tinental Europe; but the principles which they are made to elucidate belong equally to all Christendom. The book ought to be read with peculiar interest here; for the author is a strenuous advocate of the largest religious liberty. To his eye, too, the signs of the times favor freedom; for he beholds the association principle on the ascendant, while it is the death-spasms that give a brief strength to the pontifical and hierarchical element.

12.- Sermons on Various Subjects, written and preached at different Places and Times, during his Public Ministry of Forty-four Years. By ADAM EMPIE, D. D., late Rector of St. James's Church, Richmond, Virginia. New York: Dana & Co. 1856. 24mo. pp. 511.

THE Preface to this volume makes the author an object of sympathy and reverence. Almost all the sermons bear dates prior to 1818, since which period impaired health has compelled Dr. Empie to be in great part an ex tempore preacher. He yet remained for thirtyfive years longer in the diligent and earnest discharge of the duties of his sacred office, to which, till growing infirmity forbade their continuance, he was also obliged to annex the labors of an instructor. Now disabled for public service, and prevented, as he says, by "diseased eyes and half-paralyzed fingers," from performing the task of revision, he yet cannot persuade himself to remain inactive, and publishes these Sermons, most manifestly, with no thought of fame, but that he may still plead with those who were wont to listen to him, in behalf of the great themes of Christian faith and duty. Tried by the standard which this personal narrative affords, the discourses are worthy of the highest praise. They display neither surpassing genius nor extraordinary erudition; but they are chaste in style, elevated in thought, fervent in feeling, direct in appeal, and redolent throughout of a spirit self-consecrated to the noblest ends. These characteristics give them (their age considered) a wonderful freshness and timeliness, properties which do not attach themselves to vague and purposeless religious harangues, but which cleave permanently to discourses that had a close adaptation to the time when and the place where they first did service; for, human nature and its needs remaining essentially unchanged, the sermon which has once successfully met those needs cannot easily be out of place or grow obsolete.

13.- Elements of Moral Philosophy; Analytical, Synthetical, and Practical. By HUBBARD WINSLOW. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1856. 12mo. pp. 480.

THIS is, so far as we know, a unique treatise, and enters on its sphere of service without a rival. It is "synthetical and practical," much more than it is "analytical." It for the most part shuns discussion, and, whenever possible, evades the ground for it. Yet it embraces a positive, clearly defined, and comprehensive system of ethics. The author's aim is to elicit the facts of consciousness, and so to expand and interpret them as to make them cover the entire field of duty. Under this treatment intuition supersedes argument, and propositions, which could be reached only by weary and doubtful ratiocination, appear self-evident. Under every head, the coincidence of Christian morality with the deductions from consciousness is clearly indicated, yet never in such a way as to throw the burden of proof upon revelation, but, on the other hand, so as to derive from natural ethics a cumulative argument for the Divine origin of Christianity. As an educational text-book, this work will command a ready preference before others, where the object is to impress sound and systematized views of moral obligation, its basis and its scope, without reference to the history or polemics of the science. As to the general reader, we know of no other ethical treatise that can meet the wants of so large a public. The very simplicity of method and precision of style, which will commend it to the perusal of persons of limited culture, can only insure for it the higher appreciation from those who know how much easier it is to be obscure than to be perspicuous on subjects of abstract science.

With an Edited by

14. The Imitation of Christ. By THOMAS A KEMPIS. Rendered into English from the original Latin, by JOHN PAYNE. Introductory Essay, by THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D. HOWARD MALCOM, D. D. A new, improved Edition, with a Life of the Author, by C. ULLMAN, D. D. Boston: Gould and Lincoln. 1854. 24mo. pp. 283.

THERE seems here a needless array of "middle-men" between the mediæval saint and his American readers. What Dr. Malcom has done for the work does not distinctly appear; but whatever it is, his name is our warrant that it is well done. Dr. Chalmers's Essay is an apology for the intense and seemingly exclusive importance attached by Thomas à Kempis to personal goodness, an importance which there is little danger of exaggerating in our day. The Scotch divine probably errs in ascribing to his author a latent assent to the dogma of

"justification by faith" in the form in which it has been held by modern Protestants. Ullman's memoir embraces all that is known of the good monk, with a critical analysis of his writings; and this renders the present edition of "The Imitation" preferable to any other. Of the work itself it is superfluous to speak. On the table, in the closet of every Christian, if there are but two books, this should be the second.

By

15. Western Africa: its History, Condition, and Prospects. REV. J. LEIGHTON WILSON, eighteen Years a Missionary in Af-· rica, and now one of the Secretaries of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. With numerous Engravings. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1856. 12mo. pp. 527.

THIS book is another of the very numerous contributions made by the missionary enterprise to the world's science and knowledge. It leaves nothing to be desired as regards the topography, history, social state, and capabilities of the vast region which it covers. It is hopeful in its view of what Christian philanthropy may do for Africa. It seems to us one of the most strongly marked books of the year. It has no attractiveness of style; but it possesses the merit of painstaking accuracy, and is a precious memorial of the author's skill and energy as an explorer, no less than of his zeal and heroism as a captain in the 66 sacramental host."

16. The Recent Progress of Astronomy; especially in the United States. By ELIAS LOOMIS, LL. D., Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the University of the City of New York. Third Edition, mostly rewritten and much enlarged. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1856. 12mo. pp. 396.

It would require a full-length article to say what we should wish to say concerning this treatise. With improved instruments and rapidly multiplied observatories, the last twenty years, without essentially modifying previous theories, have greatly enriched the domain of descriptive astronomy, and accumulated ample materials for larger generalizations. Professor Loomis's work comprises not only the discoveries of these latter years, but descriptions (with plates) of improved instruments and new observatories. The author, though for the most part he confines himself to narrative and description, enters occasionally upon the discussion of questions still open; as, for instance, with reference to the asteroids, which, he maintains by an elaborate and cumulative argument, are not fragments of a larger planet. It is gratifying to find how

prominent a place our own country is prepared to occupy in future discovery, both through the scientific genius now enlisted in astronomical observation and calculation, and by the means of prosecuting research afforded and maintained through public and private munificence. The recent endowment and inauguration of the Dudley Observatory mark a proud and hopeful epoch in the history of American science.

17. The Camel. His Organization, Habits, and Uses, considered with Reference to his Introduction into the United States. By GEORGE P. MARSH. Boston: Gould and Lincoln. 1856. 16mo. pp. 224. In this pleasant volume, Mr. Marsh has condensed a great deal of valuable and curious information, not only about the physiology and habits of the "Ship of the Desert," but about its proper use and management. His book is more than a treatise: it is as entertaining as a book of travels, and abounds in pictures from memory of life in the desert and in the East. In the earlier chapters there are evidences of that extensive scholarship and acquaintance with many tongues, for which the writer has so enviable a fame. We are not so sanguine as Mr. Marsh seems to be of success in the introduction of the camel on our Western plains and deserts, but we are glad that so good a beginning has been made in the experiment. The camel properly belongs to a rude and stationary civilization, which his slow pace and simple food aptly represent. We hope that the completion of the Pacific Railroad will forestall his race in New Mexico and Utah.

18.- Human Physiology, Statical and Dynamical: or the Conditions and Course of the Life of Man. By JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, M. D., LL. D., Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York. Illustrated with nearly 300 Wood Engrayings. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1856. 8vo. pp. 649.

THIS book comes to hand too late in our quarter for the critical examination which it deserves. We perceive, however, that it is full and thorough beyond all previous similar treatises that we have seen, and that as to descriptive detail and the entire theory of organization, it comprises the latest discoveries and embodies the latest conclusions of science. As to the more general reasonings, which form but a small portion of the volume, it will not command universal assent; and the closing chapter on "Social Mechanics," while it contains very aluable materials, seems to us to lack completeness and point.

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. Vol. I. Part I. Cambridge. 1856.

Statistical Information relating to certain Branches of Industry in Massachusetts, for the Year ending June 1, 1855. Prepared from Official Returns, by Francis De Witt, Secretary of the Commonwealth. Boston. 1856. Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the Directors of the Mercantile Library Association of the City of Boston. Boston. 1856.

The Signet-Ring and its Heavenly Motto. Translated from the German. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 1856.

Address at the Social Festival of the Bar of Worcester County, Massachusetts, February 7, 1856. By Hon. Emory Washburn. Worcester. 1856. Annual Report of the American Peace Society, together with the Speeches and other Proceedings at its Twenty-eighth Anniversary. Boston. 1856.

Norton's Literary Register, or Annual Book List, for 1856. A Catalogue of Books, including New Editions and Reprints, published in the United States during the Year 1855; containing Titles, Number of Pages, Prices, and Names of Publishers, with an Index of Subjects. New York: Charles B. Norton. 1856.

Catalogue of the Theological Seminary of the Diocese of Ohio, and Kenyon College, 1855-56. Gambier. 1856.

Circular and Catalogue of the Albany Female Academy, founded A. D. 1814, incorporated February 16, 1821. Albany: Sprague & Co. 1856.

Annual Report, presented by the Executive Committee of the Bible Society of Massachusetts, at their Annual Meeting, Boston, May 26, 1856, being the 47th Anniversary. Boston. 1856.

Religion in Common Schools. By Rev. R. S. Rust, A. M. New York. 1856.

The Method of introducing Religion into Common Schools. By Rev. R. S. Rust, A. M. New York. 1856.

Library of Select Novels. No. 201. John Halifax, Gentleman. By the Author of "The Head of the Family,' "" Olive," &c.. No. 202. Evelyn Marston. By the Author of " Emilia Wyndham,' "" Two Old Men's Tales," "The Heiress of Haughton," &c. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1856. Harper's Story-Books. By Jacob Abbott. No. 20. Rambles among the Alps.No. 21. The Three Gold Dollars; or, An Account of the Adventures