to his library, and there forget himself. We have had,' he wrote to his wife, 'no company, and sometimes I have been solitary. I then turn afresh to my book again. O blessed books! What would life be without you? A solitude indeed! In another letter he says, 'Rejoice with me at this seasonable rain. It is quite refreshing to your Exeter fields. I enjoy reading [on] such days exceedingly. I hope they have plenty of good books in the other world.' So he went on to the end, as eager in the pursuit of knowledge, and finding as much enjoyment, and, with his richly-stored mind, more instruction in books, than when, as a boy, he went, after his day's work was done, three or four miles on foot to borrow some stray volume that he had heard of.”—P. 460. Judge Smith was twice married. By his first marriage he had two sons and one daughter. Of the former, one was drowned when a boy, and the other died in his thirty-first year. His daughter, Ariana, appears to have been one of the most lovely and virtuous of her sex, and the picture which our author draws of her, is, to use his own expression," such as we read in books, rather than hope to find in real life." It would spoil it to give only part, and we must refer our readers to the volume itself. The following passage, however, we must quote, as giving us a charming idea of his home:

"In 1809, Judge Smith had moved a little out of the village to an estate which he had recently purchased, and on which he continued to live more than thirty years. It was a pleasant spot, with deep woods in the rear, long fields and pastures extending above, and the town of Exeter below; a place of almost perfect retirement, and yet near the abodes of men. As time passed on, new beauties were constantly growing up under Mrs. Smith's care, and every tree, shrub, vine and flower, the arbours and the walks leading back into an almost measureless extent of wood, bore marks of her taste, and were the fruits of her constant personal attention. The pleasantest part of the house, and indeed of the estate, was the library, a large room filled with books, which, while it served as an office for the Judge, was always, but more especially after he had given up business, open to all the family and their visitors. Here the daughter delighted to store her mind with knowledge; here the Judge went through his severest labours, and here their idle hours' were 'not idly spent,' while some new work of taste or fancy was read aloud, and the reading often suspended to ascertain the exact meaning or pronunciation of some doubtful word, to search for information that might clear up some dark allusion, or to make room for such remarks as were suggested by what they read.

"Such was Judge Smith's family when he retired from business, and very few are the households which contain such materials for instruction and happiness, or such resources for the autumn of life. There was, withal, a sort of romantic interest, which I have heard described by young persons, who occasionally visited them from abroad, as perfectly fascinating. 'I first became acquainted with the family,' says a lady who knew well how to appreciate them, in 1818, and made a little visit at their happy home, which was repeated in 1824, and the image upon the part of the Judge, of fatherly tenderness and conjugal reverence as well as affection, of filial devotion in Ariana, and of matronly composure in Mrs. Smith, united with so intimate a blending of her own being in that of her husband and children, as to render her almost unconscious of her separate existence, has remained indelibly impressed on my memory, as one of the loveliest pictures of domestic felicity which it was ever my lot to witness; while the Judge's genial humour and flashing wit threw a halo round the scene, which illumined it like sunlight.' It is believed that the following, from a venerable divine* of great learning, ability

"The Rev. James Murdoch, D. D.

and social worth, would be a fair transcript of the feelings of many, if not most, of Judge Smith's visitors. "The delightful visit at your hospitable mansion, and the rich feasting of the soul, 'from early morn till noon of night,' three days in succession, will not soon be forgotten, whatever may be the future scenes through which I have to pass.""-Pp. 295–297.

This favourite daughter he lost, through consumption, in the year 1829; and had it not been that he had a richly-stored mind, a cheerful spirit, a religious trust, and great energy and activity in the prosecution of all good works, he might have sunk under so deadening a stroke; but he bore it like a philosopher and a Christian.

His attention to the young, his love of children and his power of interesting them, and the delight which he took in aiding young men whom he found struggling with the narrowness of their means in the pursuit of knowledge, are very amiable traits in his character. (Pp. 461-464.) He had a mind, in short, always fresh, active and vigorous, always interested in some valuable object, and desirous of imparting pleasure and instruction to all around him. He was a generous man: in his latter days, when his means of life had accumulated, and he had no professional duties to attend to, his house was the most hospitable of mansions, and it is recorded that he always gave away a tenth, and sometimes a sixth, part of his income in charity. Would that many would follow his example!

As to his religious sentiments,

"Judge Smith believed that there was in the death of the Saviour a significance not only deeper than that which is attached to that of any other teacher from heaven, but different in kind. As to the nature of Christ, he dissented equally from those who consider him only as a man, and those who worship him as God; agreeing with Milton in regarding him as the greatest of created beings, 'the first-born of the creation of God.' In his theological opinions generally, I think he more nearly agreed with the matured views of Milton than with those of any other writer. He belonged to the true Catholic church, and was ready to acknowledge any man as a Christian brother, who received the Scriptures as his rule of faith, and who strove to mould his life by their spirit."-P. 505.

His wit was indeed sometimes rampant, and might lead casual observers to mistake his real sentiments; but there was no man more sound at heart, or with a higher reverence for all that was right and all that was sacred.

"There was no way in which he so much exercised the keenness of his wit, as in exposing the foolish claims to distinction (whether for family, wealth, learning or station) that men are constantly setting up. It was his especial delight to pull off the masks which hide so much emptiness and vanity."Pp. 448, 450.

He died September the 21st, 1842, in the eighty-third year of his age, and his departure is thus beautifully described by his biographer:

"Calm and peaceful was the going down of his autumnal sun, and when it was set, rich and golden memories lingered round its path. There is, in truth, nothing sad in the beautiful and fitting close of a life so filled out and complete in all its parts. And yet how many are the feelings that are touched, as we bid farewell to one of the last of those great men who laid the foundations of our government, and so manfully upheld it in the first days of its peril! May there never be wanting others of like character and strength, to stand by it in every hour of its need!"-P. 515.

We could have filled many more of our pages with such extracts as the above from the life of this admirable man, but our limits do not allow of it. We would fain hope that what we have given will induce many of our readers to purchase the volume for themselves, convinced, as we are, that they will find it full of interest and instruction-the record of one whose life was usefully and honourably spent, and whose example is eminently deserving of imitation by all those who would turn to good account the various talents with which their Maker has entrusted them. S. W.

CORRESPONDENCE.

ON THEODORE PARKER'S VIEWS OF INSPIRATION AND

SIR,

MIRACLES.

IN Theodore Parker's work which you have been recently reviewing, there are two great questions upon which the whole of his theory depends; firstly, whether Christ was actually inspired, obtained his superior religious information in a supernatural way, or, as Theodore Parker contends, obtained it only by the faithful and conscientious exercise of his natural faculties-of faculties common to him and to all men; secondly, whether Christ, in attestation of the doctrines which he taught, performed miracles, which Theodore Parker denies.

Firstly: With respect to the inspiration of Christ.

If Christ, an illiterate Jewish peasant, sprung from the most unlearned, unphilosophical and least speculative on moral and religious subjects of all ancient civilized nations, was the author, as Theodore Parker asserts, of the holiest, purest and most spiritual of all religions, of what Theodore Parker calls "absolute religion and morality," is it not demonstrable, upon the principle that every effect must have an adequate cause, that he must have derived his superior moral and religious knowledge from a more than human, from a supernatural source, from actual inspiration? We must either suppose that the natural and moral powers of Christ were so greatly superior to those of the wisest, most learned and virtuous men of all past ages, that, though destitute of all the artificial advantages enjoyed by them, he was able to discover a more perfect system of morals and religion than was ever conceived by them, to discover, in short, "absolute religion and morality," a fact which itself would be supernatural and miraculous; or we must suppose him, according to the statement of the Scriptures, to have been actually inspired. Either alternative equally implies what is supernatural and miraculous.

Secondly: With respect to the truth of the miracles of Christ.

If Christ was actually inspired, supernaturally enlightened on moral and religious subjects, is it improbable that he should have been able to prove the truth of his doctrine by miracles, by actions as supernatural as the source from which he derived his knowledge of absolute religion and morality? Again: If the evangelists, from whatever sources they derived their information, have so accurately recorded the life and discourses of Christ, that a system of absolute religion and morality may be at once deduced from them, is it improbable that they should have recorded, with equal accuracy, the public miracles which they ascribe to him? If they were mistaken in one instance, is it not probable that they should have been equally mistaken in all, and vice versâ?

But Theodore Parker says, 66 a miracle is not possible, as it involves a contradiction." "The Infinite God," he says, "must have made the most perfect laws admissible in the nature of things; it is absurd and self-contradictory to suppose the reverse. But if his laws are perfect, and the nature of things unchangeable, why should he alter these laws? The change can only be for the worse. To suppose he does this, is to accuse God of caprice. If he be the ultimate cause of the phenomena of the universe, to suppose, in a given case, that he changes these phenomena, is either to make God fickle, and therefore not worthy to be relied on, or else inferior to nature, of which he is yet the cause."-P. 201.

But in what respect does a miracle involve a contradiction? May it not be in accordance with some law of God, of which we may be ignorant, that miracles should be performed on some extraordinary occasions, for some particular beneficial end, which could not be as easily effected in accordance

On Theodore Parker's Views of Inspiration and Miracles. 547

with the ordinary laws of nature ! If the world had a beginning, which I suppose Theodore Parker does not deny, it is demonstrable that there must have been once a state of things which, if compared with what we now experience to be in accordance with the laws of nature, must have been positively miraculous. Creation itself, which has demonstrably taken place, is opposed to all the laws of nature of which we have any experience. But do we on that account deny the possibility of Creation?

Again: The first man or men must have been brought into existence, and have acquired their knowledge on all subjects, moral, religious and natural, by means entirely at variance with all the laws of nature with which we are acquainted; by means, in short, properly miraculous. It is therefore absolutely demonstrable that a state of things, not in accordance with any known laws of nature, a state of things, therefore, truly miraculous, must have once existed. But if a miraculous state of things has once existed, miracles cannot "be opposed to all the laws of God, cannot involve a contradiction," and may, therefore, on extraordinary occasions, be again performed. Whether they have been again performed or not, is to be tried by the usual laws of evidence; and a miracle is as capable of proof as any other matter of fact.

But Theodore Parker asserts that the false miracles, which have in all ages been believed by mankind, totally destroy the credibility of all miracles, however attested. But how do they do this more than fabulous history destroys the credibility of all history, or than false evidence given in a court of justice destroys the credibility of all legal evidence, or the existence of falsehood on all subjects of human discussion destroys the reality of all truth? Notwithstanding the numerous deceptions and lies with which the world abounds, there must be such a thing as truth. For the converse of every false proposition is an absolute truth.

Again: The truth of the Christian miracles does not depend, as Theodore Parker implies, merely on the sound judgment or integrity of the evangelists, (of which, however, there is no reason to doubt,) but on the extraordinary effects which they have produced in the world, on the extremely rapid propagation of Christianity in its commencement, though opposed by the wisdom, learning, power and influence of almost the whole world.

That a religion, of which an illiterate Jewish peasant was the author, should be the purest, holiest and most spiritual of all known religions, should be that "absolute religion and morality" which, when discovered, approves itself at once to the reason and conscience of the wisest, most enlightened and best of men, but which the wisest, most enlightened and best of men, before the coming of Christ, were unable fully to discover, is itself positively supernatural and miraculous. That such a religion should have been attested by evidence as supernatural and miraculous as itself, is not improbable.

But when we reflect that this religion, whose founder was rejected by almost all his countrymen, and suffered from them the death of a common malefactor, and the first teachers and professors of which endured the severest persecutions, and many of them suffered death itself,-when we reflect that this religion, in less than three hundred years from the crucifixion of its Founder, overturned the established religion of the whole Roman empire, in Europe, Asia and Africa, and occupied its place, and obtained a firm footing amongst many barbarous nations,-nothing but the truth of the miracles by which it professes to have been at first attested, can account for such extraordinary success.

If we deny that Christianity is a supernatural revelation made by its God to man, deny the reality of miracles, and the divine authority of the books in which it is contained, that " absolute religion and morality" which Theodore Parker asserts that, of all positive religions, it alone teaches, will have little practical influence on mankind. Experience and all history prove, that no religion, unless believed by its professors to be founded on positive revelations made by God to man, and resting on the doctrine of a future state of reward