reason. This is the palladium of those who oppose establishments; and how shall we deprive them of it?" p. 257. To which we only subjoin, How indeed? The limits of our work imperiously forbid our noticing all the subjects of this interesting volume. We are not prepared to admit the correctness of Mr. Conder's statement, that "the Apostles did not themselves observe a fixed uniform rule in settling the government of the primitive churches, but adapted their course of proceeding to the circumstances of the persons with whom they had to deal." We think his attempts to prove this from the language of scripture are totally inconclusive; and the authority of Eutychus respecting the government of the church at Alexandria being in "twelve presbyters;" or of Jerome speaking of the "Senate, or Common Council," as governing the church; or even of Ignatius, who calls "the presbyters the Sanhedrim of the church;"* do not amount in our estimation to sufficient evidence," that in the early ages of the church,' (if by the early ages are meant that period of the church | when things existed as they were at first appointed,) there are undoubted traces of the existence of a college of elders,' as it is termed, acting in concert with the presiding pastor, or arch-presbyter." P. 07. Nor is it likely that the primitive episcopacy," thereby intending the office of a single pastor, or the manner of his being invested with his authority by ordination, was derived from the government of the synagogue. We think it much more probable that whatever resemblance appears in the government of the churches after the apostolic age to the government of the Jewish synagogue, was from the influence which Jewish customs and prejudices had upon the minds of christianized Jews; which even *Le Clerc thus paraphrases the expression of Ignatins in his Epist. ad Philadelph. Sect. 5; "the apostles as the presbyters of the church:" referring doubtless to their inspired authority.. apostolic authority and precedent had been insufficient to prevent. All the deviations from the "simplicity of Christ" might be clearly traced, either to Jewish customs, if before the times of Constantine, or to those in connexion with Pagan rites, if after that period. In reference to every thing in religion, which it cannot be proved is derived from the language or practice of Christ and his apostles, we adopt the reply used by Mr. Conder, in respect to an Establishment; "From the beginning it was not so." 66 Mr. Conder is not always historically correct. In page 266 he speaks of the Schism Bill as having passed both houses." He should bave said, "after having received the royal assent." Its operation, even after it had become the law of the land being "happily frustrated by the death of the last of the Stuarts," appears still more remarkable. As a whole, however, it is an admirable performance, and the Nonconformists have no cause to be ashamed of their advocate. This edition too is much improved by the long article in the former on Infantbaptism being totally omitted. It appears to us that no serious, Dissenter can rise from the perusal of this work without being determined to "stand fast in the liberty where with Christ hath made his people free." And one would be ready to conclude, that every unprejudiced churchman must be convinced by reading it of the truth of a declaration made by Archbishop Secker,t "The Dissenters are sincere wellwishers to the civil part of our present happy establishment; and they are to be esteemed and loved for it." While the Toleration Act is maintained inviolate, the Protestant Dissenters will be under no temptation to wish alterations in the constitu tion and liturgy of the church of England, as it would be hardly pos sible the times of conformity could be so large and liberal as to invite their ministers into the establish ment. Its necessary alliance with the state, under whatever regula + Letter to Mr. Walpole concerne ing bishops in America, p. 24, 25. tions, would be a fundamental objection to their accepting any of its immunities: as they could not submit to secular interference in matters of spiritual concern. As things now are, Ephraim does not envy Judah, nor can Judah vex Ephraim. It is hardly necessary for us to add, that we wish the abridged work of Mr. Conder the most extensive circulation. The Preacher; or Sketches of original Sermons, chiefly selected from the Manuscripts of two eminent Divines of the last Century, for the Use of Lay Preachers and Young Ministers. To which is prefixed, a familiar Essay on the Composition of a Sermon. Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4. Richard Baynes. THESE four volumes contain 164 Sketches, more or less perfect. The first includes 43, with the following titles. 1. The apostolic ministry. 2. Ministerial fidelity. 3. Incorrigible bearers. 4. Enoch's translation. 5. Privileges of the godly. 6. The sin of Moses and Aaron. 7. Wisdom of Providence. 8. Assurance of faith. 9. Grateful remembrance of past mercies. 10. The final Judge. 11. Lost sinners directed in the way. 12. Moses's prayer. 13. Evidences of adoption. 14. Noah saved in the ark. 15. Ungodly professors admonished. 16. Inconceivable magnitude of God's works. 17. Danger of religious indecision. 18. Deliverance from the fear of death. 19. Awful contempt of God. 20. Origin, progress, and end of true religion. 21. Disagreement amongst brethren. 22. Christ's inheritance. 23. Elijah's defection. 24. Afflictions alleviated by a view of the divine mercy. 25. The believer's triumph. 26. The Lord's table. 27. Prerequisites for communion with God. 28, 29. Mary at the sepulchre. 30. Paul's constancy, 31. Danger of evil thoughts. 32. Christian edification. 33. Closing scene of our Saviour's life. 34. The cup of wrath. 35. Early, piety. 36. The fulness of Christ. 37. Zacharias and the angel. 38. Religion the source of justice and benevolence. 39. Certain efficacy of the afone, ment. 40. Christ healing the multitude. 41. Invitation to enlarged prayer. 42. Enmity against God. 43. The christian life a pilgrimage. The second volume also contains 43 Sketches, to which is prefixed a Letter, entitled "The Gospel the proper subject of the christian ministry."* 1. Glorying in the cross. 2. On hearing the word. 3. The penitential sacrifice. 4. God and the Redeemer mutually glorified. 5. Characteristics of true religion. 6. Spiritual offerings. 7. The sinner's refuge. 8. Christian worship not confined to place. 9. The sinner reproved. 10. Inveterate depravity. 11. The christian warfare. 12. The unspeakable gift. 13. The sinner's doom. 14. Commendation of the service of God. 15. Mysteries of divine government. 16. Christian contentment. 17. Christ's agony in the garden. 18. The blessed and the cursed. 19. The practical tendency of true wisdom. 20. Happy issue of sanctified affliction. 21. The leper. 22. The leper healed. 23. Christian perfection an object of prayer and of hope. 24. Dreadful uncertainty of the present life. 25. Practical inconsistencies reproved. 26. Christ the only source of life and blessedness. 27. The evil of sin. 28. Advantages of possessing 29. Spiritual enthe scriptures. largement. 30. Religious steadfastness. 31. The gratification of desire essential to our happiness. 32. Harvest of the gosper day. 33. The apostles' prayer. 34. Wicked professors the bane of the church. 35. Importance of making religion the chief concern. 36. The impenitent malefactor. 37. National prosperity. 38. Importance of attempting the conversion of sinners. 39. Connection between justification and sanctification. 40. The pleasures of true piety. 41. The sinner's ruin and recovery. 42. The judg 43. Future ment of the great day. purity and glory of the church. * N.B. In the 4th Volume of Mr. Fuller's Works, now publishing by his son, we perceive there are three letters, entitled “Thoughts on Preaching." past life. 17. The sinner's awful danger. 18. Peter's temptation. 19. Characteristics of true repentance. 20. Moses's intercession for Israel. 21. Happy state of the primitive church. 22. The priesthood of Christ. 23. Prosperity of the wicked not to be envied. 24. Characteristics of aged piety. 25. The evil and danger of pride. 26. Adopting grace and love. 27. Sin and danger of delaying the concerns of religion. 28. Christian compas- sion. 29. Religious progression. 30. Good and evil influence of society. 31. Inherent depravity. 32. Conformity to Christ. 33. Abel's offering. 34. God's supreme dominion. 35. Motives to habitual benevolence. 36. The ministry of angels. 37. The church triumphant. If this page should meet the eye of a preacher who is poring over his Bible and his concordance, and feels at a loss in attempting to fix on an evangelical subject, let bim acknowledge that we have placed an ample variety before him. He is welcome to take one of these, and when he has exhausted the resources of his own mind, he may profitably consult these volumes. The third volume contains 41 Sketches. 1. Christ's nativity. 2. Mercy of the Saviour to a benighted world. 3. Honour and integrity cssential to the christian character. 4. The gospel covenant. 5. The joy of Laban. 6. The ten lepers. 7. Communion of saints. 8. Insensibility amidst national mercies. 9. The blessedness of following Christ. 10. Importance of love to God. 11. | Past afflictions a plea for future mercy. 12. The joy occasioned by early piety. 13. The scorner's contempt of religion. 14. Triumphs of the faithful. 15. The penitent malefactor. 16. The blessings of sleep. 17. Moral diseases, and their remedy. 18. Fatal issue of final impenitence. 19. Union with Christ the source of true religion. 20. Prayer of the demoniac. 21. The work of patience. 22. Necessity of renewing grace. 23. Carnal policy in matters of religion inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel. 24. Privi- | leges of Christ's flock. 25. Duty of mutual forgiveness. 26. Christ's farewell to his disciples. 27. The denial of our sinful state a virtual rejection of the gospel. 28. Christian hope and consolation. 29. Sorrows of old age. 30. Baptism. In many of these outlines we 31. The second advent. 32. The could not fail to recognise the hand believer's blessed hope. 33. Vision of the late Mr. Fuller, an eminent of the dry bones. 34. End of the master in Israel, whose preaching righteous and the wicked. 35. Self- and writings, in their effects, will existence of God. 36. Necessity of be immortal. Some of them are far the atonement. 37. Victory over more finished than others: great temptation. 38. Love to the name simplicity in the plan, and great of the Lord. 39. Import and obli- comprehension of thought pervade gations of the gospel. 40. Use of them all. In some of them, the past experience. 41. The final sublime and the pathetic prevail, victory. with such energy of diction, that no reader can be unmoved. Many will be reminded of the man who was let down into Elisha's grave, and the result of his being brought into contact with the great prophet's bones. If such effect be produced by these skeletons, what a privilege it must have been to hear the living voice of this man of God, when he was in the vigour of health, and had the free and mighty exercise of his extraordinary powers! The fourth volume contains 37 Sketches. 1. The resurrection of Christ 2. Christ's spiritual manifestation. 3. Confession and forgiveness. 4. Victory over the world. 5. Rest of the gospel-day. 6. Redemption from the curse, 7. Dreadful effects of carnality. 8. Blessedness of spirituality. 9. The reign of Christ, 10. Israel's defection and recovery. 11. Christ's voluntary humiliation. 12. Christian conversation. 13. Attractions of the cross. 14. Destruction of Antichrist. 15. Importance of early piety. 16. Jacob's review of his We cannot exhort young David to go to battle, clad in the armour of Saul, but we can assure him that he may derive much advantage from inspecting it at his leisure. If the remaining volumes shall be equal to these, the editor will confer an important benefit on the increasing number of those who are longing to preach the unscarchable riches of Christ. Prefixed to the first volume, there is an admiral " Essay on the Composition of a Sermon," by the late Mr. Fuller, which also we have seen in his " Works," Vol. IV. Sacred Lyrics; by James Edmeston. Third Set. 12mo. pp. 76. 3s. 6d. THOSE Who possess the previous sets of Sacred Lyrics which have appeared from the pen of Mr. Edmeston, have (we should suppose) ere now added the present small volume to their treasures of sacred poetry. The pious author maintains his title to be ranked above the numerous class of ordinary and common place writers, and in consecrating his genius to sacred musings, his "Invocation" may be read as fervent and effectual prayer. "Oh! for one flash of that pure fire, To soar into the sky; Direct, inspire the whole : Then can I sing, if I may be Directed and inspired by THEE!" Whilst the syren voice of the licentious muse betrays the incautious votaries of pleasure, we rejoice that in point of poetical merit she is in danger of losing some of her golden feathers It is no indication that geniuses of taste are wanting, when sacred themes inspire the poet's Bong. | The Vanity of Youth: a Sermon on the Death of Elizabeth Shepherd, aged Eighteen Years. Preached at Aston Sandford by the late Rev. Thomas Scott. THIS sermon was taken down in short-hand at the time it was delivered, and is now published by the widow of Mr. Scott. We think it worthy of the name and talents of the author, and the editor deserves our thanks for thus rescuing from oblivion what, we trust, will prove a lasting blessing to many parents and their children. We give the sermon our unqualified approba tion, and as the cost is only sixpence, we recommend it as an excellent reward for Sunday-school scholars. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE, Just Published. Hora Romana: a new Translation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, by Clericus, small 8vo. 4s. Ode on the Death of the late Rev. John Owen. The Sunday-school Magazine for March, Price One Penny; to be con tinued Monthly; embellished with two Wood Cuts. The Miscellaneous Works of the late Rev. Thomas Harmer. 8vo. 10s. 6d. A Tribute of Affection to the Memory of a beloved Wife; being a Sketch of the Life and Character of Mrs. Maria Cramp, with Extracts from her Correspondence. By J. M. Cramp. Gurnal and Lina; or the African Children. An instructive and enter. taining Work. The Church in Canaan: or Heirs in Possession receiving the Promises." By William Seaton. Vol. I. 12mo. 6s. Observations on Providence, chiefly in Relation to the Affairs of the Church. By the Rev. John Leifchild. 12mo. 3s. Sketches of Sermons: furnished by their respective Authors. Vol. V. 12mo. Price 4s.. Treatises on Justification and Regeneration. By John Witherspoon, D.D. With an Introductory Essay, by William Wilberforce, Esq. 12mo. 4s. Bds. An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners. By the Rev. Joseph Alleine. With an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Andrew Thompson, A. M. Edinburgh, 12mo. 4s. 6d. Bds, In the Press. The Rev. John Hayter Cox will shortly publish "The Harmony of the Scriptures Vindicated: or apparently contradictory Passages reconciled." In Nineteen Lectures. Also, a new Edition, improved, of Jesus Showing Mercy, 18mo. Sabbaths at Home: or Devotional Exercises when confined from Public Four Treatises; by J. A. Haldane, Sermons preached in St. John's Church, Glasgow. By Thomas Chal mers, D.D. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Bds. Intelligence, &c. STEPNEY ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION. THE Annual Meeting of this Institution was held on Tuesday evening, January 21, at the King's Head, Poultry, when the report for the last year was read, and the officers and committee chosen for the current year. In the conclusion of the Report the Committee observe, "that they are much gratified in being able to state, that though the Institution has had to encounter many difficulties and trials, the good effects of its establishment already appear, and may serve to encourage and stimulate its friends in their future exertions. Upwards of sixty Ministers, whose studies were In the report the committee express directed and assisted under your patheir hope that "hostility to academi- tronage, are now labouring in the cal instruction is gradually, but effec- cause of Christ in various parts of the tually dying away," ," and state, that kingdom. In many instances considerthere are at the present time, in Eng-able success has attended their endealand and Wales, nearly twenty institutions, the object of which is to assist pious young men in their preparation for the arduous duties of the ministry. During the past year six young men have been received under the patronage of the Society. Two students have left the Academy; Mr. J. A. Warne is gone to America, where his friends Subscriptions and donations are rereside, and where, it is hoped, he is ceived by the Treasurer, Joseph Gutusefully employed in the cause of God; teridge, Esq. Denmark-Hill, CamberMr. C. Nott is supplying the church well; by the Tutors, at the Academy, at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham-Stepney; by the Secretar, the Rev. shire. There are now thirteen stu- J. M. Cramp, Chapel-Place, Longdents at Stepney: their attention to Lane, Southwark; and by any memtheir studies, and their deportment ber of the Committee. during the past year, have been in general satisfactory to the tutors. The Rev. F. A. Cox has resigned his situation as Mathematical tutor. vours; the careless have been aroused, the slothful awakened, and declining interests revived. These are cheering facts. Animated by the recollection of them let us persevere in our efforts, not forgetting to seck by earnest prayer for the blessing and sanction of heaven." THE Annual Meeting of "The Society for the relief of AGED AND INThe thanks of the Society were voted FIRM BAPTIST MINISTERS,” into several gentlemen who have pre- stituted at Bath, 1816, will be held at sented donations of books since the the vestry of the Baptist meeting-house, last Annual Meeting. The Library Somerset-street, Bath, June 18, at noon. is still however very small, and inade-In the interim, the beneficiary mem. quate presents of valuable works on bers, annual subscribers, and congretheological subjects, as well as of gations disposed to aid the funds of good editions of the Classics and the this society by a collection, are reFathers, both Greek and Latin, will spectfully requested to remit their be gratefully received. A similar re- subscriptions and collections to any mark may be made in reference to member of the Committee, who are Philosophical Apparatus, of which the desired to remit all sums received Society possesses at present but a on account of the Society, to Rev. J very limited provision. P. Porter, Bath. |