duct and demeanor of the very persons who defend this doctrine afford the clearest proof that it is incredible.

The late Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds, wrote a book to prove that beyond the little circle of choice believers, the universe is a vast torture chamber; and yet a merrier laugh, a more exuberant wit, a greater geniality, was rarely ever to be found. The professional hours of his life were spent, like those of some old painters, in coloring lurid pictures of his neighbors clutched by devils, and the world in general swallowing hot pitch; and for the rest of his time he was free to dine with the reprobates and crack his jokes with the damned. No one, who seriously considers the intense inconsistencies involved in such life, can suppose that the theologian really held a faith which the grasp of a friendly hand and the welcome on a familiar face sufficed to dissipate. It is the same throughout the whole class of the sincerest and most faithful Christians. They delude themselves with the mere fancy and image of a belief. The death of a friend who departs from life in heresy affects them precisely in the same way as the loss of another whose creed was unimpeachable; while the theoretic difference is infinite, the practical is virtually nothing, perhaps a sign of acquiescence in the clergyman's official compassion, or a faint desire that it had been otherwise; but not half the distress which had been felt when the same friend had broken his leg and lost his Pennsylvania dividends. What room, indeed, could there be for the business, the amusements, the contents of this world, if it reflected from every

salient point the red light of so horrible a background? Who could spare any attention for the vicissitudes of cotton, and add the price of shares, for the merits of the last opera, and the bets upon the next election, if the actors in these things were really swinging in his eye over such a verge as he affects to see? We would ask any clergyman who reads the Athanasian creed. How can you transact your daily affairs with any peace of mind? Your coat was made by a man who doubts the co-eternity; your grocer thinks the Holy Ghost created; you pay your rent to a landlord who confounds the persons; and your fish-monger divides the substance. If you found any one of those with his house on fire, you would not think it time for prosecuting your business; you see him in a greater peril, and you coolly inquire about sugars or discuss the choice of salmon! The misfortune in this doctrine is in some degree protected by its own monstrous character; which takes it so sheer out of all nature, that it can scarcely be confounded with reality. If we apply to it such tests of experience as would suffice in other cases, we produce results whose startling look distracts the attention from their logical consequentiality; and when we demand from men in simple accordance with their profession, the thing itself is so impossible that we are apt to seem unreasonable, and become charged with the very extravagance which we impute. It is, however, notorious that a large number, even of the clergy, are fully conscious of their unbelief in this doctrine; and among the educated laity, the impression is general that no one, except here

and there a dull curate or a pugnacious bishop, is sincere in his assent to it. Will it not then be got rid of? Not a bit; the instincts of ecclesiastical cohesion, and the passion for nominal unity, will outweigh all sense of human veracity, and reverence for godly simplicity; and year after year, as sure as the Athanasian festivals come round, thousands of clergymen will solemnly profess, before tens of thousands of assenting people, a creed which is fatal to the heart of all. Depend upon it, the State will wake up to a sense of right and dignity in this matter before the Church; and the honor of politicians grow sensitive to the plot, while yet, the conscience of divines could bear longer shame."

W. M. THACKERAY.

We venture to place this man of genius in our constellation of glorious names. In the absence of other evidence, the following is sufficient authority. Speaking of the genius of CHARLES DICKENS, he says:

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"I recognize in it—I speak it with awe and reverence-a commission from that Divine Beneficence, whose blessed task we know it will one day be to wipe every tear from every eye."

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CHARLES DICKENS.

We have already said that the cheerful, sunny, genial spirit of Dickens' works is the soul of our faith. Here is a favorable specimen :

"It is something even to look upon enjoyment, so that it be free and wild, and in the face of nature, though it is but the enjoyment of an idiot. It is something to know that heaven has left the capacity of gladness in such a creature's breast; it is something to be assured that, however lightly men may crush that faculty in their fellows, the great Creator of mankind imparts it even to his despised and slightest work. Who would not rather see a poor idiot happy in the sunlight, than a wise man pining in jail? Ye men of gloom and austerity, who paint the face of Infinite Benevolence with an eternal frown, read in the everlasting book, wide open to your view, the lesson it would teach. Its pictures are not in the black and sombre hues, but bright and glowing tints; its music, save when ye drown it, is not in sighs and groans, but in songs and cheerful sounds. Listen to the million of voices in the summer air, and find one dismal as your own. Remember, if you can, the sense of hope and pleasure which every grand return of day awakens in the breast of all your kind, and learn wisdom even from the witless, when their hearts are lifted up, by all the happiness it brings."

APPENDIX.