Literary Reviews. greater force. It would be difficult indeed to prove that the church, in her missionary efforts, whether at home or abroad, has followed, as she ought, the example of the Saviour; nor would it be easier to maintain that His commission to the Seventy at least, and, we may add, to the apostles also, as evangelists, heal and preach,' has ever yet been abrogated. If that composite charge be still in force, and if both common reason and experience convince us that healing the sick is at once the safest and most telling commendation of the gospel to ignorance and degradation, why, it may fairly be asked, is the healing art not adopted? Much may be found in the work under review to stir thought on the great subject of medical missions. The author has read much, and thought much. Proofs and illustrations of his subject have been carefully gathered from many a writer, both ancient and modern. The medicines of the Jews, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and of ancient nations generally, have been examined with the faithful, patient zeal of the Christian and the physician. The result is a large collection of most interesting facts, accessible to a very small portion even of reading men. The whole subject of medical agency, in its application to the masses, merits serious inquiry. Of late years experience has proved its value abroad, but scarcely an effort has been put forth to apply it at home. Only in one instance, so far as we know, has the attempt been made. We refer to the Medical Missionary Dispensary in Edinburgh. Here the success has been most encouraging, although hitherto the effort has been almost a private one, and has, in consequence, lacked the influence of numbers. An eminent physician visits daily -medical students, anxious to do and get good, accompany him-the poor gather round the healers, and hear from them the words of the Great Healer. The patients are then examined apart, prescribed for, and handed over each to the care of a student, who visits at their homes, and reports to the physician. The confidence of the poor in their benefactors, the kindly interchange of feeling, the influence of the Christian doctor for good, are evident and most cheering. Suppose similar institutions extended over the country, under the influence of the body of Christian philanthropists-suppose them attached to 99 our City Missions, or made to take the place of poor-law medical relief-proportionate results might be expected. The moral effect of legal relief is at present zero, at least for good. Whatever it may be called, it certainly is not felt to be charity in any sense. On the contrary, too many trust to it and look for it as a right. The most stringent measures are necessary to prevent abuse -measures which are far from humanizing to any party. After all the inspector is ever being deceived. Now it would be difficult to devise a system of inquisition more effective or more welcome than the visitation of the medical missionary. He has means of seeing into the very heart of the pauper family. The undeserving could not long remain unknown. Moreover, he is enabled to deal with crime, or at least with one of its most fruitful sources, as no other man. He alone knows aright the pathology of intemperance. There can be no doubt that drunkenness becomes a disease. At a certain stage moral suasion is useless, perhaps only aggravating to the evil in proportion as the victim feels his impotence. It calls for physical treatment. Eighty per cent. of our criminals are criminals through intemperance. Doubtless there are not a few of these who would help it, if only they could-would save themselves from ruin, their fellow-citizens from burdens, and their children from hereditary taint. We know of no agency more likely to supply them with the help they need-physical and moral -than the medical evangelist. Our Moral Wastes, and how to reclaim them. By the Rev. J. H. Wilson. London: Partridge and Co. 1859. THE author of this little work has, for some years, been well known to those who have been interested in territorial missions for recovering the masses that have ceased to attend the ordinances of religion. He has here given a short narrative of his labours, and several very touching individual histories; and he has added an exhortation to Christians generally to promote similar missions. The book can scarcely fail to interest all who peruse it, which we earnestly wish our readers to do. Mr. Wilson found the scene of his labours in the most degraded condition. Every vice abounded. Public-houses and low theatres tempted the people, and throve on their sins and infamy. Now by temperance temperance societies, which Mr. Wilson ardently promoted, by the preaching of the gospel, and by various economic arrangements, the wilderness is reclaimed. A beautiful church is on the site of the penny theatre, schools have taken the place of public-houses, and an active missionary agency has transplanted the tempters to vice. Her Majesty has for several years taken a lively interest in Mr. Wilson's philanthropic labours, and has subscribed to the mission. Many others have done the same. We trust that this stirring and useful work will be extensively circulated, and that many Christian congregations and single-hearted individuals will be encouraged by it to follow the example of this good Samaritan.' Christian Exercises for every Lord's Day Morning and Evening in the Year. By Jabez Burns, D.D., Author of the Pulpit Cyclopædia.' London: Houlston and Wright. 1859. THE volume before us is designed to make the house a Bethel when its inmates are unable to attend public worship, and otherwise to aid in keeping holy the Sabbath-day. It consists of expositions of, and meditations on, texts of Scripture. Terse, unctional, and evangelical, they are fitted to instruct, edify, and refresh the soul. The hymns appended to each portion, while they will not add to the doctor's fame as a poet, will greatly aid the devotion of his readers. The themes are singularly free from controversy, and the remarks of Dr. Burns are as devoid of sectarianism. His book is, therefore, fitted for the Christian people at large, and may be appropriately introduced into every home. The Sunday-School Question Book, Bible Class Manual, and Family Catechist. By William Roaf. London: J. Snow. THE title of this work is fulfilled in its contents. Containing an admirable epitome of sound doctrine and morality, and made useful to teachers and parents by a series of apposite questions and Scripture references, it is fitted to become a handbook of biblical teaching in Sunday-schools and Christian families. Sketches and Lessons from Daily Life. By Felix Friendly. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1859. DAILY life is, in this book, made the vehicle of much solid and practical instruction, conveyed in a most agreeable manner. It is admirably adapted to the busy and careful, and may lead them to realize a higher end in what they do than the work that wearies, or the anxieties that fret them. Ernest, the Pilgrim. A Dramatic Poem. By J. W. King. London: Partridge and Co. 1859. THERE is a spark of true poetic fire in Mr. King. His poem is well conceived, and elaborated with considerable success. His love of rural scenery, acquaintance with nature, and felicity of expression, make his verses rise far above mediocrity. There is a sweetness about his rhymes: they ring like the chimes of village bells. Love is depicted in a purity worthy of admiration. Piety receives its place of honour and meed of praise. Courage, too, is lauded; and the descriptions of Inkerman, Balaklava, and the winter before Sebastopol, as related by the returned soldier, are splendid pieces of martial poetry. The woes and wants of society receive from the author a touching description; while the duties of each class are declared in words fitted to awaken responsibility without arousing bitterness. Mr. King has in Ernest' produced a poem which needs only to be read to be appreciated. Instauration. A Poem. By R. S. R. London: Partridge and Co. A REVERENT spirit breathes through this somewhat long poem; but there is lack of force, arising from its extension. True poetry is impatient of delay. It condenses thought, and illustrates it with natural descriptions or fanciful allegory. If R. S. R. would follow the advice of Horace in his 'Ars Poetica,' something more worthy of his mind, and more likely to give him a niche in the temple of fame, would be the result. We must, however, acknowledge that there are many beauties and much good sentiment in Instauration.' Heart Struggles, and other Poems. London: Partridge and Co. 1859. POETRY, published anonymously, must possess superior merit to repay the outlay. We fear L. F. will be a loser by launching his little bark on the perilous sea of authorship. But even his failings lean to virtue's side;' and the reader of Heart Struggles, and other Poems,' may find much with which his own experience will accord. This has been the object of the author, as enunciated in a brief preface. Meliora. ART. I.-Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, 1858. Edited by George W. Hastings, LL.B. London: J. W. Parker and Son. THE 1859. HE Sciences are slow in their formation. They are not preconceived theories which speculation has propounded, but the classification of results which observation has recorded. They are not the prophecies of the ingenious, but the experiences of the investigating. Hence long pursuit, patient research, careful observation must precede systematic arrangement. Before the days of Bacon, philosophers imagined Science to be perfect. Everything was allocated by a logical necessity to the Procrustean place it was to fill. Aristotelian order had arranged the Sciences for ever. But the Baconian method revolutionized the knowledge of antiquity, and destroyed the systems which had been built upon imaginary or false foundations. It sent the philosopher to first principles, to record his observations, and collect his facts, and then to construct a science according to truth. There were some departments of research already systematized. Geometry was as correct in the days of Euclid as in those of Newton. Algebra was known in Arabia early in the Christian era, and became a science in the dark ages. The principles of pure science were then clearly defined. But since the days of Bacon, à priori reasoning passed away from the schools of Natural Philosophy. Facts displaced fancies, and principles supplanted speculations. New candidates for a place in Science have also arisen, and have astounded the world by the splendour of their discoveries. Chemistry, Geology, Botany, Anatomy, and Natural Philosophy have, under the numerous investigations and careful syntheses of their students,, expanded into sciences, most of whose laws have been fixed and their numerous subjects classified. The Science of Mind is not so speedily realized as that of Matter; but its disciples have been numerous, and their earnest efforts to systematize have been largely successful. The influence of Bacon on this department was not less than on the Physical Sciences. We are indebted to his example, and to Locke and those who have followed him, for the Philosophy of Mind as it is now. Vol. 2.-No. 6. 1 What What ought to be, is the great subject of Moral Philosophy. But its facts have not been soon, or very successfully, arranged in scientific order. Greek sages cultivated it in their several schools, and it owes much to Plato. Some time after his death, it became the scene of contests between the rival sects. Grecian schools were closed by Justinian, and ancient philosophy expired in the land of its birth. But a thousand years passed away before modern philosophy began, and amidst the subtleties of the schoolmen, Ethics made little progress. From the days of Hobbes to our own time, however, this department of study has made great advances, though controversies regarding the nature of virtue itself have retarded its scientific perfection. Of late years a new department has aspired to the dignified position of a Science. Men of warm sympathies and untiring zeal had been long endeavouring to benefit their fellow-men by social amelioration. Not a few have their names among the illustrious. Howard and Mrs. Fry spent their lives in the reform of prisons and prisoners; Bell and Lancaster improved education, and John Pounds extended it to the ragged children; Wilberforce was a leader in negro emancipation, and Lord Shaftesbury in shortening factory labour at home. Lord Brougham, who, like Bacon, has long made all knowledge his study, has been particularly devoted to Law Reform. We have had Boards of Health for sanitary improvement, and various societies for benefiting the condition of the working classes and the poor. Each department of social reform has been worked with zeal, and reports of progress have been heard amidst the general record of philanthropic intelligence which the month of May issues from Exeter Hall. In the year 1856, however, it occurred to some philosophic minds that these various benevolent pursuits might be associated, and that to the growing field of human knowledge might be added the novel but interesting SCIENCE OF PHILANTHROPY. The idea was a happy one, and is traceable to the Law Reform Association and the veteran nobleman, philosopher, and orator who occupies its presidential chair-Lord Brougham. It was suggested that persons interested in social subjects might form an association similar to that valuable and illustrious assembly for the promotion of science, called the British Association. The subjects were, in most cases, entirely distinct, and of sufficient range and interest to enlist a vast body of members, without infringing on the province of the elder association. The first meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Social Science was held at Birmingham in October, 1857, under the presidency of Lord Brougham. The different departments were under the chairmanship of distinguished personages-Lord John Russell, Sir John Pakington, the Bishop of London, Lord Stanley, and Sir Benjamin Brodie. The attend ance Religion and Social Science. 103 ance of social reformers at this meeting was most encouraging; papers were read on subjects of interest; public attention was largely excited on the questions discussed; and a volume of ‘Transactios' containing most of these papers, was issued. The effort thus made to centralize the intelligence of all parties engaged in Social Reform exerted a great amount of influence throughout the country; and when the second annual meeting was held in Liverpool in October, 1858, it was still more manifest in the vast increase of members and of papers, and in the great interest taken in the discussions. The magnificent hall which the town of Liverpool has erected at such vast expense, was admirably adapted to the meeting of the Association. Committee-rooms abounded, and were in most desirable contiguity to each other, while the large hall served to accommodate the two thousand members and associates who had attached themselves to the meeting. One feature of this annual gathering was the commencement of proceedings by a religious service in St. Nicholas' Church, where a sermon was preached appropriate to the occasion by the Bishop of Chester. It was meet that those who had united to advance the cause of social amelioration should thus recognize the divinely appointed and most powerful regenerator of societythe gospel of Jesus Christ-and should seek a Divine blessing on the subsidiary movements which they had especially met to promote. This coincided well, also, with a very marked feature of the meeting, the attendance of a large number of ministers of religion. This is as it ought to be. Religion is essentially ameliorative, and while occupied with matters that are spiritual, cannot properly disregard any effort to improve the social condition. of the people. Religious men have sometimes been taunted with their zeal on behalf of the African and the Indian, and their apathy on behalf of the masses that suffer at home. The reproach is undeserved, and such a meeting as that convened at Liverpool last October is sufficient to refute it. But there are, nevertheless, many religious people who seem unwilling to come down from the spiritual height to which they have soared, in order to grapple with the social problems that demand the attention of the philanthropist. We do not believe that spiritual air is too ethereal for lowly work, for men of the most eminent piety are found in the ranks of social reformers. It is of vast consequence to the practical effect of the Association that ministers of religion should countenance and share the deliberations of the annual meeting, become intelligent members, and make themselves acquainted with the benevolent schemes that are discussed or commended. Placed as they are among the people, none have more influence for good; and when allied to those objects of general philanthropy contemplated I 2 |