one head of "parabolic teaching." He thus introduces the "Good Shepherd," the "True Vine," &c., which are generally excluded from expositions of the parables. His principle of interpretation aims at avoiding the extreme of finding too much in the parable, on the one hand, and too little on the other. Another peculiarity of the work is, the classification adopted by the author, with a view to throw light upon the individual parables by regarding them as parts of a system. This attempt, which we consider laudable in itself, though some of the best expositors pronounce it vain, has often been made before, and we think, in some cases, more successfully than by Mr. Drummond. divisions are-I. Man in Satan's Kingdom; II. The Prince of the Kingdom of Light; III. Christ's Work in its Personal Character; IV. Christ's Work in its Historical and Prophetical Character; V. The Second Coming of Christ. As a whole, the work is a valuable contribution to our expository literature.

His

(25.) “Waikna; or, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore, by SAMUEL A. BARD," (New-York: Harper & Brothers; 12mo., pp. 366,) is certainly very pleasant reading, but whether fact or fiction most abounds in its pages it is hard to tell. Its detail of personal adventure reads like a romance; its descriptions of the Mosquito country and people have the air of truth. At all events, the author has succeeded in making an exceedingly attractive book out of very unpromising materials.

(26.) "The Contrast between Good and Bad Men illustrated by the Biography and Truths of the Bible, by GARDiner Spring, D. D." (New-York: M. W. Dodd, 1855; 2 vols., 12mo.) The title of this book hardly conveys a true idea of its nature. It is, in fact, a series of practical lectures and sermons, chiefly founded on the characters of Scripture; and, as such, it is a good and useful book. Dr. Spring's writings are not remarkable for force or originality of thought; but they are generally clear, sensible, and suggestive.

(27.) WE have seldom seen a religious novel, so called, that we could recommend so freely as "Nellie of Truro." (New-York: R. Carter & Brothers; 12mo., pp. 432.) It is a great advance, in every respect, upon "Vara," by the same author, published some months since. The narrative is simple throughout; the incidents are natural and well grouped; the dialogue is sometimes spun out to a wearisome extent, but is otherwise sufficiently dramatic; and the moral tone is not only unexceptionable but praiseworthy. The whole impression left by the book is that a simple and child-like faith in Christ is the best of all preparations, not merely for the next world, but for this.

(28.) WHEN Sir David Wilkie was setting out on his journey to the East, a friend asked him if he had any guide-book? He replied, "Yes, and the very best," pulling out his pocket Bible. So also, on the other hand, he wrote back from the East, that "to the painter of sacred history, this whole territory supplies what can be learned nowhere else." These thoughts are well worked out in “Bible Light from Bible Lands, by the Rev. JOSEPH ANDERSON." (New

York: R. Carter and Brothers, 1856; 12mo., pp. 344.) Mr. Anderson has travelled through the lands of the Bible, and has given us the results of his observations in this volume, not in the shape of a diary, or of a book of travels simply, as so many have done before him, but in a form which blends the attractions of personal narrative with the instruction of a systematic treatise. The work is divided into three books, of which the first is entitled, " Predictions verified:" and under this head Mr. Anderson compares the prophecies concerning Egypt, Arabia, Idumea, and the land of Israel, with the present condition of those countries as seen by his own eyes. The second book treats of "Descriptions illustrated,” and gives apt accounts of places, customs, usages, &c., now existing, as illustrative of the Bible records. The third book," Allusions explained," sets forth, in the clear light of existing facts, many passages of Scripture which, from their allusions to purely Oriental habits, &c., are obscure to Western readers. Our readers may see from this outline that the book is a remarkably sensible one; indeed, we know no better "companion to the Bible" for ordinary readers, so far as mere illustration is concerned.

(29.) QUITE similar in its aims and execution to the book just named is, "Illustrations of Scripture, suggested by a Tour through the Holy Land, by PROFESSOR H. B. HACKETT." (Boston: Heath & Graves, 1855; 12mo., pp. 340.) As the author states in his preface, the work does not claim to be a book of travels, and would be misjudged if viewed in that light. The object has been, not to present a connected view of the geography of Palestine, or to detail at any length the personal incidents which travellers usually make so prominent in their journals; but out of the mass of observations and facts which fell under the writer's notice, to select those which seemed to be capable of being used with some advantage, for the purpose of promoting a more earnest and intelligent study of the sacred volume. Professor Hackett has carried out his purpose admirably; so, while his work has the substantial merits of a scientific description of the Holy Land, it has the charms of a personal narrative admirably told. The following specimen alone will suffice to show what varied powers and acquisitions the author brings to his task :

"Eastern brooks in general flow with water during the rainy season; but, after that, are liable to be soon dried up, or, if they contain water, contain it only for & longer or shorter time, according to their situation and the severity of the heat of particular years. Hence the traveller in quest of water must often be disappointed when he comes to such streams. He may find them entirely dry; or, he may find the water gone at the place where he approaches them, though it may still linger in other places which elude his observation; he may perceive, from the moisture of the ground, that the last drops have just disappeared, and that he has arrived but a few hours too late for the attainment of his object.

"The chances of obtaining water in the desert are equally precarious. The winter torrents there, owing to the rapidity with which the sand absorbs them, are still more transient. The spring which supplied a well yesterday, may fail to-day; or the drifting sand may choke it up and obliterate every trace of it. On the ninth day of my journey after leaving Cairo, we heard of a well at some distance from the regular course, and as the animals (except the camels) needed to be watered, we turned aside to visit the place. We travelled for some miles over immense sand-heaps and under a burning sun, with the thermometer at ninety degrees of Fahrenheit. It was our lot to be disappointed. We found the well, indeed, but without a drop of water in it that could be reached by us. The

wind had blown the sand into it, and buried it up to such a depth that all hope of relief from that source was cut off.

"The liability of a person in the East to be deceived in his expectation of finding water is the subject of repeated allusion in the Scriptures. În Job vi, 15, sq., it furnishes an expressive image for representing the fickleness of falsehearted friends :

"My brethren have dealt deceitfully like a brook,
As the channel of brooks which pass away;
Which are turbid by reason of the ice,

In which is hidden the melted snow.

As soon as the waters flow off they are gone;

When the heat comes, they vanish from their place.
The caravans on their way turn aside;

They go up into the desert, and perish.

The caravans of Tema search anxiously,

The wayfarers of Sheba look to them with hope.

They are ashamed because they trusted in them;

They come to them and are confounded.'

"Our English version of the above passage fails to bring out the image distinctly. The foregoing translation, which I have brought nearer to the original, may be made clearer, perhaps, by a word of explanation. The idea is, that in the spring the streams are full; they rush along swollen from the effect of the melting snow and ice. Summer comes, and they can no longer be trusted. Those journeying in the region of such streams, fainting with thirst, travel many a weary step out of the way in quest of them, in the hope that water may still be found in them. They arrive at the place, but only to be disappointed. The deceitful brook has fled. They were in the last extremity-it was their last hope, and they die."-P. 17.

The work is filled with passages of similar beauty and aptness.

(30.) "Sallust's Jugurtha and Catiline, with Notes and a Vocabulary, by NOBLE BUTLER and MINARD STURGUS." (New-York: D. Appleton & Co., 1855; 12mo., pp. 397.) In this edition we have the text printed in clear and large type, a copious and carefully prepared vocabulary, and a sufficient body of notes. The vocabulary was prepared by the late W. H. G. Butler, who, it will be remembered, fell by the hand of Ward, in Louisville. It bears the marks of a faithful and scholarly mind, and deserves the encomiums of the editors of the book, namely, "that few school vocabularies so thorough and accurate have ever been published." The notes are mainly grammatical and illustrative, not, as is too often the case, filled out with needless and pedantic references, or with worse than useless translations of the text. We cordially commend the book as an excellent school edition. We hope that in the next edition the vocabulary will be placed where it should be, at the end of the volume.

(31.) AMONG the latest issues of Mr. BOHN'S "Libraries," we have "The Works of Philo-Judæus, translated by C. D. YONGE, B. A." (12mo., pp. 490.) This volume completes the work, so that the entire works of Philo, which have heretofore been inaccessible to the English reader, are now put within the reach of very narrow purses. We find, also, the second volume of "Pliny's Natural History" in the "Classical Library." The most acceptable book to metaphysical readers in all the series thus far published, is the “ Critique of Pure Reason, translated from the German of IMMANUEL KANT." (12mo., pp. 517.) The translation is by Mr. Meiklejohn, who has succeeded far better than all

who have preceded him in attempting to introduce Kant to English readers. Whatever difficulty the reader may find here will be due to the abstruseness of the matter, and not, as is so often the case, to the incapacity of the translator.

(32.) OUR Sunday-School Union has been very prolific in its issues of late, and the quality is equal to the quantity. The "Child's Preacher" (18mo., pp. 451) contains a series of addresses to the young, founded on Scripture texts, a volume which will be very useful in showing how the young ought to be preached to. "Childhood, or Little Alice," (square 12mo.,) is a very pretty and simple story for children, well written and beautifully illustrated. To say that "Stories for Village Lads" (18mo., pp. 176) is by the author of "Frank Harrison," will be enough to commend it to young readers. "The Contrast" (pp. 156) gives an account of two young men who were convinced of sin at the same time, one of whom denied his Master and died without hope, while the other became a faithful minister of the Gospel. "The Herbert Family" is an epistolatory narrative, contrasting religion with infidelity from the effects of each. All our readers are familiar with the writings of " Old Humphrey”— a name dear to little folks. He has ceased to write, and we now have a "Memoir of Old Humphrey, with Gleanings from his Portfolio, (18mo., pp. 298.) This memoir of the excellent Mr. Mogridge will be acceptable not only to the children, but to all older readers who value Christian devotion. “Blooming Hopes and Withered Joys" is a collection of narratives and stories by the Rev. J. T. BARR, the well-known author of the "Merchant's Daughter." "Four Days in July" is a sketch of a pleasant excursion to the country, by one of the best writers employed for the Sunday-School Union. Perhaps the best of all the story-books recently issued is " Johnny M'Kay; or, the Sovereign," the story of an honest boy: we have read it through at a sitting. The fourth volume of the "Early Dead” contains brief memoirs of deceased Sundayschool children, on the same plan as those given in the previous volumes.

(33.) "A String of Pearls" (New-York: Carlton & Phillips, 1855; square 12mo.) contains a verse of Scripture and a pious reflection for every day in the year. Such books, when well prepared, are useful to Christians of all ages, and the present one contains selections made with admirable taste and skill.

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(34.) MESSRS. Harper & Brothers propose to reprint " Bohn's Classical Library" entire, and to furnish it at even lower prices than the London edition has been heretofore sold. We have already received "Smart's Translation of Horace, revised by T. A. BUCKLEY," (12mo., pp. 325,) which is too well known to need any notice at our hands, except the expression of a wish that a new and better translation had been prepared, instead of this reprint of a comparatively bad one. The next issue is "Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars," (12mo., pp. 572,) a translation of far higher character than the preceding, and accompanied by notes and a careful index. “Sallust, Florus, and Velleius Paterculus, translated by the Rev. J. S. WATSON, M. A.” (12mo., pp. 538.) The translations are, in the main, easy and reada

ble; pains have been taken with the text, and a careful index is added. "Xenophon's Anabasis and Memorabilia," by the same translator, is an improvement upon the previous versions of Spelman & Fielding. A Geographical Commentary by Mr. Ainsworth, author of“ Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks," is added to the book, and is of great value as an illustration of the Anabasis. "Davidson's Virgil" (12mo., pp. 404) has been carefully revised for this edition, by Mr. Buckley, who has added notes for the use of more advanced scholars. One of the most acceptable volumes in the series is "Cicero's Offices, Cato Major, Lælius, Paradoxes, and Scipio's Dream, by C. R. EDWARDS." (12mo., pp. 343.) In the notes, the editor adduces, very copiously, the opinions of modern moralists, to aid the reader in comparing them with Cicero's. The enterprise of placing these versions of the great classic writers within the reach of all readers of English at such unprecedentedly low prices is a very laudable one, and nothing but a most extensive sale can bear the publishers out in it. We trust that their largest expectations will be realized.

(35.) WE are glad to see that a second edition of "Select Popular Orations of Demosthenes, with Notes and a Chronological Table, by J. T. CHAMPLIN, Professor in Waterville College," (Boston: James Munroe & Co., 1855; 12mo., pp. 237,) has been published. We have before given an unqualified commendation of this work, and now need only say that this new edition has been carefully revised by the accomplished editor.

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(36.) "The Priest, the Puritan, and the Preacher, by the Rev. J. C. RYLE." (New-York: R. Carter & Brothers; 18mo., pp. 360.) The "Priest" is Bishop Latimer; the Puritan" is Richard Baxter; and the "Preacher" is George Whitefield. Mr. Ryle's delineations of these eminent men are spirited and discriminating; and a practical aim is, as usual in his writings, everywhere predominant.

(37.) "The Escaped Nun" (New-York: Dewitt & Davenport, 1855; 12mo., pp. 344) is a fair specimen of a very worthless class of books.

(38.) "New Church Miscellanies; or, Essays Ecclesiastical, Doctrinal, and Ethical, by GEORGE BUSH," (New-York: W. M'George, 1855; 12mo., pp. 372.) Dr. Bush's style is always clear, straightforward, and vigorous; and these essays, republished from the "New Church Repository," are in his very best manner. There are few of the papers that have interest except for Swedenborgians; but there is one on " Slavery and Abolition," abounding in practical wisdom and charity.

(39.) WE briefly noticed in our last number the Essay on Theism, by Mr. Tulloch, which received the second prize in the Burnet competition at Aberdeen. We have now received the first prize essay, "Christian Theism; the Testimony of Reason and Revelation to the Existence and Character of the Supreme Being, by ROBERT ARNOLD THOMPSON, M. A." (New-York: Harper & Brothers,