_Visit to the American Churches, by Doctors Reed and Matheson; 2 vols. New York: Harpers._--This work is excellent in its way--being a fine addition to the already numerous commentaries of the English upon our country. The writers, in the present instance, were delegated, about two years since, by the dissenting churches in Great Britain, to visit the United States, for inquiry into our religious condition and character, and were favorably received by our countrymen. They have shown themselves peculiarly free from unworthy prejudice, and have gleaned, with indefatigable zeal, and surprising accuracy, a mass of secular as well as religious information in relation to the United States. The book consists of six hundred closely printed pages, abounding with acute comment, and replete with valuable statistical details. It has a value, too, particularly its own, as exhibiting the real views of two well-educated English clergymen upon the _religious_, more especially than upon the political and social aspect of our land. The volumes are well written, and likely to do much good in England as well as in the United States. Our readers will remember Doctor Reed as the author of _No Fiction_, and _Martha_, both of which publications were favorably noticed in a former number of the Messenger. _The Black Watch, by the author of the Dominie's Legacy; 2 vols. E. L. Carey and A. Hart._--This is perhaps the best of all the writings of this author. The _soubriquet_ of "The Black Watch" is familiar in the anecdotary annals of our country. We all remember its celebrity at Crown Point, and among the wild doings at Lake George. We should be pleased, did it not interfere too much with our arrangements, to give an extract from this novel in our present number. We must, however, confine ourselves to a general recommendation. _Magpie Castle; 1 vol.: by Theodore Hook. E. L. Carey and A. Hart._--This is one of the finest trifles we have had the pleasure of looking into for many years. Hook is a writer more entirely original in his manner of thinking and speaking than many of his literary brethren who possess a greater reputation.