NOTICES AND REVIEWS. very well the case of the church. Every clergyman is bound to do this at this season. Congregations of churchmen are (on good grounds, but improperly,) left in ignorance of the high claims and authority of the reformed episcopal church as established among us. And this is the fault of their teachers. No clergymen ever preach on this subject, in the right spirit, without gaining as well as deserving the gratitude of their people. What we have lost by the neglect of it is beyond calculation. 1834. Prayers for the Nursery. By the Rev. Henry Budd, M.A., Rector of White Conversations on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, &c. By the Rev. Charles William Stocker, late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. London: Rivingtons. 12mo. pp. 76. 1834. THE language of this tract is very plain, and the earnestness great. But it is rather long, and there are some parts of the minister's instructions which are very necessary, but not advisable perhaps to print. (See p. 11.) Manna laid up for the Sabbath. Third Part. 18mo. pp. 105. London: WHY do people give such conceited titles to books? There is no particular good or harm in the tract itself. The Sword unsheathed. The Polity of the Church of England, the Polity enforced by St. Paul, Rom. xiii. 1-8. 8vo. pp. 30. Seeley and Sons. London. 1834. AN ingenious and well-principled pamphlet, endeavouring to shew that Rom. xiii. 1-8, does not refer to the civil power. Local Testamentary Courts. By Michael J. Quin, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq, Barrister-at-Law. 8vo. pp. 52. London Ridgway. 1834. MR. QUIN'S is a very valuable pamphlet, and deserves immediate attention. Will nothing save the poor from the measure threatened about removing all courts for Probates of Wills from the country? A Plan for a New Arrangement and Increase in the Number of the Dioceses in England and Wales. By Lord Henley. 8vo. pp. 46. London: Roake and Varty. 1834. LORD HENLEY affords a remarkable instance of Monomania. Legislating for the church is his peculiar capriccio. Having settled the revenues, doctrine, and discipline, he now, by dint of a map very obscure, and a pamphlet very dull, undertakes to alter the dioceses. The only way to cure this noble and very respectable person of his unfortunate malady will be to induce a clergyman or two to publish pamphlets on the reform of the practice of Masters in Chancery. As to discussing his particular projects in the present pamphlet, it would be useless. There could be no difficulty in devising 50, or 100, or 1000 such plans, if that were all. Initia Latina, in usum Schola Grammaticæ Levishama. Pars Tertia. 12mo. pp. 76. London: Fellowes. AN useful little school book. 1834. 328 The Articles of the Church of England, with Scripture Proofs. 8vo. pp. 46. London: Seeley and Sons. 1834. CONVENIENT in size, and with a tolerable selection of passages, but requiring additions in several, to shew (what is the fact) that articles 9-18, both inclusive, were directed against the Romanists. Memoirs of the Council of Trent; principally from MS. and unpublished Records, &c.; with plates. By the Rev. Joseph Mendham, M.A. London : Duncan. 1834. 8vo. pp. 379. MR. MENDHAM is already well known to the world by his learned and laborious works on historical subjects. The present is a very valuable addition to them. The late lamented Lord Guilford (one whose like for learning, love of learning, generosity, kindness, and delightful conversation, this generation will not possess) had among the treasures of his curious library many valuable MS. collections on historical points. It was the disgrace of this nation that such a collection (formed by Lord G. himself in the course of perhaps thirty years' constant travelling abroad and intercourse with the learned and influential in every country) was dispersed. Mr. Mendham bought twenty-eight volumes of MSS. on the Council of Trent, and has here given us the result of his examinations of them. They throw much light on many curious and interesting points respecting the council, consisting as they do of memoirs and letters, by persons of the time and on the spot. It is an indispensable addition to every theological and historical library. Sermons preached in Christ's Church, Sculcoates. By John King, M.A., Minister of Christ's Church. London: Seeley and Sons. 1833. 8vo. pp. 439. A VERY excellent volume of sermons, well written, and shewing great thought and very pleasing views. A Letter to the Lord Bishop of Exeter, on a Coalition between the Wesleyans and Church of England. By the Rev. R. Polwhele. Truro: Heard. 1834. MR. POLWHELE, long known as a very respectable author, here warns the church against any attempt to coalesce with the Calvinists, but thinks an union with Wesleyans practicable, and points out some means for effecting it. Some of his hints deserve attention and respect. Overbury; a Tale, &c. By the Rev. J. E. N. Molesworth, M.A. In this small work (designed for general distribution, and well deserving it), Mr. Molesworth has described many of the evils of the Voluntary System, especially the tyranny which it enables coarse and vulgar minds to exercise over ministers. It is written in a very kind spirit, and adds another to the many obligations which the church has to Mr. Molesworth. Reply to the Travels of an Irish Gentleman, &c.; in Six Letters, addressed to the Editor of the British Magazine. By Philalethes Cantabrigiensis. London Rivingtons. 1834. 12mo. pp. 170. THIS little volume should be in the library of every divinity student, for though it calls itself only a Reply to Mr. Moore, it is, in fact, an examination of the evidence from the fathers, by which the Roman Catholics profess to support their doctrines. As Mr. Moore, of course, drew his materials from the authorized Roman Catholic sources, this is a reply to them, not to him. And the student will find it a most useful manual, done by a masterly hand, and shewing at once the wide learning, the calm thought, and the temperate expression required for successful controversy. Ovidii Fasti, with (English) Notes, and an Introduction. By Thomas Keightley. Dublin Milliken and Son. 1833. 8vo. pp. 277. OVIDI'S FASTI is an excellent school book, because it contains so much information which boys want. And Mr. Keightley, who is eminently qualified for such a task, has added a very valuable introduction, and some very useful notes. How is it that his admirable Mythology has not superseded all the miserable books which have possession of schools? Adams's Roman Antiquities, (with Plates and additional Notes.) By J. Boyd. Edinburgh. 12mo. THIS is a very improved edition of a well-known school book, giving, from good sources, plates illustrating ancient manners; and notes from Sir W. Gell, Niebuhr, and other modern sources. It is very cheap and very convenient. Glasgow Blackie and Son. : 1834. The Popular Encyclopædia. Part II. SOME account of this publication was given before. The reviewer is sorry to be obliged to add more unfavourable remarks. There is either culpable negligence or wilful mis-statement as to the church. The writer of the article Britain, says, that the church has a revenue of seven millions-and-a-half, and that of this sum, the working clergy have only half a million, and are obliged to be supported by voluntary contributions! There are many more falsehoods of the same kind in the article, not worth notice. But it is necessary to state the nature of this publication. Does the writer know nothing of Lord Althorp's official statement last year, or does he wilfully overlook it? The article on Bible Societies is also in a very bad tone. This is much to be regretted, as the work is well executed. Sermons by the Rev. P. A. Shuttleworth, D.D., Warden of New College, &c. Vol. II. London: Rivingtons. 1834. 8vo. EVERY ONE of these sermons deserves attentive consideration, and that is a bold word to say of a modern volume of sermons. Every sermon bears the mark of a powerful, clear, and well-directed understanding; always thinking of great subjects, and always thinking of them with signal advantage to itself and others. The second sermon, in particular, is an admirable one. In the eleventh, (at p. 383,) does not Dr. S. somewhat understate the practical effects of Christianity on the world at large? That sermon, however, contains many cautions and suggestions which could proceed only from a very thoughtful and penetrating understanding. It is very lamentable to be obliged so to pass over such a book; but the discussion of even one of Dr. Shuttleworth's sermons ought to occupy the whole space dedicated in each Number to reviews. The Conchologist's Companion. By Mary Roberts. London: Whittaker and Co. 1834. 12mo. pp. 210. THIS is a very pleasing and pretty book, which (as far as it goes) will well repay the reader who has any interest in the subject which it treats. The Nun. Seeley and Burnside. 12mo. pp. 326. THIS is a tale rather pleasingly told, shewing that, if the Bible is fairly put before mankind, they could not continue Romanists any longer. The objections are not very new, nor the answers either; and there is a good deal of the common-place histories about dungeons and cruelties, &c. Moreover, it would have been perhaps as well, for the effect, that the young ladies, on quitting the convent, had not ended the tale by relating the number of their sons and daughters. Still the volume will be read with pleasure and advantage. A Course of Sermons for the Year. By the Rev. Johnson Grant, M.A. Vol. I. London: 1833. 8vo. pp. 488. THIS Volume contains the discourses from January 1 to Trinity Sunday, which have been composed during a ministry of thirty years, and carefully corrected. They bear all the marks of most careful composition-a rare praise in these days; and their execution does Mr. Grant great credit. The True Christian; or, the Way to have Assurance of Eternal Salvation. By the Rev. T. Jones. London: Seeley and Burnside. 1833. 12mo. pp. 299. THE author is eighty-two, and this is a sufficient reason for not criticising the work, although the Reviewer is entirely opposed to its doctrines. The Book of the Unveiling. London: Bagster. 1833. 12mo. pp. 110. THE object of this work is to explain such parts of the Revelation as have been fulfilled. But the writer seems to forget that this is matter of opinion, and therefore, while he shews true good sense in not endeavouring to look into futurity, he must not be surprised if some persons think that he has done so already. The Round Towers of Ireland; or, the Mysteries of Freemasonry, of Sabaism, and of Buddhism for the first time Unveiled, &c. By H. O'Brien, Esq. A.B. London Whittaker and Co. 1834. 8vo. pp. 524. It is quite impossible to do justice to a book of this kind-whether one agrees with it or disagrees with it-in a few lines or a few pages. One can only say that there is a great deal of reading, of zeal, and of curious information. But if the author's hypothesis be correct, one can only wonder that he had perseverance to go on to such lengthened inquiry on so disgusting a subject. The Dangerous Doctrines of the Baptists Refuted. pp. 28. A SENSIBLE and well principled pamphlet. Kidderminster: 1833. 8vo. The Anti-Spelling Book; a New System to teach Children to Read without Spelling. London: Bull and Churton. 1834. 18mo. pp. 102. THIS is not a new system, but is a sort of outline of the system which has been known and used in many families for some time. Mrs. Williams's translation of Le Noir's (the Reviewer believes) book seems fuller and clearer. That, however, uses emblems, and this does not. The Latter Days. By Mrs. Sherwood. London: Seeley and Burnside. 1833. 12mo. pp. 273. MRS. SHERWOOD mentions, in her preface, that she has here endeavoured (in the form of an allegorical story) to bring before the reader the various prophecies fulfilled or fulfilling. Mrs. S. is a person of talents, and this book shews it. But it wants much judgment to know what prophecies are fulfilling; and it is not more safe to swear on the words of a mistress than a master. The Holy Bible, arranged in Chronological Order. By the Rev. G. Townsend, M.A. New Edition. London: Rivingtons. 1834. 8vo. pp. 1464. MR. TOWNSEND's work is already so well known every where, that not a word need be said on it, except that this very cheap form of it renders all its advantages accessible to a larger class of readers. MISCELLANEA. ANSWER TO THE CASE OF THE DISSENTERS. The Case of the Dissenters, in a Letter Addressed to the Lord Chancellor. London: E. Wilson; Westley and Davis. 1834. 2nd Edition. THIS pamphlet requires notice, and deserves an answer, rather from adventitious circumstances than from its intrinsic worth. It is professedly the work of an individual, but, having been adopted by some dissenting societies, put forth as the champion of their rights, and distributed gratuitously in some parts of England, it obtains a new character as the organ of a party.* This must form the apology of the writer for noticing at length any publication which comes from the laboratory of Effingham Wilson, the respectable source from which Mr. Geo. Coventry's heathen libels against the established church,† and the Black Book Extraordinary have proceeded. It is but just to say that this publication is not to be classed with such works; but, waiving the merits of the publisher, let us proceed to examine those of the publication itself. It begins with an assertion which to most readers will appear somewhat questionable. "It is quite evident to all," the writer says, "that the time is now come, when the reform so happily effected in our civil institutions, must be carried into our ecclesiastical polity. It is equally evident, that this has happened without any movement on the part of the dissenters; for hitherto, with the exception of Scotland, they have been both silent and still. They may have memorialized the Ministers on some particular evil; but they have declined to publish even such memorial to the world. At this moment their whole case is neither before the public nor the government. Many may blame them for not speaking earlier; none can blame them for speaking now. It is a crisis they have not made it is a crisis they must not neglect"-pp. 1 and 2. In p. 59, we find also the following eulogy of the quietness of the dissenters :-" Although the dissenters are men of peaceful and godly life,' and are mostly unwilling to interfere with the course of public events, I expect they will move on this occasion." It is certainly somewhat amusing to hear of the quietness of the dissenters as a body. To those who are familiar with the pages of the World Newspaper, during the agitation of the Reform question, it is needless to say how, week after week, the chief merit of carrying that question was attributed to the dissenters! and it is equally needless to advert to the use which was made, by many dissenting ministers, of every public meeting to cast the most bitter imputations against the clergy, and to turn the meeting to a political purpose. Political meetings were held in chapels (e. g., in Finsbury Chapel,-World, March 28, 1831), and even the ordination dinners of dissenters were made the vehicles for abuse of the church. Above all things, the formation of the Ecclesiastical Knowledge Society, and the manner in which it was conducted, shew the still and quiet and peaceable disposition of the dissenters, as a body! In the meeting of that society, held at the beginning of May, 1831, one dissenting minister, of no small reputation, (I do not name him, for I have no wish to be * In one large town (to the writer's own personal knowledge) it was sent to every clergyman by the dissenting minister, whose name appears on the cover of the publications of the Society for Promoting Ecclesiastical Knowledge, as one of their country committee. + See the review of G. Coventry's Book, in the World Newspaper, for March 7, 1831, where it is said that there is "something heathenish about the author; but in the present conflict, he is a powerful antagonist to a wicked and oppressive system."-Review of Coventry on the Revenues of the Established Church. In May 1831, the World had the recommendation of about 300 dissenting ministers. |