"Observe

The rule of not too much, by temp'rance taught."
MILTON.

TEMPERANCE is a bridle of gold; and he who never allows it to fall from his hand, ego non summis viris comparo, sed simillimum Deo judico," is more like a god than a man;" for, having made the human-beast a man again, it contributes to heighten humanity into divinity.

In imagination I lately visited an Association of persons who, beginning to awake to the evils of intemperance, and resolved to forsake it, had assembled to devise expedients for aiding and confirming themselves in their good intentions. So true is it that we no sooner form a sincere resolution of amendment, than the beneficent God comes more than half way to our aid, that the company, on coming together, found the place of their meeting pre-occupied, and almost filled with preternatural incentives and encouragements to persevere.

These consisted, principally, of venerable personages of all ranks and times, who received them with looks of cheering complacency; and who, on uttering a sentence of caution or encouragement, slowly and successively withdrew. Many of the sentences so uttered I distinctly remembered to have read; and am convinced, from various circumstances which then transpired, that those who uttered them were their original and veritable authors, who, being dead, were thus allowed to speak.

face.

The first, an eminently venerable man, placing his finger on a page of a book which he carried, read a passage which I recognised as Genesis ix. 20, &c.; and as he read, tears of penitence and looks of compunction, marked his patriarchal On the head of the next was the "likeness of a kingly crown;" and as he departed he pronounced, emphatically, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." A train of ruddy and athletic men next walked forth, the personifications of health, followed by a majestic person wearing the prophetic vestments, who said to them, with an air of divine authority," Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the command of your father, not to drink any strong drink, therefore shall he never want a man to stand before me for ever." Two others then departed in company; and as they went one of them said, in a tone of benignant entreaty, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess." And the other instantly added, "For the drunkard shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Next went an aged man with his son, and pointing at him with delight, exclaimed, "This my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found; [No. 3. JAN. 18, 1837.-2d.]

VOL. I.

rejoice with me." And the son knelt to receive his blessing.

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Of those that followed most of them, instead of speaking, deposited a paper on the table, which was immediately opened and read by one or other of the company. The first was, Ebrii gignunt ebrios, and signed "Plutarch;" this the reader interpreted as, one drunkard begets another." The next bore the subscription of "Tully," and was as follows, Melior conditio senis viventis ex præscripto artis medica, quam adolescentis luxuriosi, "better be a temperate old man than a free-living youth." The philosophers were followed by a train of kings and nobles, represented by a patrician of Venice, who laid on the table a book on the art of prolonging life, by Lewis Cornaro. These were succeeded by the poets, in whose name Shakspeare exclaimed,

"Ask God for temperance, that's the appliance only
Which your disease requires."

To which Milton added, with the sonorous voice of an organ,

"Observe

The rule of not too much, by temp'iance taught,
In what thou eat'st and drink'st; seeking from thence
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight."

Statesmen, moralists, and preachers next disappeared, each depositing on the table, as he passed,

some memento or sentence to the same effect as those which had preceded them. One of these was evidently by Camden, and stated that "the English, which, of all the northern nations, had been least drinkers, and most commended for their sobriety, learned, by the Netherland wars, to drown themselves with immoderate drinking; and, by drinking to others' healths, to impair their own" leaving it to be inferred that, as the poisonous habit is not indigenous, but exotic, it may yet be eradicated.* Another was subscribed by the venerable name of “ Hale," and ran thus,

If ever you expect to have a sound body, as well as a sound mind, carefully avoid intemper

ance.

The most temperate and sober persons are subject to sickness and diseases, but the intemperate can never be long without them." A third bore the name of "Cecil, Lord Burghley," and contained the following: "Banish swinish drunkenness out of thine house, which is a vice

*There is no doubt whatever that excessive drinking was imported during the wars of the League, by our military men; that it was reduced to a science, regulated by laws, and attended by an appropriate dialect. Incredibile dictu," as a Dutch writer of the time complains of his own countrymen, "quintum hujusce liquoris immodesta gens cupiat," §e; "it is incredible how much they will drink; how they love a man that will be drunk, crown him, and reward him for it."-Bohemus in Saxoniâ.

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no show. I never heard praise ascribed to the drunkard, but for the well-bearing of his drink; which is a better commendation for a brewer's horse or a drayman, than for either a gentleman or a serving-man." "Temperance," said another, "that virtue without pride, and fortune without envy, gives ease of body and tranquillity of mind, -the best guardian of youth, and support of old age;" And to this was appended the name of "Temple."

But to proceed with the account of the incidents which took place after the reading of these and many similar sentences was ended; the venerable assemblage having nearly all departed, the association now remarked, for the first time, that the walls of their room exhibited a number of devices relating to the subject under consideration. On one side appeared the brutal bacchana

tween the Centaurs and the Lapithæ ; here, Alexander, in the frenzy of intoxication, rushing on his friend Clytus; and there, a squalid wretch dragged away by Disease and Remorse from a family perishing with want through his drunken habits. In one place, the apologue of the demon offering to his victim the choice of three sins, and smiling at his choice of drunkenness, well knowing that, when drunk, he would be ready to commit the other two; and in another, a body in a state of spontaneous combustion; whilst the whole of the upper part of the room was occupied by a representation of Temperance enthroned, crowned by a hand from the clouds, and surrounded and supported by groups of happy faces, denoting health, plenty, hope, honour, and religion.

INTRODUCED by the kindness of a beneficent Creator into a state of existence, associated with beings like himself, and inhabiting a world which has undergone a variety of natural, moral, and political changes, the man who does not feel an irresistible curiosity to inquire into the origin of the terrestrial globe, the nature and history of his species, with the whole train of events which has developed character, controlled the destinies of empires, and illustrated the great principles of the divine government,—has certainly little claim to the reputation of intelligence, goodness, or piety; indeed, he scarcely deserves the name of man, for he is indifferent to the interests of humanity. Curiosity, however, is a very common, and a very powerful principle in the human breast, and, next to necessity, is the best incentive to the acquisition of important and useful knowledge; the great difficulty is to guide, to restrain, and to satisfy it, to render it at once a source of gratification, and a means of improvement. Legitimate curiosity has to do, principally, with facts; and it has been well observed, that facts are the reasons of philosophy, and philosophy is the glory of intellectual existence. The basis of right thinking, and of just principles, must be laid in an accurate and comprehensive acquaintance with the works and ways of God, with the transactions and affairs of men. And it is for this great purpose that we are favoured with the infallible records of the holy Scriptures: in them God himself has condescended to become our instructor, and to be our unerring guide through the labyrinths of the past; leading us up to the first origin of things, and shedding light upon the gloomy and intricate path of inquiry. The Bible is, in truth, a great instrument of moral discipline, applied to man in his present state of probation; and is chiefly intended to form his character as

an accountable creature, and thus to prepare him for a condition of immortal felicity.

:

In this holy book the Divine Being has used a variety of methods to teach us our duty, and to touch our hearts. Sometimes we read those plain and unequivocal precepts which declare his will; and at other times we are instructed by an interesting parable: now we are allured by the voice of mercy, which sounds from Zion; and then we are alarmed by the thunders which roll over Sinai: heaven is here unveiled to us, and we almost hear the harps of angels, and the hallelujahs of glorified saints; hell is there uncovered, and the shrieks of the despairing vibrate on our ears, and the smoke of their torment rises before our eyes: here prophets look down the long current of years, and predict things which are to come; there inspired historians show us the accomplishment of these predictions here the merits of the Redeemer, and promises sealed with blood, are reached forth to us by our heavenly Father; there the deep pollution of our hearts and the demerits of sin are developed to us. Every method is employed to bring back rebellious and wretched man to God and to happiness. The understanding, the heart, and the conscience are, by turns, addressed in language the most forcible, and by motives weighty as eternity. But the inspiring Spirit, well knowing our frame, well knowing how strongly we are stimulated by example, has especially chosen to communicate instruction to us from the lives of others. The greater part of the sacred volume is historical; and the histories which it relates are not intended merely to excite a barren admiration, or to gratify an idle curiosity, but are designed and calculated to cherish the Love and the fear of God, to teach us what he is and what we are, and to give new warmth to our devotional

feelings. Properly speaking, they are not so much the history of particular men or nations, as the history of God, of his nature, his perfections, his providence, and will, as exemplified in these particular instances; and therefore, when duly considered, they are eminently calculated to lead the heart and the affections to him. When the blighted beauties of Eden are presented to our eyes, it is not that our regrets may be excited from contrasting it with its former glory, but that we may be made to shudder at the guilt of sin, and tremble at the danger of disobeying the Most High. When we behold Noah riding on the back of the swelling surges, secure amidst the desolation of the world, it is our duty, not merely to rejoice at his personal deliverance; but to mark, also, the faithfulness of God, and the blessedness that results from believing his declarations and obeying his precepts. When we see the arm of Abraham extended, and ready to be dyed with the blood of his beloved son, we should not merely have our natural sympathies excited; but learn from him to sacrifice the dearest objects of our affections-those on which our souls rest with fondest delight at the command of God. When the smoking ruins of Jerusalem are spread before us; when we behold the countless number of her children that became the victims of the sword, of famine, and of sedition; when we listen to the shrieks of the bereaved, and mark the convulsive struggles of the dying, it is not merely to fill our eyes with tears, and our hearts with sorrow, for this unhappy nation, that this picture is presented to us; but to show us the terrors of Jehovah, the woes which must crush the guilty when the patience of the Lord is exhausted, and his arm, clothed with thunder, is raised against them, and the accumulated misery which must at last overtake those who despise the means of grace and the offers of salvation. We are, perhaps, scarcely warranted in making the unqualified assertion, that there are no true histories except those which the holy Scriptures contain; though it is certain that the facts and characters which uninspired writers have given to the world were but imperfectly understood by themselves, and exhibited to others through the medium of their prejudices, predilections, and antipathies. It is not our privilege, in the present state, to view objects in their own light; we must altogether depend on the adventitious and uncertain glimmerings of human testimony; and what that testimony is worth must be estimated by the capacity and the integrity of the witnesses, two things which are seldom united, even when men have actually beheld the events which they relate; and far less frequently when, in some distant age, individuals, ambitious of fame, aspire to distinguish themselves as historians; in these cases, so many motives, and influences, and sentiments combine to pervert judgment, and to blind integrity, that perhaps the

most finished labours of the historic muse deserve no higher character than that of splendid fictions. One thing is certainly obvious, that the records of the sacred page, and the great scheme of Providence, in connexion with events which those records develop, afford the only true landmarks of history, and enable us to understand and to explain what would otherwise be obscure and unintelligible. In perfect harmony with this remark is the paragraph with which a devout historian concludes his great undertaking: "Whilst all things are in motion, and fluctuate upon earth; whilst states and empires pass away with incredible rapidity, and the human race, vainly employed in the external view of these things, are also drawn in by the same torrent, almost without perceiving it, there passes in secret an order and disposition of things unknown and invisible, which, however, determines our fate to all eternity. The duration of ages has no other end than the formation of the body of the elect, which augments and tends daily to perfection, and the final glory of which shall introduce a new era in the universe. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.' God grant that we may all have our share in that blessed kingdom whose law is truth, whose King is love, and whose duration is eternity! Fiat, fiat."

6

Attaching, as we do, such high and unrivalled importance to the sacred books, as themselves true histories, and the clue and only certain guide to the right understanding of all others, it may, perhaps, be demanded of us, how it is that there appears so little harmony and connexion in the narratives of these books; that they are written with so little order, and with so little regard to the disposition and combination of the parts; and that the whole should be pervaded with obscurity or confusion, with discrepancies or contradictions? Does not all this, it may be urged, imply a character of imperfection, of insincerity, and discordancy, which but ill agrees with the high pretensions of the Bible, as a divinely inspired and infallible communication from heaven? In attempting to reply to these pertinent suggestions, which arise very naturally out of a superficial acquaintance with the sacred volume, I shall, at the same time, explain the nature and object of the present work, as well as prove the importance and value of the undertaking.

The complaint, that the historical Scriptures are destitute of harmony and connexion, that the narratives want continuity, and that, so far from flowing in one grand stream of uninterrupted events, they are irregular and abrupt, arises from two causes, neither of which forms a real objection against their truth or accuracy. The first, indeed, is a powerful argument in favour of both.

First-Let it be remembered, that what are called the histories of the Bible, were written by different individuals at distant intervals of time; that they did not write simply in the character of historians, but of legislators, prophets, teachers, and reformers; that their narratives are incidental portions of their works, and introduced for purposes of a moral and religious nature; that they are therefore interspersed with many things foreign to the express and exclusive object of history. All this will at once account for the want of an obvious connexion and harmony between them. Several of the sacred penmen relate the same facts, with circumstantial additions suited to the principal object which they wished to accomplish. But each one is always consistent with himself; and on a close investigation it will be found, that though the stream of narration is not preserved, yet, that the apparently separated rivulets are contributory to one grand reservoir of historical knowledge.

The books of Moses, though they contain jurisprudence, theology, poetry, and all that in his day were embraced in the circle of the sciences, yet present us with a consistent and harmonious history, occasionally broken and interrupted, and the chasms filled up with different materials; but affording undoubted evidence of design and connexion in the events and facts which he undertakes to perpetuate. Where," says an authority of some weight on such a point as this, 'Where can we find a more methodical history than that of Moses, beginning at the first creation of all things, and the formation of human kind; proceeding in the account of their increase, depravation, and almost total destruction by a universal deluge; after their second increase, relating their relapse into idolatry; and thereupon God's electing a peculiar people to serve him according to his own appointment, and so recording the first original, and various adventures of their progenitors; the afflictions and wanderings of that chosen nation; and the polity which they should observe when once they were settled in the promised land? Nothing can be more clear and regular than this: and as for the other historians, who wrote the transactions of the Jewish nation, from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonish captivity, they are so exact in observing the order and series of time, and in setting down the length of each prince's reign, that they afford a better foundation for historical truth, as well as chronological certainty, than is to be found in the best heathen writers of this kind."

Should misapprehension still prevail on this subject, and an objection be felt against the scriptural records, because, in point of continuity, they differ so much from the classical specimens of this species of composition, we would just observe, that these records partake more of the character of state papers and original documents, which are the source of history, than of history

It is

itself. A diligent inquirer may easily discern at connected series of events, by arranging in chronological order, and carefully bringing together the disjointed particulars which are preserved in these different and isolated memoranda, thus that the inspired books maintain the sacredness of their original character, and at the same time give full scope to the exercise of the human mind; and if persons of a doubting and sceptical spirit, would only investigate the records of the Bible with the same industry and acumen which they would deem it reasonable to apply to those ancient documents, which form the basis of civil history, they would remove all those obstacles to their faith which the apparent want of harmony and connexion in the sacred narratives may have occasioned.

The second cause which often perplexes the reader of the sacred books, and induces the hasty conclusion, that they have neither unity of design, nor consistency of parts is, the order, or rather disorder, in which they are thrown together. Here there is nothing like arrangement,—all is miscellaneous and accidental. Little regard has been paid by the compilers of the canonical books to their natural and proper disposition, and hence have arisen those difficulties and obscurities which have given birth to so many commentaries, and which are the foundation not only of infidel objections, but of numerous errors and mistakes among professing Christians. The great work of the learned Dr. Lightfoot was written for the express purpose of applying a remedy to this evil. Since his time, several biblical scholars have availed themselves of his invaluable labours, and made considerable advances towards perfecting his design. Mr. Townsend's late work, which is founded on the basis of Lightfoot's Chronicle, and in which the "Old Testament is so arranged that the books, chapters, psalms, prophecies, &c., may be read as one connected history in the words of the authorized translation," possesses very considerable merit, and removes every impediment to a clear and comprehensive understanding of the Scriptures. No man who reads this performance with care, and without prejudice, will have to complain that the Bible is either imperfect in its narratives, or disjointed in its parts.

With regard to the obscurities, confusion, and discrepancies which are charged upon the divine volume, it is sufficient to observe, that they also are imaginary; that they have no existence in the book itself, but are to be attributed, in some degree, to the causes already adduced;" but more especially to the errors of translators and transcribers; to the very remote antiquity of the events recorded, as well as the great lapse of time since the accounts were written; to the customs and manners described, which were well, understood by the persons addressed, but are by no means familiar to the mere English reader; to

principal scenes and subjects of sacred history, and to that kind of half biblical education which is picked up in a Christian and Protestant country, by multitudes, who understanding nothing perfectly, either of the sacred writers or their works, are forward to pass a presumptuous judgment upon both.

SAMUEL PARKER was a fisherman, residing on the coast of Kent; that is to say, fishing was his ostensible, and had formerly been his actual and sole avocation. Of late years, however, Sam brought in fish only occasionally, and then seemed not particularly anxious about the disposal of them; nevertheless, his wife and children appeared usually to have all they wanted, and Sam, at all times, more than he needed, for he ever bore about with him, when on shore, symptoms of the free use of tobacco and spirits. It had long been more than insinuated in the neighbourhood, that he considered as fish all that came to his net, and that the majority of those which he now brought to land were of the keg species. Rumour in this instance said truly; Parker was a bold and an active smuggler.

One wintry afternoon, at the near approach of nightfall, the smuggler was proceeding to his cottage, when, on emerging from a small wood, he met a female gipsy who had long haunted the neighbourhood, making her appearance in the day-time, and retiring at night, nobody knew whither, for there was no encampment of her people near. She was never accompanied but by the infant which she carried at her back. She appeared to provide for her necessities by promising the maidens of the adjacent villages husbands; the young men wives; to fishermen prosperous voyages; to their dames good luck with their bees and poultry, or any little undertaking which they might have in hand; besides foreboding the dignity of alderman or parish beadle for their ragged-headed urchins.

She was by no means old, perhaps not more than thirty; yet her handsome, though stronglymarked countenance indicated a weight of care and sadness which would seem more naturally to belong to advanced years. In her air there was command almost amounting to dignity; but not derived from superior stature, for she was far from tall. She possessed the olive complexion, oral features, and dark massive locks characteristic of her tribe. Her eyes were black, large, and overflowing with subtle meaning; there was power, cunning, and a fearful fascination combined in them, as in those of the serpent. The twilight was just thickening into darkness; the wind was rising, and blew in fitful gusts among

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Shall I tell your fortune, Master?" said the"

No," said Sam, pettishly; "but I'll tell you yours without money. You will be sent to the tread-mill, vagabond; and very good exercise it will be for you. And that brat behind you, when he is old enough, thanks to what he will learn from you, will be swinging by the neck some day, for mistaking somebody's horse for his own, or doing something worse."

The eyes of the gipsy flashed fire; her whole countenance was irradiated with rage; her lips separated, exposing a double row of strong, white, regular teeth; guttural sounds proceeded from her throat, of which it was difficult to decide whether they were half-uttered words, or low scornful laughter. She seemed to be gathering and concentrating her energies, like a billow, in order to wreak them with greater certainty and fury.

"Villain!" at length she exclaimed, in a voice which rivalled the dissonance of the wind, and was heard distinctly above it. "Villain, do you threaten an unoffending woman, and a sucking babe, with the terrors of the law? you, who, like a beast of prey, prowl only amid darkness, not daring to bare your scoundrel visage to the sun; you who go forth on the ocean, not to fight your country's battles, or earn your bread by honourable toil, but to snatch it by base and cowardly stratagem; or skulk along the shore, starting and trembling as though in every blast you heard the clank of fetters; or, creep like a mole within the bowels of the earth, lest the eye of an honest man should rest on you"

Parker's rage became uncontrollable; he aimed a sudden and desperate blow at the gipsy's head. With great dexterity she changed her position, and received but a slight portion of the injury intended. At an increased distance she poured forth a torrent of words with greater energy than before.

"Coward!" she continued, "women are your