of religion," ," and he who withholds the form of a decent sepulture from those whom God takes hence, or can lightly depreciate such tender and affecting solemnities, deserves himself to be interred with 66 THE BURIAL OF AN ASS."

A timely warning to give the dying Christian an opportunity of preparing to meet his Judge, is a matter, it seems, in our author's view, "of no consequence at all." We want no ghost from the grave to tell us that a good life is the best preparation for a happy death; we want no preacher to inform us that it is too late to purchase oil for our lamps, after the Bridegroom has come yet, peradventure, our lamps may require to be "trimmed;" and if even the wise virgins are described as having "slumbered and slept," while the bridegroom tarried,—and as having been roused from their lethargy by the midnight announcement of his approach, who does not fervently and anxiously beg of God to afford him an opportunity of prosecuting and consummating his repentance, of searching and trying his ways? Who does not solicitously pray that, ere he be called to judgment, he may have some space wherein to make unfeigned confession of the sins of his past life, so that "the sense of his weakness may add strength to his faith, and seriousness to his repentance?" Who will deny, that visitations of sickness, thus reminding us of our dissolution, "may turn to our profit, and help us forward in the right way that leadeth unto everlasting life?" Who can doubt that it is desirable "to have some friendly warning given him of his approaching end, some time before-hand, that he may have leisure allowed him to make his peace with God?"

We deny that "sudden death," against which we are taught to pray in the Litany of our church, means "unprepared death," though it be very true that a sincere Christian never can die suddenly; and we know not on what authority any man can presume to shut the door of mercy upon the repentant prodigal, be the hour of his return ever so late. It is not necessary to a man's salvation that he shall have been "particularly occupied with the thought of death," any given time before it happened; yet it is desirable, surely, when we consider how grievously unprepared, and how perplexed are the spiritual accounts of the very best Christians, to have some prophetic message to summon us to "set our houses in order."

Again; it is not, we allow, necessary to a man's salvation that he be attended by a minister in his last sickness, or partake then of the eucharist; yet we do not forget the injunction of the Apostle, (James v. 14.) and we contend that "it is the minister's office to invite sick and dying persons to the holy sacrament," that their “faith may be strengthened, and their hope confirmed, and their charity enlarged." Wheatly. Common Prayer, c. 12.

*

(Jeremy Taylor. Holy Dying, pp. 213, 215.) And yet our Country Pastor tells us that such things are "comparatively trifling"! Beyond all doubt, the minister who speaks peace where there is no peace, betrays his trust; yet to comfort those who mourn, and to heal the broken-hearted, come the sincere contrition when it may, is equally a part of his duty. And though it be very true, that a man cannot repent too soon, yet it is equally true that he cannot repent too late; and, therefore, we "deny not the place of forgiveness to such as repent," (Art. XVI.) for whom, repent when they may, "there is an assured and infallible hope of pardon and remission."-(Homil. on Repentance, Pt. I. fol. edit. p. 340.)

We would willingly add something touching the peaceful death of the righteous as compared with the horrible misgivings and sore troubles, which affright the souls of the wicked in their last moments; but our limits forbid us, and we, therefore, content ourselves with referring to Jeremy Taylor's admirable volume, which we have quoted above, c. ii. sect. 4.

What shall we say to our Country Pastor's Lecture, (the fifth in his volume,) on the Resurrection? It is a metaphysical disquisition, of which, no doubt, his unlettered flock would express their unmeaning admiration, for "omne ignotum pro magnifico est." Our author strenuously denies that the notion "that all the same particles of matter which belong to our bodies now will be brought together and reunited" at the resurrection, is agreeable to Scripture, or reconcileable with sound philosophy, or consistent with what we know of the constant change of substance from continual waste and continual renewal in the human frame!

With respect to the sameness of our bodies, it seems clear enough, that a man's body is called his from its union with his soul, and the mutual influence of the one on the other. Any one of his limbs, he calls a part of his body, or a part of himself, on account of its connexion with the rest of the body, and with the mind. If the limb were cut off, he would no longer call it, properly, a part of his body; but would say, that it was so, and is no longer. And his whole body is considered as the same, and as his, from year to year, not from its consisting of the same particles of matter, (which it does not) but from its belonging to the same soul, and conveying feelings and perceptions to the same mind,—and obeying the directions of the same will. So that, if, at the resurrection, we are clothed with bodies which we, in this way, perceive to belong to us, and to be ours, it signifies nothing, of what particles of bodily substance they are composed.-Pp. 94, 95.

What constitutes personal identity, is a question which we forbear to agitate and we entreat our readers to consult the immortal Expositor of the Creed, "the very dust of whose writings is gold," for an unanswerable refutation of the opinions of the author under review. It is quite delightful to refer to an authority so full, so satisfactory, so intelligible, and so scriptural. We give the concluding words of his able exposition.

"We can no otherwise expound this article, than by asserting that the bodies which have lived and died, shall live again after death, and that THE SAME flesh which is corrupted shall be restored; whatsoever alteration shall be made, shall not be of their nature, but of their condition; not of their substance, but of their qualities. Which explication is most agreeable to the language of the Scriptures, to the principles of religion, to the constant profession of the church, against the Origenists of old, and the Socinians of late."

We thus dismiss our Country Pastor. Let him not mistake paradox for piety, or novelty for wisdom, and he may yet become a useful

writer.

ART. II.-Pastoralia, a Manual of Helps for the Parochial Clergy. By HENRY THOMPSON, M. A. of St. John's College, Cambridge; Curate of Wrington, Somerset, and formerly Assistant Minister of St. George's, Camberwell. London: Rivingtons. 1830. Pp. 439. Price 9s.

THE classical maxim, Labor ipse voluptas, is in nothing more forcibly exemplified, than in the duties and feelings of the parish priest. It will not be denied, that the conscientious discharge of the pastoral functions is attended with labour, both mental and bodily, in proportion to the extent and the necessities of the flock; and we confidently appeal to our clerical brethren, for the truth of the assertion, that the inward satisfaction, arising from the faithful performance of their ordination vow, is equalled only by the prospect of the reward, which is in store for them hereafter. Even the important and difficult duty of visiting the sick, which cannot at first, from its very nature, be otherwise than extremely irksome to a sensitive mind, is gradually raised into a source of unspeakable delight; and the happy results, which it is eminently calculated to produce, afford an abundant compensation for the shock to which the feelings are occasionally exposed in the discharge of it. The painful sensations, moreover, which the impenitent condition of the sick and the dying naturally elicits, are less frequently excited, where a regular habit of pastoral visitation is pursued. That this is no less required of the Christian minister, than attendance upon the sick, is manifest from the whole tenour of the Epistles to Timothy and Titus; and the constant intercourse which is thus kept up between the Clergyman and his parishioners, cannot but be productive of harmony and good neighbourhood among themselves, of a regular and decent appearance in the House of God, of a vital principle of religion, and of that systematic piety and goodness, which never fail to "bring a man peace at the last."

For the performance of the clerical duties, it is clearly impossible

that any specific plan should be laid down. Differing circumstances, habits, customs, and ideas, will render a line of ministry, which is admirably suited to the wants of one parish, equally unsuited to those of another; and even individuals of different characters and dispositions, cannot be dealt with in the same way. Several valuable treatises, however, have been written by some of the most pious of our Divines, for the purpose of directing the Clergy in the general outline of their duty, more especially with respect to their own personal deportment, and their pastoral intercourse with their flocks. Of these, the "Clergyman's Instructor" contains a valuable collection; and a most excellent volume, on the subject of the "Clergyman's Obligations," has been very lately added to the list by Bishop Mant, which we recommended, in a late number of our Journal, to the notice of our readers. Still each and all of these treatises are limited in their object, and confined to some particular department of clerical duty and a manual was still wanting, which might embrace, at one view, a complete and comprehensive epitome of the pastoral character and obligations. This desideratum is at length supplied by Mr. Thompson, in the admirable little volume before us, than which a more useful and appropriate present could scarcely have been made to his professional brethren. Its plan is well conceived, and thoroughly digested; and we were surprised to find so great a mass of instruction comprised within the compass of a pocket duodecimo. It forms an universal Clergyman's companion to the closet, the study, the sick room, and the pastoral walk; wherein he " may read at any time his duties and prospects in the very words of Inspiration ;-find a prayer applicable to any professional situation;-a text, chapter, argument, collect, prayer, ejaculation, adapted to the circumstances of individuals;-a sketch of a sermon for meditation in his walks; or the title of a book, which may assist him in any branch of his profession."

The "Pastoralia" is divided into two parts; of which the former contains, 1, a Scriptural View of the Clerical Duties; 2, Prayers for the Use of the Clergy; and 3, a Scheme of Pastoral Visitation. In the first of these sections, the example of Christ, his ministerial precepts, and the general obligations of the Clergy, are set forth in the very words of Scripture, by means of texts and passages, selected and arranged under proper heads, from various parts of the Bible. The prayers for the Clergy are composed in scriptural or liturgical language, and adapted to the most probable situations in which a minister is likely to be placed. We subjoin the following as a specimen :

Prayer on entering the Pulpit.

Lord, grant unto thy servant that with all boldness he may speak thy word. Give me, O Lord, a mouth and wisdom, that I may not be dismayed, but declare thy will to thy people, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear;

that I may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. But let every man be swift to hear, and to be a doer of the word, not a hearer only, that we all may be blessed in our deeds, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.-P. 40.

In that part of his Scheme of Pastoral Visitation which relates to the sick, Mr. Thompson has proceeded upon the opinion adopted by Bishops Mant and Coleridge, that the office, in the Book of Common Prayer, was not to be used throughout at one time, or with the same individual that this order is, in fact, a model, rather than an indispensable form to be used upon all occasions. The office, however, is by no means to be superseded, but to be adapted to such particular cases and circumstances as may continually arise. Making, therefore, the Church Exhortation his guide, our Author has founded his instructions upon an analytical consideration of its contents, and furnished a plan of inquiry into the state of the patient which may be pursued through several visits. Commencing with instruction respecting the end and design of sickness, and proceeding with an enforcement of the duties of the patient, and an examination of his faith, his repentance, his charity, and forgiveness of those who have offended him, we arrive at that period when the minister is directed to admonish him to make his will, and set in order his worldly affairs. The Exhortation, to this effect, is as follows:

Being now in peace with all men, and, as I hope, with God, you must now, for a moment, return to the concerns of this world. It has, perhaps, few attractions for you now, and this is right as well as natural. But the concerns of the next world depend on those of this; and, therefore, he who is most anxious that his account should be there passed with profit, will provide for this result while here. Your property is one of the means which God has entrusted to you for his glory, and for which he will call you to account. See then that it is so bestowed, that you may stand clear of all unjust partiality or unkindness. Set your house in order. Leave nothing to be done after your departure which might have been done by yourself before.

Especially take means for the payment of your debts. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. Let your conduct in the first place be strictly just, a pure offering to a God of justice. And let your heirs and executors be informed of what is owing to yourself, that no injury be sustained by your

means.

your

Let sickness be sanctified with active charity. Break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Such is not the charity which Christ requires. It is true, your own creditors and family have the first claims, and if the latter are poor, they must receive all that remain from the former; but when God has blessed you with a superfluity, it is your duty to give a portion of it to those that want it. For blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble; the Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his enemies; the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.-Pp. 95-97.