The Life of the late Bishop Middleton of Calcutta. By Rev. Charles Webbe Le Bas. London.

Travels in the Holy Land, by Wm. Rae Wilson, with letters from foreign sovereigns to the author, on the Protestant Faith. London.

Memoirs of Howard, the Philanthropist; compiled from his Diary, his confidential Letters, and other authentic documents. By James Baldwin Brown: abridged by a gentleman of Boston, from the London quarto Edition.

Incidents in the Life of Dr. Dwight. New Haven, 1831.

Sketches of Danish Missions. By Rev. S. W. Greenfield, London.

SERMONS AND ADDRESSES.

The Character and Blessedness of the Good Man. A Discourse delivered in the chapel of Nassau Hall, on the sabbath, January 9, 1831. By James Carnahan, D. D. President of the College. pp. 24. Princeton. Christianity not the religion of the Bible_only, or of the Church. A Sermon by Dr. Hawkins, Provost of Oriel College. London.

Sermons, par Mons. Monod, Pasteur de l'Eglise Reformée de Lyons. Spiess. Ausgezahlte Predigten. Franckfurt.

Rohr. Christologische Predigten. Weimar.

Importance of a Minister's Reputation: a sermon delivered at the installation of Rev. Dr. Hewitt, in Bridgeport, Conn. December, 1830. By Leonard Woods, D. D. Andover.

Influence of Religion on Liberty. A discourse in commemmoration of the landing of the Pilgrims, delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1830. By B. B. Wisner. Boston.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Christian Lyre. By Joshua Leavitt. New York.

[Six numbers of this little work have been published, and the beautiful pocket volume thus formed, deserves public attention. We cannot but applaud the spirit in which it has been undertaken, as well as the evangelical character of the hymns; and hope that it may prove extensively useful. At the same time we deplore the secular lightness of many of the melodies; and still more the attempted adaptation of spiritual songs to airs which are by association connected with ungodly poetry. There is no science nor art more fertile than Music; and there is therefore no necessity for our being indebted to the ball-room or theatre for our tunes. It is untrue that classical music is necessarily less popular, or less stirring, or less easy, than that which is irregular and unchaste. Witness the better sort of airs in this collection, and many in the works of Messrs. Hastings & Mason. We deplore also the introduction of prosaic effusions, without the elevation of poetry or even the attraction of rhyme, such as "I'll try to prove faithful, p. 119. Notwithstanding these blemishes, however, the manual is worthy of encouragement.]

Juvenile Lyre: or Hymns and Songs, religious, moral and cheerful, set to appropriate music, for the use of primary and common schools. Boston. Edited by Lowell Mason and E. Ives, Jun.: aided by Rev. Wm. C. Woodbridge and Mr. S. F. Smith.

Journal of the Proceedings of a Convention of Literary and Scientific Gentlemen, held in the city of New York, October, 1830.

Letters on Missions. By William Swan, Missionary in Siberia. With an Introductory Preface, by the late William Orme. Boston, 1831.

The Advancement of Society in Knowledge and Religion. By James Douglas. First American from the second Edinburgh Edition. Hartford.

AMERICAN WORKS REPUBLISHED IN LONDON.

Professor Stewart's Hebrew Grammar.

Sermons. By the late Rev. Dr. Payson.

Canon of the Old and New Testaments ascertained. By Rev. Dr. Alexander; with Introductory Remarks, by J. Morrison, D. D.

THE

BIBLICAL REPERTORY

AND

THEOLOGICAL REVIEW.

JULY, 1831.

ART. I.-REVIEW OF SPRAGUE'S LECTURES TO YOUNG PEOPLE.

Lectures to Young People, by William B. Sprague, D. D. Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany, with an Introductory Address by Samuel Miller, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. Second edition. New York, published by John P. Haven,

1831.

It is the highest wisdom of man to endeavour to discover, and to follow the plan of God. This plan is manifested in the nature of his creatures, in the dispensations of his providence, and in his word. It is our business to fall in with this; never, from vain ideas of doing more good, venturing to counteract it. Thus, the different natures which God has given the sexes, renders it necessary, in order that the greatest perfection should be attained, and the greatest good effected, that the difference should be carefully preserved; that the man should not assume the position, or discharge the duties of the woman; and that the woman should not step out of her appropriate sphere into the province of the man. This is, however, a common evil. Unenlightened zeal in religion often leads to a greater or less infringement of the plan of God, in this respect. Women take a stand, and undertake to discharge duties, which VOL. III. No. III.-2 P

force them out of their place in the great scheme of infinite wisdom, and the result is invariably injurious to themselves and to society. To be where and what God wills us to be, is our perfection and highest usefulness. It is of more practical importance than men are wont to imagine, thus to eye and follow the divine arrangements. As God has given a diversity of constitution to the sexes, suited to the different purposes they are to accomplish, so he has given to different periods of life different susceptibilities and powers, which are intimations of his will, and consequently of our duty, with regard to them. The dependence of the young on their parents; the feelings of parents towards their children; the susceptibility of the youthful mind; the quickness of perception; the tenacity of the memory and pliability of the feelings, all declare that this is the forming period of life; that God designs it to be employed and improved as such. This is, indeed, a universally admitted truth; and education has ever been one of the most absorbing subjects of interest. Though this be admitted, it is still true that the formation of character in the young has been, and is still lamentably neglected. The development of the intellect and communication of knowledge have ever been the grand, if not exclusive objects of education. How is it, at present, in our schools, academies and colleges? Is not the whole course of instruction directed almost exclusively to these objects? Is not the cultivation of the social virtues and the religious feelings, in a great measure, left to take care of itself? We cannot but think that there is here a lamentable deficiency in all our systems; that the intellectual, in opposition to the moral powers of the soul, are too exclusively the objects of assiduous care. No one will pretend that the latter are second in importance to the former. We all admit, that it is the moral nature of man, which raises him into the sphere of immortal beings, connects him with the infinite, and stamps an incomprehensible value on the soul. The subordinate part, therefore, assigned to the cultivation of these feelings in youth, cannot be accounted for on the assumption of their inferior importance. It may be, there is an impression on many minds that these powers are less susceptible, or stand less in need of cultivation. That this impression is erroneous, it needs only a moment's reflection to perceive. Were this the case, it would he an anomaly in our whole constitution. All the other faculties, whether of mind or body, which God has given us, are susceptible of cultivation, and are dependent on it, for their

right development and exercise. What would the mind be without truth on which to exert its powers?-and what would the body be, if never exercised in the manner adapted to its improvement? All experience shows, moreover, that the moral faculties are just as susceptible of culture as any other of our powers. If it were possible to bring up a child entirely removed from the influence of moral truths, his moral powers would be as dormant as his mind would be, were he confined from birth in a dark and solitary cell. This, however, is impossible. Every one born into the world, is brought under ten thousand influences, favourable and unfavourable, by which his character is formed; and it depends, not entirely, but predominantly, on the nature of these influences, what form the character assumes. We say not entirely, because man is a free agent, and may resist the tendencies, good or bad, of the influences under which he is placed. Still the history of the world proves that evil communications corrupt good manners; which is but the statement of one aspect of the more general truth, that the character is formed by the ab extra influences brought to bear upon it. If this were not the case, where would be the use of religious education? for what purpose would we labour for the establishment of Sunday schools, or take any other means to form the character of the young? Can men differ more in any respect, than do the children of a well-ordered Christian family, and those of superstitious and licentious Pagans? A proportionate difference is found in the character of children of different Christian countries, of the various sections of the same land, and of different families. It will, doubtless, be suggested, that we often see the best adapted means ineffectual, and the children of the pious becoming profligate; and, on the other hand, the children of the profligate moral and exemplary. True and so, too, we see the means of intellectual culture often thrown away on those unwilling, or unable, to profit by them; and, on the contrary, minds rising from the greatest obscurity in brightness, developing themselves with the greatest strength, under very unfavourable circumstances. Do these instances shake the confidence of any man, in the general efficacy of proper means of intellectual culture? Does it not still remain true, that education forms the man. The individual cases of the inefficacy of moral culture in securing its appropriate result, may be traced often to various causes. In a multitude of instances, it is erroneously assumed, that because a child has had pious