arrogant Rome. As, in the strata of the earth, we find the relics of one epoch shooting up or wandering down among the relics of another, so in these prophetic layers of revelation rigid chronological continuity is not always observed. For example, the greater part of the eleventh chapter relates to events which are apparently yet to take place; for the millennial triumphs, which are more fully and connectedly recorded in the twentieth chapter seem to be anticipated there. But a fresh view of the career of Rome Papal is given again in the twelfth chapter, and yet another in the thirteenth. In the fourteenth chapter an advance seems to be made to Reformation times; for, the "angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people," seems to be a figurative representation of that great work which, begun by the predecessors of Luther, is being carried on during this century so nobly by the missionaries of the cross in every land.

In the 16th chapter, the 1,260 days seem to be drawing to a close; and judgments are recounted which may even now be falling on the world. In the first four vials, the students of prophecy fancy that they see a foreshadowing of the fearful sufferings which were endured at the time of the French Revolution, and during the wars of the First Napoleon. As to the out-pouring of the fifth and sixth vials they speak more freely; for they think that the narrative reads like a prediction of the chastisements which have been inflicted during this century, and are even now being inflicted, first, on Rome; and, secondly, on Turkey: "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness" (v. 10). When we recollect how Rome, in this century, was crippled during the reign of the First and Third Napoleons, and how, even now, the city of the seven hills is Victor Emmanuel's capital, it certainly looks as if this prophecy were being fulfilled in our day. Nor is the likelihood made less when we read that the afflicted people "repented not of their deeds"for the followers of the Pope still cling to their grossest errors and their most crooked arts.

The sixth vial again appears to bear directly on the subject of this paper: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." The present Sultan, like his predecessors, values the title "Caliph of Bagdad" more highly than all his other titles; inasmuch as it represents him to be the spiritual head of the Mohammedan empire. It is, therefore, highly probable that the great

river Euphrates stands here for the Turkish dynasty. Now, we know that this century has brought unprecedented woes on the Ottoman Porte. Up till 1820 her great empire was intact from the confines of Persia to the straits of Gibraltar; but first Greece was taken from her, and then Algiers. Wallachia, and Moldavia, in 1829, were put under the Russian protectorate. Egypt, led by Mehemet Ali, revolted, and, although restrained by the Great Powers, has felt herself to be virtually independent ever since. And now the outbreak that at present darkens the political horizon seems to point to results so serious that it is not too much to expect that this prophecy may soon be fulfilled, and the Turkish power be completely swept away. Glowing results may then be looked for; for it is added "that the way of the kings of the east may be prepared." It has been predicted that the kings of Tarshish and the Isles will bow before Messiah. The great stumbling-block in their way, however, is the Mohammedan power. With it removed, the hope is not an extravagant one that the vast millions of eastern unbelievers, as if agitated by a Pentecostal quickening and repentance, will bow before Immanuel, and crown him Lord of all.

It

This seems to be the point to which the world has come in the historical unfolding of the great Apocalyptic panorama. Expositors, in subsequent years, probably in a subsequent century, will be able to advance farther; but here we stop. has given us pleasure to indicate to our readers the time of day in this prophetic horologue, according to the findings of the most eminent expositors. For ourselves, we can hardly say that we are able, as yet, to accept all these definite conclusions. We simply stand in awe and wonder, at a source of evidence of the inspiration of the Scriptures of which we fear that we have not, till lately, taken sufficient account, but the elucidation of which, through recent events, seems to be very like the descent of the Lord himself into the midst of sceptical critics, for the purpose of acting as "his own interpreter."

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The Ministry of the Word. By WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D., New York. London: T. Nelson & Sons, Paternoster Row; Edinburgh, and New York. Pp. 318.

WE had the pleasure, not long ago, of reviewing Dr. Taylor's Lectures on the Life of David; but there has now been placed upon our table a volume, which has been called forth not by the Doctor's stated labours, but by an established lectureship in the United States, of

which he has had the honour to deliver the course or series for 1876. It appears that some wealthy gentleman, being anxious that eminent men should be invited annually to visit Yale College for the purpose of discoursing to the students on the art of preaching, set aside a sum of money for the endowment of the foundation, to be called "The Lyman Beecher Lectures," in honour of the venerable man whose Six Discourses on Intemperance may be said to have originated the total abstinence enterprise in the world. Two years ago we reviewed Henry Ward Beecher's Course of Lectures, the first of the series that were delivered, if we remember aright. Since that time Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, has lectured in Yale College; and now our distinguished fellow-countryman, Dr. Taylor, of New York, has had his turn of the didactic rostrum.

Judging from our author's previous publications, our expectations were high when we took up this book; and, of a truth, they have not been disappointed. Indeed, they have been exceeded; and we are disposed now to conclude that Dr. Taylor is singularly well fitted for occupying a place in such a lectureship. His extensive reading in the departments of pastoral theology and religious biography; his great good sense, which keeps him from being an extremist in any direction; the admirable command which he has of illustrative anecdote; and the fact, which cannot be hid, modest and qualified though his references to his own experiences are, that he is himself in many respects a model minister, go to make up a series of qualifications for the delivery of a course of Lectures, like that now before us, which cannot be frequently found united in one individual. It seems to have been one of the conditions imposed by the will of the founder upon the lecturer that he was to speak to the young men largely from his own experience-in fact that, while his addresses were not to be altogether autobiographical, they should very largely partake of that characteristic.

While there was much in the first lecture, on the "Nature and Design of the Christian Ministry," that delighted us, and also in the second and third, on "The Preparation of the Preacher" (not of his sermon, but of himself), we were specially arrested by much that was to our mind in the fourth lecture, on "The Theme and Range of the Pulpit." Dr. Taylor was a lad in Kilmarnock at the time when James Morison was tried for heresy at the bar of the Kilmarnock Presbytery. His cousin, Professor Taylor of Kendal, imbibed heartily all the theology of the ardent young controversial revivalist; and it is quite plain that although the New York divine did not fully cast in his lot with the abettor of what were called the new doctrines, we think we can see what we may call a Kilmarnock tinge, or detect a Kilmarnock flavour, in his way of stating the blessed Gospel of the grace of God. Thus, we read at page 91–

"This was the Gospel which, as proclaimed by Paul, was demonstrated to be the power of God unto salvation. This was the Gospel which, as preached by Luther, roused Europe from the slumber of centuries and shook Popery to its centre. And if we to-day would re-clothe it with its

ancient might, we must hold and teach it as Paul did. They tell us, indeed, that we must adapt our sermons to the necessities of our age; but, while in some minor respects the advice is good, we must beware of supposing that we are either to add to, or take from, those essential elements in which the Gospel, as revealed in the New Testament, consists. The preaching most adapted to any age is the preaching of the Gospel, not in dry, dogmatic formulæ, nor in fierce and controversial spirit, but in the way of simple and positive statement. Let us tell men that 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; let us commend to them the love of God ' in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Let us teach that they are to be saved, not by sacramental efficacy, or ritual observances, or even moral worth, but simply and alone through faith in him who loved them and gave himself for them. That is the Gospel which every age needs, and its adaptation to the human heart is made gloriously apparent wherever it is earnestly proclaimed.

"We may learn much here from the example of Paul on his visit to Corinth. There he found two classes of minds, the representatives of two opposite tendencies. The one sought a philosophy, and the other a sign. Yet Paul preached to both 'Jesus Christ and him crucified.' That which they did not wish was yet that which they most needed. And so to-day; in the face of rationalism and ritualism, whose supporters are the legitimate successors of the Greek and the Jew in apostolic times, we shall find that all our power in the pulpit will lie, not in fierce controversy, nor in trimming concession, but in the plain, earnest enforcement of the good old truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.""

And then he adds two precious paragraphs from his own experience, quite in accordance with the wishes of the founder of the lectureship—

"Just as I was entering on my ministry at Liverpool, I fell in with a copy of Spenser's Pastoral Sketches, with an Introductory Essay on the Preaching of the Gospel, by the late Mr. James, of Birmingham. I was in a mood to be impressed; and a severe domestic affliction, through which I was then passing, made me more susceptible than even the beginning of a new pastorate would of itself have rendered me. So I was profoundly moved by Mr. James's arguments and appeals. I have since read them, again and again, and have seen little remarkable about them; but, as perused then, they led me to set my whole ministry to the key of the cross. I tried simply, faithfully, and affectionately to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.' Very soon inquirers came to talk with me. I was cheered and encouraged by receiving new converts at every communion. This kept me from ever yielding to the temptation to turn aside from the great central themes, and my success, such as it was, in that sphere, was owing, I am thoroughly persuaded, to the fact that I tried always to keep the cross in sight, and sought always to hide myself behind my Lord.

"When, again, I was crossing the Atlantic to take charge of my present congregation, not one of whom I had ever seen, I found the Life of Chalmers in the library of the ship, and amid the anxiety and suspense of my heart, as I felt that I had not 'passed this way heretofore,' I was greatly cheered and encouraged by the account of the effects produced by the preaching of that great man in his later life at Kilmany, and in his glorious ministry at Glasgow. This led me to resolve anew that, in the ministry of the Broadway Tabernacle, I would, as in Liverpool, seek to preach so that my hearers 'should see no man save Jesus only,' and if I have had any measure of success, this is the secret of it all. I feel almost as

if it were an impertinence to speak thus. Why should I presume, as it were, to endorse the Gospel thus ? and yet, as an elder brother, I may surely tell you of my limited experience, in the hope that in after years you will have to say to me, Now we believe it, not for thy saying,' but because we have tried it ourselves, and we know that it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.'”

6

Yet, Dr. Taylor would not have the minister of God's Gospel to confine himself to a mere call to conversion. He must be practical as well as evangelical; or, rather, the true evangelical preaching is to be carried forward, like that of the Apostles, into practical appeals.

Both Mr. Beecher and Doctor Storrs had advised their youthful hearers not only to dispense with the use of a manuscript in the pulpit, but even in their preparations for the pulpit. Dr. Taylor, however, gives more guarded and, therefore, safer advice.

The chapters on Expository Preaching, and the Use of Anecdotes, are interesting and important, as well as that on Pastoral Visitation. Our author thinks that, besides visiting the sick, the minister should visit so many of the congregation per week; and that he should read out the names of those whom he intends to visit, for this, among other reasons, that the unvisited will know that he is not neglecting the work, and that their time is coming.

From these descriptive observations and extracts, our readers will be able to judge for themselves as to the value and excellence of the book. We believe that the careful and repeated perusal of these masterly twelve lectures, portions of which, we notice, have been delivered also at Princeton and Oberlin Colleges, will do more good to the student of divinity than an entire course of Pastoral Theology in some of our Theological Halls.

The Verity and Value of the Miracles of Christ. By THOMAS COOPER. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1876. Pp. 170.

In this interesting and instructive volume, the fourth of the series on the Evidences of Christianity, before explaining seriatim and defending the genuineness of Christ's various works of wonder, which were wrought upon the blind, the deaf, the demonpossessed, &c., Mr. Cooper answers several preliminary questions, such as, "What is a miracle? Is a miracle possible? and Is it probable?" Inasmuch as the so-called laws of nature are just God's order of working, our author sees no impossibility in the Deity's departing, in exceptional cases, from his usual course. Such an exceptional case he finds in the mission of Christ, who really required works of wonder to substantiate his marvellous pretensions and claims. Hume's celebrated argument, that miracles were contrary to experience, comes in for criticism. Easily and triumphantly does Mr. Cooper reply to it (although candidly admitting that his answer has been anticipated by Principal Campbell), by showing that what Hume called the experience of mankind, was largely made up of the testimony of our predecessors on the face of the earth. But, so viewed, miracles are not contrary to experience; since