But it is not the bodies of the poor which we wish to see devoted to this purpose. It is the bodies of those who have no friends to claim them, to follow them to the tomb, or to complain that an indignity has been offered to them by this appropriation. It surely is not the poor who are least anxious. about the disposition of the remains of their relations. In fact they are far more likely, from the greater strength of their prejudices on this subject, to feel a deep interest in their respectful interment. We leave it to any one's judgment, whose corpse is most frequently followed by a long train of attendants—the rich or the poor man's. Many a wretch, who has expired half starved and half frozen, amidst filth, rags and misery-who has hardly found, during life, a single relation to visit or watch by his bed, will be followed to his grave by a goodly company of mourners, who will expend in the purchase of apparel for the occasion, far more than they would ever have been willing to contribute to his relief when living.

There is nothing in the poverty of any man's condition, be it the most abject and humbling, which, as such, would subject him to this provision. But there is a large number of persons dying in various places, and under various circumstances, who have, so far as it can be discovered, no single human being interested in their remains. No doubt they are generally persons who have no friends, because they deserve no friends. They are those whose profligate and abandoned lives have made them outcasts from society, and have destroyed, in a great measure, the ties by which they have been connected with their fellow men. But it is not on this account that we would have them subjected to dissection. It is not because we consider dissection in the light of a post mortem disgrace and punishment-a species of vengeance wreaked upon them by society after their death. It is not on account of their character that we would have them thus disposed of. We repeat it, the vices of the individual leave no stain upon his body. That is the habitation which his presence has defiled and disgraced. But he has been cast out from it, and it remains the same noble structure as when first it came from the hands of its Creator. It is not every man who has thus abused existence, whom we wish to see thus disposed of. It is only those, who, as one of the consequences of their conduct, or from other causes, have no friends to feel for them,

that are deemed the proper subjects for the purpose in question.

And surely, if any bodies are made subjects for dissection, these, all must admit, are those that should be. The real question is not, let it be remembered, whether any bodies should be dissected, but what bodies, and in what manner they shall be obtained. We take it for granted, and all experience bears us out in the assumption, that bodies will be obtained by exhumation, wherever the law makes no regular provision for their supply. In France, and in some other countries on the continent of Europe, the unclaimed bodies of persons dying in hospitals are all liable to dissection. The thing is familiar, is looked upon without horror, and is regarded as no disgrace. But in England, where prejudices are entertained similar to those in this country, bodies can only be obtained by the violation of the grave. Yet neither there nor here have any laws been found sufficient to check the practice. It has always continued. The difficulties have been sometimes greater and sometimes less, but still dissection has always been carried on. probably will be, let the nominal penalties be what they may, because there are always enough of those exerting an influence upon the execution of the laws, and who are well aware of the necessity of the case, to prevent a rigorous enforcement of the punishment for their violation.

And it

The real question then is, How shall this supply for the study of anatomy be procured? legally or illegally? If it continue to be procured in defiance of the laws, the chief object for which those laws were passed is entirely defeated; namely, that the friends of deceased persons may feel secure that their repose has not been violated. There is now, in fact, no security to the sepulchres of the dead. No man can feel altogether secure that the graves of his friends may not be opened. And this is no fault of the profession. So far as they are concerned, it is for their interest that none should be disinterested, but those who have been entirely friendless and alone in the world. But neither the manner, nor the subjects of this practice, depend upon them. Individuals of the most abandoned and desperate character engage in it as a means of subsistence, and it matters not to them who are the subjects of their traffic.

Now we regard the feeling of society on this subject as worthy of all encouragement and sympathy. We would have

the sepulchres of the dead protected from all invasion. We would hold the grave to be an inviolable sanctuary; but we soberly believe that in no way can this be done but by some such provisions as have been discussed.

The community is too apt to look upon this as a selfish attempt on the part of the medical profession-as if they were the parties chiefly to be benefited by a free study of anatomy. But if all are subjected to equal difficulties in the prosecution of this study, physicians and surgeons, as a profession, do not suffer in their rank, their influence, or their reputation for skill. These things are all comparative, and if none could study anatomy, none could acquire consideration by the knowledge of it, or lose it by the want of that knowledge. But society would suffer grievously from the want of well educated and skilful physicians and surgeons. Instead of advancing, the science of medicine would go backward; for a personal knowledge of anatomy is necessary, not only to the first origin of improvement, but even to its preservation and comprehension in subsequent generations.

We repeat, society is more deeply interested in this subject than the medical profession. The close and intimate relation which this profession maintains with society, makes the character, moral as well as professional, of its members, an object of deep interest and importance. Is it desirable that the student should, at the very beginning of his career, find himself engaged in pursuits, which are forbidden by the laws of his country, and which may be visited upon him as a crime? Is not the general feeling of obligation to respect and obey the law likely to be somewhat weakened in a young man who is engaged in an occupation pronounced by the law to be criminal? The effect may not be, and probably is not, very great, yet it may, to some minds, be sufficient to turn the balance between good and evil.

We have endeavoured to speak with perfect plainness upon this subject, because it is desirable that every one should understand it fully. We are rejoiced that the members of the medical profession have introduced it to the consideration of the public. To some of our readers, probably, the discussion of it in these pages may not have proved agreeable, and may have appeared somewhat out of place. But it is our duty to call the attention of the community to all subjects, which, like this,

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are closely connected with some of its most important interests. This is not simply a professional topic. It is not principally a medical question, or a scientific question. This were a very narrow view of it. It is a subject in which the whole mass of mankind, high and low, rich and poor, have a deep and permanent concern. We hope the profession will maintain the ground which they have taken. That they will obtain what they ask for at once, is not to be expected. Prejudice is yet too strong and deeply rooted. But a great and favorable change is taking place in public opinion, and there is reason to believe, that, by perseverance, the object will at last be accomplished.

ART. IV.—1. The Imitation of Christ. In Three Books. By THOMAS A KEMPIS. Rendered into English from the Original Latin, by THOMAS CHALMERS, of Glasgow. A New Edition: Edited by HOWARD MALCOLM, Pastor of the Federal Street Baptist Church, Boston. Boston. Lincoln & Edmands. 1829. 18mo. pp. 228. 2. The Works of the Rev. H. Scougal, A M., S. T. P. containing the Life of God in the Soul of Man; with Nine other Discourses on Important Subjects. To which is added, a Sermon, preached at the Author's Funeral, by George Gairden, D. D. Boston. Pierce & Williams. 1829. 18mo. pp. 272.

We are happy to see works of a practical and devotional character produced, or republished among us. They are still, as there has been frequent occasion to remark, among the wants of the religious world; and they who supply them, will, by composing for themselves, or editing from the labors of others, serious, judicious, and valuable treatises on any of the great topics of piety, christian duty, or morality, render an important service to the community. It is of this class of works, that Bishop Burnett somewhere remarks, that by his taste for them, a man may judge of his pretensions to religion, whether he has any true relish, or not, for its life and spirit.

Of the former of the volumes, whose titles are set at the head of this article, it might be difficult to say anything, that has not

been said before. Nor is it any part of our purpose to enter largely into its character. Few books of this class have been so long, or so extensively circulated; it having been once and again translated into almost every language of Christendom. It has usually been ascribed to Thomas à Kempis, the Catholic recluse, whose name it bears; nor does the editor of this present edition intimate any doubt of its genuineness. But notwithstanding common consent, the learned among Catholics as well as Protestants, have by no means been agreed upon the subject; and some, as appears from Dupin, have offered reasons, which go to show even the impossibility of his having been the author. We do not consider the question at this distant day as material; much less as affecting, in the slightest degree, the value of the work. But it is right, in giving any account of the various editions of a book so remarkable, as well as of its writer, to separate what is doubtful from what is known. We have before us a splendid copy of it in the original Latin, from the once famous press of Didot, in which that excellent editor, doubtless aware of the uncertainty in which this point remains, speaks of it in his preface, only as that celebrated work, 'known by the title of Imitation of Christ.'

The introductory essay by Dr Chalmers, who, after many like honors, is, we believe, now promoted to the professorship of divinity in the University of Edinburgh, will undoubtedly be considered by his admirers, as greatly enriching this edition. It is written with the usual ability, and with somewhat of the peculiarities also, of that popular divine. It is designed to relieve the work from an objection grounded on its supposed deficiency in an article of Orthodox faith; an objection naturally to be expected from men, who, first assuming the point that nothing good or spiritual can spring from any other than an Orthodox stock, find themselves at a loss to account for any evidences of a serious spirit, or even any approaches to a due standard of christian virtue, where there is not some decided recognition of their favorite dogmas. Hence, as we learn from Dr Chalmers, it has been complained, that the writer of the 'Imitation of Christ,' has not given sufficient prominence to the doctrine of justification by faith.' We see also in his answer, what is more and more evident in the productions of other theologians of the same school, the growing adaptation of Calvinism to the changes and complexion of the times. It belongs to the ingenuity and comprehensiveness, if such we