chemistry, optics, botany, anatomy, &c., multiplying the proofs of design and adaptation, present endless manifestations of Divine power, wisdom, and goodness. Facts which once seemed unfavourable to revealed truth, and in the view of which the infidel exulted and the timid Christian trembled, on further investigation are found in the category of its evidences. "Opinionum commenta delet dies, naturæ judicia confirmat." Time obliterates human speculations, but establishes the principles of sound philosophy. Nature is a boundless and inexhaustible repository of facts, which as they become evolved accumulate the evidences of religious truth. We rejoice, therefore, when natural philosophy extends her discoveries, because every discovery is a contribution to natural theology.

The work before us, so far as it extends, is a profound and elaborate embodiment and exemplification of these truths. We have read it with intense interest, and feel no hesitation in affirming that we never read a book more distinguished by intellectual acuteness and strength-by the power of analytical discrimination, synthetical combination, arrangement, and generalization-by consecutive and comprehensive reasoning. If the former productions of the author have given him pre-eminence as an eloquent writer, the present work will give him a most distinguished position as a philosopher. The title of the present volume gives but an inadequate conception of the comprehensive and magnificent design of the author. The grand leading idea of the author is, that “there is a theology in nature which is ultimately one with the theology of the Bible-that there are principles of varied but universal application." This thought, like Newton's "Law of Gravitation," is the substratum of the entire work, the foundation of all his reasoning. In the establishment and development of this thought, he carries us back into the awful abyss of eternity, when there was neither a flaming seraph nor a crawling worm-when there was neither a revolving world nor a solitary atom-when universal nature was a universal blank-when there was nothing in existence but God himself, and thus contemplates the Divine Being as independently and perfectly happy in himself, but intending to effect a manifestation of his own ALL-SUFFICIENCY-Or, in other words, of displaying his glorious perfections. Then the author, deducing certain principles from the Divine nature, lays them down provisionally as the basis of an argument a priori as to the mode in which this manifestation should be progressively conducted. These principles assumed, he carries them into the province of nature, and proceeds to their gradual demonstration in the creation and progressive history of the universe. Hence the author observes in his preface,

"The attempt which is here made to deduce such principles, and to apply them to the successive stages of creation, proceeds on the assumption that the whole process of Divine manifestation, including nature, is to be viewed in the light of a sublime argument, in which God is deductively reasoning from principles to facts, from generals to particulars. With the great synthetic whole ever present to his mind, he is seen unfolding the parts of which it consists. In order that man may feel the force of this reasoning, his mind, equally with the Divine mind, must presuppose, or be prepared to admit, the primary truths on which the reasoning depends. But besides these, the great argument implies (as in every case of ordinary reasoning) that there are certain ideas or truths in the mind of God which are not yet in the mind of man, and which it is the design of the argument to convey. For example-whatever exhibits marks of design, must have had an intelligent author; the world exhibits marks of design, therefore the world must have had an intelligent author. Here, the major is assumed alike by God and man; the conclusion is, at first, in the mind of God alone, and the design of the great argument is to convey it into the mind of man also; but the attainment of this end depends on the truth of the minor-that the world exhibits marks of design; and how is this proposition to be established except by induction? To the infinitely blessed God, then, the entire process of Divine manifestation is, in its reference to man, a sublime syllogism, of which the last object and remotest event are already included potentially in the major; the unfolding of which is destined to cccupy the coming eternity."

From these observations, the reader may form some conception of the design and plan of the work. The volume before us consists of five parts. Of these, as the author states in his preface, the first part contains those primary truths which divine revelation appears to have placed at the foundation of all the objective manifestations of the Deity; the second presents the laws or general principles which are regarded as logically resulting from the preceding truths; and the third, fourth, and fifth parts are occupied with the exemplification and verification of these laws in inorganic, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms of the pre-Adamite earth respectively. From this statement it will be seen that the two first parts are here as introductory, not to the present volume only, but to the entire series.

Within our prescribed limits it is impossible to give any analysis of the work but what must, from its brevity, fail to do justice to the profound argument of the author; yet in the absence of this, a brief sketch of the most prominent views maintained may be acceptable to our readers. From the necessary existence of the Deity, our author argues his absolute independence and all-sufficiency. Such being his nature, his purpose to create was to manifest his all-sufficiency, or infinite perfection. God's purpose to create or manifest his own all-sufficiency, he regards, contrary to Dwight, not as essential to the happiness or perfection of the Divine Nature, but, with Tillotson and others, as God's free volition to communicate enjoyment. The archetypes of all creation he maintains to have existed in the Divine mind from all eternity, and the objects created as actual expressions of his own perfections as symbols of attributes and excellencies essentially dwelling in his own nature. Thus our gifted author speaks on this subject:

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For, in the very nature of things, all the being, excellence, and happiness which can ever exist ad extra, and by which alone the Divine Manifestation can be made, virtually existed from eternity ad intra. It is only in this way that they can manifest Him; and it is only so long, therefore, as they remain what they are-the means of the manifestation of Himself-that they answer their end; and the more there is of them in the creature, the more do they answer that end. All the relations which may ever bind created beings together, the laws which may prescribe the duties of those relations, the excellencies which, by obedience to these laws, they may ever possess or be able to acquire, and the happiness which, as the result of this excellence, they may ever enjoy-all potentially existed from eternity in the character and mind of God, and existed there as the expression of His mind and character. His nature is the fountain of the whole, so that every authoritative announcement which He may make that such and such is His will, must be founded in the fact that such and such is His nature." (Page 18.)

The great work of manifesting the Divine perfections devolved by consent upon the Second Person in the Trinity; hence creation, and all the work involved in the manifestation of the Godhead, is in Holy Scripture ascribed to the Son of God; and hence, too, he is called the Memrah Jah in the Chaldee paraphrases, and the Divine Logos, or The Revealer-The Manifester of God. This manifestation is eternal, for it is only by an endless series of manifestations that the inexhaustible resources of the Deity can be displayed; and hence it is that the office of the Son of God as The Revealer, includes, besides creation, all those acts of providence, redemption, and mediatorial government, necessary either to indicate or display the Divine perfections; and for the same reason, his office must be everlasting, that is, it must be co-extended with the manifestation. The manifestation is also progressive, beginning with power, succeeded in after ages by wisdom, and in subsequent periods by benevolence, &c. The successive displays of these perfections occupied those immense periods included in the pre-Adamite earth, or prior to the creation of man; for with man's creation, and in subsequent periods, we have the manifestations of the moral perfections of Deity; but these subjects are reserved for other volumes. This order in the display of the Divine attributes, anticipated a priori from the principles assumed, is verified by geological phenomena; the lower strata of the earth exhibiting matter

only in its inorganic state, the effect of Power, or omnipotence, and though not to the exclusion of intelligence, yet with the least display of this attribute. The ascending strata next exhibiting fossils of vegetable or organized matter, with the attribute of life-here endlessly diversified forms of means adapted to ends, and those ends accomplished, exhibit the attribute of Infinite Wisdom. In the ascending strata we have fossils of animals-creatures having sensations and voluntary motion superadded to life. Here endless forms of provision made for the enjoyment of animated existence display the infinite benevolence of the Deity. In each ascending stage the past is brought forward-that is to say, the laws of the inorganic world are continued in the organic, and the laws of both are again continued in the animal world, and thus the displays of power are continued in the era when wisdom is exhibited in her vast resources of contrivance and adaptation, and both power and wisdom are seen associated with the boundless provisions of Benevolence. It is a fundamental law, that each creature should fulfil the end of its existence, and find its welfare and happiness in conforming to this principle, connected as it is with the ultimate end-the glory of the Creator. This law is beautifully exemplified in a multitude of instances, drawn from the history of animated nature.

Jamblichus has observed, that "unless our minds are illuminated by God's own light, we are unable to discourse properly concerning the Divine Nature; for God is the fountain of Light as well as of Goodness." This is true. But our author has been enlightend by God's own light; he has derived his first principles from the light of revelation, but he has carried the torch of Divine truth into the catacombs of departed worlds, and on their sepulchral_monuments reads the ancient inscriptions of Divine Wisdom, Power, and Goodness. Indeed, throughout the whole work, facts are made the exponents of principles, and the hypotheses at first assumed become established and proved, as the work proceeds, in the most ample and satisfactory manner.

While in this work we see the power of truth, the feebleness of error becomes more apparent, and its bulwarks melt away. The notion that matter is eternal, Mirabeau's theory of spontaneous production, Lamarck's transmutation of species, and the theory of progressive development con tended for by the French infidels and by the author of the "Vestiges of Creation," are each in their turn demolished by the most palpable demonstrations which ultimate facts and necessary truths can exhibit. Such, we are confident, must be the fate of every modification of infidelity. As the light of science advances, the night birds of atheism must disappear, and religious truth accumulate both its proofs and illustrations from the volume of nature. Mysteries there are both in the domain of revealed truth and in nature; but while this proves the immaturity of our knowledge, or the feebleness of our faculties, it ought not to militate against the truth itself. We cannot see the bottom of the ocean, not because it is muddy, but because it is deep. We cannot see the beauties of an extended landscape, not because it is disproportionate, but because it is distant; and so it is respecting a multitude of truths in the regions of nature and religion. Clearer light and higher faculties will cause the obscurities and shadows to vanish, the truth in its beauty and full proportion will be manifest, and where we once doubted we shall eternally admire.

The composition and style of the writer are quite equal to his former productions. They correspond with the character given by Cicero of one of his contemporaries, who "expressed refined and abstruse thoughts in soft and transparent diction." What Gibbon says of the Greek language is here exemplified as the characteristic of the English tongue: "Giving a soul to objects of sense and a body to the abstractions of philosophy."

We had designed to illustrate this brief and hasty sketch by the introduction of several additional extracts, that the author might speak more fully for himself, but our limited space forbids. We must therefore refer the reader to the work itself, which must be carefully studied as well as attentively read.

If the forthcoming volumes should be equal to their precursor, the author will thereby furnish the most comprehensive and satisfactory system of natural theology which has yet appeared. We have only to add, that we would respectfully suggest to the author, that as the truth of the theory rests upon the fact that matter, not spirit, was the first object created, some special notice should be taken of the period when angelic beings were introduced, as their early appearance and influence in our world warrant the supposition that they were created prior to man. We would also suggest, that any facts in geological discovery which may yet arise to strengthen the argument (page 116) respecting vegetable, and not animal life, immediately succeeding to inorganic creation, should be introduced into the volumes to follow, or in a subsequent edition of the present volume.

We hail the appearance of this volume at the present crisis, when pantheism, transcendentalism, and other refined species of infidelity are so rife in our own land as well as on the continent of Europe, and we cannot doubt of its extensive usefulness in checking those pernicious errors. By scholars and philosophers the work will be read with profound interest; and to young men whose powers are being invigorated and expanded by study, the work will be of incalculable advantage.

ODE FOR THE NEW YEAR.
""Tis past-the strange eventful year,
When joy and sorrow, hope and fear,
Perplex'd the public care:

We mourn'd a nation's sin and shame-
We hop'd-and heavenly mercy came
To counteract despair.

A house divided cannot stand,
And peace and safety fly the land,
Where endless discord grows:
The tempest may be hush'd to sleep,
Still billows roll the troubled deep,
Till time shall bring repose.

When the old sinful world was drown'd,
When fire and brimstone flam'd around,

Where Admah's crimes had spread;

Safe in the ark good Noah rode,

And Lot escap'd the vile abode,
By holy angels led.

Tho' slaught'ring war has ceas'd a space,
Still nations tremble to their base,

And totters many a crown;

Yet ev'ry shock the bounds extends
Of truth and freedom's faithful friends,
And hurls oppressors down.

Thus time proceeds, and with it brings
Perpetual change to earthly things-
Uncertain-insecure;

But truth divine, and heaven above,
Nor change, decay, nor end shall prove,
But endless years endure."

When the flowers in a worldly man's garden die, he may still delight in his lands and money. Thus a gracious soul, when the creature fades, can rejoice in the unsearchable, the inalienable, and the inexhaustible riches of Christ.

THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.

There are four grand arguments for the truth of the Bible. The first is, the miracles it records. 2. The prophecies it contains. 3. The goodness of

the doctrine. 4. The moral character of the penmen.

The miracles flow from Divine power; the prophecies from Divine understanding; the excellence of the doctrine from Divine goodness; and the moral character from Divine purity. Thus Christianity is built upon these four immoveable pillars-the power, the understanding, the goodness, and the purity of God.

It could not be the invention of good men or angels, for they neither would nor could make a book, and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord," when it was their own invention.

It could not be the invention of bad men or devils, for they would not make a book which commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their souls to all eternity. I therefore draw this conclusion-the Bible must be given by Divine inspiration.

OBITUARIES AND RECENT DEATHS.