the article of our Church, which speaks of works that sp ring no of faith (i. e. that are not done, as God hath willed and commanded them to be done) having the nature of sin, is explained to imply, that the excellence of the produce depends on the principle of human conduct; that faith in God is the seed or principle of Christian conduct; of which obedience is the fruit; that "Virtues of any other growth, however specious in appearance, have not the same characteristic qualities: they want that which is essentially requisite to their acceptance by the Great Lord of the Vineyard; and wanting that, they shew that they are fruits of a different kind from those which are of a spiritual growth."

The sermons on the question of the Divine Decrees (in which the cheerless system of those, who would confine salvation to a chosen few, for whom it was irrespectively and unconditionally provided, is ably refuted, and those articles of our Church, which have been inconsiderately cited in support of the doctrine, are vindicated from the aspersion) are most judiciously written, and are worthy of general perusal. In the sermon on Dives and Lazarus, the Bishop rightly contends, in opposition to the Warburtonian theory, that this parable proves a future state of rewards and punishments to have been sufficiently revealed under the Jewish dispensation; it was not indeed the purpose of the Mosaic dispensation expressly to reveal it, yet it clearly recognized it, as a doctrine already made known. In the writings of Moses and the Prophets it is everywhere presupposed; and the Patriarchs before the Jews universally acted upon it. In the 15th Sermon, the Bishop, in the true spirit of a just theology, ventures not absolutely to deny the salvability of the heathens before the coming of Christ, nor of those since his coming, whom uncontrollable circumstances have kept in ignorance or unbelief: he presumes not to decide how far the uncovenanted mercy of God may extend to such cases and under such circumstances. Yet with our Church he rejects the notion, "that every man shall be saved by the law or sect, which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law and the light of nature."

Thus we end our notice of these Sermons, which, with the accompanying charges, are great acquisitions to our practical divinity. We are glad to perceive that the whole of Bishop Van Mildert's works are about to be published at Oxford, in six volumes. Works, the result of deeper thought or of more enlarged views, confined at the same time within the strict bounds of orthodoxy, cannot be offered to the public; and the sermons are as much above the ordinary grade, as Milton is above a doggrel-poetaster. These will collectively perpetuate the author's fame; and prove that "he, being dead, yet liveth."

Rationalism and Revelation, &c. Eight Discourses, preached before the University of Cambridge, in the year 1837, according to the Will of the Rev. John Hulse. By the Rev. R. PARKINSON, B.D. of St. John's College, Cambridge. London: Rivingtons. 1838. Ten Discourses on the Communion Service, &c. By the Rev. ROBERT ANDERSON. London: Hatchards. 1838.

A Series of Practical Discourses. By the Rev. J. MACLEAN, Minister of Urquhart, Morayshire. London: Smith, Elder, and Co.

1838.

Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Trentham. By the Rev. T. BUTT, M.A. London: Rivingtons.

1838.

To those who are continually reviewing Sermons, there cannot be a more difficult task than that of producing novel observations on them; for as there is a general similarity in their contents, that similarity will of course be transferred to the analysis. The publication of sermons has wonderfully increased of late years, and many are exceedingly good; but, unless we err, the present times require a different style of theological composition-one in which real learning and strong argument may be introduced, for the correction of existing infidelity and wild speculations. Mr. Parkinson's Hulscan Lectures are, as we should expect them to be, of a higher stamp than ordinary compositions for the pulpit; but the subject is cramped by the nature of the composition in which it is propounded. They have a great deal of learning, much sound argument, and betray extended reading; but whilst they have these qualities, they convince us that Mr. Parkinson could have done much more, had he been unfettered, and at liberty to enter into real criticism. Mr. Anderson we have reviewed on other occasions; in the present series he has ably maintained his reputation, by producing a course, which will be eminently useful for family purposes. Those of Mr. Maclean are rather dry, and are merely ethical; those of Mr. Butt are elegantly written, and propose Biblical truths in an engaging and important point of view. All indeed are valuable in their different styles.

The Private Devotions of Dr. William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr. Edited by the Rev. FREDERICK W. FABER, B.A., Fellow of University College. 18mo. Oxford: J. H. Parker. 1838.

FEW names have been subjected to more reproach, or with greater injustice, than that of Laud. The reason is obvious. The Archbishop was the strenuous and intrepid defender of his Church and of his King, and as such became a conspicuous mark for the hostility of the traitor and the incendiary. Nothing, save

his death, could satisfy their malicious and revengeful spirit. His venerable station, his old age, and his grey hairs, availed him not, and he became a martyr in the cause of that Church which was ere long to receive a more illustrious sacrifice in the person of his royal master. We have often wondered at the mistaken spirit in which the events of those unhappy times have frequently been received. The great rebellion itself has been attributed to the Royal Martyr, whereas, to any impartial inquirer, it must be evident, that it originated in the wicked intentions of a motley and discordant band of schismatics, of various denominations, aided, in the outset, by some few who belonged to a purer faith, who, wishing to grasp place, power, and wealth for themselves, scrupled not, in order to attain them, to overturn the institutions of the land, to destroy the Church, and to murder the Sovereign. It is surprising how seldom men will suffer themselves to be guided by experience, morə especially in ecclesiastical and political affairs. The many, who are unable or unwilling to form a judgment, are deluded and led away by the artful and designing few, who, under the specious pretence of improvement, would introduce unlimited change, and under the less disguised cry of reform, would urge forward revolution, confusion, and plunder. Some very useful lessons might be drawn from the period of which we have been speaking, to the present time. We could wish that they were more frequently applied by the members of our Church, more particularly in their intercourse with the dissenter in religion, and the liberal in politics. If this were done, we should more seldom observe those discordant and unseemly alliances between the Churchman, the schismatic, and the pretended liberal, which can end only, on one side at least, in mortification and regret, after irreparable mischief has been accomplished. The work of which the present publication purports to be an exact reprint, has long been scarce, as indeed are all the original editions of the Archbishop's works.

The Greatness of Being Useful: a Sermon, preached in the Church of St. Nicholas, Deptford, on Trinity Monday, June 11, 1838, before the Corporation of the Trinity House. By HENRY MELVILL, B.D., Minister of Camden Chapel, Camberwell, &c. London: Rivingtons. 1838.

WE have often thought, that among the difficulties with which the preacher has to contend, the selection of a subject appropriate to the occasion on which he is called to speak, is not one of the least. The individual, moreover, who is selected to preach on the present occasion, has another difficulty of a different nature to overcome. He has to compete with a numerous and varied array of talent and eloquence, in the list of those eminent persons

who have occupied the same pulpit in previous years. To those who are acquainted with the writings of Mr. Melvill, it is almost needless to say, that he has overcome both these obstacles, and has increased, in no slight degree, the measure of fame, which, as a Christian preacher, he has already earned. The subject of the sermon before us is admirably chosen, the manner in which it is treated is excellent, and the illustrations with which it is adorned are highly appropriate and beautiful. Mr. M. has chosen for his text those words of our Lord, which occur in St. Matthew's Gospel-“But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister;" and he has proved their truth, and the almost exact manner in which they are in reality fulfilled by those who very frequently are the least likely to imagine it.

"Our assertion is (says Mr. Melvill) that, in awarding the palm of true greatness, men are accustomed, however unconsciously, to act upon the principle, that whosoever will be chief must be the servant of all. To make good this assertion, it will only be necessary that we observe the cases in which, by universal consent, the title 'great' is bestowed The case is the same with the philosopher as with the patriot. We gladly give our praises to the individual who, by the force of genius and the labour of research, has enlarged the sphere of human knowledge, and pushed discovery further into the mysteries of nature. There is not a greater benefactor to the world than he who increases our acquaintance with the properties of matter, and lays open to us agencies which may be successfully employed in the occupations of life. We are not, for example, to regard the astronomer as a man busied indeed with high and brilliant speculation, but whose lofty calling is altogether unconnected with those of less gifted spirits. None know better than many of the present audience, that, in his searchings over the beautiful and spangled face of heaven, he is gathering materials for the guide-book by which the mariner shall make his way across the trackless waste of waters: and that thus are his sublime musings and his mystic calculations subservient to every operation of trade and every movement of commerce. Truth is no isolated and uninfluential thing; let it once be discovered, and a thousand consequences may be traced, ramifying into the minutest concerns and the most ordinary occurrences. Accordingly, he who labours in the mine of truth, and presents to the world the results of his investigations, furnishes his fellow men with new principles on which to act in the business of life, and thus equips them for fresh enterprizes, and instructs them how to add to the sum total of happiness. We need not exemplify this in particular instances. You are all aware how scientific research is turned to account in every-day life, and how the very lowest of our people enjoy, in one way or another, the fruits of discoveries which are due to the marvellous sagacity and the repeated experiments of those who rank foremost in the annals of philosophy. And thus is it evident that the man who is great in science, is great in the power of serving his fellow men, and that it is

this latter greatness which insures him their applauses. If his discoveries were of no benefit to the many; if they opened no means by which enjoyments might be multiplied, toil diminished, or dangers averted, his name would be known only within a limited circle, and there would be nothing that approached to a general recognition of superiority. But just in proportion that his discoveries bear on the universal happiness, will he be the object of the universal approbation; in proportion, that is, as he has been of service to many, will the many concede to him a high degree of honour; so that with philosophy, as with patriotism, the achieved greatness will but illustrate the truth of the saying, he who would be chief among you, let him be your servant.'

"And if further evidence be needed, that, in giving utterance to our text, Christ was not introducing a strange precept, but one which is virtually acted on by the world, may we not urge generally that the men who are most eminent in life, are the men who are most literally the servants of the public? If a man be distinguished as a warrior, and if, by his skill and bravery, he have been enabled to secure victory to his country's arms, and to beat back invaders from his country's shores, there is not an individual in the meanest cottage of the land, in whose service this great leader has not been engaged, or for whose benefit he has not dared hardships and perilled life. Nobles and princes may be foremost in doing him homage, as having upheld the majesty of a state, and defended its throne against a host of assailants. But he fought equally for the poor villager and the industrious artisan, for the helpless infant and the lonely widow: search the land, and there is not one to whom he has not ministered, not one for whom he has not laboured; and if then his name be, as it ought to be, a familiar and an honoured word in every hovel as in every palace, awakening the grateful applause of all ranks and ages, may we not justly declare of him, that he has become great amongst his countrymen through being their servant? The individual again who gains renown as a statesman, who serves his country in the senate as the warrior in the field, is the minister to all classes, so that the very lowest have the profit of his toils. You have only to regard him as conducting the complicated affairs of. Government, turning all the energies of a comprehensive mind on preserving the liberty, guarding the property, and augmenting the happiness of a community; and you cannot fail to consider him as in the strictest sense the servant of the many, as employed for their welfare, whatever be the reward reaped in a gratified ambition. Yea, and it is the being thus employed which constitutes his greatness: for he will rapidly lose his distinction, and .be forced from his eminence in public opinion, if it be once made apparent that the community is not advantaged by his services. Thus the position which is occupied is precisely that to which the direction of our text would have naturally led: the man stands amongst his fellows, exactly as we might have expected him to stand, had he guided himself by the maxim, 'whosoever will be chief amongst them, let him be their servant.'

We are disposed to consider this a very beautiful, and at the same time a very original illustration of those words of our Lord which Mr. M. has chosen for his text. We wish we could have extended our extract a little farther. Mr. Melvill afterwards con