Literary and Philosophical Intelligence. We regret to learn that the celebrated traveller Humboldt, has given up all thoughts of visiting Asia-an enterprise which has for some time excited great hopes among the learned and the curious-and for which the necessary funds had been provided by his patrons. According to the accounts we have received, he thinks he should not attain his object there if he should go-He contemplates, however, another visit to Mexico. Encouragement to Lovers of Science. The King of France has bestowed upon · M. Champollion, jun. the author of the interesting work on Egyptian writings, to which we alluded in one of our former articles of Philosophical Intelligence-a gold box ornamented with his majesty cyphered in diamonds. The inside of the box bears this inscription.-"The gift of the King to M. Champollion, jun." Examples like this we hope will stimulate the wealthy in our own country to bestow rewards on the ingenious. Sir Charles Bell of London, has published a series of papers in the last volume of the Philosophical Transactions, some curious and interesting discoveries in relation to the functions and natural arrangements of the nerves. Mr. Bell gives us reason to believe, that they are erroneous who consider the brain only as a secreting organ, and the nerves as the conduit pipes conveying the sensorial influence to all parts of the body. Our limits will not permit us to say much on this subject-we can only add, that competent judges have informed us that the result of Mr. Bell's investigations are beautiful and satisfactory, that they explain and resolve the apparent confusion which has hitherto involved this subject, and illustrate the all-seeing wisdom of that Almighty Being, who has built up in secret a structure of which the plan is but slowly discovered by human research, and this in the course of many successive ages. M. Humboldt has lately published a volume on Geology, in which he examines successively, in the order of their age, the strata of the old continent, and compares them with similar ones in the new world-he proves their analogy and confirms the principle now generally adopted, that they do not change like animals or plants with climates, but that those which are supposed to belong to the same epoch or formation are the same every where. View of Publick Affairs. By the last advices from Europe it appears that the French armies have entered Spain, commenced hostilities, and gained some partial advantages. The representations made by the friends and the enemies of the French invasion, relative to the dispositions of the Spanish population, and the ease with which the invaders have obtained their successes, are, as is usual in such cases, different and contradictory. It is manifest, however, that the Spaniards fight; that they have yielded little, if any thing as yet, without a struggle; and that the system which they have adopted, is that of a Guerilla warfare-by which they hope to harass the French, and gradually to wear down and weary. out their army, till they shall have so reduced its numbers and its spirit as to be able to attack the remainder at once, and with success. By the removal of the Cortes and the royal family from Madrid, it is plain that the Spanish Constitutionalists supposed it probable that the capital of the kingdom would fall into the hands of their enemies. But Moscow has been fatal to one French invasion, and Madrid may be so to another. In common with many, we have always considered the attack of France upon Spain as a measure of infatuation; and we still suspect that the ultimate explanation to be given of it, will be found in the old adage-Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat.* Both nations, while the conflict lasts, will be severely scourged; and this, as a divine dispensation, requires no other explanation than that to which we have formerly alluded-their iniquitous conduct in the slave trade of unhappy Africa. That such nations should be made to correct each other, will not appear strange to those who read and believe the Bible. The liberals have not resumed their seats in the French Chamber of Deputies. It has been very properly said by one of the Spanish editors, that had the scenes of tumult, confusion and violence, that have characterized the Chamber of Deputies, occurred in the Cortes, they would have been held up to all Europe as a proof of the fanatical spirit of the assembly. Portugal appears to view the conduct of France in a just light. Whether by immediately uniting herself to Spain, she will decide to lose the protection of Great Britain, which is secured to her in case of an unprovoked attack, we cannot conjecture. It is said that an opinion is gaining ground in England, adverse to imprisonment for debt. There have been some discussions in the House of Commons upon the supposition of the Bourbons being driven from the throne. We should think the French monarch likely to feel considerable interest in their perusal. Greece affords an exhilarating prospect. The citadel of Corinth, garrisoned by 1200 Turks, was surrendered on the 6th of February, and on the 15th of the same ⚫ month Patras, a very important place, was given up to the Greeks. Three commanders are about to unite their forces, amounting it is said to 50,000 men, with a view to make some very decisive movements. The Mexican pageant, Iturbide, has passed away. A successful revolution has restored the republican form of government. In Chili and Peru the royal Spanish forces have been successful, and are now apparently triumphant over the patriots. Every thing in that region is in a state of the utmost confusion, and the general distress appears to be very great. At Home, the newspapers have been replenished, and the publick mind has been occupied by accounts of a great horse race near New York. We seriously assert that we do not believe so much interest could have been excited in the country by the arrival of news from Europe, that the French army had entered Madrid-or that the Turkish Divan had been converted to Christianity-as was evinced upon the arrivals, in several great cities, of couriers sent to announce the result of the race-that Eclipse had beaten Henry. We are ashamed and blush to state this fact, and love our country too well to dwell long upon it. Is it so, that a cry has been raised in several parts of our country against soliciting contributions for missions to the heathen and the Jews, and yet that it is stated, on apparently good authority, that bets to the amount of $75,000 at least, were depending on the comparative speed of the two rival horses that started in this race! Can the purses of the wealthy be so liberally opened for such an object as this, and yet be closed against solicitations to send that religion which they profess to venerate to perishing millions! What bounds can be set to the absurdity and inconsistency of those who make a god of this world! Let Christians show that they have at least equal zeal and equal liberality in promoting a cause in which they know that the salvation of immortal souls, the honour of their Sayiour, and the glory of God are deeply involved. * Whom God wills to destroy he first deprives of understanding. THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. JULY, 1823. Keligious Communications. LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATE CHISM OF THE WESTMINSTER AS- YOUTH. LECTURE II. (Continued from p. 245.) We now proceed to another inquiry. The answer in the Catechism on which I am speaking, in stating what is the chief end of man, mentions two things, which are certainly in some respects different, namely, the glorifying of God, and the everlasting enjoyment of him. What was the intention of this? Can our chief end consist in two distinct things? I have already had occasion to remark that the glory of God and our own happiness are always promoted by the same means, and yet that they imply distinct views. To remind us of this connexion and distinction, was, I suppose, the design of those who formed the answer we consider; and it is not unimportant to keep it constantly in mind. 1st, Then, let us briefly consider that a supreme regard to the glory of God, never does or can interfere, with the truest regard to our own happiness. It would, indeed, be strange, if it were otherwise. One of the clearest and strongest laws of the nature which our Maker has given us is, that we should desire and seek our own happiness: and it would imply a contradiction of Himself, if he had given us a second law, which we could not keep, without violating the first. Let us VOL. I.-Ch. Adv. never entertain such unworthy thoughts of our Maker, as to imagine this. No truly, we must believe that the glory of God, and our own highest, final happiness, are always consistent and inseparable. Yet those who have resolved all virtue into disinterested benevolence, and all real piety into the disinterested love of God, have certainly sometimes gone the length of affirming, that a man ought to be willing to suffer eternal perdition, for the promotion of the divine glory. Now, in answering to this, we are ready to acknowledge that there is, not only a disinterested love of God, but that without it, there can be no true love to God at all. He who does not love the Deity for what he is, in and of Himself, certainly has no genuine love to Him. Yet this by no means implies, either that all true virtue is comprised in this single act or affection, or that a love of gratitude, always implying a sense of favours received, is unlawful; or that a regard to our own happiness is not permitted, or not absolutely incumbent on us. The whole error, as it seems to me, arises from attempting to separate, in imagination and in reasoning, what are never separated in fact; but indissolubly linked together by the divine constitution. Thus, in regard to the point before us, those who maintain it must, I apprehend, make a separation between the suffering and the sin, of a state of final perdition. That state will, in fact, invariably consist not only 20 of extreme misery, but of the most awful and unmixed enmity to God, and to all goodness. Now if the misery of such a state be not in idea separated from its sinfulness, then those who affirm that a man must be willing to be consigned to eternal perdition for the glory of God, will have to maintain, that we may and ought to love our Maker with such supreme affection as to be willing to hate and blaspheme Him forever. But any thing more palpably absurd and self-contradictory than this, cannot, in my apprehension, be easily expressed or conceived: and to my mind it is not less shocking than it is absurd. As to those passages of scripture -I think they are but two-which are supposed to give some direct countenance to this objectionable tenet, I have only time to say, at present, that I entirely agree with the best commentators, in thinking that they have not the smallest bearing on the point *-No, my young friends, the appointment of the God of all goodness is, that in glorifying Him we shall, always and invariably, consult our own highest happiness; we shall enjoy his comfortable presence now, and be preparing to enjoy it to all eternity. But 2d, Although, by the divine constitution, the glory of God and the happiness of the man who glorifies Him, are inseparable, these two things, not only admit of distinct views, but sometimes require them. I have just shown, indeed, that they may be so widely separated, as to leave one entirely out of sight, which certainly ought never to be done. Yet, in laying down a rule of duty, good reasons may be assigned, why we should always make the glory of God our guide, and derive from it our highest motive, and our supreme obligation; mindful always, that by doing so, we shall invariably consult our own best interest. In the first place, We should re collect that it is agreeable to the fitness of things,-to what we always consider right and reasonable,-that we should be supremely influenced by the consideration of that which is in itself most important. Now, the glory of the great and ever blessed God, is, in itself, the most important consideration, that can be presented to the mind of any of his intelligent creatures. There is no comparison between the importance of promoting the glory of God, and any other end, or object, that we can have in view. While, therefore, other objects may be thought of, and other motives have influence, this, in all reason, should be supreme; and should immediately control every other which may come, or seem to come, in competition with it. In the second place, A regard to the glory of God is a much clearer, safer, and more simple rule of duty, than merely aiming to promote our own happiness. There is nothing, perhaps, in which men so often, and so fatally mistake, as in choosing a course of action which they think will render them happy. What such a course actually is, has been the subject of the gravest disputes. Among the heathen philosophers, the great inquiry was about the summum bonum; or what course of life would render man the happiest: and in our daily observation we see men in pursuit of happiness, completely missing their aim, and incurring misery instead of providing for their eventual felicity. But we have a much clearer and more simple rule, when we take as our guide the moral law, given us by God himself-and an obedience to which is, in the very act of obeying, to glorify him. This, therefore, we ought, in all cases, invariably to follow; and trust it with God to make as he certainly will make-our obedience to result, or terminate, in our greatest good-our highest happiness. In the third place, God has commanded us, to make a direct regard to his glory the rule of duty and action. This command you have heard recited; and you have just seen that it is founded both in reason and utility. But we should remember, that although these were not thus obvious, a plain precept of our Maker, carries in its very nature, not only the highest authority, but the highest reason too: for of nothing can we be better assured, than that whatever is required by Him who is the infinite fountain of all wisdom and all goodness, is perfectly reasonable, and perfectly benevolent: therefore "obey and let heaven answer for the rest." It now only remains to state, very briefly and summarily, in what manner we are to act, if we would make the glorifying and enjoying of God the chief end of our being. 1. We cannot glorify God, unless we form just conceptions of Him. A great part of the world, even where the light of revelation has shined, we have reason to fear, deceive them selves, in thinking that they love and honour God, when in reality they do not. They have formed erroneous conceptions of the Supreme Being; and what they love is, in fact, only a creature of their own deluded minds. I am hereafter to speak of the attributes of God; and shall therefore not anticipate that subject. I shall only now say, that if we would glorify God, we must be careful to conceive of Him as we are taught to do in his own holy word-conceive of Him "in his whole round of attributes complete" as holy and just, as well as great, and good, and merciful. 2. As already stated, we must be filled with admiration, esteem and love, in our contemplations of Him. God is, as you have heard, infinitely worthy of these affections and exercises of our minds. We can never exceed in them, while they do not overwhelm our faculties. And without feeling them in some measure, we can never glorify Him at all. 3. God is to be glorified by obeying his laws, and keeping all his commandments. Without this, indeed, all our professions of honouring, or delighting in Him, will be but vile hypocrisy, or wretched delusion. "If ye love me keep my commandments" was the injunction of the Saviour; and it is the test by which all our avowed regard to the honour and glory of God must be tried. 4. And especially-If we would glorify God, we must be reconciled to him through Jesus Christ, his Son, our Saviour. We must accept of Christ as he is offered in the gospel; rely on him alone for our acceptance with God; know the power of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in forming us into the likeness of Christ; and always approach the Father of mercies, through the mediation of the Redeemer, by the aids and influence of the blessed Spirit. It is in the work of redemption by Christ, that it is the purpose of God to glorify Himself, more than in all his other works: and it is utterly vain to think of glorifying Him, if we do not humbly and thankfully receive Christ for all the purposes for which he was given; and do not see and admire the glory of God, as it shines transcendently in the great work of our redemption. But we are to enjoy God, as well as to glorify him. 1. By choosing him as the portion of our souls, and seeking and finding our highest happiness in Him. "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth that I desire beside thee"--was the language of holy Asaph-and every holy soul that has ever lived, has known, that in communion with God, in a consciousness of his love and favour, and in the expectation of enjoying his blissful presence forever, there is a present enjoyment, unspeakably greater than all the delights of sense, or than all that the pleasures of mere intellect can ever afford. 2. God is enjoyed, as well as honoured, by trusting him. It is equally the privilege, the duty, and the comfort, of every child of God, to trust Him without reserve, and with unshaken confidence. "We know that all things work together for good, to them that love God." But only those |