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they will remember in foreign lands the prayers of the parental roof, and those prayers will protect them. If any,' says the Scripture, have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home. But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.'*

"And what delight, what peace, what real happiness a Christian family will find in erecting a family altar in their midst, and in uniting to offer up sacrifice unto the Lord! Such is the occupation of angels in heaven; and blessed are those who anticipate those pure and immortal joys! Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.'t O, what new grace and life piety gives to a family! In a house where God is forgotten, there is rudeness, ill-humor, and vexation of spirit. Without the knowledge and the love of God, a family is but a collection of individuals who may have more or less natural affection for one another; but the real bond, the love of God our Father in Jesus Christ our Lord, is wanting. The poets are full of beautiful descriptions of domestic life; but, alas! how different the pictures often are from the reality! Sometimes there is a want of confidence in the Providence of God; sometimes there is love of riches; at others, a difference of character; at others, an opposition of principles. O, how many troubles, how many cares there are in the bosoms of families!

"Domestic piety will prevent all these evils; it will give perfect confidence in that God who gives food to the birds of the air; it will give true love towards those with whom we have to live; not an exacting, sensitive love, but a merciful love, which excuses and forgives, like that of God Himself; not a proud love, but an humble love, accompanied by a sense of one's own faults and weakness; not a fickle love, but a love unchangeable as eternal charity. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacle of the righteous.'

And when the hour of trial comes, that hour which must come sooner or later, and which sometimes visits the homes of men more than once, what consolation will domestic piety afford! Where do trials occur, if not in the bosoms of families? Where, then, ought the remedy for trials to be administered, if not in the bosoms of families? How much a family where there is mourning is to be pitied, if it has not that consolation! The various members of whom it is composed increase one another's sadness. But if, on the contrary, that family loves God, if it is in the habit of meeting to invoke the holy name of God, from whom comes every trial, as well as every good gift; then how will the souls that are cast down be raised up! The members of the family who still remain meet around the table on which is laid the Book of God, that book where they find the words of resurrection, life, and immortality, where they find sure pledges of the happiness

* 1 Tim. v. 4, 8.

Psalm cxxxiii.

Psalm cxviii. 15.

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of the being who is no more among them, as well as the warrant of their own hopes. The Lord is pleased to send down the Comforter to them; the Spirit of glory and of Gcd rests upon them; an ineffable balm is poured upon their wounds, and gives them much consolation; peace is communicated from one heart to another. They enjoy moments of celestial bliss. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave! Thine anger endureth but a moment in Thy favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.'t

How

"And who can tell, my brethren, what an influence domestic piety might exert over society itself? What encouragements all men would have in doing their duty, from the statesman down to the poorest mechanic! How would all become accustomed to act with respect not only to the opinions of men, but also to the judgment of God! would each learn to be satisfied with the position in which he is placed! Good habits would be adopted; the powerful voice of conscience would be strengthened; prudence, propriety, talent, social virtues, would be developed with renewed vigor. This is what we might expect both for ourselves and for society. Godliness hath promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." "‡

6

The last discourse in the volume is entitled "The Miracles, or Two Errors." Its object is to "set forth the true doctrine respecting miracles, in opposition to Rationalism, on the one hand, and to what we think we may call a species of superstition on the other." This is, in some respects, the most elaborate discourse in the book. It is especially adapted to meet the modern forms of infidelity, both in Europe and in this country. The author takes up the topic with a master hand. He leaves no point unguarded in his defence; he leaves no fortress of the enemy unattacked. We regret that our limits will not permit us to enter into a full analysis of it.

Long may the life and health of such a man be preserved. We cannot set too high a value upon one who has risen up in these days of error and 'sin, on whom has fallen the mantle of the Reformers, and in whom dwells so evidently the spirit of Christ.

* Psalm xxiii. 4.

Psalm xxx. 3, 5.

‡ 1 Tim. iv. 8.

ARTICLE VIII.

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. By a LAYMAN. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. New York. Brothers.

Harper &

Its

THIS book, of which the second edition is a great improvement on the first, has attracted much attention. It is confessedly the production of a highly gifted mind, and deserves the serious attention of all interested in theological inquiries. It is written with much vigor and eloquence, and moreover discusses a question of the highest theoretical as well as practical interest. author is understood to be a distinguished lawyer in the city of New York, retired from practice, a brother of one of the most able and eloquent preachers that ever adorned the American pulpit; a man, too, of profound piety and high literary attainments, well practised in the arts of logic and oratory, and deeply interested in his subject. He writes with strength and earnestness. His style is masculine, but ornate and flowing, bounding onwards, with exuberant energy, and occasionally dallying with the flowers of rhetoric and poetry. It is not the style of a calm, clear-headed divine, like Butler, Turretin or Emmons, but is distinguished by a lawyer-like freedom and exuberance, as if its author were addressing a jury rather than calm and critical readers. In this respect, it may perhaps be deemed somewhat faulty, being more popular than philosophic, more declamatory than precise. Still it possesses remarkable clearness, elasticity and ease, and flows on, page after page, like "a free and abounding river." His mode of reasoning also is more popular than scientific, having a little too much of the ad captandum sort of appeal to please altogether a thoughtful reader. Being, in all probability, but partially acquainted with Biblical exegesis and criticism, he presses proof texts into his service with more freedom than careful theologians and critics would deem justifiable, and occasionally

insists upon an idea which, to some at least, might seem more the creature of his own imagination, than a fair and legitimate inference from precise statements of the word. of God. We do not, of course, mean to say, that this feature characterizes the whole production, which is generally logical and satisfactory, but that it may be discerned in some portions of it. As an evidence of what we mean, we would refer to the manner in which he reasons with reference to the term soul, as used in the Scriptures to describe the higher nature of Christ, and to the use he makes of 1 John iii. 16,-" Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us"as a proof that Jesus Christ suffered in his divine, as well as in his human nature. Now the most inattentive reader must perceive that our translators have supplied an ellipsis in the original with the term 'God,' which they might have supplied with that of Christ, there being nothing in the context sufficiently decisive to determine the matter either way. So also he quotes Acts xx. 28. "Feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood," without intimating that the common reading has been disputed even by orthodox divines, and on grounds not to be dismissed at once as trivial. For ourselves we believe the true reading to be, "the church of (Kugiov Ocov) the Lord God, or God the Lord, which," etc.; but in the present state of Biblical criticism, we could not urge it as a proof of the position that the Godhead of Jesus participated in his sufferings. At least, we could not thus use it without some critical defence.

The manner of our author, upon the whole, is reverent; but exceedingly bold, and in some instances rather hazard

It is not without a feeling of misgiving that we hear him speak of "the brethren of the Trinity" holding intercourse with each other; of the "conclave of the Trinity "of "the Son as sitting on the right hand, and the Holy Spirit on the left hand of the Father,"—of the persons of the sacred Trinity "holding communion with their glorious selves." We are still more appalled when he speaks of "the throes and spasms" of the suffering Godhead-of Jesus Christ, as suffering "as much as the redeemed, without his interposition, would have suffered in hell," hell," "pang pang for pang, spasm for spasm,.

VOL. XI.-NO. XLIV.

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sigh for sigh, groan for groan;" of "an infinitude of suffering, multiplied by the countless number of all the redeemed." Theologians as well as philosophers can often say what is, but are not competent to affirm how it is. Hence in describing what is we may often err, unintentionally, in the use of phraseology, and convey ideas to the minds of others neither true nor complete. It is more easy than most persons are aware, to transcend the limits of our knowledge, especially when descanting upon the nature of that Infinite Essence, with which, as Bishop Butler shrewdly remarks, "we make rather free in our speculations." Upon the whole, we should have preferred, in the esteemed author of the book we are reviewing, a little more caution in the use of terms, and a somewhat simpler and more precise phraseology. His intellect is highly vigorous, but his imagination, as it appears to us, is the predominant faculty, and occasionally betrays him into untenable positions, and a highly colored phraseology, which rather obscures than illuminates his subject.

But, with these abatements, we do not hesitate to recommend his work as combining, in no ordinary degree, some of the highest elements of thought, argument and oratory. It contains passages of great power and beauty, and will amply repay a diligent and prayerful perusal. While we differ from him to some extent on collateral topics, we think his main position, properly explained and fortified, at once scriptural and just, and moreover, admirably fitted to meet some objections of the Unitarians, which press, with considerable force, against the common orthodox view of the divinity of Christ.

It is the author's object to deny the prevalent theory of the divine impassibility, and the inference thence deduced that Jesus Christ suffered only in his human nature. Of course he pleads only for voluntary passibility on the part of the Deity; in other words, the capacity voluntarily to suffer for a great and good end. That is to say, if an end, infinitely desirable, cannot be gained, without suffering of some sort, he claims that the nature of God is such that he might voluntarily endure such suffering. This, he maintains, is proved by the express declarations of Scripture, and especially by the fact that Jesus Christ,