Though not in morals, yet frequently in politics, and in ecclesiastical matters too, the abstract and ideal is not, practically, best. By those that have it, it may be kept in view, proposed, inculcated, but to become the ground of popular action, progress and experience must gradually demonstrate it to the general mind. 'Let us suppose it possible that the abstract principle of the "nogovernment" party in America may come to be realized throughout society; that every individual shall be so enlightened and virtuousevery family so well ordered-every neighbourhood, town, and city so instinctively self-regulated, that there will be no need of constable or judge, parliament or congress, law or lawmakers, the world over. This consummation will have to be approached through progressive stages, and by the gradual disappearance of one form of government, and one national or municipal institution after another. Society must work out the theorem for itself, in actual practice through all its steps, till it discovers, one by one, the results which shall reveal to it the abstract principles, which its own ultimate perfection is to embody. It has ever been thus, both with political and ecclesiastical institutions. In one age, things have been done at which none revolted, and principles held which all recognised, which, by-and-bye, began to offend, then to be questioned, then to be discussed, then to be doubted, then to be denied, then to be discarded, till at last they were done away, and new abstract principles were enunciated, which, the teaching of experience, and the progress of light, discovered to be seated in the constitution of society, the nature of man, or the "saying of God;" but which could not have been acted upon or applied earlier, because not before suspected or understood. The natural history and genealogy of such things are first, the thinker, then the thinker and the doer combined, and then all men the doers without thought or almost without it, because they are "to the manner born." It is the constitution of Providence in regard at once to the individual, to communities, and the species, and in relation to spiritual as well as temporal things, to give a quantity of raw material to be wrought up,-material, including properties and elements, called, in both cases (without a figure), abstract principles, which, instead of being all made plain at first, are only there in the substance, present and real,-to be brought out, understood, and applied as the result of work-the study and experience, the blunders and success, the action and reaction of successive generations. 'If there be truth in the facts on which the reasoning referred to proceeds, things are approaching the beginning of an end. In the United States, we are told, all possible modifications of the church and state principle have been tried, put to the test, "weighed in the balance, and found wanting." First, in some states there was the endowment and support of one sect; that would not do. Then the recognition of, and provision for all; that would not do. Then the letting of all alone, and that does. Now, surely it is a great thing in a country like this, with such an ecclesiastical system as ours, and with such an exclusive spirit as pervades it, to get the idea fairly admitted, that the period of proscription and exclusiveness is passed; that all 'There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, Nothing connected with the history of this controversy has been more gratifying to us than the judgment given respecting it by the Presbyterian Synod of Scotland-a body representing some six hundred churches of Presbyterian Dissenters in that country-and whose decision, in its main points, is precisely to the effect of that to which we gave adhesion at the commencement of this discussion, and to which we still adhere-viz. that it is not the province of government to be a teacher of religion; but that it does belong to government, in case of need, to aid in giving general instruction to the people. These sturdy presbyters of the north, the men who have been applauded on all sides as the very champions of religious voluntaryism, the men whose thunder shook the Established Church of Scotland to her base, and who are the real fathers of the Free Church -these veterans in the cause of a self-sustained religion, would no doubt be a little surprised to find themselves described, as the consequence of having published such resolutions, as men who have yet to learn what religious voluntaryism means, as the betrayers of that cause, as having inflicted a perilous wound upon it; as men stretching out the itching palm,' and willing to descend to the most unworthy artifice and evasion in the hope of being allowed to clutch the state-bribe,' &c. &c. If Scotland knows little of these charitable constructions and charitable speeches, we can assure our brethren of the north that there has been very much of this of late in the south-men of mark and learned divines, becoming, in some instances, as coarsely intolerant in this matter, as the class of their admirers from whom nothing better was to have been expected. The evils we feared and predicted nearly twelvemonths since, as the probable consequences of the course which the more active portion of dissenters seemed disposed to take on this question, have been all only too fully realised. Opposition to the measures of the Government has been left almost exclusively to the Congregational and Baptist denominations, and to a portion only even of those bodies. We cannot deem it reasonable to expect that so small a minority will be allowed to give law to so large a majority. So long as England has her Established Church, we have little hope of seeing any uniform or unexceptionable system of popular education adopted. But a system which shall adapt itself, in accordance with the free spirit of our laws, to the different sections of the community, on a principle of fairness towards all -this is within our reach. Let Nonconformists insist that their own principles shall be respected in their own schools, and by restricting the terms of their co-operation with the Government in popular education to this point, they may not only retain their place as educators, but become more than ever effective in that department of labour; and this without at all relinquishing right of protest against the less enlightened principles which may be acted upon elsewhere. If the judgment of English Congregationalists were fairly obtained, we believe the great majority of them would be found fully prepared to take this course. Time will show how far we are right in this conjecture. their 269 CRITICISMS ON BOOKS. 1. Foster's Lectures-Second Series. 7. Tyng's Recollections of England. 9. Barrett's Synopsis of Criticisms. 10. Proceedings of the Philological Society. 11. Motherwell's Poems. 12. Life of Zamba. 13. Firstlings of Fancy. 14. Popery-its Character and Crimes. 15. Hollis's Christian Discrimination. 16. Dunn's Dictionary of the Gospels. 17. Cornwall's Geography. 18. Offer's Royal Supremacy. 19. Outlines of Mental and Moral Science. 20. State of the Holy Sepulchre. 21. Congregational Year Book. 24. The Pilgrimage, by C. A. Wildenhahn. 26. Davies on the Human Mind. f 27. Fluery's Thirty Sermons. 34. Etheridge on the Syrian Churches. 51. The Orphanhood. 52. The Pictorial Bible. I. Lectures delivered at Broadmead Chapel, Bristol. By JOHN FOSTER. Second Series. 8vo, pp. 476. Jackson and Walford. 1847. The following is the 'Advertisement,' by the editor, to this volume : In preparing this volume for the press, the editor has faithfully adhered, as he did in the former series, to the original manuscripts, and permitted himself to make simply those slight additions which were necessary to remove from the composition the appearance of detached hints: persons who are familiar with Mr. Foster's writings, will not fail to recognise, even in these unfinished remains, one of their characteristic excellences-the linked consecutiveness of his thoughts. The first fifteen lectures are arranged according to their date; the others were delivered at various intervals, but all of them, it is believed, before the commencement of the year 1826. Two (the twenty-seventh and thirtieth), it will be perceived, do not belong to the series of lectures, but were discourses prepared for special occasions, as was the case also with the thirty-first. They bear, however, so small a proportion to the rest, and are so similar in their general structure, that it has not appeared needful on account of their insertion to alter the title of the volume. The last lecture (On Access to God) had the advantage of being revised for the press by Mr. Foster himself, for the use of the Religious Tract Society, and is here reprinted with the consent of the committee.' We have expressed our views so fully, not long since, in respect to the genius and writings of Foster, that it will not be expected we should now return to that subject. In our attempt to estimate the power and culture of this extraordinary man, and to compare, or rather to contrast his mind with that of his great contemporary, Robert Hall, we ventured to speak with more discrimi nation and freedom than has been the wont of nonconformist writers, and we have been gratified in seeing our views so largely corroborated in other quarters. When we say that this 'second series' of lectures is not less worthy of publi cation than the first, we have said enough to satisfy most of our readers that they have in this publication a valuable addition to the precious contributions already received from the same mind. The writings of Foster now published amount to some six or seven goodly octavos. II. Memoir of the Rev. Francis Cary, M.A., Translator of Dante. With his Literary Journal and Letters. By his Son, the REV. HENRY Cary, M.A., Worcester College, Oxford. 2 vols. 8vo. Moxon. 1847. The subject of this memoir was born in 1772, and died in 1844, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was educated in Oxford, became a clergyman, and during half-a-century was a student of literature, and a companion of literary men. The letters in these volumes present a faithful record of his occupations, of his opinions, and of his fellowships, and throw some light on points of our literary history since the year 1800. Cary's office of Librarian in the British Museum, though it did not fall to him until late in life, was congenial with his tastes; but his Translation of Dante is the only material fruit that has resulted from his discursive reading and thought, which still holds its place as the standard translation in our language. III. Travels in Peru, during the years 1838-1842. By DR. J. J. VON TSCHUDI. Translated from the German by THOMASINA Ross. 8vo, pp. 506. Bogue. 1847. We have delayed calling the attention of our readers to this volume, in the hope of making them more fully acquainted with its contents by giving it a place in another part of our journal. But this we have found imprac ticable. The present publication,' says the translator, though containing a vast deal to interest the naturalist, is addressed to the general reader, and will, it is presumed, gratify curiosity respecting the highly interesting and little 'known regions to which it relates. It may fairly be said that no previous 'writer has given so comprehensive a picture of Peru; combining with animated 'sketches of life and manners, a fund of valuable information on natural history and commerce.'-(Preface.) This is no more than a just description of the book-it includes as much of what is amusing and generally interesting as will be found in books of travels of the best class, with much more than the usual amount of valuable information. IV. The People's Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. I. 8vo, pp. 634. Simpkin and Co. 1846-7. Dr. Beard, the editor of this work, has done good service in the departments of Christian Evidence and Biblical Antiquities. The 'People's Dictionary' is a cheap publication. It has been published in numbers, each number consists of thirty-two pages neatly and closely printed, and illustrated with engravings, and is sold for sixpence. The following is Dr. Beard's account of the matters which the work is intended to embrace: I. A brief and popular introduction to a knowledge of the Books of the Bible, in relation to their origin, preservation, contents, aim, and credibility; embracing re marks on the formation of the Canon, the Apocrypha, and Tradition, as well as the |