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r one of the interlocutors) of .7.4sotpdeAr ;tf, tke,,,ifinottfentfa, Century, with, the objeet , of,,,persAaffing th0, world ,t,e adopt some scheme e cooperation. We, do not know that • 274 444A4 emanates from a kindred source, but there is a strong family likeness, between the two bantlinis. There is the same unsophis- ticated self-reliance, the same unbounded faith in the views of " number one "; there is the same grand manner instating truisms, or hanknied arguments, as if they were novelties, and of an- nouncing the most extraordin y paradoxes, as if the author were unfolding a revelation that.cooukl. not be challenged. Alpha like Hampden exhibits a fondness for dialogue, and some skill in its use; it displays a greater elegance of style, a similar cleverness in the contrivance of a story as a framework for the philosophy. The philosophy itself, however, has greatly grown. Hampden only aimed at recommending the projects of other people. Mr. Ramus Randolph, the supposed author of Alpha, is, we believe, as original as absurd paradox can make him, except what he has taken from the system of Buddhism ; and if he does not aim at more philan- thropical objects than his predecessor, he has a vastly higher and wider range.

According to Alpha, everything is wrong, and has been from the earliest dawn of history, or, if we may judge from the sequences, long before the age of readable records. It is not merely that go- vernment, laws, religion, are falsehoods, and those who exercise the offices those institutions require become selfish hypocrites— that we can learn very little worth knowing from poetry, or prose fiction, history, or biography, and nothing at all from systems of so-called philosophy. The common opinions, the common sense, the abstract notions of mankind, are all bosh—nothing. There is no such thing as sin or crime, vice or virtue, morality, beauty, or even ugliness, unless in something that man fashions. They are mere terms to hide our ignorance or to prove our insufficiency. There is nothing in all this " 'varsal world" but God, who is per- fect intelligence ; man, who is imperfect intelligence, from his soul being pined to his body which is animal ; and matter, inorganic or organic, that God created by his will and varied as we see it. All this is duly proved by propositions secundum artem, with various other truths,--sach as that all which we call sins, crimes, wrongs, or immoralities, arise from ignorance, and are— errors ; we require nothing but knowledge to make us happy. God himself has none of the attributes we foolishly assign to him ; having perfect intelligence, he cannot have them, for perfect knowledge cannot do other than right. The only way to improve mankind—to teach them to fulfil their destiny—to lead them to happiness, is to make them intelligent, to give them knowledge, to cultivate their intelligence. Unfortunately, when Mr. Remus comes to the practical part of his system, he resembles his prede- cessor the philosopher in Rondos, who advised mankind to live according to nature, and was the less understood the longer he was listened to.

The whole scheme is one of those that have not even plausi. bility enough to require refutation; for notwithstanding the writer's parade of logic, and his unquestioned cleverness, he con- tinually lays himself open. Neither, we think, does he make the

best of his theory as a theory. What he means by his main pro- position seems to be this—That when we thoroughly know any- thing in all its antecedents and consequences, we may be safely trusted to go right ; that many (he would say all) of our errors and of our crimes arise from ignorance, not as the word is com- monly understood, but from an imperfect view of the whole sub- ject and its relations. This principle he indicates often enough, but he does not impress it with sufficient distinctness and breadth. And if he did, he would not establish his proposition, because (even if we put an evil nature aside) man has passions and feelings as well as reason. One of the best points in the book is the man- ner in which the writer upholds the power of conviction in urging men to action or restraining them. When joined to a natural ap- titude and an earnest mind, it is indeed so great a stimulant that it produces what is termed "a call" or inspiration : but (even in cases where we are convinced) conviction is not always operative, because man is not always reasonable. To borrow a common and obvious example, a man who gets drunk over night knows perfectly well—is thoroughly convinced—of what will happen next morn- ing, but he braves the consequences : and analogous examples of a graver kind might easily be multiplied. For a long time the reader fancies that physical evil is alto- gether ignored, since he hears nothing of disease or pain. It turns out, however, that ". reason " is to cure and finally prevent dis- • The Alpha, or First iqineiple of the Human Mind : antlotogbleal Ingniyy into the Nature of TruthF•Ftiliffshed by Chapman and Hall. •1--"" th ad( cift5t.rthisi,141 ' if theIver-populationliuttiwovid,

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milt:,; 1. d much you have 'just affo • ,A , me at e el10VSelt .1x to suffer 'a ;1141.41P. 61 evils, the very, e ended- which stenis deregate from His beneficence, (urged, too, as )'ou have urged them,) afford eie the most solid and enduring happiness."

Fnough of thePhilosophy of Alpha ; although the author coolly tells us in his preface-

" It has frequently been said that there exists a necessity for a now faith : this volume is intended to supply the want ; faith in the perfectibility of human nature. It is also affirmed that men are yearning for a new truth : it has been the object of the author to supply the desideratum ; that truth which is the exponent of all truth."

But although his philosophy is nothing, and his modesty of an unknown quantity, the literary merit of the author is consider- able. The framework, which he contrives to give dramatic inte- rest to his exposition, answers its purpose. He has observed a good deal, read a good deal, and thought a good deal ; so that many of his incidental remarks are shrewd, and his attacks u.pon existing evils keen, though made from an abstract point of view. He has fancy, an elegant style, and a spice of quiet satire. This is

a neat touch upon travellers. " For may own part, I have been no great reader or travels ; probably from the accidental circumstance of an early acquaintance with the most veritable, the most entertaining, and withal the most instructive specimens of this scies of writing that our nation, rich in this literature, affords,—I mean Robinson Crusoo, Peter Wilkins, and Gulliver. After these masterpieces, I confess that the tales of modern travellers have but little charm for me : they are tedious, insipid, and improbable."

The following explanation of the " line of beauty " may be taken as an example of his criticism—ingenious, but fanciful.

" There is nothing purposeless in nature, and hence no natural bias of the mind is purposeless. In the forms of things the mind has a bias towards curves. But why ? There are many reasons. I will mention ono. Man cannot comprehend infinity ; nor can he derive pleasure from what he can- not comprehend. A straight line has in it the principle of infinitude : un- broken it is infinite. The mind strives to grasp it, and ie repulsed. There is more of awe than pleasure in this repulse. From its interminable vast- ness we cannot take in the thought : we are doomed to joyless ignorance. The emotion we experience is sublimity. Whatever awakens the feeling, or impresses us with the idea of undefined or defindess immensity, is subhme. Of this the straight lino is suggestive ; hence it affords the mind less satis- faction than the curve, and for this reason, the mind can comprehend the circle. No matter how immense it be, the mind can travel round it. The process is easy. There is something cut out from space; something we can comprehend and know. This is the source and purpose of the bias. Every natural bias of the mind has the same tendency,—it yearns to know.

" In the colours of things unbroken uniformity would be flatness, same- new, suggestive of immense. The difficulty of isolating objects, and thus of knowing them, would be mmense. Colours obviate this difficulty ; and those most distinguished by their brilliancy give a natural bias to the mina in their favour. This is the beneficent purpose of the bias. " Sounds and odours answer similar ends.'