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to a height of intellectual and oratorical splendour, which has never been surpassed or equalled. The mine was however soon exhausted; for little is left us but dross and tinsel, by those who attempted to work it after the times of Massillon. Voltaire attributes the decay to the exhaustible nature of the subject itself. The most striking topics, he alleges, had been worn out by the great masters, and could not be renovated by their successors. To our minds, however, it is not much to be lamented that this species of pulpit composition, upon the French model of it, has fallen into decay; for, splendid as was the school in which it flourished, the commodity was not exactly what the exigencies of the Christian pulpit require. Boileau says, "Rien n'est beau que le vrai; and certainly truth was not the first characteristic of the most splendid of the French funeral orations. Effect was sought after, rather than usefulness; the orator rather than the minister of Christ was visible in every period, and exaggeration and declamation were often the basis of the whole composition. These remarks apply in a great measure, though with much honourable exception, particularly in the case of Bourdaloue, to the panegyrics on the saints, which, as managed by the Catholic preachers, partake greatly of the character of funeral eulogies. We must allow, however, for the difference of natural temperament; for much that may appear very sober and edifying to a French auditory, would seem to us very like affecta tion and "stage trick." It is difficult therefore sometimes to decide what is natural genuine eloquence, and what is for the mere sake of effect. The most sublime exordium that ever ushered in a funeral sermon, was Massillon's opening sentence in his oration over Louis the Fourteenth; and his manner of delivering it was as impressive as the sentiment was sublime. Yet, unless we are mistaken, it is impossible to

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read the description given of the scene by French writers, without suspecting that there was a want of that Christian simplicity which becomes the house of God. Massillon selected for his text the words of Solomon (Eccles. i. 16, 17), “I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo I am come to great estate, and have gotten wisdom than all that have been before me in Jerusalem......I perceived also that this is vexation of spirit." He uttered the passage, we are told, with a slow and measured air, well adapted to assist by contrast the powerful effect which he wished to produce by the first sentence of his discourse. He seemed to revolve in his own mind the extremes of grandeur and misery suggested by the passage: he was lost in silent meditation: he was evidently reflecting now upon Solomon, now on Louis the great; deep emotion was visible in his countenance; the auditors were astonished at his silence, and listened intensely to catch the first syllable that should burst from his lips. He appeared humbled in self-abasement; his head was bowed down; his hands rested upon the pulpit. At length he slowly raised his eyes, and fixed them still half closed upon his vast auditory clad in the deepest mourning; then, as if distressed at the sight, he reverted his glance in search of objects less afflicting; but on every side he beheld only the emblems of sorrow which covered the sacred walls. As a last resource he turned to the altar, but this also exhibited the symbols of mortality. Shrinking, as if in terror, from the mournful spectacle, his eye seemed involuntarily to fall upon the funeral pomp in the centre of the temple. Confused at seeing nothing before him but the emblems of departed magnificence, sceptres and diadems covered with black crape, he turned to the breathless auditory, as if to give them the result of his overpowering emotions; and most sublimely did he give it in the memo

rable words, "Dieu seul est grand, mes freres!" Nothing could be more impressive than the effect: but, when it is considered that the discourse was precomposed and had been committed to memory, it must surely have required all the talent, and, we may add, all the real piety, of Massillon to prevent his attitude assuming the air of an oratorical finesse rather than the simple dictate of overpowering emotion. For real, every-day, spiritual, practical utility, the simple style of English funeral sermons, written by men who are really anxious for the souls of their hearers, is, we doubt not, far more powerful than the splendid orations of the French pulpit. Our preachers usually select an impressive text relating to death or eternity: they discuss it much in the manner of their ordinary parochial sermons; illustrating the several topics by the most remarkable notices relative to the deceased; and summing up the whole in a few heads of application, accompanied or preceded by a general review of the character of the departed Christian whose faith they enjoin their auditors to follow, remembering the end of his conversation. This is Mr. Jerran's plan, in the discourse before us. He selects for his text, 2 Tim. i. 2: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." This passage he considers as speaking the language, first, of serious reflection; secondly, of established faith; thirdly, of assured hope. This technical species of division, with its various sub-divisions, though not the best calculated for deep pathos, for emotion, for the free and consecutive flow of "sentiment," (we use the word in its good sense,) yet yields a very convenient vehicle for the lucid exhibition of much important scriptural truth; and the chief fault, perhaps, of Mr. Jerram's discourse in this respect is, that he has condensed CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 303.

too much of matter in it. Every division and sub-division urges a new topic, and every topic, in its turn, is convincingly, though briefly, discussed, with solemn and appropriate appeals to the understanding and the conscience of the hearer. We could willingly, at all times, and especially in a funeral sermon, bear with more of the tender, the imaginative, the pathetic, than is usually found in discourses constructed upon the model of the present; but if the advantages of the French and the English schools cannot be combined (though some, we think, have combined them), we should be well content to take the latter, with all its defects, in preference to the former. No man can, seriously, read a discourse like that before us without becoming wiser, and, by the grace of God, better: it affords the solid aliment by which parishes and congregations are most substantially nourished; and, if not always the most popular, will prove, in the end, the most satisfactory and safe. Every reader feels that the preacher is in earnest, and that his paramount object is the glory of God and the conversion and edification of his flock.

We had intended giving a few extracts from the discourse itself, with more copious ones from the account appended to it, and the passages in it, respecting Dr. Good; but the length of our discursive remarks having precluded the latter in the present article, we shall avail ourselves of another department of our work, in a future Number, to lay before our readers, with Mr. Jerram's help, an obituary of the excellent man whose death gave rise to this discourse; and shall content ourselves, for the present, with inserting a very few brief extracts from the sermon.

Speaking of the Apostle's committing his soul to the care of his Saviour, Mr. Jerram says,—

"He is like a person who has the charge of a treasure of inestimable value; 2 A

and who knows that it is impossible for himself to keep safe possession of it; and yet, upon his producing it on an indefinite day, every thing that is valuable to him in this world depends. He looks anxiously therefore around him for some one with whom he may entrust it, and having at length found One, who is willing to undertake the charge of it, and whom he thinks able to preserve it, he commits it into his hands, and incurs all risks. From a natural anxiety as to the issue, he frequently reviews the transaction. He again and again thinks of his treasure, of the day of final audit, and of the Person in whom he had reposed his confidence: but from every review, he derives increased satisfaction. The more intimately he becomes acquainted with his Friend, the stronger is his conviction that nothing can overcome his power, or shake his stedfastness, or abate his kindness. His first impression of safety is at length raised to the full assurance of hope, and he says, with the utmost confidence, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him, against that day."" pp. 6, 7.

On the subject of faith the writer

remarks:

"The minds of Christians have often been perplexed on the subject of faith; and they have been harassed with doubts whether theirs be scriptural, and such as God will approve. Now this passage seems admirably calculated to remove these perplexities, and to put the question entirely to rest. Let us then dwell for a moment on each step in the progress of the Apostle towards this established faith; and it will be remarked that there are three-knowledge, belief, trust. I know whom I have believed, and I have trusted my soul to him.' Knowledge then, it will be observed, was his first step. He first knew, and then believed. It is of importance to remark this, because it has been sometimes said, that

faith is the offspring of ignorance, and

flourishes best in the absence of evidence. This indeed may be true of the faith of many who call themselves Christians, but it is not the faith which the Gospel recognizes." p. 17.

"The second step towards an established faith is a belief or full assent of the mind and heart to the truth which we have learned in the Gospel. This indeed has been shewn, as the necessary result of the knowledge of Christ; but I here repeat it for the purpose of more distinctly noticing the gradation from knowledge to belief, and the nature of that assent which the Christian gives to the mysteries of the Gospel. This belief does not imply that we understand or even think of the principles or modes which are involved in

Christian doctrines, but it regards simply the facts which they contain; and these are things very different and distinct. We believe innumerable facts, of the principles or causes of which we know nothing, and believe nothing." pp. 19, 20.

"I have still one or two remarks to make on the last stage in genuine faith, and that indeed to which the former are only introductory. It is the trusting of the soul into the hands of Jesus Christ, to be saved by him. Having received sufficient information respecting the Saviour, and having placed the fullest confidence in what is recorded of him, the Christian comes at length to the allimportant transaction of depositing his treasure with him, of committing his soul to his custody, to be saved at that day. Now the nature of this trust is the clearest thing imaginable; it is one, in temporal things, of every day's occurrence, and in which we make no mistake; for, however, common it be to place a mistaken reliance, it never occurs that we mistake having placed our confidence. Apply this to faith in Christ. You know something of him, and you believe in him, because you know him. The only thing that is now wanted, is to put that knowledge and belief into practice, by committing the soul into his custody. He came into the world for the express purpose of saving the soul: you believe that he is able to save it, and the next step is, to commit it into his hands; and then you can say with the Apostle, I know whom I have believed, and I have entrusted my soul to his keeping.' What then, my brethren, is there mysterious in faith? Is it not an easy affair to ascertain what you know of Christ, what you believe respecting him, and whether you have trusted in him? The only point on which I would particularly admonish you, is to take care that you advance to the last stage of faith; and I do so, because few ever reach this." Pp. 21 22.

tween faith and hope, Mr. Jerram Respecting the difference beobserves:

"The passage before us makes the difference between faith and hope exceedingly clear. We see from it, that it is the province of faith, to believe and trust in Christ; and of hope, to derive comfort from having done so. Faith commits the soul to the keeping of the Son of God; and hope is persuaded that he will take care of it. Faith fixes its foot on a rock; and hope feels assured that it is safe. Faith lays hold of Him, who has conquered death and the grave; and hope exults, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. p. 27.

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The whole of the discourse is in

and is well calculated to interest

the same evangelical, discriminat- and instruct the Christian reader. ing, and practically useful strain,

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE,

&c. &c.

GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication:-A Life of Dr. Jenner; by Dr. Baron;-A Translation of Niebuhr's Roman History; by Mr. Hare and Mr. Thirlwell;-Unitarianism Abandoned, or Reasons assigned for ceasing to be connected with that Description of Religious Professors who designate themselves Unitarians; by Mr. Gilchrist;-Plain Discourses on Experimental and Practical Christianity; by the Rev. W. F. Vance.

In the press::-Lectures on the Hebrew Language; by Professor Lee ;-Davidica, twelve Sermons on the Life and Character of David; by the Rev. H. Thomson ;The Literature of the Servians; by Mr. Bowring;-Sermons, Doctrinal and Scriptural; by the Rev. J. Coleman ;-Four Sermons on the Priesthood of Christ; by the Rev. T. Lessey;-A Volume of Sermons; by the Rev. W. Dealtry, Rector of Clapham-Missionary Anecdotes for Children and young Persons; by R. Newstead;-Rambach's Meditations on the Sufferings of Christ, abridged and improved; by the Rev. S. Benson.

Mr. Ellis has communicated to the Society of Antiquaries, a transcript of a letter in the Harleian Collection, giving some curious information respecting the Jews in England in 1662. The time at which the Jews were recalled into this country, as a people, has been a subject of doubt and controversy; Burnet stating them to have been recalled by Oliver Cromwell, whilst this is denied by Tovey, who, in his Anglia Judaica, affirms, that in the year 1663 there were not twelve Jews resident in London. The abovementioned letter, however, proves that the Jews existed as a people, in London in 1662, having a synagogue, celebrating therein their own worship, at which the writer saw above a hundred Jews, besides women, many richly apparelled, and some wearing jewels; all of them seeming to be merchants and traders, without one mechanic among them. These Jews, it also appears from the same document, had

only a few years before celebrated the feast of Tabernacles in booths on the south side of the Thames; but they kept them-selves out of observation as much as possible upon the Restoration of Charles II. as the laws against them had never been formally repealed. Mr. Ellis gives also two extracts from the Journals of the House of Commons, shewing that the Jews had returned to England as a people before the Restoration; and cites a petition to Parliament, which fixes the year 1656 as the date of their recal. About this time they had undergone great persecutions in Poland, from which country they had at length been expelled; and Cromwell, having thoughts of recalling them into England, sent for the principal lawyers, the chief citizens of London, and twelve ministers of various denominations, to advise him upon the point. The lawyers were favourable to the recal of the Jews; the citizens were indifferent; but the preachers, among whom was Hugh Peters, differed greatly in their opinions, each arguing from texts of Scripture, till they tired out the Protector, who said he had sent for them for his conscience' sake; but that instead of resolving his doubts as to the lawfulness of recalling the Jews, they had only increased them, and he would therefore desire nothing of them but their prayers that he and his council might be guided aright in their decision. Mr. Ellis's paper terminates with some remarks on the high estimation in which Cromwell was held by the Jews, as well on the continent as in this country. The writer states, that, regarding him as a powerful prince, favouring them by all the means in his power, if they could have made out for him a Jewish descent, they would have declared him to be their Messiah !

We have mentioned in a former Number, that another expedition to the North Pole is to be undertaken. The Hecla, under Captain Parry, is to proceed to Clo ven Cliff, in Spitzbergen, latitude 79. 50, about 600 miles from the North Pole; which place, it is expected, she will reach

about June. Parties are to be detached to explore the surrounding coasts and seas, while the main object of the expedition," an approach to the North Pole, is to be attempted by Captain Parry's party, with two vessels, so constructed as to be capable of being used either as boats, or as sledges to run upon the ice.

Dr. Buckland, the Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at Oxford, announces that Mr. Jarrett, of Magdalen College, has purchased a very valuable collection of marbles, in Rome, for the purpose of presenting them to the University of Oxford. The collection consists of 1000 polished pieces, all exactly of the same size, of every variety of Italian marble.

We rejoice to say, that Anti-Slavery publications are multiplying to an extent which shews the deep abhorrence in which the system is held by the public. No fewer than four such publications appear in out present monthly list of miscellaneous publications. The first three on the list are in the form of narratives.

Outa

lissi describes the atrocities of the system as it exhibits itself to a benevolent and religious officer in Dutch Guiana; Charlotte Elizabeth's narrative has for its scene our own West-India islands; while the third, which is a little tract entitled "An Evening at Home," describes a family conversation on the duty of abstaining from slavegrown sugar. The incidents in these tales are not numerous, and can scarcely be called fictitious; for the most flagitious of them are fully paralleled in authentic narrative. Outalissi is calculated to produce a powerful impression, though here and there a passage in it is too faithfully gross to be pleasing to British delicacy. The author's object is to shew that colonial slavery and Christianity cannot exist together. Charlotte Elizabeth is already known to our readers by her Osric, a Missionary Poem; and her Anti-Slavery volume does equal honour to her understanding and her heart. Our wish neither to overcharge, even if it were possible to do so, the fearful picture of slavery, nor to subject our pages to the recoil of such an argument on the part of the friends of that system, makes us wish to confine our reviews and extracts on this important question to authentic facts and undisputed documents; but we can still strongly recommend Charlotte Elizabeth's tale, if tale it must be called, as exhibiting much affecting truth through the medium of a simple and interesting narrative. The little tract on Slavery and Slave-produce is also useful for interesting children, or

the poor, in behalf of their unhappy fellowcreatures in the colonies.

Sir Walter Scott has publicly stated that he is the sole and undivided author of the Waverley Novels.

The last Report of the National Vaccine Board to the Secretary of State for the Home Department states, that the Board continue to use all possible diligence in extending the knowledge of the best process for effectual vaccination, and to supply the means, as well as to suggest the mode, of accomplishing this object. From the quantity of vaccine lymph distributed, and from the accounts of correspondents, the Board are led to presume that this practice is becoming daily more general; and this inference is further confirmed by the fact, that within the last twelve months only 503 deaths have occurred from small-pox within the Bills of Mortality; whereas, in the preceding year, 1,299 persons are recorded as having fallen victims to that loathsome disease. Before the introduction of vaccination, the average number of deaths from small-pox, within the Bills of Mortality, was annually about 4,000. The Report is signed, Henry Halford, W. Lambe, J. Cope, John Abernethy, Astley Cooper, Clem. Hue.

The Thames Tunnel has advanced already 40,463 feet, and the progress is from 12 to 13 per week. About 108,5551. have been already expended on it.

So certain, and often rapid, are the good effects of Savings Banks, where duly encouraged by persons of influence and benevolence, that the last Report of the Devon and Exeter Savings Bank states the sum in hand to be more than half a million of money. The receipts of that bank last year, notwithstanding the general distress, amounted to 115,6397.

The king of Prussia, by a late edict, calls upon all his subjects, under penalties, to send their children to school at a certain age; and the King of Sardinia, by an edict of nearly the same date, forbids all persons, who do not possess a certain annual income, from attending the literary institutions of his kingdom. Happily, however, even amidst such strange discrepancies in legislative enactments, education is widely increasing in almost every part of the world. Would that our own legislature, neither prohibiting it on the one hand, nor enjoining it by penalties on the other, would provide facilities for it throughout the empire. The beneficial results would speedily and amply repay the labour and expense.

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