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CONTENTS.

CONTENTS OF JANUARY NUMBER.

IV. Headley's Histories

V. Webster's Octavo Dictionary

VI. Matters and Things in Europe.-(Editor.)

VIL Critical Notices

1. The Philosophy of Christian Perfection; 2. Blackstone's Com-

mentaries on the Laws of England; 3. Dr. Chalmers' Daily Scripture
Readings; 4. Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D.; 5. Smith's Narrative of
an Exploring Visit to the Consular Cities of China; 6. Revolutionary
Services and Civil Life of Gen. Wm. Hull; 7. Jarvis's Reply to Dr.
Milner's "End of Religious Controversy;" 8. Frost's Life of Gen. Za-
chary Taylor; 9. James' Life of Henry the Fourth, King of France
and Navarre; 10. Corney's Thomson's Seasons; 11. Parker's Outlines
of General History; 12. Von Schlegel's Philosophy of Life and Philo-
sophy of Language; 13. Trench's Notes on the Parables of our Lord;
14. Ralston's Elements of Divinity; 15. Stevens' Memorials of the In-
troduction of Methodism into the Eastern States; 16. Spencer's Four
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, in Greek; 17. Reilly's Life of
the Rev. Gideon Ouseley, Irish Missionary; 18. Artist-life; or Sketches
of American Painters, by Tuckerman; 19. Sunday-School Books.

CONTENTS OF APRIL NUMBER.

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I. Life of Madame Guyon.-(Rev. Daniel Curry.)

II. Mental Discipline.-(Rev. S. M. Vail.)

III. Political Economy

IV. Wesley and his Biographers.-(Rev. W. C. Hoyt.)

V. The Pelagian Controversy.-(J. L. Jewett.)
VI. Wesley's Journal.—(Rev. O. R. Howard.)

VII. Critical Notices

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1. Self-education; or, the Philosophy of Mental Improvement; 2. A
Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Residence at Para; 3. The
Path of Life; 4. The Bethel Flag; 5. Germany, England, and Scot-
land; 6. Life of the Chevalier Bayard; 7. Scenes at Washington;
8. Sketches of Sermons on the Parables and Miracles of Christ; 9. Re-
collections of Real Life in England; 10. Appleton's Library Manual;
11. Lectures on Revivals of Religion; 12. Xenophon's Memorabilia
of Socrates; 13. Historical and Critical View of the Speculative Philo-
sophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century; 14. Preparation for the
Pulpit; 15. Fate of Infidelity; 16. Proverbial Philosophy; 17. His-
tory of the Girondists; 18. Doing Good; 19. Hactenus; 20. Condi-
tion and Prospects of the Protestant Episcopal Church; 21. A Sum-
mer in Scotland; 22. Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Moun-
tains; 23. Now and then; 24. Historical View of the Literature of the
South of Europe; 25. The English Pulpit; 26. Napoleon and the Mar-
shals of the Empire; 27. Sermons of Christmas Evans; 28. Hudson's
Lectures on Shakspeare; 29. The Power of the Pulpit.

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VI. Westminster Assembly of Divines.—(Rev. Daniel Curry.)

VII. Methodist Hymnology

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THE

METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW.

JANUARY, 1848.

EDITED BY GEORGE PECK, D. D.

ART. I.-1. History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. Tenth edition, 3 vols. 8vo. New-York: Harper & Brothers.

2. History of the Conquest of Mexico; with a Preliminary View of the Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortés. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. Eighth edition, 3 vols. 8vo. New-York: Harper & Brothers.

3. Biographical and Critical Miscellanies. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. 1 vol. 8vo. New-York: Harper & Brothers.

4. History of the Conquest of Peru; with a Preliminary View of the Civilization of the Incas. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. 2 vols. 8vo. New-York: Harper & Brothers.

THE publication of Mr. Prescott's "Peru" affords us an opportunity for which we have long waited, to attempt an estimate of his powers as an historian, and to give some account of his works. To him belongs the rare distinction of uniting solid merit with extensive popularity. He has been exalted to the first class of historians, both by the popular voice and the suffrages of the learned. By avoiding all tricks of flippancy or profundity to court any class of readers, he has pleased all. His last history is devoured with as much avidity as the last novel; while, at the same time, it occupies the first place in the pages of the reviews. His fame, also, is not merely local, or even national. It is as great at London, Paris, and Berlin, as at Boston or New-York. His works have been translated into Spanish, German, French, and Italian ; and into whatever region they have penetrated they have met a cordial welcome, and done much to raise the character of American letters and scholarship. In England his success has probably been beyond that of any other American author. The tone of the EnVOL. VIII.-1

glish press toward our publications has too often been either patronizing or insolent. But Mr. Prescott's histories have been spared both the impertinence of condescension and the impertinence of abuse, and judged according to their intrinsic merits. The best evidence, perhaps, of his transatlantic reputation is to be found in his membership of numerous literary associations abroad. We perceive that since the publication of "The Conquest of Peru," he has been chosen a member of the Royal Society of Literature, and also of the Society of Antiquaries. The last honor he shares with but one other American.

It is needless to say that a reputation so extensive could only result from sterling excellences. Some of Mr. Prescott's popularity may, doubtless, be attributed to the peculiar disadvantages under which he has prosecuted his historical researches. That a man nearly blind should collect a large mass of rare chronicles and MSS., and attempt the composition of histories requiring the utmost industry, sagacity, and toil, is of itself sufficient to awaken attention and almost to confer fame. But Mr. Prescott's works require no apology founded on the obstacles he has surmounted. They can stand the tests we apply to similar compositions without any call upon the charity of reader or reviewer. Indeed, though the historian cannot dispense with the use of his eyes without being subjected to numberless annoyances which might well discourage the most patient and energetic of men, the value of his history must come, after all, from his own mind and character. It is not the channel through which facts and authorities pass into the head, but the shape in which they come out of the head, which is of the most importance. The real difficulties which Mr. Prescott has surmounted are intellectual, and inherent in his subjects and materials. These difficulties can hardly be appreciated by a superficial reader of his histories. They are not perceived until we consider out of what obstinate materials he has drawn his consistent, animated, and picturesque narrative, and reflected upon that peculiar combination of qualities by which he has been enabled to perform it with such splendid success.

The distinguishing merit of Mr. Prescott is his power of vividly representing characters and events in their just relations, and applying to them their proper principles. He thus presents a true exhibition of the period of time he has chosen for his subject, enabling the reader to comprehend its peculiar character, to realize its passions and prejudices, and at once to observe it with the eye of a contemporary, and judge it with the calmness of a philosopher. To succeed in this difficult object of historical art, requires not

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