and mankind. It occurs also, Acts v. 38: "For if this counsel, or this work, be of men, ε av0ρwπwv, it will come to nought; but if it be of God, εK Oε8," &c. It occurs likewise in the same sense, Rom. ii. 29. The second text adduced by W. D. as a clear instance of the same kind of separation as he contends for in the case of εκ νεκρων, is Rev. v. 9: "hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, ek waons quλns," &c. Now here there is no intention to intimate any separation between the tribes. If there had been any intention of saying, that one or more tribes had been redeemed out of all the tribes, the article, I conceive, would have been inserted; it would have been written, εκ πασών των φύλων. There are many similar forms of expression throughout the Scriptures. Matt. xxvii. 29: "And when they had platted a crown, ε ακανθων.” As there was no intention to convey the idea that they made a selection of thorns, but only that the crown was a thorny one, rather than made of gold, or silver, or any other material, it is written without the article. But if it had been the intention of the inspired penman to convey, that they had collected many thorns, and had selected out of them the strongest and sharpest, he would have said, that they platted a crown εK TV aкavwv. So, in like manner, it appears to me, that if the inspired penmen wished to convey the simple notion of a resurrection from the dead without introducing the idea of one part being separated from the other, they would write EK VEкOWV; but if they wished to convey the idea of one part separated from, and selected out of, the whole, they would write εκ των νεκρων.

This will appear more clearly, by noticing some places in which there is evidently an intention of making such a separation and selection, in which the article is used. Mark xiv. 20: "It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish: " εις εκ των δωδεκα. John vi. 8.

"One of his disciples saith unto him," ELS εκ των μαθητων αυτου. John vii. 25: "Then said some of them of Jerusalem," Tiveç EK TWV Iεpoσoλvμurwv. John xviii. 17: "Art not thou also (one) of this man's disciples ? Μη και συ εκ των μαθητων ει του ανθρωπου τούτου. Acts i. 24: "Shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,” αναδειξον εκ του των των δυο ενα ον εξελεξω. In these instances there is an intention to express the selection of some of the individuals contained under the genus which the noun signifies, contrasted with remaining individuals belonging to the same genus, and expressed by the same noun, and therefore the article is inserted.

I do not wish to dwell upon any inaccuracies which I was led to remark upon in my former paper; particularly as the manner in which I did it has appeared displeasing to one whom I much respect; but I cannot help saying, that I think the reason assigned by W. D. for having written εξαναστάσεως as one word, contrary to the authority of all printed copies, far from satisfactory. He says, that had I recollected that all the Greek manuscripts are written without any division of words at all, I might have spared myself the collation of seven different editions of the Greek Testament. Had W. D. recollected that all the Greek manuscripts (he should have said the early ones) are written without any division of words, he would have known that & avaσra, σews being found in the manuscript without any division into two words, did not prove it to be one word, and therefore did not authorise him to write it as one word. It would authorise him, as a critic, to propose an alteration from the way in which the clause is printed in the copies extant; and if he could give satisfactory reasons for the change, then he might make what use he pleased of the amendment; but it would never authorise him, ad libitum, and without notice, to make a change of that kind, and then argue

as if the reading he substituted was not only incontrovertibly the right one, but as if it was the only one. Had W. D. stated that the way he read Romans i. 4, was different from all the printed copies, he would have weakened the force of his conclusion, but he would have escaped the charge of misrepresen

tation; which was not stated as though it was wilful or dishonest, but simply as a matter of fact, that his quotation represented things differently from what they really were. I again beg to subscribe myself,

AN UNPREJUDICED INQUIRER
INTO PROPHETICAL TRUTH.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF GENIUS.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer,

As the most effectual way of impressing our minds with a sense of the obligations of genius, or intellectual power in its varied forms and exercises, it may be desirable briefly to advert to the stupendous influence-salutary or the reversewhich it is found capable of exerting upon the character and prospects of mankind. It is impossible to contemplate the nature of man, as it displays itself in different individuals of the species, without observing the immense disproportion which prevails between his physical and his mental energies. In bodily strength and in the vigour of his organic structure, man is far inferior to many of the lower animals: but he posesses a hidden, mysterious power, which raises him above the level of his corporeal nature, which triumphs over the feebleness of his material frame, and brings the unwieldy and impetuous tenants of the forest prostrate in willing submission at his feet. When we survey some of the mightier efforts of human labour, some of the massive structures that have been reared by mortal hands, when we mount the summit of some lofty edifice which commands a view of the wide panorama of domes, temples, and palaces with which it is surrounded, when we contemplate the colossal achieve

ments of ancient industry and art,the pyramids, the triumphal arches, the subterraneous aqueducts, some faint vestiges of which, just sufficient to testify their stupendous magnitude, are still to be observed on the soils of Egypt, Greece, and Rome: when we transfer our gaze to another element, and witness one of those floating masses which seem to afford the most vivid representation of a world "standing out of the water, and in the water, "-when we notice these diversified results of human power and skill, and contrast them with the physical energy of the agent, we are struck with astonishment at the apparent disparity which they display. We might imagine that some higher power had been at work, that some mightier arm must have wielded the elements which have thus combined, that some being more than human had thus moulded nature to his will. But when we calmly and deliberately survey these objects as the mere results of well-directed human effort, and compare at our leisure the effect with the immediate cause, we turn away from the scene with a deeper and more overwhelmconviction of the superiority of mind to matter. We perceive with wonder that, provided with how small an apparatus of bones, sinews, and muscles, man can rear monuments of power which seem to bid defiance to the ravages of time, and to partake of the imperishableness

of creation itself. We almost cease to regard it as a sally of extravagance, when the philosopher, in the pride of conscious talent in the application of mechanical power, exclaimed, "Give me standing room, and I will move the globe.' These, however, are but the manifestations of the power of mind, as applied to the several departments of external and material nature. It is as mind acts upon mind, as the predominant element diffuses itself through the mass of its affinities, somewhat as flame kindles flame, force generates motion, and the primary planet operates upon the secondary it is thus that the energy of mind is most strikingly displayed; and this is the foundation of that deep and solemn responsibility, which attaches to a high order of mental endowment. It has always been considered as one of the most striking and decisive characteristics of genius, that it can communicate with resistless energy its own convictions and emotions to other minds endued with congeniality and capability. Where, therefore, this quality is possessed in a paramount and overpowering measure, and has the most favourable and unshackled opportunities for exerting its influence, it is difficult to overrate the effect which it produces upon the character of the community, and imparts to future ages. There is scarcely any department of literature or science, any modification of imaginative or intellectual exercise, in which this ascendant influence of the few over the many, has not been displayed to an almost illimitable extent. few commanding spirits, always give its tone and colouring to the age in which they live. And it is lamentable to think how frequently the flame of genius has blazed forth in its most intense and radiant glow for no other purpose than to melt the yielding minds which have been brought under its action, and its action, and which partake of the original corruption of our common nature, in

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order to stamp them with the impressions of overt and settled depravity.

Few works of genius, perhaps, have produced a more powerful and lasting effect upon the character of mankind, than those of Homer. When we think of the myriads of minds, which in the course of the last two or three thousand years have received some of their strongest impressions, at the most susceptible period of life, from the writings of that illustrious bard; when we contemplate these innumerable minds drinking with enthusiastic ardour out of that exhaustless fountain of poetic inspiration, which he opened for them; we are absolutely overwhelmed in the attempt to calculate the amount of that influence which he may have exerted upon the character and condition of mankind. To mention one well-known instance, that of Alexander, misnamed the Great: can we doubt that his passionate admiration of Homer accelerated his career of devastation and bloodshed, and fostered those tumultuous emotions of ambition and martial glory, which the praises of Achilles chaunted to the Mæonian lyre kindled in his youthful breast. In the person of Aristotle, the preceptor of Alexander, there is a still more remarkable example of the power of mind in subordinating to its own controul, and assimilating to its own cast of thought and feeling, those who had submitted themselves to be moulded by its plastic energy. The undisputed dominion of that prince of ancient philosophers and critics over the prostrate faculties of mankind, indeed stands unrivalled in the annals of political or intellectual despotism. The reign of military conquest has generally been of a short and fugitive duration. The mighty dynasty of Alexander was almost as short-lived as himself. Within a few years after his death the colossal image of power, which he raised, was crumbled into dust and scattered to the winds of hea

ven. But the empire of mind, or rather the thraldom of intellect, as established by the philosophy of Aristotle, continued in unrivalled and unbroken sway till the sixteenth century of the Christian era; and it was not without many a severe and arduous struggle that the demonstrations of the most unquestionable science were able at length to effect its overthrow.

As illustrative of the firmer grasp and greater permanency of mental over physical or military power, it has been stated that the writings of Voltaire and his associates still influence the mind of tens of thousands of persons on the continent, far more than even the mightiest victories and most brilliant achievements of Napoleon. The glare and tumult of the latter have passed away, while the former seem to be blended with the deepest elements of the mental constitution, and to be engraved in enduring, but disastrous records, upon the tables of the heart. In contemplating the phenomena of the French Revolution, indeed, it is impossible not to perceive that in its origin it was far more a revolution of mind than of physical conflict; of opinions, emotions, and passions, than of guns and swords and bayonets. In that memorable tragedy of blood, the military actors were but the puppets which the infidel philosophers and encylopædists had set in motion. They only rode the storm, which mightier spirits had raised. They only cut out the channels, and in some degree directed the course of that political lava, which the giant of tortured intellect, struggling beneath the weight of an overwhelming and enthralling superstition, had poured forth over the face of the population.

The history of every country in which the faculties of the human mind have been raised by exercise and cultivation to any degree of efficiency and perfection, abounds with evidences and illustrations of the unquestionable fact, that an

exalted order of intellectual endowment is a most powerful instrument for good or evil. Frequently has it been observed, that the destiny of a whole kingdom, the peace and tranquillity of half the globe, under the providence of God, lay suspended upon the decision of one presiding mind-of one lofty patriot spirit, who, like Demosthenes, and Cicero, and Washington, and Chatham, by the resistless energy of its talent, had raised itself to an eminence which placed the homage of admiring millions at its disposal; and it was scarcely an exaggeration of the power exerted by the last of these illustrious individuals, when it was said of him, in the language of highwrought metaphor, that "with one hand he wielded the democracy of Britain, while with the other he struck the throne of the Bourbons." Not less influential and effective was that display of mental energy, which was put forth by our own Burke at the close of the last century, when from the depth of his capacious genius he uttered a voice, replete with prophetic import, which thrilled through a nation's bosom, and lifted up the standard of his indignation for the purpose of stemming that torrent of revolutionary mania which was threatening to overflow the face of Europe.

Nor is the privilege of exerting a plastic influence upon the character and habits of the community confined to transcendent genius. It is not the monarchs of intellect only who radiate this species of effusive and assimilating energy upon those around them. The possession of even an ordinary measure of talent and information is often sufficient to spread it over a sphere of very considerable extent. A slight degree of mental superiority seldom fails to make an individual the centre of a little circle, the oracle of the small community to which he belongs; and to those who are comprized within that limit he imparts with ease and success his own habitudes of thought and feeling. In a read

ing age, the power of impression through the medium of a free press is inconceivably augmented, and the character of a nation will always be found strictly analogous to the character of its popular floating literature. From the Scots and the Byrons of our own times, to the most insignificant of the innumerable swarm of our writers for the public, there is a mighty influence going forth, which intimately blends itself directly or indirectly with all the principles, feelings, and habits of the people, and does much to render the nation morally and intellectually what it is.

If such, then, be the power of the mind, and if such be the influence which in its various forms and gradations it is capable of putting forth, it becomes an important and interesting inquiry, What are the paramount obligations and responsibilities of mental endowment, and by what means may its capabilities be turned to the legitimate, the best account? When I speak of the obligations of genius as the subject of the present remarks, I wish the latter term to be understood in the most extensive sense, as embracing the genius of science and philosophy, as well as the genius of literature and poetry. And it may be proper to remark further, that I consider as included in this title every order of talent which rises at all above mediocrity of intellec tual power.

The first thing which I conceive to be necessary to an individual thus endowed, who would not fail to recognize the real obligations of his nature and character is, that in the exercise of his talents, or in the prosecution of his investigations, he should propose to himself a lawful and important end. Through the want of some fixed and determinate object, to which their efforts should be directed, the finest faculties have frequently been worse than thrown away. It is the grand characteristic of the spirit of man, in contradistinction to the material system to

which it is attached, that it is essentially an active principle; and in proportion to the elevation of the scale which it occupies in the order of original endowment, this peculiarity of its nature is more strongly and powerfully developed. In such a mind there is a vividness of perception, a rapidity of combination, an intensity of emotion, which will not allow it to rest. This species of confused intellectual and sensitive fermentation in the earlier stages of the character is scarcely understood by the individual himself. Like the Pythian priestess, fraught with the inspirations of the oracle, he may be at first unable to apprehend the meaning of the powerful impulses by which he is conscious of being actuated. And if, through the want of serious and devout reflection, he still continue ignorant or unmindful of the great object for which these glowing aspirations were kindled in his breast, he is in danger either of suppressing them in useless and selfcorroding anguish, or of venting them in occasional outbursts of feeling, which bear the impress of no regular design and are directed to no legitimate end.

It is necessary not less to the man of genius than it is to the man of business or the professional man, to commence his career with some definite views-some ultimate aim, to which all his subordinate exertion should be rendered as much as possible subservient. When he feels the workings of a mind which, duly cultivated, improved, and directed, may perhaps be capable of great and important achievements, he should consider that it is the "Divinity which stirs within him;" that he is thereby linked in close communion with the spiritual beings of a higher economy, and that he is therefore bound to employ every faculty with which he has been endowed, in a manner congenial to the source from which it has been derived, and the exalted society to which it belongs.

There can be no doubt that the