bers are fierce, wild, and disposed only to prey, either on man or on other animals of inferior strength, and much more desirable natures. Others are stupid, sluggish, and fitted merely to exist, to eat, and to die; and of no use to us, and of little to themselves. Others, still, are poisonous, and are only hostile to human comfort, and to human life. Who would expect, from the hand of the Creator, the tiger, the sloth, the rattlesnake, and the scorpion? Who can explain the existence of those innumerable insects which infest the air, the earth, and the sea, and often diminish the happiness, destroy the health, and cut off the life of mankind? Why were formed those loathsome reptiles which create pain by their very appearance, and by their actions awaken distress and horror? Why are the regions of nature peopled by those millions of animalculæ, which, while they add nothing when alive to the welfare of man, destroy his life after they are dead by the pestilential exhalations to which they give birth?

"In the vegetable world, mysteries, and the perplexities which grow out of them, are exceedingly increased both in number and degree. Productions of this class are wonderfully numerous in their kinds and sorts. Yet how few of them have, during the long continued flight of ages, been discovered to possess any value to mankind! How many of them are apparently useless even to animals! How many of them are poisonous, and, so far as we can discern, formed to no end but to destroy either comfort or life! Why were they created? Who has sufficient knowledge to answer this question? "The works of providence are still more strange and perplexing.

"The most perplexing of all considerations is the existence of moral evil; and whether we suppose it to have been immediately created or permitted, it is equally inexplicable by us. Had we been employed in forming conceptions concerning a scheme of creation and providence to be accomplished by the infinite mind, we should have certainly expected, that such a mind would fill a world with beings who were only virtuous and happy. All these, also, we should expect to be equally virtuous and equally happy. How distant from this scheme is that actually presented to our view! The great body of mankind are evidently and grossly sinful. Few, very few, seem to be virtuous at all, and even these are miserably defective. The happiness enjoyed by man is also in a manner generally similar, contradictory to every expectation which we should have naturally and originally formed.

"This subject will be better realized by a more particular exhibition. I observe, therefore, that we should expect all men to know, worship, and obey the true God only. But the greater part of the human CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 330.

race have, in every age, been ignorant, not only of the character, but even of the existence of the true God, and have neither worshipped nor obeyed him at all. Heathenism has evidently predominated throughout this globe during most of the ages of time; and its inhabitants have prostrated themselves before demons, men, beasts, birds, reptiles, insects, vegetables, and images of gold, silver, brass, wood, and stone.

"We certainly should look for an universal prevalence of truth, both as the object of belief, and the subject of declarations. Error has, however, been believed, and falsehood declared, in every age and country, to a degree amazing and portentous.

"In a world made by the God of peace we should expect peace to reign. War, on the contrary, has been the business, the pleasure, and the sport of mankind.

"Justice and benevolence ought plainly to be the controlling principles of rational and immortal beings. But oppression has, in this world, been the greatest source of misery, and the most bitter theme of complaints from the beginning. Cruelty and injustice have, to a great extent, reigned without a rival, and ravaged without end.

"In a world formed by the source and the author of all perfection, we should naturally suppose that health and plenty must abound. Famine and disease, have, however, in an almost unlimited degree, claimed the present world as their own, and swept their millions to an untimely grave.

"In a world governed by the author of all excellence, we should expect the good to be prosperous, and the wicked, if any wicked could be supposed to exist, to be afflicted and unhappy. How different has been the fact! How often has Nero been on the throne, and Polycarp at the stake! So different has been the actual state of things, that even Asaph was well nigh overthrown by the sight of the successful lives and quiet deaths of wicked men in his own time.

"Half of mankind die under five years of age. For what purpose were these innumerable millions created? Where is the philosophy which can point out the end accomplished by their ephemeral existence?

"Such is a summary and imperfect view of the works of creation and providence on the mysterious side. In surveying it, how soon and how absolutely are our minds lost! At the very commencement of our researches we enter a labyrinth to which there is no clue, or launch upon an ocean without a bottom, without a pole-star, and without a shore." pp. 130 -133.

The devout author does not of course leave the matter here; he 3 C

proves that there is a God, and that he governs the world, and that these apparent incongruities are all reconcileable with his wisdom and goodness; but the very need for a solution of the seeming difficulty shews that the ways of God are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts.

But we should do injustice to Dr. Dwight, if we left it to be inferred that his illustrations are derived chiefly from natural or moral philosophy: so far from it, the Scriptures are the great storehouse of his facts; and it is interesting to observe how aptly he weaves Scripture narrative into the texture of his composition, making ancient history and modern, inspired and profane, revelation and reason, all bear upon the subject of his proposition. For instance, to prove that "the love of Christ is universal," he writes:

"The love of Christ extends through all lands and ages. It reaches persons in every condition of life. The monarch is not above, the beggar is not below it. The infant, expiring in the cradle, is not without its grasp; nor the hoary sinner tottering on the brink of the tomb. It descended, like the dew of Eden, upon our first parents, speedily after their apostacy. It travelled down through the antediluvian ages, until it entered the ark with Noah and his family, and accompanied them over the ocean of destruction to the mountains of Ararat. It wandered as a pilgrim with Abraham, and followed him from Chaldea to the land of promise. promise. It went down with Jacob and Joseph into Egypt, and returned again with Moses through the Red Sea and the wilderness to the same sequestered ground. It dwelt with the church in the Sheckinah, until the Babylonish captivity. With Daniel it entered the lion's den; and to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the caverns of the burning, fiery furnace, appeared with celestial splendour in the form of the Son of God. With the Apostles, it preached through the Roman world the glad tidings of great joy, which were announced to all people; and proclaimed glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will towards men. From Asia it travelled into Europe; and even in the ages of darkness and superstition, found the cottage of piety and the cell of devotion, and sanctified them for its resi dence amid a world of corruption. At the Reformation, it lighted the flame of virtue on a thousand hills, and awakened

hymns of transport and praise in all the valleys beneath them.

"From Europe it crossed the Atlantic with the little flock, which sought and found a refuge for piety in this immense wilderness, and smiled upon every sanctuary which they built, every church which they planted, and every sacrifice of prayer and praise which they offered up to God. With the Missionaries, who run to and fro to increase knowledge, it is now sailing back to Asia, again to shower its blessings upon regions long accursed with drought and sterility.

"In these vast regions of the globe, and during this immense progress of time, it has never failed to visit a house where it

was welcomed, nor a heart in which it could find a residence. To the feeble it has re

gularly imparted strength, and to the doubting confidence. To the solitary it has been the most delightful companion, and to the forsaken the best of friends. The eye of despondency it has illumined with hope, and caused the heart of sorrow to sing for joy. Wherever it has appeared, life and immortality have sprung to light; and faith, repentance, and holiness have be

come inmates of the breast. The heralds of salvation have proclaimed pardon, peace, and reconciliation with God; and the soul, lifting up its eyes, has, like the seer of Patmos, seen the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared and adorned as a bride for her husband.' p. 269, 270.

Who can follow this circumnavigation of Divine mercy, and this diffusion of its influence over the wide waves of the stream of time, without feeling his heart enlarged, and admiring at once the piety and the talents of the man, who could thus bring together such ample stores of illustration to magnify the grace of God?

We are tempted to quote a passage from the head of discourse which follows that we have just noticed, in one of two sermons on the love of Christ, where, speaking of heaven, he says:

"The Scriptures have every where spoken of the employments and the happiness of heaven in exalted terms; yet almost every where they are mentioned in phraseology so general, as to leave upon inattentive readers a faint and loose impression of their meaning. This impression has also been rendered more faint by the manner in which this subject has been customarily handled by preachers. These, even when men of great respectability and worth, may, I suspect, often be fairly numbered, at least if we may be permitted to judge from their writings, among the inattentive

readers of this part of the sacred oracles; for they certainly have done, in most instances, little more than to reiterate a few of the scriptural exhibitions of this subject, in language even more general, and far from being equally expressive. Little more is derived from most of them than that a future life is endless, free from sin and suffering, possessed of the favour of God, and fraught with love, gratitude, and praise to him, friendship to his children, and a general state of high and uninterrupted enjoyment. I do not intend, that these things are not in themselves pre-eminently important. They are obviously of the highest importance. Still I insist, that when holden out to the eye in this abstract manner, they strike it with little force, and leave behind them feeble impressions. To me it seems, that to act in the service of God, and to communicate good to others, constitutes, according to the Scriptures, one vast and glorious division of the celestial happiness usually left out of view in discourses on this subject. To me it seems, also, that both of what we are to be, and what we are to do, many more things are directly said, and those of a highly interesting nature than have been customarily supposed. From these, when we compare them with diligence and attention, a great multitude of other things, deeply interesting, may be derived by irresistible inference; more, I suspect, than will ever be imagined by him who has not seriously made the trial. To give a single example, those who obtain immortal life are said by

our Saviour to be 'σayyλ, equal or like to angels. This one declaration opens to us a wide field of inquiry and conclusion, and assures us, that whatever angels are

or do, or are exhibited as being or doing in the Scriptures, we also shall substantially be or do. But the things which angels do, together with their attributes and circumstances, are, as exhibited in the Scriptures, very numerous and very great, and these irresistibly infer others which are great and numerous also.

"The number and variety of events which make up our system, hardly strike our minds at all, and probably never enter the imagination of most men, even among Christians. Yet, if we read the Scriptures with attention, and believe what we read, we must clearly discern, that both the number and the variety are immense. The inhabitants of heaven serve God day and night in his temple. The services of those, who in this life fill up their duty, are certainly very numerous, and are so entirely varied, that no two actions among them all are alike. How multiplied, then, must be the actions involved in a service which night never interrupts; of a mind and a body which are never wearied, and of an existence which knows no end. That they are endlessly varied is unanswerably evident from the consideration, that no

two beings in the creation, and no two events in the providence of God have been found exactly alike. Variety is a standing law of created existence and providential dispensation, and throughout eternity will be the great means of disclosing to the intelligent universe the glorious thoughts and purposes treasured up from everlasting in the Omniscient mind. "Instead, therefore, of being, if I may be allowed the phraseology, the tame, dull, spiritless existence sometimes presented to us, immortal life is a state of intense energy, vast design, and vigorous action, in which to know and to love, to do and to enjoy, will form a combination of dignity, glory, and happiness transcending every earthly conception. All this, also, will expand, and rise, and improve for ever." pp. 273-275.

Series of propositions followed by corresponding inferences, constitute the staple of Dr. Dwight's discourses; both of them usually containing much important truth, and each successive portion of his argument or conclusions being usually grounded on the preceding, so as to form the elements of a brief treatise on

the subject. But though orderly, he is not tame; and he can venture to be abrupt, sententious, or disconnected, if necessary to enforce his object. Few preachers would venture to conclude a sermon in the following staccato manner; yet who could venture to add a word to it without destroying the effect?

Objections against revelation, from what it is supposed God ought to do, are destitute of weight as well as of decency. "Who,' saith St. Paul, hath known the mind of the Lord, and who hath been his counsellor?' Let me vary this phraseology, and ask, Who can know the mind of the Lord, and who can be his counsellor? Who can determine what ought to be done by a mind, boundless in its attributes, designing and acting for immensity and eternity? Who can tell the nature and design of even a minute part of what he has done? Who, much more, can tell, or even remotely conjecture, what he ought to do?

"On these subjects to philosophise is folly in the extreme. They are so entirely removed beyond our reach, that it is impossible for us to know any thing which can be of any value. No efforts of the most capacious human mind have hitherto been able even to lay hold on them. Very many ingenious men have employed themselves, with no small labour, in attempting to form schemes of creation and provi dence; and in determining what was

proper and what was improper to be done by the Ruler of all things. Unsatisfied with that which is disclosed in the Bible, they have wished to substitute a plan of their own for that of God. By this plan they have not only chosen to interpret the designs for which the beings and events which compose the great system were formed, but have strenuously insisted that their fellow-men should adopt this interpretation. To the same plan they have not only bent their own creed, but with a sufficient degree of assurance, have

required the Creator to conform his conduct. Wretched philosophers! Miserable men! How much more rationally and justly would they have acted, had they exclaimed with a man incomparably wiser than themselves, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot

' attain it.'

"What is it that we attempt to comprehend and explain? The thoughts and works of an Infinite Mind; plans filling eternity and immensity; a train of causes and effects begun here and reaching in a regular chain through endless duration; causes and effects, now existing, to be explained by consequences situated in the remote regions of being. Who are we that thus resolutely enter upon this mighty task? Worms of the dust. When were

we

born? Yesterday. What do we know? Nothing." pp. 143, 144.

The remarkable sermon in the first volume, entitled "Life a Race," we should have been glad to transfer to our pages as an Essay; but where should we stop if we were to quote all that has interested and instructed us in this volume? for we have not touched upon the second. But we stop our hand.

It may not be known to our readers that it was this excellent man who introduced the Christian Observer to his countrymen, in an address of which the following is an extract: "The publishers of the American edition of the Christian Observer having requested of me a recommendation of that work to the public, I take a peculiar pleasure in complying with their wishes. I have taken in this work from its commencement; and throughout the whole of its continuance have considered it as the best periodical publication within my knowledge. It has also been more uniformly supported than any other production of a similar nature.

The religious doctrines countenanced by the Editor, and his principal supporters, are those of the Reformation. In a few particulars they differ somewhat from the most generally received orthodoxy of this country. On these, however, they rarely insist. Those in which the Creeds and Confessions of Protestant churches have chiefly united, they illustrate and defend with distinguished ability. The spirit which reigns in this work is, I think, singularly happy. Catholicism and zeal are, perhaps, no where more successfully united. The piety of the Gospel is here strongly as well as amiably displayed, and even controversy is carried on without tarnishing the Christian character. The subordinate contributors, imbibing the disposition of the prin cipal, proceed in the same course of moderation and excellence. The plan of the work includes Religious and Miscellaneous Communications, Reviews, Literary and Philosophical Intelligence, a View of Public Affairs, &c. &c. The heads are well chosen, and are filled up with advantage. The re-publication of the work is a public benefit, and reflects honour on the undertakers." Annexed to the name of Dr.Dwight, as concurring with him in the above sentiments, were those of Dr. Mason, Dr. Morse, Dr. Miller, Dr. Griffin, and several other distinguished American divines. Numerous other eulogies on our publication have appeared from the American press; some of them so high-flown, that we should blush to copy them; but we cannot but feel honoured by the approbation of such men as Dr. Dwight and the other divines just named, especially as most of them were not of our own church, and therefore may be supposed to have judged the more impartially. The first American reprint of the Christian Observer was at Boston; but a rival one was also for a time conducted in New York. Several of the American Journals, especially those of our sister Episcopal church,

We cannot concur in the opinion of some well-disposed persons, that "Christians have nothing to do with politics." It is indeed true that the servant of God will not lend himself to a party; that he will not without reluctance mix himself up with the civil broils of the commonwealth in which he lives; that he will be governed in his political decisions by the will of God, and not by the speculations of statesmen; and, finally, that he will look chiefly to the bearing of all events and decisions, not on the mere interests of the moment, but on the eternal destinies of mankind. But it is also true that politics-giving to the term the wide meaning of that science which relates to the internal govern ment and public administration of states-must ever occupy a prominent place in the mind of the real Christian. To say nothing of the illustration which the rise and fall of states lends to prophecy and of innumerable other points, and to allude only to one connected with the scene of the work before us, is it of no consequence to the interest of those for whom Christ died, whether Christianity or Mohammedanism prevail? whether system which is capable of advancing to the utmost the happiness and virtue of the human race, or a system which is the scourge of

a

every society into which it is admitted, has the ascendancy? On the ground, then, of the general importance of political topics, we should have felt ourselves justified in carrying our readers over the region traversed by the author before us, simply because it has become the theatre of war. But we have other reasons for placing extracts from the work before some to whom it might otherwise remain unknown. In the first place, it is a work of much good sense; and it contains (which can be said of few books of travels) scarcely any thing which can wound the most fastidious mind: it also looks with a friendly eye on the exertions of the Bible Society, and of the various classes of missionaries; and more especially it supplies some of the strongest evidences of the compa rative influence of Christianity and Mohammedanism on the happiness and interests of states. The secular politician is apt to think that the welfare of the state is the result merely of the decision of parliaments, and the predominance of peculiar principles of national policy: nor do we dispute the wisdom of endeavouring to discover and act upon, the best principles of political economy; but after all, national welfare has a most intimate connexion with national religion. Dry up the source of pure Christianity in our privileged country, and it would be found that the basis of mere political wisdom is inadequate to the burden laid upon it; and that he is the best friend of his country who adheres rigidly to the principle that "righteousness exalteth a nation;" and "happy is the people who have the Lord for their God." Having offered these few preliminary observations, we shall carry our readers at once to the field of action.

Dr. Walsh, the author of the entertaining volume before us, went to Constantinople in the suite of his Excellency Lord Strangford, as his chaplain. There he resided for. se