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thing is not done effectually to convince the Irish nation of their real interests, both temporal and spiritual, a day will come which will be marked with the most appalling and distressing events. For our own parts, we are free to confess, that amidst all the urgent claims for relief, and assistance, and unwearied exertion, none appears to us so strong as the claim of Ireland; and we therefore call upon all our readers to exert themselves to the utmost, and above all, to strive earnestly with God in prayer on behalf of that delightful but distracted land.

The Village Lecturer, a Series of original Discourses, adapted for Village Congregations and Families. Pp. viii. and 232.

Ogle, 1822. Eleven Village Sermons on the chief Articles of Faith, and the Means of Grace. By the Rev. Edward Berens, M. A.—Pp. 206. 1822.

THE present age is unquestionably distinguished by the numerous attempts which are made to benefit the lower classes of the commu

nity. We have been especially struck with the various productions of a religious and moral nature which, in almost every conceivable shape, are continually issuing from the press, peculiarly calculated for their instruction.

We notice these volumes together, because they are expressly written for that large class of our readers who reside in villages. Each of them contains much that is valuable; though the former merits a far higher degree of approbation

than the latter.

the End of Change, and the Redemption of the Body.

These Discourses abound in most important instruction, delivered in plain and intelligible language. We were rather disappointed at not meeting with deany finition or description of the Gospel in the second Sermon, though the author has well pointed out that distinguishing feature of the Christian system, its being preached to the poor; all other systems having been, generally speaking, calculated for the higher classes of society.

The Sermon on Winter is so appropriate to the present season, that we insert the following extract, both as a specimen of the author's style, and as affording instructive suggestions.

We may learn from this

I. That the weather is God's: it is "his

cold." How much atheism there is in the heart of man, is too plain from our common language. What do those expressions mean,-good weather, bad weather, shocking weather, good luck and bad luck? Do not they, at least for the most part, imply an utter forgetfulness of God, if not a murmuring against his providence, as though it left these things to what we call chance? Is it not taking a strange liberty

caus

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with the Divine government, to sit in judgment, as it were, upon any of the appointments of his providence? And the weather, whatever we may think of it, is one of the Divine appointments. causeth it to come, whether for correction on the land, or in mercy." So that these things not only are brought about by the power of God, but are governed by the wisdom of God: they take place according to his designs, whether for correction or in If it were not so, there would be mercy. no meaning in our prayers for suitable weather.

II. That it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. It is owing to the constant superintendence of Divine Providence, that the course of the seasons is undisturbed; that the elements keep their bounds; that the sun does not smite us by day, or the frost by night. It is he who says to the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." (Job, xxxviii. 11.) "Thou hast set a bound," says the Psalmist, "that they may not pass over, that they

The Village Lecturer contains thirteen Sermons, on Death-the Gospel preached to the Poor Winter-Sacrilege-the Advent of Christ-the Christian's Adversary Salvation-the Difficulty of Faith-God grieved by Sin-the great Harvest-the End of Time, turn not again to cover the earth." And

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it is he who says to the wind also, Hitherto shalt thou come; whó "maketh the storm a calm " (Psal. cvii, 29); who "rebuketh the winds and the sea (Matt. viii. 26); and who sets hounds to the cold. For who could stand before his cold? We read in Judges, v. 20, that "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera; and when Bonaparte invaded Russia, the heavens in like manner fought against him. His overthrow there was not the work of man, but of God, who employed the frost and the snow as his dreadful artillery; and then it was seen indeed, that nothing could stand before God's cold. Out of three hundred thousand men, who composed the French army when Bonaparte entered Russia, only a few thousand returned. The greater part fell not in battle, but whole troops, horses and all, fell benumbed and stupified by the cold, and perished in the snow.

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III. That the anger of God must be terrible. "Who," says the Psalmist, "knoweth the power of thine anger? All that we see, or suffer, or hear of in this world, that is most terrible in the visitations of his power-floods, or storms, or earthquakes -these convey but a hint, as it were, a faint emblem of the dreadful nature of the wrath of God. O if sinners did but believe and consider this, who are going on in sin, not only under his eye, but with his terrors suspended over them, with the elements of his vengeance, as it were, chained up around them! "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand?" IV. That God in his works, not less than in his ways, is unsearchable.

V. Lastly, the greatness and almighty power of God should teach us to magnify the riches of his condescension.-Pp. 38

45.

The Sermon on Sacrilege is from Mal. iii. 6. The term sacrilege is commonly used among us in a narrow and limited sense, and many would be indignant at the charge of so atrocious a crime. When, how ever, remarks like the following are seriously contemplated, O how few can say, I am free!

Let us inquire against whom this charge may be brought. Wherein are men guilty of robbing their Maker?

We answer with the Prophet, " In tithes and in offerings." Now, these Jews did not, we find, wholly neglect to offer up the tithes and sacrifices which the law of Moses commanded. Nay, in some things they were superstitiously or hypocritically precise and minute, such as in paying a tithe of mint and other herbs which cost

little or nothing. But, instead of offering

the first and best of their flock, they thought that any thing was good enough for sacrifice, and were for putting off the worst upon God. (See ch. i. ver. 7, 8, 13, 14.) Human nature is the same in every age. Is not this the very conduct of those persons who, if they profess to serve or worship God at all, put him off with the refuse of their time, that which they know not what else to do with-with the meanest pittance of their substance, a shilling or a sixpence to God's cause now and then-or with the dross of their existence, thinking the last few years or days of life, in sickness or old age, when all the faculties are weakened, time enough to offer to God? Is not this to offer the blind and the lame for sacrifice? Some who have done nothing for God all their life, when they come to die, offer him their money, which they would never part with while they could make any use of it themselves; and think, by leaving legacies to this or the other charity, to purchase admission to heaven. But whose money are they offering? It is no longer their own it belongs to their heirs.

God demands a portion of our time as his own. "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." In the New Testament, the first day of the week, on which our Lord rose from the dead, and which is the Christian Sabbath, is called "the Lord's Day." Now, it is a common saying, when a servant or workman is seen idling away his time, that he is robbing his master. His time, for which he is paid, is not his own, but his master's; and in wasting it, therefore, he is robbing his master. For all wilful waste is robbery. How truly may it be said of the sabbathbreaker, that, besides robbing his own

soul, he is stealing God's time, and so

How comes he to

robbing his heavenly Master! For what is he doing but making a dishonest use of God's day of holy rest? have that day of leisure to be set at liberty from worldly employments one day in

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seven? Is it by man's law merely? this merciful appointment originate with man? No, it is the appointment of God. He owes this very leisure which he abuses for the purpose of sinful pleasure, to the very commandment which he thus sets at nought. And why did God appoint a sabbath, but that it might be kept holy, and that those who are occupied on the other six days with providing for their bodily wants, might, on the seventh, attend more especially to the wants of their souls? "My time is my own on the Sunday,' they. No, it is less your own on that day than on any other: it is the sabbath of the

say

Lord your God. It is God's time, with which he has intrusted you for holy and merciful purposes: that you should on that

day think of Him, and seek his face, and

read his word, and attend on the means of

grace, and so keep it holy. In abusing this trust by wasting the day in idleness or sinful pleasure, you are guilty of sacrilege, that is, of robbing God.-Pp. 53. It were easy to multiply important and interesting extracts; but we trust these specimens will induce many to procure the work for themselves, which will well repay their careful perusal.

Mr. Berens's volume exhibits clear views on various topics. The importance of religion, the evil of sin, the necessity of an atonement, the fruits and effects of living faith, &c. are ably stated and illustrated. There are, however, some subjects which the writer treats in a way we cannot wholly approve. His definition of faith is by no means clear. He insists on the necessity of believing the great and important doctrine, that when we were in a lost and ruined state, the eternal Son of God died upon the cross to save us; and he states that the mean by which salvation "is applied to our own souls as we are taught by the Scriptures, and from the authority of the Scriptures by our church, is faith. In other words, it is by faith, by a firm belief in these truths -a belief which disposes us to keep God's commandments, that our souls reap the benefit of Christ's death upon the cross." This statement is liable to be mistaken. The faith by which we are interested in the merits of Jesus Christ is, indeed, proved to be true and living by the production of good works, but it is also distinguished by impartially receiving all the promises and declarations of God's word; it is a faith of dependence and reliance on the merits of Jesus Christ as the only ground of acceptance with God; and it leads those who possess it habitually, to renounce all expectations on the ground of their FEBRUARY 1823.

own works, either past or future. So many attempts have in various ways been made to induce persons to depend on their future obedience, instead of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ;-to unite a reliance on their own merits with a dependence on those of the Saviour, and thus practically to reject the only foundation; that we cannot refrain from expressing some jealousy on so important a topic.

Abaddon the Destroyer, or the Progress of Infidelity. No. I. -Knight. 1823.

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WE agree with the writer of this tract, that fine and imprisonment are found insufficient to restrain the sale of vile publications; but instead of recommending a repeal of the existing laws, we earnestly hope, that the Legislature may induced to revise and amend them, and increase their powers. We are not disposed, as the writer seems to be, to believe all those statements which Messrs. Carlile and Co. have published concerning their vast success; we know whose children these infidels are, and we suspect they resemble their first parent. Nor are we sure, that an Anti-infidel Society, or a series of sermons in defence of revealed religion, can effect much. Infidels seldom hear sermons; and so long as those tracts which are written in defence of religion abound with quotations from the infidel writers, they are more likely, to do harm than good. On this ground especially we object to the pamphlet before us. We think it not safe to put such statements into the hands of the young and the ignorant. At the same time we must remark, that it is a great farce to talk of persecution for religious opinion, in cases where the evident object is to overturn and destroy all religion. Intimations of this nature assist that cause which the" writers evidently desire to oppose.

L

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THIS Society's annual volame has just reached us; and, as far as we have been able to examine its contents, we feel highly interested and gratified. The Report and nineteen Appendices occupy about three hundred and fifty pages. It is, therefore, utterly impossible that we should communicate to our readers any thing like a detailed account. The intelligence from Africa, Calcutta, Agra, Tranquebar, Tinnavelly, Travancore, Ceylon, and especially from the Syrian College and Schools at Cotym, excite the most pleasing anticipations. Some fruits already appear; but the experienced Christian will regard what has hitherto been done chiefly as preparing the ground, and sowing that seed which, under the blessing of the great Lord of the harvest, shall assuredly issue in an abundant increase. The accounts from New Zealand afford intimations of the melancholy reverses which that mission is supposed to bave undergone. The information so anxiously desired concerning the missionaries has not yet arrived, the only intelligence possessed by the Society being derived from the Sydney Gazette. We have before intimated, that no apprehension is entertained for the personal safety of the missionaries; and though driven from one district, there is no doubt they will, after a temporary suspense, be either invited to return to their former posts, or permitted to settle in some other part of the island. The following extracts from the Report, on this subject, will be read with interest.

"That Shunghee should carry back with him to New Zealand a mind exasperated against the Society, will occasion much surprise to those who witnessed the pains taken to gratify him: but that he did return in this temper, after all the kindness shown to him, has been painfully felt by the settlers who remained in the bay during his ab

sence.

"The manner in which Shunghee evinced his altered temper was very distressing. Hearing, on his arrival, that the barter in muskets and powder, on the part of the settlers, was put an end to; and attributing his not being received in England with a full and ready gratification of all his wishes, to letters not having been written to the Society in his favour; he kept at a distance, for several days, from the settlement at Kiddeekiddee. The native sawyers, who had before worked quietly and diligently, caught his spirit, and struck work; insisting on being paid, either in the favourite articles of powder and fire-arms, or

in money with which they might procure them from the whalers: as this demand could not be complied with, all left work except two; and it became necessary to teach new hands. One of the settlers writes, in October

"For many months previous to Shunghee's return, they did not request any such thing; but since that time, he having brought out a number of fire-arms with him, the natives, one and all, have treated us with contempt: they were almost past bearing with-coming into our houses when they pleased-demanding food-and thieving whatever they could lay their hands on-breaking down our garden fences, and stripping the ships' boats that came up of every thing that they could. They seemed, in short, ripe for any mischief, and I had my fears that they would have seized on the whole of our property; but the Lord, who is a very present help in trouble, heard our prayers. Had Mr. Marsden himself been among us, much as he deserves their esteem for what he has done for them, I believe he would not have escaped without insult.'

"Every thing was now to bend to war. Mr. Kemp says of the natives--

"Many times, when I have refused to mend their arms, they have demanded my tools to repair them themselves, and have taken out of my shop what they pleased. I have always endeavoured to show them the impropriety of their conduct towards us, but without any effect. Thanks be to the Lord for his grace, which has enabled me hitherto to bear with their insults; but, I am sorry to say, they are getting worse; and we can now scarcely induce a native to work for us.'

"The great object of Shunghee's voyage now appears to have been to increase his means of conquest over his countrymen. When he arrived in Port Jackson on his return, he found there four chiefs from the River Thames, who were brought thither in the Coromandel, in their way to this country. Mr. Marsden took measures to prevent them from prosecuting their voyage; and Shunghee, doubtless with a view to his own objects, strongly dissuaded them from going to England on account of the injurious effects of the climate on himself and their countrymen. But he was now meditating a formidable expedition against the districts with which these very chiefs were connected. Of this expedition one of the settlers writes

""The expedition lately fitted out from the Bay of Islands, with Shunghee at its

head, is a very formidable one indeed. I suppose there are at least 50 canoes, 2000 men and upwards, a great number of muskets, and plenty of ammunition. They intend to sweep with the besom of destruction, if not prevented by our God. The heart sickens to think of the desolation which they meditate,'

"A missionary belonging to a kindred, society was, soon after, at the Bay; and thus writes, in reference to this subject:

“It would grieve your soul to hear how these people talk. I can converse a little with them, as their language is, in some respects, similar to the Taheitean. I talk with them frequently on what the almighty power of God has effected at Taheite; and state to them the evil and wickedness of war, of murder, and of eating human flesh, and that the Taheiteans do not do these things, but worship the true God and live in peace: but nothing now is accounted good with them, but war, and murder, and plunder.

"O may the time hasten on, when the hearts of these lion-like New Zealanders shall be sprinkled with the peace-speaking blood of the Lamb!'

"Mr. Francis Hall writes further on this melancholy state of things:

"Shunghee is highly esteemed among his people, as a great and successful warrior; nay, they look upon him as a "god:" but he has not always power to restrain their violence, as we found in the late commotions. Their success in war, and the advantages which they have derived through the mission, and their intercourse with the shipping, have injured them. From what I have lately seen of the native mind, I am led to believe, that, had Shunghee died in England, not only all our property, but most likely all our lives, would have fallen a sacrifice to the dire superstition by which these people are held as in iron-bondage.'" We can only at present advert to one other field of the Society's labours-the North-west American mission. Our readers may not be generally aware, that the Hudson's Bay Company possess a number of forts and trading establishments, extending over a territory of many thousand miles; viz. from Canada to the Pacific Ocean, and as far to the north as has hitherto been explored. This immense region is thinly peopled by numerous Indian tribes, who are chiefly supported by hunting, and by bartering the furs and skins of the animals they procure at some or other of these trading settlements. Meanwhile, no man careth for their souls; and not only are they perishing in ignorance and in sin; but many of our fellow-subjects, English, Scotch, Irish, Canadians, &c. with a numerous illegitimate offspring, are gradu

ally losing the little knowledge of religion they possessed, and sinking into an almost barbarous state. To remedy these evils, the Hudson's Bay Company have recently sent out a chaplain, and the statements he has forwarded have determined the Church Missionary Society to assist in the establishing of schools, the erection of a church, and various other measures for the benefit both of nominal Christians and Heathens. The principal port at the Red River, where about seven hundred settlers are assembled, besides a numerous concourse of Canadians and half-breeds. It is worthy of remark, and may well excite in us a spirit of godly jealousy, that, so zealous were the Catholics of Montreal, that, no sooner was the settlement contemplated, than they procured the means, and have actually completed the building of a church, and have provided for and established a minister. A great proportion of the European population, for the want of religious instruction, may be considered as Heathen! The women for the most part, and children, are certainly such. These, together with the children educated in the Indian school, unless a church he provided, will form part of the Catholic congregation. It may be proper to state, that, with some assistance toward erecting the church, all the other buildings requisite will be provided from other funds; and land will be allotted for the church, the missionaries, schoolmaster and sistant, &c.

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The facts of the Report are summed up in the following paragraph, with which we close our extracts.

"In the nine missions of the Society there are about forty stations, with a num→ ber of schools dependent on them. These stations are occupied by about ninety Europeans, who have been sent forth from this country to the different missions; of these, thirty-two are ordained missionaries; twenty-four are wives of missionaries; and the rest are teachers and settlers, male and female: of native labourers, there are about one hundred and sixty; two of whom are ordained missionaries, and the others readers, catechists, teachers, and assistants. The number of scholars, adults and children, cannot be exactly ascertained; but it appears, from the last returns, to be about ten thousand five hundred. In various places, churches have been built; and, every year, converts are added to the Lord. The work is, in truth, as yet, still but a work of preparation-except, indeed, in a few favoured spots, where the gracious out-pouring of the Holy Spirit has most strikingly shown what blessed effects will follow, wherever the arm of the Lord shall be revealed."

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