ing, through the artifice of Satan, been falsely and most uncharitably charged on those-at least, as the favourers of it-whom some will needs style the Independent Party :'

We, therefore, hold ourselves necessitated to make this true and sincere Renunciation of and Protestation against so horrid a fact and principle they were acted [actuated] by, as both highly derogatory to Christ, and most pernicious to his saints.

"To Christ: In that his Kingdom,' the coming of which is by Him so closely annexed to the hallowing of God's Name;' is, on the contrary, perverted to the greatest dishonour to Him, and the profaning of his Name, and a perfect contradiction to all those principles which He left behind him. And, that divine and heavenly seed-the image of Christ-laid by God in the souls of all his children, the eminent fruits whereof are lowliness of heart, self-denial, peaceableness, with the like; is, hereby, turned into a root of such bitterness, and unto so swollen a self-assuming, as under the title of Saints' as such, and in the Name of Jesus Christ, to take to themselves the titles of all the kingdoms of the world, and in the face of the full exercise of the dominion thereof, to pronounce the titles of all earthly Potentates actually and absolutely void; whom, from the apostles' times and at this day, He hath continued as his own ordinance;' and unto whom He hath commanded saints as saints, and by so much the more because saints, for conscience' sake,' to be subject:' and who, we are sure, according to the ordination of God, shall continue to [until] the destruction of the true 'Babylon ;" and yet to make all the Reformed Churches to be spiritual Babylon, and all Governments of the world to be civil Babylon, and all alike from henceforth to be destroyed.

"And to turn Meetings for Religious Worship-which ought only to assemble in the Name of Christ; and as to such ends only, have the promise of His presence,-into consultations and designments for the disturbance and destruction of those States which yet, by Christ, do reign, and under whose indulgence and protection they live; and then to render faith,' by which Believers overcome the world," an absolute folly, which this hath done, yea, and a daring madness manifest to all men :

And, for vain and sorry man, or any company of the sons of men, to rise up and designedly to say within themselves, We will go to such and such a city; and from such or such a time, erect a new Throne for Jesus Christ the Son of God, from thence to reign over all the world; and then to think to invite Him from heaven and in the clouds, to bring him to the Ancient of days,' and so to give Him possession of that Kingdom :' all which, are the sole sovereign prerogatives of God the Father to give; Thine is the Kingdom;' and of Christ the Son, to take to himself that great power,' and reign :a and again, to undertake that which can be no other than the immediate act and work of Christ himself, to create new heavens and [a]

a Rev. xvii.

d Rev. xi. 17.

new earth;' and to fill the world with righteousness,-which 'I create,” saith the Lord;-and must needs be judged a far greater work than the first creating of the old world, and never to be set up by outward violence:

"To make all this, a Cause; and the Cause of Religion! By the power of force and blood, thus to obtain a worldly dominion, and power over all men's estates and lives; what a high presumption is all this, and derogation to the glory of Christ!

"Nor can there be any principle more pernicious to the 'saints' themselves, dispersed throughout the nations of the world; seeing [that] the wrath of Princes and Governors, in all dominions, might thereby be inflamed, and their sword whetted against them. And it engageth all these men themselves or any other, with whom this wicked persuasion shall prevail, to destroy the whole body of 'saints' and others, promiscuously, as enemies to the Kingdom of Christ, if not of this opinion. As if that Jesus Christ, who is Lord over all,' and rich unto all," having so long expected the accomplishment of his Kingdom,' were so impatiently desirous of a kingdom of Saints to be set up in the world, that to advance it though but in a few, He regarded not the thousands of thousands of the people of God that are in the world, and who in their consciences stand engaged to oppose it.

Neither is this Protestation now made against such principles and proceedings other, in the tendency and drift thereof, than what some years since, such of us as had opportunity thereunto did, by Letters, declare unto divers in this kingdom whose principles then were comparatively modest; for which we have ever since been openly reproached personally by naine in writings and otherwise, as is well known. And again, in a Meeting at the Savoy, above two years since, of persons sent from one hundred and twenty Churches of our Way, in the Confession of Faith there by them agreed upon, it was, as concerning Magistrates in the general, unanimously declared as followeth, chap. xxiv. arts. i-iv.d

с

"And accordingly, we cease not to pour out hearty prayers for all sorts of blessings spiritual and temporal, upon the person and government of His Majesty, both in our congregations, families, and retirements; and through God's grace, according to our duties shall continue so to do ourselves and to persuade others thereunto, and to live quietly and peaceably in all godliness and honesty.'

"To conclude all: We have a far greater and sadder occasion to utter of these late attempts and resolutions, what Jacob did of that fatal execution by Simeon and Levi' upon a whole city-the order of the words being only inverted-the instruments of cruelty are in their habitations'—which, ver, 6, is termed Assembly '-'cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel :' and we each one say, 'O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto

a Isai. Ixv. 17.
d See back, p. 512,

b Rom. x. 12,

See back, p. 517.

e 1 Tim. ii. 2.

Joseph Caryl,

George Griffith,

their Assembly, mine honour, be not thou united;' but let God 'divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel !'a

Samuel Slater, William Greenhill,
George Cockayne, Mathew Barker,

Richard Kentish,

Thomas Goodwin,

Thomas Malory,
John Loder,

Ralph Venning,

Cam[shaw] Helm,

John Yates,

John Oxenbridge, John Hodges,

Thankful] Owen,

Our task is finished; yet from one wild outrage of rationality, our regret is, if possible, increased on leaving it followed by those other "evil days," and "evil tongues,"

"the barbarous dissonance

Of BACCHUS and his revelers !"'c

Had the second Charles been as sedate as the governance of so great a nation awakened to its own interests called for, he had been enrolled in the list of the world's benefactors; but, alas! beguiled by debased and fawning courtiers, and suffered to wallow in a sty of corruption, a corresponding odour cleaves to his memory, the strength of which not time even will abate; for what single virtue had he wherewith to savour the olio of his vices ? At his restoration, all that he found of "the living body of Religion," was destined to be "bound down to the dead corpse of superannuated Polity."d But we resign"this theme of everlasting interest" into other hands, consoling ourselves with the conviction that "the passion for increase of knowledge," and "the mighty instincts of progression and free agency," are preparing the world for that only "equilibrium" which is the produce on earth of peace, "GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN !"f

If a synopsis of the results of our labours in these Historical Memorials be looked for, the following is submitted as among the leading points which make up the sum of those results. Herein, Obloquy derived from the Brownists, is removed : - The personal characters of the earliest promoters of Independency are established

a Gen. xlix. 5-7.

b These names are all in Dr. Calamy's Account of the Ejected Ministers, etc., 1713. It is right to state that simultaneously with the Independents' "Renunciation," appeared "The Humble Apology of some commonly called Anabaptists, in behalf of themselves and others of the same Judgment with them: With their Protestation against the late wicked and most horrid Treasonable Insurrection and Rebellion acted in the City of London. Together with an Apology formerly presented to the King's most excellent Majesty."-Kennet's Chronicle, p. 358. c Milton, Parad. Lost, bk, vii. 1. 26, 32, 33.

d Alexis de Tocqueville.

e

f

Letters, etc., of S. T. Coleridge. 1836. 12mo. vol. i. Let. viii. p. 52.
Luke ii. 14.

beyond the possibility of success in any future attempt seriously to damage them:-The body of the Independents is relieved from the censure of groundless Separation : - Independency is proved more than competent to grapple with Presbyterianism :-The succession of the Independents is not from the Puritans:-Baptists, so called, are reduced to their proper position:-Political and Ecclesiastical facts and principles are brought out, which an unjustifiable timidity allowed to be covered with apparent neglect:-Historical and philosophical consistency, is advantageously effected :-Independents possess withal, a denominational Work comprising a catenation of documentary evidence not exceeded in interest and importance by any, in its department of Ecclesiastical literature."

a Calamy says, in his "Account," 1713, vol. i. p. 30, that Nye" had a complete History of the old Puritan Dissenters, in MS., which was burnt at Alderman Clarkson's in the fire of London," 1666.

597

APPENDIX.

THE FAITH, CHURCH ORDER, AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CONGREGATIONAL OR INDEPENDENT DISSENTERS, AS SET FORTH IN THE DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE GENERAL MEETING OF THE CON

GREGATIONAL UNION, HELD IN LONDON, May 7th, 8th, and 10th, 1833.*

ADVERTISEMENT.- As there is reason to believe that the opinions of the Congregational Dissenters have been greatly misunderstood and even misrepresented, and that a large body of their countrymen suppose them to be either Socinians or Methodists, the attention of the brethren assembled at the general meeting of the CONGREGATIONAL UNION, held in London, May 11, 1832, was invited to the subject, and they were requested to deliberate on the best methods of disabusing the public mind. A DECLARATION of Faith and Church Order was suggested, and the draught of such a document was submitted for their consideration. On a business of such moment, it was determined, however, first to consult the Ministers and Churches of the respective County and District Associations, whether, in accordance with the example of their nonconformist ancestors, it be desirable to publish a Declaration of the leading articles of their faith and practice; and whether, if deemed advisable, that Declaration should be made by such a statement as that which had been presented to them.

The proposed Declaration was accordingly appended to the printed Report of the meeting, and in that form submitted for the consideration of the County and District Associations.

At the last General Meeting it was found that the publication of a Declaration is deemed to be expedient, and that the draught had "met with the general approbation of the Churches," subject to the verbal alterations that had been suggested in various quarters: an open Committee was therefore appointed for its final revision.

On Friday, May 10th, 1833, it was presented by that Committee in its revised state to the General Meeting, and unanimously adopted "as the Declaration of the Congregational Body, with the distinct understanding, that it is not intended as a Test or Creed for Subscription," as is, indeed, stated in the "Preliminary Notes.' In accordance with the wishes of that meeting, it is now put forth in a cheap form for the use and information of the churches and the public.

London, August, 6, 1833.

J. BLACKBURN,
W. S. PALMER,
JOSHUA WILSON,

Secretaries.

DECLARATION. THE CONGREGATIONAL Churches in England and Wales, frequently called INDEPENDENT, hold the following Doctrines as of Divine authority, and as the foundation of Christian faith and practice.

They are also formed and governed according to the principles hereinafter stated.

PRELIMINARY NOTES.-1. It is not designed in the following summary, to do more than to state the leading doctrines of faith and order maintained by Congregational Churches in general.

"Looking at such a Confession of Faith put forth by the Congregationalists, as I hold in my hand,-if it can be called a Confession of Faith, being a summary of doctrine held by them generally as congregations, thoroughly in accordance with our own theology,-and looking to the practical working of their system, according to which they are associated together; why should we not anticipate good from a full and friendly conference and discussion of our differences, as well as of our agreements, with prayer for the guidance of God's holy Spirit?" Speech of the Rev. Dr. Candlish, at the "Bicentenary" of the Westminster Assembly, at Edinburgh, Thursday, July 13th, 1843; on "The leading features and excellencies of the Westminster Standards."-Edin. 1843. 8vo. p 155.