to say that by my example I may embolden others to exceed in their potations. Abuse does not take away use. In fact, if we are to resign everything capable of abuse, or which has been abused, we should have very few things left to us. There is, e. g., such a thing as gluttony. Many a man has died of inordinate eating. But I scarce think my blister would—yet he ought, if he would be consistent-interdict beef and mutton, not to say those more attractive viands, turtle and venison, which, if all stories are true, have slain a goodly number of the well-paunched denizens of the city. I think Dean Alford has here, as he so often does, struck the right nail on the head, in his notes on St. John xi. 6. Referring to the large amount of wine given by One who knew what was good for man, which he estimates at one hundred and twentysix gallons, he says, "The large quantity thus created has been cavilled at by unbelievers. We may leave them their cavils with just one remark, that He who creates abundance enough in this earth to put temptation in man's way, acted on this occasion analogously with His known method of dealing. We may answer an error on the other side (if it be on the other side), by saying that the Lord here most effectually, and once for all, stamps with His condemnation that false system of moral reformation which would commence with pledges to abstain from intoxicating liquors. He pours out His bounty for all, and He vouchsafes His grace to each for guidance, and to endeavour to evade the work which He has appointed for each man, by refusing the bounty to save the trouble of seeking the grace, is an attempt which must ever end in degradation of the individual motive and in social demoralization, whatever apparent present effects may follow its first promulgation. One visible sign of this degradation, in its intellectual form, is the miserable attempt made by some of the advocates of this movement, to show that the wine here, and in other places in Scripture, is unfermented wine, not possessing the power of intoxication." REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. Views in Central Abyssinia, with Portraits of the Natives of the Galla Tribes. With descriptions by SOPHIE F. F. VEITCH. London: J. C. Hotten, 74, Piccadilly. 1868. Ar a time like the present, when the whole nation is rejoicing over the complete success of the expedition to Abyssinia, this beautiful volume before us cannot fail to be full of interest. There are no less than forty views, and they give a very clear idea of the scenery, inhabitants, and dress of that strange country. Miss Veitch's descriptions are all that can be desired. Some of them are amusingly graphic, as when she describes (plate 34) an Abyssinian peasant occupied in crushing corn, as "somewhat scantily provided with clothing. The book is dedicated, by permission, to her Majesty the Queen, and we cannot doubt that it will have a large sale. Springdale Abbey. Extracts from the Diaries and Letters of an English Preacher. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. 1868. THIS is a very readable book indeed, whoever wrote it, and we hope in another edition the author's name will be given. We hardly know how to deseribe it. It is not a novel, and yet it is far more interesting than the general run of the novels of the day. It is not a series of essays, and yet we have essays more attractive than those of A. K. H. B. It is not a diary, and yet it includes extracts from one of the most amusing and interesting of journals. And for the writer, it is by no means clear whether he was himself once a Dissenting minister, or whether he is now a remarkably broad Churchman, ready, like the Dean of Canterbury, to preach in a Cathedral on one day and to be presiding over the annual meeting of a Nonconformist College on the next. The time of year is now close upon us when the working clergy migrate to the seaside for rest and change. They can hardly do better than take this book with them. It is full of wise and earnest suggestions, and discusses many topics of the present day with remarkable ability and force. What better advice can be given to a young curate than that offered in p. 137, at the close of a long and sensible letter on the office and work of the preacher ? "If you will allow me to conclude a friendly letter with a very short sermon, I will presume to remind you that your vocation is the most solemnly interesting and important that can possibly be assumed. The nine hundred (working men) will represent nearly all aspects of human experience; the light of joy will be in many an eye, and the shadow of suffering will be heavy on many a brow. The guilty, the ignorant, and the helpless will be at your feet; in Christ's holy name be careful how you treat them! He was gentle and hopeful in His tone to those who sought escape from unholy habits; be like Him. Quote His words frequently; there are no such words as His! They address themselves to every mood of the soul; meeting it in its loftiest aspirations, and soothing it in its saddest brooding. Remember that the common people heard Him gladly, and try to make them hear you gladly for His sake. The longer I live the more I feel my need of Jesus, the more loving and lovely does He appear, and the more able to meet my whole manhood. Do you feel this? Plainly say so to the nine hundred, for men like to hear the story of human hearts." The Church and Society. I. Middle Classes; II. Lower Classes; Being papers read at meetings of the Maidenhead and Taplow Deaneries of With an Appendix on Middle-class Education. By SAMUEL B. JAMES, M.A., Curate of Winkfield. London Houlston & Wright, Paternoster Row. Windsor: T. Medhurst, 49, High Street. THE first of these papers has already appeared in this Magazine, the other two complete the series; and we can honestly say that they contain much that is suggestive and full of interest. There was scarcely any need, however, to inform the world, through the Dedication to the Bishop of Oxford, Mr. James's Diocesan, that the writer still remains an "avowedly evangelical curate." May we not trust that curates in general are, in the true sense of that muchabused epithet, "evangelical"? Doubtless Mr. James knows that the Bishop of Oxford's own statement is that there is no Ritualism in his diocese. Our New Vicar. By the REV. J. B. S. MONSELL, LL.D., Vicar of Egham. London: Bell & Daldy. 1868. DR. MONSELL is already well known by his volumes of sacred poetry, and all who have thus made acquaintance with him may strongly be recommended to read his prose. The great object of the book before us is to offer explanations, for the special use of the laity, of many of the rites and ceremonies of divine worship. It is written in a very pleasant style, and will do a good deal towards disarming opposition in our parishes against a reverent and wisely-ordered service. Monsell is no Ritualist, but is one of those who earnestly desire that all the services of the house of God should be conducted with a spirit of deep reverence and true devotion. His work will form an admirable addition to our parochial lending libraries. |