Page images
PDF
EPUB

see it, since this wisdom consist ed only in submitting to that faction, which was the most powerful and the most obstinate. "Erasmus entertained some hopes, that his old friend and school fellow Adrian VI. would do some good as he testifies in this letter: but, says he, if I should be mistaken in this, I

will not be factious. As to the preacher's last question, are we to abandon and give up the whole gospel? I reply; they may be said to abandon the gos pel, who defend it in an improper manner. Besides; with what reserve and slow caution did our Lord himself discover his doctrine?'

"All this in some sense may be right; but then our Saviour never said any thing contrary to the truth; and when the time was come for it, he laid down his life in confirmation of it; which is more than Erasmus is inclined to do, as he himself frankly confesseth. It cannot be called defending the gospel to refer it to the arbitration of a set of Ecclesiastics, whom all the world knew to be either ill instructed, or ill disposed, or both."

We may add in a future No. a letter from Luther to Eras mus in the year 1524, which sets in a striking light, the different characters of those two great men.

The following is taken from a discourse entitled, A most faithful sermon preached before King Edward VI. and his most honourable Counsell, in his Court at Westminster, by the Reverend father M. Hugh Latimer. An. 1550. It pointedly exposes the folly of those, who attributed the

cívil discord of the preceding sum mer to the preaching of Protestants. The orthography of the age is retained.

"But here is now an argument to prove the matter against the preachers. Here was preaching against covetousnes all the last yeare in Lent, and the next sommer followed rebellion: Ergo, preaching against covetousnes was the cause of the rebellion. A goodly argument. Here now I remember an argument of maister Moore's, which he bringeth in a booke, that he made against Bilney, and here by the way I will tell you a mery toy. Maister Moore was once sent in commission into Kent, to help to try out, if it might be, what was the cause of Goodwin sandes, and the shelfe, that stopped up Sandwich haven. Thether cometh maister Moore, and calleth the countrye afore him, such as were thought to be men of experience, and men that could in likelihode best certify him of that matter, concerning the stopping of Sandwich haven. Among others came in before him an olde man with a white head, and one that was thought to be little less than an hundereth years olde. When maister Moore saw this aged man, he thought it expedient to heare him say his minde in this matter (for being so olde a man it was likely that he knew most of any man in that presence & company.) So maister Moore called this olde aged man unto him, and sayd: father (sayd he) tell me if ye can what is the cause of this great arising of the sandes and shelves here about this haven,

* Bilney was a Protestant writer, by the perusal of whose writings, Latimer was converted from popery.

Men from England bought and sold

me,

But, though theirs they have enroll'd
Paid my price in paltry gold,

me,

Minds are never to be sold.

Still in thought as free as ever,

What are England's rights, I ask, Me from my delights to sever,

Me to torture, me to task.

Fleecy locks and black complexion
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim;

Dwells in black and white the same.

the which stop it up that no
shippes can arrive here? Ye are
the eldest man that I can espie
in all this company, so that if any
man can tell any cause of it, ye
of likelihode can say most in it,
or at leastwise more than any
man here assembled. Yea for-
sooth good maister (quod this olde
man) for I am well nigh an hun-
dreth years olde, and no man
here in this company any thing Skin may differ, but affection
neare unto mine age. Well
then (quod maister Moore) how
say you in this matter? What
thinke ye to be the cause of
these shelves and flattes, that
stoppe up Sandwiche haven?
Forsooth syr (quod he) I am an
olde man, I think that Tenterton
steeple is the cause of Goodwin
sandes. For I am an old man
syr (quod he) and I may remem-
ber the building of Tenterton stee-
ple, and I may remember when
there was no steeple at all there,
and before that Tenterton steeple
was in building, there was no
manner of speaking of flattes
any
or sandes, that stopped the haven,
and therefore I thinke that Ten-
terton steeple is the cause of the
destroying and decaying of Sand-
wich haven. And even so to my
purpose is preaching of God's
worde the cause of rebellion, as
Tenterton steeple was the cause,
that Sandwich haven is decayed.
And is not this a gaye matter,
that such should be taken for
great wise men, that will thus
reason against the preacher of
God's worde?"

Why did all-creating Nature

Make the plant for which we toil ? Sighs must fan it, tears must water,

Sweat of ours must dress the soil.

Think, ye masters, iron-hearted,

Lolling at your jovial boards, Think how many backs have smarted, For the sweets your cane affords.

[blocks in formation]

Is there, as you sometimes tell us,

Is there One who reigns on high? Has he bid you buy and sell us, Speaking from his throne, the sky! Ask him if your knotted scourges,

Fetters, blood extorting screws,
Are the means which duty urges
Agents of his will to use.

Hark! he answers; wild tornadoes
Strewing yonder sea with wrecks,
Wasting towns, plantations, meadows,
Are the voice with which he speaks.

He foreseeing what vexation

Afric's sons should undergo; Fix'd their tyrants' habitations, Where his whirlwinds answer-No.

By our blood in Afric wasted,

Ere our necks receiv'd the chain;

By the mis'ries which we tasted,

Crossing in your barks, the main

By our sufferings since you bro't us
To the man-degrading mart,
All sustain'd by patience, taught us
Only by a broken heart.

Deem our nation brutes no longer,

Till some reason you shall find, Worthier of regard and stronger Than the colour of our kind.

Slaves of gold! whose sordid deal. ings,

Tarnish all your boasted pow'rs,

Prove that you have human feelings,
Ere you proudly question ours.
Couper.

Miscellaneous.

For the Panoplist. human nature, a just account of

ON THE STATE OF LITERATURE
IN NEW ENGLAND.

(Continued from p. 473.)

In the Colleges of New England a change is observable, and one which will appear of no small moment to the friends of sound erudition. The severer studies have regained that ground, which a number of years since, they were forced to abandon to that light and frothy stuff, which, under a hundred names, our booksellers' shops were pouring upon the public. The taste was lately to reject the study of the languages, and the mathematics, as fit only for pedants and laborious plodders, and totally beneath the attention of a man of genius. The student's library was a strange medley of extracts, compilations, and abridgements, plays, travels, and romances, which, however they might have become the chamber of a fine lady, suffered not a little, when compared with the classical dignity of their predecessors. Now the tables are turned. Scholars may be found who are not ashamed to confess that they derive great pleasure from the perusal of the ancient classics. It would now be no discredit to own one's self delighted with Xenophon, or Longinus, or to believe that, for accurate views of

heathen morality, or an example of what the human mind can perform, Cicero stands almost without a rival. The Mathematics, also, which had been exiled without a hearing, have been recalled,, and enjoy nearly their former elevated situation. In short, a very great change is visible in our higher seminaries of learning, from superficial to solid studies, from those which are frivolous and effeminate, to those which nerve the man for vigorous action.

It ought not to be passed in silence, that inferior schools have here been set on a more respectable footing, than, perhaps, in any other quarter of the world. The Legislatures of some of the New England States have manifested a truly paternal regard toward the education of all the children in the community. And so extensively is this blessing spread, that few might not, if disposed, acquire a knowledge sufficient to transact the ordinary business of life, to enjoy much satisfaction in the perusal of salutary books, and to become useful citizens of a free country.

We may also congratulate ourselves that the philosophical jargon, which made so much noiso a few years since, and threatened to turn the literary and moral world upside down, has fallen into the most pointed neglect and

contempt.

Nobody now reads those works which were pretended to be unanswerable in favour of the New Philosophy. Infidels themselves do not trouble their heads about them. As they were equally unintelligible to the learned and ignorant, the elevated and humble, they are quietly gone into oblivion, without leaving friends enough to mourn their loss. This might have been augured to be their end, even in the full run of their popularity; for the great body of mankind will never be prevailed upon, for any considerable length of time, to read what they do not understand, and what affords not the least nourishment to their minds. Those who ever did peruse the works, to which I refer, with much attention, were influenced by motives very similar to those by which Dr. Johnson represents the English populace as induced to read the let ters of Junius; viz. "that those who did not know what he meant, hoped he meant rebellion."

The event has been much the same with respect to that species of poetry, which answers to the philosophy in prose. The day

of the authors is over; their

magical spell has lost its force; and posterity will never hear of Della Crusca, Southey, and a host of other pretenders of less note, whose names, even now, it is difficult to recollect. Their memorial has perished with them, Attempts of this sort, when compared with productions of true merit, resemble meteors, which, though they may dazzle children for an evening, lose all their fascinating glare, when the sun rises in his strong and beauiful effulgence.

Another change, perhaps as widely extended through all classes of society, as any which I have mentioned, has been gradually wrought in the public taste with regard to novels. The time, we can easily remember, when these pernicious and corrupting books were almost universally diffused. The mischief which they introduced was incalculable. Idleness and false notions of life were always in their train, evils of no small magnitude; but not unfrequently they occupied the mind almost exclusively, rendered it indisposed to serious reflection, and became subservient to seduction and impurity, purposes to which they were but too well adapted, Printed on the coarsest paper, with marble covers, they were found in the cottage; and constructed of the most costly materials, they decorated the libraries of the opulent. The mechanic and the day-labourer stole time to read them; the belle and the housemaid were equally engaged in their perusal, except that the one had her toilet laden with them, and the other was not quite so abundantly furnished. They were even quite a prevalent topic of fashionable conversation, and ignorance of them was counted ignorance of every thing delightful. But now we scarcely see them, or hear of them; they seem vanished with the dreams which they contain. If this assertion be doubted, let the appeal be made to booksellers, and no one will doubt the justness of this criterion. The correction of the public taste, in so important a respect, must be regarded as an event peculiarly auspicious.

While we remark these alter,

ations for the better, we ought
not to be unmindful of the caus-
es, nor ungrateful for the labours
which produced them. Altho
common sense would not long
continue in absolute slavery to
the vitiated taste, which a short
time ago prevailed; yet we could
by no means have hoped for so
speedy a deliverance, if vigorous
efforts had not been made. A
host of serious, powerful writers
have arisen, on both sides of the
Atlantic, as champions of truth
and virtue. Their works have
been extensively spread in this
country, the sale of them hav-
direct pro-
ing increased in a
portion, as that of light and per-

nicious books has diminished.
Among these valuable publica-
tions, the works of Mrs. More
have been very efficacious, Her
condescension in writing for the
reformation of the humble and
illiterate;* her noble firmness in
reprehending the follies, preju-
dices, and wickedness of the
great; the irresistible cogency
of her reasoning against cavil-
lers; and the severity of her re-
proofs to the licentious and pro-
fane, are equally conspicuous,
have been equally useful, equally
show the courage of a Christian,
and prove her title to whatever
is great
and good in the human
C. Y. A.
character.

(To be continued.)

Review of New Publications.

Preparation for war the best security for peace. Illustrated in a sermon, delivered before the ancient and honourable Artillery Company, on the anniversary of their election of of ficers, Boston, June 2, 1806. By JAMES KENDALL, A. M. minister of the first church in Plymouth. Boston. Munroe & Francis.

1806.

FEW sermons are introduced more beautifully, than this. The sketch of Hezekiah's admin, istration, selected for a text, 2 Chron. xxxii. 5-8, is peculiarly adapted to the author's purpose. He manifests uncommon ingenuity in deriving from that historical sketch most important and appropriate hints respecting the present situation of our country, and the duty of

magistrates in times of public danger. In every part the sermon shows marks of lively genius and cultivated taste. The following character of a good soldier affords a favourable specimen of the author's talents, and presents a model worthy of devout imitation.

"To strengthen the confidence of his fellow citizens, a soldier, besides being acquainted with the military art, must be fired with a love of his country. No man who is not a patriot can be fit for a soldier. Without he be animated with a spirit of patriotism, he has no claim to the If he confidence of his country. should possess this confidence, he would be liable to abuse it by becom, ing a traitor. But if he be a patriot, "not in word only, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth," he will always be influenced by a regard to the pub. lic good. He will rise superior to any local or party attachments, and

* A large proportion of the excellent and useful work, entitled "Cheap Repository Tracts," was from the pen of this pious and ingenious lady.

« PreviousContinue »