wholly appropriate to the occasion, and will be read, as we know they were heard, with satisfaction.

We congratulate our brethren of the South Congregational church on their prospects from this new relation; and are confident that they will not fail to unite with their bright anticipations of the future their grateful and respectful remembrances of their late Pastor, "than whom" in the words of the Address, which we cordially repeat, "they may not hope to find one more devoted to his work, more exemplary in ministerial character, faithfulness and virtue."

A DISCOURSE in Memory of John Abbot Emery, Member of the Senior Class in Harvard University, delivered in the Chapel, November 6, 1842. By William B. O. Peabody, Minister in Springfield. Cambridge. 1842. pp. 20, 8vo.

THIS Discourse was requested for publication by the Class of which Mr. Emery was a member-" not," as was said in their note to the Author," merely from regard to its beauty and eloquence, but that they may possess a tribute which shall always remind them of the virtues of their departed friend, and of the pastor whose instructions did so much to rear them."

The text is the fifth verse of the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes : "They shall be afraid of that which is high." After having briefly alluded to the representation of old age which "the Preacher" had pourtrayed by images of desolate and helpless decay, familiar and striking to an Oriental mind, Mr. Peabody introduces his subject by saying that the dreariest part of this description is in the words, "afraid of that which is high;" which relate not so much to physical infirmity-inability to ascend the tower or the mountain, as to that distrustful fear, that want of confidence in high attainments, hopes and endeavors, which, after all, is the "sere and yellow leaf" which gives the deepest sadness to life's closing days. The hopes which "the aged fear," but which the young have a right to indulge, are next briefly spoken of-the hope of happiness proceeding from a right use of the powers and affections

-and the thirst for excellence. An affectionate tribute to the worthy and interesting character of young Emery with whom the author was well acquainted from his earliest years, together with such moral instructions as his life and death suggested, occupy the remainder of the discourse. Mr. Peabody awards the highest meed of praise to his young friend. The intellectual, the moral, and the religious characteristics of Mr. Emery are each in turn displayed and illustrated with much warmth and beauty of language, and the valuable lessons which may be drawn from them are impressed upon his surviving companions with an affectionate earnestness well calculated to carry them home to the heart.

A DISCOURSE on the Covenant with Judas, Preached in Hollis Street Church, Nov. 6, 1842. By John Pierpont. Boston: Little & Brown. 1842. pp. 39, 8vo.

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THIS is a remarkable sermon, or rather a discourse composed of two sermons; one of which was fully written out" when preached, while the other, "delivered chiefly from notes," has been prepared for the press by following as closely as possible "the train of thought and argument," though not "the language as spoken." It is remarkable, for the use made of the title and text, for the ability with which the argument is conducted, and the ingenuity with which it is applied, and for the nature of the subjects which the preacher saw fit to draw into discussion in the pulpit. The text is from Matthew xxvi. 15: "They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver;" and if we had proceeded no farther than the introduction, in which is intimated a resemblance between the history of the Saviour betrayed by his false disciple, and the case of Latimer, the colored man whose recent imprisonment in this city on the demand of one who claimed him as his slave has been the occasion of much excitement, we should have had only an unmingled feeling of pain. But after this unhappy comparison Mr. Pierpont enters upon an examination of the authority, or binding force, of all covenants, promises or oaths to do what without such

an engagement is confessedly wrong, and after a condensed, but clear and conclusive argument,-founded upon a consideration alike of those relations in which we are placed without our own act and choice, and of those which are voluntarily assumed,arrives at the principle, " that no vow or oath to do that which is forbidden by any law of God, or not to do that which is required, is of any binding force, or imposes any obligation whatever; let the solemnities of the oath be as awful, and let the penalties imprecated with it, at the hand of either man or God, be as severe or as fearful as they may."

In the second part of the discourse, after noticing one or two texts which may be thought to impugn the validity of this principle, Mr. Pierpont shows its bearing upon some of the cases recorded in Scripture," of vows to do a wrong, by violating a natural right;" viz. Jephtha's vow (Judges xi,) Herod's oath (Matthew xiv,) the oath of the forty conspirators against Paul (Acts xxiii,) and the covenant between the chief priests and Judas Iscariot. Upon each of these passages we are constrained to say that the reasoning is to us unsatisfactory and we believe might be shown to be unsound, and that the incidental argument by which the author endeavors to fortify his main principle serves only to show its strength by contrast. He then approaches the case of immediate interest in this community at the time of the delivery of the discourse, and having stated that the pursuer of the alleged slave demands his surrender "by virtue of a covenant, which, it is said, our fathers made with the Virginian's fathers, that in such cases the fugitive should be given up," proposes and answers these two inquiries; "first, is it so; secondly, what if it is so ?" Upon the first question he raises an argument on the language of the Constitution of the United States, which to us seems more sophistical than agreeable to the interpretation which the common sense of most men would put upon that instrument, and replies, "that in " his "judgment, it is not so." To the second question he replies, after an application of the principle established in the former part of the discourse, that the clause of the Constitution appealed to, if it must be construed in the common way, is "of no binding force," and that neither the oath of a Judge under this Constitution, nor the erroneous idea of a compromise upon the subject of Slavery at the time of its adoption, nor

the presumed fact, that the South came into the Union only on this condition, can justify a regard to the provision which it contains. The discussion is closed by an appeal to the audience upon the immorality of allowing "the Constitution of these United States to over-ride God's laws." "If on my heavenward journey I see even this Constitution standing in my path, like the visionary ladder of the patriarch, it shall not hinder-it shall help me on my way; for I will mount upward by treading it under my feet."

We have neither inclination nor room to say what might be said in regard to this whole course of remark; nor can we extend this notice, except to express our strong persuasion, that the pulpit and the Lord's day are not the time and the place most suitable for such discussions as are presented in the concluding pages of this dis

course.

MARY'S CHOICE: or The Good Part Preferred. By J. K. Waite. Boston B. H. Greene. 1843. pp. 42, 18mo.

MR. WAITE deserves commendation for the rare merit of having accomplished, in this little volume, just what he professes to have accomplished. The book makes no promises, in its preface and in its general style and air, which it does not fulfil. The design is modest, and it is modestly executed. The contents consist almost wholly of an appeal to man's desire of happiness, in behalf of a religious life. The argument takes no higher or wider range, and within these limits is forcibly presented. A comparison runs through all the pages, between the pleasures offered by worldliness and by religion; and the testimony of the Christian whose experiences have made trial of both, is placed over against the weaker testimony of the faithless sensualist who knows nothing but of one. The Author's purpose is to expose the mistake and the delusion of the unspiritual. Of course his attempt is suited to effect this object with the thoughtless, rather than with those who have thought much and are yet without light. It does not meet the speculative unbeliever on speculative grounds. It aims directly, to quicken and change the heart, and belongs consequently to a class of efforts in authorship of which we have too few.

INTELLIGENCE.

ORDINATION IN BOSTON, MASS.-Rev. Amos Smith, of Boston, lately a member of the Theological School at Cambridge, was ordained as Colleague Pastor of the New North Church and Society in Boston, on Wednesday evening, December 7, 1842. The services were conducted as follows:-Introductory Prayer, by Rev. Mr. Coolidge of Boston; Selections from the Scriptures, by Rev. Mr. Sargent of Boston; Sermon, by Rev. Dr. Parkman, who this evening kept the twenty-ninth anniversary of his own settlement over the New North Church; Charge, by Rev. Mr. Gannett of Boston; Right Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. Mr. Huntington of Boston; Concluding Prayer, by Rev. Mr. Bartol of Boston.

Dr. Parkman took his text from Ephesians iv. 11-13: "He gave * * * pastors and teachers *** for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come, in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ;" and in his discourse proceeded to consider the work of the Christian ministry-in respect to its nature, and its qualifications. The origin of this institution-in the wisdom of its Founder, and its admirable suitableness to the spiritual wants and condition of man, were illustrated; and its independence of all visions of an Apostolical succession or sacerdotal pedigree, or of any other condition of a true ministry than the personal gifts and graces of those by whom it is sustained, was shown by a reference to names honored in the annals of the Church, but belonging to its different denominations. The qualifications for a proper discharge of this office were briefly stated to be, learning, piety, and charity; and more at length, a spirit of faith, faith in Christ Jesus; of judgment, or religious wisdom, in estimating the objects to be pursued, and the methods to be adopted for their accomplishment; and of devotedness, or consecration to the work, as demanded especially in these times of theory and change, and as exemplified in the earlier days of the New England clergy. The sermon was closed by appropriate addresses to the candidate whom the preacher welcomed to a participation in his own ministry, and to the members of the Society who had invited him to occupy this place.

The New North Church dates its existence from the year 1714, since which time six ministers have been settled over it, all of them graduates of Harvard College, viz. Rev. John Webb, whose ministry extended