We think the next extract highly honourable to all the parties concerned.

"Meanwhile, about two hundred Hottentots had assembled in the grove. All would press forward; and their eagerness, once more to shake hands (and bid me farewell, was so great, that a general scramble was avoided only by my calling to them, that I would not pass by any one, but admit them all in due order. At length we reached and entered the waggon, when they began, with one voice, to sing their farewell hymn.

"At this moment, I felt all resistance. to my feelings give way. Never have I experienced a keener pang, on leaving any place, or any friends, to whom I was attached. Gnadenthal is indeed a spot, where I have found myself so much at home, and where almost every object conspired to fill my mind with grateful remembrances and contemplations, that, though convinced of my duty to proceed to Groenekloof, where business of importance to that settlement demanded my presence, I found it necessary to do violence to my feelings, to tear myself loose. But my spirit will often dwell in those hallowed groves, accompany the congregation into the house of prayer, attend them during their truly solemn assemblies, behold with affection and delight the pious labours of their teachers, participate in their joys, their sorrows, and their cares, and enjoy an aftertaste of the heavenly comfort attending the administration of the holy sacraments, by the presence and power of our Lord and Saviour.

"The whole missionary family, and about a hundred and fifty Hottentots, small and great, on foot or on horseback, accompanied us beyond the Sonderend, as far as Badenhorst's farm, where, placing themselves in a semicircle, they sang another farewell hymn, and finally bade adieu. The brethren Thomsen and Lemmerz kept us company, till we arrived at Mr. Klemm's, on Serjeant's Revier." pp. 289, 290.

As some suspicions may continue to exist in the minds of those who have studied the creed and character of the United Brethren only in the pages of Mosheim, we think it well to give the following short pas

sage.

314.

Oct. 17th, Mr. Latrobe left the Cape; and on the 27th reached St. Helena. Of this island, and its celebrated resident, his territory and habits of life, the variety of his complaints, and his abundant reasons for contentment and gratitude, the last chapters contain a This very entertaining account. statement was more particularly of value at the time in which the work was at first published; as, at that moment, the eulogists of the ex-Emperor in this country had succeeded in impressing the public mind with a notion that he was stinted in his diet, and in his space for exercise. Now, on the contrary, the public mind is disabused; and it is acknowledged, that this "injured Sovereign" has as good a table as the governor who is set over him, and all the liberty which can be permitted to one so capable of breaking his chain, and so mischievous to society when he does. Could this unhappy man take a just view of his circumstances, he would surely discover in them the strongest evidence of the tender

ness and forbearance of the God he has so often insulted and denied. For what should be so wished for, by a criminal of such an order, as solitude, with the best books if he would have them, and the great field of nature in which to walk abroad, and speculate upon his own past misconduct, and the wonders and glories of the great and good Being he has so deeply offended. May the arrow of conviction reach him in his wanderings through those romantic rocks! May his place of exile become a second Patmos, to raise him from the scenes of a world of which he has been the scourge, to the contemplation of that Throne of Mercy and Love, where even he shall not be a suppliant in vain!

But we must here close this highly entertaining and instructive volume, with touching for a few moments on the question of the Moravian Missions, and on a subject connected with them, to which we have more than once adverted.

Of the character of the Moravians, and their Missions in particular, it is almost impossible to speak too highly. When, after the persecutions of their body by the Church of Rome, their numbers were reduced to about 600 individuals, chiefly collected on the estates of Count Zinzendorf, in Lusatia, the missionary spirit broke out among them with such splendour, as to surprise and delight every zealous servant of the Redeemer. In the space of nine years, they sent missionaries to Greenland, to North and South America, to Algiers, to Guinea, to some of the West-Indian islands, to Lapland, to the Cape of Good Hope, to Ceylon, and to Tartary. They had also labourers in the Nicobar islands, in Egypt, and in Persia. And at the present moment, they have not far short of twenty four thousand persons united with their congregations in the West-Indies.-The following little narrative will give some concep

66

With the most rigid economy, the missionary expenses of these venerable servants of God, cannot be reduced to a smaller sum than 7,800l., of which the Brethren themselves can raise only 1,2007. Notwithstanding the liberality of Christians of other denominations, who have hitherto supplied the large difference between these two sums, many of their missions are now languishing for want of assistance, and all extension of their operations is, at present, hopeless. But, in addition to this general perplexity and distress, they have lately been afflicted by calamities of a peculiar and most overwhelming nature. Their small territory in Germany was occupied by the contending armies; their property at Moscow destroyed; and finally, the new settlement on the Witte Revier, which was the peculiar object of Mr. Latrobe's expedition, has been invaded by the Caffrees, the fruit of their labours annihilated, some of their Hottentots massacred, and the whole establish

ment dispersed.

The return of peace, and the better securities provided by the Cape Government for their people, have however, reassured the hopes of these patient and zealous labourers. They have resumed their post, but with increased difficulties and necessities, and reduced means to supply them; and they have been induced to appeal to the Christian love and liberality of this country. The call has been in some measure, though very inadequately, answered. Much remains to be done; and sincerely happy shall we be if any entreaties of ours may convey the smallest sum into this highly useful channel of Christian benevolence. We trust that the sympathy which has widely gone abroad on this subject, will

in

not rest satisfied with the mere effusions of compliment; and that those who have it in their power, will "love in deed" as well as ❝ word," and hasten to animate the courage, and cheer the hearts, of these eminent labourers in the vineyard of the Lord.

sense, a citizen of the world. It gives him a desire, according to his means, to " go about doing good;" or if it be denied him thus to serve God under some distant sky, it prompts him, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to think, feel, labour, and pray at home for the great flock of Christ, whatever clime they may inhabit, and wherever they stretch out the hand of want and supplication. And, if any man shall feel something of the spirit of selfishness quenched, and these better and nobler feelings kindled, by the perusal of Mr. Latrobe's volume, he will thank us for introducing it more particularly to his notice.

As to the work before us, it is our wish to convey to the mind of our readers the impression which it has left on ourselves. It is simple, faithful, amiable, and devout; and as such, we conceive it to be a truly valuable addition to the library and to the family circle. Scarcely any kind of reading is, as we conceive, more likely to interest and benefit the young, than the account of missionary expeditions. It has, from the novelty of the scenes, the peculiarity of the dramatis personæ, much of the in terest of romance, without any of its dangers. But the advantage of such reading is not confined to any age or condition. It takes the reader off from the narrowing contemplation of his own interest and convenience, to the more elevating contemplation of the well-being of others. It serves to enlarge and improve his sphere of feeling and action. It makes him, in the best

TODD on the Declarations of our

Reformers respecting Original Sin, Free-will, Grace, &c. LAURENCE's Authentic Documents respecting the Predestinarian Controversy, &c.

(Continued from p. 197.)

IN considering these publications, our attention has been hitherto directed principally to those documents of Mr. Todd which bear upon the subject of justification, faith, and good works. These subjects we view as so essential to the cause of Protestantism, that however painful to us to have been so long detained upon controversial topics, to the utter impatience, we fear, of some of our readers, we thought it necessary to state the whole question, with fulness and precision. We do not, however, view in the same light the subject of Predestination; to which, in giving a more particular account of Dr. Laurence's publication, we shall now be called. Whoever would wish to see the very different bearings of the question of justification and the predestinarian question upon the cause of Protestantism, may profitably consult the curious and faithful account given by father Paul of the Council of Trent.

That famous council, it is well known, was called together for the very purpose of settling the controversies arising out of the alleged heresies of Luther: and having held its first sitting in 1545, it began about the year 1547, (that is, about the last year of Henry VIII.) to discuss the very points now be fore us. In the account here al luded to, of its various and tedious, and any thing but honest, proceedings, the reader will find its venerable popish fathers to have been unanimous, in condemning the truly Protestant doctrine of justification by faith. "They all agreed," says the shrewd historian, "in one opinion, that to say only faith doth justify' was a proposition of many senses, and all absurd." But, on the contrary, when they came to discuss the predestinarian question, it was most truly according to the homely proverb, "Many men, many minds." We find, as might have been the case in any Protestant synod, the three statements fully discussed, which, if we were to designate them by modern terms, we should call the Calvinistic, the Baxterian, and the Arminian. Each, as we should expect amongst Protestants themselves, found its advocates. On the one side, the strict predestinarian hypothesis is adduced and stated with great ability, and supported by "infinite authorities from St. Austin, because that saint wrote nothing in his old age but in favour of this doctrine." By "some others," again," though of less esteem," this is opposed as "hard, cruel, inhuman, horrible, impious, and shewing partiality in God," and another system is adduced on their part, which is thus expressed: They confessed, that not only works are not the cause of God's election, because that it is before them, and eternal; but that neither works foreseen, can move God to predestinate, who is will ing, for his infinite mercy, that all should be saved; and to this end, CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 220.

prepareth sufficient assistance for all, which every man, having free will, receiveth or refuseth as pleaseth him; and God in his eternity foreseeth who will receive his help, and use it to good, and those who will refuse; and rejecteth these, electeth and predestinateth those. Otherwise, there was no cause why God in Scripture should complain of sinners, &c."

the

Respecting these two contending systems, the concluding words of the historian himself are remarkable. "As the first opinion," he observes, "is mystical, and hidden, keeping the mind humble, and relying upon God, without any confidence in itself, knowing the deformity of sin, and the excellency of Divine grace; so the second was plausible and popular, cherishing human presumption, and making a great shew; and it pleased more the preaching friars than the understanding divines. And the courtiers thought it probable, as consonant to politic reasons. The defenders of this, using human reasons, prevailed against others; but, coming to the testimonies of the Scriptures, they were manifestly overcome." (History of the Council of Trent, lib. ii. see pp. 197-199, fol. 1676.)—It is true, the end of the popish disputations upon this point, was much in favour of the "less esteemed," popular," "politic" divines; the decree of the Council of Trent, on predestination, determining, that "God prepared sufficient assistance for all, which every man, having free will, might receive or refuse as pleased himself; and God foreseeing who would receive his help,. &c. &c." as before stated. Still, however, the very circumstance of this point existing as a question, maintainable on each side by different parties, in the popish church; and actually discussed with vehemence in the Tridentine Council, somewhat removes us from the simple Protestant ground. To this also it 2 L