sympathy in quarters where better things might have been expected. A number of persons, friends of the wrong doers, comprising ministers of the Gospel, forward to advise, but too indifferent to inquire, urged us, and our friends, for "the sake of peace," to enter our protest, and withdraw." A "scandal was being brought on religion." The case of Abraham and Lot was actually urged upon us by a venerable London minister. Our friends replied, "We are not the cause of dis-peace; let those who are, the chief of whom are not members of the church, or even of the congregation, not known in person, or till now by name, retire, and peace will be at once restored. As to Abraham and Lot, there is no analogy; the former had not purchased the ground; the choice lay not between the 'wellwatered plain' and nothing at all, but between good pasture and better. With us, it lies between the possession of our own properties, costing our ancestors and ourselves well nigh £30,000, and no home! Let us, then, have done with Abraham. You propose that we, 1,200 church-members, and two congregations, shall step out and surrender two chapels, with their valuable appendages, to a few individuals who claim them as their own 'property,' while having nothing to do with them! No, verily! We insist upon our rights. We shall stand by our duties." The Court of Chancery restored us, sent the party about their business, declared the trusts according to the usage, carefully conserving the rights both of ministers and people, at a cost which taught the wrong doers a lesson which they will long remember. The great property was thus secured to the rightful occupants and their posterity, by firmness and wisdom. In the case at it will be enough to file a Bill; the "one trustee" will not hazard a suit to his own ruin. Let the number of the trustees be immediately increased; no people ought to be at the mercy of one man.

Health.-The Editor, while most grateful to his numerous friends for their anxious and sympathising inquiries touching his prolonged

and severe indisposition, rejoices in being able to inform them, that through the mercy of God, he is quite restored.

Deaconship.-Our appeal on this subject has been entirely successful. Of the Essays offered within the time, we present to-day the one which most entirely meets our views. Since then, we have received two more, of real worth, one of which, that of "W. F.," if not also the other, shall appear in January.

Religious Periodicals.-The pleasing communication of a 'Friend" in Bristol, to the effect, that in the congregation of the Rev. W. Rose, about 9,000 periodicals are circulated annually, does not at all surprise us. It is the simple result of system, purpose, and energy, and within the reach of all who have a heart to it. In one view it is the cause, and in another the effect of the extraordinary success that has attended the ministry of Mr. Rose. The example, however, serves both to illustrate and to expose the apathy which on this subject still so extensively prevails, to the exceeding great detriment of the cause of God. So far as many are concerned, the Printing Press might as well have no existence.

Articles." Prayer,"-"Breakers Ahead," -"The Ordering of Church Meetings," "Chapel Debts,"-"Memoir of Mr. T. Sutcliffe," will appear in January.

Death!-A large body of our Subscribers have, as usual, been cut down in the course of the year. Who, then, will "be baptized for the Dead?" Tens of thousands of old families have still no Magazine, who would amply find their account n the CHRISTIAN WITNESS and CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE. There, for Four Shillings, they will find more adapted knowledge than they could in the general bookmarket for Four Pounds. Then there are myriads of families but recently formed, to whom such magazines are of the nature of a necessity. Examination alone can show them the amount, the variety, and the value of the matter here supplied.

lator, in the person of the Rev. T. Smith, M.A., who has enriched the volume by notes taken from the writings of Bacon and Chalmers. The volume is posthumous, and consists of the following pieces:—

I. A part of a course of popular lectures on

the French Moralists, delivered at Basle in 1832-3. Portions of this course were published in the Semeur; and the portion on Pascal was prepared for publication by the author, but not published till after his death, in the volume from which it is now translated.

II. to VII. are from a course of lectures on the Literature of the 17th Century, delivered to the Academy of Lausanne in 1844 and 1845. Some of these were published in the Semeur, and others in the Revue Suisse. No. II. was first published in the volume from which it is now translated. It will be observed that these were written after the publication of M. Faugere's edition of the Thoughts, while No. I. was written before it.

VIII. is a review of two works on the Life and Writings of Jacqueline Pascal, apparently contributed to, and extracted from, some periodical, probably the Semeur.

IX. is a fragment dictated by M. Vinet on his death-bed, "on the 10th April, 1847, in the extremity of his last illness." It was published in the Semeur.

X. This is a reprint of three articles published in the Semeur in 1843.

Pascal was born a critic of the highest order. He never appears so great as when his mind is acting on the mental offspring of others. So it was with our own Johnson, who was much greater in his "Lives of the Poets," and his criticism on their works, than in the Rambler" or the "Idler." He waxed great in proportion as his subject was great; he is mighty in Milton, Pope, and Dryden; he culminates to the highest point of mental power in his introductory dissertation to Shakespeare. Beyond that earth supplied no theme; and beyond that Johnson had no potency. On that occasion there was a meeting of the greatest writer and the greatest critic in the universe.

The present work of Vinet will materially add to his well-earned renown. He and Pascal were kindred spirits, alike worthy of each other, and here they will go down in company to the remotest posterity.

Discourses by William Anderson, LL.D. Second Series. Bertram: Glasgow. Oliphant: Edinburgh. Ward & Co., London.

WE have here a small volume of sermons by one of Scotland's greatest preachers, dedicated to the author's father, "in the 90th year of his age, and the 67th of his ministry." Let the children of a few days look at this, and learn their own nothingness!

As to the volume itself, it is alike above our censure and our praise. A

VOL. XVI.

In

series of better sermons is nowhere to be found. The doctrine, the treatment, the language-all is admirable. these puling days of high dilution, it is specially refreshing to meet with the master-spirit which animates the book. The theology is thorough, profound, and altogether scriptural. Truth is demonstrated by its very statement, and error crushed by implication. The thoughtful, repeated perusal of the volume would be an admirable exercise for our unfledged negative theologians.

There is, however, a small speck in the horizon. We doubt not that we but share the annoyance of numbers in Glasgow, whose pet and pride the preacher has long been, at his ridicu lous preface, which forms a piece of small-talk utterly unworthy of the writer and the book. Rarely have we seen a great man, a man of genius, so completely compromise his own dignity. It is made up of trifles and impertinences with which the public have no concern whatever. After a foolish reference to an eccentric genius of his own order— whose name he quite misspells-he says:

The same rule of convenience has regulated the arrangement of subjects. Only, when the first and second discourses were about to be printed off, and when that stood first which now stands second, as containing the fundamental principles of the author's theology, and which pervade the volume, a friend, to whose judgment he defers much, advised a transposition, that the reader might be introduced to the volume with what would not require the exercise of such continuous thinking. The advice was followed.

"Followed!" so much the worse. Never was "judgment" less deserving of "deference." Where should foundation stones be but at the bottom of the building? If "strong meat" was too much for spiritual babes, what of that? Why not leave things in order, and direct them in the preface to go to the "milk" of what was meant to be the second sermon. Why should men be made to give place to children?

Dr. Anderson is equally "sped," whether deferring to his neighbour's judgment or his own; only, in his own case, the folly is more quickly discovered. He says:

Missionary Plea." The author now deeply regrets the alteration. When writing, he kept logically from first to last by the one plea of Justice: whereas, the "Missionary Plea" is one of great complexity; and the disquisition, measured by the title, is greatly defective. He also regrets, that publishing arrangements did not admit of inserting the Appendix referred to at page 163.

Now all this, we submit, is beside the mark. The public have no right to such intimacy, and they can enjoy it only at the expense of the author. Let a writer do his best, and hold his tongue. Let it be assumed that what he did he meant to do, and many will see only beauty where he deplores a blemish. Confessions of blunders and oversights, changes of plan and changes of purpose, deeds attempted but not performed, aspirations indulged but not realised, ought to have no place in a preface. Chalmers excelled in this, and Johnson was a model.

In meaner men we should have passed the matter over, but the evil is so common that we have embraced this opportunity of entering our protest against it. Let writers follow Pope. He, as Johnson well remarks, was not content to satisfy; he desired to excel, and therefore always endeavoured to do his best. He did not court the candour, but dared the judgment of his reader; and expecting no indulgence from others he showed none to himself.

Having opened our mouths, we may as well utter one more parable, and say, the style of printing and the whole getting up of the book is utterly unworthy of the glorious matter and the renowned author. It is execrable. Had it been committed to Messrs. Ward and Co., it would have been turned out in a very different fashion. Mr. Crisp, we feel assured, is ashamed that it bears the name of that most respectable house.

Once more, we recommend the discourses, as among the best of the century, and doing distinguished credit to the Scottish pulpit.

The Life of the Rev. Richard Knill, of St. Petersburgh; being Selections from his Reminiscences, Journals, and Correspondence; with a Review of his Character by the late Rev. John Angell James. By CHARLES M. BIRRELL. London: Nisbet and Co.

THOUSANDS of our readers, to whom the amiable subject of this deeply interesting narrative was intimately or generally known, will hail its appearance and read it with

avidity. It was our privilege to be on very fraternal terms with the departed; some of his last communications, indeed, were addressed to ourselves. From conversation and otherwise we were led to anticipate a deeply interesting narrative; but we must candidly confess that our expectations have been considerably exceeded. The book is really a very good one, and that it will be read with great interest throughout the country, admits of no dispute. The review of the volume by John Angell James, his last work on earth, will awaken peculiar interest. Although the closing contribution of the great and good man to the cause of God, it betrays none of the infirmities of years. It bears all the freshness of an intellect of forty. The correspondence connected with the return of the proof-sheet to the editor, the night before the death of Mr. James, is very remarkable. It would seem as if, even then, the instincts of death had been on the venerable patriarch, and that he actually felt his mission was completed. All this, however, we must leave to our readers.

The History of Methodism. STEVENS, LL.D.

By ABEL

Vol. II. New York: Carlton. London: Heylin.

THIS Volume extends from the death of Whitfield to the death of Wesley, and is incomparably the most complete narrative of the events of that momentous period that has yet appeared. The two volumes form a work that fairly eclipses all that had been previously attempted. They who desire to see Methodism in its different denominational forms, and its relation to British and American Protestantism, have only to betake themselves to the well-crammed volumes of Mr. Stevens.

Punctuality. By S. A. STOWSFIELD. London: Thick broom.

THE readers of this book, if we mistake not, will, on its completion, lay it down, filled with shame and wonder. Few will be prepared to find such a world of matter, instructive, amusing, and momentous, wrapt up in the one word-punctuality. It is a chapter of philosophy of the very highest order. Never before, within limits so narrow, did we meet with such a treasury of practical wisdom. It is found alike to comprehend all the ways of men and all the works of God. The thing in its way is a marvel.

Above her Station; the Story of a Young Woman's Life. By Mrs. HERMAN PHILIP. London: Hamilton and Co.

THIS is a long tale of a silly girl, who got sick of dressmaking, and took to service, resolved to make her fortune by fine clothes. Through much folly, suffering, and sorrow, she worked off her vanity, and became happy by ending where she ought to have begun.

The Story of a Pocket Bible. Tract Society. WE have a number of books framed on this principle, but none on the same subject. The work combines the two-fold charm of biography and romance. It is full of incident,

interspersed with passages of the deepest pathos.

The Cradle and the Cross of Jesus. Two Discourses. By ALEXANDER S. PATTERSON, D.D. Glasgow: Bryce. London:

Nisbet and Co.

THESE are touching, beautiful, and thoroughly Evangelical discourses, much fitted to edify the reader whether in connexion with the Lord's table or apart from it.

The Workwoman's Day. By the Author of the "Mother's Mission," &c. London: The Religious Tract Society.

THIS is a pretty book, elegantly illustrated. It will be a neat pocket companion on the highways or at the cottage fireside.

Margaret Penrose; or, Scenes in the Life of a Sunday-school Teacher. London: Sunday School Union.

THIS is a book of life among the lowly, abounding in fact and incident; in things touching and amusing, and full of instruction -all largely bearing on the work of the Sunday school. Every one of the noble host of teachers would do well to give it a careful perusal.

The Unseen. A Series of Discourses. By WILLIAM LANDELS. Second Edition. London: Nisbet and Co.

HAVING spoken of this valuable book already, it only remains for us to announce a second

edition. It is a book of thought-the product of a very able man.

The Successful Pole-climber; a Memoir of John Wilcox, late Corporal Ninety-sixth Regiment, who died at Lahore, North India, in July, 1852. By ALFRED HACKHOUSE, M.A. London: Nisbet and Co. THIS is a strange and interesting narrative of a restless, roaming, active, and, in some degree, remarkable man. We have him in Tasmania, Western Australia, Calcutta, Cawnpore, and Lahore. While the narrative is brief, it is yet replete with information; and the change wrought on him is one of the most remarkable and satisfactory of the numerous conversions recently reported from India.

Earthly Riches; or, Underground_Stories. By E. W. PAYNE. London: Religious Tract Society.

THIS is a rare book, which cannot fail to become a universal favourite. It is geology made easy-dark studies invested with an atmosphere of light. We look on it as an exceedingly valuable addition to the series of works on this subject and its affinities already published by the Religious Tract Society.

Haste to the Rescue; or, Work while it is Day. By Mrs. CHARLES W. London: Nisbet and Co.

WE like this book in its subject, treatment, spirit, and everything. It is replete with facts, and steeped in the holiest sentiment.

TASTE rules in the choice of food. An appetite diseased recoils from wholesome viands. This holds alike in temporal and spiritual matters. The sure sign of returning health is a growing relish for wholesome provender. Ireland at this moment presents a most striking illustration. A minister writes:

"In this town and neighbourhood, drunkenness has almost disappeared. The change is such that in a small place of only 3,000 inhabitants, nine spirit-dealers have abandoned this demoralizing traffic. This, however, is to be attributed, not so much to the conscientious conviction of its sinfulness, as to the fact that it had ceased to pay. Their best customers had become converted; their sales had virtually ceased, and they prudently abandoned an unprofitable business.

"The sale of Bibles and Testaments, and other religious books, has increased tenfold over that of the most favoured seasons in former years."

Here is congruity; here are "the fruits of righteousness." "Old things are passing away, and all things are becoming new.' "Men are known by their works:" so are families, so are congregations, and so are communities. The Bible Society, the Tract Society, the publisher of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS and the CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE, and the publishers of other similar serials, are so many thermometers by which to ascertain the real spiritual temperature of the churches.

We trust, then, that we shall at the New Year have cheering proof that things are improving in a largely-increased demand for the WITNESS and the PENNY. Thousands of benevolent voices will echo our anxious words; and so far that is good, but not enough. Nothing will do but increase, and that is not self-generated. Means must be employed to bring it about; and such means never fail of success. If Ministers, Deacons, Teachers, and active individuals, will but take

the matter up in good earnest, triumph is certain. Our readers will bear us witness with what zeal and uniformity both Magazines have, throughout the year, been brought to bear upon the subject of the Great Revival now going forward. Richly laden with seed so precious, in every congregation where they have largely circulated, it may be presumed that they have "left a blessing behind them." The inference is clear, that where they have not circulated, a heavy spiritual loss has been sustained by the people! Should not the fact suggest the question as to where lies the responsibility?

Once more we commend the Magazines in all their interests to our true, tried, and neverfailing friends. Relying on them and those 66 precious promises" which are all " yea and amen," we shall, we trust, start Volume XVII. with purposes invigorated, aims more elevated, and motives further purified. We desire in all things to grow as we advance, confidently hoping that our readers are likeminded. Matters become hourly more grave both to them and to us.

It will more than ever be our daily endeavour that these Magazines may conduce to their happiness in life, their hope in death, and their blessed immortality!

It is deeply affecting to think, that of the whole 30,000 Readers with whom we started the great majority have entered the world of spirits!

The education for the priesthood, of “English boys" in France is a new idea, which presents an appalling prospect. England to Continental Papists appears quite a region of darkness, a land of Popish Missions! Help is, therefore, being promptly given from the principal countries. Now such an invasion is an evil of magnitude sufficient to awaken the solicitude of English Christians. It may be doubted if a Government thoroughly Christian, and fully enlightened, would endure such missions, from their tendency to damage both the religion and the liberties of the country. But there is something worse, far worse than this, where they are the authors of their own calamity. The hope of the Papacy touching England's conversion is in Ireland, which yields an efficient supply of excellent clergy." These are the men who, on all sides, are filling up the Mission Stations of Rome in England. This would be bad enough were these clergy like those of the Continent, fitted out by the liberality of their own country; but it is not so; every man of them has been fed, clothed, and educated through long years by the infatuated bounty of England! For this unholy and most suicidal purpose does she contribute annually out of the revenues of the country, the enormous sum of £30,000! The madness of this conduct is equal to its impiety. How the British people endure it is to us wholly incomprehensible.

CHURCH-RATE MOVEMENT.

As we have elsewhere hinted, the friends of Church-rate Abolition ought to be up and doing. Never before was the peril to the impost so great, and never before were its abettors so thoroughly awakened to the necessity of union and effort to avert the coming calamity. The clergy are everywhere on the alert. A great meeting was held a few days ago, at which Mr. G. H. Davies, the Secretary of the new organization, said, "He trusted that Low Church and High Church would be forgotten in the business they had before them. He could assure them that on the question of Church-rates there was a drawing together of the clergy quite delightful to witness. He had been in all parts of England, and