Mr. Hooker ungrateful, but having occasion to mention his good benefactor, in his Ecclesiastical Polity, he calls him (Bishop Jewel,) "the worthiest divine that Christendom hath bred for the space of some hundreds of years."

He had collected an excellent library of books of all sorts, not excepting the most impertinent of the Popish authors; and here it was that he spent the greatest and the best part of his time, rarely appear ing abroad, especially in a morning, till eight of the clock; so that till that time it was not, easy to speak with him; when commonly he ate some slight thing for the support of his thin body; and then, if no business diverted him, retired to his study again till dinner. He maintained a plentiful, but sober table, and though at it he ate very little himself, yet he took care his guests might be well supplied, entertaining them in the mean time with much pleasant and useful discourse, telling and hearing any kind of innocent and diverting stories; for though he was a man of a great and exact, both piety and virtue, yet he was not of a morose, sullen, unsociable temper; and this his hospitality was equally bestowed upon both foreigners and Englishmen. After dinner he heard causes, if any came in; and dispatched any business that belonged to him (though he would sometimes do it at dinner too); and answered any questions, and very often arbitrated and composed differences betwixt his people; who, knowing his great wisdom and integrity, did very often refer themselves to him as the sole arbitrator, where they met with speedy, impartial, and uncharge able justice.-At nine at night he called all his servants about him, examined how they had spent their time that day, commended some, and reproved others, as occasion

served, and then closed the day with prayers, as he began it: the time of his public morning prayers seems to have been eight.-After this he com monly went to his study again, and from thence to bed, his gentlemen reading some part of an author to him, to compose his mind, and then, committing himself to his God and Saviour, he betook himself to his rest. He was extremely careful of the revenues of the Church, not caring whom he offended to preserve it from impoverishing in an age, when the greatest men, finding the Queen not over liberal to her courtiers and servants, too often paid themselves out of the Church patrimony, for the services they had done the Crown, till they ruined some bishoprics entirely, and left others so very poor, that they are scarce able to maintain a Prelate.There is one instance of this mentioned by all that have written our Bishop's life: a courtier, who was a layman, having obtained a prebend in the Church of Sarum, and intending to let it to another lay-person for his best advantage, acquainted Bishop Jewel with the con ditions between them, and some lawyers' opinion about them: to which the Bishop replied, "What your lawyers may answer I know not; but for my part, to my power, I will take care that my Church shall sustain no loss whilst I live.”

Nor was he careful of his own Church only, but of the whole Eng. lish Church, as appears by his ser mon upon Psalm Ixix. 9. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up: which he preached before the Queen and Court; and in which he foretold, what afterwards came to pass, that this sacrilegious devastation of the Church would in time be the ruin of the Gospel, as he called the Reformation.

A Narrative of the Conversion and Death of Count Struensee, for merly Prime Minister of Denmark, by Dr. Munter. Translated from the German, in 1774, by the Rev. Mr. Wendeborn. With an Introduction and Notes. By Thomas Rennell, B.D. F.R.S. Vicar of Kensington, and Prebend of South Grantham, in the Church of Salisbury. 8vo. pp. 238. Rivingtons. 1824.

A VOLUME thus presented to the Christian world, as a dying bequest of admonition by one who had devoted his day of health and vigour to the promotion of the best interests of his brethren, addresses itself to our notice with no ordinary force of appeal. We take it into our hands with a melancholy pleasure, not unlike that with which the company assembled in the death.chamber of Dorcas "shewed the coats and garments which she had made while she was with them." We are unwilling to believe that he, who was "full of good works and of alms deeds which he did," can profit the world no more by his active exertions that the voice, which once forcibly instruct ed in living accents should have ceased to be heard altogether :we would therefore delude ourselves into the persuasion, that we still possess in some measure the individual who has been the object of our reverential affection, by che rishing every reminiscence of the life which once animated him. By a kind compensation in the order of nature, where hope is cut off, memory succours us in the privation, and in the case of a departed brother consoles us with the retrospect of the good which he has done. Thus it is that while we grieve for the loss which the Christian community has sustained by the death of Mr. Ren.

nell, we eagerly open this volume, impressed as it is with the farewell signature of his hand, and are anxious to shew it to others, as some token of what he did while he was with us.

It is a republication of a transla. tion from the German, which has already been some time before the public, but is now become a scarce book, of Dr. Munter's account of the Conversion and Death of the cele brated Count Struensee, with the addition of a preface and notes by Mr. Rennell, the former, explanatory of the nature of the work and of its important uses ; the latter, commenting on the text, or suggesting corresponding treatises in English to those which the German divine has pointed out in his own language.

A work of this kind, at once earnest and moderate in its tone, has been long a desideratum in prae. tical theology. Of enthusiastic tales of sudden conversion, we have had an ample supply,-tales, which have depicted to us the penitent sinner wound up to the highest pitch of ecstatic love for the Redeemer of mankind, and suddenly effervescent with that joy of the Spirit, which is only the natural fruit of a continued growth in grace. The erroneous view of the doctrine of conversion, which such works have propagated, has long needed counteraction.— They are not only objectionable on account of their delusive effect, but they do real dishonour to religion. What strikes us as the most material error of such exhibitions of fanatical feeling is, their tendeney to lower the character of the atonement of Christ. They tend to make men believe, that their sin was the cause of their redemption, instead of its being only an occasion for the exercise of the real cause, which was the boundless love of the Redeemer. By displaying

the transition so immediate from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, they establish a sort of connexion between the two states, like that of cause and effect-the first appears the natural forerunner of the second -whereas the truth is, that there are no two things more remote from each other, and the association therefore which should be presented to the world as an example to be contem. plated, ought to be precisely the reverse. It should exhibit the natural union between good works and faith,-between a holy and religious life, and that confidence towards God, which is its just concomitant. Christ indeed died to save us when we were sinners, but it was not because we were sinners-be still, in his own sinless nature, hated that guilt with which we were polluted-it was still "exceeding sinful" in his sight-nor was it by any means that which recommended us to his mercy.-We consider accordingly all such exhibitions of religious fervour immediately consequent upon the horrors of guilt, as fundamentally erroneous, from their inculcating a perverted notion of the benevolent sacrifice of the Redeemer, while they thus so closely approximate the sinner to the saint. It is not doubted, that it has sometimes pleased God to touch the conscience of the guilty man by some stroke of his Providence, and suddenly to reclaim him from the ways of iniquity-but we, who know not what passes within the heart of man, cannot venture to hold up such instances as models of imitation-we cannot arrive at the whole history of the case-that which appears sudden to our eye may have been secretly carried on through a length of time by imperceptible processes the growth of conversion may have been going on, like the tree, occulto evo, and at last be visible in its maturity. And did we know the whole case-still such instances are only splendid exceptions to the general economy of the divine grace, and not imitable examples. Doddridge's account of

the conversion of Colonel Gardiner is particularly liable to censure on this account. Whence can arise any practical good from a picture of a conversion suddenly wrought by a phantom of the imagination, such as that which is described in the ac count of Gardiner? Did not indeed a conversion so wrought imply a predisposition in the mind to be so in fluenced?-Considering as we do the notion of any real vision presented to his sight, as at once profane and absurd in this state of Christianity, does not the occurrence of the vi sion to his imagination imply that his thoughts had been already turned to the fact of a crucified Redeemer, and that the process of reformation had thus imperceptibly commenced within his heart? And so we contend the case ought to have been represented, instead of the act of conver sion being immediately annexed to a premeditated scheme of wickedness.

Nor is the defect which is observ. able in the more extravagant pic tures of conversions supplied by Burnet, in his interesting relation of the close of Lord Rochester's life. That portrait, indeed, of the repen tant sinner, is free from that improper association between guilt and pious transport, to which we most strongly object, still it is not exactly the model which should be proposed to general imitation. However anxiously the excellent author guards his work against such a misconstruction, it encourages too great a confidence in the prospect of conversion as a last resort after the course of folly and sin has run itself out.

It exhibits satiety with the world and its pleasure as a handmaid to religion,-and may induce men, consequently, to suppose that a perseverance in sin will be no ultimate impediment to a serious amendmentat a future day-a notion directly contrary to Scripture, which constantly warns us of the increased difficulty of procrastinated repentance

suggesting to us a time when it may be too late to repent-when the truth

may be hidden from our eyes. This is the effect of that work,because the repentance of Rochester appears from it to have been immediately occasioned by an illness brought on by his course of abandoned profligacy, and threatening him with an early dissolution.. Though excellent therefore in many respects-in the clear strain of argument which pervades it, and the sincere piety with which it is animated,-yet it is objectionable on account of its prominent feature-a repentance, succeeding exhaustion and a defatigated zest for worldly enjoyments.

The work now republished by Mr. Rennell, as a manual of practical theology, in which light we have here considered all such works, is evidently superior to those already mentioned. Count Struensee, the subject of the narrative, an infidel as well from theory as from practice, in the midst of his worldly prosperity is interrupted by the hand of an over-ruling Providence, and .com. mitted to the solitude of a prison as a criminal on a capital charge. He is there visited by a clergyman, Dr. Munter, and a series of conferences is begun between them on the truths and evidences of Christianity. The Count, so far from being suddenly intimidated as it were into a profession of religion, from the circum stances of danger in which he is placed, appears disposed to defend his ground, and to die asserting the principles on which he had acted through life. There is no display in it of strong contrast,—the light and the shade do not succeed each other in sudden transition,-but the course by which Struensee is led from the death of irreligion, to the life of Christian hope and joy is progressive in its steps, until from positive disbelief it terminates in rational and firm conviction.

Mr. Rennell introduces him to our notice with the following sketch of his life and character.

"Count Struensee was the son of a German divine of some eminence, who among

other preferments, was Professor of Theology at Halle, in Saxony. His mother also descended from a respectable family. They were both persons of the most simple and fervent piety, as appears both from

The

their letters, which the reader will find in the course of the volume, and from the account which Struensee himself gives of their anxiety with respect to his religi ous principles during his youth. Count was born, Aug. 5, 1737; he was educated first in the celebrated Orphan House of Dr. Franke, and subsequently at the University of Halle, where he devoted his mind to physic, and is supposed to have then first imbibed, from the companions of his studies, those infidel opinions which distinguished him through life. He then settled, and entered into the practice of went with his father to Altona, where he his profession both with reputation and success. By what means he was first introduced to the notice of Christian VII., the King of Denmark, does not appear; we find him in 1768 raised to the rank of physician to his Majesty, and appointed to of the courts of Europe. Struensee acattend him during his tour through some cordingly accompanied Christian on his travels, and while at Paris, he formed an intimate friendship and connection with a Dane of good family, Brandt, the subse quent associate of his crimes and of their punishment. During his stay in France, Struensee had insinuated himself into the good graces of the King; and, to so high a degree of favour did he eventually rise, that soon after the King's return to Copenhagen he was raised to the rank of a privy counsellor, and was presented to the Queen, the sister of our late Monarch, with whom he soon became as great a favourite as with her husband. He received every day from both of them fresh and valuable marks of their consideration

and regard. Brandt, who had been for some little time in disgrace, was recalled from Paris, and reinstated in his office at court, through the intervention of Struensee; and they were both shortly after, at the same time, raised to the rank of Count, Struensee was now the declared and con

fidential favourite of the King, and in a very short space of time was appointed Prime Minister, with almost unlimited political powers-an elevation sufficient to dazzle the eyes and to corrupt the heart of a man, even though he were fortified and morality than those of the unfortunate by much stronger principles of religion

Count.

"Meanwhile, the attachment of the Queen to Struensee exceeded, in appear

ance at least, the bounds of all moderation; as nothing criminal however has been proved, let nothing criminal be supposed. Of all this the King was a quiet and an indifferent spectator. Christian, weakened both in mind and body by every species of excess, had sunk into a state of total apathy and imbecility. He was quite disqualified from taking any part in the management of public affairs; the administration therefore of the State devolved entirely upon the Queen, Struensee and their adherents, who ruled without responsibility or control.

"Had Struensee confined himself to politics, he might perhaps have escaped the weight of general indignation which at last overwhelmed him. His abilities were commanding, his powers of application great, his views enlarged, his resolutions were both rapidly taken and decisively carried into effect. Many of his public measures were calculated to improve and to aggrandize the State, Yet even in this department he exposed himself to much unpopularity by measures equally odious and unadvised; and by none more than by banishing from court Count Bernstorf, an old and favourite minister of the crown, a man of the most unimpeached integrity and character. This was a transaction which gave him (as we shall find) much uneasiness during his confinement.

"Profligacy was the rock upon which Count Struensee split. He was generous, open, and without hypocrisy, but his moral principle was corrupt, and his life as tissue of licentiousness, which the extraordinary powers of his mind enabled him for some time to reconcile with the discharge of his political duties. Towards the close of his administration, however, he seemed to have partly lost his strength of understanding, and amidst the difficulties which were increasing upon him on every side, to have acted without any sort of foresight or vigour. But it would have been a happy circumstance had the profligacy of Struensee been confined to himself alone. It was the object of his perverted ambition to corrupt the purity and to undermine the principles of the whole court and capital, to remove the landmarks of right and wrong, to hold out every incentive to iniquity, and to create every facility for its indulgence. Upon all points of religion and morals he was a professed scoffer, and appeared peculiarly anxious that his opinions upon these points should be both disseminated and adopted. Masked balls and other kinds of foreign amusements, especially calculated to foster

profligacy and intrigue, were introduced for the first time at the Danish Court. Of all these amusements Struensee was the indefatigable leader and the devoted partaker; and he unfortunately found but too many of the Danish nobility, who either in the spirit of adulation, or from the love of indulgence, became his associates. In most capitals these scenes of dissipation and vice would have had a most injurious effect upon the general morality of the country, and would gradually have corrupted the middling and lower orders by a descending contagion. But the primitive and sturdy principles of the Danes, aided by the purity of their national religion, withstood the infection, and instead of the popularity which Struensee probably expected to reap from his relaxation of ancient discipline, he excited rather a feeling of disgust and abhorrence. One of the boldest of his acts was to repeal a very old and severe law against adultery ; this measure was considered as no less than holding out a reward for the commission of the crime, and was received accordingly with strong marks of national indignation.

"But it pleased the great moral Governor of the world soon to arrest this infatuated man in his career of crime. While Struensee was lulled by the indulgence of his passions into a fatal security, his enemies were active in preparing for his destruction. The Queen Dowager and her Son were at the head of the hostile party, but from their general want of political talent, they created little apprehension. They were joined by some of the ancient Nobility, who were indignant at seeing the Danish Monarchy under the command of a foreigner, to the exclusion of themselves and others who had juster claims to public rank and authority. In one plan to seize the persons of the Queen and the Count, they were disconcerted, but shortly after, a more favourable opportunity presented itself. They had already gained over to their party, a sufficient number of the Soldiery, with whom Struensee was no favourite, and all other circumstances were arranged with admirable dexterity for the execution of their purpose. cordingly at the conclusion of a masked ball, which was given at the Royal Palace, on the 15th of January, 1772, Koller Banner, after the whole party had retired, and all was quiet, entered the Bedchamber of Christian, and informed him that there was a conspiracy against his person and dignity, at the head of which were his wife, Count Struensee, and their associates, He urged the King to sign an order for

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