from the soul of such a man, the spectacle of a crucified Redeemer, in the character of the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

Adhering to the title, to the motto, and to the avowed object of this volume, we shall take up the subject of the "Corner-stone," the sure foundation which God has laid; and by shewing the several false aspects under which he is presented to the reader, we hope to be the means of cautioning some parents against placing in the hands of their children and youthful acquaintance, a work which, we verily believe, they cannot peruse without the most imminent peril of being infected with principles, and misled by doctrines, utterly opposed to the simplicity of gospel truth. We shall prefer making use of the author's own language, to avoid the imputation of perverting his meaning, and mis-stating his sentiments; and then let the Christian parent, who is conversant with the scriptures of truth, decide, whether our expressions are too strong, or our condemnation too absolute.

What is the Christian faith? That the Word, the co-existent, co-eternal Son of God, took flesh, and dwelt among us. His conception and birth were the subject of distinct prophecy, even from the fall of Adam: and that mysterious conception was absolutely necessary to his fitness for the work which he came to fulfil. He was made without sin; that he might be altogether a spotless, unblemished Being, a pure and perfect sin-offering for the guilty world. This fact must first be established, for, upon its hinges turns the whole mystery of our redemption. The Deity, thus incarnate, abode among men, perfectly, and, in all its points, fulfilling the whole law,

that we, who had irretrievably broken it, who have no righteousness of our own, might enjoy the benefit, and reap the reward of his perfectly righteous obedience, for the sake of which, God can, and does, become the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus. His death, indeed, was the door which opened to us the benefits of his life; since he suffered altogether in our stead, satisfying the justice, vindicating the holiness, and establishing the truth of Him who will by no means clear the guilty; and who had solemnly proclaimed "The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Laid low in the grave, a surety for us, Christ, by his own power, arose from the dead, thus openly proving that the debt was paid, the Divine Creditor satisfied, and the gate of eternal life opened to all who should, by faith, establish a claim to membership with this their glorified Head. How simple, how grand, is even the faintest outline of such a work! Christ was "delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification." God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." He is indeed the "Chief Corner-stone," and who but must perceive, that his immaculate conception, his birth of a pure virgin, as the commencement, and his resurrection and ascension, as the consummation, of this finished work, are integral parts-facts absolutely necessary to be known, in order to establish his character of a Foundation, whereon to build our sure hope of a glorious eternity?

Yet, not a word, not an allusion, that can for a moment tend to bring to mind either of these great points, is contained in Mr. Abbott's book. Nay, even so early as the fourth page, we find the first

of them thus glossed over. The subject having abruptly commenced at the period when the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph return; and find him: then, His mother, for the narrative, true to nature and to fact, makes the mother the foremost parent in every thing connected with the search for their Son does not reproach him.' Now, could any thing, but a desire to conciliate the spirit of Socinian infidelity, suggest such a paragraph; where, if an allusion to Mary's exclusive claim to the mortal parentage of Jesus be glanced at-which we doubt-it is done in such a covert way that the veriest unbeliever cannot cavil at it? And in the next paragraph, Mary is described as regarding him with deep interest, not as the subject of prophecy, not as the child whose approaching birth was announced to her by an angel, not as he whom Simeon and Anna had greeted as their SALVATION; but as, 'A boy who had never spoken an impatient or disrespectful word; who had never manifested an unkind or a selfish feeling; who bad never disobeyed, never failed in his duty; but had, for twelve long years, never given father or mother an unnecessary step, or a moment's uneasiness, or neglected any thing which could give them pleasure.'

Then follows the author's explanation of this singular appearance of so perfect a being: and surely it is most startling, to those who have simply read their bibles. We are told that there is no local heaven, and to prove it, that we can actually look, into the sky, and see that there is none: that there is no sort of personality whatsoever in the Deity: who is represented to be everywhere, in such a sense, that He must actually be nowhere: and that we could

not have known what to address as God, had he not revealed himself to us in the bodily form of Jesus Christ that we could not have learnt the will, no nor the Being, the attributes, the intellectual powers' of the invisible Deity, but by the lips of Jesus Christ. 'How,' the author asks, how can such a Being exhibit the moral principle by which his mighty energies are all controuled?' We should reply, By the bible.' But really this work places Jesus Christ before us, as the papists place their images, merely as a visible object, whereby to frame an idea of that which is invisible-how low, how derogatory to the dignity of our Lord's mission this is, we need not express.

Let the reader peruse the following short passages, and say whether they do not grate upon those feelings of awe and reverence, wherewith God, manifest in the flesh, is regarded by his people-whether they do not convey an idea of as mere a manhood, as any Socinian can desire. After quoting the beautiful notice of the "lilies of the field," he proceeds,—' A cold, heartless man, without taste or sensibility, would not have said such a thing as that. He could not; and we may be as sure that Jesus Christ had stopped to examine and admire the grace and beauty of the plant, and the exquisitely penciled tints of its petal, as if we had actually seen him bending over it, or pointing it out to the attention of his disciples.' (page 61.) Again, 'He observed every thing; and his imagination was stored with an inexhaustible supply of images, drawn from every source, and with those he illustrated and enforced his principles, in a manner altogether unparalleled by any writings sacred or profane.' (page 63.) Do we recognize in

this description the CREATOR of all those things? We must add one more passage that struck us painfully, as a most irreverent comparison.— There was less noise, less parade, less display; but for the real sublimity of courage, the spectacle of this deserted and defenceless sufferer coming at midnight to meet the betrayer and his band, far exceeds that of Napoleon urging on his columns over the bridge of Lodi, or even that of Regulus returning to his chains.' (page 39.)

It may be conceded that this is in bad taste: but we contend that such expressions put infinite dishonour on the adorable subject of them: and we must also notice the studious avoidance of any recurrence to that great "testimony of Jesus," "the Spirit of prophecy." For instance, after the somewhat bold assertion, that Jesus Christ had a taste for beauty, both of nature and art; he admired the magnificent architecture of the temple, and deeply lamented the necessity of its overthrow'—we read,

and his dress was at least of such a character, that the disposal of it was a subject of importance to the well-paid soldiers, who crucified him.' (page 51.)

Enough of this: Jesus Christ is described as a good, a wise, a prudent, an elegant, a faithful, a bold, an energetic, a devoted MAN: and nothing more. We have not picked out detached sentences to cavil at them: we read with feelings sometimes amounting to horror, many pages of precisely the same import; and we have transcribed these passages, in explanation of what we boldly denounce as the Socinianizing tendency of the book, as respects the person of Jehovah our Redeemer.

With regard to the doctrine which it promulgates,