The Elements of Latin Grammar, for the Use of Schools. By RICHARD SLILEY, author of an English Grammar, &c. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Leeds: John Heaton. 1836. Pp. 160. THIS book needs no further comment than the words of the present Bishop of Lichfield, to whom, as Archdeacon Butler, it is dedicated," I think your book, wherever I have examined it, is done with care and ability; it is short, clear, and well selected, and likely to be very useful." Practical Sermons. By the Rev. DENIS KELLY, B. A., Assistant Minister of St. John's Church, Chatham, and late Vicar of Killyan, County Galway. London: Hatchard; Seeleys. Dublin: R. M. Tims. 8vo. 1835. Pp. 241. THE professed aim of the author, in the Thirteen Discourses of which this cheap and unpretending volume consists, is "to explain and enforce, in a familiar and easy manner, the leading truths of Christianity." Nor does the manner of the execution derogate from the worthiness of the aim. The writer "explains" with much clearness, and "enforces" with no ordinary power; indeed, the great charm and chief merit of the volume will be found in the combination of felicitous illustration, and rich and varied imagery, with solemn and almost impassioned earnestness of persuasion. Mr. Kelly writes under a deep and lively sense of the importance and dignity of his office as an ambassador for Christ; and displays, not only the powers of a commanding and expansive intellect, but the affections of a feeling and benevolent heart, when beseeching men to be reconciled to God. We have seldom met with a work, in which discourses perused in the closet have more of the effect and energy of discourses delivered from the pulpit-in which more of the mind of the writer mingles itself with the hearts and consciences of those who read. Our limits preclude us from giving extracts confirmatory of the view we have taken; but we are less disposed to regret this, as we would refer our readers to the volume itself, which contains much to gratify the imagination, much to engage the intellect, much to awaken the conscience, but more to interest the affections and to impress the heart. Lest it be imagined, however, that we have indulged in a strain of indiscriminate eulogy, we will point out one defect, of which the author himself seems to be aware, though many of his readers would never have discovered it. There is an occasional redundancy of expression, and metaphors are at times poured forth in such profusion as to obscure the subject they were intended to illustrate. But it is much more easy to use the pruning knife than to force leaves or blossoms from a dry and barren stock; and the few faults of Mr. Kelly's style will, we doubt not, disappear under the salutary discipline of that invaluable teacher-experience. From a course commenced under such favourable auspices, we anticipate much of credit to herself, and of usefulness to the Church at large. The conclusion of the second Discourse, "On the Prodigal Son," will afford a fair example of Mr. Kelly's style, and be a more effectual recommendation of the volume than any remarks of ours. The whole sermon is a noble specimen of lucid exposition, pointed application, and most affectionate and impressive admonition. Let me now add one word in conclusion, Remember, then, that in proportion to the exceeding great mercy of God towards the sinner, will be our condemnation if we abuse or reject that mercy. Remember, that in proportion to the readiness and willingness of God to receive the returning and penitent offender, will be our guilt, if we obstinately persist in impenitence. This parable, while it speaks comfort and consolation unutterable to him that feels the weight of his sins, and sighs to be delivered from the burthen, speaks in a voice of terror to the impenitent. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The bitterest ingredient in the cup of misery prepared for the lost hereafter, will be the thought that they were their own destroyers; that when the offers of mercy were proclaimed, they stopped their ears against them; when the arms of divine compassion were stretched out, they turned their backs upon them, and thrust them away. We have all, my brethren, acted the part of the prodigal towards our heavenly Father. We have all need of repentance. I know not how some may receive this declaration -but this I know, that we have it on the testimony of the most eminent saints that ever brought honour to their master's cause; that in proportion to the very attainments they made in the divine life, was the sense they felt of their own unworthiness, and of the necessity of their constant, their daily repentance. I know they have left it upon record, too, that the very tears of our penitential sorrow require to be washed in the blood of Christ-our repentance to be repented of. If these be the sentiments and feelings of men, who passed their lives in self-denial, and in striving against sin, and who were daily found bewailing transgressions, before the throne of grace, what then are we to think of those who allow day after day, and week after week, to pass without feeling one pang of real sorrow for their sins? O, my dear brethren, let us be admonished ere it be too late. The day of grace will not last for ever. The hour of repentance will soon be at its close: "now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." The door of mercy is still open to us. The compassionate Father is willing to receive Let us not turn our backs upon him, but implore him to give us his grace, that we may leave this place to-day in the spirit of the prodigal: "I will arise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.' Amen.-Pp. 38-40. us. " The Church of England, a Protester against Romanism and Dissent. By WILLIAM DODSWORTH, M. A., Minister of Margaret Chapel, St. Mary le-bone. London: Burns. 1836. Ir is the object of this little volume, comprising eight short discourses, which have appeared at intervals, to point out the middle course, which the Church of England, as a Protestant Establishment, holds between Romanism on the one hand, and Dissent on the other. While she protests against the corruptions, and secedes from the errors of the former, she is at the same time distinguished from the latter in maintaining the visible unity of the Church, the succession of an apo stolic ministry, and the efficacy of the sacraments, and in the respect which she pays to primitive antiquity. The one is, in fact, a corrupted, the other a schismatic, system. Deep reflection, strict impartiality, and sober piety, pervade the whole argument, which is discussed under the following heads:1. The Unity of the Church, 2. The Mortification of the Flesh. 3. The Efficacy of an Apostolic Ministry. 4. The Scriptures, and the respect due to Catholic Antiquity. 5. The State of the Dead, and the Resurrection. 6. The Sacrament of Baptism. 7. The Eucharist. 8. The Duty of the Members of the Church of England in reference to Romanism and Dissent. A Sermon, occasioned by the Appeal of the Lord Bishop of London for the Building of additional Churches in the Metropolis. By WILLIAM DonsWORTH, M. A., Minister of Margaret Chapel, St. Mary-le-bone. London: Burns. 1836. 8vo. Pp. 24. FROM the preceding notice the reader will be led to anticipate in this discourse, a pious, eloquent, and argumentative appeal, and he will not be disappointed. After speaking of the exertions and success of English missions abroad, he points out in striking colours the inconsistency of leaving our brethren at home to perish for want of the means of instruction. He insists upon the necessity of some effort to remedy this anomaly,from the undoubted fact, that scarcely one-tenth of the metropolitan population is accommodated with church-room; and he argues, that in making provision against this evil, the efforts of dissenters must not be taken into the account; because, admitting it to be better to worship as a separatist, than not at all, still believing, as Churchmen, dissent to be wrong, we are not justified in exposing our fellow Christians to such an alternative. An Appendix of facts and plans, from the Bishop of London's proposal, is subjoined to the Sermon, and deserves especial consideration. May God prosper the work to his own glory, in the salvation of the souls of men! Enoch Restitutus; or, an Attempt to separate from the Books of Enoch the Book quoted by St. Jude; also, a Comparison of the Chronology of Enoch with the Hebrew Computation, and with the periods mentioned in the Book of Daniel and in the Apocalypse. By the Rev. EDWARD MURRAY, Vicar of Slinsford, and Chaplain to the Bishop of Rochester. London: Rivingtons. 1836. 8vo. Pp. 208, 88, 116. ON his return from Abyssinia, Mr. Bruce brought with him three Æthiopic MSS. of the Book of Enoch, from one of which, now in the Bodleian Library, a translation was made by Dr. Lawrence, Archbishop of Cashel. From the varieties of style, and other internal evidence, it is clear that the work thus discovered is a compilation; and it is the object of the present treatise to separate the apocryphal writings quoted by St. Jude, from the more modern works with which it is united. Mr. Murray agrees with the Archbishop in assigning that portion which relates to the Jewish history to the reign of Herod, and the astronomical part to a somewhat earlier date. The arguments by which he supports his hypotheses display considerable ingenuity and deep research; but it is impossible to follow them out within the compass of a contracted notice; and to those who are interested in pursuing the inquiry, even a more lengthened analysis would not obviate the necessity of a reference to the work itself. The Church of England Magazine. Under the Superintendence of Clergymen of the United Church of England and Ireland. Part 1. June, 1836. (Containing five Weekly Numbers.) London: Burns. AMONG the variety of cheap periodicals with which the country is almost deluged, the space has hitherto been unoccupied by a cheap weekly magazine of a decidedly religious character. We think that a publication, such as that which is now before us, is calcu lated, if properly conducted, to do much good. From the few numbers already published we augur well, making an exception against some few articles, of which the tendency is VOL. XVIII. NO. VIII. somewhat problematical; at the same time we are not yet prepared to hazard a very decided opinion upon the undertaking, but we may possibly return to it at a more advanced stage of its existence. A Commentary on the Book of Psalms. By GEORGE HORNE, D. D., late Lord Bishop of Norwich. Vol. I. With an Introductory Essay, by JAMES MONTGOMERY, Esq.; and a Memoir of the Author, by the late Rev. WILLIAM JONES, of Nayland. London: Hatchard. 1836. Small 8vo. Pp. lix. 98, 200. [Sacred Classics, No. XXVIII] In his Introductory Essay, which we cordially recommend to the serious attention of the reader, Mr. Montgomery thus correctly characterises Bishop Horne's well-known Commentary: "Without being curiously critical, or learnedly elaborate, to perplex ordinary readers, it is accompanied with such occasional new renderings of the Hebrew phraseology, as throw real light upon passages, either imperfect in the translation as it stands, or obscure in the original; the commentator, with consummate good sense, pure taste, and conscientious scrupulosity, always preferring, amidst a choice of difficult readings, that which tended most to edification. The whole work is evangelical in its spirit and in its influence. Scripture is employed as the interpreter of scripture; and while the Old Testament is made to foreshadow the New, the New is made to reflect upon the Old all the glory of life and immortality brought to light by the gospel." Often as the work has been reprinted, there was yet room for its reappearance in the excellent series of the Sacred Classics, which, indeed, would scarcely have been complete without it; and the addition of the Memoir, by the author's friend, Mr. Jones, together with the preliminary matter, will make it the most desirable edition at present in circulation. IN THE PRESS. A cheap edition of the English Tithe Commutation Act; with an Analysis, Explanatory Notes, and an Index. By John Meadows White, Esq. the Solicitor attending on the Bill. 3 P A SERMON. JOB XXVI. 5, 6. Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof; hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. THE book of Job is a phenomenon in the sacred writings; it is the most singular and surprising book in the Old Testament; and chiefly on this account, that, while all the other writings therein were written by Israelites, and have a reference to the wonderful history of that chosen race, this alone has no reference to them, but relates to one of another people, to one who seems to have been quite unacquainted with them, nay, totally distinct from them. Hence various have been the controversies, endless the conjectures of the learned on every point connected with this singular production. Who was Job? what was his country? what was the design of the book? and, especially, how and when did it come to be inserted among the other books of the Old Testament? These are questions, indeed, much easier asked than answered. Ezekiel, who, however, lived late in Jewish history, is the first who mentions Job; and he ranks him as one of the three most powerful intercessors with the Almighty who had existed up to his time. Noah interceded for his family; Daniel for the wise men of Babylon; Job for his friends; and they all were an example of having their intercession answered. Now the prophet Ezekiel, in his xivth chapter, declares that such was the sin of Jerusalem, that even the intercession of these three men should be unable to ward off those judgments which the Almighty was about to bring upon it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it" as I live (saith the Lord God) they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they shall deliver but their own souls by their righteousness; but the land shall be desolate." And not only has Job this testimony from Ezekiel, but, in the books of the New Testament, his claims to the character of a prophet of the Most High are fully confirmed and admitted. Without, however, entering further into this inquiry, I may state at once those points which seem to me to be satisfactorily established in this difficult question. That this book could not have been introduced into the canon of holy Scripture after the time of Samuel and David; for of that prophet and that king, and of the whole subsequent history, we have a sufficiently minute account; and, especially, we have numerous and frequent allusions to the various authors and writings of the holy Scriptures, and the gradual formation of the canon; and the insertion of Job among those writings would most certainly have been mentioned had it taken place during that time, not to say, that the jealousy and dislike of all other nations, which the Jews then gradually began to cherish, and which ended in that total alienation from them which we find in the New Testament, would have prevented their enrolling the history of an alien among the writings of their own inspired prophets It must, therefore, be more ancient than the times of Samuel and David. But then again, going upward from those times to the age of Moses and Joshua, there was, during that long interval of time, no man of sufficient authority and power likely to have thus increased the few inspired writings which existed at that early period; so that we are led to this conclusion, that it is the most ancient of all the books of Scripture, and must have been received as inspired on no less authority than that of Moses himself. Moses then, besides the five books of the Law, by the adoption of this sublime and inspired writing, showed that he intended the sacred writings to consist of more than his own, and left this book, and probably some of the Psalms, as the nucleus round which the rest of the Old Testament was to be formed. This very materially narrows the ground of inquiry; and we may therefore decide more easily the other points. The country of Job was the land of Edom; he probably lived before the time of Abraham, and this history was introduced among the Israelites by Moses, as a relic and witness of that patriarchal dispensation which was then giving way to the Mosaic dispensation. The religion of Job was the religion of the patriarchs, of Noah, of Melchisedec; and it was to preserve an account of this religion and of its doctrines, and its relation to the other and later dispensations of God to fallen man, that this book was handed down by Moses to posterity. And what treasures of wisdom does it contain! It exhibits not only a highly interesting account of our fallen race in the most distant ages of the world, but more than this-it exhibits, the purest morality, the sublimest philosophy, the simplest ritual, and the most majestic creed. Besides the general design of the book, which is to exhibit to us the trial, patience, and end of Job, the great points of the patriarchal religion are clearly revealed in it; they are these especially, that there is a God, and that he is the rewarder of them who diligently seek him; the creation of the world by him; his attributes and excellencies; his boundless wisdom, irresistible power, indescribable glory, inflexible justice, infinite goodness; his continued and never-ceasing providence; the existence of departed spirits, of angels good and evil; the fall of man; the hope of ultimate recovery through a great Deliverer; the necessity of sacrifice; the powerful effects of prayer and intercession; a future resurrection; that the idolatry which then existed, the most ancient of all, viz. the worship of the heavenly bodies, was a judicial offence, cognizable by the judges. Such seem to be the chief points of that first and ancient religion revealed to our first parents, and handed down from age to age, till, being corrupted and lost, and the world fallen into idolatry, God selected the family of Abraham, and separated them from the nations, in order to preserve the knowledge of himself on earth. And we may remark, that this view of the subject solves another difficulty, It has often excited discussion why the doctrine of a future state is so little insisted on, and so obscurely revealed in the law of Moses, and the earlier writings of the Old Testament. Moses chiefly, or entirely, insists on temporal rewards and punishments; but if he gave this book to the Israelites, then they were not left in the dark; this supplied the defect. The great doctrines of natural and revealed religion were herein secured to them; and whilst the other writings of |