light the reader, even though he should feel some hesitation in acceding to all the positions of the author. "Grecian genius received hints, rather than materials from Egypt and Phoenicia ; and these were soon so filtered as to be free from any foreign taint. Their literature, like their language, was primitive and homogeneous, and like the giant trees of the forest which have never been transplanted, and whose tap root has not been destroyed, it grew great in its native seat, and imbibed the full nourishment of the soil. "On the contrary, when learning was transferred from Greece to Rome, it never took deep root, and made few spontaneous shoots, but still retained the delicacy of an exotic, and only grew with continued culture and carefulness;-the literature of Rome was not national, and consequently not popular-it was at best a free imita tion, often a mere translation, of thoughts which had received their birth in another country, from other events, and under other laws. After the Grecians had ceased to be inventers, the human mind for a long series of ages seemed to have lost the power of originality :-Three great races of men placed all their learning in studying the Grecian models, with no other variety than what proceeded from their greater or lesser inability to enter fully into the thoughts, or copy the style of their masters. While the Romans, the Saracens, and the Goths, were attempting to tread in the footsteps of Grecian genius, and the nations of the east had already reached the greatest height which the genius of their civilization permitted them to ascend, it may safely be asserted that the whole human race did not make one step in advance for more than a thousand years, and thereby gave a full confutation to the opinion of a necessary and continual progress in human society. "The Romans, deriving their stock from a common origin with the Greciansspeaking a cognate language-having a climate not greatly inferior, and laws rather improved-possessing the same in tellectual horizon--credulous of the same fables--and worshipping the same deities, had scarcely the trouble of translating from the Greek language into their own, so naturally did the thoughts pass from one into the other; but still there is the difference between originality and imitation, and the loss which accompanies all transference of thought in its expansiveness as well as in its freshness. The Greeks, with only nature to borrow from, were inexhaustible in their copiousness ;--the Romans, with nature, and Grecian literature to boot, to pillage from, shrink into much narrower limits, and the spoil of many volumes scarce suffices to compose one. The airy and speculative disquisitions of Greece disappear in the plainer and practical philosophy which was naturalized at Rome, and the more ethereal enquiries concerning the essences and first causes of things which had been the exercise of Athenian subtilty, yielded the first place, among the Romans, to the maxims which directed States, or regulated the conduct of private life. "The Romans were borrowers in all things--they studied but one art, the art of conquering the world; and even the weapons by which they extended their conquests, were borrowed from the vanquished. The Roman State was like the Roman soldier-to him the day of battle was the time of relaxation, and war a season of pastime, compared with the severer toils of peace. The state when at war had only to contend with foreigners, and men whom it was habituated to overcome, but when it ceased to be invaded from without it was attacked from within, and when conquest had been achieved, a new struggle commenced, not with strangers, but with Romans-the only change. of which their condition admitted was, that peace brought with it interminable struggles, and war certain and speedy victory. Men in this hostile temper of mind, and in this fervid state of action, had no leisure to cultivate any arts but those of victory, and even in these arts, so immediate was the pressure of their exigencies, that they were at once the vanquishers and adopters of the superior skill of their enemies."-pp. 38--41. We are not quite satisfied with all this. That Grecian genius not merely received hints, but that it borrowed as largely of Egyptian and Phoenician philosophy, and that it owed as much to Chaldean lights, as even Rome did to it, we think we could show, were this the place for it. So far from the Greeks filtering off what they drew from foreign fountains, so as to free it from all foreign taint, we have imbibed an opinion as unfavourable to the originality of their philosophy, as Mr. Douglas has to that of the Romans. would not, however, detract from the true merit of the Greeks-they undoubtedly, though loquacious, sought after wisdom. They were, more disposed to abstract reflection, and to speculation, than the We Romans; but this very predisposition was generated, or imbibed, from the East, which had long been, and to a certain extent still continues to be, its seat. The nature of their country, their frugal habits, their attraction to the earlier seats of civilization, which was wholly intellectual, favoured and fostered abstraction. But the ambition of the Romans, their natural robustness and activity, the tempting contiguity of barbarous nations, almost without limits, as fields for glory, and prizes for conquerors, disposed them rather to action than contemplation, and produced a character altogether the reverse of the Grecian. Besides, they had little left to inspire emulation, or feed hope. All had been done by human genius, in canvassing the great philosophic questions which it could ever hope to effect. Ingenuity was exhausted, and industry worn out, and philosophy, as they received it from the Greeks, promised as little truth as improvement, and was prolific of nothing but disputation. Though less Though less sublime, the Roman philosophy was both wiser and more useful, and though it did not encircle human genius with so much lustre, it enriched human society with wiser institutions, and bound the whole together by simpler and stronger bonds. Mr. D. says, "they had no leisure to cultivate any arts, but those of victory." That these took the lead, especially in some periods of their history, is undeniable; but surely it ought to be admitted, that in many points their national genius not only rivalled but surpassed their Grecian predecessors. In ethics, in history, in principles of civil government, in eloquence, in patriotism, in wit, in moral feeling, in magnanimity, in a liberal and enlightened policy, they were equal, if not superior, to the Greeks. But we are aware that considerable diversity of opinion must exist among the learned upon these points, and we do not wonder to see Mr. D. often at variance, in this portion of his work, with learned authorities. After passing rapidly over the dark ages- the Saracens and Goths, he comes to what he denominates the fourth period of advancement-the modern. This he dates from the end of the fifteenth century. "The literature which was formed dur ing the fourteenth century, was made up of two constituent parts, derived from the peculiarity of Gothic genius on the one hand, and from the revival of classical learning on the other; and all would have been well, had each been kept to its due proportions; but, as it is much more easy to borrow than to invent, the originality of genius was nearly stifled by the facility of procuring supplies from the ancient writers; and the learned men of Europe in the fifteenth century were likely to become mere imitators-the most successful, but the most servile, of the models of Greece and Rome. Towards the middle of the fifteenth century, however, a new influence rose, which, united with other given the modern nations a fresh impulse, changes that immediately followed it, has has disclosed to them more than a new world, and is carrying them to a distance far beyond the bounds of ancient authofeeble upon the ear, and the greatness of rity, where the voices from antiquity come Greece and Rome is lessened to the view. This great and newly-risen power, which as yet has not put forth half its strength, religion, and new-modelled philosophy— is the art of printing. It has reformed has infused a new spirit into laws, and over-rules governments with a paramount authority-makes the communication of mind easy and instantaneous beyond example-confers a perpetuity unknown before upon institutions, and discoveries, and gives those wings to science which it has taken from time. "From the end of the fifteenth century we may date the fourth period of advancement in society, which is yet far from being exhausted, and it may be hoped, will proceed with an accelerating velocity, since the causes which gave it birth still exist, and will soon be brought to act on human affairs with an increasc of energy. "The first of these causes in time, and in importance, in the time of its discovery, and in the importance of its ultimate effects, was, as we have said, the art of printing; but the cause most immediately operative was the discovery of America, which, in the influence it is destined to exert on the human race, is second, and only second, to the art of printing. The very knowledge of the existence of America loosened the fetters of the authority, and diminished the importance of the an cients; it even seemed to dwarf their greatness, by showing to what a corner they were confined, and how ignorant they were of the world which they inhabited. The mind became animated with hopes that all had not been exhausted by antiquity, and that, as nature had reserved a new world to reward the attempts of the moderns, so, in like manner, new revela. tions of the moral world might await the intellectual discoverer, who should be daring enough to force his way to them."-pp. 49-51. Upon the efficiency of printing we think the learned author has by no means said too much, but as to the influence attributed to the discovery of America, we must be allowed to express our dissent. We really cannot perceive that it has been in any way connected with the advancement of society. We even began to suspect that the author meant to satirize the new world. But on re-perusing what he has written, we see he is in sober earnest. Well then, America has dwarfed the greatness of the old nations, by shewing to what a corner they were confined, and how ignorant they were of the world which they inhabited. Yes, it altered our geography of the globe, and for so much dead sea, inserted so much dead land. It sent us the precious metals, it offered prizes and bounties to the mercenary and avaricious, and it became a receptacle for the exuvia of Europe, those of all descriptions whom oppression, or misfortune, or their own crimes, exiled. Still it remains to be asked, What has America added to the advancement of society? Hitherto the western continent has been the recipient, and not the communicant, in every thing tending to advance mankind: and surely the author will not deny, that in the polish of society, and the state of science and genius, America must yet advance many degrees, before it is qualified to take its station by the side of the European States. In the solitary fact of civil and ecclesiastical policy, has it any pretensions to an advance before Europe, and this is only partially true. Upon the subject of the Baconian philosophy, we cannot deny our readers the pleasure of perusing the following admirable passage. Speaking of giant-breed Reformation, he says: of mind which appeared at the "The greatest of these great minds at length obtained the clue of nature's labyrinth, and was enabled to dig deep enough to lay a solid foundation for science. The ancient philosophers, before they could erect a system of their own, had to demolish the theories of their predecessors, as the kings of the east, when they build their shifting capitals, often construct them out of the materials of some former metropolis. But the discoveries of the inductive philosophers unite together with the continuity which belongs to real existence; and support and nourish each other as parts of one harmonious whole. Being rooted in nature, inductive philosophy has the the principle of growth in it, and has no other barrier to its increase than the limits of creation and of the faculties of the mind. Its instruments and its materials are always ready and at hand, in phenomena and in observation; and it rests upon two unfailing supporters, truth and time. The efforts of former searchers after truth were blows at random, and truth and error were alike the result of their inquiries; but the method of Bacon not only leads to conclusions where truth alone is the produce, and where error is excluded, but contains within it a self-perpetuating power, by which attention and combination supply the want of a concurrence of favourable circumstances, and the transient divinations of genius. Yet one defect it has; and that partly foreseen and guarded against by Bacon; not founded on any gishness natural to man. imperfection of method, but on the slugWhatever facilitates, weakens ; and the mind derives its strength from labour, and its activity from variety. The multiplicity and minuteness of operations prescribed by induction, occasioned the division of intellectual labour, which increased the acquisitions, but diminished the powers and the enthusiasm sality of nature, the philosophers of mo of mankind. Excluded from the univer dern days have been confined by this humbler though certain path to narrower There are occasional remarks in this extract to which some readers will doubtless object. Is it true, that whatever facilitates weakens? Not universally. Did the division of labour diminish the powers of mankind? We have been accustomed to think this very fact has augmented, if not the power of individuals, yet the aggregate power. He says, the powers of philosophers have decreased, as the method of philosophy has been improved; and that intellect, discursive as the universe, has been superseded by that degree of mind, which is adequate to class a few facts. This we cannot but view as in some degree derogatory to the honour of true science; as if there were not the same room for the exercise of genius, or as if there were less stimulus applied by the true, than by a visionary, philosophy. The field of true science is as wide to us, as it was to the ancients-some would say, even wider. Their philosophy confounded alike the real and the unrealthe empty air with the solid land the bottomless gulf with the shifting quicksand; and therefore, in one sense, it was always excursive, vague, and interminable. The true philosophy, by distinguishing the airy from the substantial, confines itself to a ground where it finds solid footing-it tills a soil that repays the labour of cultiva to make these remarks, and had est care. The latter parts of the work are less open to remark, and will be From found highly interesting. the section on the augmented Power of Moral Instruments, we select the following citation : "Nor will proper objects be wanting for the expenditure of whatever sums are saved by a wiser economy of charity. On every side new powers are springing up available for the uses of humanity, and these powers are at the disposal of charity to multiply, to direct, and to improve. The press alone baffles all calculations of its consequences and requires but a right direction of its efforts to produce a result of good of which no eye could see the limits, no thought could compute the sum. In Great Britain and America this influence has reached a height beyond the con jecture of former years, and writings increase in number and importance with a rapidity beyond example. The number of readers increases in proportion; the opinions of all clases are formed by books; and an authority may be exerted by means of the press over the general mind, which has had no precedent in the times that are past, nor will be thoroughly understood till it becomes manifested in some future and unexpected example. Education, even where it is opposed, is extending itself, and a revolution is begun in that power which of itself is able to cause a revolution in every thing else. All begin to readall will in the end begin to think, and those laws and institutions which were intended for the use of the unthinking must give place to new ones. Voluntary associations are giving new strength to the frame of society, and infusing a new spirit into it, and bringing those objects which once seemed placed beyond the reach of individuals into secure and every-day attainment. But improvements are not only perfected but every where extended. The Hindoos have now their newspapers, and tion. the remotest barbarians their schools; and But though we have ventured the first symptoms are every where appa rent of the change that is spreading through every climate, and which will at last be visible to the utmost verge of the habitable earth."-pp. 333-335. The following beautiful summary of the cheering scenes which the present tendencies of society predict, closes the volume, and must close our extracts. "If one source of future prosperity is dried up, another is ready to break forth, and amidst the variety of events, a great moral improvement is secured to mankind. Either Europeans or their descendents must spread over the globe, and carry with them their arts and their opinions, changing the moral aspect of the world, and introducing every where a new manner of life, a new philosophy, and a new religion. The dark and unvisited regions of the earth must become open and traversed. Mankind, as they have one common interest, will have one common mind. The same opinions will circulate throughout, and the same convictions will ultimately prevail. All other creeds will give way in the natural course of events, and Christianity, considered merely as a system of human opinion, must be expected to become universal, since it is the only religious system adapted to the improved condition of humanity; and the earth will become one family, forsaking their errors and their idols, and worshipping one common Father. There was a greater disproportion between the resources of the first Christians, and their success in changing the moral condition of the Roman Empire, than there is at present between the means which Christians now possess and the universal conversion of the world. Nothing is wanting but the will, and the energy, and the intelligence; which would enable them to keep the same great object ever in view, and to choose the path that would most certainly lead to it. Society, independently of human volition, is preparing itself for a great transition; the many wheels of its intricate mechanism are be ginning to revolve, and a complicated movement continually accelerated by fresh impulses, is bearing along the world from its wintry and torpid position, and bringing it under the influence of serener heavens and an awakening spring. All the genial powers of nature will be unlocked, and the better feelings that have long slumbered in the breast of man will be ronsed to life. True benevolence will come in the train of genuine Christianity; and mankind, in promoting the welfare of each other, will find that happiness which has so long escaped them. Evil, though it can never be entirely eradicated from human nature on this side of death, will yet be repressed in all its manifestations as soon as it presents itself, and the thoughts and endeavours of all will tend to heal the inevitable ills which flesh is heir to. Then will be the harvest of the moral world, and the seed of noble thoughts and deeds that once seemed lost, shall suddenly shoot forth, and ripen to maturity, and the success of wrong even in this world shall seem brief compared with the long ages that shall crown the efforts of wisdom and virtue.”—pp. 354356. Upon the whole, we warmly recommend the work to the perusal of our readers who feel interested in the subject. Few productions of modern times have afforded us so much delight, or so powerfully awakened our historical reminiscences and our religious anticipations. There is room for great enlargement and development; and, should the author ever undertake the task of revision, we would in particular recommend him to amplify the first part, and re-consider some of the minor positions it contains. Were it reinforced by some additional reasonings, it might be made triumphantly subversive of the yet surviving speculations of infidel philosophers. ་་་་་་་་འ Lectures on the Essentials of Religion, Personal, Domestic, and Social. By Henry Forster Burder, M.A. 8vo. pp. 377. 9s. Westley. THE author of these lectures is the legitimate successor of the venerable Matthew Henry; and his title to this honourable distinction is proved by claims more satisfactory and decisive, than those which are founded on ecclesiastical chronology. Not only are the principles of his revered predecessor faithfully maintained, but he appears to have adopted the practice so successfully pursued by that illustrious divine. It is stated by the biographer of Henry, that he not only expounded the Scriptures, but," in his more constant way of preaching, fixed upon ɑ certain set of subjects, fitly ranged |