SAWYER'S TRANSLATION OF THE LATER PROPHETS.*-Nothing disheartened by the reception of his translation of the New Testament, Mr. Sawyer has gone on courageously with his translation of the Old. He has even grown hopeful "that a new era is dawning on the subject" of Bible translation, and "infers the same from the success of his (my) New Testament thus far, under great disadvantages." He must be more happily constituted than most men. Mr. Sawyer heartily believes that the imperative demand of our time is for a new translation of the Bible- a translation "into the improved style of the times"- and not for a revision of our common version. He is very positive that to suppose the contrary "is a mistake." "King James's Bible cannot be altered with propriety any more than you can alter Shakespeare or Paradise Lost." We had been accustomed to suppose that a translation made up by so many hands, and from so many sources, could not be compared with the original works of a single author, and might very possibly be improved by retouches from additional hands; but Mr. Sawyer very frankly assures us that "this is a mistake." He is very confident that "if any imagine they can much longer sustain the common Bible in credit, without admitting the very corrections and improvements which I am making, they are much mistaken." "The common Bible has already lost its authority as a standard, because it is known to be incorrect," but like any other venerable classic in our language, it will be held in high esteem, and be consulted in the study of the past. "When it shall be superseded entirely as the Bible of common use, as it must be, even then it will have a great historical value." Eleven notes are appended to the translation, occupying forty-five pages, and devoted chiefly to the vindication of certain words and phrases which he has substituted for others that have become familiar from the frequency of their use and the importance of their place in our theological dialect, but which he regards as false to the original. These notes are pertinent, however, with fewest exceptions, to his translation of the New Testament, and seem to have been suggested by criticisms on that work rather than by anything in the work they accompany. We are nevertheless thankful for them even where they are, and believe they will contribute to a better understanding of the *The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments. Translated and arranged with Notes. By LEICESTER AMBROSE SAWYER. Vol. II. The Later Prophets. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co. Scripture, even though they do not win to an adoption of the opinions they advocate. We have been surprised to find how few changes Mr. Sawyer has felt to be demanded by "the improved style of the times," in those passages where our common version renders correctly the sense of the original. It is equally surprising how numerous these passages are. On the other hand, it must be admitted that there are multitudes of obscure passages in the later prophets which he has succeeded in making more intelligible; and, right or wrong, in taste or in thought, he h. s given his understanding of them, and, like any commentator, has contributed his share towards a correct interpretation of the Book of books. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. This vol POLITICAL SERMONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.* ume contains nine discourses, commencing with Jonathan Mayhew's celebrated sermon on "Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers," delivered in Boston in 1750, and ending with Dr. Stiles's sermon on "The United States Exalted to Glory and Honour,”. delivered before the Governor and Legislature of Connecticut, at the Annual Election 1783. The sermons by Dr. Chauncey, Mr. Cooke, Mr. Gordon, Dr. Langdon, Mr. West, Mr. Payson, and Mr. Howard, were delivered in Massachusetts, at Thanksgivings or Elections, during the intervening period. All these sermons are preceded, in the volume be fore us, with Prefatory Notes, illustrative of their historical relations, and foot notes are added, whenever required for further elucidation of the text. The editorial work has been performed with abundant care and labor, and with a hearty interest in the sermons themselves, and in the times to which they belonged, which spreads a glow over the entire volume. There is a repugnance in our times to the mingling of politics and religion, and the "political sermons" of any period are likely, therefore, to be placed at once under the general ban. At any time, however, the mingling of politics and religion in political sermons must be defined and explained before it can be intelligently judged, and those who understand best the political sermons of the period of the Revolution, will be slowest to condemn them. The moral and religious The Pulpit and the American Revolution; or the Political Sermons of the Period of 1776. With a Historical Introduction, Notes and Illustrations. By JOHN WINGATE THORNTON, A. M. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 12mo., pp. 557. foundations of the Revolution, those foundations without which there could have been no Revolution, cannot be adequately understood without an acquaintance with the religious instructions which the people were accustomed to receive in their sanctuaries. The conduct of men is always traceable ultimately to their opinions, and among a religious people no opinions are so immediately and absolutely controlling as those to which religion lends her sanctions, and with which her own interests are indissolubly connected. Among our ancestors, opinions respecting civil magistracy and civil obedience were of this character, and we must look, therefore, to religious sources for a chief solution of their political conduct. The propriety of this view will be illustrated at once by referring to the sermon of the young and eloquent Mayhew, published in this volume. All the seeds of the Revolution are found in it, and yet it is all within the province of a Christian minister, in the year 1750. Christianity had been made the plea in justification of the persecutions which had peopled New England, and the professed teachers of Christianity in the Established Church were still attempting to wrest the teachings of Paul to the support of a divine right, on the part of princes, to oppress their subjects. There was one day in the year, that of "King Charles the Martyr," which the established clergy specially set apart to this perversion of the doctrines of the Bible. In a kingdom so taught, and therefore likely to be so ruled, Mayhew and his brethren were simply tolerated, and how long they were to be tolerated could not be known. Planting himself, therefore, on the favorite passage of the established clergy (Rom., xiii: 1-8), and taking for his time the Sunday following the anniversary of the Church of England's saint, he asked whether these were really the doctrines of the passage, really the doctrines of Christianity, and most effectually proved that Christianity in general, and this passage in particular, taught the exact opposite. The saintship of the royal martyr withered away under his expositions, and the whole structure of the divine right of kings fell like the baseless fabric of a vision. The sermon was, in fact, a brilliant statement and illustration of the Christian doctrine of Civil Government, vigorous, logical and fearless- a prophecy of the Revolution, without the thought on the part of the author that he was a prophet,—and pledge of the Revolution, because a people thinking up to the level of such doctrines, could not be oppressed. We are glad to see this sermon. It takes us back to the first principles of government, as taught by Christianity, and in times like these it is well to turn to such principles that we may know where we stand. The whole volume, indeed, merits the study of the Christian patriot. PARTON'S LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON.*-Whatever may have been true of Mr. Parton's Life of Aaron Burr, his Life of Andrew Jackson is fully entitled to the great popular favor with which it has been received. The author never cramps himself to the requirements of any model of biographical literature with which we are acquainted, but pushes on his narrative with a geniality and freshness of spirit, a frankness of utterance, and a profusion in the grouping of contemporaneous persons and scenes, that admit of no flagging in the curiosity and interest of the reader. Very few of our national characters have been so closely identified with so large and so important portions of our national history, as Andrew Jackson. It is a broad canvas, with ample background and surroundings, that is required for a life-like and life-size portrait of the man. Mr. Parton has been fully alive to this necessity, and so has set himself to the final execution of his task, only after a breadth and minuteness of investigation that are a marvel in this day of hasty and superficial literature. Perhaps he has sometimes been too profuse in the use of the materials he has thus collected his canvas may be in places over-crowded — but it will be difficult to point out a great many pages in which this apparent excess of details is not needed to set in the right light, if not in the right angle of view, the special feature or trait under contemplation. That there are whole pages which could be greatly reduced or altogether omitted to advantage, is undoubtedly true. It would be difficult to justify perhaps, the encumbering of two or three pages at the close of his account of Jackson's career in the U. S. Senate with the newspaper advertisements of Philadelphia amusements, even though it were in illustration of his hero's preference for the wilderness of Tennesee to the gaieties of the metropolis. But these pages are not numerous in proportion to the whole work. It is to be mentioned as greatly to the credit of Mr. Parton, and as one of the rarest of virtues among writers of biography, that he never sets down aught in malice or in partiality. It would be difficult to detect, we think, throughout the three portly volumes, the faintest trace of a partizan spirit. We have learned to put little trust in an author's protestations of impartiality, these too often denoting an indifference to truth rather than a regard for it; but Mr. Parton, making no professions, goes directly and honestly to his work, leaving every * Life of Andrew Jackson. In three volumes, by JAMES PARTON, author of “ Life of Aaron Burr," "Humorous Poetry of the English language," etc. New York: Mason Brothers, 1861. reader to determine for himself, from its execution, as to the fitness and trustworthiness of the worker. And it must be confessed to be the veritable Andrew Jackson that stands out unmistakably on every page of the lengthened narrative. We need not say that there are scattered all through Mr. Parton's volumes, gratuitous opinions of men, books, and principles, from which we should utterly dissent. They are generally very dogmatically stated, are in themselves often superficial and sometimes absurd. HISTORICAL PICTURES RETOUCHED.*-Mrs. Dall's own work is an illustration of her frequent admonition to woman, Be thorough. She is frank and upright in all her literary efforts, and her style is, consequently, natural and straightforward. She has not written without patient investigation, and her decisions on character, wherever differing from common opinion, are well presented and well substantiated. Her paper on "Aspasia" is fresh and sensible, that on "Hypatia" embodies a scorching review of Kingsley's historical romance, and all her "Studies" are spirited, discriminating sketches of women whose names deserve to be remembered. Her comments are made in a spirit of calmness and candor that add greatly to the force of her facts. She has made an agreeable and needed contribution to our biographical literature. Two or three of her "Fancies" are New England family reminiscences. Her notice of "Dr. Lowell and his Ministry," is the loyal tribute of grateful and reverent affection. The book, though not free from an occasional inelegant construction (the first sentence of the notice just alluded to furnishes an instance), is written with an easy grace, and bears the marks of a refinement and dignity of character altogether womanly. A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION.t-We welcome from any source a just, dispassionate word in behalf of women, but especially coming from woman herself, since it implies a strong sense of moral obligation and a large exercise of moral courage. Mrs. Dall's "Woman's Right to Labor" has reached, we are glad to learn, a second edition. This little * Historical Pictures Retouched; a volume of Miscellanies. In two Parts. Part I-Studies. Part II- Fancies. By Mrs. DALL, author of "Woman's Right to Labor," &c. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co. 1860. A Practical Illustration of "Woman's Right to Marie E. Zakrzewska, M. D., late of Berlin, Prussia. DALL. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co., 1860. Labor;" or a letter from |