glory, feasting most comfortably on parish money; while the farce of rate-making enlivened their otherwise drowsy festivities; the vestry was a place of peace and harmony; whatever some might secretly feel, business was snugly carried on, nem. con.; and meetings dispersed with the delightful hope, that as it was in the beginning, it was then, and ever would be, if not world without end, yet at least to the end of the world. How great the crime of those who shortened these halcyon days!

But the scene is changed. The episcopal church, awakening from the sleep of ages, finds that she has been shorn of her strength by state caresses. Nay, that in her national character she has received a wound, which never can be healed; for church establishments are assuredly destined to be numbered only with things that were. But as a religious denomination, are episcopalians in a worse condition than when first this controversy disturbed their repose? We think they are not;

or if there be any deterioration, it has resulted from the inward working of heresy, not from the spreading leaven of voluntaryism. But we are content to leave the question to the decision of churchmen themselves, if only guided by their own honest answers to such matters of fact inquiries as the following:

How much was done by the church twenty years ago, for the education of the poor, and how much is done now? How much was raised then for the erection of churches and chapels, independently of aid received from government, and how much voluntarily for these objects now? How much was done for the aid of clergymen in populous districts, to sustain additional curates, and what is accomplished now? But there is no end to such inquiries. Besides, it is not to new societies only, within the established church, that we are to look for a confirmation of our argument; but also to the new energy diffused through every part of their ecclesiastical system. When did the bishops work so hard as at the present time? The diocesan of London, for instance, never watched over the Calvinistic or liberal delinquencies of his clergy with greater vigilance than he now does over the half empty chapels of nondescript dissenters; that he may purify their walls by episcopal influence, and drive from their neighbourhood the dreaded infection of dissent. When before were the walls of the city of London placarded with so many right reverend names, announced as the advocates of voluntary liberality? Visit country towns and rural districts, and what a change do you behold! Curates are going from house to house slandering the sectaries, and soliciting people to support the church. Sunday school children are bribed with cakes and clothes, books and money, to leave the meeting-house and attend at church. In the episcopal cities and university towns, the clergy of the cathedrals and the heads of houses condescend to threaten those tradesmen who dare to occupy a seat at the dissenting chapel. Rectors and rural deans

proclaim the only way to heaven is through the church; and their wives and daughters are employed to inform the poor that their hope in both worlds is periled, when they listen to unauthorised teachers. Domiciliary visits are paid to persons before unnoticed and unknown. The kind look, the gracious bow of the endowed minister is now in frequent requisition, and the ladies of the clergy deign to associate with the wives of shopkeepers. The people marvel at this condescension, and begin to imagine that they must be of some value, now that their support is so importunately sought. Whence has sprung this unwonted zeal, liberality, courage, and humility? It has risen at the voice of the much-reviled and yet greatly-honoured voluntary principle. And do we regret that our opponents have learned its power? No assuredly. As Christians, we dare not deplore it-and as partizans, we need not. The efforts at which we have glanced are essential to the prosperity of a church, but ruinous to the stability of a church established by law. But this opens a subject far too wide for discussion at the close of an article of review.

Memoirs and Remains of the Rev. John Griffin, of Portsea. By his Sons. 1 vol. 8vo. Hamilton, London; Griffin, Portsea.

The venerated name of John Griffin is too intimately connected with the history of religion and Independency during the past and present centuries, to suffer it to pass into oblivion; and too dear to many of the excellent of the earth, to render the publication of his Memoirs at this remote period either supererogatory or unwise. Seven years have, indeed, passed since his death; but only the more time has been allotted to prepare and perfect the interesting and instructive volume now on our table. We feel peculiar gratification in stating, that the Memoirs and Remains of John Griffin are, in every respect, worthy of being placed by the side of the valuable biographies of his early friends and judicious advisers, Cornelius Winter and John Cooke.

These memoirs are adapted equally to the private Christian and to the minister of the Gospel: while there is a sufficiency of ministerial references to entitle the book to the special notice of the public servants of Christ, there is, in connexion with these, such a detail of personal experience, and such an exhibition of the virtues of Christianity in private and domestic life, as will deeply interest all who feel religion to be a living principle, and are delighted to witness its operation in the home and social circles.

We should have been happy to have presented our readers with a rapid sketch of Mr. Griffin's history; but having anticipated the Memoirs so fully in our number for September, 1834, we must forbear, contenting ourselves with referring to that article, or rather to the full and ample details in the volume before us.

Mr. Griffin's conversion to God took place about the year 1783. He

was then fourteen years of age. In 1785 he began, with the advice of his pastor and friends, to assist in the religious exercises connected with prayer-meetings and cottage lectures. From the year 1785 to the year 1789, he was occupied daily in manual pursuits, and on the Sabbath in benevolent and disinterested efforts to promote the salvation of his fellow-creatures. During these four years, sufficient opportunity was given to ascertain the character of his piety, and the adaptation of his talents for public usefulness. At the expiration of this period, a favourable opportunity presenting itself, he was, with the entire approbation of his pastor, placed under the care of the celebrated Cornelius Winter, to pursue a course of study preparatory to the work of the ministry.

We have adverted to this portion of Mr. Griffin's history, with the view of calling the attention of our ministerial readers to the importance of requiring from all their young friends whose hearts are set on the ministry, either at home or abroad, some preparatory studies and labours, before they recommend or send them for trial to any of our collegiate or missionary institutions. The experience of the last twenty years has shown the indispensable necessity of great caution on this point. Many young men, of unquestionable piety and of ardent zeal, but whose powers have never been tested, and of whose adaptation for the ministry no proof has ever been furnished, have been induced, by the inconsiderate advice of their pastors, to present themselves for examination; and the consequence has been, that in many cases they have been, to their great mortification, rejected; while in others, though they have passed trials, yet when they came to be occupied in public labours, have proved themselves to be utterly incompetent to the discharge of the ministerial functions. It would be worse than ridiculous to lay down specific rules, which should be applied to every case; but we would beg the attention of our brethren to the good example furnished by Mr. Griffin's history, and to the great importance of experimental services on the part of any young friends whom they may wish to recommend as candidates for the sacred profession. Physical power, voice, energy of character, acquisitiveness of mind, aptness to teach, are as important for a public instructor as piety and zeal nor can the possession of these be ascertained only by various and oft-repeated experiments. Infinitely preferable is it that a young man's incompetency should be discovered by his pastor, and before any attempts are made to separate him from secular life, than, after having abandoned his calling and diverted his thoughts to the work of the ministry, he should be found unsuitable, and be compelled to return to his business and his home.

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In 1793, Mr. Griffin accepted the call to take the oversight of the church of Christ assembling in Orange-Street Chapel, Portsea. The memoirs furnish ample proof of his deep solicitude and prayerful

anxiety concerning this most important event in his history. With "fear and trembling," he entered on the duties of his office; but encouraged by the promises of his gracious Master, he commenced his labours with a solemn determination to devote himself to his work, and to task all his powers for the accomplishment of the object on which his heart was set.

It is truly gratifying to learn from his memoirs how assiduously he studied for the pulpit, even to the very close of his days; how punctually and zealously he discharged the duties of the pastorate; how earnestly he set himself to the accomplishment of every good work in connexion with the education of the young, the relief of the sick and the destitute, the diffusion of intelligence and of sound political principles in his town and neighbourhood, and to the dissemination of Divine truth in his immediate locality, his adopted county, and throughout the world.

His ministrations were varied by a judicious intermixture of textual discourses, expositions of different books of Scripture, sermons on particular topics, and lectures addressed to various classes of character. He lectured also during several years, on the week evenings, with much satisfaction to his people, on the subject of the Christian hope and experience, as detailed in the Pilgrim's Progress.

With all deference to the editors of these memoirs, we must demur to this latter practice. That it may be made subservient to edification, we cannot doubt, for we have it ourselves experienced and we can well imagine, that, by so judicious a divine and preacher as Mr. Griffin unquestionably was, the various topics suggested by the immortal tinker would be appropriately discussed; and great care would be taken to discriminate between the vision and the truth, between the book and the Bible. But we cannot divest ourselves of the apprehension, that the very circumstance of making the book of the Pilgrim's Progress the text-book for public discourses, tends to produce in many minds an undue estimation of that uninspired work, and a proportionably unjust depreciation of the sacred volume. The fact, as intimated in the memoirs, and as confirmed by the experience of many ministers who have adopted the same practice, that more persons will attend a service when Bunyan is expounded, than when only solemn prayer is offered, and a short discourse founded solely on God's own word is delivered, is to our minds any thing but a recommendation of the plan. Such a state of feeling on the part of an audience ought not, in our opinion, to be indulged or encouraged. It does no honour to the Divine word; it is likely to induce, if it does not indicate, a morbid rather than a healthful piety. We venerate the name of Bunyan, we are ardent admirers of his inimitable work, we believe many have derived incalculable benefit from the private study of his Pilgrim's character and progress, we affect not to despise the good which may

have in some instances resulted even from the practice on which we are animadverting; but in the name of our common Bible, God's own most blessed, incomparable, and inexhaustible book, let us beware of idolatrizing human authorship, or of disparaging the fulness and sufficiency of the holy oracles.

The diligence and perseverance of Mr. Griffin in his important labours were crowned with success. He was the means of gathering a numerous and happy church, by whom he was much esteemed and greatly beloved, and by whom his memory is still cherished with affectionate veneration and regard.

Perhaps few stated pastors in modern times have had greater reason to rejoice in the harmony and prosperity of their churches than had Mr. Griffin. No extraordinary revivals were experienced during his ministrations, the "showers of blessings" seldom fell, but the "dew of heaven" constantly descended on the "garden of the Lord:" continual and regular progress marked his course.

On this subject the editors of the memoir write

"The church at Portsea has enjoyed for more than forty years the just and enviable reputation of being eminent for unity, harmony, and peace, and to omit all allusion to this fact would be injustice to the memory of its beloved and devoted pastor. That the harmony of such a church should have been preserved not only through the great and trying passages of its history, such as the erection of a new sanctuary, the choice of an additional pastor, and other public affairs of moment, in which the opinions of the whole body were demanded; but also amidst the ever-recurring and multiplied incidents of a more private nature, respecting which the diversity of tastes, habits, tempers, and conditions of life existing among the people, would inevitably occasion wide differences of sentiments and feelings, and put Christian principle severely to the test, can be attributed only to the overruling mercy of the Great Head of the church. But in that mercy there was no miracle; it was the Divine blessing, conferred according to promise, on the faithful use of divinely appointed means, and in those means there was no mystery. The general character of the ministry gave, as it always will, a character to the church."

The success of Mr. Griffin's ministry was such as to require that the meeting-house in which he officiated should be twice enlarged before the year 1805. At that period the building held 1500 persons, and was constantly filled; while every year increasing demands were made for pews and for free sittings, which could not be met. The question of the further enlargement, or the erection of a new and more commodious edifice, was necessarily forced on Mr. Griffin's mind, and occasioned him no little anxiety. He thought much and prayed frequently about the subject. He set apart a day for the serious consideration of the question; and the following extract will show how solicitous he was to do the thing that was right.

"It has been much on my heart for several years, to use my influence with the people to obtain more room in the place of worship. It is a subject of no small importance, but of very considerable difficulty. I have often examined my motives before God, and I can say, I trust, that my conscience does not reproach me with being