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The History of the Church of Christ from the Diet of Augsbury, 1530, to the 18th Century. In 3 vols., in continuation of Milner's History of the Church of Christ, by the Rev. Henry Stebbing, M.A., Vol. 1. London: Cadell. 1839.

This excellent and well-written volume requires only to be known to be appreciated. Although the History of which it treats must be always important, and have claims on our attention, its appearance at the present time of religious licentiousness, falsely called Liberality this age of inclination to Popery, is more than ordinarily opportune. Many particulars of Luther's life and specimens of his glowing and powerful stile will be found in its pages; intermixed with able delineations of other characters conspicuous in that day. The principles of the Protestant Reformation, the difficulties with which the reformers contended, the arts and elusions of the Papists variously manifested, and the partial conduct of the Emperor, are described with precision and fairness, the results of research and equitable judgment. With exactly the same impartiality the faults of the reformers and their adherents are noticed. Mr. Stebbing is a historian without asperity, one who traces the truth with an indefatigable spirit through the involutions in which the course of time and the varying opinions of men have coiled it, and one whose works give inherent proofs that he may be accredited in his declarations and conclusions.

When the whole work shall be completed, it will yield in value to no one continuation of Ecclesiastical History which we possess; and we hope to bring the remaining volumes, as they shall appear, before our readers. The present volume completely shows the corruptions of the Roman Church before the Council of Trent, which in the existing state of religious controversy is important; since Mr. Froude has vituperated the reformers, as the cause of that Council, and some of his party profess a wish to bring back things to that state in which they were before its meeting. How things then were, Mr. Stebbing has described. Many valuable books have been written against Popery, arming the Christian on several points: its variations in time, circumstances, and plan have been exhibited; its intolerance has been discussed; its bulls and fulminatory edicts have been published and translated; its commentaries on scriptural passages have been refuted, and the dark acts of its priesthood have been in many ways dragged to the open light; but the filling up from continuous History has been wanted-that filling up, in reference to ourselves and Protestantism, Mr. Stebbing has supplied.

Researches in Assyria, Babylonia, and Chaldæa, forming part of the Labours of the Euphrates Expedition. By Wm. Ainsworth, F.G.S.F.L. G. S., Surgeon and Geologist to the Expedition. London: Parker. 1838.

THIS work is one of very deep research, and is more particularly devoted to geological purposes. The formations of the Euphrates and the physical evidences of the Noachian Deluge are elaborately discussed; the description and progress of the alluvial districts of Babylonia, Chaldæa, and Susiana, which occupy a considerable part, are very minutely treated, and the site of many places celebrated in ancient history is satisfactorily determined. In these regions moving sand hills on the level plain, “which are constantly shifting their place, and number, and yet always remain in the same general locality," owing their existence apparently to springs, which moisten the sands and cause their accumulation; the form and number of the hills, "which at their bases have a fixed point of attraction," being occasioned by the prevalent winds, present a curious phenomenon to the eye. The Arabs superstitiously regard them as the sepulchral pall of brethren fallen in battle. Excepting on the banks of the Euphrates, there are few remains of the date-groves, vine-yards, and gardens, which in the days of Artaxerxes adorned the same land, and still less of the population and labour which made the soil a garden in those of Nebuchadnezzar. In the marshes of Lemlúm are wild and predatory inhabitants of the tribe of

Khezail, Shiites, descendants of the Persians, who live in reed huts temporarily erected on isolated dry spots, like islets in a wilderness of waters and as they are frequently flooded, it is not uncommon to see children swing in cradles attached to the roofs, whilst the waters are flowing through the cottages. One solitary tree of the tamarisk-class is still found growing on the ruins of the Kasrat Babylon, which has been supposed to be the last remnant or the offspring of the sloping or hanging gardens mentioned by Quintus Curtius; the Assyrian and Chaldæan mounds yet remain to assist the traveller's researches. In the summer, whilst the vegetation is withered, the natives are apt to set fire to it as the flames extend, birds of prey hover over the smoke, ever and anon alighting in search of the animals destroyed; to thekites and falcons, the jerboa and the shrew-mice-to the vultures and crows, the half-broiled snakes and lizards fall an abundant prey.

Mr. Ainsworth considers that all mankind were not in the plains of Shinar at the time of the dispersion, but that "some remained in the country of the preservation of the ark." Ur of the Chaldees, about which have been various geographical disputes, he pronounces to be the Urhoi of the present Syrians, corrupted by the Arabs into 'Urfáh or 'Orfáh: it is at the foot of the mountains of Osrhoene, and tradition has made 'Urfáh the birth-place of Abraham. "Ur, in the progress of corruption, became Urhoi, Roha, 'Orfáh or 'Urfah; and with change of masters, Chaldæopolis, Anticchea, Callirhoe, and Edessa." From hence Haran is about 20 miles, and almost always visible. The Chaldeans appear to have founded on the confines of Arabia, and not far from the sea, a great city, which was also called Ur, and subsequently called Orchoe and Urchoe.

Mr. Ainsworth seems to regard the Mujalibah as not improbably the residence of the Israelites during the Babylonian captivity, both etymologically and traditionally supporting his idea the correctness or incorrectness of the hypothesis can, however, scarcely be decided. In every respect this work has strong claims upon us; it supports the scriptural accounts, and furnishes information which is quite novel, and may be applied to various literary purposes. The very creditable manner in which it has been executed encourages our expectations that the expedition now undertaken into Kurdistan, by Mr. Ainsworth and Mr. Thomas Macnamara Russell, will have important results, harmonizing those which have treated of those parts, and making us acquainted with facts which will greatly remove the imperfection of our knowledge about the original Chaldees, the descendants of Kesed. Knowing the oriental corruptions ofnames, the frequent change of s into r, as in πos, Æolicé Top, Cherronesus, and Chersonesus, and many other words in the Greek, and in the rules of Sanscrit permutation; we by no means think it improbable (although the Easterns offer another etymology) that Kurd may, according to this custom, be a corruption of Kesed. If these travellers can discover old specimens of the Kurdish language, they may enable us to determine many historical things now subjected to doubt and uncertainty. They may enable us, by comparing with it the names of the Chaldæan conquerors of Babylon, to solve one of the most difficult problems of antiquity.

The Christian Mission. By James Alfred Boddy, B. A., Curate of Goodshaw. London: Smith. 1838.

THIS is an energetic book, which is written not on assumption, but on facts; which gives a just picture of the religious destitution which may be seen at home and abroad. The assertions are often proved by statistical returns and documentary evidence, from which there is no appeal. The multitudes which are unprovided with religious instruction and accommodation in churches, in London and the provincial towns, in the villages and hamlets of the land-the inadequate supply of clergy to direct them aright, and superintend the persevering course of righteousness-the temptations which the law makes legal, whilst religion forbids them, and all the other obliquities of the age, occupy the writer's attention, as he advances to his more especial theme.

The following statistical table will show how much remains to be done towards the conversion of the Heathens:

A census, like this, synoptically bringing before us this great question in its chief bearings, justifies the several appeals that have been made to the Christian public to aid the Evangelization of the globe; for whilst we have an aggregate of 387,788,000 Christians, many of whom have so far wandered from the truth as to need an absolute renovation; we have 349,212,000 persons to whom Christianity is unknown! This latter computation we should imagine too low for who can number the Wahabis, the Druses, the Yezidis, the Ishmaelis, the Berbers, and many more whom we could mention? And it is not clear that the Jews form a part of it. At all events the immense amount is sufficient to give impulse to Christian zeal.

What has been done? What ought yet to be done? How Evangelization ought to be conveyed? and the sin of neglecting it, are topics on which Mr. Boddy has forcibly enlarged. We strongly recommend his remarks to the public, to those who have already reflected on the subject, and more particularly to those who have hitherto treated the plan and attempt as idle chimeras.

The Pilgrim's Staff and Christian's Daily Walk; a Series of Meditations, Illustrations of Holy Writ, and Occasional Prayers, for every Morning and Evening throughout the year. Compiled from the writings of the Primitive Fathers, the early Reformers and Divines, chiefly of the Church of England. By Henry Smith, of King's College, London. London: Ball. 1839.

THIS book is fraught with most excellent devotional comtemplations and prayers we are however sorry to perceive the inclination to the Oxford school, which the cross in the title-page and the quotations from the Lyra Apostolica, prove Mr. Smith to indulge. Yet, on the other hand, it would be inconsistent with our fairness, as reviewers, to conceal that we have not discovered in this volume any tract of the Papistical tendency which we regret in the doctrines, which have lately proceeded from Oxford. Mr. Smith's selection is generally so excellent, that he might well have avoided the suspicion which he may now create in the minds of some, as there were sufficient sources from whence his pages might have otherwise been enriched. We cannot, however, but speak favourably of the work; hoping, nevertheless, that in a second edition there will be neither a cross in the title-page, nor any other mark of this Ecclesiastical schism. Why should the members of the King's College attach themselves to this spiritually inflated bubble? CAMBRIDGE YET IS ORTHODOX! Mathematical reasoning consists not with undemonstrable assumptions. If the members of King's College do all this to curry the favour of the Bishop of London, they err; for he has openly and properly spoken his mind, in a manner inconsistent with the tracts, respecting Sir H. Jenner's late abominable decision.

** Several other Works must remain till our next Number. In order to secure an early insertion, all things should be forwarded to the Editor not later than the 15th of the month.

Miscellanea.

CLERICAL ANECDOTES.

The following brief notices are intended not so much to be illustrative of the characters of the eminent individuals to whom they relate, as to become the means of cherishing the remembrance of celebrated dignitaries of the Church, whose important services its present adversity must teach it to estimate at their highest value, and cause them to be remembered with heart-felt gratitude by all its members. It is not meant here that the Church of England does not at this moment contain within its bosom men as learned, pious, zealous, and active as any that ever preceded them. No; it is only meant that for a long series of years it has not had so many and formidable enemies,-has not been so furiously assailed, nor so much needed support.

THE BISHOP OF NORWICH.-The Right Rev. Dr. Horne, Bishop of Norwich, was a learned and pious Prelate. His chief work, the "Commentary on the Psalms," he appears to have dwelt upon with peculiar delight. "Could the Author flatter himself," he says, in the preface, "that any one would have half the pleasure in reading the following exposition, which he hath had in writing it, he would not fear the loss of his labour. The employment detached him from the bustle and hurry of life, the din of politics, and the noise of folly.— Vanity and vexation flew away, for a season-care and disquietude came not near his dwelling. He arose fresh as the morning to his task; the silence of the night invited him to pursue it; and he can truly say that food and rest were not preferred before it. Every psalm improved infinitely upon his acquaintance with it, and no one gave him uneasiness but the last, for then his work was done. Happier hours than those which have been spent in those meditations on the Songs of Sion he never expects to see in this world. Very pleasantly did they pass, and move swiftly and smoothly along, for when thus engaged he counted no time. They are gone-but have left a relish and a fragrance on the mind, and, the remembrance of them is sweet."

THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY.-Among the numerous and amiable qualities of the late Right Reverend Doctor Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, none shone more conspicuous than the admirable suavity of his disposition. By his mildness he succeeded in allaying the impetuosity of the late Princess Charlotte, to whom he was appointed tutor in 1803. It is stated that he earnestly implored her, whenever she found her temper particularly excited, to repeat the following passage from Pope :

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"Teach me to feel another's woe,

To hide the faults I see;

That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me."

On one occasion, it is added, finding her Royal Highness in the act of scolding a young female domestic, who stood trembling before her, and not daring to quit her presence; he asked the Princess if, previously to giving way to her anger, she had remembered his recommendation as to the passage in Pope? No," "answered her Royal Highness; "I was in too great a passion to recollect that or any thing else." He then repeated the lines himself; and applied them so effectually to the occasion, that his Royal Pupil burst into tears, and spontaneously sending for the offender, who had been previously directed to retire, in the most feeling manner apologized for her behaviour.

ARCHDEACON PALEY.-About the year 1784 this eminent Divine preached at St. Mary's, the University Church (and it has been stated that he officiated there when the late Mr. Pitt visited Cambridge, soon after that great Statesman was elevated to the Premiership; also that he took the opportunity to rebuke the numerous members of the University, who, with a view to preferment, had been guilty of adulation towards the youthful Premier), by selecting the following text for his discourse: "There is a lad here who hath five barley loaves and two small fishes; but what are they among so many ?" (St. John c. vi. v. 9.)

F

It is, however, asserted, that many years after he denied having preached upon that occasion but said that he should very probably have taken the text mentioned if he had.

THE BISHOP OF CARLISLE.-The Right Rev. Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, and grandfather of the present Lord Ellenborough, shortly before his decease, which took place in 1787, republished his two principal works with alterations and addenda. In the structure of his sentences he used so many parentheses, that, as Paley relates, having on one occasion sent a work to press at Carlisle, a considerable time elapsed before the printer could proceed with it. After sending several times, the Bishop at length called to ascertain what could possibly cause so great a delay. " Why does not my book make its appearance ?" said his Lordship to the printer. My Lord," answered the latter, "I am extremely sorry, but we have been obliged to send to the letter-founder at Glasgow for a pound of parentheses."

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TENNISON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.-The life of this eminent Prelate shews that neither a fiery zeal nor a spirit of adulation is necessary to the attainment of the highest rank in the Church. Although a staunch Churchman, he is said to have been much esteemed, on account of his integrity and abilities, by James the Second. In 1685] he attended the Duke of Monmouth to the scaffold, on which occasion he deported himself, according to Burnet, with all the honest freedom of a Christian minister, and yet with such prudence as to give no offence. To William and Mary, the successors to James, he rendered himself particularly acceptable, and having displayed great zeal in a project that was shortly after brought forward for reconciling the various Protestant sects to the Established Church, he was raised to the see of Lincoln in 1691. In 1694 he was raised to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and by his own desire attended Queen Mary in her last moments, and preached her funeral sermon. Taking advantage of the serious feelings which the death of his consort produced in King William, Tennison boldly censured him for his immoralities, and in particular protested with such energy against his illicit connexion with a certain lady of rank, that his Majesty promised never to see her again.

BISHOP BURNET. This celebrated Prelate, author of "The History of the Reformation," and many other valuable literary works, when offered the see of Salisbury by King William, begged his Majesty to bestow it upon his old friend, Dr. Lloyd. "I have another person in view," coldly answered the king, who the next day renewed the offer in terms that could not be resisted, and the see was accordingly conferred upon Dr. Burnet himself. With him originated the measure for augmenting poor livings out of the first fruits payable to the Crown, during the progress of which he either presented to prebendal stalls, or bestowed small annuities upon those ministers in his diocese whose incomes were too slender for their comfortable maintenance. He allowed pensions to several clergymen's widows who had been left destitute, contributed largely to the erection and repair of churches and parsonage-houses, supported four students at the University, and fifty boys at a school at Salisbury, whom in due time he apprenticed to tradesmen, assisted industrious persons reduced to distress, and constantly expended so much of his episcopal revenue in acts of benevolence and hospitality, that at his death he left only sufficient to pay his

debts.

TRANSUBSTANTIATION.-Sir Richard Baker has the following singular anecdote of Queen Elizabeth, respecting this most absurd and monstrous of the Romish tenets:-The common net for catching of Protestants was the real presence; and this net was used to catch the ready Elizabeth (afterwards queen); for being asked what she thought of the words of Christ" This is my body;" whether she thought it the true body of Christ that was in the sacrament? After pausing, she thus answered --

"Christ was the Word that spake it,

He took the bread and brake it;
And what the Word did make it,

That I believe and take it."

CHRISTIANITY.-The late eminent Judge, Sir J. Allan Park, once said, at a public meeting in the city of London. We live in the midst of blessings, till