doing good, which, in some instances, have been adopted. One of these may not unfitly be denominated the storming process. Those who engage in it seem to make it their object to carry the human heart by storm. By terrific appeals, and violent denunciations, and not unfrequently by railing accusations, they think to overawe and confound the object of their attack, and bring him in cringing submission to their feet. Or they design to excite him, by their reproaches, to such violent opposition, that he shall become affrighted at himself, and surrender at discretion, as the only means of enjoying peace. Our objections to this mode of accomplishing a good object are, that where it will humble one, it will harden twenty; and that those who seem to be humbled under it, in most cases, are not truly so. They are terrified, unmanned, spirit-broken, and for the time subdued, but not truly melted, humbled, and reclaimed; and as soon as the pressure which crushed them is taken off, they shew that they are of the same mind and heart as before.

A kindred mode of accomplishing a good object, but which may be characterised by a somewhat softer name, we shall call the driving process. It aims, not so much to move and persuade men, as to circumvent and compel them. Instead of plying them with motives and arguments, it aims to hedge them about with difficulties, from which they cannot escape, or to overshadow them with a public sentiment which they dare not resist. When a plot of this kind has been duly ripened, and the snare is ready to be sprung upon an individual, his only alternative is to yield or be broken, to submit or be rooted up. We might urge many objections to this mode of effecting a moral transformation; but we will only say here, that it does not effect it. It may make hypocrites, but not converts. The change produced is but an outward and seeming one. individual who, in this way, has been "broken in" to a certain system, or to certain measures, brings with him usually, .not only an unchanged heart, but a stifled, smothered sense of injury, which, on the earliest opportunity, will shew itself in an open flame.*

The

Still another mode of influence, which has been often attempted, is by exciting the sensibilities, and moving the passions. Those who operate in this way think but little of truth, of instruction, of argument. It is no part of their object

* Our objection here, is not to enlightening the public mind, and forming and correcting public sentiment, but to the use which is sometimes made of what is deemed a correct public sentiment. Instead of submitting it to a candid inspection, and suffering it (so far as approved) to diffuse itself freely, it is made little else than an instrument of public torture-a means of restraining the liberty of individuals, and forcing the consciences of those who cannot in sincerity embrace it.

to enlighten and convince the understandings of their hearers. They make their appeals directly to the passions, and by moving and melting these, by drawing forth sighs, and groans, and tears, they expect to be able to gain the heart. It is a sufficient objection to this mode of doing good, that, as it is in its nature superficial, so the results of it, ordinarily, are of short duration. The seeming reformation, not being founded on principle or truth, will soon shew itself to be no reformation at all. The disturbed emotions will soon be quieted; the excited sensibilities will become calm; the tears which flowed so freely will be dried up; and then it will be seen that the deep springs of moral action, the mind, the heart, remain unchanged.

We have one objection, in common, against all the above modes or processes of moral influence. They are in palpable violation of the established and unalterable laws of persuasion. Of course, they cannot ordinarily result in persuasion, but in something which does, at best, but remotely resemble it.

3. In view of the preceding remarks, it may be easily accounted for, that some men labour in the cause of truth with so little success. They may not be men of feeble intellect; they may not be destitute of the requisite amount of knowledge; they may not be wanting in point of reputation and character; but they do not understand the laws of moral influence; or, understanding them, they grossly disregard them. They are not careful to adapt their instructions to the state and character, the circumstances and wants of those who hear them. Their mode of address may also be objectionable. Instead of being kind and winning, urgent and persuasive, it is cold and speculative, or severe and repulsive. No fact is more evident than that the power of mind over mind, in different individuals, is exceedingly various; and this diversity is to be attributed, not so much to an unequal measure of knowledge or gifts, as to the degree of regard which is paid, by different individuals, to the established laws or conditions of moral influence.

4. The subject of this paper commends itself to the consideration of all who desire to exert a favourable influence over the hearts and lives of their fellow-men. We would commend it, in the first place, to the consideration of those who are labouring, in various ways, to extirpate vice, and promote a reformation of morals. The moral reformer, whatever the vice may be which he undertakes to remove, has a nice and difficult task to accomplish, one requiring all his wisdom and grace, his skill, his energy, and perseverance. It will not be difficult, indeed, for the flippant declaimer to talk, and rant, and give himself consequence, in reference to almost any wrong.

But so to apply the knife as to remove the sore; so to

dispense truth and motives as to induce the unhappy victim of vice, of his own accord, to put it away, is a very different

matter.

If there is a man in the world who, in his intercourse with others, should pay a strict regard to the laws of moral influence, and to all these laws, it is the moral reformer. Without such regard, he may make a great deal of noise, but he will be sure to do a great deal of mischief. His cause may be a very good one, but he will so prejudice and embarrass it as to render it next to impossible for the most skilful hand to touch it afterwards.

We would also commend this subject to the consideration of gospel ministers. Every minister of Christ is, in the best sense of the term, a reformer; one whose duty impels him to go beneath the surface of things, and lay the axe at the root of the tree. He seeks to dry up the stream of human wickedness by first drying up the prolific fountain; to reform the manners and lives of men, by securing the sanctification of their hearts. Still, in all this important work, his sole instrumentality consists in exerting a moral influence in dispensing the truths and motives of the gospel; in endeavours to enlighten, convince, and persuade; and his success may be expected to depend (under God) entirely on the strictness with which he adheres to the established laws of persuasion. Without such an adherence, he may be a man of talents and acquirements; he may be a man of piety, and preach the truth; he may make it his reliance, that he does preach the truth; but in all ordinary cases it will be a vain reliance. The truth, thus dispensed, it may be feared, will harden, and not soften. It will be more likely to repel than persuade. By preaching the truth, the gospel minister conforms to one law of moral influence-a law important and indispensable, we admit; still it is but one. There are other laws, let him remember, to which he must conform, or the appropriate results of preaching will not ordinarily be realised.

Nor let a minister think to evade this conclusion, by pleading the needed influences of the Holy Spirit. For how are these influences generally bestowed? In accordance with those laws of moral influence which God has appointed? or in contempt and violation of them? There can be no question here. God is, indeed, a sovereign in the dispensations of his grace, but not an arbitrary sovereign; and we find that, in all ages, he has proportionally blessed the labours of those ministers who have adhered to the laws of influence which he has established, and withheld his blessing from those who have violated them. The most honoured and successful labourers for Christ have invariably been those who, in matter, manner,

character, and everything else, have most faithfully observed the laws of persuasion.

Let, then, the minister of Christ acquaint himself with these laws, and adhere to them as strictly as though his entire success depended upon them; while, at the same time, he feels that all his springs are in God, and that without his accompanying spirit and blessing, he can accomplish nothing. Let him, first of all, secure the confidence of his people; their confidence in him as a scribe well instructed in the doctrines and duties of religion; as a man of piety and truth; as their devoted and untiring friend. Let him gain this confidence by deserving it; and having gained it, let him never abuse it. On the contrary, let him so live and labour as to continue and increase it. Let him preach to his people the truth, with all plainness and fidelity, and in a manner to arrest attention; reasoning with them out of the Scriptures, and urging home upon them the facts and motives of the gospel. And not only so, let him rightly divide the word of truth, adapting it to the circumstances of individuals, and giving to each his portion in due season. In manner, as well as in matter, let him study to shew himself approved, avoiding everything which will be likely to obstruct his message, and adopting studiously that mode of address which will be most likely to impress and enforce it. Let his intercourse with his people, and with all men, be in strict accordance with the truths he delivers, so that he may not undo, out of the pulpit, what he has been enabled to accomplish in it. Let him persevere in this course without weariness or discouragement, dispensing, line upon line, and precept upon precept, trying every likely and lawful expedient, and ever looking to God for his blessing, and the blessing of God will not long be withheld. Such a minister is wise to win souls, and souls will be won. He will be honoured on earth by turning many to righteousness, and will shine hereafter as the firmament, and as the stars for ever and

ever.

ART. V.-Dr Priestley.

It is under the influence of the common law by which certain conditions of public sentiment, from their similarity or contrast to previous conditions, turn the mind forcibly back upon the past, that we have been led to this subject of reflection. If at first sight it seems to any one as if we had now got far beyond the days of such "men of renown," and had no more concern in their doings than in the exploits of antediluvian giants, or Og, king of Bashan, or any other ancient and eminent men of capacity in the same line, a glance at the present state of society will shew, we think, only too conclusively that the topic is not out of date, or the interest of it gone. It is sadly relevant to existing phases of thought and feeling. But even though it had been less so, we should have contended for the utility of making such a man the subject of deliberate contemplation. To study great men makes us great, they say. This man, the medallist of the Royal Society, the companion of Shelburne, the intimate friend of Franklin; against whom Horsley did not disdain to argue, and Burke to thunder in Parliament; whom that eloquent statesman esteemed, associated with, hospitably entertained, led on one important occasion arm-in-arm to a meeting of the Privy Council; and whom, even after a silent breach with him, he still deemed worthy of his denunciation as "a man of great authority, and certainly of great talents," must have been in some distinguished qualities unmistakeably above the common level. But whether he were really great or not, he did assuredly occupy a prominent place in the arena of political, scientific, and theological debate, and especially in the discussion of a subject the most profound, glorious, and vital to man, that could engage a human mind. It is conclusive proof of his ambition that he ventured, and of his powers and acquirements that he should venture with any credit or show of competency, into fields of study and of conflict so many and so varied. A brief sketch of his life, character, and work, will not be unseasonable, and should not be without benefit.

Priestley was born near Leeds in 1733. His father was in trade a "cloth-dresser," in principle a Calvinist, in practice a true Christian. At the age of nine he was taken under the kindly wing of a rich and pious aunt, who secured him a good education, and in 1752 sent him to an Independent academy at Daventry, under the superintendence of Dr Ashworth, successor to Dr Doddridge. Before this, he had been refused admission to the church, "not thinking that all the human race (supposing them not to have any sin of their own) were liable