church," he maintains nevertheless that "the force of Protestantism lies in the pulpit; in the presentation of truth to the mind through logic wrought in fire."" He admits that preaching might generally be more "efficient" than it is, but declines to place himself amongst the “censors” who say that ministers

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can do many things well, but they cannot preach." "This," he says, " is sheer exaggeration." Alluding, we suppose, to such men as Messrs. Moody and Sankey, he remarks, "It is a significant circumstance that such crowds pour into halls or places of worship

in which lay-evangelists minister," minister," and asks, may not God be forcing on us the inquiry whether " our organisations are not sticking too closely to the pattern suited to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?" At any rate he sees clearly that "the causes of the alleged decline in church attendance are deeper than any dissatisfaction with the worship and preaching of the Church." There is abroad "a temper of soul, which has not energy enough to deny, which simply sets aside religion and religious truth as matters not to be known, on which no clear light can be shed, from which the practical and intellectual force must be withdrawn." Agonosticism is "in the air." Yet, as Dr. Lang shows, there is no cause for despondency. "If there is much to awaken anxiety, there is much also to inspire with courage. Christian faith, where it really animates, is intelligent, earnest, sympathetic. There is greater readiness than in bygone times on the part of those who are on the wall to come together at the sound of the trumpet. Nor is God leaving us without evidences, in this and in other lands, that the Gospel of Christ is still His power unto salvation." The whole

article is worth far more than the cost of the number in which it appears, and is only one of half-a-score, all of which deserve careful perusal.

THE CHRISTIAN: a Record of Christian Life, Testimony, and Work. London: Morgan & Scott.

THIS periodical, the December and January numbers of which are before us, is so well known as to need no description. These numbers give great prominence to the evangelistic agencies that are now busy in our land, and Messrs. Moody and Sankey figure notably, and, we trust, usefully, in its pages. We are glad to observe, in the December number, some exception taken to the bad tactics and the false teachings of the Salvation Army; whilst we regret that the words spoken by our brother Mr. Brock at the Autumnal Session of the Baptist Union on the subject of the theatre are-as we think-wrongly understood to "lend some support" to Mr. Henry Irving's hope that the time is approaching when even "ministers of religion" may recognise "the wisdom of the change of view which has come over even the most fastidious public opinion in relation to this question."

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: a Monthly Journal in Defence of Christian Truth. January, 1882. S. W. Partridge & Co., 9, Paternoster Row. YOUNG as this "Journal" is, there is no sign of immaturity in its pages. It is edited by the Rev. Gavin Carlyle, M.A., and can rejoice in an able staff of writers, who know how to deal with the' scepticism of the age. The Rev. James L. Bigger, M.A., B.D., has administered a smart and well-deserved rebuke

THE Preface to this compilation, which is admirably arranged, printed, and bound, expresses the hope that it "will be of use to many, and especially to invalids; to those who have but little time to spare; to those who are tossed to and fro by the conflicting opinions and doctrines of men ; " and the question is asked, "May not some who are keeping aloof from Christian privileges be willing to come and see' what Jesus Himself hath said?" We are surprised to find that "the very words" of our Lord, as thus collected, are so numerous, occupying, as they do, upwards of a hundred pages of compact and by no means large type. Many of these priceless utterances must, of course, lose some portion of their impressiveness from the fact that they are detached from the circumstances which occasioned them, and are taken out of their original setting. But the book which contains them is well fitted for its purpose, and its value is increased by an excellent Index. The passages are taken from the Authorised Version of 1611, with marginal quotations from the Revised Version of 1881 in

instances in which it is supposed that the latter is preferable to the former.

THE

STARLIGHT THROUGH THE SHADOWS, AND OTHER GLEAMS FROM KING'S WORD. By the late Frances Ridley Havergal. Nisbet & Co. It is difficult for any appreciative reader of this lady's writings to speak of them in terms which would not savour of an almost idolatrous admiration to those who are unacquainted with them, or who take them up without a large measure of that spiritual sympathy which is necessary to their being adequately understood. These modern days have been adorned by no riper saint-no spiritual teacher with a clearer insight into the deeper needs of the human soul, and into the readiness and completeness with which those needs may be supplied by the Word of God, when devoutly and trustfully consulted. She was no mere mystic, or contemplationist, or dreamer. She delighted in work as well as in poetry and prayer. The little book before us, newly published, contains four series. of papers, under the titles-" Shadows through the Starlight," "Marching Orders," " "Outlines of Addresses," and "Miscellaneous." It is full of spiritual gems, very precious and very beautiful.

THE OUTLOOK AND RECORD OF THE CHURCHES: a Weekly Journal for Home Reading. Presbyterian Publishing Company, 18, Paternoster Square.

THE CHRISTIAN LEADER: a Weekly Record of Christian Thought and Work. London: E. W. Allen, 4, Ave Maria Lane; Edinburgh: John Menzies & Son.

Two new journals. The first is specially

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devoted to Presbyterian interests. The second is undenominational, and seems to be distinctively Scottish in its origin and character. Both display much vigour and freshness, and may be expected to do good service to Evangelical truth.

GOLDEN HOURS. January. Passmore

& Alabaster, Paternoster Buildings. A WELL-KNOWN and well-established periodical, which has passed to the editorship of the Rev. J. Jackson Wray, who has a well-earned reputation as a powerful preacher and as a racy and fascinating writer. The contents of this January number are largely interspersed with fiction, to which the editor contributes "Isaac Newbold's Legacy." There are some good poetic pieces, together with remarks on "A Notable Hymn" ("All Hail the Power," &c.), by the Rev. R. Shindler, and articles entitled "A New Commandment," by Clericus; and "Golden Hours with 'the Book,'" by Patrobas.

THE HOMILETIC MAGAZINE. Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., Paternoster Square; New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co., 900, Broadway. THE Homiletic Quarterly is henceforth to appear monthly under the title of the Homiletic Magazine, price a shilling. The editorship has passed from the Rev. J. S. Exell to the Rev. F. Hastings. The form and style are the same as formerly, and each number will comprise sixtyfour pages. The January number opens with a thoughtful, elaborate, and instructive discourse on "St. Thomas, the Doubter," by Dr. Lipscombe, ex-Chancellor of the University of Georgia, U.S. In the department of "Practical Homiletics" we have seven rather full outlines of sermons on passages taken from

the Gospel of Mark, by the Rev. Dickerson Davies, M.A.; three on Prayer" -the first by Dr. Luthardt, and the other two by the Rev. E. R. Conder, M.A.; and one on Missions," by Dr. Marcus Dodds. The value of the expository section is attested by the names of the several contributors-Dr. Boardman, Dr. Grossart, Dr. A. B. Bruce, Dr. Payne Smith, Dr. Scrivener, and Dr. Gloag. The first of these writers supplies an important article on "The Scriptural Doctrine of Blood," upon which the three sciences of Biblical Interpretation, Physiology, and Theology are brought to bear, so as to lead to a conclusion which is thus stated: "Blood is the natural, physiological basis of the Scriptural doctrine of the Atonement. 'Science' inexorably holds us to 'orthodoxy' in the prime, pivotal article of the Christian religion.'

LITTLE

TEACHERS, AND OTHER STORIES. By Nella Parker. MY NELLY'S STORY, AND HALLIDAY'S LADS. By Adeline Sergeant. THE DEATH-MARCH OF GREAT DRINKDOM. By Forbes E. Winslow, M.A., Rector of St. Paul's, St. Leonardson-Sea.

THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE READER. Part III.

THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE MIRROR : an Illustrated Magazine for the Home Circle.

AN acceptable little parcel from the National Temperance Publication Depot, 337, Strand. Mr. Winslow vividly allegorises the evils attendant on the drink traffic and the drinking customs so prevalent in our land. The vision is a terrible one, but none can say that it has the demerit of exaggeration. The third part of the National Temper

ance Reader contains a ballad, in two parts, by Mrs. Sewell, entitled, "The Little Shoes," and characterised to the full by the simplicity, purity, and pathos for which her pieces are SO justly celebrated. The Mirror is a first-class periodical, attractively got up, and worthy of a place in every household.

THE PREACHER'S ANALYST: a Monthly Homiletical Magazine. Conducted by the Rev. J. J. S. Bird, M.A. January. Elliot Stock.

WE have seen several numbers of this magazine, issued for the use of preachers, with which, in relation to its professed purpose, we have been pleased. Though not very great, it is certainly good. The editor himself is the chief luminary that shines forth from its pages, and we may say that he shines with consider. able lustre. Sound doctrine is advanced, and practical Christianity is enforced.

RICH AND POOR; or, a Tale of Two Christmases. By Susan Black. Elliot Stock. A SHORT story, pervaded by healthy religious feeling, and illustrative of the way in which a sad Christmas was succeeded by a merry one to certain members of two families-one rich, the other poor-providentially brought together by a similarity of sorrow, and by the opportunity and the readiness for mutual help.

THE MOTHER'S FRIEND. 1881. Hodder & Stoughton.

ANOTHER Volume, the thirteenth, of the "new and enlarged series" of this excellent periodical. We wish that every mother in the land could take it. All would find in it many interesting and

useful things, both for themselves and for their children.

CHRISTIANITY AND WAR: a Series of Letters Written to Show the Cause, Curse, and Cure of Wars. By An Old Royal Dragoon. London: Yates Alexander & Shepheard.

THE Old Dragoon evidently understands his business, and can strike a deadly blow at the Jingoes. The letters are as able and conclusive as they are racy.

THE SECOND Book of SAMUEL, with Maps, Notes, and Introduction. By the Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick, M.A. London Cambridge Warehouse, 17, Paternoster Row. 1881.

MR. KIRKPATRICK'S contributions to "The Cambridge Bible for Schools "are admirably adapted for their purpose. They contain the precise kind of information-critical, exegetical, and historical-which all young students require, and, without making a parade of learning, and confusing the mind with an array of conflicting authorities, they grapple wisely and strongly with the problems which demand solution. The notes on "The Second Book of Samuel "dealing with the reign of David—are as terse as they are scholarly, and as judicious as the most exacting critic could desire. Only in the nineteenth century, after the various antiquarian and geographical explorations by which Biblical science has been so greatly advanced, could such a book have been written. Mr. Kirkpatrick is familiar with the results for which we are indebted to Ewald, Stanley, Conder, and Robinson; while his hermeneutical and doctrinal suggestions are invariably sound and helpful. We are conversant with several English and German works

mitted it we would gladly have given them a detailed notice. No story written by Mr. Kingston, by Mr. Ascott Hope, or Benjamin Clarke can be either uninteresting or uninstructive. They are writers in whom all boys delight. Dr. Green's volume is marked by bright, genial wisdom and refined sympathy, and furnishes us with a perfect model of the way in which children should be addressed. We give a hearty welcome to Mr. Mackay's wise and suggestive counsels, and are glad to see that our old friend the Child's Own Magazine is as entertaining It is quite a children's treasure. Very earnestly, too, we commend "Blinky and Onions" to all who wish to know something of our "waifs and strays," and the way in which they may be laid hold of for better things. Our friends at the Sunday School Union have rarely sent forth a finer contribution to our juvenile literature.

as ever.

JOVINIAN a Story of the Early Days of Papal Rome. By W. H. G. Kingston. With Eight Full-paged Illustrations. Popular Edition. Hodder & Stoughton. THE name of Mr. Kingston is a sufficient passport for any book which proceeded from his active and facile pen. The story before us is full of interest, and marked by power. The reader is led along from scene to scene, and from incident to incident, as by a spell. The author must have carefully studied the important period to which his narrative refers. Its character, and the spirit which pervaded it, are faithfully depicted, and we could almost fancy ourselves to be eye-witnesses of the events which constitute the groundwork of the plot. The story has