and the usefulness of affliction, he has a right to pause over and record. Though unused to hard labour and weakened by disease, my gracious Saviour imparted strength equal to my day. The dear people who had but yesterday received me as a fellow worshipper, did not desert me in my distress: suffice it, that they recommended me an humble habitation, and an employer, and that, "by the sweat of my brow, I did eat bread.". Here, in the daily occupation of laborious industry, I dwelt some years, refreshed by both private and social devotion. At our minister's room, prayer meetings were established; and as my experience in the. divine life deepened, I sometimes led our little, company, as it were, to the mount of God. The valley of humiliation (as dear Bunyan would have called it) was indeed a vale wherein I found pools of water; and whilst lowliness of mind was preparing me for all the Lord's will, my little daughter lingered through a pale_consumption, until her infant spirit winged its flight. I am unwilling to recount the persecution which followed a poor worm like me. There were those in the family of my Lord F who had watched for my halting: for prosperity, Charles, in any calling, throws, as one may say, a sunbeam full upon a man, and envy is one of the natural workings of corrupt human hearts. So high did this tide rise against me, that a report sounded through the hamlet, that my child would be refused burial by the parish curate. However, about this very time, my Lord Fwent out hunting upon a high spirited horse, and was, by what is called an accident, brought to an early grave; in the confusion which this event occasioned, my treasure was allowed interment. From this period, my wife, the patient companion of my troubles, fell into a state of gentle decay: lest a murmuring word should escape my pen, I forbear to tell you the history of her long protracted trial. Death approached her with slow but certain steps, her fecble frame sustained much, her soul increased in heavenly mindedness and submission. Ten months of pale disease, brought her to as many weeks of confinement to her bed. I never discovered any rashness in her peaceful character, and the grace she best loved, she best exemplified. "Patience," she would say, "worketh experience and experience hope." At all times, if I was disposed to murmur, she would say, Tarry the Lord's leisure, my Joseph, wait on the Lord." How she comforted her soul in adversity, is recorded by him who putteth the tears of his saints into a bottle. Death, Charles, is no subject to describe; its awful conflict, awful even to the people of God, should be improved by silent meditation, self-examination, and deep humiliation: it is confessedly an enemy, hut it is the last, and therefore the dying believer does not lay aside his weapons, till angels witness that he wakes a conqueror. am not one of those who love to read the words of dying Christians huddled together upon paper, as though the speech never faltered, or the vital powers never wearied. A holy character, like a lamp supplied with the oil of divine grace, emits a pure light all the journey through; but the flame glimmers towards the last, and becomes feeble, until the great proprietor supplies the vessel with that finer oil, which imparts a light adapted for eternal shining. ⚫ During her last extremity I never left her. I heard her last soft sigh; I gave the last look ever cast upon her pale fixed countenance; I beheld her coffin laid in the silent grave; and, as I walked sad and slow to my bereaved dwelling, the words of a verse, which I can never forget, engraved her epitaph upon my heart. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be ; But she is in her grave, and oh! The difference to me.' pp. 33-7. There are parts of this letter which every one will feel; and we are almost sorry to interrupt the effect of it, by adding, there are others to which some will object. But let not the objector deprive himself of the full atonement which the concluding scene of Joseph Felton's life will present to him. It is true he was at this time the auditor of an itinerant preacher, and that afterwards he became an active member of an independent church; but unless a fourth change occurred, of which the history does not inform us, he died a churchman. We cannot but admire the christian spirit which the author here displays; being herself, as we presume, a member of the establishment; but we are not prepared to justify the defect of principle, and consequent vacillation of conduct, which her narrative countenances. Whatever is true,. is good, and worth preserving; that which is not true, however small, is proportionally evil, and not to be embraced; and, strictly speaking, small truths should no more be sacrificed to great, than great to small. We should have advised Joseph Felton to become either a Churchman or a Dissenter, upon principle;—to know, therefore, why he was either, and to preserve as catholic a spirit as if he had been. neither the one nor the other;-which, if we may judge from the temper of many in both communions, is no unattainable degree of Christian virtue. With this deduction, which the intelligent observer will perceive is not made upon slight grounds, "The Pleasures of Religion" is a work which we should cordially recommend to pious readers of every description; and especially to those, who, at a small expence, are desirous of enriching, either the cottage or the vestry library. VOL. XI. Tt ART. XIV. SELECT LITERARY INFORMATION. Gentlemen and Publishers who have works in the press will oblige the Conductors of the ECLECTIC REVIEW, by sending Information (post paid) of the subject, extent, and probable price of such works; which they may depend upon being communicated to the public, if consistent with its plan. In May will be published, in 6 vol. Svo. (comprising nearly one third of new matter, with a new portrait, from the best likeness of the author, and other plates,) the Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esq. with Memoirs of his Life and Writings, composed by himself; illustrated from his letters, with occasional notes and narrative. By John Lord Sheffield. A new edition, with many corrections, insertions of names, additional letters, &c. comprising also a volume of entirely new matter. In consequence of numerous applications, Mr. Murray proposes to print the whole of the new matter separately, in one, volume 4to. to complete the sets of the old edition. He requests those gentle. men who wish for this additional volume to favour him with their names, as early as possible, as he pledges himself not to print one more copy than shall be ac ually subscribed for previously to its publication. Speedily will be published, in 2 vols. 8vo. with a Portrait, Some Account of the Life and Writings of Mrs. Trimmer, with Original Letters, and Meditations and Prayers, selected from her Journal. Speedily will be re-published, A Gor-" gious Gallery of Gallant Inventions, garnished and decked with diuers dayntie Deuises, right delicate and delightful', to recreate eche modest Minde withall, First framed and fashioned in sondrie Formes, by diuers worthy Workemen of tate Dayes: and now ioyned together and builded up: By T. P. Imprinted at London, for Richard Jones. 1578. Edited by Thomas Parke, Esq. F. S. A., Shortly will be published, Sermons, by the Rev. Archibald Alison, LL.B. Prebendary of Sarum, Rector of Rodding on, Vicar of High Ercall, in the county of Salop, and senior Minister of the Episcopal Chapel in Edinburgh. History of Cheshire.-George Ormerod, of Chorlton, in Cheshire, Esq. M.A. and F.S. A. is preparing for the Press a History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, which will be published by subscription, in Parts, forming ree very elegant folio volumes, with a variety of engravings on copper of the principal views, and on wood, in a superior manner, of the more subordinate subjects, together with arms, seals, &c. Capt. Lisiansky's Voyage round the World, in the Russian ship Neva, announced some months ago, will appear early in March, in a quarto volume, illustrated by eight charts and various other plates. Dr. R. Reece has nearly ready for publication, the Popular Chemical Guide, or Epitome of Modern Experimental Chemistry, The Rev. John Toplis has in the press, a translation of the Treatise upon Mechanics that forms the introduction to the Mechanique Celeste, of P. S. Laplace, accompanied by explanatory notes and additions. Mr. Wm. Goodlad, of Bury, has in the press, a Practical Essay on the Diseases of the Vessels and Glands of the Absorbent System; with an Appendix, containing surgical cases and remarks. Mr. Hodgson will publish in the course of next month, a Treatise on Aneurisms and Wounded Arteries, in an octavo volume, with a volume of highly finished engravings, in royal quarto. Mr. Stewart, lecturer on midwifery, will soon publish a Treatise on Uterine Hemorrhage. The Rev. I. Cobbin has in the press, Plain Reasons for Infant Baptism, in which the subjects and mode of that ordinance are considered. Mr. R. Slate, of Stand, near Manchester, has in the press, a volume of Sermons, never before printed, selected from manuscripts, and preached by eminent nonconformists; to which will be prefixed a biographical account of each author. Anecdotes of Music, historical and biographical, in a series of letters from a gentleman to his daughter, are printing in two duodecimo volumes. The Bishop of St. David's is printing, a Praxis of the Hebrew, Samaritan, and Syriac Alphabets; a Hebrew and Arabic comparative Vocabulary; and the Bookof Job, in Hebrew, with Miss Smith's translation on the opposite page. Miss Porter, author of the Scottish Chiefs, has in the Press, the Pastor's Fire-side, in three volumes. Miss Isabella Spence has nearly ready for publication, the Spanish Guitar, a small work for youth, embellished with a neat frontispiece, designed by Craig. Mr. Parry is preparing for the press, Poems and Essays, original and selected, by the Hon. Cassandra Twisleton; with biographical memoirs, and anecdotes of her connections. Lord Erskine is engaged in writing a pamphlet adapted to existing circumstances, to serve as a continuation of the reasonings and principles contained in his celebrated pamphlet printed about fifteen years since, on the Causes and Consequences of the War. The first part of Researches in Greece, by Major Leake, will be confined to inquiries into the language of the Modern Greeks, and the state of their literature and education, with some short notices of the dialects spoken within the limits of Greece, viz. the Albanian, Wallachian, and Bulgarian, and will be published in the course of this month. The subjects of the Chancellor's prizes at Oxford for the ensuing year are,-For Latin verse: Germanicus Cæsar Varo Legionibusque suprema solvit.-For an English Essay; a comparative Estimate of the English Literature of the 17th and 18th Centuries. For a Latin Essay: De Ephororum apud Lacedæmonios magistratu. - Sir Roger Newdigate's prize:-Niobe. The subject of the Norrisian Prize Essay for the ensuing year is, "The Baptism of John,-was it from Heaven, or of Men?" The subjects appointed for the two prizes given by the Representatives in Parliament for the University of Cambridge, for the best exercises in Latin prose for 1814, are,-Senior Bachelors: Utrum ex Hominibus fanaticis, an scepticis, plus detrimenti Respublica capiat. -Midale Bachelors: Quo magis Iustituta civilia et ecclesiastica inter se con. veniant, eo melius Rempublicam administrare licet. The subject of the dissertation for the Hulsean Prize for the present year is, "On the comparative value of Prophecies and Miracles, as Evidences for the Truth of Christianity." A complete edition of Swift's Works is printing, under the supervision of Walter Scott, Esq. with a Life of the Author, Notes Critical and Illustrative, &c. &c. It will extend to nineteen volumes 8vo. handsomely printed. Upwards of a hundred original Letters, Essays, and Poems, by Dean Swift, which have not hitherto been printed with his works, will appear in this edition. These have been recovered from Theophilus Switt, Esq. Dublin; from a collection of manuscripts of various descriptions, concerning Swift and his affairs, which remained in the hands of Dr. Lyons and Major Tickell; from originals in Swift's handwriting, in possession of Leonard Mac Nally, Esq. from Matthew Wled Hartstonge, Esq. who has furnished much curious information; from laborious researches made through various journals and collections of rare pamphlets, in which many of Swift's satires made their first appearance; and from Dr. Berwick, who has obliged the editor with some curious illustrations of the Dean's last satirical Tracts. In the Biographical Memoir, it has been the object to condense the information afforded by Mr. Sheridan, Lord Orrery, Dr. Delany, Dean Swift, Dr. Johnson, and others, into one distinct and comprehensive narrative. A new cdition is preparing of Gray's Poems; with Extracts Philological, Poetical, and Critical, from Mr. Gray's Original Manuscripts, selected and ar- ranged by Mr. Mathias. The Rev. Joseph Berington has completed, and will publish in April, a literary History of the Middle Ages; comprehending an Account of the State of Learning, from the close of the reign of Augustus, to its revival in the fifteenth century. Mr. Arrowsmith has just finished his eight-sheet map of the country between Constantinople and Delhi, including the entire surface of modern Persia. This map, like most others of the same eminent geographer, is compiled from ori, Tt2 ginal materials, and includes many new determinations of positions and objects hitherto uncertain or unknown. Among other novelties he has accurately laid down the heads of the Ganges, till now. obscured by superstition, which, it appears, lie to the south of the Hamalaya or Snowy Mountains, between 78 and 80 of east longitude, and 30 and 31 of north latitude. Mr. Arrowsmith's next great work will be an eight-sheet map of India. A Funeral Oration is printing on General Moreau, on the model of the Orations of Bossuet, Massillon, &c. containing an animated biographical sketch of his public and private life. A junction has been formed of Nicholson's Philosophical Journal and Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine; the latter work will in future be conducted by Messrs.. Nicholson and Tilloch. Mr. S. Banks, of the R. C. S. will speedily publish, a Treatise on Diseases of the Liver and Disorders of the Digestive Functions; including admonitory Suggestions to Persons arriving from Warm Climates. In the University press, Cambridge, are in preparation, Morelli Thesaurus Græcæ Poesews: sive Lexicon, GræcoProsodiacum, curâ Maltby, 2 vol. royal quarto; and Dawes Miscellanea Čritica, 8vo. curâ Kidd, editor of Opuscula Rubukeniana. Mr. Kidd is also preparing some Criticisms, Tracts, &c. by the late Professor Porson, to be printed at the Cambridge press. An edition is printing at Oxford of Livii Historia, 4 vol. 8vo. under the direction of a gentleman of eminence in the University, from the text of Drakenborch; and it will contain the various readings, and the whole of the Notes both of the 4to. and 12mo. editions of Crevier. There is at this time in forwardness, in the University press, Edinburgh, Novum. Lexicon, Græco Latinum, in Novum Testamentum, congessit et variis Observationibus Philologicis illustravit Joh. Freider Schiewsner; to form two thick volumes in 8vo. It has been conducted by the Rev. James Smith, D.D. Mr. John Strauchon, and Mr. Adam Dickinson, and the principal improveinents will be a translation of the Ger man passages, rectifying a number of imis-quotations in the original, and some observations by the Editors. The Select Remains, of the late Rev. James Bowden of Tooting, in 1 vol. 8vo. are nearly ready for publication. Strabo has lately been translated from the Greek into French, at the command of the Emperor Napoleon, by a triumvirate of French sçavans, M. de la Porte du Theil, M. Gosselin, and M. Coray, the last of whom is a native of Smyrna. The translation was executed by the first and last of the above-mentioned scholars; and the geographical notes were written principally by M. Gosselin. In the accomplishment of their undertaking, the translators have enjoyed free access to the treasures of the Imperial Library, in which M. de la Porte du Theil is one of the keepers of MSS. Sir Humphrey Davy, who is at Paris, has been chosen Corresponding Member of the 1st class of the Institute, in the room of Mr. Kirwan, by 47 votes out of 48. An edition of Herodotus, Gr. et Lat. is in the press at Strasburgh, with all the Notes of Wesseling, Gale, and Grono. vius, also a Collation from ancient MSS. to be edited by J. Schweighaeuser, upon the plan of the Bipont. editions of the Greek Classics, forming 8 volumes, octavo. Proposals have been issued for publishing, by subscription, in one vol. 8vo. price, to subscribers, half a guinea-to non-subscribers, twelve shillings, The French Preacher: containing select Discourses from the most eminent French Divines; with Biographical Notices of the Authors. Selected and translated by the Rev. Ingram Cobbin. Subscriptions received by J. Black, York-street, Covent-garden; J. Conder, Bucklersbury; and T. Hamilton, Paternosterrow, London; and by W. Bradford, Exeter. Proposals have been issued for publishing, by subscription, Essays, illustrative of the Principles, Dispositions, and Manners of Mankind: pourtraying the horrors of human depravity, and the beauties of genuine religion. Designed for the instruction and improvement of young persons. By the Rev. William Potter, Wootton-under-Edge. The work will be comprised in a neat octavo vo lume, price to subscribers, 5s. Subscribers names received by Cox, St. Thomas's-street, Borough; Conder, Bucklersbury; at the Vestry of Surrey Chapel; and by the Author. |