JUNE MAGAZINES.

The spirit and power of MAGA are unbroken. He commences with Charles Kingsley, admitting his talent, especially for graphic description of scenery, but animadvertiug severely upon his tendency to exaggeration, his vagueness of moral meaning, and the impropriety of some of the characters introduced into his works of fiction. Somewhat in the spirit of class conservatism, his views of social relationship are strongly condemned. We have next a very striking description of the Aland Islands, the Baltic Campaign of last and the year, taking of Bomarsund. The continuation of 'Zaidee: a Romance, we skip, and notice a lively written review of Once upon a time,' by Charles Knight, to be continued. We have next, Part III of Notes on Canada and the North West States of America,' full of geographical information and anecdote. 'Spanish intolerance and insolvency' shows the causes of the decay and decline of a state that once held in its hand the destinies of the greater part of the world. We quote the concluding words of the article on the Palmerston Administration, commending the whole of it to the attention of the people :

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'We believe that a noble and gallant nation, composed of a union of three kingdoms, each of which has its separate history and renown, is at this moment in danger of being degraded in the eye of Europe-aye, of the world; because, from fortuitous circumstances, and from unfortunate combinations, it is governed by a body of men that have neither patriotism as their principle, nor sagacity enough to adopt the course most consonant with the feelings of the people.'

Chapters twenty-one and twenty-two of the 'Story of the Campaign' close a number of Blackwood not unworthy of its former fame.

THE ECLECTIC REVIEW of the present month contains considerable variety. 'Sea-Side Books' well introduces young readers to some of the wonders of the deep blue sea and its pebbly shores; being a review of Dr. Harvey's SeaSide Book, Mr. Landsborough's Popular History of British Sea-weeds,_and Mr. Gosse's Aquarium. The second article is on the Life of William Etty, R.A., and is a discriminating criticism on the works of that great master of colour. The critique of Gilfillan's Third Gallery of Portraits contains, we think, rather too high praise, and is partly a reply to the unfriendly article in the last number of the London Review. British Tombs, and what they teach,' is a very interesting and instructive paper. "Westward Ho !' contains some good criticism and striking extracts from Mr. Kingsley's novel. Autobiography of James Silk Buckingham has some pleasing anecdotes. The article on the Anti-Maynooth Agitation is accurate in its facts and clear in its logic as well as decided in its Protestantism. The Review of the Month is careful if not able, and the entire number will repay careful perusal.

GAMMAGE'S LECTURE AT GLASGOW ON

SUNDAY RECREATIONS.

The citizens of Glasgow were somewhat startled last week by a placard, headed Signs of the Times,' stating that a Mr. Gammage would deliver four lectures in the Eclectic Institute. We went to hear one of these so-called signs of the times' lectures on Sunday, the 27th of May.

The lecture was announced to begin at half-past six P.M., but, I suppose, for want of an audience, the lecturer did not make his appearance till twenty minutes to seven. It was one of the poorest meetings I have ever seen in the Eclectic Institute: I do not go below the number when I say there were not

more than seventy persons present. Of all the men I ever heard lecture, Mr. Gammage beats them all. He danced backward and forward on the (small and bad carpet) platform like some monkey. It was really laughable to see a man dressed up in the garb of a foreigner, with a moustache, giving forth a harangue, evidently thinking himself the Coming Man. He stated that about a century ago, in the metropolis of London, there were six hundred thousand inhabitants, and for these six hundred thousand inhabitants there were twenty thousand public-houses, exclusive of those houses that sold groceries and beer. At the present time, he said, there were not one-fourth of that number. The Temperance Movement, he admitted, had done something towards the decrease of these public-houses, but that decrease was mainly to be attributed to something nobler than the Temperance Movement; it was to the steamboats and the railways that carried thousands into the country to breathe the fresh air on a Sunday that we must ascribe the removal of these public-houses in the metropolis.

Well, this seems to look very fine at first sight, but we shall soon see the absurdity of his assumption. Does Mr. Gammage mean to tell us that those places to which the railways and steamboats convey pleasure-seekers from the metropolis on Sundays were as large, and contained the same number of publichouses, then as now? No, before the time of steamboats and railways, these places were considerably smaller, and probably contained no more than one public-house in each, whereas now, since railways and steamboats have become prevalent, they have increased in size and in the number of their public-houses; and not only that, but every steamboat may be said to be a floating publichouse, as they sell drink on board, so that Sunday traffic has increased the drinking on the Thames, and, as the public-houses decrease in the metropolis, they increase in the country towns and villages to which the railways and steamboats go, so that his statement about railways and steamboats decreasing public-houses goes for nothing.

Again, he said that in Liverpool there were about thirty thousand persons living in ill-ventilated houses, and that upon an average working men only lived about seventeen years. Now this is rather curious. Liverpool a seaport town, and plenty of steamboats and railways running to and fro on Sundays. Now what we draw from this is, that working men, who go a-pleasuring ou Sundays, shorten their lives. If there were no railway and steamboat traffic on Suuday his statement might hold good.

While the meeting was dispersing, Mr. Gammage rose up and whispered to the chairman something about the Chartist Movement. He was nearly out of breath. It is curious to see how the infidels love money. Altogether, this was one of the poorest lectures I ever heard, and I hope they will look out for better lecturers in future.

Parliamentary Road, Glasgow.

A WORKING MAN.

A SPECIMEN OF SECULAR CONSISTENCY.

Secularist. The Christians are an inconsistent lot; I went to order the 'Reasoner' of one, but he would not get it for me; he sells the Defender;' he should sell the 'Reasoner' too.

Christian. I think you mistake the nature of consistency: your assertion proves him to be consistent, in not selling an article which he conscientiously believes to be bad, although he could have had a profit thereby.

S. He ought to sell books on both sides, to accommodate his customers; he'll not get any more of my money; if I have to get the 'Reasoner' at the town, get the papers too.

I'll

C. Then, I suppose, according to your creed, the Bible Society ought to print and translate the works of Voltaire, Paine, Holyoake, Cooper, and Barker, and circulate them with the Bible?

S. People ought to read both sides. Do you ever see the 'Reasoner?' C. Never but when you lend me it, and then I look at it, but it is a meagre affair.

S. Don't you take the 'Defender?' You should also take the 'Reasoner.' C. With my opinions and views, I would not think it consistent to support an atheistic, infidel publication. I can put my money to a better purpose, and besides it is over dear according to its size. Do you read both sides of the subject ?

S. (Emphatically) Yes.

C. Do you read the Bible, or the Defender?'

S. (Pulling it out of his pocket) I read Reynolds's Paper on the Christian side.

C. Do you mean to say that Reynolds's Paper is a Christian publication. S. Yes.

C. I wonder to hear you talk so. Would you let me see one either in the paper you have in your hand, or in any one that you have taken for the last

twelve months?

S. I have none but this one; they get torn up every week.

C. I am astonished to hear you talk such nonsense. To be consistent, read and study the Bible. You should ascertain for yourself what Christianity is from its own accredited documents, and not from the misrepresentations of its enemies.

BARKER'S REPLY TO LLOYD JONES.

ANTI-INFIDEL.

We have had a sample of what can be advanced against Christianity: the arguments you have heard to-night are just such as have been brought against Christianity from the first. Not one solid or well grounded objection against Christianity is to be found in all the works that have been written by its enemies from the days in which it was first published to the present time. I have read the objections of Porphyry, of Celsus, of Julian, of Hobbes, of Toland, of Tindal, of Blount, of Woolston, of Hume, of Gibbon, of Burdon, of Paine, of Voltaire, of Rousseau, of Diderot, of Helvetius, of Carlile, of Taylor, of Owen, of Lloyd Jones, and of Haslam, and they are all alike. Arguments there are none; but false accusations, bold and extravagant statements, without truth or foundation, there are in abundance. Arguments there never can be against the truth. There was once a man that stood forth and contended that there was no matter in the universe; that every thing that we thought matter was nothing but fancy; and he advanced just such arguments as Lloyd Jones advances to prove that Christianity is a persecuting system. No sensible man believed the philosopher, though he was followed by a few persons in his time; and no one that thinks soberly will believe Lloyd Jones, or his arguments against Christianity. He may have his admirers for a time, but both he and they will pass away, and leave the Gospel conqueror and master of the field. The worst that infidels can do, has been done; they have tried their strength, and Christianity has still triumphed. They may try again; they may muster their forces, but they cannot prosper. Men may plant their batteries against the sun, but he will still go forward in his course, and his rays will shed light and warmth upon

the earth as formerly: the enemies of Christianity may shoot their arrows, or play their artillery against the Gospel, but like the sun it will win its way, and give light and joy and salvation wherever it goes. Even now, while these men oppose it, it is imparting blessings to millions; it is giving liberty to exercise their reasoning powers even to those who are seeking its destruction. It is exerting a happy influence upon all lands; it is sending its light and blessings into every clime; it is shaking all nations, and changing and purifying the mass of human society. It is emancipating slaves, it is reforming drunkards, it is cheering with its bright prospects the hearts of believers, it is chasing away the shades of superstition, and imparting its light and its blessings to thousands upon thousands, both in our own country and in distant lands. It is uniting together the most distant nations in the bands of mutual charity; and it is teaching those that are near together to befriend and help each other; and it is giving light, and freedom, and plenty, and peace, and temperance, and joy,-all the comforts of time, and all the hopes and anticipations of eternity,-to tens and scores of millions. And it will still go on. Foolish and unhappy men may lift up their hands and think to push back the sun; but the sun will go calmly and quietly on, as though those men had no existence. So the enemies of the Gospel may think to check in his course the Sun of Righteousness; but it will still shine on. And our Sun will never set: the world on which He has risen shall never see night again. Its decline may be foretold, but the prophecy will fail: it shall shine brighter and brighter, till the last clouds of error and guilt shall have passed away,-till there is not a sad heart in the universe, nor a bad man to be seen upon earth. It shall shine upon all lands and on all hearts, till all men shall not only be glad to receive the prayers of their brethren, but shall pray for themselves and for their brethren too. It shall shine till strife and persecution and war shall cease; and till affectionate and tender and delightful sympathies shall mix all hearts in one. Then angels shall sing again, as once they sang, in prospect of this blessedness- Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace; goodwill towards men.'

Our Open Page.

THE HUMAN WILL NOT THE EFFICIENT CAUSE OF ITS OWN VOLITION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DEFENDER.

DEAR SIR, I cannot but admire the ease, with which your correspondent, J. M. seems to assume that my hypothesis in reference to the inhabitants of Turkey being Mahomedans, while those of England are Christians, does not even touch, much less prove the point in question !'

I did not say that it followed as a matter of course, that a man born in Turkey 'must be a Mahomedan, or one born in England was bound to be a Christian;' but I do say, the probability is, he will imbibe the opinions of those, round about him. I have to show, says J. M., "not, that a man is what he is, but that a man is, what he is, because he is necessitated to be so;" if a man is not necessitated to be what he is, he can be different from what he is without being necessitated; but man cannot be different from what he is without some cause for his difference, and the fact of requiring a cause or motive, proves he is necessitated to be what he is.

That the will acts irrespective of external causes, or it does not, is a fact patent to all; but, if the will does not act independent of external causes, then

'the human will is not the efficient cause of its own volition,' because to be the EFFICIENT cause' it must act independent, of any other 'cause,' and to act independent of any other cause, is to act without evidence, for evidence has some weight in deciding man's choice, and in so far as it effects man's choice, it proves in the same ratio 'the will is not the EFFICIENT cause of its own volition.'

I repeat, if 'the human will is the EFFICIENT cause of its own volition,' man can believe in Roman Catholicism, Buddism, or Atheism, to which you answer, that 'it is an indisputable fact, that man can believe in these isms, because they do,' and here you lose sight of the point at issue, by saying, that if it is meant that man can believe this or that just as he pleases without any reference to evidence, I fail to prove my point.' Allow me to say, the proposition was fairly established; for, if, as I have shown before, man cannot believe at his WILL or choice without evidence, the will is not the EFFICIENT cause of its own volition.' You set out to prove that man's will is free; if free it cannot be controlled; if controlled, coerced, or guided in any way, even by 'evidence,' it cannot be 'free,' thus the very arguments you use to substantiate your position, prove the truth of mine; but it is not to be wondered at, that J. M.'s 'position fails to carry him to the point at which he aims, for no possible reasoning can prove such hypothesis as that laid down by him,' that man is a free agent, it is opposed to human' reason, and to prove it, would be to prove the untruthfulness of human reason, and the falsity of human nature,' and that all rules of logic are deceptive. 'All the subtleties of speculative philosophy can never rob a' reasoning man of the conviction, that his opinions are influenced by external circumstances acting upon his internal organization. J. M. recommends to my notice three sets of difficulties, which (he says) attach themselves to my position; such as belong to me, I will answer.

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1st. I agree with him when he says, we are necessitated to think every change as caused,' but he further asks, 'if then, human actions which are changes are not caused by the will itself, by what are they caused? if by circumstances they are changes, and likewise require a cause, and that cause a cause, and so on,' all of which I am prepared to admit, but J. M. is not content to stop here and seek a sufficient number of natural causes, but wishes to find (which, by the by, he is not likely to find) a supernatural uncaused cause of all causes, for which, however, I see no occasion, since all we know is nature, (and I am afraid the wisest of us know but little of that) we can ascribe the causes you refer to, to no other than nature or natural causes.

2nd. If the human will be necessitated by circumstances, man is a moral being, he does right and sometimes wrong, (for man is not infallible unless he be a free agent, and then he can always think right and do right, and is in consequence a sort of god upon his own small scale,) and the legislature acts most reasonably in punishing the thief or murderer, and in rewarding the honest and industrious, because punishment tends to check crime, and reward is calculated to stimulate man to good actions.

3rd. If the human will is the efficient cause of its own volition, civil government is useless. It exists only in so far as the fear of the strong arm of the law is supposed to deter man from committing crime. Deny this, and you remove the very foundation of civil government, and annihilate the aims of justice.

SAMUEL COOMBS.

P. S. Moreover, if man's will is free, this letter (or your reply) will be use less, because your readers can believe or disbelieve what is written 'at their will or choice.' By the by, I wish they would make the attempt.

S. C.