by the generous solicitude of the devoted Christian Missionary, who has fixed their language, and given them two out of the four Gospels in their native language. In the 123rd number of the Christian Knowledge Society's Monthly Reports, Mr. Brett has communicated an account of the Arawaks; which being a real accession to geographical science, we have extracted it for the information of our readers :

"The Arawak is the most numerous of the tribes near the coast of British Guiana; and it is also the most civilized. The number located within the British territory has been variously estimated, but cannot fall far short of two thousand. There are, however, many of this tribe who live beyond our boundaries, both in the Dutch colony of Surinam, and in the province of Venezuela.

"It is from this tribe that the greatest number of our Indian converts have been gathered. I should think, from an estimate of the numbers attending the Missions of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Pomeroon, Waramuri, and Malaiconi, together with those attending the Church Missionary Station at Bartica, and those on the Aruabisi coast of Essequibo, attending the ministry of the Rev. W. Austin and others, that considerably more than half their number are now receiving Christian instruction. Some hundreds have been already baptized, and it would not be difficult to induce the whole number to receive baptism; but great circumspection has been used at every station (as far as I am aware), and no catechumen admitted to that holy sacrament who has not been a considerable time, in some instances two years, under instruction. They are a very gentle people and kind to those who have acquired their confidence. They are docile, and the children learn to read with great facility.

"They have no regular laws nor administration of justice among themselves; and there is probably no people on earth who stand in less need of them, offences on each other's property being very rare indeed, and quarrels unknown among them, unless when under the influence of intoxicating liquors. Their wants being very few, and the climate enervating, many of them, especially the young, give way to indolence; and the habit of drinking ardent spirits to excess having been carried on for several generations has greatly reduced their numbers and weakened the constitutions of the existing race. So deeply rooted is this evil habit, that there is probably no instance of an Indian breaking it off, unless from the influence of the Gospel.

"The religious belief derived from their ancestors is of a simple nature. They believe that a supreme being, whom they call 'Our Father,' and Our Maker,' inhabits the sky, and that he is immortal and invisible. They acknowledge his omnipotence, but seem to consider him as too high to listen to the prayers of his creatures; con-sequently they address their petitions to inferior spirits, whom they consider to be the agents of every mischief or calamity, such as sickness or death, which may happen to themselves or their friends. There are a number of persons who pretend to have power over these spirits, and who are employed to exorcise them by certain

magical incantations, accompanied by the shaking of a gourd which contains some small stones, and through which a handle, adorned with parrots' feathers, is passed. The possessors of these instruments of superstition are held in great respect and fear by the others, and find the exercise of their art very profitable; hence they are great opponents in general to the spread of the Gospel, by which the hope of their gains is lost. There have not, however, been wanting those who have turned from their evil ways and confessed their deceits, giving up also the marakka' or gourd, as a pledge of their sincerity. In this manner I have at different times obtained possession of five of them. These magical arts are practised by most of the tribes in Guiana. The Arawaks call the system semici,' or 'zemici;' and an aged convert of this class told me that it was first practised in the islands; and that 'Arawanili,' its founder, was held in religious veneration among them. "The whole nation is divided into about thirty tribes or families, cach having a different name. Marriage is not allowed between persons of the same tribe; and all children are considered to belong to the same family or tribe as their mother. For instance, if the mother were of the Siwidi' family, her children would bear the same name, and might not marry any member of it, however distant; but they might marry with any member of their father's family, or any other persons whom they chose.

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Polygamy is much practised among them and is the source of much domestic misery. Indeed, the manner in which the female sex is kept under is the most painful feature in the social life of these people: it is, however, rapidly ameliorating under the Divine influence of our holy religion, to which the females are in consequence often the most ready converts and the most firmly attached.

"The past history of this tribe is involved in the obscurity which must ever attend a people possessing no method of recording past events. There are, however, several circumstances which would lead us to conclude that they were originally very differently situated; as a tradition or two in which the islands are spoken of as the place of their former residence, the manner in which they are located in a narrow line near the coast and on the banks of the rivers, and the want of affinity between the words of their language and those of the other tribes, all point them out as refugees from some other quarter. It is most likely that they are of the same race as those first discovered by Columbus, and exterminated by his successors in Hayti and the other larger islands of the West Indian seas. There is a great resemblance between the few words of their language which have been preserved and those spoken by the Arawaks at the present day-some of the words, indeed, are identical. This probability is strengthened by the strong aversion with which they regard the Spaniards-as ‘a people who hunted their forefathers with dogs,' and by their remarkably mild and gentle disposition, which affords a striking contrast to the ancient ferocity of the Caribs, of whom they have ever stood in the highest dread, and who are now, like themselves, the inhabitants of the main land, reduced to a few hundreds in number, though once the terror of the islands and the masters of the coast" (Christian Knowledge Society's Monthly Report, No. 123, pp. 9-11.)

The Inquisition: its History, Influences, and Effects, from its first Establishment to the present time; including its Recent Proceedings relative to Dr. Achilli, Father Ventura, &c., &c. Second Thousand. Dublin: P. D. Hardy and Sons. London: Allan. 1849. 18mo.

MR. HARDY, the reputed compiler of this cheap and unpretending little volume, has brought together in a small compass a large amount of information respecting the sanguinary tribunal of the Inquisition, which has murdered so many thousand victims since its first institution in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The account of the treatment of Dr. Achilli (who is now happily rescued from its dungeons), and of Father Ventura, will be read with deep interest, as it proves the existence of this odious tribunal under the ecclesiastical government of the so-called "liberal pope," Pius IX.

What mean ye by this Service? The Question Discussed in the Trial of George Herbert, Richard Hooker, Charles Simeon, and Thomas Scott, on the Charge of Heresy. By the Rev. SAMUEL HOBSON, LL.B. London: Seeleys. Norwich: C. Muskett. 1850. Small

octavo.

MR. HOBSON is already known as the author of not fewer than a dozen Tracts, which are on the List of the Venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This circumstance is a sufficient guarantee for the accuracy and fidelity of the ingeniously executed little volume, which we now announce to our readers. His object in preparing it is, to supply those, who have neither leisure nor inclination to peruse larger or more elaborate works, with materials by which they may be enabled to judge for themselves, whether the doctrine of the Church of England on the subject of Baptism be, or be not, identical with that of the Romish Church. The author has employed the machinery of an imaginary trial, in which counsel on both sides are heard: the judge then sums up, and the verdict is left for the reader to determine. To us, who have often been compelled to witness the bitter spirit which characterises theological controversy, it is truly refreshing to meet with a volume in which the argument on both sides is fairly and compendiously given, and yet at such length as to comprehend all that is material in the important question at issue. We have been much pleased with the spirit which pervades the work and we think that no really candid supporter of the Bishop of Exeter's views can complain, that the author has omitted any forcible argument on his side.

Westminster: Memorials of the City, Saint Peter's College, the Parish Churches, Palaces, Streets, and Worthies. By the Rev. M. E. C. WALCOTT, M.A., of Exeter College, Curate of Saint Margaret's.. London: Masters.

1849.

THE best commendation of such a book as Mr. Walcott's is to describe it as being that which it professes to be a faithful record of all that is memorable in the district to which it refers, omitting nothing important, yet not wearying with minutiae which interest none but the inhabitants of the place. Westminster, as having been for so many ages the chief seat of law and the place where our Parliament assemble, is full of historical associations; and every street-almost every ancient house-recalls the memory of some illustrious person or some memorable fact, and all these incidents Mr. Walcott has traced out with commendable diligence and related in a pleasing

manner.

Westminster was at first a small patch of dry ground surrounded by marshy swamps, the overflowings of the Thames, and might thus be regarded as an island. Indeed it was called Thorney Island, and was only about 470 yards long by 370 yards broad; having the Thames to the east and impassable Logs and marshes on the other sides. In a charter of Offa, A.D. 785, it is called "Torneia in loco terribili, quod dicitur æt Westmunster." Even now, much of it lies below the high water mark King-street and Great George-street form the highest portion, being five or six feet above high water mark; but New Tothill-street and Palmer's village are from six to twelve inches below the high water mark of ordinary tides.

The prosperous era in the history of Westminster had its commencement in the reign of Henry VIII., who fixed the Court of Common Pleas there, and made "Westminster an Honour;" and where thenceforward Parliament regularly assembled. The city of Westminster had a governor conferred by Parliament, A.D. 1585; and arms were granted A.D. 1601. In the reign of Edward VI. only three taverns were suffered in Westminster, and the number allowed for London was forty. When James I. arrived, the streets were so narrow that "opposite neighbours might shake hands out of the windows." He endeavoured to check the growth of London and Westminster by inducing the nobles to live on their estates. "Sirs, you do ill to come hither. At London, you are like big ships at sea, which show like nothing; in your country villages, you are like the ships in a river, which look great things."

The history of Westminster Abbey is intended to form another volume of the same size, which is preparing for in

mediate publication by subscription. We have no doubt that in Mr. Walcott's hands the ample materials which exist will be made available to produce such a history of that national mausoleum as to bring a subject in which all Englishmen are interested within the reach of all, and so confer a benefit on the nation.

A Synopsis of the Doctrine of Baptism, Regeneration, Conversion, &c, by the Fathers and other Writers, from the Time of our Saviour to the End of the Fourth Century. By J. A. WICKHAM, Esq., of Frome, Somerset. With a Preface, by the Rev. H. D. WICKHAM, M.A. Bell, Fleet-street. 1850.

It is a recommendation to this work that we learn from the preface in what way the collection began sixteen years ago, long before the present controversy to which it seems so applicable; and that it was undertaken as a mental exercise, rendered necessary by a sudden and severe bereavement which had disqualified the author for the discharge of the active duties of life." "His object from the outset has been, not to advocate any particular system or to be the champion of any school, but to assist an unprejudiced enquirer after truth; and, half a century passed in the practice of the law, where conflicting evidence is continually presented and patient sifting care is required before an opinion can be formed, had well adapted his mind for a research of this nature."

The extracts are given in the original Greek or Latin, together with an English translation; but "the quotations in the original language have not in all cases been obtained; but the difficulty of tracing them has not unfrequently baffled the patience of the compiler. Nor would he venture to affirm that he has succeeded in adducing every important opinion on the subject which the authors he has quoted have expressed; but he can unhesitatingly assert that he has withheld none from feelings of partiality or bias."

The Metropolitan Interments Act, with Explanatory Notes; an Appendix and Index. By GEORGE HENRY HEWITT OLIPHANT, Trin. Coll. Cambridge, B.A., &c., &c. London: Longman. 1850. We have, we think, said before that a man who is so kind as to explain an Act of Parliament is entitled to the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. The original feature of the book consists in its index, which is very minute and copious; and, if it be not an indispensable, is a most valuable appendage to the Act.