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Our past life appears, behind us, like a lengthened dream; the remainder of our days, before us, hangs like an impenetrable cloud over an unseen land. More fearful cares torment the melancholy man; brighter hopes swarm round the cheerful one. Each one directs his view towards the lot which the ensuing days and months shall probably bring forth. Each one would guess something of his own destiny, which yet lies hidden in a dark futurity; as the corn at present in the wintry closed-up lap of the earth, continues still to germinate.

With uncertain expectation and fresh solicitude, each one returns to his occupations, and draws out his designs and plans. The Christian also resumes his course. Fear and hope play around him also. But with what disposition does he set forward, at the beginning of the new year, to meet the obscure future, and his unknown fate?

He for a while seeks solitude, in which his soul may obtain self-possession. He lifts up his spirit to his Almighty Father, and contemplates the infinite love of God. His mouth gives utterance to the gratitude of his heart. He says, "I am not worthy of all the mercy, love, and faithfulness, which Thou hast shown me. For, that I am, and what I have, must be ascribed to Thee! Thou hast preserved me through a thousand dangers, which I did not even know. Thou wast present when my need and difficulties were the greatest. Thou didst watch over me and my family when we erred. Whatever befell me in past days, I am sensible it happened for my advantage; and what I as yet do not understand, that it also was for the best, I shall learn in the sequel to comprehend. For the inviolable order in which Thou rulest the world is wise and wonderful, and conducive to that higher state of blessedness which Thou hast been pleased to appoint to man. .....”—Pp. 1—3.

Willingly would we proceed with this extract, which our limits warn us to break off. It is followed by a prayer of humble, yet fervent devotion, and self-exhortation to a due regulation of the hopes and fears which a Christian should cherish in his heart. The conclusion we cannot withhold from our readers.

Fear nothing, if you have no cause to fear yourself. Labour to extricate yourself with a manly Christian spirit, from the present distressing circumstances, which perhaps lie heavy on you. Reflect seriously on the whole state of your affairs consider of the best means to help yourself. Take courage to use them with vigour and prudence; and, if at last your strength be not sufficient, what you cannot effect, that will God perform.

Yes; that Thou wilt do, Divine Father! Thou who dost preserve and regard the little worm which crawls in the dust beneath us. Full of confidence will I give myself up to Thee; and whatever happens to me in the coming year, nothing shall tempt me to abandon my faith, and the holy word of Jesus Christ, thy Son. How can futurity have terrors for me, if I find Thee therein? What loss can discourage me, if I lose not Thee?

More pious, more virtuous, more circumspect, than during the past year, will I walk before Thee; and with a new year begin a new life. Whatever trouble, whatever effort it may cost me, I will endeavour to put away my faults, and to subdue those vicious inclinations which secretly corrupt me.

And should I not survive this year, should it be the year of my death! Ah, then, when the tears of my friends shall be shed around my grave, may a good conscience bear me witness of thy favour, and of my acceptance with Thee! I will prepare myself for it. If this be the year of my death, it shall also be the year of my birth for a better world. With a peaceful smile, and blessed in Thee, my God, may I depart hence, when my hour arrives; and with a joyful smile, enter upon that ETERNITY, in which awaits me unknown beatitude-thy wonderful and endless gift.-Pp. 13-15.

In the sixth essay, following:

"On the Power of Prayer," we have the

All pray; and this necessity of the human soul to go back to the Source of its existence, is to be considered as a record of its higher extraction, and of its higher destiny in a future state.

The wisest of men pray; for in their breast the longing after an union with God is found to be the strongest. The old man prays; for to him God has more clearly revealed himself in the wonderful occurrences of life. The king prays: however the venal tongue of a flatterer may commend him, the tongue which would scarcely name him, if no crown and ensign of authority adorned his brow, he himself perceives his infirmities in the clearest manner. In the midst of the borrowed splendours of his majesty, his heart warns him, "Thou art mortal, thou art full of sins; and many an one of thy subjects is more pious, more noble, more pleasing to God than thou." The vivacious youth prays, when, from the noise of dissipation, he passes to the solitude and stillness of night. He sees, through the blossoms of the season of youth, the approaching thunder-clouds of future days, and trembles at the uncertainty of his strength. He holds fast by God: he knows no friend who is more faithful, no father who is more loving, no protector who is more mighty. The rough warrior prays, who sleeps in the evening on his blood-stained arms. It was not these arms, but Providence which shielded him. He goes forth to his fearful calling; only a moment, and his bloody corpse may lie by the side of other dead. The mother prays, in the midst of her affectionate children. God gave her these delights of life; God can take them away; "Blessed," she exclaims, "be the name of the Lord." The profligate prays, with late contrition, in his painful sickness. The hour-glass warns him that this life is no eternity; and in the mirror, he sees an apparition which is like himself. He shudders, even with abhorrence of his guilt, when he reflects on the senseless trifling away of his past life-on his former scornful derision of the practice of true Christians. The mourning widow prays-on the coffin of her beloved spouse. The world is now a desert to her. She has lost her best temporal possession; yet God remains, and a holy hope, which perishes not in the grave. The philanthropist prayswhen he hastens out from the performance of his good deeds to deduce new motives to beneficence from the sight of the beauties of universal nature, and deeply affected by the magnificence of creation, is sensible of a tear of emotion in his eye.

Only one stands there unmoved, as if he had in his breast a heart of stone, and regards with a proud smile, or with vacant wonder, the praying world, and asks, "Why do they pray?"-" for," says he, "if God be an omniscient God, he knows what is wanting to us; if he be an all-wise God, he knows better than we what is useful to us; if he be an all-bounteous God, he awaits not our prayer, but gives us what is expedient, without our asking him. Wherefore, then, do you pray?" So speaks the grovelling sceptic.-Pp. 74-76.

It will be seen that we can give only detached extracts; though to afford a just idea of the work whole chapters ought to be transcribed. The passage just cited is followed up by a variety of motives for prayer, and some touching remarks on its power and efficacy. We could stop at every page to note some deep thought, or pathetic sentiment, or earnest prayer, or devout ejaculation; but with one more quotation we must conclude.

Thus is he, who is without independent firmness, made the sport of the waves of life. To him circumstances are not subservient, but he is their crea

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ture. According to them he changes his opinions and desires. To-day he is a sensualist; to-morrow he casts off the victim of his brutal pleasures, because he has some new object of interest to pursue. It is always the propensities which originate in his flesh and blood, that rule his spirit; and the spirit is without any controlling power over his propensities. He is always a slave to his money, his love of popularity, his corporeal inclinations, his gluttony, or his costly clothes and furniture; always a slave to the present moment, to present interest, to present humour. To them only is he devoted, with all his thoughts and wishes; by their influence only is his will directed. Does he deserve the name of free? Ah! so is the wild beast free, which, without any knowledge of better things, does whatever instinct teaches him to do. No! he is a slave! Who could otherwise be called so, if he be not, who is not even master of his own feelings and desires,-who perpetually commits high treason against himself, and acts of infidelity against his disapproving conscience?

Conscientiousness, therefore, is not so much to be esteemed a particular virtue, as the crown of virtues, in which they are all resplendent; it is the extent of perfection of which a man is capable; it is the true life of an active spirit; it is the sceptre of its dominion over earthly things; it is the name of its highest qualities, the character of its peculiar freedom. Whoever acts rightly, whoever performs his duty, is conscientious. Whoever follows none but his own principles; whoever refuses to set them aside for the sake of any low pleasure or advantage; whoever is incapable of being untrue to his better self-he is conscientious; is complete in himself; is superior to the world of sense; is worthy of veneration, and is really free. To strive after this elevation is the aim of all wise men-is the Christian's object. Without conscientiousness, Christianity is mere hypocrisy, a dead work of the lips, a self-deceit. It is not sufficient to have a conscience; every thing must be done according to the law of conscience. Other virtues can reach a higher or a lower degree of perfection; so also can this. Two things are included in Christian conscientiousness-knowledge of what is true and good, and fortitude of mind. We must cultivate both of these, if the perfecting of our nature in a blessed eternity be of any moment in our eyes.-Pp. 278-280.

The specimens which we have now given of these "Hours of Devotion," are equally indicative of the merits of the translation. Dr. Burrow has preserved throughout the spirit of the original; at the same time that he has been as literal as the idiom of the two languages would allow. A few expressions, indeed, and some whole passages, which appear to militate in any important degree against the tenets maintained by the Church of England, have been so accommodated, as to render them unobjectionable for the use of family devotion in this country; but in comparatively unimportant questions, even this liberty has not been taken. Only a small portion of the original work, however, is comprised in the present volume; but the editor promises another series of papers, should the present sample be approved. We beg him to proceed with the task forthwith; for we think too well of the devotional habits of our countrymen, not to augur a speedy call for the completion of a work as interesting as it is important.

ART. IV. A Sermon, preached at Great St. Mary's Church, Cambridge, on Commencement Sunday, July 4, 1830. To which is added, an Appendix, stating more fully the Author's Proposal for shortening the Residence of the Undergraduates, and obliging the Clerical Bachelors to reside and study Divinity. By the Rev. R. N. ADAMS, D. D. Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. Cambridge: Deightons. London: Rivingtons. 1830. P. 31. Price 2s.

DR. ADAMS has availed himself of the latitude allowed to University preaching, and more especially on occasions like the present, to call the attention of the University of Cambridge, and the public in general, to the instruction provided for candidates for Holy Orders in the Church of England. The subject has been agitated before; its importance ought to command a hearing for every educated man who makes it his study and his theme; to procure a calm and respectful reception for propositions which may not always be conceded; and to obtain a full, free, and temperate discussion from those who are competent to enter into its merits. Dr. Adams expresses an "earnest hope, that no one who peruses these pages will suffer his mind to be prejudiced against the utility of the general plan, by any defects, however glaring, which he may perceive in the proposed details." In this hope we participate, and wish to act accordingly. We do not indeed discover any "glaring" defects in the Doctor's outline; but that on such a subject any two persons should be wholly agreed, or any one minutely satisfied, is what, we conceive, our respected author scarcely anticipated. It is certain that many men whose piety, learning, and attachment to the Church are beyond all question, think some additional public preparation for orders necessary; that many more hold it advisable; and that therefore the rest, even though they should be correct in opinion, are bound to hear what the dissentients have to

say.

Dr. Adams, we are sure, is too good a friend of his Church, to have uttered intentionally a sentence reflecting on her character; and therefore, it is with the most friendly disposition that we would call his attention to a passage, which is but too capable of sinister construction, and may probably have been already transferred to the portfolio of some collector of "confessions." After specifying the anomaly of laying a durable and stately foundation, and then erecting no superstructure, under which figure he characterises the solid and liberal apparatus of academical learning, followed up by no theological plan, we read these remarks :

If the Church thus constructed has hitherto stood unmoved, it may be well to consider, whether it has not been indebted for its support more to the props and buttresses, which the arm of the civil power has raised around it on all sides,

rather than to its own strength. It may be well to consider, whether these props and buttresses may not have some tendency to slide away and crumble into dust; and whether the armies of the papal power, which were once vanquished, may not again awake from their long slumber, and, reinforced by the troops of those who regard conformity as a sin, unfurl their banners and erect the standard of defiance, and, advancing with the suddenness and swiftness of the lightning, shake at least to its foundations, if not utterly overthrow the venerable structure, weak only through its own fancied security.-P. 17.

We will venture to guess at the meaning of the Doctor's position ;that the present state of university education opens the Church to this objection on the part of her enemies; yet it surely requires explanation. In fact, were we desirous of combating the Doctor's recommendation, (which is far from the case) we should argue against its necessity on the very ground, that the Church does stand solely by her own strength, by the orthodoxy of her theology, the mild, temperate, devotional character of her liturgy, and the learning and assiduity of her Clergy. If these be not her "props and buttresses," how has she survived the dissolution of her keystone, the Convocation, the vitiation of her once comely and substantial pillar—the Parliament ? How does she yet resist the artillery of her godless enemies, the treachery of her hypocritical friends? But while we admit the high reputation of our national Clergy in all that can dignify and adorn the ministerial character, we are far from arguing, that their preparatory studies might not be conducted on an improved method. Even were no other advantage obtained by the proposed alteration, a plausible objection would be taken from the enemies of the Church; and the importance of this alone in the present posture of our ecclesiastical concerns, can scarcely be too highly esteemed. An argument was formerly employed against the method of education at Cambridge, the force of which was never eluded until the arrangement of study was altered. It was said that the University required no classical knowledge for a degree. Now, the objection was true in terms, but it implied a great mistake. The university examination, indeed, took no cognizance of classical learning; but then it was understood (which the objectors never subjoined) that none were sent into the SenateHouse without an examined and approved proficiency in classical scholarship, ascertained in their several colleges. The objection, however, was more notorious than the explanation, and the University wisely abandoned their former course. In so doing it has been found that they have not only removed an objection, but actually improved the system. The present case of students for the ministry is analogous. It is said that they enter on their office without special preparation. It is true that no peculiar course of academical study distinguishes the candidate for Orders; yet it would be a fallacy to pretend therefore, that, by the constitution of the Church, the sacred

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