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A History of England, in which it
is intended to consider Men and
Events on Christian Principles.
Vol. I. from the earliest Periods
to the Signature of Magna
Charta. By A CLERGYMAN OF
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,
London. 1828.* 6s.

THE object of this work is so expli-
citly stated in its title, that our
duty may be compendiously dis-
charged by simply expressing our
approbation both of the plan and
the performance. The principles
upon which works of history are
too commonly written, are utterly
opposed to the principles of the
Gospel; and our children and youth
grow up with pernicious notions thus
imbibed from the most unsuspected
sources. The Useful-Knowledge
Society have undertaken to expur-
gate the page of history from the
eulogy of war and conquest, the
pride and prejudices of exclusive
nationality, and other evil propensi-
ties, and to give it both a moral and
an enlightened aspect; but they
omit all reference to the Gospel of
Christ, and thus only substitute one
defective standard for another. Our
present anonymous writer takes far
higher ground: he views the provi-
dence of an Almighty Disposer as
directing or overruling all things;
and he justly considers that those
events which in the sight of God
may be most glorious, are often
precisely those which elude the re-
searches of the historian. Too many
readers may feel sated with the fre-
quent "sermonizing" of a volume
written on such a plan; and we
will not say that in some instances
the reflections may not be intro-
duced rather abruptly; but the
Christian parent and instructor will
be grateful for such publications,
which they may place in the hands
of youthful readers without danger,
nay, with much benefit, to their
religious principles. Not only our
Humes and Gibbons, but even his-
torians of far less suspected name,
have done much evil, not merely
CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 333.

by introducing what is wrong, but by the omission of what is edifying. Would that writers of equal powers, but purer and more exalted principles, were raised up to counteract the poison of their productions!

An Epitome of the General Councils of the Church, from the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, to the Conclusion of the Council of Trent in 1563, with Notices of Others. By the Rev. R. GRIER, D.D. 1 vol. 8vo. 9s. Dublin. 1828.

THE councils of the visible or professed church of Christ have too generally been a monument of human frailty: still their transactions are desirable to be known, to some extent, by the theological student, and a general summary of their proceedings may not be uninteresting to the general reader. The materials are however scattered in numerous, massy, and many of them scarce works (one compiler Manzi, an Italian bishop, printed thirty folios of them): Dr. Grier therefore has performed a useful and acceptable service to the divinity reader, by abridging and condensing the chief matters in a lucid and readable form, with constant references to the sources from which more enlarged knowledge may be acquired. We have often, ourselves, felt the want of such a compend for prompt reference; and, concluding that many of our readers may be in a similar condition, we recommend them to avail themselves of Dr. Grier's researches, with due gratitude to the author for his wellconducted labours.

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Bishop Heber is understood to be in preparation, by "the person who knew and loved him best; and that the present publication is only a collection, in a connected view, of the scattered particulars which have already appeared in print respecting that lamented prelate. With this candid statement prefixed, we may without scruple recommend a narrative which could not but be interesting, as containing the chief memoranda of the bishop's life, with extracts from his letters and publications, and which is not intended to supersede a full original memoir, should the latter ever see the light. We subjoin an extract or two which have not already appeared in our pages.

The following incident exhibits the beloved subject of the narrative in his rural parish of Hodnet, where he discharged, with great zeal and simplicity of purpose, the interesting duties of a village pastor.

"There was in the parish an old man who had been a notorious poacher in his youth, and through the combined influence of his irregular mode of life, drunken habits, and depraved associates, had settled down into an irreligious old age. He was a widower, had survived his children, shunned all society, and was rarely seen abroad. The sole inmate of his lonely cottage was a little grandchild, in whom were bound up all the sympathies of his rugged nature, and on whom he lavished the warmest caresses.

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"It was considered an unaccountable departure from his usual line of conduct, when he permitted little Philip to attend the Rector's school. Why not?' was the old man's reply; ' d'ye think I wish Phil to be as bad as myself? I'm black enough, God knows!'

"The old man was taken ill and confined to his room. It was winter. He was unable to divert his mind. His complaint was a painful one; and there was every probability that his illness might be of long continuance. A neighbour suggested that his little grandson should read to him. He listened at first languidly and carelessly; by and bye with some degree of interest; till at length his little grandchild became the means of fanning into a flame the faint spark of religious feeling which yet lingered in the old man's breast.

"He expressed a wish that Mr. Heber should visit him; and the good work which it pleased Providence youthful innocence should begin, matured piety was to carry on

and complete. It was no ordinary spectacle. The old man lay upon his bed, in a corner of the room, near the trellised window. His features were naturally hard and course; and the marked lines of his countenance were distinctly developed by the strong light which fell upon them. fully alive to what was passing around Aged and enfeebled as he was, he seemed him; and I had leisure to mark the searching of his eye as he gazed, with the most intense anxiety, on his spiritual comforter, and weighed every word that fell from The simplicity in which Heber clothed every idea-the facility with which he descended to the level of the old man's

him.

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mind so calm, so subdued, so penitent and resigned, that I feel myself cheered in my labours,' said Heber, whenever I reflect upon it.' Heber himself officiated at the funeral. I shall never forget, I never wish to forget-if I were cast to-morrow on a desert island, it is one of the few things I should care to remember of the world I had left behind me-the air, the manner, the look, the expression of hope, and holy joy, and stedfast confidence, which lit up his noble countenance, as he pronounced this passage of our magnificent ritual- O Father, raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, that when we shall depart this life we may rest in thee, as our hope is this our brother pp. 59--62.

doth.'

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The following was part of his affecting appeal to his parishioners, on quitting them for the scene of his Indian labours.

66

My ministerial labours among you must have an end: I must give over into other hands the task of watching over your spiritual welfare; and many, very many, of those with whom I have grown up from childhood, in whose society I have passed my happiest days, and to whom it has been, during more than fifteen years, my duty and my delight (with such ability as God has given me) to preach the Gospel of Christ, must, in all probability, see my face in the flesh no more. Under such circumstances, and connected with many who now hear me by the dearest ties of blood, of friendship, and of gratitude, some mixture of regret is excusable, some

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ever my sphere of duty may hereafter be, my congregation of Hodnet shall (believe it!) never be forgotten." pp.102-105.

We copy one passage more, from

one of his letters written from India to Mr. Wilmot Horton. It deserves to be seriously weighed, both by the friends and the opponents of Christian missions in India.

"The most important part is to give them a better religion. Knowing how strongly I feel on this subject, you will not be surprised at my placing it foremost. But even if Christianity were out of the question, and if, when I had wheeled away the rubbish of the old pagodas, I had nothing better than simple Deism to erect in their stead, I should still feel some of the anxiety which now urges me. It is necessary to see idolatry, to be fully sensible of its mischievous effects on the human mind. But of all idolatries, which I

degree of sorrow is holy. I cannot, without some anxiety for the future, forsake, for an untried and arduous field of duty, the quiet scenes where, during so much of my past life, I have enjoyed a more than usual share of earthly comfort and prosperity; I cannot bid adieu to those, with whose idea almost every recollection of past happiness is connected, without many earnest wishes for their welfare, and (I will confess it) without some severe self-reproach that, while it was in my power, I have done so much less than I ought to have done, to render that welfare eternal. There are, indeed, those here who know, and there is One, above all, who knows better than any of you, how earnestly I have desired the peace and the holiness of His church; how truly I have loved the people of this place; and how warmly I have hoped to be the means, in His hand, of bringing many among you to glory. But I am at this moment but too painfully sensible that in many things, yea in all, my performance has fallen short of my principles; that the Hindoos, in which I have taken some neither privately nor publicly have I pains to inform myself, really appears to taught you with so much diligence as me the worst, both in the degrading nonow seems necessary in my eyes: nor tions which it gives of the Deity; in the has my example set forth the doctrines endless round of its burdensome cerein which I have, however imperfectly, in- monies, which occupy the time and disstructed you; yet, if my zeal has failed in tract the thoughts, without either insteadiness, it never has been wanting instructing or interesting its votaries; in the sincerity. I have expressed no conviction which I have not deeply felt; have preached no doctrine which I have not stedfastly believed: however inconsistent my life, its leading object has been your welfare; and I have hoped, and sorrowed, and studied and prayed for your instruction, and that you might be saved. For my labours, such as they were, I have been indeed most richly rewarded, in the

uniform affection and respect which I have received from my parishioners; in their regular and increasing attendance in this holy place, and at the table of the Lord; in the welcome which I have never failed to meet in the houses both of rich and poor; in the regret (beyond my deserts, and beyond my fullest expectations) with which my announced departure has been received by you; in your expressed and repeated wishes for my welfare and my return; in the munificent token of your regard, with which I have been this morning honoured *; in your numerous attendance on the present occasion, and in those marks of emotion which I witness around

me, and in which I am myself well nigh constrained to join. For all these, accept such thanks as I can pay-accept my best wishes-accept my affectionate regrets accept the continuance of the prayers which I have hitherto offered up for you daily, and in which, whatever and wher

"A piece of plate had been given to Mr. Heber by his parishioners."

have ever read or heard of, the religion of

filthy acts of uncleanness and cruelty not only permitted but enjoined, and inseparably interwoven with those ceremonies; in the system of castes, a system which tends, more than any thing else the devil has yet invented, to destroy the feelings of general benevolence, and to make ninetenths of mankind the hopeless slaves of the remainder; and in the total absence of any popular system of morals, or any single lesson, which the people at large ever hear, to live virtuously and do good to each other. I do not say, indeed, that there are not some scattered lessons of this kind to be found in their ancient books; but those books are neither accessible to the people at large, nor are these last permitted to read them; and, in general, all the sins which a Sudra is taught to fear," are, killing a cow, offending a Brahmin, rites by which their deities are supposed or neglecting one of the many frivolous to be conciliated. Accordingly, though the general sobriety of the Hindoos (a virtue which they possess in common with most inhabitants of warm climates) affords public order and decorum, I really never a very great facility to the maintenance of have met with a race of men whose stanlittle apparent shame in being detected dard of morality is so low, who feel so in a falsehood, or so little interest in the sufferings of a neighbour not being of their own caste or family; whose ordinary and familiar conversation is so licentious; or, in the wilder and more lawless districts, who shed blood with so little repugnance,

The good qualities which there are among them (and, thank God! there is a great deal of good among them still) are, in no instance that I am aware of, connected with, or arising out of, their religion, since it is in no instance to good deeds or virtuous habits of life that the future rewards in which they believe are promised. Their bravery, their fidelity to their employers, their temperance, and (wherever these are found) their humanity and gentleness of disposition, appear to arise exclusively from a natural happy temperament; from an honourable pride in their own renown, and the renown of their ancestors; and from the goodness of God, who seems unwilling that his image should be entirely defaced even in the midst of the grossest error. The Mussulmans have a far better creed; and though they seldom either like the English or are liked by them, I am inclined to think are, on the whole, a better people. Yet, even with them, the forms of their worship have a natural tendency to make men hypocrites, and the overweening contempt with which they are inspired for all the world beside, the degradation of their women by the system of polygamy, and the detestable crimes, which, owing to this degradation, are almost universal, are such as, even if I had no ulterior hope, would make me anxious to attract them to a better or more harmless system. In this work, thank God! in those parts of India which I have visited, a beginning has been made, and a degree of success obtained, at least commensurate to the few years during which our missionaries have laboured; and it is still going on, in the best and safest way, as

the work of private persons alone, and although not forbidden, in no degree encouraged by government.

"In the mean time, and as an useful auxiliary to missionaries, the establishment of elementary schools, for the lower classes and for females, is going on to a very great extent, and might be carried to any conceivable extent to which our pecuniary means would carry us. Nor is there any measure from which I anticipate more speedy benefit than the elevation of the rising generation of females to the natural rank in society, and giving them (which is all that, in any of our schools, we as yet venture to give) the lessons of general morality extracted from the Gospel, without any direct religious instruction. These schools, such of them at least as I have any concern with, are carried on without any help from government. Government has, however, been very liberal in its grants both to a Society for National Education, and in the institution and support of two colleges of Hindoo students of riper age; the one at Benares, the other at Calcutta. But I do not think any of these institutions in the way after which they are at present conducted, likely to do much good. In the elementary schools supported by the former, through a very causeless and ridiculous fear of giving offence to the natives, they have forbidden the use of the Scriptures, or any extracts from them, though the moral lessons of the Gospel are read by all Hindoos who can get hold of them, without scruple and with much attention; and though their exclusion is tantamount to excluding all moral instruction from their schools." pp. 202-207.

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE, &c. &c.

GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication, and in the press:-Lectures preliminary to the Study of German Literature; by L. Von Muhlenfels, LL.D.;-The Arguments for Predestination and Necessity contrasted with the established Principles of Philosophical Inquiry; by the Rev. R. H. Graves, D.D.; -The Canadian Visitor; by the Rev. T. Osgood.

A steam-boat, composed entirely of iron, has been built in Liverpool, for canal navigation. It has two hulls; and the paddles, instead of being at the sides, are placed between them, so as not to injure the banks of a canal, which has been the principal obstacle to steam-boats

being employed in canal navigation. Several successful trials have been made of boats or barges, fitted with high pressure engines, with tubes for boilers; by which danger from explosion is obviated.

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Dr. Hawkins has published a work on Medical Statistics, in which he says, that "it is incontestible, that Great Britain is at present the most healthy country with which we are acquainted, and that it has been gradually tending to that point for the last fifty years.' He states, that this superior value of life in Great Britain is not confined to any particular districts or classes of individuals. The country which approaches the nearest to England in salubrity, is the Pays de Vaud, where the mortality is one in 49; whereas the an

nual deaths in England and Wales are only one in 60. At the Depôt de Mendicité of St. Denis, at Paris, the annual deaths are one in three; while in the heart of our metropolis, of 300 prisoners received in the Fleet Prison during the year 1829, only four died; which is a mortality of one in 75. So great was the care taken of prisoners of war in this country, that in the year 1913 the mortality amongst them was only one in 55—not one half of what occurs to the whole population of Rome.

Our respected correspondents have often pointed out the impropriety of public balls and theatricals for charitable societies, national schools, and similar objects; but we lament to say, that the practice continues, and we fear becomes more prevalent. We insert the following notice, as we have inserted former ones from other quarters, hoping the exposure alone may assist to cure the evil." Nuneaton. On Thursday, 17th Sept. 1829, the organ (lately erected in the mother church) will be opened, when a sermon will be preached, and a selection of sacred music will be performed, accompanied by a full instrumental band. Admission to the service 1s. Books of the words 6d., to be had of Mr. Baraclough, Printer; the principal Inns; and of Mr. James Wheway, Parish Clerk. In the evening there will be a ball at the Town-hall; dancing to commence at eight o clock. Tickets (which will also admit to the church),-Ladies 5s., Gentlemen 6s. In order to prevent mistakes, no money will be taken at the ball. An early application for tickets is particularly requested. Ordinaries will be provided at the Bull, and

never been able to discover arrangements of different conductors similar to these in galvanic combinations, and it seems not improbable that the shock depends upon some property developed by the action of the nerves."

FRANCE.

The Geographical Society of Paris has offered prizes for the best accounts of the Soudan, in Central Africa Marawi-Ancient Babylonia and Chaldea― Australasia

the southern part of Caramania, the countries to the south of the chain of Mount Taurus-the interior of French Guiana; and a medal for the best account of American Antiquities.

M. de Chateauneuf has submitted two memoirs to the Academy of Sciences, on the rate of Mortality. Between 1820 and 1828, he noticed the lives of 600 persons possessing, in an eminent degree, the advantages of birth, power, and opulence; and of whom only one lived to be upwards of ninety, and 141 died within the eight years, or rather more than a fourth of the whole, the rate being seventeen deaths per year. He calculates that twenty-six out of 100 now reach the age of sixty; and that it requires nearly a quarter of a century before the half of any one generation becomes extinct.

M. Dobereiner took two glass vessels, put earth into them, and sowed equal portions of barley in them, moistening them to the same degree. The air was then exhausted from one vessel, and condensed in the other. Germination took place in equal times; but at the end of fifteen days the shoots in the rarified air were only six inches long, but in the condensed air,

Newdigate Arms Inns leur-de-lis, and from nine to ten inches. The former

precisely at Five o'clock." Was there ever such a medley? Fiddling and sermonizing, divine service and dancing; an ordinary at the Bull, and admittance, with a ball-room ticket, at the Mother Church!

Sir Humphry Davy's last communication to the Royal Society, consists of a series of experiments on the torpedo. He was enabled to prove, contrary to general opinion, that there exists a stronger analogy between common and animal electricity, than between voltaic and animal electricity. He adds, “It is scarcely possible to avoid being struck by another relation of this subject. The torpedinal organ depends for its power upon the will of the animal. Mr. Hunter has shewn how copiously it was furnished with nerves. In examining the columnar structure of the organ of the torpedo, I have

were wet on their surface, the latter nearly dry. M. Dobereiner thinks, that the diminution of plants in size, as they rise on mountains into high regions, depends more on the diminution of pressure than of heat. In Spanish America, on the highest mountains of the country, the trees, it is said, continually transpire water, even in the driest weather.

GERMANY.

Professor Buckland has notified the destruction of the most interesting and curious deposit of organic remains in Germany; namely, that in the cave of Kuhlock in Franconia, and of another cave of less. importance adjacent to it. In his Reliquiæ Diluvianæ, the learned professor had given a

description and drawing of the cave of Kuhlock, some of the principal features of which have now been obliterated. The King of Bavaria having announced his

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