deemed sectarianism. We consider this as adding very much to the value of the work before us, forming, as it does, a most important supplement to the publications now extant. We know not what Churchmen will think of the writer, but they ought to hail him as an important monitor upon great and long forgotten principles. They will deem him a man who has brought strange things to their ears, but if they will try his statements by the New Testament Scriptures, they will find that these statements are not more strange than true. The volume has our very hearty recommendation.

Watts's Psalms and Hymns, Re-Arranged, in One Series. By JOSIAH CONDER. Snow.

MR. CONDER, not satisfied with the excellent service he did to the Sweet Singer of the British Nonconformist Israel, by his "Poet of the Sanctuary," has proceeded to deal with his Psalms and Hymns, with a view to render them more convenient for public service in Christian assemblies. In an excellent preface Mr. Conder gives the reason of the method he has adopted-reasons which will commend themselves to all men whose judgment is not warped by prejudice. We would cite the points of the preface, did we deem it necessary; but it is not so. They who are interested in the subject will, of course, at once procure for themselves a copy of the work, that they may see what the Editor proposes, and what he has accomplished. There was room and need for something of the kind, and there is not in the Denomination a fitter man for the undertaking than Mr. Conder, since there is no other who has less to fear from the canon of our great Bard Critic: "Let them teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well." Mr. Conder has written much and written well, both in prose and in verse; and as the Compiler, and in part the writer, of the "Congregational HymnBook," he had a sort of prescriptive right to the present undertaking. It will be generally agreed that in no other hands would the delicate task be more safe, and the experiment likely to call forth so little jealousy, fear, and opposition. It is, however, to be regretted that another Edition, on somewhat the same principle, should have been issued at the same time. We refer to the very excellent Edition of Mr. Burder, just out, which has also

great merit. It is but just to say that Mr. Burder was in the field before Mr. Conder, and having advanced far with his plan, he determined to go through with it; and we think he was right, but it is an awkward conjunction, since either edition was a great improvement upon the old book of Watts, and would have served the Denomination equally well. As it is, there is now a chance of collision; but that is not our affair.

An Earnest Plea for a Reign of Temperance and Peace. By JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM, Esq. Jackson.

THE object of Mr. Buckingham is to show that Temperance and Peace will prove conducive to the prosperity of nations,a subject he was anxious to bring before the visitors of the Great Exhibition. The volume consists, first, of an eloquent, copious, and wide-viewed Address, thickly studded, and adorned with important facts, statistical and medical, which is followed by an Appeal to the British People, and especially to the opulent and influential, on the greatest reform yet to be accomplished. This invaluable oration, for such it is, deserves the widest measure of circulation. This alone is calculated to effect more good than all the legislation of the last half-dozen Parliaments. The third document is from the Speech of Mr. Buckingham, on the Extent, Causes, and Effects of Drunkenness, delivered in the House of Commons, in June, 1834. This is a glorious manifesto. No such speech was ever brought forth in the British Senate, and the probability is, that nothing like it will soon be uttered there again. It was only such a man as Mr. Buckingham that could deliver it. No man of inferior talents, courage, and experience, dared have attempted it, or would have been listened There are other productions from the pen of Mr. Buckingham scarcely inferior to this. Altogether, the volume is one of unbounded value.

to.

Memorials of James Mackness, Esq., M.D. Churchill.

THIS is an interesting piece of Medical Biography, and notwithstanding its brevity, it comprises a large amount of locomotion, a multitude and a variety of facts, all fraught with instruction to cultivated men, whether medical or not. The life of Dr. Mackness was somewhat chequered at the outset, but every step was in ad

vancement towards the high position he ultimately attained as a physician at Hastings. In addition to his being a devoted student of his own profession, he had a literary taste, which prompted a good deal of diversified reading and study. He also occasionally wrote respectable verses, of which there are specimens interspersed throughout the volume, giving it an additional interest, especially in the circles in which the excellent Doctor moved. His Diary indicates religion at once sincere and deep. Had we not been informed as to his habits, it might have been supposed it was the production of a minister of the Gospel, or rather of some retired gentleman, of cultivated mind, and an eminently devotional spirit. The volume, as a whole, presents more of the moral and religious than of the medical aspect of his life, and as such it will take a respectable place in Christian Biography.

Education for God; or, The Pure Word of God. Seeleys.

THIS work professes to be a "record of real life, and is a memorial of one that fell asleep in Jesus, aged nineteen." The book constitutes a strong and fervent appeal to parents on the subject of Education for God, and while its object is the highest that can occupy the mind, the execution is not unworthy of it. There is, to our taste, too much Church in the thing, and too much of a disposition to glorify what we must consider a system deeply corrupt. We are told that "the Church of England is the subject of a revived activity in our days." It is so, but certainly an activity that moves more speedily towards Rome than towards Mount Calvary. We are, moreover, informed, that "a new energy diffuses its action throughout her constitution, which reaches through the various branches of her beautiful parochial system." We see right little "beauty" in that system, but everywhere a mass of deformity. Beauty, indeed! to find hundreds and thousands of hard-working Curates-men straining to be useful to the souls of men-on the perpetual brink of starvation, often glad to receive cast-off clothing for themselves and their families, and grateful for the crumbs which rich men suffer to drop into their children's mouths, from their well-replenished tables! This is beauty: Curates doing the work, whilst idle men, in multitudes, are pocketing a handsome revenue, which they are wasting at Bath

or Cheltenham, at Rome, in Paris, or elsewhere. This is beauty! To our view, instead of beauty, the parochial system of England is one mass of deformity. Notwithstanding these exaggerated notions of an Establishment, there is, nevertheless, much in the production of which we highly approve. There is a strong conception of the miserable condition, spiritually considered, of the Millions, and the duty that rests upon the Church of Christ to send them light for their darkness, and spiritual food for their famine. The former, which is copious, is in many points excellent, weaving up great truths, sound maxims, interesting facts, saving doctrine, and wholesome counsel. The volume will be read with advantage and interest by young people, more especially young females.

A Practical Introduction to English Composition. By ROBERT ARMSTRONG. Part I. Simpkin and Marshall. THIS is the third book on this subject which has appeared within the last few months, but they are all on a plan so different, that neither trenches upon the other, and consequently there is no supersession. There is still abundant room for further labour in this direction. Walker's Themes, Rippingham's Outlines, and the Work of Irvine, have all had such a run-although none of them are overburdened with merit-as to show the demand which exists for such publications. The volume which was issued some years ago, by Parker, is good, so far as it goes,-in many respects, quite equal to the Work before us; but in others, the advantage is on the side of Mr. Armstrong, who, as Head Master of the Normal Institution, Edinburgh, understands his business experimentally; and of that experience the public are now to receive the benefit. The First Part of the intended Work-which is to comprise two-only is here. The present treats of the Simple Sentence, the Complex Sentence, and of Punctuation and Dictation; while the fourth book applies the principles laid down under these three heads, and the pupil is exercised in the construction of Simple Narrative. The volume, in this way, provides labour for half a year. Part II., which will be of equal magnitude, is to treat of the higher branches of English Composition. Heretofore-that is, in the present book -Mr. Armstrong has, with steady step, marched side by side with a considerable

body of competent individuals, who have trod in the same path; but the title of his forthcoming volume is wide enough to allow for advancement. English Composition is a great subject, and can only be adequately treated by a great writer. Had Edmund Burke given to this subject the attention he gave to the Sublime and Beautiful, he would have left behind him one of the most precious legacies of his age and generation.

By

The Various Forms of Religion. JABEZ BURNS, D.D. Houlston and Stoneman.

THIS is a very good conception, and Dr. Burns is a man very competent to deal with it, as he has shown in a multitude of ways before, and as now appears from the book itself. It was first delivered in a series of discourses to his own congregation, and the interest excited was such, that a general desire was expressed for their publication. The intention of the speaker was much facilitated by the aid of a Short-hand Writer, which diminished the manual labour that the work would otherwise have involved. This was all very well in itself, and much for the ease of the preacher, but we think he would have done better had he withheld this fact, since there is a ridiculous prejudice against all such publications, on the supposition that not having been written, or not written to any extent, they must necessarily, therefore, be perfunctory and superficial; but no mistake can be greater. The volume comprises six discourses: Religion by Proxy-The Religion of Ceremonies-The Religion of the Senses-The Religion of Feeling-The Religion of Credulity-and the Religion of Faith. It will be seen that there is a dash of originality about the volume, and that it is remarkably suited to the times that are passing over us, while the name of Dr. Burns is sufficient guarantee for ability in the discussion.

The Papacy its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects. Being the Evangelical Alliance First Prize Essay on Popery. By the Rev. J. A. WYLIE. Johnstone and Hunter.

THOUGH impossible, at present, to enlarge, we cannot suffer a month to pass without announcing the appearance of this most important work-a work which will most eminently subserve the interests of Protestantism and genuine religion,

and confer immortality on its gifted Author, while it will constitute a monument bearing the inscription of the Evangelical Alliance to a very remote posterity, when much that otherwise appertains to it will have been forgotten. Without more at present, we most cordially commend it to our readers, as a work alike distinguished by force of argument and power of eloquence. It now turns out that the "Seventh Vial," whose splendour, some time ago, delighted and dazzled the world, was from the pen of Mr. Wylie, a fact which will at once inspire universal confidence in the general merits of the present production.

Letters written during a Tour in Holland and North Germany, in July and August, 1851. By JOHN HOWARD HINTON, M.A. Houlston and Stoneman.

WE are in some measure indebted to the Evangelical Alliance for this very interesting volume, and also to the spirit of fraternity which distinguishes the Baptist Body. At the Annual Sessions of its Union, which includes about a thousand of the Baptist Churches in Great Britain, it was resolved to send a deputation to the Triennial Conference of the Baptist Churches of Germany and Denmark, lately held at Hamburg. Dr. Steane and Mr. Hinton, as the secretaries, were appointed to that honourable and pleasurable service. Having once crossed the water, the worthy Secretaries determined to find their way further up into the country, Dr. Steane having in view the promotion of the objects of the Evangelical Alliance, and Mr. Hinton the improvement of health and extension of knowledge. These gentlemen were accompanied by a batch of ladies of education, who served as interpreters, and in that capacity proved of no ordinary value in treating with the Germans. Mr. Hinton, ever active, with an eye to see and an ear to hear everything, and a mind of curious construction, delighting in questioning processes, and intent on making the most of his tour, resolved that his family should share in his felicities. He, therefore wrote a lengthened series of Letters, primarily intending nothing more than their enlightenment. Our Author thinks it will be deemed surprising, that, in so rapid a journey, so much could have been written; but he holds that "this makes no alteration in the fact." None whatever; it is another proof of the many already existing, that by daily doing a little, the busiest man, in the course of two or three months, can do much. Our ardent traveller gives us to understand, that this work often occupied time after midnight, and more frequently from four o'clock in the morning, while the days were occupied with the fatigues of pleasure and travel. We do not like his "midnight" labour, but the four o'clock in the morning is a good example, which deserves to be imitated, not simply by travellers, but by home students. The letters are largely topographical, abounding in interesting sketches of things with which the bulk of British readers are not personally conversant. There are also some very vivid glances at the religion of the

Continent. The account of Wirtemburg, the seat of the labours of the immortal Luther, is peculiarly affecting. The work, abounding as it does in interesting facts and solid reflections, has our very cordial recommendation.

Fastern Manners Illustrative of the New Testament History. By ROBERT JAMIESON, D.D. Third Edition. Oliphant and Sons.

DR. JAMIESON is already well and favourably known to the public by his volume on "Old Testament Manners," and the encouragement he has received has been such as to induce him to continue his endeavours in the same direction, the results of which are, the present copious and interesting volume. Writing professedly for the young, it was not his object to construct a regular treatise, of limits so comprehensive as to embrace the whole field of Oriental Customs, in which every incidental allusion, or minute circumstance connected with that subject, in the sacred writings, should be introduced and distinctly classified. His object was something far more specific; he wisely deemed it more likely to be useful to the class of readers for whom the work is intended, to seize on those more prominent circumstances which are calculated to stir up imagination and awaken curiosity; and, accordingly, it will be found, that while he has omitted nothing of importance that required elucidation, he has dwelt more largely on those parts which, from their presenting difficulties to the easy understanding of the Scripture, or involving peculiarities at variance with the system of manners prevailing amongst us, may receive an interesting illustration by a narrative or picture of manners from Modern Oriental Society, exactly resembling the incidents and manners of the Sacred History. For the accomplishment of this highly-important object, he deemed no other arrangement necessary than to follow the stream of Sacred History, so that the work becomes, in fact, a sort of commentary on Scripture History, affording an explanation of all the principal characteristic incidents and customs which occur in the regular course of the Sacred Narrative. It will, therefore, be seen that the Work is one which could not have been written at a very early day, since it is the result largely of recent travel and observation in Eastern climes. Encouraged by his past success, Dr. Jamieson has spared no pains to bring the work up to the present advanced state of knowledge, by enriching his pages with occasional references to the opinions of the most learned living writers on Biblical subjects, especially with quotations from the latest travellers, both British and Foreign, who have perambulated the countries described or alluded to in the New Testament. By the introduction of these, the present is a considerably improved and enlarged edition, as compared with those which preceded. Not satisfied with these, a considerable number of pictorial embellishments, illustrative of some of the most characteristic amongst the Eastern arts and customs are added.

Such is the outline of what the Author proposed, and has, in a highly respectable manner, accomplished; it is, therefore, impossible that a work of which all this can be said should prove other than instructive and interesting. The amount of matter here collected together is much greater than could be supposed by the

general reader, and shows how remarkably time is contributing to establish the claims of the Sacred Volume, as also to illustrate its less obvious meanings. They who shall read this book simultaneously with the sacred pages, from the commencement of Matthew to the close of the Revelation, will obtain such a knowledge of the Word of God as can be derived from no other source. We estimate very highly the services of Dr. Jamieson, and cordially commend his volume to all our readers, more especially young students of Scripture, and Sunday-school Teachers.

The

DR. FERGUSSON assigns no reason for having picked out these four Books from among others, instead of going straight through, nor is it needful; the matter is of small importance, since the great thing is to acquire the vocables. To have accomplished this is to have overcome the principal difficulty in the acquisition of tongues. The changes undergone by nouns, adjectives, and verbs will be soon mastered, and the continued perusal of the best works is the most efficient method of thoroughly acquiring the knowledge appertaining to government. The work may be considered as a very superior school-book. Editor has put forth his strength in the vocabulary, not confining himself to the epic forms in nouns, adjectives, and verbs, but has also followed the best authors in Attic Greek. He has also endeavoured, as far as space and circumstances permit, to trace the meaning of the words from their radical signification down to that which they bear in the text. In addition to an explanation of every word that occurs, he has given a translation of the more difficult passages, with a view of assisting the less advanced student. Such is the achievement of the Author, while the volume is got up in the customary style of the Publishers, the type large and beautiful, paper compact and durable, the volume firmly bound, and the price very reasonable. On the Ordinance of Baptism, as it was Instituted of God, Preached and Administered by his Servant John, Enforced by the Lord Jesus Christ, Taught by his Apostles, and Required of all who are Seeking for Salvation "after the due order." By SEACOME ELLISON. Simpkin and Co. MR. ELLISON is much disposed to magnify his office. He thinks if only "the one-hundredth part of all the labour which is employed to keep the ordinance of Baptism in the back-ground, were employed to give it the prominence designed by its great Institutor, it would not only be less decried by the world, but be more highly esteemed by many who make some profession of it." Mr. Ellison seems ill to please; but he goes still further. After summing up a series of impossibilities, he tells us, "As well might the sons of men attempt to prove these, as attempt to prove by the standard of the Gospel-the only authority which can be admitted-that a believer has received the remission of sins, the salvation of his soul, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and been born into the heavenly family, before he issues out of the water." Well done, Mr. Ellison ! This is going, as the people have it, "the whole hog." What are we to think of