are furnished with the internal and external evidence of their being the engravings of the Israelites while in the wilderness. The proofs adduced by Dr. Barclay, and his reasoning regarding them, place the two subjects in a very satisfactory light. The "third part" contains extracts from literal translations of these writings. The specimens of the matter of the remarkable writings which the Sheriff has found it convenient to furnish have not been so full as to satisfy the intense craving of his readers; and if his other multifarious duties will permit him, in a second edition, to increase the number of quotations, it would be a great boon to multitudes who cannot have access to large and expensive works on this subject, and also render his valuable treatise more complete. We trust a second edition will soon be demanded; for rarely indeed have readers been furnished with such satisfactory information regarding a subject of such deep interest to the antiquary, as well as the Christian, at such a moderate price and in such a concise form.

The Epistles of our Lord to the Seven Churches of Asia. By the Rev. Marcus Dods, M.A. Renfield Free Church, Glasgow.

THIS volume consists of seven discourses on the seven epistles of the exalted Redeemer to the seven churches of Lesser Asia-a sermon or lecture on each of the epistles. The discourses evince ability, close thought, careful preparation, and a desire on the part of the author to edify his hearers and readers. In illustrating his remarks he has availed himself of the information furnished in history regarding the condition and circumstances of the cities in which the churches addressed were

placed in the Apostolic age. There are frequently very happy and somewhat original thoughts in the progress of the discussions. We were much pleased with the following explanation of what is spoken of the woman Jezabel in the message to the church of Thyatira. We give the following extract out of what is said on this subject:

"To this woman the wickedness of the false teachers had linked the church of Thyatira. This is the person they are most like, and this the period of the kingdom of Israel that most fitly depicts their fallen condition. Far be it from them to have set up so execrable a model, yet this is what they have come to. . . . Here our Lord, instead of at length laying to the charge of these teachers all their abominations, far more effectively shows them their frightful corruption, by setting before them one whom they already hated, and in whom they yet saw as in a mirror their own very image. Jezabel, He says, is risen from the dead, and with increased subtlety and power lives and rules among you. They lived as the worst of pagans in God's kingdom, and seduced God's subjects to their abominations," &c. &c.

The exposition is by no means exhaustive, nor is it analytical. There are many important points in the epistles left untouched.

We regret much that no special reference is made to the words appended to each of the epistles-" He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." These words show plainly

that the messages of the Lord Jesus are addressed to the churches as such in their organised capacity, describing their general condition and the duties required of them collectively, in the maintenance of purity of doctrine, of communion, and of worship, by a faithful exercise of discipline; and no exposition of them does justice to their spirit and their bearing on the Church in all ages and places which does not deal with them in this paramount aspect. Our author does well in dealing with the messages in their application to individuals-good in its own place and terse; but he all but ignores the main object of the epistles, to which there is so much need to call attention at the present time, when all the churches are failing so much in fidelity. There is also very little reference to the necessity of the work of the Spirit at every stage of the life of the Christian, without which there is no conversion, no believing, no progress in sanctification; but sinners are urged very earnestly to believe and all will be well, as if they could do so of themselves. This is the sad defect of the preaching and the writing of the present time, even among those who admit the necessity of the work of the Spirit.

Whose are the Fathers? Or the Teaching of certain Anglo-Catholics on the Church and its Ministry, contrary alike to the Holy Scriptures, to the Fathers of the First Six Centuries, and to those of the Reformed Church of England. With a Catena Patrum of the First Six Centuries, and of the English Church of the latter half of the Sixteenth Century. By John Harrison, Curate of Pittsmoor, Sheffield. London: Longman's, Green, & Co. 1867.

This is a work of no common merit. The author is a gentleman of great ability, discriminating judgment, and much learning. This volume is a magazine of information on the wide subject of which it treats, which is so interesting at the present time. The results of the labours of Mr. Harrison contained in the pages of this work make it manifest that he has a thorough acquaintance with the early history of the Christian Church, not at second-hand, but as the materials of this are furnished in the extant writings of the Fathers, in the Greek and Latin languages in which they were composed. These results are evidently the fruit of no ordinary labour, industry, and, in not a few cases, the investigation of recondite sources. Consisting largely as they do of facts, Mr. Harrison's book will never be answered. Unless they be sadly blinded, the advocates of Diocesan Episcopacy and Apostolic succession must find themselves in a dead fix from which there is no escape. The arguments of our author drawn from Scripture, from the earliest and most authentic annals of the Christian Church, and the writings of the English Reformers, are so complete, that they must feel themselves making a desperate attempt to find standingground on an utterly untenable position.

We are sorry our space does not allow us at present to enter more fully on the particular consideration of the facts contained in this elaborate and singularly successful work, to which (D.V.) we will return. In the meantime we give the author our warmest thanks for the eminent service he has rendered to the Church. We wish his volume an extensive circulation, and pray that it may be blessed for opening the eyes of many in the Church of England and elsewhere, to see how baseless the pretensions of Puseyites and High Churchmen are, and be the means of leading them to embrace the truth.

Sketches of Scripture Character. By the Rev. Andrew Thomson, D.D. Author of Great Missionaries, A Life of John Owen, &c. Edinburgh: Johnstone, Hunter, & Co. London: Hamilton & Co.

THE author of this volume possesses, in a high degree, the talent of deducing valuable practical instructions from the historical narratives of the Bible. This is a mode of giving instruction at once pleasing, memorable, and convincing. In selecting the subjects of his sermons the author has not followed the usual beaten track. He has found valuable lessons both as to doctrine and practice, and gives beautiful illustrations of both in the narratives of Scripture regarding the Hebrew captive maid in the house of Naaman, regarding Gehazi, Absalom, the daughter of Herodias, and Pontius Pilate. From an excellent sermon in relation to Nehemiah we have given an extract elsewhere.

We regret that Dr. Thomson holds the views of Dr. Brown, his predecessor, on the subject of the atonement in all their latitude. They are palpably brought out in the following passage :

"Thus, so far as the removal of all legal obstructions out of the way of his pardon is concerned, and the making of a full, complete, and infinitely meritorious satisfaction for his sins, this has all been done long since in the atonement of the Son of God."

This is not the place to discuss such a vital question. But we must say, we are unable to see how, so long as the doctrine of election is held, the doctrine of universal atonement enables any to preach the Gospel more freely than those who hold the doctrine of particular redemption can do on the warrant of the Divine commission to preach the Gospel to every creature; the invitation of the Lord Jesus to the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved; the command of the Father to believe on Him whom He hath sent, and the assurance that "whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life ;” at the same time they escape from making the love of the Father and the Son an enigma, and the reasoning of the Apostle inconclusive or contradictory in such passages as these "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things." (Rom. viii. 32.) "God com

mendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. .. If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall (Rom. v. 8-10.)

be saved by His life."

The Divine Supplicant and Intercessor; or Our Lord's Intercessory Prayer. By James Grierson, D.D. Errol. Edinburgh: John Maclaren. 1867.

WE think Dr. Grierson has done well in publishing the discourses contained in this volume. They show him to be a sound and able theologian, and a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In these sermons the doctrines of the Westminster Standards are exhibited with such freshness and power as is truly refreshing in these days, when so much writing on theological subjects of a superficial and doubtful kind is being extensively circulated.

The Domestic Circle; or the Relations, Responsibilities, and Duties of Home Life. By the Rev. John Thomson, Paisley. Edinburgh: Johnston, Hunter & Co. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co.

THIS is an admirable treatise on the domestic circle. It is concise, and yet exhaustive. There is a beautiful and judicious use made of Scripture throughout the volume. After all that has been written on this important subject, Mr. Thomson has done well in publishing this part of his labours. Many I have little doubt will, by the Divine blessing on its perusal, have to bless him for this work. There are none who may not profit by it. Every branch of the subject is ably and warmly discussed. We earnestly desire a place for it in every home, and that its pages may be again and again read and pondered in many thousand households.

Alice Thorne; or a Sister's Work. Edinburgh: Johnston, Hunter, & Co. THIS is a beautiful little volume in its external appearance, and the characters and conduct pourtrayed in its pages, whether of young or old, are also beautiful. These bright patterns are held forth for imitation in a great variety of conditions-in health and in sickness, amidst hardship and in the enjoyment of comfort, in the higher and the lower stations of life. It seems adapted, in a number of things, to English society, with their Prayer Book and hymnology. Our eye has been pained by the exclusive application of a heathen designation to the Lord's day, for which there is no shadow of warrant from the one end of the Bible to the other; while the names which the Holy Spirit has given to the day of holy rest is not once used. God has given that day in the Scriptures three designations-" the Sabbath"-" the first day of the week "-" the Lord's day." How strange the power of custom

when godly men and women, of whose fear of God we can have no doubt, habitually eschew the use of the Divinely-sanctioned designations, and persist in, we must say, profaning the day of the Lord by calling it "Sunday." What would they think of something analagous to this in speaking of God himself in the habitual use of the name of some heathen deity? Would they not shrink from it with horror? We do not believe that "Sunday" shall be heard from Christian lips when the Jews are grafted into their own olive, and the world and the Church blessed with the glories of the millennium. Let anyone substitute Sunday for Sabbath in the Fourth Commandment, and how palpably must the incongruity be felt.

Edited by

The Benefactor: Official Journal of the Systematic Beneficent Society.
Robert G. Cather, LL.D. M. R.I.A.; assisted by Hon. Secretaries and other Con-
tributors. Offices of Society: 7, Adam Street, Strand, London, W.C.; and High
Street, Oxford Road, Manchester.

THIS periodical fills an important niche. It is the organ of an association to which the designation auxiliary pre-eminently belongs. In proportion as it succeeds in its aim, will the treasuries of all benevolent societies be replenished. We think the principle of the Society has a Scriptural basis to rest on, which, were it carried out, would conduce eminently to the well-being of society, and render endowments by the State quite unnecessary; thus leaving the main question regarding the duty of nations, as the subjects of the moral government of God, to honour Him in all their laws and administration to be argued apart from the subject of endowments, which is a very subordinate part of the question of national religion.

Beply to Bishop Wordsworth's Charges for 1865 and 1866: in two Speeches delivered at the Meeting of the Free Church Synod of Fife, in April and October, 1866. By the Rev. Walter Wood, M.A. Minister of the Gospel at Elie. Printed at the request of the Synod. London: James Clarke & Co. Edinburgh: John Maclaren, Princes Street. 1866.

THIS is an able pamphlet. Mr. Wood has done good service in taking up the Bishop's Charges, and discussing the subjects introduced so thoroughly as he has done. He has completely met the author of the Charges in every line of his argument. Scarcely any better proof of this could have been given than the Bishop's ostentatious nibble at a mere slip in a quotation taken at second-hand, which, either one way or other, does not touch a single point of the argument. By making so much ado about a mere trifle, the learned prelate shows that he would not have been slow to expose any real flaw in the argument of Mr. Wood's review did he see how this could be done. It is a remarkable fact, that neither history nor Scripture furnishes any substantial