8. The Death of Mr. Webster: a Sermon preached in Hollis-Street Meeting-House, on Sunday, Oct. 31, 1852. By Thomas Starr King, Pastor of the Church. Boston: Benjamin H. Greene, &c., 1852.

9. The Death of Daniel Webster: a Sermon, delivered in the Warren Street Church, Sunday, November 14, 1852. By Otis A. Skinner. Boston: Published by A. Tompkins, &c., 1852.

Perhaps it is hardly time, as yet, to look for such a portraiture as shall abide the test to which the character of Mr. Webster will be subjected by the more mature and undisturbed judgement of coming generations. The present is rather the time for eulogy, on the one hand, and for criticism that seeks to disparage, on the other. We have long admired him as the first among American orators of his day, and, in some respects, the most eloquent probably of all his contemporaries in the world. When thoroughly roused, he brought to bear, upon his arguments and appeals, a calm gigantic force, a magnificent yet chastened imagination, a natural pathos, and a profound moral sentiment, such as few if any others could combine. No man better knew the straight-forward way to the human conscience, or was naturally endowed with a truer sympathy with human nature in all its more earnest moods. His commanding stature, with his lion port, his beetling forehead, and his imperial eyes burning black with insufferable light from their caverns beneath a Jove-like brow, gave additional effect to his address, and imparted what Goethe calls the demoniac power to thoughts which, even on the printed page, often stir the depths of the soul. God gave him a great heart, and a great moral nature, as well as a capacious intellect, and fitted him with a personal appearance that reflected the whole. The Genius, which he once impersonated in Faneuil Hall, was, bating its guilty obscuration, his own: "What though the field be lost? all is not lost!"

Was he equally preeminent as a Statesman? Within the circle to which he chiefly applied his powers, none went before him; but whether that circle was the broadest which the science of Government and of National destiny admits of, may be doubted. He was great compared with mere politicians; did he rank with the men of the old English Commonwealth, or the sages of the American Revolution? Even in his favorite character of Expounder of our Federal Constitution, we have an impression that he sometimes expounded it as a Lawyer rather than as a Philosopher, and that he did not always hold fast to its principles as they were embodied by its framers, and as they are illustrated by the nature of its institutions. That he was a sincere patriot, cannot, we think, be reasonably questioned. He gloried in his country's greatness, and exulted in its prospects for the future, as if they were a personal inheritance of his own. He will be remembered with honor for important services which he has rendered our nation, in settling its Profit and Loss account with

was

Foreign Powers, and in advancing its material interests at home. There were circumstances in his position, however, which evidently held him back, at times, from the call of far higher interests, and which, on one occasion, ever to be lamented, warped him from the orbit that he had previously marked out for himself. It would be the greatest praise of his public life, that he "instant in season, out of season," to defend the Union of these States, were it not that he attempted to do so, at least on that fatal occasion, by compromises, which will be found eventually to endanger it more than did the clamor that he sought to allay. After all, though we may live to see Statesmen of loftier moral principle, it is not likely that we shall ever again behold a genius so colossal, and so richly endowed by nature with command over the understanding and hearts of men, as Daniel Webster.

10. Parisian Sights and French Principles, seen through American Spectacles, &c. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c., 1852. 12mo. pp. 264.

A book that fully answers to every word in its title. It is such a view of Paris, and of Parisian life, of French character, manners, and sentiments, as a light-hearted, but sensible open-eyed American would naturally take. The author has a peculiar tact at bringing out the significant features, and setting them before us in such a way as to form a complete portrait. After reading his sketches, we seem to be almost as well acquainted with the state of society, and with the prevailing elements that are at work in it, as if we had lived among the people. We recollect no work that has given us so clear an insight into the matter. By the light it affords, we can read off, into the plain language of cause and effect, the riddle of French Revolutions, and of French theories of life and society. The history of France, for the last sixty years, becomes intelligible, and, within certain limits, the course it will hold for many years in the future, seems to be stretched out before us. It is a lesson which the nations of the earth may study with profit.

11. Memoir of Rev. H. B. Soule. By Caroline A. Soule. New York: Henry Lyon. 333 Broadway, 1852.

When the late Dr. Arnold was inquired of by students as to the best course of reading, he would often reply, "Read the biography of good men." This book reminds us of his advice. It is one of the books of biography giving significance to the Scripture saying, that "the day of one's death" may be "better than that of his birth." It is the truthful and impressive speaking of the departed, in a character and life such as must lead many a mind toward the loveliness of our faith. The subject of the Memoir was one of our most talented and respectable ministers, who has been called from us in early life, and in the midst of his usefulness. He was born in

Dover, Duchess County, N. Y., in July, 1815. His early homeinfluences were favorable to his religious culture; but his opportunities for mental education none of the best, until, after a life of considerable vicissitude, he became a student at Clinton Liberal Institute, in 1835, and for some time a resident in the family of Rev. Stephen R. Smith. He was very diligent and successful in his studies at Clinton. He concluded to enter the ministry of Reconciliation, which he did, receiving his letter of fellowship in 1838. He was first settled at Fort Plain, N. Y., where he remained until November, 1841, when he removed to Troy; and the next year became preceptor of the Clinton Liberal Institute. He afterwards removed to Utica, and then to Boston, where, in 1844, he was settled in the School Street Church as colleague with Father Ballou. In 1845 he removed to Gloucester; and the next year to Hartford, Ct.; and, in 1851, to Granby. At the beginning of the next year, he had entered upon an engagement with the Universalist Society in Lyons, N. Y., when he suddenly died in that place, of an attack of small pox, leaving a wife and five young children. The Memoir was prepared by the surviving partner, herself a writer of much vigor, and refinement of taste; and well has she performed the heavy task she took in hand. While the record must be affectionate, it is dignified and just, in every way; pervaded, too, with a faith that appears in cheering contrast with the affliction under which the biography was penned.

Mr. Soule possessed a strong, logical and orderly mind. He was a hard student, and thoroughness was one of his mental virtues. As a sermonizer, he was clear, comprehensive, instructive. He carefully prepared his discourses, and usually committed them to memory; habituating himself to speak without his manuscript. He had much force, when he threw his soul into a subject. He possessed a rich imagination, too, and made himself a very acceptable writer of fiction, excellent specimens of which have appeared in some of our denomi national journals. He was a man of deep devotional feeling, and desire for Christian growth and self-discipline. From his full private Journal, we find extracts of a character like this, evincing the inner soul of the man: "I would live free from sin; I would be an active example of the strictest virtue. The good man is the noblest being in the world, and to do good the noblest employment. God help me to be faithful to every duty and right." In every department of ministerial labor where he was called to act, he honored his profession. Interwoven with the Memoir are excellent tributes to his memory, from several of his ministering brethren. Preceding it is a letter from the pen of Rev. E. H. Chapin, to the widow, in which he says of her departed husband, "For myself, I need not tell you that I knew him well, and that our toil in a common ministry was cheered by the most friendly intercourse. I will not attempt any personal

analysis, yet I would say, that next to his sterling character, his moral faithfulness, I honored Brother Soule for his sound and cultivated mind, his sympathy with good learning, especially in its relation to the office of the preacher, and the character which he imparted to the denominational pulpit by his own illustration. He brought a well-furnished and disciplined intellect to aid a heart earnest in its Master's cause."

Appended to the Memoir, are selections from the writings of Mr. Soule. Among them-and they are all strongly marked the following give striking evidence of the author's ability, viz:-An address at the erection of the Monument to the Memory of Rev. W. H. Griswold; The Infidel-A Sketch; Punishment of Murderous Suicides; Universalism as a Religion; The Divine Superintendence; Impossibility of Endless Punishment; The Religion of the Bible; The Infidelity of Life; The Moral Tendency of Universalism. The profits arising from the sale of the book, are all to be appropriated to the benefit of the widow and children.

J. G. A.

12. The Rose of Sharon: A Religious Souvenir for 1853. Edited by Mrs. C. M. Sawyer. Boston: A. Tompkins.

This Annual is as creditable to the publisher, and, we doubt not, will be as acceptable to the public, as the past ones have been. We believe we are safe in saying that it is one of the most popular Annuals now issued from the New England press. Its chief recommendation is not in its plates, although these are very great attractions in it. But it has a high literary tone, and is what it purports to be, a religious annual. Its moral instructions are all safe and sound. No lover of Christian truth can consult its pages without interest; and whoever admits it to the parlor or library, will have a companion whose silent utterances will be health and purity to the soul. Among Christmas and New Year's gifts, this should have a place. A long life and many bloomings to this Rose.

J. G. A.

13. The Lily of the Valley, for 1853. Edited by Miss Elizabeth Doten. Boston: J. M. Usher.

This is the third of the Annuals bearing the above title, which has been issued. The one we now notice, bears the names of such authors as warrant us good entertainment in the articles it contains. These, like the contents of the Rose, are all original, and, we think, will compare well with those of any other annual in the land. Some of them have rare literary merit. We cannot say much for the plates, as they do not come up to our ideal of annual plates, accompanying such literary recommendations as this volume contains. The Lily has a new editor, who has already done herself honor with the pen.

J. G. A.

14. Footsteps of our Fathers: What they Suffered and what they Sought. Describing localities, and portraying personages and events conspicuous in the struggles for Religious liberty. By James G. Miall. Thirty-six illustrations by Anelay, from sketches by the Author, engraved by Dickes, London. Boston: Gould & Lincoln, &c., 1852. 12mo. pp. 352.

A view of the successive persecutions and sufferings inflicted, in England, upon the early Protestants, and then, by these, upon the Dissenters,-(the cruelties practised in turn upon the Catholics being omitted,)-the whole presented so as to show the gradual suppression of intolerance, and growth of religious liberty, in that country. The author treats his subject in a peculiar manner, and with peculiar interest to the general reader. He leads us through the several scenes that he mentions, bringing the localities themselves into view by his descriptions and illustrations, making us familiar with the principal personages of his story, and connecting each transaction with the more general history of the times. His aim is to show us, literally as well as tropically, the "footsteps" of the sufferers, and to conduct us, as visitors, to the old sites, listening to the tale of oppression and cruelty, on the spot. Some idea of the substance of his book may be derived from the following skeleton: He gives us Lutterworth and Wiclif; Hampton Court, and its bloody acts, under the successive sovereigns from Henry VIII. to James I., against the seceders from Popery, and others, and finally against the Puritans; the Star-Chamber, and its persecuting decrees against Hampden and his associates, under Charles I.; Westminster Assembly of Divines, its proceedings and intolerance, under Cromwell; Baxter and the contemporary worthies, under Charles II.; George Fox and the Quakers, under the Protector and Charles II.; Sufferings of the Scotch Presbyterians, under Charles II.; Bunyan and the Baptists, Under Charles II. and James II.; Rigorous intolerance of the High Church, under Anne; Doddridge and the non-conformists.

15. The School for Fathers: An old English Story. By T. Gwynne, &c. New York: Harper & Brothers, &c., 1852. 12mo. pp. 205.

The attempt is made, in this story, to present the different manners of English Town gentlemen and Country squires, in the eighteenth century. Of the truthfulness of the pictures, in this respect, we are not qualified to judge. In other respects, we see no extraordinary excellence in the work.

16. Village Life in Egypt: with Sketches of the Said. By Bayle St. John, author of "Two Years' Residence in a Levantine Family," "Adventures in the Libyan Desert," "Views in the Oasis of Siwah," &c. In two volumes. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1853. pp. 216 and 218.

This is one of the most entertaining works that has fallen in our way for a long time. The description of the Nile country and its