answered and refuted. We think that this volume would form a very useful appendage to the village lending-libraries, which are now rapidly extending throughout the country, under the auspices of the venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Records of a Good Man's Life. By the Rev. C. B. Tayler, A. M. &c. WHEN We first opened these volumes, read the title, and saw, opposite to it, the pretty engraving of the good-looking author, we were ready to exclaim, with a smile at the vanity of the idea, here is a new-fashioned specimen of auto-biography! On looking a little further, however, we perceived that, though Mr. Tayler is a good man, as men go now a-days, he is not the "good man" of his title page. But we are still at a loss to account for the publication of his portrait under so ominous a patronage. The portrait itself would be still better, if it had been more like the original. But to the book. The first volume is a tale, if such it can be called, of a Clergyman entering the Church on sound pious principles, and practising in it all the duties of a Christian Minister, with apostolic purity and simplicity of conduct. But it is only a series of detached outlines of his history, interspersed with prayers, sentimental soliloquies, and digressions, with now and then a remark, signed "Editor." Such parts of this volume, as detail the history are well written and well conceived; it is chaste, simple and pure; and like Mr. Tayler's other publication, partakes the excellencies, as well as defects, of the author's style. It is worthy of an attentive perusal, and will please. But we cannot go the length of the friend who reviewed this book in the Literary Gazette; for to publish a work professing to be a fiction, with the author's name in the title-page, and his picture opposite, is a little too absurd for praise. Besides, a fraud has been committed on the public, in bringing out these volumes. The "Good Man's Life "extends no further than the first. The second consists, altogether, of a series of little stories, after the manner of "May You Like It," being a collection from the periodicals in which they first appeared. They have no more to do with the title of the two, than Wood's Mechanics have with his Optics, did they appear under the head of "Mechanics" in 2 vols. The title-page of the second volume has, however, an 66 &c." added to explain! But justice must be done. The affectation of our author shall not blind us to his merits. The tales are all good. We blame them not; but the trick on the purchasers we do blame, and justly. Sermons on Points of Doctrine and Rules of Duty. By the Rev. R. PARKINSON, M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge; Perpetual Curate of Whitworth; and Lecturer in Divisity at the Clerical Institution, St. Bees. London: : Rivingtons, 1832. 12mo. Pp. xvi. 556. THIS second volume of Mr. Parkinson's sermons we can cordially recommend, together with its predecessor; more particularly for family reading. Throughout, the great doctrines of the Church are faithfully, and earnestly, developed and enforced; and in what manner and with what view, the author shall declare for himself. "It will be seen, that not only is the text of each sermon taken from the current service of the Church, but that an attempt is generally made, by a reference to the other portions of Scripture selected for that day, to convey, as accurately as possible, the impression which the whole service combined seems calculated to produce. This system has been followed, both as being in accordance with the evident intention of our Church in the institution of preaching, and also to guard against a danger to which the author, (along, it is to be feared, with most other preachers,) felt himself to be constantly liable-the danger, namely, of dwelling upon one branch of religious doctrine to the neglect, or inferior consideration, of the rest. It is a natural infirmity of any mind, which has dwelt long and intently upon a particular subject, to view it, in some degree, through a distorted medium. . . . "To avoid this preaching of himself' rather than of the Gospel-to declare, as far as possible, the whole counsel of God' to his hearers -- and 'rightly to divide the word of truth,' the author conceived that no rule could be more efficacious or more safe, than that which the Church, by her practice, appears in some degree to have prescribed. By following this course, a variety, at least, is secured to the topics of the preacher, which the most fertile imagination and the most copious stores of knowledge could not otherwise be expected to produce." Pref. p. 3-5. ser With respect to the length of the sermons we fully agree with Mr. Parkinson, that they are sufficiently long for the general purpose of parochial instruction or family edification. It is needless to overload the unlettered or youthful mind with more than it is able to bear; and "a word in season" is worth a volume of heavy discussion. The subjects of the mons, which are highly important, are as follow:-I. The Prophetic Description of the Character of Jesus Christ. Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. II. Christ's Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. Matt. xxv. 9. III. The Divinity of Jesus Christ the sole Foundation of our Faith. John i. 11, 12. IV. Knowledge of God the Groundwork of all Religion. Ps. cxxxix. 1. V. On the Nature and Extent of Christian Obedience. Jam. i. 22. VI. Christianity a Vocation. Eph. iv. 1. VII. The Early Life of our Blessed Saviour. Luke ii. 51. VIII. The enlightened Faith of the Roman Centurion. Matt. viii. 8. IX. On the Fail of Man. Gen. iii. 22, 23. X. The Covenant of the Rainbow. Gen. ix. 13. XI. The Necessity of Subordination and Union in the Church of Christ. 1 Cor. xii. 4. XII. Peter's Denial of Christ. Matt. xxvi. 74, 75. XIII. God the "Father of Lights." Jam. i. 7. XIV. Natural Affection, a Motive for Piety. John iv. 49. XV. The Temptation of our Saviour in the Wilderness. Luke iv. 1, 2. XVI. The Death of Christ a real Sacrifice for Sin. Heb. ix. 13, 14. XVII. The Love of God a Motive for Love to Man. 1 John iv. 11. XVIII. The Beauty and Usefulness of the Book of Psalms. Ps. cvii. 43. XIX. The Miraculous Deliverances of Hezekiah, King of Judah. 2 Kings xiv. 19. XX. On the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. John xiii. 7. XXI. The Christian's Duty to Imitate his Master. 1 Pet. ii. 21. XXII. The Degree of Holiness required of the Christian. Matt. v. 20. XXIII. The Day of Judgment. Rev. xxii. 12. Parochial Sermons. By the Rev. TнOMAS AINGER, M.A. Late of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Assistant Minister of the new church of St. Mary, Greenwich. London: Rivingtons. 12mo. Pp. xv. 367. As in the foregoing notice, we shall here also allow the author to speak for himself; and, although we cannot mete the same measure of praise to this, as to Mr. Parkinson's volumes, it is by no means unworthy of attentive consideration. "There is a slight attempt at systematic arrangement in the following sermons; but, as they were preached on various occasions, without any design of forming a regular series, their connexion may, probably, not be very obvious. The first may be considered as introductory to the rest. The four next contain a practical view of the leading evidences of Christianity. The six following treat of some of its doctrines, duties, and privileges. The six last were written for particular Sundays, and were intended, either to illustrate the events recorded by the Church, or to explain apparent difficulties in the lessons appointed for the day. The Biblical series of the Family Cabinet Atlas. Engraved on Steel, by MR. THOMAS STARLING. Part vi. London: Bull. 1832. OUR opinion of this elegant and useful little work has been more than once recorded during the course of its publication. We are happy to find that it is at last completed by the addition of a copious and comprehensive" Index of all that is geographically and historically interesting in the Holy Scriptures." A Short Address before and after Confirmation, delivered on the 9th of April, 1832, in the Cathedral and Parish Church of St. Michael, &c. Barbados. Bridge-Town: Pp. 14. AN extensive circulation of this admirable address would be of infinite service to the young, who have lately renewed their baptismal engagements; and not to those only, but to the Christian generally, for the purpose of occasional meditation on the relation in which he stands to God. The concluding prayer we subjoin, as being the only part which is capable of separation from the whole, without injustice to that which it would be necessary to leave behind. "Almighty and everliving God, who makest us both to will and to do those things that be good and acceptable unto thy Divine Majesty; I render unto Thee my most humble and hearty thanks, for that, as on this day, by the laying on of the hands of the bishop, after the example of thy holy Apostles, thou didst certify me (by this sign) of thy favour and gracious goodness towards me. Let thy fatherly hand, I beseech thee, ever be over me; let thy Holy Spirit ever be with me; and so lead me in the knowledge and obedience of thy word, that in the end I may obtain everlasting life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Advice to a Young Man upon first going to Oxford, in Six Letters from an Uncle to his Nephew. By the Rev. E. BERENS, M. A. late Fellow of Oriel College. London: Rivingtons, 1832. 12mo. Pp. 167. Of all the useful writings of Mr. Berens, and they are all of the very highest degree of utility, the present, perhaps, is the most interesting, and certainly not the least important. Cantab orOxonian may equally profit by the maxims of solid wisdom, which are laid down with the convincing force of truth itself in this delightful manual; and, though the candidate for the clerical profession is more immediately in the writer's view, there is not an undergraduate who would not do well to have it at his fingers' ends. It may be read through in half an hour; and contains a mine of useful knowledge, which it would take a whole life to exhaust. Discourses on the Evidences of the Christian Religion. By the Rev. JOHN STONARD, D. D. Rector of Aldingham. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1831. 8vo. Pp. vi. 297. In a series of fourteen discourses, the student is here presented with a connected view of Christian evidence ; and so admirably digested as to form a very ready means of supplying "a reason of the hope that is in him." Luther and the Lutheran Reformation. By JOHN SCOTT, Vicar of North Ferriby, &c. Vol. I. London: Seeley. 1832. 12mo. Pp. vii. 421. [Christian's Family Library, No. I. edited by the Rev. E. BICKERSTETH.] A Memoir of the Rev. E. Payson, D.D. late Pastor of the Second Church in Portland, U. S. 12mo. Pp. xvi. 448. [Christian's Family Library, No. II.] THE former of these volumes is little else than a compilation from Milner's "Church History;" and the latter has already been before the public in another shape. They will doubtless have their readers among a certain disposed to lend our aid to forward the class of religionists; but we are not views of a party to whom we are as decidedly opposed as Christian charity will allow. While there is much in this new "Library" which might tend to advance good morals, and forward the desirable ends of religious instruction and ecclesiastical knowledge, the advantage is more than counterbalanced by the Calvinistic turn which is given to the events recorded, and the sentiments expressed. A SERMON. FOR THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. JAMES ii. 20-22. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? THE Holy Scriptures, to be studied with advantage, must be studied with a teachable and humble mind, without pride and without prejudice. To a want of attention to this important rule in the study of religion, are to be attributed the erroneous doctrines and false theories which too generally prevail at the present day. A man takes up his Bible and opens it at some particular passage, which coincides with his pre-conceived ideas; he immediately adopts the sentiments, apparently contained in it, without one reflection upon the circumstances under which the author wrote, without once considering the character of the age when it was composed, or the persons to whom it was addressed. In no instance, perhaps, has the folly and danger of this hasty and prejudiced study of the sacred writings been more fully displayed, than in the various opinions of different persons respecting the doctrines of faith and good works. United and harmonious as they must ever appear to the candid and sober-minded student of the Bible, it cannot fail to excite his surprise and regret, that they should ever have been perverted into a pretext for variance and schism in the Church of Christ. Such, however, unhappily has been the case. In the course of our ministry, we are constantly in the habit of meeting with two classes of persons; the one, relying solely for salvation on a cold and barren belief, without any endeavour to live agreeably to the precepts of the Gospel; the other, confiding as implicitly for acceptance with God on their own works and merits; thus rendering of none effect the death of our Saviour, and thus virtually denying that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, was "a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." It will be the object of the present discourse, to shew, in the first place, the apparent origin of both these unscriptural errors; and, secondly, to point out the mutual connexion and relation, existing between true faith and good works. The erroneous doctrine, that faith alone, without the fruits of righteousness, will ensure us everlasting salvation, seems to have originated in a misconception of some passages in St. Paul's epistles to the Romans and Galatians, in which the apostle is warning his converts against the notion, that a compliance with the works or ceremonies of the Mosaic law was a necessary qualification for acceptance with the Almighty. Although the Jews were at first the only converts to Christianity, yet were they so elated with the idea, that they alone were the chosen and peculiar people of God, that they did not or would not perceive, that the Christian dispensation was to supersede the Mosaic; that their rites and ceremonies were merely typical of future events, the bare shadows of good things to come, and that they had been fully accomplished in the birth, life, and death, of the Messiah. Under these mistaken impressions, they insisted, that all the Gentile converts should submit to circumcision, and the other ceremonial customs prescribed by the law of Moses; thus blending the Jewish and Christian religions, and making the latter only a modification of the former. It was to counteract this erroneous doctrine, that St. Paul was writing, when he declared, that "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law;" and again, that "a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." Can we imagine that the apostle intended by these words to assert, that faith in the Gospel without obedience to its precepts, would aught avail us in the sight of God? How can we reconcile such an opinion with the whole tenour of St. Paul's writings, which uniformly exhort us to a holy and religious life, command us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and instruct us to be fruitful in every good work? The words of the apostle rightly understood, cannot be referred to any thing else but those works and ceremonies of the Jewish ritual, which were no longer necessary, because the great truths and realities of Christianity, of which they were only the types, had been brought to light. Thus to the candid and pious Christian, St. Paul's doctrine of justification through faith, without the works of the ceremonial law of the Jews, is free from all difficulty and obscurity. We know too well, however, by experience, that even the best and purest things are liable to be corrupted; and so it has happened that this plain doctrine of the apostle, from his own days to the present, has been perverted, either through ignorance or wilful malice, to the utter dissolution of all moral obligation, and to the encouragement of wickedness and vice. It was with a view of exposing and obviating this fatal misinterpretation of St. Paul's meaning, that St. James wrote his epistle; and the words of the text are to be considered as an answer to the vain disputant, who contended that a bare belief in Christianity, without Christian practice, was of itself sufficient to secure our everlasting salvation. "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" Without what works? The works or rites of the Mosaic dispensation? By no means such is not the apostle's meaning. The works, which he is here recommending, are not the works of the law, but those works of a holy and religious life, which spring out of a true and lively faith, as naturally as good fruit proceeds from a good tree. And what is faith without these fruits of holiness? A body without a spirit-a shadow without the substance. Let us then remember, that St. Paul and St. James are speaking of two distinct subjects, when the one declares that we are justified without works, and the other by them. St. Paul is treating of the works of the Mosaic law; St. James, of a man's own works or moral actions. St. Paul speaks of faith, out of which good works proceed; St. James, of the works which spring out of a true and lively faith. St. Paul is addressing persons who relied upon ceremonial observances, as indispensably necessary for salvation; St. James is dissuading all men from the false delusion, that St. Paul does not inculcate the necessity of |