A specimen of the eighty-eight lectures in the volume before us, will not exhibit their variety of matter and illustration; but it will be instructive as a detached extract. We will select the lec

ture on James ii. 20-26, of which the following is the sub

stance.

"Thus St. James pursues the argument which he had before begun, to prove that faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. Any one who took the opposite side, would be sure to bring forward the example of Abraham of whom Paul has said, (Rom. iv. 2, 3), 'If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory: but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righ teousness.'

"Is there, then, a difference between the two apostles? This cannot be. All Scripture was written under the direction of the same Spirit, and tends to the same end. But Paul has affirmed, Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.' Therefore might a man say, I have faith. I fully believe that Jesus Christ came into the world for our redemption. I have received it from my parents. It is adopted as truth in the country to which I belong. Nay I have gone back to the history which relates how the religion of Christ Jesus first prevailed and spread and I perceive that if I doubt of that, I must doubt of everything which I have not seen with my own eyes. For these reasons I believe it. This is my faith: and I trust that this faith will be counted unto me for righteousness.

"Here then the apostle James comes in, to prevent error in a case so serious; and shows the nature of that faith which God accepted in the case of Abraham. Certainly his faith saved him. But observe what sort of faith. Abraham

changes and governs the heart, and makes the man in whom it is implanted a new creature.'

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Certainly this appeared in Abraham. Through faith he did that, which nothing else could have made him do.

"And it is this which proves reality, sincerity, in a profession; a willingness to act upon the profession, though it be to our own distress or loss. In the instance which James had before brought forward, where there was no real love; where there were kind words, but no kind deeds: the want of real love was

proved by the unwillingness to do anything for love's sake. Ye say, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not the things which are needful. Thus it is proved that there is no true affection in the heart. On the other hand, it is clear in Abraham's case that there was a true affection. He was justified, his faith was established, when he offered his son Isaac. The trial was severe. We are told so in the history; which begins by saying, that God tempted Abraham.' sword must have pierced his heart, when he rose up early in the morning, and took Isaac away from the sight of his mother Sarah, conscious that the mother would never see that son again. A sword must have pierced his heart, when Isaac innocently inquired of him, My father, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' The faith which could sustain a man through a trial of this kind, was indeed a true affection, a vital principle.

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"Every Christian's faith is brought to a test of the same kind, though not of the same degree. As the heart by nature loves a son, an only son; so the heart by nature loves worldly things, worldly pleasures, self-indulgence. The gospel message to such a heart is, Take thy sin, thy most besetting sin, which thou lovest, and sacrifice it at the cross of Christ. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if through the Spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee.'

If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee.' Set thine affections on things above, not on things of the earth.' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.'

from his labours in Greece and Turkey under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society, and subsequently from his zealous exertions to promote the extension of Gospel truth in France and Switzerland. To the readers of the Christian Observer he is also known by some poetical compositions, which he afterwards collected, with other pieces, into a very pleasing little volume. At present he is British Chaplain at Nice, and he hopes by the publication of these discourses to obtain some pecuniary aid for the exertions now making to promote religion in France. He is anxious, he says, "to proclaim the great truths of the Gospel" both from the pulpit and the press; and we congratulate our countrymen at Nice upon the zeal, piety, and ability, which characterize their Chaplain's discourses. We will quote, from the concluding pages of the last of them, some important remarks upon the encouraging facilities for religious exertion upon the continent, especially in France.

"It may well excite astonishment, that so little attention has been directed in England to this fact, that France is at length open to Christian effort. After the lapse of dark ages, during which it was an edict in that country that no sun of righteousness should rise upon it, now is every barrier thrown down, and we may freely go to Paris, to Lyons, to Marseilles, to the frontiers of Belgium, and the valleys of the Pyrenees, and there and everywhere we may proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ! Yes, my brethren, in that land where the demon of persecution fondly imagined he had drowned for ever the voice of scriptural truth in the blood of its adherents, that voice again is heard. It is proclaimed loudly and clearly in the very precincts of the Louvre, where Coligny fell, and in the very church where Louis, the great persecutor, worshipped. In France have already appeared Neffs, and Pyts, and many other devoted and able ministers of the New Testament, who are inviting their countrymen to the Saviour of men, with a zeal and under

standing which perhaps is nowhere surpassed. And do not the signs of the times very clearly indicate that we may soon hope to lead our fellow-sinners to heaven from Spain and Portugal, and even Italy? Surely the time cannot be far distant when no land shall be forbidden to peruse the message of God's mercy! I do not say then, Shall we neglect such openings as these? If we are servants of Christ, we cannot possibly neglect them. If we are such, we shall be eager to seize every new occasion of adding to the happiness of the world, and to the glory of Christ; we shall never be wearied by the increasing calls which are daily made upon our liberality and exertions; we shall rejoice exceedingly that these calls increase; we cannot act as though we had adopted the resolution, I determine, as far as depends on me, that Christ shall not be the French empire; I vote that they preached to the thirty-three millions of be condemned to eternal ruin without reprieve. No, I am sure I speak the truth when I say, that every true Christian will be anxious to second to the utmost every right effort to save France. The revival of the Protestant churches on the continent invites our

co-operation. In what a melancholy condition were these churches only con twenty years ago! It might have seemed decreed in providence that all the blest labours of the Reformers should be ruined by the madness of the Rationalists. But the dark clouds which portended such fearful consequences have passed, and the true light again shineth. In Prussia, and other parts of Germany, there are not only faithful ministers of God, proclaiming the great doctrines of the cross from the pulpit, but even in the universities the chairs of theology are occupied by many pious and learned servants of Christ. In Geneva, where we have spent three years, we found not only a noble resistance to error, but, notwithstanding the Socinian spirit still existing, a zeal for the cause of Christ, which can scarcely be excelled elsewhere. In the Pays de Vaud, where a few years ago scarcely a single clergyman of zeal and energy could be discovered, there is now scarcely a church, in which the truths of the Gospel are not preached with fidelity and success; and the canton of Zurich, that canton so gloriously first at the grand epoch of the Reformation, but of late appearing last in the progress of religious revival, Zurich has lately exhibited the remarkable specimen of an entire population rising up with firmness, with mildness, with power, and

with love, in favour of the imperishable word of God. Where it was supposed all was so dead, that infidelity might with effrontery usurp even the chair of theology, suddenly there was a movement, as though the very spirit of Zuingli and his comrade reformers had risen from their ancient graves, and by the blessing of the Most High the victory was achieved without any violation of the laws either of God or man. It is,

my brethren, chiefly in connection with the revival of religion in Switzerland, that have occurred the labours of the Geneva Evangelical Society in France. This Society was originally formed with the intention of training up for the sacred ministry a body of orthodox and pious young men, who might supply the sad deficiency of rightful instruction

under which the canton then laboured. "But the wide and effectual door' for christian exertion which was opened in France in the year 1830, very naturally invited attention to that quarter, and from that period efforts have been made with increasing extent and success up to the present hour.

We

have ourselves visited many of the sta tions of this society in different parts, and we are personally acquainted both with the directors and many of the agents of the whole undertaking, and we can not only render a most cheerful testimony to the christian character and and spirit of the labourers, but to the remarkable blessing which God has vouchsafed to their labours. In one department, that of Saone et Loire, where three or four years ago there was not a single Protestant congregation, there are now many Protestant churches regularly established; and congregations in considerable numbers appearing, wherever labourers are employed. Never in our whole life have we been more interested, than in a visit paid last August to the little town of Thiers in Auvergne. There we found a lovely church of Jesus Christ collected, consisting of more than thirty persons, all converted from Romanism in the space of a few months, and giving

the

are

best evidences of repentance

towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.' Time forbids me to enter into particulars. I refer you to what has been written in various publications on these subjects; but I add, in general, that I know of no place in France where the divine blessing has not in a greater or less degree attended persevering exertions; and, if with means so limited, success so important has been obtained, what might we not hope, if these efforts could be greatly extended?

"I conclude, my brethren, by inviting your zealous co-operation in favour of this great cause. Our continental brethren, though contributing liberally to the maintenance of the work, are not equal to the task of evangelising thirty millions, and at present they have carried their labours far beyond their pecuniary resources. The number of agents has been so greatly increased this winter, in order to follow up the glorious success already bestowed, that unless efficient aid be afforded from England, the work will be arrested just at the most favourable moment.

Se.

Mr. Bateman's appeal from the East aptly follows Mr. Hartley's appeal on behalf of Europe. vere illness having obliged him to quit India, his father-in-law, the Bishop of Calcutta-whose honoured name ought not to be pronounced without much gratitude and many prayers-was desirous that he should publish a few of the discourses which he had preached during his Lordship's visitation. The discourses amply sustain his Lordship's recommendation, and cheering is it to think that such well-wrought and Scriptural compositions

should have been listened to in numerous places from Calcutta to Bombay, and from Ceylon to the Himalayah mountains. It is not to their disparagement, quite the contrary, that they are versant with the chief topics of the Christian ministry, the great things which belong to man's peace in time and eternity; though this prevents their furnishing us with anything special or local for quotation. We however select the following passage as shewing that the author's practical experience of the Mohammedan and heathen world confirms the essential iden

tity of the main delusions which deceive mankind in all ages and nations relative to what is called 'making our peace with God."

"We notice, The object for which the mediatorial kingdom of Christ was established. God so loved the world,

that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' This is the charter of the kingdom; and it is given on the footing of that mournful truth, that man is a sinner, a fallen creature, and an enemy to God by wicked works. Few, generally, will deny this fact; but many deny the conclusion drawn therefrom, that it is impossible for man so fallen, and so depraved by the fall, to regain God's favour by any unassisted efforts of his own. Man's notion of religion, and the foundation therefore of every false religion, and of the abuse of all true religion, is this, that we may by our own good deeds render ourselves ассерtable to God; that we may outweigh our defects by our merits; that they who fail in the attempt, perish: that they who succeed are saved. This principle remains, whatever creed may be adopted. The actions called good and bad, vary with the varying shades of light and civilization; but the principle remains unshaken. The professed Christian, who is ignorant of God's righteousness,' and is going about to establish his own righteousness,' will take the moral precepts of the Bible, and the ten commandments, as his rule. The follower of the false prophet Mahomet will class his stern adherence to

the Divine unity, his fasts, and prayers, and pilgrimages, amongst his meritorious claims to favour. The Heathen man will reckon up his devotions to some sacred stream, his reverence for his gods, his abstraction from the world, his fearful penances, amongst his merits. The principle in every case is identical. Sinfulness is admitted by all; but it is to be weighed against what are considered good works: and, as the balance sinks or rises, we perish or are saved. This error, common to human nature--this fatal error arises from forgetting, or not knowing, that no good work which we can do is meritorious in itself before God. The ut

most that can be said for any action is, that doing it, we have done what we thought or knew to be our duty; but no more no more-no added merit !"

We now turn homewards, and take up several volumes of discourses by living clergymen, or clergymen lately deceased. We will not make unseemly comparisons respecting the varieties of talent, learning, or eloquence, eloquence, among brethren who are striving together for the faith of the Gos

pel; and who are not seeking selfexaltation but to bring souls to Christ. There is not, however, any one volume on our almost casual list, which is not characterized by such solid theological information, and such ability to think out and compose a popular useful discourse, as would do honour to any Christian Church. Neither do we think it necessary to inquire rigidly into some minuter shades of doctrine in non-essential matters, by which some of these discourses may be distinguished from others. On the contrary, we are struck with the leading features of unity in them all, especially in relation to the fallen, guilty, and perishing condition of mankind; the atonement of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit; the need and nature of repentance and conversion; justification by faith and the fruits of faith; and in short whatever relates essentially to the doctrines of grace and the infinitely important question "How shall man be just with God?" Negatively also we observe the same abstinence from undue reliance upon the external forms of religion; and similar cautions to beware of self-deception in unduly exalting emblems, rites, and sacraments, into opus-operatum means of grace, and mistaking the sign for the thing signified. We find a conscientious and Scriptural attachment to the doctrines and discipline of our own Church, without a relegation of our Protestant brethren to uncovenanted mercies; and an adherence to apostolical episcopacy, and an exalted view of the importance of baptism and the supper of the Lord, without those unscriptural and unwarrantable adjuncts, which some holy but fallible men of old superinduced upon them, and which at length ri pened into Popery. And assuredly this essential unity is a cause