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required from their people, as the ground of their churchmanship, the reading of the daily lessons in their families; and he mentioned various instances of the beneficial effects resulting from that perusal. We fear a very small proportion of our readers would be found Churchmen if tried by this rule.

We must not, however, proceed with these general remarks, but advert as briefly as may be to the peculiar character of the publications before us, and give some specimens from each.

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Mr. Cunningham's Morning Thoughts are a collection of meditations on single verses from each chapter of St. Matthew, with a few. stanzas affixed, of which specimens may be found in our present volume, p. 188 and 420. The remarks and observations are highly excellent; but a commentary on the whole New Testament, conducted on a similar plan, would swell out to a most inconvenient size. As a specimen, however, of the manner in which private Christians may improve select portions of Holy Writ, it deserves serious contemplation. Some of the poetry is very good; but Mr. C. has been occasionally rather unfortunate in the choice of his measures, which are not always appropriate to serious subjects. The following thoughts occur on Matt. xxiii. 9.

One is your Father, which is in heaven. It is one of the artifices by which the great enemy has succeeded in withdrawing the allegiance of the creature from the Creator, to substitute some distorted image of God for that pure and tender Being whom we are invited to worship. In idolatrous countries, a block of wood or of stone is substituted for the true God. And even amongst professed Christians, similar delusions prevail. In some cases, the purity of God is concealed; in others, his milder attributes; and he is represented as harsh, vindictive, and unrelenting. How gross this distortion of the Divine image! what treason to the Majesty of Heaven! and what a death-blow to religion, where the frand succeeds, and this idol of blood is worshipped instead of the God of the

Scriptures! The essential element of re

ligion is love. But how could I love the Being who was a tyrant; the stern interreversing thie statements of Scripture, ❝ derupter of my lawful enjoyments; and who, sired" that his creatures should perish? The discovery of God as a Father, is constantly the turning point in religion. Sup pose that we should discover some individual, whom we had conceived to be a mere stranger, to be a long-lost parent, how would the indifference of the heart melt into love! And when the soul makes a similar discovery with regard to God, the frost of indifference dissolves, and the heart sur+ renders itself at once and altogether to his

service. "One is your Father, which is

in heaven." To believe this truth, as ex¬ plained and illustrated by the Gospel; value it, and to act upon it; is genuine re

ligion. Is God my reconciled Father in cheerfully and unequivocally serve him. Is this Father in heaven? then I must mingle reverence with affection, and tremble at his displeasure, even when I repose upon his love. Is One only my Father? then I must

Christ? then I must love, and trust, and

oppose no authority to his; I must suffer none to wield his sceptre, or to occupy his throne in my soul: I must "obey God rather than man." Lord, we have too long halted between two opinions. Come, Thou that art the Father of our spirits, come, with the blood of Atonement; sanctify us and dwell in us, and rule in us: wash us by the Spirit of Truth; clothe us in the white robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, and give us at once the adoption and the dispositions of sons, the delightful portion of those who are admitted to be "heirs of

God, and joint heirs with Christ."

They showed me the Lord on his throne,
All arrayed for the last fatal day:
They spake of his "terrors" alone,

And I shrank from the scene with dismay.
They called him my "Father," and led
My steps to his altar of grace:
Encouraged, I lifted my head,

And caught the sweet smiles of his face,
My "Father!" this bosom of stone
With the tempest of wrath might have
striven:

Thy mercy has made me Thine own,
And I long to be with thee in heaven..
Pp. 91-94.

The Morning Meditations, by the author of the Retrospect, are alternately on verses of hymns and texts of Scripture. His style and sentiments are too well known to our readers to need any recommendation, and many of them will, we doubt not, find this a fa

vourite volume. Several of the
meditations are on the same text of
Scripture, and others are from suc-
'cessive portions of the same chap-
ter. We cannot say much in favour
of the poetry, some of which is
original, and some taken from
works with which we have but
slight acquaintance.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
-John, xiv. 15.

AND who can profess to love thee, and refuse or slight this injunction? Alas! there are many such inconsistent and unhappy characters in the outward visible church. Many there are who grasp at the privileges, and abhor the duties of the Gospel. "By grace are ye saved, through faith," is a doctrine inscribed over the entrance-gate of heaven, and deeply written in the heart of every one who had learnt of the Father, and been brought to Christ. But never let it be forgotten,

that it is in our obedience rather than in
our offering of sacrifices, that God is well
pleased. It is not in the extent of our
knowledge, nor by the brilliancy of our
talents, nor in the eloquence of our
tongues, nor in the pomp of our profes-
sion, that heaven is interested.
But,
"herein," says Christ, "is my Father
glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit;
so shall ye be my disciples. (John, xv, 8.)
As an individual, I have no hope of salva-
tion but from and in the mere rich, un-
merited mercy of God dispensed to my
soul on account of what my Lord and Sa-
viour Jesus Christ hath done and suffered.
But can I think lightly of disobedience to
his known commands, or pass over those
Scriptures, or frown on those ministers, who
inculcate that holiness without which no
man is to see the Lord? God forbid! for
well I know that every allowed sin is as a
mountain in my way to heaven, and be-
comes a cloud of darkness on my soul,
obscuring the light of God's countenance,
and depriving me of my scriptural evidences
of an interest in Christ Jesus. Nay, when
I do the things that in my heart I allow
not, I find an additional barrier of thorns
and briars to be surmounted with tears and
crying, and so more and more cause of
bitter. repentance, and an additional clog
on the spirits. It is only in the exercise of
the fruits of the Spirit that I can feel or
appear like a child of God.-P. 147.

The Morning Communings with God are translated by Mr. Johnstone from a work of Christopher Christian Sturm; and, considering how generally the Reflections on

the Works of God, by the same author, are known, it is somewhat surprising that so many years have elapsed before the present work appeared in our language. These Meditations are on given subjects, but do not profess to be founded on any particular passage of Scripture. The following meditation on the last day of the month in which we write may afford a fair specimen of the author's manner.

́October 31." The Different Recollections of Different Men at the close of the Month.

How can I otherwise than with exultation and thanksgiving come before thee, O Lord, three Persons and one God, now that I am about to pass with the present day over an important stage of my pilgrimage? In a few hours this month also, which composes so considerable a portion of my life, will be at an end. Many of my brethren will perhaps to-day calculate all the advantages and earthly gain which this month hath conferred upon them. The libertine will review, in memory, the pleasures in which he has absorbed and dissipated his time, and invent new intoxi

cations for his reckless heart. The miser lected, and devise new plans for the inwill compute the sums which he has colcrease of his treasures, and with these for the multiplication of his cares. The man of learning will congratulate himself on the knowledge which he has acquired through his labour and perseverance; and his spirit, occupied in new researches, will long anxiously after new attainments. And thus each, according to his circumstances and propensities, will seek those ideas which afford to him agreeable recollections. And what can I do better than employ myself with the remembrance of those benefits which the benignant hand of my Preserver has throughout one entire month showered down upon my head, and venerate and praise this beneficent and blessing goodness?

Be praised, O Lord, my Benefactor, for the innumerable multitude of the tokens of thy love with which thou hast enriched me! All was kindness that I received from thee; and those dispensations, which my obscure understanding deemed evil, were pure benefactions. I should undoubtedly be far more hardened, insensible, and light

minded, had I not become wiser through thy humiliations. I thank thee therefore, likewise, on account of the sufferings which I have in this period experienced, and by which I have been rendered more rational

and lowly.

Be praised for the indulgence and longforbearing patience with which thou hast dealt with nie in my transgression and my follies! Ah! Lord, how justly had I deserved to be visited by thy punishments and snatched off from the earth. But, in all my offences, thou hast cherished towards me the thoughts of peace; and, for this, in deep reverence do I adore thee.

Be praised for this precious and blissful moment, in which, thou all-hallowed Being, I am permitted to discourse with thee in prayer! Look down upon me with an eye of approbation, and hear me when I call upon thee. Forgive me, for Jesus' sake, those hours of which the end of this month so painfully reminds me. Pardon my ingratitude, through which I have wronged thee and debased myself. Absolve me from my hidden and unperceived faults, O thou my God and my Father. Rule me through thy spirit, that amid the feelings of abashment with which I reflect on the past days, I may at least be able to think of this closing day of the month without shame and without regret.-Pp. 245, 246.

Mr. Williams's publication is a collection of the notes and outlines of three hundred and sixty-six sermons, preached by more than one hundred of the most eminent and popular ministers of the last half century, many of which were given to the editor by the ministers 'whose names are affixed, and others taken down when preached for this express object. This publication, therefore, admits of more 'variety than most of a similar nature, and is not liable to the charge before adverted to, of dwelling exclusively on any peculiar class of scriptural declarations. In turning over the volume for a specimen the following caught our eye. It will be found in Cecil's Remains, but can never be read too often.

Feb. 28.-1 Cor. i. 23.-We preach Christ crucified.

Christ is God's great ordinance., Nothing ever has been done, or will be done to purpose, but so far as he is held forth with simplicity. All the lines must centre in him. The Christian minister feels this, and therefore governs his ministry by it: "but then this is to be done according to the analogy of faith-not ignorantly, absurdly, and falsely. Yet I doubt not, in,deed, but that excess on this side is less pernicious than excess on the other; be'cause God will bless his own especial ordi

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nance, though partially understood and partially exhibited...

There are many weighty reasons for rendering Christ prominent in the ministry of the Gospel.

1. Christ cheers the prospect. Every thing connected with him has light and gladness thrown round it. I look out of my window on a winter's day :-the scene is scowling-dark-frigid-forbidding: I shudder, and my heart is chilled. But let the sun break forth from the cloud,-then I can feel—I can act—I can spring. Christ is my Sun-" the Sun of Righteousness."

2. God descending and dwelling with man, is a truth so infinitely grand, that it must absorb all others. "You are his attendants!" Well! but the King! There He is!" The King of saints!-the King of glory!"

3. Out of Christ, God is not intelligible, much less amiable. A sick woman once said, "Sir! I have no notion of God absolutely: I cannot get a single idea of him that seems to contain any thing."-" But you know (it was replied), how to conceive of Jesus Christ as a man! God, comes down to you in him, full of kindness and condescension."-"Ah! Sir, (said she), that gives me something to lay hold on. There I can rest. I understand God in his Son. But if God be not intelligible out of Christ, much less is he amiable. He is an object of horror and aversion to me, corrupted as I am! I fear and tremble-I resist, I hate, and I rebel."

4. A preacher may pursue his topic, without being led by it to Christ. He

takes up one topic and pursues it. He takes up another and pursues it. But if at length Jesus Christ becomes his topic, then he pursues that, and bends all his subjects naturally and gracefully to it.

5. God puts peculiar honour on the A philosopher may philosophize his hearers; but the preaching of Christ must convert them. John the Baptist will make his hearers tremble; but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, if he exhibit that peculiar feature of his superiorityJesus Christ. Men may preach Christ ignorantly-blunderingly-absurdly: yet God will give this preaching efficacy, because he is determined to magnify his own ordinance.

preaching of Christ crucified.

6. God appears in the doctrine of the cross, to design the destruction of man's pride. Even the murderer and the adulterer sometimes become subjects of the grace of the Gospel, because the murderer and the adulterer are more easily convinced and humbled: but the man of virtue is seldom reached, because the man of virtue disdains to stoop. "Remember me," said a dying malefactor! but "God I

thank thee," condemned a proud Pharisee!-R. CECIL.-Pp. 86, 87.

As Nathan argues with David.-2 Sam. xii. 1, &c.

VII. That, as our profession as Christians is most honourable, we seek to honour it.

As does the soldier, physician, &c.-2 Tim. ii. 19. Titus, ii, 9, 10.

VIII. That, as surrounded with enemies and dangers, we walk circumspectly.→→ 1 Pet. v. 8. Eph. v. 15, 16.

IX. That, as having the means of grace, we use them to obtain grace.-Heb. iv. 16. Isa. xl. 1, &c.

X. That, as surrounded with perishing sinners, we do what we can to save them.

Cor. ix, 19-22.

XI. That we use God's creatures to the

XII. That we should be holy' in body, as well as in soul.-1 Thess. iv, 3-7. 1 Pet. ii. 11.

Rom. xii. 1, &c.

While preparing this article, Mr. Piggott's volume made its appearance; and we eagerly embraced the opportunity of conversing once more with our venerable departed friend, the Rev. H. Foster. Six entire sermons, and three hundred and sixty-five complete outlines of sermons, of such a man are a treasure, which all who enjoyed the opportunity of sitting under his ministry would eagerly desire. We regret however to observe, that ends for which he gave them.-Eph. v. 18. many of these outlines are so short and imperfect, that they can be of little use to any who are not well acquainted with the author's style of preaching, or who are not themselves in the habit of making use of a single word or name to preserve in their memories a succession of important ideas. And we, therefore, cannot but think, that Mr. P. would better have consulted the character of the deceased, the advantage of the public, and his own emolument, had he presented us with a smaller and more correct selection. The following may be considered as rather a favourable specimen :

Nov. 1.-Ephesians, v. 17.—“ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

Show, in various particulars, what God's will is which we are exhorted to understand.

I. That, as rational, accountable, and immortal creatures, we should consider our ways and their end.-Hag. i. 5. Deut. xxxii. 29.

II. That, as creatures sinful before God, we should loathe ourselves in dust and ashes.-Acts, xvii. 30. Acts, iii. 19. Acts, xx. 21. Isa. vi. 1, &c. Rev. i. 17.

III. That, as having Christ set before us, we should believe on him for salvation. -John, vi. 27-29. 1 John, iii. 13. Acts, xiii. 38, &c,

IV. That, as having an interest in heaven, and going thither, we be heavenlyminded.-Col. iii. 1-3. Phil. iii. 1, &c.

V. That, as having to do with a God of power, wisdom, and goodness, that cares for us, we submit to and cast all our care on him.-Matt. vi. 1, &c. 1 Pet. v. 7..

VI. That, as distinguished with peculiar favours, we excel in devotedness to God.

in

Christ, we should ascribe all to him.Eph. v. 20.

XIII. That, as we receive all from God

Rom. xi. 36. 1 Thess. v. 8,

Learn hence, how the knowledge of what we should be, shows us what we are.-Pp. 559-561.

An extract from

the Daily

Words, &c. of the Brethren, would only consist of a few insulated texts, and references to hymns to which few of our readers have ac

cess.

It may not, however, be improper to remark, that this little 1st, pamphlet considers March 1547, as the beginning of the Church of the Brethren, and assigns August, 21, 1732, as the commencement of their Missions to the heathen.

1

Matthew Henry at Hackney. To
which is added, Strictures on
the Unitarian Writings of the
Rev. Lant Carpenter, LL.D.—
8vo. Pp. 136. Seeley. 1824.
A brief Review of the fundamental
Doctrine of the Gospel.-Pp.
192. Seeley. 1824.

The Doctrinal Harmony of the
New Testament exemplified.
By Edward William Grinfield,
M. A.-Cadell. 1824. Pp. 120.

CHRISTIANITY is deeply indebted to the assaults of her adversaries. They mean it not so, neither do their hearts think so; but in endeavouring to subvert the oracles and testimonies of God,

the infidel and opposer have been driven from one post to another, until their folly is manifest to all considerate men.

These reflections have arisen in our minds while perusing the works prefixed to this article, the two first of which are pamphlets against Socinianism, and the last an able comparison of the Epistles of St. Paul with the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles of the other Apostles, exemplifying the perfect harmony of the writers of the New Testament.

"Matthew Henry at Hackney," has not obtained the popularity which its intrinsic merits would most probably have acquired for it, had it appeared with an intelligible title, or in a less ambiguous character. A large congregation is collected at Hackney, under a sudden and mysterious impulse; when the shade of Matthew Henry appears in the pulpit, supported by that of Dr. Watts, and delivers to the murmuring assembly a discourse of eighty-four pages on the early opinions and Hebrew Testimonies respecting Christ, with remarks on the Unitarian version, and testimonies of the Christian Fathers; which discourse is followed by some strictures on the writings of Lant Carpenter. The whole exhibits the hand of one well read, and thoroughly master of his subject; and we cannot therefore but regret the circumstances which have impeded the circulation of the work.

The Brief Review of the Fundamental Doctrine of Christ, is a collection of the Scriptural proofs of the Saviour's Divinity, accompanied with weighty and appropriate remarks. These remarks are, however, made in an affected and peculiar style; we should conjecture, from the singular use of various words and phrases, that our author is either of American extraction, or that at least this is his first appearance before the public. We rejoice at the cor

rectness of his sentiments; and hope, that when next we meet, his sentences may be composed in a more attractive manner.

Mr. Grinfield's publication, the smallest of the three, will perhaps be found the most valuable. Infidels have often endeavoured to find out contradictions in the sacred writers; and this has lately been attempted with reference to the Epistles of St. Paul and the other writers of the New Testament. Mr. G.'s attention has, in consequence, been called to this subject; and, after pursuing his inquiry through thirty-five sections, in each of which he adduces passages from the Gospels, the Acts and Epistles, and the writings of St. Paul, he sums up the comparison with some very valuable reflections, from which the following are extracts :

In collecting this large mass of corre sponding passages from the Epistles of St. Paul, and the other writings of the New Testament, we are not so much desirous of deciding on the meaning of any particular texts, as of making it apparent that one general system of religious doctrine pervades the whole volume. There will always be some dispute and contention as to the interpretation of single passages-but it is impossible for any one to deny, that there is here such a unity and harmony of sentiment, as it would be hopeless to look for amongst the same number of ordinary

writers.

I say of ordinary writers-for let any one take five or six authors who have written on the same subject, and then let him endeavour to compose from them such a harmony as that which we have here exhibited. Much as I had read, and often as I had compared the writings of the New Testament, I will confess, that I was by no means aware of the extent of this uniformity, till an accident set me upon drawing up this Concordance.

A book was put into my hands, entitled, "Not Paul, but Jesus," &c. It at once struck me that the best criterion of trying the merits of such a work, would be found

in drawing up a doctrinal harmony of the New Testament, by placing St. Paul in

contrast with all its other writers. This

accordingly I have here attempted; and to my surprise and gratification, I find that we can abide the ordeal, however partial and unjust, with which we have been threat

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