Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

may be brought up against your feelings in a way you do not know.' I replied, What expense has my father been?' 'Oh, the Conference gave him fifty pounds!' 'Well, that shall not cause me to act against my judgment; and my father shall neither be beholden to you nor to the Conference.' I went home, took a list of the best books I had in the world to two booksellers: What will you give me for these, ready money?' Forty pounds.' Porters were ordered, and my heart's blood was packed up and sent off. Next, I sold my philosophical and astronomical instruments, which I had been collecting for years, and raised about ten pounds more by them. I then went and paid down to Mr. Whitfield fifty pounds, on behalf of the Kingswood School. They were thunderstruckconfounded! They saw, and saw painfully, that, by the grace of God, I was incorruptible, and not to be turned from following the dictates of my conscience by threatening; and that a man in my case could swear to his hurt and change not! Were I with you, I could make you weep, and freeze and thaw your blood. The books are goneand some, too, of the best and scarcest in Europe, which no money can replace. My Mary wept, and from my own strong eyes a reluctant tear now and then dropped. But it is passed; and, by the grace of the Lord of the universe, I still live independent of those parties who tried to enthral me.'

In regard to the fifty pounds referred to as having been given to the honoured father of Dr. Clarke, it was, it seems, paid to him by the Conference, in consideration of his having done duty for six months at Kingswood School. Not much overpay,

one would think," Mr. Martin adds, "for a Trin. Col. M.A.!"

It would be out of place here to dwell on the various escapades of the Conference and its adherents during the recent movement, with which our readers are mostly familiar, but to which Mr. Martin has by the freshness and vigour of his style lent all the interest of novelty. Collecting the various floating and fragmentary material into a clear, compact, consecutive narrative, he has produced a history of the causes and progress of the Reform movement, well-worthy of preservation by all who feel the slightest interest in the history of ecclesiastical despotism, or the progress of religious liberty; whilst the justness of his comments, and the force of his arguments, cannot fail to meet with the concurrence, not only of the noble Lord to whom the letter is addressed, but of all unprejudiced readers. The pamphlet concludes with the following forcible remarks:

"The unprincipled oligarchy to which I have referred, having usurped to itself all the legislative, executive, administrative, and judicial functions of the body, sets up its will as the rule of duty, both for the Preachers and the Societies: while its indulgence is made the only source of their freedom. It has created and multiplied offices of honour and emolument, and grasped the patronage and profit of them all. It has usurped the appointment of all meetings, the election of all committees, the nomination of all chairmen-who are always men of the clerical order; investing them with power to prescribe or annul the deliberations of the laity at their pleasure, and to insist upon their complete subjection to pastoral authority. It has taken possession of all the Connexional property, and

the controul of all Connexional funds. It has converted its courts into inquisitions, its ministers into spies; and offered promotion to those who, for the good of the church, would betray their dearest friends. It has re-established the odious system of tests, and questioning by penalty; and made it a crime worthy of excommunication for any of its jurors or judges to keep a conscience, to talk of mercy, or to acquit an independent man. It has anathematized the press, defied public opinion, and created barriers to oppose the spirit of progress and intelligence. Its legislation has been characterised by intense meanness, selfishness, and craft. It first goads its victims to resistance, and then expels them for contumacy.

"Principles so odious, and claims so tyrannical, are fatal to intelligence, progress, and freedom. There can be no question, that, had the Wesleyan Conference been invested with the absolute power which Rome once possessed,' it would have 'equalled Rome itself in the spirit of persecution.' Had such been the case, your Lordship would not have escaped by simply answering the interrogatories of an impertinent young man at Leeds; you would certainly have been dragged to the bar of the Wesleyan Inquisition, and probably transferred to some cold apartment in the Tower, or to a warmer place in Smithfield."

The first edition of this letter was called for within a few days of its publication: a new edition, enlarged, is in the press, and will, we doubt not, be ready by the time these pages are in the hands of the reader.

A Treatise on the Peculiarities of the Bible; being an Exposition of the Principles involved in some of the most Remarkable Facts and Phenomena recorded in Revelation. By the Rev. E. D. RENDELL. London: Fred Pitman, Paternoster-row.

IT is a noteworthy fact in the natural world, that amongst the varied discoveries and improvements made by mankind, many of them are not simply new applications of well-known principles, but the discovery of powers and principles entirely new to the world. Powers which for untold ages had existed in a latent state, unsuspected by man, are by some apparent accident suddenly revealed, and a complete revolution in science, art, and commerce is the result. Laws which had been in unchanging operation since the beginning of the world unnoticed and unknown, by chance become recognized, and forthwith a new era dawns on the realm of knowledge. The law of gravitation had existed from the beginning, but it was not until the discovery by Newton that that which had before belonged to the domain of conjecture became a central truth, giving form and character to the whole range of the physical sciences. Less than a century ago, the name of electricity was hardly known, its existence little more than guessed at; now it has not only revolutionized the intercourse of nations, but, together with its cognate powers, as galvanism, animal magnetism, &c., bids fair to open out fields of knowledge so stupend

ous and so vitally affecting the interests of mankind, that as yet it seems almost presumption to dream of them. Such being the fact in regard to the natural world, it does not seem altogether unfair to suppose that in regard to the Book of Revelation, the work of the same Almighty power, similar truths may be affirmed; and that new discoveries of God's character, His greatness, goodness, power, and holiness, and of His will concerning man, should from time to time be made in His written word.

Some such view as this appears to be held by the writer of the volume before us; and, looking abroad on the church and the world, and contemplating the restless, uncertain, and unsatisfied aspect, in regard to religious matters, which is presented by both, he arrives at the conclusion that some fuller and more perfect discovery of Divine truth is required to harmonize the conflicting influences which are at present in operation. "The doctrines," he remarks, "which contented the past do not so fully satisfy the present generation. The haze of mystery is not so deeply reverenced. Reason demands a sight of that which faith is required to acknowledge. The dicta of the ecclesiastic are no longer implicitly believed; they are queried and canvassed, not so much with a leaning to doubt as with a view to knowledge. Men begin to feel that they ought to comprehend the teachings of religion themselves, and not merely acquiesce in the supposed understanding of them by others; and the result, in many minds, has been the discovery that what has been taught respecting the Scriptures and their contents is neither so sensible, nor so convincing, as it once was considered. It is seen that the Christianity of the past has possessed a series of human elements which cannot be perpetuated in the church of the future." The state of things here referred to, the various forms of infidelity, and the numberless strifes of sectarianism, he regards as arising out of like causes; the chief of which is a misappreciation of the purposes and character of God's revealed word. What God has spoken, it is argued, must have a definite and important meaning, and to arrive at a correct knowledge of this meaning the true canons of interpretation must be ascertained; and to aid in arriving at a correct conclusion on this subject appears to be the chief aim of the writer. Without entering into any critical examination of the principles laid down, and the conclusions deduced therefrom, we may remark, that the doctrine of an inner and spiritual sense in all Scripture, as well as the outward and literal tenor of the text, is one of the views maintained as of vital importance. The subject is one of undoubted interest, and

is here discussed with great candour and ability. Whatever may be the conclusions to which it tends, few persons, we conceive, can read the book without interest, or lay it down without edification.

The Temple of Education; being Results of the Strivings of a Teacher after the True Idea and Practice of Education. By T. E POYNTING. London: R. Theobald.

THE true idea of education, at which the author seems to have arrived, is not inaptly symbolized by the title of his work. Education, to be good for anything, must be not the communication of rote-knowledge, but building; and the forming of a character must be like the building of a temple. The foundation must be carefully laid, or the superstructure will be in constant danger; and the foundation properly laid, each stone must be carefully piled up with an equal view to solidity and beauty, in order to construct a perfect building. So it is with education, with just this difference, that the education of a youth is of as much more importance, and demands as much more care, as a man is more valuable than the very noblest of inanimate objects. Mr. Poynting has correct ideas of the importance of education, and, what is more to the point, he is most happy in his conceptions of what should be learned, and how it should be taught. In the volume before us he has produced one of the most valuable works on the philosophy and practice of education we remember to have met with.

"Peace or War!" The Storm, the Flood,

and the Whirlwind. Considerations on the Present Condition and Prospects of the World. A Letter to Richard Cobden, Esq., M.P. By EPSILON. London: Partridge and Oakey.

WE must confess we have not a deep sympathy with the writer of this pamphlet, nor can we profess a very deep concern as regards its contents. It respects a subject, however, considered by many as of the highest interest; to all such we recommend it as worthy of perusal. It is written in a clear and forcible style, and in a spirit that entitles it to respectful attention. In regard to the anticipated universal struggle, however, we cannot but think that the amount of knowledge possessed in regard to the canons of prophetic interpretation, is too uncertain, disputed, and meagre to admit of any satisfactory prediction on the subject; and whilst we fully admit that such a struggle is possible, and it may be, not improbable, we are disposed to regard so highly the influence of Christianity and

[ocr errors]

the progressive power of truth, as to believe that the "good time coming" may arrive without being "born in bitterness" and baptized in blood.

Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Roberts. By the Rev. ELIJAH HOOLE. In the " Wesleyan Methodist Magazine" for May. London: John Mason.

[WE have received the following notice of this Memoir from a correspondent.]

I take a peep occaionally into the "Wesleyan Methodist Magazine," having ceased to be a reader of it. In glancing over the page of contents for the current month, the first index I read of its leading subject was a "Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Roberts." I halted, like the traveller when he arrives at some famed spot of historic record, to visionate on objects and beauties that had lighted the eye of admiration, kindled the loftiest genius of description, and breathed inspiration into the graphic page or brilliant imagination into the poet's muse. A spell came over me, and calmly I resigned to the influence, "falling into a trance, but having my eyes open." I entered on the perusal of the memoir, to meditate the subject of it in the light of other days; to dwell on wonders near and remote, home and foreign, things of earth and things of heaven. After a quarter of an hour's reverie on the pages, an image rose before the eyes of my imagination, and I seemed to hear a voice calling me by name, saying, "You see how my life is distorted to a span, my substance wasted, and my name written in dust!"

The figure trembled exceedingly in giving utterance to these words, and vanished. I wept for the departed glory. When I recovered from the absorbing vision, to be certified that I was not under the illusion of a dream, I re-read "Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Roberts, Missionary in Ceylon, and General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions on the Continent of India. By the Rev. Elijah Hoole." The exalted position and long experience of the biographer, as well as the high official character of the subject of the memoir, whose thirty years of evangelistic labours "have been chronicled in successive volumes of the Magaazine, and whose pen has furnished "voluminous journals," supplied to the hand of the writer of his memoir, it cannot be deemed an unreasonable expectation that these resources should be verified in demonstrative examples and illustrations. And further, we are specially reminded that it was the happiness of Mr. Roberts to have lived in "good days," when faith and love made everything real and easy, covered all defects, converted shadows

[ocr errors]

into substance, and outlines into finished portraitures. Surely one may, without fear of being considered captious or censorious, say that with such a subject, in such times, and with such ample resources, the writer cannot fail to produce a biography, short or long, that shall honour at once both himself and his hero, and particularly the great enterprise in which he was engaged. But let candour, courtesy, and charity that thinketh no evil, determine whether Mr. Hoole has accomplished this. The public and posterity will judge; they are invited to do so by the publication, as well as from the public character of Mr. Roberts. The writer of these reflections does not judge highly of a memoir elaborated into volumes, large enough to comprise the entire history of the church for centuries; yet in every life that is of interest to record, there must be quantum and quality, bearing some proportion to the sphere of the deceased and the character assumed for him by the biographer. It may extenuatingly be said that Mr. Hoole's official duties, daily recurring, could not afford him leisure to devote more attention to the memorial. We are willing to concede the virtue of this remark, but cannot admit it as a sufficient apology for a defective execution. Why not have committed it to other hands, in which attention and justice would be given. The "voluminous journals," said to be full of "facts, incidents, and observations, rich in thought and feeling;" but unfortunately for the statement, we look in vain for these jewels in the portrait. The extracts are not only few and remarkable for their paucity, but for being devoid of interest also. They appear chiefly selected from one year only-would the other twenty-nine years furnish nothing? Could not one day or one year of thirty have been selected, that would have illustrated the missionary character and work. Will not the intelligent portion of the Wesleyan community, who take a deep interest in missions, and liberally award to them support, expect a representative missionary should have his claims sustained by bona fide statements of operations and results? How contemptible that a considerable portion of the few pages are taken up with the musings of the biographer! No peculiar characteristics of mind, no idiosyncrasies of temperament, no distinctive modes of labour and usefulness in real mission work are set forth. The first wonderful providence in Mr. Roberts's career is, that in " early life he was an inhabitant of the Christian town of Leeds," of course we may add, too, in the Christian land of England; the county and place of his birth being omitted entirely. It is mentioned as the most remarkable occur

LITERARY NOTICES.

rence in the history of his life, that during his sojourn in London whilst a novitiate, he visited the "venerable widow of the late Rev. Charles Wesley, the poet of Methodism," by which his Wesleyan paternity was established with its earliest history! Another remarkable thing is mentioned whilst staying in London, as though it were a prodigy, that he was "favoured with an introduction to West, the painter, who told him several striking and characteristic anecdotes of the great men of the day, and especially of Admiral Lord Nelson, with whom he, West, had been on terms of intimate acquaintance." This one would think not much in the line of a young man dead to the world, and burning with ardour for the salvation of the perishing heathen.

So little use has the biographer made of the "voluminous journals and extensive correspondence intrusted to him, that he has not inserted one letter of the deceased, not even that which elicited the reply of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which most toweringly enriches the pages of the memoir; it illustrates no feature in Mr. Roberts's life of faith, and is quite irrelevant. It does, however, most pitiably display the vanity of the compiler. It bespeaks an act of stupendous condescension that the Primate of all England should have replied courteously to one of Her Majesty's subjects who addressed him; and how dignifying to the individual so favoured, though he had then been for more than twenty years a minister, and for thirteen years a missionary! Every discerning reader will appreciate the appearance of this solitary letter. Mr. Hoole surely did not act in accordance with his own judgment and experience by inserting the extract letter of the good Archbishop. Who has had better opportunity to know than the biographer that high personages do not like to be paraded starkly? Happily for the mission funds that the Methodist community take all for gold and gospel that appear in their authorised publications. The memoir is a soulless, bodiless, spiritless thing. Where is to be seen in it the natural man? Where the spiritual man? Where the missionary? Where the noble powers of mind for which the deceased is said to have been so distinguished? Where the everburning ardour of his heroic enterprise? Far better to allow the dignified dead to rest from their labours with silent honour than to drag them forth to be exhibited only as living skeletons. The Elijahs of Methodism, except one, have all ascended to heaven, attended by a cohort of angel horsemen and chariots of fire, and no Elisha has been found to take up their mantle. SEMPER FIDELIS.

Dr. Cumming's Genesis and Geology Examined. By EDWARD MADELY, JUN. London: J. S. Hodson, Portugal-street. THIS is a letter addressed to the Rev. Dr. Cumming, on the subject of a recent lecture he delivered before the Church of England Young Men's Society, on the agreement between the book of Genesis and the facts of Geological Science. The object of this letter is not antagonistic to revelation, but is rather intended to show that the reverend lecturer instead of throwing any light on his subject, only plunged it into inextricable confusion; and by self-contradictions, mis-statements of fact, and scientific blunders, tended, so far as this lecture is concerned, rather to weaken than to strengthen the bonds between science and religion. For our

own part we think there can be no question as to the perfect agreement between the statements of the word of God rightly understood, and the truths of Geology; but we think it deeply to be regretted that a lecture by a doctor of divinity on a subject requiring for its successful treatment, at least some degree of practical scientific knowledge, should be merely a carelessly prepared rechauffe of the opinions of others without connection or consistency. The little tract before us tends to throw some light on this interesting but vexed question.

The Poetry of Home. A Poem in Three Parts. By GoODWIN BARMBY. London: Tweedie.

FEW subjects more suitable for the musings of the poet, and very few men of the present day are better able to do justice to it than Goodwin Barmby. His deep and earnest sympathy for all that is pure and sacred in domestic life, and the delicate and graceful simplicity of his style, pre-eminently fit him for giving a form and name to all those better feelings and elevating influences which are associated with the essentially English word-home. Few, we imagine, will read this sweet little poem without being charmed with its sentiments, and delighted with the freshness and purity of the style in which they are expressed.

The Sceptic. BY ELIZA LEE FOLLEN. London Tweedie.

THIS is a little work of which the purpose and execution are both highly commendable. In a well and touchingly told tale the unprofitable career and mournful end of a sceptic are graphically depicted. His own wreck of life, and the blighting influence he exerts over the peace of others,

and the fatal power of intemperance in sealing these wretched results, are illustrated in a manner pregnant with instruction, as are also the various conversations which are introduced on the grounds of Christian belief. We commend the work for family reading, as presenting some most important lessons in an attractive and pleasing style.

A Selection from the Correspondence of the late Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D. Edited by the Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, LL.D. Edinburgh: Constable and Co. THIS Volume is uniform with Dr. Hanna's "Life of Dr. Chalmers," and forms an indispensable supplement to that work. Eulogy would be altogether superfluous in regard to the correspondence of one of the most colossal minds of his age; we can only say therefore that every page is enriched with some of the rare treasures with which that mind was stored. The learning and the piety, the large-heartedness and the unaf fected simplicity, the philosophic depth, and the affluence of vigorous and original thought which distinguished this great divine, here abound in unrestrained prodigality. The editor has contributed a valuable addition to biographic literature in the publication of this judicious selection.

The Museum of Classical Antiquities: A Quarterly Journal of Ancient Art. No. VIII., and Supplement to ditto. London: T. Richards, Great Queen-street. THESE two Numbers of this interesting journal are occupied with a question which has of late excited considerable interest amongst divines and archæologists, namely, the true site of Calvary. It is not within our province to enter into the inquiry here; but we may remark, for the information of all interested in archaic researches, that the question is here treated with a fulness which leaves nothing to be desired. Engravings, diagrams, and plans, together with an excellent coloured map of Jerusalem, illustrate and add to the interest of the articles.

Report of the Proceedings at the Third Annual General Meeting of the Kent Mutual Life Assurance Society, on May 12th, 1853. London: No. 6, Old Jewry. WE have before recorded our strong approval of the Mutual principle in Life-Assurance. The Report before us is another proof that the public are becoming more alive to the advantages of this system; the amount of business done by this Company during the three years of its existence, embracing policies to the amount of 173,658.,

yielding a gross annual revenue of nearly 6,000l. The total profits arising out of this revenue belong to the assured, instead of being absorbed by a body of proprietors. In point of fact each policy-holder becomes a proprietor, and instead of simply assuring his life, he also becomes a shareholder in a large and lucrative concern; his annual payments being at one and the same time premiums on an indisputable life policy, and instalments on the amount of his share in the company. We are glad to observe that the Society presents in every respect a healthful aspect.

Endowed Parish Schools and High Church Vicars. Roan's School; a Chapter from the Educational History of England in the Nineteenth Century. By W. C. BENNETT. Greenwich: Lucas.

THIS is another chapter in the revelations with which the country has been of late years startled, in regard to the fearful mismanagement of the funds, arising out of the endowments of schools and other institutions. The funds belonging to the school in question arise out of certain property left in the seventeenth century by John Roan, for the education of a number of children in the town of Greenwich. The rental of the property so left now amounts to a sum little short of a thousand pounds; of which not much more than half appears to be accounted for in any definite form; but it is rather to the worthless character of the education imparted in these schools, than to the misappropriation of the funds, attention is directed. One youth of twelve years of age, who has been a scholar in the school for upwards of four years, and been taught "questions on the catechism and 'colliks,"" did not know who Jesus Christ was; did not know how long ago he lived; did not know the names of the apostles, nor how many there were; did not know what reli. gion was. His knowledge of spelling, arithmetic, geography, &c., was on a par with his scriptural knowledge. Here is surely a cause for inquiry. Mr. Bennett's pamphlet is likely to do good service, not merely in regard to the school in question, but also by aiding in calling attention to the condition of endowed schools generally.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »