affectionately entreat all the Members of this Society to abound în fervent and incessant prayer for a inore copious effusion of the HOLY SPIRIT on all engaged in the work, that so the ensuing year may be more prosperous than the past, and more productive of Glory to God in the salvation of immortal souls."

The Collections at this Anniversary amounted to £1632. 6s. 6d.

13. Friday, May 10.--AFRICAN INSTITUTION: HIS R. H. THE DUKE OF GLOU CESTER in the Chair. The Speakers were LORDS CALTHORPE, NUGENT, and LANSDOWN; SIR THOMAS D.ACKLAND, M. P.; W. WILBERFORCE, H. BROUGHAM, J. A. WARRE, W. SMITH, E. B. WILBRAHAM, and J. C. VILLIERS, ESORS., Members of Parliament; JAMES STEPHEN and JOHN BOWRING, ESORS.; MR. RANDOLPH, of the American Congress; and the REV. MESSRS. CUNNINGHAM and DEALTRY. We subjoin two of the Resolutions passed at this Meeting.

"That this Meeting contemplates with the deepest regret the enormous extent to which the Slave-Trade, so long the Scourge of Africa and the Disgrace of Europe, is still carried on; notwithstanding the solemn obligations to suppress it imposed on every Christian State, no less by the Religion which it professes than by a regard of its own National Honour : and does most earnestly implore His Majesty's Government to persevere in their honourable efforts to accomplish this object, until it shall have been completely attained, and especially to use their influence that the Slave Trade shall be declared Piracy by the concurrent sentence of all nations."

"That the friends of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in every part of the United Kingdom, be earnestly solicited to aid the funds of the Institution; that it may be enabled to diffuse, in Foreign Countries, a knowledge of the real nature of this destructive traffic; and otherwise to promote, in every possible way, its total abolition, and the improvement and civilization of the African Continent."

14. Friday, May 11.-RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY: JOSEPH REYNER, ESQ. in the Chair. It appeared that 5,272,470

This has already been done, much to its bonour, by the Government of the United

States of America. EDITOR.

Tracts were issued during the last year, being an increase of 388,700. Since the formation in 1799, 45 millions of Tracts have been circulated, besides several millions printed abroad in foreign languages at the expense of the Society. The Receipts of the year, including £6823 for sale of publications, have been £9261: the Expenditure £9242. The Treasurer is under engagements for £1000. The Meeting was addressed by the REV. MESSRS. J. CLAYTON, jun., T. ROBERTS, (of Tralee,) HILLYARD, MARSHALL,

MONOD, RICHMOND, MARK WILKS, TRESCHOW, and THODEY.

13. Monday, May 20.-Fourth Anniversary of the SOCIETY FOR THE BUILDING AND ENLARGEMENT OF CHURCHES, &c. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY in the Chair. In the last year sixty-eight applications have been received, fifty-four grants made, (amounting to £13,551) and room provided for 16,891 persons, of which 12,764, (about three-fourths of the whole,) are free sittings. Since the formation, 66,000 additional sittings have been provided, of which, nearly 50,000 are free and unpropriated. To the large proportion of free sittings, we beg leave to call particular notice, as highly worthy of imitation, to the utmost practicable extent, in all new erections or enlargements of places of worship. Many modern Chapels, even in our own Connexion, which was once honourably distinguished by attention to this point, are, in our judgment, most criminally defective in not allowing sufficient space for the really poor, or in allowing it only in such parts of the Chapels as are highly inconvenient and unattractive to them. Free Sittings for the Children of Sunday Schools ought also to form a part of the plan of every new Chapel. Duty to the rising generation, and good policy in reference to their own permanent interests as Trustees, alike recommend this measure to those who embark in such undertakings. A Gallery, or other suitable place of accommodation for children, would be a perpetual nursery for training up future Hearers and PewRenters.-The Contributions to this Society, from its origin, have been, in Donations, £60,873 6s. 10d., and in annual Subscriptions, £630 14s. Od. During this year, two Donations of £500 each have been sent anonymously.

every future part of his progress, for the assistances with which he is furnished, and for the removal of many obstacles out of the way of his earliest steps. The contents of this volume will appear from the analysis we have already given. The third volume, though of less difficult research, is an exceedingly useful compilation of the Geography of the Scriptures, and of the military, civil, and religious Antiquities of the Jews. The last volume contains a copious analysis of Scripture; in which what is scattered through innumerable commentaries, and other books, is collected, and arranged with great judgment. Very important assistance is thus afforded to that connected and comprehensive study of the Scriptures, and of the design and argument of each book, which is so essential to the right understanding of the whole. Such a study will be found more helpful than any thing beside to the sober interpretation of particular texts; which, for want of regard to scope, occasion, and time, have been so often tortured to support a false system or a favourite opinion.

In recommending, in the strongest manner, this very important work to the careful study of young Ministers, we feel ourselves discharging an important duty, not merely to the praiseworthy labours of the Author himself, but to those on whom the hope of the Church of CHRIST, as to future years, principally reposes. The delight of studying the Holy Scriptures, with such helps to understand their meaning, might itself be a sufficient inducement to their careful use; but in the present circum'stances of our Societies, our own Ministers are especially called upon to qualify themselves for a wise and careful distribution of the "doctrine," "reproof," "correction," and "instruction," of the word of GOD. To dwell only upon the first principles of the doctrine of CHRIST, is the proper character of a ministry, whose office it is to commence the work among uninstructed persons and in lands unevangelized. To dwell upon first principles of doctrine, experience, and duty, chiefly, is essential to an efficient ministry in any

state of the Church. But when societies have acquired maturity, and preaching is frequent, those first principles, (which always form the substratum, the bones and sinews, of evangelical preaching,) are to be considered in their connexion and harmony with every other part of revealed truth, and must be presented with variety of argument, illustration, and motive, in order to maintain attention, and to give them effect. This is the source of that variety in preaching, which is legitimate in the Preacher, and which hearers have a right to claim; a variety not composed of artificial flowers and painted shrubbery,→ beautiful without vitality, and verdant without freshness or odour,-butarising from the natural working of the same spirit of truth through all those courses of thought which the "manifold wisdom" of GoD, revealed in the Scriptures, presents and suggests. If, then, the sources of this rich, varied, and instructive preaching lie in those Scriptures, every Preacher is bound to become a close and constant Biblical Student. His first object ought to be, accurately to know the leading and fundamental Doctrines and Morals of that Book; his second, to become acquainted with its History, Chronology, and Antiquities; his third, to be able to trace the Argument of each book, and its Connexion with the whole Revelation; and his fourth, to become master of those Controversies which have arisen, either as to the authority of the Sacred Volume itself, or any of the doctrines which it contains. To these ends, the Scriptures are not only to be read, but studied; and all helps possible, whether those of Commentators, or of the original tongues, should be resorted to ;-the whole being regarded as a solemn duty, in order that the Church of CHRIST may be fed and grow by his ministry, and as such, to be pursued in the habit of earnest and constant prayer. Into the higher branches of Biblical Criticism, but few are called to go deep and far; but a right understanding of every part of the oracles of GOD is an object which ought to be aimed at by every Minister: nor can we see it possible that he should "make

2 Z

fall proof of his ministry," in the present day, without it. Whatever books may be read beside, and whatever knowledge acquired, the Bible is the storehouse of the Christian Preacher. Without much knowledge of the Scriptures, he may learn to declaim; but he will not "preach the Word." He may even adorn barren and oft-repeated generalities; but if he would exhibit large views of truth, and render them as minutely applicable to the cases and the states of men as they must be to become profitable,-if he would infuse a delightful and edifying variety into his sermons,if he would speak at once with wisdom and simplicity,-if he wouldacquire respect for his ministry, and finally, if he would be useful, -his daily study must be that of the Scriptures, searching their meaning, drawing out of their fulness, mark

ing their strength and beauty, and imbibing their spirit.

The Work before us is certainly one of the most valuable ever published to assist in such attainments; and the christian world owes to its excellent and 'indefatigable Author its best thanks. For ourselves, we think it an indispensable addition to the library of every young Minister; and it will be more creditable to him to wear a few suits of clothes to a deeper rustiness in order to obtain it, than to deprive himself of its guidance by alleging that it is expensive. We cannot, however, help repeating to those of our opulent friends, who have at heart the best interests of our Connexion, the hint on this subject with which we concluded our Review of MR. TOWNSEND's Work, in our Number for May. See p. 316.

THE pressure of other articles, which had a paramount claim to our notice, has compelled us to postpone the promise made to our readers in our first number, of giving them an account of the multifarious contents of these elaborate volumes. Most of the topics, indeed, of which they treat, are incidentally discussed in the principal Introductions to the critical study of the Sacred Writings; but a work, like the present, has hitherto been a desideratum in British Literature: and when we consider the multiplicity and extent of the author's researches, the scantiness of materials for some parts, the diversity of dates, and the discordant opinions of the most eminent bibliographers on various points, we are surprised, not that there are any imperfections in his volumes, but that they are really so few. MR. TOWNLEY'S "Illustrations" are a new work, founded upon his interesting little volume of Biblical Anecdotes, published in 1813,* and very favourably received • Noticed in our volume for the year 1814,

p. 267.

by the public. They now present a connected view of the history of Biblical Translations, and of the state of sacred literature, from the earliest date to the commencement of the present century, together with biographical notices of eminent Biblical Scholars and Critics, and such occasional sketches of the history of the manners and superstitions of the darker ages, as may illustrate the advantages to be derived from a more general dissemination of the Inspired Writings.

Such is the design of this elaborate work, in the execution of which the author has divided the subjects discussed by him into centuries, commencing with a distinct view of Biblical Literature previously to the commencement of the christian era. This portion of the work contains a concise but accurate view of the origin of writing, (which MR. TOWNLEY is of opinion was communicated by MOSES to the Israelites,) and the materials used in writing, together with an account of Hebrew manuscripts, the Samaritan copy of the

Pentateuch, the Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament, and the two most ancient manuscripts of it, which are known to be extant, and of the other Greek versions of AQUILA, THEODOTION, and SYMMA

CHUS.

Various were the materials employed in ancient times for the communication of ideas,-stone, gold, silver, lead, bones, wood, palm-leaves, the bark of trees, skins, &c. We extract a paragraph or two on this subject from MR. TOWNLEY'S Volumes, on account of the valuable elucidation which they afford to certain passages of the Word of God.

"From Job xix. 24, it appears to have been usual in his day, to write or engrave upon Plates of LEAD, which might easily be done with a Pen, or Graver, or Style of Iron, or other hard metal. MONTFAUCON (Antiq. Expliquée, tom. ii. p. 378,) assures us, that in 1699, he bought, at Rome, a book entirely of lead, about four inches long, by three inches wide. Not only the two pieces which formed the cover, but also all the leaves, in number six, the stick inserted into the rings which held the leaves together, the hinges, and the nails, were all of lead, without exception. It contained Egyptian Gnostic figures, and unintelligible writing.

"The Works and Days of HESIOD are also said to have been inscribed on a leaden table, carefully preserved in the Temple of the Muses, which, when shown to PAUSANIAS, was almost entirely corroded, through age. According to PLINY, the public documents were written in leaden volumes, after the use of the Pugillares, or Wooden Tablets, had been laid aside. Thin plates of lead, reduced to a very great degree of tenuity by the mallet, were occasionally used, particularly for epistolary correspondence. NEAS POLIORCETICUS tells us, that they were beaten with a hammer, until they were rendered very thin and pliable; that they were sometimes sewed up between the soles of the shoes; that even the messenger who carried them, was ignorant of the circumstance; and that while he slept, the correspondent to whom they were addressed unsewed the shoes, read the letters, replaced others, and thus carried on a secret intercourse without suspicion.

"It was also an ancient practice, to write upon thin smooth planks or Tables of Wood. PLINY says that table-books of wood were in use before the time of HOMER. The Chinese, before the in

vention of paper, engraved with an iron tool upon thin boards, or upon bamboo; and in the Sloanian Library at Oxford are six specimens of Kufic or ancient Arabic writing, on boards about two feet in length, and six inches in depth.

"The original manner of writing among the ancient Britons was by cutting the letters with a knife upon sticks, which were most commonly squared, and sometimes formed into three sides; consequently a single stick contained either four or three lines. (See Ezek. xxxvii. 16.) Several sticks, with writing upon them, were put together, forming a kind of frame, which was so constructed, that each stick might be called Peithynen or Elucidator, and was turned for the facility of reading, the end of each running out alternately on both sides of the frame. A continuation of this mode of writing may be found in the Runic or Log Almanacks of the Northern States of Europe, in which the engraving on square pieces of wood has been continued to the present time. A late writer informs us, that the Boors of Esel, an island of the Baltic Sea, at the entrance of the Gulf of Livonia, continue the practice of making these rude calendars for themselves; and that they are in use likewise in the isles of Ruhn and Mohn. Two curious specimens of the Runic Almanacks are in the Collegiate Library at Manchester.

"It is highly probable also, that several of the Prophets wrote upon Tablets of Wood, or some similar substance. (See Isa. xxx. 8, Habak. ii. 2.) ZACHARIAS, the father of JOHN the BAPtist, when required to name his son, asked for a Writing-Table, and wrote, saying, His name is JOHN.' (Luke i. 63.) These Table-books, the Romans denominated Pugillares. Smaller tablets were also frequently in use, made of wood cut into thin slices, and finely planed and polished. In the year 485, during the reign of the Emperor ZENO, the remains of ST. BARNABAS are said to have been found near Salamis, with a Copy of the Gospel of ST. MATTHEW in Hebrew, laid upon his breast, written with his own hand, upon leaves of Thyine-wood, a kind of wood particularly odoriferous and valuable. (Suid. Lex. Quiva.) Tablets of this kind were generally covered with wax, sometimes also with chalk, or plaster; and written upon with styles or bodkins. In epistolary correspondence, they were tied together with thread, and the seal put upon the knot. These tablets, when collected and fastened together, composed a book, called Codex,