equally strengthened them against the fascinations of worldly pleasure, splendour, and power, and induced them to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord.' (Phil. iii. 8.) It is this, in fine, which, amidst every vicissitude of human life, has shed on their souls serenity and happiness, as far as either is compatible with this state of trial, and bestowed on them those qualifications which prepare them for the enjoyment of it, in its real and immutable form, in an eternal existence." "From the hour that the sentence, In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,' (Gen. ii. 17,) was incurred by transgression, man was rendered subject to death, and to all the evils with which his altered terrestrial state was surrounded. It neces sarily became no longer a state of unsullied happiness; but, by the merciful dispensation fully unfolded by the Gospel, it was converted into a preparation for consummate and endless felicity. This is the proper light in which the present life is now to be viewed, namely, as a state of probation and trial, in which are to be established either the capacities of true and endless enjoyment, or such habits and dispositions as necessarily exclude real enjoyment for ever. "No absolute decree of God, because God cannot perform either moral or physical impossibilities, could introduce into heaven a wicked man. The enjoyment of heaven implies the consumination of all virtue, which is necessarily connected with the highest improvement of understanding; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have all they that do his commandments. (Psalm cxi. 10.) To suppose, therefore, that a person of habits decidedly and ultimately vicious could become eternally happy, is to say that he is vicious and virtuous at one and the same time; which is manifestly absurd. This is not to limit the mercy of God, or to circumscribe his omnipotence for his mercy cannot reach im penitent and obstinate transgression, nor can his omnipotence reconcile contradictions." As it has been already shown that the highest happiness of man in his present state consists, and, from his very constitution, must necessarily consist, in the exercise and improvement of the nobler faculties of his nature, together with such a portion of sensual enjoyment as is compatible with these; so it is evident, that future felicity must comprehend these enjoyments, brought to the highest degree of perfection, freed from every impediment which now obstructs them, and placed in a course of endless progression. This, as has been shown in preceding parts of this work, is exactly the description of it which Holy Scripture sets before us; at least such may be fairly deduced from the notices which it has given. For the present condition of our facul. ties could not, it is most probable, admit of accurate conceptions of the fature state of the blessed. The reunion of the soul to a body so improved and refined as we are assured that the human frame will be after the resurrection, exhibits an admirable display of the divine economy, in regard to the future condition of man. For by this the entire being will be resuscitated, and his compound nature be restored in the highest degree of perfection of which he is susceptible. This important fact, disclosed to us only by reve lation, corresponds with the whole analogy of nature, in which constant trausmutations are observed, and reproductions are generated, according to stated laws. "It is absurd to suppose that future happiness can be different in kind from that of which man is now susceptible, however superior it will certainly be in degree. For, if this were the case, human identity could not be preserved, and a being with different powers and capacities, in a word, with a nature different from the human, must be created. If man, therefore, is destined for immortality, as Scripture positively assures us to be the case, and on this very foundation the whole plan of the - Gospel rests, the continuity of his existence must be preserved, his constitution must be perpetuated, and his powers must remain, though improved and exalted to a degree of which we can at present form no adequate conception. "The salvation of the human race, then, being the great end of the Gospel, and this salvation comprehending two graud branches, their deliverance from misery and their restoration_to happiness, nay, their exaltation to happiness of a degree infinitely superior to that which belonged to man's original state before the introduction of sin; and this happiness, consisting in the renovation and right direction of his intellectual and moral powers, or, in other words, in his sanctification; it is evident that this is the ultimate object to which all the parts of the Gospel economy are directed." SELECT LIST OF BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED, CHIEFLY " With occasional Characteristic Notices. [The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.]. was An Account of the Loss of the Wes- A Christian Library: consisting of Fellow of Lincoln College, Orford. : the The History of the Church of Christ, particularly in its Lutheran Branch, from the Diet of Augsburg, A.D. 1539, to the Death of Luther, A.D. 1546; intended as a Continuation of the Church History, brought down to the commencement of that Period, by the Rev. Joseph Milner, M.A., Vicar of Holy Trinity, Hull and the very Rev. Isaac Milner, D.D., F.R.S., Dean of Carlisle. By John Scott, M.A., Vicar of North Ferriby, and Minister of St. Mary's, Hull. 8vo. pp. 390. 12s.Few branches of human knowledge can be studied with greater advantage than ecclesiastical history. It presents the most impressive views of the providence and grace of God, in the spread and perpetuity of the Gospel; in the conversion of sinful men to the faith of Christ; in the holy lives, the active benevolence, and the peaceful deaths of individual believers; and in the patience and triumph of Christian martyrs. Its records also contain an affecting demonstration of the folly and wickedness of man, in his presumptuous endeavours to improve upon the doctrines of divine revelation, and to make additions to the ordinances of Jesus Christ. It is however to be regretted, that some writers of ecclesiastical history, having themselves but very inadequate views of the nature of Christianity, have laid before their readers scarcely any thing but details concerning the labours of philosophers and learned men, the intrigues of unprincipled, and ambitious ecclesiastics, and the diabolical cruelty of persecutors; while the "little flock," the possessors of that kingdom which is not " neat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, aud joy in the Holy Ghost," have been geuerally overlooked. To trace the history of the true church, in its successive generations, was the laudable design of the two Milners, whose work has been highly appreciated by evangelical Christians of all denomiuations, notwithstanding its manifest bias in favour of the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism. It is a work of ability and research, displays great spirituality of mind, aud a zealous regard for the distinguishing truths of Christianity; and should always be placed by the side of the learned and classical, but comparatively secular, history of Mosheim. The five volumes of the two Milners bring down the history of the Christian church to the year 1530, when the Diet of Augsburg was held. At this period therefore Mr. Scott commences his narrative, which he continues to the year 1546, when Luther died. We have not room in this place to enter at large into an examination of Mr. Scott's work; but we feel ourselves justified in saying, that the facts which it records are well authenticated; that it is drawn up with fairness and candour; and that the spirit which pervades it is thoroughly Protestant. The principal authorities referred to, are Sleidan, Seckendorf, and the works of Luther himself, especially his private letters. No attempt is made to conceal the fact, that the Confession of Faith presented by the German Reformers to the Diet of Augsburg, and which is regarded by the Lutheran Church as one of its doctrinal standards, contains absolutely nothing that even seems to favour any of the peculiarities of Calvinism, while it expressly censures those" who deny that persons once justified can lose the Holy Spirit again: and yet Mr. Scott acknowledges, that although "shades of difference might and would exist" among the Protestant Reformers; ou all leading points" of evangelical doctrine, they were of one heart, and of one soul." With the system of Popery, however, Mr. Scott enters into no compromise. He justly regards it as a monstrous compound of pernicious error and destructive wickedness; and on this ground he justifies the Reformers in the firm stand which they made against its usurpations, even at the hazard of their lives. In a mauner worthy of a Protestant Divine, and a Minister of the Church of Eng land, Mr. Scott also animadverts upon those passages in Robertson's History of Charles the Fifth, in which that clerical Historian affects to contemplate with philosophic indifference the proceed. ings of the German Reformers, and in the spirit of modern scepticism to sketch the character of Luther, with whose conscientious feelings and purposes he was manifestly unable to sympathize. If Mr. Scott should complete the design of the two Milners, by bringing the History of the Church of Christ down to modern times, in the same spirit of candour and of Protestant firmness which this volume displays, he will render an important service to the cause of true religion. The Riches of Divine Grace, as displayed in the Experience and happy Death of Mary Whitaker, a Servant Girl, late of Swineshead, near Boston, Lincolashire. A Sermon, preached in Swineshead Church: by the Rev. W. Bolland, A. M., Vicar of Swineshead and Frampton. Sixth Edition. 24mo, 6d. Mary Whitaker, a servant girl, living in a country village, after leading a tolerably regular and moral life for some years, was deeply convinced of sin under the ministry of her Vicar, and sought the Lord with deep peni tential sorrow, and with many tears; she obtained at length a full assurance that her sins were all forgiven, and that she was adopted into the family of God, through faith in Jesus Christ: after rejoicing in God with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and exhorting all around her to repent, and believe the Gospel, for a few days, she died in great peace, and in the assured hope of eternal glory. The Vicar, who had been the instrument of Mary's conversion, and who repeatedly visited her in her last hours, so far from denouncing all this as downright Methodistical enthusiasm and presumption, as many of his brethren would have done, relates all the particulars of her religious experience from the pulpit of the parish church; declares that if Mary were beside herself, he wishes that all his parishioners were infected with the same disease; and earnestly invites them to a participation of the peace and joy of faith, of which the servant maid had been such an eminent example. The sermon is drawn up in language of great plainness and simplicity, and is admirably adapted to arrest the attention and interest the feelings of the class of people to whom it was addressed from the pulpite: We trust that the excellent Vicar of Swineshead, who is not unknown to the world Select List. as a man of taste and learning, will witness many similar instances of "the riches of divine grace," in the course of his pastoral labours. To save souls from death is of inconceivably greater importance than the attainment of the highest literary honours. Minutes of the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, relating to the publication of an Edition of the Holy Scriptures, with an Introduction prefixed, by the Strasburg Bible Society, in the Year 1819, accompanied by the Official Correspondence which took place upon the subject. 8vo. pp. 59. Is. The Amulet; or Christian and Literary Remembrancer. 18mo. pp. 420. 12s. With the nature of this annual commenced publication, which was twelve months ago, and was received with general approbation, our readers are already acquainted. It consists of original compositions in prose and verse, in the form of biographical and historical sketches, tales, and essays; some of which are of a decidedly religious character, and others of a moral tendency, calculated at once to afford intellectual gratification, and to promote the interests of piety and virtue. The volume for 1827 contains contributions from several of the most distinguished writers of the present day; among whom are Mrs. Hemans, Mrs. Opie, Mrs. Gilbert, the late Mrs. Henry Tighe, Miss Mitford, Mrs. Hofland, Maria Edgworth, Mrs. Josiah Conder, Montgomery, John Holland, the Rev. G. Croly, Dr. Robert Walsh, the Rev. T. Dale, the Rev. W. L. Bowles, John Bowring, Bernard Barton, the Rev. J. Thornton, Dr. F. A. Cox, James Edmeston, T. Crofton Croker, and the Rev. W. S. Gilly. After mentioning these names, any eulogium upon the literary merit of the Amulet is perfectly unnecessary. Ten engravings, of consummate beauty, in the first style of the art, and illustrative of subjects described by the different writers, embellish the volume; the interest of which is also increased by two plates of autographs, exhibiting a specimen of the hand-writing of some of the most remarkable characters that occur in English history. An account of the Armenian Christians at Constantinople, by the Rev. Robert Walsh, LL.D., late Chaplain to the British Embassy at that city, and a sketch of the character and sufferings of the Albigenses, by the Rev. W. S. Gilly, contained in this volume, possess a lively interest, and will be read with pleasure by those who have little regard for works addressed merely to the imagination, Remarks on a Recent Act of the Kirk Session of Stewarton, denying Admis sion to the Lord's Supper to Two Members of the Wesleyan Methodists. By William Cuninghame, Esq, of Lainshaw. 12mo. pp. 24. According to the statements contained in this pamphlet, in the year 1818, Mr. Cuninghame, in compassion to a large number of poor children, who were living in ignorance and sin, formed a Sabbath-School for their religious instruction. As his religious opinions are somewhat different from those laid down in the Assembly's Catechism and Confession of Faith, (inasmuch as he believes in General Redemption, and Conditional Election to eternal life, with Melancthon and Arminius,) while engaged in his career of benevolence, he has had to endure much hostility and reproach, as "disseminating poison, heresy, and damnable errors, deceiving and lying in wait for the young and uuwary." consequence of this treatment, Mr. Cuninghame deemed it necessary to withdraw, at least for a time, from the Established Church of Scotland, of which he was a member; as he could not, consistently with his views of duty, sit down at the Lord's table, while these grave charges were not only unretracted, but were persevered in. On the appointment of another Clergyman to Stewarton, who manifested a friendly disposition towards Mr. Cuninghame and the School under his care, and who frequently visited the institution, and more than once engaged in prayer in it, Mr. C. and his co-adjutors expressed a wish to forget former bickerings, and attend the sacramental table of the parish church. In This desire was privately communicated to the Clergyman, who threw no discouragement in the way of an application to the Kirk Session for that purpose. Two of Mr. Cuninghame's co-teachers belonged to the Methodist Suciety; and as they had experienced considerable hostility and persecution on account of their theolo gical views, they felt it to be their duty, in their application to the Kirk Session, which was made by letter on the 10th of July last, to make a fair and candid avowal of their doctrinal sentiments. Their letter, which is given entire in the pamphlet before us, contains nothing of a polemical character, or that can be justly deemed indecorous or offensive; while the writers avow their belief of the Godhead and incarnation and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Deity and personality of the Holy Ghost, the fallen state of man, and the necessity of the influences of the Spirit, in order to our recovery to the lost image of God." Being at this time," say they, "deprived of the ordinances of the Gospel in our own body of Christians, we are desirous of being admitted to the participation of the Lord's Supper, now about to be administered in this parish, and we hereby make our application for the same to the Kirk Session." Without being admitted into the presence of the Kirk Session, to whom they expressed their readiness to answer any question that might be proposed to them, our petitioners received the following laconic and official reply, in the form of an Extract from the Minutes of the Kirk Session : Stewarton, 10th July, 1826.-Session being met and constituted, Sederunt Moderator and Elders,-there was laid before them a letter, addressed to the Moderator and Kirk Session from Messrs. John Faulds and James Kerr, who are in full communion with the Wesleyan Methodists, which letter was expressive of their desire to be admitted to the Lord's Table on the 16th current. But in respect of their religious principles, expressed in the said letter, being inconsistent with the Confession of Faith and Standards of our National Church,' the Session decline to admit them to the privilege requested.-Closed with prayer. Extracted by (Signed) D. Mac Farlane, Sess. Cik." This decision, Mr. Cuninghame contends, is inconsistent with the word of God, opposed to the practice of the Church during the ages nearest to the times of the Apostles, and contrary to the doctrinal Standards of the Church of Scotland; he therefore appeals to the Clergy of the Presbytery of Irvine, to decide whether the act of the Kirk Session of Stewarton is to be considered as that of the Church of Scotland. His pamphlet, which is drawn up with considerable ability, displays throughout great ingenuousness and candour, On the controversy to which this publication relates, we will only remark, that it seems to carry us back to the time of the Synod of Dort, when an avowed belief of the doctrine of General Redemption was considered scarcely le-s atrocious than felony, and wheu, the hapless advocates of so frightful a heresy, were sent into bauishment, or condemned to perpetual chains and dungeons. That the Church of Scotlaud, which in some instances has been so latitudinarian, as even to tolerate Arianism and Socinianism among her Clergy, will sanction the exclusions of such men as Messrs. Faulds and Kerr from her sacraments, who hold the es sential truths of Christianity, we cannot for a moment believe. The inconsistency of such a conduct would be too glaring to be ever adopted by sober and thoughtful men. The History of Scotland, from the Roman Invasion, till the Suppression of the Rebellion in 1745; with Exercises; for the use of Schools, or of private Stu dents. By the Rev, Alexander Stewart, Minister of Douglas, 12mo. pp. 463. 5s. Before the appearance of this volume, Mr. Stewart had conferred an important obligation upon parents and the guardians of youth, by some excellent publications designed to facilitate the instruction of the rising generation; and that obligation is considerably increased by this production of his judicious pen. It is, upon the whole, a faithful epitome of the history of Scotland, drawn up with ability and spirit; with questions at the end of each chapter, designed to fix the attention of the student, and ascertain his actual knowledge of the facts related. Beauties of Eminent Writers: Selected and Arranged for the Instruction of Youth in the proper Reading and Reciting of the English language. Calculated also to instil into the Mind the Principles of Wisdom and Virtue, and to give it an early Taste for the Acquisition of Useful knowledge. In Two Volumes. By William Scott, late Teacher of Elocution and Geography in Edinburgh 12mo. pp. 272, 200. The History and Origin of the Missionary Societies, containing faithful Accounts of the Voyages, Travels, Labours, and Successes of the various Missionaries who have been sent out, for the purpose of evangelizing the Heathen, and other unenlightened Nations, in different Parts of the habitable Globe. Compiled and arranged from Authentic Documents, including the latest Discoveries, and embracing many valuable and curious Fucts, connected with the Spread of the Gospel. By the Rev. Thomas Smith, Minister of Trinity Chapel, Leather Lane, Holborn, &c. Two Volumes Evo. pp. 588, 798. 11. 11s. Gd. These ample volumes embody a large mass of information concerning the operations of the various Missionary Societies existing in this country, drawn up in a friendly and candid spirit, and deduced principally from the official publications of those Institu tious, The work we believe was compiled to be sold in Numbers, and must |