his mind was intently fixed. "On the of seems to have gathered strength as he drew near to the close of life: to his unwearied exertions in behalf of their cause, the Independents, as a body, are deeply indebted; and the part which he took in the Stillingfleet controversy, must endear his memory to dissenters of every denomination. Stillingfleet himself thanked him for the amiable manner in which he had treated him as his opponent. In connection with this, we may notice his work on the Popish controversy. Mr. Orme seems to think that this work was undertaken at the suggestion of Lord Clarendon : be this as it may, it is certain the Chancellor was so highly pleased with Owen's productions on this subject, that he procured an interview with him; expressed his approbation of the service done by the Doctor's Antipopish productions; intimated that he had more merit than any English Protestant of that period; and at the same time offered him preferment in the church, if he would conform. This offer, however, Owen refused; and when his Lordship ex-place August 24, 1683, the anniversary pressed his surprise, that a person of his learning should have embraced the novel opinion of Independency, Owen replied, that he had indeed spent some part of his time in acquiring an acquaintance with the history of the church; and he would engage to prove against any bishop his Lordship would appoint to meet him, that the Independent form of church government prevailed for several hundred years after Christ." It is particularly worthy of remark, that the last production of Owen's pen was, his "Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ;" and that this volume was committed to the press on the day in which he died. This work affords a fine illustration of the truth of the proverb,-"The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Much experience had taught Owen the vanity of all earthly things: he knew what it was to bask in the sunshine of courtly favour; and to be pursued by the fury of persecution, while, obliged to skulk from place to place, he preached the gospel at the risk of his liberty. But his course was now nearly finished; "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart;" and as his end approached, we find him reflecting more and more of the glory of the Redeemer, on whose divine perfections of the celebrated Bartholomew ejection, But it is now time to say a word or two on the merits of the work before us. With regard to the subject matter of this volume, it will, of course, be viewed in different lights by different parties; stances which we think detrimental to it. The truly excellent style in which these Memoirs are written, made us regret meeting with the following expressions. Speaking of Dr. Owen's temper in conducting the Socinian controversy, he says, "He was too much a Christian and a gentleman, to indulge in the temper of malevolence, or the language of Billingsgate.". The epithet "Billingsgate" may pass in the light a work as Mr. Orme's, and, we hope, by far too colloquial for the extensive circulation it may yet undergo. For the same reason we dislike the terms but we are much mistaken, if all parties will not be ready to allow, that as a piece of biography, its claims are of the highest order, That Mr. Orme is an admirer of Dr. Owen is evident; yet, after a careful perusal of the present work, we cannot see that he has incurred the charge of blind partiality in any one instance. It was the part of Owen's enemies to exhibit his faults to public view: in this respect, they have, we believe, done their utmost, as the exertions of Anthony Wood unequi-writings of Pope, but is too low for such vocally testify-it belonged to Mr. Orme, as his friend-as his admirer-as one who belongs to that body of dissenters with which Owen was connected, in delineating his character," fanatical slang," and "hypocritical grito meet and refute those charges where they were false, and to acknowledge whatever of truth they contained. And in this respect, we think he has done justice to the character of Owen. He has not met the aspersions of Owen's enemies with bare contradictory assertions, which, in most cases, would have been quite as much as they deserved; but with evidence so clear and satisfactory, as to remove the very last remains of suspicion: indeed, on this head, we think Mr. Orme has succeeded to admiration. This will appear to any one who observes the promptness and ease with which he removes the apparent inconsistencies in the Doctor's religious sentiments, that occasionally appear. This he does by quotations from Owen's own writings; which, from their very nature, shew how minutely he must have investigated those voluminous productions, and the labour he must have undergone in exploring the works of numerous other writers, for the purpose of giving correctness to his statements, and of imparting general interest to his narrative. How seldom can one go through a volume of five hundred pages, without being able to point out a few of them that might have been omitted! But we should find it difficult to refer to one page of this volume, which we think will ever cease to be read with interest. mace," which Mr. Orme applies to the extravagance in opinion and practice of many of the professors of religion in the time of Cromwell. 'Slang" is an exceedingly low word, and ought, with its near relative, "flash," to be consigned to the abodes of the dregs of society. After the restoration of Charles II. the dissenters were certainly called to endure "a great fight of affliction;" and perhaps it would not be straining the point too far, to say, that like Paul at Ephesus, after the manner of men they fought with beasts; but we are well assured that Mr. Orme could have told us this in language much more elegant, and less objectionable to many of his readers, than the following. "The situation of the poor dissenters was truly pitiable. They were baited by all sorts of antagonists, from the royal mastiff, ready to devour, to the contemptible church cur, who could only bark or snarl." In reference to the subject of Catholic_emancipation, Mr. Orme remarks, "Let the Bible be loved and circulated, and genuine religion prosper in those who have been the subjects of divine mercy, and no danger may be apprehended from Catholic emancipation, or any other constitutional favour bestowed on the followers of the beast." We are far from supposing that in Scripture the term "beast" is not applied to the Roman church; and had Mr. Orme's After what we have already said, we remark been preceded by a train of are persuaded that Mr, Orme will give reasoning proving this, it would have us credit for sincerity, when we assure come upon the reader with a very difhim that it is not from a desire of ferent effect. As it stands, it certainly playing the critic, but from an earnest does not harmonize with Mr. Orme's wish to contribute, as far as our in- general manner; it appears too much fluence extends, to the success of his like the effusion of a mind under the work, that we notice a few circum-influence of transient warmth; and reminds us of the disposition that pre- | vailed some fifteen years ago among the students in the Scotch dissenting academies, to designate every modification of Christian worship that did not appear to them to quadrate with the apostolic model, by the term "Babylon." We have observed some of our neighbours, in their INVESTIGATIONS of Mr. Orme's work, strongly inclined to charge him with affectation, in occasionally making use of a Latin quotation. We sincerely hope they did not find this operate as a personal inconvenience in reading the work; and even supposing it did, they might have allowed Mr. Orme's readers to judge for themselves, whether they thought him a Latin scholar, or whether they supposed he had exhibited just enough to shew that he has a smattering of the language; which is exactly what they insinuate, and what we feel by no means anxious to disprove for their satisfaction, having the best of reasons for entertaining a very different opinion, and not doubting for a moment but that the bare perusal of the Memoirs of Dr. Owen, will convince any judge that the author's quotations arise from his familiarity with the Roman classics. But we must take our leave of the work, which we do with reluctance; and not without expressing our carnest hope, that we may soon have to notice some other performance by the same author, of equal interest and utility. A Treatise on the Faith and Hope of the Gospel. By W. ROMAINE, M. A. London, printed for A. Maxwell, Bell Yard, 1822, pp. 200, 12mo. pr. 3s. 6d. boards. PREFIXED to this little volume is an ADVERTISEMENT, which we transcribe verbatim. The following treatise was written by the late Rev. W. Romaine, and intended for publication in the year 1770. It was, however, suppressed, on account of some views of the Trinity, particularly the remarks on the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds; which opinions, however, he continued to indulge: they form only a small portion of the work. The internal evidence of this production being written by Mr. Romaine, is sufficiently obvious to any person acquainted with his writings.—Editor." Who this erudite "Editor" is we are not informed, and are therefore left to indulge our own conjectures; but we must use the freedom of telling him, that a viler imposition has not been practised in modern times, than that of which he is guilty! We venture to affirm, that Mr. Romaine never wrote one line of this "Treatise;" for that the whole of it, except the titles of each section, to which the editorship seems to be confined, is the production of Mr. BENJAMIN INGHAM, the founder of the denomination of the Inghamites! If the reader will turn to the New Evan, Mag. Vol. V. p. 189, col. 1. he will find it expressly mentioned under its present title, in the life of Mr. Ingham. How could Mr. Maxwell, who certainly possesses a competent share of acquaintance with the theological literature of the last century, be ignorant of this fact? But then we are told that it may be known to be Mr. Romaine's production, by internal evidence! This is worse and worse; for the fact is, that the doctrinal sentiment contained in it, is no more the sentiment of Romaine, than it is that of William Huntington! The simple truth is this; Mr. Ingham wrote the book, and it was printed for the author, at Leeds, in 1763, by Griffith Wright, under the title of " A Discourse on the Faith and Hope of the Gospel," with the same texts of Scripture in the title page which now appear there, and the same preface, only that the preface to the first edition has an additional paragraph at the beginning, and another at the end, with the date, and name of the author; for it is subscribed, "BENJAMIN INGHAM, January 6th, 1763." This original edition is now before us; and Mr. Maxwell is welcome to see it, if he think proper to call at our office. second edition of the book was published (we suspect surreptitiously,) about the year 1770; in which, instead of a "Discourse," it was entitled "A Treatise," and the paragraphs in the preface, of which we have above spoken, were omitted, together with the author's name. It was also reprinted in Dublin, in 1812, with an advertisement prefixed, and subscribed "W. Gregory," who tells his readers, that "Should any apology be thought necessary, because the author is unknown, it may be observed, that he appears to have been a Protestant minister in England, of no small talents, who published a few copies for his friends upwards of forty years ago, but they were never intended for general circulation. A A gentleman from this city, during a visit to England, having been favoured with a copy, was anxious to reprint it, with the hope that being more generally known, its usefulness might be extended." This Irish edition was evidently printed from the pirated one of 1770; as it bears the title of a "Treatise," and wants the two paragraphs in the preface. We scarcely need to inform our readers, that there is no more truth in the remarks of the Dublin editor which we have printed in Italics, than there is in attributing the production to Mr. Romaine. All are equally unfounded! We are not sorry to see the book reprinted; because, though the note at the bottom of p. 32 is, in our opinion, in a high degree reprehensible, there is much in the work that we do approve, and that we think may be useful. The publisher, however, should not lose a moment in cancelling the title page and the advertisement, and not be accessary to so gross a fraud as that of attributing it to Mr. Romaine. The affecting History of Tom Bragwell, an unhappy young man, &c. &c. Had dington, printed for George Miller; sold in London by Darton and Harvey, pp. 200, pr. 2s. THIS little book forms one of the immense number of works now in circulation for the purpose of facilitating the education of youth, and particularly of promoting religious knowledge among the rising generation. The author's motive is certainly praise-worthy, being that of preventing the increase of juvenile delinquency, which is now proceeding with most alarming rapidity, particularly in the southern parts of our island. The best of motives, however, are not sufficient to ensure success; and we are of opinion, that had the author bestowed an hour or two in reflecting whether the frequent execution of boys at the debtor's door of the Old Bailey really tends to lessen the extent of youthful depravity, "Tom Bragwell" had never made his appearance. We have really but little to say in commendation of this production; perhaps the best trait in it is, the great accuracy with which the different characters introduced speak the Scotch dialect-a circumstance in which the writings of Sir Walter Scott are often wofully def cient. The plot of the story is miserably dull; and the execution so commonplace, so forced, so highly coloured, and so imitative, that the reader will find great difficulty in believing that the writer did not aim at vying with Scott and Young. The narrator of this "affecting story" is a gentleman, who, it seems, goes about with the view of doing all-the good he can in the way of the prevention of crime. In one of his "walks of usefulness," he discovers four boys filling their pockets with beans, in a bean field, on a Sunday evening. Tom, the hero of the tale, takes to his heels, and is off as fast as his legs can carry him; the others remain, and as soon as they are fairly recovered from their fright, their discoverer enforces on their attention "The Golden Rule." In the course of this lecture is introduced a learned discussion on botany, for the purpose of removing from the minds of the boys the atheistical notions which Tom's conversation with them is supposed to have produced. This "bean-stalk lecture," together with the "Cheap Magazine," which is warmly recommended in every page of the work, proves effectual to the salvation of at least two of the three; but, as might be expected, Tom lost the benefit of both, and was soon after hanged for theft and murder. Bad, however, as Bragwell was in his boyhood, his untimely end is chiefly attributed to some illnatured remarks which he heard one "Simon Frisk" make, respecting the religious sentiment of this "Cheap Magazine." Who this Simon Frisk was the author has not told us; and all that we can tell our readers about him is, that he said there were many "cauldrife moral discourses" delivered in the parish churches in Scotland; and that the first number of the "Cheap Magazine" was altogether, from beginning to end, cold morality; not one word of sense in it, just like fish without sauce;-deficient in the seasoning of grace; not a particle of grace in its whole forty-eight pages. After reading this, we looked very narrowly to the remaining part of the 66 Affecting Story," to discover our author's views on the important subject of the grace of God; and we certainly did expect to meet with a correct dis play of it in the conversations between himself and Bragwell in the prison; or, at all events, we thought, Surely good Mr. Meanwell, the parish minister, would direct the distracted mind of poor Tom to this subject. But, alas! the utmost we could discover, was a solitary reference to the mercy of God, without any attempt to shew how that mercy flows to the guilty. What a feast to read Inglis's "Letter to six men under sentence of death," or his "Account of William Mills," after this! We are quite at a loss to make out who our author has in view, when he so frequently speaks of fanatical declaimers; but we hope, for the credit of his own knowledge, he does not thus denominate the Scotch dissenters from his favourite "Parochial Establishments." He does, it is true, mention the names of Johanna Southcott, Mrs. Buchan, and Richard Brothers; but all the world knows, that the people of Scotland need no “Beacon in a blaze" to warn them against the nonsense of those characters. We fancied, however, that we got a little into the secret, when we arrived, almost breathless, at the hundred and seventy sixth page, where we found our author very angry with those who dare to think that they know any thing better than their parish minister. We are often much disgusted to hear boys of eighteen or nineteen years of age taking pains to inform their audience that they are "Ambassadors of God," because they are privileged, by the indulgence of their hearers, to address them from what they call the "sacred eminence." Those who can deliberately assume such epithets to themselves, will not, at the same time, allow that they raise themselves to the rank of apostles; but the author of "Tom BRAGWELL" hesitates not to say, that those who "set themselves above their minister, consequently, make themselves wiser than the apostle." After this, we expected to find our author's conduct an illustration of his own doctrine; and to see him, like the parishioners of whom Dr. G. Campbell informs us, that they dofft off their hats, and made their bow to their minister at sight, whatever distance he might be from them: but no; he ventures to "set himself above" good Mr. Meanwell, the worthy minister who attended poor Tom from the time of his condemnation till his exit from the world; and actually succeeds in convincing him of the propriety and the superiority of the allegorical mode of teaching, by informing him that even Jesus taught the people in parables. It will not appear astonishing after this, if the worthy clergyman expresses a strong desire to support the "Cheap Magazine;" and agrees with the author as to the great utility of a series of works like unto "Tom Bragwell." Poor We shall only tax the patience of our readers with a remark or two respecting Bragwell's execution. This was, of course, an event of no common kind, we can assure them. Nature exerted herself to the utmost to add to the solemnity of the scene: the sun arose in clouds; a gloomy darkness, and unusual stillness in the atmosphere marked the approach of the hour at which Tom Bragwell was doomed to pay the forfeiture of his crimes. It is true, the fountains of the great deep were not broken up on this occasion; but the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain descended in torrents. Tom had been always, it would appear, sadly terrified at thunder; and when led out for execution, although so completely overcome with fear as to be unable to stand, a loud peal of thunder which shook the very heavens, was necessary to make him sink from the grasp of the officers of justice, who had borne him forward, and just placed him beneath the halter. Matters could not, however, long remain thus; Tom must be roused from this state of insensibility. This resuscitation was not to be effected by odoriferous applications to his olfactories; cold water, it would seem, was ineffectual: there was only one thing that could produce any effect on Tom; and that was sufficient first to frighten him to death, and then to restore him to life; and accordingly, "another peal from heaven's dread artillery awoke the criminal from his fit;" and then, O reader! Tom died as other murderers die! But oh! what a spectacle! Tom's "lifeless body bleaching in the storm, and the blood mingling with the rain as it flowed;" giving to his clothes a "Robespierrian appearance." This new adjective appears to have been invented expressly for the occasion; but with what propriety it is applied to Bragwell, we cannot conceive. If Robespierre attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, and was led to the scaffold with his head bound up, his body certainly did not hang bleaching in the rain, while the blood flowed from the wound in his head; for he |
