Watts, that in its disencumbered state, the soul will be able to pass from world to world with the rapidity of a sunbeam, and discover in the places of its visits, new contrivances, calculated to renew its admiration of the power, the wisdom, and beneficence of the Deity. There are many dispensations also occurring in this world, which it is impossible for us to reconcile, according to our present lights, with the goodness which we are taught to attribute to the Almighty. How often has an avalanche blasted the fruits of the industry which the innocent, and even the meritorious and pious husbandman, has expended on his field? How many times have guiltless children been consigned to punishment which, as far as we can ascertain, was never deserved? In how many instances has not virtue encountered suffering? How often, says a sensible divine, does a parent, the support and guardian of a loved child; or a child, the solace and delight of a revered parent, sink into an unexpected grave? How often does death pluck from the embraces of affection and friendship those whose piety and talents, shining with intense and pure ardour, engaged for their possessors universal love, and qualified them extensively to dispense happiness? Alas! while in bitterness we mourn under these dark visitations of Providence, it is faith only which teaches us the lesson of resignation to that Being who rules over all, but whose counsels and purposes we "know only in part."

The full explanation, the certain justice of these dispensations, are reserved for that condition in which we shall be better able than we now are to comprehend them; and, no doubt, the clearing up of these difficult matters will constitute a fresh motive for that admiration of the perfections of God, the contemplation of which is destined to be our chief occupation in heaven.

But that prospect of heavenly enjoyment which promises a recognition between the mutual friends and acquaintances of earthly life, comes too closely to our bosoms not to be approached with trembling curiosity. Here we have reason to rejoice at the expectations in which we are authorised to indulge. The ancient fathers believed that the knowledge and memory of things done in this world, are retained and acted upon in heaven, and that the blessed, in that delightful region, are concerned for those whom they left behind, and will greet them with kindness when they arrive at the same place, reviving the recollections of former associations. This subject has been treated by Mr. Muston with extraordinary power, in his work entitled, Recognition in the World to come. In the words of our Saviour, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Mr. Muston thinks he discovers a plain and unequivocal declaration of the certainty of future recognition:-"I say unto you," are the words of the divine speaker, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Thus the happiness of the saints is described as a social

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scene, in which the gratification of the guests is produced by the circumstance of former friends seeing and recognising each other.

Amongst the objections to this plausible theory, which may be started and supported with such force as to compromise altogether its soundness as a reality, there is one of a peculiar nature to which the attention of divines has been long attracted. If the spirits which reside disembodied in heaven are to know the fate of their impenitent friends, as the above theory necessarily implies, how can they be happy in heaven, when those friends are tortured in a different place? But we shall state the difficulty in the lucid language of Mr. Muston:

If the disciples of Christ are to meet, as it is contended, with the full recognition of each other in the world to come, does it not follow, as an obvious inference from the premises adduced in support of this welcome conclusion, that in many instances they must be aware of the absence from heaven of some who are now the objects of their tender and most affec tionate solicitude? And since, more especially, individuals excluded from the mansions of heaven, will be known to be in a state of perdition and woe, can such knowledge possibly consist with that perfect felicity which is the anticipated and promised portion of every believer? What (it is moreover urged) is the voice of reason? What the current of human feeling, the testimony of ever-recurring experience in reference to the question? Do they not all give in a verdict which is utterly at issue with the principles by which the advocates of perpetuated consciousness are accustomed to defend their theory-a verdict which does not rest upon some abstruse and speculative argumentation, but upon the broad and solid basis of undeniable fact? For, that the happiness of individuals, closely united by the bands of natural and reciprocal affection, depends much upon each other's circumstances, is one of the facts which is known and felt in every grade of society, and in every part of the habitable globe. How often does the loss, or the distress, of a near and beloved relative, fill the breast with sorrow, and deprive life of its enjoyments! And if they whose society and welfare are thus indispensably connected with our peace and happiness, should be for ever separated, and consigned over to the abodes of misery, must not the consciousness of their condition, should such be the event, embitter the pleasure of their glorified associates, and throw a dark shade over the brightest scenes of eternity? The sainted wife may surely thus have to shed the tear of unavailing sorrow over the object of her conjugal love, and the Christian parent may be doomed to carry into the regions of light and peace something of that feeling which agonized the soul of a pious monarch, as he mourned for his son Absalom.

Neither Mr. Muston, nor the author before us, appear to hit upon the proper solution of this question. It appears to us not very difficult to conceive how the feelings of the soul, with respect to the objects of this life, may be changed. The emancipation of the soul from the oppressive connexion of the natural body, is held, on all hands, to be a source of improvement to the powers of the former; it is said to leave the native intelligence, the moral power, the

judgment and discretion, inherent in the soul-in that full freedom of which it was deprived in its union with the corporal material. What, then, should we expect from this vast alteration than that the soul, freed from all gross and pernicious influence, would be taught to consider the unworthiness of the friend who has merited the condemnation to a place of punishment, and that its unbounded admiration and adoration of an all-benevolent God, would teach it at once to eradicate all love, and even all toleration, of a declared foe to the object of the soul's fondest loyalty. What, then, becomes of the sorrow with which the saints in heaven are said to be afflicted, when they hear that one whom they delighted in during mortal life, is known by them to be consigned to a state of eternal perdition?

The subjects which we have now brought before the reader have been presented to him, we are ready to admit, in a partial and imperfect manner; but should they excite his curiosity and his interest, should they tempt him to a further and fuller investigation of the mighty questions involved in them, we feel that our labours have not been undertaken in vain.

ART. VI.-A Digest of the Evidence on the Bank Charter, taken before the Committee of 1832, arranged, together with the Tables, under proper heads; to which are prefixed Strictures and illustrative Remarks; also copious Indexes, &c. &c. London Ridgway. 1833.

8vo.

We have, in a former number, noticed the voluminous report from which the present work derives its materials, and upon considering the small amount of the facts extracted from it by us, as compared with the number which make up the report, we resolved upon seizing the first convenient opportunity of returning to the subject. This determination has received fresh strength from two causes : the one is, that the period of the Parliamentary Session in which the Bank question must be considered, is now on the eve of arriving, and a recurrence to the leading points involved in it may be made with some benefit to the public. The other reason is, that the work before us presents, in its clear methodical arrangement, a very seasonable opportunity for enabling us to bring the great principles on which the question depends fully and intelligibly before the

reader.

When the House of Commons instructed their Select Committee to inquire into the affairs of the Bank, they devolved upon them powers of a very general nature. They were to inquire how far it would be expedient to renew the Charter of the Bank, now nearly expired; and also to investigate the system on which Bank

issues in England and Wales were conducted. The gentlemen composing the Committee proceeded at once to the inquiry, without deeming it in the least degree necessary to enter into any consultation for laying down a plan of proceeding. They set up no common object as the end of their examinations, but each of the members pursued the investigation with independent and totally distinct views. The consequence was, that the Report and the Minutes of Evidence composed a sort of chaotic mass, a great proportion of the materials of which were wholly foreign to the main subject of inquiry.

In the first place, the inquiries prosecuted by the Committee into the system on which the country Banks conducted their issues, whilst they have added nothing to the information already possessed on that subject, have substantially contributed to increase rather than diminish the obscurity which has so long concealed the real state of this system. With respect, however, to the Bank of England, the Committee was a little more particular and direct in its curiosity. It obtains, therefore, upon the affairs of this institution, more copious, exact, and profitable information. It is necessary to remind the reader, that up to 1797 all Banks paid their notes in cash; in the year just mentioned this liability was suspended, and whilst country Banks exchanged their notes for those of the Bank of England, the Bank of England was not bound to give cash for theirs. In 1810 this state of things was taken into consideration by the legislature, and the Bullion Committee was appointed upon it. This Committee came to the resolution that the Bank ought to pay their notes in gold; and it was not until nine years afterwards that the resumption of cash payments was sanctioned by Parliament. It is unnecessary to go into any further details on this branch of the subject; it is enough for us to state, that the Bank of England acquired in the meantime a tremendous influence, for the directors found themselves endowed with the complete power of altering, according to their caprice, the prices of every article in the country, and, consequently, the value of every man's property in it. The Bank, from its peculiar circumstances, has been enabled to command the whole of the London circulation of money; that is to say, no other notes compose that circulation than those of the Bank. The security afforded by the wealth and character of the directors, has also fixed them in the confidence of the Government; and thus, in fact, the Bank has grown up into a monster of practical, and scarcely definable, influence.

The worst feature in the Bank system is, the total absence of any thing like a responsibility—at least such a responsibility as can be made tangible, and can be reasoned with. The observations of the anonymous author upon this part of the subject place the evil in a very conspicuous point of view:

The Bank of England may, therefore, be said to be secured by law, at once a monopoly of the business of Government, and of the circulation of London: from which two sources the chief part of its profits are derived. The Bank is, consequently, so dependant upon the Government, that the wishes of the Ministers must necessarily be a law with them. And it appears by the evidence of the directors, that they are at all times ready to submit their affairs to them for their advice and direction. The directors, however, are only responsible to their stockholders, of whom they are the sworn servants. But it is so much the interest of the Bank to satisfy the Government, that they attend to the true interest of their establishment in the most effectual manner when they do so, even though at some present sacrifice. The stockholders are, consequently, willing to leave the management of the Bank entirely to the directors, who, more especially in reference to the circulation, never take any step without the approbation of the ministers. The consequence of which is, that Ministers exercise a considerable influence over the administration of the currency. But as they derive this from the Bank as a matter of grace and favour, they are not at all responsible to Parliament for any advice they may give, neither are they compelled to render any account of such advice: while the Bank itself is not responsible to Parliament in any degree. As nobody can thus be called to an account, so no account is given, except perhaps once in fifteen or twenty years, when such an investigation as the present occurs, and then, if blame be found to attach to the management, no one is chargeable with it. The Ministers and the Bank divide the responsibility between them, and are both changeable bodies. But even if this latter were not the case, no person would have any objection to be wrong in such good company. In point of fact, therefore, there is no responsibility, either actual or moralno one can be called to any account, and no individual ever feels himself personally implicated in any charge of mismanagement.—pp. 32, 33.

The principles or rules upon which the directors carry on their operations have been fully admitted by the witnesses selected from that class of proprietors. The issues of the Bank are mostly regulated by this principle: at the time of a full currency, and, consequently, when there is a par of exchange, they invest and retain in securities, bearing interest a given proportion of the deposit, and of the value received for notes in circulation. The investment, under such circumstances, is in proportion generally of one-third in bullion and coin, and about two-thirds in securities, bearing interest. The Bank, in all par transactions, has looked narrowly of late at the condition of foreign exchanges, and the directors have been influenced in their arrangements by a desire to let the public act upon the Bank rather than the Bank on the public. Our author shows the evil which an observance of this principle is calculated to produce. He next enters into a consideration of the erroneous principles on which the Bank carried on its transactions with the Government; and here he finds that there is an extraordinary want of a clear practical perception on the part of Government and the Bank of the real difference between capital and currency. He then proceeds to show the mischief to which such a confusion leads in practice.