other days, until they wrung from a rapacious nobility something like a provision for the wants, religious and educational, of Scotland's children—and that they are her champions still, who are most resolute in proclaiming to the rulers of the nation, in the spirit of the olden time of Presbytery," that it is of necessity that they be most careful for the virtuous education and godly up bringing of the youth throughout the realm." Their testimony may be, for a time, unheeded; yet will they have the elevating consciousness, that they have faithfully and nobly discharged their duty to the church, and to the poor and ignorant of all denominations of their countrymen; and although troublous times may be at hand, and darker, for the nation and the church, than those that have preceded them, yet let not any be disheartened, for the triumph of Infidelity and Antichrist will soon be over, and then, amid the general upturning of all systems of iniquity, will that word of prophecy be gloriously realized, "wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure." G.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The MANUAL of FAMILY and PRIVATE DEVOTION; consisting of Prayers, Original and Selected. By J. COCHRANE, A. M. Edinburgh: Fraser & Co. P. p. 342.

1835.

PRAYER is the element in which the Christian lives. Whatever, therefore, is calculated to promote it, we hail with gratitude and pleasure, We should indeed regret, if ever the form of prayer should be substituted for its spirit, or if Christians should be content with the use of forms in such an exercise, to the neglect of their own immediate and unsuggested pleadings with God. Nevertheless, forms of prayer we hold to be of unspeakable benefit in the church. There are timid and untaught heads of families, who will not venture to conduct the devotions of their families, without them; there are others who make beginnings with them, and soon attain to the better method of praying without them; some who use them partially, adding their own thoughts and desires to them; and others occasionally, that their exercises may be the more varied and profitable; while there is no Christian who may not derive much aid from the well digested prayers of others, even in his secret exercises, when his mind may be dull and needs to be enlivened, or contracted and requires to be expanded. This much we must say on behalf of forms of prayer; yet would we, at the same time, earnestly recommend that the Christian, whether in secret or in social exercises, should not confine himself to them. No forms can contain all he wishes to say to God, or express it in the way he desires. He has sins to confess, blessings to ask, and

mercies to own, which no man or form can express for him. Forms of prayer are useful as helps to the exercise, but let no Christian make them its substitutes. On this principle, the volume before us has our most hearty recommendation. We have seen no volume of prayers, in our judgment, comparable to it. The sentiments are sound; the spirit devoutly earnest; and the necessities of the suppliant well conceived and expressed. It contains great variety, in both matter and manner; indeed, there are few situations in which the Christian can be placed, to which there is not some thing adapted. And he who will use it, in the right spirit, as a help to devotion, will derive from it much edification. On the whole, we cannot better recommend it to our readers, than by inserting the following letter to its author, from the Rev. Dr. Chalmers: "I have read more than half your Manual of Devotion; as I do not attempt more than two prayers in the day, it may be some time before I accomplish the perusal of it. There is no book of the kind which I have better relished, or more highly approved of. I anticipated a very superior collection, because I have ever thought, that a better volume of Prayers might be formed out of those which are already published, than by the composition of original ones. In this anticipation, I have not been disappointed. I am not able, in fact, to name another book of prayers, whether for personal or family use, that I could recommend more highly; and it will afford me great pleasure, if you will be pleased to accept of it, to furnish a brief prefatory notice to that effect in two or three weeks, after I shall have perused the whole volume. There is a deal of substance and appropriateness, I think, in your preliminary prayers."

THE EXPECTATION AND DUTY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. A Sermon; preached by appointment of the General Committee of the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in Dublin. By Mr. THOMAS M'FANN. P. D. HARDY, Dublin. P.p. 22.

THE text of this discourse is Matt. iii. 2. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is divided into three parts. I. The nature of this kingdom, where it is shewn, 1st, that is is spiritual; 2d, benevolent; 3d, powerful; 4th, and to be universal. II. Some considerations, to shew that the more general extension of this kingdom is at hand. 1st, The age in which we live. 2d, The signs of the times. 3d, The simultaneous efforts to hasten it. III. The duty to which we are called in prospect of the universal extension of this kingdom. Repent ye. 1st, On account of pegligence. 2d, For want of success. 3d, It will induce a spirit of sacrifice. 4, It will overcome difficulties. 5, Promote union. 6, Strengthen other graces. 7, Keep us humble. As the arrangement of the discourse intimates, it is plain, simple, and sensible. There is nothing in it to offend any class of Christians, and all may read it with pleasure and profit. It is very creditable to its author; and we bid him God speed, while he preaches such truths, and presents them in such a form of simplicity and plainness.

ORDINATION.-On Friday, the 22d instant, the Rev. Wm. Brown was ordained to the Pastoral charge of the newly erected Congregation of Buncrana. The services were conducted by the Rev. A. Clements, the Rev. R. Dill, and Rev. Wm. M'Clure.

THE

ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

No. LXXVII. FEBRUARY, 1836. VOL. VII.

UNITARIANISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

SIR, I wish to notice, in your pages, an important subject, and one which, I conceive, is calculated to impress the mind with the great necessity of receiving the truth and guarding against error. In this part of the world, we have had too many examples of the manner in which Arians and Socinians have been accustomed to conceal their sentiments, while, under the guise of Orthodoxy, they have all the while been endeavouring to undermine the truth, and root out every vestige of the Gospel. We need not refer to the different cases around us, when utter want of principle has influenced persons to subscribe Orthodox creeds which they believed not-when they have wantonly broken into the fold, despising the solemnities of obligations, and, for years, have laboured to pull down what they had to God and man protested they would uphold. The Church has been roused; and it has been taught, again and again, that if Arianism is to be judged of by its moral tendency, as displayed in the conduct of its professors and teachers, we have it demonstrated that it cannot be of God. It is some time since Andrew Fuller, in his Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Compared, "successfully proved, that the Socinian who was consistent, could have very little contrition for falling into sin, as he considered it a small evil in the sight of God." The Synod of Ulster has, of late, found that this has been exemplified too often in the conduct of some, who, despising all ties that ordinarily bind the reputable members of society, have disgraced themselves before the world, and given their Orthodox brethren a sample of what they would do, if more were in their power. Blessed be God, his people of old were enabled to bear the "spoiling of their

N

goods," and, in our day, they have testified that they can endure much for the sake of peace, and the Gospel.

The circumstances of the Church have, of late, called for loud and continued discussion; for, as long as the enemies of the truth appealed to the law and to the testimony, it was necessary that they should be met and refuted from the Word of God; and, verily, there is cause for the Church to be thankful that the victory has been so triumphant, that the truth has been so clearly established, that God has acknowledged his cause by the revival that we have experienced. The press and the platform have both contributed to shew the consistency and stability of Orthodoxy, and the danger of receiving a lie for the truth. I mean not to occupy your pages with a review of the controversy-neither do I wish to notice any of the common arguments by which the doctrine of our Lord's Deity is proved, as these are now generally known. I wish, however, to submit to your readers a view of the subject that has often appeared to me calculated to impress the serious and reflecting with much gratitude for the saving knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus.

Satan is the god of this world, he rules in the children of disobedience, and from the whole tenor of the word of God, we are induced to believe, that he exercises much power over the carnal mind. No doubt, when, by his suggestions, man fell into sin, he concluded that all was lost, and that one, at least, of the fair works of God was for ever defaced-man's happiness destroyed-the design of God frustrated, and his own dominion enlarged.

We can believe that Satan would have rejoiced with joy unspeakable, if God had instantaneously visited Adam with everlasting misery, or even annihilation. He found, however, that, although man fell, God had purposes of mercy towards his people, and, by sending his well-beloved SON, he resolved to bring them to his fold again. We see Satan's enmity to our race before the fall;-that enmity, we know, has never abated. Is it not, then, credible, is it not natural, that when Satan found salvation was announced to Adam, by the work of the Messiah-in short, when he found that, in all ages, the preaching of the Gospel was to be the instrument of God's appointment for the restoration of his people-he would endeavour to misrepresent that Gospel-to corrupt it, and, if possible, to render it of none effect?

A medicine may be powerful to overcome disease, but if any of the constituent principles be changed or abstracted, it

will increase the malady, and hurry on the patient to the grave; and so in the moral world, when Satan knew that the Gospel was the power of God to man's salvation, his plan was, and now is, to counterfeit the Gospel, to forge a new Gospel, a false Gospel, and, by his artifices, endeavour to persuade men to embrace it, that again he may succeed in destroying immortal souls. Now, we ask any person to 'consider, for an instant, is it not to be expected that Satan would adopt such an artifice, and, by every stratagem in his power, press the system of his own contrivance on all to whom the genuine Gospel was addressed?

We have intimations, and very clear warnings, that such would be the policy of the Devil. We are guarded against all such attempts to deceive;-the light shines clearly, and it is the fault of the sinner, if he shut his eyes and refuse to walk by the light. But, further, in the Bible we have repeated declarations of man's inability to deliver himself from his present woeful condition; and God testifies, that salvation is altogether, from first to last, of his free and sovereign gracethat God laid the plan, provided the remedy, when none could furnish a sufficient ransom-that the application of the remedy in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and leading the sinner to Christ-that the upholding the sinner in the state of grace and warfare, and the final glorification of the believer, are all, of God's free and wondrous grace, bestowed on those who deserved nothing but his righteous indignation. Now this is a very humbling doctrine. Such statements are not calculated to make man think well of himself and his performances. In truth, they lay him in the dust, and tell him what the haughty worldling never yet has liked to dwell upon, that every sinner deserves the pains of hell, for ever; and if he ever should be saved, it cannot be by any meritorious working of his own. This is galling to the proud and haughty selfish heart of man, that will still endeavour to bring an offering of its own to recommend itself to God. The Bible, also, contains mysterious truths, for it speaks of God and his attributes, and the hidden things of God and eternity. Now of necessity the revelation that touches on such subjects, no matter how much it may state what is cognizable by finite minds, it must of necessity introduce some things that shall be mysterious and incomprehensible by us. Man, however, would know all things; and, therefore, when proud and unsubdued reason rules, a mystery shall ever be rejected, and poor, blind, ignorant man, of limited power, and finite conceptions, would scale the heavens and know the Almighty to perfection.