the new impulse given to the intellectual faculties of man! Yet how slow and silent the process by which the effect is accomplished! Were it not, indeed, for a certain class of learned authors, who, from time to time, heave the log into the deep, we should hardly believe that the reason of the species is progressive. In this respect, the religious and academical establishments in some parts of Europe, are not without their use to the historian of the Human Mind. Immoveably moored to the same station by the strength of their cables and the weight of their anchors, they enable him to measure the rapidity of the current by which the rest of the world are borne along. "This too is remarkable in the history of our prejudices; that as soon as the film falls from the intellectual eye, we are apt to lose all recollection of our former blindness. Like the fantastic and giant shapes, which, in a thick fog, the imagination lends to a block of stone, or to the stump of a tree, they produce, while the illusion lasts, the same effect with truths and realities; but the moment the eye has caught the exact form and dimensions of its object, the spell is broken for ever; nor can any effort of thought again conjure up the spectres which have vanished." Dugald Stewart's Pref. to Diss. prefixed to Supplement to Encyclop. Britann. p. 16. No. CCLXIX. Grotius's Chaplains. "Grotius, when ambassador for Sweden in France, had two Chaplains, a Calvinist and a Lutheran, who preached by turns. What they principally laboured was to revile one another, and their sermons were only invectives. The ambassador, tired and ashamed of the extravagancies of these reverend madmen, begged them to explain the gospel, without wounding Christian charity. This goad advice neither of them relished. His Lutheran chaplain particularly replied, that he must preach what God inspired; and went on in the old strain. Grotius at last ordered him either to forbear railing or preaching. The meek preacher turned away in great wrath, expressing his amazement that a Christian ambassador should shut the mouth of the Holy Ghost." Trenchard and Gordon's Tracts, 1751, ii. 296. Judge Foster relates, from Whitlock, that the Bishop of London having said to Felton, who had assassinated the Duke of Buckingham—' If you will not confess, you must go to the rack;* the man replied, If it must be so, I know not whom I may accuse in the extremity of the torture, Bishop Laud perhaps, or any Lord at this board.' "Sound sense (adds Foster) in the mouth of an enthusiast and ruffian !. "Laud having proposed the rack, the matter was shortly debated at the board, and it ended in a reference to the judges, who unanimously resolved that the rack could not be legally used." De Lolme on Eng. Const. Vol. I. No. CCLXXI. Universal Providence. "GOD, says Newton, is all EYE, and EAR, and SENSE. "Schol. Gen. in Princip. The whole passage deserves quotation. Totus est sui similis, totus oculus, totus auris, totus cerebrum, totus brachium, totus vis sentiendi, intelligendi et agendi, sed more minimè humano, more minimì corporeo, more nobis prorsùs incognito. "With this passage, one from Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 7, may very properly be compared. Quisquis est Deus, totus est sensus, totus visus, totus auditus, totus animæ, totus animi, totus sui. "But this prince of philosophers, this glory, not of our nation only, but our species, refined his notions of the Divinity from the favourite volume of his meditations; that volume, which had declared, that a sparrow, nay even a hair of the head could not fall to the ground, without vibrating through the remotest corner of God's creation." Wakefield's Evidences of Christianity, P. 40. ART. I.-Illustrations of the Divine Government; tending to show, that every Thing is under the Direction of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, and will terminate in the Production of Universal Purity and Happiness. By T. Southwood Smith.* Sold by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, Paternoster Row, and D. Eaton, 187, High Holborn, London; and by Bryce and Co. South Bridge Street, Edinburgh. 1816. pp. 240. 12mo. price 6s, extra boards. MONG all the truths, which there are two of supreme importance, the Unity of God, and his Infinite Benevolence. These doctrines are intimately connected together; for the former cannot be fully apprehended without leading to a firm belief of the latter. The evidence for the strict Unity of God having been previously presented, to the minds of religious inquires in Scotland, Mr. Southwood Smith, has in the work before us, called their attention to the sublime and delightful consequences, which flow from that doctrine, and which relate to the Character and Government of the One God and Father of ali. Our author commences his treatise by a brief view of the evidence for the existerfee, perfections, and providence of the Supreme Being. From arguments, stated much in the manner of Dr. S. Clarke, he concludes, that nothing can happen without the knowledge and permission of unerring wisdom and perfect goodness, and that all the vast affairs of the universe, in every particular circumstance, and in every instant of time, are under the wisest and the best direction." P. 18. He then, shows that upon these points revelation confirms the deductions of reason; and, after quoting our Saviour's admirable proof of the universal and minute Providence of God, Since this work was published, Mr. Smith has graduated at Edinburgh, M. D. His inaugural thesis, which is printed and dedicated to Mr. Belsham, is entitled "De Mente Morbis læsa." ED. derived from his care over the lilies of the field, he annexes the following observations: "The argument, which our Lord here employs, is beautiful and affecting. Every one must have felt its force. When in a solitary ramble our eye has been struck with a little flower blooming in a secluded spot-when we have examined the perfection of all its parts, the richness, the variety, the exquisite beauty of its tints; when we have considered the care that has been taken of this humble plant, and the inimitable upon its which of us has not been deeply impressed with the truth, which our divine Instructor would here teach us? Which of us has not said to himself,can so much care have been spent upon this little flower, and can I, humble and insignificant though I am, be overlooked by the Author of my being? It is impossible. There must be a God, there must be a Providence, and I, and the myriads of creatures, who in common with me enjoy the boon of existence, have, reason to rejoice!" Pp. 20, 21. Here Mr. Smith properly introduces the doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, which represents the Deity as appointing and producing every event in the moral, as well as in the natural world, but in such a manner as is consistent with the nature of man as a rational and accountable agent. Having shown that all events are continually directed and immediately produced by the agency of God, and having hence inferred that they must conspire to the accomplishment of some wise and benevolent end, he advances the grand doctrine of his volume, that the great design of the Deity in the creation and government of the world is TO BRING ALL HIS INTELLIGENT OFFSPRING TO A STATE OF PURITY AND BLISS, Before adducing the evidence in favour of this opinion, Mr. Smith considers the preliminary question respecting the kind of proof, by which it ought to be established. Some Christians object to the admission of any doctrine, which is not expressly 474 Review-Smith's Illustrations of the Divine Government. ̧ affirmed in Scripture. Others contend that this evidence is not absolutely necessary. The history of the corruptions of Christianity should no doubt make us exceedingly cautious in the reception of doctrines, which revela-, tion does not directly inculcate. But this caution need not in our opinion be carried to such an extreme, as to lead us to refuse our assent to a doctrine upon this ground alone, if it, be supported by competent evidence of a different description, and be in perfect consistency with the declarations of the Scriptures. The whole spirit and design of the Christian religion, and the example and authority of Jesus Christ and the apostles, instead of discouraging, favour and enjoin the free exercise of the understanding upon religious subjects; and we probably coincide most entirely with the design of the Almighty Author of the gospel, when we habitually contemplate the light of nature and the fight of revelation as streaming alike from himself and in parallel rays-every object, upon which they fall, being the most brightly and beautifully illuminated by their united action. We need not therefore hesitate to receive any doctrine, which, upon the most careful and attentive examination, appears to be a fair of necessary inference froin other doctrines, admitted upon the authority either of revelation, or of the religion of nature, or of both combined. But at the same time, we should keep in mind, that arguments may in reality be derived from Scripture, which do not at first sight appear to be so. Revelation has poured so much light upon the mind, and has led us into such a just way of reasoning concerning God, concerning his design in creation, and his government of the world, that our conceptions and arguments, even when they do not appear at all to depend upon this heavenly Guide, attain a degree of sublimity and truth, to which they would never have arrived without it; and we often appear to be following the deductions of our own understanding, when, in reality, we are only repeating in other words, and with other associations, the declarations of Scripture." P. 36. Mr. Smith first argues in favour of the doctrine of Universal Restoration from the perfections of the Deity, and especially from his goodness. He proves this attribute from the nature and condition of man and other animals, in that interesting and pleasing manner, which is to be expected from a pious, well-informed, and enlightened mind. He infers, that the Almighty could not have created mankind with any other view but to render them happy, and observes, that the motive often ascribed, namely, that he created the world in order to display his own glory, coincides with that here assigned, since the glory of God can be nothing but the happiness of his creatures. But, since many Christians allow, that the goodness of God moved him to the work of creation, and consequently that he must have originally designed the ultimate felicity of at least the majority of mankind, while they nevertheless suppose that the eternal punishment of a portion of them may be decreed by his wisdom in subserviency to this end, it was necessary to prove further the universality of the divine benevolence. This is pehaps the point of Mr. Smith's argument, upon which his doctrine chiefly depends. He appears to us to have completely succeeded in it. He has vindicated the impartiality of the great Father of all the families of the earth, by reasonings so masterly, facts so various, and illustrations so beautiful, that we cannot here attempt an abridgment, but must request our readers to turn to the book itself: pp. 57-65. He further argues, that nothing can frustrate the design of the Deity which has been stated, and that all is other perfections, instead of presenting any opposition, must harmonize with his benevolence in the production of this glorious result. In the next place, our author argues with great force and ingenuity from the natural capacities of the human mind, maintaining that a structure so vast and so noble, cannot have been raised to afford to the universe an eternal spectacle of majestic desolation, but that it must have been formed to answer some use proportionate to its grandeur. the constitution of all the inferior animals we see means adapted to promote the ends which are accomplished. In Why then is man the only creature in the universe, who possesses a nature that falsifies every appearance and disappoints every expectation; a capacity, that enables him to soar with the that 66 Review.-Smith's Illustrations of the Divine Government. seraph, and a destiny, that levels him with the brute?" It is answered, "that there are many cases, in which the apparent object of nature is evidently and completely defeated; that every blossom does not ripen into fruit, nor every embryo attain the maturity, of which it was capable, and for which it was obviously designed." It is sufficient to reply to this objection, there is no parallel between the two cases. Every blossom, it is true, does not ripen into its proper fruit, nor every embryo grow into a perfect animal, yet neither is any blossom or embryo perverted from its genuine nature into one that is opposite. Every blossom of an apple does not ultimately form an apple, but neither does it become a poisonous fruit every embryo does not grow into a perfect animal, but neither does it degenerate into a disgusting monster. But the doctrine which teaches that man was created for purity and happiness, but that he will continue for ever vicious and miserable, and that which teaches that he will remain so for unknown ages, and then be destroyed, not only suppose, that he does not attain his proper nature, but that it becomes perverted into that which is directly opposite.". P. 86. Mr. Smith further confirms his doctrine, by considering the nature of punishment. Revenge and punishment both imply the infliction of pain on account of the violation of duty. They differ in the ends, which they are respectively designed to answer. The object of the forner is simply to gratify a malignant passion; that of the latter is to prevent the recurrence of the evil. Nothing therefore but a vengeful disposition could induce the Almighty to inflict upon his creatures torments, which being eternal are necessarily unavailing. But if the sufferings of the guilty in a future state be punishment, and not revenge, they must be intended to produce reformation, and must cease when they have accomplished their object. If this be their nature, they are analogous to the privations and pains which ensue from guilt, and tend to effect its removal in the present state. The writer of this very valuable work proceeds to reply to the arguments, usually produced to support the doctrines of everlasting punishment, and of limited punishment, 475 terminated by destruction. He is thus led to a critical investigation of the words translated " everlasting" and for ever," and of other Scriptural expressions, referring to the future punishments of the wicked. He has here availed himself of the candid, learned, and accurate writings of the late Mr. Simpson, and has proved that the language of the Holy Scriptures, correctly interpreted, instead of containing any thing adverse to the doctrine of universal restoration, presents intimations in its favour in the use of the word "Fire," which is in Scripture a common emblem of purification, and also in the use of the term Koλaris, translated "Punishment," which always means chastisement for the purpose of reformation. In this part of his volume (pp. 125-130), Mr. Smith admirably illustrates the moral tendency of the doctrine which he supports, and shows that it not only does not weaken the dread of vice, but is peculiarly adapted to engender love to God and a habit of cheerful and entire compliance with his will. Passing over several minor topics, we shall only notice the reasoning advanced (pp. 163–166), in opposition to the popular tenet of the infinite evil of sin, as being singularly ingenious, as well as lucid and conclusive. Nor must we omit to remark (although the narrowness of our limits scarcely allows us to do justice to Mr. Smith's work) that he has examined the Scriptural evidence alleged in support of the destruction of the wicked, as well as that which is adduced to prove their eternal misery. He justly observes, that the doctrine of the destructionists is established rather upon the sound of certain passages of Scripture than upon their sense for the Greek_terms, translated literally by the English words destruction, death, &c. only signify the infliction of intense pain, and are so explained by Schleusner in his Lexicon. Those therefore, which speak of the “everlasting punishment,” and those which assert the "eternal destruction" of the wicked, convey the very same meaning, and are all perfectly consistent with the doctrine of universal restoration. Our author concludes his argument by endeavouring to show, that this tenet is supported by the express authority of the Sacred Scriptures. Here his observations are more 476 Review-Carpenter's Sermons on Christian Peace and Unity. questionable than in the former parts of his treatise. With Newcome and some other critics, he supposes the New Testament phrase "all men," or "all things," to denote all intelligent creatures. If however we judge of its nicaning by the rules of strict criticism, we shall probably see reason to interpret it as signifying both Jews and Gentiles, in opposition to Jews only. In former times God appeared as the Saviour, or peculiar Benefactor, of the Jews; but, at the introduction of the gospel, as the Saviour of all men, both Jews and Gentiles. Although this may be the sense, intended by the Apostle Paul in those passages, which Mr. Smith has quoted from him, yet his writings, as well as every other part of the Bible, not only accord with the doctrine of universal restoration, but strongly countenance it, by the grand and affecting views which they present of the unlimited benignity, the impartiality, the wisdom, and the justice of the universal Parent. Although Mr. Smith may not be correct in these criticisms, yet he has established his doctrine by other evidence, in our opinion completely decisive and unanswerable. We would earnestly recommend his treatise as a work, distinguished by clear, masterly, and convincing argument-by unaffected and powerful eloquence-by its suitableness to the capacities of all who are in the habits of inquiry and reflection upon religious subjects, and its adaptation to cherish and increase those habits; and lastly, by the strong impressions of piety to God, and benevolence to man, which the attentive perusal of it must make upon every susceptible heart. Y. ART. II.-Four Sermons on Christian Prace and Unity, with a Pastoral Address to the Congregation at Stour bridge. By the Rev. B. Carpenter. Second Edition. With Notes and Anecdotes. Birmingham, Printed and Sold. 1816. 12mo, pp. 104. We not btain more than a local circulation. However, since the author is evidently desirous of their being regarded as an Irenicum, we deem it important to inquire, whether they be really calculated to promote that Christian peace and unity of which they treat ? E know not whether these Ser "In discoursing on the apostolic exhortation," Ephes. iv. 3, Endeayouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," Mr. Carpenter purposes "I. To shew that men never will think alike on religious subjects. "II. That it is not desirable they should. most important articles. "HI. That they do think alike on the "IV. That these considerations are suf ficient to induce them to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." In proof of his first position, he cites an observation which he ascribes to "a sensible and acute writer on ecclesiastical history:"it is this, “that in order to have persons think alike, they must either possess more light or less liberty." Unfortunately, the worthy preacher has not here made a specific reference or an accurate quotation. Jurtin is the author whom he has in view and Jortin's words are, diversity of opinion is the unavoidable result of human imperfection and human liberty, and is not to be removed unless we had more light or less agency." Speaking of current theological tenets, Mr. C. says (p. 6), "The deep and mysterious nature of these doctrines, supposing them to be revealed, is such, that, persons of the most and the most pious dispositions, will always accurate judgment, the greatest learning, entertain different opinions concerning them." Supposing them to be revealed! Why will the preacher thus reason from an assumption, a supposition? The point to be ascertained, is, are any such doctrines revealed or not? And this, surely, is a question of fact. It is the very question respecting which opposite denominations of Christians are at issue. If the doctrines to which this writer adverts are indeed revealed, they must be embraced, whether they be 66 high and mysterious" or plain and simple. But we repeat that the previous inquiry should be, where are they found in the Scriptures, or only in symbols and catechisms of man's device? In another passage (5) this gentleman speaks of "the obscure manner * Pref. to Remarks on Eccles. Hist. XIV. |