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own homes. It does not object to "non-resident courses of study" for "reading classes." To give degrees for such home studies it claims is "superficial and nonsensical." The third paper is a strong statement of scriptural teaching concerning "the person of Christ." The fourth paper calls for such modifications of college studies as will adapt them not only to the needs of students intending to enter the learned professions, but also to the requirements of those who are to follow industrial pursuits. It also pleads for academic institutions in cities with opportunities to young working-men to study scientific, literary, linguistic, and musical topics. The fifth paper is a brief but lucid outline of the development of Greek philosophy, from Thales, who flourished about 600 B. C., to Plotinus, the founder of New Platonism, A. D. 205.

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THE North American Review for April has: 1. "Patriotism and Politics; " 2. "A Southerner on the Negro Question; " 3. "Reciprocity and the Farmer;" 4. "Our National Dumping-Ground," a symposium; 5. "Michigan's Presidential Electors; " 6. "French Girls;" 7. "The Free Zone in Mexico;" 8. "The Modern Cart of Thespis; " 9. "Money and Usury; 10. "The Olympian Religions." These are all able and timely papers. In the first, Cardinal Gibbons strongly and justly rebukes the unpatriotic and unchristian corruption of our political parties; but when he finds a "model" for American patriotism in "the religious order, in the catholicity and unity of the (Roman) Church," we must dissent. The central point of American patriotism is in the citizen's sense of obligation to the invisible God of nations, not to his pretended vicegerent at Rome. In the second a Southerner boldly asserts that the South "will not be dominated" by the Negro; that a Negro majority at the polls shall not govern the white minority. The Negro, he contends, must be "got out of politics" by means of a better basis for suffrage" than uneducated manhood; but how this getting out is to be achieved he does not explain. In the symposium two writers agree that immigration ought not to be entirely prohibited, but only restricted by conditions which will exclude paupers, criminals, and other unfit persons. The fifth paper claims pretty conclusively that Michigan acted within the Constitution when she provided that presidential electors should be chosen by "congressional districts," and not by popular vote on a general ticket, as heretofore. In the ninth paper Henry Clews argues with considerable force for the abolition of laws regulating the rate of interest, except "in cases where no contract is made or on sums which have become overdue."

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THE Contemporary Review for April has: 1. "William;" 2. "Forms of Home Rule;" 3. "The Evacuation of Egypt;" 4. "Non-conformists in Political Life;" 5. "Christianity in the East; " 6. "The London Progressives; 7. "The Real Siberia;" 8. "The New Star in Auriga; 9. "The Endowment of Old Age; " 10. "Spoken Greek, Ancient and Modern;" 11. "Conversations and Correspondence with Thomas Carlyle." The first of these papers places the German emperor in the scales and finds

him sadly wanting in great qualities and disfigured by individual vanity, superficiality, insincerity, an ever-present restlessness, and a love of noisy notoriety. Germans, it says, have begun to regard him as an overrated article, and the Southern Germans especially to cherish apprehensions respecting the future of the empire. The second contends that until the Khedive of Egypt conquers the Soudan, which it argues is now prospectively an easy conquest, the British cannot evacuate Egypt without extreme peril to the Khedive's government. But Soudan being conquered Egypt could be safely left to maintain itself. The fifth paper affirms that Christian missions in India, China, and Japan do not produce earnest and stable spiritual Christians because, its author says, missionaries do not preach the majesty and terror of the law as a preliminary to the preaching of the love of Christ. This affirmation reposes on the unsupported statement of its writer. We think American missionaries do not sustain him. The seventh paper reviews a volume in which Mr. Harry de Windt denies the statements of George Kennan concerning the sufferings of Russian exiles in Siberia. The reviewer convicts the author of error by citing his own concessions of failure to disprove the descriptions of Mr. K.'s book. The tenth paper is scholarly and merits the attention of every student of the Greek language.

THE Presbyterian and Reformed Review for April opens with an historic sketch of "Recent Dogmatic Thought in the Netherlands," which lucidly describes the influence of the various schools of philosophy, of rationalistic criticism, and of "ethical theology." Of the "Reformed Theology of Holland "it claims that in face of all these unorthodox tendencies the core of the Dutch nation has remained faithful to Calvinism." A second paper contends with scholarly force for "the Genuineness of Isaiah xl-lxvi.” A third paper rightly finds "the test of the canonicity" of the books of the New Testament in the historic evidence of their apostolic origin. In another article the theory of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, that "willful desertion is a ground for divorce," is defended with much exegetical skill. In its "Editorial Notes" strong dissent is given from the "Final Report of the Committee on Revision."

THE Fortnightly Review for March discusses: 1. "The Dissipation of Energy;" 2. "Dangers of Modern Finance;" 3. "Mr. Meredith in his Poems;" 4. "The Physical Insensibility of Woman;" 5. "The Russian Famine and the Revolution;" 6. "France in the Fourteenth Century;" 7. "The Growth of the Indian Population;" 8. "Mr. T. W. Russell and Irish Education; " 9. "The Military Situation in Madagascar." In the first of these papers Lord Kelvin explains the "doctrine of the Dissipation of Energy," and infers from it that "within a finite period of past time the earth must have been, and within a finite period of time to come must again be, unfit for the habitation of man," unless laws as yet unknown to us should come into operation. The second paper is one from which American financiers may gain enlightenment. The fourth article, reason43-FIFTH SERIES, VOL. VIII.

ing from experimental tests, claims that women are less sensitive to physical pain than men. Though more vehement in giving expression to it they endure it with greater courage than men. In the fifth article Stepniak, after describing the terrors of the Russian famine, predicts, perhaps too hopefully, that it will lead to a peaceful political revolution unless a foreign war intervenes. In the sixth article the persecutions of the Jews in France during the fourteenth century are graphically described. The seventh paper shows that the population of India is increasing at the rate of from two to three millions annually; that its trade, its manufacturing establishments, and its agriculture are increasing; that by great systems of irrigation and by the planting of forests its government hopes to prevent, at least in part, its liability to famines, which liability is slowly diminishing. Good government is doing wonders for its welfare.

THE Critical Review of Theological and Philosophical Literature for April is filled with brief analytical and critical notices by various writers of some of the best books published. These notices are condensed and suggestive. Take, for illustration, one by Principal Cave on the Baird Lecture for 1891, in which Professor Milligan presents his anti-biblical view of the atonement, namely, "that life, not death, is the essence of atonement-is that by which sin is covered." Principal Cave shows that this error is based on a misleading identification of atonement and sacrifice, whereas Scripture teaches that "death, not life, is the essence of atonement: "the blood of the victim must be shed before an offering of self or substance can be acceptable. Thus Christ first died upon the cross and then presented himself to the Father as having atoned for human sin by his blood. Therefore to say that men are not saved because Christ died is a misconception of biblical truth. So reasons the reviewer, and so do all sound theologians teach.

THE Baptist Quarterly Review for April has: 1. "C. H. Spurgeon; " 2. "Ministerial Blues; " 3. "The Bloody Sweat of our Lord; " 4. "The Origin of the Doctrine of the Logos; " 5. "Monism." Of these papers we note the first, which, after ranking Spurgeon as "perhaps the greatest preacher of any century since the apostles," claims that "he did more to lower the standard of ministerial culture in England than a whole generation of Baptists can do to raise it;" and that "he exerted great influence for harm through his position on the close communion question." Probably Spurgeon did err in cherishing prejudice against the educated men in the Baptist ministry, but his hostility to close communion was creditable both to his brain and heart. The third paper contends that the sweat of our Lord in the garden was not merely "like great drops of blood," but was actually blood. It gives examples to prove that such bleeding, though rare, is possible to the human body. The fourth article ably compares the Alexandrian concept of the Logos with that of St. John. The fifth is a philosophical discussion of dualism and monism.

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THE Methodist Magazine for April is at its best. Its leading articles give vivid descriptions of India, California, and the Columbian Exhibition, all of which are graphically illustrated. -The Chautauquan for April has for its special features a paper on The American Negro," by Henry Watterson, and one on Antislavery," by J. B. McMasters. As usual, its range of educational topics is wide and suggestive.- -The Gospel in All Lands for April has for its specialty several interesting illustrated papers on India and the Hindoos.-- Our Day for April has a comprehensive paper on Japan and an outline of Joseph Cook's admirable and timely lecture on "The Unshaken Columnar Truths in Scripture." Professor Townsend writes of so-called " Ecclesiastical Politics" in our Church much less assertively than in his published address. He even intimates that the code of New Testament ethics is taking the place of clerical politics. Had he said that the latter has never yet displaced the former he would have hit the nail of actual fact exactly on its head. The reign of ecclesiastical politics is altogether apocryphal, the dream of a distorted imagination.The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine (London) for April has, among other good things, a synopsis of the Fernley Lecture for 1891, on "The Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture," by the late Rev. F. J. Shaw, who shows conclusively that the "scientific method" of the modern criticism is of all methods the most unscientific, because it begins with an assumption which begs the whole question. He properly desig nates the proposition that "Christianity is not a Creed, but a Life," a "cant phrase," because the Christian life can grow only out of the Christian faith."Lippincott's Monthly Magazine for April has a story entitled "But Man Must Work," by Rosa V. Carey, with its usual interesting miscellany of short papers.- -The English Illustrated Magazine for March is filled with interesting papers profusely illustrated.- -The New Jerusalem Magazine for April has several well-written articles on the peculiar dogmas of the "New Church." Its leading article expounds "The Resurrection" from Swedenborg's view-point. The Treasury for April gives its usual bird's-eye views of "The Current Religious Thought of Christendom." Its leading article is a hortatory sermon on "White Robes," by Rev. G. F. Prentiss.- -The Homiletic Review for April has for its leading article a review by Professor F. Brown of a paper in which Dr. Watts showed the unscientific method of the higher criticism. The Professor takes issue with Dr. Watts and cautiously defends the higher critics.- -Harper's New Monthly for April is unusually rich in the number and beauty of its illustrations. We note especially those of Lake Superior, of the Black Forest and the Black Sea, and of an Indian fair in the Mexican Hot Country. The Century treats, among other good things, of "Our Common Roads," of "The Mother and Birthplace of Washington," of the "Painting of Greek Sculptures," and of "Fishing for Pearls in Australia," all of which papers are finely illustrated.- -The Missionary Review of the' World for April is filled with facts which show the hand of the Lord working gloriously in almost every part of the globe. It reads like a bulletin of the approaching triumph of the kingdom of Christ.

BOOKS: CRITIQUES AND NOTICES.

MASTERPIECES IN A MODERN LANGUAGE.

It was once held that a masterpiece in literature was impossible in a modern language. This was pessimistic, uninspiring, and a notification to new thinkers that they were not wanted. It is not claimed that our literature at its greatest height exceeds that of two or three centuries ago, but the average thinker of to-day occupies a higher level than did the average thinker of that period. As for great writers our age is not without them. We recommend the following as representative of the average culture of to-day: The Psalms, by John De Witt; Mens Christi, by J. S. Kedney; The Spirit of Modern Philosophy, by J. Royce; and The Discovery of America, by John Fiske.

RELIGION, THEOLOGY, AND BIBLICAL LITERATURE. Har-Moad: or, The Mountain of the Assembly. A Series of Archæological Studies, chiefly from the stand-point of the Cuneiform Inscriptions. By Rev. O. D. MILLER, D.D., Member of the American Oriental Society, of the Victoria Institute, etc. With Portrait of the Author and Plate Illustrations, 8vo, pp. 445. North Adams, Mass.: S. M. Whipple.

This is a work that must challenge attention. It is remarkable for so many features that it is difficult to characterize it from any single viewpoint. It impresses us with its retrospection of prehistoric times, its discovery and investigation of unknown data, its original and independent aims and methods, and its conclusions bearing especially upon the great and unsettled problems of the sacred book. Years of honest labor, with an honest purpose in view, are embodied in this wonderful volume. Besides, the author gives every evidence of a broad and patient scholarship, of a wise discrimination in the use of materials, of a non-partisan spirit in his searchings, and of conformity to all the results established by scientific processes in the field of Assyriological research. The subject is vast and stupendous, and the qualifications of the author adequate for its development. We are not prepared to admit the accuracy of all his deductions, and critics may, after careful comparison, find overstatements of facts and distortion of inferences; but until it has been thoroughly sifted and tested in every possible way it must stand as a monumental work, rich in treasures and abounding in suggestions that may pioneer later investigators into more certain conclusions of the value of prehistoric testimony to the course of human history and the origin of the biblical religions. Dr. Miller investigated the primitive traditions of mankind and the origin of the ancient civilizations, believing that they would throw light upon the origin of the religious, political, and social institutions of the ancient world. In this investigation he was confronted with the problem of the locality of the original traditions, and of the chronology, not only of the earliest peoples,

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