The steeds of the Poets are much too nimble for old-fashioned and lazy reviewers. We are sorry, therefore, to be obliged to try their patience, and even to group them together, perhaps not altogether to their content. The first of these small volumes, and which is very beautifully got up, we think possesses very considerable merit. There are occasional passages of great force and beauty. If the author is not too rash, but cultivates his genius with care and diligence, he may yet produce something that may live for generations.-Several of the odes of Percy Rolle are pretty, and have already appeared in the Spirit and Manners of the Age-an elegant weekly and monthly work, which, for light reading, we cheerfully recommend to our friends when they are fatigued with our graver lucubrations.-We are greatly pleased with the piety of Emily Taylor, and with the easy flow of language for which her Poetical Illustrations of various Passages of Scripture are distinguished; and should have been happy, had our limits permitted, to have given a specimen. Though the contents of these three volumes are not all properly religious, it is pleasing to remark the absence of every thing calculated to injure. STRICTURES on the Rev. N. T. Heineker's Reply to Mr. William Carlisle; in which is proved the close Alliance that exists between Socinianism and Deism. By J. Mann, A.M. Bradford. London: Wightman and Cramp. 1826. 12mo. 2s. 6d. In this excellent little work, Mr. Mann, who, we are happy to find, has lately become Pastor of the Baptist Church at Maze Pond, has produced something worthy of being known be yond the bounds which a local contro versy commonly embrace. His views of the inspiration of the Pentateuch, his reflections on the Person of Christ, on the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, on the atonement and unpurchased mercy, on original sin, on the existence of Satan-which form the leading subjects of his treatise, are exceedingly judicious, He has done a good and often acute. deal to establish the affinity between Socinianism and a more liberal creed, a sentiment which Socinians themselves justify us in holding. EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE; being an Attempt to delineate the Structure of the Holy Edifice, its Courts, Chambers, Gates, &c. &c. as described in the last Nine Chapters of the Book of Ezekiel. Illustrated with Plates. By Joseph Isreels. London: Carpenter. 1826. Thin 4to. 10s. 6d. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ZOHARITE JEWS. By M. J. Mayers. Cambridge. London: Nisbet. 1826. 8vo. 2s. It is not common to have the opportunity of noticing the productions of two Israelites at one time. Mr. Isreels is, we suppose, still attached to Judaism; Mr. Mayers appears to be a Christian. We are glad to meet them both, and would hail the explanations of the Old Testament by Jewish teachers with the greatest delight. On the difficult subject of Ezekiel's temple, Mr. I. has bestowed a most praiseworthy attention. He has studied the original text with much care, and appears to be well versed in the Mishna and Talmud. He speaks with much candour on the efforts of Christians encomium on the English version of the on the same subject, and bestows a high Scriptures. We are not prepared to dispute his views of the structure and ardecidedly differ with him on the subject rangements of Ezekiel's edifice; but we his critical labours we think highly reof its literal or spiritual design. Still spectable-his plates are interesting and intelligible illustrations of the temple, and we most cordially recommend his work to public patronage.-The pamphlet by Mr. Mayers on the Zoharite Jews contains some curious information respecting one of the sects into which this people, "scattered and peeled," have been long divided. We very much wish that he, or some one else, would give us further information about the sentiments and character of his countrymen. The notices of them in Dr. Henderson's last work we pointed out, and thank Mr. Mayers for this addition to our stock of Jewish knowledge. SERMONS, on various interesting Subjects, adapted for Villages, Families, and Schools. By W. Dransfield. Vol. 2. London, 12mo. 1826. Price 4s. A SERMON preached in the Parish Church of St. Saviour's, Southwark, Sept. 12, 1826, at the Visitation of the Hon. and Rev. J. De Grey, M. A., Archdeacon of Surrey. By the Rev. W. Borrows. London, 8vo. MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF JOSEPH BROWN JEFFERSON, late Student of Homerton College, and Minister at Attercliffe. By John Whitridge. London: Carpenter, 1826. 12mo. Price 5s. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES ON VARIOUS teachers in the important work of religious education. It much resembles in plan the "Milk for Babes." The execution of the plan is, in some respects, better, as the verse is more simple and easy, and as there are apPropriate scripture quotations at the close of every answer. By this means a knowledge of scripture is acquired, and the truths and facts of revelation are more easily understood. This little work has already reached its fourth edition; and we trust that numerous editions will yet be demanded. If our recommendation will by any means promote its circulation, either in schools or families, we give it most cor RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS, being the last Re-dially; and earnestly hope that the mains of the Rev. Andrew Fuller. Col-worthy author will be encouraged, by undertake some other poetical work for the success of the present volume, to the spiritual benefit of the rising gene lected and arranged, with occasional Notes, by J. W. Morris. Intended as a Supplement to his Memoirs of the Author. London: Wightman and Cramp, 1826. 80. Price 7s. 6d. FOUR LECTURES, delivered at Worship Street Meeting-house, London, during the Month of March 1826, on the History, the Subjects and Mode, the Perpetuity, and the practical Uses of Christian Baptism. By John Evans, LL. D., Edwin Chapman, James Gilchrist, and David Eaton London: 1826. 8vo. pp. 204. Price 6s. 6d. The authors of these discourses belong to the General Baptist denomination. Though they differ very widely from the orthodox Baptist body on the most essential subjects, it is curious to observe how complacently they claim brotherhood with them on the sole ground of agreeing respecting adult immersion. There is much in the discourses on which we could animadvert, apart from the main topics on which they treat; but we think it better to avoid a very ungracious, and, we believe, unprofitable discussion. ELEMENTS OF ARITHMETIC, on an entire new Plan. By the Rev. Ingram Cobbin, A. M., Author of Grammar for Children. Price 1s. 6d. RELIGION SIMPLIFIED; or, Answers, in Verse, to important Religious Questions; with Scripture Proofs. By the Rev. James Elborough, Thetford, Norfolk. Fourth Edition. Whittaker, and Nisbet, London. Lankester, Bury. Price 1d.-This is an interesting and instructive little publication. It is designed and adapted for the purpose of assisting parents and Sabbath school N. S. No. 25. ration. We give, as a specimen of the style and verse, the answer to the last question, "What do you mean by eternity?" "Whatever was ere time began, Before the earth, before the sun; That which will be when time is o'er, And earth and sun exist no more; A space beginning, ending neverThe vast, and measureless, for ever." ELLIS'S TOUR THROUGH HAWAII, OR OWHYHEE. Second Edition, enlarged and improved. 1 Vol. 8vo. 14s. boards. PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION. The Rev. B. Jeanes, of Charmouth, has nearly ready for the press, A General Pronouncing Vocabulary of Proper Names, (of persons and places,) comprehending all those found in the Holy Scriptures, the Greek and Roman Classies, and every one of note in every department of Modern Literature; the whole exhibited, for convenience of reference, in one alphabetical arrangement, in which each word will be divided and accented, and the sound of every syllable distinctly shown, exactly as the most approved principles and general it ought to be pronounced, according to usage: In one vol. 8vo.; price, to subscribers, 9s.; to non-subscribers, 10s. 6d. In this work the author has been assisted by some of the first scholars of the age, whose names are a sufficient guarantee to the public for its correctness.-The History, Constitution, Rules of Discipline, and Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists in Wales.- -Selections from the Works of Howe, by the Rev. Dr. Wilson, Editor of Selections from Leighton and Owen. G RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. ་་་་་་་་ Venice LETTERS FROM ITALY. Its Unique Appearance French Improvements -The Church of St. Mark -The Gondolas-Pictures The Armenian Convent--Its Printing Press--The Decay of the City. Who shall describe Venice, so as to give, to any one who has not visited it, an idea of its romantic beauty! It cannot be compared to any thing, for nothing existing in the smallest degree resembles it. Where in the world, ex. cept at this point of the Adriatic, can be found a city built in the sea. Palaces, temples, and edifices of every varied character, rising out of the water, and reflecting all their beauties back into the element from which they spring A city in which horses are useless, and carriages a vain thing-where there is hardly earth enough to plant a tree, and where the only vegetation is an occasional vine, or flower, trained from a vase, in a balcony, and kept more for ornament than use. The French made an alteration here, as they did every where else, and these alterations were always improvements. They stole some ground from the sea, on which they made a public garden, and they covered over a canal to make one broad street to lead to it. But the Venetians are so little habituated to the sight of trees, that they seldom visit it. Existence in such a place assumes so new a character, every thing is so unlike our ordinary habits, that it is difficult to persuade oneself it is not a fairy creation, to which we have been transported by the wand of some mighty enchanter; and this illusion derives strength from the objects that first attract the attention. The church of St. Mark has much of Moorish and eastern grandeur; its intricate assemblage of sculpture, painting, and gilded ornament, coines with a dazzling splendour on the eye, and produces an effect on the imagination that is kept up by the figures seen moving around it--not monks, nor priests, nor people in monastic habits only, as they are found in other parts of Italy, but Turks and Greeks, and other inhabitants of the east, in the various and picturesque costumes of their different tribes and nations. The Venetians have been considered a people devoted to pleasure, and there is really something so voluptuous in the life one leads in such a place, that it is difficult to resist the faseination. To a stranger especially, and to one who relishes the beauties of art, the few days one passes there are days of enchantment. Your gondola lies at your door; the gondolier is your guide, your servant, your local historian, and gossipping companion; once seated, you are conveyed to the object of your wishes, without exerting a muscle, or disturbing a fold of your dress; and in this way you are carried to churches, palaces, and public buildings, filled with the richest stores of the richest age of art; sated with these beauties, you return to the gondola, and while it pursues its noiseless course, you reflect in the most perfect tranquillity on what you have seen, and have the best possible opportunity of turning it to profit. To me this is a most important thing; I am sure I derived more improvement from the pictures of Venice, than from those of any other city, merely from seeing them without fatigue, noise, or embarrassment of any kind. The gondola is your only carriage. If you go out to dinner, the gondola takes you to the door, and you ascend the staircase from the water's edge. The only sounds that come upon the ear through the evening, are the splashing of oars under the window, and the voices of the gondoliers calling to each other as they pass, in notes never harsh nor inharmonious, though not accompanied by all the music that has been attributed to them by writers of romances. If you would go to the postoffice, to the banker's, to a bookseller's, or, in short, any where else, you get into the gondola, and are landed, if not at the very doe, at least at so short a distance from the place, that the walk is nothing, and the man quits his boat to be your guide. The canals, in fact, are the streets; all the best houses present their fronts to the water, and the back opens into a narrow lane, through which it is sometimes troublesome to pass. I was once stopped for half an hour by the passing of a religious procession: which ever way I turned the water presented itself, and the procession occupied the only pass that led to a bridge. To go through the whole city on foot, (a thing which is possible,) would take so much time, and require so good a guide, that no stranger ever attempts it; it requires no small tact to know where the bridges lie, and how to direct your course so as not to lose your labour. I wandered about in this way once for some hours, and was at last obliged to take a boat, hopeless of ever getting back to the inn in any other way. Venice is the place to study painting, Fut the mind of the student ought to be well trained, before he be allowed to indalge in the voluptuous assemblage that is there presented to his observation. If it were possible for a painter to live two lives, the studies to prepare him for the first should be at Rome, and the second at Venice. Notwithstanding the rob beries that have been committed, and the changes that this unfortunate city has undergone, there still remains within its palaces an abundance of such works as are to be found no where else in the world. Of Georgioni I knew little before going to Venice, and of Tintoret nothing; yet these are two of the greatest names that art has to boast. There is a picture of the first of these in the Manfreni palace that seems to carry painting as far as it can go-I think it quite perfection-and there is another by Tintoret,at his academy,called the Miracle of the Slave, that is in itself a miracle-it seems almost beyond human power. During our stay we visited a convent of monks from Armenia, established on the water, about an hour's row from the city. Here we found a school of interesting youths, and a society of intelligent men, that is, if we may judge from the one who was kind enough to accompany us through the institution. He talked English with a purity rarely met with in a foreigner. Lord Byron had been his scholar and his tutor; and he could tell of many other distinguished Englishmen as his companions and friends. Here was a printing press established, at which books in all languages were printed, with a correctness and beauty equal to that of any town in Europe. To see types set up in English words, on a little bank in the midst of the Adriatic sea, far away from other habitations, was to me a matter of no small interest-it brought back all my feelings to my country and my home. I ought not to conclude this letter without saying what it goes against me to write, that the glory of Venice is passed away. The splendid palaces are crumbling into the canals from which they have arisen, the shops are abandoned, the beautiful Piazza, once the place of assembly for all the nations of the world, is now comparatively a desert; ships no longer crowd its port, and strangers come more from curiosity than for mercantile speculation; melancholy is stamped on every countenance; da male al peggio, from bad to worse, is their constant theme; "for other places there may be hope, for Venice none !" RECENT CONVERSIONS IN IRELAND. By the labours of Bible and School Societies, a very considerable stir has been produced in Cavan, a county town in Ulster; where, together with the adjoining country, there are multitudes ready to throw off the yoke of priestly authority; 105 have publicly renounced popery in the parish church of Cavan, and it is known that many thousands, in one district of this county, are prepared to follow their example. So considerable has been the excitement, that a commission of the popish bishops was sent by their brethren from Dublin, to inquire into the matter; and their lordships, on their arrival, were assailed by cries which could not have been grateful to them. Attempts have been made to explain away this defection, on the ground that the titular bishop is in his dotage, and cannot therefore protect his fiock, and that the influence of bribes, threats, &c., have prevailed on the minds of a few needy and immoral apostates. It is asserted, on the other hand, that those who have come over are, in general, well informed persons, many of them respectable heads of families. It is not denied, we believe, that the Roman Catholics of Cavan, petitioned Dr. Curtis to send a priest there, who should publicly read the Scriptures, to which he thought it wise to accede, and that other priests have been driven to permit their people to read the Bible. THE ADDRESS OF CONVOCATION. Our readers are aware that a General Assembly of the Clergy is called at the summoning of a new Parliament, and which, though shorn of most of its ancient powers, by that political subservience which robs the Church of England of her spiritual dignity, it is yet permitted to meet, and the lower Clergy to form themselves into a House, appoint a Prolocutor, vote an address to his Majesty, and then adjourn. The following address was voted at their late Session, and presented to his Majesty on the throne by both Houses, headed by his Grace of Canterbury. It will, perhaps, be interesting to our nonconformist readers, to peruse the sentiments which the Clergy at this period think it right to convey to the Sovereign, and the manner in which they are echoed from the throne. The following is a copy of the address, and of his Majesty's answer; in the latter of which, the expressions of attachment to the Established Church-the assertion of that preference, which is "justly due to its pure doctrines and service"-and the assurance that his Majesty will "watch over its interests with unwearied solicitude," and "maintain it in the full possession of every legitimate privilege," will be read with grateful feelings by those whose interests are thus upheld : "We, your Majesty's dutiful subjects, the Archbishop and Bishops, and Clergy of the Province of Canterbury, in convocation assembled, humbly offer to your Majesty the assurances of our attachment and inviolable fidelity to your Majesty's person and Government. The protection which your Majesty has at all times extended to the United Church of England and Ireland, demands our sincerest and warmest acknowledgments. Grateful for the past, we humbly implore a continuance of the samne protecting power; for, assuredly, Sir, there never was a period in the history of our Reformed Church, that more urgently required it: whether we direct our attention to the avowed enemies of Christianity, or to those who, professing the faith of Christ, sedulously labour to disparage and degrade the Church, of which your Majesty, under God, is the Head, and which, we confidently maintain, is formed upon the model of the carliest and purest ages of Christianity.--It is our duty, Sir, to vindicate the Establishment in the spirit by which it professes to be governed, with temper, moderation, and firmness, seeking to conciliate those who may be opposed to us, not to exasperate thein; to convince, not boastfully to triumph over them. But, Sir, with this understanding of our duty, we cannot dissemble to your Majesty the just apprehensions we entertain of the efforts that are now making to arrive at authority and power in the State, dangerous to the existence of the Protestant Constitution of the country, and leading directly to religious disturbance, animosity, and contention. But, Sir, whatever be the danger to which the Established Church may be exposed, we have full confidence in your Majesty's protection, and in the wisdom, discretion, and firmness, of your Parliament.--We pray God to bless and protect your Majesty." "MY LORDS, AND THE REST OF THE CLERGY--I receive with great satisfaction this loyal and dutiful address. The renewed assurances of your affectionate attachment to my person and Government are most acceptable to me. I rely, with the utmost confidence, upon your zealous exertions to promote true piety and virtue --to reclaim those who are in error by the force of divine truth--and to uphold and extend among my people the preference which is so justly due to the pure doctrine and service of our Established Church. That Church has every claim to my constant support and protection. I will watch over its interests with unwearied solicitude, and confidently trust that I shall be enabled, by the blessing of Divine Providence, to maintain it in the full possession of every legitimate privilege." Courier. HIS MAJESTY'S LETTER. Mr. Peel has addressed a letter, by the command, and in the name of the King, to the Archbishops, directing that the rochial clergy be instructed by their Bish "to effectually excite their parishioners t liberal contribution" on behalf of the c tressed manufacturers. We rejoice_tl many ministers, both in and out of t Established Church, were ready a ye ago" to discharge this duty, and we tru the general appeal will be indeed effectu PROTESTANT DISSENTERS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL. As the building erected for the accom modation of the Protestant Dissenter: Grammar School is to be occupied at the next commencement, on the 29th of the present month, we have furnished, in stead of a portrait, a full view of this most important Institution. Through many difficulties it has hitherto maintained its ground, and is still rising in celebrity and usefulness. It may be proper to inform our readers, that the terms to the public are fifty guineas per annum. A certain number of the sons of dissenting ministers are admitted thirty guineas, and under particular circumstances a limited number at half that sum. at The great object of the establishment is to afford the benefit of a good classical education, in combination with the strictest attention to the moral and religious character and habits of the pupils. More than 800 young men have been educated at it, some of whom have already distinguished themselves both as scholars and as ministers. The Institution is now placed in highly advantageous and respectable circumstances, and it will be to the discredit and dishonour of the wealthy Dissenters, if their children appear inferior in classical and general attainments to those in similar circumstances in the Establishment; and if the Institution shall not be supported in a manner worthy of the body to which it belongs, and of the public spirited and disinterested exertions of the Committee who conduct it. Mill Hill, where this establishment is situated, is a most picturesque and retired village, about ten miles to the north-west of London. It is situated on a ridge of hills mid-way between the great North Road and the Edgware Road. It is remarkable for the salubrity of its situation, and has been, for that reason, a place of resort from an early period. The estate, which belongs to the trus tees of the Grammar School, and which, with subsequent purchases, now contains about fifteen acres of freehold land, was formerly the property of the celebrated botanist Peter Collinson, the friend and correspondent of Linnæus, and the grounds to this day bear strong marks of his taste and skill. The view from the grounds to the south, over the valley extending to Wind |