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that it should be approved, and be allowed to be used in the churches. Dr. McFarland moved that it be referred for examination to the Presbyteries who should report their suggestions for its amendment to the committee in time to enable them to make a final report to the next Assembly. This motion was lost by a vote of 57 to 50. The Assembly then proceeded to vote on the book in detail, long enough to show that such a body was utterly unfit for such business. A motion was then made to refer the book to the same committee with directions to make such alterations as their own judgment or the suggestions of others might dictate, and to report it together with the book of Psalms to the next Assembly. This motion prevailed. On the day before the close of the sessions Mr. Smith moved a reconsideration of the last mentioned vote, which motion requiring two-thirds, was lost. Dr. Breckinridge then moved, That in view of the minute of the Assembly of last year and this year in regard to the new Psalm and Hymn Book, the Assembly order that the Committee on the said book be and they hereby are authorized to go on, and, at their discretion print the book containing the Psalms now in use together with the new selection of Hymns which has been laid before this Assembly. And the book so printed shall be laid before the next Assembly and is authorized to be used in the churches. Yeas 59, nays 11.

2. Resolved, That our ministers and members individually, and the Presbyteries are invited to communicate to this committee such suggestions as may appear best to them before the first day of December next, addressing their communications post paid to the chairman, Rev. Dr. W. W. Phillips, New York, and the committee shall not put the book to press before the first day of December next. Yeas 60, nays 11.

These resolutions were obviously out of order, as the Assembly had made a different disposition of the book, by a vote which they refused to reconsider. However, we are in favour of the majority having their own way; and as a large majority of the house were in favour of final action on the subject we are glad the matter has been thus disposed of. The responsibility resting on the committee is very great, and it is probable they will execute their task as much to the satisfaction of the churches, as any committee would be likely to do. But we are free to confess that there are many things in the book laid before the Assembly which we think

ought not to be there; hymns which we consider unsuitable for the worship of God. Some of them are mere sentimental effusions; some exhortatory addresses to sinners; some objectionable from the lightness of their measure, and others for their want of all poetic excellence. As this is a matter in which every body is concerned, every body thinks he has a right to be pleased, and therefore feels that he has a right to find fault. We trust that the impossibility of pleasing every body will not lead the committee to determine to please nobody.

QUARTERLY LIST

OF

NEW BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.

Horae Solitariae: or, Essays upon some remarkable names and titles of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, occurring in the Old and New Testaments, and declarative of their essential Divinity and gracious offices in the redemption and salvation of men. To which is annexed, an essay, chiefly historical, upon the doctrine of the Trinity; and a brief account of the heresies relative to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which have been published since the Christian era. By Ambrose Serle, Esq. Complete in one volume. New-York: Robert Carter, 58 Canal street. 1842. pp. 708. 8vo.

A beautiful specimen of Glasgow typography, though published at NewYork. It is surely unnecessary to recommend to our elder readers, the writings of Serle. To those who are younger, it may be seasonable to say, that the book here republished is from the pen of a learned and pious layman, and that it has always been a favourite work with that class of orthodox Christians, who love to dwell upon the names and person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It tends, in every page, to exalt the Redeemer, and to invite the soul to commune with Him. Where there is any prevalence of Socinian infection, it is one of the best preservatives and antidotes which could be recommended. It contains much doctrine and much experience; so intermingled, that the doctrine is never dry, nor the experience ever unsound. The Horae Solitariae was a favourite work of William Romaine, who often mentions it in his correspondence, and who was an intimate friend of the author. This is not to be wondered at, when we observe how constantly the discussion of abstruse theological points is, in these pages, made to pass, by the easiest transition, into the expression of faith and love, and the language of tender Christian emotion. We are persuaded, that no pious reader will judge otherwise of the volume, or regret the purchase of it, on this recommendation. Life of Thomas McCrie, D. D., author of the Life of John Knox, Life of Melville, Lectures on Esther, &c. &c. By his son, the Rev. Thos. Mc Crie. Wm. S. Young, 173 Race street.

It is very natural, when we have been pleased and instructed by a book, to wish to know something of the life and private character of the author. The writings of Dr. McCrie are among the best on ecclesiastical history which have

been published for a century. Indeed he has done more to elucidate the history of the origin and progress of the reformation in Scotland, than all other writers; and the fidelity and accuracy with which he has recorded facts, have never been called in question. He has also done eminent service to the church by rescuing from undeserved opprobium the character of such men as Knox and Melville, and has by an authentic statement of facts, exhibited these Scottish worthies in their true light. Perhaps no works have had so much efficiency in producing in Scotland a revival of the evangelical doctrines of the reformation. The life of this excellent and useful man has been prepared by his son, also a minister of the gospel, and evidently partaking, in a high degree, of the excellent traits, which shone so illustriously in his deceased father. It is always pleasing to find eminent men succeeded by sons who emulate their virtues, and resemble them in the soundness of their opinions, and in the vigour of their intellectual powers.

Comfort in Affliction: a Series of Meditations, by James Buchanan, D. D., High Church, Edinburgh. First American, from the ninth Edinburgh Edition. R. Carter: New-York.

The American editor has performed an acceptable and valuable service to the religious community, by publishing this little volume of Meditations, which has been so popular in Scotland, that it has passed through nine editions already. The work is evidently the production of a mind mature in piety, and capable of taking deep and comprehensive views of the truths of the Gospel. It is written in a style remarkably terse, but so perspicuous, that it is level to the meanest capacity. We take pleasure, therefore, in recommending these "Meditations" as well suited to point out the true sources of consolation to all serious inquirers.

Theopneusty, or the Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. By S. R. L. Gaussen, Professor of Theology in Geneva. Translated by E. N. Kirk. New York. John S. Taylor & Co. 1842. 12 mo. pp. ix, 343.

Mr. Gaussen, the author of this seasonable treatise, is Professor of Theology in the Theological School at Geneva. The translator, we need scarcely say, is pastor of a Congregational Church in Boston, but more widely known as a zealous evangelist and as the Secretary of the Foreign Evangelical Society. Mr. Kirk has given a valuable work to the American public, and we are not sure that he could have made a better selection. It establishes and vindicates the thorough-going, old-school doctrine of the plenary inspiration of the scriptures. Though this doctrine has never, so far as we know, been formally denied, among ourselves, it has been rejected and derided on the continent of Europe, and allowed to go into neglect among certain theologians in America. The book before us will be a useful one, for both these classes. It will be read, understood, and felt, by those who would throw aside with a sneer the productions of a Scottish or an American author. It is boldly argumentative, in a high and uncommon degree; and, if we may say so without the opportunity of collation with the original, it is well translated. Mr. Gaus

sen has transfused into his discussion all the fervour of his nation, and even where his method and his way of giving us the argument, are most unlike our own, he awakens our attention and commands our respect.

The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice; or a Defence of the Catholic Doctrine that Holy Scripture has been since the times of the Apostles the sole Divine Rule of Faith and Practice to the Church, against the dangerous errors of the Authors of the Tracts for the Times, and the Romanists, as particularly, that the Rule of Faith is "made up of Scripture and Tradition together;" &c. In which also the Doctrines of the Apostolical Succession, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, &c., are fully discussed. By William Goode, M. A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, Rector of St. Antholen, London. 2 volumes. Philad. Herman Hooker. 1842. pp. 494, 604.

It needs only a cursory examination of this work to shew, that it will more vex and harass the Tractators and their humble followers, than any thing which has been published. The latter, as we are informed, have already begun to sneer, and to enquire who this new disputant may be: they are like to know him, before long, as one whose blows will be remembered, who copes with them within their own lists, in their own armour, and with greatly more than their own straightforwardness and logic. It is a book which reminds us of the old-time argumentation, in which every point was proved, and every objection answered, with an overwhelming copiousness of reason and authority. But it is not possible to say, within a few pages, what would be just If we return to him, in a future number, it will be to exhibit his triumph over the semi-papists of Oxford.

Episcopal Bishops the Successors of the Apostles. The Sermon preached in St. Paul's church, Detroit, on Sunday, February 13, 1842, at the ordination of the Reverend Montgomery Schuyler, to the Priesthood, and Sabin Hough and Edward Hodgkin, to the Deaconship. By the Right Reverend Samuel Allen McCoskry, D. D. Published by request. Detroit, 1842: pp. 43. 8vo.

The pious and amiable author of this sermon is "episcopal bishop" of Michigan, and there is no man whom we should more cheerfully believe, if it were possible, when he assures us that, on this occasion, he has “shown that the Apostles received full power to rule and govern the church from Christ; that they very early transferred that power to others, and that the office was continued in the church; that it was supreme; and that they established two inferior grades in the ministry to which was given limited powers, derived entirely from the Apostles, and the Bishops, their succesors." The good Bishop adds, "How any one can resist the testimony, I know not." He ought to know, however, that the power of " resisting testimony" very much depends upon the relevancy, clearness, and conclusiveness of that which is "resisted;" and that those who have been able to resist the learned and ingenious sophistry of "Episcopacy tested by Scripture," may without any superhuman power of resistance, be expected to withstand a paraphrastical abridgment of that celebrated tract, presented in the less imposing form of an

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