can be proved to have delivered, either by writing, or by word of mouth; but turns wholly on the proof of the fact of certain disputed doctrines having been delivered by them, which are not contained, either literally or impliedly, in Scripture. And if it had been Ignatius's intention to recommend to his charitable visitors, the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Invocation of Saints, the homage paid to Images, the belief of a Purgatory, and the value of Indulgences and Prayers in getting good men out of this state of suffering; it must be confessed, that his advice made but a very transient impression on their minds, as no traces of these tenets and practices are to be found in the Church, until many centuries after the death of that martyr. To say that the Traditions of the Apostles are to be observed; is to say nothing; unless we be told how to distinguish the Apostles' Traditions from those which do not belong to them. From the credibility of Tradition in one age near the Apostolic, we cannot infer its credibi❤ lity in very distant ages, when all the circumstances which once recommended it to belief, are manifestly altered.

"Such are the observations naturally suggested by this passage of Ignatius, as it is given in Dr. Milner's text. But what must be said of his fairness, if he has actually stopped short in the middle of a sentence, omitting the very part which would mar his intended conclusion. According to Dr. Milner, Ignatius said nothing more than that they were to adhere to the Tradition of the Apostles;' according to Eusebius, he added, which for the sake of security he thought it necessary should be drawn up in writing." Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 34. ἣν ὑπερ ασφαλειας και έγγράφως ήδη μαρτυροῦμενος διατυπόυσθαι ȧvayкãov yεtto. The passage is obscure, perhaps corrupt;-and I pledge not myself for the accuracy of the rendering; which is, however, that of able scholars; it is sufficient for my purpose, that in each of the various senses, in which the words are capable of being understood, they import a condemnation of Tradition, as an unsafe vehicle of truth; the very contrary of that position, which the preceding part of the passage is cited by Dr. Milner to prove. After this specimen,' say certain contemporary critics who have furnished me with it,' of Dr. Milner's method of citing the Fathers and ecclesiastical history, we may well be excused the task of following him through his other quotations, and shall content ourselves with affirming, that not one of the passages to which he refers, establishes his position; and that in those which at first sight appear to his purpose, it is only because he has artfully availed himself of the equivocal signification of the word, Tradition; which in those passages is used in its most extensive sense, and means doctrine in general, whether written or unwritten; but which he applies to oral Tradition alone.' P. 154.

Mr. Jackson not only shews that Dr. Milner has suppressed passages which would utterly ruin his argument, but he has also produced an instance where this candid controversialist has, for different purposes, adopted totally different translations

of the same passage of Irenæus. As this is a most curious specimen of unblushing negligence of controversial character, we shall subjoin it. It is to be found in the third Book "adversus Hæreses," and the third Chapter.

"Ad hanc enim ecclesiam (Romanam) propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire ecclesiam; hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles.”

Of the great superiority of the Church at Rome to any other in the apostolical ages, we cannot doubt, on account of the high eulogium passed on it by St. Paul; and the intercourse which the Christians of that city, as the capital of the known world, entertained with those of all other countries, gave them great and conspicuous advantages. These, in the time of Irenæus, had produced their natural fruits in rendering their pos sessors the acknowledged centre of Christian faith and knowledge. This Father, therefore, naturally recommends the Church at Rome as the purest fountain of Christianity; and the reason he assigns is, that on account of the superior dig. nity of the city, being the seat of government, all churches would necessarily resort to her; that is, as he himself explains the expression "the faithful every where”-members of all churches.

Dr. Milner, willing to substantiate the authority of Romish Tradition, translates the passage in question thus: "for with this Church all others agree;" but when the supremacy of the Roman See is the object of proof, the same words are rendered, “to which every Church is bound to conform, by reason of its superior authority!" Surely it is unnecessary to comment here.

We will select one more passage from Mr. Jackson's work and have done. The charge that she is built on the foundation of King Henry VIII. has been perpetually brought against the Church of England, although repeatedly and dis tinctly refuted. It is here answered briefly, but clearly and irrefragably.

"He (Dr. Milner) must have been sensible, though his words imply the contrary*, that the English Church is not founded upon Henry the VIII., Édward VI., and their successors.' It is neither Luther's,

*«' If they' (Bishop Porteus and his “fellow-writers")' could even sueceed in proving, that Christ had not built his Church upon St. Peter and his successors, and had not given to them the keys of the kingdom of heaven: it would remain for them to prove, that be bad founded any part of it Henry VIII. Edward VI., and their successors, or that he had given the mystical keys to Elizabeth and her successors." End of Controv. Letter 46, p. 336.

nor Melancthon's, nor Calvin's, nor Cranmer's Church. It is a true, though not an unerring part of the Catholic Church of Christ,' founded on the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.' It is no modern Church, dating its existence from its separation from the Church of Rome. The Church of England before the Reformation, and the Church of England after the Reformation, is as much the same Church, as a garden before it is weeded, and a garden after it is weeded, is the same garden; or a vine before it be pruned, and after it be pruned and freed from the luxuriant branches, is one and the same vine.' Bramhall's Works, p. 62.— Purified from its corruptions, it was established by law, and taken into alliance with the State; of which it has ever shewn itself the enlightened supporter, by its steady and warm attachment to the principles of good order, of loyalty, and of civil liberty.-Were the Roman Catholic Church, in like manner, established by the law of the land, (which God avert!) could it on that account be said to be founded on a Popish Parliament and a Popish Monarch?

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Again; he must have known that Elizabeth claimed no' mystical keys;' but on the contrary, refused the title of Head of the Church,' lest it should be taken in the objectionable sense, in which Dr. Milner, notwithstanding this precaution, perversely interprets it; and that it does not now form part of the style' of the kings of England." P. 289.

In conclusion, we cannot but congratulate the United Churchon the possession of so valuable a minister as Mr. Jackson. While sound learning, rigid and powerful argument, and a catholic spirit of Christianity, animate the members of the National Church, she has little to fear. To Mr. Jackson the Church in Ireland is most deeply indebted. If that country be ever emancipated,-not from political restrictions, which only affect a few individuals, but from the fetters of a spiritual slavery, it will be the work of such men as our present author.

A short History of the Church of Christ, from the close of the Sacred Narrative to our own times. Designed for the use of Schools, or of those persons to whom the size of the Church History of the late Mr. Milner (should that valuable work ever be completed) would be an objection. By the Rev. JOHN FRY, B. A. (late of University College, Oxford.) Rector of Desford in Leicestershire, &c. &c. 8vo. Pp. London. Duncan. 1825.

614.

12s.

BEFORE We offer our judgment upon the execution of this work, we think it but right to permit the author to explain his own

VOL. III. NO. VI.

Dd

views and intentions in its publication. These will appear very distinctly from a few short extracts from the Preface.

"The new Plan' of Mr. Milner, which, omitting a great deal of what is found in most other ecclesiastical histories, would confine our attention chiefly to the concerns of 'real' and not merely nominal Christians' has been followed in the present work. And where the guidance of this valuable historian, and that of his learned continuator, the late Dean of Carlisle, cease, it has been my endeavour to trace out the same plan for the ages subsequent to their narrative. The present work, however, is upon a very reduced scale. Its limits, in order to suit the convenience of a different class of readers or purchasers, are confined to a single volume. The history referred to, already extends to five full sized octavos; and, if its future continua. tors do justice to the plan, it cannot occupy less than as many volumes

more.

.

"A pleasing result of the researches conducted on this plan is, that, amidst the multifarious annals of corrupted Christianity, there is evidence still extant, that a body of faithful believers, who held the mystery of the faith in a good conscience,' have existed in every age, from the time that the Fathers fell asleep,' down to our own times, when, I trust, we may say, in the language of the Apostle-The Epistle of Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God,' in fleshly tables of the heart,' may be known and read of all men.' This is, the eternal Church' against which the gates of hell cannot prevail,'" &c. &c. P. vii.

The style of Mr. Fry is usually clear and unaffectedqualities in writing which cannot be too much praised and admired but he has also occasional obscurities, of which this is an instance.

"Could the 'Christian mind' be consulted, I am persuaded, that we should be struck with the sameness of truth, as taught of God, in every age." P. ix.

What is intended by the "Christian mind," here, it is not easy to discover: "the sameness of truth" means of course those doctrines of which the author is the decided advocate, and the diffusion of which is probably the principal object of the work before us. In what follows, there seems to be some confusion between the identity of these doctrines and their truth. He urges in their favour, that they have always been opposed by the same arguments. If this is applied to their identity, it is nothing to the purpose. It concerns nobody to dispute it. But if it is advanced in support of the truth, it is certainly a somewhat singular proof of any doctrine to say, that it has al

ways been denied, and opposed by the same mode of reasoning. But let Mr. Fry speak again for himself.

"The Christian system, when administered with life and power, has in every age been the same: and the proof is this-that we find an exact agreement concerning it in the hostile views of its sagacious opponents, and a remarkable coincidence in the arguments by which, in their appeal to the common judgment of mankind, they would deliver it over to ignominy and reproach. Observe the description which the philosophers Celsus and Porphyry present, of the preaching and doctrine of the Christians in the age of the Apostolic Fathers. And again, at the beginning of the third century, remark the objections which are so lucidly stated in Minucius Felix, against the doctrines then taught by the Christians. Compare with these objections, the calumnies of the Pelagians against the doctrines defended by Augustin, in the fifth Century. Observe how the same inferences are drawn from the doctrine which Luther taught, by Aleander, the papal advocate, at the Diet of Worms, in the year 1521; and the uniform language of the opponents of the Reformation, on several other occasions ;the manner for instance, in which the Popish Bishop Gardiner expresses himself, on Archbishop Cranmer's publication of the first Book of Homilies. And lastly, compare the reasonings and objections -and even the very language of the less wary of more modern opponents of 'the Gospel of the grace of God.' P. xi.

Like a skilful general, Mr. Fry has here availed himself of an advantage which in literary warfare is sometimes practicable, of selecting the adversaries with whom you would engage. Had we time to give him regular battle, we should come forward with very different allies-but notwithstanding this great advantage, so untenable is, in our judgment, the ground which he undertakes to defend, that even with these antagonists he has the worst of the conflict. It is no easy matter to answer the arguments of those, who deny the doctrine of predestination as taught by Augustin, or those of absolute election and reprobation as maintained by Calvin; or who doubt whether all that was good in religion was centered in the extravagancies of Wesley and Whitfield. Yet such seems to be the creed of Mr. Fry, who in almost every page of his book, treats these as the genuine doctrines of Christianity, the leading principles of the Reformation, and the system of faith which he trusts will ultimately be every where triumphant. As the nature of his work leads him merely to state these matters historically, he seldom stops to offer any reasoning of his own in their support. He contents himself with recording and rejoicing in the periods when they prevail, and in lamenting over those of their depression. We are not therefore called upon to enter into a regular exa