the appetite was soon improved, and after a while greatly increased -the cravings for spirits gradually subsided; and after some time had elapsed, they acknowledged an improvement in their feelings, increase of bodily strength, and vigour of mind. These facts, it is hoped, will have an influence in correcting a very general mistake, that the peculiar diseases of drunkards, are liable to come on suddenly, if spirits are suddenly abandoned." But ardent spirits are, at least, an antidote against severe cold? The use of ardent spirits for such a purpose, reminds one of the slothful man in mid-winter, who burns the flooring and roofing of his hut, in order to warm himself! While the unnatural excitement produced by ardent spirits continues, the system is less sensible of cold, though perhaps not less affected; but at best, the excitement very soon subsides, and leaves the individual more debilitated, and more liable to the cold than before. In numerous instances it has been found, that those who practice entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits, are able to endure more intense cold and for a longer time, than any other class of persons. I shall not repeat those cases already well known, but mention one or two which have not yet been made publick. A gentleman of this city informed me, that a vessel which he commanded, about 20 years ago, was wrecked on the coast of Nova Zembla, during severely cold weather, and the only members of the crew who remained uninjured by the frost, were three who never used ardent spirits. A "Coaster" was wrecked on Cape May a number of years ago, during very cold weather. The crew were frozen to death, with the exception of three, and these were found to be the only persons on board, who had abstained from the use of ardent spirits. Of this I was informed, on the authority of a very respectable old gentleman, who was present at the time. If then the moderate use of ardent spirits be a dangerous practicedangerous to ourselves, dangerous in its influence on a world predisposed to sin and ruin: If it be an unnecessary practice to our being, or even to our well-being; not serviceable against cold, or heat, or fatigue, or disease-we leave it with every one who pretends to "fear God and work righteousness," to decide for himself, how he can ac quit himself of guilt, in sanctioning this pernicious custom. EXTRACT FROM THE SPEECH OF THE The speech from which the fol "I look to the disciples as they were as sembled to wait for the outpouring of the Spirit, which was the promise of the Sa viour. At that period, the whole church might have been numbered by a child, and the place they occupied might have been measured by inches. In obedience to the command of God, they went forth without wealth, without worldly connex. ions-and the idols of the nations, the philosophy of Greece and Rome, the prejudices and antipathies of the human heart, and the opposition of the most powerful empire that was ever establish ed upon earth, bowed down before them. Paganism was once the prevailing religion of Europe, and of the land in which we live. It was once in as full possession of the high places and strong holds of this country, as it now is of Africa, of India, and of China. It was successively attacked and conquered by the arms of divine truth, and the weapons of our warfare have lost none of their heavenly temper: they are, through God, as mighty as ever to the pulling down of strong holds and of every thing that exalteth itself against his power. Ε "The genius of Christianity, which is from God, like the solar fire, moves, in a sphere of its own, far above earthly things, while it penetrates our mundane elements, without being contaminated by them; it gives beauty and loveliness to every object and to every scene, to which it imparts its life-giving energies, and over which it pours its celestial radiance. It has been said by philosophers, that so admirably is the earth balanced, that were but a fly to alight upon it from another sphere, its motion would be disturbed, We know, that every thing is affected, when once touched by the spirit of Christianity. It touches the heart of the proud man, and he becomes humble as a little child; it touches the heart of the sensualist, and he becomes pure and heavenly; it touches the affections of the covetous, and he becomes liberal: it touches the hearts of the revengeful and the malicious, and they become forgiving and loving: it Etouches the chains of caste, and they melt; it touches the idols of the heathen and they fall to the ground, like Dagon before the ark of God; it throws its light upon the atmosphere of the regions of idolatry, and the lurid glare of superstition is dissolved; it touches the fetters of the slave, and they fall off; it touches the ruthless despotisms of the earth, and at its touch, they wither; it touches the hearts of savages, and they take their places among civilized men; it sends down its fructify. ing showers on the barren wilderness, and it blossoms like the rose; it smiles upon the desert, and the inhabitants of the rock, the wandering bushmen sing for joy and shout from the tops of their mountains; it touches the hearts of our senators, and a Wilberforce and a Buxton are raised up, to interest a generous nation in Africa's wrongs; it touches the hearts of our statesmen, and they stretch the shield of their protection over the defenceless and the oppressed; it touches the heart of the philanthropist, and the prisons are visited, the depressed are raised, the neglected are remembered, the wounds of the broken-hearted are bound up, the vicious are reclaimed, and the prodigal son is restored. It touches the heart of the Missionary, and he goes forth, forsaking country, friends, and ease, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ -to tell them that sin is atoned for, that death is abolished, that God is in Christ reconciling guilty men to himself, and that the kingdom of heaven is now open to all who believe. It touches the hearts of a few individuals in Manchester or in London, and the standard of contribution is elevated, our exhausted treasury is replenished, and from the confluence of a thousand streams, the tide of Christian benevolence rolls its fertilizing waters over the parched earth. It, like the Divine Spirit at the creation of the world, now sits brooding on the moral chaos, placing the lamp God has ordained for his Anointed, in the firmament of the church, dividing and dispersing the waters of life over the whole face of the globe, clothing with moral verdure the ground, before prolifick in nothing but crimes, and preparing the earth for that period, when men shall be restored to the image of their Maker, and when the great Creator shall again pronounce all his works to be good, and the angels shall again shout for joy, and all the creation shall take up the song-Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"" Review. CHRISTIAN CHARITY EXPLAINED; or the Influence of Religion upon Temper stated; in an Exposition of the thirteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. By John Angell James, author of the Christian Father's Present, &c. pp. 283. New York. THE FAMILY MONITOR; or Guide to Domestick Happiness. By the same. It has long been a subject of regret, that we are in possession of so few works on practical piety. While science and literature have engaged in their cause the most gifted of our race, and religious controversy has employed an amount of talent and erudition truly amazing, devotion, of all subjects the most important, has seldom engaged the attention of vigorous minds, and hence we have but few works, the tone of whose piety, and the excellence of whose execution, render them worthy of extensive circulation and repeated perusal. The qualifications necessary to the production of such works, seems not to have been understood. That vigour of mind, clearness of thought, a knowledge of human nature and Christian experience rarely to be found, are requisite, seems never to have occurred to the higher order of pious minds; otherwise, they would not have left this task to men whose piety we may reverence, but whose mental endowments we cannot admire. These have produced volumes, excellent indeed, as to their spirit and design, but limited, if not sometimes unpropitious in their influence, on account of the faultiness of their execution. We fear they have increased the disinclination of men of cultivated minds to the religion of the heart. We believe indeed that the opposition of human nature to the self-denying truths of the gospel is such, that no method of presentation can insure them a cordial reception; yet when these truths are presented in a manner in some degree worthy of their excellence, they will command respect, will cause their moral beauty to be felt, will soften prejudice, and overcome, at least open and active opposition to religion, and the benevolent enterprises it awakens. Again, we fear that among the pious, it has hindered the progress of the human mind. The reading of the ardently pious is often confined almost entirely to practical works. Now, if these are the productions of interiør minds, of minds incapable of exciting a desire of knowieege, of fathoming the human heart, of ascending to "wide and all reconciling views of God and his works,” their influence must be to check, rather than to accelerate the development of mind. The effect of this, in diminishing both enjoyment and usefulness, is apparent, For the greater our thirst for knowlevige, the more extensive our 20quaintance with the words of matfer avel vt mind, the more expied, will de our concessions of Derry, and the more deep and thrining our gratitude and love. In every object in nature-in the flower that blooms at our feet, and the stars that glitter in the firmament, in the softness of the breezes of summer, and in the majesty of the winter storm, we behold the hand of Hi who created all things by the word of his power, and who crowneth our lives with loving kindness and ten der mercy. Hence, a "Deity be loved" is ever present to us; and the tendency of this to increase our en joyment, need not be enlarged on. The same mental expansion that so much promotes our happiness, promotes also our usefulness. We can take more extended views of human suffering, and are prepared to form more comprehensive and efficient plans for its relief, and for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. The reason why men of powerful minds have accomplished so little is, that they were in advance of the age. The friends of the cause they were engaged in, could not look far enough inte futurity to enter into their views. From these remarks, we see what reason we have to regret, that any cause connected with religion should have operated to check that en largement of mind, which affords the means of so much happiness and usefulness. It also teaches us duly to prize an author pos sessed of the qualifications requisite to the production of a quickening work, for such we deem the va lume before us. Mr. James is probably known to many of our readers, by bis Christian Father's Present," 1 little work of singular excellence; but we hope be will be known to many more by his "Christian Chirity." It is a subject on which we mist needed a treause. No duty is more strongly enjoined in the scriptures than charity or love, yet there is nobe we are more prone to ne glect. Peco'urly are we hable to De so new, that Christians are di vided into sects, and when there is in much zeal and activity in the enterprises of the day. There is great danger lest the cardinal virtues of humility and love should be forgotten, amid the excitement of publick exertion. Our author, after noticing the occasion of Paul's description and enforcement of Christian charity, its nature and indispensable necessity, proceeds to dwell separately on its properties, as enumerated in the chapter which forms the subject of the work. Throughout, there is exhibited a warmth of devotion, a purity of taste, a justness of thought, and a simplicity and elegance of style, which renders it a fit companion for every Christian, of whatever degree of mental cultivation he may be possessed. We will extract a few such passages as may give a fair specimen of the style of execution. Speaking of the danger of being deceived in regard to our piety, he writes "To be led on by the power of delusion, so far as to commit an error of consequence to our temporal interests -to have impaired our health, our reputation, or our property, is sufficiently painful, especially where there is no prospect, or but a faint one, of repairing the mischief: yet, in this case, religion opens a balm for the wounded spirit, and eternity presents a prospect, where the sorrows of time will be forgotten. But, oh! to be in error on the nature of religion itself, and to build our hopes of immortality upon the sand instead of the rock; to see the lamp of our deceitful profession, which had served to amuse us in life, and even to guide us in false peace through the dark valley of the shadow of death, suddenly extinguished as we cross the threshold of eternity, and leaving us amidst the darkness of rayless, endless night, instead of quietly expiring amidst the blaze of everlasting day! Is such a delusion possible! Has it ever happened in one solitary instance! Do the annals of the unseen world record one such case, and the prison of lost souls contain one miserable spirit that perished by delusion! Then what deep solicitude ought the possibility of such an event to circulate through the hearts of all, to avoid the error of a self-deceived mind? Is it possible to be mistaken in our judgment of our state? Then how deeply anxious ought we all to feel, not to be led by false criteria in forming our decision. But what, if, instead of one case, millions should have occurred, of souls irrevocably lost by self deception! What if delusion should be the most crowded avenue to the bottomless pit! How shall we explain, much more justify, that want of anxiety about their everlasting welfare-that destitution of care to examine into the nature and evidences of true piety-that willingness to be impo-ed upon, in reference to eternity, which many exhibit!-pp. 39, 40. Speaking of the grounds on which some rest their hope he says-"It is certain, that more importance is oftentimes attached to 'sensible enjoyment,' as it is called-to lively frames and feelings-than belongs to them. There is a great variety in the constitution of the human mind, not only as it respects the power of thinking, but also of feeling: some feel far more acutely than others; this is observable, separate and apart from godliness. The grace of God in conversion, operates a moral, not a physical change; it gives a new direction to the faculties, but leaves the faculties themselves as they were; consequently, with equal depth of conviction, and equal strength of principle, there will be various degrees of feeling, in different persons: the susceptibility of the mind to impression, and its liability to vivid feeling, were there before conversion, and they remain after it; and oftentimes the lively emotion produced by affecting scenes, or seasons, or sermons, is partly an operation of nature, and partly of grace. A man may feel but little, and yet, if that little lead him to do much, it is great piety notwithstanding. Of two persons who listen to an affecting tale, one is seen to weep profusely, and is overwhelmed by the story; the other is attentive and thoughtful, but neither weeps nor sobs. They retire: the former, perhaps, to wipe her tears, and to forget the misery which caused them; the latter to seek out the sufferer, and relieve him. Which had most feeling? the former. Which most benevolence? the latter. The con'duct of one was the result of nature, that of the other the effect of principle.”—p. 44. The following are his remarks, at the close of the section on the kindness of love." What a fascinating character is the man of distinguished kindness! he is invested with indescribable loveliness: he may not have the glory in which the patriot, the hero, or the martyr is enshrined; but he is adorned in no common degree with the beauties of holiness. He carries about with him the majesty of goodness, if not the dominion of greatness. The light of his countenance is the warm sunshine, to which the spirits of grief repair from their dark retreats, to bask in its glow; and his gentle words are like soft melody, to chase away the evil thoughts from the bosom of melancholy, and to hush to peace the troubled reflections of the distempered mind. As he moves along his career, distributing the unexpensive but efficient expressions of his regard, it is amidst the blessings of those that are ready to perish, and the notes of the widow's heart, which he has turned to joy. When he comes unexpectedly into the company of his friends, every countenance puts on the appearance of complacency, and it appears as if a good genius had come among them to bless the party; as he looks round on the circle, with the smile of beneficence that has found an abiding place on his brow, he presents the brightest resemblance to be found in our sel fish world, of the entrance of the Saviour among his disciples, when he said, Peace be unto you,' and breathed upon them the Holy Ghost." The above, we think, afford a fair specimen of our author's manner. We earnestly recommend to our readers the perusal of the whole work, and the practice of the duties it treats of. Peculiarly important at this time is it, that the friends of religion should exhibit to the world the graces of Christian love. Though infidelity has as yet made but little open opposition, yet it exists in our country to a greater extent than is generally imagined, and will, ere long, appear in a manner which few are prepared to conceive of How necessary, then, that the reality of religion should be attested by the lives of its professors. On this subject, let us listen our author. "Christians, the cha racter of religion is entrusted to our keeping, and we are continually defaming it, or raising its reputation; and are either betraying it into the hands of our enemies, or conciliating their esteem towards it. It is high time for us to be more aware of our responsibility; high time for us to consider that we are perpetually em ployed, in increasing or diminishing the ignominy of the cross. The good conduct of professors is a converting ordinance, and an edifying one too. 'Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify God your heavenly Father, Shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.' How? Not by an attachment to doctrine merely no, the light of truth will do nothing with out the light of love. A fiery zeal for truth, unaccompanied by love, is the meteor that misleads, or the lightning that kills, or the eruption that overwhelms or consumes; all of which men are afraid of, and retire from: but a zeal for truth, |