AUTHORISED VERSION. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come;

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.

But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope to the end.

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

And, so, after he had patiently endured for a while, he obtained the promise.

For verily men swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath :

That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Which hope we have as an anchor to the soul both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil,

Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high-priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.

We need not, after this extract, adduce any additional passages to prove the benefit which the devout and intelligent reader will derive from such an aid to his meditations. Whoever the author of the present translation may be, he has conferred no small benefit upon those who consider the right understanding of the Scriptures a matter of essential moment. He has approached his subject with reverence and caution, with a proper watchfulness against the admission of any interpretation unwarranted by authority or analogy: and, with an attention to the elegance of the original, which, although his labours must not be considered on a level with the noble monu

REVIEW.-Ladies' Botany: or, a Familiar Introduction to the Students of the Natural System of Botany. By John Lindley, Ph.D. F.R.S. &c. Professor of Botany in the University of London. Ridgway.

It is a matter of surprise, that there should still exist individuals, of highly cultivated 2D. SERIES, NO. 44.-VOL. IV.

NEW TRANSLATION.

Spirit, and have known the excellency of the divine promise, and the miraculous powers of the future economy, (δυναμεις μελλοντος αιώνος,) and, yet have apostatized, should a second time be so restored as to be brought to repentance, when they thus crucify, in themselves, the Son of God, and expose him to ignominy.

For so, land, that imbibing the rain frequently descending upon it, produces vegetation serviceable to those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessings from God; while that which yields only briars and thorns is nigh desecration, and its doom is to be burned.

But we confidently hope, beloved, that better things await you, such as are connected with salvation, notwithstanding that we thus speak.-For God is too faithful, to forget your labour, and the love which ye have displayed towards his name, in having ministered, and in still ministering, to the necessities of the saiuts. Only we are anxious that every one of you should manifest the same diligence, in order to the firm assurance of your hope to the end; that ye may not become remiss, but be imitators of those who, through faith and constancy, have realized the promises.

Now, when God gave the promise to Abraham, inasmuch as he could swear by no superior, He sware by Himself, saying, Truly, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. Accordingly, after having patiently waited, he obtained the promised blessing,

Men, indeed, swear by what is superior to them, and such an oath is an ultimate attestation in all their disputes. In like manner, God being pleased to illustrate the more signally to the inheritors of the promise, the immutability of his purpose, has interposed an oath. So that, by two immutable transactions, (the oath to Abraham, and the oath to the Messiah,) in which it is impossible that God should prove unfaithful, we may have strong assurance, who have filed to lay hold of the hope held out to us; which we have as a secure and firm refuge of the soul, one that reaches into the interior sanctuary beyond the veil whither, as our precursor, Jesus has entered, who has become, according to the rank of Melchisedek, high priest for ever.

ment left us by the piety and learning of our ancestors, will at least cause them to be considered not unworthy of aiding in its elucidation. The notes at the conclusion of the work-upon the authenticity of the epistle, a subject on which there ought to be but one opinion, and some points of minor importance, are not of a length disproportionate to the size of the beautifully printed little volume they accompany, and contain the substance of many a lengthened and learned argument. It is with great pleasure that we perceive the announcement of a new translation of the Epistle to the Romans, by the same hand.

investigation of men of high intellects, how much more degrading do they consider the investigation of vegetable existence. The organization of a flower is to their minds a subject of no interest; and its study is by them considered trivial and inutile. We must confess we have no sympathy with persons of this class, but have been taught to "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow," and in this pursuit have found pleasures the most refined and exalted. All nature is redolent with the opulence, the goodness, and the wisdom of the Creator. To trace the latter, we consider no mean operation of the intellect; and, although some of those minute observations and researches, in which the botanist must be frequently engaged, may indeed appear trivial in themselves, they are nevertheless needful to the end; in their aggregate and combined result, they serve to elucidate and bring out to view those laws which the great Author of nature has ordained should regulate the formation and perpetuation of vegetable life. Every true philosopher would desire to have the "book of nature" fully open before him; and if one page is lost, or one letter obliterated, some of her most beautiful provisions may be veiled in darkness and obscurity.

The science of botany, then, is not a subject which interests the feelings alone, as a delightful study, but also as it produces a habit of observation and comparison, improves the mind, and, by the power of generalization it affords us, we reduce confusion into order, and see harmony and design every where present; expands the intellect, and elevates the soul in wonder, admiration, and gratitude to the great Contriver and first Cause of all.

They who decry against pursuits of this nature, are found to be those who are ignorant of that against which they declaim, are blinded by prejudice, having an overweaning regard for their own peculiar vocations. If botany still remained as it once was, the mode of merely distinguishing one plant from another, then there might be some justice in the ridicule which has been thrown upon it. But, to quote the eloquent language of Dr. Lindley, contained in the preface to the "Introduction to Botany," a work of great merit, and the only one of its kind in the English language; "it now comprehends a knowledge, not only of the names and uses of plants, but of their external and internal organization, and of their anatomy and physiological phenomena; it embraces a consideration of the law upon which those multitudes of vegetable forms that clothe the earth have been created; of the skilful com

binations out of which so many various organs have emanated; of the laws that regulate the dispersion and location of species; and of the influence that climate exercises upon their development; and, lastly, from botany, as now understood, in its most extensive signification, is inseparable the knowledge of various ways in which the laws of vegetable life are applicable to the augmentation of the luxuries and comforts, or to the diminution of the wants and miseries, of mankind;" and thus it is commended to our diligent attention, from its scientific interest, and as awakening the best feelings of our nature.

Indulging these sentiments most fully, we rejoice to see the production of any work calculated to give a popular interest to the study of the Natural System of Botany. This is the first effort of the kind, and Dr. Lindley has succeeded in this little work, to compress a vast quantity of information, physiological and practical, as well as that for which the work is more particularly designed, as an introduction to a systematic botany. Perhaps in no branch of natural history has there appeared so many popular Introductions as in botany. Alphabets," and "Catechisms" have been produced, but they have all been founded on a system which no longer deserves the attention of scientific men, (except as a memento of the genius of its great and accomplished author,) and consequently have tended rather to retard than advance the study which they were intended to forward. The artificial system of Linneus was, no doubt, suited to the age in which it was propounded, as the best which was then known; but with the present state of science, it is not fitted to be a guide, and deserves only to be mentioned in the records of scientific history. In its more leading features, it presents you with nothing worthy of remembrance, as to first principles: plants totally different in anatomical structure, and physiological charac ter, are indiscriminately arranged together, and you are presented with a catalogue of hard names, distinguished only by their being represented as having a certain number of staminas and pistils, but which indeed are uncertain in their number even in plants of the same genus.

It has had that hold on the public mind which we often see connected with any principles, however erroneous, which are given to the world by men who are considered the lights of the age. Blinded by prejudice, men will not renounce a system in which they have been educated, and to which they have become attached.

It appears to us, however, that the little

work before us is calculated to remove this prejudice, as it must commend itself, by the elegance of its style and the beauty of its illustrations, to the good taste of every reader; yea, more, the student will quickly find himself in the midst of the science as it is now understood, when he thinks that he has scarcely passed the threshhold; and so delightfully fascinating will be the objects around him, that to retire will be equally undesirable and impracticable, and will be led on in the acquisition of knowledge with so much ease and pleasure, that he will be insensible to the difficulty he once anticipated.

If we mistake not, our author will have the satisfaction of having placed the Natural System as high in the regard of the popular mind, as it is already held in the estimation of all scientific botanists. A great outcry has been raised against the Natural System, as totally inadequate for the communication of a knowledge of botany. Dr. Lindley has, however, both in his class-room and the work before us, set this question completely at rest. We cannot, however, but add our individual experience, as, having begun our studies with this system, and affirm that nothing can be more easy. And may add, as reflecting credit on the philosophic doctor, as well as support to his system, that during the four years that the apothecaries' company have awarded medals to students of botany in London, Dr. Lindley's pupils have, in each instance, carried off the gold medals.

It is our desire to commend this work most cordially to the attention of all who are interested in the subject, and, if our limits permitted, we would give specimens of the manner in which the author illustrates and compares the Natural Orders. It is in the form of letters, twenty-five in number, with twenty-five plates, to a lady, for the instruction of her children,-hence we suppose, is the title of the work; which, by the bye, we hope, in the next edition, will be altered, and the quotation from Goethe omitted, unless, indeed, the author will oblige the "ladies" with a translation. We insert a short extract as a specimen of the doctor's plan of communicating.

"Let us, then, see what a fig-tree is. It is an hexagenous plant, with leaves covered with very stiff, short hairs, and with a pair of stipules at the base, as in a nettle. It has flowers with stamens and pistiles separate; so has a nettle; its flowers have no corolla, and the pistil is a little simple body, which changes when ripe to a very small flat grain; all which is exactly what we find in a nettle. In the essential parts of their structure, the two plants then are alike. But where are the flowers of the fig, you will inquire? You can see nothing but a thick oval green_body, which, you know, will turn

to fruit, and which, therefore, ought to be the flower; here, however, you must again be prepared to meet with natural wonders. The thick oval green body is a hollow box or receptacle; within it, in dark obscurity, are reared the flowers, which, like the beggar's children in the caverns of hills, are so deformed and pallid, as hardly 'to be recognized. Cut a young fig open, the whole of its inside is bristling with sterile and fertile flowers, the former having five stamens and the latter a jagged

calyx, with a little white pistil sticking up in the midst of it. This pistil, when ripe, becomes a flat, sound, brown grain, which is lost among the pulp of the fleshy and juicy receptacle, where you cut it, and call it in seed.

"The difference, then, between the nettle and the fig-tree, consists, not in the structure of the stem, or of the leaves, or of the calyx, or stamens, or pistils, or fruit, properly so called, but in the hollow fleshy receptacle within which the flowers are forced to pass through their different stages. This kind of difference is, however, of a very unimportant kind; and not greater than you find between the strawberry and the rose, about whose relation to each other every one is agreed," &c.

There are a few alterations we should like to see in the execution. In some cases circumlocution might be avoided by a more copious use of analytical tables. Upon the whole, it is admirably adapted to the end proposed,-what is done, is done well. It should be in the hands of every one who attempts to teach this branch of natural history to youth; unless, indeed, the object is to store the mind with hard names, and not to communicate solid and useful information, then, indeed, the introduction to the sexual system will be equally suited. tender our thanks to Dr. Lindley for having, in this beautiful little work, rendered the study of botany both interesting and easy, without in the least "sacrificing science." A task, indeed, difficult, and in which we know of no writer who has so well succeeded as the learned professor.

We

REVIEW.-Memoirs of the Life and Character of the late Rev. John Paul Porter, more than forty years Pastor of the first Baptist Church in Bath. By Philip Cater, Minister of York St. Chapel, Bath. Bath, printed for the Author, 1834. MEMOIRS of preachers, of every Christian denomination, are becoming almost too numerous, and, consequently, fail to excite that general attention to which some of them are entitled; but the life of a pastor cannot but awaken much interest in the congregation to whom his labours of piety may have been long known, and to whom many may be indebted, under the divine blessing, to him, for their sense of grace, and their hopes of mercy. In the present instance

the Baptist Church, at Bath, where Mr. Porter was known, respected, and loved, during a period that comprised nearly the third part of a century, will receive this memoir with religious gratification; and, in other churches of the same persuasion, it will undoubtedly be welcomed with much pious pleasure; for, under circumstances where our temporal and spiritual sympathies so closely combine, as they do in the case of the death of a religious minister, there is a grateful piety called forth by the perusal of his memoirs, which deserves to be placed high in the rauk of the pleasures we are permitted to enjoy.

Mr. Cater, in the preface, informs his readers, that the memoir was compiled from a diary, which, from the time of Mr. Porter's settlement in Bath till the period of his death, he constantly kept. In this manual, no illness, no mental conflict, no visit, no trial, scarcely any sermon that he preached, or indeed any event connected with himself, his family, his church, his congregation. was left unrecorded." Such a journal, when conscientiously kept by a religious man of integrity, would necesssarily constitute the richest analysis of human thought and sentiment, under natural and divine influences, that we can expect to obtain. We are aware that the publication of such records is supposed, too generally, to serve merely to pamper the idle curiosity of the desultory reader; but it ought not to be forgotten, that such voluntary offerings of the mind and the soul, to the science of moral and religious anatomy, are invaluable to the serious moralist in the present condition of that department of knowledge; and that a selfdissection of his nature ought never to be carelessly rejected. We are somewhat puzzled with Mr. Cater's excuse.

He says

that much of it was written "in a short. hand, too intricate to be deciphered;" while we find that all comprised within the present century is sufficiently legible to become matter of selection. This is hardly just either to the readers or to the subject of the memoir, but as the editor or biographer had a right to the exercise of his personal judgment, by the particular desire of the widow of the deceased, and has compiled and composed a very interesting and instructive life of his friend, there can be no direct cause of complaint. In fact, the work appears to be a somewhat arbitrary selection from the Diary, with such comments, details, and annotations as the biographer might think proper; and which are sometimes very good, but are not unfrequently obtrusive, and likely to induce a wish that their place had remained occupied

by those unassuming scraps of auto-biography from the manual of Mr. Porter himself, of which we have some interesting samples. There is, in our opinion, much interest in the following extracts from the passages in Mr. Porter's journal, which have been selected by his biographer for the gratification of the public; and with these we must close our notice of the publication.

But

April 19. "Went to Bristol, heard Mr. Grove preach a faithful and animating sermon at the Tabernacle; on coming out, was much shocked to hear that Mr. Stockham, one of our members, was drowned with one of his children, and six other persons. here I cannot but admire the providence of God. Mr. Barnet had intended, and was fully prepared, to accompany Mr. Stockham in the boat; but, in consequence of receiving an unexpected notice of my visit to Bristol, he was induced to abandon his design. Had he not received my notice, and, what is more, had he not received it at the very juncture of time he did receive it, had it arrived sooner or had it arrived later, he certainly would have gone, and, in all probability, would, like Mr. Stockham, have met with a watery grave. Distressed exceedingly in mind, could not fix my mind on any subject, wrestled, cried, and prayed vehemently to God, and he answered me by sending Mr. Friend to preach for me that evening. Went to Bristol, was employed in collecting for

Malmsbury Meeting. This was a trying week

indeed my feelings were exercised much, I reaped the harvest. was employed to glean after Mr. Flint had If it were not for the

pleasure I find in my work, I think I could not keep my station; the visible declensions of some, the backwardness and inattention of others, and the little, very little success in the conversion of sinners to Jesus Christ, make me mourn and deeply lament; but the Lord knoweth my way. My dear wife is now very ill, oh that the affliction may be sanctified both to her and to me! Went to Devizes, my horse fell with me, and I was thrown under another horse on which a man was riding, but received no injury; Oh that my heart were more sensibly affected! Another year is added to my worthless life; how numerous my mercies, how cold my affections, Lord make me more fruitful."

subsequent passage, will be felt by many The reproof of affected preachers, in a of our readers to be occasionally requisite even in our own days.

preached

Jan. 11, 1808. "Brother for me this evening. Was much grieved to hear him play off his fancies on the word of God. His subject was Jacob's ladder, from which the most fanciful things were advanced. The two sides of the ladder were the power

and faithfulness of God. It had nine rounds.

namely:-eternal love—everlasting covenant -redemption—justification-adoption-re

generation-final perseverance-resurrection and glorification. He ran up and down the ladder with the activity of a monkey, and entertained the ignorant with the address of a mountebank. O God, convince him of his folly, and give him more reverence for Thy sacred word."

The worthy minister was as warm as any of the advocates of religious freedom at the present anxious moment, in earnest watchfulness of the proceedings of the parliament and the government, as may be seen by the ensuing passage:*

May 19, 1811. "This day the petition to the House of Lords lay in the Vestry, against Lord Sidmouth's bill, which is intended to infringe on the liberty of dissenters.

23rd." Heard the delightful news that the bill was lost. I am in trouble about my mother, who has become very feeble, and is destitute of the least spiritual light. Much distressed concerning the infirmities and misunderstandings among some of the members. Dear Shepherd, come and heal thy diseased sheep, and let them feed together, and lie down as thy flock-thy beautiful flock. Oh what trials and difficulties are in the way of a pastor of a church of God! What patience, prudence, and self-denial are necessary; but I would remember the apostolic cordial, 'Our sufficiency is of God. O what a poor creature I feel myself to be; but the Lord sustains me, and makes me to ride in the high places, and feeds me with the heritage of Jacob. I will yet plead the promise God gave me many years ago. Fear not, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city.' Brought through another year, blessed be to God, a year of trials and mercies !"

With many points of Mr. Porter's doctrines we decidedly disagree, and we cannot regard that spirit as springing from a deep and serious sense of christian truth, which flies with as much repugnance from the benevolent and equalizing influence of Arminianism, as it does from the lawless effrontery of Antinomianism. But where there is a manifest piety, we are not difficult to please; and we confess we have been interested and improved by the perusal of these pages. Differing, however, as we do most seriously, from the decided, and, we might almost say, the unjust and cruel Calvinism of Mr. Porter, we are not insensible to those feelings by which his labours were characterised, and, after living several days in a state of extreme torpor, he was aroused in spirit just before his final departure, and at the moment of expiration he exclaimed, "Peace,-glory-glory!"

REVIEW.-Last Words; or the Truth of Jesus sealed in the Death of his Martyrs. With which is connected, a Brief Sketch of the History of the English Church, from its earliest Period, to the close of Queen Mary's Reign, 1558. By the Author of "Little Mary," "Ellen's Visit to the Shepherd," &c. London. Seeley and Burnside. 1834. WE have often been surprised that in these days, when every portion of scriptural and historical knowledge is made, with much benefit to the youthful mind, to assume a popular form, the lives of those holy martyrs, who with their agonies and their blood sealed their faith in the truths they professed and inculcated, had not been long since rendered accessible to the hands and understandings of children and young persons generally. In the pages of the fathers, and other early writers, many sublime examples of the constancy of faith in extreme suffering for Christ's sake have lain concealed, or are only known through papistical perversions, and additions to the text. But this interesting little work, which is in every respect highly creditable to its amiable and intelligent writer, does not depend for its merit on the crude legends of martyrology which have been handed down to It consists of conversations which arise from the perusal of manuscript notes made by the author, under the name of Mrs. Graham, from "Flavel's Fountain of Life Opened," from the works of the "Fathers," from Fox's Martyrology, and from Mosheim and other writers of ecclesiastical history, "for the purpose of drawing out and connecting together the LAST WORDS' of those martyrs who have suffered with Christ since the establishment of his church upon earth."

us.

The interlocutors in these conversations are, principally, the supposed Mrs. Graham and her daughter Mary, her niece, Emily Stewart, "her only son, a fine intelligent youth of sixteen, and Marion, a sweet interesting little girl of about seven or eight." The characters of this group are well conceived and admirably portrayed; nor could a better medium have been imagined for the conveyance of the pious sentiments connected with the proposed studies to the general reader. But the plan of the work is not confined to those incidents of intense, though fearful interest; in a continued series of which the piety of the sensitive reader might be said to suffer many martyrdoms: the volume comprehends generally the history of the Christian church, from the earliest periods to the middle of the sixteenth century, and a