6

place with reluctance.

For three hours they had been pent up in a badly-ventilated building, and yet they were dissatisfied with breaking up the meeting, as they styled it, so soon.' On the 16th, I preached in CIndependent Church,-a noble building. The congregation was not large. I was greatly pleased with the deacons-men of merit and. men of prayer-and with the members. C seems to be a fine field. On Sunday evening a special service was held. The attendance was numerous and it was a gracious season. In P————, and at C, I had good meetings, and I had much reason to be satisfied with my visit to those places. I feel very grateful for the assistance and co-operation of Messrs. M'P—————, K——, and M'L-. The latter gentleman is an agent of the Irish Evangelical Society, and is, I am confident, a great blessing in the neighbourhood where he labours. The remainder of the month was spent in labouring in C―n, C————, L- and B Most gratefully do I raise my Ebenezer, inscribing on it," Hitherto hath the Lord helped me!"

SPECIAL SERVICES.

All the agents of the Irish Evangelical Society conduct evangelistic operations in the districts immediately surrounding their central stations, in different instances not fewer than from six to fifteen out-stations being regularly visited. Some of the brethren, however, occasionally engage in such work on a more extensive scale. One esteemed pastor, the Rev. Mr. F, has reported many most interesting particulars of such special efforts, in which God had recently disposed him to engage. Some of these were conducted in company with the excellent evangelist whose narrative has just been given :"Having just returned late last

our evangelist, and I have been conducting religious services, I feel constrained to write you a brief note in reference to our efforts. We announced for a meeting in the Hall, on Monday evening, and I am glad to say that it was full; there were people present of all denominations, comprising the most respectable and influential inhabitants, and several ministers. It was a most blessed meeting, and, as the people seemed evidently to enjoy it, we thought it proper to announce for a second meeting of the same kind, to be held in the same place again last evening (Tuesday); and, without the slightest effort on our part, by personal visitation or bills, the Hall was again as full as it was on the preceding one,I should say fuller, and the people seemed deeply interested and delighted with the proceedings. The meetings at D—, C

and

Lancashire: Its Puritanism and its Nonconformity. By ROBERT HALLEY, D.D. Two Vols. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Manchester: Tubbs and Brock.

We have read these admirable volumes with interest and satisfaction, and hope to be able speedily to give our readers some taste of the good things which they contain. Meantime we commend them with all our heart. "More distinctly than any other English county (Dr. Halley says), Lancashire has a religious history of its own. Its Nonconformity has been, in many respects, unlike the Nonconformity of the other parts of England. It has had, more than any other county, on the one hand, a strong and determined Popish party; and, on the other, a powerful and zealous Puritan party. Under the government of Elizabeth, Puritanism was en

THE INFIDEL AND THE QUAKER. A sceptical young collegian confronted an old Quaker with the statement that he did not believe in the Bible. Said the Quaker:

"Does thee believe in France ?"

"Yes; for though I have not seen it, I have seen others who have; besides, there is plenty of proof that such a country does exist."

"Then thee will not believe anything thee or others has not seen ?"

"No; to be sure I won't."

"Did thee ever see thy own brains?"
"No."

"Ever see anybody that did ?"
"No."

r

"Does thee believe thee has any ?"

PROVERBS OF THE PEOPLE OF YORUBA IN WEST AFRICA.

Wrangling is the father of fighting. Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws them.

He that would get honey from under a rock must not spare the edge of his axe. A cutting word cannot be healed, though a wound may.

He who sees another's faults, and talks of them, covers his own with a potsherd.

The time may be very long, but a lie will be detected at last.

NEW BOOKS.

couraged in it, while it was persecuted in other counties. In the reign of James it had its own 'Book of Sports,' enforced no where else; and in the time of his son its own religious war distinct from, although simultaneous with, the great religious war of the country. It had a Presbyterian Church legally established within its boundaries, and a Congregationalism unlike the Independency of the Eastern and Southern counties." The systems which were in deadly conflict in the seventeenth century are described by Dr. Halley with a fairness that is quite unchallengeable; the characters of the men of all parties are discussed with great candour; and the story of the wars of Lancashire is told with a vigour and vivacity which give us the pleasant assurance that the honoured author's eye is not dimmed nor his natural force abated.

Discourses on Redemption.

By Rev. STUART ROBINSON, D.D., lately Professor of Church Government and Pastoral Theology at Danville, Kentucky. Second Edition. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

THERE are some sermons which may be appropriately placed under the head of

Light Literature;" but not those of this volume, to which we should like much to devote some pages of review. The author shall state his own idea of

66

the pulpit and pulpit work. Having," he says, "through a ministry of twenty years, to congregations variously composed, in four different cities, been accustomed, in pursuance of the latter theory of preaching, to appropriate one of the public services of the Sabbath to showing the people how to read the Scriptures, and to follow the development of the one great central thought of the Book through the successive eras of revelation-the author can testify from practical experience that the people need no other attraction to draw them to the house of God than a simple, rational, and practical exposition and illustration of the Bible. And he who may once attract them by such teaching will find no occasion for devising sermons on special subjects, or any other theatrical devices to draw men to the sanctuary. The author's first experience was in a congregation composed largely of the professional and public men that gather in the capital of a state; his last experiment in a city of colleges and in a congregation composed in large measure of professional men and students in every stage of professional education; in two intervening experiments in commercial cities among business men. And his experience is, that with all classes alike, the preaching which aims most directly at making the Scriptures a living message from God to men, translating them into the current forms of thought and speech, is more permanently attractive than any other. Perhaps the most encouraging assurance he ever received that his labours were profitable to hearers, was in a recent testimony from the students of Arts, Law, Medicine, and Theology in the various institutions of learning in Toronto, which specially and very intelligently pointed out the benefits which they considered themselves to have received from the exposition of the Gospel in the order of the successive revelations, under the several covenants in the history of redemption."

The present volume, he goes on to tell us, is the result of an attempt to give permanent form, so far as oral instruction can be transferred to the printed page, to such outline specimens of the author's Biblical expositions in the several sections of the inspired Word, as might be suggestive to younger preachers in their attempts to develop the various parts of Scripture to the comprehension of the people, and at the same time be instructive to Christians, and inquirers, and other earnest persons troubled with doubts touching the inspiration or the doctrines of the Bible. To young preachers, especially, we commend with much earnestness the study of these "Discourses on Redemption." Not that they are fitted for universal imitation, but because the study of them cannot fail to give larger and clearer views of the whole scheme of the Bible and its revelations, and to produce a deep impression of the greatness of the preacher's work. The man who is ambitious to be master of the great theme with which he is entrusted, so far as that is within our reach, will find no small aid in the volume before us. It is scarcely worth while saying that we have met with occasional interpretations and opinions which we do not accept, and in which the author or we may be right or wrong. But we must tender our thanks to the Messrs. Clark for making us acquainted with Dr. Robinson's Discourses.

The World of Anecdote: an Accumulation of Facts, Incidents, and Illustrations, Historical and Biographical, from books By and times, recent and remote. EDWIN PAXTON HOOD. No. I. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

THIS is the first of nine parts which are to constitute "The World of Anecdote." It consists of eighty pages filled with illustrations of the "Ways and Means of Doing Good," taken, for the most part, from recent books and times. If the office of "anecdote" is to amuse, these pages fail of their purpose; but if it aims to quicken and stimulate, while it interests, Mr. Hood's labour will not be in vain. There is very much in the incidents recorded in this No. I. which makes the reader say "I must go and do likewise."

Bertie's Birthday Present; or, Patience Rewarded. London: Religious Tract Society.

"THIS is an exceedingly nice story book all about silk-worms." Such is the

verdict of a young friend at our elbow, on whose judgment as to the "niceness" of a story book we can thoroughly rely. Gleanings for Mother's Meetings, Cottage Readings, and District Visitors. London: Religious Tract Society. THIS is a very good collection of short, simple papers, some of them in the narrative form and some true narratives. It is well adapted for the purpose which its title indicates.

The Ups and Downs of an old Maid's Life. London: Bell & Daldy.

THIS is neither a novel nor an ordinary religious story book, but something that bears so many marks of a real autobiography, that we cannot help thinking that it is so. The book is wholesome and pleasant, there is considerable delicacy and finish in the description of character, and the tone is that of one who has brought a calm and loving spirit out of a varied and somewhat trying life discipline.

Friendly Words with Fellow Pilgrims.

By Dr. KIMBALL, of Boston, United States. London: Religious Tract Society.

THIS is one of the best books we have met with for the guidance of inquirers. It looks like the work of a man who has attained to a calm rest in God, through a wide and varied experience. It is marked by much clearness and fulness, and, what is rare in such books, a nice and delicate insight into the adaptation of the Gospel to the varied needs of the human spirit. The chapters entitled "Loving Jesus," "Every Christian a Worker," and "How to Save Souls," we

like particularly. The book may be very useful not only to beginners in the Christian life, but to those who, having long made a profession, are yet quite conscious of not having attained that inward rest which is the heritage of all believers.

Bible Sea Pictures-Panoramic Series. Heroes and Martyrs of the British Reformation. Twelve Cards in Colours. London: Religious Tract Society. BOTH very good, useful, and interesting of their kind.

Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. By JOHN EADIE, D.D., LL.D. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

DR. EADIE's name, as that of a Biblical scholar, is sufficiently well known to guarantee the patience, laboriousness, and learning expended upon this work.

The author says that he has "endeavoured to unite grammatical accuracy with some fulness of exegesis, giving, where it seemed necessary, a synopsis of discordant views, and showing their insufficiency, one-sidedness, ungrammatical basis, or want of harmony with the context; treating a doctrine historically, or throwing it into such a form as may remove objection, noticing now and then the views of Professor Jowett, and interspersing several separate essays on important topics." All this has been done, and done as might have been expected, with some success. And the work possesses that "individual character and value," which must always be the result of the "independent and unwearied investigation" of an able and scholarly man. Some may wonder indeed at the publication of such a commentary on the heels of Professor Lightfoot's valuable work. But it must be remembered that Dr. Eadie was engaged on the Epistles of Paul long before Lightfoot was heard of, and has already published commentaries on Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. Moreover, the two works are so dissimilar in plan, that the one does not supersede the other. We should be sorry to want either. We are thankful to the Head of the Church for both, and see in the learning and spiritual enlightenment which distinguish their works, evidences of the abiding presence of Christ in and with His Church, better than are to be found in the boasted " "successions of bishops and the imaginary powers of priests.

Sermons. By the Rev. JOHN Ker, D.D.

Fifth Edition. Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas.

Ir is a hopeful sign of the public taste, that these Sermons, by a man hitherto unknown, should already have attained the honour of the fifth edition, and should have won for their author the honour of a "D.D." from the Edinburgh University. We have already expressed our high appreciation of the volume, and feel it a pleasure and duty to repeat our verdict. You have here no gaudy rhetoric, no laboured gatherings of figures and illustrations, no affectation of originalities and novelties, no climbing up to sublimities which are sublime only because they are in the clouds. Every page is the utterance of a mind which is full and well furnished, which is thoughtful and well disciplined, which is original in the best sense, and whose power is manifested not in storm and thunder,