and I believe it to be the true policy of the Reformer, to enlist them on the side of the people. In the very bosom of what are called the aristocratic classes, notwithstanding all their pride, pretension, and folly, I can find warmer friends of the people, than I can in the ranks of the people themselves. There is, moreover, such a solidarity of interests, in every community, that what is really for the interest of one class in the long run, is for the interest of all, and may, with some little pains, be made to appear so to all. The worst enemies of genuine reform and progress, are rarely those who stand on the topmost round of the social ladder, but those nearer the foot struggling to reach the top. Your "people's friend," who, when poor, vapored about liberty and equality, and told you to beware of those who live in fine houses, on fashionable streets, is sure himself to live in one of those same fine houses, as soon as he can command the means. What he condemned was from the first the object of his ambition, and he condemned it, only because he was unable to reach it. I wish to see a greater degree of social equality, fewer factitious distinctions, and a more equitable distribution of the products of labor; but I hope to effect it, and will effect it, through the aid of the more influential classes themselves.

But, to secure this aid, we must resort to moral and religious influences. The first thing to be done is, to recall the age to a living Christian faith. We can'not proceed a single step, till we have got men to feel their moral accountability to a greater than man, and that nothing is gained, unless they gain the approbation of the Moral Governor of the Universe. There must be in men's hearts a faith which looks beyond time and sense, which looks only to what is true, beautiful, and good, and which joys in the most painful sacrifices. We must equalize wealth by raising the soul above the love of it, and help the poor by producing in them that state of the affections, that religious exaltation of the soul, which will lead them to count the wealth of this world as mere dross, or as dust in the bal

ance, if they can but gain those durable riches, which will not take to themselves wings and fly away, if they can but lay up treasures, "where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal." Christianity has once brought men to count poverty, and want, and suffering in the cause of truth, justice, humanity, the greatest of all blessings, and in so doing changed the face of the world; and it can, and will, do so again. I dare avow, in the very face of this infidel age, in whose infidelity I once shared, my full and firm faith in the truth and power of Christianity to work out, for us, the highest social good here, as well as to secure us the blessedness of heaven hereafter. The attempt to reform the world, and to regain the long lost Eden, by human agencies, human philosophies, political economies, workhouses, and "cash payments,' has been made, and failed, and always will fail, repeat we the experiment as often as we may. God leaves men, now and then, as it were, to themselves, to their own wisdom and strength, which are but weakness and folly; but He is jealous of His own honor, and His glory He will not give to another. Our own devices, our own schemes and systems, wrought out with infinite pains, may appear unto ourselves worthy of all praise; but the High and Holy One holds them in de-. rision. The great moral power, that overcomes the world, is religious faith. At its touch, the great, the wealthy, the proud, become meek and childlike, and pour out their wealth like water, to help onward the good cause; genius, and talent, and learning, lose their arrogance and selfishness, and, bowing low at the foot of the cross, know only Christ and him crucified; regardless of honor or fame, they bring their rich gifts. to the altar, and sacrifice all for the glory of God, and the redemption of men.

Here is my hope for the world. There is a higher Power than that of man; a mightier Reformer than human agency. It is God's will to work out for us a great and abiding social good, in the establishment of his kingdom on the earth; but He will do this, only

in his own way, by "that man whom He hath ordained," and by whom "He will judge the world in righteousness. The Gospel kingdom is the only possible medium of renovation and growth. But, blessed be God, it is all-sufficient, and all that we have to do is, to return under its dominion; and its principles, entering our hearts, will make us mighty to the pulling down of the strong-holds of iniquity, and in overturning the thrones of oppression and blood.

Entertaining these views, the great object with me is, and must needs be, to reënlist men on the side of the Church, and to bring them once more under the dominion of the Gospel. We have been, for the last three centuries, Catholics no less than Protestants, trying to solve the social problem, without the aid of Divine Wisdom, or resort to the means Divine Grace has provided; and God has confounded our speech, and brought our labor to nought. It is time to abandon our folly, and, ceasing from our insane efforts to ameliorate the condition of our fellow-men, by appeals to their selfishness, or by seeking in our social arrangements to neutralize the selfishness of one by the equal selfishness of another, to look to the Great Father of all for wisdom and strength, and to the moral efficacy of the mediatorial kingdom of his Son.

In the Boston Quarterly Review, I labored, mainly, to enlist the Church on the side of Reform, in the cause of the masses, as the condition of saving itself, and rescuing the age from infidelity; in the present work, the formula is somewhat changed; I accept the Church as the Body of our Lord, as the divinely appointed medium of individual and social regeneration and progress, and must, therefore, labor to enlist men on its side, under its banner, as the preliminary condition of Reform. this, I shall have for enemies the worldly wise, the selfish, the unbelieving, and the indifferent, a formidable host, well marshalled and led on by the great Enemy of all righteousness. But I shall not be alone; I shall be only one in the still mightier army of the Faithful, and shall be encouraged by the saints and

In

martyrs of all ages, whose prayers I dare invoke, and Idare believe will be effectual with the Great Head of the Church, to whose service I have been consecrated, and to which I would consecrate myself anew, and without reserve. Weak and less than nothing as I am in myself, through Him strengthening me, I can do all things. In His name, which is above every name, I send forth this humble work, and with a firm reliance on Him, that he will not suffer me to send it forth in vain. Through Him it shall be a trumpet-voice, to rally the scattered friends of Truth, Justice, Liberty, Country, Humanity, under His banner, and unite them. in one living and indissoluble body. It dares, in the face of an unbelieving world, to raise the standard of the Lord, to unfurl the banner of the Gospel, and to call upon all to unite for the glory of God, and the salvation of men. It calls, in the name of Christ the Crucified, of Christ the Risen, of Christ the Everpresent, of Christ the Almighty, the human race to a RELIGIOUS FUTURE. May God give energy and success to the call, and His be the praise and the glory.

With these remarks, I send this first number forth to the public, in the full conviction that the work will do somewhat to supply a want which all feel, and in the hope that it will meet a favorable reception from the justice and generosity of my countrymen, whose servant I am.

ART. II.Encyclopédie Nouvelle, ou Dictionnaire Philosophique, Scientifique, Littéraire, et Industrielle, offrant le Tableau des Connaissances humaines au XIX Siècle, par une Société des Savans et Littérateurs. Publié sous la Direction de MM. P. LEROUX et J. REYNAUD. Paris: Charles Gosselin. 1836. Tomes 1 et 2. 8vo. pp. 828 et 824.

MORE than three-fourths of this new Encyclopedia, intended to be comprised within eight huge octavo volumes of close print and double columns, have already, we believe, been issued; though we have been able, as yet, to procure only the first and second volumes, and these quite recently. We shall, therefore, reserve all attempt to estimate its general, or particular, value, till the rest of the work is received. We can only say now, that it ably represents the doctrines and aspirations of the new French School, at the head of which stands M. Leroux, and which continues, with essential modifications and improvements, the SaintSimonian. Of the extent, power, or prospects of this school, in France, we have at present no very exact information; and we are unable to judge what is likely to be its ultimate influence on the French mind, and on French literature; but it has all the appearance of being a powerful and growing school, representing one of the most important philosophical and religious movements of modern times. We shall seize an early opportunity to speak of its general characteristics, excellences, and defects, and at considerable length. We limit ourselves, now, to the translation, from one of the volumes before us, of an article, for our own pages, by M. Leroux, on Berkeley and Idealism. The article is ably written, and, besides giving a tolerable synopsis of the philosophical views of the writer and his school, is decidedly one of the best criticisms on Berkeley's system, especially his "New Theory of Vision," that we recollect to have seen; and we are sure, that our