CURRENT LITERATURE.
Autobiography of Lyman Beecher, D.D. Edited by his son, Charles Beecher. Vol. I. (Sampson Low, Son, and Co.)—A rather remarkable book. It is the life of a famous revivalist preacher of the Puritan faith, born at New Haven, Massachussets, in 1775. Dictated to his children, it of course contains mostly notices of the history of religion in America, together with his personal experiences and early recollections of the state of society in Massachussets. All this is told in a shrewd, jesting tone, which people this side the Atlantic will call worldly, because it lacks that vague, semi-biblical phraseology in which our clergy always speak of such matters. Dr. Beecher's account of his "religious awakening" is a model of writing on such subjects, and gives us a far keener notion of sincerity than the unctuous style. The family correspondence also adds to the life-like picture of country life in the State half a century ago. "Judge Reeve," writes Mrs. Beecher, quite seriously, "is a valuable Christian." The book, however, sadly needs compression.
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