it seems to us, has produced just such a series of delineations as Mr. Judd would have drawn, if his hand could have sketched for the outward vision the forms which his word-pictures placed before the inward eye. We have never before been so impressed with the capacity of this one department of the pictorial art. We are reminded of Paganini's performing the most complex symphonies on a violin with but two whole strings. Outline drawing excludes coloring and shading; and yet so perfect is the execution in this volume, that the lines are made to suggest every variety of color, and to produce the effect of nicely attempered light and shadow. Thus, in the sketch of "Tony Washington," the mere outlines of his countenance not only mark him as an African, but express even his blackness; so that any child, at the first glance, would pronounce it a negro's face. We seem thus to see the entire effect of painting produced by what corresponds only to its preliminary processes. The work rises into even national importance, when we consider that it is the most truly indigenous of our American fictions that has offered scope for equal and kindred talent in an allied department of imaginative art.

15. Annals of the American Pulpit; or Commemorative Notices of Distinguished American Clergymen of various Denominations, from the Early Settlement of the Country to the Close of the Year Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-Five. With Historical Introductions. By WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. Vols. I. and II. Trinitarian Congregational. New York: Robert Carter and Brothers. 8vo. PP. 723, 778.

Or this work also we are compelled to postpone our intended review; but we cannot suffer so important and unique a contribution to American history and biography to remain wholly unnoticed. We have here the first-fruits of the patient and well-directed labor of many years. Dr. Sprague's plan is to furnish the best attainable memoir in brief of every deceased American clergyman who has reached any distinction or eminence, however short-lived or local. His aim also is to have the story of every life told by the person or persons best fitted to do it justice. The denominations are to be arranged in an order of priority determined by the number of subjects which they respectively furnish; while the subjects afforded by each are sketched in chronological order. Only with regard to some of the earliest divines has resort been had to printed authorities. The greater part of the

biographies have been prepared expressly for this work. Our expectations of it were high; but they have been more than met. The memoirs are not only sufficiently full in details, but many of them are written with singular raciness and point. A large proportion of our old divines displayed strongly marked peculiarities of character, bore a prominent part in public transactions, and passed through experiences such as can never be repeated. A more entertaining, instructive, and impressive series of life-stories could not be compiled, than we have here; and though Dr. Sprague professes to be merely the compiler, it is evident at first blush that only by the wand of the most skilful of conjurers could so many pens have been made to work in concert, and the traces of his own taste and judgment in arranging, adapting, and supplementing the materials furnished to his hand are manifest on every page. The entire work will be one of the most voluminous (short of the dimensions of a Cyclopædia) ever issued; and, in addition to the many precious memories of pious and devoted lives that it will perpetuate, it will embody a large amount of our national history -at all times closely coincident with the history of the church which might otherwise have been irrecoverably lost, and which will grow only more valuable with the lapse of years.

16.-1. The Epistle to the Galatians, in Greek and English, with an Analysis and Exegetical Commentary. By SAMUEL H. TURNER, D.D. New York: Dana & Co. 1856. 8vo. pp. 98.

2. Notes, Practical and Expository, on the Gospels: for the Use of Bible Classes, Sunday-School Teachers, Catechists, and other Pious Laymen. By REV. CHARLES H. HALL. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1857. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 429, 400.

3. The Last of the Epistles; a Commentary upon the Epistle of St. Jude, designed for the General Reader as well as for the Exegetical Student. By FREDERIC GARDINER, M. A., Rector of Trinity Church, Lewiston, Me. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co. 1856. 12mo. pp. 275.

WE have more than once expressed our high sense of Professor Turner's merits as a Biblical critic. We can hardly conceive of a nicer mutual equilibrium than exists in his mind between reverence and learning, faith and freedom, loyalty to the voice of revelation and fearless inquiry as to what that voice actually utters and means. The Epistle to the Galatians is on many accounts the most difficult of

analysis among the Apostolic writings. The reasons why it was written, and the condition of those to whom it was addressed, are, for the most part, to be deduced from the letter itself. It is also as important as it is difficult. Historically it cut Christianity loose from Judaism, and was its virtual declaration of independence; and dogmatically it develops the subjective character of the Christian salvation with a clearness and emphasis of statement hardly approached elsewhere. It is enough to say, that Dr. Turner's analysis is such as to enable every reader to follow continuously the course of St. Paul's invective, argument, and exhortation, while his commentary discusses every exegetical question with a thoroughness seldom witnessed this side of Germany, and with a soundness of judgment scarce ever manifested there, on almost every portion of the text presenting an interpretation consonant equally with the prima facie import of the Apostle's language, the train of his thought, and the analogy of his other epistles, especially that to the Romans, which offers numerous points of parallelism with that to the Galatians.

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Mr. Hall's Commentary is rather safe than learned, practical than critical. He abides by the old paths, and shows hardly more sympathy with Neander than with Strauss. But his book is an excellent one for popular use, and especially for the use of lay-teachers in his own the Protestant Episcopal Church, abounding as it does in Scriptural illustrations of the Liturgy and the Thirty-nine Articles. Its devotional spirit is all that could be desired, and its skill in eliciting the lessons of duty and piety involved in the text renders it one of the best works of its class for family reading and for the purpose of Christian edification.

Mr. Gardiner was a pupil of Professor Turner, to whom he dedicates his work, with a delicate tribute to his preceptor's "earnest piety, untiring industry, profound scholarship, and exegetical skill." For thoroughness of treatment, clear comprehension of all the points in controversy, mastery of all subsidiary learning, and close reasoning, this monograph will bear favorable comparison with any similar work within the range of our critical reading. It is also a model work in point of arrangement and style. The Introduction disposes in order of all the preliminary questions. The Translation, founded on Lachmann's text, departs from the received version only where it is necessary for accuracy or for explicitness. The Commentary treats various readings and conflicting or alternative views with patience and candor. It is followed by two Excursus, one on the Agape, and the other on the Book of Enoch, which Mr. Gardiner supposes a forgery of the latter part of the second century, so that it cannot have been quoted by St. Jude. A

most elaborately constructed Appendix exhibits the parallelism between Jude's Epistle and the Second of Peter, establishes on satisfactory grounds the prior authorship of the former, and shows that St. Peter undoubtedly followed or adopted the train of thought which it suggested. We trust that Mr. Gardiner will find, in the favorable reception of his admirable work, encouragement to persevere in this department of study and authorship, for which no American scholar has exhibited a happier combination of the best gifts.

17. The Rural Poetry of the English Language, illustrating the Seasons and Months of the Year, their Changes, Employments, Lessons, and Pleasures, Topically Paragraphed; with a Complete Index. By JOSEPH WILLIAM JENKS, M. A., Late Professor of Language in the Urbana University, Ohio. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co. 1856. 8vo. pp. 544.

THE poetry in this volume is not exclusively rural; nor is there always an apparent reason for connecting any one piece with a particular month or season. But the collection brings together a large part of the best rural poetry in the English language, alike descriptive, didactic, lyric, and devotional. Many of the poems are familiar to every reader; many of them are from sources not easily accessible. We are thankful in our own behalf for our introduction to not a few pieces which we had not seen before; in behalf of the public, for embodying in an attractive form so much of our choicest literature. The volume is one of great beauty. The vignettes are tastefully designed and admirably executed. The type, though fine, is clear; and the double-columned page shows that economy of space is consistent with faultless elegance. The copious Index will commend the work to all who love to garnish their own writings with quotations from the poets.

18.- Dante's Divine Comedy. Translated in the Original Ternary Rhyme. By C. B. CAYLEY, B. A. Vol. I. Vision of Hell. Vol. II. The Purgatory. Vol. III. The Paradise. Vol. IV. Notes. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1851-55. 16mo. pp. 245, 288, 251, 408.

THIS translation has the prime merit of fidelity to the original, and the Notes show intimate familiarity with the history of Dante's age, and with all collateral sources of illustration. The verse is rarely defi

cient in euphony. But the author is evidently much constrained by the metre, and adapts to it many unusual words, and forms either obsolete or of his own invention. He also suffers himself often to employ the same word with a wearisome frequency. We dare not estimate without counting the number of times the word ruth occurs in the first half-dozen cantos. On the whole, we doubt whether the English reader has at his command so genuine a representation as this of the "Divina Commedia”; but as an English poem it is entitled to a much less favorable verdict.

19.1. An Historical Atlas, with Description, Illustration, and Questions to facilitate its Use. By J. E. WORCESTER. New and Revised Edition. Boston: Brown, Taggard, and Chase. 1856. Charts 12. pp. 36.

2. Manual of United States History, from 1492 to 1850. By SAMUEL ELIOT, Professor of History and Literature in Trinity College. Boston: Hickling, Swan, and Brown. 1856. 12mo. pp. 483.

DR. WORCESTER first made the study of history possible in our common schools. True, there were certain (so-called) manuals, through which pupils were driven in a series of formal recitations, but from which it was not expected that they should retain any idea or impression, beyond a few salient names and essential dates. Dr. Worcester rendered in this department a double service, first in the preparation of a text-book of general history, which it was a pleasure to read and therefore a privilege to study, and then in constructing a series of charts, adapted for use equally as a school manual and as a permanent reference-book. The "General History," we believe, still holds a place in the school-room, and for certain classes of pupils there is no work extant that ought to be substituted for it. The charts, originally nine, are now twelve; they are in a much enlarged form, present the record of names and events down to the year 1856, and have manifestly been subjected to the most careful revision. he arrangement of the materials is simple and natural; names, dates, and facts are put just where they belong; and the book can be consulted with as little waste of time, and as much directness and certainty, as an alphabetical dictionary. We have on our table the edition of 1826, - a date when similar tabular views and works of reference were rare everywhere, and hardly known to the American press. In the multitude of such helps now, we deem the edition of 1856 not one whit less valuable than was its precursor in the unoccupied field thirty years ago.

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