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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 localities."

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.2

Whatever labors increase the facilities for studying the Word of God — for 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 de signed 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 Beth lem, 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. VII,

A

surprise his readers with some sudden inference or practical remark. For one instance; the eighth sermon in this volume is on the text, "O taste and see that the Lord is good." The first division defines the goodness of God; the second explains the act of tasting the goodness of God. Christians exercise true benevolence; this benevolence has the same nature with God's benevolence; they know their own benevolence, and therein know the nature of God's benevolence, and thus taste it. In their holy love they are partakers of the divine goodness, and as they taste their own love they taste the divine goodness of which they partake. The third division enumerates the effects produced by this taste, and the first head of the "Improvement” explains "what is properly to be understood by a moral taste, principle or disposition." It is not a "dead, dormant, inactive, natural principle, but an active, voluntary, moral exercise," and thus we are surprised into a discussion of the notorious "taste scheme."

Another well known peculiarity of Dr. Emmons's discourses is, a strict adherence to his definitions. Not one of the Reviewers who have opposed him, has, so far as we are informed, understood him; and the reason seems to be, that his antagonists have not attended to his definitions. He has a sermon in the present volume on "sins without law," and he shows, first, that the heathen are without law; secondly, that they sin without law; and thirdly, that they must perish without law. Hence he remarks in his "Improvement:" "It is easy to see how all the posterity of Adam became sinners without law." A superficial reader might thus infer, that Dr. Emmons, in contradiction to the entire spirit of his theology, believed in the existence of sin where there is no knowledge of a rule of conduct. But at the commencement of his discussion he defines law to be not a mere rule of conduct, but "a rule of conduct given by proper authority, and sanctioned by precept and penalty." He thus defines law to be something more than a mere standard of moral obligation, something communicated by other means than the human conscience. He is discoursing on the written law, as distinct from the known rule of duty. His remarks seem thus to be perfectly just, rigidly consistent with his definition, and startling by their exact conformity with a definition somewhat peculiar. It is to this feature of Dr. Emmons's discourses that we must ascribe their power to arrest attention, and also their tendency to be misunderstood by inaccurate readers. The 24th sermon in this volume is one of great interest, derived in no small degree from the apparent contradiction between it and the well known views of its author. The appearance of contradiction vanishes, when we detect the precise meaning which he attaches to the more important terms used in the discourse. He demands close attention, or he will not be appreciated. Hence the mental discipline derived from perusing his sermons.

He preached to a congregation of farmers; he very rarely wrote a sermon for the press; and yet in one of these discourses, we find him discussing the principles of Mr. Locke with regard to the distinction between rational and irrational animals; in another, examining the old scholastic distinction between the merit of condignity and the merit of congruity, etc. Yet he was

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well understood by his auditors. He made them intelligent. To him was this power given. He was a remarkable man, and a benefactor to his race. May the excellent editor of these volumes be enabled to add still other discourses to the rich collection which he has already given us. The next age cannot afford to lose the sermons of so original and profound a thinker as Dr. Emmons.

X. M'COSH ON THE DIVINE Government.1

This volume has been received in Scotland with much enthusiasm. The Banner of Ulster regards it as "fixing a marked era in the history of philosophical and ethical inquiry in Great Britain." Its author was a pupil of Dr. Chalmers, and his present effort seems to be his introduction into the philosophical world; for the North British Review characterizes him as one who "has thus by a single stride secured for himself a position in literature such as few ever reached by a first publication."

In many respects, the metaphysical style of the Scottish writers seems inferior to that of their predecessors in the last century. The luminous page of Adam Smith has certainly not been outshone by any that have succeeded it. Reid, Hume, Beattie, and Campbell were precise and definite in their phraseology. Adam Ferguson sometimes wearies us by his uniformity of regular yet transparent periods. Dugald Stewart brought into the present century the neat and accurate diction which had distinguished Robertson, Blair and Walker, in the Scottish pulpit. At the present day, however, we miss the nice adjustment and the punctilious correctness of phrases for which the older philosophical treatises of Scotland are so widely celebrated, and which are so important for a distinctively metaphysical style. In compensation for this loss, the recent Scottish metaphysicians give us more vigor and energy of diction, a more animated and glowing imagery. The style of Mr. M'Cosh is bold and nervous. It abounds with fresh illustrations, and indicates an extensive acquaintance with the popular literature, as well as the physical and mental science of the day. He is by no means a narrow minded theologian, but has ranged over the wide fields of philosophy, and has collected thence rich arguments for the truth of the evangelical system. We are often surprised at his carelessness in the structure of sentences, but we presume that many of his ungrammatical phrases are the errors of the typographer, rather than of the author.

The work is divided into five Books. The first contains a " General View of the Divine Government, as fitted to throw light on the character of God." The second contains a "Particular Inquiry into the Method of the Divine Government in the Physical World." The third contains a "Particular Inquiry into the Principles of the Human Mind, through which God governs mankind." Here the author gives his view of the will as a "self-acting" power, and of holiness as the act of the will, or as the man willing. He

1 The Method of the Divine Government, Physical and Moral. By Rev. James M'Cosh. American edition. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 285 Broadway, 1851. pp. 515 8vo.