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We shall not attempt to enter into the merits of this controversy. Mr. Vidler has reason on his side, though not all the scriptures which he has pressed into his service. We do not mean by this to insinuate, that the doctrine of eternal punishment is a doctrine of the scriptures, but that inferences against it are here drawn from passages which belong to a very different subject. We have long been of opinion that the greatest immediate aid that Universalists can derive from scripture is, the absence of every thing adverse to their opinion, and that it is in vain for them to look for any positive evidence in their favour. The New Testament, wherever it has any reference to the future state of the wicked, does not contradict their hypothesis; and all that it teaches of the character of God, and of his moral government, is decisive in its support. These letters are written with great ability, and what is better, with a truly liberal and christian spirit. Even they, who might perhaps question the soundness of his principles, would, we think, he compelled to acknowledge that in one, at least, of the virtues of the gospel, the writer is no mean proficient: he can return good for evil, and, when reviled, withhold himself from reviling again.

The temper of those with whom Mr. Vidler has chiefly to contend, will be seen from the following passage.

"It is a maxim pretty generally allowed among Calvinist churches, that Error is

worse than vice. This maxim was publicly avowed at the association of the particular Baptist churches at Chatham in Kent, 1793. At that assembly I was publicly excluded from their communion for believing and avowing the doctrine of the restitution of all things. The moderator, when he had pronounced the sentence of excision, added, I am constrained to say, that your moral conduct has been such as would do honour to a much better canse than that in which you are engaged.' And the minister who preached on the occasion to a very crowded audience, said, The universal doctrine is an heresy, and every one who holds it is an heretic; not that every heretic is a wicked man; for heretics are often the holiest of men; but heresy is more dangerous than vice; for if a wicked man is sound in the faith, there is some hope of him; such are often recovered; but as for heretics, they are very seldom recovered from their errors.-There were near thirty Calvinist ministers of different denodisavowed the sentiment that was so publicly minations present, and only one of them taught.. I have from that time to this been treated with the utmost contempt by many nominal Christians of loose characters, who have been taught that the holiest of men may be heretics, and that heresy, though attended with holiness, is worse than vice!!! The enormity of this maxim appears in its full view when it is recollected, that by error and heresy we are not to understand a deparCalvinism." ture from Christianity, but a departure from

Whilst such is the conduct of men who profess to be christians, who can wonder that the name of Christ is still "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence?"

ART. XXI. Methodism Inspected. Part I. With an Appendix, on the Evidences of a State of Salvation. By WILLIAM HALES, D. D. Rector of Killesandra. Svo. PP. 94.

IT is much to be lamented that persons who profess so much zeal for religion, and who devote themselves so laudably to the reformation of that class of the community, which is considered by the generality of teachers as below their notice, should be so much under the influence of fanaticism, as essentially to injure the cause they appear desirous of serving; and while they lessen the quantity of moral evil, do all in their power to render the gospel, and the profession of it, contemptible in the eyes of the sceptic and the unbeliever. The little treatise before us, was composed in consequence of the extravagant and indecorous conduct of the methodist missionaries, in that part of Ireland in

which the author resides. The censure which is here passed upon them, with a spirit becoming a christian minister, is no other than they most justly deserve; and if their minds were open to conviction, they might here learn how unscriptural are their doctrines of complete freedom from sin, experimental freedom of divine favour, and positive assurance of forgiveness. They might also be taught the folly of expecting sudden conversions, and the indecency of those violent agitations of body which they encourage the deluded people to exhibit.

The author has selected from some of Mr. Wesley's works, particularly from a letter written to Maxfield, one of his

early apostate preachers, some excellent remarks, which ought to be carefully studied by those who with a zeal, not

guided by knowledge, are " turning the world upside down."

ART. XXII. A Vindication of Scriptural Unitarianism, and some other Primitive Doctrines in Reply to Vindex's Examination of an Appeal to the Society of Friends. By VERAX. 8vo. pp. 124.

THIS work does not strictly correspond with the title. It ought to be considered as a defence of the author's former tract, in which he endeavoured to prove that the founders of the sect of friends, and the early defenders of its doctrine and practice, were Unitari ans. We have here, therefore, not a regular vindication of scriptural unitarianism, which we were prepared to expect, but a revisal of the passages which had been selected from Penn,

Barclay, Fox, Penington, &c. for the
purpose of shewing their opinions con-
cerning the person of Christ, and the
authority of the scriptures. In many
of these there is great obscurity, and
we confess ourselves unequal fully to
decide between Verax and his opponent.
We are therefore disposed to say with
our elder brother, the rustic critic Pa-
læmon,

Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites;
Et vitulâ tu dignus et hic.

ART. XXIII. The Divine Logos; or Jehovah Elohim the only proper Object of Christian Worship. By JOHN BENTLEY.

A POMPOUS little book, from which the reader will derive the clearest conviction that Mr. Bentley is at least a smatterer in Hebrew. He may also, perchance, be amused with the changes which are here rung upon the affected titles of Elohim, Dabar Elohim, and Ruach Elohim; and he will doubtless be astonished at the penetration of an author who confidently assures us, that "the intelligent Hebrews always considered the term Elohim as implying Jehovah, the Dabar, his only son, and the Ruach, his Holy Spirit." And that the priest pronouncing his blessing upon the people, in which the term Jehovah occurs thrice, at the same time

Small 8vo. pp. 164.

"disposing his fingers into a certain form, acknowledged the Holy Trinity." When Mr. Bentley ventures upon such flights as these, his fears are very natural that in the hands of "the gentlemen reviewers, he shall resemble the par tridge when he experiences the fraternal embraces of the hawk; that one will seize upon a leg, another upon a wing, and not a feather escape them." From us, however, this mystic bird has no thing to fear. We shall not interrupt his playful mazy flight, as we have no relish for the picking of bones, from which so little is to be gotten, and that little so hard of digestion.

ART. XXIV. A Short and Practical Account of the Principal Doctrines of Christianity, for the Use of Young Persons. To which are added suitable Prayers. By W. J. REES. 12mo. pp. 43.

THIS little tract was drawn up by the author, to assist his parishioners in their preparation for the rite of confir

mation; and it may be useful to others, who are required to observe the same ceremony.

SERMONS AND PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.

ART. XXV. Sermons by WILLIAM LAWRENCE BROWN, D. D. Principal of Ma. rischal College and University, Aberdeen, &c. 8vo. pp. 491.

THE author of these sermons has been long known, and highly and deservedly esteemed. All that the public has yet received from him, has been received with pleasure, and excited a favourable expectation of all that was to

come. The highest expectation will here be gratified. Treating upon the most useful subjects, eminently distin guished by soundness of argument, quence of style, and an intimate know. ledge of the human heart, these dis

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courses form a valuable addition to this interesting and important branch of English literature.

This volume contains eighteen sermons, upon the following subjects:

I. On the duty and character of a christian preacher. (Preached at the author's admission to the west church, Aberdeen.) II. On the love of God. III. On the joy and peace of believing and practising the gospel. IV. On the nature, the causes, and the effects of indifference with regard to religion. (Preached before the society for propagating christian knowledge in Scotland.) V. On the folly of procrastination with regard to the concerns of religion. VI. On the vanity of religion, unless considered as the chief good, and accompanied with zeal and perseverance. VII. On the nature, the effects, and the rewards of constancy and perseverance in religion. VIII. On the progressive nature of religion in the soul. IX. X. XI. On prudence and simplicity of character. XIL XIII. XIV. On Agar's prayer. XV. XVI. On pride. XVII. On humility. And XVIII. On the unfailing nature of charity, as a motive to cultivate it. (Preached for behoof of a society, instituted for the relief of the sick poor, and entitled, "The sick man's friend.") Of these, though some are undoubtedly more excellent than others, there is not one which does not contain many important truths, illustrated and enforced by a vigorous and commanding eloquence. We could, with pleasure, justify this assertion, but we are compel led to limit our quotations. We cannot, however, refrain from presenting our readers with the following: In the third sermon, amongst many other satisfactory observations, designed to rectify the erroneous opinions which are commonly entertained with respect to the moral obligations of christianity, Dr. Brown

says;

"In fact, the religion of Christ contains no absurd or irrational doctrine, and no precept, but what is founded on the nature and relations of man, and perfective of his happiness. If, rejecting the superstitious fears, and enthusiastic dreams of ignorant and misguided christians, we examine the sacred scriptures themselves, we shall find, that, by the laws of the gospel, as well as by the frame of nature, their common author has annexed happiness to virtue, and misery to vice; that he has prohibited only what is repugnant, and commanded only what is con

ducive to our real welfare; that our religion never designed to extinguish, but merely to regulate our original propensities; and that, within the bounds of nature and of reason, we are still allowed to gratify them. We shall find, that every doctrine of the gospel has a most salutary tendency in either leading us to the right knowledge of our condition, inspiring us with exalted ideas of the Christian scheme, or engaging us to virtuous conduct by the most generous and cogent motives.

"Though we be Christians, we may cultivate our understandings, refine our imaginations, indulge our natural and social affections, nor be entirely insensible to personal and selfish enjoyments. Though we be favoured with divine instruction, we are not denied the benefit of human learning.Though the book of revelation be laid open to us, the book of nature is not closed to our eyes. Though we be chiefly required to attend to the beauty and excellence of the moral character, the order and symmetry of inaterial objects are not withheld from our observation. Though we be adopted into the household of faith, our relation to the great community of mankind, much less to those more immediately committed to us by providence, is not dissolved. Though we be expectants of heaven, this does not preclude our acting in our present capacity of

inhabitants of this world.

the means adapted to the advancement of "In reality, when we honestly employ our temporal prosperity, we also work out our eternal salvation; or, in other words, the most eligible methods of promoting the one will contribute to excite and confirm in our minds the joyful expectations of the other. Engaged in the business of our particular calling, and faithfully discharging the duties of the station allotted us by proviGod. Providing with integrity for our famidence, we are, at the same time, serving lics, and gratefully bettering our circumstances, we are also qualifying ourselves for an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens. Recommending ourselves to the esteem and friendship of our fellow-men, we are thereby forming our souls for the society of angels, of the general assembly and church of the first-born, and of the spirits of just men made perfect. Preserving, by wholesome refreshment and moderate exercise, the health and vigour of our bodies, we are equally recreating and invigorating our minds for rational and spiritual pursuits, and thus preparing them for a more refined and exalted state."

Whilst the believer feels the truth of

the following animated passage, the man of taste must admire its eloquence:

"These are joys pure and substantial, suited to the dignity of the rational nature,

and independent of our brutal part. These can never be carried to excess, never succeeded by corroding reflexion. Pleasing once, they please and delight us for ever. These neither birth, nor external events, nor the dispositions of men, nor disease, nor age, can affect. They attend us in society, and forsake us not in solitude. When enemies persecute us, they inspire us with courage, and endue us with strength. When false friends abandon us, they remain. They solace adversity, and enhance, and adorn prosperous circumstances. They lighten the burdens of life, and disarm death of his terrors! Compared with these affluence is poor, grandeur is contemptible, sensual pleasure is disgusting. External circumstances are appropriated to no inherent dignity of character, and are, often, the means of debasing it. But, religious and moral enjoyments are the peculiar privileges of the wise and good, who are not excluded from their share of worldly possessions, and can enjoy them with the highest relish. Still, should these be withheld, supported by their internal resources, by conscious integrity, by the exhilarating sense of the divine favour, and by the glorious prospect of a blessed immortality, the piously wise must, even in adversity and affliction, be possessed of a more abundant store of happiness than can belong to the impious and wicked, placed on the summit of power, basking in the sunshine of prosperity, and resounding the loudest strains of dissolute mirth. Like a rock towering above the deep, the man of piety and virtue beholds the storms of calamity roar around him, without shaking his resolution, or impairing his strength. When the tempest assails those of a contrary character, they are tossed, like the sand, from surge to surge, and when the calm returns, sink under the weight of their own depravity!"

The fourth discourse, delivered on a particular occasion, is worthy of being recommended to general attention. The following passages we cannot withhold:

manners.

"The present age values itself on the improvement of elegant art, on the cultivation of literature, and on a general civilization of The desire of knowledge pervades even the vulgar; and a certain species of refinement is every where conspicuous. Thousands, however, who affect the philosophical spirit, and a high degree of philanthropy, despise religion, as unsuitable to elegance of mind, and acuteness of understanding. But, can any thing be more absurd, than to enquire into every other cause, and to exclude the Supreme? Can any thing be more irrational, than to discover and admire the curious structure, and the nice adaptation of means to ends, displayed through every part of nature, and to receive no impression of the original Contriver?

Can any thing be more inconsistent, than to be alive and sensible to every species of created symmetry and beauty, and to be ut terly callous to the spotless perfection of the creating and governing mind? Can any thing be inore degrading, than to esteem and honour every display of human genius, wisdom, and benignity, and to be insensible to the source from which even those are derived, the Father of lights, the Author of every good and perfect gift? The mountain, hiding its suowy head in the clouds; the river rolling its irresistible current, swelled with all the waters of heaven; the boundless expanse of ocean; the raging agitations of the tempest

these are grand and sublime objects, which affect the most stupid and unfeeling heart! But, what are these, in comparison of Him who counteth the nations, as the smail dust of the balance; who taketh up the isles as a very little thing; who streichetk out the north over the empty space; and hangeth the carth upon nothing?"

In accounting for the indifference that prevails with regard to religion, Dr. Brown very judicicusly remarks:

"To the prevalence of this disposition, the attacks, made by sceptics on Christianity, have contributed in a manner which I recollect not to have, hitherto, seen remarked. In conducting the deistical controversy through all its branches, much acuteness of intellect, and copious stores of erudition, have frequently been requisite. But, while the truth of religion was evinced, its power and energy over the heart were, in some mea sure, suspended. Every appearance of warmth was avoided. Zeal was considered as blinding the understanding, as precluding impar tiality, as leading to a degree of animation prejudicial to the cause of truth, as expressive of an intolerant mind, which the enemies of religion were so prone to charge on its professors. The coldness, which is peculiar to scepticism, was communicated to those who were engaged in combating it, by detecting the fallacy of sophistical argument. The species of contest, which it was necessary to maintain, introduced into the minds of many rational Christians a certain argumentative insensibility. Though those, whose faith was built on the firmest foundations of ev dence, had the strongest grounds of attach ment to our holy religion, yet, the tone of their religious feelings was reduced, and a speculative and theoretical belief was sometimes alowed to take place of that fork which is the substance of things hoped for. and the evidence of things not seen that faith, which purifieth the heart, worketh by love, and overcometh the world. The glow of piety, the spirit of devotion, the energy of holy zeal, were chilled by the process of abstract intellect, and the affections, deprived of their proper objects, were allowed to subside into lethargic indifference. As, in those

times, when the rage of controversy, prevailed among Christians, zeal for doctrinal points diverted attention from the admirable morality of the gospel; so, the logical warfare with sceptics tended to superinduce a cold, speculative, phlegmatic habit, which excluded, or at least impaired, that justly proportioned zeal for religion which ought always to animate its professors.

"By these remarks I mean no reflexion o those able defenders of Christianity, whose irresistible arguments have triumphantly repelled the attacks of deists, and to whom the Christian church owes indelible obligations. But, to every human work some imperfection unavoidably adheres, and I am conrinced that the cause just now stated, has, in some degree, contributed to produce that listless profession of religion so prevalent in the present times. While the understanding was occupied in defending its truth, the heart was perhaps less affected by its intrinsic excellence and beauty."

With the following pathetic passages, we will, reluctantly, conclude our selections. It occurs in the last discourse.

"Ye, who enjoy every convenience and comfort of life! to who, when you are laid on a bed of sickness, every soothing aid, every help of medicine, every relief that money or tenderness can supply, are provided; reflect how you endured the pains and languors of discase, though mitigated and softened by all that human art or kindness could devise! Did you happen to be removed from your abode, when some severe and dangerous malady assailed you, how were you overwhelmed by the absence of demestic charity and convenience? But, the poor man has no home for sickness! Health is necessary to procure him ordinary comfort, is necessary to provide him and his family with the means of daily subsistence.Laid on the bed of languishing, perhaps on the bed of death, he beholds his wife and

What Dr. Brown observes of pride is children, disconsolate around him. They not more eloquent than true :

"Pride commences with our life, grows with our growth, and spreads through all our conversation and conduct. She accompanies us through every stage, condition, and circumstance of our terrestrial course. She intermingles with almost every action we perform, and every pursuit in which we engage. She attends us to the grave, in all the pomp, solemnity, and expence of funeral. She engraves her ostentatious inscriptions the stone that covers the inouldering body, and, when that body is incorporated with its original dust, and these words of ra#ily are no longer legible, she attempts, by cutcheons and pedigrees, and genealogical leads, to perpetuate the name which wis doen had, perhaps, consigned to oblivion. This is, more or less, the foible, this the deformity, this the deep-rooted vice of all man kind. Pride appears in the cottage, as well as in the palace. She sits on the workman's beach, as well as on the monarch's throne. She struts driving a flock of sheep, as well as marching at the head of a victorious army. One great cause of wrath, and contention, and rancour among men, is, whose pride has a right to indulgence; who is entitled to that pre-eminence, of which both parties are, perhaps, equally unworthy; and who is authorised to vindicate that supetiority at which all aspire, but which the generality refuse to every one, but them

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can present to hint none of the cordials and supports of sickness; for his interrupted. Jabour deprives them of the staff of life. His distress and theirs are unknown to the ear of opulence. The rich, or those who employ him, recognise him only by the price of his labour. When fixed to a sick-bed, which serves rather to augment, than to alleviate his malady, he ceases to attend his work, he ceases also to be present to their minds, Another comes, occupies his place, receives the wages he used to earn,-and the sick man is forgotten! Disease continues to prey upon his frame, till he expires! He is con signed to the grave of difficult purchase, and to oblivion, or is remembered only by the beggary of his family, often accounted importunate and troublesome!"

"This

Before we close our account of this valuable volume, we must notice the inaccurate use of the particle that, for since, or seeing that, or because. question," observes Dr. Brown, " is the more necessary, that, from mistaken notions with regard to the subject of it, have proceeded, &c." p. 26. A similar passage is to be met with, p. 266. These are indeed only minute blemishes, but they are such as all who read these discourses, with the same pleasure that they have afforded to us, will wish to

have removed.

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