That lurks there in the broad day-light.
The lark on her winter's couch is still,

But the raven croaks from the rain-dark bill,
And the owl o'er the last dug grave screams shrill:
There has she flitted since fall of night,

Like a restless soul, in her plumage white,
Wearily waiting the dawn of day:

For she deems 'tis the moon, with prisoned ray,
Shines through those heavens dull and grey.
The noon has no light, and the air no breeze,
To shake the drops from the laden trees:
The loftiest elm's last crowning bough
Has never a twig that trembles now.

And the yew trees that gird the old church tower,
And shelter the dead from sun and shower,
Shadowing stand, without motion and breath,
Mute as the clay that sleeps coffined beneath.
The gloom and the chill without creep in
Through every sense to the soul within."

There are pieces of a more lively character in the volume, in which pathos and playfulness, feeling and fancy, are happily blent.

A Familiar Explanation of the Higher Parts of Arithmetic. By the Rev. FREDERICK CALDER, B.A., Head Master of the Grammar School, Chesterfield. London: Whittaker. 1848.

THE author's object, as explained in the preface, is to supply a want, which he has experienced as a teacher, of a schoolbook, to explain the more difficult parts of arithmetic in a manner sufficiently familiar for the comprehension of youth. We consider that the author has succeeded in supplying a desideratum -namely, in establishing a bridge between ordinary and algebraic arithmetic.

The One Hope of All Believers, as set forth in the Holy Scriptures: a Word for Warning and Strengthening in an Evil Day. From the German. By C. P. P. London: Painter, 1848.

THE object of these pages is to place in a prominent point of view the doctrine of our Lord's second coming upon earth; which the author maintains is too frequently disregarded or undervalued by many professing Christians. The subject is treated, as we conceive, in a sound and scriptural manner; and we are glad to see this little tract published at a price which will enhance its usefulness by facilitating its circulation among those to whom a more expressive publication. would be inaccessible.

The Closing Scene; or Christianity and Infidelity Contrasted in the Last Hours of Remarkable Persons. By the Author of "The Bishop's Daughter," "Self Sacrifice," the "Life Book of a Labourer," &c., &c. London: Longman and Co., 1848.

THAT the tree shall be known by its fruit is a golden rule of the Gospel, as applicable to the philosophies of unbelief as to the creeds of faith. There are no such things as negative positions in human life as many seem to suppose: a man must be under some positive influence-either that of faith, of principle, of impulse, of passion, or of appetite-and a positive influence must lead to positive results. This is a condition of our being; so that what we believe ourselves and instil into others becomes more than a matter of indifferent or curious speculation. It inevitably affects our own conduct in our intercourse with our fellows, and furnishes rules to those who receive our teaching which must produce their legitimate consequences. With respect to what is designated scepticism," there are very few men who can be properly called sceptics: that many profess themselves to be such is another matter. Faith is not the result of an intellectual process, but an instinctan instinct of the spirit when its objects are spiritual—an instinct of our nature when it is manifested in those forms of relative trust and confidence necessary to the social existence of human life. Faith, in the highest order of truth, is the consent of the heart rather than the assent of the understanding; and it is very difficult, if indeed it be at all possible, to find a man, in whom the instincts of faith are so deadened as to have no exercise at all, or who has contrived to make the reasoning powers fill up every place and function which faith is properly called to occupy in the constitution of our being. There are a thousand things surrounding us-there is many a hidden motion of the heart and spirit of which every man is conscious—that instinctively testify to the existence of invisible and immaterial beings, causes, and influences; and no one can at all times resist the influence of evidences so powerful as these. One merit of the work before us is the proof that occurs in every page of the truth which we are propounding. These pages clearly show, on the one hand, that what is called "scepticism is a positive principle of action producing positive results; and, on the other, that what is commonly understood as scepticism, by those who profess it, is an impossible condition. The positive denial of divine truths leads men to the positive disregard of social obligations; and the profession of perfect unbelief is always in times of difficulty and danger stultified by some involuntary ejaculation, which betrays that, after all, the instincts

of the spirit are stronger than the deceptive sophistries of the intellect. The loose social maxims of Hume-the immoral practical results of the theories of Rousseau-show the one: the fearful visions of Shelly, the cry for help to Jesus in the dying agony of Paine, the "Mon Dieu," "Mon Dieu," of Volney in the prospect of shipwreck, manifest the other.

One fact is worth whole tomes of fiction, for the evidence of a fact is one which all can receive: it is within the comprehension of the most unlettered: it carries conviction with it where the conclusions of reasoning fail, either for want of force in themselves or want of understanding in those to whom they are addressed. What a man thinks will always have an influence; but what a man does will always have a greater. It is when men are in circumstances of difficulty or danger that the true value of the principles which they profess becomes manifest. They who stand by are then able to watch their exercise, and measure the sincerity of a professed faith or of an acknowledged unbelief by their results.

Of all the scenes in which we are enabled to separate the true from the false-to recognise the one and detect the other "the closing scene" is the most solemn and effectual. The hand of death has a power in it which strips away every disguise in which the spirit of man has wrapt himself: when the fell monarch is near, secrets are discovered that have been hidden for a life. The dying man and those who stand around to witness his departure then learn what, under any other circumstances, they never could have known. Men who set at nought the common faith of their fellows, as common prejudices, build up and sustain for themselves a philosophic reputation by force of hardy assertion or subtle reasoning, but neither the one nor the other will avail in the solemn realities of death: to meet these, hardihood has no true strength-to avoid these, subtlety has no power of evasion. It matters not by what name a Christian may be called in the vocabulary of philosophic scepticism-it matters not by what terms the manifestations of his faith may have been designated-his dying hour proves that he "knows in whom he has believed." The fact of his peaceful and hopeful departure sets a seal to the great truths upon which he has based the rule of his life which no false reasoning can ever remove. He lived in the faith of the Gospel; and "the closing scene" proves that he "followed no cunninglydevised fable." His whole life has been one fact in the course of conduct which he has pursued his death presents another, in the manner of his departure. The two great facts together are insurmountable evidence to the truth and reality of the

great objects of the Christian's faith, as well as to the living power of that faith itself.

It is in these points of view that a work like this before us is so valuable: it is a relation of facts-the facts of life and of death. We have in it the biographies of celebrated individuals, each of whom is a type in himself of a particular class-an example either of the force of Christian faith or the results of unbelief. The author has selected his characters from every walk of life; and his special object has been to show what are the opposite effects of Christianity and scepticism upon their several possessors, and to test the value of the principles professed by a record of the scene which has closed their mortal career. The idea has been suggested by a knowledge of that which, after all, possesses the greatest hold upon the human mind. The power which there is in the evidence of facts and the method of expressing the idea is both ably and simply carried out. Many more such facts might doubtless be gathered together; but much judgment has been displayed in the selection. Some of these biographical sketches-as, for instance, that of the life of Sarah Martin-will be new to the generality of readers; whilst all of them are put together in a manner and written in a style that render them no mean additions to the instructive literature of the day. The author deserves the thanks of his Christian friends for his labour of love; and the appreciation of the reading public will, we trust, afford him a convincing proof that love's labour has not been lost in collecting together records which are at once interesting and edifying.

The Young Westminster. No. 1. London: Ginger. 1848. WE give our cordial welcome to the first number of a monthly periodical from Westminster School, with which ancient and noble institution we have many sympathies. We trust that there is a spirit among the old Westminsters which will not allow this effort of the young Westminsters to perish for want of patronage, for the boys themselves cannot be supposed to sustain it from their own funds. If they supply the talent it is as much as we can expect. The quality of the present number affords bright promise for the future; and, commending it to the notice of the public generally, we especially claim for it the support of those who are friendly to establishments similar to that from which it emanates. Among other attractions, it contains a sweetly-touching poem, entitled "My Father's Name."

A Summary Practical Elucidation of National Economy in Support of Direct Taxation and Direct Assessment. By ROBERT WATT. Edinburgh: R. Marshall.

WE lose no time in noticing the above work, which contains a mass of practical information on many of those important subjects which are now urging themselves upon the consideration of all thinking men. Mr. Watt is a commercial agent in Edinburgh, and deserves well of the public for the industry he has shown in collecting the information contained in this volume, for the ability he has manifested in forming his judgment, and for the manly and independent spirit he has discovered in fearlessly stating his opinions. We do not pretend to agree with Mr. Watt in all the remedies which he has suggested as a cure for the evils which afflict our agricultural, financial, and commercial interests, and on the subject of direct taxation we are quite at issue with him; but we will do him the justice to say that his views, generally, are founded on sound principles. The production is, as we have said, a practical work, containing the views and sentiments of a man living, and thinking, and writing, in the midst of the transactions which he has undertaken to discuss. The book is necessarily diffuse and without order or arrangement, being a compilation of various communications addressed to the editor of a public journal at different periods from the year 1836, since which time the agriculture of the country has made rapid advancement. We consider the volume a storehouse of moral and statistical facts, highly important at the present juncture and well deserving the serious attention of the philosopher, the statesman, and the legitimate trader.

The Speeches of the Right Hon. the Earl of Chatham: with a Biographical Memoir. New Edition. London: Aylott and Jones, 1848. WE are glad to see a reprint, in a form rendered acceptable to the generality of readers by its extreme cheapness, of the speech of this great statesman and orator. At a period when Parliamentary eloquence is at so very low an ebb, we are glad to turn from the dearth of the present to the wealth of the past. The memoir prefixed is not the least valuable part of the publication, which, we are informed, is only a portion of a series of re-publications of the speeches of English orators, including Erskine, Sheridan, and Burke. The work is very

neatly got up, in a handsome library size.