE what is called "fine reading" in desk, pulpit, or any where else; but our reverend instructors ought to do themselves, and us, and-may I reverently add?-the holy book which they read, the justice to bring out the right sense. This is not always done; and it might be useful, provided it could be effected without attaching light ideas to sacred words, to make out a list of some of the most common misreadings. I fear that the old story of reading "under a bushel or under a bed," as if the choice lay between them, instead of both being excluded, is not an invention. But there is one passage which I have heard read incorrectly from the desk scores of times, and I was prepared for the misreading when it occurred last Whitsunday; and I was not agreeably disappointed. I mean Deuteronomy xvi. 5; "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee;" in reciting which our reverend instructor placed a strong accent upon any," thus excluding the sacrifice of the passover from all places, whereas the context shews the meaning to the most cursory reader, and the proper turn of the voice easily conveys it to the hearer. "Thou shalt sacrifice the passover in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose;" not in any other place. I might adduce other illustrations; but I have chosen one which leaves no ludicrous or unpleasant association; but in which nonsense is made of the passage by the faulty reading. I fear that many of our congregation carried away an idea that the Israelites were not to sacrifice within any gates; as if it were meant that the offering should be extra-mural. NO CRITIC. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. SMITH AND ANTHON ON CAREY'S ORDINATION. A Statement of Facts in Relation to the Recent Ordination of Mr. Arthur Carey in St. Stephen's Church, New York. By Dr. SMITH and Dr. ANTHON. New York, 1843. WE have so many more controversies at home than we have any liking for, that we have no desire to cross the Atlantic in search of new ones. But the matter narrated in this New York pamphlet is among those signs of the times which ought not to be overlooked, being fraught with serious warning to the Anglican Church, as well as to its sister Protestant Episcopal Churches throughout the world. A collision has occurred between an ordaining Bishop, and some of those reverend brethren who were invited to lay hands with him on a candidate for the sacred ministry; the candidate having avowed the Romanistic predilections of the Tractarians with less of "reserve" than some of his friends may have thought prudent. The Bishop, Dr. Onderdonk of New York, sided with the young man; whereas two of the Presbyters refused to lay their hands on him, and withdrew from the service, having presented a solemn remonstrance, which the Bishop did not consider wellfounded. Priests in the Church of England are ordained with "the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery" in conjunction with the Bishop, as in our daughter Church in the United States, and all episcopal churches; but in the United States Episcopal Church the assisting Presbyters take a prominent part in the examination of the candidate. With us the weight of the inquiry lies with the Bishop and his examining chaplain; and even if there should be some difference of opinion between them, it is privately discussed, and is probably not known even to the candidate; whereas in the United States there is more of notoriety in such matters; and the Bishop having been elected by his clergy (in conjunction with the laity), and being usually dependent upon them, and not elevated above them in secular rank; and the whole cast of American institutions being less marked by conventional deference than ours; there is more of public discussion in the arrangements of the Church than among us; the tone even of Episcopal Charges usually differing as much from that of similar documents in England, as a King's Speech from a President's Message. But we will relate the transaction alluded to, in the words of the remonstrants-Dr. Smith, Rector of St. Peter's Church, New York, and Dr. Anthon, Rector of St. Mark's- who premise as follows: "We had determined to content ourselves with having conscientiously performed our duty on the subject of the late Ordination at St. Stephen's, deeming it most prudent that such matters should, as far as possible, be kept within our own body, and not obtruded on the public. The attacks made on us in the Churchman' [a publication under the influence of Bishop Onderdonk] leave us no alternative between a si lence, which might be misinterpreted, and a full disclosure, from the beginning, of all the matters connected with this most painful occurrence in the Church." Mr. Carey having applied to Dr. Smith to sign his testimonials, much conversation ensued, the substance of which Dr. Smith reduced to writing, and requested Mr. Carey to correct, alter, add to, or suppress, as he saw fit. The conversation, as revised by Mr. Carey, is as follows:-the Italics being his own qualifications and explanations. "St. Peter's Rectory, June 21, 1843. Evening. "In my conversation with Mr. Carey this afternoon, I understood him substantially to admit to me a conversation reputed to have been held, as leading to the general impression that, if union with the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church of this country were not open to him, he might possibly have recourse to the ministry of Rome-not without pain or difficulty, but still that he did not see anything to prevent or forbid such an alternative, although he thought it much more likely that he would remain in the Communion of our Church; and that he could receive all the decrees excepted. of Trent, the damnatory clauses only "2. That he did not deem the differences between us and Rome to be such as embraced any points of faith. "3. That he was not prepared to pronounce the doctrine of transubstantiation an absurd or impossible doctrine; and that he regarded it, as taught within the last hundred years, as possibly meaning no more than what we mean by the real presence, which we most assuredly hold. 4. That he does not object to the Romish doctrine of purgatory as defined by the Council of Trent, and that he believed that the state into which the soul passed after death was one in which it grows in grace, and can be benefited by the prayers of the faithful and the sacrifice of the altar. 5. That he was not prepared to consider the Church of Rome as no longer an integral or pure branch of the Church of Christ; and that he was not prepared to say whether she or the Anglican Church were the more pure: that in some respects she had the advantage, in others we. "6. That he regarded the denial of the cup to the laity as a mere matter of discipline. which might occasion grief to him, if within her communion, but not as entirely invalidating the administration of the sacrament. "7. That he admits to have said, or thinks it likely he has said, inasmuch as he so believes, that the Reformation from Rome was an unjustifiable act, and followed by many grievous and lamentable results; he, however, having no question but that a reformation was then necessary, and being far, also, from denying that many good results have followed from it, both to us and Rome. "8. That while generally subscribing to the Sixth Article, so that he would not rely for proofs to himself or others, upon passages from Books other than canonical, yet he is not disposed to fault the Church of Rome in annexing others to these, and in pronouncing Sacred them all, in a loose sense, Scripture; nor was he prepared to say that the Holy Spirit did not speak by the Books Apocryphal. Mr. Carey alleged himself here to have added that this was the doctrine of the homily. 66 6 9. Mr. Carey considered the pro mise of conformity to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church as not embracing the Thirty-nine Articles in any close and rigid construction of them, but regards them only as affording a sort of general basis of concord-as those which none subscribed except with certain mental reservations and private exceptions, and that this was what he regarded as Bishop White's view.' Such were Mr. Carey's written admissions. Dr. Smith goes on to state, that when these points, as admitted, had been discussed, several others came under consideration, and that "He declared his conviction of the lawfulness of the invocation of saints; his inability to receive the 22d Article, except under a special supposition, with other particulars, especially in regard to Articles 11th and 31st, to which Articles he gave his assent, but which, in my judgment, he did not satisfactorily reconcile with his other opinions." Upon a full review of the case, Dr. Smith wrote, in a very kind spirit, to Mr. Carey; stating that he could not conscientiously sign a declaration that he had "never written, taught, or held anything contrary to the doctrine of the Protestant Episcopal Church;" and he considered it his duty to submit the facts to the Bishop, as his reason for not affixing his name to his young friend's testimonial. The following were the subsequent occurrences : "The Bishop, on Wednesday evening, having signified to Dr. Smith his intention of holding a special examination, at which he desired him to be present, I (Dr. S.) expressed doubts as to the necessity of my attending such examination, after my previous private examination of Mr. Carey for some four hours, and the full statement, made and revised by him, of his opinions. The Bishop having stated several reasons in favour of my attendance, at his instance the matter was left open. "On Thursday, June 29th, 1843, Drs. Anthon and Smith received a written request from the Bishop to attend a special examination of Mr. Carey and Mr. at the Sunday School Room of St. John's Chapel, on Friday evening at 8 o'clock. "Statement of Examination. candi "In compliance with the request of the Bishop, we proceeded, on the evening of June 30th, at 8 o'clock, to the Sunday School Room of St. John's Chapel, to attend a special examination of Mr. Carey and Mr. dates for orders in this diocese. By about half-past eight there were in attendance the Bishop, Drs. Berrian, M'Vickar, Seabury, Anthon, and Smith; the Rev. Messrs. Haight, Higbee, and Price; and also Mr. Carey. The Bishop stated, in relation to one of the candidates, that he would not then be examined, as it had been decided by the Faculty that he was to remain in the Seminary another year, and that the only duty which would devolve upon the Presbyters then and there assembled was the special examination of Mr. Carey. Dr. Smith then rose and read the fol dates for orders; and whereas we deem said examination to be one of peculiar importance, therefore, with a view to a definite and precise knowledge of the sentiments of the said individuals, and with a view to our arriving at a correct de writing. cision in the premises, we have resolved to propose successively certain questions in writing to the examined, and to request their answers to the same also in 'HUGH SMITH. HENRY ANTHON. "The Bishop then requested that the questions alluded to might all be read successively, which was accordingly done. Objections were then made to these questions, and to their being put and answered in writing. In reply, it was stated by us that this was the mode of examination which we had resolved to pursue as far as we were concerned; that we expressly claimed it as our right to pursue this course; that other Presbyters were at full liberty to examine the candidate in such mode as they might prefer. The Bishop gave it as his opinion that questions in writing might be put, but that the examined could not be compelled to reduce his answers to writing.' We then requested that the examination might be suspended a few moments, while we retired to prepare a protest, which request was granted; before retiring, however, after some discussion, the Bishop gave it as his opinion that any Presbyter present was at liberty to put his questions in writing, and to take down the answers, |