enunciated by the supreme father of the St. Simonians. The Fourierists were exceedingly desirous of enlisting beneath their standard so talented a man as M. Leroux; but he repulsed their solicitations; and, so far from maintaining the Phalansterian theory, he has published pamphlets in which he combats it, declaring it to be superficial in its principles, impure in its maxims, and impracticable in its arrangements.

M. Pierre Leroux has written several works, of very great extent,-among others, a book on Equality, and a treatise, in two thick volumes, entitled, On Human Nature. Besides these, he has undertaken, with one of his friends, the composition of a New Encyclopædia; and he now edits a monthly magazine, called the Revue Sociale. M. Leroux is really the philosopher or metaphysician of Socialism. He is distinguished by original views, frankness in the exposition of his principles, and a perseverance worthy of a better cause. But he writes very hastily, and the reader is often repulsed by his unpolished style. He exhibits, also, in his character a rudeness and asperity which have estranged from him several of his friends. M. Leroux's intellect has less of power than of breadth; it is less judicious than comprehensive. He has frequently varied in his opinions. Will he end by embracing a purer religious creed? This would be a happy event for others, as well as for himself. But at present he persists in teaching Pantheism, with all its deplorable consequences. The god of M. Leroux is not a being distinct from the universe. He is incarnate in humanity; he exists in every member of the human race. This is the god of Hegel and Strauss, and generally of all who are not converted to the gospel of Christ. The philosophy of the eighteenth century was Deism; that of the present day is Pantheism.

There is no supernatural world, according to M. Pierre Leroux, and consequently no life for us in what is called heaven. Yet he affirms that man is immortal! How so? Because we are to be perpetually born afresh in the womb of humanity. "Seeing that you live," he observes, "you are eternal. Life is in itself eternal and infinite. You are eternal as man; you possess eternity under the figure of humanity. You are God-man.

See well, then, to whatever

there is in you of the eternal and the infinite, for that is truly your being; that is truly your life." * M. Leroux has thus re-produced the hypothesis of the ancient Brahmins of India, and of the philosopher Pythagoras, on metempsychosis, as the most notable discovery of modern wisdom! Well might the sacred writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes say, "There is nothing new under the sun."

Nevertheless, copying the example of so many others, M. Pierre Leroux has sought to connect his Pantheistical lucubrations with Judaism and Christianity. In order to succeed in this difficult undertaking, he affirms that the books of Moses are allegories, symbols, or myths-an ingenious method, certainly, by which the French theorist makes the Hebrew lawgiver say just what he did not say, and boldly attributes to him his own opinions! An allegory teaches whatever you please to find in it; a symbol is a pliant canvas, which serves to clothe the most diverse forms possible. Thus, according to M. Leroux, the

* De l'Humanité, &c., Vol. II., pp. 997, 1000.

primeval fall was a moral advance; by tasting the forbidden fruit, Adam acquired the consciousness of his individual existence, and passed from a state of animalism into manhood! Cain was the first proprietor; he declared himself the exclusive possessor of his substance, and killed Abel because he refused to recognise the right of private property. The rest of the Scripture commentary is in the same strain. But I spare the reader.

M. Leroux submits Christianity to interpretations not less singular than those already noticed. He says that the redemption effected by Jesus Christ comprehends the deliverance of the body as well as of the soul. "When Jesus cured any one, as related in the Gospels," asks M. Pierre Leroux, "did he cure his soul only? The gospels are full of miracles which relate to the body as well as to the soul. If it is true that the Jews were deceived in expecting a temporal Messiah, it is not less censurable to commit the inverse error, and to make of the kingdom of Jesus a spiritual abstraction. Jesus never said, as his false translators have made him say, that his kingdom was not of this world. On the contrary, in all his prophecies, he promised the earth to his disciples (!), the earth transformed by a revolution effected in the minds, hearts, and lives of mankind." *

All the doctors and theologians, therefore, have been for eighteen centuries completely in the dark! Eastern and western Christendom, schoolmen and mystics, Roman Catholics and Protestants-all, without exception, have misunderstood Jesus Christ's doctrine! M. Pierre Leroux, standing up before this great cloud of witnesses, with a bold front and a proud look, loudly tells them, "It is I, and I alone, who am the intelligent interpreter of Jesus. It is I who am the great expositor of revelation, the Christian par excellence!" This assumption is even more ridiculous than culpable.

That which M. Leroux attacks with most violence and fury is capital, or the custom of lending money at interest. He represents capitalists as the scourge and bane of the human race; he follows them with ceaseless maledictions. "Abolish, abolish without delay, the infamous law which authorises bankers to take interest on their money! The capitalists are tyrants who kill humanity! Let not an accumulated fortune be lodged in the hands of any person! Let each possess what he can gain by his personal industry! Thus, you will abolish the caste of idlers; society will again flourish; the population may multiply without danger; and we shall be in the most excellent of worlds!" Such is an analysis of the humanitarian views of M. Leroux.

I cannot conceive why he is so angry with the system of lending money at interest. There have been nations-the Mohammedans, for example-who have realised the idea of this Socialist. The ancient Romans also essayed, on certain occasions, to determine, that in no case should it be lawful for an individual to receive interest for the use of his money. Were those Inations the better for that regulation? Did it make them more happy and prosperous? By no means. The illustrious Montesquieu testifies, on the contrary, that this general and unqualified prohibition destroyed commerce among the Mohammedans, and all but led to the overthrow * Revue Sociale for 1846, pp. 101, 102.

is not a compilation, but an original performance, so far as anything of this description can be original. Most of our readers are aware that Dr. Brown had a formidable rival in Archbishop Leighton, in his own way the very prince of expositors. To this most accomplished writer and most spiritual man, Dr. Brown has paid a very high compliment; and in a number of instances he has availed himself of the archbishop's labours: but while each is great in his own line, there is so little in common between them that neither can be said to supersede the other; in fact, they will most profitably be read together. In Dr. Brown there is a predominance of intelligence and doctrine; in Archbishop Leighton-as compared with him-of observation and sentiment. The one is mainly distinguished by thought; the other by emotion. The one contributes to build up the believer in his most holy faith; the other to improve his spiritual perception.

To the last volume Dr. Brown has added six of his most valuable sermons, which will be prized by all who are capable of appreciating fine thought and Evangelical doctrine stated with clearness, simplicity, and force. So far as Scotland is concerned, the popularity and wide diffusion of the work is a matter of course; and we give him a hearty welcome to the sunny south, while we predict for him a very extended and preeminent popularity amongst cultivated Christian men, whether in or out of the ministry, in all denominations.

The "Two Witnesses" of the Apocalypse traced in History. By the Rev. ALEXANDER BEITH. Edinburgh: Kennedy. THE production of an ingenious and amiable enthusiast, who labours hard to bring home this celebrated prophecy to adorn the Free Church of Scotland; we need hardly say more. The substance of the thing is,-whoso wants light, either on subjects of doctrine or of polity, let him look to the Free Church of Scotland. The work was written at a time when the great disruption was recent, and those excellent men who came out of the Bond Church were deeply excited by the events through which they had passed; and when men of a very sanguine temperament were likely to over-estimate the importance of events in which they were deeply interested to the rest of mankind; just as the French, some months back, gazed upon themselves with un

doubting faith, that all Europe was to become one wide-spread sisterhood of republics. Under such feelings Mr. Beith has clearly written; and it so happens that Independents come in for a share of his benevolent solicitude, as will appear from the following passage:

"Once more: let the reported intention of the English Congregationalists answer their contemplated organization into one body, with a general sustentation fund. If such an arrangement were carried into effect, considering their numbers, their piety, their universal diffusion over England, their zeal,-what results for good might we not expect to see? With combined operation-such organization, in short, as that of the Free Church-considering their resources, it is impossible to calculate what their influence might become. Theirs, too, would be an example to tell on the Evangelical clergy in the Establishment more than anything in Scotland, and, perhaps, to rouse them from their present inaction."

The worthy writer must have been dreaming; no such an idea ever entered the head of any sound Congregationalist in England. Such organization would be at once to change their character; and the notion of such "sustentation" would imply a central action and controlling power of supervision, utterly incompatible with their independence. We have spoken of these matters, however, on former occasions, and shall not now enlarge. We think that a good deal may be done in the way of sustentation of new and weak interests, without at all

interfering with the privileges of the faithful; but if there is to be on the part of the richer churches support, there must be some moral control possessed and exercised over the objects of their benevolence for assuredly it is with individual churches as governments-control, to some extent, must follow support; for the Free Church notion of State support, without State control, is a principle which can be tolerated in no country, and in no community still under the domination of reason.

The Bible not of Man. By GARDINER SPRING, D.D., of New York. London: Religious Tract Society.

SINCE the days of Edwards and of Bellamy, America has produced no man of mental attributes more calculated to deal with the Moral Philosophy in its relation

to subjects of Divinity than Dr. Gardiner Spring. The man who wrote this book takes rank with our own illustrious Butler, the author of the "Analogy;" but Spring has this advantage over Butler, that he has far clearer notions of the gospel of Christ. Deficiency here was the only weak point in Butler, and this is the main strength of Spring, whose penetration and philosophical acumen would not have achieved triumphs so splendid but for the evangelical light amidst which the process was carried on. The work before us is, in the highest sense, a volume on the Christian evidences, presented in a form at once striking and somewhat original. Of like attempts in our own country, the only one that admits of respectable comparison is the celebrated essay of Erskine, entitled, "Remarks on the Internal Evidences," which, so far as it goes, is an exquisite performance, for pathos and beauty surpassing anything to be found in his American rival. But the "Remarks" are only a fragment as compared with the full and varied view of "The Bible not of Man." The book opens with a preliminary essay on the fitness of the time selected by Divine Providence for the introduction of the Christian dispensation -a point on which little remained to be added after the celebrated sermon of Dr. Robertson, the historian, before the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge-the only sermon, by the way, the Doctor published. Thus in the field, the Author strips himself in good earnest for the work; as the contents of the volume will show: "The Bible above the Invention of Human Intellect-The Spirit of the Bible a Superhuman Spirit

The Moral Rectitude of the BibleThe Peculiar Doctrines of the Bible give evidence of its Divine Origin-The Religion of the Bible a proof of its Divine Origin-The Unity of the ScripturesAdaptation of the Scriptures to the Character and Wants of Man-The Divine Origin of the Scriptures Attested by Christian Experience-The Bible Accordant with Human Reason." These, with the Conclusion, form the contents of the work, and they will sufficiently indicate the range of it; and the filling up, we need hardly say, displays the hand of a master. It will be seen at a glance, then, that without a very extraordinary diffuseness these chapters might have been driven out into several octavo volumes. The volume, both as to thought and expression, is peculiarly condensed,

solid, terse, and witty, and bids fair to take its place amongst the first class of books on the Christian evidences.

Original Sketches in Poetry, designed to Illustrate Various Subjects and Characters selected from the Holy Scriptures. By C. L. B. London Seeleys.

FOR "Poetry" we should rather say "in verse, on Scripture characters." There is not much poetry in the book, but there is a large supply of decent rhyme, and the spirit which pervades the volume is excellent. There is a sort of Jewish spirit, nevertheless, about the writer, whose male heroes are solely confined to the Old Testament. Of nineteen Scripture characters, not one is taken from the New Testament; but he is more fair in respect to the other sex, for out of the eighteen female characters, seven adorn the pages of the New Testament. One would have thought that Peter, Paul, James, and John, at least, might have found a passing notice; and we will put in a word for our lion-hearted friend, John the Baptist. The volume will make good cottage reading, and in that direction the Author should prosecute his labours.

Memoirs of Mr. Thomas Tatham, and of Wesleyan Methodism in Nottingham. By Rev. S. DUNN. Pp. 280. Tegg, Snow, and Aylott and Jones, London.

We are happy once more to meet Mr. Dunn in the character of a biographera species of composition to which, while he is led to it by his tastes, the cast of his mind is peculiarly suited. His "Memoirs of the Seventy-five Eminent Divines, whose discourses form the Morning Exercises, with eighty outlines of Sermons," is one of the best and most interesting books of its kind that, for a long time, has seen the light. But we fear its reception has been in the inverse ratio of its merits; in fact, although it has been some time before the public, it is yet but little known. The work before us ranges over the extended period of from 1741 to 1847; it abounds in facts and incidents, and as it comprises a large amount of correspondence, it throws no small amount of illustrative light on the character of early Methodism; and, as such, may be read by all classes with advantage.

CHARACTERISTIC NOTICES.

A Cypress Wreath for an Infant's Grave. With an Introduction and an Essay on Infant Salvation. By JOHN BRUCE, Minister of the General Cemetery, Liverpool. 18mo, pp. 246. Hamilton.

A DELIGHTFUL book of prose, poetry, pathos, and consolation. It consists of several sections, of the choicest extracts from the best writers, thus indicated:-The Frailty of Infants-Departed Infants-The Grief of Survivors-Essay on Infant Salvation-Comfort addressed to Mourners-Practical Suggestions. This is emphatically a parent's book. We cannot with

hold Mr. Bruce's motto:

"Stay till a few brief months are past,
And I have look'd and loved my last,
When villagers my shroud bestrew
With pansies, rosemary, and rue;
Then, mother, weave a wreath for me,
And weave it of the cypress tree.'

Montmorency: a Roman Catholic Tale. By A. M. Reprinted from the "Protestant Magazine," with Introductory Remarks, by JAMES LORD, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Pp. 266. Seeleys, London.

WE are not extremely partial either to tales or to Roman Catholics, or to some of the principles which govern the " Protestant Magazine;" but there is much in this volume calculated to advance the great principle of Protestantism-the doctrine of justification by faith. The statements are generally correct; the writing is sprightly; the characters well sustained; and a number of the scenes remarkably tender.

The Olive, Vine, and Palm; embracing an Illustration of the numerous Allusions in Scripture to these Trees and their Produce. With an Introduction. By JOHN KITTO, D.D., Editor of the "Pictorial Bible," &c. Pp. 160. Grant and Taylor, Albany-street, Edinburgh. A VERY original exhibition of a most interesting subject; in fact, condensed and vigorous commentary upon texts of Scripture filling nearly eight columns. To give the contents will be in the strongest manner to recommend it:

THE OLIVE.

The Tree.

The Solid Fruit.

The Liquid Produce.

THE VINE.

The Tree.

The Solid Fruit.

Grapes.

Raisins.

Grape-cake.

The inspissated Juice of the Grape-Preserves -Honey of Grapes-Boiled Wine-Tirosh Vine -Fruit in general.

THE LIQUID PRODUCE.

Grape Juice.

Red Wine.

Mixed Wine.

Wine in general.

THE PALM.

The Tree.

The Solid Fruit.

The Liquid Produce.

We very cordially recommend the volume.

The Old Orthodox Faith superior to Modern Opinions; or, Truth and Error surveyed in the Light of History and Fact. By Rev. J. G. LoRIMER. Pp. 156. M'Phun, Glasgow. MR. LORIMER is already very favourably known to the public, and the present volume will more than support his former reputation. It is closely condensed, severely elaborated, and very clearly expressed. It runs in the same strain with Candlish on the "Atonement," Gibson on "Natural and Moral Inability," and Bonar on "Truth and Error Compared." The work may be read with great advantage. As a whole, it is a very valuable publication.

Meditations and Scriptural Experiences. By the late Rev. Mr. SHEPPARD, M.A., of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England; and afterwards Minister of the Church of Cambridge, in New England. With a Preface, by the late Rev. D. BRAINARD; and an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. J. R. ANDERSON. Pp. 137. Bryce, Glasgow.

THIS is a good name of a man whose lot was cast in a good land. To religious readers, the simple fact that it is copiously prefaced by David Brainard, of date 1747, will bespeak much. The account of the author by Thomas Prince, also of the same date, is valuable; while Mr. Anderson's introductory Essay enhances the value of the preliminary apparatus. The Meditations themselves are the very best of their class.

The Touchstone; or, The Claims and Privileges of True Religion briefly Considered. By Mrs. ANNE GRANT, Editor of the "Harp of Zion." Nisbet and Co., London.

THIS is another of Mr. Nisbet's useful small volumes, which cannot be too extensively circulated. The work is didactic and preceptive, interspersed with many thoughts which tend to enliven doctrine and to sweeten the lessons which save the soul. The chapter on the right improvement of time would form a valuable separate tract.

The Fruits of the Spirit. By Rev. W. H. ELLIOT. Second Edition. Ward and Co., London. THE subject of this volume is well chosen, and one the importance of which can hardly be surpassed. It discusses, Love-Joy-Peace-Longsuffering-Meekness and Gentleness-Goodness -Faith-and Temperance, according to each a chapter. We like the volume greatly; it is clear, simple, and thoroughly evangelical, and cannot fail to be a favourite with the devout portion of the common people, the best friends and the loveliest examples of pure and undefiled religion.

Life in a Convent. By SAMUEL P. DAY, formerly a Monk of the Order of the Presentation; Author of "Monastic Institutions; their Origin, Progress, Nature, and Tendency," &c., &c. With an Introduction, by ALEXANDER FLETCHER, D.D., Minister of Finsbury Chapel, London. Pp. 52. Hall and Co., London.

IN these days of blind charity towards Popery and its offshoots, it is important, from time to

time, to exhibit its true character, not as it appears in the mouths of British statesmen, discreet bishops, and wily priests of the Romish communion, but as it is seen and felt in everyday life in those regions where the light has not shone, where it is unrestrained by Protestant presence, and unrebuked by a free press. They who would have a truthful glimpse through the key-hole into the dread prison-house, will do well to look into these pages. Dr. Fletcher's

introduction is appropriate and touching. "I have read," says he, "in manuscript, the pages of the narrative with intense interest. It teaches a lesson of pity toward those who are groaning and sighing in hopeless despair within the gloomy walls of these PRISONS OF SOULS, and who only look for liberty when the pale messenger shall come, and at the same moment dissolve their bodies and emancipate their souls!"

The Life of the Rev. Richard Cameron. By G. M. BEEL, Author of " Universal Mechanism." Second Edition. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; Simpkin and Co., London.

THE name of Cameron is still famous in Scotland: he was a man of a brave heart; such a man as would have commanded the confidence of Elijah, and temperamentally, as well as spiritually, would have been a meet successor to Elisha.

The Words of a Believer. By the ABBE DE LA MENNAIS. Translated from the French by E. S. PRYCE, A.B. Aylott and Jones, London. THE work of a sublime madman, whose effusions have contributed not a little to help on the revolution in France. Take the following, for instance:

"I see whirlwinds of dust in the distance; they fly on every side, they dash against each other, they mingle, they unite. They pass over cities, and when they have passed I see only the plain."

"I see nations rise in tumult, and the kings grow pale beneath their crowns. War is between them-war to the death."

"I see a throne, two thrones broken, and the people scatter the fragments over the earth."

"I see a nation fight as the archangel Michael fought with Satan. Its blows are terrible, but it is naked, and its enemy is covered with thick armour."

"I see another nation strive incessantly, and from time to time gather new strength in the contest. This nation has the sign of Christ on its heart."

"I see a third nation on which six kings have placed their feet, and every time it moves six daggers are plunged into its throat."

What says our reader to such effusions as this?

A Bridal Gift, By the Editor of "A Parting Gift to a Christian Friend." Marples, Liverpool; Hamilton and Co., London. WE have a number of publications of this class, but for artistic beauty-that is, for exquisite typography and typographical ornament-it is incomparable. We have seen nothing that even approaches it. Borders of every form, and colours of every hue, are here strewed with a prodigal hand, and exhibited in the loveliest and most

attractive combination. Poets of both sexes and of all classes, prose writers of every party, and orators both civil and sacred, are here summoned to do homage at the altar of Hymen. The work is already in the seventh edition-a fact which renders any commendation of ours unnecessary.

Coghlan's Pocket Picture of London and its Environs, alphabetically arranged, and embellished with a Map. New Edition, with 300 pages of additional matter. By A. C. LEE. Pp. 570. Hughes, London.

To strangers this volume supplies a vast body of useful information. With such a subject as London, and the men and things of London, an author who has filled 576 pages must be dull indeed not to supply a work alike remarkable for its variety, its amusement, and its utility. There is much that is correct, but also a good deal that is inaccurate. Its Ecclesiastical matters are deficient in the extreme. The author seems to know nothing about either Church or Dissent.

The History of the Church and Court of Rome, from the Establishment of Christianity under Constantine to the Present Time. By Rev. H. C. O'DONNOGHUE, A.M. Two Vols., pp. 358. Tegg, London.

THE spirit of the present age forms a melancholy contrast to that of the one immediately preceding with respect to the subject of Popery. Time was when godly men, not only as occasion required, preached against it, but when they likewise, almost uniformly, made its sin and its danger a matter of special, public, and sabbatic supplication-a thing which, higher considerations apart, exerted a great moral force in keeping alive the true Protestant spirit in the hearts of the churches. It is not meant that now these things are entirely forgotten, but it is meant that there is now much less of it than formerly, and that this is to be classed among the causes of the decay of Protestant principle: Now, among the means of counteraction are to be reckoned such works as that of Mr. O'Donnoghue, which supplies a correct, a copious, and an intelligent exhibition of the whole subject. It may indeed be considered as a systematic work on the subject of Popery, and as such we cordially commend it.

The Philosophy of a Future State. By THOMAS DICK, LL.D. A New Edition, pp. 296. Collins, Edinburgh and London. THIS publication is already known in every part of the British empire; but it may not be known that it is now to be had for a mere fraction of its former price. When this work first appeared, now more than twenty years ago, we read it with the most intense interest, and well remember the pleasure with which it was hailed by the young men of that generation. But it is not a whit the less adapted to the generation that now is than if it had been produced only yesterday. Again we must thank Mr. Collins for this addition to his many and great services in the cause of public instruction, while for the sake of those of our readers not conversant with Mr. Collins' valuable series, we beg to apprise them that he has published two other of Dr. Dick's most cele