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clergyman is, for the most part, hailed with satisfaction, and acknowledged with heart-felt gratitude; and the anxiety with which his repeated attendance will generally be craved as the most coveted favour, at the same time that it is one of the most delightful encouragements to a pastor in his painful diligence, is the pledge and earnest of his success. We confidently assure our younger brethren in the church, that above all other ministrations, the visitation of the sick is the strongest bond of endearment between a shepherd and his flock, from the due performance of which blessed task, he may reap a more abundant harvest of good, than from the fulfilment of any other duty whatever. True, he will often have his heart wounded with scenes of complicated distress ;-true, the wretched huts of the poor may often offend his sensibility ;-true, the pestilential stench of the pauper's crowded hole, (by courtesy, called a chamber,)—here a reeking cradle, there a dying mother, may wound his olfactory faculties almost to suffocation; and want, and wailing, and wretchedness, may appal his nerves, and shock his sympathies even to tears; yet, let him be persuaded to persevere in his offices of charity;-yet, let him be persuaded to persist in his vocation of piety, and these offences shall gradually lose their character; and the balm which he pours into the festering sores of the stricken penitent, shall exert its healing powers upon his own heart; and the fervent prayer which he offers to Him, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, in behalf of his troubled patient, "shall return into his own bosom ;" and the rich requital of his services of mercy, in the benefit accomplished, in the testimony of an approving conscience, and in the humble anticipation of that happy address, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," will compensate him a thousand-fold for the difficulties to which he may have been summoned, and for the sacrifice of ease and pleasure which necessarily attaches to that minister of religion, whose daily vocation it is to visit the abodes of sickness, poverty, and death. How to perform these offices with wisdom, the pages of Dr. Warton will sufficiently instruct us; and, therefore, we recommend them to the perusal of our clerical brethren with undiminished approbation. But we must prove our eulogy to be deserved; and we, therefore, select some passages to show our readers what is the character of the present volumes.

There is no topic which requires more delicacy or nicer judgment, in these days of wide-spreading schism, when party-zeal is made to supply the place of true religion, and vulgar abuse of the 'Established Church, with malevolent contempt of her ministers, is the theme of a licentious press, which perpetually panders to the evil passions of a discontented populace, than the subject of ecclesiastical

discipline, and the duty of church communion. Ignorance and empiricism are praised at the expense of common honesty; and fluent nonsense from the lips of an uneducated mechanic, is preferred to the words of soberness and truth, which the regular clergy are wont to offer from their treasuries of sacred learning. Doubtless, the Almighty

-may bless any means, even the most unlikely; but observe-when he has ordained means of a certain kind, and ministers also for the practice and furtherance of those means, have we any right to expect his blessing upon other means, which we choose for ourselves? Is it not very perverse and very preposterous in us, who wish to be saved, to neglect the means which God himself has appointed? And in doing so, and choosing others for ourselves, do we not act as if we did not believe God, or as if we knew better than he did? Consider, then, whether you think that God is likely to be pleased with such conduct, and to bless it; or, on the contrary, whether he is not more likely to desert you altogether, and to give you up to be deluded and deceived by any false pretenders to the knowledge of his ways. I am quite sure that nothing can be better than to stick fast to the church. Whilst you are there you will be safe; and you will know what you are about; and you will always hear the same doctrines. If you wander from it, it is most likely that you will go astray; and that you will never know where you are; and that the doctrines will vary according to the knowledge and temper of the preacher.-Vol. V. p. 145, &c.

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The readers of the Christian Remembrancer will neither expect nor ask for a detailed review of the pages thus introduced to their notice, after the ample account of the preceding volumes to which we have referred in the beginning of the present article; yet, as we have made particular mention of the Eucharist, we feel ourselves bound to give some extracts, by way of sample, from that part of the work.

The Doctor found the same backwardness in his parishioners to partake of the Lord's Supper, and the same excuses urged for the fatal neglect, and the same misconception of the nature of that holy rite, as are every where prevalent and manifest. In the conver

sations which he held with them, at various times, and under a vast variety of circumstances, we see the same sound judgment, the same quickness in replying to objections, and the same irresistible earnestness of manner, which uniformly characterize him in his intercourse with his people. That any thing new should be advanced upon the common theme of the Lord's Supper, when such an infinite multiplicity of tracts upon it, and discourses, and essays, and sheets, have been so widely dispersed, and are so generally known, it would be something worse than folly to expect. And yet, we know not that we have seen the following point urged by any writer, (and certainly not so well urged,) before Dr. Warton. Having demonstrated that the reception of this sacrament is not an optional thing, so that men may neglect it with impunity; but that it imperatively binds all those who hope to profit by Christ's death; and that such persons as will not preserve the appointed memorial of his sacrifice, " will come afterwards

with a very bad grace," to ask for the benefits resulting thence; and having insisted moreover upon the fact, "that wherever the Christian was settled, the ceremony of the Lord's Supper was ordained also, and enjoined upon all Christians alike;"—our venerable pastor thus shews to Mrs. Turner the importance of the ceremony:

St. Paul was not present, when our blessed Lord instituted the holy rite; nor did he first learn anything about it from those who were. It was made known to him by our Lord himself. Now then I ask you, Mrs. Turner, what was the use of Christ's appearing miraculously to St. Paul, to tell him all the history of the first institution of the sacrament, if it were not to be established every where, and were not besides a matter of general importance to us all? That the Apostle so understood it is plain by his conduct.-Vol. VI. p. 92.

We think our author singularly happy in his familiar illustrations of those doctrinal points, which the ignorant find it difficult to comprehend, and the fond lovers of mysticism are so apt to pervert to the delusion of babes, and the disgust of men. Take, for example, the following dialogue:

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"Do you know," I said, (the conversation is between Dr. Warton and Mr. Turner,)" how the business of our great town is mauaged?" "Yes, Sir," he answered, "it is done by a corporation." "And is not a corporation, or body corporate," I said, a collective body of people, enjoying certain rights and privileges peculiar to themselves, and not belonging to others who are not of the same body?" He assented. "Whoever then might wish," I said, "to obtain those rights and enjoy those privileges, must be admitted a member of this body, and incorporated with it; (such is the term,) must he not?" "He must, to be sure, Sir," was his reply. "And how is this done?" I asked. Why, Sir," he answered, "there is an oath to be taken, I believe; and there are rules and regulations, by which he must promise to abide; and when this is settled, he will be on the same footing with the rest." "Very well," I said; " and there is a head too, is there not, over, the whole corporate body, to see that the rules and regulations are executed; to watch over the general and particular interests of all the members, and to do the best that he can to enable them all to profit to the utmost by the union in which they are engaged?" is very true, Sir," he replied. "This then," I said, "he is bound to do, from his very situation, as head of the body; but suppose him to be exceedingly good and wise, and powerful besides; so good, as to be naturally inclined in the highest degree to confer upon them every possible benefit; so wise, as to know better than all the rest of mankind what is for their real benefit, and how to effect it; and so powerful, as to be able to accomplish, with perfect ease, all the purposes of his own wisdom and goodness; what should you think then of such a society? Would not great numbers of persons be desirous to be incorporated in it, that they might put themselves under the protection and superintendence of such a head, and be as closely united with him as possible, in order to reap the fruits of his virtues in their own prosperity and happiness?" "There is no doubt of it, Sir," he answered. 66 And," "I said, "if the Head should require of the members to show their disposition to union with him, and the estimation in which they hold their privileges, every now and then, by some test or symbol, would you think it strange, if they should refuse, or neglect, or not be eager to do it? Indeed, would you not call such conduct a virtual renunciation of their union, and their privileges too?"—Vol. VI. pp. 154, 155.

There is very much more in these orthodox pages in the same style of excellence, which our space forbids us to quote. Enough has

been extracted, we think, to shew the character of the work; and to insure these additional volumes a place in every library, and upon every table, where their admirable predecessors have already secured themselves a situation. The mischief of infidel publications, and the dark designs of political incendiaries, are ably painted; and the indignant rebuke administered to the dirty reptile, who traded in blasphemy, and treason, and advocated a general disruption of the bonds of society, by an equal division of the land, is above all praise.

All such schemes must be unjust to a great number of persons; and are most likely to be unprofitable to the public, and may not be profitable to a single individual but, what determines the question is, that they are not feasible; or, if you could imagine them carried into effect by violence and force of arms, they would not last; God and nature, the passions, the talents, and the habits of different men, would soon overthrow them. Assure yourselves, therefore, that there cannot be a worse enemy to the poor, than one, who recommends to them any thing else but industry, and sobriety, and frugality, and patience.-Vol. VI. pp. 236, 237.

We thus take our leave of these sensible volumes, and heartily commend them to the favour of the wise and the good.

ART. II.-A Sermon preached in the Parish Church of St. Helen, Abingdon, on Christmas-Day, 1829, at the Appointment of the Master and Governors of Christ's Hospital, by the Rev. W. TIPTAFt, B. A. Vicar of Sutton-Courtney, Berks. Abingdon Payne. Oxford: Parker. Wallingford: Payne. 8vo. Pp. 25. Price 6d. A Sermon, preached at Abingdon, on Sunday, December 27, 1829. By the Head Master of Roysse's Free Grammar School. 1830. Abingdon: Payne. Oxford: Parker. 8vo. Pp. vi. 19. Price 1s.

We do not arrogate to ourselves the privilege of quarrelling with individuals for any peculiar sentiments they may entertain on matters of Christian faith and practice; though it is not altogether unnatural to expect, that when a party, who conscientiously adopts one system of belief, is assailed with abuse by the advocates of another and contrary system, the former should not patiently succumb to the calumnies and revilings of their opponents. With the exception, therefore, of some few cases of peculiar malevolence, it has been our wonted practice to leave to their insignificance the feeble attacks, which, every now and then, some furious zealot volunteers against the Church; contenting ourselves with the steady and consistent maintenance of those principles which are inculcated in the Scriptures, recognised in our Articles, and sanctioned by our ablest and most pious divines. In deviating from this rule in the present instance, let it not be imagined that we have been moved by any novelty in the arguments, or

solidity in the assertions, advanced by Mr. Tiptaft, which seemed to demand a formal reply. The harangue, which he has published under the title of a Sermon, is the veriest trash, and most bombastic nonsense, which ever proceeded from the lips of one who hoped to escape Bedlam. Nevertheless, it has excited a considerable sensation in the University of Oxford, and has called forth an answer from the pulpit in which it was delivered, as remarkable for its charitable forbearance and sound religious views, as the thing which provoked it for its virulent abuse and ignorant perversions of Scripture. Hence a borrowed importance has been attached to it, which calls for a more public exposure of the mischief it is calculated to produce.

Mr. Tiptaft is one of that benevolent class of individuals, who bring under the Calvinistic ban of reprobation nine-tenths of their fellowcreatures, while they reserve to themselves, with the most Christian humility and self-complacency, the exclusive right to an irreversible election into the kingdom of God. In the commencement of his discourse, indeed, he modestly leaves it undetermined whether he is "the servant of Christ or the servant of the devil;" but in dedicating it "to all who believe in and love the Lord Christ in Abingdon and its vicinity," he had clearly made up his mind to the former alternative. After complaining of the misrepresentations which had gone about-which misrepresentations we cannot discover in Mr. Hewlett's reply, if it be that to which he refers he deduces the following incontrovertible inference :- "It is an evidence of the truth of the doctrine, that it is every where spoken against; if it were not so, I should know that I am not a minister of Christ, and a faithful preacher of his Gospel: for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.' (Gal. i. 10.)" effect, he declares the salvation of those who have the in which number he confessedly includes himself, to be as certain as if they were in heaven," (p. 24.) Of course, we feel ourselves bound to receive this assurance in preference to the authority of St. Paul, who thought it necessary to be always on the watch, "lest, when he had preached to others, he himself should be a castaway." But we must turn to the sermon itself; the object of which is to substantiate the doctrine of a partial redemption, and to explain the manner in which the elect are saved. The doctrine itself is thus stated ::

To the same Spirit of God,

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We all by nature imagine that Christ died for every one in the world: but he died only for those whom God chose in him before the foundation of the world. But we must know, that which God teaches by his Holy Spirit is true doctrine, and not what man thinks. The word of God is our standard and our guide, and whoever speaks not according to that word, believe him not, for there is no light in him. Now Isaiah, (chap. liii.) where he is speaking so plainly of Christ, saith, "he shall see his seed, he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; and he bare

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