will consent that the world shall stand, at least till it shall have accomplished the purposes of its existence; he will see that the Creator was speaking not only of its physical adaptations, but of its moral use and fitness, when he pronounced it "good."

The truth is, that the despondent state of mind can never lead to correct judgment nor to effective action, nor can it possibly comprehend "the lively oracles," since it carries its own darkness to the Scriptures, instead of borrowing light from the word of God. Men bring away from the study of the Bible little more than what they carried with them; and this is the history of most of those dreary superstitions, in which the world abounds. And these are to be met, not with true interpretations only, for they are matters, not of reason, but of diseased feeling. The truth is welcome only to a healthy spirit; but there are so many whose inner sight is darkness, so many who are permitted to have no light except through the key-hole of their spiritual prison, so many who delight to make their fancy lord of all within them, that every wild imagination can be sure of a welcome, and if it have but the faintest coloring of Scriptural authority, men will cling with both hands to the delusion.

But the question arises, how came this state of mind to prevail so generally at the time? How happened it that there were so many already Millerites in spirit, who, when that interpreter appeared, were ready to give him welcome? The explanation, undoubtedly, is found in the course pursued by some leading Christian sects. For some years they had made it their endeavor to create excitement, and had measured their success by the extent and depth to which it spread. All manner of enginery had been employed for the purpose, and the public mind, wherever they could reach it, had been thrown into a feverish state, which treated sober religious feelings and the patient discharge of Christian duties with supreme disdain. All at once these sects became doubtful, as well they might, whether they were doing real service to the cause of their Master; their agitating efforts were suddenly suspended; and the result was, that the religious feeling of their several communities sank down into heavy collapse, like an uninflated balloon. A despondent habit of feeling necessarily succeeded, and

owing to this favorable position of circumstances the small prophet of doom acquired an influence, which he would not soon have gained by truth or talent alone.

There is much of this despondency always existing in the public mind, and though it does not everywhere appear, it is easy at any moment to rekindle it from its ashes. But the conclusion to which the wise man came, was a proof of his superior good sense and feeling; after all his gloomy reflections on the downward tendency of all human things, he said, that to "fear God and keep his commandments was the best that man could do. Whoever fears Him with right reverence, will leave times, seasons and all results, with cheerful confidence, to Him: for it is ours, to endeavor and be faithful; it is His, to arrange and determine and this state of mind, if it do not enable us to see good in everything, can at least assure us that good will come out of the evil under which we suffer now. In the winter we have seen the crystal-plated woods bending and broken with their splendid weight, and have lamented this fatal gift of beauty as if their end was come: but when the spring returns, great nature from her deep treasures of verdure repairs and replaces the loss, and in a year or two it is difficult to remember the injury that was done. And so in everything, if we are but true-hearted: let us do our small part, and we shall see that the order of Providence is going on well, in full harmony and power; and so it will continue to go on long after we are in our graves. It will come to an end in His own good time. But that shall only be the commencement of a higher and better system, and they who have been faithful here shall pass on from glory to glory on high. W. B. O. P. & & o cég

ART. VII.—WHEWELL'S ETHICS.*

DR. WHEWELL has gained most of his reputation by works in mathematics and physics, and particularly by the

*The Elements of Morality, including Polity. BY WILLIAM WHEWELL, D. D., Master of Trinity College, and Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Cambridge. In Two Volumes, 8vo. London. 1845. Reprinted, 2 vols. 12mo. New York. 1845.

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" History" and the "Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences," which have been highly appreciated even by those who do not agree with the author in some of his fundamental speculations. He has also published two treatises on Education, which, though local and temporary in their main purpose, are of considerable interest and value to the general reader from the breadth of view, and practical acquaintance with the subject, which they evince. Meanwhile, as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Cambridge, he has not been inattentive to the progress of ethical inquiry at home or abroad. In 1837, he published four discourses on the Foundation of Morals, in which he expresses strong disapprobation of Paley's system, and avows himself a disciple of Butler, announcing his intention, in the Preface, to edit soon a selection from Butler's Sermons, so arranged and illustrated that it might be used as a text-book. Instead of this we now have before us a text-book of his own, drawn up with care, and bearing on every page the marks of his peculiar style of thought and expression, and, it is but fairness to add, of his general ability, scholarship and moderation. Still we are not surprised to learn, from the notices which have been taken of it, that it has not been received with much favor either in England or this country.

Zealots for change will find many things in this manual which they will dislike. It maintains the right, and the necessity, at least in the existing state of society, of oaths, capital punishment, and war. The subject on which the author, through his humane leanings, is most likely to satisfy this class of his readers, is Slavery, which he takes every opportunity to denounce; but it is always with the provision, that abolition of it "is to be sought by legal and constitutional means only." He also strikes at the root of much that passes under the name of Individualism, by making the State the authorized and legitimate interpreter of right. He does not mean that the State makes right, or that it is authorized to enforce as right what it knows to be wrong; but simply this: in the ordinary course of things, if a real difference of opinion exist as to what is right, the decision of the State, that is to say, the law, ought to be submitted to by the members of the State, until by producing a change in public opinion, or in the government, the law itself is altered or repealed.