Prime and Ultimate Ratios, by which the immortal Newton was enabled to track his etherial course, and count the particles and calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies. He investigated the ultimate relation of certain quantities, apparently most dissimilar in magnitude and shape; and laid down a relation of ultimate equality, as that to which such quantities were gradually tending. But to no one has it ever been given, actually to view such quantities on this ultimate footing of equality, freed from all, even the minutest, portions of increment and change to which, in the progress of generations, they become instinctly liable. Yet the assumption of their equality, on the most legitimate principles, has opened to us, as it were, the door of the material heavens, and conducted us through all those shining chambers on high, of the King of kings. Nor are we to be without hope, that some such, we say not compromise, but gradual approximation towards equality, has been obtaining in apparently dissimilar and irreconcileable hypotheses on higher subjects. There is a perpetual acknowledgment, amongst the pious of both sides, that they substantially mean the same thing; though the very instant they begin to explain themselves, the moment the smallest incremental additions of human prejudice and passion become apparent, they instantly start forth into dissension and misliking. The more we contract our reasonings, and reduce our systematic views, the less we find of distance and dislike on either side, between persons of true piety. As we find ourselves approaching the ultimate limits of truth, where self dwindles, and God appears in something of the due proportions of His own mysterious infinity, discord dwindles also. And when we arrive at the point where perhaps we lose sight of our respective dogmas altogether, which are, after all, beyond our fully tracing to their last limits, do we not find every selfish notion, as it were, wholly absorbed and lost, and God Himself, his own inscrutable plans and Divine purposes, all in all? From such views and feelings as these, of which we desire to be considered as offering only the most distant and imperfect hint, the idea seems to present itself to our minds, of a new creation, fair and large, branching forth in truly Divine proportions; and a new world arising, in which, for the first time, "the envy of Ephraim shall cease, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." We shall then have no further room left for intricate dis tinctions in matters far beyond our knowledge: and with regard to the Divine decrees, it will be sufficient to be satisfied that "the Lord knoweth them that are his;" and for our selves, "let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." We shall then hear no further ex parte inferences from detached passages of Scripture; the experience of eighteen centuries hav ing proved that such inferences have been made so many weapons for expelling Christian love and charity from the heart. We shall get rid of that presuming dogmatism, on either side, which only appears in its true and hateful colours to the other side, thus keeping up interminable hatred and war. And, above all, we shall get rid of those wretched extremes of Antimonianism and Pelagianism, which lead men either, on the one hand, to say, "we are delivered to do those abominations," or, on the other, to satisfy themselves with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees," by which they can never enter the kingdom of heaven. "O that we did but seriously employ our thoughts to the establishing peace in the church of Christ, and the amending our lives; that so we might once see an end of this troublesome and dangerous war! We seem to have returned to the starting-place of our course, whilst we thought we were arrived at the goal, or at least not far from it. God's wrath is, without doubt, kindled against us. Hence is it, that our implacable enemy has so much prevailed. I confess, we are not to judge of the justice of a cause by the success: and yet I cannot but think oftentimes, that possibly the mistakes, or errors committed about several fundamental articles of faith, may have given occcasion to God to put a stop to the work of the Reformation; besides the capital cause of it, namely, very corrupt manners and vices, that have spread themselves far and near and it may be justly suspected that these are fomented by the errors, and disputes about religion. Certainly, that true and sincere charity which is so often required of us, suffers no small damage by these disagreements; since, whilst we are quarrelling with each other, we cannot easily distinguish between the dictates of reason, and the transports of passion,-nor reflect upon that imagination which is born, in a manner, with all that differ from one another, of the [supreme] necessity of those articles that are in dispute. There does not appear to be any evil in the disputes concern. ing matters of religion, greater than persuading ourselves that our own salvation and the glory of God are lost, or impaired by every little difference. As for me, I exhort, not only to distinguish between the true and false according to Scripture, but also between the more and less necessary articles, by the same Scripture." Whether the Calvinist would desire rather to find his authority for these sentiments in Joseph Hall, or the Arminian in Jacob Harmens is, to us a matter of little consequence; and we wish it to be so to our read ers. We quote them not for their author, but for their worth. And we desire to leave them as a last legacy to such of our readers as have followed us so far as to the death of our two illustrious worthies, and their embalming in the memories of posterity. The time is coming, when, taught by all that is past, and more especially by the instructive events of the period we have embraced in our review, we must be left without excuse, either for the ravings of dogmatism, or the actings of intolerance. The large proportion of Christian forms and formularies, which have been expressed at least ambiguously on these high matters; with the very discreditable company in which we too often find that which is not ambiguous, but equally on both sides; and, to say no more, the example of our own great Ridley, who "did not dare to proceed a single step further on this point, than he had Scripture for his guide," must, we hope, at length conspire, with all other considerations, to incline us to hold our own opinions humbly, and to judge of others charitably; above all, to pray for the guidance of that Spirit who can grant us to have a right judgment in all things; who alone can bestow the truly spiritual mind, that best and only expositor of spiritual doctrines; who, in short, alone can effectually remove from the hearts of pious men, varying in doctrine, those ruinous antipathies, the instinctive birth of pride and prejudice; and thus present us with a true and glorious reformation indeed,—a reformation without bigotry,-a reformation without licentiousness,- --a reformation without alloy. LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INTELLIGENCE, &c. &c. GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication ::-Bibliographica Cantabrigiensa; or Remarks upon the most valuable Book-rarities in the University of Cambridge ;-Illustrations of India; by M. Thomas, and W. Daniell;— Memoirs of General Wolfe; by R.Southey; —The Life and Opinions of Wicliffe; by R. Vaughan-The Life and Voyages of Columbus; by W. Irving;-Fourth Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage; by Captain Parry, R. N.;—Second Expedition to explore the American Shores of the Polar Sea; by Dr. Richardson and Captain Franklin ;--Expedition to explore the Northern Coast of Africa, in 1821; by Captain F. W. Beechey ;-Journal of Travels over various Parts of India; by the Right Rev. Bishop Heber; -Residence in Mexico, in the year 1826; by Captain Lyon ;-Considerations on Miracles, &c.; by the Rev. C. W. Le Bas;-Elements of Rhetoric; by R. Whately, D. D. In the Press-The Omnipresence of the Deity, a Poem; by R. Montgomery; -Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Character, of the late J. M. Good, M. D.; with Selections from his Papers; by Olinthus Gregory, LL. D. ;-Three Addresses on Subjects connected with the Lord's Supper; by the Rev. C. Watson; -The Process of Historical Proof, with Observations on the peculiar Points of the Christian Evidence; by Isaac Taylor, jun.;-Sermons by the Rev. Richard Warner;-Memoirs, Correspondence, and Sermons of the late Rev. Samuel Gilfillan of Comrie ;--Narrative of a threeyears' Residence in Italy, with Illustrations of the present State of Religion in that Country;-The Lady's Monitor, addressed to young Ladies; from Lady Jane Grey, Queen Katharine, &c. Oxford.-The late Colonel Boden has endowed, by bequest, a professorship of the Shanskrit language, in the University of Oxford; "being of opinion," says the testator, "that a more general and critical knowledge of that language will be a means of enabling my countrymen to proceed in the conversion of the natives of India to the Christian religion, by disseminating a knowledge of the sacred Scriptures amongst them more effectually than all other means whatsoever." The amount of the legacy is computed at between 20 and 30,000/.-The Rev. A. Johnson is elected Professor of AngloSaxon.-The subject of the Norrisian prize-essay for the ensuing year is, "The nature and use of parables, as employed by Christ.” The Edinburgh Antiquarian Museum has been recently opened to the public. It is rich in antiquities; among which it contains the identical "maiden," or guillotine, invented by Morton, and by which he himself first suffered, the pulpit of John Knox,-and the original address of the highlands chiefs to George I. previous to the rebellion of 1715; containing all their autographs. Mr. Upcott has rescued from oblivion a theatrical piece, written by, and in the hand-writing of, Chatterton the poet. Mr. Upcott found the manuscript on the counter of a cheese-monger's shop in the city; and it now forms a valuable addition to the treasures of this indefatigable collector of manuscripts and autographs. Regulations have been recently issued by the Apothecaries' Company, requiring that candidates for a licence to practise shall have served an apprenticeship of five years, and have attained the age of twenty-one; that they shall have attended, during their studies, various courses of lectures, and also the medical practice of an Hospital or Dispensary. The candidate for a licence is to be examined in Chemistry, the Materia Medica, Botany, Anatomy, Physiology, and the Theory and Practice of Medicine; and in some one of the easier Latin authors. A Prospectus has been issued for publishing an uniform edition of the Works of the English and Scottish Reformers, edited by the Rev. T. Russell. First, in order of time, will be the works of Tyndal, Frith, and Barnes, which will make between three and four volumes. Then will follow the works of Cranmer, Latimer, Hooper, Ridley, and Bradford; which it is expected will be comprised in five or six volumes. A selection will be made from the writings of Nicholas, Ridley, Knox, Coverdale, Bale, Ponet, Becon, Joye, Sampson, Lever, and other early Protestant divines, making four or five additional volumes: two more may be allowed for extracts from Fox's Acts and Monuments of the Memorials of Bilney, Lambert, Hamilton, Rogers, Borthwick, Wishart, Philpot, and their fellow-sufferers in the reigns of Henry and Mary. The work is expected to extend to about sixteen volumes. Price 10s. 6d. each volume. Proposals have been issued for publishing a Newspaper, conducted on moral and religious principles. It is to be entitled "the Record," and to be published every Tuesday and Friday. Its politics will be decidedly favourable to government." The conductors conceive that "no inconsiderable good will be effected, if they afford to all who desire it, a newspaper free from every thing inconsistent with propriety and true refinement--possessing respectable claims to vigour and intelligence-and, by the exclusion of what is reprehensible, rendered capable of admitting a greater extent and variety of information upon subjects interesting to the enlightened philanthropist." The Sheffield subscribers to a fund for presenting to Mr. Montgomery a piece of plate, as a mark of their affection and esteem, have remitted a surplus sum of 2004. to assist the United Brethren's Mission in Tobago, of which the respected poet's father was the founder. UNITED STATES. 66 occasions, he should make a donation to treating" them as customary on such the Sunday-School Society in that place, to be appropriated for augmenting their library. have been received with the warmest apThis proposition is stated to probation. The representative of a town called Poland has made a donation to the town library under similar circumstances. The Medical Society of New York state, that it is with feelings of deep interest that they regard the efforts which benevolent individuals and associations are making to arrest the progress of intemperance; they feel themselves called on by a sense and of duty to lend their co-operation to limit the prevalence of this destructive habit. In the discharge of their professional duties, as physicians, they are daily called to witness the irremediable mischief which the use of intoxicating liquors produces on the constitution and health. Among these evils they enumerate impaired appetite for food, nausea, faintness and sinking at the stomach, weakness and tremor, head-ache, palpitation of the heart, mental depression, hypochondria, dyspepsia, inflammation of the stomach and bowels, of the liver often terminating in suppuration or schirrus, inflammation of the mesenteric glands, gout, jaundice, dropsy, diabetes, bleeding from the lungs, consumption, inflammation of the brain, epilepsy, palsy, apoplexy, and Our border American and British friends insanity. These appalling evils they state have been amusing themselves with the are not confined to the habitual drunkard, magnificent, but not very profitable, experi- but often affect those who suppose themment of turning adrift a schooner, the Mi- selves temperate in the use of spirits; chigan, the largest on Lake Erie, to make the foundation of fatal disease is frequently a descent over the Falls of Niagara. The laid, before the cause is even suspected by high grounds on both sides of the American the victim or his friends. To destroy the and British shores were lined with people, habit, nauseous drugs, or medicines of an having a full view of the rapids and of the emetic quality, have been frequently emapproach of the vessel; an American en- ployed; and although the habit has for a sign flying from her bowsprit, and the season been thus interrupted, the desire British jack displayed at her stern. She for the inebriating draught has usually repassed the first rapid uninjured in her turned. This Society, therefore, think descent over the second, she exhibited a little can be done in reclaiming the habispecimen of the sudden destruction of the tually intemperate; and that the great obspars of a ship at sea in a wreck; and ject should be to prevent the habit. They having passed to the third, she bilged, and therefore resolve," that we will endeavour was hurled, stern foremost, into the abyss to impress upon the minds of our patients, below, and was dashed into innumerable the importance of abstaining from the use fragments. Of various animals which had, of strong liquors; and that we will use not very humanely, been placed on board, our influence to correct the popular error, two geese only are stated to have survived that what is called a moderate use of them the wreck. It is intended, it seems, to is conducive to health, and increases the repeat the experiment with a larger vessel. strength of labouring people." The SoAt New Gloucester a gentleman, who ciety include the habitual use of strong has been elected to represent that town wines in their prohibition, on account of in the State Legislature, informed his their containing large quantities of alcohol. constituents, that he considered intem--We have noticed the subject more parperance so great an evil, that, instead of ticularly because the use of ardent spirits and among the poor and labouring classes, in our own country, has greatly increased since the diminution of the duties. Our spirit shops are crowded with unhappy wretches reeking from their deadly potations. RUSSIA. The Emperor has ordered that all Jews settled in the Russian Empire shall henceforth be liable to military service. "We consider it just," he says, "that, for the relief of our beloved subjects, the duty of serving in the army shall be enforced equally on all who are liable to it." And he adds, "We are convinced that the improvement and the knowledge which the Jews will acquire by their military service, will, on their return home after their legal time is expired, be communicated to their families, and greatly tend to accelerate the progress of their civil establishment and domestic life."-Another cruel and impolitic ukase has been issued, prohibiting Jews from trading in the interior of Russia. They are not to offer for sale any articles, either in shops or in the street, nor to employ fore. men, apprentices, or labourers, whether Christians or otherwise, in any department whatsoever. We had hoped that the persecutions inflicted, by professed Christians, on this long injured race of men had for ever ceased. The culture of the vine has been introduced into the Crimea with success. The manufacture of wine has already reached the quantity of about 13,000 hogsheads annually. The late Count Nicolas Roumianzoff gave 1000 roubles for the purpose of introducing the culture of the cochineal insect, which has succeeded. INDIA. A sketch has been drawn up, in excellent English, of the state of education amongst the natives of Bangalore, by Ram Raz, the native secretary of the Madras School-Book Society, it is said without the assistance of any European. He states, that in the Mysore country education is confined to a very small portion of the people, who are considered as the higher class, and, except in a few instances, it never reaches beyond instruction in reading and writing, and the simple rules of arithmetic; and even the few who may be desirous of extending their knowledge farther, labour under great difficulties from want of competent teachers, suitable books of instruction, and a systematic method of education. The lower classes, who form the greater part of the population, are lamentably sunk in ignorance. The richer class of merchants, artificers, and shopkeepers, usually possess some knowledge in the rudiments of learning, by means of which they are capable of keeping their ac counts and transacting business. Among the Brahmins, the Laucicás, or the laity, who fill almost the whole of the civil offices, are well versed in reading letters and keeping accounts in one, and frequently in two, of the vernacular languages; and most of the Vaydícás, or priests, unite to a knowledge of reading and writing the ability of reciting a part of their Védás, a qualification which is considered indispensably necessary to maintain their sacerdotal dignity; but their learning seldom extends so far as to enable them to understand the import of the Védás in the Sanscrit language. LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. THEOLOGY. The Resurrection of Believers, and Christ the Author of it; a Funeral Sermon on the Rev. Sir H. Moncrieff Wellwood, Bart. D.D. By the Rev. A. Thomson, D. D. 1s. 6d. Jesus Christ the True God and Eternal Life. By T. F. Churchill, M. D. 8vo. 6s., royal 8vo. 8s. An Apology for the Modern Theology of Protestant Germany. In reply to the Rev. H. J. Rose. By Dr. Bretschnider. Translated from the German, by Rev. W. A. Evanson. The Forms of Morning and Evening Prayer; with the Psalms and Lessons, with Notes; in 2 vols. 12mo. Sermons on the Truth of the Christian Religion. By the Rev. W. Malkin. 8vo, Portions of the New Version of the Psalms, with an Appendix of Select Hymns. By W. D. Snooke. 12mo. MISCELLANEOUS. Virgil's Eneid, Book I. with an Interlinear Translation, on Mr. Locke's Plan. 2s. 6d. Also, on the same plan; Cæsar's Invasion of Britain 2s. 6d Homer's Iliad, Book I. 2s. 6d. The Odes of Anacreon. 2s. 6d. A Treatise on the Art of Music. By the Rev. W. Jones. Folio. 11. Is. A Collection of the Treaties between Great Britain and Foreign Powers. By L Hertslet. Original, Serious, and Religious Poetry. By the Rev. R. Cobbold. 12mo. Fitful Fancies. ByW. Kennedy, 8vo. 6s. |