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and the doers of it; he apprehends that, throughout, there has been in everything a want of adaptation. We think Mr. King carries some matters too far, and claims for his country a confidence as to her capabilities of self-management of which the proofs are very slender. In one thing, however, we agree with him: that the press ought to be managed more efficiently; but the difficulties that stand in the way of the experiment are, for the present, insuperable. The following expresses his view:

Thousands of our population who are not reached in any way by our feeble ministrations, would read an organ of Evangelism, adapted to their modes of thinking; and yet THE WHOLE PERIODICAL PRESS OF IRELAND DOES NOT ISSUE A SINGLE SHEET FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF IRISHMEN ON THE SUBJECT OF FREE, UNSECTARIAN, EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTISM!

With all their resources, in number, and in varied agency, the Roman Catholic priests incessantly work the press; and by its aid they wield an immense influence. Evangelical Protestantism must create and employ a popular literature, if it would propagate itself in this land. It must work the periodical press, or be cancelled from the synopsis of popular inquiry!

Mutual Recognition in Heaven. A Discourse by Rev. R. ALLIOTT, LL.D. London: Miller and Field, Lambeth. A SERMON from a text chosen_by_the subject of it previous to his death. Tender and soothing, as a matter of gospel doctrine; but, as a funeral sermon, it is remarkably deficient, as comprising nothing whatever of a biographical character concerning the deceased, beyond the simple intimation in the first paragraph, that he died in the faith and hope of the gospel." It is rare to find a funeral sermon so divested of everything funereal. If simply "dying in the faith and hope of the gospel" be deemed a ground for the act, some ministers would have to publish sermons every week. Still the sermon, considered simply as an exhibition of a great Christian principle, is excellent.

SERMONS AND LECTURES.

Christianity its Progress, and its Present Impediments. A Lecture by THOMAS MILLS. London: Bakewell. AN exceedingly solid and elaborate composition, pervaded by a spirit of fire, and distinguished by strong eloquence. Were we to note all that is excellent, we should transcribe every page. We shall cite a single paragraph, taken at random :

One of the pernicious tendencies of our time is to formalism. The carnal world is unable to appreciate a spiritual religion, a kingdom that is fixed in the heart, and much less to regard it with love. It wants a religion that shall fill the imagination, and wear an imposing aspect to the senses. Let the church of God erect magnificent buildings with painted windows, marble floors, and with imposing altars, surrounded with gilded shrines; let the "dim religious light" fill the interior with an air of solemnity, and sweet incense regale the smell; let paintings adorn the walls, and monumental sculpture meet the eye at every turn; let strains of unearthly music sweep along the vaulted aisles; let the worship of God be solemnized in a dramatic style, and the priestly actors be robed in rich vestments; let a showy ritual, and sights of pageantry, and melodious sounds, inundate the senses and imagination with floods of intoxicating pleasures ;but leave the sinner's conscience undisturbed in its covered guilt, take care not to expose the deformities of sin, nor to enforce the spirituality and requisitions of the moral law; only resolve religion into a name to wear and a form to observe, but attempt not to elevate the soul above objects of sense, to communion with an unseen world and a holy God; only let worship be a spiritual drama, and the sanctuary an ecclesiastical theatre, with splendid decorations; and the carnally-minded world will become your patron, will crowd into your church, and mistake educational prejudice for Christian principle, and superstition for piety. The grossest error will then be labelled as absolute truth, the grossest corruption put on the robes of purity, and the church will be transformed into a mausoleum, the magnitude and beauty of the exterior of which will strike the eye, but within there will dwell only darkness and death. Such a church presents "the deceivableness of unrighteousness;" and the bewitched nations of the earth are deluded by its enchantments. The very nature, and spirit, and design of true religion are lost sight of in such a church, and devotion and depravity are combined. Revelation is treated as a mere fiction, and sanctimonious hypocrisy and superstition delude the world to its ruin.

The writer has fallen into the stupid practice of some weak people, of withholding the date. There is nothing in the lecture from which it can be collected when it was delivered; but, from the reference to Mr. Binney's recent piece on Education, we infer it must have been recently.

The Patience of the Christian Workman. A Sermon, by WATSON SMITH. London: Hamilton and Co.

A VERY copious, sound, and business-like discourse, much fitted to the occasion. The following admirable paragraphs may serve as a specimen :

So in civil and political affairs, by asserting the great principles of truth and righteousness, we may win all the more power for expounding successfully to our fellow-man the leading ideas and doctrines of the Divine government. We

may show to him how, under the gospel, every creature is represented in Christ; every case and circumstance equally considered, when submitted to the common Saviour, be it great or small, as men may reckon; every man may take his full place and share upon obedience to the gospel; every man have his suffrage by believing prayer in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.

Thus may we turn everything into religion, the fine gold of the sanctuary, by the Divine touch of the spiritual mind: extract the spirit and essence of Christianity from the commonest affairs of life. Thus we need not despair to take all our goods with us into eternity; for we may, after this fashion, transmute the grossest and earthiest materials into the riches of our eternal habitation. It is so if you begin at the very lowest point with an instructed patience : "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Never will there be a real, a Divine reformation of evils and abuses in any province of the world's business and history, till Christians take full stand in all in the name of Christ, and teach mankind the true and inward meaning of all; never till Christianity reigns in the hearts of individuals, beginning its grand and immortal reformation at home; never till Christianity reigns in the heart of all our affairs-domestic, social, political, commercial-shall we witness the destruction of evil, and the enthronement of the universal rights of God and redemption of man, as his blood-bought offspring.

Seeing, then, what a work of overturning is to be done that the kingdom of Christ may come both within and without, what a vast foundation is to be laid for a new state of things; seeing that we Christians only can do the work, and hitherto have but little understood and been far behind our religion in these departments, we must prepare ourselves to bring forth fruit with patience. And in the conduct of these immense out-works, this vast body of Divine reform, "Brethren, be patient towards all men."

A Bishop's Charge to the Laity; in Answer to a Bishop's Charge to the Clergy. Being Two Discourses on Sacramental Efficacy. By the Rev. B. GRANT, B.A. London: Snow. THESE discourses were occasioned by the Charge of the Bishop of Worcester recently delivered to the Clergy in St. Philip's Church, Birmingham. We conceive Mr. Grant deserves great praise for the promptitude with which he has stepped forth, and the ability with which he has corrected the pernicious errors of this State-paid Bishop. We could wish to have in every one of our great towns, and all our chief localities, at least one such man. Neither the truth nor the Nonconformists of England have reason to be ashamed of their advocate. Within moderate limits he has gone very thoroughly into the subject, and dealt a succession of telling blows on this system

of grievous error. When will the Bishop, or some of his clergy, condescend to answer Mr. Grant the following questions?

And, again, How will the Bishop make this baptismal service correspond with the strong Calvinism of the 17th Article? That Article speaks of a certain number elected to eternal life, to be in due time called, adopted, and regenerate is this due time the time of baptism? And is God's election the same as the priest's declaration, which makes all baptized children regenerate? And does this Calvinism admit of several new births? Does it sign the Confirmation Service, and make every one elect who can say the Catechism? We need scarcely appeal to the Scriptures to overthrow this divided house.

Is not the whole system of the Church rites a contract for saving all who go through them, beginning with the fiction of regeneration in baptism, confirming this fiction at a visitation, and sending men into eternity with the same fiction in the burial service? What, then, has all this to do with "filling up the number of God's elect," unless God's elect be the Church's elect?

We will not stay to inquire long into another ceremony-consecrating the burial-ground; but simply ask, Is it consecrated to God, to the dead, or to St. Michael ?-and who is St. Michael, that he should own a church and a cemetery? It is time these things were either done away with, or proved according to Scripture.

This is a specimen of the spirit and vigour with which a charge is carried home into the quarters of the enemy. These admirable discourses close with the following paragraphs:

Nothing has proved a greater mystery of iniquity than pretending to make men "members of Christ, and children of God," by other means, such as the IMPOSTURE of baptismal regeneration, which, though "a doctrine of the Church," is not a doctrine of the Bible. This unscriptural doctrine is clung to for no other purpose than to exalt a clergy, and maintain the credit of a creed, which is the swaddling-band of the Church, continuing it in the dwarfishness or childhood of spiritual ignorance. Nothing is more calculated to establish self-righteousness than these small "tithes of mint, anise, and cummin."

But the gospel comes to effect a spiritual change, by spiritual means: it commends truths and awakens convictions; it presents promises and awakens faith, by which CHRIST (and not baptism) is formed in our hearts the hope of glory. It does not advocate the use of forms,teaching men to glory in the cross by wearing a crucifix, and mortifying the body; but to crucify our lusts, and die with Christ to the world, in order that with and through him we may live unto God. It offers forgiveness at the cross, and not at the font; it sanctifies by the Spirit, and not by nor with water; it demands charity, not in the mere form of giving our goods to the poor, but in the spirit of loving one another, because God hath so loved us.

The cemetery and church of St. Michael, consecrated by the Bishop.

These are the great topics on which it dwells ; and the Spirit was promised, not to take of the things of the clergy, and show the efficacy of rites, but to take of the things of Christ, and commend the truth to every man's conscience in the sight of God. We must not hide the Saviour behind a stone cross; nor cast the great Highpriest into the shade, by the towering ambition of a pretended priesthood; nor allow HIM TO BE BURIED IN WATER BAPTISM; but commend Him alone, as "our wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption." Nor must we so far commit a sin against the Holy Ghost, as to suppose that He is in the hands of the clergy, to be bestowed on such occasions as they may declare; for this "every-day promise of the church," of " bringing down the Deity from heaven, and infusing his own Spirit into miserable mortals," is the MOST GRATUITOUS AND UNQUALIFIED INSTANCE OF BLASPHEMY on record.

And, without boasting, but in earnestness and sincerity, we hereby challenge all bishops, priests, and deacons, to justify the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. And though these may still adhere to it as a "doctrine of the Church,"—that is, hold it because they hold it,-we appeal to the laity to reject it, because it is false, and to search the Scriptures for themselves; which Scriptures warn every man and teach every man to trust to no priestly rites, which are wood, hay, straw, and stubble, to be consumed by Him who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and who will gather nothing but wheat into his garner.

For, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,-neither baptism, nor want of baptism; "but, the being a new creature, moral regeneration is everything, all in all,-the substance of the gospel."

The Jewish Faith. A Sermon delivered in the Great Synagogue, Duke's-place. By the Rev. N. ADLER, Phil. Doc., Chief Rabbi of the United Congregations of the British Empire. London : Effingham Wilson.

WE hail the appearance of a genuine son of Abraham, taking his place among Gentile preachers. He has given us a genuine Mosaic sermon. The "do" is well set forth; but there is no place for the "believe." It is, indeed, very affecting to find such a man-amid the blaze of Protestant light which shines in London --still groping in the midst of darkness; affecting to hear him speak of the coming advent of the Saviour, to do things he has long since done, and not only to do, but to suffer-a thing of which our preacher appears to have no conception; and, as if to render more remarkable the depth of the darkness in which the Jews still dwell, the amiable rabbi concludes his meagre sermon with the following dark and benighted supplication :

Lawgiver of Sinai! we owe thanks, fervent thanks to thee, for all the benefits which thou showerest upon us every day, every hour, nay,

every minute; but we owe thee infinite thanks for the precious gift which thou hast bestowed upon us, in imparting to us thy law, thy revelation, the ray of thy everlasting light, the sun, whence flow warmth and light unto the whole of mankind. How many fallen has it raised, how many desponding comforted, how many weary restored, how many blind enlightened! How often has it been the effectual spring of persevering virtue, when the realities of life had scattered our hopes, when this world's enjoyment was unable to quench that deep thirst of happiness which burns in our breast! And yet thy law cannot be comprehended, its lofty height cannot be reached, nor its sublime depth penetrated; therefore, Teacher of all mankind, grant that the fundamental articles of our faith may never depart from our mind, and heart, and spirit, that we may ever fear thee, and keep thy commandments, and think on the world which is to come. Rouse those who are indifferentrekindle the fire in those that are cold-inflame our zeal-fortify our resolution in fulfilling our duty towards ourselves, towards our fellowcreatures, and especially toward thee, O Lord! Amen.

Sound Education the Security for National Tramquillity. A Sermon, by the Rev. THOMAS AINGER, M.A. London: 12mo, pp. 12.

Longman.

THIS is such a sermon as an educated man might, without much fear, undertake to deliver at the rate of three a day for months together. It is, however, a fair sample, we apprehend, of the average preaching of the church. It is hardly credible how little suffices to enable a man to take and keep what is considered a respectable place in the Establishment. It is no wonder if men who cannot get on among Dissenters succeed in the Establishment, in which it is not easy to see how it is possible to fail. It is not necessary that a man should be able either to write or to speak; it is quite enough that he can read tolerably well, since sermons may be bought by the bushel, and there is no objection to the system of buying and reading. The sermon before us consists of just nine soft and polished paragraphs about education, containing some good general sentiments. Nevertheless, Mr. Ainger and we differ very widely as to what constitutes "sound education." With him we think it is very much an affair of subjugating and taming the multitude down to reverence for authority. The education the world requires is something more than this: so far as it goes, it may be "sound," but it is very incomplete. The Divine arrangements provide not less for privilege than for duty; and, so far as man is concerned, the foundation of duty is privilege.

Christ our Example as a Witness for the Truth. A Sermon preached at the Independent Chapel, Gloucester, April 12, 1847, before the Half-Yearly Assembly of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Congregational Union. By G. WOOD, B.A., Minister of Zion Chapel Bristol. 12mo, pp. 38. London: Snow. A VERY seasonable and very valuable discourse : luminous, cogent, and strongly practical. On a former occasion we set a portion of it before our readers; but we like it so well, that we call attention to it yet again.

By the Rev. R. 18mo, pp. 71. London:

Four Lectures on Conversion.
ALLIOTT, LL.D.
Miller and Field.

THE most important theme that can engage the
human mind is here discussed, by a man who
has proved himself equal to the undertaking.
Lecture I. answers the question, "What is Con-
version?" Lecture II. shows the work of the
Holy Spirit in the conversion of the sinner.
Lecture III. shows the work of the sinner in his
own conversion. Lecture IV. asks the question,
"Is now Conversion to be attributed to the
We
Spirit, or to the Sinner?" and answers it.
attach a very high value to this work, and regret
the mode of its getting up; the form is bad, and
the notion of lectures is impolitic. In the event
of a second edition, it were well to exclude the
sermonic form, and designate them, "Addresses
to the Unconverted." They are entitled to a high
place among the class of publications to which
they belong.

The Teacher Taught. A Lecture, by the Rev. EDWARD RUSSELL. Walsall: Griffin. WHILE the title is that of an American work on the same subject, it is very appropriately prefixed to the present discourse, which discusses the character, qualifications, work, discouragements, supports, and rewards of the Sundayschool teacher, in an interesting and practical manner. It is well worthy of the careful and repeated perusal of sabbath-school teachers.

The Use of Difficulties in Mental and Moral Culture. By Rev. THOMAS STRATTEN, Hull. 12mo, pp. 32. London: Green.

THE idea of turning even difficulties to account is happy: this is the highest proof of tact and of wisdom. The title is the best that could have been devised, and it is very ably worked out in this solid, intelligent, and judicious prelection, which we very cordially commend to our young men readers, together with the whole of the series now publishing by Mr. Green.

The Religion of Moses and the Religion of Jesus essentially the same. By the Rev. HENRY ALLON. 8vo, pp. 24. London: British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, Crescent-place, Blackfriars. MR. ALLON has chosen a glorious topic, and handled it with great ability. The discourse is calculated alike to shake the prejudices of the Jew, and to confirm the faith of the Gentile. It well deserves to be extensively circulated among both classes, as it is much suited to promote the best interests of both.

The Filling Up of the Christian Ministry. A Charge addressed to the Rev. John Hamilton Davies, B.A., at his Ordination to the Pastorate over the Congregational Church, Sherborne. By JAMES DAVIES, Author of "The Supremacy of the Scriptures," &c. 8vo, pp. 30. London: Ward and Co.

A VERY workmanlike charge, full of common sense, practical wisdom, and business bearing; we have not, for many a day, met with anything superior. Let us but have an abundant supply of such ministers as are here described, and,

with the blessing of God, we have no fear for the cause of true evangelical Protestantism.

The Jesuits. A Lecture, by HENRY ISAAC ROPER. 18mo, pp. 36. London: Houlston and Stoneman.

AN eloquent, erudite, and elaborate production, remarkably suited to the days which are passing over us. We remember no treatise, of the same bulk, containing so withering an exposure of the character, principles, and proceedings of the Jesuits. We very strongly recommend it.

The Duty of Christians to Seek the Salvation of the Unconverted around them. A Sermon, by Rev. W. WALTERS. London: Simpkin and Co. A VERY excellent sermon on a most important subject. It deserves extensive distribution among the churches.

The Impending Dangers of our Country; or, Hidden Things Brought to Light. By WILLIAM FERGUSON, Bicester. Royal 18mo, pp. 124. London: Ward and Co.

THIS is one of the most heart-rending publications, of its sort, that has ever come before us. It presents, in the briefest space, a harrowing picture of the cottages and hovels of the peasantry, with details of their poverty and sufferings, of their ignorance and superstition, immorality and bondage. It also illustrates the failure of the State-Church, as a religious institution, among the peasantry, in a manner not to be resisted; setting forth hints and remedial suggestions in relation to the peasantry, with much more interesting and important matter. facts and statistics reveal a state of things for which few of our readers are prepared. We very earnestly commend the volume: it deserves to be extensively circulated among people of all sects and parties.

His

Biblical Instruction: intended principally for Young Persons. By GEORGE PRITCHARD. 18mo, pp. 71. London: Book Society. THE object of these pages is to classify soriptural representations of God, from the human form, the human faculties, the human affections, the human senses, human actions, and from inanimate objects. The idea is singularly happy: the book, while it is a precious pocket companion to spiritually-minded people, would form the basis of a valuable course of sermons. No publication on the same plan exists.

The Benighted Traveller, and other Poems. By E. F. HUGHES. 12mo, pp. 84. London: Bartlett.

WHATEVER may be thought of the poet, there can be, among proper judges, but one opinion as to the man. Mr. Hughes is a man of an excellent spirit. There does not seem to be much poetry in him, but there is a good deal of religion; and this, we take it, is infinitely better. The tendency of the volume throughout is not merely moral, but spiritual. The chief piece is intended to illustrate the efficacy of prayer. Among the smaller compositions, the best are, "The Wish," and "The Teacher's Prayer."

525

Essays, Extracts, and Correspondence.

ESSEX CONGREGATIONAL UNION.*

THIS Union has just published " A Brief Review of its Plans and Operations," which we consider a very meritorious project, and well executed.

It is much

to be wished that it might be imitated by some competent hand in every county throughout England, both among the Independents and Baptists. The volume comprises, first, a brief review of the Essex Congregational Union, which extends to thirty-four pages; the rest, comprising a great part of the book, is Appendix, containing Biographical Notices of the Rev. Aaron Wickens, and some thirteen other ministers; also of Mr. William Jones, and eleven other laymen. We shall give extracts from a single specimen of each, taking from the ministers the Rev. Isaac Taylor, father of the present Isaac Taylor, Esq., the celebrated writer; and of Jane, long since removed from earth, but still celebrated here for her genius and virtue; and of Mrs. Gilbert, of Nottingham, who still survives to adorn the Gospel and benefit her race. Passing over the earlier days of this admirable and honoured man, we shall commence with his full manhood:

In the year 1781, Mr. Taylor married Miss Ann Martin, the orphan daughter of a tradesman, and member of the religious society at Fetter-lane, and whose somewhat extraordinary talent in poetical composition had attracted his attention. In her he found, indeed, through the various scenes of a long and often difficult course, a friend and a help meet for him. The rapid increase of his family induced Mr. Taylor, about five years after his marriage, to quit London, and establish himself in the country. He fixed upon Lavenham, in Suffolk, as the place of his residence; and there, during ten tranquil years, pursued his profession, conducted the education of his children, and discharged with honour his part as member and deacon of the Dissenting society then under the care of the late Rev. William Hickman.

Upon his recovery from a long and dangerous illness, Mr. Taylor's early desire to devote himself to the labours of the ministry strongly revived. A concurrence of circumstances favoured this wish; and although he had lately purchased and fitted up a commodious house at Lavenham, he believed himself to be following the path of duty in giving up secular advantages and enjoyments for the Gospel's sake. Certainly his worldly interests were not promoted by his ac

* A Brief Review of the Plan and Operations of the Essex Congregational Union. With an Appendix, containing Biographical Notices of the principal Founders and Supporters of the Society. BY ROBERT BURLS. Maldon: Young

man.

ceptance of an invitation from a congregation at Colchester to become its pastor. His removal from Lavenham took place in the year 1796.

The religious society of which he took the oversight, had been for some time in a state of decay; and then, by its tendency to heretical doctrine, presented a most inauspicious appearance. The meeting-house, which is rather spacious, soon became well attended, and at length crowded; and the heterodox influence was almost merged in that of another kind; nevertheless it lurked beneath the surface, and continued to be, throughout the period of Mr. Taylor's ministry at Colchester, a thorn in his side. And while grudgingly listened to by some, who found it hard to endure the great truths of the gospel so boldly and cordially uttered, he drew upon himself, as is very usual, the ill-will of an opposite party, that had gained a footing in the society, and that was as much chafed and fretted by the exposition of law as the other was by the enunciation of grace. Between these antagonist parties Mr. Taylor held his position unmoved, though disquieted. Suavity and firmness, steadiness and meekness, belonged in a singular degree to his character; and it may be affirmed that, through a course of years, he preached and conversed as if there was neither Socinianism nor Antinomianism near him. Avoiding controversy and collision of prejudices, he both declared the mystery of Christ, and enforced the will of Christ, just as he might have done in a congregation not at all tainted by error of one kind or the other.

Leaving one set of his friends to condemn the exuberance of his zeal, and another set to adjudge him as "dark and unsound in the faith," because he preached glad-tidings to the ungodly, Mr. Taylor betook himself with great delight to the work of village preaching; and while surrounded, in a barn or cottage, with the ignorant poor, forgot those perversities which rendered his ministrations at home a perpetual testimony against unbelief and licentiousness. Yet, amid many discouragements, his labours at Colchester were not unfruitful; nor did he fail to attach to himself some whose warm and grateful friendship solaced him at the time, and continued, after his removal from that town, to be a source of much satisfaction.

Employments which, to recount them, might seem enough for three men of ordinary diligence, were not burdensome to Mr. Taylor. Early rising, and the vigorous occupation of every moment in some efficient manner, enabled him to discharge laboriously the public and private duties of a minister of the gospel; to carry on his profession as an artist (on which, in truth, the support of his numerous family depended, for his stipend was a mere pittance, even while the pews of his chapel were well filled); and not least, to conduct the education of his children, upon which he bestowed so much attention and time, that it might seem as if he could have done nothing else. It was Mr. Taylor's plan, from the first, to prepare, with his own hand, whatever he made use of in the process of instruction-lessons, charts, maps, schemes, lectures, and ingenious devices without end, for conveying knowledge, were all his own work;

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