in that particular discourse he seems to preach only a part of it, provided that part does not in any way contradict, or rather is built upon, the general scope of sacred truth. At the same time, the trumpet should never "give an uncertain sound;" and, therefore, considering the mixed nature of a public congregation, we might almost adopt as a canon, that no discourse, not even what is called an occasional one, should be so constructed as not to admit such a portion of elementary doctrine and exhortation as may, by the blessing of God, enlighten the eyes and affect the heart of the hither. to heedless or ignorant sinner.

The ninth discourse exhibits a well-sustained portraiture of character, in the author's remarks on the discreet Scribe, Mark xv. 34. He discusses, 1st, what were those hopeful qualities in the individual, to whom the text refers, which drew forth our Saviour's commendation of his character; and, 2d, what was yet wanting in him to render that commendation more unqualified, satisfactory, and complete. On the first head he remarks, that the scribe, here mentioned, displayed more candour than the generality of his brethren; for he was of the sect of the Pharisees-a sect proud, dogmatical, extremely tenacious of their own authority and opinions, impatient of opposition, and jealous of the smallest appearance of rivalry, and our Saviour's most bitter and unwearied persecutors. Again, he displayed more knowledge, and juster conceptions of true religion, than the generality of his brethren; virtually discarding their idle traditions, taking his views of religion solely from the Scriptures, and placing the love of God and of our neighbour where they had placed it, in the foremost rank of duties, and "above all burnt-offerings and sacrifices." 3dly, he manifested a thirst for knowledge, and a desire of improvement; whereas the generality of the Scribes and Pharisees evinced no such dispositions, but rather quite

the contrary; their object being to "keep their own traditions;" not to examine whether those traditions were true or false, and, should they be found erroneous, to disclaim them. In these respects the scribe might be considered as "not far from the kingdom of God"-not far from the sincere reception of our Saviour's doctrine. His defects Mr. Foyster considers to be, that he wanted more knowledge, and needed humility. We think that this statement is defective; for did he not also want faith in Christ? Did he not even want the essential principle of repentance? And could it be said, that, though "not far from the kingdom of heaven," he had experienced that renovation of nature, that spiritual new birth, without which no man can see the kingdom of God? Mr. Foyster doubtless, tacitly includes these points, but it had been better, we think, in order to prevent misconception, if they had been briefly noticed.

The application of this discourse, to those whose characters resemble that of the scribe, is faithful and convincing.

"The scripture history is silent respecting the subsequent progress of this discreet and hopeful individual. Whether drew back, we are not informed, and have he proceeded in his promising course, or no means of ascertaining. But it less concerns us to know what became of him, than to consider what is likely to be our then, let us ask ourselves, are we doing? own final character and condition. What Whither are we tending? Have we already begun to think seriously upon the things which relate to our everlasting peace? If so, let us diligently proceed in our career, and never remit our exertions, till we shall have secured the prize of our high calling. Are we endued with welldisposed minds? Are we placed in hopeful circumstances for improvement? Have we made greater advances in true wisdom than many around us? Have we been blessed with an education which has given us just conceptions of religion? All this is so far well; but all this is short of the mark at which we should be aiming. All this, while it affords ground for thankfulness, leaves room for much caution. With

all this, we may be only "not far from the kingdom of God;" and the very circumstance of our having made a somewhat nearer approach to it than others may

tempt us to sit down in sloth and security, supposing that our work is done, when the chief part of it remains to be performed. Let us then carefully examine what may yet be wanting-essentially wanting-in our characters, as they appear before God. Let us implore the great Searcher of hearts to try and prove us, or rather to assist us, by his grace, in proving ourselves, that we may know on what foundation we are building our hope of eternal life. Not content with a mere leaning to true religion, let us cleave with purpose of heart unto the Lord.' Let us not only see the right, but pursue it; not only outwardly respect the Gospel, but heartily embrace it; not merely admire and applaud the examples of good men, but carefully study, and strenuously endeavour to copy them. Let us beware of sporting on the boundaries of right and wrong. Let us firmly pass the line of separation, and take up our abode upon the safe and happy side, resolved that, whatever courses others may follow, we will faithfully serve the Lord.'

"To those, who shall finally fall short of the kingdom of heaven, it will prove but a wretched source of consolation to reflect that, at some former period, they were perhaps not far from it. 6

Alas!

such a recollection will only contribute to augment their woe. What though we should suppose the foolish virgins, in the parable, to have been only one moment too late for admission;-to have come with their replenished lamps, crying, Lord, Lord, open unto us,' only one instant after the door was shut? Would this have altered their condition for the better? No. That single instant would have sealed their doom. The door, once closed upon them, was closed for ever. Their exclusion would not have been less real, nor less beyond remedy than if they had arrived later, while their disappointment would have been felt as more bitter and insupportable. Let us, then, never rest satisfied with being only not far from the kingdom of God. Let us give diligence to make our calling and election

sure.'

Let us strive to enter in at the strait gate,' since many,' we are told, 'will seek to enter in, and will not be able.'" pp. 164–167.

Sermon X. is an excellent Christian essay, from 1 Cor. iv. 5, on the duty of abstaining from rash Judg. ments respecting our Neighbour; but it is too consecutive in its texture

to allow of a brief satisfactory abridgment. The author judiciously advises his readers to cure themselves of the vice of rashly judging others, by turning their scrutiny into their own bosom.-The same may be said of the next discourse, on our

Saviour's calling not the Righteous, but Sinners to Repentance; and of various others in the volume. Without, therefore, enumerating the whole of the remaining discourses, we shall glance only at a few, as they strike us in looking over the series.

We copy the following passage from the sermon on "Gratitude for the Blessings of Redemption, as it constitutes a Motive to Obedience," chiefly with a view to shew that Mr. Foyster agrees fully with us, in what we have observed in a former page, respecting the principle of love as an affection of the soul and a motive to action.

"But, amongst the various considerations which may operate as lawful principles of obedience, there is no one upon which the writers of the New Testament place a stronger, or more frequent stress, than a lively remembrance of the love of Christ. This is their favourite theme. We love him,' says the Apostle John, 'because he first loved us.' St. Peter exhorts the Christian converts to a holy conversation, as those who had tasted that the Lord was gracious.' St. Paul, in one place, dissuades the Corinthians from impurity, by suggesting the consideration that they were bought with a price;' the price of their Redeemer's blood. In another, he urges them to a liberal relief of their indigent brethren, by setting before them the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,' who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.' Elsewhere we find him enforcing the duty of mutual forbearance and forgiveness, by the consideration of the love of God in extending pardon to the guilty, through the sacrifice of his only begotten Son- Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.' It would be tedious to introduce more scriptural passages to the same effect. I shall only subjoin the emphatic declaration of the text- The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that, if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they, which live, should not henceforth live unto them

selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.' In all the passages here referred to, the following important idea seems intended to be conveyed; that the love of God and of Christ was exhibited in so striking and wonderful a manner, by

the scheme of human redemption accomplished through the death and resurrection of the incarnate Saviour, that the remem

brance of it should kindle in our bosoms a warm, lively, and steady principle of gratitude, causing us to render our best returns of obedience for such great and inestimable benefits." pp. 204-206.

The sermon on the miraculous Cure of the Demoniacs furnishes a highly respectable specimen of the author's ability in scriptural criticism and sound argumentation. He shews, that the scriptural accounts, relating to this subject, are to be understood in literal strictness of interpretation, and that they lie open to no objections of magnitude sufficient to destroy the credibility of the thing itself; after which he proceeds to offer various practical remarks on the miracle recorded in his text, Matt. viii. 28-32. We extract a single passage. The author had been strikingly illustrating the character of the sinner by the case of the demoniac: he adds:

"Yet one remedy there is, and one alone, which can produce the happy change. That remedy is the Gospel of

Christ. When this comes with its sacred energy to his soul, it transforms him into another man. He is then found, like the restored demoniac, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind.' He is cured of those spiritual distempers which were hurrying him to destruction. He no longer delights in the ways of sin. He no longer gives place to the devil.' He no longer yields to that dominion of evil passions and propensities which may be said to exhibit the symptoms of insanity, without its exemption from guilt and crime. He no longer sets up the world for his idol, or magnifies, with an absurd and fatal partiality, its poor and perishing enjoyments. He comes at length to view things in their true light; to estimate them at their real value; to measure them by the standard of God's unerring word. Once he was naked and destitute

as to real goodness. He is now clothed with the robe of righteousness,' and adorned with the graces and virtues of the

Christian life. Once he was devoted to the pleasures of sin. He now follows the dictates of scripturally enlightened con science, and discharges the duties which belong to him, as a rational, accountable, and immortal being. Once he obstinately refused instruction, and went after the devices of his own heart, with an ardour resembling that with which the victim of derangement pursues the impulses of a distempered imagination. But now he sits at the feet of Jesus, in the attitude of a meek disciple, and is willing to learn of him.' He listens to the instructions of

this Divine teacher. He trusts in his cross and intercession. He implores the succours of his grace. He walks in the footsteps of his example. He lives under the animating hope of enjoying his presence in glory. In short, he returns to his house, shewing what great things God has done for him." pp. 236, 237.

In the sermon on Prayer, the author gives the following directions for "asking according to the will of God," 1 John v. 14. First, we must be upon our guard against petitions, the granting of which would be inconsistent with the moral perfections of the Most High. This he illustrates by the case of Abraham praying for the inhabitants of Sodom, and David for his infant child. "His request was contrary to the Divine will, probably because it was derogatory to the Divine perfections, and consequently it was rejected." Second, to pray "according to the will of God,” we must ask for nothing which would be inconsistent with our own real happiness and welfare; for, as God can never act in a manner contrary to the perfection of moral excellence, so neither can he ever act in opposition to the true interests of his faithful servants. These remarks relate to

the matter of prayer, With regard to the manner, the author remarks, that it must be offered up solemnly, devoutly, humbly, holily, and in faith.

The sermon on the Brazen Serpent, considered as an Emblem of our Saviour's Crucifixion, is one of cal exhibitions of Christian truth, those plain, elementary, and practiwhich, without excluding a due scriptural variety of other religious topics, ought still to form the staple of pulpit addresses;-one of those discourses which a judicious master of a family ordinarily selects for his Sunday evening instruction to his household, or a clergyman for his village congregation;-while, at the same time, they are equally useful, and equally interesting also, to minds of the highest range-at least when the salvation of the soul is felt to be, as it is, the most important of

earthly concerns. Our Reverend Preacher thus builds up his flock in the essentials of their holy faith, teaching them their need of a Saviour, and urging them to look by faith, as the dying Israelite to the brazen serpent, to the only Source of pardon and peace; while, at the same time, he brings before them, in turn, subjects of a more general character; not shunning even the ethics of Christianity, or whatever may inform and enlarge their minds respecting either the internal nature of true religion, or various interesting questions which branch out from the discussion of its principles and application. The just proportion of these several topics must, of course, vary with the circumstances of time, and place, and persons; but a due mixture is desirable; for though, generally speaking, textual sermons -sermons which scarcely wander in argument or illustration beyond the simple application of Scripture may be best; yet subject sermons-sermons of discussionalso have their utility, and particularly so in bringing the full powers of the mind to the consideration of Christian truth. Mr. Foyster has furnished us with examples of both kinds, though chiefly of the latter; and the extracts which we have given from his volume will prove that he has not been unsuccessful in his attempt. His object is evidently both to enlighten the understandings and to impress the hearts of his readers, and we trust, that, by the blessing of God, both these objects will be accomplished.

The Life of Erasmus, with Historical Remarks on the State of Literature between the Tenth and Sixteenth Centuries. By CHARLES BUTLER, Esq. of Lincoln's-Inn. Murray 1825. pp. 244.

It is with feelings of regret and disappointment that we rise from the

perusal of the volume before us. Mr. Butler's talents as a writer are known to the public, and have been duly appreciated by the members of our own communion, as well as perhaps rather unduly extolled by that to which he belongs-though the extravagance of his admirers should be a little moderated by the remarkable instances of historical inaccuracy and unfairness which those, who have investigated his arguments, have occasionally discovered in them, and felt themselves obliged to expose.

Mr. Butler is an avowed champion of the Roman Catholic faith: we are not at all surprised, therefore, at his writing the present volume. In the close and continual communi. cation which both his opponents and himself have recently held with the period in which Erasmus lived, and during which it was that the axe of the Reformers was laid at the root (although they but intended at first to strike at only a few branches) of Papal corruption, it cannot have escaped his attention, that, if one of the characters which appeared among them was more important than another on the side of Rome, it was that of Erasmus; and that great service would be rendered to his church, if the character of that remarkable individual might but be made to stand well in the estimation of the thinking men of the present day. That it did not stand well with them, is, we conceive, abundantly clear; particularly when contrasted, as it will ever contrast itself, with the fearless and intrepid simplicity which, in the midst of all his failings, shone prominently in the character of the great hero of the Reformation. In Luther, the love of truth rose above every other feeling. In him, the grace of God had, as far as in any case which history records to us, annihilated "the fear of man, which bringeth a snare." His eagleeye gazed at the unveiled glories of the word of God, and no human force could bind or cramp the efforts

which he made to rise to the light himself, and to bear others up to it after him.

Luther possessed the elements of character which gifted so eminently the Jewish lawgiver, and some of the reforming prophets of Israel. Like the one, he appeared constantly to" endure, as seeing Him who is invisible." Like the others, to experience no apprehension though he should be called upon to meet a persecuting tyrant face to face, or to interpret to him the mystic characters on the wall which announced his destruction. Perhaps nothing, short of the union of this simplicity of purpose and undaunted courage, would have sufficed to burst the bands which then wound their deadly folds around the best treasures of Christianity.

Now, the character of Erasmus has ever appeared to us the very reverse of this. Marks of feebleness are every where discernible, even in the midst of his intellectual attainments. There was no real greatness of soul in him: no power to rise, as his opponent, into the purer air, above the

'Opes, et fumum, strepitumque Roma."

His very learning, considerable as it was, contributed to check his elevation for, in place of the higher and purer honours of being the moral emancipator of the world, he was content to become the mere idol of the scholar, though without reaping even his just rewards from the patrons of science. The trifles of time were continually displaying their baneful influence on his mind. With light enough to see, and with just courage enough to raise a faint whisper, or a playful smile, against the palpable enormities of the ecclesiastical rule; his vacillation and timidity drew him back from any farther advance; and, tempted with the promises of secular good, and drunk with the adulation of kings and cardinals, who were invoking

his aid against the rising heresies, we find him to the last a deplorable specimen of the enfeebling and corrupting tendency of those habits. which are acquired at the shrine of worldly policy.

Indeed, there are circumstances in the life of this eminent scholar which would shew that he did not rank very high in the moral estimation of even the party to which he was the most attached: and while his levity, on some of the most sacred questions then at issue between the Clergy and the Reformers, gave disgust to the latter; his conscience often conrpelled him to make admissions, which rendered the former exceedingly uneasy at his words, and not less suspicious of his intentions; but the result convinced them, that, after all, his heart, if not his judgment, was with them: and hence it became a matter of some importance to wipe away the reproach which could not fail to attach itself to his memory, as his life has hitherto been transmitted by various writers to the present time.

a

With these impressions, therefore, we own our expectations were somewhat excited by the announcement of Mr. Butler's work; and although it professes to be nothing more than relaxation from more severe studies, yet it is evident that a desire (and we do not stigmatize it as not a legitimate desire) to promote the welfare of his own communion has dictated this attempt to place the character of the 66 profound Erasmus" in a more favourable view than it has hitherto exhibited. In this attempt, however, we think our respected author has failed: for the Scholar of Rotterdam, with all his talents and virtues, appears, even throughout Mr. Butler's own book, a weak, unstable, and worldly minded man; thirsting for the honours of the world, and the applause of his fellows; a stumblingblock in the way of many, who, but for him, might have been brought to a better creed; and a hinderer of