What

own homes? Can we not provide better music? Must we always allow the world to monopolize the finest organs and the best organists, and tamely allow the best vocalists to be bought up for the opera or concert hall? Can we not do something to gratify the cultivated tastes, in the form of art decoration,-not stencilling and clay moulding, but work in stone and marble, and in original paintings? a contrast between some drawing-rooms and the house of God! In the week-day, can we not do something towards providing recreation, healthy amusement, intellectual gratification, social enjoyment, and current literature? Must the world for ever monopolize these necessaries, and shall we continue to drive our young men and women from us to secular institutions for the supply of their manifold needs? May we not at least collect all the new books published by the Church, and try to encourage reading of a special, if not of a general, character? Can we not also have a care for the deserving poor, and provide comfortable retreats for the aged, who have grown old in the service of goodness?

All our doctrines lead in the direction of practical life, serving others, providing enjoyment for every faculty of the mind, and using everything under the law of love to one another. At present the world is paramount, and the Church is a lowly suppliant; and not until the Church is HOST, and man is her happy and delighted guest, will she take her true position in society, represent the whole life of man, and become, as she really is, the centre of all institutions.

R. R. R.

SHORT LESSONS FOR SIMPLE MINDS.-No. X.

MATT. xiv. 34-36; ix. 20-22.

THE importance of reading the Holy Word for the sake of regulating our lives by it is the great lesson conveyed in these verses. Everything that we read in the Bible is intended to teach us some truth which will be useful to us; and as the miracles which our Lord wrought on the bodies of the diseased when on earth were emblems of those which He performs on our souls now, so the means by which those miracles were wrought represented the means which we must use to obtain the salvation of our souls, and one of them is touching the hem of His garment. David tells us that the Lord clothed Himself with light as with a garment, and the hem is the lowest part of the dress. In Eastern countries a loose flowing robe is worn, and it was the hem of this that was touched by those who wished to be made whole. The Word of God is the garment to which we must go for the cleansing of our souls from sin. It tells us plainly how hateful and how dangerous sin is, and how careful we must be to avoid

all that is displeasing to God if we would be saved. That we can only be God's true disciples if we love Him and keep His commandments, and that His commandment is that we should love one another.

Love, the apostle says, is the fulfilling of the law, and we shall find if we examine ourselves that every sin we are guilty of arises from want of love to God or our neighbour. Are we discontented with our lot? let us seek in the Bible for some text that will cure us of a repining spirit. We find many such. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Yes; to have the mind resting upon God, feeling sure that He who cares for the sparrows cares for us, and will supply all our wants, is a remedy for all dis

content.

Are we troubled to think how deceitful we are, ready both to speak and to act a lie? and do we feel as if the temptation to do so is too great for us to overcome? Let us again turn to the Holy Word; we read, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ;" and "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled;" that the sure way to overcome such temptations is to come to the light-it is only evil deeds that require to be covered with false words. If we strive to think and to feel as we ought, we shall have nothing to hide from others. Our eye will be single, and our whole body full of light. We need not go on to enumerate all the various sins to which our hearts are prone. Whatever they are, when we read the Word of God for the sake of applying it to our lives, we touch the hem of His garment, and are made whole.

It will be useful perhaps to notice that the land of Gennesaret signifies the garden of the Prince, and this again contains instruction for us. Ground only becomes a garden when it is well cultivated. Now, unless we cultivate a knowledge of the truth and pure affections, we cannot arrive at that state which will enable us to see the hatefulness of sin, the different forms of sin which are manifest in our lives, and the means of salvation. We must spiritually dwell in the land of Gennesaret. Our souls must be as a well-watered garden, and we must become trees of righteousness in the garden of the Lord.

What a pleasure a well-ordered garden gives to those who look upon it; and shall it not be so with us? The earthly garden can feel no happiness though it does sparkle with beautiful flowers, but let lovely flowers and fruit spring from our hearts, then not only will they be well-pleasing to the Lord, and a source of delight to our fellow-creatures, but our own hearts will overflow with the happiness which arises from peace with God, and from a heart desiring to do what is right and kind to all. Performing every duty faithfully and diligently and cheerfully, we shall then experience the blessing of those who fear the Lord, and delight greatly in His command

ments.

I

130

Reviews.

THE SUPREMACY OF MAN.

IN a former notice of this book we gave the author's view of the present state of humanity. We now present his ideas on the subject of man's restoration. Although we cannot unite with him in the faith or hope of universal restoration, we are pleased to find that his views on the nature and means of the change to be effected are very much in accord with our own. Whatever restoration may be in store for the human race, it is not to be produced by any extraordinary or miraculous manifestation of Divine power, but by the working out of the one Divine end of human regeneration by Divinely provided means. "The salvation of man is the awakening and raising up of his spiritual nature into its heavenly and everlasting condition of peace and friendship with God." And salvation is effected "by the Spirit of God, who, through one Son of God, is given to all men, to make them sons of God. By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or heathen, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit' (1 Cor. xii. 13). Because we are degenerate sons God has initiated us into a death unto sin in the death of Christ, and hath sent forth the spirit of His perfected Humanity into our hearts, to make us true sons. "The grace of God which bringeth salvation must be a grace which renews us, and completely adapts our nature and character to the nature and character of His eternal kingdom. Many, as Christ Himself teaches us, hear the call of the gospel, and receive it with gladness, and doubt not in their hearts that free grace has made them heirs of heaven, who, when they come into eternity, will discover that through their own lack of fitness it is impossible for them to live in the kingdom. The New Testament abundantly warns us that no man will, or can, be passed into heavenly society by an arbitrary act of grace. If that were possible, every creature would enter heaven at death. For the love of God draws every one to Himself who can live in the purity and glory of His kingdom. The work of saving grace, therefore, is a lifelong process, consisting in 'the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.' The truth in Jesus expressly requires us to put off the old man which is corrupt, to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and to put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. iv. 20-24). By a law more fixed than that of the ocean-tides do streams of Divine influence, direct from Christ, flow into all those whose eyes and hearts are turned to Him. The four winds do not more certainly blow than God in Christ is breathing His life into all souls who are seeking to be renewed. O holy and blessed kingdom of our Father, come and sow Thy Divine Spirit-seed in us! Come with Thy immoveable foundation into us, and let Thy walls of defence be in us; let Thy gates, open continually to God and to all good, be in us, Thy living water run through us, and Thy tree of life, which beareth fruit from God in endless variety, be rooted in our hearts."

Such being the nature and law of the renewing which is restoration, the progress of the work is vouched for by the event in which it had its origin and beginning, by promises and by signs.

"Eternal peace being made between the Godhead and humanity in the person of Christ Jesus, He is now bringing in, through an unbroken series of disturbances and changes, the strong peace of the world and of the universe. He is our peace.' Having made peace,' He is preaching peace equally to them that are afar off as to them that are nigh. By Him the

Father is not only making peace between Himself and persons, but also between Himself and all things;' by Him, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

"It is by no means disheartening that at the present time the whole intellectual world is distracted by doubt. If nothing is regarded as stable in the whole region of mind, this is precisely one of the premonitory symptoms which should assure us that the principles which cannot be shaken are at hand. Whatever can be shaken, let it be shaken and removed, to_make room for the kingdom of the truth, which will stand for ever. If the whole heaven of mere human theology and religiousness should pass away, the men who are receiving the eternal principles of the kingdom will not be moved. Though all the cloud-built heights of human thought should vanish as a dream, they will not fear. The more violently the winds blow, and the floods rise and rush, the more will they rejoice that within the crude and cloudy opinions of all nations and Churches, the kingdom of God, in the love and truth of Jesus, is coming and coming.

"There is very much yet to be realized before Christ and mankind will see God's full recompense of the travail of their soul. The heavens are full of expectation, Christ is expecting, angels are expecting, all men are expecting. Waiting for the manifestation of the Son of God' (called also 'the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ'), is the burden of the New Testament. Thitherward, with tender yearnings of desire, looks the whole creation. The desire for the first coming of Christ, in His humiliation, was great; but the longing for His second manifestation is much more intense and general. The coming of which the prophets more especially speak is His second coming; a coming not in weakness, but in glorious power; a coming not to suffer but to reign; a coming not as 'made sin for us,' to be our sacrifice,' but the coming of the right Divine King of men in His kingdom. His first coming and the gift of His Spirit have given a depth and keenness to our souls altogether unknown in previous ages; but His second coming will develop this depth and intensity of our inner life into inconceivable glory and power. The new order of men forming under Christ in heaven are men of profound and far-searching affections, who will be satisfied with nothing short of the universal fulfilment of Christ's victory over human degradation and every form of evil. They will never rest until this redeemed world is a perfect home in the possession of Christ and regenerate mankind. The refrain of their favourite anthem is, 'We shall reign on the earth.'"

We remarked in the previous notice that the work bore evidence that the author was evidently acquainted with the writings of Swedenborg. We could quote other of his teachings that bear the same testimony, of which what he says of the spiritual body and the states and alternations of states in heaven are instances. Yet there is one notion which we should not have expected to find in a production of one who gave once a general consent to New Church doctrines. He is of opinion that sin had its commencement in heaven. But with this, and one or two other points of less importance, the book is admirably adapted to the wants of anxious and inquiring minds, and cannot fail to be productive of great good.

SKETCHES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY: A Book for Girls. By Mrs. ROE, author of "Uncrowned Queens," "A Woman's Thoughts on the Education of Girls," etc., etc. Pp. 616.

To no subject in recent times has greater attention been paid than to the history of England. The publication of the records so long concealed in

the public offices, or the opening of these treasures to the investigation of men of learning and industry, has given a new impetus to the study of English history, and shed a new light on many of the incidents of the past. The subject has been rendered attractive also by the style in which it has been presented by modern historians. In the brilliant pages of Macaulay history becomes as fascinating as a novel. The pages of Froude and other writers exercise a similar power over their readers, and history has thus become a favourite study with all classes. The work before us, the authoress modestly states, "is not intended to rank beside the many elaborate and important labours of learned historians, but as a little gossiping narrative which may serve to arouse in girls a taste for the study of English history."

This purpose the work more than fulfils. The leading events of each reign are given in a pleasing and perspicuous narrative, and the domestic habits, social institutions, and general condition of the great body of the people in the several centuries carefully narrated. The work supplies a pleasant means of gaining a knowledge of the general facts of history by those who are commencing the study; and to those who have completed a course of study it will be scarcely less useful as a means of keeping in mind the connection of historical events. The style and manner of treatment adapt the work to the persons for whose use it is especially written. Many curious facts are collected which illustrate the state of society in former times. Accustomed as we are to have on our breakfast-table our letters and newspapers, posted probably a hundred miles away the night before, what should we think if the post, as in the seventeenth century, travelled at the rate of five miles an hour, and a letter sent from London to Edinburgh, if it travelled safely, arriving in about three weeks! Familiarized as we are with all the convenience and ease of modern travel, we can scarcely realize the delay and discomfort of former times. Here is a description of the roads in England so lately as the seventeenth century

"The best in England was, in 1640, the road to Dover; but Charles and Henrietta were four days in travelling from thence to London. On the best of the highways then existing the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous, and the road sometimes impassable, and it often happened that the actual road could not be distinguished in the dusk of the evening, or in foggy weather, from the unenclosed heath or morass which lay on both sides. Floods sometimes compelled travellers to turn aside from their route; and in some districts markets were, during the winter months, literally inaccessible. Few persons went long journeys, even in their own carriages, without disagreeable adventures. When Prince George of Denmark, the husband of the Princess Anne, paid a visit to Petworth in wet weather, there were men in attendance to drag the coach out of the mud as often as it fell. It is recorded that the prince and his servants were six hours in going nine miles. It was necessity, not ostentation, that made people have six and sometimes eight horses to their carriages; with a smaller number they would have stuck fast oftener than they did" (page 476.)

The work is illustrated with pictorial representations of persons and buildings, specimens of art, dress, and incidents which are described in the narrative. It will be welcomed by the young, for whom it is well adapted.