not, like Bishop Colenso's discoveries, upon POSTULATES: they stand attested by the pronounced judgment of one of the first scientific geographers of our own or of any age, the discoverer, in his closet, of the true course of THE NIGER, long ere that mysterious stream was navigated by the Landers,-James Macqueen, Esq., of London. I shall only add, that if, in the face of this matter-of-fact statement of the historical fidelity of the Mosaic records, any choose to give credence to Bishop Colenso's views, without due examination of the annihilating physical evidence here adduced against them, they must, in so acting, give up all claim to the character of truth-loving, or truth-seeking inquirers. I repeat it, and would openly challenge disproof of the allegation, that the array of Mosaic names of Arab tribes and localities brought together, twenty years since, in the above-named work, as extant, on the one hand, in the classical, and on the other hand, in the modern geography of the Arabían peninsula, is utterly annihilative of the Anti-Mosaic theories of Bishop Colenso and the whole Anglo-German school. In all countries, and in all ages, the evidence of national nomenclature is allowed of all to be evidence of the most cogent and commanding authority: but in the East it is supreme. Moses, antecedently, testifies to its indelible value, when he speaks of the settlements of the patriarchal stocks, ' according to their families, after their places, by their names.' The Psalmist, long subsequently, repeats this witness: They call their lands after their own names.' The past and present nomenclature throughout the Arabian peninsula is a living commentary upon their words; and a standing testimony to the minute fidelity, the historical exactness, and immaculate truthfulness of the Mosaic annals, which must ever make the cavils of scepticism recoil upon their employers. In the awful words of the Psalmist, applied, not individually, but to the hinderer and slanderer of God's Word' as a caste,'

"His travail shall come upon his own head;

And his wickedness shall fall on his own pate.'

Waggie and Wattie; or, Nothing in Vain. By S. T. C. London : Seeleys. 1864.-Little Facts for Little People. By S. T. C. With twelve engravings. London: Seeleys. 1864.-This lady-for, though we do not know the author's name, we can hardly be mistaken in ascribing these volumes to a female pen-this lady has had the good fortune to select two fields of labour which are not much thronged by labourers. The first of these pretty volumes contains a life-like sketch of "the short and simple annals of the poor." Little Waggie (or Wagner) is a poor little humpback, who, at the beginning of the story, sighs out, "I wish I could be of use to somebody; the clergyman said God made everything to be useful, I wonder why He made me! Oh dear! oh dear!" But he is conducted through an everrising series of little adventures; until, at the end of the story, he is, without any romance, "prized and loved by his neighbours, seeing how God has blessed him with talent and goodness, which more than compensate for his bowed figure." The other book is for another set of readers, the little children of families of a better condition in life than poor Waggie. All who have had occasion to seek, must know the urgent want there still is of good books of the "one or two syllable class." We have here twelve pretty little tales, of moderate length, each having its own picture; and of a character sure to interest all students of the interesting age of five or six years. We believe that many anxious mammas will thank us for mentioning such a book.

Memoirs of the Life and Philanthropic Labours of Andrew Reed, D.D. Edited by his Sons, Andrew Reed, B.A., and Charles Reed, F.S.A. London: Strahan and Co. 1863.-The late Dr. Andrew Reed, the subject of the above memoir, was for more than a half a

century a Dissenting minister in London: the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him while visiting America for the purpose of obtaining accurate information as to the state of religion in that country; and with the view of dissipating prejudice, and promoting harmony and cooperation between the Christian communities of both nations. Although his labours as a minister were attended with considerable success, he was better and more generally known in public as a philanthropist. It is to his exertions that we are indebted for some of the noblest charitable institutions that adorn our land. And it can scarcely fail to strike the reader as remarkable, that a single individual, occupying a position in itself not prominent, and with comparatively slight influence or wealth,-for Dr. Reed's father began life as a watch-maker in London, and afterwards became a Dissenting preacher, a vocation which Dr. Reed himself entered upon when about twenty-four years of age-should not only have succeeded in raising considerably more than a million of money to minister to the sufferings and contribute to the comfort of the most helpless and hapless of all classes, viz., the orphan and the idiot; but should have secured, for the permanent relief of such sufferers, six benevolent institutions, capable of maintaining more than two thousand inmates. The London, Wanstead, and Reedham Orphan Asylums were founded by him, and had his constant and gratuitous services and supervision as long as he lived. The Earlswood and Eastern Counties Asylums for Idiots, and the Royal Asylum for Incurables, were also founded by him, and received at his hands similar services. In addition to this, Dr. Reed himself contributed liberally towards the support of these institutions. Such is a general outline of the public life of the late Dr. Reed. That he was a true philanthropist and a sincere Christian, there can be no doubt; nor can there be any that he was a decided Dissenter on conscientious grounds:-"I believe most surely that the predominant influence of the Church of England as she is, must be incompatible with Christian and with national liberty; and, therefore, I am a Dissenter." He thus stated his principles in 1855, and his conduct through life appears to have been in unison with such principles. The biography before us, edited, if not written, by two of the late Dr. Reed's sons, is far too voluminous; being full of minute and, to the general reader, uninteresting details-details which many of those who were not personally acquainted with the deceased philanthropist will perhaps question the delicacy of publishing. Had it been less voluminous, it would no doubt have had a wider circulation, and excited a deeper interest, and consequently have been of greater usefulness. In the preface, indeed, we find a rigid determination expressed, "not to permit the memoir to exceed a single volume of moderate size;" and for this reason, we are told, much of the correspondence has been omitted-an omission which comparatively few will regret, since the work, as now published, is between five and six hundred pages. Verbosity, however, would appear to be a failing common to panegyrists of deceased Nonconformists. Through it, however, both argument and satire lose their point, strong and energetic language becomes tame by reiteration or misapplication, and books become prosy.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

THE state of the country, as we view it from different points, presents itself to us under very different aspects. The one, bright and full of promise; the other, dark as if under the cloud of an approaching storm. We have had a bright spring-time, and seem to be almost in possession of an early and abundant harvest, a blessing we can scarcely estimate. The difference in money's worth between an abundant harvest such as that of last year, and an indifferent one such as that of 1862, is said to be more than £15,000,000. This was almost a total loss, since we purchased from America, which wanted little or nothing from us in return, and we paid in gold. But this was the least ill consequence. We are a rich country, and scarcely felt the loss. Nor was it a serious hardship to the wealthy, who can afford to buy imported flour at the highest price. The misery of a bad harvest falls on the poor man: to him it is often a stunning blow; to the agricultural labourer a deadly one. Bread forms his chief diet: it is almost the only food his children taste. them sicken and die under the unwholesome loaf; and he himself loses his strength, which is the whole of his small property. At the same time, work is scarce; for the farmer, having little to sell, and finding for that little an indifferent market, employs no labour, and the village tradesman finds no customers. If our upper classes were better acquainted with these elementary truths, they would feel a depth of gratitude for an abundant harvest which, in ignorance of them, it is unreasonable to expect.

He sees

Again, while the world around us is in arms, we are still at peace with other nations and with ourselves. The Maori rebellion and the Chinese war are by this time, we hope, drawing near to their close. With foreign nations we have no quarrel; and while America is still torn asunder with her civil war, we are on the happiest terms with all our colonies; and at home our political differences are so trifling, that warm politicians acknowledge, and we believe most unfeignedly deplore, the fact. Neither party can raise a cry. If this arose from national indifference to public affairs, it would be a bad sign, and in some respects it is so. But on the whole it is easily explained. It arises from the conviction that the policy of one party must be the policy of the other, and from a general agreement that great changes ought not to be attempted in the State while so many dangers seem to threaten us from abroad.

Even Ireland seems to be settling down into a state of composure, out of which prosperity may at length arise. The emigration to America still continues, and threatens to depopulate certain parts of Ireland; but they are the most wretched and priest-ridden, and we cannot understand why we should be called upon to deplore the loss of such a population. We have no desire that the priest should retain his influence over an ignorant and degraded flock. We have no wish to see a people worthy of better things ground down to the dust between poverty and the most baleful superstition; a superstition

which allows all the atrocities of the White Boy, and cannot or will not prevent an agrarian assassination. During the month the steward of Colonel Fulke Greville received a notice, in the usual terms, that he must prepare for death, for no other reason than that he had forbid the cutting a certain turf bog. Colonel Greville, with a promptitude which does him honour, gave notice to his tenantry in that town-land, that if a hair of his agent's head was injured, they should all be turned out, and their houses levelled to the ground. The threat was sufficient, and the cowardly miscreant has been detected. We are sorry, though by no means surprised, that the public press has not the courage to give the hearty support to Colonel Greville which, in our opinion, his conduct deserves. They speak of punishing the innocent with the guilty. If it were so, it would still be justifiable, were there no other remedy; and no other has yet been found. All war proceeds upon this principle; and in every invasion the innocent suffer far more heavily than the offenders. It is the principle which King Alfred introduced when he divided England into hundreds, which still exist as he marked them out in many counties, and made every inhabitant in each tything responsible for the life of the rest. But the truth is, though few of our public writers dare to mention it, that every adult in that Irish town-land knew perfectly well who was singled out for slaughter, and by whose hand the victim would fall. Each was an assassin in heart, and deserved the punishment, the mere threat of which has been found effectual.

So far, then, the picture is a bright one; or, however, not shaded with more than passing clouds. But if we look abroad, the thunderstorm approaches, and may soon break upon our own shores. The war between Denmark and Germany gathers strength as each party heaps fresh fuel on the fire. The armistice proposed by the Con ference in London is at an end. The labours of the Conference have proved entirely unsuccessful. It is understood that we have laboured hard for peace, but that all our proposals have been rejected. The House of Commons was crowded, a few nights ago, to hear the result; but public impatience was disappointed. Lord Palmerston will make his statement, it is said, on the 27th; and we shall scarcely be able to keep our pages open for it, as we generally close them on the 25th. But the question is already one of peace or war-war in which we must take our part, and in which the whole of Europe will be involved. A dissolution of Parliament must take place ere long, and there is a rumour that the ministry will dissolve at once, and take the sense of the nation before they come to a decision which must be one of such momentous import. Never was the nation better prepared for war, and never surely was it less anxious to embark in it. May we have guidance from above!

The madness of America does not abate, nor does the probability of a restoration of the Union increase. The sound of their deadly conflict has at length reached our own shores. On Sunday morning, the 19th, the Alabama, the Confederate privateer which has spread terror through the commercial navy of the North, sailed out of Cherbourg to fight the Kearsarge, which lay off the harbour watching her movements. It was a naval duel. The more wicked, because fought on Sunday.

Vol. 63.-No. 319.

After an hour's engagement, the re

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nowned Alabama went down, carrying with her, it is believed, at least twenty of her crew. Many were saved in the yacht of an English gentleman, which humanely remained, at considerable peril, as near as possible till the fight was over. We have no disposition to make any comments. We sicken as we write. Will no account be demanded of the souls thus hurried into eternity in the heat of battle, and of the wounded and dying men left to sink in the drowning wreck?

Ecclesiastical matters stand as they did a month ago. The Royal Commission have not made their report upon the terms of subscription. Mr. Bouverie presses his bill on University Subscription, the effect of which will be to leave Cambridge without any safeguards for the religion of the Tutors and Fellows. Mr. Clayton, long Senior Fellow and Tutor of Caius, has published a very solemn protest against it. He thinks it almost impossible that Cambridge should retain her character as a religious University if the bill should pass. We do not see how the daily attendance at the College Chapels can be long maintained. The most affecting sight which Cambridge presents will soon cease, and as a great seat of learning the University itself, stripped of its religious character, will fall into decay. For this madness we believe that Parliament is not prepared. And yet strange freaks are practised even by the House of Lords. A few nights ago, the Duke of Buccleugh's bill, in behalf of the Scotch Episcopal Church, passed without debate before an insignificant number of peers. Still in God is our trust, for vain, it seems, is the help of man. The elevation of Dr. Jeune to the see of Peterborough cheers us. If it be true that it was made by the Premier, against earnest solicitations from some powerful quarters in behalf of Dean Stanley, the name of Palmerston will be more than ever respected by Evangelical Churchmen. We cannot do better than draw our observations to a close in the words of the new prelate. We take them from a sermon preached before the University of Oxford on Sunday, December 6th, 1863. These are its concluding sentences:- "Let me hear, when I am on the bed of death, that Christ died in the stead of sinners, of whom I am chief; that he was forsaken of God during those fearful agonies, because He had taken my place; that on His cross I (He?) paid the penalty of my guilt. Let me hear, too, that His blood cleanseth from all sin, and that I may now appear before the bar of God, not as pardoned only, but as innocent. Let me realize the great mystery of the reciprocal substitution of Christ and the believer, or rather their perfect unity, He in them, they in Him, which He has expressly taught; and let me believe that, as I was in effect crucified on Calvary, He will in effect stand before the throne in my person; mine the sin, His the penalty; His the shame, mine the glory; His the thorns, mine the crown; His the merits, mine the reward. Verily, Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my Righteousness. In Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded."