times a day. Abstinence and fasting are rigidly enjoined; but there is no limit to the hareem. Charity involves at least a tenth of the Moslem's income being spent in alms. There are, moreover, parochial institutions for destitute dogs, and asylums for houseless cats; yet the Moslem will cheat his father, if his father does not anticipate him; and woe to the orphan or the stranger who is dependent on a Moslem's honesty, or the justice of a Cadi's court! This dishonesty, it is true, is not to be laid to the account of the Koran's precepts directly; but when that Koran Jesuitically justifies falsehood towards enemy, or even wife, veracity ceases to exist, and integrity of conduct cannot long survive. It is true that the most religious Moslem is at best a Pharisee; that he is only religious towards his co-religionists; that there is nothing catholic in his faith; that, with all his abstinence, sensuality is allowed; that his paradise is one of gluttony and eye-delight: yet Mahometanism claims the first and highest place amongst uninspired religions. It proclaimed the unity of God, and inculcated entire resignation to his will. In its passive quality, it was eminently the religion of endurance; in its active quality, it was, beyond all other, the religion of conquest. Intended as a menstruum in which all other faiths were to be fused, it endeavoured to conciliate the Jew by adopting the Patriarchs; the Sabean, by admitting geni and starry intelligences; the corrupt Christianity which it encountered, by asserting the divine mission of Christ, the existence of purgatory, and of a Paraclete, which was Mahomet himself. It is to be observed that Mahometanism is much more latitudinarian in Egypt, than in Syria, Asia Minor, and Persia; yet even here the devoutness of its professors, and the universality of its operation, is very striking, and has given rise to the following eloquent observations by a recent author:-"For my own part, I never experienced a stronger impression than the first day I spent in a Mahometan country: it is like returning at one step to the old dispensation; to the condition of mankind, standing, without mediation, without sympathy, alone, beneath the will and might of God. There the whole life goes on in the distinct presence of the Invisible; there prayer is no mental process, but a plain act of dutiful service, a mere obedience of the laws and conditions of existence; there reverence is the distinction between man and the inferior animals; and the scoffer and the scorner would be rebels against the common sense and decency of mankind." Mahometanism was the child of the sword, the soldier was its Priest; its existence depended on its advancement: when it stood still, it languished. Strictly eastern in the rites and the habits of thought that it prescribed, it never was adapted to advance amongst a northern people. Had Mahomet succeeded in conciliating the Jews, it would have materially altered the character of the East, by consolidating their strenuous character with that of the volatile Arab, and rendering uniform the eastern faith. It is evident that his keen vision perceived the importance of the conversion of the Jews, and perhaps he was led towards their creed by his zeal for the unity "Palm-Leaves. By R. M. Milnes." Though I have ventured, in some respects, to differ from the conclusions that this clear-headed and graceful writer has formed upon this and other subjects, I must bear my willing testimony to the true oriental spirit and character of the eloquent little volume from which I have often quoted in these pages. 3 к VOL. I.-FOURTH SERIES. of the Deity and his abhorrence of idolatry. But the descendant of Ishmael, of whose pure blood the Koreish prided themselves in being, was never to coalesce with the children of the promise. "Thy hand against theirs," was not spoken in vain three thousand years before, and was fulfilled when the children of Abraham scornfully rejected, even to the death, amalgamation with the Ishmaelite. Had they done otherwise, in all human probability would Jerusalem have been restored, and the Hebrews become once more a people; but a mightier hand pointed to a different issue. The same obstinacy that had rejected the Son of Heaven incurred the hatred of his foe; and the Jew is devoted by Mahomet to destruction in this world, and damnation in the next. Spiritual warfare found no arena in the minds of the combatants. The fanaticism of the Koran never came into mental collision with the fierce faith that chivalry had evolved from the Gospel of peace. But even the conversion of the Jews to Islamism would not have altered the relations of the Moslem with Christendom, or made any difference in the result of the battle of Tours. It would, perhaps, be bigotry to ascribe to Christianity, such as was then practised, the check that the Saracens experienced in Europe; but the vehement and firm will and iron vigour of the Norman prevailed over the wild enthusiasm and unconnected activity of the Oriental. However strong in numbers, and powerful in resources, every expedition of the Saracen was a mere expansion of the foray of an Arab tribe. The Moor was, as he described himself, a thunderbolt of war; but the cloud that bore it must move on, or be dissolved. When the Moslem reached France on the south, and Hungary on the east, he encountered that stern northern race to whom the conquest of the world seems allotted. Baffled and thrown back on Barbary and the Bosphorus, the tide of Islam, that must ever either flow or ebb, had turned. From that hour, it began to shrink, and is now rapidly subsiding into the narrow channel whence it overflowed. Would that we could find a pure and uniform faith following upon its retiring tide, as the harvest pursues the receding Nile! As yet there appears little probability of such a result; but, come what may, it is consolatory to believe that the opened eyes and expanded hearts of men will never more submit to the Moslems' creed, in whose path has followed, like its shadow, oppression, insecurity, poverty, and intolerance. It is not, however, by conversion that Islamism is on the decline. "Moslem once, Moslem ever," is a proverb among the Greeks. His very being is identified with his faith; it is interwoven with every action of his life; it is the source of all his pride, hope, and comfort. Amongst us, too generally, our religion "is of our life a thing apart :" with the Moslem it seems inseparable. Inquire of the historian, the traveller, or even of the Missionary, what number of conversions have taken place among that people on whose soul, from their very infancy, the faith of the Prophet and the scorn of the Christian seems stamped indelibly, and they will answer, "None." It is only, then, with a failing population that this war-faith seems to fail: Ubi solitudinem, pacem. Then comes the Greek, or the Roman Catholic, or the Jew, who multiply apace; and the same belief in destiny that once carried the Moslem over the world irresistibly, now bids him submit to extinction or emigration. The Egyptian Moslem presents all the evil results of his religion in a striking manner, with little admixture of its better qualities, except the resignation, the hospitality, and courteousness that it enjoins; to which must be added, respect to grey hairs, and filial reverence. The numbers of the Moslem in Egypt is one million seven hundred and fifty thousand, including Turks and Nubians. SELECT LIST OF BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED, WITH CHARACTERISTIC NOTICES. [The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] The Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets, translated from the original Hebrew: with a Commentary, critical, philological, and exegetical. By E. Henderson, D.D. 8vo. pp. x, 463. Hamil tons. the first work of a translator and interpreter is to ascertain the literal and primary meaning of the sacred text. The day of allegory, of fanciful interpretation, under any and every name, is gone by, we trust, for ever. Yet we are not sure whether the statement of this supremacy of the primary meaning should not always be connected with a reference to what may be called the sacramental character of the divine declaration, very different from the old allegorical systems, but yet requiring careful attention. Perhaps this is one reason for the establishment of a separated ministry, wholly devoted to one work. Individuals, engaged in the busy concerns of life, have seldom either leisure or ability fully to search out all the depths of Scripture, even so far as doctrine is concerned; and, therefore, it is the duty of the Ministers of the word to be, in this respect, their instructers and helpers, to furnish them with the truth in such form as may directly minister to their spiritual growth. Extremes often produce extremes. A spiritual despotism, claiming infallibility, and calling for an implicit, indolent, unenlightened, and thus unsaving, faith, has occasioned, in the reaction, a bold, ignorant, self-willed application of what has been called the right of private judgment to modes of proceeding which would be more correctly described, as the unchecked liberty of error. Happier days, we would fain hope, are coming, when an enlightened ministry shall build up an enlightened church. this, volumes like the one before us, directly tend; and, therefore, we hail We have received Dr. Henderson's volume with much pleasure, and cordially thank him for this very valuable contribution to the great cause of a correct interpretation, in order to a correct understanding, of holy Scripture, Never was it more necessary, (if ever equally necessary,) that the Ministers of the Gospel should so clearly perceive the true meaning of the letter of Scripture, as to be enabled thence to deduce the true doctrine of Scripture; that such may be their ministrations, combining with holy fervour, holy light, that, in the hearts of the people of God, the word of Christ may dwell richly, "in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." In this brief notice, we shall not be expected to refer to the minute details of the work before us: our reference to it is general, and as a whole; and thus referring to it, we only do justice to the author to bear testimony to his great industry and care, and to the soundness of his principles. To German diligence and exactness, he adds what we think we may be allowed, without national pride, to term, British sobriety, and British evangelism. He fearlessly applies the true laws of literary criticism; but he never forgets, that the book before him is God's book, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the instruction of the ministry, and the salvation and growth of the church. We quite agree with Dr. Henderson, that To their appearance, thanking their authors, but, most of all, thanking God. To those younger Ministers, who have the means of prosecuting these scriptural studies, we recommend Dr. Henderson's volume as an example; while they who have not, may take the translation before them as, for the most part, faithfully exhibiting the form and character of the original, and, by supplying the text, furnishing them the opportunity of following up, prayerfully, as well as industriously, the work of interpretation. Scriptural Reasons against the Doctrine of Christ's pre-millennial Advent: addressed to the Faithful in Christ. By a Minister of the Gospel. 12mo. pp. 42. Simpkin." Who shall decide when Doctors disagree?" The millenarian, according to an ancient tradition in the church, grounded on some doubtful text in the book of Revelation and other Scriptures, believes, that our Saviour shall reign a thousand years with the faithful upon earth after the first resurrection, before the full completion of final happiness; and his cognomen, taken from the Latin word mille, "a thousand,' has a direct allusion to the duration of this spiritual empire, which is styled the millennium. The tradition which fixes the duration of the world, in its present imperfect state, to six thousand years, and announces the approach of a sabbath of one thousand years of universal peace and plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah, has been traced up to Elias, a Rabbinical writer, who flourished about two centuries before the birth of Christ. It certainly obtained among the Chaldeans from the earliest times, and is countenanced by Barnabas, Irenæus, and other primitive writers, and by many of the Jews of the present day. Justin Martyr, the most ancient of the Fathers, was a great supporter of the doctrine of the millennium, or that our Saviour should reign with the faithful upon earth for a thousand years, which he declares was the belief of all orthodox Christians. But this opinion was not generally followed; for though there has been no age of the church in which this doctrine was not admitted by one or more Divines of the first eminence, it appears from the writings of Eusebius, and others among the ancients, as well as from the histories of Du Pin, Mosheim, and other moderns, that it was never adopted by the whole church, nor formed an article of the established creed in any nation. Origen, one of the most learned of the Fathers, and Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, usually, for his immense erudition, surnamed the Great, both opposed the doctrine that prevailed on the subject in their day; and Dr. Whitby, in his learned treatise, proves that the millennium was never generally received in the church of Christ, and that there is no just ground to imagine that the dogma was derived from the Apostles. We have read with pleasure these "Scrip. tural Reasons," and strongly recommend an extensive circulation of them, as confirmatory of the opinion we have long entertained on the subject, that it is utterly destitute of the sanction of God's holy word, and unworthy of any further recognition and respect than a doubtful tradition. The Angels of God; their Nature, Character, Ranks, and Ministerial Services, as exhibited in the Holy Scriptures. By the Rev. Thomas Timpson. 8vo. pp. viii, 524. Snow.-It appears that several of the papers found in this volume, originally appeared in the "Christian Penny," Evangelical, and Congregational Magazines. These have been collected, and now, with others which have been added, constitute the volume before us. Whatever of praise the author may claim for his industry, he certainly merits but little on the score of originality; inasmuch as the book is almost entirely composed of judiciously selected extracts from the best of our ancient and modern Divines, who have written on, or referred to, the subject. To those who delight in meditating on that branch of revealed truth, "the ministry of angels," the volume on our table, on account of its extensive and numerous quotations, and the multifarious topics which are introduced with regard to those celestial intelligences, will be instructive and ac ceptable. The popular notion of tutelary, guardian, or guarding angels, watching over the affairs of empires, nations, provinces, and individuals, is pagan in its origin, and utterly subver sive of the truth of God. Puseyism. Addressed to all who either promote or proscribe Tractarianism. 12mo. pp. 36. Sherwood and Co. -A capital tract; and, if it be not extensively circulated, the sin of not recommending it to the public shall not lie at our door. The line of argument adopted by the excellent author, from what we can gather, is the following:Are you inclined to Puseyism? If you be, and are sincere in your predilections, then you must advance towards Romanism, and be prepared not only to receive, We but to give implicit credence to, the legendary miracles of monkish superstition, in all their glaring absurdity and wickedness. It is credibly and positively stated, that the myrmidons of the Papacy-we mean, of course, the Priesthood-very carefully conceal from their Protestant dupes these fooleries: and well they may. This concealment, however, is only temporary; for when, spider-like, they entangle the unfortunate fly in the meshes of the web, he will be compelled to swallow, and avow his firm belief in, all that these damnable and nonsensical dogmas inculcate and teach, with a readiness similar to that in which the young upstart, who, in the presence of James Bruce, had given the lie to certain statements contained in the narrative of that great traveller, was forced to gulp the raw beef-steak, à la Abyssinia. cannot but admire, although we may smile at, the care with which our author endeavours to exclude from his pages every appearance of that which might create a laugh. On this subject we confess ourselves not to be quite so fastidious. There are seasons in which the ridiculous and contemptible vagaries of the Tractarians require to be treated with irony and scorn. The subject itself is serious in its character, we allow ; but a man may sometimes be merry even upon a grave subject. Suppose our country were invaded by a large army. This subject is confessedly important. But if this army appeared upon our shores with wooden swords, and with muskets and cannon destitute of ammunition, every Englishman would indulge in a laugh at the insolence and folly of the invading party, without incurring any suspicion of his loyalty and patriotism. A very serious question once was agitated in Israel, whether the Almighty or Baal ought to be worshipped. A Prophet, who had hazarded his life in the service of Jehovah, could not forbear making use of a little irony when he saw the silly attempts made by the Priests of Baal to persuade their idol to work a miracle in support of his claims to the adoration of the multitude. Like the soldier, and the Prophet, we feel the gravity of the subject; but, like them, we are compelled to laugh at the ridiculous folly, and contemptible notions, of these apes of the Papacy, more becoming the mountebank than the Divine. Memoirs of a Working Man. 18mo. pp. xii, 234. C. Knight. We have been deeply interested in the perusal of this unassuming, but useful, volume, written by the operative himself: it is the production of one who is to "fortune and to fame unknown," but, while assiduously performing the duties of his humble calling, shows that a strict and diligent discharge of his daily avocations is no impediment to the exercise of those faculties, and the gratification of those tastes, which, whatever the world may have thought, can no longer be held to be limited by station. The volume will be an amusing and instructive acquisition to the domestic, the Sunday-school, or village library; and, as such, we recommend it. The Power of the Soul over the Body, considered in relation to Health and Morals. By George Moore, M.D., &c., &c. 8vo. pp. viii, 305. Longman and Co.-We have read this volume with considerable pleasure: it is the result of extensive observation and deep thought, abounds in practical suggestions which cannot be too widely known, and is written with a profound regard for the revelation of the Most High. The work is comprised in two parts. I. The Soul, as manifested in the Use of the Senses, in Attention and Memory. II. The Influence of mental Determination and Emotion over the Body. Dr. Moore informs us, that "the principal part of the volume was written during the unwelcome, but valuable, leisure of disease, for the purpose of being addressed to a few young men, who appeared to be deeply interested in the nature and importance of the subject. On a re-perusal of the manuscript, the recollection of this encouragement induced a hope, that the publication might find an apology in the approval of reflecting readers; especially as, at this time, the public mind is roused to the observation of mental influences, in the production of remarkable phenomena under mesmerism and disease. The views exhibited in these pages having been consolatory and instructive to himself, the author trusts will be deemed at least a good reason for his endeavour thus to obtain the attention. As said good old Ihon Caius, Docteur in Physicke,' A.D. 1552, 'Man beying borne not for his owne vse and comoditie alone, but also for the commō benefite of many, (as reason wil, and al good authores write,) he whiche, in this world, is worthy to lyve, ought al wayes to have his hole minde and intente geven to profite others. Which thynge to shewe in effecte in my self, although by fortune some waies I have been letted, yet by that which fortune cannot |