Would'st thou fain escape from care? Shakspere's genius-frenzied eyes, Weak the sway of regal birth, Sceptre, throne, and diadem, Weighed with theirs. Who rule thee, Earth, And thy dwellers like to them? Not to them, with stifled hate, Or with fear, do men bow down: Need they pomp to speak them great, Priceless robe, or jewelled crown? Whence is man? His spirit tells By its longings high; from God. Whence? The form in which he dwells Links him to the trodden clod. O'er the fleeting dust it wears Kings may hold a fear-wrung sway. Who the heaven-born spirit dares Great the wise, for they alone O'er the mind unquestioned reign; Thought, no power but thought will own; Mind, no mortal's will can chain. Weave for them the choral song, Hail their names whose magic power Hymn their fame, who beauty shower Dost thou in the world endure Wealth's contempt-the rich man's sneer ? There, no scorn shall dog the poor There, no taunt shall misery fear. Art thou one, foredoomed to bear, Scorned, like thee, in ages past There, like earth-sprung Gods, they dwell;- Of their rank do nations tell ? Though the lowliest, meanest seen? Toss the choral strain along, Bounding on from voice to voice; Hope is Man's-Rejoice-rejoice! W. C. B. CROSBY HALL LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION.-Mr. COWDEN CLARKE has been Lecturing at this Institution on "The Minor Characters of Shakspere's Plays," with very great success; and it gave us unfeigned delight to hear him announce at the conclusion of his course that he had been re-engaged by the Committee, and would appear again during the ensuing quarter. Such Lecturers as Mr. CowDEN CLARKE are somewhat rare, and we never hear his name announced in connection with a Literary Institution, but we are sure that good is being done. By the way, it is rumoured that Mr. CLARKE is to take the Chair at the Quarterly Meeting of the Elocution Class at the City of London Institution, on the 3rd May. We trust it may be the case. Elocution Classes.-We shall have the pleasure of presenting our readers with reports of Elocution Meetings at the City of London, Crosby Hall, Eastern, and Southwark Institutions, in our next number. BRENTFORD MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.-It gives us great pleasure to have to notice two very interesting facts in connection with this Institutionthe establishment of an Elocution Class, and of a Manuscript Magazine, contributed to solely by Members of the Society. The Elocution Class held their first public meeting a short time since, and gave great satisfaction to the audience assembled on the occasion. Of the Magazine, it gives us great satisfaction to speak in warm terms of praise. We have been favoured with a sight of the volume, and we assure our readers that it contains a great deal of true wit, true pathos, and true poetry. We feel that we cannot sufficiently commend such undertakings as these, and we trust that the example will not be lost upon other literary societies. We are very glad to hear that J. H. PARRY, Esq., the distinguished Lecturer on Oratory, is about to Lecture for this Society. We can promise the Members an intellectual banquet of the highest excellence. EASTERN INSTITUTION, HACKNEY ROAD.-Two very excellent Lectures on "The Genius of George Colman, as exemplified in the play of John Bull," have recently been delivered at this Institution by A. W. WHITRONG, Esq. The Lecturer commented with much eloquence and discernment on the many points of merit which are to be found in the writings of Colman, and gave a great many readings from the play with remarkable spirit and humour. The audiences, which were unusually large, testified by their hearty and frequent applause the high estimation in which they held the efforts of Mr. WHITRONG. CITY OF LONDON LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION.-Classe d'Elocution Française. On Monday, February 20th, the Secretary of this Class delivered a Lecture on the Writings of MOLIERE, to a numerous and attentive auditory. Mr. A. W. PORTER began by giving a slight sketch of the life and character of the great French poet, after which he proceeded to notice his principal Chef d'œuvres. Great credit is due to the lecturer for the judicious arrangement of his discourse, for with such a vast field of matter before him, it was no easy matter to compress his remarks on all the works of Moliere within a short half-hour; this, however, Mr. PORTER accomplished by selecting only some of the brightest gems from the plays of Le Misanthrope, Le Tartuffe, L'Avare, &c. &c. The lecture evidently gave general satisfaction to the members. Previous to the lecture La Mort d'Ailly, from Voltaire's Henriade, was very creditably reeited by Mr. ARNELL, and criticised in French by various members. The evening's entertainments, to use a theatrical phrase, concluded by Labruyere's eccentric and amusing Caractére of Le Distrait, recited by the active and talented Secretary of the Class. We notice that Mr. F. DE YRIGOYTI is about to deliver a second and concluding lecture on Racine, on the 20th of March, and are pleased to find that the system of French Lectures in this Class is likely to be continued with increased energy; and as a most extensive field lies open to the view of its enterprising members-we have no doubt that the French Elocution Class will continue to prove one of the most attractive features of this Institution. WELCOME TO DEATH. Welcome! Dark Spirit welcome! Thou to me And tho' I leave this bright-this beauteous sphere, Out on the smiles of Earth which sow the seed What is its friendship but an empty sound? Then let the waters of Oblivion close Gladly I tread thy cold thy silent hall, And bid farewell to those I lov'd of old: A. W. MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY SHOWN TO BE ACCORDANT WITH NECESSITY. I COME now to consider the two great objections urged by Freewillers against the doctrine of Necessity,-1st, That it is inconsistent with moral accountability; 2nd, That it is opposed to the principle of moral good and evil. I will devote this chapter to the first of these objections. Fairly to answer it, we must first fairly view it. What is it, then? I think I state it correctly thus: That if a man's conduct is compelled, he ought not to be held responsible for his actions. The liability to whatever Now we will bear in mind that the doctrine of Necessity asserts that we are compelled by the Creator to act as we do; so that the Free-willer says, If a man's actions are compelled, even by the Creator, he ought not to be held accountable for them. What is the responsibility we speak of? consequences may result from what we do. sity contends that all consequences are the inevitable results of fixed laws. So that the argument of the Free-willer amounts to this: That if a man's conduct is compelled, even by the Creator, he ought not to be liable to the results of his actions. To this I will reply. First, This assertion flatly denies the sovereignty of the Omnipotent. It says, That He has no right to make what laws He pleases;-no right to institute certain principles which shall bear certain consequences;-no right to do as He wills with His creatures;—no right to make anything that is not self caused, accountable to His laws;no right to make us liable to any consequences, the causes of which we do not create. What presumption! What blasphemy! It is too palpable to need exposure, and I therefore content myself with the assertion, That the Creator has a perfect and indisputable right to annex whatever consequences he may think proper to any circumstance or act he ordains, and that the agent can never be justified in complaining of the part he is called upon to perform (whatever it may be), in the Great Drama of Humanity. "Shall the vessel formed complain of him that formed it, or shall the creature say to the Creator, Why doest thou this?" I contend that man has no right whatever to complain when he finds himself accountable to circumstances which he cannot control. I find that there are certain laws by which every thing in the universe is regulated. If those laws are infringed-no matter by whom, or how-disaster ensues. The disaster ensues necessarily; and does VOL. II. K not by any means depend upon the freedom or the compulsion of the will of the agent who breaks the law. No matter whether the law is broken with the agent's will, or against it-by accident or by design-the same results ensue. I see an universal liability to consequences. I look into the inanimate world. I discover that the laws of attraction, repulsion, and gravitation keep the planets in their spheres. If those laws were broken, disorder and destruction would ensue; and would it not be most absurd to say that those consequences ought not to happen because the circumstance is not self caused? I survey the Divine Government as it concerns the physical life of man. I find that human existence and comfort depend upon the maintenance of certain laws. If any of those laws are infringed, unhappiness and pain result to the law-breaker, whether he be a voluntary offender or an involuntary one. A man walking along the street has his leg broken by an accidental blow from some one who is passing. Well, a physical law is infringed, and the man suffers the pain, though he did not wilfully break the law. An individual is suddenly subjected to terror or fright. Insanity results, and the individual has to endure the effect, although he was by no means the willing author of the cause. A flash of lightning strikes a man dead. result, the cause of which he did not originate. He is the victim of a Now, have we any right to say that this is unjust ?—that the man whose leg is broken ought not to suffer pain,-that the terrified man ought not to become insane,-that the man struck by the lightning-flash ought not to be killed? Can we pretend to say that because in these cases the individuals were not the determining causes of the accidents, because they had no free will over them, that therefore they ought not to be liable to the consequences? No! for we know that the laws of the world are framed for beneficial purposes, and that their suspension for the sake of individuals would disarrange the universe. So it is with regard to the mind. We have no control over our emotions, and yet our emotions produce their effects upon us. If man ought not to be answerable for what he does not originate, then he ought not to be struck with horror at an appalling sight presented to his vision, with fear at a spectacle that terrifies him,-with sorrow at a scene of affliction. He ought not to be subject to the illwill, the envy, the calumny, the persecution, of others. He ought not to be acted upon, nor influenced, nor controlled by his fellow men. He should be his own centre, his own world, his own self cause, his own First Cause, his own sole sovereign and God. Nay, he ought not to be answerable for the acts of his life, because he did not cause his life. What a self-evident absurdity this leads us to! How glad we feel to return and take refuge in our responsibility! How relieved we feel in our accountableness! We see, then, that in the physical world, and in the mental world, every created thing is accountable to laws that produce inevitable effects, whatever may be the motive of the producing agent; that those laws produce their effects upon the agent whether his action is |