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matter issues in poor Mr. Alworthy's succumbing under the irresistible weight of his opponent's arguments, and reading the palinode of his unhappy prejudices, once and for ever.

Mr. G's journey to his friend's house, affords matter for the first chapter of the work, which is hence entitled, "The Mailcoach.' The worthy Divine, who is occasionally the Democritus as well as the Heraclitus of Theology, commends himself to our notice in a way which, we presume, he conceives to be a most becoming way, but we lament our inability to admire. His companions are described as being a lady's maid, a fat shopkeeper, very fluent about gas and pocket handkerchiefs, and an Unknown lady in the corner. We might suppose it possible for a spiritualminded Clergyman to jog on in his place in the coach, without distressing himself about who or what his fellow travellers might be, farther than they chose to reveal; not so Mr. Gordon. "Being a great admirer of the fair sex," and being kept awake by an insatiable desire to satisfy his curiosity, as far as the Unknown was concerned, he labours with all his might for the opening a communication,' &c. Three or four pages are devoted to the exhibiting the alternate hopes and fears which agitated this mirror of orthodoxy, as to whether this lady were young or old, handsome or ugly; and what is his commencing speech? One so full of indelicate equivoque, that we shall not place it on our pages. Now in this identical chapter the author is very facetious when talking of the possibility of his being in company with 'a deputation from the Christianized Jews, or from the Church Missionary Society, to promote their respective causes in the country, or some of the existing tribe of adherents to the belief in Johanna Southcote." Of course, none of those stigmatized reprobates would think of proceeding in the way which Mr. Gordon delighted to follow; and let us ask, what would they lose by it? We say 'nothing of the extreme drollery of the above classification, but we do say, that we cannot see the propriety or necessity of a Minister of the Gospel, having his thoughts occupied and spending his time in a manner, which would accurately suit some profligate worldling, some idle, empty, licentious man of the town.

Mr. G. and his Unknown becoming at length better acquainted, the lady proceeds quickly to prove the propriety of the judgment which he formed of her. "She is certainly an Angel," is his recorded opinion, and this she soon substantiates, by the variety and acuteness of her remarks upon the shameful custom of bringing forward religion upon all occasions, and mixing it with every subject. Among other things she mentions the following :—

"A very striking proof of the absurdity of this," said she, "offered itself to me yesterday in a bookseller's shop, where, taking up a pocket-book that lay upon the counter, I found every space in the blank paper appropriated to the several days of the year headed by a text from Scripture, under which was designed to be written some trifling worldly concern, either some account of the manner of making pies and puddings, or some observations on the price of butter and cheese."

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You allude," said I, "to the "Christian Ladies' Diary,' ornamented with an engraved likeness of some favourite one of the 'sweet preachers,' as they are called. A friend of mine brought me one the other day to prove me to be no preacher of the Gospel for,' said he, here is the list of churches and chapels in which the Gospel is reputed to be preached in London, with the names of their respective ministers, and as neither your name nor church is mentioned, it follows, in the opinion of all the purchasers and referees to the guide in question, that you are clearly not what you ought to be; which is no very ordinary piece of presumption."

Now we do not in the least take upon us to determine on the propriety or impropriety of such books as those alluded to. We confess it does not appear that the spaces in the blank paper' were designed' to be filled with accounts of pies and puddings, &c. that being, as it would seem, left quite optional with the purchaser, and he or she might insert what was of, a less anomalous character. But we must declare that it does certainly appear by.. Mr. G's. own shewing, that he was no preacher of the Gospel,' and so far certainly the little book told truth; for no man who could express himself on points of Divinity, as this Rev. Divine does subsequently, could pretend in the least degree to knowing what the Gospel was, much less to preaching it.

Conversing thus however, the parties proceed rapidly, till on entering some town, the coach is upset, which gives occasion to exhibit Mr. Gordon in the light of a very preux chevalier. Having extricated himself, he proceeds to liberate his fellow-travellers. I made an essay, (says he) to save my companions. One cannot but be anxious to know how so very "sound, judicious, and canonical" a divine proceeded; here then is the manner of it.

"The first objects obtruding themselves upon my sight were the short, thick legs of the draper, who was working them with such rapidity of motion as to strike the eye like the sails of a mill in a gale of wind. Forcing these aside, the guardian protruded herself as the first object of liberation; but as I am a lover of proper subordination, and a stickler for deference being shewn on all occasions where it is due, I thrust her also, aside, and seizing the arm of the Unknown, extricated her from her disastrous situation, and, conducting her to the nearest house, left the fate of the other two in the hands of the spectators."

A most excellent pattern truly, for all travelling Clergymen. Help out any lady whom you think young and handsome, but leave a shopkeeper or a servant maid, to be cut by the broken glass, or to trample each other to pieces, ad libitum.

It would be vain for us to follow minutely the other occurrences on the road; we hasten therefore to where Mr. G. being safely landed in his friend's house, sallies forth in quest of amusement on the day after his arrival. He strolls into the shop of a Mr. Folio, a bookseller in the neighbouring town, a man of 'extraordinary talents, and singular manners; and in the conversation which subsequently takes place, the author finds occasion to vent his peculiar sentiments on things and persons. We may remark here, by the bye, that this mode of discussion by dialogue, affords peculiar conveniencies. Some false principle or odious practice

is to be censured; one of the speakers then, is represented as giving it a faint support, while the other belabours it with all vehemency. Thus the unhappy subject under consideration is alternately set up and knocked down, till at length it is left in articulo mortis;' while he who first appeared its friend, at last forsakes it, alike wondering at his own too hasty predilections, and at the superior acumen of his wiser antagonist.

It may be supposed that two such persons as the Rev. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Folio, are not long together till the fight begins. Upon Mr. G's enquiring, "Have you a great demand for religious works?" the bookseller instantly proceeds with "Sir, three books out of four that I sell are upon religion, or in some way connected with it." He then expatiates upon the evil consequences, to which a question, put by poor Mr. Gordon in his simplicity, gives room. "Do you think the cause of sober Christianity is promoted by these feelings?" (The desire we presume for the mixture of religion, in books of travels, of biography, and of useful or amusing literature.)

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"That depends upon what you mean, Sir, by sober Christianity: if you speak of that solid, substantial understanding of religion, and that rational deep devotion which the celebrated Divines explain and inculcate in their works, I think that, if not absolutely lost, it is changed among the innovations and novelties of the day; there is now a species of cant substituted for that sober and modest feeling upon this great subject, which, in former times, was not less warm, though less enthusiastic and obtrusive than at present."

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Having thus announced the manner in which things should not be conducted, the bookseller passes rapidly on to shew how they should be done. He then falls foul of the multiplicity and va riety of Religious Magazines in circulation,' denominating them the trash and cant, monthly imported from the metropolis;' and having a diversion given to the bent of his eloquence, by a deprecatory word or two from Mr. G., as to the possibility of benefit resulting from "the ardour and earnestness with which genuine religious principles are now inculcated," he assaults the writers instead of the writings.

"But, Sir, let me ask, by whom have those self-same genuine principles been maintained? Not by magazine retailers of evangelical cant; not by the sweet men' who pour out their mystic rhapsodies on the vulgar; not by the modern saints who inflate the mind with presumption; not by those who deprecate the rational enjoyments of life as carnal abominations; nor by those who call themselves, 'Preachers of the Gospel,' instead of, Cavillers of the Epistles. No; they have been upheld by the zealous followers of your Barrows, your Jeremy Taylors, your Stillingfleets, and the whole host of worthies, whose works shine at your feet there," pointing to a range of folios that stood near me. "These are your bulwarks; so long as they stand, venerated and supported as they ought to be, the Church may bid defiance to her enemies, as well from them who form the forces and artillery without, as the sappers and miners among the deserters within !"

We shall not provoke our author's indignation by any considerations as to whether your Barrows, your Jeremy Taylors, your

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Stillingfleets, would upon investigation be found altogether so much of his way of thinking, as that triumphant enumeration of them would seem to indicate. Of all methods of quoting none is more convenient, than the quotation by wholesale. It has this disadvantage, however, that should controversy arise, it may be turned against you, and your opponents derive as much benefit from the system as yourself. We would commend this point to the attention of the pupils of the modern serious school,' and shall now proceed to consider the manner of our author's treating the late, celebrated Mr. Scott, one of the most voluminous writers who has successfully figured away in the school of serious reform." A young lady entering the shop, desires that a quarter of a hundred, or fifty of Scott's force of truth' may be sent to her, The order having been complied with, and the lady having departed, Mr. F. turns round to Mr. Gordon : "You know the book, I dare say, Sir ?" And being answered in the negative, he proceeds to speak of it in terms of the most extreme vilification, calling it not only a mass of hypocritical and weening cant, but a libel on the clergy in general,' and its author "an unprincipled, dishonest, and despicable wretch."

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We do by no means take upon us to eulogise the book in question, or to pronounce upon the propriety of its publication. We do not identify ourselves with those holding the peculiar views which Mr. Scott held, any more than with his dissentient brethren of the Arminian school; nor do we stand forth as defenders of this particular specimen of auto-biography: but this we do say, that Mr. Scott was evidently not 'unprincipled and dishonest,' inasmuch as when he entertained doubts upon the subject of the Trinity, he lost preferment in the Church, being unwilling to subscribe to what at that time, he did not conscientiously believe. Certainly this was not acting with a want of principle; and as to his being despicable,' it may be fairly said that he who could call him such, is infinitely more so. Mr. Scott was a most faithful, useful, laborious servant of Christ, whose "praise is in all the Churches:" his aim certainly was to promote the good of man and the glory of God; and if the Bible which he edited, retains a circulation enormous, principally among the self-named serious, and Calvinistic, we do not see why his memory should be insulted by such a scribe as the author of the Two Rectors. We can readily conceive that any works depicting the deep anxiety for salvation, the profound mourning for sin, the earnest confidence in the atonement of Christ, which constitute so much of the experience of God's people, should be unintelligible to characters of whom Messrs. Folio and Gordon are the prototypes; but is it because they have never felt such, that they should call them the fictions of hypocrisy,' or the descriptions of them mere 'cant'? Really Mr. Hume's magniloquent sophism might with a little verbal substitution apply here most happily-It is contrary to experience that such a state of mind should be true, but not contrary to experience that testimony should be false; therefore, no

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testimony in support of such earnestness in religious feeling is admissible. Such a theorem, so to call it, would seem to be secretly entertained at least, if not openly avowed, by the pupils of that school, to which the author of the Two Rectors professes his warm attachment. As to the charge so seriously advanced of his libelling the Fathers,' it is one which needs no refutation. We, as we believe assuredly Mr. Scott did, reverence the piety of the Fathers, but we do not adore their errors. For we do think, not merely that as men they might err, but that they have done so in points innumerable. We subscribe completely to Bishop Horne's assertion, that The primitive Fathers, for want of critical learning, and particularly a knowledge of the original Hebrew, often wandered in their expositions;' this indeed Mr. Folio is compelled to admit; but we would say in addition, that they many of them departed from the purity of that faith once delivered to the Saints. Very sorry should we be indeed, that all the opinions of Tertullian, and the fanciful theories of Justin Martyr, and of Origen should be received among us. If Mr. Scott has impugned the character of the Fathers as unerring oracles of religious truth, he has done that which it became him to do, and needs not 'the white-washing of a host of Biographers to conceal or wipe away the stain;' we use the elegant phraseology of Mr. Folio. His own character has suffered nothing by all that the author of the Two Rectors has endeavoured to effect. Never indeed was Young's line more applicable;

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"Affronts are innocent, when men are worthless."

And the relatives of Mr. Scott may, with all propriety retort upon our Author his own words, that he has proved himself a libeller of men, with whose works his own can enter into no competition, on the score of sound doctrine.'

We shall, God willing, resume the subject in our next Number.

NOTICES OF NEW RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS.

Morning Meditations; or a Series of Reflections on various Passages of the Scriptures, and Scriptural Poetry for Every Day in the Year. 2d Edition, by the Author of the Retrospect, &c. &c.

This appears to us a valuable Work, and does credit to the well-known talents and spirituality of its author. We consider it an improvement on preceding publications of the same character, by Mason and Bogatzky, and can safely recommend these Reflections as a valuable help and accompaniment to family or private devotion.-As a specimen take the meditation for the 9th of January:

"I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world, mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent."---Isa. xxxiii. 11, 12.

It was in the bleak season of a cold autumn, by the side of a large moor, that I one day saw a shepherd's tent. It was composed of straw and fern, and secured

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