Let any one go to it as a trade, whether the gain sought be honor, influence, competence or comfort, and it will prove to him in its progress, and infinitely more in its end, "the worst of all trades." On the other hand, let any one enter it with right views and feelings, in the spirit of labor and self-sacrifice, to honor God and do good to men, and no matter what toils and privations may attend it, he will find it "the best of all professions:" the best in its discipline to his own mind and heart; the best, alike, in its restraining and reforming power; the best in all its influences, social, civil and moral, on nations and individuals, for time and eternity. Even if assailed by obloquy, opposition, or persecution, its progress, like that of the Son of God on earth, will be attended by light and blessing, and its end, like his, be the fullness of joy and glory.

"Best" as it is, however, it is not beyond improvement; for, as with every profession, its improvement is that of those who are in it; and every effort to improve them should be welcomed with respectful favor. True, it is a difficult, and too often a thankless office to give advice, though the man that suggests wise counsels, sustained and enforced by strong reasons, is the benefactor of his race. But when it comes from one whose position gives it weight,

The Power of the Pulpit; or Thoughts addressed to Christian Ministers, and those who hear them. By Gardiner Spring, D. D., pastor of the Brick Presbyterian church, New York. Baker & Scribner, 1848.

Such good we expect from the work before us. Its author, subject, form, the classes it addresses, and its mode of address, are all such as to give it claims upon our notice, and interest in our hope. From few, if any in the land, could it have emanated with the same propriety as from Dr. Spring. His experience has been various, and his ministry long continued and richly blessed. He has not made it his business to amuse or alarm the community, by every now and then exploding theories, which if novel, are questionable, or if manifestly original, are as manifestly irrational and false. He has not been the lion of "anniversary" platforms, or famed as the popular lecturer, nor often appeared in the pages of periodicals and reviews. A higher and nobler praise is his due. He has stood, for a lifetime, at his one post of toil and duty; making the ministry his work and his only work; confining himself to that part of the field to which Providence directed; "deaf to all and many calls to other labors, and other fields of labor; sowing and reaping as seed-time and harvest, according to promise, have returned;" unmoved, alike, by the assaults of slander, or the praises of friendship; persevering in his toils, and, to an extent equalled by few, in his studies; his diligence unremitted, and his armor all on, while many a younger man may have been thinking of rest. The providence of God has given him a standing from which he may speak with weight; and the suggestions he offers will be

received with interest and profit by the ministry and the church.

The work is addressed to "Christian ministers and those who hear them;" and is adapted to impress and be useful to both. It opens with a touching dedication to the youthful ministry of the land, and then proceeds to speak of the great topics suggested for their consider ation. These are, the power of the pulpit; the truth of which it is the vehicle; the living teacher; the divine authority of the ministry; its aid from the power of God; the great object of preaching, and every thing subservient to it; the preach er's interest in his subject; the diligence, prayerfulness, piety, example, and responsibility of ministers; the ministry compared with other professions; a competent ministry to be procured; the proper education for the ministry; pecuniary support of ministers; prayer for them; the consideration due them; and the responsibility of those who enjoy their labors.

All these topics are presented with clearness, and pressed with the earnestness of a personal appeal with the definiteness of thought and aim that we expect in a work originating in some specific, and to its author's mind impressive occurrence. In style, the work is chaste, serious, manly, marked throughout by strength, and often rising to eloquence. There is no affectationno wandering-no attempt at rhetoric-no puerile conceit of originality.

All is natural, direct, and deeply solemn. We feel that the author has forgotten self in his fullness of the subject; and under the influence of this feeling, our hearts open to a deep interest in it, as the flowers open to the sun. And this interest increases to the end, until, as we close the book, we rise from its pages with thoughtful and serious spirits, with a higher estimate of the power of the pulpit, with a deeper and more chastened sense of the

meaning of the inquiry," Who is sufficient for these things?"

We do not mean that the work is perfect. Its method might be improved. It has some verbal defects, for which, doubtless, the proof-reader is responsible, such as Charnoch for Charnock (p. 46), Waberton for Warburton, and Witsus for Witsius (p. 51), Robertson and Dickenson, for Robinson and Dickinson (p. 54), Tabot for Talbot (p. 269), &c. Mistakes like these as to proper and familiar names, are not to be classed with such mere misprints as maker for matter (p. 196), and unexecuted for unexerted (p. 199), and care for ease (p. 323); but are deserving of special reprehension in a publishing firm, one of the partners of which, if we mistake not, has been a student of theology.

On the part of the author, we might object to his use of the word "depreciate" (p. 312), or to the construction of such sentences as the fifth on the 334th, the last on the 342d, and the first on the 345th pages. We can not agree with him (pp. 345, 346) that "public spirit" is, in any sense," the prominent feature of Christianity." We doubt the correctness of the estimate (p. 331), that "not far from seventy ministers in the American church can trace their lineage to the elder Edwards;" for though the statement has so often been made, that Dr. S. is not responsible for its repetition, yet with some means of knowing, we can not make out onethird of that number. The connected statement, that "his (President Edwards') earliest known ancestor was a preacher of the Gospel, settled in London, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth," is certainly incorrect in one, and almost certainly in two respects. As to the first, Dr. Spring, being himself descended from the same stock, should have been aware, that his "known ancestors" in several lines, are easily traced back to a much earlier period

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than the one he designates.* And as to the second point, that the ancestor alluded to, was a preacher of the Gospel, settled in London, in the time of Queen Elizabeth," it is, to say the least, highly improbable; for "Newcourt's Repertori. um" contains the name of every minister of that diocese, back to the earliest times, and it does not mention Richard Edwards as one of them and in those days, it must be remembered, though there was nonconformity, there was no dissent. Whence Dr. Hopkins, who first published this statement, derived it, is now unknown; but the evidence al luded to, seems against it, though it has so often been repeated, as almost to have become a part of settled history. Other evidence renders it probable that Richard Edwards was a layman of high standing in London, possibly in some way connected with the court or household of Elizabeth herself. We should demur somewhat to Dr. Spring's estimate of parochial schools (p. 362); and question his implied (though commonly received) exegesis of the passage from the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, as to "kings being nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers," &c., the meaning of which, even Alexander, in his admirable commentary, has, we think, failed to reach.

There is another error in the work before us, calling for a more extended notice. We refer to the anecdote on the 142d page, of the preaching of President Davies before George II; an anecdote, which though utterly fictitious, has been so often repeated, not merely in almanacs and newspapers, but by well read men, that multitudes believe it.

To say nothing of the paternal ancestors of President Edwards, he was directly descended from the Winthrops (through Lucy, the favorite sister of the first Governor W.) and the Downings, both of whom, especially the latter, were distinguished families long before the time of Elizabeth.-EDITOR.

As given by Dr. Hill, and quoted by Dr. Barnes, in his life and times of Davies, prefixed to his edition of his sermons, it is as follows:

“His (Davies') fame as a pulpit orator was so great in London, that some noblemen who had heard him, mentioned in the presence of King George II, that there was a very distinguished dissenting preacher in London, from the colony of Virginia, who was attracting great notice, and drawing after him very crowded audiences; upon which the King expressed a strong desire to hear him, and his chaplain invited him to preach in his chapel. Mr. Davies is said to have complied, and

preached before a splendid audience, composed of the royal family, and many of the nobility of the realm. It is further said, that while Mr. Davies was preaching, the King was seen speaking, at different times, to those around him, who were

seen also to smile. Mr. Davies observed it, and was shocked at what he thought was irreverence in the house of God, that was utterly inexcusable in one whose example might have such influence. After pausing and looking sternly in that direction several times, the preacher proceeded in his discourse, when

the same offensive behavior was still observed. The American dissenter is then said to have exclaimed, When the lion

roars, the beasts of the forest tremble; and when King Jesus speaks, the princes of the earth should keep silence.' The King is said to have given a significant but courteous bow to the preacher, and sat very composedly and reverently during the rest of the service. If this be a correct statement of the fact that took place,

speaks louder than any thing that has yet been said in praise of Mr. Davies' promptness, intrepidity and solemn selfpossession, while engaged in delivering God's messages to his perishing_fellow men. Whatever authority Mr. Davies' friends had for narrating this story, is not now known; but it was universally believed among them to have occurred. The explanation given of this strange affair, is this. The King is said to have been so enraptured with Mr. Davies's solemn and impressive manner and eloquence, that he was constrained repeatplause to those around him, and felt any edly to express his astonishment and apthing else but irreverence upon the occasion. He was so delighted with him, that he sent him an invitation to call upon him at a given time, which interview unquestionably did take place, and was repeated more than once; after which, and the explanations given, Mr. Davies was delighted with his Majesty, and not only received a handsome donation from him for the college whose cause he was

"That distinguished American preacher, Samuel Davies, President of the College of New Jersey, when on a visit to England, in behalf of the college, was invited to preach before George III. His youthful Queen was sitting by his side; and so enchanted were they by the preach er's eloquence, that the King expressed his admiration in no measured terms, and so audibly and rudely as to draw the attention of the audience and interrupt the service. The preacher made a sudden and solemn pause in the discourse, looked around upon the audience, and fixing his piercing eye upon England's noisy monarch, said, When the lion roars, the beasts of the forests tremble; when Jehovah speaks, let the kings of the earth keep silence before him!"

Now this anecdote, minute as it is in its details, is utterly unsustained by evidence, and in all probability is utterly untrue. It was originally written and published by the wellknown "parson Weems," who was famous not only for telling, but coin ing good stories. The original journal of Davies, which he kept while in England, is still in existence; and in that he has given the occurrences of each day while he was on this mission to that country in behalf of the College of New Jersey. He states distinctly when and where he preached while abroad; and he does not say a single word about having preached before the king: nor does he allude to the king's having made a donation to the college, though he carefully records every donation he received, and from whom he received it. And so far from preaching

* In this version of the anecdote, there are two mistakes in dates; for Davies was appointed to go to England in 1753, which was six years before he was chosen president of the College of New Jersey; and George III. did not come to the throne till 1760, which was several years after his return to this country.

before the king, Davies states in his journal, that by the advice of his friends in England, he kept the object of his mission concealed from the knowledge of the British government, lest the charter of the college should be revoked. Governor Belcher, who gave the charter, had, by some means, fallen into bad repute with the crown, and the charter was thought to be too liberal to receive the royal favor. For these reasons, Davies did not ask aid from any one connected with the government. He received nothing from the higher clergy of the establishment, except from a bishop in Cumberland, who gave him five guineas, on the express condition, that his name should not be used in favor of the object. Such facts render it morally certain that the story, which Weems first published in an edition of Davies' ing not the least foundation in truth.† sermons, is a sheer fabrication, hav.

others have been before him, as to But if Dr. Spring is in error, as this anecdote, he more than balances the account by giving one or been mistold, in authentic shape. two that are new, or have previously The first we shall quote is as creditable to a king, as the largest subscription to the college could have

been. It is as follows:

"The bishops," said George III, “are Whitdeld.) When a distinguished prevery jealous of such men," (alluding to late complained to him of the zeal of the ministers under the patronage of Lady of them; make bishops of them!" "That Huntingdon, he replied, "make bishops might be done," replied the prelate, “but we can not make a bishop of Lady Huntingdon." "Well, well," said the king, "see if you can not imitate the zeal of these men. As for her ladyship, you can not make a bishop of her, it is true; it would be a lucky circumstance if you could, for she puts you all to shame! I wish there were a lady Huntingdon in every diocese in the kingdom!"-p. 254.

For these facts we are indebted, mainly, to the Rev. Dr. Carnahan, President of the College of New Jersey, who has stated them more fully in an interesting letter, published in the N. Y. Observer, some years since.