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nister, the love of excitement, the taste for eloquence, or fine reasoning, or profound speculation." pp. 63, 64.

"We are to consider, secondly, for what qualities we must be indebted to the Spirit of God alone.

"In the first place, those very qualities which may exist independently of the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of God will, without it, be defective in their motive and character.

"Take, for example, one of the most valuable of those qualities we have already named, as sometimes discover ing itself in the character of a mere man of the world; I mean benevolence, or a disposition of kindness to others. To what does it amount in the bosom of such an individual? It has no right principle, no pure motive, no fixed rule, no adequate object. It is liable to bend to interest, to be wearied by use or disappointment, and to be warped or extinguished by passion. It regards the bodies but neglects the souls of our suffering fellow-creatures. It supplies some of their wants, but is little occupied with the cure of those moral evils which are the grand source of their misery. It labours perhaps to nourish the perishing tenement of clay, in which the immortal spirit dwells, and blindly leaves that very spirit under the influence of that ignorance and those unsanetified lusts and passions which shut men out from the kingdom of God, and prepare them for the society of the devil and his angels." pp. 65, 66.

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"But, secondly, some qualities can have no existence in the mind except by the saving influence of the Holy Spirit." "There exists not, in the soul unvisited by the Holy Spirit, any really spiritual and heavenly affections, any desire to turn to God-the God of holiness and purity; to seek after Him who is the Father, the Governor, the Saviour, the Sanctifier, the Judge of the world. It is the exclusive office of the Holy Spirit first to kindle these desires in the soul; and, when kindled, to lead us on to a course of action corresponding with them. Without this sacred influence, we have neither the will nor the power to turn to God, and to yield ourselves to his service. In the language of our church, we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God, by Christ, preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will." p. 68.

"In bringing these observations to a close... let me guard you against any such abuse of the subject we have been considering, as to conceive that because certain moral or benevolent dispositions and practices are not necessarily the fruits of the Spirit; therefore a man under the influence of the Holy Spirit may want these qualities.—Consider, my Christian brethren, amongst a multitude of other passages, the language of the text; the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth.' Wherever, therefore, the Holy Ghost is in possession of the heart, as infallibly as the effect will follow the cause, will these dispositions, and the acts which flow from them, display themselves in the temper and life." p. 72.

"In the last place, let me add, that the proper use of the preceding observations is evidently this, to set your selves to the task of earnest and devout supplication to God for the sanctifying influence of his Spirit on your own souls, and that of all in whom you are interested." p. 73.

But though, except in the example just quoted, there is in this publication little formal discussion of specific doctrines, the reader will find every distinguishing truth of the Gospel recognized in its place, and generally stated with ability, precision, and effect. What the author regards as the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, are enumerated by him in one sen

tence.

"The records of eternal truth, as far as the grand fundamentals of religion are concerned, for example, the being of a God, the Divinity and Atonement of Christ, the sacred influence of the Holy Spirit, the fall of man by his own misconduct, his justification by faith in Christ, his conversion by the Holy Ghost, the absolute necessity of good works and amiable tempers,-leave no room for rational doubt or disputation.” pp. 364, 365.

But some of these truths are occasionally introduced with greater delineation of human corruption, prominence. Witness the correct which follows.

"As to the qualities of benevolence, or justice, or gratitude, of which the

relics are still discernible in the mind: in what small quantities do they gene rally exist even in the most favoured Datures! and in how many, not at all! And then, as to spiritual qualities, how absolutely extinct are they in the unconverted mind! Where do we find in the natural man' the faith, the zeal the self-devotion, the holy obedience which we owe to a God and Saviour? And should not the want of these qualities, and the display of their opposites towards the Father and Saviour of the world, be deemed the strongest evidences of corruption? Would you not admit a man to be corrupt who, though he had many pleasant and attractive qualities, was guilty of the crime of the blackest ingratitude and rebellion against a kind and tender Father? And

is not he therefore to be considered as

depraved, be his powers of pleasing and attraction what they may, who insults or even neglects the tender Father of the universe, and the bleeding Saviour of a guilty world?" pp. 265, 266.

The following is a rapid sketch of that defective theology which, we trust, is gradually giving way to a sounder view of Christian truth.

"In many cases, even the great fun damental principles of the Gospel,-the fall and corruption of human nature, the Divinity and atonement of Christ, the agency of the Holy Spirit, justification by faith in the Redeemer, the conversion and renewal of the heart by a Divine influence, salvation by the free and unmerited grace of God, a complete surrender of our will, taste, and affections to the holy law of God,—are called in question, and a lean and spiritless morality put in their place?" p. 103.

There are also statements in this volume, addressed very forcibly to the consciences of those undecided Christians who now abound in society. The first sermon in the series is addressed to persons of this character; and though we are doubtful whether the author may not have overlooked some of the topics that are the best calculated to correct the evil which is there so ably exposed, we yet regard it as a highly useful discourse, and judiciously placed at the very

entrance of the collection. One of the subjects discussed in it, which might perhaps be advanthe general effect, is a question, tageously spared with a view to parenthetically agitated, concerning the possibility of coming to a decision in matters of religion. Of the causes that are very justly assigned for the unhappy indecision which so generally prevails, the following is perhaps a more natural, and therefore a more luminous order, than that which the author has adopted. First, neglect of the holy Scriptures; secondly, neglect of prayer; thirdly, attachment to the principles and habits of the world; fourthly, blind deference to the judgment of our contemporaries; fifthly disregard of the examples and authority of those who have gone before us. Of these causes, the first three will probably be found universally applicable, wherever there is an indecision, while the remaining two are incidental and subsidiary, and prevail more or less according to the difference of character, disposition, or temperament of mind.

Five of the sermons are on as many of the apocalyptic epistles. They contain very powerful and impressive statements, but are not intended to remove the difficulties with which the sacred text is there charged. Indeed, all the author's addresses are uniformly selected, not with a critical but with a spiritual and practical view. They evidently speak the heart and mind of the writer, and are testimonies, doubtless, not only of his own convictions, but of his personal experience, especially under those trials which often overwhelm the spirit of a worldly man, while the true Christian takes comfort and rises under their pressure, encouraging himself in the Lord his God.

The miscellaneous character of this volume prevents our attempting to give an analysis of its contents; and the general sobriety and scriptural complexion of its state

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Gospel may, in short, find him in the lowest depths of want and suffering. Nevertheless, he that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of God.' That poor outcast, if a true servant of wretchedness, and be raised as a pillar Christ, shall be stripped of his rags and of ornament in the temple of the Lord. Great, my Christian brethren, will be the changes and reverses of the last solemn day; the first shall be last, and the last first.' The wicked shall at once

ments spare us that necessity for discussion or reprehension which often swells the review of a small volume to an article of cousiderable bulk. In the way of extract indeed we might, with much ease to ourselves and profit to our readers, draw largely on these interesting pages; but as the volume will, we trust, receive a wide and speedy circulation, this does not seem necessary; and we might only blunt the edge of curiosity and appetite by an over abundance of quotation. We shall therefore indulge ourselves and our readers with but a single extract more; selecting one of considerable length, from the coucluding discourse, as a fair specimen of the work. The passage exhi--they shall mingle their songs with the bits, in a very pleasing light, the redeemed-they shall proclaim the glory author's interesting and affecting of the Crucified' for ever and evermanner of commenting on the they shall see the King in his beauty, and the land that is very far off.'

sacred text.

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"Let us proceed to consider, secondly, the promises addressed in the text to the victorious servants of the Redeemer. Him that overcometh,' says our Lord, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jeruralem, which cometh down out of hea ven from my God; and will write upon him my new name.'

shrink to their proper nothingness; but the contrite and believing shall participate in the glories of their Lord. They shall be planted in the temple of God. The one thing they desired upon earth' shall be granted them; they shall behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and dwell in his temple.' They shall live in his presence they shall hear his voice

"2. Again: it is said of the triumphant Christian in the text, he shall go no more out.'-In this world my brethren, change and decay are stamped upon every thing around us. Our choicest blessings are suspended on the slenderest threads. The man this morning lifting to heaven a head lofty as the cedar, and spreading forth his green branches on every side, may ere night be struck by the fires of hea ven, and lic blasted and lifeless on the plain. And even our spiritual joys "1. In the first place, it is here said partake in some measure of the same that the successful Christian shall be fluctuating character. How great, for 'made a pillar in the temple of his God.' instance, are apt to be the ebb and flow -The whole of the imagery in the text of the religious affections! How soon is probably borrowed from the practice, is the ardour of devotion chilled! How in ancient times, of erecting pillars, in difficult is it to sustain the vigour of our honour of the achievements of distin- first love! How does the body seem to guished individuals, in or near the tem- hang upon the soul, and to chain it to ples of their false gods. In like man- earth when it is soaring to heaven! ner, it is here said that the Christian But the Christian, exalted to be a shall be erected as a pillar of triumph pillar in the temple of his God,' shall in the temple of the true and livinggo no more out.' The sun of his joys God. In this world the servant of the shall never go down. The well-spring Redeemer may be a mere outcast in of his comforts shall never fail. The society. He may toil, and want, and joys of one moment shall be the joys of suffer; may rise early' to eat the eternity. Once lodged in the bosom of bread of carefulness,' and sink to rest his Father, no force shall drag him from upon the hard and rugged bed of po- it. Inseparably united to God, he shall verty. Or he may wander with the poor eternally participate in the pleasures Arab of the desert; or tremble amidst which are at His right hand. He shall the snows of the Pole; or linger out a 'shine as a star in the firmament for 'dreary existence in the cheerless and ever and ever.' sunless hut of the western savage. The

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"3. Again; it is said, I will write

on him the name of my God.It was customary to write on the pillars of victory to which we have already referred, the name of the false god in whose temple the pillar was erected. And thus, in the case of the Christian, the name of Jehovah, so dear to him on earth, shall be stamped on his forehead in heaven: Ye shall see his face, and his name shall be on your foreheads.' In this world, it is possible that the sincere Christian should be perplexed, either by his own doubts of acceptance with God, or by the doubts and insinuations of others; but, in heaven, his acceptance and adoption will be no longer a disputable point. He shall be recog nised by Him who has stamped him with his own name. He shall be owned also by myriads of happy spirits, who, beholding that sacred name, shall at ouce hail him as their brother, and associate in all the occupations and joys of the region of light, and life, and glory.

"4. Again: it is said of the triumphant Christian, I will write on him the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. As it was usual to write on these pillars of triumph the name of the city of the conqueror; so on the pillars erected in heaven shall be engraved the name of that celestial city which afterwards descended in vision before St. John, or which is here called the New Jerusalem, which came down out of heaven from God.' Even here, in this state of being, my brethren, it is the city not made with bands' the Christian seeks: we have here no continuing city; but we seek one to come,'' the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' And to that city he shall be exalted in heaven. Lift up your eyes, ye dejected children of God, and behold for a moment your future habitation, as it is displayed in the glowing picture of one who was permitted to gaze upon it. Beholdits walls of jasper,' and its foundations of precious stones;' the glory of the Lord to lighten it, and the Lamb to be the light thereof;' its river of life;' its tree, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations,' Behold it without any 'curse,' or night,' or sorrow,' or crying,' or 'death.' The life of this world, says the Apostle to true servants of the Redeemer, is not your life, for your life is hid with Christ in CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 252.

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́God.' In like manner it may be said to the true Christian, The heritage of this world is not your heritage: you are born to a loftier destiny, you are citizens of a heavenly country: you are sent among us for a time, to take a transient view of our prison-house, to benefit us, and to learn more effectually yourselves, by contrast, the superiority of the world to come. The language of your Lord is, 'In my Father's house are many mansions: I go to prepare a place for you.' And O what motives for patience, and gratitude, and love, does such a promise supply! What is it, my Christian brethren, to be straitened for a time by the narrowness of our mansion on earth, if such is the habitation prepared for us in heaven? Wait but a little moment, and, though it shall not be granted to yon, as to St. John, to see in the flesh the descending vision of the heavenly city, it shall be granted to you to behold it in still more favourable circumstances. He saw it indeed; but it was in a trance, and but for a moment; and he awoke to find himself a prisoner in the flesh, and an exile in Patmos. But in your case, sight will be possession. You shall behold the city of God, to lose sight of it no more: you shall see it, to be welcomed as its citizen and its inhabitant for ever. You shall no sooner plant your foot in its golden streets, than your exile shall either be remembered no longer, or remembered merely to enhance the joys of deliverance. Your chains shall drop, from you; and you shall walk abroad in all the 'glorious liberty of the children of God.'

"5. But it is added, finally, ' I will write upon him my new Name.'-In other words, the same Divine hand will stamp upon the triumphant servant of the Cross the

new nante' by which God hath last revealed himself to his creatures; that is, the name of Jesusthe Messiah-the Anointed One- the Lord our Righteousness'--or, as he is called in that magnificent description of the Son of God, in the nineteenth chapter of this book, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Yes, my Christian brethren, as it was customary to engrave on the pillar of worldly triumph the name of the leader under whom the soldier fought and conquered; so the Captain of your salvation, your Guide through all the intricacies of this valley of tears, your Leader in the great con5 L

flict against the corruptions of the heart, the vanity of the world, and the assaults of the powers of darkness, shall stamp his own name on your forehead, and designate you as his children for ever. The Name which has been your 'strength and your joy' upon earth, shall be your shield and your glory for ever. And should the same spirit who communicated with St. John in that world of light, be asked by some new apostle, admitted, like his predecessor, to catch a glimpse of the glories to be revealed, Who are these stamped with the name of the Redeemer?' he shall once more reply, These are they who have washed their robes and made

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them white in the blood of the Lamb: therefore are they before the Throne of God, and serve Him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them: they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat: for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."" pp. 423-429.

In our review of Mr. Sumner's "Sermons on the Christian Faith and Character," we remarked that they possessed the greater interest from the circumstance of having been preached before one of our large national seminaries of education the College of Eton-where they had doubtless tended in their degree to the formation of the character and principles of the youth under instruction in that institution. We feel peculiarly disposed to contemplate the volume before us in the same interesting point of view; and we cannot but congratulate most warmly the friends of the youth of Harrow School, on the sound doctrines and faithful exhortations which appear from this volume to have been delivered before the members of that establishment by their affectionate and indefatigable pastor. The labours of Mr. Cunningham in the cause of religion, and for the extension of all its attendant blessings, are far too great and numerous to be easily forgotten. But even were we to set

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aside the benefits which have been conferred upon society by his former publications, and the not less important benefits which have resulted from his well-known and highly estimated exertions in the service of our leading religious and charitable institutions-exertions which this volume amply testifies have not withdrawn him from the diligent care of an extensive parish — we should still have in the work before us a powerful claim to the gratitude of the public, and should be inclined to value the author's labours by a very high standard of utility. For who can calculate the beneficial impressions which discourses like these-discourses as striking and attractive as they are scriptural and practical-may have left in many a youthful bosom; or how much valuable seed may have been sown which in after-life may spring up and bear fruit abundantly to the glory of God and the benefit of mankind? It is no slight cause of thankfulness that some hundreds of young men now embarked, or embarking, on the voyage of life— many of them destined to fill important stations in society, some of them to be admitted into the hallowed ranks of the priesthood, others to be enrolled among the members of our hereditary or represen tative legislature-should, in addition to the instructions they may have enjoyed in their usual academical course, have had the privilege from week to week of listening to such truly scriptural admonitions as those which have called forth these remarks. If they have only so far profited by them as to be able with a clear judgment to divest religion of that preposterous garb in which some men ignorantly, and others wilfully, disguise her; even this will not be a useless acquisition. We shall not at least expect to hear from sensible men, accustomed in their youth to listen to such scriptural doctrines and precepts as those delivered from the pulpit of Harrow church, the

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