To Correspondents. Correspondents will please address, Thomas Cooper, 5, Park Row, Knightsbridge, London.' J, A., and all Agents are respectfully informed that this Journal will be issued also in Monthly Parts, each part with wrapper to be 44d., if containing four numbers, and 54d. if containing five. "Thoughts from the Inner Circle.'-Notice in next number. G. T. H., Stockton; 'Operative,' Lambeth; 'Sic Valeas;' and E. W., Liverpool.-Received. CONSTANT READER, Etruria, Potteries.--I am glad that the Eight Letters' have been of so much benefit to him. Whately's Logic' is a book of the highest reputation; but perhaps some of the works of G. J. Holyoake would be more suitable, as preparatives, for the writer. I really do not know which is the best late work on book-keeping; and I have forgot the names of the treatises in use when I was a schoolmaster, fourteen years ago. J. C., Kingsland Road.-I have recommended a class of that kind in the institution named ; but without effect. If the Discussion Class failed, let not the writer give up self-improvement. He may meet with more kindred spirits in a little time. YORK. The writer under this signature may rest assured that he has given no offence. I wish all the religious world would convey their expostulations in language equally consistent with the injunctions of Him whom they profess to take for their Great Exemplar. H. A. J.-None of the Secretaries of popular Institutions in London have, as yet, sent me their Quarterly list of Lectures. Robert Owen is to lecture next Sunday morning, at 11, at the Farringdon Hall; and Lloyd Jones in the evening, at 7-on "Socialism; its aims and objects." DISTINGUISHED MEN ALWAYS HARD-WORKERS.-When we read the lives of distinguished men in any department, we find them always celebrated for the amount of labour they could perform. Demosthenes, Julius Cæsar, Henry the Fourth of France, Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Franklin, Washington, Napoleon,-different as they were in their intellectual and moral qualities, were all renowned as hard-workers. We read how many days they could support the fatigues of a march: how early they rose; how late they watched; how many hours they spent in the field, in the cabinet, in the court: how many secretaries they kept employed; in short how hard they worked.-Everett's Discourse. INTEMPERANCE.-Those men who destroy a healthful constitution of body by intemperance, and an irregular life, do as manifestly kill themselves, as those who hang, or poison, or drown themselves.--Sherlock. SUSPICION. There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little; and, therefore, men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know more, and not to keep their suspicions in smother.-Lord Bacon. ECONOMY OF NATURE.-Nothing could be more desirable to creatures mortal (as we are by the necessary condition of terrestrial matter) and obnoxious to miseries, than to be born after such a manner, as in the first part of life, while we are tender, unacquainted with things, and put under the guardianship of others, to enjoy the sweets without the care; in the middle, to please ourselves as much in taking care of others; and in the decrepit, feeble age, to be assisted in our turn by others whom we have educated.— King's Origin of Evil. INDUSTRY.-Excellence is never granted to man, but as the reward of labour. It argues, indeed, no small strength of mind to persevere in the habits of industry without the pleasure of perceiving those advantages, which, like the hand of a clock, whilst they make hourly approaches to their point, yet proceed so slowly as to escape observation.-Sir Joshua Reynolds. THE MIND THE STANDARD OF MAN.-It was said by Charles XII. of Sweden, that he who was ignorant of the arithmetical art was but half a man. With how much greater force may a similar expression be applied to him who carries to his grave the neglected and unprofitable seeds of faculties, which it depended on himself to have reared to maturity, and of which the fruits bring accessions to human happiness-more precious than all the gratifications which power or wealth can command.-Dugald Stewart. HISTORIANS.-We find but few historians of all ages, who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what they distribute to the public, by which means, a falsehood once received from a famed writer becomes traditional to posterity.-Dryden. DUTY OF PARENTS.-The last duty of parents to their children is that of giving them an education suitable to their station in life; a duty pointed out by reason and for the greatest importance of any. For, as Puffendorf very justly observes, it is not easy to imagine or allow, that a parent has conferred any considerable benefit on his child by bringing him into the world, if he afterwards entirely neglects his culture and education, and suffers him to grow up like a beast, to lead a life useless to others and shameful to himself.-J. Blackstone. THINKINGS, FROM WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. PUNISHMENT OF DEATH UNJUST.-Whatever is worthy to be loved for any thing, is worthy of preservation. A wise and dispassionate legislator, if any such should ever arise among men, will not condemn to death him who has done or is likely to do more service than injury to society. Blocks and gibbets are the dearest objects with legislators, and their business is never with hopes or with virtues. MERCY ENFORCED BY THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY.-Should we be less merciful to our fellow creatures than to our domestic animals? Before we deliver them to be killed, we weigh their services against their inconveniences. On the foundation of policy (when we have no better) let us erect the trophies of humanity: let us consider that, educated in the same manner, and situated in the same position, we ourselves might have acted as reprovably. Abolish that for ever which must else for ever generate abuses; and attribute the faults of the man to the office, not the faults of the office to the man. CAUSE OF NATIONAL MISERY.-If men consider the happiness of others, or their own; in fewer words, if they were wise, no state would be depopulated, no city pillaged, not a village would be laid in ashes, not a farm deserted. But there always have been, and always will be, men about the despot, who persuade him that terror is better than esteem; that no one knows whether he is reverenced or not, but that he who is dreaded has indubitable proofs of it, and is regarded by mortals as a god. By pampering this foible in the prince, they are permitted to come closer and closer to him; and from the indulgence of his corrupted humours they derive their wealth and influence. THE CIVIL LAWS OF ENGLAND.-The Laws of England have been the subject of eulogy to many sagacious and learned men. I have read them repeatedly, and pondered them attentively. I find them often dilatory, often uncertain, often contradictory, often cruel, often ruinous. Whenever they find a man down, they keep him so, and the more pertinaciously the more earnestly he appeals to them. Like tilers, in mending one hole, they always make another. There is no country in which they move with such velocity where life is at stake, or, where property is to be defended, so slowly. Can it be wondered, that upon a bench, under so rotten an effigy of justice, sat a Scroggs, a Jeffreys, a Finch, and a Page! Law has become in England not only the most expensive, but the most rapacious and dishonest of trades. INTERCOURSE OF MIND.-If men would permit their minds, like their children, to associate freely together-if they could agree to meet one another with smiles and frankness, instead of suspicion and defiance, the common stock of wisdom and of happiness would be centupled.-Probably those very two men who hate each other most, and whose best husbandry is to sow briars and thistles in each other's path, would, if they had ever met and conversed familiarly, have been ardent and inseparable friends. GOODNESS.-Goodness does not more certainly make men happy, than happiness makes them good. We must distinguish between felicity and prosperity; for prosperity leads often to ambition, and ambition to disappointment; the course is then over, the wheel turns round but once; while the reaction of goodness and happiness is perpetual. LEARNING.-Although our learning raiseth up against us many enemies among the low, and more among the powerful, yet doth it invest us with grand and glorious privileges, and grant to us a largess of beatitude. We enter our studies, and enjoy a society which we alone can bring together. We raise no jealousy by conversing with one in preference to another; we give no offence to the most illustrious, by questioning him as long as he will, and leaving as abruptly. Diversity of opinion raises no tumult in our presence; each interlocutor stands before us, speaks or is silent, and we adjourn or decide the business at our leisure. Nothing is past which we desire to be present; and we enjoy by anticipation somewhat like the power which I imagine we shall possess hereafter, of sailing on a wish from world to world. "TRUTH IS GROWING." (AIR-Leicester Chartist Chaunt.) Truth is growing:-Hearts are glowing Now she seeketh him that speaketh 'Brethren, shout-ye all are free!' Freedom bringeth Joy that singeth Though kings render their defender "THE TIME SHALL COME." The time shall come when Wrong shall end, Toil, brothers, toil,- till the world is free; The time shall come when kingly crown Toil, brothers, toil,-till the world is free- The time shall come when earth shall be A garden of joy from sea to sea; When the slaughterous sword is drawn no more, Till Goodness shall hold high jubilee ! THOMAS COOPER. Leicester. THE PEASANT'S EPITAPH. Hard by lieth Timothy Clow; Confirmed was his fontal vow! Alway to his "pastors," and eke to his "masters," At ten, with plough and with wain, At twenty, Love's pleasing smart Throbbed keen through his simple heart; At thirty, when sorely rack'd With rheum, and his children lack'd Both raiment and food, his "pastor," so good, At forty,-lo! dull decay Came on, and his locks grew grey; So his "master," at length, in whose service his strength At fifty, when sorrow gave To Death the poor worn-out slave, For his worth they allowed him-a Bastile shroud! For his bones-a parish grave! WILLIAM JONES. CRITICAL EXEGESIS OF GOSPEL HISTORY, ON THE BASIS OF STRAUSS'S LEBEN JESU.' A SERIES OF EIGHT DISCOURSES; DELIVERED AT THE LITERARY INSTITUTION, JOHN STREET, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, AND AT THE HALL OF SCIENCE, CITY ROAD, ON SUNDAY EVENINGS, DURING THE WINTERS OF 1848-9, AND 1849–50. BY THOMAS COOPER, Author of 'The Purgatory of Suicides.' I. THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. (Concluded from last number.) To judge of the Gospel history as we judge of other histories, we cannot come to the decision that we have a narrative of reality in these portions of Matthew and Luke which profess to describe the events of the birth and childhood of Jesus of Nazareth. Yet that such an unreal narrative was formed, is not wondrous. If," remarks Strauss, "we consider the firm conviction of his disciples, that all which had been prophesied in the Old Testament of the Messiah must necessarily have been fulfilled in the person of their master; and, moreover, that there were many blank spaces in the history of Christ; we shall see that it was impossible to have happened otherwise than that these ideas should have embodied themselves, and thus the mythi have arisen which we find. Even if a more correct representation of the life of Jesus had been possible by means of tradition, this conviction of the disciples must have been strong enough to triumph over it.' But who, and what was Jesus of Nazareth, that these profound convictions should have been infixed in the minds of his followers respecting him? "Is not this the carpenter's son ?" is the question of the inhabitants of Nazareth, concerning him, according to Matthew; or, "Is not this the carpenter ?" according to Mark. The Jewish custom prescribed even to one destined to a learned career, or in general to any spiritual occupation, the acquisition of some handicraft. Thus Paul, who was "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, the learned rabbin, was also a tent-maker. We know nothing historical of extraordinary expectations or plans on the part of the parents of Jesus in relation to their son, and therefore nothing is more natural than the supposition that Jesus early practised the trade of his father. But his intellectual development must have been of the grandest order. He was one of those lowly born, but gloriously endowed children of Nature, which she brings forth at seasons, few and far between, to exercise a commanding influence upon mankind. His enemies assert (John, vii ch., 15 v.) that he had never learned letters; and he does not contradict them. His townsmen being astonished to find so much wisdom in him, we are compelled to infer that he had not, to their knowledge, been a student. Yet he is called 'Rabbi,' and 'Rabboni,' by his disciples; but these were salutations often bestowed on teachers who had not received a rabbinical education. And the intimate acquaintance which Jesus exhibits with doctrinal traditions, and the abuses and superstitions of the Rabbins, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the anti-pharisaic discourse in Matthew (ch. xxiii) he might acquire from the numerous discourses of the Pharisees to the people, without going through a course of study under them. The annual visits of his parents to Jerusalem-for that is to be supposed of them, as pious Israelites, and that he would accompany them to the feast of the Passover-undoubtedly were the grand occasions for his acquirement of enlarged views. From his twelfth year-for such was the national custom-we may conjecture that Jesus availed himself of this excellent opportunity for mingling with the concourse of Jews and Jewish proselytes of all countries and opinions; and that he would thus form his mind, become acquainted with the doctrines of various sects, and, approve or reject them, learn the real condition of the people, and, perhaps, extend his mental survey beyond the narrow limits and prejudices of Palestine. At the Passover, Jesus would meet Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes -members of the three great religious sects of his age and country; and among the foreign visitants would be Alexandrian Jews, even then beginning to be noted for their attachment to the doctrines of Plato. His transcendent intellect could not fail to enrich itself by observation of these varieties of religionists. With the Pharisees, he had evidently no sympathy, except in his belief of a future state: their sanctimonious hypocrisy and ceremonious trifling disgusted him. With the Sadducees he had, perhaps, scarcely any communion; for the members of that sceptical sect were only to be found among the ruling classes, and the high religious cast of his mind would find no proper food in their materialism. With the Essenes, consisting chiefly of the toiling classes, Jesus must have felt a strong sympathy-yet not sufficient unity with them to destroy his mental independence. Josephus-a cotemporary of Christ, be it remembered, if the date assigned for the birth of Jesus be the true one-gives some striking details of the manners and customs of the Essenes; assuring us that they cherished mutual love beyond other men-that they rejected pleasure as evil, and regarded temperance and a conquest over the passions as the greatest virtue that, without condemning marriage, they preferred celibacy, and received and educated the children of others, as their own-that they de |