One thing we know, we must die; and if we would be saved, we must come to Christ and believe his love. Think not that I have exaggerated in speaking of it; look at a glow-worm, and then at a tropical sun shining in its splendour, and you will see the infinite disproportion between man's highest conceptions and the love of Christ. We cannot discover the shores of the ocean, no more the bounds of the love of Christ; we cannot tell the length of eternity, nor the joys of the heavenly world, neither can we the love of Christ. Oh! let it constrain us to love him, and to devote ourselves, body, soul, and spirit to his service. INROADS OF POPERY; A SKETCH FROM HISTORY As the inroads of Popery find the present generation uninformed of its history, accept an extract from Melchior Adams's "Vitæ Germanorum Theologorum." 66 Before the fourteenth century there was a church in the Papacy, as there was a true Head where the nation was abandoned to Baal. But Gobelin Persan was born in Westphalia, 1358; and he, when Petrarch and Boccaccio restored learning, went through Italy, and lived much at Rome, among popes and courtiers. Entering the priesthood, he preached so faithfully that the Benedictine monks, hating him, attempted to take him off, by mixing poison with his food. "He showed his suspicion of the Popish legend, by calling in question the story of the Eleven Monks and Virgins of St. Catharine; for, amidst the thick darkness, many hated the primacy of the Pope, the pride, avarice, and vices of the clergy, and even the idolatry of the mass. Nor were there wanting those who had scriptural views of the gratuitous justification of a sinner before God, of the invocation of saints, and of the efficacy of the sacraments. Many sighed for reformation, which they secretly laboured to introduce. "For, before the days of Gobelin, one of the mysteries, interludes, or religious farces, was acted at Senach, before the Margrave Frederick; and the parable of the ten virgins was the theme. The wise virgins were Saints Mary, Catharine, Barbara, Dorothy, and Margaret. To these the five foolish virgins were represented as coming to beg some of their oil. This the actor interpreted, as requesting Mary and the other saints to intercede for the fools, that God would admit them into the marriage chamber, that is to say, into heaven. What was the consequence? The wise positively refuse to give any of their oil to the foolish. Here a doleful spectacle was exhibited. The foolish knock and weep, and beg and pray, but not a drop could they get they are ordered to go away and buy oil. 66 The Margrave, seeing and hearing all this, is said to have been thrown into such consternation that he became dangerously ill. dangerously ill. What is our Christian faith good for,' he exclaimed, 'if neither Mary nor any other saint can be prevailed on to intercede for us? What is the use of so many meritorious good works, by which we have sought to obtain the intercession of the saints before God, and secure his favour?' This alarm brought on apoplexy, by which he died in four days, and was buried at Senach. "What the actors in this drama meant may be easily seen-that men had forsaken Christ, the fountain of living waters, and had hewn out to themselves broken cisterns that could hold no water. What the more discerning durst not preach in the pulpit, they acted on the stage." POETRY. ON THE DEPARTURE OF THE REV. ROBT. MOFFAT FOR AFRICA. GOD of Heaven! O guide the wanderer Smooth the wrathful surges' foam; One small voice can calm the ocean- And the moon her sweet light tender, S. A. N. In all thy majesty arise, Thou only canst reverse this doom: Recall thy people to thy sway- Restore, and make them know their day. DARKNESS COVERS THE EARTH. Dark, dark, the cloud portentous lies O Sun of Righteousness, arise, And chase the dreadful shade. Hast thou not promis'd to remove The impenetrable veil? When wilt thou breathe the breath of love, In vain may missionaries try LAMENT OF JESUS OVER JERUSALEM. Luke xix. 42-44. "If thou hadst known, in this thy day, The things which to thy peace belong, Thy God had pardon'd thy delay, Thy Saviour had pass'd by this wrong; But now, the truths thou didst despise, Alas! are hidden from thine eyes. "Thy foes, in days that hasten on, Shall trench and compass thee around; Thy walls erase, pluck stone from stone, And lay thee even with the ground: Thy children too within thee slay, Because thou knewest not thy day!"' When he Jerusalem beheld, Thus Jesus spake, with flowing tears; Since this prediction was fulfill'd, Ages have risen out of years; But desolation triumphs still, And waste is Zion's holy hill. Thou, who didst weep, regard our sighsMessiah, now thy rights resume; NO TEMPLE IN HEAVEN. The glories of the world of light, In vision, were reveal'd. The former things had pass'd away Anguish, and death, and sin : Nor night might veil the cloudless day, Nor temple was therein. No need of ordinances there But, unconfin'd by space, Loud anthems to the grace that saves, INFINITIES. Rev. xxi. 24. O glorious scenes of future bliss That open on the sight, Dazzled with bright infinitiesAnd nations share the light! STRICTURES on PORTIONS of Dr. MarSHALL'S late WORK on the ATONEMENT; addressed to the Ministers, Licentiates, and Students, of the United Secession Church in Scotland. By an English Congregational Minister. pp. 42. London, Gladding. THIS little book has exceedingly pleased us. It is a luminous exposé of the irreconcilable nature of Dr. Marshall's opposing statements. In our recent review of his work we took occasion to animadvert on this inconsistency. We are happy that the task has been attempted in a more lengthened and elaborate manner. That Dr. Marshall confutes himself, we fancy few can fail to discover; but to place his contradictions in so striking a light, and to demonstrate so convincingly that he has sought to reconcile incompatible opinions, we believe few could have accomplished. That the persons, in opposition to whose views Dr. Marshall's book was written, have acted throughout in the most judicious manner, may perhaps be doubted. His inconsistency is, however, clearly more glaring than theirs; and his scheme for healing the breaches in the Secession walls has been overturned by this reply non levi ruina. That he has taken a most untenable position is proved with overwhelming power of argument. The writer's mind is evidently well fitted for a task like this. He excels in accuracy of expression and precision of terms, and detects, as though instinctively, the fallacies that are wrapped up in the loose phraseology of Dr. Marshall. Take, as an example, the commencement of the book, "The first sentences in the introduction, where precision is especially demanded, perplexed me not a little. The question,' says Dr. Marshall, I propose to examine is, For whom did the Son of God lay down his life? Was it for some men or for all?' This is no doubt one question, and, as I had supposed, the exclusive question. But the writer adds, We And if for all, was it for all in the same sense, with the same intention, to secure for each and every one the same benefit? Surely, I thought, this was a different ques tion altogether; I had, moreover, some doubt whether this latter question does not resolve itself into two. Dr. Marshall seems to identify sense' with 'intention.' affirm that Christ laid down his life for men in the sense of dying in their stead. Socinians maintain that he did it in the general sense of promoting their benefit. These are really different senses of dying for men, but dying with intention to save some and not others cannot, I think, be so denominated." The writer aims, however, at a higher object than to criticize Dr. Marshall's phraseology. The doctor is waging an unnatural war against the advocates of uni. versal atonement, for in the last part of his work he has employed the arguments which they are accustomed to wield, and avowed them as his own. "Then," replies the writer of the Strictures, "for what purpose did you write the first three chapters in your book? why sneer and scoff at men whose views are coincident with your own?" Dr. Marshall has proved that Christ died in some sense for all men. The author of the Strictures has proved, that if he died in any sense for all men, he died in the same sense for all. "Now, as Dr. Marshall admits that Christ made not only an atonement for the church but for the world, I ask him whether there was any peculiarity in the atonement made for the former? any ingredient or quality in it which did not exist in that which was made for the latter? any power to redeem in the one which was not to be found in the other? Should Dr. Marshall reply that intention to save was this peculiarity, I reply that intention to save is not of the essence of atonement,that though it accompanies it, it is extraneous to it. Should Dr. Marshall incautiously affirm that it is not merely an accompaniment that it is of its essenceis essential to atonement; then, I ask him, how he can maintain that the death of Christ was an atonement for all men? I ask him how he can rescue himself from the charge of inconsistency in maintaining that Christ has expiated the sins of the world, while he holds that his atonement for the world was defective in what enters into the very essence of atonement? How can it be doubted that if intention to save be essential to atonement, no sufficient atonement was made for the world; or, on the other hand, that, if a sufficient atonement was made for the world, intention to save was not essential to atonement?" While Dr. Marshall leaves his readers bewildered and perplexed, conscious of incongruity and yet confounded by the confidence of the writer, that "he knows his ground," &c., and the sophisms with which he has, unwittingly we believe, invested his inconsistencies, the writer of the Strictures commends himself to their confidence as a guide familiar with the path, acquainted with every pass and turning, who sees the precise points of difficulty, and knows the meaning or meanings of every term employed in the discussion. The style is dignified and courteous, entirely free from the triumphant challenging tone of which we had to complain in the former work. If there be in the writer a consciousness that he holds the rod, it is no more than his actual occupation of that position would necessarily produce, and is never displayed in vaunting or invidious language. It cannot be read without gratification and benefit ; and both in Scotland and England it is eminently adapted to do good. The WIVES of ENGLAND. By MRS. ELLIS. Dedicated, by permission, to the Queen. Fisher, Son, and Co. This admirable volume, a continuation of "The Daughters of England," is an able analysis of female character, developed by all those changes that are contingent to a married life. Fully conscious of "What's in a name," the writer has given to her present labours one of the most attractive titles which our language can supply, but has neither availed herself, ingeniously, of VOL. XXI. its advantage, nor, under its agreeable shelter, concealed matter totally irrelevant. Perfectly mistress of her subject, and possessing the most commanding powers of delineation, she has entered fearlessly, and at once, upon the investigation of woman's heart, and traced the progress of its feelings through all the intricacies of the labyrinth which social intercourse weaves around it. The authoress, however, is neither foremost, nor alone, in asserting the rights of woman, but her fair predecessors have either laid claim to an equality of the sexes as one of nature's prerogatives, or treated the inquiry as matter of history. The first of these classes of writers we shall leave to the enjoyment of their theory; we would remind the second of the faulty quality of an induction from so small a number of examples. But it is not in a visionary or historic manner that the author of the "Wives of England" has described the elements of female character; she has prescribed distinct rules,-she would inculcate emphatic precepts, that may be immediately put into practice, for the formation of such habits and manners-for such a precise government of the heart and mind, as are calculated to make the prospect of marriage always bright, and that state itself as full of earthly happiness as it was ever intended should be the lot of sinful man. Commencing with " 'Thoughts before marriage," and ending with "Social Influence," every intermediate stage of the journey of domestic life receives the author's philosophical yet practical consideration; and her eloquent pages may be turned to again and again by the anxious mother and affectionate wife, for counsel and assistance in many of those trials incident to her responsible position. We have never noticed any publication on the duties of woman, not even the previous writings of the same authoress, with more pleasurable feelings, or with a more clear conviction of ability and usefulness, than the "Wives of England." It will become a standard work in every family library, and exercise a lasting and extended moral influence. The POETICAL WORKS of JOHN MILTON. With a Memoir, and Critical Remarks on his Genius and Writings. By JAMES MONTGOMERY; and one hundred and twenty Engravings, by John Thompson, S. and T. Williams, O. Smith, J. Linton, &c., from Drawings by W. Harvey. 2 vols. 8vo. Tilt and Bogue, Fleet-street. Those who have seen the editions of Cowper and Thomson, which have already appeared in this beautiful series, will be glad to find the prince of English bards attired P in so splendid a costume. But, most of all, will the admirers of John Milton rejoice to receive a critique on his character and writings, from the pen of James Montgomery, an individual better qualified, perhaps, for this delicate and difficult task, than any other living man. Whether we refer to Mr. M.'s biographical sketch of Milton, or to his strictures on his genius and writings, we cannot but admire the candour and acuteness which our venerable friend has brought to bear upon his undertaking. To the political character of Cromwell's Latin Secretary our author has done full justice, in opposition to the dastardly attacks of Dr. Johnson and others. "On the next long and arduous stage of Milton's life," he observes, "during the great rebellion,' as it has been called, and under the Commonwealth, from 1638, till the restoration of Charles II. in 1660, he was incessantly engaged in political controversy on all manners of debatable subjects, in that civil war of words as well as swords; or else more soberly employed in official business, as Latin Secretary to Crom well. ،، Whatever honour he may have won, with a due proportion of obloquy, at the time, and each cleaving to his memory with a tenacity not likely to be neutralized, in either case, with parties less prejudiced than his antagonists and his admirers, (to one or other of which classes all his biographers have hitherto belonged,) Milton does not seem to have enriched himself with any considerable share of the spoil that fell to the disposal of Cromwell, beyond the moderate salary for his secretaryship, a thousand pounds received by him for one of his most obnoxious publications, (which had the further honour of being burned by the hands of the common hangman, after the return of the Stuarts,) and the small fragment of a forfeited estate, of which he was afterwards deprived." On Milton's "Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce," Mr. Montgomery has fully delivered his conscience, yet without anything of that grossness and severity which other writers have indulged in, in treating this weak point in Milton's character. "In 1643," observes our author, "Milton married Mary, daughter of Richard Powell, Esq., of Forest Hill, in Oxfordshire. For reasons not very clear, except a defect of congeniality in their respective habits, the lady left him a few weeks afterwards, on a visit to her friends, from which she long delayed and eventually refused to return to his house. Under this injury, the indignant husband wrote four tracts On the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce,' in which, endeavouring, with as much labour in vain as could be desired, to press into the service of an infirm cause, scriptural authorities and antiquated precedents, he hazarded sentiments which gave great offence to honest and ingenuous minds, unaccustomed to deceive themselves with specious sophistry, and fearing to be deceived by doctors of that school, more learned and subtle than them. selves. To the Christian, there can be but one law on the subject-that which is laid down by our Saviour himself, Matt. v. 31,32. ،، After various negotiations, into particulars of which there is neither room nor need to enter, the poet's wife returned to him. He received her kindly, and they lived together till her death, nine years afterwards. By her, Milton had three daughters; and Dr. Johnson, whose memoirs contain scarcely a paragraph without a sarcasm or a slanderous hint against his noble victim's principles, or his conduct in public or private lifeeven Dr. Johnson adds on this subject— It were injurious to omit, that Milton afterwards received her father and mother into his house, when they were distressed, with other royalists.' The doctor himself might have made many meritorious omissions in his biographical narrative, and the accompanying strictures, which abound with assertions, assumptions, and inuendoes, cruelly injurious to the memory of him to whom it was his duty to do justice, and who, had he been living, would not have accepted mercy at the hands of so inveterate an enemy.' On Milton's prose writings, Mr. Montgomery has written many brilliant passages. Of the “ Areopagitica, &c., he says, "This specimen of Milton's rhetorical power as an advocate presents a galaxy of current thought, thick sown with stars, clustered or single, of every lustre, hue, and magnitude. Argument, illustration, fancy, wit, sarcasm, and noble sentiment, are here so clearly arrayed, arranged, and concatenated, as are not often found in Milton himself; while the temper of the wholeexcept a few passing strokes at the prelates, -is not only blameless, but commendable. The theme is magnificent-the vindication of man's prerogative on earth above the brutes that perish-his realm of reason, and his sovereignty of speech. No brief quotations can give a just idea of the force and authority of plain truths, with which the undaunted republican addresses the rulers of his own party, when they were meditating to impose on the people, whom their prowess in the field had set free, the most hateful of all tyrannies, the enslavement of the press. 'Give me,' he exclaims, the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely, above all liberties.' "' But it is upon Milton's poetic genius, as might have been expected, that our author exerts the full energy of his critical analysis. Some of his observations are happy in the extreme. After quoting the |