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be the slightest room now to expect that such a lot will ever befal him. He may labour with a good measure of success for the improvement of things as they are; but he has no mission to originate the things which shall be. From his flatterers, he will not, of course, hear any insinuation of this sort. We may cede to him the praise of an almost unrivalled eloquence; and the possession of a heart, the high natural qualities of which have been purified and elevated by true religion; but there are men, who are as satisfied as evidence can make them, that his reasoning power is so feeble, as to fall even below mediocrity, in the place of giving him warrant to school the reason of the times in the manner which he affects."

Referring to a well known prelate, whose convictions of duty respecting the "London City Mission" have excited some surprise, Dr. Vaughan observes,

"It is, of course, well known, that the amount of power, which is left by the Church of England at the disposal of her prelates - power more proper to an eastern satrap, than to any subject of the British crown-and that the general complexion of the ecclesiastical system of which that power forms a part, are such as to give a kind of warrant and consistency even to such proceedings. But where there is a great latitude of authority, there should be great wisdom, that it may be used discreetly. It seems, accordingly, to have been generally understood by our princes and cabinets, for some time past, that the episcopal bench is no place for men of a rash, meddling, domineering temper-our bishops, in consequence, have been, for the most part, persons of retired and prudent habits, rarely heard of beyond the limits of their diocese, and not often putting their authority there to any stretch likely to bring upon them popular animadversion or disaffection. Horsley had no great respect for this species of decorum, and the notorious "Peterborough questions," since his day, exhibited a memorable departure from it; but, in general, the bishops of the Church of England have been, in this respect, wise in their generation. Complaints have been made against them, but, if we except an unpopular vote now and then in the upper house, those complaints have almost always referred to what their lordships have failed to do, rather than to any positive delinquency. The great grievance has appeared to be, that men should be sustained in such pomp and power apparently for doing nothing. Had they been disposed to avail themselves of the loose conditions on which their powers have been entrusted to them, they might, each of them, have become the source of perpetual discord within the sphere of their particular jurisdiction, in the place of being the centre of forbearance and harmony."

We commend this intelligent, discriminating, and instructive work, in its present improved and enriched state, to the attention of our readers.

Canadian Scenery illustrated. From Drawings by W. H. Bartlett, engraved in the first style of art by R. Wallis, Willmore, &c. The literary department by N. P. Willis, Esq. Author of "Pencillings by the Way," &c. 4to. Parts I.-V. London: G. Virtue.

The Canadian Naturalist. A series of Conversations on the Natural History of Lower Canada. By P. H. Gosse. Illustrated by Forty-four Engravings (in wood). London: 8vo. John Van Voorst.

As many of our readers are interested in Canada, we are happy to commend these works to their notice.

The pencil of Bartlett, and the pen of Willis, will not fail to illustrate "Canadian Scenery" most graphically. The five parts now before us contain twenty beautiful engravings, and more than forty pages of letter-press, which give promise that, when complete, this will form a work of permanent value for the table of the drawing-room, or the shelves of the library.

The "Canadian Naturalist" is the production of a mind accustomed to observe the phenomena of creation, and to watch the habits and operations of the inferior creatures, with the eye of a philosopher, and with the benevolence and

devotion of a Christian. The author has divided his work into sections, devoted to the meteorological, botanical, and zoological appearances of each successive month. Every page is replete with interest, and while the book has a charm for general readers in its numerous facts and agreeable style, the author has taken care also to insert the scientific names of things, by which the student in natural science may be aided in the higher walks of comparison and classification.

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The Life of Luther, with Notices and Extracts of his Popular Writings: translated from the German of Gustavus Pfizer, by T. S. Williams, Johanneum College, Hamburgh. With an Introductory Essay by the Author of “ Natural History of Enthusiasm," &c. Imperial 8vo. pp. xxxii. 197. London, 1840. Hamilton, Adams, and Co.

The Life and Times of Martin Luther. By the Authoress of "Three Erperiments of Living," &c. Imperial 8vo. pp. 80. London, 1840. John Green. Brief Sketch of the Life of Luther, with a few Extracts from his Writings. 18me. pp. 72. London, 1840. Tract Society.

Ar a period when the great principles of the Reformation are insidiously and openly assailed, all Protestants should be familiar with the history of its noblest champion. We are pleased to see these three biographical accounts of Martin Luther issuing from the press at the same time, adapted as they are, by character and price, to all classes of readers.

The first is the largest and most complete, and may be safely pronounced a work of extensive and varied information, that deserves to be read by every intelligent Christian. Its author has laboured to make Luther, to a great extent, his own biographer, by numerous and most apposite extracts from his writings, while his description of the times and contemporaries of the Reformer greatly increase the information and interest of the volume. We must not omit that the introductory Essay, by Mr. Isaac Taylor, is an able and elegant, but necessarily succinct review of "the several endeavours that have been made, in the course of ages, to recover apostolical Christianity or at least to maintain a protest against the illusions and the tyranny of the prevailing church system." We have read it with sincere pleasure and much advantage, and own that that paper alone is worth three shillings, which is the very moderate price of the whole book.

"The Life and Times of Martin Luther" is from the pen of Mrs. Follin, a clever American writer, who, while we are not aware that she has deviated from fact in her delightful narrative, has so grouped her characters, and coloured her pictures, as to give to the whole much of the fascination of an historical novel,

There is, therefore, greater prominence given to the political than to the theological part of the Reformation in her pages, though she has also given some beautiful sketches of Luther's devotional habits, particularly while at the Castle of Wartburg. It is neatly printed, and remarkably cheap.

The "Brief Sketch" is what it describes itself to be, and is well adapted to supply a cursory view of the man and his doings, which will form a good introduction to larger books. Of those now before us, the first is fit for the study, the second for the drawing-room, and the third for the Sunday-school.

Prince Albert, his Country and Kindred. Imperial 8vo. With Illustrations in Wood. pp. 96. London: Ward and Co. 1840.

No one can reflect upon the position of the illustrious Prince to which this interesting narrative relates, as a husband, and we bless God as a father too, without feeling that his personal character and his family history must henceforth be matters of growing, and, we hope, by God's mercy, of permanent interest to all loyal Britons.

The book before us is compiled with much industry, and supplies, in its successive chapters, a perspicuous account of the Prince's country-of his princi

pality of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha-of his countrymen-of his electoral ancestorsof his ducal ancestors-of his family, and of his own history to the period of his happy connexion with our country. Descended from such ancestors, and possessed of such attainments as are here recited, we have just reason to hope that he will prove the enlightened friend of religious liberty, of intellectual improvement, and of true Protestantism. This work will form a suitable companion to the Life of Luther we have already noticed.

Profession and Practice. By the Rev. Hugh White, A.M. Curate of St. Mary's Parish, Dublin. William Curry and Co. pp. 363.

THIS volume is chiefly directed against Antinomianism. The writer, in common with many others, apprehends that an unpractical profession of evangelical views has alarmingly gained ground. He does not think that direct antinomian doctrines are frequently inculcated; nor yet that it is not distinctly stated that the faith which lays hold of the Redeemer's righteousness must be an operative, sanctifying principle; but he apprehends that evangelical preaching in our day too frequently deals in generalities, and does not go sufficiently into the details of christian duty in the various relationships of life,-that it does not exhibit with sufficient clearness and particularity of statement, that style of character and course of conduct which a Christian must adopt, in order to act consistently with the doctrines which he professes, and the sacred relations which he bears.

"The necessity of holiness, as a fruit and mark of a saving faith-the seal of the Holy Spirit, restamping the divine image on the soul-and a qualification for the enjoyment, though not a title for the possession of a heavenly inheritance, is also inculcated, but we fear it is not always sufficiently explained wherein this holiness essentially consists. What are its characteristic featureswhat its peculiar influence on the understanding, the heart, the tongue, the temper, the life-how it may be most effectually cherished and exemplified. What things tend to retard, and what to promote, its progress-and what should be the Christian's daily walk and work, in order to arrive at the highest degree of holiness and devotedness, which can be attained on earth.”

Again,

"While conformity to the Saviour's character is set forth, is there not too much reason to fear that the lovely features of this divine character are not sufficiently brought out in distinct and detailed exhibition? The various graces which shone with such celestial attractiveness in the character of the Son of God, that they have compelled infidelity itself to confess his divinity-extorting from its great apostle, the acknowledgment that the life and death of the Son of Mary were those of a God ;'- these graces are not, it is to be feared, sufficiently developed in much of the evangelical preaching of our day, or proposed as frequently and fully as they ought to be, as the object of the believer's habitual and prayerful contemplation, and constant endeavours, in the strength of divine grace, to exhibit their counterpart in his own character and conversation."pp. 151-153.

Our author has treated his subject in a plain, an unambitious, and yet in a powerful and a deeply interesting form. His views are scriptural, and while he pleads for a christian practice, his own pages exhibit the practice for which he pleads. The work is adapted for extensive and permanent usefulness.

THE EDITOR'S TABLE.

An Attempt to ascertain the True Chronology of the Book of Genesis, a Lecture. By George Smith, Camborne, Cornwall. London: Simpkin and Marshall.

The Biblical Atlas: containing Seventeen Maps, with Explanatory Notes. London: Religious Tract Society.

The Colonial Magazine. Edited by R. M. Martin, Esq. London: Fisher

and Son.

The Life of Jesus. Addressed to the Young. By G. A. Taylor, A.M. London: W. Smith, Fleet Street.

Outlines of the History of the Church in Ireland. By the very Rev. R. Murray, D.D. Dean of Ardagh. London: Seeley and Burnside.

Family Prayers for every Morning and Evening throughout the Year. Additional Prayers for Special Occasions. By J. Morison, D.D. London: Fisher and Co.

The Question, "What must I do to be saved?" answered. By the Rev. J. Morison, Minister of the Gospel, Kilmarnock. London: K. J. Ford, Islington. The Converted Jew. London: Darton and Clark.

What can be done to suppress the Opium Trade? By W. Groser, Secretary of the Anti-Opium Society. London: Pelham Richardson, Cornhill.

Peace with China; or the Crisis of Christianity in Central Asia. A Letter to the Right Hon. J. B. Macaulay, Secretary at War. By R. Philip. London: J. Snow, Paternoster Row.

Analysis of the Bible, with Reference to the Social Duties of Man. By R. Montgomery Martin. Second Edition. London: Fisher and Son.

The Works of Josephus. Translated by W. Whiston, A.M. Part VII. London: George Virtue.

Canadian Scenery, illustrated from Drawings by W. H. Bartlett. The Literary Department by N. P. Willis, Esq. London: George Virtue.

Pastoral Advice from a Minister to one of his Parishioners recovering from Sickness. By Rev. J. Bean, formerly Vicar of Olney. London: Religious Tract Society.

Select Remains of the late Rev. J. Cooke, of the Tabernacle, Moorfields, London. By the Rev. Dr. Redford. In two vols. London: Longman, Orme, and Co,

Tales of the Blest, a Poem. First Series. Infancy and Childhood. Second Edition. London: Simpkin and Marshall.

The Principles of Nonconformity. A Lecture delivered at Abingdon, Berks. Sept. 16, 1840, at the Ordination of Rev. E. S. Pryce, A.B By J. P. Mursell, of Leicester.

The Illustrated Commentary on the Old and New Testaments; being a republication of the Notes of the Pictorial Bible. Vol. II. London: Knight and Co. Ludgate Street.

The Biblical Cabinet, or Hermeneutical, Exegetical, and Philological Library. Vol. XXVIII. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.

Sacred History, from the earliest Period to the present Time. Designed for the Use of Schools, Bible Classes, and Families. By H. J. Crump. Part I. London: Jackson and Walford.

Memoir of the late Mrs. Sarah Budgett, of Kingswood Hill, Bristol. Including Extracts from her Letters and Journals. By John Gaskin, A. M. London: Simpkin and Marshall.

Moral and Intellectual Series. Nos. I. II. and III. Daily Lesson Book. Adopted in the schools of the British and Foreign School Society. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES, AT HOME AND ABROAD.

SECOND DAY'S DISCUSSION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION AT BRISTOL.

Thursday, October 8.

The meetings were resumed this morning, in Brunswick Chapel, at nine o'clock. They commenced by singing the 175th Hymn in the Congregational Hymn Book.

The Rev. J. HYATT, of Gloucester, engaged in prayer.

The 475th Hymn in the Congregational selection was then sung, and the Rev. J. BARFITT, of Salisbury, engaged in prayer.

The Chairman (Dr. BENNETT) then said, before they proceeded in the regular business, he would mention, that an association joining the Union did not necessarily include the churches that were in association, but any church was at liberty to declare that it did not assent, leaving it open for it to join at any future time. If that were made known, he (the Chairman) thought it might induce many associations to join, who kept aloof because unaware of this cir

cumstance.

The Rev. J. BLACKBURN stated to the meeting that he had received a letter from the Rev. T. O. Dobbin, Classical Tutor of the Western Academy, expressing his deep regret that his engagements with his classes would not permit him to be present; also, that his colleague, the Rev. Dr. Payne, was detained by relative affliction.

The Rev. A. WELLS read a letter from Dr. Fletcher, of Stepney, excusing his absence on the same ground.

The Rev, J. BLACKBURN was then called upon by the Chairman to read the following

"Memorial on the Stute of the Ministry in connexion with the Independent Churches, and with their present efforts for the advancement of the Gospel, in England, Ireland, and the Colonies.

"The Committee have judged that one principal advantage connected with adjourned autumnal meetings of the Congregational Union, would be found in the favourable opportunity presented by them for the discussion of subjects of high importance to the Independent churches, which would not come under consideration in the regular course of business transacted at the annual meetings of great public institutions. Such a subject seems presented in the state of the ministry in connexion with our churches-a subject at all times of paramount importance, but at the present juncture demanding especial consideration.

"The Committee of the Congregational Union, brought, by recent arrangements, into more immediate connexion with the efforts of our body, for the spread of the gospel, in the several portions of the British Empire, have become deeply impressed with the urgent want of many ministers, and those of the highest order of qualifications, in order to success in these enterprises. To increase the number, and to raise the qualifications of devoted ministers, is evidently an essential preliminary to any powerful movement by our churches in either England, Ireland, or the Colonies. That this vital point should be the subject of the discussions and prayers of the present meeting, may tend to impress it on the minds of all the brethren present, and to draw forth the best thoughts and plans in relation to it. While the published proceedings and resolutions of the meeting may, most benefically, impress all the churches, and their pastors, with the facts of the case, and their duty as resulting from them.

"In respect to England, many important churches in populous neighbourhoods, at the present time, find it difficult to obtain suitably qualified pastors.

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