and therefore most poor. Whereby, we are unable to write and print, as we would, against the adversaries of the truth. It is hard to get our daily food with the labours of our weak bodies and feeble hands. How then should we have to defray other charges, and to write and print? I have, through the help of God out of his word, made a scourge of small cords, wherewith antichrist and his ministers might be driven out of the temple of God. Also a declaration of certain false translations in the New Testament. But I want wherewith to print and publish it. Therefore it must rest till the Lord seeth good to supply it." prisonments, death, or any calamity whatsoever." An edition was given to the public in 1827 by the late Mr. Ivimey, in a pamphlet of eighty-two pages; but his copy was one of the year 1662, in which a few pages were omitted, which are contained in the present publication. A yet more defective edition had appeared in 1662, also, leaving out all those parts which identify the work as the production of a baptist. Happily the editor of this volume has been able to obtain a collated copy of the original edition of 1615. Next in order is, "The Necessity of Toleration in Matters of Religion; or, Certain questions propounded to the Synod, tending to prove that Corporall Punishments ought not to be inflicted upon such as hold Errors in Religion, and that in matters of Religion, men ought not to be compelled, but have liberty and freedom. Here is also the copy of the Edict of the Emperours Constantinus and Licinius, and containing the Reasons that inforced them to grant unto all men they thought best. Also, here is the faith The second piece is entitled, "Persecution for Religion Judg'd and Condemn'd: in a Discourse, between an Antichristian and a Christian. Proving by the Law of God and of the Land, and by King James his many Testimonies, That no man ought to be Persecuted for his Religion, so he Testifie his Allegiance by the Oath appointed by Law. Proving also, That the Spiritual Power in Eng-liberty to choose, and follow what Religion land, is the Image of the Spiritual Cruel Power of Rome, or that Beast mentioned Rev. 13. Manifesting the fearful Estate of those who subject to such Powers, that Tyrannize over the Conscience: And showing the Unlawfulness of Flying, because of the Trouble men see or fear is coming upon them. To which is added An humble Supplication to the King's Majesty; Wherein (among other things) is proved, I. That the Learned usually Erre and resist the Truth. 2. That Persecution is against the Law of Jesus Christ. 3. Against the Profession and Practice of famous Princes. 4. Condemned by ancient and later Writers. 5. Freedom in Religion not hurtful to any Commonwealth, and it depriveth not Kings of any Power given them of God. Printed in the years, 1615 and 1620. And now Reprinted for the Establishing some, and Convincing others, 1662." This work, the authorship of which has not been satisfactorily ascertained, is re- This is followed by "The Humble markable as an argument "for Religious Petition and Representation of the SufferLiberty, in the entire breadth of it," ings of several Peaceable, and Innocent which Mr. Hanbury admits that Jacob's Subjects, called by the name of Anatreatise, published the preceding year, baptists, Inhabitants in the County of was not. It comprehends "papists," as Kent, and now Prisoners in the Gaol well as all classes of professed protes- of Maidstone, for the Testimony of a tants, and maintains "that no man good Conscience. Together with their for blaspheming Christ and his gospel Free and Faithful Acknowledgement of may be destroyed, or afflicted by im- the King's Authority and Dignity in This Civil things, over all manner of Persons, Ecclesiastical and Civil, within his Majesties Dominions. With their Reasons, meriting the King's Protection in their Civil and Spiritual Rights, equal with other his Majesties Obedient Subjects. Humbly Offered to the King's Majesty, and the Consideration of our Fellow Brethren and Subjects. Well worthy General Observation." These documents are dated "the 25th day of the 11th month, commonly called January, 1660-1," soon after the restoration of Charles II. to that throne of which he soon showed himself to be as unworthy an occupant as the worst of his predecessors. They are signed by William Jeffery, George Hammon, John Reve, James Blackmore. A proclamation issued this month forbade anabaptists, quakers, and other sectaries, meeting under pretence of serving God, at unusual hours, or in great numbers, and enjoined "that none of them go out of the precincts of his or their habitation, to any spiritual exercise, or serving of God after their own way, but that they do the same in their own parish." At the same time many pious and peaceable baptists were seized and committed to prison. This led to the publication of the next piece in this volume, which is entitled, A Plea for Toleration of Opinions and Persuasions in Matters of Religion, differing from the Church of England. Grounded upon good Authority of Scripture, and the practice of the Primitive Times. Showing the unreasonableness of prescribing to other men's Faith, and the evil of persecuting differing Opinions. Humbly presented to the King's most excellent Majesty, by John Sturgion, a Member of the Baptized People. 1661." The author had been favourable to the restoration of Charles, some time before it took place, and had united with eight others in addressing him on the subject; but if he supposed that his plea for liberty of conscience would have, on this account, any effect upon the heartless libertine, he was grievously disappointed. The concluding article is a reprint from Crosby of another appeal from Maidstone jail, in the same year, bearing the signatures of nine prisoners, Thomas Monck, Joseph Wright, George Hammon, William Jeffery, Francis Stanley, William Reynolds, and Francis Smith, entitled, "Sion's Groans for her Distressed, or Sober Endeavours to prevent Innocent Blood," &c. If this sketch should answer the purpose for which it is designed, it will induce many of our readers to become annual subscribers to the society; thus ensuring to themselves a regular supply of instructive reading, assisting in the dissemination of important principles, and honouring the names of deceased benefactors to mankind whose virtues and sufferings have deserved a lasting memorial. BRIEF NOTICES. Clark's Foreign Theological Library. Commentary on the Psalms, by E. W. HENGSTENBERG, Doctor and Professor of Theology in Berlin. Volume II. Translated by the Rev. P. Fairbairn, Minister at Salton; and the Rev. J. Thomson, A.M., Minister at Leith. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark. 8vo. pp. 479. Our readers have been apprised that Mr. Clark of Edinburgh, to whom theological students are under obligation for many publications of more than average worth, especially the Biblical Cabinet in forty-five volumes, has undertaken to issue a new series of translations from continental works, to be entitled, The Foreign Theological Library. To non-subscribers the price is to be ten shillings and six-pence a volume a very low charge for works containing much Hebrew and Greekbut to subscribers, Mr. Clark promises the four octavo volumes, which he intends to issue in a year, handsomely bound in cloth, for one pound. He has circulated a highly respectable list of professors in colleges and universities who have expressed their satisfaction with the plan, their conviction that for students such a collection of philological works as is contemplated will be invaluable, and their hope that it will be gratefully and extensively supported. The first volume consists of a translation of Hengstenberg's Commentary on the first thirty-four Psalms, which had been previously published by Mr. Clark in two parts, and characterized in our numbers for July, 1844, and April, 1845. The second volume, including Psalms xxxv. to lxxviii.; is now before us. It will fully sustain the reputation acquired by its predecessor, and will justify the encomium passed upon it by the professors already adverted to, who speak of it as "a work which, for sound learning, accurate exegesis, and evangelical sincerity, is well entitled to a first place among the recent produc Select Works of the Reverend and Learned DAVID CLARKSON, B.D., and sometime Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Edited for the Wycliffe Society, by the Rev. Basil H. Cooper, B.A., of the University of London, with Historical Notices of the Life and Writings of the Author, by the Rev. John Blackburn, Claremont Chapel, London. London: Printed for the Society by Blackburn and Pardon, Hatton Garden. 1846. 8vo. pp. xliv. 500. Cloth. When this work came into our hands, a few weeks ago, we supposed that it was the first publication of the society established by our independent brethren for reprinting scarce and valuable treatises of the reformers, puritans, and nonconformists of Great Britain. An advertisement has since then met our eye, which apprised us that it is not the first, but the second volume that the Wycliffe Society has issued. Since then we learn that the conductors of the society have been so much disappointed at the result of their efforts as to deliberate on the propriety of abandoning the undertaking. We should be sorry that they should do this, but we are not surprised at their want of success. Unless societies will take the same means to obtain the notice of the public, and the good opinion of the different classes of which it is composed, as are taken by experienced publishers, they have no right to expect equal patronage. One reason why individuals and societies do not succeed like publishers in getting a book into circulation is that they are too niggardly in their mode of procedure. Any of the great publishers in London, Edinburgh, or Glasgow, having the copyright of such works as are published by the Congregational Union, would forward copies for review to the Baptist Magazine and other periodicals which would be likely to regard them favourably; but though some of the publications of the Congregational Union have reached us, many have not, and we have noticed lamentations, year after year, that they did not pay their expenses. Such a volume as that now before us we should always find pleasure in introducing to the attention of our readers; and we do not overrate the utility of this when we say that we know that purchases of works by authors not connected with our body are frequently made in consequence of our recommendation. The works of David Clarkson ought to be in the hands of studious dissenters of every class. He was born in 1621 and died in 1686. Ejected from the living of Mortlake by the Act of Uniformity, he became co-pastor of an independent church in London with Dr. Owen. He was deeply versed in ecclesiastical antiquities, and for many years he appears to have given himself exclusively to reading and writing. Howe says, "His clear and comprehensive mind, his excellent learning, his reasoning, argumentative skill, his solid, most discerning judgment, bis indefatigable industry, his large knowledge, and great moderation in the matters of our unhappy ecclesiastical differences, his calm dispassionate temper, his pleasant and most amiable conversation, did carry so great a lustre with them, as that, notwithstanding his most beloved retiredness, they could not, in his circumstances, but make him be much known, and much esteemed and loved by all that had the happiness to know him, and make the loss of him be much lamented." His pieces contained in this volume are, "No Evidence for Diocesan Churches, or any Bishops without the choice or consent of the People, in primitive times"-Diocesan churches not yet Discovered in the primitive times-Primitive Episcopacy stated and cleared from the Holy Scriptures and Ancient Records-A Discourse concerning Liturgies-A Discourse of the Sav ing Grace of God-and three Miscellaneous Sermons. The insight which these pieces afford into the condition of the churches in the first three centuries, entitles them to general atten tion, and to all who are called to engage in controversy with modern English episcopalians they will be invaluable. Lectures on the Principal Points of the Unitarian Controversy. By JAMES MELLIS, Minister of Hude Chapel, Middleton-in-Teesdale. London: 12mo. pp. 312. Incompetent defenders of important truths do more harm than their assailants. The remark is especially applicable to the unitarian controversy. It has often grieved us to see good men rushing into this conflict without adequate preparation, and printing productions which could only excite the contempt of opponents, or furnish them with new weapons. Works have appeared, and been lauded highly by some of our contemporaries, by authors who were evidently unacquainted with the writings of unitarians, and quoted them therefore at second hand, whose knowledge of biblical criticism in reference to questions on which unitarians lay stress was exceedingly superficial, and who occasionally supplied by warm denunciation the place that should have been occupied by calm and cogent reasonings. Having these impressions, and knowing nothing of Mr. Mellis but that he was pastor of a small baptist church in the county of Durham, we took up his book with reluctance and fear; but we soon found that we had to do with a man of reading and discrimination. The typography does not recommend the work, and the Greek is printed in italics after Dr. Carson's unhappy example; but the treatise is the careful production of one who has given much time to preparatory study, and taken pains to condense his matter into a small compass. If some of the arguments had been waived the general impression might have been stronger, and a different arrangement of topics might have been advantageous; if a second edition were called for, we have no doubt that it would be greatly improved; but this, as it is, is a valuable book. It is the substance of lectures delivered to the author's congregation, as we are told in a very modest preface, in con sequence of strenuous efforts made to disseminate unitarian sentiments in the neighbourhood, and impugn "those doctrines of our holy Christianity on which our hopes and expectations rest, both as regards our happiness in this life and the life that is future." The first section is on the Unity of God and the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead. The second portion is on the Supreme Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this is argued from the ascription to him of the work of creation-of the divine perfections -of divine honours and religious worship-and of the divine names. The third portion of the work is on the Deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit, and the fourth on the nature of the Propitiation. This work deserves a more general circulation than that for which it was originally designed. It may be safely recommended wherever the doctrines it advocates are impugned; and in other places, devout readers will find in it much to establish their faith and enlarge their knowledge. We do not know whether our friends at Middleton duly appreciate their instructor or not, but he appears to us to be a man fitted for usefulness in a more prominent station than that which he at present occupies. Vital Christianity: Essays and Discourses on the Religions of Man and the Religion of God. By ALEXANDER VINET, D.D., Professor of Theology in Lausanne, Switzerland. Translated, with an Introduction, by Robert Turnbull, Pastor of the Harvard Street Church, Boston, Edinburgh: 12mo. pp. 316. Price 48.6d. In the year 1839, Mr. John Sheppard of Frome translated the first two sermons in this volume, and forwarded them for insertion in the Baptist Magazine. All who read them in our pages will be likely to remember them, and all who remember them will be prepared to welcome a volume of discourses written in the same spirit by the same author. He was born at Lausanne in 1797; accepted a professorship at Basle when he was only twenty years of age; became professor of theology in the college of Lausanne in 1838; resigned his title as one of the national clergy in 1840; but retains his professorship. With his friends Merle D' Aubigné and Gaussen he is energetically endeavouring to promote evangelical religion on the continent. A masterly work by him on the Manifestation of Religious Convictions and on the separation of the church from the state, translated into English by Mr. Charles Theodore Jones, we embraced an opportunity to recommend earnestly about three years ago. The present publication is derived from two volumes, one entitled "Discours sur quelques Sujets Religieux," and the other "Nouveaux Discours," which have passed through several editions and attracted much admiration. The originality of thought, the beauty of diction, and the evangelical sentiment pervading this volume will undoubtedly ensure it a large circulation. Christian Philosophy: being Select Dissertations, by Alexander Vinet, D.D., Professor of Theology in Lausanne, Switzerland. Translated from the French. London: 24mo. pp. 255. Price 1s. 6d. Sixteen of the twenty-two discourses con VOL. IX.-FOURTH SERIES. tained in the preceding volume, as translated by Mr. Turnbull, but revised, are published by the Religious Tract Society under this title. Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Acts of the Apostles. By the Rev. ALBERT BARNES. London: Routledge. 1846. Pp. 395. There is no book in the New Testament on which the labours of an annotator are more serviceable than the Acts of the Apostles; countries and the history of the times to which some acquaintance with the geography of the it refers being necessary to a perception of its bearings; and there is no other book on which good expositions in the English language are so scarce. The publisher has, therefore, acted wisely in commencing his cheap edition of Barnes's Notes on the New Testament-the fame of which is too well established to need encomium-with this volume; which we would advise all ministers, sabbath school teachers, and conductors of bible classes, at once to secure. It will be to them a valuable acquisition of itself, and it is perfectly independent of the volumes that are to succeed it; while the probability is that it will excite in the minds of its possessors a strong desire for the Notes on the gospels and epistles. The whole series is to be printed verbatim from an American edition recently revised and corrected by the author. Lectures on Foreign Churches, delivered in Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1846, in connexion with the Objects of the Committee of the Free Church of Scotland on the State of Christian Churches on the Continent and in the East, Second Series. Edinburgh: Kennedy. 12mo. pp. 407. The first series of these lectures was reviewed at some length in our number for November last. This second series is as deserving of attention as the first, but other claims upon our pages, at the present time, forbid our devoting to it the same space. Our readers will understand that the good which we said of the former volume, we think of this. Here are seven lectures; the first, by Dr. Wilson, on the Papal Eastern Churches; the second, by Dr. Forbes, on the Reformation in Germany; the third, by the Rev. Patrick Fairbairn, on the Present State and Prospects of Evangelical Religion in Germany, with a Sketch of its History from the time of Luther; the fourth, by the Rev. James Bryce, on the State of Religion in Italy from the Fall of the Western Empire till the Council of Trent, including an account of the introduction of the Reformed Doctrines into that country; the fifth, by the Rev. W. K. Tweedie, on Italy and its Religion; the sixth, by Dr. Hetherington, on the Religious Condition of Spain, at the Period of the Suppression of the Reformation, and, in particular, the great leading Features and Events in the History of Popery in that country at that Period, whereby it was enabled to crush the Reformation; and the seventh, by Dr. Buchanan, on the Prospects of Christendom. They are all masterly dis courses. 2 z The Time to Come. A Discourse delivered on Lord's Day Morning, March 8th, 1846, by the Rev. F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D. To which is prefixed an Account of the Commemorative Services of the Preceding Evening. London: 18mo. pp. 36. Price 6d. An excellent sermon, delivered on a very interesting occasion. Dr. Cox having completed the sixty-third year of his life, and thirty-fifth of his ministry at Hackney, invited the members of the church and other communicants to take tea with him in the chapel on the 7th of April. The lower part of the spacious place of worship was filled, and after appropriate devotional exercises, a written address was presented by the deacons to their venerated pastor, to which he responded in an eloquent speech which is prefixed to the discourse. It gives an account of the formation of the church, its early history, his settlement among them, the erection of the present chapel, and the progress of the church, with pleasing references to deceased and living coadjutors. The whole will be read with much interest by Dr. Cox's numerous friends, in this and other countries. Heaven Physically and Morally Considered; or, This little volume bespeaks our favour by its attractive appearance and by the announcement in the preface that it is the result of a young minister's "exertions whilst recovering from an illness of long continuance," We are gratified that a perusal of its contents warrants our commending it to the attention of our readers. Unlike many productions on such subjects, it is distinguished by both originality and modesty. The author, while distinctly expressing his own theory respecting the condition of disembodied spirits, the nature and locality of the heavenly world, and other kindred topics, manifests throughout a becoming deference to the authority of scripture. History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth It is the author's wish that preference should be given to this edition which he has himself prepared for the use of English readers, and for which he considers himself responsible. In a new preface, written in an amiable spirit, he takes the opportunity to say that "neither the evangelical episcopalians nor the baptists can find anything in this work contrary to their principles." On behalf of the English baptists, we will venture to say that their advice to the worthy author would be, in continuing his labours, to leave out of his consideration entirely the bearings that the facts which come before him may have on the principles of any of his readers, and to tell the truth in all its fulness, without reserve or fear of offending. We are persuaded that he is an honest man, and we shall receive as his honest opinion whatever comes from him, whether it may favour or impugn our sentiments. Scenes from the History of the Christian Church. By the Rev. ANDREW R. BONAR, One of the Ministers of Canongate, Edin burgh; Author of "Last Days of the Martyrs," "The Holy Land," &c. London and Edinburgh: Nelson.. 16mo. Cloth, gilt. This is an unpretending, but by no means an uninteresting little volume. The intention of the author is to direct the general reader to the history of Christianity. It does not profess to give a full and continuous account of the condition of the Christian church from its first formation to the present period; but some particular times, and persons, and events are selected, of which a brief, but generally a spirited, sketch is given. The first "scene " is laid in the time of Constantine, and is entitled "Athanasius and the Arians." There are twenty-five of these sketches in number, and they are all, with a few exceptions, connected with the rise and progress of the reformation. Among these, four or five are devoted to "Luther." The titles of a few of the others will show the kind of subjects selected, such as, "Tetzel the Indulgence Seller," Loyola and the Jesuits," "Melancthon," "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew," "The Anabaptists," and "The Waldenses." The small volume is neatly got up, and while it may interest many who have but little leisure to read, it will, we trust, form a very acceptable present to young persons, and prove a suitable reward-book for schools. One Hundred Skeletons and Sketches of Sermons. By Wesleyan Ministers. London: Bartlett. 12mo. pp. viii. 267. To ordinary readers, a book consisting of outlines of sermons presents a spectacle as little interesting as that on which the prophet gazed when transported to the valley of dry bones. Itinerating and village preachers, however, may find such a work as that before us exceedingly serviceable. To such we commend it. The sentiments contained in it are thoroughly evangelical; and the talent evinced, while seldom below, is in many cases considerably above, mediocrity. The Modern British Plutarch; or, Lives of Men Distinguished in the Recent History of our Country for their Talents, Virtues, or Achievements. By W. C. TAYLOR, LL.D. of Trinity College, Dublin; Author of "A Manual of Ancient and Modern History," &c., &c. London: Grant and Griffith. 12mo. pp. 405. A handsome volume containing well-written biographical sketches of leading political and literary men who have flourished within the last eighty or hundred years. The Duke of Wellington is the only living personage included in the catalogue. The number of the memoirs is thirty-eight. The estimate of charac ters and events is in accordance with the wisdom of this world. |