the demand has frequently exhausted the bookseller's supply. It is almost marvellous that a man of thirty, who had had no time or chance to file his opinions and thoughts by the thoughts of other men in bar discussions, should have attained to so true, and uniform, and firm an edge, and to so short and penetrating a point, in all of them. There is not a note or remark in the whole body, that does not show the mind of the lawyer, imbued with the spirit of the science, instinctively perceiving and observing all its limitations, its harmonies, its modulations, its discords, as a cultivated musical ear perceives, without an effort, what is congruous or incongruous with the harmonies of sound. There is a beautiful concord between his thoughts and his language. And all this was effected with inconceivable facility. The American world has lost in him the inappreciable advantage of possessing a great leading critic and writer, in the midst of those surges of judicial opinion which sometimes make the sway of the Law among us shake like a thing unfirm."

We quote an admirable analysis of his manners:

"It has been said that, in appearance, he was reserved. The world so regarded him; and, in the same way, it misregards all men of the same type. He had no reserve whatever. He was frank, cordial, affable, full of conversation, affluent in topics, playfully imaginative in the treatment of them, and prolific in illustrating them by the treasures great or small, that he would appropriately bring from his own memory into the common stock of conversation. He was a converser, not a talker. He was an exchanger of resources and products, not a monopolist. He was dumb to the heart's content of any man who wanted to have all the talk to himself. But in our free intercourse [in America] in which all conditions and characteristics are fused together, it does and will happen that men who have any shyness or sensitiveness on the surface, will be so misregarded. It happens often, as it happened with Mr. Wallace, that the mere temperament of the surface rules in this matter, to a degree of which the party is himself unconscious, as is immediately perceived by all who take any pains to know the person whom they call reserved; for the personal knowledge, after it goes a line beneath the surface, finds an interior all open, free and unconfined. His heart was as warm, and as kindly as a child's, and as true as steel. No difference of opinion or sentiment turned its edge. Instead of being selfish, or self-esteeming, his truer characteristic was that, to speak after the manner of men, it was a defect-that he did not sufficiently value himself upon the productions of his mind and pen, to connect his name with them, nor upon his powers of conversation, to give general society more frequent benefit from them."

It is very characteristic of the man, and-in this, not even age of "bronze," but of mere pinchbeck and veneering-we record it with a satisfaction that we cannot express, that Mr. Wallace refused to allow Dr. Rufus Wilmot Griswold "to give publicity and reputation to his name, by introducing it with portions of his writings, in The Prose Writers of America."" Dr. Griswold had printed a flaming dedication, which he intended to prefix to the book, and which the author of the Memoir gives

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as originally printed." "The types were set up, and the form ready to be worked off," but Mr. Wallace, we can imagine with what joy, was in time to beg that the types might be "distributed," without being used.

If, now, we should give our own opinion of Mr. Wallace, it would be, that he possessed very fine analytical and critical powers, a remarkably pure taste, an exquisite refinement, a comprehensive intellect, a fine fancy bordering very closely upon the region of imagination, if not passing into it. He needed a closer connection, we think, with practical life. He was obviously restless under a confined sphere of action, and we think would have made an admirable judge, or, so far as such a position is possible in America, a senator, dignified in manner, broad and statesmanlike in view. It is the curse of our time, that politicians seem to have no basis for their views, no science of government, but everything floats on the waves of expediency or corruption.

Mr. Wallace was a very thorough-going and somewhat prejudiced highchurch Episcopalian; we say, and are sorry to say it, "prejudiced." His notions about popery are very dangerous, not in a theological but in an æsthetic way. He had a passion, which would have subsided had he lived ten or fifteen years longer, for "Christian Art," and laying out of view, practical, vulgar, every day popery, as it debases the nations and feeds rapacity and licentiousness, he became fascinated with chimes and cathedrals. If he had had a little more of the Presbyterianism of his Scottish ancestors, we should have had less sentiment and more common sense in his letters from Europe.

His writings on artistic matters are very beautiful. In the essays "Art, an Emanation of religious Affection;" "Art, symbolical, not imitative;" "The Principle of Beauty in Works of Art," he goes down to the foundation. His principles are, for the most part, true and noble, and the only ones upon which art can be successfully reared. They are very like Ruskin's, as to their philosophic basis, but without his extravagance. We wish we had room for his analysis of Comte, and of the truth and error which he supposed to lie in the "Positive Philosophy." It shows fine discrimination and much philosophic power.

But we are exceeding our space. We will, however, give the reader one specimen of Mr. Wallace's beautiful writing. It is a description of Milan Cathedral:

It is like

"The Cathedral of Milan stands alone in the fields of Art. nothing else in the world, before or since. It seems as if upon the confines of the Teutonic and Ausonian territory, the pure and fervid spirits of German Gothic and of the half classical Italian Gothic had coalesced, and their several excellences had become identified in the strange and almost supernatural loveliness of an offspring, which, though absolutely special and individual, and not one of a race of such, is yet consistent in its novel organization, and irresistible in its fascinating effect. The exterior of the building has not the outlines of a cathedral, but rather the massive and spreading repose of a Greek temple; yet the dress of decorations in which it is arrayed is Transalpine and still not inappropriate. It is a monster, perhaps, according to the botany of architecture, but it is like the peerless and perfect rose, which passes out of the family of order, only to become

the queen over all orders: and we may grant pardon to a deviation which works out an affluence of charms that bewilders the mind in admiration and makes faint the sense with delight.

"There is a wild grace in the delicate and luxurious elegances of Milan, which inflames the admiration into an ecstasy of pleasure. I shall not speedily forget the revelation of joy born of beauty, that opened in an instant upon me, as on the morning after my arrival in Milan, I walked forth from the Inn of Gran' Bretagna along one of the streets, without plan or purpose, and presently found myself upon the piazza of the gorgeous duomo. The façade is bad, on account of the Roman doors and windows which have been let into it. But stand off towards the south side, and view it diagonally, so as to bring the side and roof well into combination, and you will confess that a more singular and more enchanting vision never rose beneath your eye. It was a clear morning in the early November, the air was bracingly cool, with something of Alpine purity, the turquoise-blue of the unclouded vault of heaven was then, to my unaccustomed eye, a ravishment of unreality. Beneath this glowing canopy, and from out the violet atmosphere that filled the whole space between earth and sky, rose the snowy masses of the cathedral, whose crowd of pinnacles seemed to tremble and tingle with diamond-like light. Thought and feeling seemed to melt together in the thrill of the senses' enjoyment, and for an instant I knew not whether to regard that blue heaven as a pictured dream of passioning Art, or that silvery pile as a crystalization of the glorious crown of Nature, who lavishing her grace on Italy, as she had her grandeur upon Switzerland, might seem here to have formed a glacier of loveliness-a Mont-Blanc of beauty. A white-robed, glittering band of seraphs seemed to have just lighted upon the summit of each turret and buttress and finial, and to stand there with pearl-pale spears pointed up to Heaven.

"A striking peculiarity of the duomo of Milan, is that it is built entirely of statuary-marble. Some portions of the stone, especially above the roof, have a roseate or reddish hue which, wrought into statuettes and bas-reliefs, form a delightful effect. The darkening of this stone by age has produced an appropriate and agreeable effect: for the tower part seems to have shared the stains of earth to which it is rooted, while the higher portions bloom in the arum-like whiteness of their virgin quarry. The roof is nearly flat, and very neatly paved with marble; and numerous turrets and pinnacles, set with statues or statuettes, rise around and upon it. The number of the figures now peopling the exterior is said to be above 3,000; and the design when completed will include 6,000. Many of these figures are by sculptors of the first reputation; three or four by Canova. They bear and, indeed, require examination by a glass. That higher, open temple which is thus built and populated upon the top of the duomo, vaulted by the heavens, and lighted by the sun and stars, is a world of curious and delightful intricacy. The religious finish of every facette, and figure, and bas-relief, even in places where the eye cannot approach them except by extraordinary aids; the inscriptive dedications beneath the little shrines, so removed that human gaze cannot decipher them, produces a singular and profound feeling. It seems as if they might be shrines which were wrought for the glory of heaven and the solace of God's nightly angels. The view which the summit commands, with the whole line of the russet-tinted snow-peaks of the Alps along the north, and the ocean-plain of Lombardy in the south, with the great roads that radiate from the city so foreshortened that they seem as if rising directly upward, is one of rare and memorable interest. Walk at twilight or even

ing upon the plain that surrounds the walls of the city; and you will see the countless pinnacles of this temple shooting up through the grey air like some light play of the borealis; and you will fear that it will have vanished in the moon-beams before you can reach it.

"When you enter this cathedral, if the splendid expanse before you be not sublime, it is only because it is so beautiful that wonder is absorbed in exquisiteness of enjoyment. The dimensions are imposing. The height of the nave is 153 feet, it extends between a series of nine arches through a magnificent distance to the transept. There are double aisles on each side of it, also of great width; and the slenderness of the piers throws the whole into one general effect. The piers rise to a prodigious height, and seem to bend gracefully at the top like the expanding cup of a lily. They seem too slight to support, with so slender arches, the lofty roof, but look! clustered round the top of each pier is again a band of angels, who seem to have taken the building under their especial care, and who give assurance that the elevated vault will safely be sustained."

II. The Life of Philip Melanchthon. By Charles Frederick Ledderhose. Translated from the German by the Rev. G. F. Krotel, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. 1855. pp. 364.

Gentle Philip Melanchthon! Erasmus wrote of him, "I am persuaded Christ designs this youth to excel us all: he will totally eclipse Erasmus ! He not only excels in learning and eloquence, but by a certain fatality is a general favorite. Honest and candid men are fond of him, and even his adversaries cannot hate him!" How much Luther loved him, almost "beyond the love of woman," is well known; and Calvin said, "O Philip Melanchthon, I appeal to thee as my witness! Thou now livest with Christ in the presence of God, and waitest for us to share with thee that blessed rest. Wearied with labor, oppressed with many cares, a hundred times didst thou express thy wish to live and die with me; I too a thousand times wished that we could live together." He was called "The Teacher of Germany;" the intimate friend of Spalatin, Oecolampadius, Myconius; a prodigy of learning and as modest as great.

This biography is not just what we want, but it is the best life of Melanchthon to be had. It is not a brilliant or graphic book, having some of the faults of Henry's life of Calvin, rather dry, polemic and documentary. Still we see a great deal of the man and the times, and no one will wish to be without it. The translation seems well done.

III. Revival Sermons.

Second Series. By Rev. Daniel Baker,
Philadelphia: William S.

President of Austin College, Texas.
Martien. 1854. pp. 385.

Dr. Baker has been very successful in revivals of religion, especially in the South and South West, and has here collected a number of his sermons which have appeared to be most useful. It is a source of sincere satisfaction to us to see our brethren of the other branch of our Church turning their attention in this direction; and we trust there will be a large demand

amongst them for this kind of literature and for this class of ministers. Dr. Baker is a warm hearted, practical preacher, who feels religion himself and preaches it just as he feels it; a kind of preacher from whom the North and East might take useful lessons.

IV. A Harmony of the Gospels in the Greek of the Received Text. By James Strong, A. M. New York: John C. Riker. 1854. pp. 370.

This Harmony is upon the same general plan as the one in English by the same author, which we formerly noticed. It appears to be very judiciously done. There is a full synoptical Index, a textual Index, the entire Received Text arranged chronologically, and when the times are the same, in parallel columns, chronological notes and a summary view of the whole. The printing is very beautiful. The author proposes to continue the New Testament in another volume. Such works are an honor to the American press.

V. Is Christianity from God? Or a Manual of Bible Evidence for the People. By Rev. John Cumming, D. D. With an Introduction, by Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen. New York: M. W. Dodd. 1854. pp. 276.

We do not know that we can give a better account of this treatise by a celebrated author, than in his own words: "The following pages are not meant for learned theologians, who already know all they contain, and a great deal more, but for Scripture readers, for city missionaries, Sundayschool teachers, and others, who ought to know something of the outlines of Christian evidence. Deeper solutions can be given of many of the difficulties that are quoted in this work, but such solutions would be inconvenient alike to teachers and learners in the circumstances to which I have referred. Simple and short explanations are, therefore, far preferable: these are more easily remembered and most thoroughly understood. In the present age, a ready reply, like ready money, is most valuable."

VI. William Carey: A Biography. By Joseph Belcher, D. D. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, pp. 306.

Dr. Belcher's style is clear, and the facts in the Life of Carey seem to be well brought together. It is known that the early advantages of Carey were very limited, and that he taught himself, with comparatively little assistance, a number of languages. Perhaps it is not so well known that his contributions to the knowledge of Sanscrit are quite considerable. A sketch of his literary character by the celebrated Sapserit Professor Wilson, is given in the Appendix. The former biography of Carey, Dr. Belcher thinks heavy and not sufficiently full.