The writer, having illustrated the moral power of Christianity, in respect of its distinctly teaching the unity of God, in the views which it exhibits of the Divine character and government, and in its confirming beyond the possibility of a doubt the doctrine of a future life of retribution, suggests admirable counsel to Unitarian Christians (42): "Our claims to the profession of a doctrine according to godliness are capable, as it appears to me, of only one refutation -and that is from ourselves. If we are foremost among those who sacrifice the honour and the welfare of an immortal being at the shrine of power, sensuality or fashion; if our zeal is lively only in the promotion of those objects which may interest our selfish passions by increasing the diffusion of our own opinions, but cold and languid where the great interests of Christianity and morals are concerned; in vain shall we profess that we maintain the entire and uncorrupted gospel." The progress and stability of the Western Unitarian Society are sketched with great delicacy and beauty (45): "The seed which was sown beneath so inclement a sky, that it might well have been doubted whether the binder of sheaves should ever fill his bosom with the increase, has shot up with a vigour which removes all fears for the future." A discourse from which such quotations can be taken, deserves the praise of genuine eloquence! THI N. ART. II.-Religious Liberty. A Sermon, preached at the Octagon Chapel, Norwich, on Sunday, April 20, 1817. By T. Madge. 8vo. pp. 40. Hunter. HIS sermon has the characteristic excellencies of Mr. Madge's pulpit compositions. The style is chaste and simple; the arguments are very effectively stated; and many passages have a persuasive energy about them, which, if it may not be called by the lofty name of eloquence, at least produces a very similar impression on the hearer or reader. Religious Liberty is pleaded for as being supported by Reason, by Policy, and by Christianity. In the following remarks, the author is proving the impolicy of legislative interference with the rights of conscience, by a reference to the schemes of usefulness which might have been frustrated, and the important discoveries which might have been prevented, had the object of such interference been accomplished. well nigh hindered by the authority of the "The great discovery of Columbus was priests, who quoted Št. Austin in proof of the assertion, that there could be no antipodes. And for maintaining that there was, one of the Catholic bishops was accused of holding dangerous errors. The thus: "If he should be convicted of mainorder sent against him by the Pope ran taining that perverse doctrine, which he has uttered against the Lord and against his own soul; that is, that there is another world, another sun and another moon,— call a consistory, degrade him from the micate him.' Contemplate also the fate honour of the priesthood, and excommuof Copernicus and Galileo, the fathers of modern astronomy. The first kept his to publish it; and the second was charged work nearly forty years before he ventured with heresy for advancing his astronomical opinions: his works were burnt, himself imprisoned, and being released was enjoined a penance of repeating once a week for three years, the seven penitential psalms! Such have been the fruits of the interference of Government with the right of private judgment !"—Pp. 18, 19. On those who, from timidity, disappointment, or a despairing temperament, are backward to assist in endeavours to obtain religious liberty, or diffusé religious truth, a penance similar to Galileo's may profitably be enjoined; and they are recommended to repeat 66 once a week for three years," or till it has produced the proper degree of energy, the following passage: "Pure, disinterested, and well-directed efforts for the good of man or the glory of God, can never fail of success. Times and seasons are not indeed in our hands: we know not what a day may bring forth. Sanguine in our expectations, and elated with hope, we may look for a speedier accomplishment of our wishes and endeavours than cool, sober reflection will sanction; and thus perhaps disappointment may come in to chill our energies and to relax our exertions. Or it may be that in the moments of trouble, of wearisomenes and dejection (and to the best of men such moments will sometimes present themselves), we may abandon ourselves_to despair, and believe that all is vanity. But this consolation is ever at hand, that the ART. III.-A Sermon on Spring. could not, surely, be insensible. Yet he abstains from all reference to his character and labours. The omission is extraordinary: what can be the motive of it, our readers will consider. Far the larger part of the pamphlet is employed in an analysis of "the Clergy Bill." This Dr. M. pronounces to be "a law for the government of the church, which is of greater consequence than any ecclesiastical law, which has been made since the time of the Reformation." Its enactments are judiciously and usefully explained. In the remainder of his Charge, the mends to the attention of his clergy Bishop of Landaff strongly recomthe National Society and the Society for promoting Religious Knowledge. Of the latter he says (34), most ancient Bible society in this kingdom." And among the reasons for its being patronized by Churchmen, to the exclusion of "the British and "It is the Twould not disgrace many who Foreign Bible Society," he gives the have been regularly educated and ordained. Of the three chapels at which it was preached, two belong to poor congregations, unable to support ministers; and if they have amongst them, or are frequently visited by, such lay preachers as the author of this sermon, are not very much in need of them. While so many small societies are in a similar situation, and our academical institutions are insuf ficient even for the supply of old and established congregations, it is highly desirable that men of sense and piety should exercise their right of prophesying, and prevent the total disuse of public worship and exhortation. Our regular ministers are, we hope, too liberal and right-minded not to encourage such useful substitutes and assistants. X. ART. IV.-A Charge delivered at the WH WHAT first occurs to be remarked, in the perusal of this charge, is the writer's profound silence concerning his predecessor. It is difficult to conceive that the present Bishop of Landaff was not personally acquainted with Dr. Watson. To the high reputation of that prelate in the university, in the world, and, we think, we may add, in the church, he following (S6): guished by the name of the British and "The Bible Society, which is distinForeign,' comprises the great body of Dissenters in this kingdom, while the other Bible Society consists entirely of Churchmen. Now a partnership of churchmen and Dissenters in a Bible Society, which distributes the Bible alone, is a partnership founded on a levelling principle, of which founded on very unequal terms. It is party must lose what the other gains. the unavoidable consequence is, that one This the Dissenters know, if Churchmen do not. They know that a union of Churchmen and Dissenters in such a society cannot fail to augment the power of the latter at the expense of the former." But we must be permitted to deny Dissenters gain nothing, as Dissenters, the fact, and to oppugn the reasoning. by their support of the Bible Society. formist neighbours, whom they join in In common with those of their conthe undertaking, they acquire a power of being useful to mankind. Were the argument of the above paragraph good for any thing, it would prove that Churchmen ought not to unite with Dissenters in charitable associations in general. In a note, at the conclusion, the Bishop requests the clergy of his diocese to distinguish between “justification, that is, admission to the Christian covenant, and salvation, which is the completion of it." This, in substance, is a just distinction. By regeneration also he would seem to understand a state of privilege, rather than of character; which privilege, he tells us, "takes place at baptism.” Very different from the charges of the late Bishop Watson is this primary charge of Dr. Marsh's. In these pages we find no manly, generous and eloquent appeals to the heart in favour of Religious Freedom and of our common Christianity. The writer contents himself with being the advocate of a church which is governed by parliamentary statutes: and this pamphlet breathes the spirit of a lawyer rather than of a divine. N. ART. V.-Eternal Punishment proved to be not Suffering, but Privation; and Immortality dependent on Spiritual Regeneration. By a Member of the Church of England. 1817. 8vo. pp. 240. Appendix, pp. 40. HE author of this singular work "from a very early age, employed in learning and labouring truly to get his own living in a state of life' incompatible with minute attention to the more polished refinements of language." The defect for which this apology is made, is amply compensated by his apparent honesty and love of truth; his unwearied diligence in the accumulation, arrangement and comparison of scripture passages connected with his subject; and a certain air of originality about his notions which, whether we admire their justness, wonder at their oddity, or laugh at their absurdity, makes us feel that they are completely and indubitably his own. His object is to prove that the wicked will be punished, at the day of judgment, by annihilation. The reader is prepared for this proposition by a very energetic and successful attack upon the doctrine of eternal torments. The following extracts are specimens of the manner in which he shews its inconsistency with the attributes of God and the best feelings of his own immediate gratification, millions of his fellow-creatures: as with him every act was a crime, so, if for every breath he drew a year of torment was awarded, the most vindictive would ery, Hold, enough.' Six hundred millions of years would, if any duration could, expiate even guilt like this: and if no duration could, what could justify the infliction? Bat this is an instance of a monster in the history of the world, and the punishment is threatened not only to him, but to our nextdoor neighbour, and to ourselves, to all that fall short of the righteousness that the worst still remains behind; for even to shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. But this most heavy infliction infinite misery is added. Will it be said, as by the demons of the Inquisition, for the love of God": Call down fire from heaven and be blameless; but pollute not God's holy name by ascribing to Him judgments like these." Pp. 12, 13. "If this be the light of scripture, enter with it a few steps into the dark profound; see the bituminous lake thickly peopled with such things as we are; see hatred and all; see torturing agony filling every limb, every muscle, every nerve. To help your imagination, fancy you see all the inbabitants of this great metropolis assembled; swell your idea to the whole population of the empire ; add Europe's millions; summon Asia's myriads, and when Africa and America shall have angmented the tide, plunge them all into this state of thankless, thriftless misery for some short period; contemplate them here, and if you have the heart to do it, WISH THEIR IMMORTALITY, 'Is thy servant a dog that he should do this great wickedness? Can it be better then to fall into the hands of man than of God? Since you would abhor yourself if you could but wish this, can you love God whilst you think it is his pleasure?” Pp. 15, 16. It is right and useful thus to compel the believers in endless misery to look their creed fairly in the face, and see its tremendous horror and deformity. Humanity shudders and sickens at the contemplation. It would indeed be a "most strange and unnatural fruit of Almighty love." Any other system must possess a comparative excellence which will recommend it to the bene volent mind; and yet we must con fess that we are not at all satisfied with the moral beauty, any more than with the alleged scriptural proofs, of that which our author would introduce in its place. His quotations are fair and numerous; comprehending 1 all the texts which bear upon the future state of the wicked, and in our opinion many which have no reference to that subject; but in his expositions the commentary does not always accord with the text; and in his reasonings, the inference is occasionally at variance with the principle from which it is deduced. Many of the arguments against the eternal misery of the wicked apply with equal force to their destruction. For instance: "We prove the goodness of God by the evidence we have that he intends the happiness of all his creatures; and if it could be shewn in any case that he does not desire us to possess the happiness of which he has made us capable, imperfection might be attributed to the Author of nature; and it would be impossible to reconcile to that notion of his goodness which makes it to consist in the diffusion of happiness, the opinion entertained by some, that God hath unconditionally imparted an immortal nature to creatures, whom his prescience must have foreseen would be rendered thereby eternally miserable." P. 8. Is it not equally difficult to reconcile that notion of goodness with the destruction of millions capable of displaying exalted virtue, and of enjoying endless felicity? Where is the sinner whose reformation and consequent happiness is beyond the power of God? It is neither good nor just to annihilate those who might live to make ample atonement for their crimes, and to receive ample compensation for their sufferings, by an eternity of virtuous exertion and pure enjoyment. With similar inconsistency it is remarked that Paul "speaks of raising the dead as equivalent to deliverance, whilst, if a vast majority only rose to misery, he could not view it as such." And what sort of a deliverance is it, to have life restored for the sole purpose of again dying? "By Christ comes the resurrection of the dead, and therefore, if at all, by him comes eternal misery." True; and therefore, we may add, if at all, by him comes eternal death; which is quite as good a reductio ad absurdum as the other. It is extraordinary that a man should reason so cogently up to a certain point, and then, on a sudden, stop short and advocate conclusions as irreconcileable with the principles on which he set out as those which he would explode. The texts urged on behalf of the doctrine of annihilation make a formidable appearance; but the intelligent reader will at once perceive that they are piled together by sound rather than by sense; that many of them refer to the termination of the present life, many to the rejection of the Jewish nation, and a very few indeed to the future condition of the wicked. If these few must be understood literally, they are of course sufficient to decide the question; but this necessity ought not to be assumed until the arguments for Universal Restoration from particular texts, from the spirit of Christianity, and from the attributes of God, be fairly disposed of. To these, we are sorry to observe, our author seems to have paid little or no attention. That death, and not immortality in suffering, was the punishment threatened to Adam, as the head of his posterity, for the original transgression, and that death, not infernal misery, was endured by Christ to redeem mankind, are arguments, strongly urged in this book, and entitled to some consideration from those whose opinion coincides with the writer's on these subjects. His main strength, however, is embodied in two propositions: That all punishment is privative; and, That goodness is the principle of immortality. The first principle brings out, of course, a good deal of verbiage and bad metaphysics. It is contended that all "God's sore plagues" are privative; for instance, "famine, pestilence and the sword." Famine, is a privation of “needful food"; pestilence, of "healthful humours"; and the sword, of "the continuity of the flesh, on which life depends." The second is only a literal rendering of the easy metaphor by which knowledge, virtue, happiness, and whatever makes it "life to live," is called life. The most piquant part of the book is a collection of texts with very quaint, brief interpretations or inferences. We must make room for a sample: "Matt. xxiii. 27, Ye are like unto whited sepulchres,' &c. Yet God is supposed to have endued these whited sepulchres with immortality; the catacombs and the pyramids bid fairer to attain it, for places are filled up by the same number of redeemed men; and other deep things of a similar description: also a demonstration a priori of the existence, personality and divinity of the Son and Holy Spirit, which is particularly edifying. The appendix consists of extracts from Jeremy Taylor, Barrow, &c. on the doctrine of Eternal Torments, which certainly appears quite as repulsive and horrible in the statements of its advocates as in those of its opponents. We must now take leave of this "Member of the Church of England," by expressing our admiration of that spirit of inquiry, boldness and benevolence by which his book is characterized. It deserves praise, notwithstanding the frequent admixture of these qualities with ig norance and absurdity. X. POETRY. BY THE REV. W. L. BOWLES, Sung at his Church, of Bremhill, Wilts, on the Funeral of the Princess Charlotte. I. Lo! where youth and beauty lie, Cold within the tomb! As the Spring's first violets die, Wither'd in their bloom. II. O'er the young and bury'd Bride Let the cypress wave A kingdom's hope, a kingdom's pride Place the vain-expected child, IV. THE MOST DESOLATE WOMAN IN THE WORLD. Mothers of England—when, at night, Your heart invokes a God of light, To guard your children's infancyOh! spare one pitying prayer for her, The widowed, childless, royal wanderer! Her sire in a foreign land was laid, While glory mourn'd her brother- And doomed in stranger realms to roam Still one sweet vision every woe beguiledStill Hope's bright angel pointed to her child. Departed Spirit, beam thy light, Of her declining years— And all that loved her, gone- [From the Lament of the Emerald Isle, Are now with thee in the silent grave. by Charles Phillips, Esq.] But lo-a wanderer, far away, Yon exile mourns her only stay, Poor wanderer!-in thy heart's distress |