novel-reading can be but poor compensation for the expense and waste of time incurred. Were you to refuse to purchase and peruse such works, their authors might, in a great measure, soon cease to publish them.

Sons of England! the idolatry of Boz, Lever, Jerrold, and Thackeray is, in an intellectual point of view, a national disgrace—a disgrace lying principally at your doors.

My countrymen! is there no pulsation in your breasts after a better state of things?

Young men be it ours-the writer is one of yourselves-be it ours to read only what is pure, powerful, and ennobling. Serials filled with conversational common-place should be scattered, like the leaves of the sybil, to the winds. Standard literature is engraven with a pen of iron, on a rock "more durable than brass." Study it, apart from the giddy throng; dare to be singular! In the sculpture department of the Royal Academy, in London, there is now to be seen a model illustrative of firmness of mind, and of the aspirations and destiny of genius; there, palpably,

66

-The unconquer'd will

Arises in his breast,
Upright, and resolute, and still,
Serene and self-possess'd."

Life was given for noble purposes. Christianity does not annihilate ambition; it only purifies and directs it to worthier objects:

"Life is real-life is earnest,

And the grave is not its goal;
'Dust thou art, to dust returnest,'
Was not spoken of the soul!

"In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife!"'*

Imitate noble exemplars. Aristotle, Galileo, and Newton spent the midnight oil in studies that have immortalized their names, and enlightened all succeeding generations. Demosthenes, Cicero, and Chatham thundered in the Athenian Council, the Roman Senate, and at St. Stephen's, while the thoughtless multitudes of their respective contemporaries in Greece, Italy, and England were worshipping mammon, or haunting Vanity Fair. There are brighter models than those just cited:

* Longfellow.

"Lives of great men all remind us We may make our lives sublime; And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time."

The soul is a sacred treasure; it will outlive yon starry spheres. Neglect will sink it below the earth-worm; ephemeral amusements can but change it to the butterfly: culture and disciIt is a pline can fit it for the sky. jewel taken originally from the celestial quarry, and dropped into the realm of nature, not to be trodden under foot of swine, nor to deck the shrine of vanity; but to be polished for the service of humanity, and for the great Master's use, till it reflect heaven's own colours, and then transferred to the regalia in the cabinet above; thence to be drawn forth by heaven's King, and worn on his diadem, at his coronation and marriage with the church, his immortal and long-betrothed bride. Such a destiny can never be secured by the current fashion of light reading.

My countrymen! is there no pulsation in your hearts after a better state of things?

zan,

Whatever the advocates of light reading may advance in self-defence, "there is a more excellent way." There are other and better resources for the hours of relaxation from severer toils of brow or brain, among the middle and upper classes, than "The Last of the Barons," "Esmond," and "Bleak House ;" and for the pale artithan miscellanies filled with treason, tragedies, and trash. How preferable is it to recreate the mind, harassed with cares, with the wonders of nature, the works of art, and the discoveries of science; with the botanist, to dissect the gifts of Flora; and, with the chemist, to investigate the properties of matter, light, and air. How fascinating, yet how innocent, the gratification to linger over the page of the historian; to muse, with Plato, in the groves of philosophy; to climb, with Newton, to the solar walk and milky way; to trace, alike in the vast and the minute,

"The unambiguous footsteps of a God

Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing, And wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds;"

to enter the eternal shrine of Truth, and gaze on the brow of Genius, whose chaplet is unfading, and whose name

immortal; to spurn, with Pollok, beneath our feet, the earth,

"And all its tardy, leaden-footed cares," and hear Milton sing,

"The loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us;"

and, above all, to read, in the volume of inspiration, of that holier and happier

state, where the trifles of time will be forgotten; and the Christian, who has finished his course with honour, shall exchange the cross for the crown, the scars of war for the palm of victory, and the toils of pilgrimage for the "rest that remaineth for the people of God."

May 24th, 1855.

ALEXANDER Gouge.

THE present generation know but little of the famous bequest of Mr. Burnett, a merchant of Aberdeen, dated 1785, by which he provides, that the interest of certain sums shall be expended at intervals of forty years in the shape of two premiums, inviting to the discussion of the Evidences of Religious Truth, and especially to the consideration and confirmation of the Attributes of Divine Wisdom and Goodness. Forty years apart! This fact will exclude all jealousy as between the men of the same generation. The exact terms of the subject of inquiry are thus given :

The evidence that there is a Being, allpowerful, wise, and good, by whom everything exists; and particularly to obviate difficulties regarding the wisdom and goodness of the Deity; and this, in the first place, from considerations independent of written Revelation; and, in the second place, from the Revelation of the Lord Jesus; and, from the whole, to point out the inferences most necessary for, and useful to, mankind.

When the first competition was decided it was found, that the premiums were awarded to Professor Brown, of Aberdeen, and the Rev. John Bird Sumner, then Fellow of Eton College; and now Archbishop of Canterbury. Thus each nation took one of the two prizes-Scotland the first, and England the second. On the present occasion it is just reversed. Each nation has still one; but now England is first and Scotland second. This is reciprocity. The first prize of £1,800 has been adjudged to the Rev. A. Thompson, M.A., Lancashire; the second to Dr. Tulloch, Principal of St. Andrew's University. It is thus curious to note how the

analogies have held. In the first instance it was the principal of a Scotch University who carried the first prize, and a simple clergyman of the Church of England the second; it is now a simple clergyman of the Church of England that obtains the first, and a principal of a Scottish University the second!

The adjudicators of these great prizes have been Isaac Taylor-known over all the world for his literature; Mr. Henry Rogers, one of the Professors of Spring Hill College, Birmingham; and the Rev. Baden Powell. The presumption, then, is that the present Essays are upon the whole superior to those called forth by the first competition. The world cannot have lived forty long years without some improvement; and in that improvement the gifted Authors of the successful Essays of course have shared. There could be but one first prize and one second; and the second is only just not the first, for it may yet in point of merit so nearly approach it as to render the superiority a matter of doubt and disputation. In the present case, however, we believe the adjudicators were entirely harmonious, so that the presumption is-for we have not yet received the first prize-that the general judgment will be confirmatory of their decision. The plan pursued is at once simple and philosophical; we have first an elaborate dissertation on the principles of Inductive Evidence, in which the question of Causation, Final Causes, and General Laws are ably dealt with. Geology, too, is made to contribute its quota of the evidence. The second section proceeds to the

work of illustration, and in a manner at once profound, philosophical, and captivating, we have illustrations drawn from every part of Creation. The next section brings before us Moral and Intuitive Evidence as bearing upon the question. This part of the volume is somewhat abstract, but nevertheless, to the thoughtful general reader, it will be intelligible. The last section of the work, comprising a considerable part of the volume, deals with difficulties regarding the Divine Wisdom and Goodness. This is a very arduous part of the undertaking, and most ably has our Author gone through with his task. Pain and death, sorrow, social evils, sin, the written Revelation, the Divine man-incarnate wisdom and love, the Gospel as a Divine power of moral elevation, and consolation, with the limited reception of the Gospel, and millennial prospects, are points elaborately and learnedly discussed.

If we might speak comparatively, we would say at once, that the present volume, although it has carried but the second prize, is not less conclusive, while it is far more philosophical than the original first prize of Dr. Brown, and it is incomparably superior to the second prize taken by Mr. Sumner. So high is our sense of the value of this second prize that we shall look with solicitude for the first.

The First Cause; or, a Treatise upon the Being and Attributes of God. In Two Parts. By J. C. WISH, M.A. Seeley and Co.

IN taking up this somewhat massive octavo, we inferred at once that it had originated with the great Prize movement of Mr. Burnett; and accordingly, on reaching the close of the Preface we find it candidly confessed that such was the fact, at the same time intimating that "its publication was not intended to depend upon the issue; it was in the press before the decision was announced." This fact is somewhat remarkable, since we believe it has rarely occurred in the history of competition. It indicates a measure of self-reliance on the part of the Author calculated to command respect. Like our Great Lexicographer, having done his best, he hands over his work to the empire of Letters, with the "confidence of a man that has endeavoured to deserve well." In this leviathan compe

tition-for never were prizes of such amounts, £1,800 and £600, offered before for any literary performancethere can be no doubt, that a large number of works have been produced, every one of them well entitled to publication.

But as the publication of only two Essays those obtaining the first and second prizes respectively—are secured, it would be much to be regretted, indeed, if all the rest were to be consigned to darkness. In the judgment of the learned Adjudicators there were many well entitled to the honour of publicity as eminently calculated to further the good of man; and among these there can be no hazard in placing the present volume, which is a solid, well-digested, ably thought, and vigorously expressed production.

The volume consists of two parts, Part I. dealing with the proof apart from Revelation; and here the whole field is traversed with a firm step, and the result is much admirable argument and masterly delineation; and Part II. exhibiting the proof from Scripture; and here, as may be supposed, the whole of the Evidences are all more or less put in requisition in maintenance of the great doctrine of the living and true God.

Having established the divinity of the inspired books, the Author proceeds to apply their contents to the subject in hand, steadily keeping within the prescribed terms of the conditions of the prize. The two parts of the volume, in the Author's view, exhaust the subject; and as here presented they are well balanced, the one against the other. Mr. Wish has performed a great work; and we doubt not that both the Church to which he belongs, the Church of England, and the Master he so ably serves will accept his offering, the servant profiting from it, and the Master pronouncing, "Well

done!"

Life Spiritual. By the Rev. GEORGE SMITH. Snow. LIFE Spiritual is the grand subject of New Testament inspiration. There the universality of the empire of death is everywhere either asserted or assumed. Morally viewed, the whole race of man is slain; as the great antidote to all this, Christ is set forth as the Redeemer and the life. These bodies turned to

dust will rise again; and souls that were dead shall live. He is alike his disciples' life and his disciples' righteousness: they are dead, nevertheless they live, and yet not they, but Christ lives in them. Thus, then, the theme of the Rev. George Smith, on the present occasion, is the highest within the whole range of human inquiry. It is the grand element of inspiration itself. The discussion of such a topic is accordingly arduous, such as serves to prove a severe test of the man who shall attempt its treatment. It imperatively demands the hand of a master; and none other will succeed. The book of Scripture, and the book of the heart must be prayerfully, patiently, and profoundly studied; while the book of nature itself may also be judiciously resorted to for the purpose of illustration. All this the Author has done; and the result is, a measure of success for which the Church of Christ has good reason to be thankful. The volume throughout bears the stamp of genuine Catholicity: that which it exhibits in the common salvation. It would be impossible for the shrewdest man living to determine, from the book itself, the section of the one church to which the writer belongs. Nothing is anywhere to be seen on the one hand but the glorious gospel; or on the other but the human species brought under its holy and elevating influence, removing guilt, cleansing from corruption, and imparting happiness. The lesson here presented, therefore, is suited to all, and to all alike, and in a very eminent degree calculated to be useful. We do not often close a book of similar dimensions, on kindred subjects, with a satisfaction so high, and so unmixed. Here we have met with nothing either in doctrinal statement, spiritual development, or experimental delineation, which does not appear to us in perfect harmony with the inspired page, and the actual findings of regenerated men. The appearance of such a work, at the present time, is a matter for special gratification; it is a minute and comprehensive manifesto, clear, vigorous, and devout, strongly calculated to further the interests of personal godliness. It will powerfully tend to expose the utter worthlessness of all systems of mere formality, by showing that religion is a life, a power, a thing of purity, love, and obedience. The man of mere forms will loathe it ;

and everything of the kind. Its principle will wound his pride; and its spirituality will be particularly offensive to his carnal heart. It is not less calculated to awaken those who abuse the blessed gospel to purposes of sin, and to show them, that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away and all things are become new." But while it will correct error, both on the right hand and on the left, it will alike serve to guide him in the right path, and to help him forward in the same, by showing him the work to be done, and the blessings to be enjoyed, together with the unmeasured supply of the spiritual provision which is made for his encouragement and succour. We have noted a large number of passages, which we consider gems worthy of transcription; but regret the impossibility of citation. The best service, therefore, next to this, that we can do our readers will be to enable them at once to form for themselves a correct idea of what the volume comprises; and we can best do this by setting forth the contents of the several chapters:

The Agent and Means of Spiritual LifeThe Nature and Principles of Spiritual Life -The Progress of Spiritual Life-Encouragements and Obligations to Spiritual Advancement-The Experimental Knowledge of Spiritual Life-Declensions and Revivals in Spiritual Life-Spurious Imitations of Spiritual Life-Developed Manifestations of Spiritual Life-The Influence of Spiritual Life on Others-Spiritual Life, in its Conflicts and Victories-Spiritual Life, in its Joys and Sorrows-Spiritual Life, in its Aspirations and Hopes-Heaven, the Consummation of Spiritual Life.

It will thus be seen, that the great subject of the volume is dealt with in all its principal aspects; and may even be almost viewed as exhausted. We consider the volume a very valuable addition to our experimental and practical theology.

The Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. Vols. I. II. To which are prefixed Parts First and Second of the Outlines of Moral Philosophy, with many new and important Additions. By DUGALD STEWART, Esq. Edited by Sir W. HAMILTON, Bart. Constable and Co., Edinburgh; Hamilton and Co., London.

THESE are Volumes VI. and VII. of

the Collected Works, and they comprise all that Stewart wrote on the doctrine of Ethics Proper: to wit, Part First and Second of the Outlines of Moral Philosophy, and the two Volumes of the Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers. There was only one edition issued in 1828, the year of the death of the great Author. In the original edition of the Active and Moral Powers, the two volumes were unequally divided, the one containing 416 pages, and the other 548. This difference served no purpose, since the distribution of the contents was sacrificed; for though the whole work constitutes but four books, different and determinate in their matter, the volumes did not, in each, comprise all, while the first was made to extend into the third book, the second commencing in the middle of a chapter! But notwithstanding this absurdity, it was not the whole; the elaborate discussion on the Free Agency of Man, which properly belongs to book III., and in fact constitutes its concluding chapter, was placed as an appendix at the end of the last volume, where, though on the one essential doctrine of Ethics, it appeared only as an accidental supplement! These inconsistancies Sir William Hamilton has corrected; the two volumes are now the same thickness, each including two books of the philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers, and the relative portion of the Outlines.

The ap

pendices are arranged in their natural connection, and the precursive notes proportionately distributed. It is also proper to notice, that with regard to the second part of the Outlines of Moral Philosophy, the first and second chapters now correspond to the first and second volumes. The works are thus brought into a clear and correct co-relation, the chapters of the one referring to the volumes of the other.

In none of the previous volumes had Sir William so much to do to adjust matters as in this; and the arrangement he has adopted is a very great improvement, giving a completeness to the whole which was never previously possessed. The new matter is considerable, and the few notes of Sir William add an additional value to the text. To the volumes are appended a clear and copious index.

Once more, then, we feel bound to tender special acknowledgments for

the present complete edition of the Works of Stewart. Each successive volume only serves to impress us with a conviction of its incalculable importance, and of the great service which has thereby been rendered to the Philosophy of the Mind. It is fully entitled to the dignity of a Cyclopædia of Mental and Moral Science.

Voices of Many Waters; or, Travels in the Lands of the Tiber, the Jordan, and the Nile; with Notices of Asia Minor, Constantinople, Athens, &c. By the Rev. T. W. AVELING. Snow. ON a work of this description little is required beyond a general critical opinion, and the exhibition of extracts illustrative of that, or of special points. The present Volume would supply quotations of a deeply captivating character sufficient to fill our three sheets, and still leave behind abundance for second comers. We have read no book of a kindred character for many years in point of fact, description, sentiment, and style to be compared with it. The range through which our Traveller passed was very great; and he has remarkably succeeded in grouping his facts and incidents, so as to elevate the important, and depress the insignificant, rendering the whole morally impressive, and artistically beautiful. Those whose lot it may be to follow in the wake of our Author will find him an enlightened, vivacious, observant, and every way desirable companion; but those to whom it may not be permitted to roam by the side of these Many Waters, listening to their mighty voices, may, without toil and without danger, procure here what six months' peregrinations will hardly impart to them. Switzerland, Italy, Rome, Naples, Malta, Egypt, Cairo, the Desert, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Samaria, Nazareth, Damascus, Baalbeel, the Levant, Athens, and the Adriatic Sea, are among the subjects on which the Traveller has expressed himself with frankness, intelligence, devoutness, and beauty. We have no space to support this our general view, by extracts, which, however, is superfluous. Our appeal is to the book, by which we have only to ask all readers in circumstances to replenish their libraries, to test the opinions here re corded, confident as we are of their entire concurrence.