part. 2. aor. mid. diabéμevos, one who has settled his affairs. Demost. 1067. 1. bσTis av μù dialéμeros áπоlávy, ⚫ whosoever shall die, not having settled his affairs, that is, intestate.' Our translators supposed that this classical application of the word belonged to it in Heb. ix. 16, 17. But there we must include the sense which is peculiar to the divine covenant of sovereign dispensation, promise, or grace, the leading illustration in the passage, (see dia0ýêŋ;) viz. I dispose, appoint, or promise, with the solemnities of an oath, and a sacrifice; I make a covenant, Gen. xv. 18. Deut. v. 2, 3. comp. Heb. vi. 13-20. and ix. 15-20. We shall, on examining these passages, find that μeoirns is considered as synonymous with ὁ διαθέμενος, and both are applied to Christ. He is declared, in the accomplishment of his work, to have offered himself.' When spoken of him, therefore, we may, with Newcome, render, o dialéμevos, the covenanter. For where a covenant is, there is a necessity that the death of the covenanter should be brought in. For a covenant is firm over the dead: [or, over dead sacrifices:] whereas it is of no force when the covenanter liveth.' See Newcome's Notes. On consideration, I prefer this rendering to that of Macknight, given in the former edition, viz. the appointed sacrifice;' (although the meaning is ultimately the same ;) because, not only is the word used classically in an active sense, but in this connexion, he is spoken of, not alone as the passive victim of appointment, but also as the active agent who had come to do the will of his God, which was in his heart. Both ideas, however, the appointment and the voluntary fulfilment of it, are afterwards mentioned. See chap. x. 5--10."--p. 341. “ Κατοπτρίζω, f. -ἴσω, (from next) I represent any thing as in a mirror to another; mid. I reflect as a mirror; pass. I behold as in a mirror. The Greek fathers prefer the second of these interpretations in 2 Cor. iii. 18. But what is, reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord ? --when we are baptized, the soul purified by the spirit shines brighter than the sun; and we not only behold the glory of God, but thence derive a certain splendour. pure silver exposed to the rays of the sun, will itself send forth rays, not from its own nature alone, but also from the brightness of the sun; so also the soul purified, and clothed with a lustre above that of silver, receives a ray from the glory of the spirit, and again sends it forth.' Chrysost. on the passage."-p. 529. As Méλel, (See p 42.) it is a care, or concern; καὶ οὐδὲν τούτων τῷ Γαλλίwvi ëμeλev, Acts xviii. 17. Gallio gave himself no concern about these things;' i. e. the riot, and the battery of Sosthenes. He wisely considered, that to judge in religious questions was not the province of the civil magistrate, and that the ill-treatment which Sosthenes, the chief amongst the accusers, had received, would tend to prevent such accusations in time to come." -p. 585. Μεσίτης, -ου, ὁ, (from μέσος) a mediator, Gal. iii. 20. o de μeoirns, ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς, εἷς ἐστιν, but the mediator is not [the friend] of one [party, but of two or more :] but God is one [of the parties, in the giving of the Law.'] The first clause is an objection; the second an answer. The occasion of appointing a mediator is an offence, and the object, is reconciliation. In ordinary casés, a mediator is commonly obliged to propose a compromise, which may involve a change of plan and of measures among all parties. According to this view of mediation, the law might have been supposed to have disannulled the promise. But when it is considered that the unchangeable God who gave the promises, is one of the parties in the giving of the Law, the supposition is inadmissible. Is the Law then [of God] against the promises of God? God forbid!' verse 21."-p. 588. Пũρ, πuρòs, тò, (from, to burn, or 11, to break, shatter as fire doth fuel) fire; a burning fever; 1 Cor. iii. 15. οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ παρὸς, • yet so as by fire;' i. e. the salvation of the teacher, who shall suffer loss, must depend on the revelation which fire shall make of his own character. It is a warning, that, if his personal character be no better than that of his work as a builder, which is burned, be shall not be saved. On the other hand, builders are not threatened with perdition, because they may have committed mistakes, contrary to their principles, their endeavours, and their design. I have purposely quoted this passage without altering the translation, although I think it might being an example of the frequent case, be rendered, yet so as by the fire;' this chap. vi. § 1, in which nouns become remarked by Middleton on the Article, anartbrous after prepositions."—p. 750. “ Yiòc, -oũ, ô, a son. The phrase υἱοὶ Θεοῦ is sometimes used to signify saints or holy men; but in the singular, when it is spoken of Christ, there is no reason to infer that such is ever the mean ing of it in the N. T. O viòc Tou Оεoũ, is allowed to be meant in the highest acceptation. But there are instances which prove, that υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ was never meant to be taken in an inferior sense. Thus, Mark i. 1. it is used by the Evangelist himself of Jesus. John x. 36. the same phrase is employed by Christ himself of himself. And Matth. xxvii. 40, it is used by those who well knew the claims of Jesus. Neither is viòs Ocou to be taken in an inferior sense. For we have it in Matth. xxvii. 43. where the chief It is priests would hardly palliate their charge against Jesus, that he said, 'I am the Son of God.' In Luke i. 35. the same phrase is affirmed of Christ by an angel; and in Rom. i. 4. of Christ by the Apostle Paul. Middleton on Matth. iv. 3. In this phrase there is a license either to take or reject the article arising out of the word Ocòs, from its partaking of the nature both of an appellative and of a proper name. different as to the phrase Son of man,' on which Bloomfield on Matth. xii. 8. proposes this canon: that ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνOpónov invariably signifies the Son of man, in that sense in which it is applied to our Redeemer, viz. the Messiah or the Christ: and that whenever it occurs without the article, it denotes a man only, and is found both in the singular and plural." -pp. 841, 842. We have given these extracts, taken almost at random from the Lexicon, as better calculated than any reasonings of ours, to exhibit the nature and importance of this work to our readers. The tyro in Greek will find the work suited to his attainments, and calculated to lead him forward; and the to lead him forward; and the finished scholar will often be assisted and gratified by many of its classical references and allusions. We commend it especially to our brethren in the ministry, whose benefit the excellent author has constantly consulted, and thank him most cordially ourselves, for the valuable aid he has furnished us. Letter to Dr. Shuttleworth, by Lord Holland. 8vo. pp. 33. Ridgway. A Summary of the Laws affecting Protestant Dissenters, by Joseph Beldam, Esq. Barrister at Law. 12mo. pp. 196. Butterworth. THE present period has sometimes been called the age of liberality. On some subjects, and to a certain extent, this may be considered as a characteristic designation. The right of private judgment is generally admitted; admitted, how ever, by thousands who never think it of any importance to Judge" at all; and whose opinions on religion, if it can exist in connexion with practical indifference, are just the opinions of the party to which, by the accidents of birth and association, they are attached. It so happens, from causes which cannot now be entered upon, that the Corporation and Test Acts have never been the subject of general consideration for nearly forty years. The question of their justice and policy is again before the public; and we shall soon be able to ascertain whether the boasted liberality of the times is worth the eulogy that has so often been expended upon it. We are inclined to apprehend, that as large a portion of ignotion of injustice, will be displayed rance, and as great a manifestaon the forth-coming occasion, as ever disgraced the supporters of intolerance in former times. Happy shall we be if we are found " pro phesying falsely;" but when we reflect on the sectarianism of the national hierarchy, and the present state of political parties, the prospect of legislative equity is by no means encouraging; and we fear the day is distant which will bring with it the annihilation of these oppressive and iniquitous enact ments. Into their origin or their history, it is perfectly unnecessary for us to enter. The recent publications issued by the several ed in the question of repeal, have bodies which are directly interestfurnished most ample materials for informing and directing the public mind; and the Dissenters especially, if they do not rouse themselves to manly and combined exertion, in order to secure their legitimate rights, will never, henceforward, be entitled to complain either of neglect or injustice. We confess, that if the ingenuous declaration of an illustrious ad vocate of civil and religious liberty in the House of Commons, whose very name stands as the hereditary representative of all that is honourable in character, liberal in policy, and upright in principle, had not naturally called forth the energies of the Dissenters, we should have thought it right, after so long a period of delay and abeyance, to have postponed the consideration of the question at the present eventful crisis. We should have waited till the arrangements of administration had been completed; we should have been unwilling to have had it entangled and complicated with the personal and the political contentions of the present period; and should have thought it both wise and just to have deferred the question, till a calmer state of feeling, amongst all parties in the senate, had warranted the expectation of something like an unprejudiced and impartial discussion. But the generous challenge referred to, was given before the recent change of administration; since that change it has been repeated; it has been nobly reechoed by the distinguished and highly talented peer, whose pamphlet is at the head of this article; and, in such circumstances, it does appear to us that it would be unwise, pusillanimous, and inglorious to recede. In this conclusion we are confirmed by several considerations. The repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts ought to stand on grounds independent of all personal and conflicting interests at the present period. It has no necessary connexion with the Catholic question. Individuals of different and opposite parties on that point might, in perfect consistency with their respective opinions, advocate the repeal of these obnoxious statutes: the "no popery" party, on the ground of strengthening the common cause of Protestantism, and N. S. No. 30. the emancipationists on the ground of consistency and justice. The Dissenters, like the members of the National Church, are, on the subject of emancipation, divided in their opinions; and it is no more just to expect them to be perfectly unanimous, than to look for such unanimity among other parties of the Protestant population. If, therefore, the question of repeal were now postponed, after its introduction has been accounted for, it would at once be committing the applicants, as such, to one or other of the present political parties; and this we should deprecate, because the claims of the Protestant Dissenters do not stand on the same footing with those of the Catholics, and because the more entirely they are separated from them, the greater justice will be done to their principles and their rights. or There is one view of the matter which appears to us to have by no means secured that attention, excited those feelings, which its importance demands. We refer to the awful prostitution of a Christian Institute for merely secular interests, which is so disgracefully sanctioned and perpetuated by the sacramental test. Such a prostitution was never known in the worst times of the Roman Catholic church itself. It is unknown in the most corrupt and degraded sections of that church in the present day. It is unknown in any part of the Continent of Europe. It is gratuitous and needless to say, that it is unknown in the Trans-atlantic world. It is even unknown in Ireland ! In England, in England alone— where the mitre lifts its head amidst coronets and sceptres; in England, where the mightiest patronage surrounds the hierarchy; in England, where, as Montesquieu observes, "religion, liberty, and commerce," are the great sources of its influence and eleva28 tion, is this desecration of a Christian rite enjoined; and the clergy of the National Church are made parties in this work of desecration. The professed exclusive guardians of the holy mysteries of religion, are called upon at the beck and nod of any "son of Belial" who may demand it, to assist him in qualifying to gauge a barrel, or to become a tide-waiter, as Lord Holland says, by the administration of the Lord's Supper, as a "key to office, and a picklock to a place!" This is an abomination that ought to be swept away from our land, and all parties who revere the holy name by which they are called, ought never to desist in their efforts till their victory is complete. "It is matter of surprise," says Lord Holland in the letter before us, "that all religious men have not long since combined with the friends of freedom to procure the abrogation of so disgusting a law. One part of it, the sacramental test is as revolting to every sense of religion as the whole together is hostile to the rights of conscience and the liberty of the subject. It is an Act to abridge the prerogatives of the Crown, to violate the liberties of the people, to hold out temptations to perjury and premiums on hypocrisy, and to entrap the unwary members of the Church themselves into a profanation of the most sacred rite of their religion. In short, I know of no law which, in principle, is liable to so many and such grave objections."-p. 8. These are sentiments worthy of the enlightened and liberal nobleman who has put them on record; and we can imagine no valid objection to them on any ground affecting either the general principles of religious liberty, or the real interests of the Protestant cause in this country. The immediate object of Lord Holland in the letter before us, respects the question of emancipation; and whatever may be our convictions on that point, we cannot but admire the temperate and judicious manner in which his Lordship has stated his views on that momentous subject. He has, however, needlessly, as it appears to us, chosen to go out of his path, to express his fears and his suspicions respecting the reported conversions that have lately taken place in Ireland. Of those conversions his Lordship thus writes: "One word on another, and a yet more delicate topic, the late conversions from popery, or, as it is styled by some, the new reformation in Ireland. It has been somewhat unaccountably introduced into all our debates; but, in my judgment, it bears very little relation to the political question, and if any, only such as fur nisbes an additional motive for the removal of all political distinctions between the members of the two conflicting sects. I acknowledge that I have myself little faith in these conversions. I doubt the extent-I doubt the sincerity of them—I dence, or safety of the attempt, or of the doubt yet more strongly the policy, pru. ostentatious triumph with which its partial success is announced."-pp. 21, 22. "There is one circumstance about the praise so loudly bestowed on these recent conversions, which, I confess, I cannot reconcile to any principle of consistency or fair reasoning. When the question of the removal of the remaining disabilities was formerly agitated, the merits and demerits of the Roman Catholic religion were canvassed more narrowly than the nature of the question, in my poor judgment, either required or justified. But I remember, that one of the charges most successfully urged against the Church of Rome was, her spirit of proselytism, her activity in making converts, and her ostentation in proclaiming them. Now, I presume, what is reprehensible in one Church cannot be commendable in another. Either our boasted zeal in conversions is liable to the censures we so liberally bestowed upon theirs, and, in that case, our success must not be presumptuously alleged as proof of the truth of our doctrine, or our condemnation of them must be retracted, and the success of such endeavours as they have made, or may hereafter make for a similar purpose, must be admitted, pro tanto, as an argument in favour of their faith. What prudent man would place the question on such an issue? What endless enmities and discord would ensue, if the zealous on both sides should be invited and encouraged to molest each other with perpetual controversies, and alternate triumphs on religious subjects? "But be that as it will, I think, on impartial consideration, it must be allowed, that if the work of reformation is to pro ceed, it will advance more steadily when all is smooth and calm, than in the midst of turbulence and animosity on political questions. The repeal of the exclusionlaws may assist -it cannot retard its progress; a Papist may throw off his cloak of error and superstition in sunshine or in shelter; but, exposed to the buffets of the storm, and turned from your door with heartless indifference, he naturally, and necessarily, clings to it as his only refuge and best protection."--pp. 26-25. On some of the points embraced in these remarks we entirely coineide with the noble author; and we think the conductors and advocates of those valuable Societies which have been instrumental in effecting the changes referred to, may derive profitable HINTS from the suggestions and even the censures of his Lordship. There is always danger of ostentation and display mingling their baneful influence in the reports and defence of public Institutions. The zeal has often too much of the Jehu spirit about it, and is not, on some occasions, easily reconcileable, either with the humility or the gratitude which ought to characterise even the tone of our triumphs. The greatest danger is the possibility of mixing up these conversions with political interests, and all the apparatus of secularity by which political objects are to be secured; and it behoves the supporters of those societies which have been successful in this cause, to exercise the most watchful and sedulous care over their agents and their operations. With the doubts of his Lordship, as to the sincerity of the great majority of such conversions, we do not for a moment sympathise. There is no rational evidence for suspicion, and the solemn declaration of individuals in the most elevated situations, and of persons of unimpeachable integrity, afford, in our opinion, unquestionable grounds for confidence and satisfaction. As to the question of proselytism, it is too clear that his Lordship has very inadequate and even erroneous conceptions on that subject. Such principles, if carried to their legitimate and practical effects, would condemn, not only the first reformers themselves, but the first teachers of Christianity. The Roman Catholics cannot, with any consistency, be blamed for their zeal in attempting to make converts. We would not in the slightest degree prevent them from the full and unrestricted use of all their powers of persuasion and argument in the defence and maintenance of their system, by all the means which are not inconsistent with the rights and liberties of others. Let them have fair play in the open arena of discussion and vindication; and if they proselyte, let them have their reward in such proselytism! But let Protestants have fair play too; let not the resuscitated energies of the Protestant church in Ireland, and the awakening zeal of all the Protestant Societies, be stigmatized and reproached!"It is high time to awake out of sleep;" and most sincerely do we rejoice in the spirit of activity that has been excited, and trust that the conversions, in all instances, may prove real and effective accessions to the cause of spiritual and practical religion, The work by Mr. Beldam is, in every respect, entitled to our commendation. It is a judicious and well arranged digest of all the laws affecting the Protestant Dissenters. It states the nature and extent of their privileges, and specifies the restrictions and penalties under which they labour, with great accuracy and discrimination. The authorities are invariably given; acts of parliament, and various legal forms for trust deeds, and other matter, are recorded; and every thing of a legal character respecting the questions which bear upon the rights and itnerests of Dissenters, is either distinctly brought before us in a simple and definite manner, or provision is made for ampler information by satisfactory references, |