a board of trustees or visitors elected by the Alumni to superintend the application of it,-would that answer the purpose? I will also suggest that a hundred thousand dollars for the Law Department is a great desideratum, and that whoever will give the money may make his own conditions as to the use of it, and like Mr. Peabody may establish his own arrangements by compact with the corporation.

I might have subscribed this letter (which was commenced as a letter to the Editor of the Nation,) ANOTHER ALUMNUS; for I also am a graduate of Yale College, and so is every one of my nine associates; and we do not admit that the Socii lose any of the dignities or privileges belonging to the Alumni. But as my letter has become too long for insertion in a weekly journal, and must reach the public on the pages of the graver and more capacious New Englander, I accept the less dignified name proposed by Mr. Phelps, and being "exhausted by keeping a few sheep in the wilderness" sub scribe myself, most humbly,

TIMOTHY PICKERING,
of Squashville.

Oct. 1, 1870.

ARTICLE VIII.-NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS,

THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS.

JULIUS MÜLLER'S DOCTRINAL ESSAYS.*-The most eminent of the living German theologians, in the department of philosophical and systematic Divinity, is the Author of the great work on the Christian Doctrine of Sin, Dr. Julius Müller, of Halle. His classical culture-he is a brother of the late Ottfried Müller-his philosophical acumen and learning, his thorough acquaintance with all branches of theclogical science, together with the ne mingling of conservatism, or rather of deep and earnest convictions, with liberal and catholic feeling and with a sincere, impressive spirit of piety, mark him out as a great teacher. His high position is recognized in Germany by scholars of all varieties of opinion. Rothe, while he lived, had an almost equal reputation; and Nitzsch was regarded as the leader among younger men who, like him, were eminent in the branch of doctrinal theology. The collection of dissertations which Müller has just given to the public are elaborate and very able discussions of several themes: the Relations of Faith to Knowledge; The Right of private judgment in the interpretation of Scripture; the question whether the Son of God would have become incarnate, if sin had not entered the world; the relation between the operation of the Holy Spirit and the efficacy of the divine word; the Invisible Church; a Comparison of the Doctrines of Luther and Calvin on the Lord's Supper; the Divine Institution of the office of the Ministry. Each of these essays contains, in a condensed and regular form, materials sufficient to form a treatise on the subject to which it relates. It is pleasant to know that the venerable Author, who has suffered from ill health for many years, has found strength to revise and collect these very valuable contributions to theological science.

ROTHE'S DOCTRINAL SYSTEM.t-The posthumous publication of *Dogmatische Abhandlungen von Julius Müller, Dr. Bremen: C. Ed Müller.

1870.

Dogmatik von Dr. R. ROTHE. Aus dessen handschriftlichem Nachlasse herausgegeben, von Dr. D. SCHENKEL. (1. u. 2 Abth.) 1870. pp. 315, 356.

Rothe's system of theology is an event which every journal that deals at all with theology, is bound to record. His ingenuity and originality have been equalled by few; and in the particulars in which he departs from received opinions, he knows how to clothe his own views in the most attractive form and to support them by impressive argumentation. Of all the German writers on the different prob'ems of theology, Rothe, as we think, is foremost in the power of lucid, facile exposition. His style is fluent without being diffuse. He is a master in scientific method. The first part of the work relates to the doctrine of Sin, in which the peculiar theory of the Author as to the origin of sin and the fall-the theory of a gradual development of the soul into a purely spiritual form of being, by overcoming the sensuous side of our being-is fully unfolded. The readers of Müller's great work will remember how earnestly, and yet how courteously, this theory is there contested. The second part is on Redemption, and covers the various topics appropriate to this head, as far as the topic of the Church. Rothe does not adopt the Athanasian conception of the Trinity, although he holds firmly to the truth of the divinity of Jesus. He regards the death of Christ as a part of the necessary preparation of Him for His work upon the souls of men by the Spirit, necessary in the divine order, which requires that the Deliverer shall successfully pass through experiences, which as far as sinners are concerned, have a retributive element, in order that He may be inwardly qualified to act upon men with renovating power. He is the head and representative of mankind.

HUNT'S HISTORY OF ENGLISH THEOLOGY.*-This work is a History of Doctrine under another title. The Author is of the Broad Church school. He writes with candor and with a fair, but not uncommon, degree of discrimination. He has read the works which he undertakes to sketch, and his citations are numerous and apposite. A history of English theology has long been needed, and although we cannot be certain that the present work will fill the vacant place, the first volume gives promise of a meritorious performance. The Baptists, the Quakers, the Independents, and other religious bodies outside of the Anglican Church, are fully con.

* Religious Thought in England, from the Reformation until the end of the last century. A contribution to the History of Theology. By REV. JOHN HUNT, M. A., Author of an Essay on Pantheism. London: Strahan & Co. 1870. Vol. L

sidered and their peculiar tenets described. Students of historical theology will find in the work useful and agreeable reading.

LECTURE ROOM TALKS.*-This book is really a volume of "table-talk," or talk around the domestic board of the household, by the head of the ecclesiastical family, in easy and familiar ad. dress, often apparently in answer to questions asked on the spot and therefore purely extemporaneous; very much, in truth, in the style of "homilies" in the Christian assemblies when they come together to hear and talk about Jesus.

It would not be well for every pastor to imitate this style of off-hand discourse since his experiences might not be so rich and edifying as those of the pastor of the Plymouth church.

The same marked characteristics that are found in all the productions of this distinguished divine are seen in these briefer "homilies," though criticism is disarmed by their spontaneous genial nature. They are overflowings of a running spring. Among the most readable pieces are those entitled "Experiences Abroad," in which some account is given of the orator's subjective preparation for those well known speeches made in England during the war"The unwritten words and deeds of Jesus "-" Praise and Prayer" -"Experimental Religion"-" Assurance of Salvation "—" Meth ods of conversion."

Christian experience, communion, prayer, social intercourse, conversation, work, the need and fullness of Christ, are touched with accustomed vigor and personality. Like this preacher's sermons, which are examples, not of the most philosophic quality of preaching, but the quality of skillful and powerful popular presentation of truth to the human heart and consciousness, these addresses are good food for all minds.

A TREATISE OF THE PREPARATION AND DELIVERY OF SERMONS. There is a fashion in books as in other things. The call for a particular class of books soon creates a supply of them.

*Lecture Room Talks. A series of familiar discourses on themes of general Christian experience. By HENRY WARD BEECHER. Phonographically reported by T. J. ELLINWOOD. New York: J. B. Ford & Co., 39 Park Row. 1870.

A Treatise of the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. By JOHN A. BROADUS, D. D., LL. D., Professor in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminarv, Greenville, S. C. Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., No. 23 North Sixth street. New York; Sheldon & Co., 500 Broadway.

The strong interest awakened a few years since in the study of English Philology, produced almost simultaneously a number of works on the English language. There seems to have been of late a similar working up of interest in the department of homiletical studies, attested by such works as those of Kidder, Shedd, and Hoppin, and others of a more popular character.

The work which we notice is one of the last we have seen of the fruits of this homiletical revival, and, to judge of it by a brief examination, good but not the best; we do not see that it adds very much to the literature of the subject. It shows a diligent reading of the works, and especially of the most recent works, on Rhetoric and Homiletics, but it contains nothing novel. It is written in a popular style, and its remarks are generally judicious, and made in a commendable spirit. The treatment of the subject of Delivery is appreciative and useful; its value however is not enhanced by an illustration like the following: "A really good man, in preaching at a University, once said, 'You shut your eyes to the beauty of piety; you stop your ears to the calls of the gospel: you turn your back,' &c., and in saying it shut his eyes, stopped his ears with his fingers, and whirled his broad back into view. Alas! for the good done to the students by his well-meant sermon. In suiting the action to the word,' he 'o'erstepped the mod. esty of nature.'"

Periods are sometimes carelessly ended with an "&c.." or "etc.;" and the parts of a sentence which belong together, as the subject and its predicate, the substantive and its qualificative, are often separated unnecessarily, which blemishes of style should not occur in a work that specially treats of the methods of good writing and speaking.

HISTORY AND LITERATURE.

FIRST STEPS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.*--We took up this book with the expectation and desire of saying a good deal in its favor, partly, because we had seen it spoken of in high terms by journals in whose criticisms we ordinarily place confidence, and partly, because we are disposed to mention approvingly any textbook treating of this subject. Not that we have a lofty idea of

* First Steps in English Literature. By ARTHUR GILMAN. New York: Hurd & Houghton. 1870. 8vo. pp. 231.