learned, candid, and well-conducted argument, in favour of the doctrine announced in the title, constituting part of a course of theological lectures which Dr. Smith appears to be giving to his congregation; and worthy of being published at their request.

"Gratitude to God for National Mercies. A Sermon preached Nov. 18, 1810 By Robert Young, D. D. Minister of the Scotch Church, London Wall: being the day set apart by authority, for the public acknowledgment of the Divine goodness in the abundance of the harvest." The preacher takes a just view of the causes of our thankfulness, as they are found in the palace, the temple, and the field; ably expatiates upon them, and draws various correct and forcible inferences.

The controversial publications of the year, either directly or collectively theological, have been numerous, and addressed to numerous subjects. We can only glance at the chief of them.

The first we shall notice relates to the tenets of Calvinism. Bishop Tomline of Lincoln, has published in an octavo volume, "A Refutation of Calvinism;" in which his object is to explain the doctrines of original sin, grace, regeneration, justification and universal redemption; and to prove that the tenets maintained by Calvin upon these points are contrary to Scripture, to the writings of the ancient fathers of the Christian church, and to the public formularies of the Church of England." There are so many disputes upon other points among different classes of Christians at present, that we cannot see the great utility of stirring up a question that has been long sinking into oblivion, and that is comparatively assented to we believe by few persons of our own day. So far as the learned prelate has

gone he appears very sufficiently to have succeeded. But if he have not gone far enough to make many converts, he has gone quite far enough to excite a host of opponents. Amongst the most prominent of these are Mr. Scott, Rector of Aston Sandford, who has published two volumes of "Remarks" on the Bishop of Lincoln's" Refutation;" and Dr. Williams, who, in one vol.octavo, has just advertised "A Defence of Modern Calvinism, being an Examination of the Bishop of Lincoln's work." The first of these gives bimself very little trouble with Dr. Tomline's assertion, that the tenets of the Calvinistic school are contrary to the writings af the ancient fathers of the Christian church, for he avowedly disclaims their authority: "We appeal, says he, from fallible fathers and councils to the infallible apostles:" so that as far as relates to Mr. Scott, the learned prelate might have saved himself the turmoil of delving into some hundreds of dusty and obsolete volumes. Dr. Williams however follows him up with somewhat more spirit: he asserts, that of the different quotations from the fathers, some have no bearing on the points in question; some militate against the bishop's avowed principles; and some are unscriptural both in language and sentiment: and he accuses his lordship himself of inconsistency in his acknowledged sentiments as well as in his quotations. Perhaps the principal error consists in ascribing to the great body of modern Calvinists, the whole of the tenets which were maintained by Calvin himself, several of which have been rejected by the greater part of them as dangerous, and irreconcilable with holy writ. The inconsistency however lies, in our judgment, wholly with themselves, in continuing the name of Calvinists, while they abjure the

most

most obnoxious of Calvin's notions; and in adhering to his first principles while they run away from the cousequences which fairly and legitimately follow from them.

12.

The next controversy belonging to this class which we have to notice, is that which has taken place be tween the supporters of Dr. Bell's and of Mr. Lancaster's systems of national education: the chief publications in favour of the former of which are Dr. Marsh's Sermon preached at St. Paul's, June 13, on the annual meeting of the children of the Charity Schools about London; and Mr. Prebendary Bowyer's Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Officialty of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, April 23, and May The chief in favour of the latter are the reports published by Mr. Lancaster's Committee, and printed at the Royal Free-School Press, Southwark. Both are now very largely patronized throughout the kingdom; the former under the title of the "National System of Education," and the latter under that of Mr. Lancaster's own name. The chief defect in Mr. Lancaster's system is that of giving to youth the rudiments of education without directing it to any specific, moral, or religious object, leaving it, with what we cannot but regard as a mischievous wildness of speculation, to the youths themselves, thus endangered with little learning" to choose their systems and their principles as future chance may direct them. We may be told that this system makes a point of putting the Bible into their hands as their chief or only school-book, and that it abstains, through motives of the purest liberality, from connecting it with any other book, lest an undue bias should be given to the mind in favour of one set of tenets rather than of another. But the Bible alone

can no more make a Christian of a schoolboy, than the statutes at large could make a statesman of him. The Bible ought never to be promulgated as a mere schoolbook: it cannot become common and dogs-eared, without sinking in solemnity and veneration; and the boy who is in the habit of being punished over it, or seeing others punished over it, as their daily lesson, is more likely to acquire a hatred than a love for it. The Bible is a book that all sects and parties appeal to-the most artful and visionary as well as the most correct: and the little knowledge of it a school-boy can thus pick up, will be just sufficient, and no more, to make him the prey of whatever party he may fall into, for he will be equally prepared for all. We make these remarks under the postulate that there was no established religion in the nation, forming a part of its political constitution: but as this postulate cannot be maintained-as there is no established and national religion, the incongruity of applying to the nation as a body, to support a system of national instruction unconnected with the national faith, is augmented in a ten-fold degree, and must be obvious to every one as soon as pointed out.

The remaining theological controversies that have chiefly di tinguished the year are the continued disputes concerning the Bible Society; that concerning religious toleration, in consequence of Lord Sidmouth's bill; that concerning Catholic Emancipation; and that concerning the conversion of the Jews. All these however are still in an unfinished state; and we shall have an opportunity of considering them more fully in our volume for the next year.

CHAPTER

rurgical and medical publications of the year.

Surgical Observations on injuries of the Head, and on Miscellaneous Subjects, by John Abernethy, F. R. S." 8vo. We have here once more the observations of the disciple and successor of Mr. Pott, whose name will not readily be forgotten throughout any part of Europe Profiting, however, by the experience of his celebrated preceptor, Mr. Abernethy has, upon the subject before us, adopted a decidedly opposite practice, and here openly protests against the frequent and indiscriminate use of the trephine. Mr. Pott tiepanned in all cases of fracture of the skull, and very generally in other injuries of the head; the principle upon which he acted being of a very comprehensive nature. If the symptoms indicated pressure upon the brain from a depression of the fractured bone, from the extravasation of blood, or the etfusion of pus, his object in removing a piece of bone was clear: but even in the absence of any of these accidents, he had recourse to the trephine, as a preventative of bad symptoms. This practice was, till of late years, universally adopted both in our own country and abroad, and even now meets with many apologists for it in this metropolis, and still more out of it. It must

nevertheless, be owned that, upon

since the time of Mr. Pott, and few practitioners, even of the old school, would now-a-days think of boring the skull, when fractured without depression, under the absurd pretext of allowing space for the inflammatory expansion of the brain.

The question, if it deserve the name, is, whether every depression necessarily requires elevation? Many agree with Mr. Pott, that in all these the trephine is indispensable; while others with Mr. Abernethy, Mr. J. Bell, and M. Desault, contend that depression is not a sufficient indication to warrant the application of that instrument. Several cases are contained in the volume belore us, which, together with those to be met with in Bell's and Desault's works, afford ample proof that depression may exist even to a considerable degree, without its being necessary to trephine; and which are likewise sufficient to enforce the propriety of employing boldly the antiphlogistic regimen in external injuries of the head. This treatment is almost always necessary to combat the inflammation of the brain, which is generally the consequence of the injury, and, as might be proved by referring to Mr. Abernethy's and Desault's cases, where the inflammatory symptoms, the effects of concussion, have been

thus

thus removed, the patient will get well, and no inconvenience ensue from the depression. But though this is generally the case, it does at times happen, that the pressure on the brain, by a depressed portion of bone, may render its elevation necessary. "If, as Mr. Abernethy observes, from a peculiar disposition of the brain to be affected by pressure, the torpor of that organ should continue; or if, after inflammation of the brain' has taken place, the pressure should then appear to be particularly injurious, the elevation of the bone ought not, I think, to be deferred." And he further observes, on the authority of cases recorded by Mr. O'Halloran, "it appears that this operation, if not too long delayed, will give effectual relief under such circumstances."

"In the generality of cases of injury done to the head, (observes the author,) the symptoms of concussion, compression and inflammation are so combined as to appear inexplicable. It is only by an attention to those rare cases, in which the symptoms of each appear distinctly, that we are likely to increase our knowledge of their specific effects." In cases of concussion, Mr. Abernethy reprobates the use of stimulating medicines, employed by many practitioners to recall the patient from the state of insensibility in which he lies; judiciously observing that "the circumstance of the brain having so far recovered its powers as to carry on the animal functions in a degree sufficient to maintain fife, is surely a strong argument that it will continue to do so, without the aid of such means, which tend to exhaust parts already weakened, by the violent action which they induce.

We very reluctantly pass over the observations on those parts of dis

1811.

eased bones which require the trepan: they are peculiarly interesting, as the subject is still new, or at least has not been sufficiently attended to by English writers, but we have already more than exhausted our proper limits, and must refer to the original itself.

We are indebted to the same ingenious and indefatigable author, for an octavo volume entitled "Surgical Observations on tumours, and on lumbar abscesses :" in which Mr Abernethy ventures to give a kind of new classification of tumours, and then treats of the most prominent of them separately. His volume concludes the series of the author's "Observations," and constitutes a very valuable addition to the circle of surgical knowledge.

"A Treatise on Surgical Anatomy, Part I. By Abraham Collis, one of the Professors of Anatomy and Surgery, in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, &c." 8vo. Mr. Collis recommends to his pupils, for whose use chiefly, as we suppose, this treatise is compiled, a good classical education as an introductory accomplishment. "You may perhaps, (observes he) think that if the time required for the general studies were devoted to the pursuit of your own particular profession, it would be more wisely and profitably employed; but his opinion is equally narrow and unfounded, for be assured that no man can know his own profession perfectly, who knows nothing else: and that he who aspires to eminence in any particular science, must first acquire the habit of philosophizing on matters of science in general." We approve of this recommendation so powerfully, that in the perusal of the work before us, we have had several times to wish, that the author had followed it up more fully in his own particular X

case,

case, and once or twice to suspect, that he has given it under a feeling of its importance from his own deficiency. As it is, we are therefore more inclined to think the author a good lecturer and public instructor, than a good writer. His professional situation appears to have qualified him to teach, but it has not equally qualified him to write.

"A Letter to Dr. Jones on the Composition of the Eau Medicinale d'Husson. By James Moore, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, &c." 8vo.

"A Treatise on the Gout: containing the opinions of the most celebrated ancient and modern physicians on that disease: and observations on the Eau Medicinale. By John Ring, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, &c."

The professed object of the first of these pamphlets, is to detect the ingredients that enter into the celebrated patent medicine in question. Judging from the smell, effects, and colour, Mr. Moore has advanced with some confidence, that it is a mixture of vinous infusion of white hellebore, with a certain quantity of Sydenham's laudanum." And having tried various proportions of these medicines, he conceives he has at last hit upon the proper ratios, and has boldly and successfully, and with the common effect of the Eau Medicinale, employed it on various occasions in his private practice. We cannot say we have pursued a similar plan: for we have never been able to give it, in any proportion, so near an appearance to that of Husson's Eau, as to persuade us that the discovery has been accomplished.

Mr. Ring's Treatise is of a different kind; and is chiefly directed to guard the country against the use of this nostrum from a long list of its un

favourable, and in one or two instances even fatal effects. The rest of the work consists of a concentrated account of the doctrines advanced by numerous writers, ancient and modern, in regard to the cause and treatment of gout. The general inference from all which is, "that when the gout is only palliated, and not totally eradicated from the constitution, the fault is not always in the practitioner, or in the disorder, but in the patient. In remarking upon Mr. Moore's analytical observations, the author mentions that he has exhibited the vinous tincture of hellebore alone, as well as with laudanum, and prefers it in the former state. In one case, (says he) halfa drachm of the tincture of white hellebore, administered in a draught, without laudanum, caused a slight nausea, and produced five loose stools, followed by a considerable alleviation of the complaint: and by gradually diminishing the dose, and taking it as a gentle aperient, the patient is now in a convalescent state."

"A Practical Treatise on Tinea Capitis Contagiosa, and its Cure: with an attempt to distinguish this disease from other affections of the scalp, and a plan for the arrange ment of cutaneous appearances, according to their origin and treatment, &c. By W. Cooke." 8vo. According to this writer, there is but one form of tinea that is contagious; namely, that in which the bulbs of the hair are diseased, and which is shewn by the baldness of the part affected: an effect, he affirms, which does not take place in any other disorder of the scalp. In the treatment of this complaint, a solution of lunar caustic, of the average strength of ten grains to an ounce, is strongly recommended. The strength should be such as not to give pain,

but