rived from this source, rarely fails to be genuine; it carries conviction to the mind, while the eye glances over the pages that contain the unadulterated sentiments, and leaves hypothesis and speculation to spin their webs in fogs, and foolishly triumph in the conclusions of abstract vision. This work is divided into twelve chapters, which treat, in consecutive order, on some of the principal topics that claim our attention in the instruction of youth, but more particularly in Sunday schools. The primary object which the author keeps in view is, the serious impressions that may be made on the minds of the children, and their progressive growth in religious knowledge. To these grand points all his observations are more or less subservient. The views which he has taken of the promoting and retarding causes of this great end, are both comprehensive and diversified; and whoever reads this little volume with attention, will be convinced, that Sunday schools have not yet reached the acme of perfection, either in their constitution or management. We must not, however, suppose, while Mr. Davis points out the improvements that are attainable, and notices the imperfections which may be avoided, that he condemns the systems already esta blished. He considers their radical principles to be superlatively excellent, but susceptible of emendations, additions, and retrenchments in their application, which would render the structure still more glorious. The whole of his recommendations it would perhaps be difficult to adopt in the present state of things, and on many points a diversity of opinion has long prevailed, and will continue to prevail; but by far the greater number of his suggestions are within the reach of all, and they may be easily introduced, without in the least affecting the organization of the schools already established. By those who are engaged in these benevolent institutions, this book will be found deserving of the most serious notice. Even a solitary hint may more than repay the trouble of perusal, and if but one valuable suggestion be adopted, it will be a movement in the progressive scale towards perfection. REVIEW. Stories from the History of Scotland, &c. By the Rev. Alexander Stewart. 12mo. pp. 189. Whittaker. London. 1827. THIS is a nice little book, neatly finished without, and richly furnished within. It contains thirty-four interesting stories, selected from various parts of the history of Scotland, related in a manner that is calculated to gain the attention of readers, who are presumed to be all young, ardent in the pursuit of knowledge, and always pleased with tales that deviate from the common path of life. Flowers of truth have always a peculiar fragrance, when gathered near the territories of romance. These stories uniformly derive their birth from persons filling the more exalted stations in the state; but it is melancholy to add, that they almost invariably introduce us to scenes of treachery, injustice, tyranny, cruelty, or murder. These features, in their combined effect, present us with a gloomy aspect of the human character, and make the reader "blush And hang his head, to think himself a man." The scenes described can, however, in no respect affect the intrinsic value of the book. The author has furnished nothing but what genuine history has supplied, and he who draws from this well, must take what the fountain lying at the bottom yields. We should, indeed, have been better pleased, if the tales had been less tinged with blood, and less polluted with iniquity; but he who would have tales of this amiable description, must not expect to find a plentiful crop in ancient Scottish history. Each tale in this volume is introduced in a pleasing manner. The author has contrived to render his language at once simple and interesting, calculated to arrest the attention, and to impress the memory. The volume has also another excellence; its tales are short; and Mr. Stewart has acquired an art which many writers of celebrity have yet to learn, to end his story where the narrative terminates. Few persons, we think, will hear the beginning of a tale without wishing to see its termination; and, what is perhaps still more extraordinary, without wishing to skip over any of the intermediate parts which connect the commencement with the conclusion. Facts like these, can derive no advantage from verbal recommendation. able contents, we then took a comprehensive but not a minute survey, pointing out in general terms the great objects which it embraced, and drawing a kind of indefinite circle round its vast and extended outlines. We then characterized it as a work which happily combined instruction and entertainment, and as a production which would amply repay with amusement and edification all who should peruse its pages. Of this work, the second volume has lately made its appearance, and we can state with confidence, that in valuable matter obtained from industrious research, and various illustrations from the ancient poets and classical writers, it is in no way inferior to its predecessor. It is not to be supposed, that a volume which professes to furnish a chronology and an analysis of ancient history, can contain any original materials. The remote ground on which it takes its stand, renders this impossible. Historical records are its only basis, and the employment of the fair authoress has been to compare events together, to separate reality from fiction, and to furnish from the best authenticated records, such prominent facts and incidents, as are obviously calculated to excite a peculiar interest when wrought into chronological detail. The compilation of these volumes must have been a work of very considerable labour, one that could not have been accomplished without much study and extensive reading, all of which the writer has happily evinced, in a very commendable degree. Mrs. Sherwood has marked with an attentive eye the expressions and allusions of the ancient poets, and with a peculiar felicity has brought them to bear in a striking manner on the subjects they are intended to illustrate. This work is constructed in the form of question and answer, which are so contrived, that every historical event of any moment, is brought into view, and placed before us in consecutive order. When, however, the questions are asked, they are adapted to elicit replies, the materials of which must have been drawn from other and various sources. The answers embody in a narrow compass the result of much previous inquiry and investigation, and can only be expected from those who have made considerable progress in an acquaintance with ancient universal history, and the writings of the earlier poets. Connected with the history of each island, state, or kingdom, we have a chronological table, which divides time into centuries, leaving blanks to be filled up from the historical events which fall within the range of any given period. Of these tables, the design is obvious, and it is only to those who may peruse the second volume without having seen the first, that any want of direction in their specific appropriation will appear. To persons who have made ancient history their study, but who may have partially forgotten the association between events and time, as well as to youth whose minds are receiving the impressions which these associations make, this condensed epitome will be found of essential service. We have perused its pages with much pleasure, and most cordially recommend it to the attention of our readers, as a valuable work. REVIEW.-Papistry Stormed, or the Dingin' down o the Cathedral: Ane THIS is a kind of burlesque poem, founded on a subject, which we are told in the preface, "is of some interest in the history of Fife." Of this poem, the occasion bears the name of “The Demolition,” and carries our views back to a period when Protestantism contended with Popery for empire, in the Scottish territories. The Demolition, or "the Dingin' down o' the Cathedral," we are also informed, "has hardly ever been much applauded; it has been palliated rather as an extraordinary achievement of popular excitement, as an ebullition of ultra Protestantism, condemned, or at least disclaimed, by the principal leaders." These circumstances are highly favourable to a satirical burlesque, for such is the volume before us; and we readily allow that the author, having availed himself of his fortunate opportunity, has turned it to good account. In describing the general ferment, the agitation, the panic, the bustle, the activity, the confusion, which prevailed among the people of all ranks and orders, armed with every species of weapon, all hastening with infuriated zeal to "the Demolition," the author has almost an inexhaustible fund of humour. There is scarcely a circumstance that can be supposed to occur among a mob, on such an eventful occasion, of which he has not availed himself, and many of the scenes to which we are introduced are truly ludicrous. In conducting us forward, he has displayed an extensive acquaintance with the manners which prevailed, and with the characters which rendered themselves conspicuous in the period to which the event is ascribed. In many respects it may be compared to Butler's Hudibras; and if the subject had been national with M. W. T. as it was with Butler, "Papistry Stormed" would have been in no danger of descending to posterity. Unfortunately for the author, however, his subject is comparatively local, and is in itself rather unpopular among those who may be expected to give immortality to verse. In addition to this, he has chosen the broad Scottish dialect, which to a mere English reader will prevent a vast number of inimitable satirical touches from being perceived in all their force. There is, indeed, a glossary of many difficult terms, but this is on too contracted a scale to remove the cause of complaint; yet under these local disadvantages, enough is visible to place the author's talents in a commanding light, and to shew, even to those who cannot relish all its beauties, that his genius is admirably adapted for the path in which he has chosen to walk. REVIEW.-An Introduction to Practical This we consider to be of great advantage to the pupil, who is frequently ignorant of the exact shape of the figure he is about to measure in theory, and who sometimes has no means at hand to relieve him from his perplexity. In this volume these difficulties are in a measure obviated, so that a youth of moderate capacity, if intent on acquiring arithmetical knowledge, will find it to be one of those works which will enable him to make a proficiency in learning, without any other aid. REVIEW.-The Narrative of a Mission to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Somer's Island, with a Tour to the Lake Ontario. Second Edition. 12mo. pp. 460. Stephens. London. 1827. EVERY one knowns that between theory Many a man of figures can sit in his parand practice there is an essential difference. lour, and, on a sheet of paper, navigate a vessel round the globe, with whom a person of prudence would not trust himself to cross a diminutive ferry. Similar remarks will apply to historians, and to the writers of narrative, who have neither visited the scenes which they describe, nor encountered the dangers which they detail with such cir cumstantial exactness. The elegancies of diction may dazzle the superficial, and affect the thoughtless, but the man of ster THE author, in his preface to this work, has given in a condensed form the history of arithmetic, tracing its progress, from its cradle in the East, where it was first culti-ling discernment knows that real danger vated, to the various kingdoms in the West, in which the science of numbers is now cherished in its highest perfection. As this work is intended for the instruc has a very different aspect from that which it assumes in the theatre, and that the tears of sincerity are of a distinct character from those which Sterne drops over his dead ass. tions, accompanied with such a tinge of In reality there is a freshness in the descriporiginality in the expression, as fiction endeavours in vain to imitate. A thou tion of youth, whether in schools or as private learners, the author very judiciously begins with the definition of terms that will unavoidably occur as he proceeds. These definitions are concise, but they are clear, sand nameless little turns occur, of which and sufficiently comprehensive for the pur-bearing evidence to the genuineness of his even the author is unconscious, but which pose designed. From these he proceeds through the common rules of arithmetic; furnishing explanations as he advances, and illustrating the principles laid down by numerous examples, that are intelligible to any common capacity. From the simple rules he proceeds to the more complex, and furnishes the principles on which the more difficult problems may be solved. On entering the region of mensuration, Mr. Reynolds gives the figures of various lines, angles, and solids, appropriating to each its specific or scientific name. Hence the learner, whenever these terms occur, can refer to the figure, and perceive with precision the exact shape and character of the subject that passes under his consideration. production, stamp his narration with the everlasting characters of truth, and in their combined results assure us that he has learnt to "Catch the manners living as they rise." Of this latter description is the volume before us. Having truth, accompanied with actual observation, for its basis, it seeks no embellishment from "the foreign aid of ornament," but finds an ample recommendation in the important subject of which it treats, and to which the simplicity of the language gives an additional lustre. In its title-page, this work appears without an author's name, but prefixed is a portrait, under which stands engraven the "Rev. Joshua Marsden, late Missionary," by whom we find it dedicated to James Montgomery, esq. In looking over the table of contents, we discover the materials of this volume to be embodied in the form of letters, addressed to the gentleman to whom it is dedicated. These letters are forty-eight in number, and embrace the adventures, zeal, efforts, dangers, disasters, deliverances, and success, of a pious missionary, while traversing the regions that are mentioned in the title-page. In a subordinate sense, we are introduced to many scenes that are entirely new; but on a more extended scale, the countries being already known, this work cannot be expected to contain so much of originality, as if the author had been called to traverse savage districts that had never before been trodden by the foot of civilized man. The incidents, however, which rise to view are particularly characteristic of the inhabitants, climate, and productions where they occurred; and from being dissimilar to what passes under our daily observations, they become interesting from their novelty. In the prosecution of his narrative, the progress of the gospel, and the causes which tend to accelerate or retard its success, claim Mr. Marsden's primary consideration; and from numerous incidental expressions, allusions, and intimations, it may be gathered, that its interests lay near his heart. Subordinate to these great points, he takes excursions into the kingdom of nature, and furnishes many pleasing accounts of its animal and vegetable productions. The manners, customs, prejudices, and peculiarities of the varied inhabitants, are also brought before us, in a diversity of forms, all tending to develop the human character, so that while at times we are led to rejoice in the gleams of enlighted liberality which appear, we cannot but lament, at others, to perceive a spirit of intolerance embodying itself in restrictive laws, and brandishing a whip of sanguinary coercion over those who would sympathize with the fettered slave, and animate his spirits with the prospects of mercy and salvation in another and a better world. From this narrative many interesting extracts might be taken, some of which would excite the reader's high esteem, while others would provoke his indignation; but our limits forbid us this indulgence. With the perusal of the whole we have been much gratified; and we venture to affirm, that every one who is pleased with missionary accounts, will find in this volume much to amuse his fancy, but more to enlighten his understanding, and to interest the best feelings of the heart. REVIEW-A Course of Elementary Reading in Science and Literature, compiled from various Popular Writers, &c. &c. By James_M1Ĉulloch, A. M. Head Master of Circus-place School. 12mo. pp. 346. Whittaker. Landon, 1827. THIS book contains a great variety of articles, selected from numerous authors that are of acknowledged celebrity in the scientific and literary world. They are, however, so classified in the following order-1, natural science; 2, natural history; 3, geography; 4, religious and moral pieces; 5, miscel laneous pieces; 6, poetry; and, finally, an appendix-that no confusion can arise from their multiplicity, nor will any difficulty be experienced in finding a subject either in prose or verse. From the complexion and character of this work, every one will perceive that its primary design is for the use of schools, and, we may add, for young persons of every description, who are anxious to have their taste refined, and their minds imbued with exalted sentiment and useful knowledge. To originality of composition, Mr. M'Culloch in this volume makes no pretensions. His only claim to merit arises from his exercise of judgment in making the selections which he here places before the reader, and in this we think he has been very successful. The articles are both elegant and instructive; and in a particular manner those which belong to the classes of "natural science," and "natural history," will be read with a considerable degree of interest and advantage, by many who have long shaken off the trammels of the school. REVIEW.-Babylon Destroyed, or the History of the Empire of Assyria, compiled from Rollin, Prideaux, and others. 12mo. pp. 303. Hatchard. London. 1827. THE title of this volume expresses only in a very partial manner the subjects which Occupy its pages. Babylon destroyed, is without doubt, the eventful catastrophe, to which the principal branches of the historical narrative refer; but ere we reach the awful crisis, this "glory of kingdoms," is placed before us in all its splendour; and when its doom is irrevocably sealed, we walk in pensive solitude among its mouldering ruins, and sigh over the instability of all earthly magnificence. So far as history furnishes any light, the author directs our attention to the foundation of the great Assyrian empire, and we perceive Nineveh and Babylon rising into | glory within a comparatively short period after the deluge. Guided by Rollin and Prideaux, he traces the connexion between this empire and the surrounding nations, either through conquest, alliance, hostility, or commerce, and leads the reader by successive steps to perceive the numerous links by which sacred and profane history are united. Following this train of thought, the predictions of the prophets rise before us, and on comparing them with the events to which they refer, respecting these devoted cities, we behold the fulfilment of prophecy in all the punctilios of dreadful exactness, pointed out as by the finger of God. In the fate of Babylon these predictions of the prophets and their accomplishment, appear more pre-eminently conspicuous, throughout the whole progress of its history; and so far as information can be obtained, an appeal to facts gives an awful confirmation to the declarations of scripture. The ruins of ancient Babylon remain to the present hour as a dread memorial of prophetic denunciation, and it is not improbable that some fragments of its departed greatness may descend to the latest posterity of man. This volume may be considered as an abridgment of Rollin and Prideaux, so far as Babylon in the various branches of its history is concerned; and such readers as are acquainted with these celebrated works, will know how to estimate this valuable epitome, which, having examined with pleasure, we now dismiss with deserving esteem. BRIEF SURVEY OF BOOKS. 1. Conversations on the Corporation and Test Acts, by an Old Servant of the Public, (Holdsworth, London,) are written in the strain of a familiar dialogue, which all can comprehend. They give much information; the statements seem fairly made, and, though very small, it is a pamphlet likely to make many converts. 2. Remarks on the Sacrificial Death of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Medium through which Remission of Sins is granted, by Joseph Burgess, (Mason, London,) seems to have been published to counteract the spread of Socinian principles at Penzance, in Cornwall, where it was printed. Mr. Burgess has taken up the question on the ground which is expressed in the title of his pamphlet, and is evidently in earnest while contending for the faith once delivered to the saints. The divinity of the Saviour, and the necessity of his atonement, are the leading topics in this 107.-VOL. IX. | pamphlet. In favour of these doctrines the author has advanced many powerfu arguments, which it will be more easy to evade than to repel. 3. An Elegy on the Death of the Rev. Legh Richmond, (Newport Pagnel,) is an amiable tribute of respect to the memory of a man who was universally beloved when living, and is deservedly lamented now dead. This piece, which seems to have been designed chiefly for local circulation, has reached a second edition, and we doubt not that it will be highly valued on account of its own intrinsic merit, as well as that of the worthy divine whose character it embalms. The two following lines, which begin the elegy, will furnish no bad specimen of the poetry. ""Twas Richmond's grave, and when the good man died, Wisdom in sorrow hung her head and sigh'd." 4. A Key to the Calendar, explanatory of the Fasts, Festivals, and Holidays of the Church of England, by Josiah H. Walker, (Mason, London,) is chiefly valuable for the fragments of history which it contains; and in this respect it will be found very useful, particularly to young persons, who are anxious to learn on what the fasts and feasts of the church are founded, when they were established, and to know who the saints that are celebrated were. 5. The Elements of French Grammar, by Lhomond, &c. (Westley and Davis, London,) is adapted to the capacity of any youth just commencing an acquaintance with the French language. Several of the examples given, are illustrated with wood cuts. It is a book that will be found very useful to learners. | 6. Vocal Melody, or Singing the only music sanctioned by Divine Authority in the Public Worship of Christians, by Daniel Isaac, (Kershaw, London,) is a well-written pamphlet; but one which, like most others that wear a controversial aspect, will be applauded by one party and reprobated by another. The subject itself has been long and much debated, and "to the contest vain appears no end." We think, however, that those who undertake to defend instrumental music in places of worship, under the Christian dispensation, have an arduous task to perform. | 7. An Examination of the Rev. Thomas Tysan's Pamphlet entitled "Via_Directa," with a few Remarks on the Rev. J. A. Mason's Shaver. Part II.,by A. G Jewitt, (Mason, London,) is the continuation of an article which we noticed in July, col. 674. 3 x |
