The subjects which Mr. Robinson has investigated are among the number of those which, though often discussed, will bear, and deserve still further discussion. On these subjects it would be unreasonable to expect, and absurd to wish for, much novelty of discovery or remark. As in every case we should regulate our judgment of what has been done, by the consideration of what could be done; we may justly approve the volume in our hands, as executed with ability, and calculated to be useful; although it contains but little, of which the substance has not been anticipated by some one of the many writers, who have preceded Mr. Robinson in the enquiry which he has pursued. As a summary account of the contents of this volume may be acceptable to our readers, and may contribute to our purpose of recommending it to their perusal, we present them with the following statement. Mr. Robinson first shews the necessity of our knowing the will of God, the means of ascertaining it, and the inadequacy of reason alone to this great end. He then demonstrates the necessity of a divine revelation, and the consequent reasonableness of expecting that such a revelation should be vouchsafed; and points out the uses and advantages which must attend it. He then gives an account of the Pentateuch, and the use made of it in the Jewish worship; and of the moral,ceremonial, and political branches of the law of Moses. This account is followed by a statement of the arguments in proof of the genuineness, authenticity, and divine authority of the Books of Moses; and also of the historical and prophetical writings of the Old Testament; and after a few observations on the hagiographia, he closes his review of the Old Testament with an account of the formation and settlement of its canon. The discussion of the contents of the New Testament commences with stating, that the dispensation which it records, is the end and consummation of all former revelations; and proceeds with an account of the contents of the several parts of which the New Testament is composed, and of the lives of the evangelical and apostolical writers, which is followed by a few remarks on the formation of the canon of the New Testament, the ar rangement of its books, and the mode of writing observed in its manuscript. The credibility of the Gospel History, the divine inspiration of the sacred writers, and the divine origin of the Christian Religion, are supported by a chain of clear and powerful arguments, which runs through the next eight chapters. And after asserting the conservation of the integrity of the sacred text, through all the copies by which it has been transmitted to the present age, Mr. Robinson offers a few brief rules for reading the scriptures with advantage; and thus concludes a work containing a great deal of information with which every person ought to be acquainted, who would not be considered culpably ignorant on a subject the most interesting to human investigation. We have already declared our ap probation of the manner in which this work is executed. We shall subjoin, as a specimen of the author's style, his account of the Epistle to the Rothe following extract which contains mans. "This epistle was written from Corinth in the year fifty-eight, and sent by Phoebe, a deaconess of Cenchrea, a part of Corinth. The apostle, at the time of writing the Epistle, had not been at Rome, but hearing that the Gospel had been planted there by others, he addresses both the Jewish such advice as he supposed was necessary and Heathen converts, and gives them to be followed by persons of both these deter is to shew, that neither the Gentiles scriptions. The principal aim of the wriby the law of nature, nor the Jews by the law of Moses, could ever attain to justification and salvation but through faith in Christ; and also that faith is not separate from good works, but absolutely producthe Apostle treats of justification by faith tive of them. In the first eleven chapters only, without the works of the law; of original corruption by the fall of Adam; of sanctification by the spirit of Christ; and of the calling of the Gentiles. In the twelth and following chapters are many excellent exhortations as to our duties towards God, our neighbours, and ourselves, as well as various encouragements to the love and practice of universal righteous ness. This Epistle (though not written so early Thessalonians,) is placed first in order, acas those to the Corinthians, Galatians, and cording to some, on account of the sublimity and excellence of its doctrines; but others attribute this mark of precedence to the imperial city to which it was directed." (p. 170.). The only observations, with which we find occasion to qualify our general approbation of Mr. Robinson's work, are these-1st. That his assertions respecting the degree of inspiration with which the books called Hagiographia were written, require to be explained and guarded.-2ndly. That it is a very dangerous inaccuracy of expression, to say, that the New Testament explains "the peculiar terms on which our redemption may be purchased and completed through a mediator." The words which we have marked by italic letters, certainly imply (although the author could by no means intend to assert it,) that the price of our redemption is not already fully paid. Nothing is more certain, than that wherever redemption is spoken of in scripture as a matter of purchase, Jesus Christ is represented as the sole purchaser, and his blood as the alone and all-sufficient price, by which the purchase has been accomplished. CXIV. Methodism inspected, Part I. with an Appendix on the Evidences of a State of Salvation. By WILLIAM HALES, D. D. Rector of Killesandra. Dublin, Colbert; London, Spragg. 1803. pp. 94. THIS pamphlet commences with the author's remarks on some accounts, recently published by the Arminian Methodists, of the progress and proceedings of their missionaries in Ireland. After briefly but justly censuring these accounts, Dr. Hales proceeds to discuss, at considerable length, two points which are much insisted on by these Methodists, viz. sinless perfection, and the assurance of the divine forgiveness and favour by means of sensible impulses of the Holy Spirit upon the mind. The inconsistency of these tenets with scripture; and with the liturgy, articles, and homilies of our Church, we think that Dr. Hales has satisfactorily esta blished: he has even shewn, that, as now held by some of the Methodists, they are at variance with the more matured opinions of the founder of Methodism (Mr. Wesley) himself. Dr. Hales, however, cautiously shuns the error of those who, in their zeal to overturn an obnoxious doctrine, run into the opposite extreme, and sacrifice evangelical truth for the gratification of theologic hate: Witness the following passage. "The perfect Christian according to the representation of holy writ, is he who as far as the infirmity of his nature will allow, aspires to universal holiness of life; uniformly and habitually endeavouring to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God and to fulfil all righteousness,' in humble imitation of his REDEEMER; who daily and fervently prays for increase of FAITH, like the apostles themselves, and stremmously labours to add to his faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity? Such is the assemblage of virtues necessaTy to constitute the perfect Christian character; ever aiming at, though never attaining to, absolute or sink ss perfection, in this present state of ial, probation, and preparation for a better; and meekly resting all his hopes of favour and acceptance with God, not on his own defective and imperfect righteousness, but on the free grace of God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:' for by grace we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works that no one should boast." (p. 30.) In almost all of the learned author's remarks on the subject of sensible impulses of the Holy Spirit, we are ready to concur. But we cannot help wishing that, while he exposed the delusive and unscriptural notions which lead men to rely on visionary impres sions, as proofs of the divine favour and acceptance, he had been at some pains in stating the scriptural mode of ascertaining so very important a point. This he has omitted to do in the body of the work; and from some expressions in the forty-ninth page we were led to conclude, that the author thought the knowledge in question was not attainable in this life except in a few particular cases. The defect here noticed, however, is in a great degree supplied in the appendix; into which the learned Doctor has transcribed, with very flattering expressions of approbation, the whole of a paper on "The Evidences of a State of Salvation," which appeared in our number for March last, p. 157. He has also referred, in confirmation of his views respecting the violent bodily agitations which frequently take place at the Methodist meetings, to the first volume of our work, p. 667670. In the following extract, this learned divine manifests the soundness of his principles, as well as his good sense and discriminating candour. "Much praise is unquestionably due to the pious founder of methodism, and his soberer associates, for their indefatigable, and often successful labours of love, to turn sinners from darkness to light; from the power of Satan unto God: to revive the essential doctrines of justification by faith, regeneration, sanctification, &c. which had been too much neglected, and even depreciated by philosophising divines: and to provoke the established clergy to jealousy by their impressive preaching, and unwearied exertions. Still, however, all sober-minded Christians, all truly serious' methodists (and I am persuaded the number is not few) must acknowledge and confess that they are also much to be blamed for temporizing at the first institution of methodism; for not checking and pointedly reprobating, but rather countenancing and encouraging the dangerous and fallacious symptoms of sudden impressions and violent agitations or convulsions as infallible tests of the power of GoD, and witness of the SPIRIT: the mischievous effects of which Wesley himself soon felt, and had abundant cause to regret and deplore until the day of his death, as leading to enthusiasm, and to that fatal schism, in the established Church, which he always deprecated, yet still reluctantly contributed to foment by the irregularities he either licensed or tolerated." p. 72. To conclude, we cannot too highly commend the Christian moderation which appears throughout this work. After having been disgusted, even to satiety, with the low abuse which has disgraced the pages of many of those writers who, during the last eight or ten years, have undertaken what they chuse to call the cause of the Church, we have felt a sensible relief from perusing the pamphlet before us. We would strongly recommend the temper in which it is written to the study and imitation of the Anti-jacobin Reviewers, and of the host of pamphleteers who, under their fostering influence, have not failed to emulate the intemperance, if not the talents, of their periodical patrons. ently upon our minds, producing a disinclination to go beyond the title page. This prejudice, however, we acknowledge to have been unreasonable; for, on a perusal of the work, we found it to reflect credit on the author as an orthodox divine, an acute reasoner, and an able declaimer; and to bear the marks of a strong and vigorous mind, deeply imbued with piety. CXV. First Ripe Fruits, being a Collection of Tracts, to which are added Two Sermons.. By the Rev. JOHN M. MASON, A. M. New York; with a short Memoir of the Author, London, Ogle. 1803. pp. 304. THE strange title which is given to this volume, we have no doubt, will prove attractive to a certain description of readers: it operated differ We cannot help wishing, that the editor, whoever he is, had also spared the memoir which stands in front of this collection; not because we think Mr. Mason unworthy of the praise bestowed upon him, but because we are decidedly of opinion, that the practice of publishing biographical sketches of the living, a practice which we are sorry to say gains ground among some classes of religionists, ought to be proscribed as improper and hurtful. These animadversions, however, respect the editor and not the author. Nearly one half of the volume consists of a series of letters written to prove the duty of a frequent attendance at the Lord's table, in which the author ably and successfully combats the unreasonable prejudices which have prevailed in the Scotch Church on this subject *. A funeral oration on the death of Washington is a flowery piece of declamation: but the tract which we prefer, both on account of the closeness of the argument and the vigour of the composition, is a warning addressed to Christians on the election of a president. Here the author establishes, by evidence too strong to be evaded, the infidelity of Mr. Jefferson, which was denied by his political adherents; and calls upon his fellow Christians, in a strain of bold and manly eloquence, to do their duty to their country and to their God by opposing his pretensions. It is a proof, we fear, of the low state of religion in America, that Mr. Mason's warning voice should have been disregarded; and that Mr. Jefferson, one of the acts of whose administration has been to invite and welcome the arch infidel Paine to the bosom *We could not help stniling at an instance of the power of prejudice in the author himself, while he is combating the prejudices of others. "We," says he, speaking of the Presbyterian Church, reject in a mass the corruptions of Popery, and of her ape prelacy." of his country, should have been chosen president. In the two sermons, if we make allowance for a style excessively florid and rhetorical, and for occasional vulgarisms (possibly Anglo-Americanisms *) there is much to please and to edify. The one intitled "Living Faith," is a very impressive piece of practical divinity. It was preached before a society, in Edinburgh, for the relief of the destitute sick. The following extract from it will afford a specimen of the author's style, and of his power over the feelings of his audience. "This evening presents you with an opportunity of shewing that faith worketh by love. The society, on whose account I address you, carry, in their very name, a resistless appeal to the sentiments of men and of Christians. Devoting their labours to the relief of the DESTITUTE SICK,' they have sought out and succoured, not here and there a solitary individual, but scores, and hundreds and thousands of them that were ready to perish. Sickness, though softened by the aids of the healing art, by the sympathy of friends, and by every external accommodation, is no small trial of patience and religion. But to be both SICK and DESTITUTE is one of the bitterest draughts in the cup of human misery. Far from me be the attempt to harrow your feelings with images of fictitious woe. Recital must draw a veil over a large portion of the truth itself. I barely mention that the mass of sorrow, which you are called to alleviate, appears in as many forms as there are affinities among men. "Is there in this assembly a father, the sons of whose youth are the stay of his age, and the hope of his family? In yonder cell lies a man of grey hairs, crushed by poverty, and tortured by disease. His children are scattered abroad, or have long since descended into the tomb. The sound of father' never salutes his ear: he is a stranger in his own country: his only companions are want and anguish. "Is there here a wife of youth encircled with domestic joys? or is there oue whose heart, though solaced with a thousand outward blessings, calls back the aching remembrance of the loved relation? Behold that daughter of grief. The fever rankles in her veins, She has no partner, dearer than her own soul, on whose breast she may recline her throbbing head. Her name is WIDOW. Desolate, forsaken, helpless, she is stretched on the ground. The wintry blast how is through her habitation, and famine keeps the door. "Is there a mother here, whose eyes fill in the tenderness of bliss, while health paints the cheeks of her little offspring, and they play around her in all the gaiety ther, the toil of whose hands was the bread of infantine simplicity? I plead for a moof her children. The bed of languishing destroys her strength, and their sustenance. The son of her womb' turns pale in her feeble arms, her heart is wrung with double anguish, while, unconscious of the source of his pain, he cries for bread, and there is none to give it. "Is there here a man of public spirit, who exults in the return of plenty and of peace? (Nov. 1801.) Let him think of those who suffer under the stern arrest of hunger and disease. Let him think that this wretchedness belongs to the wife and family of the soldier, who has fought the battles of his country. The messenger of peace arrives: the murmur of the crowd swells into ecstacy: their shout echoes through the hills. She raises her drooping head and hears not that her friend and helper is at hand, but that herself is a widow, and her children fatherless. The blood of her husband, and of their father, has flowed for the common safety. He shall never return. "Is there a Christian here, who knows how to do good unto all, but especially to them that are of the household of faith? Among these afflicted, who are sinking under their infirmities and have not where to lay their heads, are some to whom the celestials minister, and who are fellow heirs with Christ in glory. 1 state the facts; I use no arguments: I leave the result with your consciences, your hearts, and your God." P. 223-226. CXVI. Buonaparte in the West Indies, or the History of Toussaint Louverture, the African Hero. Part I. II. and III. Price 3d. each. or 2s. 6d. per Dozen, London, Hatchard. 1803. SINCE the renewal of hostilities with France, the press has teemed with Anti-gallican publications. Were we called to decide which of them was fairly entitled to the palm of excellence, we should have no hesitation in assigning it to these little tracts, which are the production of talents of no ordinary size, guided by the soundest principles. The author has here exhibited the Chief Consul on a new theatre of action, where his claim to infamy has been, if possible, more unequivocally established than either in Italy, on the plains of Syria, or the sands of Egypt; and where the peculiar and distinctive features of his great character are rendered more conspicuous by its contrast with that of Toussaint Louverture. But while it is one main object of this work to hold out to the detestation and abhorrence of the people of this country, the matchless perfidy, the cold-blooded and remorseless cruelty of Buonaparte; it has other purposes to serve which are perhaps no less important. It rescues from oblivion, and vindicates from aspersion, the memory of a man whose virtues and whose atchievements not only raise from degradation the native character of the African race, but reflect honour on humanity itself: and it keeps alive the public attention to the horrors of West India slavery, and to that disgraceful traffic by which those horrors are multiplied and perpetuated. This little work derives at the present moment an additional recommendation from the plain and popular dress in which the able and ingenious author has condescended to clothe it. It is well adapted by the colloquial familiarity of its style to interest the fire-side party of the cottager: it will, however, no less recommend itself to persons of taste and information by the spirit of its narrative, the acuteness of its inferences, and the unaffected pathos of many of its senti ments. It would be impossible, without transcribing nearly the whole of these tracts, to give a connected view of their contents; for they are, in fact, no more than an abstract, already almost as much condensed as they can be. Our readers must be satisfied, therefore, with a few extracts which, we are persuaded, will only quicken desire to possess themselves of the work itself: and if, on a perusal, their opinion of it should coincide with eurs, they will, with us, be disposed 10 give to it as extensive a circulation as possible. The author, after having given his readers an account of the earlier years of Toussaint's life, as well as a sketch of his character, in which piety formed a very prominent feature, proceeds to vindicate him from the charge of hypocrisy preferred against him by the French. "But Toussaint's religion, the French atheists tell us, was all hypocrisy; so wete his humanity, his moderation, his loyalty to the king, and afterwards, when the convention had decreed freedom to his race, his fidelity to the republic! Nay his zeal for the cause of liberty itself was all merely pretence and hypocrisy! Why you have all the proofs that the "Do you ask for proofs of this charge? great nation has at this moment of the baseness and wickedness of England! You have the sacred word of the chief consul; and if you doubt of that, it is well for you he is still on the other side of the straights of Dover, the doubt might else cost you a dungeon for life. "The strange vileness of Toussaint's hypocrisy consisted in this, that he all Toussaint never broke his word." P. 8. The following well authenticated story is then introduced to confirm the view which the author has given of the character of his hero. "On this occasion" (viz. on occasion of a treaty which was entered into between him and General Maitland) "he came to see General Maitland at his head quarters, and the general, wishing to settle some points personally with him before our troops should embark, returned the visit at Toussaint's camp in the country. "So well was his character known, that the British general did not scruple to go to him with only two or three attendants, though it was at a considerable distance from his own army, and he had to pass through a country full of negroes, who The commissioner of the French republic, had very lately been his mortal enemies. however, did not think so well of the honour of this virtuous chief. It is very natural for wicked men to think badly of mankind, and most Frenchmen of the present day, not only suppose every man |