The work before us, giving an account of her studies and rambles in a Canadian winter and summer, is one of the most agreeable, though probably the least elaborate, of her produc

tions.

A Canadian winter, as might well be supposed, struck rather harshly upon the frame of one, accustomed to the milder skies of Europe, and all the luxuries of European life; and the kind of society, in which she found herself at Toronto, did not tend to check her home-sickness, or quiet the longing for more congenial shores, which a spirit so habituated to an atmosphere of poetry and art must feel in a new and rough colonial settlement. And, accordingly, we find that she turned her thoughts to her old studies, and she gives us the results of her reveries and reading in the form of criticisms on various works of art, and takes especial delight in dwelling upon the genius of Goethe, from whose memoirs, by Ekermann, she furnishes copious and most interesting extracts. The view she takes of his personal character is far higher than is common with persons, who have been his critics. If her estimate of him be correct, there is less reason than many allege to distinguish so carefully the literary and private character of the man. Some of his sayings upon religion, as quoted by Mrs. Jameson, are such as to free him from the oft-repeated charge of total indifference, and to add to the conviction, which all, who have read his description of the religious experience of the Fair Saint in Wilhelm Meister, cannot but entertain, that the bard of Weimar could not have been an irreligious man.

Occasionally, indeed, Mrs. Jameson found some charms in a Canadian winter, to draw her away from her books. Her description of her excursion in a snow-storm to Niagara, and her first view of the Falls, shows that her poetic taste is not confined exclusively to the criticism of books.

But in summer, her spirit breaks forth from winter seclusion with delight, and in the account of her excursion up Lake Huron, her sketches of scenery, and life, especially Indian life, make the second part of her work remarkably interesting. Much as she mourns over the degraded state of the Indians, she finds poetry even among them, and gives us some songs and allegories, which show, that the spirit of beauty is indeed everywhere.

She appears to look with less pity upon the Indian women than is usual with travellers, and says, that hunting is so arduous, that it must needs take all the care and time of the men, and, therefore, the women are obliged to perform the household, and much of the farming labor. She deems it rather an honor to

them, that they can be so useful, and appears to make a contrast between their usefulness, and the listless, petted lives of English women, which is in no way complimentary to the latter. This subject of female character and duty is more largely treated, than any other in the book. In all she says of woman's true destiny, and actual condition, there is a strain of melancholy, that implies her own existence has not run as smoothly, as could be wished. But she complains so prettily, that the strain is pleasant, and the reader is ready to say with Fazio :

The Moral Teacher; designed as a Class-Book for the Common Schools in the United States of America. By a CLERGYMAN. New-York; Robinson & Franklin. 1839. 12mo. pp. 196.A want long felt is here at length supplied, and exceedingly well supplied. If our ideal of a volume of Christian morality is not fully realized, but little is wanting, and that little, perhaps, ought not to be, for one's ideal is ever apt to go beyond nature and possibility. Let a beginning be made with this, and then, if a better be needed, a better will soon come to take its place. There should no longer be any delay in making the subjects which it treats a part of common school education, and of education in every school. We shall look by-and-by with astonishment at the fact, that, at so late a period of the world as the present, Christian communities like ours were content, that their children should receive all other instruction in the public school, while their moral and religious education, the education of the conscience, was wholly neglected. In the reforms which are now attempting, we trust that the monstrous solecism of schools in a Christian land, which on principle exclude Christianity, will be "reformed altogether." We congratulate the author on having succeeded perfectly, where to succeed has been deemed a thing impossible, in so setting forth the eternal principles of morals, and of universal religion, as at the same time that he unfolds them clearly and sufficiently, never to confound them with, or make them to be deduced from, the peculiar religious opinions of any sect. To those, who have doubted the possibility of teaching Christian morality in our schools, separately from Christian doctrine, and have, on that ground, opposed its introduction, believing that it would be but a cover for the introduction of sectarian Christianity, we recommend the perusal of this

little volume. They will here find the sum and substance of Christian morality, without a single instance of the inculcation, directly or indirectly, of any theological peculiarity.

The author has been eminently successful, it seems to us also, in overcoming another difficulty; that, namely, of presenting the various points of moral philosophy in a form to be clearly apprehended by the young; either in language so simple and perspicuous, or accompanied by such illustrations and examples, that scarce any child of the age for which the compend is designed, can fail to understand them. But, while it is thus adapted to the capacities of young learners, there is enough left for their minds to grapple with. They are aided, but the work is not done for them. And as the volume advances toward its close, the demand upon the pupil, as it should, increases. It will be found, we are persuaded, to form a capital text-book, not only for public and private schools, but for family instruction, and for Sunday School teaching. It is filled with topics, of which an outline is just given, of most useful and agreeable discussion, either for children with one another, or with their parents, or teachers. The present treatise, the author has prepared for children of "from eight to twelve years of age." This should be borne in mind by those who examine it. We hope he will feel himself encouraged to go on in the preparation of another volume, "still needed," as he suggests, "for the higher classes in our schools." The work could hardly be committed to a more competent hand.

Discourses preached in the New North Church, December 9th, on the completion of the 124th year from the establishment of the Church, and of the 25th year since the settlement of the present pastor. By FRANCIS PARKMAN, D. D. Boston. 1839. These discourses, delivered on the Sunday which completed the 25th year of the settlement of their author, must be peculiarly interesting to the members of his society, from the rapid and comprehensive sketch they present of their past history, running through a period of an hundred and twenty-four years; and they are valuable to our community, as constituting important material for the future ecclesiastical historian. They bear upon them distinctive marks of their parentage, in the deep seriousness which pervades them, relieved here and there by a certain "half-apparent humor,". and in that strong attachment to what is venerable by reason of years and long use, which loves to dwell on the times, the customs, and virtues of the past. Although, however, the author is a lover of the times that are gone,

and of institutions which are hung about with the honors of a grey antiquity, and is no friend of the changes which come with almost every seventh wave of the rolling tide of time, yet is he no bigot in his faith, nor any slave of tradition, but has an eye for the faults and errors of those who have gone before, as well as of those who are now, evident enough in the following paragraph, which we commend to the reader.

"He that shall survey their ecclesiastical annals, [our Fathers',] and observe how often the weak or the fallen were called to judgment; how often the brethren aggrieved appealed to sister churches for redress from the brethren offending; how one council was opposed to another council, and censures and monitions, suspensions and excommunications, were reciprocally interchanged, will be compelled to acknowledge, that our fathers realized but imperfectly the communion of the saints; that whatever may have been their reverence for God, they had not learnt from their Master, compassion for the ignorant, and them out of the way. If we, their children, have lost somewhat of that zeal for God, which was thus jealous for his ordinances, we have learnt, perhaps, something of the charity, which endureth, because it hopeth all things. And amidst a due sense of unworthiness and the humility_becoming us, we shall not be solicitous to inquire, why the former days were better than these, for the experience of Solomon conspires with our own, to teach us, that we may not inquire wisely concerning this. - pp. 29, 30.

The Monthly Miscellany of Religion and Letters. - A new religious periodical has been started under the above name, conducted by the Rev. Cazneau Palfrey. The prospectus has been for some time before the public, and we need not repeat its contents. It has our heartiest good wishes for its success, and we see not, when we think of the numbers constituting the Unitarian body, why it should not succeed. There is room for it, and to spare. The numbers, thus far, are both able and interesting. It appears on the first of every month, in an 8vo pamphlet of 48 pages, at three dollars per annum, in advance.

INDEX.

Brant's connexion with the
Wyoming affair, 153, 154 - In-
dians defended against the usual
charges of cruelty, 155 their
sufferings at the hands of the
whites, 156, 157 - anecdote of
VOL. XXVI.-3D S. VOL. VIII.