now explained and defended his views concerning the biblical idea of inspiration,' he briefly indicates the evidence that exists corroborative of the claim; but here our space forbids us to follow, nor can we say anything of the subsequent remarks of the lecturer on the various theories of inspiration. The lecture concludes with a brief but powerful address on the amount of deference due to the Bible. As a whole, this lecture is one of the ablest contributions to the subject which has made its appearance in this country. As we have said, we cannot agree with every position assumed by the lecturer, and especially are we dissatisfied with the arguments advanced concerning the amount of inspiration claimed by the sacred writers, but we cannot withhold our testimony to the very able and philosophical character of the discourse, its constant and reverent recognition of the supreme claims of the Bible, and the admirable candour and courtesy with which the lecturer has stated the arguments of opponents.

We regret that we cannot do more than briefly name the subjects of the remaining papers in this volume. The next succeeding Dr. Harris's is by Mr. Godwin on the Earliest Form of Christianity,' introductory to the course of the Criticism and Interpretation of the Greek Testament. The third, by Dr. Lankester, is on the Study of the Natural History Sciences'-a branch of knowledge of which we regret to be informed there is no chair' in any other characteristically religious institution but New College. The Study of Mathematics,' by Professor P. Smith, is the subject of the fourth lecture, followed by Professor Nenner's, on the Exegesis of the Old Testament.' The lecture on the History of Classical Learning,' by Dr. W. Smith, ably sustains his high reputation as one of the first classical scholars of the age.' The last paper is by Mr. Binney, on the Importance and Responsibility of the Office of the Christian Ministry. We can now only express our own obligation to the lecturers for the great pleasure-unable as we were to hear the papers delivered-we have derived from reading this volume, and our very earnest recommendation of it to our readers, especially to those whose position on the ladder of life' may be greatly strengthened by receiving a fresh stimulus and guide in the prosecution of a liberal course of study.'

The Sunday-school Union Magazine. 1851.

The Bible Class Magazine. 1851.

Notes on the Scripture Lessons. 1851.

The Sunday-school Class Register and Diary for 1852.

Tracts: New Year's Counsels to Sunday-school Teachers. A New Year's Address to the Parents of Sunday-school Scholars. God, the Guide of Youth. A Word of Loving Counsel to Sunday-school Scholars for the New Year. London: Sunday-school Union.

We entertain a very high estimate of the value and importance of the Sabbathschool institution-not so much because of what it has done, as because of what it may do, and is yet destined to achieve. In the beneficial results that have already followed the disinterested labours of Sunday-school teachers, we unfeignedly rejoice, and have been glad to observe a growing inclination in men of all parties to acknowledge them. We think, however, that taking into consideration the amount of labour and means expended, the real influence of Sabbath schools is much less than it ought to be, and are of opinion that those engaged in imparting religious instruction in them should be induced to occupy a higher position in relation to their work, than (in general) they have thought to assume. On this subject we purpose saying somewhat further in future numbers, and in the meanwhile content ourselves by remarking on the volumes, &c., noted above. The Sunday-school Union Magazine is the monthly organ of communication between the Union' committee and teachers

generally, and furnishes interesting' intelligence connected with Sundayschool operations. It is conducted in a genial spirit-is serious without being dull, and by providing such papers as those on the British Museum' must be useful to junior teachers, for whom it seems chiefly adapted.

The 'Bible Class Magazine' is an excellent serial, and deserves a large circulation amongst young people of all classes. Our space will not allow us to particularize its contents, but we have no hesitation in giving it our warmest commendation, and in recommending its introduction not only to every Sundayschool, but amongst the children of every household.

We are not prepared to give an adhesion to every explanation, statement, and comment contained in the Notes on the Scripture Lessons,' and we should deprecate anything like a slavish use of them by teachers. The committee themselves say, We have reason to fear that too many of our friends employ them rather as crutches than as guides.' This is a great evil. There is much in them that is useful, but they should be regarded only as helps to the study of 'lessons' in private. The Class Register and Diary'- -no teacher should be without. The New Year's Addresses' are severally seasonable, but of the three, we think the New Year's Counsels to Sunday-school Teachers' decidedly the best.

The Scottish Protestant. Parts I., II., III., and IV. Glasgow: W. R. Mc‘Phun. If this work had made its appearance just twelve months ago, we believe it would have attained a circulation more than satisfactory even to the somewhat enlarged desires of its publisher. The most anti-Popish orators would have found their anti-Popery to be mild, when compared with its spirit. Its leading characteristic is the intensest hatred to every thing Romish. Very much of this hatred we share ourselves, but we question the expediency of exhibiting it after the manner of the Scottish Protestant.' The class amongst which this magazine is designed to circulate, hardly needs its anti-Romish feelings strengthened. We would prefer to see it embued rather with the anxious desire to bring Catholics to the knowledge of the truth, than to show them its hatred of the Roman Catholic Church. We believe, however, that Romanism is the same in spirit now that it was in the time of the Waldenses; but the wolf has put on sheep's clothing.' To those who wish to see what Romanism was, and to those who do wish to strengthen their antipathies to it, we can recommend the 'Scottish Protestant.' It is conducted with both spirit and ability, and we should like it better if it were not for the pictorial illustrations, some of which are simply disgusting.

The Reformers' Almanack and Political Year Book for 1852. London: Aylott and Jones. [This is a kind of annual Black Book of Abuses in Church and State. As a compilation it exhibits great care and judgment, and it will be found extremely valuable as a book of reference to the political events, statistics, and progress of 1851. It contains also some very interesting and suggestive statistical articles on the social state and prosperity of the kingdom, indicated by the late population, pauper, criminal, and emigration returns.] The Convert from Popery. By the Rev. John Adey. London: Snow. [Narrates an instance of the conversion of an Irish workman from Romanism to Protestantism, the circumstances connected with which occurred under the immediate observation of Mr. Adey, and, therefore, may be regarded as authentic.]

Christianity as Applied to the Mind of a Child in the Sunday School. A Sermon. By the Rev. Albert Barnes. London: B. L. Green. [A very cheap reprint of a sermon delivered before the American Sunday School Union. Its subjects are,-The child, with reference to his capability of being influenced by religion; the adaptation of the Christian religion to the capacity of the child; and, the Sunday School as a means of applying it to the mind of the child. These topics are enlarged on and illustrated with much force and perspicuity. We can heartily recommend this little work to those engaged in the religious instruction of the young.]

The Divine Testimonies; their Wonderful Character. By Thomas Archer, D.D. London: J. Snow. [A tribute of praise to the wonderful character of the contents, the design, the evidence, the preservation, and the varied results and influences of the Divine Testimonies." It is characterised by great force of imagination and eloquence of thought.]

The Believers' Assurance of Salvation-Is it attainable? By Rev. W. Davies. London: J. Snow. [An earnest, practical treatise on the evidences of experimental Christianity. We have read it with much interest, and, in the firm conviction of the whole truth and importance of the author's view of his subject, can only express our desire that it may be made as extensively useful as it is searching and true.] Protestant Dissent Vindicated. By the Rev. J. G. Rogers, B.A. [A brief but powerful and pertinent defence of the principles of Dissent. Though originating in local circumstances, it is adapted for circulation anywhere and everywhere where Dissent and Dissenters are traduced. There are many such as the rector of Newcastle whose opinions on Church matters' might be corrected by this prompt but courteous apology.] Onesimus, Philemon, and Paul. By J. P. W. Bath: Binns and Goodwin. Pp. 38. [The author of this little work assumes that the Epistle to Philemon, on which it is a comment, is intended to be a 'practical and actual' development of some of the leading doctrines of Christianity, and as such he treats it. It contains a few rather striking thoughts, but the majority of the 'writer's remarks appear to be as forced and laboured, as they are clumsily expressed.]

Mouthly Retrospect.

To the year upon which we have now entered, general presentiment had assigned a mournfully critical character. Eighteen-fifty-two was to witness a repetition of scenes similar to those of 1848, but less spontaneous, therefore fiercer and more decisive. Then was to be fought out, in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Hungary, the 'war of opinion' which Canning predicted, and which has become, also, a contest between the absolutist, semibarbarous civilization of eastern, and the democratic, progressive civilization of western Europe; and must therefore be fought, sooner or later, more or less decisively, on the fields of physical encounter. To 1852, that mournful but not ignoble distinction may still appertain; but the year of apprehended terrors can scarcely match in criminality and horribleness the scenes with which 1851 has closed in the capital of France.

December was already a month memorable in the annals of that country. It was on the 2nd of December, 1804, that Napoleon assumed the title of Emperor, thereby climaxing the reaction from the Revolution of '93. It was on the same day in the next year that he triumphed in that celebrated battle -Austerlitz-which broke up the European league against him, laid the Germanic empire at his feet, compensated for the losses of Trafalgar, and humbled William Pitt even to the death. It was on December the 6th, 1848, that the nephew, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was elected, by five or six millions of votes, President of the French Republic-the overt commencement of the reaction from the revolution of February. To that reaction he has put a climax, as his uncle did to the former. On Thursday, the 2nd of

December last, on the anniversary of the empire and of Austerlitz, he dissolved, by military force, the National Assembly, and appealed to the nation to approve or reject, by universal suffrage, a set of propositions, of which the principal is his own continuance in the office of President for ten years. On the 20th and 21st, the votes of the people were taken on this demand, 'Yes,' or 'No;' and it is known, at the time we write, that the affirmatives are about three to one.

Behind and between the events thus briefly stated, there lies a series of atrocities only to be paralleled in those oriental states where revolutions are the work not of popular passion, but of individual cunning and cruelty. Early on the morning of the 2nd, seventy-eight persons-five of whom were generals, eighteen members of the Assembly, and sixty Republican chiefswere taken from their beds to prison; all the thoroughfares of the city occupied by troops; and the walls covered with the proclamation of a state of siege. The representatives who had not been arrested, hastened by a common impulse to the doors of their hall, found it surrounded by soldiers, and were stopped by bayonets presented to their breasts. They repaired to the nearest public edifice, constituted a legal meeting of the National Assembly, decreed the President to have violated the constitution, and summoned the High Court of Justice to try him for high treason. To these resolutions, 230 representatives attached their signatures-including men of all parties, Legitimists, Orleanists, Republicans, and Socialists; and some of the most eminent writers and orators of France. The Assembly was interrupted in these proceedings by police and soldiers, by whom they were marched through the streets to a barrack-yard, kept there till evening, and then distributed by the criminal vans in different prisons. The inhabitants of Paris looked on with stupefied astonishment, not unmingled with approval-so low had the majority of the Assembly fallen in public estimation. But when it was found that the newspapers were suspended-that the pretexts on which the coup d'état had been struck were self-contradictoryand that it was the Republicans whom it was determined to crush-indignation began to swell. In the democratic clubs it was determined on Tuesday night, that the signal of resistance should be given. In the workmen's breakfast-hour the next morning, a solitary barricade was raised in the Faubourg St. Antoine, the classic ground of insurrection. In a few minutes it was destroyed, its defenders slain, and an immense military force swept through the quarter. The soldiers were evidently determined the bourgeoisie showed no sign of sympathy with the masses, and the ouvriers had been deprived of their leaders. But all that day the tide of sullen indignation kept rising; the High Court of Justice had twice met and been broken up, but it was known they had decreed Napoleon a usurper; and placards signed by Victor Hugo and Emile Girardin summoned the citizens to arms in support of the laws. The next day a few barricades were thrown up about noon in a commercial and luxurious part of the city. They were apparently raised and defended by young men not of the poorer classes. They were easily carried, and then began a scene which has earned for that 4th of December the surname of Bloody Thursday,' and will give it rank in history with the Bartholomew massacre. Fifty thousand

soldiers, horse, foot, and artillery, were marched along the Boulevards. Not a symptom of insurgence was seen or heard; the footpaths were occupied by numbers whom curiosity and accident had drawn to the spot. From the windows and balconies of many houses, ladies and gentlemen looked down at the dazzling display. Suddenly a fire was commenced right and left, above and below. Showers of bullets stretched the dead and dying on the pavements, riddled the fronts of the houses, and penetrated to the hapless occupants. Of this we are assured on the abundant and independent testimony of Englishmen who were witnesses-otherwise, it would seem incredible.

What effect this change of government in France may have upon her relation with other nations-whether the Republican usurper will league with crowned despots against the invisible government and armies of Europe, or will find employment for his Prætorian bands in reconquering the French empire -are serious questions, but which time alone can answer. It seems already to have occasioned an important change in the English ministry. Rumours have long been rife of the revival of the old feud between Lord Palmerston and Earl Grey; the Foreign Secretary's reply to the Kossuth deputations brought these differences to a crisis; and approval of the Napoleonic coup d'état is alleged as the final cause of his retirement. The country will not easily believe this last assertion, nor will it be persuaded that Lord Palmerston's continuance in office was in any degree so prejudicial to public interests as Earl Grey's rule over the colonies.

The Manchester Reform Conference was a numerous and very influential gathering. One of the speakers observed, that the employers of so many workmen had never before assembled in one room. The resolutions adopted differ little in substance from Mr. Hume's motion, the basis of the National Parliamentary Reform Association. The representatives of that body attempted to engraft the terms of Mr. Hume's resolution upon the scheme submitted by Mr. Bright, but ineffectually. The most popular feature of the project is, the ballot. An immense public meeting ratified the decisions of the Conference with hearty unanimity.

A deputation was appointed by this Conference to wait on Lord John Russell; but his lordship declined to see it. There would be great inconvenience in receiving deputations from particular districts on a subject of this nature, in which the whole country is interested.' It was hardly in conformity with this rule that his lordship entertained, but very lately, a deputation from Manchester in favour of the Richson scheme of education. To those gentlemen he listened with patience, even pointed out certain difficulties in their way, and promised favourable consideration. We observe that the Society of Friends, at Manchester, have published their 'Reasons' for objecting to the plan; from which it is evident that its working would have to encounter such resistance as is offered to the payment of church-rates. The Congregational Board of Education is very actively pushing its operations. The Voluntary School Society has held a conference, which proved indeed the sacrifices which its earnest supporters are prepared to make in its behalf, but at the same time the non-appreciation by Dissenters generally of its peculiar claims. It is a matter for continuous and growing regret, that a junction between this body and the Congregational cannot be effected, even in the training of teachers;