The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte. By William Hazlitt. Second edition, revised by his Son. In four volumes. Vol. I. London: Office of the Illustrated London Library.

THIS work is intended to form the second of that series of eminent biographies of which Upham's Life of Washington' constituted the first. It has been out of print for several years, but the copyright having been placed at the disposal of the editor, it is now issued at a price which will place it within the reach of thousands to whom its former cost rendered the purchase altogether impracticable. Mr. Hazlitt has had little to do in preparing the work for the press, as the pains taken by his father left few errors to be corrected. The author's view of Buonaparte's career is more favorable than ours. We should except to many of his judgments, but it must in fairness be remembered that we are farther removed from his hero, and are therefore in better circumstances to judge impartially of his character and policy. Of his resplendent talents there can be no doubt. His military and civil achievements were indicative of the highest order of genius; but the absence of other qualities rendered him a curse to his species, and ultimately combined against him both the sovereigns and the people of Europe. Differing, however, from Mr. Hazlitt on this point, we cannot withhold from his work the praise of extensive research, large-minded views, and clear, terse style, which render it a highly agreeable companion, and will ever prevent the interest of its reader from flagging. Presenting the bright side of the picture, it cannot well fail to please, while its graphic descriptions of the more prominent points in the history of Buonaparte will be perused with pleasure, and not without benefit.

Daily Bible Illustrations: being Original Readings for a year, on subjects from Sacred History, Biography, Geography, Antiquities, and Theology, especially designed for the Family Circle. By John Kitto, D.D. Evening Series. Isaiah and the Prophets. April-June. Edinburgh: Oliphant and Sons.

HAVING frequently expressed a favorable opinion of the series to which this volume belongs, we need do nothing more at present than report the fact of its appearance, and state in general terms that it completes the illustrations of the Old Testament. Like the preceding volumes, it possesses a distinctive character, reflected from the books on which it is founded. Dr. Kitto has freely availed himself of the aids furnished by the researches of modern historians and scientific enquirers, and has thus thrown considerable light on the biographies of eminent men, and on the import of various passages throughout the sacred writings. Prophecy has not been disregarded, and the new field opened at Nineveh has been explored with much diligence and success. We are glad to find that the encouragement received has been most refreshing,' and shall give a hearty welcome to the two other volumes, which will complete the author's plan. In the department of biblical illustration there is no living man who has rendered such signal service as Dr. Kitto.

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life among the Lowly. By Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2 Vols. 12mo. Boston: Jewitt and Co. 1852.

THIS is an American publication, which has already obtained a wide circulation in the States. The copy before us belongs to the twentieth thousand, and the sale is yet proceeding. The scenes of the story 'lie among a race hitherto ignored by the associations of polite and refined society,' and are designed to awaken sympathy for the African race; 'to show,' as the author remarks, their wrongs and sorrows, under a system so necessarily cruel and unjust as to defeat and do away with the good effects of all that can be attempted for them by their best friends under it.' We have read the work with unmingled satisfaction. It displays very considerable power; its scenes are graphically drawn; the personages introduced are strongly discriminated; full justice is done to the better class of slave-owners, while the horrible working of the system is clearly unveiled; and there is throughout the work a high tone of moral feeling which greatly enhances its power. Many of the characters have interested us deeply, and there are no violations of probability, no craving for mere effect in the course of the narrative. Were we to follow our inclination, we should detail the plot at considerable length, but we prefer recommending an early perusal of the work. We should be glad to know that it was read and pondered over by every man, woman, and child in the empire. Its circulation, especially in the States, cannot fail to produce most beneficial effects. A cheap edition has been published in this country, the type of which, however, is much too small for us.

The Progress of Religious Sentiment, &c. An Historical Sketch, by Joseph Adshead. London: Houlston and Stoneman. Manchester: Fletcher

and Tubbs.

Although

We have read this sketch with considerable pleasure. avowedly relating to matters of especial interest to the Baptist denomination, it carefully avoids sectarianism, and does ample justice to Christians of every name. To those who are unable to procure the larger and more expensive histories of nonconformity, Mr. Adshead's little volume will be most acceptable. It is cheap, carefully compiled, well written, very comprehensive, full of just such information as will enable any person of ordinary intelligence to put to silence the ecclesiastical ignorance of foolish men.

An Epitome of the Civil and Literary Chronology of Greece, from the earliest Accounts to the Death of Augustus. By Henry Fynes Clinton, Esq., M.A. Oxford University Press. 1851.

THIS work is one of the most excellent contributions to the great store of popular literature-i. e., of books for the use of all classes-which the last few years have brought; and at the same time it is one which, to the student, is indispensable. It is a careful and complete compendium of the three quarto volumes of the 'Fasti Hellenici,' and is published at a price which, for such a book, is merely nominal. We commend it very

emphatically to all our readers, for the sake of the valuable dissertations on the chronology of the Bible which it contains, and to which the recent discoveries in the inscriptions on the marbles from Nineveh are calling renewed attention. Those who have been able to secure only casual opportunities of reference to the original work, will find this an admirable substitute for it, as it presents all the results, and many of the processes of proof, which made the 'Fasti Hellenici' so exceedingly valuable. But it must not be supposed that it is merely an Epitome'; there are in it additions to the Fasti,' and corrections of errors in them; in fact, for all who possess those volumes, it is a supplement showing the fruits of Mr. Clinton's latest researches in the seemingly barren, but really abundant, field which he has made peculiarly his own. We earnestly hope that he will, in like manner, epitomize the Fasti Romani;' for, as with the compendium before us, all who have the original would need the Epitome,' to enable them more effectually to make use of those large and overfull books; whilst those who are unable to purchase them (not a small class in the reading public) would welcome it as gladly as we have welcomed this one.

The Course of Faith: or, the Practical Believer Delineated. By John Angel James. London: Hamilton, Adams and Co. 1852.

THIS volume is worthy of the practical judgment and experienced discrimination of an author who has so admirably and diligently improved the talents committed to him. Happily avoiding the extremes of Sandeman, of Finney, of the formalists, the mystics, and the sentimentalists, the ultra-calvinists and antinomians, Mr. James traces the practical development of faith as the living principle of spiritual religion throughout the entire circle of the believer's existence, both here and hereafter. We sincerely congratulate the author on the production of a work which will add another to the many endearing associations with a name so greatly revered by the lovers of pure and evangelical teaching; and we commend it to our readers as one of the most useful of the author's numerous publications.

The Infallibility of the Church of Rome: A Correspondence between the Right Reverend Bishop Brown, of Chepstow, and the Reverend Joseph Baylee, Birkenhead. London: Longman and Co.

MR. BAYLEE, a clergyman of the church of England, and Bishop Brown, have resolved to discuss in public, by letter, the questions at issue between Romanism and Protestantism, beginning with infallibility. We have never seen much good come of these gladiatorial exhibitions. The usual result is, that after a few preliminary passes, one gentleman gets a scratch, loses his temper and the thread of his argument at the same time, and the show ends with mutual recrimination and religious Billingsgate. We had small hopes of anything better in the present case, Mr. Baylee's former appearances as a controvertist not having impressed us with a very high idea either of his candour or of his courtesy. He has, however, clearly the best of it in this case, reduces the bishop to some rather con

temptible wriggles, and puts the usual arguments against the infallibility of the Romish church in a clear light. The book is worth seeing, for the sake of the Roman Catholic's letters, not because they are clever or powerful, but because they are as weak as they can well be, and as they are necessarily concise, they exhibit in all its shakiness the rotten foundation, on which the apostolic church' rests. Its value, however, is somewhat diminished by the vicious habit inseparable from such discussions of wasting strength and paper on mere details, following the opponent into every cranny and corner instead of establishing a few broad principles with emphasis enough, and letting insignificant errors die away silently of their contact with them.

The Reign of Avarice-an Allegorical Satire, in four Cantos. London: Pickering.

THIS book demands to be judged on other than its literary merits alone. It is a noble and earnest voice lifted up against the master-demon of England-vindicating again the poet's ancient right to be the rebuker of nations. The epidemic madness of railway speculation in 1845 is thrown into the somewhat difficult form of an allegory, where Avarice sets up in England a rival empire, and marrying a man of Eborac, makes a railway from the City of Speculation to Evil-gain. There she is stormed by an army under pen and press, disgracefully beaten, her counsellors punished, and honour left triumphant. Although this bare outline may look unpromising, it is filled up in a masterly way, with great spirit and vigour, with a power which only deep conviction, acting on a really poetical nature, can give.

As a work of art, our praise of it must be no less. The trammels of the form adopted become not only light, but graceful and helpful. The personified characters are sketched with great satirical vivacity, while some of the descriptions interspersed, especially that of the Palace of Imagination, and that of the conquered city after the battle, live and glow. It was the poet's earliest office, as the Greeks tell us, to war against the dragons of the slime; and here is one more Apollo's shaft, bright and glancing, true to the old quiver-both in the ring of its metal and in the aim of its discharge. May it stick fast!

The Temperance Cyclopædia. Compiled by Rev. William Reid. Fifth Thousand. Glasgow: Scottish Temperance League.

Such

THIS volume contains an immense number of facts, opinions, and anecdotes, bearing on the temperance question, collected with great industry, and classified. The paragraphs are all brief enough for popular impression, and seem intended to be used in the adornment of teetotal lectures. a work will penetrate, no doubt, where more digested and organic ones would never reach, among the masses who have no time, and the unfortunately greater masses who have no taste, for the right kind of reading; but it is surely a grave and growing evil, this desultory, smattering, hopping system of book-making and book-using, which ought to be put

down.' Mr. Reid's book is best described by his countryman's criticism on 'Walker's Dictionary,'-' a nice book eneuch, but a thocht unconneckit.’

Chorea Sancti Viti; or, Steps in the Journey of Prince Legion. Twelve Designs. By William Bell Scott. London: George Bell. 1851. We have no desire, and no reason, to withhold from these designs' the praise of original and vital thought.' They are, certainly, off the highway.' We cannot gather from the preface whether or not Mr. G. H. Lewes is to be understood of having fulfilled his proposal to write to them' in the poetical quotations now placed beneath them; if so, he has done very little; if not, we presume that Mr. Scott's reference to him is made with a feeling of disappointment. What his position in relation to pictorial popularity' is we are not informed, nor how the publication of these designs shows that he understands' it; but we are of opinion that, with all the obscurity in which they are presented to us, they indicate much of the kind of talent which has been so largely called forth by the pictorial accompaniments of some of the most popular publications of the day.

A Series of Lectures to Children. By Rev. J. Crawshaw. London: Mason.

THIS is a very good specimen of simple preaching to children. The subjects are well chosen, and while there is a studious and successful adaptation of style and thought to the little hearers, the great end is always so kept in view, as that the sermon never degenerates into a mere story or namby pamby babyishness.

Safety in Peril.

By the Authoress of My Flowers.' London: Low. A SIMPLE and very earnest little book, addressed to the women of the English church, and seeking to neutralize papistical tendencies by an unpolemical statement of the gospel. It shows much devout feeling, and a cultivated feminine mind.

The Judgment of the Papacy and the Reign of Righteousness. By Thomas Houston, D.D., Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Knockbracken. London: Houlston and Stoneman. 1852.

DR. HOUSTON is, like ourselves, no abettor of the royal supremacy and the assumed exclusive rights of diocesan prelacy;' yet the recent aggression' has called him forth as an author. Taking the judgment upon the little horn of Daniel as a basis, he gives a condensed summary of five particulars the character of the object which is to be destroyed-the judgment itself and the destruction that follows-the blissful change that succeeds the stability and perpetuity of the future kingdom of Christ, and of the reign of his saints-and the present duty of Christ's servants in relation to these changes. There are some excellent notes in the appendix.