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SCHOOL- BOOKS.

Art. 57. An Effay on the English Grammar. By the Rev. William Martin Trinder, L. B. 12mo. I s. 6 d. Faulder. 1781. We meet with nothing in this Grammar which intitles it to particular notice. The Author has indeed attempted to encumber the English language by a middle verb; for fo he calls the prefent participle, combined with the auxiliary to be, in its feveral tenfes and moods. He has alfo illuftrated the rules of grammar, by examples from the poets. But thefe improvements are not of fufficient confequence to give Mr. Trinder's Grammar any diftinétion above former publications of the fame kind.

Art. 58. Nouvelle Abrégé de la Grammaire Françoife, propre pour donner une Idée diftincte de cette Langue. Ouvrage dans lequel on s'eft propofé d'exercer le Jugement, autant que le sujet en eft jusceptible; et d'exciter à la Piété en choififfant, pour l'Explication des Regles, des Examples propres à infpirer l'Amour de DIEU. 12mo. 2s. 6d.

Dilly, &c.

To attempt to teach a language by a grammar written in that language, is fo manifeftly abfurd; and the defign of blending the doctrines of religion with the rules of grammar, will be thought by many fo exceedingly ridiculous, that we are apprehenfive the peculiarities of this French grammar are not such as will recommend it to the attention of the Public.

Art. 59. The Nomenclator, and Dialogues among School-Boys, With felect Fables. In Latin, French, and English: for the Use of Schools. By David Bifchoff. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. Richardfon and Urquhart. 1781.

A great abundance of words, phrases, and fentences, in the Latin, French, and English languages, are, in this book, difpofed in columns correfponding to each other: the collection appears to bẹ judicious, and will, we think, be found very useful in teaching thefe Janguages.

SERMON S.

I. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, in the Abbey Church, Westminster, Jan. 30, 1781. By John Lord Bishop of St. David's. 4to. I S. L. Davis.

This Sermon is admirably calculated to please the Court. It contains a well-written apology for the unfortunate monarch; and defcribes in a firain of manly eloquence the horrid effects of faction and enthufiafm.Refiftance (lays his Lordship) being a defperate remedy, it is indifpenfably neceffary to enquire, whether the difeafe, under which the State is fuppofed to labour, be defperate alfo: and if there fhould remain the least doubt of this, the only fafe way is to follow the general precept which prefcribes obedience: for refiftance and difobedience are confidered by the ableft writers on government as neceffary evils at beft; and we shall ftand condemned by all the rules of prudence and good fenfe, if we have recourfe to the evil before we are convinced of the neceffity. But here the queftion will recurWho are to be the judges of this neceflity? We think the Bishop hath anfwered it, by calling the REVOLUTION, that glorious period,

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when the principles of our Conftitution were fettled, and the power of every branch of it marked out with a precifion and exactnefs unknown to our ancestors.' And as (concludes his Lordship) one great fource of civil difcontent is removed by this means, fo with regard to matters of religion, we may obferve, that the wild enthufiafm which proved fo very favourable to the defigns of faction in the laft age, is now fubfided; that the religious controverfies about certain points of no great moment, and which were carried on by both parties with the most unchriftian heat and rancour, are laid afide and forgotten; and lafly, that they who are difaffected to our ecclefiaftical establishment, have not the fame pretence for railing clamours against it, as their predeceffors had in thofe unhappy days; fince no vexatious fuits can now be commenced for Nonconformity; and all who, on fcruples of confcience, diffent from our difcipline and worfhip, are fuffered by law to hold public affemblies and to ferve God in their own way; and in an age fo favourable to fpiritual and temporal liberty, as the prefent, every other reafonable indulgence will certainly be allowed; and for the peace of the Church, and the fafety of the state, we may be permitted to hope, that more than this will never be asked on the one hand, or granted on the other.' II. The Trial of Faith; or, The Suffering Chriftian delivered and purified in the Blood of the Lamb: being the Subftance of a Funeral Difcourfe, occafioned by the Death of Mr. John Rufhworth! To which is added, an Oration, spoken at the Grave. By R. El liot, A. B. formerly of Bernet College, Cambridge. 8vo. Johnfon. 1780.

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As this was a mere extemporaneous effufion ('taken down in fhorthand') it was hardly to be expected that it should have been either correct in its arrangement, or elegant in its language. The difcourfe and the oration are very plain performances, and only calculated to pleafe and edify thofe who have carried their notions of imputed righteousness to the utmost extreme of Calvinifm.

Mr. Elliot, indeed, is a very fingular man; for notwithstanding he rigidly adheres to the methodistic fyftem in fome of its groffer and more enthufiatic peculiarities, yet he hath had the courage openly to difavow his belief of the doctrine of the Trinity; and a few years fince published an elaborate treatife to prove the fubordination of the Son to the Father, and to disprove the perfonality of the Holy Ghost. This bold attack on what, for centuries, hath been deemed, not only the pillar, but the ground of arthodox faith, excited the clamours of his brethren, and caufed a diffenfion in his church. The alarm of a wolf in sheep's clothing' was ecchoed from Tabernacle to Ta bernacle; and a strict charge was given to watch over the flock, left the poor sheep should be feduced from the fold! But feveral were not to be feared by the vociferous alarms of ignorance, craft, or timidity! They followed the wolf, without any dread of being devoured by him and after many years trial, they found this hunted wolf, as harmless as a lamb.

Mr. Elrot produces the dying teftimony of Mr. Rushworth in confirmation of the doctrine he hath efpoufed respecting the Trinity. • When he was extremely ill, and to his own apprehenfions not far from death.. I took an opportunity of afking him, if he no thought

thought that the doctrine which he had heard, and for feveral years paft had profeffed to believe, concerning Jehovah and his Chrift, was of God, or of men. He immediately replied to the following effect"I am fully fatisked, it is the clear and certain doctrine of fcripture. I believe it with as much confidence as I do any other truth of the Gospel." On this declaration, Mr. Elliot well obferves, that it is reasonable to fuppofe, when a man apprehends himself to be not far from death and judgment, that he will neither difguife nor conceal his fentiments, but will then, if ever, declare them to be what they really are.'

II. The Chriftian Doctrine of Ceremonies.

Preached at the Rev. Dr. Fordyce's Meeting, in Monkwell-ftreet, London, Dec. 25, 1780, to the Society that fupport the Evening Lecture there. By Robert Robinson. 8vo. 6d. Buckland.

This Sermon confiders the use and intent of the Jewish ceremonies, and fhews the neceffity of their abolition by the Gospel. The Preacher was fairly mounted on his hobby-horse; but he did not ride at that furious rate which diftinguished his career fome time fince, when he fallied forth to refcue "Dame Religion" from the tyranny of those ecclefiaftical giants, who had fhut her up in the enchanted caftle of the Establishment.

To this Sermon is fubjoined an Appendix, to justify the translation which the Author hath given of the text which he hath chosen to difcourfe on, viz. 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. In our common verfion, it is rendered- If our Gofpel be hid, it is hid to them that are loft. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,' &c. &c. This tranflation (fays Mr. R.) doth not seem to be good English. There is at least inaccuracy enough in it to induce any man to examine the original. The reading we propose, is this:- The Gospel is hid, concealed, or veiled, AMONG Or By the things which are ABOLISHED; by which things the God of this world," &c. &c. The words may be rendered thus; and we fee nothing in the original or the context but what will justify this tranflation of them.

IV. Charity, the Bond of Perfection. Preached at Oxford, Nov. 15, 1780, on Occafion of the Re-establishment of a Chriftian Church of Protestant Diffenters in that City: with a brief Account of the State of the Society, and the Plan and Manner of their Settlement. By Daniel Turner, A. M. 8vo. 6d. Buckland.

The diffenting church at Oxford hath paffed through many perils, and firuggled hard against fears within and fightings without. In the beginning of the reign of George 1. the meeting-houfe was pulled down by rioters, who thought outrage would be fanctified by the pretence of religion. For near 40 years the Diffenters of Oxford have had no regular fervice among them, from a fettled minifter :-only occafional or accidental. But, amidst all thefe difcouraging circumftances, per varios cafus, per tot difcrimina rerum, they have, as Mr. Turner fays, preferved fome little femblance of their original church ftate.... Within thefe two or three laft years they have been more regularly ferved; their intereft is in a rifing ftate, and the auditory refpe&table!'

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The Sermon breathes a pious and benevolent fpirit, and is by no means calculated to ferve the little interefts of a party. But it hath nothing elegant or ftriking to give it the flighteft diftinction, or to detain us one moment in criticising it.

V. The Difficulties attending a juft Explanation of Scripture, confidered, as they have arisen from the gradual Progress of Revealed Religion through a Length of Time: Preached at St. Mary's, at the Vitation, held by the Archdeacon of Oxford, October 24, 1780. By Joshua Berkeley, B. D. Student of Chrift Church. 4to. I S. Rivington, &c.

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The Author of this ingenious and elegant difcourfe imputes the difficulties attending a juft explanation of Scripture, to the progreffive plan of Revelation,' and to the length of time which has paffed fince the final fettlement of the canon. He has many just and judicious obfervations upon the ufefulnefs and neceffity of thought and reflection, extenfive learning, and rational criticifm, in order to a fuccessful defence and explanation of the facred writings; but we apprehend that he is mistaken, when he fpeaks of Revelation, from its very nature and effence,' containing in it fomething mysterious and obfcure,' and of part of it under the Mofaic Difpenfation being involved in awful myftery.' We do not recollect any paffage in which St. Paul reprefents the form of found words' as often converfant in matters of myfterious depth.' To all fuch intimations of obfcurity and unintelligibility of any part of revelation, we may jufly apply an obfervation of Mr. Berkeley refpecting thofe errors which are recommended under the fanction of divine authority, viz. If the light of Revelation be darkness, how great will be that darknefs!' The difcoveries of revelation were, no doubt, adjusted to the ftate and circumstances of the people to whom it was given, and confequently were gradual and progreffive. But to talk of a Revelation involved in obfcurity, or wrapped up in mystery, is little better than a folecism in terms. In our opinion, a much more rational and fatisfactory account of the fource of the difficulties attending the explanation of the writings of St. Paul, and of the New Teftament in general, and which may be extended to the Old, is given by Mr. Locke in his Preface to his Paraphrafe on the Epiftles. But though we differ from Mr. Berkeley upon this point, and with refpe&t to a few other of his pofitions, we cannot fufficiently commend the general defign of this fermon, to recommend the ftudy of facred criticism in all its branches to those whofe bufinefs it is to inftru&t others in the fenfe and meaning of Revelation; and we moft heartily agree with him in the fentiment with which he concludes his difcourfe, The brightest talents and the most extenfive learning cannot be made fubfervient to fo noble and benevolent an end, as that of eftablishing men in their religious opinions, and confirming them in the truth; nor will any exertions of the powers of the human mind, meet with so distinguished a reward hereafter.'

VI. Preached before the Univerfity of Cambridge, Jan. 30th, 1781, at Great St. Mary's. By William Cooke, M. A. Greek Profeffor of King's College. 4to. I S. Cadell, &c.

This Preacher touches on fome great questions, fuch as, the myfterious method of God's providence in ordering and controuling the

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affairs of men-how to reconcile foreknowledge in God with freewill in man-fate and liberty-certainty and contingency-event and prophecy.' On these points he offers fome fenfible, ingenious, and pious obfervations: but his ftyle is not the moft pleafant, and his manner not the most clear and perfpicuous." He does not fay much of the Royal Martyr, but remarks that the fteps which led to the confufions of that time have been purfued in the prefent; and concludes, that our impieties and immoralities give us caufe to fear that the threatening against the Jews may be fulfilled on our country, Deut. xxviii. 49. The Lord fhall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the end of the earth: which words are the text of this difcourfe. VII. On the Nature of Chrift's Kingdom. Before the Proteftant Dif fenting Minifters of Cumberland; at their General Meeting at Penrith, August 16th, 1780. By Robert Hood, A. M. Minister of the Chapel in Hanover-fquare, Newcastles 8vo. 6d. Baldwin.

A fenfible, pious, candid difcourfe, adapted to the occafion on which it was delivered, and calculated to promote a catholic and Christian spirit and practice among thofe who may perufe it. An Advertisement prefixed informs us, that this is the first difcourfe of a volume of fermons now in the prefs, and that it is published separately at the particular request of the truftees of the congregation in Hanover-fquare, Newcastle.

VIII. Occafioned by the Death of the late Rev. John Aikin, D. D. Profeffor of Divinity at the Academy in Warrington. By William Enfield, LL. D. 4to. Is. Johnfon. 1781.

Dr. Aikin's was one of thofe characters which have the trueft worth, without aiming at being thought to poffefs it. His abilities, and his improvement of them, were very confiderable, his knowledge and learning extenfive, his manners gentle and amiable, his conduct use, ful and becoming a Chriftian. Dr. Enfield pays a just tribute to his memory in this elegant difcourfe, in which he recommends an imitation of this model from the words of St. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 1. "Be ye followers of me, even as I alfo am of Chrift.'

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Our Correfpondent, R. D. inquires, whether he is to confider as an error of the prefs, an overfight, or innovation, the following expreffion in the Review for February laft (p. 150, 1. 3.), viz. point of improvement in which we did not perceive the original to tand in much need."-Doubtless the first in should have been of. But whether this was a flip of the pen or of the prefs, we cannot now determine.This Correfpondent has alfo fent us fome juft remarks on the Gallicifms in Mr. Gibbon's celebrated work.

An accident obliges us to defer, to our next, the continuation of our account of SERMONS ON THE LATE GENERAL FAST.

FOREIGN LITERATURE, also, in our next.

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