-

Indeed,

intermediate state of the soul, and the final union of the pneuma with the regenerated soma, for Mr. Heard makes a distinction between the sarx and the soma,- is certainly much in advance of average orthodoxy. But it is also much less spiritual than that of Swedenborg, whom Mr. Heard stigmatizes as a fantastic dreamer. for spiritualism of any kind he has a pronounced contempt. His pneumatology is not spiritualism. Neither the psyche nor the pneuma can exist without a body. And an inconsistency of the book is, that it allows the absence of all body in the intermediate state, and shows only two of the three elements able to get along comfortably in mutual help without any third element, able to prepare themselves in this bodiless purgatorial state for the future reunion with their former body.

This book of Mr. Heard's, though simpler and more straightforward in its method of reasoning, belongs to the class of which Dr. Bushnell's works are the best known specimens, — of works which show the weakness of the views which they oppose better than the soundness of their own view. The trichotomy" really makes Orthodoxy no more rational than the dichotomy. The essential difficulties of the scheme remain, whether we suppose that man has two, three, or five natures. The utmost that the trichotomy accomplishes is to show apparent value in a few physical analogies, and to add another factor in the work of redemption. It really explains nothing in giving three instead of two unknown quantities, in adding z to x and y.

C. H. B.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

SIMULTANEOUSLY with the volume of Lectures reviewed in another part of this Journal, the Massachusetts Historical Society published a volume of their Proceedings, from April, 1867, to March, 1869, * which will be read with nearly equal interest, and is not less deserving of a permanent place on the shelves of every historical student. Its interest is mainly biographical, and the larger part of its contents consists of memoirs, prepared in accordance with the practice of the Society, to preserve in its published Proceedings some account of the lives, characters, and writings of its deceased members. The me

* Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1867-1869. Boston: Published by the Society. 8vo, pp. 519.

moirs thus included in the volume before us are a very full, elaborate, and carefully prepared account of the life and various literary labors of President Sparks, by the Rev. George E. Ellis, D.D., based partly on personal knowledge and partly on the private journals and other unpublished writings of that eminent scholar; two charming memoirs of Judge Story and President Felton, by the Hon. George S. Hillard, than whom no one could have executed the task more gracefully, or from a more intimate familiarity with their personal and intellectual traits; a brief but sympathetic sketch of the. life and writings of the Rev. Dr. Jenks, by the Rev. George W. Blagden, D.D.; an excellent account of the life and judicial services of Chief-Justice Shaw, by his associate on the bench, the Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas; and a very admirable memoir of that pure-hearted and large-minded merchant and scholar George Livermore, by his intimate personal friend, Mr. Charles Deane. The peculiarly close relations which existed between them, and a judicious use of Mr. Livermore's private papers, which were placed at his disposal after his friend's death, have enabled Mr. Deane to produce a biography which leaves almost nothing to be desired, and ought to be separately printed as a just tribute to one of the best of men and most indefatigable of historical students. If its plan, and the purpose for which it was prepared, had allowed a fuller account of Mr. Livermore's religious life, the memoir would have formed a very acceptable introduction to the series of Unitarian biographies so long contemplated by the Unitarian Association. It is due to the character of Mr. Livermore, and to the services which he rendered as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association, that some sketch of his life should be included in any biographical series thus prepared; and of such an account Mr. Deane's memoir must be the basis.

Besides these papers, the volume also contains an interesting and valuable Essay on the Seals of Massachusetts, by Mr. Thomas C. Amory; a thorough and satisfactory report on the Hutchinson. Papers, by the Rev. Dr. Ellis; an important and hitherto unpublished letter of Nathan Dane to Daniel Webster, on the Ordinance of 1787; and numerous other letters and documents of historical interest and value.

Like all the volumes recently published by the Society, it is beautifully printed; and it has a very full and accurate Index, the want of which in the volume of Lectures on the Early History of Massachusetts must be regretted by every reader.

C. C. S.

THERE are many persons of moderate means, who will be glad to know of a descriptive treatise upon Pompeii, in the English language, sufficient in detail and illustration to meet all the ordinary wants of a scholar. Mr. Dyer's work before us is, to be sure, less complete than Overbeck's; and the wood-cuts, although numerous and excellent, are not at all equal to the German. But as a whole the book leaves little to be desired. It will give a very satisfactory notion of this city of the dead, even to one who has never been there; and the maps, plans, views, and restorations afford ample materials to any person of imagination, for reconstructing it quite accurately. We are inclined to think, however, that even so truthful representations as these would lead most persons to expect greater completeness than really exists, so that they would be sadly disappointed by the ruin and dilapidation of the original. Somehow, pictures, from their smoothness and neatness we suppose, almost always carry the imagination a little beyond the rude original. And we fancy that this is still more the case with the restorations of Pompeian edifices, of which quite a number are given, after Mr. Dering. Perhaps no feature of the volume is more valuable than this; but however correct these restorations may be in details, they convey an impression of much more spaciousness and grandeur than we conceive to have existed in this provincial town, or than the actual dimensions of the ruins would suggest.

The work of the editor is exceedingly well done. Mr. Dyer had already won a high reputation by works of a similar nature, in his articles in Smith's Dictionaries, particularly that upon the city of Rome, which are among the best of their kind. This reputation he has not forfeited, even by his late quixotic attempt to undo every thing that has been accomplished by Niebuhr and his followers. If he has failed as an historian, he stands in the front rank of antiquarians. He has consequently made of this account of Pompeii a nearly complete treatise upon Roman antiquities,—so far, that is, as the externals of life are concerned. The construction of temples, theatres, and amphitheatres, — embracing accounts of the drama and the glad

* Pompeii: its History, Buildings, and Antiquities. An account of the destruction of the city, with a full description of the remains, and of the recent excavations, and also an itinerary for visitors. Edited by THOMAS H. Dyer, LL.D., of the University of St. Andrews. Illustrated with nearly three hundred wood engravings, a large map, and a plan of the Forum. Second edition. London: Bell and Daloy, York Street, Covent Garden. 1868.

8vo, pp. 579.

iatorial shows, houses, baths, &c., is well and fully described here; and these special chapters are quite worthy to form part of a complete treatise upon antiquities. In this view the lack of an index, which would at any rate have been very useful, is unpardonable.

When we say that the editor's work is well done, however, we must add that it is not always possible to tell whom we are praising. Mr. Dyer "edits" the treatise published originally by the "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," about thirty or forty years ago; and in order to bring it down to the present date, and at the same time keep it within reasonable limits, he has not only added, but omitted, transposed, and recast, to such an extent as to make it his own; and one reads along with great satisfaction, thinking it is all the time Mr. Dyer's book, until he comes of a sudden to a footnote, signed Editor, correcting some statement in the text; but shortly after, with no indication of a change of authorship, there will be references to recent publications or recent discoveries, showing that here Mr. Dyer is the author. This is worse than an inadvertence. Whoever, indeed, works over a book in this makes himself responway, sible for all the original matter that he retains; and the book as a whole, no doubt, represents Mr. Dyer's views nearly as well as if he wrote every word himself. But it is only nearly as well. That the unity of the work is injured by this confusion in authorship is something the chief objection is, that the reader cannot feel the same confidence in what he sees before him that he would feel in statements that rested unequivocally upon Mr. Dyer's authority. Views cannot but change in thirty years; and there may very easily be expressions in the original which the present editor would not care to alter, but which he would not have used himself.

One slight criticism we may make upon the proportions of the parts. For a guide-book, for which use this volume is well fitted, there is none too much space devoted to the descriptions of the individual houses; but the great majority of readers would gladly exchange a few of these for some more details upon points that illustrate the private and municipal life of the people, particularly the graffiti, for which it is rather aggravating to be only referred to rare and expensive foreign books. What Mr. Dyer gives us upon this head is well chosen and most acceptable: we only wish there were more of it.

Among the especially good things in the book, we will mention the account of the vela, or canopies, of the amphitheatre (p. 222) and

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20

the remarks upon the manufactures of the ancients (p. 356). Whether the original author or the editor should have the credit of these we do not know: it must be admitted that the substantial unity of the work is so perfect, that its best features might be easily attributed to either.

W. F. A.

THE class of religious biography to which Mr. Fox has just added the life of one* who was making an era in the history of our Sundayschools, is exceedingly small: not that many things of this sort have not been attempted, but that the work has been badly done, false in its spirit, and evil in its influence. Many of these biographies hide all that is most valuable in their subject, his or her failures, weaknesses, and indiscretions; many others are written with the purpose of glorifying a particular creed, of course exaggerating its influence over an individual life, and denying its contracting, sometimes paralyzing, power over other minds: sometimes, the idol-worship is so excessive that one catches hardly a glimpse of a well-known friend; as, in the Sundayschool libraries, religious children are always beautiful as angels. The worst perversion of the opportunity of doing good by cheering the Christian with an inspiring example, is when a covert assault is made on some obnoxious sect, and facts are misstated, and insinuations are made to prejudice the public against those who cannot be heard in selfdefence. It need not be said that the memoir of the secretary of our Sunday-school Society is tainted with none of these faults, is generous in spirit, honest in statement, and free from man-worship; that the labor of love is performed with wise reference to the thousands of children who reverence Mr. Walker as a spiritual father; that, therefore, it will take its place alongside of the memoir of Henry Ware and his wife, as a silent builder-up of Christ's kingdom. One of the best things about it is, that, except in his year's labor for the Sunday-school Society, his life would pass for a failure, and had more than an average of disappointment, being baffled in the attempt to establish a bureau for our religious literature. But, in the spiritual sense, there was no failure at all; there was constant discipline, marked growth, a beautiful unfolding of character, and a conscious ripening for that home into which he entered too soon for us, but not for himself. Many are the excellent words he has spoken, like those to one reduced from affluence,

* Memoir of James P. Walker, with Selections from his Writings. Boston: American Unitarian Association, 1869.