the consummate orator, but they will also convince them how much may be acquired by such toil and labor.

The story of "The Hallig "* by a Lutheran minister has now been for a long time before the public; yet we will make mention of it as it has been sent to us for examination. It is a beautiful and instructive tale. The Author commenced his pastoral labors by ministering to a small congregation of fifty persons, on a little island in the north sea, on the western coast of Denmark, and the story illustrates the scenery and the domestic life of the humble inhabitants of that region, while its aim is to teach an unfailing trust in God. The fiction is simple and transparent, and the story reminds us of the tales by Miss Bremer, while its religious tone is higher than that of hers generally is.

The translation, by our accomplished country woman, Mrs. Marsh, is beautifully executed, preserving the natural and simple character of the original work with the purity of the English language.

Messrs. Gould & Lincoln have submitted to our notice a work which treats in a familiar way of many of the sources of wealth in modern times, and the mutual support and dependence of capital and labor. The title is "Knowledge is l'ower." We take pleasure in commending it to our readers. The Author, in the prosecution of his subject, traces the history of productive labor, and the progress of civilization in England. His facts and illustrations are drawn from various branches of industry, such as printing and paper making, the manufacture of pins and needles, hats and gloves, silk, linen and woolen fabrics; the cotton gin and the cotton manufacture in the United States, and many other branches of industry.

It is not a scientific work, nor is it intended for learned men, but contains much valuable information on the subjects treated of, conveyed in a familiar way and illustrated in a popular manner. It will be sought by practical mechanics and by all who desire a general view of the subjects discussed.

* The Hallig, or the Sheepfold in the Waters, a tale of humble life on the coast of Schleswig,translated from the German, by Mrs. GEORGE P. MARSH. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. pp. 298.

Knowledge is Power, a view of the Productive Forces of Modern Society and the Results of Labor, Capital and Skill, by Charles Knight. Revised and edited with additions by DAVID A. WELLS, A. M. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. pp. 503.

The title of Mrs. Tuthill's new book* is the worst thing about it! "Get Money." It is an unfinished sentence which hardly provokes our curiosity. What does it mean? Is it an exhortation to us to get rich? We find ourselves recalling the old condemnation pronounced upon those who make haste to be rich.

But the Author's name assures us. Mrs. Tuthill always writes with a good end in view, and "honesty is the best policy" seems to be the key to the moral of this story.

The little hero, who gets rich at the end of the volume, proves himself to be of true metal in various trying scenes-before robbers in a haunted house, when under unjust arrest, in peril among mutineers at sea, and again when he becomes the discoverer of uncounted gold.

The explanation is found in his having had a good mother; his early principles have been formed upon Bible rules, and honest and straightforward in all his dealings, he makes even the ill-disposed acknowledge his manliness and worth.

This book is written for young people, and cannot but amuse them, by its liveliness and variety.

We did not expect to find, in a story from the pen of the Lamplighter, so straightforward and consistent a plan as we have in Mabel Vaughan.† The hair-breadth escapes and sudden changes of fortune which came with such incredible variety and rapidity to the heroine of the Author's former production had prepared us for something very different from what we have found here. In the story before us, we foresee from the very first, how the early Christian training which Mabel received from her kind friend in the country, is to prepare her to act in all that is

before her.

We are not disappointed; she proves the solace of her father, the benefactress of the poor, makes all happy around her, and gives us a striking contrast to her worldly sister, who, having fallen a victim to her own excesses, dies, untended and almost uncared for.

The episode of the little lame Rosa, happy despite her pain and poverty, always wearing a bright face, and having a cheerful word to say, because her mind is so calm and full of hopes beyond herself and her poor life here, is complete and beautiful enough in itself to commend the whole book. We like these quiet pictures of every-day life

Get Money. By Mrs. L. C. TUTHILL. New York: Charles Scribner. 1858. pp. 284.

Mabel Vaughan. Boston: Jewett & Co. 1857.

among the virtuous poor. They are always refreshing oases after viewing the sunnier and more dazzling scenes of life among the wealthy. At the close of the story we are gratified with a happy marriage, which seems to be the novel writer's reward in store for a good heroine, and we shut the book with our sense of justice gratified, and commend it to our next friend, as a very pleasing story.

We have read also a pleasantly written volume* which is designed to explain and illustrate that mode of Christian Baptism, which admits the children of believers to a participation in the Sacrament. Few treatises on this ordinance are so attractive, and in many particulars so conclusive. The domestic pictures display at once the absurdity and unchristian nature of the doctrine, maintained by the Anabaptists; while they also depict the correct interpretation of the New Testament accounts, concerning the performance of this rite.

We demur however from the theory of Sacramental efficiency in the Seal, notwithstanding the writer's protest against Puseyism; for few are subtle enough to detect his distinction; since either, there is or is not a mystic and supernatural infusion by the physical sign, and if that— then, why not baptismal regeneration

Instead of this fancy, why not avow the great fact of a spiritual unity, between the parent and child, so clearly revealed in Scripture, underlying the doctrine of natural depravity, and giving both power and permanence to the Abrahamic Covenant? The timid concessions of the Author on this point, suggest the thought, that he may have dreaded to have his production associated with a well-known treatise on Christian Nurture, which, after being approbated and published by a committee, was suddenly suspected of heresy, and forthwith ejected, when certain theological censors in that neighborhood signified their displeasure.

Neither does the relation of baptized children to the visible Church, as described, satisfy our convictions. The dispute about a name is of small account, and we are free to acknowledge that there are objections to styling these children church members, without a prefix, showing that they are not in full communion. The Author of this volume, however, implies, that we are to expect from the child baptized in infancy, and educated by faithful Christian guardians, the same experience as proof of regeneration, as from those who have lived to adult years unenlightened in their duty, and who have given themselves over to profanity and lasciviousness.

Bertha and her Baptism. By the Author of Agnes and the little Key. Second Edition. Boston: S. K. Whipple & Company, 161 Washington St. 1857.

If the space employed in attempting to establish a mystic efficiency in the symbol, had been occupied with a defense of the doctrine o the Reformers, and of the Christian Church in the past, whereby the baptized children of believing parents are taught to feel the responsibility of deciding, upon arriving at years of discretion, whether they will consent to the vows made in their behalf, accept Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, and so enter upon the privileges of disciples, we should have regarded the treatise as more complete. Notwithstanding these defects, the volume is adapted to relieve objections which perplex some in respect to this blessed Sacrament.

We commend the little volume with the title of Agnes and the Little Key, to all who are sorrowing under the divine disposal of their treasures in laying them up in heaven. The Author has selected a theme especially suited to his peculiar genius, and his sweet thoughts breathe holy incense above the grave of his child. In this world, where grief and trial are our portion, such a book is always timely; and many a despondent mourner will bless the guide who taught the way to glory in affliction.

In Here and Hereafter, the Author's aim seems to have been, not so much to make out an entertaining story, as to show by a striking contrast of two married lives, which are the wiser and happier-devotees of the world or large-hearted Christians, such as Mr. and Mrs. Norton are represented to be.

Without any special plot, or striking incident, the book commends itself to us through its good genius, this Christian lady, who in befriending the unhappy, and in bearing patiently her own trials, might be an ensample to all.

The pleasing moral satire of "Nothing to Wear" has proved its popularity in nothing more than in its having so many imitators. "Nothing to Do," and "Nothing to You," are executed in good style of spirit and illustration, but neither in tone nor in spirit are they equal to their standard.

* Agnes and the Little Key, or Bereaved Parents instructed and comforted by her father. Second Edition. Boston: S. K. Whipple & Co., 161 Washington

street. 1857.

Here and Hereafter, or the Two Altars. By ANNA ATHERTON. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co.

Nothing to You-Nothing to Do! New York: Wiley & Halsted. 1857.

THE

NEW ENGLANDER.

No. LXII.

MAY, 185 8.

ART. I.-SPIRITUALISM TESTED BY SCIENCE.

THE so-called spiritualism of our day has been abundantly denounced, but it still survives, and in one sense at least, it is a fact; for at this moment, and in all enlightened countries, it occupies the attention of thousands of intelligent men and

women.

Not only is it living among its avowed and notorious advocates, but it enters into the daily thoughts, and has become part of the creed, and very religion of numbers who keep their own counsel, ashamed to encounter the contempt of the unbelieving; while everywhere among the most honest and cultivated, are to be found those who firmly hold the facts of the manifestations without attempting to decide whether they be spiritual or physical.

To one class of people, that which, on the whole, includes our most reliable heads and steady hearts, the word 'spiritualism' is a synonym for delusion, fanaticism, and brain-weakness; it is a prurient curiosity about mysteries that are impenetrable; it is the sister of superstitious ignorance,