in their immediate neighbourhood or in the world? For want of Christian sympathy and co-operation, have not the hands of ministers hung down, and their spirits often sunk within them, as they contemplated the low condition of the professing church of God? Happily, this hindrance is being taken out of the way. In many a district, there are those who have begun to say unto their brethren, "Know the Lord," and are thus showing that they are living unto Christ, and working for Him in the world. Sloth, worldliness, selfishness, in their various forms, are being practically rebuked, and a state of preparation is going forward for putting the church in a position in which her energies shall be increased a thousandfold. Old Truths and Modern Speculations. By JAMES ROBERTSON, D.D. phant and Co. Oli WE are unfeignedly glad to find this very valuable work in a second edition. It is at once a masterly exponent of truth, and an admirable exposure of error. It abounds in well-regulated thinking; few works of the day are more entitled to consideration. The Atonement and the Work of the Spirit are chapters of pre-eminent value. We cite the following from the Appendix, for the benefit of the admirers of Maurice, Jowett, and Co. JOWETT'S OBJECTIONS TO ATONEMENT. Mr. Jowett's objections against the orthodox doctrine of the Atonement are substantially the same as those urged by Coleridge, Maurice, and the whole semi-Unitarian school. They are, in fact, the old Unitarian objections; and, briefly put, are to the effect, that this doctrine "interposes a painful fiction between God and man," and that it is opposed to the "moral sense" of mankind, The doctrine is "painful," as implying God's inability to pardon without atonement; and in this it is opposed to our "moral sense." It is a "fiction," as "involving a moral illusion;" and in this respect, also, it is opposed to the "moral sense." Mr. Jowett objects to the doctrine, because it assumes that God cannot, merely on condition of repentance, forgive all sin and every sinner; because it implies that justice has its demands, no less than mercy-that breach of law requires to be marked by Divine displeasure, and that mere penitence is no atonement. All which Mr. Jowett supposes to be contrary to our "moral sense." But, if by "moral sense" he means conscience, we cannot take his word for this. We know not what the cultured "moral sense" of semi-Pantheist philosophers may teach them; but we know what our own conscience, and what the conscience of mankind at large teaches, and always has taught. Conscience, by its sting, and its foreboding, teaches us that sin deserves punishment, and that our Maker and Ruler is a Judge, who will call us to account for our transgressions. Our instant indignation when we hear of wrong and outrage, and the universal sentiment which rises up within us, that such wrong and outrage call for condign punishment, that violated law and righteousness require to be vindicated, impress the same lesson. Do we not all feel that there are sins committed against society for which no repentance can atone, but which must be visited by severe and signal punishment? Witness the comments of almost the entire press of this country, on occasion of the frauds and forgeries of the late eminent cry bankers, and of the Rugeley murders. No; the principle which makes atonement necessary is not opposed to the conscience and the moral sense. These have ever been in is favour, as the language of mankind, the la of all nations, and the rites of sacrifice testify But it is opposed to a certain philosophica theory. It is not the instinctive judgment d the heart, but the inferences of a speculative reason, which oppose the principle of panist ment for sin. We are told that men an freely pardon; and why not God? that merry in men is counted more blessed, the mar freely and largely it forgives, and that Go must be more merciful than man; that "Ge is the Father of the spirits of all flesh," and must be infinitely willing to forgive every penitent sinner, without any other atonement than his repentance. But is not God a Ener as well as a Father? the Ruler not only d earth, but of heaven-not only of this worl but of other worlds? We are often told, br our transcendental illuminati, that we argu from shallow earthly analogies to incomm surable spiritual realities; that from more conceptions" of the practical and logical "understanding," we draw unwarranted cmclusions in regard to "ideas" which lie within the province of the intuitive reason. O reply is, that if we are compelled to argue, can only argue thus. If we try to conceive Divine things, it must be by the help earthly analogies. They are to be blamed fr this, who themselves deny the truths of whe they call "the higher reason," ie., of ma conscience and universal instincts, and perper the present question with cavils of the under standing; who reject the distinct testimony of God's Word, and lose themselves in the m of their own philosophy. But, besides this we return them the objection with interest We confess that all earthly analogies appli to Divine things must be superficial and de fective, and must be used cautiously and s ordinately, to illustrate rather th demonstrate, or by way of defence ag objections rather than to establish pos principles. But the analogies on which th opponents of the evangelical doctrine depend are not merely superficial; they most ma festly fail, in reference to the very point the are alleged to prove. They fail, just where they ought to be exact, and so they become p tively false. It is so in the present instanes We are told that God is a Father. This not denied by us; but we ask, Is He met als and perhaps even more characteristically! Moral Governor-the Moral Governor of a creatures, and all worlds? As such, is it necessary that He should uphold and enforce law? The question is not, whether He could "freely forgive a debt" owing merely to Himself. The transcendentalist philosophers 27 the only ones whose appeals to analogy imply so low and contracted a conception of the Divine Governor. Our God has to rule for the interests of all His creatures; the object of His government must be to enforce righteousness upon all His creatures in their dealings with each other. It is necessary in order to this, as well as right in itself, that His law should be implicitly obeyed. Nor is it true that, in all cases, a man may freely forgive a debt owing to himself. Public interests may demand that the offender be punished. It is not even true that a father can always freely forgive a penitent child. Penitence comes easily and far too often to some children. Repeated or glaring offences may require that a father, even though fully convinced of the sincere repentance of his child, and yearning strongly in heart towards him, yet, for the sake of example and warning to others, should mark the offence by some decisive token of his displeasure. Men, so far as experience in this world teaches, are only to be governed on the large scale by means of rewards and punishments. These may take different forms, may be administered wisely or foolishly, may tend to engender a slavish spirit, or a spirit of free and cordial obedience, to beget selfishness, or to promote generosity and enlargement of spirit. But let them be disguised ever so subtlely, or let them be employed ever so wisely, it will be found that the motives of reward and punishment have to be employed, cannot but be employed, in influencing and training human beings from the cradle to the grave. The very men who declaim so strongly and so continually against the selfishness of such motives when applied to religious concerns, find themselves constrained to use them in training their own children. Nay, they admit the principle when they proclaim that virtue is its own reward, and vice its own punishment. They honour the principle when they declare that God is the Author and Vindicator of law, and will not suffer His own ordinances to be violated, without entailing upon such violation its appropriate punishment. In society, in civil and political life, the same motives, though seldom distinctly recognised, are always operating; and without them all things would either languish and stagnate into a dreary immobility and death, or reel and fall asunder into a universal chaos. Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours, during an Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern Africa. By Dr. J. LEWIS KRAPF. Trübner and Co. EVERY year, we might almost say, every month, is adding to our knowledge of Africa. No department of the missionfield has recently called forth so much really interesting literature, consisting of biography and travel. The two largest and most valuable works on the subject are those of Moffat and Livingstone, and the volume before us is worthy to rank with these. The Appendix, respecting the snow-capped moun tains and the sources of the Nile, is peculiarly attractive. The volume is a storehouse of knowledge concerning things and people of whom the world has hitherto known but little. Popery found out the men of God even in Adowa, as the following passage will show. POPISH PRIESTS. Soon after my arrival in Adowa I accompanied my friends Isenberg and Blumhardt to pay a visit to Ubie, the Prince of Tigre, who received me very kindly, and gave me promises of protection, which were not kept. The priests and chief men of Tigre disliked the Protestant mission, partly from bigotry, partly from unsatisfied greed. Before my arrival, Isenberg, the senior of the mission, had begun to build a new house which he thought necessary. In digging for the foundation and for building materials a deep excavation was made, and the enemies of the mission asserted that we were making a subterranean passage, through which English soldiers and guns were to be brought for the conquest of Abessinia. But the ultimate cause of our expulsion was the arrival of two Frenchmen, the brothers D'Abbadie, accompanied by two Roman Catholic priests. The hostility of the latter strengthened the hands of the chief priest of Adowa, who requested from Ubie the expulsion of the Protestant missionaries, and the retention of the Roman Catholics, these having asserted that they were of the same family of Christians as the Abessinians themselves. We might have remained had we chosen to offer the prince a present greater than that which he had received from the Roman Catholics; but such a course we deemed an unworthy one, and after a residence of scarcely two months, I had to quit the land in which I would so willingly have striven to spread the Gospel. Many of the Bibles which I had brought to Adowa were destroyed by the Abessinian priests, undoubtedly at the instigation of the Roman Catholics; but many which had been distributed among the other provinces of Abessinia, it was out of their power to destroy. The new mission-house remained unfinished, and gradually fell into decay; but its habitable portion was taken possession of by the Alaka, or chief priest, who had long regarded it with a covetous eye. VISIT OF A KING. On the 16th the king himself visited me, accompanied by his vizier and brother-in-law. Everything I had on and with me attracted his attention, even the buttons on my trousers. When his curiosity was a little satisfied I took my Bible in my hand, and said to him that we Europeans had to thank this book for everything that he had just seen. To visit his country was of small moment to me; but to teach him and his people the contents of this book was what I desired above all. Our fathers had once lived on as ignorant as all the people in these countries, until they had obtained this book. On this Masaki took my Bible boldly into his hands, and amused himself by turning over the leaves. He is a lively young man, with a bearing no less intelligent than worthy of a king; so that, without wearing any external mark of his rank, he is easily distinguished from his subjects. He visited me again on the 19th for a few minutes, having a fork (which along with a knife I had presented to him) in his hair as an ornament! I explained to him the use of it; he laughed, but did not seem to understand. May 24.-The king visited me once more with some of his chiefs. I assured them again, and earnestly, that I had no other aim and occupation than to teach what was written in my book. This, and a great deal more about my mission and myself, was excellently interpreted to them by my guide, Bana Kheri, so that they understood me very well. Byand-by they went out of the little hut and consulted with my guide, who then told me that the king would receive me or my brother as a teacher, and that we were to go into no other country. Before returning to the coast I was to stay for three days longer, having full permission to make excursions when and whither I chose, the best possible sign of the king's confidence in me. The Pilgrim Psalms: an Exposition of the Songs of Degrees. By the Rev. N. M MICHAEL, D.D. Oliphant and Co. THE present volume is a very valuable addition to our best theology; its soul is the Sacred Scriptures. It abounds in experimental matter, and is much fitted to strengthen the Christian pilgrim. It is a fountain of genuine consolation, a cordial for drooping spirits. THE SIN OF SLANDER. Is it requisite to warn believers against the sin of slander?. Let not the tongue of deceit and the lip of falsehood belong to you. Cherish an honourable feeling with regard to truth, speaking the truth, because it is in the heart. Show no sympathy with the prevalent evil of misrepresenting goodness, of depreciating human excellence, of imputing low motives of action, and of ascribing to selfish principles what has been wrought through the Divine Spirit. Hold in great veneration the reputation of other men. Avoid the sin of weak and irritable natures; and convert not hasty suspicions into unfounded charges. Take not up a reproach against your neighbour. It may be lying at your feet, ready to be picked up; stoop not down; let it remain where it is. And if circumstances should render it necessary for you to speak of the transgressions of others, let it be done in a spirit of gentleness and humility. Let your words have a sad flow, and not a joyous current. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." CHILDREN AND PARENTS. Children, you may perceive here what is the duty which you owe your parents. You are to protect them in their old age, and be to them as arrows in the hands of the warrior. Protect them from the assaults of poverty, should they require your assistance in this respect. Poverty and old age are unsuitable companions; let it be your pleasure to alleviate this distressing yoke, as far as you can. They did not leave you to the cold charity of strangers, when you were more feeble than they now are. Why should you act differently towards them, and pay back your debt with an immense ingratitude? You are to protect them under all the infirmities of declining years. If you cannot bear with the fretfulness of disease, and with the deepening shadows of those to whom under God you owe your existence, and who toiled for you and watched over you when you could do neither for yourselves; what sympathy can be expected from others? "Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." It is the first commandment with promise. He who obeys it shall reap a rich harvest of blessing; while darkness and misery must follow the steps of him who violates this great precept. And be assured, when you see them stretched before you cold in death, very bitter will be the reflection, should you have proved careless in discharging your filial duties. You will then mourn, when it is too late, that you have done so little for them; but there will be no repentance, that you have done too much for them. It is not the too much, but the too little, that forms the anguish of these sad hours. Be, then, to your aged parents as arrows in the hands of a mighty man. Let them feel that they are young in your youth, and strong in your strength. In the second place, the sons defend their father from the fraud of his enemies. They protect him in courts of law, as well as from open assaults. "They (the fathers) shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." The gate, in the East, was the place of judgment. Hence the title still given to the court of the Turkish monarch: the Sublime Porte. The gates correspond to our courts of justice. There the judges heard parties, and pronounced their decisions. "They that sit in the gate speak against me." "His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them." The parents have a dispute with their opponents; the matter is brought before the proper tribunal; their sons appear for them, and plead their cause with success. Had it not been for this advocacy of their sons, judgment would have gone against them, and their enemies would have triumphed. It is obvious from this, that these sons had an unblemished reputation. Their strength was not employed for purposes of violence and oppression. Their conduct could stand investigation. They can meet their enemies anywhere, even in the most public places, and before the most upright judges. They can look every man in the face with a clear eye, and with an unabashed brow. "If iniquity be not in thire hand, then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear." Their parents are not ashamed of them. They do not disgrace their father's name; they do not lead them to wish that the day of their birth had been the day of their death; they do not bring down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. Happy is the man whose quiver is full of such arrows. Admirably has Solomon said elsewhere, "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice." Parents have also a duty to perform to their children. Their part begins first; and every one is aware how much depends on this. As a general rule, parents cannot be blamed for a want of affection to their children. But this is not sufficient; it should take a right direction. It is possible for a parent to love his child, and yet prove his worst enemy. No pains may be spared to give him such an education as may fit him for taking a useful and distinguished place in society; and yet the utmost negligence may be manifested, with respect to the higher interests of the soul and of eternity. Of course, the admission must be made, that tares will occasionally spring up in the smallest and best-cultivated field. Even in the most devout households, there will be found at times an exception to the Divine promise, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." And if these things are so, what fearful results may be anticipated, when no pious example is seen, and no religious instruction imparted! If children are not taught to recognise their obligations to their heavenly Father, is there room for surprise that they do not love and obey their father on earth? And how deep the anguish of parents, especially when the snows of many winters have descended upon their heads, should their children be undutiful, and they witness their sin in their punishment! "They have sown to the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." Parents, be not unmindful of your sacred trust. Imitate the good resolution of Hannah, when she received Samuel as a gift from God: "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also have I lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord." A Memoir of William Guthrie; to which is prefixed, a Narrative of the Great Revival of 1859-60, in Moutrie and the Neighbourhood, and Ferryden. With Illustrative Cases. By WILLIAM MITCHELL. trie: G. Walker. Mou THE present volume possesses some peculiarities. It is but partly biographical, and the other matter is of a very valuable character. The main object of the book is to illustrate conversion by cases, which is done with much tact and judgment. There are several essays added, together with a batch of Sabbathschool lessons, which may be read with advantage. Christian Believing and Living. By F. D. HUNTINGTON. Edinburgh: Strahan and Co. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Co. THE present volume must not be confounded with the ordinary run even of theological books. It is a work of profound thought, large erudition, every way a scholarly and superior production. The solidity which marks it bespeaks the class, or classes, for whom it is more especially intended. Nothing more able has for a long time appeared, and we cannot but view it as peculiarly seasonable. The Public Life of Capt. John Brown. By JAMES REDPATH. With an Auto-biography of his Childhood and Youth. London: Thickbroom and Stapelton. THE people of this country had been led to expect a Memoir of Capt. Brown from Mrs L. Maria Child, probably the fittest of her sex for so masculine an undertaking. We were told that the necessary papers and documents had been placed in her skilful hands, but it appears that the subject had taken a turn. This we consider to have been proper, for, however gifted the lady may be, the work to be done was more suited to the hands of the hardier sex. Mr. Redpath seems a fit and proper person for the honourable undertaking; both the widow and her son certify to his especial fitness. The latter says, "he is the man, above all others, to write the life of my beloved father." Here, then, is the life-a rare and remarkable production. Unlike everything biographical that ever came before us, the matter is put together in a striking and an original way, much calculated to fix public attention. The whole thing resembles a romance rather than a reality. It is replete with facts and documents, illustrative of the matter of slavery. Its publication and perusal cannot fail to give a great and lasting impulse to the popular cause. As the poor widow, with her family, has an interest in the publication, we do trust that it will sell by tens of thousands. The Congregational Pulpit. Vol. IX. London: Judd and Glass. THE present volume seems quite equal to its predecessors. It comprises a large number of sermons, by able and competent men; while the lectures on the Romans, from the pen of the gifted Editor, form a special element. The original outlines of sermons, also, are valuable. Mr. Horton is, unquestionably, a man of genius, which is apparent in all that he does. That the work has reached a ninth volume, in these dull days of romance and rubbish, reflects great credit on the public, and is a high tribute to the Editor. If the church is wise, the work will go on indefinitely, for it is in all respects an admirable pennyworth. Seed-Time and Harvest of Ragged Schools; or, a Third Plea, with new editions of the First and Second Pleas. By THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. Edinburgh: A. and C. Black. Ir is the province of genius to make something of nothing, and much of tangible substance. The great orator, if not here merged in the philanthropist, has clothed himself with the philanthropic costume, and in that capacity lifted up a voice which has been heard afar. The price of the volume, in its present finished form, is beyond rubies. Already it has created a sentiment, and put in motion an agency which has wrought wonders in eleva ting the outcast portion of society. We cannot sufficiently express our admiration of the work, and have no terms adequately to recommend it. It is, however, a happy circumstance that commendation is unnecessary, for its fame is made, its triumph is already complete; but since the evil it aims to correct is found in every quarter of the empire, it is most desirable that the antidote should be co-extensive. All honour to Dr. Guthrie for his incomparable advocacy! May he live to see his labours crowned by all the success he so devoutly longs to realise ! Sacramental Addresses and Meditations. By the late HENRY BELFRAGE, D.D., Falkirk. Sixth Edition. Edinburgh: Oliphant and Co. WE very well remember the original appearance of this noble work, and are pleased to find it now in a sixth edition. Dr. Belfrage was the Logan of our generation. His pen was distinguished by the same beauty and tenderness, but far more evangelical. A more devout and edifying publication than the present we are unable to name. There are here one hundred addresses, all on one theme, which shows its boundless fulness, as well as the singular fertility of the admirable writer. We have some half-dozen volumes on the same great subject, including the addresses of Owen; but none, for number, variety, and completeness, are to be compared with the volume before us. With a By the Vol. The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer. THERE is much more in this volume than at WE have longed for the appearance of this volume, and now it is before us. We were at pains to set forth the programme, and are glad to find the execution fulfil our expectations. The step itself was an original one, and very ably, very admirably, has the outline been filled up. It is the most original publication of the day,-a vast storehouse of valuable thought, touching the spread of the everlasting Gospel. These seven Sessions brought forward an amount of thought and suggestion on the question of Missionary labour, never before comprised in a single volume. The mere appendix is a matter of superior value. There the eminent missionary, Mr. Mullens, Mr. Douglas, of Cavers, and others have recorded their opinions touching the prosecution of the incomparable enterprise. Meanwhile, we satisfy ourselves with simply announcing the work, to which we shall have frequent occasion to refer. Sermons by the Rev. John Angell James. Edited by his SON. Vol. III. London: Hamilton. WE are surprised to see the Editor persevering in his "one while" absurdity. Why should a man be pertinacious in a thing which is beyond question ridiculous, and exposing him to ridicule? The present volume comprises no fewer than nine sermons, on the occasion of death, all excellent, and fraught with lasting interest. The embodiment forms such a volume of funeral discourses as we are unable to name. We regret, however, that it should have been debased by the introduction of the "Tract for the Times," so called, on the Rivulet controversy. Nothing could have been more incongruous. That effusion we must consider one of the most questionable things that Mr. James ever did. It was altogether unworthy of his noble character; it was utterly wanting in prudence and fairness, discrimination and justice; it was a piece of vehement, wholesale, unreasoning condemnation of every person who had either part or lot in the Rivulet controversy. Mr. James was always a powerful orator, but not always a wise judge: at tines the judicial faculty was greatly at fault, and never more so than upon that occasion. The benefits which have resulted from that controversy have been very great. They are manifest throughout the land, and thousands on thousands have reason to rejoice in the course which was then adopted, and the stand which was then made by the friends of evangelical truth. That Mr. James, had not Providence mercifully prevented it, should have purposed to preach that extraordinary effusion to the Assembly of the Congregational Union at Cheltenham, most emphatically verifies the adages, "Great men are not always wise," and "The best of men are bat men at the best." Such a shell was calculated to have blown the Union to atoms! Lyra Domestica: Christian Songs for Domestic Edification. Translated from the "Psaltery and Harp" of C. J. P. Spitta. By RICHARD MASSIE. London: Longman and Co. THIS pretty volume is entitled to the attention of the Christian public. It is pervaded by a fine spirit, always pure, sometimes lofty, and not seldom pathetic. The author is a man of mark in his own country, and the present volume will introduce him very advantageously to the British churches. Rills from the Fountain of Life: a Book for the Young. By RICHARD NEWTON, D.D., London: Shaw. HERE we have essay, dialogue, and dissertation on a great variety of points, all interesting, and some of them highly important. It meant as food for the times, and all who feast on such provender ought to be fat and flourishing. The Way of Life, and other Poems. By JOSHUA RUSSELL. London: Heaton. MR. RUSSELL is known by his friends to be not only a man of high talents, but of genius. |