regarded as objects of religious adoration, there would have been nothing strikingly significant in respect to Egyptian mythology by their destruction; but if they were considered sacred, and received from the people religious reverence, then their putrid carcases, thrown in great numbers to the ́shore, or floating repulsively upon the waters, must have been a powerful rebuke of their idolatrous superstition. What now were the facts? To answer this question with some degree of minuteness, it will be necessary to refer to several fish separately, and show in what estimation they were held.

We begin with the latos, more commonly known as the perch-perca nilotica, called by the French variole, and by the Arabians keschr, a word which signifies a scale, because of the immense number of scales with which this fish is covered. When young it is tender and palatable. It grows, however, to a large size, and is then of a coarse grain, uninviting and indigestible. It sometimes reaches the weight of two or three hundred pounds. This fish was generally revered throughout the land, for which reason it was not eaten by the people. At Latopolis-the city of the latos, supposed to be the modern Ené, a splendid temple was erected, in which it was specially adored. Denon, who has given an engraving of the ruined portico of this edifice, regards it as "the purest and most perfect fragment of Egyptian antiquity extant.”

The oxyrinchus, believed to have been the pike, was another sacred fish. Strabo says that in a city of the same name, a magnificent temple was reared in honor of this deity. It was not so generally adored as the latos, for whilst in some parts of the land it was highly reverenced, in other parts it was regarded as an abomination. The same was true of the phager, with reference to whose modern name there is a difference of opinion. Some contend that it is the red mullet of the ancients, and others that it is the sparus rubescens of Artedi. Whatever may be the cognomen and classification it received from science, such was its importance, that its name was given to a district of country, to a mouth of the Nile, and to a capital city. In upper and lower Egypt it was honored with the religious veneration of

the people, because it made its first annual appearance at the commencement of the Nile's inundation, and hence was regarded as the herald of that indispensable blessing. But in other parts of the country it was regarded with abhorrence on account of its red color. That, as we have seen, was the complexion of Typhon, the evil principle, and hence all animals and plants of that hue were detestable to the people. Another reason for aversion towards this fish arose from the fact that it was properly a denizen of salt water. It came from the Mediterranean, and many of the Egyptians regarded anything that came from that source as impure. It was to them Typhon swallowing up their beloved, idolized Nile, and therefore they held in abomination everything that came from its briny waters. For this reason they discarded from their tables sea-salt, though they used freely the fossil or rock salt that was brought to their markets by the Ethiopians.

The lepidotus was also an object of reverence, and was exalted to the honor of giving name to one of the towns of the Thebais. It is supposed to be the cyprinus linnœi. The descriptive title rufescens-reddish, furnishes the reason of its being superstitiously regarded, as everything red was deemed Typhonic, and awakened corresponding interest. It may have been venerated for the same reason that some rude tribes worship reptiles and devils-to prevent the excitement of their anger. Its special, local veneration was at Lepidotum on the Nile. Its fins are of a saffron hue, and its scales are large and of a white pearly lustre. Sonnini says: "The lustre of its scales gives much probability to the presumption that it is the lepidotus which was revered in ancient Egypt. It is known from a passage in Athenaeus that this sacred fish, which gave its name to a city, was of the carp genus, and the silvery splendor with which it shines was sufficient to make it distinguished, and even to induce superstitious people to ascribe to it something precious and supernatural."

As therefore many of the fish in the Nile were objects of worship to the Egyptians, their destruction by the bloody transformation of the river, might well be regarded as a

solemn rebuke of their piscatory idolatry. For, as we have said in reference to the river,-the utter helplessness of these scaly deities, and the weakness of those higher beings whose representatives they were, or under whose special protection they were supposed to be, are forced upon the mind, and the infinite superiority of the Jehovah of the Hebrews brought out into bold relief.

ARTICLE VIII.-NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND MORAL AGENCY; embracing a part of a former work entitled "Calvinism and Arminianism Compared and Tested by the Scriptures." From the second edition: revised. By J. G. STEARNS. (Utica, N. Y.: J. W. Fuller & Co. 16mo., pp. 268.)

The author informs us in the preface, that the former work, embraced in the present, "has been the means of turning many a one from Arminian notions to correct views of Bible truth." His style is unadorned and clear, his arguments well stated, and his exposure of the inconsistencies and absurdities of Arminianism thorough and forcible. His work might be improved, in our judgment, by pruning it of sundry remarks about Arminians which can only tend to excite their prejudice and opposition, (pp. 9, 10, 12, 13, 19,) and by stating their positions in language which they would accept as fair. While not aspiring to the high claim of a scientific treatise on the great theme discussed, and not remarkable for philosophic precision in the use of terms, yet as a popular manual on an important point in theology, this little volume is adapted to do good service, and as such we commend it.

THE NEW YORK PULPIT IN THE REVIVAL OF 1858. A Memorial Volume of Sermons. (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. 1858. 12mo. pp. 395.)

The publishers have done well to preserve in an enduring form some specimens of the preaching which the Holy Spirit has blessed in the great revival of 1858. Not only as a "memorial" of those precious hours has this volume more than common interest, but as a striking illustration of the essential unity of Protestant Christians, and as a favorable example of what may be called peculiarly American pulpit eloquence. Here are twenty-four sermons, by men from six different denominations, on themes most vital to true religion, and yet there is hardly a jarring note among them all. They all gather around one common Cross, and hold up a crucified Savior, revealed to the repentant, believing soul by the Holy Ghost, as man's only hope. As might have been expected, there is great variety in the subjects discussed, and in the respective power, brilliancy and directness with which they are treated, but this only adds to

the interest of the book.

The Baptists are well represented by Rev. Drs. E. T. Hiscox, Ed. Lathrop, Wm. Hague and Wm. R. Williams. The sermon by the latter, on "The War which knows no Exempts, and gives no Quarter," is a beautiful example of the manner in which genius can invest a trite subject with surpassing interest.

SERMONS AND ADDRESSES DELIVERED ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS. By JOHN HARRIS, D.D., late President of New College, London; author of "The Great Teacher," &c., &c. Second Series. (Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 1858; 8vo.; pp. 390.)

In noticing the "First Series" of these Posthumous Works of Dr. Harris, we expressed our high sense of the abilities of the author. This volume is worthy of equal commendation, and in some respects is even more valuable than that. Although discussing themes not so strictly doctrinal, yet we find in it the same broad and sublime views of the Gospel, and of the Divine Intercessor and Redeemer, the same exalted standard of Christian excellence and usefulness, similar exhibitions of intellectual power, taste and learning, all made tributary to the CROSS.

66

This volume contains fifteen sermons, and four "charges" delivered at the ordination of ministers. Its contents are adapted to reach and impress various classes. The sermons on "The Worth of the Soul," and Vital Christianity, both Exclusive and Comprehensive," are full of solemn considerations and thrilling appeals to the impenitent; that on "Religious Education" sets forth the responsibility and duty of parents in the most vivid light; sermons xi. and xii, and the charges" exhibit the high position, the essential qualifications and the glorious work of the Christian Ministry, in a manner we have never seen surpassed, while the remainder of the discourses are adapted to the Church at large, to confirm her faith, to enlarge her views, to animate her to entire consecration of all her energies to the glory of God, and the salvation of the world.

The sermons of Dr. Harris are not, like those of most popular preachers, prepared merely for the ear-they must be studied to be appreciated. Their beauty is not tinsel, but gold, and under all their splendor of diction lies solid thought. His imagination is rich and glowing, and sheds its light over almost every page. The Bible becomes in his hands a vast picture-gallery, and as he leads us from scene to scene, he exhibits to our enraptured vision the exquisite tints, the lights and shades, the hitherto unnoticed beauties traced there by the hand of Inspiration. Often, too, he condenses a weighty truth into a single sentence, a proverb sparkling with epigrammatic point, or links it to some beautiful figure, thus implanting it imperishably in the memory. We give a few of these "gems," merely as specimens of hundreds which might be collected from his works.

"Whatever the relation which the Christian sustains to others, he is to regard the influence with which it invests him as a golden chain for drawing them to Christ."

"Is there not a grave inconsistency in the fact of a church which He hath bought with a price, assembling in a house the price of which remains unpaid." "Nothing is absolutely unimportant, because nothing is isolated and alone. A whisper, it is said, may bring down an Alpine avalanche, and a word may revolutionize our character and condition forever. A look may disturb an everlasting principle, and affect the eternal destiny of others. A thought may give birth to an institution."

"Nothing terminates in itself—nothing terminates short of the throne of God -everything travels on till it reaches that point-and there it waits for judgment"

66 Every Christian is a public man, taken up into the universal designs of the God of grace."

"He who knows the principle of a truth, like the angel in the midst of the sun, stands in its centre, and sees to its circumference."

"Is the Christ-preacher more likely to secure the performance of duty, or the duty-preacher to lead to Christ ?"

"We inherit the past only as we employ it, and that we may employ it."

Every truly Christian sermon is a rehearsal for the final chorus-is, in effect, already set to music."

"Could you concentrate all the awful terrors of God into a focus, into one fiery point, still you must so hold it over the heart that it shall mell, not burn."

If all ministers would act on the suggestion made in the following paragraph, with which we close these citations, it would soon change the face of the world.

"The servant of Christ, when put in trust with the ministry of a particular church, is to look on each of its members as a talent, concerning which the great Proprietor is saying-Occupy till I come. Employ them all to the best advantage that each may be the means of winning another, and that my church of five or fifty may be the means of gaining five or fifty more.""

SERMONS OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON, OF LONDON. Fourth Series. (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co, 1858. 12mo.)

Here are twenty-seven sermons more from the same apparently inexhaustible source, a mind of wonderful fertility, and a heart on fire with Christian earnestness. We have already expressed our opinion of Mr. Spurgeon's rare talents, and need only add that the present volume falls not the least behind its predecessors in vigor, brilliancy and religious power. Some of the sermons are rather more striking than any in the previous volumes, and though we confess in their perusal experiencing an occasional shock at some violations of what seem to us the taste and propriety which should ever mark the pulpit, still these minor defects are lost amid the many good qualities which distinguish them. He himself declares: "Ye are all my witnesses, that if there be a Saxon word, or a homely phrase, a sentence that is rough and market-like that will tell you the truth, I always use that first." A more serious defect is pointed out by himself when he says: And perhaps even in the pulpit, if we are preachers, we have got hard words to say against those who are not quite so advanced as we are." Specimens of such "hard words" may be found on pp. 55, 355, and elsewhere We are pleased with one very marked feature of these discourses. He does not prune the great commission, but fearlessly proclaims in no less than seven different sermons: 66 He that believeth and is baptized-immersed-(p. 257) shall be saved." He "will not separate what God hath joined together.' We wonder not that these sermons as originally delivered were blessed of God to the conversion of many souls, and we hope that their extensive circulation in this country may be crowned with "a double blessing."

A COMMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By HORATIO B. HACKETT, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature in Newton Theological Institution. A new edition, revised and greatly enlarged; pp. 480, 8vo. (Boston: Gould & Lincoln; New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co.; Cincinnati: George S. Blanchard.)

The appearance of this volume has been anticipated with interest by biblical students for some months. The failing health of its author hurried the publication of the first edition before it was completed; and his visit to the countries over which the narrative of Luke takes the reader, a journey undertaken with a view to the perfection of this work of years, more than for any other one object, has created an expectation in reference to this Commentary rarely awakened.

The subjects to be discussed in this Book of Luke are manifold; and to treat every part of it well requires no ordinary combination of excellences in the Commentator. The essential doctrines of Christianity, logically discussed in the Epistles, are here practically presented in speeches for the occasion. The nicest principles of Gospel duty, as distinguished from the legal requirements of the Old Dispensation, are here as fully illustrated in example, as they were drawn out in the didactic portions of the Epistles. The whole question of church organization and discipline, which in its practical applications in our age of church extension at home and abroad, has become the question of the day, is limited almost exclusively to this Book of the Acts of the Apostles. The entire field, too, in