himself, intellectually, morally. On this account, the man of less intellect often becomes nobler than the man of greater intellect, and those of most unfavorable moral tendencies and endowments originally rise, frequently, into the most meritorious life. Said a phrenologist, not long ago, to a distinguished man and minister, running his hand over his head, "You are a good man, but you have had hard work to be so." And how much nobler does a good life become in such a case! There is no particular merit in the virtue of a man who is good because nature has made him so, who cannot well be otherwise because all his proclivities are in that direction; but when one who must curb and guard himself at all points, who must fight against foes without and foes within, to be good, attains to a life of large and spotless moral excellence, the greatness and nobleness of such a life become all the loftier, and its rewards all the sweeter, because of the warfare and struggles of which it has been born. Washington, celebrated for his self-control and for the moral harmony of his character, is said to have been originally of quick and imperious temper. Undisciplined and allowed the mastery, it would have deformed his life, and have made him wholly another man. But he conquered; and do we not hold him the nobler man in consequence? And when it is said of Christ that he "was in all points tempted like as we are,' ,"3 does not the declaration that he was yet "without n" swell in our view into a grander meaning, and his life rise before us into sublimer moral proportions?

sin

There is nothing, then, we perceive in the fact of the different mental and moral endowments of men to conflict with the general result, to which we have reasoned. However diverse our native gifts, each one, by proper culture and effort, may attain in his sphere to such a life as the law of God demands. Each, therefore, whatever circumstances may be, is responsible for the character he may form and the life he may live, and so justly receives the rewards, or retributions, of his faithfulness or neglect.

This, then, finally, is our conclusion-clear to us, however poorly we may have succeeded in working it out for others-God is over all; but, under him, life is what we

3 Heb. iv. 15.

make it. And is not this the only conclusion that accords with our moral consciousness, or with the teachings of the Bible? Stripping the subject of all verbiage and of all metaphysical subtleties, do we not instinctively feel that, under God, we have our character and earthly destiny in our hands ?—that we can be virtuous, or vicious, unforeseen providential visitations excepted, successful or unsuccessful, as we choose ?-that, therefore, our life is what we make it, and that we are to blame, if we do not make it right? Does not any other conclusion contradict the affirmations of our consciousness as much as the assertion that we do not exist, or that we cannot see? And is not this the uninterrupted teaching of God in the Scriptures? What else means the exhortation, "Cease to do evil; learn to do well?" or the equally significant admonition, "He that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile; let him eschew evil and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it." 5 What mean, indeed, all the counsels, warnings, instructions and encouragements which crowd the sacred pages, and all the appeals, solicitations and moral instrumentalities which God has appointed concerning us, crowned by the life and death of Christ? To us, most surely, it seems that if life be not what we make it,-if we are not charged with the responsibility of its character and issues, but are in the hands of omnipotent circumstances, subject to their control, then are all the intuitions and suggestions of our moral nature monstrous lies. Then we are encompassed by one great tissue of mockeries and seemings; all moral terms are meaningless; all appearances of accountability are hollow; and all that God speaks to us, and all that Christ has done, or professedly seeks to do, are but empty pretensions, false to facts and void of actual meaning, as hypocrisy itself. For ourselves, we instinctively shrink from these and all like conclusions. Laying fast hold of the throne of God, and confiding in his presiding and controlling will in relation to all human affairs, we must at the same time feel that on us actually rests the work of life. Nor can we doubt, that if this conviction could

become the mastering thought and inmost faith of the Christian world, we should see a higher type of piety, a loftier endeavor, and a more refined and faultless life, filling souls with their peace, the Church with their beauty, and the world with their quickening and redeeming force.

E. G. B.

ART. XXXI.

Literary Notices.

1. Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou. By his youngest Son, Maturin M. Ballou, &c. Boston: Published by A. Tompkins. 1852. 12mo. pp. 404.

A portion of this work, that gives it peculiar and unexpected value, is a series of autobiographical reminiscences and reflections, which the author persuaded the venerated subject of the memoir to write out, from time to time, and which he has now inserted in their proper places in the narrative. These fragments will be received with the greater interest, as they were unlooked for, it being well known that Mr. Ballou was quite indifferent to his own biography, and reluctant to take the trouble of committing it to paper. This was characteristic of him. His life was one continuous, though cheerful, effort ahead, for the advancement of the cause to which he had devoted himself; and his look was habitually directed forward, seldom turning back to dwell on the retrospect. Scenes that interested his affections, he indeed preserved in remarkably fresh remembrance, so far as that one bearing of them was concerned; but mere historical facts of his past experience, with their dates and mutual relations, did not remain so distinct in his mind. His motto seemed to be, "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."

Another excellence which we are prepared to attribute to this work, is truthfulness in describing Mr. Ballou's domestic character, habits and manners, as well as his style of conversation and argument, whether in private or in public. The little incidents, given under these heads, are in perfect keeping with hundreds of others, which we have either witnessed ourselves, or had related to us by his intimate acquaintances and hearers. There are few men who have left a greater number of characteristic sayings indelibly struck into

the minds of their friends. His habitual religiousness, and his incessant study of the Scriptures, his devotion to the cause of his Master, and his superiority to the censures or blandishments of the world, are here set before us in their true light. We find also faithful presentations of his views on various topics, and summary but correct statements of the most of his peculiar theological doctrines.

With respect to the completeness of the memoir, the exactness of its details, the breadth of view which it presents, and impartiality in treating the subject, we have not had time to go into a satisfactory examination of the work, as it came to our hands only when the present sheet ought to have been passing through the press. It would be doing injustice to one who held the most eminent place in our denomination, to attempt a sketch of his life and character in the narrow space of a Literary Notice; and we therefore postpone the undertaking to a future Number.

2. A Latin-English and English-Latin Dictionary, for the use of Schools. Chiefly from the Lexicons of Freund, Georges, and Kaltschmidt. By Charles Anthon, LL. D., Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages in Columbia College, Rector of the Grammar School, etc. etc. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c. 1852. 12mo. pp. 1260.

3. Cicero's Tusculan Disputations. With English Notes, critical and explanatory. By Charles Anthon, LL. D., &c. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c. 1852. 12mo. pp. 398.

The indefatigable Editor seems to take no vacations for himself, and to allow none to printer, press-man, or book-binder. And yet his publications appear to be thoroughly prepared, and rank among those that are the best adapted to their purpose. The Dictionary, which is mainly an abridgement of Riddle's translation of Freund, presents the results of the recent contributions to Latin philology by European scholars, in a convenient form for the use of younger classes in the language. The Tusculanæ are accompanied with brief analyses, as summaries, and with copious notes from Tischer, Kühner, and others, which leave nothing further to be desired in the way of explanation. It will be recollected that this is the work in which Cicero discusses the most fully the fear of death, and the prospects of futurity, as well as the sources of support in trial, and the sufficiency of virtue itself to produce happiness.

4. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D. D., LL. D. By his son-in-law, the Rev. William Hanna, LL. D. In Four Volumes. Vol. iv. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c. 1852. 12mo. pp. 593.

5. The Life and Works of Robert Burnes. Edited by Robert Chambers. In Four Volumes. Vol. iii. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c. 1852. 12mo. pp. 317.

Of both of the works to which these volumes respectively belong,

we have given notices in former numbers of our publication. We have here only to add, that the American Edition of the very interesting and instructive Memoirs of Dr. Chalmers is now complete; and that the successive volumes of Chambers's Edition of Burns maintains the superiority which we ascribed to the first.

6. Bishop Butler's Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, &c. With an Analysis, left unfinished by the late Rev. Robert Emory, D. D., President of Dickinson College: completed and edited, with a Life of Bishop Butler, Notes and Index, by G. R. Crooks. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c. 1852. 12mo. pp. 368.

It will be seen, from the title-page which we have given, that the distinctive feature of this edition is in the Analysis, Notes, and Index. These we find to be faithfully and skilfully executed, forming a valuable apparatus to Butler's work. The Analysis is thorough, minute, and perspicuous; the Index full; and the Notes, though few, are sufficient for the explanation of the text.

7. Indications of the Creator: or, the Natural Evidences of Final Cause. By George Taylor, &c. Second Edition. New York: Charles Scribner, 140 Nassau Street. 1852. 12mo. pp. 283.

Mr. Taylor embodies, in this work, the latest results of scientific discovery and observation, as they bear on the question of Natural Religion, and gives an account of the successive steps by which the Developement-Theory, including the Nebular Hypothesis, has been exploded in the departments of Astronomy, Geology, Comparative Physiology, and Physical Geography. It is the most complete exposure of the subject, that we have seen. If any are still perplexed with the adventurous speculations, circulated a few years since in "the Vestiges of Creation," we recommend this book to their perusal. Indeed, all who take it up, will find it to be profitable reading.

8 Putnam's Semi-Monthly Library for Travellers and the Fireside. No. viii. Journey to Iceland and Travels in Sweden and Norway. Translated from the German of Ida Pfeiffer. By Charlotte Fenimore Cooper. pp. 273. New York. G. P. Putnam. 1852.

We read this book with considerable interest, for it was our first introduction to the strange scenery and secluded society of Iceland. But Madame Pfeiffer's style has not the energy one would expect from a lady that had pushed her way around the planet. It is difficult to create any picture of the landscapes, lava hills, and hot springs which she visited, and by which she declares herself so deeply impressed. There is no Mount Hecla rising from her narrative, but only the story of a dreary, dangerous ascent of a barren volcanic re