book is one that should be read by every person preparing to travel, and especially by every one preparing a journal of travels for publication.

25. A Sermon preached in Trinity Church, New York, on Thursday, October 4, 1838, before the Annual Convention of the Diocese. By MANTON EASTBURN, D. D., Rector of the Church of the Ascension, New York. New York: 1838. G. and C. Carvill & Co. Svo. pp. 18.

DR. EASTBURN's sermon before the last convention of this diocese, is a plain and affectionate enforcement of clerical duty in the matter of preaching, of conducting the worship of the Church, of pastoral influence, and of exertions for the general extension of religion It cannot fail to be read with profit; and we especially commend his remarks on the spirit and manner in which the public service of the desk should be conducted. The sermon bears marks of the good taste which distinguishes the author's performances.

26. Sermon preached at the opening of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in Philadelphia, September 5, 1838. By the Right Reverend WILLIAM MEADE, D. D., Assistant Bishop of Virginia. Philadelphia: 1838. 8vo. pp. 34.

THIS is an excellent discourse, characterized by the firm, intelligent, and affectionate attachment to the Church, and at the same time the truly catholic and christian spirit for which its author is so eminently distinguished. His object is, in speaking of the "old paths" recommended in scripture, to trace the harmony between our Church as settled by the reformers, and the church of the primitive times of christianity, in the matters of doctrine, rites, and discipline rejoicing in all adherence to the "old paths," exhorting to a return from all deviations, and warning against the peculiar dangers of the times. We have not room to show the manner in which this object is accomplished; we can only recommend the discourse, as rich in the fruits of study and reflection, and well deserving a careful reading.

252

Christmas Gift. La Fontaine's Fables. [January,

27. A Christmas Gift from Fairy Land. New York: 1838. Appleton and Company. 12mo.

Books are often bought, merely because they are pretty to look at; and to all who select solely or chiefly on that ground, we strongly recommend "A Christmas Gift from Fairy Land." Nothing could be prettier than it is, in its whole getting up-paper, printing, illustrations, and embellishments. And there our praise must stop; children must not be imposed upon by the title-they will be sadly disappointed, if they expect it will transport them to fairy land-it will be far more likely to transport them to the land of Nod. And it is a shameful imposition, too, to hold out such an expectation of delight at the season of merry Christmas, and have it all turn out a cheat. And yet as it claims to be a fairy book, children must read it—it is their appropriate department of literature, and they are the best critics in it. Should we ever hear of its being read a second time, by any little boy or girl who has at command the real old Fairy Tales, or the Arabian Nights, or Robinson Crusoe, or any other of the like works of genius, marked even with the thumbings of the hundredth perusal, we will acknowledge our error, and record the fact for the benefit of the author.

28. Fables de La Fontaine. Avec des notes Historiques, Mythologiques, et Grammaticales, à l'usage des Colléges et des Ecoles. Par F. SALES, A. M. Boston: 1838. Chez J. Munroe et Companie, et Perkins et Marvin. 12mo. pp. 356.

IN no department of literature has our country made so great progress, within the last twenty-five years, as in the knowledge of the most used of the languages of continental Europe, and no literary institution has contributed so much to this advancement as Harvard University. It was the first to furnish instruction to all its pupils in these languages, and to establish a professorship for lectures on the literature of the most cultivated nations. The governors of the college, for their first professor, very judiciously made choice of one of the most elegant scholars of our country, and by his talent, zeal, and learning, the department of modern languages and literature became one of the most efficient in its instructions, and most attractive to the pupils of any in the college. His successor is of the same high character and acquirements, and has fully sustained the credit, influence, and importance of the de

partment. The editor of this new edition of Fontaine's Fables, has been the principal instructor in French and Spanish, under the direction of the professors above referred to, from the first organization of the professorship to the present time; and in that period he has published several valuable works to facilitate the acquisition of the languages in which he instructed. This last publication is every way worthy of his reputation as an editor, and it is particularly useful; La Fontaine's Fables being an exceeding pleasant and profitable book for a learner of French, but somewhat difficult to read on account of the frequent idiomatic expressions. This difficulty Mr. Sales has removed by judicious explanatory notes, and also enhanced the value of the volume by prefixing a short account of French versification. Its typography is beautiful, and although we have not read every line and letter of the volume, we may venture to pronounce it immaculate, seeing the name of the American Baskerville as its printer.

pp. 197.

29. Dillaway's School Classics.-1. Cicero de Officiis. Cura C. K. DILLAWAY. Accedunt Nota Anglica. 2. Cicero de Senectute et de Amicitia. pp. 158.

Accedunt Note Anglica.

3. Cicero de Oratore. Accedunt Nota Anglica. Tom. ii., pp. 226. Cura C. K. DILLAWAY. et 1838. Perkins et Marvin.

Tom. i. pp. 229.
Bostonia: 1837

ALL the above well chosen classics for the use of schools are beautifully, and as far as we can judge from a hasty reading, correctly printed from the text of Olivet and Ernesti. The form is very convenient for the purpose to which they are to be applied; the notes are sufficiently copious, and of the explanatory kind, most serviceable to young linguists; and the volumes in every respect highly creditable to both editor and publishers. There is no Latin prose writer whom we are more pleased to see made familiar among us than Cicero, and none of the works of Cicero more beautiful, instructive, and elevating, than those with which Mr. Dillaway has presented us. The morality of the Officia is as lofty as any morality, not christian, can be; nothing in friendship was ever truer than the maxims of Lælius; nor any consolations of old age more philosophical than those which are made to fall from the lips of the elder Cato; nor any instructions in oratory better than those given in Cicero's three dialogues on that subject.

30. Introduction to the German Language; comprising a German Grammar, a German Reader, and a Vocabulary. By DAVID FOSDICK, Jun. New York and Andover: 1838. Gould and Newman. 12mo. pp. 271.

We have used this very convenient manual of Mr. Fosdick's enough to testify to the excellence of its plan and the general correctness of its execution, but not enough to say that it is without fault. It reduces the essential inflexions and principles of the German language to a much smaller compass than the grammars generally, and therefore prepares the pupil more rapidly to study the grammar in the language itself. The appendix furnishes important assistance in the more critical study of it, and is rendered easy of consultation by the tabular form in which the peculiar usages of the language are presented. We fully coincide with the author's opinion in his preface, that "he who makes use of the volume, may proceed at once from the due study of its contents to the perusal of any production of German literature." And we hope it may encourage many who enter upon the study of this language, so rich in the finest productions of the human mind, to be assured, that the careful study of so small a volume will give them a key to all the treasures in a new world of thought. The selections, both prose and poetry, are well adapted for beginners, and well chosen, as specimens of the beautiful compositions with which the language abounds.

31. The Personality of the Deity. A Sermon preached in the chapel of Harvard University, etc. By HENRY WARE, Jun., Professor, etc. Boston: 1838. James Munroe & Co. 8vo. pp. 24.

THIS discourse, like every thing of Mr. Ware's, is written with great perspicuity and good taste; but there is nothing particularly beautiful in the thought or language, nothing new or striking in the manner in which the subject is presented, to entitle it to publication. Saying this, we ought also to add, that it is published by "request," and probably has some connexion with certain speculations lately put forth at Cambridge, which, in the apprehension of some, have threatened to disturb the unity of the faith among the members of the communion to which the author belongs.

The Personality of the Deity is a truth, as we conceive, for recognition and meditation rather than for deduction and demonstra

tion. It is necessitated by the reason and demanded by the wants of the heart; whatever there is in this discourse which is valid for the purpose of it, proceeds upon the implication of this; and wherever this truth is not recognised as implied in the very idea of a God, it will not be likely to be admitted as the result of a process of argumentation.

32. Wonders of Geology, with numerous plates and wood cuts. By GIDEON MANTELL, LL. D., F. R. S., etc. Being the substance of lectures delivered at Brighton, from notes taken by A. F. RICHARDSON. London: 1838. 2 vols. 12mo.

THE perusal of these two small volumes has convinced us, that in this work, science has gained another excellent elementary book, and we doubt not that all who may be induced by our recommendation to give it their attention, will be obliged to us for making it known to them. The title is a great deal too modest for the work; it might mislead, and but for the high reputation of the author, induce a belief that it belonged to that class of publications compiled by ignorance, without order and without system, which sell only by the aid of a deceptive name. It is, on the other hand, a work which may be read not less advantageously by those who wish to study the science, than by those who seek only the gratification of a momentary curiosity. We know of no elementary work which unites in so small a compass, and in so complete a manner, the preparatory knowledge requisite for reading the writing which nature has traced upon her subterranean volume. It was not originally intended for publication; it is the substance of a course of lectures given to an audience composed, as it appears, for the most part, of ladies. The author was therefore careful to free his subject from all discussions, and to state his facts with the greatest order and exactness. Instead of supposing his hearers acquainted with the other departments of natural history, he takes care to furnish them himself with all the knowledge necessary for the understanding of the geological or palæontological facts. In like manner, in speaking of fossil vertebral animals, he makes a digression into the domain of osteology, and gives his hearers a clear idea how a Cuvier, by the aid of a single bone, could reconstruct an animal no longer existing upon the earth. He proceeds in the same manner, when in the more ancient formations he has occasion to speak of zoophytes, of crustacea, of testacea, of plants, etc. In a word, the object of the author seems to have been to explain what geology is, and how it made the discovery of the nu