ing; we would try to render it useful and deservedly popular; we would make it cheap, though not gratuitous, supplying the deficiency of funds by parochial taxation; and the rest we would leave, at least in the first instance, to social sympathy, and the desire of the parents to promote the interests of their children. We have said parochial taxation; but we see not that it would be unfair, or any violation of private conscience, to mulct the employers according to the number of children in their establishments. But we touch not upon these, and many other, points of detail; our argument having only to do with the leading principles. We have spoken of the duties of the State; but we must not overlook the duties of the Church. The Anglican Communion is both a part of Christ's holy Catholic Church (no candid Dissenter will deny this), and also a National Religious Establishment. In its former capacity, it is its duty, upon the principles admitted by the advocates of voluntaryism, to teach both children and adults. Dissenters act upon this principle in their own schools. But besides this, it is the recognized National Church, and hence responsibilities devolve upon it which do not fall upon voluntaryism. It is not a question of power, but of obligation. It is bound, as the Established Church of the land, to endeavour to further, to the best of its ability, the spiritual welfare of the people, both adults and children. And it is also the duty of the State to aid its efforts. The State is bound to provide religious instruction; and in establishing a Church, it provides a channel through which to convey it. The Dissenter objects that this is not the best channel, or denies that any national channel is lawful. Let him urge these opinions wherever he has a right to be heard ; and if he can persuade his countrymen that his arguments are sound, the Established Church, however scriptural and pure, would be disestablished. But as long as it is the national communion, the nation must work with it, and through it. Its machinery is for the public service, and the public has a good right to make use of it. The dissenting minister may be a very good man; but the nation knows nothing of him as a dissenting minister. But it does know the pastor of the parish. His spiritual title has been acknowledged by the nation to be valid; and he is constituted a public servant, in matters relating to religion, for the common benefit. Every legislator acknowledges this. Lord Brougham did so in his Education Bill, some quarter of a century ago;how could he do otherwise ?-and the present Bill does no more. Even then upon this lowest ground, that the nation acknowledges an Established Church, it ought to make use of its aid in carrying out a scheme of popular education. As Churchmen, we of course carry the claim far higher; for we have our honest opinions ; or, if the Dissenter pleases, our prejudices ;-but we wish only to show that there is no injustice, bigotry, or illiberality, in setting forth a scheme of education, grounded upon the fact that we have an Established Church, and that the Church which the nation looks up to for the religious instruction of adults ought not to be unmindful of the lambs of Christ's flock. Invidious assertions have been made that the Education clauses in the Factory Bill originated in the superb assumptions of the Tractarians. far from this surmise being founded in fact, the measure is opposed by Tractarians as derogatory to the Church, both as a spiritual communion and a national establishment; as destructive to ecclesiastical discipline; as a cowardly concession to Dissenters, and a degradation to the clergy, who may be associated with a sectarian churchwarden, and possibly two sectarian trustees. So The Church certainly does submit to some sacrifice by consenting to the scheme; but its best members are willing to do so, if, without sinful conpromise, they can promote religious education among vast masses of the most wretched and demoralized portions of the population. One of the arguments urged against the plan is that the new schools will be so much better conducted than the old ones, that they will draw off pupils and ruin them. This we take to be a high prospective compliment. We feel some hesitation respecting their possible effect upon Sunday Schools; for we know not what could compensate for the zealous, affectionate, and Scriptural instructions of the pious and diligent teachers in those blessed institutions: but this objection may be obviated by the amendments which Sir James Graham proposes introducing into the bill. Lord John Russell has drawn up some modifying propositions; but the Dissenters of the three denominations brand them as scarcely less obnoxious than the original clauses. There is likely, therefore, to be a severe struggle; the result of which will prove whether or not the system of "dissent upon principle" has become so strong, that henceforth no measure is to be adopted for the extension of popular education upon Christian prin ciples, by the use of national ma- it. The circumstances however call for chinery. The explanations in the French Chambers and in the British Parliament, relative to the "Protectorship," as it is called, of Tahiti, by the French, have not abated the feelings of indignation and apprehension with which from the first we contemplated the nefarious transactions which led to that result :indignation at the gross injustice, treachery, violence, and cowardly invasion by which "the most polite nation of Europe" forced its hated domination upon the poor defenceless Queen and her reluctant subjects :-apprehension as to the baneful effects of French influence, and the introduction of Romanist superstition and tyranny, both in that island and the neighbouring clusters; where God has signally blessed the labours of his servants in planting the faith of Christ, which Popery seeks to corrupt, and Infidelity to destroy; cupidity and licentiousnes having opened the way for their aggressions. The women of Tahiti had learned from the Word of God to be chaste; this gave offence to the French sailors and their officers. France wanted colonies, and her merchants marts; and the South Sea Islands are coveted for both. Hence a convenient lamb-and-wolf quarrel was worked up; and might prevailed over right. As regards the Protestant Missionaries, the words of France are fair and soft-spoken; and M. Guizot seems rather easily to have satisfied Sir R. Peel that no injustice or intolerance will be allowed; and we trust that the earnest manner in which the question has been taken up by the people of England will prevent that pledge being so grossly violated as it might otherwise have been; but the whole transaction is most afflicting, and we feel great alarm for the results. At the same time, as England is not the protectress of Tahiti, we do not discern in what way she can officially interfere, bad as the case is, except by strong representation and energetic remonstrance, and also demanding that the existing rights and privileges of English subjects in Tahiti shall not be violated by French control. For the rest the event must be left with God, who has caused his Gospel to take deep root in the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, and who will not, we trust and believe, allow either Popery or Infidelity to eradicate renewed and enlarged exertion and prayer; and should "persecution arise because of the Word," God can overrule even this to the ultimate advancement of his kingdom. The contest which has for some time agitated the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel has terminated in the way which, under all the circumstances, was most be desired; that is, without rending asunder this important colonial missionary institution, yet securing solemn pledges that very careful attention shall be exercised in selecting missionaries, that they may be men of sound Scriptural, Anglican, doctrine, and of holy and devoted life. We had written at some length upon the subject; and may still have occasion to print our remarks; but as at present advised, the great object which we have in view will be best served by not at this moment pressing the discussion. We have often expressed our conviction, and no longer ago than in our Number for last November, that the difficulties of the Society arise chiefly from want of confidence, in consequence of the resolution which was passed in 1819, in order to keep out members of the Church Missionary Society. Till the number of Associated Members dies down to 300, (which the Standing Committee takes care shall not happen) no Associated Member can be elected, except by the recommendation of the Standing Committee. Thus the Committee selects its own constituents; and its constituents select it. Mr. Bickersteth and Mr. Pratt, who have been "contributing members," ever since 1819, have been excluded from membership; (for money-paying, without a vote, is not membership) while Mr. Dodsworth, Mr. Oakeley, and many others of their juniors, have found no difficulty in persuading the Standing Committee to elect them. Mr. Perceval of Horsley is an Associated Member, attends the Board, and speaks and votes; while Mr. Close of Cheltenham is denied this privilege; and can only write letters to the Secretary. A Society thus conducted must expect jars. There requires more sympathy and confidence. But we will not enlarge on the subject at present, lest we should impede, rather than aid, any beneficial arrangements which may be in contemplation. CORRESPONDENTS. Omega; Clericus Sussexensis; A. W.; C. R. C. ; A. A. ; J. E. ; A. T.; H. J. F.; T. G.; J. R.; Christophilus; Laicus; and M.; are under consideration. WE MEMOIR OF ARCHBISHOP MAGEE. (Concluded from page 263.) For the Christian Observer. E resume our notice of Archbishop Magee, subject to the prefatory remarks in our last Number; for not having been personally acquainted with the subject of the narrative, we can only use the statements of the biographer. After a college life of one and thirty years, "the most highly distinguished and honourable," says Dr. Kenney, "of any upon record in the University of Dublin," he retired in 1812, accepting two college livings, Kappagh in Tyrone, and Killyleagh in Down. The members of the Historical Society, and the scholars, paid him a compliment of which no similar instance has occurred, in sending addresses to him, accompanied by a handsome present of silver plate. His predecessor at Killyleagh was his old friend and tutor Dr. Stack; and he took upon himself the expense of the repairs and dilapidations of the glebe house, rather than suffer any demand to be made upon the widow. In his new situation as a parish minister he evinced his customary zeal and fidelity. He had ever been strict in his observance of the Sabbath; and not only did he take delight in his Sabbath duties in church, but he formed Sunday schools at his own house; and on every day of the week he visited his poor parishioners, attending to their spiritual wants, and supplying their temporal necessities. In 1811, the Prime Minister of State, Mr. Perceval, who had read and appreciated his work on the Atonement, and had a high personal esteem for the writer, would, it is stated, have made him Bishop of Oxford, but that he found the unprecedented appointment from the College of Dublin to that see likely to give dissatisfaction to many leading persons in the University of Oxford. The Princess Charlotte of Wales, young as she was, had read his work, and spoke of it with the warmest praise, and said that if ever she were on the throne, the author should be a bishop. Dr. Kenney seems to attach more importance to the Princess's opinion, than intrinsically it was worth; for though it was highly pleasing and satisfactory to find a young person in her station studying such a work, and convinced by its powerful arguments, she could not be qualified to decide upon its merits. We think that the biographer is misinformed CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 66. 2 T in supposing that the "very marked attention" shown by George the Fourth to Dr. Magee, may be ascribed to his daughter's "peculiarly favourable sentiments" towards him. He is, we doubt not, more correct in stating that Magee's zealous support of Mr. Plunket delayed his own promotion. But at length, in 1814, he was appointed by the Lord Lieutenant to the deanery of Cork, where he exerted himself in the faithful discharge of his duties. To the charitable establishments he shewed the most anxious attention. As a preacher, in the cathedral and in other churches, he was followed by crowds, though no man less courted popularity. His sermons, his biographer says, "might be characterized as solid Gospel truth, strongly and plainly enforced in simplicity and sincerity." During his residence in Cork, he was involved, for the first time, in a personal contest with popish authorities; in consequence of his opposition to the claims of Roman Catholics in regard to the churchyards of the Established Church. The popish press assailed him; but nothing could be said to the disparagement of his pure morals and eminent private virtues. His talents could not be doubted; or his extraordinary powers of eloquence; respecting which, Bishop Barrington, addressing Dr. Kenney, said, "I have often heard and admired Mr. Pitt, but while I am listening to my friend Dean Magee, I feel that if I were to shut my eyes I could fancy that Mr. Pitt was speaking." Dr. Magee was a man of great tenderness. During the prevalence of severe typhus fever in 1817 in Dublin, he went from one infected house to another, administering to the bodily and spiritual necessities of the afflicted. In one of his visits he found a man in great misery, who had once been in very comfortable circumstances, and had been educated in the University of Dublin. This sufferer had no attendant but his wife, who was so weak that she was scarcely able to assist him. The afflicted gentleman was Mr. Trotter, formerly private secretary to Charles James Fox. Dr. Magee administered to all his wants. He used to sit on his bed, assisting him with the attention of a nurse, wetting his parched lips, raising his drooping head, and, above all, imparting the consolations of religion, and pointing out the way of salvation. His benevolent efforts appeared to be blessed by God to the sufferer, whose spirit in a few weeks afterwards was called away. In 1819 Dr. Magee was appointed to the see of Raphoe. In this diocese he found amongst the Rectors some old companions and friends, with whom he had long associated in the University; and the renewal of these associations, "in his calm and dignified retirement," (so Dr. Kenney denominates it; but the phrase is not happy as expressing the duties of the episcopal office,) with his attached family, was delightful to him. He was cordial in his affectionate conduct to his old friends, kind to his clergy, but strict in his requirement of their attention to their sacred duties. In dispensing his liberal charities he was aided by his excellent wife and his elder children. He also greatly extended the religious education of the poor; and the gratitude and attachment of the people towards him became so strong, that on his return to Raphoe after an absence, the inhabitants of the town expressed their joy by an illumination. At the time of Dr. Magee's promotion to the episcopate, Mr., now Sir Robert, Peel was, at an unusually early age, Chief Secretary for Ireland. Dr. Magee, finding his health suffering from the close air of his deanery at Cork, wrote to him, communicating his wish for a removal to another situation; though apparently without any intention of asking for a bishoprick. Mr. Peel replied that the ecclesiastical arrangements 323 rendered necessary by the death of Bishop Porter were completed, and that it had been determined to prefer Dean Magee to the see of Raphoe; adding, "My compliance with the wish which you have done me the honour to express to me, has been thus rendered superfluous, by a nomination which has placed on the bench of bishops in Ireland the ablest of her scholars and divines." His charge to the clergy of that diocese, in 1821, excited much attention, and was worthy of its distinguished author. We have a vivid recollection of perusing it with much interest, especially that portion of it in which his Lordship warned the clergy against the danger of worldly conformity; though we thought at the time, and still think upon re-perusal, that he did not lay sufficient stress upon spiritual abstinence as distinct from merely professional decorum; that he urged the point too exclusively as a question of duty, rather than as connected with those devout feelings, those aspirations after heavenly objects, those sentiments of love to God, of gratitude to the Saviour, and of holy enjoyment in the ways of religion, which render it the delight as well as the obligation of the Christian, lay as well as clerical, to be crucified to the world, and to set his affections upon things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. The tone of exhortation in episcopal charges has been so much elevated above that which for the most part prevailed some twenty years ago, that in order duly to appreciate the value of Bishop Magee's address, it ought to be judged of by comparison, as well as in its permanent excellence. As it is in our hands, and may not be in those of our readers, we will quote a passage which presents some important statements as applicable to pending questions at the present moment as to those which were in the immediate purview of the writer. "The Christian world is, unhappily, much divided on some points; and even within the pale of our own Church, differences have arisen, which interfere lamentably with that unity and harmony which are so desirable in a Christian Community. It might be expected that the standard of doctrines contained in the Articles of our Church, would have prevented this diversity, at least amongst those who have embraced that admirable summary, as the rule of their Christian belief. But here, unfortunately, the difficulty recurs; and such is the imperfection of human things, that that which was designed to compose all differences of opinion, is itself converted into a cause of difference, and made a ground of acrimonious controversy. "The wisdom of the Fathers of our Church-a wisdom which seems little less than the result of inspiration; a wisdom certainly which marks its origin to have been from above-laid the foundation of this great scheme of Christian doctrine in a deep knowledge of the nature of man, as well as of the things of God. Those excellent persons were well aware, that the minds of men are not all cast in the same mould; that, on the contrary, the varieties of the human understanding are not less diversified than those of the human countenance; and that, as in the case of the latter, even where the closest resemblance exists, there are still found some features of characteristic difference: so in the former, even where the same general truths are embraced, some varying traits of thinking, and some distinguishing modes and qualifications of the primary principle, will present themselves in different minds. The framers of our Articles, therefore, did not determine to proceed as in a mathematical right line; but advanced in a path of reasonable and Scriptural latitude; which, while it comprised within it all that was essential in doctrine, excluded all that was erroneous; and which, consequently, enabled those who agreed in the great fundamental truths of the Gospel, to walk together in Christian harmony, as became those who were brethren in Christ Jesus. Now, in the same spirit in which the Articles of our Church were at first propounded, they should continue to be received and taught. And no individual should conceive himself at liberty-not even the highest in the Church, who in this case has no more right than the lowest-to impose upon these Articles any private sense or comment of his own, to the exclusion of every other that may not happen to agree with his in every ́particular." |