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standard. But in this Mr. Chalmers is entirely mistaken, and the reason he advances is insufficient evidence. If the labourers are not enabled, he says, to live in this accustomed state, they will abstain from marriage, and the supply of labourers will diminish. But, by Mr. Chalmers's own allowance, this is a remedy which cannot operate, for half an age, for that lapse of time during which the offspring of the marriages now prevented might have grown up to fill the ranks of labour. During eighteen or twenty years, therefore, taxes may reduce the condition of the poor to that state of misery, which is not only inconsistent with the maintenance of families, but which is barely adequate to preserve the life of the labourers now in

existence.

Nor is it only by the taxes which immediately fall upon the labourer, or upon the articles which he consumes, that his condition is affected. It is injured by every thing which injures the general condition of the country, or retards its prosperity. Whatever has a tendency to interrupt the accumulation of capital, the fund from which labour is paid, lessens the demand for labour, by consequence reduces the wages of labour, and depresses the condition of the peasant. Hence very few taxes indeed can be levied, which will not affect the labouring classes. It is they, on the other hand, who both first and most severely feel the adversity of the country. Of this England, at the present moment, exhibits a memorable example. The middling classes now suffer severely from the pressure of the times; but the lower orders have been suffering long. The poor's rate, since the beginning of the taxing period in 1793, has risen from l. 2,004,238 a year to 1.4,267,965, that is, it has more than doubled, and the number of paupers has increased in a similar proportion. A pamphlet published by the present Treasurer of the Navy, Mr. Rose, shortly after the printing of the returns respecting the state of the poor, under the orders of the House of Commons, remarked it as the result his experience and inquiries, that the condition of the lower orders had become sensibly more wretched and destitute during the war. Another author of great research and deserved celebrity, Mr. Colquhoun, author of the important work on the Police of the Metropolis, in his recent publication on the education of the labouring people says; "When it is considered that the price of almost all articles of the first necessity has nearly doubled within the last sixteen years, and that the wages of the bulk of the day labourers, in most parts, have not kept place with the rapid and unexampled decrease in the value of money, it is clear to demonstration that that useful class of the community, called the labouring people, can scarce under such circumstances find the means, in many instances, of sup

plying even food and cloathing for the children; much less are they able to pay school wages, especially where the families are large." We shall only state further on this subject, the following decisive fact. In 1807, the society of ship owners in Britain laid some papers before Parliament, which were afterwards printed, and in which they stated it as the result of ascertained facts, that wages, since 1780, had increased 39/ 7s id per cent, but that the price of provisions had increased in the same time 841 8s 2d per cent. It is therefore proved by the most striking facts, that the doctrine of Mr. Chalmers is false, and that the circumstances of the poor are so far from being incapable of suffering from excessive taxation, that they have suffered severely in this country, during the last fifteen years.

We must however cease to pursue the errors of this writer any farther. The tendency of his book, much as we respect his intentions, appears to us dangerous. It may be of fatal consequence to the public mind, to represent such a state of things to be necessary in order to avert foreign conquest, as is but little if at all preferable to the permanent state of things, which such conquest would introduce. In proportion as the toils and sacrifices necessary to resist effectually are exaggeated, and never were they so absurdly exaggerated as by Mr. C. precisely in that proportion are the inducements to resist diminished. In proportion to the horror which every enlightened patriot must feel at the thought of invasion and subjection to a foreign power, should be his anxiety to prevent the distresses of the country becoming so great as to dispose any portion of the people, in any degree, to welcome the experiment.

Mr. Chalmers's style is flowing and showy. He is warm and declamatory, but excessively diffuse. Instead of regularly pursuing the course of his argument, he sets himself to galloping and frisking round every particular idea of it, till he becomes quite giddy, and wears out the patience of his reader. His command of language is probably a fatal snare to him; for as he seems to be at no Joss for words, he is led to mistake fluency of expression for fertility of thought.

Art. II. The Life of the Apostle Paul, as related in Scripture, but in which his Epistles are inserted in that Part of the History to which they are supposed respectively to belong; with select Notes, critical Explanations, &c. relating to Persons and Places, and a Map of the Countries in which the Apostle travelled. By Joseph Gurney Bevan. 8vo. pp. x. 428. Price 4s. 6d. boards, W. Phillips, 1807.

HE public had some reason to complain, a few years ago, of the difficulty or impracticability of ascertaining the

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prevailing, sentiments of the Friends on religious doctrine. This singular people had for a long period maintained almost the same deep silence among their countrymen at large, which is sometimes observed in their places of worship. No volume, since the time of Barclay, had issued from the press, from which any one could satisfactorily discover whether their religious opinions were the same as at the first formation of the society; or whether the charges, so frequently advanced against them, of ignorance, and a wide departure from the scriptural faith, were true or false. If satisfaction on these points could be obtained by personal intimacy with them, the advantage must have been confined to few; both on account of their external manners, which appear to a common spectator to be formed in defiance of the rules of social intercourse, and calculated to repel a near approach, and chiefly in consequence of the habitual and even proverbial closeness and reserve which they maintain, in their communications with men of other denominations. The appeal to Barclay's Apology, as a test and standard of their creed, was certainly not a convincing one, in the estimation of those who have daily experience of the religious disputes which arise among persons who have formally subscribed to the same articles of belief; nor is it possible to overlook the inherent changeableness of the human mind, as well in opinion as feeling; or to forget that the ravages of time and vicissitude are not more remarkable on the outward form, than in the revolutions which are effected in the character. The fabric of sentiment in an individual, and much more in a large body of men, however carefully insulated by its founders, is liable to be overthrown by violent accidents; and still more probably will yield at length, and moulder away, under the wearing hand of time.

The "Defence of the Christian doctrine of the Friends," published by Mr. John Bevan, (see E. R. ii, 524) was therefore opportune and acceptable; as it tended both to disperse the darkness which hung over the creed of this society, and to remove unfavourable opinions respecting them, which existing circumstances seemed in some measure to justify. If Mr. Clarkson's Portraiture, which soon succeeded, was not so explanatory as could be wished, on some points of doctrine; it threw much light on their manners, and conveyed such a favourable impression of their character, as will probably lessen the wide distance which has heretofore subsisted between the Quakers and some other religious denominations."

Mr. Bevan has now given the world another opportunity of gaining information concerning the society to which he belongs, by publishing the present work. This, indeed, is only a collateral advantage; the publication comprizes other

direct excellences which intitle it to warm commendation, and render it highly deserving of attention.

The plan of the author is to exhibit a life of St. Paul, by extracting and arranging, in chronological order, those passages in the Acts and the Epistles which relate to that eminent Apostle; and to introduce his Epistles at those periods of his life when they are thought to have been written. He has also added notes on the text; some from his own pen, others from various commentators; and has prefixed to the work a well executed map of the countries through which the Apostle travelled. The following extract from the preface will show the design of the Author; and explain in some measure the manner in which he has accomplished it. We must first, however, apprize our readers, that, although we are often right in taking authors at their word, when they speak humbly of their own performances; we think, in the presen instance, that the professions of the Preface do not convey an adequate idea of the merit of the publication.

'A few things seem proper to be suggested to the reader, as a preface to the following little work, on various accounts; and on no one more than this, that he may not be disappointed in his expectation. It does not profess to be a complete commentary, even on that portion of scripture which it comprehends, and over which it is hoped it may throw some light; but it will probably, at least, impart to some readers a portion of the entertainment which the compiler has found in the selection and arrangement; and possibly, to not a few, some information, and, what would still be better, some instruction. To the learned indeed, not much information may be given; but such are desired to bear in mind, that it is principally for those who do not assume that title, that the compilation is made. It may, however, be of some assistance to the tyro, even in learning, and may induce him to let those writers, whom an author of the last century calls The Sacred Classics, have their due share in his attention.

On the manner of the execution of my design, I neither ought nor need to say much. I would however hint at one or two particulars. In copy+ ing the annotations of others, I have generally done it literally. But I have sometimes abridged them; and here and there I have changed an expression, in order to avoid a too frequent recurrence of the Sacred Name: believing that where it is often and familiarly used, there is a danger of taking it into the mouth without reverence. I do not know that those, who may incline to compare my quotations with the originals, will find many deviations which may not be referred to one of these causes.

As to the nameless notes, I wish they may bear the scrutiny of those who are better biblical critics than myself. The few Greek words may generally be omitted by the English reader, without perceiving any chasm in the connexion or the sense.' pp. pref. pp. 3, 4.

The utility of the plan cannot for a moment be questioned. It is the same that has been adopted with great success by Professor White, in his chronological arrangement of the Evangelical Histories, called the Diatessaron. An account of St. VOL. VI.

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Paul, taken from the inspired writings, comprehends a large part of the Acts of the Apostles, and almost the whole of the Epistles; and as the arrangement aids the memory in retaining this portion of the momentous records of the Christian dispensation, so the insertion of the Epistles at those points of the History to which they belong, awakens a more lively interest, and tends to leave a deeper impression, as well as frequently to convey a more correct notion of the Apostle's mean. ing. The plan shows also the close connexion between the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles; and facilitates the discovery of those minute coincidences and allusions in the dif ferent portions of Scripture, which are a striking evidence of its truth. And by keeping the attention fixed on this eminent servant of Christ, from the time of his conversion to his death; by following him from place to place, observing the unbroken series of his exertions and labours, the dangers to which he was constantly exposed, and the sufferings which he endured, we attain a better knowledge of his unwearied activity, his ardent zeal, his undaunted boldness, his concern for the success of the Gospel and the salvation of men, and the other divine virtues of his character.

In his chronological arrangement, our Author generally agrees, though not invariably, with former Commentators. He considers the visit to Jerusalem, in which St. Paul was introduced by Barnabas to the disciples who recollected his former persecutions and feared his society, as the second aftér his return from Damascus and Arabia; and subsequent to that which brought him to the acquaintance of Peter and James. These events are in general supposed to have happened during the same visit; and nothing appears to us requisite in order to harmonize the accounts given of it in Acts ix. and Gal. i. but the admission that Peter and James were the only apostles to whom Barnabas introduced Paul. It is possible, that there were no other apostles then at Jerusalem; as the rest might be occupied in visiting the various churches of Palestine, and in planting others more eastward; where, according to the Syriac traditions collected by Asseman, the Gospel was earlier and more extensively diffused, than in Europe. We likewise differ from our author, in his supposition that Paul's journey to Jerusalem, related in Gal. ii. was the same with that which is mentioned Acts xi. and xii. That it was, on the contrary, that which is described Acts xv. appears to us from every circumstance related; especially the specified object of the visit, the distance of time (whether reckoned from the former visit, or from Paul's conversion), and the presence of Titus on the occasion, which must have been after the first mission to the Gentiles. There are some variations in the respective places of the Epistles, which we

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