ination either spirits of hartshorn, magnesia, calcined magnesia, calomel, or any other chemical preparation in general demand.

Indeed, some of the most common and cheap drugs do not escape the adultering hand of the unprincipled druggist. Syrup of buckthorn, for example, instead of being prepared from the juice of buckthorn berries, (rhamnus catharticus) is made from the fruit of the blackberry bearing alder, and the dogberry tree. A mixture of the berries of the buckthorn and blackberry bearing alder, and of the dogberry tree, may be seen publicly exposed for sale by some of the venders of medicinal herbs.

Instead of worm-seed (artemisia santoniea) the seeds of tansy are frequently offered for sale, or a mixture of both. * ** * * A great many of the essential oils obtained from the more expensive spices, are frequently so much adulterated, that it is not easy to meet with such as are at all fit for use, nor are these adulterations easily discoverable.

Most of the arrow root, the fecula of the Maranta Arudinacea, sold by druggists, is a mixture of potatoe starch and arrow root. The same system of adulteration extends to articles used in various trades and manufactures. For instance, linen tape, and various other household commodities of that kind, instead of being manufactured of linen thread only, are made up of linen and cotton. Colors for painting, not only those used by artists, such as ultramarine,* carmine,t and lake; Antwerp blue,§ chrome yellow,|| and Indian ink;¶ but also the coarser colors used by the common house-painter, are more or less adulterated. Thus, of the latter kind, white lead** is mixed with carbonate or sulphate of barytes; vermilionff with red lead.

Soap used in house-keeping is frequently adulterated with a considerable portion of fine white clay, brought from St. Stephens, in Cornwall. In the manufacture of printing paper, a large quantity of plaster of Paris is added to the paper stuff, to increase the weight of the manufactured article. The selvage of cloth is often dyed with a permanent color, and artfully stitched to the edge of cloth dyed with a fugitive dye. The frauds committed in the tanning of skins, and in the manufacture of cutlery and jewelry exceed belief.

ON INJUDICIOUS ZEAL.

For the Panoplist.

MISTAKES of no inconsiderable magnitude among people of small observation, arise from their drawing false conclusions from unques

Genuine ultramarine should become deprived of its color when thrown into concen◄ trated nitric acid.

† Genuine carmine should be totally soluble in liquid ammonia.

Genuine madder and carmine lakes should be totally soluble by boiling in a concentrated solution of soda or potash.

Genuine Antwerp blue should not become deprived of its color when thrown into liquid chlorine.

Genuine chrome yellow should not effervesce with nitric acid.

The best Indian ink breaks splintery, with a smooth glossy fracture, and feels soft and not gritty, when rubbed against the teeth.

Genuine white lead should be completely soluble in nitric acid, and the solution should

remain transparent when mingled with a solution of sulphate of soda.

Genuine vermilion should become totally volatilised on being exposed to a red heat; and

it should not impart a red color to spirit of wine, when digested with it.

VOL. XVI.

27

tionable truths. The great principles acknowledged by almost all being held in high estimation, men of weak minds often build upon tirem a variety of false theories; and because the universally received truth, from which they started, remains unshaken, they seem to flatter themselves, that all their notions, which they suppose to be parts and legitimate inferences from it, are equally indisputable.

To mention one example: The plain truism, that "no one can be too good," is not questioned by any man in the possession of common sense. Notwithstanding its simplicity, from this self-evident truth there have been drawn many erroneous inferences. Since it is impossible for any one to possess too much piety, men sometimes conclude, that those external acts which belong to the worship of God, and those forms and ceremonies which are usually connected with the duties we owe Him, cannot be overdone. Hence arises an opinion, that a good sermon can hardly be too long-that so solemn a duty as prayer cannot occupy too much time;-that provided the person who officiates has a degree of fervor, and enjoys some freedom of thought and fluency of expression, he is not to apprehend any weariness in his audience;forgetting that among its members are the infirm, the weary, the volatile, and many others who cannot go along with him.

Now these opinions are connected with others of similar complexion. So far as can be gathered from the practices of some persons, their sentiment on the subject of public exercises seems to be, either that the Almighty will hear because of our much speaking; or that a religious performance is profitable in proportion to its length. Of the former of these errors, I take no other notice, than to remind the reader, that it was one of the faults of the Pharisees for which they were reprimanded by our Savior. On the latter belief,-that the several parts of worship are more valuable in proportion to their duration, I offer two or three remarks.

1. Any man acquainted with his own mind, or who has attentively noticed the operations of those of others, knows very well, that it is not easy to confine the attention closely to one subject for a long time: That on giving an unbroken application to the most attractive subject, the body soon becomes weary,-the imagination begins to run astray;-and the memory refuses to perform its office. Any partial, and divided attention, which may be forced, after having come to such a state of feeling, is of little value. This is true when the individual is engaged in literary pursuits, in which there is no opposition from the bias of a corrupt nature.

2. When man's natural dislike to the pure and spiritual worship of God is considered, and the readiness with which that blame is attached to religion itself, which belongs exclusively to its professed friends, too much caution can never be exercised by those, whose profession places them among the friends of Christ-and who assume the character of his disciples. They should remember, that the enemies of Christianity look on them with keenest eyes,-that their minutest actions are watched with close inspection, and that any fault is seized with amazing avidity, and used as a weapon against religion itself.

The enemies of the Gospel are glad of any occasion to do it an inju ry. They rejoice to find any color of excuse for their opposition,

or a shelter from that opprobrium, which more or less rests on them where religion has a respectable place in public institutions. Such infidels, discovering evident defects in the character of those whom they are accustomed to abuse, never fail to make use of it. They are equally ready to grasp at every instance of imprudence, or injudicious management, in those who conduct religious meetings, whatever ecclesiastical rank they may hold, or whether they are merely private Christians, who perform religious services in a somewhat public manner. Although they should not be able to affix the harsh appellation of crime, to the unfortunate proceedings, which they could not approve; still in the most favorable construction, those proceedings were clearly the result of an ignorant or a weak mind, and of course, men of cultivated minds but unhumbled hearts looked down upon the author of them with that disdain, which a haughty temper feels towards a supposed inferior.

3. A discriminating understanding will find opportunities for exercise, on many occasions, where a loose and careless one observes none. It will not overlook the circumstances of time and place, nor neglect the condition or prejudices of the company among whom it is employed. I have known a person of ardent zeal, who would undertake to lecture a mixed company of strangers on religious subjects. Being unavoidably ignorant of their peculiar habits of thinking, of the circumstances of their life, and their prejudices, he very soon, as might have been expected, drew the full current of those prejudices powerfully against himself; and afterwards all his endeavors to gain their good attention were ineffectual. The irritation or disgust, produced in several of them was so great, that every thing, which he afterwards proposed for their approbation, was viewed as with a jaundiced eye. While he spoke, they either listened with the silent scowl of disapprobation, or contradicted his assertions.

4. Young persons, and especially children, whose active dispositions cannot endure long restraint, should not be driven, by tedious religious services, to wish the speaker would close. More than that of any other persons is their attention difficult to be secured. If they remain serious and attentive a sufficient time to receive a full and solemn impression on their hearts respecting the momentous concerns of a future world, and their situation as candidates for that untried state, with a forcible admonition of danger and their duty, it must surely be a very ill-timed measure to weary them by sermons or prayers of extraordinary prolixity, and thus efface every good idea from their memories, and every penitential feeling from their hearts. Yet some persons seem to imagine, that there is no other test of a good religious exercise so infallible as its duration, and almost force upon us the conclusion, that they expect to compensate for the paucity of ideas by the abundance of words. The unhappy effect of such methods of conducting the services of religion has been seen by almost every person of mature age.

One man

Such mistakes probably originate from various sources. may have an exalted opinion of his own powers of persuasion, much beyond the estimation in which those powers can be held by any other person. Thinking that none can resist his arguments, he imagines

that nothing more is necessary than to pour them forth on every occasion, and in every place where he can find hearers. Another supposes, on equally slender grounds, that "talking about religion will make people religious;" and especially, if he talks about those events of his life, or those circumstances in his experience, which are indeed interesting to him, the conversation cannot fail to be as instructive to all the company as agreeable to himself. A third, with less purity of intention than either of the former, makes use of the forms of religion as a species of recommendation to certain companies. If his appearance may speak for him, he will so accommodate himself to external circumstances as to pass current with many people for a man of great devotional feeling. Having acquired certain forms of expression, and a few particular phrases among the circle of his associates, he incorporates them with his own scanty vocabulary, and deals them out on all occasions, without much discrimination. Now such forms of expression are not inherently bad,-but were first used by, and continue in the use of many sincerely pious men, to convey with perspicuity an idea of the heartfelt sorrows or joys of eminent Christians. The mischief is, that they should be used unconnected with any distinct idea in the speaker's mind, and of course, without imparting any indefinite meaning to his hearers.

But the greater evil, arising from such ill judged attempts, is their tendency to produce quite the opposite extreme of conduct. Those persons, who have frequently heard how miserably the conversations are managed on the subjects above referred to, have lamented that themes of surpassing dignity should be rendered so dull, so insipid, by the low conceptions of narrow understandings. Being satiated with these colloquies, and having learned how far the grandest ideas ever entertained by the human imagination may be diminished by the medium through which they are conveyed,-they determine to follow a contrary course. Instead of entering with easy cordiality into the topics which relate to the moral condition of man, the immortality of the soul, its destinies, its degradation by sin, and the means provided for its ransom, these people revert to any thing else which can occupy a vacant mind, and relieve them from what they reckon the tediousness of religion.

S.

From the Christian Observer.

LORD BYRON'S POETRY.

EVERY reader who combines a love of religion and good morals, with a taste for the beauties of poetry, must have been gratified with the solemn reprobation expressed in your last number, of the licentious abuse of splendid talents on the part of a nobleman, who might have been one of the greatest ornaments to his country, had he not seen fit to commute the virtues which so peculiarly become his exalted rank, and which we instinctively look for in a British gentleman, for a nauseating display of impiety and indecency, which even France or Italy might well have blushed to own. There was a time when your journal stood almost alone, in the strong view which you took of the injurious tendency of Lord Byron's writings; or at least, many of your warmest

auxiliaries were to be found chiefly among those who had as little taste for the real beautics as for the exceptionable qualities of his Lordship's poetry. Lord Byron's writings were loudly reprobated for their profligate tendency by many religionists who would not have found any charm in them, even had they not been profligate: while too many of those who could find a charm in them forgave the offence for the sake of the pleasure. It is pleasing, however, to perceive that the scene has considerably improved. Whether it be that Lord Byron's principles, which were tolerated in their vernal bloom, have assumed a more rank and disgusting odor in their full developement, or that more men of taste are now found in the ranks of religion, and more religious persons think it no crime to cultivate good taste, I cannot pretend to determine; but certainly a far more moral and religious strain of criticism has been of late employed, by many of our literary journals, in speaking of Lord Byron and his poetry, than was customary some years since. I have just been perusing in "The Edinburgh Monthly Review," for last October, a critique on this subject written by no common pen, and in no ordinary style. The deep tone of grave and severe reprehension which the critic assumes, is rendered more impressive by the display of a vigor of imagination, and an energy of genius, which prove that even minds the most capable of appreciating Lord Byron's powers, and of coping with him on his own ground, will, if justly attuned, shrink with abhorrence, from the principles and scenes which he unfolds, and sacrifice the high pleasures of taste and intellect, to the still higher satisfaction of virtuous abstinence from his contagious pages. I think I should not be greatly mistaken in attributing this critique to a Northern writer, whose efforts to improve the temporal condition, and to promote the eternal welfare of his fellowcreatures, have been as conspicuous as that powerful intellect and sacred eloquence, which enabled him to fix and retain his convicted auditors with the scriptural truths which he so forcibly displays. If men like this see it their duty to utter their solemn protests against such works as those under discussion, it surely becomes a question for grave consideration by society at large, how far they ought to be read or tolerated. I say by society at large, because I take it for granted, that all consistent Christians have determined the matter long ago; and as for the authors themselves of such productions, it is to be feared they are far beyond the effects of ordinary suasion, and can only be convinced by him with whom it is the duty of the Christian to supplicate for those whom he most condemns.

Your limited pages, I fear, will not allow me to transcribe much of the spirited sketch, given in the abovementioned critique of the peculiar characteristics of Lord Byron's poetry; but the following extract will plead its own claim to admission.

CREDE BYRON.

"One unhappy characteristic of the mind of Byron, too conspicuous in the greater part of his poetry, is that dark and dreary scepticism which has been observed and lamented by all classes of critics. It is not merely that his doubting soul is painfully suspended betwixt the hope of future existence and the dread of annihilation, but that, with an apparently fixed disbelief of futurity, he seems to mingle the most