as a fellow labourer with ourselves in the cause of truth, and in the free and fearless investigation of the meaning of the sacred scriptures; and not doubting that he is one, who believes with us, that more light is yet to be thrown upon those holy writings, -that they are destined to be yet better understood, and that in all our researches to promote this great end, it becomes us to express with freedom and plainness the results to which we are led, to bear with patience the different views of others, and to be thankful for any hints they can throw out, by which we may be led to correct and improve our own system of faith.

ARTICLE II.

The Church of Christ; a Sermon preached on the day of monthly communion, at the Second Independent Church, in Charleston, S. C. By SAMUEL GILMAN. Charleston: Duke & Browne. 8vo. pp. 16.

WE OWe the publication of this Sermon to the Charleston Unitarian Tract Society; an institution of which we have no further knowledge, but of whose utility we cannot doubt. If its affairs are conducted with zeal, and with the judgment which has been exercised in the present case, it may be the instrument of extending widely a spirit of religious inquiry, and a knowledge and love of religious truth. It may thus second the labours and honour the memory of the former pastor of the Second Independent Church, who was himself so fine an example of the power of the gospel, and who so nobly opened a way, which we trust will not soon be closed, for the triumph of religious freedom, and the diffusion of christian knowledge and charity. The memoir of his life and character, upon which we dwelt with peculiar pleasure in our last volume,* presents a picture of independence, integrity, and piety, which cannot be studied without imparting something of the same spirit; and we trust that those who are labouring in the same field, will feel their obligation to tread faithfully in his steps. We hope that that memoir has been printed as one of the Charleston tracts; if not, we could recommend it, as eminently calculated to make the best impressions, and produce the best effects. It is such actual, living, exhibitions of fidelity and devotion, which are to bring men to love and embrace religion.

It is matter of congratulation that societies are every where multiplying for the purpose of publishing and distributing works of this kind. Their increase in number and in zeal is one of the favourable signs of the times; though much still remains to be done to make them as efficacious as they might be. There is one mode of augmenting their value and influence, which appears to us to promise more than any other; and that is, the establishment of a Library and Tract Society in every parish. Let there be an association of judicious men who shall manage a library, to which the whole congregation may have access, and who shall, from time to time, print and distribute amongst the congregation, such works as may seem to be called for by the state of religion and the aspect of the times. The good which might thus be done is incalculable. A taste for reading might be created and extended, better books would be in circulation in place of those which are now by most persons selected very much at random, hearers would be made more intelligent, and preaching more profitable; while the personal intercourse of the minister would become more instructive, by the reference to subjects, in which books have already created an interest. Within the limits of a single parish, such an association could act with energy and judgment; they could know certainly what was best to be done, and the best mode of doing it; and multitudes would be thus instructed and impressed, who could never come within the operation of more extensive societies. Indeed the larger and more general institutions might be essentially aided by multiplying such minor establishments: for they would operate as auxiliaries, to make them better known, and to circulate their publications. There is no way, for instance, in which the interests of the Boston Publishing Fund could be more effectually promoted, its tracts more rapidly circulated, its exertions facilitated and its means of usefulness augmented, than by such associations in our several parishes. We recommend the suggestion to the attention of active and zealous christians throughout our churches.

The design and tendency of the sermon before us, is to inculcate the temper of a liberal and enlarged feeling of good will toward all who bear the name of Christ. From the text, For we are members of his body-the inquiries are made, What is the church, and Who are its members. After a rapid and spirited sketch of the various replies, which would be given to the first question by inhabitants of different countries and christians of different communions; the preacher asks the question at the New Testament. He thence endeavours to make it appear, that the body of men who have right to be called the Church of Christ, is formed of those who openly receive the two ordinances of the gospel, and conform in heart and life to its spirit and laws. To members of this description he thinks the interests of the visible church may be entrusted without danger; though he ' does not presume to exclude from the hope of salvation' or ' the bosom of the invisible church, many who never have heard of the peculiar rites of christianity, or who have been prevented from engaging in their celebration by circumstances, which none but the Searcher of Hearts can perceive or weigh.' From these statements he draws the conclusion, that the church is not so narrow in extent, or limited in time, as some imagine.

'The church of Christ, the visible church of Christ, is commensurate with the time that his name has been heard on earth, and with the region of space throughout which it has been and will be proclaimed. The seeds of the gospel, as they are wafted about on the four winds of heaven, fall without discrimination on those pure, gentle, virtuous, and faithful hearts, which are their appropriate soil. No matter whether they are confined within enclosures, or grow along the highways and hedges of human society; wherever they are, they receive the genial impregnation, and produce the flowers of christian grace, and the fruits of christian virtue, and are equally visited by the common light, air, and warmth of heaven. Cornelius, the heathen, in the time of St. Peter, was baptised, Cornelius received the Lord's supper, Cornelius in connection with these ceremonies was a just man, and one who feared God, and therefore Cornelius was a member of the church of Christ, though no sectarian divisions, nor exclusive communions, were as yet so much as heard or thought of. In like manner, generations yet unborn shall be baptised in the name of Christ, shall sit at his table and partake of his supper, shall receive him as the messenger of God, obey his commands, imbibe his spirit, and maintain his genuine and legitimate church on earth, through far, far distant ages hence, when the names of Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Independent Churches, shall only be known to the curious historian, or shall have sunk far down into the dark deep gulph of forgetfulness.' pp. 10–12.

The Discourse then concludes with two lessons.

'First, as the several members which compose a living body are vitally and inseparably connected with the head, so, the same union exists between Christ the head of the church, and the various individual members, who compose it. He is our life-our principalour origin-without which we could have had no existence as a church, nor have performed the functions, and enjoyed the felicities belonging to it. To Christ we must chiefly look for instruction, and for guidance. His doctrines must constitute the foundation of our thoughts and reasonings, his example must be the life of our actions, his spirit must animate the most ordinary feelings of our hearts. Care too must be taken that no foreign intermixtures intrude into the place which Christ should hold. No human authority or influence should supersede his. If we ever find it difficult to reconcile any of his instructions with those of the apostles, the apostles must give way, and Christ must be the interpreter, Christ must be the oracle. If men give out for gospel that which seems to contravene the spirit and tenor of the New Testament, Christ must be consulted first, as the source of all intelligence, our true and living head. Most of all is it our duty to disclaim and avoid ranging ourselves under the banners of human names, and deducing our faith and principles of action from the speculations of this or that eminent individual. One is our master, one is our head, even Christ. There is no other name given among men, whereby they can be saved. - Why will christians forget this plain, simple, fundamental truth, and go about to beg and borrow their religion from human sources, and hang on fallible men for light and salvation, when Christ himself is waiting in their neglected bibles to impart the doctrines of everlasting life?"-pp. 12, 13.

The second lesson is one of kindness and forbearance toward fellow-believers, as members of the same body; and the sermon closes with the following fine paragraph.

Then, when we approach the table this day, let us recollect that we belong to the thousands who have gone before us, and the millions who are yet to come after us, who all look back to one head, who is Christ, and forward to one consummation, which is eternity -whom one feeling inspires, which is love-whom one principle actuates, which is faith; whom one being adopts, supports, protects, conducts, surrounds, and owns-who is GOD!-Amen!"-р. 15.

Our readers will perceive how much reason we have to think favourably of the design, spirit, and execution of this sermon; and to congratulate the friends of religion in Charleston, that they have one among them, who can inculcate so beautiful a doctrine with so beautiful a spirit, and that there is zeal to extend it beyond the hour and place of its delivery.

ARTICLE III.

A Report of the case of the Jeune Eugenie, determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the First Circuit, at Boston, December 1821. With an Appendix. By William P. Mason, Reporter. Boston: Wells & Lilly. 1822.

Ir any thing in man's conduct could be deemed unnatural or astonishing, the existence of the African slave trade, as carried on by civilized nations since the early part of the sixteenth century, would excite wonder as well as horror and indignation. But those who know any thing of the history of mankind, or whose eyes are open to the scenes daily passing around them, must have ceased to account any extravagance of feeling or opinion, or any degree of moral depravity a singular phenomenon. At the same time it cannot be denied, that in the mass of society there is a vast preponderance of good over bad dispositions; and that however atrocious and unpardonable may be the actions of some, and however little reliance can be placed upon the principles of the multitude, the greater part of our fellow beings are sensibly alive to the impulse of good feelings.

Of all the enormities which blacken the page of history, the African slave-trade stands pre-eminently the sin of deepest dye. Imagination would toil in vain for a more mortifying and humbling proof of the inconsistency and imbecility of human institutions, or of the degradation to which avarice can reduce our nature, than is found in the toleration of this traffic by nations calling themselves Christian. A traffic, which has been more productive of bloodshed, murder, and crime of every description, than can be found in the accumulated horrors of all previous history.

The retrospect of the last few years, however, affords the most animating views of the moral capabilities of our race, and of the progress of those precepts and principles of our religion upon which alone the virtue and security of society can permanently rest. And among the triumphs of religion and humanity, the attempted abolition of the slave trade stands first. The change in men's views of this subject would indeed be astonishing, were it not for the fact above alluded to, that human nature is constituted much more largely of good than of bad feelings. A knowledge of the enormities of this accursed traffic, which had been too long successfully concealed, has at length been diffused throughout the civilized world. The groans of the wretched Africans have startled and aroused the people of