▲ Sermon preached at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, June 4, 1805, before the Socity for Missions to Africa and the East, at their Fifth Anniversary. By the Rev. John Venn, M. A. Also, the Report of the Committee, &c. 8vo, Is.

THIS discourse is founded on 1 Cor. i. 21," For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." The nature of true reformation, the inefficacy of every method of reforming man but one, and the divine efficacy of the gospel, form the principal topics of the sermon. The moral improvement of man is considered under four different aspects: as it relates to himself, to his fellow-creatures, to his Creator, and to another life. The preacher then surveys the means which were employed for this purpose before the coming of Christ; and here he exhibits, in an affecting manner, their utter insuficiency; proving that the Pagan system of religion was so far from being connected with Morality, that it debased and degraded it. The assistance afforded by lawgivers and philosophers was equally fruitless: the latter were few in number, destiture of zeal to do good, took no pains to suppress vice, disregarded the poor, and were extremely crroneous in their views of moral obligation, the nature of morality, and the character of the Deity.

The author then proceeds to shew, that the gospel is admirably adapted to produce a full and complete reformation of man. "A grand and distinguishing feature of the Christian sys tem is, that it honours God as the only source of all good."—"The foundation of the reform and salvation of man was to be laid in the knowledge of the glorious gospel, - a system calculated to open views entirely new to man, to excite affections of the most powerful kind, and to instil principles the most pure and efficacious." Each of these important particulars is amplified in a suitable manner; and particularly in reference to the object of the Society, before whom it was preached.

We have been much pleased with this pious and able discourse; and hope it will contribute to promote the great cause of Missions, which is the cause of Christ and of benevolence. We

present our readers with the following animated paragraph, which concludes the sermon:

"I beseech you, brethren, by that abundance of spiritual mercies which you possess in Christ Jesus, that you will shew compassion to the millions of your fellow-creatures who are destitute of them. You are called regularly each week to the house of God, to hear the glad tidings of his gospel; but, throughout the vast continent of Africa, no joyful bells are ever heard to summon the assembly of Christians to his temple. You enjoy the rest, the peace, the delightful tranquillity of a Sabbath; but a Sabbath is a word unknown there; and of the blessings which it communicates, millions there are wholly ignorant. You have the Bible in your hands, the charter of salvation; and there you daily read with delight the promises of a gracious God, and enjoy the treasures of mercy which are displayed in Christ Jesus! Ah! think how many are totally unacquainted with these treasures!-how many have never heard of a promise of God, have never known that he sent his Son for the salvation of man. Are you in distress? You flee to God in Christ as your refuge; you repose on his mercy, and are at peace: but they know of no such mercy; they suffer without comfort; they sink without hope. When you are called to the closing scene of life, what consolations surround you, and brighten your dying moments! You reflect on "the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin;" you commit yourself to him who, you are persuaded, is able to keep that which is entrusted to him: you look forward with hope to the joys ready-to be revealed. But are they lying upon a death-bed? No kind friend sooths their departure, by encouraging hope and strengthening faith. Are they alarmed? No sacrifice for sin is presented before them. Are they anxious about their future state? All is dreadful darkness: not a ray of light, not a beam of hope, shoots through the obscurity which surrounds them. Oh, pity their state! Deny them not the crumbs which fall from your table. Suffer them not to say, "We stretched out our hand, in vain to the disciples of Christ; we perished, as it were, in their sight; calling on them, but they refused to help us." Let no person

The Temper of Jesus towards the Afflicted: a Sermon preached at Salem Chapel, Leeds, Feb. 24, 1805, before a Collection for the General Infirmary. By Edward Parsons. 8vo, 18.

FROM Isa. Ixiii. 9, " In all their affiction he was afflicted," the author treats his highly interesting subject, the benevolent sympathy of Jesus, as originating in pure affection, a prominent feature in the gospel-history, according with the dignity and rectitude of the Redeemer's government, applying to every state of our existence, unremitted in its operations, and supremely efficient of all its grand and gracious purposes. "Such was the temper of Jesus towards the afflicted! Go, and do thou likewise." You cannot imitate him in the exertions of his power, or in the abundance and extent of his munificence; but you may, you must, as his followers, imitate him in temper, and aim at the nearest attainable resemblance of their all-perfect original. Of the many dreadful and prevailing delusions of the day, there is none of greater magnitude, or that will prove more fatal in its issue, than a pretended confidence in the atoning death of Christ, while the governing tempers and dispositions of his life are totally renounced and despised.

This

awakening thought the auther applies with great strength and pathos to a variety of characters; but particularly to the revengeful, the covetous, the proud, and the bigotted.

The sentiments of this discourse are highly just, appropriate, and affecting.

The reprehension of ungodly dispositions, under the mask of a Christian profession, is peculiarly solemn and universally important. The characters are drawn to the life; and their inconsistency and odiousness pourtrayed in the most vivid colours. O that every hard-hearted and avaricious professor would read and lay to heart this eloquent and animated address! The style is dignified and sententious; but we think that it is occasionally deficient in ease and natural simplicity. We wish also, that the much-respected author had, in his Introduction, distinctly established the application of his text to the Lord Jesus, in his mediatorial capacity. We have no doubt of the propriety of that application; but for the sake of diffusing scriptural knowledge and just criticism, as well as to preclude any enervating objection, it is desirable that its principles should have been satisfactorily laid down.

An Attempt to rescue the Holy Scriptures from the Ridicule that the many incorrect Translations have occasioned the Inconsiderate to fall into. By R. Tomlinson, a C. R. N. 800, 78.

:

DR. Watts observes, "Since the translation of the Bible into the English tongue is so excellent a performance in itself, and so necessary a service to the church, I feel a sensible regret whensoever there is occasion to complain of it, or to correct it. In the main, I may venture to say boldly, it teaches us all the necessary doctrines and duties of Christianity in a very ample and complete manner; and sets them in an evident light and what the Spirit of God spoke in ancient times, in Greek and Hebrew, is sufliciently manifested to us, for our salvation, in the English Bible." While we cordially subscribe to this sentiment, we think those learned and ingenious men, who have laboured at a clearer illustration of the more difficult and obscure passages of the Scriptures, either by improving the translation or otherwise, deserve well of the church; and merit the thanks of every intelligent and candid reader, provided they pursue their enquiries with becoming modesty and caution.

Critical Notes on the Bible, by a Captain of the Royal Navy (for so we understand the initials C. R. N.) are indeed a curiosity, only to be parallelled by Devotional Meditations, written on board, by the surgeon of a

man of war t. But as there is no place which excludes the divine presence, so there is no station in which the study of the Scriptures may not be pursued with profit to ourselves and others. The author before us has been many years a student in the Hutchinsonian School; and hath here collected a great number of criticisms and new translations in favour of that system, interspersed with many original observations of his own. He begins with Aleim, Jehovah, and Adoni, which he interprets according to the above scheme, rejecting the authority of the Masoretic points. It is difficult to estimate in the gross the merit of a work constructed of such various materials; and our narrow limits will not permit minute examination. The author has discovered much laborious research, and his sentiments are evangelical; though we confess, that some of his versions appear to us fanciful and distorted. We exceedingly regret the inattention of the printer, to whom, on account of the author's distance, the correction of the press was imprudently entrusted; by which means there is an uncommon number of errors, particularly in the Hebrew and Greek words. These are but partially corrected in a long table of errata, which indeed the careful reader would do well to tran

scribe into their proper places before he begins the book; which we would particularly recommend to students.in divinity, cautioning them at the same time against an implicit dependence on the writer's judgment, who claims no such confidence, often proposing his emendations under the modest form of conjectures only. In the study of the Scriptures, we should call no man Master upon earth;" but refer ourselves to divine teaching only.

The General Preface, which extends above 100 pages, contains a great deal of curious and useful literature, in defence of the truth and necessity of Divine Revelation; at the same time, the author guards his readers against the danger of nominal religion only. A Christian with him is, according to Luther's definition," a new creature in a new world!"

As many of our readers will wish to see a specimen of our author's labours, we shall conclude with a few verses of this corrected version, omitting the critical notes, as too long for our Miscellany. We should remark, the new

translations are inserted in the order of the sacred books.

Gen. i. 27, &c. "So God created the man after (his) external form; according to the image of God he created him," &c.

Gen. ii. 2, "And by the seventh day the Aleim perfected his work which he had made." Ver. 3. created to act."

"which the Aleim had

Ver. 7," And Jehovah Aleim formed this very Adam from the dust of red carth; and he breathed into his nostrils a spirit of lives, therefore, that Adam became a living soul."

Gen. iii. 22,"And Jehovah Aleim said, Behold, the man hath been as one from us, who must experience good and evil."

Ver. 24, 66 an emblematic instrument of fire turning itself to direct the way to the tree of lives." Gen. iv. 1, "I have gotten a person of the very Jehovah."

Gen. vi. 6," Nevertheless, Jehovah was consoled for having made man on the earth, though he had idolized himself in his heart."

Gen. ix. 21," And he (Noah) drank of the wine and was satisfied; and he uncovered himself in the midst of the tabernacle."

Interesting Conyersations on Moral and

Religious Subjects, interspersed with
Narrative. By a Lady. 12mo, 58.

We

As it has been the policy of Satan to pervert things in themselves innocent to the worst purposes, so it is the study of good men to restore those perverted objects to their original design. see in the Scriptures the origin of poetry, of dramatic composition, of allegory, of fable, or fictitious narrative, and of every legitimate species of composition; and because the enemy of mankind hath dressed Vice and Licentiousness in these engaging forms, must we therefore wholly surrender them to his service? By no means. Rather let us restore them to the cause of Virtue and Religion. Upon this principie it is that Mrs. Hannah More and others have written sacred dramas and religious tales. Upon the same principle Mr. Hill has favoured us with Village Dialogues; and this Lady with Interesting Conversations. The human mind being devoted to entertainment, the object of such publications is to make that entertainment wholesome

and nutritious; or, in other words, to entice young and gay minds into the paths of truth and wisdom.

The narrative before us is perfectly natural and truly dramatic. The interest, so far from flagging, keeps increasing to the last; and a more tempting literary bill of fare we never rementer seeing than is presented in her table of contents.

The principal characters are as follow: Miss Flirt, a young lady of gay education and di-position; and her guardian, Mr. Blunt, who follows her into several situations, where his appearance has a ludicrous effect, in order to guard her from the suspected seduction of Capt. Frippery. The Widow Meanwell and Mr. Wisely, a Socinian Minister of the Priestleyan school, who solicits her in marriage; but is disappointed through the interference of Mr. Blunt, who is a Calvinistical Dissenter of the old school; ant poin's out the dangerous tendency of his theological sentiments. As a contrast to Mr. Wisely, we have the character of Mr. Zealous, an evangelical clergyman, drawn at some length, with his persecution for his liberal and religious conduct, the reward of his sufferings in the approbation of his diocesan, and his promotion to a wider scene of usefulness and comfort. A variety of inferior characters are introduced, so that every chapter is full of business. The language is perspicuous and appropri ate, and the sentimen's are such as we can most cordially recommend. The reader will often be reminded of some personages in the Village Dialogues; at the same time he will, if we mistake not, find more reason to admire the dexterity of our fair authoress in avoiding plagiarism, than for censure, in sometimes tracing similar features in the dramatis personæ. Upon the whole, we consider this as a work of peculiar interest, and uncommon merit.

LITERARY NOTICES.

A new and interesting Number of the Missionary Transactions (XIII.) will appear about the same time as this Magazine.

The Proprietors of the New Edition of Dr. Watts's Works, having just comple ed what they originally intended to comprehend under the title of Prac tical Works, in three vols. 8vo, will pause a few weeks, to receive Subscriptions for the Whole Works; which, it is estimated, will make (on the handsome type on which this edition is printed) ten farge 8vo volumes. (See the Advertisement on the Corer.) For though the sale has been considerable, there have not yet been sufficient names received to sauction a publication of such magnitude. A Life of Dr. Watts is also preparing for this edition.

A new and corrected edition of Mr. Buck's Theological Dictionary will appear early in next year.

The Rev. Mr. Townsend, of Rotherhithe, will in future superintend the publication of the Sunday-School Miscellany.

Mr. Cox, of Clipstone, has in the press an Essay on the Excellence of Christian Knowledge; which will contain a Defence of Sunday-Schools and Missions.

Mr. Sutcliffe, of Halifax, is engaged in translating a new volume of Saurin's Sermons, on the most important Doctrines of the Gospel, which is nearly completed, and will shortly appear, uniformly printed, to correspond with the six volumes already published.

Mr. Jay's First Volume of Sermons has been reprinted at Boston, in New England.

The Life of the late Rev. and Eminent Dr. Hopkins, of New England, has lately been published there, by Dr. West, of Stockbridge.

An Exposition of Solomon's Song, two vols. 8vo, 128.

An Essay towards a connected Elucidation of the Prophetical Part of the Apocalypse. By St. Morell.

Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Book IV. By Is. Watts, D. D. Compiled and arranged by J. Dobell. Bound, The Life of Joseph, a Sacred History, 18mo, 18.

Pilkington's Sunday-School Lesso me, 12mo, 6d.