HISTORY, SCIENCE, ART.

Literary Notices.

[WE hold it to be the duty of an Editor either to give an early notice of the books sent to him for remark, or to return them at once to the Publisher. It is unjust to praise worthless books; it is robbery to retain unnoticed ones.]

THE REVIEWER'S CANON.

In every work regard the author's end,

Since none can compass more than they intend.

STAR AND DIAL; MORNING AND EVENING. THE DIAL, WEekly. THE propriety of calling attention to these JOURNALS in the Homilist, if not obvious at once to all our readers, will soon appear so. The vast influence which they are exerting, and are destined, we opine to exert for ages, with increasing area and depth upon the mind of the nation, is certainly of itself sufficient to justify this notice in our pages. As one has a circulation per day scarcely surpassed by any daily Journal and the other of several thousands a week, and both aim, and by the arrangements of their vast proprietary, are bound for ever to aim, at the promotion of political purity, social progress, and above all, of unsectarian Christianity, their existence, will, we are sure, awaken the devout gratitude of every noble-hearted Christian philanthropist. They have all the conditions of an incorruptible, independent, and thoroughly national, Newspaper Press. May gracious Heaven ever preserve those conditions from the violating hand of the political schemer, the canting patriot, and, what is worse than either, the religious bigot! Another reason for thus noticing these JOURNALS in this place is, the connexion of the Homilist with their existence. The Homilist some six or seven years ago, first announced the Dial idea, and urged it on its readers. It has met, we are grateful, we are proud to say, with their support. In every town we have visited, "Homilist men," as they are called, have met us with their hearty greetings, rendered us their honest co-operation, and cheered us on our hilly, and with emphasis, our thorny road. Our hotel rooms have, in some of the towns we have visited, been not unfrequently filled with Clergymen, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Baptist, and Independent, ministers, all readers of the Homilist, and all ready with their co-operation. In every town too, which the agents of the company have visited alone, they have found the readers of the Homilist their hearty allies. Honor to whom honor is due. The Dial

owes its existence to our readers, and gratitude swells our heart as we write the acknowledgment.

Another reason why we mention these JOURNALS here is, the misrepresentations, harder words such as malicious calumny and slander, we will not use,-which have been zealously circulated concerning ourselves in connexion with this movement. found the truth of what our great dramatist has said, that—

"Slander

With whispers o'er the world's diameter,

As certain as the cannon to his blank,
Transports his venomed shot."

We have

Explanations elsewhere we would not condescend to offer, but it is due to our friends to understand the matter, when they meet our traducers;-whom they will generally find amongst newspaper scribblers and religious sectaries. Some of the ministers that live exclusively in their denomination, and by their denomination, especially such as are influential enough to have access to their sect journals, have, from the beginning, used their influence, by inuendos, and onesided statements, to damage and destroy the Dial movement. A history of the Dial enterprize, when written, will throw light upon the dark deeds of some who profess to walk in the true light. We have been charged, for instance, with having given up some principle in the prospectus. This is false. Every principle announced at first remains intact. A modification in the form in which one was expressed was effected, not by us, but by a unanimous vote of two meetings of the shareholders, convened by circular. We have been charged with the endeavor to create the Dial for ourselves. We have never dreamt of becoming the editor of a newspaper, or having any literary connexion whatever with one.' We have always had too much to do—and too much pleasure in doing it—in our own sphere of labor, to think of newspaper editorship. All that we have done for the Dial has been purely gratuitous; the only reward we ever expected was to see the work accomplished, which, thank God! we now enjoy. We have been charged with selling the company to the STAR, and entailing on the National Newspaper League Company its liabilities. This, we think, is the last allegation; but as groundless as the most groundless. The Star financially was too prosperous to require an alliance, and only joined us on other and higher considerations.

The Star and Dial is, in fact, all that the Dial, from the first, aimed to be, so far as principles are concerned; the only deviation being in price, which circumstances have determined, and which is decidedly an advantage. It is pledged to the Dial prospectus; consecrated to the Dial work; has Dial directors on the Board of Management; and a just proportion of its profits-which when the

repeal of the paper duty takes place, will be large-goes to the Dial proprietors. The Star and Dial is not the organ of any particular party in church or state, but is managed by Directors composed of an equal number of Churchmen and Dissenters. What more could be desired? You might have created an entirely new paper, but then you would have had the Star as a powerful competitor, and would have risked the capital, and nullified the influence of both.

Another reason for noticing these journals here, is to urge on our friends, who have thus nobly helped to create, to do all they can to support, them. The Daily, of course, all who live in large towns will see; and the Weekly, which will be continued and greatly improved, will be found, we are bold to aver, the best, and the cheapest of newspapers, worthy the support of a cultivated, thoughtful, catholic, Christian minister.

On the whole, notwithstanding the opposition of enemies, and the misrepresentations of detractors, the enterprize so far, has been no failure. Perhaps a greater public work has never been accomplished, within such a short period of time, with such economical regard to the funds of the shareholders, and with such prospects of ultimately reaching the expectations of all concerned in its accomplishment. If the papers created, progress, as they are likely to do, and shareholders continue to increase at the present rate, the National Newspaper League Company, instead of having two journals consecrated to its Christian principles, may have a dozen or more at no very distant day. We are buoyant with the prospects before us. Soli

Deo Gloria!

Our work in connexion with the enterprize is at an end, all but attending occasional committee meetings. We rejoice in being able to give now undivided attention to our ministerial and Homilistic labors. Our six years hard and inexpressibly anxious labor for the Dial, has given us an experience of human nature which we never had before, and which we pray may be rendered useful to us as editor of this work. It has painfully lowered our opinions of some who occupy the pulpits of England. It has discovered to us the ignoble type of the men who are often found in connexion with the provincial, and the so-called religious, press. It has deepened our conviction of the wickedness of religious sectarianism. He who, in this country, seeks to work out a truly Christian idea for the good of man as man, independently of sects and creeds, will, we predict, find religious denominationalism his greatest devil at every step.

We trust that these remarks will justify what will be most likely our final reference in the Homilist to the subject. We commend this Dial cause to the support of the true in all communities, and to the benign guardianship of Almighty God.