topics. On the census of Cyrenius, or the meaning of Luke ii. 2.-On the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, and the first part of the chronology [the chronology of the first part] of the Acts of the Apostles." Some remarks on the Author's opinions in this portion of his work, may properly find a place hereafter.

The first Dissertation in the second volume continues the subject of the last Dissertation in the first volume; and with a view, as it seems by the title, to the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, gives the chronology of the second portion of the Acts, beginning at the 13th chapter. In this Dissertation, the Author gives us an investigation of the dates of the leading events in St. Paul's apostolical labours, and also of his Epistles, including that to the Hebrews, occupying the first hundred pages;-forgetful, as it appears, of the judicious observation with which he cannot but be familiar, and which is alike applicable to works of philosophy and criticism, as to poetry: Ordinis hæc virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,

Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici;
Pleraque differat, et presens in tempus omittat.

We are of opinion that adherence to the Roman Poet's canon would have reduced this work to a single volume at most. But we ought to state, that in the Author's own judgment (Vol. I. p. xv.) the consideration of the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks "necessarily involved the question of the chronology of the first twelve chapters of the Acts of the Apostles"; and that the first Dissertation in the second volume" is intended to shew that the chronology of the Acts from the 13th chapter forwards, is not inconsistent with the order and distribution of the twelve chapters immediately preceding, as already given." We wish the Delegates of the Clarendon Press had kindly severed the spider-like threads with which the Author has joined many of his excursive discussions to the legitimate purpose of his work.

The remaining part of the second volume, together with a large portion of the third, is given to that purpose; and though we have continually to complain of the extreme diffuseness and immethodical excursiveness of the whole, and are of opinion that it is generally founded on erroneous positions, yet to the subject-matter we have no objection to make. Of this portion we will give the Author's own synopsis; both as a favourable specimen of the Author's power of methodizing, and an indication of the subjects which he brings forwards and the opinions he maintains; and also, we frankly confess, to prevent our occupying more room with those animadversions, which scarcely a few consecutive pages of this work present themselves without provoking.

"It is the object of the second Dissertation to explain and reconcile the two genealogies, on the supposition that St. Matthew's is the genealogy of our Lord's reputed father, and St. Luke's the genealogy of his real mother.

"It is the object of the third Dissertation to establish such a personal distinction between those who are called in common the Adsλp of Christ, as will reconcile the Evangelical accounts, and no longer leave any difficulty on this point.

"The fourth Dissertation, which treats of the visit of the Magi, endeavours to prove that the time of this visit was thirteen months posterior to the first appearance of the star, and four months posterior to the birth of Christ; and thence to infer that the star appeared twice, once at the Incarnation, and again at the Nativity.

"It is the object of the fifth Dissertation to harmonize and arrange the particulars of the ministry of John: and, preliminary to this, to define the

true nature and design of his ministry itself. This Dissertation also is connected with the general argument of Dissertation viii. in Vol. I. and its chief purpose is to establish a necessary, but clear, distinction between the proper office and character of John, in which he agreed with those of Jesus Christ, and the truth of his personal relations to Jesus Christ, in which he differed from them.

"The sixth Dissertation endeavours to shew that, though St. Matthew's account of the order of the temptations may be the true, St. Luke's is not inconsistent with it.

"The seventh Dissertation carries forward the series of the Gospel history, and at the same time strictly exemplifies the supplementary character of the Gospel of St. John, by shewing that, beginning his narrative precisely where the other Evangelists had left off, he conducts it regularly down to the point of time where St. Luke, in particular, had begun again. To this Dissertation an Appendix is attached, designed to confirm a statement in the Dissertation itself, and involving the question of the computation of sabbatic years: one of which is shewn to have actually coincided with the first year of our Saviour's ministry.

"The eighth Dissertation, which is divided into four parts, is designed to give a general preliminary or prospective survey of the whole course of our Saviour's ministry, both in Judæa, and out of it. The first part is devoted to the consideration of the ministry in Judæa, and its object is to prove that, as St. John alone has given any account of this ministry, so he has given a complete account of it. Each of the three last parts is devoted to a separate year, down to the middle of the third year in particular, where the review will be found to stop short: and their common purpose is not merely to give the student of the Gospel history a clear view of the course and connexion of his subject beforehand, but to contribute to the general purpose of the work, by shewing with what facility the Evangelical accounts, duly arranged, may be made to fill up the periods of time allotted to them-to supply in a great many instances the most distinct proofs of the accommodation of the latter to the prior narratives—and to prepare the way for the discussion of particular questions by a better understanding of the grounds on which they proceed.

66

The Dissertations, which follow from the ninth to the fourteenth inclusive, are accordingly all devoted to the discussion of such questions: the ninth being designed to prove the conclusion that the miraculous draught of fishes, in St. Luke, is no Trajection: the tenth, that the feast which ensued on the call of Levi is no Anticipation: the eleventh that the sermons from the mount were distinct, and may each be related in their proper place: the twelfth, proposing to reconcile St. Matthew's account of the time and manner of our Saviour's interpretation of the first of his parables with St. Mark's, or St. Luke's: the thirteenth, to adjust St. Mark's account of the question concerning eating with unwashen hands to St. Matthew's: the fourteenth, to investigate the proximate cause of the disputes concerning precedence, and at the same time to establish the proof of a luminous instance of the supplementary relation of St. Mark in particular to St. Matthew.

"It is the object of the fifteenth and the sixteenth Dissertations respectively, to prosecute the subject discussed in the eighth, and to exhibit another clear and decisive proof of the critical accommodation of St. John's Gospel to the three first Gospels in general, and of St. Luke's to the two first in par ticular.

"The seventeenth Dissertation has it in view to determine the locality of the village of Martha and Mary, so far at least as to prove that it was not Bethany and by way of corollary to this disquisition to explain and illustrate the circumstances of the unction at Bethany.

"It is the business of the eighteenth Dissertation to compare the account of the dispossession in St. Luke with the similar account of St. Matthew;

the result of which comparison is to prove that neither of them is a transposition.

"The object of the nineteenth Dissertation is to point out the many critical indications of time, which occur in the twelfth chapter of St. Luke, and which all converge upon one and the same conclusion, that they belong to the last period of our Saviour's ministry.

"The object of the twentieth Dissertation is to render it probable that the destruction of the Galileans, alluded to at Luke xiii. 1, was a recent event, and a consequence of the sedition of Barabbas.

"The object of the twenty-first is to harmonize the accounts of St. Matthew and St. Mark, in reference to the question concerning divorce: and the object of the twenty-second, which concludes the volume, is, by the simple consideration of later and supplementary accounts, to remove every difficulty connected with the miracles at Jericho.

"The business of all the Preliminary Dissertations contained in the third and last volume, is to harmonize the several accounts of the Gospel history, from the time of the arrival at Bethany before the last Passover, to the day of the ascension into heaven. This object is effected through six consecutive Dissertations-of which the first ascertains more particularly the true date of the arrival at Bethany, and the true date of the procession to the temple: the second, the time of the cleansing of the temple: the third, the order and succession of events on the last day of our Lord's public ministry, and the time of the unction at Bethany: the fourth, the time of the last supper: the fifth, the course and succession of events from the evening of Thursday, to the evening of Saturday in Passion-week: the sixth harmonizes the accounts of the resurrection itself. The particular purposes, which each of these Dissertations also embraces, are too many and various to be comprehended under any general statement; and will be sufficiently evident from the Table of Contents itself.

"The remainder of this volume is taken up by a number of Appendices to the Preliminary Dissertations in general, the common purpose of all which is to supply some omission in former Dissertations of the work; and consequently the particular purpose of any one of these Appendices is subservient to that of the corresponding Dissertation, to which the reader is accordingly referred." Vol. I. pp. xvi.—xix.

The titles of the Appendices are, "On the Supplemental Relations of the Gospels-Principle of Classification as applied to St. Luke's GospelChronology of the Kingdoms of Judah and of Israel"—which irrelevant matter, designed as supplementary to the useless Appendix of the tenth Dissertation in the first volume, occupies more than fifty pages-" Computation of Sabbatic Years-Journey of St. Paul from Philippi to JerusalemRate of a Day's Journey-Time of the celebration of the last Passover-Miscellaneous Notes."

In what further we propose to lay before our readers, on the Chronology and Harmony of the Gospels, according to the order of subjects which we traced in the preceding volume, (pp. 763-768,) we shall have little occasion, we hope, for the style of animadversion which has hitherto marked our review of the Dissertations. We are desirous of stating what we deem substantial truth, without entering upon the examination of opposing opinions, unless these appear to have some real force. Following this course, we shall not be required to enter much upon Mr. Greswell's data and reasonings. We shall find opportunity of considering such as really bear against our own views; but if the principles we shall advance are just, there is comparatively little in those on which the peculiarities of Mr. Greswell's Harmony rests, that can have a solid foundation.

LINES

SUGGESTED BY SEEING AN INFANT ON ITS DEATH-BED.

LITTLE human lily! Meek flower unblown!
By the scythe of the Reaper of nations mown,
In "the dew of thy youth" thus call'd on high-
Was it better to bloom till that dew was dry?
But why, drooping blossom, ere life be fled,
Do I number thee thus with the early dead?
'Tis because the life-pulse of hope is low,
And the grave of the snow-drop is dug in the snow.
Even now, while I give thee a stranger's sigh,
Thy father watches thy glazing eye:

Even now, while I give thee a stranger's tear,
Thy mother thinks of her baby's bier.

Pass away, little spirit, and pass in peace!

Thy pleasures are done-let thy pains too cease!
How can we wish thee to drag in pain

The few frail links of a breaking chain?

Part, little darling, in peace depart

Oh! hadst thou my future, and I thy heart!
Part, little seraph, thy hour is come,

And the Highest has call'd the pure one home.

I ask'd, and I had, the leave to look

On the last pale leaf of thy closing book;
'Twas white as the whitest rose in the wreath,
With a word like a shadow-the word was Death.

I look'd in silence, and turn'd away,

For I saw what I look'd on would soon be clay;
Quick were the pants of the labouring breast-
'Twas a motion that told of a long deep rest!

And there she lay, with a gleam of blue
Just shewing the half-open'd eyelids through,
A moist, a vague, and a sleepy gleam,
As if Death had come like a wildering dream.

Our senses oft wander before we sleep,
And then it falls, long, heavy, and deep;
And often thus the half-conscious soul
Reels on the brink of the mortal goal.

Is thy glad voice mute? Thy bird yet sings,
When the morning strikes on his wires and wings;
The rose loiters yet on the wintry tree-
They are flowers for thy grave, but not for thee.

But other birds shall sing where thou art,
With no music that comes from a broken heart;
And flowers that blossom where no flowers die
Shall gladden the meek young stranger's eye.

Yet, yet we will think that a day will break,
Early or late, when the sleepers will wake-
Oh that so earthless and undefil'd

We might face the Sunrise of Life, sweet child!

'Tis we are the dead far more than thou-
Long are the waters our barks may plough;
And many a tempest, and many a cloud,
Must shiver the keel, and sweep the shroud.

Yet with storm and cloud we may bravely cope,
While on thy anchor we lean, sweet Hope!
And thy two bright sisters, Love and Faith,
Have a smile for Grief, and a shaft for Death.

Crediton, November, 1830.

J.

EARLY RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION-CHILDREN'S BOOKS.

WE have been greatly interested by the progress of an amicable discussion carried on in several successive numbers of the Boston "Christian Teacher's Manual," on the propriety of separate and suitable public religious services for children; and it is a subject so nearly allied to the question of a separate literature, that we must take the liberty of offering a few remarks upon both. But let us not enter the field as, on this occasion, opposed in opinion to the Editor of the Christian's Manual, without expressing our value for that excellent little publication. Accustomed to admire the Boston Christian Examiner, it has been with yet greater pleasure that we have read its humbler looking companion. Of course, its tone is affectionate and gentle; no less could have been expected from the sources whence it emanates; but it is also independent, powerful; often calculated, by its spirit and manner, to rouse young people to self-exertion and energy; and it is free from dogmatism-free, also, from that disgusting appearance of patronage which spoils much of our juvenile literature. There is room for question of the Editor's judgment in introducing two or three of the German extracts; but it is to the individual pieces that we object-not to the attempt to bring before young persons specimens of the free and unsophisticated writings of that wonderful people; and, even in our doubts, we think it right to call to mind the fact that some German books for children, which now so exceedingly offend our taste as to disqualify us from forming a fair judgment of their merits, not only impressed our own childish minds in the most salutary way, but are, we firmly believe, of abiding service to numberless individuals. One reason for this may be, that we do not remember an instance in which honesty and good faith are violated in these books: they tell stories of the good and bad, it is true, but they never inculcate, by parental authority, a low, selfish, and calculating morality: and they make the rewards of virtue to consist chiefly in peace of heart, and sympathy with the excellent of the earth. To return, however, to the Christian's Manual. We particularly admire the translation of Luther's Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer, the Conversation on the Use of Manuals, some part of the Remarks on SundaySchools, and the Letter to a Mother, No. I. New Series. In this number