515 A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS-DAY. Almighty Framer of the skies! Like incense in thy sight! The Son of Glory gleamed the ray, To cheer our gloomy sky. How shall we celebrate the day, And hail'd salvation's morn? An humble form the Godhead wore, Tho' in a human walk he trod, Despised, oppressed, the Godhead bears How shall we celebrate his name, The soul is raptured to conceive My soul, exert thy powers, adore, The God from whom creation sprung *THOMAS CHATTERTON, the author of the above Poem, was born at Bristol, in the year 1752, where his family had been sextons of St. Mary's Redcliffe Church near a century and a half. At an early age he practised an extraordinary piece of deception; producing some excellent poems written in the Old English style, which he asserted to have been the production of a monk named Rowley. His father removed some parchments from an old chest in Redcliffe church, most of which were used in covering books, and it is supposed that Chatterton, from perusing these, conceived the idea of the forgery. In 1768, when he was sixteen years of age, an article appeared in a Bristol paper, entitled, “A Description of the Friars first passing over the Old Bridge, taken from an ancient manuscript." This attracted the notice of Mr. Barrett, who was then writing the History of Bristol; and he obtained from Chatterton several pieces in prose and verse, purporting to be written by Canynge, founder of Redcliffe church, and by Thomas Rowley. The year following he was in correspondence with Horace Walpole, well known as an antiquary and connoisseur; whose friends, Mason and Gray, the poets, pronounced these pieces to be forgeries. Chatterton formed sanguine expectations from his intercourse with Walpole; but supposing himself neglected by him, wrote him an impertinent letter, and their intercourse ended. Chatterton was educated in Colston's charity school; and was then articled to an attorney, with whom he remained until, at the age of seventeen, he went to London, and earned a precarious sub-istence by writing for periodicals. His imprudence alienated his friends, and reduced him to such distress, that he unhappily committed suicide, by poison, in the year 1770; "a melancholy example," observed the late Rev. George Walker, "of the inutility of the most splendid talents, when not regulated by discretion and upright_principle." Chatterton's poems, published with his name, are inferior to the Rowley forgeries; but they display enough of poetic abilities to make us regret that so great a genius was so fatally misdirected! Зв The supposed Rowley's poems, which for some time caused much controversy, but are now perhaps universally considered as Chatterton's own compositions, were published by Mr. Tyrwhitt and by Dean Miller, in a single volume, and his whole works afterwards in three volumes 8vo. REVIEWS OF BOOKS. Chronological Introduction to the History of the Christian Church; being a new inquiry into the true dates of the Birth and Death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and containing an original Harmony of the Four Gospels, now first arranged in the order of Time. By Rev. S. F. JARVIS, D.D. LL.D. Historiographer of the Church, &c. &c. London: W. J. Cleaver. 1844. pp. 618. We have for some time delayed noticing this valuable and learned work, in order that we might find sufficient time carefully to read it. This we have not yet found, but it would be wrong to delay that gratification, in the case of any one who may be induced by this mention and recommendation of it, to procure it. Dr. Jarvis has devoted much time and learned discrimination to that important question in chronology, which has exercised so many of our own and of foreign divines; and every student of chronology and history, more especially ecclesiastical, must feel a great interest in its result. We have not space at present even to give the general result, much less the data upon which he established it. At present, we would only observe that Sept. 16, 1838, Dr. Jarvis was appointed by the General Convention of the American Church, "Historiographer of the Church, with a view to his preparing, from the most original sources now extant, a faithful ecclesiastical history, reaching from the Apostles' times, to the formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States." If he lives to accomplish this, or it be accomplished by him and his successors in that office, it will, indeed, be the supply of a great desideratum for the benefit of thegreat English Catholico-Protestant communion. He has in this volume presented us with the first fruits. He has here wrought out “the keystone by which prophecy as well as history must be sustained." And we find here collected and recorded, as well as applied, all the various materials which bear upon the question, and that in as clear and convenient a form as the case admits. College Lectures on Ecclesiastical History; with complete sets of Cambridge, Dublin, and Durham University Examination Papers. By Rev. W. BATES, Fellow, Lecturer, and Hebrew Lecturer of Christ's College, Cambridge. London: Parker. 1844. pp. 420. THIS is drawn up in order to aid the students in attaining the proficiency required in ecclesiastical history, by the recently established theological examination. If anything could be said to furnish a royal road, this work does so. In fact, we would recommend it not only to all university students, but to all others who desire to obtain an accurate sketch of the subject, which will be valuable in itself, and sufficient for most persons; and an excellent foundation for any superstructure which their larger reading may enable them to build upon it. A Practical English Grammar; containing a complete new class of exercises, adapted to each rule, and constructed on a plan entirely new. By M. FLOWER, and Rev. W. B. FLOWER. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1844. Pp. 1844. THE Father, and the Reverend Son, have here [made an excellent attempt to do that for English grammar, which Rev. T. K. Arnold has so successfully done for the classical ancient languages; his Latin and Greek exercise books being in use in most of our public schools. May this "Practical English Grammar" soon run through as many editions as Mr. Arnold's manuals. We are far from saying it does not require many corrections and improvements, and more careful superintendence of the press; but it is a step in the right direction; and we doubt not, future corrected, improved, and enlarged editions may be expected to supersede all others. It is strange that the system so long aud successfully employed in teaching modern European languages, has not sooner been applied to Latin and Greek, and to our own language also. At the same time that we entirely approve of the plan of these exercises, we do not agree in the opinion implied in the following sentence of the preface:-"The English language is taught without any examples of false English." The exposure of false grammar, and improper collocation of words in the radical Cobbett's analysis of kings' speeches, &c., subjoined to his English Grammar, is one of the most instructive parts of that clever book. It is curious that his French-English grammar is considered one of the best by our neighbours who wish to learn English. Sermons preached in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Plymouth. By the Rev. HINTON C. SMITH. London: Hatchards and Hamiltons, 1844. pp. 234. This volume contains eight sermons on the Atonement, the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the Backslider, the Backslider healed, and the Happiness of Heaven. The subjects are very copiously treated, with considerable power of thought and expression. Perhaps the style is somewhat too flowery, but that may be a good excess in a young writer. We doubt not that when some of the flowers have withered, and the exuberances have been pruned, Mr. Smith's style will become one of great vigour and perspicuity, and well suited to attract and fix the attention of his hearers to the great truths which he understands so well, and enforces so earnestly and eloquently. The Amelioration of Ireland contemplated, in a series of Papers.-1. On the use of the Irish Language in Religious Worship and Instruction. Second edit. London: Cleaver, 1844. pp. 24. It is satisfactory that a pamphlet on a subject so vitally important to the religious and moral welfare of Ireland, should have reached a second edition. The history and facts of the case are well detailed, and great regret will they cause to those who for the first time learn the fatal neglect of the Irish language in times past. It is cheering to know, as we have several times stated in our pages, how successfully the Irish Society has advocated and acted upon the "instruction of the native Irish through the medium of their own language." Any individual, by subscribing to that society, can assist in the work. The "chaplain and kinsman of Her Majesty, Victoria, Empress of Britain," does not allude to the Irish Society, although he mentions, and justly rejoices in the establishment of the College of St. Columba, for the training up of Irishspeaking labourers for the work in question. We commend this pamphlet and the several publications connected with the society and the college, to the dispassionate consideration of all the friends of Ireland. The Gospel before the Age; or, Christ with Nicodemus. Being an Exposition for the Times. By the Rev. R: MONTGOMERY, M. A. London: Baxter, 1844. pp. 394. The Three Parties; or, Things as they are in the Church of England; being an Extract from the Rev. R. MONTGOMERY'S "Gospel before the Age." London: C. Mitcheli, 1844. pp. 32. Luther and Calvin; or, the True Spirit of the Reformed Church. By J. H. The religious movement which, in one form or other, pervades the whole of Christendom, has called forth many works of opposing controvertists; and also the observations of others, who have endeavoured calmly to review the limited workings of the agitation in particular departments. The above are some out of the many of the latter class. Mr. Montgomery, from his position as a catholic of the Church of England, examines the principles and proceedings of the Romanizing party in the Church, and of the sectarian party without the Church. The substance of his work is given in the extract reprinted by Mitchell. In the rest of the work is much excellent matter, but too declamatory, and too little distinct aud pointed to enable us to profit by it as perhaps we ought. Mr. D'Aubigné takes, as one of the Reformed Genevan Church, a comparative view of the workings of his section of Protestants on the one hand, and of the Lutheran on the other. He advocates the union of both, but conceives that to " Reform," God has committed the great work of renovating the earth. Were he to unite the excellencies of 66 Reform" and 66 Lutheranism," with the Catholic character of our Anglican Reformation, we believe he would name that which would at once rescue Christendom from Romish corruption and papal tyrranny, and hasten its unity and extension in truth and peace. Such works well deserve perusal, and we may recur to some others hereafter. CABINET EXTRACTS. FEAR OF GOD. By the Fear of God, I would be understood to mean, not the superstitious dread of an arbitrary or cruel being, but that awe and regard, which necessarily arises in the mind of every man, who believes and habitually considers himself as living and acting in the sight of an omnipresent Governor, of perfect justice, holiness and purity, -who sees every thought as well as every action,--who cannot be imposed upon by any hypocrisy,-who, as certainly as there is any difference between good and evil, cannot but approve the one, and detest the other, and whose government, as certainly as he has any power at all, consists in rewarding what he approves, and punishing what he hates. Of such a Governor as this, though we are sure he is endued with infinite goodness, yet may it justly be said, with the greatest reason, and without any tendency to superstition, "When I consider, I am afraid of him.”—Dr. Samuel Clarke. THE NECESSITY OF APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION IN THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. We of the Church of England maintain, in opposition to the great majority of those who dissent from us, that a sacred order of men, exclusively set apart for the preaching of the word, and the administration of the Sacraments, and set apart, also, by those who have authority in the Church to do so, as having received that authority in regular succession from the Apostles themselves. We maintain that such an order of men not only existed under the Jewish dispensation, but are continued under the Christian by the exclusive practice of the Apostles and of their successors, through many centuries of the purest ages of the Church. We argue, that our Saviour, during his lifetime, permitted none to preach except such as he expressly commissioned for the purpose; and that, when his own mission was ended, he committed his authority exclusively to the Apostles, to be by them transmitted to their successors in the Church throughout all ages. It was not to the disciples at large—it was not to the "five hundred brethren" by whom he was seen at one time after his resurrection, that he gave the solemn commission to preach the Gospel, but "to the Apostles whom he had chosen, and to whom he gave commandments by the Holy Ghost, during the forty days that he was seen of them, and spake to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." And when he took his final leave of his Apostles, he addressed them as follows:- As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." And when he said this, he breathed on them, and said " Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained unto them." "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and as I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." This we consider to be the Ministerial Commission, and given exclusively to the Apostles; and in the book of the Acts, and the other inspired writings, we find no mention of any one presuming to preach the Gospel who can be shewn not to have been commissioned by the Apostles themselves to do so. If it be objected, as it sometimes is, that the cause of the Gospel is so holy and so all-important, that it must be wrong to prevent any one from preaching it who possesses the power to do so with eloquence and efficiency, we answer, that it is not for men to promote even what seems to be the cause of God, by means which the Almighty himself has not sanctioned. Inestimable as is the Gospel to mankind, yet we know that the Almighty permitted them to remain in ignorance of it for many thousand years; and has even now bestowed the benefit of its light on but a small portion of the globe. It is clear that he intends its diffusion to be gradual, and, doubtless, by the means which he himself has constituted in the Scriptures. Let not, then, the man who has "not entered into the sheepfold by the door, but has climbed up some other way, feel secure that he is doing God's work, when he is regarding only the end, and neglecting the appointed means. Instead of assuming that office which St. Paul tells us "no man taketh unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron," let him rather adopt the petition which our Lord himself taught his disciples, and pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth labourers into his harvest."-Rev. R. Parkinson, Manchester, 1835. VENTILATION OF CHURCHES. Lately, St. Ann's Church, Manchester, was re-opened for public worship, after being closed for three weeks, for the purpose of being repairted and ventilated. The ventilation is upon a novel principle. The cold air is admitted through grates placed outside the church, and is carried under the church by means of square wooden spouts, from which it ascends through fine wire gauze, placed principally beneath the free seats in the centre, which are elevated a few inches for that purpose. By this plan it is hoped to remedy the unwholesome atmosphere of the church, and to do away with that oppressive feeling which is invariably caused by large numbers of people assembling together in ill-ventilated buildings. How far that object has been attained we are not at present prepared to say; but if the plan should be found to answer, it cannot be too generally imitated. UNGODLY CONVERSATION. There is another sort, though not so shocking, yet more extensively mischievous: when they, who profess religion, and think they are serious in the profession, as surely, if it be a truth, it is the most serious one that can be, allow themselves inadvertently in saying what tends to its ruin: when they speak with disregard of the appointed methods of supporting it in the world: when they join in loose harangues against enthusiasm and superstition, without putting in due cautions to distinguish them from the most rational feelings of love, and marks of respect, to our Maker, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, which Christianity hath enjoined when they, who by no means intend to be profane, repeat the profane things that others have said or done, with indulgence and pleasure: when they carry on discourse, that reflects upon doctrines which they themselves inwardly believe; and treat duties with indifference, or even contempt, which at the same time they acknowledge, and, it may be, practise, as duties. This unmeaning compliance with fashionable talk, which they might easily avoid, yet not be remarkable or if they were, it would be to their honourbrings them by degrees to think slightly of what they have been affecting to speak slightly of, till their piety wastes away into an empty form and it is seldom long before they grow ashamed of even that. Thus is their "mouth their destruction, and their lips the snare of their souls." At least they lead others into a wrong way, who are afterwards tempted to go farther; they permit themselves to be suspected; they desert the defence of religion, when it wants all possible help ; and are false to their own cause. All good men therefore should be very careful, that their outward appearance do not contradict their inward faith. Doubtless there are seasons, in which pleasantry is proper, but there are subjects on which it is never proper; and religion is one. Abruptly intruding grave maxims into the midst of mirth, without anything to call for them, would be disgustful and absurd. But still, whatever difference of manner different occasions may require, as they certainly require a very great one, we should always continue the same in our gayest hours, that we are in our most serious; and preserve an uniformity of character throughout. Nor can there be any character more consistent or amiable, than theirs, whom dutiful regard to the greatest and best of beings influences, not only to be just and good in their behaviour, but sometimes instructive, sometimes entertaining, always innocent, in their conversation.—Archbishop Secker. |