resting production, but we do not like the very disagreeable character of Ranulp, who is clearly the writer's favourite. We are also, though not by any means insensible to the evils and ignorance of the middle ages, not inclined to join in the common cant which exalts the present enlightened period at their expense, as the writer does at page 19. They surely have been already sufficiently abused, and it is high time to begin to look on them with a little more discrimination than is usual with modern liberalism. Twenty-four Strong Reasons why I dare not become a Dissenter. By L. S. E. Third Edition, making in all, Twenty-one Thousand Copies. Price One Penny, or 7s. per 100. THE language of this tract is somewhat strong; but it is so excellent, that we cordially recommend it, and say, Let it be distributed by handfuls! We need not inform our readers that by the signature L. S. E. is designated the Rev. M. A. Gathercole. The tract is published by Inkersley, Bradford, Yorkshire; but we presume may be had on application to Mr. Gathercole's printers, Sherwood and Co., Paternoster-row. Universal Redemption the Doctrine of the Bible and of the Prayer Book. Two Sermons. By Rev. A. BADger. London Rivingtons. 1837. Mr. BADGER, it appears, had been misrepresented as to the doctrine of these Sermons, and has published them to do away with any erroneous impressions. They seem to us two very sound and excellent discourses. Les Merveilles de la Providence ; Lectures Instructives et Edifiantes pour tous les Dimanches de l'Année. Paris: 8vo. THE contemplation of the works of nature, as exhibited in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, is always edifying and instructive. In these Lectures the author has chiefly endeavoured to remove the various prejudices and errors, which are somewhat widely entertained, with respect to the manner in which the operations of Providence are conducted; and many of his observations are excellent, both in a scientific and religious point of view. Unquestionably the writer is a man of intelligence; and it was with equal pain and astonishment that we found, mixed up with much valuable information, a laboured account of the miracles of Hohenlohe and other Romish impostures, which are placed on the same footing with the marvels of nature. It is truly lamentable to remark, that a great portion of the books which are intended to unite amusement with instruction, for the benefit of the rising generation in France and Belgium, are filled with trash of a similar description. Sermons preached in St. James's Church, Kingston-upon-Hull. By THE church of St. James is one of those for which the country is indebted to the private exertions of pious individuals, assisted by the Society for the Building of Churches in Populous Districts; and its erection has been the means, under the ministry of Mr. Knight, of effecting no inconsiderable improvement in a neighbourhood, in which vice and misery had long held an almost undisputed reign. In the volume before us we have a pleasing and instructive specimen of the efforts which the author has made in one branch of his professional exertions; and we do not hesitate to recommend it to the serious and attentive perusal of other readers than those for whose inspection it is more immediately designed. There is a clearness of exposition in declaring the great doctrines of our holy faith, and a warmth of energy in urging its salutary precepts, which at once enlighten the understanding and reach the heart. We subjoin a list of the subjects from the Table of Contents :-Sermon 1. On Earnestness in Religion, Phil. iii. 14.2. The Spirit of Grace and of Supplications, Zech. xii. 10.-3. Wrestling Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 26.-4. The Holy Spirit an Internal Intercessor, Rom. viii. 26, 27.-5. The Rejection of the Jews a Warning to Christians, Rom. xi. 21.-6. Moral Inability removed by Divine Influence, John vi. 44.— 7. The Nature and Evidences of Saving Faith, John xi. 27.-8. The Nature and Importance of Christian Charity, 1 Cor. xiii. 13.-9 and 10. The Sin against the Holy Ghost, Matt. xii. 32.11. The Providence of God elucidated, Dan. iv. 35.-12. God's Foreknowledge practically considered, Acts i. 16.-13. The Second Advent of Christ, Heb. ix. 28. 14. Adam's Expulsion from l'aradise, Gen. iii. 22—24.15. False Profession detected and exposed, Matt. viii. 19, 20.-16. The Bright and Morning Star, Rev. xxii. 16.-17. On the Lord's Supper, 1 Cor. xi. 23.18. Things Temporal and Things Eternal, 2 Cor. iv. 18.-19. The Believer's Hope in God, Ps. xxxix. 7.-20. On Transient Impressions, Hos. vi. 4.-21. The Believer's Hatred of Vain Thoughts, Ps. cxix. 113.— 22. The Origin, Nature, and Design of Affliction, Lament. iii. 32, 33.23. The Doctrine of the Trinity, Matt. xxviii. 19.-24. The Believer's Conflict with Indwelling Sin, Gal. v. 17.-25. Comparative Estimate of the Trials of Life, Jerem. xii. 5. A Manual of Comparative Philosophy, in which the Affinity of the IndoEuropean Languages is illustrated, and applied to the Primeval History of Europe, Italy, and Rome. By the Rev. W. B. WINNING, M.A. Bedford. London: Rivingtons. 8vo. Pp. xii. 291. Of late years, and among the Germans more especially, the investigation of the origin of language, and the classification of kindred tongues, has been pursued with an unwearied diligence of research; and from a mere comparison of the Greek and Latin with the Sanskrit, and other eastern dialects, has been advanced to the rank of a comprehensive analytical science. In Mr. Winning's Manuals the results of the latest inquiries upon the subjects are examined with considerable learning, and with the more immediate view of directing attention to the manner in which the subject may be made to bear upon the early history of the Etruscan and other ancient people, which is acknowledged to be involved in an almost impenetrable depth of fabulous obscurity. The subject is not adapted to a lengthened consideration in our pages; but we would refer the curious in such inquiries to the author's speculations upon the prophetic destiny of the Tuscans, which he illustrates by an appeal to the Rabbinical writings, as curious, at least, though somewhat problematical. Le Siècle jugé par la Foi: ou des Mours, de la Morale, et de la Religion. Par P. F. D. Paris: 8vo. THIS is a singular performance. It contains some fine writing, and many just and energetic remarks upon the extreme depravity of the age, as exemplified in the morals and manners of the French capital. The writer is a staunch Romanist; and we do not hold with the propriety of setting up the dogmas of a corrupt Church in witness against the vices of a corrupt age; but the indignant tone of reprobation in which he speaks of the shameless disregard of the marriage contract, in the moral department of his work, bespeaks a religious and a virtuous man. Of the latter portion. of the book, which treats of the doctrines of the Church, we shall say nothing; but the work concludes with a chapter on the Apocalypse, which gives a novel and not unamusing interpretation of the prophecies which are yet unfulfilled. By the mystic Babylon we are told that Paris is undoubtedly typified; and that a terrific deluge is on the eve of swallowing up that sink of iniquity, with all its unhallowed magnificence and vicious enormities. Vie de Martin Luther. Par LEDDERHOSE. Traduite de l'Allemand. Strasbourg: 8vo. WE have not seen the original of this Life of the German Reformer; but we think that it is of sufficient interest to warrant a notice of the translation. Extracted in great measure from A Commentary on the Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales. By the Rev. G. HUGHES, Vicar of Helversgate and of Moulton in Norfolk. London: Rivingtons, 1838. Pp. 134. MR. HUGHES says, "A principal object with me throughout these pages has been to persuade you, my clerical brethren, even at the eleventh hour, not to be in a hurry to enter into 'voluntary agreements.' To those beneficed Clergymen who are interested in the question we cordially recommend this pamphlet. The writer denounces strongly the whole Act, as Considerations on the Vital Principle; with a Description of Mr. Crosse's Experiments. By JOHN MURRAY, F.S.A. London: Wilson. 1838. MR. CROSSE, who by his singular discoveries in electricity has gained a name of no mean celebrity, is here rather severely handled. By a collection of well authenticated facts, as to the length of time after which seeds have germinated and plants lived, and as to the remarkable circumstances of heat, Mr. Murray combats the too precipitate conclusions, whereby some supposed that a continued stream of electricity might call insects into existence without the agency of generation, or of an intelligent Creator. A SERMON FOR THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. LUKE vii. 12. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and much people of the city was with her. THERE is not a miracle performed by our Lord which comes more home to our heart, or is better calculated to interest our feelings, than that recorded by the Evangelist in the chapter from which the text is taken. The loss of a beloved child, under any circumstances, is a heart-rending affliction to a tender mother. The bond of union between the parent and its offspring is too strong to be dissolved without much violence. The helpless state of an infant, when first it enters into this world of sorrow, dependent for all its comforts, nay, for its very existence, on a mother's care, draws close that bond, which is daily strengthened as the child advances from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood; promising, by his attainments and virtues, to reward all the fond cares and parental kindness bestowed upon him in his earliest days. To lose a child at such a period is an affliction indeed; and this severe loss the poor mother mentioned in the text had to deplore. Deep as was the wound her maternal feelings had sustained, there were circumstances in her case which rendered it still deeper; for this young man was the only son of his mother. No remaining child was left to mitigate her sorrow, or to supply, by endearments and dutiful attentions, the place of him she had so fondly loved, and whose cold remains she was now attending to their last sad home-the grave. The sole object of all her hopes, of all her fond solicitude, torn from her for ever-herself no longer a mother, or mother only to the dead. Severe as was the trial to which she was exposed, it had another aggravation, which St. Luke places the last in the melancholy catalogue: "she was a widow." Friendless and solitary, for her no human consolation appeared remaining. Every thing she held dear on earth had been taken from her; and by mortal eyes she was probably viewed as one on whom the wrath of Heaven was poured in tenfold vengeance. Her accumulated sorrows had evidently excited a general sympathy; for we read that "much people of the city was with her." Many of her neighbours, doubtless, had assembled upon this melancholy occasion, to testify their commiseration, to pay the last tribute of respect to her lost son, and to mingle their kind but unavailing sorrow, with her own. But among those crowds there was One, who, to the tenderest feelings of pity, added infinite power to relieve the wretched sufferer, and to restore to her widowed arms her lost, her much-loved son. One who, though disregarded by the multitude, while walking amidst them under the character of the meek and lowly Jesus, could, whenever occasion required, resume his divinity and exert his omnipotence. One who, being himself “the resurrection and the life," possessed such almighty control, as to make even death itself release the victim which it had already seized within its icy grasp. "The Lord saw her, and had compassion on her." Ever alive to the kindest emotions of benevolence, he could not see the mourning mother's woe unmoved. Addressing himself to her in accents of kindness, he bade her dry her tears, and cease from her lamentations: "Weep not," said he; and turning to the bier in all the majesty of the Godhead, he uttered these emphatic and most authoritative words, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!" and scarcely had they passed his sacred lips, when the lifeless body was re-animated, "and he that was dead sat up, and began to speak; and he delivered him unto his mother." This surprising event, so convincing of our Lord's divine mission, and so pathetically related by St. Luke, naturally suggests two reflections. or rather two questions, in considering or answering which, we shall, I hope, derive advantage and improvement. First, Why does our God, a God of mercy and love, allow his servants to be driven to such a state of extreme suffering as was the case with the widow of Nain? Secondly, Why was it necessary to work a miracle for the restoration of her son, who might have been healed of his disease before it had assumed a mortal character? To such queries as these I might reply, that it is not for erring mortals to arraign the counsels of Omnipotence; or for the creatures who were by his goodness formed out of nothing, to call in question the motives by which their great Creator chooses to govern them. Yet, I trust we shall not be guilty of presumption, if we venture to examine whether we may not, even with our finite and imperfect faculties, discover in the narrative before us, fresh cause to adore the goodness and wisdom of God, even in his very chastisements. Man was created in the image of God, innocent, happy, and immortal; but, alas! he soon by transgression fell from this state of bliss, lost the image of his Maker, and entailed sin, misery, and death upon his whole posterity. Sunk in corruption, and exposed to the tempter from without, as well as to temptations from within, the wretched descendants of Adam had been lost in irremediable woe, had not the mercy of God devised the stupendous scheme of redemption; and had not Christ, the paschal Lamb, been offered up a willing sacrifice for all the sins of a guilty world. This alone restored us to the Divine favour, and opened a door to that state of perfect happiness in another world, which we have, through sin, all of us forfeited in this. Still there are, and must be, certain conditions to be performed on our part, certain dispositions and qualifications, to render us fit objects of the Divine mercy and these are faith and repentance. Faith, lively and operative, prompting us to believe all which God has revealed, and to do all that he has commanded; repentance, which evinces itself by deep humility, and unfeigned sorrow for our sins, and a sincere determination to forsake them. A very little reflection will convince us that a state of continued prosperity is unfavourable to the growth of these essential qualities in the human heart. By nature proud and selfish, we need the wholesome correctives of our heavenly Father, to make us sensible of our unworthiness, and to teach us our dependency upon his bounty alone. "Before I was afflicted," says the sweet Psalmist of Israel, "I went astray; but now have I kept thy word." The blow which appears so terrible as nearly to crush us into utter annihilation, is frequently a blow of the most tender mercy. If there be a state which calls for our immediate |