my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness." Isaiah represents him, as "feeding his flock, gathering the lambs with his arm, carrying them in his bosom, and gently leading those that are with young." And he himself says to the Jews, sheep I have" (meaning the Gentiles)," which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear voice,"

my

"other

The Essay on the office of the Holy Ghost contains some good things, which serious persons, in general, are well acquainted with ; but the author's view of the subject is very circumscribed, and some of his expressions unwarrantable. He seems to limit the work of the Holy Ghost to teaching; calling it "the sum of the Holy Spirit's work, to convince mankind" of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. To te.ich a child of God, is, we confess, a great work, but to make and nourish a child of God is, comparatively speaking, a greater: And as the Spirit of God is as much the author of regeneration, sanctification, &c. as he is of saving knowledge; these should not have been omitted in an inquiry into the nature of his office. For a while, we were at a loss to account for this important omission, till we cast our eyes upon the following passage in the reflections on the Gospel ministry, the nature and design of which, we trust, Ministers in general understand, better than this pamphlet describes.

"We shall find no great difficulty in proving that the fire must be fed in the very same way in which it was first kindled. If, indeed, as some have incautiously said, CONVERSION was a CHANGE OF NATURE, the case would be otherwise; but, in reality, as it is only by the display of the love of God in Christ Jesus to fallen sinners, that souls are at first converted, and made alive to him, so there is nothing but the love of Christ that can ever constrain to holy obedience."

The Essay on Fasting, and the Reflections on the Human Nature of Christ, may be read to advantage. The first powerfully enforces temperance and abstinence; and the other draws an amiable picture of Christ, the Son of Man; aud, after it has comforted and encouraged his followers, strongly recommends them to copy his example.

The Incomprebensibility of God, Stated and Improved: A Discourse delivered at the Old Meeting-bouse, Kidderminster, Sept. 1796. By John Barrett. Pages 37. Pages 37. Gower, Kidderminster; Gurney, London; Pearson, Birmingham.

THE design of this discourse is to furnish serious Christians with a defence against the rude attacks of scepticism; by impressing on their minds such a scriptural view of the glory of God, as will make ten humble and teachable, and submissive to all his dispensations.

To be deeply impressed with the apprehension that God is incomprehensible, Mr. B. conciders to be a matter of the utmost im

portance

portance in our inquiries after truth. He, therefore, first establishes the fact itself, and afterwards makes the importance of it appear.

The disproportion between a finite and an infinite being, he observes, renders it as impossible for us to comprehend him, as it is for theless to enclose the greater. His essence being invisible, must be unknown; and being underived, must be infinitely mysterious. His attributes and perfections are no less ebscure. The eternity of his existence, and the immensity of his presence, overwhelm our powers of conception. Omnipotence, omniscience, and immutability, must be ever unsearchable by a finite intelligence. His providence, as displayed in the operations of nature, or the government of the moral world, comprehends such mysteries of wisdom and power, and discovers such supremacy and sovereignty, as confound the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nought the understanding of the prudent. But his grace is, if possible, more incomprehensible. When we consider the person of the Mediator, the sufferings he endured, and the end and design of his enduring them, we are constrained to acknowledge, that great is the mystery of godliness, since God was thus manifest in the flesh.

How important the belief of this doctrine is, Mr. B. next elucidates: It is connected with the honour of God. Exalted apprehensions of his infinite perfections and incomprehensible glory elevate our devotions; but low thoughts of him unfit us for religious worship. It is necessary to our own improvement and comfort; it teaches us a lesson of thankfulness to God, whom none by searching can find out, that he should so clearly reveal the truths to be believed, and the duties to be practised by us; at the same time, it silences all objections to the mysteries contained in his word; it reconciles our minds to the perplexities of his providence; it convinces us of the nature of that worship we ought to pay to him; and it enables us to infer how rich the inheritance in reserve for his children is, since the treasure which can never be counted, can never be exhausted.

Το

The Promised Seed. A Sermon, preached to God's Ancient Israel, the Jews, at Sion-Chapel, Whitechapel, on Sunday Afternoon, Aug. 28, 1796. By William Cooper. which are added, the Hymns that were sung, and the Prayers that were offered up, before and after the Sermon. Pages 38. Price 6d. Chapman.

Daniel's Seventy Weeks. A Sermon, preached at Sion-Chapel,

on Sunday Afternoon, Sept. 18, 1796, to the Jews. By William Cooper. Being his second Address to that People. Pages 32. Price 6d. Chapman.

THE first of these discourses was delivered by Mr. Cooper, on the day he completed his twentieth year, to an immense concourse

of

of people, among whom were many Jews. In a lively and spirited introduction, he endeavours to insinuate himself into their atfections, acknowledging their superiority, as the lineal descendants of God's ancient chosen people, and the natural posterity of Abraham his friend, in whose SEED all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. He supposes, that both Jews and Christians allow, by the word seed, the Messiah is intended; though they differ in opinion as to the time of his appearance; the one affirming that he is already come, and the other as confidently denying it. In support of his own sentiment, he adduces four passages of Scripture, which he thinks are conclusive. He first alledges from Genesis xlix. 10. that, as the sceptre was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh came, his appearance must have taken place long ago, or the writings which record it be untrue; since there is not a vestige of regal, sacerdotal, or tribal authority left among them, nor any distinction of tribes remaining, that of Judah and all the rest being indiscriminately blended together.

He next urges the proof arising from a passage in the ninth chapter of Daniel, which affirms, that after seventy weeks, the Messiah should be cut off, and their city and sanctuary be destroyed. Without pretending to accuracy of calculation, he affirms, that the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, must have expired, if the Scriptures be true; since the Romans have completely destroyed their city, and left not one stone of their sanctuary standing upon another.

On the authority of their own Priests and Scribes, who, in answer to Herod's inquiry, where the Messiah should be born, an. swered in Bethlehem, he appeals to a text in the fifth chapter of Isaiah, and asks them, if the Messiah has not already appeared, how it is possible, he should come out of Bethlehem Ephratah, a place, that, like Jerusalem, has been long ago destroyed?

His last argument is founded on the predictions of the prophets Malachi and Haggai; which affirm, that the Messiah, or desire of all nations, should come into the second temple, or latter house, whose glory was to be greater than that of the former: The accomplishment of these predictions, if not already fulfilled, being absolutely impossible, since the temple itself into which the Messiah was to come, has been long since no more.

Having thus clearly proved that the Messiah is come, he proceeds to inquire who he is; and shews, that all the prophecies which relate to him, have been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, and in no other. Then briefly touching on the blessings we derive from him, he concludes with an appeal to their own consciences, of the absurdity of rejecting Christ, while they profess to believe the divine inspiration of the prophets.

As the second discourse is only an enlargement on one of the Frincipal arguments contained in the former, an analysis of it would

be unnecessary.

POETRY.