an idea of the author's manner, and will be sufficient to recommend the whole to the perusal of our intelligent readers.

"And here we repeat it, as a primary observation, in point of importance, that so far, at least, as government is the ordinance of GOD, so far it must deserve our reverence and support. One scriptural designation of The powers' is that of gods. Admitting the British government to be substantially legitimate, (and whether its defects or corruptions, so denominated, do properly and entirely annul its authority, and deface its sacred characters, I leave to the judgment of all enlightened and impartial men to determine,) the King is clothed with a divine authority in the administration of the laws. He is the viceroy of GoD. He bears, officially, the image of God; of his justice and holiness; of his paternity and love. Nay, he shadows forth the natural attributes of DEITY. By his civil ubiquity, he is understood to know whatever may relate to the public welfare; and, by his power, he is supposed to be capable of doing all things required for the good of the nation. Even eternity is adumbrated. The first king of Salem is thought, by some, to be described as 'Without father and mother,' with a view to this analogy. And our maxim is, that the king of England never dies. Now, can railing accusations,' (I say not constitutional and temperate appeals,) brought against such a power, be viewed as any other than speaking evil of dignities:

"It does not affect the question, if we admit the real existence of great corruption in the state. We have not taken it upon us, in any part of this discourse, to determine that point; our object being the inculcation of religious duty, whatever be the circumstances of the government under which we live. But, supposing corruption could be cured, for the time, by clamour and violence, rather than by those tranquil measures, which accord with the constitution, which Christianity inspires, and which allow of sufficient energy, still the evils of such kind of opposition might be eventually serious. To rail against men in office might be comparatively harmless, if it went no further; but as the odium is dashed, though perhaps unintentionally, on the office itself, it tends to enervate all authority, and to render inefficient the most unquestionable and wholesome laws.

"A matchless writer* finely observes, 'We should approach to the faults of the state, as to the wounds of a father, with pious awe, and trembling solicitude.' Suppose, indeed, that young persons in general were to practice a flippant and contemptuous opposition to their parents, whenever they themselves might judge unfavourably, or had really some reason so to do, of the conduct of those parents; must not all order be poisoned at its fountain-head, and the very character of paternity itself be weakened and degraded? Suppose a youth, because his own conduct is comparatively decent, and that of his parent very wrong, should go about every where exclaiming, "My father is a fool, and a rogue, and a tyrant! Am I obliged to bear his însults? What shall we do to mend, or get rid of, such old dotards?”

* BURKE; see his Reflections,

Would not such a child be looked upon as striking at the law of nature, and as flatly resisting, with a mere shew of right, the ordinance of God? Would he not be viewed by all mankind as extremely ungrateful, and as a dangerous example to the rising generation? Would not the effects of his behaviour reach beyond the evils he objects to, and tend to undermine the influence of what is really good in parents? When similar indignity is thrown upon the higher powers, it cannot fail to re-act upon the private relations of life, and to unsettle in some degree the very principles of obedience in general.

"We ought, therefore, to be cautions, lest our language and spirit, when we exercise our just right of remarking upon government, should not be scripturally respectful. For we are commanded to 'Honour the King. The Jews of old worshipped [that is, reverenced,] the LORD and the King.' A king without honour cannot long maintain his station. By giving honour to the King we give honour to God, whose minister he is. We also, in effect, give honour to the country, and to ourselves. This reflection we deem to be an inference of direct improvement from the subject.

"Another observation to be made upon the text is this: that while it obviously infers a just obedience to the reigning powers, the doctrine of passive obedience, as unlimited and undefined, it cuts up by the roots; for such powers themselves being dependent upon GOD, it is evident they ought not to injure his authority, or to enjoin what clearly stands in opposition to his will. To him alone must we present an entire obedience, without question, and without demur.

"But passive obedience is a phrase which requires explanation, since all obedience is passive, in a strict and proper sense; and since also, in another view, no rational obedience is altogether passive, not even that which we owe to God himself. Does it imply a submission, yielded merely because of the King's command, without admitting any other consideration? Then we renounce it as inapplicable to men of understanding. On the contrary, we obey, because we believe the power to be of God; because we have civilly consented to be ruled by him; because we deem a reasonable prudence requires us to obey; and because the Holy Scriptures command our obedience. This admission, it is hoped, is neither ignorant nor servile. It is surely not degrading to follow the prescriptions of our medical advisers, though, perhaps, we do not understand them, and know nothing of the physical grounds upon which they are composed. We use our own reason, with a suitable dignity, in consenting to the probabilities, that such men are fit to take the care of our health. And if we change them a thousand times, still we must submit, and still we consent to do so. And if with equal frequency we should change, not only the governors, but the form of government itself, in every case we could only agree to be ruled against our own will. No obedience can be absolutely passive which proceeds, not only upon conscious moral obligation, but also upon the strong and legitimate presumptions of a thinking and free agent.

"In matters of indifference, it is proper to obey, while the law remains in force. In things which interfere with conscience, we must disobey, because they are not indifferent. To yield against our con

science, is to lose our souls; a loss, which nothing can repair. Temporal losses, however great, may be more than remunerated. But if any one should say, 'My conscience will not permit me to yield to any law which I judge to be wrong,' then we say his conscience is perverted, because this position manifestly opens the flood-gates to universal rebellion and disorder. It is against the very nature of political government, which fundamentally implies the renunciation of our own will, that, in exchange for this natural right, we may receive those more valuable civil rights, which could not otherwise exist at all. Besides, it is unscriptural in the highest degree; for it clashes with forbearance, and forgiveness, and charity, and a whole train of virtues, which are essential to the Christian character.

"We reflect, in the next place, on the devout and awful homage which is due to the GoD of Providence. He is the KING OF KINGS, and LORD OF LORDS ;' the first link in the vast chain of intelligent existence; the prime mover of the immense tide of secondary operations. To forget GOD, is at once most criminal, and most irrational. To share the passing enjoyments of life, without extending our ideas beyond what is literally perceptible, is to act like the beasts, whose powers are completely engrossed by their fodder, without the least understanding of its origin, or preparation, or ultimate intention. A sublunary King receives our reverence and dread; let us lift our view to Him, of whom it is affirmed, 'The LORD MOST HIGH is terrible; he is a great KING over all the earth.' We honour the passing shade; let us adore the sublime, the eternal reality.

"The emblematic wheels of Ezekiel, and their living creatures, and the mutual elevation of both above the earth, as a beautiful picture of Providence, will assist our labouring thoughts. Mark, also, the same grand connection of causes and effects, differently expressed: 'I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens; and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.' All depend on GOD; he alone is independent. Let us give wing, indeed, to the mind, in her contemplations on the present universe; but she will build her nest, and seek her refuge and her solace, in the Rock of eternal ages.

"And what an exquisite happiness! How unutterably sweet to intermingle the idea of his beneficent agency with all that is visible, with all that occurs on the scene of human life! For he who sits upon the throne of universal empire, is the SHEPHERD that laid down his life for the sheep;' the infinite Fountain whence all the streams of love and of happiness continually flow. It is JESUS CHRIST, according to the majority of interpreters, who proclaims, in the person of eternal Wisdom, By me Kings reign.' The supreme sceptre is swayed by the hand which once was pierced with nails for love of human kind. All things receive an essential qualification and tincture from the blood of CHRIST. His cross is the grand pillar of our world. And he rules over all, not only in the prerogative of his own eternal Godhead, but, as REDEEMER, in the right of a divine grant from the FATHER, of lawful conquest over Satan, and of a free

election of his saints. May we all become his willing people, in this the day of his most gracious power!"-pp. 39-43.

Mr. M'Nicoll, in one part of his discourse, has entered upon the delicate subject of resistance to governments in extreme cases; and it is no small praise that he has discussed this difficulty with steady reference to the obligations of christian duty. His conclusion, if it should not be wholly satisfactory, is moderate and safe, and certainly in the spirit of that great political change which fixed the liberties, civil and religious, of our own country. We confess, however, that the discussion of such a subject appears to us to be wholly unnecessary, and rather injurious than instructive. It is one which, as a great authority, from whom Mr. M'Nicoll has quoted, states, is not to be even contemplated until actually forced upon us; and the reason is, that we cannot previously image to ourselves the circumstances, before the case occurs, and therefore cannot, with any certainty, lay down principles of duty with regard to it. All disaffection and disorder which may exist among us, in the present state of things, are to be met on other grounds. In a country where religious freedom is unfettered, where even factious men hesitate to fix a charge upon the pure administration of law and justice, where the press is free, where public burthens are equally shared, and where a public opinion operates with mighty force,-such an extreme case, as must be contemplated in the argument, is almost at the farthest possible remove from us. All the obligations of Christianity as to subjection are, therefore, in their full force, and are to have unrestrained influence. It cannot for a moment be doubted how the Apostles, and their great MASTER, Would have acted in the present state of things in this country; and there can be no hesitation in any sound mind, in enforcing, to the full extent, all their precepts. If any thing be capable of a clear manifestation to the understanding and conscience of one who, in sincerity, acknowledges the authority of Christianity to rule both his heart and life, it is, that, whilst he may deplore any existing evils, and may in a calm and peaceful manner seek their remedy by legal means, there are laid upon him, on pain of his own condemnation, the duty of subjection to the laws; reverence for the offices of magistracy; the exercise of that candour towards all in authority, which he would expect for himself in the discharge of any civil and religious office with which he might be invested; a tongue in which is the law of kindness, and not the sharp sword of calumny; and a temper moderate and subdued, such as may give no offence to the indwelling Spirit;-without which, whatever his professions may be, he is but "sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal."

VOL. XLIV. MAY, 1821.

Eight Lectures on the CHRISTIAN SABBATH. By WILLIAM THORN, 12mo. pp. 334.

The space allotted in this Magazine to the Reviewing-Department, is usually very limited. Nor has it ever formed a part of our plan to give a regular notice of new Religious Publications in general. Our principle is that of selection; and one of the principal considerations which ought always to determine our choice of the Works to be thus brought under the special attention of our Readers is, undoubtedly, the importance of the subjects on which they profess to treat. It is on this principle, that we are induced to include, among the comparatively few Publications which we can find room to announce in our pages, the very useful and interesting volume of MR. THORN on the Christian Sabbath; persuaded as we are, that there is not one subject, in the whole compass of Practical Religion, which is more important in its own nature, or which it is more manifestly the duty of Preachers and of Authors, under the peculiar circumstances of the times in which we live, scripturally to elucidate, and solemnly to enforce on the consciences of professing Christians. We are greatly mistaken if there be not in many quarters an alarming disposition to a latitudinarianism, both in doctrine and in conduct, in reference to this Divine Institution, from which the most injurious effects are to be apprehended, not only on public morals, but on the general tone and character of the piety of individuals. And we have no hesitation in stating it to be our deliberate judgment, that no Revival of Religious feeling and fervour can prove an extensive and permanent blessing to our country, which shall not be connected with a return, in some considerable degree, to the sound principles and practices of our forefathers, respecting this material point of christian duty First and foremost in the order of Means, divinely appointed to be used by us all, both for the production and for the preservation and increase of genuine godliness, is the conscientious and regular Sanctification of the Holy Sabbath. If this be neglected by individuals, or in families, religion is sure to languish and decay. And neglected it will be, to a most mischievous extent, wherever it is regarded, according to the loose theories of some moralists and theologians, as a matter of expediency and human agreement only, and not as a point of absolute duty, prescribed by the unrepealed Law and Commandment of the Universal Sovereign. "The Sabbath," it is most true, was made for man," for his comfort, and, above all, for his spiritual benefit,— but it was not made by him, but by his great Creator and Supreme Ruler. And what man did not make, he is not authorized to abolish, on the selfish plea of difficulty or inconvenience. "The Son of Man," indeed, "is Lord of the Sabbath ;" and in that character he has explained, by his teaching and example, the true nature and objects of the original Institution; but no explanation of his, if not pushed most outrageously beyond the limits of its fair and legitimate interpretation, will at all weaken the obligation, or diminish the real and intrinsic sanctity, of the Institution itself. Such explanations do not repeal any part of the statute which enjoins it, but rather confirm and establish it by new and additional motives to

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