Caith. ow- Publishers will confer a favor by mentioning the prices of 101 books sent to this Department. TILE NEW HYMN-BOOK. Our readers are aware that at the recent meet. lug of the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch] Church in our city, the consideration add adoption of a new Hymn-Book was one of he pieces of business transacted. At first hero was a good deal of opposition. The new book was strange', in its very excellencies,— something quite different from what this grave and conservative Church had been used to. But as the discussion went on, the friends of the new volume grew warmer in its praise and strong er in numbers, until at last it was adopted with a surprising degree of unanimity. By the kindness of Messrs. Barnes and Co. of New York we have received a copy of this new manual of praise. It is entitled SONGS OF TEE Cutiactr, with Tunes, and is• a volume some what larger than the 0. S. " Hymnal," while not so large (we think)aa the "Plymouth Collection." It is printed on tinted paper in type of the Old English face, i. e. with no hairlines, as in the Atlantic Monthly. The hymns—over a thou sand in number—are printed on the same page with the tunes, which number over 350,,and are many of them original. The whole is strongly 'and neatly bound and lettered, with a service able red edge to the pages. The mechanical execution of the book is in the best style, and attracts the eye at once. Of the intrinsic merits of the collection we have formed an opinion which accords with the second thoughts of the General Synod. The _compilers are evidently gentlemen of mature taste and judgment in matters hymnological. Nothing could be more clearly marked than the improvement in this workmpon our , older models. The more critical judgment, the more Catholic taste, the wider range of literary knowledge are easily discernible. The days when Dr. Watts was the staple, are clearly gone by forever. His best hymns and the best of his school, are not wanting here, but the more fervid and eloquent utterances of other schools occupy a rightful prominence. There are nearly—if not quite— as many of Charles Wesley's fervid lyrics in this volume as there are of Dr. Watts' effusions. On the whole we would pronounce SoNas OF THE CHUELOIi inferior to none, and far superior to most manuals of Christian praise that we have We could, of course, find fault a little. Hymns 144 and 164 with some others are too Moravian for our taste. Hymn 930 is no hymn at all, and the compilers should have been above the popular dishonesty of calling the tune ‘‘,America." "Rock of Ages" is not given quite as Toplady wrote it, the last stanza containing the absurd alteration. dg When my eyelids close in death"— which is j ust what the eyelids of* dead never do. In this case, however, and in all similar ones, the compilers give warning that the hymn has been altered. The old Scottish version of the Cth Psalm is credited to Hopkins, but should be to Kethe. Many common errors are corrected, as that which assigns to Luther the fine Judgment Hymn by Ringwalden. And on the whole the book is marvellously accurate and reliable. We miss some of the latest names, Palgrave occurring but once or twice, and T. H. Gill once. The same publishers are widely known for their educational issues. The last that we have re ceived is an ELEMENTARY LATIN GRAMMAR by Prof. Silber of New York, the best and tersest summary for practical uses that we have seen ; and bhe THIRD NATIONAL READER, one of their finely illustrauld series. The Rivingtons of London, Oxford and Cam bridge have published the Banipton Lectures for 1867 in a very neat form. The subject; is THE DOGMATIC FAITH, an Inquiry into the Relation subsisting between Revelation and Dogma. The lecturer, Rev. Edward Garbett, is already known to the Religious public of America by his " God's Word Written," a very orthodox defence of Inspiration and Revelation which the Boston Tract Society republished. He belongs, by men tal affinity to the Hard Church of which Whate ley and Thirlwall were the illustrious ornaments. Like them he is a logical rather than a sugges tive writer, more skilful in making good points than in entering into living sympathy with the thoughts and difficulties of men. This book is a careful and scholarly survey of the whole sub ject of the relation of the Christian doctrine to Christian life and the Christian sntem, but pre sents no strikingly new or able views. The discussion is largely historical, the conclusions of the primitive General Councils being taken as embodying the Dogmatic Faith of the Church as derived from Scripture and as underlying the later Protestant Confessions. If the author esays no bold flights he makes sure of his foot ing on the firm rock, and his volume is not un likely to exercise a most beneficial influence, if not a very extensive one, on the public mind on this subject. Messrs. Harper and Bros. send 'us through the Lippincotts, THE PHILOSOPHY OF TEACH ING by Nathaniel Sands. We were already ac quainted with Kr. Sands' views . through the columns of The Tribune, and must pronounce his work an ill judged and unwise •onslaught up THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1869. on classical education, in a Philistinish style which we had believed obsolete. Pp. GO, price From the same firm and through the same booksellers we have the PARSER AND ANALYZER by Francis A. March, a neat and tasteful little manual for the analytic study of the English language, with pictorial helps for the young student. Pn. 86. LITERARY ITEMS, —John Ruskin, the art critic, has been elect ed on the Slade Art Professorship of Oxford University. —Rev, H.. W. Beecher is hard at work this summer, completing his "life of Christ," which will soon be published by Ford and Co. —A number of Jewish Rabbis in Germany and Austria have resolved to prepare a encyclo pw.lia of the Talruiid in order to facilitate the study of that work. —Mr. Bordier, a French historian, having un dertaken to prove that such a person. as William Tell actually existed, has been effectually , de molished by M. Millet, the learned author of " Origins de 'la ,Confediration Suisse," who shows beyond a peradventure that the mythical hero of Switzerland is 'nothing but a myth. —Lord Derby, a translator of Virgil, is re ported to have written a letter to Mr. Gladstone regarding his new, book "Juventus Mundi 7 " just published. The ex Premier expressesJrankly his admiration and. wonder how, in the course of the last two ,years, his indefatigible successor should have found time for its composition. • —lt is statedin a Brussels .paper that a few months since President Juarez sent to M. Le fevre, a French ex-deputy, two thousand letters found in the private apartments of .he late Em peror Maximilian, commissioning him to publish them• at Brussels in French and Spanish. The book is lying ready printed, but some difficulty seems to have arisen as to its circulation just yet —ln 1866, Luther's Smaller Catechism, was translated for - the first time into the Russian language at St. Petersburg. The translation Was primarily intended , for German Lutherans re siding ih 'Russia; who have lost their native lan guage; but it is confidently believed ; that many members of the Greek Church will gladly re ceive the book, as it will supply a keenly felt de ficiency-. -Rev. Dr. Norman McLeod, who was Modera tor of the established Church General Assembly in Scotland last spring, delivered an extended and remarkable address. at the close of the sessions, on the Church at the present time. It is pub- lished in a small pamphlet by Strahan and Co., who have sent us a copy The Moderator is the most eloquent of living Scotch preachers. The spirit of this address is favorable to union among the Presbyterians in Scotland. He sees difficulties,. great and perhaps insurmountable, but"he pleads for charity, communion and united effort, in the hope of closer alliance. —An English Methodist writes : "In my judgment, the press in our weakest point, not so much as to the style and character of our publi cations as in the mode of circulation. Not one tenth of Methodism is supplied with either tracts or books, and the Churches around us, and the outside world, do not know that we have any literature at all I We cannot get books in the usual way under a month, and Sunday-school rewards, and books for children, are obtained from the religious Tract Society. or the Sunday school Union, flavored with Calvinism. There are large cities and towns where not a leaf of Methodist literature is to be had at, any respect able book-seller's shop, and a buyer must be des perately in earnest if he is at the pains to find out the preacher or the chapel-keeper in order to obtain what he wants." —The American Bible Society have just issued a pulpit. Bible, in Great Primer type, folio page, and in bindings to suit purchasers. We have no hesitation in saying that for, its bold broad faeed print, plain and elegant,page, and in all the best qualities of a pulpit Bible, this mas sive volume has never been excelled by any issue from the American press. The price also is more than reasonable, ranging from twelve to twenty dollars; according to style. This volume has beenin course of preparation since 1866, when it was ordered by the Board of Managers to be made, not only to meet a, great want, but as a monument and memorial of the Jubilee of the Society, which was celebrated in May, of that year. The greatest care has been to secure the accuracy and elegance of the electrotype plates, and we can confidently commend it t0 , .a1l who are in the want of a standard pulpit Eng lish Bible.- Christian Intelligencer. —When Robert Rrowning's poem .of " Sor dello" appeared, Douglas Jerrold was recruiting himself at Brighton, after a long illness. In the progress of his convalesence a parcel arrived from London, which, contained, among other things, this new volume of " Sordello." The medical attendant had forbidden Mr. Jerrold the luxury of reading; but owing to the absence of his conjugal life-guard, he indulged in the illicit enjoyment. A few lines put Jerrold, in a state of alarm. Sentence after sentence brought no consecutive thought to his brain. At last the idea,crossed his mind that, in his illness, his mental faeuities had been wrecked. The per ntspiration streamed from his forehead, and smiting his head, he sat down on the sofa, crying, " 0 God', lam an idiot." When his wife and her sister came, they were amused by his pushing the volume into their hands, and demanding what they thought of •it.. He watched them intently while they read ;. at.last his wife said, " I don't understand what this man means; it is gibber ish." The delighted humorist sank in his seat again, saying, "Thank dod, lam not an idiot I" —Rev. B. F. Cocker, D.P., of Ann Arbor, Mich., a clergyman of the Methodist Church, has now in the press of Messrs Harper Brothers, an important and elaborate work on " Christianity, and Greek Philosophy." This book contains the results of many years of earnest study. Its root idea is that the entire development of human thought has been directed by a presiding intelli gence illuminating all human minds—Greek, Brahmin, Chinese, Persian, as well as Hebrew and that, therefbre,•we have a right to expect an ultimate agreement between the conclusions of a sound philosophy and a right interpretation of Scripture. The author attempts to state the de finite results attained by Greek philosophy, show ing that the philosophy fulfilled a propmdeutic of fice for Christianity. In the department of the ology, it antagonized polytheism, purified the theistic conception, and developed the logical pooof of the being of God. In the field of ethics, it purified and elevated the idea of duty and, as serted (in Platonism) an immutable and eternal morality. In the sphere of religion, it awakened the sense of an immediate nearness and relation to God, aroused the consciousness of sin, and made men feel the need of Divine help and grace to redeem men from sin. —Messrs. J. B . Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, have already the first five parts of their "Univer sal PronoOncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology," by Dr. J. Thomas, the learned edi tor 'of " Lippincott's Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World.' Such a work of reference is greatly needed, and its issue will be warmly welcomed both by scholars and general readers. illidstdtanttats. .MISSIONATit ITEMS. Missionaries in Africa, are cornplaining.bitterly .of the fast increasing and destructive traffic in ardent spirits on the coast. A letter to the Edin burgh U. P. Record says: " The chief cargo of the Clyde steamers fore the oil rivers, as they are called, is ardent spirits, and I learn that this is fast becoming the chief cargo of the mail line also. The slave trade formery wasted poor. Af rica,and the flood of fire water' poured amongst her tribes is now carrying on her destruction. Our nation, after taking. a leading part in, the former traffic for many years, at length awoke to a recognition of its criminality,and cruelty, and put an end to it; it has yet to awake to a sens 4 of the criminality and cruelty of the latter. The Hudson's Bay Company,,fi r the protection of the Indian •tribes of its wide spread territories, prohibits the sale of ardent spirits to them. No such law has yet been enacted, nor perhaps can yet be enacted, for the protection • of the poor negro tribes. I have not the least doubt but that there are those in the membership of the. Church, who have a far greater capital embarked in this traffic, than the capital contributed by the benevolence of the. Church for the salvation of these tribes. —Some one sends Th.e Christian• Work to a missionary among the Caffres. , The reading and translating of an article on "Ev'angelizing Exper iences in Burmah," in the March number *as the means of the conversion of a Caffre listener. The sermon of Blind Hohannes; an American pastor recently deceased, on voluntary tithes, as published in The Missionary Herald, is being read and received with the deepest interest and most cheering, practical effects over widely sepa rated parts of the missionary field. —An English traveller, Mr. T. T. Cooper, has lately been trying to discover the unexplored-terri tory between Shanghai and British Burmah-or In dia. Foiled-in other attempts, he Crossed, about the Ist of May, 1868, over the Salwen, to the head waters of the eastern branch of-the Irrawaddy. hoping in some way to find a route which would lead him to Promo, nearly eight hundred miles distant.. At the first village to which he came on the Irrawaddy he was brought to the chief, a noble, athletic, and almost gigantic specimen of the mountaineers of that region. The chief at once said, "You are a white man. Are you one of God's men?" Mr. Cooper, astonished to hear such a question asked in such a place, replied, a lit tle evasively—he was not, he acknowledged, in any evancrelical sense, a Christian. The chief went on to say, "If you are one of God's men, I want 'you to tell me and my'people about God. Some of my people have heard from white men dcwn the river about the great 'God, and I want to know about Him myself, that I may become one of God's men." Mr. Cooper told him, as well he could, the general truths of Christianity, though painfully conscious that he was not himself fit miliar with ,hem; but the chief did not seem fully satisfied, and finding that the traveller was desirous of descending the river, he sent him in a boat with a delegation of his own people, lib erally supplying his needs, to Prome, and for warded an urgent request, both by Mr. Cooper and his own people, to our missionaries there, to send him a teacher who could tell both him and his tribe how they might become." God's men." —The Government at Pekin has issued a proclamation in regard to foreigners " propagating religion" in China, warning all natives, and es pecially the literary classes, who have been post ing inflammatory placards, that the work of these foreic ° mers is protected by treaty, and that natives who become church members