141 not proved that our troops are brave, as the world calls bravery, and our generals equal in military resource to the marshals of the Old World? If our purpose was to heal our wounded honor, so far as the infliction of disgrace and suffering on our adversary can promote that end, the wound will never bleed again. Our troops can now safely and honorably return to their own country; safely, for an army of ten thousand men can surely march without danger over that road now open to its passage along which a less number fought their way against a far superior force; and honorably, because no one can impute our retreat to cowardice or any other than a generous motive.* The provinces which have been wrested from Mexico may be restored to her without any imputation on our character for courage or consistency; for what do we want of them? They can do us no good, and may make us much trouble. And having shown her that she was unable to protect them against the determination of our soldiers, we may now convince her and the world that neither ambition nor avarice prompted us to seek their acquisition. We have certainly inflicted some wrongs upon her, for there never was a war in which both parties were not guilty of injustice and cruelty. Let us repair our wrongs, and set an example which she may be glad to follow. The course which we ought to pursue is plain, and it will be effectual. It must be effectual. Let it be tried promptly and sincerely. Let the President and his cabinet concur with Congress in adopting it. And that they may be assured of the approbation of the people, at least of the moral and religious and Christian portion of the people, let memorials go up to Congress from every place, importuning them to put an end to the war. Let the whole Christian population of the land appear, through the expression of their solemn will, at the doors of the national legislature, and, with a voice whose calm strength shall cause its echoes to reverberate from wall to wall of the capitol, declare that the war must cease, the war must cease. And when that will shall have been obeyed, and, under such circumstances, it would be obeyed, and this war shall * "Though so dearly purchased, the astonishing successes of the American arms have at least put it in the power of the United States to grant any terms of peace without incurring the imputation of being actuated by but the most elevated motives. It would seem that the most proud and vain must be satiated with glory, and that the most reckless and bellicose should be sufficiently glutted with human gore."-Peace with Mexico, p. 30. any have been brought to a close, we may again have hope for humanity and the Gospel. By such an example we might do much to repair the damage we have inflicted on the cause of righteousness and peace. In that moral providence of God which permits man to retrieve his own errors, and turn even his sins into means of good for himself and for others, we may more than repair the injury we have done. We may show how noble is adherence to justice, not amidst misfortune, but against the seductions of success. We may teach the world the height and shape of true honor. We may secure for our tarnished name a brightness that shall startle even jealous Europe into admiration. "A more truly glorious termination of the war, a more splendid spectacle, an example more highly useful to mankind at large, cannot well be conceived, than that of the victorious forces of the United States voluntarily abandoning all their conquests, without requiring any thing else than that which was strictly due to our citizens.” * And who will venture to say that such an example would not be felt throughout Christendom and in future ages? In spite of the glare which war throws about its heroes and its achievements, the world is growing tired of the confused sound of the warrior and garments rolled in blood," of beleaguered cities and wasted villages, of slaughtered men and desolated homes, of bloodshed and hatred. It is even now groaning to realize in its own experience the manifestation of that law which was given for universal obedience by the Saviour of all mankind," Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Let us hasten to present an exhibition of its meaning, and we know not how many hearts will leap in sympathy. Other nations may rejoice to imitate the young, but manly and Christian, republic of America; and the time may approach, may ere long arrive, when all shall confess, in their application of this great law of love, that our neighbour is not our countryman alone, nor a suffering" fellow-creature, "though at the farthest pole," but that man is our neighbour, man, of whatever nation and in whatever condition. E. S. G. *Peace with Mexico, p. 30. 1848.] Notices of Recent Publications. 143 NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS. The Great Atonement. By HENRY SOLLY, Author of "Walter Bernard," and "The Midnight Cry." London: John Chapman. 1847. 12mo. pp. 164. THIS little volume vindicates and turns to practical use the true Christian interpretation of one of the sublimest doctrines of the New Testament. The doctrine of Reconciliation is made by the author to be as engaging and of as serious moment to our minds as the doctrine of Atonement, in the Calvinistic sense of it, is to its believers. Mr. Solly presents no new view, but he gives distinctness and interest to a view which has been repeatedly presented with great force. He maintains, with all arguments of reason and Scripture on his side, that the doctrine of Atonement has become as much perverted from its original meaning in Christendom as has the etymology of the word itself. In an Appendix, he adduces sufficient proof that the word Atonement meant, at the time our version of the Scriptures was made, simply at-one-ment, or reconciliation. In the body of his book, after developing this true scheme of Atonement, he traces its processes through Faith, Sorrow, Love, and Joy. We hope that some one of our publishers may reprint this book, for it is a valuable contribution, as well to our controversial, as to our practical religious literature. 2 C. C. Imt! E. Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie. By HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Fifth Edition. 1848. 16mo. pp. 163. Boston W. D. Ticknor & Co. PROFESSOR Longfellow's new poem has already, within the brief space of two months, reached a fifth edition,- a fact which indicates a greater degree of popularity, we believe, than has been attained by any other American poem. This is to be ascribed partly to his great success in overcoming those difficulties of the inexorable hexameter" which have proved insuperable to every other English or American writer who has attempted to compose a long poem in this measure, and partly to the intrinsic beauty of the work itself. The story of Evangeline is marked by great simplicity and a strict accordance with the historical facts, as recorded in Haliburton's "Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia," and in the early French writers; but the chief interest which the reader feels arises from the admirable delineation of the several characters, the minute and truthful de scriptions of rural life and natural scenery, and the rare beauty of the similes. The characters are drawn with a vigorous, but delicate touch, so that even the great master, "that left half told The story of Cambuscan bold," could hardly improve upon the sketch of Basil, the blacksmith, of René, the notary public, or of Benedict, Evangeline's father; while the heroine is scarcely inferior to any character that we remember to have met with in imaginative literature. She presents a perfect example of a loving, trusting, hoping, patient, suffering woman. The pictures of pastoral life are as minute as Crabbe's descriptions, and far more poetical. The first part of the poem describes the condition of the early French settlers of the village of Grand-Pré, and their most unjustifiable removal by the New England troops, after the total destruction of their homes. The second part, which contains the account of Evangeline's wanderings in search of her lost lover, wrought out of the poet's own imagination, will, we suppose, be generally regarded as the most beautiful. It is, indeed, full of admirable conceptions, and is superior, we think, to any thing that Mr. Longfellow has before written. 3. D. Ecupp S. New Artist Life, or Sketches of American Painters. By HENRY T. HERE are lively and interesting notices of some of our native artists. To describe their character in a word, we should say that they are remarkably accurate. In every instance, we clearly discern the very man whom the writer aims to exhibit. Faithful likenesses are presented, we see at once the peculiarities of each individual's genius and actual life. No friend of Sully could fail to recognize, in the few pages devoted to him, a complete portrait of one whose cheerful presence and happy artistic gifts won upon all hearts that came within the circle of his influence. The criticisms are always discriminating, but, to our mind, not sufficiently enthusiastic. When a writer who loves and appreciates art passes from West and Trumbull to Allston, we expect to see new fires kindled by the new atmosphere which he breathes. Still the book possesses a quite substantial merit. It preserves the lineaments of a number of our best artists, some of whom are destined to exert no small influence in shaping the destinies of the New World. C. 1848.] Notices of Recent Publications. 145 English Communion are con- A Reply to Doctor Milner's "End of Religious Controversy," so far as the Churches of the cerned. By SAMUEL FARMAR ographer of the Church, etc. Co. 1847. 12mo. pp. 251. THIS Volume shows no inconsiderable learning and acuteness. As proof of the candor and honesty of the writer, we may mention the fact, that he denies the genuineness of 1 John v. 7, and presents a good summary of the evidence against it. We commend the book to the attention of those who have ever read Milner's "End of Religious Controversy," pronounced by Charles Butler the ablest work in defence of the Roman Catholic Church in the controversy with Protestants, which had appeared in the English language. L. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1848. Boston: J. Munroe & Co. 12mo. pp. 370. The Unitarian Congregational Register, for the Year 1848. Boston Crosby & Nichols. 1848. 12mo. pp. 70. It is impossible to give, in a short notice, any idea of the great amount of information to be derived from the American Almanac, well vindicating its title to be called a "Repository of Useful Knowledge." The past numbers have abundantly established its character as a "trustworthy manual of reference." On several subjects, the present volume is more full and complete than its predecessors. Among the articles of interest and value, we may mention those on the Observatory at Washington and the great Telescope at Cambridge, an abstract of the laws of the several States concerning Imprisonment for Debt, the chapters on the Patent-Office, on the history of the Electric Telegraph, and on Railroads. The meteorological tables embrace, besides the usual matter, the "flowering seasons,' and "days and depth of for a series of years, in several places." snow, We are grateful alike for some of the additions and some of the omissions in the "Unitarian Congregational Register." The compiler has done well to insert the term " Congregational " in the title, the Unitarians belonging to the great body of Congregational Christians, the attempts sometimes made to deprive them of the name notwithstanding. The Register contains many valuable statistics of the denomination, and at the close, in a series of extracts, some exposition of its doctrines. We think the present a decided improvement upon the similar publications of the two preceding years. L. |