CONTENTS OF NO. I. ART. I.-The Signs of the Times: a Series of Discourses delivered in the ART. II.-Letters on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. By Samuel Bayard, Esq., a Ruling Eider in the Presbyterian Congregation ART. III.-A Discourse on the Latest Form of Infidelity, delivered at the request of the Association of the Alumni of the Cambridge Theological School, on the 19th of July, 1839, with notes. By A Letter to Mr. Andrews Norton, occasioned by his Discourse before the Association of the Alumni of the Cambridge Theo- ART. IV. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and its Consequences to the Protestant Churches of France and Italy; containing Memoirs of some of the Sufferers in the Persecution attending ART. V.-Report of the Presbyterian Church Case: the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at the suggestion of James Todd and others, vs. THE PRINCETON REVIEW. JANUARY 1840. No. I. ART. I.-The Signs of the Times: a Series of Discourses delivered in the Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. By Cornelius C. Cuyler, D.D., Pastor of the Church. Philadelphia: William S. Martien. 1839. pp. 319. 12mo. We have already expressed our favourable opinion of these excellent Discourses. We now recur to them again, that we may make the subject discussed in the fourth lecture, entitled "God's frowns against Covetousness," the foundation of some remarks that seem to us adapted to the existing state of things. We have nothing to say in the way of objection to the views presented by Dr. Cuyler. His leading position is, that the pecuniary distress which pervades our country is a judgment upon the people for their covetousness. But in maintaining this position, he avoids the presumption of those who, "taking upon themselves the mystery of things, as if they were God's spies," pronounce with all confidence upon the final cause of every dispensation of providence, and invade, with unhallowed tread, even the sacred privacy of domestic sorrow, that they may make every individual calamity the occasion of impeachment against the character of the sufferer. His interpretations of divine providence are suffi ciently guarded against this pharisaical presumption, and we surrender ourselves with pleasure and profit to his guidance, while he gathers up the indications of passing events, and intimates the duties to which they give rise. But it has seemed to us that it might be useful to give a fuller exposition of those duties than was consistent with the brevity to which Dr. Cuyler was limited. The great lines of our duty are indeed unalterable; they remain the same through all ages and under all circumstances. The law of rectitude is as immutable as its author. But though its substantial demands upon us are unchanging, never relaxing their hold, or altering their character; yet these demands, when traced out to their ultimate consequences, must always have respect to the particular circumstances in which we are placed. Though the law be the same, it will define and prescribe different duties to different men, because of their dissimilar position. The widow's two mites were as full a discharge of duty, with her restricted means, as had been a much larger amount had she been rich. The apostle Paul recognises this dependency of our duty at a particular time, upon the circumstances in which we are placed, when in writing to the Corinthians, he recommends a certain course as "good for the present distress." Similar emergencies have been always occurring (or those that are closely analagous), in which the "times" (as they are technically called), have prescribed their specific or concomitant duties: such, for example, as times of prosperity, which call for acts of special thanksgiving-or, times of adversity, which enjoin the duty of humiliation, seasons of anxiety and distress, in which the whole community sympathize; they are occasions on which all, and especially the teachers of morals and religion should be vigilant-should examine their distinctive character, inspect their meaning, and enforce the lessons which they are intended to inculcate. The intelligent reader will doubtlessly concur in the remark, that, under the providence of God, we have fallen upon times so marked as to call upon us specially to note and turn them to profitable account. None who are at all conversant with what is occurrent from day to day, need to be convinced that it is emphatically a time of present distress. Without venturing to inquire into the causes of the present distress, lest it should lead us on to debateable and delicate ground, we may consider the providential lessons which it ought to inculcate. We use the term providential by design, and from deliberate choice. For, however the men of the world may account for the times, by ascribing them to the folly, or imprudence, or covetousness, or dishonesty of ill-directed human agency, yet the providence of God is not less concerned in works such as these than it is in those where the second causes or operators are wholly invisible. The sparrow may fall to the ground by the shot of the sportsman, or be caught in the net of the fowler, or die of natural disease; but in either case, the occurrence comes alike within the cognizance of its Creator; and so it may be the rigorous policy of government, it may be the fanatical spirit of speculation, an excessive importation of foreign products, or extravagant living, which has given the times their menacing aspect. "The present distress" may legitimately be ascribed to one of these causes, or to a combination of them all; yet, the evil in its origin and progress, has not escaped the notice of God, nor been permitted without a design to impart some important instruction. As to how long "the present distress" will continue, and by what measures or expedients it could be most speedily and effectually allayed, we do not offer an opinion. It does not fall within our province, in the prosecution of our present theme. It is a knotty problem, which we are willing to leave to the solution of those who are better versed than ourselves in the laws of political economy. In the mean time, however, there are certain duties incumbent upon those who feel its pressure, which are in some respects prescribed, or rather enforced, with peculiar energy, by the times; some of which we propose to mention. And, first, it is peculiarly important in the present distress, that the disciples of Christ "maintain a conscience void of offence”—a duty which is of course obligatory at all times and in every condition; but we refer to it now, and give it the precedence in this enunciation, on account of the multiplied temptations in the times to neglect it; and we speak with a more particular reference to a conscientious respect for the mercantile virtues of integrity in keeping our word-honesty in fulfilling our engagements, and discharging our obligations, so far as it is in our power. It is a monition which ought to be impressed with great earnestness upon those especially who are so associated in business as to have its responsibilities, moral as well as pecuniary, in some sense divided. The fact is as common as it is reprehensible, for persons of |