confession of Christ would never have made them martyrs. If the infamous Claverhouse, and his infamous dragoons, had not been inflamed with the personal resentments of a hostile faction, their fiendish cruelties would scarcely have been perpetrated. This is the law of civil commotions: no feuds are so malignant as those which disturb a family; no wars so bloody as those between two neighbouring tribes; no persecutions so unrelenting as those with which the dominant party wreaks its vengeance, when the sword has once been drawn upon its own countrymen. Irritated pride adds fury to revenge; the apprehension that the sufferer may, in his turn, retaliate, steels the heart against remorse and pity.

Mr. Cunningham brings down his history to the end of the last century, and closes it just as a brighter day streaked the horizon of his church. He does not write with the force or th feeling we should have expected upon the decay of religion in Scotland. He speaks too quietly of the wretched spectacle when Edinburgh crowded-not as in the days of Knox, to the High Church, to listen to rude, vehement, and real eloquence on sacred subjects; but to the playhouse to applaud the trashy tragedy of Douglas, written by a minister of the gospel; and when the infidel Hume and the free-thinking Lord Kames, walked arm-in-arm in the Canon Gate with Robertson and Dr. Adam Fergusson. The moderate party were now gaining ground in the General Assembly, and under its baneful sway pure religion and undefiled had well-nigh perished.

NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

On Party Spirit in the English Church. By the Rev. Sanderson Robins, M.A., Vicar of St. Peter's, Isle of Thanet, and Rural Dean. London: Bell and Daldy. 1860.-It would be impossible, we should think, for the most infelicitous of writers to pen an essay on party spirit in the church, without laying down some useful and many just, and, in their place, important principles. A schoolboy could not wish for a happier subject for his theme. He would be sure to hit the mark sometimes; and if he missed it, the failure would never appear to be very serious. Mr. Sanderson Robins is no schoolboy. He writes well. His essay contains many truths which in their place are of great importance, and the subject is brought before us in an agreeable and entertaining, if not in a powerful manner. But, after all, the question forces itself upon the reader's mind, Why was this essay written? What good purpose will it serve? Our answer is, that, upon the whole, it will answer no good purpose, unless it be with those cantan

kerous, peevish spirits, who delight not only to differ from their neighbours, but to put the worst construction on their neighbours' motives, and the best, of course, upon their own.

gene

Further than this it seems likely to be mischievous. Mr. Sanderson Robins, to have written usefully on the subject, should have shown, in the first place-for this is all important-the difference between a firm adherence to the principles of a party, and what is rally understood by a party spirit; for the world, and the church too, are apt to confound the one with the other. Let us give an example, and we will take it from holy writ:-"We know," says St. John, "that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." Now, we will undertake to say, that if this sentence was written in any other book than the Bible, it would be decried as a striking illustration of party spirit; we will not undertake to say that it is not so regarded even now by some who profess a certain reverence for the Bible. The whole question turns upon two pivots, the knowledge and the animus of the writer; if St. John knew that he spoke the truth, and if he spoke it with a desire to save the world from everlasting misery, then, apart from revelation, a more catholic, a more benevolent, a more philanthropic sentiment never fell from the lips of man. Mr. Sanderson Robins thinks it the greatest unkindness to censure a fellow-Christian severely on points on which we think it the greatest kindness to express the strongest dissatisfaction with his conduct. "Take an extreme case, in the revival of obsolete or unauthorized vestments or ritual. A clergyman provokes unseemly strife, and does irremediable mischief. We may think him very deficient in prudence, and common sense, and christian charity, but we have no right to say he inclines to the Roman church. Even copes and crucifixes have no necessary connection with popery, as every one knows who is acquainted with the German Lutheran communities." We think, upon the contrary, that it would be an act not only of duty, but of christian charity, to remonstrate with such a one, to tell him that he was in great danger of misleading souls for whom Christ died,—that he had already departed from the simplicity of the gospel,—and that already, most likely, the seeds of popery had begun to take root in his own soul. This, of course, would expose us to the charge of littleness of mind and party spirit; and it would be for us to examine well our own hearts to ascertain whether we had brought these accusations from a good motive or a bad one. If we found that pride and censoriousness had not prompted us, but rather concern for an erring brother and those he might mislead, we, for our own part, after the experience of the last five-andtwenty years, should feel but slight concern, however loud the cry of party spirit were raised against us. In short, we are persuaded that it is part of that cross which the true followers of Christ are now more than ever called upon to bear, and that he who will not bear it must be unfaithful to his Lord.

We chanced in the autumn to spend a few weeks at a wateringplace on the Kentish coast, and one Sunday morning we enjoyed a delightful walk to a village church, as it happens, in the Isle of Thanet. The church was well filled, the prayers devoutly read, the responses audibly made, the psalms sweetly sung. But what shall we say of the sermon? We had scarcely left the church when

we were overtaken by a Lincoln's Inn barrister, not altogether unknown in courts of Chancery. After the first greeting, his exclamation was "I have just been saying to my wife, what an aimless sermon!" Perhaps no words could more exactly have hit off its character. There was much truth in it, and truth of the highest moment; but the lines did not converge to a point; when the hearer had been told of the necessity of having an interest in Christ, the question naturally arose, how am I to secure that interest? and the preacher had dealt with this in a desultory manner, and when he began to generalise, the congregation began to fall asleep. What was wanted was precisely that which would have stamped him as a party man. He did not fully and explicitly teach the way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. He spoke of prayer, contrition, and the ordinances of the church as means of grace; but the work of the Holy Spirit in applying the atoning sacrifice, was feebly dwelt upon. Had Mr. Kingsley or Mr. Maurice been present, while we saw something to admire, they would have found little to condemn. We respect Mr. Sanderson Robins both for his gifts and piety, and we ask him to consider whether his book is calculated, in such times as these, to promote or to injure the cause of God's truth in the church of England? We will venture to add, that he may learn something from the incident we have related,—

"For the tale we tell,

Has for once a moral."

Lights of the Morning; or, Meditations for every day in the Ecclesiastical year. From the German of Frederic Arndt, Minister of the Berlin Parochial Church. Advent to Whitsuntide. With a Preface by the Rev. William C. Magee, D.D., Prebendary of Wells, and Minister of Quebec Chapel, London. London: Bell and Daldy, 1860.—This little volume, Mr. Magee remarks in his preface, supplies what seems to be rather a want in our religious literature—a book of meditations, which sets the reader thinking, instead of only telling him how the writer meditated, or how he ought to think and feel. Original and suggestive thoughts, expressed in striking and somewhat quaint language, arrest and engage the attention; while through it all there runs a vein of deep spirituality and of simple and fervent piety, which speaks it the production of a devout as well as a thoughtful and original mind.

We subjoin an appropriate meditation for the new year :—

"January 1. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for

ever.

"The new year cannot have a more glorious commencement than by the name the church has given to its first day, which is called Jesus's day. Jesus is the centre of our faith, the first and last of our thoughts. He is the Bible, for it testifies of Him. He is the world, for through Him and for Him it was made. He is time, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the new heart, for true life begins with the baptism of the new birth, and is complete in the stature of the perfect man. After Jesus, we call each year, the year of our Lord,' because there is no other whereby we can be saved. He alone gives our years their true signification; our new year's wish

the right consecration; our endeavours the right aim; our destiny the right light; and our obligations the right fervour. His name 'is as ointment poured forth.' His name is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe. Through His name the devil is driven out, the serpent wounded, and the sick healed. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The name of Jesus is God's Amen. Well, then, our new year begins in the name of Jesus. If it brings suffering and sorrow, He will comfort and help us; we shall overcome through Him. If temptations await us, He will let nothing separate us from His love; His strength will be 'perfected in our weakness.' If the king of terrors threatens us, He is our life, and death will be gain. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear ?' The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? His name alone lights up time and eternity, therefore in it we will be glad."

The close of the year brings with it its pleasant accompaniment of Christmas Literature. Two volumes lie before us which deserve especial notice, not less for the beauty of their typography and binding,. than for their contents. These are

1. Quarles' Emblems, illustrated by Charles Bennett, and W. H. Rogers. Nisbet and Co.-For two hundred years and more these emblems have afforded that serious entertainment which of all things, as many a parent feels, it is most difficult to find for sound and cultivated minds; something which shall at once refresh and edify; a book not too grave for the bounding spirits of youth, nor too light for thoughtful age when it seeks for relaxation.

2. Lyra Germanica. Hymns for the Sundays and Chief Festivals of the Christian Year, with Illustrations, &c. Longman & Co.-The Hymns are translated by Catherine Winkworth, and many of them appear to be of great beauty, and at the same time to express scriptural truth and evangelical sentiments. In both volumes the pictorial embellishments are, of couse, of a superior kind; those of Francis Quarles quaint as his own emblems. We noticed with satisfaction some beautiful editions of Bunyan, designed, like these volumes, for Christmas-tide; and we must repeat the satisfaction with which we view the great improvement which is taking place in this kind of literature. It surely indicates a much higher standard of morality and religion in our domestic circles throughout the land.

The Sea and its Living Wonders. Longman and Co.-Though not, like the preceding, a highly decorated volume, it mingles instruction with entertainment; and whether read with the feet upon the fender, or by the sea beach in August, cannot fail to interest both young and old. The writer, Dr. Hartwig, makes us feel that we have all, both in prose and poetry, been very ungrateful to that old ocean, whom he says, "I have learned to love as the Swiss mountaineer loves his native Alps, or the Highlander the heath-covered hills of Caledonia. From time immemorial she has been the "barren ocean," the "restless deep," the "waste of waters." Our author grudges these hard nams

"Bounteous mother," "alma parens," was the name given by the grateful ancients to the corn-and-grass-producing, herd-feeding earth; but how much more deserving of that endearing appellation is the sea, that, without being ploughed or manured, dispenses her gifts with such inexhaustible profusion!" He calculates that at least one-fiftieth part of the human race live upon the produce of the seas. Of the various inhabitants of the vast world of waters, and of what will interest young readers much more, their mode of capture, many entertaining stories are told, while science shares the page with mere amusement. As in duty bound, Dr. Hartwig refuses to believe that the watery object of his affections cherishes in her bosom anything so vile as the great sea serpent; at least till he has seen the skeleton in some museum, or found it in some limestone rocks, which we venture to think will not happen for some time to come.

This is the publishing season, and several works of value have just issued from the press, but these require consideration, and mo than a superficial acquaintance with their contents; some of there we hope shortly to review.

RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR 1860.

The

THE retrospect of the past year, in its political aspects, is not a cheerful one, though the prospect brightens towards the close. It opened with evil tidings and vexatious contre-temps, and it concludes amidst great uncertainties, and with many subjects of anxiety still unremoved. The first short days of January found the nation smarting under the recent defeat of our troops in China on the Peiho, and anxious for their safety. The arrogant misconduct of an American general had occasioned the San Juan difficulty. The dispute grew loud and angry, and seemed likely to lead to a serious collision. affairs of Italy wore a gloomy aspect;-an exasperated people, writhing long under a barbarous and heartless tyranny, were collecting their strength, evidently resolved to free themselves, if possible, from their galling bondage; but the most sagacious did not venture even to conjecture what might be the issue of the struggle. A congress of the European powers was proposed, to control, if it could not crush, the infant revolution. On the 24th of January the queen came down to open parliament. The conclusion of a commercial treaty with France was announced. The question of Italian independence was cautiously referred to. A reform bill was again promised, but the project was received with great indifference. The last embers of disturbance in India had, we were graciously assured, been extinguished, and the nation was at peace with Europe. In co-operation with the French, an expedition was forthwith to be despatched to China, to enforce the terms of our treaty, and, if possible, to retrieve the reverses we had suffered. The international arrangements for the opening of our trade with France would lead, it was hoped, to a better understanding between the two countries, giving to each of them an interest in the welfare of the other. But the terms of the treaty at first gave but