minister of religion, that at the last he should have nothing else to do, but to resign himself willingly and cheerfully into the hands of his merciful Creator." P. 14.

The second rule directs the patient to open the-state of his conscience to the minister honestly and unreservedly. And here Mr. Coleridge urges that "the body and soul are alike, and you may as well expect the physician of the one to prescribe by your merely saying I am ill, as that of the other on your generally declaring yourself to be a sinner; it is to little purpose that you call in either, while you expect them to work only a charm," p. 17. He presses moreover the great importance of humility and self-abasement exhibited in an honest exposure of sins hitherto concealed, and the comfort arising from unburthening the conscience of the load that may rest upon it.

The patient is next advised to keep alive in his mind the subject of the minister's conversations: a rule that suggests some useful remarks, among which is introduced a little anecdote of a young female who "used to reserve the portions of Scripture, which the author had read and commented upon, as her subjects of meditation during the sleepless hours of the night; and frequently expressed the spiritual comfort it was productive of, as well as the relief it afforded to her restless and debilitated frame." P. 24.

The fourth rule recommends patience, not only towards God, but towards the attendants; for it is well observed that "sickness appears in many instances to contract the heart, and render it selfish, and hardened to any pains and inconveniences but its own." With such selfishness Mr. Coleridge contrasts the conduct of "Him who, having found his disciples fast asleep during his agony and bloody sweat, gently rebuked and affectionately excused them."

The last rule given is: "request the prayers of the congregation to which you belong." Mr. C. referring to the cure of the paralytick, and the circumstance of the faith of his friends, and not his being mentioned, as the immediate motive which influenced our Saviour to heal him, derives this consolatory inference, that the faith and prayers of others for us in seasons of distress are acceptable to God, and beneficial to ourselves. And he goes

on to argue that,

"Various are the mercies, both temporal and spiritual, to be vouchsafed to the sick or even dying man; and there is no impropriety in supposing that congregational prayer may be the instrument of drawing them down upon him. With regard to the former, your present feelings will tell you, that many are the aggravations even of sickness-and many therefore, also are its alleviations, comparatively speaking, even

comforts; all of which may justifiably be included in our prayers, where there is no probability of recovery. Amongst these may be reckoned the preservation of reason, power of speech, seasonable and refreshing sleep, assistance in the last agony, and an easy and quiet departure. Still more important of course are the spiritual blessings of which you stand in need, and for which I will venture to recommend that family and public, as well as private prayer, should be offered. Patience, tranquillity of mind, spiritual aid, effectual repentance, unshaken faith, and as the consequence of all, a firm assurance of the truth of all God's promises generally, and a well-grounded and joyful hope of their being made good to you at that day when sickness and sorrow shall for ever disappear, are among the inestimable gifts which it may be the will of God to grant, if like the man sick of palsy, you are brought to Christ, not only in your own prayers, but in those of your fellow-Christians, and especially mindful of his gracious promise, that where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He would be in the midst of them, in those of the congregation at church." 'P. 39.

These are the rules prescribed for the benefit of the sick person, in which the author discovers a thorough acquaintance with the duties of his profession, a zealous desire to discharge them conscientiously, and much ingenuousness in performing his office, and giving his advice. In his rules for the attendants on a sick person he exhibits remarkable tenderness of disposition, and a regard for the peace and quiet of the patient, no less than for his spiritual good. One instance of Mr. 'Coleridge's skill and tenderness is shewn in his advice to the 'attendants on a death-bed to beware of disturbing the patient even by any kind and well meant endeavours; and he gives an affecting instance from his journal of the request to this effect by a young female whom he visited.

We are tempted to add the example of Melancthon on the evening of his decease. "Upon being asked by his son-in-law if he would have any thing else, he replied in these emphatic words, ALIUD NIHIL, NISI CŒLUM;"" NOTHING ELSE, BUT HEAVEN, and requested that he might not be any further interrupted. Soon afterwards he made a similar request, begging those around who were endeavouring with officious kindness to adjust his clothes, "not to disturb his delightful repose." Cox's Life of Melancthon.

further ex

We must not extend this Article by making any. tracts; but we will venture to recommend the work itself to the perusal of our readers. The author is so intimately acquainted with his subject, and his heart is so much in it, that he is enabled to descend to many particulars, and prescribe rules of conduct, the importance of which may not strike an occasional

visitor in a sick room. On this account we could much desire to see something from his pen, for the especial use of the Clergyto give directions and encouragement to his brethren in the performance of this part of their sacred duties; a part, in which they may not sometimes exert their full powers, not so much from reluctance as from awkwardness, from an unwillingness to intrude, and from not knowing the best way of accomplishing their own wishes. They thus fail of satisfying their own minds, and of giving that comfort to others which they might and ought to afford. We are well assured that a few hints from one so conversant in such scenes, and who possesses so much of gentleness, devotion, and good sense, would be acceptable to great numbers. Mr. Coleridge has indeed ventured upon giving one hint; it is contained in the following note.

"My younger brethren in the ministry will not, I trust, deem me presumptuous, in here mentioning a practice which I have uniformly observed for many years, and which I will venture confidently to recommend as a very useful assistant in the discharge of their duty, that of committing to paper every evening, the chief parts at least of the several conversations that have passed in the day between the sick persons and themselves. This, by enabling them to take up their examination or discourse where they left off, renders every visit connected as it were with the one before, and thus makes the work of visitation progressive. In the same book may be kept an account of the communion money, and other alms." P. 6.

The Spirit of Prayer. By HANNAH MORE. Selected and Compiled by herself, from various Portions exclusively on that Subject, in her published Volumes. 12mo. Pp. 216. 6s. 2nd Ed. London. Cadell. 1825.

THE name of Mrs. Hannah More has been connected with the literature of her country for half a century; and of the various writings, which during that long space of time she has given to the public, it may with truth be said, that they all agree in aiming at one common end-the improvement of the age in which she has lived. The first efforts of her genius were called forth and seconded by the encouragement of Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other eminent individuals of both sexes, who formed the literary circle of the metropolis, in which Mrs. More enjoyed the privilege of living. As life advanced, she withdrew her attention from the more fascinating pursuits

of polite literature and poetry, and applied herself to the task of examining the system of female education, and of suggesting many valuable hints for its improvement. Whilst her mind and her pen were ably employed on this important subject, she was at the same time practically engaged in instructing and training the children of the poor in the villages around her neighbourhood.

In the awful years of the French Revolution, when the agents of evil were striving, in all possible ways, and by the most insidious means, to poison the minds of the people of this country, Mrs. More sent forth from her retirement a series of Tracts, of uncommon excellence, which were widely circulated, and eagerly read amongst the lower orders; and which must have had a powerful effect in checking the progress of mischief, and in recalling to a right sense of duty many who had been in some degree misled. It is the highest merit of these tracts that they are interesting, without being romanticthat they delight the humble reader, and insinuate instruction and reproof into his mind, without encouraging any morbid feeling, or producing any unruly excitement of imagination.

After this service had been rendered to her country, Mrs. More was soon occupied in one of a very opposite kind. She became, through her "Hints for the Education of a Princess, the voluntary, yet modest and unassuming preceptress of the Princess Charlotte of Wales. This work may be considered the chef-d'œuvre of its excellent Author:-it will remain a lasting monument of her talents, information, and piety. Since its publication Mrs. More has frequently appeared as a writer, and has always met with a welcome reception.

It is now some time ago, when in the Preface to one of her later works, she began to inquire, after the example, and in the words of her early friend Dr. Johnson, "Where is the world, into which we were born?" In the little work, the title of which stands at the head of this article, she seems to address her readers in the spirit, and almost in the terms of the admirable Hooker, who, on his death-bed, and the day before his dissolution, is reported to have uttered the following striking words: "I have lived to see this world is made up of perturbations; and I have been long preparing to leave it, and gathering comfort for the dreadful hour of making my account with God, which I now apprehend to be near." In like manner, Mrs. More, from what she calls "a sick, and in all human probability, a dying bed," avows an anxiety to recommend to all, who respect her name, the practice and the spirit of prayer, as the best means of comfort and support under the difficulties of

life, and as the best preparation for eternity. She states that, having been often importuned to publish a work expressly on Prayer, she has chosen rather to select from her already published volumes, such passages as refer to this "all-important subject." She appears in so doing to have acted judiciously; for she has thus formed, for those previously conversant with her works, an acceptable collection of favourite chapters; whilst for others she has afforded a fair specimen of her style and sentiments, which may excite them to form a farther acquaintance with her writings. It is at all events convenient to have at hand, in so small a compass, whatever Mrs. More has written on one prominent religious subject: since to this volume a ready appeal will hereafter lie, whenever it is necessary to vindicate her from the charge of enthusiasm, and of disaffection to the Church of England. This charge is best refuted by a reference to such of her writings as are strictly and professedly religious. Let these be fully and candidly examined; and the result will not fail to be a conviction that the spirit of piety, which they breathe, and which they are calculated to cherish in others, is fervent, indeed, but pure and sober;-that the temper of mind, which they exhibit in their author, and which they have a tendency to form in her readers, is a temper in strict harmony with the formularies of the Church, of which she has been, through her long life, a member and an ornament. Because her writings have taken a wide range, and have for the most part been concerned with subjects of universal interest, they have undoubtedly been popular amongst readers of all parties, and of all descriptions: hence her name has been used, and her authority alleged by persons differing widely from each other, and differing as widely, on many important points, from herself. Her alliance has been claimed sometimes, it is to be feared, by those who have wilfully misrepresented her meaning; and still oftener by those, who have not taken pains to inform themselves of her real sentiments and predilections. It is true, that she has seldom had an opportunity of defending, professedly, the cause of the Church of England against the Dissenters: still, when the fit occasion presents itself, she does not shrink from an avowal of decided attachment to the former; and she has evidently always written with a tacit reference to the deliberate conclusions of her own mind on the same side. Throughout her works, she has given ample proof that the school in which she has delighted most to study Theology, is that whose masters are the judicious Hooker, the eloquent Jeremy Taylor, Dr. Isaac Barrow, and Bp. Butler: and who will deny to the disci