when he was silenced by the council, who ordered him to withdraw. Other teachers were afterwards banished. The Scriptures, however, in the mean time were allowed to be publicly read. The Bernese interfered, and sent deputies who were accompanied by the reformed preachers, Farel, Viret, and Froment. Friburg renounced its alliance. The duke of Savoy and the bishop of Lausanne made attempts against the city, but failed in their design to establish their authority. A disputation was subsequently held, by which the interests of the reformed cause were extensively promoted; and on the 27th of August, 1535, a general edict was issued by the council, establishing the reformation, and prohibiting all popish idolatry. Such were the proceedings at Geneva, previously to the arrival of Calvin, whose name has conferred such celebrity upon the city. His residence there was not in consequence of any intentional design. His purpose, on leaving France, was to settle at Basle or Strasburg; but the war which was then raging, compelled him to direct his course through Dauphiny and Savoy; and thus he entered the scene of his future labours. Farel and Viret, whom he could not but visit, urged him to stay; he yielded to their strong representations, and, in the 28th year of his age, in the month of August, 1536, he was appointed by the consistory and magistrates of Geneva, a professor of divinity, and soon after, with the consent of the people, a pastor of the church. He was not yet, however, permanently settled in these relations. Disputes arose, and Calvin, with his colleagues, was banished from the city, whence he repaired to Strasburg. After an absence of three years, he was recalled, and, soon after his return, succeeded in establishing the presbyterian polity. His name has been almost exclusively associated with the question of predestination, and, to many persons, is known only as it indicates an agitator of abstruse and repulsive theological dogmas. Mr. Scott has sufficiently proved that his doctrines on that question were no peculiarities of his. We have not space to transfer his valuable and temperate remarks on this subject, but we refer our readers to the paragraphs before us, pp. 402–419. The case of Servetus is considered by the Author with some particularity, pp. 419-438. No new facts are indeed produced in illustration of that sad case,' but the proceedings are detailed with accuracy and in order. It is not necessary for us to repeat them, or to discuss the merits of an exhausted question. The transaction was altogether odious and cruel; and it is truly distressing to see it, in the veritable connection in which history has transmitted it, approved and applauded by men of illustrious reputation. We do not, we confess, admire the defence urged in favour of Calvin, that the miserable deed was in the spirit of the times. Calvin's doctrine is certainly not to be impugned on ac ? count of this affair, nor ought it to be attributed to his peculiar temper. But, if we allow the plea, that his proceedings against Servetus were the errors, not so much of the man, as of the age, this benefit of clergy may then be extended to all persecutors, to all who have dealt sharply and inhumanly with the erring on whom they could lay the hand of their power. It is an apology equally good for one time as for another, and for the prime abettor of intolerance in one community, as for a persecutor who bears the name of another denomination. It suits equally the Romanist and the Protestant. It is only to be asked on behalf of the individual to whose case this mode of defence shall be applied, that he believed his erring fellow-creatures ought to be denied all the rights of living men. But, in whatever age a man may have his existence cast, is he to be allowed such a practical belief? Can he be blameless in his persuasion that he may destroy the peace and life of others on account of their difference from him, how extreme soever the difference may be? It was Calvin's deliberate and proclaimed conviction, that open impugners or corrupters of Divine truth deserved the severest punishment from the hands of the magistrate,-jure gladii coercendos esse hæreticos. He instigated the proceedings against Servetus, who, at his instance, was apprehended and committed to prison; (Me Auctore;) and he anticipated the passing of a capital sentence upon the miserable man, and wrote down the expression of his desire that the sentence might be executed. The whole sum and substance of Servetus's proceedings which cost him his life, were his avowals and publications of tenets grossly impious. For these he was burned alive. A mode of destroying him less horrible might have satisfied Calvin's desire that capital punishment should be inflicted; but the additional terrors of the death make, in reality, no difference in the case. Is the New Testament, then, an insufficient instructor to those who revere its authority, in respect to the manner in which they who believe its truths, shall assert and uphold them? Is it less clear in its referring all differences and all errors to the decision of an invisible Judge, and all awards in reference to them, to the time when the angels shall cast out of the Messiah's kingdom all things. that offend, than it is in teaching the doctrine that a man is justified by faith? In doing justice to the principles of the New Testament, we must remember that "all judgement is committed to the Son"; and we can never concede, that they who judge the things of this life, are to take cognizance of either religious truths or religious errors. In publishing the doctrines of the Reformation, Calvin was not symbolizing with the errors of the age; and the light which separated him from the abettors of them, was suf ficient to have guided him to another course than that which he was pursuing in the whole affair of Servetus. VOL. VIII.-N.S. 3 L Mr. Scott's narrative concludes with the death of Calvin, May 27, 1564. We have noticed but few of the incidents of his laborious life; and have the less occasion to apologize for the omission, as the volume before us, a great proportion of which is taken up with the history of the illustrious Reformer, will already be in the hands of those of our readers to whom his name and his merits are attractive; and as we shall have an opportunity of again adverting, before long, to his life and character, in noticing a work now on our table. The concluding chapter is entirely occupied with an Analysis of the Institutes, on which Mr. Scott's illustrative and corrective remarks will be acceptable to all who may wish to be acquainted with that celebrated production. Art. IV. The complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller; with a Memoir of his Life. By Andrew Gunton Fuller. In Five Volumes. 8vo. pp. clxvi. 3182. Price 31. 6s. London. 18311832. ]N our review of Morris's Memoir of the late Mr. Fuller*, and of Dr. Ryland's Account of his 'Life and Death,'† our readers will find an outline of his personal history, with some account of his works, and of his character as a writer. The latter of those biographical memoirs, published three years after his decease, was introductory to an edition of his works, in eight volumes, of which a notice also appeared in our Journal. In the edition now before us, a filial hand has been employed in commemorating an honoured name, and in extending the knowledge and perpetuating the usefulness of services rendered to the interests of true religion by an eminently endowed and devoted Christian minister. Besides the advantage of a new and improved arrangement, the present edition is more valuable than the preceding one, as it includes a selection of additional articles, and is executed in a superior manner, and published at a lower price. The number of ample and well-filled pages which the volumes contain, gives it the recommendation of cheapness, and evinces the liberal spirit of the Editor, in consulting the convenience and advantage of those who may wish to obtain the complete works of the estimable Author. It is neither necessary nor practicable for us to give a particular account of the subjects which are discussed in the volumes before us; but, as a general notice of their contents may be useful to some of our readers, we shall furnish a report of the principal treatises and articles which they comprise. Vol. I. includes, The * Ecl. Rev. 2d Ser. Vol. v. p. 478. 505. + Ib. Vol. ix. P. 181. Gospel its own Witness. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems examined and compared as to their moral tendency. Socinianism indefensible. Reflections on Belsham's Review of Wilberforce on Christianity. Letters on Universal Salvation. Vol. II. contains the Controversy on Faith, comprehending the Gospel worthy of all Acceptation, and the Defence of it. Letters on the Reality and Efficacy of Divine Grace. Strictures on Sandemanianism. Dialogues, Letters, and Conversations. Vol. III. Expository Discourses, on Genesis-the Apocalypse-Sermon on the Mount-Conversion of the Jews-Millennium-The Unpardonable Sin-Notes on various passages, and on passages apparently contradictory. Vol. IV. Sermons and Sketches. Circular Letters. System of Divinity. Thoughts on Preaching. Vol. V. Memoirs of Pearce. Apology for the Baptist Mission. Essays. Letters. Tracts. Reviews. Answers to Queries, and Fugitive Pieces. It To Andrew Fuller may justly be assigned a place of distinction among the most useful writers of his own time. His several productions were written in support of doctrines which form the essential difference between the evangelical dispensation and all other systems of religion. And though there were points maintained by him, in respect to which many persons, agreeing with him in the great principles which he asserted, were not prepared to declare their concurrence, he will be regarded by all who observe the vicissitudes and progress of true religion, as having contributed in no common degree to the advancement of truth. is no exaggeration of his services, to represent him as having exerted an influence of a very salutary kind upon many of the Christian communities of his country. To his own denomination, he sustained the character of a Reformer. It might seem strange and incredible, that, among persons holding in their hands the New Testament, the notion should ever arise, and a practice in accordance with it be adopted, that the Gospel message is not to be addressed to mankind, in the largest sense in which a donation of benefits adapted to their greatest necessities may be announced to them. Whether the Gospel should be preached to men as sinners, is a question which, we may be well assured, never occurred to Apostolic teachers, to perplex their counsels or their purposes. They never hesitated fully to declare the import of the Gospel; and to all to whom they addressed the instructions which conveyed the knowledge of its design, they tendered its blessings. Nor was there any difference in their discourses and their manner towards the various persons whom they saw before them as they discharged the duties of their Ministry. Such as believed not, nor became converts, heard precisely the same things, as were addressed to those who repented and became obedient; the warnings and exhortations were in each case the same. That sinners should not be exhorted to repent and believe the Gospel, was neither the persuasion nor the practice of the earliest preachers of it. But, in the Society in which Mr. Fuller commenced his employment as a religious instructor, this was the popular opinion. He himself for a time supported it, till circumstances arose which awakened his suspicions, and engaged him in inquiries from which resulted the emancipation of his mind, and to which may be traced the formation of his character as a controvertist. It is curious to find in the early entries in his diaries, a prayer that he might never enter the polemical lists. Nor is it less remarkable, that he found most of his opponents in the circle of his own denomination. For the labours to which he was destined, he possessed peculiar faculties. The powers of his understanding were vigorous and discriminating; his perceptions were acute and penetrating. Without the advantages of liberal education, and with no other mental discipline than that which was self-imposed, he was trained to the patient endurance of the difficulties inseparable from the investigations which he pursued. He was not less dexterous in detecting the errors of his opponents, than in exposing the weak and defective points of their reasonings; and as he conceded the insufficiency of his own arguments, and abandoned the positions which he had thought tenable, when his subsequent examinations enabled him to correct his former judgements, so he seldom failed to avail himself of the concessions as well as the mistakes and forced conclusions of his adversaries. It is very evident from the contents of the Volumes before us, that he was accustomed to lay hold of every occasion which brought under his notice any of the subjects that were congenial to his habits, and, by continually thinking unto it,' to render it familiar to him. It would be very unjust, however, to represent Mr. Fuller as only a controversial writer. He was eminently a practical one. A very considerable proportion of the contents of these Volumes will be found to convey the instruction which tends to Christian improvement, and to interest the mind in the great objects of religion. In the discourses, many felicitous illustrations of the Scriptures will be found; and the occasions will not be few, which the reader of these volumes will have before him, of remarking on the wisdom as well as the piety of their Author. |