stant, minute, and impartial care over their respective charges, correspondent to that of a good shepherd?" Once more; what of the example of the Apostle, who himself appears, for a time, to have acted the pastor at Ephesus? He teaches publicly, of course, ' and from house to house; and for three years ceases not to warn every one, night and day, with tears. How was this? Was all this effort in the shape of pulpit sermons? or was it not by public discourses and by personal addresses combined-the two modes reciprocally and mightily aiding each the other? Went not these two apostolic influences hand in hand, just as previously, when daily, in the temple and in every house, Peter and John ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ? This is a plain matter. What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. We may not mend the ways and works of God, nor be wise above what he has written. The apostolic minister of old was a pastor. The minister for these times is equally a pastor. No other is suitable. No other will, in general, be of great use. The age requires not mere hirelings-not those who, while they preach on Sabbaths, are yet remiss and neglectful at other seasons. The times demand of a minister that he 'care for souls'-that he be instant at all seasons -that he spare no pains, whether in the pulpit or out of it-warning every man, and teaching every man, that he may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus.”—Pp. 165–168.

From the same Part we extract the following:

"The minister for the times is a circulating pastor. He goes from house to house, like his apostolic exemplars. His study is not his home merely ;-his home, rather, is everywhere within his parish or charge. He is in motion. He is here or there, in accordance with his regular system of visitation, or as special exigencies may require. Within the precincts of his charge, he is in 66 every house;"-not merely those convenient of access, but those, too, that are most remote. Nor yet, in his travels, will he confine himself always to those families and persons that wait on his ministry; but he will call upon any others to whom he may be useful. He will inquire out those who have no stated place of church attendance, and lead them, if he may, to the house of God. He goes out, in his pastoral circuits, into the highways and hedges, and compels them to come in, that the house of God may be filled.

"Then, as he circulates, it is as a minister and pastor. He converses-inquires-instructs-encourages-and warns. Nor does he circulate merely for the purpose of personal intercourse. He includes neighbourhood preaching and lecturing, wherever it is practicable. He has his stated appointments between the Sabbaths in different points, and more or less remote from the place of public worship, in order that he may reach some who would not otherwise hear and be saved.”—Pp. 170, 171.

We trust this book will be widely read by our ministers. Especially will it be a useful and profitable manual for those just entering upon the sacred office. Its style is animated and fervent,-sometimes a little disfigured by an apparent straining after point and antithesis; but this is an almost unavoidable result of the minute subdivisions into which, according to the plan of the work, the whole subject had to be cast. And, finally, we thank Mr. Adams for a contribution so fresh, so vigorous, and so earnest, to the practical theology of our Church and of the age.

FOURTH SERIES, VOL. II.-31

ART. IX. SHORT REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

(1.) "White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War; by HERMAN MELVILLE." (Harper & Brothers, 1850: 12mo., pp. 465.) Many of our readers, judging simply from the title, will suppose this to be a mere novel, and pass it by. It is, on the contrary, no story at all, but a most graphic picture of the real life of a man-of-war, with what may be called a series of essays upon the evils, abuses, and, in part, crimes of the American Naval Service. If this work be true, (and we have no reason to doubt it,) there are brutalities perpetrated in the American navy, under the authority of the American people, which are enough to sink the whole concern, ships, officers, and all, to perdition. We deem it our duty to call the attention of our readers to the book and to the general subject: only regretting that our time and our limits will not allow us now to go into it at length. We cite (one passage only out of many) an account of the flogging of an old sailor, perhaps the best man in the ship, for refusing to take off his beard.

Sir," said the old man, respectfully," the three years for which I shipped are expired; and though I am perhaps bound to work the ship home, yet, as matters are, I think my beard might be allowed me. It is but a few days, Captain Claret."

"Put him into the brig!" cried the Captain; "and now, you old rascals!" he added, turning round upon the rest, "I give you fifteen minutes to have those beards taken off; if they then remain on your chins, I'll flog you-every mother's son of you-though you were all my own godfathers!"

On the morrow, after breakfast, Ushant was taken out of irons, and, with the mas ter-at-arms on one side and an armed sentry on the other, was escorted along the gun-deck and up the ladder to the main-mast. There the Captain stood, firm as before. They must have guarded the old man thus to prevent his escape to the shore, something less than a thousand miles distant at the time.

Well, sir, will you have that beard taken off? you have slept over it a whole night now; what do you say? I don't want to flog an old man like you, Ushant!" "My beard is my own, sir!" said the old man, lowly.

"Will you take it off?"

"It is mine, sir!" said the old man, tremulously.

'Rig the gratings !" roared the Captain. "Master-at-arms, strip him! quartermasters, seize him up! boatswain's mates, do your duty!"

While these executioners were employed, the Captain's excitement had a littlé time to abate; and when, at last, old Ushant was tied up by the arms and legs, and his venerable back was exposed-that back which had bowed at the guns of the frigate Constitution when she captured the Guerriere-the Captain seemed to relent.

"You are a very old man," he said, "and I am sorry to flog you; but my orders must be obeyed. I will give you one more chance; will you have that beard taken off ?"

"Captain Claret," said the old man, turning round painfully in his bonds, “ you may flog me, if you will; but, sir, in this one thing I can not obey you."

"Lay on! I'll see his backbone!" roared the Captain, in a sudden fury.

"You, boatswain's mate,” cried the Captain, "you are favouring that man! Lay on soundly, sir, or I'll have your own cat laid soundly on you."

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, tweve lashes were laid on the back of that heroic old man. He only bowed over his head, and stood as the Dying Gladiator lies.

"Cut him down," said the Captain.

"And now go and cut your own throat," hoarsely whispered an old sheet-anchor man, a mess-mate of Ushant's.

When the master-at-arms advanced with the prisoner's shirt, Ushant waved him

off with the dignified air of a Brahim, saying, "Do you think, master-at-arms, that I am hurt? I will put on my own garment. I am never the worse for it, man; and 'tis no dishonour when he who would dishonour you, only dishonours himself."

"What says he?" cried the Captain; "what says that tarry old philosopher with the smoking back? Tell it to me, sir, if you dare! Sentry, take that man back to the brig. Stop! John Ushant, you have been Captain of the Forecastle; I break you. And now you go into the brig, there to remain till you consent to have that beard taken off."

"My beard is my own," said the old man, quietly. "Sentry, I am ready."

And back he went into durance between the guns; but after lying some four or five days in irons, an order came to remove them; but he was still kept confined. It is for the American people to say whether barbarities of this Algerine kind shall be continued in their name or not.

(2.) "Studies in Christian Biography; or, Hours with Theologians and Reformers, by Samuel Osgood, Minister of the Church of the Messiah in New-York." (New-York: C. S. Francis & Co.: 12mo., pp. 395.) This book is mostly made up of contributions to different literary and theological journals; and large as this class of books has become of late years, we know of but one that surpasses this in interest and attractiveness, and certainly none in enlarged liberality of feeling. Mr. Osgood's Hagiology is sufficiently comprehensive to embrace men of the most opposite types and tendencies, from Augustine to Chrysostom, from Edwards to Wesley. The articles on Augustine, Chrysostom, and Jerome, are elaborate and critical: the remainder are generally rather glowing pictures than critical narrations. That the colours are always truthfully laid on, we cannot admit; but that the artist aims at truth of representation, is patent to every observer. We extract the following passages from the article on Wesley :

"His labours were incredible alike in their amount and their character. Preacher, theologian, ruler, he was constantly at work. Every year he travelled many thousand miles, and even in his travels never slackened his studies. On horseback he was at his book, and at the stopping-places was ready with pen and voice. Twenty years before his death, an edition of his works in thirty-two volumes was published, embracing treatises upon a great variety of subjects. Religion was of course the absorbing theme, but history, natural philosophy, grammar, and even medicine, came in for their share of his time and pen. He was the father of the system of cheap books for the people. He was willing alike to compose and to compile what ever would instruct and elevate the many. Thus he exerted vast influence. From the sale of his books he derived the chief means for his great charities. To his honour be it spoken, the amount ascertained to have been given away by him exceeds a hundred thousand dollars. Consistently enough he might preach that close and judicious sermon on Money as a Talent,' under the three heads,—' Gain all you can; Save all you can; Give all you can. Many go with the preacher in the first two heads, who would be much staggered by the third."

"There is no sight more refreshing and instructive than a cheerful, active old man. Let us look in upon Wesley in his hale old age."

"It would not have been difficult to identify that old man anywhere, whether in London or any of the cities of his sojourn, or in his travels. Few, however, would have judged him to be what he was, from his external appearance merely. Little of the daring innovator was there in his mien. In some distant part of England, you might have seen a man pursuing his journey resolutely on horseback, and showing by the book in his hand that he grudged to lose a single moment of time. You might see the same man walking with firm step through some town or village, giving proof in every motion that he had a work to do. His stature was under middle size, his habit of body thin, but compact. A clear, smooth forehead, an

aquiline nose, an eye of piercing brightness, a complexion of perfect healthfulness, distinguished him among all others. Even his dress was characteristic,—the perfection of neatness and simplicity, perhaps with a little touch of primness; a narrow, plaited stock, a coat with a small upright collar,-his clothes without any of the usual ornaments of silk or velvet,-combined with a head white as snow, to give the idea of a man of peculiar primitive character."

"Wesley's death took place, as we have seen, March 2, 1791. England little appreciated the man whom she had lost. The Established Church, of which he continued a minister to the last, and in the bosom of which, until shortly before his decease, he had desired his people to remain simply as a religious society, gave him little benediction, shutting against him the pulpits that were open to clerical Nim

rods and Bacchanals.

"Look from Wesley's death-bed towards France; and on the morrow the streets of Paris exhibited a scene that should have proved to the conservatives of England the worth of him who could impress upon the neglected masses the sentiment of religion. The sacred vessels of the Parisian churches were carried to the mint to be coined into that which is called the 'sinew of war.' England followed not France in the desecration. A sentiment of reverence guarded, and still guards, her altars. The tombs of her saints and sages were not to be violated as were those of France, nor their ashes to be scattered to the winds, that the lead of their coffins might be moulded into bullets. Hearts, by thousands, once rude and violent, were now at peace with God, living in recognition of a heavenly kingdom, and chanting holy hymns instead of shouting fiendish curses. Myriads once crushed beneath poverty and toil had been rescued, and, with the faith and love of the Gospel, every good gift had been given. America, too, had shared the blessing; her remote borders had been visited by the missionaries of Methodism, and her forests had rung with their thrilling hymns.

"The founder of the great society rested not in St. Paul's nor Westminster Ab bey. The ruling powers did not desire it, although they did not deny such consecrated ground to a profligate man of genius, or a blasphemous soldier. Nor did Wesley desire to be buried away from his people. His remains were laid beneath the chapel in which he had so often preached.

"Rest in peace, soul of John Wesley! we are all ready to say. May the English race, in all its branches, bless that name.

"What an idea the history of Wesley and his work gives of the capacity of an individual, and of the productiveness of a single life! It is a great question, in our day, How may the largest crop be derived from an acre of ground? Far greater the question, How much efficient power can a life produce? Wesley's story is a stern homily on persevering, devoted, cheerful labour. Work! work!' it cries. trumpet-tongued. Work on, work ever, in faith and love!'"

As we have hinted, there are many things in this book not according to our way of thinking: the author's theological stand-point is not ours, and, in fact, we find him here often falling short of what we deem to be thorough views of the nature of Christianity. But with the spirit of his book, in the main, we fully sympathize.

(3.) SOME time since a Dr. Nott of Mobile published a book designed to subvert the doctrine of the unity of the human race. The book appeared to have the two-fold object (if two-fold it can be called) of undermining the foundation of the Christian Scriptures, and of sustaining the system of slavery on the ground that the Africans are an inferior race. The religious men of the South, whether slaveholders or not, were not to be caught with such a bait; and Dr. Nott's book was severely handled in many of the religious journals. But the fullest fruit, perhaps, of his essay, lies now before us, in a work entitled "The Doctrine of the Unity of the Human Race examined on the Princi

ples of Science, by JOHN BACHMAN, D. D." (Charleston, S. C., 8vo., pp. 312.) The book grew out of a series of papers originally read before the Literary Club of Charleston, and bears the marks of rapid composition, with not a few inaccuracies both of arrangement and expression. But these are minor faults. Dr. Bachman's mind is so well stored with the facts of Natural Science, that his extempore talk on the subject would be worth taking down and printing in a book; and these facts are the only reliance of the argument before us. The arguments for and against the unity of the race are thoroughly discussed on scientific grounds, apart entirely from the teachings of the Scriptures, and the conclusion is reached, on these data alone, that God has "made of one blood all nations of men." Only in the concluding chapter is the harmony of nature and revelation on this subject alluded to; and we quote part of the chapter, as affording at once a specimen of Dr. Bachman's style, and a proof of the humble Christian spirit that animates him in his studies:

"Reader! we have travelled together over the pleasant but intricate and sometimes perplexing paths of science, in our earnest and persevering efforts at interpreting the book of nature. To the Divine mind everything is plain-everything moves on in the utmost simplicity and uniformity; but owing to the limited powers of man, he hesitates and pauses at every step; the pride of science gives way to a humiliating sense of his inferiority, and he calls for light to guide him through many dark and bewildering paths.

"There is an ancient record, venerated on account of its antiquity, of the pure morality it teaches, and the immortal life it proclaims, that professes to give us the origin and early history of our race; although we have yielded in courtesy to the expressed wishes of our opponents, not to base any of our arguments on the teachings of that volume, yet we felt as if they could not claim this as a right, inasmuch as they were constantly endeavouring to advance their cause, by dragging from the dust of antiquity every obscure and doubtful record, searching among rude and barbarous nations for ancient traditions, and striving to interpret in favour of their theory the hieroglyphics and sculptured heads on the mouldering monuments of antiquity, seizing upon everything calculated to throw doubts on the chronological and historical veracity of the Scriptures, and even telegraphing to America, through the convenient wires of Mr. Gliddon, the yet unpublished opinions of Lepsius. We are, however, disposed to allow them these advantages, although our liberality is not duly reciprocated. They cannot therefore object to our alluding, in the last pages of this essay, to a few remarkable coincidences between the teachings of nature and the revelations of Scripture on some of the greatest phenomena that have occurred in our world.

"Revelation informs us that 'in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.'

"The evidences of creation are all around us. The researches in geology have established the fact that there was a time when this earth was a chaotic mass, and when its surface and its waters were shrouded in darkness.

"We have next an account of the successions in creation preparatory to calling into existence the last, the noblest, and most perfect of all the creatures of earth, who, by the possession of reason and an immortal mind, is linked to the higher intelligences around the throne of God.

"When we dive into the bowels of the earth, we discover in the successive creations preparations made for the multiplied wants of a being thus constituted. Beds of coal to serve as fuel so essential to his existence, and which he only is capable of converting into practical use, had for ages been gathering in vast store-houses over every quarter of the globe. Lime, gypsum, marl, &c., had been forming to aid him in giving fertility to the soil which he was to cultivate by the labour of his hands. and the sweat of his brow. The materials for building, granite, marble, slate, and various earths, were thus prepared for his use. The various metals so essential to art and husbandry, and as a medium of exchange, had many of them undergone