The Chanter's Hand Guide, for the use of Churches, Chapels, Training Colleges, Schools, &c., containing the Psalter, or Psalms of David, the Canticles, &c. Pointed for Chanting, with Three Hundred and Seventythree Cathedral Chants, very many of which (written by the most eminent Composers and Organists in this country espressly for this work) are now first published; edited by JOSEPH WARREN, Organist and Director of the Choir of St. Mary's Chapel, Chelsea. London: Cocks and Co., New Burlington Street. Quarto. pp. 139. Cloth.

Against the practice of chanting in divine worship, we know of no decisive argument. We cannot regard it as unscriptural, for we suppose that it approximates more nearly to the singing of worshipping assemblies in the days of the prophets and the apostles, than that kind of performance does to which we are accustomed, and which, because we are more accustomed to it, seems to us more natural.

There would be difficulty at first, it is probable, in teaching the masses to chant, but this is a difficulty that would soon vanish, and there are but few places within our knowledge where what is meant to be congregational singing is conducted unimpeachably. We advocate simplicity in everything connected with the service of Christ; but the greater part of the chants in this book are far more simple than half the tunes in common use. To the chanting of the Psalms, however, we have strong objections, not referring to the style of music but to the words. It is granted that they are inspired words; but they were intended for the use of the worshippers of a temporary dispensation which has passed away. The pathetic strains in which it was suitable for the Israelites to address the Most High when they were groaning beneath the lash of Egyptian task-masters would have been utterly unsuitable to be part of the temple service, in the prosperous days of Solomon; and so the language which was fit to embody the feelings and describe the prospects of the church before the appearance of Messiah, in the days of its nonage, while the law was its schoolmaster, would be inappropriate now that the Son of God has come, and brought in that new and better covenant which is established upon better promises. Parts of the Psalms, indeed, proceed on such general principles that they may be used with propriety; but the very allusions and references which made others so admirably appropriate to the state and relations of the men for whom they were originally designed unfit them for worshippers belonging to the "dispensation of the Spirit.'

The Jewish covenant was essentially national, and in many respects worldly; and it is not surprising that the adherents of national churches should without hesitation adopt language that seems to us uncongenial with the system now established by our spiritual

King. This book appears to us to be excellent in its kind. Mr. Warren has fulfilled his own intentions in masterly style. The volume is at once handsome, scientific, and comprehensive.

Warren's Psalmody. Parts I., II., III. Price Twopence each, London. 8 pages each part.

arranging this collection of psalm and hymn The editor states that in compiling and tunes, he has "not only included all the more ancient psalm tunes that have been for years omitted from the service of the church, and he has also arranged, from authentic sources, which ought never to have been forgotten, but the more favourite tunes that are still in use; and going as it were to the fountain-head, has cleared them from all that meretricious ornament which in so many collections destroys the purity of these fine old melodies." The tunes are in score for one, two, three, or four voices,

with an accompaniment ad libitum, for the organ or pianoforte. Our musical friends will do well to make themselves acquainted with this publication.

The Working Classes of Great Britain: their present Condition, and the means of their Improvement and Elevation. Prize Essay. By the Rev. SAMUEL G. GREEN, A.B. London: Snow. 16mo. pp. 180.

Our first glance at this volume afforded us great pleasure. The author's grandfather was for forty years an esteemed country minister. The author's father has long sustained the pastoral office, and is still living in unabated vigour of body and of mind, adding to his claims on the esteem of his contemporaries, and observing with complacency the course on which his son has entered. The author himself, now pastor of the baptist church at Taunton, is exercising his growing powers energetically in various departments of Christian labour. We were glad therefore that when there were fortyeight competitors, he should have been deemed worthy of the prize, and we are yet more glad that the internal evidence furnished by the volume should favour the presumption that the adjudicators determined correctly. The work was occasioned by the announcement that fifty pounds would be presented to the author of the best essay on the Improvement of the Social, Intellectual, and Moral Condition of the Working Classes. The donor was Mr. John Cassell, and the adjudicators Messrs. Edward Swaine, Edward Miall, and Thomas Spencer. The author's reputation as a man of ability and benevolence may henceforward be considered as established. The sentiments maintained in this work are such as nine-tenths of our readers will approve, and the style in which they are illustrated and enforced will excite universal admiration.

ing at the same time that any interference on the part of government with religious teaching is an intrusion and an injury,—that is, that for a government to endeavour to spread religious truth is wrong in principle and baneful in practice, derogatory to Christianity and unjust to the citizen, these propositions afford to our minds one of the strongest arguments against the conclusion to which Dr. Humphreys arrives, that it is the duty of the people of Scotland, by making mutual concessions, to secure an extension of the present national educational system.

Blackfriars Wynd Analyzed. By GEORGE BELL, M.D., Author of " Day and Night in the Wynds of_Edinburgh." Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter. 8vo., pp. 44.

The "wynds and closes" of Edinburgh correspond to the "courts and alleys" of London, only that they are more contracted, more populous, and more filthy than even these. Of one of them Dr. Bell has made a minute investigation, and now presents us with the interesting but most appalling details. We could scarcely have believed, had we not ourselves been witnesses of the fact, that in so handsome a city as our northern capital haunts like this could be tolerated; and the pamphlet ought certainly to awaken carnest attention to the subject in the minds of the inhabitants of a place in the adornment of which they spend such large sums, and of which they are so justly proud. But the pamphlet contains matter important on both sides of the border. The evils lamented are in kind universal, and demand an effort on the part of all, for their own sakes as well as for those of their miserable victims. We agree with Dr. Bell that "there is a giant-power in a sound religious education," yet that "something must be done ere education can tell upon them with effect." To elevate the condition by improving the abodes of the poor is a work to which Christians at this day are emphatically called, and which is of no less importance, and demands no less self-sacrificing zeal, than other fields of missionary labour. It has been proved, by the society in London, that clean and salu brious accommodation can be provided at an equal cost to that which is paid for miserable and pestilential hovels, and we entreat those of our fellow Christians who have capital to invest, to pay attention to this mode of making an employment of their money, at once profitable to themselves, and eminently beneficial to their degraded fellow countrymen.

The pamphlet of Dr. Bell is very interesting, though we should have been glad if he had turned it to a somewhat more practical account, by suggesting some radical remedy for the evils lamented. Though we believe that restricting the number of licensed spirit-shops might, to an extent, be beneficial, yet the evil lies far deeper, and while whiskey is demanded, we are convinced that it will be supplied. The only way in which dram-dealers can be effectually driven from a locality is by starving them out. We have far more confidence, even in the case of the drunkard, in the voice of persuasion than in the arm of the law.

The Tabernacle and its Furniture. By JOHN KITTO, D.D., F.S.A. Editor of the "Pictorial Bible," &c., &c. With Illustrations by W. Dickes. London. 4to. Price 3s. 6d.

A thin quarto volume from which sabbath school teachers may derive much aid in elucidating the Mosaic writings and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and which ministers also will find convenient for occasional reference. It contains a clear description of the sacred vestments, utensils, and apartments belonging to the moveable sanctuary erected in the wilderness, with six appropriate engravings.

The Book of One Hundred Beverages. By WILLIAM BERNHARD. London: Houlston and Stoneman. 32mo., pp. 64.

This little book was written "to supply, and by supplying to increase the growing demand for beverages of an unintoxicating character." It is not however adapted to those persons alone who abstain uniformly from fermented liquors; we can cordially recommend it to all who drink water, tea, or coffee, as well as to those who wish to gain information respecting liquids which are less commonly known, but adapted to the constitution in different states of health. The observations on the qualities of several kinds of water, are themselves worth the purchase money of the whole.

Pictorial Half Hours. Edited by CHARLES KNIGHT. London: Post 4to. Parts I. & II. Each 96 pages, price ninepence.

We believe that there is no other way of driving out of families pernicious but amusing publications, than by introducing others which are both interesting and instructive. To endeavour to confine the reading of youth to religious books would be on many accounts injudicious, and we therefore welcome such works as that before us. With pleasure we adopt the editor's remarks, "That faithful and spirited copies of the greatest productions in painting and sculpture; representations of the most renowned monuments of ancient and modern architecture; accurate delineations of objects of natural history; sketches of beautiful scenery; characteristics of classes and occupations; and original designs illustrative of history and literature;-that these are the most valuable accessories to knowledge can scarcely be denied by the least imaginative reasoner. As instruments of education there is no intelligent teacher who is unconscious of their value." To supply the want thus indicated," he adds, "Pictorial Half Hours was undertaken." It is published in twopenny numbers as well as in ninepenny parts, each number containing several illustrative woodcuts-one or more for every day of the week,

The Herald of Peace. July 1850. Quarto, pp. 12.

This is the first number of a new series, in which the quarto form is substituted for the octavo, in furtherance of plans which are to be developed hereafter,

WEST INDIES.

JAMAICA SCHOOLS.

The treasurer of the Voluntary School Association, George William Alexander, Esq., is now on a philanthropic tour in the West Indies, and has arrived in Jamaica. Writing to the assistant secretary of that society, Mr. C. T. Jones, he gives some information respecting the educational circumstances of that colony, which he has forwarded to us at Mr. Alexander's suggestion. He says,

"In this large island there are many schools, in which education is conducted on unsectarian principles, and without aid from the state, but which experience great difficulty from want of due support. Not unfrequently these have only been maintained at a heavy and unreasonable charge to the missionary in the district; and in some instances this burden has become so great as to lead to the abandonment of such schools. A large number have struggled on amidst great difficulties; but in some of these instances scantiness of funds has impaired the efficiency of the instruction, from its insufficiency to secure a competent teacher, or to obtain suitable school requisites. The church of England and Wesleyan schools receive government grants, and the former are also aided by grants of vestries. In the year 1848, however, when the state grants were to a great extent or wholly suspended, I learn that schools connected with the Wesleyan body in which no less than 1500 children had been taught, were abandoned. Few of these I believe have been resumed. It is satisfactory to find that the baptist missionaries are, with very few exceptions, opposed to government aid to education; and this is also the case with one or two of the presbyterian missionaries, and a portion, I hope a large one, of the ministers connected with the London Missionary Society. In the day schools connected with the north-western Baptist Union alone, there are nearly two thousand scholars, and looking to this circumstance and the difficulties that exist in supporting these and other schools, I think it is highly desirable, and even needful, that a sum of not less than from £500 to £700 should be given to assist voluntary education in Jamaica. It is important, not only to maintain the principle that the state has not the right to tax the people, as it does very largely and oppressively in this island, for teaching the religious sentiments of a portion

of the community, whether it be in church or school; but it is also of the highest importance that school teachers should be men fully qualified for their office by their intellectual attainments, and still more by their moral and religious character. Unless men and women imbued with Christian principles are employed in the education of the young, the instruction given will be very far from accomplishing that improvement in the character of the rising generation, which is preeminently important in the condition of a people that have recently emerged from slavery. The value of good schools for the children of emancipated peasantry may be inferred from a fact stated to me by a devoted and very successful missionary, and which does not, I believe, differ greatly from the experience of other missionaries, namely, that three fourths of the persons who join the churches of Christ were taught in their schools. Ought not this to be a powerful inducement with all who value missionary labours, and who are anxious to secure the full benefit of the great act of slave emancipation, to contribute liberally to schools in the British West Indies, especially at a period when owing to poverty among all classes, as compared with the circumstances that existed a few years since, but which will not, I hope, be of long continuance, such help is really needful? So strong is my conviction of the necessity, that I intend to advance, if needful, £300 beyond the balance of about £200 now in hand, and am willing to contribute £105 towards the sum of £300 named, and to take the responsibility of the remaining amount being obtained.

"I hope our committee will at once endeavour to increase the special fund for the West Indies to the extent of not less than £500, besides the present balance which will very soon be appropriated. Could the sum of £100 be raised, it would be much better, and might be most beneficially employed at the present juncture.

My friend J. Candler and I have been deeply interested in our West India travels, especially in noticing the result of missionary labours, and the pains bestowed on the children in schools. We have much cause to rejoice in these efforts, and in their fruits, I intend, in compliance with the discretion vested in me by the commitee, to dispose of £235 in assisting thirty-two schools, including a few to be very shortly established where they are much required. The schools to