he is unwilling to give them the name of the temperance reform, since these efforts are directed against a special evil, and not against intemperance in its true sense, and moreover involve pleas and pretexts, which common sense rejects. He warns men of the doctrine that it is vain for them to hope to become virtuous, or to control their passions by the sway of the higher nature over the lower. He also condemns the error of teaching the belief that they may become virtuous on some other than the highest principles. The former error he regards as countenancing a sordid expediency, and the latter as bringing high moral truth into contempt, and establishing a heartless conventionality in its place. Upon Spiritual Christianity, and upon that alone, he takes his stand as the basis of genuine virtue. Its first characteristic, he affirms, consists in the sovereign importance it attaches to Truth, as furnishing the only solid support for the motives of self-government, purity, and charity. Its second characteristic is placed in its oneness of principles, or concentration of motives. He finds its true centre in the doctrine of justification by faith. Trust in the righteousness of Christ inspires humility, and leads to the true standard of virtue, and the indwelling spirit imparts the genuine motives to virtue. Loyalty to Christ thus constitutes the essence of Christian morality, to Christ, from whom comes at once the motive to duty, and the idea of all that is beautiful in virtue. Our author declares the great characteristic of the Christian institute to consist in love, not only as a feeling, but also as a principle of communion or visible fellowship. Upon this point, as well as the other points of Christian ethics, he sternly rebukes those who, like the Oxford divines, separate the communion of true Christian believers, and substitute mere rules and rituals for a living gospel obedi ence. The fourth and last Lecture is upon Spiritual Christianity as the hope of the World at the present moment. He has no faith in the power of civilization, or general benevolence alone, to redeem the world from its evils; but maintains, that the lifegiving doctrine of the Gospel is the only means of renovating the human family; — that this doctrine rebukes the mighty, has promises for the most degraded, and is the great agent for establishing the divine kingdom upon earth. He maintains that the Gospel imparts the strongest motives for helping the temporal and spiritual welfare of others, and inspires an active zeal equal in intensity to the power of faith. In the third place, the Gospel not only thus gives all men importance as immortal beings, and breathes humanity and compassion, but contains a law of diffusion; a law which is not only a statute of revelation, but an impulse of genuine faith. In the fourth place, Christianity is the great hope of the world, since it is superior to every visible institution; and in the fifth place, because it offers a ground of cordial combination, for all purposes of religious benevolence, among its true adherents. Under this last head, Mr. Taylor speaks with great severity of the exclusiveness of the High Church party of England, in keeping aloof from the religious and philanthropic enterprises of the day; and evinces a catholicity of feeling, which might be well imitated on this side of the Atlantic. We have now given a hasty outline of these Lectures on Spiritual Christianity. The pleasure of communing with a nind, so rich and pure as the author's, would be sufficient to requite the task. We always make a point of reading all that comes from his pen. But, as hinted at the outset of this article, we have an object in view beside gratification. Mr. Taylor's theological position should give him much interest, not merely as a representative of certain tendencies in the English Church, but also as an index of certain theological movements in our own country. As educated in the Nonconformist school, and in early life deeply imbued with the spirit and doctrine of the Puritans, Mr. Taylor, by his adoption of Episcopacy, stands as representative of a class of Christians, who have been dissatisfied with the meagre ritual and dangerous liberty of the Dissenting communions, and at once gratified their taste and confirmed their orthodoxy by returning to the liturgy and the government of the Episcopal church. Some of our Episcopal friends predict that all the more devout and elevated Congregationalists will, ere long, be of this class. Some few cases, that have occurred in the strong holds of Congregational freedom, warrant us in speaking of a reaction towards Episcopacy, although they are far from being sufficient to prove any general movement in that direction. The class of minds, most likely to be charmed with Episcopacy in our community, are not those who are devoted to ecclesiastical studies, and eager to find in the Scriptures and the Fathers the proofs of the divine origin of the three orders of clergy. They are disposed to look upon the Episcopal church with regard, because it seems so free from the agitation and coarseness of many other communions, and because its rites and liturgy have a beauty and solemnity, which contrast very strongly with the meagreness of congregational service, and with the undignified obtrusiveness of individual peculiarities of the sermons and prayers of some congregational preachers. Not a few, moreover, seem inclined to think that the revival of ecclesiastical ceremony will afford the best rebuke to that irreverential spirit, which is so prevalent at the present day, and promises to eradicate the sentiment of veneration from the minds of the rising generation. These latter persons err greatly in their estimate of human nature, if they expect that the revival of ancient forms will exorcise the rebellious spirit of the age. - "Let us make religion more imposing to the senses," the cry in some quarters is heard; "no wonder that the church is so slightly regarded by the world, since her worship is so shorn of its former glory; and instead of cathedrals, we have plain meeting-houses, instead of an altar, a reading-desk, instead of mitred bishops and white-robed priests, we have ministers, who preach and pray with no more stately costume and authoritative commission, than may be possessed by any brother of the communion." A considerable class of contemplative conservatives, in this country, use language akin to this. And there is much beauty in their thoughts and charm in their project. But for this country, it is the charm of fancy and the beauty of a dream. Ideas like these may be very congenial with the venerable halls, where the divines of Oxford commune with the spirits of the ancient, and enjoy the comforts of the modern church; or with the lakes, where ethereal minds, like Wordsworth, spend their days in the luxury of poetic devotion. But with the scenes and characters of our own country, such ideas can have very little affinity. Indeed, nothing could be easily devised more fatal to the popular diffusion of religion in this country, than the attempt to identify it with ancient forms, and to connect it with the stately ceremonials of other lands and ages. Could a cathedral be built in every considerable town, could every state-house be made a Saint Paul's, or York Minster, could our national capitol be transformed into a Saint Peter's, and could the English or Roman service be performed in all its pomp and solemnity, we very much doubt whether religion would gain anything in dignity or diffusion by the change; and are inclined to think that the genius of our people would be offended rather than propitiated by such ceremonials. No. The evils of an age must be cured by means adapted to its peculiar wants, and not borrowed from foreign ages and institutions. The age calls us onward, and its call is the call of God. Instead of going backward, we must advance; instead of retrograding, the age must flow on, if it would work itself free of its impediments. We must not trust to the revival of authoritative power, but must accept the principle of coöperation and fraternal love as the legitimate basis of religious, as well as civil society. Already we have many cheering indications of the competency of this principle to sustain the social fabric. As for those who look to Episcopacy for uninterrupted quiet, we apprehend that they are to be much mistaken in their expectations. Already the notes of war are heard, and the serene communion of the Church has, in some cases, been sadly disturbed. Mr. Taylor's candid testimony; in the work before us, is a proof of the strife among the Episcopalians of England; and his tone is such as to leave us in some doubt, whether he is happy in having abandoned the way of his fathers. The controversy has extended to this country. Rival bishops are in the field, and antagonist journals say very ungentle things of each other. Bishop McIlvaine, of Ohio, has issued a ponderous octavo against the Oxford heresies and usurpations. Bishop Onderdonk has recommended the Oxford Sermons for the perusal of the people in his diocese. "The Lord Bishop of New Jersey" is not only an admirer of the Oxford divines, but has gone so far in his adulation of English Episcopacy, as to scandalize his best friends. How those of Bishop Doane's former parishioners, who are children of the pilgrim fathers, have relished the Bishop's high compliment to the memory of the Pilgrims, let his own words, in his recent speech in England, before the Coventry Religious and Useful Knowledge Society, declare. The controversies between the Gambier Observer and the New York Churchman show no remarkable sweetness of temper, nor harmony of faith. An article in the Churchman, on the "Romance of Gambier Theology," gave us sufficient proof, a few months since, that Christian quiet and Christian charity mean something else than using the same liturgy and belonging to the same church. In a small way, the old schism between the East and West is renewed, and New York and Gambier may be the Rome and Constantinople of our new world. We take leave of Mr. Taylor with respect for his power and thanks for his services. A spirit like his, in whatever denomination it may be found, is a blessing to the Christian world. We might speak of him in connexion with the state of things in our own immediate community, and urge the need of a kindred class of minds in our own ranks, men who can be free and philosophical, without merging religion in mystic egotism or empty speculation, and who can respect the Scriptures and the church, without going back to the superstitions of ancient ages. But this topic is too broad, and we must not enter upon it now. S. O. ART. III.-A Winter in the Azores, and a Summer at the Baths of the Furnas. By JOSEPH BULLAR, M. D., and HENRY BULLAR, of Lincoln's Inn. 2 vols. 8vo. London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. 1841. THESE very lively and entertaining volumes are by two brothers, one of whom, a physician in large practice in Southampton, was forced to seek a change of climate for his health, and was accompanied by his younger brother, as a needful attendant. The task of describing these interesting islands could hardly have fallen into better hands. Intelligent, observing, full of life and spirits, and very good-natured, these gentlemen seem to have been possessed of the true spirit of travelling; whilst the observations on the climate and its fitness for invalids, coming from one who was at once an invalid and a physician, have of course peculiar value. The great beauty of the Azores, and their attractions for those who, from any cause, seek a change of climate, are hardly appreciated. Though but a few degrees more south than we are, they yet enjoy a perpetual summer. Without the heat of the tropics, you have here most of the tropical fruits. The palm-tree, the pomegranate, the coffee-tree, the banana, the guava, are to be seen flourishing in the gardens, in the midst of |