cine and a few other necessary articles, were slung on the backs of Neeghgan's followers, and Moung Ong left us to become the first settled preacher in the land of the Gekhos. His field is one of the most promising in Burmah. I have some fears for his health, for, physically, he is not strong, but God is able to keep him. He can reach Toungoo in about four days, but the road is very mountainous. The whole Gekho tribe, with some of their neighbours, are calling for teachers, and are building chapels. Still, they need help. never saw the time when I needed money as I do now-not for ourselves personally, we need nothing; but I want to send preachers throughout the length and breadth of this great field. From those whom I baptized, including a few who are not yet baptized, I selected fourteen young men, who are now with me studying the Scriptures; and, if the Lord will, they will go forth in a few months to tell the people of Jesus. I It becomes necessary, when I take them from their homes, to board them; and when I send them forth, to aid them, that they may not be chargeable wholly to the Gentiles. After a while churches come to support their pastors; still, we must keep men going on to the regions beyond. Near the Gekhos are the Brees, Sawkoos, Harshwes, and Padoungs, all of whom are known to me more or less, and they are open to the Gospel. Next dry season, if the Lord will, will open a still greater field. We only need to travel, and as we go, preach; but I am crippled for the want of means. If I had money enough to employ all the Reviews. THE above title will, we imagine, occasion less astonishment than regret. After the many changes of late years in the order of public worship, the introduction of a Form of Prayer, even in Baptist Chapels, will not be deemed surprising. It has been long expected by us, and the example set by Mr. Cox will, no doubt, soon be followed. Something of the kind is, we know, contemplated by several esteemed brethren, and the question will, at no very distant period, demand the practical consideration of the churches. On this account, we call the attention of our readers to this book, and invite them to consider how far their adoption of a Liturgy will subserve the ends of worship, and consist with their own principles. We strongly suspect that one, if not the main, reason for advocating a Liturgy, and also for the many alterations, if not improvements, in the arrangements of our worship, is a desire to make the public services of the sanctuary as attractive as possible to the non-spiritual part of the congregation, and to enable them to take part therein. The distinctions between the Church and Dissent are in many places disappearing. A public respect for religion is fashionable. Attendance at some place of worship is respectable; and as shopkeepers lay out their windows to attract customers, so our churches are tempted, in order to attract their due share of patronage, to cater to the public taste, rather than consult the good of souls. Short sermons, exciting and entertaining, rather than instructive and edifying, chants; or anthems, to relieve the read ing of God's word; music highly elaborated, and new forms of prayer, are all indications that the assistants, as our French neighbours express themselves, are not expected to be possessed of a highly devotional spirit. The adaptation of the Church of England service to the non-spiritual was, we imagine, the cause of Brethrenism; and this same evil in a mitigated form among Dissenters gave to Brethrenism its strength to weaken as it did so many of our churches; and among the most devout in our community, there is, we fancy, a strong longing now for something that may be appropriately termed the COMMUNION OF SAINTS, and for some more simple and real worship of God. To this representation it may be objected, that many of our most spiritual members are tired of extempore prayers, and long for a change; and that they would prefer the studied and carefully-worded carefully-worded "Form" twice every Sabbath, to the oft-repeated platitudes in which they are too frequently called upon to unite. It may be asserted. also, that the most pious members of the Church of England are most attached to its Liturgy. We answer, we do not higly reckon the spirituaility, or estimate the judgment, in this question, of the man that can be satisfied with the Liturgy of the Church of England as the medium of worship. Its phrase ology is very simple and beautiful, but there is not in any part of it a realization of the fatherhood of God, or of one's salvation. To the end of the chapter, the worshippers are miserable sinners, seeking forgiveness and justification, and praying for deliverance from various forms of sin, not from sin itself; and for strength to obey the several commandments of God, not for spiritual life, out of which holiness will naturally spring, instead of a drawing nigh, with filial confidence and boldness, to God, a reconciled Father, entering into full communion with Him, and laying hold of his strength as the aliment of the new spiritual life He has given. The Liturgy is adapted to unconverted men, if any prayer can be adapted to such; and to a renewed spiritual man, is no better than chaff. It does not express the aspirations of a soul renewed, saved, and realising its close, loving, indissoluble union with Jesus. One who is satisfied with the Liturgy of the Church of England is not then qualified to give a reliable opinion as to the suitableness, or the contrary, of a Form of Prayer in the worship of God. We do not believe that many of the spiritual among Dissenters crave a liturgy. We can easily conceive that they would feel the huskiness of some extempore prayers to which they are compelled to listen. We have ourselves frequently found it as much as we could do to stand, sit, or kneel out the vapid prayers of ministers whom we could mention; but intercourse with the ministers has shown us that nothing better could be expected from them. If they had any spirituality it could not be discovered; and the character of the prayers would prevent them from obtaining, or retaining for any lengthened period, the pastorate of a spiritual church. Such instances, however, are, we believe, very rare, and the fault of our ministers lies not generally in their prayers, unless, indeed, they might be improved by a little careful premeditation. The prayers of a godly man will always find a sympathetic chord in the godly present, and be united in with pleasure. A spiritual man is always en rapport with a spiritual audience; and at our prayer-meetings, the prayers of the most illiterate frequently excite the deepest spiritual emotions, and are productive of the highest spiritual enjoyment. The best members of our churches would not be found favourable to a liturgy, and very few of our ministers, for their own sakes, would prefer one; although the hope of rendering the service attractive to the many might lead them to adopt it. There is scarcely a minister who would willingly give up altogether the extempore prayer. It is, therefore, very probable that soon the extempore prayer would reach its present dimensions, in addition to the Liturgy; and thus the design of the Liturgy would be defeated, and our congregations lessened, by the long protracted service. If any plan could be suggested by which the congregations and ministers could be rendered more spiritual, it would be infinitely better than all our attempts to adapt the public worship of God to the non-spiritual of the professing worshippers; the result of which would, ere long, in all probability, be Pharisaism or formalism, of which there is too much already. We do not for a moment in tend to insinuate that Christians are less spiritual now than they were twenty years ago, or that Christianity has receded during the last quarter of a century. There are, we believe, many times more Christians now than twenty years since; and as many, or more, Christians thoroughly spiritual and devoted to God. But it cannot be concealed that the increasing respectability of Dissent has increased the number of professing Christians, and of attendants at dissenting chapels, very much more than of real Christians; so that the whole aspect of Dissent is much more worldly than it was. The whole body is daily becoming less marked in its separation from the world. In love of show, in display, in the arrangement of their households, in their amusements, in their entertainments, there is a growing similarity between the members of our churches and the world. And we are not quite certain whether membership of a Baptist or Independent Church would be a greater guarantee for one's piety than membership of the Church of England. We would, therefore, strongly deprecate the introduction of a Liturgy, or Form of Prayer, in order to meet the wants of men whom it would be infinitely better to make feel, if possible, their true condition before God. The cry that we want something in our worship in which our congregations can take part, has always seemed to us a folly and mistake. The confusion of voices, when all repeat audibly the psalms or prayers, is a Babel that cannot surely conduce much to the clear comprehension of God's Word, or to de votion. If the tunes are simple, and the character of the music does not exclude, instead of helping, congregational singing, the pious present can vocally join in the song of praise-and our singing should be praise, to constitute worship. They can also join in the prayers, although they do not utter aloud the words, or know previously in what terms the minister will address God. But the ungodly cannot unite really in either. A man not reconciled to God through Jesus Christ has not really access to God. He can only be a spectator, or hearer of the worship, until he believes in Christ, and by Jesus can in heart draw nigh to God. The absurdity of Christians approaching God as miserable, unforgiven sinners, as in the service of the Church of England, or of Christians identifying the unconverted with themselves in their approach to God in worship, is patent to every thoughtful mind. We can only unite really with Christians in worship, and pray for, not with, the unconverted. It would be kind to the unconverted to make them feel this, and thus lead them to reflection, instead of, by treating them as Christians, strengthening them in a fatal mistake respecting their own condition, and in the delusive notion, entertained, we fear, by thousands, that, although unconverted, they are the better in the sight of God for the part they take in the engagements of the sanctuary. One strong argument against a Liturgy is the safeguard that is found in extempore prayer against the introduction of unconverted men into the ministry amongst us. As long as the choice of the minister lies with the members of the churches, and we have extempore prayer, we do not fear a very large influx of unconverted ministers. The spiritual in every church will soon grow weary of the prayers of an unregenerate minister, even should he not grow weary of continually conducting their devotions. The devout will soon withdraw from him if he does not from them. The feeblest utterances of a heart filled with the spirit of God will be suffused with life, and will find sympathy in the souls of the pious; but the prayer of an unregenerate minister, let it be as polished or eloquent as it may, will, even as the most lovely corpse, ever have the chill of death, and repel, by its icy coldness, all that are possessed of life. We need this safeguard more than ever. For the sake of popular preaching, by which the masses may be attracted, our churches seem prepared to sacrifice almost everything. That will be a rueful day indeed when it shall be an easy thing for men devoid of the grace of God, although possessed of talking power, to become the religious guides of the people. We hope that the day is far, far distant, when the spirituality of our ministers shall be lessened, and the highest amount of talent shall be able to give an honourable position in our midst to men of questionable piety. The present state of the Church of England is an additional reason why we should not advocate the introduction of a Liturgy into our worship at the present time. There is, we fear, a growing tendency to assimilation to the Church of England. We have adopted much of her music, and many may admire her vestments; and her Liturgy may, because it belongs to the Church of England, commend it to some. We mention rather than condemn this fact. Let us adopt the good wherever we find it; and let us not reject the Liturgy because it comes to us from the Church of England. But at the present time, when the Church feels its own feebleness-when the hollowness of the Established Church is becoming daily more manifest, and all eyes are directed to its imperfections and worthlessness as a religious institutionwhen its godly clergy must,more than ever, feel their anomalous condition; at such a time it would be a pity for Dissenters to seem even to have any yearnings toward the Church, by the adoption of a form of prayer, which has for generations past been to multitudes the only distinction they knew between Church and Dis sent. Any attempt to allure, by the adop tion of a Liturgy, those who are becoming dissatisfied with the internal condition of the Establishment, would be unworthy of ourselves, and prejudicial ultimately both to them and to ourselves, and proba bly would retard the progress of those principles which, next to Christianity, a more precious to us than all besides. are It has occurred to us whether, instead of endeavouring to adapt our prayers and worship to the non-spiritual part of our congregations, we might not very much curtail the devotional parts, and bring the whole service within the space of an hour, or an hour-and-a-quarter at most, and institute a third service, more strictly devotional, without a sermon, in which our members may take part, and in which the communion of saints may more fully be realized And if, at such service, there were always the breaking of bread, the realization of Christian fellowship would, perhaps, be the more complete. Thus, at the larger gatherings, the instruction of the church and the conversion of the unbeliever may be aimed at, and, by God's blessing, secured; and by the third service, the union of believers may be strengthened, and by this close Christian communion, they may become helpers of each other's faith and joy. To such a service as this the spiritual would feel themselves attracted, whilst there would be no kind of constraint to attend it on those for whom it had no charms. Any plan by which the spirituality of the Church of God may be increased, and Christians may be brought to realize more fully the claims and supports of the Gospel, deserves the attentive and prayerful consideration of every disciple of Christ. Our space forbids any lengthened reference to the form of prayer before us. It is a sad medley of scriptural quotations, expressive of the perfections of God, some to be uttered by the minister, and some by the congregation; of addresses by the minister to the congregation, and responses by the congregation to the minister; and of petitions to God by the minister, and then by the congregation, that those of the minister may be heard; all of which are, we suppose, parts of the "Form of Prayer," and are to be repeated in a kneeling posture. All that has been said by us concerning the Liturgy of the Church of England, and very much more may fairly be urged against it. It contains no single recognition of our fallen nature; our need of a Mediator, in order to draw nigh unto God, or of the blood of Christ, through which our sins may be forgiven, or our worship accepted; and might, without hesitation, be adopted by any Unitarian or devout heathen. Nothing could be better adapted to the non-spiritual part of our congregations. Frederick Rivers, Independent Parson. By Mrs. FLORENCE WILLIAMSON. Williams & Norgate, 14, Henriettastreet, Covent-garden, London; and 20,South Frederick-street, Edinburgh. 1864. WE lay down this book more in sadness than in anger. It is full of bitterness and venom; the overflowing, apparently, of a heart hating Gospel truth and godliness, and an attempt to bring both into disrepute by a vile caricature of ministers, deacons, and members of Christian churches. It depicts all piety as cant, and all its professors as miserable hypocrites. It endeavours to bring "Evangelical" doctrines into contempt, by representing their advocates as ignorant, vulgar, ill-natured, and coarse, both in body and mind. With the exception of those who sympathise with the writer in love for Broad Church, or Maurician views, there is not a character in the whole volume that is not either a "prig," "sneaking, mercenary coward," "snob," "liar," "humbug," or saint." It ridicules prayer-meetings, and represents oratorios and operas as the most fruitful sources of enjoyment, and healthy mental and spiritual influence. The following quotations will prove that these statements are not a whit too severe : 66 "The vacant pulpits were virtually in the gift of Brothers Swan and Redford. 'It seems very plain and simple to me, Mr. Rivers,' said Brother Swan one Saturday evening, 'it's really in a nutshell when you come to think of it. There's the Blessed Trinity,' he continued, counting off that item on his thumb, 'that's a great matter, though beyond us. And then there's the Atoning Blood,' giving a good hard push at his forefinger, to indicate that that was number two of the essentials of religion; What should we do without the Atoning Blood? And then there's the Holy Ghost, and the blessed influences of the Spirit, poured out on the blind eyes of the carnal mind. And then,' another finger, |