and that the side he takes is far from being popular among the scholars who have either been silenced by Griesbach's arguments, or led by his authority. Dr. Laurence has, however, not hesitated to bring forward his objections in a firm and manly manner. He treats his anta gonist, throughout the pamphlet, with that marked respect which 'should always distinguish the controversies of literary men, especially on a sacred subject. He fairly states the grounds on which his own opinions rest: and his chief design will apparently be accomplished, if the minds of real scholars are led to greater circum spection in their reliance on Griesbach's decisions, and to a more jeaJous inquiry into the real weight of the hypothesis which he has formed. The sum of Dr. Laurence's statement may be given in a few words. He protests, first, against the presumption of five or six classes, and the investigation of only three. He condemns, secondly, the considering of MSS, thus inadequately arranged, as exemplars of classes. He objects, thirdly, to Griesbach's retaining the received text as the standard of reference, after he had stripped it of its reputation. In the fourth place, he considers that very material inaccuracies infect his enumerations of readings. He points out, fifthly, a more satisfactory mode of ascertaining the class of a MS. than the one adopted by Griesbach. He detects, in the sixth place, an inconsistency in Griesbach in the application of his own system. Seventhly, he examines at length the celebrated question as to the reading of 1 Tim. iii. 16, in order to display all the consequences of Griesbach's hypothesis. This leads him, eighthly, to maintain thatGriesbach's classification is principally made to subserve critical conjecture. Lastly, be undertakes to shew that the existence of an Alexandrine text has never yet been sufficiently established. We do not mean to make any re marks of our own in concluding this article. Our object is to invite inquiry, and with that view we bave given the substance of the most important results of Dr. Laurence's examination. Further than this it is not our purpose at present to proceed. We will, however, just state, as a gratifying circumstance, that, even if we were to allow to Griesbach every thing that he claims, the alterations in the received text would not extend to the materially weakening of any one point of doctrine or practice. One passage only, affecting the doctrine of the Trinity, has been expunged by him, and two others altered (1 John v.7; 1 Tim. iii. 16; and Acts xx. 28); but all these had again and again been controverted, before the labours of Griesbach appeared. And if it be asked, what impression was made upon his own mind in consequence of his critical decisions on them, a better answer cannot be given than in the words of Griesbach himself, which occur in his preface to the Apostolical Writings, published in the year 1775:-"In order that I may do away, so far as I can, unjust suspicions, and take from malevo. lent men an occasion for calumny; first, I publicly profess and call God to witness (publicè profiteor atque Deumi testor), that I do not at all doubt of the true Divinity of Jesus Christ. And, indeed, there are arguments and places of Scripture so numerous and clear, by which the true Deity of Christ is proved, that, for myself, I can scarcely under stand how this doctrine can be called in question by any one who grants the Divine authority of the Scriptures and acknowledges just rules of interpretation. Especially that place, John i. 1,2,3, is so perspicuous, and above all objection, that neither by the daring efforts of interpreters, or of critics, can it ever be overturned or snatched from the defenders of the truth.” The hypothesis of Griesbach, therefore, in his own hands, has produced effects only to the compa L ratively trifling extent mentioned above; "but," observes Dr. Laurence, as it is extremely liable to be misconceived, as well as misapplied; is so intricate in its construction; is so difficult to be detailed with precision, or even to be made out in its subordinate arrangements, and is so readily convertible to party purposes; surely we should again and again contemplate it, and that in every possible point of view, before we consent to admit the conclusions which have been deduced from it into general currency." A new Abridgment of Law's Serious It would be superfluous, at this pe- lence, and happiness of a life of ference in what we conceive to be and we verily believe, in number- joined ;" and of his work, as his own deliberate opinion, however it might have failed in its influence upon himself, 'that it is a powerful book of devotion, which, if there existed a spark of piety in the reader's mind, will soon kindle it to a flame *." An admirable female writer, whose name has frequently graced our pages, and the correctness of whose judgment is equal to the elegance of her taste and the brilliancy of her imagination, has, in one of her most valuable works, given a sketch of Mr. Law's merits, which exactly coincides with our own sentiments. "If I might presume," observes this distinguished author, "to recommend a book which of all others exposes the insignificance, vanity, littleness, and emptiness of the world, I should not hesitate to name Mr. Law's Serious Call to a devout and holy Life.' Few writers, except Pascal, have directed so much acuteness of reasoning, and so much pointed wit, to this object. He not only makes the reader afraid of a worldly life, on account of its sinfulness, but ashamed of it on account of its folly. To a fashionable woman immersed in the vanities of life, or to a busy man overwhelmed with its cares, I know no book so applicable, or likely to exhibit with equal force the vanity of the sha dows they are pursuing t." We have omitted, in the preceding extract, the remarks of this acute and truly Christian writer on the doctrinal unsoundness of Mr. Law, and the caution with which she recommends the perusal of his works, because we have already referred to this point, and are intending to no. tice it again, in the words of Mrs. H. More, before we close this article, We proceed, at present, to observe, that while the "Serious Call" has passed through various editions, and been very widely circulated, the length of the original work, and, its *** See - Boswell's Life of Johnson, and Gibbon's Memoirs by Lord Sheffield. See Mrs. H. More's Strictures on Fe. male Education; volerii. p. 227. = 募 consequent want of adaptation to some purposes of dispersion, early suggested the utility of an abridgment. Two attempts of this kind have been accordingly published; one of them by the celebrated Mr. John Wesley. The design, however, of these publications, was rather to diminish the bulk of the original treatise, than to remove objections to its general reception, and to render it better adapted to general utility. An opportunity was, therefore, still left for such an abridgment as that which has been the occasion of the preceding observations. The Editor of this "New Abridgment" of Mr. Law's work has, in a short advertisement, explained the intention with which it is presented to the public. He states, what has certainly been oftenf felt by those who, admiring the general excellence of the "Serious Call," have been desirous of recommending it in quarters where its powerful representations were much needed, that the severity and minuteness of some of Mr. Law's prac tical directions--referring more particularly, we presume, to the frequent returns of his hours of prayer, and the occasional rigour, not to say impracticability, of some of his re quisitions-form a serious obstacle to the introduction of the work among the higher and middle classes of society, for whose benefit it is almost exclusively calculated, and. especially amongst the young. To remove this obstruction to the utility of the "Serious Call," by simply omitting what is unnecessarily strict, singular, and forbidding, from the air of monastic austerity which is apparent in its original form, without diminishing aught of the sterling value of the book, has been the design of the present Editor. Some redundancies, both, in the discussion and illustration of the various topics of which it treats, have, with much propriety and judgment, been retrenched; but the substance of the work, "the wit and the wisdom" with which it abounds, have been carefully pre. served; and it is now presented to the public divested of that severe and repelling aspect which has frequently deterred the young, the dis sipated, and the worldly, from the perusal of a book peculiarly calcu. Jated to convince them of their fol. lies and their dangers, and to point out to them " a more excellent way." Something more, perhaps, though we are fully aware of the difficulty and delicacy of the under taking, might still have been done towards expunging or softening those expressions of a self-righteous and self-dependent tendency, which so frequently occur in the "Serious Call;" but, even in this respect, much has been effected by the present editor. We have no hesitation, therefore, in saying, that he is entitled to our cordial thanks for his unassuming but highly useful labour, and in warmly recommending his Abridgment to the notice of our readers. Before we dismiss the subject, we cannot, however, but recur to the qualified approbation with which we have felt it to be our duty to speak of Mr. Law's work. We perfectly agree with the elegant writer whom we have last quoted upon this point, that though "few men, perhaps, have had a deeper insight into the human heart, or have more skilfully probed its corruptions, yet, on points of doctrine, his views do not seem to be just; so that a general perusal of his works would neither be profitable nor intelligible." "Even in the Seri ous Call,'" continues Mrs. More, "Law is not a safe guide to evangelical light." "As the mortified apostle of the holy and self-denying Baptist, preaching repentance, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, Mr. Law has no superior. As a preacher of salvation on scriptural grounds, I would follow other guides +."-Fully concurring, as * Mrs. H. More, ut supra. The writings, for instance, of the excellent Author herself, or the admirable • Practical View" of Mr. Wilberforce, CHRIST. OBSERv. No, 153, we do, in these sentiments, it may, perhaps, be asked, why we are at the same time recommending a work thus confessedly defective? We have already partly replied to this question; and we would only add, that, after all the deductions which the love of scriptural truth compels us to make from the merits of the "Serious Call," it must still be ad mitted to rank very high, as a dissua sive from a worldly and an exhor tation to a religious life. Still we would persuade the careless, the idle, the busy, and the gay, to read with attention the "New Abridgment" of this able work, trusting that, under the Divine blessing, a deep and salutary impression may be made upon their minds; and still would we exhort, even the Christian who possesses more correct views of doctrinal truths than Mr. Law will afford him, to compare his dispositions and conduct with the high and holy standard which he exhibits; and to endeavour, under the influence of the more evange lical motives and assistances which he may happily possess, to exemplify the spirit of fervent and unwearied devotion; the consecration of time, talents, fortune, to the service of God; the profound humility; the universal love; the entire resignation to the Divine will; which are so admirably pourtrayed, and so powerfully enforced, in the "Seri ous Call to a devout and holy Life.” The Velvet Cushion. London: Ca. dell and Davies. 1814. pp. 185. THE vicar of a parish in Westmoreland, who, during an incumbency of five-and-thirty years, had become familiar with the form and appearance of his pulpit cushion, was not a little surprised one day by a sudden change in its dimensions. He reasoned and moralized upon the subject to little effect. He knew that it was a cushion of ancient times, and he had imbibed for it a degree of veneration which even the 4 H 1 as wrecks of antiquity do not always inspire. Its history he believed to be interesting; and he often longed for the narrative which a traveller of so many ages, and of such checquered experience, if possessed of reason and of speech, could not fail to impart. But to what cause was he to attribute this remarkable enlargement? There lived in the parsonage a venerable old lady, who had given her hand to the vicar some fifty years before, and who was with him gradually descending to the house appointed for all living. With her he was accustomed to share every anxiety, and to partake in every object of satisfaction: The mysteries of housewifery were familiar to this ancient lady, as to the wife of Dr. Primrose; and to her, therefore, the good old vicar determined to confide his cushion and his cares. The most obvious mode, as it occurred to them both, of ascertaining the cause of the phenomenon which now excited their surprise, was to open the seams of the cushion, and examine the interior. They proceeded with all due solemnity to the task, and were delighted to find, under the velvet, a large roll of paper, entitled, "My own History." Our good ecclesiastic did not happen to recollect that velvet cushions seldom write a detail of their adventures: that was the cushion, and this was the history of it. The vicar and his wife had been too long influenced, by a similar spirit, with feelings too intimately blended and combined, not to be carried away by the same il lusion: so another candle was lighted, the sofa was wheeled nearer the fire, and they listened with reverence to the tale of other times. 1 It was in the days of the bloody Queen Mary that the cushion first professes to have seen the light; a gay and gaudy article, as splendid as gold and tassels could make it. Its first elevation was to the pulpit of a great church in the metropolis, where it soon became initiated in all the mummeries and superstitions of the Roman Catholic worship. On the accession of Elizabeth, the abominations of popery gave way to the doctrines of the Reformers; and the hero of our tale, although deprived of a little idle and superfluous ornament, was permitted to retain his place. But a dark and tempestuous season was approaching: in the reign of Charles the First, the church was visited one morning by a party of outrageous Roundheads, who broke down the rails of the altar, stole the plate, dashed the Prayer-book out of the window, and mutilated the person of the narrator. During a long and disastrous period, the cushion was doomed to submit to the hard blows of puritanical fists; but the restoration of the monarchy put an end to its torment. The unbending roughness and vulgarity of puritanical manners, were succeeded by a system of order, and elegance, and refinement: new cushions were demanded by the advocates of that new and courtly religion, which followed the re-establishment of the throne; and the vicar's favourite was degraded from his pre-eminence in the seat of the priesthood, and contemptuously transferred as a perquisite to the pew-opener. . By a very natural transition, it soon passed into a pawnbroker's shop; and, after some hazard of translation to a synagogue of the Jews, and some danger of becoming a pillow to a 'dowager's lap-dog, it emerged once again into the throne of instruction,the pulpit of a dissenting congregation. The elders were just then sitting in judgment upon their minister: a schism and a new chapel were the result, but the velvet ornament remained with the more ancient fraternity. The dissenters grew rich, and the cushion was thought to grow shabby: the opinion of the vestry was taken, and it was again discarded to seek its fortunes in the world. After some adventures of little account, it fell into the hands of an old lady-devotee, who bears the |