India by the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Such an extent and compass of voyaging and travelling, coupled with the fact that Mr. Buckingham had previously traversed many countries, and sojourned in quite opposite regions of the earth,-being conversant with almost every variety of climate, people, and institution,almost a perfect cosmopolite in experience and observation,-are circumstances which would, we presume, have given birth to volume after volume, or twos and threes of stout octavos in rapid succession, unless the traveller had entirely altered his plan of writing and reporting, and Mr. Buckingham confined himself to some more limited method; such as, for instance, speaking of little else than what came under his own immediate observation; and refraining from lengthy disquisition and every sort of sentimentality. Indeed, supposing that he could have encountered and achieved such a gigantic task as the mere penning of the circumnavigating library would have imposed, there is reason for supposing that the magnitude and heaviness of the performance would have effectually repelled every purchaser, and that only in our great privileged museums of books, would the volumes ever have arrested notice, and of those readers alone that dig into mines, or furitively borrow and compile from ponderous masses. Checked, even as Mr. Buckingham's progress has been, partly by the loss of the entire earnings of his lecturing journies and sojourning in America,-having invested the "three thousand " pounds thus accumulated in three different public securities, each of which failed, and partly by the distracted condition of the East, we suspect that his readers had begun to grow weary of his narratives and lucubrations, even while confined to the United States; a feeling, we are convinced, which will gather strength on his passing into the British provinces of North America, not merely on account of the formidable prolongation of the work, but of its individual qualities.

And yet, we are satisfied that in no other work can the reader obtain an equally full, or such a faithful representation of America, and of the Americans, limiting our remark to the United States, as has been supplied by our painstaking and candid author. He draws his historical notices, if from easily accessible, yet from authoritative sources; his personal inquiries, without falter and fail, are with earnestness and exactitude conducted; his observation is stretched to a great diversity of objects, and his deduced opinions are fair, impartial, and bear the impress of benevolence very strongly stamped on them. The work, as a whole, not only informs and teaches, but is felt to do one's heart good. If long-winded, it is ample; if stilted in manner, it abounds with rational entertaining

matter.

Mr. Buckingham's Canada, &c., follows the general plan observed in regard to the United States; but is not, we think, so distin

guished in respect of novelty of subject and of observation, nor even of minute details and byeway description; although we have been unable to do more than take a very hasty peep into the volume, and may have overlooked new points, and others that are handled with fresh ability, to the development of novel facts and views. Still, the author's opportunities for observation appear to have been more restricted, both as relates to continuance and variety, than on the other side of the border; much of his time having been spent in passing from place to place, in boat or coach; while the towns and stations at which the traveller stops are generally in beaten tracks, which, besides, do not offer much to induce the anxious observer to transverse routes. At the same time, it strikse us, that leisure and penetration might have enabled the author to work out a fuller and more striking picture of the British Provinces, especially where the path has been but seldom or lamely trodden, as in the colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Mr. Buckingham's volumes are not the most available in respect of furnishing short passages for extract, so as to convey a clear notion of his manner, and the stores of information which he presents, or satisfy the reader upon the points handled. If the search be for novelties, the reviewer must be perplexed, seeing that the thing is not merely so rare, but so undiscernable, except by combining many parts, and weighing separate masses, as to require a careful summary to bring the germ within a narrow space. Had we time for going through the labour, we should entertain no fear about setting before the students of manners and character very distinct and nicely touched sketches drawn from the volume immediately under consideration. As it is, the book does contain, here and there, notices that bear selection, and are sufficient to stand alone; as our first cited passage exemplifies, the subject being one of contrasts, and also of positive testimony. The author is speaking of the people of the United States as compared with the Canadians :--

Of the points of dissimilarity there are many more than points of resemblance; some of them to the advantage, but others to the reproach of the Canadians. One of the first of these points that struck us, was the solicitation of beggars. We had been nearly three years in the United States without seeing an American beggar in the streets; but we had not been landed five minutes in Toronto before we were accosted by several between the wharf and our hotel. In the States, we had never women employed in manual labour; here we witnessed several instances of it; and of ragged, swearing, and profligate boys, we saw a greater number in Toronto than in the largest cities of the Union. On the other hand, we saw no persons here who chewed tobacco; there was less of hurrying and driving to and fro in the streets; the shopkeepers were all more civil and obliging, the servants were more respectful and attentive, and all classes more polite. Even at the hotel, when the ladies rose to retire from the table, the gentlemen all rose,

and stood till they had withdrawn; a custom we had never once seen observed at the public tables in America; though there the respect and deference to the sex is shown in another way, by no gentleman being permitted to take his place until the ladies are first seated.

We

The state of society in Toronto appeared to us peculiarly agreeable. had the advantage, it is true, of mingling with the best; but I may say, with the strictest truth, that these appeared to me to combine all the requisites of the most perfect social intercourse-elegance without ostentation, competency without extravagance, learning without pedantry, politeness without frivolity, hospitality without intemperance, and a manly frankness and candour without undue familiarity. We dined out more frequently at Toronto, in the course of the three weeks we passed here, than in the United States in the space of three years; and there was a heartiness and cordiality, which seemed to indicate the most perfect confidence in the good sense and honour of all present--the very opposite of the cold and cautious look and manner so frequently observable in the intercourse of Americans with their English visitors in the United States.

Society is not so favourably spoken of when witnessed in Montreal.

The general society of Montreal did not appear to us to be as elegant and refined as that of Toronto. There is a large body of official personages and professional men, and a still larger admixture of the military, but the former did not seem to us to bring the same degree of excellence, in attainments or manners, into society, as we had observed at Toronto; while the military have the character, and many of them had the appearance, of being intemperate and dissipated. The manner in which many of these had comported themselves towards ladies, both married and single, was spoken of in terms of severe reprobation; and it was said that many serious and painful dissentions had been occasioned in hitherto happy families, in consequence of the improper correspondence and intercourse between the officers and members of several of the most respectable houses. By many, this laxity of domestic morals was attributed to the influence of evil example in high places; and it was thought that while those who occupied the highest stations, and who ought therefore to be examples of private as well as public purity to their inferiors, lived in utter disregard of the domestic proprieties, it was not to be wondered at that persons of inferior station and authority should indulge their evil propensities, and hope to pass uncensured with impunity.

These passages have been pointed out to us as affording favourable and extractable specimens of the book. In accordance with another suggestion we quote the following relative to the walks and roads of Toronto:

The side-walks are chiefly, though not entirely, of wooden plank, placed longitudinally, as on a ship's deck, and forming a far more clean, dry, elastic, and comfortable material for walking on, than any pavement of stone or brick. In the few instances, indeed, in which flat stone pavement is used instead of wood, it is extremely disagreeable to pass from the latter to the VOL II. (1843.) No. 11.

. T

former; the difference being quite as great as that experienced in passing from the rough stone pavement of the centre of Broadway, at New York, to the smooth and noiseless wooden pavement opposite the City Hall and Park, where this transition takes place.

Not only are these wooden side-walks in general use here, but, in one instance, planks of fir have been used for making an extensive road into the country leading eastward from Toronto to Kingston. We drove about six miles out on this road beyond the river Don; and I never remember to have travelled so smoothly. The planks composing the road are about fifteen feet in length, a foot in breadth, and an inch in thickness: they are sawn smoothly, but are not planed. The road is first levelled, and on the bed thus formed these planks are laid across transversely, and not lengthwise as in the sidewalks. A small portion of soil and dust is strewed over the whole, to prevent unnecessary friction on the wooden surface; so that unless the attention of the traveller was called to the fact, he would not perceive the planks over which he was driving, though he would recognize the unusual smoothness of the road by the motion. But while to the casual observer it presents the same earthy and dusty appearance as any other road, there are no ruts or pits in it-scarcely, indeed, a mark of the horses' feet or carriage-wheels that pass over it. On close examination, however, he will see the separate planks and trace their lines of junction; and he will also hear the peculiar, dull, smooth sound, given out by the low rumbling of his vehicle over this wooden platform. In addition to the great comfort of driving on such a road as this, I was glad to learn that it is so much less expensive here, where pine wood is abundant, than the Macadamized roads, that it is likely to be extensively used over all the country in future. A road of the former description costs at least 1,000l. per mile, and requires repair in this climate almost every year. A road of the latter kind can be well made for 500l. a mile in the first instance and would not require to be repaired more than once in ten years. The present road has been laid down for six years, without a single plank having been required to be removed; and the general impression here is, that it would last six years longer if left untouched, before it would require any reparation whatever.

Mr. Buckingham's " Plan of National Colonization" is not novel as a theory. Let those who have taste and time for the business, examine and discuss its practicability.

ART. XIV.-The Jubilee of the World; an Essay on Christian Missions to the Heathen. By the Rev. JOHN MACFARlane, Minister of Collesie, Fifeshire. Collins, Glasgow,

THIS Volume has been published at the recommendation of four of the adjudicators of the Missionary Prize Essay Society, and under the sanction of the Committee. The adjudicators are chosen to represent the different churches that have practically acknowledged the obligation to engage in the high enterprize of Christianizing the world,-viz., the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the

Independents, the Baptists, and the Wesleyans; the idea being entertained that friendly competition may operate beneficially towards the unanswerable proclamation and advocacy of the paramount cause just mentioned.

A great number of essays were received competing for the prizes offered; nor was Mr. Macfarlane the first or even the second of the successful authors. "The Jubilee of the World," however, appears to us to be the most comprehensive, powerfully argued, and truly eloquent work that we have perused on the great subject. Remarkably clear and convincing are his facts and his reasonings; commanding as the scriptures themselves are his doctrines; while there is a total absence of mere sentimentality, the whole being in a tone of manly earnestness and fervour worthy of a Christian champion.

Mr. Macfarlane throws his essay into three great divisions; first, the Objects and Resources of the Missionary Work; secondly, the Duty of Christians towards the Heathens, and the Means of its Performance; and thirdly, the Motives and Encouragements to promote the Diffusion of the Gospel; each of these divisions breaking into subordinate chapters.

It is not our purpose to follow the author from division to division, but merely to confine ourselves to one of the chapters, which appears to us to have more of novelty and force in it than have ever attracted our attention on this momentous theme: we allude to that branch of the essay under the third grand division, which treats of the Reflex Influence of the Missionary Enterprise as a motive to increased activity. This chapter will furnish us with samples quite sufficient to test the ability and manner of the author, and also to recommend the cause of missions to the heathen to persons who may have thought lightly or even hostilely on the subject.

What are some of the positive benefits which missionary enterprise has conferred on the civilized nations of the earth-of Christendom?

It has increased the range of human knowledge; it has replenished museums with relics and curiosities illustrative of the condition and habits of remote and barbarous nations; it has presented man under new aspects and shades of character, and has enlarged the field of research, both in physical and moral science. It has produced descriptions of regions little known before,-journals, narratives of voyages, travels, and adventures, which, while they equal in the general information they display, infinitely surpass in interest and usefulness most works in the same department of literature. It is preparing the way for the extension of commerce; has given rise to a taste for British manufactures, where they had never formerly been introduced; has communicated a new impulse to industry, by which the unknown resources of other climes are to be developed, and a wider circulation of mutual benefits promoted among men. Already has it been the means of establishing a friendly intercourse with reclaimed savages, and of opening a