46 6

May I ask, then, upon what passages of Scripture you found your expectations of a still future restoration of the Jews?'

"Dr. M'Cloud smiled; Mr. Roughton laughed rather rudely; Mr. Weatherhead, and the ladies, uttered various exclamations, the substance of which the Doctor expressed by saying, Why, sir, such passages are innumerable.'

"Possibly,' said the Rector, in his quietest way, and taking out his pocketbible, but will you favour me with a few of them,-some that you consider the strongest?'

"After a short tumult, occasioned by suggestions and quotations of favourite passages, Dr. M'Cloud selected and read the following: Isaiah xiv. 1,2; Isa. Ix.; Jer. xxx. 9, 10; and Ezek. Xxxvii. 21-25.

"You mean the return from the seventy years' captivity in Babylon,' said the Doctor. 'No; these prophecies were not fulfilled by that.'

666

"Is not that return at all the subject of prophecy?' asked the Rector.

"Yes, occasionally,' replied Dr. M'Cloud, but it is not referred to by such promises as I have been reading.'

"Will you tell us then how we may distinguish the predictions of the past restoration from those of the future ?'

"There are two canons,' cried Mr. Weatherhead and Mr. Roughton both together-two canons,' continued Mr. Weatherhead, who spoke faster than the other, which will always enable you to discover which restoration the prophets are speaking of. The first is,-That those prophecies foretell a still future restoration, which speak of the return of Israel as well as Judah. The second,

filled.'

"Let us try some prophecies by the first canon,' said the Rector. I want to prove at present is, that, in prophecies relating to the return from Babylon, Israel and Judah are mentioned together ;-and, consequently, that the first canon fails.'

"I do not see that,' said Mr. Weatherhead.

"Why, it is a mere matter of fact,' said Mr. Sericold.

66.6

Mr.

'Unquestionably,' observed Aylmer; that canon cannot be maintained. Let us go on to the next.’

"But now let us examine the second assertion, that all passages in which it is promised that Israel shall be "cast out again no more for ever," are to be applied to a future restoration. [Then follows an examination of various passages] Are we to say any more about this second canon?'

"It can hardly be necessary,' said Mr. Aylmer; 'I think that you have, at least, shown that it is not altogether a safe one.'

666

The next is,' continued the Rector, 'that, where very glorious promises of prosperity are given, there cannot be any reference to the first restoration; may I ask what are meant by “very glorious promises ?"

"Promises, such as I quoted,' replied Dr. M'Cloud, foretelling pre-eminence among the nations; dominion over their enemies, and the Gentiles; great temporal prosperity; their conversion, and universal righteousness; the presence of the Lord among them for ever.'

"If I can show that such promises are connected with the return from Babylon, it will be allowed, I believe, that this canon also fails,' said the Rector.

666

Certainly not,' said Mr. Weatherhead. Oh, no! no!' cried many female voices.

"Of course,' said Mr. Aylmer,' we must all allow that. Pray go on.'

666

I take, then,' continued Mr. Spencer, the first passage quoted by Dr. M'Cloud, to which I have before referred; Isa. xiv. 1-3. [Then follows a survey of various passages.]

"It is very evident,' said Mr. Merton, 'that promises such as we are speaking of, embracing Israel and Judah, characterized by the words "everlasting" and "for ever," and very glorious in their terms, were intended to be understood of the return from Babylon, and of the "day" or age connected with it. And I cannot understand how the advocates of a strictly literal interpretation of prophecy reconcile their views of these promises with their principles.'

"For my part,' said Mr. Weatherhead, 'I believe that there will be other nations, enemies of Israel, who will be called Babylon, Assyria, and so forth; and that the promises indicate the future victories of Israel over these, and a glorious restoration from their captivity among them.'

666

Then, you do not contend for a literal interpretation of the prophecies,' said Mr. Merton.

Quite literally.'

"All the prophecies are to be fulfilled literally,' said Mr. Weatherhead.

"Then you believe,' rejoined Mr. Spencer, that all the nations of the earth will be required to go up to Jerusalem, every year, to keep the feast of tabernacles; that the Temple will be rebuilt, according to the vision of Ezekiel; that the sacrifices, and all the temple-services, will be again offered, and the Levitical priesthood restored; that vast rivers shall flow from the sanctuary, and trees with unfading leaves and fruit, grow on their banks; that Jerusalem

"No, no,' said Dr. M'Cloud; -I mean, myself and the Society-believe, that all these will be restored after their conversion; and that the rites of the Mosaic law will become again, not only acceptable to God, as in the days of old, but obligatory upon Jews and Gen

tiles.'

66 6

You stand, forgive me for saying so,' said the Rector, upon the verge of most fearful heresy. What St. Paul has designated as " imperfect," "beggarly elements," "a carnal commandment," "shadows," a "yoke of bondage," and has explicitly declared to be "done away in Christ," abolished by the setting up of that "kingdom which cannot be moved," you contend shall be all restored; we are again to have altars, sacrifices, passovers, priests; and Jerusalem is again to be the place where men must worship. Is not this mere contradiction and defiance of the Epistles to the Galatians and Hebrews, and indeed of the whole spirit and principle of the Gospel ?'

666

Well,' observed Dr. M'Cloud, 'I see that local influence is too strong for us; but I would wish to ask Mr. Spencer in what way he proposes to interpret the prophecies in question, many of which he must know are unconditional, and unfulfilled.'

"It is singular,' remarked Mr. Merton, 'that the epistles written expressly to Jews, and those of James and Peter, contain not the slightest allusion to the future restoration and re-establishment of the Jewish polity, civil or ecclesiastical.' "It is still more singular,' added Mr. Spencer, that there is not a word said about it in the whole of the New Testament.'

"What not in the eleventh of Romans?' almost shrieked Lady Tattleton, Mrs. Whimlingley, and friends.

"Not in the eleventh of Romans?' urged Mr. Weatherhead.

"Observe,' said the Rector, 'there is not a syllable here about restoration, or dominion, or glory. That their conversion is spoken of, I admit; but, that those passages signify that they are to convert the world, is disproved by the subsequent declaration, which, you will take notice, is absolute, not hypothetical, that "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ;" that is, clearly, until the large majority of the Gentiles shall have been brought into the church of Christ.'

"No such thing, Sir,' said Mr. Roughton; it means, "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.'

"We have scholars here,' said the Rector; and I appeal to them whether that can possibly be meant by the expression "their fulness shall have come in?""

"Mr. Roughton looked angrily at Mr. Merton and Mr. Sericold, but did not press for their opinion.

6

"You have not yet told us,' said Mr. Aylmer, what, in your opinion, is the right way of interpreting the Old Testament promises quoted by our friends here.'

"I interpret them,' replied Mr. Spencer, as they are uniformly interpreted in the New Testament. In the letter, they were, for the most part, temporal; and were, according to their conditions, fulfilled, while the Church was under "the elements of the world," bound up with the Jewish covenant. In their full signification, they were spiritual; and their accomplishment was reserved for the time when the Church should become spiritual, and free from the yoke of bondage.'

"You were asked a question about the ten tribes,' said Mr. Aylmer; 'what do you think has become of them?'

Various passages which I quoted,' replied the Rector, especially Isa. xiv., Jer. 1., li., show that it was predicted that Israel should return with Judah after the seventy years' captivity, and both, thenceforth, form one nation.

They are spoken of in Ezra and Nehemiah as thus re-united. The twelve tribes are spoken of by St. Paul, and St. James, as one people, in their time, and we know that, at least, some descendants of the ten tribes inhabited the land then; for Anna, the prophetess, was of the tribe of Asher. Whence I conclude, that we are not to look for the ten tribes, anywhere but among the known Jews all over the world.'

"Of course,' said Mr. Weatherhead, 'you reject the doctrine of the personal and pre-millennial advent of our Lord.'

"I do,' said the Rector; because it is founded on prophecies which, in the literal sense, have been already fulfilled, and, in the spiritual sense, of course require only a spiritual fufilment.'

"I perceive,' said Dr. M'Cloud, rising to take leave, that the Jewish cause is not likely to meet with much support at Ecclesbourne, since the only principles upon which it can be advocated are rejected by the ministers of the parish.'

"But surely,' said Mr. Weatherhead, the Rector will not object to assist in the conversion of the Jews.'

666

Certainly not,' replied Mr. Spencer; but I feel some hesitation as to attempting it through the medium of your Society. May I ask whether your missionaries preach to the Jews your doctrine of their future restoration and glory, their return to Jerusalem, with their silver and gold,' and their possession of the riches of the Gentiles, and the reign of their Messiah in the midst of them?'

"Of course,' said Mr. Roughton, it is their duty to declare to them the whole counsel of God.'

"Then the apostles fell far short of their duty,' rejoined the Rector, ⚫ You would not then, I suppose, employ as a missionary any person who does not hold, or will not preach, this doctrine?'

"Sir,' said Dr. M'Cloud, 'it is a principle recognized by the Society, as you may see in its reports, that success is only to be expected in the proportion in which the intention of God towards his people is understood, proclaimed, and, as far as we have anything to do with it, carried out.'

"Then I cannot conscientiously support your Society,' replied the Rector; and, as I am thoroughly convinced that, with such principles and preaching, it will not only fail to effect its proposed object, but produce a perfectly opposite result, I would recommend you to reverse its title, and call it "THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING JUDAISM AMONG CHRISTIANS."'

"The party soon after broke up. On

their way home, Mr. Merton asked the Rector whether he thought of offering Mr. Weatherhead the curacy.

“Decidedly not,' said Mr. Spencer; 'he would be quite out of his element among us; besides, he would make all our Sunday-school teachers and scholars students of prophecy.'

Another clerical character introduced for rejection is Mr. Chirpingley the pseudo-evangelical.

"Was not Mr. Chirpingley considered what is usually called an Evangelical preacher, during Dr. Priestley's time?' asked Miss Spencer.

"He was, replied her father, and not without reason; for he certainly preached the great truths of the Gospel, as he has done during his association with myself.'

"Is it not somewhat uncommon,'

inquired the young lady, 'for clergymen who mix much in worldly society, to preach those truths so prominently as to gain the character of Evangelical

ministers?'

"Not of late years,' replied Mr. Spencer: since the revival of spiritual religion in our Church, and the multiplication of really pious and zealous Evangelical ministers, intelligent clergymen of the class which you refer to have become shamed of preaching cold, dry, moral essays, and have in consequence adopted (principally in deference to public opinion) a kind of Evangelicalism. But they are now, I fear, fast going over to the ultra HighChurch, or Tractarian party, the doctrines of which they feel to be more congenial to their taste and habits.'

What makes you think so, papa?' asked Miss Spencer.

"They find,' continued the Rector, 'that the doctrines of that party exalt their official character to the highest point, independently of any qualifications or efforts of their own; that they make the performance of ceremonies the most important part of the ministerial office; that they require of them little or no no exercise of the mental or spiritual faculties in the work of teaching; and above all, that they supply them with a systematic excuse for suppressing the most vital truths of the Gospel, the atonement and intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ, the influence of the Holy

Spirit, the necessity of conversion,truths which are always obnoxious to the carnal mind, and from the consideration of which it is always glad to escape. So that I shall not be surprised to find, if the Tractarian party holds together a few years longer, that the majority of

its members will be men of this class.'

The last character introduced to be rejected is Mr. Kirkstone, the Anglo-Catholic. It is sketched in caricature, the author having accumulated all the fanciful devices which various Tractarians are said to have practised, adding to their number from his own fertile brain; for we suppose that he does not mean literally, for instance, that any "Anglo-Catholic" has urged that the Church of England means that a clergyman is to cross himself sundry times in the prayer of Consecration in the Communion office, because there are typographical daggers and asterisks for reference to the margin, which he takes for single and double * We need not give a sample of these mummeries, which are humorously ridiculed, as our readers have had enough of them in grave fashion from other sources. The chapter is defective in not adedelusions of the school of Mr. quately exhibiting the doctrinal Kirkstone, in comparison with which vestments and ceremonies are of far inferior moment.

crosses.

"the

Having written over-largely, we must refer our readers back to our last Number for our general opinion respecting the volume. We cannot say that as regards Evangelicals," with whom our author professes to take up his lot, his book is kind or fair. The charge especially of their making faith a good work, we have shown to be unfounded; nor do they preach, as he insinuates, against imparted, inwoven, sanctification; for though they teach with St. Paul that Christ "is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi

cation, and redemption;" they do not the less say that heaven is the inheritance of none but "them that are sanctified;" that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" and that Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." Again, their interpretations of the Anglican Baptismal service are not more di

verse than were those of the venerable men from whose views our author considers them to have swerved; nor more than the opinions of divines of other sections of the Church; for we find, at this very moment, upon the catalogue of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the tract of Bishop Bradford maintaining that baptism conveys to the infant a change of state; and of Bishop

Mant, that it conveys a change of nature; while the Tractarian party go the full length of the Tridentine hypothesis. Neither does our author write discreetly upon the subject of prophecy; for in animadverting upon extravagances of interpretation, he apparently casts an air of ridicule upon the study itself. Towards all with whom he differs-and with whom does he not differ?—he indulges a satirical vein; as if he had pleasure in picking or at least spying-holes in men's coats, and pointing them out to his neighbours. However, thinking that with these strong exceptional remarks, we might yet learn some good lessons from his pages, we have used them freely, believing that he means to wound not as an enemy but as a friend.

THE remaining Irish Episcopal Charge upon our list is that of Dr. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin; the chief topic of which is the Tractarian controversy. His Lordship does not extenuate the discussion into a petty squabble respecting a few ritual observances; much less does he speak in a hesitating, undecided tone, as if perplexed between a desire to side with the Tractarians, and a consciousness that this would not be prudent; lauding their excellent intentions and genuine church principles; thanking them for the great good they have effected, though lamenting they have gone somewhat too far upon certain points; then bristling fiercely upon some extravagance of some unguarded wight among their followers who has damaged

them by incautiousness; regretting also a few things in Mr. Froude, or the British Critic, or the "ill-judged" Tract XC.; but admitting that their chief doctrines are not touched by these unhappy mistakes; and finally, with amiable candour, contrasting their meek spirit, gentle words, and holy deeds, with the party violence, Dissenterism, unchristian tempers, and unblushing mendacity of their opponents. The Bishop of Ossory goes at once to the main points; discusses them calmly and fairly, but resolutely; and clearly evinces that he considers he is dealing with most serious errors and grievous delusions.

If our notice of this Charge-or rather treatise-were to be measured by its importance, the ability displayed in it, and its value as