MARRIED. At St. George's, Hanover-square, by the Rev. C. T. Longley, D.D. Head Master of Harrow School, the Rev. G. E. Gepp, M.A. Fellow of Wadham College, and Assistant Master of the same School, to Emma Sophia, third daughter of the late Matthias Ansty, Esq. of Dusseldorf. At St. Giles's church, Oxford, by the Rev. Robert Clifton, Rector of Somerton, the Rev. R. C. Clifton, Fellow of Worcester College, to Charlotte, third daughter of Percival Walsh, Esq. of St. Giles's. At Westbourne, Sussex, by the Rev. Charles Page Eden, M.A. Fellow of Oriel ELECTIONS, College, the Rev. Robert Eden, M.A. Fellow of Corpus Christi College, and Head Master of Hackney Grammar School, to Emily, daughter of the late John Cousens, Esq. of Prinsted Lodge, Sussex. At Bridgewater, the Rev. J. Allen Giles, M.A., Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, to Anna Sarah, youngest daughter of the late Frederick Dickinson, Esq., of His Majesty's Victualling-office. At Pitminster, Somersetshire, the Rev. Nutcombe Oxnam, Fellow of Exeter College, and of Upton-on-Severn, Worcestershire, to Jane, daughter of J. Gould, Esq. of Amberd, Somerset. CAMBRIDGE. The Rev. G. Pearson, of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Rector of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, to be Christian Advocate, on the resignation of the Rev. J. A. Jeremie, Fellow of Trinity College. John Rowlands, B.A., and George Whittaker, B.A., of Queen's College, have been elected Fellows of that Society. A Craven Scholarship has been declared vacant, by the Rev. W. Aldwin Soames, of Trinity College, having accepted the Vicarage of Greenwich. PRIZE SUBJECTS. The subject of the Seatonian prize-poem, for the present year is, "Jacob." The following is the subject for the Hulsean prize for the present year:-" How far the political circumstances of the Jewish nation were favourable to the introduction and diffusion of the Christian Religion." Smith's Prizemen : — - Kelland, Queen's College. Birks, St. John's College. The following are the subjects of examination in the last week of the Lent term, 1835. 1. The Gospel of St. John. 2. Paley's Evidences of Christianity. 3. The Eleventh Book of Homer's Odyssey. 4. The Tenth Book of Quintilian. BACHELORS' COMMENCEMENT, January 18, 1834. [Those gentlemen, whose names are preceded by an asterisk, have one or more terms to keep previous to being admitted to their degrees, although they passed their examination in the following order of arrangement. Those within brackets, or preceded by a †, were equal.] MODERATORS. John Hymers, M.A. St. John's. Henry Philpott, M.A. Cath. EXAMINERS. Edwin Steventon, M.A. Corpus. I Charles Whitley, M.A. St. John's. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. A meeting of the Philosophical Society was held on Monday evening, Nov. 25, Professor Airy, one of the Vice-Presidents, being in the chair. Various presents were announced, among which was a collection of Vesuvian Minerals, presented by the Rev. R. Willis. A beetle, found in the centre of a block of mahogany, presented by Mr. Metcalfe, was commented on by Prof. Henslow. A paper, by Mr. Lowe, of Madeira, was read, on a rare molluscous animal, termed Umbrella, illustrated by a drawing. Mr. Hopkins gave an account, illustrated by various maps and sections, of the geology of Derbyshire, which gave rise to several remarks on the part of other members. A meeting was held on Monday evening, Dec. 9, Dr. Clark, one of the VicePresidents, being in the chair. There was read a memoir by Professor Moseley, of King's College, London, "On the general conditions of the equilibrium of a system of variable form; and on the theory of equilibrium, settlement, and fall of the arch." Professor Farish made a statement concerning a splendid meteor, resembling a falling star, observed by him on the 26th of September last, at a quarter before seven in the evening. Professor Sedgwick gave an account, illustrated by maps and sections, of the geological structure of Charnwood forest, in Leicestershire, and of the neighbourhood. He observed that the secondary strata in the neighbourhood of this group of primary rocks appear in a very regular and undisturbed position; the new red sandstone, lias, and oolites succeeding each other in the usual order; that therefore the attempts recently made to obtain coal by sinking through the terrace of Billesdon Coplow, the outcrop of the inferior oolite, must necessarily end in disappointment and loss. He stated also that "the forest" consisted of masses of granite, syenite, porphyry, and grauwacke slate; of which the slate was clearly stratified; the stratification having reference to an anticlinal line of elevation; the direction of this line being about N. W. and s. E. and the slate-rocks dipping from it to the N. E. and s. w. The disturbance produced along this line may be further traced, on the N. w. of the forest, in the inclined position of several detached masses of mountain limestone, which stand like islands in the plain of the red marl: dipping, on the whole, towards the s. w. so as to pass under the coal measures of the Ashby de la Zouch field; and therefore to be considered as a prolongation of the s. w. side of the Charnwood forest saddle. The granite occupies the skirts of the forest on the east, south, and west. This communication gave rise to observations from several other members. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. We rejoice in the approbation of our friend "R. P.;" the valuable work alluded to we possess. The pamphlets shall be noticed in our next. A few either of his practical or poetical lucubrations would be highly acceptable. The remarks of " W. B. C." on the Great Council of the Jews, is under consideration. We should have been very happy to have obliged "J. B. S.," but if he refers to our pages, he will perceive that no announcements of the nature he has forwarded are ever inserted. "O. S." will perceive that we have availed ourselves of his kind communication. The writer of a paragraph "On Oaths" seems to us to take a mistaken view of the subject. Mr. Howitt is so good a specimen of objectors to oaths, that we do not wish to see the privilege extended. The communication of "E. E." shall appear in another shape in our next; he will perceive the reason of this change. We feel obliged for the Case and Opinions. The circular forwarded by an "Old Subscriber" has already appeared in many of the newspapers. We beg to thank a "Constant Reader" for his good intentions. He will see, in our number for December, our recorded opinion of "The Note-Book of a Country Clergyman." Since the above was in type, we have received the volume of Sermons, for which we beg to offer our thanks. The kind proposal, as is seen from the above, will be readily accepted. We will render "L." all the assistance in our power. THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER. MARCH, 1834. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ART. I.-Fanaticism. By the Author of "The Natural History of Enthusiasm." London: Holdsworth & Ball. 1833. Pp. viii. 515. 8vo. THE eloquent and powerful writer of the learned volume on our table is already known to the readers of the CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER. In our Miscellany for the months of March and April, 1832, were viewed his "Natural History of Enthusiasm," and spoke in terms of high encomium of that masterly publication. There were certain portions of the work, however, to which we felt it our duty to object, as involving errors of considerable magnitude: but these were so few in number, when compared with the general excellence of the History, that, in the announcement of the treatise which we are now submitting to the public, we anticipated a happy renewal of our acquaintance with the instructive historian, to whose lucubrations we owe so much obligation. In his "Fanaticism," we recognize the same depth of thought,-the same power of language, the same poetical illustrations,-the same vivid descriptions,-the same convincing argument, as characterise his "Enthusiasm." We are compelled, alas! to add, that we discover in these pages the same mischievous errors which marked his former essay. There is, moreover, a mysterious vagueness in some of our Author's views, and a latitudinarian tendency in other points, especially upon topics of Ecclesiastical Polity and Church Communion, which we sorely lament and solemnly condemn! Our author is neither Calvinist, nor Socinian, nor Puritan, nor Methodist, nor Revolutionist, nor yet, we suspect, a member of our Establishment; least of all, is he a Papist. What, then, is he? We guess, (for we know nothing of him but from his writings,) that he is an "Independent," and, probably, a minister of that sect. Whatever, and whosoever he be, he is a man of first-rate talent; and upon the completion of his projected labours, (for he proposes to enlighten us upon the kindred subjects of "Superstition," "Credulity," "Spiritual Despotism," Corruption of Morals," and "Scepticism," or Scepticism," or "Philosophic Irreligion,") he will, doubtless, secure for himself a conspicuous place amongst the best authors of his country. But we warn him with friendly voice to remember, that his talents are a trust, for the right discharge of which he is answerable to a higher tribunal than man's; that no philosophic paradox should entice him from the path of Truth ; that no sectarian bias should be permitted to sway his judgment, and that in handling "the sword of the Spirit" unskilfully, he may slay himself as well as others, and inflict a deadly wound upon his own soul! Let him not prostitute his splendid talents to the wretched purposes of factious clamour! Let him aim at a prize more valuable than the ephemeral popularity attaching to the flippant abettors of the lax principles of modern religionists, or of fashionable infidels, who decry our Church, because they have neither wit to comprehend her usefulness, nor grace to appreciate her doctrines, nor judgment to understand her polity, nor temper to bear her discipline! Let him not think religious establishments evil, because some imperfections belong to them ;-let him not fondly imagine that religious societies can long exist in the entireness of Christian faith without established Forms, and Symbols, and Rites; nor that these necessary adjuncts of Christianity can be fixed upon a stable basis, without the controlling discipline of Ghostly Power! We have thought it necessary to make these remarks, and thus to qualify our praise of the volume before us, because we seem to have discovered in its pages a leaning to these unfortunate errors. Our readers shall judge for themselves, by our analysis of the work before us. It consists of ten sections; in the first of which our author declares "the motives of the work," and claims for himself "the purest intentions," and the tenderest sympathy for the mistakes of our luckless nature, which so deeply affect the welfare of the human family. Neither asperity nor levity should be exhibited in discussions of religious perversions; but lenity rather, and that gentleness, which is characteristic of the wisdom from above. Our author speaks of a "Personal consciousness of the readiness with which the most egregious perversions of feeling at first recommend themselves to the human mind." Are we to take this as applicable to himself? It may happen (he writes) that a mind natively sound, and one now governed by the firmest principles, has, in an early stage, or in some short era of its course, so far yielded to the influence of irregular or vehement sentiments as to give it ever after a sympathy, even with the most extreme cases of the same order; so that, by the combined aid of personal experience and observation, the profound abyss wherein exorbitant religious ideas take their course may successfully be explored; nor merely explored, but its fearful contents brought forth and described, and this, too, in the spirit of humanity, or with the feeling of one who, far from affecting to look down as from a pinnacle upon the follies of his fellow-men, speaks in kindness of their errors, as being himself liable to every infirmity that besets the human heart and understanding.-Sect. I. pp. 4, 5. |