"rewards and punishments, where all mankind "shall be judged according to their works; 8thly, "that God sent his Son into the world, to be its Saviour, the author of eternal salvation to all that

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obey him; 9thly, that he is the true Messiah; "10thly, that he worked miracles, suffered, died "and rose again, as is related in the four gospels; " and 11thly, that he will, hereafter, make a second appearance on the earth, raise all mankind from "the dead, judge the world in righteousness, bestow eternal life on the virtuous, and punish the "workers of iniquity.

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"In the belief of these articles, all christians, "roman-catholics, lutherans, calvinists, arminians, "and socinians, are agreed. In addition to these articles, each division and subdivision of chris"tians has its own tenets. Now, let each settle among its own members, what are the articles "of belief peculiar to them, which, in their cool, "deliberate judgment, they consider as absolutely necessary that a person that a person should believe to be a "member of the church of Christ; let these articles "be divested of all foreign matter, and expressed "in perspicuous, exact, and unequivocal terms; "and above all, let each distinction of christians "earnestly wish to find an agreement between "themselves and their fellow christians:-the result "of a discussion, conducted on this plan, would "most assuredly be, to convince all christians, that "the essential articles of religious credence, in "which there is a real difference amongst chris

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"re-union of christians be no more than a golden dream, the possible approximation to it is nearer than is generally supposed.

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"And, after all, is the re-union of the roman"catholic and protestant churches, absolutely impossible?-Bossuet, the glory of the roman"catholic church, and her ablest champion, thought "it was not.-Towards the end of the 17th century, the emperor Leopold, and several princes "in Germany, conceived a project of reuniting "the roman-catholic and Lutheran churches. In consequence of it, a correspondence took place "between Bossuet, on the part of the romancatholics, and Molanus and Leibniz, on the part "of the Lutherans. Molanus was director of the protestant churches and consistories of Hanover; "Leibniz was a member of the Aulic council. In "the exact sciences, he was inferior to Newton "alone; in metaphysics, he had no superior; in general learning, he had scarcely a rival; in the theological disputes of the times, he was singularly conversant. The correspondence between "these great men, on the subject of the re-union, may be seen in the Œuvres Posthumes de Bos"suet, vol. i.; Nouvelle Edition des Euvres de Bossuet, vol. xi.; Leibnizii Opera, studio Lud. Dutens, vols. i. & v.; and the Pensées de Leib"niz, 2 vols. 8vo. Every word of the correspond

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ence deserves the perusal both of the scholar "and the divine. A short view of it is given, in "the Account of the Life and Writings of Bossuet, "recently published by the writer of these pages.

"It continued during ten years: -I shall transcribe "from it, the two following passages, from the "letters written by Bossuet to Leibniz. 'The "council of Trent,' he says, in one of them, 'is "❝our stay; but we shall not use it to prejudice ❝our cause. We shall deal more fairly with 66 6 our opponents. We shall make the council serve for a statement and explanation of our "doctrines. Thus, we shall come to an explana"❝tion on those points, in which either of us imputes to the other, what he does not believe, "and, on which we dispute, only because we "misconceive each other. This may lead us far: "for, Molanus has actually conciliated the points,

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so essential, of justification and the eucharist. "Nothing is wanting to him, on that side, but "that he should be avowed. Why should we not "hope to conclude, in the same manner, disputes "less difficult, and of less importance?' The letter, "from which the passage is extracted, was written "in an early stage of the controversy: what might "not be hoped from such a spirit of good sense "and conciliation!-The letter, from which the "following passage is extracted, was written in

the tenth year of the correspondence: and I feel, "that every reader of these pages will lament, "with me, that it is the last letter in the corres"pondence. Among the divines of the confession "' of Augsburgh,' says Bossuet, 'I always placed "' M. Molanus in the first rank, as a man whose "learning, candour and moderation, made him "one of the persons the most capable, I have

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"ever known, of advancing the NOBLE PROJECT 66 6 OF RE-UNION. In a letter, which I wrote to "him, some years ago, by the count Balati, I as"sured him that, if he could obtain the general "consent of his party, to what he calls his Cogi"tationes Privatæ, I promised myself, that by joining to them, the remarks, which I sent to "him, on the Confession of Augsburgh, and the "❝ other symbolic works of the protestants, the work of the re-union would be perfected, in all its most difficult and most essential parts; so that well "disposed persons might, in a short time, bring it "to a conclusion*." "

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15.

"SUCH, then, being the charges brought against "the roman-catholics by their adversaries, and such being the defence made by the roman-catholics "to them, will not every candid protestant admit, "that the unfavourable opinion, which some still "entertain of the civil and religious principles of "roman-catholics, is owing, in a great measure, to "prejudice?

"But we have the satisfaction to find, that the "prejudice against us decreases rapidly. With the "mildness and good sense, which distinguishes his "respectable character, the earl of Liverpool thus "expressed himself, in his speech in the debate of

See the "Essay on the Re-union of Christians," printed in the writer's "Historical and Literary Account of the Formu"larics, Confessions of Faith, and Symbolic Books of the Roman"catholic, Greek, and principal Protestant Churches."

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"the house of lords, on the petition presented by "the Irish catholics in 1810.- I have heard allu"sions made this night, to doctrines, which I do

hope no man now believes the catholics to enter"tain: nor is there any ground for an opinion "that the question is opposed under any such pre"tence. The explanations which have been given "on this head, so far as I know, are completely "satisfactory, and the question as it now stands is "" much more narrowed than it was on a former dis"cussion*.'-How very little beyond this decla"ration, and a legislative enactment in consequence of it, do the roman-catholics solicit! "CHARLES BUTLER."

"Lincoln's-Inn, "Feb. 5, 1813.

LXXXIX. 2.

The Petitions presented by the English Catholics to both Houses of Parliament.

DURING the period, which is the subject of the preceding chapter, the English catholics presented several petitions for relief; but, from deference to the Irish catholics, whose vast superiority in number was justly thought to give them an unquestionable right to take the lead in the question of emancipation, the English catholics uniformly avoided a separate discussion of their own case. Care, however, was always taken, that, when their petitions were presented, some personage of high con"See his Lordship's Speech, printed and published by Keating and Booker."