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by the space of three years and fix months. What is this brought to prove? That the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And is this the apoftle's argument? The prayer of the prophet produced firft a famine, and then plenty in all the land of Ifrael; and if you, Chriftians, exercise yourfelves in confeflion and prayer, the difpofition of your minds will be the better for your devotions.

But the prayer, concerning which St. James is fpeaking, may feem to you to belong to the fame clafs with that of Elijah, and to be the prayer of men that could work miracles.

Hear another apoftle: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and fupplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. The plaineft places in the Scripture will be mysteries, if the fenfe be this, that we can expect no help from God in our diftreffes; but may try, by acts of devotion, to bring our own minds to a ftate of refignation and

contentment,

• Give us this day our daily bread. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father. The hairs of your head are numbered. Can the meaning of all this be, that God Almighty made the world; that it is not to be altered; and we must take the best care we can of ourfelves, while we live in it? There ap

pears to be no difficulty in this matter, to those who believe that any miracles were ever wrought, that is, who believe the scriptures to be true; nor any inducement or occasion to put ourselves to trouble in giving hard interpretations of texts, or forced and unnatural explications of any part of our duty, in order to avoid, what can be no impediment in the way of a Chriftian, the acknowledgment of God's government and providence, his particular interpofition, and continual operation; as it is written, my Father worketh bitberto, and I work.

How magnificent is this idea of God's government! That he inspects the whole and every part of his universe every moment; and orders it according to the counfels of his infinite wisdom and goodness, by his omnipotent will! whofe thought is power; and his acts ten thousand times quicker. than the light; unconfufed in a multiplicity exceeding number, and unwearied through eternity!

How much comfort and encouragement to all good and devout perfons are contained in his thought! That Almighty God, as he hath his eye continually upon them, fo he is employed conftantly in directing, in doing what is beft for them. Thus may they be fure, indeed, that all things work together for their good. They may have the comfort, of understanding all the promises of God's protection, in their natural, full, and perfect fenfe, not spoiled by that philofophy which is vain de

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ceit. The Lord is, truly, their fhepherd; not leaving them to chance or fate, but watching over them himself, and therefore can they lack nothing.

What a fund of encouragement is here, as for all man ner of virtue and piety, that we may be fit objects of God's gracious care and providence, fo particularly for devotion! when we can reflect, that every petition of a good man is heard and regarded by him, who holds the reins of nature in his hand. When God, from his throne of celeftial glory, iffucs out that uncontroulable command to which all events are fubject, even your defires, humble pious Christians, are not overlooked or forgotten by him. The good man's prayer is among the reafons, by which the Omnipotent is moved in

the adminiftration of the univerfe.'

Our author's third fermon contains fome remarks on what is ufually called the course of nature, in which he fhews, that we are in abfolute ignorance concerning the manner in which it is formed, and conducted.

The excellency of prayer (or the circumftances which render it acceptable to the Deity) is the fubject of the fourth difcourfe, In the fifth and fixth, the author confiders the benefit arifing naturally from interceflion, and its prevalence in favour of thofe perfons who are the fubjects of it.-On the latter of thefe topics he makes the following fenfible obfervations:

There is ground to hope, that they may reap benefit from this act of your charity, and be rewarded openly for the peti tions which you put up for them in private.

Yes furely; and what occafion for this caution? (as a plain man might be apt to argue ;) for if my interceffion can be of no ufe to them, why do I make it? For your own fake, replies the philofophical Chriftian, and for the exercife and improvement of your charity.-Can my charity be employed, when all the benefit is to be confined to myself? Is it charity, to introduce into my prayers the names of other perfons, without any view to their advantage ?-Why, yes: because, speaking of them as perfons to whom you with well, you bring your mind to a better temper towards them; and learn to take pleafure in their welfare, though you do nothing to promote it: you will, indeed, be the readier to promote it yourself, if ever it should be in your power; but you expect no addition to be made to their happiness, in confequence merely of your defire of it.

But if this then, might he not afk, is to be my real aim and intention when I am taught to pray for other perfons, why is it that I do not plainly fo exprefs it? Why is not the form of the petition brought nearer to the meaning? Give them, fay I

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to our heavenly Father, what is good: but this, I am to understand, will be as it will be, and is not for me to alter. What is it then that I am doing? I am defiring to become charitable myself. And why may I not plainly fay fo? Is there fhame in it, or impiety? The wifh is laudable; why fhould I form defigns to hide it?

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Or is it, perhaps, better to be brought about by indirect means, and in this artful manner? Alas! who is it that I would impofe on? From whom can it be in this commerce that I defire to hide any thing? When, as my Saviour commands me, I have entered into my clifet, and have shut my dior; there are but two parties privy to my devotions, God, and my own heart; which of the two am I deceiving?

⚫ Cannot the serious facred purposes of religion be answered, and proper difpofitions wrought in us, without the garb of diffimulation, even with our Maker? muft we accuftom ourfelves to apply to him in words, that convey not our real meaning?'

I exhort, that first of all, fupplications, proyers, interceffions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority :--` Why that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honefty. Is it a peaceable heart only, and a loyal temper, think you, that we are to cultivate in ourfelves by fuch fupplications and prayers? Or do we put thefe petitions to the heavenly King, in hopes that the kings of the earth at leaft, may hear of them; and, by this artful management of our devotions, we may obtain from them what we seem to afk of another hand? Or what other unnatural interpretation have you, in order that all may be performed according to the course of nature?

Or can you take up, at laft, with this plain sense, grounded, however, upon another text of Scripture? That fince the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it whitherfoever he will, we therefore pray that he will so turn it, that Chriftians who lead their life in godli: efs and honefty, may be allowed alfo to lead it in quietnefs and peace.'

In the remaining part of this difcourfe the author endeavours to answer fome objections which may be raised against the foregoing doctrine.

The seventh and eighth fermons confift of obfervations on the rectitude and mercy of the divine government.

To obviate this plea (which may feem to fuperfede the ufe of interceffion,) viz. that no one can receive either benefit, or difadvantage from any perfon befides himself, he fays: The poor man, we hope, will be confidered for his patience, when he appears before the great tri

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bunal; and is it therefore no charity to relieve him? Is there no harm done in the world by ill examples, because the strength of this temptation, and of every other, will one day be attended to? Can I do no man any good upon earth, because he is hereafter to be judged with justice? What is it then we live for? or why have we in fcripture so many exhortations to good works, to alms-giving, to hofpitality, to mercy; to feed the hungry, clothe the naked; to vifit the fick and imprisoned, the fatherless and the widow in their affiiction? How, indeed, fhould I exercise or cultivate the grace of charity within my own breast, if I know that it can have no object? Or why fo much as think even of justice, if no man can ever be the worse for me?

• Such a conclufion therefore as this, That no one can receive good or harm from any perfon's actions but his own, whatever maxim it be deduced from, must be wrong; it is either not true, or we are to think and act as if it were not.'

In the ninth fermon Dr. Ogden confiders the prevalence of interceffion, as it appears in the cafe of Lot interceding for Zoar, Mofes for the Ifraelites (Numb. xvi.) and our Saviour for all mankind.

The last difcourfe is a paraphrafe on the Lord's prayer, in the form of a direct address to the Deity.

In the perufal of these compofitions the inquifitive reader will be entertained and improved. They are lively and ingenious, and contain many obfervations which appear to be new as well as important. Our author, however, in fome inftances, by fending us back to reflect on the ignorance of mankind, may possibly be thought, rather to filence our objections, than fatisfy our reafon, or remove our doubts.

X. Audi alteram Partem, or a Counter-Letter to the right bon. the E- of H-11-gh, bis Majefty's Pl Sy of S-e for the Cs, on the late and prefent State of Affairs in the Island of G-n-a. 8vo. Pr. 35. Nicoll.

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N reviewing the pamphlet to which this is an answer, we candidly defired the reader to fupprefs his judgment, till this, or fome other pamphlet of the fame kind fhould appear. Our chief motive for this caution refted on a fufpicion arifing from the plaufibility of the letter to lord Hilborough. The charge contained in it we imagined would be disproved by facts, and particularly the legality of the admiffion of Roman

See Vol. xxviii, p. 460.

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Catholic judges and counsellors, and the fufpenfion of the prefident, and five other members, by the lieutenant-governor, for having objected to fuch admiffions into the courts of judicature and legislature of Grenada.

To our amazement, in answer to this fevere and conftitutional charge, we meet with little but perfonal abufe of Mr. Melvil, the principal governor and his friends, with a number of little invidious anecdotes, which, be they true or false, are nothing to the purpose, and a few instances of difcipline, which this writer reprefents as arbitrary, but which, we think, were unavoidable in Mr. Melvil, circumftanced as his government of those islands was.

The futility of this apologift in defending the appointment of Mr. de St. L-t, to be one of the affiftant judges of the court of Common-Pleas, is almoft beyond conception, as it fuppofes the lieutenant-governor had power to explain away the act of the legislature of the islands for establishing the faid court, which is as plain and precife as words can make it. The act says, that the court is to confift of one chief juftice, and four affiftant judges; but, fays our apologist, thofe words did not preclude the lieutenant-governor from appointing more.' Very arch reasoning, indeed!—Why not appoint fifty?

It would be endless to follow this apologist through the rest of his argumentation, the complexion of which, we cannot help thinking, partakes strongly of the St. Omer's education charged upon the 1-t gr's favourite. We fhall therefore proceed to the main queftion concerning the illegality of the admiffion of the French Roman Catholics into the courts and legislature of Grenada. The fum of the apologist's plea on this head is, that the Roman Catholics of the Gallican church are no papists.'

This discovery is new to the world. It is unknown to the British conftitution, and had Mr. Melvil proceeded upon fuch a fuppofition, we think he must have endangered his head, be his protector the greateft fubject of this kingdom: unless it can be proved, that the English laws had laid down a diftinction, admitting the Roman Catholics not to be papists, and the church of France to be different from the church of Rome. This is, however, fo far from being the truth, that in many cafes Diffenters, whofe attachment to Revolution principles never was queftioned, are, as fuch, in many inftances, difqualified from holding places of power and truft, and many of them confider this difqualification, as the most favourable circumftance attending their religious perfuafion and shall proteftant Eng-

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