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which may be said to complete his professional honours. His fame, however, rests upon a more stable foundation than such adventitious distinctions: and as long as the two noble establishments to which he is attached shall adorn the metropolis, the name of Cooper will be venerated, by the public, no less than by the faculty, to whose history it gives so brilliant a lustre.

It remains only to observe, that though passed the meridian of life, the powers of this celebrated practitioner continue to be employed for the general benefit of mankind, and the particular instruction of surgical students.

Sir Astley Cooper has been twice married: first in 1791, to Anne, daughter of Thomas Cock, Esq., an eminent London merchant. This lady died at Gadesbridge Park, Hertfordshire, on the 19th of June, 1827, aged 53, having never had any issue. On the 5th of July, in the following year, Sir Astley married at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, Catherine, daughter of the late John Jones, Esq., of Derry Ormond, in the county of Cardigan. Mr. Bransby Cooper, the brother of Sir Astley, and member of parliament for Gloucester, has distinguished himself by his zeal in defence of the Protestant establishment, and opposition to what is called Catholic Emancipation. W.

ON TRUST IN GOD.

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dispenses with unsparing hand; in the rudest storm with which persecution can assail him, or the world's "loud laugh” terrify and annoy. Its influences are not unproductive or inoperative-they mitigate anxiety, and abolish fear;-they dispel dejection, and disavow ambition's airy good. They encourage and animate him under whatever misfortunes and unforeseen distresses may arise, however inclement his sky, or impervious the clouds which obstruct his vision, that "his God will supply all his need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Complete resignation, and entire dependence upon God, is all that he requires to confirm and establish the compact entered into, at the time we renounced the vanities of the present world, and dedicated ourselves entirely to his service; and he will assuredly and invariably produce, from the darkest scenes of human life, light, comfort, and joy. Trust in him, is a duty at once imperative, obligatory, and enjoined on all his followers, in consideration of past favours, present benefits, and future mercies. Whom can we solicit better, or to what being can we appeal higher, than He, who is the author of "every good and perfect gift;" to direct our erring footsteps, lest they slip, and we perish irrecoverably? It is an unspeakable privilege, an inexpressible source of satisfaction, to have him for our guide and comforter, protector and friend.

They who place their whole security in prosperity and temporal advantages, trust THE faith of Christianity, when it is vital to an object that is weak and fluctuating, and practical, penetrates the heart, and de- uncertain and variable. Common enjoytermines the conduct of life, is the great ments will not always satisfy, nor vastness prompter of devotional feelings, and the in- of possessions always afford security. We spirer of holy aspirations. It then exists, may be deprived of them by accident, for not in name only, but in reality; is not the they are insecure; robbed by invasion, or fortuitous creature of imagination, but the vitiated by envy and neglect. All human constant indwelling inhabitant of the breast. things are in incessant motion, and unceasHe who is deeply imbued with the spiriting activity; they vary, they alter, and deof religion, and possesses the graces of a renovated mind in full exercise, will be humble and submissive to the appointments of Providence, however severe; under privations the most painful, sorrows the most piercing, and sufferings the most pungent. The grand principles of his religion, all conspire to teach him to surrender himself unreservedly to his Maker; to confide with undissembled sincerity in his wisdom, to provide for his temporal necessities, and to replenish his spiritual wants. That divine principle of religion implanted by God himself, and rendered fruitful by the influences of the blessed Spirit, sustains and upholds when the world forsakes him; amid the thickening damp which adversity

cay. Those exalted and quenchless spirits whom we have been accustomed to reverence, and by habit taught to venerate, in political or moral science; who, by their mighty schemes and noble plans of improvement for the diffusion of knowledge, were the wonder of nations, and the flower of their species,-they, too, depart,-they too, disappear from sight, like those of infamous character and dishonourable name. The subject of conversation, and the theme of discussion, are succeeded by others, which equally engage the attention, and awaken the ardour of curiosity. As time advances, the scenes change, and events in succession follow each other. Principles, systems, and opinions, which were once

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esteemed as infallible, and regarded as sacred, are now exploded; some being almost obliterated from the page of history, and others scarcely to be discerned by the twilight of tradition. We often hear of men, who were installed in power, suddenly degraded; who were attended with the pomp of title and the pride of royalty, abased and dethroned. We read of the rumour of war, and the convulsions of empire, of intolerance on the part of those who govern, of conspiracy and democratic bigotry on the part of those who are governed-succeeded by other commotions, followed by other plots and intrigues.

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once fortifies and prepares him for whatever station in life he may be destined to occupy. When placed in the most dark and cheerless state, he enjoys an elevation of mind which is only the concomitant of conscious virtue. It goes far to annihilate human misery, and to alleviate its sorrows and calamities. He has learnt to regulate his passions, and moderate his desires, and by so doing, to increase his peace and happiness. Infinite goodness often uses the evils of the present life, to produce good effects, to execute its righteous purposes, and complete its beneficent plans. The discipline of adversity, and the constraints of poverty, are intended to advance salutary improvements, and to impart necessary Instruction. This has rectified many dangerous errors of the mind, suppressed the overflowing volatility of the animal spirits, and subdued many irregular passions, which gave a bent and direction to its movements. This has enforced humility, and strengthen

The human mind is equally exposed to mutation, with the transitory condition of all external objects. It is intimately associated, both in its nature and the casual alliances it may accidentally form, or with which it may be brought into contact. Our ideas and sentiments undergo many changes in the progress of life. The difference betwixt the buoyancy of youth and the de-ed dependence ;-has implanted true wispression of age is perceptible, is great. The gay vigour of imagination, the pleasing illusions which the pencil of hope had delineated in animating perspective, have vanished; and the sober, and chastened dictates of judgment, and prudential caution, have succeeded; thus the condition of internal, as well as external things, materially varies their appearance with unceasing rapidity.

Since the fall of man, the world itself bears ample evidence that it has been convulsed and disordered to its very centre, by some posterior cause, that has penetrated its structure, and disfigured its formation. It is composed of perishable materials, and is perpetually, though silently, tending towards its dissolution. It is continually changing its aspect, and presenting signals of mutability and decay. Its perpetuity cannot be ascertained, nor its duration decided. The Christian is an inhabitant of a world where every thing is rapidly receding from him, where every thing is hourly varying its appearance, and unstable in its condition. But what a blessed consolation, what a certain satisfaction, to know that the object of his affections, the reality of his reward, God and heaven, remain the same, permanent and unchangeable, a "dwellingplace in all generations, a refuge in all storms."

Trust in God, is the good man's support while in this inconstant, this mutable state. Prosperity does not immoderately elate him, nor adversity deeply depress him.

He

is weaned from an undue love of the world, and its fallacious vanities. Religion at

dom, and its indispensable accompaniment, self-knowledge. This inculcates the prac tical lessons of patience and self-denial, in the most unfavourable situations possible for the active virtues to flourish and luxuriate. From prosperous and adverse circumstances, the Most High can cause them to conduce to their ultimate good, and extract from them the most beneficial results; but especially the latter, he uses to train his adopted and sanctified children for a better world, an enduring home. The pressure of adversity teaches them the feebleness of their nature, and the weakness of their most boasted powers, when destitute of the smiles of Providence and the favour of Heaven.

One cause, and a powerful one it should be, to induce the Christian to place unlimited confidence in his divine protector, arises from previous mercies, and antecedent benefits. The motives for trust in God are cogent, and the incentives binding and imperative. He, in common with mankind in general, receives the bounties of nature, the enjoyments of health, and the other nameless concomitants of pleasurable existence, which proceed from an interchange of kind sentiment, and the reciprocal obligations of social life. The joys and assistances, those amiable qualities of true friendship, are his, equally so with the high-born sons of fortune, and remain lovely and unimpaired in every emergency. His divine Benefactor is continually giving him fresh manifestations of his uninterrupted protection and care; and laying him under larger contributions for gratitude and trust. It is

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On Trust in God.

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he who implanted the first principles of life, his probationary with his triumphant and the first impulse of activity and mo- state; he feels an assurance that he here tion; who imparted vigour to the limbs, sees but the surface of a fathomless depth. elasticity to the muscles, and growth to He here, can only give a doubtful estievery member of his body; who watched mate, when viewing a material mountain, and guarded him through the imbecility of of the number of particles of which it is infancy, the dangers which surround his composed, from a specimen of its quachildhood, and his providence is mysteri- lities, or a description of its geological ously superintending him through the years peculiarities. "He here sees but in part; of manhood, to the final close of his mortal but when that which is perfect is come, course, in direct subserviency to his vast de- then that which is in part shall be done signs and intricate plans. It is he who first | away.” actuates the thinking principle, and inspires it with an energy that is divine, deathless, | and immortal; who bestows on man his intellectual activities, mind and thought, and embellishes, some partially, some liberally, with those shining qualities of genius and talents.

It is the same bounteous hand which dispenses health and prosperity, contentment and peace, to some individuals of the human family; that permits to others disease and adversity, dissatisfaction and envy. It is he, who has said, “the hairs of your head are all numbered, and not a sparrow falleth to the ground without his knowledge," that manages and directs, to the most beneficial issue, our temporal interests and worldly affairs, to the best possible advantage. What an irresistible motive is this to the afflicted Christian! who weeps in secret at the losses he has sustained, and the embarrassments that have unexpectedly happened to frustrate his schemes, and disconcert his intentions, to acquiesce in his providential dispensations, to submit to his authoritative appointments, which are ultimately propitious, benign, and just, without murmuring or repining. This is the product of that peace, and the offspring of that faith, which the world and its illusive phantoms can neither give nor take away," and which, with humble prostration of soul, causes him to exclaim, in the language of his divine Lord and Master, on another occasion, "Not my will, O God, but thine be done.” Knowing, and remembering the promise, he knows not now, he shall know hereafter," he is persuaded, that if he were to decide for himself, though it might be more consonant to his present feelings, it would be less conducive to his ultimate happiness. In consequence of the dimming and obscuring influence of sin upon the faculties of his soul, from his inaptitude to understand, to their utmost extent, the connecting links of that interminable chain of causes, which in some measure associates time with eternity,

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The grandeur of religion appears more conspicuous, it attains a sublimer attitude, and shines with a surpassing majesty all its own, when employed in solacing and sustaining the Christian under distress and personal bereavement. When his family are torn from him by the cold rude hand of death, or a valued friend drops into the grave without any intimation of the change; and deprives him of all he loved below, he appears a wanderer, a sort of solitary detachment of humanity, to himself, - disconsolate, unknown,were it not for that blissful assurance, that the separation is only temporary, and that there is a time coming, which will usher in a resurrection of the just, by Him, who on earth declared, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

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Religion, which abounds with precepts for his entire trust in God, enables him also to bear with patience and pious resignation, the troubles and perplexities of life. While it inculcates adherence to duty, constancy in virtue, and dependence upon God, it no less frequently expresses, in animating strains, the immortality of reasonable natures, and the future inheritance of the righteous. This has been the joy and solace of good men in every age, their constant light in darkness, their unfailing comfort in adversity, their perpetual support under persecution. The

most apparently insurmountable obstacles, and formidable difficulties, have dwindled into insignificance and empty shadow, equally mean, equally unsubstantial, when brought into competition with everlasting life, and the promised crown. The hope of a future state, and the cheering certainty of its near approach, have in every land, and in every period of time, when this celestial beam of consolation had dissipated the horrible darkness by which reason is enveloped, and through which it ineffectually essays to pierce and penetrate beyond, made captivity freedom, slavery liberty, and thrown around the

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General Remarks on the Creation of Man.

exile the attractions and endearments of domestic life. This untroubled lustre, this distant brightness, has guided with intrepidity the martyr to the stake, and the christian hero to crucifixion, and death in every shape. In the present day, this is the humble Christian's stedfast succour, his exhaustless fount of consolation, when distressed and forlorn, when deprived of his dearest relations, and nearest ties of affection and consanguinity, for what else can strengthen and revive

him.

"When friends have vanished to their viewless home,

And he is left companionless to roam, O! what can cheer his melancholy way, But hopes of union in the land of day?" When surrounded by complicated difficulties, and encompassed by dangers, while traversing this "vale of tears," the thorny wilderness of time, the pious Christian is assured in the word of God, "that all things work together for good, to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose."

J. RO-CE.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CREATION OF MAN.

(Extracted from the Writings of the late Rev. Michael Arthur, Edinburgh, and published about the year 1788.)

"And God said, Let us make man in our image,

after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."-Gen. i. 26, 27.

WITH special solemnity is the account of man's creation introduced here. It was the joint work of the co-eternal Three. With what unanimity do they concur in it! In relation to it, they speak thus, "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness."

Self-knowledge ever has been esteemed most necessary, not only among Jews and Christians, but even among Pagans. Most necessary is it that we know what man was, and what he is now. Let us go as far as Eden, and view man coming out of his Divine Maker's hand. Happy man! But how precarious is sublunary bliss! "The crown is fallen from man's head." "He has sinned."

The answer goes upon the supposition, that the creation of man was the peculiar work of God. The notion that a human being could be produced by the influence of the heavenly bodies, or by the accidental combination of atoms, is absurd in

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the extreme. It is also understood here, that Adam was the first man, and the original progenitor of the human race. The supposition of pre-Adamites, or a race of human beings existing prior to Adam, is not only without foundation in the sacred scriptures, but contrary to them. That there could not be an unbeginning and infinite succession of generations of mankind, might be demonstrated from reason itself. That Adam was the first man, from whom all other individuals of the human family descend, the scripture plainly declares.

It has, indeed, been pretended, that the common opinion that Adam was the first man, goes upon a false interpretation of the Mosaic history, Gen. chapters i. and ii. It is alleged, that the design of that history is not to inform us of the origin of mankind in general, but of the progenitors of the Jews. Accordingly it has been pretended, that Moses mentions a twofold creation, one of mankind in general, chap. 1. 27. and another of the sacred race in particular, chap. ii. 7. That, in both places, there is mention of the creation of man is certain. But may not the same thing be intended in both? Such repetitions in the scriptures are not either unnecessary or improper. Is it not, to every unprejudiced mind, manifest, that, till the sixth and last day of the crea tion, not one human being existed? Does not the beginning of the Mosaic history plainly inform us of the origin of all mankind? Is it not in the sequel of that history that the father of the sacred race makes his first appearance?

The supposition of a race of human beings prior to Adam, has been thought to have countenance from the great number of the inhabitants of the world at the time of the martyrdom of Abel, in Gen. iv. 14, 16y 17. But the supposition, that mankind were multiplied and numerous when that unnatural murder was committed, is not at all incompatible with the received doctrine, that Adam was the common parent of all mankind. For Seth, who was given in place of Abel, whom Cain slew, was not born till the hundred and thirtieth year of the world; and, as he was given in lieu of Abel, it is natural to think, that the death of that martyr might happen in the year immediately preceding. Now, as it is highly probable that in the first ages of the world mankind were uncommonly fruitful, it is reasonable to suppose, that they thus might be multiplied to many thousands. It is a prevailing opinion, that, at that period, there were not fewer than a hundred thou sand of Adam's descendants in the world. Is it any wonder, then, though at that

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Remarkable Inscription.

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early period, that we find human beings | him to them. But it has been accounted in distant places, and unknown to one for from natural causes, and in a way still another? more rational.

The opinion of the existence of preAdamites, has also been supposed to receive strength from the knowledge and cultivation of the arts in the days of Adam, of which we have intimations in Gen. iv. 20, 21. But, when we recollect that the world had existed for about an hundred and thirty years at the period to which the quotation from Genesis refers, we cannot be surprised to find, that such inventions and arts as are more essential and necessary to human society, in the several stages of it, were, even at so early a period, known, and, to a considerable degree, cultivated.

In opposition to the received doctrine, that all the nations and individuals of mankind, spread over the face of the whole earth, are the descendants of one man, as their common parent, certain writers have pleaded the visible diversity between one part of them and another. One circumstance especially has been urged; the great diversity of complexion by which one part of mankind is distinguished from another. That mankind are visibly distinguished by their white and black complexion, is well known. But will this prove that they are two different species of beings, or that they must have descended from different original parents? Can we not trace the diversity of complexion to other causes, and account for it, in a full consistency with our received principles ?

To trace the history of that part of mankind called Negroes, and to account for their peculiar complexion, would lead into disquisitions and speculations foreign to my present design. How whimsical and ludicrous is the reason which the Mahometans assign for the diversity of complexion among mankind! They pretend that the first man, after the manner of certain irrational animals, was made spotted, partly white and partly black; and that this is the cause of the different colours which obtain among his posterity. But, may not the different complexions of the human species be accounted for in a manner far more rational and satisfactory?

Now there are, in the general, too ways in which writers have explained this point. It has been pretended, that the black complexion of part of the human species is preternatural, and that the reason of it is this:-It was inflicted as a signal judgment on Ham, for the undutiful act of uncovering his father's nakedness; all the negroes are the posterity of that unnatural son, and their black complexion is communicated from

124.-VOL. XI.

The complexions of mankind are known to differ according to the climates which they inhabit. Every person acquainted with the world, knows that the negroes are natives of Africa; they inhabit a vast continent, not cooled by refreshing breezes from the sea; their air is incessantly heated by sweeping along vast fiery sands; they have the sun vertical, and his beams reflected with great violence from their high mountains.

The heavenly bodies had been adjusted and arranged; the sea and the land separated the one from the other; the sea stocked with fish; the earth with a variety of vegetables and animals for the benefit and comfort of man; and now he was created, and had assigned to him, in the world, a place that rendered him far superior to all the other inhabitants of it. He was appointed the vice-regent of the great God, in this part of his vast universe.

REMARKABLE INSCRIPTION.

(From Clarke's Commentary: Luke i. ver. 68.) "How astonishing is the following Invocation of the Supreme Being (translated from the original Sanscreet, by Dr. C. Williams) still existing on a stone, in a cave near the ancient city of Gya, in the East Indies.

"The Deity, who is the Lord, the possessor of all, appeared in this ocean of natural beings, at the beginning of the Kalee Yoog, (the age of contention and baseness.) He who is omnipresent, and everlastingly to be contemplated, the Supreme Being, the Eternal One, the Divinity worthy to be adored-APPEARED here with a PORTION of his DIVINE NATURE. Reverence be unto thee in the form of Bood-dha!* Reverence be unto thee, an INCARNATION of the Deity, and the Eternal One! Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of Mercy: the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the Deity who overcometh the sins of Kalee Yoog; the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy towards those who serve thee.O'M! The possessor of all things in VITAL FORM! Thou art Brahma, Veesh

* Bood-dha. The name of the Deity, as author of happiness.

OM. A mystic emblem of the Deity, forbidden formed of the Sanscreet letters a, oo, which in comto be pronounced but in silence. It is a syllable position coalesce, and make o, and the usual consopant m. The first letter stands for the Creator, the second for the Preserver, and the third for the Destroyer. It is the same among the Hindoos, as Yehovah, is among the Hebrews.

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