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them; that species of knowledge being peculiar to the Deity, whose will is the cause of their existence. The fact therefore that the effects produced in us by material objects, are not themselves material, nor semblances of material causes, is no more proof that they are not the effects of those things, and media to us of a certainty of their existence, than the fact that those perceptions are not spiritual existences, nor semblances of such existences, demonstrates that no proof is involved in them of the existence without us, of an Almighty Creating Spirit.

3. Our knowledge of matter being derived wholly from the effects which it produces in us, of necessity respects it simply as the cause of those effects. That is also the only species of knowledge which we possess of God and dependent intelligences. We neither have nor can have any direct perception of things without ourselves; nor of any thing within, except our mental operations.

It is in conformity with this fact accordingly that we distinguish the different modifications of matter which influence us. We name them from the impressions they make on us of color, form, organization; or effects produced by them in other portions of matter: and arrange them into families and classes, according to their resemblances of figure, structure, or other phenomena.

Such is the mode likewise in which we form our ideas ot God. We ascribe to him attributes corresponding to those displayed in the effects he produces in us and others, either directly or through the instrumentality of the objects that surround us.

4. It is with these views of the necessity of an exterior instrumentality to the great purposes of our being, that the inquiry should be conducted respecting the adaptation of the external world to our intellectual and moral nature.

It will obviously very essentially affect our estimate of

the wisdom and goodness of the Most High, displayed in that portion of His works, whether we contemplate them as contrivances that might have been dispensed with, without any detriment to us, and possibly to our benefit; or as means that are indispensable to our knowledge of Him, and one another; to our exerting agencies that can affect our fellow men; and thereby attaining to a holiness and happiness that comport with our faculties and the ends of our creation.

5. The fact that all the other bodies of the solar system, and as far as is known, all other worlds in the universe, are subject to essentially the same material laws as those of our globe; and are thence fitted to be residences of organized beings; may be regarded as presumptive that they are likewise the dwellings of intelligences, who enjoy a material medium like us, of communication with external objects, and gain through that instrumentality, their knowledge of God and each other.

6. This subject has important relations to the state of departed spirits.

The scriptures do not authorize the belief that they sink into insensibility during the period between death and the resurrection, but convey the impression in all their allusions to the subject, that they continue to be conscious and active. It is not possible for us however to conceive how they can exist in society, enjoy each other's presence, and exert influences on one another, without a material medium of communication. To impute to them the power independently of means, of perceiving, communicating with, and acting on each other, is to ascribe to them the attributes and prerogatives of the Deity.

Such an instrumentality however, though indispensable to their existence in society, need not be supposed to be necessary to their continued consciousness and activity.

As

death will neither extinguish nor impair the intellectual faculties; all the thoughts and feelings they had here experienced, may be repeated by memory; the facts and truths of which they had gained a knowledge, be made subjects at will, of consideration, traced through their various relations, and prove themes of perpetual meditation and inquiry, and sources of incessant progress in knowledge. The supernatural influences of the Spirit may also in that state, as well as in this, convey to them new and more extensive views, than they could of themselves attain, and carry forward their knowledge boundlessly, respecting all those of God's works, of whose existence they had here become apprised.

7. We doubtless see in these views one of the reasons that the dead are to be raised and exist forever in union with organized bodies-that they may behold the displays of his being, perfections, and will, which are made by the Most High in his works; exist in society; and exert on each other influences.

8. The relation of these views to those of Locke and Kant in respect to the origin of our knowledge, will readily suggest themselves to such as are familiar with their theories. Not having in the present number the requisite space to discuss them, I shall postpone the consideration of them to a future occasion.

DR. WARDLAW'S LECTURES

ON

CHRISTIAN ETHICS.

THE Theological literature of Great Britain is indebted for many of the valuable works with which it has been enriched during the last century, to the institution by benevolent individuals, of annual lectures at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The founders of several of them, having made provision for the delivery and publication, annually forever, of a number of discourses on important topics, by individuals selected by the heads of Colleges, from among those who have taken the degree of Master of Arts; their liberal endowments have called into activity some of the most distinguished scholars of those institutions, and given birth to works of great usefulness and celebrity.

The propriety of similar endowments in our literary institutions, especially if connected with provisions for the more perfect education of scholars of superior talents, by a longer residence at college and a theological seminary, is worth the consideration of those who are disposed to devote their wealth to the interests of learning and religion. Few modes perhaps can be selected in which bequests can be made the means of exerting a more safe, more elevated, and more permanent influence. Beside the salutary impulse which is thus naturally imparted to the industry of candidates for their honors; great beneficial effects-considering

the simplicity and cheapness of the means-arise from them from year to year, to others. The number of minds to which they extend their influence is immense; and the multitude great, whom they awaken to curiosity, excite to investigation, and advance in knowledge and usefulness; and they are fitted to be the means of transmitting similar blessings to multitudes more of generations that are future. An exemplification of the salutary effects to which they thus give rise, is furnished by the magnificent provision by the late Earl of Bridgewater, for the publication of a series of treatises on the displays of the wisdom and goodness of the Deity in the natural world ;—works by which he is attracting to those subjects the attention, it may almost be said, of the whole literary world, and communicating to myriads, more just and enlarged views, and more salutary impressions, than they otherwise would ever have obtained.

The Congregationalists of Great Britain have lately, after the example of the universities, instituted a course of annual lectures in London, denominated the "Congregational Lecture," of which the first series are those of the volume under notice, by Dr. Wardlaw, on "Christian Ethics, or Moral Philosophy on the principles of divine revelation."

The main question to which he directs his inquiries-the ground or reason of the defects and errors of former theories of morals-is one of high interest, and if succesfully treated, would come with eminent propriety from a Scottish speculatist. The most distinguished, the most popular, and the most erroneous of the British theorists on the subject for the last hundred years, were Hume, Smith, Brown and Mackintosh. The diffusion of their opinions,especially those of Hume and Smith, has been very extensive, and their influence highly prejudicial. To lift the veil from