ART. XXI. A Faft Sermon, preached at St. Margaret's Chapel, at St. James's Church, and at St. Michael's, Bath, in the Years 1794 and 1794. By William Robert Wake, Vicar of Backwell, &c. &c. pp. 15. 4to. Dilly. London, 1796. * THE fpirit and tenor of this fermon may be learnt from the following extract: Who could have imagined that a merciful Providence would have permitted thofe various dreadful scenes? And yet we are affured, that thofe unexampled proceedings did take place, and that the most oppreffive tyranny, though under a more lenient form, is ftill triumphant. The cup of vengeance may not yet be full, nor the Almighty have yet determined to fhorten his arm. Calamities yet greater than any we have witneffed, or at least a continuance of the prefent, may be the portion of a great part of the earth, unlefs humiliation, penitence, and reformation, happily incline the Almighty to withdraw his punishments, by producing those effects for which his judgments are probably intended.' There is one argument ufed by Mr. Wake, in this difcourfe, that appears to magnify the importance of the church in a very extraordinary manner: Had our arms been crowned with fuccefs, no doubt but the grateful piety of the church, in the hour of fafety and fuccefs, would have been equal in energy to her earneft folicitations of mercy and protection in the moment of danger and adverfity. It is, therefore (i. e. notwithstanding the C gratitude to be depended on had the prayers of the church been heard) clear that divine Providence, for reafons known only to his own almighty wifdom, ftill permits us to ftruggle with thofe diftreffes from which we have prayed to be delivered." This is as much as to fay, Had not the church fafted and prayed, and been very ready to give thanks in case of success to our arms, the reafon of our failure would have been obvious." All difcuffions relating to the direct efficacy of the priesthood in grand affairs, of a temporal kind, it were better to avoid.-Mr. Wake has fome very judicious and pertinent remarks on the political importance of principles and opinions; and particularly on the irreligion and corruption of the French monarchy. This interrogation, though not irreverently intended, has somewhat of the air of irreverence, ART. ART. XXII. A Sermon, preached before the University of Cams bridge, April 4, 1796. By Edward Pearfon, B. D. Fellow of Sydney Suffex College. pp. 23. 8vo. 6d. London, 1796.. THE HE reverend bachelor fhews, that there is a certain fimplicity and honefty of mind which prepares the mind for a due belief in the Christian doctrines, and without which, on a fubject fo far above human comprehenfion, true knowledge and correfpondent faith is not to be expected. This doctrine is equally fcriptural and philofophical. The will, in fuch inquiries, directs the attention to felect arguments without end, pro or con. ART. XXIII. Brief Reflexions on the Eloquence of the Pulpit. By the Rev. John Gardiner, Rector of Brailsford, and Curate of St. Mary Magdalen, Taunton. pp. 67. 8vo. Rivingtons. London, 1796. THESE Reflections were occafioned by a pamphlet entitled, Remarks on a Seron pre-ched on the Fatt Day, 1705, by the Rev. J. Gardiner.'-Mr. Gardiner, concurring in opinion with Dr. Johnfon and Dr. Blair, thinks that a perfect model of eloquence might be formed by a union of the French earneftnefs and warmth with the English accuracy and reafon. Dr. Gregory hefitates not to declare, that, except a fermon or two of Maffillon, there are fcarcely any which deferve, he does not fay to be compared with the English preachers, but to be read at all. Mr. Gardiner infifts, and with great juftice, that Dr. Gregory has egregiously undervalued the French preachers. ART. XXIV. A Sermon, preached at the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, Taunton, on the 25th of Feb. 1795, being the Day appointed for a General Faft. By the Rev. John Gardiner, Curate of the above Church. pp. 24. 4to. Is. IN this fermon Mr. Gardiner endeavours, it would appear, to prove, by an example, the juftnefs of the criticifm, noticed in the article immediately preceding. Alas! if the minifters of God were to be filent on this fubject-if they did not again and again refound in your ears, that, in the prefent extraordinary war, the interefts of religion as well as of humanity, are at take-the ftones of thefe walls, the vaults from under your • feet feet would cry out or rather the manes of your ancestors would arife from them, and reproach you with the facrifices they once made, the hardships they endured, the chains and punishments they braved,' &c. &c. In this country fuch a ftyle appears to be fomewhat ridiculous. ART. XXV. Religious Exécrations; a Lent Sermon. By an Orthodox British Proteftant. pp. 32. Johnfon. London, 1796. THE text of this excellent fermon is, Numbers xxiii. 7, 8, Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram, ⚫ out of the mountains of the east, faying, Come, curfe me Jacob, and come defy Ifrael.-How fhall I curfe whom God hath not curfed? or how fhall I defy whom God hath not • defied?'— In the conduct of the foothfayer Balaam, our preacher juftly observes a fingular inftance of depravity mingled with confcientious refolution. Ambitious motives fuggefted to Balaam a variety of evafions in hopes that he might at length avail himself of those lucrative offers which were held forth to him by the king; while religion, at length inspiring a just sense of his duty, compelled him to utter fuch unwelcome truths as totally kept him back from obtaining worldly honours. On looking with an impartial eye into the records of human affairs, we shall feel ourselves compelled to own, that Balaam's character, in its exceptionable part, has abundance of imitators; while he ftands, almost the folitary inftance, of a pro-phet ftrongly actuated by mercenary views, and stepping beyond the limits of his duty; yet ftedfaftly refufing to go fuch lengths as might recommend him to the patronage of those who are vefted with authority.' This fermon is levelled against certain intolerant and anathematifing paffages in the Liturgy of the Church of England, as well as intolerant and inflammatory difcourfes from the pulpit; fuch as that notorious one of Dr. Horfley's.-As the Book of Common Prayer has acquired fomething venerable in the minds of the people, it is better to let fome things objectionable pafs, with the best face that can be put upon them, than to hint at a poffibility of its imperfection. But fuch inflammatory difcourfes as that of Horfley's well deferve to be lafhed by the feverest fatire. If every minifter, of every degree in the Church of England, were to hold the language of that faucy prelate, what would be the confequence? Beyond all doubt, we should have a civil war in less than a month. We hope that some one of our our readers or other will lay this confideration before the feet of the Bishop; whofe good understanding will immediately acknowledge its truth. ་ If it should be afked, where the difcourfe before us was preached, our author replies, that with men whose approbation is worth feeking, doctrines acquire no additional weight from being delivered in the moft fplendid metropolitan cathedral, nor lose any portion of their intrinfic value when they are traced to a dilapidated Highland kirk *.'-Our author is under a mistake in thinking that holy orders in Scotland are beftowed by the elders of the national kirk +.' The elders have no hand in ordination; which is conferred, with very great and proper folemnity, after much inquiry and examination, by prayer and the impofition of the hands of the clerical part of the prefbytery; being themfelves confecrated priests or minifters. The kirk of Scotland obferves, in fact, a medium between the ceremony and apoftolical privileges of the Church of England, and that difregard to folemnity and external regulation which is Thewn by too many of the Diffenters. As a compofition, the fermon before us has very great merit. A fine vein of ridicule is couched under an impofing air of gravity, good temper, and candour. • And, as fome Diffenters would add, even to a depofed Highland minifter.' Some of the diffenting clergymen in London carry their difregard to ecclefiaftical ceremony, order, and fubordination, to the length of indecency, and even fomething ludicrous. They have given their pulpits occafionally to a Highland preacher, though he was depofed for immoralities, and his depofition announced in different newspapers: and, farther, although he professes to believe in the fecond fight, and in outward form resembles an oran-outang more than a human creature-while his utterance is not fo like the ufual tones of the human voice, as the hoarfe hifling or wheezling of a goofe. As we wish well to all the churches, we hope this hint will be taken in good part by our Chriftian, though diffenting brethren. Who are, in fome fort, what lay brethren are in convents, or maraboots (devout perfons), among the Mahommedans. ART. ART. XXVI. A Letter to the Right Hon. William Pitt, fhew- MANY ANY a good advice has this worthy man given to the minifters and magiftrates of this kingdom. This pamphlet vindicates, and farther recommends, fome of his former plans, particularly the conftant watch, which would entirely remove the grumbling against the dog-tax, under the pretence that they are neceffary guards for houses. ART. XXVII. Leonora; a Tale. Tranflated and altered from the German of Gottfried Auguftus Burger. By J. T. Stanley, Efq. F. R. S. &c. Embellished with Three Engravings. pp. 28. 4to. Miller. London, 1796. THI HIS poem, by an union of what is moft awful in the Scandinavian religion with what is most interesting in human life, moves and agitates the mind in a very uncommon degree, and particularly excites and keeps alive the emotion of terror. Leonora, falfely fuppofing that her faithful and tender lover, William, in the military fervice of Pruffia, had lost his life in the battle of Prague, abandons herself to despair, notwithstanding the pious exhortations of her mother, and calls, for relief, on death • Daughter, forget thy early love, Mother, what now are joys to me? Without him, heaven a hell. Fade, fade away, thou hated light; With love all hope farewell.' Death, in the form of William, in the filence of night, accosts the defpondent Leonora thus: Wake, Leonora-doft thou fleep, Or thoughtless laugh, or conftant weep? • Dear William, you! return'd and well! At |