is free from everything vulgar and mean; and the humanity which might redeem the world is called forth towards the animal creation, unmingled with any mawkish sensibility.

Knight's Miscellanies. London: C. Knight and Co. 1840. This is a series of curious works, of which are published, — I. Davis's Chinese; or General Description of China and its inhabitants; in which is given an account of the English intercourse from earliest times to the present, a geographical description of China, a summary of its history; the principle and actual administration of its government; its legislation; institutions, manners, and customs. This work is also illustrated with sixty illustrations, which materially help the descriptions.

II. The English Causes Celebres. The actual trials of Count Konigsmark in 1682; the Turners, 1664; Robert Hawkins, 1669; the great Huntingdonshire case of Day vs. Day, 1797; Philip, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, 1678; the Perrys, 1661; Arthur Norkott, 1628; Philip Handsfred, 1688; all for capital crimes. These trials not only present a rich fund for the knowledge of human nature, but are admirable illustrations of the manners and customs of the times.

III. The Pastor Letters. These are private letters from various persons of consequence, on all familiar subjects, during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III. A very curious book.

Architecture of the Heavens. By Professor Nichol. burgh. 1839.

Edin

This work gives the result of the last observations of the Herschels, and a general view of the universe, as at present appreciated by astronomical science. It is full of facts, new to the public, and in its general effect magnificent as a poem. It is a series of letters to a lady, written in a very agreeable style, perhaps sometimes a little too fine, and yet the mood into which the reader is put by it, explains the inevitable exaltation of the author, in his solitude among the stars.

The Solar System. By the same author.

The Structure of the Earth. Also by the same author.

We wonder that some of our publishers do not republish these remarkable works. It is most desirable that they should also be illustrated like the Edinburgh editions; and could not these same illustrations be imported for the American editions?

Poetry, Romance, and Rhetoric, being the articles under these heads, contained in the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Seventh Edition. Edinburgh: 1839.

The two first of these treatises are by George Moir, the Professor of Rhetoric in Edinburgh University, and the "Delta" of Blackwood's Magazine; and the last was written by William Spalding, esq.

The History of English Poetry. By Thomas Warton. Three Volumes. London: 1840.

This is a new edition, republished from Dr. Price's edition of 1824, and enriched by new notes and editorial matter.

A Letter to the Human Race. By A Brother. London: 1840. Religion and Crime; or the Distress of the People_ and the Remedies. Third Edition. By John M. Morgan. London: 1840.

Religion and Education in America; with Notices of the State and Prospects of American Unitarianism, Popery, and African Colonization. By John D. Lang. London: 1840.

Ecclesiastical Chronology; or Annals of the Christian Church from its Foundation to the present Time; to which are added Lists of Councils, and of Popes, Patriarchs, and Archbishops of Canterbury. By the Rev. J. C. Riddle, M. A. London: Longman, Orme, and Co. 1840. 8vo.

The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, Esq. Collected and Edited by himself, with New Notes, &c. To be completed in Ten Monthly Volumes. London: 8vo.

Human Physiology, Part the Third, comprising the Generation, Growth, Decay, and Varieties of Mankind. With an Appendix on Mesmerism. Last Part. By John Elliotson, M. D. London.

The Natural History of Society in the Barbarous and Civilized State; an Essay towards discovering the Origin and Course of Human Improvement. By W. Cooke Taylor, Esq., LL. D., M. R. A. S. London: Two Volumes. 8vo.

Lectures on Natural Philosophy. By the Rev. James William McGauley, Professor of Natural Philosophy to the National Board of Education. London.

Organic Chemistry, in its Applications to Agriculture and Physiology. By Dr. Justus Liebig, F. R. S., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Giessen. Edited from the Manuscript of the Author, by Lyon Playfair, Ph. D. 8vo. London: Taylor and Walton.

"This work is written with a rare degree of sagacity, and is full of immediate practical applications of incalculable importance. From its appearance we may date a new era in agriculture, and the imagination cannot conceive the amount of improvement which may be expected from the application of the principles here developed." Dr. W. Gregory, British Asso

ciation, Glasgow.

Elements of Chemistry; including the Recent Discoveries and Doctrine of the Science. By the late Edward Turner, M. D. Seventh edition. Edited by Justus Liebig, M. D., and William Gregory, M. D., of King's College, Aberdeen. 8vo.

Organic Chemistry. By Professor Liebig. Edited by Wilton G. Turner, Ph. D., and Professor Gregory, M. D. Forming the

third and concluding part of the sixth edition of Turner's Chemistry. Part Third.

The Autobiography of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Esq., with Additions and Illustratious by W. Hamilton Drummond, D. D. 8vo. London.

The Life and Times of Saint Cyprian. By the Rev. George Ayliffe Poole, M. A. 8vo. London.

Die Lehre vom christlichen Kultus, nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche in wissenschaftlichen Zusammenhange dargestellt von Karl Wilhelm Vetter. Berlin. 8vo.

Wilhelm Heinse's sämmtliche Schriften. von Heinrich Laube. Zehn Bände. Leipzig.

Herausgegeben

Grundsätze des Kirchenrechts der Katholischen und evangelischen Religionsparthei in Deutschland von Karl Freidrich Eich

horn.

Daub's philosophische und theologische Vorlesungen, herausgegeben von Ph. Marheineke und Th. W. Dittenberger. Vierter Baud. System der theologischen Moral. Erster Theil.

The reputation of Daub, unlike that of most German theologians, appears to be increasing since his death. He was a scholar of almost universal accomplishments, a deep and subtle thinker, especially on subjects connected with the philosophy of religion, and a singularly just and candid inquirer on problems of speculative science; but his style is so shaded with the obscurity which few of Hegel's followers have escaped, that his works can hardly command a general interest, even in his own country. They form a curious study, however, and one not altogether without attractions to the theologian.

Die Kirchenverfassung nach Lehre und Recht der Protestantten. Von Dr. Freid. Tul. Stahl.

Lebensnachrichten über G. B. Niebühr aus Briefen desselben und aus Errinnerungen einiger seiner nächsten Freunde. Drei Bäude. Hamburg: Perthes.

This is a complete and very satisfactory biography of the celebrated historian. Its interest is much enhanced by the addition of a copious selection from his correspondence.

Franz Passow's Leben und Briefe. Eingeleitet von Dr. Ludwig Wachler. Breslaw.

Passow is worthy to be mentioned in company with Voss and Jacobs, as one of the most distinguished classical scholars of whom German literature can boast. His labors in Greek lexicography give him a conspicuous place in the history of philology. His personal character presents great attractions for the contemplation of the literary man; and we rejoice that he has found a biographer to do justice to his memory, with so much truth and beauty as characterize the present work.

THE DIAL.

VOL. I.

APRIL, 1841.

No. IV.

THE UNITARIAN MOVEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.

THE Unitarian movement in New England has a deeper signification for the philosopher and historian, than is brought out in the controversial works of those engaged in it. It is quite likely, too, that there is a deeper one than those in the midst of the dust, and smoke, and tumult of the contest, whether friends or foes, can discover for themselves, or even see when it is pointed out by others. It will be well for us, therefore, to retire, if we can, for a while from the scene of contention and turmoil, to some eminence from which we may view the field, unbiassed by personal feelings and interests, not only to see how goes the day, but also to see more clearly what the nature and object of the contest really are. This we now propose to do. We call the movement in the church, the Unitarian movement, because it is now known by that name, and because a better does not readily occur to us, rather than because we like it.

As it is probable that the results, to which we shall arrive, will not be satisfactory to the Unitarians in every particular, we wish to bespeak their good will, by showing that we fully appreciate their labors and motives, and the necessity there was that something should have been done. We are not, however, satisfied with the solution of the Unitarian movement that is now common; namely, that certain noble and manly souls, feeling the oppression and tyranny of the prevalent form of church-government and discipline, and gifted with a keener insight and a more sensitive con

science than their contemporaries, seeing absurdity in their doctrines, deadness in their faith, and hollowness in their worship, and whatever other ill effects there might be of the prevalent theology and church-discipline, did, like brave men and true Christians, take their stand for liberty of conscience and freedom of inquiry; that, therefore, their preaching was necessarily controversial, occupied with tearing down Calvinism, rather than with building up any new system; that now, when this kind of preaching has done its work, and ceases to be interesting, there must, of course, be a temporary still-stand, in appearance at least, while this sect, having done its work as a reforming, is becoming a conservative one; and that in a fitting time, even now at hand, they will put forth and systematize the positive part of their faith, and be recognised in Christendom as a communion, whose position and views are well defined and generally known and respected. This solution of the phenomenon is plausible, and as true and philosophical perhaps, as any popular one that can be given. But there are some among us who desire something more than a popular solution. For such it is that we write, and with what degree of success, we humbly submit it to their judgment to decide.

We, however, agree with this popular solution in the main, so far as it goes. It describes only the surface. We would look into the nature of the deadness, corruption, and abuses of the church from which the Unitarians dissented. We would also look into the nature of the change they would bring us. The freedom for inquiring minds, and the liberty for the conscience, for which they so manfully and successfully contended, -are jewels beyond all price, are the condition of all progress, are the very atmosphere in which souls do grow; and while they labored for an end, which was felt by every living soul to be indispensable to its life, they had a strong hold on the heart of the community, and might calculate upon almost any degree of success. But these, indispensable as they are, are but the means to an ulterior end. They are the air we breathe, and therefore necessary; but they are not the food that we can live upon, nor the work to occupy our hearts and hands. When the Unitarians have secured these preparatory conditions, they must furnish the bread of life, or the souls that