66 fenfe. Whenever the king of the North" is mentioned, he applies the Prophecy exclufively to the Antichriftian times, and feems not to be aware, that in Jer. xxv. 9—11. and Ezek. xxvi. 7, the king and powers of the North are exprefsly mentioned to be contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. In Jer. iii. xii. Joel i. ii. iii. and other paffages of Prophecy, the predictions concerning Babylon, Edom, Moab, Tyre, Nineveh, the king of Affyria, &c. which may have a typical reference to the latter days, are appropriated as capable of no other application than to the future Antichrift. This licence opens the road to a multitude of fancies, and eafily fupplies an eventful hiftory. In ftating fome of thefe Prophecies, the Author leaves out parts, by which omiffion the relation is confounded and obfcured, and thus rendered more applicable to his purposes. Many of the Prophecies, which predict victorious warfare, and joyful peace and reft, to the people of God, have been, and many will yet be, fulfilled in a spiritual sense, by the fubduing progrefs of the Meffiah's heavenly Religion. There is great difficulty in determining, before events yet to come have taken place, in what degree thefe prophecies have a Spiritual, and in what a temporal reference. Mr. F. overlooks all this, and applies them almost entirely to temporal events in the days of Antichrift. We lament that a writer of confiderable learning and ability, and of unwearied diligence, fhould engage in the hopeless attempt of fpecifying the precife manner in which future events fhall happen, by the yet obfcure light, and, for the most part, very general declarations of Divine Prophecy. He might have learned from an examination of predictions already fulfilled, the difficulty, and, in many cafes, the impoflibility, of afcertaining their meaning before their illuftration by the event. The frequent occafions alfo, which he feizes to contend against the opinions of the ableft Commentators, concerning the fulfilment of Prophecy, whofe event is yet future, might have juftly made him diffident of his own powers of research. When we find fo much embarrassment, and fuch contrariety of opinion in the application of many Prophecies confeffedly fulfilled, what difficulties may we not expect to contend with in predictions, whofe event is in the womb of time. It is in the nature of unfulfilled prophecy to appear fraught with contradictions, which human fagacity will labour in vain to reconcile, till the time when the event predicted fhall unravel all perplexities, and establish the inIpiration of the Prophet. "For "For God gave fuch predictions, not to gratify men's curio. fity, by enabling them to foreknow things; but that after they were fulfilled, they might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not that of the interpreter, be then manifested thereby to the world."-Sir If. Newton on Daniel, p. 251. ART. V. The Hiftory of the Parifian Majacre; wherein all the minute Circumflances of that fanguinary Event are faithfully pourtrayed; collected from unpublished Manuferipts, impartial Hifloric Writers, and other authentic Sources. By the Rev. Thomas Comber, A. B. Vicar of Creech-St.-Michael, Somerfetfhire; Editor of Memoirs of Dr. Thomas Comber, Dean of Durham, &c. 8vo. 400 pp. 12s. and Il. Is. Stockdale. 1810. Tis a matter of candour and juftice to give the reafon why the Editor of this volume has thought proper to publifh the hiftory of the horrible maffacre of Paris in a detached form, which we believe has been never done before. this which follows: It is "If the Romanifts would content themselves, with the many acts of parliament, which have lately paffed in their favour, whereby, not only the most complete toleration is granted, in refpect to their religious worship, but the feverity of the penal laws is done away; and every indulgence, confiftent with the fafety and well being of the ftablished religion, granted them: in that cafe, it would be diametrically oppofite to the gentle fpirit of the reformed religion, to even hint at any thing that might, in the most remote degree, tend to make them appear in an unpleafant point of view. But if, on the contrary, they are fo far from reiting contented with the multiplied acts of the British legifla ture in their favour, paffed during the long, glorious, and happy reign of our prefent, moft amiable, and, by all good men, fin. cerely beloved Sovereign, that they feem to confider them only as rounds for their demanding, we cannot, with truth, call it foli citing, for more and greater indulgences; our conduct then be gins to affume a very different complection, to what it would otherwife have done. Self-prefervation is, beyond all contro verfy, the firft law of nature; and, in the prefent cafe, this fu, preme law is most nearly and deeply concerned. We may have the fame tender concern as before, for those who profefs the Romish religion, but we may and ought to have, a greater concern for our own fafety, which appears to be, directly, endan gered by every repeated petition which is, or can be, brought forward forward by them. It most evidently appears that, if we granted the prayer of the petitioners, to hold civil and military offices of the highest rank, they would very foon bring forth others, and would never be fatisfied till they had, in fact, turned out those of the established religion, whom they confider as ufurpers, and were themfelves, quietly, feated in their different preferments, which, it is a well known fact, they confider as of right belonging to themselves. In one word, it seems as though they would never be contented till Proteftantifm were completely oufted, and Popery eftablished in its place. To this point all their efforts are ultimately directed, and till it is accomplished they will never, I am perfuaded, defift from their attempts." P. 6. Without any animadverfions upon these remarks, credit must be given for a fincere and zealous attachment to our Proteftant Church by Law established, and which we hope and are indeed confident will never want able and fufficient advocates to vindicate its rights. The tale is well told, and from the most authentic fources, and deferves a fpecimen to be given, which cannot better be done than from the pages which defcribe the foul murder of the venerable Coligny. "In order to admit the Duke of Guife and his blood-thirty train to the fcene of deftruction, Coffeins, the colonel, who mounted guard at the Admiral's quarters, demanded, in the King's name, entrance at the outer gate, and received it, without further question, from La Bon, who kept the keys; and for this, his prompt obedience to his Majefty's order, he was rewarded by a mortal ftab. Hereupon, fome of the Proteftant Swifs guards flew to the inner gate, and barricadoed it, but all in vain, against the far fuperior power of numerous affailants. "The great commander, in his fick-bed, hearing the confufed noife which the affaffins made, far too confident in the faith of the perjured court, conceived it to be only a tumult of the Guilian faction, among the populace, in the ftreet, and did not doubt but it would be very foon filenced by his Majefty's guards; but, at length, perceiving that discharges of mufquetry were actually made, even in the court of his quarters, he fufpected the truth; and concluded, with great probability, that they were made by the guard or their allies on his own dependants. At length Cornaffion, a gentleman of his train, acquainted him with the actual arrival of the affaffins. Conviction, which had Jong been obfcured by clouds of prejudice, now darted like lightning on his mind. At one fingle glance he saw a ray of truth, which in a moment reconciled all the former doubts and fufpicions that he had entertained, and he beheld, in one dreadful glare of day, all his infatuation. He inftantly rofe in his bed, though not without difficulty, on account of his lameness--put on his night gown-and haftened to place himself, with the affiftance of the wall, in a pofture of prayer; the most proper preparation poffible for the encounter with the king of terrors, Death, which a Chriftian, or any man, can make : forafmuch as mercy is always needed at the hands of that Being who gives, and who takes life whenever it feemeth good to him.. "The Admiral always regarded a worthy minifter of God, as his best companion: fuch now, inftantly, attended him, and began to offer up the folemn facrifice of prayer. Hiftory cannot gratify us with the particulars of thefe petitions to the throne of mercy; reafon, however, anfwers, that "it was worthy of the Admiral Coligny that it was worthy of a Chriftian hero!" "And now the house, and even the ftair-cafe was forced, and the chamber-door of the Admiral's own apartment attempted: he feized that critical moment to pay the devoirs to humanity, as he had paid the foregoing minutes to thofe of piety. Perfectly compofed, he thus addreffed his few remaining attendants: "I now perceive, clearly, the defigns of my enemies-of the enemies of my country-of thofe of my religion. 1 ftand prepared for death, which I never feared, but have, conftantly, habituated myfelf to meet with the proper courage of a Chriftian. Happy am I, in this circumftance, that my understanding accompanies thefe laft moments; that it is neither hurt nor leffened by diftemper, nor by fear; and that confcience whifpers, You die a Chriftian, therefore with reasonable hope of life eternal!' Friends, I need no human aid! take, therefore, care of yourselves only, that your families may not, hereafter, curfe me as your destroyer. God is to me all in all! To his goodnefs and mercy I commit this foul, winged for her eternal flight!!" "Thus fpoke this great Chriftian hero, and his attendants inftantly difperfed! "It is impoffible not to recollect, on this occafion, the conduct of the great Captain of our Salvation, under whofe banners. Admiral Coligny now fo courageoufly fought, in the hour im mediately preceding his paffion. If the fheep of the flock were fcattered when that great Shepherd were fmitten, the Admiral was altogether fuperior to a wifh that his attendants fhould fall with him. On the contrary, he nobly exhorted them to fave themselves, when he was himself no longer able to protect them! "The chamber-door of the Admiral being foon forced, the affaffins immediately entered. One Berne, a creature of the duke of Guife, and bred up in his family, appeared at their head with his fword, and directly afked the noble victim, "Are you Coligny "The hero might have answered, as a being of an entirely oppofite character did on a former occafion, "To know not me, argues thy felf unknown !" Indeed, the question was both abfurd and infulting; but the martyr, whofe countenance was ferene amidst this form, and fufficiently diftinguished him, anfwered .... anfwered in a laconic, but most expreffive manner, "I am, young man! reverence thefe grey hairs! but... you cannot shorten my days!" The wretch replied only by ftabbing him in the breaft, face, and other parts, till he fell down dead." P. 149. This work has long been prepared for publication, but delayed by various accidents. It cannot be read without emotions of indignation and pity; and as there is no feparate publication in our language detailing these interesting but abominable facts, there is no doubt of its obtaining an extenfive circulation. ART. VI. Ecclefiaftical Biography; or Lives of eminent Men, connected with the Hftery of Religion in England; from the Commencement of the Reformation to the Revolution; felected and illuftrated with Notes, by Chriftopher Word worth, M. A. Dean and Rector of Bocking, and Domeftic Chaplain to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. In fix Volumes. 8vo. 31. 15s. Rivingtons. 18 10. THE motives of Dr. Wordsworth in making this compila tion are, in the highest degree, praife-worthy; and the work itself, forms a body of biographical Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, as relating to this country, from the preparations towards a Reformation by Wickliffe and his followers, to the period of the Revolution. This interval will be found to comprehend, to ufe the writer's words, "The rife, progrefs, and iffue of the principal agitations and revolutions of the public mind of this country in regard to matters of Religion:-namely, the Reformation from Popery, and the glories and horrors attending that hard-fought ftruggle; the fubfequent exorbitances and outrages of the Anti-popish fpirit, as exemplified by the Puritans; the victory of that fpirit, in ill fuited alliance with the principles of civil liberty, over loyalty and the Established Church, in the times of Charles the First; the wretched fyftems and practices of the fectaries, during the Commonwealth, and the contefts for establishment between the Prefbyterians and Independents at the fame period; the hafty return of the nation, weary and fick of the long reign of confu fion, to the antient conftitution of things, at the Reftoration; the operation of thofe confufions, and of the ill-difciplined triumph of the adverfe party upon the state of morals and religion, during the early part of the reign of the Second Charles; the endeavours of Charles and his brother to reftore Popery, and introduce def potifin; the noble exertions of the Clergy of the Church of England, |