are those which refer to the peculiar duties of the writer's office. We might almost say that he has, unconsciously, described a model Chaplain. His views, and happily his practice, go far beyond the mere routine of clerical ministrations. He feels for the souls of the poor prisoners, and urges upon them the sole and sufficient remedy for the miseries of their position. Such truly evangelical labours cannot, and we learn from the volume that they do not, pass without a delightful measure of success. Would that we could believe that all our prisons had such officers as Mr. Kingsmill to tread their gloomy corridors, lighting up, in spots uncheered by earthly comfort, the joys of the heavenly world! The episodes of actual occurrences interspersed through the volume are of deep and pathetic interest. It should be in the hands of all who can feel for the outcasts of society, and who remember the words, "I was in prison, and ye visited me.' On the Study of Language: an Exposition of "ETеа ПIтероеνтα, or the Diversions of Purley. By John Horne Tooke." By Charles Richardson, LL.D. London: George Bell. 1854. THE versatile, clever, and learned Horne Tooke's "Diversions of Purley are thought by many to afford little diversion; and yet he managed to invest a subject, accounted the driest of the dry, with even a charm by his ingenuity and ever ready wit. The scene of these imaginary dialogues is laid at Mr. Tooke's seat, at Purley, near Croydon. His doctrines excel in simplicity and naturalness. He contends that nouns are the radicals of language, and verbs follow, as we know things before we know their motions, actions, or changes. These form the staple of the words necessary for the communication of our thoughts. Other parts of speech he considers as abbreviations used for the purpose of dispatch. Interjections are altogether excepted. He denies that the mind is capable of the composition of ideas, and attributes that operation to language. Tooke's doctrine of etymologies is this: "That from the etymology of the word we should fix the intrinsic meaning; that that meaning should always furnish the cause of the application; and that no application of any word is justifiable for which that meaning will not supply a reason; but that the usage of any application so supported is not only allowable, but indispensable." Dr. Richardson has given us an able summary of the work, hoping thereby to induce his readers to study it for themselves. We thank him for his volume,-we hope, not "his last," and trust his purpose will be accomplished. Jerusalem Revisited. By W. H. Bartlett, Author of "Walks about Jerusalem." With Illustrations. London: Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co. 1855. THIS is, unhappily, a posthumous work; the last of a series on the Holy Land, which the lamented writer had illustrated, by his pen and pencil, with acknowledged taste. Mr. Bartlett's death took place sud Brief Literary Notices. 287 denly, on the eve of publication. "Cut off in the flower of his age, and in the full vigour of intellect, after a few hours' illness, he has found a sepulchre in the waters of the Mediterranean, whose shores he has so often, and so successfully, illustrated." Such are the words of his brother, to whom it has fallen to complete the work. It is an elegant and useful volume, contains much interesting information as to the present state of Jerusalem, and will make an excellent gift-book. A Dictionary of Terms in Art. Edited and Illustrated by F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A., with five hundred Engravings on Wood. London: Virtue, Hall, and Virtue. IT is the design of this useful work to explain the meaning of all such terms as are generally employed in painting, sculpture, and engraving, whether descriptive of real objects, or the principles of action which rule the mind and guide the hand of the artist. The terms required to describe the contents of a museum of art, or a collection of pictures, are also explained; and information is given relating to the different periods and schools of painting. A profusion of illustrations adds much to the value, and something to the beauty, of this work. Historic Notes on the Books of the Old and New Testaments. By Samuel Sharpe. London: Edward Moxon. 8vo. 1854. THERE is a large amount of learning, particularly historical and chronological, condensed into a convenient space in this little volume. Its condensation is so great, as to give a degree of ruggedness, which forbids its being pleasant reading; but it will be found of much utility to biblical students. Upon the ethnology and migrations of the peoples in the neighbourhood of the Israelites, the information is minute and valuable. We cannot agree in all Mr. Sharpe's opinions, particularly with respect to the authorship of portions of St. Matthew's Gospel. Excelsior: Helps to Progress in Religion, Science, and Literature. Vol. II. Nisbet. To say that this volume is as clever and instructive as its elder brother, is high praise. "Excelsior" was a happy conception, and is happily executed. The proof is complete when young people devour it, and their judicious elders rejoice to see them using such "Helps to Progress in Religion, Science, and Literature." Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Entwisle; Fifty-four Years a Wesleyan Minister. By his Son. Second Edition. London: Mason. 1854. MR. ENTWISLE was a transparent Christian, and a faithful Pastor; and these Memoirs truly exhibit his eminent piety, simplicity, and prudence. The Church wants thousands of such men; and Methodism a shoal of such Biographies. The Marvels of Science, and their Testimony to Holy Writ. THIS is a revised and enlarged edition of a popular work which makes science the handmaid and witness to revealed truth. He is a real benefactor to the young especially, who will write such books; who will group even common truths respecting science, so as to show their accordance with revelation, and thus disarm the modern sceptic of one of his favourite weapons against Christianity. Mr. Fullom is familiar with both fields, and knows their just boundaries, and their products. Science is quickened by revelation, and in turn confirms its truths. These are suitable books for young people exposed to adverse literary influences. Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Women of the Bible, chronologically arranged, from Eve of the Old, to the Marys of the New, Testament. By the Rev. P. C. Headley. London Partridge, Oakey, and Co. 1855. AN eloquent and instructive book, of a class we are always glad to see on the increase. The younger branches of Christian families will find its pages as captivating as most of the works of fiction to which they are so partial, and, we need hardly say, much more profitable. Constructive Exercises, for teaching the Elements of the Greek Constructive Exercises, for teaching the Elements of the Latin THESE works are prepared on what is called "the crude-form system," which for some time past has been growing into favour, but has not previously been brought out in a form so comprehensive and practical as that in which Mr. Robson has presented it. That system commends itself on principles which are sufficiently obvious, but which have not been sufficiently regarded hitherto, in the elementary works in general use for students in Greek and Latin. The crude-form system being founded on the etymological structure of the two languages in question, we are perfectly sure that, having been fairly propounded, it will make its way; and that such expositions and applications of it as those which are furnished in the works above mentioned, will largely contribute to its general adoption. LONDON :-PRINTED BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, 32, LONDON-WALL. : THE LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW. JULY, 1855. ART. I.-1. D'AUBIGNE'S History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Vol. V.-The Reformation in England. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. 1853. 2. HALLAM'S History of the Literature of Europe during the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. London: Murray. 1847. 3. Writings of THOMAS CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press. 1846. 4. The Works of NICHOLAS RIDLEY, D.D., sometime Lord Bishop of London. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press. 1841. 5. The Works of THOMAS BECON, S.T.P., Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, Prebendary of Canterbury, &c. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press. 1843. 6. The Works of MYLES COVERDALE, Bishop of Exeter. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press. 1844. WE purpose to trace our literature through the first part of the sixteenth century, that is, through the struggles and establishment of Protestantism in England; and, in so doing, we shall view the dawn of its first really national development. The literary history of a nation may be generally divided into two periods, that of unfettered creative genius, when each man follows at will the path indicated by his own predilections, strikes, like Israfel, the chords of his own heart, and reaches the sympathies of others whilst expressing what affects himself. During this period, it seems as if, by the mere instinct of passion, language were swayed and moulded to its various uses as the organ of the soul. But in the next,-the period of science and philosophy,—the mould is fixed; novelty and originality, men think, can no longer be attained, to any appreciable extent, by simply yielding to the impulses of the soul; they are things to be sought out with pain; authority exists and is submitted to; examples of success are before the eyes, to follow which with exactest imitation too often becomes the sole aim of genius itself. An apprenticeship of imitation is to be served by the modern word-artist; his effects are to be wrought by careful study; he must form for himself, diligently, a style which may long be cramped, and even apparently artificial, and in which practice alone may enable him to move with the majesty and freedom of his predecessors. In England, the first of these periods never existed so perfectly as in the case of the great nations of antiquity. We are called upon to investigate the beginnings of our literature, when, if at all, there should be found such an intuitive sense of beauty and command of language; but we shall discover in our early writers much painful hesitation and imperfection, both of thought and style. The Muse of England at first gave little promise of the glorious utterances into which she has since swelled. Few of the works produced in the former part of the sixteenth century are now read; they remain as imperfect attempts, ere England gathered voice and power to speak, and are regarded only as monuments to mark the commencement of the after glory. Nevertheless, we would invite attention to them, as possessing in themselves interest and beauty; as experiments, not always unsuccessful, in the world of art; and as forming an indispensable portion of our literary annals. The fact is, that it was not with us and the rest of Europe as with Greece. No inborn impulse urged the nation to arouse itself at once from the midst of surrounding darkness, and to become the apostle of art and civilization. Our literature was not so much a change as a growth, having its origin mainly in two great external causes, the revival of learning, and the unequalled political and social revolution of the sixteenth century. We must expect, therefore, to find in it for a time both the weakness of imitation and the roughness of a fierce struggle. Seldom has any period been so momentous as the sixteenth century. In contemplating it, we stand within the borders of a new world. It was the time when the Church of Rome first shrank at the contest with nationality; when an ancient and multiform despotism first stood opposed to the fresh, but unformed, spirit of liberty; and when those mingled forms of democracy and absolutism which at present divide Europe, first appeared. The Reformation was nothing less than the modernization of Europe. The mighty power which so long had held the human race in fascination, then recoiled and con |