necessity; and of course among those who do receive them, there will be great difference of opinion as to the degree of necessity which actually existed on the continent and in Scotland. Still we cannot consider the idea as no more than a makeshift invented at the Reformation; for the earliest Reformers must have learned it in the ordinary teaching of the Roman Church, where they were told that though the Bishop was the ordinary minister of Ordination, yet Presbyters might lawfully ordain under certain circumstances. The whole current then of facts and probabilities goes to show, that if ministers without Episcopal ordination were ever admitted to livings in England, it was because their orders were received on the ground of necessity; a ground on which they were originally quite content to rest their claims. Nor was it until that ground had been utterly abandoned both at home and abroad, that there was inserted a clause in the Preface to the Ordinal, (in 1662,) that no man should hold a benefice without Episcopal Ordination.* Let it be observed moreover, that this Dr. Bancroft was the same, who first, according to Neal, proclaimed the necessity of Episcopal Orders, in England! If there be any other mode of reconciling these factssupposing, that is, that Neal did not intentionally falsify the truth-than the one which we have now suggested, we, at least, are not aware of it. Another observation must also be added to these statements. Even if we allowed in the fullest manner, which certainly in the face of the Ordinal and of Cranmer's Code it would be hard to do, that the views of English Divines, as to the necessity of Episcopal Ordination, did grow more stringent as time went on, still, there is a much simpler and more probable way of accounting for the fact, than that suggested by Mr. Macaulay. King James once said of Puritanism, that it was "just a new tout on an auld horn ;" and there was a good deal of truth in the observation. In nothing is the coincidence of Popery and Puritanism more obvious, than in the way in which both have attempted to treat the Episcopacy. The former pushing it down to elevate the Pope, and the latter dragging it down to raise up the Presbyters. If then our Reformers had held that Bishops and Presbyters, Of course Bancroft's salvo could never apply to non-Episcopal ordinations in England. And how long, if indeed at all, it can be admitted as applying abroad, is a grave question. We have spoken of the ground of necessity being utterly abandoned abroad before the last revision. So it was, except in individual cases, like that of TURRETIN for instance, who, in a public address at GENEVA, in 1708, maintained the Apostolic origin of Episcopacy. were only one order under different names,-and the Ordinal proves that they held nothing of the kind,-it was only an idea which they brought with them from Rome, and which they got rid of when they became more thoroughly acquainted with Primitive Antiquity. And it is certainly no especial matter of credit to the Puritans, that they seized on an antiquated piece of scholastic theology, originally intended for the benefit of the Pope, and used it for their own behoof. This is indeed "a new tout on an auld horn." We have thus followed Mr. Macaulay through his principal views of the Anglican Reformation, and the necessary details have occupied so much space, that at least at present, we can follow him no farther. We may perhaps in another number resume the consideration of this first chapter, so far as it stands connected with Charles I. and the Commonwealth. We have felt it to be our first duty, to vindicate, so far as in us lay, the English Reformation, and the characters of our Reformers, from the ignorant cavils and wanton misrepresentations of their too willing traducer. It is easy to dismiss that great subject, and those great men, with a few flippant and sneering sentences: it is easy to talk of compromise and cowardice, and to dogmatize on grave points in theology with all the profundity of a Sir Oracle. Thankful, however are we, that our Reformers were men of sterner stuff and better mould, than radical Reviewers; and that it was not left to Cabinet Ministers to settle our Theology. Ne sutor ultra crepidam. Let Mr. Macaulay keep to his vocation, and confine himself to the lower region of politics and gossip; but let him not endeavor to philosophize on the high truths of religion, or to estimate the characters of the wise and good, for here he is beyond his depth. They are such works as his, which justify the peevish remark of Walpole, " that history was the only thing he did not believe." MEMOIR OF REV. DR. MILNOR. ART. II.—A Memoir of the Life of James Milnor, D. D., SUCH is the title-page of an octavo volume of 646 pages; presenting a beautiful specimen of paper and typography, and embellished with a striking-almost speaking-likeness of the lamented subject of the Memoir. Why the name of Dr. Milnor was less entitled to the prefix Reverend than that of his biographer, or how it has happened that a Society instituted for the benevolent purpose of printing and circulating religious tracts, has become the publisher of large volumes, and has been long known in the market as extensively engaged in the book trade, are points about which we care not to inquire. When it was announced that this work was to be put forth under the auspices of a Society which professes to hold in equal balances all evangelical denominations of Christians, and to deny its sanction to any publication which advocates or condemns any principle or usage which is peculiar to any one of those denominations, fears were expressed by some of our Church papers, that the forthcoming volume would be but an additional specimen of indifferentism, presenting, at best, a one-sided view of Dr. Milnor's principles as a Churchman, and a partial or distorted one of his teachings and practices as a Protestant Episcopal Clergyman. Whether there was ground for the indulgence of such fears, will, perhaps, be apparent before we have done with our present examination of the work. In the department of Biography, the literature of our Church in this country has been somewhat copious and rich. The well known Memoirs of Bishops White, Hobart, Ravenscroft, Moore, and Griswold, and those of Bedell, Bayard, and others of the Clergy, while they contain interesting exhibitions of individual characteristics, and afford valuable materials for the ecclesiastical historian, were produced under circumstances which held out no temptation to the writers to conceal or suppress any of those doctrines of faith or principles of polity which they held in common as members and ministers of the same communion. The books referred to present variety in connexion with unity. Their aspects are widely different, arising from the difference of temperament, of feeling, of habits and associations in their respective subjects; and each receive a peculiar tinge or coloring from the like peculiarities in their respective authors. But, after all, it is only such a difference as is found in the features and expression of the human countenance in different individuals, in the varieties of species under the same genus, or in members of the same family. In those biographies we find gradations of Church principles and varieties of religious opinion on doctrinal matters of lesser importance, without any irreconcilable contrariety in what may be justly styled the fundamentals of religion. They thus furnish a beautiful illustration of that catholic and comprehensive feature of the Church, which admits of great diversity of opinion as to circumstantials, in harmony with entire unity of faith as to essentials. A long and intimate acquaintance with the late Dr. Milnor had produced in us a high estimate of his noble properties as a man, in whom the most valuable intellectual powers were sweetly blended with the gentler virtues; as a Christian of transparent sincerity, trustful faith, fervent zeal, and exemplary devotion; as a Pastor, who with wise prudence fully consecrated himself to his Master's service, and, with untiring diligence, labored for the salvation of souls, and the edification of the body of Christ; as a Churchman, strong and intelligent in his attachment to the doctrines, worship, and discipline of the Church at whose altars he served; while with a heart overflowing with charity, he wished "grace to all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.' We could have wished the biography of such a man to be written by one who entirely harmonized with him in his doctrinal views and his religious experience; and that it should have been written under circumstances which left no ground for distrust or doubtfulness whether it gave a representation of his character and principles in their fullness and integrity. We say not that these desirable requisites were wanting in the preparation of the volume before us. But it must be evident to every reflecting mind, that an author, in preparing the life of an Episcopal Clergyman, to be submitted to the examination and published under the auspices of a Society which excludes all that is distinctive in the different forms of evangelical profession, and can feel no greater sympathy with Episcopalianism than with Presbyterianism, Methodism, or Congregationalism,-it is evident, we say, that an author so situated, however anxious to be truthful, must be, however unconsciously, laboring under strong temptation to avoid every topic which may be offensive to his patrons, and also to present his subject in such a light as will render it most agreeable to their prepossessions and prejudices. We have no doubt of Dr. Stone's sincere purpose to give an honest and impartial representation of the life and character of that eminent servant of God, whose Memoir he has written. But in reading it, we cannot divest ourselves of the idea that some of its parts have received a coloring from the peculiar views and relations of its author, while other parts have received their precise modification from the embarrassing and trammeling auspices under which it was to be issued. The book, on the whole, is creditable to the talents and scholarship of the author. The only drawback to this praise, will be found in a few paragraphs, in which the purity of the composition is injured by an affectation of stateliness, a mistaking of verbiage for strength, a forcing of metaphors, and an inflation of style, which would be much more excusable in one who could shelter himself under the plea of juvenility, than in a gray-haired, venerable Doctor of Divinity. The volume will have a wide circulation,-like every thing which comes from the Tract Society's press. Multitudes of other names will read it with eagerness. And although we could have wished it to have been different in some respects, yet we will hope that it may remove from the minds of many of its readers, their prejudices against a Church which has shown itself capable of forming a Christian so lovely, and a minister so faithful, as the sainted one whose life it records. In the present article we shall glance at the most important events contained in this Memoir, and while we commend the many excellent things which are here presented to our contemplation, we shall, with the impartiality of Church Reviewers, notice, in the spirit of brotherly kindness and charity, what we believe to be mistakes and blemishes. Of the ancestors of Dr. Milnor, little information is given. except that his parents were descendants of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and both belonged to the respectable society of "Friends," of which William Penn was the founder in the colony which, as a State, still bears his name. William Milnor, the Doctor's father, is represented to have been a man possessed of a cheerful and equable temperament, in combination with great energy and incorruptible integrity. He was, at one time, the business agent of General Washington in Philadelphia, and had a partnership with that great man, (whose confidence he fully enjoyed,) in certain fisheries upon the VOL. II.-NO. I. 5 |
