provided him with strong armour and with a wondrous sword, which gave certain victory if he shrank not back like a coward, or yielded to the foe.

"The knight slept soundly on this soft couch, when he was roused by the touch of a hand so light that the dew could hardly have rested more gently on his shoulder, and yet there was something in the power of that touch, which not only broke his slumbers but restored to him in a moment all his waking powers. He started up and beheld a messenger sent by his king. Her robe was of woven light, a starry crown was upon her head, and the glance of her eye penetrated the heart. It was Conscience, who, invisible to all eyes save his own, had come on an errand to the knight. Sleeping still!' she exclaimed, Rouse yourself and draw your sword. In yonder tower Giant Sloth holds his court, and you cannot pass on till he is slain. This is the hour to attack him in his hold, soon after sunrise he will escape you. When the great clock strikes six it will be too late to encounter him that day; he may vanish before your eyes, but neither be conquered nor slain.'

Sword in

"With rapid step and a resolute spirit, Fides sped on his first encounter. hand he pressed up to the entrance of the castle, which stood open before him, and at once proceeded to the large hall. A strange scene of confusion was there; the whole place was littered with unfinished work, blotted pages and blank ones, and neglected volumes with their leaves uncut. But the strangest thing was the feeling of heaviness and dullness which stole over the knight the moment he entered the hall. It seemed too much trouble to move, and he would fain have laid himself down and slept. The place was very still, the only sound heard was that of some one breathing heavily in the next room. Animated with the hope of gaining his first victory, the knight resolutely struggled against the sleepy sensation which made the danger of that enchanted hall. He passed through it, and found that what he had mistaken for a wall was only a huge web, like that which the house-spider weaves, thick, close, and darkened with dust, through which Fides could see with some difficulty into the inner chamber where the giant lay asleep. His eyelids grew still more heavy, and he felt a strong and increasing desire to sleep. But just above the feathery couch of the giant was a huge clock with a dial of silver and figures of gold, and the hand which glittered with many a gem had almost touched the point of six. Now or never!' thought Fides, with another strong effort, as he remembered the words of Conscience. Ding-DingDing the hand is at six! the giant is beginning to stir! Fides with sudden resolution lifts his sword on high, down it descends on the web, which, as the blow divides it, starts back on each side till a very wide gap appears! Fides springs through the opening, he is just in time, and the next moment Giant Sloth is dead at his feet."

The second series of books on our list are of equal or even greater merit, The Wolf-boy of China is already an established favourite, and deservedly so. The writer has perfectly succeeded in the very difficult task of combining instruction and amusement. After testing the truthfulness of many of the descriptions by comparing them with the statements of Davis, Gutzlaff, Huc, and Fortune, we have no doubt that the odd customs of the Celestial people are represented with rigid truthfulness, whilst the tale cannot fail to rivet the attention of any lad who is so fortunate as to get hold of it. The other volumesSister Kate, Marian Falconer, Grace Hamilton's School Days, and The Sunshine of Greystone-are adapted rather for girls than boys, and address themselves to minds somewhat more advanced than the ordinary readers of Juvenile Literature. For girls leaving school and just entering upon the duties and temptations, the pleasures and disappointments, of the world, we can scarcely conceive any more suitable books than these. Their tone is always excellent; the moral and religious teaching is diffused throughout the whole and not obtruded in any part, whilst one or two of them possess literary merits of a very high order. The aim avowed by the authoress of Marian Falconer" has evidently been that of the writers of the other volumes.

"I would represent how Christianity should be brought into the common occurrences of our common lives-and should not be kept exclusively for the hours of public worship, nor of private devotion; nor yet solely to be spoken of as something sacredly apart and away. But that it should be the paramount motive of the heart, the one abiding remembrance amidst all fluctuating accidents of thought, the one steadfast holding-place when troubled waves beat high. Christians ought to be the stars of the dark world-they are the deputies of the angels on earth and no more than a seraph can conceal his brightness can God's faithful child hide the moral glory he has gained by communion with his Father."

We have here important truths beautifully expressed; nor can we more briefly and exactly state the tone and sentiment of these tales.

VOL. II.-NEW SERIES.

D

The Coronal, published by the Religious Tract Society, consists of a number of short tales and poems, most of which are original, the few which are selected are so little known as to be new to the majority of their readers. They are all good, and the coloured engravings with which the volume abounds make it a very suitable present at this festive season. British Water Birds is a companion volume to that on Land Birds, noticed in a recent number, and, as far as we have been able to examine it, is of equal merit. The Young Envelope Makers is a short tale, describing the temptations and dangers which lie in the way of young girls of the poorer classes, especially those employed in factories. Though not quite free from the defects we have pointed out as of frequent occurrence in the otherwise admirable publications of this Society, it is a tale which will be read with interest and profit by the class to which it is addressed. The last book on our list-Self-Mastery; or, Kenneth and Hugh—is in many respects one of the very best in the series. It describes the earnest, manly, yet thoroughly boyish struggles of a party of lads at school. We do not know when we have read a tale which depicted more vividly the frank, generous characteristics of the true British lad than in the heroes of this tale. They display that "pluck and bottom" (will our readers pardon the slang? no other words express the meaning) which in so many recent instances have raised mere boys to the rank of heroes, and on the plains of India have shed fresh lustre on the British name.

Could our grandmothers "revisit the glimpses of the moon," with what astonishment would they survey this collection of books prepared for their great-grandchildren! Certainly, the youngsters of the present generation ought to be happier, wiser, and better than their ancestors were. If they are not, much money and pains will have been wasted in the unsuccessful attempt to make them so. We have rarely seen an array of volumes better adapted to this end than those now before us.

The United States and Cuba. By J. M. PHILLIPPO, London: Pewtress & Co.; Heaton & Son. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman, & Co.

THERE is no rule of criticism more important than that which bids us

"In every work regard the writer's end,

Since none can compass more than they intend."

And this rule is specially applicable to the volume before us. Those who come to it for a narrative of wild adventure, for picturesque and flowing descriptions of natural scenery, or for profound researches into bygone ages, will be disappointed. It is not at all a volume of the circulating library sort. Every page is crammed with facts, and bristles with figures. It is a manual of the United States, geographical, historical, political, commercial, and social. Containing, in a compendious form, abundant information on all these points, it will be invaluable as a book of reference. If, in addition to its copious table of contents, it had been furnished with an index, which we regard as almost essential in works of this kind, it would have left little or nothing to be desired.

We should, however, do injustice to the volume before us if we were to produce the impression that it contains nothing but hard facts and dry statistics. Though the bulk of the volume consists of those useful but somewhat uninviting materials, there are passages of considerable beauty interspersed here and there, which, like the verdant valleys of Switzerland, seem all the more

beautiful from force of contrast.

Some of the descriptions of Cuban and American scenery are very graphic and picturesque. The following extract, on the perils which impend over the future of America, is a fair specimen of the style of the non-statistical passages :—

"Amidst all the glowing anticipations of the future we have painted, and in the face of her past great and rapid progress as a nation, there sits the terrific spectre-human slavery. Let us remind her that it was this Moloch that destroyed the old civilisation of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and why not that of America? Let not the American people be vaingloriously dazzled at the vastness of their acquisitions, and at the rank to which Providence has raised them, and thus be impelled into a continued course of action at once impolitic and unjust. No longer let the advocates for the perpetuity of Southern 'domestic institutions' make expediency their God. No longer let them adhere to the policy of their country 'right or wrong,' nor neglect all moral considerations whilst studying its aggrandisement; much less in relation to the most important question let them act as though they have 'no faith in the right,' nor in this moral retribution of nations. That God is a God of providence-even in the minutest circumstances of life directing and controlling the government of the world-few among them will deny; then let them not forget that that Providence never permits the laws of nature to be outraged with impunity, and that if they much longer delay to put away the master evil from amongst them, Nature will surely vindicate her own laws and restore the credit of her own wise and equitable administration, to the lasting ruin of the nations that have abused her."

It may seem presumption in us to differ from Mr. Phillippo in the estimate he gives of the condition and prospects of the United States, but we are con strained to say that, notwithstanding this and similar passages, it seems to us somewhat too favourable. We are not indeed prepared to question the accuracy of his statistics, or the veracity of his statements. Beyond an occasional exaggeration into which he has probably been led by the bluster and swagger, and bunkum of the American press (as in the assertion that "the United States own more than two-fifths of the tonnage of the world"), we believe that the returns have been carefully prepared and are correctly stated. Where we hesitate is as to the inferences to be drawn from these statistics.

Our readers will remember the famous paradox uttered by an eminent British statesman: "There is nothing so fallacious as facts but figures. Give me a bundle of statistical returns, and I will prove anything you want from them." Paradoxical as this seems, it is yet substantially true. Tables may be manipulated so as to produce almost any apparent results. The Americans are great masters in the art of "cooking accounts." We have, however, little to learn from them on this side the Atlantic. Fraudulent railway and bank directors have familiarised us with the idea of omitting awkward items in order to make things pleasant, and good-natured auditors have accepted the returns as complete, instead of inquiring into the sums to be written off, per contra. We do not mean that Mr. Phillippo is exactly in the position of "the goodnatured auditor," but we do think that a fair statement of the other side of the account would very materially lower the estimate formed of our Transatlantic cousins. When we read of the amazing wealth of the commercial cities of America we are tempted to ask for a return, not of the number of merchants who have had to suspend payment-a very large volume would be needed for such a list-but of those who have not failed, and those who have failed only once. If we are rightly informed, a few lines would suffice for Boston and New York in a list of this nature. When we read now-a-days of the astonishing elasticity of American commerce, in so soon recovering from the effects of the panic, what is meant by it, but that a failure and suspension of payment are so little regarded that a man compounding with his creditors to-day is as good and as well thought of as ever to-morrow, and that the commerce of the States is so speculative in its character that it needs little foundation to rest upon? A

castle in the air is built far more rapidly than one upon the ground. Again, when we read of the ideal and theoretical perfection of the Government, we cannot but remember the many illustrations which have been afforded of the weakness of the executive which confesses itself unable to secure freedom of speech or protection from outrage to the advocate of unpopular doctrines. There is something very attractive in the perfect social equality which repub. lican institutions secure to all classes; but we must confess that the despotism of the mob, the tyranny of public opinion, and the unlimited monarchy of the majority, do not charm us. There is far more personal liberty of thought, speech, and action in England than in America. Our hereditary aristocracy and monarchy form breaks in the channel, along which the torrent would otherwise pour without check or hindrance. In times of great excitement we chafe against these restraints, yet in seasons of calm we can see that they are not an unmitigated evil. They leave time for reflection and mature legislation; they offer a counterpoise to the aristocracy of wealth; they connect the present with the past; they so far break the impetuous force of the stream as to allow of an independent, outspoken minority; and since the popular will always accomplishes its purpose at last, we can afford to wait and reap the advantage of delay. Not many months ago we saw a letter from one of the most illustrious citizens of the States, whose name is influential on both sides the Atlantic. After adverting sadly to these and other counterbalancing defects, he said, "I begin to despond, almost to despair of my country." It hardly came within Mr. Phillippo's design to advert to these things; but they must be taken into account if we would fairly and truly estimate the position and prospects of America.

But, after making all allowances and deductions, we stand amazed at the rapid growth, the immense resources, and the mighty achievements of this infant country, which nowhere stand more clearly displayed than in the statistical tables which Mr. Phillippo has compiled. Figures of speech would fail to produce the effect of these figures of arithmetic. They give, at a glance, the history of this astonishing people, who, within the memory of persons yet living, were only an insurgent colony, but who have now placed themselves abreast with the mightiest empires of the Old World. We cordially thank Mr. Phillippo for his most instructive volume, and hope that the sale will be commensurate with the immense labour its preparation must have cost him.

SERMONS.

Brief Notices.

—8. Religious Prosperity. By W. Crowe. B. L. Green.

1. Outlines of Theology. By Jas. Clark. A volume on the Outlines of Theology Vol. 2. Ward & Co. 2. India: Its stands first on our list of sermons (1). As Crimes and its Claims. By C. Stovel. preached, we have no doubt that they Jackson and Walford.-3. Christ our Sub- would be very acceptable; they may be stitute. By W. Brock. Exeter Hall Ser- read with some measure of interest and mons.-4. Expository Outlines: Sketches profit even in print, but as a system of and Skeletons of Sermons. Hamilton, theology they altogether want compactness Adams, and Co.-5. The Atonement. Re- and logical force. The construction and ligious Tract Society.-6. The Homilist. discussion of a theological system requires Vol. 6. Ward and Co.-7. The Congre- a method of treatment almost, if not quite, gational Pulpit. Part 10. Judd and Glass.incompatible with the exigencies of the

By J.

modern English pulpit. Dwight failed. Society.—3. The Gospel Narrative, divided Mr. Clark could hardly expect to succeed. into Sections, and Arranged in one com-Most characteristic, and, therefore, most bined and continuous History. excellent, are Two Sermons by Mr. Stovel Peddie, Esq. Oliphant and Sons; Hamilon India (2), and by Mr. Brock, at Exeter ton, Adams, and Co.-4. The Sacred Hall, on Christ our Substitute (3). The Plains. By J. H. Headley. Jas. Blackformer contains passages of indignant in-wood.-5. Lazarus Revived: the Gospel of vective, eloquent appeal, and honest, out- John, Chap. xi. By Jas. Culross, A.M. spoken truth, interspersed, however, with J. Heaton and Son.-6. The Incarnate descriptions, of which the good taste and Word: an Exposition of the first 18 verses propriety are somewhat questionable. We of St. John's Gospel; with two Introducdoubt whether Mr. Brock ever preached tory Discourses. By a Protestant Layman. more effectively than at Exeter Hall. His J. F. Shaw. discourse is a model of manful, godly earnestness, worthy of all attention and imitation.-A volume of Expository Outlines (4), by the author of the "Faithful Witness" and "Footsteps of Jesus," are good and sound, though rather commonplace. We quite agree with the writer, that scriptural exposition is too much neglected in our ministry. We agree with him further, that it is much more difficult to expound well than to preach well. But we are constrained to say, that it would require more freshness and vigour of thought than this volume possesses to make exposition popular south of the Tweed. The Religious Tract Society have published an admirable little volume on the Atonement (5), consisting of four sermons, by the Bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Chalmers, Archer Butler, and Robert Hall. The discourses rank among the chefs d'oeuvre of their respective authors, and we need not say are all excellent. Placed side by side, they not only form a valuable exposition of the doctrine of the atonement, but afford a striking testimony to the fundamental unity of Protestantism, amidst all its diversities.-One who can "speak with authority" has so recently reviewed The Homilist (6) and The Congregational Pulpit (7) in our pages, that we need scarcely return to them beyond the mere announcement that we have received vol. 6 of the former, and the number for September of the latter. The judgment pronounced in that article we believe to be substantially correct; rather too severe perhaps in some points, but such as, on the whole, we are quite prepared to stand by. Mr. Crowe has published an admirable discourse (8), preached by him to the Worcestershire Association. He discusses two questions; first, What is Religious Prosperity? second, How is it to be Secured? He conducts both inquiries in a mode which can hardly fail to be useful.

BIBLICAL EXPOSITIONS.

1. Commentary on Kings and Chronicles. Keil and Bertheau. T. and T. Clark.-2. The Book of Psalms, arranged in Parallelism, with Preface and Notes. Religious Tract

The subscribers to the Foreign Theological Library will, we are persuaded, agree with Messrs. Clark, that the rarity of commentaries on the historical books of the Old Testament renders any addition to the number very acceptable. Keil on the Book of Kings (1) forms a very valuable contribution to our expository literature. We are inclined to place it among the most valuable with which these enterprising publishers have favoured us. It is not only able and learned, but thoroughly orthodox. Even Dr. Campbell must fail to detect the taint of heresy. With Bertheau on the Chronicles, we are less satisfied. We cannot, however, but remark upon the great ability with which Mr. Martin has discharged his office as translator.-The Religious Tract Society have published the Book of Psalms, arranged in parallelism, with a preface and explanatory notes (2). The arrangement of the text and the annotations, are those of the annotated paragraph Bible, but the typography, binding, and getting up of the volume make it one of the most beautiful volumes which the society has ever issued. It is a luxury to read a book of which the workmanship is so perfect.-Mr. Peddie (3) has attempted the very difficult task of making the Four Gospels run on as one continuous narrative. We greatly prefer the method so successfully adopted by Dr. Robinson, in his harmony, who prints the Four Gospels side by side, in parallel columns, and we question the utility of their arrangement in a diatessaron. It is an exercise of ingenuity, and a curious illustration of the substantial agreement of the Evangelists, but it tends to confuse the narrative and seriously diminishes the pleasure of perusal. Conceding however, that the Four Gospels were to be thus combined; Mr. Peddie has done it as well as possible.-In a volume entitled the Sacred Plains (4), Mr. Headley has described the plains of Palestine, and narrated the scenes with which they are associated in Scripture history. We have the plains of Shinar, Jordan, Mamre, Moab, &c. ; though the style is altogether too rhetorical, and the descriptions too imaginative, there is a graphic picturesque power about the