His office sacred, his credentials clear.
By him the violated law speaks out

Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
He stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wand'rer, binds the broken heart,
And arm'd himself in panoply complete
Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms,
Bright as his own, and trains, by ev'ry rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war,

The sacramental host of God's elect!

Are all such teachers?—would to heav'n all were!
But hark-the doctor's voice!-fast wedg'd between
Two empirics he stands, and with swoln cheeks
Inspires the news, his trumpet. Keener far
Than all invective is his bold harangue,
While through that public organ of report
He hails the clergy; and, defying shame,
Announces, to the world his own and theirs!
He teaches those to read, whom schools dismiss'd,
And colleges, untaught; sells accent, tone,
And emphasis in score, and gives to pray'r
Th' adagio and andante it demands.
He grinds divinity of other days

Down into modern use; transforms old print
To zig-zag manuscript, and cheats the eyes
Of gall'ry critics by a thousand arts.

Are there who purchase of the doctor's ware?

Oh, name it not in Gath!-it cannot be,

That grave and learned clerks should need such aid. He doubtless is in sport, and does but droll,

Assuming thus a rank unknown before

Grand caterer and dry-nurse of the church!
I venerate the man whose heart is warm,
Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life,
Coincident, exhibit lucid proof

That he is bonest in the sacred cause.

To such I render more than mere respect,

Whose actions say that they respect themselves.
But, loose in morals, and in manners vain,
In conversation frivolous, in dress
Extreme, at once rapacious and profuse;
Frequent in park with lady at his side,
Ambling and prattling scandal as he goes;
But rare at home, and never at his books,

Or with his pen, save when he scrawls a card;
Constant at routs, familiar with a round
Of ladyships-a stranger to the poor;
Ambitious of preferment for its gold,
And well prepar'd by ignorance and sloth,
By infidelity and love of world,

To make God's work a sinecure; a slave
To his own pleasures and his patron's pride:
From such apostles, O ye mitred heads,

Preserve the church! and lay not careless hands
On skulls that cannot teach, and will not learn.
Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul,
Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own-
Paul should himself direct me. I would trace
His master-strokes, and draw from his design.
I would express him simple, grave, sincere;
In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain,
And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture; much impress'd
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge,
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds
May feel it too; affectionate in look,
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men.
Behold the picture!-is it like?-Like whom?
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip,
And then skip down again; pronounce a text;
Cry-hem; and, reading what they never wrote,
Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work,
And with a well-bred whisper close the scene!
In man or woman; but far most in man,
And most of all in man that ministers
And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe
All affectation. "Tis my perfect scorn;
Object of my implacable disgust.
What!-will a man play tricks, will he indulge
A silly fond conceit of his fair form,
And just proportion, fashionable mien,
And pretty face, in presence of his God?
Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes,
As with the di'mond on his lily hand,
And play his brilliant parts before my eyes,
When I am hungry for the bread of life?
He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames
His noble office, and, instead of truth,

Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock!
Therefore avaunt all attitude, and stare,
And start theatric, practis'd at the glass!
I seek divine simplicity in him

Who handles things divine; and all besides,

Though learn'd with labour, and though much admir'd By curious eyes and judgments ill inform'd,

To me is odious

Some, decent in demeanour while they preach,
That task perform'd, relapse into themselves;
And, having spoken wisely, at the close
Grow wanton, and give proof to ev'ry eye-
Whoe'er was edified, themselves were not!
Forth comes the pocket mirror.-First we stroke
An eye-brow, next, compose a straggling lock;
Then with an air, most gracefully perform'd,
Fall back into our seat, extend an arm,
And lay it at its ease with gentle care,
With handkerchief in hand depending low:
The better hand, more busy, gives the nose
Its bergamot, or aids th' indebted eye
With op'ra glass, to watch the moving scene,
And recognise the slow-retiring fair.-
Now this is fulsome; and offends me more
Than in a churchman slovenly neglect
And rustic coarseness would. A heav'nly mind
May be indiff'rent to her house of clay,
But how a body so fantastic, trim,
And quaint, in its deportment and attire,
Can lodge a heav'nly mind-demands a doubt.
He that negociates 'tween God and man,
As God's ambassador, the grand concerns
Of judgment and of mercy, should beware
Of lightness in his speech. "Tis pitiful
To court a grin, when you should woo a soul;
To break a jest, when pity would inspire
Pathetic exhortation; and t' address
The skittish fancy with facetious tales,
When sent with God's commission to the heart!
So did not Paul. Direct me to a quip

Or merry turn in all he ever wrote,
And I consent you take it for your text,
Your only one, till sides and benches fail.
No: he was serious in a serious cause,

And understood too well the weighty terms
That he had ta'en in charge. He would not stoop
To conquer those by jocular exploits,
Whom truth and soberness assail'd in vain,

A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF THE

PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY..

THE Christian religion, or the religion taught by Jesus Christ, comprehends all those doctrines of faith, and rules of practice, contained in the Scriptures; and which are designed to recover mankind from ignorance and vice, from guilt and death, to knowledge and virtue, to the divine favour, and everlasting life.

The New Testament furnishes information of the success of Christianity during the days of Jesus and his disciples, as it relates to the eastern part of the world; but before the death of St. Paul, we have reason to believe that the ancient Britons received from him the words of eternal life.

During the three first centuries of the Christian era history affords a very obscure account of the progress of this divine religion, and is confined almost entirely to the cruel persecutions the first Christians endured; but in about the year 313, the Emperor Constantine embraced the faith, and by an edict put an end to persecution. Soon after this, however, ceremonies and creeds were introduced into the Christian church, and paved the way for those ages of weakness, superstition, and cruelty, which marked the long black period of the papal reign.

About the middle of the 13th century John Wickliffe, an Englishman, began to call in question the doctrines of the church of Rome, and was successful in inspiring spirit of freedom and religious enquiry; but his exertions, with those of Waldus who preceded, and Huss who followed him, proved abortive.

The insolence, however, of the popes, the various corruptions in religion, and oppressions and usurpations of the clergy, at length called forth the undaunted and successful zeal of the celebrated Luther. The Reformation now began to spread, and in a few years after, in the reign of Henry VIII. gained ground in England, France, and Ger

many: and John Knox completed it in Scotland, about the year 1560.

But unhappily so good a cause was not carried on without rancour; which produced the horrors of civil war. Councils after councils were held, to determine the articles of the Christian faith, and the most deplorable scenes of discord, desolation and bloodshed ensued. Not to mention the great massacre at Paris, in 1572, and at various times in other places, it is computed that not less than 40,000 Protestants were put to death in Ireland during the year 1640. But the light of the Reformation, in spite of all opposition and cruelty, spread itself far and wide; and almost all the European states welcomed its salutary beams, and exulted in the prospect of a complete deliverance from the yoke of superstition and spiritual oppression.

At

Still the Protestants were not taught by all the sufferings of their brethren, till the reign of William and Mary, about the year 1689, to grant their more scrupulous fellow-christians those privileges which they themselves had demanded and secured. There were many who thought the Reformation incomplete, and although they disclaimed all interference with the established reformed religion, they were denied, till the toleration act, the right of worshipping God according to the dictates of their own consciences. that happy period catholics, churchmen and dissenters began to enjoy repose and security; and feeling the benign influences of that divine religion they all in common believed, they were concerned for the salvation of those of their fellow-men, who had never heard the joyful sound, the glad tidings of eternal life through a crucified Redeemer, and established, in 1701, a society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts. Since that time other similar societies have been instituted in aid of the important work, and have been crowned, by the divine blessing, with great success, in the conversion of many to the Christian faith. To these may be added the exertions of the Bible societies, recently established; and we may look forward with pleasing expectation, to that period when, to adopt the language of an inspired writer, "The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the channels of the sea."

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