of heart. And thus we may see how it is the peculiar glory of Christianity, that the more it abases guilty mortals in their own eyes, it, at the same time, raises their comfort and joy in the Lord the higher. 5. The men of this world account such a state of mind to be the effect of weakness, consequently despise it as ignoble and unmanly -but how different is it in God's estimation! His thoughts are not as ours, for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination unto him! "To this man will I look," namely, with approbation and complacency. With him Jehovah will dwell-him will he revive and comfort; for while God resisteth the proud, it is his delight to shew favour to the lowly. James iv. 6. "He will beautify the meek with salvation." Psalm cxlix. 4. How important, therefore, is it that we should be clothed with humility-habitually cultivating that poor and contrite spirit to which the Lord has graciously promised the rich enjoyment of spiritual consolation; and to be mortifying all those tempers and dispositions which characterise the unrenewed man. contenting himself with the mere form of godliness while destitute of its power. His religious profession is restricted to the hearing of Sermons and criticising their merits or defects; but as to the self-denied obedience of the gospel-"the work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ," he has no ear to give to these things, though Eternal Truth has as inseparably connected the enjoyment of the consolations of the gospel with a conscientious regard to them, as any effect whatever follows its cause! And, in fine, while so much pains is continually taken, both by ministers and people-not to regulate their faith and practice by the plain, unforced meaning of the New Testament, but to reduce the latter to the standard of the customs of their fore-fathers, it is no wonder that they complain of the want of spiritual consolation. To all such the words of the prophet are justly applicable, "Stand ye in the way and see; and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest to your souls." Jer. vi. 16. To the Editor of the New Evangelical benevolent mind. It is a subject fraught with importance, and presents a field of extensive usefulness for the Christian philanthropist. 6. Lastly: let this subject serve to correct the mistaken opinion of many who name the name of SIR, Christ in the present day. On THE state of juvenile delinevery hand we hear loud com-quency in the Metropolis calls for plaints among professors of the the serious attention of every want of spiritual consolation; but it would be strange indeed if the case were otherwise with them, while they are so little under the humbling and sanctifying influence of the gospel of divine grace. Indeed it is seriously to be laBehold one professor eagerly pur-mented that our prisons are consuing this world as if it were the ducted in a manner, calculated to inportion of his soul; his heart is crease the evil rather than to restrain set upon his covetousness, though it. The following distressing case the word of God plainly pro- very lately occurred. A youth who nounces such a man an idolater had been apprenticed to a Grocer, and affirms that he has no inheri-in the short space of five months tance in the kingdom of Christ or was left to procure his livelihood of God, Eph. v. 5. See another by his own exertion, in conse quence of the death of his Master. | with uplifted hands imploring suc He applied to a Bookseller who kindly lent him some numbers of books for sale. But in endeavouring to dispose of them, an information was laid against him for offering them without a hawker's Licence, the informer seizing him and carrying him immediately before the sitting Magistrate in Hatton Garden. cour, with sincerity known only to the searcher of hearts. There are doubtless in this city many benevolent men who would gladly impart their assistance to these forlorn and outcast youth; particularly if they were aware of the miserable situation in which these children are placed, on their comIt did not ap-mitment to prison. There is no classification of the youth. Those who are committed for trial and whose guilt is doubtful, are confined with hardened offenders, and the influence of such a dreadful association will be better imagined than described. pear that he had sold any books, yet he was convicted for offering them and fined £10. Being unable to pay that sum the books were taken from him, and he was committed to Cold Bath Fields Prison for three Months. There is reason however to believe that the Magistrate would chearfully have released him, had the informer consented. Here is a case of a youth untainted by crime, in circumstances which claim the regard of every benevolent mind; the only son of poor but respectable parents, confined for three months, obliged By the insertion of this short sketch, which affords but a faint idea of the evil resulting from the indiscriminate mixture of youth in our prisons, you will promote the cause of benevolence, and much oblige SIR. Yours respectfully, Magazine. J. M. IN No. XXIV. of your candid and invaluable Miscellany, appears a paper, entitled "A free Gospel," embracing a plan for raising and qualifying Ministers free of Academical assistance or public Charge, &c. It is signed B. Spencer, M. D. and as I do not perceive any specific notice of it has yet been offered, I beg permission to obtrude the following. to associate with the most aban- To the Editor of the New Evangelical doned characters, and exposed to all the evils of their corrupt communications. The seduction of considerable numbers of poor lads forms a striking feature in the evils attending such a state of our prisons; for as misery is said to love company, so in a very extraordinary degree does the juvenile depredator delight in the number of his associates. Could the history of poor hapless children, whose names are daily recorded in the Police reports of this city, be known to the public, the minds of the liberal and enlightened, whose attention has lately been applied to the relief of the naked and the hungry, would without doubt apply their energies to snatch the youthful dilinquent from destruction. Many hundreds there are, if not thousands of this class that call on the benevolent for help; some who are ready to sink overwhelmed with shame and Coinciding as I most fully and cordially do with your zealous and liberal Correspondent, in heartily deprecating the many and various evil consequences, too well known to be disputed, arising from those non-evangelical institutions, termied Colleges and Academies, for educating persons for the sacred office of preacher; I cannot but greatly admire and applaud his ingenuity to remedy those evils; and his Christian courage in pub lickly announcing his innovations, more especially as he will thereby inevitably draw upon himself the contempt and anathemas of every sect, from the great national one, thence downward through the whole motley and fanatic group of undissembled brother-haters!!! But while I applaud the true Christian zeal, and admire the inventions of B. S. I regret that the seemingly total impracticability of his plan will in the minds of the Academical majority, constitute him an enthusiastic visionary, and tend to confirm them still more in their ancient and inveterate prejudices in favour of their own modes and constitutions, in forming a Minister. As the season of the year is now returned when the Anniversary Meetings of those invaluable Institutions are about to take place, which have for their object the extension of Christ's kingdom in the world, and the conWithout meeting all the obstacles sequent amelioration of the human which present themselves in the race, I earnestly entreat you to urge present proposed plan, I would it upon the different Societies, and just merely enquire, that on sup- those Gentlemen in particular who position of a Teacher having four are appointed to preside at their pupils, which four pupils having nable and disgraceful practice of apmeetings, to do away with the abomieach four more, and very proba-plauding the Speakers by clapping of bly each of the twenty-one individuals following a distinct trade or calling, which trade they must still pursue, and their residence of course widely distant from each other, HOW and WHERE they are to convene, to teach and learn!!! Pursue this plain idea, and you will, Sir, perceive, that in proportion to the number of pupils, so will be the insurmountable difficulties, rising one above another like " Alps o'er Alps," in fright ful succession. If your worthy Correspondent can clear this objection away, I will, by his permission, readily point out others equally glaring. In the mean time, I beg leave to modify his plan a little, by hinting, that the tuition of young men for the Ministry, with all its concomitant expences be restricted to Christian individuals of education and FORTUNE, and also to resident Pastors, each to receive two, or more, according to convenience or discretion. The branches of education to consist of those specified VOL. III. hands and stamping of feet. This indecent practice is evidently borrowed from the THEATRE, where it is no doubt in strict unison with the occasion that gives it birth. Those who frequent such places, go there in quest of obstreperous merriment, and they would be disappointed did they not meet with it. But it is to be hoped that the advocates of Bible Societies and Missionary Societies, are actuated by different motives and have higher ends in view! For my I attend a Missionary Meeting and own part, I can truly say, that when see the friends of it commencing their proceedings by solemn prayer to God, invoking his presence among them and his blessing upon them-and in a few minutes afterwards witness the scenes to which I have alluded, I begin to question with myself whether religion have any thing to do with these proceedings, or whether the whole be not at bottom a worldly system! Excuse my scruples, Mr. Editor, and believe me, your friend, and the advocate of order and consistency. U A LOOKER ON. 146 Theological Review. A Series of Discourses on the Christian Revelation, viewed in connection with the Modern Astronomy. BY THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D. Minister of the Tron Church, Glasgow. London. Sold by Gale and Fenner, &c. 1817. pp. 275. Octavo, 8s. boards. the delight he takes in communicating happiness, that the whole of immensity should be so strewed with the habitations of life and of intelligence; but it would surely bring home the evidence, with a nearer and a more affecting impression, to every bosom, did we know, that at the very time his benignant regard took in the mighty circle of created beings, there was not a single family overlooked by him, and that every individual in every corner of his dominions, was as effectually seen to, as if the object of an exclusive and undivided care. It is our imperfection, that we cannot give our attention to more instant of time; but surely it would of God, did we know, that while his com elevate our every idea of the perfections prehensive mind could grasp the whole amplitude of nature, to the very outermost of its boundaries, he had an attentive eye fastened on the very humblest of its objects, and pondered every thought of my heart, and noticed every footstep of my goings, and treasured up in his remembrance every turn and every movement of my history. [Concluded from page 87.] We have already mentioned that Dr. Chalmers in the third of these excellent Discourses purposes to illustrate "The extent of the Divine condescension," and that he has taken for the basis of his discussion the follow-than one object, at one and the same ing appropriate text: "Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!" He had, in the preceding Discourse, most satisfactorily exposed the total want of evidence for the assertion of the infidel astronomer, and he now proceeds to examine the argument that is founded upon it, namely, "That the Deity would not lavish such a profusion of goodness on the salvation of so paltry a world." The following extract will shew how the Christian Divine rebuts this specious objection against the gospel. 66 sentiment to the matter before us; let us And, lastly, to apply this train of suppose that one among the countless myriads of worlds, should be visited by a moral pestilence, which spread through all its people, and brought them under the doom of a law, whose sanctions were "Before entering into what we con- unrelenting and immutable; it were no ceive to be the right answer to this objec-disparagement to God, should he, by an tion, let us previously observe, that it goes to strip the Deity of an attribute, which forms a wonderful addition to the glories of his incomprehensible character. It is indeed a mighty evidence of the strength of his arm, that so many millions of worlds are suspended on it; but it would surely make the high attribute of his power more illustrious, if, while it expatiated at large among the suns and the systems of astronomy, it could, at the very same instant, be impressing a movement and a direction on all the minuter wheels of that machinery, which is working incessantly around us. It forms a noble demonstration of his wisdom, that he gives unremitting operation to those laws which uphold the stability of this great universe; but it would go to heighten that wisdom inconceivably, if, while equal to the magnificent task of maintaining the order and harmony of the spheres, it was lavishing its inexhaustible resources on the beauties, and varieties, and arrangements, of every one scene, however humble, of every one field, however narrow, of the creation he had formed. It is a cheering evidence of act of righteous indignation, sweep this offence away from the universe which it deformed-nor should we wonder, though, among the multitude of other worlds, from which the ear of the Almighty was regaled with the songs of praise, and the his throne, he should leave the strayed incense of a pure adoration ascended to and solitary world to perish in the guilt of its rebellion. But, tell me, oh! tell me, would it not throw the softening of a most exquisite tenderness over the character of God, should we see him putting forth his every expedient to reclaim to himself those children who had wandered away from him-and, few as they were when compared with the host of his obedient worshippers, would it not just impart to his attribute of compassion the infinity of the Godhead, that, rather than lose the single world which had turned to its own way, he should send the messengers of peace to woo and to welcome it back again; and, if justice demanded so nighty a sacrifice, and the law behoved to be so magnified and made honourable, tell me whether it would not throw a moral sublime over the goodness of the Deity, should he lay upon his own Son the burden of its atonement, that he might again smile upon the world, and hold out the sceptre of invitation to all its families? "Weavow it, therefore, that this infidel argument goes to expunge a perfection from the character of God. The more we know of the extent of nature, should not we have the loftier conception of him who sits in high authority over the concerns of so wide an universe? But, is it not adding to the bright catalogue of his other attributes, to say, that, while magnitude does not overpower him, minuteness cannot escape him, and variety cannot bewilder him; and that, at the very time while the mind of the Deity is abroad over the whole vastness of creation, there is not one particle of matter, there is not one individual principle of rational or of animal existence, there is not one single world in that expanse which teems with them, that his eye does not discern as constantly, and his hand does not guide as unerringly, and his spirit does not watch and care for as vigilantly, as if it formed the one and exclusive object of his attention. 66 man. the places of the creation; but along with this, we would impair the attribute of his eye being in every place to behold the evil and the good; and thus, while we magnify one of his perfections, we do it at the expense of another; and to bring him within the grasp of our feeble capa city, we would deface one of the glories of that character, which it is our part to adore, as higher than all thought, and as greater than all comprehension." Notwithstanding our unwillingness to interrupt the author in his eloquent career, we cannot forbear throwing in an observation here, which has often occurred to us when revolving this subject in our minds. It is, that mean and unworthy thoughts of God are at the foundation of all the errors both doctrinal and practical which abound in the world." "Having the understanding darkened, through the ignorance that is in him, because of the blindness of his heart," the natural man cannot raise his thoughts to God, and the consequence is that he finds it convenient to lower the divine The thing is inconceivable to us, whose character to the standard of his own minds are so easily distracted by a number of objects, and this is the secret grovelling conceptions. Hence the principle of the whole Infidelity I am just complaint of the Most High. now alluding to. "Thou thoughtest that I was altoTo bring God to the level of our own comprehension, we gether such an one as thyself!" This would clothe him in the impotency of a topic is handled with inimitable force We would transfer to his wonder- by the prophet Isaiah, who introduces ful mind all the imperfection of our own Jehovah himself as expostulating with faculties. When we are taught by astro-his ancient people," Why sayest thou, nomy, that he has millions of worlds to O Jacob, my way is hid from the look after, and thus add in one direction Lord, and my judgment is passed over to the glories of his character; we take from my God? Hast thou not known? away from them in another, by saying, Hast thou not heard, that the everthat each of these worlds must be looked after imperfectly. The use that we make lasting God, the Lord, the Creator of of a discovery, which should heighten our the ends of the earth fainteth not, every conception of God, and humble us neither is weary; there is no searchinto the sentiment, that a Being of such ing of his understanding, &c." Is. xl. mysterious elevation is to us unfathomable, 27, 28. The objection that Dr. C. is is to sit in judgment over him, aye, and combating, viz. that since Astronomy to pronounce such a judgment as degrades has unfolded to us such a number of him, and keeps him down to the standard worlds, it is not likely the Almighty of our own paltry imagination! We are would introduced by modern science to a multipay so much attention to our tude of other suns and of other systems; insignificant orb as the Gospel represents him to have done, betrays the same sceptical spirit, and indicates the same unbelieving bias which has, in every age of the world, characterized the unregenerate mind. Dr. Chalmers, therefore, proceeds to refute the objection by shewing that, in addition to the bare faculty of dwelling on a multiplicity of objects at one and the same time, the Blessed God, who is infinite in every attribute of his nature, possesses this faculty in such wonderful perfection, that He can attend as fully, and provide as richly, and the perverse interpretation we put upon the fact, that God can diffuse the benefits of his power and of his goodness over such a variety of worlds, is, that he cannot, or will not, bestow so much goodness on one of those worlds, as a professed revelation from Heaven has announced to us. While we enlarge the provinces of his empire, we tarnish all the glory of this enlargement, by saying, he has so much to care for, that the care of every one province must be less complete, and less vigilant, and less effectual, than it would otherwise have been. By the disBoveries of modern science, we multiply |