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sway the reason, imagination, and taste. Passing from the common schools. its acknowledged and rightful province, it is already making its appearance in our higher seats of learning, and each art, each science, each study, each pursuit, each of the adornments and each of the solaces of life is summoned before its dread tribunal, to stand or fall according as it is or is not able to undergo the decisive ordeal of the cui bono interrogation. Nay, more: we find this spirit-so aggressive is its character-intruding itself into the realms of philosophy, and the still more sacred domain of religion. Truth is not loved or sought so much for itself as for its uses. Creeds are looked at chiefly through their practical tendencies. The most profound exposition of nature's laws, the clearest unfolding of the intimate constitution as well as the general character of the physical universe, would be regarded with comparative indifference unless it could be made in some way subservient to the material or spiritual interests of man. A revelation by God himself, of all the sublime mysteries of our holy religion, would hardly be considered as a cause for gratitude, if it lent support to none of the "isms" of the day, if it furnished no additional means of combating what was believed to be practical error, no new guides or new incentives to the actual duties of life. Nor does this utilitarian spirit stop here. It goes still further. It not only leads us to set too light a value upon truth for its own sake, but too often makes us tolerant of error, provided it be engaged in an apparently good service. Even when we enter the sanctuary and listen to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ from the sacred desk, the question which we most frequently ask is not, whether the doctrines inculcated are in conformity with the principles of that gospel and with nature and truth, but, whether their tendency be good, whether the views presented be interesting, whether they are adapted to quicken the imagination, arouse the conscience, and warm the heart; whether they are fitted to inspire a stronger hatred of sin and a more earnest desire to lead a "godly, righteous, and sober life." Indeed, if we mistake not, the teachers of our religion themselves too often look at their office of ministering the Word from the same point of view. Thinking mainly of the impression to be made, of the effect to be produced, they are not sufficiently careful in regard to the character of the means employed for making that impression and producing that effect. The claims of reason and revelation, of consistency and of truth, are thus made to give place to a miserable and short-sighted expediency; they forgetting apparently that

error is always and everywhere false and deceiving,—that it is sure in the end to betray the cause, however good that cause may be, to which it has lent its treacherous support.

The character of the work before us is in strict conformity with this practical tendency of the age. Its design is not so much to unfold a system of philosophy, as to point out the connections between the several parts of such a system and the leading doctrines of natural and revealed religion,―to show that these latter rest upon as sure a foundation and are every way worthy of as full confidence as any of the best established principles of mental or material philosophy. Many of the topics discussed are indeed of a purely abstract character, and have no direct connection with any of the interests of humanity. These however are not considered so much for themselves, as for the light that is thrown by their just comprehension upon the speculative difficulties which acute minds have discovered in, or ingenious ones woven around, some of the great truths of morality and religion. The plan of the work is not such as to exclude all questions of curious or philosophic interest-to leave out of view the sublime mysteries pertaining to our being and the being of the universe around us which take so strong a hold upon the imagination, and have in all ages forced themselves upon the thoughts of earnest and reflective natures; but the consideration of these is throughout rendered subservient on the one hand to the teaching of the great lesson of humility, and on the other to the strengthening and building up of our faith.

By this method of treating the subjects of metaphysical inquiry, Mr. Bowen has rendered his lectures not only more useful but far more interesting, and has opened the volume to a much wider class of readers than would otherwise be drawn to its pages. The abstract is united to the concrete, the speculative is combined with the practical. The most subtle and abstruse questions connected with our spiritual natures, assume a tangible and important character when they are perceived to have an immediate relation to the object and duties of the present life, and the destinies of the life to come. Treated in this manner, the themes discussed not only find a more ready access to the minds and hearts of all, but admit of far more varied, interesting and abundant illustration. Indeed in this respect nothing could be more happy than the course adopted by our author. Instead of giving us a dry treatise on metaphysics, he has placed in our hands a most readable volume, in which the principles of that science, unfolded with great clearness and simplicity, as well

as uncommon beauty, are applied to the solution of the most important and interesting problems that can occupy the human mind. The literary execution of the work is also in harmony with its general plan and purpose. To a style of rare excellence are united a vigor of thought and justness of sentiment, a graceful propriety of illustration and a richness of classical allusion and poetic adornment, which render it one of the most pleasing as well as instructive books which we have ever read. For the class of works to which it belongs, we predict for it a very wide circulation.

But while we regard these lectures as a proud monument of the extensive acquisition and literary power of the author, we do not think they bear so strong testimony to either his character or his ability as a philosopher. If we mistake not, in framing his system he has unconsciously allowed himself to be too much influenced by the accommodating utilitarian spirit of which we have spoken. Seeking to provide in it an adequate foundation for the leading truths of religion, more especially the great doctrines of God's moral government and superintending providence, he has constructed its several parts with a view to the support of these truths, rather than under the guidance of that profound regard to the actual constitution of things which is alone worthy of the true philosopher, and from which alone we can hope for any real and permanent aid to the interests of piety.

The theory of the universe unfolded in the volume before us is essentially idealistic; although not formally rejecting the supposition of material existences, it renders that supposition entirely unnecessary by referring the phenomena connected with such existences to the immediate power of God. The events of the outward world, according to this theory, are connected with one another by no physical ties. They observe, it is true, a definite order of succession; but that order is not dependent upon any relations subsisting between them. It is determined by the direct influence of the will of the Deity. There is no such thing as physical causation. The idea of material agency, of the ministry of the elements in the production of the phenomena of external nature, is wholly illusory-a mere figment of the imagination. Each one of the innumerable changes which are continually transpiring throughout every part of the material universe is separately and independently evolved by a special exertion of the Divine power. That we may not be supposed to mistake this fundamental doctrine of Mr. Bowen's metaphysical system, we will give it in his own language.

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In lecture seventh, on the omnipresence and universal agency of the Divine Being, he says:

We recognize the presence of God in nature in precisely the same manner in which we come to know that any intelligent, though finite, being exists besides ourselves. The outward form surely is nothing; a statue or an automaton may be moulded into a perfect external likeness of a man. But the actions of the living man show that he is animated by a spirit kindred to our own, by something distinct from the mere framework of bones and muscles which he inhabits, and which we distinguish as clearly from the person within as we do our own bodies from ourselves. I am conscious of power dependent on my will, and I perceive the effects produced on matter by the exertion of that will; I perceive, also, perfectly similar effects, which I can attribute only to my brother man, and I infer, therefore, that he exists, and that his will is equally active in producing those effects. I do not imagine that his limbs move themselves, but that he moves them; I do not think that his eye turns towards me of its own accord with a glance of affection, or that his hand comes to meet mine in a friendly grasp from an energy that is inherent in that hand alone. In like manner, then, I say, if His sun rolls over my head and warms me, if His wind cools and refreshes me, if His voice speaks to me, whether in the thunder at midnight, or in the whispers of the forest, or but in the rustling of a leaf, if His seasons still come round to me in their grateful vicissitude, and wherever I look in outward nature, I behold constant action, change, and joy, I do not suppose that brute and senseless matter causes all this by its inherent power, whether original or derived, but that the spirit, the Person within, controls, vivifies, and produces all.

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But wandering oft, with brute, unconscious gaze,
Man marks not thee, marks not the mighty hand
That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres ;
Works in the secret deep; shoots, steaming, thence
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the spring;
Flings from the sun direct the flaming day;
Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth;
And, as on earth this grateful change revolves,
With transport touches all the springs of life."

Do not say that this is mere poetical enthusiasm, or devotion, but not truth; it is the highest form of poetry precisely because it is the literal truth. It is a conclusion founded on the most accurate researches of science, no less than on the instinctive promptings of our human nature, and on the aspirations of the religious sentiment within us; it is alike the doctrine of the intelligent mind and the dictate of the upright heart. We know not of any direct agency, we find no proof of any active power, but that which is the attribute of personality, which is directed by will, and witnessed by consciousness. External nature, when questioned as to the reality of power originating in itself, or inherited in its own right, hears not and answers not; no efficient cause, that is, no cause at all in the proper signification of the word, has ever been discovered in it. Whence come, then, its countless changes, its incessant activity and life? It is no answer to this question to say, that events constantly succeed each other in regular sequence, or even to give a name to that order, and call it law, or physical cause. You cannot believe, you cannot even imagine,

that any one of these events takes place without a real cause, an efficient energy, without which it were not. If matter be considered entirely apart from mind, it is dead, formless, and motionless; no winds agitate the surface of a chaotic ocean, no tides heave its waters, no waves break upon its silent shores. (Pp. 135-137.)

In the closing paragraph of lecture fourth, on the Idea of Cause and the Nature of Causation, the doctrine is presented more concisely and without the drapery of poetry and sentiment with which it is invested in the passage just quoted :—

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All causation is an exertion of mind, and is applied only by metaphor to the material universe. It necessarily implies power, will, and action. It is a universally admitted truth, that an efficient cause is nowhere discoverable in the world without us; we know what it is only from consciousness, and all our language respecting it is borrowed from mental phenomena. This doctrine places the material universe before us in a new light. The whole frame-work of what are called "secondary causes falls to pieces. The laws of nature are only a figure of speech; the powers and active inherent properties of material atoms are mere fictions. Mind alone is active; matter is wholly passive and inert. Mind alone moves ; matter is moved. There is no such thing as what we usually call the “course of nature"; it is nothing but the will of God producing certain effects in a constant and uniform manner; which mode of action, however, being arbitrary, or dependent upon will, is as easy to be altered as to be preserved. All events, all changes, in the external world, from the least even unto the greatest, are attributable directly to his will and power, which, being infinite, are always and necessarily adequate to the end proposed. The laws of motion, gravitation, affinity, and the like, are only expressions of the regularity and continuity of one infinite cause. The order of nature is the effect of Divine wisdom; its stability is the result of Divine beneficence. (Pp. 88, 89.)

Such is Mr. Bowen's theory of causation, such his idea of matter, and such his view of the constitution, or rather character-for constitution it cannot be called, the term being wholly inapplicable on his supposition-of the physical universe. We have no disposition to enter upon an examination of this basis of his metaphysical system. Neither would our limits permit it, were we so inclined. There are, however, one or two remarks which we would take occasion to make upon it.

In the first place, it is affirmed that all causation is an exertion of mind, a putting forth of will directed by intelligence and witnessed by consciousness. How, we would ask, is this known? How is it known that mind alone can act; that the power of will is the only power in the universe? Nay, supposing such to be the fact, how, we ask, is it possible for a being of finite intelligence to gain a knowledge of it? Omniscience alone, it should seem, would be sufficient to justify an assertion of this character. But, the only kind of

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