cieties could be conducted, or rather, we ought to say, long en conducted, on so large a scale as to leave little for the ther bodies to effect; but shall we close our eyes to the our own Church has been so successfully cultivating 'd, it has also pleased God greatly to bless the laSociety, to the conversion of whole islands from to Christianity islands, too, where other denothe Church of England not excepted, had

Nature and Grace.

ance before God. pp. 460–461. hest notes of praise mingling with the deepest exan believer's heart; and of the opposite graces which we form that harmony of service which ascends

he Vicar of Old Newton, we sincerely

elf, he may be spared to a late

benefit the world.

YENS.

to the spiritual been such,

indeed,

7

ld is on behalf of our Church Missionary mon it is. By the too frequent use of passages, expressed himself in a way n; but no one who heard the sermon, and his meaning, without positively 'd been guilty, according to the ng" that some of his brethren God." This may be called a of the Remembrancer cannot ne matter, till we take up another in our January Number.

Aristian Teacher considered, in a Sermon preached 1826, in St. Giles's Church, Reading, at the Primary on of the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. By the Rev. H. H. JAILMAN, Professor of Poetry, &c. London: Murray.

The text selected on this occasion is from 1 Cor. xiv. 3: “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort." In the early part of the sermon we meet with the following beautiful remark.

The philosophy of preaching must be sought in the profoundest science, that which investigates the nature of the human soul. The book which we must study is the inner man, that dwelling of the immaterial principle, by which we comprehend truth, and apply what we comprehend to the regulation of external action; that arena, in which the carnal lusts and the reason, the flesh and the spirit, hold their perpetual strife; that eternal and imperishable part, which was depraved by the sin of Adam, and redeemed by the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. p. 9.

Our author proceeds to shew that "the human soul is accessible, through three principal faculties-the imagination, the reason, and the passions or affections"-and he follows out his subject with considerable clearness and power. Under the first of these the imagination—our author renders it difficult for us to say whether he exhibits more of the Professor of Poetry, or of the solid Christian Teacher, each seeming uppermost in its turn. Take, for instance, the following quotations.

The soul of the Christian is irresistibly impelled to the immaterial world: the history of his religion throws him back into ages long gone by; his anxiety about his own everlasting destination urges him towards the abyss of the eternal future. But the immaterial world is the province and domain of the imagination. This alone ranges the dim places of the past, and penetrates into the

respecting the judgment of men; he is not able to maintain such consistency, even in his scanty obedience, as suffices to hide him from the discerning; God's children see through his disguise, the world also detect him in his way; hence it frequently follows, that the wretched hypocrite not only gains nothing with God, but he is not exalted with men; he is despised by the world, he is distrusted and suspected by saints, and he lives without any of those possessions, for the sake of which he has been induced to fulfil every pretension to honesty, and forego every genuine enjoyment. Such is the life, and such is the end of the hypocrite, presenting us with a shocking spectacle of the degree of depravity to which a sinner can voluntarily deliver himself up, and forewarning us to beware of those evils which lead to such a frightful development of the corruption of a sinful heart. pp. 111-113.

A Sermon preached at St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, before the Church Missionary Society. By the Rev. HENRY BUDD, M. A. Chaplain of Bridewell Precinct, and Rector of White Roothing, Essex. London: Seeley and Son. 1827.

A Sermon, preached at the Parish Church of St. Clement Danes, Strand, at the Third-third General Meeting of the London Missionary Society. By the Rev. R. WALDO SIBTHORP, B. D. Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. London: Westley and Davis. 1827. Review of the above in the Christian Remembrancer for Sept. 1827.

-It has seldom fallen to our lot to notice two more excellent discourses than those by Messrs. Budd and Sibthorp. Both are men of highly cultivated minds, and, what is still more important, of a truly devotional spirit. Nor can we say, that "it is with great reluctance, and with very painful feelings, that we draw the attention of our readers to these two sermons." We do not consider them "calculated to do very great mischief."

From the third article of the September Number of the Christian Remembrancer, we learn the "scandalous" conduct of which the Fellow of Magdalen has been guilty; and we further learn in what kind of way such a violation of church discipline is to be visited, and for the future prevented, namely, by the voICE OF AUTHORITY. "Would that our notice of these proceedings might rouse the voice of authority to interpose, and prevent so scandalous a violation of church discipline as that of which Mr. Sibthorp has been guilty." (Christian Remembrancer.) -We are much obliged to these gentlemen for speaking out. It is very clear with what weapons they would fight those who differ from them. THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY, roused by the Christian Remembrancer, is to denounce as schismatics, if not as heretics, some of the best men of this church and nation. We think that those in authority have, in this matter, shewn their wisdom in not interfering with the parochial clergy, as to what charitable objects should be excluded from their pulpits. Decided friends and advocates of a moderate Episcopacy, we yet hesitate not to declare our conviction that any arbitrary use of power, any attempt to crush those by force who cannot be met by argument, would tend to set this church in a blaze. We could wish, greatly wish, that the exertions of our two Church of England Mis

sionary Societies could be conducted, or rather, we ought to say, long since had been conducted, on so large a scale as to leave little for the members of other bodies to effect; but shall we close our eyes to the fact, that, while our own Church has been so successfully cultivating the missionary field, it has also pleased God greatly to bless the labours of the London Society, to the conversion of whole islands from a state of heathenism to Christianity-islands, too, where other denominations of Christians, the Church of England not excepted, had done absolutely nothing?

The sermon by Mr. Budd is on behalf of our Church Missionary Society and a masterly sermon it is. By the too frequent use of antithesis he has, in one or two passages, expressed himself in a way which is liable to misapprehension; but no one who heard the sermon, or who has read it, can misunderstand his meaning, without positively determining so to do. He has indeed been guilty, according to the Christian Remembrancer, of "insinuating" that some of his "brethren in the ministry preach not the Gospel of God." This may be called a libel; but it is true, and the writers of the Remembrancer cannot disprove it; and there we leave the matter, till we take up another excellent work of Mr. Budd's in our January Number.

The Office of the Christian Teacher considered, in a Sermon preached August 23, 1826, in St. Giles's Church, Reading, at the Primary Visitation of the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. By the Rev. H. H. MILMAN, Professor of Poetry, &c. London: Murray.

-The text selected on this occasion is from 1 Cor. xiv. 3 : "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort. In the early part of the sermon we meet with the following beautiful remark.

The philosophy of preaching must be sought in the profoundest science, that which investigates the nature of the human soul. The book which we must study is the inner man, that dwelling of the immaterial principle, by which we comprehend truth, and apply what we comprehend to the regulation of external action; that arena, in which the carnal lusts and the reason, the flesh and the spirit, hold their perpetual strife; that eternal and imperishable part, which was depraved by the sin of Adam, and redeemed by the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. p. 9.

Our author proceeds to shew that "the human soul is accessible through three principal faculties-the imagination, the reason, and the passions or affections"-and he follows out his subject with considerable clearness and power. Under the first of these the imagination-our author renders it difficult for us to say whether he exhibits more of the Professor of Poetry, or of the solid Christian Teacher, each seeming uppermost in its turn. Take, for instance, the following quotations.

The soul of the Christian is irresistibly impelled to the immaterial world: the history of his religion throws him back into ages long gone by; his anxiety about his own everlasting destination urges him towards the abyss of the eternal future. But the immaterial world is the province and domain of the imagination. This alone ranges the dim places of the past, and penetrates into the

impervious obscurity of the future. Whatever is spiritual, whatever is perceiveď by the eye of faith, is perceived through the imagination. Who shall transport us towards the inaccessible throne, on which the God of Scripture, the Eternal, the Ineffable, the Incomprehensible, dwells in his secret majesty? How shall we conceive the agency of invisible angels, or that fatal influence of the powers of darkness? How shall we look back, and apprehend the life, and death, and resurrection of Jesus? How onward, and anticipate the great and awful day of judgment the earth delivering up its entombed myriads; hell opening to receive the hosts of the wicked; heaven expanding its golden gates, crowded with the white robes of the saints? The active Imagination alone can perform this sublime but necessary office: through the imagination," the substance of things hoped for" is presented before the awakened soul; the imagination furnishes "the evidence of things not seen," without which the Christian faith would be incomplete and ineffective. pp. 12, 13.

Here we have the Poet, but immediately after we find ourselves in company with the Minister of the sanctuary.

But we may command, exalt, expand the imagination of our hearers, without producing any permanent or real Christian effect. We may excite breathless admiration, but it will be transient and inoperative. The vivid picture may excite a momentary conviction of its reality, but the soul returns from its excursion to the cares, the tumults, the sorrows, and the sins of this world. To guide us in the common details of life, we want also a sober, practical, and household faith. p. 13.

But our author proceeds to shew, that " to be permanent, religion must have a stronger hold than on the imagination, and that it must be rivetted on the reason." In treating on this subject, he justly remarks;

It is through the reason of man, and the reason alone, that the Holy Spirit unfolds the real meaning of the inspired writers. The presumptuous pretension to peculiar illumination, the new revelation of some latent and spiritual meaning, which would be no less than a continued miracle, these may be, these have been, these perpetually are, the delusions of pious perhaps, but mistaken men; they are not warranted by the clear promises of God; they clash with and contradict each other, and therefore cannot emanate from the Spirit of peace, unity, and concord. p. 15.

If we followed our feelings, instead of regarding our limits, we should transcribe certainly one half of this sermon, and probably more. It deserves the serious attention and the diligent STUDY of every clergyman of our own church, and of every other. Professor Milman writes like one who is a master of the human mind. The balance of power is so accurately weighed between the imagination, the reason, and the affections, and all is so brought within the bounds of solid scriptural truth, that we cannot but most cordially thank him for this invaluable sermon. Nor can we refrain from expressing our hope, or, if it be more respectful, preferring our petition, that he may before long favour us with "a more full developement of the theory suggested."

509

CORRESPONDENCE,

&c. &c.

To the Editor of the Christian Review, &c.

In your last Number a very important hint was dropped, on the propriety of bringing forward the Confessions of the Reformed Churches, as containing direct and full statements of Christian doctrine. This led me to think of the CATECHISMS which were published by the Reformers; and to wish, that, in addition to the short Catechism contained in our Prayer-books, the Catechism of King Edward VI. were more known and studied among us; as also that of Nowell, which was published by authority, and intended to be used in all Latin schools, but seems to have fallen into very general neglect, and almost to be forgotten, though it ought to be a special study with all Candidates for Orders. It is very full and beautiful; written in elegant Latinand if this be an objection to the less learned, who otherwise would be delighted to read it, it is perhaps less generally known that there is an old translation into English extant, which ought to be reprinted, and brought into general circulation, for the edification of the members of our Church. It is observable, that even the simplest books of elementary instruction, which were published at that period, are written with an unction, and with a spiritual force and beauty, of which we meet with no instances in those fastidious and degenerate days. Nowell's Catechism contains many passages which might be adduced in proof of this assertion. So does another Catechism, still less known among us, which I beg herewith to introduce to the attention of your readers. This is the Heidelberg Catechism, used by the Reformed, or Calvinistic (as distinguished from the Lutheran), churches in Holland and Germany. Any one who reads a few sentences, will easily perceive that it needs no commendation of mine; and I will therefore not detain your readers from what is so truly edifying, except by a brief account, which may be interesting in an historical point of view.

It was drawn up by Sacharias Ursinus and Kasparus Olivianus, both of them learned theologians, and Professors at the university of Heidelberg (in the Palatinate), at the command of the Count Palatine Frederic III., surnamed the Pious. The occasion was this: The Ubiquitists (a party of the Lutherans who maintained the omnipresence of the body of Christ), attempting by all means to introduce and enforce their own particular doctrine, had thrown the whole church into confusion, and continually thwarted the Orthodox or Reformed party; so that the schools were brought into contempt, and the tender youth either utterly neglected, or instructed in a very irregular