ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



325 



Fcclesiasti- our natural faculties and powers, nor from the force and 

 o*l History operation of free will ; since man, in consequence of 

 *~""V"~ his natural conception, is incapable either of thinking 

 or of doing any good thing ; and that therefore it is ne- 

 cessary to his conversion and salvation, that he be re- 

 S'-''i<-''ttterf and renewed by the operation of the Holy 

 Ghost, which is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ. 

 4. That this divine grace, or energy of the Holy Ghost, 

 which heals the disorder of our corrupted nature, be- 

 gins, advances, and brings to perfection, every thing 

 that can be called good in man ; and that, consequent- 

 ly, all good works, without exception, are to be attribu- 

 ted to God alone, and to the operation of his grace: 

 that, nevertheless, this grace does not force the man to 

 act against his inclination, but may be misled ami ren- 

 dered ineffectual, by the perverse will of the impenitent 

 sinner. 5. That they who are united to Christ by faith 

 are furnished with abundant strength, and with suc- 

 cours sufficient to enable them to triumph over the se- 

 ductions of Satan and the allurements of the world ; 

 but that the question, " Whether such may fall from 

 their faith, and forfeit finally this state of grace ?" has 

 not yet been resolved with sufficient perspicuity ; and 

 must therefore be yet more carefully examined by an 

 attentive study of what the holy scriptures have decla- 

 red, in relation to this important point. This is the 

 fifth article as it was originally propounded by Simon 

 Episcopius and the other Arminians in the Synod of 

 Dort. " It is to be observed, however," says Mosheim 

 with regard to this article, " that it was afterwards 

 changed by the Arminiang, who in process of time de- 

 clared their sentiments with less caution, and positively 

 affirmed, lltal the saints might fall amay from a stale of 

 grace. For a full account of the Aruiinian controversy, 

 the reader may consult the works of Amiinius himself, 

 together with those of Episcopius and Grotius, Brandt's 

 History of the Reformation in the United PrOKmetf, 

 vol. ii. and iii. ; Whitby's Treatise on the Five Ainii- 

 nian Points ; and a work of great pretensions, lately sc-t 

 forth by Dr Tomline, Bishop of Lincoln. On the other 

 hand, he may consult the volumes of Calvin and Gill, 

 and a very profound and masterly Treatise on Free n-ill, 

 by the celebrated Dr Jonathan Edwards of America. 



I" work like the present, the article ECCLESIASTI- 

 CAL HISTORY must, of course, be a very general one. 

 Having, therefore, now given a short account of the 

 most important controversies which have been agitated 

 among the Protestants since the time of Luther to the 

 present day, we shall bring our labours to a close. And 

 m looking around us, we cannot contemplate the exit- 

 ing state of Christianity without the sincerest emotions 

 of gratitude and joy. Not many years ago, the secu- 

 ritv of our holy religion was shaken by the torrent of 

 infidelity, which threatened to overspread, with its 

 mighty force, every country of Christendom. The fa- 

 naticism which prevailed, had its origin in France. In 

 this unhappy kingdom, the superstitions of Rome had 

 been so confounded with genuine Christianity, that 

 they were completely identified in the estimation of the 

 people. An erring philosophy, that failed to distin- 

 guish between things unquestionably different, had 

 gained possession of the public mind : the chief autho- 

 rity was put into the hands of the multitude, ever cap- 

 tivated with the novelty and the acquisition of power, 

 and ever ready to abuse it; the whole system of Christi.-i- 

 nity was ferociously overthrown ; the observance of the 

 Sabbath was abolished : the human understanding 

 seemed to be perverted beyond the hope or the possi- 

 bility of recovery, and the human character, M exem- 



Ecdesia&ti- 

 cal History 



II 

 Echo. 



plified among the revolutionists of France, appeared to 

 become every day, more and more degraded and brutal. 

 The convulsions of the state kept pace with the downfal 

 of the church. The madness heightened, and was exas- 

 perated; the hearts of men, who looked on and witness- 

 ed the scene, failed them through fear: other nations felt 

 the shock of dissolving empire, or were engulphed in its 

 ruins. But better days have at length arrived. The 

 contending elements have found their balance and their 

 proper place. We rejoice in the cessation of a protract- 

 ed warfare, and would record in our pages too, and with 

 no little or feigned satisfaction, that the captains and 

 the mighty men have met together, each of them with 

 " the green branch" in his hand. A reputable, and, as 

 we trust, a permanent peace has at last been attained. 

 But we know not ourselves at all, if this be the only cause 

 of our joy. The human mind has returned to a sense of 

 religion, and the acknowledgment of a God. The throne 

 of the Redeemer has again been erected. From Eng- 

 land a light is gone forth which shall illuminate the 

 most distant lands. Christian benevolence has multi- 

 plied her children. A society has been formed and es- Bible So- 

 tablished for the printing and the circulation of the holy cieties. 

 scriptures ; differences are laid aside, dissensions are for- 

 gotten ; the lofty churchman unites with the humbler 

 Presbyterian, or still humbler methodist; one feeling 

 bounds in every breast, and every prayer which is brea- 

 thed to heaven is breathed for the accomplishment of 

 the prophecy, which assures us, " that the knowledge 

 of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover 

 the sea." In point of fact, this prophecy, through the 

 exertions of the British and Foreign Bible Society; has 

 already, in part, been fulfilled : and it is now true with 

 a peculiar significancy in the statement, and extent in 

 the application of the language, ' that the heathen is 

 given" to Christ Jesus " for his inheritance, and the 

 uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." See 

 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, passim ; Lardner's 

 Works, passim ; Du Pin's Church Hittory ; Campbell's 

 Lectures on Ecclesiastical History ; Histoire Ecclesias- 

 liijiu' par Floury, edit. Bruxelle; Father Paul Sarpi's His- 

 ttiri/ of the Council of Trent, translated from the Italian 

 into French by De la Houssaic ; Jortin's Remarks on 

 /istical History ; Neal's History of the Puritans ; 

 M'Crie's Life nfjuhn Knox ; and Reports of the British 

 and Foreign tiiblf Society, passim, (h) 



ECHINUS. See MOLLUSCA. 



ECHO, from the Greek word nxf, a sound. In 

 the article ACOUSTICS, we have already treated the sub- 

 ject of echoes, as connected with the general doctrines 

 of sound, having reserved for the present article, brief 

 notices of some of the most celebrated echoes. 



Dr Plot, in his Natural Histort/ of Oxfordthir*, men- 

 tions an echo in Woodstock Park, in Oxfordshire, which 

 repeats 17 syllables in the day-time, and 20 in the night. 

 This effect he ascribes to the superior density of the 

 air during the night, which diminishes the velocity of 

 the sound. 



Harris describes an echo on the north side of Ship, 

 ley church, in Sussex, as repeating 21 syllables dis- 

 tinctly, under favourable circumstances. 



Dr Birch informs us, that there was an echo at Rose- 

 nruth, in Argyllshire, in Scotland, which distinctly re- 

 peated, three times, a tune played on a trumpet. When 

 a person, placed at a proper distance, plays eight or ten 

 notes, they are correctly repeated, but a third lower ; 

 after a short silence, another repetition is heard, in a 

 still lower tone ; and, after another short interval, there 

 is a third repetition, in a still lower tone. 



