dation of the world"-a remedy provided by the merciful goodness of a gracious God, immediately to take place as soon as the transgression was committed. Every one, it is true, shall be accountable for the advantages he hath had, and shall be judged accordingly: let those advantages however be as little as they may, if he hath lived up to them, be he Jew, Turk, or Heathen, it matters not, we have every reason to believe that "Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world," for him, as well as for us. Christ was the promised Messiah, in whom, as was anciently prophesied, all the nations of the earth were blessed"-not this, or that nation, which hath enjoyed the mosaic law, or the light of christianity, but, we are told, "all the nations of the earth." And thus St. John expresses it: "Christ is the propitiation for our sins,—and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world." And St. Peter, to the same purpose, assures us, that "God is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him." The text seems to restrict salvation to those "who believe:" but it can only apply to such as live in a christian country—not to those who never heard of the gospel.'

The 4th volume is printed from the corrected manuscripts of the author, who is now dead, and whose last employment it was to prepare it for publication. It contains 25 sermons, of which the first two have appeared in print. The rest are entitled to all the praise which is due to those contained in the preceding yolumes: they are animated by the same spirit, and more free from that colloquial familiarity which a fastidious critic might conceive approached now and then to the vulgar. We regret that the labours of our author are now at an end: for he was an honour to an honourable profession; and while he admirably displayed the peculiarities of the gospel, he never forgot to inculcate the value and the necessity of what an acute living divine aptly denominated substantial christianity.'

Mr. Gilpin was, in our opinion, an evangelical preacher in the best sense in which that epithet can be understood. He developed and explained the christian scheme: he preached faith; -faith which worketh by love; faith which, like the gospeltree, is known by its fruits; faith which, while it ascribes 'glory to God in the highest,' is evidenced on earth by 'peace and good-will towards men.'

On a former occasion it was remarked that Mr. Gilpin's subjects were not such, and that they were not treated in such a manner, as best suited a rustic audience. Against the present volumes we do not bring these objections. If the subjects be not all absolutely of a practical nature, from each of them is deduced a practical application.

From the 25th sermon (John vi. 68.) we present to our readers the following passages. After observing that there are guides to happiness which the world produces,' the author adds

1

• We are told that reason is the great light which God hath appointed for the direction of man. Reason is his guide in every thing which relates both to this world and the next. A written law, like the scripture, may be subject to various interpretations. Different men put different senses upon it. But reason holds up a steady light; to which if we attend carefully, we cannot err.

And, no doubt, to dismiss our reason, is to dismiss one of our best friends; and yet, to set it up as a guide above scripture is, on the other hand, as dangerous. What is our reason, unless it be informed? How are the savages of the earth regulated by its light? They are human beings-they have the use of reason as much as we but if reason is no light to them, it is at least plain it is not qualified to be a general guide. Without proper information indeed our reason can be no guide at all; and we may with great probability suppose, that its best improvements, in civilized countries, have been obtained from the "words of eternal life." that they who set up reason against revelation, would destroy the very thing to which their reason is indebted for its chief improvement. For it hath been often shewn by learned men, that human reason hath been greatly indebted to revelation for that knowledge, which the Jewish religion first spread in the world, and afterwards the christian.' P. 331.

So

Among fashionable people, another principle is sometimes set up, called honour-a very nice principle, which will not bear the slightest imputation. The man of honour is a finished character: the least reflection on his veracity fires him to the quick; but he will kill his friend in a duel, he will commit adultery, he will ruin his family by gaming, he will do a thousand wicked things, and his honour will not suffer the least injury. It is very plain then that honour, in its common acceptation, is no guide. We may discard it therefore, without farther hearing. It is merely a principle of the world, and means only to adorn a bad practice with an honest name. True honour speaks no language but that of religion; and whenever we see them separated, we may be assured that honour, whatever importance it may assume, is in fact a debasing principle. Like the gospel-tree, it may be known by its fruits. P. 333,

The author then affirms that the holy scriptures are the only sufficient guide of life, and offers this excellent advice as to the manner of interpreting the difficulties which they contain:

• When difficulties arise in reading the scriptures, and you cannot explain them by the general intention of the word of God, which is to make men happy in this world and the next, be not discou◄ raged you may be sure, if they are difficulties, they are not necessary to salvation. Thus, for instance, when you read, that the Son of Man came not to send peace upon carth, but a sword," if you cannot explain the expression consistently with that general kind

ness, and mild disposition, which the christian religion every where inculcates, leave it for the present, and disquiet not yourselves with a difficulty, from which many have taken a wrong turn, and raised a spirit of persecution against their brethren. There is not, be assured, a falser interpretation than this. Again, when you read that the potter hath power over his clay, to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour," do not suppose, as many have done, that some are fated from their birth to salvation, and others to damnation; but if you cannot reconcile the passage with the general tenor of the gospel, which assures us, that all mankind may be saved if they are not wanting to themselves, proceed to the more easy parts of scripture. All that is necessary is plain, and take it for granted, that what you cannot understand can never be required. But above all things take care not to be numbered among those who, as St. Peter tells us, wrest such parts of scripture as are hard to be understood to their own destruction; drawing from them such notions of God and religion, as are unworthy of both. The scriptures are not understood at all, if they are supposed to contradict that gentleness, that goodness, that universal tenderness to mankind, which the gospel every where expresses.' P. 337

Of these sermons nine (from John v. 39.) comprise a brief' explication of St. Matthew's Gospel. The author thus speaks of them:

The following sermons are presented to the public, merely as a specimen of a mode of preaching, which I think may be useful to a country congregation. The scriptures will be read with more pleasure, the more each little difficulty, which now and then stops an unlearned reader, is removed.

This mode of preaching might be carried still farther. The Sunday-lessons, from the old testament, are not all, perhaps, selected with equal judgement. Many of them contain difficulties, which want explanation. If these lessons, as they occur, were now and then explained as in the following sermon, it might have its use among the common people.'

To the truth of these observations we most heartily subscribe. Certain it is, that the great mass of the people are deplorably ignorant of the holy scriptures; to instruct them therefore in the words of eternal life,' to illustrate their obscurities, to reconcile their seeming contradictions, and to remove their difficulties, is, in the clergy, not less a beneficial employment than it is a bounden duty. The application to the busi ness and bosoms of his hearers of the portion of scripture which the preacher undertakes to explain, would conclude his discourse with much effect and with great advantage. This plan is adopted by those who are not of the established church; but the ministers of that church will not, on this account only, neglect to follow it: fas est et ab hoste doceri.'

What we have now said will receive ample support by an ap peal to the excellent lectures given some time since by the bishop of London; for the publication of which every sincere christian is much indebted to his lordship. Such talents so employed, particularly at an advanced period of life, reflect upon ecclesiastical dignity as much lustre as they receive from it.

To the end of the volume is annexed a very useful analysis of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. It is meant to bring within a narrow compass the principal intention of the Epistle, and the connection of its several parts; and to correct two great errors which seem to have arisen from it; the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination.

'Both of them,' says the author, and truly, appear to be lost in a close attention to the scope of the epistle.'

The fourth volume is published by Mr. Gilpin's trustees, for the benefit of his school at Boldre; and we think a selection from it, consisting of the explication of St. Matthew's Gospel, and the analysis of the Epistle to the Romans, would not only contribute to promote this benevolent intention, but to advance the cause of religion and virtue amongst those whose good conduct is of such unquestionable importance to the peace and happiness of society.

The Hints for Sermons' deserve the attention of those to whom they are addressed.

ART. V.-The Life and Character of Bonaparte, from his Birth to the 15th of August 1804. By W. Burdon, A. M. 45. 6d. Ostell. 1804.

THE present and future interests of Europe are so intimately connected with the head of the French empire, that every publication tending to elucidate his character, or to make us acquainted with the wonderful incidents of his life, cannot fail to attract some portion of the public attention. This extraordinary man seems to be one of those geniuses who, from time to time, are sent by divine providence, like comets, into the world, for some purpose which we in vain attempt to dis

cover.

The establishment of a new dynasty is an event which has for ages been unheard of in Europe. The present instance can scarcely be compared to the usurpation of Cromwell, who never placed upon his brow the round and top of sovereignty. The pre

tensions of the house of Bourbon might reasonably be disputed with those of Austria, when the former mounted the throne of Spain in the person of Philip V. The duke of Braganza, who assumed the regal power in Portugal at the revolution of 1640, was the rightful inheritor of the crown; from which his family had been excluded on the death of cardinal don Henry, in 1580, by the weakness of pope Gregory XIII. and the gigantic power of Philip II. The Prussian and Sardinian monarchs had from time immemorial been in possession of sovereign power, and only received the regal title in exchange for that of duke or elector. The kingdom of Naples, more fertile in revolutions than any other European state, successively devolved by inheritance or conquest to the illustrious houses of Swabia, Arragon,Anjou, and Austria;till the extended influence of the treaty of the Pyrenees, and the policy of Mazarin, finally incorporated it in 1734 with the ample possessions of the Bourbons. Even the throne of Constantinople, from which so many sovereigns have been prematurely hurled, has never been mounted but by the descendants of Othman.

For many centuries the political state of Europe has been such as to render it almost impossible for an obscure adventurer to rise to supreme power. In some of the smaller states of Italy, we have indeed occasional instances of the promotion of private individuals to a ducal throne: but the first petty princes of Parma and Piacenza were the sons and grandsons of a sovereign pontiff when the papal power was at its height; Milan had long been virtually subject to the family of Visconti; Tuscany had long been governed by the wealth and influence of the Medicis before it owned Cosmo the First for its legitimate sovereign.

But in examining the annals of the East, the European reader is astonished to find that scarce any century has elapsed without witnessing the elevation of a shepherd, a camel-driver, or a slave, to the pinnacle of human greatness. Asia has never known but one form of government. We leave it to philosophers and moralists to determine why that finest quarter of the globe has in every age been deprived of the advantages arising from a rational code of laws, and the blessings of a moderate government; but from some union of moral and physical causes it has ever been the abode of despo tism. An Asiatic is ignorant of the advantages, for he is ignorant of the name, of civil and political liberty. Such being the case, we need not have recourse to the numerous arguments assigned by the ingenuity of Montesquieu for the case and rapidity with which the Oriental countries change their masters. The principle of despotic governments is fear; the throne of a tyrant can only be supported, as it was founded, by the