they more thoroughly despise, with whatever outward respect they may treat him, and this sort of hypocrisy is rarely wanting,- than a selfish, worldly man, who seeks himself and preaches himself. They are quick in discriminating character, and very soon learn how much of a man's heart is in his profession, and how much is everywhere else; and their respect rises or falls accordingly. If you esteem your calling as it is worthy to be esteemed, you cannot fail in its duties, you yourself will be honored in proportion, and religion through you. Begin by despising it, or even holding it too low, and the certainty is, that the contempt you feel for it will be visited upon yourself, and, through you, upon your faith. If I were to give modern reasons for the contempt of the Clergy,' one would be, that they are seen so often despising their own vocation, abandoning it for some other, reaching after other things, aping the manners and ways of the world, covetous of some other and higher reputation than that which a quiet, faithful discharge of the duties of their great office would confer. This brings contempt upon the order, and justly. But the opposite character to this is quite as sure to bring it honor." - pp. 17, 18.

And, again, while for ourselves we must attach great importance to the private labors of the minister, and are persuaded, that much of his best influence and usefulness, within the circle of his immediate charge, must depend on a faithful discharge of pastoral duties, we believe, with this writer, that "the pulpit should be his chief care," - and this for many and obvious reasons. It is the great theatre, so to speak, for the manifestation of the truth, for the exhibition of the Gospel in its doctrines, sanctions, and whole power. Public preaching is the ordinance of God, the most effectual, because it has been, in every age since the teaching of Christ himself, the received and honored method of reaching the hearts and consciences of men. The great benefit of pastoral visits is, through the friendly religious interest and sympathy it expresses, in disposing the hearer to listen with affection and to give additional influence to the preacher. But it is in faithful public preaching, more than in any other practical method of address, that the hearer will so listen, as to perceive his personal concern in the truth, as to read in it his character, his needs, or his dangers. Therefore, says Mr. Ware,

"To be a faithful minister - the pulpit must claim your principal care. If you do any good, it will be accomplished directly or indirectly by this instrument. Let nothing interfere with your preparations for it. Think not to make up for deficiency here by increased familiarity with your people. It will be to no purpose. Your power of usefulness as a Parish Minister and a visitor, will be in proportion to your success and excellence as a preacher. No one will ever be coveted as a private counsellor and moral guide, who in the first place speaks not powerfully or profitably to the intellect and the heart, as a public dispenser of Religious Truth. There must be first this public respect,

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or there will be little of any other. No matter how much you may go about from house to house, you will obtain scarce any thing better for your pains, than the reputation of a clerical gossip, except your character as a sound and learned, an eloquent or a useful preacher, make you welcome by making you respected. When respected, you will be desired. And when respected and desired, your intercourse with your people will be delightful to yourself and mutually profitable. Let the pulpit therefore, I repeat, have your first care. Bend all the energies of your mind to the production of that which shall inform the minds, warm the affections, awaken the consciences of your hearers. Let USEFULNESS be your aim in all that you write. Only remember whom you are addressing and for what purpose, and you will carefully abstain from topics suitable to any place rather than a Christian Church. Remember that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and never for one moment forgot or turned aside from his great object.". pp. 19, 20.

In Mr. Farley's Right Hand of Fellowship are well expressed the feelings of Christian sympathy and coöperation, with which fellow-servants and brethren in a holy cause will always welcome and seek to strengthen one another.

The Biblical Reader; consisting of Rhetorical Extracts from the Old and New Testaments; to which is applied a Notation, designed to assist in the public and private Reading of the Scriptures. By EBENEZER PORTER, D. D., late President of the Theological Seminary, Andover. Andover Gould & Newman. 1834. 12mo. 263. pp. Some such book as this has been long wanted, especially for family reading. We are therefore glad to see this, and we give it a welcome; though we should have been better satisfied if it had comprised a greater number of extracts. It is true that the preface informs us, that Dr. Porter intended to publish a separate volume, consisting of the Prophets and the Psalms, which accounts for the omission of these in the present volume; but could we not have had more than one passage from the story of Joseph, and more than one chapter from the Book of Proverbs?

With a

Sermons, by the late Rev. EZRA SHAW GOODWIN, Pastor of the First Church and Society in Sandwich, Mass. Memoir. Boston. B. H. Greene. 1834. 12mo. pp. 268. This small volume is a gratifying memorial of one whose memory is very pleasant to those who knew him. It is modest, like himself; but it contains beauties of thought and language, of which many men of more extended fame than his, would gladly be considered the authors. The Sermons are preceded by a short Memoir by a friend and relation, who, we are sorry to

see, does not give his own name on the title-page, or elsewhere. We can imagine no reason for this omission, especially as he prints, in his Advertisement, the name of a gentleman who assisted him in his editorial task. It is a mistake, we think, to withhold, in such a case, what may be a satisfaction to the public, and contribute to the completeness of a literary work, however unpretending its character may be.

The Sermons themselves, in number fifteen, are a fair transcript of the mind of their author. They are pure, spiritual, simple, sanctifying, imbued throughout with a serious yet cheerful and trusting piety. We will select one passage from them, not for its style, in which respect we might find many superior to it, but because it is the close of a sermon which was the last he ever preached, and which was from this remarkable text, "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." 2 Timothy iv. 6.

"A happier state of mind cannot well be imagined than that of a true Christian, waiting for his change, with no dismay nor disquieting terrors, but with humble hope, expecting to enter into the presence of his Lord, and willing to shake off his connexion with the flesh, that he may go forth into regions of the spirit, and commence a new course of obedience and enjoyment, in a scene of enlarged powers and increased facilities. And, contrariwise, a more wretched being can scarce be imagined than one who is perpetually disquieted through dread of death, starting at the sound of a shaken leaf, and seeing nothing in eternity but a fearful looking for of judgment. Surely it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And we, to whom the alternative of one or the other of these states is offered, shall do well, if we bring our souls to the trial, and enter into judgment with ourselves on this question, so essential to our everlasting welfare. I am now ready to be offered,' is the expression of a state of mind, which we, no doubt, every one of us, desire to possess, and our neglecting of which is literally sinning against our own souls. Let us, my brethren, who soon must die, whether we be ready or not, - let us think of earth, as a state with which, in a little while, we shall have no connexion; of its affairs, as what will soon cease to concern us; and of all its interests, as what will soon excite in us neither sorrow nor joy, neither hope nor fear. But think of God, of Christ, and eternity, of a world to come, as what shall concern us for ever and ever;— and, knowing that we must soon be offered, whether we be willing, or not, let us make sure of our peace with God, and give ourselves to him in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten in time or eternity, and establish our hearts in Christ and his Gospel, for the coming of the Lord, draweth nigh, -and without partiality or hypocrisy, finish what is given us to do, and then commit Qurselves to our Maker, with all confidence, and be exalted in the faith of Christ, and the love of God, above the fear of death, which would keep us all our life-time subject to bondage. Remembering, also, that one day is, with the Lord, as a thousand years, and a thou

sand years as one day, let us keep ourselves steadfast and immovable, in Christ Jesus, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as when ye are conscious of eternity, ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” — pp. 266 – 268.

Views of Christian Truth, Piety, and Morality, selected from the Writings of DR. PRIESTLEY. With a Memoir of his Life, by HENRY WARE, JR. Cambridge: James Munroe & Company. 1834. 12mo. pp. lxxx. and 207. Mr. Ware has here erected a noble and enduring monument of the pure and truly Christian character of one of the most gifted and singlehearted of Christian confessors. The Memoir, compiled for the most part from Dr. Priestley's own letters, and other writings, and drawn up with care, is interesting throughout, and full of instruction. The same may also be said of the selection of Sermons and other pieces which make up the body of the work; for they are almost exclusively practical, and present "views of Christian truth, piety, and morality," remarkable for their good sense, strictness, and discrimination. We hope that the publication of this volume will lead the friends of Dr. Priestley to associate his name with the simplicity and excellence of his character, his great sacrifices to conscience and liberty, and his almost unequalled activity and versatility of mind; and not, as has been too generally the case, especially in this country, with his infelicities and mistakes. As for his malicious traducers, we may say to them all, now that he is dead, what he said to one of them while he was living. "As the Indian said to the Spanish priest, who would have persuaded him to be baptized in the article of death, threatening that if he did not submit to that ceremony, he would certainly go to hell, whither all his ancestors went before him, that he chose to go to his ancestors, rather than to any place whither the Spaniards went;' so Sir, judging of the tree by its fruits, I shall willingly take my chance with pious, virtuous, and candid Unitarians, with such men as Dr. Lardner, Dr. Jebb, &c., who brought no railing accusation against any man, (though sentenced by your Church without doubt to perish everlastingly,') rather than with those who scruple no misrepresentation or abuse to promote their cause, though in itself it should be ever so good. Fearing God and respecting his truth, I hope I shall never fear what man may say of me, or do to me; least of all in another world, where, happily, your power does not extend."

INDEX.