organ which is most exercised requires the largest supply of blood. The organ by which the mind works is the brain; so that where mental operations are vigorous and almost incessant, the blood, which should circulate freely to the various parts of the system for their support, is absorbed chiefly in feeding the cerebral portion, the rest being impoverished for want of its appropriate nourishment. There is slight reason to censure indolence of body, if conjoined with activity of intellect. Paley, Hume, Gibbon, with a large proportion of literary men of every class, have been examples of the union. Idleness is a physical rather than mental attribute, being commonly the result of corporeal relaxation or disease. You will seldom find a man of lean and spare habit averse to occupation, unless constitutionally ill-formed, or whose strength has been impaired by the derangement of some function; and what is the reason? Because the muscular fibre, the nerves, the whole substance of the frame, are of closer and firmer texture. Indisposition to exertion is perhaps in every instance combined with laxity of the solids; however mind, by its spontaneous operations and ardour, is able to assume no mean command over enfeebled organs and a distempered system. If there is any truth in Falstaff's praises of sack, all that is often necessary to occasion a flow of ideas and fancies, is to increase or accelerate the tide of blood in the veins. Happiness, in the sense of pleasurable sensation, may be produced in much the same manner; a bottle of wine, it has been alleged, affording as much enjoyment for the time as the acquisition of a kingdom.* Good humour is not the product of philosophy, but of temperament or of fortune. Reason may superadd or modify, but nature must contribute the essentials in a case * Landor's "Imaginary Conversations: Lord Brooke and Sir Philip Sidney." relating rather to the material than the intellectual; to the nerves, circulation, and digestive apparatus, than to reflection, or the operation of judgment. Irritability of feeling is always connected with weakness or disorder of the bodily system. One means of taming the ferocity of wild animals is to furnish them with a plentiful supply of food. A similar regimen is often applicable to the human animal; as would appear from the confession of one of the Fathers, that he avoided abstinence because it rendered him peevish. The Moslems of Egypt, during the month of Ramadhan, or Lent of the followers of the Prophet, are, contrary to their usual disposition, morose while fasting through the day, but very cheerful after their evening meal. Our feelings in general, whether agreeable or painful, vivacious or melancholy, depending more on the constitution and state of the body than on circumstances, or any influence purely mental, it is not surprising that by the administration of certain medicinal substances, may be awakened almost every passion of which the human breast is susceptible-joy, sorrow, benevolence, hatred; tranquillity, solicitude; exhilaration, despair. Yet it seems a degradation to have some of our most exquisite emotions referred chiefly to physical causes.— The wonderful effects of artificial stimulants on sensibility, and power of imagination, have never perhaps been depicted in so striking a manner as in the "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater;" a work of which the revelations are no less curious in a psychological view, than there is reason to believe the main particulars authentic. The phenomena it records are no doubt to be ascribed principally to undue excitation and consequent disordered action of the brain. A remarkable illustration is also furnished by Coleridge, who composed his fragment of Kubla Khan in a sleep occasioned by an anodyne. WILLIAM BENTON CLULOW. 190 BY A BARRISTER. Journals, Conversations, and Essays Relating to Ireland, by Mr. Nassau William Senior, just published by Messrs. Longmans, is a work which contains a great deal of valuable information, candidly stated, in reference to the Irish Church, tenant right, the priest, the wants, and the general condition of Ireland. Practical Essays on Education has been published at Messrs. Strahan, by Mr. Thomas Markby. The Life of the Rev. Henry Venn Elliott, M.A., the contemporary of the great Frederick Robertson, of Brighton, has been well written by Mr. Josiah Bateman, M.A., and published by Messrs. Macmillan. Miss Molyneaux has published (Saunders, Otley and Co.) The Cure d'Ars: a Memoir of Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney. It is full of improbabilities; and is the life of a man who, though living only ten years ago, never saw a railway, but secluded himself and practised the austerities of a recluse. The devil visited him every night. He was able to perform miracles. Flour which was only enough for two loaves swelled at his command until there was bread enough to fill an oven. Other matters equally wonderful are recorded. The Life and Times of S. Gregory, the Illuminator, the Founder and Patron Saint of the Armenian Church, has been translated by the Rev. S. C. Malon, M.A., and published by Messrs. Rivingtons. Dr. William Harris Rule has published, at the Wesleyan Conference Office, the History of the Inquisition in every Country where its Tribunals have been Established: from the 12th Century to the Present Time. The King and the Commons is the title of a new volume of Cavalier and Puritan poems, collected by Mr. Henry Morley, and published by Messrs. Sampson Low and Co. It contains a fac-simile of the original MSS. of the new poem attributed to Milton, and discovered by Mr. Morley when working upon this volume; and also the evidence for and against authenticity. Dr. W. H. Thompson, D.D., an eminent scholar, who for a long time has made Plato his particular study, has completed and has published at Messrs. Whittaker's, The Phædrus of Plato. It contains copious notes and dissertations, which cannot but be most valuable to students. Messrs. Reeve and Co. have issued Sacred Archeology: a Popular Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Art and Institutions from Primitive to Modern Times. It is a most valuable work of reference. Mr. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott is the compiler. Mr. Edward A. Freeman gives us the second volume of The History of the Norman Conquest; its Causes and its Results. The volume is a very complete and detailed account of Edward the Confessor. It is published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. B. A. L. Literary Notices. [We hold it to be the duty of an Editor either to give an early notice of the books sent to him for remark, or to return them at once to the Publisher. It is unjust to praise worthless books; it is robbery to retain unnoticed ones.] THE REVIEWER'S CANON. In every work regard the author's end, Since none can compass more than they intend. THE HOLY CHILD JESUS; or, The Early Life of Christ viewed in connection with the History, Chronology, and Archæology of the Times. By Rev. THORNLEY SMITH. London: Wesleyan Conference Office. MANY very excellent sketches of the Life of Christ have appeared in these last days. Neander, Lange, M. De Pressensé, Ellicott, Andrews, Young, have all wrought well in sketching the biography and delineating the character of the great Redeemer of man. Though, of course, most of them, if not all, touch upon his early life, they have not given to this interesting part of the subject any special attention. The work before us does this, and does it with a reverential spirit, and with no ordinary ability. The little volume is divided into twelve chapters, the subjects of which are, The Annunciation of the Birth of the Holy Child, His Forerunner, Birth-place, Nativity, The Shepherds of Bethlehem, His Presentation in the Temple, The Magi of the East, His Existence in Egypt, The Slaughter of the Innocents, His Life at Nazareth, His Appearance in the Temple with the Doctors, and His Subjection to His Parents. All these interesting branches are so handled as to give a very vivid and many-sided picture of the Holy Child Jesus. Those who have read the history of Joseph, of Moses, and of Joshua, previous works of the author, will be able to judge of the intelligence, spirit, and style of this production. "TIME WILL TELL." A Temperance Tale. By N. J. N. Dublin Moffat and Co. ELLEN HANLY; or, the True History of the Colleen Bawn. Moffat and Co. WE put these two books together because they are both from the same publishing house. We seldom read novels. We have not the time to do so, neither have we much taste for such productions. Indeed the character and the abundance of such effusions are an offence to us. Greatly do we fear that they are poisoning the mental atmosphere of the age. Nor are they less offensive because they appear in what are called religious works, and are clad in religious attire. Albeit, we have read "Time will Tell.” On a leisure hour we took it in our hands. We read a page, and it led us through, increasing our interest as we advanced. It is a powerful work against intemperance, bearing as strongly and skilfully against drunkenness as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" does against slavery. The advocates of temperance can scarcely do better than by banding together for the purpose of circulating this work by thousands. "Ellen Hanly" professes to be, and we believe is, a true history of the famous "Colleen Bawn," which has produced such a sensation in the theatres of England. This short history is not only deeply interesting, but has also a high moral tendency. THE WORKS OF GEORGE SWINNOCK, M.A. Vol. IV. Edinburgh: THIS is the fourth volume of Swinnock's works. The more we look into the writings of this author, the more are we impressed with their intrinsic value, and their superiority to most of the theological productions of his period. He displays great knowledge of the sacred Word, and of the writings of ancient philosophers. He has a remarkable power for discerning both the differences and the agreements of things, a great faculty for clear and philosophic groupings, a strong imagination, and a remarkable aptitude for expressing in clear and strong language the conclusions he has reached. Preachers will find germs of many a valuable sermon in the pages of this grand old author. MONTAGUE: A Drama, and other Poems. By ROBERT GEMMELL. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. THE author of this work is the author of sketches from life which we noticed and recommended some years ago. We said of that work that it displayed a soul deep in life's experience, strong in intellect, affluent in fancy. All this applies with equal force to "Montague." The poetic pieces that compose this little volume have various subjects, and vary not a little in merit. In a few neither the sentiment or imagery are much above the level of ordinary productions. Some, however, are so choice in these particulars as to entitle the author to a place amongst the best of our modern poets. CODEX CANONIUM, ECCLESIE UNIVERSE. By Rev. WM. LAMBERT, A.B., Rector of Kilemlagh, Ardfert. London: R. D. Dickinson. THIS is a learned volume for the learned. It contains the canons of the first four general councils of the Church, and those of the early local Greek synods, in Greek, with Latin and revised English translations, in parallel columns, with notes selected from Zonaras, Balsamon, Bishop Beveridge, and others. All who are at all acquainted with the subject must be impressed with the importance of such a work as this. Great is the advantage to be derived from the study of these ancient canons of the Church universal. "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."-Jer. ii. 12, 13. F we compare the Word of God to a piece of scenery, the passage selected for analysis may be likened to a magnificent cataract. At all events it leaps out upon us with all a cataract's force and fascination. Just as there are men of such a majestic presence, and such symmetrical proportions, that one cannot pass them without remark, so there are portions of Scripture which, as it were, compel attention, and a specimen is before us. The ideas contained in the verses under consideration combine with the language in which they are expressed to arrest the reader, and superinduce a train of serious thought. His mind is not to be envied who can pass unreflectingly over them; and it is to be hoped that in dealing with them we shall do so impressed with the fact that in substance they are as applicable to us as to the people in whose hearing and for whose VOL. XXIII. |