established favorite with scientific readers. No other book compresses such a multiplicity of facts in so small a space. It is, at the same time, the production of eminent men of science; and though popular in its plan, is far enough from being superficial.

15. Life and Remains of Douglas Jerrold. By his son, Blanchard Jerrold. Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 1859.

Sincere, courageous men, hating wrong, and earnest in assailing it, cannot well be amiable; and if to these moral qualities, is added a large endowment of wit, they will indeed be respected, but still, dreaded rather than loved. Of such was Douglas Jerrold,- -a noble soul, but in his contact with the world, all the more repellant for his very truthfulness. His biography is full of interest, especially to the literary reader. His habits of thought and composition, his intellectual moods, all are portrayed with a graphic pen. A strange interest attaches to the description of his country home,-his retreat within the dense grove surrounding his antiquated house; where in addition to his disjointed and eccentric labors as a student and author, he received friends, and joined in sports with them with all the hilarity of youth. Think of Douglas Jerrold in company with Charles Dickens, Mr. Macready, and John Forster, indulging "in a most active game of leap-frog, the backs being requested to turn in any obtrusive two-penny,' with the real zest of fourteen." His biographer gives an amusing account of his awkwardness in every thing pertaining to manual exertion, and of his propensity to possess curious things, which, however, he would throw aside as soon as the charm of novelty disappeared.

"In any active grace, he was singularly deficient. He could never draw a straight line, nor play any game that required manual skill; nor carve the plainest joint, nor ride a horse, nor draw a cork. He dashed gallantly at each accomplishment, but gave it up after a vehement but futile effort. He was the most helpless of men. He never brushed his hat; never opened a drawer to find a collar; never knew where he had put his stick. Every thing must be in his hand. His toilet was performed usually with his back to the glass. It mattered not to him, that his kerchief was awry. 'Plain linen and country washing,' he used to cite as containing all a man need care for, in the matter of dress. He was, however, passionately fond of any kind of new preparation for shaving,-of any newly-invented strop or razor. had these things in immense quantities, and seldom tried each more than once. If a thing did not succeed in the first trial, it was cast aside forever. Patent cork-screws, coffee-pots, matchboxes, knives, and lamps, delighted him. If he saw something

He

new, he must have it instantly. Struck by a waist-coat in a shop window, he must go in, try it on, and if it fit him, wear it on the spot, sending home that in which he left his house. One day he returned home with an instrument shaped like a horse-shoe, within the magic circle of which were hooks to take stones from the equine hoof, little saws, a gimlet, a cork-screw, a boot-hook, &c. And he carried this curious instrument about with him for sometime, highly pleased with the skill the workman had exhibited in cramming so many utensils in so confined a place." (p. 277.)

16. Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men. By François Arago. Translated by Admiral W. H. Smyth, the Rev. Baden Powell, and Robert Grant. Two Series in Two Volumes. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1859.

The first volume of this work contains an autobiography of Arago, with biographies of Bailly, Herschel, Laplace, and Fourier. The second volume gives biographies of Carnot, Malus, Fresnel, Thomas Young, and James Watt. Aside from the very fascinating style in which the several biographies are written, they have the much higher merit of presenting a substantial history of the progress of physical science within the last half century. Each of the eminent men whose biography is sketched, was a leading discoverer in his special department of science; and the writer has presented with great fulness of detail, the particulars of discovery. While therefore the work contains,— and in large measure, the interest which always attaches to personal history, it at the same time compresses the leading facts of science which have given special glory to the last half century. The translators and editors have added valuable notes on points which are too technical for the comprehension of unscientific readers; and have also indicated the particulars in which it is allowable to differ in opinion from the illustrious biographer. We seldom have an opportunity to call attention to works of more permanent value.

17. Poems. By Frances Anne Kemble. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1859.

Such is the modest title, which, without preface, apology, or other common-place prefix, ushers before us a large collection of poetic gems, adding a fresh example of the versatility of the author's genius. Many of the collection, particularly the sonnets, are exquisitely polished, have the true rythm, and breathe the true fervor of poetic tenderness. Knowing the histrionic powers which have linked the author's name with the great English bard, we instinctively turned, as most readers will, to the lines To Shakspeare." The volume is handsomely printed.

18. Biblical Review: intended as a New and Improved Commentary on the Bible; wherein the Author attempts to give more Rational Interpretations of Subjects and Passages, than are common in works having the same General Purpose; on a Plan that renders the Book as well fitted for Reading as for Reference. By Rev. W. E. Manley. Boston: Abel Tompkins. 1859.

But few persons can appreciate the patience and industry which are essential to the execution of a work like this. Of all delvers into the lore of antiquity, none have occasion for a greater degree of care, or for a more tenacious assiduity, than the Biblical commentator. After scholarship, an eagerness to toil and a willingness to persevere are the principal requisites. Mr. Manley has all these essentials in a marked degree and we shall refer to his commentary with entire confidence, that he has accomplished every thing in his power,-that nothing is written in haste,-that every thought and suggestion is the fruit of patient deliberation. We are pleased to observe, that in the volume named above, he is no copyist, that his comments are his own. He has succeeded we think in giving a consecutiveness to his commentary, which makes the book readable. Commentaries are generally like dictionaries,-books of reference. The new commentary will prove an exception. We hope the pecuniary results will encourage the author in his laborious enterprise.

19. Marryatt's Works. Peter Simple, The King's Own, Newton Foster, Japhet in Search of His Father. By Captain Marryatt. New York: Derby & Jackson.

An enterprise proposing uniform editions of the British novels, commencing with Fielding, could by no means omit the amusing stories of Marryatt. We have an honest affection for his novels, for they were the first works of fiction that arrested our attention. We read them, one by one, with avidity, and laughed as no other fictions could ever make us laugh. And we sincerely believe that they did us good. In the cares and trials of later life, we have not unfrequently gone back to the days when Peter Simple and his queer shipmates, and the ludicrous mishaps of Japhet dispelled the thought of care, and put us in the best of humor with all the world. The publishers named above have given us a cheap, yet convenient and elegant edition of the novels. We have given the title of four at the head of this; and we advise those who may not have read any of Marryatt's works, to begin with them. "Peter Simple," and "Japhet in Search of his Father," will prove to those who have any humor, a sufficient introduction to the series as a whole. We shall speak of other volumes hereafter; and take occasion to state something in detail as to the special characteristics of Marryatt as a writer.

20. Man and His Dwelling Place. An Essay towards the Interpretation of Nature. New York: Redfield.

This work discusses, in four books, the general questions of Science, Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics, and concludes with a book on Dialogues. Science is considered with reference to its work, the laws of nature; illustrations being drawn from astronomy, embracing speculations on the grounds of knowledge, and the essential idea of being. All the forms of idealism, skepticism, positiveism, mysticism, and negation, are considered in the light of philosophy; and philosophy is made to throw light on the more directly practical questions of religion and morals. The book, as a whole, has too much of solidity, and its speculations are too multifarious to admit of presentation in any thing less than an extended review. The style is simple, perspicuous, scholastic, compact; often reminding one of the solid sentences of Bacon. We invite attention to the work as one destined to arrest the attention of thinkers.

21. The American Home Garden. Being Principles and Rules for the Culture of Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers, and Shrubbery. To which is added Brief Notes on Farm Crops, with a Table of their Average Product and Chemical Constituents. By Alexander Watson. Illustrated. New York: Harper & Brothers. Boston: A. Williams & Co. 1859.

Gardening is not in "our way; " and it is for the large number whom, in this particular, we represent, that this well printed treatise is peculiarly adapted. The book deals mostly in stating and illustrating principles, trusting to the judgment of the reader, to form his own rules for the application. The author well says, that he could have "made a book twice as large, and not half as intelligible." The engraved illustrations are copious, and distinct; and form a peculiar excellence in a treatise for practical use. Its convenience is greatly enhanced by a full index. This is the special time for its appearance, as the season for planting is nearly upon us.

22. Life of John Fitch, the Inventor of the Steamboat. By Thompson Wescott. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1858.

Robert Fulton, it seems, was not the originator of steamnavigation. John Fitch was before him by a quarter of a century. So much this book appears to prove. If so, the failure of Fitch to give his invention notoriety, is attributable to his moral worthlessness; a fearful proof that character as well as genius is an important element toward success even in physical enterprise.

ART. XIV.

Latimer and the English Reformation.

SOME time in the year 1438, John Wickliffe having been fifty-four years dead, his remains, by order of the Pope, were disinterred and burned, and the ashes were thrown into the river Swift. And this stream, says an old church historian, "conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, and they into the ocean-the dispersion of his ashes becoming thus the emblem of the diffusion of his doctrines." How these doctrines, going thus abroad, proved efficient forces in England's future, it is in part our present business to show.

The commencement of the sixteenth century is conceded to be one of the pivotal points, as well as one of the most interesting periods, of history. In England, it was the morning of Elizabeth's Augustan day. As connected with the civilization of Europe, it is the point at which we take our final leave of the Middle Ages-that interregnum of decay and then of preparation-and enter on our present epoch of historical certainty, of material and intellectual activity, and of the organization of positive Christian ideas. A new order of things began. Every department of human affairs confessed a new impulse. The mariner's compass had filled the sailor with a new confidence on the sea; the invention of gunpowder was inaugurating new methods of warfare on the land. The faith of Columbus had just found its reward, and a virgin continent was offered in marriage to the knowledge and enterprise of the old. There was a fever of exploration and discovery. Art was becoming more inventive and energetic; commerce more vital and adventurous, stretching itself over wider fields to enrich itself with larger returns. All forms of material activity were throbbing with an unwonted life.

The

And this increased activity in material directions was indicative of a corresponding intellectual quickening. printing press, which had only a little before taken its place among the elevating forces of the world, had already given earnests of its power. Good learning was reviving.

VOL. XVI.

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