forgotten species of literature, and affords some common illustration of the imagery and phraseology of the "Great Poet." Admirers of The Ingoldsby Legends (and who is there that has not "chuckled" over them) will be pleased with the appearance of their favorites in a handsome library shape. The Annotated Edition in 2 vols. 8vo. contains the history of each Legend, with illustrative notes, and much unpublished matter, all the old illustrations, and several new ones by Cruikshank and Leech; an original sketch by Thackeray, &c. The frontispiece by Cruikshank is one of his finest etchings, and a wonderful work for an artist past his 75th year. It represents the author (Mr. Barham) at his desk, with the children of his brain, the personages of the various Legends, flitting around him, taking life from his pen. Other illustrated books must be more briefly noticed. The new work of the great traveller Captain Richard Burton, Vikram and the Vampire, Tales of Hindu Devilry, is remarkable both for the spirit of Eugene Grisel's drawings, and for the dry humor shown by the author in his recital of the Hindu stories, where ma y a sly hit at western matters mingles with the wild Orientalism of the Tales. The same artist has embellished most effectively a fine "first genuine reprint" of the real original Robinson Crusoe. An illustrated edition of Thomas Moore's translation of the Odes of Anacreon, accompanied with the exquisite classic designs of the French painter Girodet, forms a perfect gem of book embellishment. One of the most charming volumes for the drawing table lately issued is The Lake Scenery of England, as displayed in the beautiful colored drawings of J. B. Pyne, of that famed spot of earth whence Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge drew their poetic inspiration. A reproduction of Nash's Mansions of England in the Olden Time, commenced by the appearance of Volume 1, will commend itself to all lovers of the picturesque. Wonderful Characters; Memoirs and Anecdotes of Remarkable and Eccentric Persons of every Age and Nation, claims to rank as an illustrated book by its "61 full-page engraved Portraits," nor must the once famous Life in London be forgotten. Fifty years ago Corinthian Tom, Jerry Hawthorn, and Bob Logic were names at least as familiar to the people of that day as Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller are to us at present. The history of their adventures,

adorned with Cruikshank's plates, were seen and read in all circles from Royalty downwards. It had, however, grown almost unfindably scarce,-so has been reproduced with all the plates in a slightly diminished size, uniform with the other classic of the Georgean Era, Dr. Syntax, produced last year, and of which eight thousand copies have been sold.

* The most striking literary events of the past month have been undoubtedly the ap pearance of Mr. Froude's new volume of The History of England, and of Tennyson's Holy Grail. Contrary to expectation, the historian gives no word of intimation why his original plan has been abandoned, nor his reason for shortening his task by the omis sion of the fifteen eventful years intervening between the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the death of Elizabeth. The new portion displays all the merits that have given such prominence to Mr. Froude's book among the historical works of the time. Impartiality he can scarcely claim; the past lives, for him, too vivid a reality to be judicially weighed in the spirit of a Hallam. In his estimate of Mary Queen of Scots he has certainly chosen the unpopular side, no doubt from conviction, and though many will differ from the vindictive severity of his judgment of her conduct and its motives, all must admire the dramatic skill displayed in the narration of the last sad scene of her troubled career.

Mr. Tennyson's work was already prejudged by the favor of the public, and of course it is unnecessary to say anything here about it. Some little dissatisfaction has been expressed that a portion of a volume of such very slender dimensions should be taken up by a new reprint (without any notice of the fact being given) of the old "Morte D'Arthur," familiar for twenty years to all readers of the poet's two volumes. It now reappears under a new title, "The Passing of Arthur," as the natural finish to the Idyls, and thus disguised has curiously enough been selected for special commendation and extract by critics of the highest pretensions, showing they were absolutely ignorant of the very best known passages of the writer they profess to be intimate with. As the Laureate has brought King Arthur into fashion, a new contribution to the literature of the Round Table is announced, the original of that portion of Sir Thomas Malory's romance relating to the History of Balin

the Savage. It had hitherto defied the researches of editors, but has lately been found in a MS. French romance of Merlin, and will shortly be printed.

Biography has occupied a fair share of the new books of the season. In addition to the delightful Life and Letters of Miss Mitford, already mentioned, is a (too brief) Life of Jane Austen, the novelist, by her nephew, Rev. J. Austen Leigh, and Life of John Gibson, R. A, Sculptor, edited by Lady Eastlake, each in one volume octavo. Miss Austen's career was too entirely of a home nature to afford more than an indication of the native sweetness and serenity of mind, coutent to find subjects of interest in its own immediate circle. In these days of high prices, it is worthy of note that the whole amount received by Miss Austen for her novels was £700, just one-tenth of the sun paid for one work (Romola) to another authoress, "George Eliot." Perhaps the most attractive portion of Gibson's Life is the account of the great sculptor by his pupil, Miss Hosmer, of American fame. The Life of Michael Faraday, the great chemist, has found a worthy editor in Dr. Bence Jones, Secretary of the Royal Institution. Faraday's story is chiefly told by his own letters. They portray a calm and dignified career of devotion to science for itself alone, such as is most rare in these days of ambition for worldly aggrandizement. "The good man " is not seen "struggling with the storms of fate; " the quiet path suited to his. talents and disposition he had the sense to keep. His life flowed on gently, free from vicissitudes, and seeking its reward rather from a self-consciousness of the right employment of talents intrusted to him than in worldly honors and distinctions. A more lively picture is afforded by Mrs. Gordon's Home Life of (her father) Sir David Brewster. Leaving for more competent hands an exposition of Brewster's scientific career, she aims more to show him as he was in the family and social relations of a loug and honored life. So long had that life extended, that of the many who knew the philosopher, few remembered that the pulpit of the Scot tish Kirk was the original scene of action actually and worthily filled by him, and that he had wor his way to a scientific path in spite of obstacles as strong, though of a different nature, as those encountered by Faraday, in his progress from "a newspaper boy" to the Theatre of the Royal Institution.

Some important Theological works are among the late issues of the press, as Rev. J. H. Newman's Sermons on Subjects of the Day, discourses that "made their mark on the thoughtful minds of the age, and are now published as a companion volume to the recent impression of the "Parochial" and "Plain" sermons by the same author. The volume is complete in itself, but it is allied to the 8-volume series by an analytical table of contents, &c., of the entire set. In the present sensational Ecclesiastical movements of the Romish Church, the great name of Father Newman is conspicuous by its absence, and many an English heart beats at thought of the possibilities of the future of that most loved and venerated teacher. The first portion of the Rev. J. Henry Blunt's Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology has appeared, comprising the letters A-K; the remainder will be published in the spring, forming together a volume similar in size to the Annotated Prayer Book of the same editor. The Dictionary promises to fill a gap in English theological literature. Its articles are of moderate length, carefully prepared by various scholars, and, though of course written from a Church "stand-point," they are distinguished by broad views, liberal feeling, and (while treating of dogma) by an absence of mere dogmatism for its own sake. They exhibit a larger range of reading than is usual in English scholarship, and altogether afford a favorable specimen of "Orthodox" church teaching as opposed to the "Broad" and " "High" schools of theology, on either hand. Other theclogical publications are the Bampton Lectures for 1869; Prophecy, a Preparation for Christ, by Professor R. Payne Smith; The first volume of A Commentary on the Epistles, for Sundays and Holidays, by Rev. Wm. Dentin, uniform with the same writer's work on the Gospels; A Homiletic Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles; the Second Gospel of St. Luke, by Dr. David Thomas, Editor of The Homilist; and a Homiletic Analysis of the Gospel by Matthew, with Introductory Essay on the Life of Christ considered as an Appeal to the Imagination, by Dr. Joseph Parker, Editor of the Pulpit Analyst. The Resurrection of the Dead: Its Design, Manner, and Results, by Rev. James Cochrane. Prophecies of our Lord and his Apostles, from the German of Dr. Hoffman of Berlin; and St. Mark's Gospel, a New Translation, with Notes, &c.

The

THE brilliant holiday display having gone by, the books of the present month seem by comparison somewhat plain and commonplace. A few of the volumes especially intended for the holidays are yet, however, to be noticed. The Overture of Angels (J. B. Ford & Co.), a delightful foretaste of Henry Ward Beecher's magnum opus, the Life of Christ, very tastefully illustrated and printed, formed a most appropriate gift for Christmastide. It describes in simple and beautiful language the events preceding and immediately following the birth of our Saviour. The Harpers put forth a handsome gift volume, Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths, by Lyman Abbott. Among the illustrations is an engraving of Doré's "Jephtha's Daughter," which, during its exhibition in this city, has attracted so much attention. Other designs are by Delaroche, Durham, and Parsons. Says the author: "The light that shines from the Old Testament is that of the Star of Bethlehem, which conducts the reader to the manger of his Incarnate Lord;-that Star I seek to follow." The stories of the Old Testament, "parables in real life," are picturesquely presented, and their spiritual meaning and application explained. Just at the height of the holiday season the new volume of the English Laureate appeared-The Holy Grail, and Other Poems (Fields & Osgood). It is enough to say that in these new classics the magic hand of the master is shown in all its oldtime charm and power. The Harpers publish, in a single illustrated volume, a complete edition of the poet, including the Holy Grail and accompanying poems. In paper covers, this edition is sold for only 50 cents.

Messrs. Scribner & Co. have made some important additions to their standard works in Religious Literature. Among them is The History of the Church in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, by Prof. Hagenbach of Basle. His History of Doctrines, introduced to American readers some years since by Prof. H. B. Smith, who made large additions to the German and Edinburgh editions, made him well and favorably known among us. The fascination of his style, his catholic spirit and evangelical position, and his strict fidelity to the facts of history, make him one of the most popular writers of the day in the department of church history. The scope of

the present volumes embraces whatever has contributed materially to religious develop- ́ ment and progress. His comprehensive mind takes in the whole field, and his selection and arrangement of the materials evince rare skill and judgment. His sketches of eminent characters are numerous, and form not the least attractive feature of the work. Dr. Hurst's translation is well done.

The same house have recently issued new editions, at reduced prices, of Dean Stanley's Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church (2 vols.), and Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (1 vol.), both standard works and indispensable to the student of the Bible and of Church History. The former of these works is intensely interesting to the general reader, as well as valuable in a scientific point of view. It is fresh, graphic, intelligent, learned, and conveys a vast amount of knowledge bearing on biblical literature. No one can fail, on reading it, to have his interest in sacred geography and history greatly quickened. We are glad also to see a new and cheaper edition of Archbishop Trench's Studies in the Gospels, one of the best works in biblical criticism in the language, and one that no student of the Bible can afford to be without.

Charles Scribner & Co. have likewise published a new volume of Lange's Commentary, making nine in all. Several other volumes are in a state of forwardness, and the great undertaking bids fair to be brought to a speedy and most successful completion. The present volume contains the Solomonic writings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. They form an important and highly interesting part of the Old Testament, and give us the poetry and practical philosophy of the wisest of men. The author, Dr. Zöckler, belongs to the younger generation of German divines, and holds the office of Professor under the Prussian Government in the University of Greifswald, in Pomerania. He is a very able divine and a fertile author, The American editors have not only given us a faithful and graceful translation of the original, but have made large additions to the work, which add very materially to its value. They rank among our best oriental and biblical scholars. President Aiken of Union College was intrusted with Proverbs, Prof. Tayler Lewis with Ecclesiastes, and Prof.

Green of Princeton with the Song of Solomon. The translation of Ecclesiastes was made by Prof. Wells of Union College. To say that they have all done their work well is but meagre praise. We apprehend that their labors will be regarded by those most competent to judge as eminently scholarly and sat isfactory. They have evidently bestowed a large amount of careful study upon the respective books, and have given us the ripe fruit of rare and extensive learning. The text of the common version is superseded by a new metrical version in accordance with the laws of Hebrew poetry. "The Song of Songs" has greatly puzzled commentators. Three theories of interpretation have received the sanction of great names: the rationalistic, which sees no more in the Song than a sensual erotic poem; the allegorical, which regards the persons and objects described as mere figures for spiritual persons and objects; and the typical or Messianic. Dr. Zöckler adopts the latter interpretation, and so does Dr. Green, while he dissents from certain parts of his scheme, and in particular regards the Canticles as a series of unconnected scenes rather than a well-arranged and continuous drama, with a regularly unfolded plot, as is done by Zöckler, Delitzsch, and others. Dr. Schaff, in a note to his introduction, refers to an article in the British and Foreign Evangelical Review for October (reproduced in the American Presbyterian Review for January), in which a new attempt is made to support the allegorical view. "The writer of this article discovers in the Song a progressive drama, beginning at the gates of Eden and running through the light and shade of the history of Judaism and Christianity till the glory of the millennium." We have read the article with lively interest, in connection with the writings of the learned German and American divines on the same subject, which have been given to the public.

Bishop Butler, in the preface to the "Analogy," makes this striking remark: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted, by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject for inquiry; but that now, at length, it is discovered to be fictitious. And, accordingly, they treat it as if, in the present age, this were an agreed point among all people of discernment." The declaration has as much point to-day as when he uttered it. A large class of men have come to write and speak of Christianity as an antiquated system," and faith in "Revelation" as out

run by "modern thought." The cant and boast of unbelief are nauseating and outrageous. Dr. Fisher (Essays on the Supernatural Origin of Christianity, Scribner & Co.) demonstrates, at least, "that any reasonable man, who will thoroughly consider the matter, may be as much assured as he is of his own being, that it is not, however, so clear a case that there is nothing in it."

In this new edition, the learned author, in an introduction, and in supplementary notes, discusses anew some of the most important topics considered in the work, and reviews, to a considerable extent, the recent literature bearing upon the subject. The volume is chiefly devoted to a consideration of the Tübingen school of historical critics, of whom Baur was the ablest: Renan and Theodore Parker are also briefly discussed, but Dr. Fisher regards their claims to scientific attention as small. As a vindication of the genuineness and credibility of the New Testament, it is not, probably, surpassed by any recent work. The author is eminently candid. He is master of the best literature of the subject; while his style is lucid, and the arrangement and treatment of the subject are so natural and simple that any reader of ordinary intelligence can readily understand him. The work is timely and suggestive, and deserves a cordial welcome and a wide circulation, which it is likely to have in this new edition at moderate cost.

In Religious Fiction Mr. Randolph gives us by far the best book of the season, and one worthy of a cordial reception by the Christian public-Stepping Heavenward, by Mrs. Dr. Prentiss o this city. Simply as a story it has no particular merit, save its simplicity and naturalness; but as delineating human experience in the various conditions and relations of life; as describing the trials, and crosses, and disappointments, and struggles which beset one in the daily attempt to do right; as teaching a cheerful, intelligent, biblical religion, free from cant and formalism on the one hand, and from extravagance on the other, it has merit of no common order. It is as natural, as truthful, as lifelike throughout as if it had been wrought out of one's actual experience. Its reading will be sure to give one a higher and truer ideal or what constitutes Christian living; while its practical influence will be to quicken and nerve to the discharge of duty. Janet's Love and Service (same publishers), by Mar