to public notice. I call the act of confessing error the most gratifying part of my task; for, like many other criminals, I laboured under great uneasiness of mind, while the misrepresentation which I had inad. vertently made of the words of the learned Bishop Warburton remained unacknowledged and uncancelled. I had been made acquainted with my error long before my kind monitor, the reviewer, (for such, in this instance at least, I must consider him to be,) pointed it out; and I had erased it, with deep feelings of regret that it ever appeared, from a copy of my work which I was preparing for a second edition. It was the opportunity which was offered me of correcting this error that first suggested to me the thought of writing and publishing this my retraction and vindication; and I should have placed the former in the front of my letter, if the reviewer had not reserved it for the concluding article in his indictment, at the close of his critique. Indeed I should not have engaged in this letter at all, had I not felt an earnest desire of apologizing to the memory of the learned bishop and the world. I found the passage in the Christian Philosophy' of Dr. Knox; and depending on his accuracy, which I had verified in other instances, I transcribed it as I found it. I had not Bishop Warburton's Doctrine of Grace' in my possession, and knew not where to borrow it. Like other transgressors, I am unable to undo what I have done; but I find a pleasure in confession, and in erasing what has given me much pain. I rejoice in learning from the reviewer, that I have the high sanction of Bishop Warburton for what I have always held; viz. That the REDEMPTION OF MANKIND BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST, and the SACRIFICE of himself upon the cross, together with its consequent doctrine of JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE, were the great Gospel principles on which Protestantism was founded, on the first general separation from the Church of Rome.' I most cordially thank the reviewer for introducing me to an acquaintance with this strong and able testimony from the author of the Divine Legation of Moses,' and for the manner in which, by the employment of capital letters as above, he has called the attention of his readers to it." Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. PERMIT me, through the medium of your widely circulated publication, again to notice a very considerable evil which has been before animadverted upon in your pages, but which still exists to so criminal an extent in many parts of this professedly Christian country, that it calls for prompt attention and cor. rection; I allude to the practice of paying the wages of labourers on the Sunday morning. Indeed, the consequences of paying them late on the Saturday evening are very injurious, as it often compels the labourer to delay many purchases and much work till the Sunday morning; a practice from which he ought to abstain, and from which he would in many instances cheerfully withdraw, were new habits once acquired by an earlier payment. It is not however my intention to dwell upon this comparatively inferior evil, but rather to offer a few observations upon the profane habit of Sunday-morning payments, and then to suggest a few remedies by which the evil may be overcome. First, I would observe, that it is on the part of the master a direct breach of the Sabbath. It is robbing God of a portion of that sacred day which is exclusively his own. It is doing that work upon the Sabbath which will set the hands free to engage in more laborious occupations during the week. Thus, instead of the Sabbath morning being occupied in private devotion, or even in those more secular preparations which are nevertheless often necessary amongst females and others in that rank of life; such as getting children ready for school and church; the greater part, if not the whole, of the morning is spent in dealing out pounds, shillings, and pence to their labourers. Disputes even sometimes arise: discussions about pecuniary matters come on; and thus that love of money, which is the root of all evil, withdraws the mind and thoughts far more effectually from spiritual objects than even the labours of the field or of the shop. The whole circumstance is of a most earthly and deadening tendency; and I conceive it quite impossible for any one to be so engaged upon the Sunday morning, without unfitting himself and his workmen for the duties and the privileges of the day. Indeed, in such cases the probability is, that, instead of the rest of the day being devoted to the service of God, it is dedicated to the service of Mammon; and that the parties concerned, instead of examining into the nature of their accounts with God, will most probably make out and examine into their accounts with their fellow-men, thus adding sin to sin, cleaving to the dust, entangling their wings, as it were, in the miry elements of this world, instead of arising above earthly concerns, into the atmosphere of heaven, and taking a survey of those joys and of that happiness which are prepared for those who love God. The act then, even in itself, is a breach of the Sabbath; and the consequences which ensue are so many additional offences and aggravations of it. The labourer, instead of preparing his heart for the public services of the day, is made to loiter about his master's premises, waiting his employer's pleasure; and then, perhaps, even on the very verge of church time, receives his scanty earnings, and carries them off to the shop, or, in some cases to the public house, and satisfies his conscience, that the sin (if there be any) in all these matters, attaches not to himself, but exclusively to his master. These evils are greatly increased, when, as is sometimes the case, wages are not paid at the pri vate house of the employer, but at some public-house in the village or town; for, in that case a certain percentage is, as a regular thing, not only expected but required to be laid out in the indulgence of those fleshly lusts which war against the soul, and which utterly unfit a man for that spiritual worship upon which he is, or ought to be, about to enter. Again, I would observe, that the practice is, on the part of the labourer also, though to a far less criminal extent, a direct breach of the Sabbath. In some cases it may be a matter of preference with the labourer, as well as with the employer-and then both are equally guilty: but even where the labourer decidedly objects to the plan, still a degree of guilt attaches even to him; because he might devise means, and would, if a real Christian, if not to avoid the payment itself on that day, at least to avoid the evil conse quences which that payment is frequently thought to excuse. I have only one other observation to make upon this practice, which is, that it offers a powerful temptation to the small shopkeepers, to whom the poor resort for their week's food as soon as they have received their week's pay. The consequence is, that these shopkeepers are busily occupied the whole of the Sunday morning (much more busily than during any other part of the week) in serving their customers; and this employment is not only carried into the Sabbath itself, but even beyond the commencement of divine service; so that, in fact, amongst the poor, the Sabbath becomes the most busy day, for buying and selling, of any in the week. Now, to say nothing of the debasing effect that all this traffic on the Sunday must have upon the minds of all the parties concerned; to say nothing of the positive breach of the Sabbath which it involves; to say nothing of the entire omission of those spiritual preparations which ought to be made previously to entering the house of God; what becomes of the attendance on divine worship altogether? The children are with difficulty, if at all, clad in their Sunday dress, and sent to the Sunday school. The father comes home either just before, or just after, the commencement of divine service with his basket of hard-earned food, utterly unfit, in every sense of the word, to go to his church, even supposing the bell had not ceased to chime. The wife is called upon to prepare the Sabbath feast, which, though a homely one, occupies much more of the thoughts and time of the household, especially of the mother, than the spiritual repast spread out for their reception, within the walls of the sanctuary. Thus, instead of "the bread of life," the "manna which came down from heaven," being the object of the day, the thoughts are almost entirely directed to "the meat which perisheth." Perhaps, towards the afternoon, when these important matters are concluded; they contrive to get to prayers, though, unhappily, in many parishes a sermon is at that part of the day dispensed with. It would be easy to imagine in what manner the rest of the day is likely to be spent ; but as that does not arise from the evil of which I am complaining, I need not enter on the subject. With regard to the remedies for the evil, after all, the obvious and only remedy is to make the payments on any other day except the Sabbath. Where is the objection to the custom prevalent amongst all the most respectable masters, of paying at a reasonable hour on the Saturday afternoon, at such an hour as will admit of the completion of that sort of traffic which ought to be carried on solely during the week days? And why should it not be the constant habit of all masters to adopt this system? Some excuse themselves on the plea, that their business or pleasure calls them fre quently, if not constantly, another way; but their duty both to God and to their neighbour calls them to the practice I am recommending. But is self-gratification to interfere with the discharge of a positive duty? And even with regard to necessary business, if such occupations intervene, why not depute the wife or the housekeeper, or the bailiff, to satisfy the just demands of the labourer?—I have only to add with regard to the labourer himself, that if he cannot by any means, to which as a Christian he may resort, induce his master to do his duty in this matter, and in fact cannot help receiving his hire until the Sabbathday; he may at least so arrange matters at home with his wife and children, and even with the shopkeeper who supplies him with provisions, as that, though the evil may exist, none of its usual consequences may be felt or superadded through a want of self-denial or exertion on his part. If he be indeed a Christian, the tradesman at the shop at which he deals will prize his honesty and prompt payment at too high a rate not to allow him, on the Saturday evening, the quantity of food which he requires, and for which he can promise payment on Monday morning. Your pages probably do not fall into the hands of many persons in this line of life; but it would be worth the pains of your clerical or other readers to explain and urge this suggestion to them in their respective neighbourhoods. After all, I am well aware that these observations may be made, and their justice admitted; that these remedies may be suggested, and their practicability allowed; but that still, so long as the soul is insensible to the importance of eternal objects, and the things of time and sense exclude brighter, and better blessings from our view, no real and lasting improvement can be expected: yet, if the above remarks, or the attention which they may excite in other Christians to this important subject, should prove in strumental to a revolution of sentiment in the mind of any individual, we may so far anticipate the relinquishment of all such practices, and the cheerful adoption of others conformable to the spirit as well as the letter of that book which commands, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. I AM happy to inform you, that in the large and populous parish from which I write, but which I need not name, we have had a new and spacious church erected for our accommodation; which I like vastly well in every respect, with the exception of an enormous gilt weathercock which forms the finish of our steeple. Our ancestors had been so much accustomed to connect crosses with crucifixes, and both with superstition and Popery, that, in their honest zeal, they dismantled our churches of all such ornaments; but of late years, we have so far learned to make distinctions, that most of our recent ecclesiastical structures have been surmounted with a cross, as an appropriate church decoration, without any fear of the passing traveller falling down and worshipping the material symbol, and with a hope perhaps that he may be usefully reminded of the spiritual truths intended to be conveyed by the emblematical sign. The great metropolitan cathedral itself, under the auspices of the late Dean, who is certainly no friend to Popery, as is proved by his celebrated anti catholic-emancipation speech, has elevated to the view of the public, for twenty miles round, a magnificent cross, the fashion of which has been imitated in the majority of the churches which have so happily sprung up, either within the sound of the great Pauline bell, or throughout the country at large. Why then, when our worthy neighbours are gazing at their new crosses, are we the king's lieges of St. parish, to be turning giddy at a weathercock; as if to know which way blows the wind were the great business of human life, or, at least, the great purpose of church towers and steeples, if not of churches themselves? It is an old sarcasm of the Papists, that the cross is the emblem of their religion, and the weathercock of ours; and though a jest is not an argument, it might be to the full as well to prevent the occasion of it, by choosing a less vertiginous decoration, if at least some decoration is considered necessary. CAMPANARIUS. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. In common, I believe, with many of my clerical brethren, I availed myself of the hint of a correspondent in your last Number, in addressing to my flock, on the fifth of November, which occurred this year on a Sunday, such remarks as appeared to me appropriate to the day, and "for the use of edification." This I could do with a hearty good-will; for the blessings secured to this highly favoured land, as on that day, are such as deserve constant recollection, with devout gratitude for them to the Author of every good gift. But it is not with equal complacency that I can use the whole of the service appointed for that occasion; some parts of it, to say the least, not being altogether suited for modern times. But, in addition to the service, the officiating minister is required by the rubric," after morning prayer, or preaching, upon the said fifth of November, to read publicly, distinctly, and plainly the Act of Parliament made in the third year of King James the First, for the observation of it." This act continues to be read in some churches, and ought by law to be so in all; but in many instances, the officiat : ing clergyman inquired in vain for a copy of it from his parish officers, in order to discharge his obligation. I have myself searched among my own books, containing not a few connected with church law and rubrical obligation, but have not been more fortunate. The clergy, there. fore, are placed by the obligation to read this Act exactly in the same circumstances under which they were placed, till lately, respecting the Act against profane Cursing and Swearing; with the exception, that the reading of the Fifth-of-November Act occurs less often; and that the punishment for not reading it is not specified whereas every common informer knew well how to take advantage of the other statute to exact fines from the clergy; the vexatious frequency of which has led to the repeal by the legislature of the clause which enjoined the clergy periodically to read the Act in their churches. The Act was viewed both as painful to the consciences of the clergy, (they being bound to read it, and yet generally viewing the reading of it as a custom most unedifying, and practically obsolete,) and also dangerous to their purses; as even a casual lapse exposed them, for each omission, to a fine of five pounds, besides various inconveniences and law expenses. The obligation to read the Act has therefore been dispensed with by Parliament; and why should not the reading of the Gunpowder-Treason Act be dispensed with also? Such worldly intrusions in the service of God are most irksome and injurious; and would that the whole train of them, including all secular parish notices, were banished from our churches. I have stated above, that I could not readily find a copy of the Gunpowder-Treason Act; but my researches have been rewarded with something more curious than the Act itself; even a metrical version of it, appended to H. Dod's extremely rare version of the Psalms, Anno 1620; with the following CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 299. heading: "An Act for a public Thanksgiving to Almighty God, every Year, on the fifth Day of November, enacted November the fifth, 1605," &c. "The same Act in Verse, meet for song, thereby to retain in mind our safety from the Gunpowder Treason." I should be glad to learn from some ecclesiastical antiquarian, whether our patient ancestors were accustomed to carol away their gloomy Novembers with this right merry song; and still more whether, as I suspect Dod intended, it was introduced with appropriate melody, into any of those churches where the witty composer's version of the Psalms was in use. Dod might not unjustly conclude, that an ordinary congregation would be quite as much edified in gravely singing an Act of Parliament, as in hearing it indistinctly hurried or muttered over (notwithstanding the explicit direction of the rubric) by the unwilling lips of their pastor; and in point of entertainment, the exchange would be wholly on their side. It might also be deserving erudite consideration, whether the clergy might not find their account in transferring the recitation from the desk to the singer's gallery; thus sparing their own lungs, and furnishing a good three quarters of an hour's vocal treat to their church-going parishioners, It certainly was not my intention to have trespassed upon your readers, with a copy of Dod's doggerel statute: but upon further reflection, considering that many of them might really wish to know what is the character of the Act itself, which it is not in my power at present to find a copy of, but which is faithfully rendered in this metrical version; and viewing this version, moreover, from its scarcity and other reasons as a literary curiosity well worth preserving, I have revoked my first decision. And to satisfy your own editorial scruples, I will only add, which I do with seriousness, that if even the sacrifice of a page in a magazine is too great 4Q |