with as much pious horror, as if they were polluted with the ftain of idolatry. Nay, God's avenging providence, if we liften to his narrations, would feem to follow thofe indulgences. In the Evangelical Magazine, which feems to be eftablifhed for no other purpose but the admiffion of the moft extravagant fictions of the children of light and grace, the dear people, the elect, the people of God, the pharafaical names by which the votaries of Methodifm diftinguish themselves from the rest of mankind, we are inftructed to believe, that a clergyman, for committing the heinous fin of playing a game of cards, was punished by inflant death. "And it is worthy of remark," fays the writer, "that, within a very few years, this was the third character in the neighbourhood, which had been fummoned from the card-table to the bar of God." P. 138. In his obfervations upon the other fuppofed caufes of the increase of Methodifm, and, particularly, while combating the methodist doctrines of experience, inward emotions, &c. Mr. Card has unveiled many of the profound arcana of that enthusiastic fect; and many curious anecdotes, taken for the most part from their own publications, relative to their felect bands, love feafts, and other extravagant inftitutions, are related with much humour, blended occafionally with fevere invective, and merited reprobation. A fpecimen, alfo, is given of the hymns fung at thofe feafts of love, compofed in the warm myftical language of the Canticles, and admirably adapted to keep alive the ardour of fuperftitious zeal, among a people who mistake the fallies of paflion for the ecflacies of devotion. P. 161. On the extemporaneous preaching of their minifters, and the fuccefs of the bold undaunted manner in which they addrefs their audience, there occur fome good remarks at p. 164, and he concludes that head with obferving, "It is not, we contend, the rhapfodical nonfenfe which the methodist preachers pour forth, for one or two hours, without the affiftance of book or paper, and the confequent notion among the ignorant, that God's fpirit refides in them, and fpeaks from their mouth; no; nor it is not the fulminations which thefe ecclefiafti. cal mountebanks let fly, without mercy or prudence, of eternal tortures to the lukewarm, and wavering, nor that disgusting bitternefs of fpirit, which leads them to deal damnation around the land, that half fo much has brought over the multitude to their party, as the fervour and animation with which their perfect cant is delivered *." P. 166. In "In a printed fermon of Mr. Adam Clark's, a man of great authority, we believe, among the method ifts, and certainly S deemed In regard to what is advanced at p. 177, concerning the imperfect refidence of the clergy, operating as one of the caufes of the growth of methodifm, we muft fuppofe this part of the difcourfe to have been written before the paffing of the late act enjoining refidence; if this ever were a caufe, it has, we truft, now in great part ceafed to exift. The folid advantages, however, arifing to a parifh from the conftant refidence of an enlightened clergyman, are too well depicted in the following paffage to be omitted. "A refident incumbent, if the qualifications of his heart be equal to thofe of his head, is naturally impelled, from a variety of motives, to feek the promotion of the fpiritual interefts of his flock, by the different means of infpection and remonstrance. The cure of fouls with him, is a charge of no fmall refponfibility. The command of St. Paul to Timothy, to "be inftant in feafon, and out of season," is conftantly fresh in his remembrance. He confiders it, therefore, as essential a part of his duty as preaching, to lose no favourable opportunity of cultivating a friendly intercourfe between him, and those who are committed to his charge, in order that he might be enabled to remedy certain diforders and irregularities, which are of fuch complexion, as can deemed by them of great talents, the following expreffions, we fuppofe, are defigned at once to terrify, and fubdue into an implicit obedience, thofe whofe vices, or, we fhould rather fay, frailties, have been confidered by the preacher to affect the character of the fociety." A damned fpirit.-A devil damned in the abyfs of perdition, in the burning pool which spouts catarasts of fire!-Sinners may lose their time in difputing against the reality of hell-fire, till awakened to a fenfe of their folly, by finding themselves plunged into what God calls the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.-Many are defirous of feeing an inhabitant of the other world, or they wish to converse with one, to know what paffes there; curiofity and infidelity are-as infatiable as they are unreasonable. Here, however, God fteps out of the common way to indulge them. You wish to fee a difembodied fpirit! Make way! Here is a damned foul, which Chrift has waked from the hell of fire! Hear him! Hear him tell of his torments! Hear him utter his anguifh! Liften to the fighs and groans, which are wrung from his foul by the torture he endures! Hear him afking for a drop of water, to cool his burning tongue! Telling you, that he is tormented in that flame, and warning you to repent, that you may come not into that place of torture! How folemn is this warning! How awful this voice.-Hear the groans of this damned foul, and be alarmed!" not not be openly redreffed; and especially for the fake of acquiring that honourable fort of influence over their minds, which will gradually difpofe them to read religious books, to ftrengthen and enlarge their faith, by private and family devotion, and not to forget, in the commerce and bufinefs of active life, the unalter able principles of chriftian charity and love. This, and much more good, will be found, on examination, to be done by many of our refident parochial clergy; and we may confidently add, that those who poffefs good means of information respecting that valuable clafs of men, will likewife perceive that this fpiritual ac quaintance with their parishioners, is not effected by any of those low arts, by which the Romish priests obtained fuch an abfolute fway over their laity; and by which, the religionists who form the fubject of this effay, have fuch a furprifing afcendancy over their followers, but by thofe free and unconstrained methods, equally fuitable to their characters as gentlemen, and to their reputation for learning, common fenfe, and rational piety."*P. 179 The laft caufe affigned for the growth of methodifm, the domeftic irreligion of the great, as affecting dependants, and fervants, and rendering them either incurably wicked, or elfe, if driven by fick nefs and affliction to the houfe of prayer, confirmed methodists, from their ignorance of the distinction exifting between found religion, and fanaticifm, is ably dif cuffed, and well deferves the attention of those who are the fubjects of it. There are, however, to the honour of Britain, be it recorded, fplendid exceptions among our nobility to thefe, perhaps, too general cenfures of Mr. Card, men as diftinguifhed for their piety as their rank, who follow the bright example of their virtuous Sovereign. May their numbers increafe, and their example be effective. Mr. Card concludes his ufeful ftrictures on this important topic with the following reflections, in which we fear there is too much truth, as the unwearied efforts of this powerful and numerous fect, feem equally directed against the established church and government of thefe realms. "From this imperfect, but impartial view of the rapid growth of Methodifm, it will appear, this pernicious herefy has taken "It is the remark of Bishop Watfon, whofe liberal fpirit correfponds with his folid judgment, and extenfive erudition, "that there are many among the pooreft of the parochial clergy, whofe merits as fcholars, as chriftians, and as men, would be no difgrace to the most deferving prelate on the bench."Se his admirable Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1783. fuch fuch deep root, that its fpreading branches even threaten to overfhadow the eftablished church. Cottages, huts, woods, moors, and even mines, have been vifited by the profelytizing activity of its profeffors. In the army and navy + they have infinuated their doctrines with moft unexampled fuccefs; and as it is alike indifferent to them whether they accomplish the downfal of our establishment by open violence, or fecret ftragem, provided it be accomplished, it is a part of their policy, we understand, to have a large fund for the purchafe of livings, to which minifters of their own perfuafion are of course always prefented. Many wife and pious divines are of opinion, that every fect of chriftians have their ufe; inafmuch, as by their means, each important religious truth has the advantage of being fet in a full light by fome party or other. But furely the propriety of that opinion cannot be admitted refpecting a fect, which unceasingly labours to blacken and difcredit all thofe who do not adopt its tenets, which, wretchedly deftitute of intellectual culture, requires its votaries to be hovering on the precipice of infanity, before they can be rightly prepared to come to the New Birth; a fect which without restraint, and without remorfe, abuses the liberal indulgence of our chutch, by profeffing to belong to it, while it acts in open defiance to all eftablished rules, and laftly, which has impiously dared to confine the future rewards of true piety folely to its followers. "Of fuch a fect then, we fhall not be afraid to make this coneluding remark, that while we readily allow fome individuals among the methodists to be of the moft refpectable reputation in private fociety, yet as a body, their clofe hypocrify and fraud, their violent and malignant zeal, their arrogant pretenfions to the true character of primitive chriftians, and their limited notions of the mercy of the Almighty, entitle them to the pity and contempt of every man of liberal education and understanding." P. 184. From the effays of minor importance in this volume, we could extract many entertaining paffages, but the length of the foregoing quotation prevents us; and, for further information, we muft refer the curious reader to the volume itself, which is ftored with variety fuited to every tafte. "In delineating the particular doctrines of thefe felf-fent apoftles, and in expofing their ambitious hopes, the Bishop of Bangor [now Bp. of London] has indeed juftly remarked, "that profely tifm, not doctrine, is their great object."-P. 19. See the Charge of this most found and learned Prelate, to his Diocese, in 1808. "For their activity in thofe two departments of the state, fee the Methodist and Evangelical Magazines." ART. ART. IX. Emily, a Moral Tale, including Letters from a Father to his Daughter, upon the most important Subjects. By the Rev. Henry Kett, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and Author of the Elements of General Knowledge, Sc. 2 Vols. 8vo. 14s. Rivingtons. 1809. t JOB faid, "O that mine adverfary had written a book *!"Frequently muft a reviewer fay, with little lefs feeling of diftrefs, O that my friend had not written one! for, if the book be not good, he ftands in the unfortunate dilemma of lofing either his credit or his friend. If he cenfure, the private tie is broken for ever. If he praife, even without exceeding the truth, the public will detect the fecret bias, which keeps back the harsher part of the truth; or, if not, the determined adverfary of the unfortunate author will be fure to remark upon it; and when he is dealing forth his farcasms at the writer, will hardly fuffer the critic to escape. This we have already experienced with refpe&t to Mr. Kett's Elements of General Knowledge, though the public has thought well enough of the book, with the imperfections it may have, to carry it through feven editions; and fomething fimilar we may expect on the fubject of Emily, because it is decided that the tutor of a college fhould not write books for young ladies; and because the cenfure thrown upon a more unfortunate publication rebounds in fome degree upon this. We fhall, however, venture to review Emily as if we had not heard of the other, and leave the author's enemies to triumph in a few mistakes, which we shall not make it our bufinefs to detect. The object of this tale, which is furely of high importance, is fo diftinctly and fairly stated by the author, that we fhall transcribe his words, as the best mode of explaining it to our readers. "To point fevere and indifcriminate cenfures against the times in which we live, is, perhaps, rather the part of an illnatured fatyrift than of a candid obferver of mankind; for every age, like every individual, is marked by characteristic virtues and defects. But we cannot, it is prefumed, take a view of the prefent state of fociety, without obferving that too many young *Job xxxi. 35. It means, we must confefs, in that place, "O that he had drawn up a written accufation against me." Though often quoted in the fenfe here used, perfons |