mode," he says. Mr. Harington does not see that he has thus shifted the terms of his argument, and that on his own showing both the matter and the mode may be symbolic-the matter, "as expressive of the idea of purity;" and the mode, as a representation of burial.

We must confess ourselves quite unable to understand what Mr. Harington means by the following exposition of Col. ii. 12, or how it sustains his previous assertions. "This passage manifestly signifies that in baptism we have a symbol of the grace of Christ which was wrought out in that Atonement, to complete which death and the grave were solemn necessities." Neither in Colossians, nor in the parallel passage in Romans, can we find that the Apostle alludes to the grace of Christ, or to the Atonement, yet the meaning ought to be very clear, for Mr. Harington says it is 'manifestly" as he states it.

66

Then follows a very curious denial, in answer to a supposed objection that immersion is necessary to express the perfection of Christian purification. "We deny," says our author, that the com

pleteness of the purification can be more vividly expressed by immersion than by the application of a few drops of water." We are not aware that any Baptist would

argue that immersion is necessary for any such object. But putting that aside, we think a laundress would open her eyes tolerably wide if she were told that the sprinkling of a few drops of water would as completely cleanse the cloths in her hands as a good dipping. If baptism be a symbol of purification at all, the application of a few drops of water is surely not quite so vivid an expression of it as a thorough immersion. Mr. Harington, however, knows better; he says it is. He is even very poetical in the expression of his belief:-" One glistening drop of water falling from the finger of a Pædo-baptist, as fully expresses the spiritual idea, as would an immersion by a Baptist, with the Atlantic Ocean for a baptistery." We are overwhelmed by the thought!-

Forum mutum, elinguem curiam, tacitam et fractam civitatem, videbatis.

Mr. Harington nevertheless believes

that immersion was in the majority of cases the primitive form of baptism. He thinks that John the Baptist, and the Disciples of Jesus, ordinarily administered the ordinance by immersion. This frank admission made, he is at the same time convinced that in "many instances" there was baptism without immersion. Mr. Harington is very easily convinced. Baptists cannot find in Scripture any instance at all. We believe there are some fourteen instances of baptism narrated in the New Testament. As a majority of these cases took place by immersion, according to Mr. Harington's own belief, there remain only six which can in any way be construed as supporting his equally strong conviction on the other side. But of the six, he ventures to adduce only two. It is " It is "very improbable," he

says, "that the three thousand converted on the Day of Pentecost were baptized by immersion." If this were established, the "instances" would indeed be "many "-three thousand probably. But we suppose that Mr. Harington intends by "many instances," those several occasions on which baptism is mentioned by the sacred writers. This, then, is but one instance. His second, and only other example, is the following: -It is "morally certain," he continues, "that Lydia could not have been immersed." As in the first instance, our author is very chary of stating the grounds on which he has acquired this certainty, -this moral certainty. He gives us no reason whatever why we should depart from the lexical meaning of the evangelist's words. Following all classical as well as scriptural usage, we affirm, that Luke says with regard to the Pentecostal converts: "They, having re ceived his word, were immersed ;" and with respect to Lydia," she was immersed and her household." If Mr. Harington questions this plain statement of facts, let him read Dr. Carson's masterly exposition of the use, by Greek authors, of the word "baptize, "as a word expressive of mode. Our space will not allow us to reproduce it.

It is, however, "very improbable" that any argument or proof on this point will avail with Mr. Harington. He has a powerful solvent in reserve for

all difficulties.

"Granted he says, "that the word 'baptize' means to immerse, to understand the word so involves a gross literalness foreign to the spirit of the Gospel, a slavish adherence to the mere accidents which characterized the primitive celebration of the sacraments-accidents simply depending upon the age, country, and varying circumstances of the hour." The Master

whom Mr. Harington has vowed honourably to serve, and whose doctrines he has solemnly undertaken to teach, has somewhere said: "whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Has Mr. Harington realized whither this principle of setting aside a command of of Christ as slavish, will lead him?

In the second section of the pamphlet there is nothing new. Mr. Harington simply reproduces Dr. Halley's opinions, with a revival of the stale argument from circumcision, which Dr. Halley has discarded. Mr. Stovel's work on Christian Discipleship contains all that need be said in reply.

We wish for Mr. Harington all the happiness and prosperity he can desire in his new connection; but can only smile at his curious notion of the sort of union it is desirable to bring about between the Baptist and Pædo-baptist denominations. Is he serious when he urges that all that is requisite, is for every Baptist chapel to be furnished with a basin, or font, and every Independent chapel with a baptistry, and the thing is done?

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ: a Complete Critical Examination of the Origin, Contents and Connexion of the Gospels. Translated from the German of J. P. LANGE, D.D., &c., &c., and Edited, with Additional Notes, by the Rev. MARCUS DODS, A.M. Six

volumes 8vo., price 35s. Edinburgh:

T. & T. Clark; London: Hamilton &
Co.

We owe an apology, both to our readers and the publishers, for the lengthened time we have allowed to pass

without any notice of this invaluable publication. They will, however, we feel assured, pardon us when they learn that the brother to whom it was entrusted for review was laid aside by severe indisposition soon after the appearance of the first three volumes, and has not yet been sufficiently restored to health to resume his duties. It was his intention to enter fully into the merits and scope of the work, and present the large number of our readers who are not likely to purchase so voluminous a production with a digest of its arguments; but that, for the reason assigned, has been rendered impossible. Unwilling to defer any longer a notice already too long delayed, we must be content simply to express our thanks to the publishers for so valuable a book, and to recommend all, and especially our ministerial brethren, to become possessed both of the book and its contents. We would further suggest to the deacons and wealthy members of our churches, the desirableness of presenting a copy to their minister, upon whose limited resources the purchase of such a work, although emphatically cheap, might prove too large a draught. It is probably the only way in which a sufficient sale will be secured to indemnify the enterprising publishers; whilst, at the same time, its judicious use by the minister will much conduce to guide the congregation and the Bible class into an intelligent conviction of the firm foundation on which the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible are based. We must not, however, be supposed to assent to everything the work contains; but the whole is worthy of careful study, and some portions from which we dissent are highly suggestive. The first part will not prove so attractive as the subsequent parts to English readers, who are not generally so fond as the Germans of the cloud-land of abstract and a priori theology; but its perusal will amply repay their perseverance, and they will find many a gem by the way. It is pleasing to receive such a publication from a country which has arrived at an unenviable notoriety for rationalism and infidelity; and the time of its appearance in

an English garb, although some years after its publication in Germany, is most auspicious, as it anticipates and refutes much that has been recently issued, both from the French and English press, with intent to undermine the authority of the Word of God. Those who are acquainted with Lange's excellent and, in some some respects, unrivalled commentaries on the Gospel, will be prepared to welcome anything from his pen; and these volumes will not disappoint them.

We cannot conclude this notice without expressing our delight in noting the growing tendency of the age to fix its thoughts upon the person and life of Christ. A living Jesus forms a striking and lovely contrast, in the theology of the present day, to the rusty formulæ and multiplied articles, which distinguished, if it did not constitute, that of past generations. There is, however, too much inclination to separate the humanity from the divinity of Jesus; to distinguish that which Christ did as man, from that which he did as God. From this inclination Lange is not altogether free. The distinction seems to us altogether without warrant. There was no single moment in which the Deity was not as intimately associated with the humanity of Jesus as our souls are with our bodies; and the flesh was as much an integral part of Christ as our bodies are of us. The incarnation was not the entrance of the Deity into the body of the offspring of Mary, as Cerinthus and his followers taught in the first century-whose teaching the phraseology of many orthodox Christians since would suit but it was the BECOMING flesh, passing into a state of flesh, of Him who was the Word--who was in the beginning with God, and who was God. The Emmanuel, God with us, was, and is, Deity in our nature, always Deity-and every act of Jesus was the act of the God-man, and there never was, and never could have been, a moment in which this close association ceased to exist, as it was inherent in the very nature of the Christ. It is this divine man, this human God, this Son given to us, and at the same time everlasting Father, very man and

very God, every moment the same, that now pervades the theology of the Church of Christ, becomes the spring of its life, and, by close abiding association with all its members, who are also members of His body, inspires them with confidence and peace, and invigorates their piety. The thorough and universal realization by the Church of God of a living Jesus ever in its midst, its life and its light, its strength and its salvation, would invest it with that beauty, compactness, and power which were never imparted to it by its unwieldy and time-worn battlements and defences of formularies and articles. The realization of a living Christ as its foundation will produce a living church; whilst that which is based upon creeds will eventually prove as cold and lifeless as the creeds themselves. We welcome, then, most, heartily all such publications as this, and thank the publishers for the good work they are doing in putting into English, in such a pleasing garb and homely words, and at such unprecedented cheapness, the one before

us.

Memoir of T. E. Taylor, by his Father. With Selections from his Literary Remains. Edited by G. GILFILLAN. 2nd Edition. London: J. H. Tresidder.

To many of our readers the wild but beautiful scenery of Coniston, Ulverstone, and Windermere will be familiar, and perhaps, to some, the old meeting-house and parsonage at Tottlebank may be known. The historical associations of this locality are many and touching. The glens and mountain fastnesses of this district were refuges, in generations past, to some of God's heroes, when "the Lord's anointed" sought their destruction in 1662. For more than 200 years, a church, holding the articles of our common faith, watched over by a succession of faithful men, has existed in this once very secluded region. In the parsonage attached to the chapel, the subject of this memoir first saw the light. The space at our command forbids an outline of the life of this very interesting young man. The memoir is eminently suggestive, especially to our young men.

It

records the efforts of a mind of no ordinary strength and capacity to reach the highest literary excellence. Ambitious to excel in every department upon which thought exerts an influence, he exhausted his energies, and fell an early victim to an overtaxed brain. Externally, Mr. T. was everything that a parent could wish; but the love of distinction was the absorbing passion of his life: and it was only when disease,-induced, no doubt, by incessant efforts to gratify this desire, -laid him aside, that the value of religion was felt, sought, and enjoyed. The chapter in which the great change is recorded is very touching, and will be read with interest by most. The remains are of varied interest, and consist of prose and poetic fragments. The latter reveal the genuine spirit of poesy. "Thinking and Doing," "Charles and Leonard," are full of fine flashes of genius. His life reminds us of the expanding bud of some beautiful flower in early spring, which, as you gaze upon it, excites the hope of fuller bloom and richer fragrance, but which, by some chilling frost, is withered in the night. The threshold of his manhood was just reached, when to a holier sphere and to far nobler service his spirit was called. We can only add, that the task of preparation has been executed with a loving hand, and that the secluded pastor of Tottlebank has produced a work which may be read with interest in all our social circles.

The Living Word: being a short Argument for the Inspiration of the Bible. A Sermon by Jas. H. MILLARD, B.A. London: Heaton & Son, pp. 47. The Inspiration of Scripture; its Nature and Extent. By the Rev. JAS. MACGREGOR, of Paisley. London: J. Nisbet & Co., pp. 36.

We are glad to find the pastors of our churches entering upon the discussion of the great subjects which are now agitating all minds. It is true that the chief assailants of divine truth are members of the Church of England, and that hitherto the Dissenting ministry has shown but slight indications that it sympathizes with the heresies that bishops and doctors in the Establishment have pub

lished. Still these publications are read by all classes; and the false theories of their writers infest much of our popular literature. We rejoice that our esteemed brother, the Rev. J. Millard, of Huntingdon, has not shrunk from bringing before the Association of his county his eloquent statement of the main arguments for the inspiration of the Scriptures. A single sermon cannot be expected to contain a full discussion of so difficult a subject; but Mr. Millard shows that he has been a diligent student, and has availed himself of the chief treatises on the subject. We miss, however, in his enumeration, the exhaustive work of Professor Lee, of Dublin; and, with more surprise, the very able lecture of the Rev. J. H. Hinton, delivered a few years ago at the opening of the session at Stepney. Nor does Mr. Millard appear to be acquainted with an admirable Association sermon, delivered at Bath, by the Rev. Dr. Gotch. This latter is peculiarly valuable. It points out a distinction, unobserved by almost all writers on this subject, between the inspiration of the writers of Scripture, and the record, which Scripture is, of what inspired men said and wrote. distinction, we are persuaded, is most important, and opens the way for the easy disposal of those difliculties, which spring from the imperfection or inaccuracy of the record. We greatly regret that the manifold labours in which Dr. Gotch is engaged, have prevented his tracing out this fertile distinction into all its ramifications. The tract of Mr. M'Gregor is in every respect inferior to Mr. Millard's. It maintains the exploded theory of verbal inspiration.

This

Sermons by Henry Ward Beecher. London: J. Heaton & Son, 1864. Parts 1 to 3, containing 12 Sermons.

The chief characteristic of this eminent preacher is the breadth and richness of his illustrations. He lays all nature under contribution, while human life and science afford him abundant examples of the truths he seeks to illustrate. His teaching, in the main, is more ethical than theological, more practical than

doctrinal. This comes out very emphatically in the closing sentences of his sermon on the Holy Scriptures. "I wish," he says, "I could have infused into the memory of every young man and maiden of my charge the proverbs of Solomon, the Psalms, the Evangelists, and the three or four last chapters of the Epistles, where the arguments, being finished, are applied to the ethical side of life. These, committed to memory, would give you more practical wisdom, and would do you more good than all the other books of the Bible." Here Mr. Beecher, in his earnest regard for the practical, altogether overlooks the teaching of his text "All Scripture is profitable, for doctrine," as well as for ethical instruction. So far these sermons are defective; yet we are glad to see this reprint of them.

1. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Common English Version corrected by the Final Committee of the American Bible Union. New York, American Bible Union: 1864. 12mo. pp. 540. 2. Popular Appeal in favour of a New Version of Scripture. Part first. Perth: 1864. By JAMES JOHNSTONE. 8vo., PP. 32.

3. Marginal Readings for the English Bible, in addition to those of King James's Version. By ROBERT YOUNG. Edinburgh 1864. 12mo. pp. 56. 4. The Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. Extracted from the literal translation of the Holy Bible. By ROBERT YOUNG. 5. Biblical Tracts for every Day of the Year. By ROBERT YOUNG. For the Month of January.

6. The English Bible and its TranslaA Lecture by the Rev. JOHN London: Freeman, 1864.

tors. JULIAN. pp. 50.

The above list of books and pamphlets on our table testifies to the widely prevalent desire for a new translation of the Bible, or for a more correct version than the one now in use. The works of Mr. Young and Mr. Johnstone, having as

their guiding principle a literal translation of the original texts, very clearly prove, that in the way they propose, no satisfactory result can be secured. If we must have bad English in order to be literally accurate, it will be long before the new versions will displace the old. But, in fact, to give in English words the fundamental meanings of the words of the originals, and in the order of the Hebrew and Greek texts, is misleading, and productive of greater errors than the free translation of our authorized Bible. No translation will live that is not written in good idiomatic English; and we are sure that such a version may be made more truly representative of the originals than the bald, uncouth, ungrammatical renderings contained in the versions of Mr. Young and Mr. Johnstone. The work of the Revising Committee of the American Bible Union is of far higher value. It is a laborious endeavour to improve the authorized version without marring its beauties. It aims to retain our old idiomatic Saxon tongue in all its strength and harmony, without sacrificing accuracy, or slavishly adhering to mere literality. It strives to express without pedantry, in good sound English speech, all that the original text contains. We do not say that the work is a perfect success. With some of its renderings we do not agree. But on the whole the result is one on which we may warmly congratulate the American Bible Union.

Mr. Julian has chosen a very attractive subject for his lecture. It is well printed. But here commendation must stop. As a composition it is turgid in style, false in imagery, and defective in taste. The friends, at whose "special request" he published it, have done him a great dis-service.

The Collected Writings of Edward Irving. In Five Volumes. Edited by his nephew, the Rev. G. CARLYLE, M.A. Vol. ii. London: Strahan & Co., pp. 642, 8vo.

This second volume of Irving's writings contains fifteen lectures on the history of John the Baptist, an incomplete