One extract more will suffice to give an idea of the style of this book, and of the spirit and dignity with which the dialogue is sustained, and of its perfect consistency and naturalness, considered as a dialogue between Jews "in our Saviour's days." The dramatis persona are Rhoda, the wife of Darkon, both bigoted Pharisees, Hatipha, their daughter, and Gahar, a free-thinking Sadducee.

"Rhoda. Search for the truth? Why, what truth can there be in such a deceiver? I never wish to search for the. truth against my conscience.'

"Gahar. Why, now, that is very candid; but is not your conscience guided by the truth? Supposing it to be the truth, you would at least grant that then you would like to be con'vinced of it.'

"Rhoda. I grant no such thing. I am so sure, that I do not wish to be convinced of any thing; and am certain that you will never convince me of any but one point, and that is, that you believe nothing. But do not let us quarrel. I know that I never shall be able to make you speak seriously on any topic, and will try to stop your mouth in another way. We have some excellent stewed lamb, dished up with lentils, such as I know you love better than any arguments about prophets, or questions on sacred subjects.'

"There is a way,' said Gahar, smiling, 'to every man's heart, if people did but know it; and I must confess this, that if Pharisees know most fully the proper rules about fasting, their wives are acquainted with the surest methods of mortifying their appetites in another manner. If your arguments were as good as your cookery, I should certainly be a convert before many days were over. Do look how displeased Hatipha seems! why, my child, you will never make sweetmeats as well as your mother, if you let your pretty face assume so sour an aspect. What troubles you, dear?'

"Hatipha. I was thinking of something else than sweatmeats or stewed lamb, I assure you.'

"Gahar. Ay, thinking of a certain gentleman? Why there is no difficulty about that point, is there?'

“All things may as well not be spoken at all times,' said Rhoda; and Gahar began to solace his curiosity, by diving deeply into the dish of lamb, stewed in lentils, which was placed before him. Darkon and Gahar sat each on a mat placed on the ground, under the shade of a large tree which grew before the window; and the mess of Gahar, whether originally larger or smaller, was gradually becoming five times as small as his host's. My dear Hatipha,' said Rhoda, ' do bring

our hungry friend some of those cakes which were baked yesterday. The Passover has not begun yet; but unleavened bread is always good to mix with stews, and he may sop them to his heart's content in the gravy.' — pp. 78, 79.

Our readers, we suspect, have had their "heart's content of this book, and will know hereafter how much confidence to put in the imprimatur of the "Committee of General Literature and Education, appointed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.'

ART. VII. Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Prison Discipline Society, Boston. Boston. Perkins & Marvin. 1833. 8vo. pp. 144.

AMIDST all the manifestations of sin and hardness of heart, amidst all the instances of vice and crime which are daily occurring around us, we thank God for such proofs as this Report affords us, that society is, on the whole, improving, and that objects of the deepest moment to humanity are now attended to with zeal and success, which formerly were altogether neglected. Who, in former times, ever thought of the physical comfort or moral improvement of imprisoned criminals, or dreamed of their restoration to society? It is only of late years that they have been treated better than beasts, wild beasts, or that they have been regarded as capable of virtue or religion, or that any thing like a regular system of discipline and instruction has been attempted in their favor. This Report encourages us to believe that the attention which has lately been paid to their condition, has not been paid in vain, and that the truly Christian efforts which have been made to enlighten and reclaim them have by no means been thrown away. We are told, and it is animating intelligence, that "recommittals are greatly diminished, and the progress in crime appears to be considerably checked;" and that "taking the country at large, crime not only does not increase as fast as the population, but there does not appear from the records of the criminal courts and prisons, to be any positive increase of crime."

Many facts and Remarks are presented in this Report, which we should be glad to set before our readers; but our limits oblige us to be content with a few gleanings.

The practice of having morning and evening prayers in prison, is said to owe its existence to the resident chaplains, and was introduced first at Auburn by the Rev. Mr. Curtis, who is now chaplain in the State Prison at Charlestown. The service is performed in the area in front of the cells, after the prisoners are locked up for the night. The probable effect of the service under these circumstances, is thus most touchingly suggested. "The voice of prayer, falling upon the ear of the prisoner in his solitary cell, was the last sound which was heard before the silence of the night; and it is difficult to conceive of any thing more calculated to reclaim the wanderer and lead him to repentance.'

With regard to favorable pecuniary results in prison, it is stated that many of the reformed prisons more than pay their expenses, the profits in some of them being one, two, four, and even six thousand dollars. This is a consequence of the still more important favorable moral results in prison, which are such as must satisfy the expectations and rejoice the hearts of all the reasonable friends of the new system. Among other witnesses adduced, the Warden of the State Prison at Charlestown says, "Of the great number discharged within the last three or four years, it is believed that several have become thoroughly reformed;" and the chaplain of the prison at Auburn testifies, that "many who have been convicts in the prison are now good members of society. Great confidence," he adds, "is had in the radical reformation of seventy-five to one hundred now in prison."

The practice of Imprisonment for Debt, and the laws which permit it, meet with strong reprobation in this Report. It is declared to be generally unproductive except to the lawyers, and degrading to all concerned. Our own state, with three others, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in their legislation on this subject are behind all the other states.* Nine tenths of public sentiment are represented as opposed to imprisonment for debt, as practised in those states, while nine tenths of the lawyers and rum-dealers

* Our own state has lately freed itself from this reproach, and left it to be shared by the three other states named.

are opposed to any change. And in concluding the topic of Causes of crime, the Report has this remarkable sentence; "Bad Poor-Houses and bad Prisons are perfect nurseries of crime; and imprisonment for debt commits thousands, for a mere trifle, to bad Prisons." This sentence deserves to be pondered.

We will further present our readers with what this Report says on frequent militia trainings, as a cause of crime. We doubt not its truth.

"There is a custom in society of gathering people together several times a year, to the neglect of all useful labor, to shoulder their muskets, and carry their knapsacks, and put on their uniform dress, and march the streets to the music of the drum and fife; and, in consequence of such military trainings, hundreds and thousands of young people collect and mingle in the same mass with vagabonds and drunkards, and drink and carouse, and get drunk, and fight; and the cases are not a few, within our knowledge, in which the Prisons have come in for a large share of the spoil on these important occasions. It is delightful, therefore, to see that public opinion in all the Northern and Middle States, is demanding a great curtailment in frequency and parade of military trainings. Let this noble. march of opinion go on, and one of the causes of crime will be diminished, and the harvest season for Prisons will not be about the time of military trainings." - p. 108.

The Report of the French Commissioners, Messrs. de Beaumont and de Tocqueville, forming a volume of 440 pages, published by them on their arrival in France, is noticed and eulogized. These gentlemen are greatly in favor of the American Penitentiary System, and recommend introducing it in France. Their description of it, in a few words is copied in the Report, and deserves the praise which is there given it. It is as follows;

"The Penitentiary system presents itself to us with all the advantages of an extreme simplicity. It is thought that two depraved beings, united, will mutually corrupt each other; they are separated the voice of their passions, or the tumult of the world, has bewildered and led them astray; they are isolated, and thus led to reflection: intercourse with the wicked had perverted them; they are condemned to silence: idleness had depraved thein; they are made to labor: want had led them to crime; they are taught a profession: they have violated the

laws of their country; they endure the punishment of this violation their lives are protected, their bodies are kept sound and healthy; but their moral suffering is unequalled. They are miserable; they deserve to be so. Reformed, they will be happy in the society whose laws they will respect. This is the whole of the American Penitentiary System." - p. 114.

ART. VIII. - Last Thoughts on Important Subjects, in Three Parts. I. Man's Liability to Sin. II. Supplemental Illustrations. III. Man's Capacity to obey. By NOAH WORCESTER, D. D. Cambridge: Brown, Shattuck, & Co. 1833. 12mo. pp. 323.

ONE of our author's "supplemental illustrations," as he terms them, was first published in this Journal, under the title of a "Review of a Modern Substitute for a Supposed Sinful Nature, as exhibited and recommended in Professor Stuart's 'Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.'"* That article presents a fair, and no more than a fair specimen of the spirit, style, and logical acumen, in which the whole work is conceived and executed. It is the rare merit of the writer's mind, that, though always moving onward in his investigations, he moves so cautiously, and with such reverence for the truth, and such distrust of himself, that his "Last Thoughts" on every subject are invariably his best. A remarkable circumstance is also mentioned in connexion with the history of the papers contained in this volume, which we must give in the author's own words.

"Though prior to engaging in the ministry I had discarded the doctrine that Adam's posterity 'sinned in him and fell with him,' and also the doctrine of imputation, I still retained the Hopkinsian idea of an 'established connexion' between the sin of Adam and the first moral exercises of his posterity. My views at that period were very similar to those more recently published by Dr. Taylor and his New Haven associates. Subsequent inquiries, however, had in some respects modified my views of the consequences of Adam's sin, before I wrote the work on the Atoning Sacrifice. On inquiry I could find

* Christian Examiner, Vol. XIV. pp. 219-240.