you, and you be sentenced and doomed to everlasting misery, there to remain to all eternity.' p. 11. At the latter end of so long a life to finish our course with courage, to go on comfortably through this wicked world, and look death our last and awful enemy, in the face, with composure, and resignation to God's most holy will and pleasure, is wonderful and extraordinary; instances of this kind are but seldom to be met with, but when they are, the persons endued with such wonderful characters, may justly expect to inherit the kingdom of heaven.'- What can be more shocking, than to see human life prolonged to between three and four score years, without the beauties of holiness, piety and virtue, or even the appearance of any good deeds and actions, to recommend them to God's mercy and favor, but worn out with sin, iniquity and dissipation,'The vile prac tices of sin and iniquity, ruins and destroys their constitutions, and brings them too often to early, or untimely deaths. If we can have any thing to boast of in this transitory and uncertain life, it must be the pleasing reflection of a well spent life, and having done our duty to God, but this very few indeed, can call to mind, to their own heartfelt satisfaction, and happy are they that can.' pp. 13-15. Labour therefore for meat which endureth unto everlasting life which God the righteous judge will give, to those who by their good lives and conversation, their good deeds and actions, merit and deserve it in the awful day of judgement." Let us hope God will bestow the great blessing of eternal life, hap piness and glory upon our worthy deceased Brother for his good conduct during his short continuance in this uncertain world. His afflictions and pains are ended, and may God grant rest unto his soul. May it be washed and cleansed by the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was crucified and slain at this season of the year for the sins of a wicked, and an offending world. Let us all be taught to remember how short and uncertain our time may be in this world, that we may apply our hearts unto true wisdom, and be well prepared by a life of holiness and virtue, or by true repentance to inherit eternal life, happiness and glory in the kingdom of heaven. Which may God of his infinite mercy grant to every soul here present, thro' Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.' 17. 18. Art. XVI. Serious Attention to personal Holiness, and Soundness of Doctrine considered, in a Sermon, preached June 1, 1808, at the Visitation of the Rev. Andrew Burnaby, D. D. Archdeacon, in the Parish Church of St. Martin, Leicester, and published at the Request of the Clergy. By the Rev. Thomas Robinson, A. M. Vicar of St. Mary's Leicester. 8vo. pp. 37. Price 1s. Hatchard, Rivington, 1808. THE situation of the author, when delivering this discourse, must have been extremely interesting. Standing up in the midst of a large town, where for thirty years he has exercised his ministry, where he has outlived reproach, silenced opposition, and collected a numerous, orderly, and united congregation, to whom he has been "an ensample in every good word and work," he must have been deeply impressed while enforcing on the clergy of the surrounding archdeaconry the apostolic exhortation, (1 Tim. iv, 16) which he has himself so well observed, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. He considers, first, The serious attention required to "personal reli gion"-and to "the matter of our doctrine;" under which latter, he presents a judicious summary of scriptural truth. He unfolds, secondly, the happy consequences to be expected," thou shalt save thyself,"-"and them that hear thee." On this simple and natural plan, he raises a very comprehensive and impressive sermon, every sentence of which deserves the attention of every minister in the Established Church. Its doctrine is strictly that of the articles; its spirit is purely that of genuine evangelical religion. We shall not apologize for allotting a larger space to quotations from it than we can generally afford in similar cases. 'Let each one take heed to himself, as a Christian. This is our high and holy calling, separate from the pastoral office. A Christian is an ho nourable appellation! A disciple, a follower, a servant, of Jesus Christ, named by his name, dependent on him, devoted to him, expecting eternal salvation from him! Are we such in reality? The question should excite in us great searchings of heart. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves: know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates *?" Such is the holy jealousy we should exercise, that a constant appeal should be made to our consciences as in the sight of God, whether we possess the principles, or manifest the tempers and practices, of true believers. There is" a form of godliness," which may attach to hypocrites; and there. is" the power thereof" essentially requisite to salvation. Let us beware, lest having a name that we live," we should be "dead+." pp. 11, 12. By what motives were we induced to aspire to the Christian priesthood, and undertake the cure of souls? Many holy and eminent men, through the painful apprehension of not being found faithful, have shrunk from the appointment. Have we come forward to enter the church, from a pure and spiritual desire, as we have solemnly declared, " to serve God for the promoting of his glory, and the edifying of his people?" " My brethren, this part of my subject is peculiarly delicate; but I feel myself interested in it. I presume not to judge another, but the inquiry is requisite for us all, "Are we the sent of God? It is our honour, that we have received ordination in a truly apostolical church, and from the hands of those, who are duly authorized "to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard," and therefore I maintain with our 23d Article, that with reference to man we are " lawfully called and sent." But there is a higher tribunal, to which the appeal should be made. We have all professed, upon our first ordination, before Him" who searcheth the hearts," that "we trusted we were inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon as this office and ministry." This is a matter, which lies altogether be tween God and our own souls, not cognizable by man: it should therefore be the subject of private examination. Have we, then, under the influ ence of the Divine Spirit, devoted ourselves to the service of God in the ministry of the Gospel? We must take heed to maintain a temper and a conduct consistent with this profession, and with an unalterable firmness and decision to abide by the surrender we have made. pp. 13–14. We conceive that our public discourses should be altogether Chris tian. We are not philosophical lecturers or pagan móralists. We should forget our character and degrade our office, if we should be content to * 2 Cor. xiii. 5. + 2 Tim. iii. 5 Rev. iii. 1. be (in the strong language of a late admired prelate)" THE APES OF EPICTETUS." Our instructions should go far beyond the common duties of social life or mere morality. We teach men, not merely how to conduct themselves towards each other, but how to obtain peace with their offended God. Ours is "the ministry of reconciliation."` The word we preach proposes the way, and is itself the grand instrument, by which the Lord God subdues the rebellious creature, and receives him to favour. We preach peace by Jesus Christ: such is the appropriate description of the Gospel, which is committed to us: it is gad tidings of great joy, announcing salvation to them that are ready to perish.' p 19. The want of ministerial success in any parish is a tremendous circumstance, never to be contemplated but with horror. Something must be wrong; and the Christian pastor should ever be ready to suspect himself. Is no good effect produced? Is no obstinate sinner awakened to a sense of his danger? Is no one turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God? Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ treated with contempt? And are there none, to whom it is made the power of God to their salvation? How then is the promise fulfilled, "Thou shalt save them that hear thee?" Let each one of us inquire, Where is the fault? Am I faithfully delivering "the truth as it is in Jesus?"-declaring all the counsel of God, and exerting my utmost efforts to bring all men to the obedience of faith? Then why is there this deplorable inefficacy?—this blast upon my labours? pp. 35–36. We would earnestly press the consideration of this last extract on every clergyman, who complains of deserted churches and crowded "conventicles." Mr. Robinson's signal success has been owing, partly perhaps to more than common ministerial talents and personal worth, but chiefly, we doubt not, to the fidelity and zeal with which he has set before his hearers the doctrine of Christ crucified. While others have been preaching against schism and heresy, he has been impressing upon his hearers the awful consequences of transgression and the only way in which sinners can be saved from perdition. By making his hearers Christians, under the blessing of his Divine Master, he has made them churchmen ; and we have no hesitation in asserting, that this is the only way in which the interest of any Church, established or dissenting, can be effectually promoted and maintained. Art. XVII. A Dictionary of the Scripture Proper Names, wherein the words are accentuated and divided into Syllables, with the Pronunciation and Meaning annexed. To which are prefixed Remarks respecting the Pronunciation, Etymology, and Accentuation, of the English Language. By the Rev James Creighton, A. B. 12mo. pp. 364. Price 6s. bds. Baynes, Lomas, &c. 1808 PERSONS who are desirous of understanding and pronouncing cor-rectly the Proper Names that occur in Scripture, but who are unacquainted with the original languages, may be recommended to consult Mr. Creighton's Dictionary as the most comprehensive and commodious publication of the kind. He is certainly intitled to their thanks for the pains he has evidently taken, in pointing out the syllabic emphasis of the words, and the true pronunciation of the vowels; his decision in most cases ap* Bishop Horsley. pears to us correct. The interpretations of the various names, especially the Hebrew names, he has chiefly adopted from preceding writers; and many of these are in our opinion faulty, though the error is comparatively immaterial. It would be easy to collect specimens of this kind; we shall only notice two. TII 'AB'-A--R This word y, seems to have been traced to the same root as Aaron, 178, viz. 77, harah, to swell, whence, a mountain: we apprehend it is derived from a âbar, he passed over, signifying, with the diminutive 1, the little passage. xii. 20. AD-NA: addna. Eternal rest, or pleasure. 1 Chronicles T 'AD-NAH: addna. (The same as Adna.) 1 Chron. xii. 20.' Two distinct words are here confounded. The first is in Ezra x. 30. NIT, ádna, pleasure, delight: the other is the word in 1 Chron. xii. 20. ny, ádnach, eternal rest, from τy, ad, eternal, and m♪, nuach, rest. It is falsely written Adnah in our English Bibles, whereby the etymology is lost. Some useful tables of weight, measure, coin, &c. are subjoined to the Dictionary. The Remarks mentioned in the title are somewhat miscellaneous; they include many sensible hints and observations on certain common faults in grammar, spelling, and pronunciation. We fully agree in Mr. Creighton's protest against the silly fashion of throwing back the emphasis, a fashion that tends to aggravate the evil of indistinct articulation, which is increasingly_prevalent among English speakers and readers. A Letter to the author is prefixed, from Dr. Adam Clarke, commending the "Remarks," and complaining of the gross defects of the English alphabet, and the erroneous pronunciation of the ancient languages, which is adopted exclusively by our countrymen. Art. XVIII. The Curate Catechising; or a Familiar Exposition of the Church Catechism, addressed to the Children of a Country Parish ; with suitable Questions for their Examination therein. By the Rev. W. Thistlethwaite, B. A. 12mo. pp. 68, price Is. Hatchard, 1808. THIS work is likely to be found a very useful assistant to Clergy men, in one of the most important and most neglected of their duties. The several articles of the catechism are expounded concisely, and for the most part in strict conformity with scripture. At the end of each exposition, is a set of questions framed out of it, which the catechumen is to be prepared to answer. The expositions, which may also be deemed exhortations, are happily marked with an earnest familiarity, and an evangelical piety, which are calculated to produce the most desirable impressions. As we think this meritorious performance should not require explanation or qualification from the person who uses it, we would recomend the author to revise it carefully, and remove any ambiguities which a perusal for that purpose may enable him to detect. One of the instances to which we allude is in the very first article; "You say that in your baptism you were made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Were you not so before? No; you were not: for by nature you were born in sin, &c." Without a little more explication, there is a chance of some confusion in a child's idea of the utility of this ordinance, when he is told afterwards that "in order really to partake of these privileges which are mentioned, we must have the inward grace also, as well as the outward sign, of baptism;" and when he is warned not to "depend upon having merely received the outward ordinance." The exposition also of the passage, "I pray unto God to give me his grace that I may continue in the same (state of salvation) unto my life's end," might be still more adapted to obviate the notion which the presumptuous will always be ready enough to entertain, that having been baptized is that "same" state of salvation in which, and without any other, it will be very safe to continue to the end of life. We shall be glad to find this little work extensively and successfully adopted. Art. XIX. An Address to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Propriety and Usefulness of Sunday Evening Lectures. By the Rev. George Henderick. cr. 4to, pp. 22. price 1s. York, Todd; Rivingtons, Hatchard, &c. 1808. THE measure recommended in this address is, in our opinion, intitled to general adoption. The arguments for it are obvious: the Sabbath evening, at present, is the most vacant time of the week, and, as the church is shut, the alehouse, and every resort of vulgar dissipation, is crowded; it is also the most agreeable and suitable time, perhaps, for engaging in divine worship, and congregations, in this part of the day, are almost universally larger than in any other. But Mr. H. is too good a churchman to rest the plan on these arguments. It is not enough to say, that it promises to be useful in reclaiming the idle and vicious. The great advantage is, that it will diminish the attendance at the "conventicle." We regret, for Mr. Henderick's sake, that he should have urged this argument so fiercely; is this the argument most likely to have weight with the "Most Reverend Father, the distinguished Head and Ornament of the Protestant Faith," as Mr. H. most reverently and judiciously styles our present worthy metropolitan? Can nothing stimulate the Clergy to promote the reformation of public manners, but a fear that it will be effected by the sectaries? We also regret that Mr. H. should rely on newspaper information for accounts of the addition ordered to be made to the number of Methodist chapels, when authentic information might have been obtained; we take upon us to deny the truth of the accounts which he repeats for the primate's instruction. We also regret that Mr. H. should expose his illiberality, not to say his fatuity, by representing the "Stratagems of Dissenters” as" equally dangerous" with the influence of Infidelity." We also regret that Mr. H. should forfeit whatever character he may have had for veracity, by asserting that the Dissenters (here politely denominated Schismatics,)" are active and indefatigable in their endeavours to undermine and destroy" the establishment (p. 9): that they, the preachers apparently," seldom omit to assail the members, the ceremonies, and especially the ministers of the church of England," with a "volcano of slander and invective" (p. 12); and that in "the schools attached to almost every dissenting congregation," Sunday Schools probably, "the principles of schism and dissension are early fixed in the infant minds" of the pupils. (p. 12). We call upon Mr. Henderick, on behalf of common justice, and of a large body of most loyal and exemplary British subjects, to prove these accusations, or to take to himself the infamous charge of "SLANDER ;" and we wish him to inform the world whether it is intentionally, or not, that he confounds two things so very distinct, as "dissent" and "dissension.” |