Poems on Subjects connected with the Scriptures. By Sarah NewPublished by Subscription man. for Benefit. these poems, were not unlike those In the characters given in this chapter, I have had a particular view to the tastes and circumstances of my readers, and to meet their various objections; but it is folly to deny, and useless to dissemble, that there is one objection to which I have not been able to furnish an answer: one objection which neither the learning of Grotius, nor the ingenuity of Paley can on uncultivated soil. Sarah Newremove, and it is this: Christianity cannot be reconciled to the corman (as we are informed by the editor of this production) was left rupt propensities of human nature. in early life an unprotected orphan, It tolerates none of the vices of possessed of no other mental acmankind, nor even their proud virtues, if I may so call them. It how to read and write; the latter quirements than those of knowing is inflexible; and will not bend beof which she gained by procuring fore the chair of science, or the a few occasional lessons from a throne of power. It is the unalter-school - master. Without farther able decree of heaven, that, except education, she went out to serman be born again,' except he be- vice, and successively discharged come a little child,' he cannot be her duties in that relation to sevethe subject of this kingdom. Here ral families. In the course of her then the reader must make his of reading several of the works of employment she had opportunities leisure, she amused herself by comour best poets; and, at intervals of been arranged and published, with posing verses. Some of these have the benevolent design of increas ing her means of comfortable existThe selection is highly creditable ence during the winter of old age. to her talents and principles. election: if he be willing to be come a new man,' and renounce his sins; if he can stoop to become a little child,' and imbibe the Spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, then may all his objectious be fully answered; but if not, he must seek farther for a system to meet his wishes. Christianity is not a religion for statesmen, for philosophers, or for gentlemen as such. A great man once told his illustrious pupil there was no royal road to Geometry; so may I say, There is no royal, no philosophic road to heaven.' We have discovered a few mistakes as to dates. &c. which may be easily corrected*; but we cannot consider the laudable design of this work, the labour which it has taken, and the manner in which it is, so far, executed, without saying that, if the author performs his whole task of twenty-two chapters as he has the five contained in this part, his work will entitle him to the sincere thanks of those Christian readers who wish for the two-fold felicity of a safe guide and a pleasant companion. C. G. In Note page 60, Wetstein's fol. Nov. Test. (1711 and 1735, instead of 1751, 1752). Septuagint best edit. Dr. Grabe, 2 vols. fol. 1707, instead of Breittinger's edit. 4 vol. 4to, 1730. claims to commendation; but it is difficult, from a Poem in blank verse, to select a fair specimen within the limits of our work. Scripture Directory; or, An AtLempt to assist the unlearned Reader to understand the General History and Leading Subjects of the Old and New Testament. By the Rev. Thomas Jones, Curate of Creaton. Price 2s. 6d. THE modest title of this book, according with the unassuming character of its pious author, sufficiently expresses the useful design of this publication, which is to assist serious, and especially young, persons, in their study of the sacred volume. Mr. Jones has been careful to shew that Christ crucified' is the grand subject of the Old as well as of the New Testament, and that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We think that diligent readers of the Bible, by perusing a section of the Scripture Directory,' before they begin a particular book,-as Genesis, Exodus, &c. will find their study of it facilitated, and their acquaintance with its principal design increased. In this view it may be useful to all, but especially to those who have not a Commentary on the Scriptures at hand. A Letter to a Protestant Dissenter. in Answer to the Question, ' Shall the Dissenters join the Roman Catholics, in their Petition to Parlia, ment, for what is called Catholic Emancipation?' Containing Remarks on Religious Liberty and Political Power, both as they affect the Established Church and Protestant Dissenters; applicable to the present momentous Crisis. Fourth edit. Is. THE sensible writer of this pamphlet enquires, 1st, Into the present situation of the Catholic, and the object of his petition. — 2dly, Into that of the Protestant Dissenter, and what he would have in view in an application to Parliament. The result is, that the Catholics already enjoy greater privileges, in some respects, than the Dissenters; that the application of the Catbolics is not for religious liberty, which they fully enjoy, but for political power; and therefore that it would be a dangerous experiment for the Dissenters, whose aim is religious liberty alone, to join with the Catholics in their petition. This well-written pamphlet has excited much attention; and we apprehend has made no inconsider able impression on the public mind. On the Object of Religious Wor ship, and on the Pre-existence of the Son of God; to which is added, An Historical Account of Two notable Corruptions of Scriptures by Sir Is. Newton. By G. Clarke. 2d edit. with additions. 12mo, 48. We took up this book under the idea of its being a defence of the Deity of the Saviour; and were much disappointed to find the writer on the opposite side of the question. We must do him the justice, however, to state his opinions in his own words. Speaking of the Creation, he says, The New Testament informs us who the first person is that was brought into existence, and that it was his [God's] Son, whose nature is not described in the Old or New Testament,' p. 10. When Jesus Christ is called by the name of God, it is on account of the Deity residing in him as a temple, and having all power given to him,' &c p. 24,-as if the residence of a Deity converted a temple into a God Again, It does not ap. pear that the Holy Spirit is, as gene rally has been described, a proper or distinct person; but the influence, energy, and power of God.' Page 25. -The Appendix, which makes above two thirds of the book, is only to shew that the reading of two passages of Scripture (1 John v. 7,- 1 Tim. iii. 16) is at least doubtful; which would be of importance if our doctrine rested only on two or three passages of Scripture, but not while the whole tenor of Scripture leans one way. We need not be alarmed, however, at this little work; few persons will be gratified at giving 4s. for 128 12mo pages, badly written and badly printed; and most of which have been repeatedly before the public many years ago. 1 Consolation in Death. A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Berry, of Warminster. By W. Jay, 8vo, 1s. 6d. THE respectable author of this discourse, though averse to funeral eulogies, in describing the character of Mrs. B. is compelled in justice to say, that he considered her, not only one of the excellent of the earth, but one of the most excel lent, one of the most amiable exemplary, edifying Christians, in every relation she was called to fill.' It would be surprizing if we were not to perceive, in perusing such a discourse, some of those masterly strokes to which we are accustomed from the pen of Mr. Jay. If our limits permitted, we would gladly reprint the whole of the concluding pages, which exhibit the dying saint walking with holy fearlessness through the valley of the shadow of death; but we are restrained by want of room. We wish, however, warmly to recommend the sermon, particularly to our female readers. Two Sermons preached at the Visi- By the Rev. Edw. Thos. Vaughan, best method of conducting it. The second sermon is entitled, 'Labourers in the Harvest,' Matt. ix. 38; in which the preacher observes, 1st, The Office of a Christian Minister is an Office of Labour.2d, The true and faithful minister is of the Lord. We want We can give but a short quotation: The present is one of those periods, of which it may eminently be said, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.' Not a day passes but from some corner of our land the cry is heard Come and help us. We would hear the truth.' The cry is echoed back from ourselves, help likewise. Still louder is the cry of foreign lands.-By his blessing upon us, He is giving the Bible to every nation under heaven: but there is yet another gift wanting. "Understandest thou what thou readest? How can I, except some man should guide me? We do but partially discharge our debt of obligation, unless with the Bible we raise up an interpreter. The third sermon is on Salvation in Christ only.' To us, there appears in these such firmness of decision, such discourses such purity of doctrine, simplicity of intention, to promote the great objects of the Christian ministry, that we cannot but ardently wish that every visitation of the clergy may enjoy such a minister; nay, that every clergyman of the Church of England may thus plainly and ardently, and with such a holy unction, manifest the truth to his congregation. Ir gives us unfeigned pleasure to find such sermons as these addressed to the clergy at a Visitation, instead of the wretched and paltry attempts too frequent on such occasions to vilify evangelical prin ciples. This pious preacher endea vours to state them in the most im pressive manner, How could I better hope to fulfil the great end then shall glory dwell in our land, for which we live, than by address--righteousness shall flow down our ing a few plain words of solemn and streets like a river, and our prospeaffectionate exhortation to my rity be as the waves of the sea. partners and companions in the labours, hopes, and conflicts of our arduous office, of whom each individual is as an host of men?' The first sermon is entitled, Christ our Subject,' and is founded on 2 Cor. iv. 5 ; in which Mr. V. treats, 1st, The excellency of the Institution of preaching:-24, The O! si sic omnes, The Christian's Life and Death: a Funeral Sermon for Elizabeth the wife of C. Noel Noel, Esq. M. P. By Thomas Golding. 8vo, is. By an advertisement prefixed to this Sermon, accounting for the delay of its appearance, we are in formed that when it was delivered, at Fulwood, near Pounsford Park, Somersetshire, the affluent residence of the highly respectable, but bereaved family of the Welmans, Mr. Noel was in Rutlandshire, which county he represents in Parliament, attending the remains of his beloved partner to the place appointed for her rest until the resurrection of the just; but on obtaining a sight of the manuscript, after the lapse of some weeks, he requested it to be printed; and in the propriety of such a request we cordially concur, considering the Sermon creditable, not only to the feelings but to the talents of the author. From Phil. i. 21. For me to live is Christ; and to die is gain,' Mr. Golding sketches the portrait of Mrs. Noel in her life of dependence, communion, and de votedness to the Saviour. The piety of Miss Welman, afterwards Mrs. Noel, we are told was early, as it since happily proved habitual and persevering. She had been for some time declining in health; and a voyage to Madeira was recommended. Mr. and Mrs. Noel had left London for Falmouth; but Mrs. Noel's weakness encreased so fast, that they could proceed no farther than to an Inn at Andover, where this Christian traveller reached her home; this heiress entered upon her eternal inheritance; this Christian combatant was received in triumph into the heavenly city. The dreadful Sin of Suicide. A Sermon preached before the Monthly Association of Congregational Ministers, &c. London, Jun. 9, 1812. By George Clayton. 8vo, 28. THIS discourse, on an awful but unusual subject, is founded on Acts xvi. 28,Do thyself no harm;' and was delivered to a very large and attentive congregation at Dr. Winter's Meeting-house, and obtained additional interest from the horrid murders which had recently been committed in the metropolis. The author's plan is to notice-The crime forbidden, The causes and occasions of its commission, and Considerations calculated to en Au Inquiry into the Original and Modern Application of the Tolerá, tion Act. By the author of Hints on Toleration.' 8vo, 2s. THE writer, whose former publication excited much interest, coutends, in this pamphlet, that the expression in the Toleration Act, pretending to Holy Orders,' is descriptive of students in dissenting academies and itinerants,'-as mak ing pretensions to the Christian ministry; and that the late limitation of the privileges of the act, to pastors of congregations, is contrary to the design and spirit of the statute. He also argues, that if the act ex-. tends to Quakers, who never choose ministers of particular congregations, it ought not to be limited, as has lately been done. The author pleads that the magistrate is required by the act to administer the oaths, &c. and has no discretionary power of refusal; and that the exercise of such a power must be destructive to religious liberty. He dwells particularly on the hardship of subjecting candidates for the ministry to penalties, who cannot, according to the constant usage of dissenters, become pastors, till they have preached on probation. whole, he concludes that the late restrictions are most impolitic, at a time when the unity of all parties the state. The pamphlet well deis so necessary to the safety of serves the perusal of all who feel concerned for the cause of religion and religious liberty. On the A Legal Argument on the Statute 1st of William and Mary, chap. 18, commonly called the Act of Toleration: By a Barrister at Law, of Lincoln's Inn. 8vo, 2s. THIS writer takes nearly the same ground as the preceding; bụt he enters more fully into the state of the laws previous to passing the Toleration Act, and into the various provisions of that act; in which this writer, as well as the preceding, differs from Mr. Smith the barrister, who wrote on the same subject a few years since. This barrister enters also into the laté cases which have occurred, and into the various provisions of the Militia Laws, which seem to vary with almost every new act that is passed: but the principal object of the present tract,iu the author's own words is, to shew That the inagistrates in sessions have no power either to refuse the oaths, or to enquire into the qualification of him who claims to take them; that such claim is a sufficient warrant for the court to administer them, and the bare statement of the description in which the party wishes to take them, sufficient evidence of his answering that description; and that if that description is comprised in the eighth section of the Toleration Act, the court of Quarter Sessions is by law compellable to administer the oaths and the declaration, and to permit the subscription to the thirty-six articles, of which the clerk of the peace is also compellable to enter a record, and to grant a certificate.' P. 35. very title of his Lordship's book contains. I am confident, that I have ncMONSTRATED the doctrines commonly called Calvinistic (though not every tenet of Calvin) to be that of our Liturgy, our Articles and Homilies, and of those reformers both before and after. Queen Mary's reign, who compiled them and I call on the opponents of Calvinism, to disprove this if they can, by fair quotations and substantial arguments, for assertions must go for nothing. I trust I have also shewn them to be the doctrines of the holy Scriptures, both in the Old and New Testa ment.' In the press, A new edition of Owen › on the Hebrews, complete, in 6 vals. large 8vo, under the superintendence of the Rev. G. Wright, of Scotland. The first vol. is nearly ready for publication. Remains of the late Rev. E. White, of Chester.-A small Scripture Geography; and Scenes from Bunyan; both for the use of Religious Schools. A 2d edition of the Sermous of the Rev. D. Black, of Edinburgh. In a few days will be published, A View of the State of Religion throughout the World; la cly printed in this Magazine; considerably enlarged by the Author. A second volume of Bogatsky's Golden Treasury, revised by the Rev. Mr. Steinkopff, with a Life of the Author. And a new edition of Graham on Ecclesiastical Establish. ments. of Romsey, for printing Memoirs of Proposals are issued by Mr. Bennett, the late Rev. Risdon Darracott (with his Portrait) with Extracts from his Religious Correspondence; his Scripture Marks, with Notes, &c. in one, vol. 12mo, price to Subscribers 4s. 6d. The Address of the late Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, prefixed to his System of Divinity, has been lately printed for gratuitous distribution among Students; and a Translation of the same, with part of his Remains, has been made into Welch, for distribution in the principality. SELECT LIST OF RELIGIOUS Two Sermons on Re opening the Homerton Academy. By Dr. Winter and Dr. Collyer, 8vo, 2s. 6d. Four Sermons to Young Persons. By James Small. 18mo, boards, 2s. Doctrines of Calvinism delended, &c. Is. 6d. Cecil's Memoirs of Cadogan, Bacon, and Newton. 8vo, 138. Practical Discourses on the Christian Temper. By J. Evaus, D. D, 2 vols. 12010, 8s. PUBLICATIONS. Two Essays. 1. On Lay Preaching; 2. On the Ministerial Office. (From the Preacher's Manual) 8vo, is. Styles's Sermon for the Lancastrian Institution, with a large Appendix. Burder's Oriental Customs. 4th edit. 2 vols. 8vo, l. 18. Cox's Jesus shewing Mercy. New ed. with considerable additions, 2s. 6d. Bp. Horsley's Controversial Letters to Dr. Priestley, 8vo, 14s. Bean's Family Prayer. New ed. 6s. |