and supposed interests of a large majority of its members being in favour of a corn monopoly. Lord Liverpool has not yet officially resigned; but, in the probable occurrence of that event, speculation has been active in discussing the several claims of various statesmen to be his successor. Into these specula tions we shall not at present enter; but it is highly important that no statesman should be appointed to this high post who is not fully prepared, with whatever partial odium he may be assailed, cordially to follow up the wise and liberal course of policy which the government of the country has for some time been en deavouring to pursue.

Several other highly important questions are about to be discussed in Par liament, particularly that of Catholic emancipation, which is likely to give birth to warm debates in both houses: Government have procured the re-ap pointment of a committee on emigration. No doubt can exist that the distress of the labouring classes in this country is a subject which loudly calls for the deliberative wisdom of parliament; for the evil is of a kind which our present institutions must progressively aggravate. Mr. Horton, in bringing forward his motion to renew the committee on this sub ject, mentioned the case of a parish in Sussex, in which the poors' rates nearly equal the rental of the land; and this expense is for the support of persons able and willing to work, but for whom no employment can be found, and whose only resource therefore is emigration, which may be effected with less expense than maintaining them at home. As a palliative we do not deny that emigration may be of some use, especially to the persons who emigrate, and ultimately, by means of the colonies thus planted and peopled, to the country at large; but it is a most inordinately expensive measure, and its effect in alleviating distress at home, unless the whole principle of our poor-law system is changed, will be almost nothing. How much more effective, as a palliative, while it would be attended with no expense, but with immediate and immeasurable advantages, would it be to throw open, to the expansive power of our capital, and to the energy of our merchants and manufacturers, the immense market of British India, containing 100 millions of customers, and which is now sacrificed for the sake of 1800 sugar-planters in the West Indies! Every loom in the kingdom would then, in no long time, be set actively to work; wages would rise, and the effect would

be felt in the comforts of our population from one extremity of the empire to ano ther. And how much more powerful would the operation of such a palliative be if we were admitted to a free inter course with China, the largest associated population in the world! Remove the fetters on our trade, and you give instant and full employment to our population at home, while you mitigate the sufferings of our unhappy fellow-subjects, the Negro slaves abroad; and you also give yourselves time to devise means for a more thorough investigation and a more effectual repression, if not extinction, of the dreadful evil of pauperism, which no mere palliatives can effectually reach. If we confine ourselves to mere palliatives, and especially to so enormously expensive and inefficient a palliative as emigration, whatever proportion of our redundant labourers we may expatriate, we shall find the same unobviated causes producing the same and worse effects, until the evil becomes too strong for remedy of any kind.

We

Among other measures about to be brought before Parliament, is a motion by Mr. Buxton respecting the burning of widows in India. We have so fre quently urged this afflicting topic upon the consideration of our readers, that we shall not dwell upon it at present. perceive with pleasure, that it is begining to attract the humane attention of the public. A motion respecting it is before the Court of Proprietors of the East India Company. The county of Bedford some time since petitioned Parliament on the subject; and the city of York has recently done the same; and other petitions, we understand, are in preparation.

The hardship and injustice of the impressment of seamen have again been incidentally noticed in Parliament, and though with no immediate good result, yet it is evident that the cause of humanity gains ground by every fresh discussion. We may say the same respecting corporal punishments in the army and navy, and several other questions.

"

Our last Number announced, that "death has gone up into our palaces;' and we have just alluded to the illness of two of our most influential statesmen: we have to add the death of two prelates, Dr. Legge, the bishop of Oxford, and Dr. Pelham of Lincoln, the latter in consequence of a cold contracted at the Duke of York's funeral. Dr. Lloyd, the Regius professor of divinity, is to be the new bishop of Oxford, and Dr. Kaye of Bristol is to be translated to Lincoln.

The remaining appointment is not yet filled up. The bishopric of Calcutta also continues vacant. The appointment of bishops to the other presidencies of India, a measure to the importance of which we have already more than once adverted, is understood to be still under the consideration of the Government and the Court of Directors of the East India Company.

The Court of Chancery has lately been engrossed with the disgusting details of a protracted suit brought by the Hon. Mr. Wellesley against the Duke of Beaufort, to recover possession of his children. We allude to it only for the sake of recording the result, which involves a principle of great moment, as it concerns the moral welfare of the public. The Lord Chancellor, after an elaborate statement of the case, which occupied several hours, pronounced judgment, that Mr. Wellesley being proved to be maintaining "a gross and iniquitous connexion" with a Mrs. Bligh, his lordship could not allow him to have the care of his daughter (and he would not separate the brothers from the sister), "so long as he held the slightest intercourse with that abandoned woman." His lordship added, with much feeling, that he had a duty to perform, not only to his country but to God, before whose tribunal he

must, at his advanced age, expect very shortly to be summoned, to render an account of his actions; and with this solemn prospect before him, "he would not be the man to hazard the principles of these children."

Our readers will recollect, that at the close of the last session it was agreed that ministers should send out to the different legislatures of the West Indies, the propositions framed in the shape of bills, which it was their desire, and that of Parliament, should be introduced into the slave codes of the colonies. The present month's Anti-slavery Reporter, No. 21, gives a view of what the colonies have done in consequence of this formal recommendation; and it seems to amount to very little, indeed to nothing effectual. We may expect, therefore, that ministers will now be prepared to submit some measure to Parliament, for controuling the contumacy of those knots of slaveholders called legislatures, who take it upon them to resist the united desire of the king, the parliament, and the country at large, to reform their slave-code, and to adopt measures for extinguishing slavery itself. The Anti-Slavery Reporter is published by Hatchard, and costs only a penny or twopence, according as it extends to half a sheet or a sheet.

No. 303.]

For the Christian Observer.

ANCIENT AND MODERN WALDEN

SIAN CONFESSIONS.

ONSIDERABLE attention has of late been attracted towards the various Confessions of the Protestant Churches of Europe. These venerable documents have been closely catechised, as to their testimony respecting various subjects which divide the members of the Reformed religious communities of Christendom, whether it be the five celebrated doctrinal points, or questions of church discipline, or the books included by them in the sacred canon. But among these formularies the most ancient of them all, and that which has formed the ground-work of several, if not all, of the others, and which in a particular manner has been made use of by the compilers of the Thirtynine Articles of the Church of England, namely, the original Waldensian Confession of faith, dated in the year 1120, has been singularly neglected. The document is not long, and deserves transcription. It is as follows::

"Article 1.-We believe and firmly hold all that which is contained in the twelve articles of the symbol, which is called the Apostles' Creed, accounting for heresy whatsoever is disagreeing, and not consonant to the said twelve articles.

"Article II.-We do believe that there is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

"Article III.-We acknowledge for the holy canonical Scriptures, the books of the Holy Bible, namely, CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 303.

The books of Moses called Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua; Judges; Ruth; 1 Samuel; 2 Samuel; 1 Kings; 2 Kings; 1 Chronicles; 2 Chronicles; Ezra; Nehemiah; Esther; Job; Psalms; The Proverbs of Solomon; Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher; The Song of Solomon; The Prophecy of Isaiah, Jeremiah; The Lamentations of Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Daniel; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonas; Micah; Nahum ; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zachariah; Malachi.-Here follow the books Apocryphal, which are not received of the Hebrews; but we read them (as saith St. Jerome, in his Prologue to the Proverbs) for the instruction of the people, not to confirm the authority of the doctrine of the church; namely, Esdras; Tobit; Judith; Wisdom; Ecclesiasticus; Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah; Esther, from the tenth chapter to the end; The Song of the three Children in the Furnace; The History of Susanna; The History of the Dragon; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees.-Here follow the books of the New Testament: The Gospel according to St. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; The Acts of the Apostles; The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans; 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus ; Philemon; The Epistle to the Hebrews; The Epistle of St. James; The First Epistle of St. Peter; The Second Epistle of St. Peter; The First Epistle of St. John; The Second Epistle of St. John; The S

Third Epistle of St. John; The Epistle of St. Jude; The Revelation of St. John.

"Article Iv.-The books abovesaid teach this, that there is one God, almighty, all-wise, and allgood, who has made all things by his goodness; for he formed Adam in his own image and likeness, but that by the envy of the devil, and the disobedience of the said Adam, sin has entered into the world, and that we are sinners in Adam and by Adam.

"Article v.-That Christ was promised to our fathers who received the law, that so knowing by the law their sin, unrighteousness, and insufficiency, they might desire the coming of Christ, to satisfy for their sins, and accomplish the law by himself.

“Article vi.—That Christ was born in the time appointed by God the Father. That is to say, in the time when all iniquity abounded, and not for the cause of good works; for all were sinners: but that he might shew us grace and mercy, as being faithful.

"Article VII.-That Christ is our life, truth, peace, and righteousness; also our pastor, advocate, sacrifice, and priest, who died for the salvation of all those that believe, and is risen for our justification.

"Article vIII.—In like manner, we firmly hold, that there is no other mediator and advocate with God the Father, save only Jesus Christ. And as for the Virgin Mary, that she was holy, humble, and full of grace; and in like manner do we believe concerning all the other saints, namely, that, being in heaven, they wait for the resurrection of their bodies at the day of judgment.

"Article Ix.-Item, we believe that, after this life, there are only two places; the one for the saved, and the other for the damned; the which two places we call paradise and hell, absolutely denying that purgatory invented by antichrist, and forged contrary to the truth.

"Article x.-Item, we have always accounted as an unspeakable abomination before God, all those inventions of men, namely, the feasts and the vigils of saints, the water which they call holy; as likewise to abstain from flesh upon certain days, and the like; but especially their masses.

"Article XI.-We esteem for an abomination and as antichristian, all those human inventions which are a trouble or prejudice to the liberty of the spirit.

"Article XII.-We do believe that the sacraments are signs of the holy thing, or visible forms of the invisible grace, accounting it good that the faithful sometimes use the said signs or visible forms, if it may be done. However, we believe and hold, that the abovesaid faithful may be saved without receiving the signs aforesaid, in case they have no place nor any means to use them.

"Article XIII.-We acknowledge no other sacrament but Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

"Article XIV. We ought to honour the secular powers by submission, ready obedience, and paying of tributes."

Since the date of this simple and venerable exposition of faith, the evangelical churches of the Piedmontese Valleys have issued other documents, in reply to the accusations of their enemies, and for the edification of their own members. The chief of these is the Confession of 1655; a translation of which, from a manuscript at Cambridge, may be found in Mr. Gilly's "Excursion." This Confession consists of thirtythree articles; to which is added a peroration, in which the compilers remark, that

"For a more ample declaration of our faith, we do here reiterate the same protestation which we caused to be printed in 1603; that is to say, that we do agree in sound doctrine with all the Reformed Churches of France, Great Britain, the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland,

Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and others, as it is represented by them in their confessions; as also we receive the Confession of Augsbourg, and as it was published by the authors, promising to persevere constantly therein, with the help of God, both in life and death, and being ready to subscribe to that eternal truth of God, with our own blood, even as our ancestors have done from the days of the Apostles, and especially in these latter ages." A still more modern exposition of faith has been found by Mr. Sims among the manuscripts of M. Peyrani, the late moderator of the Waldensian church. It is signed by the moderator, "with the consent of all his brethren," under the recent date of February 20, 1819. At first sight it seems to be merely a re-publication of the declaration of 1655; but upon further inspection it appears that the modern pastors have made a few alterations, some of which deserve notice. They have also reduced the number of articles to thirty two, by the omission of the twentyseventh of the Confession of 1655; which is as follows: "That all men ought to join that church [namely, "the company of the faithful elected and called," as described in the twenty-fifth article,] and to continue in the communion thereof," The reasons for omitting this article it is unnecessary to conjecture; the fear of giving offence by an apparently exclusive or proselyting spirit may sufficiently account for it, without supposing that the writers were themselves indifferent to the distinction between a true and a false church. This Confession is, on various accounts, well worth examination. A few of the chief differences between this document and the declaration of 1655 will be pointed out: the merely verbal ones are not ascertainable, for want of the original Latin document of 1655.

For the convenience of the general reader, both declarations

are given in English. The articles of 1819, were drawn up expressly in reply to some charges urged against the Waldenses in some of the London journals.

Confession of Faith of the Waldensian Pastors, residing in Piedmont, dated Feb. 20, 1819. I. We believe (with respect to numerical unity) that God is one : and by this word we understand a spiritual, eternal, boundless, infi nitely wise, merciful, and just,-in one word, a most perfect Being; and that in that simple essence there are three Persons, or Hypostases, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

II. We believe that the same God has manifested himself to men by his works, both of creation and providence; and by his word, revealed in the beginning" in divers manners," written and contained in books, which are called the Holy Scripture.

III. We believe that the Holy Scripture should be received (and we do receive it) as divine and canonical; that is to say, as the rule of our faith and conduct; that it is contained in the books of the Old and New Testament; that in the Old Testament are contained only those books which God entrusted to the Jewish church, and which that church always approved, and acknowledged as of Divine authority; namely, five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the first and second of Samuel, the first and second of Kings, the first and second of Chronicles, the first of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, four greater and twelve lesser Prophets: and in the New Testament four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of St. Paul, one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Galatians, one to the Ephesians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians, two to the Thessa