From: The Dial, Vol. I, No. III (Jan. 1841)
Author:
Published: Weeks Jordan and Company 1841 Boston
THE Worship of the Soul. A Discourse preached to the Third Congregational Society in Chelsea, at the Dedication of their Chapel, on Sunday Morning, September 13, 1840. By Samuel D. Robbins. Chelsea and Boston: B. H. Greene. 1840. 8vo. pp. 16.
This Discourse is pervaded by a deeper vein of thought than we are wont to look for, or to find in the occasional services of the pulpit. We should rejoice to know that there is any considerable number of persons among the congregations that assemble in the churches for Sabbath worship, who take delight in such simple, fervent, and practical expositions of religious truth as are here set forth. This Discourse, however, indicates more than it unfolds; it is not a complete and harmonious whole; and it will be read with greater profit by those who watch for every gleam of sun-light, than by those whose eyes are open only to the broadest glare of noon.
The following passage expresses the feelings of many who are accustomed to distinguish between religion, as it existed in the divine idea of Jesus, and the religion which ventures to assume his name, as an exclusive badge at the present day.
“The occasion which assembles us is one of thrilling interest. At a day when the whole aspect of the church and the world seems to present strong tendencies toward revolution; while on all sides men seem to be outgrowing the tyranny of forms, and overleaping all former barriers which have been raised between themselves and perfect freedom, we come to consecrate this temple to the worship of the Father of our Spirits, and thus bear our humble testimony that we can find in Christian usages, and the Christian’s faith, all that we need for our mental and spiritual advancement in the path to heaven. We feel, however others may consider the subject, that in the Bible and in the Saviour, are revealed to us Infinite Truths, which man can never outgrow, which as yet the world have scarcely imagined. And although we do not believe that the Christianity of Society, or the Christianity of the Church, as they appear in the present age, are by any means perfect, we do feel that the Christianity of Jesus is perfect, perpetual, and eternal: that the age will never arrive when man cannot draw from the fountain of God’s truth, the waters of life and salvation.”—pp. 3, 4.
The characteristics of Christianity, as described by Mr. Robbins, and the offices of the church, are worthy of attention. In reading this statement, we cannot but be struck with the incongruity between the ideal church of the preacher, and the actual church of modern society.
“I have said that Christianity is emphatically the science of the soul; and I regard this view of the religion of Jesus as infinitely important. We have our Universities and our Schools which are instituted for the purpose of teaching and explaining the natural sciences and the philosophy of the intellect. But the Church is consecrated only to the higher purposes of instruction in the knowledge of the human heart and conscience; in the mysteries of the soul, its laws and duties and destiny. We gather ourselves into this holy place to learn those mighty truths which relate to God and man. We come up hither from the world and its trials and dangers to listen to the wisdom of Jesus, and learn those deep lessons of faith and obedience and love, by which we are to become ripened daily into the image of Infinite Holiness.
“There is a higher life than that which most spirits live. A higher love than most spirits know. There is an infinity in the human soul which few have yet believed, and after which few have aspired. There is a lofty power of moral principle in the depths of our nature, which is nearly allied to omnipotence; compared with which the whole force of outward nature is more feeble than an infant’s grasp. There is a might within the soul which sets at nought all outward things; and there is a joy unspeakable and full of glory, dwelling in the recesses of the good man’s heart too vast for utterance. There is a spiritual insight to which the pure soul reaches, more clear and prophetic, more wide and vast than all telescopic vision can typify. There is a faith in God and a clear perception of his will and designs and Providence and Glory, which gives to its possessor a confidence and patience and sweet composure, under every varied and troublous aspect of events, such as no man can realize, who has not felt its influences in his own heart. There is a communion with God in which the soul feels the presence of the unseen One, in the profound depths of its being, with a vivid distinctness, and a holy reverence, such as no word can describe. There is a state of union of spirit with God, I do not say often reached, yet it has been attained in this world, in which all the past and present, and future seem reconciled, and Eternity is won and enjoyed; and God and man, earth and heaven with all their mysteries are apprehended in truth, as they lie in the mind of the Infinite. But the struggle with most beings is to spiritualize the actual, to make those things which are immediately around them subserve the higher interests of their immortal nature; and finding that it is almost impossible to do this, they faint in the way, and postpone to a future life that higher being which their thought apprehends, and their hearts long for, but cannot reach. Hence it is that the advanced powers of the soul of which I have been speaking are not believed to exist for us, in this world at least; and therefore the few who will strive for them, because they dare not compromise their highest thought and life and love, are looked upon as spiritual star-gazers, as visionaries dwelling amid the beautiful creations of their own ardent hearts. Hence it is that in our age the Church and its highest influences is needed, to declare to the wide world those precious promises which are destined to carry comfort and peace to the deepest emotions of the struggling soul; to speak to all men everywhere in the name of Jesus, teaching them that the highest and loveliest visions which the human mind in its most rapt hour of aspiration, has enjoyed of Truth and Life, of Holiness and Love of duty and denial of growth and glory of Faith and God, are only the faintest sketches of that reality which Christianity has brought to light.”—pp. 9–11.
The Envoy from Free Hearts to the Free. Pawtucket, R. I. 1840. 12mo. pp. 112.
A Voice from the Prison, being Articles addressed to the Editor of the New Bedford Mercury; and a Letter to G. B. Weston, Esq., and other Directors of the Duxbury Bank. To which are added Leaves from a Journal. By B. Rodman. New Bedford: Benjamin Lindsey. 1840. pp. 62. 8vo.
Here is a new chapter in the literature of prisons. Since the secrets of St. Pelagie and Clichy have been brought to light, by the powerful pen of M. Barthelemy Maurice, we need not ask of what materials this literature must consist. It is a record of human nature, under strange and fearful circumstances, a lucid commentary on the depravation of man and the boasted wisdom of society; and should be faithfully studied by every friend of the happiness and improvement of his race. The present work has the advantage of being autobiographical. It is a record of personal experience. It unveils the interior of the debtor’s prison in Massachusetts, as it appears to one who has enjoyed a seat in her councils, and been a prince among her merchants. The author is a gentleman of liberal education and refined habits; once the possessor of an ample fortune, and distinguished for the extent as well as the rectitude of his transactions in business; a shrewd observer of men and things; and with a quick perception of facts, and with as quick a sympathy with suffering, well qualified to become the tenant of a prison for the benefit of the public. Those who have known him in what might be deemed better days, will regard him with still more honor, as they read his almost picturesque descriptions of life in prison; and the testimony, he has here left on record against some of the most crying evils of the day, cannot fail to produce a deep impression, both on account of the facts with which it is sustained, and the source from which it proceeds.
Emancipation. By William E. Channing. Boston: E. P. Peabody. 1840. pp. 111. 12mo.
History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent. By George Bancroft. Vol. III. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. 1840. 8vo. pp. 468.
Grandfather’s Chair: A History for Youth. By Nathaniel Hawthorne, Author of Twice Told Tales. Boston: E. P. Peabody. New York: Wiley and Putnam. 1840.
We are glad to see this gifted author employing his pen to raise the tone of children’s literature; for if children read at all, it is desirable that it should be the productions of minds able to raise themselves to the height of childhood’s innocence, and to the airy home of their free fancy. No one of all our imaginative writers has indicated a genius at once so fine and rich, and especially with a power so peculiar in making present the past scenes of our own history. There is nothing in this volume quite equal to the sketch of “Endicott and his Men,” in one of the Tokens. But the ease with which he changes his tone from the delicate satire that characterizes his writings for the old, to the simpler and more venerable tone appropriate to his earnest little auditors, is an earnest of the perfect success which will attend this new direction of his powers. We are glad to learn that he is engaged in other writings for the little friends, whom he has made in such multitudes by Grandfather’s Chair. Yet we must demand from him to write again to the older and sadder, and steep them in the deep well of his sweet, humorsome musings.
The Little Dove. By Krummacher. Boston: Weeks, Jordan, and Co. 1840.
Here also is another book for the young from the pen of genius. The religious simplicity of this little story is invaluable in an age of formulas. There is nothing fanciful in the fiction, and yet it is free from everything vulgar and mean; and the humanity which might redeem the world is called forth towards the animal creation, unmingled with any mawkish sensibility.
Knight’s Miscellanies. London: C. Knight and Co. 1840.
This is a series of curious works, of which are published,
I. Davis’s Chinese; or General Description of China and its inhabitants; in which is given an account of the English intercourse from earliest times to the present, a geographical description of China, a summary of its history; the principle and actual administration of its government; its legislation; institutions, manners, and customs. This work is also illustrated with sixty illustrations, which materially help the descriptions.
II. The English Causes Celebres. The actual trials of Count Konigsmark in 1682; the Turners, 1664; Robert Hawkins, 1669; the great Huntingdonshire case of Day vs. Day, 1797; Philip, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, 1678; the Perrys, 1661; Arthur Norkott, 1628; Philip Handsfred, 1688; all for capital crimes. These trials not only present a rich fund for the knowledge of human nature, but are admirable illustrations of the manners and customs of the times.
III. The Pasto Letters. These are private letters from various persons of consequence, on all familiar subjects, during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III. A very curious book.
Architecture of the Heavens. By Professor Nichol. Edinburgh. 1839.
This work gives the result of the last observations of the Herschels, and a general view of the universe, as at present appreciated by astronomical science. It is full of facts, new to the public, and in its general effect magnificent as a poem. It is a series of letters to a lady, written in a very agreeable style, perhaps sometimes a little too fine, and yet the mood into which the reader is put by it, explains the inevitable exaltation of the author, in his solitude among the stars.
The Solar System. By the same author.
The Structure of the Earth. Also by the same author.
We wonder that some of our publishers do not republish these remarkable works. It is most desirable that they should also be illustrated like the Edinburgh editions; and could not these same illustrations be imported for the American editions?
Poetry, Romance, and Rhetoric, being the articles under these heads, contained in the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Seventh Edition. Edinburgh: 1839.
The two first of these treatises are by George Moir, the Professor of Rhetoric in Edinburgh University, and the “Delta” of Blackwood’s Magazine; and the last was written by William Spalding, esq.
The History of English Poetry. By Thomas Warton. Three Volumes. London: 1840.
This is a new edition, republished from Dr. Price’s edition of 1824, and enriched by new notes and editorial matter.
A Letter to the Human Race. By A Brother. London: 1840.
Religion and Crime; or the Distress of the People and the Remedies. Third Edition. By John M. Morgan. London: 1840.
Religion and Education in America; with Notices of the State and Prospects of American Unitarianism, Popery, and African Colonization. By John D. Lang. London: 1840.
Ecclesiastical Chronology; or Annals of the Christian Church from its Foundation to the present Time; to which are added Lists of Councils, and of Popes, Patriarchs, and Archbishops of Canterbury. By the Rev. J. C. Riddle, M. A. London: Longman, Orme, and Co. 1840. 8vo.
The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, Esq. Collected and Edited by himself, with New Notes, &c. To be completed in Ten Monthly Volumes. London: 8vo.
Human Physiology, Part the Third, comprising the Generation, Growth, Decay, and Varieties of Mankind. With an Appendix on Mesmerism. Last Part. By John Elliotson, M. D. London.
The Natural History of Society in the Barbarous and Civilized State; an Essay towards discovering the Origin and Course of Human Improvement. By W. Cooke Taylor, Esq., LL. D., M. R. A. S. London: Two Volumes. 8vo.
Lectures on Natural Philosophy. By the Rev. James William McGauley, Professor of Natural Philosophy to the National Board of Education. London.
Organic Chemistry, in its Applications to Agriculture and Physiology. By Dr. Justus Liebig, F. R. S., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Giessen. Edited from the Manuscript of the Author, by Lyon Playfair, Ph. D. 8vo. London: Taylor and Walton.
“This work is written with a rare degree of sagacity, and is full of immediate practical applications of incalculable importance. From its appearance we may date a new era in agriculture, and the imagination cannot conceive the amount of improvement which may be expected from the application of the principles here developed.” Dr. W. Gregory, British Association, Glasgow.
Elements of Chemistry; including the Recent Discoveries and Doctrine of the Science. By the late Edward Turner, M. D. Seventh edition. Edited by Justus Liebig, M. D., and William Gregory, M. D., of King’s College, Aberdeen. 8vo.
Organic Chemistry. By Professor Liebig. Edited by Wilton G. Turner, Ph. D., and Professor Gregory, M. D. Forming the third and concluding part of the sixth edition of Turner’s Chemistry. Part Third.
The Autobiography of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Esq., with Additions and Illustratious by W. Hamilton Drummond, D. D. 8vo. London.
The Life and Times of Saint Cyprian. By the Rev. George Ayliffe Poole, M. A. 8vo. London.
Die Lehre vom christlichen Kultus, nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche in wissenschaftlichen Zusammenhange dargestellt von Karl Wilhelm Vetter. Berlin. 8vo.
Wilhelm Heinse’s sämmtliche Schriften. von Heinrich Laube. Zehn Bände. Leipzig. Herausgegeben
Grundsätze des Kirchenrechts der Katholischen und evangelischen Religionsparthei in Deutschland von Karl Freidrich Eichhorn.
Daub’s philosophische und theologische Vorlesungen, herausgegeben von Ph. Marheineke und Th. W. Dittenberger. Vierter Baud. System der theologischen Moral. Erster Theil.
The reputation of Daub, unlike that of most German theologians, appears to be increasing since his death. He was a scholar of almost universal accomplishments, a deep and subtle thinker, especially on subjects connected with the philosophy of religion, and a singularly just and candid inquirer on problems of speculative science; but his style is so shaded with the obscurity which few of Hegel’s followers have escaped, that his works can hardly command a general interest, even in his own country. They form a curious study, however, and one not altogether without attractions to the theologian.
Die Kirchenverfassung nach Lehre und Recht der Protestantten. Von Dr. Freid. Tul. Stahl.
Lebensnachrichten über G. B. Niebühr aus Briefen desselben und aus Errinnerungen einiger seiner nächsten Freunde. Drei Bäude. Hamburg: Perthes.
This is a complete and very satisfactory biography of the celebrated historian. Its interest is much enhanced by the addition of a copious selection from his correspondence.
Franz Passow’s Leben und Briefe. Eingeleitet von Dr. Ludwig Wachler. Breslaw.
Passow is worthy to be mentioned in company with Voss and Jacobs, as one of the most distinguished classical scholars of whom German literature can boast. His labors in Greek lexicography give him a conspicuous place in the history of philology. His personal character presents great attractions for the contemplation of the literary man; and we rejoice that he has found a biographer to do justice to his memory, with so much truth and beauty as characterize the present work.
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