Having thus suggested the connection between the present condition of the earth and the fall of man, he proceeds to state those considerations which seem to make such a view of the case not improbable. The author manifests great modesty, a profound respect for the Scriptures, religious sensibility, and an intimate knowledge of his subject. We commend his book, with great pleasure, to the notice of scientific men, confident that, whatever opinion they may hold in respect to the views advanced by the author, they will find much gratification from the perusal.

3. Egypt and the Books of Moses; or, the Books of Moses illustrated by the Monuments of Egypt. With an Appendix. By. Dr. E. W. HENGSTENBERG. From the German, by R. D. C. ROBBINS. Andover: Allen, Morrill and Wardwell. pp. 300, 12mo. 1843.

This truly estimable work will be read with great interest by full believers in divine revelation, and with profit by the hesitating and the skeptical. The idea of such a book, as an antidote for infidelity, is one of the most natural that could be conceived. The kind of argument which it sets forth is most convincing and irrefragable. It is an appeal, not to reasoning, but to facts; and, in the present instance, it seems to have been conducted with great thoroughness, an accurate knowledge of all the materials, and a consciousness of the firm foothold of the argument in truth and right. Dr. Hengstenberg has in view the refutation of the objections to the Pentateuch, chiefly, of Von Bohlen. It had been affirmed, that the "errors and inaccuracies" of that portion of the Scriptures betrayed the author as one who lived out of Egypt, and long after the time of Moses. By a consideration of several things mentioned in the Pentateuch, Dr. H. shows, in the first part, that it is not unlikely to have been written by a resident, and of the age of Moses. In the second part, he offers testimony from various authors on Egypt, and from the Egyptian monuments, paintings, hieroglyphics, etc., exhibiting wonderful coincidences with the books themselves. In the progress of his work, he has occasion to notice a multitude of incidental confirmations of the authenticity and genuineness of the books of Moses, drawn from numberless sources, and, as it seems to us, calculated to be absolutely overwhelming to an objector. Witnesses for the word of divine inspiration start up, in that strange country, from the most unexpected quarters. They are found, not in early historians only, but also in the soil, climate, productions and animals, in domestic and social life, in the manners and customs of the living, in the tombs of the dead; in the winds, the waters, the arts, religion, agriculture and employments of the people; on their pyramids and ruins, in their hieroglyphic inscriptions and paintings. The firmest believer in the Scriptures finds it good to meet so many and various testimonials to the records of the Christian faith. Besides the value of the book, in this respect, it is also an interesting manual of Egyptian antiquities,-describing the physiology of the country, the manners, customs, arts, religion, etc., of its inhabitants, and whatever is necessary to a complete geographical view of the land of the Pharaohs. While Germany furnishes so rich materials for the cure of infidelity as are here brought together, it seems to us most unaccountable how her learned men can cling to their objections, and make shipwreck of the Christian faith, by denying the word of God. The translator has done a good service to the cause of truth, for which we hope he will receive a rich reward.

By

4. The History of the Reformation of the Church of England. GILBERT BURNET, D. D. With a copious Index. Revised and corrected, with additional Notes, and a Preface, calculated to remove certain difficulties attending the perusal of this important History, by E. NARES, D. D. With two engravings. In 3 vols. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Boston: Tappan & Dennet. pp. 592, 652, 543. Great and reasonable apprehension has been expressed in regard to the evil tendency of the cheap literature of the present day. Much of it is mere trash, neither fitted to enlarge the sphere of knowledge, to discipline the mind, nor to improve the heart. The press, which is capable of being 30 important an engine of good, is made an engine of evil. Weak heads are rendered weaker, and idle souls set upon employments but little better than idleness, perhaps even more injurious, by the sickly and extravagant tales, which unfit the spirit to cope with the stern realities of this life, and deaden its interest in the life to come. The good that might come of a cheap literature is turned to evil, by the excess into which our headlong age has seen fit to run. But the evil is not unmingled. Many of the reprints of standard works, of older or of recent date, are noble additions to our prevalent literature; they introduce to an omnivorous public treasures of information, calculated to inform the understanding, to awaken thought, to supply the memory with useful facts, to displace from our libraries the empty fiction, and to substitute for it materials of solid and lasting worth. Such an addition is the "History of the Reformation," by Burnet. So highly was the first volume esteemed, at the time of its publication, that it procured for the author the thanks of the British Parliament. And, although it were to be wished that some competent hand might be found, to incorporate into the first two volumes, in their proper places, the corrections and additions contained in the third, yet, as the work is, with its high authority and fame, we accept it, as giving dignity, if possible, to the cause of cheap literature. It is printed in large type, with side-notes, describing in a few words the contents of every paragraph, and a very valuable Index of 43 pages guides the student who uses it as a book of reference, immediately to the page which he wishes to consult in reference to any topic. We hardly understand how the publishers can sell the work, in three large volumes, bound, at the low price of $2,50. Since the volumes of D'Aubigné have created a taste for this particular topic, we hope the publishers of the standard work of Burnet will be encouraged by a large sale.

5. The Young Patriot, or a Sabbath School Independence. Boston: New England S. S. Union. 1843. pp. 216, 18mo.

An attractive and interesting volume, in advocacy of the principles of peace. It is written in the style of conversation, and describes, in a graphic manner, the evils of war. It meets successfully the objections to the principles of the Peace Society, and explains satisfactorily the passages in the Old Testament, in which wars of extermination were sanctioned by divine authority. Without any needless simplification or degradation of language, by clearness of thought it renders itself intelligible to the meanest capacity. The author, who, we understand, is Rev. William Crowell, has done a good service to his country, in this effort to imbue the minds of its youth with the peace spirit and principles of the gospel.

6. Question Book of Christian Doctrine, for Bible Classes and the more advanced Pupils in Sabbath Schools. By BARON STOW. Boston: New England S. S. Union. 1843. pp. 104, 12mo.

The title of this little book sufficiently describes its character. It is divided into 36 lessons, embracing the main points of doctrinal and practical religion. The questions are generally so chosen and constructed as to present the prominent views of all the doctrines contained in the word of God; and the answers given, are mere references to passages of Scripture, which the pupil is to seek out for himself. The plan is eminently judicious, and its execution, praiseworthy for its laboriousness, wisdom and accuracy.

7. Eulogy on Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin, D. D., First President of Waterville College, Me. By Rev. R. E. PATTISON, D. D. Boston: W. D. Ticknor & Co. 1843. pp. 32, 8vo.

This discourse, after a few remarks in defence of eulogy of the dead, describes the life and character of the distinguished and holy man, who is the subject of it. Dr. Chaplin's character was one of rare excellence, on which too high a panegyric could scarcely be pronounced. The discourse of Dr. Pattison sets him before us very much in the light of a Baxter redivivus, with all the excellences of the latter, and none of his faults. An extended description of the life of such a man would be a rich treasure to the church. The eulogy of Dr. P. is a beautiful specimen of its department of composition. The plan, style and manner commend it as a model. He had a rare subject to treat; and the treatment is worthy of the subject.

8. Primary Reader. A Selection of Easy Reading Lessons, with Introductory Exercises in Articulation, for young Children. By WILLIAM RUSSELL. Tappan & Dennet. pp. 176, 12mo.

1843.

9. A Systematic View of Geography, with special reference to Arrangement, Classification, Conciseness, Association and Reviews. In three parts: including a general, particular and miscellaneous view of the world. By WILLIAM WARREN. Third Edition. Portland: Wm. Hyde. pp. 180, 12mo. 10. Logopolis, or the City of Words; containing a development of the Science, Grammar, Syntax, Logic and Rhetoric of the English Language. By EZEKIEL HILDRETH. Pittsburgh: 1842. pp. 216, 12mo. 11. Familiar Dialogues and Popular Discussions, for Exhibition in Schools of either sex, and for the Amusement of Social Parties. By WM. B. FOWLE. Third Edition. pp. 286, 12mo. 1843.

These school books have both excellences and defects. The first is an interesting collection of reading lessons for young children, judiciously chosen and on a level with their understandings. The exercises in articulation seem to us beyond the ability of those who know nothing more than elements. That which is mere alphabet to advanced scholars is profound learning to babes. The second gives a very clear outline of geography, but is too much condensed, we apprehend, for young minds. It is somewhat deficient, also, in statistics. Condensed views of any science are more adapted to older students, or to general reviews, than to the daily lessons of the very young. The third book, on the philosophy of language, is the production of an inde

pendent thinker. Some of his theories are new and sui generis. We do not affirm that they are false, because they are new; but to us they appear unphilosophical. While the book inspires in us respect for its author as a man of genius, having within him the creative faculty, we cannot deny that it is somewhat heavy in its method, and not suited to be used as an elementary work. Moreover, Pittsburg, if this be a specimen of her skill, is half a century behind her sister cities in the East, in the business of manufacturing books. The fourth contains many lively and spirited sketches, and is well adapted to the purposes named in the title.

12. Fables of La Fontaine. Translated from the French, by ELIZUR WRIGHT, Jr. Third Edition. Boston: Tappan and Dennet. 1842. 2 vols. pp. 247,

290.

The fables of La Fontaine are too well known by every person familiar with the French literature of the age of Louis XIV, to need any description. The peculiar simplicity of the writer gives him a claim upon the regards of his readers. His wonderful childlikeness and naïveté, and the joy with which he views the ridiculous creations of his own fancy, carry us captive involuntarily. His fables are similar to those of Æsop. Some of them are the same; and, like Esop's, they are always fresh and entertaining. The translation is very lively. We have compared a few of the fables with the original, and we find them, also, very literal. Occasionally, words of some importance are introduced by the translator, for which we think a better substitute might have been found. In B. VIII, F. 12, there is an epithet of this character, which savors too much of profaneness, and which is not in the French. It is hazardous to the taste of the young, to permit them to become familiar with terms, which good usage and refinement will not sanction. The preface contains an account of the writers of fables, within the memory of man, and an interesting life of La Fontaine, extending to thirty pages. We are not pleased with a remark, which appears on page 6: "Our blessed Saviour, the best of all teachers, was remarkable for his constant use of parables, which are but fables-we speak it with reverence-adapted to the gravity of the subjects on which he discoursed." We are not accustomed to esteem parables as synonymous with fables. We do not regard our Saviour's parables as fables. They are very different from the fables of Æsop, and Lochmann, and Lessing. We rise from the perusal of them with a very different feeling. The parables of our Lord involve nothing impossible or unlikely. They do not tell us of speaking animals, or of thinking and talking trees. In teaching by symbols, they use, as symbols, events which might naturally and easily take place. Both the parable and the truth which it teaches bear the marks of nature and fact. But in the common fable, while the moral is important truth, the fable itself is impossible fiction. "The fable, or apologue,' says La Fontaine, "consists of two parts, the body and the soul. The body is the fable; the soul, the moral." He adds, "Aristotle admits into the fable animals only, excluding plants and trees. In France, we consider only what pleases; this is the grand rule, and, so to speak, the only one." But, Aristotle's rule for fables was not the Saviour's rule in the construction of parables. Hence, the kinds of composition are essentially different, and must not be confounded. We deprecate such a degradation of the works of our divine Master, as the idea contained in the sentence on which we are

commenting involves.-The fact that the volumes have so early reached a third edition, is a proof of their favorable reception. But, in the present state of public taste, we do not regard a rapid circulation as any token of the real worth and essential utility of any production. Whatever fitting entertainments are provided for children, we are more pleased to see adult minds aspiring to the strong meat which is capable of yielding them nourishment, than "giving heed unto fables." 13. The Young Communicant; an aid to the right understanding and spiritual improvement of the Lord's Supper. Boston. Gould, Kendall & Lincoln. 1843. pp. 128.

The principal materials of this little book are from the work of Matthew Henry, written nearly a hundred and forty years ago. It is a series of his pious meditations, condensed. Every sentence has a devout air, winning the reader involuntarily to a devotional spirit. It furnishes a collection of meditations of a practical bearing, suited to aid the Christian in his preparation for a profitable observance of the Lord's Supper. The exterior corresponds to the character of the book itself. It is a rich little gem, deserving the notice of all who obey the Saviour's command, "This do in remembrance of me.'

14. The Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown; with notes, by J. T. CHAMPLIN, Professor in Waterville College. pp. 207. 12mo. 1843. James Munroe & Co. Boston.

We barely mention this book, at present, having it in contemplation, hereafter, to furnish an extended review. The editor presents a full analysis of the oration, at the beginning, embracing eighty-four particulars, and one hundred and twenty-eight pages of notes at the end, designed, as he remarks, to embody, in a compressed form, all that has been contributed by various writers towards the elucidation of the oration, together with several comments on different passages from his own

resources.

15. History of the Hawaiian Islands, embracing their antiquities, &c. By JAMES J. JARVES. 8vo. pp. 407. Boston. Tappan & Dennet.

1843.

66

16. Scenes and Scenery in the Central America, in 1837-42. Boston. James Munroe & Co. The Sandwich Islands, considering their size, have come to attract a disproportionate degree of regard. There are several causes for this. Their central position, midway between the continents of America and Asia, so as to serve as a great ocean hotel," has rendered them important in a commercial point of view. To the lover of nature and of romance, its mild and equable climate, its palmy groves, cascades, and terrific volcanoes, and all the circumstances of their discovery and subsequent history, have rendered them a sort of fairy land. Here is going on the process of the conversion of a savage to a civilized nation. In many instances have savage nations, by a long and gradual progress, attained to a high degree of civilization; but this is the most striking instance in history, of a nation, under the guidance of a few individuals, and by their own voluntary efforts, being converted from a most inhuman, degraded and idolatrous people, to a community advanced in the occupations, habits and laws of civilized man.

Sandwich Islands, and a Trip through By JAMES J. JARVES. 12mo. pp. 341. 1843.