are the great doctrines which he inculcates, and this not in a cold, distant, and desultory manner, but with a degree of fervour which proves that "he is serious in a serious cause." The important truths which this volume contains, are not restricted to sect or party by those who spend their Sundays at home, and such as join in the public solemnities of devotion, this book may be perused with much advantage; and few, we conceive, will complain that they have wasted their time in examining its pages. REVIEW.-Sequel to the Grammar of THIS book contains a paraphrase on In this little work Mrs. Rundall has displayed an intimate_acquaintance with the service of our Establishment, into the various branches of which she enters with much affection, that seems every where to be accompanied with an enlightened understanding. The connexion which subsists between its parts, she points out with much precision and discrimination, developing the wisdom of those by whom it was framed, and placing the compilation in an amiable and interesting light. In her paraphrase on the Catechism, Mrs. Rundall has endeavoured to obviate those objections which are generally urged against some particular expressions which it contains. In several instances she has been successful, but in others the stone still remains to be rolled away. "The paraphrase on the Epistles and Gospels is chiefly taken from the Rev. William Gilpin's Exposition of the New Testament;" so that to those who are acquainted with his writings, its merits will be sufficiently obvious. When either the epistle or gospel is a continuation of a discourse or of a subject previously begun, it is introduced by some prefatory observations, to make the sense complete. These preliminary observations are very concise, but in general they are satisfactory. The notes are copious and appropriate, having been judiciously selected from authors of acknowledged celebrity. As an explanation of the church service, this work is well arranged, and promises to be useful, but beyond the atmosphere of the Establishment it can excite no interest and claim no recommendation. REVIEW.-New Sacred Melodies, 5th Edition: A Supplement to the above, WE Cordially unite with our contem- REVIEW.-The Pastor of Blamont; an authentic Narrative. 18mo. pp. 106. London. Baynes. 1824. THIS is a pleasing narrative, which, though not destitute ofincident,obtains its chief recommendation from the piety, sufferings, and triumphant death of Mr. Nardin, whose pastoral biography it records. It is a little volume, ON THE PREVAILING BUT PERNICIOUS of the manufacturing districts, can form an adequate conception of the fatiguing bustle which some shopkeepers are obliged to undergo on the Saturday evening, whose transactions of business, it may be, during the rest of the week, are something "Like angel visits,-few, and far between." To a person thus circumstanced, wishing to discharge the duties and to enjoy the privileges of the Lord's the exertions of the preceding evenday, the consequences produced by ing, and the lateness of the hour at which, of course, he will have retired to rest, must be painful indeed. In addition to this, the hurry and bustle which the prevailing period of paying wages in our more populous districts necessarily occasions, afford a most favourable opportunity for persons of a dishonest disposition; and no doubt many a worthy shopkeeper has suffered severely from this circum stance. It is also well known that there are many who receive their wages on a CUSTOM OF PAYING WAGES ON THE Saturday night at too late an hour to SATURDAY EVENING. MR. EDITOR. SIR,-There are a few persons employing mechanics, or other workmen, who are accustomed to pay their wages on the Friday evening. This plan, it would seem, has never engaged the attention, which, upon a closer examination, I am persuaded it would evidently appear to deserve. To pay wages on the Friday, instead of the Saturday evening, would form no inconsiderable advantage to the workmen receiving them, as, in that case, there would be the whole of Saturday for purchasing those articles of food and clothing which might be wanted for themselves and their families. But, besides this, were the plan alluded to generally adopted, it would, in all probability, produce a most important change as to those shopkeepers and dealers whose chief business it is to furnish goods for the use of labouring people. Instead of having the principal part of their business to transact from about seven o'clock to twelve on the Saturday evening, much, no doubt, would be done on the Friday evening, and during the former part of Saturday. Perhaps no person who has not been actually engaged in a situation of this kind, in some one purchase what they really want. Hence, their ordinary traffic is postponed until the morning of the succeeding day; by which means the sabbath is profaned, an attendance on public worship is neglected, and what was by divine appointment set apart as a season of rest, is metamorphosed into a market-day. In many of our large manufacturing towns, it is painful to observe to what an extent business is carried on, from perhaps seven in the morning, until about eleven, on the Lord's day. The shops of butchers, of bakers, of greengrocers, of flour dealers, of pork sellers, and many others, are continually open during these hours, and crowded with customers, many of whom would have supplied their wants on the preceding day, if they could have received their wages in proper time. It is useless to enact laws for the better observance of the Lord's day, and to complain of such as buy and sell, while those with whom the cause of these evils originates, remain without an admonition. It is in the power of the employer to remove the occasion of this nuisance, and of the outrage offered to public morals. When this is done, offenders may be repre 575 Worldly Enjoyments incapable of affording Happiness. hended with justice, and their conduct will be left without excuse. It cannot be for the interest of shopkeepers to serve their customers on a Sunday, if they would come on the preceding day; and I doubt not that they would heartily rejoice to be totally exempted from that drudgery to which their interest now tempts them to submit. Knowing that your magazine has a very extended circulation, I beg respectfully to recommend the subject of this paper to the very serious consideration of all "who profess and call themselves Christians;" and who regard, as one part of the great business of life, the promotion of the welfare of society, as far as their exertions and influence can possibly extend. W. ELLERBY. Windsor, April 25, 1824. WORLDLY ENJOYMENTS INCAPABLE OF AFFORDING TRUE HAPPINESS. 576 serve with what mortified disgust a person of this character has returned from the gay assembly, the brilliant drawing-room, and the merry dance; constrained, in the bitterness of his soul, to pronounce that emphatic criticism on worldly pleasures, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Let the rude hand of death snatch away from a family one of these lov ers of pleasure, more than of God," and we hear the relatives, whilst weeping over the death-bed of a father, a mother, a brother, or a sister, exclaim, in the agony of their souls, whilst constrained to be aware of their folly, in some such words as,“Oh, world! why couldest thou not have saved so dear a relation?" Does the world comfort and console them? Alas! it scorns and derides their appeals! Sourly and scoffingly it pulls off the mask under which it had deluded them, and appears in its proper light, as vain, deceptive, and empty. This every one must expect who listens to the counsels of the world. Had God created him for no other purpose than to live on this earth, and when he quitted it, to be annihilated, then, indeed, man would be justified in paying his court to this world, and to this only; and his anxiety to lay up and enjoy the good things of this life, without thinking of another, would then be proper.-But this is not the case: his mortal state is but a probationary stage, a prelude to his future existence; and in this state of trial it is in his power to choose whether his future existence shall be eternally miserable or happy. THERE is no notion_more prevalent amongst the mass of mankind, than that the concerns of this world are capable of supplying those of the next, in making us happy. This may perhaps appear a bold assertion; but, if we look at the line of conduct which the gay part of our fellow-creatures pursue, we find that it is founded on truth. Let a worldly person complain to one of his own cast that he is miserable, he will flippantly tell him to mix more in gay company, and encourage him to waste that time in dissipation, in which, if rightly counselled, he should be humbled into the dust before his Maker. The man probably follows this foolish advice, and endeavours to be as gay as his fellows: but, alas! he finds the world is, to him, even more disgusting than before. Little, perhaps, did his jovial companion imagine that he was lead-finite, shall all pass away. Were we ing him far away from true happiness, and directing him into the road of everlasting destruction! Immortality can be satisfied with nothing short of immortality; infinity, than with infinity. Therefore, the soul of man, which is immortal, cannot be content with the things of this life, which, being mortal and not under some strange infatuation, we should never think that worldly things could supply the place of heavenly. In conducing to our happiness, they were created merely to serve the purposes of our lowest inclinations and desires; but, instead of viewing them in this light, they are substituted by us for the noble, the sublime pleasures, of immortality and heaven! Like silly children, we prefer the gratifications of the moment, although paltry and insignificant, to future rewards, however great or desirable they may be. to Mr. Skelton, in his Deism Re vealed," he could not be invited to a gentleman's house without carrying away a silver spoon, or any other valuable article that came in his way; and having been detected in one of these thefts, he thought proper to decamp with all speed. Let us reflect, too, that for the sins of yesterday, punishment is laid up in store for us; and that, for to-day's transgression, that punishment is doubled. Alas! we find even here, the gnawing worm which will not let us rest; which will not let us enjoy the paltry pleasures so dearly bought, at the expense of our future happiness, without intermingling them with bit-tress Sophia; that princess being well terness and sorrow. THE excessive vanity of this infidel was remarked by the celebrated Mr. Molyneux, in a letter to Locke from Dublin, in 1697: "Truly" says he, "to be free, I do not think his management, since he came into this city, has been so prudent. He has raised against him the clamours of all parties; and this not so much by his difference of opinion, as by his unseasonable way of discoursing, propagating, and maintaining it. Coffee-houses and public tables are not proper places for serious discourses, relating to the most important truths: but when also a tincture of vanity appears in the whole course of a man's conversation, it disgusts niany that may otherwise have a due value for his parts and learning." After this he became a spy for the Whigs, who sent him to Hanover, where he was in high favour with the Elec known to entertain the loosest opi nions in religion. From Hanover, Toland went to the court of Berlin, and experienced a very flattering reception from the queen, who was fond of the conversation of men of learning. One Sunday, in October 1701, her majesty invited Beausobre, the celebrated French minister, to meet Toland in her apartment. On his arrival, the queen said, “M. Beausobre, here is a stranger who attacks the pillars of our faith, and even calls in question the authority of the scriptures." Beausobre behaved very courteously, and did what he could to avoid that contest which Toland wished to provoke. The minister observed, that these bold opinions, which might be excusable in youth, should be restrained within the limits of prudence when men advanced in years. Toland, notwithstanding this hint, was eager for disputation; and the queen was no less anxious to promote a conflict. Beausobre throughout acted entirely upon the defensive; while the sceptic, with his wonted daring, attacked the canon of scripture, and called the resurrection a natural fact. "What, Monsieur," said Beausobre, "do you reckon the revival of a person from death, a natural fact?" To this Toland replied, "that the crucifixion was not attended with death." The queen, astonished at this piece of impudence, interposed, and said very properly, "If that be so, then all historic evidence is at an end!". Toland died March 11, 1722. It was not much to be wondered that a man of this stamp should create himself enemies, and especially when his conduct in other respects was grossly irregular. Mr. Molyneux, in another letter, says, "Mr. Toland is at last driven out of our kingdom: the poor gentleman, by his imprudent management, had raised such a universal outcry, that it was even dangerous for a man to have been known once to converse with him, insomuch that at last he wanted a meal's meat, as I am told, and none would admit him to their tables. The little stock of money which he brought into this country being exhausted, he fell to borrowing from any one that would lend him half-a-crown; and he ran in T. G. has asked, col. 208,-"How far debt for his wigs, clothes, and lodg-have we any reason to suppose that ing, as I am informed." But Molyneux might have added, that it was not so much the infidelity of Toland which occasioned this treatment, as his dishonesty; for, according No. 66.-VOL. VI. ANSWER TO A QUERY ON THE FORE- angels are possessed of foreknowledge?"- -In the first place, Iremark, that foreknowledge, of course, is the act of perceiving things in futurity. This may be of two kinds, or perceived 20 The first sort belongs only to Deity, who views things past, present, and to come, as they are in themselves, without any introduction to them from their preceding causes. in two ways: in the first place, by an | just the same kind of foreknowledge instantaneous act of the mind, without as man, only they have it in a more taking into consideration the preced- perfect degree. Their minds being ing circumstances, or the causes on superior, they are able to judge with which it depends: in the second place, precision; and what with i us may be by a regular train of reasoning, and very obscure and difficult, may with by observation on facts existing, and them be foreseen with clearness. judging therefrom the future existence Indeed, the very sort of foreknowledge of other things. which we often attribute to the Almighty, may be the kind which belongs to angels. We have no means of judging, except by analogy with our own powers; and what we ascribe to God, very often, is nothing more than the human method in high perfection. With the principle of thought, we connect some ideal image in which thought resides; thus we get into a method of judging of the Almighty by a finite form, instead of contemplating him as destitute of form, and as filling all space. We thus analogically attribute to Him, merely, what we consider as the most perfect method of foreknowing upon our own plan, and this, as we have said before, may be the sort really attributable to angels. The second sort belongs to man, to angels, and indeed, in a certain degree, so far as our observations extend, to all created beings. It is dependent on experience and reasoning. We will begin with the lowest.-Animals that are termed irrational, have impressed on their memory certain trains or connexions of circumstances.These afterwards arise, and produce a sort of foreknowledge. The first link of that chain, or one similar to it, is perceived by the senses, and by a regular association of ideas, the prin- I have hinted that there are but ciple of perception is carried on to the two ways of looking at future events, conclusion; so that when one circum--and these are by perceiving them stance occurs, it can judge or foreknow the conclusion. We may rise from animals to intelligent beings, and consider man. Here we see something superior. In addition to that mechanical association possessed by the lower species, they have the power of extending their observation, and taking into the calculation other things that are merely probable, and thus, by analogy, they have the power of foreknowing. immediately and unconnected, or by a slower method, and preceded by other events. The former must be a perfect method, as it is above the laws of causes and effects, and belongs therefore only to an uncaused Being. The latter must belong to all created intelligences, as there is no other sort which they can possess. This sort then belongs to angels; but the foreknowledge of angels is, in its nature, imperfect, being dependent for its existence on divine communications, experience, and reasoning. Q. ANSWER TO A QUERY ON ECLIPSES." Proceeding, in this way, to angels, we may conclude that they possess also the faculty of knowing by association. They remember the connexion of circumstances which they have before experienced, and judge of the SIR,In reply to the above query, termination when the first species (inserted col. 400,) I would beg to obagain comes to view. They remember serve, that there is a small and useful also the result of their contemplations, work, by Blyth Hancock, published their examinations into things, their by Crouse, of Norwich, treating exspeculations, and the probable result pressly on the doctrine of these strikof occurrences. They possess that ing exhibitions of nature; containing power, in common with man, of con- rules for their calculation and projecnecting the first and last links of a tion; "whereby any person of a moseries in the memory, and thus, by a derate capacity may be able, in a short prompt method, perceive the termina- time, to solve those grand and subtion by glancing at the commence-lime astronomical problems." It conment. They, without doubt, also retains tables fitted to the meridian of ceive communications direct from the Greenwich. 'Almighty. Indeed, they have, perhaps, London, May, 1824. W.N. |