Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1840-09-17

The conversion Of a soul is one Of the
most Interesting phenomena that can he
presented to a rational observer. II, as
most men suppose, and have ever sup
posed, there exists some strange perver-
slty in our moral nature il man be
forming habits which involve in their
very essence the elements Of misery !;
if the moral be that part Of his nature
which must give coloring to his whole
destiny (: il he be immortal, and the
present n probationary state and il,
from the constitution OF things every man
must, 10 n considerable eAteni, impress
upon Others the image of his own moral
likeness, then, surely, no event in his
history can compare in interest with that
in winch II radical and beneficial change
is effected in his inmost soul. Ii is,
surely, glorious sight, to behold tho
affections OF an immortal spirit raised from
the frivolous and transltory pleasures
Of time, and fixed upon things above,
Ia see the spirit, disenthralled from the
dominion Of the passions, walking abroad
in the liberty with which Christ hath
made US free; and The soul, deiormed by
prediction, purified, sanclihcd and trans
formed, made meet to an lDherItor with
the saints in light.
This change, at all times interesting,
is peculiarly grateful to the pious mind /,
when the SUBJECT Of it has been an i'll
fdel The idea Of moral obligation to
the Supreme Being, feeling OF conf
dence in his justice, and Of trust in his
mercy, specially us these are sci forth in
the gospel Of Jesus Christ ,rre SO appropri-
ate to the conditions Of our being they
present so emphaticulIy The support which
the spirit needs, while cncounterlng the
thou, and ills that flesh is heir to, that 1t
is difficult to look without pity upon
human being who, from any cause what
ever, shuts himself out iron all the
bland and cheering influences which
they shed abroad upon the soul. And
hence, when such man renounces his
unbelei, and proclaims, not only that he
believes Christianity to be true, but also
that he has submitted his heart to It's re-
quiremen,s, and has conhded his desti-
nies for eternity TO its hopes, II ght
rea sonably be expected, that the Chris
tisn world should hail the accession ol
the new convert with unusual expressions
Of satisfaction. There is JOY III The pres
ence OF the angels Of God over one SIN
ner that repcnteth.
1t may, therefore, be supposed, that,
as Christian reviewers, we should be
among the first 10 announce TO our rca-
ders, that another inhdel was convert
ed. II We have not, OH this occasion,
manifested all the alacriIy which the ma
tuIc of the case might seem 10 demand,
it must be imputed to other causes than
Indifference to the subject Of conversion;
at least, Of conversion as we UNDER
stand It, We are obliged to add this
last qualification, inasnuch as we find
that many of our old and well establish
cd words are fast losing their personal
identity. The conversion Of our au-
thor, as our readers will have occasion
TO observe, is a very different thing from
all that they have been accustomed to
by that term. They must
not be surprised nowadays, if they
find the words regeneration, religious
holiness, and even the sacred
name OF God himself, in very strange
juxtapositIons. 1t has cost US no little
pains TO ascertain what il was in which
consisted the conversion Of the hero Of
this tale. Whatever change these pages
record, we can discover none which ai-
iects character in any Of its important
aspects. The man, after his conversion,
was the same that he had been before,
only that he had learned TO entertain
somewhat different estimate Of himself,
and had brought himself to rcpose
doubtful belief in facts which he had
formerly treated as fabulous.
But 1t is time we addressed ourselves
to the consideration Of the book before
US. We are happy to be able to speak
well VI II IN several respects. ii is, we
think, unusually well written. The
style is clear, manly, forclble, aud in
general, simple and correct The only
'i'O' VI Oui
forms OF construction which we noticed,
is an occasional omission of the rela-
tive, or some other slight inadvertsncc,
such as will readily arise IN the course
OF hasty aud earnest composition. -
Wherever obscuriiy exists, 1t is TO be
attributed mainly to the nature Of The
subject, and moi 10 muddiness of mind
In thus respect, the author is very happi-
ly conlrusled with very many OF the
disciples oi that school to which he is
Iepuicd to belong.
Nor is this all The intellectual sys-
TEN which IT embraces is that of Cousin.
Aud we are informed IN the preface,
that "Mr Morton has anticipated some
of the results" ol that celebrated French
In other words, We
the author to say that he
without any aids but his own renec-
lion, arrived nj the same doctrines rs
have given TO Cousin 50 wide u nororic-
ry. This certainly is enough 10 be-
speak Tor him among the disciples Of
Ihe Eleclic school sincere and cordial
tribute OF respect. Whatever admira-
ilon may be due IN Cousin, must be
shared with him who can establish the
claim TO have arrived independently ut