THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, AND HISTORICAL CHRONICLE. FROM JANUARY TO JUNE, 1828. VOLUME XCVIII. (BEING THE TWENTY-FIRST OF A NEW SERIES.) PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET; WHERE LETTERS ARE PARTICULARLY REQUESTED TO BE SENT, POST-PAID; AND SOLD BY JOHN HARRIS, AT THE CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, LUDGATE STREET; 1828. THE PRIEST AND THE BIBLE. (A Protestant Apologue.) A DISCIPLE of Rome, Father Francis by name As the Bible in English he readIndignant exclaim'd, "What a sin! what a shame, That the nation should thus be misled ! Not a page can I read, but some passage of note Corrupted, perverted, I see. [quote, With our Catholic Bible, which well I can Scarce a chapter of this will agree." A Protestant heard this rash censor declaim, And, smiling, thus check'd his career : "Your attention, good Sir, for a moment, I claim: "Tis but a short story to hear. A Coiner there is, a deep practical rogue, Yet in a wide circle his coin has such vogue, That his Majesty's coin is unknown. There if a strange voyager happen to pass, And some purchase would make on his way, In vain he produces gold, silver, and brass, And attempts with good money to pay. ""Tis a sin, 'tis a shame, Sir," (each shop[cheat: keeper cries) "With such trash honest tradesmen to But the fraud is too gross; and, if blind of both eyes, By the touch I could feel the deceit. In good valid coin, all our payments we make Here's a sample, substantial and true. 'Tis such you must bring; such alone we will take : But your counterfeit stuff will not do." "What nonsense is this? (cried the priest with disdain) I spoke of the Bible alone.”— "Be calm, (quoth the other), pray, hear me explain: 'Tis a case quite in point, you must own. From the coiner's dark forge you the Bible receiv'd, What he pleas'd, unobserv'd, he put in't: Then no wonder the diff'rence so soon is perceiv'd Since we obtain'd ours from the mint. What all must admit to be true, [Greek, From th' original sources, the Hebrew and Our Protestant Bible we drew. Less ancient than these is the Latin you boast: "Tis, at best, but a dubious translation, And oft so obscure, that in darkness we're lost, Where most we need illumination. Correct then your Latin; and ('spite of false shame) Confess that our English is pure; Since loudly the prototype volumes proclaim That the forgery lies at your door. Or, if infallibility will not permit Any faults in your Latin to own, Or to needful amendment its pages submit, But cling to the Vulgate alone; Translate, in fair English, that text, as it stands: Let candor preside o'er the task: A copy commit to each Catholic's hands: "Tis all that we Protestants ask. E'en through the dark mist of your Vulgate they'll see [high: The glad day-spring beam forth from on To their Maker alone they will then bend the knee, Nor on Saints, for protection, rely. Each image, disrob'd of its mystical veil, And no more for indulgences sue. With consciences pure, of that bread they will eat, And (freely invited by Paul) They will drink of that cup, which their Lord has thought meet To be equally tasted by all. God's kingdom (they'll see) is not meat, is not drink : [pure; Opure hearts, all God's creatures are To fast from their sins, the true fast they will think, Το Which alone can salvation procure. For relief after death, they'll no longer depend On the Mass fondly purchas'd with gold; But, warn'd by their Shepherd, their lives they'll amend : Or, in short, my good father, more plainly And his flock will unite in one fold.” to speak ΑΜΕΝ. 154823 PREFACE. Two most important national subjects, Catholic Emancipation and the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, have occupied the attention of the Legislature during the Parliamentary Session of 1828. The Catholic question was lost, as our Historical Chronicle will show, by a respectable majority in the House of Lords, though it had previously passed the Commons; but the Bill in favour of the Dissenters, being supported by the Administration, passed through both Houses, as every one anticipated, amidst partial but ineffectual opposition. This measure, which in 1789 was rejected by an overwhelming majority, owing probably, in a great degree, to the agitation arising out of the first steps of the French Revolution, and to the intemperate conduct of many of the Dissenters of that period, has now met with a very different reception. This, however, can excite little surprise, when it is considered that, owing to the Annual Indemnity Bill, the Test and Corporation Acts have, for a long series of years, become a mere nullity; while the frequent profanation of a divine ordinance, has long been a source of grief to the devout and conscientious ministers of the Establishment. These Acts were originally intended to point out who of the candidates for certain offices under Government were members of the Church, justly considering that those who were likely to cherish views of subverting that Establishment, ought to be excluded from the possession of offices which might furnish the power of executing their wishes. The extreme principles, however, upon which the Acts in question were founded, and which extended to every office or situation, even of the lowest description (as if the security of the connection between Church and State depended upon every petty officer of Customs or Excise, &c. being a member of the Established Church), no doubt operated considerably to counteract the very object which the framers of them had in view; and what might have been deemed justifiable, as regarded the higher officers of State, was rendered obnoxious by the very extent to which it was intended to be carried, but which the Annual Indemnity Acts had rendered wholly inoperative. Whatever might be the case formerly, we believe there are very few, among the intelligent Dissenters, who would not now deprecate any act or measure likely to work the overthrow of a Church, whose very existence is perhaps intimately connected with the preservation of their own liberties and privileges, and which, we will venture confidently to af firm, for intelligence, toleration, and Christian virtue, is not to be surpassed. The claims of the Roman Catholics may be viewed in a very different light from those of the Dissenters. These are purely political, and on political grounds alone do we oppose them. If the Catholics could once be induced to renounce the supremacy of the Pope, they might quietly enjoy their seven sacraments, &c.-" but while they acknowledge a foreign power (says Blackstone) superior to the sovereignty of |