charge to a keeper, who has three or four assistants to supply him with food and water, until he becomes sufficiently tractable to feed himself; in five or six weeks he becomes obedient to his keepers; his fetters are removed; and in about six months he will suffer himself to be conducted from place to place with complacency.

'DRUNKARDS, TAKE HEED!'

A Commercial Bank of Scotland pound-note was received the other day by an individual in Forfar, with the following inscription written upon its back. It appears to have been dated exactly two years after the issue of the note:'Drunkards, Take Heed!-When this note passes from me, I am a ruined man. It is the last of a fair fortune, bequeathed to me by, and the hard-won earnings of, an indulgent parent. As quickly come, as quickly gone; for after a few short years of ebriety and reckless folly, my dissipation has made me homeless, friendless, and a beggar. Whoever may be the next owner of this note, I would recommend him to follow the advice of sad experience, and beware of intemperance.London, 1845.'

CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, BY MADAME DE STAEL.

I have not yet spoken of that warrior, who caused the fortune of Bonaparte to fade; of him who pursued him from Lisbon to Waterloo, like the adversary of Macbeth, who was to be endowed with supernatural gifts, in order to be his conqueror. Those supernatural gifts were the most noble disinterestedness, inflexible justice, talents, whose source was in the soul, and an army of free men. If anything can console France for having seen the English in the heart of her capital, it is that she will have at least learned what liberty has made them. The military genius of Lord Wellington could not have been the work of the constitution of his country; but his moderation, the magnanimity of his conduct, the energy. which he derived from his virtues-these come from the moral atmosphere of England; and what crowns the grandeur of that country and its general, is, that while on the convulsed soil of France the exploits of Bonaparte

sufficed to make him an uncontrolled despot; he by whom he was conquered, and who has not yet committed one fault, or lost one opportunity of triumph, Wellington, will be in his own country only an unparalleled citizen, but as subject to the law as the most obscure individual.-Considerations on the French Revolution.

Hotices of Books.

THE PATHWAY OF SAFETY. Wertheim & Macintosh, 16mo., 1856. The Pathway of Safety, or Counsel to the Awakened, by the Rev. Ashton Oxendon, Rector of Pluckkley, in Kent, 'contains some Christian counsel for those who, through God's mercy, have been awakened out of their spiritual sleep, and who now feel that there is a great journey before them, and a happy land which they are most anxious one day to reach.' From the title of this little work, we might expect to meet with a disciple of Mr. Aitkin; but, if so, the reader will be disappointed, for it is not a fanatical awakening of which he writes, but a restoration of carelessly sinful persons to the service and obedience of God, and to those who are beginning to feel concerned about their soul, whose earnest cry is, 'what must I do to be saved?' It will be a treasure for the careless and lukewarm, in rousing them from their torpor, and encouraging them in their Christian course. He gives 'helps by the way;' he touches on dangers from without and from within; 'difficulties,' such as the weakness of faith; cautions against false repentance, and religious excitement, &c. ; duties, encouragements, progress and relapse, and the discipline of affection, &c. It is a good book, and we have risen from its perusal with satisfaction, and, we hope, improvement. It is written in a plain, easy, and familiar style, and may be easily understood and followed, by those who are willing to obey and follow their baptismal obligations.

THE SEASIDE LESSON BOOK (Groombridge & Sons),

Is a very nice useful book, by H. G. Adams; designed to convey to the useful mind a knowledge of the nature and uses of the common things of the sea coast, in a series of familiar descriptive chapters, with questions for examination, and explanations of the meanings of the scientific terms. It is intended for a school book, and therefore, to each chapter is appended questions on the meaning of the subject, and the scientific terms used in it. As it is written in a religious spirit, we recommend it to teachers as a very useful assistant in teaching what children are almost never taught,-the common things of life; they are left painfully to pick them up in after life, as they best can. There are also some woodcut illustrations, and to young people and teachers At will be of great service.

MORNING THOUGHTS (J. H. & J. Parker),

Suggested by the second lessons for morning service throughout the year, are by a clergyman. The present neat and high church looking volume is Part II.; but, as we have never seen Part I., we cannot tell how far they correspond; but we suppose that all is right, for the first that our critical eye has fallen upon is the story of the rich man and Lazarus; and as the clergyman and ourselves have both arrived at the same conclusion, we shall give his beautiful lines on the text, St. Luke xvi., 19-23. Vide Stephen's Gospel History, page 548 to 554:—

It is not that the rich are trained to steel

Their pampered hearts against the poor man's woe,

Not that another's wants they do not feel,

But that each other's wants they do not know.
To smooth their hours of self indulgence flow,
On wheels so even runneth their estate,

They do in very deed no thought bestow,
They do not see, though Lazarus may wait,
Lying in want and sores, death-stricken at their gate.
Close to yon noblest tenements of pride
Opens-I know it well-a narrow lane,
Wherein five hundred human souls abide
In squalid poverty, in toil, in pain.
Yet, who or what these cottages contain,
How Lazarus contrives to live and fare,

Are for the thoughtless rich enquirers vain;
He passeth by the spot with vacant stare,-

It mars the splendour near, and ought not to be there.
Nay, but they know it not! ah, vain excuse!
Their very sin is that they should have known,
And do not, that they put to private use

The gifts of God, esteeming them their own.
The objects in their very pathway thrown,
They pass them by, nor lend themselves to seek
By gentle speech to still the orphan's moan,
By timely succour to uphold the weak,

Or dry the tears that fall adown the widow's cheek.

Be not deceived! Dives' sin was this,

No more; the record to his charge doth lay
No grievous crime, no doing aught amiss,
Simply the leaving undone: day by day
Lazarus at his gate unheeded lay;

He thought not, knew not, reck'd not what befell,
He drave him not, as many might, away,

But with his brethren five at ease did dwell,
Till, with uplifted eyes, he wailèd sore in hell.

Dives is not charged by our Lord with any sins of commission, but only of omission; he is described as living in a state consistent with his wealth and position; but he was entirely careless of the Giver of

all good things; in short, he lived without God in the world; he made it not his chief care to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; but his subsequent appeal to Lazarus shews that he had been kind and humane to the afflicted saint during life, and his solicitude about his five brethren, shows that he was not without natural affection, but that he was deficient of moral firmness of mind to resist the ordinary temptations to luxury and the sins of the flesh, to which the great and the wealthy are exposed; he, with others similarly circumstanced, allowed his whole heart to be devoted to splendid state and sumptuous fare, and had not seriously reflected on eternity, nor on the means of attaining the favour and mercy of God. Dives was not punished because he was rich; but because he had abused his riches, trusted in them, and made a god of them. Neither was Lazarus comforted on account of his poverty; but because he had taken up the Cross; had borne the evils with which he had been afflicted with meekness and patience; had kept the commandments; and had fought the good fight; therefore, a crown of glory was laid up for him. In short, we cannot serve God and mammon. The poetry of this volume is beautiful, and the theology excellent, but we would recommend the author to prepare an index for the next edition.

THE POLITICIAN (J. H. & J. Parker),

Is a continuation of the popular tales for the young men and women of England; it is levelled at the political associations which employ the spare time and corrupt the hearts of journeymen tradesmen. The hero belonged to a club in the radical borough of St. Mary-le-bone, which met twice a week; at one of these radical meetings an alarm of fire made the speakers and auditors make a rush to the door, and our hero, Thornton, setting his foot on a piece of orange peel, was thrown down, trampled upon, and so much injured as to require a long confinement in an Hospital. In consequence, he lost a very profitable employment, and was discharged from the Hospital to a home of destitution. The chaplain's instructions, his wife's exhortations and example, and severe affliction and poverty, brought him 'to himself,' and seeing the folly of his political associations, he became a better and a happier man. The author shews much acquaintance with real life in the neighbourhood of the Seven Dials, and has represented his hero's story in a very natural and clever way. It is calculated to do much good to political tradesmen, who neglect their families and their employers' business to reform the nation, and to turn the world upside down. It will amuse as well as instruct.

No. III. MORE BISHOPS (Hope & Co. and J. H. & J. Parker), Shew what sort of bishops we want. No. I. showed the necessity for an increase of the Episcopate in England and Wales, which was noticed in our last number; the manner and means of paying them is the subject of No. II., which we have noticed in the first article of this number; and No. III. forms the subject of our present notice. The present staff of bishops in England cannot overtake the fourth part of

their public duties, and, therefore, the author of this tract desires an increase of the Eiscopate, which, being disencumbered from much of the secularities of the present system, might devote their energies to the real oversight of their dioceses. The cases of Scotland, America and the Colonies, shew what our author says, that we have realised the fact that a bishop can exist, without being a peer of parliament, and are so far prepared for-what is surely looming in the future-the appointment of non-parliamentary bishops.' And he adds, as we are drifting onwards to this point, we may comfort ourselves with the reflection, that the position and usefulness of a bishop in the Church, are not dependent on temporal privileges, or upon the social standing which they confer. The gifts and uses of a bishop have no necessary connexion with peerages, palaces or parks. The piety and munificence of Churchmen in earlier times, have provided our present bishops with worldly honours and rich endowments, but if they were stripped of these to-morrow [as the Scottish bishops were at the Revolution], they would not lose one particle of their essential character as bishops. The State protects the bishops in the possession of their property and privileges. It might seize upon the one, and do away with the other. God forbid that our rulers should be tempted to act so sacriligeously! But supposing they did so, such an act of injustice would not deprive the bishops themselves of their pastoral office, or of the spiritual gifts which they received at their consecration, to fit them for the performance of it. These the State did not confer, and these it cannot take away. So that, under circumstances of oppression, such as have been supposed, bishops would be bishops still, even if they had to subsist upon the alms of their fellow Churchmen.'

This is a reformation which we earnestly desire to see accomplished, and it will be achieved if the subject be sufficiently ventilated, so as to make it familiar to the public, as without doubt, owing to the increase of population, the Church of England wants more bishops, more priests, more churches, and more open sittings. May they all be in time accomplished.

MANUAL OF EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE (Groombridge & Sons),

Is from the pen of the Very Rev. the Dean of Hereford. Dr. Dawes gives the Report of the Commissioners on the examinations for employment in the civil service of the Crown, and he has given an explanatory preface which will greatly assist the student. The Dean informs us that 'educational tests, as a passport to employment in the business of life, are becoming every day more necessary. The example so happily set by the government, is about to be followed up by the Society of Arts, who are establishing a system of examination, to commence in June next, for members of Mechanics' Institutes in connexion with them, and for granting certificates of proficiency to those who are examined; and it is an encouraging fact that a declaration of confidence in such certificates, has been signed by a large number of the leading commercial firms and employers of labour in different parts of the country.'