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year of his life. His biographer says of him :

"His doctrinal views were such as would be denominated hyper-Calvinistic. The deep things of God were precious to his soul, and often dilated upon, especially the covenant responsibilities of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other parts of truth, however, were not excluded-'all the counsel of God' was declared. Believers were reminded of their obligations, seeking souls were directed, and sinners warned of their dangerous condition in a loving and faithful manner. The many and various trials through which he had passed had necessitated his putting God often to the test, and imparted a rich experimental savour to his preaching, very grateful to tried believers. Regarding the Gospel as God's remedy for the wants and woes of His people here on earth, he constantly endeavoured to present it in such forms as were suitable to meet the conditions of home-going pilgrims, and so to 'comfort them with the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God.'"

We need not say that, to our view, Mr. Atkinson seriously narrowed the Gospel which Christ has commanded His servants to preach to every creature, and that his usefulness was thus restricted to limits far beyond which it would probably have passed had his ministry partaken as freely of calls and invitations to sinners as it did of warnings. At the same time, we recognise in him an eminently godly man, conscientiously devoted to his Divine Master's work as he was able to interpret it-a man of solid intellectual powers, a diligent student, large-hearted and tender-hearted, an affectionate and faithful husband, father, pastor, and friend. The volume is enriched by a photograph, and by upwards of fifty pages of interesting letters.

JOSÉ AND BENJAMIN a Tale of Jerusalem in the Time of the Herods. By Professor F. Delitzsch, Ph.D., Leipzig. Translated by J. G. Smieton, M.A. Hodder & Stoughton.

ON hearing that Mr. Smieton had translated his "Tale of Jerusalem in the Time of the Herods," Professor Delitzsch wrote to him a beautiful little letter in which he expressed himself as both "pleased" and "grateful;" "for," said he, “you are helping to make more widely known a little book which has more individuality than anything that I have written. It is a piece of my own life, reflected in an historic mirror, but written for the glory of God and of His Christ. Let my José and Benjamin,' then, wander through England. Here and there the story of youthful friendship will find a lyric echo in some heart. Let those who find the book too sentimental forget the two friends, and fix their attention on the archæology." Such words at once be speak sympathy with the author, and create a desire to read his narrative. It is one which, says he, "I have compiled from ancient sources, and which bears on the Christian care for lepers whose earliest bloom was witnessed in Jerusalem itself. It is the history of two Jerusalem youths in the time of the second Temple, in one of the last decades previous to its destruction. It will also show that the treatment of lepers at that time continued to be very different from what it has latterly become under the rule of Islam. A leper's quarter inside Zion was then an impossibility. The law did not permit a leper to remain within the walls of the Holy City. We will not, however, anticipate. The story we have to relate will bring vividly before us, in their varied features, the observances which

were required by the Mosaic law of leprosy."

Although the subject of leprosy and its treatment occupies a considerable place in these pages, it must not be supposed that this element in the narrative gives to it any repulsiveness. The subject is a painful one, but it is handled with rare delicacy and tenderness, and affords an opportunity for bringing into full view the beautiful spirit of self-sacrificing love by which the one friend is actuated towards the other. That love, inspired by faith in, and devotedness to, Christ, the promised Messiah, wins its way to the heart of the friend by whom the Christian faith was not in the first instance shared ; and the conversion of one leads to the conversion of others in whom he is deeply interested, and especially of the fair, frank, high-tempered girl in whom he is most deeply interested of all. Nothing could exceed the grace and the charm with which the incidents of the story are told, or the wholesomeness of the impression which, as thus told, they are fitted to make. Such writing could hardly have been expected of so rigid a student and so precise a commentator as Professor Delitzsch. He does not here, however, forego his learning for the sake of indulging his fancy, but gives play to his fancy to make his learning useful. Among other elements of value in the book we must not forget to notice the light which it throws upon the religious condition of Judæa immediately after the Saviour's death, and the painful conflicts to which the disciples of the Christian faith were then subjected.

FLORA MACLEAN'S REWARD: a Tale of the Hebrides. By Jane M. Kippen.

ANNA ROSS, the Orphan of Waterloo. By Grace Kennedy.

THE HUT IN THE BUSH: a Tale of Australian Adventure; and other Stories. By Robert Richardson, B.A.

MARY BURTON, and other Stories. By Mrs. Scott. Edinburgh: Oliphant,

Anderson, & Ferrier.

MESSES. OLIPHANT'S juvenile literature fully maintains its high character. It is worthy of a place in the palace and the cottage alike. The stories noted above are well written, and are all animated by high moral principle, and made to enforce lessons of great moment. They will be read with great and universal pleasure. We may also direct attention to the New Year's stories for the young, issued at 13d. by the same firm.

BIRDIE'S MISSION and JACK IN THE WATER are two capital children's books, issued by the National Temperance Publication Depot, 337, Strand, Lon. don.

THE

PARALLEL NEW TESTAMENT, Greek and English. THE OXFORD BIBLE FOR TEACHERS, with the Parallel New Testament (English). London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Warehouse, 7, Paternoster Row. 1882. THESE admirable editions of the sacred Scriptures ought to be in the hands of all Biblical students. The earlier of the two is intended especially for those who are conversant with the original. The left-hand pages contain in parallel columns the Authorised Version of 1611 and the Revised Version of 1881. The right-hand pages contain the Greek

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Text followed by the Revisers, with a list of the displaced readings of the Textus Receptus in the margin, and also of the readings deemed worthy of note by the Revisers, though not actually adopted by them. The edition is most beautifully printed, and will be used with great pleasure by all who can appreciate a clear type and broad margins.

We are glad to observe also that an edition of the well-known "Oxford Bible for Teachers" has been issued, containing the Parallel New Testament in English -that is to say, the Versions of 1611 and of 1881 placed side by side. This addition makes a work which has always been a deserved favourite with English students practically complete, and, until the Revised Version of the Old Testament appears, no other edition of the Bible can possibly compete with it. We very cordially commend it to the notice of our Sunday-school superintendents and teachers. May we add that there are few ministers who would not be thankful to receive a copy of it for use in their study?

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MOTTOES AND MESSAGES.

Words of Help by the Way. By Eva Travers

Poole. Morgan & Scott. ANOTHER Very useful sixpenny packet, containing a large number of poetic pieces, some of which are above the average of the kind of poetic literature to which they belong, and all of which are simple, flowing, and musical, and filled with a devout Christian spirit.

*** We deeply regret that notices of a large number of books have to be postponed for want of space, amongst which we may mention with special approval recent publications from the firm of T. & T. Clark; "The Treasury of David," Vol. VI., by Rev. C. H. Spurgeon (Passmore & Alabaster); "Booksellers and Book Buyers in Byways and Highways" (Passmore & Alabaster); "The Illustrated Bible for the Young," Part I., and "The Child's Instructor; or, Learning made Easy," Part I. (Ward, Lock, & Co.); "Ashen Holt Conferences," by Quæstor (Marlborough & Co.); "Dr. David Livingstone," by Samuel Mossman (Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier); "The Minister's Diary and Visiting Book, 1883;" "Drops and Rocks," by E. R. Conder, D.D.; "Yensie Walton," by S. R. Graham Clark; "Nettie and Kate; or, Onward to the Heights of Life," by F. L. M.; "Andrew Fuller,” by Andrew G. Fuller; "A Short History of the Methodists," by W. H. Daniels, A.M.; and "Oliver Cromwell," by Paxton Hood (Hodder & Stoughton).

Our January number will contain a portrait of the late Rev. W. M. Lewis, with a Memoir by Rev. T. Witton Davies, B.A.; also the first of a series of biographical papers on the late Dr. Steane, by E. B. Underhill, Esq., LL.D.

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London: YATES ALEXANDER & S¤xpxzard, Printers, 27, Chancery Lane, W.C.

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