to the study of the arts and literature, was by no means general. It could not be in the nature of things. Their books, which contained the results of their discoveries, were confined principally to the publie libraries, and to the shelves of the studious; for they had no means at their command by which they could be so multiplied as to be in general circulation. See, then, what a revolution the art of printing has effected! The rolling of this mighty machine has communicated life and motion to every limb and muscle of the great moral and intellectual body, and impressed it with a velocity wholly unknown to our remote ancestors; and in its rapid evolutions throws out scintillations of light and heat in every direction, by which the whole body may be full of light.'

It only remains, therefore, to use the advantages thus put into our hands to obtain a complete triumph over error and vice. It is true, like every good thing with which mankind have been favored, this is susceptible of great abuse; and the enemies of truth and righteousness have not failed to avail themselves of it to subserve their cause in the propagation of error and falsehood. But how shall we counte⚫ract this abuse? Not by supineness. Not by folding our hands together in slothful inactivity, as if the good work were already accomplished. This would be a criminal betraying of our trust, a neglect to improve our advantages for which we should deserve to be punished. We must be upon the alert. The friends of truth and goodness must seize upon the weapon thus put into their hand, and cease not to wield it manfully until the enemy is driven from the field. Neither sloth, nor avarice, nor an improper deference to the opinions of others, should induce us to compromise the great and invaluable interests of the Redeemer, nor to form a truce with the abettors of error and of vice.

REVIEW OF THE MEMOIRS OF REV. JOHN SMITH.

Memoirs of the Life, Character, and Labors of the Rev. John Smith, late of Sheffield, (England.) By Richard Treffry, Jun. First American Edition. New-York, published by B. Waugh & T Mason. 18mo. pp. 328.

ONE of the beauties of creation consists in its endless variety. In surveying it, the eye is relieved from that satiety which results from a perpetual sameness. We glance from the heavens to the earth-from the sun to the moon and stars, which fill and beautify the vast expanse over our heads-and then from the dry land' to the seas, rivers, and lakes-and finally from one individual object to another, with over

varying pleasure and profit. We see, indeed, no one object which the Creator has made, if we consider it with a philosophic eye, which we could wish to have struck out of existence. Respecting them all we can say

'Ever beauteous, ever young,
Angelic forms their voices raise,

And through the arch resound thy praise,'

for having formed them in such exact order, beauty, and perfection, as unitedly to make one complete whole, in which nothing is wanting, nothing is superfluous. How different would the earth appear were it one extended plain, to what it does now with its lofty mountains, its meandering vales, its gently rolling hills, its fertile plains, its flowing rivers, and extended seas. The blue sky itself would lose all its charms, were it not bespangled with its numerous stars, and overcast occasionally with its flying clouds. It is the harmonious opposition, the beautiful variety, the endless succession of objects, which give such exquisite delight to the mind in the contemplation of nature.

But what connection, it may be asked, have these commonplace observations with the memoirs of an individual man? They were suggested from the inquiry, What is it that renders biography interesting and useful? We take up a memoir, and we eagerly run over its pages, and can scarcely consent to lay it aside until we see the end of it. We can hardly tell why we devour its contents with such avidity. On reflection, however, the secret charm is revealed. The subject of the memoir was of an elevated character. He attracted great public attention while he lived. He instructed them by his writing, his conversation, his great and benevolent actions. And now that he is dead, he has fallen into the hands of a skilful biographer, who understands his character, and who introduces into the thread of the narrative all that variety of incident, relating to his private and public life, his conversations, and the manner in which he employed his time; these things give life and animation, and impart an interest to the memoir which entertains, edifies, and delights the reader. Instead of a dull repetition of the same every day occurrences, which relate chiefly to personal and individual experience and mental exercises, the biographer seizes upon the prominent features of the character he is delineating, draws the lines exact to nature, tells you the thoughts which occupied his heart, follows out in bold relief the expanding powers of his intellect, shows his resemblances and contrasts with his cotemporaries, displays before you the rich stores of his mind, and shows you how he exemplified in practical life those precepts of justice and mercy which adorn and dignify the human character. Hence you are carried from scene to scene, from object to object, from one place to another, and you follow him with a delight increasing with every successive page-even

from the buddings of infancy up to the blossoms of youth, and from thence to the ripe fruits of age and experience; and when you see his body descend to the tomb, you witness with rapture the flight of his soul to the paradise of God. Now you know why you felt such a thrilling interest in perusing the narrative. Your author, borne along by the weight of his subject, carried you with him, almost whether you would or not, by the lively and impressive manner in which he describes the varied scenes through which the hero of the story passed. In a word, he states facts as they occurred. He describes realities; and hence his picture is true to nature and to fact. He neither flatters the subject of his remarks by hiding those infirmities which were apparent, nor by emblazoning virtues which had no existence.

While on this subject we will venture to express one thought which has frequently occupied our mind. We hear much of novel writing. Many condemn it indiscriminately and without mercy. Without attempting to decide dogmatically on the expediency or inexpediency of reading works of this character, we may remark that we have often thought we are more likely to get a true description of the human character from some novel writers, than from the one who professes to give you the real biography. The former describe human nature as it is, without disguise. The characters are drawn from nature and fact, without flattery or unmerited censure. The latter, actuated perhaps by the partialities of a warm friendship, or enthusiastic admiration, or by feelings of malignity, distorts the subject of his narrative, either by excessive eulogy, or a minute and disgusting detraction. Either of these is a slander upon human nature. Neither being conformable to

fact, both are calculated to mislead the reader.

We do not indeed say that all biographies have these defects. We doubt not but many writers of this class have written under the honest convictions of truth, and a high sense of their responsibility. These have added greatly to the stock of useful and interesting intelligence; for we consider a faithful delineation of the human character, as exemplified in the tempers, words, and general conduct of men, among the most instructive and profitable of writings. The philosopher and the divine may indeed give us lessons of wisdom in theory-may trace out the lines of duty from our relation to God and to each other, and thus present us with a beautiful system of ethics; but it is the biographer, if the subject of his narrative will allow it, who embodies these rules and lessons in a living character, and shows us the practicability of illustrating them in real life.

In Christian biography especially does Christianity live and shineand while it thus lives and shines in the experience and practice of its friends, it furnishes an irrefutable argument in favor of its truth, its

reality, and excellency. The life of Paul the Apostle will strike a thousand infidels dumb at a stroke. Equally irresistible are the lives of a De Renty, a Howard, a Wesley, a Fletcher, and others of a similar character, which adorn and dignify, while they render illustrious the pages of Christian biography.

These remarks, it may be suggested by some, partake of the same general character against which we are objecting. We allow it. But then it ought to be remembered that we are not now writing the history of an individual person. We are merely calling the attention of our readers to the memoirs of one of those eminent servants of God, on whom He bestowed the honor of being the happy instrument of turning many to righteousness. And although the style of the biographer is not free from faults, yet the reader will find himself richly paid for his labor of perusing the work.

Mr. Smith, it seems, was a descendant of religious parents, and was born at Cudworth, near Barnsley, in the west riding of Yorkshire, Jan. 12, 1794. Though educated under the restraints of religious precept and example, yet the naturally perverse and ardent disposition of his heart led him in his younger days to plunge into the mire of iniquity. In this headlong course he continued, regardless alike of the authority of God and of parental discipline, until in his nineteenth year he was powerfully awakened to a sense of his sin and danger, and soon after was made a partaker of the pardoning mercy of God in Christ Jesus. The same ardor of mind which impelled him forward in the destructive paths of sin while unregenerate, being sanctified by grace, and directed to religious pursuits, now exhibited itself in a zealous activity in the cause of his Divine Master. He soon became distinguished for his habitual devotion to God, and his strong attachment to His people.His zeal, his devotion, and his activity in the cause of God, soon caused him to be selected in the minds of those who witnessed the genuine fervor of his spirit, and his growing attachment to the Redeemer's interests, as a chosen instrument to carry the name of Christ to a lost world. Nor were they disappointed, as the sequel will show, in their expectations. Having, however, neglected the improvement of his mind in the days of his youthful vanity and precocious prodigality, he now felt the need of mental culture. He accordingly became an inmate in the academy of Mr. Sigston, where he was blessed with the society of some eminently pious youth, and among others, of Mr. Stoner, whose memoirs were noticed in our last volume. Here, applying himself with assiduity and conscientious care to both intellectual and spiritual improvement, his profiting appeared to all. His proficiency was such that in 1814 he became a regular assistant in the school, and in the mean time had commenced preaching the Gospel. Under various

vicissitudes of depression and elevation of spirit, but generally with acceptance among his brethren, Mr. Smith ventured to exercise his gifts as a local preacher, until the year 1816, when he entered upon the work of an itinerant preacher in the Wesleyan connection. The following is the account which Mr. Smith's biographer gives of some of his first efforts in this arduous work :

'We have already referred to the great epoch of Mr. Smith's life as a man, his conversion to God. His appointment to the York circuit was the most important event in the course of his ministry,—an event in which it would be skepticism not to recognise the finger of God. Hitherto we have contemplated him only as comparatively an ordinary character and an ordinary Christian: we have now to observe him assuming a higher ground, and coming under the influence of those principles which were so remarkable and conspicuous in the succeeding periods of his life. When he came to York he was esteemed in no respect a distinguished man. His talents were generally considered below mediocrity: in fact, he was not thought qualified for the ministerial duties of a circuit possessing so considerable a share of intelligence. Nor was he remarkably zealous, and his preaching possessed nothing of that forcible and stimulating character which afterward rendered it singular. In addition to this, he labored under extraordinary diffidence; and Mr. Stones states that when it was his turn to preach in the city on a week evening, he could never summon sufficient resolution to mount the pulpit, if one of his colleagues was likely to be present, and in such cases the preacher who was disengaged usually had to occupy his place.

Still he had an active mind, and was diligent in promoting prayer meetings, visiting the sick, &c. What was of still greater moment, he was artless and sincere,—a man of one motive and one desire, and he had capabilities for great energy which only waited to be called into action, and directed aright. Had the most diligent and acute investigation been employed in reference to his situation at the commencement of the itinerant life, he could not have been placed where, according to human judgment, he would have enjoyed the advantages which surrounded him at York. This circuit has been for many years, in some respects, peculiarly interesting. There is a simplicity, a fervor, a forbearance, and a tenderness in the character of the people, which render its recollections very dear to many who have labored among them. At the time to which our narration refers there was an unusual degree of religious feeling, expectation, and desire in the neighborhood; and these circumstances were highly conducive to a valuable impression on the character of Mr. Smith, at this critical period of his ministerial history. York is also inseparably associated with the memory of several eminent saints, of whom the Lord will record when he "writeth up the people" that they were "born there." Under the influence of one of these Mr. S. came in a peculiar degree,-I mean the late Mr. R. Burdsall,- -a man whose name in that part of Yorkshire is as ointment poured forth.

But that which particularly tended to form the character, both personal and ministerial, of the subject of these memoirs, was his association with