shall be, blessed or adverse, the men who have understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do, should now say. XVIII. HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF HYMNS, their Writers and their Influence. By JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D., author of "William Carey: a Biography," &c., &c. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1859. pp. 415. Dr. Belcher was an English gentleman of taste and information, connected with the Baptist Board of Publication in this city. He died quite recently. In this very interesting work he has taken great pains to gather a vast variety of information in relation to the authors and origin of hymns. If we could command the space, we might quote many anecdotes in relation to well known hymns, some of which are new to us. The authors are arranged alphabetically to the number of upwards of a hundred and fifty. Anecdotes in relation to the influence of hymns follow. The book is filled with pleasant reading. XIX. MEMOIR OF ROBERT HALDANE AND JAMES ALEXANDER HALDANE; with Sketches of their Friends and of the Progress of Religion in Scotland and on the Continent of Europe in the former Half of the Nineteenth Century. American Tract Society. For sale at the Tract House, 929 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, pp. 278. The Memoirs of the two eminent Christians mentioned in this titlepage were written by Alexander Haldane, Esq., of London. This book is said not to be a mere abridgment, but one written expressly for the Tract Society. The materials are drawn from eleven different memoirs. The character, labors and eminent usefulness of Robert and James Haldane are now too well known to make it necessary for us to give an extended notice of them. Every Christian who does not read their memoirs is guilty of a sin of omission. Especially should gentlemen of property and position ponder on the lives of such men that they may understand how much good may be done by those who are determined to make the most of life for usefulness. Influence for good ramifies itself in a thousand ways. One reason for the comparatively small progress of religion is the want of consecration of laymen to the work. They should feel that in their sphere-which may be as large, almost, as they choose to make it-they are as much bound as clergymen to live for God and the good of the human race. It is marvellous how much the Haldanes accomplished, and it is yet more marvellous that such a course should be the exception and not a rule among Christians. XX. M. T. CICERONIS DE OFFICIIS LIBRI TRES. With Marginal Analysis and an English Commentary. Edited for the Syndics of the University Press by the REV. HUBERT ASHTON HOLDEN, M. A., Vice Principal of Cheltenham College, late Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. First American Edition, corrected and enlarged. By CHARLES ANTHON, LL. D., Professor of Greek in Columbia College. New York: Harpers, 1859, pp. 315. The text of this edition is a reprint of that of Zumpt in his smaller edition published at Brunswick, 1849. There is a marginal analysis in English. The notes are copious. "Occasional illustration has been given from the works of modern jurists, especially from Grotius De Jure Belli ac Pacis." The English edition was published in 1854. Professor Anthon says that "he has ventured, in many instances, to re-model and simplify the Commentary of the English scholar, and occasionally to add to it notes and emendations of the text from other European editions." XXI. THE POET PREACHER: a brief Memorial of Charles Wesley, the eminent Preacher and Poet. By CHARLES ADAMS. Five illustrations. New York: Carlton & Porter, 1859, pp. 234. This book is taken principally from Jackson's biography, which was republished in New York in 1842. It is intended for Sabbath schools and common readers. The author remarks that "the spirit of the age and the American taste require that authors should be chary of side-issues, characters and reflections; deal sparingly in generalities, keep the subject of their pencillings as vividly as possible before the eye, and cease their touches as soon as the picture is finished." The life of Charles Wesley has much that is interesting in it; his marriage was most happy, and his friendships were pleasant. To those who have not time to read the larger work, we recommend this. We have already given our opinion, that as a writer of hymns Charles Wesley is second only to Dr. Watts. XXII. A POPULAR HAND-BOOK. Sight and Hearing, how preserved and how lost. By J. HENRY CLARK, M. D. Fifth thousand, carefully revised with an Index. New York: Charles Scribner, 1859, pp. 351. The author acknowledges his indebtedness to Tyrrell, Lawrence, Middlemore, Saunders, M'Kenzie, Cooper, Pilcher, Harvey, Wilde, Sichel, Kramer. Obsta principiis is the excellent motto. Dr. Clark states that he is about to publish "The Perils of a Studious and Sedentary Life-a Student's Hand-book." The facts in relation to sight and hearing are stated minutely, and the remedies very sensibly brought forward. We are glad to see that so much stress is laid upon the avoidance of all quackery and the taking of thoroughly qualified advice. A few plain principles, after all, though with a great variety of applications, comprise about the whole of the subject. XXIII. ANCIENT MINERALOGY; or, the Inquiry respecting Mineral Substances mentioned by the Ancients: with occasional remarks on the uses to which they were applied. By N. F. MOORE, LL. D. Second edition. New York: Harpers, 1859, pp. 250. The first edition of this work was published by Dr. Moore when professor of the Greek and Latin languages in Columbia College. After twenty-four years the author presents a revised and improved edition with an excellent preface. The whole discussion is conducted in both a modest and learned vein. The different metals, gems, &c., are taken up separately, and the information in the Scriptures, in Theophrastus, Pliny, &c., brought out well and judiciously. ERRATUM.-On page 221, line 7, for quench read quicken. ARTICLE. CONTENTS OF NO. XXX. PAGE. I. HOW SHOULD NATURAL ABILITY BE PREACHED? 177 192 III. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S PLAN FOR INCREASING IV. HUMBOldt. 214 240 1. Cosmos: By Alexander Von Humboldt. 2. Lives of the Brothers Humboldt, Alexander and V. THE PRINCETON REVIEW'S CRITICISM ON "BARNES VI. Dr. Stevens' History of Methodism, volume II. 344 345 VIII. Hillside's Compend of Geology. 346 IX. Mackay's Life and Liberty in America. X. Science and Art of Chess. 346 346 XI. Dr. Humphrey's Revival Sketches and Manual. 347 347 347 Committee. Nos. 6, 7, 8 & 9. 348 XV. Swinton's Rambles among Words. 348 XVI. Rev. Hugh Stowell Brown's Lectures for the People. 348 Way of Holiness," &c. XVIII. Belcher's Historical Sketches of Hymns. 349 350 350 350 351 351 351 "OLD AND NEW SCHOOL" THEOLOGY. The existence of two denominations of Christians so nearly alike, and yet so widely separated from each other, as are the "Old and New School" Presbyterians, is a phenomenon which has probably never before occurred in the Church. In their theology; in the numbers of their churches, ministers, and members; in their views of the necessity of piety and of a thorough education as a qualification for the ministry-each now combining the views on this subject which were entertained by the two parties in the Church before the great separation in 1741; in their mode of presenting the truths of the Gospel; in the general type and character of the piety which they seek to promote; in their views of revivals and of missions, they more nearly resemble each other than do any other two denominations into which the great Christian family is divided, or than VOL. VIII.-23 either of them resembles any other one of those denominations. They stand almost equally aloof from other denominations; they are making progress at a ratio which is almost equal; they are intermingled in the same communities; their ministers to a great extent have been educated at the same colleges and seminaries; the classes of persons to whom they make their appeal, and on whom they rely for accessions to their churches, are, to a great degree, the same; they make substantially the same impression on the world around them; and yet, on many points, there are no two denominations that are wider apart. There must be, therefore, some material difference between them which operates to keep them asunder. It is to be presumed that the difference in the two denominations is to be traced, in some measure at least, to the difference of views entertained on the subject of theology, and it is the main purpose of this Article to inquire how far this is true. The two denominations agree in the name which they have adopted, and by which they choose to be distinguished from other branches of the great Christian family. Both call themselves "The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," and in their charters; in the reports of their proceedings; in their public documents of every kind, they are known by this name alone. The names "Old School" and "New School" are mere terms of convenience, not known in the charters of either-names originally assumed and given by what are now called the "Old School," and admitted by the other as a matter of convenience only, and not as designating anything peculiar in their doctrines or their practices:-as the names Puritan, Methodist, Quaker, and perhaps the name Christian itself, were names not originally assumed by those with whom |