miration for its intense feeling and exquisite expression. We have hesitated on the question of citation from the works of an author who, though we believe he has not been extensively read, has been so long before the public, and we have determined to restrict ourselves to a few short extracts from his prose writings. The following passage from his sermon on "religious reverence," is forcibly written. "Of miracles in general, and particularly those in the history of Exodus, it has been very justly remarked, that they were calculated on purpose to tion as able and pious men. There are, probably, many closets and libraries into which the names which we have just cited would, either through ignorance or prejudice, find no entrance, but where the recommendation of Chalmers, Erskine, or Wilberforce would have its merited weight. The selection appears to have been hitherto made on a catholic principle; and in both the branches of the present series, Tros Tyriusve, seems to have, very wisely, been the feeling of all concerned in the present undertaking. We are glad that Mr. Erskine claim unto God that continued and reguhas given his powerful recommenlar agency, which he has in the elemendation to the works of an author tary motions and sublunary events; and who has been long a favourite of which, because it doth happen daily, and ours, from his excellent and atproceeds in a gentle and, if I may so say, modest manner, is apt, without such tractive qualities. Gambold was rousing vindications, to be argued quite no deep theologian, nor was he away by atheists. For, however comby any means an original thinker, mon it is on the tongue, atheism it must but he was a man of most amiable ever be to dare to term any effect or occurrence natural, with the intention to dispositions, of active mind, and deny thereby that it is divine; or to exelegant fancy. His sermons and clude God entirely out of it. Which is, letters have a peculiar charm from at the same time, most extremely abtheir piety and simplicity, adorned surd; for must not the great Architect by a ready and delightful imagina- every wheel of his own machine? He necessarily preside still over and direct tion, and expressed in language doth,' if we will believe the Scripture, always felicitous, and frequently 'whatsoever pleaseth Him in heaven and vigorous. His poems are of mixed in earth, and in the sea, and in all deep and unequal merit. "The Martyr-il. It is He also that sends famine, places.' He gives corn, and wine, and dom of St. Ignatius," is a tragedy, sword, pestilence; and determines the though by no means of the first operation of these His messengers. One order, which will recommend itself, time (says the Bible) an epidemic disby its intrinsic worth, to an atten- temper raged; and that no man hereafter, on such occasions, might look tive reader. Without the slightest alone to noxious qualities in the air, pretence to skilful dramatic con- or the like, the veil was for once drawn struction, it is highly interesting aside, and presented to open view the as a poetical exhibition of religious destroying Angel of the Most High. This is the Scripture-account of occursentiment and devotional feeling, rences here below." and we entirely accord in opinion with Mr. Erskine, when he affirms that "the reader of taste and discernment will discover much in it, which proves the very uncommon powers of the author." Of the occasional poems, the "Mystery of Life" is by far the best; it is, indeed, a composition of "most sweet and refined loveliness," and which, had he written nothing else, would have entitled Gambold to high ad CONG. MAG. No. 72. We shall quote another paragraph from the same sermon. "Nothing more justly keeps man in a perpetual awe, than the inscrutability of his own soul, in its nature, capacities, and manner of acting. A tame and feeble bird, that accidentally has hatched an eagle's egg, and is afterwards affrighted at the strength and impetuous tendency of what has been fostered under its own wings, cannot find itself in a more critical case than a man, when holding dialogue, like Adrian, with his own soul. 40 Mr. Erskine's "Introductory Essay" shows, like all his other published compositions, the hand of a master. He is no writer of be lounging-books-things to taken off the window-seat in a rainy day, and wandered through with a negligent glance, and a languid mind; he is a thinker, and he compels his readers to think with him, while, in his luminous and profound disquisitions, he supplies them with materials for thinking. In the essay before us, he first takes man up as the creature of circumstances, and then contemplating him in his highest relations, gives a glowing representation of the nature and blessedness of Christian joy. "There is nothing absurd in saying, command the circumstances of a man, and you command his character,' but there is a strange absurdity in supposing that any power short of omnipotence can command these circumstances; because the chief of our relations is that in which we stand towards Him who is omnipotent. God alone can command these circumstances; no one but God has authority to say that our offences and failures in that relation are forgiven -that a full satisfaction has been made on our behalf, to the broken laws of the universal government-that the gates of the family of God have been thrown open to us, and that we are invited every moment to speak to Him as to a Father, and lean upon him as on an Almighty, and faithful, and tender friend-and that the unending duration to which we are advancing, is safe and peaceful, full of bliss, and full of glory. The circumstances of that highest relation have been most particularly and fully made known to us in the Bible, that we might have happiness, even the joy of the Lord, which, if really attained by us, will supply strength for the cheerful, and affectionate, and diligent performance of every duty, springing from every relation in life, and will be our comfort and hiding place in every sorrow." "Let us not be jealous of joy, but only let us be careful that it is joy in the Lord.' Joy is the first fruit of the Gospel of Christ-and if we believe, and yet do not rejoice, we may be assured that we have either added to the Gospel or taken something from it-it is not the very Gospel of Christ that we believe. This joy may consist with much sorrow, as it did in the case of those first teachers, who were sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. It takes It takes away the poison from sorrow and leaves only its tenderness. The exhortation to rejoice in the Lord was not so often repeated without good cause. If this glorious joy once filled our hearts, it would leave no room for sorrow, or for those poor joys which in their fading produce sorrow, or for the base, and turbulent, and perplexing anxieties, passions, and appetites, which for the most part fill up If the soul saw itself the life of man. ever surrounded by the light of that love which shone so bright on Calvary, if it saw every event and duty in life illuminated by that love;-if the eternal world were ever present to it as its own home, and as the place where redeeming love is the very element of life, where unmixed blessedness reigns, where the tie which unites the Father of Spirits to his children is felt in all its extatic endearment, and where the whole happy family are continually advancing in their Father's likeness, without fear of change and without the possiblity of falling-O how buoyant would its spirits be! How freely, how boldly, how noble, and yet how humbly and tenderly, would it pass along the course of its existence! In every action it would feel itself a commissioned agent of heaven-it would know that it is called to fulfil purposes which it will require an eternity to unfold-it would have no will of its own, but would act or suffer according to the will of God, looking up to his Fatherly face, and rejoicing in his benignant smile." As there may be some of our readers to whom the author, whose works are here reprinted, is unknown, we shall briefly state the more prominent circumstances of his life. The Rev. John Gambold was born April 10, 1711, in Pembrokeshire. His father was a pious minister of the Establishment, and he enjoyed the advantages of an Oxford education. In 1783, he took orders, and when of sufficient standing ob Lectures, on the Harmony of the Scriptures; designed to reconcile apparently contradictory Passages. By John Hayter Cox. 8vo. 7s. 6d. London: Knight and Co., 1823. THERE is no species of attack more frequently made on Divine Revelation, and there is none, assuredly, in which our antagonists display more of malignity and bad faith, than that which consists in arraying against the defenders of Christianity, an imposing display of imputed contradictions, drawn from the very pages of unerring truth. However shallow, and however obviously insincere, these allegations may appear to the conscientious investigator of Holy Writ, they have, we much fear, a very injurious effect upon the minds of the negligent and the incautious. They have a specious semblance of fairness, since they appear to be drawn from the most unobjectionable authority; they profess to ground the accusation on the express and undeniable language of the work whose genuineness and whose authenticity are, alike, peremptorily challenged. A little attention, however, would enable even a superficial examinant to detect the fallacy of these charges, and to ascertain that, in many instances, the variance is merely verbal, that in others it arises from the free but fully authorized use of metaphor, and that, in not a few cases, the simple admission of the license of common and conversational speech would be amply sufficient to justify much larger deviations from the strictness of literal and logical accuracy than are any where to be found in the pages of Scripture. Mr. Cox has directed his attention to several of the more formiIdable of the difficulties thus artfully accumulated, and has been successful in exposing the weakness of the arguments which are attempted to be established on this frail foundation. He writes with clearness and calmness, and his volume merits commendation as a temperate and satisfactory defence of Scripture consistency. If in a few instances it may be thought, that he has failed in suggesting the most effective modes of explanation, in the greater number, it must be admitted, that he has taken strong ground in clearing up the apparent contradictions. As an example of his general manner, we shall quote, from the eleventh lecture, his explanation of the alleged inconsistency between the 24th and the 31st verses of Acts xxvii. After having illustrated the nature-the design-and the accomplishment of the promise, Mr. Cox proceeds to "Show the connexion which the second text has with the accomplishment of the promise. God hath given thee all that sail with thee.' All that were in the ship were given to the Apostle, as the instrument of their preservation. The word, to deliver, signifies, to give one or more persons into the charge of one or more persons, as will appear from the following passages of the New Testament, by the same writer, and in the same book, see the 3d chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the 14th verse: Peter, when charging the Jews with their hatred of good and preference to evil, in the rejection of Jesus, and the selection of Barabbas, says, But ye denied the Holy One and Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.' In the 25th chap. and the 11th verse, the into the hands of the Jews, availed himApostle Paul, to prevent being delivered self of the privileges of a Roman citizen, and therefore would stand before Cæsar, to be judged respecting the crime alleged against him. This is his declaration: For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar.' He knew the consequences of being put into the power of the Jews. Thus when the Lord said to the Apostle, in the words of the first text, 'God hath given thee all that sail with thee,' he delivered them to his care, and promised safely to keep them; but if removed from beneath his care, they ceased to come within the limits of the promise. Therefore, when the Apostle saw that part of the ship's company were going to leave the vessel, we read, And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.' This exhortation secured the means necessary to the accomplishment of the end. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.' By this act all were kept within the charge of the Apostle, and consequently all were saved; because all must come within the limits of his protection to be within the limits of the promise."pp. 155-157. The supposed discrepancy between Proverbs xvi. 7, and 2 Timothy iii. 12, seems hardly to have deserved a separate "lecture." It is so perfectly clear that the first affirms the general rule, while the second states the special exception, that the cavils of our adversaries might have been safely left to the refutation of their own futility. The wise man is describing the effects of a righteous, sober, and godly life, in securing the tranquillity of the just man; the bles sing of Jehovah is with him; the beauty of holiness calms the fierceness of his enemies, and averts from him the wrath and fury of violent men. But persecution is an exempted case, it is the alliance of earth and hell against the kingdom of heaven-the covenant of Satan with unsanctified men, for the destruction of the reign of grace. It is very rarely the re sult of unmixed motives, but com. bines political apprehensions and antipathies with anti-evangelical malignity. It is at once the god of this world fearing for his throne, and the men of this world trem bling for their earthly interests, and reckless of their eternal inheri tance. Remarks on Female Education, adapted Particularly to the Regulation of Schools. 12mo. pp. 405. 5s. 6d. London: Holdsworth. 1823. TREATISES on education have been multiplied endlessly and unprofitably. From the Cyropædia down to the modern systems of Hannah More, and the Edgeworths, writers of talent have directed their thoughts into this peculiar channel, and have left no rank, and no description of mind or character, without its appropriate training, in specious theory at least, if not in a form reducible to practice. The eloquent re veries of the wretched author of Emile, have long ago ceased to excite attention, and never had a decided influence on modes of public or private instruction. But the calm and impressive good sense of Miss Edgeworth, aided by the ingenuity of her father, has given both to their joint and separate productions on this subject, considerable repute and, probably, direct and extensive authority. It is, however, deeply to be lamented that Religion-the grand foundation on which the discipline of youth can alone be safely trusted, the only principle on which any valid system of mental and moral education can be constructed,-finds no place in those, otherwise, admirable treatises. This point is strongly argued by the author of the admirable "Remarks" now in our hands. "The supreme importance of reli gion, viewed in its connexion with a future state of existence, for the happiness of which it forms at once the only preparation, and affords the only security, will be freely admitted, if not practically enforced, by all who think seriously of the nature and destiny of man. No apology, therefore, can be requisite for placing that subject the first in order, which is confessedly entitled to the highest place in our regard. If there be any truth in revelation, or any reality in a future state, that system of education must appear miserably de ficient, which leaves out of its calculations the interests of another world, or which assigns to them only a subordinate place. The claims of religion must not then be dismissed with a formal acknowledgment, or an occasional, though most respectful reference; nor can they be satisfied by a mere theoretic pre-eminence ainong other subjects of instruction. To be deeply felt, they must be constantly viewed in the light of that eternity which alone can exhibit them in, their full extent and force. Religion will thus be regarded, not simply as the rule, but as the most important business of life; and, as such, it must be recommended to the attention of the young. "Early impressions, of every description, are universally known to be deep, permanent, and frequently decisive in their influence on the character. Such as have a reference to eternal objects, cannot then be too sedulously formed, or too anxiously guarded. To be essentially useful, they must be just, clear, and consistent. Religion must be re presented, (and it should so appear in the example of those who recommend it,) as a practical, a pervading, and a predominant principle of action. It must be regarded, not merely as the sure basis of sound morality, or the only means of attaining real dignity of character, or of preserving a uniform consistency of conduct; (though, in this view, it is indispensable;) it must appear not solely in the light of a useful, or even an essential part of education but, as the ultimate object of ALL education; the end to which every other pur suit is to be rendered subservient; and for which nothing that actually comes into competition with it, is too valuable to be sacrificed without hesitation. This just principle, if fully established in the minds of all who profess to acknowledge it, would prevent much of that inconsistency of conduct, which becomes the source of so many painful regrets."-pp. 55-58. ; It is a subject of awful consideration that in the large proportion of our public schools, a certain routine of accomplishments, intellectual and corporeal, is the only course of instruction judged worthy of vigorous prosecution. No other is in demand; the good things of this world are attainable in a certain train of pursuit, and to this every other object is sacrificed. The imínortal destinies of man are neglected or set at nought; his education for eternity is deemed of little worth; his paramount interests are left to an idle hazard; and the creature of God formed by his hand, and framed for his service here, and his glorious presence hereafter, is treated without any reference to this his "chief" and proper "end." In other instances this is pompously announced as one of the main objects of the academic course; but, alas! the very terms in which the information is conveyed, betray the most gross and mischievous ignorance of the genuine character of that which is held forth as the very basis of instruction. We are happy to know that there are seminaries of a different class; schools where piety watches closely over the spiritual concerns of the pupils, and, while forwarding them in the acquisitions necessary for this world's welfare, anxiously inculcates the lessons of immortality. It is impossible to calculate the amount of good that is thus done; appearances may be unpromising, but a seed, hereafter to bring forth much fruit, may, in many instances, have been sown. Yet, "It is painful to reflect, that every effort for the religious improvement of the young, which can be suggested by the deepest interest in their welfare, may be continued for years, without any apparent or certain effect. under the most discouraging circumstances, it is at once a duty and a privilege, to persevere and hope to the end. That Almighty Being, whose influence and blessing can alone give efficacy to the means which he has himself prescribed, may crown them with success at a time, and in a manner, the most remote from ordinary apprehension. He who commands his faithful followers to |