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tion, and, to our minds, they have never been equalled by any subsequent writers for children. We are not, therefore, surprised to learn, that "they have been translated into French, German, Greek, and many other languages." We notice that the author in his preface to this "second series," has his misgivings-" whether the harp has since become so worn by time, that its notes will be no longer recognized," will be determined by the issuing of this little volume.

It is evident that the publication has been rather sought by the friends of the author, as we learn in the preface, than a spontaneous act on his part. We share with Dr. Todd, in his implied doubt, whether this "second series" will be as acceptable as the first. A quarter of a century has elapsed between the publication of the two, and very few writers can expect to maintain the same power in relation to the youthful mind, as when hope is firm, and strength is high. If we may venture to hint at what we consider the defects of this book, we should say that they were the very reverse of what we should suppose would be found in it, taking into account the maturity of life to which the author has now attained. We think the style in many parts too complicated for children. This is natural in written compositions, but we take it, that these addresses have been spoken, and by many readers will be adopted as a model. We give one instance in proof of this from page 11. "If you use bad, low, wicked words; if you are rude, unkind, cruel, and headstrong; if you are proud, vain, and overbearing; if you are selfish, covetous, envious, or jealous, of others; if you are profane or vulgar, in manners or behaviour; if you are unkind to your brothers or sisters, or disobedient to your parents; then you have something to be ashamed of." This passage is sufficiently long for a pulpit purpose, and even then, we doubt whether more than half the congregation would follow the speaker to the end of the sentence. We are quite sure that to give utterance to it from the Sunday school desk would make no impression, if unillustrated, and quoted in its present form. The style of elaboration into which Dr. Todd is here betrayed we are quite sure would be admitted on reflection, even by himself, to be quite unsuited to the audience of a Sunday school, and yet there are many long passages of a similar nature scattered through the book. We find some of the more poetical parts of these addresses disfigured by the same. fault. We advocate the quotation of the great poets, even before children, when occasion calls for it, but we think our own descriptive pieces should be terse and clear. We believe our readers will agree with us, that the majority of a company of children would be quite lost as to our meaning before we came to the conclusion of the following paragraph, page 14: "As the large company wound along the footpath, among the hills, where the vineyards were hanging their ripe fruits; where the flowers were breathing out their sweetness, where the fields were waving with grain; where the beautiful oleander gleamed with its load of richest blossoms, and the roses of Sharon tempted the children to stop and pluck them; where the dove sat on the boughs of the trees that hung over the path, and poured out her low song-oh, how glad were the hearts of these people!" It is at least not too much to say, that very many juvenile readers would have to refer to the beginning of the sentence, to come to an understanding as to the scope of its meaning: what effect, then, could it have upon the hearers?

We find a great similarity of description in many parts of the book, and principally of that peculiar style to which we have referred; we might almost call them repetitions, only varied according to the subject in hand.

We also detect some of the more beautiful illustrations of the "first series" adapted to the "second," but certainly spoiled in the process.

In the following passage, we object both to the exaggerated style, (that is for a Sunday school purpose,) as well as to the overstrained analogy which is attempted. There are very few facts in human history which will bear citation, as holding in any sense to the atonement of the Redeemer. The Bible alone is our safe guide in this respect, and we are quite sure that all efforts of the imagination on this subject will utterly fail. The simple story of the life of our Lord, the ungarnished record of the circumstances attending His death, and the solemn description of His sufferings, as told by the Evangelists, will make a much deeper impression on the minds of children, than any far fetched descriptions can possibly accomplish.

Page 84-"Now, imagine that you are on the brink of one of these glaciers in the night. You are alone; and you must cross it and find shelter or you perish. The winds how, and the great avalanches of ice thunder and echo among these awful solitudes, and the storm-notes come booming up from far below. You cautiously creep along on the edge of the ice-cake, and you see an awful chasm running along, one on each side of your narrow path. As you thrust down the sharp point of your staff into the ice, you move very slowly. And now you have got out a mile into the middle of the glacier; and just as you have got between two fearful openings, your staff breaks, and is useless; and that moment, a gust of wind, fierce as a tiger, (?) puts out your light! Ah! now what will you do? To move backward or forward is certain destruction! To stop there is to be frozen as solid as the ice beneath your feet! What will you do? You shout, and the swelling winds carry your voice away, and it is lost in the storm. Just then you see, on the far-off land, a little twinkling light. In a few minutes more, you would have given up, and sunk down into the opening ice, where you would never have been heard of again till the resurrection morning. But now the light seems to creep nearer and nearer to you. It comes up, and a man stands close to you-only that deep chasm is between you and him. He hangs the little lantern on the end of his alpenstock, and reaches it to you. You take it off very carefully. He then reaches again to give you the needed staff. You sieze it eagerly, and give it a jerk; and by that jerk he loses his balance, falls in, and down, down, he falls, and lies bleeding and mangled far down under the deep ice! You had no time to ask his name, or learn who he was. You only know that he perilled and lost his life for you! With that staff, and that lantern, you reach the land, find a dwelling, and are saved. Ah! yes! and you learn that the man who thus lost his life for you, was one who knew you would be lost unless he went to you, and who expected it would cost him his life; and the one whom, of all men in the world, you had treated the most unkindly, and who had reason to despise you and hate you, and to be willing to have you perish in the dark cold night, under the deep awful glacier! And now suppose, that after this you are never heard to speak of the kindness of that man, never to mention how you were delivered,

never to think over your unkindness to him, and his nobleness and kindness in forgetting it all and coming to save you!—is this being grateful ?"

We mention these as points to which exception must be taken by the readers of this volume. There are many beautiful and telling illustrations scattered through the book; but, as a whole, we must pronounce it inferior to its predecessors. We shall be glad, however, if the publication stimulates the teachers in our schools to attempt greater things in the way of Sunday School Addresses. This is a department of admitted importance and equal difficulty. It is, however, to be attained by study, perseverance, and practice, and the class is the very best sphere for its exercise. The reason why so many fail here is, that its importance is either under-rated, or no preparation is made, or the want of ability is taken for granted. We say to all who feel interested in this matter, mark out a path for yourselves. A student of his Bible, a general reader, and a man of common observation, if he loves children, will soon learn how to "strike home."

Fragments of the Great Diamond set for Young People; being a variety of Addresses to Children. By the Rev. James Bolton, B.A., Minister of St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel, Kilburn, Middlesex. Second Edition.

Wertheim and Co.

THIS is a charming little book. The addresses are well worthy to take rank by the side of Dr. Todd's happiest efforts, and they have an ease and liveliness which will ensure for them a ready access to the minds and hearts of children. The respective titles are-The Fleet of Fishing Boats-The Troublesome Member - Happy Rhoda-Our Fathers and Mothers-The Favoured Colt-Little Vessels-The Babe and his Friends-Our New and Better Home.

Teachers who desire to excel in the difficult art of speaking simply and attractively to young people will do well to take Mr. Bolton as one of their models.

Scripture Lessons. Second Series. Edinboro', T. C. Jack.

WE are disappointed with these lessons; they are good in themselves, but decidedly heavy. The author has adopted the purely didactic style, and hence the book is all preaching and application.

The Children's Charter; or the Saviour's Charge regarding the Young. By the Rev. John Edmond, Glasgow. Nisbet and Co.

AN able series of lectures, by a Presbyterian Minister, on the relative duties of parents and children, based on the evangelic narrative of the chil. dren brought to Christ. The volume originated, the preface informs us, in an address prepared at the request of the Glasgow Maternal Association, and now extended to a series. The child's place in the kingdom of Christ

is clearly and powerfully insisted on, and, among other subjects discussed, the writer's pleadings for a more hearty encouragement to young believers who desire to be communicants, has our thorough sympathy. When will christian people cease to urge children to believe, while they reserve the Lord's supper as a privilege for mature years, and regard with grave suspicion all candidates for church fellowship who have not attained to the age of sixteen or eighteen years? Mr. Edmond seems hardly favorable to the children of christian parents attending the Sunday school, because it, to some extent, disperses a family; and he values the school chiefly as a missionary institution. It should not, however, be forgotten, that such an agency, even when so regarded, must suffer severely if christian parents stand aloof, and leave the work of instruction to their junior and inexperienced brethren; while the separation complained of, temporary at the worst, may be to some extent avoided if both parent and child are found in the Sabbath school.

True Womanhood.

Memorials of Eliza Hessel. By Joshua Priestly, Hamilton, Adams, and Co.

WE can say of this memoir what we cannot say of many recent biographies, that it was well deserving of publication. It traces the course of a young christian female, who, possessing good abilities, bestowed upon them the highest cultivation she could give, and consecrated them all to the glory of God and the good of man. Miss Hessel's literary tastes are conspicuous in the narrative, and will render the book especially acceptable to those of like bias with herself. No thoughtful reader can fail to be benefited by such a record of sanctified talent, and to our young female readers we especially recommend its perusal.

Among smaller publications we have to notice Revival of Religion, its Principles, Necessity, Effects; Snow. A series of Papers contributed to the "British Standard," by the Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham; thoughtful, earnest, and valuable. The Gate of Heaven; by Charles Larom, Sheffield; Heaton and Son. A well written little pamphlet. The opening of the Third Seal, and The Fourth Trumpet; by a Working Man. Reed and Pardon. We recommend the Author to leave Trumpets and Seals alone for the future. A Sermon on the Spring; by the Rev. W. T. Rosevear; and one entitled Teach the Children; by the Rev. P. Colborne; from both of which we have given extracts in our present number.

Of Periodicals received, we have only space to enumerate The Family Treasury for March, April, and May; a publication of very superior excellence. The Leisure Hour and Sunday at Home for March and April, with their varied stores of useful information. The Educator and British Controversialist; each containing many well written articles. Also The Jewish Herald; Christian Miscellany; Wesleyan Sunday School Magazine (what need is there for denominational Sunday school periodicals?) and Early Days.

The General Reader.

THE BISHOP AND THE CURATE. swered, "No put offs, my Lord: answer me presently." "Then, Sir," said he, "I think it lawful for you to take my brother Neale's money, for he offers it."

A violent Welsh squire having taken offence at a poor curate, who employed his leisure hours in mending clocks and watches, applied to the bishop of St. Asaph, with a formal complaint against him for impiously carrying on a trade, contrary to the statute. His lordship, having heard the complaint, told the squire he might depend upon it that the strictest justice should be done in the case. Accordingly, the mechanic divine was sent for, a few days after, when the bishop asked him "How he dared to disgrace his diocese by becoming a mender of clocks and watches?"-The other, with all humility, answered,-" To satisfy the wants of a wife and ten children.""That won't do with me," rejoined the prelate. "I'll inflict such a punishment upon you, as shall make you leave off your pitiful trade, I promise you." And immediately calling in his secretary, he ordered him to make out a presentation for the astonished curate to a living of at least one hundred and fifty pounds per annum.

FLATTERY.

IMPIETY.

Impiety consists in neglecting to cultivate pious affections; in cherishing evil passions: or in being guilty of such practices by word or deed, as may lessen our own or other men's reverence of the divine attributes, providence, or revelation. If we neglect the means of cultivating pious affection, it is a sign that in us piety is weak, or rather that it is wanting, and that we are regardless of our own improvement, as well as insensible to the best interests of mankind.

SPARE MOMENTS.

Spare moments are like the gold dust of time. Of all the portions of our life, spare moments are the most fruitful in good or evil. They are the gaps through which temptations find the easiest access to the garden of the soul.

AXIOM AND MAXIM. The words axiom and maxim are sometimes indifferently used one for the other, but very improperly. The

His Majesty, King James the First, once asked Bishop Andrews and Bishop Neale the following question."My Lords, cannot I take my subjects' money when I want it, without all this formality in parliament ?" first, as it is applied in arts and Bishop Neale readily answered, "God sciences, signifies a principle already forbid, Sir, but you should; you are established; an indubitable truth genthe breath of our nostrils." Where- erally known; a proposition, the truth upon the king turned, and said to of which speaks at once for itself, and Bishop Andrews-" Well, my Lord, requires no circumlocution to prove it. what say you?" "Sir," replied the A maxim is a sententious thought; bishop, "I have no skill to judge of an idea commonly acknowledged, and parliamentary cases." The king an- energetically expressed.

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