this latest of his works. His edition of Virgil in the Bibliotheca Classica, of which Vol. III. has not yet appeared, his admirable metrical translation of Virgil, and that of Horace, perhaps a little less felicitous, together with occasional and various contributions to periodical literature, had made him widely and favorably known, and excited high hopes for the future. This last work will, as his last, have its peculiar interest, and will be judged with the tenderness of a bereaved friend, except by those accomplished critics who know no persons and own no friendships in literature. The spirit of many of these satires and epistles has been admirably caught and given, and the difficulty of the task makes any such measure of success no slight triumph. No one is better aware of this than our translator himself, as his introduction distinctly recognizes. We might cite many a line, couplet, or longer passage that will often come back with pleasure to those who have wearied themselves with the endeavor to reproduce some of the wonderfully happy phrases of Horace; and if we should adduce other examples of a more partial success, it would only illustrate the difficulty of clothing the witty, polished poet of the Augustan age of Rome in a becoming English dress. Howe's Pictures of English Poets, for Fireside and School-room. New Our esteemed and accomplished friend, the authoress, has proposed in this volume to supply in a somewhat familiar and popular form, a sort of introduction in one department to the more formal and elaborate histories of English literature. To this end she has selected fifteen of our chief poets, between Chaucer and Burns, and has sketched their lives, their times, their chief productions in a graceful and lively, and at the same time solidly instructive way, so as to guide and quicken, especially in our young people, the desire for a better knowledge of our standard poets. We congratulate her on her success, and anticipate for her book a welcome in many homes and schools. The Pursuit of Holiness. A sequel to "Thoughts on Personal Religion." By Edward M. Goulburn, D. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1870. The sacramentarian element in the author's writings, it will readily be believed, is little to our taste. We have not understood the spirit of all grace as moving so exclusively in the right lines of ecclesiasticism. Apart from this, we know few modern works or topics connected with practical religion more refreshing, or better adapted to be useful, than Dr. Goulburn's. The volume before us will in many a Christian's experience promote very effectively the end indicated in the title. The Sacrifice of Praise. Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, designed for public worship and private devotion. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 1869. This collection, prepared by a committee of the session of the Brick Church in New York, cannot fail to commend itself as an aid to private Christian devotion, and will make its way into not a few other sanctuaries than that for which it was prepared. The selection and arrangement are very judicious, and satisfying both to critical judgment and Christian feeling. Forms of the hymns are restored in many instances where mutilation had been the law. Some of the finest hymns in the volume are from living or recent English authors, such as Grant, Kelly, Conder, Edmiston, Gill, and Lyte, imperfectly known, if known at all, in this country. The collection is of manageable size, 616 hymns, and has attached to it an appendix of thirty-four pages, containing useful biographical and other notices of the chief authors of our hymnology. Each recurrence to the volume has given a fresh satisfaction. Janet's Love and Service. By Margaret M. Robertson. New York: A. D. F. Randolph & Co. 1869. 12mo, pp. 581. A pleasant story of a servant, the happy influence of whose good sense and piety is shown in her charge of a motherless family. The scene is laid in Canada. The Spanish Barber: a Tale of the Bible in Spain. By the author of "Mary Powell." New York: M. W. Dodd. 1869. 12mo, pp. 309. A simple story of Bible distribution in a land to which the hearts of Christians have been turned by recent events with no common interest. Rameses the Great, or Egypt 3,300 Years Ago. Translated from the French of F. de Lanoye, with thirty-nine wood-cuts. 12mo, pp. 296. New York: C. Scribner & Co., 1870. Rameses II. was the Sesostris of Greek historians, and probably the Pharaoh at whose court Moses was trained. The fame of his arms and the grandeur of his military expeditions filled the ancient world with wonder. Some of the most magnificent structures of ancient Egypt, and its most colossal figures, bear his legend, and works of domestic antiquity ascribed to him, such as his artesian well, and his canal linking the Red Sea with the Nile, remind us of the scientific achievements of recent times. The writer of this sprightly little volume has sought to combine in a popular form some of the striking results of learned investigations into the history and antiquities of the land of the Pharaohs. Among the curiosities which it contains, is an extract from a papyrus, giving an insight into the literature of the period, in which a contemporary celebrates the valor of this prince displayed on an occasion of extraordinary peril. His cruel edict relating to Hebrew children finds its parallel in his inhuman treatment of helpless captives. The bitter bondage imposed on the Israelites is abundantly illustrated by representations of slaves urged by taskmasters to fulfil their tale of bricks. The very features of this ancient monarch became as familiar from the monuments as those of a modern statesman, and the numerous wood-cuts of restored buildings and scenes from actual life place that long-buried epoch almost before our eyes. Admiral Coligny, and the Rise of the Huguenots. By Rev. W. M. Blackburn, Professor of Biblical and Ecclesiastical History in the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, and author of "William Farel," "Ulrich Zwingli," "Young Calvin in Paris," etc. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication. Vol. i., pp. 384; vol. ii., pp. 387. Professor Blackburn is already favorably known as a graphic historical writer. In these volumes he has chosen an interesting and important theme. The Huguenots, from their character, their sufferings, their fidelity, and their influence, have strong claims on the admiration and gratitude of all Evangelical Christians, and, on some accounts, specially on Americans. Thousands of American Christians have Huguenot blood in their veins. From the intrinsic importance of his subject, as well as for the lively manner in which it is treated, Prof. Blackburn's book will commend itself to a wide circle of readers. It is, in fact, a history of the French Protestants during the most important part of their existence, as connected with the chivalrous leader whose life forms the immediate subject of these volumes. Seed Thoughts, or Selections from Caryl's Exposition of Job. With an Introduction by Rev. J. E. Rockwell, D. D. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication. Pp. 180. It is enough to make the men of this generation hang their heads, when they look on a commentary on a single book of Scripture in two bulky folio, or twelve quarto volumes, and remember their ancestors read such books, and called for one edition of them after another. They are immeasurably beyond our strength or patience. It is a good service, therefore, to select from these, to men as they now are, unreadable volumes, the pithy and precious thoughts with which they abound, and feed them as crumbs, as mothers feed their children. We, therefore, thank Dr. Rockwell for his labor of love in behalf of his feeble brethren. Golden Hills: a Tale of the Irish Famine. By the author of “Cedar Creek." Presbyterian Board. Pp. 376. A very painful, yet instructive subject. The sufferings of the Irish during the famine have been overruled, as the author endeavors to show, for the permanent improvement of the condition of the peasantry. Lectures, Expository and Practical, on the Book of Ecclesiastes. By Ralph Wardlaw, D.D. Philadelphia: Wm. S. Rentoul. 8vo, pp. 428. This volume has a well-established reputation. It consists of twenty-three lectures upon the book of Ecclesiastes delivered in course in the years 1810 and 1811, by the author, to his congregation in Glasgow, and subsequently revised and published in London in 1821. Without any pretence of critical or philological research, and based almost exclusively on the common English version, with little discussion of variant opinions, it presents a sober, judicious investigation into the scope of the book, and the aim of its several parts, with the view mainly to develop their practical bearings, and inculcate the lessons of wisdom and experience which are here recorded. In this aspect the work is one of solid and sterling merit. It promises well for Rentoul's projected "Library of Standard Bible Expositions," that the beginning has been made with publications of the high character of Wardlaw on Ecclesiastes, and Moody Stuart on the Song of Solomon. The third volume of the series, "Expositions of the whole Books of Ruth and Esther," by George Lawson, D.D., is promised in the course of the present month. The Song of Songs: an Exposition of the Song of Solomon. By the Rev. A. Moody Stuart, one of the ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. Philadelphia: Wm. S. Rentoul. 1869. 8vo, pp. xiv. and 518. This is a delightful book, full of the marrow of Divine truth and abounding in the suggestions of a ripe Christian experience. The devout earnestness which pervades it, the vigorous freshness of its style, and the varied imagery with which it is adorned, borrowed from this highly figurative song, but with novel applications, and brought into new connections, lend it a peculiar charm, and show it to be the work of a skilful householder able to bring forth out of his treasure things new and old. Like his friend, McCheyne, for whom, as for many in every age who have combined ardent piety with an imaginative turn of mind, canticles possessed special attractions, the author finds celestial mysteries springing out of every verse. The volume before us should be styled a devout application rather than a strict exposition of the Song of Solomon. Few books of Scripture present more difficulties, or have been the subject of more discordant and conflicting interpretations; and few, if any, have been more frequently commented upon. Many of these professed expositions are wholly unprofitable, or worse. Some utterly deny or overlook its Divine character, making of it a mere song of worldly love with no meaning beyond that which appears upon the surface. Amid all varieties of opinion, however, one thing has been intuitively true to the Christian consciousness from the beginning, that this Song has a spiritual significance, suggestive of the mutual love of God and his people, of Christ and his church. If this cardinal truth be held fast, great latitude may safely be allowed in the use made of its particular expressions, and the devout meditations gathered about them. If a lively fancy, and an affluent imagination, is in place anywhere in the handling of the Word of God, it may be tolerated amid these rich oriental symbols, and these doubtful enigmas, which seem to challenge it to a trial of strength, and tempt it to essay the unriddling of their hidden meaning. And whether the true solution be furnished in all its parts or not, it is no unworthy or unremunerative service to find in this captivating Song, so fragrant with the charms of nature and of art, a parable of sacred things, to gather devout and quickening thoughts about its glowing words, to bring out fresh analogies between things human and Divine, and to hold up its polished gems where they may sparkle in the rays of heavenly light. This is what the Rev. Mr. Stuart has done. He has not supplied an exposition of the Canticles, which could be defended by strict rules of hermeneutics. He does not even claim that the application which he has made of it is the only proper one. He explicitly declares the reverse. But while conceiving it to be "a many-sided mirror designed to reflect, and reflecting most truly whatever portion of the Lord's dealings with his people is placed before it," he has chosen to make a specific application of it to the gospel history, of which he regards it as a prophetic epitome, or to which at least he fancies that he finds constant parallels and suggestive analogies throughout. The basis of his view is thus stated by himself: "We find three notes of time which have commended themselves to general reception, and which we shall give in the words of three of our old Bibles. Commencing with the last: We have a little sister,' the note is, 'The Jewish Church speaketh of the Church of the Gentiles' (viii. 8); then in the centre, Eat, O friends, drink,' it is 'Christ speaketh to the Apostles' (v. 1); and in the commencing verse of all, 'Let him kiss me,' the note is, 'The church of the coming of Christ speaketh, saying.' Combining these three, we shall have at the beginning of the Song, Christ about to come; in the middle of it, Christ finishing his work on earth; and in the end, Christ ascended and having poured out the Spirit. If there is individual historic reference in each of these three points, their remarkable conjunct feature is, that they are not isolated points, but three distinct links belonging to one chain in regular order of history-the cry for the advent, the last supper, and the calling of the Gentiles. Now, it appears to us that this outline may be filled up by the intermediate history taken from the Gospels and Acts, and that not merely in a few occasional texts, but in a narrative consecutive throughout in its leading features." This view has greatly the advantage of other applications of this book, which have been attempted, to periods past or future, whether in Israelitish or Ecclesiastical history, and which have so generally lost themselves in unimportant details, or assumed almost the aspect of mere secularity. This carries the writer and his readers into the very centre and groundwork of the religious life. Many plausible coincidences are pointed out; great ingenuity is shown in the adaptation; points are adroitly made, and various particulars are skilfully woven in. It is not likely that many persons will be convinced that this is the specific design of the Song; but they will find much precious truth set forth in a lucid and edifying manner. The value of the volume is also enhanced by select notes added from other sources, and by the succinct, but discriminating review, given of preceding commentators upon the Song. The American publisher has added a metrical version of his own, in which he adopts the divisions and the verbal explications of Mr. Stuart. A composition so highly poetical and of such artistic finish, can best be appreciated in a translation, not only transfused with the spirit of the original, but which shall emulate the decoration and embellishment of its outward form. Instead of requiring the apology made for occasional deviations from strict literality, we would have been better pleased if he had allowed himself yet more liberty, and suffered his muse to soar with fewer trammels. A graceful versification and elegance of diction are necessary to represent worthily the beautiful charm which invests it in the original. As a sample, we give the following paraphrase of vii. 1,2, which is interesting likewise from the principle of interpretation adopted in a much-disputed passage: "How beauteous are thy feet, In glitt ring sandals seen; O prince's daughter fair! Thy jewelled zone, I ween, Which all thy vests unites In one compacted band, How skilfully 'tis wrought By cunning workman's hand! "Thy girdle-clasp appears Like to a goblet round, With mantling rubies crowned; Thy broidered vesture fine Of golden tissue bright, Is like a heap of wheat Railed round with lilies white." Diomede: from the Iliad of Homer. By William R. Smith. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1869. How shall Homer be translated? If the true character of the Iliad as a work of art is to be retained, then the translation should be rhythmical. The rhythmical laws, however, of the ancient Greek and the modern English differ so greatly, that all efforts to reproduce the hexameter have utterly failed. Not even the beauty and exquisite harmony of Longfellow's muse can reconcile us to the attempt he makes in Evangeline to naturalize hexameters in English. The earliest metre adopted was the fourteen syllabled Iambic, by Chapman, in "The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, never before in any language truly translated, &c., done according to the Greek, by George Chapman." There was an earlier translation of a portion of the Iliad but we have never met with it. The Spenserian stanza, the fatally facile ballad style, blank verse, and the rhymed couplet have each had their advocates; and the best scholars in England are |