up synthetically: others have treated it in partial detail, according to their views of the power of some particular means to be employed; this has treated it comprehensively; and, as it appears to us, has, at one grasp, included the whole subject. The secret of this superior mode consists, not in the size of the book, but in the penetration of the author. He connects the revival of religion with the constitution and agency of the church of Christ. He aims at producing reform, in order to effect revival; and he looks for the divine blessing on the repentance of the churches of Christ, in regard to those evils which may counteract their prosperity. The whole aspect of his discourses is ecclesiastical. It is the revival of the churches which he aims to promote the revival of church-order and of primitive purity.

If we

could logically construct an entire treatise, out of all the works before us, we should take this for the text, and the others for the amplification: but if we must choose which we would accept, we should honestly say-this!

Such view would
a

seem to

require large extracts to justify our commendation; but the writer's merits depend not on our report. We shall merely quote a passage or two in illustration of our criticism. In the preface he ob

serves,

"That is alone entitled to be considered the revival of religion, which can be justly traced to the legitimate influence of Christian principles.

"I should, therefore, contend that there is nothing in the most desirable state of a church, when distinguished by the energy and devotion of a revival, which ought not to be its habitual state. It is only such a state of things as ought to result from an adequate impression of the majesty of truth and the realities of eternity; and if it do not exist, it is a lamentable proof that the faith, hope, and charity,' which constitute the great

elements of Christian character, have not the activity which should at all times prove their existence and their power. For what has taken place, in the most prosperous churches of America, or our own country, which is more than might faith, the labour of love, and the pabe expected to arise from the work of tience of hope?' Nothing has transpired, which could be regarded as the unequivocal effect of divine influence, which was not, antecedently to such a revival, matter of solemn obligation; and divine influence has consisted only in disposing men to regard such obliga

tion.

"On this ground alone, can the state of things, usually called a Revival, be considered as a legitimate subject for exhortation and appeal."—pp. vii. viii.

Again,

"In what does the revival of religion consist? It consists in prosperity. Whatever, therefore, secures prosperity, secures, under the divine blessing, a revival of religion. And there is a much more close and intimate connexion between the prosperity of religion in the church, and the revival and extension of posed to imagine. You are not to conreligion in the world, than many are dissider a revival of religion as merely a state of privilege to be enjoyed, but you are to connect with it the consciousness of personal and social obligation. This is a view of the subject of the highest moment. For, if we are led to suppose that that state of things in the church, which is connected with the revival of

religion and the extension of its influence through the world, is to be considered solely under the aspect of privilege, and as resulting altogether, and exclusively, from some inexplicable procedure of divine sovereignty, irrespective of, and unconnected with, the use of appropriate means,--we shall be in danger of becoming supine and indifferent; we shall feel that there is nothing involving in it responsibility, and connected with obligation, effort, and diligence. On the other hand, if we view it not only as a manifestation of mercy, arising from the constitution and provisions of the covenant of grace, but as connected with the activity of Christian zeal, the spirit of fervent prayer, and the diligent efforts and self-denying exertions of the disciples of Christ, we shall be constrained, under these impressions, to arise and to shake ourselves from the dust of earthly mindedness, and, in the fervour of devout aspiration, and according to the condescending invitation of

the Most High, we shall give him no rest, until he pour out the blessing that there shall be no room to contain."" -pp. 5, 6.

Finally,

"There is no institution which God has established in his church, that is not as directly connected with the conversion of sinners, as with the edification of

saints. If therefore, the one is not pro

moted, what evidence have we that the other is really and scripturally secured? Tell me of a Christian Society, amongst whose members there is no active exertion for the conversion of sinners, and no recognition of this as one of the specific objects of its association, and you tell me of a church where the true edi fication of believers is not enjoyed. God honours them who honour him. In churches where this is disregarded, the

observance of divine ordinances degenerates into formality, or settles down into the hardihood of unholy presumption. The outward machinery of religion, unless this living principle pervade and animate its movements, becomes a dead in operative system. Whatever its external character, or the estimate formed of it

by worldly men; whether distinguished by its gorgeousness or its meagreness; whether taken up by the interested and the secular, rested in by the pharisaical and the self-righteous, or pleaded for by the narrow and contracted:--it is alike unproductive of those great results, which ought ever to be contemplated in the observances and institutions of Christian churches. How can it be said, that

the promise in the text is verified in the

character of such communities? Are 'all the places round about them - a blessing.""- pp. 49, 50.

Dr. Raffles's eloquent and faithful discourse was delivered to his people in accordance with the wishes of the ministers of the Lancashire County Union, who appropriated the first Lord's Day of the present year to the discussion of Religious Revivals, in accordance with the arrangement of their brethren in the metropolis. Though designed only as "a Pastoral Address," and possessing some distinct references to the state of the congregation at Great George Street, still it merits, and will doubtless obtain, a circulaN. S. NO. 53.

tion far beyond the limits of that circle.

Mr. Orme's Discourse is the reprint of a full report of it which appeared in the World Newspaper, against which we should feel it our duty to enter our most decided protest, had we not reason to believe that it was reported there with a degree of correctness rarely equalled on such occasions, and thereby the public are put in possession of a valuable discourse, which otherwise would have not seen the light, while the respected preacher has no cause to complain that his opinions have been mistated, or his style travestied.

our own.

As we have not derived our sentiments on the subject of revivals from any of the works before us, but from an antecedent and careful consideration, so we are naturally gratified on finding that men of talent and piety hold in the main, the same views as Whether in England, America, or any other part of the world, a time of genuine revival in religion is not only to be devoutly sought for, but, so far as experienced, ought to be gratefully acknowledged. In our judgment, revival has been thus enjoyed in this country, as well as in others, during a period of forty years. The appearances of the present day are not those of declension. It is true, much remains to be done, and that remaining work must be pursued in the spirit of Christ. For ourselves, we frankly confess that we should tremble for consequences, were we to witness, in the metropolis and our great towns, such scenes as President Edwards has depicted relative to Northampton. It would be a time of fearful and appalling responsibility for ministers and others; and it would require a more accurate treatise than even

that of Edwards "on Religious Affections," to "discern the precious from the vile." Moreover, we should inevitably experience periodical declensions, which we should be accustomed to expect and to acquiesce in, as well as to bewail. But we do not, in

fact, expect, any more than desire, to witness such things. The model of them, therefore, it were better, perhaps, to withdraw from public notice, and to keep more closely to that pattern which is altogether scriptural and divine.

HERODOTUS. Translated from the Greek, for the Use of General Readers; with short explanatory Notes. By Isaac Taylor. London: Holdsworth and Ball. 1829. A thick 8vo. 16s. This work, though not altogether in our line, and which we cannot therefore review at length, is deserving of the notice of our readers on various accounts. Herodotus is commonly, and with obvious propriety, designated "the Father of Profane History"-as he is the eldest uninspired historian whose researches and labours have been transmitted to us, and are deserving of respect. With an ardour in the pursuit of knowledge rarely equalled, he visited every country to which the Greeks of his time had access;-every where examining documents, conversing with the learned, and collating connected evidence, to qualify him for the work, which has survived, less injured than most productions of antiquity, the wreck of ages. We agree with Mr. Taylor,

that the nine books of Herodotus contain a mass of information more extensive, important, and instructive, than is to be found in any author of antiquity. His History of Greece is brought down to the end of the year 479 before the Christian Fra, when the Persians were compelled for ever to abandon their long cherished hope of crushing liberty in its birth-place. The attentive reader of the work will find many things in it which both corroborate the truth, and illustrate the facts of Scripture History. Two English translations of Herodotus were in existence before the present. The first by Littleburg, which is now very antique; the second by Beloe,

more modern, but by no means correct, and very unsuitable for general reading. The version by Mr. Taylor, as far as we have been able to examine it, is accurate, characteristic, and vernacular. The occasional notes are exceedingly useful; while neither by their length nor number do they burden the text, or distract the attention of the reader. The work, we trust, will have, what it well deserves, an extensive and lasting circulation.

True Faith? and whether it is proAN INQUIRY, What is the One fessed by all Christian Sects: with the Christian Covenant, in a Scripun Exposition of the whole Scheme of tural Examination of the most important of their several Doctrines. London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot. 1829. 8vo. It is very extraordinary that men will write about the opinions of others, without taking the pains to ascertain them, who have not fixed their own, or who know not how to

express themselves about them. The

work before us is one of the strangest farragoes of false doctrine and bad reasoning which we have seen for the reader to expect something very a long time. The title would lead profound, and the book treats him with something prodigiously silly. who It puts us in mind of a certain knight

"A rope of sand could twist As tough as learned Sorbonist, And weave fine cobwebs, fit for skull That's empty when the moon is full." If our readers do not credit our testimony, and are disposed to waste their money and their time, they may buy and judge for themselves.

LETTERS TO A FRIEND, intended to relieve the Difficulties of an anxious Inquirer under serious Impressions on the Subjects of Conversion and Salvation. By the late Rev. Thomas C. Henry, D. D. of Charleston, South Carolina. Second Edition, revised and corrected, with Memoirs of the Author, and other prefatory Matter. 12mo. boards. pp. 338. Holdsworth and Ball. 5s. 6d. To those who were privileged to meet with the ardent and elegant author of these letters, when he visited this country, we are sure it is only necessary to announce the publication of a posthumous volume on that class of subjects with which his eminently pious mind familiar, and from which his private society and public labours were so much desired, to secure for it a ready sale. But, alas! the family of the perplexed and anxious extends far beyond the sphere he visited, and to them we beg to commend these Letters.

was

SO

To the present edition, the Rev. Dr. Smith, of Homerton, has furnished a preface, and as we are sure that there are many who will regard his testimony as more important than our own, we quote a sentence which justly characterizes the author and his work.

“Dr. Henry has left his dying legacy a work which could have been produced only by a fine natural genius, aided by extensive scriptural study, habits of deep experimental self-knowledge, large intercourse with men, penetrating observation, and above all, a very abundant measure of sanctifying influence from the ALMIGHTY and HOLY SPIRIT.”

THE CHRISTIAN VISITOR and Quarterly Record of the Society for Promoting Christian Instruction in London and its Vicinity. No. I. Ad. pp. 40. 12mo. Davis, 5, Paternoster Row. This humble Quarterly Journal is designed as a repository of the facts, documents, and directions, which may be interesting or useful to the friends and visitors of the Christian Instruction, and other

domestic Visitation Societies, and we cordially recommend its circulation, with the important objects it is intended to observe.

-

THE ADVANTAGES AND DEFICIENCIES OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. A Sermon delivered at Kensington, on Thursday, April 10, 1828, before the Monthly Association of Congregational Ministers, by J. P. Dobson. pp. 70. 28. Holdsworth and Ball. We regret that the crowded state of our pages will only permit us to announce this able and eloquent discourse, in which there exists a lovely combination of strength, argumentation, and elegance in style. At the present moment, when Popery is so much dreaded, and Mr. Dobson, with his brethren in Sudbury, have been publicly assailed, as "confederates with the Papists," it is most agreeable to us to meet, within the limits of a single Sermon, more historical information and Scriptural principles, on the Protestant Reformation, than most of his libellers ever read. We cordially recommend it to the notice of the Public.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

The Rev. Joseph Fletcher's Sermon, " on the Attention due to unfulfilled Prophecy," will be

ready in a few days; and at the same time

The Rev. W. Orme's Sermon, "The Charac ter of the Present Dispensation."

In the press, Memoir of Mrs. Ann Judson, Wife of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Missionary to. Burmah, including an Account of the Commencement and Progress of the American Baptist Mission in that Empire. By James D. Knowles, Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, in Boston, Massachusetts.

In the press, the Family Chaplain, or St. Mark's Gospel analysed, and prepared for Reading and Expounding to a Family Circie. By Rev. S. Hands, M. A., Vice-Principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford.

The Rev. J. Grant, of Kentish Town, is preparing for Publication, an Essays on the Coins of Scripture, as Internal Evidence of the Truth of Christianity, and on the Tribute Money as afforddivided Allegiance. ing no Grounds for the Popish Doctrine of

"Cottage Similies; or, Poems on Domestic Occurrences, designed for those in humble Life." By the Author of the "Female Missionary Advo cate," is in the press, and will soon be published, for the Author's benefit.

ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A
MISSIONARY.

Extract of a Letter from a Female Missionary in India to a Friend in England.

August 21, 1828.

Having been one year in the Missionary field, you will perhaps ask, what I now conceive to be the requisite qualifications for a Missionary to the heathen? In my humble opinion, they are these a heart entirely given up to God, and wholly engaged in the work itself; a simple and implicit dependance on Divine aid in every thing; -and a willingness to bear and forbear with unkindness and even discouragement from those whom they would expect to find real friends; and with vexation, deceit, and fraud, from those whom they come to rescue from eternal ruin! You will perhaps say, that these are trials not anticipated by Missionaries in England, previous to their embarking in the sacred enterprize;--it may be so, but are they not the very same trials which our Divine Master was called to encounter, when he came to give his life a ransom for sinners? did he not come unto his own, and his own received him not?" and did not those even of his own household regard him as a fool and a madman? and did not those very persons for whom he came to suffer and to die, heap upon him the utmost contempt, reproach, and ignominy, that could possibly be endured? and must the disciple expect to be above his Master, or the servant above his Lord? is it not enough for the disciple to be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord? I confess, that it requires no ordinary share of grace, to enable the Christian Missionary, encompassed with infirmity as he is, to tread in his steps, and to manifest his spirit: and I do consider it a duty incumbent on Christians in England, who may be regarded as spectators, witnessing (in imagination) the battle, but not actually engaged in the combat, to be importunate with God in prayer, for the bestowal of all needful grace on those who are actually in the field. Blessed be God, they are called to fight under the banner of the cross, and the Captain of salvation, whose strength is omnipotent, either to subdue the hearts of men unto himself, or to trample his enemies under his feet;

whose presence is every where, and who possesses all power and ability to sooth, support, cheer, and animate, and to afford all needful aid to his humble followers and unworthy servants, whether they be found in the garden of England, or in the wilderness of India.

FEMALE PETITIONS AGAINST THE

SUTTEES.

To the Editors.--I beg leave to call the attention of your numerous readers to the subject of female petitions against the burning of widows in British India. In February, a petition, numerously and respectably signed by the female part of the inhabitants of Castle Donington, was presented to the House of Commons by Otway, Esq. M.P. for Leicester; and April 3, a similar petition, "signed by upwards of 400 maids, wives, and widows of Melbourne, Derbyshire," was presented by G. Lamb, Esq., and "ordered to be printed." Is not this example worthy of imitation? Who will "call for judgment?" Who will relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow?" The following is the petition from Castle Donington:

"To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled ; the petition of the persons, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being females, inhabitants of Castle Donington and its vicinity, in the county of Leicester

"Sheweth-That your petitioners learn with feelings of anguish, that there is a custom in existence in British India, at which human nature recoils : a custom that is a stain upon the character of any country where it is allowed: your petitioners refer to the horrid and appalling practice of helpless widows being permitted to burn upon the funeral pile with the bodies of their deceased husbands. Your petitioners, therefore, earnestly pray your honourable House to take the subject into your most serious consideration, and adopt such measures as shall be deemed most expedient and effectual for the suppression of a custom so revolting to humanity, and so degrading to the female character; to extinguish for ever those unhallowed fires; to prevent the needless augmentation of human suffering, and this lavish waste of human life;