pursued an opposite system; and, resisting the pride of the Brahmins, have taught wherein the only real distinction between man and man consists, and also that distinction alone which God will recognise. The means they have adopted have not been an interested compliance with idolatrous usages, but a general promulgation of the Bible, transIated into the various languages of the East. The event has answered their expectations: for, while the Catholics have abandoned India in despair, the schools established by Protestant missionaries contain, at the present time, more than 38,149 boys, and 1189 girls, a number which is daily increasing: and, whilst the Jesuists lament their failure in obtaining one sincere proselyte, a native Christian, during only four years of his ministry, made no less than 233 converts, and the different societies in India can enumerate more than "3000 converts, who have renounced all their superstitions, have embraced the Christian faith upon principle, are living according to the Saviour's commands, and are adorning their profession in the midst of idolatry and iniquity." The tree, too, is known by its fruit, and the Tinnerelly Christians having been left for "ten years without a missionary," and during that time exposed to the persecutions of their heathen neighbours, had not to lament the defection of a single member. "Let this be contrasted with the apostacy of 60,000 Roman Catholics, upon the command of Tippoo Sultan to have them circumcised and made converts to Mahomedanism;" yet "Hyder, Tippoo, and other native princes, to whom his character was known, reposed unreserved and undiminished confidence in the late missionary traitor, even when they were at war with the very nation (the English) by whom he was employed. The book concludes with some highly curious particulars relative to the Syrian church in Travancore, and a very forcible statement of the paramount duty, as well as policy, of promoting Christianity in India, and the necessity of improving the characters of the servants of government, both European and native. Into these details our limits preclude us from entering. The Abbé Dubois, in the pride of bigotry, may, if he pleases, deny 23,000 Indian protestants the name; but the author of this reply has most satisfactorily established their title to the character of Christians. To judge of Mr. Hough from the production before us, we should say, that no man appears more eminently qualified for the arduous duties in which he is engaged; and, trusting that the illness to which he alludes may not deprive India of the benefit of his future labours, we recommend his work, as well from the peculiarly interesting nature of its contents, as from its being the model of a style of writing at once becoming the gentleman, the scholar, and the Christian. A Third Course of Practical Sermons; expressly adapted to be read in Families. By the Rev. Harvey Marriott, Rector of Claverton, &c. &c.-8vo. pp. 462. Taylor and Hessey. LAVISH as the press has been, for some years past, of every sort of production, there is nothing which it has poured forth with such merciless profusion as books of theology. These have been evidences of what was already perfectly clear, proofs of what nobody doubted; notes to obscure, and commentaries to perplex; a name substituted for an essence, an hypothesis for truth; the ravings of uneducated genius, and the lucubrations of learned stupidity. Amid this incongruous mass, something of value must, of necessity, sometimes be found; and such have been the writings of Mr. Marriott. The first course of what he himself calls "Practical Sermons," has already gone through four editions; their second series is now in its second edition; the third course, which is the volume designated at the head of this article, and which brings this writer, for the first time, under our notice, is a continuation of similar practical discourses, expressly adapted by the author to be read in families. At the commencement, he has placed those sermons which are adapted to particular festivals: in these the subject of the day is treated in a popular manner, without any display of learning, any attempt at controversy, or any desire of answering the objections and the cavils of the dissenter and the infidel. The doctrines of the Church are plainly and simply stated, the most obvious and well-known texts of Scripture are adduced in their support, and the chief part of every discourse is employed in an earnest and affectionate address to the feelings, and to the conscience. The remainder of the volume is made up of practical duties not in any way connected together, but compromising many of the most important points of moral and Christian self-government. The writer follows nearly the same plan in all his discourses: and when we observe that his style is familiar, we must also remark that it is generally free from those vulgar colloquialisms which sometimes disfigure the oral addresses of warm and earnest ministers, more intent on reaching the heart than on pleasing the ear. Perhaps we might say, that the practical inferences which Mr. Marriott draws on every subject, have by far too little variety, and may have been thought by those who frequently hear him, as they must be by all who read his volumes, to savour strongly of repetition. In a clergyman who constantly uses the same pulpit, this may admit of some apology; but, in sermons intended for the press, it is altogether inexcusable. The conscientious preachers, like the prophet of old, must indeed "build line upon line, and precept upon precept:" he may think it his duty to urge again and again the same admonitions, believing that what is needful "decies repetita juvabit;" but, most assuredly, when a printed sermon is read in the closet, divested as it there is of all the associated influence of time and place, of the earnestness and warmth of delivery, we cannot say of a single idea, however good, that "decies repetita placebit." This hint we throw out generally to publishers of sermons. To return to the lectures before us:-There is one "on original sin." When this title catches our eye, we instinctively turn to that subject first, as to a key that will open to us at once the particular tenets of the writer. Mr. Marriott's are chiefly those of the Church of England, and are expressed with force and perspicuity. The sermon on the mystery of man's redemption" is not inferior to the first we have mentioned, and is in perfect accordance with sound Christian faith and practice. But, to enable our readers to judge of this author for themselves, we shall make one extract from the latter part of the volume, danger of worldly comforts;" text, Mark x. 23. "How hardly shall 66 66 on the they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven." The subject is thus opened :— "If ever there was a period in the history of mankind in which this text before us is more awfully applicable; if ever there was a people among the nations of the earth by whom this text should be most especially considered, as involving their own great personal responsibility; it is the period in which we live, the people of whom we form a part. Living, as we do, in times where civilization hath brought together so many remedies for natural want, and so many incentives to artificial want, there are few among us who do not, in some way or other, possess many worldly comforts, however comparative deprivation or the ill-adapted measurement of desire may give a different construction to the terms sick and poor, which, save only in their real excess, are only relative. Almost the poorest of this kind are rich in the estimate of the more craving demands of absolute want; to which, in matters of personal comfort, the earlier periods of a nation's history are likely to be exposed; and to which other nations, not advanced in civilization as we are, are still exposed. But, if we go a little further, and consider those who are said to be above want, people in the various branches of higher trades and callings, in what are called the middle and higher classes of society, there is manifestly such an accumulation of personal comfort around them, so many wants satisfied, so many advantages of every kind at hand, that the memory of the entrusted talent comes loaded with its heaviest responsibility. The matter is not strained, when we consider every one so circumstanced as standing in the very situation of that rich condition which makes it difficult to enter into the kingdom of God.'" Our readers will see that all this is correct and useful; and, to those who wish to possess a familiar course of divinity, we cannot recommend a work better suited to their purpose. Strictures on the Poet Laureat's Book of the Church. By John Merlin. -pp. 93. Keating and Brown. THIS is a severe lecture on Dr. Southey, read by a Catholic.—The direct apostacy of the Poet Laureat, his complete turn from north to south, without stopping, for decency's sake, at any intermediate point of the compass, is, we must confess, quite sufficient to make him noticeable, without the exposition of Mr. Merlin, or his own unnecessary pains to buoy up with corks and bladders the ponderous log of his courtly laureatship. We have no objection to any person, of any political party, because he entertains and supports political opinions which he has honestly formed; and, unshackled as we are with party trammels, we can afford consistently to make this concession. But we do think, and conscientiously maintain, that a complete change, such as we allude to, to say the least of it, looks very suspicious. But what says Mr. Merlin on this subject? "After writing D'Esperilla's letters in commendation of the Catholic religion, and Wat Tyler's drama to excite popular tumults against government, he has latterly celebrated and recommended the most dangerous schismatics from the establishment, the Wesleys, Whitfields, and their associates: and now, with the lying memorials of another such schismatic, John Fox, he raves through the history of many centuries in abusing and calumniating the common source of Christianity, in order to court the heads of the present establishment. "The poet ends his panegyric with pronouncing John Wickliffe a great and admirable man. The author ardently urges that one of the doctrines of Wickliffe was, that no ecclesiastic could hold tithes and church property, and adds 'it is worth while enquiring whether the dignitaries of the church, whose favor the poet courts, will echo back his applause of this forbearance of anabaptists and regicides. Regardless, however, of the consequences that might follow from his levelling system, and unappalled by those which did immediately follow it, when a frantic rebellion, headed by Wat Tyler, and guided by the Wickliffite priest, John Ball, beheaded the king's chancellor, and waved their swords over their monarch's head, our poet goes on to celebrate all who suffered death in this cause." Mr. Southey, continues the author, has celebrated Wat Tyler's rebellion before, and held it up to the imitation of the radical levellers, particularly in the speech of the Wickliffite priest, John Ball, in his dramatic poem of Wat Tyler, one of his best productions: and he concludes as follows:: (John Ball.) "Why do we fear these animals called lords? (Wat Tyler.) Petitioning for justice, is most weak! The Religious World Displayed; or a brief View of Christianity, Judaism, Paganism, and Mahommedanism; and of the various existing Denominations in the Christian World. To which is subjoined, a brief View of Materialism, Necessitarianism, Deism, and Atheism. By the Rev. Robert Adam, M.A. &c. &c. &c. Abridged from the larger Work. Pp. 540. Seeley and Son. THE general thirst for information has occasioned a proportionate degree of activity among the persons whom inclination or interest has made purveyors to the literary world; and to suit the various tastes of the public, every sort of dish has been prepared, delicate, piquant, rich, luscious, and substantial. Of the latter description is the work which forms the subject of the present article. A cool, dispassionate account of the opinions of different parties is, at all times, as valuable as it is difficult to obtain, more especially on religious questions, where the objects which have given rise to the most deadly enmities, are frequently too minute for the eye of the historian, who, arguing from the greatness of the effect, a suitable magnitude in the cause, overlooks the insignificant trifle which, perhaps, has deluged a nation with blood. Besides, there are persons who, considering that salvation depends on the observance of a form rather than on an adherence to the essence of a religion, think it a sort of duty, or merit, to exalt most preposterously their own rites and tenets, and to disparage as immoderately all who dissent from them. However, in defiance of these, and many other difficulties which the compiler of a work like that before us must encounter, Mr. Adam has executed his task with singular caution, judgment, and fidelity. Himself apparently of no sect or party, but a Christian in the abstract, he points out error with firmness, and speaks of it with charity. We shall extract a passage or two. "As the articles of our holy faith (the author observes) may be founded on reasons which we do not know, so the belief or rejection of them may have consequences that we cannot foresee. Christianity is not merely a rule of faith, but, at the same time, a rule of life and manners. It is a practical thing; and it is heard, it is believed, it is professed, and even defended, in vain, if it be not obeyed." Speaking of the Swedenborgians, he makes the following remark; a remark that, deserving universal application, cannot be too frequently repeated, nor dwelt on with too much attention : 66 They seem to turn Scripture into a mystery, of which they themselves are the only infallible key, keepers, and interpreters. Let this once be admitted as the genuine way in which the Old and New Testaments are to be understood, and then every thing certain and solid in religion must vanish and disappear; for to allegorizing and spiritualizing, neither rules nor limits can be prescribed." The ensuing detail, we think, cannot be devoid of interest : By a calculation ingeniously made by some, it is found, that, were the inhabited known world divided into thirty parts, nineteen of them are still possessed by Pagans, six by Jews and Mohammedans, two by Christians of the Greek and Eastern Churches, and three by those of the Church of Rome and Protestant communion. If this calculation be accurate, Christianity, taken in its largest latitude, bears no greater proportion to the other religions than five to twenty-five, or one to five. If we regard the number of inhabitants on the face of the globe, the proportion of Christians to other religionists is not much greater; for, according to a calculation made in a pamphlet, published originally in America, and republished in London in 1818, the inhabitants of the world amount to about 800,000,000, and its Christian population to only 200,000,000 ; viz. in Asia, 2,000,000; Africa, 2,000,000; Europe, 177,000,000; America, 18,000,000 ; i, e. the Greek and Eastern Churches 30,000,000 ; the Roman Catholics, 100,000,000 ; the Protestants 70,000,000." We shall now merely add, that we have never derived more satisfaction from the perusal of any work than from that of the one before us; and that the mild, temperate spirit with which it is written, as well as the research displayed by one of her members, reflects credit upon the national Church. To the honour of that Church, Mr. Adam has satisfactorily shewn, that, in the essential points of doctrine, her service and form of government, she bears a close resemblance to that of the Syrians on the coast of Malabar, as, after the lapse of ages, it still existed in its purity at the arrival of the Portuguese; a Church, consequently, coeval with, and founded, if not, as there is reason to believe, by an Apostle of our Lord, at least by some of the primitive disciples, coming from the place where the followers of Christ were first denominated Christians. Annotations on the Epistles; being a Continuation of Mr. Esley's Annotations; and principally designed for the Use of Candidates for Holy Orders. By the Rev. James Slade, M.A. Vicar of Bolton, &c. &c.-Second edition. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 424-432. Rivington. THE doctrines of Christianity, as laid down in the Gospels, are, for the most part, simple and perspicuous. The Gospels themselves, composed in an easy and familiar style, require, comparatively, but little study, to be fully intelligible to the great mass of mankind. Not so the Epistles: these last, written for special purposes, and addressed to particular communities, frequently demand no small attention and learning, to discover the circumstances which occasioned some of the precepts, and to distinguish those precepts, the necessity for which ceased with the causes out of which they rose, from the general admonitions which have reference to every state and condition of the Christian world. This, however, is not all; there are many other reasons which combine to make the letters of St. Paul, more than any |