REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS. Four Sermons, preached in London, at the Third General Meeting of the 12, 1797, to which are prefixed, and the Report of the Directors. Chapman. WE congratulate our readers on cccafion of another publication from the Miffionary Society. We know nothing fo likely to excite and maintain a due regard to the general caufe of Chrift, and to the most im portant interefts of fellow mortals, as the perufal of the Miffionary Sermons, annually publifhed; and of the Religious Intelligence, which we have the pleafure, every month, to lay before them.” This publication is introduced by a brief account of the Meeting, at which the Sermons contained in it were preached. Of this, a more particular narative was given, in our Magazine for June. The report, from the Directors to the Members of the Society, fucceeds. It was received by them, as we were informed, with approbation; though it is highly pro bable, from the brief manner in which it is drawn up, that fome important tranfactions are omitted. If our readers refer to fome of the letters received from the Duff, they will find intimations that the Miffionaries were furnished with extenfive compilations from all the printed South Sea voyages, and from all the manufcript and verbal information that could be procured; as well as with the neceffary charts, conftructed for their use; one of which has just been published for the benefit of the Society. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude, that, in fome respects, alío, much more has been done by the Directors than meets the public eye in the Report. Having thus briefly noticed the Introduction, it is with pleasure we proceed to the Difcourfes. The heads of them have already been given in our Intelligence. A general account, and a difcrimination of their character, with a few extracts, will therefore be fufficient. They afford ample proof of an affertion, made by the first of the preachers this year; that the Miffionary fubje&t is not exhausted. The Sermons before us poffefs, at leaft, equal originality, and variety, with any of the for mer. Mr. Moorhouse deduces his fubject from Mark, xiv. 6. and entitles it Mary's Memorial. Both the fexes have had the honour to fhare in the revival of Miffions to the Heathen, not merely by their fubfcriptions, but even in the devotion of themfelves and their offspring to the most arduous part of the fervice. He, therefore, very fuitably introduces a Scripture Heroine for our imitation; and fhews her conduct to be capable of a beautiful and forcible application to the object of the Society. A fhort fpecimen of his manner muft fuffice. Having referred (on occafion of the oppofite views in which Mary's conduct towards Chrift was, at the time, regarded) to feveral inftances of oppofition between the judgments of God and inen, on human conduct (p. 51.), he proceeds, "After all these inftances, and many more which might be named, wonder not if there be a variety of conjectures, and fome, perhaps, not the moft charitable, refpe&ting your fending Miffionaries to the dark regions, where Jefus Chrift is unknown. Some may judge you fincere, but pity your weakness ; others may ascribe it to your pride and vanity, declaring it all a whimenthusialtie thufiaftic zeal a work for which you have no divine authority, &c. Care not for any, or all of thele reflections. Your Judge liveth; and, we truft, as he is perfe&ly acquainted with your work, fo he will, in due time, say of it, "Ye have wrought a good work for me." Shortly after-wards, addreffing himself to the Directors of the Society, he fays, "Suf. fer me, in the name of the L rd, to intreat all, ok well to your motives; you fee it is love to Chrift, more than the ointment, wh ch makes the work good and honourable. Dread flf feeking, as a dead'y enemy, which will taint an 1 fpoil the whole. Whi it your motives are pure, in directing and fuperinten ing a great and goed work, you will enjoy confcious peace in your own bre fts, although a vertaries may calumniate, and perhaps fay, "Ah, the Directors have a very pretty pot, it affords good eating and good drinking. I was glad to hear one of your number declare, but last night, in a public meeting, "That the Directors had never, to the prefent day, put the, Society to a fathing's expence." We have quoted the latter paffage, on account of is a luhon to a report, which we find has fpread among ferious, but narow-minded people; and which we well know to be utterly groundless. So far from burdening the Society with perfonal charges, n'oft of the Directors who could afford it, and even others differently circumftanced, hase incurred heavy expences in the dif char e f the r office; no part of which has been carried to the account of the Society Mr. Moorhoufe's Sermon abounds with good fenfe and ingenuity, expreffed in a fimple, familiar, and striking manner; and it breathes throughout the moft cordial zeal for the caufe he pleads. The fecond Sermon, by Mr. Waugh, founded upon Philippians, i. 14, 15, 16 ani entitled, Peaceful Endeavours to Enlighten the World, difcovers a rich fund of knowledge and fentiment, fanctified by a fpirit of meeknefs and love, truly worthy of his fun ct. This refpectable and amiable fervant of Chr it, hav ng accepted a fhare in the labours of conducting this Magazine, we are precluded from enlarging upon the merits of his Difcourfe, as it appears in print; but we apprehend that an extract, affording a fair fample of the whole, cannot be unacceptable to our readers. We quote it from p. 72, 73, of the work. "Nor let us dare to entertain an idea fo reproachful to the ftate of religion in the Chriftian church, as to fufpect that there will be wanting men enlightened, compaffionate, and courageous, to hold forth, by their own perfonal miniftrations, this word of life to the Heathen. Our cup of fpiritual privileges and benefus runneth over; and shall not our thirsty African brother be permitted to drink with us? Doth not the condition of their fouls caft a with u, earneft look toward this illumined land, and in the look convey the pathetic defire, "Oh, that one would give us to drink of that water of the well of Bethlehem? And thall there be found, in all the garrison of the circumcifed, no man of mighty mind, trong n the Lord, to break through the hoft of real or imaginary dangers, and carry the living waters to their parched lips? Have we ourfelves obtained peace through the blood of the crtofs, and purity through the washing of regene ration, and can w fee the anguish of their fouls, and not halten to them with relief? Shall myriads of thefe fons of the ftrangers perish in their fins, without one effort on our part to fave them? Oh, for large meafures of the fpirit of the Apoftle Paul! "The love of Christ," faid he, “conftrains meit bears me away before it. The love of eafe, and of honour from men, would have kept him at ignoble anchorage all his life in Jerufalem; but at the call of his Saviour, were unfurled all the faculties of his great mind; and the love of his Redeemer, who bought him with his blood, filling those faculties, bore him away far, far from home, . among the Gentiles, to encounter every form, richly laden with the bleffings of the Gospel of peace-bleffings in value unfpeakably fuperior to the gold of Ophir, the topaz of Ethiopia, the myrrh, the frankincefe, and all the fpices of the merchant. Was his conduct here to be afcribed to the power of blind impulfe, or unaccountable impreffions? Quite the reverfe. For, though his heart was warm and animated, every thing in his understanding was regular, rational, and ferene. "We thus judge," faid he," that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they who live, fhould not henceforward live to themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rofe again." Unbelief and jealoufy of the Divine favour freeze the affections, and, like the Northern blast of approaching winter on the trees of the foreft, detrude the heavenly juices of the foul; but the love of Chrift, believed and felt, as the returning fun of fpring, calls up into action all the powers of the mind, fets every be nevolent principle afloat, brings forward this man's frength of underftanding, that man's zeal of heart, the wife counsels of one, the friendly cautions of another, the lively co-operating exertions of all; clothes, beautifies, and loads the church with the fruits of goodness." (To be continued.) Expofition of Chriftian Doctrine, as taught in the Proteftant Church of the United Brethren. By Aug. Gottlieb Spangenberg. With a Preface by Benj. Latrobe. Second Edition. 55 Pages. Price 75.6d. Boards. Sold at the feveral Chapels of the Brethren; and by T. Chapman, Fleet Street. THE growing fpirit of liberality, among true Chriftians of every deno mination, is among the most hopeful features of the present day, that the Lord hath not forlaken his church and people. The misrepresentation and malignity of the Reimius's and the Lavingtons can no longer prejudice the candid against their brethren of the Moravian Society. They are now heard in their own defence, without the bias, of party, and rifing to the honourable rank which their Chriftian conduct univerfally claims in the truly religious world; and in which their zeal, for promoting the Gospel among the Heathen, has justly placed them confpicuous. They will have many, we hope, to difpute with them, in love, the pain of zeal and fut cefs in these efforts; but all must acknowledge them fuft in the noble career. The candid preface of that worthy servant of our Saviour, Mr. Latrobe, difplays a mind fraught with the fpirit of fimplicity and truth; acknowledging imperfections where they were found, and no fooner found than amended; but manifefting the foundness of the doctrine of the Brethrea in all the great effentials of divine truth., This compendium of Chriftian doctrine will be found in conformity with the Augfburg Confeffion of the German Reformers; and, in all elfentials, correfponding with all the Protestant Reformed Churches, in the doctrines of the Trinity, the effential Deity of God the Son, and Spirit, the Divine atonement and righteoufnels of God incarnate, and the eifics. cious influence of the Holy Ghoft in regeneration and converfion, juftifi cation by faith alone, and Highteoufnefs and true holiness the gift of God's Spirit. In thefe we are firmly united, as all real Chriftians are one in Chrift Jefus. If we differ in matters lefs effential, we are now refolved thefe things fhall no more keep us at a distance from each other, holding the head Chrift, and loving one another out of a pure heart tervently. In this view the compendium of Spangenberg will be read with edification by every body of true Chriftians throughout the world; and cannot fail to remove all prejudice against the Brethren refpecting the great principles of the Chriftian faith, and the purity of their lives, in which all who best know them will teftify they are fo eminently exemplary. The whole is a regular fyltem of found Theology; and if they feem defective in our view, who are Calvinifts, in not entering into the doctrines of election and grace, which give a peculiar luftre to the reformed Churches, and thofe in our own land, as defcribed in the Thirty-nine Articles and in the Affembly's Catechifm, we owe them the fame indulgence which we claim, of judging for ourfelves, and fuppofe Lutheran and Calvinist may hold their feveral peculiarities of opinion without the leaft breach of unity of fpirit, and the bonds of peace. It is, we believe, our mutual joy to perceive that the barriers of bigotry and intolerance are daily breaking down between us, and that where we have confidence that any man loves our Lord Jefus Chrift in fincerity, to him our right hand of fellowship thall be extended the fame is our brother, our fifter, and mother. The ftile of this compendium is remarkably fimple and perfpicuous, and enlivened with application to the confcience, as well as arguments to the understanding. The proofs are brought from the appeal to the Scriptures, full and clear: Thefe are admitted as the only decifive judges of divine truth, excluive of all tradition or commandment of men. In Church order they follow the epifcopal; and their discipline, without courts ecclefiaftical, inflicting pains and penalty, is maintained in great vigour by the fimple operation of opinion. Herein they exhibit a noble evidence how little real Chriftianity needs, or can be advantaged by weapons that are carnal; and how much more injury than benefit is derived from the alliances of Church and State. But the afpect of the times. feems to be haftening faft the diffolution of this pernicious alliance, and to difpofe men to fee a marked difference between the kingdom which is not of this world, and the debafing mixture of political and worldly Christianity. We therefore cannot, but recommend the attentive perufal of this compendium to Chriftians of every denomination. -Defence of Heathen Miffions. A Sermon, preached before the Edinburgh Miffionary Society. By Greville Ewing, one of the Minifiers of Lady Glenarchy's Chapel, Edinburgh. 8vo. 103 Pages. Price Is. Ogle, Edinburgh; Button, London. THIS amiable and faithful fervant of our Lord is well known, as one who defires to devote himf If to the Indian Miffion, with thote worthy affociates who have planned the noble object of carrying the Gospel to the poor Hindoos: And may the Lord abundantly fucceed their defigns! generous The fermon is from Rem. x. 11. to the end. It opens with a view of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and what reflections his conduct would naturally excite in the men of that generation: Evidently alluding to fimilar infinuations of the prefent day refpecting those who tread in his fteps, of carrying the Gospel to the Heathen, and leading to a noble vindication of him, and all thofe who follow him in this refpect; illuftrating and ap plying the words of his text in the following propofitions: First, That the Gospel reveals falvation to mankind without refpect of national diftinctions, Secondly, Secondly, That the benefits of the Gofpel cannot be enjoyed according to the liberality of the difpenfation under which it is proclaimed, unless Miffionaries be fent into every part of the world. Thirdly, That partial failures of success form no objection to Miffionary undertakings. Fourthly, That Miffionaries fhall certainly fucceed fo far as to penetrate in every country upon earth. Fifthly, That Heathens fhall hear, and believe, and be faved, while many of thofe who have long enjoyed the means of grace, are spoken to in vain. All thefe particulars he enters into with great force of argument, beauty of diction, and that liberality, peculiarly characteristic in the P efent miffionary efforts; railing the mind above our little I cal prejudices to fix our attention on the great object, Jefus Christ and his faivation. A multitude of beautiful and friking paffages prefent themselves in every page. We hall juft quo e a few: Page 24, fpeaking of the Mif fionaries and their labours, be adds, "Difficul.ies let them encounter with alacrity; dangers let them meet with fo titude; hardhips let them bear with patience. Let them be ready, not to b: bound only, but allo to die for the name of the Lord Jetus. And when any of them thall have actually refifted unto blood, let his brethren, infled of being difccura ged by his fate, rejoice in the grace by which he was fupported: and while they follow his footiteps, let them cheerfully fay, "He could not have died in a better caufe," Page 34. But to cure them of bigotry, and to produce humiliation, let every Feligious community oblerve, that the very exiftence of Societies for propagating the Gospel is an evidence of the deficiency of Conftituted Churches: Had they not all been wanting in zeal or abilities, or both, fuch felf created inftitutions would not have taken place. It is indeed very rema kable, that while all Churches have profeffed to imitate the pri mitive model, they have almost all agreed to neglect a very conspicuous part of it, the deitination of a proportion of Ministers to the labours of itinerancy." But it will rather weaken than strengthen the effect to produce particular quotations, where the whole must be read to feel the force of every part as connected with each other, all tending to confirm the great object in view the neceffity of immediate attention to the concerns of the poor be nighted Heathen; the inexcufableness of delay, and futility of all the objections raised against so noble and humane a defign. Whoever reads will be amply repaid in the fpirit that he will feel kindling in his bolom of genuine love to mankind, and divine charity yearning over the fouls whom no man careth for. May many a like confeffor arife, till great fhall be the company of the Miffionaries, and the found go cut into all nations, and the word unto the ends of the earth! POETRY. |