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before. The following, however, are the results which the Abolitionists regard as established by the observations of Messrs. Thome and Kimbal.

"1. That the act of IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION in Antigua, was not attended with any disorder whatever.

2. That the emancipated slaves have readily, faithfully, and efficiently worked for wages from the first.

3. That wherever there has been any disturbance in the working of the apprenticeship, it has been invariably by the fault of the masters, or of the officers charged with the execution of the Abolition Act.' 4. That the prejudice of caste is fast disappearing in the emancipated islands.

5. That the apprenticeship was not sought for by the planters as a preparation for freedom.

6. That no such preparation was needed.

7. That the planters, who have fairly made the 'experiment,' now greatly prefer the new system to the old.

8. That the emancipated people are perceptibly rising in the scale of civilization, morals, and religion.” — p. vi.

The True Intellectual System of the Universe. By RALPH CUDWORTH, D. D. Andover: Gould & Newman. 1837 and 1838. 2 volumes. 8vo. pp. 804 and 756. — We hold ourselves much obliged to Messrs. Gould and Newman, for giving to the public an American edition of the invaluable works of Dr. Cudworth. It is true we can hardly reconcile it to our feelings to see an old author we learned to reverence in venerable folio, decked out in a modern dandy octavo; nevertheless we are glad to meet Cudworth in any dress in which his publishers may please to send him abroad. We have but to converse a few moments with his profound and eloquent thoughts, to forget whatever concerns his outer man. We hail his republication as a favorable sign of the times, as a proof that there is springing up among us a taste for sound learning, profound erudition, and spiritual philosophy. Cudworth may not deserve to be followed blindly, but the happiest results may be anticipated from a general and careful study of his writings. He belonged to the glorious age of England's history and literature, and we never turn over his pages without being saddened to discover how little the English mind has advanced since the seventeenth century.

The Elements of Political Economy. Abridged for the Use of Academies. By FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. Boston: Gould, Kendall, & Lincoln. 1837.- We dislike abridgments. We dislike books with strings of questions to each section, whether designed for Academies or not; but aside from these two objections, we like this little volume very well. Dr. Wayland is neither profound nor original as a political economist, but he is clear, condensed, and liberal. In the main we should be disposed to concur with his views, and have no hesitation in commending this abridgment of his work on Political Economy to the principals of our Academies. We wish to say, however, that we are not yet fully convinced of the exceeding value of

the study of this science by our academical students. These students are too young to study it with advantage, and they will do little more than burthen their memories with terms, the meaning of which they will probably never learn. In our colleges it should be studied, of course.

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The Sunday School Guide, and Parents' Manual. By A. B. MUZZEY. Boston: James Munroe, & Co. and Benjamin H. Greene. 1838. 18mo. pp. 219. This is not a very profound work, nor is it in our judgment wholly unexceptionable; nevertheless it contains many good observations and judicious directions. Its great fault, like all the works of its class published among us, is a want of a clear and just perception of what education should be. No man can write a work on education, till he has mastered the philosophy of human nature, and solved the problem of the Destiny of Human Life. Education is the fitting of a man to fulfil his destiny, to attain the end to which his nature destines him. The educator, then, should understand that nature.

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Memoir of the Rev. Bernard Whitman. By JASON WHITMAN. Boston: Benjamin H. Greene. 1837. 16mo. pp. 215. This is a very sensible and well written Memoir of a man well known and highly esteemed among us, cut off in the very midst of his usefulness. Mr. Whitman was a Unitarian, and his mission as such was to popularize Unitarianism. His great object was to gain for it a permanent hold on the heart of the people. This he sought to do by adopting a plain, direct, and earnest manner of address, both in writing and preaching. It is due to him to say that his success was considerable. He contributed his full share in breaking up the exclusive aristocratic character which Unitarianism formerly assumed in this country. If with his democratic manner, he had carried along the democratic doctrines of the Gospel, his success we think would have been greater. It is not a plain dress that wins the masses, but democratic thought. He who would move them must give utterance to ideas that shall be responded to, from the depths of the universal human heart. When Unitarians add to their Rationalism the democracy of the Gospel, they will find their religion popular, and not till then.

The Young House-keeper, or Thoughts on Food and Cookery. By WILLIAM A. ALCOTT. Boston: George W. Light. 1838. 12mo. pp. 424. This work is by the author of the "Mother in her Family," reviewed in our present number. It is a superior work to that, but of no great merit. Dr. Alcott, we regard as a pure-minded, conscientious man, anxious to benefit the world as much as he can. He is a zealous Reformer, an industrious and most prolific writer. People buy his books, and we suppose read them. For our part, we would rather read his books than eat his cooking.

Vegetable Diet, as sanctioned by Medical men and by experience in all ages. By WILLIAM A. ALCOTT. Boston: Marsh, Capen, and Lyon. 1838. 12mo. pp. 276.- Another of Dr. Alcott's books, and perhaps as good a one as any of his. We hope the good Doctor will stop a while and breathe. If he publishes at the rate he has for the last six weeks, we give him up. No Reviewer in the world will undertake to give even the titles of his books. We solemnly protest, in the name of Letters, against this extempore writing, or this written talk, of which Dr. Alcott gives us so many specimens. If a man feels himself moved by the spirit to write a book, let him give to the subject-matter of it his best and ripest reflections; and then let him condense his thoughts into the smallest possible compass. We do not like this way of writing on the gallop, and of giving us fewer thoughts than are needed to serve for milestones. If the book be not worth writing well, it is not worth writing at all.

NOTE. -The term, genuineness, would have been more proper than that of authenticity, in the article on the Pentateuch, and would have been adopted, had not Dr. Palfrey uniformly used the latter term in his book which is there reviewed. A book may be genuine without being authentic, and vice versa. A genuine book is one written by the author whose name it hears; an authentic book is one whose statements may be regarded as true. Our article can hardly be said to question, in this sense, the authenticity of the books of Moses; it merely questions their genuineness, that is, the fact that Moses wrote them.

One or two mistakes as to single words, and two or three as to references, may be detected in the article; but they are more vexatious to the writer than to the reader, and are not of sufficient importance to be pointed out.

THE

BOSTON QUARTERLY REVIEW.

OCTOBER, 1838.

ART. I. ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION, OR REASONS WHY THE NATURAL ASSOCIATION OF MEN OF LETTERS IS WITH THE DEMOCRACY.

THE material world does not change in its masses or in its powers. The stars shine with no more lustre, than when they first sang together in the glory of their birth. The flowers that gemmed the fields. and the forests, before America was discovered, now bloom around us in their season. The sun that shone on Homer still shines on us in unchanging lustre. The bow that beamed on the patriarch still glitters in the clouds. Nature is the same. For her no new powers are generated; no new capacities are discovered. The earth turns on its axis, and perfects its revolutions, and renews its seasons, without increase or advancement.

Does the same passive destiny attach to the inhabitants of the earth? Is there for us no increase of capacity; no gathering of intellectual riches? Are the expectations of social improvement a delusion; and the hopes of philanthropy but a dream? Or is there an advancement of the human condition? Can there be progress in the human race?

The subject rises in interest above the limited.

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character of individual pursuits; and is connected with interests that enlarge the heart, kindle imagination, and excite generous sympathies. It belongs to all. With a full consciousness, that personal convictions are of little weight, unless sanctioned by general approbation, that their justice should be questioned, unless they obtain an intuitive concurrence, it will be the object of this article to illustrate the capacity of the human race for constant progress, the method of furthering that progress, and the evidence of its reality.

I. Matter is passive. If at rest it would remain so forever; if set in motion, it continues its unmeaning course, without reason, purpose, or result. The capacity of the human race for improvement is connected with the universal diffusion of the gifts of mind.

The five senses do not constitute the whole inventory of our sources of knowledge. They are the organs by which thought connects itself with the external universe; but the power of thought is not merged in the exercise of its instruments. We have functions which connect us with heaven, as well as organs which set us in relation with earth. We have not merely the senses opening to us the external world, but an internal moral sense, which places us in connexion with the world of intelligence and the decrees of God.

It is the possession of this higher faculty which renders advancement possible. There is a spirit in man: not in the privileged few; not. in those of us only who by the favor of Providence have been nursed in public schools: IT IS IN MAN: it is the attribute of the race. The spirit, which is the guide to truth, is the gracious gift to each member of the human family; not one is disfranchised; not one is cut off from the heavenly inheritance.

Reason exists within every breast. I mean not that faculty which deduces inferences from the expe

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