assistance, and, with all the sombre gravity of assumed prophetic superiority, emphatically predict an entire failure. While another class manifest the icy sternness of sullen silence; no emotion of kindly feeling agitates their bosom. Alike unimpressed by the joyous or mournful circumstances of others, their religion is clouded in the darkened shade of selfish retirement. Having erected a throne of indignant observation, they reign in their vain conceit as absolute monarchs over the consciences of others, not condescending to avow their sentiments or promulgate their opinion. Where such dispositions are manifest, it is vain to expect fraternal affection; the atmosphere in which they flourish would blight the tenderest buddings of Christian love, and the spiritual progress of the Church be hindered by its paralyzing influence. - Mr. Broad's Tract on Christian Sympathy. DR. ARNOLD ON THE TRACTARIANS OF OXFORD. I CANNOT say how I am annoyed, both on public and private grounds, by these extravagances : on private grounds, from the gross breaches of charity to which they lead good men; and on public, if these do produce any effect on the clergy, the evil consequences to the nation are not to be calculated: for what is to become of the Church, if the clergy begin to exhibit an aggravation of the worst superstitions of the Roman Catholics? . It has always seemed to me that an extreme fondness for our dear Mother' is a snare, to which the noblest minds are most liable. It seems to me that all, absolutely all, our religious affections and veneration should go to Christ himself, and Protestantism, and Catholicism, and every other name, which expresses Christianity, . . . is so far an evil, and, when made an object of attachment, leads to superstition and error. Then, descending from religious grounds to human, I think that one's natural and patriotic sympathies can hardly be too strong; but, historically, the Church of England is surely of a motley complexion, with much of good about it, and much of evil; no more a fit subject for enthusiastic admiration than for violent obloquy. I honour and sympathize entirely with the feelings entertained; I only think that they might all of them select a worthier object: for surely the feeling of entire love and admiration is one which we cannot safely part with, and there are provided by God's goodness worthy and perfect objects of it. But these can never be human institutions, which, being necessarily full of imperfection, require to be viewed with an impartial judgment, not idolized by an uncritical affection. And that common metaphor about our Mother, the Church,' is unscriptural, and mischievous, because the feelings of entire filial reverence and love which we owe to a parent, we do not owe to our fellow-Christians. We owe them brotherly love, meekness, readiness to hear, &c., but not filial reverence to them I give place by subjection, no, not for an hour."-Dr. Arnold's Letter to Mr. Justice Coleridge, dated Rugby, Oct. 23, 1833. Vol. I. P. 373. VOL. XXIX. 2 A Poetry. THE EMIGRANTS' HYMN ON TAKING POSSESSION OF A NEW HABITATION ABROAD. By the Rev. J. R. Leifchild, M.A. FATHER! We own that thou hast led Us wanderers to another land; Can make it like a palace seem; The peace thou givest may be found. Our darkened portal, and deny The thoughts that might unblamed awake REVELATIONS XIV. 1-5. IN the Island of Patmos, On the day of the Lord, Baptized with the Spirit, Enlightened by God, Mine eyes were anointed: Oh! ravishing sight, I beheld on Mount Sion, Refulgent with light, The Lord in his glory, The Lamb that was slain; One hundred and forty And like gems in their foreheads Then a voice came from heaven, Like the music of waters- They stood round the throne The first-fruits of his love, And the Glory of Heaven Tonbridge. Review of Religious Publications. THE LIFE OF EDWARD BAINES, late M. P. Longman and Co. "THE aim of this Memoir," observes the intelligent and amiable author, "is to do good." Of the sincerity of this declaration no one will doubt, who is acquainted with the character of Edward Baines. As we have examined the mode in which the biographer has performed his task, we have felt a gratifying conviction that his "aim" will be accomplished. He had a fine subject, and he has handled it in a manner greatly calculated to interest and improve a large class who must be influential for good or evil, according to the moral training and discipline through which they have passed. "Rich as is our literature," observes Mr. Baines, "in the lives of statesmen, warriors, and men of genius, such biographies are perhaps less calculated for practical usefulness than that of one who may be held up as a model to our active and intelligent middle classes. Brilliant achievements can be imitated by few, and with all their influence on the reader, are less favourable than a course of virtue and goodness, so distinguished as to have raised their possessor, not merely to outward prosperity, but to an eminent place in the esteem of his fellow citizens. An example of energy, prudence, and integrity in business, of earnest patriotism in a political career, of benevolent zeal for all social improvements, of the qualities that adorn society and sweeten domestic life, displayed from early youth, with increasing lustre, to advanced age, is one which every man may study with advantage. It may be especially useful to the young, to set before them a character of remarkable symmetry, in which great virtues are not neutralized by great failings, but in which every feature is well proportioned, and all conduce to a result of masculine beauty." Considerations such as these enhance, to an incalculable extent, the value of a faithful narrative of the life and actions of such a inan as the late member for the borough of Leeds; who owed his ultimate high position in society to a patient and energetic perseverance in the assertion and defence of right principles, through the whole of that interesting period of British History in which the grand elements of the constitution were developed to their practical results. We are old enough to remember the times in which Mr. Baines began to struggle manfully against existing evils and abuses, at the risk of being traduced as a traitor by the Tory scribes of the day. There was not a single great question, in politics, or social economy, from the year 1801, when he became the proprietor of the Leeds Mercury, until the close of his editorial and parliamentary career, in which he did not take a decided part; and he had the happiness of living to see those great principles in the ascendant, for the assertion of which, during the French war, he had been looked upon by many as a disturber of the public peace. We cannot look upon the course which he pursued in perplexing times, without feeling that he was a man before his age, and a real benefactor to his country. So powerful an organ under Mr. Baines's management did the Leeds Mercury become, that it gave a tone and a character to the politics of the age; and did much to aid the triumph of all those great reforms which characterised the day in which he lived. It is but justice to the memory of Mr. Baines, to say of him, that, with all his persevering decision in the cause of civil and religious liberty, he had not a particle of the political demagogue in him. His course of action was based on the great principles of morality and love of human kind; and thus it was that, through evil report and good report, he could go on from year to year, amidst frowns or smiles, saying and doing only that which he believed to be right as a citizen, a British subject, and a Christian patriot. It is very gratifying to turn from the public to the private career of this highly estimable individual, and to find that he was a man of sterling and even of exalted worth. In the undress of domestic life, his virtues shone forth with a mild and gentle radience. He was blessed above most men in the companion of his days, who exerted a most benign influence upon his mind, in reference to the highest of all interests. Nor did he fail to estimate at their proper value those lofty religious principles and habits by which she was uniformly actuated. He was blessed in his children, who rose up around him to emulate the virtues of their parents, and who live to perpetuate the fair fame of a name which must ever be sacred in the annals of Nonconformity. In the perusal of these Memoirs, nothing has gratified us more, than to mark the gradual but interesting development of Mr. Baines's religious character. If it was long in reaching maturity, it must be confessed that, at last, it shone forth with a decisive brilliancy. With all his public spirit, and all that he did to direct and influence the minds of his fellowcountrymen, Mr. Baines was essentially a modest and self-diffident man. He felt some difficulty, not in avowing the great principles of vital Christianity, but in giving expression to the interior workings of his own heart's emotions. But of late years, he threw aside his earlier reserve;-and in the evening of his days, and especially in the dying hour, breathed forth his convictions and his counsels with almost apostolic fervour. We commend this Memoir, with unusual confidence, to the attention of the reading public. It is not only an interesting and edifying development of the life and labours of Edward Baines, but a most instructive sketch of one of the most eventful periods of British History. SERMONS. By the REV. GEORGE SMITH, Minister of Trinity Chapel, Poplar, London. London: J. Snow. WHAT may be pronounced in the hearing of a congregation, with the utmost felicity,not only giving birth to admiration, but kin dling their deepest sympathies,-may, when read, apart from the elements of excitement attaching to a public assembly, appear "flat, stale, and unprofitable." The circumstances of the reader are so widely different from those of the hearer, that the style and arrangement of thought adapted to the one, oftentimes appears unsuited to the other. The reader is not unfrequently alone, neither eye nor ear is appealed to, the mind is calin, and perhaps disposed to be critical; but the hearer is often surrounded by a multitude, the eloquence of voice and manner serves to throw a charm around what is trivial or common-place, the power of discrimination is weakened by the intensity of feeling, or the contagion of sympathy. But whilst the circumstances of the hearer are in many respects essentially different from those of the reader, and whilst the style of discourse adapted to the pulpit may be devoid of all suitability to the closet, it is possible to combine in a sermon such excellencies of thought and language, as will render it a medium of impression and instruction both to congregations and individuals-both to the excited multitude, that hang on the lips of the speaker, and to calm inquirers, who peruse the pages of the author. This, we think, Mr. Smith has most successfully accomplished in the volume of Sermons now before us. Spoken with the emphasis and deep-toned earnestness by which his public enunciation of truth is characterised, they must uniformly have fixed the attention, and not unfrequently awakened the deepest and most soleinn thoughts of his auditory; and now presented in a written form, possess ing simplicity and clearness, combined with vigour of conception and great richness and beauty of diction, they cannot fail to instruct and delight his readers in the family and the closet. There is indeed a completeness and beautiful adaptation attaching to these discourses, that fit them at once for delivery in public and perusal in private; and hence, we cannot but feel that Mr. Smith has acted with great wisdom, and in the spirit of his office, in extending to others, as well as to his own congregation, the privilege of reading from the press what must have been "heard with advantage from the pulpit." These discourses are not learned disquisitions, or elaborate trains of reasoning addressed to the intellect, whilst the heart and conscience are overlooked; neither are they brilliant pieces of declamation, fitted to excite the fancy, and produce an unfruitful impression on the sensibilities, but leaving the moral elements of our nature untouched. On the contrary, they are models of simplicity, of earnestness, and of that species of eloquence which finds its way to the heart, and stimulates to repentance, faith, and holiness. Instead of wasting his strength on what may be styled the "debatable ground' of theology, or bewildering his readers with minute niceties of verbal criticism, Mr. Smith addresses himself, throughout these sermons, to the "great argument" of the gospel, calling the sinner to repentance, and urging the saint to higher and holier acts of obedience. It must not however be imagined, that these discourses are devoid of argument, or deficient in clear and emphatic enforcement of those fundamental doctrines, which multitudes now attempt to mutilate or disclaim. There is a vein of argument running throughout every sermon, and the great cardinal doctrines are defended and enforced, with an amount of faithfulness and power that is truly refreshing. But what permanently distinguishes this volume, is the element of persuasiveness. There are doubtless more learned, more argumentative, and more brilliant sermons to be found; but we think it would be difficult to find a volume more thoroughly imbued with that moral power which enters into the deep places of our nature, commanding the attention of the conscience and the heart, and leaving an impression behind, which, if it do not conduct to the peace that "passeth understanding," must continue, like an accusing spirit, to haunt and disturb for ever. It may, perhaps, be difficult, if not impossible, for the reader, who is melted and subdued by this element of persuasiveness, to pause at any given point, and explain in what it consists, and how it operates. But however this may be, we are satisfied that no one can yield himself fairly and honestly to the spirit of these sermons, without feeling their persuasive power stealing over his heart and conscience, like the sense of the beautiful from a piece of statuary or a painting, or like the fascination of a strain of music, which may be felt but cannot be explained. Whatever, indeed, addresses itself to the inner consciousness, or simple intuitions of our moral nature, is attended by a subtile, but pervading element, that shuns definition, and vanishes beneath the questions of the insensate and the scep tical. It would, perhaps, be easy for a stern, systematic theologian, or a hard-headed logician, to pick holes in some of these sermonsto pronounce them wanting in scholastic divinity, or defective in the formalities of reasoning. But if the advocate of a cold orthodoxy, or the dull idolater of mere syllogisms, should be disposed to maintain that these eloquent sermons are not sufficiently imbued with the sternness of theology or the severity of reasoning-if, when extended on their instrument of torture, some joints should appear to be dislocated, or some members to demand amputation, what would all this prove? Nothing against their scriptural soundness, or mental superiority; but simply tnat Mr. Smith's views are too comprehensive | PALACES, associated with their historical meto be circumscribed by stereotyped human mentos, many of which are truly agonizing to creeds, or fettered by artificial rules of logic. humanity and religion. CHAP. III. is devoted So comprehensive and thoroughly evangelical, to descriptions of PLACES memorable in the indeed, are the views set forth in this admir- annals of the Parisian Metropolis. CHAP. able series of Sermons, and so immediately IV. is very valuable to English readers, as are they brought home to men's "bosoms and it enters into the whole question of FRENCH business," that we cannot but congratulate the SOCIALISM, in its different Schools, from the people who are privileged to enjoy such minis- Compte de Saint Simon down to the later trations, nor hesitate to avow it as our convic- advocates of the demoralizing and disorganiztion, that their multiplication throughout the ing system. Then, in CHAP. V., we have Rolength and breadth of the land would secure MAN CATHOLICISM IN PARIS. This is an the revival and extension of "pure religion admirable and highly instructive section of the and undefiled." book, and contains many vivid sketches both from the past and the present. СНАР. VI. is entitled, THE LOUVRE, AND FRENCH PROTESTANTISM. "The Louvre," observes the author, "has been improved and augmented by successive monarchs. Its celebrated gallery was commenced by Charles IX., whose memory is associated with one of the foulest deeds of villainy which tarnish the annals of any reign-the massacre of St. Bartholomew." CHAP. VII. is devoted to PROTESTANTISM IN PARIS,-its numerical strength-its Congregations and Pastors-its central importancePolicy of Napoleon-Law of the 18th Germinal-movements after the late Revolution -Secession from the Established ChurchFrederic Monod-Count Gasparin-Synod of September-Constitution of the Reformed Evangelical Church-Religious InstitutionsMissionary Operations Remarks. СНАР. VIII. contains some highly judicious remarks on the Distracted State of France; on the sources whence it springs; and on the carnests of hope. The Sermons are Twenty-One in number. Their subjects are-The Spirituality of GodThe Exclusive Theme of the Christian Ministry-The Doctrine of Justification by FaithAngelic Studies of Divine Wisdom-On Religious Decision-On the Neglect of Relative Obligations-The Fire on the Jewish AltarThe Apocryphal Saying-The Father of Lights The Renovation of All ThingsJesus Christ going to the Father-Horeb, or the Manifestation of God-Spiritual Things Prepared and Discerned-Babylon, or the Punishment of Luxury-The Going of a Man to his Own Place-Christian Views of Eternal Life-God, The Comforter of the Downcast The Consequences of Despising or Honouring God-The Claims of the Saviour on the Young-Mutual Recognition in Heaven-The Doctrine of Christian Assurance. This Volume of Sermons, then, which we have perusel with unmingled satisfaction, we most cordially commend to all Christians, as eminently fitted for perusal in the family and the closet; and to the rising ministry, as models of a lucid and persuasive enforcement of the great verities of the gospel. Altogether we have seen no work on the Gallican Metropolis that we can so heartily commend to our readers, as Mr. Gordon's Impressions of Paris." It is a judicious, inIMPRESSIONS OF PARIS; containing an Ac.structive, and well-written volume, of sound count of Socialism, Popery, and Protestantism, in the French Capital; together with Brief Sketches of Historical Scenes. By the Rev. ALEXANDER GORDON, A.M., Author of "The Pastor's Gift," &c. Crown 8vo. pp. 222. Partridge and Oakey. THIS volume is not an ephemeral publication, like many works which have appeared on the same subject. The author has taken great pains to render it a "Hand-Book" of permanent value; and we are happy to say that the information and amusement it contains will render it a sure and instructive companion to those who visit the French capital. The Introduction is a condensed History of the French Metropolis, from its earliest beginnings to the present moment; and presents, at a glance, the royal and other auspices under which it has reached its present splendour. In CHAP. II. we have a sketch of the ROYAL moral and religious tendency. CERTAINTY UNATTAINABLE IN THE ROMAN MR. SEYMOUR'S " Mornings among the Jesuits at Rome," and his work entitled "A Pilgrimage to Rome," will have prepared the religious public to receive from his pen, with considerable expectancy, any other work on a kindred theme. To certain minds, trained to undue reliance on human modifications of Christianity, the volume before us may be very useful. If men will give up that certainty in religion which the Bible only can supply; and if they profess to quit the various sections of Protestantism, because they imagine they have discovered certainty and repose in Romanism; it is quite fair to expose the fallacy connected |
