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I feel as giddy as if I were looking at a wheel whirling about, so that all the spokes seem mixed together. I like one of the good old folios that will allow me to keep one subject before me till I am tired; and then, when I am recruited, I can again apply to it till I have seen it through and through, and on all sides." But this is not the taste of every reader. Many will read the review of a book, who would not read the book itself. And that large class of persons who have little time for reading, by means of this particular kind of compositions may not only obtain as much acquaintance with separate works as they require, but a general knowledge of a much greater number than would be possible, had they to read each one. They whose duty it may be to examine a whole subject, will still have to go to the good old folios; but they who rather require general information, and wish to be guided in their judgments, will have recourse to modern reviews. Sometimes, it may be, the book is analyzed; sometimes the subjects on which it treats, or those which it may suggest, are considered; sometimes the principles are laid down and discussed which have led to the decision which may be pronounced; so that, though the regular student must still work away at regular and voluminous treatises, general readers may derive much and very improving information from a series of variously constructed reviews. Such being the case, it is, therefore, of the highest importance that this branch of literature be not left under the sole direction of those whom we may term secular critics. If the Bible be a revelation from God, and contains, what Christians believe it contains, a declaration of the divine will on all those religious and moral subjects in which man is interested, if, in a word, it is a revelation of TRUTH,—it must contain the principles according to which we should judge on all religious and moral questions. There are very many subjects, and those of no secondrate importance, which can only be rightly examined, by being examined in the light furnished by the

Scriptures; and, as a mere matter of fact, but by no means a trifling one, there is reason to believe that much of the periodical criticism of the day is in the hands of Romanists, who are thus endeavouring, often in quarters where their presence is not suspected, to lead the public mind their own way, and gradually to mould it to their own will. We again say, therefore, that it is important that we should have some volumes of religious criticism; by which we mean, not merely the critical examination of works directly religious, but an examination of works in general, conducted according to the principles which revealed religion furnishes, as they are held by all true-hearted Protestants. For this reason we are glad to see these two volumes of Mr. Foster's reviews. The subjects to which they refer are too numerous and various for any particular notice. We can only look at the general character of the work. Mr. Foster always writes as a Christian and a Protestant. It is easy to see that his views on public affairs were such as are usually termed liberal. But these are never made his principal theme. He had higher objects in view than such as are presented by worldly politics. He evidently wrote under an abiding impression of the undoubted truth, and supreme authority, and infinite value, of Christianity. At the same time his strong sense, his correct and elegant taste, his extensive reading, and well-digested knowledge, fitted him for investigating, and deciding upon, those numerous questions which, though subordinate to the main subject, are still of considerable importance, and require a careful examination. Besides the religious principles which are illustrated, argued, or defended, these reviews contain a large quantity, not merely of general information, but of valuable criticism, sound argumentation, and, where necessary, quiet but powerful sarcasm. The style, of course, may be expected to be various. There are many passages of great beauty, many of great power; but Mr. Foster does not seem to have been at all

anxious on the subject of style. His object was not to gratify the reader by placing beautifully-arranged or smoothly-flowing sentences before him, but to make him acquainted with the writer's meaning. He had certain thoughts which he wished to express, and he chose those words, and those arrangements of words, which he considered most suitable for his object. He may be said to have thought with his pen, and to have written solely with the view of enabling the reader to receive into his own mind the thoughts thus placed before him. The propriety and force of his style, therefore, are the result, not of any attempt at arrangement, but of his thorough acquaintance with language as the instrument and medium of thought, and with, not only the rules, but with the philosophy also, of grammar, by which he was enabled always to express his thoughts clearly and correctly. His sentences are often long; but this arose from the connexion in his own mind of thought with thought. He did not think, as it were, in detached aphorisms, and therefore he did not write in them. His style may better be compared to the regular flow of the full stream, than to a line of separate stepping-stones across it. We again say that, with out by any means agreeing with all the writer's opinions, we consider the volumes as furnishing not only a valuable addition to this particular branch of our literature, but as at least commencing the supply of a real want. In the republished reviews, for instance, of Mr. Macaulay and Lord Jeffrey, we have a collection of admirable critical dissertations; but along with these there must be a collection founded on the religious principles of an evangelical Protestantism. Such are the reviews of Mr. Foster; and the friends of religious truth will rejoice to see volumes which may, without at all suffering by the juxta-position, be placed along with the volumes furnished by two of the master-minds of "The Edinburgh."

A word or two on the "Lectures,"

We

and our task is completed. have already said that in 1822, and the three following years, Mr. Foster delivered a series. (it was not properly a course) of lectures at Broadmead chapel, Bristol. The present volume contains a selection, amounting to twenty-seven, of the whole number. They are not published as they were delivered, but as they were prepared for delivery. They are not, however, by any means what are commonly called skeletons, -the arranged and enumerated heads of discourse,-but the entire subject in a state of complete condensation, capable, therefore, of very extensive amplification, both by the fuller developement of distinct thoughts, the addition of illustrative statements, the more copious investigation of the argument, and the enlargement of the practical and hortatory portion. Still, all this amplifying matter is only subordinate. In preparing for the delivery of the lecture, Mr. Foster evidently thought over the whole subject, and wrote down, in regularly-formed and consecutive sentences, all that it essentially implied. We will not say that they who not only want thought of the simplest kind-thought lying on the obvious surface of a subject,-but that thought so expressed as to require no more than an inactive perception, need not take up these lectures; they had better keep away from Mr. Foster's writings altogether. His object, in all his writings, is not merely to put his own thoughts into the minds of his readers, but to stimulate them to such activity as that in receiving what was presented, it should be, as it were, so digested, and dissolved, and absorbed, as to be taken up into the intellectual system, to re-appear as the result of our own original, though neither unsupplied nor unaided, thinking. They who are willing to read that they may think, and therefore to think while they are reading, will find in this volume an addition to the religious literature of the closet, the full value of which it would be difficult to estimate. To the student, likewise, the volume

will be equally valuable. Just as much is said on each subject as is necessary to present it completely to the mind, with an almost epic unity of object and plan, but no more and it would be a profitable exercise for the student to see, first, whether he had completely mastered the subject as it is placed before him,-whether it be no longer the thought-out statement of another, but, as the result of a similar mental process in which he is guided by it, as truly his own as though it had not been placed before him at all;— and then, secondly, himself to amplify it as he may suppose Mr. Foster would have done while delivering it from the pulpit. It is thus that young Ministers especially should seek to become original thinkers. Some indolently content themselves with the ceaseless iteration of a set of theological common places; while others think they are original merely by taking up some fantastic notion or other, or by using strange words, and talking, as scarcely no one ever talked before. Let them take these Lectures and read them carefully, and they will find every sentence charged with significance. His very figures are analogies, and designed rather to illustrate the thought, than to ornament the expression.

But we thus speak of the Lectures considered only as compositions on particular subjects. They must be noticed, however, as the pulpit addresses of a Christian Minister. It would be most unfair to take them as specimens of what would be the subjects of an entire ministry. They are only a small part of a series of lectures, delivered to a select congregation once a fortnight for about four years, with the exception of some two or three months in each

year.

If they belonged to an entire ministry, there would have been several subjects among them to which, as it is, we find no one address devoted. Excellent as these Lectures are, considered in themselves, yet we are sure that no Minister could keep his congregation in life and prosperity, were all his ministrations such as are these

twenty-seven Lectures. A ministry, to be prosperous, must be evidently spiritual, as well as intellectual; it must be awakening and converting, as well as instructive; it must be, in a word, soul-saving,-soul-saving in design and tendency. We mention this that no young Minister, admiring these Lectures, should begin to form his ministry on them as a model. At the same time, there is a use, within certain limits, which may even thus be made of them. They were delivered, it seems, at Broadmead chapel; at which there would be, independently of them, the regular Sabbath and week-day services. To these, therefore, the Lectures may be considered as supplementary; and thus regarded, we can see that they might render the most important service to all sincere Christians, earnestly desiring to avoid all evil, and to enjoy and practise all good. The Lectures are throughout characterized by parti cularity and detail. We have already said, that Mr. Foster's mind was eminently analytical. When a subject was before him, he saw at once all that it comprised; and when he took it into the pulpit, he sought to make his hearers see it. Now, a ministry may be composed too much of general subjects. Interspersed with them, and in evident dependence on them, there should be an occasional distribution of a subject into its details. We mean this not as an intellectual exercise of the Minister, not as a means of gratifying the hearers; we mean it as one way of fulfilling the Christian ministry, and seeking the establishment and perfection of such as have believed through grace. Thus the first Lecture has some most profitable remarks on the feelings and purposes with which the new year may be commenced. The second, on the well-known text, "Set your affections on things above," investigates the precise nature and characters of the supreme attachment which is due to spiritual objects; and shows how we may judge, by particular indications, whether this enjoined preponderance of heavenly affections

does, or does not, exist in us. The third Lecture is on a subject too much overlooked, but which has a most important bearing on the regular maintenance and advancement of Christian spirituality. As there are not only different seasons of the year, but different aspects of the same season,-sunny days, days of rain; and as the husbandman seeks to avail himself of them all, by employments suited to each; so, the Lecturer tells us, is every one conscious of different aspects of the mental state; not referring, of course, to any moral changes, but to what almost might be termed, moods of mind,-feelings of hilarity, feelings of depression, and so on. The Lecture is devoted to the "self-discipline suitable to certain mental states," to the practical inquiry, how we get the most good from each, and how most completely avoid the particular evil to which each may expose us. And thenonly to quote one more instance of the particularity to which we refer -the seventh Lecture most impressively considers the subject of "vain thoughts." The Lecturer points out the characteristics of these, even when they are distinguished from thoughts positively evil,-points them out with the skilfulness of the medical teacher who is lecturing on some local disease, and illustrating

his statements as he proceeds by anatomical demonstrations. It is not enough that he states the enormous amount of evil which may thus accumulate almost unawares, and then requires that the cause be avoided. Many might do this, and fail of their object by dwelling only on the general term. Mr. Foster shows when our own thoughts are vain thoughts. The eighth Lecture completes the subject, by mentioning some of the correctives,-details them as the medical adviser details to his patient the regimen which he must observe for the cure of some particular disease. What these two Lectures were in their delivery, we, of course, cannot say. They are even awfully monitory in the reading. Indeed, there is not one of them which will not, if read by the thoughtful Christian in his closet, with much prayer, be found highly profitable to him for the advancement of his spiritual interests. Indeed, we should be glad to think that the Editor will receive sufficient encouragement to induce him to publish a cheaper and more portable edition, in order to a more extensive circulation for closet-perusal. would be a useful addition to the more easily read biographical volumes which rightly stand on the closet-shelves, but should not stand there without companions.

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RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

PUSEYISM AT WARE.

SOME of our readers may have learned, from the public papers, that many of the parishioners of Ware (Herts.) have been much grieved by the introduction of Tractarian practices in the congregation Strongly attached to the church, they greatly disliked these innovations; and, by earnest and respectful applications, first to the Clergyman, and then to the Bishop, sought to have them remedied. But their applications, wherever made, were all fruitless. A large body of them, finding that they could obtain no relief,

VOL. XXIII. Third Series.

and that they could only continue to attend the church by practically becoming Tractarians themselves, and thus having no other alternative than Puseyism, or secession, chose the latter. They have fitted up the Town-Hall for public worship according to the Prayer-Book, without the explanations and additions of Tractarianism; and, believing Wesleyan Methodism to be that form of separation which agreed most nearly with their own attachment to the usual services of the Church, they applied to JUNE, 1844. 2 M

it accordingly; and on the 5th of May the Town-Hall was opened for worship, in the way they had chosen, by the Rev. Dr. Alder. What will be the consequences of such a movement, we attempt not to predict. Much smaller occurrences have often led to results of amazing magnitude. These seceders will doubtless be called schismatics; but in such cases the real authors of schism are they whose conduct makes either secession, or the sacrifice of conscience, imperative. To us the conduct of some of

the leaders of the Church seems to be downright infatuation. Setting aside the question which relates to its rightness, it is utterly impolitic. But they must have their own way. They have often, and with both respect and fidelity, been warned, and have treated the warn ing as something that did not in the slightest degree concern them. They must take the consequences. Whatever these may be, they have none to blame for them but themselves.

METHODIST FAST-DAY.

**The next Quarterly Day of Fasting and Prayer for the Methodist Societies, according to the Rules of the Connexion, will be Friday, June 28th, 1844.

RECENT DEATHS.

FEB. 10th, 1844.-At Burley, in the Otley Circuit, in her thirty-third year, Hannah Whitehead; who, in 1830, was convinced of her need of a Saviour, and sought and obtained peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. She was clear in her views of religion, spiritual in her conversation, and, when health permitted, attentive to the means of grace. She bore a protracted affliction with Christian fortitude. short time previous to her death, in all the fervour of importunate prayer, she besought the Lord to make her meet for heaven, and was favoured with much of the divine presence. Her end was peace. R. T.

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Feb. 25th.-At Stillington, in the Easingwold Circuit, Mrs. Farrer, wife of Mr. William Farrer, in the sixty-second year of her age. In early life she penitently sought and obtained the Gospel salvation, and afterwards deeply entered into the richness and glory of spiritual privileges. Her character was distinguished by humility, seriousness, and great Christian simplicity: her domestic piety was also eminent. To the poor

she was a compassionate friend, to the cause of 'God a generous supporter. Her last illness, which was painfully sudden, deprived her of the power of speech; but her evident and advancing walk with God gave ample proof that she was not unprepared. W. T. R.

March 4th.-In Aberdeen, Mrs. Isabella Donaldson, aged sixty-four. She had been a consistent member of the Wesleyan-Methodist church about twenty-four years. Her last affliction was severe and protracted; but, through a calm reliance on the atonement of Christ, her soul was constantly sustained by the patience of hope. Worn out by sickness, at length she peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. W. L.

March 25th.-At Wetherby, in the Tadcaster Circuit, Mr. J. P. Hawkesworth, aged seventyfour; who had been a member of the Wesleyan church upwards of half a century, and had filled the various offices of Class-Leader, Local Preacher, Trustee, Society and Circuit Steward, with great satisfaction to his friends, and to the glory of God. He possessed a meek and generous spirit; so that his friendship was sought and appreciated. In the days when the demou of discord was attempting to disturb our excel. lent constitution, he was unmoved, and stood forth in its defence; being determined to walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. His last illness found him in a happy state: he rested upon the great atonement by faith, and laid hold on the glorious intercession of Christ. This, he said, was to him a solid rock; while it yielded peace and comfort in his affliction, it opened before him cheering prospects of his future inheritance. With victory in his countenance, he said, "I am going home: in my Father's house are many mansions."

'My God, I am thine; what a comfort divine! What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine!

A short time before his departure he repeated, with great animation, the whole of that hyun which commences,

"Jesu, lover of my soul,

Let me to thy bosom fly."

Soon after this the wheels of life stood still, and his happy spirit, with holy triumph, entered into that "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." H. B.

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