sors. ing in extremes the human mind passes by an easy transition from scepticism to credulity, and, in a philosophy which still counts its victims, speculation has rushed from a world wholly without matter to a world wholly material. If it be true that the mechanical pressure of a human finger upon an inch of human cuticle, propagated, it may be, through an inch of bone, and pressed upon an inch of the mental organ, can excite emotions of piety, and awake expressions of devotion-thus mechanically summoning into activity the noblest func tions of the soul-then is that soul but an aggregate of dust-a lump of kneaded clay, which shall die at man's death and crumble at his dissolution. But though the soul is thus reduced from a spiritual to a material condition, it is said to acquire, in its humiliation, powers almost divine, and with which the enemies of materialism never dared to invest it. Under the mesmeric influence new senses are supposed to be imparted. The patient sees beyond the range of the telescope, and hears when the vi. brations of the air have ceased. He tastes with the palate of his master, moves with his muscles, and thinks with his faculties. He tells the nature of his own diseases although no physician, and foretels future events without being a prophet; and then, by a wave of the hand, this type of an imperfect divinity starts from his trance and again becomes mortal, unconscious of the supernatural powers he has wielded, and of the miraculous feats which he has performed. follow it with straining eye until it is eclipsed in the darkness and superstition of the middle ages, we glory in its revival amid the congenial gleams of literature and science, and we pursue it through all the lights and shadows of modern controversy till our labouring reason abandons the pursuit amid the cloud-capped metaphysics of the German school. In this survey of its own powers the mind is bewildered with conflicting opinions;-the truths of one age are found to be the errors of the next, the lights of one school become the beacons of another; and amid the mass of ingenious speculation, and the array of ambiguous facts to which the inductive process can scarcely be applied, we seek in vain for distinct propositions and general laws. Even in that department of it which relates to the functions and indications of the senses, and where physical sciences come powerfully to its aid, there is but little harmony among the opinions of our most distinguished metaphysicians, and many of those points which Reid and Stewart were supposed to have established have been keenly and ingeniously assailed by their succesBut however diverse and antagonistic have been the views of metaphysicians on some of the most fundamental points of the science, there is one on which they have been fatally agreed the celebrated speculation of Bishop Berkeley, that the eye gives us no knowledge of distance, and that vision informs us only of the colour, not of the form of objects. The incapacity of touch and of the other senses to instruct us respecting external things was In making these observations, my obdeduced by the same process of reason- ject is to guard you against a too easy ing, and the material world was struck reception of opinions which stand in diout of existence. In the speculations of rect conflict with reason, and which it Hume the world of mind equally disap- therefore requires a very peculiar kind peared, and man was thus left a visionary of evidence to establish. The study of in the infinitude of space, where the the mind in its abnormal phases is, world which he saw was an illusion, doubtless, one of deep interest, and if and the life which he spent was a dream. conducted with a cautious spirit, and unThe theory of vision, of which this was the der a due distrust of the marvellous, it issue, though the very basis of scepticism, may lead to new and even valuable was substantially maintained by Reid, results. The influence of the soul over Adam Smith, Stewart, and Brown; and the body, and the power of the mind it was only recently that optical science over the actions and sensations, have furnished us with the means of its been already made known in this city complete refutation. It was by an arrow under the ill-chosen name of Electrostolen from the quiver of science that Biology, and there can be no doubt of truth suffered in the contest. It is by the phenomena which had been thus a lance forged from the same steel that exhibited. Some of the most distinguishthe gigantic heresy has fallen. Delighted physiologists have now admitted their soon truth, and from conversations I have colour which gives its azure to the sky, recently had with two of our most emi- its verdure to the fields, its rainbow hues nent physicians-Sir Benjamin Brodie to the gay world of flowers and the and Dr Holland—I have no doubt that purple light of love' to the marble cheek these extraordinary facts will yet be re- of youth and beauty." Sir David Brewster ferred to some general principle which then described the distance, size, and has hitherto eluded the search of the revolution of the sun, and then of the metaphysician and the physiologist. planets in regular order-from the effulFrom the cloudy horizon of metaphysics gent orb of day, to that almost cimmerian we pass to a lighter region to take a twilight, where Phoebus could scarcely view of the planetary system to which see to guide his steeds-particularly we belong, and in whose past history noticing that planet in dissevered orbits, and future fate we have the deepest in- of which thirteen fragments had been terest. No science is better fitted than discovered, and which warned the astron this to be made the leading subject of omers of other worlds that a similar general instruction. The truths which fate might await it. He then alluded to it reveals are so startling, and apparently the comets and their mysterious occupaso far beyond the reach of human intel. tion and purpose. Some of them, he said, ligence, that men of high literary nume had passed near the earth, and others have confessed their inability to believe may pass still nearer; but even if they them. There are few indeed, we fear, should not produce those tremendous who really believe that they sojourn on effects which Laplace had indicated, and a whirling globe, and that each day and if their great rarity and rapid motion year of life is measured by its revolu- should prevent their acting on our seas, tions; there are few who believe that or changing the axis of our globe, a the great luminary of the firmament, sweep of their train of gas or of vapour whose restless activity they daily witness, would not be a pleasing salutation to is an immovable star, controlling by human beings. The greatest distance of its solid mass the primary planets of our the most distant comet ever discovered system, and forming, as it were, the gno- fell short by nine millions of millions of mon of the dial which measures the miles of the distance of Centauri, the thread of the life and the tenure of em- nearest fixed star; and, in the vast unpires; fewer still believe that each of tenanted region which lies detween that the millions of stars-those atoms of star and the orbit of Neptune, the light which the telescope can scarcely movements of the 600 or 700 comets descry-are the centres of planetary sys- that had been discovered must be chiefly tems that equal or surpass our own; executed. Sir David then took a brief and we could almost count the small survey of the sidereal expanse, referring number who believe that the solid pave- to the recent discovery of the nebula ment of the globe upon which we night. being clusters of fixed stars, and to the ly slumber is an elastic crust, imprison- speculation that the whole stellar uniing fires and forces which have often verse revolves round some unknown burst forth in tremendous energy, and centre. He then successively referred are at this very instant struggling to es- to physical geography, zoology, botany, cape-now finding an outlet in volcanic mineralogy, and geology as subjects of fires-now heaving and shaking the popular instruction, and adverted to the earth-now upraising islands and conti- labours of Linnæus, Buffon, and Cuvier nents, and gathering strength, perhaps, in raising natural history to its true for some final outburst which may shat- place among the sciences. He next ter our earth to pieces, or change its alluded to some of the most remarkable form, or scatter its waters over the land. discoveries in fossil-geology by EhrenYet these are truths than which there is berg; Dr. Duncan of Ruthwell, Dr Bucknothing truer, and nothing more worthy land, Professor Hitchcock of America, of our study. In surveying the bodies and others, as illustrative of Cuvier's of our system, the first and grandest speculation, that as the species of aniobject that arrests our attention is the mals which formerly inhabited the earth glorious sun-the centre and soul of have been destroyed by sudden catasour system-the lamp that lights it-trophes and replaced by others, and that the fire that heats it-the magnet that the present race was perhaps the fourth guides and controls it-the fountain of in progression. After remarking on the great importance of fossil-geology in, connection with natural theology, Sir David concluded his lecture by saying"The great convulsions of our globe, the dislocation of its strata, the upheaving of its molten bowels, and the entomb. ment of successive generations of its living occupants, were events which man could neither have witnessed nor recorded. The tranquil deluge of the Scriptures could not have shattered the solid framework of the globe, nor hurt its adamantine pavement. These were the effects of successive revolutions, extending far beyond the period of his occupancy; and in tracing the remains of organic life, from the most recent to the most ancient formations, we learn the humbling lesson that the whole duration of human society, lengthened as it appears to us, is scarcely a unit in that extended chronology which acknowledges no beginning save that in which 'God created the heavens and the earth." There is something unclean, he went on to say, about animal bodies, which deters all but professional men from their study, but with fossil skeletons nothing mortal has the least association. Time has invested them with a hallowed and mystic aspect. The green waves have washed them in their coral bed, and after ages of ablution in a tempestous ocean, the ordeal of a central fire has completed their purification. The bones and the integuments, and the meanest products of animal life, have thus become sainted relics, which the most sensitive may handle, and the most delicate may prize. Thus ennobled in its character, the natural theology of animal remains appeals forcibly to the mind even when we regard them only as insulated structures dislodged from the interior of the earth; but when we view them in reference to the physical history of the globe, and consider them as the individual beings of that series of creations which the Almighty has successively extinguished and successively renewed, they acquire an importance above that of all other objects of secular inquiry. The celestial creations, imposing though they be in magnitude, do not equal them in interest. It is only with life and its associations-with life that has been, and with life that is to be, that human sympathies are indissolubly enchained. It is beside the grave alone, or when bending over its victims, that man thinks wisely, and feels righteously. When ranging, therefore, among the cem. eteries of primeval death, the extinction and the renewal of life are continually pressed upon his notice. Among the prostrate relics of a once breathing world, he reads the lesson of his own mortality, and in the new forms of being which have marked the commencement of each succeeding cycle, he recognises the life-giving hand by which the elements of his own mouldered frame are to be purified and re-combined. OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. No. 1. ADDRESS TO YOUNG CHRIS- he quickened who were dead in tres TIANS. BY REV. J. H. RUTHERFORD. MY BELOVED FRIENDS,-Unspeakably solemn and critical and interesting is your present position. By the Holy Spirit you have been convinced of sin. Your whole life has been rebellion against God, your previous character has been moulded under the influence of the Prince of Darkness, you were living with out God in the world, you were the children of wrath even as others. From this appalling condition, by the grace of God, you have been delivered. "You hath passes and sins." Delivered from the fearful condemnation which you so justly deserve, raised from the horrible pit and miry clay into which you had sunk, introduced into the glorious freedom of the gospel, ushered into the light of God's countenance, adopted into God's family, it becometh you to sing the new song of praise to the Author of your salvation"Thou art worthy; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." Remember, it is marvellous, matchless grace alone that maketh you to differ from your past self, and from thousands around you who are still thronging the broad road that leadeth to destruction. "For we our selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Well may you adore the wisdom and the love which have saved your perishing soul. You have infinite reasons for glorying in the Lord. But for the Divine Father no scheme had ever been devised for your salvation, no provision had ever been made for the restoration of your soul to his holy image, no way had ever been opened up for your return to the enjoyment of his heavenly smile. But for the Divine Son there had been no atonement for your guilt, no reason for your acceptance at God's bar, no rest, no peace, no heaven for your soul. But for the Divine Spirit the glorious intelligence of the Saviour's death for your sins, and resurrection for your justification, had never reached your ears, the conviction of your guilt and danger had never oppressed your mind, and your wayward heart had never been won by the blessed Jesus. Your salvation, then from first to last, is of God. To him alone, then, be all the glory! Now that you have been brought to the dear Redeemer, your character is as it were formed anew for eternity. "You put off the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Since you have so recently been brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, your minds are much more impressible than they will ever be again on this side the grave; and hence it is of unspeakable importance that now, under the genial and hallowing influence of the gospel, they should be so mould ed as to bring the purest felicity to yourselves, the greatest good to your fellow-creatures, and the highest glory to God. The tender sapling in the garden may be bent and guided in any direction by the fingers of a child, when all the strength and ingenuity of man cannot bend the gnarled oak, which on the mountain's brow, has borne the blasts of more than a hundred years. Deeply impressed with the importance of your being moulded at once into the Saviour's lovely image, and deeply solicitous for your spiritual welfare, I shall now proceed, looking up for direction and sanction from on high, briefly to point out to you your surest defence, your highest happiness, your first duty, your greatest privilege, your noblest work, your safest position, and your loftiest prospects. 1. Your surest defence. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and are safe." What is that name? It is love. In the hour of calamity, of adversity, of sickness, of bereavement, of desertion, of persecution, think of the unchanging, undecaying love of God to you as manifested in Jesus, and you will find that this is an impregnable stronghold, where no dart can reach_you-where no foe can molest you. Here you are safe in the hollow of His almighty hand, surrounded by the covering wing of his ceaseless care and everlasting friendship. "The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlast. ing arms." Let no terror then seize your frame, let no fears oppress your heart, let not your spirit be disquieted within you; in the name of Jesus you may smile upon, and conquer all your foes. What is that name? Lord our Righteousness," In his obedience to the death in our stead is found the only reason for our acceptance, and the only source of our safety. "He is a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." When the storms of temptation rise-when the billows of suffering roll high-when the fierce tornado of opposition rages, go and hide yourselves in the cleft of the Rock of Ages, in the wounded side of the great Immanuel; there you are as safe as if your feet already trod the golden pavement of the New Jerusalem. "The "O Jesus Christ, our Saviour, We only look to thee; 'Tis in thy love and favour Our souls find liberty. While Satan fiercely rages, And shipwreck oft, we fear, 'Tis this our grief assuages, That Thou art always near. Yes, though the tempest round us Seems safety to defy Though rocks and shoals surround us, And swell the billows high; Thou dost from death protect us, And cheer us by thy love; Thy counsels, too, direct us Safe to the rest above. O, then, how loud the chorus, From all thy grace hath found. Each harp, each lip, shall raise; The praise of our Redeemer Our God and Saviour's praise." 2. Your highest happiness. "All my well springs are in thee, O God." Let this ever be the language of your hearts. You have come to the fountain of living water, and surely you need not again repair to the broken cisterns of worldly enjoyment. From your past experience you may learn how vain, how evanescent, how unsatisfying, are all those objects in which unconverted men are labouring to find pure and solid joy, but without success. When, drinking deeper and sweeter draughts of the water of life-the love of God, as it flows down through the pure channel of the Saviour's death, in perennial and pellucid streams from the throne of the Eternal-you will feel no desire for the vain delights of earth-satisfied with God, you will bid an eternal farewell to every broken cistern. O, make Him alone the treasure and portion of your deathless soul! This treasure will never decay -this portion will never fail. Turn not again to the beggarly elements of this world. Depend not for the continuance of your joy upon any external circumstances-upon ministers or fel low-believers, or even upon the means of grace or the ordinances of religion. Draw it all from God. "Happy Christian! hear him say,— "Thou shalt 3. Your first duty. love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and strength and mind." For Most reasonable requirement! who is so loveable and lovely as that God who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up to the death for you? When the flame of love for a moment flickers in your bosom, look again to the cross of Jesus, and then, though at best weak, it will blaze so brightly that nothing shall be able to quench it. Love to God is not a mere emotion, an excited feeling, a sweet sentimentalism-it is the mind's intelligent preference of God to every other being in the wide universe. It leads to the steady and unhesitating obedience of God's commandments. It is the essence of religion, the fulfilling of the law. It is produced by the knowledge and belief of God's compassion toward us as displayed in sending his son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love him because he first loved us. The perception of the great sacrifice which he has made awakens a mighty response in our minds. Thus is the soul of the believer sweetly constrained to devote all its energies and powers to the service of the God of love. 4. Your greatest privilege. "Pray without ceasing." My beloved friends, we are not asked to stand in the outer court, nor even to present our petitions in the holy place; we are invited and welcome to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, even his flesh." No angel, no archangel, none of the cherubim or seraphim, are more welcome to approach the eternal throne (in the name of Jesus,) than are we, poor guilty worms of the dust. We have an advocate with the Father; then we may draw near with holy boldness. O, then, avail yourselves of this exalted privilege to the very uttermost! Continue to dwell in the secret place of |