Second Causes; or, Up and be Doing! By CHARLotte ElizaBETH. Dublin: Robertson.

1843.

Is this the thirtieth or fortieth volume of " Charlotte Elizabeth's" attacks upon the hydra-headed monster, Pusey-Popery? We do not doubt her talents, for they are really great. We do not doubt her sincerity, still less her zeal, and least of all her courage, but we find her sadly wanting in judgment; and there are gross errors and uncharitable passages in this book, which we would fain hope the writer will live to repent of.

D'Aubigne's History of the Great Reformation. Abridged by EDWARD DALTON, Secretary to the Protestant Association. Vol I. Being an abridgment of the first three volumes. London: Dalton. 1843.

OF D'Aubigne's history, we have already expressed our opinions so much at length that we need only say of the present work that it is well abridged. Mr. Dalton is evidently possessed of more than common qualifications for such a task.

A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Ashley, M.P., on the present defective state of National Education. By the Rev. THOMAS PAGE, M.A., Incumbent of Christ Church, Virginia Water. London: Seeleys. 1843.

THE subject of education is now more than ever necessary to be brought before the notice of all Churchmen, in consequence of the present Parliamentary proceedings; and this little book of of Mr. Page may be consulted with advantage.

A Letter to Lord John Manners, M.P., on his late Plea for National Holydays. By a Minister of the Holy Catholic Church. London: Longmans. 1843.

In this pamphlet we have the attestation of a clergyman to the utility and practicability of the measures recommended by Lord John Manners' pamphlet. We refer our readers to our article on the subject.

1843.

Sir Robert Peel and his Era. London: Cotes. It is very seldom that an attempt to depict an eminent public character and his influence upon society can be successful; to do so requires a depth of penetration and a philosophical habit of mind which the present author does not possess, and which, if he did, he could better employ than in writing such a book as this.

Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in the East-an Overland Journey to India, Visit to Athens, &c. By C. R. BAYNES, Esq., of the Madras Civil Service. London: Longmans. 1843.

THIS book has suffered from over praise; it is undoubtedly clever, because the author passes over everything which is not interesting, but he hurries so much over a great deal that is so, and studies conciseness to so unusual an extent, that he has given the public a mere resumé. It is true that the book only professes to be "Notes and Reflections "—but when the reader is fairly afloat with the author, he deserves to be made somewhat more of a companion, and is invariably disappointed if he is not. The most important as well as the most interesting part of Mr. Baynes's volume, is the sketch which he gives of the Dutch Boers at the Cape-a class of persons among whom he sojourned long enough thoroughly to understand and appreciate them. It may be just necessary to remind the reader that the word "boer" signifies a farmer, as the German "bauer," and not a clown, as from the ordinary usage in England it might seem to do. These people, according to our author-and we have other testimony which makes us implicitly believe him, are among the most happy and the most virtuous of communities. Of their simple life and patriarchal manners he gives a most delightful account, and proves by his experience that their hospitality is all but unbounded: they afford, too, another proof that the inhabitants of wine countries are almost invariably a sober people. We must pass very briefly over the rest of the volume, though we would willingly make some extracts on that which is every day becoming more and more interesting, viz., the overland journey to India. We saw, a few days ago, newlyconstructed carriages to go across the Desert, very neat and pretty. What would Ptolemy or Alexander have said to such?

Principles of Church Arrangement. By a Member of a Diocesan Architectural Society. London: Painter. 1843. THE principles of Church arrangement, though amply developed in large aud costly works, such as those of Bingham, are yet not sufficiently drawn out in the ordinary treatises on Church architecture. It would seem that architects have scarcely sufficiently considered themselves as Churchmen, and have consulted effect rather than principle, and this even in the excellent little books which we so delight to praise. The present production may be looked upon as a useful appendix to such works, supplying, and well supplying, their deficiency.

On Diseases of the Bladder and Prostate Gland. With Plates. Third edition. By WILLIAM COULSON. London: Longmans. ALTHOUGH principally occupied with works of a biblical and theological character, there are others which, from their connection with and influence upon the comfort and happiness of our species, seem to have a special claim upon our notice, either in the way of caution against, or recommendation of, the theories they propound or the systems they would introduce. The work before us is of this description. The diseases of which it treats are among the most painful and dangerous to which humanity is liable. The author (a surgeon of eminence in the metropolis) has devoted himself to the special study of their nature, origin, and treatment; and, where necessary, to the operations by which calculous secretions can alone be removed. The medical student and young surgeon have, in the work before us, a valuable aid in those probationary studies that are essential to future success. The results of long patient investigation and laborious scientific research are therein combined with a reference to cases in which those results have been brought to the test of experience. Nor will the general practitioner, located in situations where, in cases of difficulty, he will feel the necessity of every aid that can be derived from the latest discoveries in science and most approved modes of operation, neglect to avail himself of Mr. Coulson's book-certainly the most comprehensive and satisfactory of any which has come within the range of our observation on the subjects of which it treats.

We remember hearing the late Chief Baron Alexander administer a severe reproof to a young medical practitioner, who, in his evidence as to the cause of death in a case of murder, employed scientific phraseology in his answers, and thus rendered that unintelligible to the jury which it was essential to the object of the judicial inquiry they should clearly understand."Eminent medical men, sir, (said the judge) never do so they use popular terms when speaking of matters pertaining to their profession; but smatterers and pretenders endeavour to conceal their ignorance under technicalities." Mr. Coulson has shown himself superior to this pitiful affectation of profundity of phrase he has written not merely for professional, but for general readers; he has therefore employed popular language. We deem this a strong recommendation of his book. There is, perhaps, no class of diseases, the premonitory symptoms of which are more anomalous than those referred to; nor any which excite more painful apprehensions in the patient when their supposed tendency is regarded as ascertained. Mr. Coulson's work will materially assist in discovering the seat and character of the disease. By explaining the phenomena of each

particular species, by describing the process of relief where even the more serious forms of disease are actually present, and exhibiting the data on which a well-founded anticipation of relief may be cherished, confidence is inspired in the patient, and thus those apprehensions are abated or removed, and the operator is materially aided in the process which has become essential to life. For these reasons we feel ourselves justified in recommending Mr. Coulson's book. When the frequency of those diseases is taken into account, embittering existence, while they with more or less rapidity tend to its termination, the man of science who, devoting himself to relieving his fellow-men from the pains and penalties they inflict, also shows that he has, to a considerable extent, effected his benevolent design, certainly merits honourable mention, and claims commendation from all who have the means of making known his discovery. They thus aid in diminishing the aggregate of human suffering. We may add, that we are somewhat late in our notice of Mr. Coulson's work: almost every journal of eminence, and especially those which circulate among the medical and surgical professions, have spoken of it in terms of unequivocal approbation.

The National Psalmist. By CHARLES DANVERS HACKET. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1843. THIS truly splendid work has in due time reached its termination, and reflects the highest credit upon the genius, zeal, and diligence of Mr. Hacket-three qualities not often found conjoined. It was, we believe, a novel idea in music to engage the talent of all the chief living composers for the organ who adorn our country, and to concentrate, as it were, into one focus their varied abilities. But the novelty of the idea was not its only, nor indeed its chief recommendation. The volume thus produced is well qualified to stop the mouths of those who, while they look with a just admiration on the compositions of the elder days of sacred music, profess to lament its decay among ourselves. We, on the contrary, look upon it as advancing in a very satisfactory manner. Church music, Church architecture, Church principles, are all necessarily bound up one with another, and he who rightly understands the one will not fail to be the better qualified for the appreciation of the other. We are glad to see so numerous a list of subscribers to this highly meritorious work, and we hail it both as a proof of British genius, and an earnest that that genius will be consecrated to the service of the sanctuary. Will Mr. Hacket pardon us if we do not commend the gold and colours in the title? Unless illuminations are of the very first order (which is far from being the case here), they are much better let alone.

The Life of William Bedell, D.D., Lord Bishop of Kilmore. By H. J. MONCK MASON, LL. D., M. R. I. A., Librarian of the King's Inns, Dublin. London: Seeleys. 1843.

No reader of the history of the Irish branch of the Anglican Church can be ignorant how great and good a man was Bishop Bedell. He was one of those, alas! more common in his time than in ours, who, being placed in a particular situation, thought it his duty to devote himself entirely to the duties of that station; and hence we hear less of him than, from his ability, we might otherwise have done. Dr. Monck Mason has given us a highly interesting memoir of one who, in Ireland, never can be, and in England never ought to be, forgotten. In the present day, when acrimonious controversy rages, almost to the destruction of Christian charity and courtesy, it is both useful and delightful to calm the mind with contemplating the life of one so full of holy love as was Bishop Bedell.

Aids to Devotion: being a Manual of Prayers, Instructions, and Meditations, from the best sources. By the Rev. CHARLES BADHAM, B.A. London: Hamilton and Adams. 1843.

We know of no more embarrassing situation for a critic than that of having to criticise the thousand and first book of devotional selections. This is our present situation, and as the selection is well made, and the extracts really valuable, let us, by saying this, recommend the volume to any who want it, and "call another cause."

Modern Miracles Condemned by Reason and Scripture. By PHILO VERITAS. London: Painter. 1843.

In the present number of our journal the reader will find an article on recent Romish miracles; and we regret to have to say, that among those who suppose themselves so far from Rome as do the Wesleyan Methodists, there is a truly Popish love for superstitious miracles. Here we have an account of an “estatica" quite as wild, quite as improbable, and far more impious than that furnished by Lord Shrewsbury. We have, too, a haunted house attested by Quakers, and the signature of a Wesleyan Methodist superintendent attached to a book published by Mason, which book is full of the most awful and presumptuous sin. Surely, Dr. Pusey himself, whom so many suppose to be Anti-Christ, never put forth a production half so Popish. When will these things end? We reply, not till men will listen to the teaching of the Church.