offences. From a creature thus circumstanced, it would be the height of injustice to exact a rigorous and perfect obedience to such a law as the Calvinists describe. This would be literally to reap where he had not sown, and to gather where he had not strewed: it would be worse than the cruelty of the Egyptians, when they compelled the Israelites to make brick without the necessary materials. If an earthly governor were to act this way towards his subjects, we would call it insulting tyranny. Is it a light matter, then, to accuse the God of heaven of such cruelty? to represent the Father of mercies as a demon of despotism?'

. What reply worth hearing can a Calvinist return to this reasoning?

In the third chapter, Mr. Burns examines the ideas of the Evangelicals respecting the principles and motives of true virtue; and, by detecting the latent error which vitiates their representations and reasonings, he places in a clear light the fallacies by which they are led astray. He admits the importance of faith and the glory of God as motives to action, but he bids us consider what these terms imply:

All their ideas about faith and the glory of God proceed upon the supposition, that Methodism and Christianity are the same things. Once grant them this, or allow them to assume it without contradiction, and they may go on very smoothly to prove from Scripture, that without the principle of faith, and the motives of pleasing and honouring God, there can be no perfect virtue. This is very true, in the proper and original sense of the terms; but all the while they are using the language of Scripture, they apply it, in their own minds, to nothing but the principles and the motives of Methodism. This is a mode of viewing the subject, on their part, just equivalent to begging the question, and needs to be opposed, there fore, simply by denying their definitions; or, which is the same thing, objecting to the meaning which they attach to the terms.'

It is very true,

That all virtue is comparatively weak and deficient which does not spring from principle, and receive its direction from it.'

But the Methodists err in rating the value of religious principle, considered merely by itself, too high; especially when they confine their ideas of it to a belief of their own peculiar dogmas, and imagine it to be of such value in the sight of heaven as to sanctify, or at least excuse, almost every defect of character, and the flagrant violations of social order. They do not consider, that the religious principle is capable of being so perverted that, instead of impelling its subject to good, it impels him to evil; that when "the light which is in a man is darkness, it is the greatest of all darkness." "

For a rational and moral agent to aim at living to the glory of God is an endeavour supremely commendable: but the meaning of so sublime an expression should be narrowly investigated; since, otherwise, under the notion of rendering service to God,

we

we may rush into all the excesses of superstition and persecution, or mistake the outward acts of religion (like the Pharisees of old) for religion itself. As to the Calvinists of modern

times,

They,' observes Mr. B., fix their attention almost entirely on formal acts of devotion and worship, as the principal means of glorifying God: they imagine that a direct and visible reference to him in all our ways should guide our manners; and that we should be anxious, above all things, to pay due attention to the etiquette of certain alleged forms of homage.

In saying this, I would not be understood as insinuating any thing in the smallest degree disrespectful of social or regular worship. I only mean to say at present, that formal worship is but one way of glorifying God. There are other ways by which the glory of God is equally promoted: for instance, the practice of the social and relative duties of life promotes the great scheme of Providence which is carrying on in the world, as effectually as any other kind of virtues, and, consequently, has a tendency to exhibit the wisdom and the benevo lence of its Author.

If we consider the whole system of this world, in all its complicated combinations of moral, intellectual, and physical powers, we may compare it to a piece of exquisite machinery, all the movements of which ultimately tend to produce some grand effect, in which we discover the design of the artist.'

A distinct chapter is assigned to the debasement, or as the author terms it, the spurious humility' of the Methodists; and here he shews the absurdity, as the "Barrister" and others have done, of applying those expressions of the Apostle Paul, in which he speaks with just reprobation of himself as having been a persecutor, and one who consented to the death of the proto-martyr Stephen, to the case of pious Christians who cannot be charged with so gross a crime. No man who had a just estimate of his character, and who knew that, however sinful he had been, he had avoided the commission of the most atrocious offences, could, without lying to God, confess himself to be the vilest of sinners.

We pass over the last two chapters, on the Censoriousness of the Evangelicals,' and on the gloomy and superstitious Spirit of Calvinism,' because we wish to have the examination of the nature of Methodism conducted without reflections on the character of its professors. Mild are more efficacious than rough arguments; and if we are seriously sollicitous to produce conviction in their minds, we must be on our guard against affording them ground either of disgust or offence. As Mr. Burns means to proceed in his Inquiry, we advise him to attack the doctrines, but to spare the sect as much as he can.-When we took up our pen, we intended to have done little more than to

have referred the reader to the first part, and to have briefly reported the contents of that which is now before us: but the prevalence and wide diffusion of the errors, which this inquirer combats, have induced us to depart from our original purpose. Notwithstanding all his imperfections, Man is the noblest animal with which we are acquainted; he is but "a little lower than the angels;" and his moral as well as intellectual capacities are very great.

ART. VIII.

8vo.

Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, published by the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. Vol. III. 14s. Boards. Longman and Co.

THE

HE short time which elapsed between the publication of the second volume of these Transactions, and the appearance of a third, must be gratifying to the members of the profession, as denoting the continued and even increased exertions of a society which appears, from its constitution and management, to be so well adapted to the improvement of medical science. We cannot but hope that the extensive basis, on which it is founded, will give it a more permanent existence than some of its predecessors have enjoyed; which, whatever merits they may have possessed, depended principally on the talents of two or three individuals, and therefore expired with their original projectors.

According to our custom on former occasions, we shall give a brief account of the different papers which compose this volume. The first is by Sir Gilbert Blane, intitled Facts and Observations respecting intermittent Fevers and the Exhalations which occasion them,' consisting principally of his experience of the disease during his professional visit to Walcheren in 1809. The account is in all respects valuable, and clearly establishes many important points concerning the fatal epidemic which attended the Flushing expedition. Sir Gilbert shews that the disease originated entirely from the marsh effluvia, which had successively affected all the troops who had been stationed in that province, and that typhus and dysentery did not make their appearance until a subsequent period. The circumstances mentioned respecting the nature of the effluvium, its mode of producing disease, the symptoms which appeared, their progress and termination, are highly deserving of attention. The rapidity with which the fever invaded those who were liable to its influence rendered the treatment extremely difficult, and seemed to give no time for the employment of those remedies which are found sufficient to remove intermittents in this country. Copious purging was indeed the only general plan which could be adopted.-Sir Gilbert

Blane's

Blane's observations were found to accord very accurately with those of the French General Monnet, who had resided for some years at Flushing, and seems to have been a man of good sense and information; and we must also remark that the facts, connected with the Walcheren fever, strongly sanction the opinions maintained by Dr. Bancroft jun. in his elaborate work on Yellow Fever. The weekly and monthly returns, inserted by Sir Gilbert, are curious documents relative to the numbers of sick and of deaths among the British troops employed in this illfated expedition.

Mr. Chevalier details a case of Ovarian Dropsy, which was remarkable for immense bulk; the abdomen of the patient having measured 63 inches in circumference, and contained at least 17 gallons of fluid. The only evil experienced from it was the great inconvenience arising from the excessive weight which she had to carry, and its removal was attempted by gradually drawing off the water. Inflammation of the sac was, however, brought on, and death followed.

The next paper contains the history of a difficult Parturition, by Dr. Merriman, which may be considered as a sequel to those of Mr. Park in the last volume. A woman fell in labour with twins, the birth of which was obstructed by a tumour similar to those that were formerly described; one of them was delivered by having the head opened, and the other by the efforts of nature: but the mother died shortly afterward, of peritonitis. Dr. Merriman admits that all tumours which contain a fluid should be evacuated according to Mr. Park's plan; and he proceeds to inquire what steps should be taken when the tumour contains a solid substance, which is sometimes known to be the case he then advises the removal of it by excision.

Mr. Parkinson gives a short notice of a Case of diseased Appendix Vermiformis; in which the part was found to be ulcerated, had discharged its contents in the cavity of the abdomen, and occasioned an inflammation of the neighbouring

viscera.

Mr. Henry Earle relates the case of diseased Testicle in a child, in whom several parts of the body were attacked with a complaint of the fungus kind, which terminated fatally. The paper is accompanied by an appendix by Mr. Lawrence, who relates four cases in which fungous tumours appeared in different parts of the same subject, and, like the preceding, ended in death.

A second paper by Mr. Chevalier describes an improved Method of tying diseased Tonsils. His improvement consists in the mode of passing the ligature, and of securing it when placed. A spear-pointed hook, connected with a double ligature, is passed through the base of the tumour, which is then divided,

and

and one thread is tied about the upper, and the other about the under, part of the tonsil. For the mechanical method of securing the ligature, we must refer to the memoir.

Dr. Farre presents us with an interesting paper on Cynanche Laryngea, a variety of sore throat which has always been confounded with croup, but which appears to be sufficiently distinct from that disease. It commences by painful deglutition, and with the usual appearances of cynanche tonsillaris; the respiration, however, suddenly becomes extremely oppressed, and the voice nearly inaudible. Two cases are related, in the second of which Mr. Cooper performed the operation of bronchotomy: but, although it gave temporary relief to the patient's sufferings, the disease ended fatally. On dissection, it appeared in both cases that the complaint was seated in the pharynx and larynx, and had proved mortal by closing up the glottis. The œsophagus and trachea were comparatively little affected. Although, therefore, the disease may literally be called cynanche pharyngea, yet obvious reasons may be assigned for preferring the term employed by Dr. Farre. In the latter part of the volume, the author offers some farther remarks on the subject in a second paper, in which he enters more at large on the distinction between cynanche laryngea and cynanche trachealis; the former consisting of an inflammation of the whole length of the trachea, and the latter being seated principally in the larynx.

Dr. Yelloly next furnishes a long History of a Case of Anasthesia, many of the particulars of which are very curious. The disease consists of a loss of sensation in the upper and lower extremities, independently of paralysis; and we are informed that the hands up to the wrists, and the feet, half way up the leg, are perfectly insensible to any species of injury, as cutting, pinching, scratching, or burning.' This loss of sensation does not appear to have diminished the voluntary power over the affected limbs, nor was their contractility in any degree impaired. Another paper from Mr. Chevalier gives an Account of a Case of Spontaneous Extravasation within the Theca Vertebralis, which soon terminated fatally.'

In Observations on Diabetes Insipidus, by Dr. Bostock, of Liverpool, the author details what appears to be an unequivocal case of this rare disease, and gives a minute account of the analysis of the urine. He subjoins some pathological observations respecting the connection between diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus, and relates some facts to prove the gradual transition from the one species to the other.

Dr. Merriman's remarks on the propriety of inducing premature Labour, in Women with distorted Pelvis, are very judicious