seems to have been destitute of elevation of soul; and whether cooking Italian dishes, and uttering coarse jokes for she amusement of the Duke of Vendome, or planning the overthrow of the governments of England and France to gratify the passions of Philip, he appears to have been always intent upon his own elevation, at any cost, and by any means.

"In his foreign policy, Alberoni evidently aimed at gigantic objects, with very inadequate means, or at best with only a slight chance of success. If he must be acquited of the charge commonly brought against him, of provoking a hopeless contest, he is only so much the more blameable for having wantonly sacrificed the blood and treasure of Spain, and disturbed the peace of Europe, for the sake of preserving his place. Nor does he deserve our pity when, in return for the sacrifice of his own conscientious opinions, we see him abandoned and persecuted by the very sovereigns, to gain <whose favour he had swerved from his duty as the minister of a great nation. It cannot be denied, however, that the spirit displayed by Alberoni might, in a better cause, have revived the greatness of Spain.

"In his government of the interior, Alberoni formed many plans, some of which he carried into execution. He promoted projects for improving the ports of Cadiz and Ferrol, and established new docks and arsenals in those and other ports. In the short period of his administration, fourteen men of war were launched, and as many more were nearly completed. He founded a seminary at Cadiz for five hundred pupils to be instructed in navigation, and revived the foundery of artillery and the manufacture of small arms. With respect to commerce, he destroyed most of the inland customhouses, abolished the internal duties of Valencia, and dispatched intelligent engineers to the different provinces, to ascertain what improvements could be made in the economical government of the kingdom. With the usual policy of active ministers of those times, he established manufactures of glass, woollens, and linens; and though it must be confessed that his measurers, in this respect, tended to furnish the Spaniards with dear and bad articles, instead of cheap and good ones, it is difficult to blame a minister who govêrned so short a time, and had not particularly studied the subject, for sharing in the prejudices of the age.

"Yet it must never be forgotten, that Alberoni, while he seemed to promote commerce and industry, had risen to power by favouring that institution, which is the bane of all commerce, and all active exertion of every description. By taking part against Macanaz, he preserved the privileges of the Inquisition, and with them the source of all the misery and degradation of Spain. Let us not be dazzled, therefore, by the brilliant genius of Alberoni; and while we admire the activity and resources of his mind, let us not give our esteem, or the honours of fair fame, to an unprincipled adventurer, whose momentary power shows only the caprice of fortune, the force of intrigue, and the decline of Spain." P.453.

This is a fair specimen of the "Memoirs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht," They are not the fruit of first rate talents, either literary or political; but their tone is uniformly sensible. They exhibit a fair portion of diligence, a virtuous and amiable disposition; and where party prejudices do not interfere, considerable powers of discrimination. Lord John Russell's admirers will be dissatisfied with this faint praise; but we cannot advance beyond it. There is a point, however, on which we may conscientiously join his Lordship's warmest admirers, and that is in sincere satisfaction at perceiving a person in his situation resolved to study history. Could we persuade him to be upon his guard against hereditary prejudice, and to keep aloof from party flattery, we should hope not only to see him among the best of modern Whigs, but leading back his followers into the good old path, and contributing to the restoration of that happy state of things in which the Aristocracy was the guide and the friend of the people.

ART. II. Christian Truth, explained in familiar Letters on the Tenets of the Church of England, and on other Subjects connected with Religion: Addressed to a Friend, and written at his request. By the Rev. C. Powlett. London. 8vo. pp. 326. Booth. 1824.

WE are informed in the Preface that this volume owes its origin to an earnest request made to the author by a friend, that he would give him such a statement of the Christian doctrines as might put them before him in their clearest form: so that as it seems he had previously entertained doubts on some points, he might thus be enabled to embrace the doctrines of the Church of England with that firmness and sincerity which can arise only from a thorough and satisfactory conviction of their truth and consistency with each other. The author's friend is described as a man of candour; others the author fears may not be so; for their sake therefore he has thought it necessary to dwell more at large on some topics, in order to do away all possibility of misinterpretation.

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In the first letter, entitled "the Religion of the Heart," after some very just observations on the prevalence of an outward and careless profession of religion, without any real feeling of its efficacy, the author proceeds to state his object

in these letters, as being that of endeavouring to put in a very familiar light, the principal arguments which may lead those who are incapable of more profound research, to such perception of the reason of the hope that is in them, as may be productive of a real and practical profession of Christianity. He modestly disclaims pretensions to depth or originality of argument; and urges the continual reiteration of old cavils and sneers by infidel writers, as calling for continual vigilance in the guardians of the truth, and rendering every attempt, however humble, in support of the uncorrupted doctrines of revelation, likely to be useful; and to those readers who, as the author expresses it, are not capable of digesting what may be called "strong meats," the lighter food may be in the highest degree beneficial.

The second letter is entitled, "On the Trinity." This, together with the third on the Atonement, involving a discussion of the Divinity of our Lord, occupy a very considerable proportion of the volume before us; and we think very properly, the author observing at the commencement the necessity of laying this deep, firm, and strong foundation, for the superstructure.

It will be obviously impossible for us to enter into a detailed account of the various passages of the Old and New Testament, which the author now proceeds to collect and comment upon. To this part of the work, we think the attention both of the general reader, and especially of the theological student, may be very profitably directed. A large and valuable body of scriptural proofs will be here found amassed, and disposed with considerable effect. So that this important doctrine is made to rest firmly on the secure basis of scriptural evidence; on accumulated support of the testimonies of the divine Spirit, manifested" at sundry times, and in divers manners," by the favoured servants of the Most High. From these, we learn fully to distinguish the shadow from the substance, and to understand all the typical symbols of the ceremonial dispensation, as at once predicting the suffering Messiah, and deriving from his sufferings all their efficacy and force.

In the 4th letter "on Regeneration," the author commences with some very pertinent remarks on the propensity to verbal disputes, which has led to much of the controversy existing on this topic. The following strong and manly statement deserves to be extracted:

"Such love to minister questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith,' and disregard the injunction of St. Paul to Timothy, Charge some that they teach no other doctrine.' That

there is another doctrine taught than that which is taught by the Church of England, is too well known. by the confused mass of controversy which has issued from a certain description of the clergy. Those who deny the great doctrines of the Trinity and Atonement will be naturally expected to deny the minor spiritual doctrines; for if the two great doctrines be not true, the minor ones fall to the ground: and their opinions being fundamentally erroneous, can excite no surprize but those, who not only acknowledge these great truths, but have actually given their assent to all the doctrines of the Church of England, can in no rational or honourable way account for their secession from any part of those doctrines: it cannot therefore but be a circumstance to be lamented, that all 6 are not Israel who are of Israel: they enlist under the banners of the church, accept the emoluments, and then contradict the assent which they had before given, and endeavour to undermine that Christian citadel, which they were bound by their solemn oaths to defend. That regeneration takes place at our baptism, and at no other period, is the doctrine of the Church of England: no one can deny that, who reads our baptismal services, our admirable collects, and indeed every part of the liturgy, where the subject is introduced. That it is the true doctrine, I shall now clearly, I hope, shew." P. 177.

Mr. Powlett then proceeds to comment upon several of the well-known passages of Scripture bearing on the subject, in a very clear and able manner. He gives a paraphrase on our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus, which we especially recommend to the notice of our readers (p. 189); and ably vindicates our view of baptismal regeneration from the aspersions of those who would maintain, that we rely on the mere opus operatum of the sprinkling of water.

The letter concludes with some extracts from the Fathers, clearly shewing the exact accordance of their views on this point with the doctrines of the church of England.

In the next letter, on Predestination, the author, after stating in the most unequivocal terms his abhorence of the Calvinistic doctrine, as utterly at variance with the divine attributes, proceeds to give a general scriptural view of the divine counsels and dispensations, so far as they are made known to us. He insists strongly on the distinction between "predestination" and "fate," in which we perfectly coincide. The divine decrees are shewn to be general, and apply to the scheme of redemption at large, not to the acts of individuals. His concluding paragraph is very eloquent : he has been speaking of reprobation:

"Let us turn away then from this darkness that may be felt.' Be this black and dismal cloud of error for ever dispelled from the world. May the bright beams of heavenly mercy, which shine

equally on the just and on the unjust, illumine our Christian Sion." Finally, when we elevate our voice in songs of praise and thanksgiving to our Saviour, let us acknowledge the blessed cause of our unbounded gratitude, and say, in the language of our sublime Te Deum,' For thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.' P. 241.

The author's object in his sixth Letter is to animadvert on indifference to religion; to point out the duty of Christians, whether clergy or laity, not only to declare their own conviction, but to contend by argument against those who are unbelievers of any of the great revealed truths of Christianity. From the remarks on the too prevalent spirit of indifference to religion in general, and in particular to the claims of the church, we must be permitted to extract the following passage:

"Well knowing the motive which is illiberably attributed to every clergyman who writes in defence of the established church, I shall speak of it but briefly. I consider it as a sacred citadel, not only politically set up, but as absolutely necessary to preserve the spirit of religion in the country. It is a beacon to which the truly wise will look up with respect, and on which both they, and the poorer, and the less educated, will depend for their best hope and consolation. It is a citadel of refuge from worldly troubles and agitations: the bulwarks which are placed around it are merely of a defensive nature: its first principle is toleration, so consistent with the mild doctrines of its blessed Founder, and in a minor degree arising from the freedom of our happy constitution. Reflecting minds are well aware of the blessings which arise from a church establishment. The jealous, the thoughtless, and the indifferent, look with an eagle eye at its imperfections, and aggravate them by their misapprehensions and mis-statements. The establishment, though wise and necessary, is human, and consequently imperfect. But though the serious and the good see the errors as to worldly regulations, errors which it is more easy to see than to amend, yet they look upon them only as spots upon the disk of the sun. Others magnify the spots to such an extent, as if they totally obscured the church's glorious and be neficial influence. This conduct, however to be lamented, would not be so unhappily prejudicial, if it did not tend to mix up in confusion the divine doctrines held by that church, with the unavoidable errors of some parts of its political formation. Worldly combatants. attack the doctrines openly, while they secretly mean to undermine the foundations of the citadel, and overthrow the church; they in fact dare to strike at God, when they seem only to attack the errors of man." P. 245.

All this, and more to the same purport, is, we think, well conceived, and strongly expressed; and all sincere members of the church will, we trust, be impressed with a conviction of the justness of such remarks, and the consequent duty of endea