seen equaled. We cannot refrain from giving one or two short paragraphs.

"The Scriptural idea of prayer is that of one of the most downright, sturdy realities in the universe. Right in the heart of God's plan of government, it is lodged as a power. Amidst the conflicts which are going on in the evolution of that plan, it stands as a power. Into all the intricacies of Divine working, and the mysteries of Divine decree, it reaches out silently as a power. In the mind of God, we may be assured, the conception of prayer is no fiction, whatever man may think of it.

"It has, and God has determined that it should have, a positive and an appreciable influence in directing the course of a human life. It is, and God has purposed that it should be, a link of connection between human mind and Divine mind, by which, through His infinite condescension, we may actually move His will. It is, and God has decreed that it should be, a power in the universe, as distinet, as real, as natural, and as uniform, as the power of gravitation, or of light, or of electricity. A man may use it as trustingly and as soberly as he would use either of these. It is as truly the dictate of good sense that a man should expect to achieve something by praying as it is that he should expect to achieve something by a telescope, or the mariner's compass, or the electric telegraph. The feeling which will become spontaneous with a Christian under the influence of such a trust, is this: 'I come to my devotions this morning on an errand of real life. This is no romance and no farce. I do not come here to go through a form of words. I have no hopeless desires to express. I have an object to gain. I have an end to accomplish. This is a business in which I am about to engage. An astronomer does not turn his telescope to the skies with a more reasonable hope of penetrating those distant heavens, than I have of reaching the mind of God by lifting up my heart at the throne of Grace. This is the privilege of my calling of God in Christ Jesus. Even my faltering voice is now to be heard in heaven, and it is to put forth a power there, the results of which only God can know, and only eternity can develop. Therefore, O Lord! Thy servant findeth it in his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee.'"

GOTTHOLD'S EMBLEMS.*-This is a charming addition to our devotional literature. It is a translation of a volume which nearly two hundred years ago had a popularity in Germany not inferior to that of the works of Luther. As long as the evangelical Church had living members it was read wherever the German language was known. But with the decay of true religious feeling, and the ascendancy gained by infidelity, it fell into temporary oblivion. It is a sign that there is

* Gotthold's Emblems, or Invisible things understood by things that are made. By CHRISTIAN SCRIVER, minister of Magdeburg in 1671. Translated from the twenty-eighth German edition, by the Rev. Robert Menzies, Hoddam, England. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 1860. 12mo. pp. 316.

another change for the better in Germany, that this ancient book seems to have regained something of its former popularity, and that its admirers are vieing with those of bygone years in praising and applauding the author.

The book consists of over two hundred short "meditations" upon the most familiar objects which daily present themselves to the eye, in the family and in the outdoor world. The design of the author is to draw from each some lesson of practical piety and to teach us how to make every familiar object illustrate to us God's dealings with man or man's obligations to God. There are those whose minds are so eminently practical, that they can feel no interest in tracing such analogies for themselves, and such will doubtless see no beauty in this work of the old "court preacher," Christian Scriver, of Magdeburg. But by those who have the true poetic sense, we are confident that these prose "meditations" will be received as the gems of one who really deserves the name of a Christian poet.

WORKS OF DR. EMMONS.*-We have before us the second volume of the Works of Dr. Emmons, issued by the Congregational Board of Publication. Why the second volume has been published before the first, does not appear. We suppose, however, it must be because that, consisting wholly of sermons, it could be made ready for the press earlier than the first volume, which will contain a memoir of Dr. Emmons's life, and perhaps other preliminary matter. It does not ap

pear, either, of how many volumes this edition is to consist. The present volume, which has 838 large octavo pages, begins with Systematic Theology, but has not completed it, carrying it only through the Work of Christ and as far as the subject of Justification. It contains that part of Dr. Emmons's Systematic Theology which is given in the fourth and a small portion of that which is given in the fifth of the six volume edition of his Works which was published by Crocker & Brewster in 1842, under the editorial supervision of Dr. Ide. We are pleased to see, on comparing this volume with those, that this is enriched by the addition of ten sermons not contained in them. So that this edition is not a mere republication of the former one, but is made more full by a selection from Dr. Emmons's manuscripts. The volume is pub

*The Works of Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., Third Pastor of the Church in Franklin, Mass. With a Memoir of his Life. Edited by JACOB IDE, D. D. Vol. II. Boston: Congregational Board of Publication, 23 Chauncy Street. 1860. Sent prepaid by mail for $2 a volume.

lished in handsome style, on excellent paper, and in large clear type, which it is a pleasure to read. Of course this more full publication of the Works of one of the most independent thinkers and able theologians of New England, as Dr. Emmons unquestionably was, we regard as a valuable contribution to theological literature. Our object now, however, is simply to inform our readers of the general character of this volume, reserving our.criticism till the appearance of the whole work.

REV. CHARLES KINGSLEY'S SERMONS. THE Good News of God.*— The sermons contained in Mr. Kingsley's lately published volume are much superior to his former publications, the "Village Sermons" and the "Sermons for the Times." They are superior, both in style and in contents. The style is a model of condensation and of perspicuity in teaching abstract truth. Everything is made plain, and that without circumlocution or loss of force. In this feature, these thirty-nine sermons might be profitably studied by all ministers. The word of God, as far as the author inculcates it, is made a fire and a hammer. We regret that he is not more sound and scriptural in his theological opinions. While many of these discourses are, in respect of doctrine, admirable and edifying, others introduce serious errors. It is no secret to the readers of Mr. Kingsley's former works that he believes, in the termination of future punishment and rejects the expiatory atonement of Christ, -a doctrine which he fails to understand and does not fairly state. We have felt that his passionate opposition to this truth and others congruous with it, indicated a want of repose in his own views of the Gospel and a yet unfinished struggle in his own mind.

GUINNESS'S SERMONS.-The fifteen sermons of this popular preacher are fine examples of what has been called the Sunflower style of pulpit eloquence. It does not always happen, however, that the exaggerated rhetoric and gaudy word-painting of sensation preachers is redeemed by so much earnestness of purpose and warmth of Christian feeling as Mr. Guinness seems to possess. But it does no good to find fault with the tastes of preachers or hearers, as we know; for the world will have its own way of thinking on such matters.

* The Good News of God.-Sermons. By CHARLES KINGSLEY, Rector of Eversley, etc. New York: Burt, Hutchinson & Abbey. 1859.

Sermons: By the Rev. GRATTON GUINNESS. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 1860. 12mo. pp. 363.

SPURGEON'S SERMONS.

SIXTH SERIES.*-Messrs. Sheldon & Co., the authorized publishers of Mr. Spurgeon in America, have presented the public with still another volume of his sermons, the sixth in the series. It will be gratifying to his numerous admirers in this country to be informed, on the authority of the publishers, that these sermons appear precisely as they came from the hand of the author, with the revisions marked by his own pen, and without a passage or word being omitted or added." The discourses in this volume are addressed particularly to Christians.

EARNEST THOUGHTS.This is a book of select extracts from the Sermons of the Rev. Dr. James Hamilton, the eminent Pastor of the Free Caurch, Regent's Square, London. The aptness and beauty of his illustrations, “so adorned with the drapery of a gorgeous eloquence," are well known to the religious world, and we doubt not that this little volume, the title we have given, will find many admirers.

PREACHERS AND PREACHING.-This does not profess to be a very profound discussion of the subject announced in the title, but it is full of lively and pertinent illustrations drawn from real life, and we think will be regarded by the public as quite a readable book. It is from the pen of Rev. Dr. Murray, of Elizabethtown, the well known and popular author of "Kirwan's Letters." His object is to set forth, in a way that will attract general attention, the causes of the success and of the failure of ministers, and of the good and bad conduct of parishes. and people towards them. It will serve for the reading of parishioners as well as of preachers; but of the two classes we should prefer it should have a wide circulation among the former.

THE PRECIOUS THINGS OF GOD.§-The themes here presented for our consideration are of the most noble and inspiring character, and the views are all well calculated to lead the Christian to prize more highly the "precious things" which God has provided for those who love Him.

*Sermons: Preached and revised by the Rev. C. H. SPURGEON. Sixth series, New York. 12mo. pp. 450. 1860. Sheldon & Co.

Earnest Thoughts. From Discourses by James Hamilton, D. D., of London. American Tract Society. New York. 24mo. pp. 190.

Preachers and Preaching. By Rev. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1860. 12mo. pp. 303.

The Precious Things of God. By OCTAVIUS WINSLOW, D. D. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 1860. 12mo. pp. 424.

PHILOLOGY.

PROPOSED NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY.-We have already directed the attention of our readers to the project of the London Philological Society for a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. The design, it will be remembered, is nothing less than to produce a complete lexicographic history of every word which has ever held a place in English literature, to note the time of its introduction, or, rather, that of its first literary appearance, and if it has gone out of use, the time of its last appearance also,-to define its various meanings, supporting them by full illustrative quotations, and to show the changes of meaning which it may have undergone from time to time. The first thing to be done toward the practical realization of this great scheme, is, of course, to collect the raw material,—to find the words which are to be included, and to bring together the passages of English writers which shall exhibit all their varieties of use. It is necessary then, at the outset, to make a minute and wide-ranging lexical examination of English literature. This task, which obviously transcends the powers of any man, or any society acting through a single generation, it is proposed to accoinplish by a great system of coöperative effort, in which scholars and literary men are invited to participate. Each one of those who are disposed to render assistance, is to select for himself some one or more works, according to his time and inclination-of course, avoiding those which may have been already selected-and to read them carefully through with reference to the objects of the Dictionary. The literature of the language, since the year 1300, is divided into three periods, which have been determined with great good judgment, the first ending at 1525, the second at 1675, and the third coming down to our own day. For each of these periods, a separate standard of comparison is presented to the contributors. The standard for the first period is a list, published by the Society, containing all the words found in English works prior to 1300. The Concordances to the Bible and to Shakspeare furnish a standard for the second period. That of the third period will be a list, to be published by the Society, of all the words which appear in the works of Edmund Burke. What is expected of each contributor is, that when he meets with any word, or any use of a word, which is not to be found in his standard, he will write the word upon a separate half sheet of paper, and transcribe below it the sentence to which it belongs, at the same time indicating carefully the place where that sen