The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface.
• Introduction.: the Doctrine of Expediency.
• The Doctrine of the Moral Sense.
• Part I.
• Chapter I.: Definition of Morality.
• Chapter II.: The Evanescence of Evil.
• Chapter III.: The Divine Idea, and the Conditions of Its Realization.
• Part II.
• Chapter IV.: Derivation of a First Principle.
• Chapter V.: Secondary Derivation of a First Principle.
• Chapter VI.: First Principle.
• Chapter VII.: Application of This First Principle.
• Chapter VIII.: The Rights of Life and Personal Liberty.
• Chapter IX.: The Right to the Use of the Earth.
• Chapter X.: The Right of Property.
• Chapter XI.: The Right of Property In Ideas.
• Chapter XII.: The Right of Property In Character.
• Chapter XIII.: The Right of Exchange.
• Chapter XIV.: The Right of Free Speech.
• Chapter XV.: Further Rights.
• Chapter XVI.: The Rights of Women.
• Chapter XVII.: The Rights of Children.
• Part III.
• Chapter XVIII.: Political Rights.
• Chapter XIX.: The Right to Ignore the State.
• Chapter XX.: The Constitution of the Statea .
• Chapter XXI.: The Duty of the State.
• Chapter XXII.: The Limit of State-duty.
• Chapter XXIII.: The Regulation of Commerce.
• Chapter XXIV.: Religious Establishments.
• Chapter XXV.: Poor-laws.
• Chapter XXVI.: National Education.
• Chapter XXVII.: Government Colonization.
• Chapter XXVIII.: Sanitary Supervision.
• Chapter XXIX.: Currency, Postal Arrangements, Etc.
• Part IV.
• Chapter XXX.: General Considerations.
• Chapter XXXI.: Summary.
• Chapter XXXII.: Conclusion.

CHAPTER XXXII.

conclusion.

§ 1.

A few words are needful respecting the attitude to be assumed towards the doctrines that have been enunciated. Probably many will eagerly search out excuses for disregarding the restraints set up by the moral law as herein developed. The old habit of falling back upon considerations of expediency—a habit which men followed long before it was apotheosized by Paley—will still have influence. Although it has been shown that the system of deciding upon conduct by direct calculation of results is a fallacious one—although the plea that, however proper certain rules of action may be, occasional exceptions are necessary, has been found hollow (Lemma II.), yet we may anticipate further apologies for disobedience, on the score of “policy.” Amongst other reasons for claiming latitude, it will very likely be urged that, whereas the perfect moral code is confessedly beyond the fulfilment of imperfect men, some other code is needful for our present guidance. Not what is theoretically retically right, but what is the best course practicable under existing circumstances, will probably be insisted on as the thing to be discovered. Some again may argue, that whichever line of conduct produces the greatest benefit as matters stand, if not positively right, is still relatively so; and is, therefore, for the time being, as obligatory as the abstract law itself. Or it will perhaps be said, that if, with human nature what it now is, a sudden re-arrangement of society upon the principles of pure equity would produce disastrous results, it follows that, until perfection is reached, some discretion must be used in deciding how far these principles shall be carried out. And thus may we expect to have expediency re-asserted as at least the temporary law, if not the ultimate one. Let us examine these positions in detail.

§ 2.

To say that the imperfect man requires a moral code which recognises his imperfection and allows for it, seems at first sight reasonable. But it is not really so. Wherever such a code differs from the perfect code, it must so differ in being less stringent; for as it is argued that the perfect code requires so modifying as to become possible of fulfilment by existing men, the modification must consist in omitting its hardest injunctions. So that instead of saying—” Do not transgress at all,” it is proposed, in consideration of our weakness, to say—“Transgress only in such and such cases.” Stated thus, the proposition almost condemns itself; seeing that it makes morality countenance acts which are confessedly immoral.

Passing by this, however, suppose we inquire what advantage is promised by so lowering the standard of conduct. Can it be supposed that men will on the whole come nearer to a full discharge of duty when the most difficult part of this duty is not insisted on? Hardly: for whilst performance so commonly falls below its aim, to bring down its aim to the level of possibility, must be to make performance fall below possibility. Is it that any evil will result from endeavouring after a morality of which we are as yet but partially capable? No; on the contrary, it is only by perpetual aspiration after what has been hitherto beyond our reach, that advance is made. And where is the need for any such modification? Whatever inability exists in us, will of necessity assert itself; and in actual life our code will be virtually lowered in proportion to that inability. If men cannot yet entirely obey the law, why, they cannot, and there is an end of the matter; but it does not follow that we ought therefore to stereotype their incompetency, by specifying how much is possible to them and how much is not. Nor, indeed, could we do this were it desirable. Only by experiment is it to be decided in how far each individual can conform; and the degree of conformity achievable by one is not the same as that achievable by others, so that one specification would not answer for all. Moreover, could an average be struck, it would apply only to the time being; and would be inapplicable to the time immediately succeeding. Hence a system of morals which shall recognise man’s present imperfections and allow for them, cannot be devised; and would be useless if it could be devised.

§ 3.

Those who, by way of excusing a little politic disobedience, allege their anxiety to be practical, will do well to weigh their words a little. By “practical,” is described some mode of action productive of benefit; and a plan which is specially so designated, as contrasted with others, is one assumed to be, on the whole, more beneficial than such others. Now this that we call the moral law is simply a statement of the conditions of beneficial action. Originating in the primary necessities of things, it is the development of these into a series of limitations within which all conduct conducive to the greatest happiness must be confined. To overstep such limitations is to disregard these necessities of things—to fight against the constitution of nature. In other words, to plead the desire of being practical, as a reason for transgressing the moral law, is to assume that in the pursuit of benefit we must break through the bounds within which only benefit is obtainable.

What an insane notion is this that we can advantageously devise, and arrange, and alter, in ignorance of the inherent conditions of success; or that knowing these conditions we may slight them! In the field and the workshop we show greater wisdom. We have learnt to respect the properties of the substances with which we deal. Weight, mobility, inertia, cohesion, are universally recognised—are virtually, if not scientifically, understood to be essential attributes of matter; and none but the most hopeless of simpletons disregard them. In morals and legislation, however, we behave as though the things dealt with had no fixed properties, no attributes. We do not inquire respecting this human nature what are the laws under which its varied phenomena may be generalized, and accommodate our acts to them. We do not ask what constitutes life, or wherein happiness properly consists, and choose our measures accordingly. Yet, is it not unquestionable that of man, of life, of happiness, certain primordial truths are predicable which necessarily underlie all right conduct? Is not gratification uniformly due to the fulfilment of their functions by the respective faculties? Does not each faculty grow by exercise, and dwindle from disuse? And must not the issue of every scheme of legislation or culture, primarily depend upon the regard paid to these facts? Surely it is but reasonable, before devising measures for the benefit of society, to ascertain what society is made of. Is human nature constant, or is it not? If so, why? If not, why not? Is it in essence always the same? then what are its permanent characteristics? Is it changing? then what is the nature of the change it is undergoing? what is it becoming, and why? Manifestly the settlement of these questions ought to precede the adoption of “practical measures.” The result of such measures cannot be matter of chance. The success or failure of them must be determined by their accordance or discordance with certain fixed principles of things. What folly is it, then, to ignore these fixed principles! Call you that “practical” to begin your twelfth book before learning the axioms?

§ 4.

But if we are not as yet capable of entirely fulfilling the perfect law, and if our inability renders needful certain supplementary regulations, then, are not these supplementary regulations, in virtue of their beneficial effects, ethically justifiable? and if the abolition of them, on the ground that they conflict with abstract morality, would be disadvantageous, then, are they not of higher authority, for the time being, than the moral law itself?—must not the relatively right take precedence of the positively right?

The confident air with which this question seems to claim an affirmative answer is somewhat rashly assumed. It is not true that the arrangement best adapted to the time, possesses, in virtue of its adaptation, any independent authority. Its authority is not original, but derived. Whatsoever respect is due to it, is due to it only as a partial embodiment of the moral law. The whole benefit conferred by it is attributable to the fulfilment of that portion of the moral law which it enforces For consider the essential nature of all advantages obtained by any such arrangement. The use of every institution is to aid men in the achievement of happiness. Happiness consists in the due exercise of faculties. Hence an institution suited to the time, must be one which in some way or other ensures to men more facility for the exercise of faculties—that is, greater freedom for such exercise—than they would enjoy without it. Thus, if it be asserted of a given people that a despotism is at present the best form of government for them, it is meant that the exercise of faculties is less limited under a despotism, than it would be limited under the anarchical state entailed by any other form of government; and that, therefore, despotism gives to such a people an amount of liberty to exercise the faculties greater than they would possess in its absence. Similarly, all apologies that can be made for a narrow suffrage, for censorship of the press, for restraint by passports, and the like, resolve themselves into assertions that the preservation of public order necessitates these restrictions—that social dissolution would ensue on their abolition—that there would arise a state of universal aggression by men on each other—or, in other words, that the law of equal freedom is less violated by the maintenance of these restrictions, than it would be violated were they repealed.

If, then, the only excuse to be made for measures of temporary expediency is, that they get the commands of the moral law fulfilled better than any other measures can, their authority may no more be compared with that of the moral law itself, than the authority of a servant with that of a master. Whilst a conductor of force is inferior to a generator of it—whilst an instrument is inferior to the will which guides it, so long must an institution be inferior to the law whose ends it subserves, and so long must such institution bend to that law as the agent to his principal.

And here let it be remarked, that we shall avoid much confusion by ceasing to use the word right in any but its legitimate sense; that, namely, in which it describes conduct purely moral. Rightness expresses of actions, what straightness does of lines; and there can no more be two kinds of right action than there can be two kinds of straight line. If we would keep our conclusions free from ambiguity, we must reserve the term we employ to signify absolute rectitude, solely for this purpose. And when it is needful to express the claims of imperfect, though beneficial, institutions, we must speak of them, not as “relatively right,” or “right for the time being,” but as the least wrong institutions now possible.

§ 5.

The admission that social arrangement can be conformed to the moral law only in as far as the people are themselves moral, will probably be thought a sufficient plea for claiming liberty to judge how far the moral law may safely be acted upon. For if congruity between political organization and popular character is necessary; and if, by consequence, a political organization in advance of the age will need modification to make it fit the age; and if this process of modification must be accompanied by great inconvenience, and even suffering; then it would seem to follow that for the avoidance of these evils our endeavour should be to at first adapt such organization to the age. That is to say, men’s ambition to realize an ideal excellence must be checked by prudential considerations.

“Progress, and at the same time resistance,”—that celebrated saying of M. Guizot, with which the foregoing position is in substance identical—no doubt expresses a truth; but not at all the order of truth usually supposed. To look at society from afar off, and to perceive that such and such are the principles of its development, is one thing: to adopt these as rules for our daily government, will turn out on examination to be quite a different thing. Just as we saw that it is very possible for the attainment of greatest happiness to be from one point of view the recognised end of morality, and yet to be of no value for immediate guidance (Chap. III.), so, it is very possible for “progress, and at the same time resistance,” to be a law of social life, without being a law by which individual citizens may regulate their actions.

That the aspiration after things as they should be, needs restraining by an attachment to things as they are, is fully admitted. The two feelings answer to the two sides of our present mixed nature—the side on which we continue adapted to old conditions of existence, and the side on which we are becoming adapted to new ones. Conservatism defends those coercive arrangements which a still-lingering savageness makes requisite. Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of the ideal man. The strengths of these sentiments are proportionate to the necessity for the institutions they respond to. And the social organization proper for a given people at a given time, will be one bearing the impress of these sentiments in the ratio of their prevalence amongst that people at that time. Hence the necessity for a vigorous and constant manifestation of both of them. Whilst, on the one hand, love of what is abstractedly just, indignation against every species of aggression, and enthusiasm on behalf of reform, are to be rejoiced over; we must, on the other hand, tolerate, as indispensable, these displays of an antagonistic tendency; be they seen in the detailed opposition to every improvement, or in the puerile sentimentalisms of Young England, or even in some frantic effort to bring back the age of heroworship. Of all these nature has need, so long as they represent sincere beliefs. From time to time the struggle eventuates in change; and by composition of forces there is produced a resultant, embodying the right amount of movement in the right direction. Thus understood, then, the theory of “progress, and at the same time resistance,” is correct.

Mark now, however, that for this resistance to be beneficial, it must come from those who think the institutions they defend really the best, and the innovations proposed absolutely wrong. It must not come from those who secretly approve of change, but think a certain opposition to it expedient. For if the true end of this conflict of opinion is to keep social arrangements in harmony with the average character of the people; and if (rejecting that temporary kind of opinion generated by revolutionary passion) the honest opinion held by each man of any given state of things is not an intellectual accident, but indicates a preponderating fitness or unfitness of that state of things to his moral condition (pp. 240. 427); then it follows that only by a universal manifestation of honest opinions can harmony between social arrangements and the average popular character be preserved. If, concealing their real sympathies, some of the movement party join the stationary party, merely with the view of preventing too rapid an advance, they must inevitably disturb turb the adaptation between the community and its institutions. So long as the natural conservatism ever present in society is left to restrain the progressive tendency, things will go right; but add to this natural conservatism an artificial conservatism—a conservatism not founded on love of the old, but on a theory that conservatism is needful—and the proper ratio between the two forces is destroyed; the resultant is no longer in the right direction; and the effect produced by it is more or less vitiated. Whilst, therefore, there is truth in the belief that “progress, and at the same time resistance,” is the law of social change, there is a fatal error in the inference that resistance should be factitiously created. It is a mistake to suppose this the kind of resistance called for; and, as M. Guizot’s own experience testifies, it is a further mistake to suppose that any one can say how far resistance should be carried.

But, indeed, without entering upon a criticism like this, the man of moral insight sees clearly enough that no such self-contradicting behaviour can answer. Successful methods are always genuine, sincere. The affairs of the universe are not carried on after a system of benign double-dealing. In nature’s doings all things show their true qualities—exert whatsoever of influence is really in them. It is manifest that a globe built up partly of semblances instead of facts, would not be long on this side chaos. And it is certain that a community composed of men whose acts are not in harmony with their innermost beliefs, will be equally unstable. To know in our hearts that some proposed measure is essentially right, and yet to say by our deeds that it is not right, will never prove really beneficial. Society cannot prosper by lies.

§ 6.

And yet it will still be thought unreasonable to deny discretionary power in this matter. Neglecting prudential considerations in the endeavour to put society on a purely equitable basis, will probably be demurred to, as implying an entire abandonment of private judgment. It must be confessed that it does so. But whoso urges this objection, may properly ask himself how much his private judgment, as applied to such a subject, is worth?

What is the question he proposes to solve? Whether it is, or is not, the time for some desired change to be made?—whether the people are, or are not, fit for some higher social form than they have hitherto lived under? Where now are his qualifications for answering this question? Has he ever seen the millions for whom he would prescribe? Some tenth part of them perhaps. How many of these does he recognise? Probably of one or two thousand he can tell you the names and occupations. But with how many of these is he acquainted? Several hundreds, it may be. And of what fraction of them does he personally know the characters? They are numbered by tens. Then it must be by what he reads in books and newspapers, witnesses at meetings, and hears in conversation that he judges? Partly so: from the salient points of character thus brought under his notice, he infers the rest. Does he then find his inferences trustworthy? On the contrary, when he goes amongst men he has read of, or heard described, it usually turns out that he has got quite a wrong impression of them. Does this evidence from which he judges lead all persons to like conclusions? No: with the same sources of information open to them, others form opinions of the people widely different from those he holds. Are his own convictions constant? Not at all: he continually meets with facts which prove that he had generalized on insufficient data; and which compel a revision of his estimate. Nevertheless, may it not be that by averaging the characters of those whom he personally knows, he can form a tolerably correct opinion of those whom he does not know? Hardly: seeing that of those whom he personally knows, his judgments are generally incorrect. Very intimate friends occasionally astound him by quite unexpected behaviour; even his nearest relatives—brothers, sisters, and children do so: nay, indeed, he has but a limited acquaintance with himself; for though from time to time he imagines very clearly how he shall act under certain new circumstances, it commonly happens that when placed in these circumstances his conduct is quite different from that which he expected.

Now of what value is the judgment of so circumscribed an intelligence upon the question—Is the nation ready for such and such measures of reform, or is it not? Here is one who professes to say of some thirty millions of people, how they will behave under arrangements a little freer than existing ones. Yet nine-tenths of these people he has not even seen; can identify only a few thousands of them; personally knows but an infinitesimal fraction; and knows these so imperfectly that on some point or other he finds himself mistaken respecting nearly all of them. Here is one who cannot say even of himself how certain untried conditions will affect him, and yet who thinks he can say of a whole nation how certain untried conditions will affect it! Surely there is in this, a most absurd incongruity between pretension and capability.

When the contrast between present institutions and projected ones is very great—when, for example, it is proposed to change at once from pure despotism to perfect freedom—we may, indeed, prophesy with certainty that the result will not fulfil expectation. For whilst the success of institutions depends on their fitness to popular character, and whilst it is impossible for popular character to undergo a great change all at once, it must follow that to suddenly substitute for existing institutions others of a quite opposite nature, will necessitate unfitness, and, therefore, failure. But it is not in cases like this that the power of judging is contended for. As elsewhere shown (p. 432), one of these extreme changes is never consequent upon that peaceful expression of opinion presupposed by the hypothesis that the citizen should be cautious in advocating reform; on the contrary, it is always a result of some revolutionary passion which no considerations of policy can control. Only when an amelioration is being peaceably discussed and agitated for—that is, only when the circumstances prove its advent at hand—can the proposed discretion be exercised: and then does the right use of this discretion imply an acquaintance with the people accurate enough to say of them, “Now they are not fit;” and, again, “Now they are fit”—an acquaintance which it is preposterous to assume—an acquaintance which nothing short of omniscience can possess.

Who, then, is to find out when the time for any given change has arrived? No one: it will find itself out. For us to perplex ourselves with such questions, is both needless and absurd. The due apportionment of the truth to the time is already provided for. That same modification of man’s nature which produces fitness for higher social forms, itself generates the belief that those forms are right (p. 427), and by doing this brings them into existence. And as opinion, being the product of character (pp. 25, 159), must necessarily be in harmony with character, institutions which are in harmony with opinion, must be in harmony with character also.

§ 7.

The candid reader may now see his way out of the dilemma in which he feels placed, between a conviction, on the one hand, that the perfect law is the only safe guide, and a consciousness, on the other, that the perfect law cannot be fulfilled by imperfect men. Let him but duly realize the fact that opinion is the agency through which character adapts external arrangements to itself—that his opinion rightly forms part of this agency—is a unit of force, constituting, with other such units, the general power which works out social changes—and he will then perceive that he may properly give full utterance to his innermost conviction; leaving it to produce what effect it may. It is not for nothing that he has in him these sympathies with some principles, and repugnance to others. He, with all his capacities, and desires, and beliefs, is not an accident, but a product of the time. Influences that have acted upon preceding generations; influences that have been brought to bear upon him; the education that disciplined his childhood; together with the circumstances in which he has since lived; have conspired to make him what he is. And the result thus wrought out in him has a purpose. He must remember that whilst he is a child of the past, he is a parent of the future. The moral sentiment developed in him, was intended to be instrumental in producing further progress; and to gag it, or to conceal the thoughts it generates, is to balk creative design. He, like every other man, may properly consider himself as an agent through whom nature works; and when nature gives birth in him to a certain belief, she thereby authorizes him to profess and to act out that belief. For—

• “——nature is made better by no mean,
• But nature makes that mean: over that art
• Which you say adds to nature, is an art
• That nature makes.”

Not as adventitious, therefore, will the wise man regard the faith that is in him—not as something which may be slighted, and made subordinate to calculations of policy; but as the supreme authority to which all his actions should bend. The highest truth conceivable by him he will fearlessly utter; and will endeavour to get embodied in fact his purest idealisms: knowing that, let what may come of it, he is thus playing his appointed part in the world—knowing that, if he can get done the thing he aims at—well: if not—well also; though not so well.

§ 8.

And thus, in teaching a uniform unquestioning obedience, does an entirely abstract philosophy become one with all true religion. Fidelity to conscience—this is the essential precept inculcated by both. No hesitation, no paltering about probable results, but an implicit submission to what is believed to be the law laid down for us. We are not to pay lip homage to principles which our conduct wilfully transgresses. We are not to follow the example of those who, taking “Domine dirige nos” for their motto, yet disregard the directions given, and prefer to direct themselves. We are not to be guilty of that practical atheism, which, seeing no guidance for human affairs but its own limited foresight, endeavours itself to play the god, and decide what will be good for mankind, and what bad. But, on the contrary, we are to search out with a genuine humility the rules ordained for us—are to do unfalteringly, without speculating as to consequences, whatsoever these require; and we are to do this in the belief that then, when there is perfect sincerity—when each man is true to himself—when every one strives to realize what he thinks the highest rectitude—then must all things prosper.

the end

London, 142, Strand, March 5th, 1851.

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THE BISHOP’S WIFE: A Tale of the Papacy. Translated from the German of LEOPOLD SCHEFER. With a Historical Notice of the Life and Times of Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII.), to which it relates. By Mrs. J. R. Stodart. Fcap. 8vo, 4s.

“To restore the so-called purity and extend the power of the Church was the great object of Hildebrand’s long and active life, and one of the means he employed was to enforce the celibacy of the Clergy, and compel those who were mamed (of whom at that time there were many) to repudiate their wives, and disgrace them and their offspring. On an incident supposed to have originated from enforcing his decree, mingled with an incident in the Pope’s life, Leopold Schefer has founded the present tale...Though it might have been acceptable at all times as an Historical Novel, referring to a very interesting period in the progress of society, and to a very interesting event of that period, it is doubly acceptable now, and will have a wide circulation.”—Economist.

“We have here a vindication of one of the first and dearest rights of man and of manhood, by an exhibition of the consequences of its violation...The story is as simple as possible, and, to our taste, It cannot be too simple, if it serves to bring out the characterization —a requirement which, in this case, it perfectly satiasfis....The Historical Sketch is extremely interesting, and possesses a character of ‘thoroughness’ and mastery of the subject which we often look for in vain in works of far greater pretension. Like the translation itself, it is written in a remarkably pure and felicitous style.”—Edinburgh Courant.

“This able and elegant translation of a popular German work is apt to the times....It has sturring and even thrilling incidents; and of more than equal value with the book (itself, is Mrs. Stodart’s own full and well-written ‘Historical Notice’ of the times and events to which it relates.”—Scotsman.

“A tale of great temporary Interest...There is shown throughout considerable power of realization of character, and the work depends for its primary interest upon its extreme dissimilarity to present modes of life and principles of action, and to the recalling of what may be truly called the iron age. There is occasionally a grotesque vividness of imagery which is new to most English readers.”—North British Mail

“There is a peculiar vividness about the manner in which the topographical features of Rome are preserved; and to those who are familiar with the localities, a perusal of the ‘Bishop’s Wife’ will be almost like a fresh visit to the City of the Seven Hills....The historical dissertation possesses an interest far beyond that which frequently belongs to works of much greater pretensions; and as it has reference to a period anterior to that which is treated by Ranke, it will probably have the additional charm of freshness to many readers.”—Edinburgh Witness

NORICA; or, Tales of Nurnberg from the Olden Time. After a Manuscript of the 16th Century. Translated from the German of August Hager. Fcd. 8vo. in the Press.

NEW YORK—Continued.

THE PROGRESS OF THE INTELLECT, as exemplified in the Religious Developments of the Greeks and Hebrews. By R. W. Mackay, M.A. 2 vols. 8vo, cloth, price 24s

“Mr. Mackay brings forward in support of his views an amount of erudition which will prove formidable to his antagonists. Most of the best German editions of the Greek and Latin classics seem to be perfectly familiar to the author, who knows well how to wield such ponderous materials.....The account of the theosophy of Aristotle, given in the first volume, is evidently the production of a master of the subject.”—Athenaum.

“‘The Progress of the Intellect’ is incomparably the most important contribution yet made by any English writer to views first broadly put forth by rationalistic German theologians. He has widened their basis—given them freer scope and larger aims—supported them by stores of as various and accumulated learning, and imparted to them all the dignity which can be derived from a sober and weighty style of writing, and from processes of thought to which imagination and reason contribute in almost equal degrees. This is unusual praise; but it is due to unusual powers; and to be offered to Mr. Mackay quite apart from any agreement in the tendency or object of his treatise. We will not even say that we have read it with sufficient care or critical guidance to be entitled to offer an opinion on the soundness of its criticism or reasoning, or on the truth or falsehood of its particular conclusions, or, indeed, on anything but its manifest labour and patience, the rare and indisputable monuments of knowledge which we find in it, and the surprising range of method it includes—logical, philosophical, and imaginative. Not many books have at any time been published with such irresistible claims to attention in these respects; in our own day we remember none.”—Examiner.

“Over the vast area of cloud-land, bounded on one side by the wars of the Christians, and on the other by the last book of the Odyssey, he has thrown the penetrating electric light of modern science, and found a meaning for every fable and every phantom by which the mysterious region is haunted.”—Atlas.

“All the views are justified by authorities. The work embraces many important subjects included in and suggested by the religious theories of the Greeks and Hebrews: and from this minute accuracy will be a storehouse for arguments and facts for those disposed to attack the theories, if not for those who have an interest in depending them. For a book so full of learning it is remarkably well written.”—Economist.

“The work before us exhibits an industry of research which reminds us of Cudworth, and for which, in recent literature, we must seek a parallel in Germany rather than in England, while its philosophy and aims are at once lofty and practical. Scattered through its more abstruse disquisitions are found passages of pre-eminent beauty—gems into which are absorbed the finest rays of intelligence and feeling. We believe Mr. Mackay’s work is unique in its kind .... The analysis and history of the theory of mediation, from its earliest mythical embodiments, are admirable, both from their panoramic breadth and their richness in illustrative details. We can only recommend the reader to resort himself to this treasury of mingled thought and learning,”—Westminster Reverse, Jan. 1, 1851.

A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION. By L. RaymonddeVericour. In 1 vol. post 8vo, cloth, price 10s. 6d.

“It is succinct, clearly-written, and may be called a manual of European history.”—Econmist.

“A useful book of historical reference, being well filled with facts and dates.”—Westminster Review.

RELIGIOUS SCEPTICISM AND INFIDELITY: their History, Cause, Cure, and Mission. By John Alfred Langford. Post 8vo, cloth, 5s.

SOCIAL ASPECTS. By John Stores Smith, author of “Mirabean, a Life History.” Post 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

“This work is the production of a thoughtful mind, and of an ardent and earnest spirit, and is well deserving of a perusal in extenso by all those who reflect on so solemn and important a theme as the future desting of their native country.”—Morning Chronicle.

THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT ART AMONG THE GREEKS.

By John Winckelmann. From the German, by G. H. Lodge. Demy 8vo, cloth, with illustrations, price 12s.

“That Winckelmann was well fitted for the task of writing a History of Ancient Art, no one can deny who is acquainted with, his profound learning and genius....He undoubtedly possessed in the highest degree the power of appreciating artistic skill wherever it was met with, but never more so than when seen in the garb of antiquity.....The work is of ’no common order,’ and a careful study of the great principles embodied in it must necessarily tend to form a pure, correct, and elevated taste.”—Eclectic Review.

“The work is throughout lucid, and free from the pedantry of technicality. Its clearness constitutes its great charm. It does not discuss any one subject at great length, but aims at a general view of Art,’ with attention to its minute developments. It is, if we may use the phrase, a Grammar of Greek Art, a sine qua non to all who would thoroughly investigate its language of form.”—Literary World.

“Winckelman is a standard writer to whom most students of art have been more or less indebted. He possessed extensive information, a refined taste, and great zeal. His style is plain, direct, and specific, so that you are never at a loss for his meaning. Some very good outlines, representing fine types of Ancient Greek Art, illustrate the text, and the volume is got up in a style worthy of its subject.”—Spectator.

“To all lovers of art this volume will furnish the most necessary and safe guide in studying the pure principles of nature and beauty in creative art.....We cannot wish better to English art than for a wide circulation of this invaluable work.”—Standard of Freedom.

“The mixture of the philosopher and artist in Winckelman’s mind gave it at once an elegance, penetration, and knowledge, which fitted him to a marvel for the task he undertook...Such a work ought to be in the library of every artist and man of taste, and even the most general reader will find in it much to instruct, and much to interest him.”—Atlas.

THE ARTIST’S MARRIED LIFE: BEING THAT OF ALBERT DURER. For devout Disciples of the Arts, Prudent Maidens, as well as for the Profit and Instruction of all Christendom, given to the light. Translated from the German of Leopold Schefer, by Mrs. J. R. Stodart. 1 vol. fcp. 8vo, ornamental binding, 6s.

“It is the worthy aim of the novelist to show that even the trials of genius are part of its education—that its very wounds are furrows for its harvest...No one, indeed, would have a right to expect from the author of the ‘Larenbrevier’ (see Ath. No. 437) such a stern and forcible picture of old times and trials as a Meinhold can give—still less the wire-drawn sentimentalities of a Hahn-Hahn; but pure thoughts—high morals—tender feelings—might be looked for....The merits of this story consist in its fine purpose, and its thoughtful, and for the most part just, exposition of man’s inner life. To those who, chiefly appreciating such qualities, can dispense with the stimulants of incident and passion, the book before us will not be unacceptable.”—Athenæum.

“The work reminds us of the happiest efforts of Tieck.....The design is to show how, hi spite of every obstacle, genius will manifest fiself to the world, and give shape and substance to its beautiful dreams and fancies.....It is a very pure and delightful composition, is tastefully produced in an antique style, and retains in the translation all the peculiarities (without which the book would lose half its merit) of Qerraan thought and idiom.”—Britannia.

“Simply then we assure our readers that we have been much pleased with this work. The narrative portion is well conceived, and completely illustrates the authors moral while it is interspersed with many passages which are full of beauty and pathos.”—Inquarer.

HEARTS IN MORTMAIN, AND CORNELIA. A Novel, in 1 vol. post 8vo, price 10s. 6d.

“To come to such writings as ‘Hearts in Mortmain, and Cornelia’ after the anxieties and roughness of our worldly struggle, is like banthing in fresh waters after the dust and heat of bodily exertion.....To a peculiar and attractive grace they join considerable dramatic power, and one or two of the characters are conceived and executed with real genius.”—Prospective Review.

“Both stories contain matter of thought and reflection which would set up a dozen common-place circulating library productions.”—Examiner.

“It is not often now-a-days that two works of such a rare degree of excellence in their class are to be found in one volume; it is rarer still to find two works, each of which contains matter for two volumes, bound up in these times in oue cover.”—Observer.

“The above is an extremely pleasing book. The first story is written in the antiquated form of letters, but its simplicity and good taste redeem it from the tediousness and appearance of egotism which generally attend that style of composition.”—Economist.

“Well written and interesting.”—Daily News.

“Two very pleating and elegant novels. Some passages display descriptive powers of a high order.”—Britannia.

PHASES OF FAITH, OR PASSAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF MY CREED. By Francis William Newman, Author of “The History of the Hebrew Monarchy,” “The Soul: her Sorrows and her Aspirations.” Post 8vo, cloth, 6s.

“Besides a style of remarkable fascination, from its perfect simplicity and the absence of all thought of writing, the literary character of this book arises from its display of the writer’s mind, and the narrative of his struggles..... In addition to the religious and metaphysical interest, it contains some more tangible biographical matter, in incidental pictures of the writer’s career, and glimpses of the alienations and social persecutions he underwent in consequence of his opinions.”—Spectator.

“The book altogether is a most remarkable book, and is destined, we think, to acquire all the notoriety which was attained a few years since by the ‘Vestiges of Creation,’ and to produce a more lasting effect.”—Weekly News.

“No work in our experience has yet been published so capable of grasping the mind of the reader and carrying him through the tortuous labyrinth of religious controversy; no work so energetically clearing the subject of all its ambiguities and sophistications; no work so capable of making a path for the new reformation to tread securely on. In this history of the conflicts of a deeply religious mind, courageously seeking the truth, and conquering for itself, bit by bit, the right to pronounce dogmatically on that which it had heretofore accepted traditionally, we see reflected, as in a mirror, the history of the last few centuries. Modern spiritualism has reason to be deeply grateful to Mr. Newman: his learning, his plety, his courage, his candour, and his thorough mastery of his subject, render his alliance doubly precious to the cause.”—The Leader.

“Mr. Newman is a master of style, and his book, written in plain and nervous English, treats of too important a subject to fail in commanding the attention of all thinking men, and particularly of all the ministers of religion.”—Economist.

“As a narrative of the various doubts and misgivings that beset a religious mind when compelled by conviction to deviate from the orthodox views, and as a history of the conclusions arrived at by an intelligent and educated mind, with the reasons and steps by which such conclusions were gained, this work is most interesting and of great importance.”—Morning Advertiser.

NEW EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.

THE SOUL: HER SORROWS AND HER ASPIRATIONS. An Essay towards the Natural History of the Soul, as the basis of Theology. By Francis William Newman, formerly Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Author of “A History of the Hebrew Monarchy.” Post 8vo, cloth, 6s.

“The spirit throughout has our warmest sympathy. It contains more of the genuine life of Christianity, than half the books that are coldly elaborated in its defence. The charm of the volume is the tone of faithfulness and sincerity which it breathes—the evidences which it affords in every page, of being drawn direct from the fountains of conviction.”—Prospective Review.

“On the great ability of the author we need not comment. The force with which he puts his arguments, whether for good or for evil, is obvious on every page.”—Literary Gazette.

“We have seldom met with so much pregnant and suggestive matter in a small compass, as in this remarkable volume. It is distinguished by a force of thought and freshness of feeling, rare in the treatment of religious subjects.”—Inquirer.

HISTORY OF THE HEBREW MONARCHY, from the Administration of Samuel to the Babylonish Captivity. By Francis William Newman, formerly Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Author of “The Soul: her Sorrows and Aspirations,” &c. 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d.

“It is truly refreshing to find Jewish history treated, as in the volume before us, according to the rules of sound criticism, and good sense..... The publication of such a work will form an epoch in biblical literature in this country.”—Inquirer.

“The Author has brought a very acute mind, familiar with knowledge that is beyond the range of ordinary scholarship, to the task of combining and interpreting the antique and fragmentary records which contain the only materials for his work.”—Prospective Review.

“This book must be regarded, we think, as the most valuable contribution ever made in the English Language to our means of understanding that portion of Hebrew History to which it relates..... The Author has not the common superstitious reverence for the Bible, but he shows everywhere a large, humane, and Christian spirit.”—Massachusetts Quarterly Review.

THE LIFE OF JESUS, CRITICALLY EXAMINED. By Dr. David Friedrich Strauss. 3 vols. 8vo, 1l 16s., cloth.

“The extraordinary merit of this book ..... Strauss’s dialectic dexterity, his forensic coolness, the even polish of his style, present him to us as the accomplished pleader, too completely master of his work to feel the temptation to unfair advantage or unseemly temper..... We can testify that the translator has achieved a very tough work with remarkable spirit and fidelity. The author, though indeed a good writer, could hardly have spoken better had his country and language been English. The work has evidently fallen into the hands of one who has not only effective command of both languages, but a familiarity with the subject-matter of theological criticism, and an initiation into its technical phraseology.”—Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review, 1847.

“Whoever reads these volumes without any reference to the German, must be pleased with the easy, perspicuous, idlomatic, and harmonious force of the English style. But he will be still more satisfied when, on turning to the original, he finds that the rendering is word for word, thought for thought, and sentence for sentence. In preparing so beautiful a rendering as the present, the difficulties can have been neither few nor small in the way of preserving, in various parts of the work, the exactness of the translation, combined with that uniform harmony and clearness of style, which impart to the volumes before us the air and spirit of an original. A modest and kindly care for his reader’s convenience has induced the translator often to supply the rendering into English of a Greek quotation, where there was no corresponding rendering into German in the original. Indeed, Strauss may well say, as he does in the notice, which he writes for this English edition, that as far as be has examined it, the translation is, ”et accurata et perspicua.’”—Prospective Review.

“In regard to learning, acuteness, and sagacious conjectures, the work resembles Niebuhr’s ‘History of Rome.’ The general manner of treating the subject and arranging the chapters, sections, and parts of the argument, indicates consummate dialectical skill; while the style is clear, the expression direct, and the author’s openness in referring to his sources of information, and stating his conclusions in all their simplicity, is candid and exemplary .... It not only surpasses all its predecessors of its kind in learning, sentences, and thorough investigation, but it is marked by a serious and earnest spirit.”—Christian Examiner.

“I found in M. Strauss a young man full of candour, gentleness, and modesty—one possessed of a soul that was almost mysterious, and, as it were, saddened by the reputation he had gained. He scarcely seems to be the author of the work under consideration.”—Quinet, Revise des Mondes.

ENDEAVOURS AFTER THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. first series.

By James Martineau. Second Edition. 12mo, 7s. 6d., cloth.

ENDEAVOURS AFTER THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. second series.

By James Martineau. 12mo, 7s. 6d., cloth.

“Heartily do we welcome a second volume of ‘Endeavours after the Christian Life,’ because when all that suits not our taste is omitted, we have still left more to instruct, interest, improve, and elevate, than in almost any other volume with which we are acquainted ..... Whatever may be its defects, we regard it as one of the most precious gifts to the religious world in modern times.”—Inquirer.

“Mr. Martineau is known, much beyond the limits of his own denomination, as a man of great gifts and accomplishments, and his publications have been all marked by subtle and vigorous thought, much beauty of imagination, and certain charms of composition, which are sure to find admirers..... There is a delicacy and othereality of ethical sentiment in these discourses which must commend them, and we may safely say that many of the orthodox in all departments might receive from them intellectual stimulus, moral polish, and in some moods religious edification.”—Nonconformist.

“One of the most interesting, attractive, and most valuable series of essays which the literature of Christianity has received from priest or layman for many a year.

“Volumes that have in them both intellect and true eloquence, and which satisfy the understanding while they please the taste and improve the heart.

“When we say that these Discourses are eminently practical, we mean that they are adapted, not only for man in the abstract—to teach the duties of Christianity everywhere—but also with reference to the circumstances of society—of the age and country in which our lot is cast.”—Critic.

The Catholic Series.

UNIFORM POST 8vo.

ST. PAUL’S EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS: An Attempt to convey their Spirit and Significance, by the Rev. John Hamilton Thom. Nearly Ready.

RELIGIOUS MYSTERY CONSIDERED. Cloth, price 2s.

“The author treats his subject both learnedly and philosophically, and the little work is worthy the attention both of the philosopher and the learned.”—Economist.

GOD IN CHRIST. Discourses by Horace Bushnell. In 1 vol., cloth, 6s.

CONTENTS.

• I.—Preliminary dissertation on the nature of language as related to thought and spirit.
• II.—A discourse on the divinity of Christ.
• III.—A discourse on the Atonement.
• IV.—A discourse on Dogma and Spirit; or the true reviving of Religion.

“Mr. Bushnell’s dissertation is valuable as giving us a perfect theoretical foundation for those practical efforts to secure peace and extend toleration which are now making in the world.”—Economist.

“The author of the discourses before us is original in that sense in which no faithful follower of Christ ever need fear to be thought so. He is original in having gone himself to the fountain-head of truth, in spite of all imposing creeds and customs.”—Inquirer.

POPULAR CHRISTIANITY: Its Transition State and probable Development. By Frederick Foxton, A.B., formerly of Pembroke College, Oxford, and perpetual Curate of Stoke Prior and Docklow, Herefordshire. Cloth, 6s.

“Few writers are bolder, but his manner is singularly considerate towards the very opinions that he combats—his language singularly calm and measured. He is evidently a man who has his purpose sincerely at heart, and indulges in no writing for effect. But what most distinguishes him from many with whom he may be compared is, the positiveness of his doctrine. A prototype for his volume may be found in that of the American, Theodore Parker—the ‘Discourse of Religion.’ There is a great coincidence in the train of ideas. Parker is more copious and eloquent, but Foxton is far more explicit, definite, and comprehensible in his meaning.”—Spectator.

“He has a penetration into the spiritual desires and wants of the age possible only to one who partakes of them, and he has uttered the most prophetic fact of our religious condition, with a force of conviction which itself gives confidence, that the fact is as he sees it. His book appears to us to contain many just and profound views of the religious character of the present age, and its indications of progress. He often touches a deep and fruitful truth with a power and fulness that leave nothing to be desired.”—Prospective Review, Nov. 1849.

“It contains many passages that show a warm appreciation of the moral beauty of Christianity, —written with considerable power.”—Inquirer.

“.... with earnestness and eloquence.”—Critic.

“We must refer our readers to the work itself, which is most ably written, and evinces a spirit at once earnest, enlightened, and liberal; in a small compass he presents a most lucid exposition of views, many of them original, and supported by arguments which cannot fail to create a deep sensation in the religious world.”—Observer.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN. SEVEN LECTURES. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Cloth, 5s.

“Mr. Emerson’s book is for us rather strange than pleasing. Like Mr. Carlyle, he strains after effect by quaint phraseology—the novelty will gain him admirers and readers. At the same time there is good sterling stuff in him; —already possessing a great name in his own country, and being well known to the reading world of Europe, his present work, speaking of men and things with which we are familiar, will extend his fame. It is more real and material than his former volumes; more pointedly written, more terse and pithy, contains many new views, and is on the whole both a good and a readable book.”—Economist.

“There are many sentences that glitter and sparkle like crystals in the sunlight; and many thoughts, which seem invoked by a stern philosophy from the depths of the heart.”—Weekly News.

“There is more practical sense and wisdom to be found in it (this Book) than in any of the Books he has given to the world, since his first..... When Emerson keeps within his depth, he scatters about him a great deal of true wisdom, mingled with much genuine poetry. There is also a merit in him which it would be ungrateful not to acknowledge; he has made others think; he has directed the minds of thousands to loftier exercises than they had known before; he has stimulated the reflective faculties of multitudes, and thus led to inquiry, and inquiry certainly will conduct to truth.”—Critic.

MEMOIR OF JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE. By William Smith. Second Edition, enlarged. Cloth, 4s. 6d.

“.....A Life of Fichte, full of nobleness and instruction, of grand purpose, tender feeling, and brave effort! ...... the compilation of which is executed with great judgment and fidelity.”—Prospective Review.

“We state Fichte’s character as it is known and admitted by men of all parties among the Germans, when we say that so robust an intellect, a soul so calm, so lofty, massive, and immoveable, has not mingled in philosophical discussion since the time of Luther..... Fichte’s opinions may be true or false; but his character as a thinker can be slightly valued only by such as know it ill; and as a man, approved by action and suffering, in his life and in his death, he ranks with a class of men who were common only in better ages than ours.”—State of German Literature, by Thomas Carlyle.

THE WAY TOWARDS THE BLESSED LIFE; or, The Doctrine of Religion. Translated by William Smith. Cloth, 6s.

WILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT’S LETTERS TO A FEMALE FRIEND. A Complete Edition. Translated from the Second German Edition. By Catherine M. A. Couper, Author of “Visits to Beechwood Farm,” “Lucy’s Half-Crown,” &c. 2 vols., cloth, 10s. 6d.

“We cordially recommend these volumes to the attention of our readers...... The work is in every way worthy of the ensracter and experience of its distinguished author.”—Daily News.

“These admirable letters were, we believe, first introduced to notice in England by the ‘Athenseum;’ and perhaps no greater noon was ever conferred upon the English reader than in the publication of the two volumes which contain this excellent translation of William Humboldt’s portion of a lengthened correspondence with his female friend.”—Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review.

“The beautiful series of W. Von Humboldt’s letters, now for the first time translated and published complete, possess not only high intrinsic interest, but an interest arising from the very striking circumstances in which they originated...... We wish we had space to verify our remarks. But we should not know where to begin, or where to end; we have therefore no alternative but to recommend the entire book to careful perusal, and to promise a continuance of occasional extracts into our columns from the beauties of thought and feeling with which it abounds.”—Manchester Examiner and Times.

“It is the only complete collection of these remarkable letters, which has yet been published in English, and the translation is singularly perfect; we have seldom read such a rendering of German thoughts into the English tongue.”—Critic.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

THE VOCATION OF MAN. By JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE. Translated from the German, by William Smith. Cloth, 4s. 6d.

“In the progress of my present work, I have taken a deeper glance into religion than ever I did before. In me the emotions of the heart proceed only from perfect intellectual clearness; —it cannot be but that the clearness I have now attained on this subject shall also take possession of my heart.”—Fichte’s Correspondence.

“‘The Vocation of Man’ is, as Fichte truly says, intelligible to all readers who are really able to understand a book at all; and as the history of the mind in its various phases of doubt, knowledge, and faith, it is of interest to all. A book of this stamp is sure to teach you much, because it excites thought. If it rouses you to combat his conclusions, it has done a good work; for in that very effort you are stirred to a consideration of points which have hitherto escaped your indolent acquiescence.”—Foreign Quarterly.

“This is Fichte’s most popular work, and is every way remarkable.”—Atlas.

“It appears to us the boldest and most emphatic attempt that has yet been made to explain to man his restless and unconquerable desire to win the True and the Eternal.”—Sentinel.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESENT AGE. By Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Translated from the German, by William Smith. Cloth, 7s.

“A noble and most notable acquisition to the literature of England.”—Douglas Jerrold’s Weekly Paper.

“We accept these lectures as a true and most admirable delineation of the present age; and on this ground alone we should bestow on them our heartiest recommendation; but it is because they teach us how we may rise above the age that we bestow on them our most emphatic praise.

“He makes us think, and perhaps more sublimely than we have ever formerly thought, but it is only in order that we may the more nobly act.

“As a majestic and most stirring utterance from the lips of the greatest German prophet, we trust that the book will find a response in many an English soul, and potently help to regenerate English society.”—The Critic.

THE VOCATION OF THE SCHOLAR. By JohannGottliebFichte. Translated from the German, by William Smith. Cloth, 2s.; paper cover, 1s. 6d.

“‘The Vocation of the Scholar’...... is distinguished by the same high moral tone, and manly, vigorous expression which characterize all Fichte’s works in the German, and is nothing lost in Mr. Smith’s clear, unembarrassed, and thoroughly English translation.”—Douglas Jerrold’s Newspaper.

“We are glad to see this excellent translation of one of the best of Fichte’s works presented to the public in a very neatform. .... No class needs an earnest and sincere spirit more than the literary class: and therefore the ‘Vocation of the Scholar,’ the ‘Guide of the Human Race,’ written in Fichte’s most earnest, most commanding temper, will be welcomed in its English dress by public writers, and be beneficial to the cause of truth.”—Economist.

ON THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR, AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS. By Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Translated from the German, by William Smith. Second Edition. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

“With great satisfaction we welcome this first English translation of an author who occupies the most exalted position as a profound and original thinker; as an irresistible orator in the cause of what he believed to be truth; as a thoroughly honest and heroic man..... The appearance of any of his works in our language is, we believe, a perfect novelty.... These orations are admirably fitted for their purpose; so grand is the position taken by the lecturer, and so irresistible their eloquence.”—Examiner.

“This work must inevitably arrest the attention of the scientific physician, by the grand spirituality of its doctrines, and the pure morality it teaches..... Shall we be presumptuous if we recommend these views to our professional brethren? or if we say to the enlightened, the thoughtful, the serious, This—if you be true scholars—is your Vocation? We know not a higher morality than this, or more noble principles than these: they are full of truth.”—British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

THE POPULAR WORKS OF JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE. Cloth, 12s. per volume.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

• 1.Memoirof theAuthor, by William Smith.
• 2.The Vocationof theScholar.
• 3.The Natureof theScholar.
• 4.The VocationofMan.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

• 1.The Characteristicsof thePresent Age.
• 2.The Wattowards theBlessed Life; or, theDoctrineofReligion.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MEN OF GENIUS; A Series of Biographical, Historical, and Critical Essays, selected by permission, chiefly from the North American Review, with Preface, by John Chapman. 2 vols., cloth, 8s.

CONTENTS.

• Gregory VII., Loyola, Pascal.
• Dante, Petrarch, Shelley, Byron, Goethe, Wordsworth, Milton, Scott, The German Poets.
• Michael Angelo, Canova.
• Machiavelli, Louis IX., PetertheGreat.

“Essays of very high order, which from their novelty, and their intrinsic value, we are sure will receive from the British public a reception commensurate with their merits....They are Essays which would do honour to the literature of any country.”—Westminster Review.

“Essays of great power and interest.... In freedom of opinion, and occasionally in catholicity of judgment, the writers are superior to our own periodical essayists: but we think there is less brilliancy and point in them; though on that very account there is, perhaps, greater impartiality and justice.”—Douglas Jerrold’s Magazine.

“Rich as we are in this delightful department of literature, we gladly accept another contribution to critical biography.....The American writers keep more closely to their text than our own reviewers. and are less solicitous to construct a theory of their own, and thereby run the risk of discolouring the facts of history, than to take a calm and dispassionate survey of events and opinions”—Morning Chronicle.

“Essays well worthy of an European Life.”—Christian Reformer.

“The collection before us is able and readable, with a good deal of interest in its subjects. They exhibit force, justness of remark, an acquaintance with their subject, beyond the mere book reviewed; much clear-headed pains-taking in the paper itself, where the treatment requires pains, a larger and more liberal spirit than is often found in transatlantic literature, and sometimes a marked and forcible style.”—Spectator.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

THE LIFE OF JEAN PAUL FR. RICHTER. Compiled from various sources. Together with his Autobiography, translated from the German. Second Edition. Illustrated with a Portrait engraved on Steel. Cloth, 7s. 6d.

“The autobiography of Richter, which extends only to his twelfth year, is one of the most interesting studies of a true poet’s childhood ever given to the world.”—Lome’s Edinburgh Magazine.

“Richter has an intellect vehement, rugged, irresistible, crushing in pieces the hardest problems; piercing into the most hidden combinations of things, and grasping the most distant; an imagination vogue, sombre, splendid, or appalling, brooding over the abysses of being, wandering through infinitude, and summoning before us, in its dim religious light, shapes of brilliancy, solemnity, or terror; a fancy of exuberance literally unexampled, for it pours its treasures with a lavishness which knows no limit, hanging, like the sun, a jewel on every grass-blade, and sowing the earth at large with orient pearls. But deeper than all these lien humour, the ruling quality of Richter—as it were the central fire that pervades and vivifles his whole being. He is a humourist from his inmost soul; he thinks as a humourist; he imagines, acts, feels as a humourist: sport is the element in which his nature lives and works.”—Thomas Carlyle.

“With such a writer it is no common treat to be intimately acquainted. In the proximity of great and virtuous minds we imbibe a portion of their nature—feel, as mesmerists gay, a healthful contagion, are braced with the same spirit of faith, hope, and patient endurance—are furnished with data for clearing up and working out the intricate problem of life, and are inspired, like them, with the prospect of immortality. No reader of sensibility can rise from the perusal of these volumes without becoming both wiser and better.”—Atlas.

“Apart from the interest of the work, as the life of Jean Paul, the reader learns something of German life and German thought, and is introduced to Weimar during its most distinguished period—when Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and Wie-land, the great fixed stars of Germany, in conjunction with Jean Paul, were there, surrounded by beautiful and admiring women, of the most refined and exalted natures, and of princely rank. It is full of passages so attractive and valuable that it is difficult to make a selection as examples of its character.”—Inquirer.

“The work is a useful exhibition of a great and amiable man, who, possessed of the kindliest feelings, and the most brilliant fantasy, turned to a high purpose that humour of which Rabelais is the great grandfather, and Sterne one of the line of ancestors, and contrasted it with an exaltation of feeling and a rhepsodical poetry which are entirely his own. Let us hope that it will complete the work begun by Mr. Carlyle’s Essays, and cause Jean Paul to be really read in this country.”—Examiner.

“Richter is exhibited in a most amiable light in this biography — industrious, frugal, benevolent, with a child-like simplicity of character, and a heart overflowing with the purest love. His letters to his wife are beautiful memorials of true affection, and the way in which he perpetually speaks of his children shows mat he was the most attached and indulgent of fathers. Whoever came within the sphere of his companionship appears to have contracted an affection for him that death only dissolved: and while his name was resounding through Germany, he remained as meek and humble as if he had still been an unknown adventurer on Parnassus.”—The Apprentice.

“The life of Jean Paul is a charming piece of biography which draws and rivets the attention. The affections of the reader are fixed on the hero with an intensity rarely bestowed on an historical character. It is impossible to read this biography without a conviction of its integrity and truth; and though Richter’s style is more difficult of translation than that of any other German, yet we feel that his golden thoughts have reached us pure from the mine, to which he has given that impress of genius which makes them current in all countries.”—Christian Reformer.

THE RATIONALE OF RELIGIOUS INQUIRY; or, the Question stated, of Reason, the Bible, and the Church. By James Martineau. Third Edition. With a Critical Lecture on Rationalism, Miracles, and the Authority of Scripture, by the late Rev. Joseph Blanco White, 4s. paper cover; 4s. 6d. cloth.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART. An Oration on the Relation of the Plastic Arts to Nature. Translated from the German of F. W. J. vonSchelling, by A. Johnson. 1s. paper cover; 1s. 6d. cloth.

“This excellent oration is an application to art of Schelling’s general philosophic principles. Schelling takes the bold course, and declares that what is ordinarily called nature is not the summit of perfection, but is only the inadequate manifestation of a high idea, which it is the office of man to penetrate. The true astronomer is not he who notes down laws and causes which were never revealed to sensuous organs, and which are often opposed to the primafacie influences of sensuous observers. The true artist is not he who merely imitates an isolated object in nature, but he who can penetrate into the unseen essence that lurks behind the visible crust, and afterwards reproduce it in a visible form. In the surrounding world means and ends are clashed and jarred together; in the work of art the heterogeneous is excluded, and a unity is attained not to be found elsewhere. Schelling, in his Oration, chiefly, not exclusively, regards the arts of painting and sculpture; but his remarks will equally apply to others, such as poetry and music. This oration of Schelling’s deserves an extensive perusal. The translation, with the exception of a few trifling inaccuracies, is admirably done by Mr. Johnson; and we know of no work in our language better suited to give a notion of the turn which German philosophy took after it abandoned the subjectivity of Kant and Fichte. The notion will, of course, be a taint one; but it is something to know the latitude and longitude of a mental position.”—Examiner.

ESSAYS. BY E. W. EMERSON. (Second Series) With a Notice by Thomas Carlyle. 3s. paper cover; 3s. 6d. cloth.

“The difficulty we find in giving a proper notice of this volume arises from the pervadingness of its excellence, and the compression of its matter. With more learning than Hazlitt, more perspicuity than Carlyle, more vigour and depth of thought than Addison, and with as much originality and fascination as any of them, this volume is a brilliant addition to the Table Talk of intellectual men, be they who or where they may.”—Prospective Review.

“Mr. Emerson is not a common man, and everything he writes contains suggestive matter of much thought and earnestness.”—Examiner.

“That Emerson is, in a high degree, possessed of the faculty and vision of the seer, none can doubt who will earnestly and with a kind and reverential spirit peruse these nine Essays. He deals only with the true and the eternal. His piercing gaze at once shoots swiftly, surely, through the outward and the superficial, to the inmost causes and workings. Any one can tell the time who looks on the face of the clock, but he loves to lay bare the machinery and show its moving principle. His words and his thoughts are a fresh spring, that invigorates the soul the - is steeped therein. His mind is ever des*** with the eternal; and those who only to exercise then lower intellectual faculties, and desire only new facts and new images, and those who have not a feeling or an interest in the great question of mind and matter, eternity and nature, will disregard him as unintelligible and uninteresting, as they do Bacon and Plato, and, indeed, philosophy itself.”— Douglas Jerrold’s Magazine.

“Beyond social science, because beyond and outside social existence, there lies the science of self, the development of man in his individual existence, within himself and for himself. Of this latter science, which may perhaps be called the philosophy of individuality, Mr. Emerson is an able epostle and interpreter.”—League.

“As regards the particular volume of EMERSON before us, we think it an improvement upon the first series of essays. The subjects are better chosen. They come home more to the experience of the mass of mankind, and are consequently more interesting. Their treatment also indicates un artistic improvement in the composition.”—Spectator.

“All lovers of literature will read Mr. Emerson’s new volume, as the most of them have read his former one: and if correct taste, and sober views of life, and such ideas on the higher subjects of thought as we have been accustomed to account as truths, are sometimes outraged, we at least meet at every step with originality, imagination, and eloquence.”—Inquirer.

THE CATHOLIC SERIES—Continued.

SERMONS OF CONSOLATION. By F. W. P. Greenwood, D.D. 3s. cloth.

“This a really delightful volume, which we would gladly see producing its purifying and elevating influences in all our families.”—Inquirer.

“This beautiful volume we are sure will meet with a grateful reception from all who seek instruction on the topics most interesting to a thoughtful mind. There are twenty-seven sermons in the volume.”—Christian Examiner.

SELF-CULTURE. By William Ellery Channing. 6d. paper cover; 1s. cloth.

THE CRITICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF THEODORE PARKER. Cloth, 6s.

“It will be seen from these extracts that Theodore Parker is a writer of considerable power and freshness, if not originality. Of the school of Carlyle, or rather taking the same German originals for his models, Parker has a more sober style and a less theatric taste. His composition wants the grotesque animation and richness of Carlyle, but it is vivid, strong, and frequently picturesque, with a tenderness that the great Scotchman does not possess.”—Spectator.

“Viewing him as a most useful, as well as highly-gifted man, we cordially welcome the appearance of an English reprint of some or his best productions. The Miscellaneous’ Pieces are characterised by the peculiar eloquence which is without a parallel in the works of English writers. His language is almost entirely figurative: the glories of nature are pressed into his service, and convey his most careless thought. This is the principal charm of his writings; his eloquence is altogether unlike that of the English orator or essayist; it partakes of the grandeur of the forests in his native land; and we seem, when listening to his speech, to hear the music of the woods, the rustling of the pine-trees, and the ringing of the woodman’s axe. In this respect he resembles Emerson; but, unlike that celebrated man, he never discourses audibly with himself, in a language u*** -own to the world—he is never obscure; the stream, though deep, reveals the glittering gems which cluster so thickly on its bed.”—Inquirer.

Charaterisation of th Catholic Series
BY THE PRESS.

“The various works composing the ‘Catholic Series,’ should be known to all lovers of literature, and may be recommended as calculated to instruct and elevate by the proposition of noble aims and the inculcation of noble truths, furnishing reflective and cultivated minds with more wholesome food than the nauseous trash which the popular tale-writers of the day set before their readers.”—Morning Chronicle.

“Too much encouragement cannot be given to enterprising publications like the present. They are directly in the teeth of popular prejudice and popular trash. They are addressed to the higher class of readers—those who think as well as read. They are works at which ordinary publishers shudder as ‘unsaleable,’ but which are really capable of finding a very large public.”—Foreign Quarterly.

“The works already published embrace a great variety of subjects, and display a great variety of talent. They are not exclusively, nor even chiefly, religious; and they are from the pens of German, French, American, as well as English authors. Without reference to the opinion which they contain, we may safely say that they are generally such as all men of free and philosophical minds would do well to know and ponder.”—Nonconformist.

“This series deserves attention, both for what it has already given, and for what it promises.”—Tait’s Magazine.

“A series not intended to represent or maintain a form of opinion, but to bring together some of the works which do honour to our common nature, by the genius they display, or by their ennobling tendency and lofty aspirations.”—Inquirer.

“It is highly creditable to Mr. Chapman to find his name in connexion with so much well-directed enterprise in the cause of German literature and philosophy. He is the first publisher who seems to have proposed to himself the worthy object of introducing the English reader to the philosophic mind of Germany, uninfluenced by the tradesman’s distrust of the marketable nature of the article. It is a very praiseworthy ambition; and we trust the public will justify his confidence. Nothing could be more unworthy than the attempt to discourage, and indeed punish, such unselfish enterprise, by attaching a bad reputation for orthodoxy to everything connected with German philosophy and theology. This is especially unworthy in the ‘student,” or the ‘scholar,’ to borrow Fichte’s names, who should disdain to set themselves the task of exciting, by their friction, a popular prejudice and clamour on matters on which the populace are no competent judges, and have, indeed, no judgment of their own,—and who should feel, as men themselves devoted to thought, that what makes a good book is not that it should gain its reader’s acquiescence, but that it should multiply his mental experience; that it should acquaint him with the ideas which philosophers and scholars, reared by a training different from their own, have laboriously reached and devoutly entertain; that, in a word, it should enlarge his materials and his sympathies as a man and a thinker.”—Prospective Renew.

“A series of serious and manly publications.”—Economist.

ITALY: PAST AND PRESENT. Or, General Views of its History, Religion, Politics, Literature, and Art. By L. Mariotti. 2 vols. post 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d.

“This is a useful book, informed with lively feeling and sound judgment. It contains an exhibition of Italian views of matters, social and political, by an Italian who has learned to speak through English thoughts as well as English words. Particularly valuable are the sketches of recent Italian history; for the prominent characters are delineated in a cordial and sympathetic spirit, yet free from enthusiastic ideas, and with unsparing discrimination .... The criticisms on ‘The Past’ will richly repay perusal; it is, however, in ” The Present of Italy that the main interest of the book resides. This volume does not merely possess an interest similar to that of contemporary works; it supplies a desideratum, and is well adapted to aid the English reader in forming a just estimate of the great events now in progress in Italy. Not the least wonderful part of the book is the entire mastery the author has acquired of ourlanguage.”—Examiner, April.

“Our author has an earnest, nay, enthusiastic, love and admiration of his native country; with the ability and eloquence to render his subject very interesting and attractive.”—Morning Advertiser.

The following notices refer to the first volume of the work:—

“The work is admirable, useful, instructive. I am delighted to find an Italian coming forward with so much noble enthusiasm, to vindicate his country and obtain for it its proper interest in the eyes of Europe. The English is wonderful. . . . I never saw any approach to such a style in a foreigner before—as full of beauty in diction as in thought,”—Sir E. Bulroer Lytton, Bart.

“I recognise the rare characteristics of genius—a large conception of the topic, a picturesque diction founded on profound thought, and that passionate sensibility which becomes the subject—a subject beautiful as its climate, and inexhaustible as its soil.”—B. Disrasli, Esq., M.P.

“A very rapid and summary rèsumè of the fortunes of Italy from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present moment.— A work of industry and labour, written with a good purpose.—A bird’s-eye view of the subject that will revive the recollections of the scholar, and seduce the tyro into a longer course of reading.”—Atherusum.

“This work contains more information on the subject, and more references to the present position of Italy, than we have seen in any recent production.”— Foreign Quarterly Review.

“In reference to style, the work before us is altogether extraordinary, as that of a foreigner, and in the higher quality of thought we may commend the author for his acute, and often original, criticism, and his quick perception of the grand and beautiful in his native literature.”—Prescott, in the North American Review.

“The work before us consists of a continuous parallel of the political and literary history of Italy from the earliest period of the middle ages to the present time. The author not only penetrates the inner relations of those dual appearances of national life, but possesses the power of displaying them to the reader with great clearness and effect. We remember no other work in which the civil conditions and literary achievements of a people have been blended in such a series of living pictures, representing successive periods of history.”—Algemeine Zeitung.

“An earnest and eloquent work.”—Examiner.

“A work ranking distinctly in the class of belles-lettres, and well deserving of a library place in England.”—Literary Gazette.

“A work warmly admired by excellent Judges.”—Tait’s Magazine.

“An admirable work written with great power and beauty.”—Prof. Longfellow. —Poets and Poetry of Europe.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE OLD PAINTERS. By the Author of the “Log Cabin.” 2s. 6d., paper cover; 8s., cloth.

A DISCOURSE OF MATTERS PERTAINING TO RELIGION. By Theodore Parker. Post 8vo, 7s., cloth.

CONTENTS.

• Book 1.—Of Religion in General; or, a Discourse of the Sentiment and its Manifestations.
• Book 2.—The Relation of the Religious Sentiment to God; or, a Discourse of Inspiration.
• Book 3.—The Relation of the Religious Sentiment to Jesus of Nazareth; or, a Discourse of Christianity.
• Book 4.—The Relation of the Religious Sentiment to the Greatest of Books; or, a Discourse of the Bible.
• Book 5.—The Relation of the Religious Sentiment to the Greatest of Human Institutions; or, a Discourse of the Church.

“Mr. Parker is a very original writer. We recommend the work to our readers as one of a very remarkable kind, which cannot fairly be judged of by detached extracts.”—Edinburgh Review, Oct., 1847.

“Parker writes like a Hebrew prophet, enriched by the ripest culture of the modern world.....His loftiest theories come thundering down into life with a rapidity and directness of aim which, while they alarm the timid and amaze the insincere, afford proof that he is less eager to be a reformer of men’s thinking, than a thinker for their reformation. Whatever judgment the reader may pronounce on the philosophy of the volume, he will close it, we venture to affirm, with the consciousness that he leaves the presence of a truly great mind; of one who is not only unoppressed by his large store of learning, but seems absolutely to require a massive weight of knowledge to resist and regulate the native force of his thought, and occupy the grasp of his imagination.”—Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review, 1847.

“There is a mastery shown over every element of the Great Subject, and the slight treatment of it in parts no reader can help attributing to the plan of the work, rather than to the incapacity of the author. From the resources of a mind singularly exuberant by nature and laboriously enriched by culture, a system of results is here thrown up, and spread out in luminous exposition.”—Prospective Review.

“Mr. Parker is no ephemeral teacher. ..... His aspirations for the future are not less glowing than his estimate for the past. He revels in warm anticipations of the orient splendours, of which all past systems are but the precursors.....His language is neither narrow nor unattractive; there is a consistency and boldness about it which will strike upon chords which, when they do vibrate, will make the ears more than tingle. We are living in an age which deals in broad and exhaustive theories; which requires a system that will account for everything, and assigns to every fact a place, and that no forced one, in the vast economy of things.”—Christian Remembrancer.

“It is impossible for any one to read the writings of Theodore Parker without being strongly impressed by them. They abound in passages of fervid eloquence—eloquence as remarkable for the truth of feeling which directs it, as for the genius by which it is inspired. They are distinguished by philosophical thought and learned investigation, no less than by the sensibility to beauty and goodness which they manifest.”—Christian Reformer.

THE DECAY OF TRADITIONAL FAITH, AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF FAITH UPON PHILOSOPHY. Two Lectures delivered at Finsbury Chapel, South Place. By Henry Ierson, M.A. Post 8vo, paper cover, price 1s.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

RATIONAL FAITH. Three Lectures delivered at Finsbury Chapel, South Place. Post 8vo, paper cover, price 1s.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE RELIGION OF NATURE. Being the above Five Lectures delivered at Finsbury Chapel, South Place. By Henry Ierson, M.A. Post 8vo, paper cover, price 2s.

CHANNING’S WORKS, COMPLETE. Edited by Joseph Barker. In 6 vols. 12mo, 6s. sewed, 8s., cloth.

GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICE OF THE

MEMOIR OF WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING, D.D. With Extracts from his Correspondence and Manuscripts. Edited by his Nephew, William Henry Channing; and embellished by two very superior Portraits of Dr. Channing, engraved on steel, from paintings by the eminent artists Allston and Gambardella. 3 vols. post 8vo, cloth. Published at 1l. 8s., now reduced to 10s. 6d.

“This is a valuable contribution to literature. The peculiar eminence reached by Dr. Chauning during his life makes a history of himself and of his mind indispensable to the future student of opinion.”—Athenaeum.

“It is a work of high merit, and of deep interest.”—Examiner.

“Dr. Channing had none of the narrow intolerance that distinguishes the more rigid sectarians.”—Spectator.

“It is pleasing to add, that objections to the theological tenets of Dr. Channing, do not prevent our entertaining a high admiration of his general writings; but this admiration rises to a far higher feeling as we study his biography; for we see that, ‘singularly lofty as is the spirit which his writings hreathe, he was true to them in heart and life;’ and we find the secret of his eloquence in the power which elevated ideas and enlarged conceptions of all that is just, pure, true, grand, beautiful, loving, and holy, had in the transformation of his being.”—Chombers’ Journal.

“The felicitous combination of a chaste and eloquent style with clear and powerful reasoning, placed his writings before his age generally, and far before his age in the United States.”—Tait’s Magazine.

“He was a remarkable man, and he rendered remarkable service. His mental history is deeply interesting.”—Eclectic Review.

“We find it difficult to tear ourselves from these deeply-interesting volumes, which we are disposed to rank among the best biographies of the age.”—Christian Reformer.

THE BEAUTIES OF CHANNING. With an Essay prefixed. By William Mountford. 12mo, cloth, 2s. 6d.

“This is really a book of beauties. It is no collection of shreds and patches, but a faithful representative of a mind which deserves to have its image reproduced in a thousand forms. It is such a selection from Channing as Channing himself might have made. It is as though we had the choicest passages of those divine discourses read to us by a kindred spirit......Those who have read Martyria will feel that no man can be better qualified than its author, to bring together those passages which are at once most characteristic, and most rich in matter tending to the moral and religious elevation of human beings.”—Inquirer.

CHRISTIANITY: THE DELIVERANCE OF THE SOUL, AND ITS LIFE By William Mountford, M.A. Fcp. 8vo, cloth, 2s.

MARTYRIA: A LEGEND. Wherein are contained Homilies, Conversations, and Incidents of the Reign of Edward the Sixth. Written by William Mountford, Clerk. Fcp. 8vo, cloth, 6s.

A RETROSPECT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ENGLAND; or, the Church, Puritanism, and Free Inquiry. By John James Tayler, B.A. Post 8vo, 10s. 6d. cloth.

“This work is written in a chastely beautiful style, manifests extensive reading and careful research; is full of thought, and decidedly original in its character. It is marked also by the modesty which usually characterises true merit.”—Inquirer.

“Mr. Tayler is actuated by no sectarian bias, and we heartily thank him for this addition to our religious literature.”—Westminster Review.

“It is not often our good fortune to meet with a book so well conceived, so well written, and so instructive as this. The various phases of the national mind, described with the clearness and force of Mr. Tayler, furnish inexhaustible material for reflection. Mr. Tayler regards all parties in turn from an equitable point of view, is tolerant towards intolerance, and admires zeal and excuses fanaticism, wherever he sees honesty. Nay, he openly asserts that the religion of mere reason is not the religion to produce a practical effect on a people; and therefore regards his own class only as one element in a better principle church. The clear and comprehensive grasp with which he marshals his facts, is even less admirable than the impartiality, nay, more than that, the general kindliness with which he reflects upon them.—Examiner.

“The writer of this volume has all the calmness belonging to one who feels himself not mixed up with the struggle he describes. There is about it a tone of great moderation and candour: and we cannot but feel confident that we have here, at least, the product of a thoroughly honest mind.”—Lome’s Edinburgh Magazine.

THE ELEMENTS OF INDIVIDUALISM, By William Maccall. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d., cloth.

“It is a book worthy of perusal. Even those who can find no sympathy with its philosophy, will derive pleasure and improvement from the many exquisite touches of feeling, and the many pictures of beauty which mark its pages.

“The expansive philosophy, the penetrative intellect, and the general humanity of the author, have rendered The Elements of Individualism a book of strong and general interest.”—Critic.

“We have been singularly interested by this book.....Here is a speaker and thinker whom we may securely feel to be a lover of truth, exhibiting in his work a form and temper of mind very rare and peculiar in our time.”—Manchester Examiner.

THE EDUCATION OF TASTE. A Series of Lectures. By William Maccall. 12mo, 2s. 6d.

THE AGENTS OF CIVILIZATION. A Series of Lectures. By William Maccall. 12mo, 3s. 6d., cloth.

AN INQUIRY CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY. By Charles C. Hennell. Second Edition, 8vo, 12s., cloth.

CHRISTIAN THEISM. By the Author of “An Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity.” Svo, 2s. 6d., cloth.

A SECOND EDITION, WITH EXPLANATORY PREFACE.

THE NEMESIS OF FAITH. By J. A. Froude, M.A., late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Post 8vo, cloth, 6s.

“’The Nemesis of Faith’ possesses the first requisites of a book. It has power, matter, and mastery of subject, with that largeness which must arise from the writer’s mind, and that Individual character—those truths of detail—which spring from experience or observation. The pictures of an English home in childhood, youth, and early manhood, as well as the thoughts and feelings of the student at Oxford, are painted with feeling pervaded by a current of thought: the remarks on the humbug of the three learned professions, more especially on the worldliness of the church, are not mere declamation, but the outpouring of an earnest conviction: the Picture of Anglican Protestantism, dead to faith, to love, and to almost everything but wealth-worship, with the statement of the objects that Newman first proposed to himself, form the best defence of Tractarianism that has appeared, though defence does not seem to be the object of the author.....As the main literary object is to display the struggles of a mind with the growth and grounds of opinion, incidents are subordinate to the intellectual results that spring from them: but there is no paucity of incident if the work be judged by its own standard.”—Spectator.

“The most striking quality in Mr. Froude’s writings is his descriptive eloquence. His characters are all living before us, and have no sameness. His quickness of eye is manifest equally in his insight into human minds, and in his perceptions of natural beauty.....The style of the letters is everywhere charming. The confessions of a Sceptic are often brilliant, and always touching. The closing narrative is fluent, graphic, and only too highly wrought in painful beauty.”—Prospective Review, May, 1849.

“The book becomes in its soul-burning truthfulness, a quite invaluable record or the fiery struggles and temptations through which the youth of this nineteenth century has to force its way in religious matters.....Especially is it a great warning and protest against three great falsehoods. Against self-deluded word orthodoxy and bibliolatry, setting up the Bible for a mere dead idol instead of a living witness to Christ. Against frothy philosophic Infidelity, merely changing the chaff of old systems for the chaff of new, addressing men’s intellects and ignoring their spirits. Against Tractarianism, trying to make men all belief, as Strasburgers make geese all liver, by darkness and cramming: manufacturing state folly as the infidel state wisdom; deliberately giving the lie to God, who has made man in his own image, body, soul, and spirit, by making the two first decrepit for the sake of pampering the last.....Against these three falsehoods, we say, does the book before us protest: after its own mournful fashion, most strongly when most unconsciously.”—Frazer’s Mag., May, 1849.

THE PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE, Popularly considered, in relation to the ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT, and DESTINY of the HUMAN MIND. Crown 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

“This singularly thoughtful essay embraces a wide range of topics, but without ever departing from its proper theme. In the performance of his task, the author has displayed great power of reflection, much learning, and an eloquence and elevation of style, peculiarly appropriate to the loftiness of the subject-matter.”—Critic.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE. With an Outline of some of its recent developments among the Germans, embracing the Philosophical Systems of Schelling and Hegel, and Oken’s System of Nature, by J. B. Stallo, A.M. Post 8vo, cloth, 6s.

THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURE, HER DIVINE REVELATIONS, AND A VOICE TO MANKIND. By and through Andrew Jackson Davis, the “Poughkeepsie Seer,” and “Clairvoyant.” 2 vols. large 8vo, cloth, 18s.

The work consists of 800 pages, including a history of its production, with a Biographical Sketch, and Portrait (engraved on Steel) of the Author.

THE LIFE OF THE REV. JOSEPH BLANCO WHITE. Written by Himself. With Portions of his Correspondence. Edited by John Hamilton Thom. 3 vols. post 8vo, 1l. 4s., cloth.

“This is a book which rivets the attention, and makes the heart bleed. It has, indeed, with regard to himself, in its substance, though not in its arrangement, an almost dramatic character; so clearly and strongly is the living, thinking, active man projected from the face of the records which he has left.

“His spirit was a battle-field, upon which, with, fluctuating fortune and singular intensity, the powers of belief and scepticism waged, from first to last, their unceasing war; and within the compass of his experience are presented to our view most of the great moral and spiritual problems that attach to the condition of our race.—Quarterly Review.

“This book will improve his (Blanco White’s) reputation. There is much in the peculiar construction of his miod, in its close union of the moral with the intellectual faculties, and in its restless desire for truth, which may remind the reader of Dr. Arnold.”—Examiner.

“There is a depth and force in this book which tells.”—Christian Remembrancer.

“These volumes have an interest beyond the character of Blanco White. And beside the intrinsic interest of his eelf-portraiture, whose character is indicated in some of our extracts, the correspondence, in the letters of Lord Holland, Southey, Coleridge, Channing, Norton, Mill, Professor Powell, Dr. Hawkins, and other names of celebrity, has considerable attractions in itself, without any relation to the biographical purpose with which it was published.”—Spectator.

LIFE OF GODFREY W. VON LEIBNITZ. By J. M. Mackie. 12mo, 3s. 6d., eloth.

“We commend this book, not only to scholars and men of science, but to all our readers who love to contemplate the life and labours of a great and good man. It merits the special notice of all who are interested in the business of education, and deserves a place, by the side of Brewster’s Life of Newton, in all the libraries of our schools, academies, and literary institutions.”—Christian Watchman.

THE EDUCATION OF THE FEELINGS, By Charles Bray. Second Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d.

THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING.—Within the Means. Up to the Means. Beyond the Means. Fcp. 8vo, ornamental cover and gilt edges, 1s.

STORIES FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOONS. From the Creation to the Advent of the Messiah. For the use of Children from 5 to 11 years of age. By Mrs. George Dawson (late Miss Susan Fanny Crompton). 16mo, 1s. 6d., cloth.

“This is a very pleasing little volume, which we can confidently recommend. It is designed and admirably adapted for the use of children from five to eleven years of age. It purposes to infuse into that tender age some acquaintance with the facts, and taste for the study of the Old Testament. The style is simple, easy, and for the most part correct. The stories are told in a spirited and graphic manner.

“Those who are engaged in teaching the young, and in laying the foundation of good character by early religious and moral impressions, will be thankful for additional resources of a kind so judicious as this volume.”—Inquirer.

HYMNS FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND HOME. Edited by James Martineau. Sixth Edition, 12mo, 3s. 6d., cloth.

REVERBERATIONS. PART I. Fcp. 8vo, paper cover, 1s.

REVERBERATIONS. PART II. Fcp. 8vo, paper cover, 2s.

“In this little verse-pamphlet of some sixty or seventy pages, we think we see evidences of a true poet; of a fresh and natural fount of genuine song; and of a purpose and sympathy admirably suited to the times.....The purchaser of it will find himself richer in possessing it hy many wise and charitable thoughts, many generous emotions, and much calm and quiet, yet deep reflection.”—Exammer.

“Remarkable for earnestness of thought and strength of diction.”— Morning Herald.

“The author of these rhymed brochures has much of the true poetic spirit. He is always in earnest. He writes from the full heart. There is a manliness, too, in all his utterances that especially recommends them to us.....As long as we have such ‘Reverberations’ as these we shall never grow weary of them.”—Weekly News.

TWO ORATIONS AGAINST TAKING AWAY HUMAN LIFE, Under any Circumstances; and in explanation and defence of the misrepresented doctrine of Non-resistance. By Thomas Cooper, Author of “The Purgatory of Suicides.” Post 8vo, 1s., in paper cover.

“Mr. Cooper possesses undeniable abilities of no mean order, and moral courage beyond many.....The manliness with which he avows, and the boldness and seal with which he urges, the doctrines of peace and love, respect for human rights, and moral power, in these lectures, are worthy of all honour.”—Nonconformist.

“Mr. Cooper’s style is intensely clear and forcible, and displays great earnestness and fine human sympathy; it is in the highest degree manly, plain, and vigorous.”—Morning Advertiser.

“These two orations are thoroughly imbued with the peace doctrines which have lately been making rapid progress in many unexpected quarters. To all who take an interest in that great movement, we would recommend this book, on account of the fervid eloquence and earnest truthfulness which pervades every line of it.”—Manchester Examiner.

THE CHRISTIAN’S KEY THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIALISH; Being Hints and Aids towards an Analytical Enquiry into the Principles of Social Progress, with a View to the Elucidation of the great practical problem of the present day,—the Improvement of the Condition of the Working Classes. In Ten Propositions, by Upsilon. Post 8vo, paper cover, 1s.

THE HEBREW COSMOGONY, AND MODERN INTERPRETATIONS. Demy 8vo, sewed, 1s.

“The work is short and forcibly written, and states the question plainly.”

Economist.

THE DUTY OF ENGLAND: a Protestant Layman’s Reply to Cardinal Wiseman’s Appeal. 8vo, 1s.

“The ‘Protestant Layman’ argues the question in the right spirit. He would meet the ‘Papal aggression’ solely by logical argument, free inquiry, and free thought, unbiassed by authority.”—Manchester Spectator.

BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW. By the Rev. R. E. B. Maclellan. 12mo, cloth, price 3s.

ECCLESIASTICAL PRETENSIONS, ROMISH AND ENGLISH; with the Antidote which a Catholic Protestantism Supplies. A Tract for the Times, being A SERMON, preached in Renshaw Street Chapel, Liverpool, Sunday, November 17, 1850. By John Hamilton Thom.

RELIGION, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE. A SERMON, preached in Lewin’s Mead Chapel, Bristol, September 23rd, 1849, on behalf of The Ministry to the Poor in Bristol. By John Hamilton Thom. Published by Request. 12mo, paper cover, price 1s.

CATHOLICITY, SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL, An Attempt at Vindicating the Harmony of Faith and Knowledge. A Series of Discourses. By Thomas Wilson, M.A., late Minister of St. Peter’s, Mancroft, Norwich, Author of “Travels in Egypt and Syria,” etc.

• No. I.—RELATIVE RANK OF OUR EARTH AMONG STELLAR WORLDS.
• No. II.—THE INNER KINGDOM.
• No. III.—SALVATION.
• No. IV.—SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY.

8vo, paper cover, price 1s. each.