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embodies in his pamphlet is, that the punishment of death for the crime of murder "is calculated to exert a salutary influence on the public mind and character, instead of brutalizing and degrading them." The full force of the reasoning is felt here, by the author's appeal to the doctrine of rewards and punishments. This principle of the divine government has been adopted in all ages, and in all nations. It is no less a dictate of reason than revelation. It necessarily enters into all our conceptions of moral government. Could a family, or a society, or a kingdom, be governed without it? Ought we to impugn God's legislative wisdom by the adoption of a principle which he has not adopted, or by relaxing a principle which is so prominent a part of his own government, without a sanction from himself? Great blessings were abused by the Israelites. "Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked." "When I fed them to the full, then they rebelled against me, and assembled by troops in the harlots' houses." Great punishment corrected their wickedness, and cured their evil propensities. "When he slew them, they sought him; and they returned, and inquired early after God." The punishment of death had a salutary tendency with a people in a comparatively ignorant and infantine condition; and why, we ask, should the same punishment have a precisely contrary tendency with a people more advanced in civilization, and better acquainted with Christian principles? The difficulty is not met by instituting a comparison between a human and a divine government, for in both cases men are treated as rational and intelligent creatures, capable of being influenced by motives-by rewards and punishments. If it is just to proportion the degree of punishment according to the degree of crime, why should the greatest punishment be remitted for the greatest crime, without some reason from revelation? And if government appeals to motives on that ground, shall we cease to appeal to the strongest motives-the fear of death, in the case of murder? The mitigation of punishment for the crime of murder, so far from reducing the frequency of the crime, would, in our opinion, tend to augment it; and would throw down a bulwark of public safety. A contrary opinion is unsupported by the adduction of any facts with which we are conversant.

The remaining portion of Mr. S.'s work is occupied in meeting the objections of opponents. He has selected only a few, to which we shall briefly refer, and to a few additional ones urged in various shapes. The principal one is, the brief space afforded for the culprit's repentance, and the unprepared state with which he is oftentimes hurried into an eternal world; and the

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greater probability of his reformation by solitary confinement, as more favourable for serious thought and reflection, and as placing him within the reach of the means of grace. In reply it is said, "But however formidable this objection may be, it was imperative on the Israelites to put the murderer to death. And yet the souls of men were as valuable, and repentance as necessary, and eternal destruction as dreadful then, as they are now, and the Divine Being knew all this." The way in which the preceding objection is oftentimes urged appears to us a fearful reflection on the divine procedure of the past economy. And further, if the murderer is not softened into penitence by the immediate prospect of death, and death in the most appalling and terrific forms, there is little hope of any mitigated punishment proving effectual. Facts are confirmatory of this opinion. How seldom do convicts become converts to Christ. The guiltiest culprits, with the mildest treatment, die unreformed and incorrigible.

Much is said by the opponents of capital punishment about the degrading character and brutalizing tendencies of public executions. We cannot but think there is deep and wide-spread delusion in this very popular and oft-repeated objection. Honest and virtuous minds are carried away and impressed with it. It has in it much that is very plausible. The method of carrying out the sentence of the law is not always the most judicious. Some reformation is needed in this particular. A public execution is an act which brings together the most degraded portions of society, and thus becomes an occasion for the development of the worst feelings of human nature-of deeds of daring hardihood, and reckless ribaldry. Here is the abuse of an execution, not the use of it. What proof have we that this dreadful depravity does not exist, independent of executions? We have no reason to conclude that it owes its malignity, or even its existence, to scaffold scenes. These scenes afford opportunity for its fearful manifestation, but it is gratuitous to affirm that they are productive of its rifeness. Admitting that they do, it would only be a perversion of a good; and what good has not been perverted? The sabbath- the Bible- the ministry, are amongst our highest spiritual blessings, but they are the occasion of the most fearful evils. A public execution produces a deep and salutary influence on multitudes who witness it, and on far greater numbers who never witness it. This opinion, we think, is fully confirmed by the testimony of many, and by the facts of the case. Mr. S. says, "It may inspire many with an abhorrence of those crimes which lead to such a dismal end, and of all the courses which terminate

in the chambers of death. It may awaken the moral sense of multitudes; especially if they are acquainted with the Bible, and have learned from it that God, as well as man, condemns the murderer to lose his life. I have no doubt I might appeal to the experience of thousands, if such has not been its influence in their case-if it did not produce in their youthful breasts a deep sense of the folly and turpitude of sin, and contribute to cherish in them principles and feelings calculated to fortify them against temptation." The dark and mysterious sympathies with death, and that horrible fascination attendant on a public execution, to urge and allure to the commission of murder, spoken of so oracularly by Mr. Dickens, we cannot look upon in any other light than a dexterous piece of special pleading. He says it shadows out a metaphysical truth, but to us it appears so shadowy and intangible, as to be unworthy of the name of reasoning or sound argument. Mr. S. has noticed the opinions of Mr. Dickens at length, but any further reference to them would be the work of chasing shadows. We eschew all attempts to settle a theological question by the adoption of expediency, rather than by the deductions of Scripture. In the gathering of patriots and philanthropists in Exeter-hall, to advocate the abolition of death punishment, long speeches were inflicted on the auditory full of denunciations against this part of our penal code, but having a lamentable lack of scriptural argument-almost the perfect absence of appeal to inspiration.

Another objection we were not prepared to expect from men who combat our opinions so valiantly from the Bible, viz., "The Old Testament approves of the institution of slavery. We find laws for the express regulation of this domestic institution, as the Americans call it. Now we do not say that slavery is expressly condemned in the New Testament. Looking merely to the letter of the epistles, we should say that slaveholders have a divine warrant for making merchandize of the souls and bodies of men." "There can be no doubt that in the Old Testament the murderer is commanded to be put to death, and it is just as clear that slavery was one of the institutions of the Jewish people. The punishment of death is not directly repealed in the New Testament, but neither is the institution of slavery. It therefore follows, that they who hold that the punishment of death is scriptural, must hold the same of slavery." We have in this paragraph some bold and untenable assertions; indicating that their author does not possess the soundest system of theology. The slavery of the Old Testament was quite a different thing from modern slavery. What we understand by slavery

was strictly forbidden by the laws of Moses, Exod. xxi. 16: "And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him; or, if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death." The chapter, from which we have cited a passage, puts in striking contrast Hebrew slavery with African or West India slavery. They have scarcely any properties in common with each other; and therefore we deny that slavery was an institution of the Jewish people." The objector adds, "The punishment of death is not directly repealed in the New Testament." But we ask, What can be more direct than the passage in l Tim. i. 8, 9, 10-ανδραποδισταις 2 Men-enslavers are chargeable with a crime which stands in the category of the most aggravated crimes.

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Besides, the law of Christ, "Do ye to others, as ye would that others should do unto you," contains a great principle, subversive of slavery, and which has no bearing on capital punishment. We can readily pardon mistaken notions on the inexpediency of penal inflictions, but palpable perversions of Scripture are almost unpardonable.

The reasonings of many well-meaning objectors take for granted that the spirit of the Old Testament is radically different from that of the New; and that great moral principles are modified and softened down under our present dispensation of mercy. Mr. S. has many assailants, who think and write according to this fashion. We shall devote a concluding paragraph to lay bare this fallacy. Were we to admit the force of the preceding reasoning, we should be constrained to conclude that Christ did not come to fulfil the law and the prophets, but to destroy them, and to render the New Testament at variance with the Old. Moral principles are not changeable as circumstances, but immutable as the laws of nature. There will be found, on close inspection, a striking correspondence between the Old and New Testaments. God's good-will is taught in the former, as well as in the latter; and love to our enemies is enjoined in the one, as in the other. The prayers of David for his enemies, it is affirmed, are contrary to the genius of the gospel; and stand out in contrast to the mild and benignant statements of the Saviour. But let the New Testament be examined, and its prayers will be found as fearful in commination, as any in the Old. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." "Alexander, the coppersmith, did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works." Much confusion has arisen on this topic from not distinguishing between benevolence and complacency. "The one is due to all men, whatever be their character, so long as there is any possibility or hope of their becoming

the friends of God: the other is not, but requires to be founded on character. The Old Testament writers, being under a dispensation distinguished by awful threatenings against sin, dwell mostly upon the latter, avowing their love to those who loved God, and their hatred to those who hated him; the New Testament writers, living under a dispensation distinguished by its tender mercy to sinners, dwell mostly upon the former: but neither of these principles is inconsistent with the other. We may bear the utmost good-will to men as the creatures of God, and as being within the limits of hope; while yet, considered as the Lord's enemies, we abhor them." Our Lord poured out the most terrible denunciations against the scribes and pharisees, threatening them with the damnation of hell; but in relation to the same people, when he saw their coming and accumulating miseries, he tenderly wept over them. The apostle applied the awful prophecies of Isaiah to the unbelieving Jews: "Go unto this people, and say, Hearing, ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive," &c., &c. And yet the same apostle declares, that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart on their behalf. The abhorrence of the wickedness on the one hand, and the benevolence towards the people guilty of this wickedness on the other, were perfectly compatible. If a creature is a confirmed enemy to God, as devils and lost souls, true benevolence will cease to mourn over them, as it would imply a reflection upon the Creator. It is on this principle that Aaron was forbidden to mourn over his sons, Nadab and Abhin, and that Samuel was reproved for mourning over Saul.

Many opponents of capital punishment are influenced, we cannot but think, by mistaken views of the divine character. They do not contemplate the whole of it. They have fallen into the error of a large class of men, who are satisfied with a very defective induction, when professing to collect the particulars, and to interpret the facts by which it is displayed. This class, in surveying the works of God, select the grand and the beautiful, the lovely and the fair, till genius is enkindled, and sensibility is delighted. With emotions of this character they rise to a contemplation of the Creator, and invest him with corresponding attributes, and think of him as a Being possessed only of wisdom, benignity, and tenderness. They dwell upon the more pleasing and attractive perfections of his character, to the neglect of those which are equally essential, and which are adapted to inspire us with awe and fear. The same error they commit in consulting the Bible. They read, with all possible complacency,

the passages which speak of the patience, the goodness, and the mercy of God. They are delighted with those representations which attribute to him the tenderness of the

father, and the munificence of the prince; but they overlook the passages which speak of the claims of the sovereign, and the functions of the judge; and exhibit him as hating sin with a perfect hatred, and as resolved not to pass by the transgressions of men with impunity. This partial conception of the divine character is fraught with some danger, leading men to delight in creations of their own fancy; and putting out of sight all the attributes of the Creator, save those which have a soothing, tranquillizing influence. With this class of religionists we do not intend to place all the opponents of capital punishment, but, in relation to the question in hand, the erroneous conclusions of both classes we look upon as cognate in their character. Our views are embodied in Mr. S.'s pamphlet, and with the style of illustration and the leading thoughts we generally concur. We should have been glad to have seen some portions a little more amplified, and the whole essay possess a little more compactness. In its present shape, (and a second edition might be an enlargement,) it is a calm, dispassionate exposition of an important popular question; abounding in sound theological statements, and put forth in the spirit of fairness and candour. The arguments are drawn from the Scriptures, and are conceived and recorded by one perfectly familiar, and deeply imbued with the love of truth. Their great value arises from their scriptural complexion; and on this account we deem the work a timely contribution towards the settlement of a purely scriptural question, and as corrective of a prevailing tendency in the benevolent portions of society to arrive at bold conclusions, on moral and religious subjects, without the aid of the Bible. Patriotic men, in efforts for the improvement of mankind, act too much on the principle of expediency; as if every other consideration should give way to this; and the general tone of the more healthy departments of periodical literature is favourable to measures for the amelioration of man, though they should leave out of sight the honour and glory of God. We could heartily wish the opponents of capital punishment to moot the question as fairly, as deliberately, and as devoutly as Mr. S. has done, and, with pages purged of all painful levity and offensive dogmatism, we shall see truth honoured and established.

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The author of this volume, externally beautiful and internally most valuable, is the Pastor of a Congregational church in Perthshire, known to us by honourable reputation. Especially is he endeared by his efforts to promote the evangelizing of our teeming population by Town and Village Missions. We here meet him in the character of a Christian Philosopher. The plan of our Magazine, and our narrow limits, forbid our enlarging upon the subjects of his work. We need only say that those subjects have a strong claim upon the study of every person who desires for himself to be an intelligent and established believer, and to be qualified for the defence and confirmation of the Scriptures. Mr. Wight shows himself to be a devotional Christian, a sound divine, an accurate investigator of natural science, and an impartial judge of the question of imputed discrepancy between it and the Bible. The merits of the work, in the light of a geolo gical survey and digest of facts, and as an exhibition of cautious induction, entitle it to high commendation. We cordially unite with the estimable Dr. Alexander, who writes: As respects the purely scientific parts of this volume,-whilst they are such as the most proficient philosopher need not despise, they are, at the same time, calculated to place in a most perspicuous manner before the mind of the least instructed reader, the facts and principles of those departments of science to which they relate. It is, however, to those parts of the work in which the writer illustrates the harmony existing between the phenomena and laws of nature, and the declarations of the word of God, that I would especially call the notice of the reader. All such attempts, when conducted with intelligent acquaintance with science on the one hand, and in a spirit of devout reverence for the authority of God's word upon the other, are deserving of the highest commendation. The enemies of Revelation delight to dwell upon, and to magnify, all apparent discrepancies between science and Scripture, for the purpose of discrediting the divine claims of the latter. Such attacks it will not do to meet with scowling contempt, or affected indifference: nor will they ever be successfully repelled, by any attempt to bring into disrepute the sound and established principles of science. The true way is to meet the difficulty fairly. Valuable attempts have been made, in this

direction, by men whose scientific attainments and acknowledged piety alike fit them for the task. But their works are addressed chiefly to the more educated classes, and have not found their way amongst the masses of the people. Happily, those masses are not indifferent now to such investigations. Earnestly craving knowledge, they are not unconcerned as to the points at issue between science and Scripture; and if in some cases they have shown an unhappy tendency to regard science as incompatible with Scripture, the reason, I fear, must be sought, in great part at least, in the fact that, whilst they have been earnestly instructed, by the advocates of infidelity, in all that science may be made to say against Scripture,-they have not, with equal care, (in most cases not at all.) been made to understand what Scripture rightly interpreted can say for itself, not in opposition to science, but in harmony with it. Now, it is to bring this side of the question, in a clear, simple, candid, and convincing manner, before the people, that the author of the volume has employed his pen. He has discharged his task well, and has placed before the reader a large amount of carefully digested matter, in a very distinct and impressive style. I feel that a more sound, sensible, instructive, and safe book, upon the subject of which it treats, could not be circulated among the inquiring and reading community of this country." pp. xvii-xx.

We trust, it is not irrelevant or in anyway improper to say here that one of our brethren, who, in consequence of his Congregational Lecture upon this very subject, was assailed with great severity by even pious clergymen and other good men, may be comforted and encouraged by the following paragraph in the volume before us. It will be felt by him as a testimony worthy of being added to those, which we know he has received from Sir John Herschel, Dean Buckland, Vice-chancellor Whewell, and not a few others; men who stand at the head of natural science, not in Britain only, but through the whole learned world.

"Dr. Pye Smith's volume on Scripture and Geology. We take this opportunity, once for all, of recommending strongly the very able work of this venerable and learned author. It is gratifying to know that it is appreciated so extensively, as to demand the publication of three editions in a few [little more than three] years. Long may he survive, to enjoy the good results that flow from his labours, in this and other still higher departments of truth!" p. 26.

DISCOURSES by the late Rev. JAMES PEDDIE, D.D., Minister of the United Associate Congregation of Bisto Sheed, Edin. burgh. With a Memoir of his Life, by his Son, the Rev. WILLIAM PEDDIE, D.D. 8vo. pp. 498.

William Oliphant and Sons, Edinburgh; Hamilton, Adams, and Co., London.

Our earliest recollections of the late Dr. James Peddie, of the Secession church, are all of the most grateful, and, we may truly add, saintly character. When the dew of youth was upon us, he was in the full vigour of his faculties, exerting a most benign and powerful influence upon the denomination, of which then, and through life, he was the distinguished ornament. Some of the admirable discourses preserved in this volume remind us of the deceased in the zenith of his power, when multitudes flocked to his place of worship, with an assurance, that, if they were looking for enlightened and searching expositions of the word of God, they would not be disappointed.

Few men, in any religious connection, have acquired a loftier reputation than Dr. Peddie; and fewer still have borne their honours with greater meekness and humility. He was one of a thousand-wise, prudent, acute, and eminently benevolent. From the urbanity and sedateness which combined in almost equal proportions in his character, he was formed to rule; and yet so little was there of assumption in his mental habit, that he never sought to rule; his standing was acquired simply by the weight of qualities which all feel, but which few can describe. No question was ever agitated in the presbyteries or synods of his denomination, upon which he was not prepared to express a discreet and edifying judgment. His sagacity was such as to surprise strangers, and to delight his friends. For many years before his death, he was regarded as the father of the Secession church; both his years and his wisdom conferred on him this distinction.

We can speak with confidence of his catholic spirit. No ecclesiastical enclosures could restrict his charity; he was before his generation in the display of this quality-at least such was the case in the earlier part of his career. He was among the first in Scotland to respond to the call of the London Missionary Society, and to his dying day was ever ready to do it good service. In sober sense, penetrating judgment, and exalted piety, Dr. Peddie was a great man; and those who knew him best can never cease to cherish his memory with reverence and love.

The memoir contained in this volume is judiciously written, though the materials are more scanty than could have been sup

posed, considering the prominent position occupied by the deceased. The editor has done his part well; and the sermons, twenty in number, are masterly elucidations and enforcements of gospel truth. We earnestly recommend this volume, as of standard value, among the class of works to which it belongs.

DISCOURSES by the late JOHN SMART, D.D., Minister of the Gospel, Stirling. With a Memoir of his Life, by the Rev. JOHN SMART, A.M. Leith. 8vo. pp. 400.

Fullarton, Newgate-street.

Dr. Smart was for many years one of the trustees of the Evangelical Magazine, and took great interest in the prosperity of the work, and in the charitable object to which the profits arising from its sale are periodically devoted. We knew much of him, through our late venerable and beloved friend, Dr. Waugh, who first introduced him to the notice of the trustees, and who duly presented his letters at the meetings of the Magazine Committee for assistance to the necessitous widows connected with his own branch of the Secession church.

Dr. Smart was a highly respectable and very useful minister of the Christian body to which he belonged; much beloved by all who were associated with him; and regarded by very many beyond his own circle, as a man of lofty character and undissembled piety.

More than thirty-five years ago we had the privilege of hearing him preach on two separate occasions; and we can truly say, that the reminiscences of the discourses we then listened to are equally vivid and refreshing. There was strength, and unction, and unhesitating orthodoxy in his appeals; and his personal appearance was peculiarly favourable to the impression of his ministry. He was a fitting candidate to follow in the footsteps of Ebenezer Erskine, whose pulpit he occupied for the space of nearly forty years.

His respected son, the Rev. John Smart, of Leith, has furnished a very pleasing and edifying memoir of his venerable father; and though it breathes a filial affection in every page, it is written with all the impartiality of truth, and may be regarded as a faithful memorial of one whose praise is in all the churches of Christ. His latter days were clouded by affliction; but though laid aside for a season from his work, the precious truths which he had preached to others were the solace of his own spirit, and cheered and sustained him in the dying hour.

The second part of the volume contains twelve discourses, and seven sacramental

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