must have been a great number of persons, after episcopacy and its ministers had been discountenanced for a great number of years, who had received baptism from persons not episcopally ordained. Now, if those baptisms had been mere nullities, what would have been the course at the Restoration? Surely to direct that such persons should be baptized, provided they were to be considered as persons unbaptized because they had not been baptized by a lawful minister according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer. But there is no' trace to be found either in the his torical or controversial writings of those times, that such a measure was adopted nothing that leads even to a suspicion of it. On the contrary, it will be found, that one of the first cares of the bishops, upon the Restoration, was to go about confirming and confirming whom? Why, confirming the very persons who had been thus baptized; considering therefore, and necessarily considering, that though these baptisms might be held to be irregular, yet they were to be considered as valid, otherwise no confirmation could take place upon them. Not only did they confirm, but I apprehend they must have ordained in many instances upon those very baptisms: indeed, the one would seem almost of course to follow the other. They must also have buried great numbers who have been baptized in no other way.' Sir John next observes, that when Dissenters have come over to the Church, and become ministers of it, they have never been re-baptized. The same practice has always prevailed with respect to Catholic converts and ministers. The Church does not refuse the office of burial to all persons who are not conforming members of it. Papists, who are considered as much more widely separated from the reformed church than Protestant Dissenters, are not only permitted to be buried, but are required so to be; and this, not by putting the body into the ground without ceremony (for the Church knows of no such indecency) but the minister is to read the service.' The Judge then acutely observes, That the act for compelling the burying of Popish Recusants in the church-yard, was passed soon after King James's accession. The union of the two crowns had just taken place, and many of his Majesty's Scotch subjects had followed him into England; his own children had come with him; his own children had been born in Scotland, and were baptized by Presbyterian ministers: could he ever intend that all persons, but members of the Church of England, should be excluded from church-burial?' -- [To be concluded in our next.] Philemon, or the Progress of Virtue : a Poem, in Two Volumes. By W. L. Brown, D. D. Principal of Marischal College, and University of Aberdeen, &c. Price 14s. It was long a just subject of complaint, that the charms of Poetry were prostituted to the service of immorality; and that writers of genius and of taste employed their distinguished powers to seduce the heart through the medium of the imagination. At a period when the public mind was irradiated by the brightest corruscations of intelligence, it was polluted by the most unblushing libertinism; and true patriotism wished, for the sake of the morals of the country, that even the talent, which rendered her illustrious throughout the world, had been buried in oblivion, rather than have exerted itself to attract admiration at the expence of purity, and, by the control which it exercised over the passions, to poison the very springs of the soul, corrupt its sentiments, and give impulse to its worst propensities; yet, amidst the general apostacy of talent from religion, and even from common morality, a few daring spirits were found, bold enough to deviate from the popular and beaten track; and possessed genius sufficient to hear them out, in their generous effort to restore Poetry to its original dignity, to refine it from its alloy, and > to renew its alliance with truth and virtue. While Milton has soared beyond all height in pursuit of a theme, borrowed altogether trom the treasury of Revelation, Young has led the mind along a sequestered path to complete, in s'lence and retirement, its existence and duties, its redemption and destination, Addison has lent his aid to our devotional exercises,-Wattshas swept the Hebrew lyre with the hand of Christianity, and Cowper has mingled the sublimest strains of piely with the purest taste, the most enchanting ease, the most enlightened judgment, and the most exquisite feeling. In our day we can boast of many, who, with no small share of peelical talent, pay homage to religion. Dr. Brown is among the number of those who write to reform the morals, while they interest the feelings of mankind. To estimate the production now before us aright, it is necessary to take into the account those principles which the Doctor endeavours to establish in his Preface; nor can any work be said to be fairly represented, unless the criticism respects the end professed by the writer. Had Dr. B. designed to produce an epic poem, he would have rendered himself liable to the rules of epic composition; and had he projected a poem purely didactic, of course, be would not have chosen a hero; above all, he would not have introduced the machinery which now appears in his performance. As he renounces both these modes of instruction, it would be unfair to measure his performance by the standard applied to either of them: as the paths of Poetry are infinitely diversified, he was at liberty to choose for himself any of those which have been already trodden, or to mark out a new one; and as he explicitly states his intention, as well as the reasons for his decision, it only remains to determine, whe ther he has accomplished his object, and gratified the expectations awakened by his pretensions?. He says, That the design of his poem, and the end for which the character of Philemon is delineated, is to trace the progress of virtuous sentiments, principles, and opinions, in the human mind, and to exhibit them in a corresponding course of action.' We do not hesitate to say, That we think he has done this. If Dr. B. rises not to the sublimity of a Milon, or a Young, nor discloses the fire of a Dryden, nor writes in the polished diction of a Pope, nor displays the varieties of a Cowper, he never sinks into meanness, nor disgusts by negligence. Perhaps, if at any time feebleness appears to enervate the poem, it arises from an attention to cadence too slavish, to which strength is occasionally sacrificed, and which produces a monotony tiresome to the ear, and, so far, destructive of energy. Notwithstanding we are inclined to admit, that from this blemish Dr. B. is not entirely free, we think his production possesses considerable merit; and cordially recommend it as being favourable to evangelical principles and pure morality. As a specimen of the style and sentiments, and that our readers may be better able to form a judgment for themselves, we subjoin two extracts: the first of which exhibits Dr. Brown's powers of description; the second, his attachment to religion: Thus the lone traveller, from morning grey, Big drops are shed: the vollied lightnings fly! But, 'mid this dire suspence, the peals decay, Vol. I, book vii, p. 202, 203. Next, meek Humility's clear judgment knows What man to man or his Creator owes ; Perceives the Law all moral pride confound, And stands on Mercy's, not on Merit's ground! Vol. I, book i, p. 20. And now the Gospel, borne on every breeze, Speeds o'er the land, and sweeps the rolling seas! Her trumpet sounds from oriental shores To regions which the western orb explores! Lo! Superstition's altars are o'erthrown, While pure Religion calls the world her own! Lo sons and daughters from remotest climes, Confess Messiah and abjure their crimes! Lo holy prayers and virtuous actions rise, Sweeter than clouds of incense to the skies! Lust, Force, and Fraud, renounce their baneful reign, Aud Man restor'd, shall Paradise regain!' A Defence of Calvinism, or Strictures on a Recent Publication, entitled St. Paul against Calvin.' By W. Roby. 12mo, 2s. A MODERN infidel has asserted, That the odium theologicum, or theological hatred, is noted even to a proverb; and means that degree of rancour which is the most furious and implacable.' It is to be deeply lamented, that the general complexion of polemical writings, and the spirit of detraction which pervades them, have, in too many instances, confirmed this observation. Perhaps, the importance of those inquiries which respect the discoveries and obligations of religion, may, in some measure, account for the warmth and earnestness with which controversialists have maintained their favourite positions. Religion derives its awful sanctions from another world; and when mortals deal with thunders and anathemas, they are apt to blend the depraved passions of human nature with feelings of a higher and purer kind. It might also be remarked, that in explaining the assertions of revelation, such explanations are not unfrequently identified with Scripture itself. It perfectly accords with all our preconceptions of what a divine revela Vol. I, p. 24, 2 j.. should be decisive, its affirmations tion should possess, that its lone dogmatic; and that its doctrines should appear, not in the form of logical conclusions, dependent merely on previously established reasonings, but as the explicit determinations of Him, whose will is at once the reason and the rule of our faith and practice. When fallible beings, therefore, assume the province of dictatorship in religion, and expect their intimations and ideas to possess oracular authority; when they attach to their interpretations of certain passages in the sacred volume, the claims which belong only to inspiration, it is with perfect consistency that their aidour degenerates into rancour, that their firmness advances to obstinacy, and their opposition to inveterate resentment. Happy would it have been for the Christian church, if 'the meekness of wisdom' had conducted the forces of controversy, - if a due estimate had been invariably formed of the relative importance of disputed points ; and if, on all questionable subjects, strength of argument had been blended with the temper which becometh the Fortiter in re, gospel of Christ.' suaviter in modo, should always be the motto of religious disputants. These general remarks are ecca, exposure to prove, in reply to Mr. S. That his statement of Calvinism is distorted, that his arguments against it are inconclusive, that his attack on the ninth chapter of Romans has proved unsuccessful,that he yields to his opponents what serves to establish their sentiments, and, that the formidable charge of irreconcileable difficulties, which he opens against Calvinism, bears with much more direct and powerful force against the opposite system. P. 4. oned by the publication, entitled St. Paul against Calvin ;' on which Mr. Roby has so mildly and judiciously animadverted in the work before us Mr. Smyth, the author of the philippic to which we allude, is a clergyman of the Establishment, residen in Manchester. In many parts of his treatise, he appears to be a man of warm and active piety; - but, unfortunately, his zeal is not always according to knowledge.' He sets out,' observes Mr. Roby, with high professions of candour, complimenting his Cal- It would be an easy and interestvinistic brethren,' as persons whom ing employ to follow Mr. R. in his he sincerely regards, whose reli- proofs and illustrations of these vagious principles, though in his opi- rious positions; but the limits to nion, grossly erroneous, will not exwhich we are confined, preclude clude them from the kingdom of a minute investigation and analysis Heaven, whose public ministra- of his arguments. They are pretions, at least on some subjects, are sented in a clear and perspicuous distinguished by freedom, energy, arrangement; and though the style and ability, and to whom he (Mr. is not distinguished by its elegance, S.) has listened with admiration, it is uniformly chaste and appropriand sometimes with rapture.' Notate. We particularly admire the withstanding these acknowledge-temper and spirit which the author ments, he soon discovers himself to be thoroughly conversant with the art of sophistry, in all its meanness and misrepresentation. Had Mr. S. been a Barrister,' we might have expected a reiteration of calumny and invective, founded on the most illiberal perversion of the sentiments and language of his opponents. He must have been well informed, from the various respectable authorities among Calvinistic writers, that they have repeatedly disavowed the constructions and consequences which be has attached to their declarations. He must know that a caricature is not a portrait; and that it is possible to present such a distortion of angelic features as to transform a celestial countenance into the appearance of a Devil. + has so steadily preserved; and which display an amiable contrast to the petulance and acrimony that pervade the strictures of his opponent. The work before us is a happy exemplification of the apostolic maxim: In meekness instruct those that oppose themselves." Mr. It could not be expected, that on topics which have been so often agitated as those at issue between the Calvinists and Arminians, we should meet with much novelty or originality. Every track has been so much beaten, and every path so well explored, that he is deservedly entitled to our commendation who only arranges more precisely, or elucidates more clearly, what others have long ago discovered. Roby's publication has this peculiar excellence, that it never contends for too much, that it proceeds upon a just view of the limits of inquiry, with respect to the deep things' of God, and exhibits an ac curaie statement of the questions to be discussed, without any of that disingenuousness which too often disgraces polemical combatants. Mr. Roby is particularly happy in reducing to absurdities the conclu sions of his antagonist, though he always maintains his dignified composure, and never triumphs in his conquests. We sincerely wish the Defence of Calvinism' a circulation equal to its merits, and far beyond the limited circle to which its iócal reference might confine it. The Child's Monitor, or Parental Instruction: containing Progres sive Lessons, interspersed with Moral and Religious Reflections, adapted to the Comprehension of Children. By J. Hornsey. Second Edition improved, 12mo, 3s. 6d. bound. It is a great improvement in the modera plan of education, that the lessons put into the hands of children are adapted to their understanding, and rendered at the same time amusing. Many books of instruction, on this rational principle, have lately appeared; and the progress of learning is thereby greatly facilitated. Mr. Hornsey appears to us to have executed his task well. -- His Monitor is, as he professes in his title page, Calculated to instruct children in reading, in the use of stops, in spelling, and in dividing words into proper syllables; and, at the same time, to give them some knowledge of Natural History, of the Scriptures, and of sevcral other sublime and important subjects.' His divinity (sect. 9, &c.) we do not admire; we wish it had been more clear and evangelical; as it stands, no one can justly suspect it of Methodism. On the whole, however, we think it a valuable school-book. Literary Notices. Mr. Howe's Works are in the press; and the First Volume may be expected by the end of May. Proposals have been issued by Mr. Davies, of Ipswich, for the Sermons of the Rev. Christopher Love, on Grace. Rev. Mr. Williams, Curate of Stroud, has in the press a small volume of Poems. London Female Penitentiary. We are happy to inform the Public, That, at a friendly meeting of Mr. Hale, Mr. Thomas, aud Mr. Burder, at Mr. T. Pellatt's, in the presence of Mr. John Clayton, jun. it was agreed, That all personalities between those gentlemen should be forgotten. It is understood that Mr. Thomas retains his opinion, that the gentleman he alluded to is the Author of the Critique which appeared in our Magazine for September last; and that Mr. Burder, as Editor, is justified in neither admitting nor denying the charge. These gentlemeu continue to think for themselves, upon the subject of the Penitentiary. SELECT LIST OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS. Vol. 3, of Bogue and Bennet's History of Dissenters, 8vo, 10s. 6d. Missionary Hymns, for the Use of the Annual and Monthly Meetings of Missionary Associations, much enlarged and improved, price 6!. Missionary Transactions; containing Accounts from most of the sta tions abroad. Number XXI. is. A Biographical Sketch of the Rev. J. Sanderson, of Rowell. By his Kinsman, the Rev. C. Hobson. 12mo. Holloway's favourable and unfavourable Signs of the Times. The Advantages which Religion may derive from Learning: a Sermon for the Dissenters' Grammar School. By J. Bennett, Romsey. Essays on Controverted Subjects. By James Watt. A Treatise against the Pope's Supremacy, by his late Majesty Edward the Sixth new edit. dedicated to his Majesty, by Dr. Duncan, 2s : Six Meditations on the Sufferings of Christ, in View of commemorating his Death. By the late J. Clunie, with his Life, 2s. 6d. A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Shep-' pard, occasioned by his attack on Methodists and Dissenters. By J. Chamberlain, Bath. |