When the ground was cleared Schomberg was found among the slain, his body lying in a stony path, on which a fall from his horse might itself have been fatal to so old a man.

When King William was at one time in the thickest of the fight, and his life in imminent danger, the Danes gave way and fled. The King riding forward to the Enniskillen Dragoons, asked them what they were willing to do for him. Wolsley told them the honour that his Majesty did them by himself leading them to the charge. In a moment, like so many mastiff dogs, they dashed forward against the bullets of the foe. But for want of military training, they mistook a movement of the King, and retreated for a hundred yards. The King then put himself at the head of a Dutch regiment, and the Enniskilleners rallied again, when they dashed forward together. The charge was irresistible, and they bore away as trophies the Irish flags. An eye-witness, in giving an account of this hot and brilliant encounter, says "The enemy's horse of Tyrconnell's regiment behaved well, but our Dutch like angels." When William at the close of the battle was told the particulars of Schomberg's death by the equerry who witnessed it, his eyes filled with tears, and he exclaimed -"I have lost my father." He had been that day seventeen hours in the saddle and must have been weary. Every one remarked that, although cheerful, he was not elated with the victory, and he made it plain that he did not care much about the congratulations which now came in upon him from all sides."

"In numbers the two armies were well matched, but the Irish had the advantage in position, and the English in officers and men of superior military training and experience in war. Of the soldiers, who were of purely English descent, comparatively few were under fire. The brunt of the conflict was borne by the Dutch guards, the French Huguenots, the Danes, and the Ulstermen from Enniskillen and Derry, all of whom, in spite of occasional reverses, fought bravely. Of them about 500 lost their lives-the most eminent of whom were Schomberg and La Caillemotte. Schomberg was so advanced in years that he could not have counted on much longer life, even had he lived to enjoy the victory. He was a great and an honourable man. He is described as of middle stature, fair in complexion, neat in attire, and a capital horseman. He was a soldier by profession, but the value which he set on higher things is shown by the fact that, from attachment to his religion, he voluntarily resigned the highest prize to which a French soldier can aspire-the dignity of a Marshal of France. His dust lies interred in St. Patrick's, Dublin."

The description of the Battle of Aughrim is one of the best in the volume. The death of St. Ruth, the Irish General, is thus narrated :

He

"It was at this juncture an unforeseen event occurred, which decided the fortunes of the day. No man engaged in that bloody conflict felt a greater responsibility resting upon his mind than the Irish Commander-in-Chief. knew well what was at stake, and left nothing in his power undone to secure success. Seeing how gallantly the Irish met and repulsed the English centre, and had beaten it back into the bog, St. Ruth flung his cap into the air in a delirium of joy, and exclaimed that he would now beat the English back to the gates of Dublin. When he observed the desperate struggle which was carried on around the old ruin of Aughrim, he had given orders to a brigade of horse, more immediately under his own command, to march forward and to attack the English cavalry led on by Ruvigny, and he was in the act of directing a gunner at one of the batteries to aim at a particular point when he was struck by a cannon ball

fired from the English army. The general immediately fell off his horse; one of the staff threw his military cloak over the body, and it was borne away by the Guards. The shot deprived the Irish of their leader in the crisis of the battle." After recounting the events which led to the Treaty of Limerick, and the end of the civil war, Professor Witherow thus concludes :—

"At length the din of war died out, and the labourer and the artisan who survived were left free to return to their industry. The Revolution was an accomplished fact. James Stuart was a king no more, and with him irresponsible government had passed away. A constitutional monarch in the person of William sat on the throne of these kingdoms, and liberty in Church and State, though long afterwards held in check, was virtually triumphant.

"Out of the ashes of a desolate and ruined country, peace and good order and freedom and happiness slowly emerged. That generation and the next, and the next, bore with them to their graves the wounds and scars which this deadly struggle left behind it; and those who should have soothed and cherished the sufferers, often cast into the sore the salt and the vinegar rather than the oil and the wine. A better day has now dawned on our country, and every one who loves old Ireland should aid in advancing her moral and social improvement, and in attention to the duties of the present and the future, should allow himself to forget the bitter memories of the past. In our present_circumstances, intellectual and political, we have at our hands the elements of a great and happy future, provided only that, as a nation, we had wisdom to turn them to account.'

Most cordially do we commend this admirable volume, wishing for it a wide circulation.

Historical and Literary Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland (1623-1731). By Professor Witherow, of Magee College. Crown 8vo, pp. 363. W. Mullan & Son, London and Belfast. 1879.

WE gladly hail the appearance of these "Historical Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland." Professor Witherow, in preparing them, betook himself to a task which must have cost him much research, and no little labour and anxiety, and ably has he executed it. He has disinterred from the scant news of the past, reaching back for a period of more than two hundred and fifty years, the monuments of the life, work, and character of nearly fifty Presbyterian ministers, who lived and laboured in this country in difficult and trying times --some of them men of distinguished ability. Beginning with those who were honoured to plant the goodly Presbyterian vine in Ulster, and to suffer not a little for the cause of truth, such as Blair, Livingstone, Stewart, Adair, and Bruce, and ending with Henderson of Dunean, Professor Witherow gives brief but most interesting characteristic sketches of these ministers, showing the places in which they were called to labour, the work they performed, and presenting a clear and candid estimate of their character, and the effects of their works. He was guided in the selection of the subjects of the sketches by having regard to the literary remains which they left behind them-these being only in a few cases volumes of any considerable size, and mostly pamphlets of a controversial kind and containing defences of Presbyterian principles and rights, or referring to disputes which agitated the Presbyterian Church in this country and the Nonconformists in England, during the early part of the last century. The most prominent subject in the volume-and that to which a large number of the works of the

ministers referred to in these "Memorials" refers-is the NonSubscription Controversy, which led to the separation of the Antrim Presbytery and of the Southern Association from the Synod of Ulster. The information which is given on this matter is rare, select, and satisfactory. The author displays throughout an impartial, candid spirit in speaking of the works and character of different parties; and, while he never fails to state clearly and firmly his conscientious views of evangelical truth and Presbyterian order, he brings forward nothing that can be justly considered offensive in relation to those to whose sentiments and conduct he is strongly opposed.

While he states with the utmost clearness and candour the case made out by the Non-Subscribing Party, in a few compact judicious sentences, he shows the invariable effects of refusing to profess full adherence to a doctrinal standard.

Then speaking of Halliday's case, he says

"Even Halliday was not an Arian, he was only a non-subscriber. But nonsubscription to the Westminister Confession, or some such orthodox formulary, has in our Church at least been always a stepping-stone to Arianism; and this has been manifested in the ministerial successors of Halliday up to the present time."

Again, in the sketch of Choppin of Dublin, who was warmly attached to orthodoxy, but in sympathy with those who contended for non-subscription, he says—

"Non-subscribing principles, however, eventually produced in Dublin the same fruit which they produced in the North; and long before the end of the century, Arianism reigned in the pulpit and in the pews of the very congregation from which in 1702 Evelyn had been driven for no other offence than Arianism-a fact which carries in it the solemn lesson that no new generation, relying on their fancied wisdom and superiority, should ruthlessly remove the safeguards which the experience of their fathers has established. Events repeat themselves, and what has occurred once may very probably occur again."

The brief extracts which are given at the end of each chapter from the pamphlets or books of the subjects of the sketches are deeply interesting, exhibiting their abilities as writers, and containing important information and not a little edifying matter of a doctrinal, controversial, and practical nature.

As a brief specimen of these extracts, the following are from a "Seasonable Warning" from the Sub-Synod of Derry :

FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES.

"Know therefore that they who distinguish away the supreme deity and perfect satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ, sap the foundations of our whole religion, and turn it to a mere shadow. We would also warn you that conscience ought not to be made the rule and foundation of faith and obedience, forasmuch as even the mind and conscience is by nature defiled. We earnestly obtest you to regard the Spirit of God speaking to us in the sacred Scriptures, as the rule and foundation of faith and obedience."

THE LORD'S DAY.

"We entreat you to take care that the Lord's day be sanctified, the rather because the morality of that holy day is by some called in question in this degenerate age, in consequence of which loose and false doctrine, many by sinful travelling on the Lord's day, and others, by absenting from the public worship of God, in profaning it by idleness when the public worship is over, rob our

great Creator and Sovereign Lawgiver of that short space of time He has challenged for His holy service."

We augur for this volume what it richly deserves, an extensive circulation, so that the esteemed author may be encouraged to carry out the design which he has anounced, of again publishing additional "Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland," and continuing them down to the present time. We may add that the style of printing and binding of this volume does great credit to the publishers.

Selected Discourses. By the late Rev. Matthew Murray, D.D., Professor of Theology, and Pastor of Mains Street Congregation of the United Original Secession Church, Glasgow. Dunn & Wright, 176, Buchanan Street,

Glasgow, and 102, Stirling Road, Glasgow, 1879. THESE discourses are from the pen of one who was so well known and so deservedly esteemed and revered among us, both on account of his deep piety and high intellectual ability, that a lengthened review of them to show their unquestionable merits is unnecessary. The very name of the author bespeaks commendation, and is sufficient to induce a careful perusal, at least on the part of those who knew him either personally or by repute. We feel assured that by such a perusal the anticipations raised, so far from being disappointed, will be amply realised. The volume is introduced by a lecture on "The Principles of Biblical Interpretation," the argumentation in which is cogent and clear. This is followed by a historical sketch of religious bonds and covenants of the early Scottish Reformers, which is so concisely and graphically detailed, as to elicit an interest in the whole covenanted cause. Then follow discourses of a doctrinal and practical character, on the following among other subjects,- "Public Religious Covenanting," "The Millennium," "Retributive Providence of God," "Ejaculatory Prayer," "The Great Usurper resisted," "Desiring to see Jesus," "Fellowship with God," and "Means of reviving Religion," &c. No one capable of appreciating discourses containing the very marrow of Gospel truth can rise from the perusal of these without the deep conviction of their having emanated from the hands of a Master in Israel, who needed not to be ashamed, having rightly divided the word of truth. Unlike many of the ephemeral productions, "the pretty little sermonettes " of our day, from which, if the ornamental drapery be taken away, nothing is left, the discourses of our author are rigidly textual, thoroughly exhaustive, concise, and felicitous in Biblical proof and illustration. To master the contents of the vol ume in question one reading will not suffice. The oftener it is read the more will its value be appreciated and its power for good be felt. It is unnecessary to give many extracts. One will be sufficient as a specimen of the whole. In his discourse on "Fellowship with God," the author, in distinguishing between what is real and what is counterfeit in Christian profession, makes the following pointed, consciencesearching remarks :

"There may be some among us who make false pretences to fellowship with God; who affect to set a high value on the privilege, who can talk about it, and who seem as if they were partakers of it, while conscious in themselves that they

are neither experiencing nor sincerely seeking after it. There may be others who are deceiving themselves in this matter, who say, or falsely and presumptuously suppose, that they have fellowship with God. Many mistake religious gifts, such as head knowledge, ability to speak on religious subjects, fluency in prayer, and the self-complacent satisfaction in exercising their gifts, as well as the working of the natural affections and desires, and the temporary joys, of which stony-ground hearers are the subjects,—many mistake these things for the graces of the Holy Spirit and a work of grace in the soul. There are not a few such deceived and self-deceived. True religion may be counterfeited, and many are resting satisfied with some or other of its spurious and counterfeit forms. Young professors are specially liable to this kind of self-deception. When their minds are brought into contact with the sublime and glorious mysteries of the gospel, they are usually more or less affected by them, but the impression produced is oftentimes merely on the natural understanding and conscience, and on the natural affections and feelings. They have no experience of the convincing and saving power of the truth. The consequence is, that they become self-confident, presumptuous, and deluded professors, and if mercy prevent not, they either sink into dead formalists, or into confirmed hypocrites; or, breaking loose from the restraints of religion, they throw off the profession they had assumed, and return to their former sinful courses, and, it may be, to the grosser forms of vice and licentiousness, to which they had been addicted, as the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."

Confession: A Doctrinal and Historical Essay. the Eighteenth Italian Edition, by M. H. London: S. W. Partridge & Co.

By L. Desanctis. Translated from
G. Buckle, Vicar of Edlingham.

Ir is somewhat surprising that this little work, now for the first time published in English, should have been so long in appearing in such a form, considering that the author has been well known in this country ever since he left the Church of Rome more than thirty years ago. It is a matter for thankfulness, however, that it has at length made its appearance, and this too at a time when such publications are urgently needed to enlighten the people of England as to the nature and tendency of "auricular confession," and to warn them against the terrible danger to which they are now so seriously exposed, of having that corrupt accursed system introduced and widely established in the English Church through the insidious and traitorous efforts of Romanising ritualists. And to Mr. Buckle, who, in addition to translating the work, has enriched the volume with many valuable notes and a copious appendix, all interested in resisting Romish error and maintaining Protestant truth are under a deep debt of gratitude.

As to Dr. Desanctis, and his fitness for the work here undertaken, we take the following interesting account of him from Mr. Buckle's preface:

"That the author was thoroughly versed in the mysteries of the subject which he treats, may be inferred from the fact that for fourteen years he exercised the office of confessor, and that for seven he held the highly responsible post of parish priest at Rome, being thus, in conformity with Papal usage, brought into intimate relations with the secret police; while for ten years he fulfilled, though reluctantly, the faculty of consulter to the Roman Inquisition, and would hence be introduced behind the scenes of the religious and political drama enacted at the Papal See. . .

"It is curious that for his emancipation he was indebted to one of the many honours heaped on him till they almost equalled in number the years he had been