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Conusels to the Young.

Ir is astonishing how much knowledge may be acquired by the steady application of only a few minutes a-day. The celebrated Chancellor D'Aguesseau, one of the great jurists of France, is said to have written one of his most elaborate and learned works in the daily quarters of an hour, while he was waiting in the drawing-room to conduct his wife to dinner. In order to acquire even a large stock of learning, it is not necessary for a man to deprive himself of a proper amount of sleep and exercise, or to exclude himself from society and the company of his friends; but it is necessary for him eagerly to seize and diligently improve every moment of time.-Dr. Wm. Smith.

My maxims are, never to begin a book without finishing it; never to consider it finished without knowing it; and to study with a whole mind.—Thomas Fowell Buxton.

IF you seriously resolve to be energetic and industrious, depend upon it you will for your whole life have reason to rejoice that you were wise enough to form and act upon that determination.—Mrs. Buxton.

I HOLD as doctrine, to which I owe, not much indeed, but all the little success I ever had; viz., that with ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable.-T. F. Buxton.

BETTER blunder than do nothing.-T. T. Lynch.

MODESTY in your discourse will give a lustre to truth, and an excuse to your

error.

NOTHING is more beautiful in the world of morals than the great man in talents, who is the little child in religion.-Joseph John Gurney.

WHATSOEVER thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for THERE IS NO WORK OR DEVICE IN THE GRAVE WHITHER THOU GOEST.-Ecclesiastes.

Things Old and New.

POSITION OF THE BIBLE.-The place which the Bible occupies in the history of the world knows no parallel. As a system of objective truth for a fallen race, it admits of no improvement, and of no increase. There are no heights nor depths, no lengths nor breadths which are not already included in it. Of self-advance it can know nothing: it is already at the goal; its only grief is that man will not follow. All his wanderings it has foreseen; all its emergencies provided for. Its scheme was laid at the first on the calculation of every element in man's nature, and of every combination and development of which those elements admit. Holding in its hand the key of every moral difficulty, and having its finger on every spring of human improvement, its march through time has been marked by a train of blessings. Silently as the light it comes, and the darkness of ages flees before it. With the majesty of law it comes, and the anarchy of evil subsides into order and peace. It comes as an angel of mercy, bringing to all that receive it self-restoration, and restoration to God, and an undying zeal for the restoration of others. There is no form of guilt which it has not vanquished, no intensity of anguish which it has not assuaged. And still it awaits each succeeding generation on a higher level, and at a new starting-point, beckoning the way to unattained heights of knowledge and excellence. And its achievements attest alike its divinity and its truth.— Dr. Harris.

ON EDUCATION.-I find sometimes, that new places do not always bring new thoughts, sometimes they only intensify those which we have thought before. My mind went back to what is held by many persons to be a most prosaic subject—namely, education. And I thought how education, to be of any assured worth, must continue through life. Now, sir, that your education is ended,' exclaims the parent or the guardian, to many a young man whose education, in the highest sense of the word, is now about to begin. This is the mistake that we make, too, about the poor. Reading and writing will not do alone. You might as well prepare for a liberal hospitality by a good apparatus for roasting and boiling, but never putting on any viands, so that the kitchen machinery went on grinding unceasingly, with no contentment to the appetites of the hungry. No! before we shall be able to make much of education, the highest amongst us must take larger views of it, and not suppose that it is a mere definite quantity of cultivation-disposed according to the narrow limits of the fashion of the day. If we saw this clearly, we should not be so anxious to succeed at college, at the bar, in parliament, in literature, or in any mere art and science. We should perceive that there was a certain greatness of nature and acquirement to be aimed at, which we would not sacrifice to any one pursuit, worldly or artistic.-Companions of my Solitude.

THE Consummate hypocrite is not he who conceals vice behind the semblance of virtue, but he who makes the vice which he has no objection to show, a stalking-horse to cover darker and more profitable vice which it is for his will not to hide.-Macaulay.

It is idle to examine these memorable words (the resolution of the House of Commons, declaring the throne vacant in the time of James II.), as we should examine a chapter of Aristotle or of Hobbes. Such words are to be considered, not as words, but as deeds. If they effect that which they are intended to effect they are rational, though they may be contradictory. If they fail of attaining their end they are absurd, though they carry demonstration with them.Ibid.

WHEN Peter was delivered from prison, and knocked at the gate of Mary's house, the damsel who informed the inmates of his arrival was said to be 'mad.' Then they said, 'It is his angel.' And lastly, when they saw him, they were astonished.' So is it generally when great truths are first liberated. They provoke the charge of insanity. Then they are described as mistakes. Then they excite wonder. And, at last, they receive a cordial welcome.-Original.

It has been often remarked that when a stranger enters St. Peter's for the first time, the immediate impression is one of disappointment; the building looks smaller than he expected to find it. So it is with the first sight of mountains; their summits never seem so near the clouds as we had hoped to see them. But a closer acquaintance with these, and with other grand or beautiful objects, convinces us that our first impression arose not from the want of greatness in what we saw, but from a want of comprehensiveness in ourselves to grasp it. What we saw was not all that existed; but all that our untaught glance could master. As we know it better it remains the same, but we rise more nearly to its level; our greater admiration is but the proof that we are become able to appreciate it more truly.-Arnold.

THE nutritive quality is not the only requisite in food; a certain degree of distention of the stomach is required, to enable it to act with its full powers; and it is for this reason hay or straw must be given to horses, as well as corn, in order to supply the necessary bulk.-Whately.

To a man moulding his tastes, affections, will, by the influence upon them of an earnestly cultivated sympathy with God, all scenes furnish instruction, all times are times of communion, all acts are acts of religion. The manners of a courtier cannot be laid aside as soon as he leaves the presence of his sovereign— the life of a Christian cannot be suspended or superseded when no longer engaged in exercises of devotion.-Edward Miall.

THERE is a certain tact, resembling an instinct, which is often wanting to great orators and philosophers, and which is often found in persons who, if judged by their conversation or by their writings, would be pronounced simpletons. Indeed, when a man possesses this tact, it is in some sense an advantage to him that he is destitute of those more showy talents which would make him an object of admiration, of envy, and of fear.-Macaulay.

THUS, too, it (the Scripture) will mark itself as one, by returning visibly in its end upon its beginning. Vast as the course which it has traced, it has been a circle still, and in that most perfect form comes back to the point from whence it started. The heaven, which had disappeared from the earth since the third chapter of Genesis, reappears again in visible manifestation, in the latest chapters of the Revelation. The tree of life, whereof there were but faint reminiscences in all the intermediate time, again stands by the river of the water of life, and again there is no more curse. Even the very differences of the forms under which the heavenly kingdom reappears are deeply characteristic, marking as they do not merely that all is won back, but won back in a more glorious shape than that in which it was lost, because won back in the Son. It is no longer Paradise, but the new Jerusalem-no longer the garden, but now the city of God, which is on earth. The change is full of meaning; no longer the garden, free, spontaneous, and unlaboured, even as man's blessedness in the state of a first innocency would have been; but the city, costlier indeed, more glorious, more wonderful, but, at the same time, the result of toil, of labour, of painsreared into a nobler and more abiding habitation, yet with stones which, after the pattern of the elect corner stone, were each in its time laboriously hewn and painfully squared for the places which they fill.--French.

Notices of Books.

The Introductory Lectures delivered at the Opening of New College, October, 1851. London: Jackson and Walford. 8vo. Pp. 268.

THE various and very able papers embraced in this admirable volume, demand a more extended notice than our limited space affords. We can only introduce and earnestly commend them to the attention of our readers. The first, and we think we do not prejudice the rest by saying the most important, is on the Inspiration of the Scriptures,' from the pen of the president of New College, Dr. Harris. As we intend shortly to discuss this subject in our own pages, and as one branch of it will probably come under consideration in the series of papers already commenced in this journal, it will be unnecessary precisely to state our convictions concerning it. With the lecturer, we believe it to be 'pre-eminently, in some respects, the topic of the day,' and to nothing connected with human opinions concerning the character and worth of the Christian Scriptures do we more attribute the boldness which distinguishes the Rationalism of the present age, than the indefinite notions prevailing on this subject. There is, we regret to say, no corresponding boldness to be found among the teachers of Christianity. Either, holding opinions which it would be unpopular or unsafe to express, they hesitate, publicly, to state them, or having no opinions at all, they are incompetent to defend the Word from the powerful assaults of its enemies. In the one case they are false to truth and conscience; in the other, they are false to the teacher of that truth, and the God of that conscience. We are well aware of

the unusual difficulties surrounding this subject, but we have yet to learn that mere 'difficulty' should deter us from its consideration.

In an 'Introductory Lecture' to the students of Stepney College, Mr. Hinton had already taken the field against the captains of German and English Rationalism, and Mr. Gotch chose this subject in the annual address before the students of the Baptist College, Bristol. We feel deeply indebted to Dr. Harris for again bringing it before the Christian public with all the weight so deservedly attached to his high position in theological literature. After a few introductory remarks, characteristic of the pervading sceptical spirit, Dr. Harris first inquires,What is the Biblical idea of Inspiration?? The first general remark is, that it is something different from Revelation, and it is defined to be the divine power of imparting or reporting the truth correctly to others. The lecturer regards it as even superior in its claim to Revelation, observing in proof of this position that the Scriptures say little of God speaking to prophets and apostles compared with what they say of His speaking by them. "The Spirit of the Lord (saith David) speaketh by me, and His word is in my tongue." God "hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets." "The Spirit of God which was in them testified." "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The lecturer's next proposition is, that the inspiration of the sacred writers was different in kind from all the phenomena of mere natural excitement, and of genius, remarking in its confirmation that it should surely weigh for something, that while, on the one hand, they lay no claim to the intuitions of genius, on the other, the very greatest of those with whom of late they have come to be compared never thought of laying claim to divine inspiration, and would have been even revolted at the idea." Biblical inspiration is also distinguished from superior piety,' in opposition to the remark of Scherer, that the influence of the Spirit upon the apostles did not differ, as to its nature, from that which every believer has a right to expect, and which it is his duty to desire.'

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The lecturer next discusses what inspiration was-and here we must state that we differ from his views. It is characterised as having been continuous and abiding a state of mind;' in other words, the writer considers that the apostles not merely wrote inspired works, but that they were always inspired -inspired men. Without now entering into the discussion of this question, we may just remark, that in defending this position, Dr. Harris, it seems to us, is obliged to contradict himself. He says (p. 23, note), 'When Paul apparently disclaims the power of officially adjudicating on the propriety of entering into the marriage state (1 Cor. vii. 10, 12, 40), he implies no remission of his inspired endowment, but only that he has no divine " command"-no revelation from God on the subject. And his zealous care in this particular, not to let his own enlightened judgment pass for a divine decision, implies that on other occasions he was conscious that his teaching possessed a divine authority.' Now, what, according to Dr. Harris, is Inspiration? His most comprehensive definition of it is, that it is a supernatural state of mind, consciously resulting from the direct agency of the Holy Spirit, and designed to secure the oral and written communication of such truth, and in such a manner, as Infinite Wisdom deems requisite for the present and future benefit of mankind.' (P. 42.) And he elsewhere says that it was a habit or state of mind, always ready alike to descry whatever new aspects of divine truth came into their bright horizon; to direct and superintend religious inquiry where such functions only were necessary; and generally to give forth such intelligence respecting divine things as strictly accorded with the will of God.' (P. 22.)

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The Divine Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. By John Howard Hinton, M.A. London: Houlston and Stoneman.

It will occur, we think, to every one reading these passages, to ask in which of these states of inspiration Paul wrote the words above referred to? That it was not a new aspect of divine truth which he had descried is very evident, because it was not divine truth at all that was under consideration. Was he then, as Dr. Harris supposes, merely disclaiming any revelation on the subject? Then why did he not make a similar disclaimer on every other occasion, when he does not communicate revealed truth? Was he disclaiming inspiration? We think so; and if the lecturer could mean that he was inspired to say he was not inspired, we should be disposed to agree with him, but this interpretation of the passage he repudiates. In our own view it is above all things important not to claim for the Divine Being a greater exercise of His power on any occasion than was absolutely necessary for the accomplishment of the object apparently in view. The Divine economy, if we may judge from the natural creation, knows of no such thing as a waste of strength or of works of supererogation. One of the first questions, therefore, which should be decided in entering upon a discussion of this, to our mind, most important question, is, what amount of inspiration was apparently necessary for the accomplishment of the Divine purpose in regard to the communication of His truth, and, thereby, the salvation of mankind? If it was necessary for Paul to be more or less inspired in order to give an opinion concerning the propriety of entering into the marriage state, then, undoubtedly, he was inspired, and vice versa. But we do not wish to discuss the subject at length now, and make these remarks only to point out the necessary inconsistencies attending any, even a modified, theory of a plenary inspiration, such as that advocated by the lecturer on the present occasion.

The next position of Dr. Harris is, that the inspiration of the sacred writers relates pre-eminently to their thoughts. He rejects, however, the idea of 'immediate and universal verbal inspiration,'-the verbal-mechanical inspiration advanced by many modern theorists. Here is a fine passage in reply to objections urged by certain writers :

'In the true spirit of individualism so characteristic of the day, men who would be by no means over-scrupulous at the mode of any communication which placed wealth or distinction within their reach, cannot consent to hear of the means of their salvation except on the condition that, in the method of making the announcement, every prerogative of human nature has been ceremoniously complied with. They who would be giddy with delight, who would count it heraldry and fame to be employed to convey a message from certain quarters, even in dictated terms, and on a very small subject, become alarmed for the honours of humanity at the bare idea that any one, thousands of years ago, should have stood on similar terms with the Great God, even though the subject was to influence all humanity for all duration. Men who would be dangerously inflated with the honour of conveying sealed despatches from one human government to another, cannot hear (not of themselves, not of any considerable portion of the species age after age, but) of a very small number of men, eighteen hundred years ago, having been employed to make a communication from the infinite God to the human race, which they had not the liberty of expressing in their own manner, without being as dangerously inflated with indignation. To have been the amanuensis of a Shakspere or of a Newton, even supposing the formula of the Principia were not understood by the writer, would confer distinction, but for Isaiah to have sustained a similar relation to the Maker of all minds,-the idea is to be resented as an insult to humanity at large! Coleridge tells us, in most poetic prose, how "often he has submitted himself as a many-stringed instrument for the fire-tipt fingers of the Psalmist to traverse, while every several nerve of emotion, passion, thought, that thrid the flesh and blood of our common humanity, responded to the touch; " but that the Psalmist himself should submit, as a many stringed instrument, to the hand of the Infinite Spirit, is deemed intolerable, as destructive of all personality, freedom, and grounds of sympathy.'

The next and last position of the lecturer is, that the sacred penmen wrote 'under the distinct consciousness of their inspiration,' and having

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