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is too ufual with us to demand a perfect discharge of duty in others, while we attain to but an imperfect one in ourselves. Since it is fcarcely to be hoped that the appropriate duty of either party will, at all times, be obferved with equal exactnefs, both fhould be prepared to make that allowance for which both, by turns, will have occafion. Generofity is the acknowledged duty of the rich; the poor, therefore, are too apt to imagine, that a rich man, `if in any inftance he be deficient in generofity, has no claim on their grati tude, how much foever, on the whole, they may have been the objects of his bounty; and it is well if they think he has fulfilled his duty in this refpect while he has any thing left to beftow. Gratitude, on the other hand, is the duty of the poor; the rich, therefore, are too apt to think that a poor man is feldom so thank ful as he ought to be; and, if any fentiment should appear which is inconfiftent with their ideas of his obligations, he is quickly regarded as unworthy of their bounty. Neither party feems fufficiently to confider the difference between conceiving the idea of a duty and actually difcharging it. There may be difficulties in the discharge for which it is not easy to make just allowance: the rich man has perpetual struggles, felt only by himself, between the fenfe of his obligation to perform his duty by relieving the indigent, and the defire to be diftinguifhed in his clafs by the increase of his poffeffions; and the poor man has fears, of which the rich can have no adequate idea, left, while he is acknowledging the bounty of his benefactor, he may confefs a dependence on another, which will degrade him from the character of a man. Though the fuggeftions of vanity or pride, in opposition to our duty, ought to be overcome, the overcoming of them may be no eafy task; and it would be a severity of judgment, which the conduct of but few can bear, to confider the want of fuccefs in parti cular instances as decifive of the whole character.'

P. 23.

An Attempt to exhibit the Meaning and Connection of Romans, 5th Chapter, 12th and following Verfes; particularly showing how they apply to the certain Salvation of all Infants. 8vo. Is. Faulder. 1800.

This is a very praise-worthy attempt to explain a paffage in the epiftles of St. Paul which has exercised the pen of the ableft writers. Taylor, Edwards, and Chauncy, have each their merits; but they are too erudite; and the author before us, with a just view of their defects, endeavours to find out a confiftent meaning to the apostle's words, from a close examination of them and the context, without indulging himself in the latitude of metaphyfical inquiry. His ideas may be feen from the following fummary, with which he concludes his comment :

From thefe defervedly renowned verfes of this great apoftle, we learn the important facts, that death is the confequence of CRIT. REV. VOL. XXX. September, 1800.

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A Sermon preached in the Parish Church of Clare, in Suffolk, at the Prefentation of the Colours to the Military Affeciation of that Place, on Wednesday, June 26, 1799. By C. Hayward, Vicar of Ha verhill, Suffolk. Svo. IJ. Robinfons.

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That, for a confiderable time before, and uniformly fince, the French revolution, infidelity has, by means of French writers and French principles, been gaining ground in this country, with great and rapid ftrides, is a fact which is hardly denied by any, except thofe who exult in the truth of it, and only wait for a riper opportu nity of avowing their exultation.' P.15.

We are among thofe who deny that infidelity has been gaining ground in this country; and we lament that fo many preachers can indulge themselves in fuch unwarranted affertions, or, in confe quence of their delufions, in fuch ftrange language as the following:

God forbid that religious opinions of any kind fhould ever again be propagated by the fword; but, foaner than the glorious fabric of the Gospel shall even totter in our land-fooner than the batteries of foreign illuminati, aided by the phrenzy of a mifguided multitude, fhall play againft it-let every man, in the literal sense of our Saviour's words, 66 W ho has no fword, fell his coat and buy one;" and let us confider it as an honourable diftinction, if we are. allowed to be the lowest agents in the fulfilment of the grand promise of our Lord refpecting his Gofpel" the gates of hell fhall not prevail against it." P. 17.

We advife this preacher to purchafe the armour defcribed by St. Paul; and, with the fword of the fpirit, he will do more execution on the minds of the wicked than he can poffibly expect to effect with a carnal fword at the head of his volunteers."

On the Measure and the Manner of Difivibuting-A Sermon preached at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham, on Tuesday, September 4, 1798, before the Governors of the General Hojpital. By Edward Pearfon, B. D. &c. 8vo. 15. Rivingtons.

This difcourfe contains many excellent remarks on the difpofal of wealth. It is written with greater clearness than is ufual in the compofition of this writer; and we are happy in the opportunity afforded us of recommending it to the particular attention of the Tiberal and the ferious reader. The palage relative to the expec tations of the rich and poor, arifing out of the inequality of wealth, and the tempers formed by it, is a futficient fpecimen of the found difcrimination which diftinguifhes the difcourfe.

That this intention of Providence, in the unequal distribution of property, is not fulfilled in fo great a degree as might reasonably be expected, arifes, in part, from the want of preparation in both rich and poor to make due allowance for each other's failures.

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his duty in this refpect while he tam get to beftow.
Gratitude, on the other hand, is the duty of the poor; the rich,
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ful as he ought to be; and, if any femme fhould appear which
is inconfiftent with their ideas of hisobigations, he is quickly re-
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An Attempt to exhibit the Meani
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they apply to the certain Sa
Faulder. 1800.

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Adam's fin univerfally, and that both fin and death came by him; that the deliverance from this death came by Chrift; that the fecond death is the punishment of individual tranfgreffions; that reigning in life will be the exclufive privilege of thofe who receive abundance of grace, and the gift of righteoufnefs; and that they only fhall reign in life by one, Jefus Chrift, and by his obedience be made righteous. Thus, by retaining a regular connexion, and marking the gradations, which are preferved, on each respective fubject, there will be no need to call in the aid of metaphyfical fubtleties to explain thefe momentous fubjects of pure revelation; and we may fafely challenge philofophy to frame a theory fo fatisfactory with the exifting state of mankind, as fubjects of fin and death.' P. 18.

Some difficulties ftill adhere to the explanation; for how can myriads be faid to be delivered from death by a Saviour, if, inftead of deliverance, in the common acceptation of the word, the act of our Saviour fhould be the means only of fubjecting them to punishment, mortification, and death? If a man have undergone the punishment of the law, and have to all appearance loft his life at the gallows, the prince who fhould fuccefsfully employ the means of restoring him to life would hardly be faid to deliver him from death, if, on the recovery of his fenfes, he were once more warned to prepare for execution, and the fentente fhould be inflicted again at the moment when the defire of life was renewed. The state of infants dying foon after their birth is indeed made, by our author, to be preferable to that of adults at their death; for, of the former, all will be faved; of the latter, a part only will enjoy the bleffings of futurity. But, allowing this to be a true view of the fubject, we can by no means fee that "the falvation of all infants is perhaps the moft folid reafon in fupport of the practice of human baptifm" for the writer evidently refers the benefits of the baptifmal act to the parents, not to the children, and converts the ordinance into a mere declaration of faith. According to the author, the infant will be equally saved, whether he is baptifed or not; and a parent, who is a ferious Chriftian, may fee no neceffity for declaring his faith at the moment that all his parental cares are employed to preferve the life of his child. The reflection drawn by the writer, if not ftrictly juft in the fenfe in which he applies it, deserves attention. If all infants will be faved, how great ought to be the care of parents over their children to bring them up religioufly, that the lofs of that bleffing may not be attributed to the negligence of early youth. But this may be applied to parents without confidering the ftate of infants; and the fame appeal may be made to them, that the final overthrow of their children may not be attributed to their inattention.

Two Sermons preached before the University of Oxford, Feb. 10, 1799. -An Attempt to explain, by recent Events, Five of the Seven Vials mentioned in the Revelation; and an Inquiry into the Scriptural Signification of the Word Bara. By G. S. Faber, A. M. &c. 800. 15. 6d. Rivingtons.

The interpretations of the phials are founded upon the writings. of Mede, the two Newtons, and Warburton. The feventh trumpet is fuppofed to have already founded, and the third woe to have commenced. "The phials of God's wrath are even now pouring upon the earth." The noifonie and grievous fore is, the "terrible mental diforder which iffued from the infernal cave of Voltaire and his affociates." The phial changing the fea into blood denotes the horrible fcenes that have taken place in France in confequence of the revolution, which are confidered by the preacher as a juft retribution on that unhappy nation for its day of St. Bartholomew, and the revocation of the edict of Nantz; for its innumerable murders of the martyrs, and the division of their spoil between the French monarch and the Roman pontif. The phial on the rivers, and fountains is the mifery of the inferior republics. The fcorching by the fun is the evils occafioned by France to the neighbouring nations. The phial on the feal of the beaft overthrows the papal power. The fixth phial probably portends the destruction of the Turkish empire; and the laft judgement is now very near.- We have given this fummary of the discourse, as every interpretation of the prophefies, founded on reading, reflection, and a spirit of piety, deferves confideration. With regard to the near approach of the day of judgement, we cannot agree with this author: for, if his interpretations of the phials be right, much remains to be done before that event can be expected.

The inquiry into the meaning of the word has for its great object the overthrow of the notion of the eternity of matter. We do not fee any great reafon to apprehend that such a notion is likely to be fupported by many in the present state of the philofophical or Chriftian world; nor are we inclined to believe that the original fignification of the Hebrew word is, "to bring fomething into existence out of nothing." The proof of this meaning is derived from the internal evidence, on an examination of the context, of the opinion of the Jews, and the authority of the verfions. The two laft references will not decide the queftion; for, though it be univerfally allowed by both Jews and Chriftians that the existence of the world proceeded from an immediate act of God, it does not follow that the word 2, in itself, conveys that fpecific information. We, however, are of opinion, that the first verfe of Genefis is fufficiently full to this point; for its meaning is, that the first thing which God made was the world; or, in the Hebrew phrafe, the heavens and the earth; without reference to the peculiar modifications which took place in each in confe quence of future acts of divine power. The words 'w k12,

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