and so ultimately disturbs the brain, in which they centre. Thus madness is indirectly, but not very unfrequently, produced. How fatally the excessive toils of men of talent and ambition, and of many who have no pretentions to either, wear and tear the understanding, till its contexture is materially impaired, the testimony of all thinking persons may without difficulty prove. Look to those who are elevated to distinguished offices in the State; observe those who are absorbed in continued mercantile pursuits; regard the lover of money in all the intensity of his thirst for perishable riches, in all the anxiety of his soul for their safety and even accumulation; and then ask, if that degree of labour, which sometimes on the Lord's Day they unremittingly encounter, does not commonly enfeeble, and not seldom overthrow, the most clear, the most vigorous, the most educated, the most enlarged mind? Self-destruction (as in the case of certain persons of our day, who were men not of religious but of worldly enthusiasm) has been the monitory termination of such devotedness to secular pursuits, and so far substantiates the truth of my general conclusion, that, when things temporal are our idols, we sacrifice to them our time, our sleep, our health, our Sabbaths, our conscience; and thus, having rendered ourselves destitute of " a sound mind," we plunge perhaps adown the precipice of self-murder. The history of our own country, during the last thirty years, will abundantly warrant the above assertion. Passing over many other causes of the malady in question, I would proceed to answer those who tell us that religious zeal is a prolific source of madness; who draw the most fearful inferences against every indication of such "zeal;" and who never strike so loud and so deep a note of vacancy, as when pious enthusiasm (as they would perhaps term it) is their subject. Here something is to be granted, but much denied, to the objector. I grant that the religion of Christ, in spite of all the peace that gathers on its breast, and all the unearthly hopes that sparkle on its brow, may be so injudiciously cultivated, as to overstretch the human mind, and consequently to disturb its health. But what is the amount of my concession? Simply this: that religion, like everything else that greatly interests our feelings, and exercises our thinking powers, may possibly produce an injurious effect upon the latter. Not indeed as religion, not as an instrument of God's mercy to our souls in Christ Jesus, but merely as a matter of vast and unspeakable importance. I deny, too, that the principles of Christianity, however vitally held, or unceasingly contemplated, are chargeable with the result that I am considering. No more (and Dr. Halloran, if yet alive, will scarcely dissent from my conclusion) than arithmetic, algebra, mathematics, &c. &c., with the mental malady of those who, to an unlimited extent (as did Sir Isaac Newton, at one time, to his cost) make them their respective studies. In the latter case, as in the former, it is not the subject matter, but the mode in which it is treated, and the degree to which it is pursued, that causes the calamity of madness. For instance, I was once told by a fashionable silversmith in London, that the man who had engraved the map of the terrestrial globe on a silver globular urn, then exhibited in the shop, had lost his reason on having completed about two thirds of his performance; yet who would be so venturesome as to conclude that there was any necessary connection between the art of the engraver and the disordered condition of his intellect? The right conclusion (if we would distinguish between remote and proximate causes) would be this-as our mental like our bodily frame is fearfully and wonderfully made," so without the strict observance of those wise and wholesome rules, which are compatible with the entire surrender of the heart to Christ, we may, as religionists, suffer from an overwrought and exhausted mind. That the evil most adverted to is far, far short of an epidemic, I have already generally remarked, when quoting from the pages of Dr. Halloran. Such, then, being confessedly the fact, and the large majority of the young, the rich, the titled, being devoted to any study rather than that of revelation, to caution us against the mental injuries that the latter may possibly inflict, is something like admonishing a man slowly recovering from illness, to shun those dangers which may be connected with too robust health. Well does Hannah More somewhere express herself upon the point in the following striking manner: "to hear the solemn dehortations which are frequently given from the pulpit against religious excess, might almost lead one to infer that our English gentry and nobility are a set of spiritual enthu siasts." The last point to be submitted to the consideration of the reader, is that preventative to insanity which is supplied by true religion. She is very unkindly treated and materially wronged, when we recount those sad and indeed rare instances in which either the perverted contemplation of her sacred verities, or the too incessant study of them, has overstretched the powers of the understanding; and, at the same time, overlook those in which, by her benign influence, she has preserved and even invigorated them. I now particularly refer to those whose natural character is that of mental disquiet, morbid irritability of temper, and that sensibility which is alive to the most minute perplexities and vexations, and which magnifies every affliction that our Heavenly Father may dispense to us. When the Gospel of Christ is effectually lodged by His Spirit in the breast of such unhappy persons, is it not like the vernal breath that diffuses serenity and sweets in scenes so lately disturbed and desolated by the blasts of winter? Does it not resemble the sun that dissipates the darkest clouds, and arrays the compass of creation with light and life and gladness? They best can answer these inquiries, who have tried what the vital profession of the Christian faith can do for us in our trials and afflictions. It is theirs to testify, like St. Paul, "when I am weak, then am I strong "-" none of these things move me"-and " we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair "-" as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. iv. 8, and vi. 10). The same Divine "Comforter" who so becalmed and gladdened the Apostle, can becalm and gladden others, and indeed actually does so in not a few remarkable cases of severe sorrow. Witness the patience of those sufferers, who are spoken of by a modern authoress, Mrs. Schilmelpenning, in her deeply interesting account of the persecused Jansenists in France; witness too the Christian heroism of those who are more recently recorded in Mons. D'Aubigné's History of the Reformation in Germany, as having glorified their Saviour in the furnace, and who, notwithstanding all the severities of their last imprisonment, rejoiced in his 'everlasting love to His redeemed people, and in the view of His approaching glory: witness also many who are poor and needy; many who are orphans and widows; many who pass tedious days and sleepless nights, and who are still (I myself have seen such blessed sufferers) calm, patient, contented, and at times joyful, in tribulation; their reason unimpaired, and their hearts unbroken. How is such a state of things to be fairly aud satisfactorily accounted for? How-but by referring to the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour as that minister of peace and consolation, which, under the grace of God, is commensurate with all our needs, and can turn our sorrow into joy. Here it should not be forgotten, that of those wretched beings who have died by a suicidal hand, very few are to be found who were remarkable for religious earnestness. For my own part, after much inquiry, and no trifling observation, (and as one who has now seen more than sixty years) I may declare that I never yet knew above four persons at the most, who, while truly devoted to their Saviour, perished by their own hand. Of course I would except those who labour under hereditary derangement, and such also as may be brought on either by organic injury or disease. Very memorable too, and not a little in point, is the history of the poet Cowper, who, before the verities of the Gospel had entire possession of his heart, made several efforts to destroy himself, but who, after that felicitous event, and amid all his depressions, seems never to have contemplated that dreadful act. The view of the subject might easily be extended, but I trust that I have not overlooked any one important branch of it. My aim has principally been to place in its true light, and practically considered, one of the most painful visitations to which humanity is subject, and one that is too commonly regarded under false aspects, to the dishonour of God, and to the injury of the souls of men. May I be permitted to say in parting, and more especially to those who are beginning their mortal race, Prize your reason as the good gift of God; do not becloud and enfeeble it, and so ultimately subvert it by such evil habits as both conscience and Christianity forbid ; keep aloof from those pomps and vanities" which are apt to captivate the heart, so as occasionally to disorder the understanding. Dread those fashionable pursuits, which not only consume time, but also exhaust your energies, and thus leave you a prey to nervous irritability, and perhaps to eventual derangement. Come not near the precipice. Fly from all sensual excess as the deadliest enemy of reason. But cherish those Christian principles, and practise those religious duties, which are friends to abiding peace and unclouded happiness. More particularly "wait upon the Lord" in daily meditation on His word, and in the spiritual observance of His own holy day. Be instant and earnest in your supplications at the throne of grace. Become familiar with the history of your Redeemer's cross, and with the prospect of that eternal crown which He has prepared for them that love Him. Secure, as far as may be practicable, both bodily and mental health by temperance, by activity, by rest, and by the regular enjoyment of the invigorating breath of morning. Next, when charged with a certain unsoundness of intellect, because of your stedfast determination to take Jesus, and not the world, as your example; say with the wise, patient, and unshaken Paul, "I am not mad, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." (Acts xxvi. 25). Hope not to be accounted prudent by those deluded and CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 50. L miserable beings, to whom "the preaching of the cross " is "foolishness" or to be approved by those who substitute tradition for Scripture, the forms for the spirit of religion, and the sacraments for the Saviour. Let it be enough for you that God has made you " wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus;" and that those only will be accounted madmen on the great day, who blindly, daringly, and obstinately "neglect His great salvation." Πιστις. ON THE NAMING OR DEDICATION OF CHURCHES. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. I AM disposed to come to your conclusion, in your paper last month upon Kettlewell's service at the dedication of the church vessels at Coleshill, that the consecration, or setting apart for the service of God, of churches, ought to be considered as including the perpetual sacred appropriation of their canonically-enjoined furniture; but that it were not well, for many reasons, to have any special formulary for dedicating fonts for baptism, or cups, flagons, and patens, for the administration of the Lord's Supper; much less bells, organs, and vestments. There should on the one hand be decency and reverent association; but on the other, care should be taken to avoid even the appearance of superstition, and of inordinate exaltation of trifles to the neglect of weightier matters. The law of the land very properly considers church apparatus as presented irreclaimably, to be used as long as wanted, or till replaced by something more seemly or convenient; but there is nothing of sanctification imparted to inanimate matter by the use of it for holy purposes; and in these days, when some among us are making a mighty stir to revive a souldestroying system of manipulated religion, every genuine Anglican will see the necessity of keeping within that precinct of decorous observance, unmixed with fond devices, which our Church has scripturally traced out in her Articles, Liturgy, Canons, and Homilies. And here I may take occasion to mention a popular error; namely, that the Church of England dedicates its churches to saints and angels. We dedicate them only to God; we consecrate or set them apart only for his service; but since, for convenience, they must have some name, there seems nothing wrong in calling them by that of some Apostle, or other New Testament saint whom we commemorate in our services. It is true that in popish days they were not only called after, but dedicated to, saints, or alleged saints; and the names are handed down by long use; but if we now mean only a designation, it is not a matter of sufficient moment to require a change, any more than the days of the week, or the months of the year, or many family names; which we should not now bestow, but which have outgrown their original intention. It is enough that in the case of new churches and chapels, we avoid superstition, and give no countenance to popish canonization. Mr. Gobat, the missionary, gave à very proper answer to the Abyssinian priests upon this matter. "They asked me if our churches bore the name of some saint, as Saint George, &c. I replied that, formerly, when our fathers were in ignorance, they consecrated, as is done in Abyssinia, the churches to saints; but that we have learned from the word of God, that all the saints and angels are servants like us, and that the least religious homage that is paid to any other than God is an act of idolatry, a sin; for which reason our churches are consecrated to God, as also are all the days of the year." Κ. THE ODIUM THEOLOGICUM. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. THE Rev. J. W. Cunningham did well, in his lively little book of "Sancho, or the Proverbialist," to warn Christians against the too ready adoption of popular sayings, as if necessarily conveying solid truth. I have often thought of his remarks when I have heard the sonorous phrase, "The Odium Theologicum" used by persons who never took the pains to ask, in reference to religion, "What is truth;" and who seemed to make a merit of their ignorance and recklessness. I do not deny the melancholy fact, that theological controversialists have often lost their temper; or that where their tenets authorised or enjoined persecution, even the rack and the stake have been called in as arguments to aid a bad cause. But theological controversy is not more bitter than any other discussion which powerfully affects the feelings or the interests of mankind. Political squabbles are often far more intemperate; as well as disputes upon matters relating to rival interests in trade; nay, questions of science or literature have not unfrequently been agitated with the most violent acrimony. It is not then theology that is answerable for the result; but the frailties and passions of mankind, which, if unrepressed, whatever be the ubject of consideration, lead to heat and asperity wherever there is intense anxiety. Thus viewed, we may well account for the odium theologicum ; and though I do not justify it, this I am bold to say, that if a man feel deeply the importance of religious truth, and the value of the eternal interests at stake; if he is jealous for the honour of God, and solicitous for the welfare of immortal souls, he will, both in inculcating truth and refuting error, write with a strength and earnestness, which men who care nothing about the matter will denounce as dogmatical and intolerant. It has been often said that scepticism and indifference are the only true parents of charity. The saying is not true; for men without religion may be as fierce persecutors as the hottest bigots; and the gentlest demeanour towards "those who oppose themselves" is quite compatible with, and should springfrom, a knowledge and love of the "truth as it is in Jesus." But thus much is doubtless veracious, that a man who feels uninterested in a question can speak with a lukewarmness which may pass for charity; while the self-same man is fierce when he is in earnest. The moral of these considerations is, not that we should be indifferent, but that we should not be quarrelsome; not that we should betray the cause of what we believe to be sacred truth, but that we should defend it in a Christian spirit; not that we should not hate error, but that we should not hate those who are seduced by it; not that we should not be pointed, but that we should not be personal. R. G. |