private contributions; and as, for some years back, a fund has been gradually formed, by appropriations from the Offertory Collection, there is hardly an individual in the parish who may not have the satisfaction of feeling that he has contributed in some degree to the accomplishment of this good work.

Since the re-opening of the Church, daily morning service has been established, the numerous attendance on which is most encouraging to those who would wish to restore the full Church of England system of worship; also a weekly Communion, of which the writer of these Sermons lived to witness but one celebration.

Jesus our Worship; a Sermon preached at the Consecration of St Columba's Church, Edinburgh. By ALEXANDER, by Divine permission, BISHOP of BRECHIN. Edinburgh: R. Lendrum & Co. London: Masters. Aberdeen: Brown. Dundee: Chalmers. 1848.

This singularly striking and erudite sermon was at first intended for publication in the pages of this Magazine, at the request of the editor, and by the consent of the learned author; but on farther consideration, it was deemed advisable, from the importance of the subject, that it should be offered to the public in its present separate form: and although we could not but regret that our pages should lose so attractive an article, we fully concur in the judicious determination subsequently adopted, which sent it forth as an independent publication.

Having listened to the delivery of this discourse with intense in

terest (an interest, indeed, evinced by the whole congregation, which filled every space in St Columba's Church on that memorable day), we came to the perusal of it in print with renewed satisfaction, and we cannot too strongly recommend it to the attention of our readers. It is a sermon which ought, in this country, to be in the hands of every member of the Church, as it distinctly shows the grounds on which a ceremonial worship has been established in the Church from the beginning.

It would be impossible to do justice to it by quoting any detached portions of the argument; but we will merely give two short passages of the application of it to the occasion:

'But you will ask, why do I at this time press these things upon you, when we are met together to dedicate to God a house for his honour to dwell in.' I do it, not only on account of the intrinsic value of this mighty verity, but on account of its intimate connection with all Christian worship. Our Lord's being made man has changed the character of all adoration. The ritual of the new law derives all its authority and all its grace from the priesthood of Christ. That has absorbed and gathered into itself all methods of approaching the Almighty; and except in Him, and through Him, is neither priesthood or devotion. Now, the priesthood of our Lord is the consequence of his incarnation. He was made a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek, not when he was begotten of the Father, before all worlds, but when he was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary.-P. 17.

to us.

'The splendours of the old religion were typical, and conservative from idolatry ours are the fitting worship of God, as he is revealed The result is the same, though the motive is altered. It is for Christ we deck our altars. It is for Him that, under this spiritual dispensation, we still strive to raise houses exceedingly magnifical, -it is for Him that we employ wealth, and skill, and the best of our powers; it is to Him that we consecrate art; to Him we offer the beautiful. Of His own we give back to Him a little. He it is whom we greet with the sweet strains of psalmody; He it is whom we adore with lowly postures,—our chancels, our ornaments, our frontals, our rich chalices, and costly decorations, are all for Him. All these things are no lifeless forms, but replete with gracious significance and spiritual benediction. Dead in themselves, as separated from Him,for Him and in Him are they quickened.'-Pp. 19, 20.

Things after Death.

Three Chapters on the Intermediate State;

with Thoughts on Family Burying-places, and Hints for Epitaphs in Country Churchyards. London: Francis & John

Rivington. 1848. Pp. 150.

The very important doctrine treated of in these three chapters is one which has always been maintained by the Church; but, like many others, has been tacitly put aside, or if brought forward at all, slightingly disregarded as a mere matter of dreamy speculation, by that indifferent class of thinkers, so long constituting the majority of Church people. There was a mistaken piety, also, which avoided whatever had the appearance of deep or mysterious doctrine, from a feeling of reverence; an apprehension (erroneous, indeed) that in handling such subjects no practical good could arise; and that the mind might be led to bewilder itself, or treat the matter with ill-timed levity. We recollect an instance, where the officiating Clergyman of a parish, a man at that time superior to the generality of his surrounding brethren, omitted to read the Athanasian Creed on some occasion, when it was enjoined by the Church to be used; but having, we suppose, some little misgiving as to the correctness of his conduct, he apologetically mentioned the omission, on returning from Church, to a principal person in the parish, an individual of decided piety, and (according to notions then entertained) of exact Church principles, who commended what he had done, and agreed in shelfing that very important portion of our prayer-book altogether. Such were Church principles thirty years ago; and we are perfectly sure, that had we then brought forward this most important and interesting doctrine of the Intermediate State, the inquiry would have been promptly checked as presumptuous and irreverent. Happily, we are now fallen on more enlightened days, when the injunctions of the Church, among her faithful sons at least, are fulfilled; and her doctrines enforced and explained, instead of being, from mistaken motives, tacitly evaded.

The Author of this work begins by observing, that in the present state of religious matters in our land, we cannot spare any doctrine fairly deducible from Holy Scripture, which may involve motives. for holy living; and yet that there is such a doctrine, strangely neglected in comparison with its importance.

He then proceeds to divide the consideration of his subject, allotting to the first chapter, after briefly showing the necessity for the

:

existence of such a state, the probable reasons why the doctrine has been rejected to the second, some remarkable proofs of it from Holy Scripture and to the third, a description of its value and power, as an argument for Christian living.

:

After adducing the striking incident of the penitent thief on the cross, as the groundwork of an introductory proof that there must be an intermediate state, he proceeds to give some reasons why the doctrine has been so generally neglected. A first reason, then, may readily be found in its mysterious and dim character; a second, that some have chosen to dispute or to confound the doctrine, as being one not of absolute certainty, and not of indispensable necessity to be believed. ‘But,' he adds, the chief and most prevailing reason for so much silence respecting this doctrine, is that which springs, in part, from its deep awfulness, and in still greater part, from its abuse. And vain would it be to deny, that it is liable to perilous abuse, and that it has been grievously perverted.'

Here we meet, as often elsewhere, with the result of that blind and indiscriminate fear of Romanism which pervades a large class of society. The argument, if so it can be called, of these people, is this: Rome has, in a certain direction, gone too far; therefore, we must not stir a step towards the same point. Rome has created a purgatory in the intermediate state, and constituted herself mistress over the same; therefore, we must not admit an intermediate state at all. While reasoning of this kind prevails, and prevail it does, and that largely, we cannot wonder that important doctrines should be passed over in silence, or avoided with apprehension.

In the second chapter, the author produces passages from Scripture illustrative of this doctrine, which he thus sums up :- The sum of what has been collected, then, from Holy Scripture, comes to this: that the soul does not die, neither does it sleep in the grave with the body, but has its separate life and perceptions; and is, upon its separation from the body, forthwith conveyed to its own place-suited to its condition, according as the living individual has done, or set at nought the will of GOD. That, where its owner shall have quitted this life without sincere and valid repentance, then it must go among the spirits of the wicked, to wait in misery and terror for the great sentence of the last day; while, in a corresponding manner, the penitent and faithful will be carried into a state of rest and peace, in which they will enjoy immediate comfort, and be encouraged with a yet more glorious prospect of happiness, to be revealed in that day

when the Judge shall order them, as good and faithful servants, to enter into the joy of their LORD.'

In the third and last chapter, the doctrine is held up as in itself highly practical, and a special argument for well-doing. And we think that he makes out his case effectively. Taking the two classes of mankind generally,-what can be more encouraging to those, 'who may have borne for years, in patience and with perseverance, adversities, afflictions, self-denials, or whatsoever form of this life's sufferings and trials, expressly with a view that they might keep the law of Christ,' than to look forward, so soon as their eyes are closed on this world, to an entrance into a place of rest, not of forgetfulness and insensibility, but a state of rest which they should find to be such -'in which (to put the matter in the plainest form) they should be perfectly aware they were at rest, in a condition of ease and peace ?' Such, indeed, is the doctrine of the Church of England, as her Burial service incontestibly proves, and in such do we firmly believe.

On the other hand, how strong a dissuasion from sin must it prove to the wicked, how completely must it dispel all vague hopes or notions of a lengthened respite between death and judgment, to remember, that should he die in his sins, no sooner does he close his eyes on this earthly scene, than his consciousness of incipient punishment in another state begins, a state, which will admit of no change until the Day of Judgment shall consign him to the great and final condemnation.

To have quoted more at length than we have done, would have occupied more space than we could spare, or the size of the work would justify. We heartily recommend it to the earnest and careful perusal of our readers.

A second portion of this little volume is occupied with some judicious reflections on family burial places; and the latter part is occupied by a collection of one hundred and fifty metrical epitaphs, applicable to various cases, and classes of people, with a few pages of introductory remarks.

1. A Few Letters of Invitation to a Re-union with the Church, addressed to an influential Member of St John's Congregation, Glasgow. By the Rev. Dr CHAMPNEYS, Oxon. John Smith & Son, Glasgow. 1848. 1848. Pp. 15.

2. The Mistake Corrected. A Letter to the Rev. Dr Champneys, Head Master of the Collegiate School, Glasgow.

By CHARLES