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this further beneficial effect, that the poor would be led, by the example of their superiors, to be satis fed with household bread; at least to accept it in times of scarcity, when distributed gratuitously, or at re daced prices. They have been known to refuse it; but those who really wish to diminish the effects of a scarcity should pertinaciously adhere to the determination of not giring fine wheaten bread; and this they may do with a good grace if they abstain from consuming it them selves,

The effect which retrenchment, combined with charitable distribution, must necessarily produce, is evident. The buyers are changed, but the whole demand is not materially increased: the augmented consumption in one class is counteracted by the diminished consump tion in another; the poor, therefore, are relieved, without increasing the pressure on those who are but just above the necessity of applying for relief; without incurring the hazard, by a premature consumption, of fir pally converting a dearth into a far mine. Or, to put it in another point of view, the deficiency of the supply is met, not by the absolute starvation of the poor, but by a ge, neral diminution of consumption among all ranks of society.

We have spoken of the distribu, tion of bread among the poor; this has been merely that the argument might be more distinctly perceived; for the same reason which requires the retrenchment of all superfluous Consumption among the rich, points but also the necessity of introducing substitutes for fine flour among all ranks of society. Those who distribute provisions to the poor, should give soups, potatoes, rice, with a smaller quantity of bread than would otherwise be necessary.

What has been said must be confined to the case of a scarcity arising from the interruption of foreign supples. Where it is caused by a failure of our crops, while our foreign intercourse continues open, the ob

vious remedy for the deficiency is im, portation, while charitable distribution will relieve the pressure of the high prices. Retrenchment in suca a case is perhaps unnecessary, and may even be impolitic. The rise in the price of corn is, to a certain extent, necessary to indemnify the farmer for the deficiency of ba crop; and, when it exceeds what is required for that purpose, it encourages importation, and thereby corrects itself. The superfluous con sumption of grain in general is a benefit to the country, by encouraging the production of a larger quantity of it than would otherwise be grown, and thus enabling us the better to meet a scarcity, and to be less dependent on foreign supplies. Φίλος.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I was much surprised with the ex tract, in your number for October last, from the minutes of the Metho dist Conference, respecting the right of females to dispose of themselves in marriage. Nor were my objec tions at all satisfied by Mr. Benson's answer to your remarks; for, though a woman myself, I can by no means see what circumstance can free a woman from subjection to parental authority in things lawful. Suppose a truly pious woman, the child of ungodly parents, to have an eligible offer of marriage from a truly pious man, and that his reli gion is the only ground on which they object to the union: she might probably, and by very plausible ar guments, very readily persuade her, self, if her inclination favoured it, that it was her duty to marry. But would it therefore be so? Though she may undoubtedly refuse to marry an ungodly man, because that is clearly unlawful, yet, as there is no sin in continuing single, surely it is in such a case her duty to submit to the will of her parents as the disposal of Providence, leav ing the matter in his hands; be.

cause, if she believe the hearts of all in his keeping, and all events at his disposal, stre may be certain that, if he see fit, he can alter the mind of her parents, and in many ways bring to pass her wishes; or if, on the other hand, the event should shew that it was God's will she should remain single, she may find many ways of rendering her self useful in her generation, and will certainly much more recom mend the Gospel to her mistaken relatives than by an act of disobedience.

I do not write this from any desire of appearing in print, but because I think the subject highly interesting, and know that those who have tried can alone tell how far a sincere mind may be bewildered by false ideas of duty, even when inclination draws a different way. If, therefore, any of your abler correspondents will give these ideas to the public in a better dress, they will greatly oblige one who has no wish to prevent the happiness of any woman, but can say, from her own experience, that the path of duty, even when most perplexed with trial, is far, far both safer and easier, than any crooked path, how ever specious.

A CONSTANT READER.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I AM a great lover of music, especially sacred music; but as I am not satisfied of the propriety of gratifying myself by attending musical performances in consecrated places of public worship, I request that you, or such of your correspondents as may have maturely weighed the matter, would give your opinion upon the subject. I know that this would be very acceptable to many of your readers. It is not my intention to trouble you with entering further into the question, than to ask,

1. Whether, since an habitual veneration for those places where

we assemble to worship Almighty God naturally prepares the mind for the duties there to be performed, the use of these places for what is little more than the gratification of the senses does not weaken that veneration; and whether this be expedient in an age by no means characterised by superstition?

2. Whether, since mere amuse ment is generally the chief object in view with those who attend these musical performances, it be lawful to convert consecrated places of worship to such purposes? We have laws which forbid the sports of children even within the pre cincts of the temple.

3. Whether, since gain is com. monly a main object on these oc casions, the sentence our Saviour passed upon those who sold oxen, &c. in the temple, is not applicable to those who make use of the house of God in order to attain that object?

4. Whether, though to support some charitable institution by the use to which that gain is applied, the same sentence of our Saviour is not equally applicable? The moneychangers, and they who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, in the court of the temple, occupied that place only for the accommodation of those who came from distant parts to Jerusalem, to offer sacrifice in obedience to the express commands of God.

I have been led to consult you upon this subject, from considering two (I hope unusual) circumstances attending one of these musical performances in the church, at a place where I lately happened to be, and where a musical festival was then held for the purpose of contributing to the support of a very valuable establishment. One of these circumstances was, that, in order to prepare the church for the musical entertainment, the daily sacrifice, the morning and evening prayers, were suspended for three weeks. The other, that for the accommodation of as great a number as possible of amateurs, or, if you please, of per

sons actuated by charity, a gallery was erected over the altar, which was so beset with the timbers necessary for supporting the gallery, that the regular monthly sacrament of the Lord's Supper could not be administered, and was not administered.

These two circumstances, toge ther with an observation made, that several persons of high Christian profession encouraged the performance by attending it, have deter mined me to write to you. Perhaps these persons may not have been fully satisfied of the propriety of their conduct; or perhaps they may not have considered the matter at all. If they have not considered it, I beg you will call their attention to it; and even if they have, on this occasion, suffered inclination to decide upon a doubtful point, I am confident, if they really be the characters represented, that they will pay due regard to your uggestions.

PHILO-MUSICES,

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. If the following has not yet appear ed in your valuable miscellany, and you think it worthy of insertion, it may be interesting to your readers to hear the sentiments of a celebrated foreign bishop, of the last century, with regard to frequenting theatres.

In his sermon "On the small Number of the Saved," the worthy prelate (Massillon), thus addresses his audience: You continually demand of us, if theatres and other places of amusement be innocent recreations for Cbristians? In return, I have only one question to you, Are they the works of Satza, or of Jesus Christ? for there can be uo medium in religion. I mean not to say but what many recreations and amusements may be tered innocent; but the most intrent pleasures which religion allows, and which the weakness of or nature renders even necessary, CHUST. OBSERV. No. 97.

belong in one sense to Jesus Christ, by the facility with which they ought to enable us to apply ourselves to more holy and more se rious duties. Every thing we do, every thing we rejoice or weep at, ought to be connected with Jesus Christ, and done for his glory. Now, upon this principle, the most incon testible and most universally allowed in Christian morality, you have only to decide whether you can unite the glory of Jesus Christ, with the pleasures of a theatre, Can our Saviour take any part in such a species of recreation? And before you enter a theatre, can you with confidence declare to him, that, in so doing, you only propose his glory, and the satisfaction of pleasing him? What! are the theatres-such as they are at present, still more. criminal by the public licentiousness of those unfortunate creatures who appear on them, than by the impure and passionate scenes they

represent are the theatres the
works of Jesus Christ? Would Je-
sus Christ animate a mouth from
vious, and calculated to corrupt the
whence are to proceed sounds lasci-
heart? But these blasphemies strike
me with horror! Would Jesus
Christ preside in assemblies of sin,
where every thing we hear weakens
his doctrines; where the poison
enters the soul by all the senses;
where every art is employed to in-
spire, awaken, and justify the pas-
sions he condemns? Now, says
Tertullian, if they are not the works
of Jesus Christ, they must be the
works of Satan. Every Christian
ought therefore to abstain from
them when he partakes of them,
he violates the vows of baptism.
However innocent he may flatter
himself to be, in bringing from
these places an untainted heart, it
is sullied by being there; since by.
his presence alone he has partici
pated in the works of Satan, which
he had renounced at baptism, and
violated the most sacred promises
he had made to Jesus Christ and his
church."
C. W.

D ·

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

HAVING been employed for some months past in arranging and collating the Oriental Manuscripts in the public library of the university of Cambridge, brought by the Rev. Dr. Buchanan from the East, and by him presented to the university, I propose to give some account of them, or such of them as may be interesting to the readers of the Christian Observer. I presume, sir, the communication of such notices will not be remote from the design of your publication.

These manuscripts are chiefly Biblical, and are written in the Hebrew, Syriac, and Ethiopic languages. They were all collected by Dr. Buchanan in India. The Hebrew manuscripts were obtained from the Black Jews, who have had settlements in India from time immemorial, and are now found in numbers about Cochin. These Jews differ in many respects from those of other countries, and bear evident marks of descendants from those ancient dispersions we read of in the Sacred History: they call themselves Bene Israel. They have the Hebrew Pentateuch, but scarcely know of any other books of Scripture. A copy of the Hebrew Pen

11

tateuch, written on goat-skins, and b found in one of their synagogues, is in the Buchanan collection. The Syriac manuscripts were collected from the Syrian Christians in Travancore and Malayala, where a race of Christians has existed ever since the apostolic times: and the native Indian Christians bear the name of Christians of St. Thomas to this day. They have the whole Bible, and other books not in our canon, extant in the Syriac language, and theirs is perhaps the purest of all the versions of Scripture now known. There is, in Dr. Buchanan's collection, a copy of the Bible, containing the books of the Old and New Tes tament with the Apocrypha, written on large folio vellum, and in the ancient or Estrangelo character, and which was a present to Dr. Buchanan, from Mar Dionysius, the Archbishop of the Indian church. But though all these MSS. were brought from India, they were not all written in India; some were written at Antioch, Mesopotamia, and other parts of Syria, Asia, and Africa. For your next number I shall transmit you some remarks on several articles of this Oriental collection. I am, &c.

Cambridge, Dec. 21, 1809.

T. YEATES,

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The History of the Church of Christ. Volume the Fourth, Part II. Containing a Continuation of the Sixteenth Century. On the Plan of the late Rev. Joseph Milner. By the Rev. ISAAC MILNER, D. D. F. R. S. Dean of Carlisle, and President of Queen's College, Cambridge. London: Cadell and. Co. 1809. 8vo. pp. xiv. 409—1168, and 29.

Or the former part of this volume, we gave an account in our own volumes for the years 1803 and 1804.

At that time we considered the whole work, of which a portion only was then before us, as so important in the design, and so happy in the execution, that we felt ourselves called upon to discuss and exhibit the merits of those volumes which had made their appearance before we had assumed a critical existence. We are gratified by the opportunity now presented to us of resuming our labours on this able and interesting production, which, in the portien at this time offered to the pub

lic, carries on, as the title-page professes, the history of the sixteenth century. The period contained is from the year 1520 to that of 1530, about ten years, a comparatively short space of time, but full of the most important and critical incidents, such as almost every great cause experiences, when it is in progress, and contending with a more powerful opponent; when every separate instance of conflict may be decisive to its destruction, but cannot be so to its establishment; and when only a series of victories can set it on a firm and permanent basis. This period opens with that decisive measure by which the pope so unwillingly and irretrievably committed himself, the publication of a formal and inveterate bull against the bold and heretical reformer; and it closes with the convention of the diet of Augsburg (of which, however, a full account is reserved for the ensuing volume), when the Latheran faith was reduced to an explicit form, and in that form both publicly professed at the time, and ever since recognised, as the authorised confession of the Lutheran churches. It might be anticipated, that, short as is the period just mentioned, and extensive as is the surface over which it is expanded (the present volume containing near eight hundred pages), the materials of Dr. Milner's History have by no means been made the most of. No unnecessary or impertiment efforts of amplification have been resorted to, in order to swell the volume to its present bulk; but it has attained it, we have reason to believe, by the simple accumulation of matter, which, in the author's opiSo (and we apprehend his readers will not dissent from him), was too aportant not to find a place. The fsiness of this, as well as the former mes of the History before us, aries, in a great measure, from its mixed character. It partakes largey of biography; a circumstance hich necessarily followed from its distinguishing design, as far as car

ried into execution; which was, to exhibit the proper and most important operations of Christianity in those who professed it, and in whom its genuine influence was felt. These can only be adequately discovered, at least are most effectually traced, in individuals; and, where time and providence have spared any documents exhibiting the private character, judgment, and feelings of individual Christians, these are the materials of which a historian of the spiritual church of Christ is most anxiously in quest, and will most diligently avail himself. The pau-. city and corruption of these materials, in the earlier ages of Christianity, is a subject of deep regret; and in proportion to that regret, is the pleasure with which we reflect upon the abundance and evident genuineness of such materials in the period of next importance to that of the origin of Christianity, its refor mation. Every protestant who has the good sense to nauseate the anili ties, and the humanity to shudder at the barbarities of that spiritual power, from which the efforts of Luther and his associates were instrumental in delivering large portions of Europe; who contemplates the insidious exertions so sedulously employed to disparage the cause of protestantism, or to neutralise its distinctive merits, either by decided unbelievers, open or secret, or by those with whom all religious consideration weighs but as a feather against a contingent political advan tage; will welcome, not only as intrinsically excellent, but as highly seasonable, a History like the present, which exhibits the great revolution in question in its real character, and which detects and disperses the calumnies respecting it, which have gained currency under the cover of plausible generalities, principally by entering into a detail, which brings the decision to every man's own bosom, and only requires him to determine whether the professions which he reads, cireumstanced as they are, are, or are not,

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