themselves to the internal view of the prophets; this is, as it were, the stage, upon which they all appeared, speaking and acting. Comp. e. g. Isa. c. 14 and c. 63. Ps. 2. This explains the frequent change of the persons speaking, sometimes with a preceding intimation of it, as in Isa. 14: 3, 4, but often without any. It also justifies the assumption, that the Messiah in many places is introduced as speaking. Comp. our remarks on Ps. 2, 16, 22. Isa. c. 42. c. 49.*

VI. Finally, from the condition of the prophets, the opinion appears to be well grounded, that the symbolic actions described by them, occurred for the most part not externally, but internally; an opinion which, as Maimonides has well observed,† is necessarily demanded by the very nature of these actions. For, as the sphere of the prophets, while they were in a state of ecstasy, was not the external but the internal world, every action performed by them, during the state of ecstasy, must necessarily be an internal one. The cases where symbolical actions can be pointed out as externally performed, are to be regarded as exceptions, in which the prophets went out of their appropriate element.‡-Compare a more extensive view of this subject in my remarks on Hosea c. 1-3.

*Gulich 1. c. p. 92: "Prosopopoeiae istae apud prophetas άzéqaloi sunt multae. Quia nempe ut, quum res geritur, tales sermones audiuntur vel saltem audiri possunt sine omni nomenclatore, qui indicet quis ille sit, qui loquitur, ita prophetae in visione sermones audiunt et renuntiant."

+ Comp. 1. c. cap. 46. He says with justice: "Absit ut deus prophetas suos stultis et ebriis similes reddat, eosque stultorum aut furiosorum actiones facere jubeat."

Compare John Smith 1. c. p. 14. "Prophetica scena, intra quam omnes peragebantur apparitiones, fuit ipsius prophetae phantasia, omniaque, quae deus ei revelata volebat dramatice in phantasia gerebantur, ita ut plures interdum inducerentur in scenam personae, inter quas propheta partes etiam suas agebat. Itaque prout dramaticus ille apparatus postulabat, oportuit eum, ut caeteros actores partes suas agere, aliquando verbis et narratione rerum gestarum, aut propositione quaestionum, aliquando eas partes ferentem, quas jussus erat per alios agere, adeoque eum non tantum sermone, sed etiam gestibus et actionibus locum suum inter alios obtinere."

ART. VI. ON THE NECESSITY OF PHYSICAL CULTURE TO LITERARY MEN, AND ESPECIALLY TO CLERGymen.

DELIVERED BEFORE THE MECHANICAL ASSOCIATION OF ANDOVER THEOL. SEM.

SEPT. 27, 1831.

By Edward Reynolds, M. D. of Boston.

THE subject of this discourse has occupied the attention of so many profound minds, that it is impossible to offer any thing new. My object in addressing you is not display or amusement. The distracting cares and the numerous occupations of an arduous profession, wholly unfit me for either. I come with the simple desire to be useful; and to raise my feeble voice in behalf of a subject intimately connected with the vital interests of the church. I do it cheerfully, because I believe it to be the cause of God. I would do it solemnly, because I believe that the neglect of it is eminently calculated to retard the progress of his church; and because I fear, that the peculiar character of the age in which we live, subjects the clergy to continual temptations to such neglect.

It is emphatically an age of intellectual enterprise. The human mind seems to have awaked to a consciousness of its powers, and is beginning to put them forth in the direction for which they were created. A general desire for knowledge in the various departments of science, pervades all classes of the community. Learning, no longer confined within the walls of our seminaries and colleges, is diffusing, through the instrumentality of tracts, periodicals and lyceums, its happy influences over the mass of our population; and kindling within it new de-. sires for intellectual improvement.

When we behold the mighty efforts which this thirst for knowledge has already created, and trace the footsteps of improvement, from the infant school up to our highest seminaries of learning; when we see it accumulating such ample provisions for the highest intellect, and descending in kind simplicity to the wants of the humblest minds; we are cheered by the prospect, and may be almost pardoned for the feeling, that we are approaching-perhaps have already reached that long expected hour, predicted by the beloved prophet in those remarkable words, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

It is also emphatically an age of religious enterprise. The church and the world are animated with the same spirit of advancement. ONWARD is the watchword of all her true children. With a more realizing sense of her solemn responsibilities, she is putting forth new exertions in behalf of a perishing world. Under her happy auspices, old systems of error in the moral and political heavens are rapidly crumbling away; ancient landmarks of oppression have disappeared. Guided by her sacred torch, liberty, rational and Christian liberty, is lifting up her head to bless mankind. The glorious work of benevolence has been ramified into its thousand branches, until almost every physical want is provided with its appropriate remedy. Looking with the eye of faith beyond this present scene, she is making new efforts to alleviate the more urgent wants of the never-dying soul.

6

So much has already been effected, that even the enemies of the cross are compelled to acknowledge that its religion is indeed peace on earth, and good will towards men.' This vital spark of love once enkindled in the soul, is destined to burn on, until every dark corner of this fallen world shall be cheered by its light; until every enemy of God is subdued by its power; and until man has assumed that glorious rank as an intelligent, holy being, for which the Creator intended him.

To the Christian patriot, then, and especially to the Christian minister, the present is a period of deep and absorbing interest. Its intellectual and religious character imparts to it peculiarities, which distinguish it in many respects from all other times.When he beholds the clear footsteps of God in the events of the world around him, and with unshaken faith in the promises, looks onward to the future; he feels that a high and holy trust is committed to his care; a trust demanding the most vigorous effort of all his powers. He feels that much of the hope and happiness of unborn generations may perhaps depend upon the fidelity of his exertions. Besides this, the intellectual state of society subjects him to the necessity of much deep thought, patient, severe study, and a knowledge of many branches of learning, not directly connected with his profession.

It is one of the great evils of this state of things, that the Christian minister is exposed to continual danger, that his efforts, noble and praiseworthy as they are, may occasion injury to his health, which will render them abortive. In the ardent pursuit after knowledge, he is too apt to neglect the body; and to over

look the fact, that the mind, while united with the body, partakes of all its infirmities.

It becomes, therefore, a question of unspeakable importance, how he may be a faithful servant, and so use the mind, as to secure all its powers to the best advantage, and for the longest time, in the great work of Christian benevolence.

This can only be effected by a judicious and practical attention to physical education. Such a course must be adopted in regard to diet and exercise, as is conformable to nature; and calculated to establish that perfect harmony of action between the body and mind, which is necessary to the health and vigour of both-in other words, such habits of life as will render learned men, healthy men.

The man whose position in society demands of him great mental effort, should make the acquisition of this knowledge one of his first lessons. Otherwise, he is continually exposed to dangers, which may, sooner or later, paralyze his efforts. Until he has learnt this lesson, he cannot fulfil the high duties which he owes to society and to his Master in heaven. I would almost say, that the scholar who cultivates the mind exclusively, to the neglect of the body, as effectually buries his talent in the earth, as he does who cherishes the body and neglects the mind. Plato calls that man a cripple, who exercises the mind and neglects the body. How many of Plato's cripples have belonged to the army of the cross, encumbering its march, and bearing like so many dead weights upon its efforts; men with minds. formed to soar to heaven, and wield the elements of the moral universe; but chained down by neglected bodies to inactivity and disease! How often has Zion been called to weep bitter tears over these disappointed hopes! The mind thus used, or rather abused, becomes weakened by the very means which were intended to strengthen it.

This is a growing evil, to which the circumstances of the present age render us peculiarly liable. It is an evil over which literature and religion have long mourned; which has thinned the ranks of the Christian army to an alarming degree, and too often blasted the fond anticipations of its devoted friends.

Every occasion, therefore, which encourages us to believe that the axe is about to be laid to the root of this evil, is one of deep interest. I regard the anniversary of the Mechanical Association, which we have this morning assembled to celebrate, as one of these occasions. I rejoice in it, because I here recognize

the fact, that the vital importance of this subject is beginning to be seen and appreciated. I rejoice in it, because I believe, that it has already awakened a spirit, by its beneficial effects on many whom I have now the pleasure of addressing, which may cause its benefits to be extended to other valuable institutions in our country. I rejoice in it, because we have fallen upon times which demand great and long protracted mental exertions; and few men can be prepared for such exertions, without obtaining that state of mutual harmony between the corporeal and mental powers, which alone can enable each to act out its appropriate functions perfectly, and produce that most desirable of all blessings, the MENS SANA IN CORPORE sano.

Sound health is necessary to the successful prosecution of literary pursuits. Disease throws a chain around the mind, which the latter, by its own unassisted endeavours, cannot burst asunder. This truth is abundantly confirmed by the biography of ancient and modern times. The instances of feeble scholars, who have attained to great literary fame, that here and there appear upon its pages, are exceptions which do not militate against the fact. The laurels with which they were crowned, are to be considered rather the result of great genius, and other favouring circumstances, than of intense mental effort. While the mind and body are united, and subject to the immutable laws imprinted on them by the Creator, the vigour of the one must depend, more or less, on the health of the other. The mind cannot devote itself to diligent study and protracted labour, and range freely in the regions of thought, while the body is pressed down by the leaden weight of disease. Its purposes are broken and its resolution is faint. To borrow the language of the British moralist, who spoke from the knowledge which sad experience had taught him, "The time of such a man is always spent in forming schemes, which every change of wind hinders him from executing; his powers fume away in projects and in hopes, and the day of action never arrives. He lies down at night delighted with the thought of to-morrow; pleases his ambition with the fame he shall acquire, or his benevolence with the good he shall confer. But in the night, the skies are overcast; the temper of the air is changed. He wakes in languor, impatience, and distraction; and has no longer any wish but for ease, nor any attention but to misery."

Ill health is equally unfavourable in its effects on the heart. Piety is affected by the animal spirits; and the spirits must and VOL. II. No. 5.

23