r instance of the
inelegance of explaining a simile is met with in the prayers of those
who quote from the Liturgy the passage "We have done that which we ought
not to have done, and have left undone that which we ought to have done,
and there is no health in us;" but distort the original to "there is no
_spiritual_ health in us;" thus destroying at once the strength and
harmony of one of the finest specimens of forcible and beautiful
composition which decorates English literature. In this case also, as in
that of "moral blight," health is so often used in a figurative sense,
that we are apt to forget that the expression is a simile; or the phrase
"_spiritual_ health" would sound as disagreeably as the commencement of
the same portion of the Liturgy, were it altered to "We have erred and
strayed from thy _spiritual_ ways, like lost _spiritual_ sheep." All
these inaccuracies in composition proceed from attempts to explain
similes, an attempt which ought to be cautiously avoided; because a
simile is an endeavour to explain or illustrate a subject by means of
some analogy subsisting between it and another subject; and it is
evident, that an explanation or illustration which requires a further
explanation to make it intelligible, is much better omitted; and that an
explanation of that which is already clear, is a glaring instance of
tautology, and, therefore, a gross defect in style.

A.
_November 20th, 1834_

THE DEPARTURE OF ANOTHER YEAR.

_To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine._

Another year is gone! How solemn the reflection! How replete with
instruction! Times and seasons are passing away in rapid succession; and
amid the cares and avocations of the present, we seem in a great measure
insensible of our near approach to an eternal world. But we are assured
that "_The day of the Lord will come_." The purpose for which the world
was created, and made the theatre of such mysterious and benevolent
transactions, will be accomplished; the reign of grace, in the salvation
of men, will terminate; the influences of the Holy Spirit in their
regeneration will be no longer necessary; the preaching of the gospel,
as the ordained means of conversion, shall for ever cease. Then all
mankind, that have lived from the beginning of the world, will enter on
a state of endless and unchangeable existence: some, in the presence of
God, will enjoy the most exquisite pleasures, a