layman, it may, perhaps, be received by many persons with less prejudice; and we cannot but ardently wish that it may obtain an extensive circulation among the classes, for which, more especially, it has been benevolently designed. Although it cannot be necessary to give any specimen of such a work, we are tempted to extract the following truly excellent remarks.

What then is the conclusion to which a comprehensive view of Scriptural truth inevitably leads? It is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are essentially and eternally ONE.

The distinction to which the Scriptures bear testimony as subsisting in the Deity, is so far from undermining the doctrine of oneness, that it imparts to that doctrine a fresh energy and a peculiar glory. Certain it is, that where the unity of God is admitted, and this distinction is nevertheless denied, as among the Mahometans and modern Jews, religion loses much of its practical influence and vital power. Yet while the Christian rejoices in the distinct characters and offices of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, so graciously revealed to us for our instruction and edification, he probably never finds his soul bowed down with so deep a reverence, or filled with so pure a delight, as when he contemplates the Almighty as an ineffable glory-an incommunicable name--an infinite and incomprehensible UNITY.

We must now apply these remarks to the argument before us. Were that union and distinction in divine nature, which is so plainly declared in Scripture, contrary to reason-that is, naturally impossiblee--we should be driven to the conclusion, that the Bible is so far from being the book of God, that it can be ascribed only to ignorant and erring man. But God is an infinite and unsearchable Being, and the least degree of reflection may suffice to satisfy us, that there is nothing which reason can disprove in the doctrine of Scripture, that in a certain respect he is THREE, and in another respect, ONE.

Yet that doctrine is beyond reason-far out of the reach of our intellectual powers; and this is the very ground on which we hail it as another internal evidence of the divine origin of the Holy Scripture. While it bears upon us with a native strength and harmony which plainly indicate its truth, and while, when rightly understood, it is found to be full of unutterable blessings for our fallen race, it relates to the unfathomable secrets of the divine nature, and could not possibly have been discovered by the unassisted discernment of man. To whom then can we ascribe the revelation of this doctrine, but to the Supreme Being himself?

It is not, however, to the fact of its revelation only, but also to the manner in which it is revealed, that we may safely make our appeal. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are presented to us in the Scriptures as severally God, and as the distinct objects of our faith; and at the same time we are perpetually reminded by the sacred writers that God is ONE. Yet these writers offer no apology whatsoever for this apparent diversity of statement; nor do they make the slightest attempt to explain the mode in which these truths consist. The most mysterious of all doctrines is revealed in their writings with a perfect simplicity; and on the apparent presumption, that no

doubts could be entertained, and no casuistry exercised, on the subject.

How different would have been the case, had the Scriptures been written by some of those theological speculators who have since handled the same subject, in their own wisdom and strength. What scholastic refinements, what apologies for apparent difficulties, what nice distinctions, what extraordinary terms, would have been imposed

on their readers!

In the Bible, all is simple, powerful, and practical. While enough is hidden to humble us under a sense of our own ignorance, enough is revealed to direct our faith and to regulate our conduct; and the very mode in which the light shines upon us, affords a substantial evidence that it is the light of heaven.' pp. 67-69.

Art. VIII. On Scriptural Education in Ireland. A Letter from the Rev. James Carlile, of Dublin, one of the Commissioners of the Board of Education in London; containing some remarks on the Speech of Capt. J. E. Gordon, M.P. at Exeter Hall. 8vo. pp. 16. Price 4d. London.

WHATEVER objections may be fairly urged against the ministerial measure for the promotion of education in Ireland, there can be no question that the clamour raised against the Government, is chiefly instigated by political animosity, and maintained by the basest misrepresentation. The statements made by the great Protestant Agitator, the Member for Dundalk, is characterised by Mr. Carlile as forming 6 one of those portentous examples of which the present day is so fer'tile, of persons professing zeal for religion, manifesting nearly as little ' regard to truth and decency in prosecuting their measures, as the 'most unscrupulous of the opponents of religion.' Mr. Carlile's Letter will unmask, by a simple statement of facts, the true features of this Anti-Catholic zeal: we must transcribe a few paragraphs, reserving for a future occasion any remarks of our own.

‹ Much clamour has been raised about our taking away the Scriptures from Protestants, and refusing them to Roman Catholics. The fact stands thus:-In the first place, we take away the Scriptures from no school whatever; because we have no power to interfere with any school till its conductors, of their own accord, make application to us. In the next place, if the conductors of a school who wish the Scriptures to be read, apply to us, we suggest to them to assemble those children whose parents desire that they should read the Scriptures, before the regular hour of school business, or to detain them after it, the hours being left to their own determination; when they will be at full liberty to do as they choose in that respect: that we direct them not to introduce the Scriptures during hours which are appropriated to the common branches of education, because their doing so would exclude children from the benefit of education, whose parents are averse to their reading the Scriptures without interpretation; and in the mean while, we are preparing such extracts from Scripture as will fur

nish to all the children a large portion of scriptural knowledge; and which being recommended by the Board, consisting partly of persons in whom Roman Catholics have confidence, will be received by many who would not consent to read the authorized version. The Govern ment plan lays no obstacle of any importance in the way of any children reading the Scriptures, whose parents do, bona fide, desire that they should read them. But most of the Protestant education institutions attempt to compel Roman Catholic children to read the Bible, under the penalty of forfeiting the whole education afforded by them. Now this appears to me a most pernicious system. The consequence has been, that although a considerable number, as it would appear, of Roman Catholic children, have, under these circumstances, attended the Kildare-place Schools, no healing influence has flowed from them over the face of the country. The two parties are, perhaps, at the present moment, more embittered than they ever were. The very Bible, placed in such a position, fails to produce its proper effects. The reading of it is viewed as part of a price paid for education; while no explanation of it being permitted, no application of it made to the consciences of the children, no prayer accompanying it, the enlightening, purifying, elevating, healing influences of it are totally lost. The Bible is thus converted into a party book, and the reading of it into a party symbol; and thus the very food which a merciful God has provided for the souls of men, has, in this country, been converted into the gall of asps.

You may wonder at the loud and apparently general outcry that is made in Ireland against us. I shall endeavour to explain some portion of it-In the first place, there is a party who would not consent to the circulation of the whole Bible by the Board, so long as there is a Roman Catholic upon it, or any other whose religious principles they do not approve; among these, I believe, is Mr. Gordon himself, who has seceded from the Bible Society on these principles; so that nothing would satisfy him and his party, but the education of Ireland being placed in their own hands. Secondly, there is a party who would not be satisfied with the introduction of the whole Bible into the Schools, unless the Board consisted exclusively of members of the Established Church: this is manifest also from their having kept aloof from the Bible Society ever since its establishment, avowedly because it receives Dissenters on an equal footing with members of the Establishment. Thirdly, there is a party who will be satisfied with no system of education, with or without the Scriptures, which comes forth under the auspices of the present Administration. This is evident from their mingling the subject of education with that of reform, of tithes, and other subjects which have no connexion, except as they are viewed in connexion with the measures of the present ministry. Nothing, I should suppose, could have induced noblemen and gentlemen of high character to submit arguments respecting the Bible and Scriptural Education to assemblies of Orangemen, amidst a display of party flags, and an accompaniment of party tunes, which have long been signals for strife and bloodshed, but their conceiving that they were making out a case against the present Government. Fourthly, There is a party who are stimulated by an hereditary antipathy to Roman Catho

lics, and who are enraged beyond measure to see a Roman Catholic prelate sitting as a member of a Board, acting under the directions of Government, or any Roman Catholic aiding in the disbursement of the public funds. Fifthly, There is a large party who do not think for themselves, but who have been misled by the exaggerated and distorted representations of these four parties; a good specimen of which you have in Mr. Gordon's speech. These will decrease as the truth becomes known. Any one of these causes of hostility might blind the judgement of a strong man; but when a man is under the influence of several of them at the same moment, you cannot wonder at the extreme violence and extravagance which some have manifested. Sixthly, After all these are accounted for, there is a remnant of highly estimable persons, some of whom decidedly dissent from the Government plan, others of whom stand in doubt about it; and it has been one of the severest trials of stedfastness to principle that I have ever undergone, that I have felt myself compelled to adopt, and to persevere in, a course which such persons disapprove of. I would not, however, by any means be understood as intimating that I stand alone among those with whom I have been accustomed to co-operate. There are many eminently pious individuals with me, both here and in Britain. I trust my motives are simple and scriptural. If they be otherwise, pray that God may open mine eyes to my error, and direct me to a course of conduct more consonant to His will. I have no interest in continuing with the Board, but duty to the Government of the country, in lending them my best assistance in prosecuting what I conceive to be not only a lawful, but a wise and just measure, and the hope of promoting the peace and well-being of a people who have too long been subjected to a treatment which, in every point, has outraged the first principles of christianity. At a time when the legitimate authorities of the empire are bearded and threatened by two opposite factions, equally unscrupulous in their measures, and equally regardless of bloodshed, I would not, for all my worldly interests, assume an attitude towards them that might be construed into coldness or disrespect.'

I

The whole of Mr. Gordon's reasonings upon the number of Roman Catholics reading the Scriptures are, as it appears to me, founded upon the most palpable fallacies. In the first place, he would have his hearers and readers to suppose, that all the children attending the Kildare-place schools read the Scriptures. He forgets that only the upper class do so; that the upper class forms but a small proportion of any school; and that multitudes of Roman Catholics who, under various influences, are entered in these schools, are withdrawn before they reach the upper class; many of them, I believe, purposely to avoid it. He argues also, that, because societies supported by voluntary contributions have succeeded in inducing Roman Catholic parents to permit their children to read the Scriptures, the same societies, supported by government grants, would produce the same effects. Here, again, he is deceived. If any one of the societies alluded to by him were to receive a government grant, its whole character, internal and external, would be changed, and would be instantly exposed to the same opposition which the Kildare-place Society met with, and which,

with regard to any beneficial effect produced upon Roman Catholics, rendered that society a total failure. How, then, it may be asked, do I expect that similar opposition will not be made to the Boards? I answer, Because Roman Catholics, by the constitution of the Board, are admitted to a share in the management of the public fund appropriated to that object; and when they are thus accosted, in a fair and liberal spirit, I doubt not that they will be found to co-operate with Protestants in diffusing the light even of revealed truth among the people, to an extent far beyond what is anticipated.'

ART. IX. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

In the press, and nearly ready for publication, in four volumes, 8vo, History Philosophically Illustrated, from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Revolution of France. By George Miller, D.D. M.R.I.A., formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. The work now presented to the public is a condensed, yet much improved Edition of that which was published at intervals in eight volumes, 8vo, in the shape of Lectures, as originally delivered in the University of Dublin.

Shortly will appear, a Second Edition of the Divarication of the New Testament, considerably enlarged in the Doctrinal Department; and with a Coloured Diagram, which fully illustrates those important ideas, Time and Eternity, and demonstrates the Immortality of the Soul, and a Future State, to the plainest capacity. By Thomas Wirgman, Esq. The question of the mutilation of Scripture, which now agitates the religious world, is here finally settled, by the implicit adoption of the entire Word of God.

In the press, the Western Garland, a Collection of Original Melodies, composed and arranged for the Piano Forte, by the leading Professors of the West of Scotland. The words by the Author of "The Chameleon;" in a beautifully got up quarto volume.

Nearly ready for Publication, in small 8vo, MÉLANGE, in French and English, in Prose and Verse, by Marin de la Voye.

Early in May will be published (dedicated by permission to Her Majesty), The Messiah; a Poem in Six Books. By the Author of The Omnipresence of the Deity,' &c. &c.

An Offering of Sympathy to Parents bereaved of their Children, and to others under Affliction, from Manuscripts not before published; with an Appendix of Selections from the writings of Dr. Wardlaw, Dr. Balfour, Dr. Barnes, &c. is Reprinting from the American Edition, and will appear about the middle of this month.

Early in April, will be published, Elements of Mechanics, compre hending the Theory of Equilibrium and of Motion, and the first Prin ciples of Physical Astronomy; together with a variety of Statical and Dynamical Problems. By J. R. Young.