stitution, and that of his offspring; that the seeds of disorder and decay were sown; that these have an universal and prevailing growth, though greater or less in different individuals; that nothing in us can prevent the final dissolution of our bodies by death, but that there will be a resurrection of these bodies brought to pass by the power and goodness of God. Between this and the belief of moral corruption, a strong analogy subsists. Sin was introduced at the fall into our moral nature; there is a fatal proneness to it in all men, nor can we avert that moral death or condemnation to which our actual sins consign us. But from this we are promised a moral resurrection, accomplished by the power and goodness of God, according to the provisions of the great work of redemption. Will it then be concluded from this statement, that we have no moral capacities, that there is no value in religious exhortation, that it is not for us to restrain or resist that evil to which we are unhappily inclined, or to seek that improvement of the heart from which we are naturally averse? This is evidently no less unreasonable than to say, "BeCause we were born with the sources of mortality within us, because we have many and grievous infirmities, because we are subject to casualty and contagion, because doomed to death at last, therefore it is ludicrous and farcical' to take any means of relieving sick ness, or promoting health."

we are

We cannot but consider our critic strangely mistaken, when he draws conclusions from this Christian doctrine which are only deducible from that of philosophical necessity. He should also have remembered that Mrs. More is probably as capable as himself of viewing human nature in all its aspects; that she has said in the same essay, "We must humble but not degrade it. Our original brightness is obscured, but not extinguished." The beautiful eulogium of man, or rather of man's

Creator, quoted from Hamlet, appears quite superfluous, except for the sake of applying the sequel so humorously.

But another poet, contemplating the whole of our nature, admires its dignity in the same lines that deplore its degradation!

"How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,

How complicate, how wonderful is man!" And if we perceive beauty and propriety in that passage of Milton which describes the leader of suggested to Mrs. More the words apostate spirits, and which possibly of her last-cited sentiment, we shall not allow pride to set up human pre-eminence as an argument against

human

apostasy.

"His form had not yet lost
All her original brightness, nor appear'd
Less than archangel ruin'd, and th' excess
Of glory obscur'd *."

The scriptural doctrine of the fall of man, and the consequent degeneracy of the whole human race, is of great importance in the Christian scheme. Let this be granted, and it seems impossible to deny the necessity of a changed

heart and a renewed nature. Let this be denied; and, in defiance of experience and reason, let it be contended that the mind of a child is like a sheet of white paper--a tablet, which will receive any impres sion-a mirror, that will reflect any image which is presented to it; and where, it may then be contended, is the necessity of the change enforced in the Gospel? The fabric

We omit the rest of the critic's objec tions, as they relate rather to particular thoughts and expressions than to general principles, and are therefore less important. Some of them must stand or fall with the arguments, whose fallacy and injustice we

have endeavoured to expose. In others, a perusal of the work will betray an old stratagem of controversial sophistry, that connection; a practice which no lover of of ingeniously separating passages from their truth can too much deprecate, as by these means inspiration itself may appear to utter the language of folly.

of sophistry can then stand upon an ample base; and the union of a villanous life with " a good soul,” or an excellent heart," will no longer appear incongruous. "If we consider ourselves in our natural state," says Mrs. More, "our estimation cannot be too low;" and the declarations of the inspired writers, and of good men in all ages, will bear out the assertion. Yet some faint marks of our divine original may still be traced. On contemplating the condition of man, as it has been well observed, we are in the situation of a traveller who paces among the ruins of an ancient city, once visited for its magnificence and renowned for its power; but the hand of destruction has been upon it: and though he discovers still some traces of magnificence-here a lofty column, and there a stately arch-yet is it a habitation for serpents, and a receptacle for beasts of prey: the mind can scarcely stretch to its former dignity, or appreciate the greatness of its fall. It is still magnificent: but it is magnificence in ruins.

By some it is contended, that as depravity admits of degrees, those persons who have led a regular life, and have ever been attentive to the duties of religion, may possibly have escaped the contagion: and the declaration of our Saviour, that he came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," is occasionally adduced to prove that all have not need to repent, since some are righteous already. But how is this hypothesis to be reconciled with the plain declaration," that there is none righteous, no not one?" The apparent contradiction lies in the error of interpretation. The argument of our Saviour is directed against the Pharisees, and the most obvious meaning seems to be this: "You are displeased that I sit down at table with publicans and sinners; but my mission is to sinners: had the world been righteous; there would have been no need of a Saviour: I came not to call the

righteous, but sinners to repentance." It will not be suspected, that we wish to detract from the value of moral habits and a regular life; and it would be to little profit to settle the exact order of demerit, when every one, who will examine his own heart, must assuredly feel and know, that in thought, and word, and deed, he has too often transgressed the divine law, and exposed himself to the wrath of his Judge. It has, indeed, been recorded of some, that from the earliest dawning of intelligence, they appear to have been under the guidance of another spirit, and their lives have testified that God was with them. But neither can instances of this nature be considered as exceptions to the ge neral rule." Dr. Bates declared, in his sermon, at Baxter's fune ral, that he had received this tes timony concerning his early piety. His father said, with tears of joy, to a friend, My son Richard, I hope, was sanctified from the womb; for when he was a little boy in coats, if he heard other children in play speak profane words, he would reprove them, to the wonder of them that heard him*." If we could inquire of Baxter, whether he had nothing to repent of, his answer would doubtless be, as every part of his writings will testify, that he felt himself utterly unworthy of the least of the divine mercies; aud that, like Job, whenever he contemplated his own heart, he was constrained" to repent and abhor himself in dust and ashes."

If all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, then is it necessary to preach to all men repentance and remission of sins. On the subject of repentance, the sacred writers speak strongly and decisively; and we are glad to find that Mrs. More does not shrink from the full avowal of the doctrine.

"That general burst of sins which so,fre.

Calamy's Life of Baxter,

Omniscience with folly, and Infinite Goodness with injustice-no, when he made duty and happiness inseparable, he neither made our duty impracticable, nor our happiness unattainable. But we are continually flying to false refuges, clinging to false holds, resting on false supports: as they are uncertain they disappoint us, as they are weak they fail us; but as they are numerous, when one fails, another presents itself. Till they slip from under us, we never suspect how much we rested upon them. Life glides away in a perpetual succession of these false dependencies and successive privations." Vol. i. pp. 153, 154.

It is one beauty of Christianity, that with every duty is connected a promise; with every command is united, either distinctly or by implication, the assurance of power to perform it. "Work out your own salvation," saith the apostle, "with fear and trembling." How can this be? Where are the means? Whence the practicability? Because we are not required to undertake it in our own strength, but with the support and direction of Almighty power: "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure." If you will enter upon the warfare, here is help from above; if you possess a willing mind, you shall assuredly prosper: yet you owe not the success to your own efforts, but to divine assistance; to God, that worketh in you.-In this view, the commands of Scripture all perfectly harmonize with the attributes of the Most High, and with the dispensations of his moral government. His conditions of mercy are intelligible; his injunctions are reasonable; and though the glory will be his, if we attain to a blessed immortality, the condemnation will be justly ours, if we reject the offers of salvation.

From the observations contained in the preceding pages, our readers will perceive, not only that the genuine doctrines of the Christian religion are stated in the work under review, but that they are stated with their just bearings and limitations. Theorists generally proceed too far: those who consider themselves as

practical persons, are apt to lay too little stress upon doctrines: hence the mischievous effects of antinomianism, on the one hand; and of dry, thread-bare morality, on the other. Truth lies between the extremes. With the antinomian, she proclaims the important doctrine of justification by faith alone; with the moralist, she holds that good works must be the result of a true and lively faith. If the moralist would embrace the right principle, and the antinomian admit the right effects, how much more scriptural would be their views, how much more holy their lives! "Practical piety" will tend, we are persuaded, in an eminent degree, to raise the standard of the one and smooth the asperities of the other. We have been particularly delighted with the correctness and sobriety of septiment, which are displayed by the authoress of these admirable volumes. While her heart is filled with the greatness of her argument, and her imagination on full stretch to embellish and adorn it, her judg ment rarely slumbers. We have religion without cant, zeal without enthusiasm, and virtue established on a right foundation. Whether the classes, to whom we have just alluded, will benefit by the example before them, we shall not venture to decide. Too many are to be found, in all countries, like the Italian philosopher, who was unwilling to look through the telescopes of Galileo lest he should find something to shake his belief in the dogmas Aristotle. Where the mind is open to conviction, we are persuaded that these volumes cannot be read without profit.

of

Upon the defects of this work we have little disposition, and we find little reason, to enlarge. If we affirm, that, amidst a rich display of beautiful imagery, the metaphors are sometimes redundant and sometimes not quite consistent; that the illustrations are not always dignified, nor the allusions in every instance sufficiently remote from common col

loquy; that both thoughts and expressions occur which are beneath the usual elevation of the writer; what shall we have said more, than that "Practical Piety" is not a perfect composition? The nature of the objections would prove that the faults to be found in these volumes are few and trifling-the ordinary lapses of a great mind, intent upon great objects; and that nearly all of them have their origin in kindred excellencies-in the play of a fancy, which can summon images at command from all the regions of art and taste; in a power of illustration, which catches from almost every object the exact point of resemblance; in a flow of sentiments, which appear to rise without effort; and in a copiousness of diction, which is derived not merely from the labours of the learned, but from the easy intercourse of social life. These are excellencies, which, if they occasionally degenerate into faults, are sure to excite attention and to conciliate regard; and the splendid service, which this distinguished writer has rendered to the cause of morals and religion, is doubtless to be attributed, in no inconsiderable degree, to the dress of her sentiments and the fascinations of her style. The delicacy and refinement of the female mind especially, are not unfrequently alarmed by the rough precepts and characteristic manner of the sterner sex; and some of our best writers on religious subjects have made little progress with the ladies. Whilst we congratulate Mrs. More on the benefits which her Christian labours have conferred upon every order of society, we would lay particular stress on the favourable reception which she has every where received from the large class of welleducated females. Upon them, as it has been well remarked, "de volves the education of our earliest youth;" and to them we may look as "the faithful repositories of religious principle, for the benefit both of the present and of the rising gene

ration.' The influence of the fe male character upon the manners of society is very extensive; and there is nothing unreasonable in the persuasion, that generations yet to come will have cause to bless the memory of her, whose exalted piety and indefatigable labours have operated with such effect upon the present. Happy is the life, however short its duration, which has been successfully employed, upon Christian principles, for the benefit of the world; but we cannot avoid looking with peculiar veneration upon those who, having dedicated their early days to the service of God, continue through the whole period of a lengthened life the same honourable course : combining, as they advance in years, the ardour of youth with the experience of age; and exhibiting the full power of splendid talents, corrected by lessons of wisdom and improved by maturity of knowledge. Should these pages meet the eye of the authoress of "Practical Piety," we trust that she will receive our observations as an evidence of sincere respect for her many excellencies, and as some small acknowledgment for the pleasure and instruction which we have derived from her works. But she needs no suffrage of ours: the testimony of a good conscience is a reward far higher than we can confer, and the blessed hope in reversion is independent of the judgment of man.

They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turu many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."

A Refutation of Calvinism; in which the Doctrines of Original Sin, Grace, Regeneration, Justification, and Universal Redemption, are explained; and the peculiar Tenets maintained by Calvin upon those Points are proved to be contrary to

• Wilberforce's Practical View, chap. vii, sect. 1.