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Smith's New Classical Dictionary.

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IV. SMITH'S NEW CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.1

We may name the following as the principal merits of this Dictionary: 1. The form, small octavo, is convenient and portable. It is printed in double columns, on good paper, and with clear type. The titles of the articles are in small capitals, and are sufficiently distinct to catch the eye. The proof-reading, which in such a volume, is a most anxious and laborious affair, has been well attended to, so far as we can judge from reading some of the longer articles. 2. The amount of matter under the different titles, seems to be well proportioned to the importance of the topics. 3. The information communicated comprises the substance of what is known, according to the latest and most exact inquiries. The extensive and profound studies of a multitude of German scholars have illuminated almost every corner of this vast field. Judicious and abundant use has been made of these ample stores. Special acknowledgments seem to be due to Pauly's admirable Encyclopaedia of Classical Antiquity, now carried on by Waltz and Teuffel. The influence of the great work of Niebuhr is seen, directly or indirectly, on almost every page. 4. The truth is well sifted from the mass of matters often conflicting, and is stated with precision. In a volume, designed for lads in part, exactness of phraseology and directness of statement, are indispensable. In this respect the dictionary has great merits. 5. The moral tone of the work is unobjectionable. The wretched stories, and the unguarded statements, which disfigure or injure some of the old lexicons, find no place in this. The volume may be safely put into the hands of the young. 6. The appendices, filling eighty pages of small print, are of special utility. They include chronological tables of Greek history, parallel years of the Christian, Roman and Greek eras, a list of the Athenian Archons, list of kings of various countries, and sixteen tables of measures, weights and money. 7. Dr. Anthon's additions, corrections, etc. impart much value to the dictionary. His additions are enclosed in brackets, and amount to 1400 independent articles, besides adding to or correcting articles already in the work. In the department of bibliography, many improvements have been made. Special pains have also been taken by the American editor, to accentuate the Greek words and to secure a correct typography.

We have one or two suggestions for future editions. In some cases the statements might have been more exact and discriminating. Thus, in the article on Saint Jerome, that father is stated to "have had a profound knowledge of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages." This remark would need qualification, were he compared with modern philologists. And we should hardly apply the word "profound" at all, to his knowledge. Again,

1 A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, partly founded upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology; by William Smith, LL. D. Revised with numerous Corrections and Additions, by Charles Anthon, LL. D. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. pp. 1039. 8vo.

a fuller list of the best editions of works of different authors, and of works illustrating the life of individuals and the topography of places, would be highly serviceable. Indeed there are few objects in a classical dictionary more important. The inquisitive scholar, though young, wishes to be directed to larger sources of information. Thus under " Cicero," we observe no reference to the excellent edition of the Orations by Klotz; under Chrysostom, no allusion to Neander's volume, or the able work of Paniel on Christian Eloquence; under Plato, no reference to the excellent editions of some of his works by our American scholars; under Melite, no use made of Mr. Smith's admirable volume. Our last remark we will introduce with an extract. "As a statesman and citizen, Cicero cannot command our respect. He did good service to his country by the suppression of Catiline's conspiracy; but this was almost the only occasion on which he showed vigor and decision of character. His own letters condemn him. In them his inordinate vanity, pusillanimity, and political tergiversation appear in the clearest colors." Now this condemnation is much too sweeping. It should have been added, that persons well qualified to judge, have formed a far more favorable opinion of the great orator. "He was not a man of weak character," says Niebuhr; "Whenever there was need of it, he showed the greatest firmness and resolution. What makes him appear weak is his sensitive nature; a thing which he thought an indignity (indignum) completely annihilated him." "His pure mind was above all baseness, and it was only the consequence of his noble ambition that he wished to show himself in the most brilliant light."1

V. VIEWS OF A PAINTER IN PALESTINE.

Sir David Wilkie was one of the best painters of the modern English School. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister at Cults, Fifeshire, Scotland, was born Nov. 18, 1785, and died near Gibraltar, on his return from a visit to the East, June 1, 1841. In search of health and for the purposes of his profession, he travelled extensively, and resided several years abroad. We have been quite interested with the journal of his tour in Syria and Egypt. We have here condensed a few of his observations on some of the objects and scenery in the Holy Land. They have value, coming from an acute observer, and an accomplished artist. "Great as the assistance," remarks Sir David, "I might say the inspiration, which the art of painting has derived from the illustration of Christianity, and great as the talent and genius have been, which this high walk of art has called into being, yet it is remarkable that none of the great painters to whom the world has hitherto looked for the visible appearance of Scripture scenes and feelings, have ever visited the Holy Land. Though Paul Veronese, Titian, Giorgione and Sebastian del Piombo, all Venetians, have by commerce and

1 Niebuhr's Lectures on Roman History, Lond. 1849, Vol. III. pp. 19, 27. 2 The Life of Sir David Wilkie, with a Selection from his Correspondence By Allan Cunningham, in three vols. London, 1843.

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immediate intercourse with the Levant, succeeded in giving their works a nearer verisimilitude to an eastern people, yet who is there that cannot imagine that such minds as Raphael and Da Vinci, great as they are, might have not derived a help had they dwelt and studied in the same land which Moses and the Prophets, the evangelists and apostles have so powerfully and graphically described ?"

"The walls which encompass Jerusalem on every side, are higher and more superb than any city walls I have ever seen. The square towers of her gates recall those of Windsor castle; while their lengthened elevation, with the spires and cupolas they enclose, would have arrested the Poussins and Claudes in preference to all other cities. Her streets are stone-built, massive, surmounted by arches, through which the solemn vista claims the painter's art, though by that art still unknown and unrepresented; and the people, the Jew and Arab, and the more humble and destitute, who never change, recall, by their appearance, a period of antiquity in everything removed from the present time."

"The impression produced by first arriving in Jerusalem, by first walking her streets and viewing her massive buildings, the enduring rocks on which she is placed, the deep ravines, valleys and hills, by which she is surrounded, is beyond what can be again felt in any other place in the world. It is not merely in what they might have supplied to art, if they had been known to the artist, or in what they might furnish, if seen by the student, or commentator of Scripture, but as the originals in conjunction with the great events that have there occurred, from which the sacred writers have drawn their narratives. I understand that a leading foreign painter was here, and regretted that Raphael and Domenichino had not in their day seen the place and people, which, with all their power, they had but vainly tried to imagine." "Here the people, as well as their situation, lead one to ages long passed away. The Jewish synagogue is in their miserable quarter of the city, but it is on Mount Zion, where it can be seen now only with the most touching interest; and excluded from the rock and stone walls of their own temple, they still believe that the tables of the law and the tabernacle, supposed to be buried in its ruins, will yet one day be found, and restored to them. The Arabs, who form the mass of the poor people, looked as if they had never changed since the time of Abraham."

"Roberts has done much; but I almost wish he had done more, and had been here longer. For a landscape painter, the road from Jericho, as you come nigh to Jerusalem, and as you pass the valley' right over against you, and begin to descend by the Mount of Olives, combines a scene which Claude Lorraine and the Poussins would have indeed delighted in." "Whoever has been accustomed to walk through the streets, lanes, walls, rocks, hills, valleys, brooks and fountains of Jerusalem, where the scripture events have taken place, will be convinced that he sees before him a part of the original material whence the inspired writers drew their narratives; at once satisfying him of the accuracy, while it gives a perfect idea of the situation, of the details. The art of painting in Italy has arisen and triumphed in her devotion

to such scenes, with scarcely a reference or resemblance to these obvious lo calities."

VI. A DEVOTIONAL EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS.1

This work is strictly what it purports to be, a devotional exposition of the Book of Psalms. It is conducted on a plan somewhat novel, and highly advantageous, we think, to the simple object of the work. The usual plan of notes at the bottom of the page, which all who read for devotional purposes find not a little inconvenient and often cumbersome, is discarded. The results of learned inquiry and investigation in the various matters bearing on criticism, and on the development and illustration of the true meaning of the text, are embodied in a Paraphrase. On the right side of the page is a column containing Suggestive Remarks, and on the left, one for Scripture Testimony, in which striking parallel scriptures are cited at length. The titles of the Psalms are partially expanded and explained, and placed before the Argument; but the type of each department is of such a character that the eye detects at a glance the intention of the arrangement. The text adopted is that of the common English version. It is printed in italics, while the paraphrastic part is in Roman letters, so that (the type being bold and clear) the text can be read by itself with facility, or in connection with all the necessary light of criticism and exposition, without the slightest interruption or inconvenience.

In our judgment, the work is admirably executed. It cannot fail to be useful. We hope to see the work introduced into this country. The mechanical execution of this edition is in the very best style of the London books. J. M. S.

VII. THE CHRONOLOGICAL TESTAMENT.

Whatever labors increase the facilities for studying the Word of Godfor comparing scripture with scripture to ascertain what is the mind of the Spirit-lay the Christian community under obligation. The work before us is of this character. The plan is, in many of its features, new and admirable, and so far as we have been able to examine it critically, is wisely and ably executed. The editor has evidently spent much time and careful and patient labor upon the work. It is confined to the New Testament, which it gives in the authorized version, without "note or comment." The plan embraces the following features: The text is divided into Paragraphs

1 A Devotional Exposition of the Psalms, containing an Argument to each Psalm, a Paraphrase, Suggestive Remarks, and Parallel Scriptures at length. By Rev. J. Edwards, King's College, London. 8vo. London: James Darling,

1850..

2 The Chronological Testament, according to the Authorized Version, newly divided into Paragraphs and Sections, with the dates and places of transactions marked, and many illustrative Parallel Passages printed at length. London: Robert B. Blackader, 1851.

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and Sections, rather than Chapters, with the dates and places of transaction marked, and each is headed with its subject matter, and bears a figure which indicates its place in the order of time. The marginal readings are given, and parallel passages are printed in full, in separate columns; and letters are added to aid the reader in the work of self-examination. These are only a part of the novel features of this arrangement. On the whole, we are greatly pleased with it, especially for devotional reading. It simplifies the search of the Scriptures. It is a harmony and a concordance woven into the text, so that the mind takes in at a glance, the date, the occasion, the place, and all the parallel passages, without labor or inconvenience. It is printed, too, in large, clear type, so that aged persons can read it without difficulty. J. M. S.

VIII. DR. BELLAMY'S WORKS.1

The writings of Dr. Bellamy are well known to our readers on both sides of the Atlantic. To commend them were an act of supererogation. We prefer to congratulate the theological public, that the American Doctrinal Tract and Book Society have commenced the republication of such standard works. Our national honor demands this enterprise. We have no right, as good patriots, to allow the productions of our old divines to lie, some of them unpublished, some of them forgotten. They are valuable in their intrinsic character. They are useful as developing the history of theological opinion. They will instruct and gratify many private Christians, while they task the energies of clergymen and scholars. Where are the sermons and treatises of Dr. Samuel Spring of Newburyport, and Dr. Samuel Austin of Burlington College?

IX. NEW VOLUME OF DR. EMMONS'S WORKS.2

In his Autobiography Dr. Emmons remarks: "I read deep, well written tragedies, for the sake of real improvement in the art of preaching. They appeared to me the very best works to teach true eloquence. They are designed to make the deepest impression on the human mind, and many of them are excellently calculated to produce this effect. A preacher can scarcely find a better model for constructing a popular, practical, pathetic discourse than a good tragedy; which all along prepares the mind for the grand catastrophe, without discovering it, till the whole soul is wrought into a proper frame to feel the final impression." No attentive reader of this new volume of Dr. Emmons's discourses can fail to perceive the influence of the author's style of reading. He constructs his sermons on such a plan as to

1 The Works of Joseph Bellamy, D. D., First Pastor of the Church in Bethlem, Conn. With a Memoir of his Life and Character. In two volumes. Bos ton: Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, 1850.

2 The Works of Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., late Pastor of the Church in Frank lin, Mass. With a Memoir of his Life. Edited by Jacob Ide, D. D. Vol: VIL