THE SINNER'S TRUST IN GOD. FROM THE 130TH PSALM. O'ERWHELM'D with shame and sunk in woe O mark my sorrows, as they rise; If thou with rigid eye survey But Mercy, sovereign Power, is thine, O then to thee in fervent prayer AFFLICTIONS USEFUL. How heavy on thy suppliant's head Yet kindness in thy wrath I see, When sickness spreads her gloom around, Thy goodness I descry, More than when health illumes the cheek, Or pleasure fires the eye. Around the couch of pale Disease And guilty joys, which Fortune brings, The mind, of earthly hopes berest, Seeks comfort from above: And, fearful on itself to rest, Rests on Almighty love. Prais'd be the wisdom, that ordain'd The season of distress: Whom God by sorrow never tries, That God may never bless. THE ANNUNCIATION, THE angel wings his downward flight The glory, that around him beams, No message he of import light The course of nature's laws shall change; The babe no palace shall receive, Yet he o'er all the earth shall spread Nations shall in his temple kneel; REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Quebec, in the Year 1820. By the Right Rev. Jacob, Lord Bishop of that Diocese. Neilson, Quebec. 1820. THIS Charge is published at the united request of the Clergy of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and the address of the former body is prefixed to the pamphlet. Having congratulated the Bishop of Quebec on the first general meeting of that province under his lordship's governance, the Clergy remind him that thirty years have nearly elapsed since he first entered upon his arduous task. He found it a wilderness, with few inhabitants, and only three clergymen within its bounds. Now the population is becoming great; Churches are springing up, and there is a REMEMBRANCER, No. 39. growing desire among the people to be taught Christianity through the medium of the Established Church. The great difficulties which have been overcome, encourage the best hopes of future success; and the Church may now be expected to spread through all those Western Regions, and show to an affectionate people the benefits of that happy establishment, which has been for ages the admiration of the Christian world. In conclusion, his Lordship is assured that earnest prayers for his safety attend him on his journey, and that future times will have reason to bless the first Bishop of Quebec, by whose exer. tions a fair foundation has been laid for the diffusion of Christianity through a province, where the Church, arrayed in her beautiful garment, is turning darkness into Y light, and sowing those seeds of righteousness and truth which shall spring up and bloom for ever. The Charge of a Prelate who is thus affectionately esteemed by his Clergy, is calculated to excite a peculiar interest; and we shall endeavour to lay an abstract of its contents before the reader. After having explained the reasons which have hitherto induced him to abstain from frequent and regular visitations of his extensive diocese, the Bishop declares his intention of entering first into the consideration of the general duties of the clerical office; and, secondly, of touching upon some of those which arise out of the particular situation of his hearers. Under the former head he strongly recommends habitual study of the Word of God, a competent acquaintance with the writings of the Fathers, a knowledge of profane as well as of sacred history; of natural philosophy, and of the higher and better parts of general literature; of the Articles, Liturgy, and Rubrics of the Church, their origin, their history, and their mutual connection. Under the head of preaching, the Bishop exhorts his Clergy to lay before their people the great, fundamental, distinguishing doctrines of the religion of Christ, occasionally to state and explain the main evidences of the truth of the Christian religion; not to be discouraged by the accusation of being mere moral teachers, from pressing in the most decided man. ner the obligation of obedience to the commandments of Christ. With respect to the choice of subjects, he adverts to the necessity of suiting a sermon to a congregation-of seizing and applying the circumstances and occurrences of a neighbourhood of never passing over the principal Fasts and Festivals, without explaining the particular doctrine, instruction, or example, which these observances are intended to enforce. With respect to the composition of sermons, his Lordship points out the advantages of plain and perspicuous language, and of a rigorous adherence to the subject of the text. In their delivery he conceives that many of the clergy of our Church are too indifferent, too little ambitious to excel, too tame and inanimate. And his observations on this subject are also applied to the manner of reading the Liturgy, which he thinks is often done with less solemnity, less feeling, less devotion than it ought to be. The duties of catechising the ignorant and visiting the sick, are not forgotten"very precious," says the Bishop, are such occasions, and lukewarm indeed in Christian sentiment and hard of heart must that minister of the Gospel be who can incur the blame of wilfully neglecting them.” Turning next to the peculiar duties of the Canadian Clergy, the Bishop makes the following statements respecting the difficulties to be encountered, and the best mode of surmounting them. "It is a fashion among many, in these times, and in this country, to look without respect, to the most venerable institu tions, and even to question the validity of the most sacred ordinances. "Who does not know the proneness of mankind to rush into extremes? "Freed as the Church of England is from all burthensome exterior observances, one and dignified institutions, might find fawould think that her simple, yet expressive, vour with all, who will admit that the visible Church of Christ cannot exist, without the use of the sacraments; without an order of men duly appointed to minister those sacraments; without certain exterior forms of public worship; and certain rules of government and discipline. "But if in former times men relied too much upon the virtue and efficacy of exterior ordinances, and in that reliance lost sight of a due regard to the spiritual character of the Christian worship, not only is that error sufficiently exploded, but we are in danger of embracing error of a contrary kind. "There is, in the temper of the times, and among ourselves, not merely a contempt for superstitious pageantry, and an abhorrence of spiritual usurpation,-the natural results of the unfettered exercise of reason, but a dangerous disposition to shake off all respect for all established authorities, however venerable for their antiquity, just in their principles, and wise, and liberal, in their constitution and go. vernment. There is a scepticism, capable of withholding its assent from the expediency, and the duty, of conforming to rites practised, and therefore for ever consecrated as a part of our religion, by the Apostles of Christ: nay,-worse than this -there is an audacity, which questions the necessity even of those rites which were instituted by Jesus Christ himself. "From the situation of these provinces, and the various origin and mixed character of the persons who inhabit them, and from the constant intercourse with a neighbouring country, in which much laxity of religious opinion is known to prevail, there is great room to fear, that we are not a little infected with loose notions upon the subjects just mentioned: and cannot rely with security upon any general attachment to our Church. "In this case, what is it that we have to do?—to fold our arms in passive acquiescence?-to give way to indifference, or disgust? or to throw up our cause in deepair?-God forbid !-As it is the bounden duty, so should it be the fixed determination, of the Clergy of that Church, which, with the form, has preserved the purity of the earliest Christian Churches, to' contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.'-Knowing well, the value of their sacred institutions, and loving, as they know them, they must surely feel the duty of defending them, though with becoming moderation, yet, with unshaken constancy; though with Christian charity, and Christian meekness, yet with undeviating, and unblenching resolution. "In this spirit, you will endeavour to guard your people not only against errors, which are the produce of your own soil, and which gain strength from the natural habits of yet unsettled life, but against those loose opinions also, that are the growth of other lands, and that by contiguity, and intermixture, are easily disseminated, and readily take root, and grow amongst us." P. 34. "In considering the most probable means of producing these effects I should recur, first, to the preaching of the whole Gospel of Christ :-and secondly, to contending, as occasion shall require, against the extension of heresy, and schism. "I have already made some observa tions, respecting the manner in which the Gospel is to be preached; but I must, notwithstanding, at the hazard of some repetition, remind you, (with reference to the point which I am now treating,) that to preach the Gospel, in the estimation of the Church of England, whatever may be pretended by adversaries without, or by weak brethren within her pale, is to preach the redemption:-the doctrine of atonement; the satisfaction made for sinners by the blood of Christ :-It is, to lay open the corruption of human nature; the insufficiency of man, unassisted by Divine Grace, for any thing that is good; the efficacy of the prayer of faith; and the purifying, directing, sustaining, and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit. "The ministers of our Church, are frequently accused of neglecting, these essential, and vital parts of Christianity: and to such accusations, I cannot consider silence to be a satisfactory, or sufficient answer. "There are words, I am aware, that carry with them a sort of charm, in the present day, by which the faculty of reason, and the principle of duty, are so perverted, or benumbed, that men are brought to think, when various, and contradictory opinions on religious subjects generally prevail, that the safest, and the wisest thing that can be done, is to remain tranquil, and let each opinion take its course, without gainsaying, or disturbance. The potent words are these an enlightened attachment to civil, and religious liberty: -an enlarged, and generous liberality of sentiment :'--Good things these, no doubt, in themselves, and when clearly understood, and correctly applied; but singularly apt to bewilder weak heads, and to inflame tempers, naturally ambitious, and impatient of all wholesome, and legitimate restraint. If you love the praise of men,' you will be tempted, to yield to this delusive influence;-but where then will be your regard to the charge of the Apostle, to the minister of Christ's religion, that he 'take heed to himself, and to the doctrine?' where will be your observance of his exhortation, to maintain both the purity and the unity, of the Faith; and stedfastly to adhere to the form of sound words,' in which that 'faith was first delivered to the Saints? "Liberality of sentiment, upon religious subjects, is truly lovely, and respectable, when it is guided by clear views, and placed under the regulation of a just restraint: but unrestrained, or ill-conceived, it is not only an unsteady, but a dangerous guide. "It is trite to observe,-but it should, nevertheless, be carefully remembered by every true friend to our religious establishment, that as political liberty, unless it be watchfully guarded, is prone to exceed its just limits, and degenerate into licentiousness, so liberality in religion, which disregards that uniformity of plan, on which the Church of Christ was founded, is generally observed to unite itself with laxity of principle, to plunge into all the uncertainty of doubt, and to merge, at last, in profligate indifference. "Tenderness of disposition,-it may be said,-friendly motives of personal regard, respect for the sentiments, and feelings of others, (and more especially in matters in which conscience is concerned,) indulgence for the errors incident to human weakness, these, and other like considerations, may, and indeed mnst, render it more or less painful, to impugn the tenets, and conduct of others; or even decidedly to defend our own:-Be it so:-but are we therefore to desert our cause; and set aside onr duty, as Ministers of the Church? "We are, for the most part, the persons attacked. Where is the fold, into which, under the pretence that the appointed Shepherd is not faithful to his trust, unauthorized, and ill-instructed teachers, do not endeavour to intrude themselves; calumniating the conduct of the regular Clergy, and tearing asunder the bonds of union, between the Pastor, and his people? "Is there a want of charity, or liberality,-in considering this, to be a crying evil; and in strenuously endeavouring to resist its progress? Then was St. Paul,the eloquent eulogist of charity,—the most uncharitable, and the most illiberal of men! "Believe me, my reverend brethren, it is our duty to our Divine Master, and to that Church, whose constitution we have most solemnly pledged ourselves to maintain, to meet, and disprove, the accusations brought against us, as unsound ministers of the Gospel :-to meet them, with temper, and fairness, certainly ;-but with firmness, and decision:-to disprove them, by clear, and candid reasoning, and by sound, and Scriptural Doctrine. P.37. These extracts will be perused with a mixture of satisfaction and regret the one called forth by contemplating the piety and prudence which animates our venerable Transatlantic Prelate, the other by finding that he is not only required to resist the ignorance and lukewarm ness of the modern settlers, or the long-established errors of the Popish peasantry, but that Methodism also has penetrated into that distant land, and divides and distracts with the same facility and perseverance in Canada as in Britain. We heartily wish that the publication of which we are now to take our leave, could be procured in this country. The passages extracted combine information on the state of our colonies, with sound religious advice. The part abridged contains an able summary for the use of the younger Clergy. The whole is worthy of the Prelate from whom it proceeds, and cannot fail to interest and please every lover of our Epis copal Church. The Old Testament, arranged in Historical and Chronological Order, (on the Basis of Lightfoot's Chronicle) in such Manner, that the Books, Chapters, Psalms, Prophecies, &c. may be read as one connected History, in the Words of the Authorized Translation. With copious Indexes. By the Rev. George Townsend, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. In Two Volumes. Rivingtons. 1821. Ir is well known that the Scriptures which compose the Old Testament, are not compiled in the exact chronological order in which they were produced by their several authors. The causes of this irregularity it is sufficiently easy to conjecture. The original compilers were more anxious to preserve the writings themselves, than to ascertain their precise arrangement; and to act as faithful guardians, rather than biblical critics, of the sacred treasure. Hence have arisen those numerous dislocations in the historical parts, which, though they may escape the notice of the ordinary reader, are at once discerned by the attentive |