"The actual existence of moral evil can be denied by none. He who proves that good preponderates over evil, if his proof be sound, does something perhaps to remove the unfavourable impression with regard to the character of God, which the existence of evil has sometimes produced; but he has done nothing to account for the origin of evil. He who proves that, through the medium of evil, a degree of happiness and perfection is attained, which could not by any other means be reached, may be admitted to have completely reconciled its existence with the perfections of God, but still he has not accounted for its origin. We may not be permitted to open the sealed book, and to answer the question, whence cometh evil? But while it standeth before us in all the undeniable reality of its actual existence, we may be able, with the light of revelation for our guide, to trace it to some of its beneficial results, and to see how, instead of unfitting the creature for the manifestation of the divine perfections, it furnishes the means of a manifestation which never otherwise could have been given." -p. 7. Mr. Dods seems hardly to be aware, that while, in these positions, he has made moral evil necessary to the attainment of good, and ascribed to it beneficial results, he has so far annihilated its character, and changed its nature. Moral evil cannot be the cause of good, without ceasing to sustain the name by which it is distinguished. God may take occasion to work through its instrumentality, but moral evil can never be the real cause of any good whatever. It is a fallacy in argument to contend, that disease should be tolerated, that the skill of medical men may thereby appear to the greater advantage. Moral evil was not necessary in paradise, to furnish Adam with all the blessings which his state required; neither would it have been necessary in heaven, to the consummation of eternal bliss. The benefits resulting from the interposition of divine mercy when man had fallen, was but a remedy to heal the wounds which sin had made. All good is capable of shining by its own inherent lustre, and requires not the agency of moral evil to give it either existence or adventitious brightness. On the great subject of his volume, Mr. Dods has been eminently successful. He has proved it necessary, by irrefragable arguments, that Christ, in his mediatorial character, should be "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." These essential qualifications he has guarded by fortifications which cannot be stormed, and the evidence he has adduced would have been complete, even though he had declined all appeal to the primitive writers of the christian church. That he might not, however, be suspected of advancing sentiments which were unknown in the pure ages of Christianity, he has brought forward the testimonies of the ancient fathers, whose views coincide with his own; and from the whole has accumulated a mass of evidence, which it would be the height of folly either to gainsay or resist. This evidence, however, is chiefly restricted to two points; namely, that neither original nor actual sin was included in the nature of Christ; but beyond these, the force of his reasoning appears with considerable diminution: "If he had no sin, either original or actual, then he was not fallen and sinful, and we draw from his life, and especially from his death, a knowledge of God which we can never exhaust. If he bad either original or actual sin, then indeed he was fallen and sinful, and in this case we can learn no more from his death, than we can learn from that of any other man."-p. 101. The positions contained in the preceding passages, few will be disposed to controvert. Yet it must not be forgotten, that Adam, when created, was an entire stranger both to original and actual sin. Yet even this state of primeval rectitude did not place him beyond the possibility of sinning. On this point we should have been glad if Mr. Dods' arguments had been more energetic, and perspicuously applicable. The momentous question-"Was it within the reach of possibility, that Christ might have yielded to the temptations with which he was assailed, and of thus defeating the purposes of redemption; or was it absolutely impossible?" is one to which we could have wished that the author had given a specific reply, supported by the reasonings and arguments which he is so capable of adducing. Let this awful question be set at rest, and the disputations respecting peccability" and "sinful," used in a "passive" sense, will soon cease to be sufficiently important to demand a volume of nearly six hundred pages. That this work contains a vast fund of valuable matter, on subjects of vital importance to the christian cause, no one, who examines it with attention, can for a moment doubt. The arguments are power. ful, comprehensive, and diversified; yet we cannot divest ourselves of the idea, that its innumerable excellences might have been retained, although the whole had been compressed within a much narrower com REVIEW.-DELIVERANCE OF SWITZERLAND. rences of life. Many others appear in this drama to great advantage; but, as may naturally be expected, the deeds of this patriotic deliverer always shine forth with the greatest lustre. Among the acts of wanton despotism which disgraced the oppressors of the Swiss, the tyrant Gesler had ordered a pole bearing a hat on its summit to be erected as his representative, in the marketplace, to which all who came near it were compelled to do homage. Tell comes to the place, ignorant of the mandate, and, on hearing some mysterious expressions from the townsmen, inquires the meaning, and receives the following information : up there, "Why then, I thus unriddle thee my riddle :- TELL (starting furiously.) "Now, by my father's resting-place I swear, And by the sacred heaven that looks upon us, Having delivered this speech, Tell The choice of instant death, unshrived and sinning, TELL. "Thou purple-mantled tyrant! I accept The name of monster will be written of thee: And when the sun shall tumble from his throne, My murdered boy will rise 'gainst thee in wrath, GESLER. "No doubt, good moralizer, wert thou judge! TELL. "Tyrant, I have-I take the trial! "My noble lords, on the third day from this, p. 122. On the arrival of the third day, we are MERTA'S PRAYER. With earthquake or with fire, who only look'st, "As thou didst stay The patriarch's uplifted knife, when poised Nerve, nerve my heart, O heaven! O God! I'll say no more, my heart will burst, TELL. "Count, tyrant, art thou ready? Slave, look to thyself. Inspect his arrow's point, See it be sharp. TELL. Infernal monster! demon! art thea ready? Measure one hundred paces-take this apple, And on the boy's head place it! (The crowd murmur.) GESLER, (fiercely.) Insolents, what mean ye? dare ye murmur? The sun full in his face! TELL (to Werner.) Come hither, boy! they say man cannot look I will do both for thee, father. TELL. Thanks, generous boy, my noble-hearted child, (He embraces him, and seems for a moment deeply convulsed.) 'Tis over, the bitterness of death is past. GESLER. Guards, strike the prisoner's fetters. [Tell takes his place-the boy has the apple laid on his head-Merta and the three younger children fall on their knees; she throws her arms around them, and bows WERNER. Nerve thou my father's arm, O Lord! protect [The arrow flies-the apple is split, a loud shout arises of "He's safe, Merta, our child is safe-the apple's split: The preceding extracts cannot fail to place this dramatic poem in a favourable attitude. The concealed arrow dropping from beneath Tell's mantle, the developments which followed the discovery, the commitment of Tell to prison, his escape, and the death of Gesner, are events both pathetic and interesting. Yet we cannot forbear thinking, that, on the whole, the poem is lengthened out beyond what the materials will fairly justify. Hence, some portions become tedious, and we pass from page to page with scarcely any occurrence to relieve the monotony of the scenes. REVIEW.-A Vindication of the South Sea Missions from the Misrepresentations of Otto Von Kotzebue, Captain in the Russian Navy, with an Appendix. By William Ellis. 8vo. pp. 164. Westley, London. 1831. OTTO VON KOTZEBUE may be a good seaman, and a very able navigator; but if he has not been more successful on the watery element than in his descriptions and historical observations respecting the South Sea Islands, and their inhabitants, it would have been creditable for his reputation if he had slept among the bears of the arctic circle, or had never attempted publicity beyond the boundaries of his native land. As an adventurous voyager, transiently touching at the islands of the Pacific, it was not to be expected that his information could be very extensive; but common prudence might have suggested the propriety of silence on subjects which he could not accurately examine, nor, perhaps, fully comprehend. Unfortunately, however, for his reputation as an author, he has neglected that salutary caution, and committed himself, not only on topics im mediately connected with the missionaries, Von Kotzebue's work having been translated into English, some of our leading journals readily availed themselves of his unfriendly remarks on the labours of the missionaries; and, without questioning the truth of his statements, exulted in the discovery, that the natives had rather been injured than benefited by the introduction of Christianity among them. This book, and these exultations, falling into the hands of Mr. William Ellis, who had been a resident in these islands nearly ten years, were examined by him with much surprise; and the result is, the appearance of the "Vindication" now before us. In this work, he follows Mr. Kotzebue through his numerous allegations, and adduces an overwhelming multiplicity of instances to prove that, as an author, he is unworthy of credit, and that those who have praised his production, have done so at the expense either of their integrity or their understanding. A few references will fully illustrate these assertions. In Von Kotzebue's map of Matavai village and bay, Port Papeite and Motunta when, in fact, both these places are situated are placed to the eastward of Point Venus, seven miles to the south-west! variably present a remarkable phenomenon. The tides in this part of the Pacific inAt noon and midnight it is always highwater; and at six in the morning, and at six in the evening, the tides are at their lowest ebb. With a circumstance so very peculiar, it would be natural to suppose that every circumnavigator would be intimately acquainted; yet, on this curious fact, Von Kotzebue observes as follows highest, and falls with the sinking sun till midnight." "Every noon, the whole year round, at the moment the sun touches the meridian, the water is From this assertion it would appear, that these islands have only one tide in twentyfour hours, which all who have visited them know is not the case. On this fact, Mr. Ellis makes the following observations— "Kotzebue must have paid little attention to the tides, for, instead of continuing from noon to fall with the sinking sun till midnight,' after six o'clock in the evening they rise, and continue rising till midnight; so that, instead of being highest at noon and lowest at midnight, the whole year round,' the tide is highest at both these times, and lowest about sunrise and sunset every day. So uniform and wellunderstood is this ebb and flow of the sea, that, throughout the islands, during the whole year, the time between evening twilight, and midnight, is designated by a term expressive of its advancing height; and the hours from midnight to the appearance of the morning star, are distinguished by terms descriptive of a corresponding fact."-p. 7. Von Kotzebue asserts "Here are neither ants, musquitoes, nor any of the tormenting insects so common in tropical climates; no destructive worm nor serpent; even the scorpion, of which a small sort is to be met with, loses its poison,' On this, Mr. Ellis has the following re marks Centipedes are large and numerous, and their bite often occasions swelling and pain. How Kotzebue could remain in Tahiti from the 14th to the 24th of March, and frequently on shore, without discovering the myriads of musquitoes and ants that swarm in every place, it is not easy to imagine. Few visitors remain a day on shore without the greatest annoyance from both. So numerous are the ants, that the resident foreigners can only secure their food by having the place, on which it is deposited, surrounded by water."-p. 8. On the manners, customs, and general character of the inhabitants, Von Kotzebue is equally unfortunate; and the numerous instances in which he has been detected, throw an atmosphere of suspicion over other portions of his work, in which it is possible his statements may be correct. It is, however, in the missionary department that he appears to the greatest disadvantage, and here Mr. Ellis enjoys an unmolested triumph. But we cannot follow him in his victorious march. This, to every reader who wishes success to the missionary cause, will appear in every page, on a perusal of the Vindication. We must conclude, by observing, that a more complete refutation of glaring error, deviations from truth, and of misrepresented facts, has not been presented to the public for many years. THIS is not a life of adventure, of exploit, of incident; of hazard and escape, but the personal history of a pious minister of the gospel, active and zealous in his Master's cause, and remarkably useful in his day and generation, to multitudes who were favoured with his ministry. A considerable portion of this volume is composed of extracts from Mr. Charles's diary, in which he delineates, with much plainness and simplicity, the commencement and progress of his serious impressions, the dealings of God with his soul, and his call to the ministerial work. No one who peruses these extracts, can, for a moment, doubt the sincerity of Mr. Charles. Fidelity appears in every sentence; and all his letters bear testimony to the consistency of his character. The whole volume is a body of christian experience and practice, in which he instructs by precept and example; and both private individuals, and those who fill public stations, may find in its pages much that is worthy of imitation. So far as the biographical sketch has been given by Mr. Morgan, from his own resources, the character of his friend is placed in an equally amiable light, Towards his latter days, Mr. Charles seemed prepared to leave the world, and to be ripening for glory. The account of his death is pleasing and highly satisfactory. He appears to have met the last enemy with calmness and christian fortitude, and to have expired in the full assurance of faith. The lives of such men are deservedly recorded, for it is to these that we are indebted for nearly all that is experimentally and practically valuable in christian biography. REVIEW.-No Fiction, a Narrative founded on recent and interesting Facts. By Andrew Reed. 12mo. pp. 440. Westley and Davis, London. 1831. FOR a considerable time this work appeared without its author's name, and obtained a very extensive circulation. To this, the interesting occurrences detailed in the narrative, and its title of "No Fiction," most essentially contributed. At length the Lefevre of the tale, provoked at the unwarrantable liberties taken with his character and conduct, on finding himself an object of notoriety within a large circle of his own and of the author's acquaintance, broke from his cerement, avowed his name to be Francis Barnett, published a memoir of his life, drew the veil from "No Fiction," and exposed the nakedness of the land. No Fiction having thus been discovered to be far more fictitious than its author had taught the public to believe, soon lost a considerable portion of the reputation it had gained, and fell at once full fifty per cent. in the estimation of all who had been captivated with "No Fiction, a narrative founded on recent and interesting facts." Independently, however, of the question, whether FACT or FICTION be the predominant feature in this work, all must allow that it possesses more than an ordinary share of merit, and displays the author's talents to great advantage. In each department the character is well sustained; the digressions are diversified and appropriate, and, throughout the whole, the interest that was first excited, is kept alive, and rendered powerfully attractive. The fresh made corpse, and kissed its bloody brow, -p. 38. At the same time, every thing is so highly And, looking up to heaven, exclaimed, 'My son !'" seasoned, that we look in vain into actual life for the originals, of which we here behold the pictures. Hence, in many respects, the characters are ideal, or existing only in the land of Utopia. Douglas, contrasted with Lefevre, shines with more than common lustre; while Lefevre is compelled to wear an artificial garb, that his rival friend may appear in more exquisite trim. As a religious novel, this cannot fail to command the approbation of all who value such compositions; and, if it had never aspired to any more exalted title, it would have secur. ed a reputation which, being lost through detection, and although it has reached the eighth edition, it will never be able to recover. REVIEW.-Portraits of the Dead, and other Poems. By H. C. Deakins. 12mo. pp. 328. Smith, Elder, & Co. London. 1831. THE Portraits of the Dead, which are twelve in number, occupy about two hundred pages the miscellaneous poems are eighteen, and fill the remaining portion of the volume. Of the former, some are personal, and others are only true to character; but the latter are more diversified, though they all partake of pensiveness and solemnity. All, however, derive some portion of their hues from the colouring of the poet, but we are not aware that he has in any case committed an unpardonable outrage on nature. The following passage from Bertram Morrison, the mutineer, led to execution, may be considered as a fair sample of these compositions : "Now pause they in their march, and slowly form As if within the orbed sight alone Oh what a shriek Rent the blue welkin, when the crashing tubes No one can doubt that the occasion chosen for these lines is essentially pathetic; but it must also be admitted, that Mr. Deakins has well known how to make it the vehicle of much exquisite poetical feeling. The death of the culprit, the shriek of an undescribed friend, the silence which instantly ensues, and the exclamation of "My son," from an "old gray-haired man," are finely conceived, and admirably expressed, in the eloquence of brevity. This volume will be found well worthy the attention of all who love to inhale the atmosphere of Parnassus. REVIEW.-Divines of the Church of THIS is a continuation of several volumes, The republication of the discourses which fill these volumes, is a tribute of respect due to the memory of their authors. They carry us back to days when, among our divines of the established church, there were giants in the earth; and the re-appearance of that piety, learning, and acuteness with which they abound, may serve to stimulate by example the ecclesiastics of modern times. Dr. Barrow was an honour to the age in which he lived, and Mr. Valpy has transferred a valuable portion of his fame to the present, by bringing his works again before the public in this new edition. REVIEW.-Epitome of English Literature 427. THE name of Locke is a passport for a book to any valuable library throughout the world; and, as a natural consequence, his "Essay on the Human Understanding," from which that name derived its reputation, can never need either development or recommendation. This work, in a condensed form, Mr. Valpy now presents to the public at a low price, and, unless the age has greatly degenerated, it cannot fail to command an extensive circulation. |