tion to be cruel, implacable, unmerciful, the absurd and indefensible plea of imhe has not studied in the school of proving their outward appearance. Christ, but in that of the world; and therefore with the world he must expect to perish."-Sermon on Cruelty to dumb Animals. Nothing is more common or more disgusting to humanity, than the accounts of wagers laid on forced and violent exertions of horses and other animals: let the following instance, taken from a newspaper a few months since, stand for an example: "Some brutes, in human shape, at Harlowbush fair, engaged a poney, about twelve hands high, to run an hundred miles in twelve hours. The little animal went sixty miles in six hours, but at the eightieth mile, it broke its heart, and fell down dead." The many cruel practices exercised towards animals intended for food, ought not to pass unnoticed. The unfeeling barbarities of butchers and drovers in their treatment of different kinds of beasts designed for slaughter, are dreadful to be conceived. The flaying of cels alive, when a single blow, properly given, will instantly kill them, is a well known instance of deliberate cruelty. Much needless torture is practised in depriving shell-fish of life, as oysters, crabs, and lobsters. That exquisite refinement of epicurism and barbarity, the crimping of fish alive, cannot be reprobated in too strong language. Many other cases might be mentioned, and if every reader would try to make a catalogue of all the instances of unnecessary and wanton cruelty in killing animals for the purposes of food, which he recollects to have seen or heard of, it will probably tend much to excite his indignation and soften his heart. The inhuman methods which are necessarily employed in order to teach various beasts and birds to perform unnatural and strange feats of sagacity and agility, by way of public exhibition, ought to weigh with every man of feeling, sufficiently to prevent his encouragement of any such useless and unwarrantable sights. This is, surely, one of the most wanton abuses of our dominion over the animal race. The same may be said of every mutilation of the ears and tails of horses, under The inhabitants of the city of Bath have no need to be reminded of the scenes of barbarity which are daily exhibited towards those wretched droves of horses and asses' which carry coals about their streets, and are made the victims of so much brutal treatment from their unfeeling drivers. It is a pity that in a place so justly famed for its charities of the higher order, something cannot be done to remedy the suffering of these poor creatures likewise. Too much cannot be said on this subject to all those, whether parents or instructers, who have the care of children; they should watch them very narrowly to prevent their treating insects, birds, or any other animal, with the smallest degree of inhumanity: they should be taught from the first to make the feelings of the creatures their own, and every possible means be employed to interest their earliest affections in the cause of tenderness and mercy on scriptural grounds. To boys in particular, that fundamental source of future cruelty of temper, the robbing birds of their nests for amusement, should be represented in its own true and hateful colours. It was very emphatically said by a writer of the last century but one"The cruel parent that would encourage his child to deprive a poor bird of her young brood, right well deserveth to have his own nest robbed, and to become childless." For many other instances of cruelty to animals, judiciously selected and feelingly commented upon, the reader may consult Young's Essay on Humanity. In order to place the sin of wilful cruelty to animals, and the baneful tendency of an attachment to cruel sports and diversions, in an impressive and solemn point of view, I will conclude this black catalogue of barbarities, with the relation of a circumstance which took place on April 4, 1789; it has already appeared several times in print, and I find, upon actual inquiry, that the fact is indisputably true. It may serve instead of whole volumes written against cock-fighting, and all other such unjustifiable and inhuman practices." A. Esq. was a young man of large fortune; and in the splendour of his carriages and horses equalled by few country gentlemen. His table was marked for hospitality, and his behaviour courteous and polished. But Mr. A had a strong partiality for the diversion of cock-fighting; and had a favourite cock upon which he had won many profitable matches. The last bet he laid upon his bird he lost; which so enraged him, that he had the wretched animal tied to a spit, and roasted alive before a large fire. The screams of the tortured bird were so affecting, that some gentlemen who were present attempted to interfere; which so exasperated Mr. A. that he seized a bar of iron, and with the most furious anger declared, that he would kill the first man that interposed to save the cock: but, in the midst of his passionate exclamations and threats, most awful to relate, he fell down dead upon the spot!" "Doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth." O! then, "let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like unto his." Ps. Iviii. Numb. xxiii. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. SIR, I PERCEIVE that your Correspondent T. C. (See No. 7. p. 433,) complains of an expression used in a paper which I transmitted to you, and which you inserted in your Publication for the month of May. After relating a story respecting an agent of the French government, who, in his choice of a sound Jacobin, regarded not the principles of the man, but merely the strength of passions which he possessed; I took occasion to observe, that hence it seems to follow, "not merely that a Jacobin is a man of strong passions, but also that every man of strong passions is a Jacobin," To this expression your Correspondent T. C. objects. He observes, that "if a man possesses strong passions, and applies those affections of the mind to good purposes, he is the farthest possible removed, in his apprehension, from a Jacobin," It is not the object of this letter to defend the exact propriety of the terms which I have used, since in doing so, I should be maintaining a controversy which would be chiefly verbal. I will, however, remark, that by "strong passions," as indeed my subsequent observations sufficiently prove, I certainly meant those ill-governed passions which often transport a man into unjustifiable warmth, and not those passions which, though strong by nature, have been rendered submissive to the dictates of calm and sober reason; or to use a scriptural expression, "have been brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.' I was, perhaps, led into some little ambiguity of terms by the desire of translating briefly into English the following question, which I represented the French agent as having asked"A til des passions?" A question which I rendered thus-"Is he a man of strong passions?" If I had said"Is he a man of fierce passions," or "of passions strong by nature, as well as strong in consequence of their having been uncontrolled," the passage in question, as well as the remarks founded on it, would perhaps have been less objected to by your correspondent. I proceeded in the same laconic, and possibly, therefore, somewhat inaccurate manner to observe, that I hoped the Christian Observer would attend to the lesson taught by my anecdote, and would deem Christian gentleness and candour, to be signs both of loyalty and orthodoxy, and an "ungoverned temper, to be a symptom of disaffection both to Church and State." On this last point, which your respectable correspondent, T. C. seems also to dispute, I wish to add a few observations. The question is important, and it is by no means of a merely verbal nature. I conceive, Sir, the corruption of our nature to consist much in the violence or the insubordination, as I will now term it, of the passions; and this violence or insubordination, I affirm, therefore, to be the great source of evils both in Church and State. Let me explain myself-and first as to the State. A Jacobin is commonly one whose passions have been excited in consequence of his feeling too strongly some real or supposed injury inflicted by the government. The task of ruling a great nation is at all times difficult. Even right measures will, in the eye of some persons, appear wrong, for they are liable to much misrepresentation: they are above the capacities of some, and though ever so clearly expedient on the balance of opposite arguments, still there may be a few sound reasons against them. More over, since all rulers are men, the measures of the best government will not be uniformly right. It is necessary to look to the general good which the ruling powers may diffuse, or rather indeed to the extensive evil which they may prevent, and not merely to the particular errors into which they may fall; in order to avoid temptations to disaffection. Now the man of strong passions naturally kindles into wrath at the contemplation of each individual act of government which he disapproves; and he is apt to deem a slight fault a sufficient ground for the dismission of a minister, or for a change even in a constitution. Jacobin principles, as they are termed, are for the most part the effect of jacobin passions. Violent ambition, rage, envy, and discontent, suggest to the mind those new and plausible theories of government, the adoption of which implies the downfal of the existing authorities. It was in this manner that the theory of "the sacred right and duty of insurrection," as well as of "universal suffrage, and of "the rights of man," was generated in France. It was thus that the same principle gained ground among the populace in Ireland. The lower Irish have strong passions, and they had a few men, either of deep designs or of equally ungoverned tempers, who headed their insurrection. To the abundance of strong passions existing in our metropolis, and in some of our manufacturing towns, where one man easily inflames another, is owing that degree of favourable reception which Jacobinism met with even under our mild and happy constitution. But I shall apply my observation also to the subject of religion; and in doing this I cannot take a better course than that of referring freely to the Scriptures on the point in question. We there find that meekness was the chief characteristic of the great author of our religion. "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth:" "Take my yoke upon you," said he, "and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." It is to the meek, the humble, and the poor in spirit, and to these alone, that divine illumination and the communication of the real knowledge of Christianity, are promised. "The meek will he guide in judgment, the meek will he teach his way." He that hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now." When the Apos tles grew angry, and were ready either to strike with the sword, or to call down fire from heaven upon the adversaries of Christ," Ye know not,” said their meek and peaceable master, "what spirit ye are of; my kingdom is not of this world." And if the person of Christ was not to be defended by violent means, neither was his Gospel to be propagated in a spirit of violence. "For the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men-apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance, to the acknowledgment of the truth." The Apostles were to "speak the truth in love." That regeneration, the necessity of which they were to affirm, consisted much in laying aside the fierceness of nature, and putting on "the meekness and gentleness of Christ." sometimes (or once)" said the Apostle, "disobedient, deceived, serving divers Justs and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." "But now ye put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, evil communication, out of your mouth," "be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." perfect conformity with these passages, "Ye were In the works of the flesh are described to be not only adultery, &c. but likewise, emulation, wrath, strife, envying, murders, heresies, and such like; and with these the fruits of the spirit are contrasted, which are "love, joy,peace,long suffering, gentleness, meekness, faith, patience, temperance;" terms clearly designating that subdued state of the passions for which I am pleading, and which I have considered to be a symptom of true orthodoxy. I am aware it will be said, that the doctrines of religion are so important, that they must be contended for with zeal, and even also with warmth. I grant the truth of the observation, but in doing so, I would most carefully guard the admission. The warmth which is to be used in this case, is in a great measure, the warmth of love. It ought chiefly to arise out of a tender and affectionate solicitude for the very person against whom we contend. Now if we feel this love, we shall be careful not so much to excite his prejudices, or to affront his pride, by exposing him; as to gain him by the very candour as well as kindness of our conduct, and thus to render him a brother. With what care did St. Paul accommodate himself to the prejudices of the Jews, "becoming all things to all men, that by all means he might save some." When he was converted, he laid aside the spirit of a persecutor; he was no longer the man of wrath and violence-he was "gentle even as a nurse cherisheth her chil dren." Zeal for doctrines is easily learnt. Some, it is to be feared, having been throughout their lives violent and contentious, and having adopted new tenets of an orthodox kind, continue to exercise their old temper, while contending for the new subjects. They were impatient, forward, conceited, or fiery, before they learnt these doctrines; they are no less so afterwards. Their Gospel has merely furnished them with a new topic, in the discussion of which the same unhallowed passions may be habitually indulged. Now it was the object of my remark to unchristianize persons of this sort. I value, Sir, the doctrines of Christianity. They are, in my mind, of inestimable worth: when rightly received into the heart, they form in a man the very temper which I have endeavoured to describe. What can more effectually teach humility, meekness, and patience, than the knowledge of our unworthiness, and of our redemption by Christ? What can have a greater tendency to calm the turbulence of our minds, than the exercise of prayer for the gift of the divine Spirit; and meditation on the glories of the celestial world? I trust, therefore, that I have established the main point for which I have been anxious, and I ought, perhaps, to thank your correspondent for calling me to this more particular explanation of a subject, which might otherwise have been left in some obscurity. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. XXXVII. Eight Discourses on the Connection between the Old and New Testament considered as Two Parts of the same Divine Revela tion; and demonstrative of the great Ductrine of Atonement: accompanied with a Preliminary Discourse, respectfully addressed to the younger Clergy containing some Remarks on the late Professor Campbell's Ecclesiastical History. By the Rev. Charles Daubeny, LL. B. London. Hatchard, pp. 481. IT is the important object of these Discourses to establish the connection between the Old and New Testament, and upon the basis of that connection S. P. to erect the great doctrine of the atonement. They are preceded by a Pre liminary Discourse of considerable length, in which the Author principally proposes to confute some of the fundamental positions in the posthumous Lectures of Professor Campbell on the subject of Ecclesiastical History. He does not, however, immediately proceed to this part of the undertaking, but occupies several pages in endeavouring to overturn two points, which he affirms to have been gene. rally taken for granted by many eminent divines, and argued upon accordingly. The first is, that natural religion constitutes the basis of revelation; the second, that the Jewish Dispensation had relation only to temporal objects." (p. 17, 18.) On the subject of natural religion it appears to us of indispensable importance, in the first place, to clear the term of that ambiguity, of which the enemies of Christianity take so much advantage; and to distinguish between the sense in which it is opposed to revealed religion, and that in which it is consistent with it. A further distinction is like wise necessary between the religion which is suitable to a perfect being, and that which the state of a lapsed one demands. With these distinctions, we may allow to natural religion, or, as it is likewise called, essential religion, all the advantage which in any reason it can claim; and yet deny, in the most positive terms, that it is suited to the condition of a fallen creature, or can, in any degree, contribute to restore him to the forfeited favour of his Maker. This is the prerogative-the sole and exclusive prerogative of revealed religion. We deny not the validity of the reasoning of Mr. Daubeny upon this subject; but we think that some such observations as the above might have been premis. ed with advantage. We likewise subscribe to the force of the arguments by which he endeavours to overturn the second hypothesis of the temporality of the Mosaic law; but we would have wished to have seen more justice done to the character of Bishop Warburton, (p. 14.) who, although a strenuous advocate for that obnoxious doctrine,was as strenuous in defence of the very object of Mr. Daubeny's workthe connexion between the two dispensations, and the doctrine of the atonement resulting from it.* At p. 47, Mr. Daubeny enters upon the proposed confutation of some of the main principles of Dr. Campbell's Lectures. We anticipated, an easy victory, both from the known ability of * Div. Leg. b. ix. c. 2. the writer in this field of theological controversy, and from the weakness of the arguments with which he had to contend. Without any disposition to withhold from the Professor the general esteem which he has so justly merited, we find ourselves compelled to agree with Mr. Daubeny, in the opinion, "that no addition of credit will be derived to Dr. Campbell's name by the publication in question." "In the Doctor's ardent zeal against episcopacy, which," says Mr. Daubeny, we must take leave to call, in some respects, zeal without adequate knowledge; he has given a picture of the Apostolic Church, which bears as little resemblance to the established Kirk of Scotland, as it does to the primitive Church of Christ." (p. 49.) Mr. Daubeny will be allowed by all impartial judges to have the best of the argument, when he contends, against the Professor, that the government of the primitive Church was formed upon the model of the Jewish priesthood. That this was understood by the early Christians to be the case is not denied, even by the prejudiced Mosheim'; although he endeavours to present the fact in an odious light.* Neither the Presbyterian nor the Episcopalian can claim this celebrated historian, the constitution of whose church, according to his own representation, lies between Episcopacy and Presbyterianism. We were happy to find in a note at p. 80, a just censure of a particular assertion of Dr. Paley.† In (p. 86 and † In the note above referred to Mr. Daubeny, after observing that an eminent dignitary of our own church has maintained the dangerous position, that the doctrines of the Church, "in consequence of the changes which are kind," are not less subservient to the varying wont to take place in the judgment of manopinions and circumstances of the world, than the constitution of it, quotes, as a practical illustration of that opinion, the following pas'If a any one sage in a sermon of Dr. Paley's: asks what the expressions in Scripture, regenerate, born of the Spirit, new creatures, mean? we answer, that they mean nothing! nothing to us! nothing to be found or sought for in the present circumstances of Christianity.' Such |