Subscriptions and Donations are received at the National Society's Office, Westminster; at Messrs. Drummond's, Bankers, Charing Cross; and at the Institution.

Post-Office Orders should be made payable to the Receiver, Mr. Frederick Stretton, at the Charing Cross Post-Office, and sent under cover to "The Treasurer," &c., (as above), to whom also should be remitted Cheques, Orders on Bankers, &c.

THE VALUE OF FAT IN FOOD.

THE oily constituents of food are most abundant in the diet of the inhabitants of frigid zones, who feed upon whales, seals, and other animals loaded with fat, and who devour this fat with avidity, as if instinctively guided to its use. It is by the enormous quantity of this substance taken in by them, that they are enabled to pass a great part of the year in a temperature below that of our coldest winter, spending a great portion of their time in the open air; as well as to sustain the extreme cold to which they are occasionally subjected. And in consequence of its being more slowly introduced into the system than most other substances, a larger quantity may be taken in at one time without palling the appetite; whilst its bland, and nonirritating character favours its being retained until it is all absorbed. In this manner, the Esquimaux and Greenlanders are enabled to take in twenty or thirty pounds of blubber at a meal; and when thus supplied, go several days without food. On the other hand, among the inhabitants of warm climates there is comparatively little disposition to the use of oily matter as food; and the quantity of it contained in most articles of their diet is comparatively small.-Carpenter's Manual.

Few evils are so great but that they might be greater. Under every suffering may be found some source of consolation, if the mind will but look for it.-Bp. Huntingford.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

BIBLIOTHECA CLERICALIS. Super-royal 8vo.-James Darling.

We sincerely regret that our limits will not permit us to give more than a most meagre and brief outline of this noble work projected by Mr. Darling; indeed, it may be considered a national work, and well deserves the support of all literary men but especially of divinity students. It is, perhaps, not generally known that Mr. Darling's Clerical Library is one of the most ex tensive and select in the kingdom; and it has this advantage over the British Museum, that books of reference in divinity history, biography, and also sermons, may be borrowed for a limited time, and consulted at home in the quiet leisure of one's own study. This magnificent work will exhibit a classified ar rangement of the treatises and dissertations contained in books, as well as of the books generally, themselves; it will be the most complete Catalogue that has ever been published; and it will become indispensible to the divine, the student of ecclesiastical history and antiquities, and to the literary amateur. To the Clergy this work will be invaluable, for it will form an universal index to the contents of all similar libraries, and a most useful guide and "royal road" to all the multifarious subjects which continually occupy their attention. But the literary public owe besides, a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Darling, for the institution of his Clerical Library, and for his liberality to authors, as well as affording them the valuable assistance of his extensive knowledge, his vast experience, and consummate acquaintance with both ancient and modern literature in every branch. We take this opportunity of making our own grateful acknowledgments for the advantages which we have derived from the contents of the Clerical Library; and also the ready and willing

assistance which we have always received from Mr. Darling himself, and his assistant.

A MANUAL OF PAROCHIAL INSTITUTIONS. By the Hon. and Rev. SAMUEL BEST, M.A. Second Edition.-London: Darling. This neat Manual also comprehends rules and regulations, and remarks, explanatory of the objects of the institutions of all parishes generally; but particularly of the parish of Abbotts Ann, near Andover, of which Mr. Best is the Rector. The author duly appreciates the value of our parochial institutions generally, and he says that the subjects treated of in his Manual are gravely and seriously agitating the world; and in contributing my mite to their practical solution, I may be permitted to address some few words, perhaps without offence, to those whose attention I covet, and whose interest I would bespeak." He notices the differences that exist in England on the subject of education, upon which subject it will be better to let Mr. Best speak for himself, and then his brethren may not misunderstand him :-" It is the religious element in education that is in question; but can there really be any difference amongst us ou the subject? It may exist in theory, or in dispute, for the world is disputatious; but I will not believe that it can exist in pra ctice. It may be wise or unwise to endeavour to educate children of different sects together. I will not enter on the discussion; but if they are Christian sects, Religion must be the basis. The question narrows itself, therefore, as we approach it in practice. The staunchest friend of Scriptural Education will pause before he puts St. Paul's Epistles, or the Book of Revelations, into the hands of an infant. The strongest advocate of what is called secular learning, will hardly begin his system with problems and theorems. Each, in fact, must begin alike." He says

further, that the parochial" school must necessarily occupy the first place in all our considerations. Here is laid the groundwork of the future character." The Church, he justly says, is anxious that all her children should be able both to read and to understand the Bible; but catechising is the most efficient mode of teaching, as it "affords the minister an opportunity of impressing the truths, the elements, and the principles of the faith, not only on the minds of the catechumen, but of those of maturer age." The tract, generally, is good; but we should have liked it better if the author had not approved of the Government Scheme of Education, whose "management clauses" are prompted by infidel Jesuits for the Prussianising the youth of England and so to lead them back to Popery. In other respects it conveys many useful hints on parochial subjects; and reduces many desultory things to a system that may be useful to other clergymen who are struggling with the difficulties of their parochial institutions; such as Singing Classes, Sunday Schools, Funds, Societies, Libraries, Savings Banks, and many other things that require the vigilant eye of the parish priest to preserve them from the depredations of designing knaves.

TWO SERMONS ON THE KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY. By Rev. R. HARVEY, M.A. 12mo.-Groombridge and Sons, London,

1850.

Mr. Harvey is the Rector of Hornsey, and these Sermons are addressed to villagers who reside too near London not to partake of some of the vices of the metropolitan labouring classes. He considers that the Lord's-day is much more desecrated by the facilities afforded by the railways for travelling on that sacred day, than the change in the Post Office is likely to effect.

"With every disposition," he says, " to promote the better observation of Sunday among all classes of the community, I have not been able to enter with quite so much zeal as some of my brethren into all the objections which have been made to the changes which have taken place in the General Post Office, and which I do not believe to have been intended-as upon the whole they are not likely in the aggragate-to increase the desecration of the Sabbath [Sunday]. I am, however, most thankful that the question has been raised, if on no other account, because it has led to a very strong expression of feeling in the right direction, by all parties in Church and State, with regard to the observance of the Lord's-day." It is necessary for health that the over-toiled and closely-confined artisan, clerk, and tradesman of London, should breath the fresh air on part of one day in the week; but the evil, as Mr. Harvey justly observes, falls chiefly on the clerks, porters, and other officials at the principal and country stations of the railways; and he gives one very affecting instance of a railway porter, who he says was writhing under the yoke of compulsory Sunday labour." The Sermons are valuable, and they are addressed directly to the subject of Sunday desecration, not only in the Post Office, but also among many of the smaller tradesmen and mechanics.

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G200MBRIDGE'S SHILLING ATLAS. 12mo.-Groombridge & Sons.

This small, but well-executed Atlas, will illustrate all geographies; and it comprises, within the compass of one shilling, eight highly-finished and very superior steel-plate maps; the heights of all the principal mountains and waterfalls of theworld, and an account of the chief productions of the earth, and the places