a law to others. As regards the matter in hand, Dr. Townley is as whimsical and as crotchety as Sir Thomas; but he differs widely from Sir Thomas, in that he insists on his whims and crotchets being taken as law and Gospel by others.

The New American Cyclopadia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Edited by GEORGE RIPLEY and CHARLES A. DANA. Volume I. A-Araguay. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1858.

This is a volume of 770 pages, royal octavo, double column, the type being . of about the same size as that of the present notice. The paper, the printing, and all that relates to typographical execution, are exceedingly handsome and appropriate, such as the reading public would naturally expect from the enter. prise, the good taste, and large policy of the distinguished publishing-house whose name the work bears. In respect of proof-reading, too, which is by no means an inconsiderable item in a work of the kind, we everywhere find marks of intelligent care, and of the utmost exactness. In all our reading thus far, we have detected but one letter amiss, and in that case the error is such as readily to correct itself. The volume, as may be seen from our transcript of the title-page, carries us nearly through the first letter of the alphabet; and it embraces not far from 2,460 distinct articles; the articles varying, in length, from a few lines to a considerable number of pages.

Of course we have not read the volume all through; for, besides that the work is not of a kind to be so read, we have not found, nor for the present can we find, the time for such a task. This puts us under some disadvantage in attempting to express, or even to form, an opinion of the work. For it is nowise our custom to notice books without reading them; this is an art we have not learned, and are quite innocent of: on the contrary, our way is, (and it is no more than right that our readers should know the fact, if indeed they have not inferred it from our manner,) to read books, and read them thoroughly, before undertaking to write about them. We are far from standing on this as a merit; for the simple truth is, our wits are so slow and barren that we do not know what to say, nor how to say anything, of a book, till we have made a close acquaintance with its contents: and, as puffery is no part of our mission, and is an accomplishment in which we are all unexercised, we have no refuge of prudence or of safety, but in qualifying ourselves, as far as may be, for speaking understandingly and conscientiously. This, to be sure, makes our labour somewhat hard; but it is our way always, and must be our way now.

We have read, then, a considerable number of the articles in this volume, our preference having generally lighted on the longer ones. Take, for instance, the article on Agassiz, who, as a luminary of science, has, in his own field, (and his field is a very wide one,) no equal among the living, nor any superior among the departed. The article fills nearly five pages, and is one of the cleanest, solidest, and most finished pieces of biographical writing that we have ever

met with. There is not a word of praise or eulogy in it; not a single flourish of glorification: it is a body of facts thoroughly winnowed of impertinence, shaken down, and pressed together. The matter is delivered in plain, straightforward statement, and in a style simple and severely chaste. The article is intensely interesting; it is altogether manly and direct; and it is full of real life and spirit, because the writer sees clearly what is before him, and tells what he sees, in a plain way. We have not the slightest idea who the writer is; but he is a workman, and evidently knows that the proper business of a cyclopædist is to give facts and not opinions. In this case, of course the facts give a very grand impression of the man: what he has done, supersedes the office of eulogy.

Another article in which we have taken very great delight is that on the Andes; a superb theme indeed both for descriptive and scientific writing; and it is here handled in a worthy manner. The materials are derived from the latest and best sources; they are well digested, drawn up in luminous order, and handsomely dressed. There is science enough in the essay to make it deeply instructive; while the grandeur of the subject, as it translates itself through the author's pen, fills his work with powerful interest. The article occupies a little more than five pages, but from the greatness of the subject, and the compactness of the argument, it seems much longer.-The account of the Appalachian Mountains is of a resembling character, where the inferiority of the theme in geographical interest is very well made up by a larger infusion of stratigraphical matter; not that the geology of the latter is any more attractive in itself, but it has been more fully explored.-Under the head of Anthracite, again, we have a very pleasant and edifying disquisition on the origin, the nature, and the uses of that wonderful substance. In this case, as in the others, the selection of points is highly judicious, and the statement of them vigorously concentrated, so as to combine a reasonable fulness of matter with the requisite brevity of discourse. And in all the subjects, so far as we have read, that run out into questions of science and the arts, the latest researches of the scientific faculty are choicely drawn upon and applied, no available sources of speculative or practical information being omitted. And perhaps it should be a special attraction to us Americans, that while the objects and materials of scientific interest in other lands are duly attended to, a preference is justly shown for such examples and illustrations as have been gathered from our American fields, than which the world has none richer or more worthy of study.

Of the other articles that have specially engaged our attention, that on Washington Allston may justly come in for emphatic mention. The great artist is set before us at full length, and with great warmth of portraiture: in fact, if we should find any fault with the paper, it would be that the writer discovers rather too much zeal of personal friendship and admiration; not, indeed, more than the subject deserves, but more than seems exactly suited to the occasion. Under the head of Alfieri, again, we have a very scholarly and discriminating performance, full of genial but intelligent appreciation, and of condensed energy of thought and expression. The article is profoundly inter

esting throughout, and whirls us rapidly along through the fiercely-varied life of that extraordinary being.—In the cases of Allston and Alfieri, the matter seems to have been well digested, and reproduced in an original form by the assimilative power of the writers; so that the workmanship has a sort of organic coherency, and the condensation is vital, and not mechanical. In this respect we cannot speak so favourably of the article on Addison; which seems to us a rather hasty and unartistic piece of compilation.

The class of subjects most difficult to deal with satisfactorily are those draw ing into or involving questions of religion and theology. Here, an author is continually liable to move dissatisfaction for what he leaves unspoken, as well as for what he speaks: if he refrain from committing himself in points that are not properly before him, all parties will be apt to take offence; if, on the other hand, he do thus commit himself, all will be sure to take offence, except the party to whom he leans; and even these in many cases will be offended that he did not commit himself more earnestly or more unreservedly. Notwithstanding, the plain duty of a cyclopædist is, to shut himself up rigidly to a cold and indifferent delivery of facts, leaving all the parties to whistle for their respec tive game in other forests. We use the term parties, not sects, because the thing holds equally true of different schools of the same Church, as of different sects. Comparatively few subjects of the class in question come up for disposal in the present volume. Some such, however, there are, as in the cases of Abelard, Ambrose, Anabaptists, Antichrist, and Aquinas. In these we do not discover any want of candour, or of historical calmness; nothing to identify the writer's theological or ecclesiastical bias. The proper regards of the theme are studiously observed, the sacredness of the ground duly remembered; while at the same time the peculiar odour of the writer's school, if he be of any school, seems to have been thoroughly ventilated off from his thoughts. What is needful for due information in the premises is given, so far as we can per ceive, with entire fairness, with a firm reserve of matters of opinion, and dressed in the white light of historic simplicity. If any plead for more than this, their plea indicts none but themselves.-The notices of the great Bishop of Milan and" the angelic Doctor" are particularly delightful. A writer must be dall indeed, to dwell in the atmosphere of such themes, and not be lifted into elo quence, and surprised into some touches of poetic grace.

To the best of our judgment, Messrs. Ripley and Dana have thus far acquitted themselves most honourably in their great enterprise. We expected a good deal from them, but our expectations have been more than met. Their plan is broad and liberal, their connections with men of science and literature are extensive, and their character and standing are such that the highest abil ities will esteem it an honour to cooperate with them in so great an undertaking. We shall look forward with very great interest for the remaining volumes, and endeavour to keep our readers fairly posted in regard to them, as they appear.

By way of concluding the present notice, it may be well to draw together a few leading features of the plan of the work, as set forth in the Editorial Preface. The design is, to furnish a condensed exhibition of the present state

of human knowledge on the most important subjects of inquiry. To discuss controverted points of science, philosophy, religion, or politics, does not fall within the scheme of the work; its aim being merely to give an accurate and impartial account of the growth of opinion, of the results of physical research, of the leading events of history, of the principal works of literature and art, and of the lives and characters of the world's celebrated men. The writers for the work have no desire to make it a vehicle of personal notions: as far as practicable, they keep themselves to the historical relation of facts, without assuming the functions of advocates or judges. Where a positive verdict seems required, they endeavour to present an illustration of the evidence rather than an exhibition of the argument. At the same time, each subject is treated in the point of view of those with whom it is a speciality, not in that of indifferent or hostile observers. To this end, the various articles are intrusted, as far as possible, to writers whose studies, position, opinions, and tastes are a guaranty of their thorough information, and furnish a presumption of their fairness and impartiality. In a work primarily intended for popular use, exhaustive treatises on the subjects brought forward would of course be inappropriate accordingly, no attempt is made, to supply the masters of literature and science with new facts or principles in their peculiar branches; but only to present such selections from the universal treasury of knowledge, as will put the cultivators of each department in possession of what has been done in other departments, and especially to spread before the great mass of intelligent readers a faithful report of the opinions, systems, discoveries, events, actions, and characters that make up the history of the world. Popularity, however, is not sought at the expense of thoroughness of research and exactness of statement, in questions that seem to demand more elaborate treatment. In the preparation of this first volume, nearly a hundred writers have taken part, including persons in almost every quarter of the United States, in Great Britain, and on the Continent of Europe. No restriction has been laid on their pens, save that of abstinence from private dogmatic judgments, and from sectarian comments at war with the professed historical character of the work. The materials thus derived have been critically revised by the Editors, and moulded into as complete unity, both of substance and form, as was compatible with so wide a diversity of original sources.

A History of the Articles of Religion. By the Rev. CHARLES HARDWICK, M.A., Fellow of St. Catharine's Hall. Philadelphia: Herman Hooker. The American Church has few sons who deserve better at her hands than the Rev. Dr. Hooker, of Philadelphia, who, long since disabled for the proper labours of the pulpit, has for many years been preaching (if indeed it be not something better than preaching) in the character of a publisher. To this he bas recently added the function of Editor, and is now serving the cause with great ability, and we hope with corresponding success, in the columns of the Banner of the Cross. His large learning, his solid judgment, his good taste,

his sound and sober churchmanship eminently qualify him for both positions; and we hold it as cause of no ordinary satisfaction that, to the work of selecting and setting forth the labours of other minds, he has joined that of giving us directly the fruits of his own. We like that such men as he should speak to us from their own thoughts, as well as help us to what others have spoken. Publishers cannot, and perhaps should not, ordinarily be expected to be moved and guided in what they issue, by other regards than those of profit and loss. Publishing is their business, the trade whereby they have or seek their living; and if, in pursuit of this, they look only to what will sell, they are but acting on the common principles and for the common purposes of business, and therefore "ought not to be censured for so doing; provided, of course, that they be honourable and fair in their dealings, and avoid such books as are positively immoral and profane. But this principle, be it observed, nowise allows publishers to justify or excuse themselves, as they have sometimes done, for catering to a depraved and vitiated taste, on the ground of their having had no hand in creating that taste; for the feeding a bad habit, if not as bad as planting it, is at least the next thing to it.

We have many excellent publishing-houses; and several of them use commendable diligence in setting forth the literature of the Church, so far as in the exercise of a liberal business judgment they can find their interest therein. We must not be suspected, therefore, of intending any slur upon such, when we mention it as the special and peculiar praise of Dr. Hooker, that he acts upon much higher principles; that though in the trade he is not of it; and that he carries into the business the conscience not merely of a good citizen and an honourable man, but of a most thoughtful, intelligent, and earnest Churchman, with whom private thrift stands secondary to the service of the Gospel and the Church, whose interests he justly believes to be, now and forcver, one and inseparable. In publishing, he manifestly has that disinterestedness which all ministers ought to have, but which too many have not, in preaching. That, acting on such grounds and to such ends, he should sometimes be wiser for the public than for himself, and wiser for them than they will be for themselves, is not very strange. With men thus minded and thus moved, it hath ever been, and probably ever will be, most true, that virtuc has to be its own "exceeding great reward."

Thus much of the publisher; now for the work published. First, however, a word or two touching the author. Mr. Hardwick holds, as he deserves, a very conspicuous place among the standard writers of our time. To original powers of a high order, he has added the fruits of the most studious and welldirected culture: he is a voluminous and finished scholar, a calm, clear, comprehensive thinker; exact in his habits of mind, diligent in research: solidity of matter and severity of taste eminently characterize his workmanship; while everything that comes from him is pervaded with the light and efficacy of a most sensitive intellectual conscientiousness; the sacred and awful regards of truth apparently" living within the book and volume of his brain, unmix'd with baser matter," as far as seems compatible with universal human imperfection.