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the fancy, that all good preaching ceased with the Fathers. It would require a very "golden mouth" to create a sensation with the sermon of Chrysostom given us in this volume, were it to be pronounced in our day, and most of the other discourses would be voted very tedious by the hearers who magnify brevity beyond every other feature of a homily. There are not many of these sermons that would leave the worshippers much chance of going to the post-office " after service, and the whole volume would be a practical refutation of a remark which, as we remember, was hazarded once by an enthusiastic advocate of brevity as the one thing needful, to the effect that all the great preachers of the past confined themselves within the smallest possible limits. South was mentioned as a name in point! One of the ablest of this collection of discourses, to our thinking, is part of a double sermon by Luther on his favorite topic, Justification by Faith; and with our conviction that the great reformer had pushed this doctrine to an objectionable extreme, we were amazed to find how entirely we could go along with him, and how true and valuable his meaning, as unfolded by himself, seemed to us. It comes in his discourse mainly to this, that in the sight of God it is of infinitely more importance what we are than what we do, that works are accepted on account of the worker, not the worker on account of works, - that no man can be reckoned good who is not good at heart, and that unless we can believe or trust in One who is able to transform our hearts, and be confident that He has exercised this power, all our doing, ceremonial or moral, will give us no real peace. This discourse

of Luther is one of the few which would not fall dead upon the ear of a congregation should it be repeated in our day. It is clear and pithy, and brings out the vital principle in the matter, and commends this principle as neither an abstraction nor a trick, as in no wise arbitrary, but of everlasting and essential validity. We hope that no one will pass over this discourse from any prejudice which may be awakened by the title.

To the preacher who is bound to make a study of his art, this book must be of great value; the more so, perhaps, because it contains little which is likely to discourage a man of average abilities. To the common reader, it will be far more interesting than most volumes of Sermons, because it is a sort of practical Church history, and does virtually exhibit the different phases of Christian faith, whilst it brings to light whatever doctrines are really usable, and commended to us not only by the letter of Scripture, but also by the witness in the heart.

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The Suffering Saviour; or, Meditations on the Last Days of Christ. By FRED. W. KRUMMACHER, D. D., Chaplain to his Majesty the King of Prussia, Author of "Elisha the Tishbite," &c., &c. Translated, under the express Sanction of the Author, by SAMUEL JACKSON. Boston: Gould and Lincoln. 1856. 12mo. pp. 474.

WE hardly know what to write of this book, and perhaps it would be the wiser course not to write anything. It contains so much that is true, simple, tender, and touching, that we shall be sure to recur to its pages again and again, reading, as such a book should be read, a few chapters at a time, and allowing the words to speak to the heart, without much intermeddling of the intellect. Besides being a very careful and minute delineation of the closing scenes of the Saviour's life, scenes upon which the religious mind dwells with so much interest, it is a treasury of wise and devout thoughts, suggested to the disciple as he follows the Lord from the time when he announces the crucifixion that must come, to the interment in the tomb of Joseph. Nothing is omitted or slighted which can serve in any degree to bring out the significance of the Saviour's sufferings and death for the redemption of the world. Perhaps there is a little too much expansion of each topic, though indeed in this case each topic is rich in meaning. The three divisions of the work into "The Outer Court," "The Holy Place," and "The Most Holy Place," and the appropriate headings of the chapters, -as, for example, "The Announcement," "The Anointing, Lord, is it I?” "The Traitor's Kiss,' "Peter's Tears," attract and aid the reader. The writer, moreover, avails himself of his opportunity to press many a moving question upon the infidelity by which he is surrounded, and appeals most effectively to the wants and aspirations of the human heart in argument for the necessity and truth of the Gospel. Thus much we cannot refrain from setting down in the way of commendation.

But there is another side. The theology of the book seems to be of the sort which is passing away, and which would be repudiated, so far as we can discover, by our New England Calvinists. Let the author's expressions touching the end and efficacy of the Saviour's death stand as truth in a mystery, as mystical words, and we can read them without much feeling of disapprobation, though they are pretty strong even at that; but sift them down, and they are unallowable and painful. Moreover, we have been made sensible (and this has been a very frequent experience with us in reading what so-called Evangelical authors have written upon the atonement) of a hard tone breaking in continually upon the most tender strains, and of an appearance of a deliberate attempt upon the feelings, which is sure, when VOL. LX. -4TH S. VOL. XXVI. NO. I. 13

recognized, to defeat itself. While, therefore, we like the book on the whole, it has strengthened our conviction that the lessons of the Saviour's sufferings and death are best set forth in chants and hymns,- those melodies of the heart which admit of so much freedom of expression, and do their work without calling in the aid of the understanding, with its logic and its definitions. If Christians could have been content with liturgies, and have refrained from creeds and catechisms, the Church would be more united than it is.

The Tangletown Letters: being the Reminiscences, Observations, and Opinions of Timotheus Trap, Esq., including a Report of the Great Mammothic Reform Convention. Edited by the Author of "Records of the Bubbleton Parish," &c. Buffalo Wanzer, McKene, & Co. 1856. 12mo. pp. 300.

A BROAD piece of satire,

so broad indeed that it amounts to a caricature,- devoted to exposing the follies and sins of our modern American society. The satirist, however, is a genial, humane man, in sympathy with some of the philanthropic movements of the day, an earnest lover of freedom, if not an advocate of "Woman's Rights," or disposed to put Christianity and Deism upon the same platform. The book is not without interest, but we must confess that the expectation awakened by the "Records of the Bubbleton Parish" has not been met, as we have turned over its pages.

Colomba. By PROSPER MÉRIMÉE. Translated from the French. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, & Co. 1856. 12mo. pp. 310.

"CORSICAN" Boswell's book of his experiences during his visit to General Paoli is not, we suppose, much read in these days, and Colomba will be especially attractive as affording us a glimpse into the life of the countrymen of the great Napoleon. The year 181- is the date of the story, and we believe that the extraordinary customs of the Corsicans remain what they then were. They are decidedly behind the times, for whilst we who boast of progress are abolishing the gallows, that "mark of civilization," the Corsican has not yet learned the use of this terror to evil-doers, but still takes his revenge in his own way, and resorts to la vendetta without judge or jury, betaking himself after this summary process to the macchie, the wide wastes covered

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In

with underbrush and almost inaccessible to the gendarmes. reading of these people one is reminded of the Book of Judges, albeit they are good Catholics. Each man does what is right in the sight of his own eyes, and each woman too, for our heroine, Colomba, is decidedly insane upon the subject of pistols and fusils. The odd contrasts supplied by the juxtaposition of barbarism and civilization add much to the entertainment of the reader. We are satisfied that Corsica must be a very uncomfortable place to live in, but it is pleasant to read about in this attractive little novel. The typography is in the best style of the enterprising and deservedly successful publishers.

Berenice. A Novel. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, & Co. 1856.

It is a tale of woman's trials, a novel in the form of an autobiography, and although not simple enough in its style for our taste, and marred by what seems to us affectation, not to say conceit, is not without merit. Through many passages of her life we have followed Berenice with much interest, especially in her brave struggles to maintain her independence and eat honest bread, and we congratulate her upon her restoration to her beautiful island-home.

Selections from Modern Greek Writers in Prose and Poetry. With Notes, by C. C. FELTON, LL. D., Eliot Professor of Greek Literature in Harvard University. Cambridge: John Bartlett. 1856. 12mo. pp. 214.

THIS is one of the most valuable books which the indefatigable Professor of Greek at Harvard has given us; valuable not so much as a contribution to the world's literature as for the practical answer which it furnishes to a question that is ever coming up about the utility of classical studies, and the comparative claims of ancient and modern languages upon the young student. One ancient language, at least, turns out to be modern too, spoken with surprisingly slight changes in the east of Europe and the west of Asia, and the learned Hellenist may have been fitting himself to transact business with his mercantile correspondent and agent at Smyrna. We are satisfied that Greek will be studied erelong as a living tongue, and that, passing by the vexed question about the ancient pronunciation of the old language, we shall pronounce now as contemporary Grecians pronounce.

With the aid of some fifty pages of notes, (and these are very largely historical,) more than one hundred and fifty pages of Modern Greek are made intelligible to a proficient in the ancient tongue. We have not yet read the historical and oratorical extracts, and the poems, which make up the text of the volume; but a glance at the subjects and contents is sufficient to awaken a keen appetite for the perusal. We commend those who are in search of odd combinations to such phrases as "The Low Countries," "Charles the First," and "North America," rendered into Greek by Spyridon Tricoupes, for some time Ambassador for Greece at the Court of St. James, and author of a History of the Greek Revolution.

The West Church and its Ministers. Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ordination of CHARLES LOWELL, D. D. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, & Co. 12mo. pp. 242.

sun.

THE West Church is nowhere in the neighborhood of the setting Its ancient good name shows no sign of declension in our ecclesiastical sky. Its early love and stand for religious liberty are as distinguished at this moment as they were in the beginning. Its short but excellent line of ministers feels an accession of intellectual beauty and strength in the junior pastor, who here does the work of its historian.

We consider this volume one of the most valuable of those with which Mr. Bartol has favored us. Taking its start from the interesting solemnity mentioned at the head of this notice, it goes on to delineate, in three discourses, the characters and services of the three pastors who were the predecessors of Dr. Lowell. In fervid but discriminating words he brings before us brave William Hooper, who found the Boston churches of 1740 too straitened for his ideas of religious liberty; the noble patriot and liberal thinker, Jonathan Mayhew, who was generally thought by his ministerial brethren too heretical to be safe; and the amiable but steadfast Simeon Howard, stout for civil freedom and a generous theology, who was neither Trinitarian nor Calvinist, yet so earnest in the ministry of his faith as actually to float off the fragments of his church to the shores of Nova Scotia, when it had been broken up by the English soldiery, and its meetinghouse was turned into a barrack.

There follows a discourse on "The Theological and Ecclesiastical Position of the West Church," which will command attention for the breadth of its views, and its wise, calm spirit, to say nothing of that charm of style, which seems to come spon