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REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Sermons and Plans of Sermons.
By the Rev. JOSEPH BENSON.
Parts I. and II.

Mr. SIMEON'S "Skeletons" and "Horæ Homiletica" are well known; and if other evidence of their utility were wanting, it would be a strong testimony in favour of that species of publication, that scveral volumes of a similar class have recently issued, or are now issuing, from the press. The subjects discussed by the various authors of these works must in many instances be the same; but, as every man has his own particular mode of thinking, and his own way of illustrating, it does not follow that, even in these cases, the publications are superfluous; each may be expected to furnish some useful contribution to the common stock, and from each the young minister will probably obtain such instruction as will repay the trouble of perusal.

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any discourse, or even any detached passage, which would point out the body of Christians among whom Mr. Benson officiated. That he did not adopt the creed usually styled Calvinistic, may be regarded as a recommendation or a reproach, according to the taste of the reader; but, in rejecting the peculiarities of Calvin, he did only what is done by many members of the Church of England; and we are not aware that he dogmatizes on these points, or presses his Arminian views in a way that can justly be offensive to the moderate disciples of Geneva. "The subjects treated in these sermons," as his editor has observed, "are never points of curious speculation, but the essential parts of religion;' and the manner in which they are treated always shews that the author's aim was not to amuse, or obtain the admiration of his hearers, but to lead them to the knowledge of the truth, that they might be made free' by it, and be established in the faith and hope of of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

As a specimen, we select a part of the discourse "On Fasting."

"The ends proposed by our Government in the appointment of this day, as a general fast, are great and important; and, probably, there are none present on this occasion who are disposed to question the wisdom and propriety of such an ap

The writer of these "Plans of 'Sermons' was a man of considerable powers of mind, and of great eminence among the class of Christians to which he belonged. We have heard him designated as "the last of the Methodists." He was a personal friend of the chief founders of Methodism, and, we believe, survived them all. His name is held in high reverence through the whole of that extensive connexion; and it will detract nothing from his cha-pointment, for the attainment of such racter, in the estimation of judicious and moderate men, to whatever party they belong, that he is understood to have retained to the last that cordial regard for the Church of England which was so long deemed the boast of the followers of Mr. Wesley.

We find, however, in this work very little that is peculiar to the Methodists. If we except the sermon "On covenanting with God" we should be at a loss to mention

ends; or who suppose that our Governenjoining the use of these means of avertment is not supported by Scripture, in ing calamities and obtaining blessings. You are too well acquainted with the oracles of God, to entertain such a sentiment. Nevertheless, you will generally agree with me, that the bare using these means, the bare observing, or professing to observe, a day, as a day of fasting and

humiliation, will not answer these ends, or be of any real use, unless it be regarded,

as the proclamation directs, in a devout and solemn,' and, I may add, consistent manner. Without this, by the observ

ance of the day, we only add to the already too heavy load of national guilt that lies upon us, and bring a curse upon ourselves and our country, instead of a blessing. Lest this should be the case with any of us,-reflect we on the comprehensive direction here given by our Lord. When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have 'their reward.'" p. 349.

After some additional observations, he proceeds, I. to consider the nature, design, and importance of fasting-II. to shew how the hy pocrites fast-and, III. to point out how the true people of God, who worship him in spirit and in truth, observe this duty. The extract which follows is from the first of these divisions.→→→→

"But what is the design of fasting? What end should we have in view therein? -One end of fasting is to manifest and promote inward sorrow for sin; (Isai. lyiii, 5;) hatred to it, and immediate purIndeed, distress of pose to forsake it. soul on account of sin, or its punishment, or on any other account, will naturally

lead us to abstain from food. In such a condition of soul, people will have little regard even for their sustenance, much less for any delicacy or necessary variety of food. An instance of this we have in Saul, who, in his distress because of Samuel, 'had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night;' (1 Sam. xxviii. 15— 20); in those in the ship with Paul; (Acts xxvii. 33); in Paul himself, while he continued without sight at Damascus; (Acts ix. 9); and in David, when he mourned the death of Saul and Jonathan. (2 Sam. i. 12).

"When good men feel in themselves the heavy burden of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, and behold with the eye of their mind the horror of hell, they tremble, they quake, and are inwardly touched with sorrowfulness of heart for their offences, and cannot but accuse themselves, and open this their grief unto Almighty God, and call unto him for mercy. This being done seriously, their mind is so occupied, partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from this danger of damnation, that all desire of meat and drink is laid apart, and loathsomeness of all worldly things, and pleasure, cometh in place; so that nothing then liketh them

more, than to weep, to lament, to mourn,' and both with words and behaviour of body, to show themselves weary of this life *.'

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By means of abstinence, godly sorrow and hatred to sin may be increased as well as manifested. For, as fulness of bread, and indulging our appetites, tend to produce levity and thoughtlessness of mind, carelessness and stupidity of spirit, so fasting and denial of the appetite tend to produce reflection, seriousness, coneern about salvation, and a deep sense of

the certainty and importance of spiritual

and eternal things.

"A second end of fasting is that we

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may use one, although a small instance of self-denial, and a means of mortification. Perhaps we have abused these lawful and needful things, meat and drink, those good gifts of God. It is then reasonable and proper we should herein deny ourselves, and, with David, chasten our souls with fasting;' (Psal. xix. 10;) taking revenge,' as St. Paul speaks, upon ourselves. (2 Cor. vii. 11.)-Fulness of bread increases not only levity, carelessness, and stupidity, but also foolish and unholy desires, yea, unclean and vile affections. By fasting, we withdraw fuel from our lusts, and mortify our appetites and pas

sions.

"A third important end of fasting is, that it may be a help to prayer and other holy duties. This it especially is when during our fast we set apart large portions of time for prayer, reading, and meditation, both in private and public. When the stomach is empty, the understanding is most clear, the passions most calm and

peaceful, and the mind and heart best prepared for holy thoughts, desires, hopes, joys, for prayer and praise, and every part of worship; then we discern most clearly, and feel most deeply, spiritual and eternal things, and are most sensible of, and affected with, the nature and importance of our duty in all respects.

"These things sufficiently manifest the reasonableness and importance of fasting. It is highly reasonable we should from time to time thus express our sorrow for sin, and use this means to have it increased; that we should thus deny ourselves, and endeavour to mortify our lusts and passions; that we should use this help to prayer and devotion.. This will more fully appear, if we consider how

God has been wont to own and bless this means-To the averting of his anger, as

* First Part of the Homily of Fasting.'. 4 C 2

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evinced by judgments and calamities, from individuals, as in the case of Adab Kings xxi. 27-29); from [cities]) as in that of Nineveh, (Jonah iii 410); from a people, as in the case of the Jews, in consequence of Jehoshaphat's proclamation of a fast; (2 Chron. xx. 1-30); and of Daniel's fasting and praying (ch. ix. 3ult. To the obtaining blessings for individuals, as in the case of Esther; (ch, iv. 16); Cornelius; (Acts x 30); Paul and Barnabas; (Acts xii 3; xiv 23); for a people, as for the children of Israel. (Judges xx. 26; 1 Sam. vii, 6; Ezra 'viii. 21, 23; Neh. i. 4-11). It was expressly enjoined by God for these ends; to avert calamities and obtain blessings, even for whole nations; (Joel ii. 12, 14); and spiritual as well as temporal blessings are thus obtained. (Joel ii. 28). pp. 351-353.

The number of sermons and plans of sermons in the two Parts already published, is seventy-eight; and the subjects of them are taken in order from the book of Genesis to St. Matthew. In the brief notice which we can take of them, it would be impossible to do more than to offer two or three general remarks.

It is evident that upon many of these discourses the author has eme ployed considerable thought; and they indicate a mind well stored with the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and qualified to illustrate and explain the several subjects which he takes in hand, with per spicuity and effect. He has the happy art also of engaging the fixed attention of the reader. His imagination is usually on the alert; his manner is lively; and his addresses are earnest and impressive.

-o The faults of these sermons are obvious at first sight: the preface, or introduction of the subject, is often far too long; the poetical quotations are too frequent; and the conclusions are sometimes too brief and abrupt. We have no doubt that this last defect was remedied by Mr. Benson in the actual delivery of his discourses; and that his ta lents as a preacher were not seldom employed with theirs full energy in those parts of the sermon which are

here either altogether a blank, or are comprized in a few general hints: but as the Plans are presented to us in this work, they seem occasionally to give the idea of a writer in haste to conclude; of one who began with a large view of the subject to be discussed, and with the intention to follow it out to its full extent, but who became wearied with the task of writing, and has therefore left. the reader to supply the application or to deduce the practical lessons to lead him. In that respect, these which the subject would naturally outlines are by no means so complete as those by Mr. Simeon; and had the author himself prepared them for the press, he would probably have made them, both in this and some other respects, less open to objection. They are, however, highly creditable to the piety and talents of the writer; and while they serve as a valuable aid to the young minister of the Gospel, are suited generally to instruct and to improve, to inform the understanding and to affect the heart.

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1. The Missionary Smith

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Sub

stance of the Debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday the 1st and Friday the 11th of June 1824, on a Motion of Henry Brougham, Esq. respecting the Trial and Condemnation to Death by a Court Martial of the Rev. John Smith, late Missionary at Demerara with a Preface, containing some new Facts illustrative of the Subject. London: Hatchard. 1824. 8vo. pp. lvi. and 255. Price 5s. 2. Report of the Committee of the Society for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Dominions read at the General Meeting of the Society, held on the 25th day of June 1824: together with an Account of the Proceedings which took place at that Meeting. London: Hatchard. 1824. pp. 112. Price 2s.

3. Man's Judgment at pariance with God's a Sermon preached in St. George's Church, on February 5th, 1824, in Behalf of the Edin burgh and Leith Seaman's Friend Society. By the Rev, HENRY GREY, M. A. Minister of the New North Church, Edinburgh. Edinburgh, Oliphant: London, Hatchard. 1824. pp. 42. 4. The Religious Instruction of the Slaves in the West India Colonies advocated and defended: A Sermon, preached before the Wesleyan Methodist Missonary Society, in the New Chapel, City Road, London, April 28, 1824, By RICHARD WATSON, one of the Secretaries of that Institution, London: Butterworth. 1824, pp. 35.

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5. Immediate, not Gradual Abolition; or an Inquiry into the shortest, safest, and most effectual Means of getting rid of West-India Slavery. London: Hatchard. Hatchard, 1824. 8vo. pp. 24. Price 4d. 6. Debate in the House of Commons on the 16th Day of March, 1824, on the Measures adopted by his Majesty's Government for the Amelioration of the Slave Population in his Majesty's Dominions in the West Indies. London : Hatchard. 1824. 8vo. pp. 72.

We have no intention of entering into a regular review of these publications. For the scope and contents of several of them we must refer almost entirely to the works themselves. The two articles which stand at the head of the list will, of course, be generally read. The first contains a full and authentic report of one of the most important, as well as one of the most powerful and eloquent, debates which has ever taken place in Parliament;— a debate embracing, not the case of an individual sufferer merely, but the administration of law and justice to our fellow-subjects in every part of the British empire; and, still more, the inalienable right even of that most helpless and degraded

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and oppressed part of the human race, our colonial slaves, to be admitted to share the blessings of the Gospel, and the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The men who advocated this righteous cause are eminently entitled to the gratitude of their country and of mankind. Their struggle was one of the noblest "ever maintained by genius in the cause of liberty, of justice, and of national honour;" and their names will be had in perpetual remembrance by all who value these blessings. The speeches, almost all of which have been revised by their authors, and some of which display remarkable specimens of Parlia mentary eloquence, are prefaced by the statement of several new facts which have transpired since the debate took place. To these we shall now briefly advert.

1. Mr. Smith was accused, and found guilty by the court martial, of misprision of treason; and the probability of his guilt in this respect was the only plea attempted in Parliament in favour of the court that tried him. The grounds, however, on which he was convicted, and condemned to die, were not half so strong as were deemed, in the case of other men, not missionaries, to afford no room even for censure. A magistrate and militia officer, of the name of Spencer, it seems, was accused of having been made distinctly acquainted with the intended rising before it took place, and of having, in violation of his duty, adopted no step towards its prevention, nor even made any communication on the subject to the Government. A court of inquiry was instituted, which acquitted Mr. Spencer of all blame. "The revolt was so unexpected, and the information so little believed," (this is the language of the General Order issued upon it by Governor Murray himself), "that it was not deemed expedient to alarm the colony by any military movement; and as it clearly appears that Mr. Spencer, who lived in the centre of the part

in which it broke out, knew no cause to believe the rumpar of the day, he could not have avoided both ridicule and censure, should it have proved unfounded, if he had needlessly thrown the district into confusion and alarm by calling out the militia; and the moment which convinced him of the reality of the evil existing, deprived him of all power, beyond a hasty and precarious attempt at concealment of his person. His Excellency, therefore, considers the charges unfounded and vexatious, dismisses the same, and acquits Mr. Spencer, in every respect, of having been guilty of any neglect of duty."

The Governor, we admit, was bound in consistency to pass this sentence of acquittal in the case of Mr. Spencer, because, had he condemned Mr. Spencer, he must have equaily condemned himself. He himself, he states in his first dispatch to Lord Bathurst, had received information" that the slaves were to. rise on that or the succeeding day throughout the colony; but their measures were laid with such secrecy, that few people, even under the existing susceptibility, were prepared to believe it." In short, he attached no credit to it. And his unbelief is the more remarkable, as the Rev. Mr. Austin testifies on oath, in his examination on the trial of Mr. Smith, that he had communicated to the Governor a variety of particulars with respect to the discontent and disaffection of the slaves, with the express view that measures might be taken to obviate the danger thence arising; and yet the Governor wholly disregarded these premonitions!

With respect to another person, Mr. Hamilton, the manager of the very estate on which Mr. Smith lived, it was testified, by the same slaves on whose evidence Mr. Smith was condemned to die, that he was cognisant of their whole plan for some weeks, and that he had counselled and controuled their measurés. The testimony given to this

effect, though remarkably clear and specific, was wholly discredited as it respected Mr. Hamilton, who was no missionary, and who had given this striking proof of his attachment to slavery, that, when the instructions of Lord Bathurst respecting the disuse of the whip as a stimulus to labour in the field were promulgated, he, in utter scorn of the recommendation, armed his drivers with a cat-o'-nine-tails, in addi tion to the cart-whip. Justified doubtless, by this and by some other no less unequivocal traits in his character, from all suspicion of a leaning to Methodism, he was not only not arraigned for his misprision, but appeared as a witness on Mr. Smith's trial; while Mr. Smith, against whom not one tithe was alleged of what was alleged against Hamilton, by precisely the same witnesses, was tried, and sentenced to death! Hamilton was 'distinctly declared, by the same witnesses who only charged Mr. Smith with having overheard some vague conversation of theirs, to have taken part in the counsels of the insurgents, and to have known all their plans-yet he is not even arrested! The testimony against him, though infinitely stronger than that against Mr. Smith, was rejected as incredi ble;-the testimony of the very same men against Mr. Smith was received as conclusive!-What explanation can be given of these transactions (none, indeed, has been attempted), which does not establish their gross partiality, their radical injustice, their preconcerted and predetermined malignity?

2. Fresh light, since the debate in Parliament, has also been thrown on the law of Demerara, as it affected the case of Mr. Smith; and it now appears, that, even had the crime of misprision of treason been clearly proved against him, it would not have been a capital offence by the Dutch, any more than by the English law; and that, had he been tried by the civil law of the colony instead of by a court martial, he

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