The Seaman and his Family: or, Storms and Sunshine. 18mo. pp. 150. Religious Tract Society.-An interesting narrative, containing sound principles, and clear illustrations of duty, in all circumstances, seemingly prosperous or adverse.

Twelve Years ago: by the Author of "Letters to my Unknown Friends." 12mo. pp. 289. Longmans.-The plan of illustrating truth by means of fictitious narrative is now become so common, that it would be useless, by the reiteration of objections, to seek to stem the torrent. At present it will run its course. One thing, however, we can do, and that is, carefully observe whether it really be truth that is offered in this particular vehicle. Error is never more poisonous than when presented under this form. It is easy for the author to disguise its worst features, and to point out results not flowing of necessity from the principles, but such as fancy, rather than logic, may choose to describe. Applying this test to the volume before us, we see nothing in it really deserving commendation. We deny it not the merit of occasional and insulated good remarks, sometimes evangelically correct. But we take it as a whole. The writer is a decided successionist, and that principle desecrates and poisons all with which it is connected. Grace is said to come, not from the Minister, but from God; and therefore the unworthiness of the Minister hinders not

the conveyance of grace, if he be properly appointed. We know nothing of this conveyance of grace through a merely personal channel. Grace is conveyed through truth, and is received by faith; and where truth is not ministered, and faith in it and in its great Author exercised, ordinarily there is no grace,— and with extraordinary occasions we have, in such an argument, nothing to do. Mr. Melville asserts that a person is guilty of schism who leaves his own parish church, because unsound doctrine is preached there, and seeks the truth elsewhere, even though it be in another church. We believe this to be not merely error, but fatal and destructive error. Christ's language is, "Take heed what ye hear;" and, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." The maxim of sacred wisdom, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge," is not only right on all the principles of sound reason, but on those, likewise, of the evangelical administration of grace and providence. In saying that the work on our table belongs decidedly to this class, we believe we say quite enough for our readers.

The Pilgrimage: how God was found of him that sought Him not: or, Rationalism in the Bud, the Blade, and the Ear. A Tale for our Times. Translated from the German of C. A. Wildenhahn, by Mrs. Stanley Carr. 8vo. pp. 404. Simpkin.-It may be a Tale

for our Times; but it is more a tale for Germany, than for our own country. However, the rationalism of Germany has very much in common with the infidel latitudinarianism that unhappily prevails too much in England, and it may be right to expose its principles, and show their tendency, especially their utter inefficiency for true holiness and happiness. The principles of the author are evidently evangelical; but in Germany evangelism has a tendency to a sort of romantic mysticism which the plainer English Christians think it their wisdom to avoid. Light, for the purposes of life, is far more useful in the simple brightness in which it comes from the sun, than when decomposed into the prismatic colours. The author's design is evidently to expose the mischievousness and wickedness of infidelity, and to trace it to its proper source, the haughty, God-opposing pride of selfsufficient man. At the same time, he as clearly shows the beauty, value, and true reasonableness of Christian belief. The narrative is an interesting one, though, of course, decidedly German, both in its invention and conduct.

its

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Popery: its Character, and Crimes. By William Elfe Tayler. With fourteen Illustrations from MSS. and rare Books. 8vo. pp. x, 348. ley. Our author, in his prefatory remarks, observes, "that in the warfare between Popery and Protestantism, which is every day becoming more serious, one of the most usual and successful methods employed by Papists, is that of misrepresenting the true character of Popery, in order to accommodate it to the taste of Protestants. Hence no more important task can possibly be attempted than that which forms the object of the following pages, to exhibit the real doctrines and practices of Romanism from its own writers, in all their actual malignity, and demoralizing results. Mr. Tayler has adhered to his purpose very faithfully: he has lifted up the veil from the "man of sin," and unmasked "the enemy of all righteousness,"

so as to disclose the pestiferous and foul character and deeds of the Romish Church. But the half is not told. Mr. Tayler considers Popery in the light of a spiritual famine, and as a moral pestilence. He dwells upon the former in three chapters, which treat of the Prohibition of the Word of God, the Disuse and Perversion of Preaching, and the Inefficiency of Popish Worship. He illustrates the moral delinquency of that great apostacy by a

consideration of the following topics: auricular Confession, and priestly Absolution; Purgatory; Indulgences of the Romish Church; the Worship of the Saints; the Worship of the Virgin; Worship of Images; the Priest in the Place of God; Corruption of the Papal Courts; the Corruption of the Priesthood; and the Evidence from Prophecy. Mr. Tayler has displayed great industry and tact in the compilation of this volume; and to all who are interested in the controversy (and what true Protestant is not?) it will prove a valuable compendium of the darker and more fearful principles and practices of the Babylonish harlot.

The Retrospect. Being an Inquiry into the Fulfilment of Prophecy during the last Twenty Years: and, also, how far the Church is thereby furnished with any good Grounds for expecting the instant Coming of the Lord. With a Chart. Vol. I. 8vo. pp. xl, 318. Painter. Such have been the events that have transpired during the life-time of the present generation, and so remarkable their character, so arresting to the attention, so startling, so numerous, so consecutive, so quickly following, that we cannot be at all surprised that more than usual regard should be had to those prophetic portions of holy writ that are acknowledged, on all hands, to be as yet unfulfilled. And the more so, as one of the "signs of the times" is an increased and most strongly marked indifference to all acknowledgment of any divine administration that may exhibit evidences of its existence, and of the character of its operations. Never was there so much of Epicurism as there is now. It is slightly disguised indeed. Christian truth asserts the government of God too plainly to allow of open denial. Still, that government is so generalized, so identified with a sort of visible order of nature, as to be deprived of all real characters of government. In such times we cannot, therefore, be surprised when we find many serious believers in divine revelation studying the mysteries of the Apocalypse. Hitherto, few have been successful. Many have been fanciful; some, fanciful even to irreverence. But others have written seriously and reverently; and, even when they have been unsuccessful as to particular interpretation, they have made remarks on general principles, and on passing events, which Ministers, and those who are willing to be students in some of the higher forms of divinity, may read with profit. In this class we place the volunic before us. In exact

ness of interpretation we are not convinced that he has made out his case. Still, we have found many incidental remarks which are, we think, of great value. We have read the volume as a whole without conviction; but not without profit, in reference to detached passages, and individual statements. This is our own impression after reading the work; and to state this, our readers will perhaps think, is the best way we can adopt for the purpose of our present notice.

Salvation: or, the Sinner directed in the Way of Life. By the Rev. William J. M'Cord. 18mo. pp. 132. Religious Tract Society. Notwithstanding a few expressions of which we cannot altogether approve, yet, substantially, these directions are clear, impressive, practical, and based on evangelical principles.

Works of the Puritan Divines. Charnock: The Chief of Sinners Objects of the choicest Mercy, &c. With an Essay on his Life and Writings. By the Rev. W. Symington, D.D. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 283. Thomas Nelson. An excellent specimen of the writings of Charnock for those who have not access to his voluminous works. Dr. Symington seems to have collected about all that is knowable concerning Charnock's history. His observations on his character as a writer are apposite and judicious.

Dialogues on Universal Salvation, and Topics connected therewith. By David Thom, Minister of Bold-Street Chapel, Liverpool. Foolscap 8vo. pp. xliv, 271. H. K. Lewis.-Few of our readers, we hope, need to be told that what is called universal salvation, is not by any means to be confounded with general redemption, as held by evangelical Arminians. It means universal restoration; the salvation of wicked men and devils. this subject Mr. Thom's work is devoted.

To

Zadoc, the Outcast of Israel. A Tale. By Charlotte Elizabeth. Third Edition. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 109. Aylott and Jones. One of the earlier productions of the gifted authoress, and which has been out of print almost twenty years. In all that related to the wanderers of an abrogated dispensation she was to the last deeply interested; and what she wrote on the subject should not pass into oblivion. By the republication of this volume, a new generation will have the opportunity of both sharing and perpetuating the sacred feelings under which it was composed at first.

The Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18mo. pp. 208. Religious Tract Soci

ety. A pleasingly-written, well-principled narrative. For the young it is a beautiful production, abounding with aptly selected poetic gems: but all may read it with instruction as well as interest.

Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc and the Jung Frau Alp. By George B. Cheever, D.D. 12mo. Stiff Covers, pp. 367. Collins. Dr. Cheever's book is too well known already to require either description or recommendation. Our present notice refers rather to the edition than to the work. We are glad to see it on the list of Mr. Collins's cheap and popular publications.

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A Manual of practical Observations on our Public Schools: contained in two Letters, written originally to private Friends. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 75. leys. The writer of these observations, we find from the pages themselves, is the Rev. Henry Cole, a Clergyman conducting a seminary in the neighbourhood of London. The public schools to which he refers, therefore, are not schools away from home, in opposition to instruction by a family-tutor, but such schools as Rugby, Eton, &c. Those for whom we write are not likely to be much interested in the discussion of the question; but as the book has been sent to us, it is only right to say that the observations appear to us to be judicious, correct, and weighty. As a Clergyman, the author instructs his pupils in the doctrines of the Church; and we are glad to see that one of his methods is, to cause his pupils to commit the "Articles" to memory; and that one of the "Homilies" is read to them on the Sabbath. He speaks of the "Dissenting churches," and says that, "while his pupils are taught to esteem certain of these churches as churches of Christ," they are also taught the superior value of the Church of England. We cannot blame this in a Clergyman. It is not preference we condemn, but exclusiveness. We wish, though, that, as he chose to speak on the subject at all, he had said which were the churches he allowed to be true churches of Christ. The words may issue from Christian liberality: they likewise may come from something else. All depends on their application; and that Mr. Cole does not enable us to make.

true

Lessons of Life and Death; a Memorial of Sarah Ball. By Elizabeth Ritchie. Second Edition. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 106. John Snow.-A brief

but beautiful memoir of a truly pious and very intelligent young female, a member of a Congregational church, who died in her nineteenth year, 1845. There is much in it calculated both to interest and instruct the young. To some expressions, indeed, we should demur; but, as long as Christians think differently, they will speak differently. Our young readers, we think, would require occasionally, in reading these pages, one or two explanatory remarks. Substan

tially, all is right. It is, we again say, a beautiful piece of biography; and not many will be able to read it with a "tearless eye."

The Gospel Alphabet, with Two Appendixes. By James Morison. 24mo. pp. 136.

The

T. Ward and Co.-A fanciful title to a not-unfanciful plan. A text is given beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, and a few pointed remarks are made on it. Then with the second; and so with the whole. first Appendix contains "an Alphabet of Gospel Duties." "A believer should be," then follows some quality beginning with A, then B, and thus, till every letter is taken. The second Appendix consists of notes, &c.

In general, the texts are important ones, and the remarks on them apposite, pointed, and practical; generally, too, they are doctrinally correct. Mr. Morison is evidently no Calvinist, although, perhaps, he does not always express himself as a Wesleyan would. His object, however, in this little publication, is not controversial.

The First and the Last Covenant; or, clear Ideas, for all Readers, of God's Will and Man's Obligation. Explaining, in concise and simple Style, the History and Position of Man towards his Creator; together with an Outline of the Contents of the Bible; and showing that the Conditions of the Last Covenant present the best Investment on the best Security, the highest Wages on the most liberal Terms, ever offered since the Days of Adam. By Charles Hannam. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 193. W. E. Painter. Even were the volume what it is not, a clear account of the subjects to which its verbose title refers; (on the contrary, the author's notions of the Covenants are both confused and common-place, and his divinity very obscure;) yet would its worth be nullified by its statement of the primary doctrine of essential Popery, the external succession scheme. An episcopally-ordained Minister, even though a Papist, can minister blessings to his flock which no

Dissenting Teacher, as he is only an unauthorized layman, can possibly do. We respect the men who have lately gone over to Popery; for they saw plainly that their principles led them there, and they honestly obeyed them. Evangelical Protestantism Owes no thanks to these successionists. They understand its principles about as well as they do their own; and that is, not at all.

Literary Characteristics of the Holy Scriptures. By J. M. M'Culloch, D.D., Minister of the West Church, Greenock. Second Edition. With Additions and supplementary Notes. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 166. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.-A small, but, in many respects, valuable, work, on a most important subject. For its full illustration a large treatise would have been required; but the Author has contented himself with furnishing a compendious view of it. The substance was delivered in two lectures to the members of a Mechanics' Institution; and very right was it, in addressing those who were seeking at once relaxation and improvement in literature, to call their attention to the literary claims of the word of God, and to show them, that, even passing by its sacred character as the word of God, which contains the revelation of his truth and will, its excellence as a composition is of the highest order, so that no other volume is comparable to it. As far as his limited space allowed, Dr. M'Culloch has done justice to his subject. Young persons and general readers will thank him for such a pleasing and instructive volume.

Female Characters of Holy Writ: in a Course of Sermons, preached at the Parish Church of St. John's, Clerkenwell. By Hugh Hughes, B.D., Rector. Second Series. 12mo. pp. 580. Ditto, Third Series. 12mo. pp. 524. Hamiltons. Mr. Hughes published the first series some little time ago. These two volumes complete the work. The second series begins with the "mother of Samson," and goes through the Old Testament. The third series is devoted to the New. The discourses are adapted to the purposes for which they are written, those connected with the spiritual profit of the congregation to which he ministers; and for this they are admirably suited. They contain not merely biographical notices of the persons to whom they refer, but such historical statements of the times in which they lived, as afford almost a consecutive account of the sacred narrative. The

descriptions of character, without any affectation of philosophical analysis, are yet such as could only have been given by one who has studied human nature both in books and men. The principles on which this is done, as well as the observations suggested by the facts which passed in review before the author, are correctly evangelical. Nor are we, as is too often the case, repelled in the midst of remarks which we approve, by others which only tend to show the ignorance, exclusiveness, and bigotry of the author. Mr. Hughes appears to be sincerely attached to the Church to which he belongs; but this produces no contempt for others. So far from confounding the Christian ministry with the Levitical priesthood, even on the point of succession, he impressively states the difference. He advocates his own order without considering it as the only Christian order which may subsist, and by which it may please God to work. Were all

her Ministers like Mr. Hughes, the Church would not only be infinitely better served, but have more friends, and fewer enemies. We have not often seen a work which we can more cordially recommend to the pious reader. All who are able to have a few shelves filled with useful religious books, to which the family may have recourse, should give these volumes a place on them. In publishing these discourses, Mr. Hughes has done right. He thus extends his sphere and his time of usefulness. We trust he will long live to labour thus; but by these volumes his usefulness will continue when he has been taken to his rest.

The Millennium in its three hundredth Centenary. Written in the Year 1847 of the Satanic State of the fallen World. By Omicron. 8vo. pp. xv, 51. Houghton.—This work professes to be a poem, in a sort of dramatic form. It really is difficult to speak of it as it deserves. Scriptural subjects are sacred with us, even when they are presented in a ridiculous form. But what think our readers of this? Here is the millennium in its three hundredth year; (or thirty thousandth, as centenary notes the completion of a cycle of a hundred years;) there is scarcity in America, and an Ambassador is sent to England to ask for help. And thus the poem (!)

opens :

ENGLISH MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS. ALL HAIL, dear brother of our HEAVENLY SIRE! From whence and what imports thy kind desire?

We have read the work because our duty to our readers required it.

Rome, in its ancient Grandeur; presenting the Architectural Antiquities of the Imperial City. By Antoine Desgodetz. With Notes, architectural, classical, and historical. Under the Superintendence of Mr. Charles Taylor. Quarto. Nos. I.-X. Sherwood and Co. This work, now in progress of publication, possesses three qualifications, which in this day of enterprise and competition will not fail to be noticed and appreciated: it is beautiful, cheap, and useful. On public grounds we hail the appearance of this work, inasmuch as there is at present such a run on pointed architecture, that we fear our architectural students will, ere long, forget the classical style; and therefore consider this singularly cheap edition of Desgodetz's well-known and popular work, publishing in fortnightly Parts, a valuable desideratum. It comprehends a series of examples selected from the remains of the most celebrated editices of ancient Rome, with admeasurements, details, descriptions, and every requisite for the instruction of the artist. plates exhibit a series of temples, porticoes, triumphal arches, baths, amphitheatres; their elevations, profiles, sections, and plans; including a collection of architectural ornaments. The original work resulted, as many of our readers know, from an expedition sent out by the French Government in the reign of Louis XIV., and has always held a high rank. This edition is wholly re-written. Desgodetz occupies a full half of his work in his remarks on competitors: this is now entirely omitted, as being needless. Again, the former edition, in folio, published at a high price, was half occupied by the French version of Desgodetz: this is expunged. The measurements were formerly in the

The