justice. Admitted into the family of God, he is a son and an heir of the King of kings. Sanctified by the blessed Spirit, he bears the lines of God's moral image, and thus with God for his Father and Christ for his elder brother, with angels for his servants, and heaven for his home, he has a greatness which the world in its blindness may despise, but which devils cannot dispute. And to what does he owe it all? It is his daily delight to trace it to electing, redeeming, indwelling, and sanctifying love. In the gentleness of God alone is found the reason for his salvation. "Salvation is of the Lord," is the language of his deepest experience as well as the testimony of the Word. "It is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." If we work out our own salvation it is He that worketh in us both to will and to do, and if we gain the heavenly shore at last, it shall be because we have been kept by His power.' The life-history of every child of God may be written in one word, and that word is 'grace.' The unfinished walls of the 'living temple,' of the Church are inscribed all over with grace, and the copestone shall at length be laid with shoutings of "grace, grace unto it," "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Let us once more use the words in reference to the heavenly glory. The glorified believer is a son that has reached his majority, an heir that has entered into possession, a king that has been crowned. To him has been fulfilled the promise, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne." And little as we know of heaven, of this we may be well assured, that the uppermost feeling of all the ransomed throng will be that which is expressed in the words, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." Their spotless holiness, their perfect knowledge, their vast and varied powers, their pure and endless happiness will all be seen to flow direct from the fountain of God's free and sovereign love. That fact will be unceasingly acknowledged in the grateful song they sing, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen." As they gaze upon that face which was defiled with tears, and grasp the hand that was nailed to the cross, as they view their white robes symbolic of spotless purity and joyful service, washed white in the fountain of His blood, and as they wave the palms of victory which remind them: of battles fought and won with strength derived from Him, they take the golden crowns they wear and casting them at His feet, exclaim, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name, give glory!" Literature. The Science of Missions-Part First. The Evangelistic Baptism indispensable to the Church for the Conversion of the World. By the Rev. James Gall. Pp. 306. Gall and Inglis, Edinburgh. THE esteemed author of this volume has been long favourably known -as the worthy son of a worthy father-and himself as a noted Christian philanthropist and home missionary. After founding and successfully conducting an "Experimental Pioneer Home Mission" in Edinburgh for some years, he was called and set apart by the Free Church Presbytery to organise a Territorial Church in a destitute part of the city. For a time he acted as pastor of the flock, which was gathered under his ministry, and at the same time gave himself up to active Evangelistic labours among the ignorant and spiritually destitute in the surrounding district. Since the year 1872, at his own request, he has been relieved of a pastoral charge; and his whole time and talents have been devoted as an ordained Evangelist to the advocacy and establishment of congregational Missions for reclaiming the neglected masses-our home heathen-and for the world's conversion. The present volume is interesting and valuable, as it contains the result of the experience of more than half a century of manifold labours in diversified home mission work. It is eminently suggestive, and deserves, as it will amply repay, a careful and repeated perusal. It contains not a little that is new and striking; it is throughout evangelical in tone and sentiment; and in the fulness and clearness with which it discusses the fundamental doctrines of the Trinity, the Mediatorial offices, and the office and work of the Spirit, there is much to instruct and edify the Church, and to animate and encourage Christians to entire consecration of their energies and means, for the revival of religion and the salvation of the world. In judging of a work, of so extensive a bearing, advocating, as it does, modes of operation so different from those which have been hitherto followed in the Church, and that may be regarded as revolutionary, there may be expected to be considerable diversity of opinion, even among those who are earnest friends of missions, home and foreign. In some of the proposals for founding and conducting Congregational Missions, as they are sketched out in this work, we do not see our way to concur; some of the Scriptural expositions may admit, we think, of a different application from what is here presented; and from all corruption of the worship of the Church by the use of uninspired bymns and instrumental music, we wholly dissent. But even after these abatements, we regard the work as one of rare excellence, and as highly worthy of much prayerful consideration. On one subject which the author puts prominently forward, and regards as fundamental to success in the Missionary enterprise, we are entirely agreed with him. This is the prime necessity of personal, individual consecration and effort for the world's conversion. While we would not assign, in any case, an inferior place, in this great work, to the preaching of the word, we are thoroughly convinced that little or no progress will be made towards the grand consummation, until the Church cease to do the work by proxy, or to depend unduly on pecuniary contributions for this purpose. If the millions of the ignorant, idolatrous and ungodly in Christian lands are to be awakened and saved, and the world is to be won for Christ, it will require hundreds of thousands to consecrate themselves willingly to the service. The Church is the predestined instrument of her own enlargement. Her present great want is that of men constrained by the love of Christ to live not to themselves, but for the advancement of His glory throughout the earth. For this object, the Church should be everywhere stirred up to seek, what the author so clearly exhibits, and ably advocates, the promised evangelistic power of the Spirit. A second part, treating on the work of Foreign Missions, is promised. By those who have read attentively the present volume, we cannot doubt that this will be looked for with earnest interest. M'Comb's Presbyterian Almanac and Christian Remembrancer for 1879. Pp. 118. James Cleland, Belfast. 1879. THIS Fortieth Impression of M'Comb's Presbyterian Almanac, which, from its commencement, has always been in Presbyterian families, and thus a favourite Annual, still maintains its high character for accurate statistics, select and valuable information, and neatness of execution. Besides the Ephemeris, accounts of eclipses, and motions of the planets, there is, in the commencement, a condensed summary of notable events during the year, in relation to the Church, and the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom, and a reference to the deaths of distinguished ministers, missionaries and laymen of the Presbyterian Church. Full lists of the members and officers of the different Presbyterian Synods in Ireland are given. Interesting notices of the Presbyterian Church in its various sections, in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales, Switzerland, France, Holland, Hungary, Bohemia, and Moravia follow; and then we have sketches of the proceedings of other bodies, Congregational, Baptist, Wesleyan, and Irish Episcopal. These are followed by brief obituaries of some excellent public-spirited Presbyterian laymen, and by historical sketches of Presbyterian Congregations in Ireland. The History of the General Assembly's College in Belfast, is particularly interesting, showing as it does the noble liberality of a number of the members of the Presbyterian Church, male and female, who by their liberal donations, have placed it on its present prosperous footing. Mission and other philanthropic schemes are exhibited in their extensive and successful operations. The frontispiece is an admirable portrait of Professor Witherow of Magee's College, the present Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. We strongly recommend this Almanac, as a valuable work for reference by all who would seek to be acquainted with the state and progress of Presbyterianism throughout the world. [We regret that the above notice came to hand too late for insertion in our last number.] Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Wigtown and Whithorn. By Gordon THOUGH this book must interest Wigtonians and Whithornians more than others, yet it contains so much information on the social, municipal, and ecclesiastical customs and ways of the past that it cannot fail to delight ordinary readers. As might have been expected the Wigtown martyrs occupy a prominent place in it, and a good summary of the controversy raised by Sheriff Napier, as to the reality of the martyrdom, is given. While the truth of that Scripture, "The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot," is strikingly exemplified in the feelings here manifested after a lapse of well-nigh two centuries. Mr. Fraser, who is both the author and the publisher of this volume, assures us that the gravestones of the martyrs are not only the "dearest local treasures" of the Wigtonians, but "the greatest objects of interest in the Burgh to visitors" (p. 167); while Provost Coltrane "has left behind him a name at which the town turns pale, and, rightly or wrongly, tradition assigns him a part, and a very prominent part, too, in the transactions which commenced with the apprehension and ended with the drowning of these two women" (p. 149). Two of Mr. Fraser's racy anecdotes are telling illustrations of this: "The name of the man [Patrick Stuart] by whose information the women were arrested is remembered, and his memory execrated still; his descendants are reduced to poverty; not long since, one of them, getting into an altercation with a person in Wigtown, was thus taunted publicly-'I wudna like tae hae had a forbear who betrayed the martyrs; I wadna be com'd o' sic folk!'' (P. 154-) 84 A poor old woman at Wigtown died, and was buried in or near the grave said to be that of Provost Coltrane, of ill fame. It was after the interment, however, that her son was made aware of his mother's remains being in such close proximity to those of the old municipal ruler we have already named. He would have her disinterred and buried at some distance from the detested spot, remarking that it wud be a pretty like thing tae see my mither rising at the Last Day in the company o' an auld persecutor like Coltrane.'" (P. 363.) Judging from the following queries, submitted by Mr. Kerr at the first meeting of the Wigtown Kirk Session after his ordination in 1701, things must have been in a very disorganised condition : : "Whitherorno they had any Church utensils, communion-cups, tables, and table-cloths? Answered, They had none. "Whitherorno they had a Church Bible? Answered, They remembered to have seen one here some considerable time ago, but what has become of it now, or in whose hands it is, they know not. It was recommended to them to enquire about it. "Whitherorno they were wont to have stated meetings for prayer and privie censures? Answered, Not." (P. 104.) In the same year a merchant in London having given £120 Scots to the poor of Wigtown, part of it was invested in Bibles and Cate chisms for distribution, and the Kirk Session agreed to secure the rest of it as a fund for the use of the poor, and the several members of the Session were appointed to inquire for a solvent hand who would receive it and pay for the use thereof. Mr. Fraser expresses surprise at the seeming difficulty of finding one solvent man in the Burgh. But in those days Kirk Sessions acted as their own bankers with their mortifications, and their difficulty is still the great practical difficulty in modern banking,-to find solvent men who require money and who will pay for the use of it. The following paragraph should interest our readers : "The early history of the Secession here, as in many other places, was one of struggle and opposition. But there were earnest men connected with it-men who were prepared to make cheerful sacrifices for their principles, and as a consequence they succeeded, with the Divine blessing. They experienced considerable difficulty in getting a suitable feu on which to build a church. At length they obtained a proper site, but they worshipped for some time on the grassy sward adjoining, before their edifice was ready. It is reported that while thus worshipping, a laird of the district boldly rode up on horseback to the green where the minister was addressing his flock from the tent. The intruder, who came for no peaceable purpose, shouted Bah!' as he drew up. Many of the peaceful worshippers were shocked and alarmed at such impious and threatening conduct; but the clergyman endeavoured to calm their perturbation, at the same time lifting his large Bible from the board of the tent and reaching it forward to the horseman, with the words, Sir, I offer you this.' The gentleman was abashed, and slunk away; and it is said that on his way home he fell from his horse and broke one of his arms. A warm adherent and friend of the Secession cause was the tenant farmer of Clantibuoys; and his attachmment to it rendered him somewhat obnoxious to his landlord-the same who rode up to the worshippers on the green-who let his farm over his head, while ten years of the existing lease were still unexpired. However, things took a turn before a change of tenants could be effected; and the farm of Clantibuoys was brought to the hammer in the Craig Inn at Wigtown. The tenant was an offerer, through another person, and the farm was called down to him. The proprietor was astonished to learn that 'Clanty '-the old tenant-was the purchaser, and he said to him, 'Ah! M'Kenna, ee'll hae tae leeve on scones an' whey afore ee pey this.' The new proprietor retorted upon the old one thus, 'If ee had leeved on scones an' whey, ee need nae hae selt it. Part of the green on which the members of the Secession worshipped of old still stands at the back of the church. The old church was built in 1750, and galleries were added to it in 1785, when it was capable of accommodating 450 sitters." (Pp. 235, 236.) In his preface Mr. Fraser says, "As we make no literary pretensions, we bespeak the clemency of the critics." Though we have no desire to find fault with his work, we may nevertheless point out a slip which can easily be remedied in the second edition, which probably will be soon called for. At the foot of page 10, he refers to a singular privilege of levying dues on "all sheep, cattle and wood crossing the river Cree," granted to the Burgh by Charles II. in 1662; and on page 11, he relates an amusing incident in connection with this right, which on page 12, he says happened in 1598. Perhaps this last date may be a misprint for 1698. We regret that this trifling inaccuracy is not the only error in this entertaining volume. In some of the anecdotes the name of God is introduced in too light and irreverent a manner. Christians cannot too strongly protest against this practice, which is just as sinful in writing as in speaking. It may be a strong temptation to some authors to insert an oath, |