venture to intimate that M. le directeur des prisons du royaume could have any feeling of jealousy at the comparisons made between some American prisons, and the "maisons centrales," or the "bagnes" of France under his superintendence; and we confess our inability rationally to account for so unfortunate an ignorance of our system and character as is shown by the above sentences; an ignorance so pertinacious that not even the perusal of the work of De Beaumont and De Tocqueville could remove it. Lest, however, so eminent a person should be again betrayed into such an unhappy mistake, we will in mere charity inform him, that in all prisons in this country, conducted on the plan of the Auburn reform, religious, moral, and intellectual instruction forms an essential part of the system; that in all treatises and essays on the subject, with which we are acquainted, long or short, such instruction is invariably spoken of as indispensable in the theory of imprisonment; (See Reports of Boston Prison Discipline Society, passim; article Prison Discipline in Lieber's " Encyclopedia Americana,” and an article in "The Christian Examiner," July, 1836;) that the Reports of the directors of prisons generally speak of its importance and its good effects, and that some of them actually go into details of the reforms of character permanently produced by this, and by other means of penitentiary discipline. That we have not reduced our theory more completely to practice may perhaps be accounted for, by persons charitably disposed, from the fact that scarcely twelve years have elapsed, since the first attempt to introduce that reform which is now most approved; that great efforts are necessary to remove misapprehension, prejudice, and ignorance in the legislatures of the different States, by whose authority all alterations must be made; (prejudice and ignorance, by the way, which M. Lucas, with his experience and knowledge of the subject can scarcely be expected to appreciate or participate in,) and by the difficulty of finding suitable agents for carrying into effect new and untried plans. Notwithstanding all obstacles, however, the theory. has been carried into practice in nine States of this Union, in the District of Columbia, and in Upper Canada, without counting Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which have adopted a different system, but one in the theory of which religious and other instruction is equally regarded as essential. What does M. Lucas require more? Are twelve years so long a period as to enable everybody to obtain the necessary information on this subject, and to spread the reform through the whole system of imprisonment in every corner of this wide land? Let us see what he will have effected, with his central power and ample means, in the course

of twelve years, and then we shall be better able to judge of the quality of that civilization, which he describes in the following glowing terms of self-inspired enthusiasm.

"La civilisation évidemment prédestinée à doter notre siècle du système pénitentiaire, c'est la civilisation européenne, civilisation large et généreuse qui ne saurait s'arrêter à la limite de l'intimidation; l'élan de ses sympathies, l'urgence de ses besoins, lui commandent de la franchir, et de s'occuper au plus vite de réaliser en fait cette correction des condamnés, dont elle a déjà inscrit le nom et reconnu l'obligation dans ses codes."— pp. lxi., Ixii.

In answer to the reproach of incompletenesss in our reforms here, we think it may be useful to state the condition of the city of Boston and county of Suffolk, (nearly though not quite identical.) as to their prisons and modes of criminal discipline. The greater offenders are sent with those of other counties to the State Prison; those convicted of lesser offences, to the House of Correction; the accused, and the few debtors who, under the recent law, are still so unhappy as to be confined, are placed in the County Jail; while juvenile delinquents are taken care of, and properly educated in the House of Reformation. All these are on the most improved system, as we think, combining religious, moral, and intellectual instruction in due proportion with the labor and restraint required, with the exception of the County Jail. We understand, however, that the city government have it in contemplation soon to remove this new and strong building, with the purpose of replacing it with one more conformable to the improved state of our knowledge in the construction of such edifices. When this is done, the system will be tolerably complete, and will be carried out in such manner, as will not be disgraceful to the city, the county, or the commonwealth.

In connexion with these establishments, we cannot but refer, with just pride, to that admirable private institution for the public benefit, the Farm School, which comes powerfully in aid of the other disciplinary resources of this community, and which is and will be, we doubt not, an incalculable blessing to many a sorrowing parent, and many a reckless child. The instincts of American civilization go farther than M. Lucas has imagined.

A Good Life, extracted from the True Plan of a
Living Temple. With an Introductory Essay. By
JOHN BRAZER. Boston; Joseph Dowe. 12mo. pp.

216.

"THE Living Temple" of old John Howe was a work of great power, and had its day of influence and fame; but we may say of it what the editor of the little volume before us has said of another well-known book, "The Whole Duty of Man," "It well deserved its title, and was a very useful book in its day; but what may have been the whole duty of man a hundred and fifty years ago, does not comprise his whole duty now; and if it did, it would still need to be told in a language, and to employ a style of thought and illustration adapted to the prevailing tastes and wider knowledge of our age, or it would soon be laid aside, and left among antiquated and forgotten things."

The anonymous author of the "True Plan of a Living Temple" appears to have held a similar opinion, and, by his allusion to the work of Howe, tacitly expresses the design of accomplishing for the present age, what that good man accomplished for a former. In this he has been successful; and Dr. Brazer has done well in causing a portion of it to be reprinted here. The original work, consisting of three volumes upon a very extensive plan, was executed with too little compression and animation to be very interesting as a whole; its extreme diffuseness and uniform gentleness rendered it languid. But this defect will hardly be perceived in a volume of the present size; while the uncommon judiciousness and discrimination of its views, the sobriety and practicalness of its statements, the calmness and sweetness of its whole tone, must win for it the attention of serious readers, and insure to it a most useful influence. For those who are seeking in earnest their own moral and religious improvement, who desire a book which shall help them as a friend helps a friend, and who in their hours of serious reflection prefer a still small voice to that of passionate appeal, this will be a welcome publication.

QUARTERLY LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

ANNUALS.

Peter Parley's Almanac, for 1837. New York. Freeman Hunt & Co.

The Parlour Scrap-Book, comprising sixteen Engravings, with poetical and other Illustrations. Edited by Willis Gaylord Clark. Philadelphia. Carey, Lea, & Blanchard.

The Union Annual, for 1837. Philadelphia. Published by the Sunday School Union."

The Jewel, or Token of Friendship, for 1837. New York. Bancroft & Holly.

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS.
Life of Washington, by Peter Parley.
Thomas, & Co.

New York. Desilver,

Life of Franklin, by Peter Parley. Thomas, & Co.

New York.

Desilver,

Life of Columbus, by Peter Parley. Thomas, & Co.

Memoir of William Carey, D. D., late Missionary to Bengal, Professor of Oriental Languages in the College of Fort William, Calcutta, by Eustace Carey, with an introductory Essay, by Francis Wayland, D. D., President of Brown University. 1 vol. 12mo. Boston. Gould, Kendall, & Lincoln.

Eulogy on James Madison, by John Quincy Adams, delivered at the Request of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of Boston. Boston. American Stationers' Company.

Select Remains of the Rev. William Nevins, with a Memoir. 1 vol. 8vo. New York. John S. Taylor.

EDUCATION.

The New American Grammar of the Elements of Astronomy on an Improved Plan, &c. &c.; by James Ryan, A. M. New York. W. E. Dean.

The Practical and Theoretical System of Arithmetic, &c. &c., by George Wilson. Canandaigua. C. Morse. New York. Col

lins, Keese, & Co.

The Nursery Book, containing an easy Description of one hundred Subjects necessary to be known by all Young Persons, with Drawings of each Subject. Philadelphia. T. J. Ash.

The Engineer's Practical Elements. Containing Surveying, Draughting, &c., on the Basis of Lacroix. 1 vol. 12mo. Philadelphia. Hogan & Thompson.

The American Class-Reader, &c. &c., by George Wilson. New York. Collins, Keese, & Co.

The Scholar's Reference Book, containing a Dictionary of English Synonymes, Tables of Greek and Latin Proper Names, and a Variety of other useful Matter. Philadelphia. Henry Perkins.

An Analysis of the Derivative Words in the English Language, as a Key to their precise analytic Definitions by Prefixes and Suffixes, by Salem Town, A. M. New York. Harper & Brothers.

Gradations in Arithmetic, by Richard W. Green, A. M. Philadelphia. Henry Perkins.

History of the United States, for the Use of Schools and Academies, by John Frost, with thirty Engravings, by C. N. Parmalee, from Drawings, by J. Sartain. Philadelphia. E. E. Biddle.

An Arithmetical Guide, in which the Principles of Numbers are inductively explained, and adapted to the every-day Business of Life, by Richard W. Green, A. M. Philadelphia. Henry Perkins.

A Treatise on Language; or the Relation which Words bear to Things. In Four Parts. By A. B. Johnson. 1 vol. 8vo. New York. Harper & Brothers.

Keightley's Mythology, for the Use of Schools. New York. D. Appleton & Co.

The North American Spelling-Book, conformed to Worcester's Dictionary, with a Progressive Series of Easy Reading Lessons, by L. W. Leonard, Author of the "Literary and Scientific Class Book," and "Sequel to Easy Lessons." Revised Edition. Keene, N. H. George Tilden. 12mo. pp. 180.

This little work is somewhat beyond the range of our accustomed studies. But we cannot deny ourselves the satisfaction of saying, that, as far as we are able to form an idea of what a spelling-book should be, this is precisely that thing. Something more solid than praise is often obtained by well executed works of this humble description; and we are sure that something better than praise is the due of one, who, distinguished in the walks of natural science as well as of a responsible profession, yet finds time and taste for labors which, useful as they are, and capable of exercising some of the highest powers, still are apt to be all "unknown to fame."

An Address, delivered on Monday, December 22d, 1834, by Rev. John Ludlow, D. D., on the Occasion of his Inauguration as Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. 8vo. pp. 31.

Dr. Ludlow was inaugurated as Provost of the Pennsylvania University December 22d, 1834. On that occasion he delivered the very sensible discourse, the title of which we have copied above. In the first part of the address, the Provost discusses the subject of college government. We imagine he has seen reason to modify some of his opinions, since that time, or his experience must have been very different from that of any other head of a college in the country. He must have seen that the only way of maintaining good order and discipline among college students, is to insist upon an exact obedience to precise laws, and that the honorable feeling of a body of students is no more to be safely relied upon for correct conduct, than the honorable feeling of a body of grown-up men. In short, human nature is the same in the microcosm of a college, as in the macrocosm out of college.

The Provost proceeds to discuss, in a very candid spirit, the course of instruction in colleges. He defends the general principles of the old