abundance of thought, which he always made his own, he showed his countrymen that their scholars, since the days of Charles I., had been merely nibbling at Greek; and though, like Porson, nibbling with a surprising keenness and rapidity, yet only nibbling after all.

Not less important were his philosophical studies in Scripture, and in the older English divines, which effected his intellectual reconciliation with the Church. Through them, he traced Theology to its original ideas, and learned to distinguish arbitrary emblems from natural symbols. But while he imbibed the profounder faith of the old Church, he did not receive her superstitions; he did not resemble "the Magi of our day, who, like lights in the stern of a vessel, illumine the path only which they have passed over. *

That he helped to rescue Christian Philosophy from the Materialism of the Atomists, will be understood by those who are equally familiar with the ancient and the modern philosophy. Unable to leave the great doctrines of Christianity to rest upon the mere authority of a council, he sought the perfect meaning of the imperfect inages which symbolize them.

He urged the learned to a more rational study of the Hebrew Scriptures. "What a new world of undiscovered power and truth," he exclaims, "would the bible present to our future meditation, if at some gracious moment one solitary text should dawn upon us in the brightness of an Idea -that most glorious birth of the God-like within us."

Believing, that "a perfect human intellect, transparent without vacuum, and full without opacity," would perceive all that there is of divinity in the sacred volume, he seems inclined to rest the evidences of its truth rather upon the insight of such a mind, than on the traditions of the learned. He regards Christianity itself as peculiarly favoring this clearness of intellect. "That in it alone," i. e. in Christianity," the understanding in its utmost power and opulence, culminates in Faith."

vidual;" as when "Adam" is put for the whole race, "Israel" for the whole nation; "of the general in the special;" as when the "chosen people" in Judea stand for God's chosen people in all countries and ages; or when the prophecies, applying to the affairs of Egypt and Syria, apply also to those of other nations and ages:-" of the universal in the general;" as when threatenings of judgment upon Israel, are significant also of God's wrath against all unjust nations: But, "above all, of the eternal through the temporal;" as when, by the triumph of prophets and martyrs over death, the presence of the Divine image in man is vindicated. "It," says he, (the symbol), "partakes of the reality, which it renders intelligible."

For

Again, in speaking of the Scripture as the purest source of political knowledge, he says: "The bible differs from the Greek books of philosophy, in that it affirms not a divine nature only, but the living God. Hence, in the Scriptures alone, the jus divinum, or direct relation of the state and its magistracy to the Supreme being, is taught as a vital and indispensable part of all moral and political wisdom."* ourselves, indeed, the above sentence cannot have the meaning which our puritan ancestors might have found in it; our notion,-not idea,—of the most sacred of all institutions, the sole power able to protect the peace and rights of humanity, is that of a compromise" of contemptible cotton and leather interests, to be dissolved just as soon as leather gets the upper hand of cotton.

Or, when he confutes that gross opinion that governments may be constructed like machines, which a dog or an ass can be made to keep in motion, as adroitly as a mant.

Or, in the definition of the title, "Word of God," given in Scripture by the Hebrews: He says, "The sacred book is worthily entitled the Word of God; for its contents present us the stream of Time continuous as life and a symbol of eternity, inasmuch as the Past and the Future are virtually contained in the Present." "The histories and political economy of the present and preceding century partake in the general contagion of its mechanic

* Church and State, p. 233. Ib. p. 234. Ib. p. 229.

philosophy, and are the product of an unenlivened generalizing understanding. In the Scriptures they are the living educts of the imagination; of that reconciling and mediatory power, which, incorporating the reason in images of the sense, and organizing as it were the flux of the senses by the permanent and self-circling energies of reason, gives birth to a system of symbols harmonious in themselves, and consubstantial with the truth of which they are the conductors. These are the wheels which Ezekiel beheld; whithersoever the spirit was to go the wheels went, and thither was their spirit to go; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels also. Ez. 1. 20. The truths and the symbols which represent them move in conjunction, and form the living chariot that bears up for us the throne of the Divine Humanity."*

* Church and State, p. 228-9.

"It is among the miseries of the present age," says Coleridge, "that it recognizes no medium between the literal and metaphorical;" a natural consequence of the want of philosophical knowledge in the instructors of men, or rather in their confinement to a hunger-bitten and idealess philosophy, which naturally produces a starveling and comfortless religion." Hence the growing indifference to the promises of Scripture, which are of such a nature as to need only a lively trust (faith) in them"-not a superstitious belief, a belief without insight-"to be the means, as well as the pledges of eternal welfare:" a sentence which literalists, who kill by the letter, might profit by considering.

CANADA.

THE Montreal correspondent of the New York Tribune, represents that the entire Lower Canada press, has come out in favor of annexation. The most influential paper, the Brockville Statesman, declares that separation cannot be independence; intimating the absolute necessity for an union with the United States. "Nothing can be more selfishly absurd than to set up as a rival power to you. This every body now sees. According to the best information I can get, and I assure you I am not exaggerating, the strength of the Orange lodges in the two Canadas is about forty thousand men, all well armed and most of them fairly disciplined. The Irish Roman Catholics have taken a position of entire neutrality, but it is distinctly intimated that they will go with the first party that goes for annexation, and if they and the Orange-men go together, which I think very likely, it will be an unexampled instance of the absorbing predominance of one common feeling."

A correspondent, who signs himself Camillus, addresses the editor of the Courier and Enquirer as follows:

"Neither do we of the North, want the Canadas as a balance against the Slave States ---that would have been important three years ago: but now it matters little. A wonderful work of Providence has changed the whole bearing of things. The placers have made California a Free State. Without any reasonable doubt California will be admitted this winter and probably the Wilmot Proviso passed and the North win the battle and gain irrevocable mastery in the Senate. A couple of Canadian States might a little anticipate things but as the result must surely come, why (so far as home politics are concerned) hurry to make an arrangement, while it is necessary to consult the South in the matter?

But what we do want the Canadas for, is for the sake of safety and peace-peace with England. The almost hostility between the countries from 1783 to the embargo and war, was followed by a pitched commercial battle. Corn Laws and Navigation Laws on the one side, American system on the other. But this has passed by, and now we may hope for peace, (even perhaps more) habitually main

tained with England. But while a great military nation holds Fort Erie, Fort Malden, Isle aux Noix, and fortifiable islands in the St. Mary's-and has the power of embodying the Canadian militia at its pleasure-with that nation there can be no unsuspicious peace on one side. What would be England's trust either in France or Prussia, if Wales belonged to either of them? and the Canadian is to us a more dangerous frontier, than the Welsh to England. Perhaps we might trust England's good faith. I think so myself. But what is to hinder some future Sir Francis, in despite of the opinions of his superiors, from conceiving that the best plan of hindering the "loathsome institutions" of those whom he mysteriously calls "allies," gaining credit, is to get up all possible ill-will to us in Canada, and to make all possible disturbance on the frontier? And what is to hinder some future Canadian financiers from calculating that by keeping up difficulty with us, they can milk England of more money in the way of troops and fortifications, than it may be convenient to raise otherwise? Thus then stands the case. Canada is useless to England, except as a military position of offence-there is always danger of frontier quarrel-our acquisition of it is therefore the best pledge of future peace-especially as the possession thereof, in no wise enables us to act against her with any more effect."

ADDRESS OF INFLUENTIAL CITIZENS OF MONTREAL IN FAVOR OF IMMEDIATE ANNEXATION TO THE UNITED STATES.

To the People of Canada.

The number and magnitude of the evils that afflict our country, and the universal and increasing depression of its material interests, call upon all persons animated by a sincere desire for its welfare, to combine for the purposes of inquiry and preparation, with a view to the adoption of such remedies as a mature and dispassionate investigation may suggest.

Belonging to all parties, origins and creeds, but yet agreed upon the advantage of cooperation for the performance of a common duty to ourselves and our country, growing out of a common necessity, we have consented, in view of a brighter and happier future, to merge in oblivion all past differences, of

whatever character, or attributable to whatever source. In appealing to our FellowColonists to unite with us in this, our most needful duty, we solemnly conjure them, as they desire a successful issue, and the welfare of their country, to enter upon the task, at this momentous crisis, in the same fraternal spirit.

The reversal of the ancient policy of Great Britain, whereby she withdrew from the Colonies their wonted protection in her markets, has produced the most disastrous effects upon Canada. In surveying the actual condition of the country, what but ruin or rapid decay meets the eye! Our Provincial Government and Civic Corporations embarrassed; our Banking and other securities greatly depreciated; our Mercantile and Agricultural interests alike unprosperous; Real Estate scarcely saleable upon any terms; our unrivalled Rivers, Lakes and Canals almost unused; while Commerce abandons our shores, the circulating capital amassed under a more favorable system is dissipated, with none from any quarter to replace it!!-Thus, without available capital, unable to effect a loan with Foreign States or with the Mother Country, although offering security greatly superior to that which readily obtains money both from the United States and Great Britain, when other Colonies are the applicants. Crippled, therefore, and checked in the full career of private and public enterprise, this possession of the British Crown-our country-stands before the world in humiliating contrast with its immediate neighbors, exhibiting every symptom of a nation fast sinking to decay. With superabundant water-power and cheap labor, especially in Lower Canada, we have yet no domestic manufactures; nor can the most sanguine, unless under altered circumstances, anticipate the home growth, or advent from foreign parts, of either capital or enterprise to embark in this great source of national wealth. Our institutions, unhappily, have not that impress of permanence which can alone impart security, and inspire confidence; and the Canadian market is too limited to tempt the foreign capitalist.

While the adjoining States are covered with a net-work of thriving railways, Canada possesses but three lines, which, together, scarcely exceed 50 miles in length, and the stock in two of which is held at a depreciation of from 50 to 80 per cent.-a fatal symptom of the torpor overspreading the land.

Our present form of Provincial Government is cumbrous and so expensive as to be ill-suited to the country; and the necessary reference it demands to a distant Government, imperfectly acquainted with Canadian affairs, and somewhat indifferent to our interests, is anomalous and irksome. Yet, in the event of a rupture between two of the most powerful

nations of the world, Canada would become the battle-field, and the sufferer, however little her interests might be involved in the cause of quarrel or the issue of the contest.

The bitter animosities of political parties and factions in Canada, often leading to violence, and upon one occasion to civil war, seems not to have abated with time; nor is there, at the present moment, any prospect of diminution or accommodation. The aspect of parties becomes daily more threatening towards each other, and under our existing institutions and relations, little hope is discernible of a peaceful and prosperous administration of our affairs, but difficulties will, to all appearance, accumulate until Government becomes impracticable. In this view of our position, any course that may promise to efface existing party distinctions and place entiely new issues before the people, must be fraught with undeniable advantages.

Among the Statesmen of the Mother Country-among the sagacious observers of the neighboring Republic-in Canada-and all British North America--among all classes, there is a strong pervading conviction that a political revolution in this country is at hand. Such forbodings cannot readily be dispelled, and they have, moreover, a tendency to realize the events to which they point. In the meanwhile, serious injury results to Canada from the effect of this anticipation upon the more desirable class of settlers, who naturally prefer a country under fixed and permanent forms of government to one in a state of transition.

Having thus adverted to some of the causes of our present evils, we would consider how far the remedies ordinarily proposed possess sound and rational inducements to justify their adoption:

I. "The revival of Protection in the markets of the United Kingdom."

This, if attainable in a sufficient degree, and guarantied for a long period of years, would ameliorate the condition of many of our chief interests, but the policy of the Empire forbids the anticipation. Besides, it would be but a partial remedy. The millions of the Mother Country demand cheap food, and a second change from Protection to Free Trade would complete that ruin which the first has done much to acheive.

II. "The Protection of Home Manufactures."

Although this might encourage the growth of a manufacturing interest in Canada, yet, without access to the United States' market, there would not be a sufficient expansion of that interest, from the want of consumers, to work any result that could be admitted as a "remedy" for the numerous evils of which we complain.

III. A Federal Union of the British Ameri can Provinces."

IV. "The Independence of the British North American Colonies as a Federal Republic."

The consolidation of its new institutions from elements hitherto so discordant-the formation of treaties with Foreign Powers-the acquirement of a name and character among the nations--would, we fear, prove an overmatch for the strength of the new Republic. And having regard to the powerful confederacy of States conterminous with itself, the needful military defences would be too costly to render Independence a boon, while it would not, any more than a Federal Union, remove those obstacles which retard our material prosperity. V. "Reciprocal Free Trade with the United States as respects the products of the farm, the forest, and the mine."

If obtained, this would yield but an instalment of the many advantages which might be otherwise secured. The free interchange of such products would not introduce manufactures to our country. It would not give us the North American Continent for our market. It would neither so amend our institutions as to confer stability nor insure confidence in their permanence; nor would it allay the violence of parties, or, in the slightest degree remedy many of our prominent evils.

VI. Of all the remedies that have been suggested for the acknowledged and insufferable ills with which our country is afflicted, there remains but one to be considered. It propounds a sweeping and important change in our political and social condition, involving considerations which demand our most serious examination. This remedy consists in a 66 Friendly and Peaceful Separation from British Connection, and an Union upon equitable terms with the great_North American Confederacy of Sovereign States."

We would premise that towards Great Britain we entertain none other than sentiments of kindness and respect. Without her consent we consider separation as neither practicable nor desirable. But the Colonial policy of the Parent State, the avowals of her leading

present unmistakable and significant indications of the appreciation of colonial connection. That it is the resolve of England to invest us with the attributes, and to assume the burdens of Independence is no longer problematical. The threatened withdrawal of her troops from other Colonies-the continuance of her military protection to ourselves only on the condition that we shall defray the attendant expenditure, betoken intentions towards our country, against which it is weakness in us not to provide. An overruling conviction, then, of its necessity, and a high sense of duty we owe to our country, a duty we can neither disregard nor postpone, impel us to entertain the idea of separation; and whatever negotiations may eventuate with Great Britain, a grateful liberality on the part of Canada should mark every proceeding.

The proposed Union would render Canada a field for American capital, into which it would enter as freely for the prosecution of public works and private enterprise as into any of the present States. It would equalize the value of real estate upon both sides of the boundary, thereby probably doubling at once the entire present value of property in Canada, while by giving stability to our institutions, and introducing prosperity, it would raise our public, corporate, and private credit. It would increase our commerce both with the United States and foreign countries, and would not necessarily diminish, to any great extent, our intercourse with Great Britain, into which our products would, for the most part, enter on the same terms as at present. It would render our rivers and canals the highway for the immigration to, and exports from, the West, to the incalculable benefit of our country. It would also introduce manufactures into Canada as rapidly as they have been introduced into the Northern States; and to Lower Canada especially, where water privileges and labor are abundant and cheap, it would attract manufacturing capital, enhancing the value of property and agricultural produce, and giving remunerative employment to what is at present a comparatively non-producing population. Nor would the United States merely furnish the capital for our manufactures. They would also supply for them the most extensive markets in the world, without the intervention of a Custom-House Officer. Railways would forthwith be constructed by American capital as feeders for all the great lines now approaching our frontiers; and railway enterprise in general would doubtless be as active and prosperous among us as among our neighbors. The value of our agricultural produce would be raised at once to a par with that of the United States, while agricultural implements and many of the necessaries of life, such as tea,