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(12.) We have seldom read a more touching memorial of early piety and of Christian fortitude than “A Discourse preached on the occasion of the death of William Edgar Baker, by C. K. IMBRIE, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Rahway, N. J." (Carter & Brothers, 1851, 18mo.) The subject of this memoir breathed the atmosphere of a pious household from his infancy, and was converted at an early age. Attacked in opening manhood by a fearful malady, he bore the most terrible operation in surgery with a degree of endurance which extorted from the surgeon a tribute of unusual admiration for his more than heroic fortitude. The operation was vain: but his faith was not:-he passed through the valley of the shadow of death without trembling. The parents of such a son may rejoice in the "treasure" they have "in Heaven." The edition before us appears to have been printed solely for private circulation; but we are sure the book would do great good if scattered through a wider circle.

(13.) "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation" is a work so well known as to need no new notice. We have only to announce a new and neat edition. (Boston: Gould & Lincoln, 12mo., pp. 239.)

(14.) "Dealings with the Inquisition; or, Papal Rome, her Priests and her Jesuits, by Rev. GIACINTO ACHILLI, D. D." (New-York: Harper & Brothers, 12mo., pp. 351.) We are disappointed in this book. The title is a misnomer, as the " dealings "of Dr. Achilli with the Inquisition make up but a small part of the work. It is also a far more rambling, irregular, and disjointed production than we should have expected from an ex-professor of Theology, even though his training had been acquired in that poorest of all schools for training the human mind wholesomely—a Roman Catholic College. It is a pity that some of Dr. Achilli's judicious friends in England did not revise his work before publication.

But with all these drawbacks, the book is full of interest. It bears the marks of truthfulness on every page, even in the naive self-conceit of the author which is sometimes perfectly amusing. It is clear that Dr. Achilli is an honest and earnest man; and one must forgive a little "self-consciousness in a man who has passed through so many stirring scenes. The interest of the book does not really begin until the fifth chapter-the remaining fifteen chapters form a sort of auto-biography which throws a flood of light upon many of the ways of Papal Rome, her priests and her Jesuits. The following extract contains part of a long conversation between Dr. Achilli and a Jesuit friend of his—a conversation held long before Dr. A.'s abandonment of Popery:

"But tell me,' I asked, 'what do the Jesuits do out of Italy; in France, for example, or in England? I do not suppose they employ themselves in the duties of education, the principal object of their foundation. For my part, I never could understand what business they could have either in England or in the United States.'

'Still,' replied he, 'there are many in both those countries, and many more will follow. It is our desire and our hope to obtain the same influence in England that we have in Italy. Protestantism in that country already inclines greatly toward Catholicism, and will do so still more in proportion as the Jesuits gain ground there.

""Our success is much impeded by other priests and monks, who, in their ignorant fanaticism, imprudently attack the Protestants, and thus only strengthen their opposition to the Church of Rome. We, on the other hand, have the art of introducing ourselves among them without exciting attention; consequently, without creating suspicion or alarm. Apparently occupied with our own affairs, we appear to take no notice of those of other people. We readily associate with them, sit at their tables, and converse on general topics; we never oppose or contradict what they may advance. Do they talk of the Bible? we are ready to talk on the same subject. We always, however, have some strong arguments in reserve, for which most of them are not prepared-scholastic doctrines, which the Bible does not disavow, and which are received with great willingness; so that while, on the one hand, we lament that there should be an episcopacy separate from Rome, we talk largely, on the other, on the important doctrine that the bishops are the successors of the apostles, and thus prepare the way for the conclusion that the pope is the successor of St. Peter. In fact, you will find that, in consequence of this doctrine of apostolic succession, the Episcopalians generally entertain a respect for the chair of St. Peter, in which the chief of the bishops is seated.

"The principle being admitted, the consequence naturally follows. And it is to be noted, that if any one speaks slightingly of the Roman episcopacy, the Bishop of London is the first person to reprove him; and, moreover, the English episcopacy calls that of Rome her sister. It is not so, however, with the Presbyterians and other sects. The Church of England retains the two sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, both of which, according to their belief, and according to ours also, confer sanctifying grace (gratiam sanctificantem), not only ex opere operato, but also ex opere operantis, and thus the minister becomes an advocate, sine quo non, for justification in Baptism, and for the real presence in the Eucharist. Should a doubt be expressed as to the sacred character of the minister, or as to the efficacy of the consecration of a bishop, as practised in their Church; should their white robes or their Book of Prayer be criticised, the same outcry is raised by them as would be raised by the sandalled friar if you ridiculed his tunic or his legends of St. Francis.

“'Observe now,' he continued, 'our method of proceeding in England. We get acquainted with the Episcopalians—our time would be lost with others; and while we praise their doctrines, we endeavour to show how near they are to our own. We compare the respective Churches, their bishops with ours, the canons with the laws of discipline, the Mass-book with the Prayer-book, the robe with the surplice, and so on. The only point on which we cannot assimilate is our celibacy and their matrimony. And here we argue that as it is a matter of discipline, the Church might alter it, should it be deemed expedient to do so, the pope having the power to dispense with the observance.'”

The story of Dr. Achilli's imprisonment in the Inquisition under the French authorities at Rome, for the crime of circulating the word of God in that city, is familiar to our readers. In the concluding chapters of this work, however, they will find the account of his labours, his imprisonment and his escape, given more at length than it has been recited before. The whole book tends to illustrate what cannot be too strongly impressed upon the American mind— that Romanism remains unchanged in its essential features of violence, fraud, and imposture.

(15.) THE American Baptist Publication Society, (Philadelphia,) has issued a volume under the title of "Bunyan's Devotional Works," which will be welcome to all Christian souls, in spite of the eccentricity and error which now and then disfigure all the religious writings of the "glorious tinker." The volume contains five distinct works-the Spirit of Prayer; the Saints' Privilege and Profit; the Desire of the Righteous granted; the Unsearchable Riches of Christ; and Paul's Departure and Crown. But one of these (the first) has been before printed in this country.

(16.) DR. ROBINSON's translation of Buttmann's Greek Grammar, of which the second edition was published in 1839, has long been out of print. We can well remember the joy with which, in our own early studies of the language, we turned for the first time over the leaves of the book-a book which for many years was never off our study-table. Since that period the original work has passed through many editions and undergone many changes. The more recent editions edited by Alexander Buttmann, have been very largely revised and extended; indeed, the "Syntax, in particular, has been expanded and re-written, with the aid of all the various theories and extensive investigations of the last twenty years." All this is now rendered accessible to American students in a “Greek Grammar for the Use of High Schools and Universities, by PHILIP BUTTMANN; revised and enlarged by his son Alexander Buttmann, translated from the Eighteenth German edition, by EDWARD RoeINSON," (New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1851; 8vo., pp. 517.) Amid the multitude of Greek Grammars that has appeared in this country since 1839, Buttmann's still stands pre-eminent in one particular, viz., clearness of statement. Thiersch is more analytical and original; Kühner more profound and philosophical; Rost more acute and comprehensive; but in transparent clearness of statement Buttmann leaves them all far behind. We do not think an obscure passage can be found in this book from beginning to end, while in Kühner, still more in his translators, they abound in almost every section, especially of the Syntax. As an available and useful record of the present state of Greek Grammar, if a student can have but one large treatise, we advise him by all means to buy Buttmann. At the same time, we think it much to be regretted that the Editor has not seen fit to adopt the more scientific arrangement of the third declension of nouns which can be found in Kühner and Rost, or to employ Becker's admirable scheme of Syntax, the applicability of which to the Greek has been so fully shown by Kühner. These results of modern scholarship should not remain hidden from University students, for whose use the present volume is intended. Dr. Robinson will secure anew the thanks of American scholars for this translation: indeed, no year passes in which he does not place the fraternity under new obligations to him. The Publishers have got up the book in very excellent style.

(17.) “The Square-rigged Cruiser: or, Sea Sermons, by ALFRED M. LorRAINE.” (Cincinnati : Methodist Book Concern, 18mo., pp. 252.) Mr. Lorraine was formerly a sailor, and is now a minister of the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The work contains ten sermons, intended particularly for seamen, and abounding in illustrations drawn from nautical sources. We trust the "Cruiser" will make a successful and useful voyage.

(18.) THOUGH the Germans have done more to elucidate the details of Grecian history and life than any other nation, it has been reserved for English writers to combine the disjecta membra of history furnished by their more industrious neighbours, into a complete and harmonious whole. Such histories as Thirlwall's and Grote's have no rival in German, or in any other language. It was a happy thought of Dr. Schmitz to make use of these great works in the

preparation of a text-book for schools and for general reading, which now lies before us under the title of "A History of Greece, from the earliest times to the destruction of Corinth, B. C. 146,” (New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1851; 12mo., pp. 541.) The work is in great part an abridgment of Thirlwall—and we could give it no higher recommendation. It is, for this reason, far better written than Dr. Schmitz's History of Rome; which is not by any means a readable book, or one suited to be placed in the hands of young students. The present work might have been made much more available for class instruction by a judicious division into periods, and by placing the dates and divisions at the top and on the margin of the page. But in spite of these, and other defects, it is better than any summary history of Greece extant in our language, with the exception of that published by the Religious Tract Society.

(19.) "The Guiding-Star, or the Bible God's Message, by LOUISA PAYSON HOPKINS," (Boston: Gould & Lincoln, 18mo., pp. 260,) is a series of skilfully-prepared conversations, designed to present the evidences of Christianity in a form sufficiently simple and attractive to meet the wants of children.

(20.) No subject needs to be more urgently pressed upon the attention of the Church of this generation than the religious training of children; and we rejoice to see so many evidences of a renewed attention to it. We have now before us a very valuable treatise, entitled "A Discourse on Domestic Piety and Family Government, in Four Parts, by JOHN H. POWER.” (Cincinnati : Swormstedt & Power. New-York: Lane & Scott, 1851; 18mo., pp. 191.) Part I. treats of the domestic relation, and of the parties to it; Part II. of the duty of a household service of the Lord; Part III. of the motives to domestic piety; and Part IV. of the momentous interests involved in the duty. Each of these topics is treated with great fulness and force: and the book abounds, throughout, not merely with excellent principles of family government and training, but with practical suggestions of the highest value. We wish the book could be placed in the hands of every Christian parent in the land.

(21.) MESSRS. GOULD & LINCOLN have reprinted“ First Impressions of England and its People, by HUGH MILLER,” (12mo., pp. 430,) containing a record of observations made during a short tour in England by the author of the "Old Red Sandstone." It abounds in pleasant glimpses of the rural life of England, of illustrations of the character of its lower classes, and in sharplydrawn contrasts between English and Scottish national character. These, and its geological notes, constitute, so far as we can see, its whole merit. Mr. Miller is too little of a traveller to judge, from any high point of observation, either of national character or national monuments as such; and his Scottish one-sidedness shows itself on almost every page. But the book abounds in pleasant reading.

(22.) MR. CHARLES PHILLIPS is well-known as the "Irish Barrister," and as the author of a number of very bombastic speeches. The best thing he has ever written is “Curran and his Contemporaries." (New-York: Harper & Bro-FOURTH SERIES, VOL. III.-31

thers, 1851; 12mo., pp., 451.) The present issue is a revision of a book printed many years ago and now considerably enlarged. It is full of interesting anecdotes of a class of men such as no country but Ireland, and no age but their own, could have produced. Curran is the central light of a whole system of lesser orbs who sparkle in these pages. There is much in the book that could well be spared; but with all its gossipping prolixity, it is full of interest.

(23.) “The Irish Confederates and the Rebellion of 1798, by Henry M. FIELD," (New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1851; 12mo., pp. 369,) is really the first attempt at anything like a fair and full history of a period which has been much written about but never rightly treated. Mr. Field aims at impartiality; his style, though a little too ambitious for our taste, is well-adapted to the subject and the times-and the book is really an accession to our stores of knowledge on the subject.

(24.) "A Treatise on Political Economy, by GEORGE OPDYKE,” (New-York: G. P. Putnam, 12mo., pp. 339,) is an able exposition of the doctrine of free trade. Mr. Opdyke is not a practised writer, but he is evidently a laborious thinker. We do not accept his arguments as valid, but we cannot hesitate to recognise their ability. One of the novelties of the book is its advocacy of an inconvertible paper currency-a theory, however, not so original as Mr. Opdyke appears to think it.

(25.) "The Young Ladies' Guide to French Composition, by GUSTAVE CHOUQUET,” (New-York: D. Appleton & Co., 12mo., pp. 297,) contains two parts: first, a treatise on Rhetoric, (in French;) and second, a series of exercises, reading-lessons, conversations, &c. We should think it likely to be useful in the hands of a good teacher.

(26.) IN Church History we have to rely, as yet, almost entirely upon German writers. It is, indeed, a disgrace to English and American theology that no Church History, worthy of the name, has yet appeared originally in the English tongue. We have now before us the first volume of a truly-scientific work on the subject, produced on our own soil, but by a German scholar and in the German language, viz:—“ Geschichte der Christlichen Kirche von ihrer Gründung bis auf die Gegenwart, dargestellt von Philipp Schaff, Professor zu Mercersburg." Vol. I. (Mercersburg, Pa.; and New-York: Rudolph Garrigue, 8vo., pp. 576.) This work is meant to be a comprehensive and complete Church History, exhibited in a free Christian spirit, entirely apart from sectarian interests and views: not, to be sure, apart from directly Christian and ecclesiastical interests, but from anything like partisan aims. It will also, if completed in the spirit of the present volume, have this great advantage over the richest works of the kind prepared in Europe-that the author combines the pains-taking accuracy and scientific insight of the German, with the practical religious life of the American mind. We should be glad to give a full outline of the work, but our limits forbid it now-we shall return to it in a more extended review

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