conduct of some professors of religion induced me, for many years,
to cherish very unfavourable opinions against all who embraced
evangelical sentiments; but I am now satisfied that I acted neither
wisely nor equitably. Because one member of a family, or ten members
of a religious community, act inconsistently with their professions
to each other, am I at liberty to condemn the whole?"
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"But you will admit that it is calculated to
excite suspicion."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"It may excite suspicion where an evil passion or
where prejudice has gained the ascendency, but not otherwise. I
maintain that the law of equity forbids our suspecting the sincerity
and uprightness of any man until he gives us a cause for doing so.
Am I to suspect the honour, the integrity, and the friendship of Mr.
Stevens, because some one who goes to the same church, and professes
the same religious opinions, has been guilty of fraud, or sacrificed
his honour by attempting to wound the reputation of his friend?"
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"But when people make a greater profession than
their neighbours, it is natural for us to expect more exemplary
conduct."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Certainly; and if they are not exemplary in their
conduct you may impeach their sincerity; but you ought to confine
the act of impeachment to the offender--to extend it to others would
be unjust. If a professor of religion run to the same excess of
riot as others--if he press to your theatres--if he visit your card
parties or your balls--you may very justly reproach him; _but if he
do not_, such is the fastidious and antichristian spirit of the age,
you think it strange, and begin to speak evil of him. If he act in
direct opposition to his religious principles, you charge him with
hypocrisy; if he act in conformity with them, he is subjected to the
same imputation, with this essential difference in his favour--that
the first accusation would be just, while the latter would be
groundless."
_Mrs. John Roscoe._--"I very much dislike indiscriminate and
wholesale accusations. We ought not to censure one person on account
of the imperfections of another; nor insinuate a charge against any
one, unless we have strong evidence to sustain it."
_Miss Roscoe._--"Very just, aunt, but such is the practice of this
strange world; and though we protest against it, yet we can obtain
no redress. When one who has been gay becomes pious, the _magicians_
prophesy that he will go off into a state of derangement; if he
retains his reason, as is usually the case, they express a _devout_
wish that the motives of his conduct may prove to be sincere; if
he act in accordance with his religious principles, and refuse to
conform to their customs and habits, he is stigmatized as unsocial,
precise, and hypocritical; and such is the degree of virulence which
goes forth against him, that if no imperfections can be discovered
in his character, some will be imputed; and if no rumours come from
the north to blast or tarnish his reputation, they are easily raised
at home by the magic wand of calumny."
_Mrs. John Roscoe._--"I am quite weary of this censorious spirit,
its bitterness and its sarcasms. I would willingly contribute
towards raising five hundred pounds, as a prize for the best essay
on the antichristian character of this evil spirit, and the most
effectual means by which it can be exorcised from amongst us."
_Miss Roscoe._--"And so would I, dear aunt; I am sure we could
raise the money, if we could get a first-rate pious writer to give
us the book."
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"Courtesy requires that I yield the point to
the ladies, who, to their honour, generally take the part of the
accused; but (addressing his brother) I still believe that the
offer of an unconditional salvation to men of every description of
character is very hazardous to the interests of public and private
virtue."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"But the evangelical clergy do not, if I judge from
their written discourses, make that unconditional offer which you
suppose. They require repentance towards God, before they inculcate
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They require that we should forsake
our sins, before they encourage us to hope for mercy. And then the
faith which they inculcate is not a mere philosophical assent to
the truth of Christianity, which may leave the evil passions and
propensities of the mind unsubdued, but such a faith as shall, by
its own reaction, purify the imagination, overcome the allurements
and fascinations of the world, and work that conformity of soul
to the purity of the Divine nature, which forms the great line of
distinction between a real and a nominal Christian; between one who
is born of the flesh, and one who is born of the Spirit; between
the natural man, in whose estimation the things of the Spirit of
God are foolishness, and the spiritual man, who discerns them in
all their simplicity and relationships. You talk of a conditional
salvation; but if you intend by that phrase that we are required to
do something by which we are to merit the favour of God and a seat
in his celestial kingdom, you hold an opinion which is opposed to
the Scriptures and destructive to human happiness; for who can tell
when he has acquired that exact degree of virtue which will justify
his claim? Indeed, my brother, we ought always to remember that
we are sinners--that in the most improved state of our character
we are yet imperfect--that after all the acts of obedience which
we may perform, we are unprofitable servants--and that if we are
ever saved, as I hope we shall be, it will not be _for our own
works or deservings_, as the articles of our church declare, but
by grace, 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God' (Eph. ii. 8). Considering
the indifference which is so generally manifested by persons of
all ranks, and of every character, to the momentous truth on which
the final and eternal destiny of the soul depends, and the fearful
inroads which the worst of principles are making amongst the morals
of social life; considering the rapidity with which the fashion of
this world is passing away, and how soon we shall all be called to
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; instead of repressing
any ardent passion for religion, we ought to cherish it; and should
contemplate the secession of one sinner, who withdraws from the
deluded and infatuated multitude to repent and to pray, with a
kindred feeling to that of the spirits of the invisible world, of
whom our Lord says, that 'likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons
which need no repentance.'"
The conversation was here interrupted by some of the party moving
to the parlour window; when Mr. Roscoe said to his brother, "There
is, I see, a gentleman coming up the carriage drive, one of your
own order, who is a living witness that regeneration is something
essentially different from water baptism, and quite independent of
it; and also that a person of the purest virtue requires a Mediator
and a Saviour, no less than the most profane and worthless."
"Who is the gentleman?"
"The Rev. Mr. Guion, the rector of Norton."[16]
[16] See page 78.
"I have heard of him, and I am told that he is a man of great
attainments."
"His learning is great. He is a most eloquent preacher; and he is
evangelical."
Mr. Guion was now ushered into the parlour, accompanied by Mrs.
Stevens; the ceremony of introduction was soon over, and the parties
very soon began to be acquainted. After some desultory conversation,
the Rev. Mr. Roscoe (addressing himself to Mr. Guion) said, "I had
the honour of making the acquaintance of two ladies, who are, I
believe, members of your cure, the Misses Brownjohn. I met them at
Buxton last autumn; I hope they are quite well."
"They are, I believe, very well; but just now they are involved in a
vexatious perplexity."
"Nothing very painful, I hope."
Why, the case is this; they had a nephew who left England for the
East Indies when they were little girls. No tidings were heard of
him for many years; but about twelve months ago, intelligence of his
death arrived, and he died, it appears, without a will, and very
wealthy. There have been a few claimants to his property, but the
two ladies in question are judged by many to be the next of kin, and
they have commenced proceedings; but there is a mortifying hitch in
the progress of their suit, for, on searching the parish register,
there is no record either of their birth or their baptism."
"These old records used to be kept in a most shameful way. I don't
wonder to hear of their vexatious perplexity."
"It is a little amusing to see how differently the two ladies
are affected by this unlucky discovery. Miss Dorothy is in high
dudgeon, because the non-production of the document arrests her
progress towards the possession of a large fortune. But Miss Susan
is most affected, by its cutting her off from the prospect of going
to heaven, believing, as she does, that no other than baptismal
regeneration is necessary or even possible; but now, for want of
a fair copy of her registration, she has no legitimate proof that
she is born again, even though she has a faint recollection of her
godfather and godmother."
"What course of procedure do they intend to adopt to obviate the
evils resulting from the non-registration of these two events--birth
and baptism?"
"Miss Dorothy has employed a very clever solicitor, who is drawing
up her case to lay before counsel, caring but little about her
baptism if she can succeed in getting at the money; while Miss Susan
cares nought about the money in comparison with her spiritual
birth. She thinks that her confirmation, which she distinctly
remembers, and the trouble she has often been put to by the week's
preparation for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, will all prove
of no avail, for want of this fair copy of her registration. She has
called into requisition the official aid of the bishop's secretary,
to lay her case before his lordship; and with her the point of
vexatious perplexity is, who shall now regenerate her, to fit her
for heaven, if she can't prove that the thing has been done. She
won't let me do it, because I am an evangelical; and she fears the
bishop won't give his sanction to its being done by a clergyman with
whom she sustains no ecclesiastical relationship. However, she has
made up her mind on this point, so I hear, that if the bishop thinks
it is necessary she should be baptized, and if he won't give his
sanction for her to go into another parish to be born again, she
will break up her establishment, and become a parishioner at Aston,
and then the Rev. Mr. Cole will do the thing properly."
"This case of Miss Susan Brownjohn," said Mrs. John Roscoe,
addressing her husband, "upsets, according to my thinking, your
doctrine of baptismal regeneration; for it is monstrous to imagine
that the Almighty will make a person's fitness for heaven depend on
the fidelity of a parish registrar, who is often a stupid fellow,
and sometimes more partial to his cups than to doing his duties."
With this half-grave and half-comic remark the colloquy ended, and
the party separated, some going one way and some another, but all in
a very good humour.
"Your aunt," said Mr. Guion, as he was bidding adieu to Miss Roscoe,
"has a rich vein of satire imbedded in her mental stratum."
"True, Sir, but I believe there is a new formation progressing, of
more sterling worth; a discovery made very recently."
"Indeed! This is joyful intelligence. Such discoveries are made by
angelic spirits, who care nought about any other formations of our
earth; and when made, they kindle into celestial rapture."
"And we can participate in their joy."
"Your papa," said Mrs. John Roscoe to her niece, as they were
promenading in the garden, "is a powerful reasoner; his arguments
seem to me quite irresistible."
"He is," my dear aunt, "a spiritually enlightened man; and he not
only understands what he believes, but he feels its power."
"Alas!" my dear Sophia, "I feel dark and bewildered; and I know
not what to do to gain mental peace. O how I long for some rays of
that celestial light which has illumined his mind and yours. The
incipient thoughts of my heart, which have long been nestling there,
are becoming powerful convictions; and force me to believe that
there is a reality in our common faith, which you and your father
have discovered, but which we have not."
"The Lord, I trust," dear aunt, "is beginning in _your_ soul the
great good work, which will issue in your eternal salvation."
"What makes you think so?"
"I think so because your spirit, which has long remained dormant,
and comparatively insensible under the repressing and benumbing
influence of Tractarian delusions, is now stirring within you;
struggling into newness of life; acquiring the moral sense
of spiritual perception and feeling; craving after spiritual
nourishment and consolation; willing to yield itself to God, to be
renovated, redeemed, and sanctified; and to walk with him. These are
unmistakeable signs."
ON ATTENDING AN EVANGELICAL MINISTRY.
Mr. Roscoe had devoted a large portion of his life to biblical
studies, and the various branches of literature which are connected
with them, and was thus qualified to discuss theological questions
with great facility. His passion for disputation having subsided
into an ardent love of the truth, he no longer argued for the
honour of gaining the victory, but either to vindicate his opinions
when assailed, or to acquire more correct information on subjects
which, till recently, he but imperfectly understood. His loftiness
of spirit had now left him; and though he still displayed the
insignia of a high mental order, yet there was so much amiability
in his manner, and so much docility in his temper, that while he
commanded respect, he did not fail to win esteem. During his first
serious impressions, the light of truth shone with too feeble a ray
to produce that perfect and plenary conviction which permits the
mind no longer to vacillate; but when it came, not in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, he
received it with mingled emotions of astonishment and joy; and while
he still retained his constitutional independence and ardour, these
qualities were so softened and imbued by the love of Christ, that
they gave a charm to his character and conversation, of which every
one was conscious but himself.
His more public profession of religion was free from ostentation,
and without reserve. It was not made to gratify caprice, or cast
a reflection on the indecision of others, but in obedience to the
authority of the Saviour; and as he had, before his conversion,
acquired extensive information on theological subjects, when that
great event took place he was enabled to advocate the cause of
truth with considerable ability, without requiring the preparatory
course of instruction which is in general necessary. He still held
in veneration the Established Church, and respected the private
character of his parish minister, the Rev. Mr. Cole, though he
could not agree with his sentiments; but as he was not edified by
his ministrations, he felt it to be his duty to separate himself
from his congregation, and join himself to that of the Rev. Mr.
Ingleby, whose evangelical preaching was quite in accordance with
his own views of revealed truth. This step had been anticipated by
his friends, and while some of them commended him, others were much
displeased.
On the evening preceding the Sabbath, Mr. Roscoe mentioned the
resolution he had formed, when his brother remarked, "I am not
surprised at your determination, because I know that it is a very
general thing for those who embrace evangelical principles to prefer
an evangelical ministry; but will not such a step grieve your old
friend, the Rev. Mr. Cole."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Perhaps it may; but ought I, by my presence, to
sanction opinions which I believe to be erroneous?"
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"Though Mr. Cole differs from you on some points
of theology, there are many on which you agree; and I think you
may, like some others who have embraced evangelical principles,
still attend a ministry which does not belong to this specific
denomination, as you retain the right of rejecting what you
disapprove."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"If the points on which we differ did not involve
any essential doctrine of the Christian faith, I should deem it
my duty still to attend his ministry; but when I consider that
he denies those truths which are, in my opinion, the vital parts
of Christianity, and preaches what an apostle would call another
gospel, I ought not to give him the sanction of my presence. If
I sustained no personal injury under such a ministry, I could
not derive any real advantage from it. And, besides, am I not
responsible to God and to society for the influence of my example,
as well as for my opinions and principles? If so, I am under a
sacred obligation to be as cautious what I indirectly sanction, as
what I recommend. Can I, without sacrificing the dictates of my
conscience, recommend a person to believe that he requires no other
regeneration than that which he experienced when he was baptized,
and that his good deeds will atone for his evil actions; that he
requires no other qualification for heaven than a faithful discharge
of his relative duties on earth? Impossible. If, then, I cannot
recommend the adoption of these opinions, ought I to sanction them
by my presence, when they are enforced by others? I believe that
men, before they are renewed in the spirit of their minds, live in a
state of alienation from God--under the condemning sentence of his
holy law--and are justly exposed to future and endless misery. I
believe this on the testimony of the sacred writers, whose testimony
is corroborated by the articles of our church; and do not the same
authorities teach us to believe that the truth, when preached in a
pure and faithful manner, is the ordained means of the conversion
and salvation of men? But if the pure truth of the gospel becomes
corrupted, are we not taught to believe that the people perish? He
who corrupts it, either wilfully or through ignorance, will stand
responsible at the last day for the awful consequences of his
conduct; but if I give my sanction to a ministry which I believe to
be a corruption of the gospel, and the people should perish under
it, shall I not be regarded as accessory to their ruin?"
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"But supposing I admit that an anti-evangelical
ministry is a corruption of the gospel, and that it does not prove
the means of the conversion and salvation of those who hear it, yet
you must allow that they hear the truth in its purity from the desk,
where the Bible, as well as the prayers are read, which answers the
same purpose. Hence I have known some who have imbibed evangelical
sentiments, recommend a continuance at their parish church on this
account, though the ministry may not exactly accord with their views
and taste."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Yes; we have the pure gospel in the desk, even
when we have another gospel in the pulpit; but I have never known
it produce those moral effects on the people which result from
an evangelical ministry. The prayers of our Liturgy may aid the
devotional feelings of a renewed Christian, but it is the _preaching
of the truth_ that God employs as the means of infusing the
devotional spirit; and though some may recommend us to attend where
the gospel is confined to the reading-desk, yet can we suppose that
Paul would do so if he were on earth? Would he, who pronounced that
man or angel accursed who dared to preach any other gospel than
that which he and his fellow-apostles preached, urge his friends or
his hearers, if he were taking leave of them, to attend a ministry
which he believed to be in opposition to the truth? Impossible!
Can we suppose that our Lord, who commanded his disciples _to
take heed what they heard_, would, if he were again to appear on
earth, recommend us to attend on a ministry which he believed was
subversive of the truth, and the means of misleading the people?
Impossible! If we cannot believe that _they would recommend us to
do it, ought we to recommend that others should do so_? Would it
be wise to act in opposition to such authority? would it be safe?
would it be in accordance with the will of the Lord Jesus? and could
we calculate on receiving his benediction--_Well done, good and
faithful servant_?"
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"But surely you do not mean that every one who
embraces evangelical sentiments ought to leave his parish church if
those sentiments are not preached there?"
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Most certainly I do."
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"Indeed! Suppose one member of a family should
embrace evangelical sentiments, while all the rest retain their
former belief, would you recommend that one individual to disturb
the peace of his family, by straying to some other church to hear
his favourite doctrines."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"I recommend no one to disturb the peace of a family,
and I rather think it will be found, when peace is disturbed, it is
in consequence of the resistance which is raised by the opposite
party. Here is, for example, a single individual in the midst of a
large circle of gay acquaintances, who feels the renewing influence
of truth, and makes an open profession of her faith in Christ. She
now retires from the follies and vanities of the world, adopts
habits which are decidedly religious, and, without infringing on the
rights of others, she claims the privilege of attending that place
of worship where she can derive the most spiritual improvement. What
law, either human or divine, is violated by such a decision? None.
But as the profession of faith in Christ, in the midst of a circle
of the gay and the fashionable, is a novelty repugnant to their
tastes, and considered by many of them so inelegant, and such a near
approximation to the habits of the lower orders, she who makes it
becomes an object of satire and reproach, and then is accused as
being the cause of all the domestic misery which _they_ originate."
_Mrs. Roscoe._--"But you know, my dear, that our domestic peace was
destroyed as soon as Sophia imbibed her evangelical sentiments; and
you know that religion has been the subject of contentious debate
between us ever since."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"But would it ever have been destroyed if we had not
done it? A letter[17] which she addressed to us convinced me, at
the time, of the injustice of our accusation; but now I look back
on that dark period of our life with more pain than any former one.
That letter satisfied me that I ought not to oppose her; and though
I then regretted that she had embraced views of truth which were
so different from my own, yet I admired the firmness and constancy
which she uniformly displayed when they were assailed; and now I do
not hesitate to say, that he who opposes or persecutes another on
account of his religious principles and habits, _is treasuring up to
himself wrath against the day of wrath_."
[17] See page 228.
_Rev. Mr. Roscoe._--"I disapprove of persecution as much as you do:
it is both impolitic and cruel; and seems to be one of the crimes
which is left for the more savage and waspish part of our nature
to commit. But, still, if we do not oppose force against a person
who has embraced evangelical principles, we may _reason_; and as I
consider the desertion of a parish church a serious evil, you must
permit me to remind you that if you leave yours and go to hear Mr.
Ingleby, the stability of your character will be shaken. You have
been considered as one of the pillars of the congregation--one
of its ornaments--your decision has been admired no less than
your benevolence, and all regret that you should fall from your
steadfastness, and exchange the religion of your forefathers, which
is grown venerable for its antiquity, for a new religion, which has
but recently sprung up amongst us."