large the bounds of science, should surrender to any prejudice, and to any passion, the sacred truths of the most high God, as a matter beneath the dignity of thought and the exercise of the understanding ;-that such conduct should be chargeable upon a rational creature, who professes to believe in an awful judgment and in the immortality of the soul, must be reckoned amongst those proofs of folly and perverseness, at which reflection is confounded, and for which language can hardly supply a name. Yet on what other principle can we account for many vague and unscriptural notions, which are found to exist among those that make a profession of Christianity? Ask them, whether they fix any value upon religion and they are at no loss for an answer: they seem astonished that you should doubt their sincerity. Ask them, what is the nature of religion, what are its effects, what are its promises; and it will soon appear that their attention has never been directed to particulars. If you escape the imputation of methodism, you are indebted rather to their courtesy than their conviction. Were we less acquainted with the contradictions and incongruities which combine to form the character of man, we should think it impossible that those, who will not proceed a single step in ordinary life without mature deliberation, should risk the most important interests upon dogmas and conjectures to which their reason has never fairly been applied. Yet such is the constitution of our nature, that on religious topics we are ready to embrace any doctrine according to the bias of prejudice; and to trust to the judgment of others, in this case especially, where nothing should be trusted. The complaint is as old as the days of Arminius. "Sunt, quos præceptorum nimius amor ita excæcat, ut nibil non ab ipsis dictum suspiciant, et velut e cælo lapsum ancile, venerentur. Sunt quibus præjudicia et præconceptæ opiniones bonam men tem pervertunt, et non ratione verum, sed personis, temporibus addo etiam privatis commodis metiantur. Non hujus solum sed et priorum sæculorum vitia queror.” Armin. Opera. Præf. From this cause, or from mere carelessness, it happens, that one man considers the fall of our first parents as involving only a slight, deterioration of character, which scarcely extends in any assignable portion to their present descendants: another believes the operation of the Holy Spirit to be all a fable. This man expects to be saved by his faith, while his life is profligate; and that man relies upon his works, though his works and his faith are alike contemptible. And some there are, who, with a view of being upon the safe side at least, " blend their inconsistent works with a vague and unwarranted reliance on what the Saviour has done for them, and thus patch up a merit and propitiation of their own; running the hazard of incurring the danger of punishment by their lives, and inventing a scheme to avert it by their creed*." If we look abroad, among the various classes of this Christian country, we shall find numbers, of all ranks and conditions, who are blinded by misconceptions similar to these. Vulgar errors are not always confined to vulgar persons; and the exercise of our rational powers upon other topics, is no proof that they have ever been applied to questions connected with religion. It is very possible that a man may be a profound mathematician without having turned his attention to the Bible; and utter ignorance of divinity is perfectly consistent with a knowledge of Greek. In this fact, there is nothing to excite surprise: but is it not remarkable, that those who do give their time to the study of the Scriptures, and employ all the faculties of their minds in this most noble pursuit, should be See Practical Piety, vol. i. p. 84x branded as irrational enthusiasts by the very persons who on religious subjects never reason at all? Whence this confidence of accusation?-Let the question be distinctly put. You believe that God has given a revelation of his will to man: is it rational to neglect it? You believe that life is passing fast away, and that upon your conduct in this world depend the interests of the next: and will a reasonable creature walk upon the verge of eternity, careless and insensible, as if the joys of heaven were an idle dream, the torments of the damned a fable? If this be to act upon rational principles, then indeed is the charge of fanaticism, against those who adopt a different system, fairly substantiated; and the greatest of all enthusiasts is he, who, believing in the realities of the invisible world, conducts him self as if he believed them not. Reflections of this nature repeatedly forced themselves upon us, while perusing the volumes of which we intend in the present number to give some account. We frequently paused to exclaim, "How forcible are right words! how convincing, to every mind that is open to conviction, must these arguments prove!" But ignorance and folly have an extended dominion: and one striking proof of their influence is, that living excellence is never secure from their attacks, The real value of distinguished characters is seldom fully ascertained, till they have ceased to molest vice by their presence, and by their warnings and example to put folly to shame. "Diram qui contudit Hydram Notaque fatali portenta labore subegit Comperit invidiam supremo fine domari: Urit enim fulgere suo, qui prægravat artes Infra se positas, extinctus amabitur idem." To suppose that the writer of these volumes, notwithstanding the benefits which she has conferred upon mankind, should be exempted from the operation of this general law, would be a specimen of folly equal to that which we have just condemned, That Mrs. More is an ene thusiast, is often asserted; but the only evidence of the charge, which we have been able to discover, arises from the circumstance of her directing the energies of a powerful and enlightened mind to the best of all causes. That she is an enemy to the exercise of reason in religious inquiries is unquestionable; for her writings abound with the best specimens of reasoning, enriched and embellished with the most striking pictures of a fine imagination. Of her dislike to good works, the proof seems to consist in the uncommon anxiety which she dis plays to bring religion into the ordinary concerns of life, and to give to it its full effect as a practical principle. If her hostility to the Church of England be the theme of animadversion, the demonstration is to be found in the very warm and unchanging regard which she delights to shew to its doctrines and its forms:-a regard, too, which is not, as in too many cases, assumed for a private and particular purpose, but founded upon experience of their value, and conviction of their excellence. Whether these and similar insinuations proceed from a wicked and malevolent motive, or are merely the result of ignorance and imbecility, we shall not pause to inquire: they are more than counterbalanced by the admiration and the love of the good and the wise; and these feelings of regard will certainly suffer no diminution by the publication of the volumes before us. The object of this work is to shew the influence of true religion upon the conduct. It is divided into twentyone chapters, containing so many basis of all religion is a right dispo distinct subjects of discussion. The sition of the mind; and Mrs. More, therefore, commences her labour with the establishment of Christianity as an "internal principle." Her next chapter is to shew its operation as a "practical principle;" and in the succeeding portions of her work she introduces many of the most important and interesting considerations which relate to the cultivation of a Christian spirit and the maintenance of the Christian character. To those who are acquainted with the former writings of Mrs. More, there is no need to remark, that her views in the present publication are never superficial. She has her subject in full possession; observes all its bearings and relations; and pourtrays them with a fidelity of delineation which is rarely to be found. With a mind which is certainly well calculated for close reasoning, she possesses in an eminent degree the happy talent of a popular reasoner. Her arguments are at all times easy of comprehension: there is nothing recondite, nothing perplexed and they are so adorn ed by liveliness of manner, propriety of allusion, and beauty of illustration, that none will complain of weariness, and few will begin the work without giving it an entire perusal. To the man of taste it will be recommended by its felicity of composition, and the familiarity which it bespeaks with the best models both of poetry and prose: the man of reflection will be gratified by the developement of character, and knowledge of the world, contained in every chapter: whilst the pious will be farther delighted by its just views and weighty observations. It has been urged, and perhaps not without reason, against some writers of acknowledged piety, that whilst Christianity is exhibited by them in her native excellence, she is made to appear with an unamiableness of manner, and a sternness of countenance, which are more calculated to repel than to invite. In the pages of Mrs. More she is introduced to us in all her loveliness of feature, and all her graces of attraction. Her form, indeed, bears the impress of majesty, but it is of majesty softened by benevolence; whilst faith, and hope, and charity, are the inseparable companions of her way; at once her ornament and her strength. By some thoughtless critic, it is possible that Mrs. More may be condemned as a rigid moralist; but by no person, we believe, as a harsh one. That she is serious in a very serious cause, ought scarcely to be urged as matter of accusation: eternity is no light concern, and none but fools will make a mock at sin. But her seriousness has no tincture of the morose, nor is her religion allied to gloom: it is suited to the real condition of man, and is calculated to make him happy. Those who tell us merely of the beauty of virtue, and the ease of its attainment, are moralists unworthy of the name. The authoress of these volumes writes with a thorough knowledge of the human heart: she is intimately acquainted with all its means of self-delusionwith its frailties and its follieswith its semi-perceptions of truth and its subtilties of evasion; and she explores its most secret recesses. Much as we admire this treatise on other accounts, we should be disposed to fix upon this intimate knowledge of the heart as its most striking and characteristic excellence. No young person could have written these pages: the remarks which they contain, are the result of long and diligent observation of every thing that is passing within, and of much that is acting around us. It is impossible to peruse them without feeling that they do indeed "hold the mirror up to nature:" they present us with a picture of ourselvesa picture drawn from the life and of those for whom this work is intended, he must be raised high above the common lot of mortality, or lamentably depressed below it, who does not, on the perusal, repeatedly acknowledge, Such has been my conduct, and such have been my excuses. But it is time to introduce to our readers the book itself; and it seems necessary to apologize for having so long detained them. In the few pages which we can spare for extracts, it will hardly be expected that we should do more than produce specimens of the writer's manner. Many passages, which we had marked for insertion, we are compelled to omit; and we are the less disposed to regret this circumstance, from the persuasion that the work will be very generally read. " In the first chapter, entitled Christianity an internal Principle," the object proposed in these volumes is thus described. The religion which it is the object of these pages to recommend, has been sometimes misunderstood, and not seldom misrepresented. It has been described as an unproductive theory, and ridiculed as a fanciful extravagance. For the sake of distinction, it is here called, the religion of the heart. There it subsists as the fountain of spiritual life; thence it sends forth, as from the central seat of its existence, supplies of life and warmth through the whole frame: there is the soul of virtue, there is the vital principle which animates the whole being of a Chris tian. “This religion has been the support and consolation of the pious believer in all ages of the church. That it has been perverted both by the cloystered and the un-cloystered mystic, not merely to promote abstraction of mind, but inactivity of life, makes nothing against the principle itself. What doctrine of the New Testament has not been made to speak the language of its injudicious advocate, and turned into arms against some other doctrine which it was never meant to oppose? "But if it has been carried to a blamea ble excess by the pious error of holy men, it has also been adopted by the less innocent fanatic, and abused to the most pernicious purposes, His extravagance has furnished to the enemies of internal religion, arguments, or rather invectives, against the sound and sober exercises of genuine piety. They seize every occasion to represent it as if it were criminal, as the foe of morality; ridiculous, as the infallible test of an unsound mind; mischievous, as hostile to active virtue; and destructive, as the bane of public utility. "But if these charges be really well founded, then were the brightest luminaries of the Christian church; then were Horne, and Porteous, and Beveridge; then were Hooker, and Taylor, and Herbert; Hopkins, Leighton, and Usher; Howe, and Baxter; Ridley, Jewell, and Hooper;-then were Chrysostome, and Augustine, the reformers and the fathers; then were the goodly fel lowship of the prophets, then were the noble army of martyrs, then were the glorious company of the apostles, then was the disciple whom Jesus loved then was Jesus himself I shudder at the implication-dry virtue, and subverters of the public weal. speculatists, frantic enthusiasts, enemies to This Their this inward religion, are much to be com"Those who disbelieve, or deride, or reject passionated. Their belief that no such principle exists, will, it is to be feared, effectually prevent its existing in themselves, at least, while they make their own state the being sensible of the required dispositions, measure of their general judgment. Not in their own hearts, they establish this as a proof of its impossibility in all cases. persuasion, as long as they maintain it, will assuredly exclude the reception of divine truth. What they assert can be true in no case, cannot be true in their own. in the power of which they do not believe. hearts will be barrel against any influence They will not desire it; they will not pray for it, except in the Liturgy, where it is the decided language: they will not addict theminvites them, exercises which it ever loves selves to those pious exercises to which it and cherishes. Thus they expect the end, but avoid the way which leads to it; they indulge the hope of glory, while they neglect or pervert the means of grace. let not the formal religionist, who has, probably, never sought, and therefore never obGod, conclude that there is, therefore, no tained, any sense of the spiritual mercies of such state. His having no conception of it is no more a proof that no such state exists, than it is a proof that the cheering beams of a genial climate have no existence, be But never felt them." Vol. I. pp. 11-15. Should any lingering suspicion still be entertained that the doctrines inculcated in this work are merely theoretical, we should hope that the perusal of the next chapter will remove the mistake. The root of all excellence is religion in the heart: the fruits of it are to be exhibited in the conduct. "There is a class of visionary, but pious writers, who seem to shoot as far beyond the mark as mere moralists fall short of it. Men of low views and gross minds may be said to be wise below what is written, while those of too subtle refinement are wise above it. The one grovel in the dust from the inertness of their intellectual faculties; while the others are lost in the clouds by stretching them beyond their appointed limits. The one build spiritual castles in the air, instead of erecting them on the "holy ground" of Scripture; the other lay their foundation in the sand, instead of resting it on the Rock of ages. Thus, the superstructure of both is equally unsound. "God is the fountain from which all the streams of goodness flow; the centre from which all the rays of blessedness diverge. All our actions are, therefore, only good, as they have a reference to him: the streams must revert back to their fountain the rays must converge again to their centre. "If love of God be the governing principle, this powerful spring will actuate all the movements of the rational machine. The essence of religion does not so much consist in actions as affections. Though right actions, therefore, as from an excess of courtesy they are commonly termed, may be perform ed where there are no right affections; yet are they a mere carcase, utterly destitute of the soul, and, therefore, of the substance of virtue. But neither can affection substantially and truly subsist without producing right actions; for never let it be forgot ten, that a pious inclination which has not life and vigour sufficient to ripen into act when the occasion presents itself, and a right action which does not grow out of a sound principle, will neither of them have any place in the account of real goodness. A good inclination will be contrary to sin, but a mere inclination will not subdue sin. "The love of God, as it is the source of every right action and feeling, so is it the only principle which necessarily involves the love of our fellow-creatures. As man we do not love man. There is a love of partiality but not of benevolence; of insensibility but not of philanthropy; of friends and favourites, of parties and societies, but not of man collectively. It is true we may, and do, without this principle, relieve his distresses, but we do not bear with his faults. We may promote his fortune, but we do not forgive his offences; above all, we are not anxious for his immortal interests. We could not see him want without pain, but we can see him sin without emotion. We could not hear of a beggar perishing at our door with out horror, but we can, without concern, witness an acquaintance dying without repentance. Is it not strange that we must participate something of the divine nature, before we can really love the human? It seems, indeed, to be an insensibility to sin, rather than want of benevolence to man kind, that makes us naturally pity their ten, oral and be careless of their spiritual wants; but does not this very insensibility proceed from the want of love to God? "As it is the habitual frame, and predomi nating disposition, which are the true mea sure of virtue, incidental good actions are no certain criterion of the state of the heart; for who is there, who does not occasionally do them? Having made some progress in attaining this disposition, we must not sit down satisfied with propensities and inclinations to virtuous actions, while we rest short of their actual exercise. If the principle be that of sound Christianity, it will never be inert. While we shall never do good with any great effect, till we labour to be conformed, in some measure, to the image of God; we shall best evince our having ob tained something of that conformity, by a course of steady and active obedience to God." Vol. i. pp. 32-36. "There cannot be a more striking in stanee, how emphatically every doctrine of the Gospel has a reference to practical goodness, than is exhibited by St. Paul, in that magnificent picture of the resurrection, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, which our church has happily selected, for the consola. tion of survivors at the last closing scene of mortality. After an inference as triumphant as it is logical, that because Christ is risen, we shall rise also;' after the most philosophical illustration of the rising of the body from the dust, by the process of grain sown in the carth, and springing up into a new mode of existence; after describing the subjugation of all things to the Redeemer, and his laying down the mediatorial kingdom 5 after sketching with a seraph's pencil, the relative glories of the celestial and terrestrial bodies; after exhausting the grandest images of created nature, and the dissolution of nature itself; after such a display of the solemnities of the great day, as makes this world, and all its concerns, shrink into no thing: in such a moment, when, if ever, the rapt spirit might be supposed too highly wrought for precept and admonition-the apostle wound up, as he was, by the ener gies of inspiration, to the immediate view of the glorified state-the last trumpet sounding-the change from mortal to immortality effected in the twinkling of an eye-the sting of death drawn out—victory snatched from the grave-then, by a turn, as surprising as it is beautiful, he draws a conclusion as unexpectedly practical as his premises were grand and awful: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmove |