both in discipline and doctrine. All his references to spiritual experiences have-they cannot but have-a Calvinistic basis. The terms used may be general; so that the more humble and simple class of Wesleyan readers might not, at first, see much to put them on their guard. The principal mischief will be in the omissions. The author of the Catechism I have mentioned cannot give, and, as an honest man, he will not give, nor will even profess to give, what such Wesleyans want. If the doctrine of the direct witness of the Spirit be true, its absence must seriously affect the spiritual system which omits it. The Wesleyans, who believe the doctrine, cannot find proper food for their souls in a system denying it. If they want controversy, that is another thing. I speak of reading for edification by those who are satisfied of the truth of the system they have embraced ; and such readers,—I hope I have expressed myself guardedly,—such readers, I say, will not find the divinity that they, on these grounds, seek for, in the "Christian Witness." A WESLEYAN. SELECT LIST OF BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED, WITH CHARACTERISTIC NOTICES. [The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] The Gate of Prophecy; being the Revelation of Jesus Christ by St. John, theologically and historically expounded, and shown to elucidate various Prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and St. Paul. By William Brown Galloway, Curate of Brompton, Middlesex. 8vo. Two Volumes. Pp. xxxvi, 472, vii, 530. Rivingtons.-Whatever of merit these volumes may possess, the author will not think that we at all detract from it by saying that they are scarcely adapted -nor, indeed, could they be intendedfor the general reader. It is to biblical students, and perhaps some of the more thoughtful of those who, without being biblical students directly, devote at all events some of their attention and leisure to theological subjects, that investigations like these are addressed. Even if we were disposed-which we are not-to attribute no value to the conduct and results of these investigations, it would be impossible, except by setting all fair criticism at defiance, to deny to the author the praise of extensive and laborious research, and of industrious and generally careful examination. On the recondite questions of prophetical interpretation, we are not going to pronounce an opinion. The judicious reader- he who reads, not hastily, to take for granted all that some favourite author may say, thus saving himself the trouble of thinking, and losing, at the same time, the real benefit of the truth he may thus only casually embrace; but he who reads to examine, weigh, and decide will find, even in these portions of Mr. Galloway's work, much that will be instructive to him. To the theological principles of the author, however, we principally refer. We know not that we ever before felt so impressively how sad and bewildering are the effects of the adoption of that most misleading guide, the doctrine that Christ's catholic holy church is one by a visible and external organization. Let this organization be taken in its proper position in the Christian system, and we as readily grant its true relative importance as Mr. Galloway himself. But the church, as Christ's living body, united to its Head, and deriving life from it, is an object of faith, (as the Anglican Reformers, especially the more spiritual among them, often said,) not of sight. Neither its oneness, nor its visibility, is constituted by an external, disciplinary, organization, however, in some respects, connected with it. A spiritual Head must have a spiritual body; and the members are so by their direct personal union with the Head, not by their union with the body. Their union with the body-we speak of that which is living, one, universal, and holy, -depends on their union with the Head, and is constituted by it. Mr. Galloway fully acknowledges this spirituality; but the acknowledgment is not consistent. The subject is too serious, and implies too much error and mischief, even for smiling; else we should have quoted, as we could not help sometimes remembering, the opening verse of Horace's De Arte Poeticâ. And that the " congregation of faithful men" must be fed by the preaching of the pure word of God," and not required, as Mr. Melville teaches, to show their submission to the most rigid outward order, by not departing from their parish church, even to another church, when dangerous error is preached there, Mr. Galloway asserts strongly, using a figurative argument which, by a singular coincidence, we have several times ourselves employed. He says, speaking of "worldly-minded Prelates,who have preferred darkness to light, and profitable corruption to primitive truth," "On the whole, is it not very much the question whether we should choose to drink adulterated and poisonous waters from a splendid and ancient aqueduct, or pure water of the fountain by a modern and temporary pipe? It is the truth which makes us free from Satan's thraldom. (John viii. 32.) It was to bear witness to the truth Christ came. (xviii. 37.) It was as a vehicle of truth the church was constituted. Who can hesitate between the truth and the outward vehicle; between the water and the aqueduct ?" (Vol. i., p. 87.) Who indeed? No one, certainly, that has experienced the efficacy of truth. In cases of prelatical departure from Christian truth, Mr. Galloway makes some very important concessions in relation to the ordaining power of Presbyters in the church,-so important, that we think we shall gratify our hearers by taking an early opportunity of transferring the passages which contain them, with one or two others, collateral with them, to our own pages. From what we have said, it will easily be gathered that we have read the work with mingled feelings: sometimes pleasure has predominated, sometimes pain. The student, well grounded in the grand doctrines of the evangelical system, and therefore able to separate the chaff from the wheat, will go through the volumes with benefit: others will only be bewildered, and will rise from the perusal, regretting the time they have lost in it. Paul Gerhardt: an historical Tale of the Lutherans and Reformed in Brandenburg under the Great Elector. By C. A. Wildenhahn. Translated from the German by Mrs. Stanley Carr. In two vols. Vol. I., pp. xvii, 264. Vol. II., pp. 270. 12mo. Nisbet.-The scene of this well-told and affecting story is laid chiefly in Prussia, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and under the reign of Frederick William, the last Elector of Brandenburg. The characters introduced are taken from individuals who lived at that interesting period of European history, and the leading transactions recorded are historically true. Paul Gerhardt himself, a Saxon by birth and education, was settled as a Lutheran Minister, first at Mittenwalde, then at Berlin, and finally at Lübben, where he died at the age of seventy. He was a man of exemplary devotion, and a respectable poet. He suffered considerably for conscience' sake, especially in resisting certain edicts of the Elector, which he imagined interfered with the adherence of the Lutheran Clergy to the Formula Concordia. Paul Gerhardt was evidently a man of great piety and ardent zeal; and his character, which is depicted in these volumes, is drawn with great beauty and simplicity, and is calculated, whilst it excites interest and attention, to improve the heart. Domestic Worship. By Dr. Merle D'Aubigné. Translated from the French by Beata E. Macaulay. 18mo. pp. 33. Partridge and Oakey.-An instructive tract on a most momentous subject. Those who refuse to read elaborate treatises on the obligation and advantages of family devotion, may obtain real and permanent good from this unpretending essay. The Italian Swiss Protestants of the Grisons. By Dr. Marriott. 16mo. pp.viii, 39. Partridge and Oakey. This tract is a reprint of papers which appeared in some Numbers of the late "Continental Echo," and deserves the attention of all who are anticipating the universal spread of the Gospel of Christ. We are informed that a free population of 120,000 persons, speaking the Italian language, are living on the frontiers of Italy, where evangelical books are prohibited, and faithful Preachers are silenced. Among them, there are in the valley of Poschiavo about 1,600 Protestants; and in the valley of Bregaglia, 1,800 more. In this latter valley, the Church of Castaseyna is within a stone's throw of the Lombardo-Venetian territory, and is only two leagues from Chiavenna, the first large town after the descent of the Splügen. How much may these Italian Protestants extend the knowledge of the Gospel in Italy, if they themselves become enlightened and in earnest ! At the western extremity of the Alpine chain, their brethren, in the valleys of Piedmont, are depressed and fettered by Sardinian despotism, and think themselves happy if they can protect themselves from Papal persecution. But here is a people among whom all the institutions connected with an evangelical church can be freely developed; and who, unchecked by fear, may employ every opportunity presented to them for the evangelization of Italy. The inhabitants of Bregaglia, Protestants since 1552, are industrious, frugal, cleanly, moral, and generous; they profess the Bible, they have Protestant Pastors and Schoolmasters; but they are poor; their masters are ill-paid; the scholars, without books; and, of six communes, two are without Ministers, one Pastor is sick, and two others are likely to leave their flocks under the pressure of poverty. Under these circumstances, a rich Roman Catholic, who doubtless knew the value of this Protestant outpost, has built a fine Roman Catholic church in the centre of the valley, where, though there is now no Roman Catholic congregation, he may plant his ecclesiastical artillery. The object of this publication is to evoke the zeal of some Christian men to send an evangelical Missionary, who will not hesitate to undertake and labour in the Mission. The Nature and Destiny of the Human Soul: the Substance of a Sermon preached in St. Mary's Wesleyan Chapel, Truro, on Sunday, Aug. 2d, 1846. By John H. James. 8vo. pp. 20. Truro. A spirited and valuable defence of an important doctrine of divine revelation, which had been impudently controverted, and blasphemously denied, in the town of Truro by some would-be philosophers; who, while professing to bear the Christian name and character, have propounded in lectures, and disseminated by means of a tract, that man has no soul, no separate spiritual existence, no life independent of the body; and, consequently, that man is not immortal, and that the wicked will be utterly annihilated. Mr. James has managed his argument with considerable ability and adroitness, and the infidel party are thoroughly beaten. We hope the discourse will meet with an extensive circulation: the popular style in which it is written, and the weighty truths which are elucidated, will render its perusal edifying as well as convincing. The English Matron. By the Author of "The English Gentlewoman." 12mo. pp. ix, 242. Henry Colburn.— Many years ago, at one of the earlier Annual Meetings of the Bible Society, we heard a Norwegian Baron check himself for saying, "I shall be proud to help you." "No," he said, "it is not for us to talk of pride, either as to advantage or duty. I shall be thankful and glad to do so." This very just observation came to our remembrance when we were looking at the two titles,-The English Gentlewoman, The English Matron. In nothing do we experience a more thankful and exalting feeling, than in looking at our country under the aspect which these phrases call us to observe; perhaps we might say, especially the latter. The general influence of religion on English social life is nowhere seen more clearly and impressively than in our HOMES. Even where the power of religion is not directly and personally felt, yet domestic life, in our highly-favoured land, undeniably evinces that religious principle, whatever counteracting mixtures there may be, is one of the decided elements of the public opinion of the nation. There may be less of brilliant show than Continental society displays; but an English Home is always expected to be a sanctuary of domestic purity, peace, and instruction. Long may this state of things continue, changing only by improvement! They who contribute to its stability stand among the first class of genuine patriots. We should not be just, either to our readers or to the author of the volume before us, did we even seem to be unwilling to allow this praise to her. The entire plan is a good one, and so is the filling up. We the more fully approve of the work because of its minute details. Nothing on which domestic order and peace depend ought to be regarded as trivial. The timbers and planks of the large ship are held together by comparatively small bolts and nails. And that which makes the book-we will not say the more, but truly, valuable is, that as the writer evidently looks on the whole subject religiously, so the whole is based on religious principles. Such, too, are the directions, that even those whose circumstances in life may not be exactly the same as those which seem generally to be contemplated by the writer, may yet, because of the sound English sense which they manifest, gather much instruction from them. Altogether, it is an excellent work; and we shall be glad if our present announcement and notice should contribute in some measure to that extensive circulation which it deserves, and which we hope it will obtain. By Posthumous and other Poems. Charlotte Elizabeth. Foolscap. 8vo. pp. xvi, 256. Seeleys. When we say that this volume contains ninety-two pieces, (sixty-four of which have never been before printed,) our readers will see that the compositions are mostly, comparatively speaking, small. We might almost content ourselves with the announcement of the work. The name and talents poetical, as well as general-of Charlotte Elizabeth, are too well known to require that such a volume should be stamped with our own critical approbation. She was a true poet, although, perhaps, it should not be said that she cultivated, as that she frequently wrote, poetry. We have, therefore, no large poem. Most of the pieces appear to have been almost the extemporaneous effusions of her pen, and rather exhibit poetical feeling, and great fluency in composition, than laboured and finished constructions. They are all beautiful, and not at all the less so for being truly evangelical. Many of them would abide the application of a test even severely critical, and show what she could have done, had she, with full intention, devoted herself to the task of composing in verse. We may particularly refer to one or two, to which if the reader turn, he will see, or we shall very much doubt his poetical judgment, that we have not spoken too strongly. P. 26, "Easter Vigil," is a beautiful lyric. P. 30 is a small piece, "The Cloud," containing only seven common-metre verses, (usually so termed,) and is remarkable for both the fulness and point of the epigram. On p. 41, "Battle and Victory," though not long, is a wellcomposed Christian ode, full, almost to redundancy, of poetic figures; yet the whole tissue of metaphor is not less significant than it is ornamental. On the whole, Dr. Johnson himself could scarcely have withheld praise from this volume of decidedly religious poetry. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. ROMANISM IN IRELAND. BY THE REV. W. M'ILWAINE, INCUMBENT OF ST. GEORGE'S, BELFAST. SUFFICIENT of painfully thrilling interest ought, of right, to connect itself with either of the terms wherewith this paper is superscribed; and much more so, when they are found thus associated. And thus associated have they for now some centuries been. Since the hand of England's second Henry planted the scion of Popery in the spot of newly-acquired territory, Ireland has ever been but too fruitful a soil for its growth. That this fatal plant was not only not indigenous to our island, but utterly diverse from the form of ancient Christianity previously existing there, is a matter admitting of clear historical proof; as is the equally grateful one, (to Irish Christians at least,) that the soil which received and nourished Romanism in this land, was not that found within the enclosure of the comparatively pure professing Christian church, but the Paganism and ignorance-perhaps we might add, the fervid romance and imaginativeness— of our since unhappy country. This is a path of inquiry, however, more open to the Christian historiographer and antiquarian, than to the class of persons who may be interested in what is now being penned, or to the writer. It may, assuredly, be neither unpleasing nor profitless, at a suitable season, to wander even in imagination over the green plains and purple heights of this still lovely land; and to read in the rich and chaste, though nearly effaced, architecture of its highest Christian era, plain proof, even at this distant day, that Ireland was then the site of sacred buildings, far more akin to the oratories and chapels, wherein pure and scriptural service was offered to God by the primitive Christians of the West and East, than to those where the gorgeous idolatry of modern Romanism is the presiding genius. It might be equally interesting to point to the Orientalisms of language, and of ancient Christian ritual, which, by their remains in Ireland even to this day, testify to her ancient spiritual independence and priority, as compared to the more modern Western superstition and thraldom, which have shed their blight over this once-happy country. But the present object of the writer is different: it is to deal with the subject as a practical one, and to draw attention to Romanism, as it is, in Ireland. Popery, we assert first of all, is unchanged. Eternity and infallibility lie too contiguously to be separated in the claims of the apostasy. She has sought to enrich her antichristian crown with both these jewels, stolen from the diadem of the God of the Bible; or rather, she has blasphemously counterfeited each; and she will wear them as a system until their rightful Owner shall prove that they are His supremely and alone. The But, along with this, we also assert that Popery is variable and shifting. This may partly account for the credence which her abettors find, when they say that she is essentially changed. But is this statement strange ? Is it moreover irreconcilable with the other? The wolf may wear sheep's clothing. system of Antichrist is mystery. 0 the mine of meaning in that spirittaught description of Babylon !-embodying truth in its creed, and yet a tissue of falsehood. Mystery-yes, such is Popery; having within her pale a people to be saved, it is true, or whence the cry, "Come out?" and yet the very fortress and stronghold, the crown and colophon, of antichristian error. even feminine, prototype. Does not all this clearly intimate that we may look to the assumption of forms by this soul-destroying system, in all varieties of description, from the foulest and fiercest, to the most subtle and ensnaring? Let the history of the Papacy be compared with this prophetic warning, and we shall see that Infinite Wisdom has not given it in vain. Is an illustration of this statement required? Let us once more glance at Romanism in Ireland. Very different in garb and aspect, though in essence the same, is this system as exhibited in various localities. Mark its regal splendour on the banks of the Tiber, its learned and ascetic monasticism amidst the retreats which border the Isis, its semi-atheistic foppery in the capital of the once avowedly infidel France, its fanfaronading and exhibitions of artillery amidst the islands of the Pacific, its real cannonading and dungeon discipline in Tahiti and Madeira; while, in enlightened England and unhappy Ireland, it has its equally appropriate exhibitions. Amidst the mass of fearful enormity which meets us in this dark part of the earth, the only difficulty is that of selection. A glance may be taken at one or two of the features of Irish Romanism. The system is essentially idolatrous : once Reformers feared not thus to designate it, and whatever may be the curtain-flimsy it is granted-which in professedly Protestant England is drawn over its chambers of imagery, in Ireland the penetralia of idolatry are naked to every eye. It is beside our present purpose to refer at length to such Romish It appears to the writer that this cha- writers as Bonaventura and Bernardine, racteristic of the Popedom-namely, its those saints of that Church's canonizaProteus-like variableness tion. is not obIt will answer the end of this scurely shadowed forth by the prophetic paper better to make one or two selecportraiture of that system in the word of tions from some works of popular Roman God. Unlike Him with whom is no theology, which are to be found in nearly variableness, and that truth which bears every town in Ireland, where a "Catholic His image and impress, this masterpiece book-depository" is established. Many such manuals are in the writer's possession. We shall begin with one purchased in the metropolis of this island, where such are largely on sale, whose title-page runs thus:" The Glories of Mary, Mother of God, containing a beautiful paraphrase of the Salve Regina. Translated from the Italian of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and carefully revised by a Catholic Priest. Dublin, 1843." The following is the commencement of this tractate, chap. i., sec. 1:— of Satan is varium et mutabile semper. Thus we have it imaged at one time by "the little horn," (Dan. vii.,) the growth of that beast, "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly." Again, we find its image, or that of its mystically-perpetuated head, in "the Man of Sin," (2 Thess. ii. 3,) Antichrist, so often referred to, especially by the beloved Apostle, is also a human adumbration of the system; while, in the apocalyptic vision of the same Apostle, we have its bestial, its dragon-like, and "How great should be our confidence in Mary, Queen of Mercy! |