the highest as well as the lowest of the community. To this point of attainable perfection it is the imperative duty of every good government to endeavour to bring them, as the only means of avoiding the perils supposed to be involved in the operation of the principle of population, and ultimately of deriving from it the highest degree of public advantage.

Chapter II.

On the supposed Moral Necessity for War.

While selfishness, envy, hatred, predominate in the human heart, no barrier can be opposed to the intrusion of discord: while the same passions influence the conduct of rival communities, wars are inevitable. The moral necessity for war is, upon the supposition of the prevalence of these its principal exciting causes, fully established; and our only inquiry, therefore, in relation to the question before us, must be as to the probable durability of the latter.

Allowing the fact, as we have theoretically stated, and as we actually believe it to be, that the world, compared with the time of its destined duration, is at this moment in its earliest stage of infancy, considerable difficulty must be experienced in any attempt to prescribe bounds to the probable future improvement of the human mind during so long a series as this idea conveys of untried ages. After a retrospect of the past, in which we are enabled clearly to trace the progress of savage tribes into the state em, braced in our present notion of civilized life, what, not too nearly allied to perfection, may not be expected from a term indefinitely prolonged? We may, it is evident, from this view of the subject, reasonably expect improvements beyond the comprehension of minds necessarily limited like ours, by the results of an inadequate experience, not only in the various departments of human knowledge, of private and public institutions, but in the more difficult one of moral government.

Does this statement include the prospect of a complete eradication of the evil passions from the breasts of inen? No: such an expectation would confessedly be weak and visionary. Man, on this side the grave, will be found far removed from perfection, after innumerable ages have been spent` in the work of improving and dignifying his species. The shades are infinite between the untutored child of nature and the perfect being; and an insuperable barrier must ever preclude perishable creatures from comprehending, in any of their relations, the mysterious terms of infinity. Perfec tion is so far inapplicable to the nature of man, that even that negative spe cies, which consists in the entire absence of all the seeds of evil, cannot come within the limits of his experience. Perfection is, however, a fair object of pursuit to every being, in the measure in which his faculties can comprehend it. Perhaps, after our transit into a celestial life, our souls will be taught to dwell, with beatific delight, on a higher standard of perfection than any which we are now capable of conceiving, the progress towards the attainment of which, although never completely attainable, will be to each happy spirit the business of his eternity: in this stage of existence, the standard of social perfection is a total abstraction from vice, and the full possession of the transcendant qualities suitable to such a state of holiness; but which standard, no single individual, much less a whole community, composed of members of unequal attainments, may ever hope to reach.

But may we not range, with steps ever pressing towards the goal, among the infinite lines of the complete series? May not each of the unholy passions, although incapable of being entirely extirpated, be to an indefinite degree weakened and diminished by the incessant moral attrition (if the term may be used) of the powers of civilization? Although in the great human society those passions may, numerically, be found to exist in distant ages, may not their combined operation, in the hearts of individuals, become so much more unfrequent than at present, as to be immeasurably less destructive of their innocence and peace? Assuredly, all this is consistent with

the deductions of temperate reflection, and within the compass of rational hope.

The necessity for an ever-recurring state of warfare upon moral grounds, or in consequence of the continual collision of the restless and malignant passions, is an inference derived solely from a review of the past, uncorrected by those noble, but chastened anticipations of the future, which it is equally our interest and our duty to entertain. War is necessary to the savage, because insensate rancour almost exclusively engrosses his uncultivated mind; under the rule of despotism war is necessary, because peace would be destructive of its unhallowed dominion; in most of the existing political systems war is necessary, because selfishness, cruelty, and the lust of power, although generally deteriorated in strength, are yet far-very far, alas! from being so subdued as to be incapable of disturbing the repose of the world. But a state of durable peace will also hereafter be the inevitable result of a happier disposition of affairs-when the barbarian and the despot will both have ceased to embroil, by the fretful ebullitions of their petty minds, the transactions of this mortal stage; and when many of the anomalous combinations of the present time, peculiarly unfavourable to tranquillity, will be superseded by a more enlightened system of political arrangement.

In periods yet very recent, the doctrine of the possibility of such a change taking place in the hearts and minds of men, as to render, eventually, the recurrence of wars unnecessary, must have been met by almost universal dissent. In the present age it will not want supporters, and the numbers of those who may at first be inclined to treat it as a visionary speculation will most certainly decrease. This difference in the current opinions of times not widely remote from each other, is attributable to that palpably progressive amelioration in the condition of society, which at once illustrates and establishes the truth of our general theory. The most accomplished communities of the present day display eminent proofs of improvement in the general tone of public and private feeling. In a marked manner, the worse are observed, in innumerable instances, to give place to the better passions: those circles wherein intemperance and discord heretofore shut out every avenue for the access of sobriety and humanity, are now eminently conspicuous for virtue. The higher orders blush for, and carefully conceal those vices which they have not yet succeeded in subduing; the lower shine with bright examples of fortitude, industry, and intelligence. A superior system of education, extending its influence even to what are tritely and insolently denominated the dregs of the people, is in powerful operation; a mighty engine the periodical press-ever increasing in force, and as firmly estab lished as the immutable chain of natural sequences, gives instantaneous and universal currency to every new creation of mind, and performs an important function, which, although subject to occasional perversion, cannot fail of being highly beneficial to mankind.

All these circumstances indicate the attainment, at no very distant period, of such a state of society, which, however in other respects imperfect, and short of our ulterior expectations, will preclude the plea of a necessity for war upon moral grounds. They point to the probable formation of a majority of minds in some favoured society, (a brilliant example to others!) sufficiently weaned from the most turbulent of the malignant passions; and the consequent completion of the first decided step towards an eventual permanent peace.

The doctrine of the necessity for war upon the ground here mentioned, is not very widely disjoined from one which has been a great source of metaphysical and theological argument. The passions have been frequently referred to by two opposite sects,-the one alleging them to be the latent cause of all human transactions, the other admitting their agency only under the dominion of the will. Their power in the regulation of conduct is acknowledged on each side; but considerable error apparently attaches to both in their respective estimates of its extent. Our natural feelings, our reason, and it may be added, (although this has been strenuously contested,)

the light of revelation, favour the opinions of those who insist upon the sovereignty of the will; but it is a mistaken zeal, and little calculated to serve the cause intended to be supported, that would ascribe to its functions an absolutely independent character. The will, although naturally independent and powerful, is in practice subject to considerable control: the passions, themselves dependent for increase or diminution on the concurrence of exterior circumstances, frequently exercise so overpowering an influence as very materially to affect the responsibility of the agent. This fact, which it is impossible to deny, has probably been the chief occasion of the misunderstanding between the contending parties.

The Necessarians appeal, for the validity of their peculiar theory, to the actual state of society, and of the world at large,-the partial diffusion of knowledge and civilization among nations and individuals,-the unequal distribution of power, by which human conduct is in almost every assignable instance absolutely divested of freedom,—the wide and unrestrained range of the malignant passions, which seem to set at defiance the very notion of the existence of an internal controlling agent.

The disciples of Calvin, in support of their favourite exposition of certain texts of Scripture, tread over the same ground with the advocates of the system of Fatalism. They have learnt the value of Christianity, as the purifier of morals, the regulator of conduct, the messenger of peace, and the passport to eternal happiness. Like knowledge, civilization, power, they observe that this invaluable blessing is very partially dispensed, that vast regions of the earth are totally bereft of it,-that even in Christian countries, multitudes, from the consequence of defective education, and the contamination of vicious example, wilfully reject it. Unaccustomed to enlarged views of the designs of Providence, they do not scruple to account for this apparently anomalous arrangement in a way which compromises the justice of the Almighty. They abandon, with Necessarians, with Fatalists, the belief of the freedom of the will. They adopt the dogma of predestination in its most abhorrent character; and, in conformity with its rigid dictates, consign, with complacency, the greater mass of mankind to everlasting torment and misery, for conduct which the arguments and examples adduced in its favour have proved to be inevitable.

Part of the premises upon which these identical theories rest are undeniably true; the inferences deduced from them are palpably, and it might, without setting too high a value upon human reason, be supposed unquestionably false. It is not necessary to deny the essential freedom of the will, because upon some, or even frequent occasions, it is held under restraint. The true Christian, however, stedfastly believes, that, insomuch as this freedom is withheld, responsibility is removed. The individual will not be brought to account for an act which is not the deliberate offspring of his will; or over the commission of which a concurrence of circumstances, independent of himself, had prevented his legitimate control: or, he will be accountable for only so much of his conduct, in the course of which the will, in the true character of a responsible agent, was in the possession of its appropriate functions. The distinction will be made by an omniscient Judge, with whom no task is difficult; and who also, although in a way incomprehensible to us, can easily reconcile with the exercise of his undoubted attribute of prescience, the freedom of human action.

But in conformity with the views developed in the course of this disquisition, the restraint alluded to, whose effect has been to bring into question the existence of free-will, is destined to be indefinitely reduced. Knowledge and civilization will eventually be universally diffused; just and liberal institutions will be established, and the dominion of the violent passions restrained within reasonable bounds. The freedom of human action will then become more apparent, and fatalism will lose its great practical argument. Christianity will be extended throughout the boundaries of the habitable earth: it will penetrate more generally into the hearts of individuals in proportion as it becomes divested of those objectionable appendages which are wholly the invention and fabrication of man. The stern predestinarian will

then learn to relax somewhat of the harshness of his creed. As the multitude of the victims of eternal, unappeasable wrath, diminish, he will be the more inclined to commiserate the few that remain; and before he finally separates them from the number of the elect, he will exercise some indulgence in considering the merits and grounds of their supposed condemnation.

Thus, while contentions and wars cease in consequence of the triumph of religion and reason over the evil passions, opinions upon high objects of hu man interest and animosity will gradually experience a beneficial change. The scheme of Providence, so far as it affects the destinies of man, will be extricated from some of its most perplexing difficulties. Men will be ashamed to draw their inferences upon disputed questions from defective sources: they will be furnished with an appeal from the events of time, in its infancy, to those of the matured age of the world. Their ideas of God and of his dealings will become enlarged. A wide spread of superior feeling, in the true spirit of the Apostle's definition of charity, will take place, and effec tually preclude all danger of the recurrence, as well as all grounds for the plea of the necessity of war.

(To be continued.)

Sonnet-Night-Storm.

THE storm is up; and with a giant's wrath,
Whom wine has madden'd, on their smoking path
The elements in frenzy all have sprung.

Deep calls to deep, as with an earthquake's tongue;
And, like wild war-steeds to the charge, bound on
The foaming billows to the wreck-strewn shore.
The whirlwinds combat with the oaks, and o'er
The forests rave in joy, to list their groan.
Destruction shouts upon his tempest-car,
As heav'n and earth are mingling in the war.
Terror, the tyrant grim, smiles dark as hell,
To mark his vassal's work, his 'hest so well.
Ye Atheists! tremble at the Almighty pow'r
Of Him who summons forth this awful hour.

HOLMAN'S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA, &c ".

RUSSIA having lately assumed the rank of the most preponderating state of the Continent, apparently, the ambitious Tsar of the North was

anxious to grasp "the balance of Europe." But that mortal enemy of despotism-Liberty, the goddess of Britons, was gradually effecting a mighty change in the new world, which has ended in the independence of tens of millions of men who were held in thraldom, and in new connections with Great Britain and the United States, which have totally altered the aspect of European politics, commerce, and power. The

D.

Holy Alliance, which has long made so vaunting a noise, and which, by its illiberality, intolerance, despotismn, and oppression, has become detestable, is now sinking into oblivion, and, we doubt not, will be gradually dissolved without a special Congress of Sovereigns. But a few years ago, all the world was keenly alive to the next proceedings of that Association of Sovereigns, and especially to those of the magnanimous Emperor Alexander; now their measures excite little anxiety, and less solicitude, at least in this happy island. In relation to Russia, we were never of the

• Travels through Russia, Siberia, Poland, Austria, Saxony, Prussia, Hanover, &c. &c. Undertaken during the years 1822, 1823, and 1824, while suffering from total blindness; and comprising an account of the author being conducted a state prisoner from the Eastern Parts of Siberia. By James Holman, R. N., and K. W. 2 vols. 8vo., 24s. London: Whittaker, 1825.

Vide Mr Canning's Speech on the motion for the second reading of the Catholic Emancipation Bill.-Globe and Traveller, April 22d 1825.