principal charms of the original work is the exhibition that it gives of a beautiful home life in a Christian family. The aim of Mrs. Tuthill, in her selections, has been to give to American readers the history of this home life; and to show, by the example of the Christian German wife and mother, how much may be accomplished by a woman of sense, of intelligence, of warm affections, and earnest piety, within the sphere of her own family. For the majority of readers, we think this book will be full as interesting and satisfactory as the large original English edition. We hope it may find a prominent place among the books for home reading, this winter, in thousands of Christian families.

SMILES'S BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES.*-The author of these "brief biographies" is already very favorably known to the American public by his "Life of George Stephenson," and by his "Self-Help." At the request of Messrs. Ticknor & Fields, of Boston, he has made a collection of his publications in various British periodicals, and we have them now in this handsome volume, illustrated with six fine steel portraits. We were at first somewhat misled by the title, "Brief Biographies." The sketches are short, but they are by no means a barren recital of mere facts and dates. They are sufficiently extended to embody the results of much careful study of individual character; and it is not often that such an amount of valuable and readable literary criticism is found within so small a compass. The biographies are of men whose names are all now prominent before the public, as the list which we take from the "Table of Contents" will abundantly show. It is as follows:

"James Watt, Robert Stephenson, Dr. Arnold, Hugh Miller, Richard Cobden, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Francis Jeffrey, Ebenezer Elliott, George Borrow, John James Audubon, William MacGillivray, Lord John Russell, Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Carlyle, John Sterling, Leigh Hunt, Hartley Coleridge, Dr. Kitto, Edgar Allan Poe, Theodore Hooke, Dr. Andrew Combe, Robert Browning, Edwin Chadwick, Robert Nicoll, Samuel Bamford, John Clare, Gerald Massey, Elisabeth Barrett Browning, Frances Brown, Sarah Margaret Fuller, Sarah Martin, Harriet Martineau, Mrs. Chisholm."

MEMOIR OF DODDRIDGE.t-The American Tract Society of New

*Brief Biographies. By SAMUEL SMILES. With Steel Portraits. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1860. 12mo. pp. 517. Price $1.25. [T. H. Pease, New Haven.]

Memoir of the Life, Character, and Writings of Philip Doddridge, D. D. With a selection from his Correspondence. Compiled by Rev. JAMES R. BOYD, A. M., “Editor of English Poets, with Notes, &c." New York: American Tract Society. 1860. 12mo. pp. 480.

York has published, in a form fitted for general distribution, a new memoir of Philip Doddridge, which has been compiled by Rev. James R. Boyd, the editor of "The English Poets, with Notes." There is no nobler name among the English divines of the eighteenth century,none more widely known in this country,-than that of Doddridge. There are few villages in the United States where his "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," has not found its way, and done good service. It would be well if this memoir could be carried to every house where the other has gone. Rarely has there been exhibited in any man a more beautiful Christian life than that of which we have here the story. In public life and in private life, at home and abroad, as a son, as a husband, as a father, as a theological instructor, as an author, everywhere and under all circumstances, he displays those qualities of mind and heart which irresistibly attract admiration and love. Doddridge was a true Christian gentleman, and his example is eminently worthy of being studied by all classes of Christians.

We must not neglect to refer also to the extracts that are given from his letters. They are remarkable for the vivacity and even playfulness of their style; and the grace with which they are expressed makes them models of epistolary correspondence.

MARY BUNYAN.*-This "Tale of Religious Persecution" is deeply interesting, not only for its subject, but also as a work of more than ordinary literary merit. The authoress has given us a picture of Bunyan's times, and of the spirit of that persecuting age, such as cannot fail to enlist the sympathy of every reader for the hard lot of the gifted Dreamer and his blind daughter, and leave a deep impression on the mind, that no blessing enjoyed by Protestant Christendom is more to be prized than the boon of religious liberty. The narrative is, in the main, true to history, and many of the scenes are brought before us with almost the vividness of present reality. Whoever reads this volume ought to rise from its perusal, more tolerant in spirit, and altogether "a wiser and a better man."

*Mary Bunyan, the Dreamer's Blind Daughter. A Tale of Religious Persecu tion. By SALLIE ROCHESTER FORD, Author of "Grace Truman." New York: Sheldon & Company. 1860. 12mo.

At the time of

KENDRICK'S LIFE OF MRS. EMILY C. JUDSON.*-In the history of modern missionary operations no name is better known or more respected than that of ADONIRAM JUDSON. The fact that he was a pioneer in the work of missions, together with the indomitable perseverance, the cheerfulness and enthusiasm with which he labored on to the last, the almost romantic incidents of his early, and, we may say, of his later career in Burmah, and the results he accomplished,-all make him one of the remarkable men of his age. Not the least interesting fact in his life is his three successive marriages with the gifted women whose names are so familiar in our churches. The memoirs of Ann Hasseltine and Sarah Boardman have been long before the public; and now the memoir of the third Mrs. Judson has just appeared. Our basty reading has already shown us that she was in every respect a worthy successor of those heroic and sainted women. her marriage she was widely known, under the nom de plume of Fanny Forrester, as one of the most sprightly and popular of the magazine writers of the day. It was feared that when the romance of the missionary work should wear off, this "sensitive and excitable child of genius," as she was called, would sink under the privations and stern monotony of her new life. It was, perhaps, natural for those who knew nothing of her early history, to indulge such apprehensions; but they were expressed in such a public way that they were exceedingly annoying to her and to her friends. Never were fears more groundless! To us who have now before us the affecting story of her successful struggles with poverty, in childhood and youth, it is plain that her marriage was no mere matter of romance-that she knew well what she was undertaking, and that she had acquired those lessons of self-reliance which fitted her admirably for her work. As for her cheerful and enthusiastic spirit, it made her the better missionary, as is evident from the following quotation, which we make from one of her letters, written after she had been long in Burmab:

"I believe the work which goes on merrily, and without groaning, is quite as acceptable to God as the other. The bearer of good tidings should not carry a face to spoil his news-a fact of which the natives seem quite aware. However, sadness is good, and rejoicings are good; and whether we have a weeping gift or a merry gift, let us strive to use it, as we are commanded to use eating and drinking, to the glory of God.' Possibly my doctrine may not be considered orthodox, but it is that of the New Testament." p. 303.

*The Life and Letters of Mrs. Emily C. Judson. By A. C. KENDRICK, Professor of Greek Literature in the University of Rochester. New York: Sheldon & Co. 1860. 12mo. pp. 426.

As our notice of this book must be far more brief than we could wish, we will say, in a word, that it is not surpassed in interest by the memoir of any missionary we have ever read. It is made up, for the most part, of Mrs. Judson's letters to her friends, and there is a sprightliness, a freshness, and a naturalness about them, which are really charming. We hope the book will have a wide circulation.

As showing the spirit with which Mrs. Judson labored, we make some additional quotations. The following is from her Journal, very soon after she landed in Burmah:

"This taking care of teething babies, and teaching darkies to darn stockings, and talking English back end foremost to tee-to tum John, in order to get an eatable dinner, is really very odd sort of business for Fanny Forrester. . . . When I get settled I hope to put in a mixture of higher and better things, too. But the person who would do great things well, must practice daily on little ones; and she who would have the assistance of the Almighty in important acts, must be daily and hourly accustomed to consult his will in the minor affairs of life.” P. 247.

The following is from a letter about the same time:

"And then, while I lay no claim to much missionary spirit, it is a comfort to pick the poor wretches out of the mire and filth, and give them the hope of a crown in heaven. There is a 'romance' in that, which makes me deem a residence in a Maulmain barn, or a Rangoon prison, preferable to the most splendid American mansion or European palace."

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Now for evidence of the way she sustained her enthusiasm. We quote from a letter written after she had tried the horrors of a "Maulmain barn," and a Rangoon prison;" after she knew what it was to be "hungry for want of palatable food;" to be "ill and have no comforts or physician," and to be "surrounded by the spies of a jealous and unscrupulous government, without an earthly friend to assist:"

"My first real missionary trial-(you would believe me could you hear me speak the words, though it may sound commonplace on paper)—was when, amidst sufferings such as I have described, a letter came telling of retrenchments. Schools, with the life already nearly pressed out of them, must be cramped still more; assistants must be cut off; the workmen's hands must be tied still tighter; and then, if they could suceed in making bricks without straw, the churches at home were ready to rejoice in their success."

And again, after the detail of hardships at Rangoon, which seem almost unendurable, she writes:

"Now do you think I am in any way discontented, and would go back to America to live in a palace? Not I. I am ten times happier than I could be there." p. 277.

Well would it be for the cause of missions if there was more of such " "romance as is here exhibited.

But much as we are pleased with the memoir, there is one exception we must make. We refer to the insertion, in the chapter which bears the title of "The Betrothal," of the letters which passed between Dr. Judson and Miss Chubbuck, at the time of their "engagement." We hold that those letters ought never to have found a place in the book. The public had no right to see them. The fact that they are so creditable to the parties interested, is, to us, no excuse at all. If anything should be sacred, it is the correspondence of a young lady with the man to whom she expects to be united in marriage.

HISTORY.

BANCROFT'S HISTORY OF THE UUITED STATES.*-The eighth volume of Mr. Bancroft's great national work is now before the public. It will undoubtedly prove to be more popular, and be more generally read, than any of the preceding volumes of the series. The historian now enters upon that portion of his labors which appeals most directly to the national pride. He is obliged, in a measure, to drop the character of the philosopher, and to take up that of the chronicler of events that are comparatively recent and fresh in the minds of all. Yet while this is done, we have reason in every chapter to admire the comprehensiveness of his views, and the extent of his researches, as we see how clearly he traces the influences of all events, at home and abroad, and shows us their bearing upon the great drama of the Revolution.

The preceding volume closed with the story of Bunker's Hill. The history is now carried down to the period of the Declaration of Independence. There are many brilliant chapters, with the stirring and exciting details of military operations. We have, of course, the history of the siege and deliverance of Boston; the capture of Montreal; the long and painful march to Quebec; the sad story of the death of Montgomery; and the battle of Fort Moultrie. But the main subject of interest is the evidence-most abundant and conclusive-how tardily, and with what extreme reluctance, the colonists came, at last, to the resolution to declare themselves free and independent. It is the

*The History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent. By GEORGE BANCROFT. Vol. VIII. The American Revolution. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1860. 8vo. pp. 475. Price $2.25. [T. H. Pease, New Haven.]