sary to the illustration of the narrative are arbitrarily rejected. The former produces great confusion in the mind of the student; the latter appears to place the reader too much at the disposal of the author. The former is the Harmony strictly so called; the latter is the mere diatessaron or monotessaron. To avoid the inconveniences of both these systems, I have endeavored to save the reader that embarrassment, which is occasioned by four parallel columns, and at the same time to combine the Gospels into one order without leaving the reader to depend entirely on the judgment of the arranger, in the choice of the interwoven passages. My object has been to unite the advantages of both plans. Every text of Scripture is preserved, as in the first, while the evangelical narrations are formed into one connected history, as in the second; every passage which is rejected from the continuous history being placed at the end of each section, to enable the reader to decide on the propriety of the order which has been adopted." The Harmony of the Gospels thus constructed is followed by a chronological arrangement of the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles to the completion of the Canon of the New Testament, the whole being divided into fifteen Parts, and subdivided into numerous sections; after which our author concludes his work with a brief review of the history of the christian church from the close of the apostolic age to the present period. The Notes appended to the New Testament are copious and highly valuable. With the theological views expressed in these notes we do not in all respects concur. Yet they are learned, pious and instructive, and associated, as they are, with the inspired word of God, unchanged and unadulterated, and arranged in a manner happily adapted to illustrate its meaning and make it its own interpreter, the whole may be read with profit by the candid inquirer after the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. On the whole, we regard Townsend's arrangement of the Bible as one of the most important and useful publications, which we have been invited to examine. To the enterprising publishers we tender our cordial thanks for the favor they have conferred on the American churches, and especially that they have furnished this standard work in a style so worthy the Boston press, and at a price which will enable individuals and families of moderate means to possess it. We commend it to our readers of every class,-to ministers, to the conductors of Bible classes and to the families that call on the name of the Lord. It is, THE BIBLE its own Interpreter. 10.-General History of Civilization in Europe, from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the French Revolution. Translated from the French of M. Guizot, Professor of History to La Faculté des Lettres of Paris and Minister of Public Instruction. First American from the second English Edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1838. pp. 346. We have read enough of this book to be convinced that it deserves more than a passing notice, and more than common praise. It is worthy to be studied; and yet the ease and elegance of its style and the vividness of its descriptions cannot fail to please the taste of the cursory and superficial reader. It is at once highly entertaining and instructive. The subject here chosen for discussion is one of universal interest to mankind. The history of the civilization of Europe, during the period here contemplated, is the history of the civilization of the world. It is our own history, in this respect, no less than that of our transatlantic contemporaries; and while they possess advantages for its investigation, which are less accessible to us, our interest in the general subject, and the instruction which we may derive from it are no less important and practical than theirs. To American readers, therefore, such works as those of Hallam and Guizot must be pecu. liarly acceptable. The work before us is comprised in fourteen" Lectures," and these, in the language of the "Translator's Preface" (dated Oxford, Eng. 1837,)" are fourteen great historical pictures. Still the work is a unity. In the fourteen pictures, collectively, you have one great and entire subject,-the history of civilization in Europe, and that so told as cannot fail to please and instruct the historian, the student, and the philosopher." We commend it also to the diligent study of christian scholars, as well as of statesmen, legislators, and politicians. M. Guizot, in these Lectures, furnishes less of a detailed history of the period under consideration, than we find in the works of Hallam on "The State of Europe during the Middle Ages" and the "Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." He is also less systematic in his references to original authorities. Yet his work is not deficient in such historical details as are suited to the object he had in view, and he everywhere inspires the reader with confidence that he is master of his subject. He insists, indeed, on the propriety of confining history to facts. But are there no facts but such as are material and visible?"There are moral, hidden facts, of a general nature and without a name, of which it is impossible to say that they happened in such a year, or on such a day, but which are just as much facts as battles, wars, and public acts of governments. Such a fact is civilization, which, like any other, may be studied, described, and have its history recounted." France is the great central point from which he contemplates the fact of European civilization. From this point he looks abroad on the States of Europe, and gathers up the elementary principles of which the present social system has been constructed. He shows us what it derived from the Roman Empire, what was brought into it by the barbarians, by the feudal aristocracy, by the Church, by free cities and communities, and by royalty; what was the influence of the Crusades, the Reformation, the English Revolution, etc. etc. In all this, his manner is original, grand, and philosophical. On some of the topics here discussed, we are accustomed to entertain different views from those expressed by our author; and with our republican and protestant prepossessions, we must still beg leave to differ from him on these points. Yet we admire the candor, as well as the philosophical accuracy, with which he has, in general, presented the combined elements and causes of the existing state of civilization in Europe. We will only add, in the words of the English translator, that this work of M. Guizot "must be considered as a boon to mankind.” We welcome the American edition of it, as a voice from the history of the past, well suited to instruct both our civil and ecclesiastical leaders in regard to the means best adapted to promote the welfare and happiness of our own country, the development of society, the expansion of human intelligence, and the triumph of virtue. 11.-Letters on Theron and Aspasio. Addressed to the Author by Robert Sandeman. From the fourth Edinburgh edition. New York: John S. Taylor.-Boston: Weeks, Jordan & Co. 1838. pp. 500. Robert Sandeman was a native of Scotland, born in 1723. He pursued his studies at Edinburgh preparatory to the clerical profession, but having adopted the sentiments of John Glass, the leader of the Glassites in Scotland, he abandoned the ministry. Though dependent on a secular employment for support, he early distinguished himself as an author, and his followers in England and in this country constituted the sect which are denominated, after his name, Sandemanians. The Dialogues of Theron and Aspasio were the work of the distinguished James Hervey of England, author of " Meditations," etc., and have been regarded as among the very best efforts of his genius. His views of the nature of faith, and some other points, called forth the Letters of Sandeman, whose title is given above. They were first published in 1757. They attack Hervey's notion of appropriating faith with uncommon acuteness and no little effect. Sandeman strenuously insists that justifying faith is nothing more nor less than the "bare belief of the bare truth," witnessed or testified concerning the person and work of Christ. His style is caustic and se vere. He treats what he calls "the popular preachers," as corrupters of the gospel, and consequently as misleading their hearers in the all-important concerns of another world. As such he does not spare them. The practices of the Sandemanians which may find countenance in this book are their weekly administration of the Lord's supper, their love-feasts, which consist in their dining at each other's houses in the interval between services on the Sabbath, the kiss of charity, etc. etc. เ The notion of faith for which the members of this sect contend may be gathered from the following words of Sandeman, who speaking of his Letters, says: "The motto of the title page of this work is, One thing is needful;' which he calls the sole requisite to justification or acceptance with God. By the sole requisite he understands the work finished by Christ in his death, proved by his resurrection to be all-sufficient to justify the guilty;-that the whole benefit of the event is conveyed to men only by the apostolic report concerning it; that every one who understands this report to be true, or is persuaded that the event actually took place, as testified by the apostles, is justified and finds relief to his guilty conscience; that he is relieved not by finding any favorable symptom about his own heart, but by finding their report to be true; that the event itself, which is reported, becomes his relief, so soon as it stands true in his mind, and accordingly becomes his faith; that all the divine power which operates on the minds of men, either to give the first relief to their consciences, or to influence them in every part of their obedience, is persuasive power, or the forcible conviction of truth." They have a plurality of elders, pastors or bishops in each church, who are chosen from among the laity. In discipline they are strict and severe, separating from the communion and worship of all such religious societies as do not profess the simple truth as their only ground of hope, and walk in obedience thereto. They are not governed by majorities in their discipline, but esteem unanimity as absolutely necessary. If a member differs from the rest, he must give up the point or be excluded; and with the excommunicated they hold it unlawful to eat or to drink. Mr. Sandeman, being invited by some persons in America who had become interested in his writings, came to this country in 1764, and after collecting a few small societies, closed his life in Danbury, Conn. 1771. The present condition of this sect in Danbury, strikingly exhibits the legitimate results of at least two of the principles maintained by Sandeman. The first is the belief that "the cause of the disallowed Messiah will never prevail in this mortal state, but will remain as a bruised reed and smoking flax," though its enemies will never be VOL. XII. No. 32. 64 able utterly to break or extinguish it. This belief is suited to extinguish all zeal for the propagation of the gospel, and renders the sect indifferent to its own increase. The second is the principle, named above, requiring absolute agreement or unanimity among the members, both in doctrine and practice. This leaves the sect with but little to do but to agree. To maintain the truth against opposers and to secure the unanimity of their own body by excommunicating all who disagree, is the sum of their direct responsibilities. Thus the Society in Danbury, which, at the death of Sandeman, was numerous, has maintained its unanimity at the expense of its numbers, for more than sixty years, until it has become reduced to only six or eight members, who will probably continue to agree until what they believe to be wisdom shall die with them. On the whole, we do not believe that much good will be accomplished by the re-publication of Sandeman's Letters. The anonymous editor of this edition acknowledges that "the name of its author has long been under reproach, and will probably so continue to be, while the memory of these letters shall endure." His sole object in bringing this work again before the public, he says, "lies in the deliberate conviction which the editor entertains, of its being a far more faithful exhibition of gospel truth than any other work which has ever come to his knowledge." In this conviction we have no doubt of his sincerity. But we differ from him in opinion, as he seems to anticipate, in the above quoted sentences, that most Christians will. We do not mean to condemn Sandemanianism in the gross. There are many things in the system which are worthy of serious attention. It contains much important truth, yet so blended with error as greatly to endanger its salutary efficacy. Andrew Fuller remarks, in his masterly "Strictures on Sandemanianism," that "Sandeman has expunged from Christianity a great deal of false religion; but whether he has exhibited that of Christ and his apostles is another question." Arrangement of the InAdapted to the use of Class Teachers, Family Compiled by J. U. Par 12.-The Biblical Analysis; or a Topical Though this work has been more than a year before the public, we have not until recently given it a careful examination. Prepared, as we now are, to appreciate its merits, we could not be easily persuaded to part with it. Its design is similar to that of "Gaston's Collections," or "Concordance," so extensively used by clergymen in this country for the last thirty years. Its plan, however, is a decided improvement upon that of Gaston, and appears to us to have been executed with more discrimination and better judgment. |