ment, and therefore content ourselves with this solitary remark. But, allowing the truth of Lord Brougham's assertion, we deny his inference touching the increasing weakness of the testimony to our faith. We deny that such proofs become less strong in proportion to their age. Take the New Testament, for example: is its authenticity less and less credible as those books become older and older? "We trow not." To our judgment, the very reverse of this is the truth! That we are able to trace these sacred writings for a period of many centuries up to the ancient epoch of their first publication, through the perils which must have beset them in that protracted time, and under the custody of so many hands, is a circumstance which strengthens their claim to our belief, and will continually increase in power in proportion as they shall become more venerable from age. Would our ex-chancellor allow detractions from the credibility of documentary evidence, supposing it to be proved by sufficient testimony, on the score of its antiquity? Are the titledeeds of an estate less deserving consideration, because they date their origin from so remote a time, "that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary?" How differently did the learned author of "the Reasonableness and Certainty of the Christian Religion" argue, when he wrote thus: "It is requisite that a divine revelation should be of great antiquity; because, upon the same grounds that we cannot think that God would not at all reveal himself to mankind, we cannot suppose that he would suffer the world to continue long under a state of corruption and ignorance, without taking some care to remedy it, by putting men into a capacity of knowing and practising the duties of virtue and religion."* "It is, indeed, a great argument for the truth of the Scriptures, (again we quote from Jenkin, vol. i. p. 36,)" that they have stood the test, and received the approbation of so many ages, and still retain their authority, though so many ill men, in all ages, have made it their endeavour to disprove them; and it is still a further evidence in behalf of them, that God has been pleased to shew so remarkable a providence in their preservation."

The last use of natural religion to the believer in revelation is, that it serves to keep alive the feelings of piety and devotion.

What delight can be more elevating, more truly worthy of a rational creature's enjoyment, than to feel, wherever we tread the paths of scientific inquiry, new evidence springing up around our footsteps,-new traces of Divine intelligence and power meeting our eye! We are never alone; at least, like the old Roman, we are never less alone than in our solitude. We walk with the Deity we commune with the great First Cause, who sustains at every instant what the word of his power inade. The delight is renewed at each step of our progress, though as far as evidence is concerned, we have long ago had proof enough. But that is no more a reason for ceasing to contemplate the subject in its perpetually renovated and varied forms, than it would be a reason for

• Jenkin's Reasonableness, &c. vol. i. p. 34.

resting satisfied with once seeing a long-lost friend that his existence had been sufficiently proved by our interview.-Pp. 196, 197.

Thus we take our leave of Lord Brougham's "Discourse." We would willingly follow him to his "Notes," but that " space and time," of which the noble Lord has written so acutely, absolutely forbids us. They display much talent for metaphysical investigation; and no small diversity of acquirements, as our readers will see from a simple enumeration of their titles.-Note I. Of the Classification of the Sciences.-II. Of the Psychological Argument from Final Causes. -III. Of the Doctrine of Cause and Effect.-IV. Of the Système de la Nature, and the Hypothesis of Materialism.-V. Of Mr. Hume's Sceptical Writings, and the Argument respecting Providence.-VI. Of the Ancient Doctrines respecting Mind.-VII. Of the Ancient Doctrines respecting the Deity and Matter.-VIII. Of the Ancient Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul.-IX. Of Bishop Warburton's Theory concerning the Ancient Doctrine of a Future State.

These notes are replete with novel, ingenious, and most acute disquisitions upon the respective subjects to which they severally relate, and form pretty nearly one-third part of the volume which we have before us. If our author's text have excited our admiration, his notes have served but to augment it; and though upon some certain points we have differed from our noble author, there are more upon which we entirely agree with him. We would rather dwell upon these than entertain a cynical recollection of the former. And we sincerely thank our author for his able Discourse upon the important topic to which he has brought so much learning, so much eloquence, and so much novelty; but more especially do we approach him with the tribute of our grateful acknowledgments for the power with which he has annihilated the miserable pretensions of Infidelity, the childish fallacies of Materialism, and the perplexing subtleties of Hume. The agonies of their literary death may, perhaps, be mitigated by consideration of the hand whence they have received their final wound; and to their discomfited admirers, it may be permitted to palliate the bitterness of their defeat by this inscription on their tombs

"Æneæ magni dextra cadis."*

1. New England, and her Institutions. By One of her Sons. London: Seeley and Burnside. 1835. Pp. 393.

2. Journal of a Residence in America. By FRANCES Anne Butler. (Miss Fanny Kemble.) Paris: Galignani and Co. 1835. Pp. vi. 326. 3. The Rambler in North America: 1832-1833. By CHARLES JOSEPH

Virg. Æn. Lib. x. v. 830.

LATROBE, Author of the "Alpenstock," &c. In Two Volumes. London: Seeleys. 1835. Pp. xiv. 321 and 336.

4. A National Church Vindicated; in refutation of a Petition from the Dissenters of Glasgow, to Earl Grey. Part I. The Necessity of an Established Church further Vindicated, wherever the Existence of an Omnipotent Deity is believed. Part II. London: Parbury, Allen, and Co. 1835. Pp. 212.

WE have placed these four works together, at the head of our present remarks, because they all contain some illustrations of the state and practice of religion in New England, a country where the voluntary system, which now is finding so many advocates in Old England, has been tried and tested. It is, of course, foreign to our purpose to say much respecting the literary or general character of these various publications. But it is only an act of justice to say, that nothing can be greater than the contrast which is presented by Mrs. Butler's "Journal,”and Mr. Latrobe's "Rambler." The former is evidently the work of an extremely clever, intelligent, and well-informed girl, but whose occasional coarseness and vulgarity disgust the sensible mind as much as the quiet, calm, modest, and gentle tone of Mr. Latrobe's pleasing volumes delight. Miss Fanny Kemble had the reputation of being a person of a refined and even exemplary character; we regret that she should have broken the charm by the offensive manner in which she has suffered her vanity to run away with her judgment and modesty. Yet, notwithstanding this, we are also compelled to add, that her book contains such splendid writing, as the press has, for many a day, scarcely given to the world from the pen of a woman.* We can only

Let us take the two following passages as our vindication:"How beautiful the scene around me was! the bright boundless sea, smooth as a sapphire, except at the restless rippling edge; the serene, holy sky looking down so earnestly and gently on the flowering earth; the reviving breeze, dipping like a bird its fresh wings into the water,-how beautiful all things did seem to me,-how full of witnesses of the great power and goodness that created them. Why is it that clouds ever come between us and God when there are seasons like this,-when we seem to sit at his very feet,-when his glory and his mercy seem the atmosphere we are breathing, and our whole existence is lifted, for a time, into the reality of all we hope and pray for? Yet these are but passing emotions: they are not, indeed, the very spirit of God,—they are but reflections of his image, caught from the glorious mirror of nature. The sky becomes cloudy,-the sea stormy; the blossoming and the bearing seasons pass away, and winter comes apace, with withered aspect, and bitter biting breath; the face of the universe becomes dark, and the trust, and faith, and joy of our souls, fade into doubt, disbelief, and sorrow. Infirmity and imperfection pluck us back from our heavenward flight, and the weight of our mortality drags us down fast, fast again towards the earth. These fair outward creatures, and the blessed emotions they excite, will pass away,-must-do pass away,-and where is the abiding revelation of God to which we shall turn? It lives for ever, in the still burning light of a strong and steadfast soul; in the resolute will and high unshaken purpose of good; in the quiet, calm, collected might of reason; in the undying warmth and brightness of a pure and holy heart.-P. 277.

hope, for Mrs. Butler's sake, that the Americans think her mad; or as the Quarterly Review* has it, "acting" a part :—we should call her

"Sunday 16th.-Had only time to swallow a mouthful of breakfast, and off to church; where I heard about as thorough a cock-and-bull sermon as ever I hope to be edified withal. What shameful nonsense the man talked! and all the time pretending to tell us what God had done, what he was doing, and what he intended to do next, as if he went up into heaven and saw what was going on there, every five minutes.P. 195.

66

's pew, with a

Sunday 2d. While dressing, received a 'sweet note' from Mrs. accompanied with a volume of Bryant's poetry, which, as I like very much, I am her obliged. Swallowed two mouthfuls of bread, and away to church. It was very crowded, and a worthy woman had taken possession of the corner seat in Mr. fidgetting little child, which she kept dancing up and down every two minutes: though in church, I wished for the days of King Herod. What strange thoughts did occur to me to-day during service! "Tis the first Sunday in Advent. The lesson for the day contained the history of the Annunciation. What a mystery our belief is! how seldom it is that we consider, and, as it were, take hold of what we say we believe; and when we do so, how bewildered and lost we become,-how lost among a thousand wild imaginations,-how driven to and fro by a thousand doubts,-how wrecked amidst a thousand fears! Surely we should be humble: we should indeed remember that we cannot know, and not strive for that knowledge which our souls will lose themselves in seeking for, and our overstrained minds crack in reaching at.

"At the end of service they sang Luther's hymn. I cried with nervous excitement, not at that, but at my recollection of Braham's singing it with that terrible trumpet accompaniment, that used to make my heart stand still and listen. Stayed and took the sacrament."-P. 179.

The woman who could write such a note as the following, and then put into print that she took the sacrament here, and took the sacrament there, must be worse than vain or silly. It may be very fine for an actress, whose religion was picked up from the blasphemies of the stage, to talk of Unitarianism suiting the "necessity" of a people; but what must the rational mind think of the following?

"Throughout all the northern states, and particularly those of New England, the Unitarian form of faith prevails very extensively. It appears to be admirably suited to the spiritual necessities of this portion of the Americans. They are a reasoning, not an imaginative race; moreover, they are a hard-working, not an idle one. It therefore suits their necessities, as well as their character, to have a religious creed divested at once of mysteries at which the rational mind excepts; and of long and laborious ceremonies, which too often engross the time without the attention of the worshipper. They are poor, too, comparatively speaking; and, were they so inclined, could little afford either the splendid pageantry which the Romish priesthood require, or the less glaring but not less expensive revenues which the Episcopalian clergy enjoy. Their form of religion is a simple one, a short one, and a cheap one. Without attempting to discuss its excellence in the abstract, it certainly appears to me to be as much fitted for this people, as the marvellous legends and magnificent shows of the Romish church were to the early European nations. The church in America is not, as with us, made a mere means of living: there are no rich benefices, or over-swelled bishoprics, to be hoped for, by the man who devotes himself to the service of God's altar: the pecuniary remuneration of the clergy depends upon the generosity of their congregations; and, for the most part, a sincere love of his vocation must be the American minister's reward, as it was his original instigation to the work.-P. 123.

The Quarterly Reviewer says, that the idea of "the everlasting incense of the waters," (p. 325) by which Mrs. Butler depicts the cloud of spray, which perpetually rises from Niagara, is one of the most beautiful he ever remembers to have met with. It certainly is beautiful.-But we doubt its originality. Moreover, she has used it before, in describing the falls of Trenton, (p. 311,) where she adds, "from the earth, which is his footstool, to the heavens, which are his throne." This repetition spoils the effect, which to an actress is every thing. Mr. Latrobe uses a similar expression,

role, "the Spy in petticoats," or the "Domestic Scandalmonger." We will suffer Mr. Latrobe to inflict the chastisement which she deserves.

It is not my intention in a general way to give you descriptions of places and scenes described a thousand times. You will not look to me for elaborate sketches and dissertations on transatlantic politics, for I am quite ready to own my poverty of satisfactory information on that head. Virulence of party, with all its concomitants of misrepresentation, falsification, and personality, is found within the United States in as great a degree as within the bounds of Britain; and leaves little for a stranger like myself to do, after attempting to pry into the state of politics in America, whether by means of the public prints, or of private inquiry, than to turn away with mingled disgust and despair.

You must not expect pages of statistical information;—relatious of stagecoach, steam-boat, and tap-room colloquies with Captain This or Judge That; anecdotes abounding in slang, and stories at second-hand; much less, sly peeps into the interior of families who may have exercised the rites of hospitality towards the stranger.

As to the first, you may find them elsewhere; and moreover, however correct at the time I might have procured them, they would probably be erroneous by the time you might wish to draw deductions from them. The second and third have now neither novelty nor good taste to recommend them; and as to the last, you may miss a great deal of egregious amusement, but I respect myself, even if I did not love my neighbour, too much, ever to repay the confiding hospitality of private families by such cold-blooded displays of disloyalty.

I have been now for ten years, more or less, a wanderer; and if any man should have learned to revere hospitality and have entertained a horror of the term 'ungrateful guest,' surely I should be that man. There is something in the warm, unchecked, and open-hearted conduct of a family circle, which should ever prevent the stranger from judging what he there witnesses with a cold eye and heart as though he had nothing in common with it. Modern philosophy, it is true, finds an apology for this, but what is that to you or me?-Vol. I. pp. 9, 10. As to myself, I was neither tempted while in the country to brood over the disagreeable, nor to look on the dark side, neither can I do so now. I was treated every where with courtesy and good humour, and what less can I return?

Causes for dissatisfaction and disgust will always be discovered by the seeker, whoever and wherever he may be. There is no wit in describing as peculiar to America, that which is common to all the world. As to coarseness, and vulgarity of mind and manners, it is not that abundance is not to be found in our own country, but that it is, from circumstances easily understood, more obtruded for the present into prominent positions in America: at the same time it must be allowed that in most situations, you may escape from its contemplation if you will. Does it not appear to you that there is something essentially vulgar in that mind, which, in spite of its alleged disgust, can continually occupy itself with coarseness in others, and load itself and the memory with its details?-Vol. I. p. 71.1

Having now said all we intend to say of these two publications, on their own account, we proceed to our purpose of giving a statement, from eye-witnesses, of the religious and moral character of New England.

In the first place, we take Mrs. Butler's opinion, as given in one of the notes appended to her Journal; which notes, by the way, are not

speaking of the same thing: "The vapour of the great cataract has ascended for ages like smoke from an altar! to the great Creator of all." (Vol. i. p. 41.)

Chateaubriand describes this body of vapour as "les fumées d'un vaste embrasément," (atala, near the end,) the smoke of a great conflagration.