passionate Saviour had obtained from His Father, the Omnipotent Dispenser of all mercies.

Adam and Eve were thence to be no other, from the first day of creation, but "unconscious Incarnations of accepted Representatives," mercifully authorized, through infinite grace; and entrusted by the Almighty Jehovah to the Divine Intercessor, aided by the Spirit of Truth,

Towards the preordained accomplishment of Universal Redemption and Salva

tion.

After the perusal of this passage, we think our readers will appreciate and sympathize with the feeling of General Sir Charles W. Pasley, when, according to the "Testimonies" above referred to, he expresses the hope, that Professor De La Voye" will be appointed the Teacher of the Royal Children." Such simplicity of language and clearness of style must be very valuable elements in the education of English families, and, if Her Majesty should set the example by employing such an instructor, perhaps the way might be opened for this wide-spread influence. In our own country, we know of no position so favorable for the author, who fortunately is so far advanced in years and fame as probably not to desire a change of residence.

In reading over what we have written, we notice, with some mortification, that we have not stated the object and design of the volume. This, doubtless, should have been indicated at the outset, but we have been so much interested in the author himself and his style, that we must find our excuse in this fact. We trust that the author is enough of an optimist to feel that our notice of his book is a satisfactory one, notwithstanding our infelicitous omission to introduce this matter in its proper place. And even at the end-which is so inappropriate a place to speak of it-we scarcely know what to say. It requires six pages for the author himself, in his own concise style, to explain his design-or three pages, even if we exclude the astronomical and doctrinal observations, which he seems to consider important for a clear understanding of it. We should despair of being as brief as he is, and we have hardly space enough at command to give more than six pages to this matter. On reflection, therefore, we have thought it best to recommend to our readers, in case they desire a clear and full appreciation of the object of the work, to purchase the volume for themselves, and attentively read the author's own remarks in his introduction. To those who do not have this desire,

but only a wish to know, in one word, what the aim of the writer is, the title is sufficient, for it shows that he attempts to prove

universal salvation to have been "divinely provided for before all worlds," and that the Scriptures, when fairly interpreted, declare this to be the fact. We only add, in closing, that the publication of the proposed volume of notes, at the earliest practical moment, is greatly to be desired if everything in the present volume is to be accepted intelligently by "pious readers of all persuasions."

ECCLESIA: a series of Essays on Church Problems, is an inviting volume, representing the views of a number of writers of the Congregational body in England. Since the publication of the now well known Essays and Reviews, several volumes have been issued upon substantially the same plan, consisting of a series of independent treatises, for which the authors were severally responsible. Thus two, we ought rather to say three, series of essays in reply to the original Essays and Reviews were speedily reproduced by different representative persons. Several volumes of a series, under the title of Tracts for the Day," have been edited by Mr. Orby Shipley, in the interest of the Ritualistic party. Latest, but not by any means the least able, there appear in the field the representatives of the free churches of Great Britain. The volume which they have published, though issued but a few months, has already enforced the respect and will command the thoughtful consideration of many of the leading minds of the established church. It cannot fail to do much for the cause of the Dissenters-if in no other way, at least by furnishing the amplest evidence that in point of learning and culture, they are not behind their co-religionists, while in respect of a catholic and comprehensive spirit, they are very greatly in advance of them. Indeed, the sentiment which at no distant day is to contest the destinies of the British Empire, so far as it will be a Christian sentiment, is more perfectly represented by the leading writers in this volume, than it is by any of the leading parties in the Church of England.

The interest and value of this volume is by no means limited to the people of Great Britain. One or two of the topics only have a special or local application, but the discussion of these is scarcely less interesting or important to Englishmen than it is to AmeriThe remaining topics are of common interest to both. It

cans.

Ecclesia; Church Problems considered in a series of Essays. Edited by HENRY ROBERT REYNOLDS, D. D. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 27 Paternoster Row. 1870.

is worthy of notice, and the fact is abunda itly significant, that the questions concerning faith and worship which agitate the minds of the more active spirits among the Congregationalists of England, are the same which are thought of among ourselves, and in cousequence the book seems as well adapted to meet our necessities, as it is to meet those of the English Congregationalists. The titles of the Essays are as follows: I. Primitive Ecclesia: Its authoritative principles and its modern representations. By John Stoughton, D. D. II. The Idea of the Church, regarded in its historical development. By J. Radford Thomson, M. A. III. The Religious Life and Christian Society. By T. Baldwin Brown, B. A. IV. The Relation of the Church to the State. By Eustace Rogers Conder, M. A. V. The forgiveness and absolution of Sins. By the Editor. VI. The Doctrine of the Real Presence and of the Lord's Supper. By R. W. Dale, M. A. VII. The Worship of the Church. By Henry Allon. VIII. The Congregationalism of the Future. By J. Guinness Rogers, B. A. IX. Modern Missions and their Results. By Joseph Mullens, D. D.

We could wish that these Essays could be extensively circulated and read in this country. They would serve many very important purposes, in the way of elevating the aims, of enlarging the knowledge, of increasing the catholicity as well as of refining the culture of many American readers.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY.*-We are obliged to limit our observations upon this work to a few lines, although the subject is one of the highest interest to students of philosophy and theology. The book gives evidence of wide reading on the part of the author, and of sound thinking. The later Greek systems are insufficiently treated; those of Aristotle and Plato, more fully. There are two criticisms to be made upon this work. The first is, that, professing to give a discussion of the ancient system, the author devotes a great deal of his space to the modern ones,-to that of Comte, for example. The second is, that the style is somewhat more ornate, not to say declamatory, than is suited to a severe handling of the themes.

* Christianity and the Greek Philosophy; or the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and his Apostles. By B. F. COCKER, D. D., Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy, in the University of Michigan. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1870.

LEA'S STUDIES IN CHUBCH HISTORY.*-In his History of Clerical Celibacy, Mr. Lea gave full proof of his intimate acquaintance with the original sources and monuments of ecclesiastical history. He has explored with diligence the numerous and multiform documents on the foundation of which a record or picture of society in the middle ages must be constructed. The present collection of essays relate mostly to the Papacy and the Papal Hierarchy, and deal with topics which have now a fresh interest, derived from the Latin Council and the measures proposed for adoption in this ecclesiastical assembly. They are treated in a clear, instructive manner, and in an enlightened spirit. The learned author abstains, generally speaking, from referring to modern writers on the subjects to which his essays relate,—preferring to resort exclusively to the primary authorities. His work loses something from this severe method of authorship. The combination of original researches with a judicious use of the labors of others who are at work in the same field, is the course which is adapted to yield the best results. At the same time, Mr. Lea's error-if it be an error-is on the right side, and no one can complain much of a quality so rare as that of exclusive attention to documentary evidence.

GUERICKE'S CHURCH HISTORY.t-In a notice of the first volume of this work, we referred to the merits and defects of it, and to the excellent manner in which Professor Shedd had performed the task of rendering Guericke's rugged German into perspicuous, flowing English. He has now carried the translation forward to the age of Hildebrand and the era of Scholasticism. Students of theology will find this history a valuable text-book.

NEWMAN'S GRAMMAR OF ASSENT. In the entertaining autobiography which Dr. Newman, a few years ago, gave to the

*Studies in Church History. The Rise of the Clergy-Excommunication. By HENRY C. LEA.

1869.

Temporal Power-Benefit of
Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea.

+ A Manual of Church History. By HENRY F. GUERICKE, Doctor and Professor of Theology in Halle. Translated from the German by WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD, Baldwin Professor in Union Theological Seminary. Medieval Church, History, A. D. 590-A. D. 1073. pp. 160. Andover: Warren F. Draper, Pub lisher. 1870.

An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent. By JOHN HENRY NEWMAN D. D., of the Oratory. New York: The Catholic Publication Society, 1870.

world under the title of Apologia, he intimated that he had been hindered by Church authorities from fulfilling the purpose of writing a work on the Evidences of Religion. Whether the present book is the accomplishment of that intention, or a substitute for a work upon another plan which he has been prevented from carrying out, we are not informed. Like everything from Dr. Newman's pen, it is marked by a felicitous use of English, subtlety and grace of thought, and by a seeming confidential tone, which wins upon the reader. The nature of mental Assent is philosophically discussed, with close reference throughout to religious problems and difficulties. Among the propositions defended is, that we may be as free from doubt in cases of probable reasoning as in those of strict demonstration. This is a just doctrine. I am as certain of the existence of London, as I am that the sum of the angles of a triangle equals two right angles. But Newman goes farther, and disputes Locke's statement that we may have different degrees of belief, from certainty to a state bordering closely on doubt. Although much ingenious argument is brought forward to sustain the opposite theory, namely, that Assent is a perfect act and exists, where it is present at all, without admixture of doubt, we think that the effort is a failure: unless, indeed, Assent is defined in such a way as to limit its sense to suit the author's proposition, in which case the question is one of logomachy. There are propositions which we, on the whole, believe to be true and on the truth of which we might deem it safe to stake valuable interests; and yet we are not perfectly certain of their truth. Dr. Newman inadvertently declares his opinion on various philosophical points in controversy. Thus, he holds that the principle of causation is not that every event must have a cause, but that every effect is from a personal will; it being a generalization or inference from our own conscious exertion of power. He manifests here and in other writings a tendency towards Berkeleyism. One of the fundamental distinctions of the book is that between notional and real Assent, the one being the result of abstract or conceptive thinking, and the other being the imaginative or "realizing" act, whereby life is given to the object of belief, which is a concrete reality. This is an important and fruitful distinction, and it is easy to anticipate what application Dr. Newman would make of it, in the province of theology. The two sorts of faith, for example, doctrinal and practical, are correlated to the two species of Assent. The chapter on the Trinity is quite able. The separate