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such an ingenious admixture of the amusing and the profitable, as is best adapted to the delicacy of the texture which is sought to be impressed. As a general rule we should say, that parents cannot be too solicitous in detecting, at the earliest possible moment, the prevailing inclination of a child. Many a splendid career in life has been secured to the maturity of that infancy which was blessed with a judicious tutelage. Children should be tried in every pursuit to which they can be placed without detriment to their health and comfort. If the experiment fail, if there be no instinctive appetite, as it were, in the young mind, to seize the bait which accident throws in its way, still no harm is done, but much is achieved by creating a chance of benefit at all. It is for such invaluable experiments that books, like the one before us, are contrived, and so long as they are above all reproach with reference to their contents, and particularly whilst, like these stories, they are clever and judicious, we shall give them our cordial support.

ART. XIV.-Selections from the Old Testament, or the Religion, Morality, and Poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures, arranged under heads. By SARAH AUSTIN. 1 Vol. 8vo. London: Effingham Wilson. 1833.

THIS volume contains upwards of three hundred pages of passages from Scripture, selected with a view, says the pious authoress, of putting together all that presented itself in the sacred volume to her own heart and mind, as most persuasive, consolatory, and elevating. These passages she has arranged in such an orderly manner as to afford great facility of reference for those who

are desirous of fixing upon any particular train of feeling which the parts of the collection are calculated to excite.

The lessons, into which the work is divided, consist chiefly of such texts as are calculated to display the attributes of the Creator, and to remind us of the condition of man in this life according to eternal appointment; to declare what is the nature of our duties to God, to ourselves, and our neighbours, and also to bring under our contemplation the destiny for which we are intended. Such an undertaking as this, is one of those peculiar tasks for which panegyric has no praise.

But is Mrs. Austin quite consistent in assuming the mimic motions that express timidity when she says that she is apprehensive lest her plan of selections from the Bible may earn for her the reputation of being a partizan in the controversy now raging as to the propriety of putting the Bible entire into the hands of all ages and classes. But all such imputations Mrs. Austin very properly flings aside; she takes no part in theologicals she says, but contents herself with the course which her own feelings and views of what is proper point out. Now, what is it that these feelings point out? She herself answers, the book "is freed from matter either hard to be understood, unattractive, or unprofitable, (to say the least) for young and pure eyes!" This is sensible; Mrs. Austin versus timid Mrs. Austin; and yet she is no partizan on either side of the question whether or not the entire Bible is to be indiscriminately circulated!

ART. XV.-A Memoir of the late Captain Peter Heywood, R. N. with Extracts from his Diaries and Correspondence. By EDWARD TAGART. 1 Vol. London: Effingham Wilson. 1832.

IN Marshall's Naval Biography, and in a lately published History of the Mutiny of the Bounty, the life of Captain Heywood forms a very interesting subject of detail. In the present work little more, in the way

of narrative, is added, and the author very candidly explains, that the whole of the novelty which he has to offer, consists in the correspondence of Captain Heywood.

Although the history of this distinguished officer is so well known as to discharge us from the duty of entering into its details, still from the adventurous circumstances which it contains, from the traits of courage, fortitude, integrity, and conscientious rectitude displayed by the hero himself, and which are set forth with considerable ability by the editor of this volume, we feel that it is our duty to recommend a careful perusal of its contents.

It would be injustice to pass over in silence the valuable contributions which Captain Heywood has made to nautical science. His great attention to the improvement of chronometers, and to the arrangement of naval signals, would be sufficient to entitle his memory to the lasting affection of his country, if that tribute had not been already amply secured by his numerous charts of seas, the navigation of which was altogether unknown before his time.

ART. XVI.—A Biographical History of the Wesley Family; more particularly its Earlier Branches. By JOHN DOVE. 1 Vol. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1833. THE celebrity which John Wesley obtained by his extraordinary talents,

must generally be admitted to be such as justifies the opinion of the author as to the necessity there is for a more copious account of that great man's family, than any which now exists. An attempt to supply this deficiency was made some years ago by Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Memoirs of the Wesley Family; but the work of the learned doctor contained so vast a quantity of extraneous matter, its cost had been fixed at a sum so large, that the public were indisposed to purchase it, and thus the Wesley family were deprived of that extensive reputation which, as near connexions of so renowned a preacher as John Wesley, they well deserved.

The present work embodies the principal facts which bear on the character of Wesley and his family, contained in the large octavo of Dr. Clarke. He traces the Wesley family as far back as the seventeenth century, and passes in review its chief members, particularly on the maternal side, down to the epoch of the most worthy of them all. Of John himself the author says but little, being impressed with the belief that to his life ample justice has been rendered by Mr. Watson. Under such circumstances, he offers his work merely as an introduction to the performance of Mr. Watson, the two conjoined forming a most interesting theme for meditation.

ART. XVII.-Opinions on various Subjects, dedicated to the industrious Producers. By WILLIAM MACLURE. New Harmony, Indiana. 1831. London: O. Rich. HERE are six hundred awful pages of politics, morals, jurisprudence, philosophy, and metaphysics; besides endless dissertations on many minor subjects, from the pen of Mr. Maclure, who, having had the great advantage of being born in America, seems to set no bounds to the exul

tation which so fortunate an event is well calculated to produce.

It appears that several of the pieces of which this large volume is composed were written in Paris, and were destined for the pages of the Revue Encyclopedique; but the censors of the press placed the fatal interdict upon them, and Mr. Maclure, in order to compensate his vanity for the disappointment, had them translated into Spanish and published at Madrid. They next appeared in their original shape in the New Harmony Gazette. The remaining essays were published in two other New Harmony papers, the Disseminator of Useful Knowledge and The Disseminator.

Mr. Maclure is a stern and severe republican, and condemns with an unsparing measure of indignation, those forms of government which are in contradistinction with his own. He seems well acquainted with the subjects he handles, and much information on the state of the great Western Continent will be found in this volume.

ART. XVIII.-A Treatise on the Diseases of the Liver, and on Bilious Complaints; with Observations on the Management of the Health of those who have returned from Tropical Climates, and on the Diseases of Infancy. By G. H. BELL. 8vo. Edinburgh: Bell and Bradfute. 1833.

Ir being the general opinion of the medical profession that the liver is becoming more frequently every day the subject of disease, we shall be excused if we step out of our natural course of duty, and dwell for a few moments on an important treatise, which is highly calculated to be of use in stemming the progress of a fatal malady.

Mr. Bell informs us, that upon his appointment to India, he looked about for works which would throw some light on the peculiar diseases of the country. In this search he was disappointed, and being conscious of the advantages which would result to science if medical men would publish the results of their experience, he formed a resolution. to set an example of so useful a practice. Such was the origin of the present volume. It commences with the description of the acute diseases of the liver, together with their treatment. From these he passes to the consideration of the chronic derangements of the organ, and next enters upon a copious and most instructive series of details on the well-known malady called jaundice. The diseases of children, in which the liver is the principal point of attack, supply a chapter of great importance, in respect of the cautions and admonitions which it contains ; and the work closes with a curious account, drawn from the author's experience, of the best time at which it would be proper for the children of European parents, born in India, to return home.

In speaking of the supposed tendency to liver complaints, which is said to exist in this country, the author seems to be of opinion that such a tendency exists. All persons exposed to hot climates acquire a predisposition to liver disease: in England there are, and have been for many years, a number of fathers of families who have resided in India, and consequently have contracted a susceptibility to this malady. This tendency is frequently transmitted from generation to generation, and hence the prevalence of liver complaints at present in this country.

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ART. XX.-Tales of the Manse. By a Gentleman gone to the Indies. Edited by HUGH HAY, Esq. First Series. "Saint Kentigern," a Romance of Stratclyde. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1833.

THIS is the first of a series of tales under the above title, which are to fill, we are informed, several volumes. The work is limited apparently to no particular order of narratives, but is to mix up localities the most remote from each other, to combine eras the most distant, and themes of gravity and gaiety in such a proportion as the caprice of the author may determine.

The Saint Kentigern who forms so prominent a character in the tale before us, was the tutelary saint of the Cathedral of Glasgow. The time, to use a dramatic phrase, is fixed in the sixth century, and the scene is laid in Scotland. In plot and execution Saint Kentigern resembles one of those ideal romances with which the popular German

literature abounds. The style is generally correct, and often forcible, and the work altogether may be usefully employed during a leisure hour.

ART. XXI.-John Milton: his Life and Times, Religious and Political Opinions; with an Appendix, containing Animadversions upon Dr. Johnson's Life of Milton, &c. &c. By JOSEPH IVEMEY, Author of the "History of the English Baptists." 1. Vol. 8vo. London: E. Wilson. 1833.

THE motives which Mr. Ivemey assigns, for undertaking what in appearance is no more than a very superfluous task,—the life of Milton, is that all the former biographers of that illustrious man, exhibited him principally as a poet, and hinting only obscurely at his character as a patriot protestant, and non-conform ist, and that it became necessary therefore, to place Milton's history in such a light, as that his religious and political sentiments, should be seen in the conspicuous position which they deserve to obtain.

It is a subject of deep regret that the care of preserving all personal memorials of such a luminary as Milton, should have been left by preceeding ages of spirited and able dissenters to mere churchmen. The consequence of this is, that the noblest portion of Milton's political career, is almost shut out from public view, and has utterly, but most naturally failed to have that influence on future ages, which a model of such authority must necessarily obtain.

The objections to Milton's prose works, in which are contained the most striking testimonies of his love of country, as well as of his rooted hostility to the established church,

were that his style was course and his expressions intemperate, and that these causes were sufficient to avail as an excuse for discountenancing the circulation of these writings. But as the bishop of Chester once declared, there are so many passages in his work of so much redeeming beauty as to make it desirable that they should be studied, if it were only on account of the nervous eloquence with which they abound.

But if Milton were unfortunate in his former biographers, the modern public is just as badly off in the present one; for whilst Mr. Ivimey seeks to save the object of his solicitude from the injustice and ill-treatment of the churchmen, he himself not only adopts the principle of their misconduct, but carries it in a different direction, giving in almost every page the most undoubted proofs that whatever of the intellectual spirit possessed by Milton he might have imbibed from the great poet, he was certainly very successful in imitating his coarseness and want of charity. However, the numerous extracts from Milton's own works, and the arrangement in a connected form of numerous facts connected with his political and theological character, are sources of permanent attraction for the book.

ART. XXII.-The Bells, and other Poems. By JOHN BENNETT. Svo. Ipswich. 1831.

MR. BENNETT, along with being a poet, (at least he is one in his own imagination,) gives us reason to believe that he is likewise a philosopher, for he boldly assures us that he has not sought for surreptitious favour by undue prostrations at the shrine of public criticism; and, in fact, seeks no other gratification

from the production "beyond the museful pleasures of the imagination, and the secret satisfactions which must ever arise from a consciousness of rectitude of purpose, and of fair and liberal intention." With all due respect, we think that Mr. Bennett might have contrived to obtain a very abundant supply of his museful pleasures at an infinitely cheaper price than is involved in the expense of an elegantly-printed octavo of nearly 300 pages.

The contents of the volume are made up of one short poem entitled "The Bells," the stanzas of which are fabricated by means of a metrical arrangement, the like of which we have never before witnessed; and a long succession of lyrics, madrigals, and every possible form of small poem. There is nothing very remarkable either in the power of fancy, or in the force or beauty of expression, of Mr. Bennett. The system of long and short measure which he has adopted may be appreciated by the reader, when we tell him that to such a pitch of perfection is the art brought, that a single word constitutes a line of Mr. Bennett's, and that in that capacity the said word still retains the privilege of exacting an echoing rhyme in the next successive line but one. But this, to be understood, must be exemplified:

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