every object which we see becomes a monument, attesting the existence of an Original Cause; to whose benevolence every object bears witness; and of whose beauty, harmony, and grandeur, the whole Universe, in detail as in combination, is a temple, through which we are led, step by step, to the sanctuary of the ETERNAL." 60. A Defence of the Doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement, as maintained by the Church of England: in an Address to the Inhabitants of St. Alban's, and its Vicinity: occasioned by a Pamphlet, entitled A Letter to Trinitarian Christians, by W. Marshall, Minister of the Unitarian Chapel, St. Alban's, Herts. By the Rev. Thomas White, M. A. Minister of Welbeck Chapel, St. Mary-le-bone. 12mo. pp.40. Rivingtons. NOT having been so lucky as to meet with the good woman who; when applying to Mr. White for relief," offered Mr. Marshall's 'Address' to him for sale as a godly book, and told him that it was the last of twelve which she had purchased at St. Alban's, and sold about the country;", we shall not further enter into the arguments here used against the 'Address,' than to state, that Mr. White disclaims all personal animo sity, and all uncharitable rancour. "It is my earnest desire that I may not offend in this respect; and that, if my reasoning should not appear satisfactory, my spirit and temper may, at least, be such as to reflect no discredit on the doctrines which I think it my duty to advocate.-May the same disposition prevail in all who turn their attention to this subject!" In briefly answering the inquiry why the Unitarian opinions ["faith, says Mr. White, “I cannot call them,"] excite so much horror? he adds, "I will not pretend to say that they are worse than avowed Atheism, or the most profligate vice; but I will assert that they are scarcely less dangerous. Such is the manifest absurdity of Atheism; such the abhorrence universally excited by gross profligacy; that men are not likely to be encouraged in them by the countenance of any respectable characters: but Unitarianism veils itself under the name and profession of Christianity, whilst it robs that religion of its vital principles. It makes great pretensions to reason and philosophy; it flat GENT. MAG. November, 1816. 61. Christianity liberal according to the genuine and full Import of the Term : a Sermon, preached at the Visitation of the Rev. the Archdeacon of Wilts, holden at Mariborough July 23, 1816. By Walter Birch, B. D. Vicar of Stanton St. Bernard's, and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Published at the request of the Clergy present. THERE is such a regular train of reasoning carried through this Discourse, and one part so much depends on another, that it would in some degree be doing the Author an injustice to select any single passages from it as specimens of the whole. Let it suffice therefore to say, that a vein of no common, yet of an unaffected, eloquence pervades it. The design character is essentially and emphaof it is to shew, that "the Christian tically liberal." For this purpose we are presented with the supposed "case of a philosophic Heathen, a man of liberal and lofty sentiments, indulging a train of reflection congenial to such a mind, and gradually led on to the study of the Christian system by the contemplation of some of the great truths of the religion of Nature." One would, perhaps, have expected that the necessity of an atonement should have entered into the contemplation of this enlightened Heathen, as he must have seen it evinced by the propensity of man, in all ages and countries, to seek for a reconciliation with a higher power through the means of sacrifices. Yet we are inclined to give the Preacher credit for having omitted the consideration of this point, not so much from oversight, as from an opinion that it would not have conduced to his maiti object, which probably was to convince those who entertain a prejudice against Christianity as it tended toconfine and narrow the minds of its professors, but who, no longer seeing the sacrifices that were so genes rally practised in the Heathen world, do not perceive the need of the one only effectual offering. highly esteemed by the Emperor Theodosius. Cassiodorus was made Governor of Sicily, created sole Consul, and promoted to be private secretary to Theodoric. Arcadius and Honorius erected a statue in honour of Claudian; and Agropolita (one of the Byzantine Historians) was sent Ambassador to the Pope, and to John, Prince of Bulgaria. Alcuin was admitted to the friendship of Charlemagne ; Alexander was highly esteemed by Urban VIII.; Alamanni was the confidential friend of Francis I. in whose arms died Leonardo de Vinci. Arnaud was beloved by Henry IV, of France; and Paulus Æmilius enjoyed the favour of Lewis XII. Abulfaragius was made Bishop of Lacabena and Aleppo. The tomb of the Persian Anacreon is the theatre of annual rural amusements; and Lope de Vega, the idol of his age, was buried with a pomp and magnificence never before witnessed in Spain to a private person. - Petrarch, honoured with the friendship of many illustrious men, was crowned as a Poet in the capital of Italy; the daughters of Donatus were portioned at Florence at the public expence; Æneas Sylvius was crowned with laurel by the Emperor Frederick's own hand; Vida was created Bishop of Alba in reward for his genius; and Ariosto was employed as an Ambassador from the Duke of Ferrara to Pope Julius II.; he was made Governor of Graffignana, and crowned with laurel by Charles V. Albani was honoured with the correspondence of several Princes; Rubens became an Ambassador; Newton arrived at wealth and honour; Prior and Grotius were Ambassadors at Paris; Boileau enjoyed the benefits of princely munificence at Auteuil; Addison became Secretary of State; the family of Fontaine were exempt from all taxes; Christina softened the misfortunes of Borelli; while Heinsius was honoured by his Country, and flattered by the approbation of several foreign Monarchs. -Such are the honours and distinctions which have been consecrated to some who have possessed talents and genius. For though, for the most part, men, possessing either the one or the other, are, when ningling with mankind, cheated by the worldly, envied by groups of many orders, and calumniated by the base and ignorant; some minds, rich in their own excellence, have never, even in the iron age, been wanting, who have scattered roses in the paths of Virtue; and who have secured from indigence and despair those labourers in Science, and those cultivators of the Arts and of Philosophy, who, but for the fortunate assistance of some nobler mind, might, from disease, sensibility, or unrewarded industry, have sunk beneath the burden of a ruined fortune." From much that is good under the head of "Science," only one short article shall be selected. "From the difficulty in regard to the origin and uses of evil, a subject on which wisdom itself is taught to pause, though not to doubt, has arisen that most degrading of all mental errors, ATHEISM.-The word Atheist is a term used for the purpose of distinguishing that order of men, whose ignorance is rendered contemptible by the folly of their vanity, and by the arrogance of their pride, presumption, and pretensions. Little knowledge have they of Science, and still less of Nature's primitive forms and qualities.-Involving a vicious imagination, a credulous conception, and a warped judgment, an Atheist is as much a lusus naturæ, as any object that, in any age, has dis gusted the eye of a Naturalist. For, presuming to decide where he ought to doubt; and hesitating, when effects allow exact precision; ignorant that chances are the results of secret causes -that it requires the same gigantic power to annihilate, as it did to create→→→ that to govern, requires no greater exertion than to form-and that, even should Necessity have a power of existence, it possesses no power of effecting changes; with a mean idea of man, a superficial knowledge of Nature, and a total ignorance of primitive causes, an Atheist gives eternal life to magnets, yet refuses it to man! His is the hated creed, which makes the day of death the day of ruin!-Beginning in presumption, he continues in doubt; and, meeting with difficulties far beyond the measure of his feeble intellect, his faculties confused-his judgment lost, and his imagination afflicted with the plague-be loathes to die! His food, as it were, is poison, and his drink are bitters. Believing not in a God, he is the artificer of his own misery, and an object of mental disgust, wherever he goes. For a nest of serpents is not more horrible to the fancy, than a faction of Atheists. Oh! for that sacred and exalted time, when we may be permitted to see a new satellite, a new planet, a new sun, perhaps a new sy stem, rising from the void and formless infinite! To enter into what Marcus Antoninus calls an honourable familiarity with Nature, by ranging through the visible sphere with an eye of Poetry, and the judgment of Philosophy, is to form one of the best grounds for theological belief. Since every object which we see becomes a monument, attesting the existence of an Original Cause; to whose benevolence every object bears witness; and of whose beauty, harmony, and grandeur, the whole Universe, in detail as in combination, is a temple, through which we are led, step by step, to the sanctuary of the ETERNAL." 60. A Defence of the Doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement, as maintained by the Church of England in an Address to the Inhabitants of St. Alban's, and its Vicinity: occasioned by a Pamphlet, entitled A Letter to Trinitarian Christians, by W. Marshall, Minister of the Unitarian Chapel, St. Alban's, Herts. By the Rev. Thomas White, M. A. Minister of Welbeck Chapel, St. Mary-le-bone. 12mo. pp.40. Rivingtons. NOT having been so lucky as to meet with the good woman who, when applying to Mr. White for relief," offered Mr. Marshall's 'Address' to him for sale as a godly book,' and told him that it was the last of twelve which she had purchased at St. Alban's, and sold about the country" we shall not further enter into the arguments here used against the 'Address,' than to state, that Mr. White disclaims all personal animo sity, and all uncharitable rancour. "It is my earnest desire that I may not offend in this respect; and that, if my reasoning should not appear satisfactory, my spirit and temper may, at least, be such as to reflect no discredit on the doctrines which I think it my duty to advocate.-May the same disposition prevail in all who turn their attention to this subject!" In briefly answering the inquiry why the Unitarian opinions [“fuith,' says Mr. White, "I cannot call them,"] excite so much horror? he adds, i will not pretend to say that they are worse than avowed Atheism, or the most profligate vice;' but I will assert that they are scarcely less dangerous. Such is the manifest absurdity of Atheism; such the abhorrence universally excited by gross profligacy; that men are not likely to be encouraged in them by the countenance of any respectable characters: but Unitarianism veils itself under the name and profession of Christianity, whilst it robs that religion of its vital principles. It makes great pretensions to reason and philosophy; it flatGENT. MAG. November, 1816. ters the pride of human nature; it leads men to a false estimate of their own character; and thus throws such impediments in their way, that they are little likely to embrace the humbling but consolatory doctrines of the Gospel." 61. Christianity liberal according to the genuine and full Import of the Term : a Sermon, preached at the Visitation of the Rev. the Archdeacon of Wilts; holden at Mariborough July 23, 1816. By Walter Birch, B. D. Vicar of Stanton St. Bernard's, and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Published at the request of the Clergy present. THERE is such a regular train of reasoning carried through this Discourse, and one part so much depends on another, that it would in some degree be doing the Author an injustice to select any single passages from it as specimens of the whole. Let it suffice therefore to say, that a vein of no common, yet of an unaffected, eloquence pervades it. The design character is essentially and emphaof it is to shew, that "the Christian tically liberal." For this purpose we are presented with the supposed case of a philosophic Heathen, a man of liberal and lofty sentiments, indulging a train of reflection congenial to such a mind, and gradually led on to the study of the Christian system by the contemplation of some of the great truths of the religion of Nature." One would, perhaps, have expected that the necessity of an atonement should have entered into the contemplation of this enlightened Heathen, as he must have seen it evinced by the propensity of man, in all ages and countries, to seek for a reconciliation with a higher power through the means of sacrifices. Yet we are inclined to give the Preacher credit for having omitted the consideration of this point, not so much from oversight, as from an opinion that it would not have conduced to his main object, which probably was to convince those who entertain a prejudice against Christianity as it tended to confine and narrow the minds of its professors, but who, no longer seeing the sacrifices that were so genes raily practised in the Heathen world, do not perceive the need of the one only effectual offering. 1 63. Essays in Rhyme, on Morals and Manners. By Jane Taylor, Author of Display, a Tale, &c. &c. 12mo, pp. 174. Taylor and Hessey. WE have been so well pleased with several of the former publications of this Lady, that we opened the present $6 Essays" with some degree of interest: yet, though we admire the good sense and serious sensations of Miss Taylor, we prefer her works of imagination to any "Rhymes" on religious subjects, particularly when treated in a somewhat too familiar style. Miss Taylor has evidently read Mr. Crabbe's peculiarly excellent Poems; but has not quite attained the exquisite simplicity by which they are distinguished. We do not mean to blame this wellintentioned lady for being too serious; but we think her pleasantry better than her preaching; and that she can be pleasant, the following description will amply testify: "In yonder red-brick mansion, tight and square, [the Mayor. Just at the town's commencement, lives Some yards of shining gravel, fenc'd with box, [knocks: Lead to the painted portal-where one There, in the left-hand parlour, all in state, Sit he and she, on either side the grate. But though their goods and chattels, sound and new, Bespeak the owners very well to do, [tray His Worship's wig and morning suit beSlight indications of an humbler day. That long, low shop, where still the name appears, [years: Some doors below, they kept for forty And there, with various fortunes, smooth and rough, TOW They sold tobacco, coffee, tea, and snuff, There label'd drawers display their spicy [ing low Clove, mace, and nutmeg; from the ceilDangle long twelves and eights, and slenMix'd with the varied forms of genus der rush, [brush: Cask, firkin, bag, and barrel, crowd the floor, [door. And piles of country cheeses guard the The frugal dames came in from far and near, [here. To buy their ounces and their quarterns Hard was the toil, the profits slow to count; [mount: And yet the mole-hill was at last a Those petty gains were hoarded day by day, [they); With little cost (nor chick nor child had Till, long proceeding on the saving plan, He found himself a warm, fore-handed [away. The box was finish'd, and they went But when their faces were no longer seen Amongst the canisters of black and green, Those well-known faces, all the country [ground round "Twas said, that had they level'd to the The two old walnut-trees before the door, The customers would not have miss'd them more. Now, like a pair of parrots in a cage, Proud in official dignity, the dame This is extracted from a Poem called "Prejudice;" but we forbear to copy the picture of the Mayoress's 7 mind, as it is more cruel than we should have expected from the benevolent heart of Miss Taylor. 64. Winter Evening Recreations at M. 12mo, pp. 135. Hatchard. "THE inhabitants of the Village of M, who resembled one large family, were accustonied, during the winter months, to meet once a week at each other's houses, after the different engagements of the day were concluded. As young persons of both sexes composed part of the society, it was proposed that each should exert his talents for the improvement and amusement of the rest. Many pieces, both in prose and verse, were by this means produced; some of which obtained a wider circulation than at first was intended. From these a selection has been made, which is now presented to the publick, with the ini tials of the Authors annexed." The principal feature of this Vo lume is a well-written and interesting Tale in prose, of 97 pages, intended to display the superior merits of Methodism, but a little overshooting the mark. The Spiritual Guide takes a rich heiress and her large fortune into his own family, breaking off an intended marriage; and the Hero and Heroine of the Tale, after being converted, are both, with a sort of stage-effect, killed off; as is also their worthy Teacher. This Tale is followed by several elegant specimens of Poetry, all on serious subjects; some of them (like the Work we have last noticed) rather too much so. " We make one pleasing extract: "To -, on leaving M——: "Adieu then to M, adieu to each friend: [bend; Eliza far Westward her footsteps must Recall'd by Affection to Erin's green shore, When with patriot ardour thy bosom Some friend may be fled, whom thou Commendable as are the sentiments in the concluding Poem (a comment on a text in the Revelations), we cannot approve of the familiarity with which our blessed Saviour is made one of the Interlocutors. 65. NauticHours; 8vo. pp.78. Stockdale. THIS Work, which the Author modestly styles a thing of shreds ordinary mind. It contains eighteen and patches," is the production of no elegant little Poems; several of them tributary to the memories of the illustrious dead; among whom are Columbus, Blake, Benbow, Falconer, Riou*, and Nelson. Of the two latter, our Readers shall have an opportunity of judging. * Captain Riou, termed the gallant and good' by Lord Nelson, is considered by those who knew his worth, as one of the greatest losses the Navy of England sustained during the late wars." In the earlier period of his service, he shewed the undaunted firmness of his character. In 1789, when Lieutenant and Commander of the Guardian store-ship, he had the misfortune to strike upon an island of ice, and received so much damage, that scarcely a chance remained of the possibility of carrying her into port. In this situation, he encouraged those who wished it to leave the vessel, but deemed it unworthy in himself to quit his post; and he was so happy, after incessant exertions for ten weeks, as to succeed in carrying her into port. The noise and the splendour of battle, and the hopes and the honours of victory, may infuse, even into common minds, the courage and the sentiments of a hero; but he, whom an inherent sense of duty leads to meet and brave death, in its lingering and undazzling form, unaided by the triumph which accompanies, and unassured of the fame which rewards it, has a mind of no common order." "ON |