in urging his claims, his flattery of mean and vicious persons, his cold-hearted forgetfulness of his best friends, his prodigal expenditure, his reception of bribes in the highest office of justice, his slender moral remorse for the commission of crimes which he ingenuously confessed. Never were littleness and greatness so strangely blended as in the character of Bacon. We have been unable to repress our tears as we have contemplated the lights and shadows which fell upon his chequered path.

Mr. Sortain has done ample justice to this great philosopher and statesman, without committing the interests of religion or morality. In not a few cases in which Bacon has been unrighteously assailed, he has nobly and successfully defended him; and where he has felt himself unable to commend, he has, with a beautiful charity, looked at all the extenuating circumstances. The volume he has produced is a fine sketch of the history of the times of Elizabeth and James, as well as a searching record of the life of Bacon; and, if we are constrained to ignore the religious and moral consistency of his great hero, we are placed by him in a position to form accurate conceptions of his master-mind, and of the boon conferred by him on the science of his own and every coming age.

We think the Tract Society has well judged in publishing this truly enlightened volume, which cannot fail to be popular, and to enhance the literary reputation of the accomplished author. It is one of the most vivid pieces of biography that has seen the light in modern times.

THE PALACES of Nineveh anD PERSEPOLIS RESTORED: An Essay on Ancient Assyrian and Persian Architecture. By JAMES FERGUSSON, Esq., Author of "The True Principles of Beauty in Art," "Illustrations of Indian Architecture," fc. fc. 8vo. pp. 384.

John Murray.

It is very gratifying to find that the recent exploration of Assyrian ruins of cities and palaces, while it reflects the highest credit on the talent and industry of such men as Botta and Layard, has called forth the zeal and learning of a body of men, of whom Rawlinson and Fergusson are the types, who bid fair, at no distant day, to lay open to the view of mankind the meaning of Assyrian inscriptions, and the architectural forms of beauty which distinguished the monuments of our world's early history. Colonel Rawlinson has already done much towards deciphering the inscriptions which have been found in the great Assyrian ruins; and Mr. Fergusson, partly by his architectural skill, and partly by a close attention to the question of chrono

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"There is nothing," observes Mr. Fergusson, more essential in an inquiry like the present, than to obtain as clear ideas as may be possible of the chronology of the objects about to be discussed, not only relatively to one another, but also, if possible, to ascertain the exact period that elapsed between the age of one and that of another. Without this, all reasoning is vague and unsatisfactory in the extreme; and it is impossible either to understand what one sces, or to derive from it that instruction which a knowledge of its position in a series most inevitably conveys.

"By far the most important results obtained in Egypt, by the translation of the hieroglyphics, has been precisely this, that it has enabled us to classify the monuments,to see how one building and one style grew out of another, and in what mode the national mind expressed itself at the various epochs with which we are now familiar. This being accomplished, Egypt takes her place at once in the world's history; and any one who knows her chronology can read her history more easily, by a simple inspection of the ruins still standing in that valley of wonders, than if it were written in printed volumes; and her monuments now recal the past far more vividly and distinctly than ever yet was done by mere words.

"And so it will be with Assyria, when we know the exact date of the various palaces that have lately been disinterred, and can assign to each its place in history, and know the dynasty and race to which it belonged. Not only shall we understand the arts of which it is the exponent, but the dynasties and races will become entities and living things; not mere lists of unmeaning names, as they have hitherto been, but voices of men, who lived, and acted, and who expressed their feelings and their aspirations in those forms we now gaze upon and are trying to understand-standing face to face, as it were with the Assyrian, who lived four thousand years ago, and who saw these figures grow beneath the chisel of the sculptor, and read these inscriptions as we do now. What he saw and felt we now see and may feel, if we will give ourselves the trouble to study and to understand."

This extract will give our readers some idea of what Mr. Fergusson seeks to accomplish. He despairs not of doing that for Assyria which has already been done for Egypt. But we cannot follow him in his lengthened inductions. They are, however, those of a mind of the first rank, and will be read by

persons of intellectual taste and habit with the greatest possible interest. With the aid of Rawlinson, Layard, and Fergusson, there is every probability of our attaining to something like accurate conceptions of the chronological epochs of Ancient Assyria. He follows Herodotus, and not Ctesias. In this he differs from Rawlinson, but agrees with Layard.

To those who take interest in the recent discoveries in Nineveh this volume will be a most acceptable boon.

THE WORKS OF LEONARD WOODS, D.D., lately Professor of Christian Theology in the Theological Seminary, Andover, United States. Vols. 3, 4, and 5.

It is with great satisfaction we can announce the completion of these valuable volumes, and their appearance in this country. Last year we introduced to the public the two former volumes, and recommended them strongly to our readers, and especially to students and to young ministers. The contents of the three remaining volumes fully sustain the high estimation we before expressed.

The third volume completes the Lectures on Theology, which consist of one hundred and twenty-eight Lectures. The third volume commences with Lectures on Regeneration. The first of these replies, to the inquiry:-"Does the Holy Spirit, in Regeneration, act directly on the Sinner's mind ?" Dr. Woods ably maintains, "that as the effect produced in regeneration is in the mind itself, so must the influence be which produces it." "The disorder to be remedied lies in the heart; and where but to the heart is the remedy to be applied? There is nothing faulty anywhere, except in the mind itself: and the change to be effected must be effected there. Man's disposition--the state of his affections-is opposed to spiritual things. His heart is depraved. The Divine Spirit must act upon the heart itself. Do you say, He acts upon the truths of religion, so as to render them effectual; that He imparts power to motives, so that they excite and persuade the sinner to repent and believe? Let us examine this notion. Take the truth, that God so loved the world as to give his Son to die for us. The text is before the eyes of the believer and the unbeliever. They both read it, and read it alike. But the effect is different, and that effect is in the mind. The precise difference is this:-the believer discerns the excellence of the truth, and loves it, but the unbeliever does not. The power of Divine truth over the believer is precisely this:-he feels powerfully towards it-or has a strong affection for it-loves it intensely. And the Spirit of God gives power to the truth, by causing the mind to discern it clearly, to

believe it firmly, and to exercise powerful affections in view of it. He makes the truth efficacious, by bringing the heart effectually to love and obey it."

The fourth volume consists of "Letters to Unitarians;" and other Letters occasioned by these, or connected with them.

The fifth volume contains Letters to Young Ministers; Essays on the Philosophy of the Mind; and Remarks on Cause and Effect, in connexion with Fatalism and Free Agency. These are followed by a considerable number of Sermons, delivered on a variety of interesting and public occasions. Many of them are Funeral Sermons for distinguished men, or eminent ministers, and will be lasting memorials of the discriminating power of the author's mind, and of the kindly and benignant affections of his heart; as well as of his intense love to the truth and to the cause of Christ. Several of the discourses, of peculiar power and value, were delivered at ordinations; and not a few at the Chapel of the Theological Seminary. May it please God long to spare the author of these valuable works, in comfortable health, in happiness, and in usefulness, although in comparative retirement from his arduous and successful labours; and may the spirit of his theological lectures pervade all our colleges for the education of the rising ministry!

THE RELIGION OF GEOLOGY AND ITS CONNECTED SCIENCES. By EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D.D., LL.D., President of Amherst College, and Professor of Natural Theology and Geology. 8vo. pp. 484.

David Bogue, Fleet-street.

DR. Hitchcock's standing, as a writer upon scientific and religious subjects, is well known and highly appreciated. Geology has been one of his favourite studies, for many years, and long before it became popular in circles strictly reverential to the data of Revelation. His earliest tractates on the subject were conceived and written in the true spirit of a Christian philosopher; though then there were not a few enlightened men, in America and in Great Britain, who were alarmed at the conclusions, or rather tendencies, of the geological theories advocated by him and others who thought with him. Many of the fears which then agitated the minds of intelligent and good men have gradually subsided; and our increased acquaintance with the actual state of the globe we inhabit has led to the general conclusion, in intelligent circles, that the account given by Moses in the Book of Genesis is perfectly compatible with the remote antiquity of the globe, which the actual discoveries of geology seem to demand. In fact, the danger to Revelation would seem to be more formidable in adhering to ancient theories, than in admitting

what the geologist requires,-an era of this world's history ante-dating, many a long age, the existence of man. He asks not that the origin of man should be regarded as different from what Moses represents it to be;-all he demands is, that it should not be assumed without proof, nay, in the midst of proof to the contrary, that there were no other states or revolutions of the globe before man became its inhabitant.

Dr. Hitchcock's Lectures, contained in the volume which we now introduce to our readers, will be found very instructive on a vast variety of topics connected with the discoveries of modern geology. The difficulties which arise in ordinary minds, in reference to this branch of science, are handled with great skill and delicacy; and we should hope that the result would be the removal of many scruples; or at least a determination to become acquainted with the actual state of facts which geology has disclosed to the view of mankind.

The Lectures are XIV., on the following topics: I. Revelation Illustrated by Science. II. The Epoch of the Earth's Creation unrevealed. III. Death a universal law of Organic Beings on this globe from the beginning. IV. The Noachian Deluge compared with the Geological Deluges. V. The World's supposed Eternity. VI. Geological Proofs of the Divine Benevolence. VII. Divine Benevolence as exhibited in a Fallen World. VIII. Unity of the Divine Plan and Operation in all ages of the World's History. The Hypothesis of Creation by law. X. Special and Miraculous Providence. XI. The future Condition and Destiny of the Earth. XII. The Telegraphic System of the Universe. XIII. The vast Plans of Jehovah. XIV. Scientific Truth, rightly understood, is Religious Truth.

IX.

All these interesting topics are handled with great acuteness, and vast comprehension of mind. The only fault we find with the volume is, that the Author has taken too much for granted the knowledge of his readers. Had he taken a little more pains to explain principles, he would thereby have adapted his book to a wider circle. But we have a full conviction that his labours will tempt research; and, if so, there is an advantage even in his reserves.

THE INQUISITION REVEALED; in its Origin Policy, Cruelties, and History, with Memoirs of its Victims in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, India, and other countries. Dedicated to Cardinal Wiseman. By Rev. THOMAS TIMPSON, Author of the "Companion to the Bible," &c. &c. Small 8vo.

London: Aylott and Jones.

Ir Cardinal Wiseman would "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest," the terrible facts

of this volume (for facts they are, and facts in Popish history), it might abate somewhat of his vaunting description of his intolerant and persecuting community. Mr. Timpson has done good service, in collecting into one portable volume, the best records extant of that iniquitous thing called the Inquisition, which, thank God! could never have realized an existence, except under Roman Catholic auspices. It is assuredly the fitting appendage of an infallible church; though, in its working, it has resembled more the work of fiends than of men. Let no one suppose that the antichristian apostasy has ever parted with this instrument of terror, except when compelled; or that it will not resort to it whenever it dare. It is a persecutor at heart, and on principle, and will always persecute when it can. So will all kindred systems, when they have the power.

This is just the book wanted, in these times-to show up Rome in her own frightful colours. The English mind needs to be reinstructed in the history of the past, and to be warned against all sympathy with a system which has fattened upon the wreck of humanity.

Mr. Timpson's work " contains the substance of the valuable works of Limborch, Llorente, Dellon, Gavin, Buchanan, Bower, Newton, Gibbon, Watson, Ranke, Sismondi, Jones, Puigblanch, Edgar, Elliott, Mendham, Gresler, Dowling, D'Aubigné, De Costro, Achilli, and many others, regarding the Inquisition."

The historical accuracy of the work may be relied on. Let Englishmen read it; and then side with Rome, if they think that its Holy Inquisiton belongs to the mild and merciful Redeemer. We believe it to be of its father the devil.

1. SUGGESTIONS FOR A REFORM OF THE OFFICE OF BAPTISM. By an ATTACHED MEMBER of the CHURCH of ENGLAND. 8vo. pp. 16.

2.

Hamilton, Adains, and Co.

AN ENQUIRY INTO THE TRUE PRINCIPLE UPON WHICH BAPTISM IS ADMINISTERED TO INFANTS; in a Letter to a Member of the Middle Temple. By an ATTACHED MEMBER of the CHURCH of ENGLAND. 8vo. pp. 16.

Hamilton, Adams, and Co. 3. SCRIPTURAL REVISION OF THE LITURGY. A Remedy for Anglican Assumption and Papal Aggression. A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord John Russell, M.P. By a MEMBER of the MIDDLE TEMPLE. 8vo. pp. 194.

R. Groombridge and Sons. THESE three pamphlets are distinct sigus of the times. They are the productions of Episcopalians and of Churchmen; but as

We know that if the Establishment is not greatly changed, it will become an enormous instrument for evil to our country and mankind. We hail honest reformers, therefore, within its pale; and would not judge them harshly, because they have liberty of conscience to remain at their posts. If they believe not in baptismal regeneration, they must be reformers, or dishonest men. Would that their numbers were multiplied a thousand-fold! It would minister to the good of our country. But there is an awful and portentous hush among the evangelical clergy. They seem afraid to speak out. But, if deliverance is to be wrought for them, they must speak out much more boldly. They have been, as we think, wasting their opportunities; and one is sometimes tempted to think that they would be willing to let the Puseyites remain in the Establishment, if they themselves were not excluded. Much more determined measures, and a more intense love of cardinal truths, must obtain, if either the Liturgy or the discipline of the Episcopate is to be reformed. The assumptions of apostolical succession, the priestly status of the clergy, the whole theory of sacramental grace, must be abandoned, if any thing worthy of the name of reform is effected.

But we are delighted to find some good and holy men beginning to speak out. We wish them all success, though they are not with us. If they prevail, the advantage will be for the Christian world at large, and we shall have our share of the benefit. But the task is a mighty one, and can only be effected by combination, a spirited press, and deep and strong conviction on the part of those who move in the great and salutary reform.

The pamphlets named at the head of this article are the productions of persons whom we know to be right-hearted, and who sigh and mourn over the existing state of things. The proposed reform of the baptismal service, if not so searching as we could wish, would vitally alter the revolting and objectionable office as it now stands in the Book of Common Prayer.

The second tract contains much that we approve, in treating of the grounds of Infant Baptism; though we know not how, upon the principles advocated, baptism could be administered to the children of the ungodly parents of a whole parish.

The third and largest work is a bold and honest attack upon all high-church notions; and is well calculated to lay open the vulnerable parts of the Anglo-catholic system, which has no defence to set up against Rome; the only way to pull down Rome and it too, being to take at once to the weapons of the Bible. Against these, neither Dr. Wiseman nor Dr. Pusey can stand; and hence they

ways, as their only sure stronghold.

THIS discourse is founded on Paul's prophetic passage respecting the "Man of Sin," and is one of the most masterly expositions of that passage we remember to have seen. It enters into a thorough analysis of the phraseology of the apostle; traces the rise, progress, and consummation of the Papal system; and shows in a manner singularly conclusive that, beyond any other form of superstition, it unites in itself all the attributes and characteristics of the "Man of Sin." After an able and pertinent introduction, the following are the topics which Dr. Morison discusses:-Paul's Warning as to the Coming of the Lord; The Apostasy to precede the Coming of the Lord; The Advent of an Agent opprobriously designated as the Result of the Apostasy; The Prophetic Attributes of the "Man of Sin;" The Predicted Destiny of the Adverse Power Described; Prophetic Notes of the Great Apostasy. The discussion of these important and deeply interesting points is wound up with a solemn and trumpettoned appeal to Protestants, on the duty and necessity of striving to withstand the progress of Popery, whether found creeping and hissing serpent-like among the Puseyites, or flaunting like a bedizened harlot among the avowed Romanists.

But instead of entering into anything like a lengthened eulogy as a commendation of this discourse, we shall present an extract or two, which will attest its excellence beyond any remarks we might offer. On the head, “The Advent of an Agent opprobriously designated as the Result of the Apostasy," the Doctor observes:

"Let us look at the titles of this terrific agent, and then try and ascertain who he is. First, he is called the man of sin.' The phrase is Jewish, and denotes a man preeminently flagitious-an example of concentrated and insufferable depravity. The use of the article, as in the case of the apostasy, intensifies the appellation, and seems to point to him as a person who should be well known in the history of the Christian Church for his deeds of unexampled infamy and crime.

"His next title is, the son of perdition." It is not a little remarkable that this is the very title given to Judas, the arch-betrayer, by the Holy One of God' (John xvii. 12). The phrase, like the former one, is Jewish, and denotes one who is given over to destruction. But as the fearful doom of Judas arose out of his crime, we are mainly reminded, in the appellation given to him, of the heinous

ness of his offence in betraying the Son of man with a kiss,' and selling him to the Jews for thirty pieces of silver.' And so in look ing at the phrase, the son of perdition,' as applied to the representative of the predicted apostasy, we fix our indignant gaze upon him as the betrayer of Christ, under the guise of pretended friendship.

"Doubtless he is the son of perdition,' as doomed to the due reward of his crimes; but he stands out, in the language of the apostle, branded with all the infamy of the arch-betrayer of the Son of man.'

"The third title applied by Paul to the atrocious character of whom he speaks is, 'that wicked,' or 'the wicked one;' for again the article is used, which is a sort of special mark, indicative of the horrible depravity which he either embodies or sanctions in the system over which he presides.

"Where, then, are we to look in history for this agent, whose formidable status, yea, whose very existence, according to Paul, arose out of the early corruptions of the Christian faith? As we contemplate the man of sin,'' the son of perdition,'-' that wicked one,' we trace his originating cause in that mystery of iniquity,' of which the apostle tells us that it did already work' in his day. It is not a mere sequence of events of which Paul here speaks; but a connected series of relative manifestations of the same great system of moral and spiritual evil, tracing back to that apostasy, or falling away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus,' which began to operate with such baneful effect in the apostolic age.

"If, then, we cannot find this extraordinary agent of evil in palpable relationship to that mystery of iniquity' which had begun to operate in the days of Paul, we shall despair of finding him at all, or of his ever being found at any future period in the history of the world. Something prevented his revelation in Paul's day; and but for that something, there were elements at work which would have produced his revelation. I gather two conclusions from this fact: the first is, that the apostasy,' and the revelation of 'the man of sin,' are events which stand in the relation to each other of cause and effect; the apostasy' was the parent of the man of sin. My second conclusion is, that the man of sin' cannot be some individual isolated man, who was to perform the part assigned to him in the great drama of prophecy, and then to pass off the stage of time like any other man, having done his dreadful work. The apostle's language, unless it were constructed to deceive, forbids this; for he tells the Thessalonians that his' man of sin' would even then be revealed, but for an intercepting power. Such a 'man of sin,' then, as he describes, could not be any single isolated hu

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man being, however tremendous in personal attributes, but rather a representative agent and head of some huge system of religious apostasy; produced whenever the apostasy had power to do so, and perpetuated and reproduced as long as the apostasy was suffered, in God's moral government, to survive. 'The man of sin' of whom Paul speaks, was ready in his day to be revealed; he would then have found his place and his status, if something had not stood in the way; but that something-and we shall see what it wasprevented his advent. He could not, then, be an individual isolated man; nor could he be a character whose advent was to be deferred to the end of the world, for the elements of his manifestation were all at work; and whenever an existing impediment was removed out of the way, he was to be fully revealed.

"I can find these conditions nowhere but in the Papal system; the great Roman apostasy, with its accredited head. In Paul's use of epithets which imply personality, there is nothing inconsistent with the theory which we adopt. Rome, ever since it became apostate, has always been represented by a living, personal, human head, who embodies its authority, and administers its laws. Let me also remark that, to speak of a successional head as if he were an individual person, though he may be multiplied and reproduced indefinitely, is by no means inconsistent either with common or scriptural usage. The king or head of a political dynasty or kingdom never dies, though all kings are mortal; just because the law has provided for a successor, with all his legal attributes, that the throne may never be strictly vacated. Thus, in the Book of Daniel, the 7th and 8th chapters, and in the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, a single beast represents a kingdom or empire, though that empire passes through a series of successive changes and revolutions. The woman, too, arrayed in purple and scarlet, of whom we read in the Book of Revelation (chap. xvii. 4), refers to no single woman, but is the meretricious counterfeit of another symbolic woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet. Indeed, the word 'king' is employed by Daniel (chap. vii. 2; ix. 36) in two passages, to which I cannot but think Paul refers in the text, to portray a succession of kings, all representing and upholding the same huge system of moral and spiritual turpitude.

"I conclude, then, from all these and other considerations, that a successional, and not an individual man of sin' is predicted by Paul. The work assigned to the agent described is not that of a single human life, but of various and successive persons, occupying the same position, and representing the same system. Where can we find one so notorious as Paul's