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"The refult was, that I refolved on discharging my share of thefe weighty obligations, by giving Lectures on the Gofpel of St. Matthew, in my own parish church of St. James, Westminster, every Friday in Lent. I forefaw, however, many difficulties in the undertaking, particularly in drawing together any confiderable number of people, to a place of public worthip, for any length of time, on a common day of the week. But it pleafed God to blefs the attempt, with a degree of fuccefs far beyond any thing I could have expected or imagined." What this fuccefs was, few of the inhabitants of London, who pay any at. tention to public occurrences, can remain ignorant; but many of our numerous country readers, will not he displeased with the following in

formation.

So great was the concourfe of perfons in the higher circles of life, to hear thefe lectures, that chairs were borrowed from the neighbouring private houses, to fupply feats for them in the aifles of this large church, and in the palages of the galleries, after all the pews had been literally crammed with nobility and gentry, whofe carriages lined the adjacent streets, and whofe fedan chairs filled the church yard; and forry we are to add, that as venality refpects no fanctuary, the pew openers made ftrangers pay very handsomely for a comfortable (the weather being cold) squeeze in a pew.

Before we proceed to an examination of the lectures, be it permitted to make fome obfervations on the foregoing pailages from the preface. The good Bishop feems to lay great ftrefs on the words " my share of thefe weighty obligations," which we conceive to be a delicate reproof to other labourers in the vineyard of Chrift, and peculiarly called for, in the prefent day; for who that travels into other proteftant countries, does not know that the active zeal, and conftant exercise of the official duties, of the minifters of the gofpel, far furpaffes that of our parochial clergy; fome of their duties are indeed become almoft obfolete, through the relaxationof the religious principles of their parishioners; but is not this owing, in fome degree, to the indoJence and inattention of their Rectors and Curates. Who now hears (except from the pulpits of zealous fec

taries) fermons on the vifitation and communion of the fick, inviting and preffing home upon the godly-minded of both fexes, the primitive chriftian cuftom religiously obferved by our forefathers, as members of the Church of England, to call in the minifters of their parishes, in the hour of fickness and danger, to exhort finners, under thofe trying circumstances, to repentance and chriftian refignation, according to the forms prescribed by that church; if they are no longer in use, let them be expunged from our common prayer books, or let this hint be properly taken, and this religious duty be forcibly and frequently in preffed upon the minds of their refpective congregations by our parochial clergy, nor any longer let thousands of profeffed chriftians die, without the folemn administration of any fpiritual comfort in the hour of diftrefs. With refpect to our Bishops, let them only follow the example of their Right Reverend brother, and they will want no other admonition, to enforce the incumbent religious duties on the clergy of their diocefes; and, let the decrease of the chriftian faith, and the increase of infidelity be traced, not partially through fome, but to all their fources, and it will perhaps be found that the blame lays not wholly with the different orders of the people, witnefs the crowded attendance, on the evenings of common days of the week, (after the labours of the day are over) at the Methodist chapels.

To counteract the baneful effects of peftilential writings, of which our worthy Prelate complains, let the fame "indefatigably active means" be used to diffufe fuch antidotes as are contained in thefe Lectures, throughout every part of the kingdom; let paftoral letters be revived in every diocefe, and cheap editions be publifhed of the leading principles and doctrines of the Gofpel, as cheap as thofe of the Age of Reafon; and let every Minifter of that Gofpel, bear in mind this reinforcement of the gentle admonition already noticed." "I think it incumbent on me to take my fhare in this important contest, and to show that I with not to throw burthens on others, of which I am not willing to bear my full proportion. See Lecture I. p.2 5."

In the execution of this defign, the Bishop profeffes to have four objects principally in view. "Firft, to explain

and

and illuftrate thofe paffages of holy writ, which are in any degree difficult and obfcure. Secondly, to point out, as they occur in the facred writings, the chief leading fundamental principles and doctrines of the Christian religion. Thirdly, to confirm and ftrengthen your faith, by calling your attention to thofe ftrong internal

marks of the truth and divine authority of the christian religion, which prefent themselves to us in almoft every page of the gofpel. Fourthly, to lay before you the great moral precepts of the gospel, to prefs them home upon your confciences and your hearts, and render them effectual to the important ends they were intended to ferve; namely, the due government of your pations, the regulation of your conduct, and the attainment of everlatting life."

In the purfuit of this comprehenfive plan, we have thirteen lectures in Vol. I. now under examination, upon the following fubjects. Lecture I. "A compendious view of the facred writings; or, in other words, a concife analysis of the Holy Bible, with fuch regulation in point of order, and fuch clearness and precifion in the hiftorical detail, as cannot fail of attracting general approbation." Lecture II. is confined to the two first chapters of the Gofpel of St. Matthew, which record the genealogy, the annunciation and miraculous birth of our Saviour, and the arrival and offerings of the wife men of Bethlehem. Lecture III. gives us the life and doctrines of John the Baptift. Lectures IV. and V. on the fourth chapter, are divided into two parts; the former explains the narrative of the temptation of Chrift in the wilderness, in which it is obfervable, that the Bishop differs in opinion from fome eminent polemical writers on this fubject, who have confidered it in the light of a vifion, for he adduces many reasons to believe that it was a real tranfaction; the fecond part relates to the choice of apoftles, and the beginning of miracles. In Lectures VI. and VII. our Lord's fermon on the Mount is expounded in such a manner that thefe two lectures independently contain a volume of the molt beneficial inftruction to the community in general; and, as the enumeration of the various beauties of thele lectures collectively, cannot be particularized in a limited Review,

we here take the liberty to exhibit one ftriking fpecimen of the tranf cendant merit of the whole courses.

"Before I quit this noble and confolatory exordium of our Lord's difcourfe, (See p. 134, 5, 6, and 7, Lect. VI.) I fhall request your attention to one particular part of it, which feems to require a little explanation. The part I allude to is this: Bleffed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

"The bleffing here promifed to the meek, feems at first fight somewhat fingular, and not very appropriate to the virtue recommended That the meek, of all others, fhould be deftined to inherit the earth, is what one should not naturally have expected. If we may judge from what paffes in the world, it is thofe of a quite oppofite character, the bold, the forward, the active, the enterprifing, the rapacious, the ambitious, that are best calculated to fecure to themfelves that inheritance. And undoubtedly, if by inheriting the earth is meant acquiring the wealth, the grandeur, the power, the property of the earth, these are the perfons who generally feize on a large portion of thofe good things, and leave the meek and gentle far behind them in this unequal contest for fuch advantages. But it was far other things than thefe our Lord had in view. By inheriting the earth, he meant inheriting thofe things which are, without question, the greatest blefings upon earth; calmnefs and compofure of fpirit, tranquillity, cheerfulness, peace and comfort of mind. Now thefe, I apprehend, are the peculiar portion and recompence of the meek. affuming, gentle, and humble in their deportment, they give no offence, they create no enemies, they provoke no hoftilities, and thus efcape all that large proportion of human mifery which arifes from diffenfions and difputes. If differences do unexpectedly itart up; by patience, mildness, and prudence, they difarm their adverfaries, they foften refentment, they court reconciliation, and seldom fail of restor ing harmony and peace. Having a very humble opinion of themselves, they fee others fucceed without uneafinefs, without envy; having no ambition, no fpirit of competition, they feel no pain from difappointment, no mortification from defeat. By bending under the ftorms that affail them, 222

Un

they

they greatly mitigate their violence, and fee them pals over their heads almost without feeling their force. Content and fatisfied with their lot, they pafs quietly and filently through the crowds that furround them and encounter much fewer difficulties and calamities in their progrefs through life, than more active and enterprifing men. This even tenor of life may, indeed, be called, by men of the world, flat, dull, and infipid. But the meek are excluded from no rational pleasure, no legitimate delight; and as they are more exempt from anxiety and pain than other men, their fum total of happiness is greater, and they may, in the belt fenfe of the word, be fairly faid to inherit the earth." Would it not give a greater force ftill to this fine paffage, if we were permitted to

fubftitute the word enjoy for inherit And as our Gofpels are only tranflations from the original, this would be no facrilege all the foregoing attributes of meekness constitute the purest enjoyment of life.

Lecture VIII. delineates the conduct and character of the Roman Centurion. Lecture IX. contains our Lord's inftructions to his Apoítles. Lecture X. comprises three important fubjects: Obfervation of the Sabbath. Demoniacs ; and Blafphemy against the Holy Ghoft.

In Lectures XI. XII. and XIII. the nature and use of Parables is explained; and more particularly, the Parables of the Sower, and of the Tares, with which finishes Vol. I.

(To be concluded in our next.)

M.

A Journal of the Forces which failed from the Downs in April 1800, on a Secret Expedition, under the Command of Lieutenant-General Pigot, till their Arrival in Minorca; and continued through all the fubfequent Tranfactions of the Army under the Command of the Right Hon. General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K. B. in the Mediterranean and Egypt; and the latter Operations, under the Command of Lieutenant General Lord Hutchinfon, K. B. to the Surrender of Alexandria: with a particular Account of Malta during the Time it was fubject to the British Government, &c. By Æneas Anderfon, Lieut. 40th Reg. One Volume Quarto. Illuftrated by Engravings.

THOUGH duly fenfible of the bleffings of peace, and ardently hoping for its long continuance, we cannot look back, without fentiments of exultation, on the progrefs of the late war; in which examples occurred of naval and military enterprife and glory which we do not find tranfcended in the hiftoriLal annals of any age or nation. It prefents, indeed, a continuity of fcenes of prowefs which, by every true-born Briton, must be contemplated with pride and admiration.

It is not for us to defcant on the political good or evil of the late war; nor, indeed, were we fo difpofed, is this an occafion that would offer an opportunity for the difcuffion; as the volume before us profeffes only to give an account of a military expedition, and to relate the progrefs of the British arms by fea and land in one of the most important periods of the war; but, whether we confider the patient endurance, the unremitted difcipline, and

the active courage of the troops, or the final fuccefs of the undertaking, it must be confidered as a period moft highly honourable to the name and character of Britons.

Lieutenant Anderfon* has arranged his work in the form of a Journal, which appears to be peculiarly adapted to the narration of military or naval operations. Hiftory gives little more than the outlines of the principal events of a war; declining the minuteness of detail, it deigns only to relate important refults, and their leading causes. The Journal, therefore, may properly be confidered as the raw material for hiftory, whence the latter may felect, condenfe, and refine, all that is neceffary to its own purpose, rejecting the leffer parts of detail as unfuited to the dignity of its character.-It must, however, at the fame time, be allowed, that the leffer detail has its ufe and its intereft; as it gives every preparatory and progreffive circumftance of an ope

• Whose Narrative of the British Embassy to China was reviewed in our XXVIIth volume, p. 318.

ration

ration from the outfet to its clofe, the minutiae of which, by familiarizing the reader with the various fucceffive tranfactions, increase the intereft that he takes in the subject, and prepare his mind for a perfect comprehenfion of the whole.

The Journal may likewife be confidered as a series of inftructions to profeffional men; as a kind of schoolbook, in fact, in which the elementary parts of fcience may be learned. Befides, the very nature of the arrange-. ment implies that it was formed by an eye-witness of what is narrated, and, of course, that it poffeffes indubitable authenticity.

Mr. Anderfon's volume appears to embrace three important objects, viz. the Secret Expedition which failed under the command of General Pigot in March 1800;-an Account of Malta, from the time when it was taken by the English, till the fignature of the Preliminaries of Peace;-and, a Narrative of the Campaign in Egypt.

In a modest and well-written Preface he thus introduces his work :

"The general agitation which had been occafioned throughout the country by the Expedition to Holland had not altogether fubfided, when the renewal of very formidable preparations excited the anxious curiofity of the people, more especially as their objects were enveloped in fuccefsful mystery from the country, for whofe fervice the expedition was formed, and from Europe, against fome part of which it was directed. That it did not perform any great military fervice mult have arifen from circunftances which were not foreseen, and could not be controlled. It had, however, no inconfiderable influence on the operations of the enemy in Italy, as it fpread alarm along the coaft which they poffeffed, and large bodies of troops were detached to prevent or oppole its defcent. Thus a confiderable diverfion was made in favour of our Allies, though we cannot but lament that it did not terminate more to their advantage.

"This Expedition, however, though not diftinguished by any brilliant event, is an interesting feature in the war, and is preparatory to the Egyptian Campaign, which clofes the glory of it. I have, therefore, given a regular jour, nal of its tranfactions, from the failing of the first division, under the command

of Major-General Pigot, from England, till the arrival of the army at Malta; with the whole of the General Orders that were iffued by the feveral Commanders during that period. This account will fufficiently prove, that, if this army did nothing in the way of effective operation, it was, at all events, qualified, prepared, and eager to do every thing. What its difpofi tions and active capacities were, a confiderable part of it proved on the fands of Egypt: nor can there be any doubt that the fame prowess would have been difplayed, and the fame fuccefs obtained, if circumstances had afforded them the expected opportunities of unfurling the British standard on the plains of Italy or the fhores of Spain.

"As a part of this army took poffeffion of Malta, on its furrender by the French; and as the battalion of the 40th regiment, in which I had the honour to ferve, formed a part of its garrifon, I have availed myfelf of the local knowledge I acquired, to give fome account of this extraordinary place.

"Till the prefent war, Malta had long remained an object of small confideration. The fingularity of its conftitution and government, the riches of its knights, its ftupendous strength, its fplendid difplay of useless fortification, and the romantic character of its hiftory, had rendered it rather a fubject of philofophical fpeculation than political intereft; and though, in the poffeffion of any of the principal European Powers, it might have been made a commanding pofition in the Mediterranean Sea; from the jealousy of them all, it has been left to the influence of its own policy, and remained in the fecurity of its own infignificance.

"At length the ambitious fpirit of the French Government, quickened and realifed by the ardent genius of Bonaparte, by art, by menace, and by treachery, obtained poffeffion of this Ifland; of which it kept a troubled and precarious poffeffion, till it was furrendered to the English force that had been employed to blockade it. As it thus formed a part of the British empire, it naturally became interesting to the British people; and, from fu fequent circumstances, has been a subject of very ferious confideration: I have, therefore, given fuch an account of it, as my experience and means

of

of information enabled me, and which will, I flatter myfelf, be fufficient to convey adequate and correct notions of its strength, its resources, commercial advantages, and political import

ance."

"Here, indeed, it was my original intention to have concluded my Work; but, as the expedition with which I failed from England formed a part of that army which proceeded, with fubfequent augmentations, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, for Egypt, and the fecond battalion of the regiment to which I belonged having formed a part of it, I felt myfelf in fome degree connected with the Egyptian fervice, though I had not the honour of being perfonally engaged in it. At the fame time, being favoured with the Journals of feveral Officers who witnessed the whole of that Campaign, and having opportunities of obtaining whatever was to be procured on the fubject from oral communication, I have ventured to continue the Work in the original form which I had adopted, to the furrender of Alexandria.

"The Campaign of Egypt, though one continued fcene of British glory, was a fucceffion of fimple operations; and confequently requires nothing more than the attention which will, I truft, appear to have been bestowed, to produce a correct and authentic narrative of them."

From the failing of the expedition from Malta, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, during the time it remained in Marmorice Bay, and to the final evacuation of Egypt by the French, an almost daily account is given of the proceedings of the British army; not only in its principal politions, as at Aboukir, Alexandria, and Cairo, but in its detached fervices, and all its intermediate operations.

The part of this volume which is appropriated to the Secret Expedition gives fome account of Minorca, and the occupations of the army during the time that it remained in that ifland; we shall extract from it a relation of the manner in which the King's Birth day was celebrated there.

This being the anniverfary of his Majefty's birth-day, the fame was celebrated by every demonftration of joy fuited to the happy occafion.

"The following regiments were

I

drawn up on the Lazaretto fide. The two battalions of the 35th on the right; Dillon's, and the ancient Irish fencibles, in the centre; and the two battalions of the 40th regiment on the left. At eleven o'clock the whole was formed on their respective stations, in open columns of companies; and foon after was wheeled into line, when the files opened from right to left, which extended the line from the river on the Lazaretto fide, over the inequalities of the camp ground, till it terminated on the fuinmit of an hill of confiderable height.

"Immediately oppofite, on the George Town fide of the river, the line commenced on the banks, and ftretched, in an oblique manner, along the glacis of Fort George for about three quarters of a mile. The regi ments that compofed this part of the line were the 8th or king's, the two battalions of the 17th, the 48th and goth, the Minorca regiment, and De Rolles' Swiss guards; they were alfo wheeled by fignals into line. At half paft eleven the Lieutenant-Governor, with a numerous retinue, arrived in barges at Fort George, when the fignal was made for the lines on either fide of the river to prime and load. The men then came to ordered arms, and within a few minutes of twelve o'clock the whole line shouldered arms.

"At twelve, the great guns began to fire from Citadella, and the firing continued fucceffively along the whole coat of the island till it reached Fort George, where every piece of artillery was regularly difcharged. A fimilar cannonade then continued on the fide oppofite from Fort Philipet, and from all the towers, till every gun was dif charged. The infantry then commenced a feu de-joye from the 35th regiment, and continued like the roll of a drum along the whole line till it terminated with the 40th. It was then renewed on the oppofite thore, and run on without the leaft interruption to the end of the lines. This firing was repeated twice, and followed by three cheers, whofe loyal and animating found, proceeding from the tongues and hearts of fo large a body of British troops, produced an effect which my feeble powers are unable to defcribe. The fcene was grand and impreffive, and received no fmall additior from the beauty of the day.

The

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