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wise, I would not speak thus. I know that we must all appear before the great white throne, that the books will be opened—that human opinions, customs, and arguments, will avail us nothing that the approbation of God will be all we want then let it be all we seek now. With these feelings I do affectionately entreat you to consider whether the dying agonies of the Messiah, or the tremendous realities of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, can without sin be made the groundwork for the exhibition of musical skill, or the gratification of musical taste? Can the practice be vindicated by arguments which will be approved by Him who shall sit on the great white throne? If not, then you will refrain, both for the sake of others and of yourselves, from partaking of these amusements. If you hesitate, you will relinquish the pleasure. I pray God to give you a right judgment in all things, that when the great day of his wrath shall come, you may be able to stand; and that, washed in his blood, and renewed by his Spirit, he may present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."

The volumes which we have noticed are of English growth; but we ought not to forget that the Established Church in Ireland is a portion of our own ;we are not two churches, but "the United Church." We are happy therefore to conclude our desultory review with a specimen of the quality of the sister kingdom; and with two such sermon writers in one parish in a provincial town, as Mr. Woodward, and his curate Mr. Hiffernan, Ireland has no reason to shrink from comparison,-if comparison, instead of mutual confirmation and illustration, were our purpose.

Of Mr. Hiffernan's volume of Lectures, entitled "Characters and Events in Scripture History, practically considered," we will not say much; because as most of the pieces have appeared in our own pages with his initials, our readers can form their own judgment concerning them, and ours might be considered biassed. The writer's style of composition

sometimes exhibits too much of effort; as if he were fearful of saying what is common-place, and thus wearying attention; and to this, in part, combined with the fervour of his country, may be attributed some hardihood of remark or expression, and occasional overdoing in words or meaning. But the piety, the zeal, the eloquence, and often the striking originality of his remarks, have been widely acknowledged; and his papers have been read with much interest, and, we trust, spiritual profit. His excellent Lectures upon 1 Peter iv. 7, "Watch unto prayer," have been reprinted, and form a valuable manual of instruction in righteousness; and his present volume is a suitable, and perhaps more popular, companion to it. Mr. Hiffernan's object is evidently to promote what Scougal strikingly calls "the life of God in the soul of man." He rather recognizes and applies doctrines than discusses them. He strives to get at the recesses of the heart whether for conviction or conversion; for sanctification or consolation. is anxious that the believer should enjoy his exalted privilege as a regenerated being, under a code of privilege, a law of love; but that it should ever be felt that the mortification of sin is an essential part of that very privilege, and that our freedom includes not less our emancipation from the bondage of sin, than our deliverance from its guilt; in other words, that its curse, from which we are to be rescued, includes its iron reign, as well as the punishment which it draws down upon us both now and hereafter.

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The characters and events treated of in this volume are Eve, Adam, the Serpent, Joshua, Elijah, the Syrophenician, the Rich Young Ruler, Judas, Saul, and Paul. Several of the titles

our readers will recognize, but much of the volume is new. It would be superfluous to exhibit a brick as a specimen, where an edifice may be surveyed; and therefore, instead of giving a partial extract, we refer our readers to those pieces which have appeared in our pages.

Of Mr. Woodward's writings we should say much, had we not expressed our opinion upon former occasions, in reviewing his sermons in our volume for 1836, page 105, and 1838, page 831. His Lectures on the Woman of Shunem sustain all that we remarked of his fervid eloquence, his striking originality, the classical beauty of his style, his knowledge of the human heart, and his strong feeling of the adaptation of the Gospel to it, in all its varied phases, and particularly as God's instrument for restoring to it the beauty and the blessedness of holiness. On account of the frequent familiarity of remark, and the apt stories and illustrations which he has introduced, the author has considered it proper to state that these "Lectures" were not "addresses from the pulpit; " but we think it probable that at least the substance of

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them was used either in that or some other form of oral pastoral instruction; but be this as it may, the "Lectures," or Chapters,' as he calls them in the "Sequel," are so full of interesting and profitable matter that we are thankful for the gift, and shall proceed to impart a portion of the treasure to our readers. The brief relation respecting the Shunamite woman, 2 Kings iv., may not seem to furnish a sufficient text for two volumes of remark: but besides the more obvious points of the narrative, Mr. Woodward is ingenious in eliciting theses from events and remarks which less

fertile minds might pass by as barren and though the connection is sometimes very slight, we gladly accept a good essay, though the motto did not necessarily suggest it.

There is much that is striking and practically valuable in the first Lecture, in which the writer shews that a holy conversation is the only means by which a minister can adapt himself to the several ranks of society, and attract their confidence. Every one must have observed that a clergyman whose conversation is holy, can associate in his pastoral labours with all sorts and conditions of men; nay, that even a pious layman, with the same passport and under the same protection, will find the hearts of men open to him, so that, as in the house of God itself, high and low, rich and poor, may meet together without any sacrifice, on either side, of feeling or conventional propriety.

"And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.'-2 Kings iv. 8.

"The preceding verses represent the prophet as exercising his ministry in far different scenes from what these words exhibit. He had lately been an inmate in the abodes of poverty. He had been visiting the widow and the fatherless. He had been listening to a tale of sorrow, and hearing the complaints of one whose heart was wounded in the ten

derest point; and who was, moreover, to prepare for the loss of the only compensations which God had left her. But the story is best told in her own few words: nor indeed could anything, save the divine simplicity of Scripture, do justice to such a theme. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.' Elisha had the

happiness, it is true, of averting so sore

a calamity, and of causing this widow's heart to sing for joy. But still, it was

from the abodes, so lately, of want and sorrow, that we trace him to scenes thus strikingly in contrast with them. We see him, at one moment, the familiar guest of the poor and friendless; and, at another, solicited and constrained to accept the hospitalities of the wealthy. Such were the vicissitudes of this prophet's life: the disparities of condition with which he was daily conversant. Such also are the chequer ed scenes through which the Christian minister has, more or less, to pass. He is the shepherd of the whole flock, without distinction. He is debtor both to the rich and to the poor. He is the servant, equally, of all, and there is no respect of persons. It is his duty to become all things to all men, that he may by all means save some.

"Hence arises a motive, additional to every other, for the minister of religion being a spiritual man. Nothing but what abstracts him from common interests, separates him from common habits, takes him out of the ranks of high or low, and lifts him off the level of human precedences ;-nothing but what saves him from being identified with any of the castes which lie along the graduated scale of worldly littleness or worldly greatness;-nothing, I say, but this unearthly character, can adapt his ministrations to each and every division of his people; and enable him to visit them freely as the common air, and to offer himself as a universal blessing, which none can monopolise or appropriate to themselves. It is this which renders him, as far as sinful dust can be, a fit representative of Him who came down to the level of the lowest, while he announced himself the spiritual Sovereign of the world; who was numbered amongst the sons of poverty, while kings fell down and worshipped him.

There is, inseparable from human weakness, a distressing sense of inferiority, which those of the humbler classes feel when brought into familiar contact with, what are termed, their betters. The appearance of a gentleman in a poor man's dwelling produces, of necessity, restraint and awkwardness, provided the parties meet on worldly terms. There is but one thing, in this case, that can remove the obstacles to free and unembarrassed intercourse, and that is, religion. At its approach, all painful distinctions vanish. For religion brings men's higher natures into play. It puts them, mutually, on the footing of immortal beings. It anticipates that time, when Judah shall not vex Ephraim, and Ephraim shall CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 34.

not envy Judah. It discloses scenes' where the servant is free from his mas ter, and where Lazarus rests in Abraham's bosom. It announces the presence of Him before whom all earthly splendours fade, and who, nevertheless, for our sakes became poor. The humblest of the human family, if born from above, is at home and at ease in the presence of his God. He may not know by what suitable titles to address his earthly superiors; but to the Majesty of heaven he can cry, with filial confidence, Abba, Father. In one respect, at least, the poor man has a decided advantage, religiously consider- ̈ ed, over his more exalted brother. Standing below them both, his position naturally leads him to compare the greatness of man with the greatness of God; and this in a manner which cannot but endear religion to his heart."

"This is the victory that overcometh the world,' says the Apostle; 'even our faith.' Faith is the telescope of the soul, by whose magic power those objects stand revealed, which remove, at once, all that painful sense of inferiority which we have been describing. It places upon the field of vision Him before whom all this world's glory hides its diminished head; and whose presence alone can, without disturbance to the order of society, equalize all human ranks, and level all man's conventional distinctions in the dust. For thus his coming was announced by his great forerunner: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'

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"It is in this view, as well as every other, that the separation of God's ministers from worldly habits, worldly business, and wordly pleasures, should be carried into the fullest possible effect. Without this, they cannot exercise an influential or acceptable ministry, as it respects the poor. They cannot come down to their level; and nothing else can open to them the avenues of the heart. It was this which caused the Son of God to descend from heaven. To save man, it was necessary that he should become man, that he might thereby not only suffer in the nature which incurred the penalty of death, but that he might speak to us as a man speaketh to his friend; that a brother's blood should warm his heart and flow through all his veins; that he might touch us at every point of kindred feeling; and say to every soldier of 4 M

the cross,Be of good cheer, I, encompassed with your infirmities, and tempted like as you are, I have fought the good fight, and overcome the world.' All, then, who would further the work which their Saviour humbled himself to accomplish, must follow in his steps: if they would preach the Gospel to the poor, they must condescend to men of low estate.

"But how is this to be done? The clergy of the Established Church are, as to their temporal rank, entirely off their level. They are all, as their births, or stations in the Church may happen, re ́spectively, to be, of either the middle, or the upper orders of society. What then can make the poor man feel, in his intercourse with them, that perfect ease and unrestraint which a sense of fair equality alone can give? Nothing, I repeat it, but the clergyman's being, as on every account he is bound to be, a holy and a spiritual man. While he preserves this character, he identifies himself with a system which is above the world, and not of the world; and which, as I have before observed, places men in mutual relations belonging to eternity, and not to time.

On

the other hand, the moment he assumes the air and deportment of a man of the world, he becomes, thereby, a party in a state of things where earthly distinctions are displayed in their full importance, and where, consequently, the character of the minister, who is the servant of all, for Jesus's sake,' is transformed into that of the gentleman, from whom the poor man stands at humble distance.

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Perhaps there is nothing which more remarkably distinguishes what the Scripture calls the world,' from what it terms (I mean in reference to this life) the kingdom of heaven,' than this, that in the former, it is neces sary to guard the lines which mark the different classes of society with the most rigid strictness; while in the latter, the whole human family can meet and live as brethren. What, for example, would be thought of a gentleman, if, of choice, he dined with his servants; or assembled them in the evening to talk of the news and gossip of the day? And yet he may gather them together, and take sweet counsel on the things of God, and, as I myself have seen, in the case of a nobleman of high rank, inquire of the humblest of his domestics, how they thought and felt upon the passages which he read from Holy Scripture;-and here there was no confusion of ranks, no breach of order or decorum, In like manner, what scandal and loss of character

would a military officer incur, if he were to associate with the private soldiers of his regiment in their ordinary and familiar habits, and, still more, in riotous pursuits or vicious pleasures? Yet no one could call it condescension unsuited to his station (glad as too many are to assail the character of a religious man) if he knelt by the sick-bed of his humblest fellow-soldier; if he listened to him, while he opened the very secrets of his heart; and besought him by every endearing motive, with all the importunity of a friend, the tenderness of a brother, and the imploring earnestness of a supplicant, that he would be reconciled to God. Again, how freely, and on what equal terms, do the extremes of society, separated from one another by many intervening classes, and never, by possibility, coming into familiar contact in any of the scenes of ordinary life, how do they kneel down together before the memorials of a Saviour's love; and, in the presence of God and of each other, pray that they all may be one, one with Christ, and Christ with them; and there eat the same spiritual meat, and drink the same spiritual drink; blend together in the finest sympathy of soul, and join heart to heart in one common flame of gratitude and love! I need adduce no further instances. These are abundantly sufficient to establish the principle I lay down."

The following remarks upon making a due provision for the clergy suggest many important considerations; and they are the more entitled to be carefully weighed, for that the writer has personally witnessed the good and evil of existing systems and proposed improvements. As the son of an Irish prelate, in the days of "Protestant ascendancy," and himself the incumbent of a valuable benefice, he has seen the sunny side of church endowments; and as a partaker in the vicissitudes which have befallen his church of late years, he may have known what it was to be scantily supplied as well as how to abound. His judgment therefore upon the subject of due provision for the clergy, comes with the weight of experience as well as observation. From his

remark, that " The new tithe Act is by far the best modification of a scheme which leaves the clergyman to collect his income from his own parishioners," we gather that he disapproves of the clergy being their Own tithecollectors; and we believe that he proved the sincerity and disinterestedness of his conviction, by refusing to appeal to the courts of law for the recovery of his tithes, when robbed of them by conspiracy and violence.

"Let us,' said the Shunammite, ، make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.'

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"It would require a minuter acquaintance than we now can have with the domestic habits of those remoter times, to ascertain whether the simple furniture of this apartment was such as was usually found in the habitations of the wealthy. But of this we may rest assured, from the distinction with which the prophet was, in every other respect, treated by his entertainers, that all which concerned his personal accommodation was regulated accordingly and that if his lonely chamber was devoid of customary decorations, it was simply because he so desired it. The mantle of him who was fed by ravens, and who shared the widow's barrel of meal and cruise of oil, had fallen upon Elisha. It was enough for the servant to be as his master. A solitary student, a holy pilgrim, a passenger on his way to heaven, such was Elisha; and under circumstances like these,

"Man wants but little here below,

Nor wants that little long." A bed, on which to repose after his daily toils of charity, the type of his everlasting rest; a table, where to record the inspirations of his God; a stool, to sit for pious meditation, or kneel in secret prayer; a taper, to light him through many an hour of midnight study;-no more he needed, or it would have been gladly and abundantly supplied. For what could look more like a delicate and anxious attention to render the visits of such a man tranquil and refreshing, than erecting for his sole use a new chamber, withdrawn from the business and bustle of the family, and out of the reach of every disturbance.

Nay, may we not conceive that the little inventory of its contents was formed from the observation, that these simp'e articles were, on former occasions, the only ones he seemed to want or value; or even (a thing by no means improbable) from having heard him say, that, if he were to choose a resting-place upon earth, it would be an apartment so situated and so furnished? Nor do I esteem such a conjecture trifling. I consider nothing unimportant which serves to exhibit an example of readiness to give cheerfully and liberally to a servant of God, in honour of his Master. I feel this the more, because it is my strong conviction, that the present and that, amongst many hopeful sympage stands in need of such examples; toms of advancing piety, there is, in this respect, a lamentable failure. That an ungodly world should pass over and neglect the messengers of Him who came to save it, however to be deplored, can neither surprise or startle the wellinstructed mind. If the world hate you,' says that blessed Saviour, ye know that it hated me before it hated

you. That men should pay with grudging calculation for services which they do not value, is strictly natural, and in full consistency. Hence the popular cry for what is termed a cheap religion. Hence, if a man devote his time and talents to the bar, to arms, to medicine, to public business, or to the finer arts, the general sense and feeling are that, in all these instances, the labourer is worthy of his hire. While, if equal zeal and equal gifts are employed in the offices of the sanctuary, and in the service of the altar, there is an almost universal cry of Shame,' where it can be proved that the ambassador from God to man, receives not even the half of what would be considered fair remuneration in any secular calling. God forbid that I should speak, even upon the part of my most bighly gifted brethren, in a spirit of murmuring or complaint. I have no anxieties upon the subject, but that every minister of the Gospel should welcome poverty, if it be the will of God concerning him, and feel that no humiliation can be greater than he deserves. Nor have I a wish respecting the temporal interests of the established clergy, save that their provision, whether less or more, should be so dispensed as to rescue them for ever from all pecuniary collisions with their own parishioners; from heart-burnings and broils, in the midst of which it seems almost a farce to talk of deadness to the world, or of setting the affections on things above. Still, it is no less my firm persuasion, that the parsimony with

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