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Now salvation is connected with obedience; those, then, who sorrow to repentance," put away the evil of their doings," cease to do evil, and learn to do well *" and to such the promise is given. Isa. i. 18.

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PUPIL.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."-Vol. II. pp. 76, 77.

On some of the commandments there are remarks not unworthy of attention; and among these we particularize those on the sabbath, and on duelling.

Some would complain, that these are volumes of scraps collected from all quarters; but we were always pleased to meet the quotations, for they appeared to us as the pearls, which we regretted were not sufficiently thick to hide the thread on which they were strung. The language of the work, however, would not have been very objectionable, had it possessed the vigour and animation of vital principle. But the writer seems to have possessed very indistinct and indefinite conceptions of Christian doctrine;" and these conceptions are presented to the pupil through the medium of so dense and complicated a style, that we cannot promise much success to her laudable and benevolent design.

Art. XII. Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. By Alexander Molleson. 8vo. pp. 220. Price 4s. Glasgow; printed for the Author. Longman and Co. London, 1806.

THESE Miscellanies are in prose and rhyme, and seem to

consist prncipally of a collection of fugitive pieces of var rious character, style, and dignity, published on sundry occasions in newspapers, pamphlets, and hand-bills; and they are at least as respectable in point of composition as such things generally are. The author appears to be a man of active public spirit and a benevolent heart; several of these pieces being advertisements and proposals of plans for the benefit of the suffering poor among his own country men. The longest prose essay is entitled "Melody the Soul of Music," wherein the author has opened a field of ingenious theory, in which we dare. not molest him, as he has already, in this re-publication, hung out the "disjecta membra" of several Brother-Reviewers, like scarecrows, to intimidate others of the tribe from venturing to invade his grounds, and despoil him of the fruits of his labours. We will not be deterred however from saying, that what is thiefly evident from his arguments, is, that Melody has its advantages, and Harmony its disadvantages,-a truism, which we should never have been disposed to dispute, even if we had

Isaiah i. 16.

not met with his invincible proof. His essay, however, is worthi reading; it contains much that is suited to correct prevalent absurdities, and to stimulate the reflections of the scientific and intelligent musician.

Of Mr. Molleson's poetry we are willing to give the most favourable sample that we can select. The following passage from "The Sweets of Society, or Recollections, in Verse, of the Happy Scenes of Infancy and Fouth" interested us much, not by the grace or felicity with which it is expressed, but by the romantic feeling which it awakened, when we found that Border-warfare, the game of heroes, was still commemorated in a game of boys, the descendants of those very barbarians whose insatiable lust of carnage and rapine during centuries held the north of England, and the south of Scotland, in perpetual agony of alarm and apprehension ;-and our pleasure was exalted by the recollection, that of those bloody feuds not a trace now remains among the borderers, except in the sports of their chil dren, on the battle-fields of Percy and Douglas.

"There play'd we oft at Scots and English men.
One party, springing from that sandy den,
Would swiftly scour the verdant mossy plain,
And quick retreat the refuge to regain.
A playful emblem; shadowing barbarous days,
When Tweed reflected sad the cruel blaze;
And the tired hind, in search of home at eve,
Beheld the flames of comfort him bereave.
When haughty chieftains, with revengeful ire,
From turrets raging, spread the murderous fire.
Hence to oblivion haste ye troublous times,
Replete with rapine, feuds, and savage crimes.→→→→
-Where Ravage spread distrust and dire dismay,
Nought now inspire but school-boy's peaceful play.

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page 174.

Art. XIII. Memoirs of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Navy. By Charles Derrick, Esq. of the Navy-Office. royal 4to. pp. 3 08.Price 1/. 1s. 1806.

THE naval strength of Britain is a subject so dear and so.

familiar to all our countrymen, that it is almost superflu-, ous to mention its importance. Whatever is valuable in poli-. tical independence, in civil and religious liberty, in moral character, in physical comfort and existence is inseparably associated with it; since, under Providence, it is the chief, if not the only barrier, against the ambition of our enemy, and the only protection of that vast commerce, which is now identi fied with the welfare of nearly all classes of Englishmen.

Every attempt, therefore, to draw the public attention to

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an object of such great national interest, as the support of the Royal Navy, must be received with great approbation. The general design of the present work is to give a distinct and brief account of its rise and advancement to the exalted pitch it has now attained." The author's "principal object has been to shew the state of the Navy as to the number, tonnage, &c. of the several classes of the ships and vessels at different periods; when the naval force was promoted, neglected, or, at least, not augmented; and at what periods, improvements in ship-building were introduced into it." His plan is to furnish an account, from the most unquestionable sources, of the state of the navy, relative to these particulars, under every reign, from the time of Henry VII. The foundation of the Royal Navy was laid by Henry VIII. who consti tuted the Admiralty, and Navy Office, appointed regular salaries for Admirals, Vice-Admirals, Captains, and seamen. At this time, the sea-service became a distinct and regular profession. This monarch founded Deptford, Woolwich, and Portsmouth dock-yards. At the close of his reign, the whole tonnage of the navy did not exceed 12,455 tons. At the death of Edward VI. it was nearly in the same state, consisting of 53 vessels, of which only 28 were above 80 tons burthen. During the reign of Mary, the navy diminished, but revived under the auspices of Elizabeth. When the Spanish Armada arrived in the Channel in July 1588, there were in the English fleet 34 ships belonging to her Majesty, burthen 12,590 tons, and carrying 6279 men. It appears from the lists, that the largest ships then carried from 55 to 68 guns. In the last 23 years of Elizabeth, the Navy was doubled, and the annual expence of it amounted to 30,000l. At the death of James I. the navy had decreased about ten ships. Charles I. increased the size of the ships, and added eight or ten to their number, which, at the beginning of the civil war, was 42. The author has not been able to give the state of the navy, at the death of this prince, but is of opinion that it was considerably reduced. Great exertions were made under the Commonwealth to restore the navy, which, at the close of the first war with the Dutch, consisted of 102 vessels of all descriptions. "Estimates for the support of the navy were at this time first laid before Parliament, which assented to an annual grant of 400,000l. for the expence of the Navy." At the death of the Protector in 1658, the total number of ships was 157, carrying 4,390 guns, and 21,910 men. Under Charles II. thirty. new ships of enlarged dimensions, were added to the navy, but in the short reign of his successor, it decreased six ships.

From the Revolution to the present time, the author has given correct tables, and abstracts, of the state of the navy, at

different periods, shewing the number of ships in commissiorf their dimensions, tonnage, number of men, guns, &c., and closing with the state of the navy, in October, 1805; when there were 698 vessels in commission.

A large appendix contains, in forty-one tables, abstracts relative to the dimensions of ships, price of building, value of stores, and sundry other particulars important to all who are connected with the business of the Royal Dock-yards.

We consider the work as a valuable depository of facts, on subjects which relate to our maritime strength. To professional men it may prove peculiarly instructive and useful; and to members of the Legislature, it will afford information, which may assist their judgement, on various topics connected with the prosperity of the navy. The volume is ornamented with a print of the Henry Grace de Dieu, the large ship built by Henry VIII; and is honoured with a very respectable list of subscribers, among whom we observe many of our first naval characters.

Art. XIV. A Charge to the Clergy at the Primary Visitation, in the Month of August, 1806, of the late Right Reverend Father in God, Samuel, by Divine Permission, Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, 4to. pp. 29. Price 2s. Hatchard, 1806.

THE charge before us appears to be the only one which the

late R. R. Prelate ever delivered in the diocese of St. Asaph. It contains a variety of matter, some of which is chiefly interesting to the clergy who heard it; but a considerable part of the discourse will be read with satisfaction, by those who are pleased with good sense and liberality, and, especially, who wish to feel as much respect for the Bishop, as they have done for the Scholar. We shall pass hastily over the first part of the charge, remarking only that it complains, with a degree of asperity, of some irregularities subsisting in the diocese of St. Asaph, and especially of the number of curates officiating without license. These are required to appear before the rural Dean, exhibiting their letters of orders, a testimonium of good behaviour signed by three Clergymen, and their nomination to the cure, for the purpose of making the declarations and subscriptions, and taking the caths, required by law, and obtaining a licence from the Bishop; on pain of being prosecuted in the episcopal court. After stating his determination in some other points between incumbents and curates, his lordship proceeds to notice a curious circumstance, which is not generally known; that while the Rubric directs the banus of matrimony to be published after the Nicene creed, the Marriage Act (26 Gee. II. c. 33.) requires them to be published imme

diately after the second lesson. A marriage by banns according to the forms of the rubric, is therefore, as he supposes, invalid, under the law as it now stands, and marriages founded on such an illegal publication of the banns have actually been solemnized, as this charge informs us, very recently. Another irregularity arising from inattention to the Marriage Act is also pointed out; that is, the solemnization of marriages in churches or chapels, erected since Lady Day 1754, or in which previously to the passing of the Act, banns were not usually published. Such marriages are by that statute actually null and void, and the person officiating is guilty of felony and liable to transpor tation for 14 years.

Offences of this kind had for a long time been unwittingly committed in a town in the diocese of St. David's, and also in Voelas, Denbigh ; to prevent unpleasant consequences there and elsewhere, in 1804 Bp. Horsley brought in a bill to render such marriages valid, as had been, or should be, so solemnized before Lady Day 1805; in cases occurring since that time, the regulations of the Marriage Act are still in force.

Having mentioned these circumstances to his clergy, chiefly to shew the impropriety of neglecting to obtain a competent knowledge of those laws in which they are peculiarly interested, the R. R. Prelate, makes some observations on the state of religion in his diocese, founded on the returns of the clergy to circular queries which he appears to have addressed to them individually. The manner in which some of these reports seem to have been constructed, discovers a lamentable deficiency of accurate information. He expresses his satisfaction at perceiving that the persons thus reported as schismatical, dissented from the church, not in doctrine, but in discipline only. How this sentiment is equally applied to the Calvinistic and Arminian sects, will be seen from the following statement of his opinion on the Creed of the English Church, in which we gladly recognise the enlightened and temperate friend of orthodoxy, strenuous for the essentials of the Gospel, though candid on points of speculative difficulty.

So far is it from the truth that the Church of England is decidedly Ar. minian, and hostile to Calvinism, that the truth is this ; that upon the principal points in dispute between the Arminians and the Calvinists, upon all the points of doctrine characteristic of the two sects, the Church of England maintains an absolute Neutrality. Her Articles explicitly assert nothing but what is believed both by Arminians and Calvinists. The Calvinists indeed hold some opinions relative to the same points, which the Church of England has not gone the length of asserting in her Articles. But neither has she gone the length of explicitly contradicting those opinions; insomuch that there is nothing to hinder the Arminian and the highest Supralapsarian Calvinist from walking together in the Church of VOL. III.

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