the sects; to narrow the magnificence of the revelation to the paltry metaphysicks of the schools; and to exhibit the solemn and sublime principles of Christian faith and hope-so clear to the reason, so correspondent to the moral nature, so affecting to the heart of every honest man-in the cumbrous and distorted dress which was given them in the darkest ages of the church. Still more anxious have we felt, that you should not catch the spirit, any more than the language of controversy. It is a spirit deadly to the best virtues of the Christian character. Nothing is more deplorable than its constant effects. It blinds the eye; it hardens the heart; it obliterates the distinction between right and wrong; it makes evil good and good evil; it leads men to think they are doing God service and honouring the cause of their Saviour, when they are trampling on his most sacred laws-the laws of charity and truth. In every age of the church, it has sought to rend asunder the seamless robe of Christ and cover it with the blood of contending sectarians. pp. 224-227. We might add extracts of as much simplicity and power as this from almost every sermon in the volume. But it is not necessary. Enough has been done to show the general character of Mr. Thacher's mind and style; and, for the rest, these sermons are already in extensive circulation among us, and will every day spread their influence wider and wider. In this prospect we may be permitted to see much good. Very few persons have shown so much skill in the mere construction of sermons as Mr. Thacher; very few have been able to produce so happy an effect by the arrangement of their details; very few have been able to sustain themselves so long in amplification without losing sight of the chief purpose of the discourse. But he succeeded in the greater object of winning and controlling the hearts of his hearers, by a combination of talents which was as rare as it was fortunate. He may be found inferiour to some in absolute intellectual power; he may be inferiour to others in the cogency of a close, philosophical eloquence; and to others in the harmony and grace of individual periods; but in the happiest union of strength and gentleness, of dignity and ease, of severity and persuasion, we know not who shall be placed as his superiour. There is, particularly, one characteristick of these sermons, which we are anxious should be valued and imitated,—their freedom from literary pretension. The present moment is, perhaps, an important one with us, when the style of sermon. writing is still not finally settled; and we are, therefore, gratified that a volume so likely to exercise a favourable influence, has, just at this juncture, been published. For nothing is more fatal to the legitimate success of pulpit eloquence, than that it should seem to be at all prompted by literary ambition. Of this, the whole French school from Bossuet to Massillon affords striking proof; a school which we cannot help seeing is infected with the literary and dramatick spirit, that controlled every thing at the court of Louis XIV, and makes that court itself, when we now look back upon it, seem like one great pageant prepared to produce a stage-effect on the admiration of the world. That the sermons of the great men of that splendid period were considered and received, as we might naturally expect, from the spirit that pervades them, is a matter of record. If we read the correspondence of Madame de Sevigné and Madame de Maintenon, we find them going to a sermon of Bourdaloue, or a tragedy of Racine with much the same feelings, and speaking afterwards of what they had heard in the church or in the theatre with much the same kind of admiration. And, if we inquire what effect was produced, at the moment, on those splendid audiences, that were collected at Versailles or St. Sulpice, consisting of all that was noble, powerful, and refined in France, we find they were excited as by popular political harangues, and that Bossuet and Massillon were interrupted by the tumultuous applause of the assemblies they addressed, even though these assemblies were standing over the graves of what is proudest in human greatness and glory, and listening to the funeral oration for Condé, or the appalling doctrine of the small number of the elect. But though this is the natural effect, and final result, and perfection of pulpit eloquence, like the French, founded on literary ambition, we are not the less offended by it. There is too much rhetorick in it, we are sure, for entire sincerity; there is too much exaggeration and over-statement to produce conviction; there is too apparent an attempt to play a part, to permit us to give up our hearts to one who is willing to do it. We know that a Christian minister, standing like the Angel of the Revelation, on the confines of two worlds, should fear thus to labour to produce a merely literary effect; and our judgments, our consciences, and our tastes are alike offended at his weakness and presumption. When, therefore, we have read the great French pulpit orators; when we have come from Bossuet and Massillon feverish and excited, as we should come from the conflict of merely human passions and interests in the forum and the senate-house, we are glad to turn for refreshment and composure, to the influences of more temperate and less ambitious minds. We are glad to turn to some, whom, like Mr. Buckminster and Mr. Thacher, we can now only reverence in memory, and others, whose instructions we are permitted still to enjoy, who with less passion have more earnestness, and by a style neither so exaggerated, so brilliant, nor so pointed, yet attain their end much more surely, because they put our suspicions of personal admiration and display asleep, and surrender us up to the solemn power of the subject and the occasion. ART. V.-A Catechism for the Use of Children. Springfield A. G. Tannatt. 1823. 18mo. pp. 36. THIS Catechism is written in verse; and some short poems are annexed to it, the object of which is to connect the beauties of nature with religious thoughts and feelings. The author of the whole is understood to be the Rev. Mr. Peabody of Springfield. We like the plan; though we should be unwilling that catechisms in verse should supersede those in prose. In its execution, the author gives a very pleasing view of his own character; and most of the verses are simple and true, and adapted to the conceptions of children. There are, however, a few faults. We doubt whether the answer to the very first question, would not confuse the mind. of a child. 'The God, in whom I ever trust, Hath made my body from the dust. In conveying religious ideas to children, we should, as far as possible, use language which is literally true in its plainest. They misunderstand words, the meaning of which is remote or figurative; and what is true as uttered by us sense. becomes false as heard by them. This remark holds good of others besides children. More than half the errours in the world have arisen from taking figurative and rhetorical language in a literal sense. On this ground we should object to some other verses, as the following, for example. 'High in the heaven, God dwells alone, And glorious light surrounds his throne;' And the whole of the answer to the 13th question. In the following lines, likewise, the idea intended does not seem to us happily expressed, especially in the two last, which may give to the mind of a child unpleasant associations, and wrong thoughts of God. 'He keeps the book of life, and there In a few passages the sentiments expressed are rather those of mature life than of childhood. Such, perhaps, is the case in these lines: 'When sickness wastes my languid frame, When pleasure all is past, When each new blow affliction gives, Falls heavier than the last; I'll bend beneath my Father's hand With no impatient sigh, And every pang that rends me now Sometimes there is a failure, apparently from negligence, or a readiness to be satisfied with the first word occurring to the mind. Thus in speaking of Christ 'By actions holy and serene He won his Father's love; ; And though superiour far to men, Was harmless as a dove." The language in the second of the two following lines is incorrect. 'God sees his suff'ring children weep Far in the desert and the deep.' The following lines seem not to have been sufficiently considered; for none, we think, but a very bad child can say it with truth; 'Thus have I often sinn'd, and still As charity to paupers is a duty which among us is very rarely, if at all, to be exercised by children; and by no person, perhaps, precisely in the manner implied in the passage, we wish the 7th and 8th verses of the answer to question 6th had been omitted. This work, small as it is, is of merit and importance enough to make it an object of such particular criticism. The faults are of a kind, which it is fully in the power of the author to remove; and we think the plan and the general style of execution adapted to render it a valuable book in the religious instruction of children. The last question is, What do you learn of the future state of happiness? The answer begins with this fine verse: 'Oh! when the hours of life are past, And death's dark shade arrives at last; 'Tis glory op'ning on the blest. The poems which follow the catechism are not particularly suited to children, but are adapted to give pleasure to all who have a taste for descriptive and moral poetry. They are written with peculiar delicacy and purity of feeling; and present pleasing images, tinted with soft colours. The following is a specimen. Autumn. The dying year! The dying year! The summer ends its short career, |