throughout exhibits a remarkable tenderness in speaking of the Whigs of that age, often bestowing the highest praise on them, and placing their policy in honorable contrast with the policy of their adversaries. In truth, his characters of the prominent men who lived during the fifty years over which his History extends are almost uniformly exact and well drawn ; and his views of the transactions of that period generally meet our ready acceptance. It is only when he speaks of events within his own memory, which he does far too frequently and with strong partisan prejudice, that we find much to which we should seriously object. He, however, shows too willing a disposition to overlook the frailties of royalty. Assuredly, few kings have stood in greater need of a lenient judgment than the Hanoverian sovereigns. Yet our author tells us that they were "kind rulers," and endeavours to convince his readers that they have been too harshly condemned. His style, without possessing much elegance, is perspicuous and idiomatic, admits of great minuteness of detail and breadth of illustration, without becoming tedious, and is sometimes, though rarely, eloquent.

s-h.

Theophany; or the Manifestation of God in the Life, Character, and Mission of Jesus Christ. By Rev. ROBERT TURNBULL. Hartford. 1849. 12mo. pp. 239.

THIS book is written in an unexceptionable spirit, and with considerable rhetorical force. It adheres with remarkable fidelity to the opinions which, for several generations past, have been esteemed safe by the great body of the sects called Orthodox. If we stood among the advocates of its theology, we should regard it as a timely publication, popular, cautiously free from anything dangerous, calculated to be useful. We think, however, that even they would make these two abatements from their commendation, that Mr. Turnbull's rhetoric is often strained, glaring, extravagant, and his statements of thought often highly exagger ated; and that he frequently uses the unsatisfactory language of a fervid imagination when he ought to use the transparent phraseology of a cool understanding. In discussing the abstract doctrines of theology, the awful dogmas of Augustine and Calvin, literal terms and careful reasoning alone are appropriate. In these particulars the book is wanting. Thus far those who accept Christianity as interpreted by the Baptists will agree with us.

But as Unitarians, we have graver charges to bring against the argumentative, doctrinal portions of the work. In the first place, the writer over and over again assumes the points in controversy, and reasons from them at the very time that he purports to be proving them. As honest seekers after truth, we search through

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the book for the proofs of his leading propositions, and cannot find them. He says, for instance, "The doctrine of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is clearly revealed in the Holy Scriptures"; but no proof of this statement is given. Secondly, the volume abounds in examples of false logic; we have marked more than fifty cases. We mean a use of the form of logic without its reality. In every chapter many arguments are stated, in which we may admit the premises and yet legitimately deny the conclusion. For instance, our author says, "If Jesus Christ, in order to be a proper representative of man, must himself be a man, it follows that, in order to be a proper representative of God, he must also be God." What utter confusion of thought and language is here! In fact, the book is a fair specimen of that logic which consists in setting down two statements of the same proposition, differently expressed, with a "therefore " between them. And, finally, the numerous perversions of the New Testament phraseology occurring in the work before us deserve rebuke. These mistranslations, misinterpretations, misapplications, of Scriptural language, made in disregard of the context, and in defiance of the results of the ablest critics, are a discredit to Mr. Turnbull's scholarship. It is quite too bad that the Deity of Christ should be demonstrated by means of a text so well known to be wholly turned from its real meaning as this, “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." It certainly ought to be understood that the literal words of our English version of the Bible were not used by Jesus or the Apostles, and that King James's translators could lay no valid claims to plenary inspiration.

In all charity and candor, we are constrained to conclude, that, while in other particulars the merits of the work we are noticing are respectable, as a theological disquisition it is defective and inefficient. As Unitarians we rejoice to admit the whole import of the words, "Theophany, or the manifestation of God in the life, character, and mission of Jesus Christ." All the declarations of the New Testament touching our Saviour we heartily receive, and leave it to the other sects of Christians to be wise above what is written, to meddle with the scholastic jargon of theories concerning "the mysterious cabinet of the Trinity," and schemes of vicarious atonement, abusing their brains with unhappy perplexities, and spoiling themselves through "vain conceits of philosophy, falsely so called."

A.

The Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England. Also, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. With Illustrative Notes, a Map of Anglo-Saxon England, and a General Index. Edited by

J. A. GILES, D. C. L., Late Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. London: H. G. Bohn. 1848. 12mo.

pp. 515.

THIS Volume contains a mass of historical facts, relative to that part of English history which preceded the Norman Conquest, such as it is the fortune of no other nation of Europe to possess. The "Ecclesiastical History" of the Venerable Bede is the best known and most esteemed of his works. Notwithstanding in many instances he has evinced a want of discrimination and judg ment in the selection and arrangement of his materials, yet, considered with reference to the peculiar circumstances under which he wrote, his book is an extraordinary performance. His style of narration and description, and, we may add, his ready credulity, are remarkably Herodotean. His faults are those of a simple and imaginative mind. The First Book opens with a description of England which would reflect credit upon a classical author.

At the conclusion of his History is annexed a list of Bede's works. It comprises commentaries on almost all the books of Scripture, and several homilies on the principal festivals of the Church; religious biographies, and a book of hymns; treatises on music, orthography, and versification; and one entire book, "De Rerum Natura," which is still extant.

The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" is a continued narrative, written at different times and by different persons, of events most celebrated in English history from the remotest period to the year of our Lord 1154. Valuable as it is to the historian, it has been somewhat neglected; and the pages of Hume, Goldsmith, Turner, and Lingard are susceptible of improvement by collation with it. The severity, or the fastidiousness, of these writers has led them to reject from their histories many of those minute actions and collateral incidents which have exercised a great secret influence on the most important affairs of the English nation.

H-rd.

Writings of Rev. William Bradford Homer, late Pastor of the Congregational Church in South Berwick, Me., with an Introductory Essay and a Memoir. By EDWARDS A. PARK, Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. Second Edition. Boston. 1849. 12mo. pp. 395.

WE are thankful to see this. A spiritual biography of a life rich in promise rather than performance, the simple history of a young country pastor, struck down just as he was beginning a course of noble but humble piety, with a few unostentatious yet remarkable sermons attached, - passes through a considerable edition by the unsolicited interest of the public in its subject-matter, and its editor feels bound to give it anew, in a more homogeneous

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form. The second edition is about the size of the first; but various substitutions have been made, tending, we think, to increase the interest of the volume, by making it more ministerial and less literary. An Essay of about fifty pages on the "Religious Influence of Theological Seminaries" is inserted, for which we are indebted to Professor Park. Nothing could be more timely or appropriate; nor do we know any quarter from which could be expected a more fervent yet wise, strong yet charitable, defence of the schools of the prophets. To young ministers, we think, this book will always be interesting and suggestive. H-nd.

The California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life. By FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR. New York: G. P. Putnam. 1849. 12mo. pp. 448.

THE great merit of this book lies in the confidence with which it inspires the reader, that he is following the author through a veritable account of incidents, as foreign from his usual experience as the scenes which it describes are different from those with which he is personally familiar. There is no attempt to produce an effect by a thrilling narrative, or to establish a theory of one kind or another. Yet the book is full of interest, and abounds with instruction in regard to the region and the people visited. Mr. Parkman was for several weeks domesticated (if we may apply such a word to aboriginal life) with one of the wildest of the Indian tribes that roam over the prairies or traverse the mountains of the dreary expanse which stretches between the frontiers of civilization and the golden shores of the Pacific, the home of the buffalo, the savage, and the storm. For the example it gives of resolution, fortitude, and cheerfulness, under circumstances voluntarily sought, indeed, but not therefore necessarily conducive to the best manifestation of character, it may be placed among works whose moral influence must be good. But its chief value results from the accuracy of its details and the novelty of its materials. We should have been glad if the writer's modesty had allowed him to give more of his own reflections upon the race which he had such rare opportunities of studying; but as no such purpose entered into his plan, we sincerely thank him for the pleasant and authentic volume which he has given us.

G.

Memoir of Joseph Tuckerman, D. D., of Boston, U. S. Published by the Christian Tract Society. London. 1849. 18mo. pp. 124.

THIS little volume has been prepared by Miss Mary Carpenter, daughter of the late Dr. Carpenter of Bristol, and it is published in a form which will give it a very wide circulation. With great

typographical neatness, it is printed in such a manner as to bring it within the reach of all, and we presume that, being published by the Tract Society, it will, to a certain extent, be gratuitously circulated. The Memoir is enriched by extracts from the admirable portraiture given by Dr. Channing, as well as by judicious selections from Dr. Tuckerman's own writings; but it is not simply a republication of what has already been before the public. Miss Carpenter has collected new materials, which add greatly to the value of the book. She has availed herself of the kindness of friends in this country to obtain interesting reminiscences, and had also in her hands many valuable letters written by Dr. Tuckerman to his friends abroad. It is pleasant to know that such a work has been anxiously desired by many in England, where the memory of Dr. Tuckerman has long been held in high veneration, and where his character has exerted a wide influence. We should be glad to see a republication of this Memoir in our own country. It would be a valuable addition to every Sunday-school library, and would, we believe, be read with interest by those who had the privilege of a personal acquaintance with the excellent man whose character it portrays, and by all who take delight in the memory of the good.

W.

Poems. By JAMES T. FIELDS. Boston: W. D. Ticknor & Co. 1849. 16mo. pp. 99.

THE principal poem in this volume is entitled The Post of Honor, and was pronounced before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, on its twenty-eighth anniversary, in November last. It is marked, like the author's other poems, by delicacy of sentiment, liveliness of fancy, and metrical correctness. Although it is sufficiently apparent that Mr. Fields was animated throughout by a fitting sense of the nobleness of his theme, he very properly treats it as a poet rather than as a moralist; and draws his illustrations with singular success from a wide extent of reading and observation. The language not only charms us by its melody, but is at all times clear, concise, and sparkling. Nor is the keenness of the poet's wit less noticeable than the fertility of his imagination and the harmony of his versification. Most of the other poems have already appeared in print, and been widely circulated through the newspaper press; but several of them are now published for the first time. The best are the lines on a Pair of Antlers, on a Book of Sea-Mosses, and the Ballad of the Tempest. We trust Mr. Fields will often write such delightful little poems as these. The volume is elegantly "brought out," and is in every respect creditable to those concerned in its publication. s-h.