6 NOVEMBER 1852, Page 16

RIDDLE'S HAMPTON LECTURES. * THE Bampton Lectures for the current year,

preached in compli- ance with the will of the founder before the University of Oxford, do not possess a very remarkable literary character, beyond a defi- nite purpose, a clear arrangement, and considerable force of style. Mr. Riddle has not the poetical feeling and tenderness of Father Newman ; he has not the polished unction of Bishop Wilberforce, with the schoohnan's philosophy applied to every individual's spiritual state; neither has he the wide range of historical learn- ing, the comprehensive knowledge of actual life, or the fresh yet orthodox conception of Scripture, which distinguish Maurice, the Preacher of Lincoln's Inn. As regards sound theology, we incline to think he equals if he does not surpass them all : and we do not mean a cold, abstract, or critical theology, but the science of reli- gion applied to the purposes of present life. From the general subjects suggested to the annual preacher by the terms of Canon Bampton's will, Mr. Riddle has chosen one which shall help to " confirm and establish Christian faith " ; though not so much to "confute all heretics and schismatics," as to oppose the superstitions of Rome on the one hand, and the various forms of contemporary infidelity on the other. The real subject of the preacher is the human soul in a state of nature and in a state of grace, with the various causes that induce it to lapse into disbelief or to take refuge in superstition. This theme is well worked out in a theological sense, without losing sight of the peculiar characteristics of the present times or the require- ments of individuals who know nothing of theology. The posi- tion of the preacher may be shortly stated. After describing the nature of the soul in its connexion with the body, pointing out the consequences of the Fall, and tracing the means of man's restoration in the great mystery of redemption, he pictures the soul as renewed by faith. Unless this renewal shall take place, the soul must sink into a more deadly condition than that from which it starts ; there is no remaining as it were in medio—man must either advance or fall back. The two great dangers, which from its nature and circumstances beset the soul, are disbelief and superstition. The causes of infidelity—as licentious life, (but upon this the preacher does not much dwell,) pride of intellect, a trained logical mind, which will be satisfied with nothing short of demonstration—are traced, and the results exhibited, especially in the various forms of contemporary infidelity

• The Natural History of Infidelity and Superstition in contrast with Christian Faith. Eight Divinity Lecture-Sermons, preached before the University of Oxford in the year 1852, on the Foundation of the late Rev. John Bampton, M.A., Canon of Salisbury. By John Edmond Riddle, M.A., of St. Edmund Hall, Minister of St. Philip and Bt. James, Leckhampton, Gloucestershire'. Published by Parker and Son, London ; and Graham, Oxford.

or a disposition closely allied to it. In like manner, superstition is analyzed, and shown to be a believing without reason, while true Christian faith is enlightened belief. The causes of superstition are also traced, and found mainly to consist in an uneasy conscience, which requires soothing, but will not be at the trouble and self- restraint which true religion demands, and so falls back upon au- thority, ritual obiervances, penances,. payinents, or anything which promises an opiate to the sinner without calling upon him to re- new his soul and reform his life. The history of superstition in ancient times is briefly glanced at ; that of the Papacy somewhat more fully exhibited. Infidelity and superstition are then com- pared, and it is shown how the last frequently and in time almost of necessity leads to the first. The lectures close with a discourse pointing out how both are to be withstood, and a peroration, chiefly addressed to his Oxford congregation, on the present duties of the clergy. The choice of the Bampton lecturer is to be made " by the heads of Colleges only, and by no others ": in some degree, there- fore, the opinions of the preacher might seem to indicate those of the "University. So far as this choice is any test, Oxford is now Protestant enough. Without deviating from the calmness proper to the pulpit and his position, Mr. Riddle is not only Anti-Papal, but Anti-Tractarian in a very high degree. This picture of the worldly consequences of superstition shows how little inclined the preacher is towards Rome. "The evil of which we now speak, like others which attach to our fallen nature, is of a self-propagating character throughout. This corrupt tree spreads its roots while it extends its branches ; it tends to strengthen and expand the principles from which it derives its origin. In its progress, no less than at its beginning, it is scrupulous and timid. It fosters the igno- rance from which it springs. It has been perpetually found to encourage that spirit of fraud and imposture to which, more or less remotely, it is indebted for its existence. It is at once the offspring and the parent of a worldly mind. And especially it may be observed, that as mental indolence and apathy appear among the causes to which superstition may be traced, so also a disposition to inertness and inactivity is not a little prominent among its ascertained results. It has been found to be ordinarily attended with that want of alacrity in warding off danger, and that absence of industry and en- ergy in the pursuit of attainable good, which at once constitute a defect in personal character and directly tend to social and political decay. Some- times the timidity which clings to superstition leads men to sit down in des- pair when they ought to be resolutely employed in promoting their rightful interests, or in discharging a bounden duty; and sometimes it causes them to shrink from an attempt at progress or improvement through a dread of doing harm. It appears highly probable that the superstition of Christians —although certainly not (as Gibbon would have us believe ) the religion of Christ—was one great cause of the decline and fall of the Roman empire. We are familiar with accounts of the sluggish and evil influences connected with .a superstitious reception of the Mahometan doctrine of fate ; and in the history of modern Europe it seems to have been established as a fact beyond all controversy, that the good order and well-sustained energy of Protestant nations, together with the civilization and prosperity which follow as legiti- mate results from the public adoption of sound religious principles, stand out in striking contrast with the languor, disorders, and decay of other countries, which continue to be oppressed by Papal superstition. Nor is it only with regard to our material or temporal interests that superstition tends to paralyze effort and to hinder advancement. It cherishes spiritual sloth ; and hence, in this way as well as in others, it contributes to spiritual back- wardness and decay. It says there is a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets,' when there ought to be the Spirit of the Lion of Judah in the heart. It bids the sluggard fold his hands and take a little more sleep, when he ought rather to be aroused from his lethargy, and encouraged to be watchful against sin, to be active in his Master's service, or to be fighting the battles of the Lord. Not that superstition is always and altogether torpid. On the con- trary, it is often fitful and restless ; it is sometimes tossed in the tempest of violent hope or fear ; and not unfrequently it is fierce and eager in the pur- suit of mischief. Still, however, in some way or other, either in its listless- ness on the one hand or in its feverish excitement on the other, it nourishes a temper altogether different from that persevering spirit of beneficent in- dustry and labour which we have reckoned among the characteristic results of Christian faith."

The following passage on the intolerance and the domineering spirit of superstition, clearly indicates the distance its author is re- moved from Traotarianism ' • for the grand point of objection to the Tractarians, as to the Papists, is the superhuman character ascribed to the priest.

" Closely allied to this contentious temper is that spirit of intolerance which has often followed' in the train of superstition ; intolerance, leading in many cases to violent and even sanguinary persecution, and to the in- fliction of multiplied wrongs in the name of religion, with all the social and political evils which such enormities involve. The fanatical attempt to advocate the cause of religion by the sword, whether in the case of the Mahometan who fought under the banner of the false Prophet, or in that of the Christian who marched in the Crusades, was founded in deep superstition : in both instances the warriors fought, in order, as they supposed, to obtain remission of their sins. And whether we look to the blood-stained annals of Papal Rome, or to the more impotent attempts of those who breathe the spirit of Rome without possessing her power, we are compelled to conclude, as a matter of history and of painful observation, that superstition can hardly'exist in the mind of an individual, and certainly not in the bosom of a church, without producing the foul spirit of stern intolerance and relent- less persecution. " Not unconnected with the manifestation of this contentious and over- bearing spirit, is the fact that superstition has invariably appeared not only as the firm ally, but as the most productive source of spiritual despotism, priestcraft, and priestly domination. Add the figments of superstition to the truths and institutions of the gospel, and instantly the Christion presbyter is changed into a sacrificing priest—a fancied intercessor or appointed media- tor between God and men ; he becomes a representative of Christ, instead of an ambassador for him—a delegate to exercise his power, instead of a minister whose office is to preach the gospel, and to rule and feed the flock committed to his care, commending himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. No sooner has this priestly transformation been effected, than the best friend of his brother men has been turned into the worst of tyrants. All history concurs to teach us that the greater is the degree of superstition embodied in any system of religion, the greater is the amount of power lodged in the hands of its ministers,—power of an absolute and despotic kind, entirely distinct from that wholesome influence which arises from the exercise of wisdom and benevolence in connexion with an orderly designation and a position of lawful authority. In point of fact, these two things, the power of the mediating priest on the one band, and the influence of the Christian presbyter on the other, bear to each other precisely the same relation as that which subsists between superstition and religion ; the one is false, the other is true."

A vast body of notes are aprnded to the lectures ; giving proof of very wide theological reading, not only among divines of the English Church, but among Germans and Nonconformists. The notes, however, as often support the positions of the text by au- thority as by argument.