Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

derably different from that which exists in our country; that the excellent men there, falling into the common error of ardent minds, had confounded the abuse with the allowable use of spirituous beverages; and that, in their commendable zeal against an enormous evil, they had carried their conclusions to an untenable extreme. I was

also under the influence of the common opinion, implicitly adopted by many who, like myself, have not much experience or opportunity of observation, that spirituous liquors in moderate quantity, diluted with water, and made palatable with sugar, are not only lawful, but good and healthful beverages for the ordinary use of life, and especially for supporting the animal frame under fatigue, or restoring it after exhaustion. In a word, I had the very same notions on the whole subject as those advanced by your worthy reviewer.

But thankful I am for the instrumentality of one who has long and eminently devoted himself to the advancement of the highest interests of mankind, Mr. Collins, of Glasgow, which awakened me to the duty of giving a fair examination to the question. Some of the results of that examination are given in the Preface to Professor Stuart's Essay. While the reviewer speaks of that preface in too complimentary a strain, he has misunderstood some of its minor parts, imputing applications which were not intended, and he has apparently overlooked the FOUNDATION-PRINCIPLE of the argument. This principle is a fact in physical science, that stimulating is not strengthening, but is weakening and impairing. Let this be only correctly understood, and then well considered in its various applications, and I can scarcely doubt what the result will be. One principal inference is, that spirits, whether diluted or not, should be regarded only as a medicine, and that it is a medicine falling under the class of the vegetable poisons, whose operation on the human frame is the commission of a certain degree of invasion, in order to counteract a greater immediate derangement. It is a balancing of two evils; and, under the pressure of an exigency, a submission to the less of the two. It further follows, that the submission to this minor evil should be confined within the narrowest boundaries possible; that the frequent repetition of it (like the frequent use of calomel, arsenical medicines, tincture of opium, foxglove, &c.) is a slow and insidious, but sure sapping and mining of the citadel of health, and sooner or later

either shortening life, or enfeebling and embittering it; and that to bring it, in any form or disguise, out of the class of medicines into the class of food, is, to say the least, a most unwise and perilous course. I wish that your reviewer had found room for the following extract from Mr. Collins's speech.

"That spirits are not good or necessary to men in health, is becoming one of the best established and most incontrovertible truths in medical science. If testimony is to be admitted at all, who are the men best fitted to give sound and experimental evidence for determining the question? Surely it must be the physicians and surgeons of our country. They are not only best acquainted with the nature and effects of spirits, but they witness most extensively their influence on the human constitution. And what are the results of their experience? Besides numerous individual testimonies, have not forty-eight of the physicians and surgeons in Dublin, seventyseven in Edinburgh, eighteen in Manchester, fourteen in Bradford,* and many other collective bodies, both here and in America, nobly stepped forwards as the benefactors of their country, to disabuse the public mind of the false and delusive opinions which prevail in relation to spirits; and have united in declaring, that spirits do not communicate any nourishment whatever to the constitution; that their use is the most frightful source of disease among our people; and that nothing would conduce more to the health and comfort of the community than the entire disuse of them? Do they not declare, that more than one-half of the diseases which exist in our country originate in intemperance? And that, not only does the habitual use of spirits predispose to disease, but, while it aggravates almost every disease, it renders many of them hopeless and incurable? In short, the concurring testimony of a large proportion of the medical profession confirms the

In the Leeds Mercury of the 3rd inst. appeared the following Declaration :—

We, the undersigned, do declare our conviction that ardent spirits are not to be regarded as a nourishing diet; that the habitual use of them is a principal cause of disease, poverty, and misery; and that the disuse of them, except when prescribed medicinally, would powerfully contribute to improve the health, morals, and comfort of the community."

Signed by five physicians and forty-two surgeons.

statement of Dr. Paris, that "the art of preparing spirituous liquors is the greatest curse ever inflicted on humanity;" and, from their destructive influence on the constitution, well might Sir Astley Cooper designate them 'evil spirits,' and affirm with truth that 'spirits and poisons are synonymous terms."

All this, and much more, refers to the dietetic, prudential, and personal branch of the subject. The other branch is its vast importance in relation to the community. But I can scarcely venture to proceed upon it, from the fear of being tedious. "The best authorities attribute to drinking one-half of all madness, three-fourths of all beggary, and four-fifths of all crime in our country."-(Brit. and For. Temp. Soc. Tracts, No. 1.) That this dreadful torrent of wickedness and misery may be reduced and even stopped by the operations of the Temperance (i. e. total abstinence) Societies, I appeal to the reasonings and the facts presented in the tracts of the American, Irish, Scottish, and, last and slowest in the train, English societies. You could not afford room for the details; but surely the trifling trouble and expense of obtaining the documents will not be refused by any man of common sense and Christian feelings, when an evil so awful is to be avoided, and so great a good is to be obtained.

Thus, then, runs the argument. If even it were admitted that the use of spirits brought to us a little, yea even a considerable benefit, yet, because such use encourages and maintains the source and supply for the noxious abuse, and that abuse cannot be effectively controlled by any other means, it becomes our duty to renounce the supposed or real benefit, from the motive of love to our fellow-creatures, to our country, and to the cause of religion. But again, be it observed, we deny that there is any benefit, except within the strict limits of medicinal use; and this is freely allowed and in support of our denial we entreat our friends to inquire for themselves, and to hear the voice of reason and experience. By the operation of the temperance societies, within about six years, in the United States generally, the consumption of spirits has been diminished one-third; and in the New England division of those states, one-half; and this most happy change is still increasing.

The reviewer is not, perhaps, aware that his plan of a "well-defined temperance," meaning moderation in the use of spirits, in distinction from uncompromis

ing abstinence, has been tried, and has been found impracticable in application and unavailing in effect.* No rule or limit could be intelligibly defined. The most unhappy wretch that ever sunk into sottishness, was far advanced in his career before he would admit that he took of his rum, or brandy, or whiskey, more than he judged proper and really necessary for him; what he would have called a reasonable allowance. He would have said to the most moderate drinker of spirits, 'You take so much as you judge fit for yourself to do you good, and I do only the same thing; for my wants and feelings crave all that I drink; I take only what is absolutely necessary to raise my sinking spirits, to bring me up to cheerfulness and vigour, to do me good in the degree which

my

circumstances require." And further, it would be somewhat incongruous, it would be a constructive affront, to ask persons of blameless character to enter into an engagement not to drink to excess. But, for a more full refutation of this well-intentioned, but most fallacious idea, I beg to refer to Mr. Collins's first Edinburgh speech, No. 10 of our Tracts. If, also, the reviewer will bestow, not a cursory glance, but a seriously reflective reading, on No. 9 of those Tracts, "A Letter by a Minister of the Gospel," (apparently of Scotland), I am greatly mistaken if he does not find all his objections answered, and become a thoroughly-convinced and ardent supporter of the Temperance Societies. The same request I would, with the greatest earnestness, make to every professed Christian, and especially every minister of the gospel.

I humbly conceive that the reviewer has greatly erred in his apprehension of

"I belonged to the old Society in Massachusetts for the Suppression of Intemperance, and was one of the counsellors, but very little was effected. There were annual meetings and addresses; the former were thinly attended, and the latter devoid of deep interest. The resolution was modified somewhat in

this form; - that no one should use or give ardent spirits except in urgent cases. So, amidst much discussion and jocular remark, the resolution passed, and the pledge was signed. It is now, I suppose, in the archives of the Massachusetts' Society." Of the proper American Temperance Society the writer goes on to say," They inscribed on their banner, TOTAL ABSTINENCE; and their efforts, under the Divine blessing, bid fair to save the country."-A Correspondent in the New York T. S. Report for 1830, p. 35.

the sense and design of those positions of Mr. Stuart's essay on which he has animadverted. But I must desist.

Believe me, my dear Sir,

Faithfully yours,

Homerton, Dec, 8, 1831. J. PYE SMITH.

The reviewer, who has fallen under the animadversion of his highly esteemed friend Dr. Smith, is not able to plead ignorance as an apology for his temerity. His objections to certain features in the practical economy of Temperance Societies have been the result of a careful examination both of American and English publications on the subject. The public must judge between the worthy doctor and the reviewer;* this we can assure them, they are both temperate men, and both *See Dec. Magazine.

alike anxious to see all the precepts of the gospel faithfully observed. It will be as well, perhaps, in future, for the totally abstinent not to judge their brethren, who may not feel that the authority of Christ and his apostles demands this sacrifice. Indeed, we are satisfied it does not, and that every disciple of Christ is left at perfect freedom to make such use of spirits or wine as may comport with the holy precepts of the gospel. This must be his rule, and not the mere human restrictions of Temperance Societies. As Dr. Smith allows himself to be but a recent convert to the doctrine of entire abstinence, he will no doubt, with his ordinary candour, wait patiently for the conversion of his reviewing brother, and we pledge ourselves for that brother that he will not hesitate for a moment to avow any change of mind that he may undergo.-EDITOR.

PART I.

SEEING DARKLY.

POETRY.

THE NEW YEAR.

"For now we see through a glass darkly.”1 Cor. xiii. 12.

Invisible God of all grace,

Though darkness and clouds intervene, Thou fillest all time and all space,

A Saviour belov'd though unseen.
The stars their fix'd courses pursue
With seasons and times in their train;
And earth, still replenish'd anew,
Shall yield us abundance again.

We know not events that may come-
To-morrow is hid from our sight-
Here have we no permanent home,
Each moment but urges our flight.
Uncertain our road to decide,

Unable to conquer the way,
Thine eye is our guardian and guide,
Thine arm is our strength and our stay.

We look to the kingdom on high,
And dimly behold it in part;
But faith on the promise can fly,
And hope has the substance at heart.
Oh, fear not, the Saviour hath said,
I go to prepare you a place;
No war can your mansions invade,
No ages their glory deface.

The world and its forms pass away,
Its princes and kingdoms must fall;
As dreams are dispers'd by the day,
So time shall demolish them all.

But God shall for ever abide,
Eternity never can end;
And who from his love can divide

The soul he esteems as his friend?

The struggles of life shall be past

The day of affliction shall close-
The foe shall be vanquish'd at last-
The pilgrim shall sweetly repose.
The wintry storms shall be gone-

The beauties of spring shall appear—
And time, as its changes move on,
May bring us a happy new year.

Oh, ye who salvation await,

Yet tarry with patience awhile,
The billows within shall abate,
Your gloom shall be chang'd to a smile.
Time's circles must shortly conclude,
And life everlasting begin,

Where sorrow can never intrude,
Nor pleasure be poisoned with sin.

No mists shall the beauties disguise-
No distance the prospect obscure—
No doubts or delusions shall rise,

But glory seen perfect and sure.
Then face unto face you shall meet,
The King in his beauty behold,
And share in the rapture complete,

That never on earth can be told.

We know not how bless'd we shall be,
No tongue can the fulness explain—
No vision the splendour can see-
No bosom that glory sustain.
Then Faith shall reality prove,

And Hope its long'd objects possess,
And Charity heighten her love,
Midst endless and pure loveliness.

[blocks in formation]

REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS.

1. A Sermon preached at Hull, on the 13th of
Nov. 1831, on the UNKNOWN TONGUES.
By R. M. BEVERLEY, Esq. 8vo.
Westley and Davis.

2. THE UNKNOWN TONGUES discovered to be
1 English, Spanish, and Latin; and the Rev.
Edward Irving proved to be erroneous in
attributing their utterance to the influence of
the Holy Spirit. Also, a private arrange-
ment in his closet previous to a prayer-meet-
ing, and consultation in the vestry, to which
the writer was invited by Mr. Irving, because
he believed him to be in "the Spirit," and
prayed that he might receive the gift of in-
terpretation. Various interesting colloquies
between the writer and Mr. Irving and his
followers; and observations which manifestly
show that they are all under a delusion. By
GEORGE PILKINGTON, who interpreted be-
fore the congregation. 8vo.

Strange, Paternoster Row.

3. THE CHURCH REVIVED WITHOUT THE AID OF UNKNOWN TONGUES; a Sermon preached

in the Scots' Church, Swallow Street, on Sub-
bath, the 6th of Nov. 1831.
To which are

now added a few prefatory Remarks. By
ROBERT BURNS, D.D., F.S.A., Minister
of St. George's, Paisley. 8vo.

Douglas, Portman Square; and Nisbet,
Berners' Street.

OUR views of the miraculous pretensions of the new school are already well known to the public. We have honestly denounced them as an insult of the very highest order to the Spirit of wisdom and truth; and however Mr. Irving and his friends may profess to mourn over our impiety for so doing, we shall continue to warn simple-hearted and unwary Christians against the deep entanglements and blasphemies of a scheme which tends more to strengthen the hands of infidelity and impiety than any exhibition of religious imposture that has been obtruded on the public mind during the last hundred years. We are glad to find that this unblushing evil begins to be exposed, very unceremoniously, from a variety of quarters;

and we cannot allow ourselves to think that any considerable number of persons, possessed of common sense, will long be found sufficiently credulous to attribute the absurd ravings of the "gifted sisters," to an immediate and uncontrollable inspiration from Heaven.

Mr. Beverley's sermon contains many pungent remarks on the utter and inconceivable folly of the new pretensions. We quote the following paragraph as a fair specimen of his mode of dealing with his antagonists. His text is 1 John iv. 1,-" Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits," &c.; upon which he remarks,

"It is our lot, however, my Christian brethren, to live in days when other spirits of a new and strange order have come among us, the trial of which can hardly be by any rules left us in the word of God. I speak of the gift of the unknown tongues, claimed by some individuals in this country-a gift which it is supposed is a revival of the miraculous powers recorded in the New Testament, by the outpourings of the Holy Ghost on those whom the Lord has chosen for this office. Not to occupy your time with any narratives of those extraordinary exhibitions, I will simply state, that there are persons in London and elsewhere, at this present time, who either in places of public worship, or on occasions of private prayer-meetings, have spoken words and sentences, or else fragments of a sort of rhyming structure, in a language, or languages, which are not known to be spoken by any nation on the earth. The persons who are supposed to have this gift do not, I believe, much exceed twenty in number at present, though it is hoped and believed by their friends, who are converts to their claims, that the number of oracles will 300n greatly increase. And here let me notice, that I do not wish to use the word oracle in any invidious sense, but in its pure and proper meaning of a mystical voice, of which a select few only have the interpretation. To call them tongues would at present be premature, for it is not yet clear that they are really tongues; and, indeed, the whole question does, according to my apprehension, turn on this very point. Neither can the speakers of these sounds prophets, for if they have prophesied any thing it is far from certain that their prophecies will come true. Perhaps the more proper title for these sounds would be omphe, but as this is a word of erudite origin I shall be content to use the more common word oracle.

call

"The gift of tongues recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles was put to a test the most satisfactory the very day it was made manifest, for there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven ;' and these Jews, who had been born in other countries, heard with amazement the apostles

VOL. X.

speak the languages of those countries from which they had come, but where the apostles themselves had never been; and they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?-and how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and he dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God-and they were all amazed.' Now here the wonder all consisted in hearing persons hitherto ignorant and unlettered, and knowing only their own tongue, speaking of a sudden many languages of widely distant nations. Had the apostles only uttered sounds which none of the foreigners recognised there would have been no amazement on their part-they would have paid no attention to the sounds, and have expressed no surprise. But in the modern oracles no sentence has yet been spoken of any recognised language. Not only have the numerous strangers resident in our vast metropolis not met with their own tongue in the sounds of the oracles, but the researches of the learned for some months past have never succeeded in tracing these strange words to any dialect spoken in any country. Two things, then, only remain to be urged for those who believe that the oracles are dictated by the Holy Ghost:-1st, Either that a more diligent search may yet discover the real language of which the oracles are supposed to utter fragments; or, 2ndly, That the same ambiguity attended the gift of tongues in the days of the apostles; and that in fact the gifted disciples uttered sounds which no one could interpret but themselves.

Now, for the first proposition, we may remark, that owing to the number of literary societies at present existing in London, and the increased knowledge of the oriental dialects, besides the researches made by missionaries in all parts of the world, either for the purpose of converting the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, or of translating the Scriptures into foreign tongues, there is hardly the possibility of any entirely new language being discovered in any part of the earth, except it be amongst some of the tribes of central Africa; and even into those regions travellers have lately penetrated, and brought back specimens of various dialects which have no affinity with the sounds uttered by the oracles. Upwards of fifty languages are known and recorded amongst us, and to none of these do the oracular sounds bear any resemblance; and though the number of spoken tongues is in reality much greater, yet there is always such a resemblance in dialects which have branched off from a cominon

C

« VorigeDoorgaan »