Animadversions on Mr. Gilchrist's Sermon. petit-maitres" who shrink with disgust from madness or any thing like madness" in religious controversy; so ignorant indeed as never to have heard what Christian madness is; so confined in my reading as never to have met with any mention of it in the writings of Shakespear, Bacon, Taylor, or Barrow, to say nothing of the New Testament, which, however, I do recollect, says something of Christian meekness; and lastly, so mean-spirited as to rejoice that I live in an age, "finical and dwarfish," though it be, in which caudour and courtesy are not universally deemed inconsistent with honesty and zeal; in which the odium theologicum is beginning to subside, in which the philosopher is no longer known by his tub, nor the Christian controversialist by his coarseness. But to come to the point, whatever may be thought of the argument of Mr. G.'s sermon (which though clear and simple does not I confess strike me as peculiarly ingenious or novel), of the manner and spirit of it I think there can be but one opinion amongst sober and serious Christians,-an opinion decidedly unfavourable. Where, I would ask the author, is the wisdom or the decency of those affected exclamations of disgust and repugnance to his subject, with which his discourse is so copiously interlarded, such as these: "I feel at every step as if condemned to a degrading task. I feel as if brought upon the stage to fight with wild beasts or to contend with madmen."—"I am weary of such solemn trifling."—" It is a most irksome task to handle subjects to which one can neither apply argument nor ridicule," &c. Such exclamations if affected are disgusting, and if serious, are ridiculous. He who undertakes a task voluntarily (and a man need not print against his will, even though he should be asked) has no right to torment you with complaints of its irksomeness. He who voluntarily descends from his elevation, whether real or fancied, has no right to complain of being degraded. If Mr. Gilchrist really deemed his subject of serious importance he should have treated it with serious earnestness, if he did not deem it important, he was not obliged to treat it at all. An intolerant and contemptuous spirit seems to me to pervade almost the whole 17 composition,-a spirit which I do not hesitate to say, (even at the risk of being "trampled in the dust for a dwarfish tyrant") is unbecoming a Christian minister. Such fiery discourses seem to me likely to answer no one good end, neither of pleasure nor improvement, conciliation nor conviction. They may feed the vanity and illiberality of the red hot convert who is already too much disposed to merge his Christianity, I mean his charity, in his Unitarianism,-but they will grieve the serious and Catholic Unitarian whose comprehension of mind is not narrowed by party spirit, and they will excite the determined hostility and aversion of the adversary when it ought to be the object first to conciliate, and then to convict. "Though speaking honourable things of God," says Bishop Taylor, an author in Mr. G.'s admiration of whom I warmly agree, "be an employment that does honour to our tongues and voices; yet we must tune and compose even those notes so, as may best profit our neighbour." It should not be forgotten that the same spirit of uncharitableness, which we condemn in the anathema of the Calvinist, may exist in no less lively vigour in the contemptuous sneer of the Unitarian. Coarse language and opprobious terms are a disgrace to any cause, and no real friend of Unitarianism will, I hope, be ashamed or afraid to avow that "his ears are shocked by them." In conclusion, Mr. Editor, I shall make an extract from Mr. Gilchrist's sermon, which might have served, I think, both for a favourable specimen, and for a review, and the candour of which ought perhaps to mitigate the severity of censure. 'If any illiberal remark, if any unseemly expression escape from us, place it to the account of human imperfection,-place it to the account of the individual addressing you; on him be all the blame : let it not be charged to his opinions, nor to other men who profess them. A good cause may come into the hands of.. injudicious advo 66 cates and if one man should give offeuce by his manner of treating a subject, you ought not on that account to be offended with the subject itself, nor with a whole class of Christians." What a pity that the excellent feeling displayed in this, and the eloquent passage immediately preceding, did not prevail with the author to commit this abortion of his genius to the flames! I remain, a sincere friend to Unitarianism, not so much for its own sake, as for the sake of that Christianity of which I deem it the purest form. SIR, THE A. A. and since, the priest has turned tin ker and joined heart and hand in pro moting the Protestant faith and in structing the poor. To meet in any house or cabin would draw the attention of the priests and perhaps excommunication on the person who permitted it would follow; this is the reason of his drawing the boys off to a distance in a manner before stated; -the name of this great man is ThaHE following circumstance I dy know will give you great pleaJ. W. sure: A few weeks ago my brotherin-law, Mr. -, of Dublin, was with me he is an anxious promoter of the education of the poor; and it appears the Catholic Priests oppose generally, every thing in their power, what is done by the Protestants associated for that purpose, and too generally succeed; though, as it will appear, the people are not adverse to it and connive at its introduction. A person in humble life, but of strong mind, and an enthusiast to promote this great work, travels through the country at disguise, taking with him the Bible, translated into the language of the lower classes, and has succeeded in forming what he calls Hedge Schools, where sometimes twenty boys will attend, and generally great progress has been made in the cultivation of their minds. He gives prizes to those who learn by heart most of the parts of the scriptures that he points out. He subjects himself to every privation and on his last visit to the society in Dublin, his dress being so dirty and tattered, it was recommended that he should have a new suit: "No," said he, "that will never do, if I go back with a good coat, my scholars and friends will say, You have been to Dublin and got bribed by the great, and we will have no more to do with you." His plans are carried on unknown to the priests, and no public notice is ever taken of it by the society, feeling that publicity would defeat the object. He has won numbers over from the Catholic faith and sets about the task of conversion in a manner never suspected at first, by his opponents; sleeps in their wretched cabins and partakes of their coarsest fare. It appears he had from time to time various controversies with a priest; and at last not only succceded in detaching him from his opinions, but also in leading him into his views; P. S. I add an anecdote of the singular but praiseworthy integrity of a Quaker tradesman :-a clerk at the general post office told me the other day, that one of the above society called every quarter to repay those letters that by mistake were underrated. Natural Theology. No. XII. HE brain is a soft pulpy mass of a whitish grey colour, which occupies all that cavity which is formed by the bones of the skull, and is surrounded by two membranes, the outermost called the dura mater, the second is denominated pia mater. The former lines the inside of the skull and prevents its eminences from giving injury to the delicate structure of the brain; it serves also to prevent concussious of the organ it separates the whole mass into portions, which by its partitions it supports and protects from pressure. This membrane is strong and of a tendinous nature, like the other membranes of the body, which are only intended to perform subservient offices for the living parts; it is insensible, and may be torn without giving any pain. It adheres closely to the inside of the skull by a great number of filaments and small vessels which enter the bone every where. The pia mater is a soft, thin, transparent substance, full of vessels, connected with the former by the veins which pass between them, and lies in contact with the surface of the brain, not only covering this organ, but insinuating itself into all its windings and fissures for the conveyance of vessels, and of nourishment, to supply the waste of this active machine. Between these two membranes there is spread a third, which is extremely delicate, resembling a cob-web; but Natural Theology. No. XII.-Of the Brain and Nerves. does not dip into the convolutions of the brain. There are three great divisions of the brain. 1. The cerebrum is the uppermost and by much the largest portion: it is separated into two hemispheres, each of which is divided into three parts, called lobes. 2. The cerebellum which lies at the under, and back part of the skull, and is divided into two portions by the descending fold of the dura mater. 3. The third division is called the medulla oblongata: it lies at the base of the skull, and is a continuation of the substances of the other two divisions. The spinal marrow proceeds without interruption from this third division of the brain; it passes out of the head by the great opening of the skull, and running down the canal of the backbone, where it is safely lodged, giving off nerves till it reaches the pelvis, where it splits into numerous threadlike nerves, resembling a horse's tail: the spinal marrow, like the brain, consists of the same sort of substance, and is protected by a continuation of the membranes belonging to that organ. The nerves arise from the brain and spinal marrow they come out in pairs and are distributed over the whole body. 1. To bestow an acute sensation in the instruments of sense. 2. To give the utmost facility of motion to the instruments of motion: and 3. To confer in all other parts a nice perception of whatever gives pain. "If any person," says Galen, "shall attend to dissections and consider attentively how nature has not distributed the nerves in equal measure to all the different parts of the body, but to some more abundantly, and to others more sparingly, he will find himself compelied to acknowledge that nature is eminently wise, just, skilful and provident in her arrangement of the animal economy. There are forty pairs of nerves: of these nine pair arise from the base of the brain within the skull; a tenth from the brain, as it passes through the great hole of the skull into the spine, and the remaining thirty take their rise from the spinal marrow. Those arising from the brain are chiefly distributed to the organs situated in the head, and to those contained in the chest and belly, while those that proceed from the spinal marrow go partly 19 among the internal organs of the trunk, to be distributed chiefly to the exterior parts of the body and to the limbs. Though the nerves run out in pairs, from their origin, they soon separate to go to different parts of the body, by splitting in innumerable ramifications. To describe these nerves, and point out their several ramifications would take us much beyond the bounds assigned to these papers, but a single instance will illustrate the nature and uses of the whole, and this shall be taken from the fifth pair of nerves, which is branched to the ball, the muscles, and glands of the eye;-to the ear-to the jaws, the gums and teeth:-to the muscles of the lips to the tonsils, the palate, the tongue, and other parts of the mouth :-to the præcordia also, or parts situated about the heart and stomach, by coming in contact with one of its nerves, and finally to the muscles of the face, particularly the cheeks. Hence there is a great consent and sympathy between the parts, so that certain things seen or smelt excite the appetite, affect the glands and parts of the mouth, and in some instances excite what is known by the phrase of water in the mouth: some things seen or heard affect the cheeks with modest blushes ;-on the contrary, if a thing pleases or tickles the fancy, it affects the præcordia, and the muscles of the mouth and face with laughter : others causing sadness and melancholy exert themselves upon the præcordia, and shew themselves by causing the glands of the eyes to emit tears, which by a most wise provision of nature are intended not only to brighten the cornea, and to express grief, but to alleviate sorrow: “Fletus ærumnas levat," and the muscles of the face put on the gloomy aspect of crying. Hence also the passions of anger, of hatred, of malice and envy, of love, of joy and hope are all produced, and exhibited by the countenance, so that, in fact, it is by means of this communication of the nerves, that whatever affects the mind is demonstrated spontaneously by a consentaneous disposition of the præcordia within, and a suitable configuration of the muscles and other parts of the face without. It is, says Pliny, an admirable contrivance of the great God of nature, that the face should be given to man, of all his creatures, to be the index of sorrow and cheerfulness, of compassion, of severity, &c. With this we consent and with it we deny. With this we manifest pride and contempt, and other passions that have their sources elsewhere. Of the structure of the brain and nerves, and of the nature of their powers little is known. We read of the operation of the mind, and frequently measure its powers in the extent of genius and science: but though we can view the astonishing properties of the brain in their results, we are at a loss to explain how these results are produced. We know, however, first, That the brain and nerves constitute the organs of feeling and sensation for upon touching the brain with a knife or other instrument, the animal is seized with convulsions: and if a probe be thrust into the spinal marrow all the muscles of the limbs will be violently convulsed. By irritating or tying a nerve, the muscles to which the branches are distributed will be violently convulsed, and the animal thrown into the most acute pain. Secondly. All the other parts of the body derive their power of feeling and sensation from the brain, the spinal marrow and the nerves, being in themselves wholly insensible, and made capable of feeling only in proportion as they have the nervous branches distributed over them: this fact is made evident by tying up a nerve that leads to any part of the body, that part becomes immediately paralytic below the ligature; but will recover its powers on freeing the nerve. And it is further proved by the degrees of sensibility of the different parts of the body, bearing proportion to the quantity of nervous branches which can be discovered to belong to that part. Thirdly. The excitement to all voluntary motion, or to those actions which are produced by the will, flows from the brain or spinal marrow, through the medium of the nerves, or to those parts of the body which we wish to move. For if the brain be compressed by any cause, the body becomes paralysed, and the power of motion is suspended, but on removing the pressure, the paralysis will cease, and the whole frame, unless it has been permanently injured, will reco ver its sense and action. Again, if a particular nerve, which conveys the immediate cause of motion from the brain, or spinal marrow, to a part to be moved, be injured or compressed, the part to which this nerve is distributed will become senseless, and lose its power of motion; hence injuries of particular nerves produce palsies of the parts to which these are sent, as loss of voice, of hearing, of speech, &c. Fourthly. The nerves are the organs, and the brain the receptacle of our sensations, and the source of our ideas. That sensation arises from impression made on a nerve and conveyed to it by the brain is evident from this, that if a nerve be irritated pain is produced, and the mind becomes instantly informed of the suffering: but if that nerve be compressed above the seat of its irritation, so as to cut off the channel of communication between it and the brain, the mind is then no longer conscious of any irritation that is made below the point of compression, and the affected parts are reduced to a state of insensibility similar to that of parts which are destitute of nerves, and may be injured or even destroyed without exciting pain. Pain is occasioned by disagreeable sensations produced by the forcible contact of bodies with the organs of our senses, and it is wisely planted in the system to guard it against injury, for without pain, as the result of excessive sensations, the delicate structure of our frames would be almost constantly liable to destruction from various bodies in nature around. But as pain is the salutary consequence of excessive sensations, so sensations without pain are the results of a due impression on our sensitive organs, from the objects that are calculated to influence us: and as long as the body remains in health in all its parts, these impressions will continue to cause sensations in the nerves which will forward them to the brain, where ideas of the nature and properties of the impressing objects will be instantly formed for the instruction of the mind. Hence the skin and other parts possessed of what we call feeling is susceptible to the touch, and communicate to the brain and the mind the sensations of hardness, softness, &c. of such bodies as may Natural Theology. No. XII.-Of the Brain and Nerves. be brought in contact with it; while the eye, the ear, the nose and palate being differently organized, but still deriving their sensitive powers from the nerves, yet by their regular structure they are enabled to receive different kinds of impressions, each according to its properties and conformation: thus the eye is impressed by rays of light, the ear by sound, the nose by smell, the palate by taste. Hence the varied and extensive knowledge acquired by the human mind from impressions made on the brain by external objects. From what has been said it is evident that the brain, spinal marrow and nerves, constitute the sentient or feeling part of the human system, and that all other parts are capable of feeling only in proportion as they receive the branches of nerves: and hence it has been inferred that there is a kind of gradation of feeling throughout the whole body, each of its organs and parts being endowed with that particular degree of sense, which is just sufficient for the performance of its function in the living machine. The cellular membrane, for instance, whose use is to connect and unite into one whole all the moving parts of the system is without feeling so also are the coverings of the brain, the coats of the nerves, the sheaths of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and the apparatus of joints, with the substance of the tendons and ligaments themselves; for these parts performing only subservient offices to living organs would derange the whole system by being possessed of sensibility, which would leave them no longer capable of bearing the friction, blows, &c. which they now endure without injury in the different movements of the frame. The feeling of the bones is doubtful, but the muscles are all endowed with this sense by a distribution of the nervous fibres every where throughout their substance; this is necessary to their office: as agents of voluntary motion they must be capable of receiving and obeying the commands of the will: hence the mind no sooner wills an act, than the nerve is ready to obey the implied command, and the action is instantly performed: this dispatch is well illus trated in the rapid movements of an 21 opera dancer, every one of which are 66 can 'The skin," says Mr. Burke, in his popular Compendium of Anatomy," possesses a finer degree of sense than the flesh, being fuller of nervous branches, and rising in the scale of sensibility, may be said to form the lowest of the organs of the senses. Feeling is the property and use of the skin of the human body, which enjoys it over its whole surface, but more exquisitely in some parts than in others: thus while the greater part of the skin possesses it in a degree sufficient only to guard the body from danger, by warning it of the contact of substances, which being too hot, too cold, too sharp or rough, might be injurious; there are other parts, as the palm of the hands, and the sole of the foot, which are endowed with a greater sensibility, so as on a slight friction, to create a tickling kind of pleasure, and in some persons, involuntary laughter. But it is most perfect in the points of the fingers, which from their convexity, are particularly adapted to be the organs of touch, and from the nice discrimination with which our fingers enable us to examine the surfaces, and exterior properties of bodies, this sense has got the denomination of feeling. The tongue, the organ of taste, possesses this sensibility in a higher degree still; for though it judges of the substances which constitute our food, by the same process as that used by the fingers, namely, contact; yet the latter with their finest feeling would be inadequate to discover bodies by their flavour. A step higher may be ranked the organ of smelling; the nose is so acute in its sense, as to be impressed by the light and volatile effluvia rising from bodies, and floating in the air, and consequently distinguishes substances at a considerable distance. Higher again stands the sensitive faculty of the ear; this organ is qualified to be acted upon by the mere vibrations of the air, which striking against this delicate part of our mechanism, pro |