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fect to men in the day, or from the tongue, of its first Prophet, but had to take new forms and statements. Only Coquerel does not think it necessary to find all these forms parts of a pre-ordained plan, or to prefer the development to the simple primitive Gospel. Mr. Bernard, indeed, vehemently insists that it is all there in the Gospels; that Paul and the rest did not really add any thing, only adjusted the loose frame, and gave the formulas.

The spirit of Mr. Bernard's book is very good. There is no misrepresentation of opponents, no harshness of tone; and the author is evidently a sincere and earnest man, fully persuaded that he has discovered a great truth, and is explaining difficulties. But we are afraid that his devout reasoning, honest as it is, will not convince those whose questions concerning the gospel are more radical, and who will complain that he evades the important points. Possibly, too, the humility and the apology of the preface may sound to some ears like a warning of superficial treatment. It were better to read the book first, and the preface afterward.

C. H. B.

THE preface to the American edition of the "Liber Librorum ”* represents it as more orthodox than it really is. Both in doctrine and spirit, this treatise upon the Scripture and its inspiration is quite as liberal as the works approved and used in the Unitarian assemblies. It leaves to the reason of the individual reader to say how much or how little of the Bible is the "word of God," and in what sense it is the word of God. The writer finds no theological or ecclesiastical Trinity in the Bible; no such doctrine of God as that of the Nicene Creed. "The dogma of the eternal sensitive suffering of those who are unconverted here, which has descended to us from the apostasy, has, as we firmly believe, no place in the word of God; it is, at the best, but a human, and very inaccurate, theological inference." Equally does he rule out the orthodox doctrine of election; and there is no evidence, that he holds any theory of substituted suffering or theological" atonement."

The theory of Inspiration which this book presents is, that the Biblical writers are inspired, where they teach or urge doctrines specially religious; but that, in all other matters, their testimony is only that of any other writers, to be judged in the same way, and to be received

* Liber Librorum: its Structure, Limitations, and Purpose. A friendly Communication to a reluctant Sceptic. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1867. 16mo, pp. 232.

VOL. LXXXIII. NEW SERIES, VOL. IV. NO. I.

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for what it is worth. They were fallible like other writers: inspiration did not make them infallible. The difficulties in the Bible are real difficulties, and are made more serious on the theory, that the book, as a whole, is inspired. The sacred writers make no claim to more than a general guidance and influence of the Holy Spirit. Some will complain of the book, that it professes to hold to a special inspiration which it really gives up; that, with the pretence of answering the objections of the sceptic, it virtually admits the justice of his position, and meets him more than half-way. But it is a pleasant "sign of the time," when a professedly orthodox writer is willing to concede so much and go so far in the direction of what the American editor calls "the scepticism so fearfully prevalent;" when such a writer can see so much reason in the position that sceptics take; and allow that the old notions concerning the Bible, as a miraculous and infallible book, are not only untenable, but pernicious. There is no evidence in the book of very thorough scholarship, and the American editor is right in saying, that, "in respect to some points, the work betrays marks of haste, both in thought and composition." But we shall quite agree with him in saying, that "its spirit is earnest, honest, and Christian." The author is a lover of truth. He does not believe in a false "comprehension," or in covering up differences of opinion or honest doubts by a religious show, or by a mere outward conformity. He has no Pharisaism to bring in judgment against scepticism. It is good to hear such brave and true words so well expressed.

C. H. B.

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS.

Deus Homo: God-man. By Theophilus Parsons. Chicago: E. B. Myers & Chandler. pp. 455.

Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Prepared by the Rev. John McClintock, D.D., and James Strong, LL.D. Vol. I., A, B. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo, pp. 947. (To be reviewed.) Bible Pictures; or, Life-Sketches of Life-Truths. By George B. Ide. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. pp. 437.

Sermons. By Edward B. Hall, D.D., Pastor of First Congregational Church, Providence, R.I., from 1832 to 1866. With a brief Memoir. Boston: William V. Spencer. pp. 162.

Nature and Life: Sermons. By Robert Collyer, Pastor of Unity Church, Chicago. Boston: Horace B. Fuller. Chicago: John R. Walsh. (To be reviewed.)

pp. 313.

HISTORY AND POLITICS.

France and England in North America: a Series of Historical Narratives. By Francis Parkman. Part II.: The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 8vo, pp. 463. (Remarkable for probably the most full, vivid, and authentic account that has been given of Indian life, with its quasi-political institutions and conflicts; for a story of martyrdom as stirring and tragic as any in the range of history; and for an intelligible sketch of the principles at issue, and the results involved, in the English and French struggle for the mastery of this continent. We hope to give the volume further notice hereafter.)

The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke. Revised edition. Vol. XII. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. pp. 432. (The closing volume of this handsome and most excellent edition, with full Index.)

History of the Panama Railroad, and of the Pacific Mail-Steamship Company. Together with a Traveller's Guide and Business Man's Handbook for the Panama Railroad, and the Lines of Steamships connecting it with Europe, the United States, the North and South Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, China, Australia, and Japan. By F. N. Otis, M.D. With Illustrations by the Author. 12mo, pp. 317.

The Bankrupt Law of the United States, 1867. With Notes, and a Collection of American and English Decisions upon the Principles and Practice of the Law of Bankruptcy. Adapted to the Use of the Lawyer and Merchant. By Edwin James, of the New-York Bar, and one of the Framers of the recent English Bankruptcy Amendment Act. 8vo, pp. 325. New York: Harpers & Brothers.

Reply to Hon. Charles G. Loring, upon "Reconstruction." By John S Wright, of Illinois. Boston: A. Williams & Co. Chicago: J. R. Walsh 8vo, pp. 189.

in one.

NOVELS AND TALES.

Nora and Archibald Lee. A Novel. pp. 156. The Land of Thor. By J. Ross Browne. Illustrated. pp. 542. The History of Pendennis; his Fortunes and Misfortunes, his Friends and his Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations by the Author. 2 vols., complete 12mo, pp. 764.- Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty. By J. W. De Forest. 12mo, pp. 521.- Sowing the Wind. A Novel. By E. Lynn Linton. 8vo, pp. 145. New York: Harper & Brothers. Stephen Dane. By Amanda M. Douglas, Author of "In Trust," &c. 12mo, pp. 253. - On the Border. By Edmund Kirke, Author of " Among the Pines," "Life of Jesus," ," "Patriot Boys and Prison Pictures," &c. 12mo, pp. 333. Boston: Lee & Shepard.

Early and Late Papers, hitherto uncollected. By William Makepeace Thackeray. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. pp. 407.

The Black Phantom, or Woman's Endurance: a Narrative connected with the Early History of Canada and the American Revolution. By Charles Shrimpton. 12mo, pp. 358. New York: James Miller.

Fathers and Sons. A Novel. By Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef. Translated from the Russian, by Eugene Schuyler, Ph.D. 16mo, pp. 248. The Man with the Broken Ear. Translated from the French of Edmond About, by Henry Holt. 16mo, pp. 251. New York: Leypoldt & Holt.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The American Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1866; embracing Political, Civil, Military, and Social Affairs, Public Documents, Biography, Statistics, Commerce, Finance, Literature, Science, Agriculture, and Mechanical Industry. Vol. VI. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 8vo, pp. 795. (The scientific record is unusually full; which, with the detailed history of the Congressional Policy of Reconstruction, and the extraordinary events of the "Seven Days' War," makes a volume of remarkable interest. It is made up in the style, and with the purely alphabetical arrangement, now familiar; furnished with a full Index, and three excellent steel portraits.)

Annual of Scientific Discovery; or, Year-Book of Facts in Science and Art, for 1866 and 1867: exhibiting the most Important Discoveries and Improvements in Mechanism, Useful Arts, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology, Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Meteorology, Geography, Antiquities, &c.; together with Notes on the Progress of Science during the Years 1865 and 1866, a List of Recent Scientific Publications, Obituaries of Eminent Scientific Men, &c. Edited by Samuel Kneeland. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. pp. 370. (Besides the great value of many of the discoveries and inventions which it records, this volume is particularly full in its exhibition of the condition of opinion among scientific men on topics of speculative interest in the domain of science.)

An Elementary Treatise on American Grape-culture and Wine-making. By Peter B. Mead. Illustrated with nearly Two Hundred Engravings drawn from Nature. 8vo, pp. 483. New York: Harper & Brothers.

The College, the Market, and the Court; or, Woman's Relation to Education, Labor, and Law. By Caroline H. Dall, Author of "Historical Stetches," &c., &c. pp. 498. Boston: Lee & Shepard. (Abounding in information, good sense, eloquence, and force; the clearest and broadest statement we are acquainted with, on the matters of which it treats.)

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Vol. II.: Purgatorio. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 8vo, pp. 410. (To be reviewed.)

Love in Spain, and other Poems. By Martha Perry Lowe. Boston: William V. Spencer. pp. 232. (The principal piece combines, with a dramatic poem of the affections, of free dialogue, and melodious versification, an agreeable and varied picture of many phases of Spanish life; the plot turning, partly, on one of the many abortive liberal conspiracies. It is striking, even among many similar poems, for the great nobility and tenderness of the sentiment portrayed; and its poetical execution has great merit and skill. Some of the smaller pieces-especially the private ones—we have found charming, in both sentiment and expression: several of them touch on the events of the civil war.)

May Day, and other Pieces. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. pp. 205.

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