respondence, and he has made no secret of this bias. In his "own life" he tells us, "Though I had been taught by experience that the Whig party were in possession of bestowing all places, both in the state and in literature, I was so little inclined to yield to their senseless clamour, that in above a hundred alterations, which further study, reading, or reflection, engaged me to make in the reigns of the two first Stuarts, I have made all of them to the Tory side." We might have hailed it as a rare instance of literary candour to find a historian confessing that he had committed a hundred errors in a single volume; but when he would persuade us that they turned out to be all on one side, the coincidence is so extraordinary that to credit it requires "the faith of miracles,” and we are driven to the disagreeable dilemma of doubting either Hume the philosopher or Hume the historian.

At the same time it must be confessed, that one of the most remarkable features of the work is the amount of erroneous impression it conveys without absolute prevarication or palpable falsehood. As Mr. Macaulay has remarked, "Hume is an accomplished advocate. Without

* The following passage gives us some notion of the "moral philosophy” and good faith of David Hume. It occurs in a letter to Colonel Edmondstone, and it is intended to obviate the scruples of a freethinker who hesitated about taking orders in the Church of England :—" It is putting too great a respect on the vulgar, and on their superstitions, to pique one's self on sincerity with regard to them. Did ever one make it a point of honour to speak truth to children or madmen? If the thing were worthy being treated gravely, I should tell him that the Pythian oracle, with the approbation of Xenophon, advised every one to worship the gods. I wish it were still in my power to be a hypocrite in this par. ticular. The common duties of society usually require it; and the ecclesiastical profession only adds a little more to an innocent dissimulation, or rather simulation, without which it is impossible to pass through the world. Am I a liar, because I order my servant to say, I am not at home, when I do not desire to see co.npany ?"-BURTON, vol. ii. 187.

positively asserting much more than he can prove, he gives prominence to all the circumstances which support his case; he glides lightly over those which are unfavourable to it; his own witnesses are applauded and encouraged; the statements which seem to throw discredit on them are controverted; the contradictions into which they fall are explained away; a clear and connected abstract of their evidence is given; everything that is offered on the other side is scrutinised with the utmost severity; every suspicious circumstance is a ground for comment and invective; what cannot be denied is extenuated, or passed by without notice; concessions are even sometimes made, but this insidious candour only increases the effect of the vast mass of sophistry." By dint of this insidious adroitness, whilst he has gone far to leave the British constitution without a charter, and the English calendar without a saint, he has made the task of his reviewers very difficult, and gone far to defy refutation.

That a book so charmingly written should be so misleading and unfair, can never be too much lamented. Nor does it neutralise the evil that its misrepresentations have been so amply exposed by authors like Brodie and Hallam. Their works are too learned or too dissertational for popular perusal; and the first effectual antidote will be another history, adding care and conscientiousness to the charms of the skilful narrator, and in which there will be no attempt to conceal the finger of Providence any more than the virtues of patriots in the construction and preservation of our British constitution. J. H.

REVIEW OF THE MONTH.

IN our literary retrospect of previous months we were guilty of one omission in not noticing the completion of Lord Mahon's "History of England subsequent to the Peace of Utrecht," a calm, gentleman-like and well-informed contribution to our country's recent history; and another, in not recording the separate publication of Hugh Miller's "My Schools and Schoolmasters," which first appeared in the columns of his own "Witness" newspaper, but which has now become a permanent accession to our stores of classic English. We also wish that, for the benefit of our storyloving friends, we had noticed "Magdalen Hepburn," with its living and breathing scenes from the days of Reformation, and its unsurpassed insight to the mystery of Scottish character; as well as "Ministering Children," a book of exquisite tenderness, which we cordially commend to both parents and children, in the hope that it will make many hearts better.

"Punch" excepted, we fear that the English public took little interest in Abd-el-Kader. Yet the French conquest of Algeria is an event of some moment, and must be studied by those who would understand the Europe that now is. We have therefore gratefully received Pulszky's "Tricolor on the Atlas," in which, besides a masterly view of the country and its occupants, we have an animated resumé of its strange and eventful history.

But the publication of the month which we have most enjoyed is "The Autobiography of the Rev. William Jay." It is a bright and cheerful retrospect of a life which the author admits he would be quite content to live again, and which accomplished more good, and gained more valuable friendships, than has almost ever fallen to the lot of a minister.

MR. JAY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

319

Pre-eminently a preacher, Mr. Jay's experiences will be invaluable to those entering the sacred office; or rather, we should say, to those who, having been some time in its discharge, are conscious of its requirements and its difficulties; but personal recollections of John Newton and Rowland Hill, of Wilberforce and Hannah More, and above all of himself, possess abundant attraction for every reader. One or two of these anecdotes, as involving an approach to irreverence, we should rather have foregone; nor is it a sufficient reason for preserving the witticism that it flashed off-hand from so great and good a man as Robert Hall. He himself would have preferred that it should perish. We may add that, like a light breeze on a sunny sea, there is over these pages a perpetual twinkle of sagacious pleasantry, making us love the old man whose strength is so gentle, and whose reproofs are so playful. "Had the ark been built by a committee, it would never have been finished." "He was too orthodox to be evangelical, i. e. to preach the gospel to every creature." Though a hit like the following is harder: "Some of you, my dear brethren, are so inconsistent and undecided, that if at this moment I saw the devil running away with you, I could not call out, Stop thief!'—he would but carry off his own property."

It is cheering to witness the progress of the truth in some of the continental countries. On the 1st of September fifty-five Roman Catholics renounced the errors of Popery, and professed their faith in the Gospel, in the church of St. Peter's, Geneva; being the third large accession of converts in that city during the present year. In Silesia, during last year, 862 Romanists were received into the Lutheran Church. In Tuscany the Bible is still read, and God is worshipped in spirit and in truth by many humble believers, notwithstanding "the fury of the enemy;" whilst, on the other hand, in the happier kingdom of Sardinia the government has issued

orders relieving non-Catholic soldiers from attendance at mass and other Romish observances. Even in Turkey the Gospel spreads. Last year a bookseller in Constantinople sold 10,000 Bibles, in twelve different languages, besides other religious books.

In order to turn the Saturday half-holiday to full account, it is much to be desired that all places of innocent amusement and instruction were made on that day as accessible as possible. We are happy to find that the Board of Trade has set a good example. It has ordered the Museum of Ornamental Art at Marlborough House to be opened for the gratuitous admission of the public on Saturday; and we hope the example may soon be followed by the authorities of the British Museum and the National Gallery.

So well stored is this world that, whatever we look for, we shall find something remarkable. The search for Sir John Franklin has led to the discovery of coal in the Arctic regions. Vast changes must have come over the planet since forests waved at Skansden, and it is a wonderful Providence which has thus stored up fuel in these wintry realms. Its importance is great, as facilitating the application of steam power to whaling vessels.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity of visiting a sort of experimental garden on the banks of the Tay, near Perth, where 300,000 young salmon have been raised from the eggs of a few fishes, and are now confined in a pond, and ready to migrate to the river. This plan may be adopted with any kind of fresh-water fish, and by stocking with trout, perch, carp, &c. our lakes and rivers, it would materially increase in some districts the food of the population.

The British Association met at Liverpool on the 20th of September, under the presidency of the Earl of Harrowby. Of the very interesting proceedings we hope to furnish some account in our next number.