Page images
PDF
EPUB

Three persons constituting the Divine Government.' (See p. 28.) Such a phrase, or a phrase of equivalent import, is no where to be found in the N. T. At p. 40, he with some reason objects to the comment of the Unitarians on the passage in which Christ is said "to come from God" and was "going to God," they explaining the first figuratively, and the second literally: but he has not been sufficiently guarded when he declares that it is frequently asserted in the Scripture, that Christ came to make satisfaction for the sins of the world,' p. 47. Where does he find the word Satisfaction? It is indeed unfortunate that, in this very page, he observes that the death of Christ has somehow or other, operated to procure our salvation.' Now, if it be unequivocally asserted that Christ made satisfaction for our sins, where is the occasion for this vague expression of somehow or other? So little does Mr. V. appear to have reflected on the subject of Atonement, that he seems (p. 39, note,) not to perceive the difference between it and mediation: but can two ideas be more distinct than that of being a mediator between two parties, and that of being substituted in the place or stead of one of the parties, to satisfy or liquidate the claim of the other? In Deut. v. 5. is not Moses called a Mediator?-Another note, at p. 48, contains a position which we believe will be regarded as perfectly new; viz. that, when in human judicature a man is punished for the sake of deterring others from offending, this is strictly a vicarious punishment.' We request the Archdeacon to turn to his Dictionary for the meaning of the term vicarious. What a wide difference subsists between making an of ́fender an example, and executing an innocent person in order that the guilty may escape all punishment! We transcribe also the conclusion of the note: In an union of the divine and human natures, the latter may suffer without the former.' Here it will be asked by the Unitarian," if only a mere human body suffered, how could Divine Justice be satisfied by such an offering?"

We make these quotations from Mr. Vince's pamphlet, merely to shew that he has not properly taken up the matters in dispute, and that the Unitarians will rather exult over his pages than be confounded by them. He might have better managed the cause which he undertakes to advocate. He has not gone the right way to heal. the divisions unhappily subsisting among Christians.

Art. 11. A Christian's Survey of all the primary Events and Periods of the World; from the Commencement of History, to the Conclusion of Prophecy. Crown Svo. 7s. 6d. Boards. Miller.

1811.

:

With some ingenuity, and tolerable accuracy, the secular and the religious history of past times is epitomized in this work but when the writer proceeds to survey the present state of Europe, and to look into futurity, we perceive the mere visionary. Undaunted by all for ner attempts to explain the symbols exhibited in the Apocalypse, he ventures on an hypothesis with a confidence which nothing less than actual inspiration could justify; applying to Bonaparte the character of Antichrist, and describing his empire as the last great tyranny in the last age of the last Empire.' Since prophetical interpreters, when

they

they adapt specific passages in Daniel and St. John to the circumstances of the present times, are obliged to practise a little manage ment, Bonaparte, in whom the whole of Satan inhabits bodily,' is here represented as a new power,' and yet not a new power;' as the last head of the Roman Empire, assuming the title of Augustus, and the honour of the last of the Caesars; and yet as without the name of Roman Emperor. The empire which he has erected is described as great; as formed on the ruin of the Monarchies of the continent; and yet, for our comfort, we are taught to consider it as now expiring, though not yet as actually expired. Notwithstanding the victories of the French, this revealer of secrets assures us, (though we are sorry to say that no appearances arise to give us confidence in the fact,) that they are rapidly advancing to a state of final and complete exhaustion.' What, however, is to follow when the present tyranny of Europe shall pass away? Is any other tyranny to succeed it? No. On the fall of the French Empire, the Kingdoms of this world are to become the Kingdoms of Christ. Bonaparte, without knowing it, is appointed to introduce the fifth Monarchy, and probably very soon; for his power is said to be now expiring. Lest we should be suspected of giving a ludicrous representation of this writer's view of the future, we transcribe his own words:

Hence it is manifest, that the next great crisis, or primary period. of time, which, as Christians, we are now to look for, is one that will put an end to all further distinction of secular and religious interest because it will be no other than that last great concluding scene, and final transmutation of the present earth, so long expected by the Church, which shall introduce its promised triumph, by revealing the glorified and everlasting Kingdom of its Lord and Deliverer.' Shall we add ;

Art. 12.

"To laugh, were want of goodness and of grace,

And to be grave exceeds all power of face?"

Report of the Formation of the Cambridge Auxiliary BibleSociety: together with a List of Patrons and Subscribers; Dr. Marsh's Address to the Senate; Mr. Vansittart's Reply; &c. Edited by Wm. Farish, B. D., Professor of Chemistry. 2s. 6d. Hatchard.

&c.

8vo. Art. 13.

pp. 79.

An Inquiry into the Consequences of neglecting to give the Prayer-Book with the Bible. Interspersed with Remarks on some late Speeches at Cambridge, and other important Matter relative to the British and Foreign Bible-Society. By Herbert Marsh, D. D. F. R. S., Margaret Professor. 8vo.

1s. 6d. Rivingtons.

pp. So.

Art. 14. A Letter to Herbert Marsh, D.D. F.R.S., &c. &c. &c. in Reply to certain Observations contained in his Pamphlet relative to the British and Foreign Bible-Society. By Edward Daniel Clarke, LL. D. 8vo. Is. 6d. Cadell and Davies.

"Can such things be, and overcome us like a summer's cloud, without our special wonder!" How singular is the present controversy, and what a strange part does the Margaret-Professor act in jt! Little did the Bible-Society expect to have their "good deeds

evil

[ocr errors]

evil spoken of" by a Protestant advocate for Revelation; and little could a Dissenter have supposed that the distribution of the Bible alone would be disapproved by a member of the Established Church. As all Christian sects profess to derive their tenets from the Holy Scriptures, it must have been concluded that all would unite in promoting the distribution of those sacred records to which all make their appeaf; provided that these were left fairly to speak for themselves, without note or comment. The Bible-Society, no doubt, congratu lated themselves on the idea that their liberal system was unassailable by objection; and that, as no sectarian spirit blended itself with their grand principle of conduct, all parties would view it with complacency, even if they did not afford it encouragement. They were deceived. Dr. Marsh regards their plan as fraught with danger to the Established Church of this country; and though he does not go so far as to say that the Holy Scriptures require the Book of Common Prayer to be given with them by way of a corrective, yet he contends that the latter is necessary as a safeguard against false interpretation.' He asserts that when Protestant Churchmen and Protestant Dissenters combine for the Distribution of Bibles at home, and a society thus composed omits the Liturgy, because the Dissenters could not otherwise partake of it, such a society is formed on terms of inequality, and the sacrifice is made on the part of the Church. The language of this paragraph manifests the dexterity, though not the liberality, of the learned Professor. Can the Church, by the mere distribution of the Bible, be said to make a sacrifice? It may not have done all that it would wish to do, but it has given up nothing; it has made no compromise. The addition of the liturgy would certainly place the Churchman and the Dissenter in this Society on unequal terms: but, by the distribution of the Bible without any accompaniment whatsoever, they are placed on as equal terms as can possibly exist in a mixed society. Dr. M. perhaps will be ready to admit this posi tion but then he would add that this new heterogeneous society ought not to have been formed;-that "the Jews ought to have no dealings with the Samaritans ;"-that Churchmen and Dissenters ought not to act together on any religious project. He disclaims all generalized Protestantism,' and confines his attachment to the Protestantism of the Church of England. His zeal and ability on this side of the question intitle him to distinction, and it is not improbable that he may raise" his mitred front in courts and parliaments:" but his zeal has not all the properties of sound discretion; and whether we advert to the divine authority of the Scriptures, or to the doctrine and discipline of the Established Church as emanating out of those Scriptures, his opposition to the Bible-Society is very unfortunate as matter of argument. If the Bible cannot teach Christianity without the Liturgy, it is not a noun substantive that can stand by itself: if it wants to be helped-out or guarded by man, can it be the pure work of God? On the other hand, if the Liturgy be clearly deducible from the Bible, where is the danger to the Esta blishment of sending out the Bible to speak for itself? Dr. M. has betrayed his doubts of the intrinsic strength of his own cause, by the very fears, which he has expressed concerning it ; and, in fact, he casts

a libel

a libel on the Liturgy, while he professes to be its strenuous advocate. Dr. Clarke tells the Professor something to the same purpose; adding that nothing can be more in unison with the tenets of Dissenters. Professing a zeal for the Liturgy, you seem to disparage the BIBLE; urging arguments founded on its inability to support itself; maintaining that when alone it is weak, but when in company strong.' It is very clear that Dr. M. would chuse the distribution of the Liturgy without the Bible, in preference to that of the Bible without the Liturgy; but the doctrine of such a preference is of such a nature as he dares not avow. He may publish his aversion to act with Dissenters in schemes for the advancement of religion; and he may wish to serve the old Society for the advancement of Christian Knowlege before the new Bible Society: but we are of opinion that he risks his reputation with people of discernment, and that, though he may rise in the Church, he will sink in fame.

Some other pamphlets on this subject have appeared.

EDUCATION, &c.

Art. 15. New Dialogues, in French and English: containing Exemplifications of the Parts of Speech, and the auxiliary and active Verbs; with familiar Conversations on the following Subjects, History, Arithmetic, Botany, Astronomy, The Comet, The Opera, Singing, Hippodramatic Performances, Italian, Painting, Music, &c. &c. &c. By W. Keegan, Author of "Le Négociant Universel," &c., 12mo. Common Paper, 3s. Fine, 4s. Boosey. 1811.

We agree with Mr. Keegan in wishing that more instructive subjects should be found for French and English dialogues than the directions to tradesmen, valets, and washerwomen, of which they usually consist; and as in the present work an attempt is made to convey some information, we recommend it to those who are in the habit of committing French conversations to memory.

Art. 16. School of Instruction: a Present, or Reward, to those Girls who have left their Sunday-School with Improvement and a good Character. By a Lady. 8vo. 28. Ryan. 1812. We have seldom seen instructions for the young, the poor, and the ignorant, which were more pleasingly simple or more laudably pious than these Exhortations. They are transcripts of weekly lectures delivered by the author to the children of a Sunday-school; and we think that they may be useful to many who are engaged in a similar good work.

Art. 17. The Accomplished Youth: containing a familiar View of the true Principles of Morality and Politeness. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Boards. Crosby and Co. 1811.

Too many Chesterfieldian documents are here interspersed with selections from the writings of Blair, Raleigh, and Mme. de Lambert: but this little book offers a great variety of useful counsel, and is farther recommended by its portable size and moderate price.

NOVELS.

NOVELS.

Art. 18. The Sea-Devil, or Son of a Bellows-mender. A Tragicomic Romance of the present Day. By Edward Rose, Seaman 12mo. 2 Vols. Printed at Plymouth. 1811.

Only the first of these volumes is written by Mr. Rose, who died before the work was finished; and the remainder has Mr. Wild for its author. The conclusion is more moral than the beginning; in which, however, some humour will be found, though not of the most refined sort, and too evidently imitated from Fielding and Sterne. The last scene being laid in France, where M. Le Noir, Mirabeau, &c. are introduced, it is rather an anachronism to call this a romance of the present day.

Art. 19. Isadora of Milan. 12mo. 5 Vols. 11. 5s. Boards, Colburn. 1811.

The plan of this tale is new and interesting, and the incidents are diversified. The author having it constantly in view to shew the danger of acting from impulse instead of principle, and to display the miseries which attend an indulgence of the passions, this moral is well illustrated in many passages; while the misfortunes which Isadora incurs, even from coquetting with a man to whom she is not attached, may also afford an useful lesson. As to the dialogue, however, it is so replete with quibbles and hyperbole, even during the most distressing situations of the interlocutors, that it seems

"Alike to them, by pathos or by pun."

We find some words of the author's own coining, such as angelism angelized, maternalty, &c., and his style occasionally degenerates into mere slip-slop; discern is used for disclaim; and we hear of musical compositors instead of composers, and of a film being gathered over the vision of sight,'

Art. 20.

Rosalie, or the Castle of Montalabretti. 12mo, 4 Vols. 11. Boards. Longman and Co.

1811.

When a mere English novel-writer makes his heroines cross the seas and scale the Appennines, he should attempt some preparation for the enterprize. The author of this work appears to have taken Mrs. Radcliffe's Emilies and Adelines for his guides: but, in cases in which they deserted him, his mistakes are ridiculous. Most of the Italian proper names are mis-spelt; the daughter of a Florentine nobleman is styleda Right Honourable;' and the customs and climate of Italy are so little understood, that we hear of late dinners, and taking coffee on a lawn' which is covered with carpets as a security from damp, in the height of an Italian summer! We must, however, allow that Rosalie is made to exceed her models in generosity; since, though she is, like them, forcibly conveyed to a lone castle on the shores of the Adriatic,' it is peculiarly her own idea to present her purse to the bravoes who drag her thither. She also ex-er cels in the composure with which she admires buildings and orders

[ocr errors]

* See this author's Trifles in Prose and Verse, mentioned in a subse quent page.

coffee,'

« PreviousContinue »