He next cites passages from the holy scriptures, both those usually adduced in favour of an established authority and those which designate the holy scriptures themselves as the only guide and man's own judgment the sole interpreter; and here he furnishes a large proportion on the latter side, but he supposes the inquirer to be placed in an unnatural position, one, in fact, which almost presupposes the question at issue, and argues upon premises which many will be unwilling to allow; but his conclusions from these premises do not seem to the reviewer convincing, and he adduces the apostolic epistles as an illustration of one of his arguments when they can hardly be considered a case in point.

On the possibility of ascertaining the supposed apostolical tradition through the medium of the church catholic, the author very clearly states many of the difficulties which stand in the way of an inquirer left to himself, and the circumstances which render it impossible for him to distinguish between the orthodox and heretical Christians of early times without comparing them with the holy scriptures, and thus at last appealing to them as the only authority, the agreement of the writers therewith to be determined by his own private judgment. Now, supposing the inquirer to be left with nothing but these works and the holy scriptures to apply to, these arguments are sound enough, and his conclusions just; but the reviewer thinks that Acts, viii. 30, 31, rather tends to weaken them. The arguments on the authority of the early Christian writers are of the same description as the preceding, and, though not altogether satisfactory, contain much sound matter, and some very valuable observations.

The reviewer considers the chapter on the right use of tradition to be deserving of the attentive consideration of every reader, for it seems to give some clue to the author's own opinions upon the question generally; these seem rather to make against than for church authority, but the reviewer will not venture to say positively what they are.

There is appended to the work a series of extracts from the works of Anglican divines, which constitute not the least valuable portion of the volume; they seem to have been selected with carefulness and judgment.

The Testimony of History to the Divine Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; or, a Comparison between the Prophecies and their Historical Fulfilment. By the Rev. W. J. Butler, A.M., of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Rector of St. Nicholas, Nottingham. London: IIamilton, Adams, and Co. Post 8vo. pp. 300.

MR. BUTLER has here presented the public with twelve plain, easy, and attractive lectures on some of the leading prophecies of the Old Testament,-chiefly those which were uttered before the time of Moses, one or two by Moses himself, and some by the later prophets. His work is well adapted for general readers, and is a nice book to place in the hands of young people-doctrinal subjects being, by the design of the work, entirely excluded. Mr. B. rejects also all disputations respecting the authorities and genuineness of the sacred writings, taking it for granted that his hearers and readers are

already prepared to believe the truth of the words of scripture. His manner of treating his subject is-first to take a view of the circumstances under which the prophecies were uttered, and then to consider in order the events as they have followed. His endeavour is, to shew that there is no reason to believe but what the prophecies were uttered without any previous knowledge or intimation of what should afterwards be brought about but what was afforded by inspiration. He commences with that of Noah, respecting the future destinies of the descendants of his three sons, and shews that the three great divisions of the world bear out the truth and shew the fulfilment of the prophecy; and proceeds with the prophecies of Abraham respecting Ishmael; and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, respecting their descendants; then with those of Moses respecting the coming of the Messiah, and the punishments to be inflicted on the Jews if they disobeyed the commands of God; and concludes with two lectures on the prophecies relating to the destruction of Nineveh and Babylon. Mr. B. professes to follow chiefly Bishop Newton as his guide; and from what the writer of this notice has seen, he does so.

Sunday Afternoon Lectures; or, Sermons Preached in the District Church of St. Mark's, Pentonville. By the Rev James Jowett, M.A., Rector of Silk Willoughby; Sunday Afternoon Lecturer of St. Mark's; and Domestic Chaplain to Lord Barham. Seeley. 12mo. pp. 340.

THESE Sermons are upon the whole written rather in a forcible manner, and contain many good arguments, though they abound in short and abrupt sentences, and questions and answers, which render them in places rather troublesome to read. The author shews, however, considerable facility in applying his subjects practically; they are various, and two or three which are historical are treated in a very pleasing and improving manner. Some of the author's observations on one or two doctrinal points, such as the interference of angels in the affairs of this lower world, and the divine origin of dreams, seem to the writer of this notice, without being unscriptural, rather calculated to lead his readers into a speculative consideration of questions which cannot very well be set at rest.

A New Spelling Book of the English Language, containing all the Monosyllables; a copious selection of Polysyllables, carefully Arranged and Accented; Progressive Lessons, chiefly from the Holy Scriptures; a List of Words of Various Meanings; a Short Bible Catechism; Questions on Scripture History; and School Prayers. By J. S. Moore, Master of the Brewers' Company's School, Seething - Lane, Tower - Street. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. pp. 168.

Ar a time when the most persevering and insidious attempts are made to poison the very first sources of early instruction, it is worth while to notice one which, beside that it is very neatly got up, at a very moderate price, seems to be sincerely intended to convey religious truth in a simple and scriptural manner. The reviewer has therefore

much pleasure in recommending it, and trusts that many beside Mr. Moore will find it (as he states that he has endeavoured to make it) "serviceable for imbuing the minds of the young with sound principles of morality and piety."

TRIALS.

TITHE COMMUTATION ACT.

A DECISION of great and general importance under this act was made recently by Charles Howard, Esq., one of the assistant commissioners, at a meeting for the commutation of the tithes of a part of the lower quarter of the parish of Allerbury, in Shropshire. The landowners and tithe owners had at a former meeting agreed to have the cause heard before a commissioner, and to abide by his award, to be made upon the principle of the compulsory clauses. The evidence adduced by the tithe-owners was that of Mr. Ashdown and Mr. Jellicoe, two land valuers of much experience, who proved that upon a recent valuation of the district, they considered the value of the tithes as greater than the average composition paid during the seven years ending Christmas 1835, and therefore the tithe-owners, of course, claimed an increased rent-charge of about 12 per cent. beyond such compositions. Upon this evidence being offered, it was submitted by the agents of the landowners that no case had been made out for departure from the averages; that the preliminary indispensable step of proving that the value of the titheable produce during the seven years exceeded the amount of the composition had not been taken; and that the opinion of land valuers alone, however competent, was not a sufficient ground for claiming an increase; and that if valuations were thus resorted to, no voluntary arrangement would be effected on the basis of the averages, as one or other party would, in every instance, be striving for some advantage on the opinion of surveyors. Mr. Howard gave it as his decided opinion, that no case had been made out for departing from the averages; that the principle of the act was to take the averages as the basis of the rent-charge; and that the opinion of land surveyors alone was not sufficient to justify a departure from them. This decision will be submitted to the commissioners for their approval, and which it no doubt will receive, being in conformity to the principle laid down in their late report. Salopian Journal.

CHURCH RATES.

IN the Ecclesiastical Court of York, in giving judgment in the Wakefield church-rate case, the chancellor (G. H. Vernon, Esq.) lately made the following observations, which were important, as applying to all churchrates. He said that he was aware that, on a former occasion, he was distinctly of opinion that it was not a competent defence to a suit for subtraction of church-rates, for the defendant to plead " that certain items in the estimates were illegal; that those estimates not being upon bills actually paid, the party was not entitled to take notice of what the churchwardens held forth as their intention to pay; but that, should any illegal payments be made, the money might be recovered afterwards." He had since found reason to adopt a different opinion; and the sanction of certain decisions in the courts above led

him to retract so much of what he had held forth to the public on that occasion, and to announce his present opinion, that if churchwardens brought forward certain estimates, announced their intention of making certain payments, and laid a rate, and the majority of the parish agreed to a rate founded on those estimates, which included illegal items, resistance might be made to that rate, if those illegal items should form any such considerable proportion as should cause the court to think it worth while to make the objection. It was undoubtedly unfortunate, that it must always remain in the breast of the court what proportion would constitute the illegality which would make it invalid; but it had been over and over again laid down, that small matters of illegality would not do this, while larger would."-York Chronicle.

NEW REGISTRATION ACT.

Bedfordshire Midsummer Sessions, July 3.

ROBERT WARREN, of Turvey, mason, was indicted for refusing to give the required particulars touching the birth of his child to Mr. Godfrey, registrar of the Turvey district, in the Bedford Union. The defendant pleaded guilty, upon which

Mr. Gunning, counsel for the prosecution, stated, that the proceedings in this case were instituted by direction of the registrar-general, in consequence of the defendant having contumaciously refused to give the information respecting the birth of his child, upon being requested so to do by the registrar of the district, in accordance with the Act 6th and 7th William IV. c. 86, sec. 20. The learned gentleman said, that, the defendant having expressed his contrition by pleading guilty, he did not press for a severe sentence, conceiving that the justice of the case would be fully answered by the conviction having taken place, the object being to shew the public that the law must be obeyed. The defendant stated to the court, that he regretted having disobeyed the law, but that he was told by the clergyman of the parish that members of the established church could not be compelled to register the births of their children, and notices to that effect were stuck up in the parish.

The chairman, in passing sentence, remarked that it was to be regretted that such notices should have been issued. Under the circumstances, the court sentenced the defendant to pay a fine of 18. and be discharged.

POSSESSION OF A PARSONAGE HOUSE BY A CURATE.

MR. ALFORD, Solicitor, of Salisbury, applied to the bench in behalf of the Rev. Mr. Adams, for a warrant, to compel the Rev. Mr. Richards, of Bower-Chalke, to quit and deliver up possession of the parsonage at that place to the aforesaid gentleman. It appeared that the Rev. Mr. Richards is superseded as curate of Bower-Chalke by the Rev. Mr. Adams, who has been duly licensed by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Salisbury; that the rev. gentleman had been applied to to quit, but that he positively refused; and that, expecting considerable resistance, even by force of arms, the present application was made. Mr. Talfourd said, it was natural to assume that the reverend gentleman was remaining at the parsonage house under some contract, but that contract was, that he should remain in the house so long as he was required to perform the spiritual duties of the parish. But that contract, he contended, was now null and void, by the bishop duly licensing the Rev. Mr. Adams as curate of that parish. The curate's stipend was 90%. per year; that

was allowing the house to be worth 157. per annum; it was therefore clear that the parsonage house formed part of the curate's salary, and over which, by the act of parliament, the bishop had controul. Mr. Alford then interrogated Mr. Adams as to his appointment, &c., and then called on one of the churchwardens to prove that the duplicate of the order then produced had been duly served by him on the reverend gentleman. The bench thought the application to be extremely novel, and without a precedent, and suggested the propriety of taking possession during the temporary absence of the reverend gentleman, leaving him to seek his remedy if he felt himself aggrieved. The churchwarden thought the reverend gentleman was too cautious for that plan to be carried into effect, and said he was aware that he had been offered money to quit, but without avail. The bench then granted the warrant.Wilts Standard.

DOCUMENTS.

OATHS VALIDITY BILL.

THE following is Lord Denman's Bill, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of certain Oaths, and to substitute a solemn Affirmation for an Oath in certain cases :"-"Be it declared and enacted, by the Queen's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that in all cases in which by law an oath may be administered to any person, either as a juryman, or a witness, or a deponent, in any proceeding civil or criminal, in any court of law or equity in this kingdom, or on appointment to any office or employment, or on any occasion whatever, the person swearing is bound by the oath administered, in such form and with such ceremonies as such person may declare to be binding, and may be convicted of the crime of perjury in case of wilful false swearing, in the same manner as if the oath had been administered in the form and with the ceremonies most commonly adopted."

BENEFICES PLURALITIES' BILL.

THE following are the amendments introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday, on the report of the committee on the Benefices Pluralities' Bill:

[To follow section 6, and section 113 to be omitted.]

That where any spiritual person shall be desirous of obtaining a licence or dispensation for holding together any two benefices, such spiritual person shall, previously to applying for the grant of such licence or dispensation, deliver to the bishop of the diocese where both benefices are situate in the same diocese, or to the bishops of the two dioceses where such benefices are situate in different dioceses, a statement in writing under his hand, verified as such bishop or bishops respectively may require, in which statement such spiritual person shall set forth, according to the best of his belief, the yearly income arising from each of the said benefices, separately, on an average of the three years ending on the 29th day of September next before the date of such statement, and the sources from which such income is derived, and also the yearly