esteemed and most excellent pastor, have requested Dr Smyth to publish the Lectures which he preached to them in the ordinary course of Sabbath service on the second chapter of 2d Thessalonians. These are points on which we could have wished that the preacher had entered more fully. We would have been happy to have heard his views, both on the probable period of the Apostacy-its starting, &c.,-and also on the manner in which the Man of Sin is likely to be destroyed. We like discussions on such questions-they may be handled with profit and without dogmatism-but we are happy to be admitted to the clear, and comprehensive, and seasonable instructions which Dr Smyth has addressed to his flock. They are worthy of the well-known scholarship, taste, fidelity, and affection of the respected author. Long may he be spared to render such services to his people, and through them, to the Church of Christ at large. We warmly recommend the little volume.

Notes on the Parables of our Lord. By RICHARD CHENEVIX TRench, M.A. Third Edition. London. Parker. 1847.

We intended to have reviewed this work at length. In this purpose we have been hindered. Still let us notice it. The book is an able and a learned one-the production of a superior mind. Its extent of research is very great. Yet with all this, we relish this volume much less than the Hulsean Lectures of Mr Trench. He shines more as a thinker than as an expositor. His own thoughts in these "Notes" are literally smothered in the crowd of other men's thoughts with which he has loaded his pages. His patristic references are really in excess. Some of his expositions and statements, such as that at p. 303, in the Parable of the Debtors, regarding "subjective debt," we cannot accord with: there is mist about his solution of the difficulty in the above passage. In acknowledging so many patristic authorities, whose worth and merit are rather questionable, he need not have been afraid to write down the name of Edward Irving at the end of the quotation in p. 31.

In the note at p. 94, there is a sneer against Isaac Taylor-as unjust as it is unmanly. Because Mr Trench is so in love with the fathers as to see no faults in them, or to dislike the exposure of their faults, must others be sneered at for stating the honest truth? Must the filth and folly that disgrace the pages of some of them be covered from view, because it is not pleasant to have one's idols broken and disfigured? And must the Church at large be cheated into the belief that Ambrose, Chrysostom, &c., were all but stainless? Yet what means Mr Trench's sneer (carefully referred to in his index) if this is not? It has in it more of littleness than we should have expected from him.

In another note at p. 36,-is there not unfairness in the following summary censure? Speaking of Lisco on the Parables, he says,—“ It has been translated into English; how, may be guessed by a single specimen. Having occasion to characterise Vitringa's Erklärung der Parabolen, Lisco observes of it thus, ein über 1000 Seiten starkes Werk, in breiter Sprache, (a book more than a thousand pages thick, very diffuse) which, however, re-appears in the translation, "a work of great power in many respects, in broad dialect."

Yet the work is one of no inconsiderable value-especially the Introductory remarks, even though we have found the substance of some of them in the works of Edward Irving.

The Crownless King of the Last Days, &c. A Letter from the late J. FLETCHER of Madely. Introduction by W. S. Rhind. London: J. Nisbet & Co. 1848.

A curious and interesting little work, not a little suited to the times. We extract a paragraph:—

"Coincident with the fall of Babylon, or immediately preceding it, is the mission of the angel flying through 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.' Rev. xiv. 6, 7. And it is this that invests the subject of the Lord's return with such deep and practical interest. At the Lord's first advent, an angel came down from heaven surrounded with the glory of the Lord, and proclaimed glad tidings of great joy to all people; and a multitude of the heavenly host suddenly joined the chorus, and sang, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good will towards men.' Luke ii. Thus both the first and second Advent are similarly announced; though it may be this angel of the Revelation is not a celestial spirit, but a symbol of the last messengers of the Gospel sent out by the Lord to a lost world, gifted with extraordinary zeal and power of the Spirit, and this at the moment judgment is impending. Oh how this proves, that God's nature and his name is love!' 1 John iv. 8. For all things are now ready; the lightnings are at hand, saying, 'Here we are.' Job xxxviii. 35. The Son of man is just about to rise up and shut to the door.' Luke xiii. 25. The vintage of the earth is nearly ripe, Rev. xiv. 15-the last sand of this dispensation is almost run out-and yet there is one more overture of peace; but it is the last. Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.' These indeed are glad tidings at such a time. Ah! how should this word arouse the slumbering Churches; for truly we may be just entering on this scene: especially should the watchmen in Zion seek to get into the power of this angel ministry, for faith cometh by hearing. How should their feet be beautiful on the mountains whilst they proclaimed this last message of mercy! but above all, how should they lift up their hearts to God for the mighty power of the Holy Ghost to ordain them to this work, so that like as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (1st Ep. i. 5), they might say, For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.' No longer should the preaching of the Word be confined to churches, chapels, or rooms; but following the example of our blessed Lord and of his Apostles, of our illustrious Fathers of the Reformation at St Paul's Cross, of those revered servants of God, Whitefield, Wesley, Cennick, Howell Harris, Hill, and Charles of Bala, at the collieries, fairs, and places of assembly, the highways should be traversed, the chief places of concourse should be sought, and the message—the last message-should be uttered as with an angel's voice, in the deep consciousness of impending judgments, Fear God

and give glory to Him;' even give glory to God, by believing the Gospel, the unchanging, everlasting Gospel,-by believing in Him whom the Father hath sent. Private Christians also, in their daily walk, should seize all opportunities to visit the sick, and distribute tracts, and talk by the wayside to their fellow-travellers to eternity. And not only with their lips, but in their lives, should the whole Church seek to testify the blessedness of being in Christ; and let none by a careless walk be a stumbling to others, for if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. And may that word of warning uttered by our Lord, when he left the temple for the last time, be before us, UNTIL HE COME." Inaugural Lecture addressed to the Theological Students of the Free Church of Scotland. By WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, D.D. Edinburgh,

1848.

Great as was the impression made by the death of Chalmers, and universal as was the mourning it occasioned, we can scarcely say that any of the discourses it called forth, so far as we have read them, were equal to the subject. We know not why our leading men should have kept silence at such a time, and left it to be said that the ablest illustration of Chalmers' character was due to the minister of another church, Dr Alexander. But it was so until Dr Cunningham in his "Inaugural," wiped away the reproach, and raised a monument to our departed father, altogether worthy of Chalmers and himself. Dr Cunningham's "Lecture" is quite characteristic and unique. It is neither éloge, nor sermon,—but it is both, and is alike fitted to honour the dead and profit the living. The obelisk may be, as all obelisks raised over the dead should, naked and without ornament, but its shaft is marble, and its inscriptions should be sunk in letters of gold. Whilst the Principal of the New College brings out all the noble features of the history and character of Chalmers, it is not that we may wonder, and idolize, and retire-but that by the contemplation of what God had done in and by one whom we so well knew, we might be transformed into the same holy image. Seldom have we read a production that aims so magnanimously at the useful, and which is so calculated to gain the end, by its practical, straightforward, earnest, and high-toned wisdom, as this "Inaugural Lecture." Let those to whom it is addressed, study it as they ought!

Politics for the People. Part I. London: Parker. 1848.

Though we might take objection to one or two expressions in this work, yet as a whole we can commend it very warmly, and urge its wide circulation among "the people." Political reform is cried up as the remedy for all social evils;-new assaults are every day making upon our constitution,-men of whom better things might have been expected are joining in the clamour; and thus the spirit of democracy is fed and goaded on, till in a short time the cry for a republic will spread over the land. It becomes men who love their country to stand aloof and protest against the unbridled spirit of the age. It becomes men who love their Bible to remember that it is written, "Fear God, honour the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change."

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

We recommend to our readers the following letter from the Irish Presbyterian Committee, on the state of religion.

"BELOVED BRETHREN,-The Committee on the State of Religion, having received letters on that subject within the last few months from almost every district of the Church, think it right to make known to you the substance of these communications. They believe that you will be interested in this intelligence, and they earnestly trust that it will form the subject of attentive and prayerful consideration in your own private meditations and conferences with one another, as well as at the approaching meetings of Synod and Assembly.

"There is a remarkable uniformity in the statements made by the brethren who have favoured the Committee with their correspondence respecting the state of religion in their several neighbourhoods; although residing far asunder, and having had no interchange of sentiment on the subject, they all give a similar testimony, and express themselves almost in the same words. They are all impressed by a deep sense of the peculiar solemnity of the present times, and of the consequent responsibility which rests on the people of God. They feel that the judgments of the Lord, which have descended on our guilty land, call for special humiliation, self-inquiry, brotherly conference, and earnest seeking after God; yet they lament that upon the great mass of our people they do not perceive any gracious impression to have been made. They complain that the ministry of the word seems to have but little power on the conscience and the heart. Some of them say that they have prepared for the pulpit with much care, they have visited from house to house, they have attended to their Sabbath-schools and Bible-classes, they have toiled and watched in the closet and amongst the people, yet they have seen little or no fruit of all their labours; and although, doubtless, impressions of good may have been made which they had no means of ascertaining, and seed may have been sown which shall yet spring up into an abundant harvest, yet still, with all their desires and efforts to believe and hope the best, they cannot but acknowledge that they discern much in their pastoral experience of this last year to create anxiety and apprehension. Amongst other symptoms of a low or declining state of vital religion around them, they mention,

"1. A strange insensibility to the hand of the Lord, so remarkably stretched out over this unhappy country. The minds of men have been perplexed and harassed by the efforts necessary to retrieve the losses they have incurred, to avert the dange s that were impending, or to provide for the new positions in which they were unexpectedly placed, rather than exercised to discover the grounds of the Divine displeasure, and to have instant recourse to the means which He has prescribed for its removal.

"2. Neglect of Public Ordinances.-The natural carelessness of the human heart prevents some, and the pressure of the times prevents others, in want of suitable attire, from attending the house of prayer. There is a growing mass, it is said, of this outlying population, who cannot be induced to come out to a place of worship, and who, if they are to be instructed at all, must be instructed at their own homes or in their immediate neighbourhoods.

"3. Profanation of the Lord's Day.-This is a growing evil, intimately connected with the foregoing, and with the increasing facilities and inducements to Sabbath desecration, to which the attention of the Church cannot be too promptly and vigorously directed.

"4. A deficient sense of obligation to support the ministers of the Gospel.-It is truly fearful to contemplate the probable extinction, at no distant period, of many of our congregations, and that, too, in some districts in which the need of Divine ordinances is most distressingly urgent.

"5. The insufficient aid given to our Home and Foreign Missions.-Never was there more abundant encouragement to seek the extension of the gospel at home and abroad; but instead of pressing onward in humble and grateful response to the calls of Providence, it is well if it be not necessary to withdraw some of our missionaries from their fields of labour.

"6. The agitation of political and other secular questions, in this season of unwonted excitement, absorbs the attention of multitudes. Our countrymen generally appear to be influenced by a mere restless, inconsiderate desire of change; while some are meditating the utter overthrow of the Government, and best institutions of the kingdom. The tendency of all this is to distract the minds of Christians, filling them with apprehensions of coming danger. Few, it is feared, are possessing their souls in patience and in peace, 'looking for and hasting unto the day of God.'

"Such are some of the prominent evils of which our correspondents complain; and we would earnestly entreat you, dear brethren, to consider and compare them with the results of your own experience and observation.

"The Committee would further suggest that Almighty God appears (we speak with caution and with reverence) to have been giving us very decided intimations of His displeasure, because of these and of other offences which we have committed against Him. We venture to state the following:

"1. The increased and still increasing difficulties which hamper and perplex the minds and hearts of multitudes amongst us in the prosecution of their worldly pursuits.

"2. The extraordinary mortality that has prevailed in many of our congregations, and especially the removal by death of some of the most useful and honoured servants of the Lord. "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." Isaiah lvii. 1.

"3. The cloud that overhangs the interests of our general Protestantism at the present eventful crisis. An examination of the existing circumstances of Romanism and Protestantism in Ireland, as compared with the relative influence of the two systems twenty years ago, will evince the necessity of a far more vigorous effort than we yet have made, to uphold and extend the interests of evangelical truth, even though we contemplated no more than the retaining of our present position in the country. "Brethren, are these things true, or are they not? If they be true, let us not disguise them; let us not adopt the dishonest policy of concealing them, lest we betray our weakness before the adversary or in the presence of the other Protestant Churches of the empire. Let us rather inquire the grounds of the Lord's controversy with us; let us "stand upon our watch, and set us upon the tower, and watch to see what He will say unto us, and what we shall answer when we are reproved." Hab. ii. 1. Let us strip ourselves of all our ornaments, (Exod. xxxiii. 5); let us lay aside all self-commendation because of the orthodoxy of our creed, the number of our churches, the multitude of our people, and the achievements of ourselves, and our ancestors; and, lying low under the mighty hand of God, confess our unworthiness and unfaithfulness, and implore forgiveness, and seek wisdom and “understanding of the times, to know what we ought to do." 1 Chron. xii. 32.

"We must not be despondent. There is much to sustain and encourage us in our hopes for the future. It is cheering to know that there are so many of our ministers, and, we are persuaded, of our people also, who are not satisfied with the present state of things, and who are looking and longing for the outpouring of the Spirit from on high. This is an omen of good. The Committee, in almost all the communications they have received, have had this point emphatically urged upon their attention that upon the ministers mainly reposes, under God, our hope of the prosperity of the Church. We would remind you, brethren in the ministry, of this great truth, which you already know full well. It is incumbent upon us, who are ministers, to know and to cherish the power of vital, experimental godliness, within our own hearts, if we would see religion flourishing in our congregations. We should be men of devotional habits (no easy attainment in these days of out-door bustle and excitement); we should prepare as well as preach our sermons in the spirit of prayer; we should go forth on the Sabbath morning expecting a blessing on the ministry of the Gospel; we should look not for popularity, nor for large congregations, nor for human sym