men,' but who evinced himself to be, endued with all power from on high.' But where the nature of the godhead is concerned, we in vain attempt to search it out: we are, therefore, bound to receive that explanation of it which is delivered by divine authority. It is the province of reason to examine into the actual conveyance of any asserted revelation of the will of God; and if this be established, it behoves the finite wisdom of man to submit implicitly to the doctrines that are taught, how far soever they may exceed his comprehension. And if they who assume to themselves the denomination of rational christians, will object to such a submission of the understanding, let them dispassionately inquire, whether they are not often as much baffled in their researches into the mode of their own existence, and into a variety of natural causes and effects, as they are in their presumptuous attempts to understand all mysteries and all knowledge?" We cannot dismiss this article without expressing our admiration of its principles, its spirit, and its language. A dispassionate Inquiry into the best Means of National Safety. By JOHN BOWLES, Esq. 8vo. pp 115. TH HIS zealous patriot delineates the political state of the country with a masterly hand; and though he does not throw into shade the dangers which threaten us at this eventful period big with the fate of empires and systems, he holds out strong reasons for perseverance and fortitude in the arduous contest in which we are engaged. "To the questionAre we then to wage eternal war?' he replies, we must wage war so long as it is necessary for our defence. We are in a situation which admits only of a choice of evils. That war is an evil, and a grievous one too, is indisput able able; but that peace, in the present state of things, would be a far greater evil, is a truth which reason and experience combine to establish. To exchange war for peace, under such circumstances, would be an act of frenzy, deserving of the ruin of which, in all human probability, it would be speedily productive." The danger of premature pacification is forcibly stated, and Mr. Bowles remonstrates against it with the energy of a man who is feelingly alive to the dearest interests of his native land. "We must not suffer ourselves," says he, "to be wearied out by any length of contest; we must not be disheartened by any failure of efforts; we must not be induced by any temporary or partial success, to relax our exertions for permanent security; and what, after so long an enjoyment of prosperity, may be more difficult than all the rest, we must resolve cheerfully to submit to whatever privations so severe a struggle, for all that is dear to us may render necessary. We must, in short, obtain that firmness and self-command, which alone can enable us to encounter those difficulties, and to endure those disappointments which it may be our lot to experience before we can again enjoy the sweets of repose" Mr. Bowles recommends to his countrymen, as a quality of high importance at this moment, a disposition to internal harmony, concord, and co-operation. He points out our moral disorders with a faithful hand, and lifts up his warning voice against prevalent luxuries and corruptions, in language, calculated to rouse us, if any thing human can rouse us, to the great work of individual and national reformation. The character of the illustrious pilot who for so long and perilous a period held the state helm, and successfully weathered the storm which made shipwreck of so many other powers, is drawn with such elegence and truth, that we trust our readers will thank us for the extract. "As by contemplating great characters, the mind is warmed. with admiration, until it kindles into congeniality, nothing can be better calculated to raise the mind of this country to a level with its present most arduous situation, than the contemplation of the character of Mr. Pitt. But who shall attempt to delineate such a character? Who can adequately describe those matchless talents, which excited the astonishmet even of those who were best acquainted with the models of Grecian and Roman eloquence; 3 0 2 talents talents, too, so various, as never to have been before united in the same individual; each of which was sufficient to render its possessor an object of the highest admiration, and which, collectively, formed a constellation of genius and ability, such as had never before illumined the political world? Mr. Pitt, however, possessed far higher claims to admiration and estimation than it is in the power of talents to bestow, He was cast upon times which called for an uncommon display of those qualities in which true greatness consists; and he displayed those quali ties in a manner, certainly never surpassed, perhaps never equalled. By his comprehension, energy, and firmness of mind; by his decision of character; by his intrepidity of soul; he became the bulwark, and, under Providence, the preserver of his coun try, at a cricis of unprecedented difficulty, danger, and dismay, But his highest merits are yet untouched. If it be true that an honest man's the noblest work work of God,' how noble a work was that man, who not only maintained the most perfect integrity, the most unsullied purity, in situations where those virtues are exposed to the severest trials, but who superaded thereto, such a disinterestedness of mind, such an indifference to every personal feeling and consideration, such an entire and absolute devotedness to his country, that in him the attachment to self, which seems to be inseperably interwoven with our nature, was lost and absorbed in unceasing solicitude for the public welfare. "After all, to do justice to this truly great man, he must be viewed in that trying situation in which all temporal interests fade away, and an eternal scene opens to the view. In that awful state he shone with encreased lustre. Building his hopes of approaching and endless felicity on the only safe foundation, he still continued to feel that solicitude for his country, to which his life was a sacrifice; on his death bed, he displayed the highest excellence that can adorn the human character; and, with his expiring breath, he proved himself a real patriot, and a true Christian." After so luminous a specimen, nothing more need be said by us to recommend this sound and seasonable publi cation, to the serious perusal of our readers, LIST LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS, A rochial Clergy of the Church SERIOUS Address to the Pa of England, on the increasing influence of the People called Methodists. By a Layman. 1s, Select Sermons. By the Rev. Alexander Cleeve, A. B. late Vicar of Wooler, in Northumberland, Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Portland, and Lecturer at Trinity Chapel, Knightsbridge. 2s. 6d. Considerations on the Alliance between Christianity and Commerce, applied to the present State of this Country. 2s. Discursory Considerations on the supposed Evidences of the Early Fathers, that St. Matthew's Gospel was first written, By a Country Clergyman. 3s. Institutes of Biblical Criticism; or, Heads of a Course of Lectures. on that Subject, read in the Uni versity and King's College, Aberdeen. By Gilbert Gerard, D. D, Professor of Divinity. 9s. Physical and Metaphysical Ins quiries. Containing, 1. Of Matter. 2. Of Deity. 3, Of Free Will. 7s, A Discourse delivered to the United Congregations of Protes, tant Dissenters, in Exeter, Nov. 2. 1806. By Law Carpenter. 15. Mr. Thomas Moore, B. A. was admitted Actual Fellow of Baliol College; and Mr. William Vaux, B. A. of Christ Church, and Mr. Charles Barker, Scholar of Baliol College, were elected Probationer Fellows of tha Society. Dec. 3. Mr. David Hughes, B. A. and Mr. Edward Thomas, Commoner of Jesus College, have been elected Scholars of that Society. 10. The Rev. Stephen Preston, of Lincoln College; Mr. Thomas Hawkeshead, of Brasenose College; the Rev. Henry Watts Wilkinson, of Worcester College; the Rev. George Street, of St. John's College; and the Rev. William Bayly, of New College, B. A. were admitted Masters of Arts. Messrs. Francis Bickley Astley, and James Volant Voshon, of Oriel College; Enoch H. Warriner, of Lincoln College; Thomas Wood Simpson, of Worcester College; and John Cox Russell, of Hertford College, were admitted Bachelors of Arts. 12. Mr. John Keble, has been admitted Scholar of Corpus Christi College. The last day of Michaelmas Term, the Rev. John Wilson and Nathaniel Humphrey, of Lincoln College, and Edward Repton, of Magdalen College, were admitted Masters of Arts. Hector Davies Morgan, of Trinity College, Esq. was admitted Bachelor of Arts, Grand Compounder, Messrs, John Watkins, of Magdalen Hail; Thomas William Tanner, of Hertford College; Henry Jenkins, of Magdalen College; and John Freakes, of Brasenose College, were admitted Buchelors of Arts. Mr. Timothy Essex, Student in Music, of Magdalen Hall, was admitted Bachelor in Music. Mr. William Henry Tinnoy, B. A. John Warden, Esq. of Emanuel College, has been admitted to the degree of Doctor of Physic. The Rev. W. Parker, B. A. of Emanuel College, is elected a Fellow of that Society. The Right Rev. John, Lord Bishop of Oxford, is translated to the See of Bangor, void by the promotion of the bishop of that diocese to St. Asaph. The Rev. Stephen Sloane, B. A. has been presented by the crown to the Rectory of Godney, in Lincolnshire, void by the death of the Rev. Jonathan Rashleigh. The Rev. Robert Clifton, B. A, is appointed by the Rev. the Dean and Chapter of Worcester, to the Minor Canonry in that cathedral, vacant by the death of the Rev. John William Harrison, Clerk. The Rev. Mr. Hume, Canon Residentiary of Salisbury Cathedral, has been collated by the Bishop to the Treasurership of the said church, void by the death of the Rev. Francis Dodsworth, and the Rev. Mr. Kenrick to the Prebend of Teinton Regis, void by the death of the Rev. Mr, Spry. |