Then, Immortality, that awful hour
Reveal'd the wonders of thy magic pow'r.

With the fierce flames that round their temples play'd,
Thy heav'nly fingers wreaths of glory made.
And gazing tyrants with suspended breath,
Saw their pale victims conquer ev'n in death.

Prophetic angel! soon thy page shall close,
And mark with joy the period of our woes!
O'er the wide world the gospel tidings roll,
And life's bright streamers flash from pole to pole!'
Fly, ye glad heralds! fly, and bless our race!
Each barb'rous shore, each desart ocean trace!
Great God! Thy kingdom and thy power be known!
Scatter thy foes, and make the world thy throne!

'Tis done! lo, Heaven its awful mandate sends!
And to the cross the humbled crescent bends.
Lo! ancient idols from their bases nod,

Fall to the dust, and own the Sov'reign God!
Lo, war's wild demon immolated lies,
On his own altar bound a sacrifice.
The wond'ring negro feels his fetters fall,
And leaps, exulting at the heavenly call.
Earth one vast temple,-all her children raise
One mingled voice, one holy song of praise.'

The Pastor is a very pleasing sketch; it is written in the Spenserian stanza, in the management of which the Author discovers no small facility of versification. The sentiments do credit to his feelings, and the subject lies more within his compass.

Art. VII. Daily Bread; or Meditations, practical and experimental, for every Day in the Year, by more than One Hundred of the most eminent and popular Ministers of the last Half Century, and a few other Writers, the whole adapted either for the Family or Closet, and containing the Outline of 366 Discourses. T. Williams, Editor. 12mo. pp. 610. Price 8s. 6d. London. 1820.

MA

ANY of the articles contained in this volume, are stated to have been given to the Editor by the ministers whose names are affixed to them; others were taken down from them as delived from the pulpit. Among this class of contributors occur the names of the Rev. Messrs. Beddome, Bogue, Burder, R. Cecil, Hitchins, Jefferson, Lambert, Parsons, Pearce, Peckwell, T. Priestley, Styles, and Ryland. The outlines of several discourses of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, and Dr. Mason of New York, were furnished by a friend. The remainder, including some originals, have been drawn from various sources. average length of the meditations is two pages. In order to

The

compress them into this compass, great conciseness has been ob served; and sometimes it has been found requisite to subject the papers to abridgement. The Editor has evidently bestowed no small pains on the compilation, for which, we have no doubt, he will be amply rewarded by the sale of the work among that numerous class of religious readers for whose use it is mainly designed, and to whom his labours will be highly acceptable. We take almost at random the following specimen: it has the sig nature, A. Fuller.

• DEUT. vii. 2, latter clause.-To know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no.

There is in every situation which we are called to pass through, a peculiar duty, a commandment attached to that situation, and God leads us into it, to see whether we will keep his commandment in it or not and we may lay it down as an axiom, that so much as there is of obedience to God, under the circumstances in which we are placed, just so much true religion we have, and no more. We often hear it pleaded, "My circumstances were peculiar ;" but there is a commandment to every situation; there is no part of the road through which God leads us, which has not a direction attached to it; and he leads us through the situation, that it may be manifest whether we will obey him or not.

Let us instance a few particulars. We have seen them that have prospered in the world, and risen insensibly to opulence; we marked their gradual rising, and have been ready to say, "Take care, my friend, be not high-minded, but fear; trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living God:" there is the commandment for them, and we can see it very clearly. But perhaps God, by and bye, leads us that way. We have often said in our hearts, if not in words, “Oh, if I had such a one's fortune, what good I would do with it; I would contribute to this liberal object, and to that great design!" Alas! we know not what is in our hearts, till God proves them by his pro

vidence.

Again, we have seen poor people murmuring under poverty; have witnessed their discontent; have seen many fretting themselves, as well as grieving others, under affliction; and we have said, "It does not become you to act thus, were I in your situation I should endeavour to reconcile my mind to my situation." We have perhaps seen them ungrateful to us when they ought to have been thankful ; and we have thought, "Surely this should not be." Ah! we have seen their disobedience, but we are not yet out of the wilderness. God may see occasion to strip us of our property, or our family, and make us dependent upon those about us. Poor short-sighted creatures! if God should then lead us about, we may find something in our hearts, which we did not suspect till the day of trial. Asaph was led about; he did not seem at all to suspect himself till he came to the trial, but when he came to see "waters of a full cup wrung out to him,” we find him indulging atheistical thoughts, that it were

better to be God's enemy than his friend. In short, he proved to be in the day of trial what he confesses himself" I was even as a beast before thee." Alas! who knows what is in his heart till it is tried?

But, further, we have seen persons that have passed through strong temptations, and peradventure they have been overcome: persons who maintained a fair character for a considerable time, but they have been brought into perilous circumstances, and they have fallen. Ah! there is many a secret wickedness in the human heart, which only waits for circumstances to draw it forth. Well, we have seen this. Some long-standing, highly respected Christians have fallen sadly, and brought dishonour upon the name of Christ. We have censured them, and they have deserved it; but if the Lord should lead us into the same temptation, bring us into similar circumstances, place us upon the spot on which they stood, take off the restraint upon the evils of our minds, who knows what characters we may prove? We are kept out of more evils by God's keeping us out of temptation, 'than by any other means. Providence keeps us from more open vileness, perhaps, than grace (does.) Again, we have often, Idare say, seen persons of our acquaintance, who have been unkindly and injuriously treated; we have marked their tempers; perhaps seen them unforgiving and resentful. We have seen the evil, have noticed what was the commandment in their case, perhaps have been able to give a word of counsel, "Do not be unforgiving; do not be revengeful." Well, all this is well; but perhaps God may lead us about that way; we may be treated unkindly, cruelly; then he will prove what is in our hearts; then is the time to prove whether we can obey the commandment of which we reminded others.

Finally, perhaps, we have been ready to say, " O, if I had more time! if my family was grown up; if my business was less fatiguing, or if my circumstances were more easy; if I could get into such a one's situation, then I should read more; I should pray more; I should be more spiritually minded; I should be better than I am.' In other words, we lay almost all our faults upon our circumstances, and not upon ourselves. Now, it may be the Lord leads us into those very circumstances in which we thought how much better we should be, in order to prove to us that the fault lies, not in our situation, but in our heart. Thus God sometimes leads us through a whole round of situations and circumstances, that it might be manifested whether we will keep his commandments or no. Every situation has its commandment and its trial, and we shall one day recollect with gratitude, that this is the way which the Lord our God has led us.'

pp. 197-199.

Art. VIII, An Introduction to Modern History, from the Birth of Christ to the present Time. By W. Jillard Hort. 2 vols. 24mo. Price 10s. 6d. London. 1819.

As we are not inclined to make these volumes a text for a general dissertation on History, we can have little more to say of them, than that they are fairly executed, and sufficiently adapted to the purpose of giving a rapid view of the principal VOL. XVI. N.S. 2 H

events of the story of the world from the birth of our Saviour. We are not, indeed, quite sure that we fall in with the system of summaries and outlines. We have a strong suspicion that the mind, even at an early age, is more likely to be attracted by details than by abstracts, and that the combined pliability and tenaciousness of the memory will then lend a more retentive, as well as a more eager attention to a multiplicity of interesting facts, than to a barren classification of events. We are at the same time fully aware of the difference between private and public education, and of the impossibility, in the latter, of acting on any other than general and systematic plans: the framework alone can be laid down; it must be left to maturer years for its completion. In this view, we think this work well suited to its object, and, as far as we are able to judge without a minute collation of dates and authorities, sufficiently accurate. We have, indeed, noticed two or three statements in which a more careful balance of evidence would have suggested a somewhat less decided turn of phrase; as when Las Casas is affirmed to have proposed the alleviation of South American servitude by the adoption of the negro slave trade. This charge should not have been so peremptorily stated, since it rests on the doubtful authority of Herrera, and has been successfully repelled by the Abbé Gregoire. Again, it is asserted without qualification, that Agricola was put to death' by Domitian; but this expression conveys the idea of an avowed execution, whereas the imputation is only matter of strong suspicion, and, at the utmost, extends only to the secret administration of poison. Augebat miserationem,' says Tacitus, constans rumor, veneno interceptum. Nobis nihil comperti affirmare ausim.'

Art. IX. Sketch of a Plan for Settling in Upper Canada, a Portion of the Unemployed Labourers of England. By a Settler. 8vo. pp. 26. Price 2s. London. 1821.

N addition to the books noticed in a former Number containing information respecting Canada, Mr. C. F. Grece's "Facts "and Observations" will convey to the Emigrant much serviceable detail. According to the concurrent testimony of various respectable witnesses, the inducements presented by Upper Canada, at least to an Englishman, would seem to entitle it to his preference. It contains many millions of acres of fertile unoccupied land, with a climate suited to all agricultural pursuits. It possesses the same laws, the same manners, and, above all, the same constitution as England.

The present Sketch holds out to parishes the opportunity of permanently relieving themselves of their redundant population by a temporary advance of capital, bearing interest, that shall place in independence those who are now subsisting on parochial

relief. The Writer calculates that the sum of £200 advanced to each family, will enable them to acquire prosperous settlements in two years, and within ten years to repay the advances. On the accuracy of his calculations and the impartiality of his representations, persons interested in the subject will, of course, not implicitly depend; but they bear the marks of fairness. The phrases, under favourable circumstances,' "with common industry,' &c. will suggest the necessity of some slight deduction as an insurance against unfavourable circumstances. It will be requisite also, that agricultural settlers in our distant colonies, should be secured against the possibility of not finding a market for their produce. The calculations which take this trifling circumstance for granted, must depend for their correctness entirely on the regulations imposed by Government on the trade of our colonies. The existing statutes restrain the Canadians from trying to obtain a market and making purchases in foreign countries; and the operation of the Corn-laws has been, under certain circumstances, to restrict them from buying and selling at all. Hence, it is the matter of complaint at this moment, that their surplus wheat is lying in their granaries without the possibility of obtaining any price, while the same article is selling at New York at a dollar per bushel. It will be in vain that our colonies present natural advantages to the Emigrant, if the impolitic restrictions on commerce, and the general vices of our colonial system, counteract those advantages so as to render a settlement in the United States a preferable measure.

It does honour to the present Writer, that his "Sketch" includes the setting apart of a portion of the projected colony for an Indian reserve.

"It is felt that wrongs most unprovoked, and never yet nationally attempted to be repaired, have been perpetrated upon them. The kind exertions of the few have always been accompanied, and have been thwarted by the more extensive activity of wrong policies in governments, or by brutal selfishness in individuals; and so, till now, the rightful owners of a deserted soil have been crushed; the wellmeaning amongst us considering their case as hopeless, the crafty pretending it to be so.'

The executive government of the United States appears to be taking steps towards an important revolution with respect to the Indians of North America; and it may be found necessary by the British authorities, to reconsider the principles upon which our own intercourse with them has been hitherto conducted. The only way in which their cause can be connected with the present Sketch, is that a portion of the projected colony may be set apart for an Indian reserve. This may be thought right even if a title no longer exists in any tribe, as is probably true, to the lands now about to be settled; it may prove good policy, and a wise benevolence, to hold out to wanderers a link of connection with humanized society. The suggestion