the great points at issue between the chief denominations of Protestants. Its two Catechisms and its Liturgy are, I conceive, the only document's that can be considered as declaratory of its faith; and they are of that kind that persons of very different sentiments may build their own doctrines upon them. Its clergy also are very far from being united in sentiment. While some are Arminians of the school of Episcopius and Limborch, others are Arians, and some go near to the verge of the German disguised Deism; there is a number, not inconsiderable, who still hold the doctrines of the Reformation, and who adorn their Christian profession by the fidelity of their preaching and the purity of their conduct. From this class I apprehend that M. Malan does not differ in any material respect: and had he been advanced to the pastorate previously to the change in his religious convictions, it is probable that he would have met with no more than the petty harassments which they have to endure. At the same time it must be confessed that their situation is full of snares and difficulties, from their ecclesiastical connexion with persons so opposed to their most important views and feelings. From these infelicities M. Malan's ejection has happily freed him.

Mr. Bakewell appears to me entirely to misunderstand the nature of tolerance and intolerance. He affirms that M. Malan " has evinced more of a persecuting spirit than his opponents ;" and he endeavours to prove this position by the following argument: "I hold that man to be a persecutor in the worst sense of the word, who depreciates the character of his neighbour, because he does not adopt the same creed as his own, who, on this account, represents him in his public discourses as irreligious and an enemy to Christ, and who endeavours to destroy his respectability and influence in society. I say such a man is a persecutor, whether he have or have not the temporal power to punish those whom he defames."

Here I would respectfully suggest to my opponent, that he confounds two things which are essentially different; religious toleration (I would rather say RELIGIOUS FREEDOM) and religious approval. I trust that no attentive reader of my former letters can fail to have perceived that I have always kept in view this vital distinction. The former, no human being has a right over his fellow-man, either to give or to withhold. The latter cannot be exercised without a similarity of sentiments and practice on the principal points of religion. I trust that Mr. Bakewell admits the divine authority of the Christian Scriptures. He must, then, believe that there are some doctrines essential to the Christian faith, and some states of mind and conduct essential to Christian practice. It inevitably follows, that a person who rejects those essential parts, cannot be regarded as really a Christian; and to him the numerous passages must apply which speak to this effect: "He that believeth not is condemned,-he shall not see life,-the wrath of God abideth on him." Undoubtedly, Sir, many of your readers look upon me as an idolater, setting up other gods besides the Only JEHOVAH; because I believe in the Deity of the Saviour and of the Sanctifier. Now the Scriptures uniformly represent idolatry as among the most dreadful of crimes.

against God, and declare in the strongest terms that no idolater can be saved. But if any persons should apply this inference to me and other Trinitarians, would they, in so doing, violate the rights of religious liberty; or could I charge them with indulging a spirit of intolerance and persecution?-Most assuredly not.-Neither is M. Malan or any other man to be called intolerant, because his studious and serious convictions compel him to profess his most solemn persuasion that to reject the Divine Person, the Atoning Sacrifice, and the Influential Grace of Jesus our Redeemer, is to cut the cable of human hope; and that those who preach any other way of salvation for the sinful children of men, are themselves deluded, and are the awful instruments of delusion to others. It is for ever impossible that persons holding these opposite views, upon the most interesting and awful of subjects, can regard each other with religious ap proval and, if they be honest men, they will urge their respective arguments and warnings with the utmost zeal and earnestness. But does their so doing involve any violation of the rights of citizens and the courtesies of society? Does it entitle either of the parties to charge the other with a persecuting spirit? Every man of sound discernment will say, No. pp. 49-52.

This important distinction has not only been lost sight of, but attempts have continually been made to obliterate it, especially in the minds of the young; but the latitudinarian is not unfrequently the most intolerant of men. Intolerance lies not in the creed, but in the character. Those who hate religion, will tolerate it, only so far as they are compelled to do so, by policy or a regard to their own character. We have no room for further remarks, but strongly urge on our readers an attentive perusal of this interesting publication,

Art. XIII. Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. William Ward, late Baptist Missionary in India: containing a few of his early Poeti cal Productions, and a Monody to his Memory. By Samuel Stennett. 12mo. pp. 312. Price 6s. London, 1825.

THERE is, perhaps, no medium of religious instruction

which unites so many advantages as ecclesiastical biography. We cannot but regard it, indeed, as one of the most efficient modes of counteracting many theological errors. Without attempting their direct refutation, it draws off the mind from the speculative to the practical, shews how unreal is the system of the Antinomian, how insufficient the religion of the formalist, and presents to us, in the life of a good man, a palpable theology. For vestry libraries and village reading, such works are the best adapted of any, provided that the characters thus held up to imitation be really exemplars. The

lives of missionaries seem, next to those of martyrs, to claim a record and if in the life of Mr. Ward there was little variety of incident, his character was in a high degree both interesting and exemplary.

Mr. Ward, we learn from the memoir drawn up by his friend, was born at Derby, on the 20th of October, 1769. His father, a carpenter and builder of that town, died when he was young, To the conversations and prayers of his excellent mother, he ascribed his early religious impressions. From a child, he was thoughtful and remarkably grave and mild in his demeanour, On leaving school, he was bound apprentice to a printer and bookseller at Derby, with whom he remained two years after the expiration of his apprenticeship, during which time he was engaged in conducting the publication of the Derby Mercury, He then removed to Stafford, where he commenced the publication of a newspaper, the property of a branch of the same family. From Stafford, he removed to Hull, where he continued to follow his business as a printer, and was for some time editor of the Hull Advertiser. Here he first made a public confession of his faith, and joined the Baptist church then under the pastoral care of a Mr. Beatson. Through the means of his religious friends, he was introduced to a gentleman of large property, who, on ascertaining the desire which was now awakened in Mr. Ward to devote himself to the ministry, munificently undertook to defray the expense of his preparatory studies. In August 1797, he was sent to Ewood-hall, the residence of the Rev. Dr. Fawcett, under whose tuition he remained for about a year and a half, prosecuting his studies, and preaching in the neighbouring villages; and here it was that his purpose was formed to devote himself to missionary labours.

It seems that, four years before, Mr. (now Dr.) Carey had met with Mr. Ward, in one of his farewell visits to his friends, previously to his departure for India. Mr. Ward was then following his business as a printer; and Mr. Carey said: "If "the Lord bless us, we shall want a person of your business, to enable us to print the Scriptures; I hope you will come after us.' Whatever impression these words may have produced at the time, Mr. Ward never expressed his feelings on the subject, till after his removal to Ewood-hall; but they must now have recurred to him forcibly. It might almost seem to him like the call of Elijah to Elisha. On the 7th of May 1799, he was solemnly set apart to the office of a Christian Missionary at a meeting held at Olney, together with Mr. Brunsdon; and on the 24th he embarked for India, in company with his

fellow labourer, and Mr. (now Dr.) Marshman, where they ar rived in October following.

From this brief outline it will be seen, that Mr. Ward was far from being an illiterate man when he entered upon his preparatory studies; and that it was at a considerable sacrifice of his worldly prospects that he resolved to devote himself to the sacred office. For the station which he was appointed to occupy as a missionary, he was singularly qualified; and he expresses himself in one of his letters in the following remarkable terms.

I think I should have liked preaching in England, if I had not had other work to do; but I sometimes think I should have killed myself. If I preach half an hour in a tolerably quiet way, I almost lose my voice. I can talk in a plain way in Bengalee, but very confined: what is preaching without figures, illustrations, and a liberty to enlarge and press home truth? Yet, I do rejoice in my destination. I know not any place on earth where I might be more useful, if I had the piety of a Pearce.'

In the year 1819, Mr. Ward visited this country for the benefit of his health. He embarked for India a second time in May 1821. But he had scarcely been fifteen months in the bosom of his family, when he was called to finish his earthly course. For further details, we refer our readers to Mr. Stennett's interesting memoir.

The poetical effusions given in the Appendix, will have answered the purpose of gratifying the feelings of Mr. Ward's friends, and may, therefore, be omitted without impropriety, in the event of a second edition, which will enable the Author to reduce the price of his volume.

We must make room for the following letter as an exemplification of Mr. Ward's excellent spirit. We give it without

comment.

• March 3, 1810.

'I think you cannot abstain from communion with any real christian whose moral conduct substantiates the truth of his faith in

Christ, without a positive crime. The first law of Christ is LOVE, and the first law of the infernal regions is disunion. Hold the opinions which you conscientiously find in the Bible, and give none of them up to please man: but, after all, the greatest of these is love; and how you can love christians in a proper manner, and be shy with them, and avoid their communion, merely because their opinions are not all like yours, and because they demand the right of thinking for themselves, as you do, is a mystery to me. I think the shutting out from communion such a man as Doddridge, or Baxter, because he was a pædobaptist, arises from the same spirit as that which burnt men alive: this is exclusion; that was exclusion from life. In one

respect the injury is small, because the person can communicate with others; but the strict communionist, if he and another baptist, and Doddridge lived together in a country where there were no churches of Christ, ought, on his own principles, to shut out Doddridge from communion, though he could commemorate the Lord's death no where else, and though Doddridge lived in a state of the highest communion with God, while these two baptists, perhaps, were almost too loose to be retained in a christian church. We admit pædobaptists to communion with us; but should the Serampore church change its practice, which, in my opinion is its glory, I would take all proper occasions to protest against its spirit; but should I abandon all means of doing good, because they acted wrong? Would not my opinions, mildly and properly urged, be more likely to do good, than if I left the church, and placed myself at a greater distance from my fellow-christians ?" 243-245.

Art. XIV. A Present for a Sunday School; or a plain Address on the Fear of the Lord; adapted to the Capacities of little Children; being the first of a Series on different Subjects. By a Minister of the Established Church. 18mo. pp. 36. Price 4d. London. 1824.

IT

T is so very rare to meet with any publications designed for children, the style of which is really on a level with their capacity, that we are induced to go rather out of our way to notice this excellent little Sunday School address, which may be recommended as a model for simplicity. A short extract will sufficiently justify this commendation.

But, my dear children, I wish to put you on your guard against several things which will unite together to keep you back from coming to Christ, and so from the enjoyment of all true peace.

1st. You have a hard, wicked, impenitent heart.

Now, unless you take care, this heart will deceive you; for it is the most deceitful thing in the world. Thousands of people have been deceived by this deceitful heart. Oh, cry unto God to change your heart; to make it broken and contrite; to make you feel the plague of it; how deceitful and desperately wicked it is. will Jesus Christ become precious to you; for nothing but His blood can cleanse you from sin; and nothing but His grace can change your heart, and subdue its wickedness, and conquer its deceit.

6

2dly. You have also a self-righteous spirit.

Then

By a self-righteous spirit, I mean, a disposition to trust in, and boast of, our own fancied goodness. Alas! how many people are there in this sad state!-full of their own righteousness! And are there none of you, children, in the same condition? Are not some

of you proud of yourselves, because you think you are not so bad as other children about you are? Dear children, this is a very sinful temper. God dislikes and rejects all such proud people and proud children. "The proud in heart are an abomination to the Lord." As long as this is the case with you, you will never come to Christ; and so will never be saved.' pp. 31, 2.