step further, asking how he could excuse himself were he to close his ears against the cries of boys and girls starving in the streets, and then remember that every crime is the inarticulate groan of a starving soul, and he will feel the necessity of universal religious education upon the nobler ground of his own duties. Religious education; not intellectual education, - that of itself protects no man ; not moral education, for morality without religion is for the mass of men impossible; but religious education is wanted, nay, Christian education. Our government rests upon Christianity, as its basis. Take from man the Christian views of human nature, and liberty, equality, and republicanism would be perfectly farcical; and in no way can we retain liberty and a republic but through the influence of Christian truth.

The

The purpose of the work before us is to make clear the absolute necessity that exists for giving to all our people Christian views and motives. We hear enough of our rights; let us hear something of God's right and of our duties. cry, that our rulers are our servants, rings through the land; let us not be backward in spreading the counter-cry, that we are all servants of Christ. How is this to be done? By the influence of schools, in a great measure. And, to make them effective, we must have teachers of the highest class; and to secure such teachers we must pay them, and, more than all, honor them. The meeting at Exeter, held last August, when some of the first men of New England assembled to do honor to Dr. Abbot, their old schoolmaster, will long be a beacon-light. The time is gone by, when teaching was not one of the liberal professions; it now must take rank with the very highest of human employments.

Such is the faith of Mr. Peers, himself an enthusiastic and excellent teacher. And he has ably set forth the need of Christian instruction; the obligation to give it to all, leaving no soul to perish; and the impossibility of doing it by the means now in use, with teachers whose salaries are barely enough to keep them from the alms-house, and schools in which there are ten children where there should be but one.

But is it possible to educate all? Our author answers, that it is, if we but have it at heart, and will give time, labor, and money to the work. Legislatures cannot do the work, neither can societies; but you, and I, and every man must do it. Do any doubt? We answer, it is not yet proved impossible. And a true man has but one course to tread in any such case. Let him do his utmost fearlessly, heartily, and in good faith, and forget not that there is a God working with him.

This little book by Mr. Peers, we commend to all, as earn

estly and ably written, and as the result of much experience. On some points, we do not agree with him. We think the community called on to do more than educate its members so far as to secure its own safety; and we think, he insists somewhat more than enough upon the necessity of paying, as compared with respecting teachers. But his views are all freely spoken, and made alive by a true Christian spirit. May he find many and interested listeners!

2.- Life of Joseph Brant, (Thayendanegea,) &c., by W. L. STONE. 2 vols. 8vo. New York: George Dearborn & Co.

WHEN we first heard that Colonel Stone was writing the life of the great Mohawk chieftain, we thought it would come forth in a neat duodecimo, and would contain the personal history of that remarkable red man, a chapter or two on the Wyoming affair, in which Brant would be proved to have had no hand, and perhaps a disquisition upon Indian customs and peculiarities. We found, therefore, not without surprise, two large octavo volumes, containing more than eleven hundred pages; and, though the title-page in part explained the size of the work, as it states the contents to be, not only the Life of Brant, but "the border wars of the Revolution, the campaigns of Harmer, St. Clair, and Wayne, and other matters connected with the Indian relations of the United States and Great Britain, from 1783 to 1795," it was not till we opened the volumes that we fully understood their great extent. Then we found, that they gave a general history of all the events which occurred in the United States during Brant's life, with large and original details of those varied scenes in which he, directly or indirectly, took part.

Whether Colonel Stone would not have done more wisely, had he confined himself to the relation of those events in which his hero was concerned, may be doubted. By going over too large a field, he has broken that unity which should be the first thing sought in a work of history; and the result is, that his volumes have in part the character of annals, in part that of narrative. Joseph Warren, and Lord Chatham, and Logan, with his wonderful speech, rise from their graves, and pass before us, and are gone again ere we can say, "Stand!" Lexington, Bunker's Hill, Long Island, and every scene of revolutionary suffering and warfare are named, and left again, with a celerity which supposes an acquaintance with those scenes

on the part of the reader, and so serves rather to embarrass, than help the narrative. Had these references to great events been thrown into notes, and the story been suffered to flow on uninterrupted, we think it would have had more interest.

But, as it is, it cannot be said to lack interest; for it treats of interesting times and interesting men, and does this in a familiar, minute, and interesting manner. The writer has used great diligence in collecting materials, and has secured some which are of most undoubted historic value, such as the papers of Brant himself, which throw a light upon the frontier occurrences of the years from 1783 to 1796, that has been hitherto wanting. He has also procured and used some of the original papers of Sir William Johnson, those of General Herkimer, General James Clinton, General Gansevoort, and other men of that day; and has drawn largely from the correspondence of Brant with John Johnson, President Willard, the Duke of Northumberland, and others. Indeed, a large proportion of these volumes may be looked on as consisting of truly original contributions to American history, and to a very important and hitherto dark portion of that history, the Indian relations during, and immediately subsequent to, the Revolution. Much of the new matter is of the most authentic kind, being derived from letters and journals written at the time. Some again is drawn from conversations of the author with various persons. Colonel Stone appears to have compared and sifted all such oral evidence with due diligence, but it must be always received with great caution. For, strange as it many seem, the statements of those who were concerned in an event which took place many years before, are among the lowest kinds of testimony; so apt are we to forget, and change, and displace facts, and even to state as within our own knowledge, what in truth we heard from another.

But it is not our purpose at this time to enter into an examination of this Life of Brant. We intend soon to discuss at some length the events to which it refers, and may then speak in detail of its contents, their arrangement, and the style of the work.

The volumes contain two prints of Brant, both from original paintings; also, an engraving of his son; one of General Gansevoort; an excellent outline sketch of the Conference of General Lincoln, Timothy Pickering, and Beverly Randolph, with the Indians at Buffalo Creek, in 1793; the plans of one or two marches; and an engraving of Red Jacket from Weir's picture. The print last-named we do not think any ornament to the work; the painting was good, and the engraved plate good, but it is now too much worn to give impressions worthy of such volumes.

3.1. Speech of Mr. CUSHING, of Massachusetts, on the Subject of the Oregon Territory, delivered in the House of Representatives, May 17th and 22d, 1838. Washington: Gales & Seaton. 8vo.

Pp. 13. 2. Report of Mr. LINN, of Missouri, on the Part of the Select Committee of the Senate, to which was referred a Bill to authorize the President of the United States to occupy the Oregon Territory, June 6th, 1838. Washington Blair & Rives. With Two Maps. 8vo.

Pp. 23.

ONE of the extraordinary political phenomena of the age is presented by the unblushing pretensions of the English government to territory of these United States. While Great Britain is remonstrating, and that reasonably, against any hostile enterprises of our citizens on the side of Canada, she is putting a sober diplomatic face on a claim (one of the boldest ever ventured by an ambitious power) to about a third part of one of the States of this Union, while at the Northwest she more than tolerates her citizens in helping themselves to a country of ours worth half as much, at least, as the whole of British North America put together, and resists a peaceable adjustment of the controversy she has raised, till by actual settlement she shall have given more plausibility to her claim. We have thought it our duty, from time to time, to furnish to our readers some materials for forming a judgment on the arrogance of these assumptions; and having not long ago discussed at length the question of the Northeastern boundary, (Vol. XLIII. p. 413, et seq.) we have presented, in the present number, some statements relating to the right of this country to the Oregon territory, both on the ground of discovery, and of succession to the right of Spain. The subject was taken up at the last session of Congress, and brought before the Senate in the Report of Dr. Linn, with the formality and seriousness which its importance demands; while in the Speech of Mr. Cushing, in the other House, it was handled with that exact research and clear exposition, which distinguish the arguments of that gentleman. In such hands it will not be permitted to be lost sight of, nor suffer any other injustice.

QUARTERLY LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

ANNUALS.

The Youth's Keepsake. A Christmas and New Year's Gift for Young People. Boston: Otis, Broaders, & Co. 18mo. pp. 195. The Christian Keepsake, and Missionary Annual. Edited by the Rev. John A. Clark. 1839. Philadelphia: William Marshall & Co. 8vo. pp. 312.

The Gift; a Christmas and New Year's Present, for 1839. Edited by Miss Leslie. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart. 18mo. pp. 328. The Religious Souvenir, for 1839. Edited by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. New York: Scofield & Voorhies. 18mo. pp. 288.

The Juvenile Scrap Book and Youth's Annual, for 1839. Providence: S. R. Weedar. 18mo. pp. 180.

The Violet; a Christmas

New Year's Gift, or Birthday Present, for 1839. Edited by Miss Leslie. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart. 18mo. pp. 216.

The Juvenile Forget-Me-Not. A Christmas, New Year's, and Birthday Present, for 1839. Philadelphia: T. T. Ash & H. F. Anners. 18mo. pp. 180.

The Lily; a Holiday Present, with Steel Engravings. New York: E. Sands. 18mo. pp. 232.

Peter Parley's Christmas Tales, for 1839. New York: Samuel Colman. 16mo. pp. 252.

Peter Parley's Gift, for 1839. New York: Samuel Colman, and Wiley & Putnam. 16mo. pp. 168.

Brown's Improved Almanac, Pocket-Memorandum, and Account Book, for the year 1839. Containing, in addition to the usual matter, Portraits of several of the most distinguished American Politicians and Literary Men of the Present Time. Published Annually. No. II. Boston: Otis, Broaders, & Co. 18mo. pp. 70.

Boston:

The Ladies' Annual Register, and House-Wife's Memorandum Book, for 1839. By Caroline Gilman. With an Almanac. Otis, Broaders, & Co. 12mo. pp. 104.

The Child's Gem. New York: S. Colman. pp. 144.

A Christmas Gift from Fairy Land. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 12mo.

The New Hampshire Annual Register, and United States Calendar, for the year 1839. By Jacob B. Moore. No. XVIII. Concord: Marsh, Čapen, & Lyon. 12mo. pp. 143.

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.

The Revolutionary Adventures of Ebenezer Fox, of Roxbury, Mass. Boston: Munroe & Francis. 18mo. pp. 238.

Memoir of William Randall Saxton, of Lebanon, (Conn.,) with the Funeral Sermon. By Charles T. Torrey, Pastor of the Howard Street Church, Salem. Salem: W. & S. B. Ïves. 18mo. pp. 130.