Chapter III: Part 3

O Thou, who through the wilderness of old
Thy people to their promis'd rest did'st bring,
Hasten the days by prophet-bards foretold,
When roses shall again be blossoming
In Sharon, and Siloa's cooling spring
Shall murmur freshly at the noon-tide hour;
And shepherds oft in Achor's vale shall sing[Z]
The mysteries of that redeeming power
Which hath their ashes chang'd for beauty's sunniest bower.[AA]

Thou had'st a plant of thy peculiar choice
A fruitful vine from Egypt's servile shore
Thou mad'st it in the smile of heav'n rejoice;
But the ripe clusters which awhile it bore
Now purple on the verdant hills no more,
The wild-boar hath upon its branches trod;
Yet once again thy choicest influence pour,
Transplant it from this dim terrestrial sod,
To adorn with deathless bloom the paradise of God.

_Wadh. Coll. Oxon._

FOOTNOTES:

[Z] Isaiah xv. 10.

[AA] Isaiah lxi. 3.

MISCELLANEOUS.

INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON A STATE.--Religious faith is necessarily and unavoidably political in its influence and bearings, and eminently so. Christians are generally well informed--and knowledge is power. They have there in Christian countries, as citizens and subjects, directly and indirectly, a large share of influence in the state. In most Christian states, if not in all--for a state could hardly be called Christian, if it were not so--Christianity is made a party of common law, and, when occasion demands, is recognised as such by the judicial tribunals. It is eminently so in Great Britain; it is so in America; and generally throughout Europe. It is also, to a great extent, established by constitutional law, and thus incorporated with the political fabric, furnishing occasion for an extended code of special statutes. The great principles of Christianity pervade the frame of society, and its morals are made the standard. The second table of the decalogue is adopted throughout as indispensable to the well-being of the state; and a thousand forms of legislation are attempted to secure the ends of the great and comprehensive Christian precept--"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." More especially is it deemed the highest perfection of civilized life and manners, in the code of conventional politeness, to exemplify this latter divine injunction. Otherwise life would be much less comfortable--hardly tolerable.--_A Voice from America to England._

DUTY OF SUBJECTS.--We ought not only to look at the queen's duty, but recollect also what is our own; for the prosperity of a nation consists, not only in having a religious governor, but also an obedient people. The events which have passed before our eyes during the few last years, may serve, I think, to convince us of the truth of such an inference. Can we look back on the loss of human lives, the almost paralyzing alarm excited by the threats of an infuriated populace, and the absolute destruction of property which took place during the riots in the city of Bristol, and not see that all those calamities sprung out of a want of obedience to the existing authorities? Nor was that the only occurrence of the kind which has taken place. What repeated acts of incendiarism have we as a nation suffered from, as well as from the still more recent riots which have arisen in our south-western and other counties? and may we not ask, whence have those scenes of strife, discontent, and tumult, sprang, but from the cause I have already referred to?--want of subjection and obedience to the government of our kingdom. What were the scenes of misery and horror which broke out from time to time, when internal wars and insurrections so greatly depopulated our land? Cast your eye up and down our country, and view the still remaining barrows--those unsculptured, unlettered monuments, which cover the slain of our people--and ask, are these Britons slain in their own land, a Christian land, a land where (to remind you of the present privileges of her constitution) we have a national established church, of sound scriptural and protestant faith, and a preached gospel?[AB]

FOOTNOTE:

[AB] From "The Liturgy of the Church of England, Catechetically explained, for the use of children, by Mrs. S. Maddock. 3 vols. London: Houlston and Co." These volumes seem well adapted to explain to those for whose use they have been published--the liturgy of our church. The catechetical form in which the subject is treated, rather, however, detracts from their value, and should the authoress be called on for a new edition, we should advise her to publish in a different form.

London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square; W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.

PRINTED BY
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Transcriber's Note

The masthead in the original referred to Vol. IX., although this issue is in fact part of Vol. X. of this publication. This has been corrected.

A table of contents has been added for the convenience of the reader.

Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.

Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Please note that both Oronooco and Oronooko appear in the text as variable spellings.

The following typographic errors have been fixed:

Page 20--servicable amended to serviceable--"... both
exogenous and endogenous, render them extremely
serviceable to mankind."

Page 21--organisable amended to organizable, for
consistency--"... indeed gum is that organizable product
which exists most universally ..."

Page 23--productivenes amended to productiveness--"...
of which there are several varieties, differing
essentially in productiveness, ..."

Page 23, fourth footnote--Hedwiz amended to
Hedwig--"Eheu qualia! Hedwig."