It appears to us most extraordinary that the man who could excite such acknowledgments, and accept them too, should have recorded in his private diary, in which he noted every body, only expressions of slight, if not contempt, towards Mr. Jay. Yet such appears to be the case, if we are to decide on the evidence supplied by his biographers. The name of Mr. Jay occurs but four times in the five volumes of "The Life of William Wilberforce." Once to recite his humble origin, once to quote a fact, on his authority, against dissenters, and twice to make the following remarks :-" Asked to subscribe to Jay's velvet cushion, but refused;"-"I found so much made of my going to Jay's that I have kept away." Can we suppose, that Mr. Wilberforce concealed beneath a smooth surface of catholicity and kindness that contempt for dissenters which is so common amongst churchmen? or are we to infer, that his "venerable" sons have taken care to insert these hasty slips of his pen, while they have suppressed passages, which, written in a better mood, record his respect for the piety, and his admiration of the eloquence, of the truly venerable preacher? It is an "ugly alternative"-and we must decline to choose.

Returning to the immediate subject in hand, we cannot refrain from quoting the following delightful bit of literary autobiography. The author

"Had passed between thirty and forty years of his ministry before he availed himself of a few weeks for an annual relaxation from his stated labours; and when he adopted the plan, these seasons were not with him entire cessations from engagement. Not only did he find the leisure useful to his health and spirits, and affording him opportunities for reflection and preparation for preaching, but he often employed a good portion of it in composition for the press.

"Several of his publications were thus begun, and several considerably advanced. "At Sidmouth he began his 'Domestic Minister's Assistant,' and wrote many of the Family Prayers.' In the Isle of Wight he composed 'A Charge to a Minister's Wife' and 'The Wife's Advocate.' At Lynmouth he finished his 'Christian Contemplated,' and wrote the Preface with Hints on Preaching.'

"But this latter place must be a little more noticed. There, for several years successively, he passed a month, the most perfectly agreeable and happy he ever experienced in a life of loving kindness and tender mercy.

"Linton and Lynmouth are nearly connected; the one being at the top and the other at the bottom of a declivity covered with trees and verdure, interspersed with several houses. Linton has been remarked for its sublimity and Lynmouth for its beauty-and their united aspects have been called Switzerland in miniature.

"Lynmouth was to the author the most interesting spot. Here two narrow and craggy valleys, obviously once ruptured by a convulsion of nature, terminate; and down these, tumbling from rock to rock, two streams—one running from the east and the other from the south-unite, and, then, in a small distance, empty themselves into the sea.

"At the time of his first going there it was hardly known or considered as a watering-place. It had not therefore as yet fallen into the corruptions of such receptacles-nor had the inhabitants been taught to make visitors a prey. The villagers were very respectful; and strangers felt a sense of perfect safety.

"Here the author fixed his residence. He took a whole cottage; it was far from elegant, but it was neat and agreeable; it wanted some accommodation and com

:

forts but he had what he more prized-rural and enchanting scenery and solitude-yet not without some to hear the exclamation, How sweet this solitude is !' For he had society too: his company was small, but chosen, and suitable and improving

"Where friendship full exerts her softest pow'r,

Perfect esteem, enlivened by desire

Ineffable, and sympathy of soul,

Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will,

With boundless confidence.'

"His associates consisted of his wife and a female friend. It would be vain in him to extol the former; but as to the latter--especially as she was soon removed from our world--he may be allowed to say, we hardly could have had her equal in everything we wished. She was of a very respectable family; well educated, polished in her manners, intellectual, sprightly, witty, truly pious, full of sensibility and benevolence, and an entire stranger to everything like selfishness. What, with regard to this friend before our first excursion together, was acquaintance, was now rendered intimacy the most cordial; and she became a dear resident in the family till her lamented death. The cottage we occupied was near Mr. Herries' beautiful villa. It has since been spoiled by improvements, and is now a kind of tawdry little mansion; and the whole of Lynmouth itself, which taste might have altered and yet left in a village style, is aping a paltry town.

"Here our party felt themselves at liberty to meet-or to separate-to read-or to write-or to converse-or to walk, as inclination prompted. As to himself, the author opened his parlour, and spoke on the Sabbath-day evening to any of the neighbours who would attend. But having been struck with the design, and also having been urged to undertake something of the kind, he now began his Morning Exercises.' Of these, he here often wrote two and sometimes three a day; and always read one of them in the morning and another in the evening devotionnot often without the approbation of his companions, which much excited and encouraged him to proceed.

"Here he composed the greater part of these Morning Exercises, and here also in after visits he wrote the greater part of the Evening. He once thought of distinguishing by a final mark all he had written in this retirement-but not doing it immediately, his recollection soon became too indistinct for him to decide with certainty. The first Exercise' he wrote was that which is entitled, 'The Unlonely Solitude,'-John xvi. 32: And shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.'

"He wished also to have marked those which he wrote as he journeyed to and from Lynmouth. At the Plume of Feathers,' Minehead, where he slept as he was going down, he composed the Exercise called The Pious Excursion,'-1 Sam. iii. 9: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth,'-especially in reference to such a journey of recreation. At the same inn, as he returned, he composed the Exercise entitled, The Call to Depart,'-Micah ii. 10: Arise and depart hence, for this is not your rest.' He also wrote a third Exercise at the same inn, viz., Changes in the Wilderness not a Removal from it,'-Numbers x. 12: And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.'

"The author cannot conclude without observing two things :-

"The first is, That relaxation is never so perfectly enjoyed as in connexion with engagement.

"A want of occupation is not rest;

A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.'

Relaxation indeed can have no existence separate from employment; for what is there then to relax from. On the other hand, action prepares for repose; and labour not only sweetens but justifies recreation - so that we feel it to be, not only innocent indulgence, but a kind of recompence.

“The second is, That as of such a precious talent as time nothing should be lost; so, much may be done by gathering up its fragments."

We cannot part with these beautiful and convenient volumes without expressing our devout wish, that their beloved author may be spared to complete the editorial labour of collecting and revising his own works, and of enriching them with a series of notes as interesting and instructive as the one just quoted.

CURSORY NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

"THE Lives of the Fathers" appear, at first sight, to be no very suitable work to issue from the press of an institution, pledged as the Religious Tract Society is to ecclesiastical neutrality. It was, therefore, not without some anxiety, that we saw, first, "The Life of Origen," and then "The Life of Cyprian," announced in their catalogue, lest it should be our painful duty to remonstrate with the committee upon the principles and tendencies of those publications. We therefore carefully read, and with deep interest too, these valuable pieces of patristical biography, and are happy to state, that they are obviously the result of original and learned researches in the works of those celebrated men. The most important facts are brought out with great faithfulness and force, and the tendency of the whole must be to deliver the mind of the reader from that superstitious reverence which is so zealously inculcated in the present day, and which is extensively cherished for the opinions of all who are included amongst the Fathers! While we say this frankly and fearlessly, yet we feel it right to add, that these valuable little books appear to be written by one who loves to use church terms. The catholicity of the Society requires that phrases that are not acceptable to many of its supporters should be avoided as much as possible. "Holy orders," "ordained priest," "episcopal dignity," "bishoprics," "episcopal claims," "the Christian priesthood," "the prelates," &c., &c., are phrases that it may not be always easy to avoid in writing ecclesiastical biography; yet, as Nonconformists regard them as signs of things not in accordance with the mind of Christ, the less frequently they occur, in works they subscribe for, the more acceptable will they be. Still these books are far less exceptionable than Cave's Lives of the same writers, and indeed we know not anything in English respecting them equally effective and edifying. (Tract Society.)

The Rev. H. J. Bevis, of Ramsgate, has recently published, at the request of those who heard it, a sermon on the “Characteristics of Puseyism,” preached in the Academy Chapel at Hoxton. While the limits of a single discourse forbid a comprehensive exhibition of the features of this modern heresy, the author has wisely fixed on its more prominent characteristics, fairly grappled with them, and demonstrated them to be alike unreasonable and unscriptural. Some parts of the sermon are truly eloquent; and while it is too much to hope that many of those who have imbibed the errors it denounces will be reclaimed by its perusal, it may serve to deter those who are in danger of "turning aside to fables," and as such, has our commendation, to which it is justly entitled. (J. Snow.)

Robert Montgomery's “ Sacred Gift, a Series of Meditations upon Scripture Subjects, with twenty highly finished Engravings after celebrated Paintings by the Great

Masters," is an extremely elegant quarto volume, without and within. Just the thing for "a sacred gift," and highly calculated to profit and to please. It has not been our lot often to see anything more beautifully executed than are these twenty engravings. Among them we have Rubens' "Judgment of Solomon;" Poussin's "Smitten Rock;" Franklin's "Raising of Lazarus;" Copley's "Abraham Offering Isaac;" West's "David and Nathan ;" and fifteen other gems;-all these illustrated by the pen of R. Montgomery, some in prose, others in poetry. "These meditations are submitted," says the author in his address, "with Christian respect to those who love the thoughtful sacredness of subjects like those which the master spirits of painting have immortalized. The facts of religion, the forms of art, and the feelings of poetry, are related to each other by a beautiful and holy concord; and the writer of this will be grateful, if, in the remotest degree, he may have succeeded in illustrating their alliance." We think he has succeeded well. (Fisher, Son, & Co.)

Mrs. H. S. Herschell, who is a most efficient teacher of vocal music, has conferred a great boon upon families who are fond of vocal music, by the publication of “ Fireside Harmony; or Domestic Recreations in Part Singing: a selection of favourite old Glees, Rounds, and Canons, arranged in words suitable for Families and Schools.” In a sensible preface she states her opinion that “it is far from desirable to confine young persons to sacred music alone. There is a light-hearted joyousness in youth, for the expression of which sacred music is inappropriate. Still more inexpedient is it, that this innocent mirth should be tainted with the language of passion, or of intemperance. Much of our fine old part music celebrates the pleasures of the bottle and the chace; while the subjects of some are of still more exceptionable character. The object of the present publication is to remedy this evil; and to give some of the compositions of the older masters of English song, arranged to words that may be sung in the family or the school-room." Thus we have thirty-four fine old pieces, with words from Milton, Scott, Cowper, Hemans, &c., adapted: these are so skilfully harmonized as to secure, we doubt not, general acceptance. (Taylor & Walton.)

We trust that the dissenters of England are not second to any class of their fellow citizens in an enlightened desire to promote the physical, as well as the intellectual improvement of the people. "The Health of Towns," therefore, is an object for which we are sure they would zealously labour, knowing, as they well do, that the sanitary condition of the labouring population is very closely connected with their moral advancement. But when a Bill, professing to promote this object, is brought into parliament, that would infringe our personal rights, and augment, to a frightful extent, the revenues and powers of the clergy, which are burdensome enough already, it becomes them to unmask the plausible pretence, and plainly to denounce this new version of episcopal jobbing. This has been done most completely, in a series of twenty-one letters, which first appeared in the columns of The Patriot, and are now reprinted in a large but cheap pamphlet, entitled "Health of Towns: an Examination of the Report and Evidence of the Select Committee on Mr. Mackinnon's Bill, and of the Acts for establishing Cemeteries around the Metropolis." This searching investigation of the whole question should be read by all dissenters who have buryinggrounds in towns, unless they would be content to see "the place of their fathers' sepulchres" laid "waste." True it is, the government will not support Mr. Mackinnon's Bill, but it is equally true, that they are contemplating a Bill of their own, and that in the present fit of high church mania, with which so many are affected, it impossible to say what may not be attempted. These letters bear such evident marks of the style and talents of the author of "Jethro," that there can be no mistake in attributing them to his powerful pen. (John Snow.)

THE EDITOR'S TABLE.

The Nestorians; or, The Lost Tribes; containing Evidence of their Identity, their Manners, and Customs, &c. By Asahel Grant, M.D. Second Edition, London: Murray. 1843.

The Secret Disciple; A Sermon occasioned by the Decease of Miss Selina Sherman. By the Rev. James Sherman. Second Edition. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co. 1842.

The Congregational Ministry Sustained by a Divine and an Adequate Human Sanction. London: Published for the Congregational Union. Jackson & Walford.

The Intercommunity of Churches; a Sermon, preached at Liverpool, October 11th, 1842. By the Rev. Richard Winter Hamilton. London: Jackson & Walford, 1842.

Lessons in Reading for Children in Families and Schools. London: Religious Tract Society. 1842.

Hymns and Chants for Sunday Schools. By John Curwen. London: T. Ward & Co. 1842.

The Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie, A.M. Vol. III. Imp. 8vo. Edinburgh : Ogle. 1842.

The Juvenile Harmonist; being a Collection of Tunes and Pieces for Children. By T. Clark. London: Sunday School Union. 1842.

Elements of Language and General Grammar. By G. Payne, LL.D. London: John Gladding. 1843.

A Brief Sketch of the Present State and Future Expectations of the Jews. By Ridley H. Herschell. Seventh Thousand. London: J. Unwin. 1842.

Columbus and his Times. London: Religious Tract Society. Catholic and Evangelical Principles viewed in their present Application to the Church of God. In a Series of Letters. By A. Barrett. London: J. Mason. 1843. Lecture delivered at the London Tavern on Tuesday, 11th October, 1842, before the Baptist Missionary Society. By the Rev. J. P. Smith, D.D., F.R.S. London. 1842. Characteristics of Puseyism; a Sermon. By the Rev. H. J. Bevis. 8vo. London: Snow. 1842.

Health of Towns; an Examination of Mr. Mackinnon's Bill and of the Acts for Establishing Cemeteries around the Metropolis. 8vo. London: Snow. 1843. A Discourse on the Studies of Newport Pagnell College. By the Rev. John Watson. London: Snow.

The Divine Warning to the Church; a Sermon. By the Rev. E. Bickersteth. London: Nisbet.

Sermons by the late Rev. E. Temple, of Rochford. London: Snow.

The Scottish Ecclesiastical Register and National Almanack for 1843. Edinburgh: Patterson.

Fire-Side Harmony. By H. S. Herschell. London: Taylor & Walton.

The Approaching Downfall of Popery and Civil Despotism in Europe. By A Layman. London: Ward & Co.

Observations on the School Return for the Diocese of Bath and Wells. By the Rev. T. Spencer, M.A. London: Green.

The Voice of Christ to the Churches. By Ebenezer Millar, A.M. London: Jackson & Walford.

A Few Facts relative to the Tithe Litigation in the Parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn. London: Hancock.

The Eastern and Western States of America. By J. S. Buckingham, Esq. 3 vols. 8vo. Illustrated with Engravings. London: Fisher, Son, & Co.