from admiring, that an author of respectability should pay so little regard to his reputation, as to hazard a charge for which ignorance alone could supply the foundation.* We cannot conclude, without again expressing the reluctance with which, from the beginning, we have been drawn into this fruitless and uninteresting controversy; and it is our wish -with some reserve, our determination-never to resume it. We beg to inform A PARISH PRIEST IN THE COUNTRY, that we never entertained a hope of obtaining the approbation of the violent. SECTARIUS PACIFICUS is, doubtless, a misnomer. A. R. A.; J. on Religious Controversy, and J. M. will appear, if possible, in our next. E. on Enthusiasm; W.'s Translation of an Ode of Horace; W. H. L.; J. S. C.; C. on Eternity; RATIONALIS; T. S. F.; G. H. C.; R.; AN OLD EPISCOPALIAN; G. B.; are received. We thank WAYRING for his last communication, and trust he will see reason to forego the intention intimated in the Postscript. * After this sheet had been sent to press, we received a Letter containing many just remarks on Mr. Daubeny's pamphlet. We extract a few passages, not thinking it necessary to repeat what has been already said, or to follow our Correspondent through all the instances of inconsistency and unfairness which he has alleged against Mr. Daubeny. "The question at issue seems to be, Has or has not Mr. Daubeny maintained the opinion that episcopal ordination is essential, but that spirituality of worship is not essential to the being of a church? This is the opinion which you have attributed to him, and it is one which he has not disavowed. He says, indeed, (Letter, p. 27.) that he had decidedly renounced the sentiments which you supposed to be conveyed in his writings. But where has he renounced the above sentiment, which, as far as I can discover, is the only one ascribed to him by the Christian Observer." "Mr. Daubeny, (Letter, p. 11.) applies to himself what you (No. 3, p. 176-179.) have distinctly and exclusively applied to the Anti-Jacobin Reviewers. Indeed, by no latitude of just interpretation, can any part of your critique be considered as pointed at Mr. Daubeny, except that fragment of a sentence in which his name is incidentally mentioned. What then could have been Mr. Daubeny's motive for this unwarranted appropriation? Did he sympathize with the Anti-Jacobin Reviewers, and wish to make a diversion in their favour? Or was it his object to discredit your work? I can suppose him to have felt the force of both these motives." "Mr. Daubeny (Letter, p. 21.) informs his readers, that you had represented him as saying, that spiritual worship is of no importance: at the same time in your Number for May, p. 344, you expressly deny that you meant to impute to him that he did not consider spiritual worship as of very high importance." "Mr. Daubeny charges you (Letter, p. 65.) with having again brought forward the obnoxious words which have given birth to this fruitless controversy, as a quotation from his writings. Had he read the passage (No. 5, p. 343.) to which he alludes, with common care, he must have seen that the words were brought forward as a quotation from your own work, and not from bis." S. L. THE LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. THOUGH the natural characteristics of St. Paul have already been distinctly exhibited, it cannot be improper to dwell a little longer on his Christian and apostolic character. The basis of both was a profound humility. He was intimately acquainted with the total and radical depravity of his nature, which had displayed itself so awfully in the proud rage and madness of persecution, and had driven him to the verge of perdition. That humility which commenced in the knowledge of himself, was completed by the knowledge of Christ. While he lay trembling with fear, and stung with shame and remorse at the feet of the blessed Jesus, he was rooted in lowliness of soul, rendered still more deep by the astonishing mercy which had been shewn him. In the school of the once despised Galilæan he learned the true standard of selfestimation, and what he learned he seems never to have forgot. Even when encircled in the blaze of apostolic glory, he continued to view himself as the persecutor of Damascus. That his sins were his own, and that his virtues and good works were HIS who created him anew, and on. whose grace he was dependent for every attainment, he deeply felt and hence he was led to describe himself as the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints. The whole tenor of his conversation in the Church appears to have been influenced by this pure and amiable temper. He is every where the least and the last, and the servant of all. Wherever the honour and success of the Gospel is not concerned, he waives all superiority of character. The prejudices, ignorance, and weaknesses of mankind, he views with deep commiseration. He condescends to men of low estate, and instead of re. ferring all things to his own standard, as far as is consistent with the truth of the Gospel, he adopts theirs: in short becomes all things to all men. Nor is the Apostle more distinguished for humility than for every other kind and holy affection. In his Epistles we find several passages inimitably tender, which surprise us as coming from Paul's pen, until we recollect that nothing is impossible with God, and that the genuine tendency of the Gospel of Christ, is to form the soul to tenderness and love. No trace of his former cruel and injurious mind seems to have remained; but he longs for the welfare of the flock, with the very bowels of Christ. His pains and solicitudes for the conversion of the Galatians are those of a mother travailing in birth; and his gentleness among the Thessalonians, that of a nurse cherishing her children. Such is his affectionate love to his converts, that he is willing to impart to them, not the Gospel of God only, but his own soul. Pages might be cited from his writings to exemplify the paternal mind with which he presided over the churches. His interests are all identified with those of Christ, and every affection made congenial. His life is bound up in his ministry.-Now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. The flock intrusted to his care are his crown and rejoicing. Christian minister, are the souls of thy flock thus dear to thee? Art thou labouring, according to thy dispensation of the grace of God, to keep thyself pure from the blood of all men, and to present thyself and thy flock faultless before the Great Shepherd? Who can avoid being struck with the delicacy of this great Apostle in pecuniary concerns, even at that time when he was suffering hunger and thirst, and cold and nakedness? Ye yourselves brethren, and that in labours and suf know, saith he to the Ephesians, that these hands have ministered to my neces sities, and to those who were with me. Have I committed an offence, he asks the Corinthians, in abasing myself that you might be exalted? because I have preached to you the Gospel of God freely? As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall rob me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. For it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. Wherefore? Because, I love you not? God knoweth. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from those which desire occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as I. But while the aid of the wealthy and factious Corinthians is thus firmly declined, the generous Apostle accepts and acknowledges the liberality of the humble affectionate Philippians with gratitude and dignity. Ye Philippians, know that at the beginning, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me, concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even at Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift; but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent of you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well pleasing unto God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. How shall worldly and sensual ministers, wealthy pluralists, and idle nou-residents, stand before Christ in the presence of this man! St. Paul on no occasion affects the solemn imposing air, the fastidicus decorum of assumed dignity; but when the occasion calls for it, he shews himself to possess real greatness. Is the truth of the Gospel or the honour of his Apostleship in question? He op. poses the venerable Peter, and avows his opposition before the churches: However humbly he thinks and speaks of himself, yet for the glory of Christ and the good of the Church, he magnifies his office, contends that in every apostolic gift he yielded to none of his ferings he surpassed them all. He asserts the discipline and doctrine of the Church with vigour, and with a tone of conscious authority, which strikes offenders with awe. The sword and the olive are in his hands; he binds and looses, and speaks as the legate of the Imperial King. Where shall we find an instance of more intrinsic greatness than is exhibited in the following passage? Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus; who for my life have laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles. Exalted man! the Gentile churches shall for ever feel their obligations to thy generous preservers. On earth their names shall be associated with thine in honour and blessing, and in heaven we will thank them face to face before their Lord and ours. Firm, active, intrepid, St. Paul's life is a succession of labours and sufferings. He is never weary in well doing. Danger seems only to give a keener edge to his courage, and opposition to be a healthful exercise of his firmness and patience. Shame, pain, hunger, and nakedness, serve but to present fresh triumphs of his faith, and to increase his rejoicing in Christ: ingratitude feeds rather than quenches the flame of his love: and the false Apostles, who undermined his ministry, instead of resentment, excite only a holy emulation, by the superior lustre of his life, to cast them into the shade. He takes pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. When he is weak then he is strong. He is instructed in all things, to want and to abound, and can do and suffer all things, yea, is more than conqueror through Christ, who strengtheneth him. For he is persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus his Lord. Nor are these strong expressions the wild rant of enthusiasm, or the boast of one unacquainted N with the dangers of the warfare in which he was engaged. No! He spoke the language of truth and mature experience. For thirty-three years he had been inured to the fight, and was skilled in every weapon and art of holy war: he had confronted every danger, supported every toil, and stood victorious against the united powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Of the Jews five times received he forty stripes save one; thrice he was beaten with rods by the Roman magistrates; once he was stoned; thrice he suffered shipwreck; a night and a day he was in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by his own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. And besides these things which were without, that which came on him daily, the care of all the churches. In this enumeration nothing appears exaggerated, nor does the Apostle assume to himself any merit before God on account of his extraordinary sufferings. On the contrary, when he tells us, that he had suffered the loss of all things for Christ's sake, he treats the things which he had lost with contempt and loathing, as dross and dung, in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of his Lord, by whom the world was crucified to him, and he was crucified to the world. From this passage it is evident, that so far are the dignities and emoluments of the Church from being allowable motives to actuate the zeal and labours of the ministers of the Gospel, that St. Paul could not have been what he was without a supreme contempt of all human dignities and emoluments. The men who desire can least deserve them. St. Paul had much forgiven, and he loved much. His ardent zeal was the fruit of his love. He felt that he could never either do, or suffer enough for Christ. The shame and grief of his past persecutions attended him through life, and gave uncommon energy to all his exertions. He was the most indefatigable labourer in the vineyard of Christ. Every faculty is engaged, every nerve is strained, his whole soul is on fire for honour and glory, and immortal life. He kindles on his hearers like a conflagration; he pours along with the impetuosity of a torrent sweeping down opposition. If there be an act of superior virtue or praise, he singles it out as his prize. Surrounded with a cloud of witnesses in heaven, and witnesses on earth, he fixes his eyes on Jesus; he contends among patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, for primacy in love, labour, suffering, and humility. All those graces for which St. Paul was so eminently distinguished, were tempered and directed by consummate wisdom. He always appears to be in possession of himself, and to walk in a happy medium between extremes. His courage is without rashness, his firmness without tenacity, and his zeal is neither debased by superstition, nor misapplied to matters of inferior concern. The peace of the Church is a grand object of his regard, and he agitates no controversies which are not essential to her welfare. He is the pattern of the charity which he recommends. All his designs are noble and catholic, and are pursued with temperate vigour and firmness. His wisdom, has in it nothing dark, creeping, and serpentine; but is always luminous, pure, and peaceable. The character of St. Paul's writings, which contain a fair example of every species of Christian elocution, is that of his mind. They exhibit and do justice to every part of the religion of Jesus Christ. He reasons as a logician, he writes as a scholar, and he exhorts as a father. No character described in the Word of God is so rich in every diversified excellence; and if it be the province of God alone to pass judgment on the heart, and to pronounce him the first of Christians; we cannot hesitate to call him THE GREAT APOSTLE, and THE FIRST BENEFACTOR oF MANKIND. For the Christian Observer. ANECDOTES OF THE REV. MR. WALKER, OF TRURO. (Continued from p. 572.) It was the peculiar talent of Mr. Walk er to understand the depths of the corruption and deceitfulness of the human heart, and it was his principal care to teach his people to know themselves. A young person once called upon him, to thank him for the benefit he had received from his ministry, and to beg his advice. Mr. Walker inquired concerning the knowledge he possessed of himself; and upon the young man professing his conviction that he was an unworthy sinner, Mr. Walker began to explain that character, with a continual reference to the person before him. He entered into a minute detail of his ingratitude to God; the baseness of the motives by which he had been generally influenced; the defilement even of his best services; the unprofitableness of his life; and now, he added, are you not secretly displeased with me, because I have not commended your good intentions and flattered your vanity? The young man assured him in reply, that so far from being displeased, he felt himself extremely thankful to him for the striking proof he had given of his regard. Mr. Walker, however, had judged too truly. The next day the youth ingenuously confessed, with much shame and grief, that he had given a false answer; and acknowledged that he had been determined in his own mind, before Mr. Walker put the question to him, that he would never more visit a minister, who seemed to make so little account of his religious professions. It does not follow from this story that it is proper in all cases, or for all ministers, to give a similar reception to persons who profess a concern for the salvation of their souls. Mr. Walker possessed peculiar penetration; and his disciple, as the event proved, could bear probing. But indeed, in every case, Mr. Walker was more anxious to lay a solid foundation than to erect a hasty superstructure. He wished that conviction of sin should be deep and abiding, as the best preparation for a just dependence on Christ, and the best security against hasty and unsettled notions. He laboured constantly to inculcate the practical parts of religion, and to make men circumspect in their conduct and watchful against sin; and his people were, in general, remarka ble for purity of principle and uprightness of behaviour. I am afraid of being tedious, but I cannot forbear adding two or three other particulars, which may serve to elucidate the real nature and effect of Mr. Walker's ministerial labours. The young man before mentioned, when he was only about twenty years of age, had occasion to travel in the stage coach from Glasgow to London his companions were two Scotch merchants and a Jew. Their conversation soon became so corrupt, that our young traveller, after expressing the pain he felt by his silence and his look, took an opportunity of getting upon the roof of the coach, and travelled the remainder of the day on the outside. The inn being full where the coach stopped for the night, the passengers could have but one room allotted for their accommodation : when they retired to rest, the young man begged their indulgence to speak to them for a moment. "Gentlemen," he added, "I have a favour to request of you; I fear and worship the God of heaven. -Your conversation to-day was so contrary to my sentiments, that I chose rather to relinquish my place in the coach, than wound my own conscience by hearing it, or offend you by reproving it. Let me now only request in return, that you will keep silence for a few minutes, while I retire to the corner of the room and offer up my prayers to God."--A perfect silence was observed while he was upon his knees. As soon as he rose up, the Jew exclaimed, a second Daniel! The Merchants asked his pardon for their improper conduct, and pledged themselves, that if he would resume hist seat in the morning, nothing should be spoken which could give him the slightest offence; and indeed throughout the rest of the journey they vied with each other in shewing him attention and civility. The conduct of the young man in this instance, though it may serve to |