and will be fulfilled. The material resources of her soil and position, are as great as those of any people that now occupies its meted portion of the globe. The mass of her inhabitants, and especially of her peasantry, has been less changed, and in many respects less corrupted, by the revolutions of the last century, than any of the nations who have pressed her borders, or contended with her power. They are the same race of men, who twice drove back the crescent from the shores of Europe, and twice saved from shipwreck the great cause of Christian civilization. They have shown the same spirit at Saragossa, that they showed two thousand years before at Saguntum. They are not a ruined people. And, while they preserve the sense of honor, the sincerity, and the contempt for what is sordid and base, that have so long distinguished their national character, they cannot be ruined.

"Nor, I trust, will such a people-still proud and faithful in its less-favored masses, if not in those portions whose names dimly shadow forth the glory they have inherited-fail to create a literature appropriate to a character in its nature so poetical. The old ballads will not indeed return; for the feelings that produced them are with bygone things. The old drama will not be revived; society, even in Spain, would not now endure its excesses. The old chroniclers themselves, if they should come back, would find no miracles of valor or superstition to record, and no credulity fond enough to believe them. Their poets will not again be monks and soldiers, as they were in the days when the influence of the old religious wars and hatreds gave both their brightest and darkest color to the elements of social life; for the civilization that struck its roots into that soil, has died out for want of nourishment. But the Spanish people that old Castilian race, that came from the mountains and filled the whole land with their spirit-have, I trust, a future before them not unworthy of their ancient fortunes and fame; a future full of materials for a generous history, and a poetry still more generous; happy if they have been taught, by the experience of the past, that, while reverence for whatever is noble and worthy, is of the essence of poetical inspiration, and, while religious faith and feeling constitute its true and sure foundations, there is yet a loyalty to mere rank and place, which degrade alike its possessor and him it would honor, and a blind submission to priestly authority, which narrows and debases the noble faculties of the soul more than any other, because it sends its poison deeper. But, if they have failed to learn this solemn lesson, inscribed everywhere, as by the hand of Heaven, on the crumbling walls of their ancient institutions,-then is their honorable history, both in civilization and letters, closed forever."

3. The War with Mexico. By R. S. RIPLEY, Brevet Major in the United States Army, &c. In two volumes, 8 vo. pp. 524, 650. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1849.

WHATEVER may be thought of the justice or necessity of our recent War with Mexico-and there are not a few true and loyal citizens who can never

be brought to defend the measure as a wise and righteous mode of redressing our grievances—a full, authentic, and standard history of so important a war, we owe to ourselves and to the civilized world to produce. The two beautiful and stately volumes before us, are manifestly a candidate for this honorable and distinguished place in our national literature. And we are free to confess that they possess a fair share of literary and historical merit. Written by one who is master of the science of war, and who took an active part in this memorable conflict, we might suppose him capable of an intelligent judgment, and possessed of the necessary materials for such an accomplishment. The author is evidently not wanting in many of the personal qualities essential to a good historian. The work is written in an admirable historical style—in a calm, bold, and fearless spirit. The author is master of his subject, and strives, evidently, to be rigidly impartial and scientific in his statement of facts, and speculations based upon them. Still it can never take the place to which it aspires a standard history of the Mexican War: such a history is yet to be written, and the present generation probably will not see it. The present one is decidedly partisan in its character. It stands committed to the administration that declared and waged the war; it approves of its policy and all its measures, in a spirit of blind devotion: it speaks in no modest terms, we will say, in a tone and emphasis that deserve the severest rebuke, of the men, in Congress and out, who honestly deprecated and opposed the war; and it criticises the doings of Generals Taylor and Scott with little delicacy, and with extreme severity and presumption. There is a latent, lurking desire and aim throughout these calm and scientific pages, to rob these Generals of their hard-earned laurels, and secure the glory of battle and conquest for the administration of Mr. Polk. It is an administration history and not a national one, in the true and full sense of the word. As a record of facts, it is in the main reliable and valuable; but we would not give much for its speculations, criticisms, and party ebulitions.

Gen. Taylor, in many of his noted battles, and in the whole line of his operations comes in for no little share of blame. We give a single specimen from many which we had marked. In allusion to an expression in one of the General's letters, he says:

"That he had lost, in a measure, the confidence of his government,' is more than probable. Let reference be made to the correspondence of General Taylor with the War Department, and it will be seen, that from the very commencement of hostilities, to the time when General Scott was ordered to the field-a period of more than three months-not one plan of operation or suggested course of action, having in direct view the object of the war, had been received from General Taylor, and that all which had been made by the Secretary of War, which were necessarily liable to objections, made, as they were, at more than a thousand miles from the scene of operations, had been met by statements of difficulties and delays, unaccompanied by any suggestions for overcoming them. Under such circumstanees, it is not surprising

that he should have lost some portion of the confidence which, after his surprising victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, may have reposed in him as a great commander; and that the government, tired of proceeding upon false principles of action, should have done the best it could, by sending General Scott to the field to control the operations, as General-in-Chief of the army." This is sufficiently explicit and sweeping. But the voice of a great nation, speaking in thunder tones, has pronounced a more favorable judgment on the hero of so many battles.

4. Parental Wisdom; or the Philosophy and Social Bearings of Education, with Historical Illustrations of its Power, its Political Importance, &c. By the author of The Wrongs of Poland." Second edition. London: Saunders & Otley. 1849.

We take great pleasure in introducing this English work to American readers. We know not the author, but he has certainly produced one of the most philosophical and valuable treatises on this all-important subject, that we remember to have seen. The great question of the social and moral training of the human mind, is here placed on the only true foundation-the Christian religion, and is discussed with rare wisdom and ability and impressive earnestness. The writer feels the vastness of his theme; he brings to the work profound and careful observation, and a practical and extended knowledge of human nature; he exhibits enlarged and elevated views of his subject; the principles he maintains are mainly sound and fundamental; his arguments are enforced by many striking historical illustrations; and the whole is written in a most happy spirit, and in an attractive style. It is a book full of deep, philosophical, practical thought, which parents, moralists, and statesmen may study to great advantage. It cannot be read, thoughtfully, without impressing one anew with a sense of the mighty power of education in moulding society, and in shaping men's destinies for this world and the next, nor without fixing in the mind a deeper conviction of the too-often forgotten fact, that the only true foundation of a good education is the religion of the Bible.

The work comprises an introductory chapter and six essays on the following points: Importance of Education; Parental Responsibility; A Philosophical Theory of Education; On the Prevalent Levity of Youth; Testimony Derived from Ancient and Modern History; Practical Hints to Parents.

We hope the work will be speedily republished in this country.

5. The Little Savage. By CAPTAIN MARRYATT, R. N. New York: Harper & Brothers.

1849.

We are not among the admirers of Marryatt's writings; indeed, we are at a loss to account for their popularity even among the lovers of our light and fictitious literature. He has little artistic skill; no power in the delineation of character; a false taste, and is not over nice on the score of truth and morality.

This present volume is comparatively harmless. There is much that is

wholesome and true in it; but the story is so unnatural and marvelous; the two leading characters are such savage monsters in conduct; and the whole work is so darkly shaded by human guilt, that we question its happy tendency on the class of minds for which it is mainly intended.

6. Windings of the River of the Water of Life in the Development, Discipline, and Fruits of Faith. By GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D.D., New York and London: John Wiley. 1849.

DR. CHEEVER is too well known to the readers of the Biblical Repository to require any advertisement from us of the style and value of his thoughts. We need only to say of this new work, that it is highly characteristic of its author, and, in our humble judgment, is the ablest and best of all his works. It has evidently cost him no little labor, and is the fruit of a rich and instructive experience. It cannot fail to interest and instruct the Christian reader. It blends the practical with the speculative, on the great subject of Faith; it advocates no theory, but traces "the stream of Christian experience as it is recorded in the Word of God, and makes its appearance in the hearts of God's people." "Faith is a life, not a speculation; it is a life, and not a mere emotion in regard to the Author of life. I have endeavored to trace its workings, its forms, its results, its various developments for the ministry of the life of a practical piety, in Christians who, like Paul, count not themselves to have attained, but would be passing forward."

It is divided into four parts: First part-Christ in the Mind; Second part— Christ in the Affections; Third part-Christ in the Life; Fourth part-Christ in the Soul, the hope of glory.

No man, we are persuaded, can peruse it attentively without imbibing a lifegiving draught from the pure river of the water of life; and a second reading, like that of every truly good book on religious experience, will have him more satisfied of its original value, and anxious to turn to it again, and will more thoroughly impregnate his mind with its truth, as being what Milton calls the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. We commend it especially to ministers and students in theology, as an eminently Scriptural, suggestive, and fertilizing work, all the more valuable as being a fresh and original production of the times.

7. Glimpses of Spain; or Notes of an Unfinished Tour in 1847. By S. T. WALLIS. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1849.

THIS is more than a readable book. It contains no little information; and its sketches of Spanish life, and manners, and society, are lively and graphic. The literary merit of the work is considerable. The author gives a more favorable opinion of life in the Peninsula than travelers in general have expressed. We commend it to all who wish for information in regard to a country so rich with historic interest.

8. A Wheat Sheaf gathered from our own Fields. By F. C. WOODWORTH and T. S. ARTHUR. New York: M. W. Dodd. 1849. THIS is among the most interesting and valuable holiday gift books for the young that we have seen. This we should have guessed from the known character of the joint authors. They have here gathered into a beautiful sheaf, some of their choicest stories for the young, beautifully illustrated, and presented in a style and dress to make it truly attractive to the young. It is not a book to amuse only, but to instruct, teaching and illustrating much valuable truth.

9. Anecdotes of the Puritans. New York: M. W. Dodd. 1849.

THESE are short, pithy anecdotes, illustrative of Puritan life and character. They are said to be drawn from authentic sources, though the authorities are not given. Some of them are new; many of them are worth knowing; and the book, as a whole, cannot fail to stimulate the young to the study of the history of those remarkable men.

10. Memoir of Charles Henry Porter, a Student in Theology. By E. GOODRICH SMITH. American Tract Society.

11. The Missionary's Daughter: A Memoir of Lucy Goodale Thurston, of the Sandwich Islands. American Tract Society.

THESE are among the best of the memoirs published by the Tract Society. They are both worthy of general circulation. The memoir of Mr. Porter is an admirable little work to be put into the hands of our pious young men, and of theological students in particular. It can scarcely fail to stimulate to Christian duty, and may lead some to devote themselves to the work of the gospel ministry. "The Missionary's Daughter" is a work that all the daughters and mothers of America ought to read. It has already done much to foster a missionary spirit, and, we doubt not, is destined to prove a rich blessing to thousands more.

12. Fairy Tales from all Nations. By ANTHONY R. MONTAlba. With Twenty-four Illustrations by RICHARD DOYLE. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1850.

ANOTHER beautiful and entertaining book for the young. It is a collection of tales gathered from the fairy lore of all nations, and for the first time translated into English. In themselves considered, we think them of little worth, and we more than question the tendency of all such reading on the youthful mind. But as specimens and illustrations of the popular literature of the various nations from whom the stories are drawn, the book is not without its literary value. We cannot say that the illustrations are to our taste. Such grotesque, outlandish, monstrous caricatures of humanity may find favor with others, but not with us, while we have any reverence left for creatures made "in the image of God."