ples of interpretation are not always trust-worthy. A work on the Psalms, at once judicious and devout, by Mr. Morison, of Brompton, is in progress, which from the first volume, just published, promises to be a valuable acquisition. Scougal's Life of God in the Soul of Man, Sturm's Reflections, Bishop Wilson's tracts on Prayer, and Meikle's Solitude Sweetened, are held in deserved estimation by pious readers.

We have referred to these writers, and additions might have been made to the list, both for the sake of those who may be interested in such productions, and for the purpose of showing, that a work like the present is neither superfluous nor uncalled for; since, if you take from books of this class those which are obsolete, or inaccessible, or unreadable, but few volumes will be found, which men of cultivated minds would refer to, as every way suitable for a daily manual of practical piety. But were the standard authors upon this subject ten times more numerous, we are quite persuaded, that volumes such as these, so replete with practical wisdom, sound theology, experimental religion, and pathetic eloquence, would never require an apology; but would always be deemed a most welcome offering by the Christian public. In truth, it may be considered that a work of this kind, adapted to the taste of the present age, combining purely evangelical sentiments, with devotional fervour and sound practical instruction, unalloyed by objectionable or unguarded statements, has long been a desideratum in the Protestant church.

Some Roman Catholic writers, wise perhaps in their generation, have supplied various compositions, professing to direct the

members of their communion in the duties of private meditation and prayer. This was in part rendered necessary by their unchristian scheme of withholding from the multitude the pure word of God, (which must always be the only perfect compendium of devotion,) and was in complete unison with the spirit of their system, which renders the influence of the priesthood indispensable to the tranquillity of the conscience; but from whatever cause originating, whether policy or better feeling, their books of piety, as they call them, are numerous. The ancient fathers, St. Chrysostom, and others, displayed commendable assiduity upon this particular point; and it is notorious that some of the most touching and admired of the Collects and Prayers of the English Liturgy, together with several very questionable passages, were derived from the Catholic ritual. Some beautiful specimens of religious exercises may be found in the Meditations and Confessions of St. Augustine, in Thomas Kempis, as the book is called, in Fenelon, and other writers of the same school. It would be tiresome to enumerate even the titles of their more modern publications, such as the Key of Heaven, or a Posey of Prayers; the Guide to Heaven; the Garden of the Soul; Philothea, from the French of Francis of Sales; the Spiritual Combat; the Peace of the Soul; the Pocket Missal, &c. But it is more to our purpose to observe, that they have also books on a plan somewhat similar to the present, on. Christian Truths and Christian Duties digested into Meditations for every Day in the Year. The fault of these writers is, that even in their devotional books, there is a perpetual infusion of the errors of their system,

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doctrine frequently unsound, morality more than doubtful, metaphysics barbarously absurd: and they often tend to enslave the mind to the decisions of the church, to induce a dangerous reliance on forms and observances not enjoined in the word of God, and fatally to obscure the one and only method of a sinner's justification in the sight of God, teaching for commandments the traditions of men." With all their faults, however, they attempted to provide for what they deemed the spiritual exigencies of their followers, and were careful to furnish materials, such as they were, for closet devotion;-and it may be worth a question, whether our divines, justly distinguished for a purer faith, and a higher conception of what devotion ought to be, have sufficiently availed themselves of their superior advantages to make a corresponding provision to assist the retired exercises of the Christian, and to furnish comfort and direction to perplexed and burdened consciences.

The work before us contains Meditations upon some passages of Scripture for every morning in the year, each averaging about two octavo pages, the brevity of which, as every writer must be aware, must have materially increased the difficulty of the task. They who are acquainted with Mr. Jay's habits of thought, and his terse, pointed, and epigrammatic style of writing, will be prepared for the pleasure they will experience in perusing these volumes, which abound in powerful statements upon almost all points of personal and relative religion. The man immersed in worldly occupations, yet anxious to seize a few moments for sacred recollection, either after the distractions of the day are ended, or before

its toils commence, may here find something to fix his wandering attention, to compose his anxious thoughts, to remind him of his personal responsibility, and to bring before his view the hopes and consolations of a better world. It is obvious that he will require the concentrated results of reading and research, rather than the parade of abstract disquisition: he will require to be led into all truth, rather than tutored into schemes and systems of theology: he will require those happy and sententious illustrations of the great truths of the Gospel, which meet his circumstances, and fasten upon the memory, "a word upon the wheels," as the Jewish phrase is, rather than ambitious phraseology, and nicely-balanced periods. And he will not be disappointed. He will find that the anticipation of a writer quoted in the preface, (Mr. Wilberforce we believe,) has been realized, and that the author has succeeded in making "such a selection of texts should involve the whole range of divine truth, and presenting it in that combined form in which the Scripture exhibits it, where doctrine, and duty, and privilege blend, like the colours that form the pure brightness of light: where religion is never exposed to view as a bare skeleton, but as endued with all the properties of life, and in actual existence. Pithy sayings, wise experiences, urgent examples, faithful warnings, show the reader all that religion has done for others; all it aims to do for him, and all the evils that flow from the absence of her beneficence."

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A work so multifarious in its contents, forbids analysis, and it is impossible to give any extracts in our restricted space, which would completely characterize it; but this is the less necessary, as

mistresses. Children have been prepared for the preaching of the word, and the devotion of the sanctuary, by the earlier but important efforts of a mother. How much does even the religious public owe to a Mrs. Newton, a Mrs. Cecil: and a thousand more; from whom the churches have derived such able ministers. To Hannah we owe a

26, 27, Vol. II., and the two on Lamentations iv. 20. for April 14, and June 17, and most of those twice on the same text.

The book will be a useful help to ministers in their preparations for the pulpit, and though less

"They are at home in almsdeeds, like Dorcas, who made garments for the and are peculiarly adapted to visit the sick and the afflicted. The wife may win the irreligious husband without the word: and fan his devotion, and give speed to his zeal, when he is in the way everlasting. Who would keep them from those public meetings where feelings are to be excited, which they will be sure to carry away, and improve at home. In a word, women have the finest heads, and hearts, and tongues, and hands, for usefulness, in the world. Who does not wish to see them always under a religious principle? Who would not have them appropriately more encouraged and employed as workers together with the servants of Christ?' Help,' therefore, says the Apostle,' those women that laboured with me in the Gospel,

whose names are in the book of life."Vol. 1. pp. 146, 147.

We have been sometimes surprised at the skill with which the author has contrived to compress within so very narrow limits, such pointed, and often copious illustrations of the passages in question, containing the fruits of much research, and the materials for lengthened discussion. The book is, therefore, in some respects, a costly one to the author, and comparatively cheap to the public. Few men, besides himself, could, in fact, afford to make so lavish an expenditure of their intellectual stores in so simple a form; for, with a very little management, the majority of these Morning Exercises might have been expanded into full and elaborate discourses, little, if at all, inferior to some of the most celebrated productions of the author; we may instance the Addresses on Christmas, Dec. 25,

purpose than Mr. Simeon's great work, "Hora Homiliticæ," whose deservedly in the churches, it is scarcely less valuable, in proportion to its extent, and the fervent piety by which it for the ample instruction it offers, is pervaded. We would beg to suggest to the author, in the event of a second edition, the desirableness of a list of the texts, in the order in which they stand in the Bible; which would greatly facilitate reference; and also more particular index to the entire work.

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It ought to be observed, that while the addresses contain abundant religious consolation, author has avoided the great fault of similar productions, that of making them exclusively consolatory. We agree with him, that the best way to gain comfort, is not always to seek it directly, but mediately: it is the same with comfort as with reputation, it is more certainly secured as a consequence, than by making it the chief design. The following soliloquy, which shall be our closing extract, will commend itself to every serious mind as a most appropriate morning meditation. It is for August 18, on "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning."

"And when we think of the day before us, how much, is there to awaken concern! And what is our concern, without the attention of God? He shali therefore in the morning hear, not only the voice of praise, but the voice of prayer.

"Who is to guide me through the day upon which I have entered? How much depends upon one mistake in my move