could purchase and peruse them. There is danger, too, it is alleged, that the mind will be overwhelmed, and all solid learning will be swept away, by this deluge of ephemeral and frothy literature.

The multiplication of books ought, however, as it seems to us, to awaken feelings of pleasure and hope. It proves, that there is an increase of the number of writers and of readers. It is an indication, that the condition of society is improving, both because men have more money to expend for books, and more leisure for reading; and because some of the time now employed in perusing books, would otherwise have been spent in idleness or dissipation.

It may be true, that no individual can read a tithe of the books which daily issue from the press; just as it is true, that no person could consume a thousandth part of the provisions which are daily exposed for sale at the Faneuil Market; but it does not follow, in either case, that the supply is too great for the whole community. We can scarcely conceive how vast is the amount of intellect which demands instruction and amusement. This country is a nation of readers; and their various tastes, conditions and duties require a corresponding variety of books. We are inclined to think, that the greatest intellectual want, of this country, next to an increase of the number of good religious. and literary teachers, is a great addition to the stock of suitable books.* We rejoice, that the American Bible Society is laboring, successfully, to furnish every dwelling in our land with the pure word of God. The American Sunday School Union has acquired a strong claim to the gratitude and aid of every patriot and Christian, by its endeavors to provide for the rising generation a supply of interesting and valuable books.† But there is still a boundless field for additional laborers. The universal education in

By suitable books, we mean such, as while they are instructive as to their substance, and pure in style, are adapted to the American people. A great proportion of all the books which are read, contain principles and sentiments repugnant to our institutions, habits and duties.-We shall never be an independent nation, till we emancipate our minds from the thraldom of foreign principles and opinions. We must have a national literature. t It is delightful to think, how many youthful minds are now forming, under the influence of the excellent books furnished by the American Sunday School Union, and kindred societies. What advantages our children enjoy! Yet it was, with pain and mortification, that we heard, a few days since, that Tom Thumb has a place in a Sabbath school library, within twenty miles of Boston!

this country is creating an appetite for knowledge, which must be gratified. It sustains a thousand newspapers. It supports a press in almost every village, from the Penobscot to the Arkansas. It demands, every day, new periodical publications, and new books, of every variety of character.

We hold him, then, to be a public benefactor, who writes a good book, or edits an instructive magazine, or a well-conducted newspaper.-He adds to the amount of individual happiness. He promotes the public weal. He diminishes the number of those, who frequent the theatre, the gambling table and the dram-shop. He strengthens the cause of morality, and contributes to the extension and efficacy of true religion.

We are, consequently, gratified, to see new books multiply. That some of them are useless and some pernicious, must be confessed and lamented; but the only remedy is, to increase the number and attractiveness of good books. Keep out the darkness, by adding to the light. Rectify the public taste. Make it more profitable for booksellers to publish useful books, and they will not invest their capital in bad

ones.

Next to good authors, we consider active and conscientious publishers to be entitled to our gratitude. He who makes a valuable book cheap and attractive, does more to benefit society and to strengthen his country's liberty, than he who discovers a gold mine, or builds a ship of war. He assists in moulding the character of the nation. He sends forth into a thousand families the salutary principles and useful knowledge, which will make those families the abodes of peace and the nurseries of virtue.

While we welcome new books, we rejoice to see new editions of works, which have received the sanction of public approbation. It is among our blessings, that we have so large a fund of recorded wisdom and deep learning, in the books of past times. Much, certainly, of what was written in former ages was erroneous-much of temporary interest-much was useless; but there was very much which was true and valuable-the discoveries of careful observers; the thoughts of wise and pure minds; the feelings of holy hearts; the creations of consecrated genius.-Here is a vast mine, from which we may extract precious ore, to enrich all future generations. The dross may be left behind. The chaff may be winnowed from the wheat.

The WORKS OF ANDREW FULLER have been before the public for a number of years. Public opinion has passed on them its decisive sentence. They have taken their place among the standard theological writings in the English language. Though elicited, to a great extent, by temporary causes, and controversial in their form, they discuss some of the greatest questions which can occupy the human mind— atonement-faith-justification—the nature of moral obligation-the tendencies and effects of the principal theories and systems of religions.-These, and innumerable subordinate topics, are treated, with so much acute discrimination, sound judgment, scriptural accuracy, and fearless love of truth, softened by benevolent kindness, that the works of Fuller are justly entitled to rank with those of Owen and Edwards. No well-informed theologian can, henceforward, be ignorant of them. They must have a place in every good library. They may be recommended to every theological student, as presenting, in a small compass, the cardinal doctrines of the faith once delivered to the saints, so accurately and clearly expressed, as to fix themselves in his mind, with the luminous distinctness of axioms. They may be introduced into the family; and while they will make the Christian love and study his Bible more, they will assist him to understand its doctrines better, and to practise its precepts with more alacrity and steadiness.

There are, certainly, some things in these volumes, to which every Christian will not assent; but this is true of the writings of Edwards, and Owen, and Baxter, and Bunyan, and every other human author.-But it may, probably, be said, with truth, that real Christians, of every name, would find as much to approve, and as little to reject, in the works of Fuller, as in the writings of any other uninspired man, in any country or age. He has touched the peculiarities of his own denomination very rarely, and always in a kind and candid tone. His aim was not sectarian. He was the champion of the whole great host of God's elect. He defended the fundamental doctrines of the faith; and every heart which loves those doctrines must rejoice to witness his courage and his success.

It was a good service to the community, to collect the works of Fuller into a form so attractive and cheap as that in which these volumes appear. The American edition is well printed, on good paper, and with a new, distinct type.

It is, so far as we have examined it, unusually, though not entirely, free from typographical errors, which disfigure many productions of the American press, and from which English books are not always exempt. We hope, that the enterprizing publishers will be amply remunerated for their expenditures and labor, and that the public will be benefitted by a wide diffusion of the work. We are glad to learn, that the first edition is nearly sold, and that a second will probably be issued. It was among the last labors of the excellent senior member of the firm,* to commence the publication of these volumes. It might have cheered him, on his death-bed, to foresee their salutary influence on the principles and conduct of their readers.

A formal review of the book would be impossible, within any reasonable limits. The topics discussed are very numerous. The "General Index" would fill as much space, as this whole article ought to occupy. A mere synopsis of Mr. Fuller's views, on leading topics, would require many pages. It would be unsatisfactory to him who had not read the book, and of little value to him who had studied it. To do justice, moreover, to Mr. Fuller, the doctrines which he opposed must be examined; and a cast must be given to a review, that would be unsuited to the character of the Observer.†

We will, rather, take this opportunity, to offer a few remarks on the character and labors of Mr. Fuller. It cannot fail to be interesting and profitable, to inquire, how an English farmer, without an academical education, became an able preacher of the gospel, one of the foremost theological writers of his age, and a leader in the great missionary enterprizes, which distinguish these latter days of the church. We will speak, first, of his education.

Men are accustomed to annex limited ideas to the word ' education.'-They often use it to signify a literary discipline, rather than as comprehending the whole of that preparation, physical, mental and moral, by which a man is fitted for his duties. "That education only," says Milton, "can

Mr. Ensign Lincoln, a man who was beloved by all who knew him, and whose services, both as a preacher and a bookseller, to the cause of religion and learning, cannot be estimated.

An acute review of Mr. Fuller's works is contained in his Life, by J. W. Morris, a book which ought to be read by every one who wishes to understand the intellectual character of Mr. Fuller. It was published by Lincoln and Edmands, in 1830, in a neat volume of 320 pages, 12mo.

be considered as complete and generous, which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both private and public, of peace and of war." This definition is, perhaps, too extensive for the nature of the human mind itself. But it may be said, with truth, that no discipline deserves the name of education, which does not prepare a man to perform all the duties of the station to which the providence of God appoints him. It must include much more than the training of the intellectual faculties, and the communication of literary and scientific knowledge. The physical frame, the habits, the dispositions, the principles, have a material share in determining a man's fitness for certain duties.

In the restricted sense, Mr. Fuller's education was small. He was instructed in the common branches of learning taught in the free school at Soham. He acquired a slight knowledge of the elements of the Hebrew and Greek languages. He read the best English authors, and carefully studied the most eminent theological writers, both English and American. By practice, he attained a considerable facility in writing, in a clear and energetic style.-Such were his merely literary qualifications.

But in the wider signification, Mr. Fuller was admirably educated, by the providence and grace of God, to fill the post and to perform the duties, assigned to him. We must believe, that God designed him for a special service, and gave him the training, which, on the whole, was best adapted to prepare him to accomplish it.

His powerful frame was one of his qualifications. A feeble, sickly body could not have endured the toils which Mr. Fuller sustained; and it must have sunk, under the action of his energetic mind, as a slight rampart would be prostrated by the recoil of heavy ordnance. Mr. Fuller's labors as a farmer, till he was about twenty years of age, formed a physical education, which gave him an unusual degree of muscular vigor. He was thus prepared for those manifold and incessant labors, which finally brought down even his athletic frame to the grave, but which he sustained till he had passed his sixtieth year.

The humble condition, in which Mr. Fuller spent his youth, was, in another way, one of the causes of his subsequent eminence. That admirable common sense, which was his chief intellectual characteristic, and was the mighty wea