He

pardon him in a way most harmonious with all his perfections. Has the sinner, then, received such a reply? He undoubtedly has. Behold him hiding! He fears the Divine approach; the tread of Jehovah's foot in the garden makes him tremble exceedingly. hears the voice of God, and prepares for the execution of the sentence, the soul that sinneth, it shall die.' When, hark! what sound is this which falls upon his ear?-its accent is kindly, its note is love; and, lo, what stream of light is this which enters his retreat? It is the ray of God's smile, the dawn of God's mercy. Now is the birth-time of hope; she speaks but in a whisper, still the very movement of her lips tells that God is coming, more in pity than in anger-that He, and pardon, and reconciliation are all on the ground together, and that soon the guilty and terror-stricken shall be re-assured and at peace. The silence is at length broken, and these glorious words are irrevocably placed in the everlasting covenant,-I am the Lord thy God.' I am, indeed, Jehovah, whose kindness has been abused, and whose law has been violated; but, notwithstanding, I am the Lord thy God; I am still thy friend; yea, I am thy Saviour from sin and all its woes.; I, even I alone, am thy hidingplace.'"-pp. 40, 41.

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The subjects of the remaining chapters are as follow:-Chapters iii. and iv., "Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord will provide ; V., vi., and vii., "Jehovah- Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness;" viii. and ix., "Jehovah-Raphi: The Lord our Healer;" x, and xi., " Jehovah Shalom: The Lord our Peace; xii. and xiii., "JehovahNissi The Lord our Banner; xiv., xv., and xvi., "Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord is there."

Our space does not admit of our giving an analysis of the several chapters. The mode of treatment in illustration of the title, "Jehovah- Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness," may serve as a specimen of the whole. The subject is treated of under these three separate heads, a chapter being devoted to each:-" The Mediatorial, the Divine, and the Human action upon this righteousness." Under the last of the three, "the human action," we are told, "may assume one or other of the following forms:a grateful appreciation of the merits of Christ's righteousness; a sincere depreciation of our own righteousness; a perpetual reference to Christ's righteousness as the procuring cause of every bless

ing; the prompt and pious use of Christ's righteousness on special occasions; the cheerful proclamation of Christ's righteousness before all the world.” Under the fourth of these particulars," the prompt and pious use of Christ's righteousness on special occasions," we have the following striking passage :—

"Does the believer pray? He remembers

As

as he kneels, that it is a privilege, not a right. We should never presume to speak to God except when we have Christ clearly in view. As there was a daily sacrifice under the law, so ought there to be under the Gospel; not that Christ is to be every day sacrificed anew, but that in every devout approach to God, faith should first of all offer his sacrifice to the Holy One; and this is done by the inward persuasion, that Christ died for us, and by the actual appeal for mercy being made on this account. It is this idea, when sincerely entertained, that gives efficacy to the clause with which most prayers conclude, for Christ's sake.' Does the Christian fall into sin? He remembers the Lord's righteousness; and while repenting of his conduct, he loses not his hope. He assures himself that, as his justification did not depend on his personal condition, so neither can his sanctification be arrested, nor his safety endangered, by his numerous infirmities. he urged Christ upon the law when he sought its forgiveness, so he urges him still; and the plea that won the case at first, secures his best interests to the last. Does the Christian fall into heavy trials? He remembers the righteousness of Christ, and consoles himself that none of these can be the expression of a vindictive purpose, seeing that God cannot Christ, and that therefore all of these must be angry with him, now that he is 'hid in be the salutary discipline of an affectionate Father, who loves whom He chastens, and Scourges every son and daughter whom He receives? Does the Christian sustain the loss of all things? He remembers the righteousness of Christ, and is contented. All earthly treasures may have fled, but this pearl of great price' remains; these would have gone at any rate, and have only left him a little sooner than he expected; but this is his dearest property, and with it he knows himself to be secure of all needed supplies, even to the hour of death; hence the losses and crosses of this life only work in him patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed.' Does the Christian die? He remembers the righteousness of Christ, and is assured that all is well. Even he would now be the victim of remorse if he judged himself by his own godly life, or by any capacity of his own, adequately to make ready for the impending and awful future. His hopes could gather no strength from the memory of his privileges, his frames, his sacrifices, his experiences. If he looked back to his closet, he would be met by the ghosts of ten thousand callous prayers; if he revisited the sanctuary, he would be rebuked by the consciousness of innumerable imperfect services and unhallowed Sabbaths; if he reviewed his walk and conversation in the world, he would be silenced by the recollection of many forgotten conformities to its spirit and its fashions; if he recounted his alms, and analysed his zeal, he would hide self-righteous motives; and if he finally rehis head before the spectres of his vain and sorted to his days and nights of bitter repentance, to his sweetest seasons of holy com

munion, and to any, or to all, of the gracious manifestations which were made to his soul, with every one of these would be associated the memory of wandering thoughts, fickle resolutions, and unfulfilled vows, and thus they would all fail to afford him consolation. No, no. His dying look is the very same with his living look-unto Jesus; his dying grasp is the same with his living one-the cross; his dying trust is the same with his living one-the finished work of Christ; and his dying cry is the same with his living

6

testimony in the Lord alone I have righteousness. Thus, living or dying, Christ and Him crucified, is all his confidence and all his boast; hence he dies both happily and safely, saying, I know whom I have believed, and that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.' Is the Christian to rise again from the dead? Then, also, he will remember the righteousness of Christ; and while others are calling upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?' he will calmly approach the dread tribunal, and placing before the Judge his own righteousness, will claim from Him the promised crown of life. That claim will be honoured-that saint will be acquitted that crown will be given. O, wondrous righteousness, that thus in one moment celebrates the deliverance of the saint from the last consequences of sin, and his august coronation as one of God's kings and priests! Is the Christian to live for ever? He will never forget the righteousness of Christ; that it is to it he owes his exaltation, and that still, and ever onward through endless ages, his obligations shall be the same. Hence the burden of the songs of eternity can never be changed, but must ever be,Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation: and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.'"-pp. 127-130.

The volume concludes with a few pages of "Improvement;" urging in a strain of deep solemnity and earnestness, recourse to the "Hiding-Place." From this and many other parts of the book we would fain give extracts, but our limits forbid. We recommend our readers to procure the volume for themselves. Its richness in scriptural matter, its variety of topic and illustration, its unflagging liveliness and force of style, its continual turns of ingeniously practical application, its evangelical unction, and its thrilling tone of earnestness, stamp it with no common value; and we heartily desire for it, as we have no doubt it will receive, a wide and growing circulation.

PASTORAL THEOLOGY: The Theory of a Gospel Ministry. By A. VINET, Professor of Theology at Lausanne.Translated from the French.

Edinburgh T. and T. Clark. IT is always beneficial to contemplate a great question as viewed by different minds; and the advantage is all the greater, when the minds belong to a different age or country. We have seldom been more im

It is

pressed with this truth, than when engaged in the perusal of the work before us. the production of a French Protestant minister, who was not only a person of devoted piety, but one of the profoundest and most philosophical thinkers of the age. The lectures were delivered to the students of the Theological Seminary at Lausanne, and they labour under the disadvantages of a posthumous publication. They were not prepared for the press; besides, there were more than one original manuscript, and the additions made, with some notes of the lectures from the note-books of the students, have been placed in brackets.

Our space does not admit of an analysis of this work with a running comment of our own, though it well deserves this prominence. Perhaps, the best thing we can do, after a general statement of its contents, is to give an extract or two, as a specimen of the mode in which the learned Professor discusses his great theme. After an introduction, in which there is a definition of the subject, What is the minister of the Gospel? the work is divided into four parts. In the first part, the individual and interior life of the minister is treated of. The second part is occupied with his relative or social life. This has two chapters-Social life in general; and domestic life of the minister. The third part embraces the pastoral life. It is subdivided into three sections. Worship-teachingcare of souls applied to individuals. The fourth refers to the administrative or official

life. There is an appendix of valuable notes, selected from various sources.

Let us take the picture which he draws of the excellence of the Christian ministry, apart altogether from that higher point of view, which is presented by Christian faith, and which has chief regard to the salvation of souls.

"At first sight, and looking from only a terrestrial point of view, the art par excellence is that of ruling minds (ars est artium regimen animarum);-and although others besides the preacher may succeed in this, yet certainly, when he succeeds, he does so in a more definite and profound way, because of the nature of the motives which he employs. He excites and fortifies in man all those thoughts which ought to determine and regulate his entire life.

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Regarding the subject from a still higher point of view, we know that the great prerogative, or one great mission of the preacher, is to keep before the view of men, who are always in danger of being absorbed in the things of earth, a faith in things invisible, in the spiritual world, and to be, among men, the man of the soul and of eternity.

"To those whose chief attention is devoted to social interests, the minister is the first instrument of civilisation, inasmuch as he is the primary agent in forming general morals. As he strengthens and propagates, so far as he can, those maxims which teach men how to live truly, as he is the magistrate for consciences, the counsellor of benevolence and peace, he represents the highest element in social existence. As he is the religious trainer of the people, he cannot remain indifferent to intellectual culture; he is its promoter; he is everywhere the head of the popular school, as well as the leader of the church and here again, in this relation, the minister of the Gospel is the minister of civilisation. The prophet and priest of the middle ages, and the missionary among savage tribes of this age, have been ostensibly and openly chiefs of the society. Every society

has been more or less theocratic in its commencement. The birth-time of society is the time when men have less perception of second causes, and where, in every case, they ascend to the first cause. Afterwards they do not care to ascend so high. So it is in the governance of society. Religion now governs and directs civil order only indirectly, and according to the measure of its influence; and the minister is placed in a corresponding position. Society does not recognise its real chief. But it must be that the most grave and solemn moments in individual and public life will belong to religion, and consequently to him, that a number of weighty interests will constantly be entrusted to him, that the lowest deeps of the human spirit will be opened up to him by a religious power which is the strongest of all powers. Always does his hour return, [and, with him, religion penetrates into the midst of those interests which are abandoned to him. Wherever religious institutions are feeble, where the church has almost lost its reality, the pastor alone remains, to him all eyes are directed. It is with the pastor as with the Sabbath. Happy is he for whom every day is a Sabbath,and happy will be those times in which the individual importance of the minister shall decrease, because all Christians will be ministers.]

"His every-day life, instead of being trivial, as the life of men in general is, is solemn. His duties belong to the very foundations and roots of human life. By his ministry he is brought into contact with whatever is serious and important in life. Those great pauses or resting places-those significant momentsbelong to him-birth, marriage, and death.

"His life is a life of devotedness, or it has no meaning whatever. [His career is a perpetual sacrifice into which he introduces all that belongs to him. His family, as a conse

crated family, belongs to the ministry, and shares in its privations. As Jesus came into the world not to be ministered unto, but to minister, so with the minister, and this is his glory. To serve God is to rule with Him.' He seeks the glory of God directly, yet does he seek it as the servant of man, for to serve men from love to God, is to serve God. The minister is a man of benevolence and compassion. And no one is deceived in him: every one, even the natural man, asks charity of the minister; every one reproaches him if he displays hardness, avarice, coldness, unkindness. All this is peculiar to Christianity. In nations which are not Christian, even among the Jews, the priest has not this character; and sometimes he is regarded as a formidable and malignant being. But now the greatest unbeliever yet believes Christianity to be a religion of kindness.] A minister is a man to whom God has said, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.' He is, among men, the representative of a thought of mercy, and he represents it by making it incarnate in his own life. To succour is the minister's life."-Pp. 43-46.

After an affecting examination of the difficulties of the Christian ministry, the truth of which will be readiest acknowledged by him who has been longest engaged in his Master's service, and who has felt the most eager desire that immortal spirits might be saved through his agency, a brief epitome is presented of its advantages, which we present as a companion picture to the one given before.

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Religion, which is the most excellent and comprehensive thing in man, is, for the minister, the business and duty of every day, and every hour; that which is only one among many elements in the life of other men is the atmosphere in which he breathes.

"He lives surrounded by the loftiest and grandest ideas, and his employments are of the most absolute and lasting utility.

"He is not called upon to do anything but what is really good,--he has neither obligation nor inducement to the performance of evil.

"He occupies no rank in the social hierarchy, belongs to no class, but he is a connecting link between all, and, in his own person, represents better than any one else the ideal unity of society. [The minister, it is true, is not so advantageously situated, in this respect, as the unmarried priest. But he may, if he will, assert this as his prerogative.]

"His life, unless under circumstances of striking misfortune, is best adapted to exhibit the realised ideal of a happy existence. [There is a stately regularity, a sort of calm uniformity, which is perhaps the true latitude for terrestrial happiness.] The predilection of poets and romance writers for the country pastor is not altogether unfounded in fact and reason.

"All this is true only on the supposition that the pastor is faithful, and filled with the spirit of his position; and if he is, all that is evil is

counterbalanced, corrected, transformed, and it is sufficient for him, without weighing too minutely the advantages and disadvantages of his state, to make one reflection: "Jesus Christ has appointed for his ministers painful tests both internal and external, in order that they may be able to sympathise with their flock, and to know, through the experience of their own hearts, the seductions of sin, the infirmities of the flesh, and the manner in which the Lord of all sustains and supports those who put their trust in Him.' So that, to a certain degree, those words which are spoken concerning Jesus Christ may be transferred to him: We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of

our infirmities, but was in all points tempted

like as we are.' Heb. iv. 15.

"Lastly, the Word of God, either directly or indirectly, pronounces a peculiar blessing

on his works and his condition. It declares (observe the gradation), that They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. Dan. xii. 3. And Jesus Christ, when He promises to his immediate disciples that, at the restoration of all things, they shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,' presents to our view a proportionate glory and recompense for their successors.

Matt.

xix. 28. Such an honour and blessing belong to the ministry, that even those who aid it by their co-operation are the object of special promises: He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.' Matt. x. 41."-Pp. 61, 62.

It is no disparagement to the numerous treatises in the English language, on the pastoral care and office, to state that there is room, abundant room, for the present. It is full of the seeds of thought. It is at once practical and profound; and we envy not the feelings of any minister, preacher, or student, who could rise from the perusal of it without a humbling, yet grateful consciousness of the magnitude of the work into which God has called him. We trust that the success of the present publication will be such as to encourage the publishers soon to issue from the press, "Homiletics: or, the Theory of Preaching," by the same author.

THE JOURNAL OF SACRED LITERATURE. New Series. Edited by JOHN KITTO, D.D., F.S.A. January 1853.

London: Blackader.

In this Number, one of Dr Kitto's correspondents plunges with great force into the Anti-Popery controversy, exposing the history and mystery of auricular confession. He exhibits by abundant historical evidence the fearful influence of the confessional in depraving the monks and secular clergy, and thus spreading on all sides a shameless and boundless licentiousness; and its corre

sponding influence upon the people, (1) from the nature of the questions proposed to the penitent, which communicates the with the thought of the most loathsome knowledge of sins, and familiarises the mind guilt; and (2) from the inducement held out to all manner of sin by the promise of absolution in the confessional. In the diseussion of this point in their system, Papists have a manifest advantage over us, from the abominable and unmentionable details which would be necessary to do the argument against them anything like justicean advantage exactly similar to that which in contending for standing-room in a crowd a sweep has over a well-dressed neighbour Even Kitto's Journal, which is intended almost exclusively for the learned, could not for very shame print, even in Latin, the indecencies and monstrosities in which Romish priests at Maynooth and elsewhere are initiated, to qualify them for carrying through that branch of the business of the confessional which relates to the seventh commandment.-Another paper, bearing question, "Who are the spirits in prison ?" on the Popish controversy, discusses the (1 Peter iii. 18-22). By the prison, the writer understands the prison of hell; by the spirits within it, those of antediluvian impenitents; and by the preaching to these spirits, that of the patriarch Noah. He shows considerable ingenuity in picking up, by means of this exposition, a thread of consistent argument running through the whole of the long sentence in which the difficulty occurs. Under the head of Correspondence, the editor gives two communications on a paper entitled "Hades and Heaven," which it gave us some pain to read in a previous Number. One of the writers puts, briefly and ably, the common evangelical view on this subject. This is well; but we cannot help thinking that it would be much better to avoid the admission of matter calling for such correctives. A deeply interesting biography of Moses Stuart, and other papers, combine with those we have mentioned to make this a valuable Number of the Journal.

THE BIBLE AND THE WORKING CLASSES. By ALEXANDER WALLACE, Edinburgh. Third Thousand.

Edinburgh: Oliphant & Sons. WE reckon it a hopeful sign for our country that this work has already obtained so wide a circulation. The third thousand is an entirely new edition, considerably extended, and much improved in external appearance, typography, and that artistic arrangement which depends on the presiding skill of publishers. We observe in the prospectus a proposal to furnish quantities of the book

at a reduced rate to manufacturers and other large employers, for distribution at a nominal price among their work-people. Much good was done on this plan by a number of the most extensive employers at Bradford, where the substance of the book was first delivered in lectures to the working-classes; and we know of the example having been followed by liberal and Christian-minded manufacturers in Glasgow. Most earnestly we renew our commendation of Mr Wallace's volume, in connection with the method proposed for promoting its usefulness among the industrial classes.

THE SCOTTISH REVIEW, No. I. January 1853.

Glasgow Scottish Temperance League. THIS is the first Number of a Quarterly Journal-organ of the Scottish Temperance League; and is designed for the discussion of questions connected with social progress and general literature, on the principles of total abstinence. The writing throughout is of a bold, decided, arrestive character; with more of science, statistics, and philosophical argumentation, than was compatible with the smaller publications to which the periodical advocacy of the abstinence cause has been chiefly confined hitherto. "Bitter Beer, Pale Ale, Indian Pale Ale, and their Puffers," are dealt with in the first article; and the fashionable beverage is shown to be not quite so innocent as brewers' advertisements and certain medical certificates would lead us to suppose. There is, next, a truly eloquent and masterly sketch of the poet Burns; embracing a view of his character as a man; his general powers, and his place as a writer; his poems and prose writings individually; and the influence he has exerted, and is exerting, on Scotland and the world. While the reviewer's estimate of Burns' genius, manly independence, and sympathies with much that is good and great, comes up to the wishes of his most ardent admirers, the moral tone of the review is sound and

Christian; and lessons of wisdom, taught by the poet's melancholy career, are set forth in a style of impressiveness which we have never seen surpassed in the treatment of this sad theme. The following paragraphs will afford some idea of the rare impartiality with which the shining merits and flagrant sins of the poet are balanced against each other:

"His influence has been in part beneficial, and in a larger part pernicious. Burns has added an imperishable nimbus of glory to his country; and Scotland, notwithstanding all his errors, is proud of having produced such a son, and produced him, too, from the yeomen class, the same class amid which Shakspeare

in England lifted up his refulgent and manysided head. He has stirred the patriotic flame; he has animated often the glow o' weel-placed love;' he has once or twice even stirred the altar fires to a brighter and holier blaze. Need we name the Cottar's Saturday Night'? He has even, too, in more than one Need we name his 'Epistle to a Young Friend'? powerful strain, shown the deformity of vice. He has excited, besides, in the peasantry a thirst for knowledge, an ambition for intellectual distinction, a proud and salutary consciousness of themselves and of the dignity of independent toil. What a contrast between the spirit of his song, 'A man's a man for a' that, and the flunkeyism of many in our day, who are so glad to get a little vulgar eclat reflected on public meetings from the presence of lords and literary baronets, although the life thus given is generally galvanic, the light discoloured, and the glory meretricious and evanescent!

"But there is another side to the picture. Burns has too often fanned the polluted fires of licentiousness and debauchery; he has taught many to identify genius with vice; he has created a race of imitators, who have copied his faults, both of writing and of conduct; he has shed a rainbow lustre around mere animalism; he has taught blasphemers a more pithy profanity, and grafted wit upon the dull and rotten tree of vulgar obscenity; he has not unfrequently insulted religion through its forms and its professors; he has treated sacred things with undue levity; he has, in Southey's words, supplied furniture to the brothel,' and given a voice and language to bashful and stuttering seduction; and, by the memory of his example, has produced immeasurable mischief among the young of both sexes in Scotland. God forbid that we should say that he has done all this intentionally! We believe, on the contrary, that had he foreseen all the evil effects some of his writings were to produce in that 'dear auld have burned them, and his pen too. As it Scotland,' which he loved so warmly, he would was, a little before his death, he bitterly deplored the existence of the unworthy progeny of his genius, and declined with horror the proposal of some wretch of a bookseller to publish them in full. But litera scripta manet,

-alas! vita, too, scripta, manet; and ages may elapse ere the evil of the influence of the writings and the life of Robert Burns can be calculated fully, or has for ever passed away."

The other articles in this number are entitled, Emigration, The Forests of India, The Malt Tax, Pauperism-The Present State of the Question in Great Britain, The Story of the Covenanters (a review of Mr Gilfillan's admirable volume, recently published), and Social Progress. There

are also several brief literary notices, and a couple of pages of statistics bearing on the moral, social, and commercial state of the country. The "Scottish Review" has made an admirable start; and if the first Number be followed up, as the names of