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ON THE CHEAP LITERATURE OF THE DAY: ITS INDIRECT INFLUENCE ON EDUCATION AND RELIGION.

In a former number we noticed the influence which the extensive circulation of cheap publications in every branch of literature must necessarily have upon that process of self-education now going on among a large portion of our countrymen, when the increased diffusion of primary education has added to the reading public. We expressed our apprehensions of the tendency of such works to create a distaste for the more grave and important subjects of religion and morals, in consequence of their being chiefly devoted to entertainment and general information, and but little to moral or religious culture; and we quoted at some length an extract from the great Butler, as conveying a seasonable admonition to this effect, namely, that the mere possession of knowledge is not our proper happiness, though its acquirement may be our entertainment, and that the only knowledge which is of any avail is that which teaches us our duty, or assists us in the discharge of it.

In pursuance of our former observations we would remark, that the absence of moral and religious instruction in the volumes of the different collections which we enumerated, is not the only thing to be feared. Another evil, less prominent, but, where it exists, of a tendency not less pernicious, is the occasion afforded by such works of bringing indirectly and almost imperceptibly into general circulation certain views and tenets, which, if broadly stated or made the avowed objects of publication, would have either prevented the works containing them from obtaining general distribution, or have operated as some safeguard against their contents when distributed. As an instance of the evil that may thus arise we would notice the first of the series of volumes in Bohn's Standard Library, containing the Miscellaneous Works and Remains of the celebrated Robert Hall, with a memoir by Dr. O. Gregory, and a sketch of his character and writings by John Forster. The proposed object of the series appears to be to circulate the higher productions of genius and learning on terms that may render them accessible to all; and not to limit it to any particular class of literature: so that divinity and philosophy, history and romances, abstract science and polite literature, ancient authors and modern, will be produced in succession, as may either be indicated by the demands of the time, or required by the plan of publication. With this view the publisher proposes to avail himself of many valuable copyrights of which he is the holder, and among others, of that of the works of Robert Hall. Accordingly he has given a foremost place in his series to the volume above described, and has thus fairly enough connected the introduction of it to the public with eulogies such as the following upon the author of its first vo. lume:-"Whoever wishes to see the English language in its perfection must read the writings of that great divine, Robert Hall. He combines the beauties of Johnson, Addison, and Burke, without their imperfections." -Dugald Stewart. "I cannot do better than refer the academic reader to the immortal works of Robert Hall. For moral grandeur, for christian truth, and sublimity, we may doubt whether they have their match in the sacred oratory of any age or country."-Professor Sedgwick. Mr. Hall, like Jeremy Taylor, has the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness of a philosopher, and the piety of a saint."-Parr (Spital Sermon).

VOL. V.-NO. III.

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To those who are familiar only with the best and least exceptionable of Robert Hall's works, a well-chosen selection might confidently be looked forward to as not unworthy of a place in a series such as that proposed in the Standard Library, though, as members of the Church of England, we might be doubtful of a miscellaneous volume connected with the name of Dr. O. Gregory. We were not, however, prepared to expect the heterogeneous combination which forms the first volume of the series before us. Mr. Hall, like many others of his day similarly circumstanced, regarded the commencement of the French Revolution with no unfriendly eye, and under this delusion he wrote two political pamphlets-" Christianity consistent with a Love of Freedom," and "An Apology for the Freedom of the Press." These works form the commencement of the volume before us. Of the first of them, it is due to the memory of its author to premise, that it was written when he was only 27 years old, and that he never would consent to its republication. That in this he judged wisely, may be inferred from the fact, that in the very first page of it he speaks of Mr. Burke's celebrated book upon the French Revolution as one that "cannot shelter the author from confutation and his system from contempt." Speaking of the connection between church and state, he says that the boasted alliance between them, on which so many encomiums have been lavished, seems to have been little more than a compact between the priest and the magistrate, to betray the liberties of mankind, both civil and religious. To this the clergy, on their part at least, have continued steady, shunning inquiry, fearful of change, blind to the corruptions of government, skilful to discern the signs of the times, and eager to improve every opportunity, and to employ all their art and eloquence to extend the prerogative and smooth the approaches of arbitrary power."

Of the "Apology for the Freedom of the Press," published two years later, less can be said in extenuation, the author having consented to its republication in 1821; but still it is recorded of him in Dr. O. Gregory's memoir that he said of it, "I have ever since regretted that I wrote so hastily and superficially upon some subjects brought forward, which required touching with a master hand, and exploring to their very foundations. In the beginning we find Pitt spoken of in language with which we should be sorry to disfigure our pages; and a sermon of Bishop Horsley's, preached before the House of Lords, is referred to as a "disgusting picture of sanctimonious hypocrisy and priestly insolence." Towards the conclusion he

tells his readers that it must be plain to every observer, that piety flourishes much more among dissenters, than among the members of any establishment whatever. This progress of things is so natural, that nothing seems to be wanting in any country, to render the thinking part of the people infidels, but a splendid establishment." Other railing language of a like import, and an allusion to the then proposed repeal of the corporation and test acts, afford his editor an opportunity of paying a compliment for the repeal of those acts" to the able and zealous exertions of that noble example and advocate of all liberal principles, Lord John Russell." And with respect to the Church of England, Mr. Hall says, "On the abuses of the church it is to little purpose to expatiate, as they are too numerous to be detailed, and too inveterate to be corrected." And again, "In relation to the question of ecclesiastical establishment, since I am challenged to produce any passage from scripture which sanctions my opposition to them, I beg to refer to our Lord's declaration : Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up.' That national churches, or

exclusive establishments of religion by the civil magistrate, are one of these plants, will not be denied; since nothing of that kind, it is universally allowed, existed during the first and purest ages of christianity, and not being authorized by the great head of the church, it must, if we believe him, be rooted up.'

Such are a few specimens of two of the miscellaneous works of Robert Hall, which take up about 150 pages of the first volume of the Standard Library. The extreme cheapness of the volume has placed it at once not only on the counter of every bookseller, but on every book-stand, and even among periodicals and guide-books at railway stations. These sentiments thus diffused, are, be it remembered, put into the hands of all readers with recommendations of the writer, such as we have above quoted, and in juxtaposition with the brilliant passages that are to be met with in the same volume in the sermons entitled, "Modern Infidelity considered," "Reflections on War," and "The Sentiments proper to the present Crisis." How, then, can readers but imperfectly educated and little grounded in sound principles fail of being confounded and misled by such miscellanies?

As another instance of the indirect mode of introducing peculiar views, we need look no further than the 4th volume of the same series, containing Schlegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of History, translated from the German, by J. B. Robertson." The volume commences with the literary life of the author, in which the writer, a Roman Catholic, after giving a sketch of Schlegel's earlier days, proceeds :

:

"I am now approaching a passage in the life of Schlegel, which will be viewed in a different light, according to the different feelings and convictions of my readers. By some his conduct will be considered a blameable apostacy from the faith of his fathers-by others, a generous sacrifice of early prejudices on the altar of truth. To disguise my own approbation of his conduct, would be to do violence to my feelings, and wrong to my principles; but to enter into a justification of his motives, would be to engage in a polemical discussion, most unseemly in an introduction to a work which is perfectly foreign to inquiries of that nature. I shall therefore confine myself to a brief statement of facts: noticing, at the same time, the intellectual condition of the two great religious parties of Germany, immediately prior and subsequent to Schlegel's change of religion.

"It was on his return from France in the year 1805, and in the ancient city of Cologne, that the subject of this memoir was received into the bosom of the Catholic Church. There, in that venerable city, which was so often honoured by the abode of the great founder of Christendom-Charlemagne-which abounds with so many monuments of the arts, the learning, the opulence, and political greatness of the middle age-where the Christian Aristotle of the thirteenth centuryAquinas-had passed the first years of his academic course-there, in that venerable minster, too, one of the proudest monuments of Gothic architecture-was solemnised in the person of this illustrious man, the alliance between the ancient faith and modern science of Germany-an alliance that has been productive of such important consequences, and is yet pregnant with mightier results.

"The purity of the motives which directed Schlegel in this, the most important act of his life, few would be ignorant or shameless enough to impeach. His station—his character-his virtues-all suffice to repel the very suspicion of unworthy motives; and the least reflection will show, that while in a country circumstanced like Germany, his change of religion could not procure for him greater honours and emoluments than, under any circumstances, his genius would be certain to command; that change would too surely expose him to obloquy, misrepresentation, and calumny-and what, to a heart so sensitive as his, must have been still more painful-the alienation perhaps of esteemed friends. Had he remained a Protestant, he would, instead of engaging in the service of Austria, have in all probability taken to that of Prussia, and there, doubtless, have received

the same honours and distinctions which have been so deservedly bestowed on his illustrious brother. We may suppose, also, that a man of his mind and character, would not on slight and frivolous grounds, have taken a step so important; nor in a matter so momentous, have come to a decision, without full and anxious investigation. In fact, his theological learning was extensive-he was well read in the ancient fathers-the schoolmen of the middle age, and the more eminent modern divines; and though I am not aware that he has devoted any special treatise to theology, yet the remarks scattered through his works, whether on Biblical exegesis, or dogmatic divinity, are so pregnant, original, and profound, that we plainly see it was in his power to have given the world a "systema theologicum," no less masterly than that of his great predecessor-Leibnitz. The works of the early Greek fathers, indeed, he appears to have made a special object of scientific research, well knowing what golden grains of philosophy may be picked up in that sacred stream. The conversion of Schlegel was hailed with enthusiasm by the Catholics of Germany. This event occurred, indeed, at a moment equally opportune to himself and the Catholic body. To himself-for though his noble inind would never have run a-ground amid the miserable shallows of Rationalism, yet had it not then taken refuge in the secure haven of Catholicism, it might have been sucked down in the rapid eddies of Pantheism. To the Catholic body in Germany, this event was no less opportune."

Then follows a sketch, by the translator, of the more recent progress of literature among the Roman Catholics of Germany, evidently written with the view of indirectly producing a more favourable impression respecting them than is generally entertained in this particular, and of rendering more effective in a like direction those parts of Schlegel's work in which with an appearance of great philosophic candour he deals as one of his creed might be expected to deal with the origin and development of Protestantism. This work the publisher informs us appeared in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1835, and is a scarce book, worth from 17 11s. 6d. to 21 2s., and of which the present volume at 3s. 6d. contains every syllable.

These and such like facts, without casting any imputation of unfairness or dishonesty either on the publishers or the writers, render the present extensive circulation of such works among the middle and lower classes a matter deserving the most serious and anxious attention on the part of those interested-as who is not?-in the education of the present and the rising generation. Nor is it an easy or light task to point out the best means of counteracting the evils that must thus be engendered. The first reflection suggested by the existence of such a state of things is the inconceivable folly of supposing for a single moment that it is sufficient to give the young a knowledge of reading and writing, and to exercise and sharpen their understandings, and then leave them to judge for themselves between right and wrong, and to select, as they best can, the principles which are to guide their moral and religious conduct. What but being thoroughly imbued with sound religious principles, and made early acquainted with the blessings of that constitution under which they have been born, can arm the young and inexperienced against the works of skilful and practised writers, who are eager to avail themselves of the opportunities now afforded of disseminating their political and religious views among all classes, and of doing so, as already observed, indirectly and under the garb of a liberal and enlightened philosophy, which proves its liberality by admitting within the same barriers the most opposite principles, and the most discordant opinions? Surely with the careful and persevering inculcation of sound principles should be joined plain and frequent cautions against the propagators of a shallow and spurious philosophy, who pretend to unbounded liberality, only that they may more effectually mark their own peculiar