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We rejoice, however, in higher recognitions than this. We cannot help feeling, as we look through the admirable volume before us, and trace the ever

its inspired fountain, through the Greek and Latin churches, and through the dark and tangled mass of medieval superstition, to its fresh and glorious outburst of German song at the Reformation, and to the age of Watts and Wesley, how easy the heavenly solution of sectarian differ

piety was better than their poetry, and they had drank more of Jordan than of Helicon "-and, according to its varieties of high or low church tendency, it has almost in every parish had recourse to col-widening stream of church song from lections of medieval or evangelical hymns; each congregation stretching its hand beyond the strict pale of its own ecclesiastical fellowship to those with whom it has the most affinities. Wherever an evangelical minister preaches, the rich compositions of Watts, and Doddridge, and Wesley, and Montgomery are heard; whilst in almost every church where the clergyman is of the hierarchical school, some revival of medieval hymns is attempted. And it must be confessed that many of these have been translated and adapted with great felicity and beauty, and are calculated to be of permanent value to the church.

Even the Scottish Presbyterian churches are beginning to crave something more euphonious and varied than their rugged version of the Psalms, and the few paraphrases thereto appended; and one or two Presbyterian supplements have recently fallen into our hands. To Nonconformists, however, the chief glory of our modern hymnology belongs. Great, indeed, would be the void in the devotional lyrics of the church, if the compositions of Watts, and Wesley, and Doddridge, and Montgomery, and Conder, were blotted out. They still remain the mighty masters of modern church song; although in affirming this we are not unmindful of the precious contributions of Bishop Ken, and Jeremy Taylor, and George Sandys, and Herbert, and Toplady, and Heber, and Newton, and Lyte. The appearance of a genuine and good hymn is, as Montgomery says, as rare as a comet. And whether it be the timorousness engendered by a well-tutored conformity to Episcopal authority, or to a stereotyped ritual in a consecrated place, on the one hand,—or the freedom of ritual emancipation, and the necessities of uncanonical meeting-houses and street corners, on the other, it is certain that the great majority of the hymns that have taken hold of the popular mind have been awakened o life upon Nonconforming lyres.

ences may be. Whatever religious

men may say, they all sing alike. In theology they may differ; they are one in their religion. They stand aloof when mere notions determine their position; they come very close together when the impulses of the heart are followed. Sacred song is emphatically the utterance of the religious heart, and, whatever a man's theological notions, if he be a truly religious man, his prayer and his praise will awaken a sympathy in every other religious heart. The sweet singer of Israel may, with his dim Jewish light, celebrate his temple privileges, and glory in its sacerdotal service; and yet, because of his intense religiousness, his Psalms remain the highest utterances of the most enlightened and spiritual Christian hearts. So through the ages of the church, however wide the range of Christian song, however distant or different its singers,whether we sing a "Te Deum" with Ambrose, a "Jesu dulcis memoria" with Bernard, an "Ein feste burg ist unser Gott" with Luther, "Come, let us join our cheerful songs" with Watts, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me" with Toplady, or "Jesus, lover of my soul" with Wesley,-whether it be with a king like Charlemagne, or a monk like Abelard, a bishop like Ken or Heber, or a Nonconformist layman like Conder,in this they stand upon common ground, their polemical swords laid aside, the helmets of their warfare doffed, and, with uncovered heads and uplifted hands, they utter their common heart-worship. And these heart-utterances of theirs are marvellously alike; their sect is lost in their song; and it is only to imagine this perfected in heaven, to understand the song

and the brotherhood of the great multi- just discrimination. Translations of both tude before the throne.

The authoress of the first of these volumes evidently feels this, and makes her readers feel it in every page. Consciously or unconsciously, it is the spirit in which the book is conceived, and which it aims to impart. It traces a common Christian life through every age and form of Christian song. The notices of hymns and hymn writers are broad and intelligent, and conceived in a spirit of catholic sympathy with whatever is good, wherever it may be found. The charity of the writer naturally takes the form of eulogy, but the eulogy is not without acute and

Greek and Latin, and German and even Swedish hymns, are given as illustrative specimens, some of them evincing considerable poetic skill. The style is somewhat rhetorical and rythmical, often passing into a kind of prose song-very pleasant and beautiful, and imbued commonly with the hue and harmony of its theme. We know of no book from which a broader and juster idea of Christian hymnody can be obtained. We have read and reread it with profit and pleasure. The "Hymns of the Church Militant" form an appropriate appendix to the "Voice of Christian Life,"

BRIEF NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

A FUNERAL SERMON: Preached at Maberly Chapel, Kingsland, by the Rev. E. M. DAVIS, on the Occasion of the Death of the Rev. R. Philip. London: Jackson and Walford.

In this discourse, from the words "I am the Resurrection and the Life," the preacher unfolds, with much impressiveness, the doctrine of the resurrection. We extract the following passage on the immediate blessedness of believers after death:-" Absent from the body, they are present with the Lord. The doleful echo of their last groan is not expired on earth, when heaven begins to echo the first notes of their new and everlasting song. While trembling and weeping relatives are yet in doubt whether the struggle be all over, attending angels are winging their flight to Paradise with the emancipated spirit; and long before the coldness of death has spread over the body, that spirit has begun to glow with the warmth of immortality and the ecstasies of the beatific vision in glory." The discourse contains a brief notice of the life and writings of Mr. Philip, showing that he was a useful and honoured servant of Christ, who lived not in vain.

It is a fitting tribute to his memory, and is gracefully dedicated, by his successor, to the widow and the church over which Mr. Philip presided for thirty-one years.

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THIS is a worthy tribute to the memory of one who was faithful in Israel, and who feared God above many. Mr. Wilson was a connecting link between the past and the present generation, and must have been well known to many of our readers for his disinterested and self-denying zeal in the service of Christ. May many be raised up who shall serve their generation as he served his!

This funeral sermon and memorial sketch of him, as well as the extracts from his correspondence, we have perused with great satisfaction. The little work containing them is well adapted for circulation, and will be read with interest far beyond the circle in which Mr. Wilson was known.

REVIVAL OF RELIGION: WHAT IT IS, AND HOW TO BE OBTAINED AND MANIFESTED. By JOHN BROWN, D.D., Edinburgh. Third Edition. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. THE contents of this little volume were originally published more than eighteen years ago, under the title, "Means and Manifestations of a genuine Revival of Religion." Two impressions were soon disposed of. It is a most valuable treatise, brief, scriptural, and judicious. We are glad to see it republished,

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and hope it may obtain a wide circulation. | conviction of the world-The Divine education We recommend the perusal of it to all who of the church-A word in season to the are interested in the revival of religion. weary," &c. &c.

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UNITY. By the CHIEF OF SINNERS. London: Partridge and Co. THE intention of the author of this work is doubtless excellent. Its publication, however, clearly shows that a good man is not always a judicious man. We marvel that the writer could give circulation to such specimens of profane swearing as we find in the notes at pp. 321 and 323. He surely forgot, when he inserted them, the Apostle's exhortation in Ephesians iv. 29.

LEAVES FROM A MINISTER'S PORTFOLIO. By the Rev. D. FRASER, A.M., Minister of the Free Church, Montreal.

The book is written with great taste and judgment, and is well fitted for the purpose for which it is designed.

THE EDEN FAMILY; Showing the Loss of our
Paradise Home, &c. By JEREMIAH DODS
WORTH, Minister of the Gospel.

London Partridge and Co.

MR. DODSWORTH has become well known in many circles by his former work, intituled, "The Better Land; or, the Christian Emigrant's Guide to Heaven." This volume on "The Eden Family," which is "only another form of expression for the human family," contains chapters on " Our heavenly Father

Our terrestrial abode-Our Eden ancestorsOur desert exile-Our glorious delivererOur gracious comforter-Our wilderness pilexpo-grimage-and Our paradise home." We do not always agree with Mr. Dodsworth in sentiment, nor do we always approve of his modes of illustration. There is so much in the book, however, that is excellent, and likely to be useful, that we can cordially wish for it as extensive a circulation as its predecessor. That has reached, we are told, 15,000 copies.

London: James Nisbet and Co. THIS little book contains no elaborate sition or treatise. "I have grouped together (says the author) sundry short papers on religions themes, meditative and illustrative, which may prove suitable reading, as I trust, for a Sabbath afternoon or evening at home." The following are some of these themes:--"Meditation-The soul asleep-The threefold

Chronicle.

THE MEN OF THE MONTH.
OCTOBER.

1. JAMES FORDYCE, D.D., was a native of Aberdeen, but in his later years minister of Monk well-street, London; he was a good man, and an accomplished and eloquent preacher. Died 1796, aged 76.

3. ROBERT BARCLAY, died 1690, in his forty-third year. Barclay was a Quaker, and became one of the most indefatigable promoters, and one of the most able and courageous defenders, of his principles. His great work is the well-known "Apology for the People called Quakers."

to be violent and overbearing in controversy. He died in 1806, at the age of 73.

5. JONATHAN EDWARDS, born 1703. This eminent minister and most able Christian philosopher and divine died of the small pox, in his 55th year.

- DR. ANDREW KIPPIS, a learned dissenting minister and writer of the last century, chiefly remembered for his edition of the "Biographia Britannica," died 1795, aged 70.

6. W. WORTHINGTON, D.D., a divine of the Church of England, a good man and a copious author, but whose writings are now but little known, died 1778, aged 75.

7. DR. THOMAS REID, the celebrated moral philosopher, died 1796, at the ad

4. PETER PAUL VERGERIUS, died 1565. This remarkable man, after being commissioned by two popes to visit Germany on the subject of a general council, became a Protestant. He patiently endured the trials which his adoption of Reforma-vanced age of 86. tion principles brought upon him, and wrote against the papal system.

BISHOP HORSLEY was an eminently learned man and a powerful writer, but restricted in his views on some questions, as that of religious liberty, and disposed

9. BISHOP GROSSETESTE, or GREATHEAD, a learned prelate, and a great name in the history of the English Church, for the resistance offered by him to papal abuses. He died in the year 1253, aged 78.

9. JUSTUS JONAS, a pious, useful, and much-honoured member of that noble body of men to whom, under God, we owe the Reformation; died 1554.

10. DR. DAVID RUSSELL, born 1779. He was a distinguished, able, and very successful minister of the gospel at Dundee. He died in 1848.

11. S. CLARKE, born 1675, at Norwich, and one of the most eminent divines of his age. He died in 1729.

12. THOMAS STAPLETON, professor at Louvain, and an Englishman, but a bitter controversialist and enemy of the Reformation, died 1598.

DAVID SIMPSON, author of the wellknown"Plea for Religion," and a useful minister of the English Church, born 1745. He died in 1799.

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man of learning and ability, and, while professor at Leyden, attracted great attention by his opposition to Calvinism.

19. H. K. WHITE, the poet, died 1806, in his 22nd year.

25. DAVID BOGUE, died 1825. This excellent and useful man will be long remembered for his many labours as a professor, a minister, a writer, and the friend of missions.

26.

ALFRED, King of England, died in the year 900. His writings were chiefly free translations out of Latin into AngloSaxon.

RICHARD HOOKER, author of the great work on "Ecclesiastical Polity," which has been the bulwark and the pride of the Church of England for many years, died 1600, aged 67.

27. B. GROSVENOR, D.D., died 1758, at the age of 83. In his day, Dr. Grosvenor was popular both as a preacher and as a writer, and his works ought not to be neglected.

DEAN KIRWAN, died 1805. This remarkable man enjoyed wonderful popularity as a preacher, and the effect of his sermons was sometimes amazing. He was originally a Romanist, but joined the Church of England. At his death, his age was 51.

28. ERASMUS. The witty, learned, and half-decided, but often useful Erasmus was born at Rotterdam, in 1467. He exercised great influence in his day throughout Europe, and some of his works are even now really valuable. His edition of the Greek Testament was the first ever published.

29. EDMUND CALAMY, the first of the name, an able and influential minister, and distinguished by great excellence` of character, died 1666, at the age of 66.

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Home.

CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF ENGLAND

AND WALES.

THE Autumnal Meeting will be held in Halifax, on Monday, October the 18th, and three following days. The attendance, it is expected, will be large, and we have no doubt but that the sessions will be interesting and profitable. We understand that the arrangements made by the Committee in London, and by the local Committee in Halifax, are nearly complete. The following is the order of the public evening services. On Monday evening a devotional meeting will be held in Halifax, and similar meetings in three of the surrounding towns will likewise take place, at each of which an address will be given. On Tuesday evening a meeting on behalf of British Missions and chapel extension will be held; and on Wednesday evening, a meeting for the advocacy of Congregational principles. The sermon to the Union will be preached by the Rev. S. Martin, of Westminster; and a lecture by the Rev. G. W. Conder, of Leeds, will be delivered to working-men. The attention of the assembly will be directed, on Tuesday, to the formation of a fund in aid of retiring pastors; Wednesday will be occupied by considering the state of religion in our churches; and on Thursday the Rev. Dr. Halley will read a paper on Oliver Heywood and the early Nonconformity of Yorkshire.

Pastors and delegates attending the meetings are requested to send their name and address, without delay, to the Rev. C. S. Sturrock, B. A., Halifax; or the Rev. G. Smith, Congregational Library, Blomfield Street, London.

HORNSEY.

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine. DEAR SIR,-The religious interest at Hornsey, to which the following letter refers, is of recent origin. When the Rev. J. Corbin became the pastor, about two years since, there was a debt upon

the new chapel of £2,133. This heavy incumbrance he has succeeded in removing, though the congregation is neither large nor wealthy. The circumstances under which this object has been accomplished are of so gratifying a character, that it has appeared desirable they should be preserved, as a means of guiding and stimulating others to attempt the removal of similar burdens. The following statement furnishes a striking illustration of the power of unity, perseverance, and prayer.

I am, dear Sir, yours, &c.
CHARLES GILBERT.

Erith, Aug. 27th, 1858.

Hornsey, June 22nd, 1858. MY DEAR SIR-As you have been pleased repeatedly to express a wish that I would

write out a brief account of the means

adopted for the removal of the debt from our chapel, in the hope that it might be useful in stimulating others, I will now, in few words, tell you how we pro

ceeded.

Our debt was more than £2,000. This was a heavy burden to be borne by an infant cause. But, hard as it was to bear it, it looked to most people harder still to remove it. Convinced, however, that it must impede the progress of the cause of God if allowed to remain, I called our

few friends together, on the last Thursday in November, and told them what I wished. God made them willing-hearted, and, with their usual promptness, they generously entered into my plan. I simply said to them, "Brethren, this debt will cripple us, unless we cripple it: we must crush it. It will be a great effort for so few of us to undertake, but, if each will do his best, I believe it can be done. A few sacrifices, a little self-denial, and a good deal of hard work, together with God's blessing, will do the thing; and, if you say yea to it, we will resolve tonight that the last penny shall be raised by the 30th day of next June." The

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