the Scriptures to ascertain for themselves whether those things which they have been taught "are so," and to prosecute such inquiry with prayer for the promised and gracious influences of the Holy Spirit? In this way they may be expected to attain a more intelligent knowledge and firmer belief in the Word of God-and, what is of still greater importance, to receive into their hearts the essential doctrines and inestimable counsels thereof, as so many fixed principles and powerful incitements to action, leading to a life and conversation in conformity with that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." I do not overlook the expositions of enlightened and pious parents, and of teachers, whether clerical or lay, but your Grace is fully aware how few comparatively of the lay members of the Church of England are properly qualified for the work of christian instruction: and I wish it could be affirmed, that every one of its clergy was spiritually "able to instruct others." The deplorable ignorance of genuine christian doctrine, which so extensively prevails among the children and young people under their superintendence, shows that there is neglect or great deficiency somewhere. Were I permitted to express my opinion on this point, I should say, that no essential and extensive improvement is likely to take place in regard to the religious knowledge and character of the rising generation within the pale of the Establishment, until for

mularies of instruction in accordance with the New Testament are substituted for the Catechism, and for such other manuals as are used to explain it in its present form-till the teachers generally, whether cleric or laic, shall be decidedly spiritual characters, in the scripture sense of the term, and till the sound religious instruction given to the children is generally sanctioned and enforced by the pious example of their parents and of the clergymen of the parish.

I now come nearer to the Apostles' Creed, which, as it is so well known, I deem it unnecessary to transcribe. I am aware that my remarks on the Question and Answer, that immediately follow it, may be regarded by some as indicating excessive scrupulosity; but, as in a manual designed for the moral and religious instruction of youth, the smallest deviation from truth, sound reason, and propriety, as well as from Scripture, ought to be carefully avoided, I make no apology for introducing them. The Question and Answer are as follows:"Question. What dost thou chiefly learn in these articles of thy belief?

"Answer. First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world; Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind; Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God."

On this Answer I observe, (1.) that no person

who has any spiritual acquaintance with the New Testament needs to be informed, that to believe that God exists, and created the world, and to believe in God, are two very different things; that to believe that Jesus Christ was supernaturally born of a virgin, was crucified, rose again, and ascended into heaven, is a very different thing from believing in Jesus Christ, and so as to the Holy Ghost. Your Grace must be aware that these distinctions involve considerations of the very highest importance. It would, however, be quite inconsistent with the limits of this letter to enter on the elucidation of them. All, therefore, that I can do is to refer to the remarks on John i. 12, which occur in the thirteenth page of it. (2.) It will be seen, by a glance at the Creed itself, that the Catechumen does not learn from it all that he is required to declare in his Answer that he does learn from it. He does learn from it, that God, there called the Father, made him and all the world; but he does not learn from it, that God the Son hath redeemed him and all mankind, and that "God the Holy Ghost" is the sanctifier of himself and all the elect people of God. These things are not mentioned in the Belief, and, therefore, cannot be learned from it; and if, on the other hand, they are to be regarded as conclusions, deduced from what is contained in it, then the Catechumen is hereby taught to reason incorrectly, viz., to admit into his inferences more than is to

be found in his premises. (3.) It would seem to have been the design of the Author of the Creed to declare, and of the Authors of the Catechism to teach the triune subsistence of God; but this it is evident they have not done, but rather tritheism. The Answer seems, on this point, especially, calculated to confound and mislead the understanding of a reflecting child, rather than to enlighten and inform it.

As to the substance of the Answer itself, if nothing more were intended to be affirmed by it, than that our Lord hath, by his sufferings unto death, made "a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world;" and that the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier of all the real people of God, its scriptural accuracy could not be denied. But if the Catechumen be required to declare in this Answer, that he is himself personally interested in the redemption of Christ; a privilege obtained by means of the faith that is "of the operation of God;" and that he is sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and is one of "the elect people of God," without other evidence of his participation in these exalted benefits of Christianity, besides his baptism, then I must submit to your Grace, whether the Answer, so understood, does not require the Catechumen to affirm what may neither be warranted by Scripture, nor true in fact. But, indeed, (and it is a most affecting and heart

rending consideration,) one of the most prominent and most perilous errors of the Church Catechism, is, in reference to personal Christianity, to take that for granted which requires to be proved.

In regard to the substance of the Creed itself, I cannot refrain from observing, that it is exceedingly meagre and defective; and that its title is a gross reflection both on the Apostles, and on those who affixed it. Surely, something very far better might be easily composed, for the use of the Church, from the writings of the Apostles, if judged necessary.

The Decalogue comes next; and I must here beg to submit to your Grace, whether the Ten Commandments, which are almost entirely prohibitory, and divinely prescribed under the Jewish Economy, ought not in a Christian Manual of Instruction to have been accompanied by the positive precepts peculiar to the Christian Religion. The exposition of the Decalogue is good, as far as it goes, but might it not, my Lord, have been usefully accompanied by an explanation of the specific nature, motives, spirit, and ends of religious obedience, derived from the light of Christianity; since these things constitute the animating and directing soul of such obedience. Indeed, it is greatly to be lamented, that neither in the exposition of the Decalogue, nor in reference to the Apostles' Creed, which is given, though, I con