third day, that he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and from thence shall come again at the end of the world to judge the quick and the dead?

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and everlasting life after death?

Answer, All this I stedfastly believe.

Art thou truly sorrowful that thou hast not followed the way prescribed in these Scriptures for the directing of the faith and practice of a true disciple of Christ Jesus?

Answer, I am heartily sorry, and I hope for mercy through Jesus Christ.

Dost thou embrace the truth of the gospel in the love of it, and stedfastly resolve to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world all the days of thy life?

Answer, I do embrace it, and do so resolve, God being my helper.

Dost thou earnestly desire to be received into the communion of this church, as into a sound part of Christ's holy Catholic Church?

Answer, This I earnestly desire.

If the penitent come from the Church of Rome, this question is to follow:

Dost thou renounce all the errors and superstitions of the present Romish Church, so far as they are come to thy knowledge ?

Answer, I do from my heart renounce them all.

If the penitent from the Church of Rome be in holy orders, let these further questions be asked:

Dost thou in particular renounce the twelve last articles added in the confession, commonly called " The Creed of Pope Pius IV." after having read them, and duly considered them?

Answer, I do upon mature deliberation reject them all, as grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

Dost thou acknowledge the supremacy of the Kings and Queens of this realm, as by law established, and declared in the thirty-seventh article of religion? Answer, I do sincerely acknowledge it.

Wilt thou then give thy faithful diligence always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church and realm hath received the same, according to the commandments of God, so that thou mayest teach the people with all diligence to keep and observe the same?

Answer, I will do so by the help of the Lord.

Wilt thou conform thyself to the Liturgy of the Church of England, as by law established?

Answer, I will.

If the penitent come from the separation, these questions are to be asked:

Dost thou allow and approve of the order of bishops, Priests, and deacons, (*as

• That within the crotchets is to be used only when the penitent hath been a teacher in some separate congregation.

what have been in the Church of Christ from the time of the Apostles) and wilt thou, as much as in thee lieth, promote all due regard to the same good order and government of the Church of Christ?

Answer, I do approve it, and will endeavour that it may be so regarded, as much as in me lieth.

Wilt thou conform thyself to the Liturgy of the Church of England, as by law established, and be diligent in attending the prayers and other offices of the Church?

Answer, I will do so by the help of God.

If the penitent be one who has relapsed, the following question is to be asked:

Art thou heartily sorry, that when thou wast in the way of truth, thou didst so little watch over thy own heart, as to suffer thyself to be led away with the shows of vain doctrine? And dost thou stedfastly purpose to be more careful for the future and to persevere in that holy profession, which thou hast now made?

Answer, I am truly grieved for my former unsteadfastness, and am fully determined by God's grace to walk more circumspectly for the time to come, and to continue in this my profession to my life's end.

Then the Bishop or Priest standing up shall say:

Almighty God, who hath given you a sense of your errors, and a will to do all these things, grant also unto you strength and power to perform the same, that he may accomplish his work which he hath begun in you, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE ABSOLUTION.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them, that with hearty repentance and true faith, turn unto him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then the Bishop or Priest, taking the penitent by the right hand, shall say unto him:

I. N. Bishop of

or I. A. B. do upon this thy solemn profession and earnest request, receive thee into the holy communion of the Church of England, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

People. Amen.

Then the Bishop or Priest shall say the Lord's Prayer, with that which follows, all kneeling.

Let us pray.

Our Father, which art in heaven, &c.

O God of truth and love, we bless and magnify thy holy name for thy great mercy and goodness in bringing this thy servant into the communion of this Church; give him (or her) we beseech thee, stability and perseverance in the faith, of which be (or she) hath in the presence of God, and of this congregation witnessed a good confession. Suffer him (or her) not to be moved from it by any temptations of Satan, enticements of the world, scoffs of irreligious men, or the reviling of those, who are still in error; but guard him (or her) by thy grace against all these snares, and make him (or her) instrumental in turning others from the errors of their ways, to the saving of their souls from death, and the covering a multitude of sins. And in thy

good time, O Lord, bring we pray thee, into the way of truth all such, as have erred and are deceived; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that there may be one fold under one Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ; to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Then the Bishop or Priest standing up (if there be no commmunion at that time) shall turn himself to the person newly admitted, and say:

DEAR BROTHER (OR SISTER,)

Seeing that you have by the goodness of God proceeded thus far, I must put you in mind, that you take care to go on in that good way, into which you are entered; and for your establishment and furtherance therein, that if you have not been confirmed, you endeavour to be so the next opportunity, and receive the holy sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And may God's Holy Spirit ever be with you. Amen.

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your heart and mind by Christ Jesus. Amen.

MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER.

It is a truth, which it would not be prudent nor candid to controvert, that Theology is greatly neglected, while various other studies of less importance occupy a high station in the literary world at the present day. I do not intend to fill your pages by detailing the causes which may have contributed to this, nor the sad effects which have necessarily followed; I would rather suggest a means to revive the studies of our fathers in this generation, and preserve them for the benefit of our descendants. For this purpose, I shall borrow a hint from the experience of the world. Let me ask, what has contributed so materially to promote the studies of philosophy, antiquity, botany, &c. ? What has brought them to their present state of perfection? The Royal, Antiquarian, Linnean and other Societies, which have concentrated to one point the labours of many individuals, which have collected the scattered observations of reflecting men, and brought them to illustrate the sciences. Had not these Societies existed, many valuable facts, not sufficiently important for separate treatises, would have been lost to the world, and a stimulus to exertion wanting. The impulse given by the publication of their transactions, cannot be doubted, when we see so many new Societies daily established, and adopting a similar course for the extension of the sciences to which they are especially devoted. We have Farming, Horticultural, Zoological, Geological, and numberless other institutions, in very prosperous circumstances, and enjoying the public approbation and esteem. Is there any reason why

those who are devoted to Theological studies should not adopt a similar course, and establish "A Society for the encouragement of Theological learning ?" I put the question to your readers, and particularly to the Clergy, and I hope, Mr. Editor, that you will bestow some of your labours to mature the plan I have suggested, and to impress the public with the importance of encouraging a science which ministers to their eternal welfare. Suppose the Society to be modelled after the Royal Irish Academy, with a President, Vice President, Secretaries, and four Committees, one for Biblical Criticism and Oriental Languages, another for Church History and Ecclesiastical Antiquities, a third for Dogmatic and Controversial Theology, and the fourth for Foreign Theology and Correspondence. All new members to be proposed in the usual form, and elected by ballot. A very moderate contribution from each, would enable the Society to publish their transactions as often as a sufficient number of papers were ready, and to propose prizes annually for dissertations on given subjects. All members must, of course, belong to the Established Church, the differences which exist between dissenters themselves, cannot be compromised on our parts, although we anxiously pray for a system which may unite all orthodox Protestants into one body. Many discussions would arise in a "Theological Society" on Episcopacy and other points in which our opinions could not be withheld. Depending, Mr. Editor, upon your zealous co-operation, I will add nothing further at present.

X.

IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER.

GENTLEMEN,

I do not question your right to insert in your Miscellany whatever you consider fair and legitimate criticism, but I venture to suggest the query, if the preface with which you introduced my last communication was entitled to either of those epithets? You say I have assumed an untenable position, but as it is the same which Ussher and Ware, and indeed all those learned writers on Irish History, who examined original evidences and authorities assumed, as the result of conviction, it would have been more fair, and also more conclusive, to have waited for the evidence I had to bring forward, and having weighed, condemned it, if deserving of censure, rather than to have prejudged it. I know of no grounds for assuming that I either advocated or approved of the theories of the learned but eccentric Vallancy, unless it followed as a vis consequentiæ when I plead guilty to being another Englishman. Whatever respect I may have for General Vallancy as a learned and zealous antiquary, I certainly have not approved or sanctioned his judgment in matters of antiquity; he delighted in the marvellous, and on all occasions exhibited the ancient Irish as a

nation of conjurors, appropriating the most simple remains of that interesting people to mystical uses, or indeed to any but those for which they were obviously intended; and seized with avidity every opportunity to give form and substance to the silly dreams and idle fictions which disgrace Irish Historians, and which appear to me to have been in some instances clumsily interpolated for the purpose of rendering ridiculous and destroying these claims which it had otherwise to sober credence. If I have erred, it has been on the other side, in not giving credit to evidence which many wiser men have admitted as unquestionable, and which Dr. O'Connor says a man must be insane to question.

But I am wandering from the chief object of this letter, which would not have been written had I no other end to answer but complaint, which, though of sufficient importance as a part, would not, alone, have induced me to trespass on the time or patience of your readers or yourselves.

I have to communicate to you a discovery of the first importance and interest to those who feel anxious about Irish History, and especially to that portion of it which refers to the religion and the church established by St. Patrick. The evidence we have hitherto possessed was rather of a negative than positive character. On one side there was the constant tradition of ages, on the other the silence of Bede and the ancient writers, and also the declaration of that venerable writer, that the decrees of the first general council of 325, had not been sent to the Irish Church, thereby implying that a Christian Church existed in Ireland above one hundred years before St. Patrick's alleged mission in 432. This uncertainty will no longer perplex us. A valuable MS. has been put into my hands of a date previous to the venerable Bede, written by Aidus, Bishop of Slepten in the 7th century, at the request of Segene, Primate of Ireland, who died in the year 688. Aidus, as far as he was able, collected all which was then extant, both written and traditional, concerning St. Patrick, which he entered into this Book; and among the documents is the confession of faith of St. Patrick, copied in the original from his own hand-writing. There are also the collections of Tirechan, Bishop of Meath, and several other writers of that age on the same subject, and at the conclusion, the most important document of all is the summary of Aidus, in which he gives us his opinion of the value and weight of the evidence he had collected. The Book contains

also a Latin version of the New Testament, with the addition of the Epistle to the Laodiceans, written in the same Irish character as the historical part, but mixed with ancient Greek Capitals: the prologues, or prefaces to the different books, are by Pelagius, who was condemned by the Roman Pontiff as a heretic as early as the year 405. A more minute account of this valuable and venerable document will appear in the Second Part of the Irish Antiquarian Researches, which will shortly be published, in which I propose to give a translation of what relates to St. Patrick or Ireland with the original Latin in an Appendix.

I am Gentlemen, &c,

W. BETHAM.