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reach.-There is also a zeal which is the base born progeny of pride and ambition. It is ever busy and active, for it loves to be seen and heard, and to acquire influence in the church. It is greedy of services which draw attention, and seeks to heighten itself by casting severe reflections on the lukewarmness of others. Remote from all these is true christian zeal, True zeal is enlightened and judicious; meek and gentle; sensible of its own infirmities, and therefore ready to bear long with others; not devoted to a party, but to the wide interests of christian piety; not anxious for elevation, but willing to be eclipsed, and thrown far behind by the more splendid and useful exertions of others, for the common cause of christianity. pp. 10, 11.

Art. XVI. E says, explanatory and experimental, upon a few select Passages of Scripture. By Stephen Lowry, M. D. of Falmouth, with a Recommendatory Preface, by Robert Hawker, D. D. Vicar of Charles, Plymouth. 12mo. pp. 164. price 4s. bds. Williams and Co. 1809,

IT will naturally be supposed that the theological complexion of a

work recommended by Dr. Hawker, bears a strong resemblance to that of his own performances. We learn from his Preface, that his friend Dr. Lowry, having been compelled by ill health to retire from an extensive provincial practice, has improved part of his leisure by writing down his thoughts on several important passages of Scripture, The author himself, though professing no disrespect for commentators, observes, that he has not consulted any of them, but that his sentiments are derived, as he expresses it, from a higher source' than the writings of men. We cannot recommend this example to those who intend benefiting the public by the result of their meditations on Scripture, unless, indeed, they could be deemed exceptions from the general rule on account of their learning, their acuteness, and their freedom from theological prepossessions. It is scarcely necessary to add, that, whatever objections we might state to particular features of this work, or to its general character, it strenuously contends for the grand doctrines of Christianity, and manifests a very devotional spirit.

Art. XVII. A brief Inquiry into the present State of Agriculture in the Southern part of Ireland, and its Influence on the Manners and Condition of the lower Class of People: with some Considerations upon the ecclesiastical Establishment of that Country. By Joshua Kirby Trimmer. 8vo. pp. 80. price 3s. 6d. Hatchard. 1809.

T HIS is a sensible production, and calls the attention of the public in general, but particularly of the landholders of the south of Ireland, to subjects of the first importance. We are all too well acquainted with the miserable and cheerless state of the Irish peasantry, to derive much information from Mr. Trimmer's survey: but the moral and political defects existing in that part of the empire cannot be too often held up to view, until the self interest of the land-proprietors, and the dormant or diverted patriotism of public men, be directed to alleviate

or remove them.

The general want of farm-buildings, or rather of the means and materials to construct them, is considered by Mr. Trimmer as forming one

great cause of the defective, and indeed retrograde state, of the agricul ture of Ireland; another, which indeed he justly calls "the very pest of the country, the cankerworm of its prosperity," is the system of letting and reletting at improved rents, so that the land is at length rented for a very short term, or only at will, by the cultivator, for nearly as many pounds as there are shillings in the original lease. It is needless to point out the absurdity and unprofitableness of this system. Its effects are deplorable, and flash conviction in the face of every man who visits the country.

We cannot persuade ourselves, however, that the well meant scheme Mr Trimmer proposes for the remedy of these evils, is either adapted to answer the purpose very effectually, or likely to be put to the test of experiment. It is grounded upon the supposition that government would grant 150,000l. to be distributed in bounties of 3001. each to five hundred new settlers, intelligent farmers from England, for the purpose of enabling them to take farms of 100 acres each on long leases, and set an example of good husbandry."

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Mr. Trimmer also suggests some methods of providing for the erection or repair of churches and parsonage houses he asserts explicitly, and in our opinion most justly, that nothing effectual can be done' to relieve the Irish from the calamities of the tithe system but by means of a commutation in an allotment of land in lieu of them: and concludes his pamphlet with a very handsome eulogy on the Irish character, and a pressing recommendation of their case to the compassionate attention of British senators.

Art. XVIII. On the Education of the Poor being the First Part of a Digest of the Reports of the Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor: and containing a Selection of those Articles which have a Reference to Education. 8vo. pp. 376. price 5s. bds. Hatchard. 1809WE are happy to contribute to the circulation of these valuable pa

pers, in which the benevolent will find much to interest their feelings, as well as to excite and direct their activity. Besides the papers from the Society's Reports, there are several articles now first published. These are, a preface on the general education of the poor by Mr. Bernard, an account of a day school established in the 53rd regiment at Berhampore, an account of the school of industry for girls at Cheltenham, regulations of the schools of St. John's chapel, Bedford Row, with the excellent Mr. Cecil's address to the parents of the scholars, and, lastly, an entertaining and very instructive narrative intitled the history of Betty Thomson, being the first part of a practical commentary on the Society's Reports, which is also printed sepa rately for distribution, to induce cottagers to adopt some of the improvements they recommend.

Art. XIX. The Christian laid forth in his whole Disposition and Carriage. By Joseph Hall, D. D. and Bishop of Norwich. Revised and addressed to those committed to his Ministerial Charge, by Henry Budd, A. M. Chaplain of Bridewell Hospital, Minister of Bridewell Precinct, and Rector of White Roothin, Essex. 12mo. pp. 34. price 16. Rivingtons, Hatchard, Baldwins. 1809.

IT is with great pleasure we see this excellent tract published separately, and recommend it to all our readers as highly worthy of pe

rusal, and benevolent circulation. To such of them as are unacquainted with it, we beg to observe, that it contains a description of the Christian's life and character under the following heads. The Christian's Disposition His Manner of spending the Day. His Recreations. His Meals. His Night's Rest. His Carriage, or Conduct. His Resolution in Matters of Religion. His Discourse. His Devotion. His Sufferings. His Conflicts. His Death.

As a specimen, we extract the section intitled 'his Night's Rest.' We envy not the feelings or the taste of those, who can read it without interest and pleasure.

In a due season he betakes himself to his Rest; he presumes not to alter the ordinances of day and night, nor dares confound where distinction is made by his Maker: it is not with him as with the brute creatures, that have nothing to look after but the mere obedience of nature; he does not therefore lay himself down as the swine in the sty, or á dog in the kennel, without any further preface to his desired sleep, but improves those faculties which he is now closing up to a meet preparation for a holy repose; for which purpose he first casts back his eye to the now expired day, and seriously considers how he has spent it; and will be sure to make his reckonings even with his God before he part. Then he lifts up his eyes and his heart to that God who has made the night for man to rest in, and recommends himself earnestly to his blessed protection; and then closes his eyes in peace, not without a serious meditation of his last rest; his bed represents to him his grave, his linen his winding sheet, his sleep death, the night the many days of darkness; and, in short, he so composes his soul, as if he looked not to wake till the morning of the resurrection after which, if he sleep, he is thankfully cheerful; if he sleep not, his reins chasten and instruct him in the night season; and if sleep be out of his eyes, yet God and his angels are not. Whensoever he awakes, in those hands he finds himself, and therefore rests sweetly, even when he sleeps not. His very dreams, however vain or troublesome, are not to him altogether unprofitable; for they serve to discover not only his bodily temper, but his spiritual weaknesses, which his waking resolutions shall endeavour to correct.

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He to applies himself to his pillow, as a man that meant not to be drowned in sleep, but refreshed: not limiting his rest by the insatiable lust of a sluggish and drowsy stupidity, but by what his health requires, and what will fit him for his calling; and rises from it (not too late) with more appetite to his work, than to a second slumber; cheerfully devoting the strength renewed by his late rest, to the honour and service of the Giver.'

Mr. Budd's impressive address to those for whom the publication is primarily designed, does honour to his ministerial and Christian cha

racter.

Art. XX. A Letter to the Right Hon. William Windham, on his opposition to Lord Erskine's bill for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 8vo. pp. 38. price 1s. Maxwell and Co. 1810. MANY good people have been prodigiously surprised and scandalized at the rejection of Lord Erskine's bill, and have considered it as a foul blot on the character of the British Senate.

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they never hear of the Slave Trade? For our part, it was just what we expected; and we cannot agree that either the ingenious Mr. Windham, or the merry Parliament who at his signal laughed down the few friends of liberty and benevolence, have in any degree forfeit. ed the claims they before possessed to the public esteem. You knew your men,' says this letter-writer, and trusted to your Wit and Humour ; you were sure that a Bill in which neither Ins nor Outs were interested, would expire under a number of devilish good laughs.' He evinces much acuteness, in exposing the Honourable Member's disingenuous sophistry, and barbarous ethics, in those parts of his speech which were to pass for argumentative. We think the following observations equally just and important; they powerfully strengthen Lord Erskine's argument for a legislative recognition of the duty of man toward the brute creation, considered merely as an expedient for cultivating his benevolent sympathies, and refining his character as a social being.

The reception which Mr. Canning's exemplification of misery* in the person of a human being, fallen into contempt through poverty and age, met with in the House of Commons, demonstrates most forcibly the little consideration the generality of people are likely to bestow upon the brute creation, over which they fancy they have an al most infinite superiority. "It is not a Christian, is it" is the answer sufficient in the minds of the vulgar for every kind of ill usage of an animal: what reply is to be made to it? They know suffering is not peculiar to Christians; but they care not for they think there is no moral obligation to consider the misery of a creature that is not a Christian, I am much deceived if such people would not act the same by a Christian, if they had him as fairly in their power, and could indulge their dispositions without fear here or hereafter. I have already advanced an opinion founded on history and observation, that man is, as carnivorous animals all are, prone to cruelty: his reason alone produces sympathy or concern in the evils of others "Homo sum humani nihil a me alienum puto:" I think the following sentence, as more comprehensive, is much superior, "Haud ignara mali miseris succurrere disco""Not unacquainted with evil myself, I learn to succour the miserable." Goodness must be the certain result of perfect reason. The imperfection of reason, or the neglecting to direct it to the true conception of the condition of other beings, leaves sympathy dormant, and our animal nature predominant. At the execution of the wretched mad man Ravillac, how could the people of France shout at the doleful shriek he uttered when his arm was cut off, and boiling oil applied thereto? because they could indulge their natural propensity without the checks of conscience. When his joints where all dislocated by horses unable to pull him asunder, the nobility were eager in the offer of their own horses for that dreadful purpose. Two Italian physi

* Mr. Canning is stated to have ruined the bill against Bull-baiting, by humanely suggesting the following mock preamble "Whereas a poor little old woman in a red cloak, was gored by an overdrove ox on Ludgate Hill"-at which, it is said, the House laughed immoderately, and determined that bulls should be baited.

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cians, who could not be influenced by concern for the death of a King of France, would have undertaken to keep him alive in constant torments for three days. To recite all his tortures would fill a volume; but they were beheld with savage delight, are recorded circumstantially, and have been read with avidity by good people of both sexes. What is the nature of the pleasure men take in such reading? Many well disposed Christians have attended the execution of heretics burned at the stake for not perceiving the Almighty's revelation of himself and his will so clearly as themselves, and contemplated with great satisfaction the certainty that the wretches torments would not end here, but endure hereafter for ever."

Art. XXI. An Enquiry into the best System of Female Education; or Boarding School and Home Education attentively considered. By J. L. Chirol, one of his Majesty's Chaplains at the Fr. Royal Chapel, St. James's Palace. 8vo. pp. 390. price 9s. bds. Cadell and Co. 1809.

M. CHIROL most vehemently condemns the boarding school system of education for females; and inveighs with great seve rity, and indeed with a sort of indiscreet explicitness that ought to keep his book out of the way of all children, against the corruption that prevails, he tells us, in most institutions of that kind. His preference of private tuition for girls, and his opinions on education in general, appear to us well founded; but we are persuaded his censures are much too indiscriminate; and cannot on the whole recommend his publication as intitled to displace, or even to accompany, the admirable works on the subject which our readers already possess.

Art. XXII. An Attempt to shew the Folly and Danger of Methodism; in a Series of Essays first published in the Weekly Paper called the Examiner, and now enlarged with a Preface and additional Notes.. By the Editor of the Examiner. 8vo. pp. 40. price 2s. 6d. Hunt. 1809. THE silly invectives of a simpleton, who writes in a news

paper.

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Art.XXIII. Considerations addressed to a Young Clergyman, on some Trials of Principle and Character which may arise in the Course of his Ministry. By Stevenson Macgill, D. D. Minister of the Trone Church of Glasgow. 12mo. pp. 243. price 4s. 6d. Longman and Co. 1809. A MORE valuable work than this can scarcely be pointed out, for the

use of theological students and Christian ministers. Every page deserves repeated perusal, and the most serious attention. The advice it. contains, could only result, we are persuaded, from a happy combination of piety, acuteness, observation, integrity, and discretion. We are happy to say, farther, that it is so little appropriated to any particular class, either by the complexion of its theology, or the minuteness of its precepts, that it may be recommended with equal propriety to ministers of almost all denominations. The considerations are on the following subjects: pride, vanity, worldly policy, an uncharitable and party spirit, à

* Junius.

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