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poor for the absence of a wealthy rector, a certain sum was fixed on the appropriator, not on the clergyman, and in monastery and chauntry lands, where certain sums were also fixt, but where there is no trace whatever of any division into four parts. Mr. Hall proceeds afterwards to shew that the poor laws did not take their rise from any changes in the property of the clergy, and finally inquires into the Quarta pars in Ireland. He shews, most satisfactorily, that these did not go from England, where no trace of such a custom exists, but was introduced into Ireland at a given time, by a papal legate; and that though the Bishop in certain dioceses got a fourth part, no farther division took place.

Mr. Hall, it is earnestly hoped, will prosecute inquiries like these, which are of the greatest use, and reflect the highest credit on his industry and learning.

Poems. By Hartley Coleridge. Vol. I. Leeds Bingley; and London, Baldwin and Cradock. 1833.

THIS is a volume of very delightful poetry, worthy to come from the son of Mr. Coleridge, and exhibiting both deep study of his father's manner and great marks of the same genius. There is a purity of thought through the whole, and in the poems on sacred subjects, a reverence for religion which strongly bespeak favour for the author. He speaks of himself as one self-condemned, but if he has anything to condemn in himself, this volume shews a state of feelings and thoughts from which everything may be hoped. His dedication to his father, his verses to an unknown sister-in-law, and the sonnets in general, are quite admirable.

The Leading Idea of Christianity. By the Rev. T. Griffith, M.A. London : Cadell. 1833. pp. 176.

THIS volume is intended to shew that the leading idea of Christianity is a deliverance from evil of all kinds, physical and moral-that it is the free gift of God -that it nevertheless will be given to those only who are fit for it-that men can only make themselves fit for it by the help of God's spirit, which will be given to them who ask it, believing in Jesus Christ—and finally, that there is a judgment to come, in which a discrimination of the fit and unfit will be made. In the first part of the work, the author insists very strongly (having obviously read Bishop Copleston and Archbishop King's writings) that we can form no adequate notion of heaven, and that the kingdom of heaven can to us only mean a deliverance from all evil. Why he insists on it so very strongly that a release from physical evil is a thing to be so much in our thoughts, or why he speaks of the earth being so entirely freed from evil by Christianity in future times, as if that was to be the abode of all living men, does not very clearly appear. But in other respects the book is reasonable enough, and the writer need not have written so fearfully metaphysical a preface, announcing new views and a sort of discovery of the secret of Christianity, when his work (which is very plainly and pleasingly written) contains only very reasonable views which have been usually taken before.

Letters on the Divine Origin and Authority of The Holy Scriptures. By the Rev. J. Carlile. In 2 vols. London: Fellowes. 1833.

THE Reviewer begs to recommend these volumes to his readers. There is not, perhaps, any great novelty in them, but they contain a great deal of valuable remark, collected from various sources, not accessible to every reader, delivered

in a very pleasing and readable manner. Mr. Carlile sets out with observing that the Scriptures have this remarkable in them, that the facts and doctrines are so intimately united that they stand or fall together, and that no other religion ever ventured to stand this trial, or thus to build itself, as it were, upon facts, and to interweave facts with itself.

He then goes on to shew, that scripture teaches religion by historical narrative, and, after these preliminary remarks, proceeds to shew, in a very pleasing way, the consistency of scripture with itself, and the consistency of the narrative with other parts; consistencies impossible in such extended writings, were not all of them true. He then points out the external confirmation of the facts in scripture, from facts recorded there still existing-from the traditions of various nations, and existing natural phenomena-and proceeds to the argument from prophecies and types, on the principle, that the events and ordinances referred to by the New Testament writers, were previously acknowledged by the Jews as recorded and appointed by divine authority. Having thus established the truth of scripture, he goes on to use it for the purposes of his argument, and shews that if we receive the facts, it is almost impossible not to receive the doctrines also; that these doctrines are throughout consistent with themselves, in the view which they present of God, and in the means which they take to form human character,-that the system of the Bible is adapted to the nature and wants of man, and that the ordinances are so likewise. The work closes with consideration of some objections, and with some remarks on the way in which the Canon of Scripture is formed. It will be seen that this book travels over a good deal of ground-notices many common objections (which it does very well), and dwells on subjects, all of which have a good deal of interest for even ordinary readers. It is, therefore, to be hoped that it may have a good deal of circulation, and tend to effect the object for which it was written-the reception of the truth.

A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Derby, by Archdeacon Butler. London: Longman and Co. 1833.

ARCHDEACON BUTLER'S Charge is of very high value indeed, containing, as it does, brief observations on almost all the subjects relative to the church which have excited men's feelings of late, and expressing on all of them the views of a sound churchman and of a clear and practical man of business. The Reviewer heartily wishes that they who find fault with the opinions exprest as to Church Reforms in this Magazine, would read Archdeacon Butler's Charge, as he is a person who stands so deservedly high in public esteem, and is, at the same time, allowed to be liberal in his opinions.

There is but one point of any moment on which the Reviewer would differ from Archdeacon Butler-viz., the taxation of large livings for the augmentation of small ones.* And this Archdeacon B. puts on its right footing, viz., that it is the least of evils. This has never been denied in the Magazine, but it has been simply said that it is an evil and an injustice. Archdeacon B. thinks that something must be yielded to the popular voice, and that this sacrifice, on the whole, is the least objectionable. It may be doubted whether, after a short time, the popular voice will not be in favour of the church. The clamour as to the amount of its property is dying away. One rarely hears it now, except from some Member of the House of Commons, where blunders, if they are blunders, are usually retained longer than in any other place.

• Archdeacon Butler's scale is the best yet proposed. But he does not state his ground for thinking that it would produce 40,000l. a year.

A Letter, on the Payment of Tithes, to a Member of the Society of Friends. By the Rev. S. Lee, Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge.

A Second Letter on the same subject. By the same. Bristol 1833. THESE two tracts do Professor Lee very great credit. He argues the point of voluntary maintenance exceedingly well in the first, and, in the second, goes at great length, and with much learning, into the history of Ethelwulph's law. The only thing to be said on this latter point is, that Professor Lee's reasonings are quite conclusive, if Ethelwulph's law really relates to tithes. The Reviewer has long entertained a belief that it does not, but to a dedication of Ethelwulph's own land. But as he nowhere found such an opinion exprest, he concluded himself wrong, until he lately saw Sir F. Palgrave's most learned work on the Anglo-Saxon Commonwealth, where this opinion is maintained with all the learned author's great ability.

AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

(1.) Banner of the Church. (A Newspaper.)

(2.) Report of the General Convention at New York in 1832.

(3.) Pastoral Letter to the Clergy and Members of the Episcopal Church in the United States. By the Bishops of the same. New York: 1832.

(4.) A Sermon preached at the Consecration of Three Bishops. By Bishop H. U. Onderdonck.

No true son of the church of England can look to the episcopal church of America without sincere joy at finding the rapid progress which it is making, and the firmness with which it maintains the truth; nor with some shame at finding how much more prominent it makes its distinctive characters than we do here. All the works at the head of this article shew this. The Banner of the Church contains articles on the church and its character, well deserving to be reprinted here; and it is much to be regretted that the removal of its invaluable editor, Bishop Doane, to the sphere of his new duties, has stopt the publication.

The Report of the General Convention contains the canons of the church as now adopted, and should be in all churchmen's libraries. Bishop Onderdonck's sermon is sound and powerful; and the Pastoral Letter of the bishops (especially their remarks on the connexion of religion and polity) deserves serious consideration.

The Book of Enoch, &c. By R. Lawrence, LL.D., Archbishop of Cashel.

2nd edit. Oxford: Parker. 1833.

In this second edition of his very curious and valuable work, Archbishop Lawrence has added ten pages of Greek extracts from the Book of Enoch given by Syncellus, in his Chronographia, as quoted by Fabricius, in his Codex Pseudepigraphus, with a Latin translation of them, and has also prefixed (at the close of the preface) a kind of synopsis of the contents of the work.

1833.

Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea. In 2 vols. (Constable's Miscellany, vols. 78 & 79.) London: Whittaker, Treacher, and Co. THERE are no tales of fictitious adventures which possess half the deep interest of these Romances of Real Life, and there are none which present human nature in a point of view so admirably adapted for shewing what it can bear and what it can do, by the aid of a trust in Providence, and by the help of those qualities which religion makes it the indispensable duty of man to acquire.

Readings in Poetry: a Selection from the English Poets, from Chaucer to the present time. London: J. W. Parker. 1833.

THE Compiler mentions that it was his wish to insert nothing in this volume above the level of the youthful capacity, and it is, of course, only just to judge the selection according to its intention. In that view, it deserves both praise and recommendation. It will be found that nothing whatever objectionable is inserted, and that almost everything inserted is pleasing. Some of the poets, however, are hardly dealt with. Why is not even one of Cowper's minor pieces given, so full of beauty and of moral and religious feeling as many of them are? Why is not one specimen given from Keble, whose name is praise enough; of whom, as a Christian poet, no praise would be extravagant? The reviewer cannot always agree in the opinion exprest, either in the general preface, or the notices prefixed to the several selections.

Remains of the Rev. W. Howells, being a Collection of Extracts from his Sermons. By W. P. Moore, A.B. T.C.D. Dublin: W. Curry and Co. 1833.

WHEN SO capable a judge as Mr. Melvill speaks of Mr Howell as a profound and logical thinker, one cannot doubt the fact that he was so. But they who, like the reviewer, have no means of judging of him but this volume must say that, assuming Mr. Melvill's view not to be too partial, Mr.. Moore's collection of extracts is very unfortunate. For nine-tenths of them are really either mere common-place, or mere extravagance. The latter feature exists in a degree almost inconceivable. What can we say of a preacher who tells us that God, through all eternity, never can again exhibit such love as he has to man - that the Devil had not half the sin of man-that if Christ is not God, he is the greatest liar and blasphemer who ever livedthat it would be better for all the devils in hell to be members of the Bible: Society than for Socinians to be so-that sin is for ever fattening on the flames - of hell-that it is all that God can do to save a sinner-that careless people continue to laugh at serious things till they get a locked jaw, which will never be loosed till in the flames of hell their laughter is turned into mourningthat the Bible Society was born a monster; and that its members begged the enemies of God and man to enter into compact with them, &c. &c. Are these the words of soberness which ought to come from the minister of God? These are things, no doubt, which will amuse itching ears, and draw many hearers; but will they profit them-will they strengthen a Christian, or correct a sinner?

The Spital Pulpit, a Sermon preached at Christ Church, Newgate Street, 1833. By the Rev. J. Russell, D.D. London: J. W. Parker. 1833. THIS is a curious and valuable account of the first institution of the Spital Sermons, which were preached in a pulpit in the open air, in the parish of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, for three days in the Easter week, and of the way in which they have been since managed. The divine and antiquary will be alike interested in it.

Plain Words about Prayer, with a Form of Prayer for Families. By the Rev. C. A. Heurtley, M.A., Fellow of C. C. C., Oxford. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. 1833.

Tuis book is what it professes to be-a very plain and very excellent tract on prayer, its necessity, advantage, and modes of prayer. Three or four casual expressions only (and those of no moment) excepted, the reviewer begs to express the strongest approbation of this tract, and to recommend it for general

use.

Discourses and Sacramental Addresses to a Village Congregation. By the Rev. D. B. Baker, A.M., Curate of St. Luke's, Chelsea. 2nd edition.

Rivingtons. 1833.

London: MR. BAKER is evidently an ingenious man, as his discourses "on the Analogy between the Land and Man's Heart by Nature," and that on "Christians Epistles of Christ," sufficiently shew, though both are so ingenious, and the latter especially couched in such terms, that his village congregation would make nothing of it. This is the more remarkable, as most of his other discourses are written, as far as style goes, in a way well adapted for such an audience. The reviewer cannot say he likes the tone of the sermons. When Bishop Sumner, after Paley, recommends that sermons should be local (a direction which Mr. B. puts on his title-page) he does not mean that the minister should be always talking to his people about himself, and telling them that the Bible is everything to him—that he is reckoned too strict—that he is called too religious-that he must expect to be persecuted, &c. &c.

How, too, could Mr. Baker, in speaking of confirmation to his people, charge them, that amidst the frivolity, recklessness, and ignorance, which will surround them on the day of confirmation, the candidates of his parish should be examples of piety, &c. &c.? Does Mr. B. think that he was the only clergyman who had any serious feelings, or took any serious care of his flock on that occasion? How could Mr. Baker, again, in taking leave of his flock, talk of his anxiety lest those who came after him should not spare the flock? He obviously felt the impropriety of this, for he adds, that he will not allow such gloomy anticipations to dwell on his mind. Why, then, allow himself to express them? Why should not his successor be as zealous as himself, or more so? The reviewer, too, begs to protest entirely against Mr. Baker's strong denunciation of things as they have been, and to express his deep sense of the impropriety and uncharitableness of such declarations by a Christian minister in the pulpit.

Protestant Episcopal Pulpit. New York: Moore.

Two more numbers (viz, numbers 1 and 4 of vol. 3) have reached the Editor. The first of them contains two excellent Sermons by Bishops White and Onderdonk, and a print of Bishop White, so beautiful as to deserve general attention. Every good episcopalian should have this most apostolical-looking head in his possession.

MISCELLANEA.

MORALITY OF THE CATHOLIC MAGAZINE.

(From the Review of Moore's Travels of an Irish Gentleman, &c.)

"THE merit of a writer is not modified by a consideration of his motives; but the praise due to the man derives its source mainly from that consideration. The catholic reader will peruse the pages of this valuable addition to his library with the greater interest, when he is informed that it is intended as a species of amends for some of the earlier productions of the distinguished author. With the first efforts of his muse, at which the malevolent and hypocritical Zoilus still loves to snarl, (viz., Little's Poems,) we do not happen to be acquainted (!); and we must therefore suppose that they deserve the imputations usually cast upon them, when the author would perhaps describe himself in the words of Boileau :

Ami de la Vertu, plutôt que vertueux.'

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