_From the New-York Courier and Enquirer._
_Williams" Geography._--The habits and studies of Mr. Williams render him peculiarly fitted for an undertaking of this sort, and he has performed the task well. Pinnock"s original work is in some respects one of the best to be found, but the labors of Mr. Williams have rendered this edition exceedingly valuable. We have looked this book through with considerable attention, and find a ma.s.s of _American information_ there embodied far beyond our expectation. We question, indeed, whether any other book in print contains as much; and we are mistaken if it is not extensively made use of hereafter in our schools and academies. Few men in the country have ama.s.sed more statistical material than Mr. Williams, and none have spread it before the public with more accuracy. This book alone is sufficient to ent.i.tle him to the thanks of the community.
_From the New-Yorker._
_Pinnock"s Geography._--Mr. Edwin Williams, favorably known as the compiler of several statistical works of acknowledged merit, has just submitted to the public an Americanized edition of Pinnock"s "Comprehensive System of Geography and History"--the part relating to the United States having been entirely re-written and extended over one hundred pages. The high reputation of the original author as a geographer, affords a satisfactory guaranty for the character of the work, which is adapted to the use of seminaries without forfeiting its claims on the attention of the more abstract student of geography and history.
_From the New-York Observer._
_Williams" Geography and History._--Mr. Edwin Williams, the publisher and compiler of the New-York Annual Register, has prepared a new geography for the use of schools, founded on Pinnock"s work on modern geography, which has been revised and extended. The plan is to combine a summary of the history of each country with its geography, and to adapt it to the use of schools and academies, by references to the maps, and by questions. The part of the work relating to America has been entirely rewritten, and copious additions have been made to other parts of the volume. We have not found time to examine the work critically, but we have no doubt, from what we know of the qualifications of the author, that it is one of the most valuable works of the kind in the market.
_From the Albany Argus._
_Modern Geography and History._--Mr. Edwin Williams, the publisher and compiler of the New-York Annual Register, has added another to the valuable publications for which the public are indebted to his industry and enterprise, in a revision and extension of Pinnock"s celebrated work on modern geography. The plan of this geography is to combine a summary of the history and present condition of each country with its geography, and to adapt it to the use of schools and academies, by references to the maps, and by questions designed to elicit from the learner the facts stated in the historical and statistical parts of the work. Numerous additions have been made in the revision, particularly in that part relating to America, which, it appears, has been entirely re-written and extended over one hundred pages. It gives also full descriptions of the West India Islands, not particularly noticed in any other geography; extended notices of the modern divisions and revolutions in South America, and in Greece and Belgium, &c. &c. The entire work appears to have been prepared with the usual care and accuracy of the America editor: and his own additions are among the most valuable of the many important and interesting facts with which the book is replete. The character of both the American and the English author must commend the work to the favorable notice of teachers and all interested in facilitating the business of public instruction.
_Pinnock"s Modern Geography and History_, revised by Edwin Williams, is an excellent compendium of the branches on which it treats, and we cheerfully recommend it for adoption by teachers and others. Were this work in general use by the higher cla.s.ses in academies and schools, the labors of instruction would be greatly diminished and the youth of our country, of both s.e.xes, would exhibit a knowledge of Geography and History which is far from being frequent at present.
JOHN F. JENKINS, Princ.i.p.al of } _Mechanics"
the Male Department; } Society ARABELLA CLARK, Princ.i.p.al of } School._ the Female Department; }
_February 22, 1836._
_Pinnock"s Geography._--This is an excellent book, and not inferior in value to any which have been put forth by this most industrious compiler and author.
The work is of that terse, comprehensive character, which distinguishes his former productions. It is full of entertainment and instruction, clear and judicious in style and arrangement, discriminating in the selection of topics, abundant in details, and conducted with that peculiar brevity which leaves not a word redundant or deficient. It is a valuable cla.s.s book, and merits general adoption in the schools.--_Silliman"s "American Journal of Science and Arts._" Vol.
XXVII. No. 2. July, 1835.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF BARNES" NOTES.
_From Abbott"s Religious Magazine._
We have previously, in a brief notice, recommended to our readers Barnes" Notes on the Gospels. But a more extended acquaintance with that work has very much increased our sense of its value. We never have opened any commentary on the Gospels, which has afforded us so much satisfaction. Without intending, in the least degree, to disparage the many valuable commentaries which now aid the Christian in the study of the Bible, we cannot refrain from expressing our grat.i.tude to the Author, for the interesting and profitable instructions he has given us.--The volumes are characterized by the following merits.
1. The spirit which imbues them is highly devotional. It is a devotion founded on knowledge. It is a zeal guided by discretion.
2. The notes are eminently intellectual. Apparent difficulties are fairly met. They are either explained, or the want of a fully satisfactory explanation admitted. There is none of that slipping by a knot which is too common in many commentaries.
3. The notes are written in language definite, pointed and forcible.
There is no interminable flow of lazy words. Every word is active and does its work well. There are no fanciful expositions. There are no tedious display of learning.
There may be pa.s.sages in which we should differ from the writer in some of the minor shades of meaning. There may be sometimes an unguarded expression which has escaped our notice. We have not scrutinized the volumes with the eye of a critic. But we have used them in our private reading. We have used them in our family. And we have invariably read them with profit and delight.
We have just opened the book to select some pa.s.sage as an ill.u.s.tration of the spirit of the work. The Parable of the rich man and Lazarus now lies before us. The notes explanatory of the meaning of the parables, are full and to the point. The following are the inferences, which Mr.
Barnes deduces.
"From this impressive and instructive parable, we may learn,
"1. That the souls of men do not die with their bodies.
"2. That the souls of men are _conscious_ after death; that they do not sleep, as some have supposed, till the morning of the resurrection.
"3. That the righteous are taken to a place of happiness immediately at death, and the wicked consigned to misery.
"4. That wealth does not secure us from death.
"How vain are riches to secure Their haughty owners from the grave.
"The rich, the beautiful, the gay, as well as the poor, go down to the grave. All their pomp and apparel; all their honors, their palaces and their gold cannot save them. Death can as easily find his way into the mansions of the rich as into the cottages of the poor, and the rich shall turn to the same corruption, and soon, like the poor, be undistinguished from common dust, and be unknown.
"5. We should not envy the condition of the rich.
"On slippery rocks I see them stand, And fiery billows roll below.
"6. We should strive for a better inheritance, than can be possessed in this life.
""Now I esteem their mirth and wine.
Too dear to purchase with my blood, Lord "tis enough that _thou_ art mine.
My life, my portion, and my G.o.d.""
"7. The sufferings of the wicked in h.e.l.l will be indescribably great.
Think what is represented by _torment_, by burning flame, by insupportable thirst, by that state when a single drop of water would afford relief. Remember that all this is but a representation of the pains of the d.a.m.ned, and that this will have no relief, day nor night, but will continue from year to year, and age to age, and without any end, and you have a faint view of the sufferings of those who are in h.e.l.l.
"8. There is a place of suffering beyond the grave, a h.e.l.l. If there is not, then this parable has no meaning. It is impossible to make anything of it unless it is designed to teach that.
"9. There will never be any escape from those gloomy regions. There is a gulf fixed--_fixed_, not moveable. Nor can any of the d.a.m.ned beat a pathway across this gulf, to the world of holiness.
"10. We see the amazing folly of those, who suppose there may be an _end_ to the sufferings of the wicked, and who on that supposition seem willing to go down to h.e.l.l to suffer a long time, rather than go at once to heaven. If man were to suffer but a thousand years, or even _one_ year, why should he be so foolish as to choose that suffering, rather than go at once to heaven, and be happy at once when he dies?
"11. G.o.d gives us warning sufficient to prepare for death. He has sent his word, his servants, his son; he warns us by his Spirit and his providence, by the entreaties of our friends, and by the death of sinners. He offers us heaven, and he threatens h.e.l.l. If all this will not move sinners, what _would_ do it? There is nothing that would.
"12. G.o.d will give us nothing farther to warn us. No dead man will come to life, to tell us what he has seen. If he did, we would not believe him. Religion appeals to man, not by ghosts and frightful apparitions.
It appeals to their reason, their conscience, their hopes, and their fears.--It sets life and death soberly before men, and if they will not choose the former they must die. If you will not hear the Son of G.o.d, and the truth of the Scriptures, there is nothing which you will or can hear; you will never be persuaded, and never will escape the place of torment."
If we have any influence with our readers, we would recommend them to buy these volumes. There is hardly any Christian in the land, who will not find them an invaluable treasure.
_Extract of a Letter from a distinguished Divine of New England._
It (Barnes" Notes) supplies an important and much needed desideratum in the means of Sabbath School and Bible Cla.s.s instruction.
Without descending to minute criticism, or attempting a display of learning, it embraces a wide range of general reading, and brings out the results of an extended and careful investigation of the most important sources of Biblical knowledge.