racter; and though a similarity of taste may not be essential, we ought to have convincing proofs of an amiable disposition. import of the terms Election and Predestination. In reply to this correspondent, we beg to observe, that as these subjects Pleasing manners, unfortunately, have been investigated for ages, we often conceal the want of intrinsic qua- despair of giving any interpretation lifications; even depravity possesses to the terms, that will not be offensive the power of assuming virtue's attract- to some parties. Those whose sentiive form; and it has frequently been ments coincide with our own, may known to impose both upon age and perhaps be pleased with the observaexperience. This imposition, however, tions we might make; but others who can only occur in cases where frequent differ from us, and who have an equal association is impracticable: for imi- right with ourselves to form their own tation, of every description, cannot al- judgments, will also demand a hearways be upon its guard; and some in- ing, which we could not in justice cautious word, or some unreflected up-deny: and this would involve us in a on action, often removes the veil which had concealed a designing heart! An evil of this kind, however, neither can nor ought to be dreaded, in Friendships which are formed between those, who from childhood have had frequent communication; for at that period, of course, each thought of the heart is laid open, and the leading traits of character may easily be remembered. It therefore cannot be against associations of this description, that I am desirous of cautioning the youthful part of my readers; but against those sudden intimacies which take place in their intercourse with the world; where a polished address, and conciliating manners, become the chief, if not only foundation, which Friendship is built upon. With the warning voice of a sincere Friend, I would caution them against these hastily-formed attachments; entreating them to attend to the admonitions of Doctor Young-to pause-ponder-sift-and examine well, the character, before they enter into Friendship's sacred bonds. controversy, to which it would be difficult to predict a termination. To the various writers who have distinguished themselves in this field of polemical theology, we presume this correspondent is no stranger: to their writings we must therefore refer him. A single topic or a solitary feature, on any question in divinity or science, that might be deemed worthy of investigation, would be suitable for our pages; but whole systems are too ponderous for our undertaking. Regulations recommended. TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL SIR, Liverpool, June 23d, 1819. MEETING lately with a manuscript Essay by a young friend, "On the Importance of moral and mental Culture in early Life;" I was pleased with hints on the two interesting subjects found in the following extract, which, if approved of, I beg you will insert in It has been observed, that those may the present or next number of your usejest at wounds, whose bodies are free ful and widely-extended Miscellany. from blemish; or, in other words, are I have been induced to hand it to you, incapable of exhibiting any scars and by the hope, that it may excite that atthose who have felt the pangs inflicted tention to its contents, which they do by treacherous Friendship, are certain- not merely deserve, but demand; ly best calculated to caution others. As that its appearance in print may proexample is universally allowed to be voke abilities to the subject; and that more efficacious than precept; I shall your readers may forget what is obventure, in the ensuing Essay, to pre-jectionable in its style, for the subjects sent one to my readers; merely resorting to fiction in the names which I shall bestow on the parties concerned. ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION. FROM a correspondent who subscribes himself Neuter," we have received some queries respecting the Scriptural of which it treats. After the following admission, ""Tis true all are not called to glorify God in the same public way; and perhaps it will be found that his honour is most displayed and secured amongst those his honest, sincere, and simple servants, not remarkable for intellectual expansion or refined thought;" he ob age in which we live; and the shameful abuse of the powers and the time of men, in pressing this broad and muchthronged road, is a lamentable evil. I argue not against diligence in business, but against that want of it which induces the constant attendance of commercial men to it. I am persuaded, if a steady glow of determined feeling, a fixed application, a oneness of object, a systematic disposal, and habitual dispatch-a WORKING that deserves the name-are given to business, that one half of the time usually employed in it, might, without detriment be spared for the great object of self-discipline and improvement, and for purposes of general usefulness. I do hope, for the honour of humanity, as well as for the credit of the scientific character of the town, this subject, with its branches, viz. late hours, &c. will have the able attention of some humane individual." serves as follows, " And yet I cannot will not be asserted, I should hope, by but notice the discreditable incapacity any man, friendly either to the moral of the Laity of our day, for conducting or bodily interests of Man. The cuswith vigour or effect, the public-spi- toms and interests of modern times, in rited and benevolent institutions of the the "universal passion" for moneyage; an incapacity the more mortify-getting, has produced a mental dwarfing too, as it arises not from any de-ishness, little creditable to the advanced fect of mental constitution, but merely from a wilful misimprovement, or an inglorious disuse, of the powers God has given them. If a public meeting is to be convened, resolutions moved, the nature and objects of the institution detailed, committees named, or the important business of correspondence conducted, we generally find the whole of this complicated labour huddled on the shoulders of our Reverend Pastors. We do indeed find them upon a committee, or sometimes as joint-secretaries; but in the one case the meetings are too often favoured with their bare corporeal presence, where also the corporeal (not pious) act of the up-lifting of their hands, if found necessary, is given: and in the other, the very nomination of a clerical colleague, though the advantage of the union is obvious, may argue the justice of the mild remonstrance I have thus ventured to make. These things may, and perhaps do, come within the sphere, but cannot be the main object, of a Pastor's duty; but it is the almost exclusive and NECESSARY engagement of them in public business of this sort, of which I complain. I should be glad to see this subject taken up by one of themselves. I rejoice that there are some creditable exceptions to the general rule; and beg to be explicitly understood, that the above remarks, intended merely as a stimulus, are not meant to (and indeed cannot fairly) be applied to those who are obliged to give nearly the whole of their time to their secular concerns, either from the cupidity of employers, or the shamefully retrenching habits of the times, in those who conscientiously do what they can. Still, experience, as well as the exception, proves the rule. "With respect to the two efficient causes of want of improvement_above stated, I beg to remark, that the employer has not only legally, but in right, a claim to the services of those under him, during what are unnecessarily called "business hours:" but that these are included in the constant, unmitigated, unrelaxed exertions of a servant, from the first to the last of a day, I would just observe, in behalf of that dependent part of the community employed in shops or counting-houses, such interference is most devoutly to be wished;-that however unguarded some expressions in the above extract may appear, there is considerable justice in them on the whole; and that I am, with sincere respect, a humble coadjutor in your attempts to produce real moral “reform," and enhance the interests of science. AELFRED. Liverpool, 23d July, 1819. Queries on the Divine Foreknowledge. SIR, In the ninth paragraph of your Review, col. 18, for March last, you say: "Whatever we denominate past, must certainly be considered as having been once present, though now it is not; and what we call future, we must conclude to be something that has not yet arrived. In this light all such events and actions must be considered with regard to ourselves; and as such, we cannot doubt, the Almighty beholds them. The terms AFTER-knowledge and FOREknowledge, are therefore highly proper in relation to us; but to a Being, with whom nothing can be either past or future, the terms AFTER-knowledge and FORE-knowledge are totally inapplicable. To him, it is only perfect or simple knowledge, from which the relative ideas of AFTER and FORE, or PAST and FUTURE, are necessarily excluded." Now, Sir, as a searcher after truth, independent of any man, or his condition, be he of whatsoever party or sect he may; permit me to ask the following Questions. If an action be past to us, or future to us, how can you make it appear, it is not so to the Almighty in respect to himself also? Of all the transactions which have past in this world; are they not past to God, as they are to man? Does not God then view the actions as past in regard to His own "perfect or simple knowledge?" Let us take the Jews for an example. When the Lord Jehovah called Abra- | ham to leave his father's house, and go into a strange land, which He would shew Abraham, and promised to give his posterity, and make of his seed a great nation, and bless them with all the blessings of this world, so long as they would obey Him; but if they disdiosbeyed His commands, He would punish them: can any man, with any shew of reason, positively maintain that all which befel the Jews was not clearly seen by God, as future to himself as well as the Jews? All these actions, which as past to the Jews, must also be past to God. Let us demolish nights and days, let us make away with all those means by which we distinguish time at present, and bring ourselves to an eternal light. In this state we have something to do; as well as we have something to do now, in our present state. Would not the actions which we should do in this eternal state, be past when they were done? And those which we knew we had to do, would they not be future to us? Are we to suppose, that the blessed in heaven have nothing to do? If we allow them to employ themselves in something, which we are informed by revelation they do; we must conclude that the actions which have been done are past to them, though there is no distinction of time; and what they have to do, is future to them. I shall be greatly obliged to you, Sir, if you will, in your next number, clear | | Your's, obediently, TYRO. Hanley, Staffordshire Potteries, Observations on the preceding Queries. 66 Tyro must be sensible, that, on every argument which can be advanced, though amounting to the most unequivocal demonstration, it will be exceedingly easy for him, or for any other person, to come forward and say, I shall be greatly obliged to you, Sir, if you will, in your next number, clear up a little more, your assertions in respect to this affair." He may rest assured, that when he shall have fairly pointed out the defects of those reasonings, by which the Reviewer attempts to prove that nothing can be either past or future to God, he may expect to hear something more on the occasion. no Tyro ought to have known, that this subject, instead of being exhausted, is only transiently surveyed, as thoughts were entertained, that any person pretending to understand the question, would ever conceive that the Êternal God could be liable to the mu tations of time; and that he had, like finite beings, his present, past, and future. In the preceding part of the same paragraph which Tyro has quoted, he might have found some reasons to supersede his questions; and in col. 25 and 26, of the same number, he might have perceived the same mode of argumentation again resumed: to these therefore he is referred. But that he may not think his present communication slighted, we will subjoin a few remarks on his several questions: In the First place, he asks-" If an action be past or future to us, how can you make it appear, that it is not so to the Almighty, in respect to himself also?"-Answer. By proving that He inhabiteth eternity; and that absolutely perfect existence is above all succession. Secondly. "Of all the transactions which have passed in this world, are they not past to God, as they are to man?"-Answer. If this were admitted, God would have successive existence, and be continually augmenting his experimental knowledge of things. Thirdly. Does not God then view the actions as past in regard to his own perfect or simple knowledge?" —Answer. If this were granted, God would be older to-day than he was yesterday; and then with him one day would not be as a thousand years, nor a thousand years as one day. The example taken from Abraham and the Jews, can only be considered as illustrative of the preceding questions. It contains nothing that the former questions do not include, and therefore admits of the same replies. The ideas of past and future are merely relative, and as such they are suitable to the state and condition of beings like ourselves. But we cannot reason from the subjects of mortality to the Eternal God. The final question respecting "things done and to be done" in a disembodied state, has no connection with the subject of inquiry. The question should have been founded upon the manner in which actions and events are perceived by the Almighty, in relation to himself. But instead of this, Tyro has lost sight of absolutely perfect, necessary, and unoriginated existence, and, taking his stand on the nature of finite spirits, has proposed his question on the modes of their perception and knowledge. On the Utility of the Mathematics, in answer to Queries inserted col. 576. TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL MAGAZINE. SIR, THERE is often something in the wording of Queries, and the form under which they are propounded, which serves as an index to the opinion of the querist, and (if the subject be a controverted one) points to that side of the controversy, in favour of which he wishes the answer to be given. It is very probable that some of your correspondents may take the hint, and espouse the opinion to which “G. B. of Cardiff," evidently leans. Allow me, Sir, however, to offer, in behalf of the excellence and utility of Mathematical studies, a defence against insinuations to their disadvantage, which to me appear to be implied in the queries which the above-mentioned correspondent has submitted for solution. On this, as on every other occasion of dispute, it is essentially necessary to the just discussion of the subject, that the disputants should attach precisely the same meaning to whatever terms may be employed in common, in the course of argument. I think it proper therefore to premise, that in the term Mathematics, I understand to be included, not merely what are called pure Mathematics, such as geometry and algebra; but also all the various branches of mixed Mathematics, as astronomy, geography, optics, hydraulics, hydrostatics, navigation, and mechanics; all of which are closely connected with the former, being chiefly indebted to their assistance for the advances they have already made towards perfection, and for whatever there is of clearness in the enunciation, or of accuracy in the demonstration, of their principles. To the latter, in fact, the former have served as eyes, by which they have found their way up the ascent to the commanding eminence they now occupy; and they still supply the language in which they speak, and lend the seal which stamps the authority of truth and certainty on their decisions. To the same extent of signification, I hope it is quite fair for me to assume that the term is understood by your worthy correspondent. First, then, in the way of exordium, I would observe how hard a case it is that the Mathematical Sciences, after the general countenance they have received, and the credit with which they have maintained their claim on the good opinion and gratitude of the public for ages, should now be called to their tribunal, to answer against charges so serious as those implied in the queries just referred to;-that in spite of the general testimony in their favour, a hint should now be thrown out, that the whole family ought to be expelled from the community as useless vagabonds, and even branded as traitors to the interests of true religion! That in every civilized nation they have been admired and patronized, in christian countries and by christian people, not less than by idolaters and infidels, ought to be a safeguard against all insinuations to their disadvantage; and, till they can be proved to have abused very recently the patronage under which they have flourished, the lowest claim they can prefer is, to be allowed to hold on their course clear of molestation. At the same time, however, that their advocates feel somewhat indignant at the frivolous and vexatious charges thrown into the court of public opinion against them, they would not confine their apology to mere expressions of displeasure, but are always ready for a fair and open trial, either in the court, or on the arena. And first, these sciences plead against the charge of uselessness, that they tend very greatly to enlarge and to improve the mental faculties of the individual who cultivates them. The human mind may be considered as a vast receptacle, not indeed absolutely infinite in its capacity (for nothing is infinite that is created) but yet of dimensions which exceed, so far as experiment can ascertain the fact, all limits of which we have any idea; extending to the boundaries of creation, and visiting the margins of the celestial and the infernal regions. But, though the capacity of the mind thus extends in every direction to a distance whose limit lies somewhere between the utmost stretch of our imagination and infinity, yet the avenues into it, by which knowledge is admitted, are so very narrow, that, considering knowledge under the emblem of water, they will only admit its distillation through them by single drops at once. Whatever then has a tendency to enlarge these No. 8.-VOL. I. avenues, has a tendency, in proportion to its power of widening, to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge of every description, and, on that account, deserves to be encouraged. On this ground, I conceive, that the Mathematics have a claim to very particular attention; since from the peculiar difficulty which attends the full conception of their principles, they may be considered as occupying the whole of the avenue by which they are received, and as enlarging the passage for whatever may succeed. This illustration may appear to some a little ludicrous; but the fact, that the capability of the mind for receiving knowledge of any kind, is to be estimated, in the progress of its improvement, very greatly from the measure of difficulty which has attended previous acquisitions of it, is not to be denied. Hence will appear the utility of Mathematical knowledge; since, for the complete comprehension ofits principles, and a thorough knowledge of its pure and abstract parts especially, nothing less than the utmost intensity of the most severe attention is sufficient. The mental exercise by which these are apprehended and received, is an effort which strains the whole mind into a forgetfulness of every thing but its own pure abstractions, and renders it for the moment incapable of the slightest effort of attention to any other subject. As one consequence of this previous mental subjection to discipline of this kind, the mind acquires a readier power of yielding close and undivided attention to whatever subject may afterwards present itself. And if success in the investigation or pursuit of knowledge depends at all, as it certainly does very greatly, on the steadiness of the attention which is paid to it, the mind accustomed to such discipline will apply itself to study of any kind under circumstances of increased advantage. The mind is further assisted by these studies, as it is trained thereby to a correct method of induction; and the reasoning powers are prepared for a regular and logical investigation of any questions upon other subjects, which may come before them. In this way, the advantage of previous habituation to the discipline of the Mathematics, will be found in the study of ethics and divinity, and in the consideration of all questions, in which it is possible, by a process of argument 3 C |