and that though individual members of it might be also members of the legislature, the provinces of the two societies, as societies,-of a scientific association, and a political community, are altogether distinct."-pp. 40, 41. "Tolerance a Fruit of Christian Knowledge and Faith," forms a beautiful conclusion to the first essay. The last paragraph should be written in letters of gold : : "And above all, in proportion as any man has a right understanding of the Gospel, and a deep veneration for his Great Master, and an earnest desire to tread in his steps, and a full confidence in his promises, in the same degree will he perceive that the employment of secular coercion in the cause of the Gospel, is at variance with the true spirit of the Gospel, and that Christ's declarations are to be interpreted as He himself knew them to be understood, then, and are to be the guide of his followers now. "And, finally, such a man will be convinced that it implies a sinful distrust,-8 want of faith in Christ's wisdom, and goodness, and power, to call in the aid of the arm of flesh, of military or civil force,-in the cause of Him who declared that he could have called in the aid of more than twelve legions of angels;' and who, when all power was given unto him in heaven and in earth,' sent forth his disciples-not to subjugate, or to rule, but to teach all nations; and sent them forth as sheep among wolves,' forewarned of persecutions, and instructed to 'bless them that cursed them,' to return 'good for evil,' and to endure all things, hope all things, believe all things,' for which He, their master, had prepared them—to believe all that he had taught, to hope all that he had promised,—and to endure and do all that he had commanded."—pp. 47, 48. The second essay, "On the Constitution of a Christian Church, its Powers and Ministry," is directed against the "church principles," and the Popish and Erastian tendencies which are now become the striking characteristics, as they are likely to prove the bane and ruin, of the Episcopal church. In this remarkable performance the most reverend author has shown, that while Christianity is designed to be a social religion, and to form distinct communities, called churches, which are to regulate themselves by laws of their own, and to be governed by their own members, chosen by themselves to rule and hold office among them, that there are certain limits beyond which they are not permitted to go; they must have no supreme governor but the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is to have no representative upon earth, no temples, altars, sacrifices, nor sacrificing priests; the assumptions of the clergy, their claims to apostolical succession, their arrogating to themselves the power of absolution, of conveying efficacious grace by means of the sacraments, and of binding and loosing, opening and shutting the kingdom of heaven, with the whole farrago of Puseyite absurdities; their reverence for tradition, and their anxiety to complete the resemblance of the church of England to that of Rome, are all exposed by the searching spirit of the learned and accomplished essayist. Under the head "Things enjoined, excluded, and left at large," Dr. Whately has constructed the argument on which the whole superstructure of his theory of a Christian church is made to rest. We must content ourselves with merely referring to it. It appears to us to be utterly subversive of the church of England. The establishment of this church on a secular basis, constituted as it is by the civil legislature, denying civil rights to large communities of her majesty's subjects, inflicting pains and penalties upon others, having consecrated temples, consecrated altars, consecrated bread and wine in the eucharist, mysteriously associated by that act of consecration with the body and blood of Christ, so as to constitute the sacrament a sacrifice, and the officiating minister a sacrificing priest, with his kneeling, adoring worshippers round the altar, with many other Jewish, Popish, and anti-Christian usages and things, present the church of England to our mind, as the very antipodes of the Christian church, its powers, and ministry, as exhibited in the work before us. Its highly gifted and pious author, who has ever cultivated an ardent love of truth for its own sake, has laid down principles that will not only survive all secular establishments, but contribute most powerfully to their annihilation. The Archbishop of Dublin and the Monk of Wurtemburg are kindred spirits. And if the character of the present times resembled that of the sixteenth century, like another Luther, he would have been compelled to place himself at the head of a new Reformation. As it is, he will neither be called upon to retract, nor to vacate the arch-episcopal throne. Answered he will never be. In justice to Dr. Whately, we quote a passage which has an evident bearing upon the position which he feels it right to hold in a secular, coercing, and tyrannical establish ment. "It may indeed often be very desirable to attempt the re-union of Christian communities that have been separated on insufficient grounds; but no individual is justified in renouncing, from motives of mere taste or convenience, the communion of the church he belongs to, if he can remain in it with a safe conscience. "As for the question what are, and what are not, to be accounted essential points, what will and what will not justify, and require separation; it would be foreign from the present purpose to discuss it. The differences between two churches may appear essential and non-essential, to two persons equally conscientious, and equally careful in forming a judgment. All I am insisting on is, that the matter is one which does call for that careful and conscientious judgement. A man should deliberately, and with a sense of deep responsibility, make up his mind, as to which is, or is not, to the best of his judgment, essential, before he resolves on taking, or not taking, a step which must, in every case, be either a duty or a sin."-pp. 195, 196. We respectfully and earnestly recommend the careful perusal of these admirable essays, not only to dissenters, but to the evangelical members of the church of England. Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa. By Robert Moffat, Twenty-three years an Agent of the London Missionary Society in that Continent. With Engravings by G. Baxter. pp. xvi. 624. London: John Snow. 1842. OUR dear brother, Robert Moffat, has presented the Christian church with a delightful book-full of savage man, full of aboriginal life, full of the most romantic incidents, full of missionary toil, struggles, and dangers, full of the triumphs of the Gospel ;-and all related with a simplicity the most witching, and with poetical touches truly Ossianic. Indeed, these pages have often suggested to us, that had Mr. Moffat attended to poetry instead of minding his great business, he would have been the Ossian of Africa. But he has done better things than writing Epics-he has saved souls from death. He introduces his book into the world with the same modesty that he steps forward on a platform. Our readers shall hear him speak for himself: "The writer has indulged but slightly in philosophical disquisition, as he deemed it his province principally to supply facts. He leaves it with men of leisure and reflecting habits, to analyze, compare, and deduce from those facts such doctrines as they supply. Indeed, little in this way can be added to the luminous works of Drs. Campbell and Harris, and Messrs. Hamilton, Noel, and others, by whom the subject of missions has been so learnedly and eloquently illustrated. He hopes no apology will be deemed necessary for any imperfections which may appear in the preparation of his narrative. The collocation of terms, and the polish of periods, have made but a small part of his studies. Such pursuits, he conceives, were not the objects for which he was sent to Africa; and they would have but ill comported with the circumstances in which he spent a large portion of his arduous life on that benighted continent. He feels confident that lettered men will look into the pages of an African evangelist for things far more substantial and important than the graces of composition-an accomplishment which the author much admires, but to which he makes no pretension. He makes his present appearance before the British public less in the capacity of an author than of a witness, who most earnestly desires to establish and to enforce the claims of perishing, and helpless, and all but friendless millions, for whom he has hitherto lived and laboured-whom he ardently loves, and with whom-all black, barbarous, and benighted as they are-he hopes to live, labour, and die.”— pp. v. vi. The first mission to Africa was commenced by the United Brethren, who, in 1736, sent thither George Schmidt. This enterprising man opened his commission in a place called Bavian's Kloof, or the Glen of Baboons, but which was afterwards, very significantly and appropriately, called, Gnadenthal, or the Vale of Grace. The next missionaries were Marsveldt, Schwinn, and Küchnel, who sailed for the Cape of Good Hope in 1792. These were joined in 1799 by Dr. Vanderkemp, Kicherer, and Edmonds. The following little incident will show how "the day of small things" dawned in Africa. It is taken from the journal of Dr. Vanderkemp : "Brother Edmonds and I cut down long grass and rushes for thatching, and felled trees in the wood. I kneeled down on the grass, thanking the Lord Jesus that he had provided me a resting-place before the face of our enemies and Satan, praying that from under this roof the seed of the Gospel might spread northwards through all Africa."-p. 26. It is delightful to know that this fervent prayer of that righteous man has availed much, and that the precious seed which he bore and scattered in tears is now adorning prospects with beauty and joy in the waste places of that wilderness. We feel assured that our readers will admire Mr. Moffat's PORTRAIT OF DR. VANDERKEMP. "The doctor in his cheerless abode was instant in season and out of season, eagerly embracing every opportunity of recommending the Gospel, and catching each little ray of light that beamed on his devious path. He was a man of exalted genius and learning. He had mingled with courtiers. He had been an inmate of the Universities of Leyden and Edinburgh. He had obtained plaudits for his remarkable progress in literature, in philosophy, divinity, physic, and the military art. He was not only a profound student in ancient languages, but in all the modern European tongues, even to that of the Highlanders of Scotland, and had distinguished himself in the armies of his earthly sovereign, in connexion with which he rose to be captain of horse, and lieutenant of the dragoon guards. Yet this man, constrained by the 'love of Christ,' could cheerfully lay aside all his honours, mingle with savages, bear their sneers and contumely, condescend to serve the meanest of his troublesome guests-take the axe, the sickle, the spade, and the mattock-lie down on the place where dogs repose, and spend nights with his couch drenched with rain, the cold wind bringing his fragile house about his ears. Though annoyed by the nightly visits of hungry hyenas, sometimes destroying his sheep and travelling appurtenances, and even seizing the leg of beef at his tent-door,-though compelled to wander about in quest of lost cattle, and exposed to the perplexing and humbling caprice of those whose characters were stains on human nature-whisperings occasionally reaching his ears that murderous plans were in progress for his destruction-he calmly proceeded with his benevolent efforts, and to secure his object, would stoop with the meekness of wisdom' to please and propitiate the rude and wayward children of the desert whom he sought to bless." "He was the first public defender of the rights of the Hottentot. He counted not his own life dear to himself; for when advised for his own safety to leave the Hottentots for a season, his reply was, 'If I knew that I should save my own life by leaving them, I should not fear to offer that life for the least child among them.'"-pp. 27, 28, 41. As our design in reviewing this work is not to criticise, but to supply specimens of its contents, in order to induce our readers to purchase and to read for themselves, we shall content ourselves by now giving a short series of sketches. MOFFAT'S MISSIONARY PROSPECTS. "It was evident to me as I approached the boundaries of the colony, that the farmers, who, of course, had not one good word to say of Africaner, were sceptical to the last degree about his reported conversion, and most unceremoniously predicted my destruction. One said he (Africaner) would set me up for a mark for his boys to shoot at; and another, that he would strip off my skin and make a drum of it to dance to; another most consoling prediction was that he would make a drinking-cup of my skull. I believe they were serious, and especially a kind motherly lady, who, wiping the tear from her eye, bade me farewell, saying, 'Had you been an old man, it would have been nothing, for you would soon have died, whether or no; but you are young, and going to become a prey to that monster.” ”—p. 94. Mr. Moffat arrived at Africaner's Kraal on January 26th, 1818, where he did not find appearances quite as inviting as he hoped. But we will give MOFFAT'S FIRST HOME IN The desert. "After remaining an hour or more in this situation (of suspense and alarm) Christian Africaner made his appearance; and after the usual salutation, inquired if I was the missionary appointed by the directors in London; to which I replied in the affirmative. This seemed to afford him much pleasure; and he added that, as I was young, he hoped that I should live long with him and his people. He then ordered a number of women to come; I was rather puzzled to know what he intended by sending for women, till they arrived, bearing bundles of native mats, and long sticks like fishing rods. Africaner, pointing to a spot of ground, said, 'There you must build a house for the missionary.' A circle was instantly formed, and the women, evidently delighted with the job, fixed the poles, tied them down in the hemispheric form, and covered them with the mats, all ready for habitation, in the course of little more than half-an-hour. * * I lived nearly six months in this native hut, which very frequently required tightening and fastening after a storm. When the sun shone, it was unbearably hot; when the rain fell, I came in for a share of it; when the wind blew, I had frequently to decamp to escape the dust; and in addition to these little inconveniences, any hungry cur of a dog that wished a night's lodging, would force itself through the frail wall, and not unfrequently deprive me of my anticipated meal for the coming day; and I have more than once found a serpent coiled up in a corner. Nor were these all the contingencies of such a dwelling, for as the cattle belonging to the village had no fold, but strolled about, I have been compelled to start up from a sound sleep, and try to defend myself and dwelling from being crushed to pieces by the rage of two bulls which had met to fight a nocturnal duel. "But to return to my new habitation, in which after my household matters were arranged, I began to ruminate on the past-the home and friends I had left, perhaps for ever, the mighty ocean which rolled between-the desert country through which I had passed to reach one still more dreary. In taking a review of the past, which seemed to increase in brightness, as I traced all the way in which I had been brought, during the stillness of my first night's repose, I often involuntarily said and sung 'Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by thy help I'm come.""-pp. 103-105. We remember that when good John Campbell's narratives came out, his verity was as much doubted as Bruce's Travels, and that principally on account of his very numerous lion encounters. But now, as in the case of Bruce, every fresh intelligence confirms the truth of Mr. Campbell. Mr. Moffat's book is rich in lion anecdotes. We will give one, because it exhibits |