NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The Sunday-School Teacher's Assistant; being a Prize Essay on the Best Means of Communicating Moral and Religious Instruction in the SundaySchool. By JAMES MARSHALL, Jun.

THE Author of this Essay, is, we believe, a very young man; and as such, he writes on the important subject of Sunday-School Education in a manner equally creditable to his head and his heart. His little work is valuable as a literary effort, but it is more valuable, as the expression of a heart seriously devoted to the moral and religious culture of the young. His arrangement of the various topics introduced is clear and natural, whilst due attention is given to the discussion of such as are more important in their bearing on the general subject. The Essay is divided into nine chapters, and embraces the following leading subjects:-The Object of Sundayschool Teaching; The Superintendent's Duties; The Teacher's Duties; The Teacher's Model; The Bible, the Teacher's Book; Natural History; The Library and Public Addresses; The Teacher's Example; and the Duty of Prayer. As a specimen of the author's style and manner, we select the chapter entitled

<< THE TEACHER'S MODEL.

"In order to teach successfully, it would be well for the Sunday-school Teacher to adopt a model for his imitation; and what better and more fitting model can he adopt, than the Heavenly Teacher, who spake as 'never man spake,' and who taught as one having authority.' The Teacher, therefore, should regard JESUS CHRIST in the light of a Teacher, and adopt his example as a standard, to which he would elevate his own instructions.

"We shall briefly consider a few of the more prominent features which distinguished the Teaching of our Lord. First, we find that he always adapted his instructions to the condition of his hearers. When speaking to the Scribes and Pharisees, whom pride and disappointed ambition had prejudiced against him, he veiled his instructions in figurative and metaphorical language, well knowing that if he had given them a plain, ungarnished statement of the truth, their self-love would have risen up, and urged them on to deeds of violence against him. On the contrary, when speaking to his Disciples, whose hearts were open to receive his instructions, he invariably made use of plain and affectionate language. He also moulded his teaching so as to reform the vices which he observed in the characters of those about him. He exposed the hollow pretensions of the Pharisee, by looking into his heart and exhibiting the motives by which he was actuated. He laid open the state of that man's heart who came to him saying, 'Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' by telling him to sell his possessions, and relieve the necessities of the poor. He rebuked the bold and over-confident Peter, for wishing him to step aside from the path of duty; and, on another occasion, he reproved James and John, for manifesting a revengeful spirit, by wishing to call down fire from heaven to consume some of the Samaritans. In this respect the Sunday-school Teacher should imitate his Great Model. He should endeavour to correct the vices which he sees prevailing among his scholars, whether it be filial disobedience, disregard for truth, using profane language, Sabbath desecration, or any other of the vices which prevail in society.

"Another interesting feature in the Teaching of our Lord, was his untiring perseverance. Though beset on every side by enemies who eagerly

thirsted for an opportunity to accuse him to the rulers, he never swerved from the path of duty. He was ever faithful to his cause, and no sense of fatigue or personal inconvenience could ever induce him, for one moment, to abandon his high and holy career. We hear of no excuse being made for the neglect of any known duty-of no want of time for its performance; but on the contrary, we read of him continuing on the cold mountain-top, till the night was far advanced, in earnest prayer to his Father in Heaven; and rising early on the following morning to renew his labours of benevolence and love. Although he had great and almost insurmountable difficulties to encounter; and although, from the perversity of his hearers, he had comparatively little present success, we never find him discouraged; but, on the contrary, the greater the difficulty which opposed him, the greater were his exertions to surmount it. In this respect, also, the Sunday-school Teacher might very profitably imitate the Teacher sent from God. Some Teachers there are, who, because they see no immediate benefits arising from their teaching, become disheartened, and finally forsake the good work. If such would examine their own hearts, they would find that the fault was their own; that they either expected too much from their teaching, or that they had not been sufficiently faithful in the discharge of their duties. If they would only imitate our Lord in this particular, their labour would be productive of a greater amount of good fruit. The Sunday-school Teacher has not, by any means, so great difficulties to encounter as our Lord had, owing to his hearers' hearts being steeled against him by prejudice; on the other hand, the subjects of Sunday-school Instruction are generally at an age when their hearts are free from prejudice, and when they are open to the reception of religions impressions. Oh! that Sunday-school Teachers would imitate their divine Master in this respect! We would then have the Sunday-school System elevated to a standard which it has never yet attained; we would then have more zealous and efficient Teachers, and more flourishing schools.

"Another profitable view which the Teacher may take of our Lord's teaching, is the uniform kindness and gentleness of his manner when communicating instruction. He always addressed his hearers in tones of love and affection. Never did an angry word issue from his lips; never did the frown of passion gather on his brow;-never did an expression of discontent or peevishness escape him, even when his hearers were most obdurate and provoking. No, in mild and persuasive language he distributed the bread of life to those who crowded round him, and his gentle accents and endearing manner carried conviction to every heart, but those who had resolved to believe, that no good thing could come out of Nazareth.' It is in accents such as these that the Sunday-school Teacher should proclaim the everlasting Gospel to his scholars. He should meet them with a smile-not the smile of conscious superiority which seems to say, 'Stand back for I am holier than thou'-but the smile of pure and disinterested affection. This is the only way in which he can hope to reach their hearts. If he is to convert his scholars from their sinful practices, he must not only appeal to their understandings, but to their hearts. There is one portion of our Saviour's character on which the Teacher and his scholars should often meditate; namely, the transcendent kindness of his disposition, which manifested itself on many occasions, but on none more forcibly than that on which he delivered that beautiful and affecting discourse which the Evangelist John has recorded, and in which occur those memorable words of comfort, 'Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. * *I go to prepare a place for you? I can imagine a faithful and affectionate Teacher discoursing to his scholars on this sublime portion of Holy Writ, and the love in which it had its ori

gin, till each one of them would almost wish that the silver cord was loosed,' and that he was away to the Spirit-land to be with one so pure, so holy, and so good!"

Slavery Immoral; being a Reply to a Letter in which an attempt is made to prove that Slavery is not Immoral. By JAMES HAUGHTON.

WE recommend this pamphlet to our readers as a spirited and well written exposure of the excuses for slave-holders and slavery now so common. Mr. Haughton, in a small space, has brought together many facts which prove how deeply and shockingly immoral slavery is, in its nature and tendency. One alleged palliation for slavery is, that it was sanctioned by the Bible, and to this Mr. H. replies in the following terms:

"You draw a picture of the condition of slaves under the patriarchal regime, which is almost enough to make one regret that the Prince of Peace ever came into the world, to undo the heavy burthens and let the oppressed go free.' Were these patriarchs then so very perfect? Were they so entirely free from all the crimes or weaknesses which beset poor humanity, that we can suppose they never abused their uncontrolled power over their bondmen? Does the record of their lives point to no instances in which these eminent men showed that they, too, were poor weak human beings! I have no doubt that slavery was, in their day, the same immoral system that it is at present; and that of this Upas, as well as of other trees, it might truly be said at all times, "by its fruit you shall know it."

"It seems to me that whenever a man brings in the aid of Scripture, to sustain any custom or practice which is known to be opposed to man's best interests, and to the moral sentiments of mankind, he makes a serious mistake. Even with regard to the Old Testament (whose commands nevertheless are not binding on Christians, when they are opposed to the precepts of the New,) this error is no light one; but the man who twists the plain meaning of our Saviour's gospel-wherein the doctrine of human brotherhood is so clearly revealed-to sanction the crime of stealing, selling, and keeping a brother in slavery, does more to depreciate Christ and his mission in the estimation of thinking men, than all the infidel writers that ever put pen to paper."

DR. PARR'S OPINION OF UNITARIANS.

THE following letter was addressed by Dr. PARR, a distinguished Clergyman of the Established Church, to Archbishop MAGEE, who had spoken, in one of his Charges, of Unitarians, as illiterate :

"HATTON, Sept. 15. "MY LORD, Though differing widely from your Grace upon some important subjects of controversial theology, I hold, and therefore always shall avow a very high opinion of your talents and attainments. With much pleasure have I read two of the Charges which your Grace has lately published. I have praised them in the hearing, and recommended them to the perusal, of some enlightened Clergymen. I found in them very useful matter, and very splendid diction. But, with surprise and with concern, I observed that in one of them your Grace has spoken sweepingly of the Unitarians as illite The expression, my Lord, astonished me, and called to my mind the language which Cicero, in his celebrated speech for Ligarius, employed about the cause of Pompey; and which, mutatis mutandis, I shall apply to your severe and contemptuous animadversion upon a well-known, and,

rate.

perhaps, increasing sect. Speaking of Unitarianism, "alli errorem appellant, qui durius, petinaciam, qui gravissime, impietatem præter te adhuc nemo." In a dispute, which about one hundred and fifty years ago was carried on with great violence, Bishop Wettenhal wrote a very judicious, candid, and conciliatory pamphlet, which I found in a huge mass of controversial writings, in which he describes the Socinians as active, as zealous, as acute, as dexterous in disputation, as blameless in the general tenor of their lives, and, he adds, even pious, with the exception to their own peculiar tenets. Every man of common sense, my Lord, will perceive that the qualifying words are the result of discretion and episcopal decorum, and were intended, probably, for a kind of sop, to soften the Cerberean part of the priesthood. Be this as it may, the representation which Bishop Wettenhal gave of his Socinian contemporaries corresponds nearly with my own observations upon my own Unitarian contemporaries.

"Now, my Lord, I know nothing either by report, or my own reading, about the number of Unitarians in Ireland, or their writings, or their erudition, or their want of erudition. I, at the same time, am justified in saying, that among my own learned acquaintance in this country there is not one teacher in the established church whom I could safely pronounce an Unitarian. Without the pale of that church, indeed, there are several Unitarians with whom I think it an honor to be acquainted, and I shall make no apology for introducing into this letter their names, and avowing the sincere respect which I feel for their intellectual powers, their literary attainments, and their moral worth.

Let us look round a little, my Lord. Will any scholar apply the word "illiterate" to Grotius, to Curcellæus, to Susius, or to Le Clerc ? These are the distinguished Unitarians of former days. I have not been a slovenly reader of the Fratres Poloni, and I could mention the names of several persons whose tenets seem to me erroneous, but whom I should not dare to call illiterate. In the last century lived Dr. Lardner, Dr. John Jebb, Mr. John Baynes, of Trinity College, Cambridge, the friend of Sir Samuel Romilly, and an academic distinguished in his day for his proficiency in science and his skill in classical learning. Perhaps Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle, may, without injustice, may be supposed to look upon Unitarianism rather with a favourable eye towards the close of a studious life. Was Bishop Law illiterate? Was Dr. John Taylor of Norwich illiterate? And, slender as might be the pretences of Dr. Priestly and Theophilus Lindsay to any critical accuracy in the languages, or to any delicate taste of the elegancies of profane authors, Greek and Latin, yet their attention to scriptural Greek, though it did not preserve them from what you think heresy, was more than sufficient to protect them from the appellation of illiterate? Was the late Duke of Grafton illiterate? Were the writers of the Free and Candid Disquisitions illiterate? I was not personally acquainted with the late Mr. Cappe of York, but his writings furnish abundant proofs of eloquence, acuteness, and, I add, erudition. Was Encedinus illiterate? Is Wegscheider illiterate? Was Semler illiterate? Is Eichorn illiterate? Let me not pass by some dissenting Clergymen who are avowedly Unitarians, and upon whose claims to be considered as scholars I can speak, and therefore do speak, with confidence. Mr. Berry of Leicester, who to Greek and Latin erudition adds no inconsiderable portion of oriental; Mr Cogan, a schoolmaster at Walthamstow, whom from conversation and correspondence, I know to be an accurate Greek scholar, and a diligent and discriminating reader of the best critical books which have of late been published at Berlin, Leyden, Gothingen, Leipsic, and Paris; and at home, by Porson, Blomfield, Goisford, Elmsley, &c. Is Cogan illiterate? No, no. My mind passes to Mr. Corrie, of Birmingham, who is not only well acquainted with natural philosophy, and is a

fine writer of English prose, but has an exquisite taste for the compositions of Greek and Roman writers, and is a reader of what Bentley, Dawes, and Toup have written on philology. My neighbour, Mr. Yates of Birmingham, is one of the most studious men I know. I have seen his admirable collection of books, and I consider him as a diligent and intelligent reader of the most abstruse and elaborate writings of theologians, both in Greek and Latin. Mr. Roberts of Manchester, had a classical education in Norwich school. He is an excellent writer of English prose, and can such a man be called illiterate? It becomes me, after many interviews, to bear my testimony to the merit of Mr. Shepherd of Liverpool, and in truth, so far as classical learning is concerned, his proficiency would do him honour, if he sat upon the episcopal bench. My lord, from motives of delicacy, I will not enlarge upon the learning of Mr. Belsham. He neither understands, nor professes to understand, very critically, those profane authors who are taught in our public schools and our two universities; yet, I think, and speak respectfully of his biblical learning; and I am pretty sure that Archbishop Newcome, if he were now living, would, upon this subject, speak and think as I do. In my own neighbourhood lives a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell. He does not pretend to be a profound classic, but he is largely furnished with general knowledge; he is a diligent reader of the Greek Testament; he has great dexterity in reasoning; he excels in clearness and vigour of style; he is not contentious; he is not conceited; but upon two or three occasions, when provoked by insulting calumnies against himself and his sect, he has confuted and silenced some accusers, whose orthodoxy was not accompanied by a due share of sense, learning, or moderation. Your Grace will do me the justice to observe, that I mean not directly or indirectly to defend the heretical opinions adopted by any of the worthies whom I have enumerated. But I should say of them, whether I adverted to them in the senate, or from the pulpit, or from the press-yes, my Lord, I should say in the hearing of all the conclaves, and all the convocations in Christendom, "utinam essent_nostri." I hope, therefore, my Lord, and if you were not an Archbishop I should advise, that in some future edition of your excellent Charge, you would withdraw the word illiterate. There are many other points upon which your sagacity, learning, and eloquence, may be employed with the greatest propriety, and far better effect. If you were more intimately ecquainted with myself, you would find that a man is more ready to bestow prompt, sincere, and ample praise upon the talents and the learning, which the ecclesiastics of the Established Church have in our own days displayed in the defence of their tenets. Glad I am, that so large a part of that praise falls to the share of the distinguished prelate to whom I am now writing."

CREEDS.

THOUGH We would subscribe to the whole scripture, or any confession drawn up in its phrase and matter, yet this will not serve for union and communion. They tell us heretics will subscribe to the scriptures; and I tell them, that heretics may subscribe also to their confessions, and force a sense of their own upon them; and that God never left them to make better confessions, and fitter to discover heresies, than scripture doth afford.

The papists have set up whole volumes of councils and decrees for the rule forsooth, because the scripture is dark and all heretics plead scripture. And what have they done by it, but cause more darkness, and set the world and their own doctors too, in greater contentions.

Thus men lose themselves, and abuse the church, because God's word will not serve their turn as a rule for us to unite upon. This is the one rule that God hath left, and men will needs blame this as insufficient, and