In the spirit of kindness which should direct the performance of such a task as the one before him, our author descries the motive to it. Amongst these motives he numbers the prevailing hope of the universal spread of the gospel, to the accomplishment of which the banishment of all false and exaggerated sentiments and feelings is clearly necessary.

The URGENT REASON why we should now dismiss from our own bosoms every taint of superstition, and every residue of unbelief, as well as whatever is fanatical, is this,—that the world,-even the deluded millions of our brethren, may at length receive the blessings of the gospel.—Sect. I. p. 9.

Since the dependence of the religious welfare of mankind upon the purity of the Christian Body is an undoubted reality, there needs no apology for attempting to cleanse it, however severe be the scrutiny adopted, provided the spirit and the intention of the reproof of spiritual delinquencies be christian.

No, we must not flinch, although the sensitiveness and the vanity of thousands among us were to be intensely hurt. Let all,-all be humbled, if such humiliation is indeed a necessary process that shall facilitate the conversion of the world. Sect. I. p. 15.

Such is the prime motive of our author. He hopes, too, to minister a preservative against future delusions and possible extravagances, which may appal the world, when "disbelief, the ephemeron of our times," may be succeeded by impassioned fanaticism, and spiritual intolerance, and virulent credulity.

Having thus stated the prime and secondary motives of his work, our author defines, in his second Section, "the meaning of his terms," and describes the "rise of the malign emotions." The necessity of such definition is obvious; for more than half the differences which have embittered the hearts of furious theologues and angry disputants, have flowed from the use of words misunderstood and misapplied. The subject of FANATICISM peculiarly challenges the most guarded accuracy from its painter. Without any pedantic scrupulousness as to the niceties of language, our author would, therefore, endeavour to make himself understood, while he describes a certain class of pernicious sentiments, which have too often been combined with religious belief.”

It will be found (he says) that the elementary idea attaching to the term Fanaticism is that of fictitious fervour in religion, rendered turbulent, morose, or rancorous, by junction with some one or more of the unsocial emotions. Or, if a definition as brief as possible were demanded, we should say, that FANATICISM IS ENTHUSIASM INFLAMED BY HATRED.-Sect. II. pp. 29, 30.

Be it so; let" malevolence be essential to Fanaticism, and distinguish it from enthusiasm" (p. 352.); let " Fanaticism always combine malign and imaginative sentiments" (p. 324.) We make no captious objection to this definition, and, as language is matter of mere convention, are willing that our author should put his own interpretation upon his own terms. The coin issuing from his rich mint shall wear, if he please, the

stamp and mark of his own choice. Malevolence, then, being a characteristic ingredient of the fanatic, our author descants upon "the rise of the malign emotions."

Our subject (he says) being an instance of the combination of these emotions with other principles, we ought distinctly to have in view the elements, and to note also some of their coalescent forms.-Sect. II. p. 30.

It has seldom been our good fortune to read any metaphysical disquisition so eloquent, so simple, so profound, so beautiful, as that with which our author has delighted us in the subsequent pages of this admirable section. He has united the truth of Aristotle with the precision of Reid. He has joined the rigid accuracy of Locke with the fervid eloquence of Stewart. We beg our readers to consult these excellent pages of the volume under review, with the assurance of ample recompense for their study. No abridgement can do justice to his argument upon this delicate and difficult portion of his analysis, where he endeavours" to trace the original construction of passions, that scarcely ever present themselves otherwise than in an exaggerated and corrupted condition." He assumes, that all our passions are given to us for some specific end, which must, therefore, limit the means. So that

-either by EXCESS and too great intensity, or by PERVERSION, i. e. misdirection from their proper object, or by PROLONGATION from momentary impulses to habits and permanent qualities, as well the animal appetites as the irascible passions assume a pernicious form, and derange the harmony of nature. -P. 31.

The simplicity and the fitness of the mental machinery of man for repelling evil are amongst the evidences of the wisdom and benevolence of the Author of nature. That they are perverted and abused by us, is amongst the proofs of our fallen state, and is necessarily contingent upon the qualities inherent in a moral agent like ourselves. By extending themselves beyond their proper occasions, the irascible passions,—the sun going down upon them,—are transformed into habits; from momentary energies they become dispositions. They impute to an adversary, not a transient hostility, but " an evil nature," and a settled animosity like their own. Hence arises the bitterness of hatred, inflamed by the conviction of the innate atrocity of its foe, whose destruction is the only assuagement of the torment that burns the heart.

Inflamed and insatiate (we beg our readers to mark the beauty of the simile), the distracted being returns ever and again to the salt stream, that, at every draught, aggravates its thirst.-P. 44.

Yet hatred, in the most furious, cannot long indulge itself, until it has attributed an ill intention to the object of its wrath; because the laws of our moral system forbid that any thing should be hated, but what is thought to deserve abhorrence. In the beautiful illustration of

our author," the most virulent heart has no power of ejecting its venom upon a fair surface; it must slur whatever it means to poison." Hence the misanthrope for ever dwells upon the badness of the human race. So the deliberate hatred of God is ever preceded by blasphemy, in word or thought. We cannot hate the sovereign goodness without first defaming it! Our vindictive impulses are governed by the same moral laws. Hence the instinct of retribution. Thus is it manifest that-the elements of the moral system are the foundation even of the most fatal of the malignant passions, and in their most aggravated forms.-P. 50.

Our eloquent essayist draws an inference from the preceding analysis, which is original, we think, as we are sure it is awful, when connected with the final punishment of sinners. We give the concluding paragraph in his powerful language, and beseech God to imprint upon our heart of hearts the appalling truth.

The infatuations of self-love, which, in the present state, defend every mind from the application to itself of the desire of retribution, in the same manner as the principle of animal life defends the vital organs of a body from the chemical action of its own caustic secretions,—being then quite dispersed, the Instinct of Justice,—perhaps the most potent of all the elements of the spiritual life, shall turn inward upon each consciously guilty heart, so that every such heart shall become the prey of a reflected rage, intense and corrosive as the most virulent revenge! Whoever is now hurrying on without thought of consequences through a course of crimes, would do well to imagine the condition of a being left without relief to breathe upon itself the flames of an insatiable hatred!!!— P. 52.

From this analysis our author descends, in Section III., to the "alliance of the malign emotions with the imagination," by which their deformity is concealed, and their harshness greatly mitigated, and their most rancorous elements refined. Hence the curse of war has been softened in its attendant horrors, and the imaginative sentiments, blending themselves with destructive passions, have chivalrously chastened the ferocity of warriors; but for which ameliorating emotions, "Alexander would have been a Tamerlane, and Tamerlane as the Angel of Death." This alliance of the malign passions with the imagination is not permitted to take place on the narrow ground of self-love. Our author descants upon this remarkable fact with his wonted talent, and his usual power of beautiful illustration. Our limits forbid us to accompany him in his statements. He tells us thata vigorous enthusiasm must embrace a broad field. Martial enthusiasm especially demands the social elements as its ground. It is the enthusiasm of gregarious rage that knits the phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, when the marshalled family advances to meet its ancient rival in the field.

Here we have that very compound sentiment, which, as to its construction, stands immediately parallel with religious rancour and fanaticism. The one species of ardent emotion differs from the other more in adjuncts and objects, than in innate quality or character. The battle-fury of the CLAN is only selflove, inflamed by hatred, and expanded, by aid of the imagination, over the width of the community with which the individual consorts.-P. 60.

This last observation, touching the limits within which enthusiasm acts,—for too wide a field of exercise renders her energies languid,— is ably illustrated by comparing the steady martial temper of the armies of a great empire, with the ferocious or desperate valour that distinguishes the warriors of a horde, a canton, or a petty republic. But how, our readers may ask, is all this made to bear upon the topic of the treatise under review? Our author shall teach them the application.

It is on the very same principle, that Fanaticism must attach itself always to a limited order of things, and is necessarily factious. What is Fanaticism but rancorous enthusiasm? And inasmuch as Enthusiasm springs from the imagination, it must embrace a circle just wide enough to give it a powerful impulse, and yet not too wide to exhaust its forces.--P. 64.

Although a beneficial mitigation issue from this alliance of the grosser elements of our nature with the imaginative sentiments, it must not be permitted to interfere with the genuine principles of morals, as enforced in the Scriptures; and it is difficult to assign the proper office to the imagination when mingling itself with the malign emotions, especially under circumstances, where cherished associations of sentiment have pre-occupied the heart corrupted by false feelings, or debased by false worship. The story of the Crusades is adduced, in the hands of our author, to exemplify this position; of which he truly says,—

Only let us strip their history of all its elements of martial and secular glory, and the simple religious residue, the proper fanaticism of the drama,—would scarcely touch any modern imagination.-P. 68.

The fourth Section, describing the " combination of the malign emotions with spurious religious sentiments," shews us that "Fanaticism is the offspring of Enthusiasm." Spurious piety,―reason being in subjection to the imagination, -is converted into energetic rancour; and this rancour re-acts upon the enthusiasm whence it sprang; the child schools the parent; and this enthusiasm, so changed by fanaticism,-malignity being shed upon illusion,-is far more darkly coloured and more mysterious than the illusory piety disembarrassed of such a load.

This sort of transmutation of sentiments, which happens when the enthusiast becomes the fanatic,-much resembles what often takes place in feverish sleep; -who has not seen in his dreams splendid and smiling pageants, gradually relinquishing the brilliant colours they first showed, just as if the summer's sun were sinking from the skies; but presently a murky glimmer half reveals menacing forms; and in the next moment some horrid and gory phantom starts forth, and becomes master of the scene?-P. 75.

This false religion of the fanatic is distinguished by three characteristics:

I. A deference to Malignant Invisible Power.

II. Rancorous contempt, or detestation of the mass of mankind, as religiously cursed and abominable.

III. The belief of corrupt favouritism on the part of Invisible Powers, towards a select or particular class of men.-P. 76.

We would willingly follow our author through the whole of this Section, whence, whether we consulted the profit or the pleasure of our readers, our extracts could scarcely be too copious. All that he has written of the tendency of the mythology of Greece to counteract the natural religion of man, which is based on the fear of malignant powers; all that he has written of the misanthropy of the Jew, the intolerance of the Mohammedan, and the insatiate bigotry of the Papist, is new and admirable. Not less admirable is our author's description of the dependence between our conceptions of the Divine Being, and our feelings towards our fellow-men, including, as it does, a philoso-phical refutation of the harsh and unscriptural tenets of the school of Calvin! We beg our readers to peruse this portion of the volume before us, and to ask themselves whether the dogmas of Geneva CAN be true! Intolerance, execrations, cruelty, pride, and arrogance, have ever marked the dupes of that malign theology, by whom the herd of mankind is spurned as abominable, and shut out from the narrow circle of their charities. We heartily thank our author for his masterly destruction of this pestilent error, and we willingly adorn our pages with the following extract, as a fair sample of his brilliant style.

The Fanatic, inasmuch as he is an Enthusiast born, must take up yet another and a more sparkling element of character; and it is nothing else than the supposition of corrupt favouritism on the part of the Deity he worships, toward himself and the faction of which he is a member. The Fanatic, and this we must keep in mind, is not a simple misanthrope, nor the creature of sheer hatred and cruelty; he does not move like a venomous reptile lurking in a crevice, or winding silent through the grass; but soars in mid heaven as a fiery flying serpent, and looks down from on high upon whom he hates. Imaginative by temperament, his emotions are allied to hope and presumption, more closely than to fear and despondency: he firmly believes, therefore, in the favour of the supernal powers towards their faithful votaries; and in expectation of still more signal boons than he has yet received, offers himself to their service, as the unflinching champion of their interests on earth.

And besides, as we have already said, the imagination, when brought into play by self-love, must draw its excitements from a circle, which it can embrace. It will then be a tribe, a sect, a faction; that affords a sphere to fanaticism; and the infuriate religionist, how unsocial soever in temper, is compelled to love a few, so that he may be able, in the strength of that partial feeling, to hate the many with full intensity. Theological notions,

when sullied or distorted, vitiate in an extreme degree every sentiment of the deluded being who deems himself the darling of the skies. Let but such a pestilent doctrine be admitted as that the Divine favour is bestowed, not merely in disregard of virtue, but in contempt of it, and then religion, with all its power, goes over to swell the torrent of impurity, cupidity, and malice. Under patronage of a belief like this, virtue and vice change sides in the court of conscience, and the latter claims sacred honours.-Pp. 84-86.

Recapitulating his three elements of Fanaticism, our author seizes upon certain leading varieties of his subject, which are reduced to four designations: the

First comprehends the instances of malignant religious sentiments