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REVELATION. Besides the exhibitions of divine agency in the works of nature, and the inward disclosures of divinity in the human mind, we find among almost all nations traditions of an immediate revelation of the will of God, communicated by words or works of supernatural significance or power. The nations of antiquity traced the origin of their religions, and even of their civilization, to the instructions of the gods, who, in their opinion, taught their ancestors as men teach children. As a child, without the assistance of others, would be incapable of acquiring knowledge, so the human race, in its infancy, could not have made the first step in the arts and sciences without a guide; and even if external nature, in its various objects and phenomena, were a sufficient guide to that kind of knowledge and skill which is necessary to provide for the bodily wants of man, can it be supposed that this nature could set in action his moral faculties, and open to his view the world of spiritual being? To reason, which derives its knowledge from sensual experience, the world is a riddle: the solution of this riddle-a knowledge of God and his relation to the world-could have been given only by God himself. Whatever knowledge man possesses of this subject must have been received directly, by oral communication, from the Deity, without which he could never, or at least not so soon nor so surely, have acquired it. In this revelation of himself, God adapted his communications to the comprehension of the beings for whose instruction it was intended; and we may distinguish three periods in this education of the human race in divine things. The earliest revelations, made in the patriarchal age, were common to the progenitors of all people; and their light shines through

the darkness of all the heathen mythologies, which, on closer examination, plainly appear to have been built up on the simple religious notions of the primitive age, confirming the declaration of Scripture, that God has never left himself without a witness in the world. These earlier notions were preserved pure, and gradually enlarged, during the Mosaic period, by successive revelations to chosen individuals, with whom the Bible makes us acquainted under the name of prophets, from Moses to Malachi. God finally completed his revelations through Christ. Thus has revelation educated the human race from infancy to manhood, and man, dismissed from this school eighteen centuries ago, has now only to make the light, thus received, known and healing to all. The evidences of this divine plan of the education of the human race, proclaimed and accomplished in the Bible, are exhibited in the history of the world. (See Christianity.)

REVELATION. (See Apocalypse.)

REVENUE. For the revenue of the different states of Europe and America, see the articles on the respective countries; also the Table of European States. (The early copies of this work have an improved form of this table after the index of vol. v.) See also the article Taxes.

REVERBERATION, in physics; the act of a body repelling or reflecting another after its impinging on it. Echoes are occasioned by the reverberation of sounds from arched surfaces.-In glass furnaces, the flame reverberates, or bends back again, to burn the matter on all sides.-In chemistry, reverberation denotes a circulation of flame, or its return from the top to the bottom of the furnace, to produce an intense heat, when calcination is required.

REVEREND; a title of respect given to

ecclesiastics. The religious, in Catholic countries, are styled reverend fathers, and the abbesses, prioresses, &c., reverend mothers. In England, bishops are right reverend, archbishops most reverend, and the lower clergy reverend.

REVERSION; the residue of an estate left in the grantor, to commence in possession after the determination of the particular estate granted. The estate returns to the grantor or his heirs after the grant is over.

REVIEWS. The French were the first to establish critical journals. The Bibliographia Parisina of Jacob (1645) was merely a yearly catalogue of new books, without remarks of any kind; but it is said to have suggested the idea of the Journal des Savans, a weekly journal, instituted in 1665, by M. de Sallo, which contained analyses and critical judgments of new works. It was afterwards edited by the abbes Gallois and De la Roque, and president Cousin. From 1715 to 1792, it was conducted by a society of scholars, and appeared in monthly numbers. In 1792, it was discontinued, and revived, in 1816, under the patronage of the crown. The collaborators since its revival have been De Sacy, Langlès, Raynouard, RaoulRochette, Rémusat, Dacier, Quatremère de Quincy, Letronne, Biot, Cuvier, &c. The collection from 1665 to 1792 forms 111 vols., 4to., reprinted Amsterdam (1684 seq.), 381 vols., 12mo. The Mercure de France, begun in 1672, under the title of Mercure Galant, and still continued, was originally designed for the amusement of the court, and men of the world, and was very miscellaneous in its contents. The editorship, which was bestowed as an act of court favor, was sometimes in good hands, as, for example, Marmontel's. The Année littéraire (1754-76) acquired celebrity under the management of Fréron. (q. v.) The Journal étranger (1754-62) and the Journal encyclopédique (1756-91) contained dissertations and papers of various kinds, as well as reviews. The Revue (originally Décade) philosophique, littéraire et politique (1794-1807), was for a time edited by Ginguené, and was distinguished for consistency of principle during a succession of most agitated periods. Millin's Annales (originally Magazin) encyclopédiques (1795-1818), together with critical reviews, contains a valuable mass of original essays, and a great variety of interesting intelligence relating to all countries. It has been succeeded by the Revue encyclopédique, which still appears in monthly numbers, on a similar but more extend

ed plan. The Revue was edited till the close of 1831 by Jullien (q. v.), and is now conducted by M. Hippolyte Carnot. The Bulletin universel (q. v.), conducted by baron Ferussac, has appeared since 1824, and contains, as its name imports, information on every subject in literature, science, and the arts. The Revue Française was established in 1828, and has been conducted with great ability in the hands of Guizot (q. v.) and the duke de Broglie. The Revue Britannique (1825), Revue Germanique (1829), and Revue Européenne (1831), are monthly journals, devoted, as their titles indicate, to foreign literature. In most of the French journals, the names of the authors are attached to each article.-The freedom of the press in Holland led to the establishment, in that country, by learned foreigners, of some of the most valuable critical journals, which have appeared any where. Acute criticism, extensive erudition, and charm of style, are united in a remarkable degree in the Nouvelles de la République des Lettres, edited from 1684 to 1687 by Bayle, and continued by other hands; the Histoire des Ouvrages des Savans, by Basnage (1687-1709); and the several journals conducted by Leclerc (Bibliothèque universelle, 1686-93, 23 vols.; Bibliothèque Choisie, 1703-13, 27 vols.; and Bibliothèque ancienne et moderne, 1714-27, 28 vols.). Besides these arc distinguished the Journal littéraire (1713-37), Bibliothèque raisonnée (1728-51), and Bibliothèque nouvelle (1738-44). Among the Dutch literary journals, conducted by native scholars, the principal are De Boekzaal van Europe (from 1692, under different titles); Het Republyk de Geleerden (1710—48); Allgemeene Konst-en Letter-Bode (since 1788, which is most highly esteemed in Holland); De Recensent ook der Recensenten; the Vaderlandsche Bibliothek (1790), &c.-The Italian journals of criticism are characterized by the completeness of their analyses of works: the principal are the Giornale de' Letterati d'Italia (Venice, 1710-33), edited at first by Apostolo Zeno, and rich in materials of literary history; the Biblioteca Italiana (Milan, 1816 seq.), edited until 1826 by Acerbi, and since by Gironi, Carlini, and Fumagalli and distinguished for acuteness of criticism and freedom of judgment; the Novelle Letterarie (Florence, 1740), conducted for some time by the learned Lami; the Antologia di Firenze, which contains also original essays; the Effemeridi Letterarie, and the Giornale Arcadico (1819 seq.), both at Rome, and the Giornale enciclope

dico (Naples, 1806), chiefly a selection from other journals. The Giornale de' Letterati (Pisa, 1771 seq.) was for a time edited by the celebrated biographer Fabbroni, and is one of the best Italian periodicals. The principal literary journals of Spain are the Diario de los Literatos de España (1737-43, 4 vols.), and the Memorial litterario de Madrid (1784-1807), which contain little more than an account of the contents of books. In 1831, a journal in Spanish was undertaken at Havana, under the title of Revista Bimestre Cubana, by Mariano Cubi i Soler.-Germany has been most fruitful in critical journals, which are more severely literary and learned than the English productions of the same kind. The earliest critical periodical is the well-known Acta Eruditorum (Leipsic, 1682-1776), established by Otto Mencke, and containing, besides reviews, original treatises. Thomasius's Monatsgespräche (1688-90), and Tenzel's Monatliche Unterredungen (1689, continued under the title Curieuse Bibliothek), are among the earlier German journals of criticism. The Neuen Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen (Leipsic, under different titles, 1715-97) gives an abstract of all native and foreign journals up to 1740. The Göttinger gelehrten Anzeigen (Göttingen, 1739, under different titles) was edited by Haller and Heyne, and contains contributions from Michaelis, Eichhorn, Blumenbach, Hugo, Spittler, Heeren, &c. The Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend (Berlin, 1759-65), by Lessing, Mendelssohn, Nicolai, &c., and the Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek (Berlin, 1766-96, 118 vols., Neue Allg. Deutsche Bib. 17931806, 107 vols.), form a new period in German literature. The Allgemeine Literaturzeitung (Jena, 1785, transferred to Halle in 1804, edited by Schütz and Hufeland) took a yet wider range and a higher tone. On its removal to Halle, Eichhorn undertook the Neue Jenaische Allgem. Literaturzeitung (Jena, 1804). The Leipziger Literaturzeitung (since 1800, under several titles), and the Erlanger Literaturzeitung (1746-1810), are of inferior value. The Heidelberger Jahrbücher der Literatur (1808), and the Wiener Jahrbücher der Lateratur (1818), have enjoyed considerable reputation. The Hermes (Leipsic, 1819, discontinued 1831, 35 vols.) was distinguished for its elevated tone, and depth and variety of erudition.-In England, the Gentleman's Magazine (1731), which at first consisted merely of selections from newspapers, curious intelligence, &c., is venerable for its age; it still appears, after

the lapse of a century, under the editorship of Sylvanus Urban (the original Urban was, as is well known, the bookseller Cave), and has acquired celebrity by the early connexion of Dr. Johnson with its publisher. There is an index extending from 1731 to 1786, and a second from 1787 to 1818 (2 vols., 1829), with a historical preface by Nichols. The Monthly Review (1749) was the first critical journal established in England; it was followed by the Critical Review (1756). The British Critic (1793) has appeared since 1827 in quarterly numbers, under the title of the Theological Review, and is the organ of the church party. A new era of periodical criticism, in Great Britain, began with the Edinburgh Review (q. v.), which took a wider range and a loftier tone, both in politics and literature, than had been assumed by any of its predecessors. The London Quarterly Review was established, under the management of Gifford, in 1809, and has supported tory and high church principles. In 1825, it passed into the hands of H. N. Coleridge, and is at present edited by Mr. Lockhart. The principal contributors to this journal have been Gifford, Southey, Scott, Croker, &c. These two Reviews are republished in the U. States; and there have recently been announced, as preparing for publication, Selections from the Edinburgh Review, with a Preliminary Dissertation and Notes by Maurice Cross, and Essays, moral, political and literary, selected from the Quarterly Review, with an Introduction by Mr. Lockhart. The Westminster Review (established in 1824) is the advocate of radical reform in church, state and legislation, and was established by the disciples of Jeremy Bentham (q. v.), whose principles in law and morals it supports. The Foreign Quarterly Review (established in 1827) is devoted to foreign literatures. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1817, edited by Wilson), though but partially occupied with critical matter, contains many able criticisms. Its politics are high tory. Tait's Edinburgh Magazine has recently been started (April, 1832), professedly to defend opposite principles in politics, and to assume a higher tone in literature than has been usually adopted by these smaller periodicals. The other English magazines are chiefly filled with matter of local or temporary importance. We must not, however, forget to mention the Retrospective Review (14 vols., ending in 1827), devoted to notices of old works, and the celebrated Anti-Jacobin Review (chiefly political,