it not for such an apprehension. It is human nature to like show, and noise, and parade. If, however, you reflect for a moment, it will easily occur to you, that the fact is quite otherwise; that, under a divine blessing, the work of God, in your own souls, in your families, and in your church, must proceed through a steady adherence to the general instructions of holy writ; and that, in the neglect of common and every-day duties, it never will proceed. What we all want; what we are all talking about; and what we all profess to be seeking after, just comes to this, -THE ADVANCEMENT OF SANCTIFICATION. Wherever sanctification is begun, it is begun by means of the truth; and by means of the truth, it must be carried on; and as it is in consequence, (for assuredly it is,) of our inattention to the various channels through which the influence of the truth is wont to be conveyed into the mind, and from thence into the conscience, and from thence into the heart, and from thence into the life, that we are thus dwarfish and meagre in our piety; so it is only in the proper and careful use of the private and public ordinances, appointed by infinite wisdom and mercy, that we can hope to have our stature improved, and our strength increased. I do not deny, as has been already stated, that considering the low state of religion, it is expedient and necessary to have recourse to special means. I do not, for a moment, question the likelihood of seasons, unanimously set apart for prayer and humiliation, proving, in an eminent degree, seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. I do not at all doubt the beneficial tendency of such times. But still, their principal utility, consists in their connexion with other means, and in the influence - we capable of being derived from them at other times. It will prove of no avail to us that we keep them, if the good which they are instrumental of effecting, be not taken up and carried forward by the more ordinary appointments for spiritual edification and improvement. And after all, if we wish a revival of religion, we must just return to first principles; must just come to the renewed and more vigorous exercise of those faculties, by which, as applied to the study of sacred truth, under the illuminating guidance of the Divine Spirit, our ideas were at first rectified and expanded, and to the renewed and more vigorous discharge of those duties, in the performance of which, we found so much elevation, and so much enjoyment; we must gird up the loins of our minds, and address ourselves to the great work of religion, as if, hitherto, nothing had been done. There must be more prayer. For let it never be forgotten that the revival of which I write, must be the Lord's doing; and that it is only as He blesses us, that we shall indeed be blessed. But while we are careful to honour the Holy Spirit by a full recognition of the absolute need of his agency, and by our fervent and persevering supplications for his presence and his power; let us be careful not to insult Him by a presumptuous negligence and inactivity. Though it is He alone that can work, and though he has promised to work in answer to prayer; yet, he has not promised to regard that, as prayer, which does not arise from a heart bent upon the attainment of its object; and we have no reason to expect the bestowment of his quickening and reviving influences, while chargeable with the disregard of other duties. There must be more perusing of the Scriptures, and they must be read more intelligently and more devotionally. There must be more of deep, devout, and self-applicatory meditation upon the facts, the doctrines, and the requirements of the Word of God. There must be more rigid, faithful, and frequent self-examination. There must be more simple-hearted, straight-forward, and confiding Christian intercourse. Our conversation, when we meet, instead of turning, as it has been accustomed to do, upon trifles lighter than air, must turn upon the state of our souls, the value of the Saviour, the wonders of redemption, the beauty of holiness, and the sublimities of heaven. There must be a more serious, a more conscientious, a more habitual, and a more regular attendance upon the publio ordinances of religion. I say a more REGULAR attendance; for it is impossible for much good to be expected, where a rambling disposition is indulged, and where a pastor can never calculate upon more than half his people at a time. And there must be more sincere and diligent endeavours to make ourselves acquainted with the moral woes and wants of mankind, and with the purposes of Deity respecting their alleviation. Let these duties come to be performed, in the manner and in the spirit in which they ought to be performed; and, as God is true, we shall have a revival of religion. I cannot conclude these remarks, without earnestly pressing the important consideration, that what I have written is an individual concern. We want a vastly enlarged aggregate of true apostolical piety. That aggregate must be made up by an increase of piety in every one's heart,-in every one's character,and in every one's life. The revival of religion amongst us, must be a revival of it in you and in me. J. P. D. PROPOSED REFORMS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. You have brought before the notice of your readers several works from the pens of clergymen, proposing certain reforms in the Church of England. Such proposals are no novelties, and the fate of former attempts, connected with the unremitted exercise of secular authority in the Episcopal Church, will enable most thoughtful observers to predicate what will be the result of the present efforts. Still, however, these concessions are important, and as every thing relating to those of former years must be interesting to the careful collector, I beg to refer such to a volume, entitled "Free and Candid Disquisitions relating to the Church of England, and the Means of advancing Religion therein. Ad dressed to the governing powers in Church and State; and more immediately directed to the two Houses of Convocation," 8vo. London. 1750. pp. 372. This work was published anonymously, but in my copy, which is "The Second Edition, revised and improved," there is written on "the fly leaf," the following remarks on the book, with a curious account of the author. Although the criticism is without any signature, yet the hand-writing is respectable, and appears to have been penned when the book was purchased, and was, probably, inserted by some friend of Archdeacon Blackburne; if not written by that gentleman himself. The peculiar views of the Archdeacon have, doubtless, ex "In the year 1749, appeared, for the first time, Free and Candid Disquisitions relating to the Church of England; containing many sensible observations on the defects and improprieties in the liturgical forms of faith and worship of the established church, and proposals of amendments and alterations of such passages, as were liable to reasonable objections. This work is a compilation of authorities taken from the writings of some eminent divines of the Church of England, tending to show the necessity, or, at least, the expediency of revising our public liturgy; and of extracts of letters sent, or supposed to be sent, to the compiler from his correspondents in different parts of the kingdom, approving of his design, and signifying their disposition to promote and encourage it, as there should be occasion. The compiler was the Rev. Mr. John Jones, Vicar of Alconbury, near Huntingdon; who was a man of a very singular character; pious, regular in his deportment, diligent in his clerical functions, and indefatigable in his studies, but withal affecting a mysterious secresy even in trifles, and excessive cautions of giving offence to the higher powers. With Mr. Blackburne, the celebrated author of the Confessional, this gentleman, on the recommendation of Dr. Edmund Law, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, held a correspondence, and to him Mr. Jones sent the greatest part of his work in manuscript, which was returned to him without so much as the correction of a single slip of the writer's pen; nor was there a single line or word in the Free and Candid Disquisitions, written or suggested by Mr. Blackburne, notwithstanding many confident reports to the contrary." POETRY. TO THE NAME OF JESUS. OH, there is not a sound that a mortal can breathe, That can boast half the sweetness, and glory, and power, This unparallel'd name can more pleasure impart Oh, Immanuel Jesus! Thy name has a charm, That can danger and death of their terrors disarm; That can soothe the pain'd conscience, and sink all its fears Blest name, that resounded heav'ns arches among, As the bright star of hope that should chase the world's gloom, For thy sake, Oh how many an exile from home Or have welcom'd the stake as their chariot of flame. So when bigotry ravag'd the homes of our sires, In this dark night of sorrow then Thou wast their song. Then for Thee be it mine still to spend and be spent, Then in Heav'n, at length, may I join the bright throng, And in anthems of glory unceasing adore The Lamb that was slain, but now lives evermore. THE MEMORY OF THE JUST. Н. К. Composed by Miss Jewsbury, on the morning of the Rev. William Roby's Funeral. "He was not active at intervals, and at other times torpid and inert; he did not appear the public man at one time, and at another absorbed in selfish pursuits; his efforts to do good in season and out of season, were constant; and his course knew no other variety than that of the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.'"-Robert Hall. I NEVER knew him-but I knew his worth, By the frank tones in which men spoke his praise And now I know it by the tearful gaze And when his followers their tribute bring Would it were Summer! on his holy bier Rich blossoms should be strewn, and fragrant flowers Types of the just man's memory, even here; But winter broods like death within our bowers: And let it brood in peace where he is now There lack not palms, or amaranth for his brow. He is a crowned one now!-crowned from a fight A tree transplanted with its golden fruit, So let the Winter and its storms sweep on, And for Spring-blossoms the swift snow-flakes fall; Or even Sorrow weep for his recall, Manchester, Jun, 20, 1830. REVIEW OF BOOKS. A Defence of the Serampore Makratta Version of the New Testament: in Reply to the Animadversions of an Anonymous Writer in the Asiatic Journal for September, 1829. By William Greenfield, Editor of Bagster's Syriac New Testament, &c. 8vo. 1830. Bagster, London. Ar a period when such multiplied and wide-extended efforts are being made for the circulation of the holy Scriptures throughout the world, it is of the most essential importance, that the subject of biblical translation should be maturely studied, and that no persons should venture on so sacred and responsible a task, as that of undertaking to furnish their fellow-men with "the mind of the Spirit," without being properly disciplined in the principles of the art. Into the Chinese, most of the dialects of India, and the languages of many other pagan countries, the Bible, or at least portions of the Bible, have been of late years translated; but, as many of these versions must be expected, from the actual circumstances under which they were made, to labour under considerable imperfections; and it is desirable, that they should be rendered as perfect as possible, it naturally devolves on the most gifted of the present generation of missionaries, and those who shall succeed them, to endeavour, according to their opportunities, to bring such versions into a state that will entitle them to be regarded as ordinary standards of appeal on all points relating to religious faith and practice. With respect to translation in general, it may be defined to be the conveying of what is expressed N. S. NO. 63. in the language or dialect of one people into that of another, so as to furnish the latter with the means of reaping precisely the same practical benefits from the composition as are enjoyed by the former. It differs from interpretation, which, in its more lax and general acceptation, signifies the art or act of rendering plain and intelligible that which is difficult and obscure. It is also distinguished from paraphrase, which is strictly an explanation delivered in a more ample, or circumlocutory manner, by which is supplied what the original author may be supposed to have thought but not expressed, in reference to the subjects of which he treats. And it differs from metaphrase, inasmuch as this consists in a representation of the sense under different forms of expression; or, as used by some writers, a mere exchange of words, by which the identical form and position of every word and phrase are retained, how different or repugnant soever may be the idioms of the two languages. In applying the general principles of translation to the execution of versions of the sacred oracles, they must, of course, be subjected to several important exceptions and modifications, which every person acquainted with the real nature of the work, will readily have suggested to his mind. But there are two essential pre-requisites, which all who undertake the business of translation, or the revision of translations, ought to possess, without which a knowledge of the principles of the art will be of little avail. First, Every one who engages |