Notes on the Gospels, Critical and Explanatory. By M. W. JACOBUS. London: Hamilton and Co.

ALFRED BARNES has, at length, found a rival in one of his own countrymen, the professor of biblical literature in a western theological seminary, Pennsylvania. The Gospel of St. Matthew occupies the whole of the volume, of which no fewer than thirty-three editions have been issued in America. We see much in the book to praise, and nothing to censure. There may be differences as to the import of certain matters in the Gospel, but diversity in this respect consists with orthodoxy. The notes are very copious, well-digested, and much adapted to be of use to all students of the Bible, whether they be engaged in Sundayschool instruction or not. For public purposes we could not wish a better guide than our American; and we trust, with such encouragement as he has had, he will proceed with the rest of the Gospels, and, if life be spared, with the whole of the New Testament. His gifts clearly lie in that direction, and he will do well to obey the promptings of his own genius.

How it was Done at Stow School. London : Hamilton and Co.

THIS is a book of real life, exhibiting such a picture of a public institution as has not often seen the light. It has unusual charms for both old and young, and is fraught with an interest which nothing but truth can impart. We have presented a sample under the head of "Domestic Economy."

Alfred and the Little Dove. By F. A. KRUMMACHER, D.D. London: Hamilton & Co. DR. KRUMMACHER is a name that is very dear to multitudes in these islands. He is the Chalmers of Prussia-a great power, without either verse or rhyme. Every page presents a picture, and every picture is radiant with beauty. The little volume will be devoured by youth of both sexes.

Patriarchal Shadows of Christ and His Church. By OCTAVIUS WINSLOW. London Shaw and Co.

THIS is one of Dr. Winslow's best works; in none of them is there a greater freshness for the strong current of evangelical sentiment. It is a tree of which the fruit is alike excellent and abundant; it will comfort and strengthen generations yet unborn, for it is a book that will live.

Life of Francis Xavier. By H. VENN, B.D. London: Longman and Co.

XAVIER was one of the most extraordinary men of his time, or of any time. His talents wers great, and his zeal apostolic. This history of his life is a history of marvels. Although himself a Jesuit, his life and labours may be read by Protestants with no small advantage. Much will be found adapted to rebuke, and much to encourage. He had in him the elements of the greatest missionary that has lived since the time of Paul; all he wanted was the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. We greatly like the book, and rejoice in its appearance.

Our Companions in Glory; or, the Society in Heaven Contemplated. London: Hamilton and Co.

THIS is strong meat for men, much fitted to make the weak strong, and the strong stronger. It is a book of thought, from the very nature of the case; it is the fruit of reflection on a few points of revelation which bear upon the subject; but, although necessarily of a highly speculative character, it wants not for substance as well as theory.

The Teacher's Pocket-Book and Diary for 1863. Sunday School Union.

HERE is another of those invaluable pocketbooks supplied to the teachers of the Sunday school. It is, of course, an exact transcript of its predecessors, supplying no room for censure, and demanding no praise; forasmuch as the praise of the series extends through all the land. The usual address to teachers is a good and business-like thing, explaining the object of the publication, and which is therefore adapted to the use of young teachers. The "All in All" for every Day. By the Rev. D. MARTIN. W. J. Johnson. MR. MARTIN is the Congregational minister in Oxford, and most worthily is he representing the body. The Rev. Dr. Spence, the Rev. James Hill, and several others previously, decided men of mark, all found it a most discouraging situation. They seemed to plough on a rock. There was much toil and little for it. It was reserved for Mr. Martin, a very modest, unpretending man, to do what had not been done before. He may be said, speaking figuratively, to have sunk an Artesian well, from which the waters are flowing abundantly. His acceptance is very remarkable, and the good he is doing is unquestionably very great.

The

Not only is the attendance most cheering in his own church edifice, but also in the great hall, from one Sabbath afternoon to another, very large and attentive congregations assemble to hear the word of life. The present volume is an excellent vade mecum. texts are well chosen, the matter severely condensed, and the expression terse, yet clear. Boughton Grange; and some Passages in the History of its Owner. Religious Tract Society.

THE Tract Society, we observe, is in the humour of indulging more and more in fictitious narratives. Proceeding from their house, of course, the doctrine is sound, the spirit pure, and the publication everyway safe. If anything could reconcile us to fiction, it would be the spirit which characterises such volumes as the present. Upon the whole, we are inclined to think that, up to a given point, fiction is allowable, since it may be rendered the vehicle of most precious matter, which, in its naked, abstract, dogmatic form, might be rejected.

Notes on the Scripture Lessons. Sunday School Union.

THE best book of the year on divinity is the "Notes on Scripture Lessons." They obtain no praise, and they realize but little pelf; but we vouch for it, one such volume as that before us is of more worth than all the popular trash with which the shelves of the circulating libraries are loaded. Yea, one such book as this is of more value than much which has emanated from celebrated pens. There is more worth in it than in a ship-load of the stupid and pernicious effusions of Bishop Colenso.

Morning: a Book for Mothers and Children. Hamilton and Co.

66

THIS is a little book of life, which little people will not fail to praise. "My Winter Babe," "Home in the Alps," "A Rainy Day," "L Christmas," The Thing with one Life," Otsego Lake," "The Body and the Soul," are among the subjects discussed with great simplicity of language and directness of thought. The style is precisely such as is fitted to a book of this description.

The Child's Own Magazine for 1862. Sunday School Union.

INTENDED for children and adapted to children. Of its class, we cannot name a better companion for the child.

Ralph Saunders; or the School Boy's Friends. Book Society.

THIS is another of those beautiful books which are being issued by the Book Society.

It is finely printed, beautifully illustrated, and, altogether, a very workmanlike performance. For boys we cannot name a more interesting and captivating book. We should be glad to hear that twenty or thirty thousand copies were distributed as New Year's Gifts. The perusal of the work is well-fitted to awaken the youthful mind, and to foster a love of reading, which is so important in education.

Memoir of the Life and Gospel Labours of Stephen Grellet. Edited by BENJAMIN SEEBOHM. Third Edition. Bennett.

MR. GRELLET was a member of the Society of Friends, and ran a long course of useful service. Few men of his time travelled more, or laboured more for the good of his fellowcreatures.

The Closer Walk; or, the Believer's Sanctification. By HENRY DARLING, D.D. Hamilton, Adams, & Co.

THE theme of this volume is the same as that of the once celebrated work of Scudder, prefaced by some of the best men of the time. The present volume, however, constitutes only about a sixth part of the great Puritan's publication, and, in point of matter and style, it is much more adapted to the day which is passing over us. Sanctification is here exhibited in divers scriptural lights. The connexion between holiness and usefulness is clearly pointed out, and earnestly enforced. The question of assurance is likewise discussed, but with brevity. The little volume is altogether a good thing.

The Sunday School Teacher's Class Register. Sunday School Union.

WHILE this pretty volume is exceedingly well adapted to its direct and avowed purpose, it might be a very useful note-book, even to those who do not sustain the honourable office of the Sunday-school teacher.

Glimpses of our Heavenly Home. By the Rev.

EDWIN DAVIES. Alexander Heylin. MR. DAVIES is one of our successful write s. The present volume is already in the fourth edition, which speaks well alike for its merits, and for the taste of the Christian church. It is correctly written, pervaded by a pathos, which has deservedly commanded popularity. The Night Watches and other Poems. By

ALFRED EWIN FLETCHER. Ward & Co. THIS publication, which is of very limited magnitude, yet comprises some variety: "The Voyage of Life," "The Savage," "The Despairing Lover," "The Sea Shore," "The Wrecked Sailor Boy," "Steam," and some other pieces constitute the minor portions.

"The Night Watches" is the principal piece, comprising three parts, well written and marked by a devout spirit.

The Baptist Hand-book for 1863. Heaton and Son.

THIS is the best publication of the kind that has yet been issued by the Baptist body; although it can hardly be said to be more than a very distant approach to the incomparable "Year Book" of the Independents. It is, however, an important step in that direction, and is, altogether, a valuable publication. If justice be done it, it will have a place in every family of the Baptist body, and it may add to the knowledge of the Independents, and promote the spirit of brotherhood, if it shall be extensively circulated among them.

Letters of William Cowper, Tract Society. HAPPENING to possess, we believe, all the letters of Cowper that have yet been published, we are in a position to pronounce on the value of the volume before us. Let it suffice, then, to say, that they are matchless. We have had many fine epistolary writers, but not one to be compared with Cowper. He has been celebrated by our best penmen as a model. Even Southey himself proclaims Cowper one of the best of English letter-writers. Lord Jeffrey, the renowned editor of the Edinburgh Review, views them as incomparable and another writer, whose praise is famed, the late Robert Hall, declares, "That he considered the letters of Cowper as the finest specimens of the epistolary style in our language." With all this, it were an impertinence to say one word on the merits of the volume. We are shut up to a simple recommendation of it as a book that deserves to be circulated by the million.

Look and Live. By the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D. John F. Shaw & Co.

DR. CUMMING has added another and very valuable book to the library which bears his respected name. As the soul of his preaching is overflowing evangelism; so with his books. In this consists their power upon the public mind, and a mighty hold they have taken on the heart of the churches. He stands alone, and above all his fellows, whether Churchmen or Dissenters, on either side of the Tweed, as at once the most popular preacher, and most popular author. He has supplied an irresistible demonstration, that oddity, whimsicality, heresy, and nonsense, are not necessary to popularity. In either walk," the Gospel first, the Gospel midst, and the Gospel without end," is his motto, and hence the enduring character of his popularity. Short-sighted and narrow-perhaps, in some cases, it would

be no breach of charity to say malignantmen have complained of his fame, and foretold its decay. Time, however, has failed to ratify their ill-omened augury, for never was that hold of Dr. Cumming, as a speaker or writer, greater than at the present hour; and we ascribe its continuity to the golden matter with which his pages teem. Usefulness is the star by which he steers his way. Earnestly seeking it, he has largely found it. The world does not admire him, buy his works, and hang upon his lips for nothing; they have ample compensation for time and property. The present volume has no novelty about it; it exhibits simply old, but not hackneyed themes, in new forms and combinations, pervaded by a living power which carries everything before it. From the first page to the last, we have the Gospel, and nothing but the Gospel, presented with the author's characteristic ease, elegance, eloquence, and force. It presents much less, however, than his usual profusion of fact and anecdote from history, biography, philosophy, and science, and the whole range of human knowledge. It is a pure, simple exhibition of evangelism. The volume admirably sustains its striking title. We do not say we recommend it, for it requires no recommendation at our hands.

Madagascar: its Mission and its Martyrs. John Snow.

The

THE appearance of the present volume is most seasonable. All eyes throughout the Protestant church are directed to that interesting island. Christianity there has already a history, and a martyrology of no common character. The present volume will form an excellent introduction to the general question, and serve to familiarise both the young and the old with the alternately delightful and tragical facts of the narrative. Every page is fraught with the deepest interest. illustrations, too, are striking and excellent, and will greatly add to the value of the book. The portraits of the King and Queen are worth the whole of the money. Their costume and air show what Christianity and civilization have already done for them. Nothing is wanted but white faces to render them worthy of an English Court. We commend this most charming volume to all our readers. Pastoral Recollections and Sketches. By the

Author of the "Evangelical Rambler." Hamilton and Co.

THE author of the "Evangelical Rambler” is well known to fame, and he required no man, whether south or north, presbyter or prelate, to introduce him to the British public. Among the many striking things is a chapter on the

Sunny Scenes: or Recollections of Continental Rambles among Men and Mountains. Book Society.

In this dark and dismal season, the very word "sunshine" serves to gladden the heart. The present volume consists of recollections which appeared in separate essays in a monthly publication. Things thus produced are generally elaborated, and, when gathered into a volume, it almost always possesses a superior value. The sections or chapters of the work are those which speak of realizing, wondering, moralising, learning, climbing, and longing for home. From these topics it will be correctly inferred, that the volume is one of nature and one of life. It abounds with description calculated to seize upon the fancy, and is slightly interspersed with beautiful illustrations. It is quite a volume for young people, and cannot fail of popularity.

Self: Its Dangers, Doubts, and Duties. By the Rev. ROBERT MAGUIRE. John F. Shaw and Co.

THE rev. author of this pretty volume has performed an excellent service to genuine, spiritual, practical religion. The topics of "self-deception," "self-righteousness," "selfexamination," "self-suspicion," "self-love," and "self-denial," are well worked out. Everything is concise, terse, and pointed. The doctrine is thoroughly evangelical, and the strain of the whole is eminently edifying. Mr. Maguire is a very efficient clergyman, and, if this be taken as a sample of his teaching, the reason is easily explained. We have no doubt it is the substance of some half-dozen discourses, and the preacher has done well in becoming an author, since the press will powerfully sustain the pulpit; and when he has finished his labours, this volume will

remain to tell the tale of his eminent ministration.

Laurie's Entertaining Library. Longman and Co.

THIS library consists of tales and stories which young persons will prize and admire. It will furnish abundant labour for sixteen winter evenings, for that is the number of the essays.

Prayer and the Divine Order. By THOMAS HUGHES. Hamilton, Adams, and Co. MR. HUGHES has already a name well known in the republic of Christian literature. He presents the rare example of not beginning to write till he had completed the work of thinking, and the result is a closeness, a compactness, a force, and an efficiency in his writing, such as falls to the lot of very few. He has already won his spurs in arduous fields. "The Great Barrier," "Mental Furniture," and his minor publications, are all admirable, but the present volume will take rank, far higher than any of them. While its theme is most exalted, it has been very zealously elaborated. We have not, for a long time, met with a more masterly development of the subject here set forth, or of any subject. The book overflows with thought. It will be a feast to thinking men, and it will induce the frivolous to seek for a united heart, that they may deal rationally with great subjects.

The Garden Oracle, and Floricultural YearBook. By SHIRLEY HIBBERD, F.R.H S. Groombridge and Sons.

THIS is a very interesting species of almanack, a book at once for ladies and for gentlemen, especially for the lovers of flowers and of beauty. Of its class it is the best publication we have met with, and it can scarcely fail to keep its high place in the library of the garden.

A Chat with the Boys on New Year's Eve. By OLD MERRY. Jackson, Walford, and Hodder.

MERRIMENT and old age are conjunctions of very rare occurrence. Johnson, in one of his meditative moods, remarks that young people are intent on pleasure, whilst old people are satisfied to be free from pain. Mirth and joviality become the teens, but men who have beheld twenty summers' suns, have seen and suffered sufficient to ballast them. When joy visits their weary hearts it is welcomed, but its voice is always subdued, and its tones are tender. There are, nevertheless, cases in which old age and merriment are united, and this remarkably interesting volume presents an illustration. It is beautifully written, and

is obviously the product of a man of a kindly spirit: happy himself, he is intent on diffusing happiness around him, and he succeeds. The book is, throughout, one of life and nature. Old Merry enters completely into the feelings of boyhood and youth; he sees with their eyes, hears with their ears, and he writes as they would write if they had his experience and sagacity. The author has written so well, that we hope he will write again, and we are quite satisfied the young folks will join in the desire.

The London Quarterly Review.

WE always receive this work with special pleasure, never failing to find in it rich displays of excellent matter, set forth in a workmanlike manner. The present number, if somewhat dry, is erudite, elaborate, and it

presents considerable variety. The opening article deals with Dr. Davidson on the Old Testament, most ably expounding the unscriptural and dangerous character of his principles. We cannot desire a better antidote than is here furnished; and, in reading the article, we find reason at every turn to rejoice in the fact of his resignation of the chair he occupied in Lancashire College. Several of the articles deal with passing subjects, such as "Ten Years of Imperialism in France," "The British Association," and "The Hand-Books of the International Exhibition." "The Mission and Extension of the Church at Home" is a serious and very able, and, we may add, very seasonable controversial essay, which both Churchmen and Dissenters may read with advantage.

THE utility of colonisation, to a community circumstanced like that of England, is pretty generally admitted. It is generally considered to be the result of two main causes. First, and most important, the superior productiveness of capital and labour when applied to a new soil; secondly, the relief which emigration affords to the pressure of population on subsistence. It is of course perfectly true, in the abstract, that under a system of free trade, a country would gain as much by directing her capital and her emigrants to a new soil under foreign dominion as under her own. But as, in the present state of the world, England is the only colonising country of Europe, this truth becomes of little practical importance. How far the retaining a colony under the dominion of the mother country contributes, first, to the facility of investing capital there; secondly, to the facility of locating emigrants there, is quite another question. Put in a scientific shape, the question of the "economical advantage of colonies" might stand as follows:-How far is the profitable application of the accumulated knowledge, capital, and labour of an old country, to the production of wealth in a new country, aided by the circumstance that both are under the same government? A question not so easily answered as is sometimes supposed, but of which the solution belongs to the politician, not the economist. viously, under a system of free trade, it would be immaterial how soon a colony shook off the dominion of the mother-country (or rather the mother-country would gain through a reduction of expenditure), if the emancipated colony remained equally prosperous equally friendly. But if it did not, if its advance was checked by internal insecurity;

Ob

and

if it became actuated by feelings of hostility; if it fell under the dominion of, or into connexion with, foreign states; if it adopted hostile tariffs, or opposed the admission of our emigrants; then we should find that the loss of the colony was the loss of an economical advantage. And then we might perchance discover that "ships, colonies, and commerce are a little more nearly connected than it is now the fashion in some quarters to suppose them. The greater branch of this subject, that, namely, which relates to the increase of wealth in new countries, and how far this may depend on political connexion, I intend to leave for the present untouched, and to confine myself to the minor but still very important inquiry, how far the advantage which we derive from emigration as an outlet for our people might be affected by any political change involving the loss of colonial empire? 1. The beneficial effect of regular, sustained, and copious emigration on the social condition of the country from whence the emigrants proceed is scarcely, in my belief, appreciated as it should be by political thinkers. It is our habit rather to look on emigration as beneficial to the emigrants only; or to the mothercountry but indirectly, through increase of trade. But although this may be the more important side of the question, as it is clearly the most attractive, the other also merits very earnest attention. It is necessary that we should estimate at its right value the good we have hitherto enjoyed from unlimited facility of emigration, and the danger we now run of having that advantage very seriously curtailed. It is necessary to fix our eyes at the outset on the old Malthusian doctrine, which has been a little out of sight of late years, owing to the prosperity which has recently