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-and that this mean sort of warfare may be kept up without any real advantage to either party. The short sentence, Pharisaicism is still rootedly hostile to Christianity,' seems to bear hard on those who believe less than the author; yet it does not in the smallest degree help to decide the question whether he believes too much or they believe too little. Without taking controversial ground, he pronounces Calvinism to be energetic.'

We cannot follow this writer through his various hints for the consideration of preachers, and his strictures on their pulpit-eloquence, but must now content ourselves with offering a list of those divines who are criticized in this volume. Of the clergy of the Establishment, we find the names of Dr. Randolph, late Bishop of London; Dr. Milner, Dean of Carlisle; Mr. J. Barrett; Mr. Budd; Mr. Burder; Mr. Clare; Mr. Cocker; Mr. De Coetlogon; Mr. Fancourt; Mr. Foster; Mr. Fry; Mr. Goode; Mr. Gurney; Mr. King; Mr. Lloyd; Mr. Ousby; Dr. Povah; Mr. Richmond; Mr. T. Sheppard; Mr. J. Sheppard; Mr. White; Mr. Wilkinson; and Mr. Wilson. The following is the list of Dissenting Preachers: Dr. Clarke; Mr. J. Clayton, jun.; Mr. Carpenter; Mr. G. Clayton; Mr. Frey, who was born a Jew, but is now a Christian preacher, and editor of a beautiful edition of Van der Hooght's Hebrew Bible; Mr. Leifchild; Mr. Lyndall; Mr. Raffles; Mr. Smith, M. G. (letters which are meant to express Miracle of Grace, as Huntington's S. S. signified Sinner Saved); Mr. Stevens; Mr. Thorp; Mr. Townsend; and Dr. Winter.

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Both lists might easily be enlarged, as is evident by the additional volume which Onesimus has announced; and, if he includes Country Preachers, he may ramble and write till both he and his readers are tired.

Art. 20. Lectures upon Portions of the Old Testament; intended to illustrate Jewish History and Scripture Characters. By George Hill, D.D., F.R.S. Ed., Principal of St. Mary's College, Saint Andrew's, &c. 8vo. pp. 522. 12s. Boards. Longman and Co. No book is so replete as the Bible with details of important events, with striking incidents, with moral delineations, and with interesting characters. For this reason, no book is so extensively instructive, or furnishes matter so varied for the theological lecturer. Dr. Hill has manifested judgment in his selection of subjects; and, though he has avoided the discussion of all points of learned criticism, he has contrived with much ability to illustrate some of the most momentous portions of Jewish history, and to exhibit its prominent characters in a very edifying manner. Several writers have preceded Dr. H. in this province: but we do not recollect an individual who has executed the task more clearly, concisely, and satisfactorily.

After two introductory discourses on the importance and best mode of searching the Scriptures, the lecturer proceeds to analyze the characters of Abraham, Moses, Balaam, and Joshua; to descant on the Book of Judges; and to examine the important matter which is presented to us in the history of the Kings of Israel and Judah, as well as in the short memorials of the Babylonish captivity which remain. REV. JUNE, 1814.

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We cannot afford our readers a clearer idea of the object of the preacher, than by transcribing, from the end of the second discourse, his account of his own design:

The following lectures are intended as a specimen, in a few select instances, of the manner of deriving from the Old Testament that instruction in righteousness which is there treasured up for those who search the Scriptures; and they will afford you the most essential benefit, if they shall induce you to examine and compare the books of the Old Testament, some parts of which you are probably not much in the habit of reading, but every portion of which is declared by the Apostle Paul to be given by inspiration of God, and to be profitable.

If you expect to find in these lectures curious discussions of doubtful points in antiquity, the conjectures of ingenious men upon questions which the Scriptures have left indeterminate, critical expla nations of difficult texts, and attempts to reconcile the chronology of the Scriptures, with the periods and measures of time in heathen writers, you will be very much disappointed. In other places these things may be proper: here, they might shew the reading, but they would more certainly shew the folly of the speaker. I wish never to forget, that he who addresses you from the pulpit, ought to endea vour to "speak to edification, to exhortation, and to comfort," those things which all Christians may understand.'

Though Dr. Hill avoids the parade and formality of verbal criticism, he manifests a thorough acquaintance with Jewish history; and his commentaries on the passages which he selects for illustrationwe cannot call them texts are conceived in so easy and natural a style that the reader is at once amused and instructed. The Old Testament history is in general very imperfectly understood; and we may venture to assert that few will peruse this volume without feeling the warmest obligations to its author. Perhaps Dr. Hill is not quite correct in all points; and in his sketch of Saul's interview with the lady who is commonly called the witch of Endor, we should question the accuracy of his representation in the following passage:

When He who alone has power to unbar the gates of death, did indeed bring Samuel from the grave, and shewed her an old man coming up covered with a mantle, the woman knowing this to be beyond her art, was filled with consternation.'

It does not appear by the account in the 1st book of Samuel that Saul ever saw the apparition. In Dr. Chandler's Life of David, this circumstance is amply discussed; and, as we have not leisure for the task, we refer Dr. Hill to that work. The lecturer, however, agrees with Chandler in his exposition of the passage applied to David, “A man after God's own heart :"

David did not uniformly please God; for the Almighty exprest high disapprobation of some parts of his conduct. But he is called "a man after God's own heart," because the qualities by which he was distinguished, fitted him for accomplishing the purpose of heaven in giving Israel a king. The piety which had appeared in his encounter with Goliath settled the order of God's house, and trained the children of Israel to praise the Lord their God; and the valour

and prudence, which had also adorned his youth, continued through a long and difficult reign, to give him the victory over his enemies, and to establish his kingdom in an orderly and flourishing condition."

In the lecture on the second part of the history of Solomon, the author takes notice of doubts which have been entertained by those who have treated of Scripture-geography, respecting the position of Tarshish and Ophir; and, as the articles of the freight of the Tarshish ships, viz. "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks," do not seem to have been sufficiently considered, in ascertaining the sea on which this port must have been placed, we shall transcribe Dr. Hill's illustration of this subject:

It was long a matter of uncertain conjecture where Tarshish and Ophir lay; and it appeared difficult to explain how a voyage to any country then known, should last for three years, and why the length of time should be always the same. But here, as in many other instances, the progress of knowledge, and that intimate acquaintance which we are acquiring with all the regions of the globe, have vindicated Scripture from objections which ignorance had suggested, and have placed, in the most striking light, the accuracy of the sacred historians. A late travellerer directing our attention to the course of the winds in those seas, to the manner of navigation in ancient times, and to various circumstances of the voyage, has confirmed what former researches had rendered probable, and has demonstrated to the satisfaction of all who read his work, that the navy of Solomon, setting out from Eloth and Ezion-geber, past down the Red Sea, and entering through the straits of Babelmandel into the Indian Ocean, took there a westerly direction, by which it arrived in the second year at the kingdom of Sofala. This kingdom, which was sometimes called Ophir, lies on the coast of Africa, opposite to the island of Madagascar. It abounds with gold and silver mines, which appear to have been wrought from the earliest times; and Tarshish is the name of a place situate near these mines. The navy, after completing those parts of its cargo which were found in that country, sailed in the second year on its return home. It was obliged to touch at other places for some of the articles which constituted its cargo; and from the course of the winds which blow in those seas, it could not reach Eloth till near the end of the third year.

The kingdom of Sofala is represented by some ancient authors, and by the traditions of the adjoining countries, as having belonged to the Queen of Saba, or Azab, who is called by the sacred historian the Queen of Sheba, and by our Lord the Queen of the South, and whose dominions extended as far as the Straits of Babelmandel, along that coast of Africa which is washed by the Indian Ocean. The quantity of gold and silver which was sent in every voyage from her mines to the land of Palestine, drew the attention of the Queen of Sheba; and having learnt by the intercourse of successive voyages, that the King of Palestine was no less famous for his wisdom than for the splendour of his court, she resolved, like other lovers of wisdom in those days, to travel to Jerusalem, in order to state to this living

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oracle, difficulties which the measure of knowledge in her country was unable to solve, and to enlarge her mind, by visiting the court of a prince, whose fame exceeded that of all the kings of the earth.'

We have no doubt that a second edition of this useful work will be demanded; when, probably, Dr. Hill will improve some of his sketches of Scripture-characters.

Art. 21.

POETRY.

Woburn-Abbey Georgics; or, the Last Gathering. A Poem, in Four Cantos. Cantos III. and IV. 8vo. pp. 48. Chapple.

In Vol. lxxii., N. S., p. 213., we took a rapid glance at the first two cantos of this satirical poem. The conclusion now before us is in the same style with the parts already noticed, involving in a stream of ridicule every individual who figures in the drama. The resolution of the present Duke of Bedford, respecting the discontinuance of the annual sheep-shearing-festivity at Woburn-Abbey, is the subject of deep regret with gentlemen-agriculturists; and the last gathering brings them together, not indeed in doleful dumps, but just in that humour which converts apparent seriousness into comicality. We think that more spirit is diffused through the satirical narrative in the last two than in the first and second cantos of this poem. The duet between Messrs. Priest and Young is skilfully managed; the sheepshearing contest is well related; and the stroke of satire introduced unavoidably excites a smile. It is the dinner-scene, however, in the last canto, for which the poet reserves his powers of ridicule; and the speech of the Duke, in dismissing the agriculturists to find a dinner elsewhere, will be a very fair specimen of the talents of this laughing bard:

"Friends! 'tis my faith, I need not say,
That proud ye make me, here, to day;
As, round my hall and table, stand
The rank, weight, talents, of the land:
All in the common cause embraced,
To save the land from running waste;
To do, what's past the power of pen,
To make clowns farm like gentlemen.
Patterns we set-they do not heed;
Stock we improve-they will not breed ;
Books we send forth-they cannot read.
Prizes I offer still in vain;

None irrigate, or under-drain :

And, where a candidate makes claim,
Coke on his farming cries out-Shame!'
Year after has thus o'er past,

year

And this not better than the last;

Why, then, should I your labours ask,
Farther, in this ungrateful task!
And why, the word I pledged in vain,
That aye this meeting shall remain,
Should ye not give me back again?

There,

There, on their heads, disgrace befal;
Those dolted heads, that frustrate all !-
My Lords, and Gentlemen, 'tis o'er,

I ask your services no more;

But, long as my poor life endures,

My thanks, my house, my heart, are yours.
One parting word; and, then, farewell!-
Something, on which you all may dwell;
That royal maxim let me tell-

Keep your land clean, and muck it well!'-
And, in your minds, sink this also

The more you sow, the more you'll owe;
The less you sow, the more you'll grow!'
Now, fellow-labourers, by my fay,
I've done my do, and said my say."

After this speech, silence for some time ensucs. At last, however, Lord Somerville laments the death of Duke Francis: but, being badly seconded in this dirge, Lord Erskine delivers the meeting from its embarrassment by volunteering a song, which we might quote for its humour, but must reject and reprehend for its inuendoes.

This poet pays little regard to his rhimes; being more sollicitous to produce satirical effect than to polish his numbers.

Art. 22. The Modern Antique; or the Muse in the Costume of
Queen Anne. 8vo. 12s. Boards. Pople. 1813.

Severe and addicted to censure as we are sometimes considered, we seldom have reason to dispute the free option of an author to affix his own title to his own work. The present anonymous gentleman, therefore, we hope, will attribute to none but the purest motives the slight alteration which we venture to suggest for the benefit of his book; and the rather as it would convert the first page into a kind of index to the whole. We think, and we recommend it to his serious thought, that by the mere substitution of "Mother Goose" for "Queen Anne," the author will honestly represent to his readers the true, genuine, and lively idea of what they are permitted to expect.

In adverting to its contents, whither shall we turn; to the right, or to the left; to the prose, or to the verse; in what chosen spot of all the mazes of this merry foolishness will our readers most willingly disport? Shall we pluck a flower or two from the preface, as we pass along; or shall we tear them by bunches and by clusters from those hot-beds of nonsense, the Odes to Music, to Marriage, and to Genius? Shall we simply take measure of the author's head, and, wreathing a few chaplets from his songs, sonnets, and elegies, present to him, in this sweet and engaging form, the delicate tribute of our admiration? Each of these compliments might separately be injudicious and ineffectual. The field is vast, but our limits are small. Good and gentle reader, accept a small specimen or two, and may they do thee good!

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