Hunter was for many years surgeon extraordinary to his majesty. In the year 1786, he obtained the appointment of deputy-surgeon-general to the army; and on the death of Mr. Adair, in 1790, he gained the highest medical rank in the army,-being appointed inspectorgeneral of hospitals and surgeon-general. The death of Mr. Hunter was very sudden, the consequence of disease in the heart, occasioning spasmodic seizures, to which he had been long subject. It occurred on the 16th of October, 1793. Irritation of mind had been frequently found to bring on the attacks; and on that day he met with some vexatious occurrence at St. George's Hospital. He put a degree of restraint upon himself, to suppress his sentiments, and in that state went into another room, where, on turning round to a physician who was present, he fell, and instantly expired.

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By his will, Mr. Hunter directed that his museum should be offered to the purchase of government; and after some negotiation it was bought for the public use, for the sum of 15,000l., and given to the College of Surgeons. His great object in this collection was, to exhibit the gradations of nature, from the most simple state in which life is found to exist, up to the most perfect and complex of the animal creation to man himself. By his art and care he was able to expose and preserve, in a dried state, or in spirits, the corresponding parts of animal bodies, that the various links in the chain of perfectness may be readily and clearly understood. It also includes a very large series of whole animals in spirits, arranged according to their internal structure; and many of the most rare specimens of preserved animals in this country, as well as a very large and select collection of extraneous fossils. Mr. Clive assured his hearers, in one of the Hunterian orations, that, exclusive of the shells and fossils, the collection contains above fourteen thousand preparations, wet and dry. The whole must be allowed to be a proof of talents, assiduity, and labour, which cannot be contemplated without great surprise and admiration.

D. W.

MOTIVES TO CHRISTIAN UNITY.

No. I.

In the ordinary affairs of life, it is usually enough to exhibit a desirable

object, in order to awaken admiration and arouse to pursuit; but in reference to the spiritual interests of men, cogent reasons must be assigned to induce the taking of the first step, and then there must be "line upon line and precept upon precept, to urge to continuance."

One motive for Christian unity may be derived from its peculiar accordance with the Divine character. It is said, that in one of the pagan temples there was a mirror, into which, when any one looked, he saw the image of the god to whom the edifice was devoted. Now, as it would have been deemed a nefarious act to strike the mirror, so that it might be demolished, or so to injure it that it might reflect a distorted or mutilated image, it would have been considered an act peculiarly appropriate and acceptable, to shield it from violence. An analogy to this case now invites consideration. The people of God were intended to exhibit an image of their Lord to the world; the mirror has in this instance, however, been unhappily broken

the reflection it furnishes is divided and marred. It only remains, therefore, that, with profound humiliation for the past, effort be made to repair the injury,

effort which, rightly conducted, will not fail to be regarded with complacency by the great Lord of all. For what is any such exertion, but one to restore a unity to the disciples of Jesus, like that which subsists between Christ and the Father?-a unity for which the Mediator offered fervent supplication, and for which the Holy Ghost is given, as the Spirit of love and peace. We know nothing of the distinctness of the Divine subsistences, and the world ought to have known nothing of the distinctness of the members of the body of Christ. The Godhead appears before us in its unity, and in its unity should the body of Christ have appeared in the world. And in any approximation to a state which has been expressly purposed, the Supreme will take pleasure; while in the perfect reflection of his image, a sacrifice will be presented more sweet in its savour than all that his people have yet offered for his acceptance. An opposite course must necessarily be unspeakably offensive. A violation of unity, for instance, is a sin against the great Agent in the work of redemption. From various declarations of the word of God, it is evident, that to the Divine nature of the Holy Spirit all the irascible and malig

A violation of unity is equally offensive to the Father. When Peter was charged with going in to the uncircumcised, and eating with them, he described his memorable vision, his visit to Cornelius, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, and thus defended his course: "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God?" Acts xi. 17. A refusal to recognise those as Christians who partake of “like precious faith," is, therefore, rebellion against the Most High.

Much dishonour is consequently done to God, where the awful fact is entirely overlooked. Alas! frequently does a man at enmity with his brother, or with no proper sympathy towards him, approach the altar of Jehovah! And what is this but regarding iniquity in the heart, that fostering of sinful dispositions which forms a serious barrier to acceptable supplication! A more subtle evil may also be detected. Numbers of professing Christians join daily in the petitions, "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven;" and yet, a great part of them are absolutely inactive, notwithstanding the sinful and wretched condition of the world. Another considerable portion is only just arising from a state of profound torpor; and all, indeed, except an inconsiderable minority, are doing but little for its relief, and much for the perpetuation of its evils. And yet, in addition to the offering of a few general petitions, there may be a beseeching of God, a seeming earnestness of entreaty, for the exercise of the Divine compassion. Could the inhabitant of another orb hear these prayers, what would be his inference? Assuredly, that the Being thus worshipped was reluctant to interpose in behalf of those for whom supplication was made; and that the suppliants were peculiarly concerned that he should relax from his indifference, and open the resources so much needed and desired.

Thus, alas! have we cast on the Moral

Nor is a violation of unity less an offence against the Saviour of the world; but on this we must dwell with more particularity. For Christian unity may be enforced from its being expressly made a matter of imperative obligation by the Redeemer of men. Had we stood before the mountain "that might be touched," and observed Moses returning from converse with God, and bearing the two tables of stone, on which were engraven his moral precepts, their authority would have been regarded as decisive and immutable. And shall we be less impressed now? The voice of Christ is heard, saying, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." The Son of God issues the charge-a charge substantially a branch of his Father's law, but thenceforward to be regarded peculiarly and affectionately as his own law. Here, then, are claims which must eternally remain transcendent and unparalleled— the claims of Bethlehem, Gethsemane, and Calvary. The seat of absolute and universal authority is assumed by incarnate yet infinite Love, while the requirement is made that all his disciples shall receive his rays and reflect them on the world.

The obligation thus urged, was reiterated by the apostle when he thus addressed the Philippians: "If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ; if any comfort of love; if any fellowship of the Spirit; if any bowels and mercies; fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." And thus, by considerations the most solemn and impressive, he pleads for the unity of the church at Philippi, and of all believers to whom his words shall come. To add to the force of this entreaty, he adduces the ex

They

The express precept and the example of Christ must ever stand alone. appeal to the mind with an accumulated force, to which there can be no possible approximation. The ages of immortality will doubtless cast increasing light on the claims of the Saviour; but eternity itself cannot add one atom to the aggregate. The obligation now comes to every believer in Christ, demanding that personal humiliation and generous affection which alone can remove existing obstacles to unity, and which, fully acted on, would cause that delightful period to return, when all who trusted in his cross were "of one heart and one soul." Where, then, is the heart that is cold and insensible to so powerful an appeal? Surely, it can only be one which has never yet been softened, or one suffering a fearful hardening a moral ossification-through "the deceitfulness of sin." Surely, every devout disciple, as he hearkens to this precept, as he beholds this example, must stand ready, in the strength of God, to obey and to imitate.

The guilt of violating Christian obligations is increased by all the privileges with which they are associated. What a contrast is there between the worldling and the believer! The worldling has not tasted the sweetness of a pacified conscience, of communion with God, of the hope of heaven; but of these the believer has had some experience. The worldling has not felt the chains of corruption falling, as the iron cable yields when subject to the intensest heat; but the believer is emancipated from the thraldom of sin. The worldling lives as if there were no Saviour; but the believer has sworn fidelity to Christ again and again; he has done so by the most solemn acts, and has challenged the saints, the angels, the Sovereign of heaven, to witness his glowing affection for all who "hold the head." Yet, despite of the blessings of which he has partaken, and of obligations, compared with which all others are as "the dust of the balance" when weighed against the "everlasting hills"-yes, despite of all these, he has felt no proper sympathy with the members of Christ's body. He may even have felt cold and insensible amidst the joys and sorrows of his brethren; have caused them to turn aside and fall by many a stumbling-block; have hurled at them the fierce anathema; and have

wrongs!

The declaration of the apostle, "He that offends a weak brother sins against Christ," ought to be engraved henceforward on the tablet of every believer's heart. As he penned it he was probably recurring to the past; before his mind appeared Jesus, who met him on his way to Damascus, and to his ear recurred those sounds: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The head was injured in the sufferings thus inflicted on the members of the body.

There was guilt-tremendous guiltwhen men, in the infatuation of their iniquity, loaded Christ with contempt, cast on him their bitter scorn, lacerated his body with the scourge, placed on his head the crown of thorns, and nailed him to the accursed tree. But his disciples are "members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones;" and he ranges all that shoot out the lip, cast an opprobrium, or assail in the violence of their rage any believers in his name, as sinning against himself. The day is rapidly advancing when this atrocious guilt shall be beheld in the light of eternity. C. W.

THE PARENTS OF ALL LIVING.

No. I.

MAN is the noblest work of God: he is the lord paramount of the globe, though not its sole possessor. Nothing else on earth is so distinguished as to mental qualification, and the poorest of the race, in common with those of every grade of condition, has a patent of nobility above all other living beings. This alone leads to the conviction, that it was chiefly to the habitation, enjoyment, and improvement of mankind that this planet was contrived and preserved. They are connected with every substance upon it, and all its elements enter essentially into their composition. They use whatever they require, or which can in any way administer to their necessity or pleasure. All things become, in a measure, subject to their government, or are at their disposal, wherever they are found. Nothing can long resist their persevering ingenuity; and earth, fire, water, air, in all their properties, have been subdued to be the servants and allies of man. They can penetrate the thick crust of the earth, compel the sea to respect their bulwarks, turn the course of rivers, drain off their

inundations, and even avert or guide the lightning to the spot they wish it to strike. They can adventure into the regions of the sky, above the eagle's flight; by their optical instruments they can pry into the surface of the moon, and cause the most distant planets to appear one thousand times nearer than they really are; and, by means of a few wires, in connexion with a subtle fluid, they can convey thought and intelligence from place to place, some hundred miles apart, with a speed swifter than the sun performs his daily round.

The human race is the only order of being on earth who can perform these achievements, or even understand them. Though outnumbered almost indefinitely by other animated creatures of every form and disposition, co-tenants with him in this lower world, none can compete with man in the probability, that this earth was made on his account, and not on theirs.

That man has, therefore, a superior share of his Divine Creator's condescension, and that he should be distinguished in a peculiar manner, by unity of design in his formation, and by having a gracious revelation, must be evident to every one who thinks at all upon the subject. The supreme Author of our being has done so, in the only authentic history of creation, and which has been handed down to us unimpaired, through many series of ages. The Holy Scriptures, besides possessing in themselves every proof of their Divine origin, are so well sustained by collateral testimony, and are so manifestly the perfect mirror of our nature, held up by the hand of One who "knew what was in man," that to doubt their authenticity, or to call in question their integrity, is a proof of an intellect so obtuse, or a folly so egregious, that it is scarcely worth the trouble of refutation. In these sacred records God has told us the origin of mankind, together with the formation of all the inferior creatures. That the whole race of man sprang from one first pair, is one of the clearest parts of that narrative. It may be compared to the entrance porch of the whole mighty building like the beautiful gate of the temple, which gave indication of the splendid ornaments which filled the interior of the sanctuary, so the creation of man is the matchless frontispiece of the temple of revelation, and is the indication of what is to be found within.

In this age of reading and investiga

tion, however, few inquiring minds seem to rest contented with the most acknowledged and unexceptionable histories; at least without subjecting them to examinations and criticisms, which oftener unsettle than satisfy. All subjects of interest have been exposed to the most rigid inquiry, and a more than ordinary sensibility prevails, to detect imaginary errors, or to give explanations, which, however beneficial in some cases, in others may tend to obliterate the most solid truths.

Among the themes of human thought, the idea has been cherished that there were various other races of man created, besides those first located in Eden, and that every part of the world had its own portion of inhabitants, which were indigenous to the soil, and adapted to the climate where they are found; and that this view of the subject would account for all the varieties which are observable in different nations, the diversity of form and complexion, and especially of language, known to have existed from the most remote antiquity, and to have distinguished one nation from another in every age. Many have supposed they have found in these facts presumptive proofs that each country separated by mountains, deserts, or seas, from others, was originally provided with its peculiar stock of homeborn inhabitants, which, like the endless variety of the lower creatures, have preserved their form, colour, instincts, and endowments unimpaired by any foreign intermixture. This opinion, they suppose, would save us much trouble in accounting for the difference of manners and habits, which characterize particular races. The woolly appearance of the hair of the negro tribes, the flowing and glossy texture of that of the Esquimaux, the singular physiognomy of the broadfaced Kalmuk, the humps and other well known deformities of the Bushmen, the hairy bodies and apish countenances of the Mallicolese, would occasion no further difficulty to the physiologist; and all the diversities, also, of moral and intellectual phenomena would be explained.

Now there is one argument which is conclusive as to the whole question, namely, the record of creation, as given by Moses in the inspired pages. Though writers of various times have attempted to show that the Scriptures comprise only the history of one particular family of men, yet such an idea is utterly without proof; and the writers of the sacred books evidently set them forth, as con

taining a record of the dispensations of the Almighty Creator to all mankind. Though we hold this as our only safe and certain conclusion, yet inquiry into the subject from other sources should not be considered improper or superfluous; for investigations which may at first be thought likely to impair the authority of the sacred records, when properly conducted, have been found only to confirm and elucidate them. The Scriptures have ever been regarded as admitting and even challenging the most severe scrutiny. Truth can never be in opposition to truth, and the investigation of all subjects comprehensible by human faculties, is the undoubted privilege of a rational understanding.

On the primitive distribution of man over the earth, history is of little avail, as most of the ancient nations are destitute of any vestiges which point to a common origin, so that we cannot obtain any evidence from traditionary testimony, or from arguments founded on general probabilities. Nations who have been discovered, separated from the rest of mankind, have been found to retain no idea when their ancestors arrived: indeed, in many instances, they have imagined themselves to be the only human beings in existence, and have testified great surprise on finding themselves mistaken. Next then to the authority of Scripture, we have to seek an elucidation of the common origin of all mankind in the natural history of organized beings, and by considering the general laws which govern the living species around us. By this we shall find that the various races of men which exhibit so many diversities of colour, form, and disposition, are merely variations of one original type, and that all sprang from one common parentage.

ILLUSTRATION FROM THE DISPERSION OF

PLANTS.

Here the inquiry arises, whether the God of nature produced, at first, only one family of plants, in each particular species -or whether he called those of the same specific structure into existence simultaneously over different parts of the earth? It would be vain to look for a reply to this inquiry to supposed probabilities on the nature and fitness of things; or to what philosophers may either deem expedient or inexpedient for the Creator to have performed. The human mind is bewildered in its own imaginations when

it attempts to go back to that period which gave birth to the organized world and its inhabitants. It is only by a careful survey of actual facts, and an accurate analysis of their relations, that any light can be thrown on the history of the various species of organized beings, and the circumstances and condition of their first existence.

Linnæus, who is no slight authority in natural philosophy, maintained that in every species of plants, as well as animals, only one pair was originally produced. He defended his position by a very ingenious argument, namely, "That experience proves that every family of human or other living creatures, has a tendency to multiply, and that the progeny naturally becomes more numerous at every successive generation. If we follow the race in imagination, tracing the line perpetually onwards, we find the number greater in each subsequent step than in the preceding, and we perceive the number of individuals in each kind, to be greater to day than it was yesterday. But if we turn our thoughts in the opposite direction, and follow the ascending line, we perceive each species reduced every step to a smaller number, many deriving their existence from few, and these few from fewer still; nor is there any term at which we find reason to stop until we come to a single pair." This argument is not without force, and if we glance at the figure of a pyramid we see it amply exemplified: while its base covers a broad expanse of ground, its form grows less as it rises, till its apex is lost in the clouds, or attains the nonentity of a mathematical point.

Certainly an allwise Providence has furnished plants with a power of reproduction and dispersion, beyond all the other works of God's hand: one poppy seed has been known to produce a plant containing 32,000 seeds, and some others increase 40,000 fold. Besides, the seeds of many of the vegetable tribes possess a diversity of quality and character truly surprising. Some seeds are capable of resisting indefinitely their tendency either to germinate or to decay, and after being hidden for ages in the folds of a mummy, or buried deep in the bowels of the earth, may be exposed to the revivifying rays of the sun, or may be conveyed in a spade full of soil, to the most remote regions, where a favourable climate will be found to act on their dormant powers, and they will put forth all their original