From this period till the Revolution in 1688, there was a gradual and most alarming defection from the Reformation attainments. In this trespass all ranks, in general, through the nation, were deeply involved. Nevertheless, even in those days of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, there were some faithful witnesses for Christ and his cause. They were valiant for the truth upon the earth;-they resisted the prevailing defections even unto blood, striving against sin, and they generally, held their meetings in the open air, a practice which they transmitted to their descendants, and which, though no longer the effect of necessity, is not wholly disused to this day in some districts, as often as the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is dispensed. They stedfastly adhered to the very same principles, which were openly espoused, and solemnly ratified by the covenanted Church of Scotland, in the times of her purest reformation.

Thus they remained till, in 1706, the Rev. John M.Millan acceded to them and espoused their cause. Some time afterwards they received the accession of the Rev. Thomas Nairn, who had been in connexion with the Secession Church. Mr. M.Millan and he, with some ruling elders, who had been regularly ordained before, and held the same principles, "constituted a Presbytery, in the name, of Christ, the alone Head of his Church," in 1743, under the title of the Reformed Presbytery. This title it still bears; "not that they consider themselves as any better than other men, or as having, in their own persons, arrived at any higher degrees of perfection; but purely for this, that it is at least their honest intention faithfully to adhere to the whole of our Reformation attainments, in both church and state, without knowingly dropping any part of them. On this account, it is presumed, they may justly enough be called the Reformed or Reformation Presbytery; while, in another point of view, they might, with equal propriety, be denominated the Dissent ing Presbytery."

fessed, and the good of mankind at large. Nor do they object even to the particular kind of it adopted in our own country, viz. a mixed monarchy. The great matters on which their scruples turn, are the terms, or fundamental conditions, on which persons are admitted into places of power and trust in the nation. Disapproving of the present terms of advancement to power and authority,— and especially, seeing that an unwarranted supremacy over the church of Christ is made an essential part of the constitution, and the support of it in their respective stations the positively fixed and indispensable condition upon which persons are admitted to fill the several places of power,-these the Old Dissenters cannot in judgment approve, but find themselves under the disagreeable necessity of openly entering their protest against national backsliding, either in church or state. Doing so, they consider themselves as proceeding on the great and generally admitted principle, that human society is formed by mutual consent, and not by compulsion. If so, the Old Dissenters cannot, consistently, be refused the privilege of openly avowing their satisfaction with the fundamental laws of that great national society to which, in the person of their worthy ancestors, they heartily gave their consent, and to which they still consent in their own persons; neither can they be justly blamed, after using the best means of information in their power, for following the dictates of their own mind in dissenting from the deeds of those who, at the Revolution, receded from the former laudable attainments, and re-organized the society on principles entirely different.

Meanwhile, after publicly entering their dissent from the Revolution settlement of church and state, and candidly assigning their reasons, it ever hath been, and they trust ever shall be, their study to live peaceably and inoffensively, without giving disturbance either to small or great. Nor do they wish this to be admitted on their bare assertion.. Let their conduct undergo the strictest investigation for a hundred years back; and it will be found, that in no rebellions, seditions, or public disturbances of any kind, have they ever had a share, or taken any active part. They never entertained the idea of propagating their

their own use, is Syrian Christians, or the Syrian Church of Malayala.

The doctrines of the Syrian Church are

TABERNACLE, among the Hebrews, a kind of building in the form of a tent, set up by the express command of God for the performance of religious worship, sacrifices, &c. Exod. xxvi. xxvii.

Tabernacle is also a name given to certain chapels or meeting-houses in England, erected by Mr. Whitefield, and to similar places of worship reared by Robert Haldane, Esq., for the accommodation of a few large congregations in Scotland, out of which have chiefly been formed the present churches of Congregational Dissenters in that country.

TABERNACLES, FEAST OF, a solemn festival of the Hebrews, observed after harvest, on the 15th day of the month Tisri, instituted to commemorate the goodness of God, who protected the Israelites in the wilderness, and made them dwell in booths whence they came out of Egypt.

TABLE TALK, LUTHER'S, an apocryphal work ascribed to the great Reformer, and pretending to give a collection of his favourite sayings, aphorisms, &c. It contains no small quantity of excellent matter, and much that is amusing; but retails many absurd stories and extravagances, which tend in no small degree to lower the character of Luther. If any part of it really came from his pen, it was never designed for publication.

TABORITES, the followers of John Huss, so called from the fortified city of Tabor, erected on a mountain, in the circle of Bechin, in Bohemia, which had been consecrated by the field-preaching of Huss. The gentle and pious mind of that martyr never could have anticipated, far less approved of, the terrible revenge which his Bohemian adherents took upon the emperor, the empire, and the clergy, in one of the most dreadful and bloody wars ever known. The Hussites commenced their vengeance by the destruction of the convents and churches, on which occasions many of the priests and monks were murdered. John Ziska, a Bohemian knight, formed a numerous, well-mounted, and disciplined army, which built Tabor, as above described, and rendered it an impregnable depot and place of defence. He was called Ziska of the Cup, because one great point for which the Hussites contended was the use of the cup by the laity in the sacrament. At his death, in 1424, the immense mass of people whom he had collected fell to pieces; but, under Procopius, who succeeded Ziska as general, the Hussites again rallied, and gained decisive victories over the imperial armies in 1427 and 1431.

contained in a very few articles; and are not at variance, in essentials, with the doctrines of the Church of England.

After this, as all parties were desirous of coming to terms of peace, the council of Basle interposed, and a compromise was made; but hostilities again broke out in 1434, when the Taborites gained a complete victory. Owing, however, to the treachery of Sigismund, whom they had aided in ascending the throne, they were much weakened; and from this time they abstained from warfare, and maintained their disputes with the Catholics only in the deliberations of the Diet, and in theological controversial writings, by means of which their creed acquired a purity and completeness which made it similar, in many respects, to the Protestant confessions of the sixteenth century. Encroachments were gradually made on their religious freedom, and they continued to suffer until they gradually merged into the BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, which see.

TALAPOINS, priests or friars of the Siamese and other Indian nations. They reside in monasteries under the superintendence of a superior, whom they call a Sunerat. They perform penance for such of the people as pay them for it; are very hospitable to strangers, and strict in their rules of chastity. There are also female Talapoins, who live according to rules similar to those of the men.

TALENT figuratively signifies any gift or opportunity God gives to men for the promotion of his glory. Every thing almost," says Mr. Scott, that we are, or possess, or meet with, may be considered as a talent; for a good or a bad use may be made of every natural endowment, or providential appointment, or they may remain unoccupied through inactivity and selfishness. Time, health, vigour of body, and the power of exertion and enduring fatigue-the natural and acquired abilities of the mind, skill in any lawful art or science, and the capacity for close mental application-the gift of speech, and that of speaking with fluency and propriety, and in a convincing, attractive, or persuasive manner-wealth, influence, or authority-a man's situation in the church, the community, or relative life-and the various occurrences which make way for him to attempt any thing of a beneficial tendency; these, and many others that can scarcely be enumerated, are talents which the consistent Christian will improve to the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. Nay, this improvement procures an increase of talents, and gives a min an accession of influence, and an accumulating power of doing good; because it tends to establish his reputation for prudence, piety,

integrity, sincerity, and disinterested benevolence: it gradually forms him to an habitual readiness to engage in beneficent designs, and to conduct them in a gentle, unobtrusive, and unassuming manner: it disposes others to regard him with increasing confidence and affection, and to approach him with satisfaction; and it procures for him the countenance of many persons, whose assistance he can employ in accomplishing his own salutary purposes."

TALMUD (from the Heb. 5, lamad, to teach), the great depository of the doctrines and opinions of the Jews. There are two works which bear this name-the Talmud of Jerusalem and the Talmud of Babylon. Each of these is composed of two parts--the Mishnah, which is the text, and is common to both; and the Gemara, or commentary.

The Mishnah, which comprehends all the laws, institutions, and rules of life, (which, besides the ancient Hebrew Scripture, the Jews thought themselves bound to observe,) was composed, according to the unanimous testimony of the Jews, about the close of the second century. It was the work of Rabbi Jehuda (or Juda) Hakkadosh, who was the ornament of the school of Tiberias, and is said to have occupied him forty years. The commentaries and additions which succeeding rabbies made, were collected by Rabbi Jochanan Ben Eliezer, some say in the fifth, others say in the sixth, and others in the seventh century, under the name of Gemara, that is, completion, because it completed the Talmud. Á similar addition was made to the Mishnah by the Babylonish doctors in the beginning of the sixth century, according to Enfield; and in the seventh, according to others.

The Mishnah is divided into six parts, of which every one which is entitled order is formed of treatises: every treatise is divided into chapters, and every chapter into mishnahs, or aphorisms. In the first part is discussed whatever relates to seeds, fruits, and trees in the second, feasts: in the third, women, their duties, their disorders, marriages, divorces, contracts, and nuptials: in the fourth, are treated the damages or losses sustained by beasts or men, of things found, deposits, usuries, rents, farms, partnership in commerce, inheritance, sales and purchases, oaths, witnesses, arrests, idolatry; and here are named those by whom the oral law was received and preserved: in the fifth part are noticed what regards sacrifices and holy things and the sixth treats on purifications, vessels, furniture, clothes, houses, leprosy, baths, and numerous other articles-all this forms the Mishnah.

As the learned reader may wish to obtain some notion of rabbinical composition and judgment, we shall gratify his curiosity sufficiently by the following specimen:-"Adam's

body was made of the earth of Babylon, his head of the land of Israel, his other members of other parts of the world. R. Meir thought be was compact of the earth gathered out of the whole earth; as it is written, Thine eyes did see my substance.' Now it is elsewhere written, The eyes of the Lord are over all the earth.' R. Aha expressly marks the twelve hours in which his various parts were formed. His stature was from one end of the world to the other; and it was for his transgression that the Creator, laying his hand in anger on him, lessened him; for before,' says R. Eleazer, with his hand he reached the firmament.' R. Jehuda thinks his sin was heresy; but R. Isaac thinks that it was nourishing his foreskin."

The Talmud of Babylon is most valued by the Jews; and this is the book which they mean to express when they talk of the Talmud in general. An abridgment of it was made by Maimonides, in the 12th century, in which be rejected some of its greatest absurdities. The Gemara is stuffed with dreams and chimeras, with many ignorant and impertinent questions, and the style very coarse. The Mishnah is written in a style comparatively pure, and may be very useful in explaining passages of the New Testament, where the phraseology is similar. This is, indeed, the only use to which Christians can apply it: but this renders it valuable.-Lightfoot has judiciously availed himself of such information as be could derive from it. Some of the popes, with a barbarous zeal, and a timidity of spirit for the success of the Christian religion, which the belief of its divinity can never excuse, ordered great numbers of the Talmud to be burned. Gregory IX. burned about twenty cart-loads; and Paul IV. ordered 12,000 copies of the Talmud to be destroyed. See MISHNAH, the last edition of the Talmud of Babylon, printed at Amsterdam, in 12 vols. folio; the Talmud of Jerusalem is in one large volume folio.

TANQUELINIANS, so called from Tanquelinus, who formed a numerous denomination in Brabant and Antwerp in the twelfth century. He treated with contempt the external worship of God, the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and the rite of baptism; and held clandestine assemblies to propagate his opinions. declaimed against the vices of the clergy with vehemence and intrepidity.

He

TARGUM, a name given to the Chaldee paraphrases of the books of the Old Testament. They are called paraphrases or expositions, because they are rather comments and explications, than literal translations of the text. They are written in the Chaldee tongue, which became familiar to the Jews after the time of their captivity in Babylon, and was more known to them than the Hebrew itself; so that when the Hebrew text was read in the synagogue, or in the temple, they generally

added to it an explication in the Chaldee tongue for the service of the people, who had but a very imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew tongue. It is probable, that even from the time of Ezra this custom began: since this learned scribe, reading the law to the people in the temple, explained it, with the other priests that were with him, to make it understood by the people, Neh. viii. 7, 9.

But though the custom of making these sorts of expositions in the Chaldee language be very ancient among the Hebrews, yet they have no written paraphrases or Targums before the era of Onkelos and Jonathan, who lived about the time of our Saviour. Jonathan is placed about thirty years before Christ, under the reign of Herod the Great. Onkelos is something more modern. The Targum of Onkelos is the most of all esteemed, and copies are to be found in which it is inserted verse for verse with the Hebrew. It is so short, and so simple, that it cannot be suspected of being corrupted. This paraphrast wrote only upon the books of Moses; and his style approaches nearly to the purity of the Chaldee, as it is found in Daniel and Ezra. This Targum is quoted in the Mishnah, but was not known either to Eusebius, St. Jerome, or Origen.

The Targum of Jonathan, son of Uziel, is upon the greater and lesser prophets. He is much more diffuse than Onkelos, and especially upon the lesser prophets, where he takes greater liberties, and runs on in allegories. His style is pure enough, and approaches pretty near to the Chaldee of Onkelos. It is thought that the Jewish doctors, who lived above 700 years after him, made some additions to him.

The Targum of Joseph the Blind is upon the Hagiographia. This author is much more modern, and less esteemed, than those we have now mentioned. He has written upon the Psalms, Job, the Proverbs, the Canticles, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, and Esther. His style is a very corrupt Chaldee, with a great mixture of words from foreign languages.

The Targum of Jerusalem is only upon the Pentateuch; nor is that entire or perfect. There are whole verses wanting, others transposed, others mutilated; which has made many of opinion that this is only a fragment of some ancient paraphrase that is now lost. There is no Targum upon Daniel, or upon the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

These Targuins are of great use for the better understanding not only of the Old Testament, on which they are written, but also of the New. As to the Old Testament, they serve to vindicate the genuineness of the present Hebrew text, by proving it to be the same that was in use when these Targums were made; contrary to the opinion of those who think the Jews corrupted it after the time of our Saviour. They help to explain

many words and phrases in the Hebrew original, and they hand down to us many of the ancient customs of the Jews. And some of them, with the phraseology, idioms, and peculiar forms of speech which are found in them, do, in many instances, help as much for the illustration and better understanding of the New Testament as of the Old, the Jerusalem Chaldee dialect, in which they are written, being the vulgar language of the Jews in our Saviour's time. They also very much serve the Christian cause against the modern Jews, by interpreting many of the prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the Messiah, in the same manner as the Christians do. The best edition of these Targums is that in Buxtorf's great Hebrew Bible, Basle, 1610.

TASCODRUGITE, an ancient sect, supposed to be a subdivision of the Montanists, and so called from the custom of putting the forefinger on the nose in the act of prayer: rakoç in the Phrygian language signifying a stake, and cpuyyoç a nose or beak.

TE DEUM, the title of a celebrated hymn, long used in the Christian Church, and so called because it begins with these words: Te Deum laudamus; i. e. “We praise thee, O God." The origin and author of this hymn have been disputed. It has commonly been ascribed to Jerome and Augustine jointly; but it has, with greater probability, been attributed to Nicetus, Bishop of Triers, who lived about the year 535, and who is said to have composed it for the use of the Gallican Church.

TELEOLOGY, that science which developes the end or final causes of the constitution of things in the natural world, and thus deduces proofs of the existence and attributes of God. The word is compounded of the Greek τέλειος, from reλoc, end, and Xoyos, doctrine.

TEMPER, the disposition of the mind, whether natural or acquired. The word is seldom used by good writers without an epithet, as, a good or a bad temper. Temper must be distinguished from passion. The passions are quick and strong emotions, which by degrees subside. Temper is the disposition which remains after these emotions are past, and which forms the habitual propensity of the soul. See Dr. Evans's Practical Discourses on the Christian Temper, and the various articles, LOVE, PATIENCE, HUMILITY, FORTITUDE, &c.

TEMPERANCE, that virtue which a man is said to possess who moderates and restrains his sensual appetite. It is often, however, used in a much more general sense, as synonymous with moderation, and is then applied indiscriminately to all the passions. “Temperance," says Addison, "has those particular advantages above all other means of health, that it may be practised by all ranks and conditions at any season or in any place. It is a