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“To carry out this design more fully, it has been thought well to publish, from time to time, in connexion with the Tracts,' a few' Plain Sermons,' in order to show that the subjects treated of in the Tracts' were not set forth as mere parts of ideal systems, or as themes for disputation, matters only of sentiment, or party, or idle speculation, but are rather urged as truths of immediate and essential importance, bearing more or less directly on our every-day behaviour, means of continual resource and consolation in life, and of calm and sure hope in death."

We shall only add thus much. The clergy are often applied to by the laity to recommend to them Sermons for family or private reading. It would be difficult to name any collection in which will be found an equal number of really plain practical Sermons, equally well adapted for this purpose, with those which may be selected from these numbers. As they are designed to cast a hallowing influence, not merely over what are considered the more important events of our earthly career, but also over the more homely details of every-day life, their principles are applied-we believe we may say, especially applied-to the regulation of "The trivial round, the common task."

Those principles, we need scarcely say, are excellent; and the extraordinary cheapness of the publication will naturally be regarded by many as no small recommendation.

The subjects of which the Sermons treat are as follow:

Sermon.

I.

II.

III.

FIRST SERIES.

Jer. xiii. 20.-Christian Responsibility. For Lent.
2 Cor. v. 10.-The Certainty of Judgment.

Psal. iv. 4, 5.-Self-Examination. For Advent.

IV. Psal. cxix. 165. (Part 21, v. 5.)-Religious Peace. For twenty-first

V.

Sunday after Trinity.

1 Sam. xiv. 6.-Saints' Days and Daily Service.

VI. Rev. xiv. 5.-Death of Young Persons. For Innocents' Day.

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VIII.

Eccles. ix. 10.-Value of Time. Part II.

IX. St. Matt. vi. 6.-Our Lord a Pattern of Private Prayer.
X. St. Matt. vi. 6.--Moral Benefits of Private Prayer.
XI. St. John v. 14. Christian Fear of Relapse into Sin.
XII. St. Mark v. 35, 36.—Christian Hope of Improvement.

THIRD SERIES.

XIII. St. Matt. vi. 32.-All our Distresses known to God.
XIV. Jer. xxii. 21.—The Danger of Self-confidence.
XV. Psal. lxxviii. 34-37.-Forgetfulness of Warnings.

XVI. Psal. lxxxi. 11, 12.-Danger of presuming on God's Mercy.
XVII. Heb. xii. 23.-Benefits of Meditation on God's Saints.
XVIII. Dan. vii. 10.-Benefits of Meditation on the Holy Angels.

Christian Year.

FOURTH SERIES.

XIX. St. Luke xix. 41, 42.-Christ's Lamentation over Jerusalem.
XX. Jer. vii. 12.-God's Judgments on his Church.

XXI. Jer. xxxvi. 24.-Fearlessness under God's Judgments.
XXII. St. James ii. 21-23.-The Fidelity of Abraham.

XXIII. 1 Kings xxiii. 8.-The Church an unwelcome Prophet.
XXIV. Ephes. iv. 3.-The Unity of the Spirit.

The First Series, or Part, came out at the commencement of the present year. The others have followed at irregular intervals. They do not appear necessarily connected.

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Church Extension in England and Wales. A Sermon, preached at the Cathedral Church of Rochester, Sept. 22, 1839, in Aid of the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building, and Repairing of Churches and Chapels. By the Rev. EDWARD HAWKINS, D.D. Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, and Prebendary of Rochester. London: Fellowes. 1839. Pp. 44.

Ar any time, this excellent sermon ought to receive a serious attention. The interest now happily awakened in favour of the extension of churchaccommodation, and more especially the circumstance of a Queen's Letter having been issued, commanding sermons to be preached in all churches and chapels in behalf of the parent Church Building Society, may serve to recommend it, more peculiarly at the present moment, to general notice. Those of the clergy, in particular, who are preparing to advocate this great cause, will find in the sermon, and in the letters attached to it, which are on the same subject, some very valuable materials, well calculated to assist them in their work. The price at which it is published is most praiseworthy. Whilst we are on the subject of the Queen's Letter, we may also recommend the perusal and reperusal of Mr. Henry Wilberforce's prize essay on "the Parochial System," and of a most admirable article in the British Critic, for October last, on Church Building. They are quite magazines of information in sound principles.

The Church, a Gift of the Saviour; wherein and whereby the Holy Spirit acts as the Teacher and Guide of God's Children. A Sermon, preached in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Salford. By the Rev. ALEXANDER WATSON, B.A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Licentiate in Theology of the University of Durham; Curate of St. Andrew's, Manchester. Published by Request. Second Edition. 8vo. Pp. 31. London : Burns. Manchester: Bancks & Co. Cambridge: Stevenson. Oxford: Parker. Leeds: Cross & Harrison. 1839.

We have already noticed this sermon. Our previous remarks render it unnecessary to say we are glad to see it in a second edition. We extract the advertisement to the second edition.

"In obeying the call made for a second edition of this sermon, the author has in one or two places inserted a word or a sentence to obviate a charge of obscurity in the sense in which he had used the term Church, and has corrected several misprints in the scripture references.

"It will hardly be believed, that the desire to detect popery in every thing which comes from an advocate of those church principles on which the Reformation was conducted, has led one discreet Protestant to charge the doctrine of Purgatory! upon this sermon; but so it is; and although the author is unable to detect any sentence thus savouring of heresy, he

has been led to suppose that allusion is made to a sentence at page 8; and therefore, to disarm all misinterpretations, in future, he has inserted the words which any candid mind would at once have supplied as the natural ellipsis. The author has also been charged with Puseyism; and he has been favoured with sundry nicknames and invectives, which seem to be the price of asserting sound principles in this latitudinarian age. He deems it unnecessary to notice these attacks further than by saying, that as the Bible is his law as a Christian, so the Prayer-Book is his commentary as a Churchman; and that, while as a minister of Christ Jesus, woe is unto him if he preach not the gospel; so as a clergyman of the English branch of the church catholic, he would be faithless to his ordination vow if, continuing to receive the pay, to wear the garb, and to minister at the altar of that Church, he taught that Gospel otherwise than this Church and Realm hath received the same. So long as the author can defend himself by the Bible as interpreted by the PrayerBook, he is indifferent to the names with which he may be treated by those who are impatient of any restraint in matters ecclesiastical.

"He can only further say, that he trusts that the earnestness with which this day's collect shall be offered up to the throne of grace, may deprecate the wrath of Heaven, and cause the Most High to look down and revisit and refresh this vine, which his own right hand hath planted in these kingdoms, that as she is watered by the blood of the Christ of God, so she may flourish in the protection of Jehovah Triune! Amen."

* Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude.

The Juvenile Scrap Book for MDCCCXL. By Mrs. ELLIS, Author of "The Women of England." London: Fisher & Son. Pp. 105.

MR. FISHER, of a truth, ought to be looked upon as a great friend of the juvenile world; and the talented lady who edits the above volume cannot fail to receive the admiration and thanks of both parents and children. Here we have sixteen beautiful engravings, with illustrative letter-press, or interesting tales, which will be received and read with interest and advantage by one and all. As a Christmas-box, or New-year's gift, we know of nothing more appropriate.

Extracts from Holy Writ and various Authors; intended as Helps to Meditation and Prayer, principally for Soldiers and Sailors. By Capt. SIR NESBIT J.WILLOUGHBY, R.N., C.B., K.C.H. Pp. 246.

SIR NESBIT WILLOUGHBY has acted the part of a christian warrior, in thus endeavouring to place before the united services a practical volume of divinity, which has so long been a desideratum. And when we add, that it is published, at a heavy outlay, for gratuitous circulation, we think the gallant officer is entitled to the gratitude of every right-thinking individual in the community. It is already a stock-book in Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals; and we particularly recommend it to chaplains in the army and navy, as a useful manual in their intercourse with the men over whose spiritual interests they are called upon to watch.

A SERMON.

ON PSALM SINGING.

PSALM C. 1, 2.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

us.

It is often interesting to us, and must be always edifying, to inquire how we are performing our commonest religious duties, to remind ourselves of their origin, and to discover whether we understand their use, or still revere them as sacred. Perhaps we are neglecting, perhaps we are abusing, perhaps we are misunderstanding some old ceremony which we shall find God approves of, the earliest saints delighted in, and its own antiquity, and the custom of our own church, jointly recommend to We are in general too anxious about "some new thing" even in religious matters, give up too much to bad habits which we have long suffered to grow upon us, and will make no efforts, and be at no pains to fulfil aright some forgotten ordinance, merely because we have been accustomed to think it impossible, or not easy, or among things indifferent. A little earnest advice then on such points, a little information, a little reflection, a little "plainness of speech," might occasionally set us right. At any rate it would take away excuse from those who only want one to neglect any duty, moral or religious, that interferes with their usual habits. And the duty which I shall take up in this discourse, if it were properly performed, could only be so far troublesome. The sacrifice of some favourite sin, a thorough repentance, a perseverance in doing well, cannot be brought about without time, and pain, and difficulty. There must be a great deal of selfabasement and mortification. And though much less difficult than this, it is still no easy matter at first to bring ourselves to attend regularly at church, or to keep our thoughts from wandering from the prayers and sermons, when once it has become a habit. But in a duty like that of psalm-singing, where there is so much that is pleasant, and so little that is difficult, no one need be unable to do a little. Besides, it is natural for us to be grateful and not troublesome-to be thankful; and we are naturally more cheerful than serious; and there is something in us that always seems in unison with the concord of "musical tunes." These then are so many further helps towards the practice of psalm-singing, and in this, at least, need I add, "God's commandments are not grievous." "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing." Such is the doctrine with which God here inspired the Psalmist, and we find it in numberless other places all through the Psalms. The command too, thus coming from God, is a most express one upon the subject, and makes psalm-singing as much a duty as any other that is revealed to us in Scripture. I shall then draw your attention to it as such; and, in order to interest and teach you better upon the subject, shall show you, first, the antiquity of religious music; secondly, the object of psalm-singing; and thirdly, the proper manner of performing it.

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To see the antiquity of religious music we must consult the Bible, which, besides its inestimable value on every other account, is the oldest book of history in the world. We there find that “ Moses and the children of Israel sang a song unto the Lord" after the passage of the Red Sea. And on the same occasion we read that "Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her, with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." Deborah and Barak made a triumphant hymn after the defeat of Sisera; and Judith, after the defeat of Holofernes, as recorded in the book of Judith. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and King Hezekiah returned thanks to God in solemn hymns and spiritual songs. The latter says, "The Lord was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord." David composed all his Psalms for music, and sung them to "the lute and harp ;" and the songs of Solomon, (1 Kings xv.) were "a thousand and five," of which number we have only one remaining, which is one of the books of the Old Testament, and called " the Song of Solomon." God, in one instance, commanded Moses to "write a song, and teach it the children of Israel: to put it in their mouths, that this song might be a witness for him against the children of Israel." (Deut. xxxii.) There was also a particular feast among the Jews, and "a holy convocation" once every year, which was called the "feast of trumpets;" and on the day of atonement, in the jubilee year, the " trumpet was always to sound throughout the land." Besides which, God gave Moses a general command that the Israelites "in the day of their gladness, (Numb. x.) and in their solemn days, and in the beginnings of their months, should blow with the trumpets over their burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that they might be to them for a memorial before their God." To this David seems to allude in Psalm lxxxi. where he says, "Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed on our solemn feast-day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob." And again, soon after David became king of Israel, "he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the master of the song, with the singers. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making noise with psalteries and harps." "And David appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel." One was to be "chief in this service," another to "give thanks with psalteries and harp," and another to "make a sound with cymbals" and other "musical instruments of God." He seems to have had a regular choir for the constant service of the tabernacle, "to be singers with instruments of music by lifting up the voice with joy." Indeed there is one whole chapter (1 Chron. xxv.) the subject of which is nothing else than the office of his singers, and their division by lot. Upon the consecration

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