every poffible means, by farcasm, obloquy, and falfehood, to traduce the memory of our venerable reformers, and to revile the doctrines and minifters of the eftablifhed church; and not unoften of Chriftianity in general. If not trefpaffing too much on your limits, it may not perhaps be unacceptable to fome of your readers, nor an improper fupplement to his life, which lately appeared in your valuable miscellany, to infert the prayer that was made for the queen but the day before her death, and being preferved in the archbishop's register, was probably compofed by the pri mate himself. A Prayer for queen Elizabeth, March 23, 1602, Regift. Whitg. vol. iii. p. 148. "O moft Heavenly Father, and God of all mercy, we most humbly befeech thee to behold thy fervant our queen with the eyes of pity and compaffion. Give unto her the comforts of thy Holy Spirit, work in her a constant and lively faith; grant unto her true repentance, and restore unto her, if it be thy will, her former health and ftrength, both of body and foul. Let not the enemy nor his wicked inftruments have any power over her to do her harm. 0 Lord, punish her not for our offences, nor us in her. Deal not with us, O Lord, as we have deserved; but for thy mercies fake, and for thy Chrift his fake forgive us all our fins ; and prolong her days, that we may ftill enjoy her to the glory of thy holy name, and joy of all fuch as truly fear thee, through Jefus Chrift our Lord, Amen." * If any doubt can be entertained on this head, though my memory will not serve me for all the instances I have occasionally observed, it may be sufficient to mention two letters, a few months ago, signed "AN ANTI BUCERIST," in which that reformer is represented as an apostate Jew, Cranmer as a pimp to Henry VIII. and the indignity offered to the bones of Wickliffe, so many years after his burial, is urged as a proof, valeat; we may well say of such a proof as this quantum valere potest that he was looked upon as a persecutor, (the writer surely must have meant heretic); whilst almost the only character at all concerned in the reformation, that is spoken of with any degree of respect, is that of the unfortunate and misguided Mary, for having the spirit, when it was in her power to resent and retaliate upon them, the cruelties exercised by the Protestants. These letters however, should not be noticed without at the same time referring to the very complete and satisfactory answers they have received in the same work, from, I believe, the very able defender (in your pages) of Charles I. and Archbishop Laud. 3 I 2 I do I do not recollect a much better extract than this amongst all which the man of letters thought worthy of a place in his port folio; but it certainly would not have done to produce it together with his farcaftic rebuke of the devout author's fupposed sycophancy; nor was it likely to be treasured up by one whose mind and manners were fo little foftened by all his literature, as to feel any pleasure in reprefenting the confolations of religion, to have been fo adminiftered by one of its moft exemplary fervants, as to create only difguft and averfion in a dying penitent. I am Sir, yours very fincerely Southampton, Dec. 7, 1807. ERMAS. ON THE APPLICATION OF SCRIPTURE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S SIR, MAGAZINE. HAVE been a reader and admirer of your Magazine from its first commencement, and beg leave to give you a hint, the execution of which I conceive would much increase its usefulness, great as that usefulness is already. I have no doubt but you have observed and lamented with myself, the great careleffnefs in quoting and applying paffages from fcripture in many modern publications of divinity, and particularly in fermons, which feems to me to fet at defiance all precision of language and ideas on that most important of all fubjects, and to make the word of God a fort of legerdemain that may be made ufe of dexterously according to the found without any regard to the sense, juß as it may happer to fuit the writer's purpose, and ferve to establish his own preconceived opinions. Nay, it is no uncommon thing to fee a paffage produced to confirm a doctrine, which fo far from establishing that doctrine, would if fairly interpreted, prove the directly contrary pofition. And it is the more to be lamented that this is often done by writers of acknowledged reputation, from whom one might have have expected better things. From this fource I apprehend many readers are in danger of being very much milled, and particularly young divines; and I think you cannot allot a few pages of your publication every month to a more bene'ficial purpose than to counteract this danger. The mode of doing this, is the hint which I have, with great deference to your judgment, to offer. It is this: to felect a paffage which has been repeatedly mifapplied, and which there will be no difficulty in doing. To fettle the fenfe according to the context and the rules of found criticism. To produce paffages from writers of the most reputation where it has been rightly applied, and alfo from thofe of the like estimation where it has been wrongly applied. I am aware this is a task which requires great labour and judgment, but I know that you and feveral of your able correfpondents are fully equal to it. This plan, I fhould have great hopes would do fomething towards checking, if not leffening the prevalence of those strange and unfcriptural notions which are daily gaining ground amongst us, and be more particularly useful to young ftudents in divinity. If you should think proper to adopt it, I fhould have great pleasure in seeing the 8th, 9th, and 10th verfes of the fecond ch. of St. Paul's Epiftle to the Ephefians, fo treated. I am, &c. Dec. 3, 1807. CLERICUS LINCOLNIENSIS. ROYAL ANECDOTE. HE winter of 1785 is memorable in the annals of meteorological obfervation, as having been a feason of the most intense and continued feverity ever known in England. One day during this gloomy period, as his Majefty, regardless of the weather, and never more happy than when in action, it might be added alfo, never more so than when doing good-was taking a folitary walk, and unbending his mind from the cares of state, he met two little boys (the eldest feemingly not more than eight years of age) who though ig norant it was the king they faw, fell upon their knees before him, deep as the fnow lay, and wringing their little hands, prayed for relief, "the fmalleft relief," they cried, "for they were hungry, very hungry, and had nothing to eat." His majesty was affected at the fight, ordered the little fuppliants to arife; and having with that amiable affability which fo peculiarly diftinguithes his character, encouraged them to proceed with their ftory, they added that their mo ther had been dead three days, and lay ftill unburied; that their father himfelf, whom they were alfo afraid of lofing, was ftretched by her fide upon a bed of straw, in a fick and helpless condition; and in fine, that they had neither money, food, nor firing at home. In this detail of woe, ingenuously as it had been given, there was fomewhat more than fufficient to excite pity in any bofom; and the question now was, whether, fimply as the tale had been told, there could poffibly be any truth in it? His majesty adopted the refolution of afcertaining the truth in perfon, accordingly he ordered the two boys to proceed homewards, and following them till they reached a miserable hovel, he there found the mother dead, and that evidently from the want of neceffaries,-and the father literally as defcribed, ready to perish alfo, but ftill encircling with his feeble arm the deceafed partner of his woes, as if unwilling to remain behind her. The king felt the tears rifing faft into his eyes, nor doubtlefs, did he think his dignity leffened by giving a loose to his fenfibility; but feeling that no time was to be loft, he left behind him what calh he had about him, which rarely amounts to much, and hastened back to Windfor; related to the queen what he had feen, but declared himself totally incapable of expreffing what he felt; and inftantly dispatched a messenger with a fupply of provifions, loathing, coals, and every other accommodation which might afford immediate fuftenance and comfort to a helpless family, groaning as he faid, under afflictions more piercing by far than he could have supposed to exift in any part of his dominions. Revived by the bounty of his fovereign, the father foon recovered; and the king finished the good work he had be gun, by giving orders that till the years of maturity, the chil dren fhould be cloathed, educated and fupported at his ex pense, penfe, with the promise of having fuch fituations provided for them as their conduct might qualify them for. THE DANGER OF SCHISM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S SIR, MAGAZINE. THE alarming increase of fectaries, and particularly the additions continually making to the number of illiterate teachers, calling themfelves minifters of the gospel, ought to be feelingly confidered not only by the members of our own communion, but by every one who has the interests of ra tional religion and of focial order at heart. If the evil is fuffered to go on without a check, the confequences may be fuch as not merely to affect the Established Church, but the ftate itself. Should the one fall into contempt, the other would not be long refpected or obeyed. Of this our own annals furnish a striking and an awful example, which our legiflators, and all who are in authority, or who have influence, will do well to profit by in time. In proportion as Schism is increased, the Church muft be weakened, and whether in fuch a fituation, the civil government would long preserve its power, let those who read the English hiftory, or who have any infight into human nature determine. Certain it is, that the ruin of the Church in the middle of the seventeenth century, haftened the murder of the king, the fall of the houfe of lords, and the establishment of an arbitrary government under a military defpot. Then human learning was undervalued, the order of the priesthood was fet at nought, and no other qualification for the Chriftian miniftry was regarded than the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit, to which every ignorant and impudent enthufiaft laid a claim. In the picture of those diftracted times, this is a leading feature, and it is well known that Cromwell encouraged this pretenfion to inspiration, and the confequent right of every man to teach by his own practice. And fo fond were the common foldiers of fhewing their gifts this way, that they not only prayed and preached among |