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General Literature.

The Rights of the Poor and Christian Almsgiving Vindicated; or, The State and Character of the Poor, and the Conduct and Duties of the Rich, exhibited and illustrated. By S. R. Bosanquet, Esq. London: Burns. 1841.

THE condition and character of the poor have long required a more fair and Christian representation than the evidence elicited by the Poor Law, or the reports of Mendicity Societies. Mr. Bosanquet has taken upon him to be their champion, and has certainly performed his task with much zeal and much kindness. He has, too, the better feelings of mankind enlisted on his side; for to speak harshly of, and to act harshly towards, the poor, or the seeming poor-though it may be a virtue with Whig-Radical economists-has ever been esteemed something like a crime by Churchmen. Yet we feel that Mr. Bosanquet writes as an advocate, "Medio tutissimus." We shall soon take up the subject ourselves, and we have documents that will show how applicable is the old adage in the present instance.

Chaucer's Poems Modernized. With an Introduction by R. H. Horne, and a Life of Chaucer by Professor Leonhard Schmitz. London: Whittaker. 1841.

To say that we are greatly pleased with this modernization, would be merely saying what it deserves. The Life, by Professor Leonhard Schmitz, is a very pleasing piece of biography: few Englishmen write their own language with more accuracy and elegance than does this young, but accomplished, scholar of Germany. The poems selected are, for the most part, well done, especially those by Wordsworth and Powell. For our own parts, we naturally prefer the black letter; but we do not doubt. that this elegant adaptation will make the father of English poetry more known than he is to the present generation ; and it has, therefore, our hearty commendations.

Live while you Live. By the Rev. T. Griffiths, M.A., Minister of Rams Chapel, Homerton. London: Burns. 1841.

MR. GRIFFITHS appears to have been struck so forcibly with the excellence of Doddridge's well-known epigram, that he has taken up the subject thus suggested to him in a course of lectures, viewing human life in its various aspects; and has affectionately dedicated the little volume to the younger members of his flock. Like all that proceeds from Mr. Griffiths' pen, it is well worthy

of attention.

An Attempt to ascertain the true Chronology of the Book of Genesis. By George Smithi. London: Simpkin and Co. 1840.

THIS "Attempt" was originally a lecture, delivered by the author at the Literary Institution, Camborne, Cornwall. Its object is to establish the longer chronology of the book of Genesis, as exhibited in the Septuagint version; which chronology has been elaborately defined by Mr. Jackson, in his "Chronological Antiquities;" by Dr. Hales, in his "New Analysis of Chronology;" and by Bishop Russell, of the Scottish Episcopal Church at Glasgow, in his "Connexion of Sacred and Profane History." Those who have not leisure to investigate their elaborate remarks, will find the subject comprehensively and clearly discussed in this little work. Lest, however, any of our readers should be distressed by the apprehension that the establishment of the larger chronology may affect the credibility of the facts related in the book of Genesis, we may incidentally remark, that chronological differences are not confined to the holy Scriptures ; they equally exist in profane historians: but these differences do not necessarily infer any uncertainty in the matters of fact which they have related. It is yet a disputed question in what year the city of Rome was built, and also whether it was originally founded by Romulus; yet no one doubts the fact that Rome was built, or that such a person as Romulus actually existed.

A Supplement to Dr. Sall's True Catholic and Apostolic Faith maintained in the Church of England, as recently republished with Notes; in which the groundlessness of the charges and insinuations contained in a notice of the Work in the British Magazine" for December, 1840, and also in the following January number, is considered and exposed. By the Rev. J. Allport. London: Whittaker. 1841. 8vo.

THIS is a satisfactory vindication by Mr. Allport of his seasonable reprint of Dr. Sall's learned defence of our Church (which was noticed in page 503 of our number for October, 1840), against the strictures published in a contemporary journal. Mr. Ă. has added various useful notes and corrections, which the possessors of Dr. Sall's work will do well to procure, in order to complete their copies.

Scott's Bible. (New Edition). Part 1. London: Seeleys. 1841. AN excellent and cheap reprint of a work, which, while we occasionally differ from it in opinions, we always use for its piety and practical utility.

Selections from the Proverbs and Book of Ecclesiastes, in English, French, Italian, and German. London: Murray. 1841. 16mo. THIS is a very useful selection from the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, comprising a series of precepts of general application to persons of all ages, in the four languages above indicated. It is intended for the use of young persons.studying those languages; who," by learning daily one sentence in the English part, and reading, translating, and comparing with it the corresponding sentence in French, Italian, or German, may, in the course of the year, acquire many excellent maxims and rules of conduct, and at the same time familiarize themselves with the idiom of three other languages, with the sacrifice of very little time or trouble." The versions here given are, the Italian of Diodati, the German of Luther, and the revision of the French Protestant translation by David Martin, with the authorized English version. This little volume is beautifully printed, and has our commendation, as being likely to answer the benevolent intention of the compiler.

Sephardim; or, The History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal. By James Finn. London: Rivingtons. 1841.

THAT branch of the Jewish nation which was early located in the peninsula, and was distinguished for learning, wealth, and ability, was called Sephardim; the other, or German branch of the European Jews, being denominated Ashkenazim. Of the former and more important race, Mr. Finn has, in the interesting volume before us, given a very admirable history. Of all the books about the Jews (and truly their name is legion) which the modern press pours out on the world, Sephardim is the most learned, the most accurate, the most romantic, and the most instructive.

The Sermons of the Right Reverend Robert Sanderson, D. D., late Lord Bishop of Lincoln. With a Life by Isaac Walton, and an Introductory Preface by the Rev. Robert Montgomery, M. A. of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Minister of St. Jude's Church, Glasgow. 2 vols. London: Ball and Arnold. 1841.

WE had marked several passages for extraction in Mr. Montgomery's admirable preface, but the pressure of other matter compels us, for the present, to content ourselves with recommending to our readers this excellent edition of a divine, of whom King Charles the Martyr is reported to have said "I carry my ears to hear other preachers, but my conscience to hear Sanderson."

A Selection from the Unpublished Papers of the Right Reverend William Warburton, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Gloucester. By the Rev. Francis Kilvert, M. A., late of Worcester College, Oxford. London: Nichols.

1841.

PERHAPS of all the remarkable men of his day, William Warburton was the most powerful minded. His gigantic intellect, his easily excited spleen, and the prominent part which he took in the controversies of his age, have led us to look at him too much as a mere polemic-an intellectual gladiator. Mr. Kilvert has given us a selection, from his unpublished papers, calculated to set him in a more amiable, let us say, a juster point of view.

A History of the Reformation on the Continent. By the Very Rev. George Waddington, D.D., Dean of Durham. London: Duncan and Malcolm. 1841.

WE propose, in our next number, to devote an article to this important subject; and shall do this in a review of the Dean of Durham's very able and instructive history-that of Merle d'Aubigné and Count Valerian Krasinsky's History of the Reformation in Poland. Our only reason for mentioning this book (Dr. Waddington's) now, is to apprize our readers that it is out, and eminently worthy their attention.

John Huss. The Workings of Popery in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Translated from the German, by Margaret Anne Wyatt. London: Seeleys. 1841.

Ar a time like the present, every contribution to the history of Popery is valuable, and we look, therefore, upon this excellent translation (which does Miss Wyatt great credit) as peculiarly seasonable. The history of John Huss is more than usually instructive, and it is well brought before us in the present volume.

Letters to an Aged Mother. By a Clergyman. London: Seeleys. 1841. In these letters, though there are some things, perhaps, of a too private and peculiar character, we meet with a warmth of devotional feeling, a soundness of judgment, and a correctness of doctrine, which affords us much pleasure. The print, too, is

good and large.

Summer Rambles and Winter Amusements. By a Clergyman's Widow. London: Darton and Clark. 1841.

WERE it only that this little book is written by a clergyman's widow, we should feel inclined in its favour; but it is so well written, and in so good a spirit, that it may fairly rest its claims to public approbation on its own merits.

Life and Remains of the Rev. Robert Houseman, B.A. By Robert Fletcher Houseman, Esq. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1841. THE revival of religion in the last century numbered among its most zealous and sincere promoters, Mr. Houseman, of Lancaster. He was a burning and a shining light; and for forty years, during which he was the minister of St. Anne's church, his example, as well as his doctrine, was eminently calculated to do good. In the memoir before us, Wesley, Whitefield, Lady Huntingdon, and all the chief movers of the religious revival spoken of, find their place; original letters are given; and a valuable contribution is made to some future "Religious History of the Eighteenth Century."

It is

My Life. By an Ex-Dissenter. London: Fraser. 1841. AN able book, with an able preface. We are, however, sorry to meet with the offensive word "Puseyite" in its pages. used only once, but we feel persuaded that so sound a Churchman will expunge it in the next edition. Nicknames are unworthy of him; and we wish that those who invented the one in question had only a tithe of Dr. Pusey's Christian spirit.

Washington: an Essay. By M. Guizot.

Translated from the

French, by Paul Parnell, Esq. London: Painter. 1841. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find a living writer more capable of appreciating the character, and, what is more, the position of Washington, than that enlightened minister, M. Guizot. To praise him would be a work of supererogation, and we shall, therefore, only say that Mr. Parnell has ably translated the essay.

Sermons. By George Goodenough Lynn, M.A., Minister of St. John's Chapel, Hampton Wick. London: Seeleys. 1841.

It is giving no great praise to say of a volume of sermons, published in the present day, that they are good ones; and yet what more is there to be said? These before us are sound in doctrine, and elegant in language; and as they are profitable to read, so, we doubt not, they were profitable to hear.

The Theory and Practice of Valuing Tithes. By Taylor Cooke. London: Shaw and Sons. 1841.

THOSE of our readers who are interested in this question may find much useful information in Mr. Cooke's volume, which possesses the additional value, that it is not a book "de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis.”

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