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    1252 T HE". LEi'DE R. [No. 452, November...

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    THE DOCTKINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. I. God...

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    ERIC. Eric i or, Little by Little. By Fr...

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    Principles Of Social And Political Econo...

    that Boston iu Lincolnshire was a town within the boundaries of the American Union . Into such a mistake , however , Mr . Atkinson has unconsciously fallen ; and passes quietly from the one sense to the other , as though in abusing chemical analysis he had been preparing the way for proving the inductive method of reasoning to be an erroneous one . We have next to observe that the inductive method is the one which scientific men have agreed ^ to adopt , and the only one by ¦ which discoveries in science Lave ever been made . In every subject into which the mind of man is capable of inquiring , the same truth holds good , that general laws are discovered by an

    analytical process of thought , and applied by a synthetical one , and no amount of ignorant assertion on Mr . Atkinson ' s part will be likely to alter a necessary and fundamental condition of the exercise of the human reason . Mr . Atkinson ' s grand " Eureka "—his chief remedy for all our political and social evils—is , that the chemical law of definite proportions admits of an application to the sciences of which he undertakes to treat . We are first at a loss to understand his meaning , as he loses himself in a cloud of words , just where an explanation in detail is the tiling we require . As far , however , as can be gathered from a comparison of different passages , it would seem that there are two senses in which Mr . Atkinson

    applies his great discovery . The first of these is , that in trade , as in other things , every one ought to engage neither too much nor too little , and should extend or contract his operations in obedience to this fundamental law . We will not venture to dispute the truth of this assertion , especially as the author has established it by a series of elaborate proofs , and supported it by quotations from the Scriptures and the poets . The other sense is , that ,

    when trade has commenced , and supply and demand have become adjusted to one another , the equilibrium is to be continually maintained , the consumers are always to require the same amount , the manufacturers to supply it , and , above all , no diversion of the national capital to foreign commerce is for one moment to be thought permissible . We Avill not waste the reader ' time hj attempting a grave refutation of this extraordinary proposition .

    We are now entitled to ask what Mr . Atkinson can mean by the promises implied in his advertisement— -what proof has he given us of the " study , and that , too , consisting of arduous mental labour , " by which he has earned the right to conduct his disciples to " the summit ? " His work is filled with prophecies , denunciations , and passages of Scripture , strangely misapplied . There Is no trace whatever of sound argument * or real acquaintance with the science of which he treats . His book reads like a talc Told by an idiot , full of sound and fury , Signifying nothing .

    1252 T He". Lei'de R. [No. 452, November...

    1252 T HE " . LEi'DE R . [ No . 452 , November 20 , 1856 .

    The Doctkine Of The Holy Trinity. I. God...

    THE DOCTKINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY . I . God is Love ; or , Glimpses of the Father ' s infinite Affection for His People . II . The Brother born for Adversity : or , the Siinilarittj of the Saviour ' s Sorrows and Sufferings to those of Bis Followers . III . The Cornforter ; or , the Holy Spirit in His gloriotis Person and gracious Work . Darton and Co , " Go ye therefore , " are the injunctions of the great Founaer of ow faith to his chosen Apostles , " and teach all nations , baptising them in the Name of the Father , of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost , teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I

    have commanded you , and lo I ain with you alway , even untq the end of tho world . " We have in those memorable words the distinct and undivided personification and inseparability—the Trinity in Unity of tho Godhead , clearly placed before us ; for wo are received into the family of Christ in the single and united name— -not in the names—of the Creator , of the Redeemer , and of the Susttunor and Comforter . As there is but one name , so there is but one God ; as there are three names so there nro

    three persons ,. There is the Unity , and there is the Trinity—the Trinity in Unity . It is to illustrate to every capacity the beauty and simplicity of this dootrine that tho three volumes -svhioh we have enumerated at the head of this article have occupied the leisure hours of the author , whose daily oeoupation as the editor of one of tho leading journals of the metropolis has given him an insight into the yearnings and requirements of the age , in which , whatever may be its faults , tho chief sustaining powor is its deep and earnest search into tho groat truths of the Gospel .

    If we . but look around us we soon become sensible of this fact . Churches and chapels have multiplied on all sides , not the barn-like structures of the last century , but edifices which are evidence themselves of the greater respect and veneration paid by the nation to the outward forms of public worship , and these edifices are erected by Churchmen and Dissenters , by Romanist and Protestant ; for in all creeds and sects the movement has been simultaneousand in all there has been alike the same

    , deep and settled purpose . In private families , morning and evening prayer is no longer the exception but the rule , sobriety has replaced the ebiicty of the dinner-table , and the habitual uttering of meaningless asseverations is confined to the lowest of the low . " Profane swearing , " as the habit was miscalled , has gone out of date ; it could not exist with tliat increasing reverence for holy persons and holy things which is the best earnest of a nation ' s faith . .

    In the first volume the author identifies the Father of Mercy with Love , shows how boundless is that love , and how our love of God is the truest and most acceptable offering we can place upon His altar . In the second , the Redeemer , " the Brother born for adversity , " is held up as the great exemplar of patience and resignation under affliction , find of hopeful reliance upon a happy issue out of all trouble . In both volumes there is an earne ' stness of purpose manifested , and the matter is clothed in clear and simple language which makes its way at once to the heart . Both are already deservedly popular , and new editions of each bear testimony to the just appreciation of their merits . But it is not of these that we are about to speak , and our remarks must be confined to the third , and , we believe , by far the most important section of our author ' s labours .

    All men who approach the Godhead through Christ , admit , as the sustaining point of their faith , the Divinity of the Father . The Socinian no less than the Trinitarian readily acknowledges \ yith gratitude the Love which calkd himi into being , which cherishes and supports him in the trials of life . The heresy of Iiermlas would find few followers in these days . The eternity of creation and the materiality of the Creator was a doctrine ¦ which could only arise out of pagaii philosophy . The Pelagian denial of original sin and of the preexistence of Christ still holds its ground amongst the followers of Socinus and Priestley ; but in this

    country their number is comparatively insignificant , and whilst other sects and denominations of Christians show considerable increase in the many additional chapels and churches to which we have already referred , Unitarian chapels do not advance with the increase of population . When progress ceases , retrogression already begins , and it is to works like the present that such a result must , in some measure , be attributed ; for no man who thinks deeply , and meditates upon the teaching of the Gospel in the spirit of Christianity , can peruse either of these volumes without arriving at the

    conviction of the nothingness of the Pelagian heresy , the foundation of the denial of the Holy Trinity , which finds its last resting-place amongst the followers of Socinus , Crellius , and Schlichtingius , of Clarke and of Priestley . But there is another , and far greater evil , which true Christians have to deplore , and which has of late years spread with the rapidity of a gangrene over the body of our Protestant Churches . 2 < fa one can doubt that ; tho Agency of the Holy Spirit in conversion , sanctification , ami Christian , comfort is very much overlooked , if not altogether ignored , in vewny

    evangelical pulpits and publications of tho day . Aa tho Personality and perfect Deity of tho Holy Ghost Ho at the foundation of all true holineaa , tho author has dwelt at great length on these attributed of the Spirit . Without a well-grounded faith in the Holy Ghost as a sentient and Divino Being , there can bo no true Christianity , and we earnestly recommend all who waver in tho belief in that essential doctrine of our faith to peruse carefully tho four first chapters of " The Comforter in his glorious Person and gracious work , " tho third volume to which wo havo called tho reader ' s attention .

    Tho arguments which havo boon employed to prove that tho Holy Spirit has no personal qualities , but is simply an " influence , " power , qt quality , possess , nt first sight , a certain amount of plausibility ; but when carefully examined their # pociousneas disappears , and they are aeon to be nothing but Ingenious sophisms . Those who have embraced the belief that tho Holy Spirit is merely an " Influence exerted on tho mjnd , chiefly ground this belief on the assumption , that tho word Spirit , both in tho Hebrew and the Greek , properly de-Inotcs wind or breath , Let us seek to ascertain what is

    the true import of the words Spirit of God , Spirit Holv Spirit , and Holy Ghost , as these are employed in the Scriptures . It is in this way alone that we are likeK' to arrive at correct conclusions . To maintain that the Spirit must be an " influence " because we read of His being " poured out , " or " breathed on" the saints in the Old Testament , or on Christ and his disciples in the New , would be obviously erroneous because the simple principle of construction would make the heart , and the spirit , and the soul of man , which are usually spoken of as synonymous -with the man himself , to be also severally an influence ; for we often Scri out the

    read in pture of pouring heart , the spirit and the soul in prayer to God . Taking these words thus , literally , we should be compelled to come to the conclusion that a man ' s spirit , soul , or heart , is wind or water , because the term " breath" implies wind , and the phrase "to pour out" involves the idea of water . I am it will be understood , speaking of that rule of construction which is based on the interpretation of terms according to their primary signification . That in the two inst ances in question , -where the Spirit of God is spoken of hy the phrase " breathing on , " or the other phrase ' pouring out , " tho interpretations cannot be made in accordance with the literal hypothesis , must be plain to all , inasmuch as the Spirit of God could not

    be compared with propriety to both wind and water these being essentially different elements . The expressions , therefore , " breathing o / i" and " pouring out , " with others of a similar kind , are evidently to be understood , ¦ when applied to the Holy Ghost , as merely figurative . When the Spirit of God is represented as having at the time of the creation of the world , " moved on the face of the waters , " or made the heavens and all their hosts by " the breathing of his ' mouth , " or as having " breathed on the dry bones" in the vision of Ezekiel , or been " poured out , " the obvious meaning simply is , that God through His Spirit performed these acts , " The # ras 3 withere ' , the flower fadeth ; because the Spirit of the Lord blowet . h upon it ; surely the people is grass , " clearly demonstrates the fact that the Spirit is here spoken of

    as an agent , and that the blowing is but the process through which the Spirit , as that agent , produces a certain result . Wo have quoted this passage at length to show how tho author addresses himself lo every capacity —the lowest as well as the highest . Both may follow his line of argument , in combating the fallacies which he lays " bare , and it is this Very quality whieh will be sure to render the present volume not less popular than those which have preceded it . Our limits will not permit us to quote more , but the reader will find in the volume itself the most

    convincing proofs of the Personality and Divinity of the Holy Spirit : of His ever active agency yvthe conversion of sinners ; of His leaching , sanctifying , and comforting all who through Him recognise the efficiency of prayer , and the atonement by the sorrows and sufferings of the Saviour . , . There are many tilings which- out of the benptures alone cannot be clearly and satisfactorily proved without the aid of tradition . By tradition we do not mean that oral tradition set up by tue Church of Rome , but written tradition contained in tho writings of the fathers of the Church in the earliest and purest ages of Christianity , by which the consentient

    alopo we can comprehend what was belief and practice of the disciples of ^ Apostles themselves , who were instructed in tho faith by lie living oracles of God . The value of this tradition is recognised by our author , whoso labours , we earnestly trust , may ensure that blessing whichJio humbly but earnestly seeks in tho concluding paragraph of his preface . His book is written to confirm tho believer , to convince the wavcrer , and , jit a the blessing which ho prays for , to tang the dsbc . lievcr to G od and lo Christ by tho Holy Spirit ol Truth . It is most difficult to writo a good booK upon such an all-engrossing subject ; it is not aimcult but pleasant to call attention to such a ono when it appears . Tho task has been lus-tlio pleasure ours .

    Eric. Eric I Or, Little By Little. By Fr...

    ERIC . Eric i or , Little by Little . By Frederick W . Fwrg-* Edinburgh : A . and Q . »»«<*• Tins **) is amoral to bo deduced from this } f so at least we ventured to assume after having reju through the volume with unflagging ^ Vr ^ Eac feel alTnost disposed to alter the last word to satire tion . Tom Brow ' s Schooldays seems to havo won tho model selected by Mr . tfarraMoloetcd w » J judgment , and without laying himself ^" ^ jjg charge of imitation . Tho school career and w influences are brought out into strong ro ot , ow tho moral wo have assumed sooms to > 0- "l " % j n . connexions in onrly life produce such an civh » flucnoo on character as to warp . * ; W vS . naturos frpm principles of virtue into oru way

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1858, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20111858/page/12/