enforced by the Koran. A Christian is not permitted to purchase a Mahometan slave, at least not at Constantinople or Smyrna, though it is a frequent practice at Alexandria and Cairo.-Pp. 148, 149. At p. 76, the author relates an incident which proves that the character of the Turcomauns has been misunderstood, as being deficient in affection: and at p. 106 there is mention of the courage of a Turk in descending a deep well to satisfy his thirst. At Isbarta the author found Armenians printing cottons in the galleries of the khan : and at the same place a curious incident occurred: We retired to rest at an early hour, and in no long time I was awoke out of a sound sleep, by a voice exclaiming, "What is this? what is it?-I have hold of a man's hand, a man's hand, really a man's hand!" I was alarmed, for our apartment having no fastening to the door, it was not an impossible thing that, among the multitude of characters in the khan, some thief had crept in. The alarm was quickly given, but it was almost as quickly discovered that it was the alarmist's own hand, which he had grasped so firmly in the other as to occasion a stoppage of the circulation. Some Armenians, who slept in an adjoining apartment, separated only by a very thin partition, were sadly alarmed, and we heard one of them saying his prayers for a full hour afterwards with uncommon earnestness.-Pp. 120, 121. One successful result of the expedition of Mr. Arundell has been the discovery of the actual sites of Colosse, and of Apameia:-desiderata in the geography of Asia Minor. The former of these places has now been determined to be at Khonas, and the salt lake which Herodotus mentions μεταξύ Απαμείας καὶ Λαοδικείας hitherto unvisited, has been also explored. The volume contains many facts of great importance which we would gladly have mentioned: and in the notes there is a fund of geographical information, partly derived from that experienced traveller Col. Leake, and partly from the observations of Mr. Arundell. The inscriptions, which are numerous, have been copied with great care but by some accident or other the numberings of them, and consequently their references also, are deficient. On the whole, the book is a valuable one; and we doubt not the general reader will find as much amusement, as the classical student will find instruction. The strong religious feeling of the author has tinged his nervous style with a delightful hue: and it is not the least of its recommendations that the account is given in language not only correct but graceful, and, at times, extremely eloquent. It was impossible for a mind so elegant as that of Mr. Arundell's not to have been excited by the incidents which might befal him on a journey through a country so interesting to the scholar and the Christian: and if occasionally we meet with repetitions of a favourite quotation from the Scriptures, (such as that from Isaiah xxxii. 2,) which as critics we may think too often made, as well acquainted with the feelings of a traveller, we can forgive him the recurrence of a thought, which, in a climate like that of Asia, had much more consolation in it than most men may think it capable of affording. The only fault we have to find,—and, with our peculiar views, it is a great one, is that many vague and contradictory notions are put forth about the nature of the rocks and soils of the districts which the author traversed. It is a pity that so many opportunities have been lost of adding to the facts which geology has already accumulated on some of the most interesting points of scriptural enquiry. And although it may expose us to a charge of romantic enthusiasm, we believe it will be found that the great agents in the natural phenomena of the earth are very intimately connected with the penal lot of cities and empires recorded in the pages of scripture history. Leaving this, however, as a matter of speculation, we regret Mr. Arundell had not a fuller acquaintance with the character of rocks, as he might then have satisfactorily determined the real nature of the incrustations of Pambouk, the chalk of Deenáre, and the volcanic rocks and mountains in the vicinity of Koolah. * We now take leave of Mr. Arundell, hoping that we have done sufficient to recommend him in the eyes of our readers, whom we refer at once to his work for information in an interesting, and amusement in a novel, field of inquiry: satisfied that they will receive as much pleasure in the perusal of the work as it has afforded us, the extent of which we leave them to decide. LITERARY The Book of Job, in the Words of the Authorised Version, arranged and pointed in general Conformity with the Masoretical Text. Dublin: Curry and Co. 1828. 8vo. pp. 109. THE principal feature in this work is, the adoption of what the Editor calls a half-pause in each line of every verse, which he has marked by a dot, placed like the Greek colon, at the top of the last letter of the word to which it is affixed. In the determination of this pause, he has been directed by the Masoretical punctuation, which not only divides the respective verses in couplets or triplets, but every line into two distinct parts. What may be the precise nature of this pause, it is not easy to determine; but its utility is This remark gains confirmation by the nature of the facts stated by Buckingham, in the account of his gallop through Mesopotamia, respecting the occurrence of volcanic rocks but Mr. B. is fully as ignorant of geology as Mr. A. praise the Lord in the assembly of the upright and I will praise the Lord in the congregation.-P. xxxii. The Editor has not followed Bishop Lowth and others in printing each line separately; but has retained the usual form of the verse, as in the authorised version, and as established by the Masorets. The words also of the English translation have been retained throughout, except where a slight alteration was rendered necessary by the change in their collocation, in which the order of the Hebrew is followed as closely as the difference of language will permit. By this means the majestic simplicity of the original is materially preserved; and, in many instances, the sense of a passage more accurately developed. A Charge, delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Salisbury, at the Primary Visitation of the Diocese, in August, 1826. With an Appendix. By TнOMAS BURGESS, D.D. &c. Bishop of Salisbury. London: Rivingtons. 1828. 8vo. pp. 164. DURING the interval which has elapsed between the delivery and the publication of this Charge, the learned and excellent Author has been employed in more closely investigating the important subject of Justification by faith only, upon which he had briefly treated therein. The result of this investigation is an able Tract, considerably longer than the Charge itself, to which it is subjoined, in which the doctrine in question, as stated by Bp. Bull in his Harmonia Apostolica, is maintained and confirmed by an appeal to the Scriptures, to the works of Cranmer and Hooker, and to the Homilies, Articles, and Liturgy of the Church of England. Besides this Tract, the Charge is accompanied by a Preface, in which the "Strictures" of the Archdeacon of Ely upon Dr. Daubeny's Vindication of Bishop Bull are examined and refuted; together with an Episcopal Letter to the Diocese of Salisbury, in which the sources of error respecting the doctrine of Justification, pointed out in the Charge, are re-stated and exemplified. The Charge itself is one of the most luminous and comprehensive which has lately been delivered at an Episcopal VOL. X. NO. VIII. visitation; embracing a variety of points, both of doctrine and discipline, and, among the rest, a most able and in some degree novel refutation of the Popish claims of supremacy and infallibility, founded upon Matt. xvi. 18, 19. To the whole is appended a collection of ecclesiastical papers, which will be found of considerable interest and value, more especially, however, to the candidates for orders, and the clergy beneficed in his Lordship's diocese. We had intended to enter somewhat at large into the subject of Justification, as treated by the Reverend Prelate; but we have rather chosen, on after consideration, to refer our readers to the Bishop himself. They will, we feel assured, be amply repaid by an attentive perusal of his pamphlet. The Churchman reminded concerning some important Doctrines and Duties of his Profession; being a Discourse and Reflections, with Notes and Illustrations. By the Rev. WILLIAM A. HOLMES, B. A., Rector of Moyne and Kilclonagh, in the Diocese of Cashel, &c. &c. Dublin: Curry & Co. 1828. Pp. 148. THE Discourse alluded to in this title, was delivered in the Cathedral Church of Cashel, at the Visitation of the Archbishop, in August, 1827. The preacher took his text from 1 Tim. iv. 16. "Take heed to thyself and unto thy doctrine; continue in them; for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." It is written throughout in a calm, manly, and dignified style; and as an able exposition of the blessings of Protestantism, and of the claims of the Church of England and Ireland, is every way worthy of the attention and the praise of his brethren in the ministry, to whom its arguments and admonitions are addressed. The notes appended to the historical passages, are very useful in their information on points most interesting to those who are anxiously watching the progress of the Reformation at home and abroad; and the manner in which the Apostle's admonition is applied, may be learnt from the following quotations: 3 T For how is it possible, I will ask, for a formalist, a man who knows nothing of the Church but its exterior, whose heart is not penetrated with the excellency of its spirit, and who rests in the mere letter and external ordinance; how is it possible, I say, for him to perform its various offices with efficacy? How can he exhort the sinner to turn from iniquity, who is himself unconvinced of the heinous nature of sin? How can he reclaim and bring in the relapsed, who is himself a wanderer, and excluded from the enclosure of the spiritual fold? Can he confirm the weak and support the declining Christian, who is himself infected with deep debility? Can he awaken the dormant and stir up the listless, who himself sleeps upon his watch tower, and has his spiritual senses steeped in forgetfulness? Can he cheer the pros-pect, and give consolation to the dying or desponding, whose own horizon is dark and gloomy, or whose feet go down to the chambers of death-and must not such a man too fearfully realize the parable of the blind conductor of the blind? The very first step then required of us, as the foundation of fidelity, (for it is a duty which we owe to ourselves, our people, and our God,) is, that we maintain our own spiritual life that our lamps be trimmed and our lights burning, as becometh men who wait for their Lord. If we do not, believe it, my brethren, we are, at best, but pretenders. Our shallow mockery in the handling of holy things, will be seen through, more or less, even in this present world. By the avowed libertine and the unbeliever, who aim to destroy all true religion, on account of the abuses and deceptions of the times, we shall be arraigned of hypocrisy, and not unjustly too, for our Lord himself hath declared of all such, that in the life to come they shall have their portion with the hypocrites and unbelievers.—Pp. 45, 46. Nor let it be supposed that they can remain long in this state uninjured, even as to temporal interest; for when they fail to answer the proper ends of their institution, they are uniformly treated, even by the men of the world, as a burden upon the community: And when that is the case, how tremendous is the array of enemies which rises up to oppose them? Infidelity, which makes use of their inconsistencies as her best vantage ground, in her attacks upon all religion-sectarism, which triumphs in so imposing and seductive an argument against the Church-envy, which scowls with baleful look upon the rank and estimation to which they are exalted in the state-detraction, which walks hand in hand with her, and lends her powerful aid to darken and depressbut above all-avarice, avarice, the master passion, and principal enemy, by which, as he looks with covetous eye upon the patrimony of the clergy, all the rest are secretly supported, abetted, and set on. And such, my brethren, are the causesthese are precisely the agents which history declares in former days, to have wrought the downfall of Churches, when it has pleased God to give sentence against them, on account of their lukewarmness or their crimes-agents which are awakened to tenfold activity by our irreligious supineness, but which become inert and powerless, whilst we are endowed with spiritual grace and strength-so true it is, that without continued piety and virtue, the clergy cannot long maintain their ground: deserted by the providence of God, their only sure support, they must fall. According to the words of our Saviour Christ-"they are the salt of the earth deprived of savour, and are thenceforth good for nothing, but to be trodden down under foot of men."-Pp. 50, 51. The "Reflections" are upon the doctrines of Predestination and Election, alluded to in the above Sermon; where the author speaks of the conduct of the Church of Geneva, and the influence of Calvinistic principles generally, to do away with the comforts of the Gospel. They are too long to notice here in full; but it may be right to say, that the great questions, and their subordinate ones, are treated in a scholar-like and simple manner,— that the reasoning is, on the whole, clear and forcible, and that conciseness has been a great object with the learned writer. We know not how far his conclusions will convince,-but on one or two points, such as the Origin of Evil, and the Trinity, we think he has spoken too imperatively. The origin of evil he makes to be the perversion of the free-will, and that Satan fell into rebellion by pride; but the question how the free-will was thus perverted, and how pride arose, is, though at the bottom of the whole, untouched. After all, it is a question never likely to be settled on this side eternity; and all the divine can do, is to defend the justice, though he cannot explain the "hidden wisdom" of the Almighty. We must take leave to add the concluding passage of the work; and in so doing, to recommend the volume to the student who desires a refutation of Popish wickedness and Protestant errors, and generally to all who seek arguments in favour of our own united and almost perfect Church. The period is not far distant, when, under Divine Providence, the united Church shall appear the most effective instrument for spreading pure Christianity, not only in these realms, but throughout the world. In this character she has already begun to develop herself; and if this be the case, is it not of the utmost importance that she should be preserved pure in doctrine, as she is energetic in zeal; and that all her members should appear, in this important matter, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? Should this end be promoted by any exertion of mine,-and I here declare it to be, if not the first, yet certainly a principal motive for making my sentiments public,-then shall I feel amply repaid for my efforts, even though I should undeservedly encounter remonstrance or hostility. It is my humble hope, however, that those anticipations may yet prove unfounded; for when it is considered, that my shafts have been levelled at errors in opinion only, and that I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to consider them separately from the persons that have been brought up in them: when I declare, that I have lived in habits of cordial intimacy with men of all the religious persuasions common in this country, even of those which I have felt it my duty in the foregoing discourse, to represent as necessary for us to guard against: and that whilst I have admired them for their manners, I have also esteemed them for their virtues, as having given examples of the strictest honour and highest integrity in their conduct in life: when this is the case, I do trust that I shall obtain credit with them, if not for the soundness of my judgment, at least for the purity of my motives, so that if overtaken in a fault, I may meet with a candid and a righteous judgment, and if I shall have effected a good, I may not be envied the meed of approbation.Pp. 147, 148. The Doctrine of General Redemption considered, with regard to the influence which the Belief or Denial of it has on the Profession aud Practice of Christianity.-A Sermon, preached at Chichester Cathedral, Dec. 16th, 1828, with Notes. By the Rev. GEORGE WELLS, LL. B. Prebendary of Chichester, and Rector of Wiston, Sussex. London: Rivingtons, 1828. Pp. 40. THIS Discourse is an able and comprehensive digest of Dr. Barrow's four sermons on Universal Redemption. After some introductory remarks on man's accountableness as a free and rational being, the author observes: The doctrine of the blessed Gospel then affirms that our Lord is the Saviour of all, by rendering all men capable of salvation; and he entreats them by his ambassadors to be reconciled to God. He hath released the prisoner from his bonds, and hath opened the gates of life to all who will enter in. "The holy Scriptures accordingly include those among the saved, who are in the way of salvation; and the means of salvation are said to save, though their due effects may be defeated. Thus faith is declared to save, though many have believed in vain. And Christians are collectively termed the saved, though many renounce the covenant into which they have been baptized, and reject the promise of eternal life."-Pp. 8, 9. Mr. Wells then proceeds to point out the lamentable but natural results of limiting salvation to a chosen few, elected by God antecedently to their existence, without any regard to their moral fitness or dispositions,-as detracting from the glory of the Creator, by diminishing the value of his gift; and destructive of piety in the creature, by removing the most powerful incentive to holiness. On the contrary, the conviction of God's all-comprehensive goodness must be productive of the most salutary effects, by preventing despair, and enlivening hope. It calls forth the spirit of christian charity and social love among beings who feel themselves to be equally the objects of their Maker's care. Still there are mysteries in which the doctrine of Redemption is involved, into which it is equally vain and presumptuous to inquire. Sufficient for us is the knowledge vouchsafed to us that "God is the Saviour of all, and specially of those who believe;" and that degrees of happiness are apportioned to different degrees of holiness in the mansions of eternity. Hence (says Mr. W.) while we are careful not to condemn others, as outcasts from Vide Barrow's Serm. Vol. II. p. 40. |