source of religious knowledge; which is called "the Testament," "because God's will......is there perfectly and unchangeably contained, from the which we ought not to swerve on any side" (p. 1). The great points of Christian doctrine and practice are then treated under the four heads of obedience, faith, prayer, and the sacraments. Under the first three of these heads is given an exposition of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer; the remaining division of the book may be considered as an enlargement of the concluding portion of the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer.

We have dwelt the longer on this valuable "Catechism" of Dean Nowell, because the commendation bestowed by Bishop Randolph on his larger Catechism, and on Jewel's Apology, is equally applicable to it-viz., that it "had the sanction of public authority, and may therefore be relied on as containing the final and decided opinion of our reformers, approved of, in the general, by the Church at large" (Enchirid. Theol. vol 1, pref. p. iv.).

The text is accurately printed from the first edition, published in 1572; and all true members of our Church are greatly indebted to the Prayer Book and Homily Society for this cheap and accurate reprint of Nowell's Catechism. We shall rejoice, indeed, if our efforts to make it better known shall lead to its introduction into many educational establishments; especially as the answers are not too long to be committed to memory. At the end are given sundry admonitions, psalms, and prayers for morning and evening, for the most part expressed in the very words of Scripture.

History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac. By F. PARKMAN. Two vols.

THE once great fame of Pontiac has even thus early been well nigh forgotten. The man that once roused England to put forth her strength in earnest, and that threatened to deprive her of a very large portion of her empire, is now, excepting historically, and even with that exception, scarcely remembered by us. His name and his exploits were, not until the last three months, known unto one in ten thousand amongst us; and the question was occasionally asked whether Pontiac was the name of a conspirator or the place of the conspiracy. From the North American Indians few great men at any time came forth; indeed, their habits and their institutions were such that greatness of any kind was not to be looked for among them. Their irreclaimable savageness-their ferocity and cruelty and treachery-their unquenchable blood-thirstiness-their fierce malignity and even

revengeful dispositions, disqualified them altogether from forming one among the great families of nations. They had no elements of greatness. Many of their tribes, the best among them, were savages, and the worst, the very worst of savages, whom characteristically to describe would be by some such application as human tigers. Pontiac was so far distinguished from the wild herd of his nation as to possess, with all their cunning and bad qualities, some small measure of ambition. He was, as they all were, excessively proud; and he lashed himself into a perfect fury of passion because the English would not pay him the homage he desired nor encourage his idle propensities by a pension. The English arms, however, having prevailed against the French arms, and Canada having been wrested from the French, first by victories and then by treaties, the English did not consider it necessary to pay a yearly tribute to the Indians for what they had fairly won by the courage of their soldiers from the French: they gave, therefore, very little heed to the Indian tribes, and paid, as it would seem, too little court to the Indian chiefs: hence, in Pontiac's judgment, a casus belli against the English nation.

The author of "Hochelaga, in his "Conquest of Canada," published two years since, has given us in his usual graphic style a highly interesting and harrowing account of the murderous warfare that was through so many years carried on in America, till brought to a close by General Wolfe. Where his narrative ends, this history of Pontiac begins.

It is a history compiled evidently with great care, and with undeniably immense labour, from the very scattered but very copious stores which in different States of the Union, and in different countries of Europe, were made accessible to the writer. The history treats of numerous nations once and recently so powerful and so formidable, of whom now not a vestige remains otherwise than their generally unpronouncable names. They have disappeared from the earth altogether: the land which they deluged with blood so wantonly and so wickedly shedwhich they polluted with atrocities too dreadful to speak ofthat fruitful land which they refused to till and to the very last persisted in retaining as a wilderness-that land has cast them out; and the few miserable remnants of their southern tribes, that could once count their warriors by tens of thousands, are now yearly dwindling away and disappearing among the roots and vallies of the Alleghany mountains. For a faithful account of what the Indian in his best state was what he was capable of, mentally and physically-what he could do and what he could plan-this history of Pontiac gives us the amplest

information. It is an admirable book, written really to inform its interest never flags, and the novelty of the scenes it describes, the variety of the characters it introduces, the strange incidents, the various fortunes, the desperate and often unavailing courage of the combatants in their frequent and deadly contests, the marvellous escapes of some and the almost romantic histories of other, give to these volumes the power of so charming the reader that he rarely lays them down, but with the strong desire and full intention speedily to take them up again.

The Ansayrii and the Assassins. By Lieut. the Hon. F. WALPOLE, R.N. Three vols. 1851.

THE title of "the Assassins" recals to us our readings of history in our younger days, and some remarkably romantic incidents in the chivalrous times of the Crusades. That the descendants of that once fierce and fanatical tribe still existed was unknown to many and unthought of; and few would be prepared to hear that the original principles of the sect are, after the lapse of so many centuries, in full force among them, and that the lower orders are still taught to obey their chiefs without question and without hesitation; and to die a thousand deaths rather than reveal the faith he inherits from his race.

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Among these wild people Lieut. Walpole ventured to sojourn for a while, and a very curious history he has given to us of a tribe of whom almost nothing has hitherto been known. He explored their country-he examined into their faith—he observed their manners, and whatever he could learn or see he has described and very amusingly. Indeed, Lieut. Walpole is one of the most cheerful of travellers we have ever had to do with: no difficulties daunt him-no privations distress him he is every where at home and considers that to be the best which is all that at any time he can get. His adventurous spirit, his utter disregard of threatening circumstances, and his constant anxiety for new scenes and new objects of interest, make him a highly interesting traveller; and his narrative is in consequence one that continually engages the attention and amuses and informs the mind. His observations are, moreover, upon many regions and many subjects: he passed some time with Layard at Nineveh-sometimes at Rhodes-sometimes at Constantinople, at Aleppo, at Trebizond, at Erzeroum, and other places too numerous to mention; and of all these he has some entirely new information to give some anecdotes to relate. His fearless character places him at times in situations of no little personal peril; but his presence of mind seems always to be equal to any emergency, and his cool courage carries him in all cases safely

through his trials. A highly interesting book of travels is the consequence, that every one may read with profit and with plea-sure, and we could with the greatest ease confirm this good. opinion by numerous extracts were space and time allowed to As it is we, cannot do better than refer the reader to the volumes themselves for a few hours' delightful recreation, and no little additional instruction of the earth's inhabitants over a wide sweep of the Sultan's territories.

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1. A Manual of Romish Controversy: being a complete Refutation of the Creed of Pope Pius IV. By the Rev. E. P. BLAKENEY, B.A. Edinburgh: Paton and Ritchie. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. 1851. 12mo.

2. A Handbook of the Romish Controversy: being a Refutation in Detail of the Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth, on the Grounds of Scripture and Reason. By CHARLES STUART Stanford, A.M., Prebendary of St. Michan's. Dublin: Herbert. London: Seeleys, 1851. 18mo.

"Et vitulâ Tʊ dignus et HIC"-may with truth be said to the authors of these two admirable refutations of the so-called creed of Pius IV., which are eminently characterized by simplicity of language, accuracy of statement, and practical usefulness. Both publications are well adapted to the young, and both may be procured at a low price, which we trust will secure for themwhat they well deserve a wide circulation. We have been much pleased with the total absence of all irritating expressions from these comprehensive and effective manuals of the Romish controversy.

Synopsis Papismi: or, a General View of the Papacy.....with Confutations of Romish Errors from the Scriptures, Fathers, Councils, &c. &c. By ANDREW WILLET, D.D. A new Edition, carefully revised and edited for the British Society for Promoting the Religious Principles of the Reformation, by the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D. London: published at the Society's Office, 8, Exeter Hall. Vol. 1. [To be completed in ten volumes] 1852. Crown 8vo.

Dr. Willet was an eminent divine in the sixteenth century, who published the first edition of his "Synopsis Papismi" towards the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and so deservedly popular was his work (a large folio of more than a thousand closely printed pages) that it passed through five editions. in the short space of almost forty years. It is a clear, compressed, and pointed compendium of the whole controversy between Protestants and the idolatrous and corrupt modern Church of Rome. Every subject is discussed in the shortest practicable compass; and the arguments, adduced by the learned author, are the ablest and most conclusive which we

have ever seen. During the latter part of the seventeenth, the whole of the eighteenth, and the former half of the nineteenth century, Dr. Willet's book had become very rare and dear. The present cheap and neatly executed reprint, therefore, is most seasonable. The references are carefully verified and stated at length by Dr. Cumming, the editor, in the same accurate and pains-taking manner as in his edition of Bishop Gibson's "Preservative against Popery," published in 1848-49, of which we gave an account in Vol. xxvii. pp. 222, 223, of our journal. We shall probably recur to this work on its completion. At present we cordially recommend this first-rate manual of the great Protestant controversy as a reference book, alike unrivalled and invaluable, to all who are engaged, or are likely to be engaged, in controversy with the adherents of the Romish Church, as well as to those who are desirous of seeing, with very little labour or trouble, the best replies to the acutest objections and reasonings of the most learned advocates of Popery.

An Introductory Lecture delivered at the London Hospital Medical School at the Commencement of the Session 1851-52. BY PATRICK FRASER, M.D., Knight of the Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Tower and Sword, Assistant Physician to the London Hospital. London. 1851.

THIS is a sensible, eloquent, and earnest address from an able and experienced physician to his pupils, and is remarkable for the manly, straightforward, and uncompromising way in which he grapples with what he most justly, in our unprofessional opinion, terms, "the three great heresies of the present day-homœopathy, mesmerism, and hydropathy"-the fallacies-not to use a harsher word-of which, he exposes in a masterly and, we think, a very convincing manner. His language is clear and simple, emphatic without grandiloquence, and remarkably free from the pedantry too often found in the writings of even the most distinguished of the profession to which, as regards both personal character and ability, Dr. Fraser is an ornament.

Fairy Tales; with Coloured Designs. London: Longman. Ipswich Pawsey. 1851.

A VERY gracefully got up and illustrative little volume, embracing three tales, which come to us recommended by the fact that they were written by a mother for the amusement, and, we may add, instruction of her three boys. The moral of the stories is unexceptionable throughout, and is conveyed with a simplicity of diction especially adapted to the minds of the very juvenile portion of the rising generation for whom this graceful trifle was designed.