............. 73. 81. et, teste Mat- 25. zopie See 95. B. quoted. 76. omitted. 73. 78. 80.98. omitted. P.(+). 84. 89. inserted in col. 2. p. 113. But should have been inserted in col. 1. p. 112. thus, Vulgatum se habent Cod. B.(+). 4. 22. &c. .... 68. 84. 89. Omitted in its proper place, viz. col. 1. p. 113. 1. 11.; but inserted in col. 2. 1. 13. Omitted in its proper place, viz. p. 113. col. 1. line 35.; but inserted in col. 2. 1. 19. 28. xofie xxi Dee. 72. 71. 75. 76. 78. 80. Omitted in their pro 1 2 85. 86. 87.88.91.92. Axendauay is not in Birch's Various Readings. per place, viz. ante Lectionar. p. 113. col.1. lin. 35.; but inserted in col. 2. 1. 21. By prefixing before para Taura the Editors affirm that both the readings, εν ταις εσχαταις ημέραις and μετα ταυτα, are in B.; for which there is no authority either in Griesbach's Appendix or in Birch. For 15 they quote 5. This seems to be a typographical error. In the three editions of Griesbach's Testament, dated 1777, 1806, 1810, Cassiodorus is cited, instead of Cassianus, in note (a) on Acts xx. 28. And in page 115, of the last two editions, it is affirmed that the Pol. Arab. version favours the reading *18 xai Se8: whereas the reading which it favours is xupia See. See page 113. col. 1. When the antiquity of the Vatican MS. collated by Birch, and distinguished in Griesbach's Testament by the letter B, is considered, it is matter of regret and surprise, that, in so many instances, it is misrepresented in the new edition. The purchasers of this edition may indeed correct the errors here mentioned; but what security have they that the rest of the New Testament is more carefully printed than the Acts; or with what confidence can they rely upon a work, of which a considerable portion appears to be so negligently executed? Almost all the errors which we have specified were discovered by comparing the new edition with Griesbach's Appendix. As this Appendix bears but a small proportion to the whole of his notes upon the Acts, it is reasonable to conclude that there are many faults and defects in that part of the New Testa There is no trace of supuxλudwv Alex. MS. Authorities in the New B. omitted in its proper Barb. 2. retained. 73. omitted. A. B. et inter lineas ευρυκλυδων, as if this word were between the lines of A. as well as B. B. omitted. ment besides those which we have censured, and, consequently, that the whole amount of inaccuracies in the new edition may be very considerable. The only remedy which we can suggest to the Editors is, to employ some person or persons, of acknowledged ability and accuracy, to make a table of Errata, and to print it for the use of their purchasers. The public have a right to demand from them this proof that they are not less attentive to the correctness than to the beauty of their edition. The Dying Thoughts of the reverend, learned, and holy Mr. RICHARD BAXTER. Abridged by BENJAMIN FAWCETT, M. A. Third Edition. London: Williams and Co. Price 1 s. We cannot perform a more useful service to our readers, than to recommend this pamphlet to their perusal and it is a satisfaction to us, in these days, when many books have become inaccessible to all who do not either possess a large fortune, or live near a circulating library, to see a good book placed within the reach of ordinary purses, What is important and edifying, as not in Birch's Various Readings. between the lines of A. in Woide's should be made as attainable as circumstances will admit; and the contents of this little work are eminently interesting and improving. Indeed, for conclusive reasoning, powerful argument, and serious piety, nothing can be superior to it. " These Dying Thoughts" are on the following subjects: What there is desirable in the present life; The necessity and reasonableness of believing that pious separate spirits are with Christ; What it is to depart and to be with Christ; Why it is far better to be with Christ: with a Conclusion, in which the author breathes after willingness to die. These subjects are taken from a verse in St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians*: "I am in a strait betwixt two; having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better:" and they are discussed in five chapters, which none can peruse seriously without being better, and but few without increasing their knowledge and their wisdom; for the characteristic good sense, and the evangelical devotion of the writer, his ardent love of mankind, his deep humility, and his earnest concern for God's glory, breathe in every paragraph of it. The title of this book sufficiently expresses what it contains: dying thoughts;-the reflection, the inquiries, the self-examination, the fears, the hopes, the wants, the prayers, and the consolations, of a dying man. The writer is standing upon the verge of time, fortifying and encouraging his heart to meet the boundless scene which lies before him; he reviews the things of this life, and tells us what he is going to resign; he looks to the state upon which he is entering, and describes the glory which is to be revealed;" and it is a grand thing to see a soul triumphing over death, surveying its immortality, and stretching its wings for the celestial world. How very different is the spectacle exhibited in these pages from that which the memoirs of Chap. i. verse 23. CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 104. Hume disclose! Hume, in his last moments, was airy and jocular; Baxter was serious and devout, looking up with penitence to his Judge, and with supplication to his Redeemer. The philosopher could sport with the fictions of paganism; the divine was engaged in balancing his hopes and fears for eternity; in imploring the pardon of his sins, and in seeking preparation for heaven. Nor was his comfort less than his piety. Arrived at the end of life, and conscious of his approaching dissolution, he is serene and happy; neither unwilling to live, nor afraid to die. He views God as his father, and heaven as his home. He considers himself as at the gate of paradise, waiting to be admitted to its beauties and its pleasures. Having "fought the good fight," having "finished his course, and kept the faith," he is ready to receive the "crown of righteousness" and 'glory," which the Judge is pre paring to place upon his head. Let the gay and thoughtless multitudes, who are running the rounds of dissipation, and asking, "who will shew us any good," go to the dying bed of the Christian, and learn what they must believe and practise if they would become truly and finally happy. This tract is interesting in another point of view. It is not the effusion of a late change, of a death-bed repentance, of a man who thinks of his end merely because it is come upon him; but it is the result of long established piety. The author had been many years in the school, and had grown grey in the service of his Master. He is not entering upon a scene to which he is a stranger, but he has sounded the depths, remarked the dangers, and measured the extent of the ocean over which he is to navigate his way. Nearly forty-six years before he composed this work, he wrote his "Saint's Rest," which is so full of the heavenly world, that a dying person once said, "Pray let 3 T me have Mr. Baxter's book, that I may read a little more of eternity before I go into it." His meditations at thirty were the same as at seventy-six. It is very pleasing to listen to a man who has so long studied the Gospel and experienced its power. In extracting beauties from this book there would be no end. We must content ourselves with the following passage: "Willingly submit then, O my soul! It is not thyself, but this flesh that must be dissolved; this troublesome, vile, and corruptible flesh. Study thy duty, work while it is day, and let God choose thy time, and willingly stand to his disposal. When I die the Gospel dies not; the church dies not; the praises of God die not; the world dies not, but perhaps it will grow better, and those prayers be answered which seemed to be lost; and perhaps some of the seed I have sown shall spring up when I am dead. If my end was to do good and glorify God; when good is done and God is glorified, though I were annihilated, is not my end attained? Lord, let thy servant depart in pcace, even in thy peace, which passeth all understanding,' and which Christ, the Prince of Peace, gives, and which nothing in the world can take away: O give me that peace which suits a soul who is so near the harbour, even the world of endless peace and love. Call home this soul by the encouraging voice of love, that it may joyfully hear and say, It is my Father's voice.' Invite it to thee by the heavenly messenger! Attract it to thee by the tokens and foretastes of love. The messengers that invited me to the feast compelled me to come in without restraint; thy effectual call made me willing. And is not glory better than the grace which prepares for it? Shall I not more willingly come to the celestial feast? What was thy grace for but to make me desirous of glory and the way to it? Why didst thou dart down thy beams of love but to make me love thee, to call me up to the everlasting centre? Was not the feast of grace as a sacrament of the feast of glory? Did I not take it in remembrance of my Lord till he come? Did not he that told me all things are ready,' tell me also, that he is gone to prepare a place for us, and that he will have us to be with him and see his glory? They that are given him and drawn to him by the Father on earth, do come to Christ; give now and draw my departing spirit to my glorified head! As I have glorified thee on earth in the measure of thy grace bestowed on me, pardon the sies by which I have offended thee, and glority me in the vision and participation of my Redeemer's glory! Come, Lord Jesus! come quickly,' with fuller life and fight, love into this too deud, and dark, and disaffected soul, that with joyful willingness may come to thee*." pp. 40, 41. * Lord William Russell, a few days before bis death, sent his thanks to Baxter for his Dying Thoughts; which he said made him better acquainted with the eternal worl than he was before, and not a little contri buted to his support and to the fitting hi for what he was to go through. LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE, &c. &c. GREAT BRITAIN. In the press: A new Edition of Mr. Bowyer's Conjectures on the New Testament, including those of Mr. S. Weston and Professor Schule, with additional Notes, by the late Dr. H. Owen ;--and, A new Edition (at the Clarendon Press) of Strype's Lives. Preparing for the press: A Father's Rea sons for being a Christian, by the Rev. Mr. Poulet-A translation of Aristotle's Disserta tion on Rhetoric, by Mr. D. M. Crime' and, A translation of Calvin's Institutes. An experiment has lately been made ascertain the comparative eligibility of wo and iron for roofs; and it is said to pr that in strength, durability, and economy latter is superior. An iron roof has been constructed by Aberdare Iron Company, and put up Newport, Monmouthshire. It covers a bi ing 40 feet long, and 21 feet wide ever walls, and consists of seven main couples, tol, to join the Wiltshire and Berkshire canal two leading couples, and wall-plating, all of cast iron, wrought iron laths, screw-pins, &c. total weight 2 ton, 4cwt. 2qrs. 20lb. being sufficiently strong to sustain the heaviest stone tile of this country, and is in itself lighter than one of wood, of which substance there is not one particle. The main couples are made in three pieces, the collar or tiebeam of which forms part of a circle, thereby giving much more head-room than is possible with wood, and holes are left in the same for the purpose of fixing ceiling-joists, making an handsome covered ceiling; it requires neither side-pieces nor rafters, the wrought-iron laths being a substitute for both. The whole roofing, after being fitted together, and taken to pieces again, at Aberdare iron-works, was put into one waggon, and conveyed to Tredagar iron-works, there unloaded into a trainwaggon, and taken down the Sirrowy trampad, through Sir C. Morgan's park, to Newport, in twenty-four hours, a distance of thirty-six miles. It was then fitted together again, and fixed on the walls, completely ready for the tiler, in less tban five hours, who, having no laths to prepare or nail on, can tile a roof in half the time it could be done on one constructed of wood. They are applicable to buildings of all sizes, can be put up at a much less expense per square than any other, and are, of course, far more durable. During the last session of parliament an act was passed to enable the Governors of Bethlehem Hospital to remove that institution to a field of twelve acres in St George's Fields. The Governors have offered premiums for designs of the projected building; 2001. for the best, 100/. for the second, and 50%, for the third. The building is intended to contain four hundred patients, with a capacity of being enlarged. The funds of the bospital, applicable to the purpose of a new building, amount to about 27,000l.; while its cost, on the scale that is proposed, will not be less than 100,000!. The difference, it is expected, will be made up by a liberal subscription on the part of the public. In pursuance of a petition to the House of Commons from the trustees of the British Museum, the Right Hon. C. F. Greville's collection of minerals, has been valued with a view to its purchase. The collection contains about 20,000 specimens, consisting of chrystallized rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, rubellites, diamonds, and other precious stones, as well as various ores; and far surpasses in richness and variety any other collection in Europe, and has been valued at 13,7271. It is proposed to make a canal from Bris near Toxham. A regular navigation will thus be opened to and from London, and all places in the way. The sum of 400,000l.* has been subscribed for this purpose. At a late meeting of the Society of Arts, a premium of fifty guineas was awarded to Mr. John Davis, of John-street, Spitalfields, for a fire-escape, which promises to be of great utility. This contrivance consists of a ladder, or rather three ladders, so combined as to admit of their being slid out, like the tubes of a pocket telescope, to the height of from forty to fifty feet, if required; carrying up, at the same time, a box to receive females or children, or small valuables, while the less timid can descend the ladder. This box, by means of a chain and pulley, worked by the people below, descends to the ground, where being instantly unhooked, another box is sent up while the first is emptying. All this is performed in about two minutes. This appa ratus is erected on a carriage with four wheels, nine feet long and five wide, furnished with the usual apparatus and harness for yoking a horse to it, for the more speedy removal to the scene of danger. Mr Knight, in his Report of the Transac tions of the Horticultural Society, mentions an improved method of cultivating the alpine strawberry. The process consists of sowing the seed on a moderate hot-bed, in the beginning of April, and removing the plants, as soon as they have acquired sufficient strength, to beds in the open ground. They will begin to blossom after midsummer, and afford an abundant late autumnal crop. Mr. K. thinks, that this strawberry ought always to be treated as an annual plant. A navigable canal, to be called the North London Canal, is intended to be cut from the metropolis into the river Cam, in Cambridgeshire, opening a direct communication with several other counties; and another is projected between the Thames and Portsmouth. A gentleman near Kendal, who owns a quarry in one of the most mountainous districts, has discovered a substitute for stonepencils, hitherto used for writing upon slates, which were brought from Holland in abundance, till the late decrees of France were strictly enforced. The Westmoreland-stone is said to be of a superior quality to that from Holland; and the proprietor has invented a machine for cutting these pencils in a circular form. Sir George Mackenzie, accompanied by Mr. Henry Holland, and Mr. Richard Bright, of the university of Edinburgh, has sailed from Leith for Stromness, whence they 3T2 |