A Letter to the Right Hon. Henry Lord Brougham, on the Government Plan of Education. By SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, M. A., Archdeacon of Surrey.

"There are also two FALSE UNITIES; the one grounded on an implicit ignorance, for all colours will agree in the dark; the other pieced up of EXPOSITIONS DIRECTLY CONTRARY IN FUNDAMENTAL POINTS: for truths and falsehood are like the iron and clay in the toes of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw-they may cleave, but not incorporate."-Lord Bacon.

London: Burns. 1840.

LORD BROUGHAM's Letter on Education is here answered, in the only way in which it can properly be answered, not in the way of accusation, or anger, but by calmly and clearly pointing out to his lordship what the true nature of the Church is, and consequently what the question of Education really turns upon. It is not a mere party question; it is not a question of expediency; but as the archdeacon has well said, "it is a question whether this country shall have a Church or no." The clear and decided statement of truths of this sort is what we want, if only they be at the same time ably developed and maintained. And the archdeacon has done good service to his country, by the publication of the Letter before us.

Considerations on Phrenology. By the Rev. J. S. HODGSON, M. A.

London Parker. Pp. 201.

MR. HODGSON tells us in his preface, that he has written his book in consequence of certain "extraordinary demands," which the phrenologists have been hardy enough to make. They have demanded, it seems, or some among them, "that the government should at the national expense institute schools for educating children in the principles of their new science." If this be the case, our phrenologists are at all events most eager and hearty advocates of the principle of an Established Church, whatever other principle they may discard; they have no jealousy of the efforts of government in educating the people; an alliance for their doctrine with the State, is so far from being displeasing to them, that they are soliciting it while yet their child is but in the cradle. Pity we cannot make any use of this sanguine approval of a broad principle we often have occasion to contend for. Whether this extraordinary demand ought to have created the least alarm or the least surprise in Mr. Hodgson, may be questionable; it has certainly produced from him a very sensible little book.

Our author is a steady, cool-headed reasoner of the school of Locke; and let us add that no man imbued with the spirit of our English philosopher, will ever be a convert to phrenology, unless phrenology assume a very different shape from that in which it now presents itself. As Mr. Hodgson exemplifies in himself, such a one will altogether scout that system of the mind which it puts forth; a system which flatly contradicts a number of psychological truths which, be it always remembered, are as entirely founded on experience as any truths in physical science. How can such a one tolerate it, when he sees in a classification of the primary elements of the mind, "the instinct of home" laid down as a simple original feeling?

As a specimen of the manner in which Mr. Hodgson deals with the metaphysics of this cerebral school, we select the following passage. Amongst our intellectual or "knowing" faculties, the phrenologist has these two, cognition of existences, and cognition of events.

Before, however, we leave the division on which we are now engaged, we wish to make an observation or two on what the phrenologists call the cognition of existences, and cognition of events. These gentlemen tell us that we have particular faculties, by which we severally obtain a knowledge of form, size, and force, or resistance; and they are also generous enough to give us, in addition to these, a power of knowing existences. Now, really it is difficult to discover, in what way we can possibly gain a knowledge of external material existence, but by the qualities above mentioned. If we define matter, we can only do so by enumerating its qualities. It is that which resists and is extended; and when we know the form of

any substance, we surely must have knowledge of an existence. What, then, can possibly be the employment of that faculty by which we take cognizance of existences separate from their qualities? It must certainly be superfluous. If we separate from any substance, extension, form, and resistance, what remains of it? If there be any thing, it must be some quiddity of the despised schoolmen. Let any man try what he can make of a piece of wood, when he has disjoined it from these qualities; and then he will be in a right situation for forming a correct estimate of the phrenologists' classification of the mental faculties. If he cannot form any idea of such a substance, it follows as an inevitable consequence, that this cognition of existences is, at any rate, a superabundant and superfluous power.

We can only, again, obtain knowledge of an event by means of sight or hearing, and to each of these senses, faculties have been already appropriated. If we see a man writing, we acquire a knowledge of an event; but is a separate faculty employed in gaining this information from that which is employed in perceiving the man? We see an individual performing a certain action, and we see the consequences of his employment; are we then to understand, that it is owing to a particular faculty of the mind, that we conclude, that the marks upon the paper are made by the man who is writing? They who think so, may believe in the infallibility of phrenologists; but other people will, we think, have but a very indifferent opinion of their theory. -Pp. 40-42.

Sermons on Practical Subjects, chiefly preached in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ's Church, Dublin. By the Rev. JOHN CLARKE CROSTHWAITE, A. M. of Trin. Coll. Dublin, Dean's Vicar in Christ's Church Cathedral, and Examining Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Kildare. London: Rivingtons. 1840. Pp. 527.

THESE are not ordinary Sermons. They display much power of thought, expressed in language sufficiently animated and impressive without that exuberance of ornament, which we sometimes find encumbering the style it was intended to adorn. Nor are they without that earnestness of feeling, in which, we believe, consists the true secret of pulpit eloquence. The plan of the author is to discuss a subject in all its bearings, and rather to pursue it through two or three discourses, than dismiss it without a thorough investigation;—a mode which has its disadvantages in the pulpit, but which presents no difficulties to the readers. On "the neglect of the daily service," for instance, there are three sermons, in the first of which he considers it as symptomatic of want of devotional spirit in the Church; in the second, as symptomatic of want of faith, in the power of faith, and in the efficacy of prayer; and in the third, of want of faith in the promises of Christ to his Church. From the first of these we extract the following animated eulogy of our scriptural Liturgy :—

For what is the spirit of the Common Prayer Book? It is the most comprehensive expression conceivable of the wants and desires of the renewed soul. Filled with the most profound views of the weakness and worthlessness of man, it raises the mind to the most sublime conceptions of the majesty and goodness of God. It breathes the very atmosphere of heaven. The fire upon its altars burns with the pure and uncreated brightness of that eternal sanctuary, from whence it has descended. Its prayers are composed of the supplications of the primitive saints, the cries of martyrs, and the inspirations of the spirit of God. Its anthems are the hymns of angels, and the songs of the redeemed in heaven. It unites and identifies us with all the piety, and humility, and contrition of all ages and generations. It associates our charity with all the sin and ignorance, the misery and wretchedness of the universal Church. It expands our affections, till they have embraced the whole family of mankind; and yet with a tenderness so discriminating, that every degree and variety of want and sorrow shall have its due share in our pity and our prayers. Is any "deceived and gone astray?" Has any fallen into the snares of the devil, or the sins and pollutions of the world? Has the hand of the Almighty been laid upon our brother's house? Is it the widow, the fatherless, the desolate, or the oppressed? For each and all we have some holy and charitable aspiration that he, whose mercy is over all his works, would guide, console, and succour them. Even into the damp and dreary dungeon of the captive and the prisoner, our Church calls

us, not to taste the selfish luxury of sentimental indulgence, but to offer up the earnestness of our entreaties, that they may be visited by His pity, whom walls and iron bars cannot shut out.

Oh, how holy, how pure, how unselfish, are the supplications which the Church puts into her children's lips! And how blessed a resemblance to that Jesus who ever liveth to make intercession for us, must that spirit bear which can truly relish and understand these services. Beyond all question, it is absolutely impossible for any man to attend regularly, day after day, upon our public worship, with real seriousness, and with such prayers for the divine assistance and blessing, as any serious man will feel obliged to offer for the success of any undertaking, without deriving solid and constant benefits. He must “ grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He will "carry with him into the bosom of his family, and the employments and duties of his station, an integrity of spirit, a sweetness of temper, a purity of purpose, which will prove that he has indeed been a learner in the school of Christ. Like the brightness which shone in the face of Moses when he came out of the tabernacle, his whole aspect and deportment will be a living demonstration of the power of God; and when men see-we have the promise of our Redeemer - they will glorify our Father which is in heaven."Pp. 284-287.

There are two valuable sermons in this volume on the Doctrine of the Trinity; one in answer to the objection that it is an unimportant speculation; the other, in which an extended and accurate view is taken of the revelations of this great truth in the Old Testament, in answer to the objection, that the doctrine of the Trinity contradicts the tenor and design of revelation.

Sermons on the Sacraments. By HENRY BULLINGER, Minister of the Church of Zurich. Cambridge: Stevenson. London: Parker. 1840. Pp. 288. THIS is a reprint of that portion of Bullinger's Decades, in which the doctrine of the Sacraments is discussed. It may, perhaps, be necessary to state, that the work commonly known as "Bullinger's Decades," is a volume containing fifty sermons on the "Chiefe and Principall Points of the Christian Religion;" it is divided into five parts or Decades, each part containing ten sermons. This book was adopted by the Convocation of 1586, as a body of divinity for the use of the younger, and less learned portion of the clergy. Every minister having a cure, and being under the degrees of M. A. and LL.B. and not licensed to be a public preacher, was in consequence required to provide himself with a Bible and Bullinger's Decades, to read over one sermon in the Decades every week, to make notes of the most important matter contained therein, and to show his notes to some preacher to be assigned for that purpose. We also find among the particulars enjoined to the clergy by the Archdeacon of London, in his visitation in 1587: "Every person to have Bullinger's Decades," (Strype, Life of Bishop Aylmer, chap. viii.) "To reprint these Sermons," then, as the editor remarks, "can never be regarded as an unseasonable undertaking;" and we, accordingly, recommend them to the theological student,

Yarrell's British Birds. Part XVIII. London: Van Voorst. THE present number of this beautiful work maintains the high character which we have before accorded to it. It contains the continuation of the Gallinaceous birds, including the whole of the grouse, and the common partridge, and is replete with the most pleasing and useful details of the history of these interesting birds. That magnificent species, the cock of the wood or capercaillie, which had for so long a time ceased to belong to our indigenous ornithology, bids fair, as it appears, to become again a permanent denizen of that portion of the kingdom of which it once formed the most important of the feathered inhabitants; several noblemen and gentlemen in Scotland, having at length succeeded in procuring offspring from specimens which had been imported from Sweden and Norway. The figure of this splendid bird, as well as those of the black cock, the red grouse, and the ptarmigan, are all exquisite. That of

the male of the cock of the wood, is one of the most beautiful wood engravings we have ever seen; the drawing is indeed masterly. All the figures are good excepting the partridge; of which we are obliged to say, as we said of the pheasant in the former number, that we fear the artist had never been so fortunate as to see one alive. This is the more to be regretted, as, in both instances, the opportunity of comparison is in every one's power, and persons who have not the means of judging of some of the other and rarer species, may conclude that their portraits are equally faulty. Besides the species in their pure state, there are several interesting figures of hybrids; and we would call the attention of our readers particularly to that of the hybrid and black grouse, as a charming specimen of correct and elegant drawing.

Some Observations upon Cathedral Reform, and the Present Exigencies of the Church, in a Letter to GEORGE PALMER, Esq. M.P. of Nazing Park. By the Rev. CHARLES MILLER, M. A., Vicar of Harlow, Essex. London: Rivington. Oxford: Parker. Chelmsford: Guy. 1840. Pp. 55.

THIS able letter is well worth the perusal of every churchman, who desires to know what use may be made of Cathedrals without violation of their integrity. The observations regard the Cathedral of St. Paul's, particularly; but they are capable of a wider application, as showing that the very necessities which are now so heavily felt, and deplored so loudly, may be safely and effectually remedied by restoring Cathedral bodies to their proper offices,

1. As councils to the Bishop.

2. As Societies for the conservation of religion.

3. As instruments for its propagation.

In treating his subject the author has occasion to mention incidentally many topics of great importance; and he evinces a deep sense of ministerial responsibility, as well as a thorough acquaintance with the powers of the Church of England, and a firm faith in them. He is not one of those who, because matters have gone wrong, charges the fault upon the system; but he endeavours to show, and we think successfully, that the evils of which we complain have arisen, because the system has been worked inadequately.

We wish to call attention particularly to his views upon the subject of ecclesiastical property, in contradiction to the prevalent but surely unsound notion, that it is the private property of the ecclesiastic, to whose stewardship it has been committed. All property is indeed, strictly speaking, in the nature of a trust; but the objects for which church property is held in trust are more strictly defined than is the case in that which is commonly termed private property. The spirit which Mr. Miller combats, is the worldly and unprincipled maxim,-intolerable when applied to lay possessions, but sacrilegious, when applied to ecclesiastical preferments," Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own?" We, therefore, heartily agree with Mr. Miller, where he reprobates the cant of "Vested Interests;" but upon this subject, we refer our readers to the pamphlet itself.

There is much worth attention in his remarks upon the daily service; and the more so as Mr. Miller's is an independent testimony, unconnected as he is with any party, and free as he appears to be from party feeling.

We also wish to call attention to what is said upon the ancient practice of offerings at the altar; a practice which it is to be hoped will be revived, as a mode of raising funds for charitable purposes less fluctuating, and far more agreeable to ecclesiastical usage, than that now so generally pursued by means of Societies. Such Societies, by their very principle, hardly allow, certainly do not encourage, men to give in the way which our Saviour has commanded; that, namely, "of not letting the left hand know what the right hand doeth;" and the notion of a fixed and determined yearly subscription, whatever advantages may be in it, is incompatible with the apostolic precept, "Let each man lay by according as God hath prospered him."

Besides, as Mr. Miller justly observes in his 35th page, Parliamentary grants cannot furnish a sufficiency; from these sources the Church has derived scarcely any of her endowments; neither will she from these sources ever effectually increase them; God's truth will never be propagated in this easy way: He requires from us all, collectively, and individually, upon the terms of our adoption into his family, a continual offering of worldly things, according to our means, as a part of the honour and worship which is due to His holy name."

Mr. Miller has already distinguished himself by two letters on the "Law for Commutation of Tithe;" which have been favourably received. His style is clear and forcible; and shows that he writes from conviction, and is in earnest. We venture to express a hope that he will employ his pen in some more permanent form than he has yet adopted; for the principles which he advocates, if any thing is to save this Church and kingdom, must ultimately gain the ascendency, and such advocates of them should not be silent.

Pastoral Conversations on the Duty and Benefits of Observing the Rules of the Prayer Book. London: Wix. 1840. Pp. 12.

THE above purports to be the first of a series of Tracts; and if they are all conducted in the same spirit, and with the same clearness which pervades the one now before us, it is to be hoped that the series will be a long one.

At the present juncture, no man can do a greater good than to show the practical benefit of a recurrence to church ordinances; quietly to set the example himself, and to vindicate his conduct dispassionately. We therefore recommend this Tract to our clerical readers, although we cannot entirely agree with the author in his practice of abolishing the afternoon sermon.

It is true, that prayers and public catechising of the children, is a more rubrical and a more canonical service; but where the probabilities are that the loss of the sermon would alienate the congregation, we cannot but think that the present custom is the wisest, and most expedient; especially as catechetical instruction may be joined with it, as in some churches is done.

We may indeed wish that the public mind was in a more wholesome condition; but, things being as they are, it is better to yield to circumstances, than to run a great risque for the sake of a dubious advantage; and a clause in Archbishop Tenison's Letter to the clergy of his diocese, in the year 1695, is worth our attention.

Fourthly, I commend to your care the preaching in the afternoon, upon catechetical heads, both that the people may be better rooted and grounded in the faith, and also kept from other assemblies.

But the archbishop did not mean that catechizing was to be neglected, which he touches upon in the same letter; and which, in one written four years afterwards, he more fully and particularly inculcates. See Cardwell's Documentary Annals, vol. ii. pp. 335, 352.

A Lecture delivered at the Diocesan College, Chichester, at the opening of Lent Term, 1840. By the Rev. CHARLES MARRIOT, M.A. Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, Principal. Chichester: Mason. 1840. Pp. 20.

THIS Lecture is designed to trace out a course of study calculated to enable a minister to perform his duty to the particular flock assigned him, to the Church of his own country in particular, and to the Church in general. It is difficult to give a decided opinion on a sketch, the tone and character of which must depend upon the filling up; but there are many valuable hints in these few pages, together with some things which require explanation. What, for instance, is a student for the ministry of the Church of England to understand by the following?

"The administering of absolution is connected with the corrective office, and requires, for its due exercise, a consideration of the various states and characters of men, as well as a knowledge of the practice of the Church." P. 12.