NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

1. Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours, during Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern Africa, &c. By the Rev. Dr. J. Lewis Krapf. Trübner and Co. 1860.

2. The Lake Regions of Central Africa; a Picture of Exploration. By Richard F. Burton, Capt. H. M. I. Army, Fellow and Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society. In Two Volumes. London: Longman. 1860.

THESE are volumes which, published five years ago, would have made a wide sensation. We are afraid that, just at present, they will scarcely receive the attention they deserve. The public mind, overheated with Dr. Livingstone's amazing discoveries, has naturally passed into the opposite extreme, and receives the most interesting accounts of Central Africa with too much indifference. Yet Dr. Krapf is in no respect, as missionary or explorer, inferior to Dr. Livingstone, and his volume is a far more stirring book. He was sent out as a missionary by the Church Missionary Society in 1850 (having previously been well tried in that honourable capacity both in Abyssinia and other parts of Africa) with the hope of forming a chain of missionary stations from the eastern to the western coast of Africa. He did not succeed; but it is not to be inferred either that his time was lost or that the Society's money was misspent. Much has been accomplished; how much, time only can disclose. We are now acquainted with the real character of the missionary's work in Africa, its difficulties and encouragements.

Both Dr. Krapf and Capt. Burton confirm the statements of Dr. Livingstone. Central Africa, instead of trackless deserts and burning sands, as tradition had represented, is a region of swamps and lakes and mountains. Instead of being scorched by eternal suns, there are vast districts on which the sun can seldom be said to shine. The weary traveller's foot plunges into the morass; he makes his way with incredible difficulty through the tangled thicket; overhead a heavy mist or leaden clouds obscure the light of day. Man exists here in his lowest forms; a human animal, whose moral and intellectual faculties are inferior to those of the more southern Hottentot, now no longer the type of humanity in its extremest degradation. Such is Eastern Africa in its lake district from K'hutu to the Nsagara mountains, as described by Captain Burton; a region where "all life dies, death lives." And yet we do not despair of the time, not far remote, when the gospel of Christ shall have won some triumphs even here. Both the romantic adventures of Dr. Krapf and the volumes of Captain Burton are highly interesting, and of great value, not only to geographers and men of science, but to the general reader, and especially to those who have learned to regard Central Africa as the great field of christian enterprise for the coming generation.

Regeneration; being Five Discourses by Daniel Wilson, D.D., Bishop of Calcutta, Daniel De Superville, George Payne, LL.D.,

John Caird, D.D., and R. H. Seeley. London: the Religious Tract Society. 1860.-The first of these is a noble discourse, delivered before the University of Oxford in 1817. It was the peculiarity of the author's mind that, often below himself on ordinary occasions, he was never known to fail on great ones. Seldom or never has the doctrine of regeneration been practically considered from the pulpit of Great St. Mary's Oxford, more effectually than in this discourse. The Tract Society have done well to associate it with the testimony of other witnesses of other friendly churches; with one by De Superville, the pastor of a French church, with another by the eloquent Mr. Caird, of the church of Scotland; and a third, by Dr. Payne, we believe an American divine; while a solemn contrast between the regenerate and the unregenerate, by an English presbyter, properly concludes a little volume which may be had for eighteenpence, and which ought soon to be in many hands.

Now that sermons are our subject, we must mention two volumes, too refined perhaps for common hearers, but full of thought, and abounding with that kind of thought which is useful to those who have to think for others. We are getting through the false and mischievous notion that, in order to be plain, it is necessary to be superficial; we must be upon our guard lest, ceasing to be superficial, we should again cease to be plain, direct, and earnest. There is a holy solemnity in Mr. Smith's preaching, as well as original thought. They are evidently meant for the edification of the intelligent Christian rather than the awakening of the careless. Their title is, Sermons. By John Henry Smith, M.A., Perpetual Curate of Milverton, Warwickshire. Second Edition; with Additions. 2 Vols., 12mo. Hatchard and Co. 1860.

The

Meliora: a Quarterly Review of Social Science, &c. London : Partridge. 1860.-We are no enemies to social science. On the contrary, we maintain that it has an important province of its own, distinct from, and yet subservient to that of pure religion. Quarterly Journal in our hands has reached its eleventh number, and has, therefore, been about three years in existence. Whether or not it is connected with the association which bears a similar title, we are not informed; nor do we happen to know who are its managers or contributors. But we are glad to recognise in it, on the whole, a healthy spirit, vigorous writing, and (what is not always found in writers who 66 regard social science," as the conductors of Meliora profess to do, "in its ethical, economical, political, and ameliorative aspects,") reverence for religion. We therefore notice with more regret an article on the "Epidemics of Fanaticism." We do not say, we do not mean to intimate, that the writer intends to represent the late revivals either as epidemics or as fanatical; though we are ready to concede to him that there may have been something of fanaticism, and something epidemic too, mixed up with that which otherwise was the work of God. It would be strange, indeed, if, in this world of sin and folly, any great movement could be found, even in the church of Christ, in which there was no alloy. But we object to the mingling up, for instance, in the same discussion, of the phenomena of fanaticism, properly so called, with the spiritual revivals, under Jonathan Edwards, in America, or more recently in Ireland,

Scotland, and elsewhere. The subject does not appear to us properly to belong to Social Science. It should be approached with caution, and with holy reverence. And such a state of mind, far from being inconsistent with free inquiry, is the best preparation for it. Bishop Daniel Wilson, in his sermon before the University of Oxford, to which we have just referred, has this wise remark. Speaking of the interior and secret work of the Holy Spirit on the heart, he says:—

"It must be involved in all the obscurity which hangs over the operations of the human mind, in addition to the still greater obscurity which rests on the mode in which the Spirit exercises His sacred influences." If, therefore, we begin by plain and unembarrassed principles, and understand clearly, and feel deeply, the real corruption of our nature, and the surpassing holiness of God, together with the necessity of the powerful though imperceptible work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, we shall arrive at substantial truth; whilst, if we first listen to captious objections, and attempt to solve all the difficulties which may present themselves at the outset, we shall be in danger of failing; we shall be apt to lower the mighty transformation of the heart to our own feeble views, dispose of its real force by some plausible evasion, and probably remain strangers to the substance of the blessing."

William Grimshaw, Incumbent of Haworth, 1742-63. By R. Spence Hardy, Hon. M.R.A.S. London: published by John Mason, City Road. 1860.-The character of the great evangelist of the moors of Yorkshire is here presented to us in a novel point of view. The writer is a Wesleyan minister, and he regards Grimshaw as one of Wesley's best and earliest coadjutors. He is quite entitled to do this; for Grimshaw's name appears, with other Methodist preachers, upon the list of the first "rounds" or "circuits" which Wesley formed. It must be remembered, however, that at that time, and indeed forty years afterwards, Wesley and his clerical friends still retained and gloried in their allegiance to the church of England. The little volume is written with feeling, and in a devout and genial spirit; and it throws much light upon the spiritual condition of that wild and romantic part of England more than a hundred years ago.

We could not forbear a smile as we read the title of a pamphlet inclosed in the same parcel with Grimshaw's Life, for which we are indebted, we presume, to the courtesy of the same publisher;-Two Charges: one to the People, and one to the Clergy. Delivered at the Wesleyan Methodist Conference held in London, in July, 1860. By the Rev. Samuel D. Waddy, President of the Conference, 1859. Would John Wesley and William Grimshaw have frowned or smiled, could they have foreseen that such would have been the consequences of the career on which they entered with so much fervent zeal, and, we believe, with such an entire simplicity? However that may be, the step is taken; the lay helpers, the Metho list preachers of 1742-63, are a "clergy:" the president of the Methodist Conference delivers his "Charge" ex cathedra; "Obey them that have the rule of you,' &c., is his text in the Charge to "the people ;" and its "object is to show (1) that Methodism is a true church, and (2) to point out the duties and obligations which the people owe to their church." We have no disposition to travel out of our way, and criticise the doings of presbyterian churches, especially of those who stand so well affected to us as the Wesleyan Methodists have always done. If we were to whisper a word of unasked advice to Dr. Waddy, it would be not to press the claims of the " clergy" too fast, nor to insist upon their

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right to govern "the people". too clamorously. The second Charge to the clergy contains much good advice; though, compared with what we are accustomed to hear in the church of England from our bishops, the strain seems rather dictatorial.

God's Unspeakable Gift; or, Views of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. By the Author of "God is Love," &c. London: Darton. 1860. -It was a remark not likely to be forgotten, which was once made in our hearing by a public man of large experience, That, if he wanted anything of importance done,-done well, and done promptly,-he always applied to those who were already pressed down and overburdened with work. From these, he might have some hope of gaining what he wanted; but if he went to the men of leisure, to those whose employments were light and in no degree onerous, he was sure to meet with procrastination and disappointment.

Our own opportunities of observation have not been few or small, and we can entirely confirm this view. But, for a single instance in proof of this remarkable fact, we need not go further than to the volume before us, taken in connection with its predecessors. Their author, it is generally understood, occupies a position of great influence, great labour, and great responsibility. He cannot be supposed to write merely to while away an unoccupied hour; nor would the possible gains of publishing present any inducement. He takes pen in hand evidently from the same motive which actuated St. Paul: "As it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: we also believe, and therefore speak." (2 Cor. iv. 13.) But, considering the amount of mental toil necessarily connected with his position and public duties, it has ever appeared astonishing that, amidst all these labours and cares, he should, voluntarily, and led neither by a desire for fame or profit, have composed and published, in the course of the last three or four years, as many as five volumes, comprehending somewhere about two thousand pages; and not upon trifling or merely recreative topics, but upon some of the highest subjects which could occupy either a human or even an angelic mind. That "God is Love;"-that the Divine Spirit is "the Comforter" of all true believers;-that Christ is "the Brother born for Adversity," and "God's unspeakable Gift;" and that Christians have in view a Heavenly Home;"-such are the subjects on which his thoughts have loved to dwell; and it is pleasant indeed to receive his testimony, that the hours thus spent "have been among the happiest of his life."

Such books, however, present no proper field for criticism: our only duty is, to state to our readers, in the plainest terms, whether or not the nourishment offered in these works is good and wholesome nourishment:whether they yield the grapes which God "looks for" (Isa. v. 2), or the "wild grapes " which are so abundant in this our day. And to this question our answer is full and unhesitating. No "vine of Sodom" is here, but rather that "wine of Lebanon " (Hos. xiv. 7) which the prophet deemed alike honourable to God and beneficial to His church.

The present volume expounds, indeed, a text of vast amplitude; and the author has evidently found that four hundred pages had been filled before his subject was nearly exhausted. He endeavours to unfold

"God's unspeakable Gift,"-in (1.) The Person of Christ; His Divinity-His Humanity-the Union of both in the God-man. (2.) The Work of Christ; His Obedience-His Atonement-His Intercession -concluding with three chapters of particular application. And the tone of theology which pervades the work is that of Newton and Romaine, of Watts Wilkinson, and of the author's own personal friend, the late James Harington Evans.

There is nothing of a controversial spirit about the book; but it was impossible to steer clear of controverted topics. The Divinity of Christ; His Atonement; and His Imputed Righteousness; all present themes distasteful to many in the present day. But the author seems to have kept the thought in his mind, "What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." He walks past the "many dogs," of whom both David and St. Paul so often speak, as if their yelping were not worth a thought. We have almost envied him the power of forgetfulness which, on these subjects, he often shows. Thus, he speaks of certain of the Messianic predictions in Isaiah as "admitted on all hands;"-as "doubted by no one;"-as "questioned by no expositor," and the like. Perhaps, some twenty years ago, this language would have been strictly accurate. But, alas! we live in days of "rebuke and blasphemy." There is scarcely a prophecy, or a miracle, or a doctrine, of the Bible, which has not been assailed in the course of the last seven years; and assailed, too, by men who have come from the schools of Cambridge and Oxford, of Cheshunt, Highbury, or Manchester. It is difficult in these days to lay one's finger upon a single statement of God's word, and to say, "This is admitted on all hands."

But "Wisdom is justified of all her children." Till the present dispensation closes, it will ever be true, as Paul found it at Rome, that "some believed the word spoken, and some believed not." These books are not written for the "disputers of this world," but for those who " as new-born babes, receive the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby." "What if some believe not, shall their unbelief make the truth of God of none effect?" We have often found the question suggesting itself to our minds of late, whether we are not entering upon a period in the church's history to which those awful words peculiarly belong,-" He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still: And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Rev. xxii.)

Plain Words about Sickness: addressed to the Mothers and Wives of Working Men. By a Doctor's Wife. Seeley and Co. London. 1860. -A very sensible little book, written in a cheerful spirit and full of information. Mothers ought to purchase it, fathers ought to read it, and country pastors ought to recommend it; for the doctor's wife has evidently been well instructed by her husband, and she adds a womanly vivacity which we presume is all her own. It is the more valuable, because totally devoid of quackery; it does not profess to