and discernment; to apply it steadily and effectually requires often a great share of self-government and selfdenial, and the frequent mortification and disappointment of our strongest propensities.

By the unreflecting at all times, and by some sects among pilosophers, much more than their weight is attributed to original differences in mental and bodily constitutions. That such differences do exist, no one I think can doubt who observes the very great variety of character and disposition, which frequently appear in per sons whose circumstances and education, so far as we have been able to trace, or as human means were able to controul them, have been as nearly similar as possible. We are not either formed or educated after one common standard; nor is it desirable that we should a dull, uniform sameness would doubtless take away greatly from the enjoyment of human life, and would be inconsistent with the proper discharge of the various duties which the convenience or the subsistence of mankind requires. Though however we admit that such original diversities do exist, yet by much the greater part of the actual diversity observable in human character is to be ascribed to those circumstances which we call accidental or adventitious; that is, they are the result of education and experience, and are in some considerable measure subject to government and controul. The contrary opinion appears not only inconsistent with a just theory of the history of the human mind, but also leads to dangerous practical consequences, and ought therefore to be diligently guarded against. But to return to our proper subject.

The weakness and irritability of temper which I have alluded to, is so inconsistent with our happiness, that it is necessary to take all possible methods to restrain it. For this purpose it is very desirable to cultivate a habit of looking always in preference on the bright side of every character, and indeed of every object which attracts our notice. I would not recommend a total blindness to the defects and errors of others, for that might be fatal to our own personal security, and injurious to the important interests of those whose welfare it is our more immediate duty to promote; but a

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disposition to observe with satisfaction and duly to appreciate such good qualities as are possessed even by the worst men, and to place in their due light all the excellencies of the really deserving, and which when justly estimated are sufficient to cast into the shade the infirmities or failings by which they may be accompanied. Candour in acknowledging all these would greatly contribute to the formation of an even and gentle disposition. Again, a habit, which may soon be acquired by care and practice, of checking the external signs of those emotions of contempt and anger to which we feel ourselves peculiarly liable, will succeed in time in preventing the inordinate rise of the emotions themselves. Such efforts at first produce nothing more than the external appearance of decorum and propriety of behaviour; but the influence soon becomes more extensive. Between the outward signs and the feelings which are represented by them, there is a surprising connection; and as, on the one hand, the assumed language of violent emotion will, in many cases, excite a considerable degree of the emotion itself so, on the other, the constant endeavour to check the external symptoms, soon chokes up and even entirely removes the source from whence they flow.

The species of ill-humour which arises from a morbid sensibility to our own miseries, is equally inconsistent with real enjoyment. Nothing is more destructive of pleasure than a constant habit of complaining and grumbling; which leads a man to look in preference on those circumstances of his lot which are the least inviting, and is eternally brooding over them so as to preclude all attention to those which are more favourable and encouraging, and to magnify the others to such a degree in his disordered imagination, that what might have been but trifling grievances are exalted into evils of the first magnitude. A habit therefore of dwelling on whatever is. in its nature fitted to give pleasure, and of endeavouring to look out for the beneficial consequences which are to flow even from those which cannot, in the first instance, be regarded with satisfaction, is exceedingly well calculated to secure and increase our happiness. This is the disposition which every sincere Christian, every

believer in the constant superintendance of an infinitely wise and kind Providence, will naturally cherish; and he will be led to this, by a sense not merely of its propriety, but of its immediate and direct influence on his present enjoyments. Let the more serious afflictions of life then teach us patience and resignation. As for the lighter grievances and petty miseries by which so many suffer their tempers to be ruffled and their cheerfulness destroyed, let them be regarded as fitter subjects of a laugh or jest than of any graver reflections. A very amusing book--which bad a great rua some years ago, but seems now almost forgotten-the Miseries of Human Life," may perhaps show us the right way of dealing with the sc minor troubles. To allow them to destroy one's comfort would be the extreme of folly; and to talk about philosophy or resignation in connexion with such trifles would be equally absurd; the only method left therefore is to treat them with their own characteristic levity.

Another circumstance of great importance to human happiness, is a wise management and distribution of our habits. The capacity of acquiring habits, both bodily and mental, is a most important and valuable part of our constitution. By its means we acquire and continually improve our skill in those occupations which are to be the means of our subsistence or the source of our usefulness to our

fellow-creatures; and our various ne cessary employments become, through the operation of the same general principle, not only easy but agreeable to us. Every thing however depends on the right application of this principle. It may minister to virtue or be made subservient to vice; it may contribute to happiness or greatly aggravate our misery, according as it is wisely or injudiciously directed. The object therefore in the regulation of our habits must be that those things be rendered easy and agreeable through frequent practice, which are most essentially requisite to our comfort and permanent well-being; and that we render our pleasures dependent, as much as possible, on those sources which are most easily attainable. Now all this may be done by habit. A habit of moderation in our desires will enable us to take as much delight in the cheaper, more ordinary means gratification, as others do in those

which are most difficult to be procured. In absolute enjoyment we are nearly upon a level; but the difference in our favour consists in this, that our pleasures are more secure and permahent than theirs, and also that almost every change is with us a change from contented tranquillity to a state of high enjoyment, while they, having foolishly placed their habitual station at the summit of all, cannot remove from it without descending.

Such then are some of those sources from which the wise and prudent man may, in ordinary cases, depend upon deriving an abundant and secure supply of happiness;---from innocent, or still better, from beneficent, activity-from the exercise of the benevolent affections either towards those with whom he is peculiarly connected by the ties of kindred or friendship, or as delighting in the more enlarged, expanded views of universal philanthropy-from a serene and even temper, unruffled either by trifling offences on the part of others, or by those petty miseries and vexations which occasionally occur to hintself. From these, and such as these, the wise man may draw a never-tailing supply of enjoyment. Not that he is to be always in transport or extacy, for this is inconsistent with human nature, and indeed is not in itself desirable; but a steady, uniform cheerfulness and tranquillity which, from its permanence and security, will certainly furnish in the end a much greater sum of real happiness. The enumeration is not by any ineans complete; for such is the admirable constitution of things, that, to the truly wise man, every object in nature, and almost every circumstance of life, may be made the source of pleasure. All the provinces of external nature-all the powers, desires and affections of his own mind, will contribute to his felicity: the powers of taste and imagination-the search after, and discovery of, knowledge-the interest he takes in the events which diversify the history of his species,-all these, and a thousand other pleasures of the mind, which, though nothing can in this uncertain state be pronounced absolutely imperishable and constantly within reach, may yet be said to be in general firmly secured to wise and good men as a just reward of intellectual and moral happiness.

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Mr. Wright's Remarks on Two Passages in Dr. Adam Clarke's Notes on the Holy Scriptures. IN this remarks on 1 Cor. i. 8, the Doctor relates two Jewish stories to illustrate the faithfulness of God: the following is one of them :-"Rabbi Simcon, the son of Shetach, bought an ass from some Edomites, at whose neck his disciples saw a diamond hanging: they said unto him, Rabbi, the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, Prov. x. 22. But he answered, The ass I have bought, but the diamond I have not bought therefore he returned the diamond to the Edomites." To this story Dr. C. has added the following illiberal remark:-"This was an instance of rare honesty, not to be paralleled among the Jews of the present day; and probably among few Gentiles." On what authority the Gentiles are supposed to be so much better than the Jews, and the whole of the latter, as well as the greater part of the former, to be destitute of strict honesty, the Doctor has not stated. It is certain every strictly honest man would act as Rabbi Simeon is said to have acted. It has been too much the practice for Christians to speak of the Jews, because they do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, as men destitute of all piety and virtue; though proofs of the contrary might be produced. To treat a whole people as altogether depraved and worthless, is the way to debase them, and injure their moral character. It is inconsistent with Christian charity, and even with common justice, to represent a whole nation as not furnishing, in the present day, a single instance of the strictest honesty. I have been credibly informed of an instance of what the Doctor calls rare honesty, in the conduct of a Jew, with whom I was well acquainted, which may be paralleled with the case he has stated. The Jew I refer to, travelling with his box, happened to call at a house where he was asked if he would purchase a watch which was presented to him: he inquired what price the person who offered to sell him the watch required for it, and being told, he asked if the seller knew what the watch was, and was answered " Yes, it is a gilt one;" he replied, No, you are mistaken, it is a gold one, and worth much more than you ask for it."--Will Dr. C. take upon him to say that none of the Jews, in the present day, are or

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can be conscienciously such? if conscienciously Jews, according to the law of Moses, will they not be

men of strict integrity? Is he sufficiently acquainted with the conduct of all the Jews, to justify the censure he passes upon them?

In his notes on 1 Cor. xvth. chap. the Doctor says, “One remark I cannot help making; the doctrine of the resurrection, appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apos tles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached; and so primitive Christians believed so we preach; and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid: and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect!" Is not this an acknowledg ment that what is called evangelical preaching in the present day is essentially different from the preaching of the apostles? Dr. C. asserts that the doctrine which the apostles were continually insisting on, is seldom mentioned by those he calls their successors; but he does not state the reasons for this difference. He will not say the doctrine of the resurrection is of less importance now than it was in the days of the apostles. He does not attempt to justify the neglect of their doctrine by modern preachers. Surely if those who take to themselves the name of evangelical ministers in the present day had the same views of the gospel as the apostles had, they would preach as the apostles preached. Ought not Dr. C. and his readers to inquire whether the primitive doctrine of the gospel be not neglected on account of other doctrines being insisted on, as leading articles of faith, which the apostles did not preach, and which cannot be found in their discourses, of which we have an account in the book of Acts? There are ministers, but I fear the Doctor would hardly allow them to be evangelical, who insist more on the doctrine of the resurrection than all their more numerous brethren who disown them as legal teachers.

R. WRIGHT.