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must consist, not in "piling up the shadowy Babels of metaphysics," but in ascertaining the real history of human" "thoughts as they arise, first simple, then with the various combinations into which they enter; and, lastly, in the enumeration of the ultimate laws which regulate all their changes?" Happily the inductive philosophy has now been applied to the science of mind no less than to that of matter; but we are yet in the infancy of discovery, having wasted thousands of years in the mere accumulation of unprofitable theory, by which we have not only been detained from the real study of man, but put in a worse position for the interesting task, by the mists and darkness which have been thrown over the all-absorbing field of inquiry.

But it would seem as if erring mortals must ever approach the region of actual discovery, by the bewildering path of theory; and " pass through the twilight and its shadows to arrive at the full and perfect light of day." Experience is in all things the great teacher; and in the study of mind it is pre-eminently so. Man can only become acquainted with his own mental economy, by patient and persevering reflection on the working of his own mind. The marked tendency of mind is, to spread itself over all the objects by which it is surrounded; and the strict office of the mental philosophy is to compel us to turn inward on ourselves, that we may observe with steadfast gaze all our mental operations as they may be detected in the grand laboratory of thought, feeling, and actual resolve.

We can hardly express the pleasure we feel in finding Mr. Douglas embarked as a writer on the philosophy of mind. Equipped, by vast resources, for any subject on which he might think fit to appeal to his countrymen, he is pre-eminently qualified to write with effect on all topics connected with the history of mental science. He has not by any means produced a large book; but we greatly mistake if he has not placed his subject in a clearer light than it ever stood before. First, we have a brief, but vivid sketch of speculative opinions touching the human mind; in which the results of all the ancient systems of mental philosophy are accurately given; and in which a broad line of demarcation is drawn between the mere theories of a by-gone age, and the inductive process of modern times. Then we have his own views of the inductive process, and of the best methods of applying it in prosecuting the infant science of the human mind. But no notice we could give of this volume would do justice to it. It must be bought and read; and we can assure our readers, especially students, that it will abundantly repay both the expense and labour which this will involve.

We give the following extract, upon the origin of our knowledge, as a specimen of the author's vigorous and discriminating mode of writing.

"The origin of our knowledge, like every other subject respecting the mind, has been a fruitful source of endless disputes. Notwithstanding the number of sects, the theorists of the mind may be classed under two great subdivisions, according as their theories were chiefly drawn from the opposite world of matter or spirit. The first considered our ideas to be only the slender images of things received into the mind through the inlet of the senses; the other conceived that the soul of man possessed within itself, though folded up till fitting occasion should expand them, faint copies or reflections of those models which existed from eternity in the Divine mind, and corresponding to which, as their pattern, the external world was fashioned.

"Amid all disputes, we have at least the consolation of knowing, that the truth must lie somewhere between the contending parties, especially in a controversy about the mind, where both sets of disputants must have some knowledge, however imperfect, of the subject of controversy. Yet it is not by halving the difference that we arrive at the truth. The truth stands apart from both opinions, but, when known, explains and reconciles both.

"Those who contended that the mind derives its ideas from the impressions on the senses, are now generally, and justly, allowed to be so far right, that unless the mind were awakened from without, for any thing we know to the contrary, it must remain in a perpetual slumber. The mind, to act, must first be acted upon; it must be passive before it can be active; it must receive impressions from without, before it can originate thoughts from within. It cannot will any one of its own operations without a previous knowledge of itself and its powers. It cannot possess thoughts

previous to thinking.

"On the other hand, they who confined knowledge to the senses were still more widely mistaken. The impressions on the bodily organs are only the occasions of thought. There is no resemblance between any possible movement of the nerves, or the changes in external nature, and the thoughts which these changes excite in the mind.

"The most remarkable part of the mental process consists in the arbitrary interval which occurs between the act of perception and the subjects perceived. It is not the changes of the brain,-it is not the changes in the nerves, which the mind attends to,it overlooks what is passing in the body with which it is connected, and its attention

is immediately directed, by the arbitrary, but wise disposal of Providence, not to the proximate causes, but to the ultimate phenomena. When we look through a telescope, and receive into the eye the light of a distant star, we perceive not, we think not, of the impression of light upon the retina, of the irritability of the nerves, or of the impression made upon the brain; but our attention is directed to another world moving along the immense though distant path, which the hand of the All-wise has traced.

"This, of itself, is a refutation of materialism or atheism. The whole of the process is evidently not the result of blind matter or resistless destiny; not even what we would naturally expect from the usual laws by which the Deity governs the world. It is one of those apparent anomalies that mark more strongly the Divine contrivance, while they appear to depart from the ordinary course of His proceedings, and what may be called the miracles of nature, not like the miracles of religion, rare and temporary, but ever constant and recurring; and while they arrest the attention by their deviation from the more common mode of procedure, they show that they deviate only to reach more fully and speedily the end proposed." pp. 155-157.

The NIGHT of TOIL; or, a Familiar Account of the Labours of the first Missionaries in the South Sea Islands. 12mo.

Hatchard and Son.

To render the early labours of our South Sea Missionaries familiar and impressive to young persons, the lady who is the author of this work sat down to the labour of going through all the documents of this Missionary station, determined that truth alone and not fiction should be the basis of her book, judging that the unvarnished history of the mission exhibits the glorious results of patient labours, in a manner that may lead some to become Missionaries, and others to support them. We are fully warranted in observing that as this lady avows herself to be a member of the Church of England, she has exemplified her Christian liberality by doing ample justice to a Mission that does not belong exclusively to her own church. To us it is gratifying to see the labours of a society, which unites in its fundamental principle, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents and others agreed in the grand essential doctrines of the Gospel, taken up by a lady who can have no motive but that of rendering the cause of Christian Missions to the heathen a sub

ject of profound interest to the rising gene ration, and thus advancing their own personal happiness and usefulness in a still more enlarged and effective measure for promoting the common salvation. Oh that all Christians were imbued with the same spirit towards each other, and towards the common object of their Christian charity— a world of idolaters. We have been so much delighted with the sentiments expressed by the writer in her Preface, that we wish them to speak for themselves.

"No attempt has been made by the slightest exaggeration to heighten the interest of this narrative. It is hoped that its adherence to facts will be a strong recommendation in the eyes of youth, who, while they much prefer narrative to didactic writing, show, by the earnest and oft-repeated inquiry, "Is it true?" that they value truth above fiction. As the habit of reading fiction tends to blunt this salutary predilection, would it not be better to encourage the young to seek relaxation in manual employments, and in active sports, rather than permit them to indulge in this species of reading? A fondness for reading cannot be desirable, if that fondness extends to works that not only indispose to useful studies, but may be the vehicles of much evil. Many fabrications of tales, being destitute of principle, and having it in their power to describe the results of actious to be whatever they please, leave a false and pernicious impression on the reader's mind. Even those writers of fiction who desire to inculcate a good moral, may unintention. ally misrepresent the dealings of God with men. But the narrator of facts walks on firm ground. He, who undertakes to delineate the dealings of God in his providence, affords so many instances of the truth of his word."

We can assure our readers that the author has truly accomplished her object. The remarks interspersed in her narrative, and the appropriate quotations from the scriptures, are admirably adapted to produce a good impression upon youth.

The author has, also, in our judgment done justice to the humble, laborious, and persevering men who laboured so long in faith under the most discouraging circumstances. The book, perhaps, may show to some young minds that the boasted apostolical succession is not indispensable to success in converting the savage heathen to the faith and obedience of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. We observe, too, with pleasure, that many delicate and difficult subjects respecting the manners of the people in their idolatrous state, which renders some of the larger works unsuitable for children, are well disposed of here.

We wish our limits would allow us to

furnish a specimen of every kind of excellence we have discovered. We must limit ourselves to the following :

:

"Mr. Henry, though suffering much from the effects of old age, and toil, and the sultry air of the South Seas, cannot be persuaded to forsake his beloved flock to dwell in a more refreshing climate. He fears lest the wolf should enter in and destroy them; and therefore with his wife and children, spends his latter years in watching for their souls.

"Having now followed the faithful Missionaries through a long life of labour, let us stop an instant, and contemplate the happiness they enjoy in the evening of their days. They look around, and behold the children of Satan become the children of God, through their preaching. They share the joy of Christ, who in heaven rejoices over the souls he purchased with his blood. These Missionaries have not suffered the wrath and curse of God; as Christ did, from love to sinners; but they have forsaken all, and borne shame, and endured toil, and exposed their lives; and they have not lost their reward; neither shall they lose it.

"And now let me speak a word to those young persons who have had the patience accompany me through the tedious, though well rewarded, labours of the Missionaries. Do you think it enough to admire their perseverance, or even to rejoice at their success? Is there no other effect which these events ought to have upon our minds? There are still numerous dark corners of the earth, or rather, I should say, the earth still lies in darkness, and there are only a few bright spots to be seen upon her. You were astonished at the cruelty of the Tahitians in murdering their infants, and torturing their enemies, but how would your ears tingle at the accounts of the barbarous deeds, which are even now committed in heathen lands?

"I know that many a youthful and compassionate heart is grieved at hearing of these horrible practices; but it is not to cause pain that I relate them. Could nothing be done to stop these atrocious customs, it would be better they should never be mentioned. But something may be done. Where the Gospel is preached, and believed, there Satan, the author of all cruelty, loses his power.

"But, perhaps, some inquire,' Can we, who are so young and inexperienced, who have no power and little property, can we send the Gospel to the heathen?'

"Yes, even you may bear a part in the blessed work. There are, even now, such men in the world as those Missionaries, of whom you have been reading, whose hearts are stirred up within them at the thought

of the misery of the poor Pagans, and who are willing to cross the ocean, and to spend their days among savages. Your slender offerings will assist to supply them with food and raiment in those barbarous lands.

"Oh that all who are in the bloom of youth would begin without delay to be the servants of God! It is those who have devoted their whole lives to God, who have been the instruments of the greatest good in the world. Master Oberlin, through whose labours the inhabitants of five French villages were made partakers of the blessings of the Gospel, passed sixty years amongst them. It was in the morning of their days that Mr. Nott and Mr. Henry devoted themselves to that service, which has filled hundreds of islands with peace and joy."

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Many of our readers are no strangers to theHackney Theological Seminary, belonging to the Village Itinerary, or Evangelical Association." But there are others, and, perhaps, the greater number, who are scarcely aware of its existence, and of the great benefits which it has instrumentally conferred, in providing our churches with able and efficient pastors, and our destitute population with pious and devoted evangelists, who, in their turn, have become pastors over churches formed by themselves, and gathered out of the world. To these the following particulars will be interesting:-Among the first members of the " Association," the most conspicuous and endeared names are those of John Eyre, Matthew Wilks, and Rowland Hill. The founder of the college, which bears the modest title of "seminary," was a pious and opulent friend of the distinguished persons we have mentioned. The name of Townsend will be had in everlasting remembrance. By his munificent endowment, and the subsequent benefactions of others since the commencement of the Institution, in 1803, more than one hundred and thirty have been prepared for the ministry; about twenty-four new congregations have been raised; and chapels erected, and more than twenty others have been greatly enlarged by its ministers. In addition to stated ministers, nine or ten are occupied in county and other local asso

ciations. Eight of its former students are now missionaries to the heathen; and four or five others are labouring with acceptance in the colonies of Great Britain. Much more extensive would have been the sphere of its operations, and many more labourers would it have thrust into the fields already white unto the harvest, had it obtained the means needful to assist its laborious evangelists, especially in new fields of labour; for these, we are informed, it is chiefly dependent on the annual contributions of its friends, which are, in a painful degree, unequal to the frequent and pressing claims presented to the committee.

In behalf of this useful Institution, Dr. Morison has pleaded with his usual piety and energy. The ministry of reconciliation is his appropriate theme, and the discourse is not only an effort of benevolent and holy zeal, but its theological statements are remarkable for their accuracy; the sentiments which it embodies, are not only evangelical in their character, but apostolical in their spirit, and the tendency of the whole, as well as the manifest and direct effort of the preacher is, to awaken his ministerial brethren to a deep sense of their responsibility, and, at the same time, to impress upon his general hearers their various obligations to the "ministry of reconciliation," and to those who sustain its all-important functions. We can well imagine the awe which pervaded the assembly, when, after announcing his subject, in the few simple words of his text, Dr. Morison at once observed, "Eternity alone will adequately reveal the import of this brief but significant sentence. There only will the entire results of the ministry of reconciliation be presented to the admiring contemplation of redeemed men, and holy angels. Nor will the revolution of countless ages exhaust a theme which belongs to the unfathomable depths of Divine love to a guilty race."

"As, however, the entire practical working of the ministry of reconciliation, is confined to the present world, and as its effects in eternity will correspond to the influence which it has exerted in time, it is of the utmost importance that we should acquire the most accurate and enlarged conceptions of a theme which involves our immortal interests to an extent which no mind can perfectly conceive, no tongue can fully atter."

In furtherance of this, his principal design, Dr. Morison divides his discourse into three parts. In the first, he traces the origin of the ministry of reconciliation. Here he combats the cardinal error in theology, which represents the death of Christ as the procuring cause of God's love to perishing sinners. In the second head is examined, the grand and merciful

VOL. XVII.

design of this ministry, together with the express character of its instrumentality. This portion of the sermon is peculiarly valuable, especially that part of it which is devoted to the illustration of the proposition, "That the ministry of reconciliation has been committed to those who are to publish it for the recovery of a world at enmity against God." The remarks upon apostolical succession are judicious and peculiarly seasonable, in this day when Protestant pretension identifies itself with Popish arrogance-and we are scarcely able to distinguish between Oxford and Rome.

We recommend the following observations to the serious attention of all candidates for the Christian ministry, and to those who preside in our theological seminaries, as well as to the churches who may desire to have pastors according to the true apostolic pattern.

"The only satisfactory credentials for the Christian ministry, in an uninspired age, appear to be something like the following; if they are rejected, as insufficient, we must plunge at once into all the sacerdotal pretensions of the man of sin.

"1. True conversion to God, accompanied by its legitimate evidences, repentance, faith, love, and holy obedience; nor is it too much to urge, that the piety of a minister of reconciliation should be of an elevated character.

"2. Natural gifts, constituting that qualification of aptness to teach, which Paul contends for in his letters to Timothy.

"3. Such a measure of acquired knowledge as the character of the age, and the condition of the church may seem legitimately to demand.

"4. Strong and marked predilection for the office of the ministry, prompting the candidate for sacred work to surmount all the obstacles which may lie in the way of the accomplishment of his object.

5. Concurring providences in the approval of devoted ministers and experienced Christians. And,

"6. Orderly appointment to the work of God, by the prayers and solemn designation of those who have been wise to win souls, and whose standing in the Church entitle them to the respect and confidence of their younger brethren in the vineyard of the Lord."

The third part is exceedingly solemn and awakening, and is an endeavour to estimate the responsibility of those on whom the ministry of reconciliation has been conferred. This announcement is rather equivocal. This does not refer to those who sustain the ministry, but to those for whom its advantages are provided, and on whom they are bestowed. And to all these we seriously commend the faithful admonitions

G

and exhortations thus affectionately addressed to them. The conclusion of the sermon, is an appeal in behalf of the special object for which it was delivered; and, with an extract from this appeal, we close our brief notice of this excellent discourse.

،، ، The Village Itineracy and Evangelical Association for the Spread of the Gospel in England,' has ever aimed at two distinct though harmonious objects-the maintenance of the Hackney Theological Seminary, under the care of wise, holy, and devoted tutors; and the assistance of poor, but active ministers, with other kindred charities. Of its whole income, arising from funded property and voluntary contributions, twothirds are to be annually devoted to the support of the Theological Seminary at Hackney, and one-third to the other objects contemplated by its original founders.

When I look at the list of faithful and devoted pastors, who have been trained in the Theological Seminary, connected with this Institution, under the distinguished labours of the revered president* and his excellent colleague,† I cannot but lament that the gross annual receipts of the Institution, from its various sources of income, should not exceed the small sum of 10007.; and I grieve to say, that of that sum, less than 1007. is realized from annual subscrip, tions.

،، Suffer me, then, very earnestly to urge its claims upon the friendly notice of my present auditory, and to beseech the committee and trustees to take such early steps as may tend more fully to realize the hopes of those men of God, who now sleep inthe dust, and who devoted their best energies to the establishment and promotion of this excellent object."

Cordially do we echo this appeal, and we hope that, spreading as it does by means of our publication through the length and the breadth of the land, it will be heard and felt by the opulent and influential in our churches, and that the Theological Seminary, at Hackney, may equal in support, as well as in character, the most honoured of our unchartered institutions.

SCHISM, as opposed to the Unity of the Church, especially in the Present Times. Royal 12mo, pp. 620.

Hamilton, Adams, & Co.

If any thing could reconcile us to the delay which has taken place in the publication of this work of Professor Hoppus, it is the talent, learning, and research by which it is distinguished. From what we had heard of the MS. from the lips of those who had read it, we were led to expect something of a very high order; but • The Rev. G. Collison. The Rev. S. Ransom.

we are frank to confess, that all our anticipations are now more than realized. Our author has gone thoroughly into his subject; and has treated it as a scholar, a philosopher, a theologian, and a Christian. We sincerely trust that the size of the work, in this age of penny literature, will not stand in the way of its extensive circulation. We can assure our readers that there is nothing dry, or dull, or tedious in the volume; its dimensions being solely the result of the vast range of subjects into which the author's mind has been conducted in the legitimate treatment of the theme which he had undertaken to discuss. The volume will repay the most patient investigation. Replete with sound information, it will enlighten the judgment; and, breathing in every page a catholic spirit, it will elevate and improve the heart.

The author has divided his subject into two parts; the first, on unity, and the second, on schism. Under the former head, we have the unity of the unfallen creation-the apostacy from universal love -the re-uniting tendency of the dispensation of mercy-the founding of Christianity, as a system of benevolence-Chris. tianity in the Apostolic age-who is a Christian-what is the Church-unity of the Church. The last of these chapters (the VIIIth) contains a mass of solid instruction, not to be found in any one pub. lication extant. The third section of the chapter in particular, we recommend to the attention of Christians, who wish to be disenthralled from prejudice and error, on a subject vitally connected with the right understanding of the true principles of unity in the church of Christ. It is headed, "Relation of the Form and Order of the Church of Christ, to its essential Unity, and Manifested Union." Here the author has shown, with much energy of thought and force of diction, that uniformity of church-order, cecumenical or national, is not essential to unity; that uniformity in forms, rites, ceremonies, liturgies, vestments, postures, creeds, confessions, can never be the basis of a scriptural union; that uniformity of church government ought not to be made essential among Christians; and that no exclusive claim is due to episcopacy, as a particular form assumed by a large branch of the church of Christ. We also recom mend to the careful notice of our readers, the sixth section of this chapter, entitled, "The Visible Unity of the Church of Christ, not dependent on human authority;" and the last section, which shows, "Wherein the true Unity of the Church consists."

The second part of the work is devoted to a very masterly discussion of "Schism;" in which its nature-causes-evil conse

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