Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

devotion. In short, while his whole constitution remains under the dominion of sin, there must necessarily be a corresponding inaptitude for attaining a right judgment on religious subjects; for such subjects, it must ever be remembered, are not, like the deductions of mathematical or physical science, merely speculative;-no-they powerfully affect the life and actions; they involve the operation of the will and them can be entered upon with advanaffections; and therefore the study of tage only where there is a suitable preparation of heart;' and such a prepara

[ocr errors]

a preference for the ways of sin is deliberately cherished." pp. 21-23.

The narratives of Cornelius and the Ethiopian Eunuch are dwelt upon in corroboration of the fore The testimony going arguments. of these memorable instances is also adduced in reply to soiné of the principal objections which may be alleged against the positions on which the Essay is founded.

"How is it possible that a dispensation of which the prominent feature is righteousness and true holiness, should approve itself either to the judg-tion, it is obvions, can never exist where ment or the heart of a being whose perceptions are clouded by moral prejudice and the love of sin? For example; the Scriptures every where exhibit to us the excellency of the law of God: but how can this excellency be duly felt by one who regards that law with abhor rence, on account of the restraints which it imposes npon his unbridled appetites? The Scriptures again constantly speak of the happiness of a life of devotion to God: but how can this be admitted by one who places his happiness exclusively in earthly gratifications? The Scriptures declare that' to be carnally minded is death, bat to be spiritually minded is life and peace: but how can this be credited by one whose whole practice proceeds upon quite a contrary estimate? The Scriptures speak throughout of sin, in all its modifications, as an evil of enormous magnitude: but to such a person no evil is apparent, except indeed so far as the temporal interests of society are concerned. The Scriptures describe the equity of God in visiting every breach of his laws with the severest infliction of judgment: but to a man in the state of mind we are describing, such a proceeding appears far from equitable: and he even ventures perhaps to think it nothing short of tyranny to inflict punishment for what he calls the 'innocent propensities' of the human character. The Scriptures speak of whatever is holy, whatever resembles God, as excellent and lovely: bat the individual'in question perceives no loveliness in any thing of the kind: on the contrary, he views a life of piety as both morbid and misanthropical; and would gladly prefer the vain pleasures of a sinful, as well as a transitory, existence to what he is pleased to consider the gloom and austerity of seriptural

Should it be urged, for example, on the one hand, by any systematic doctrinalist, that an endeavour, however ingenuous, to obey the commands of God, while there still remains great doctrinal ignorance in the mind, is not likely to lead beyond mere formalism or pharisaism; nay, is even less favourable to a humble reception of the Gospel, than a state of allowed vice; these remarkable instances, in which the Almighty was pleased to honour such a teachable disposition of mind with peculiar approbation, and to gratify the desires of these penitent inquirers by miraculously sending to them the knowledge of the truth, will prove the fallacy of so unscriptural an hypothesis. The case of the Scribes and Pharisees, of whom our Lord said that publicans and sinners should enter the kingdom of God before them, was of a very different kind. In those hanghty self-justifiaries there was no disposition conscientiously to perform even the ordinary duties of morality: they subverted the Divine Law by vain traditions and superstitions; and far from exhibiting any tenderness of conscience, any disposition to practise what they already knew, and to look humbly for further instruction, they were perfectly con

tented with their own attainments, and even made use of their knowledge in order to relax by disingenuous glosses the obligations of the system which they professed. It is obvious that such characters possessed nothing in common with the devout and diffident inquirer to whom exclusively the promises of Divine illumination are made.

"Or should it be urged, on the other hand, by a far more numerous class of objectors, that moral conduct is all that is necessary for human salvation; should it be said, in contradiction to the declarations of Scripture, and the language of our established church, that 'every man shall be saved by the law or sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law, and the light of nature;' we have here two remarkable cases in which God saw fit in a most conspicuous manner to evince the necessity of Divine revelation in general, and particularly of faith in the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the other distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel, by sending chosen servants expressly to instruct Cornelius and the Ethiopian Eunuch in points of this nature, notwithstanding their previous devoutness and moral deportment. "In short, should it be argued that, upon the hypothesis which it has been the object of these pages to enforce, any point of Christian faith or practice is rendered unnecessary, we may confidently appeal to the two examples under consideration to prove the contrary. Should it be doubted, for example, whether an ingenuous desire to obey the will of God, even before we are fully acquainted with it, is an important and characteristic mark of incipient conversion, we may adduce the history of Cornelius and the Ethiopian Eunuch, to shew how conspicuous a place such a disposition occupied in the first stages of their religious inquiries. Or should it be urged, that if practical obedience be of so much importance, there is no great uecessity for prayer or sacred study, we may remind the objector that it was while the Roman Centurion was fasting and praying, and the Ethiopian Treasurer was diligently reading the Scriptures, that God was pleased to mark his approval of their conduct by sending them the means of further instruction. Or should it be objected that the preceding remarks would reduce religion to mere ingenuousness of

[ocr errors]

principle, thus superceding the neces sity for correctness of religious doctrine and faith, we may shew that these very narratives teach quite a different lesson; for Philip expressly said, 'If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest be baptized; and he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And lastly, should it be urged that if practical obedience have such a tendency to lead to scriptural knowledge, the agency of the Holy Spirit is rendered unnecessary, it is obvions to reply from the same narratives, that it was the Holy Spirit who, though unseen by mortal eyes, implanted and fostered the rising graces of Cornelins and the Ethiopian Eunuch, who further provided the means for their instruction, who opened their hearts to receive it, and who is expressly mentioned as having been present by his Divine influences with both these devout men at their baptism; thus shewing throughout the whole process of their conversion, the need of his own all-powerful agency, even while he saw fit to employ the ordinary means of prayer, and fasting, and preparatory dispositions, and the study of the Scriptures, and the Christian ministry and sacraments, to effect his gracious purposes." pp. 33-38

Upon the whole review of this subject, we are inclined to think that some religious persons attribute far too little importance to those devout affections, those teachable dispositions, and that moral integrity of deportment, which often characterise the first stages of true conversion to God; especially where the temper is naturally amiable and the conduct exempt from vicious habits. Hence the bruised reed is often broken, and the smoking flax quenched. An ingenuous inquirer, if he fall into the society of such persons, instead of being taken by the hand as a brother, and "shewn the way of God more perfectly," is at once proclaimed a pharisee, and a deliberate impugner of the essential doctrines of the Gospel; doctrines for the humble and practical reception of which his heart may have been prepared by the Holy Spirit long before he has attained. clear views of their relative bear

ings as a system. There is too much inclination in some quarters to "limit the Holy One of Israel;" to confine all the operations of Divine grace to one specific form and order; and to construct a Procrustean bed, of perhaps very unscriptual dimensions, on which to measure every variety of religious experience, without any allowance for the innumerable differences of age, understanding, education, or habits. It is true that in the sight of God there are but two classes of human character, separated from each other by a decisive line of demarcation. He knows infallibly who are converted, and who are not; who love and fear him, and who do not; who are justified, and who are not: but to the clouded perceptions even of the best of men, characters often appear in a more dubious light. Between the broadly marked sinner and the broadly marked Christian, there are many shades; so that it is often rash, and seldom necessary, to attempt to decide on the character of others, except where the lines are traced in plain and visible colours of truth or error, of spirituality or worldly-mindedness. It is not the mere adoption of certain dogmata, however scriptural, that renders a man a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, partaker of a new

nature, and an ornament to his holy profession; nor, on the other hand, is it always a proof that there is no sincerity of heart, no commence. ment of Divine instruction, because much ignorance and many prejudices still remain in the mind. An anxious, steady, and persevering, even though slow, advancement, will in the end bring the spiritual pilgrim far nearer to the most commanding altitudes of Christian doctrine and experience, than the selfsufficient indolence of the opinionated religionist, who, beginning with a larger stock of knowledge, but destitute of the same humility and submission of heart, is content with his present attainments, and measures all other men by his own standard, instead of measuring himself by the standard of the word of God. We are aware indeed, though we cannot dwell upon them at present, that there are dangers on the other side; dangers against which we are

as anxious our readers should be on their guard as against the one under consideration. Happy is the man whose knowledge, whose faith, whose love, whose joy, whose obe. dience, go hand in hand, growing equally and in due proportion, till they come to the fulness of the stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus.

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE,

&c. &c.

GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication:-Notices of Ancient Armour; by Dr. Meyrick;— Letters and Conversations on Preaching;-Clavis Græca Biblica; designed for Theological Students, who have not had a Classical Education; by the Rev. B. Andrews.

In the press: A Vindication of the first two Chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke; by a Layman;-Edes Althorpian; by the Rev. T. T. Dibden; -Legendre's Geometry and Trigono. CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 245.

metry; translated by Dr. Brewster;Poems; by the late Rev. Thomas Cherry.

Oxford.-The Venerable Archdeacon Goddard, D.D., is appointed Bampton Lecturer for the ensuing year.

A Grace has passed the Senate, to present copies of all such books, yet remaining in hand, as have been printed at the expense of the University, to the library of Bishop's College, Calcutta.

Cambridge.-With a view to encou rage classical and theological studies 2 T

in the university of Cambridge, a Grace lately passed the Senate to confirm proposals for the institution of a previous examination of candidates for the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor in Civil Law, and Bachelor in Physic. A public exa-. mination will be held in the Senate House, in the last week of the Lent term, to continue for three days: the snbjects of examination are to be one of the four Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles, in the original Greek, and Paley's Evidences of Christianity; and one Greek, and one Latin classical author. The first of these annual examinations is to take place in the Lent term of 1824.

Westminster Abbey is again open for Divine service and to the public. The monuments have been cleaned, and the abbey renovated and repaired. Railings are placed in different directions, to prevent the public from crowding too closely around any particular monument. The sum which visitors will have to pay to inspect the curiosities, is two shillings, and no extra remuneration is to be given.

In a late Number of the "Annals of Philosophy," a paper was communicated by Mr. Buckland, giving an account of what is alleged to be an "antediluvian den of hyænas," discovered last summer at Kirkdale, near Kirby Moorside, in Yorkshire. The den is a natural fissure, extending 300 feet into the body of the solid rock, and varying from two to five feet in height and breadth. Its mouth was overgrown with grass and bushes, and was accidentally intersected by the working of a stone quarry. It is on the slope of a hill about 100 feet above the level of a small river, which, during a great part of the year, is engulphed. The bottom of the cavern is covered to the depth of about a foot, with a sediment of mud: at the bottom of this mud, the floor of the cave was strewed from one end to the other with teeth and fragments of bones of the hyæna, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, ox, two or three species of deer, bear, fox, water-rat, and birds. The bones are for the most part broken, and gnawed to pieces, and the teeth lie loose among the fragments of the bones. No bone or tooth has been rolled, or in the least acted on by water; nor are there any pebbles mixed with them.

The

bones are not at all mineralized. The extinct fossil hyæna is stated most near. ly to resemble that species which now inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, whose

teeth are adapted beyond those of any other animal to the purpose of cracking bones, and whose habit it is to carry home parts of its prey to devour them in the caves of rocks which it inhabits. Five examples are given of bones of the same animal discovered in other parts of this island.

The Cambrian and Cymmoodorion Societies are making extensive researches for inedited Welsh manuscripts and other antiquities of the Principality. Among the queries which they have issued, one is to ascertain whether there exists any translation, or portion of a translation, of the Scriptures into Welsh, more ancient than the Norman conquest, or than the art of printing. RUSSIA.

A series of operations for a new measurement of the meridian, in the Russian provinces of the Baltic, will take place during the summer. Mr. Struve, professor of astronomy, will commence his labours at the 56th degree of north, lati tude on the meridian of the observatory of the university of Dorpat; and Dr. Walbeck, of the Swedish university of Abo, will act in concert with him. EGYPT.

Our readers are doubtless acquainted with the many valuable relics of antiquity which have been discovered in this interesting country during the last few years; and particularly with those which, being portable, have been removed and brought to England. The British Museum, in particular, has received rich accesssions of statuary, sarcophagi, altars, columns, and friezes from Thebes, Memphis, and other parts of Egypt. Various enterprising travellershave lately thrown much new light on the history and topography of the country, and among others some of our own countrymen. The French also are desirous of obtaining the honour of Egyptian discoveries. M. Caillaud, who is travelling among the ruins of Upper Egypt, writes from Senaar last July

"I made you acquainted with the discovery of forty pyramids, part of forty-five of which I have taken the dimensions. I have also seen traces of a town, and the remains of a great temple with six sphinx-lions cut in brown freestone. Discoveries since made confirm me in the opinion that this was the position of Meroë. The pyramids are to the East; and all, with the exception of one, have a little sanctuary towards the Same quarter. After nine days'march from

Chendi, we arrived at the mouth of the White River: we were the first Europe ans who had ever seen it, though Bruce was very close to it. This river, and not that seen by Bruce, is, I believe, the main branch, and in consequence the real Nile. I am more than ever decided to follow it."

INDIA.

A College has been instituted at Poona, under the sanction of Government, for the preservation and advancement of Hindoo literature, and the education of young men of the caste of Brahmans, in the several branches of science and knowledge which usually constitute the objects of study of the learned of India. Ten native professors have been appointed. All young men of respectability are admitted to attend the College gratis; but with the view of encouraging useful learning, Government has allowed five rupees each per month, for the main tenance of one hundred scholars, ten in each branch of study. The books at present in the possession of Government are appropriated to the use of the College, and others are to be procured from Calcutta. The Visram palace is devoted to the institution.

Amongst various points of miscellaneous information contained in the Fourth Report of the Calcutta Schoolbook Society, the recent establishment of a similar society at Penang is mentioned, and also the successful progress of the institutions at Madras and Bom. bay, and the endowment by Govern

ment of the Hindu College at Calcutta, for the encouragement of the study of Shanskreet, and, through the medium of that language, of general literature. Mr. H. Wilson has consented to superintend the publication of the first six books of Euclid in the Shanskreet language. The republication of extensive editions of many of the Society's most useful elementary works has been determined on. Government has presented the sum of 7,000 rupees to the Society, and ordered a monthly contribution of 5,000 more.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A Society has lately been formed, on a national scale, for promoting the civilization and improvement of the Indian tribes within the United States. It is intended to give them instruction suited to their capacities; and, with this view, to inquire minutely into their wants and habits, and every other particular connected with their history and country. It is also proposed to settle them, wherever practicable, in farms, and to promote regular habits among them. Most of the leading persons in the United States have become members of the institution. The Indians within the United States' territory amount to about 400,000.

Upwards of 200 gentlemen, of the city of New York, have subscribed to an agreement, disapproving of the custom of giving wine at funerals; and promising to discountenance it in their own families, and wherever their influence extends.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

Sermons on the Public Means of Grace; the Fasts and Festivals of the Church; on Scripture Characters, and various Practical Subjects; by the late Right Rev. Theodore Dehon, D.D. Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of South Carolina. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 1s.

Eighteen Sermons, intended to establish the inseparable Connection between the Doctrines and the Practice of Christianity. 12mo. 5s.

Discourses, chiefly doctrinal, deli. vered in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin; by B. Lloyd, D.D. 10s. 6d.

Grounds of Distinction between the Gennine New Testament and the Apocryphal Volume; by the Rev. Thomas Rennell. 6s.

A Defence of the Clergy of the

Church of England, stating their Services, their Rights, and their Revenues; by the Rev. Francis Thackeray. 8vo. 5s. 6d.

Treatise on the Sabbath; by the Rev. John Glen. 58.

Sermons, chiefly delivered in the Chapel of the East-India College, Hertfordshire; by the Rev. Charles Webb Le Bas, A.M. 10s. 6d.

Considerations on the Subject of Calvinism, and a short Treatise on Regeneration; by the Rev. William Bruce Knight, A.M. 6s.

The Young Communicant's Remembrancer; by the Rev. William Hamil ton. 12mo. 3s. 6d.

An Abridgment of the Prophecies as connected with History, in Question and Answer; selected from the best Authors; by Anne Smith. 12mo.

« PreviousContinue »