itself, apart from all its utilities and applications. When we teach a child to read, our primary aim is. not to enable it to decipher & way-bill or a receipt, but to kindle its imagination, enlarge its vision and open for it the avenues to all knowledge. The same is true of liberal education in its utmost reach. Its chief objects for the individual are development, inspiration and exaltation. The practical advantages which flow from it are incidental, not paramount."

Bishop Simpson did not overlook the humanities, but set to work at the study of Latin and Greek, and in the course of his life he occupied positions in which this culture became necessary to his success. It seems familiar to read of his first text-books, Historia Sacra, Græca Minora, Græca Majora and Mair's False Syntaxbooks that I studied in the Academy over forty years ago.

Like many other earnest men it was a difficult problem for him to determine his calling in life. He studied medicine, law and finally theology, and entered upon his chosen work, the ministry. One rule that he laid down to govern him in this, as in all other matters was, that he would not follow any path of merely his own selection, but seek to follow the indications of Providence, thus submitting his own will to the will of God.

There are two periods in his life in which Bishop Simpson stands out in all the glory of his full-developed and masterly qualities of mind and heart. In 1856 he was appointed, together with Dr. McClintock, to attend the Wesleyan Conference in England. Both during this visit and another in 1881, in atten i g the Ecumenical Conference in London, he made a deep impression upon the large audiences he addressed. Then during the late war his address in New York brought out that eloquence of which he was capable on great occasions. On the latter occasion he had the sympathies of his audience with him, but in speaking in England he had first to overcome the prejudices of the English, especially at that comparatively early period, against an American speaker. He also delivered an address in Berlin, Germany, in 1856, before the Evangelical Alliance, and in 1881 in Exeter Hall, on the tragic death of Garfield.

He was considered an indifferent, if not a rather poor, speaker in his early life, and this was one of the difficulties, as he thought, in the way of entering the ministry, but in after years he became one of the most effective pulpit orators this country has ever produced.

By diligent and persevering application he became a good scholar. He filled successfully the positions of professor and president in several colleges. He was editor of The Western Christian Advocate about the years 1848-51, when the great agitation on the subject of slavery called forth his pungent editorials. When at last the Civil War came, and when during its gloomiest period as men hearts

failed them, he stood firm and unshaken in his faith in P dence.

It is a pleasure, as well as an instruction, to read the life of a man, especially during such a period in our nation's history. rose above all partisan feeling in encouraging his countryme trust in the God of nations, who was leading this nation of future through its trials and humiliations to its manifest dest There was here something more, something higher, than patriot great and good as this is; it was a firm, clear, Christian fa Travelling from east to west, and again from west to east, he and addressed great multitudes of people, and did much to insp them with the same confidence and hope. He was an intimate a trusted friend of President Lincoln, as well as of Secretary Stant and many other public men at the head of the government. The Pre dent could rely upon his sound judgment as to the mind of the peop in reference to the war, which he had so many opportunities of asce taining in his extensive travels, and the President was always glå to meet with him and talk over public affairs.

Perhaps the leading traits or qualities in the character of Bisho Simpson were his entire unselfishness and his honesty. From his earl years he seems to have shrunk from any position or course tha offered to him merely personal advantages. He seemed to have a instinctive aversion to selfishness. He considered only what wa the will of God and what was for the good of his fellow-men, and this grew to be the confirmed principle of his life. Such a ma can be trusted. His judgment is never warped by personal con sideration, he is free from prejudice.

In such a life there is much to instruct and edify. It shows that true success comes, not from self-seeking, but from a faithful devotion to duty, and to the great ends and purposes of life. Much has been written just upon this point: what constitutes success in life, and what will best secure success. Of course much depends upon what is meant by success, but if we mean by it the performauce of that work, and the attainment of that end, for which our natural endowments are best adapted, then it is true that success is most surely reached by following the indications of Providence, and laboring for the good of our fellow-men, without regard to our own personal advantages. The Saviour lays down the only true principle: "He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life shall gain it."

There was a sweet childlike simplicity in Bishop Simpson in this respect. He did not seem to imagine that his own personal advantage was in consideration. He did not seem to ask at all whether a certain course would bring him gain or favor, but only whether it was the course God ordered him to pursue. And in the end he lived to see how surely this principle led him to success. That is to say: his own personal advantages were bound up in the

work he did for others. His own life came to a beautiful full development, so that he passed away as a sheaf of corn ripe to be gathered in the harvest.

The biographer, Dr. Crooks, has done his work well. There is one other biography with which we may compare it, the "Memoir of Norman Macleod, D.D., by the Rev. Donald Macleod." Dr. Macleod was, of course, a greater scholar than Bishop Simpson, and the Scotch humor and wit that appear in the Memoir are wanting in this life, but we have felt much the same interest in reading the one as in reading the other. It is no easy thing to write an interesting biography. What aided Dr. Crooks much in his work was the portions of autobiography left behind by Bishop Simpson. And this reference to the Memoir of Dr. Macleod calls to mind also another biography recently published in our own church, viz.: "The Life and Work of John Williamson Nevin, D.D., LL.D.," by Dr. Theodore Appel, Dr. Nevin differed much from both of the great men just mentioned. He was a man of ideas rather than of practical affairs, and yet the reading of his life makes the same impression, that one is communing with a great and good man. Such a life inspires others to seek after the same pure and unselfish principles in guiding and directing our own lives.

History consists in part of biography. Society is made up of individuals, and the general life is largely formed and governed by leading personalities. In the life of Macleod one learns much of the life of the church in Scotland, in the life of Bishop Simpson there is much of the history of Methodism in this country, and in the life of Dr. Nevin one finds much of the inner history of the Reformed Church.

We commend this life of Bishop Simpson as an interesting and profitable volume for any library, and to be placed in any family. Of course the life of Dr. Nevin comes nearest home to our Reformed people and our Reformed families, but there is abundant room for both in every family in our church. Perhaps if we had more of such literature it would take the place of much of a lighter kind, whose influence is questionable, especially where it is read to excess by the young. This biography keeps up the reader's interest from beginning to end, and that is one of the tests of its worth. It teaches us great lessons by example, the most forcible way of teaching moral truth.

MODERN CRITICISM CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATION TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL: Being the Bampton Lectures for 1890. By Henry William Watkins, M.A., D.D., sometimes scholar of Balliol College; Fellow of King's College, London; Archdeacon and Canon of Durham, and Professor of Hebrew in the University of Durham. New York: É. P. Dutton & Co., 31 West Twenty-third Street. 1890. Price, $5.00.

The preparation of this volume, we are told in a "prefatory note," had its origin in the author's asking the late Bishop Light

foot "how he accounted for the fact of the frequent assertion the genuineness of the Fourth Gospel was disproved by m criticism, in the presence of the strong and accumulating evid in its favor," and in the latter's suggesting to him that "the ject might be profitably treated in a course of Bampton Lectu We are also further imformed, that shortly afterwards a rough line of the arguments which presented themselves was drawn by the author and forwarded to the Bishop, who entirely appr of the proposed treatment, and was instrumental in having appointed to deliver the lectures of 1890.

The subject of the volume, it may not be amiss here to state not the Fourth Gospel, nor yet the evidence external or inte in favor of its authenticity and genuineness, but, as implied in title of the book, the bearing of modern criticism on the Fou Gospel. Its especial purpose is to estimate this criticism, and show that there is no foundation for the frequent assertions t modern criticism is fatal to the claims of this Gospel.

The lectures of which the volume consists are eight in numb None of these is complete in itself, but each is an important step the stairs by which the conclusion is finally reached that "th has been an accumulating mass of evidence in favor of the genui ness of the writing which we are justified in calling, without tra of uncertainty in our voice, 'The Gospel according to St. John. In the first three lectures of the series the evidence of the fi eighteen Christian centuries is very carefully and elaborately pr sented. In the four following lectures, the results of the vario schools of criticism of the present century are very ably ar thoroughly considered. The closing lecture presents the concl sions reached in the preceding lectures and treats in a general wa of the scope and character of the Gospel and its significance fo our own age. All the lectures give evidence of thorough scholar ship and superior intellectual attainments on the part of thei author. In spirit they are fair and honorable; in style, clear and forcible; and in contents, rich in the material necessary for form ing a correct judgment concerning the important questions tha have been raised with regard to the Gospel under consideration in The work is a truly valuable contribution to our Theological

Literature.

THE LIVING CHRIST AND THE FOUR GOSPELS. By R. W. Dale, D.D., Birmingham. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. Price, $1.50. Why is it that those who believe in Christ continue to believe, notwithstanding the formidable assaults which in our own time have been made upon the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures? and, Do the Four Gospels contain that representation of our Lord, that account of His miracles and teaching, which was given by the men who knew Him, and who, after His death, preached the

Christian Faith? These are the questions which are considered in this volume. That they are discussed in a scholarly manner, and with marked ability, the name of the author is a sufficient guarantee. Of modern writers on theological subjects, there is none, indeed, that we read with more pleasure and satisfaction.

The volume itself consists of fourteen lectures which Dr. Dale delivered to the Carrs Lane (Congregational) Church, Birmingham, of which he is the honored pastor. It is accordingly of a popular character and admirably suited to meet the wants of intelligent readers generally.

The first four lectures are devoted to the question, Why do those who believe, continue to believe? The answer given to this question is," that they do so because whatever may have been the original grounds of their faith; their faith has been verified in their own personal experience;" and, furthermore, because "the representation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Four Gospels appeals, and appeals immediately to all those elements and powers of life that give answer to manifestations of the presence of God." In other words "they believe in Christ because they see God in Him." The proofs of this answer are ably presented, and the objections to it fully met. In the nine following lectures the evidence in favor of the historical trustworthiness of the story contained in the Four Gospels is clearly set forth. The concluding lecture is a review of the argument contained in the preceding lectures.

The work is, in every respect, a masterly one, and well calculated to deepen faith in the living Christ, and to increase confidence in the trustworthiness of the Gospel history. Dr. Dale's argument for the verity of our Christian faith we, indeed, believe to be irrefutable. It fully meets the doubts occasioned by destructive criticism.

A. M. MACKAY, Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary Society to Uganda. By his Sister. With portrait and map. Author's Edition, New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. 1890. Price, $1.50.

This book is a sister's memorial to a heroic brother. Mackay, of Uganda, who is the subject of it, was the son of Alexander Mackay, L.L.D., a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and was boen in the little village of Rhynie, County of Aberdeen, Oct. 13, 1849. When he was eighteen years of age his father moved to Edinburg, and here he entered the Free Church Training College for Teachers, and later the University of Edinburg. At the age of twenty-four he left Scotland for Germany, where in Berlin he pursued his studies for several years more. He then offered his services to the Church Missionary Society, and in the Spring of 1876 he was sent as a pioneer missionary to Uganda, in Africa, where he labored successfully until his death, which occurred Feb. 8, 1890. Though his life was a comparatively brief one, yet he