ever. On the ratio of conversions which take place under an old, cozy, orthodox ministry, it would take to all eternity to convert the world. We must travel faster. A nation must be born in a day.

2. We must have revivals, to keep pace with the progress of the world's education, civilization, philosophy, business, thought. Every thing now goes ahead, and nothing but revivals will keep us in hailing distance of the world. The Church is in the world; and if the Church goes ten times as fast as formerly, we need ten times the power to keep our hold upon it. A church in the days of the Puritans, could endure a season of dearth and destitution for seventy years, and yet keep alive. But ten years of destitution will do more injury in a church now than seventy then. If we went along in the old pace we should soon be out of sight. The world would leave us far behind, that we could not be discerned with a telescope.

3. We need revivals to secure the ministration of sound scriptural doctrine. The carnal mind is enmity toward God; and where conversions are unfrequent, the worldly spirit predominates. I have scen the time when men's minds were impressed with an omnipresent awe. Some were vexed, and some trembled as I preached the severe, humbling doctrines of the cross; but not a dog wagged his tongue. The presence of the revival enabled me to preach without let or hindrance, the whole truth. But just as soon as the revival subsided, and the pressure was taken off, for me to have preached those same truths would have created an insurrection. must have revivals, or we shall stand a chance to meet the mob. The world will not endure sound doctrine, without the subduing power of revivals.

We

4. We need revivals, to prevent the fatal effects of doctrinal formality. Many good people seem to think, that if they have the "Shorter Catechism in their houses, and especially if they have taught their children to "say" it, all will be well. I do not know of anything more stupefying, Lethean, than a dead orthodoxy. Orthodoxy, without revivals, will produce formality. There are a great many ways to hell, and I do not know but the orthodox way is as fatal as any. He who lives on, trusting to the saving power of his creed, may be sure he is riding down the broad road at a railroad speed.

I do not wish to speak of myself; but if there be a thing for which I desire to thank God, it is that he has permitted me to have some part in the glorious work of revivals. I am an old man, and on the verge of eternity; I would say, that if I

had a thousand lives they should be devoted to the ministry of revivals. You will ask me, how are revivals to be obtained? Take this, perhaps the last counsel of an old man; for I shall soon leave the world. I never yet had a revival unexpectedly, or on the mere ground that God is a Sovereign, and pours out his Spirit when and where he pleases. This doctrine never led to revivals. I always sought and laboured for them, carefully watching the indications of Providence, and endeavouring, by the grace of God, to seize upon the appropriate moment. If the time came when efforts seemed called for, I made them. If I found my own heart not prepared for a revival, I took it to the throne of grace for correction. Revivals, like all good things, are to be laboured for diligently, faithfully. Do any of you feel the need of a revival in your churches? There is my experience. Prayer and labour, faith and works. Let me add, the preaching I have found to be most successful, was doctrinal. I never wrote articles for the press, with rounded periods and polished style, to do execution with in a revival. I never had any freedom when I was obliged to read my sermon so closely that I could not make a gesture. Such sermons always grow cold in the mouth, and freeze the hearts of the hearers. I taught men they were rebels against God-the doctrine of total depravity-defining what I meant by it, and by all means, what I did not mean; and then, after stating the doctrine as clearly as I could, I endea voured to send it home. I never did any good with a sermon which had no application. Men are not so eager for the truth that they will pick it up. Other animals may do it, but sinners will not. Sermons ought to be made properly for execution. The Church will never do her duty without revivals.

A SALUTARY THOUGHT. WHEN I was young there lived in our neighbourhood a man who was univesally reported to be very liberal, and uncom monly upright in his dealings. When he had any of the produce of his farm to dispose of he made it an invariable rule to give good measure, over good, rather more than could be required of him. One of his friends, observing his frequently doing so, questioned him why he did it, told him he gave too much, and said it would not be to his advantage. Now, my friends, mark the answer: "God Almighty has permitted me but one journey through the world, and, when gone, I cannot return to rectify mistakes." Think of this, my friends-only one journey through the world.-J. Simpson.

THIS work is from the pen of a gentleman, whose signal honour it has been to be the object of the persecution of the Wesleyan Conference during the past year. That persecution has now reached its climax in the expulsion of its author, whose honoured character, vigorous mind, and Christian deportment, find no more fitting acknowledgment in the Conference than a parting kick from the quasi organ of that "venerable assembly" at what they are pleased to style his "mental feebleness!" When men, in the bitterness and blindness of party spirit, forget what is due to decency, it naturally induces regret but not surprise -it comes in the usual order of things; but when professedly Christian writers go out of their way to call light darkness, and surprising intellectual vigour "feebleness," the shock to our sense of propriety is so violent as to bring us abruptly to a stand. We have no hesitation in saying that this little volume will establish the author's claim to high rank as a writer on Church polity.

The volume before us comprehends fully and states clearly the whole subject, and yet there is not a superfluous word in the book. The language is beautifully perspicuous, whilst it is equally terse and concise; the scope of the argument so wide as to compass everything essential to it; the argument itself close, well-sustained, and convincing. The sentences fall with the ring of the true metal; here is no base coin, all is sterling. The effect of the whole, as to the claims of priests, Puseyites, popelings, and pastoral-supremists, is perfectly crushing. Mr. Southern remorselessly strikes every prop from under them. They naturally retaliate, and remove from him the prop of income, official status, &c. They meet logic with pecuniary deprivation, and scriptural proof with expulsion from among them. For any man to dare to "parade the New Testament against their rules" is presumption, which nothing but the extreme penalty of the law can expiate. Unfortunately for the reign of spiritual despotism, the time is past, if it ever really existed, when pecuniary deprivation or ecclesiastical penalties could stay for an instant the progress of truth.

To local preachers and leaders this work

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will be invaluable. Here they may fortify themselves against all the assumptions of the "superior clergy." The true doctrine of the pastorate obtains an able exposition. Those who have not been so highly favoured as to receive episcopal ordination, those whose unblest heads have never warmed under the "imposition of hands," those who are forbidden to arrogate to themselves the title of "minister" and the prefix "Reverend," but who, however, are indisposed to forego their claim to participation in the pastorate, will here find the truth of the New Testament on these points clearly set forth, and may quietly smile at all the semi popish denunciations of the "united pastorate." That, humanly speaking, the ministry is the source of all spiritual influence in the church;" that "in every church the pastor must hold the keys;" that the "collective pastorate alone is empowered "to legislate for and govern the church;" and that the "minister" only has authority, "when he thinks proper," to reject unworthy members from church communion; all this before Mr. Southern's fan is the chaff of the summer threshing-floor. The demolition of this very imposing fabric of claims is complete. "Not a stone is left that is not thrown down." It is not easy to give our readers a sample of his powers, each fresh argument telling with such cumulative force, it is not till they see the effect of the final blow that the power of the whole is fully estimated. But it is in the following vigorous style that he deals with theological seminaries:

"If we be asked, whether public schools, theological institutions, or academies be necessary for the purpose of educating or training young men for the ministry, we should seriously demur to answer in the affirmative. . . . Generally speaking, men who are disposed to acquire the requisite qualifications for their ministerial position, will do so without such helps. That this has been the case in thousands of instances; that some of the self-taught have been among the most eminent; that some of the most successful of God's servants have been trained only by God and themselves; that any man can acquire a sufficient amount of general knowledge, if he will; that, on the other hand, public schools, for the purpose on which we are speaking, have been incalculably injurious; they have made scholars, but they have not made Christians; they have made parrots and apes, but they have not made, in such cases, servants of the churches; they have made dry lecturers on morals, but they have not made evangelical teachers; they have made M.A.'s, D.D 's, LL. D's, &c., but they have not made savers of souls; they have made polemics, rhetoricians, flourishing orators, enchanting with the apparent splendour of their unexamined verbiage, logicians, and stiff, starched,

cold sermonisers, but they have not made soulquickening, soul-sanctifying, soul-comforting, soulencouraging evangelists: they have made-what? Lovers of the study, lovers of the last new book, lovers of the book-stall and the book-room, lovers of the parlour and of the society of the rich and great-but not lovers of the closet, of the sickroom, of the house of prayer, of intercourse with the poor of Christ's flock; they have made many conceited, vain, and ambitious young men, fops and fools, but not the humble, unassuming, condescending, social ministers of the cross; they have made a class of men, supporters of despotism and despots: and who have. just as far as they have offered such support, effectually rejected the word of their Saviour and God."

is no

And yet, with all this heavy work, there 'anger, malice, or uncharitableness." The writer's command of temper is admirable. The style is that of a scholar and a Christian. There are no bitter epithets, no coarse invectives, no twaddle. He denounces the crimes of the priesthood in no measured terms:

"Reformation in the church and reformation in the world is still, in a thousand ways, banked up and perverted by the vain, ambitious, despotic, lordling claims of a perverted priesthood, or wouldbe priests! The ministry, the professed ministry of the redeeming Christ, I believe, in my conscience, is-in its exorbitant claims, in the first place, its enormous position in the second, its worldliness and inactivity in the third-the great eurse of the church, and, by that, the great curse of the world. Would to God that all of them would condescend to the humility, self-annihilation, and laboriousness and benevolence of a Paul! High notions would vanish away, extravagant claims would die, despotism would be buried, and the church would experience a glorious resurrection to eternal life.'

We heartily commend this well-timed volume to the careful study not only of Wesleyan Methodists, but of Christians of all denominations. The subject is one to which none of them can afford to be indifferent, and the temper of the times gives it a special importance just now. T. G.

Infidelity: its Cause and Cure. By the Rev. DAVID NELSON, M.D. London: G. Routledge.

FROM the earliest history of Christianity its progress has been impeded by two great enemies, both springing from one source, and each by its reaction increasing the power of the other. These enemies are Superstition and Rationalism, or Credulity and Unbelief: their common parents are Ignorance and Indolence. To an uninformed and depraved mind it is easier to receive and swallow, without examination or question, all the fables and traditions which the darkness of remote ages, or the tricks of designing men have originated, than it is to dig for the truth, and separate it from the superincumbent mass of error with which it is so frequently overlaid;

and hence it is that we find thousands in the full possession of a sound mind, believ ing or rather receiving with unquestioning credulity, all the mummeries of Romanism in an age of popular education, wide-spread intelligence, and cheap Bibles. Again; with another class of minds not better informed, and not less indolent, but endowed with a less capacity for indiscriminate faith, it is easier to reject, wholesale, belief in everything beyond the gross facts of the material universe, and the daily recurring wants of mere animal existence, than to sift the truth from the follies which have startled their reason; and hence the existence, in an age of unparalleled religious effort, and after eighteen centuries of Christian preaching, of the wide-spread infidelity which unfortunately characterises our own day. One of the most prolific sources of unbelief is the reaction caused by superstition; and hence we find that in Catholic countries have sprung up the most virulent and rancorous of infidel writers. As ignorance is the chief cause of opposition to Christianity, whether it be the opposition of superstition or of unbelief, it follows that the best means of removing such opposition is the spread of information, and the increase of facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the truth.

The volume before us, an American reprint, is designed to facilitate inquiries as to the truth of Christianity, and is well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed. It is not a summary of the evidences of Christianity so much as an indication of where these evidences may be found. The author having himself wandered in the mazes of infidelity, aims rather at pointing out the various causes of unbelief, and suggesting the antidotes for these various causes, than at establishing the truth of Christianity by any specific line of argument. He desires chiefly to stimulate investigation, and at the same time direct its course so as to secure the best results with the least weariness. The volume is well calculated to secure the attention of many who would be deterred from reading a more elaborate work. Its style is clear and convincing, abounding with anecdote and illustration, and full of varied interest. We cordially recommend it to all interested in the faith of the young.

The History of the Sunday-school Union.

By WILLIAM HENRY WATSON, Senior Secretary. London: Sunday-school Union. This volume is issued as a Jubilee Memorial of the Sunday-school Union. It

contains a brief history of the origin of Sunday-schools generally, and a complete and interesting narrative of the establishment of the Union and of its progress during the first half century of its history. The perusal of this work is strikingly suggestive of the want of some more comprehensive history, which should more fully illustrate the progress and influence of the Sunday-school system generally, rather than simply rehearse the history of the Union, and that chiefly in its business aspect. In the absence of a work of wider scope, this volume will be read with much interest by all concerned for the religious education of the young, and will, we trust, furnish the foundation for a more comprehensive work.

Female Piety; or, the Young Woman's Friend and Guide through Life to Immortality. By JOHN ANGELL JAMES. London: Hamilton and Co.

THESE are twelve sermons, preached in Carr's lane Chapel, Birmingham, on the last Sabbath morning of each month in 1852, and though not exhibiting, we think, all the vigour of Mr. James's earlier productions, will be found highly calculated to benefit the future wives and mothers of the land. This venerable and justly esteemed author has the knack of saying things, on very delicate subjects, in a way that will not crimson the cheek of the most modest spinster with shame, nor awaken in the bosom of virgin purity one forbidden desire. An enumeration of the subjects of discourse will be sufficient to commend them to the attention of every friend of female youth. These are, "The Influence of Christianity on the Condition of Woman;""The Conspicuous Place which Woman sustains in Scripture ;" "Woman's Mission;""Early Female Piety;" "Female Religious Zeal;" "The Young Woman at Home;" "The Young Woman from Home;" "The Character of Rebekah;" "The Ornaments of Female Profession of Religion;" "To Young Mothers; "Solomon's Description of a Virtuous Woman."

Leila Ada, the Jewish Convert. An Authentic Memoir. By O. W. T. HEIGHWAY. Second edition. Partridge and Oakey. UNLESS physiognomy be all a delusion, or unless the artist has flattered the original, the portrait of Leila will not fail to captivate the reader as soon as he has opened the book; nor will the reader, passing over the first twenty-seven pages of the introduction, which is unwisely extended, cease to be captivated less by the letter

press than by the engraving. It is long since we read so attractive, and elegant, and intellectual a biography. If our space would permit, we should have been glad to give an extended review to this most touching and superior volume. Leila was no ordinary person. Her intellectual powers were of high order; her personal appearance fascinating; her moral character, before she came under the power of Christianity, lovely; and her death, which occurred when she was little more than twenty years of age, calmly triumphant. Early she developed, with much sweetness of temper, a mind of much vigour, as appears from the numerous and admirable extracts from her journal and portfolio. We subjoin one, the first that greets our eye :

"The blue deep skies

Dissolve in radiance, like a summer cloud;
Pure spirit melodies float past mine ear
From many a stringing harp. Let me, too, join
The mingling music of their mighty song.

To Thee, well-spring of love, who gave the Son;
To Thee, the Conqueror, the Victor-King;
To Thee, the Holy One, who sanctified
And gave my hopes of yon immortal crown,
I come-receive my winging soul!"

She loved Nature; and when but about seventeen years of age writes feelingly of "the greensward on which I have so often sported, the groves which have so often rang with my wild and girlish joy,-the sweet river, whose constant changes and whose lulling murmurs give a sweet variety and music to the scene,-and ye, my lovely flowers, whose culture has so often engaged my time and attention, and led me to look

"To Him whose sun exalts, Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints."

The only child of a wealthy and educated son of Abraham, whose happiness after the early death of his wife seemed all centred in his daughter, possessed of beauty which surrounded her as a mantle, while her cultivated mind and amiable disposition threw around her an influence superior to any of the short-lived fascinations of personal charms; highly accomplished, and capable of reading and writing several languages with fluency; educated in, and really an ornament to, the principles of the Jewish ritual; living in a mansion nestled in scenes of quiet and picturesque beauty, such as abound in the west of England, Leila had an earthly paradise, and seemed like a spirit of innocence and love tenanting its bowers.

We are sorry that we cannot give our readers an outline of her history, particularly of the circumstances that first suggested a doubt as to the soundness of her

Jewish faith, the process by which she was led to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,

-the fortitude with which she contemplated the trials that awaited her confession of faith in the Nazarene,-the affecting letter which she left on her father's dressingtable at night, and in which she avows in terms in which the love of the disciple and the affection of the daughter are most powerfully made manifest,-the interview next morning at breakfast,-the heartrending scene when the loving father, distressed at his daughter's apostacy, sends her from home, fondly hoping that in the society of other Jews, and under the instructions of the rabbis, she would be recovered from her disgraceful abandonment of the religious faith of the seed of Abraham,-the persecution that she endured from these rulers of the synagogue, -her return to her father's house,-her happy death, her father's conversion ;— all these are detailed with touching interest, and will, as the reader peruses them, chain him down to the page, and force him to drop many a tear upon it.

The authenticity of the memoir is unquestionable, as its interest is extraordinary. It is not a tale of fiction; it is a narrative

Farsley, near Leeds, July 26th, 1853. SIR,-In your periodical for the present month (page 257), speaking of The Society for Irish Church Missions," you state that its income for the last year was 13,8997. 12s. 2d.; adding, "That you had been curious enough to look over the list of subscriptions printed at the end of the Report, and you find of the total amount of its income, exactly 10%. was contributed by the whole bench of Bishops in Ireland."

Seeing that statement, I wrote to a friend of mine in Dublin, telling him of the aforesaid statement being inserted in a periodical (without stating in which). I have just received his reply; which is as follows, namely: "I know that some of the Irish bishops have given largely-yea, are supporting missionaries and Scripturereaders out of their own pockets-the Archbishop of Dublin and his family have given, in one sum, 8007.! besides many other gifts in the past year! The bishops of Tuam, Cashel, &c., have also given large sums. The Society have taken a large house in Townsend-street, in the midst of Popery and poverty, and fitted it

up for public worship, &c. Every day there are meetings in it for reading the Scriptures, conversation, prayer, &c. It is a ragged church, in fact. The attendants are many of them reformed Papists. On the last occasion, when they had the Lord's Supper, the Archbishop's wife and two daughters attended, and joined with the poor, many of them in rags, in partaking, &c., and one of his daughters is a Sundayschool teacher in the resort of the poor! The 8007. is their gift, to build on the premises a place of worship large enough for the crowds who attend. And it is in contemplation, I hear, to have similar places in various poor districts of the city and Ragged Sunday-schools, and Daily schools connected with them, as above!

Yours, &c.

T. T.

[The article in which the statement in question appeared was copied (and acknowledged) from the Christian Spectator, a highly respectable and trustworthy periodical. How the discrepancy occurs we are unable to state; but we have pleasure in making the correction.

EDITOR, Wesley Banner.]