which have been copied and repeated by writer after writer, until they have begun to wear the semblance of truth. Our limits will not permit us to discuss this subject at length, yet there is one error which is so common, and which almost every historian has copied and every schoolboy believed, that we cannot refrain from referring to it. We allude to the supposed bribery of the Captain of the May Flower by the Dutch to land the Pilgrims on the New England shore, rather than on the Hudson River, where they purposed making a settlement. There is no doubt that the Pilgrims intended to have made a settlement in a more southerly region, and probably in the neighborhood of New York; and because it was their fortune to have made the first land at Cape Cod, it has been thought necessary to account for this mistake by supposing the Captain to have been bribed. It is we think a sufficient reply to this charge against Captain Jones, that no such suggestion was ever made by Bradford, Winslow, or other leading men of the colony, who would certainly have not been silent on this subject, had there been the least suspicion of its truth. It is a charge that had its origin at a later day, and among other persons than the passengers of that memorable vessel. On the other hand, it is a well established fact, that Captain Jones had the entire confidence of the colonists, and was subsequently engaged in their service, which we can hardly suppose possible, if even suspicions of such gross fraud existed in the minds of the Pilgrims. Thus much is due to a man whose fair name has been tarnished, and whose character has been most unjustly injured. At that day when the science of navigation was far less perfect than at present, and when our coast was wholly unexplored, and to the Pilgrims almost unknown, it is not strange that they did not reach the very point on the coast, where they wished. We ought rather to wonder that, in that frail vessel and with their imperfect means of navigation, they were able to reach a point so near the wished for port. It seems almost a miracle that they arrived at all, and it is due to the heroic commander of that frail bark, freighted as it was with the founders of an empire, to say, that he acted his part most manfully, and that during the whole of that perilous voyage he did everything which skill, care, and industry could do. In justice, there should be neither spot nor blemish on his fame, but to him, as well as to the others on board, our country and the world owe a deep and lasting debt of gratitude.

The volume is embellished with a beautiful engraving of Gov. Winslow, whose likeness alone of all the Pilgrims has been preserved; and also by maps of Cape Cod and Plymouth Bay, as well as by engravings of the May Flower, and the chairs of Winslow, Carver, and Brewster. These are not merely matters of ornament, but serve to illustrate the history of the times, and are an appropriate addition to the work. We have only to regret that we have not the portraits of Bradford, Brewster, Standish, and other prominent men of the colony. They would be invaluable, and as year after year passes away, an increased interest will be felt in all that appertains to those eminent men; to their private as well as public history. Many materials now remain from which their history could be learned, and we trust that Mr. Young will still find an opportunity to prosecute this work, and to give us the results of other investigations in this department of history, in which he has already acquired an enviable reputation.

The Plymouth colony gave the world the first model of a truly free government. The whole people of the colony met in the cabin of the May Flower, on the 11th of November, 1620, and signed a compact, which they agreed should be their constitution of government. Here was an express covenant, and not the implied or theoretical one, which writers on government have been so fond of creating; and it is said to have been the first of the kind of which history gives us any information. Of this meeting in the May Flower, we know but little, except by its results. At whose suggestion it was called, what difference of opinion existed among those who were present, what were the debates, and by whose eloquence it was moved, history gives us no information. Could it unfold to us the whole of the proceedings of this memorable meeting, and inform us what opinions of government each entertained; by what hopes and fears each was moved; and what anticipations of the future each had formed, can we doubt that it would present us the complete triumph of humanity and justice over selfishness; that it would add new glory to the Pilgrim name, and exhibit them not merely as the worthy founders of a new empire and a new system of government, but as martyrs in the cause of religion and humanity?

This colony was small, and its duration as a separate government short; yet in its influence on the character and condition of our country and of the human race, it can hardly be too

highly estimated. Never was there a more successful experiment of popular government, combining all the strength and vigor of a monarchy with all the freedom and security of a republic. During the whole seventy-one years of its existence, there were but six governors, although the elections took place annually; and two of these continued in office through the long period of thirty-nine years, a period by no means of repose, but of peril and excitement. In the intercourse of the colonists with the Indian tribes, they afford a bright example of humanity. Not a foot of their soil was taken from them without their consent, nor without the payment of an equivalent. The treaty with Massassoit for a half century was most scrupulously observed, and it was not their fault or the fault of that faithful sachem, that it was at last violated, and the colony plunged into a most disastrous war with its ancient ally. Though a century and a half have now elapsed since its union with Massachusetts, yet the distinctive principles on which it was founded are still recognised and duly appreciated. As the population extends over our country from river to river, and from mountain to mountain, they will carry with them the principles here implanted, and will establish the institutions of learning and religion which the Pilgrims first formed. The fire here kindled will never go out, but will continue to burn brighter and brighter, shedding light and warmth to millions yet unborn. Wherever freedom finds a home, and true religion a votary, there the name of the Pilgrim will be honored, and there his example, like the beacon light to the weary and benighted mariner, will give new strength and inspire new hope.

W. B.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

The Four Gospels: with a Commentary. By A. A. LIVERMORE. Vol. I. Matthew. Boston: James Munroe & Company. London: John Green. 1841. 12mo. pp. 345.

THIS is a popular Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, according to the received Version. We rejoice that it comes from one so competent for the undertaking, as Mr. Livermore has shown himself to be. We have examined portions of the

work with considerable care, and have found in it satisfactory evidence of sound judgment, and of ample learning for the end, which the author proposed to himself. His object has been not so much to add to our stores of Biblical learning, as to bring forward for common use, what has not been accessible heretofore. We think that our Sunday School Teachers and Bible Classes will learn more respecting the religion of Christ from this, than from any popular Commentary, which is in use in this country. While Mr. Livermore endeavors to unfold the true and exact meaning of a passage, he looks beyond the letter of the words of Jesus to the life-giving spirit. While with ample learning he sets forth the particular and local meaning, which belongs to many of the sayings of our Saviour, he does not neglect to point out the general import, which they have for all men and all times. His explanations strike us as generally clear and correct; his opinions on subjects, which have recently engaged the attention of the community, are sound; that is, he holds the received views of the church respecting the design of miracles, and the peculiar and divine authority of Christ. He is very free from mysticism and nonsense. His moral reflections are natural and to the purpose; suggested by the text, and not forced upon it.

That we should agree with him in all his expositions is not to be expected. One, which now occurs to us, in which we differ from him, is that of Matt. v. 34, though he appears to have Griesbach on his side. On the whole, we regard the work as highly creditable to the talents, learning, and spirit of the author, and to the Theological School where he was educated. In this work, as in others by alumni of the Cambridge School, we observe traces of the opinions and influence of one of its earliest professors, who has heretofore been honored in the productions of his pupils, hardly less than in the important contributions to theological science, which he has given to the world under his name.

The Comprehensive Church: or Christian Unity and Ecclesiastical Union. By the Rev. THOMAS VAIL, A. M. Hartford H. Huntington, Jr. 1841. 12mo. pp. 301.

THIS is a work of the best intentions, and written in a perfectly liberal and catholic spirit. The author's aim is to promote Christian unity, and to show, that if Christians would but think so, they might all come together, and dwell in harmony, under the wings of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States-a church,

which he devotes the greater part of his volume to prove, is truly catholic, liberal, comprehensive; rejecting none of the great Christian brotherhood, who receive the chief essentials in Christian doctrine, welcoming all who do, no matter how widely they may depart from her standards in things non-essential. And certainly he makes out a very good case. He makes it appear that his Church deserves the praise of a large and generous spirit deserves it in a higher sense than any other of the principal denominations among Christians. But before we can intelligently determine what is the absolute comprehensiveness of its charity-not its comparative we must be told what is

a

the author's definition of "essentials," and " non-essentials." He indeed affirms, that the only acknowledged obligatory rule of faith in the Episcopal Church is the Apostles' Creed creed, which all certainly may subscribe, who receive the Scriptures as a divine revelation.

"Since," says Mr. Vail, "none other than the Apostles' Creed is obligatory (that is, under the penalty of a refusal of the sacraments except it be confessed) upon the members of the Church; and since all persons, who believe the Scriptures and are not infidels, will acknowledge this creed, whatever may be their differences in interpreting and explaining the Scriptures, — is there not, therefore, danger to the doctrines of the Church from such liberality? and ought not another and more minute and explicit creed to be substituted?

"We reply: The Church has no right to require any further intellectual qualifications for the sacraments, than a belief in the plain and indisputable facts and doctrines of the Scripture, such as is expressed, substantially, in the Apostles' Creed. When it goes beyond this, it sets up human reasonings, the doctrines of men, as the terms upon which men are to receive the privileges of Christ's Church -an usurpation which cannot be justified. It is not for the Church, in the execution of its trust, to say what is danger on the one hand, or what is expediency on the other. It is simply to administer the ordinances of Christ upon his own terms, and as He himself would to all his true disciples, and leave the protection of its doctrines to the gracious and mighty providence of its great Head.”pp. 130, 131.

"A

Nothing could be better than this. He says, moreover, that the true Comprehensive Church will be broad enough to admit, "all sincere humble-hearted disciples of our Lord." Church," he maintains in another place, " is an association of all true disciples of Christ, acknowledging his Gospel for their rule of faith and practice, of every variety of personal opinion, talent, temperament, and condition." And, again, "We cannot acknowledge one which rests on a narrower foundation, as illustrating the true idea of a Church." Does the author include in this wide and generous embrace those, who VOL. XXXI. 3D S. VOL. XIII. NO. I.

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