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    as next in perfection the views which Christianity unfolds of God as a Father . «« In the two great points essential to our practical life , viz ., « ur feelings towards God and our conduct tow ards man , the Gospels contain little about winch men can differ-little from which they can dissent . H e is our Father , we are all brethren . This much lies open to the most ignorant and busy , as fully as to the most leisurely and learned . This needs no priest to teach it , no authority to endorse it . The rest is speculation ; intensely interesting , indeed , but of no practical necessity . "

    Other tenets taught in the Christian Scriptures , however , Mr . Greg thinks open to grave objections . He urges , for example , that the New Testament assigns an efficacy to prayer incompatible with any elevated conception of Deity ; that it inculcates resignation , not as the result of a self-reasoning faith in the wisdom and justice of the supreme will , but on the narrow ground that sufferings are specially ordained for the benefit of the individual ; and that it appeals to the selfish motives—the dehest

    sire for recompense , rather . than to the hig — the love of-the good for its own sake . He holds that the conception of the pardon of sin , or repentance and conversion , tends to contravene the system on which man is trained and disciplined , and the entire scheme of God ' s government—the conviction that every breach of the Divine law is attended with inexorable consequences , being essential to a healthy condition of the conscience and a just theory of Providence : —

    " Let any one look back upon his past career , look inward on his daily life , and then say what effect would be produced upon him , were the conviction once fixedly embedded in his soul , that everything done is done irrevocably , that even the omnipotence of God cannot uncommit a deed , cannot make that undone which has been done ; that every act of his must bear its allotted fruit according to the everlasting laws—must remain for ever ineffaceably inscribed on the tablets of universal Nature . And , then , let him consider what would have been the result upon the moral condition of our race , had all men ever held this conviction .

    " Perhaps you have led a youth of dissipation and excess which has undermined and enfeebled your constitution , and you have transmitted this injured and enfeebled constitution to your children . They suffer , in consequence , through life ; suffering is entailed upon them ; your repentance , were it in sackcloth and ashes , cannot help you or them . Your punishment is tremendous , but it is legitimate and inevitable . You have broken Nature ' s laws , or you have ignored them , and no one violates or neglects them with impunity . What a lesson for timely reflection an d obedience is here !

    " Ao-ain—you have broken the seventh commandment . ° You grieve—you repent—you resolutely determine against any such weakness in future . It is well ; but ' you know that God is merciful—you feel that he will forgive you . ' You are comforted . But no—there is no forgiveness of sins—the injured party may forgive you—your accomplice or victim may forgive you , according to the meaning of human language ; but the deed is dona , and all the powers of Nature ? were they to conspire in your behalf , could not make it undone ; the consequences to the bodythe consequences to the soul—though no man may perceive them , are there—are written in the annals of the past , and must reverberate through all time .

    " But all this , let it be understood , in no degree militates against the value or the necessity of repentance . Repentance , contrition of soul , bears , like every other act , its own fruit—the fruit of purifying the heart , of amending the future : not as man has hitherto conceived—of effacing the past . Tho commission of sin is an irrevocable act , but it does not incapacitate the soul for virtue . Its conaequenees cannot bo expunged , but tho course need not be- pursued . Sin , though it is ineffaceable , calla for no despair , but for efforts more energetic than before . Repentance is mill as valid an ever ; but it in valid to secure tho future , not to obliterate the

    pant . 44 moral to be drawn from tliewo reflections is this : —God has placed tho lot of man—not , perhaps , altogether of tho individual , but certainly of the race—in his own hands , by surrounding him with laws , on knowledge of which , and on conformity to which , his well-being depends The study of these , and tho princip le of obedience to them , forms , therefore , the great aim of education , both of men and nations . They must bo taught : — 44 1 . Tlie physical laws , on which God ban made health to depend . " 2 . The moral lawn , on which He has niudo

    happi-710 . 1 s to depend . " : $ . The intellectual lawn , on which lie ha » made knowledge to depend . " 4 . Tho social and political laws , on which lie huB made national prosperity to depend .

    " 5 . The economic laws , on which . He has made wealth to depend . " A true comprehension of all these , and of their unexceptional and unalterable nature , would ultimately rescue mankind from all their vice and nearly all their suffering , save casualties and sorrows . Mr . Greg also shows that Christianity teaches an ascetic and depreciating view of life , incompatible with that energetic devotion to the improvement of our races , and with that delight in the innocent adornment of our existence in this world , which are essential to a noble and well-balanced soul .

    In the concluding chapter we have the author s reflections on " the great enigma—the question of man ' s future existence . " He applies himself , evidently with his utmost strength , to prove the invalidity and even futilitv of a conclusion which , after all , he himself holds . " He labours to make clear that the belief in a future state is not demanded by any process of our intellect or any tendency of our moral nature , in order that he may fall back with the greater confidence on the assertion of his belief in it as an intuition on a par with our belief in the reality of an external world .

    We have endeavoured to give our readers a faithful idea of Mr . Greg ' s work . Though far from setting our seal to all his opinions , we think that the Creed of Christendom sets forth very powerfully much truth of which society is in urgent need , while it opens to us an acquaintance with , an individual mind possessing a strong moral and intellectual charm .

    The deservedly respectful reception of Mr . Greg ' s work by the periodical press , compared with that given twelve years ago to a work of kindred character—HennelPs Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity—\ s no slight indication of advancement , either in plain speaking or in liberality of religious views . Though too distinct in their method , and to a considerable extent in their matter , for one to be regarded as superseding the other , both these works have the same object , to ascertain how far the popular idea of Christianity

    will sustain the test of impartial criticism ; they are alike animated by a spirit of candour and reverence , and they have substantially the same result . Hennell , it is true , holds that Jesus shared the common theocratic hope of his nation , and thinks there is strong evidence that , at the commencement of his career , he expected the Divine attestation to his Messiahship to be given in such a general adhesion of the people to his cause as would enable him to free his nation from the Roman yoke by insurrection , and effect the political as well as the spiritual

    regeneration of Israel . He regards the character of Jesus as less exceptional than it appears under Mr . Greg ' s view ; but he estimates very highly the power and beauty of his nature and the value of his moral teaching . The Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity is evidently the production of a mind which has brought to the independent study of the New Testament the rare combination of analytic acumen with breadth of conception . Its merit was at once recognized in Germany , where

    it was speedily translated . While in our own country it was welcomed by many distinguished minds , and lias had an extensive , though latent , influence in promoting the intelligent study of the Christian Scriptures . That Mr . Greg has found it a valuable aid is not only evidenced in his text , but avowed by frequent references in his notes , though , doubtless through a temporary forgetfulness , he speaks in hia preface as if he bad no predecessor among laymen in the path of free but reverent inquiry into the claims of

    Christianity . Nevertheless , when LlenncH ' s work first appeared , tho Reviews dared not acknowledge the merit which it wan privately admitted to possess , and four years after the appearance of the second edition , it received , from a periodic . " ! winch lms recently bestowed elaborate praise on the ( heed of Christendom , a rather contemptuous critique , the object of which was , obviously , to put down the book by no fairer means than that of presenting details , adduced by Henncll merely in the light of cumulative evidence , as if they formed the solo bunis of his

    argument . In this annus mirabilis of IK 51 , however , our reviewers have attained a higher standard of courage and fairness than could bo ascribed to them in 1838 , or even in 1 H 45 . " IjU terre tourne" nays Pascal , " malyre qu ' on le . nie ; ( tt vous aussi , mc . r&v&rendti pdres , vous tourncz avee ( die—The earth turns in npito of all dcniuls ; and you also , my reverend fathvra , turn with it . "

    GOLDEN DREAMS AND WAKING REALITIES . Golden Dreams and JVakin % Realities ; being the Adventures ' - a Gold-seeker in California and the Pacific Islands . By W " i' - liana Shaw . Smith and Elder . An interesting and graphic , because unambitious , work . Mr . Shaw has little or nothing of the Litterateur . He tells his story plainly , without affectation , without rhetoric , without that curse of literature , " fine writing . " Such experience as he has to set before us he endeavours to express in the directest style . The consequence of this is that his book has a truthful air , wanting in the more ambitious accounts which we have seen ; and the story of his Californian expedition suggests curious trains of thought . As a warning and example it should be read by those who think of the " Diggings ; " and as an amusing book of travels » t should be read by all lovers of light literature . We shall best consult the pleasure of our readers by refraining from the indulgence of those trains of thought called up by the work ; and in lieu of a set criticism confine ourselves to such extracts as we can find room for . THE HAPPY VALI-EY . " Skirting the beach , was a vast collection of tents , called the Happy Valley , '—since more truly designated the ' Sickly Valley ; where dlth of every description and stagnant pools beset one at every stride . In these tents congregated the refuse of all nations , crowded together ; eight people occupying what was only space for two . Blankets , firearms , and cooking utensils were the only worldly property they possessed . Scenes of depravity , sickness , and wretchness , shocked the moral scene , as much as filth and effluvia did the nerves ; and such was the state of personal insecurity , that few Citizens ' slept without firearms at hand . " The constant wearing of arms by such a disorderly set , amongst whom quarrels were frequent , caused many disputes to terminate disastrously ; but the unsettled state of the country , and the many desperate characters prowling about , made it necessary to be armed for self-protection : the weaker party was only sheltered from oppression by a loaded revolver , as there was no assistance to be expected from others . Steel and lead were the only arguments available for redress , and bystanders looked on unconcernedly at acts of violence ; the cause of the dispute , or the justice of the punishment inflicted , being seldom inquired into .

    " It would be difficult to describe my sensations after the first day ' s ramble in Francisco . I had witnessed so many startling sig hts , that had I not been well assured of their reality , I might have imagined them phantasies of the brain : buildings were springing up ' as at the stroke of an enchanter ' s wand ; valuable merchandise was strewed about in every direction ; men of every costume and colour—Down-Easter ' s with sharp-set faces , sallow Southerners ,

    gaunt Western Squatters , vivacious Fren linien , sedate Germans , sturdy English Colonists , Cahfornians and Chilians , Mexicans , Kanakas , and Celestials , hurried too and fio , pursuing their various avocations ; and business to an incalculable amount seemed to be transacted . Looking at the rude signboards inscribed in various languages , glaneing at the chaos of articles exposed for sale , and listening to tho various dialects spoken , the city seemed a

    complete Babel . " Gold was evidently the mainspring of all this activity . Tables , p iled with gold , were seen under tent ? , whence issued melodious strains of music ; ami tho most exaggerated statements were current respecting the auriferous regions . But amid scenes of prolusion and extravagance , no sign of order or comfort was perceptible , nor did any one appear happy : wan , anxious countenances , and rostlesti eager eyes , met you on every side .

    41 The aspect of personal neglect and disconitort , filth , rags , and squalor , combined with uneasiness , avidity , and recklessness of manner , — an all-absorbing selfishness , as if each man wort ; striving against his fellow-man , — wore characteristics of tin ; gold-lever , at once repulsive and pitiable ; and , notwithstanding the gold L f » aw on every wide , a feeling of despondency crept insensibly over me . "

    THE SKl'I'ISllNHHH DKVKI . OI'KD 1 SY DANHKH . " Before leaving the woodland wo seart d several dusky-brown animals tho size of a lurcher—wolves , or eayotas—in the chaperal , or bush ; but they stealthily avoided us . About ten we entered on tins plain : as far as the eye eoultl reach we saw Handhills without a symptom of vegetation ; tin ; heat ha < j . opened cracltB and fissures in the earth , which emitted a fiery heat ; and pyramids of dust arose at intervals , homo with velocity through the air : Komet . m . en appearing in the nhapo of tall columns , Hix , Ly tovi m perpendicular height , moving majestic »» y » v ' ; ' ; plain . Those who have not walked on mind ¦ « deep cannot imag ine how wearisome it |« - * ; ' sS ^ ^ S-r ^^ s ^ 'Si ^ ui ; :

    Untitled Article

    S EPT . , 1851 . ] gCflg % t& * tt . 899

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 20, 1851, page 899, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1901/page/15/