make strictures on a writer to whom we are indebted for so much consolation, admonition and edification.

The Connexional Economy of WesleyanMethodism in its Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Aspects. By James H. Rigg, D.D., Author of Modern Anglican Theology,' etc. London: Published for the Author, at the Wesleyan Conference Office.-As the General Preface states, 'This volume is mainly a republication'; and very useful and timely it is. The first tractate: Congregational Independency and Wesleyan Connexionalism Contrasted-must ever hold a high rank in the Library of Wesleyan Apologetics. Its polemic character is due, not in any wise to the taste or temper or habitudes of the author, but to the memorable, we might say historic, occasion of its first appearance. During the terrible paroxysm of 1849, some eminent Congregationalists seized the opportunity to attack the basal principles of Methodism in the most resolute, sometimes in the most virulent manner. One of the most distinguished Congregationalist Ministers, at a great meeting in the West Riding of Yorkshire, declared with exultation, The Church of England is tottering to its fall; Methodism is already in ruins, and there will soon be an open field for Congregationalism.

The voice is Richard, Duke of Gloucester's voice, in view of the death of his two brothers:

'Clarence hath not another day to live: Which done, God take King Edward to His mercy,

And leave the world for me to bustle in,'

We will not name the men who, Edom-like, took advantage of our troubles : 'Their pens are rust, Their bones are dust,

to

Their souls are with the saints, we trust.' We recall the unwelcome recollection only to account for and vindicate the severity with which our author exposes the unscripturalness of the Independent theory of Church Government, and the weakness and unprofitableness thereof for all the highest purposes of a Church. To call this exposure trenchant were use a very tame expression; it is terrible. Yet the moderation and candour of the book are equal to its fearlessness and force. As Dr. Rigg nought extenuates, so he sets down nought in malice. But the discomfiture he inflicts is utter. He smites Independency hip and thigh; finds out every vulnerable point, and pounds the whole fabric into fragments. But if

polemics are forced upon a peaceable people, the more vigorous, thorough, resolute, the better. It is of no use going to war'in kid gloves. We do not commit ourselves to the Doctor's precise view of every text on which he comments. We think he yields too much to Dr. Wardlaw, as to the radical meaning of the word Ecclesia. We cannot, again, see how our Lord's directions with regard to him who 'will not hear the Church, could refer 'originally' to the Jewish synagogue, since that was clearly not gathered together in Christ's name. Nor does the Doctor, as it seems to us, allow sufficient weight to the fact that the exclusion of the immoral Corinthian was by St. Paul required to be done by the Church in a formal and 'regular' manner.

Dr. Rigg demonstrates that Congregational Independency can only secure mutual help and united action amongst its isolated 'independent' Churches by forsaking its fundamental principles in favour of the Connexional principle. Happily, this is being done to a gradually increasing extent. Independency is Connexionalizing itself -paradoxical and self-contradictory as the very phrase may be and that with the best results. Clusters of dependent Causes or 'interests' gather round the strong, rich Churches. Committees, to all intents and purposes, Connexional Committees are being formed. Departments, practically Connexional, are invested with extensive powers of general administration. The formation of dual-Churches in the same town, with a co-pastorate and regular exchange of ministrations, has been attempted, in one case at least with success, though in another with failure. All this we note not twittingly, but thankfully. We confidently hoped that mutual oversight as to Christian doctrine had been initiated by the Congregational Union, so that its Doctrinal Basis' should not be altogether a dead letter. The exclusion from the Union of some very able Preachers who attack that doctrinal basis, and in fact preach downright unbelief, seemed to indicate as much, if the significance of the act could be inferred from the course of the discussion; but we are sorry to find The Congregationalist earnestly repudiating this idea, and maintaining stoutly that the disbelieving Ministers were shut out on a mere technicality.

Dr. Rigg's volume is much more than a defence: it is also a lucid exposition of the principles on which Methodism is based, or rather out of which it grew, which every one who wishes to understand Methodism would do well to study. The additional paragraphs, the chapters on the Class-Meeting, etc., and Dr. Rigg's Presidential speech at the first sitting of the

first Representative Conference-most appropriately introduced-add great value to the work. The chapter on the Test of Membership is of special force and value.

Priestcraft and Progress; being Sermons and Lectures. By Stewart D. Headlam, B.A., late Curate of Bethnal Green. London: John Hodges. The title of this book would lead one to expect an attack upon Priestcraft as a hindrance to Progress. We find instead a defence of Priestcraft as the legitimate pioneer of Progress! But by Priestcraft Mr. Headlam means the craft, or work, which a Priest ought to follow, and refuses to admit into the word any admixture of ecclesiastical craftiness. It is not quite so clear what he means by Progress. The direction he thinks Progress should take is towards Secularism! but he does not indicate either the exact route or the exact goal. The peculiarity of the book is its attempt to ally Ritualism and Secularism. We have as little sympathy with, or faith in, the one as in the other; and the two together make a strange compound. Yet the pro cess by which they have come to lie side by side in Mr. Headlam's mind is very plain. The writer of these sermons and lectures believes the doctrines of Ritualism. Being thrown amongst the poverty-stricken population of the East-end of London, he has learnt to compassionate their woes, and has grown indignant with So ciety that quietly permits them. He has had free intercourse with working men who have adopted socialistic or semi-socialistic opinions, and sympathy with their miseries has developed into sympathy with their tenets. To win them from dark infidelity he has tried to accommodate religion to their prejudices. So he teaches the baldest possible Universalism; advo cates the reading of secular books in Sunday-schools, that the Bible may gain no unfair advantage over them, but may stand upon its own merits; surrenders the inspiration of the Scriptures, except in the same sense as, though to a higher degre than, Plato and Shakespeare may claim to be inspired. Preaching on Sunday evening from: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh,' he thinks be expresses St. Paul's meaning when he urge his congregation to attend science and an classes. Yet all the while he propounds ex ceedingly 'high' doctrine as to the priest hood and the sacraments, or rather that of the Lord's Supper. He never wearies of telling his audience that it is Christ, not the Bible, he recommends, though he does no show how, when he has thrown overboard the New Testament, he can establish the existence and display the teaching of the

Christ Whom he acknowledges to be the Son of God. He calls the doctrine of 'substitution' immoral, and yet he claims that Christ's death was a sacrifice, and the Holy Communion' a re-presentation of that sacrifice! Nevertheless, Mr. Headlam seems an earnest and a lovable man, with strong sympathies for his fellows and a yearning desire to do them good. To read his pointed, warm-hearted addresses is to respect his benevolence; and whilst we denounce his crude and extravagant doctrines, we cannot but confess to a kindly feeling for himself. We wish we could persuade him to ponder the question whether mutilation and unwarrantable manipulation of the Gospel is the best mode of bringing it to bear on the spiritual wants and intellectual convictions of the working men who ignorantly or wilfully have cast it from them with contempt. Alas! for the working men of England if the leverage which is to raise them be an amalgam of Priestcraft and Secularism, even though attempted to be welded together in the glow of philanthropy.

By Little and Little, and other Sermons. By the Rev. D. Parker Morgan, M.A., Vicar of Aberdovey.-These sermons may have an attraction for the people to whom they were preached, but the general public will scarcely care much for them. They are written in a plain, homely style, such as a country Clergyman might be expected to use in addressing a rustic congregation. Two or three reach, or even surpass, the standard of mediocrity, but for the most part the attempts at eloquence are limping. There are occasionally inelegant transitions in the same paragraph from the use of the second person singular to the second person plural.

To the doctrine of the first and third sermons, exception may justly be taken. Their tendency is to reconcile the sinner to the necessity of sinning. The principle of the first sermon is, that while": 'justification is the work of a moment, sanctification is the work of a life-time.' The truth, that 'the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin,' is not even named. We are told that, 'though we might wish to become perfect and pure at once, our Gol-has, in infinite wisdom and undoubted love, decreed that we should only attain to that blissful state "by little and little."' We may secure to ourselves, by the act of exercising faith in Christ, 'the right to enter heaven,' but 'meetness for heaven is a work requiring years of stern struggling with spiritual enemies.' Alas! then, for the believer who dies soon after receiving justification, if there be no other way of obtaining meetness for heaven' than that which Mr. Morgan

teaches. The study of Mr. Wesley's writings on Christian Perfection would be of great service to Mr. Morgan's theology.

The doctrine of the third sermon is even more dangerous than that of the first. After the cases of Lot, David, Solomon, Peter, and others have been quoted, we are assured: You have scarcely a reproof recorded, though you have the sin, not because it was not a sin, but because it was the sin of a child that feared, and that fell under sudden temptation in the hour of his weakness, but arose again weeping the tears of a genuine repentance, yea, and because "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Could any reproof' be more terrible than that which David received, first from the lips of Nathan, and then from the retributive Providence of God. That sin in a child of God is less sinful, or less displeasing to God, than sin in an unbeliever, is a doctrine perilous in the extreme, leading straight to antinomianism.

6

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The_Evangelistic Baptism. By the Rev. James Gall. London: Gall and Inglis.-A man who has had fifty years' experience in eminently successful Missionwork ought to have learnt by experience something worth telling for the benefit of other workers. Mr. Gall, in this volume, enunciates the principles on which his celebrated Carrubber's Close Mission in Edinburgh has been carried on with such marvellous results, principles which, he believes, constitute the only bases for a plan of action that can reasonably be expected to effect the conversion of the world. He maintains that the Promise of the Father,' as distinct from the Spirit of the Son, is exclusively the Spirit of power for evangelistic work. admits, of course, that 'the Holy Ghost is one.' Occasionally confused and overstrained in expression, he produces no adequate Scripture warrant for the sharp distinction drawn between the indwelling Spirit of the Son and the Spirit of the Father. The Evangelistic Baptism—the Baptism for evangelistic work- the author rightly concludes is the privilege of every believer, as much as the indwelling Spirit; that the Church has for centuries been labouring under a fatal mistake in relegating evangelistic work almost exclusively to a few Church officers, instead of at once finding work for every convert. Mr. Gall mentions, but does not take sufficient notice of the fact, that many Churches are now waking up to the vast amount of working power at their command, outside the ranks of the stated Ministry. It is the glory of Methodism

that she sets every member to work; but even Methodists might learn much from these glowing pages. Our author strongly objects to paid Evangelists, though he admits the reasonableness of paying Pastors. We wonder he does not see the imperativeness of some men being set apart to the former office. And while there exists the awkward necessity that every man must eat, the Church ought to provide bread for those whom she exclusively employs, whether in evangelistic or pastoral work.

We heartily endorse the author's vehement deprecations of the system of substituting money contributions for personal labour. 'Christians,' he says, 'instead of letting loose upon the world the whole membership of the body of Christ, think that the victory may be secured by telling off a mere fraction of their number to bear the brunt of the battle, supported by a voluntary assessment imposed upon those who stay behind. If they give of their substance to the spread of the Gospel, they may give their time and their talents to the business, the politics, and the amusements of a present world.' The evil lies, however, not in the 'voluntary assessment,' but in neglecting the weightier matters of personal service. There are some wonderfully wise remarks on the spirit and manner in which Christians should devote their money to God. The chapter on Corban is especially good.

It is impossible in our limited space to do adequate justice to the whole of this remarkable book. In spite of some sweeping assertions, which he generally contradicts in the next breath, and a few of the extravagances which it is so difficult, for any one who feels intensely, to avoid, this is a most practically sensible, as well as stimulating treatise, which we earnestly recommend to all Christians and Christian workers, deploring with Mr. Gall that the terms are not synonymous. The value of the book is greatly enhanced by three very striking_addresses, given in the appendix: on The Bible the Chief Instrument of Evangelism; Youth the Thermopyla of Missions; and The Whole Church brought into Action. These have appeared in a separate form, and they deserve to be circulated by thousands. We have not space for a thorough examination of the peculiar theological hypothesis of the book.

The Jewish Herald and Record of Christian Work among the Jews. London: The Society's Office, Great Russell Street.This excellent little magazine is the organ of the British Society for the Propagation

of the Gospel among the Jews. It contains not only most cheering details of Missionwork for the Jews in all lands, but a number of sensible, well-written papers on Bible-teaching with respect to the future of Israel and kindred subjects. The cover which has been recently adopted, with its mottoes and symbolic pictures, gives the paper a very attractive appearance. All interested in God's ancient people-and what Christian would like to confess he is not?-should read the Herald, and support, as far as possible, the noble work for which it pleads.

The Evangelist and Pastor. Being the Autobiography and Reminiscences of the Rev. Joseph Whitehead, Wesleyan Minister. London: Elliot Stock.-The life-story of one who has had a protracted and prosperous term of service amid the shifting scenes of a Methodist Minister's life, cannot fail to possess many points of interest. The volume is enlivened by reminiscences of some well-known and some less-known worthies with whom the author has become acquainted in the course of his travels. Mr. Whitehead has evidently gone through the world with his eyes open; and this record may be taken as a fair sample of many a thoroughly earnest, wide-awake Preacher's life.

Scriptural Marks of a True Believer. By the Rev. F. A. C. Lillingstone. London: William Hunt and Co.This is a pungent and vigorous book. The chapters on Jesus Precious and Doing the Will of God, are very noteworthy. The author's tone and spirit remind us of Fletcher of Madeley, though there is no reason to suppose any special acquaintance with his works.

Stories that come True. By Prudentia. London: Strahan and Co.-We suppose these are called Stories that come true because they will help to make their little readers true and good themselves. They are written in a remarkably original and charmingly interesting style. Some are very lively, others really pathetic; but all teach, in a simple, pleasant manner, some great practical truth.

Random Sketches. By the Rev. Arthur Mursell.

A Guilty Conscience. By Emilie Searchfield. F. E. Longley's Fireside Series.-These are lively and attractive little volumes, inside and out, and belong to the right class of cheap literature for the million.

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ELIZA REED GYNN, of the Launceston Circuit, daughter of Mr. William Gynn, of Tresmarrow, was born in 1849. From May, 1868, she was more or less a sufferer. About two years before her death she was very much impressed by a sermon on The Wedding Garment, preached by the Vicar of Tremaine. This seemed to awaken her soul to a sense of her sin and danger. The following Sunday morning she attended the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper at Tremaine Church, and felt those impressions deepened. This led to much prayer and an earnest desire for salvation. with her family, had been a diligent attendant on the services of the Established Church, and she still went to her accustomed place of worship. There also she attended the Sacramental Service, hoping thereby to gain relief, but in vain. She remained a seeker after God. About May, 1874, her complaint became more serious, and she expressed a desire to converse with the Rev. T.B. Butcher, whom she had heard speak on a few occasions. Mr. Butcher repeatedly visited her, and his visits were much blessed. She subsequently became a regular attendant at the Wesleyan Chapel, although at first this change was not favoured by her friends.

Shortly after Mr. Butcher's removal from the Circuit the Lord spoke peace to her soul, quietly, in her own habitation. She had been pleading long for liberty, and at length it came; a calm pervaded her soul, and she seemed almost to hear the voice of a reconciled God. She was enabled penitently to rest on Christ, and assurance of pardon came through His atoning blood. From that time to her death she never lost the sense of her acceptance with God through Christ, though she was troubled at times with doubts, fears, questions, and perplexities. One by one all vanished, under the counsel of Christian friends and the light of the Spirit of God.

Her name was enrolled in Mrs. Pethybridge's Class, although her ill-health never permitted her to attend; and while the Class met, she joined in spirit, and was refreshed thereby, though confined at home. She often expressed great joy in Sacramental Services and much profit from the visits of Ministers and others. She said, on the departure of one: The Lord knew I needed help just then, and sent him.'

Her disease (consumption) steadily grew worse, compelling her, about two months before her death, to keep her room, and a few weeks later her bed. She was a patient sufferer. She said to a relative: 'I would not exchange my present condition for what I was seven or eight years ago, for

the world.' To her friends, who wept at their approaching loss, she said: "You must rejoice, not weep. I am extremely happy.'

God wondrously carried on His work of grace in her soul. Her joy in the Holy Ghost was a 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.'

She found much comfort in God's Word, especially in John xv. She also delighted in the hymns, 'Just as I am, etc.,' and 'My God, and Father, etc.'; indeed, the latter was among her latest utterances. She would eagerly ask from her mother and sisters (whom she had induced also to attend the chapel) all they could tell about sermons, etc. She was full of praise. Often would she exclaim: Praise the Lord! His loving, everlasting arms are round me! O, I am so happy! She said to her loved ones, as they stood around her: 'I shall set a light in the window for you!' She begged them all to join the Class.

During the latter part of her illness she became increasingly anxious for the conversion of her family and friends. Referring to a Tract issued from our Book-Room: Father's Little Darling; or, 'Only through the Bars,' which one of the Ministers had left, she entreated her near relatives never to let the bars be between them. She could not rest till all had promised to give themselves, without delay, to Christ. And then it seemed as though all was complete. Every member of her family having solemnly engaged to be the Lord's, and four, at least, to unite with God's people forthwith, she seemed content; her cup of joy was full.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to her and most of the family, with one or two friends; and the season was one of great delight and deep spiritual bliss. The following Sunday, when the writer of these lines saw her, she was clearly in the Beulah land, joyfully, blessedly, waiting the summons of the Lord! For three more days she tarried among us, to show how deep and real and full of joy the religion of Jesus is. At length the gates swung slowly but wide open, on December 16th, 1874, and the spirit of this beloved sister passed triumphantly through.

A relative (a barrister) writes: 'In life, she won the admiration, respect, and love of all by whom she was known; in death, she has left a bright testimony of a sure and certain hope of heaven. Let my last end be like hers.'

Her Class Leader writes: During one of my visits to her, she said how graciously God had altered the projected course of her