was a virtue, and abandoned his most favourite projects the moment he suspected himself to be in error, should have excited suspicion and inquiry. There are many individually interested in education, to whom indeed the labours of Pestalozzi, and of those who are of like views with himself, will, we are quite convinced, always appear as obstacles in their way. There is a very large class of speculators on this great subject, whose philosophy is essentially that of circumstances; who act upon an idea more or less distinctly expressed or understood, that man's moral character is moulded altogether by the external world. They see that outward evil augments inward vice in an incalculable degree, and recognise the power of man to mitigate and remove much of this evil. They see too, and to a certain extent we agree with them, that it is in man's power to place man in a position exceedingly more favourable for discerning and practising the good. But much farther than this do they go. Forgetting the supreme Source, from which all good really emanates, they presume that they them selves can be the creators of goodness in the child; that they have the power of determining its will in favour of holiness and virtue. Between such educators as these and the genuine investigators of man, after the fashion of Pestalozzi, there must be always opposition. While we would cautiously abstain, on such a subject, from all severe animadversions, feeling that the mistakes of those who are sincerely desirous of serving their fellow creatures deserve the greatest stretch of candour, we cannot com promise our regard to truth. It does appear to us, that the only modest, the only pious, the only hopeful manner, in which man can deal with his fellow-creature, is, in fact, as Pestalozzi dealt with him; as a spirit between whom and his Maker the closest, most immediate, and indissoluble union subsists, or at least should subsist, which at every turn may feel and recognise its connection, and is only then in the way of progress when it approaches toward the more intimate feeling of this presence in every good and holy impulse. This view of the human being as necessarily excludes the notion of making a child what we choose, as faith in the Divine Power excluded from the mind of the early disciples of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the idea of having made the lame man walk by their “own power or holiness." The parent thus feels, that both a negative and a positive influence are committed to him, but the positive extends no farther than to afford exercise and increase of strength in the powers already given; and when, in complete submission and faith he has done his part, the same pious feelings will be with him, his strength and his reward; his guarantee against vanity, if apparently great success has attended his efforts, and equally against dejection, if, on the contrary, they at present appear in vain. On the other system, we see nothing to guard the educa tor from presumption or despair. If his own hand has reared the fabric of his offspring's character, to him must its good or evil be wholly attribuable. He undertook to produce a certain result. Being imperfect himself, he speculated on producing something very near perfection, and the mortification, consequent upon a failure, is not mitigated by the soothing reflection of having from first to last committed his cause into the hands of his God, for vaguely indeed does he talk of trust or faith in GOD, who would dispute HIS Sovereignty over the souls he has made, and place of the Father of spirits in the spirit of a child. usurp the But besides the essentially Christian superiority, which we recognise in the mind and ideas of Pestalozzi, we regard his views as those alone on which real independence of character can be built. That "philosophy of circumstances of which we have been speaking, has operated already E pretty extensively in some ranks of men, and has produced results, we admit, externally beneficial to a certain extent; but in others, we cannot help thinking it has been prejudicial to the growth and true dignity of the human character. It has taught us to form associations, to divide and subdivide for particular purposes; it has in education afforded facilities for acquisition, but it has given a general tone of mediocrity to our mental, and often, we fear, to our moral and spiritual character. The freshness of our admiration for what is in itself beautiful and true, is early impaired by the more selfish consideration of what use we can make of it. "We know too much: scroll after scroll Weighs down our weary shelves; Our only point of ignorance Is centred in ourselves." We are essentially a generation of second hand thinkers. The spirit of books is with us everywhere: it accompanies us on our walks, and teaches us to view nature as others have viewed her, rather than to drink from all her pure fountains with the simple delight of a child. Our children, too, must read of her wonders before they see them-the sign is still made to precede the thing signified; as in our moral and religious teachings, an axiomatic maxim, or command, too often precedes an example or a uniform translation in our own conduct, or that of others. The more we observe and consider, the more we are impressed by the conviction, that modern education has widely departed from the path of nature, and the more grateful we are for the legacy left us by Pestalozzi. In the conceptions of many he may have been overrated-wrong notions respecting him have certainly obtained footing among his friends, as well as among his opponents: but we point to his name, as we look along the page of history, because we find no other, to whom we can give the same praise; and we know of no reformer, by whom, under circumstances of greater difficulty a more bold and heroic stand has been inade. Look at the systems of Bell and Lancaster, Feinaigle, et hoc genus omne. We doubt not the particular good, which under particular management they have effected, but with no disrespect to any of them, we must be allowed to remark, that inasmuch as they are mere engines, by which children can be readily taught to write, read, cypher, or know a foreign language; they leave the character, both mental and moral, almost exactly where it was before. Not so with Pestalozzi. Beginning with the child, acquainting himself with his previous character, ideas, and habits, he proceeds cautiously at every step, being secure that every better and holier feeling of the pupil will proceed with him, that he is regarded as a fellow-labourer and a helper; and that when perversity intervenes between them, the child is still conscious of the evil and misery, and is experiencing that natural punishment which was designed by our merciful Creator for our correction. The quantity of acquisition, it is true, will depend on a variety of considerations; a true Pestalozzian master never will engage to teach a child to read or to write or to learn any given subject within the shortest possible period; he undertakes only to pursue his best lights in the education of the being entrusted to him, and humbly hopes, if he does not accomplish all he might desire to be preserved from dangerous and presumptuous mistakes. We are willing to concede to other systems and teachers, the praise of endeavouring to make good scholars and subjects; but if the highest improvement of the man and the Christian be what is desired, we must follow on in the steps of Pestalozzi, a path in which hundreds we believe and hope, are now walking, who never heard his name, because it is simply the path marked out for them by Him who is the maker of our spirits, and the intimations of whose designs we are bound to follow, for ourselves, and our children. In his biographer, Pestalozzi has been most fortunate. We scarcely know a more vigorous, able, masterly piece of writing than the first half of Dr. Biber's Book. He writes, too, like a man who enjoyed his work, who came to it with the most perfect understanding of his subject, and a love and enthusiasm in it which carries the reader along with the stream of pure eloquence emanating from them. The true spirit of the pupil of a good, but not perfect school, is everywhere apparent-you have the affectionate attachment, yet the penetrating judgment, the bold, sometimes sharp censure, given in perfect good temper, the readiness to concede what was faulty, coupled with a strong, almost presumptuous confidence, in what the writer deems a correct course, which you would expect from a child of Pestalozzi. You see, too, the same willingness to put his own reputation to hazard by the publication of imperfect specimens of ideas, which was so remarkable in that master. As we stated in our former number, we do not much like this latter part of Dr. Biber's book, and think he has unwisely swelled a volume, which otherwise might have cost only half its present price, and gone over a much greater extent of society. The public needs to be set right respecting Pestalozzi, and we wish in this instance Dr. Biber had been content with the Memoir and specimens of his works. Nor are specimens alone what we want. We cannot see why the English public is unfit to be treated with an entire and good translation of Pestalozzi's printed works. Part only of Leonard and Gertrude has been rendered into respectable English by a lady who has hitherto withheld her name from the world, but who should be encouraged to proceed with the work, and to produce, if possible, a translation of Christopher and Eliza also; and of all his other works on education. In conclusion, Dr. Biber is deserving of the greatest praise for the laborious, excellent, and delightful book he has produced, and we hope to recognize him again in many a practical exemplification of the value of a Pestalozzian education; but we would venture to remind him, that be cannot be too circumspect in the communication of crude and imperfect hints, on the best means of imparting knowledge or awakening the human powers. Surely he must perceive, that it is on such fragmentary knowledge of Pestalozzi's plans as this, that most of the mistakes respecting him have been founded. Dr. Biber is evidently a man of deep thought: but his imagination is youthful and busy; let him think over his own thoughts long and well-let him teach according to his best judgment and feelings, and where he thinks the world wrong, forsake it, but not too hastily put forth certain modes of proceeding, as models for others, who are not grounded as he is, to act upon and to act amiss, as most probably they will. When in sorrow and dismay we have heard a mistaken mother call herself a Pestalozzian, because she had borrowed some of the questions and figures in the "Hints to Parents" for the use of her children, we have felt, what we expect Dr. Biber will again cause us to feel, when we see the dead materials, in his specimen lessons, forced on some poor unwilling child by a misunderstanding parent. This conviction it is, which makes us wish to tear these pages from his volume, whatever their worth or wisdom; and we are persuaded he would be the first to commend us, for the deed, if our humble friendly representations should reach his eye and heart. * Leonard and Gertrude, 2 vols, published by Mawman. Why did not Dr. Biber use this better translation rather than the inferior one, which he has adopted? NOTICES OF BOOKS. Family Tour through Holland, up the Rhine, and across the Netherlands to Ostend, being the 22d No. of the Family Library. This is a very interesting little volume, giving a plain, and at the same time accurate, account of countries which, from their political relations, are now so much engaging public attention. We can venture to say, that the author's description of the Dutch and Flemish towns is very accurate, and he gives a very just idea of the country he passes through. His political views are sound; he says nothing that can injure religion; and his account of the Dutch and Flemish poor colonies is very instructive. Scripture Prints, with Explanations in the form of Familiar Dialogues. By Mrs. Sherwood. Printed for R. B. Seeley, and W. Burnside, Lon don, 1831. This, like every thing that has come from the pen of Mrs. Sherwood, is valuable. Aware how necessary it is, in making approaches to the intellect of children, to engage the attention of the external senses, so in this instance our experienced writer enlists in the cause of religious instruction very beautiful representations of Scripture events; and by engravings from the designs of the best masters, executed in a manner singularly good in proportion to the price, she attracts the consideration of the youthful mind to those sound and eminently Gospel views which this most useful of educational writers knows so well bow to inculcate. This is a truly excellent compilation and reprint of some very valuable and rare tracts in a cheap and most compendious form, in which are exhibited most satisfactory evidences of the sound evangelical views of those noble and pious individuals, who hailed the morning of the Reformation as it rose with healing on its wings, and refreshment for the nations. How different are the bright, the clear, the scriptural, the beartily pious views of those individuals-some of them martyrs, all of them the saints of the English Reformation-from the coldly-laboured ethical lucubrations of British divines of the eighteenth century. We, with every true and faithful Christian, have reason to rejoice that the Church of England, bowever she may, to a large or a small extent, fall away from her first love and from sound theology, yet, as she encourages all her children to refer to the great standard of truthas she invites all to draw from the living fountain so, though error may endure for a season, it may not, and cannot last; and we are sure that the gates of bell will never prevail against her-not because she assumes infalli. VOL. XI. bility, but because she has made the Bible ber pillar and ground of truth, There is a wellalted worthies who are recalled to public nowritten life prefixed to the works of the extice in this volume, which we think deserving of a place on the bookshelf of every one who values the religious principles of the Reformation. The Saint's Everlasting Rest. By Richard Bax. ter. A. D. 1649. London: printed for the Religious Tract Society, instituted 1799-1831. This, in its original shape, has always been one of the most approved practical works of that eminent Nonconformist, Richard Baxter. It is a standard work in English Thelogy, and will last as long as our language ; but like all works written at the same period, and coming from the teeming pen of such a voluminous writer, it is, perhaps, as capable of compression, and requires contraction, as much as any other; and to this effect the Religious Tract Society publishes the present duodecimo, in which Fawcett's abridgement is made use of, and comparing it with the original quarto some passages which he had omitted are restored, and altogether the contraction is more faithful and more comprehen sive. Divines of the Church of England, with a life of each Author, &c. By the Rev. T. S. Hughes, B. D. Jeremy Taylor. Vol. III. A. J. Valpy, London-1831. Price 78. 6d. The above-described volume has been forwarded to us, and so far as our humble wishes and means of recommendation go, we freely afford them. Who is there that knows any thing of English divinity, shall we say of English oratory, that has not heard of Jeremy Taylor, not more remarkable for the deep piety and consummate learning that pervades his writings, than for the starry splendour, the sparkling coruscations of wit, imagery, and classical allusions that cover his composition with gems, as thickly as in a calm night the arch of heaven is bespangled with luminaries? We honestly confess there are many writers that we should prefer to read as teachers of sound and evangelical theology, but for original ideas, for the poetry of piety, if we may use such an expression, Jeremy Taylor is facile princeps. The Incarnation of the Eternal Word. By the Rev. Marcus Dods, Belford. Published by R. B. Seeley and W. Burnside, and sold by L. B. Seely, Fleet-street, London-1831. This large octavo deserves a review and not a notice; and had we time or place, as perhaps we may yet have, it would obtain the consideration it merits. The object of the author is to combat the new Irvinian heresy of the sinful nature of Christ, which he effectually does, with great power of argument, and great 4 Y knowledge of the sentiments of primitive antiquity. Mr. Dods well observes, that "the WORD was made flesh, and that he was not made sinful flesh, are propositions which lie at the very foundation of Christianity." It is concerning the latter that our author more particularly engages bimself; and he successfully fixes the charge of rank Nestorianism on the tenet of the sinfulness of the Saviour's human nature. Nothing," says he, "can possibly show a more thorough want of acquaintance with the subject, than an attempt to escape that charge (of heresy) by attaching to the word sinful a meaning less offensive than that which it is usually understood to convey; for the charge rests not at all on the meaning of the term, but solely on its application. The question is, can this term, be its meaning what it may, be applied to the flesh of Christ, while it cannot be applied to Christ himself, or to God? While you say that the flesh of Christ was sinful, do you also say that Christ himself was sinful, or that God was sinful? If not-if you say that you apply to the flesh of Christ terms which you will not apply to Christ or to God- then this is the most direct and open Nestorianism, or no such heresy ever existed." Nestorius was justly condemned for making two persons in Christ, because he applied to the flesh of Christ language, however respectful, (and he used none that was not expressive of the highest respect,) that he would not apply to God. Mr. Dods has very good reason to rest satisfied in fully proving that the primitive church never believed in the sinfulness of Christ's flesh, or the sinfulness of Christ; and as having contributed to the treasury of Gos. pel truth, and increased the weapons of defensive warfare in the armoury of the church, he can safely commit his work to the candour of that church, and to the blessing of its glorious bead. Friendly Suggestions to those in Authority. By our duty, and they will ever be found in Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible. In one volume Short Stories for Children. By Charlotte Elizabeth. This is evidently the production of a very pious and intelligent layman, who, looking on the state of the British empire at large, and These stories having been all, or at particularly at that important portion of it, least most of them, noticed in the Examiner our western isle, gives it as his opinion (and when published separately, it only remains we ourselves on more occasions than one have for us to say, that here they are collected done the same) that our present embarrassing into two neat little volumes, and every situation arises from "a contempt and ne- Christian mother, and every kind-hearted glect of the blessings of the British Reforma young lady, and every well-disposed young mation, as presenting us with an exhibition gentleman, may very easily, and therefore of the pure religion of the Saviour ;" and that very reasonably, furnish themselves with there is scarcely a religious or moral delin- copies, to present to children, brothers, quency which may not be resolved into this sisters, cousins, &c. In so doing a twoprimary source of all the evil we deplore: fold good will be accomplished-while the und treating of the remedies for Ireland's money that otherwise might have been evils which have been propounded, he very frittered away on presents of cakes and truly says, "Now while the remedies of fruit, may accomplish that good unfelt by worldly wisdom have not only been useless the purse. The authoress has dedicated but injurious, it is clear that the duty of our government by Ireland is to be found in an increased and undivided attention to her spiritual wants; and that our interest, as well as her stories to the children of Ireland, and through their attractive medium preaches the glorious gospel of our blessed God in a style that a child must understand, and in |