will be done." Believe that a thing is, when it is not, and that belief will cause it to be! Inquirers are exhorted to throw entirely out of the account, the plain question of fact, whether they are entirely holy or not. They must believe they are while yet they are not, and thus they will be. And, accordingly, the "witness" often appears, declaring that the work was accomplished in him, the moment he brought himself to say, "I can, I may, I will, I do believe." And they describe the belief which they thus entertained, not as an undoubting trust in the sufficiency of divine grace, but simply as a firm conviction, a full persuasion of the reality of a fact, which they at the same time knew had no existence. But that fact, their entire holiness, became a reality, the moment they believed it to be, while yet it was not. The virtue of the man was not strengthened; his mind was not enlightened; his heart was not suddenly purified; no moral change took place. He only adopted a different estimate of his moral condition, while he remained the same. Before, he regarded himself morally imperfect. At his "second conversion," he believed himself to be perfectly holy, and, as a consequence, ever since, he has enjoyed "perfect peace." And it would be very strange if perfect peace were not enjoyed, by the man who believes, "as much as he believes his own existence," that he is perfectly blameless before God, whether he is so or not. As long as he can maintain that conviction, irrespective of the fact of his real imperfection, conscience can no more reprove him, than it can reprove an angel in heaven. But the question as to the degree of spiritual attainment which he has at any time made, is a simple question of fact. He either is, or is not, entirely sanctified, and no conviction or belief of his as to the fact, can affect it in the least. Belief, faith, in the sense of confidence in the fullness and sufficiency of divine grace, will undoubtedly prove a most efficient means of carrying forward the work of sanctification in the soul. But how belief, in the sense of firm persuasion that the work is already done, will cause its instantaneous completion, must be left for those to explain, who can bring themselves to believe things that they know are not, as though they were. Such are some of the reasons which have compelled us to receive the testimony of these "witnesses" to their entire sanctification, with some degree of abatement. The subject itself is of so sacred a character, and the narratives in general exhibit so much of a Christian spirit, that we have been withheld from presenting the objections against the book in as strong a light as the truth would warrant. If any of the authors of these narratives should read these pages, and feel that they have been treated with undue severity, they should be the last to complain, for out of their own mouths have they been judged. Our estimate of the book as a whole, is simply, that it is a fair transcript of the minds and hearts of its authors, exhibiting mingled defects and excellencies. We believe that it, like them, will do both good and evil. We should never have subjected it even to so lenient a criticism, had we not feared that the evil which it will do to some of its readers will be great, and very much to be deplored. For, if they are led, as many will be, to conform their highest standard of piety to the models which are here presented for imitation, they must be very far from the simple, unpretending, yet earnest, energetic and self-denying standard of the gospel. Whether these writers so designed it or not, their book will be sure to lead many to strive after fervors, and ecstasies of emotion, in their religion, when they have much more need of quietness, reflection and a faithful observance of common duties. It will lead them to proclaim aloud their own attainments in holiness, when there is much more need that they should give evidence of such attainments in their daily life and conduct. will lead them unjustly to censure, and even to despise, their brethren and sisters in the churches, from whose counsel and example they have much need to learn wisdom. It will lead them to adopt impressions, and visions, and emotions, and a supposed witness of the Spirit, for the infallible guide of their religious life, and thus shut their minds and hearts against instructions and admonitions, to which they should give earnest heed. And if a book is circulated by "thousands" which is fitted to produce such consequences, its editor has no right to plead, as an exemption from criticism, the sincerity and the good intentions of its authors. It ART. V. THE ORIGINAL UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. PICKERING, BACHMAN, AGASSIZ. The races of Men and their Geographical Distribution. By The Doctrine of the Unity of the Human Race examined on It is not without an emotion of national pride that we hold up to public view the works whose titles we have above recited. They are all American, all relate to a subject of the highest im portance, all are works of original investigation, and of high scientific character, and together form a valuable contribution to the stock of human knowledge. They discuss the grandest problem of natural history, the question of the unity of the human race. As it can never be uninteresting to intelligent readers to be made acquainted with the latest conclusions of science upon that subject, we propose to exhibit, so far as they are presented in these essays, the results already ascertained, and the reasonings which yet remain to be decided, in relation to it. To introduce then our authors;-Dr. Pickering was one of the gentlemen who constituted the scientific corps of our national exploring expedition, some few years since. Selected for that position in consequence of his attainments in natural history, and furnished both with ample opportunities of observation, and with the strongest stimulus to the employment of them, the work which details his observations could hardly fail to be of very high value. It is issued by the government with all the costly elegance which distinguishes its publications of this kind.* Dr. Pickering's observations upon the human races commenced in Brazil; where specimens of the native African race were presented to his view in great variety. On the west coast, he observed the South and Central American varieties; and subsequently the Indians of the high northwest. These he was enabled afterwards to compare with numerous specimens of the tribes of the interior northwest during a residence in Washington; as deputations from those tribes are constantly visiting that city. The continuance of the voyage through the Pacific Ocean and the East Indies, afforded large opportunities of observing the Malay and Mongolian races; and in the marts of the East, as at Singapore, Dr. Pickering found individuals of almost every variety of men. The Hottentots he observed at the Cape of Good Hope on his return. For the purpose of giving completeness to his investigations, Dr. Pickering subsequently undertook another voyage, and observed the varieties of mankind in Arabia, Egypt, and Abyssinia. The results of all these investigations, together with a great body of facts relating to the distribution of introduced plants through these extended regions, are embodied in the work before us. Dr. Pickering's observations upon the human race are detailed with great brevity and conciseness, and in a certain moderate and guarded style of expression; which, if it does not seem as full and decided as might be desirable, at least carries with it an assurance of the author's accuracy. We quote, from his chapter of We perceive that an English republication of this volume has been issued by Bohn, and could wish that some American publisher would give it to us in an equally accessible form. Zoological Deductions, a few passages which embody some of his most important conclusions. "There is I conceive no middle ground between the admission of eleven distinct species in the human family, and their reduction to one." These eleven varieties Dr. Pickering classifies by their color as follows: Two white races;-The Caucasian, or as he terms it the Arabian, and the Abyssinian. Three brown races;-The Mongolian, the Hottentot, and the Malay. Four blackish-brown ;-The Papuan, the Negrillo, the Telingan, or dark East Indian, and the Ethiopian. Two black;-The Australian, and the Negro. Five of these races have straight or flowing hair; in the rest it is more or less crisped. Dr. Pickering's careful description and accurate delineation of these races, add much to our previous knowledge of them, and furnish materials for more correct reasoning on the question of their unity than any we have before possessed. It will be observed that the American variety, so familiarly known in the classification of Blumenbach, does not appear in the above list. Dr. Pickering includes it with the Mongolian, and in part with the Malay. He deems the settlement of this continent by both these last named races altogether probable; and observes at the same time, "I think it could be shown on zoological grounds alone that the human family is foreign to the American continent." This remark is one of high interest, and awakens some regret and some surprise that the grounds of an opinion so important were not fully laid before the public in the work itself. Dr. Bachman has long been known as one of our most enthusiastic naturalists. Various published papers of his own, and the very frequent references which Audubon has made to his name, attest both the variety and the accuracy of his information in several departments of natural history. More recently, the preparation of the beautiful work on the Quadrupeds of North America, has established his reputation as an authority upon all subjects relating to the zoology of this continent. Dr. Bachman's present work shows throughout that he has been long engaged in careful and philosophical investigation of topics, in various departments of natural history, which bear upon the question of the nature of a species. When therefore the question of the unity of the human race came up in a club in Charleston, he prepared some notes for the discussion. The debate was a protracted one, and the notes became more extended; and finally the friends who sympathized with Dr. Bachman, as well as some who dissented from his views, expressed the desire that the public should have the opportunity of becoming ac quainted with his views. Accordingly, the notes were hastily thrown together for publication in the form of the present volume. The author apologizes upon this ground for any defects of arrangement which his work may exhibit, but it stauds in no need of apology even in a literary point of view; while as a work of science it merits very high praise. We have nowhere seen any work of similar character. Aiming to settle the question of the unity of mankind upon purely scientific grounds, Dr. Bachman discusses it in almost every aspect; and varied as these aspects are, there is scarcely one of them on which he does not cast some new light. The question of the possibility of hybrid races of animals, is examined with great thoroughness, and even minuteness of detail; the question of varieties among the domesticated animals, is discussed with the most complete command of facts of the highest significance. The diffusion of species of animals, and plants, is treated with the same learned accuracy: and every one of these discussions is enriched with statements of facts, observations, and experiments, many of which are new, original, and decisive. The bearing of these facts is then shown, upon the questions which relate to the origin, and dispersion, of mankind, with a result which is striking and happy beyond all expectation. On the whole, the work is so complete that this branch of the general subject, hitherto the most neglected, is now placed in the clearest light; and Dr. Bachman's conclusion of the derivation of all mankind from a single pair, is altogether beyond the reach of any objection upon grounds of natural history. No work upon the same subject has fallen into our hands, which makes any approach to this, in the departments of which it principally treats, in thoroughness of investigation, and in the decisive and triumphant establishment of its conclusions. Professor Agassiz is too well known to the public, as a scientific observer of the highest merit, to need any mention. His work upon fossil fish placed him in the front rank of observers; and his subsequent investigations in other branches of zoology as well as in geology, and more recently his elucidations of embryology, have both extended and enhanced his reputation. The announcement, that his investigations had led him to adopt some peculiar views in respect to the origin of man, awakened public curiosity in an unusual degree. The very imperfect newspaper reports of lectures and discussions in which such views were expressed by this gentleman, contributed to stimulate, rather than to gratify, that curiosity. He has at length given to the world two extended essays upon the subject; in which the grounds of his opinions are set forth at considerable length, and with all that |
