was finally taken to his rest on the last day of the year, and in the sixty-first year of his age.

Such was the end of this extraordinary man. From the traditions respecting him at Lutterworth, Mr. Le Bas has selected the following, relative to the discharge of his pastoral duties, with which, and the comment thereon, we must close our analysis.

A portion of each morning, it is said, was regularly devoted to the relief of the necessitous, to the consolation of the afflicted, and to the discharge of every pious office, by the bed of sickness and of death. Every thing which is actually known respecting Wiclif, combines to render this account entirely credible. The duties of the Christian ministry form the incessant burden of a considerable portion of his writings. To the faithfulness and assiduity with which he discharged one very essential portion of those duties, the extant manuscripts of his parochial discourses bear ample and honourable testimony. There is nothing, therefore, which can tempt the most sceptical caution to question the report which describes him as exemplary in every department of his sacred stewardship. "Good priests," he himself tells us, "who live well in purity of thought, and speech, and deed, and in good example to the people, who teach the law of God up to their knowledge, and labour fast day and night to learn it better, and teach it openly and constantly, these are very prophets of God, and holy angels of God, and the spiritual lights of the world! Thus saith God by his prophets, and Jesus Christ in his Gospel; and saints declare it well by authority and reason. Think, then, ye priests, on this noble office, and honor it, and do it cheerfully, according to your knowledge and your power!" It is surely delightful to believe that the people of Lutterworth had before their eyes the living and breathing form of that holy benevolence which is here portrayed with so much admirable simplicity and beauty.-Pp. 296, 297.

In following Mr. Le Bas through the course of Wiclif's life, we have adhered strictly to events, abstaining from any discussions, which would have exceeded the limits of a review. To the biographer himself we refer for able defences upon those parts of the Reformer's conduct against which the Romanist historian, Dr. Lingard, has reiterated the cavils of his party, as well as for much interesting reflection upon the important facts of which he treats. To the main object of the volume, two supplementary chapters are added, in which the exertions of the followers of Wiclif, and the fate of his doctrines, are traced, from the time of his death to the period of the Reformation. We may also notice the chapter on Wiclif's opinions, as deserving of minute attention.

With respect to the "Library," of which this interesting volume forms the commencement, we shall finish, as we began, with our best wishes for its success. Occupied as the ground is by "Libraries" of almost every description, we trust that there is still room for one, which is very far from being the least deserving competitor for public patronage. If the present specimen is followed up by equal talent and interest in succeeding numbers, there can be no doubt that their ample merit will ensure an extensive demand: and we have too great confidence in the editorial sagacity and solid judgment of Archdeacon Lyall and Mr. Rose, to expect any falling off in an undertaking so auspiciously begun.

ART. IV.-1. The Day of Pentecost, or the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. By the Rev. EDWARD IRVING, M. A. London: Baldwin and Cradock. Pp. 116.

2. Fraser's Magazine. No. XXIV.

3. The Unknown Tongues discovered to be English, Spanish, and Latin ; and the Rev. Edward Irving proved to be erroneous in attributing their Utterance to the Influence of the Holy Spirit. Also a private Arrangement in his Closet, previous to a Prayer-Meeting and Consultation in the Vestry, to which the Writer was invited by Mr. Irving, because he believed him to be in "the Spirit," and prayed that he might receive the Gift of Interpretation. Various interesting Colloquies between the Writer and Mr. Irving and his Followers; and Observations which manifestly shew that they are all under a Delusion. By GEORGE PILKINGTON, who interpreted before the Congregation. London: Field & Bull. Pp. 26.

4. The Unknown Tongues!! &c.; or, the Rev. Edward Irving arraigned at the Bar of the Scriptures of Truth, and found “ Guilty.” By an earnest Contender for "the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints." London: W. Kidd. Pp. 32.

5. The Morning Watch; or Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, and Theological Review. No. XII. London: Nisbet.

It was our fixed determination to have allowed the lamentable exhibitions of Mr. Irving and his dupes, at the Scotch National Church, to have sunk into that oblivion which, both for the sake of the actors themselves and the credulous simpletons who are the victims of their "craft and subtlety," is most devoutly to be wished; but when one of the leading and most influential periodicals of the day allows itself to become the vehicle for disseminating the obnoxious heresy, and by its countenance gives, as it were, a stamp and value to theories and opinions in themselves grossly false and valueless, we feel that we should be guilty of a dereliction of duty, were we longer to remain idle and unconcerned spectators. Stimulated by these motives alone, we have had recourse to the writings of some of our most learned divines, and also to the remains of those early Fathers of the Church who have touched upon the point, and we are now desirous of conveying through our pages that conviction to the public at large, which we ourselves entertain, and by which Mr. Irving appears to us to stand exposed, either as the dupe of his own enthusiastic imagination, or something infinitely worse, which, in Christian charity, we are unwilling to believe.

Let us, for instance, take merely a cursory glance at the history of this "gift of tongues," which Mr. Irving now claims as the peculiar inheritance of his own unspotted flock; and we find, that, as the

learned Conyers Middleton observed, in the times of the Gospel, in which alone the miracles of the Church are allowed to be true by all Christians, it was the first gift conferred upon the Apostles in a public and illustrious manner, and ever after looked upon as the chief of those conferred upon the first converts. But in the succeeding ages, if the Apostolic Fathers and their immediate successors are entitled to credit, when miracles began to be suspected, and assumed the appearance of being the cunningly devised conceits of man, it is worthy of observation that this gift is mentioned but once by a single individual, and then entirely ceased; which, according to the irrefragable testimony of Dodwell, took place about sixty years after the death of St. John.-"A Marci temporibus deficere cœperunt gratiæ illæ extraordinariæ; - defecere eorundem dona linguarum." Diss. Iren. 2. § 44. But the "gift," as claimed by Irenæus for the primitive Church, differs in every essential point from the figment of the inspired Scotch. These latter utter a gibberish utterly unintelligible even to themselves, although Mr. Pilkington's Key has unlocked some of the mysteries of their godliness,-whilst the former, we read, were "heard to speak all kinds of languages in the Church."

And here a question naturally suggests itself-For what purpose (we speak reverently) Divine Wisdom should see fit in this day, when the Gospel has been translated into every written and some unwritten tongues, to manifest such an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit as is now claimed? Even in the earliest ages, when it might have been considered essentially necessary to the propagation of the Gospel, we find Irenæus sadly declaring that it was not the least part of his trouble, that he was forced to learn the language of the country, a rude and barbarous dialect, before he could do any good among them. And must we not then doubt, even on less suspicious testimony than we have at present, the perpetuation of a gift to a fraction of the Catholic Church not so eminent for its pure spirit of Christianity as its adherence to the dogmas of John Calvin? In speaking of the cessation of miracles, even in his own day, St. Chrysostom, moreover, says, that "the present strength of the Christian faith no longer needs them :"-" Nov dè ovde ἀξίοις δέδοται, ἡ γὰρ ἰσχὺς τῆς πιστέως οὐκέτι ταύτης δεῖται τῆς συμpaxías." (Vol. III. p. 65.)

Are the slang-whangers (to borrow an American term), who, under their arch-master, howl forth their nonsense, defiling the house of prayer, greater than the "alio" of old? or are the mummings of Mr. Irving likely to be of more avail than the soul-breathed aspirations of the Fathers and Martyrs of ancient time, who were deemed worthy to suffer for Christ's sake, but not one of whom pretended to these miraculous powers? If we are asked why we disbelieve and disallow the claims preferred by these people, let St. Augustine

answer: "Cur, inquirunt, nunc illa miracula, quæ prædicatis facta esse, non fiunt? Possem quidem dicere, necessaria prius fuisse, quam crederet mundus, ad hoc, ut crederet mundus. Quisquis adhuc prodigia, ut credat, inquirit, magnum est ipse prodigium, qui, mundo credente, non credit." (De Civ. Dei, lib. xxii. c. 8.)

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There is one thing that militates against the supposition that these Morning Watchmen" are themselves the deceived, which it may be proper to notice. Their organ has now been published for upwards of four years, and, it is quite clear, was established as a preparative for the further development of their pretended powers. The doctrines attempted to be therein maintained and promulgated, judging from the number before us, are in no instance based upon the true interpretation of Scripture; and are therefore dangerous to the best interests of a Christian community. The editor of the "Morning Watch," or, at all. events, the originator and chief proprietor, is Irving Ipsissimus; and, of course, the train of argument admitted into its pages is tainted with his own heresy: it savours much of Calvinism, little of charity; violently opposes all creeds but that preferred by themselves; and has indulged in attacks upon the Established Church, as unmeasured as unmerited: and yet, forsooth, on such heads is the Holy Ghost said to have descended, through such organs is the Divine will to be proclaimed!

If, in these remarks, our readers should discover any thing at variance with that forbearance which usually characterizes our pages, we have merely to observe, that neither on the score of religious truth or courtesy, does Mr. Irving deserve particular leniency at our hands. How does he speak of our church, for instance, in the last number of Fraser's Magazine? "The churches, and seats of learning, and high places, are but one great confederacy against the truth as it is in Jesus, and to smite with the fist of wickedness every faithful man, and cast them forth with indignity from their apostate and apostatizing synagogues. When I see the Presbyteries of the north, and the Bishops of the south, and the heads of the populace among the dissenting bodies, uniting to silence every watchman who hath in him any discernment or faithfulness, what can I conclude, but that God will rather stain their glory, than suffer his Son's glory to be by them overthrown?"— P. 758.

Verily, friend, you have no mean opinion of yourself! A truly spiritual Quixote art thou, Edward Irving! The stain brought upon the Gospel by all the professors of all other creeds is to be wiped out by thine immaculate self!!! Why, this is very midsummer madness; and we certainly shall not feel ourselves obnoxious to the cavils and objections of either this new apostle or his satellites for any thing we may say, after the above specimen of Christian humility and meekness. "Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione querentes?"

We should like to see an "oration" of Mr. Irving's, on the text-"Two men went up into the temple to pray."

In our last number, we mentioned the excellent discourse of Mr. Harness upon this point. That gentleman fully coincides with us in opinion, that the languages spoken by the Corinthian converts were languages then in use in the world, and, we may add, were never uttered by the early disciples save in the presence of persons capable of interpreting. For, says St. Paul, (1 Cor. xiv. 8,)-Kaì yàp làv åônλor φωνὴν σάλπιγξ δῷ, τίς παρασκευάσεται εἰς πόλεμον. In what respect does this declaration of St. Paul coincide with the on dits of the Scotch church? The utterers of this new base coin do not even pretend to call it a sterling language and had it not been for Mr. Pilkington, whom Mr. Irving would fain have enlisted as a gifted brother, we might have been as ignorant of the adulterated Spanish, Latin, &c., as the veriest dupe of the great miracle-monger. The title of Mr. P.'s work is the best key to the mystery; that single page speaks more than a volume: and to those who may be desirous of a perfect insight into the whole phantasmagoria, we recommend its perusal.

We must, however, for the present, dismiss Mr. Irving; which we do with the less reluctance, as he has promised a continuation, both of his first work upon the Day of Pentecost, and also of his correspondence with "Fraser;" in which he proposes a further exposition of his theories, and will, no doubt, indulge in congenial remarks upon the dignitaries of the Episcopal Church. When he has "written his book," like Job we shall be better able to deal with him.

But connected with this subject, we have had occasion to note a remarkable and very significant "sign of the times." The "Morning Watch," the organ and forerunner of these "seers of visions and dreamers of dreams," abuses the Church! An opponent, who pronounces Mr. Irving guilty at the bar of Scripture, praises Cheynell Bulteel, and of course ABUSES THE CHURCH!! An obscure Popish man, who edits an obscure Popish review, also an opponent of Mr. I., most virulently abuses THE CHURCH!!! We might go on,-but no; the first sentence in Jewell's Apology explains the origin of this hatred of our Establishment:-" Vetus illa est querela a primis usque Patriarcharum et Prophetarum ducta temporibus, et omnis memoriæ literis et testimoniis confirmata, Veritatem in terris peregrinam agere, et inter ignotos facile inimicos et calumniatores invenire."