31

Review.-Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia.

ellesley v Beaufort.

rds :

762

...... ....

These are his | reader, than any critical analysis, or accumulation of general remarks, which we might offer in favour of this work :

"This case is singular in this respect ;-
s is a case in which affidavit is to be set
ainst affidavit; and in a mode of trial
to where the truth is, it appears that it
very difficult to say that it is a mode of
al that shall not miscarry; but it is the
sfortune in this case, that it is one in
ich individual is opposed to individual
affidavits; and after all, it is utterly im-
ssible to say that that contradiction can
iginate in mistake.'—p. 10.

We are by no means supporters of those inciples, nor of those outrages against orality, of which Mr. Wellesley has been cused, and indeed of which we may say : has been convicted. But he is not now on his trial, and we must deal with his ablication as critics, not as censors of orality. We think he has clearly estaished the corruptions and defects of the lancery system, and has fully proved the ecessity for revision and reform. Indeed is necessity appears to have been at st so obvious, as to have excited the obervation of the present chancellor; and we cannot pay his lordship a higher comliment, or bestow a higher eulogium pon his character, than by stating that he as himself brought the subject under the otice of the legislature.

ANOTHER Volume of this valuable work
has just reached us. It dwells chiefly on
the early periods of our national history,
and introduces to our notice the leading
events which are associated with the lapse

of years.
The incidents have nothing
either new or remarkable to claim our
attention, beyond what other similar his-
tories supply, but the language is perspi-
cuous and pleasing, and much extraneous
matter is omitted, to make room for that
which is interesting. Events and circum-
stances of doubtful character occupy only
a very limited space, but facts of unques-
tionable authenticity are detailed with a
degree of minuteness which corresponds
with their importance. Were we to fill
several pages with our observations, they
would uniformly assimilate with what we
have already stated. A few extracts will,
therefore, be more satisfactory to

the

Character of Alfred.-In any age or country such a prince would be a prodigy. Perhaps there is no example of any man who so happily combined the magnanimous with the mild virtues, who joined so much energy in war with so remarkable a cultivation of the useful and beautiful arts of peace; and whose versatile faculties were so happily inserted in their due place and measure as to support and secure each other, and give solidity and strength to the whole character. That such a miracle should occur in a barbarous age and nation; that study should be thus pursued in the midst of civil and foreign wars, by a monarch who suffered almost incessantly from painful maladies; and that it so little encroached on the duties of government as to leave him for ages the popular model for exact and watchful justice, are facts of so extraordinary a nature, that they may well excuse those who have suspected that there are some exaggeration and suppression in the narrative of his reign. But Asser writes with the simplicity of an honest eye-wit ness. The Saxon Chronicle is a dry and undesigning compend. The Norman historians, who seem to have had his diaries and note-books in their hands, choose him as the glory of the land which was become their own. There is no sub

ject on which unanimous tradition is so nearly sufficient evidence, on the eminence of one man over others of the same condition. The bright image may long be held up before the national mind. This tradition, however paradoxical the assertion may appear, is in the case of Alfred rather supported than weakened by the fictions which have sprung from it. Although it be an infirmity of every nation to ascribe their insti

tutions to the contrivance of a man rather than to the slow action of time and circumstances, yet the selection of Alfred by the English people as the founder of all that was dear to them is surely the strongest proof of the deep impression left on the minds of all of his transcendent wisdom and virtue-Juries, the division of the island into counties and hundreds, the device of frankpledge, the formation of the common or customary law itself, could have been mistakenly attributed to him by nothing less than general reverence. How singular must have been the administration of which the remembrance so long procured for him the character of a lawgiver, to which his few and general enactments so little entitled him!

"Had a stronger light been shed on his time, we should have undoubtedly discovered in him some of those characteristic peculiarities, which, though always defects, and generally faults when they are not vices, yet belong to every human being, and distinguish him from his fellow-men. The disadvantage of being known to posterity by general commendation, instead of discrimi nating description, is common to Alfred with Marcus Aurelius. The character of both these ornaments of their station and their species seems about to melt into abstraction, and to be not so much portraits of man as models of ideal perfection. Both furnish an useful example that study does not disqualify for administration in peace or for vigour in war, and that scrupulous virtue may be combined with vigorous policy. The lot of Alfred forbade him to rival the accompious without superstition; his humbler knowplishments of the imperial sage. But he was ledge was imparted with more simplicity; virtue was more natural; he had the glory to be the deliverer as well as the father of his country;

bis

and he escaped the unhappiness of suffering his

authority to be employed in religious persecution."-p. 41.

"First Crusade-Capture of Jerusalem.-In spite of their misfortunes, Bohemond established himself at Antioch in 1097; and on the 14th day of July, 1099, after a siege of two months, the ancient and holy city of Jerusalem was taken by

763

Review.-Sermons on several Occasions.

assault, with a prodigious slaughter of the garrison. Ten thousand were slain on the site of the temple of Solomon; more were thrown from the tops of houses; many were put to death after resistance had ceased. Terrible as were these excesses, they arose from the boiling passions of an undisciplined multitude, and therefore bore no likeness to the license granted by a civilized commander to obedient soldiers when a city is taken by storm. These passions, composed by the union of all that is kind with all that is fierce, of the basest with the grandest elements of our nature, produced a corresponding but a prodi. It is hard for a writer gious variety of deeds.

or a reader, more separated by opinions, by manners, by situation, than by an interval of eight centuries from the victorious crusaders, to form a faint conception of their state of phrenzy, when, sore with wounds, heated by bloody conflicts, and flushed with success, they came to see and handle the ruins of the temple, the holy sepulchre, and all the scenes of sacred story, dear and hallowed in their eyes from infancy; and at the same moment beheld at their mercy the men who had defiled these holy places and spoiled those innocent pilgrims, whose offence was that of worshipping God where he most abundantly had poured out the treasures of his goodness. The gentleness and humility of a religion of forgiveness had on their distempered, yet not, perhaps, depraved hearts, more than the power of the loudest cry of vengeance for long indignities and outrages. What wonder, then, if, maddened by confused emotions, in which, perhaps, rising compunction began to swell, they rushed recking from slaughter to raise their bloody hands in prayer, and to pour forth tears of contrition and affection prostrate before the shrine of their God! The power of the feelings excited by those places which call up the remembrance of revered men, and their noblest actions and sufferings, never could be greater than it was to the deliverers of Jerusalem; and the subtile links which combined good and bad passions could hardly ever have been stronger."-p. 121.

REVIEW. Sermons, on several Occasions. By the Rev. Henry Moore. A. M. with a brief Memoir of his Life and Christian Experience, from his Birth to the Death of Mr. Wesley, 8vo. pp. 454. Mason, London.

THESE sermons, seven in number, are of an experimental and practical nature, and aim not to amuse the fancy by tropes and figures, or to dazzle the imagination by the brilliancy of words. They are calculated for a widely different meridian, namely, to alarm the conscience, to affect the heart, and to reform the life. The language, however, though not ornamental, is strong and masculine, and possesses that perspi cuity of expression, for the want of which nothing can atone. Truth, in its various branches, appears so to have engrossed the author's attention, that to place this in an auspicious light, mere diction and phrases have been deemed matters of minor impor

tance.

Several of these discourses are of an occasional character, but no peculiarity of time or circumstance has drawn the author away from the precepts, doctrines, and duties, he intended to inculcate.

About one half of this volume delineates

༩

the life and experience of the author fan
his birth, about 1750, to the death
Mr. Wesley, in 1791. Independently d
the exercises of mind which this d
imbodies, it is rendered particularly ma R
esting by the numerous incidents, narratives,
anecdotes, and occurrences, which t
author was called to observe, and in whi
he was destined to bear a part during t
latter half of the eighteenth century.

Mr. Moore has been, we learn from six introductory paragraph, a regular mente of the Wesleyan connexion upwards of la years, and during nearly the whole of this period has officiated among this body f Christians as a regular itinerant minster He is now nearly the oldest preacher in ther connexion, but though far advanced in years, his appearance is hale, his heat: good, his vigour but partially impand and he retains his mental faculties almos entire.

From the situation of Mr. Moore during his journey through life, it may be easily inferred, that the circumstances and event which he has recorded, relate almost exdesively to Methodism, its infancy, eany struggles, opposition, increase, success vicissitudes, and present prosperity. these, this biographical sketch enters ins no lengthened details, but we may easy gather from occasional incidents, the nature and character of the prevailing spirit whe distinguished those early days.

Narrow as these confines may appear,

they embrace both England and Ireland, that period remarkable in fertility for the production of persecution, and a harves of vices which dishonour human nat To the influence of these, Mr. Moore was sometimes exposed, but his narrative efbraces what others saw and heard, as w

as what he experienced. We can have to doubt, had the author been so disposed, that he might have enlivened this memor with a much greater number of anecdotes than he has inserted, but his aim being rather to edify than amuse, they have yielded their place to facts and occurrence more immediately connected with prosperity of the work of God.

To the guidance of an overruling Prov dence, this sketch bears ample testimony, without entering into any formal dissertation on the subject. The evidence seems to arise from undesigned occurrences, and r profound this account it commands a more respect. In some instances the operation of natural causes may be deemed sufficient to account for existing phenomena; and others Mr. Moore may be thought by many to have tinctured his views with

15

Review.-Evangelical Biography.

E great question discussed in this volume olves a considerable portion of local feel, in which every individual of the human e is deeply interested. Few persons who low the mortal remains of their departed ends to the house appointed for all living, t indulge the hope of again meeting and ognizing them in another world, where › friendships formed in this, will be rewed, and perpetuated for ever. It cannot denied, that these feelings are congenial th the best sympathies of our nature, and will rejoice on finding the evidence cont and convincing on which the fact is unded.

The three sources of argument to which r. Muston has applied are-prevalence of pinion, the intimations of revelation, and e decisions of rational inquiry. That this belief prevailed among the anents, both civilized and savage, will admit no dispute. The author has furnished any examples, and the reader will be able augment the number from his own recoltion. It is a general assent, amounting most to universality of testimony.

On this point the language of the sacred ritings is by no means so decisive as to ace it beyond all possible doubt; but it pounds with intimations on the affirmative le of the question, and lays a foundation Tinferences which place the desirable fact an almost immoveable basis. In direct rms it will be exceedingly difficult to find the bible any positive assertion that we all know each other in a future state, but e presumptive evidence is strong and aried; and the numerous passages which r. Muston has adduced, leave little or no om for reasonable doubt.

766

analogy of nature, the physical constitution of man, and the reflective powers of the human mind, all unite their testimony to assure us, that in a disembodied state, as well as when this mortal shall put on immortality, friendships shall be renewed with continued consciousness, and most probably remain for ever.

We cannot, however, presume to infer that all the evidence derived from the above sources will amount to any thing like demonstrative proof. Each furnishes its portion of testimony, and the probability resulting from the whole, if taken in the aggregate, will fall very little short of moral certainty. Whatever has a bearing on the subject verges to the affirmative side of the question, and nothing can be adduced of any weight to militate against the conclusions to which these probabilities lead.

Mr. Muston has investigated the subject with much fairness, and displayed in the inquiry a considerable share of ingenuity; and.if the evidence is not absolutely conclusive, the fault lies not in the man, but arises from the obscurity and silence in which the question is involved. For our own parts we feel perfectly satisfied with the strong intimations which reason, scripture, and the general concurrence of opinion, afford, and have no doubt that nothing but an unreasonable demand of evidence will prevent a similar conviction in the minds of others.

REVIEW.-Evangelical Biography for Young Persons. Howard, Newton, Wilson. By Ingrum Cobbin, M. A. 24mo. pp. 191. Vol. I. Westley. London. 1830. THREE such men as Howard, the great philanthropist, Newton, the reclaimed saifor, and Wilson, who carried the first missionaries to the South Seas, can hardly find a parallel in the whole range of christian biography. The incidents which mark their lives place them in a light which nothing can eclipse, and elevate them to an eminence which no fogs can envelop, no clouds can obscure.

Of these three eminent servants of God, it would be scarcely possible to write a biographical sketch that should be devoid of interest. No writer need be at a loss for materials. Their lives abound with incidents of the highest order, on which we look with reverence, without aspiring to the honour of imitation.

Although the more conspicuous of these incidents are not overlooked by Mr. CobOn the ground of reason, the probabilities bin, his aim has rather been to mark the e equally strong and convincing. The economy of God in various results, than to

767

Review. Evidence of the Christian Religion.

expatiate on what might be termed their enterprises and exploits. The remarkable events and occurrences of their lives he connects with the overrulings of providence, and the more powerful influence of divine grace operating upon their hearts. To these the attention of the reader is uniformly directed, and occasions are never wanting to place the interpositions of Almighty power and goodness in a commanding and an auspicious light.

The stile of this volume is adapted to the capacity of the youthful reader. Sometimes indeed, the illustrations appear unnecessarily familiar; and perhaps the sketches would have been more pleasing, and not less instructive, if the reflections had been confined to the great events which marked the career of these extraordinary men. To almost every circumstance Mr. Cobbin has given a religious turn. His remarks indeed are always judicious in themselves, but it may be doubted whether reiteration has not a tendency to weaken their force. His intentions, however, are at once obvious, and worthy of respect; and his book merits a shelf of honour in every juvenile library.

REVIEW.-The Anthology, an Annual Re-
ward Book for Midsummer and Christ-
mas, 1830, consisting of Selections
adapted to the amusement and instruction
of Youth. By the Rev. J. D. Davy,
Cambridge. 12mo. pp. 337. Whittaker.
London.

THIS volume is neatly printed, and most
With the ex-
delicately put out of hand.
ception of an attractive frontispiece, it has
no engravings, but in all other respects it
belongs to the splendid family of Annuals,
which regularly bloom about the winter
solstice. Perhaps the Anthology has more
native vigour working at its root than any
of its rivals or associates can boast, since
both Christmas and Midsummer are invited
to behold its splendour, and enjoy its fra-
grance.

"On the score of variety, (the editor informs us,) it may be incidentally remarked, that it contains direct extracts (besides numerous references to others) from about eighty authors, and translations from eleven different languages. The age to which the selection has been expressly adapted, is the period between ten and fifteen years."-Preface, p. vi.

The numerous articles which this volume contains, the compiler has judiciously classified under general heads, according to their respective characters. Hence, under "Voyages and Travels, including natural history," we find selections from Bruce, Belzoni, Forbes, Lyall, Burchell, Clarke, Heber, and various others, who have visited

768

distinct portions of the globe, and interested the public with the result of their observations and researches.

The second class comprises tales, apologues, and fables, extracted from numerous authors, both English and foreign. With some of these, many readers have been long familiar, others are less generally known, and several have rarely, if ever before as. sumed an English dress.

The third class consists of moral and eloquent extracts selected from authors of long established celebrity. One of these is from the German, but all besides are of British origin.

The fourth class is poetical. The pieces are numerous, and of varied merit. Of several authors whence they have been extracted, the names are well known in the regions of Parnassus, and this, independently of their intrinsic worth, will furnish them with a passport to respect, if not to admiration.

Taken in the aggregate, its prose and poetry form a pleasing group, which cannot fail to amuse as well as to instruct the youthful reader. The historical extracts are particularly interesting. They introduce us to foreign scenery, habits, and customs, which charm by their novelty, and invest human nature with features of character which occasionally astonish, disgust, and please.

The Anthology is a book of instructive and innocent amusement, in which nothing appears either to offend the eye or taint the heart.

Its external appearance is delicately attractive, and its contents derive vivacity and interest from the energy and fidelity with which the incidents, characters, and productions of art and nature, are happily described.

REVIEW.-A brief Outline of the Eridences of the Christian Religion. By Archibald Alexander, D. D. America. W. 32mo. pp. 192. Whittaker, London, 1830.

WE cannot give a more correct idea of this little work than by quoting the contents of its chapters, which are as follows:

"The right Use of Reason in Religion.

"It is impossible to banish all religion from the world; and if it were possible, it would be the greatest calamity which could befal the human race.

"If christianity be rejected, there is no other religion which can be substituted in its place; at least, no other which will answer the purpose for which religion is desirable.

Review.-American Revivals.

The life and character of the late Joseph Cowley, by Mr. Holland, though essentially biographical, places before our view the genuine picture of a man, whose "The bible contains internal evidence time and talents were devoted to the inthat its origin is divine."