The Portion of Jezreel: a Sacred Drama. By the Rev. Richard Beadon Bradley, M.A., Incumbent Curate of Ash Priors with Cothelestone, Somerset. London: Painter. 1843.

WE are pleased, nay, much pleased, to find a poem possessing so much power, and so much true poetry, making its appearance; and we have only to caution the author against an occasional coarseness, which almost amounts to indecency. As, however, we hear that two editions have nearly disappeared, we hope that there will be opportunities enough for revision. We must however, before we close, give our readers some opportunity of judging for themselves :"Hail, Jehu! Thee we hail!

Blest king of Israel !

Hail, Jehu, king!

May He, whose holy will

Chose thee, be with thee still,

And all His word fulfil!
God save the king!

Lord, let thy people be

Set from vain idols free:
Jehu our king!

May all that hate thy word
Be by the just abhorred,
And fall by Jehu's sword!
God save the king!

Then shall thy glory shine,
Bright as the ray divine
By Urim shed!

Then, thro' thy gracious might,
From Dan to Carmel's height,
Shall constant blessings light,

On Jehu's head!

Hail, Jehu!

Thee we hail!

Blest king of Israel!

Hail, Jehu, bail!

May He, whose holy will

Chose thee, be with thee still,

And guard thy life from ill!

God save the king!"

From this quotation it will be evident, that though there may be, and indeed is, no lack of power, there is occasionally a little lack of judgment; the adage "Nonum prematur in annum" might have been put, and with some advantage have been practised.

Christian Unity Stated and Enforced. By the Rev. W. J. Kidd, Perpetual Curate of Didsbury. London: Burns. 1843. THIS is a very small, but very ample and convincing exposure of Wesleyan fallacies. Mr. Kidd has supplied an able answer, to all who are in want of one, against the most popular sophistries of schism.

The Life of William Bedell, D.D., Lord Bishop of Kilmore. By H. J. Monck Mason, LL.D., M.R.I.A. Librarian of the King's Inns, Dublin. London: Seeleys. 1843.

THE life of Bishop Bedell is one so full of practical Christianity, that we regard any attempt to make it known to the world like the production of a burning and a shining light. "History teaching by example ""The principles of the Church displayed in the life of a fervently attached son"-"The true mode of restoring peace to Ireland"-all these are subjects which continually recur to us in reading this interesting and ably-written memoir of the excellent Bishop of Kilmore. We will just give a hint to bookmakers, one which they may take with some advantage. Instead of writing treatises against baptismal regeneration, and new commentaries upon the epistles, let them just select the lives of good sound Churchmen, and write, for the benefit of those who want little books, abridgments of such memoirs as that now before us. Then we shall have less crude (miscalled) theology, less unchristian judgment of others, more attention paid to personal holiness, and less to party spirit. Moreover, let us hint, too, that their balance sheets with Messrs. Seeley will, after a little time, exhibit a more favourable conclusion than even they do at present.

A Plea for National Holy Days. By Lord John Manners, M.P. London: Painter. 1843.

LORD JOHN MANNERS is a true Tory-we will not call him a Conservative, for he possesses an old English heart, and loves from the very bottom of it the poor and the Church. It is impossible to read this very pleasing pamphlet (with which, however, we do not in all points agree) without feeling that something ought to be done to supply the poor with innocent amusement. Most delighted shall we be to see some steps taken towards an end so desirable.

The Norwood Schools: a Sketch of their State and Progress in reference to Religion. By the Rev. Joseph Brown, M.A., of Queen's Coll., Cam., Chaplain to the Schools. London: Roake and Varty. Ir would be a very difficult thing to point out any schools more admirably and successfully managed than those at Norwood; and the little pamphlet which now lies on our table should be in the hands of every schoolmaster and schoolmistress throughout the country.

Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Ashley, M.P., on the present Defective State of National Education. By the Rev. Thomas Page, M.A. London: Seeleys. 1843.

LORD ASHLEY, to whom so many appeals have been made, and none ever made in vain, on behalf of suffering humanity, has here addressed to him, and communicated to us, an admirable resumé of what has long been said and written on the subject of religious education.

The Day of Christ, and other Poems. By J. D. Causton. 1842. WHEN we received the above little volume of poems the author was in the land of life and in the possession of health and vigour; but since we have become possessed of the book, he has been numbered with the dead. We have perused the several poems before us, and discover a vast deal of true piety, pure feeling, and, in some instances, proofs of an elegant mind, which might have been capable of doing greater things had it been endowed with the acquirements of a liberal education. The deceased author moved in an humble sphere of life, engaged during each day in some secular calling, and officiating on the Sabbath as clerk at an Episcopal chapel in Eaton-square. To the minister of this chapel-the Rev. Mr. Sabin-he dedicated this volume; and he tells us in his Preface that the poems were for the most part composed during his going to and returning from his place of business. They have, therefore, the recommendation of .spontaniety, which is a thing much more to be valued in poetry than a formal application to the writing verses, as one would sit down to some process of mechanical occupation. We understand a widow survives to lament the loss of our deceased author, and as the sale of the volume might be productive doubtless of some benefit to her, we most cordially recommend our readers to purchase copies, as they will thereby confer a service upon the mourning relict of the departed, and will have an opportunity of possessing a very creditable and pleasing volume of sacred poems.

Interment and Disinterment. By G. A. Walker, Surgeon. London: Longmans. 1843.

WHEN we first read the mass of disgusting evidence adduced by Mr. Walker on the subject of metropolitan interment, we recollected that, having had some experience in city churchyards, and even in some of those which are alluded to as the worst in London, we had never perceived any such effects as those which Mr. Walker so graphically describes. We, however, have no doubt whatever, that though the works of this gentleman are grossly exaggerated, there is an evil which requires immediate remedy.

The Discipline of the Church in the Choice of her Ministers. By the Rev. J. A. Emerton, M.A. London: Painter. 1843. WE learn from this sermon (which is a very good one of its kind) that the living of New Brentford was put at the disposal of the author by Dr. Walmsley, and that he has placed it in the hands of the Rev. George Harrison-an appointment, we have no doubt, which will be satisfactory to both minister and parishioners.

Ruth. By the Author of " A Visit to my Native Place." London: Hamilton and Adams. 1843.

A VERY pleasing tale is this, which, however, does not tally with the title. There is here a strange mixture of the real and the unreal, and the reader is apt to be perplexed rather than pleased when he meets such presented to him.

The Doctrine of Purgatory and the Practice of Praying for the Dead, as maintained by the Romish Church, examined. By the Rev. William John Hall, M.A. London: Wix. 1843.

THE present Bishop of Lincoln, some sixteen or eighteen years since, warned his clergy that the time was not far distant when they would have to contend for the doctrines of the Reformation; and succeeding events have concurred to prove, that the admonition of that learned and vigilant prelate were but too well-founded. The battle has begun; and the reverend author of the present treatise has not merely resumed the arms which were so ably wielded by the martyrs and confessors for the Reformation, but he has shown that he is fully competent to use them, and to the best advantage. He has not only "examined" "the Doctrine of Purgatory and the Practice of Praying for the Dead, as maintained by the Romish Church;" but he has most completely refuted it, and proved it to be contradictory to Scripture, to antiquity, and to reason. The base and sordid "lust of gain" of the Romish Church, in selling her prayers for the dead and her indulgences, is exposed with equal force and truth. Throughout the work, Mr. Hall has supported his statements by documentary evidences and facts derived from Romish sources, which we may safely defy any Papist to refute or to deny. His accurate references will prove invaluable to any one who may have occasion to consult them. We regard Mr. Hall's treatise as the most complete exposure and refutation of the Romish doctrine of purgatory, praying for the dead, and indulgences, which is extant in the English language; and which we cordially recommend to the attentive consideration of the clergy.

Where is all this to End? An Attempt to answer the above question for Plain People, in a Sermon on the Papal Doctrine of Purgatory. Preached at St. Mark's, Kennington, by the Rev. J. C. Bentley, M.A., St. John's College, Oxford. London: Pigott. 1842. "WHERE is all this to end?" why doubtless in transubstantion, and the worship of the Virgin; for Mr. Bentley attempts here to make a sort of Protestant purgatory, differing, it is true, in some respects from that of Rome, but still purgatory. Now if this step be quietly taken, we do not really see "where all this is to end," unless it be in the darker and bolder corruptions of the Papal Church. Mr. Bentley is an accomplished disciple of Mr. Newman's school, and has taken a grand degree in Jesuitism.

Lectures on Popery, delivered at All Saint's, Leicester. By the Rev. John Owen. London: Seeleys. 1843.

We are so overdone with lectures on Popery, essays on Popery, and treatises about Popery, that we are getting tired of reading ever the same arguments more and more diluted. It is quite right to preach against prevailing errors; but when it comes to print, it may be as well to recollect that all the same things have been better said before.

X

The National Psalmist. By Charles Danvers Hacket. London: Simpkin and Marshall. 1843.

AMONG the objects contemplated by the most eminent of the German Reformers, Luther and Melancthon, for instance, was the establishment of a magnificent choral service; and the earliest music of which Germany can boast is that which is set to their hymns. Of late, Church music has been more than ever studied in this country; and we cannot help attributing this circumstance to the revival of Church principles, which forms the most cheering sign of the times. The work of Mr. Hacket, which he has with great propriety called the "National Psalmist," is in itself remarkable, as being at once a proof, an effect, and a cause of the very improvement which it indicates. The most eminent English sacred composers, all living, and one, we see also, from across the Atlantic, have joined Mr. Hacket in the production of a work, which, while it triumphantly exhibits the palmy state of musical science among us, will, at the same time, tend to keep up and improve the national taste. We therefore cannot quite agree with the compiler, when he speaks of Church music, as being "neglected and degraded." It is not yet duly cultivated; but he is himself among those who will ensure it due attention, which attention it assuredly will receive. We are much pleased with his own compositions; and will merely observe, that the melodies are arranged for four voices-that the book is furnished with an excellent essay on sacred music, a good and useful index, and a somewhat tawdry title-page, which we should be glad to see absent.

Palmer's Patent Glyphography, or Engraving and Drawing. London: Palmer.

THIS little tract gives a description of a process by which all the finest effects of wood engraving may be attained with a tenth of the trouble, and a twentieth of the expense. It shows how any person knowing how to draw may, by no more troublesome a process, engrave at the same time, and thus perpetuate the drawing. To those who would wish to illustrate their own works, the art thus made known is invaluable, and we cannot but congratulate the public on the certainty that more books will be illustrated, and that the arts will be benefitted by Mr. Palmer's discovery. The tract before us teaches the whole system, which thus "requires no master.”

The Voice of the Anglican Church; being the Declared Opinions of her Pastors on the Doctrines of the Oxford Tracts. By the Rev. Henry Hughes, M.A. London: Seeleys. 1848.

THE work which Mr. Hughes has here given us the collected decisions of the bench of bishops on the doctrines of the Tracts for the Times-is important, because though the judgment of the individual bishop is only valuable so far as it embodies the already declared judgment of the Church, yet is a kind of authority on which the tractarians chiefly depend.