believe. But whilst in this merely following what has been the all but universal practice of all the Presbyterian schools of Scotland, he shrunk, with all the intensity of his deeply earnest nature, from that latitudinarianism which, to please a few, would banish the Bible from the school. It may be said, without fear of contradiction, that the training system could not be carried out under a secular system of education. For the training system is based on the Bible. It does not recognize sects; but it holds firmly and tenaciously to religion-to religion as a practical power on the life, and not as a series of theologic dogmas-to the religion of the whole Bible, and not of isolated portions only. This distinction is important, for attempts are being industriously, and, we must say, somewhat unscrupulously, made to confound the teaching of religion in schools with the teaching of theology. It is quietly assumed that theology is a synonyme for religion; and then it is triumphantly asked if those who argue in favour of religious teaching in schools mean to assert that a child is to be taught all the subtile "metaphysics of Calvinism." The assumption is entirely false. Religion and theology are not convertible terms. To teach religion is not to teach theology. In no point do we admire Mr. Stow more than for his firm adherence to the great truth that, as the child has a soul to be saved, it ought to be told of the Saviour; that, as there is a happy land, the child should, as far as man can do it, be put on the road to reach it. Mr. Stow wished the Bible to be not only the great source of all divine truth, but the great regulator of conduct. He had no great faith in Bible lessons merely as lessons, occurring at stated hours, which would seem to be the resolution of the religious difficulty to which Scotland is destined to yield. He did not undervalue these, certainly; but he attached far more importance to the constant reference to the Bible during school hours, as the ultimate source of authority in all matters relating to the conduct of the children. His desire was that the atmosphere of the school should be redolent with those sublime but simple truths which have turned the world upside down, and should be permeated with the essence of a living Christianity. His constant aim was to train the children to regard the Bible as that law of liberty by the study of which they could alone attain unto the stature of perfect men. differed in some important particulars from that which he would have refused admission to the normal school to all who did not, at the time of their entrance, possess certificates of competency in regard to their knowledge of the branches to be taught. But it soon became manifest that this was impracticable. The universities did not then, any more than now, take any cognizance of the great leading branches which form the staple of education in the vast bulk of our elementary schools. To have attended the university for one or two sessions did not of itself afford any guarantee that students were acquainted with the elementary branches of education. Nor could such attendance be said to afford a sufficiently satisfactory guarantee of their knowledge even of those branches which the university undertakes to teach. The university had no entrance examinations; students were received without any reference whatever to their qualifications; a large proportion of those who entered were lamentably deficient in their knowledge of Latin; many of them knew no Greek. Except in the case of those who went in for a degree, students left the university without undergoing any adequate examination to test their progress and attainments. They could simply produce the certificates of the professors that they had been examined so many times, and had acquitted themselves creditably or otherwise, as the case might be. Accordingly it came to pass that, when students presented themselves for admission to the normal schools, they could produce no certificates of competency from any body whose certificates could be sustained. There were thus two wants. First, the means did not actually exist of obtaining instruction in the ordinary elementary branches; and second, even if the means had existed, there was no recognized tribunal to grant the requisite certificates. Hence arose the necessity of meeting both these wants. It became indispensable to supplement the deficiencies of normal school students by a regular course of instruction, and to subject them to such an examination as might afford a guarantee that they were possessed of the requisite literary attainments. The normal school was thus, in some sense, compelled to diverge from its original idea, and to unite in itself the double function of which we have spoken. But still it did not render itself independent of the university. It gladly availed itself of the university, and permitted its students to receive there those branches which were embraced in its curriculum. Such was the shape which the normal schools assumed and maintained, so long as they were supported and managed entirely by the Church. But when, in 1848, the Minutes of the Committee of Council were extended to Scotland, an important change in their constitution took place. The institution of pupil teachers, who, after finishing their apprenticeship, had inducements offered them to attend the normal school; and the regulation by which the possession of a certificate was rendered essential to participation in the benefits of the Government grants, compelled the normal schools to extend their curriculum of study, and to make it co-extensive with the requirements of the Committee of Council. From this time they became independent institutions, and were isolated to a large extent from the universities, and all schools which were not connected with the Privy Council. Now, whilst we most readily admit the immense good which the normal schools have accomplished; whilst we hold that they have given a mighty impulse to education, and have freed it from the shackles of empiricism and routine, we no less readily admit, at the same time, that their isolation has been their weak point. We do not mean to dwell on the fact that a large number of young men, meeting together day by day for two years, in the purThe idea which Mr. Stow formed of a normal school suit of one common end, are apt to acquire one-sided Mr. Stow has the honour of being the first who, in this country, clearly apprehended the necessity of having teachers thoroughly trained for their work. His views on this point took their origin from his views of the end of education. As the child has to be trained, and not simply taught, it is essential that the teacher should know how to set about his great work. The necessity of training was all but ignored when Mr. Stow began his labours in the wynds of Glasgow. It is no exaggeration to say that teaching was then regarded as so little of an art, and as requiring so little knowledge of principles, that men who failed in every other profession or trade were deemed quite qualified to undertake the work of tuition. We do not mean to assert that there were no good teachers in those days. Far from it. But what we make bold to say is, that good teachers were such by the force of native talent, groping its way often blindly and darkly through manifold experiments and manifold failures. Now, when one reflects for a moment on the delicate machinery of the human mind, on its immense receptive power in childhood, on its strong tendency to imitation, and to take its bias from those by whom it is surrounded, it will need no argument to show that he who would operate upon it to any good purpose must not be a mere guesser at truth, but one who understands its structure, the laws of its development, and the delicate links of association by which it works. This knowledge can be acquired only by study and practice, and hence arises the need of a special training for those who would acquire it. We have said that Mr. Stow was eminently a practical man, and, accordingly, no sooner did he clearly perceive the want, than he set himself to meet it. The way by which he was gradually led to the establishment of a fullyequipped normal school is detailed at considerable length and with great power by Mr. Fraser. We earnestly recommend the study of this portion of the Memoir to all who take an interest in our normal schools, especially at a time when there is a tendency to decry them and to make the mere possession of knowledge, without the adjunct of proved skill, the sole test of a teacher's qualifications. views of their work and calling. We do not mean to dwell on the spirit of freedom, nor on the general culture which the university bestows, although much might be said on all these points. We count it enough to say that we hold it to be detrimental to the cause of education, considered in its highest aspects, and to the normal schools themselves, that they should be cut off from all contact with the universities, which are, after all, the highest educative power in the country. Such a separation and isolation are not essential in the nature of the case. Each institution has its own specific work to accomplish, and the work will be best done when each confines itself to its own sphere. The university cannot do the work of the normal school, nor the normal school that of the university. But the two could cooperate to the one common end of sending out into the educational field men equipped with all the learning which the university can bestow, and with all the professional skill which our normal schools have proved themselves capable of imparting. We hope the day is not far distant when these two institutions shall be so connected that they will mutually supply in regard to the training of teachers what each lacks. Such a connection will be a much better solution of the difficulties that beset this question of the training of teachers, than the suggestion that the university should seek to accomplish the whole work by the establishment of a chair of Paidutics that is, of the science of teaching. Any such plan would prove a failure, for this among other reasons, that mere lectures never can make a man a teacher. Such lectures would be practically useless, unless the principles inculcated were illustrated in actual school work; unless, in short, the professor of paiduties were also the master of a school. But this would be merely to create what we have already, and to call into existence new normal schools, instead of using those we have. Nor are we more favourably disposed to the suggestion made by the Royal Commissioners, that young men should be admitted to the examination for certificates who have attended the university, and have at the same time taught as assistants in some selected school. Any one will see that this plan would afford no guarantee whatever for the acquirement of professional skill. A man does not engage an assistant to train him how to teach, but to get out of him as much work as he can. Under any such system one of two things would inevitably happen. The master, in training the assistant, would neglect his own proper work, or, which is much more likely to be the case, the training of the assistant would be overlooked altogether. How much better to allow candidates for the office of teacher to acquire the knowledge of their art in institutions specially organized for that end, and under the guidance of men who have given evidence of their power and ability in this special department. In one word, we see no incompatibility between the university and the normal school. On the contrary, it would be a very simple matter to make the one so fit into the other, that the union of the two would give an impulse to education greater than it has received in this century. We could have wished, had space permitted, to have dwelt on Mr. Stow's character as a man. We cannot do so now. Suffice it to say, that a purer, nobler life has seldom been lived-a life more unselfish, more consecrated to the Master's work, more buoyant and cheerful, and more radiant with all the graces which adorn the Christian character. Of the many distinguished laymen whom the great Chalmers called forth and sent into the harvest, burning with his own devoted zeal, no one deserves better of Scotland and of the Free Church than David Stow. Missionary Life among the Jews in Moldavia, Galicia, and Silesia. Memoirs and Letters of Mrs. Edward. With Preface by the Rev. A. Moody Stuart. London: 1867. Pp. xvi., 319. Ir is on many accounts a pleasure to read this biography. There is, first of all, the interest which the reader takes in scenes new to most of us, and in events which are very important and touching in their own nature. And, next, there has manifestly been very careful editing of materials admirably adapted for their purposes, to a very considerable extent consisting of letters written by Mrs. Edward to her only brother and his wife, and to one other very intimate friend, who sympathized thoroughly and uninterruptedly in all her work and sufferings. Mrs. Edward was one of three children of a Banffshire minister, early left fatherless, and brought up by a mother who understood well how to train them, and who was blessed by seeing the fruits of that training. Her early life as a governess enabled her, from personal observation, to understand Scottish Moderation and Anglican Ritualism (not in its late portentous developments, of course), seeing both these systems in favourable circumstances, and inclining to them more than perhaps she was well aware. But by this experience she was enabled in the end to make the firmer and more intelligent choice; though her preliminary course is stated by herself to have been completed by the experience of life with her pupils in Germany, where she was shut out from ordinances, and thrust back upon her own resources. She received the truth of God in all its fulness into her soul; and she never afterwards seems to have wavered in her apprehension of Christian doctrine, or to have done otherwise than make continual advances, so far as the eyes of others could see, in the path of holiness. Providential lessons in the family circle must have aided her in all this. Such were the happy and harmonious life when all its members were together; the death of her only sister, whose place as governess she took in that family to which her chosen friend through life belonged; her brother's settlement as a minister, an event which brought the family together again; and her own most severe and dangerous illness at the very time of her mother's death. But a year and a half afterwards she was married to the Rev. Daniel Edward, who had already given nearly six years' evidence of those high "qualities which have distinguished him through a pretty long course of missionary labour among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And from August 1846 till February 1861 she was his loving, wise, and faithful partner in joys and sorrows, which alternated with a violence and a suddenness which few but such servants of Christ are likely to know. And in all this course of life she was borne up by her own noble qualities of mind, sanctified and sustained as these manifestly were by the grace of God: the frail body had a continual struggle for existence, and it sank at length under hardships and the attacks of disease when she was as yet but in the forty-eighth year of her age. We cannot attempt any summary of those missionary labours, begun at Jassy in Moldavia, transferred to Lemberg in Galicia, and terminated at Breslau in Silesia. The story of these is told so exquisitely in her own words, so far as these go, that it would be wrong to injure it by compression or selection such as our limits might require or permit. In fact, our chief objection to the volume is, that the editor has been so scrupulously desirous of making her letters tell their own tale, aided by mere occasional notes from her husband, or else he has been so anxious to avoid even the imputation of book-making, that he has failed to present the narrative of the mission in such a way as to do full justice to it among readers in general. He may vastly improve the second edition, which we cannot doubt that these Memoirs are to reach, by weaving into the narrative such information as even the letters published in the "Missionary Record" might supply, so as to make incidents be understood and appreciated with which we become acquainted chiefly in their personal relations to Mrs. Edward. And in this way his volume might become a standard work on Jewish missions; such a work as is greatly needed for the members of our own Church, not to say for the whole Church of God. For this narrative exhibits the devoted missionary, wise and well-educated, going forth upon the errand of seeking these despised and wandering sheep. The toil is very great, the discouragements almost innumerable -due to worldliness, to frivolity, to carelessness, to persecution, and to open vice. And yet there is something bracing to our spiritual health in reading of this pursuit of the object promised by God in the midst of all those hindrances, sometimes all the more on account of them, as if they brought one face to face with God to plead his truthfulness, and give him no rest till he make Jerusalem a praise. And the reward of the labour is seen in the ingathering of some who have adorned the doctrine of Christ, including some who, for a time, were backsliders. But it is equally evident that our missionaries are busy with another work in the Jewish as well as in the Indian field, in one sense unspeakably less important than conversion, yet, in a different sense, perhaps more important than the conversion of individuals—namely, the necessary preparation for a nation being born in a day. This memoir shows us how utterly rotten Judaism is, and yet how tenaciously individuals are held in that bondage of corruption which has oeen fatal to both the intellect and the conscience; and it shows what improvement this missionary couple accomplished in these respects among the Jews to whom they were sent. And, once more, it shows the wisdom of that mission of inquiry instituted by our Church in 1839, with a view to select the best fields for labour; and the need for repeating such inquiries, and accumulating knowledge and acting on it as circumstances direct. From a human point of view, a person might be tempted to say that it was provoking to see work begun and then cut short, as related in this volume; but those who have been accustomed to read the Acts of the Apostles with intelligent interest will rather recognize the identical procedure which long ago opened one door to the apostles, while not suffering them to enter at another which seemed more inviting, and letting them be driven out at some third door after the entrance had been effected. The volume also teaches valuable lessons about the friends and the enemies of the work. If the Jewish authorities in our Lord's days on earth agreed to cast out of the synagogue any one who should confess him, we read here of the ban pronounced by the rabbi as often as the work became specially promising; an experience which has often been repeated in the history of our Jewish mission-fields, and not in these alone. But specially instructive is the attitude toward Israel assumed by the Roman Catholic and the Russian authorities, the principal representatives of those two opposing errors against which the Free Church has borne its peculiar testimony; for the first exalts the Church over the State, and the second exalts the State over the Church. The condition of Israel is indeed fearfully sunken, both morally and materially, in countries where these systems have been allowed full play. And yet, no sooner have men of God come with the pure gospel, seeking to win those poor neglected Jews to Christ, than artifice and violence are alike employed by Romish and Roman influence in order to arrest all operations, alike at Jassy and at Lemberg. On the other hand, these missions to the Jews become a blessing to the Gentiles, wakening up churches that were sinking into the sleep of death, and giving us opportunities of usefulness in the world at large which otherwise we had no means of enjoying. Mr. Edward's work has been singularly connected with the changing conditions of the political world during the last fiveand-twenty years, and this while he himself was acknowledged by all to be no meddler in politics. Our Jewish missions may not improbably be the means of introducing us to fields of usefulness of which we cannot at present form a distinct conception. Daily Bible Illustrations. By John Kitto, D.D., F.S.A., Editor of the "Pictorial Bible," "Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature," &c. New Edition, revised and enlarged, by J. L. Porter, D.D., LL.D., Author of the "Giant Cities of Bashan," "The Pentateuch and the Gospels," &c. Edinburgh: Oliphant. 1867. THE Bible, it should never be forgotten, is an historical book. It is not so much a body of doctrine or a code of laws, as a narrative of facts. It is not a chain of propositions, but a series of events and dispensations-events and dispensations beginning with the Fall, running through all time, culminating in Christ, and in these fruits and results filling all the ages to the end of the world. It is the history of the mighty acts of God, and of God's thoughts and ways as embodied in these acts-the history, to use the words of Jonathan Edwards, of the "work of redemption," or in those of an earlier and still greater teacher, of the "city of God." It contains, indeed, other matter rich and various besides the strictly historical-doctrine, precept, promise, proverbial apothegm, parabolic pictures of life and truth, lyrical psalms, prophetic symbols and visions; but all these are organically connected with and subordinate to the fundamental historical ground-work. The history is the basis of the doctrine, and the doctrine is the interpretation and practical application of the history. The proverbs are the proverbs of a particular country and of a particular age. The psalms are the sacred songs of a particular people, and come forth from the very depths come. alike of their national and their religious life. The prophecies are at once sermons to the times then present, and far glances into the future-part of the actual living history, and dim fore-shadowings of the history to The epistles are veritable historical letters from veritable historical persons, drawn forth by the exigencies of veritable historical circumstances, and deeply marked by the vivid traces of the passing hour. All the actors and speakers, in fine, that live in these sacred pages, are historical persons, intimately mixed up with the living drama of their times, and in the whole form and fashion of their life bearing the impress of a particular country and of a particular age. Thus the Bible is a revelation of God, but of God in history-of God living, moving, speaking, working, and evermore manifesting himself in human history and in human liferedeeming that life from "vanity," restoring its broken springs, and guiding it onward to its ultimate and destined goal. Hence one main element of the power of the Bible. Hence its perennial freshness and vitality. Hence its wonderful richness and variety, alike in style and subject-matter. Hence its manifold human interest, blending with and softening, and, as it were, bringing near to us, the divine. Hence those "touches of nature that make all men kin," those quiet nooks of familiar and homely human life that ever and anon meet us amid the everlasting hills of divine, everlasting truth. Hence its admirable adaptation to readers of every class and age, and to all the details of daily experience and daily duty. Hence, in fine, its susceptibility of endless illustration, confirmation, and enhancement of living interest, from antiquarian research, eastern travel, coins, monuments, and mouldering ruins of ancient lands, the cross-lights of contemporary history, and the unchanging lessons of experience and of the human heart. Thus the Book of God is at the same time and in the best sense the Book of man, appealing to all that is human within him, while lifting him above the human and through the human to that which is divine. It is of this principle that Dr. Kitto has availed himself in the delightful volumes now before us, and which we are glad to welcome again, after some dozen years of useful and widely-accepted service, in a new and greatly improved edition. In a series of meditative illustrations for every morning and evening of the year, he passes in review before us all the leading incidents and scenes of Bible story from the days of creation to the death of St. John, presenting each in succession in its own appropriate drapery of time, and place, and circumstance, and in the fresh light which modern research has thrown upon it. "In accomplishing this purpose," says he in the preface to the first volume, "we have taken the sacred history in regular course, and have followed the alternation of subjects which that course presents. We have taken up our parable for the day wherever our attention has rested upon a theme that seemed suitable to the mode of treatment we have chosen. Each reading usually presents a separate and distinct subject, yet it will be found that a visible coherence has been given to all the parts, not only by the historical order adopted, but by the attention given to the leading historical events between which the subordinate subjects naturally arrange themselves, and by which they are connected." This task our author has performed with eminent skill and success. With a light and easy pen, and availing himself of the rich stores of Oriental knowledge and learning which the labours of a lifetime had accumulated, he has succeeded in no ordinary degree in making the old scenes live again, and the old figures move, and breathe, and speak. And yet, while the details of local circumstance and usage have been employed to illustrate the sacred text, they have not been permitted by any means to overlay it. Our author uses his special faculty, but he uses it discreetly. Fuller and more consecutive than mere notes, and yet less elaborate than formal disquisitions, his notices of local scenery and usage are just sufficient, and no more than sufficient, to impart freshness and force to the great Bible lessons which it is still throughout his paramount object to impress. "The Book" is brought face to face with "the Land," and with the people of the land, but it is only with the view of throwing a fuller and richer light on the Book itself. He frames in the picture, fills in the appropriate background, and sets it in a full, strong light; but he does no more. Every seventh day, too, we reach a sacred and quiet spot, where we are invited to rest awhile, and to give way to a higher vein of holy meditation and 99 66 aspiration. These Sabbath musings seem to us peculiarly felicitous, both in style and subject-matter, discoursing on such themes as "the image of God; ' the voice of God;""Enoch walked with God;' God remembered Noah; ""Gathered to his people; noni; ""Christ our Passover;' "the uplifted hands," in a tone of quiet and cheerful thoughtfulness in entire unison with the spirit of the day, and fitted at once to enliven and redeem to highest profit its sacred hours. The following, taken almost at random, may be given as a specimen of our author's manner, when appearing thus in his Sabbath dress, and with the Sabbath light on his face and in his eye : theology which is hardly yet distinctly recognized in this country, though it has been for some time cultivated with much vigour and success in the Continental schools. With us exegetical and systematic theology seem to ex""Be-haust the treatment of the contents of revelation, and leave no room for any third division; but in Germany, where exegesis is usually less doctrinal and dogmatics more speculative than here, need and room has been found for a branch of study intermediate between them, which has received the name of Biblical theology. Its aim is wider than that of exegesis; leaving the minutia of criticism and exposition, it seeks to unfold the teaching of Scripture as a whole, or of particular parts of it; but not so much in the framework of a logical system, as in its historical development and connection. In its full compass, this kind of theology would embrace the whole range of revealed truth on the one hand, and the whole of Scripture on the other; but it has usually been treated in parts, confined to one department, greater or smaller, of doctrine, or one division of Scripture. The work before us is limited in both of these ways, but in each respect its chosen ground is central; for the doctrine proposed to be exhibited is that of the Atonement, and the field from which the proof of it is to be drawn is the teaching of Jesus himself. "And what, then, is it to walk with God? If thou art a father, take thy little son by the hand, and walk forth with him upon the breezy hills. As that little child walks with thee, so do thou walk with God. That child loves thee now. The world-the cold and cruel world-has not yet come between his heart and thine, and it may be hoped that it never will. His love now is the purest and most beautiful he will ever feel, or thou wilt ever receive. Cherish it well; and as that child walks lovingly with thee, so do thou walk lovingly with God. "But he walks humbly also. He looks up to thee as the greatest and the wisest man in the world. And in his world thou art such. He has not seen thee subjected to the proud man's contumely; he has not witnessed thy visage become pale under the cold charities of man to man;' he comprehends not the foolishness of thy wisest things. He only knows thee in thy strength, where thou art lawgiver and king, and where thy master is far away. Thus conscious of thy greatness, and unconscious of thy littleness, he walks humbly with thee; and thus humbly as he walks, do thou walk with Him whose strength is real, for it can bear even the burden of thy sins; whose wisdom is real, for even thy foolishness cannot perplex it. And thy little son has faith in thee: he walks confidingly. The way may be long, and rough, and trying; but he knows that if he wearies, his father can carry him through in his arms. The way may to his thought be dangerous; he deems that there may be evil beasts in the wood, or evil men by the road. But he fears not. He feels that his father's strong arm is between him and all danger, and he believes that no harm can befall him by his father's side. How happy is he, how free; how joyous is his trust in thee! The trials that perplex thy life are unfelt by him. The griefs that rend thy heart touch him but lightly. Thou bearest all his burden. His life's welfare rests upon thy going in and thy coming out; and he knows it not. He needs not know it. He feels with unmisgiving faith that thou art his shield, and rests in gleeful peace behind that broad protection which shuts out all care and thought of the rough world from his view. Thus, confidingly, as thy son walks with thee, walk thou with God. Believe that 'Thou art as much his care, as if beside 'On thee and thine, thy warfare and thine end, And believe that if thou walkest trustingly, lovingly, and humbly with God-even as thy son walks with thee -thou walkest with him as Enoch walked, and shalt not fail of as high a recompense. There is no way of walking with God but as a little child. To the world we may offer a bold and resolute front; for there is much to try us, much to battle with there. But to God we can only turn with childlike trust and affection, crying to him in the firm persuasion of his love to us, in reliance upon his power, and in the humbleness of our hearts, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth."" We cordially bid these volumes God-speed in their new and, as we trust, more extended race of usefulness. We need scarcely add that Dr. Porter has discharged the duties of an editor in a manner worthy of the high name he has already won for himself as a diligent and successful explorer of Bible lands and of Bible scenes. The Doctrine of the Atonement, as Taught by Christ Himself; or, the Sayings of Jesus on the Atonement Exegetically Expounded and Classified. By the Rev. George Smeaton, Professor of Exegetical Theology, New College, Edinburgh. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1868. WE welcome this work as an effort in a department of The author's undertaking is thus a very lofty and bold one it is to show that, apart from all other parts of Scripture, the recorded sayings of our Lord himself, when fairly interpreted, contain or imply all the essential elements of the doctrine of the Atonement; and to do this at the same time in such a way as to obtain an insight into the very mind and heart of Jesus, as he not only taught, but actually made, the atonement for sin. These sayings he classifies and arranges according to the chief aspects and relations of the doctrine in question. After an introductory explanation of the design and plan of the work (Sec. 1.-V.), he begins with a statement of the postulates, so to speak, of his problem, setting forth the general place and bearing of the work of Christ in the system of truth. In connection with John iii. 16 he treats (Sec. vI.-XI.) of the ground of the Atonement in the love and justice of God; of the bearing of Christ's deity on his work; of his consciousness of a unique position among men; of his being sent by the Father in terms of a covenant; and of the necessity of the Atonement. Then (Sec. XII.) he announces the first great division of our Lord's sayings on the subject, comprising those that speak of the nature of his work, which he again subdivides into two classes-those in which he describes himself as suffering for sin, and those in which he refers to his doing a work of obediUnder the former head, after a preliminary exposition (Sec. XIII.) of the Baptist's testimony (John i. 29), which may be regarded as accepted by Jesus himself, he discusses the import of the name Son of Man (Sec. XIV.); our Lord's receiving the baptism of John, with his words on that occasion (Sec. xv.); and his bearing our sorrows and sicknesses (Sec. XVI). In this last circumstance our author, following the hint given by Matthew's reference to the prophecy of Isaiah (Matt. viii. 17; Isa. liii. 4), sees an indication of Jesus bearing sin all through his earthly life, but especially towards its close; and this he further illustrates under two views (Sec. XVII.): on the one hand subjectively, from those words of Jesus which indicate his sense of bearing sin-viz., his exclamation in the temple (John xii. 27), his prayer in Gethsemane, his cry upon the cross; and on the other hand objectively, from those circumstances about his death which indicated it to be the judicial infliction of punishment on an innocent person, as is recognized by himself in his acknowledgement of Pilate's God-given authority (John xix. 11), and in his reference to Isaiah's words about his being numbered with transgressors (Luke xxii. 37). ence. The second class of our Lord's sayings about the nature of his work, in which he describes it as one of active obedience, is more briefly treated (Sec. xx.); and having thus exhausted his first general division of Christ's teaching, Professor Smeaton passes on to the second, comprising those sayings that refer to the effects of his death. These, as far as they concern the individual, he divides into objective, or those that affect our state, which he holds to be immediate; and subjective, or those which affect our character, which he holds to be only mere mediate results of the Atonement. Among the first, he finds deliverance from bondage by a ransom taught by Jesus' words, Matt. xx. 28 (Sec. XXII.); forgiveness of sins connected with the shedding of his blood in the words of institution of the Lord's Supper (Sec. XXIII.); and a perfect righteousness founded on Christ's obedience and death (Sec. XXIV.-V.); to which he adds, as a sort of supplementary effect under this head, sanctification or dedication as priests to God through Christ's priestly oblation (Sec. XXVI.). The subjective effect of Christ's work is the communication of life, which is illustrated by our Lord's words about the brazen serpent (Sec. XXVIII.), and of himself as the living bread (Sec. XXIX.). Then we have a view of Christ's sayings on the effects of his work on wider interests than those of individual men, comprising the abolition of the Jewish economy and bringing in of a new, as indicated by his words about destroying and rebuilding the temple (Sec. XXXI.); the judgment and overcoming of the world, and casting out of Satan its prince (Sec. XXXII.-IV.); depriving death of its sting (Sec. xxxv.); purchasing to himself a people, and a claim to universal dominion (Sec. XXXVI.-VII.); procuring the Holy Ghost (Sec. XXXVIII.); restoring the fellowship between angels and men (Sec. XXXIX.); and lastly, glorifying God (Sec. XL.). Finally, after investigating Christ's teaching about the reference of the Atonement, as on the one hand special (Sec. XLI.), yet on the other extending to all times and nations (Sec. XLII.), the author concludes his work with our Lord's sayings as to its application, its objective presentation, as the theme of preaching (Sec. XLIV.), and the substance of the sacraments (Sec. XLV.); its subjective reception by faith (Sec. XLVI.); the doom of rejecting it (Sec. XLVII.), and the moral fruits of accepting it (Sec. XLVIII.). To the whole is subjoined an appendix of notes containing fuller critical discussions, and notices of various forms and schools of opinion. Such is a general sketch of the ground gone over and the plan followed in this interesting work; from which it will be seen that it invites the reader to a comprehensive and scriptural consideration of the most vital and momentous of the truths of religion, in which we can assure those who are strangers to the author-for those who know him need no testimony of ours-that he will be found a thoroughly competent and candid guide. He is admirably qualified in point of learning, being acquainted with almost all that has been thought and said on his subject in the past-the patristic expositors, the medieval speculations, the great theologians of the Reformation age both Lutheran and Calvinistic, the Puritan divines, and the modern critics and theorizers of Germany; he manifests great exegetical ability; and is a faithful disciple of that modern school of exposition which is conscientiously rigorous in grammatical accuracy, sometimes even to scrupulosity. Further, while he holds his own views very strongly, and controverts earnestly what he regards as fatal errors, he writes in a very calm and temperate manner, without any polemical bitterness, and with much spiritual warmth and feeling. As he discusses so many vexed questions of the interpretation and application of particular passages, some of them not a little difficult, we could not expect to acquiesce in all his expositions; and we might here and there be inclined to differ decidedly from him, and attach more weight to some passages and less to others than he does. Every intelligent student of Scripture will have his own views of particular texts, from which he would not easily be moved, even by one with whose doctrinal opinions he thoroughly agreed. Into this region of exegetical questions, however inviting the opening afforded by this book, our space will not permit us to enter. It must suffice to say, that even those who may differ from his interpretations will always find his discussions suggestive and useful. Looking at the work as a whole, it appears to us on many accounts seasonable and fitted to do good. A work in defence of the Atonement was surely needed; as nothing of the sort has appeared in this country for a considerable time, during which much has been published on the opposite side. It is not the less suitable, too, that the work should be not directly polemical, but expository in its plan; being more likely thus to commend itself to candid doubters or opponents; and giving a practical proof that the evangelical doctrine need not shrink from an appeal to the naked Word of God on the strictest principles of interpretation. The restriction of the inquiry to the sayings of Jesus is also well fitted to meet some phases of current religious opinion. This is common ground, on which even those who doubt the infallible inspiration of the Scriptures may meet us; if only they allow the truth of the gospel history. In the presence, too, of manifold attempts, with a very free treatment of historical materials, to construct lives of Christ and pictures of his character and work, it is a good service to have brought out how closely inwoven the ideas of substitution and sacrifice are with the teaching of Jesus, and how impossible it is to get rid of them, if it be admitted that we have any reliable account of his sayings and discourses at all. Professor Smeaton has, we think, been as successful in the conduct as happy in the idea of his argument; and in the course of it he treats an old subject in a way that is almost always fresh and often striking. Nor is it only to the sceptic or the student that this treatise is fitted to be useful. It may also be read with profit by the simple and earnest believer; for while the learned discussions are for the most part confined to the footnotes and appendix, its thoroughly evangelical spirit, and the special prominence given to the person of Christ, render it highly conducive to a healthy tone of spiritual thought. It is with considerable diffidence that we venture to differ from so able and sound an author on matters of theology; but we feel it due to him to notice points which we think open to exception, though the difference will be found, we believe, to be more in the form of expression than in the substance of what is meant. But we should like to see a work so valuable free from a few blemishes that seem to us likely to mar its influence for good. In describing the justice of God as the ground of the necessity of the Atonement, Professor Smeaton seems to give it too personal an aspect. He adopts the definition given of it by some of the schoolmen and modern Germans," as the conservative principle of the divine nature, or the self-asserting activity of God, according to which he maintains the inalienable right of the Godhead. It is just run up to this, that he loves himself, and cannot but delight in his own perfections" (p. 15). In conformity with this definition, the Atonement is explained by representing God as asserting his rights (pp. 52, 355), and demanding a reparation for dishonour done to him (pp. 308, 381); and it affords a foundation for no other view of sin than as a debt. We are aware that these are the ideas on which Anselm bases his exposition of the Atonement, and we do not intend at present to discuss them; but we agree with those who think that the subsequent discussions and progress of opinion have led to a more complete and scriptural mode of statement than that of Anselm. Considering the cavils of modern objectors, we think Professor Smeaton will see the expediency of modifying or more fully explaining such phrases as these:-" God cannot forego his inalienable rights when he has been wronged, but necessarily punishes as a satisfaction to himself, for he cannot deny himself" (p. 18). "It must be maintained that God punishes sin as a satisfaction that must needs be made to himself" (p. 59). "The supreme God, insulted by sin, and at least wronged if not personally injured by the irreverence of free creatures, punishes to satisfy the perfections of his nature" (p. 381). The interpretation which adversaries will fasten upon them is very well known; and it is not desirable to expose the common doctrine of evangelical divines (and the author means no more) to this disadvantage. We are aware of the grounds on which these forms of expression may be defended. They are to be interpreted with reference to the view taken of the supreme peculiarity of the divine relation to all being and all right. Still, they will be understood, especially at present, in the light of human analogies, which are both defective and misleading. We doubt the expediency of resolving the justice of God and the demerit of sin into any ideas more ultimate than themselves. Another point in reference to which Professor Smeaton uses what we must regard as incautious language is the relation between forgiveness and spiritual life. He says:-"The remission of sins is in order before the sanctification of the nature." The person is accepted, and then the nature renewed" (p. 20). At p. 182, he expressly includes regeneration as part of the life which is to be traced to the remission of sins; and he repeats the assertion in many places. Now it is obvious, that if these statements be taken in their literal meaning, they make faith, which must precede forgiveness, anterior to the new life, and so only an act of the old unrenewed man; which is just the peculiar tenet of a very dubious theology. This is very far, indeed, from being Professor Smeaton's teaching; we see very well what he means from his own statements at rp. 186-7, 225-6. He is opposing the view of Schleiermacher and his followers, who make forgiveness to depend, not directly on the work of Christ, but on the renewal of nature or communication of new life effected by that work; and in his zeal against that, he has used expressions which lean to the opposite extreme. It is, however, sufficient for all purposes to maintain that both forgiveness and renewal are connected with the work of Christ as their meritorious cause, without making either of them the ground of the other, or inquiring too curiously into the mysterious beginnings of spiritual life. We cannot enter into the discussion of the question, but would refer our readers, and respectfully call the author's own attention, to the well-balanced statements on this point of Dr. James Buchanan in his " Cunningham Lectures," pp. 189–90, 403-4. It is probably the same strong reaction against the mysticism of Schleiermacher's school that leads Professor Smeaton to say:-"These modern writers will not have a reconciliation through Christ, but in him" (p. 20). "But as to reconciliation, it is described as reconciliation in Christ, not through Christ" (p. 434). We wish he had qualified these statements by an only;" as we are sure he does not mean to reject the scriptural idea that we are reconciled to God in Christ as well as through him, but only that one-sided view of the reconciliation which makes it as he says "of a merely mystic nature." All these forms of expression which have struck us as capable of improvement are due, we rather think, to his having had in view throughout the recent German opposition to the Atonement, almost to the exclusion of that which prevails in this country. He refers, indeed, to Campbell and Maurice, to the latter very cursorily; but he takes no notice of Kingsley, Jowett, Davies, Bushnell, Young, and others; and seems not to have had an eye to their views; or, in the face of the Patripassian theories of the two last-named, he would have guarded by fuller explanation the sacrificial sense of the word "gave," as used of God the Father in John iii. 16. No doubt he may consider, and perhaps justly, that these English views are not so worthy of discussion, or so well-fitted to advance the knowledge of the subject, as the German ones; but he should remember that an English public must read his book more in the light of home than of foreign opinions. We do not wish that he had entered into controversy with the Broad Church writers, for the absence of the polemical is to our mind one great charm of the book; we merely suggest, that a regard to them would have led him to avoid such phrases as we have taken exception to. They may be understood by many readers in a sense he never intended, and this is the chief reason which has induced us to notice them; for they so far tend to diminish the usefulness of a work which, on the whole, is very eminently and happily fitted to commend this great doctrine to candid and inquiring minds who may have doubts or objections in regard to it. OUR LIBRARY TABLE. HAVING above noticed at length one important contribution to the doctrine of the Atonement, we can here only notify the appearance of another very valuable treatise on the same subject,-The Atonement. By the Rev. Archibald A. Hodge, D.D. Edited by William H. Goold, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church History, Edinburgh. London: T. Nelson and Sons. Pp. 402. 1868. To those who know and value the author's admirable "Outlines of Theology," already so extensively recognized as a standard Calvinistic text-book, it will be enough to say that the present work is worthy, and more than worthy, of him-clear, logical, comprehensive, full in information, and cogent in argument on all the main and vital issues. It will be invaluable alike as a text-book for theological students and for intelligent and thoughtful readers of every class. Our own brief existence has alone prevented us from earlier noticing and recommending The Free Church Almanac and Year-Book for 1868. Edinburgh: Grant. Pp. 160. It is an invaluable repertory of all manner of useful and suggestive information in regard to the arrangements and institutions of our Church, and her operations at home and abroad; and, as a first issue, truly marvellous in exactitude and completeness. To any one who desires to know all that in a brief space can be told about our congregations, our ministers, our | colleges, our schools, our missionaries and mission stations, our expenditure and our funds, we would say, Buy Mr. Grant's compact and comprehensive manual, and you will find what you want. Church and State: The Duty of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in these Eventful Times. By Robert Knox, D.D., Belfast. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co.-The Experiment of Three Hundred Years: A Statement of Facts respecting the Efforts made by the English Government to Make Known the Gospel to the Irish Nation from the Period of the Reformation to the Present Day. By the Very Rev. Hussey Burgh Macartney, D.D., Dean of Melbourne. Second Edition. Dublin: Herbert.-The first of these pamphlets deals with the present crisis with a clearness, a decision, and an enlightened Christian patriotism, in which we recognize the true ring of the Presbyterian Church in its best times. Contemplating the impending alternative of the endowment of all creeds or the disendowment of all, Dr. Knox says: "This alternative is founded on the idea that, in the divided state of society in this country, in the face of wide-spread dissatisfaction, and in the hope of allaying irritation and quelling the turbulence of the people, all exclusive privileges should cease, and all the Churches be left to support their own clergy by voluntary contributions. This would be a heavy blow and great discouragement to the Protestants of Ireland. It would involve embarrassments and great sacrifices. Notwithstanding, I believe that every true Protestant and earnest Christian would prefer it to a scheme of indiscriminate endowment. Between making a sacrifice and committing sin, no Christian can hesitate. . . . I will venture to give it as my deliberate and earnest conviction, that if in the present juncture the Protestant Churches of Ireland approached the Legislature, and declared-We know the difficulty of ruling a country so divided; we know the difficulty of erangelizing Ireland in the face of all the prejudices and deadly rancour which the people are unhappily taught to cherish towards the Church established by law; and whilst we believe it is the duty of the State to support the truth, nevertheless, if it has come to this that the country cannot be governed on any other principle than that of religious equality, then we take willingly the spoiling of our goods rather than be parties to a scheme for endowing a gigantic system of error that has ever proved inimical to the best interests of mankind. This would be one of the grandest utterances of conscience in the history of Christendom, and would at once and for ever settle the question."— Dr. Macartney is a divine of the Irish Episcopal Church, though settled for many years as dean of a colonial diocese. His pamphlet is a reprint of one published so early as 1847, and therefore bears only in a general way on the aspects of the question as now agitated. In a rapid and interesting review of the fortunes of the Irish Church, and of its relations to the British Government for the last three hundred years, he quite succeeds in showing that much harm and no good has resulted from those relations throughout; that the Church has from first to last been hampered and restrained, not helped in its spiritual work by the civil power; that it has been habitually regarded and treated by statesmen, not as a missionary institute, but as a political tool, and, under such auspices, never till very lately either has been or could be much more; that she was pampered, cherished, loaded with wealth and honours, so long as she was dead, and then frowned on and counterworked in every godly undertaking so soon as she began to be alive. His inference apparently is, that there should be granted to her a fresh lease of life, and a new opportunity of evangelizing Ireland under more favourable circumstances; but he fails to show that the circumstances ever can be more favourable. To our reading, his whole narrative of facts is only from first to last a powerful pleading for the dissolution of State connection, and the inauguration of a free, spiritual, evangelical, and evangelistic Church. National Religion. A Sermon preached at the Opening of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod in Glasgow, May 4, 1868, by the Rev. John M'Dermid. Edinburgh: Johnstone, Hunter, and Co. Pp. 18.-This is a very good specimen of a Synod sermon; full of unction, of warmth, of fresh thinking, and of practical good sense. We especially relish the remarks on religious officialism and official religion, and on the religion of a nation being determined chiefly by the relation in which it stands to the civil Government, when tied by the standard of the divine law. Many notices which are in type are postponed till next number. Review of Intelligence. THAT there are tides in the affairs of Churches, as well as of men, is being strikingly illustrated in these times. After the excitement which preceded and accompanied the Disruption, there occurred a sensible lull in the ecclesiastical world, at least in Scotland; but that is again over, and in all the denominations there are to be observed those signs of life and stir and activity which denote the rising of the tide once more. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. This quickening of the ecclesiastical life appears very decidedly in the increasing interest takon by the public in the proceedings of our Church Courts. Not so long ago, a very languid attention was given by our people to the transactions of the Assembly, and nobody who wanted to be present at any of its meetings needed to concern himself much about the means of access. Tickets of admission for any or every day, were always to be had without any great difficulty. Now, however, the case is different. The season tickets are taken up months before they require to be used; double the number actually used could be disposed of with the greatest ease; and day after day, when any business of public importance is before the House, the beautiful Hall at the head of the Mound is crowded from floor to ceiling with an intelligent and sympathizing audience. And we regard this state of things with great satisfaction; for what Mr. Disraeli said lately of the House of Commons may be equally affirmed of our General Assembly. Both are not merely deliberative councils, but popular conventions, and the affairs alike of the Nation and of the Church will be attended to not the less carefully that the two parliaments sit, as it were, in presence of the people. We believe it is generally admitted that the last Assembly was, on the whole, a very interesting and successful one. The spirit of it was excellent; there were divisions and decided differences of opinion, but there was little or no bitterness of feeling; and those who have been crying out about breaches in the Church, and estrangements among brethren, and chronic dispeace and disharmony, must have been astonished to find how much of kindliness seemed to pervade the whole mass in spite of them all. The speaking this year has not been specially remarkable. We hear occasional references made to the eloquent opening address of Mr. Nixon, the Moderator-to the clever pleadings of Sheriff Galbraith-to the able statement made by Dr. Buchanan in introducing the Union Report-to the "Free Lance"like onset of Mr. White of Haddington-to the plausible argumentation of Dr. Begg-and to one or two of the speeches delivered by Lord Dalhousie; but there was no great occasion calling forth the highest powers of any of the members; and the next Blue-Book, accordingly, will not be found to contain any outstanding orationlike that of Dr. Cunningham on the Australian question -to which those who heard it will delight in after times to refer as marking one of the great events of the year. There was this, however, which was eminently satisfactory about the Assembly, that the various conveners of committees were able in general to tell of material progress and prosperity. Never since the Disruption has the income of the Free Church been so large as it has been during the past year. The sum contributed for all objects has amounted to within an ace of £400,000 — being an increase on last year to the extent of £26,000. And what makes this rise specially gratifying is the fact that it is distributed over all the great items of expenditure without a single exception. It may be interesting to give the two financial tables for this and last year, that our readers may compare the particulars for themselves : 1867. 1868. £128,549 56,279 126,843 66,720 17,652 for its ministers ought not to be less in any case than £150; but the quarter century seemed to be closing without any prospect of the realization of even that low minimum. This year, however, under the stimulus given by Dr. Buchanan's new scheme, the corner has not only been fairly turned, but a surplus fund created, out of which £10 and £5 additional have been paid to every minister the members of whose congregation are contributing at the rate of 10s. and 7s. 6d. each respectively. The various schemes of the Church were reported to have been worked with assiduity and a measure of success. There is, indeed, a sore lack of men and funds for India; and there is not one of the mission enterprises, home or foreign, which could not greatly extend its operations if it were better furnished with resources. But in whatever direction we look-whether into the various Eastern cities, where the foundations of Hinduism are being visibly sapped by the work of our noble Institutions-or into Caffreland, where are being sown broadcast the seeds of a new African Church -or to the Colonies, where are rising great Presbyterian communities which will soon rival in extent and energy the mother Churches themselves-or to the Continent, where in this place and the other lamps are kept burning to help to dispel the thick darkness of the Papacy, or to guide to the true Messiah such of the children of Abraham as are now dispersed among the Gentiles or lastly, at Home, to the numerous preaching stations which are maintained in necessitous districts in the Lowlands and in the remotest spots of our Highlands and Islands,-in whatever direction we look we find far more than enough to warrant our thanking God and taking courage. At the same time we cannot say that the past Assembly solved the question of how each mission enterprise can be effectively presented to the attention of the Church. The way in which the Foreign Mission Report, especially, was received this year was almost as unsatisfactory as the way in which it was received last year. It came on in the evening of a day during which one of the most important divisions of the session took place, and the House was thin and languid. The front opposition benches, in particular (if we may speak of such), were conspicuously bare; and as we cannot for a moment suppose that those who claim to have a consuming zeal for the well-being of the Church have little interest in the execution of the grandest part of its commission, we must conclude that they were either thoroughly exhausted or better engaged. With all deference, we beg to ask if this plan is not worth the trying-to set apart one day in the early part of the second week as a Great Scheme Day, during the forenoon of which the different conveners shall briefly and tersely tell us of their respective enterprises, and whose evening shall be entirely devoted to a succession of telling and popular addresses. We are quite sure that it would be a great advantage to the Church to have its whole work brought thus at once under review; and if, in order to secure this result, the speeches required to be made shorter, we know very few who would greatly regret that contingency. It is, of course, needless to bewail the existence of parties in the Assembly. No popular convention, constituted as ours is, could sit from year to year for any length of time without a Right and a Left coming to be formed in it. But among Christian men there ought surely to be no superfluous divisions; and few will venture to affirm that there were none such in the late Assembly meetings. The House voted in connection with six subjects. In the Dunse case there was fair ground for difference of opinion; and although the judgment which was adopted was proposed by Sheriff Galbraith, an Anti-Union Leader, he was followed into the lobby by several who on other questions entirely disagreed with him. That was not at all a party vote, therefore, and it was one, in fact, which was utterly unavoidable. But the same thing cannot be said about the division on Printing the Acts." Even Dr. Begg admitted that he had gained all he wanted through the publicity that had been given to the subject; and yet he forced the Assembly to vote on the paltry and threadbare question, for no end that any one could see but that of disciplining his own following. Happily, however, he overshot his mark. It may be a very good thing for the members of a party to know each other by headmark, to commit themselves irretrievably to a common course of action, and to become accustomed, if necessary, to defeat. But if the thinness of the line be made too apparent, there is some risk of demoralization; and no one could fail to see that a mistake had been committed when, out of 413 men, only 73 were found prepared to join in any expression of dissatisfaction. The vote on the Clerkship, again, was not a party vote. Mr. Robert Gordon was supported by many who did not agree with him-partly on his father's account, and partly on the ground of his own personal fitness for the office; and if the House decided by a large majority for Mr. Wilson of Dundee, it was only because, after all, his claims were undoubtedly superior. As to the division on the Union, it was the natural and necessary finish to an inevitable debate; and, as it turned out, it was more decisive than anybody looked for, the Union motion being carried by a majority of more than four to one. The vote in 1867 was 346 to 120; in 1868 it was 427 to 105; and although the minority is still so large as to make it advisable on every ground to "hasten slowly," yet it is a satisfaction to observe a nearer approach to concord in connection with these all-important negotiations. As to the appointments to the Professorships, we shall only say that none of those who were brought forward as candidates can have any reason to regret the way in which their claims were submitted to the consideration of the Church. Dr. Blaikie and Mr. Macgregor are to be congratulated on their success; and if Dr. Smith and Mr. Dods received a smaller number of votes in the division, the fact, considering everything, was not at all to be surprised at. It was a high compliment to the latter that so many were found willing to support him in the face of his own letters declining to be nominated for the office; and the scholarship, high character, and many public services of Dr. Smith might have received even more substantial recognition if he had not unfortunately been pitted against one who is so widely known and respected as Dr. Blaikie. The only other division which took place was on the last day of the Assembly, in connection with certain motions on the disendowment of the Irish Church. At first it threatened to turn on the point of whether the great subject of the day should be discussed at all, the time of the House being nearly exhausted; but ultimately it was agreed to remit the matter to an early meeting of the Commission, and by a vote it was decided to hold that meeting on the 17th of June. Since then, the meeting of the Commission has been held, when, after a protracted debate, a motion by Dr. Nelson in favour of Mr. Gladstone's method of dealing with the religious difficulty in Ireland was carried over a motion by Dr. Begg, who thought that the duty of the Church in the present crisis would be sufficiently discharged by pressing upon our rulers and our people the necessity of maintaining the principle that nations as such are bound to acknowledge the truth. The majority was 99 to 34; and the Commission agreed to petition Parliament in terms of the motion carried. ESTABLISHED ASSEMBLY. The great days in this Court were- -first, that on which Dr. Norman Macleod told the tale of his tour in India; and, second, those on which there occurred the debates on the Irish Church and Patronage. Dr. Macleod's address is said to have been very fine and touching. He spoke for two hours to a great audience, and many of his hearers were in tears. Those who have been in the habit of strenuously upholding the educational method of conducting missions in India will be gratified to learn that he has come home with a strong conviction that it is by the school system mainly that Hinduism is to be overthrown. Of course, Dr. Macleod was but a short while in the country, but he found the agents of all denominations ready to welcome him, and to supply him with information; and his testimony on that, and on any other relative subject on which he may think himself qualified to give an opinion, will certainly be regarded as of material value. In regard to the representatives of our own Church, his language in speaking of them seems to have been very frank and kindly. He stated that he found none more ready to aid him in his investigations than the missionaries of the Free Church; he eulogized Dr. Duff; he dispensed the Lord's Supper to the Native Church in Bombay over which Dr. Wilson presides; and he besought his brethren to go and hear Mr. Miller of Madras, who was to lecture on missions on the evening of the succeeding Sabbath. As we entirely concur with him in pronouncing it to be an absurdity to propose to found half-a |