ready. It stands written in nearly all the attempts at the History of modern Philosophy, and will yet occupy a far more prominent place in the history of modern thought, and the philosophy of modern history, than has thus far been assigned to it.

If, then, there are expressions and statements in Cousin's work which we have reason to reject, and to wish were otherwise, we must consider that it is an answer to a system,which sustained as it is by all the natural stupidity of our nature, by all the devotion to self-interested schemes of worldliness and ambition, and more than all by the wish to escape the restraints and the duties of religion and forget the realities of God, of Eternity, and of a Future Life, an answer, we say, to a system which sustains and is sustained by all these powerful influences; and moreover, that it is such an answer as, by its completeness, its vigorous analysis, its unanswerable force of reasoning, and its beauty and attractiveness of style, has never before appeared, and in the ordinary course of things could not appear again in centuries. Nothing, however, is perfect, and if this work be objectionable, let it be remembered that it is a bold, a noble and manly effort to restore life and vigor to the belief in the great fundamental facts of Religion and Morality.

We have already expressed our dissent from several of the points of Cousin's Philosophy. Still, however, we think that it possesses a great and surpassing value in the triumphant success with which it refutes the most pernicious errors of the several systems to which, in a practical age, or a corrupt one, men are devoted from self-interest; and which in the few centuries past had, both in England and in France, succeeded in a pretty thorough extinguishment of Faith and of philanthropy. But his system needs further shaping and modification before it will become constructive of the true Faith and the true views of life and duty. No mind, however, has yet appeared to give to the Eclectic philosophy that positive direction. And Philosophy, if it be true, and true to its mission, must be the handmaid of religion, and by all the light which she can bring to bear upon the great problems of man, his duties and his destiny, she must lead to results which are in noways contrary to the doctrines of religion. And by religion we mean not that vague, indefinable something of which many speak. But we mean that definite system which, in this country, we receive as "the Doctrine and Sacraments, and as this Church hath received the same according to the Commandments of God." For it is true, as Ritter has said in his History of Philosophy,

"It is impossible to disguise or reject the truth that to-day, as erewhile, philosophy then only first finds its place within the mind of man, when agitated by conflicting opinions, he is a victim to doubt upon all that interests him most nearly and dearly,-God, Nature, and Life." And we may add, that all experience of the past shows that when such doubts have diffused themselves into any community, a return to faith is possible only through a sound and thorough philosophy, exhibiting in their most general and comprehensive forms, the processes of thought and the grounds of belief. If man had never fallen from his pristine purity, it is very possible that we should never have had any Philosophy, or any need of it; but as it is, Philosophy has come to be not only an indispensable part of a liberal education, but it is for all thinking minds,-for all minds whose energy of thought foreruns their reading, and anticipates results which others have obtained before them. There are those who have no such wants. The few thoughts that they possess have been adopted from the thinking of other minds. The little that they know has been obtained from books, and for such persons it will seem to be the height of folly, and wickedness also, to put into the hands of people a book that contains anything that is not true, or will suggest a thought that may need modification, and quite possibly, refutation. They will, therefore, not be content with crying "sour grapes" over what is beyond their reach, but in the most earnest sincerity of heart they will cry out "mad dog" also, if by any means they may be able to keep others from the danger. It is impossible to convince such persons of their mistake, or to reason those who are frightened with this horror-cry, out of their panic. It is easy to frighten the timid, but not so easy to reason them out of their fright, even when it is wholly groundless.

But there are those for whom Philosophy is an indispensable necessity. "It is acknowledged," says Ritter, "as a universal law of human progress, that no active effort of the scientific mind is possible, unless accompanied by a philosophic impulse." Nor is this all. Such activity, unless it is guided by a sound philosophy, will inevitably run into results and doctrines most adverse to Religious Faith and Christian Morality. The infidelity so often remarked in those who have been devoted to the pursuits of physical science within the last century, can be traced undoubtedly to the inadequate philosophy by which the processes of induction were explained, and upon which the certainty of its results were based.

But again; there is another class for whom indirectly a

deeper philosophy than either the English school of Locke, or the Scotch school of Reid and Stewart has produced, is indispensable. We refer to the thoughtful among those who are regarded as the uneducated, those whose hands are occupied with the daily task of earning their bread, and who in the solitary pursuit of their labor, are musing on the profound mysteries of life and of Nature. They will read no books of philosophy, it is true, be they never so plenty, never so sound; but they are often bewildered in the maze of their own thoughts, and the man of education, the clergyman, or the scholar who undertakes to set them right, or to converse with them on these subjects, will find that they, without knowing it, have thought as Plato Plotinus, Boehmen Leibnetz, had thought centuries before; and thus to unravel their thoughts, explain their views to them, and lead them out of their errors, and to a Christian Faith, we shall need to have mastered the deepest discussions of Philosophy, and be able to explain them in the every-day language of the laborer, the farmer, and the

mechanic.

The great mass of unbelief and misbelief in our land depends rather upon philosophical than on scriptural grounds. The justification and defense from Scripture is only an after thought. This assertion is as true of the Predestination of the Calvinist, as of the Humanitarianism of the Unitarians, or the Deism of the Rationalists. The denial of Sacramental efficacy proceeds chiefly from psychological grounds; and the denial of the Eternity of future punishment by the Universalists, implies a view of the relations of Time and Eternity which Ontology shows to be absurd. Not that we have the slightest expectation that Philosophy is to take the place of Theology. We have no idea that Christianity has proved a failure, or is likely to. But we do look to philosophy to correct the errors which she has committed,-to remove the obstacles to a true and earnest Faith, which she has interposed, and to keep down those rebellious promptings of our nature which are constantly rising as science ("falsely called") against the doctrines of Revelation. And if there are any who have no need of philosophy, -who feel no such want, we will congratulate them on their exemption from this want as an infirmity, if they will not allow us to commiserate them on account of their exclusion from that world of thought and knowledge, from which, by the peculiarities of their constitution, they are quite shut out.

In this view of the matter we cannot but regard the work of our Reverend Brother, in bringing forward at a demand of the public this fourth enlarged Edition of his Translation from

Cousin, as a public benefaction. Few men, if any, have appreciated the philosophical wants of our age and nation more justly than he has; and no one has labored more zealously, or more successfully, or more acceptably in supplying these wants. This volume (of which as a mere literary work-a specimen of elegant and accurate translation we might say much, but forbear) will add new force to his claims upon the gratitude of the public, and secure for him, we doubt not, a new and a deeper response of thanks and of obligations from every genuine thinker in our land.

ART IV.-THE RULE OF CHRISTIAN OFFERINGS.

1. The History of Tithes. By I. SELDEN. London: 1518. 2. An Historical Vindication of the Divine Right of Tithes from Scripture, Reason, and the Opinion and Practice of Jews, Gentiles, and Christians in all ages. Parts I, II. By THOMAS COMBER, D. D., Precentor of York. London: 1682 and 1685.

3. An Essay concerning the Divine Right of Tithes. By the Rev. CHARLES LESLIE. Works. Vol. VII. Oxford: 1832. 4. Journal of the Seventy-first Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New York.

5. The Sacerdotal Tithe. By ADAM TOWNLEY, Presbyter of the Diocese of Toronto, C. W. Pudney & Russell. New

York: 1855.

6. The Divine Law of Beneficence. American Tract Society.

THERE is, perhaps, no one question which is engrossing more of the attention of the active working men of the Church, in the present day, than how we shall obtain the necessary means to carry on her work. From Maine to Louisiana, from Cape Cod to Vancouver, there is one cry which comes with síngular unanimity from Churchmen of every shade of opinion, year after year waxing louder and louder, until it has well nigh drowned the Macedonian cry of old, and that is, for money, MONEY. While the land is teeming with gold, her merchants are princes, and the streets of her chief cities are studded with palaces which rival the cities of the old world, the growth of centuries, the Bishops of the Church are compelled to go with heavy hearts, bending to their task, and the clergy are sent from door to door to beg the scanty pittance which serves to build the scattered tabernacles in our Western wilderness, or to live, as gentlemen and professional men must, often on less than would be paid to a bricklayer or a porter. Meanwhile, the crowds of immortal souls, which swarm our cities, within the very sound of the Church's bells, much more the few sheep that are scattered in the wilderness, have no Gospel sent to them, nor Shepherds commissioned to tend them, by that Church whose mission charter is to "preach the Gospel to every creature." And the learned Editor of the True Catholic, when commenting on these things, but a few months since, was