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amongst men as motives leading to an act of adoption, as their reward, but supposes the person adopted was not a Son naturally, nor when first put into office. A son may become a servant, by undertaking an office, but I know not how an idea can be formed of office-capacity constituting sonship, as it does not beget likeness in nature as regeneration does, nor is it the cause or the effect of descent. But the very act of investing with officecapacity supposes prior personal identities, and if he be a Son as a person, he cannot be a son by his office, unless the office be the cause of personal existence; than which supposition, nothing can be more absurd. Moreover if Christ was a Son by office, there would be nothing marvellous in his obedience as a son; no more than teaching would be an admirable act, seeing the person was appointed to give instruction. If appointing, or sending, be equivalent with being a son, as respecting Christ, then Tho' he were a son, &c., might be read; Tho' he was appointed to act, yet he acted. Wonderful! He went, who was sent! He fought, tho' he was a general! And reigned notwithstanding his being a King!

III. He is not called Son of God MERELY on account of his humanity, for under that consideration he is the son of man; but (I think) he is called the son of God on account of his Divine nature, or infinite person, coming forth, or proceeding from the Father in union with humanity. For the constitution of his person as Mediator, or God-man, Immanuel, God with us, seems to bear such a resemblance to generation, and being begotten, as to support the terms, and yet to secure the glory, of his being properly eternal as a distinct person in Jehovah. The term Son, I scarce think, is intended to convey to us his native manner of existence, or subsistence in Deity, but what relates to us in respect to the covenant, or economy of grace, as the appellation Holy Ghost seems not to be given to

that blessed person to whom it be longs, because of his nature; for he is not more Holy than the Father and the Son, but with reference to what he is the author of to others, according to the design of Deity made known in the plan of the glorious gospel to wondering angels and selfruined men," &c.

Our readers will understand, that we do not pledge ourselves to Mr. Hall's sentiments. Those who speculate on this subject should bear in mind the words of our Lord, "No man knoweth the Son but the Father."

THE REV. WILLIAM DODSWORTH.

By the Record newspaper of last November, we are furnished with the following statement.

"The late Miss Hyndman intended to leave the sum of £70,000 towards the erection of new churches, but her intention was never carried into effect, so that the property legally reverted to her brother, the heir-at-law. That gentleman, however, scrupulously carried the wishes of his deceased sister into effect; and, by his desire, a trust was appointed for the purpose originally contemplated; the members of this trust are two ladies, the relatives and representatives of Miss Hyndman, Mr. Dodsworth, and his nominee Lord Rayleigh."

Subsequent to the death of Miss Hyndman, the theological views of Mr. Dodsworth had undergone an important change, in other words he who was once well known as an evangelical Calvinistic Clergyman, has adopted the sentiments of the Oxford Tracts, which he now inculcates with the greatest diligence. Miss Hynd

man never received those doctrines; and her nearest relations, including the trustees of the charity, are firmly opposed to Mr. Dodsworth's Puseyism. Mr. Dodsworth, however, is firmly determined that the trust shall be carried into effect for the furtherance of the Oxford doctrines, as may

be seen in the words of the Record newspaper.

1. "After suitable negociation, it was resolved that a distinct church should be erected in Upper Chelsea out of the Hyndman fund.

2. "The rector, before he agreed to the arrangement, received the distinct pledge of Mr. Dodsworth, that no individual should be nominated as Incumbent of the proposed church, who should be obnoxious to him.

3. "Having received this pledge, in terms clear and indisputable, the rector gave his formal and legal consent to the erection of the church, and the annexation to it of a district, without which consent no erection could have taken place.

4. "Mr. Dodsworth, having now got the matter, as he conceives, into his own hands; insists on forcing upon the rector, and into his new church, an individual to whom the rector decidedly objects; and to whom not only the rector objects, but the two ladies acting as trustees -the relatives and representatives of Miss Hyndman. This individual is Mr. Dodsworth's own curate, a very forward scholar in the Puseyite errors."

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We here pause for the present," says the Record, we shall be happy to learn if there is any inaccuracy in this statement of the matter; and if not, what excuse, we inquire, is there for Mr. Dodsworth's conduct?'

No answer has been given to this charge publicly preferred by the Record; so that the statement may be considered correct: and here therefore we leave the matter; but of Mr. Dodsworth himself, we have a few words more to say, as that gentleman is now, by assertion of the British Critic, named as one of the leaders of Puseyism, and is, by several publications, known to be in full accordance with the worst doctrines of the Oxford Tracts.

Mr. Dodsworth is of a Yorkshire family, which resided in Holderness,

VOL. I.

in the East Riding, He was educated at Mr. Tate's school, Richmond, Yorkshire; entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in the year 1816; and took his Bachelor of Arts' degree, in the year 1819. The first year of his residence at Cambridge, was spent more in the indulgence of the youthful gaieties for which that University is noted; than in the pursuit of those studies to which a close application might perhaps have secured for Mr. Dodsworth a respectable place amongst scholars. But in the second year of his University career, a marked change took place in his character, accelerated by some trying circumstances, which it is not requisite here to mention. Mr. Dodsworth became decidedly, and seriously religious, breaking off from all his old acquaintance, with a firmness that proved the sincerity of his profession. Under Mr. Simeon's ministry, he received excellent instructions in the truths of the gospel, and gave himself to the diligent study of the word of God. The views of the high church party he deliberately rejected, and rejected after long and diligent examination; for at that time the controversy was rife between the "orthodox and " evangelical" sections of the clergy. We could state many curious circumstances, to show how Mr. Dodsworth at that time prospectively, as it were, opposed Puseyism; and we are firmly convinced, that few persons have so carefully compared the doctrines of the Reformation, with the doctrines of Popery, and that few have, after deliberate study, come to so firm a conclusion, that the Popish, the Laudean, the Non-Jurist, and the Puseyite errors are contrary to the word of God.

When Mr. Dodsworth left the University, and had received orders in the Church of England, he became curate of Mr. Beckett, the vicar of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire; and from that curacy he was driven by the persecution of the Bishop of Lin

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coln; Mr. Dodsworth was silenced and dismissed for preaching Calvinism; and very many painful and scandalous circumstances attended this first chapter of his persecution. We

do not remember accurately the events that followed in Mr. Dodsworth's clerical career; but we believe that, by letters demissory, he was silenced as a dangerous Calvinist in two other dioceses. In short, he was at last brought to a stand-still, and so unjustifiable seemed the measures which had been pursued in his case, that a Member of the House of Commons, well known in the liberal ranks, and a friend of Mr. Dodsworth, seriously contemplated bringing the matter before parliament, and would have done so, if not restrained by a fear of hopelessly injuring the clerical interests of his friend.

After an interval, however, of some time, Mr. Dodsworth was established as the Minister of Margaret Street Cavendish Square, when he speedily became a popular preacher of the evangelical school. During the time of Mr. Irving's first exhibition of the unknown tongues, it is conjectured that Mr. Dodsworth was disposed to give in his adhesion to that delusion, and to become an Irvingite. Certain it is, that "the Morning Watch," the avowed periodical of Irvingism, mentioned with high approbation some sermons that this gentleman published on the peccability of the human nature of Christ; and when it is remembered what the Irvingites advanced on this subject, it may be surmised that these sermons must have propounded some very questionable doctrine.

The progress of Mr. Dodsworth's mind towards Puseyism, we have not materials to trace. It is said, that being at one time much perplexed with those difficult points which have driven many clergymen into secession, he was at last persuaded to embrace the decisions of the church as infallible, and falling back on the pro

position "That the church is the interpreter of the truth," that proposition which has ever been the bulwark of popery-he dismissed all scruples from his mind, and was content to accept every thing that he found in the Church of England, without further question or examination.

Certain it is, that he is now a leader of Puseyism, and that he publishes and preaches those doctrines, from which, in the days of his evangelical light, he would have shrunk with abhorrence. This is notorious, and therefore is a fair subject of comment, that, from this melancholy example, we may derive an instructive lesson in these gloomy days of papal aggression.

To an ordinary spectator, the case would be scarcely worth notice; it would be classed amongst those frequent mutations of sentiment which charity ascribes to conviction, and indifference contemplates as new phases of superstition—but to a Christian, one who with the heart has believed unto righteousness, and who has felt the discipline of the conscience and the understanding, in coming to the knowledge of those things which must be spiritually discerned, and after much anxiety (ofttimes after much mental anguish) has been brought "to know the things that are freely given to him of God," the retrogression from the doctrines of grace to the deadly errors of the Oxford tracts, is one of the most melancholy events that can come under observation. To relinquish the divine truth of the free justification of sinners, and their entire acceptance in Christ their head, and all the consequences of this truth, and from the comfortable and lifesustaining warmth of the light of the Sun of righteousness, to turn the footsteps into the gloomy eclipse of human atonements and papal sanctity, where every step onwards leads into thicker darkness, and deeper shades of inextricable error, is a grief too deep for tears, and must be expressed in the language of Scripture, as the

words of man fail in attempting an appropriate comment," Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow."

We cannot, however, dismiss this subject, without noticing the perilous position of the clergy of the establishment their state is one of continual temptation. If they seriously examine their canonical and legal engagements, and compare their prayer-book with the Bible, it is scarcely possible that they should come from the examination with a conscience perfectly at

ease.

that has done this, may, from the preaching of the doctrines of grace, not only sink down into Puseyism, but lower still, into the discipleship of the Jesuits-he may rage against the truth as an inquisitor, a Bonner, a Dominic, he may destroy those things which he once built up, and, from the faith once delivered unto the saints, may pass over into the power of darkness, a most zealous agent of the Spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience.

Let, then, every one "that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

IN

SYMBOLICAL PICTURES LITTLEMORE CHAPEL. (To the Editor of the Inquirer.) SIR,-In one of your late numbers there was a description of some symbolical pictures in the Chapel of Mr. Newman at Littlemore, near Oxford— “a fish, and an anchor, a ship," &c.; allow me to point out that which I suppose may be the origin of these mysteries.

THE Multitudes of the clergy-we use the word in a literal, and not in a figurative sense-multitudes have entered into this examination, and will do so as long as the present system of the establishment exists; but of those multitudes, how few, by extricating themselves from their temptations, prefer a conscience void of offence to the quiet possession of the wealth, repose, or honour, which their entire adherence to the church secures them. But in this trial of their faith, when after severe warnings they continue by their visible conduct to express an outward assent to that which they inwardly disbelieve, how can it be otherwise, than that they should be left to the power of him who is first the tempter, before he can become the accuser of man? Many are the opiates which are at hand, in the hour of trial, to lull the conscience, and reduce it to that state when it can at first avert, and at last reject an unanswerable admonition; till by frequent application to the opiate, he that at the commencement hesitated in a course of falsehood, will ultimately not only be resolute in the evil way, but will be ready to persecute those who decline to accompany him. Nothing need surprise us, when a professing Christian has deliberately rejected warning. He

In the pædagogue of Clemens Alexandrinus, there is the following passage. "Let the men," says Clemens, addressing the Christians of his days, "wear a seal-ring on the little finger, and on the lowest part of it; for thus the hand will be at liberty to work as occasion may require, neither will the seal fall off, being guarded by the larger joint. And let our seals be a dove, or a fish, or a ship sailing with a favourable gale, or a musical lyre such as Polycrates used, or a ship's anchor, such as Seleucus had engraved; and if any one be a fisherman, let him remember the Apostle, and the children dragged out again from the water; but let there not be engraved the representations of idols, with which all connexion is forbidden, neither a sword, nor a bow for us who follow peace, nor a cup for us who are temperate" (iii. 289).

"The children dragged out again from the water,” των εξ υδατος αναστ πωμενων παιδιων, an allusion to the baptism* of Christians, who in that rite were plunged into the water and lifted up out of it again. The early fathers indulged themselves in imagining conceits on this subject: they called baptised Christians "little fish,' pisciculi―and found a mystery in the Greek word IXOYE, "a fish," supposing that the letters composing the word might stand for Ιησους Χριστος Θεού Υιος Σωτηρ, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour," as is to be found in Tertullian. This tendency to symbolical representations, or, in other words, this desire to sensualise a spiritual worship, opened wide the door to Popery, and terminated in all those pomps and ceremonies which characterise the papal religion.

In other respects, this passage of Clemens Alexandrinus is curious and interesting. He desires them not to engrave a cup on their seal-rings, because the Christians were a temperate people; probably meaning that they drank wine very sparingly, and only when occasion required. The exclusion of "the sword and bow" might well be adduced as an argument in favor of the principles of peace which were admitted in the Church, perhaps without controversy, in those days.

BETA.

THE TESTIMONY OF ELIAS HICKS,† OF AMERICA, AGAINST SLAVERY, AND ILL TREATMENT OF FREE MEN OF COLOR.

"IT fell to my lot in the meeting for discipline, to revive the concern for the amelioration of the condition of

* Clemens agens de annulis Christianorum obsignatoriis, suadet inter alia, ut piscis figura in illis insculpatur, non aliâ, opinor, de causâ, quam ut memores sint aquarum baptismi, in quibus, tanquam pisciculi vitam acceperint, in Christo Jesu post veterem hominem renati. Halloixius.

This noted heresiarch appears to have been a person of eminent external and ap

the Africans and their descendants; not only as it respected those who are still held in a state of bondage and oppression, but also on behalf of those who have been set free, but who nevertheless continue, in a very general manner, in a degraded and helpless state, for want of being placed upon the ground of equality with the rest of the inhabitants, as strict justice would dictate, if rightly adhered to by the people and government. And I am fully in the belief that Divine justice will not be satisfied, nor the black stain of shedding innocent blood, and cruelly oppressing this people ever be taken from the inhabitants of this land, until strict justice is done them, and they placed by the laws of the country in the same state of equality in every respect as the rest of its inhabitants, and in the enjoyment of the full right of civilised

man.

This is their just and righteous due; and these privileges, if duly and rightly administered to them, would bring them to be as good and useful citizens as those of any other nation. friends

"I was also led to call on my to persevere in this noble and righteous concern, that nothing might be left undone on our part, in restoring strict justice and right to this deeply oppressed part of our fellow-creatures; not only on their account, and for their relief, but on our account also. For I believe we are in a very peculiar manner called upon, agreeably to our profession, of being led and guided by an unerring principle of perfect righteousness, to exalt the standard of truth and righteousness in the earth: and

parent holiness and kindly feeling. When dying, and having lost the use of his speech through paralysis, he is said to have been observed uneasy and making some effort to remove the coverlet of the bed, which was made of slave-cultured cotton; on this being taken away, his tranquillity returned. As in the case of Arius, we have here also a lesson not to judge according to appearance, but to judge according to the Word of God and not to accept fatal errors through trusting in man.

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