late intelligent discussion and inquiry among all who are interested in the culture of the voice, whether "professors" or amateurs, pupils or teachers. That a work so suggestive, and written so completely in the spirit of that scientific method which is now revolutionizing all art, should have appeared in this country, may be regarded as the sign and promise of the rise, at no distant day, of a true musical science in America.

H. G. S.

It was always a marvel to those who knew Dr. Bethune, -the most genial, cheerful, free-hearted, and affectionate of men, - that he could hold so strongly to the sternest type of the Calvinistic faith; could preach with such vigor the doctrines of election, damnation, the utter ruin of man, and the strange remedy of substituted suffering. Calvinism seemed wholly out of place in such a soul. In conversation with Dr. Bethune, you could not think of his orthodoxy. His private spirit was wholly liberal; and, in spite of his creed, his heart warmed toward all liberal things and liberal men. Never was the "Dordrechtian theology," as he used to call it, so easily put off by the preacher in his personal intercourse. And even in his preaching it was not very offensive. You saw that it was in the education, rather than in the nature, of the man; and that filial reverence, rather than natural bias, fastened him to the creed of his father. His biography tells how hard a struggle the revivalists had in bringing him to the confession of the orthodox scheme.

Dr. Van Nest - his friend, and some time colleague - has written about him as eulogist rather than as critic, and shows us scarcely a flaw in the perfect character of his subject after conversion; though he was passionate, headstrong, and self-willed enough before. Some abatement must be made from this admiring estimate; and the term "saint" is not precisely that which we should prefer to apply to one so fond of literary dinners, fishing excursions, and magazine-writing. Dr. Bethune was not a saint of the Catholic or the Calvinist pattern, nor did he always restrain his wrath or mortify his appetites. He was fond of the world and of its good things, of a pipe and a social glass, of classic letters, of wit and banter; and not indifferent to the world's praise. In the matter of reforms, he usually took the "conservative" side; and his hatred of abolitionists was exemplary. But if we judge saintliness by sincerity, honesty, a noble scorn of all

* Memoir of Rev. George W. Bethune, D.D. By Rev. A. R. VAN NEST, D.D. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1867. 12mo, pp. 446.

fraud and meanness, then he had that grace in eminent measure. He was a man to win the love, and the respect too, of all who came to know him, no matter what their sect or party. He had the soul of a poet and the heart of a friend, in spite of his political and theological prejudices. There was nothing very winning in his coarse features, his almost gross frame, or his ungainly movement; yet his voice had a charm, and his earnestness a fascination, which none could resist. He was a man of mark anywhere; and, but for the narrow range in which his theology kept him, would have been a man of power. He always worked in bonds, even when he seemed to be free. This was the impression which intercourse with him gave, and this is the impression which his biography leaves, — of a true man in a false position. With this reservation, the life of Dr. Bethune is a delightful book.

-

C. H. B.

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS.

On the Credibility of the Scriptures; a Recast, with enlarged views, of a former Work on the subject, together with a copious Analysis of the Religious System promulgated during the Patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian Dispensations, and of Human Developments under them. By J. H. McCulloh, M.D. Baltimore: James S. Waters & Son. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 402, 414. (This is the work of an aged layman, and deserves to be studied with interest and respect. With an independent and somewhat rationalizing habit of mind, it combines the old-fashioned conscientious textual method of investigation, with results leading to a qualified Unitarianism in creed, and an extreme and honest radicalism as respects the popular institutions and dispensations of religion. Its critical expositions are worthless, as proceeding on no basis of scientific scholarship; but as the fruit of patient labor, mental sincerity, and practical good sense, it is worthy of a respectful hearing.)

American Edition of Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Revised and edited by Professor H. B. Hackett, with the co-operation of Ezra Abbot. New York: Hurd & Houghton. Part VIII. pp. 785–896. Eupolemus-Gennesaret. (Closing the first volume, and containing the Prefaces and other explanatory matter.)

The Roman-Catholic Church and Free Thought. A Controversy between Archbishop Purcell, and Thomas Vickers, Minister of the Free Congregational Church of Cincinnati. Together with an Appendix, containing the Encyclical Letter and Syllabus of Pope Pius IX., dated Dec. 8, 1864, in the original Latin, with a faithful Translation. 8vo. pp. 143.

The Layman's Breviary; or, Meditations for Every Day of the Year. From the German of Leopold Schefer. By C. T. Brooks. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 16mo. pp. 452.

The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Boston: Nichols & Noyes. 18mo. Pp. 128.

The Duty and the Discipline of Extemporary Preaching. By F. Barham Zincke, Vicar of Wherstead, and Chaplain in ordinary to the Queen. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 12mo. pp. 262.

Short Studies for Sunday-school Teachers. By Charles S. Robinson, D.D. New York: Wynkoop & Sherwood. 16mo. pp. 247.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

8.16.04.

History of the United Netherlands, from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve-Years' Truce, 1609. By John Lothrop Motley. New York: Harper & Brothers. Vols. III., IV. pp. 599, 632. (These two volumes, just received, close the earlier portion of Mr. Motley's extended History, and are to be followed by the Thirty-Years' War. They bring the narrative down to the virtual establishment of the independence of the Netherlands, though, in form, it was only a truce sought by the Spanish monarchy, and reluctantly granted by the victorious States. The present volumes are as full of interest, life, vigor, incident, as their predecessors. They tell the early victories of Maurice; the critical but triumphant campaign of Nieuport; the exploits of the heroic Dutch adventurers in the Polar and Indian seas; the rapid successes of that chivalrous volunteer, Spinola; the marvellous commercial prosperity of the States during their forty-years' desperate struggle for independence; and the long negotiations, so nearly broken off by Spanish bad faith, through which the terms of peace were finally established. But still more interesting is the picture given of the last days, the character, and reign of Philip the Second, that "perfectly bad king," who stuck at no perfidy or cruelty, who plotted murder stealthily for years, broke faith with all that trusted him, and died at last in the tortures and the serenity of a sainted martyr; of the sceptic, heartless, profligate Henry of Navarre, whom a strange fortune made the preux chevalier of the Huguenots, the betrayer of their faith, the illustrious convert and "eldest son" of the Roman Church, as soon as the wages of his conversion was the assured crown of France; of the vacillating, dastardly policy of James, whom only the terror of the "Gunpowder Plot" deterred from betraying the heroic Protestant republic to his insane craving for the Spanish alliance; and of the beginnings of the fatal estrangement between Maurice and Barneveld, both true patriots and brave men, both serving their country with equal intrepidity and zeal, but divided by differences, first of military policy, then as to the graver question of peace and war, and finally of religious creed. The closing pages of this noble work sum up the lessons of the long struggle which it has narrated, and prepare the way for the story of that

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still gloomier tragedy, enacted on a far broader stage, which is soon, we trust, to follow.)

Landmarks of History. Part III. Modern History, from the beginning of the Reformation to the accession of Napoleon III. By Miss Yonge. Edited by Edith L. Chase. New York: Leypolt & Holt. 12mo

pp. 465. Life of Maximilian I., late Emperor of Mexico; with a Sketch of the Empress Carlotta. By Frederic Hall, one of his Majesty's legal advisers. With Portraits and Illustrations. New York: James Miller. pp. 317. (This volume seems to be full and authentic in its narrative of events, making a timely and very interesting contribution to current history and memoir. It is warmly eulogistic in tone, almost feudal in its sentiment of homage towards the unfortunate monarch, somewhat florid and diffuse in style. It effectually answers many prejudices, and gives one a very high estimate of the personal accomplishments, the purity of intention, the uprightness, humanity, and devotion to the public welfare, which met so tragical an end.)

The History of Israel to the Death of Moses. By Heinrich Ewald. Translated from the German. Edited, with a Preface, by Russell Martineau. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 8vo. pp. 656. (To be reviewed.)

NOVELS AND TALES.

The Huguenot Family. By Sarah Tytler. New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 399.

The Brother's Bet; or, Within Six Weeks. By Emilie Flygare Carlen. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 103.

The Clifford Household. By J. F. Moore. 16mo. pp. 308.

Elsie Dinsmore. By Martha Farquhasson. 16mo. pp. 288.

The Little Fox; or, the Story of Captain Sir F. L. M'Clintock's Arctic Expedition. Written for the Young. By S. T., Esq. New York: M. W. Dodd. 18mo. pp. 198.

Folks and Fairies. Stories for Little Children. By Lucy Randall Comfort. With Engravings. Square 16mo. pp. 259.

Playing for High Stakes. A Novel. By Annie Thomas. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 111.

Fred and Maria and Me. By the author of "The Flower of the Family." Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. Square 16mo. pp. 71. The Struggle for Life; or, Broad Court and Langdale. A Story of Home. By Lucretia P. Hale. With an Introduction by Rev. E. E. Hale. Boston: A. Williams & Co. 4th Edition. pp. 311.

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Journey in Brazil. By Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 8vo. pp. 540. (This large and very handsome volume

has the somewhat level interest, and the assuring air of authenticity, which belong to journals and letters presented in their original and hardly altered shape. The journey is the one which the timely bounty of Mr. Thayer converted from a vacation tour to a scientific expedition of first-rate interest and importance. Besides its service to special students, its revelations of the great Amazon region, and of its resources for commerce, give it a practical and unique value. The reader's satisfaction would have been increased by the reduction of the volume to about half the size.)

The Far East; or, Letters from Egypt, Palestine, and other Lands of the Orient. Illustrated with Engravings, Maps, &c. By N. C. Burt, D.D. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co. 12mo. pp. 396.

Ambas Americas, Revista de Educacion, Bibliografia i Agricultura, bajo los auspicios de D. F. Sarmiento. Vol. I. Nueva York: Hallet y Breen. pp. 120. (That the example of the United States may do some service to the magnificently endowed but troubled and hapless states of South America, has been one special aim of Mr. Sarmiento's admirable efforts. The Review, whose title we copy above, it is needless to add, is a feature in this plan; and consists mainly of facts and details showing the working of our systems of public instruction. But the reader will find interesting facts respecting the other half of our continent, in the correspondence, and in the account of the South-American schools.)

ondence, and in the

Annual Reports on Education. By Horace Mann. Boston: Horace B. Fuller. pp. 758. (Although this volume contains only those parts of Mr. Mann's celebrated "Reports" which have a permanent value, it is very striking to see how full, ample, and abundant material it gives. It is the record of perhaps the most interesting and decisive period of discussion which our school system has undergone, and is a noble monument of its author's industry and fidelity. Mr. Mann's mind was never content without making his argument a treatise: he needed to instruct as well as to convince; and the Annual Report grew into a sort of "general lesson," delivered to all the schools of the Commonwealth. Considering how much elementary instruction had to be given, one is surprised to find how much of it retains its freshness and value. That of 1842, for instance, is one of the best popular treatises we have on physiology and hygiene; while that of 1843 contains, perhaps, the most full, vivid, and dramatic account to be found of the European schools and their methods; and, in particular, gave to our public its first knowledge of the teaching of deaf mutes orally, a topic of so much interest and discussion still. The volume is a permanent and valuable addition to our library of reference on the subject it treats.)

The Uncommercial Traveller, and Additional Christmas Stories. By Charles Dickens. With original Illustrations by S. Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. pp. 382. (Fourteenth and closing volume of the "Diamond Edition," announced as "the most complete and authentic" edition of Mr. Dickens's writings. As a unique feature, this volume contains a synopsis," occupying nearly a hundred pages, of the "characters introduced and

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