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brings out just the lessons which are fitted to sink most deeply into the heart, but enforces them with an eloquence and tact that give to his writings an indescribable charm. And while, with the hand of a master, he touches the truest and deepest chords in a woman's nature, stirring all holy emotions, his discourses are essentially practical; no woman, whatever be her circumstances, could rise from a study of this book without having learnt much that would enable her better to fulfil her important duties. Many a mother, after reading the chapter devoted to Rebekah, Jochebed, and Hannah, will find the lessons thus gained tell on the future welfare of her children; while, to others," Martha the active," and "Mary the contemplative Christian," will be found replete with suggestive thought, quickening their love to Christ, and their zeal in His cause. We would especially recommend the chapter on "Phœbe" to the earnest perusal of that large class of women whose home duties and ties are

few. Mr. Landels' suggestions are of so wide and practical a nature that they cannot fail, more or less, to meet the difficulties of those who desire to do some work in the Church, yet scarcely know in what work to engage, while the earnest appeal with which he closes the chapter will surely rouse some of the indolent members of our churches to emulate the zeal of "the servant of the church at Cenchrea."

For the information of those who care for the "external" of a book, we may add that it is handsomely bound, printed on toned paper, and illustrated. We know of no work on this important sub

ject better calculated to do good, and we trust that it may find a prominent place in many a woman's library, not to fill a vacuum on a book-shelf, but to be read with interest and profit.

Meditations on Select Passages of Holy Scriptures. By the late Rev. JOSEPH THORPE MILNER, With a brief memorial of the Author, by the Rev. GERVASE SMITH. H. J. Tresidder. 1865. THE last literary work of a good and able man cannot fail to awaken interest. In a few pages, very touchingly written, the Mr. editor gives a sketch of Milner's laborious life and triumphant entrance into rest, which lends an additional pleasure to the perusal of the Meditations themselves. Without laying claim to striking originality or commanding eloquence, Mr. Milner's style is characterized by manliness and vigour; his subjects have been well chosen, and in the handling of them, all the results of extensive reading, much clear and logical thought, and a cultivated taste, have been turned to good account his language is at all times simple and refined. With Mr. Morley Punshon, we hope that "the book will answer its author's end, and fill many meditative hours with thoughts of God."

Stories for Sunday Schools. No. 2. The Chamois; or, The Lord is Mighty to Save. No. 3. The

First Ealse Step. Elliot Stock. THE want of penny books of an attractive yet instructive nature for distribution among Sunday scholars has long been felt by their teachers. We think that the most inveterate hands at skipping over "dry bits" will

read the whole of these two little
tales with as much interest as
profit.

Stories for Boys. By J. HOPE
MONCRIEFF. London: John

F. Shaw & Co.
WE have a feeling that the task
of writing religious stories for
boys is one of great difficulty, and
this feeling is strengthened by the
fact that so many attempts in this
direction prove to be failures.
It is with pleasure, therefore, that
we welcome any one who can ad-
dress himself to boys in a success-
ful manner, and such an one is
the writer of the book before us.
Here we have nine stories, each
enforcing some great principle in
its application to scenes and cir-
cumstances peculiar to boyish life.
The pictures drawn by the author
are very real, and the way in
which he enters into the feelings
he excites shows him to be in
true sympathy with the class for
whom he writes. All good, as
the tales are, the first in the book
is our favourite, and we should
like to know it was read not only
by boys but by adults too. Should
this be the author's first publica-
tion, we are sure he may be en-
couraged to write again.

Christ and His Salvation: in Sermons variously related thereto. BY HORACE BUSHNELL, D.D. London: Alex. Strahan, 148, Strand. Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, 14, Ludgate Hill. We have never heard Dr. Bushnell preach, though we believe he once preached in London, and delivered his most popular sermon on "Unconscious Influence," in Fetter-lane Chapel. We should very much like to hear him, that, for one reason among others, we might watch the effect of his

peculiar style upon one of our ordinary congregations. Our impression is that he would not be understood. The general result upon the audience would probably be beneficial; there is a highly religious tone that pervades his sermons, and every one contains some passage of manifest spiritual truth, expressed in simple language and of exquisite taste. But the thinking is very close, surely too close, for ordinary sermons ; the words are philosophical rather than theological and Biblical, and the style is dense, sometimes ponderous; so much so that it requires the undisturbed attention and the leisurely care of reading to follow the track of the thought. It may be our want of acquaintance with American literature that causes us to feel surprised at the use of some words and phrases in this writer's works, but to the general English reader they must be as novel as they are to us, and as awkward. Here is one example taken at random from this new volume. "Here, then, is the true conception of God's gentleness. It lies in His consenting to the use of indirection, as a way of gaining His adversaries." The next sentence is a very long one, in which the word "indirection" is translated into better known equivalents. We cannot but regard this as a defect of style, which impedes the truth to be enforced, since every explanation of such unusual words necessarily weakens the force of the hearer's mind, which should be reserved solely for the subject, and not expended on its vehicle. Dr. Bushnell's method of sermonizing is called, we believe, the topical method. It consists of finding a general proposition under the particular

turns

statement of the text, and then proceeding to prove and illustrate, or to disprove as the case may be, the new text thus constructed. Thus in the first sermon in this book, the text is a few words of the history of our Lord's birth. "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The sermon has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus: but is a very beautiful discourse on "the very impressive fact that Jesus could not find room in the world, and has never yet been able to find it." Another, and slightly different example, is the sermon on "Christian Ability." It is an illustration of the truth "that man about every thing, handles all heaviest bulks, masters all hardest difficulties, in the same way: that is, by using a small power so as to get the operation of a power greater than his own." This somewhat cumbrous mechanical proposition is a substitute for the lively and telling image of St. James, that "ships, though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, are yet turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth." We would not be thought to even imply any disparagement of this method; we think it has its uses, and that they are very great: but we do not think it is of universal application, as some of our English copyists of Dr. Bushnell seem to imagine. In the hands of a master, one who has a chastened fancy and a fund of appropriate illustration, it is very fascinating: but a hard bare intellectual mechanism will only break up the

beautiful forms of Scripture to recast them into severe and angular shapes. Fenelon says, "Tout discours qui a de l'unité peut étre reduit à une seule proposition. Le discours est la proposition developpée; la proposition est le discours en abrégé." Just so, but every discourse has not the unity of an essay, nor should it have the most useful discourses are often those which, by being accurate expositions of Scripture, follow the thoughts of the sacred writer, and so have no unity of their own.

This new volume of Dr. Bushnell has the characteristic defects we have mentioned as a collection of sermons for delivery from a pulpit: but as a book of religious essays it is of the highest value. It is a really religious book; it stimulates thought and sustains it, it quickens and purifies feeling, and it depicts aspects of God's government and dealing with the souls of His children, that are most refreshing and invigorating. Of its theology we shall say nothing, except to indicate its relation to recognized standards of belief. It is not the theology of Dr. Candlish: but then neither is it that of Mr. Maurice : it is not that which will satisfy many orthodox members of evangelical churches: but then it will still less satisfy Mr. Martineau and the modern rationalists. It is very definite, we fancy increasingly definite, in comparison with his earlier works, and it is an attempt to satisfy the demands of reason and the exigencies of Scripture. Happily, Dr. Bushnell's best sermons are what may be called his experimental ones, and they form the majority.

THE

CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR.

MAY, 1865.

THREE MORE BISHOPS.

Do we want them? The bishops have the work to do, and ought to know. They have with one mind said, "We do, at least three to start with." To determine which three districts require this extra supervision, we must ask what the duties of an Anglican bishop are, and where these duties press most heavily. The duties, in the diocese, are to confirm the young, to ordain the clergy, to consecrate churches and burial places, to act as referee and adviser of the inferior clergy, to visit their parishes, and to exercise a certain jurisdiction over them; residence is not compulsory, though customary before and during the festivals of the Church. The duties in the province are to assist in the consecration of other bishops and attend Convocation. As Convocation meets during Parliament, and nearly all sit in both, the few weeks' attendance there is an extra requirement from only a few. Their parliamentary duties are nearly the same as those of other peers; the heaviest share falling on the Archbishops and the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester. The diocesan duties will press most heavily where the populations are largest and most difficult of access. Hence, the work in London is quite unmanageable by those bishops whose sees cover it. This would be remedied by constructing a new diocese from parts of those of Canterbury, London, Manchester, and Rochester. There are eight hundred benefices in the diocese of Lincoln, which includes Nottingham. The see of Lichfield is similarly burdened, and both could be relieved by the foundation of a new diocese, including the shires of Derby and Nottingham. The Bishop of Exeter has the charge of a diocese whose area is larger by half a million acres than any other, and

whose population is more difficult to reach, the railways skirting the country rather than crossing it. Here the work could be eased by a new see in Cornwall. So far the arguments of the Episcopate, headed by Dr. Wilberforce, deserve attention and credit. The other reasons alleged, and, yet more, the manner in which these proposals are to be carried out, are open to very grave objections. Nothing surprising or objectionable is urged in favour of the two first proposals, but the reasons adduced in favour of the division of the diocese of Exeter, ought to be known by Dissenters and Wesleyans, especially the latter. "The cathedral of Exeter is at one extremity of the diocese." Then why not have the bishop's seat at the centre, and in a populous town, where the dignitaries of the church may exercise an influence proportioned to their offices? Christ chose the dense populations of Decapolis and Jerusalem for his ministry; the chief officers of His church should do the same. "The Scilly Isles are at the other end of the diocese, forty miles from the nearest sea-port town, and the sea is exceedingly rough and dangerous." The creation of a Bishop of Cornwall will scarcely obviate this last difficulty. It might be possible to appoint as next bishop of this diocese one who, like John Newton, or the late vicar of Bradford, have known and do not fear "the dangers of the seas." Any Colonial bishop, who comes home at short intervals, might receive the appointment, and bear even sea-sickness for the work's sake. "But the people of the two counties are quite different; in Devon, of Saxon origin, and employed in agriculture; in Cornwall, of Celtic origin, and employed in mining." The Bishop of Ely might have added, that a Cornishman speaks of a Devonian, as indeed of every other Englishman, "as a foreigner.' Both, however, speak the same language, and the difference of occupation prevails in most other dioceses; and if Dr. Philpotts cannot, perhaps his successor will be able to copy one who "became all things to all men, that he might win some." But, and here we quote the Bishop of Ely's own words:-"The Cornish population," in the main, consists, "not of Churchmen but of Wesleyans and other Dissenting bodies. Having lived in the centre of Cornwall, I know that they feel the necessity of superintendence; and although a Dissenting population, they would gladly hail the advent of a bishop among them." We must compliment the bishop on a display of common sense which does not belong to many of the inferior clergy; for he acknowledges the existence of Dissent as modifying the movements of his own church. Yet if the main population be Wesleyan and Dissenting, it would seem to other but Episcopal eyes a reason why the bishop's duty should be light in this country, for there will be fewer consecrations and confirmations; and, therefore, no reason for the appoint

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