fort of life depends. But though nothing could exceed his mildness in familiar conversation, which made friends of all who ever knew him, he was firm as a rock on every point of duty, and no fear of slander or injury, nor even of exile or bondage, could induce him to refrain from expressing his convictions, or retract one word which he had deliberately spoken to the world. In these respects, he was tried, and not found wanting; and the cause of civil and religious freedom numbers him among those noble spirits, who, in every age, have put forth their gigantic strength to break the arm of the oppressor and to set the prisoner free. His death, October 28, 1704, was a worthy close to such a life, it was like the translation of one who had walked with God; he saw that his path was sloping gently downward to the tomb, but his heart did not faint nor his step falter; he kept calmly and steadily onward till he laid himself down to die; and then, with a gentle and willing farewell, he left the world and gave his spirit up to God. We would say, 'May our end be like his; may we be saved from that excitement of disease, which is so often mistaken for the inspiration of Heaven; may there be strength and clearness in our souls in the closing hour; may our hopes of eternity be bright and fervent, and our faith be mightier than the grave!' ART. X. A Catechism of Natural Theology. By I. NICHOLS, D. D., Pastor of the First Church in Portland. Second Edition, with Additions and Improvements. Boston. William Hyde. 1831. 12mo. pp. 215. THIS work was much wanted, especially for the higher classes in our Sunday schools, to which Paley's admirable treatise on the same subject is, on many accounts, not fitted. The general style of the latter, it is true, is incomparable, and many of the author's illustrations are among the most striking and beautiful that can be adduced; and of these Dr. Nichols has availed himself freely, and, for the most part, without altering the expression. But Paley committed a serious error in the very outset, considering his work as one to be 52 put into the hands of the young, by plunging into some of the most abstruse and difficult metaphysical questions in the atheistical controversy; questions for which his readers are not prepared, and questions too, it must be confessed, which he has not treated with much ability, nor even with his accustomed clearness, nor with fairness. Paley, also, as is well known, was not an adept in the natural sciences; in consequence of which, several defects, and a few serious blunders occur in his work, which are but imperfectly corrected and supplied by Paxton's Illustrations,' and the excellent notes in the last Boston edition. Dr. Nichols has had this edition before him, and other recent and valuable treatises on the same and kindred subjects, and particularly Dr. Bell's two admirable numbers, in "The Library of Useful Knowledge,' on Animal Mechanics. With these materials, he has given us a compilation, which, for the learning it displays, and the devotional spirit breathing through its pages, as well as for its literary execution and general appearance, merits a much higher distinction than is commonly awarded to works of this class. 6 The present edition is a great improvement on the first as regards the mechanical execution. The text has also been enlarged about one seventh part; most of the additions consisting of further and important illustrations, under the different heads, borrowed from comparative anatomy. Many passages, given in the first edition as formal quotations, in consequence of which the work had too much of a patchwork look, are now moulded into the compiler's own style and manner, and condensed. The work, however, still retains, very injudiciously, as it seems to us, the form of a dialogue. This has none of the few advantages belonging to the catechetical mode, properly so called, and at the same time is not made to contribute in any way, so far as we can discern, to the ease and spirit of the discussion. INDEX. A. Anastasius, Pope, condemns Origen Athenagoras on the supremacy of the Arians and Athanasians, both claim- Atoning Sacrifice, the, a display of note. B. - Baillie, Joanna, notice of her book Beecher, Dr., his notions of law and government controverted by Dr. Bigelow, Andrew, his Travels in Brazil, Walsh's Notices of, reviewed, Family worship, importance of, 211. course, reviewed, 373-380. sion, Character and Doctrine of Fuller, Thomas, his Holy and Pro- reviewed, 15-extracts from, 20, G. Gaussen, M., account of discussions Geneva, account of recent events in, German literature, philosophy, and Griffin, Rev. Edmund D., his Re- H. Harvard University, Divinity School I. Irenæus, on the inferiority of the J. Justinian, the Emperor, causes Ori- K. Kant and Coleridge compared, 375. L. Library of the Old English Prose Writers, vol. I., reviewed, 1, 22. Locke, John, his character and writ- Logos, doctrine of the Fathers con- M. Mackintosh, Sir James, his History Mather, Cotton, his conduct in re- R. Roman Catholics, Miss Martineau's S. Salem Witchcraft, Upham's Lectures Sewall, Judge, his repentance for the Skeptical tendencies, Unitarianism Slavery in the British West India Social Life, essay on, 70-83-its Stephen, James, his work on the |