"Hence we can only say, 'Thy will be done, precious Jesus! Thy will be done! My will is swallowed up in thine. I can only say, Thy will be done. I am Thy child, lying in Thy bosom; do with me as pleaseth Thee. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly! Thou hast enriched me with Thy free grace; and now, dear Jesus, I can only wait and long for Thy glory; but Thy time is the best time. Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus.' "Dear Madam, I seem to forget myself, but I do rejoice in the Lord's goodness to you and your dear sister; and I doubt not but your hearts rejoice in Him, and that you wait, and long, and wish to be with Him. Lady Mary F-d was kind enough to bid Mrs. Peckwell remember her to me; you will oblige me by an affectionate remembrance of me to her ladyship, and to Mrs. Peckwell; give my hearty love to Mrs. Cavendish. I pray the Lord Jesus to bless you all four. May He fill your hearts with His precious love, and inspire you with a hearty and willing mind to enter into His glory. To His grace and love I tenderly commit you. Remember His blood is our atonement, His righteousness our justification, and His everlasting love will be our joy and crown of rejoicing for ever and ever. I love you in the Lord, and daily pray for you: to His good Spirit I commit you; and am, dear and honoured Madam, Your affectionate Servant, "Hon. Mrs. Carteret." "W. BULL." NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. Nine Confirmation Lectures: with an Appendix. By the Rev. E. B. Elliott, B.A., Incumbent of St. Mark's, Brighton. London: Seeley and Co. 1865.-It is undoubtedly a distinguishing feature of Mr. Elliott's mind, that every subject upon which it fastens must be thoroughly investigated. Nothing of a superficial character will at all content him. Dozens of other writers-good and faithful ministers too-have taken up the subject of Confirmation within the last twenty years, and have written as they could; some piously and vaguely, others superstitiously and rashly; but no one in our times has handled it after the fashion in which it is handled in this volume. Seven distinct discussions carry the young inquirer through "The Church of England's view of Confirmation;" "The Church's view of Infant Baptism;" "The Blessings offered in Christian Baptism;" "The Historical Evidence of the Divine Origin of Christianity;" "Prophetic, Moral, and Experimental Evidences;" "Conditions of Baptism, Believing, Renouncing, Fulfilling;" closing with some "Concluding practical Exhortations." Two more Lectures are added, on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and three Appendices on Controverted Matters. Such is Mr. Elliott's method of handling a subject. On the wide field of motives, encouragements, and cautions, future writers may expatiate at large; but Mr. Elliott has left them little to do on the doctrinal and historical part of the subject. As a treasury from whence preachers may draw all the main facts and outlines of their teaching in future years, this little volume is of solid and permanent value. It also bears an important testimony against that kind of vague and misty superstitiousness, which often shows itself in the writings of men who wish to be "High-church," without being Romanizers. In his third Appendix, Mr. Elliott examines and refutes certain dangerous statements, made by Dr. Wordsworth and Dr. Goulburn, in their Confirmation Manuals. Dr. Wordsworth had stated, that “God vouchsafes to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost on persons baptized, by means of prayer, and laying on of the hands of the successors of the Apostles; and has made it obligatory on Christians to receive and maintain the practice." "Nor have we any right to expect to receive this gift from Him, unless we use the means thus appointed for its bestowal." And Dr. Goulburn also "makes the communication of even the ordinary saving influences of the Holy Spirit to depend upon, and to be the result of, the laying on of the hands of the highest order in the ministry; such being their prerogative." These superstitious theories Mr. Elliott examines with no hesitating or timorous hand; and exhibits very clearly their baseless character. One natural and necessary result of extravagant and unfounded claims of this kind, is, to bring the very utility and value of even the Sacraments into doubt. Thus, shocked at certain unscriptural statements of the effects of Baptism, Mr. Spurgeon recently went to the other extreme; insisting that Baptism had no effect, no operation whatever; but was a purely formal ceremony, like that of placing ten stones in a row. And so, when, in the matter of Confirmation, Dr. Wordsworth and Dr. Goulburn teach, that by laying on of a bishop's hands the Holy Ghost is given, and that without the laying on of a bishop's hands the Holy Ghost will not be given, a plain reflecting man will be apt to say, "The gift of the Holy Ghost can be no light matter, no trifling thing. Those who have received the Holy Ghost ought to be clearly distinguishable from those who have not. But does confirmation generally produce such results? Taking a dozen young persons, for instance, who have received the imposition of hands from a bishop, and comparing them with an equal number of young Nonconformists, who have been admitted to the Lord's table without any imposition of hands,-is it a fact that there is a marked difference in holiness between the two? Could the one class be distinguished from the other, by any competent judge, as clearly possessing an indwelling of the Holy Spirit which the others lacked ?" We never heard such a pretension made; and if made, we believe that it would only cover him who made it with shame. Any excessive exaltation of any rite or ceremony is sure to provoke queries, tending to call in question even its truth and value. Thus Confirmation, which Mr. Elliott has in these Lectures placed on a solid foundation, and shown to be both Scriptural and reasonable, may, by superstitious exaggerations, be brought into doubt and called in question. It is the special value and excellency of this little book, that the writer has both shown what Confirmation is, and what it is not. Brook Silvertone: and, The Lost Lilies. Two Stories for Children. By Emma Marshall. In small 8vo., with fourteen Engravings. London. 1865.-We like these two tales better than anything else that Mrs. Marshall has written; except, perhaps, "Little Mary's Legacy," In the Lessons of Love. The first story tells us of a little girl, Grace, who is found by the brook's side, sobbing out, "I am of no use! no use! Nobody cares for me; nobody loves me!" One who overhears the complaint, and pities the saddened heart, draws the little girl towards her, and by repeated visits and teachings, shows her "what Brook Silvertone says;" and how useful its course is; and how her course may be like it. After eight chapters, we come to "Good-bye," and leave little Grace no longer sad, no longer "of no use," but peaceful, valued, and happy. The next story is still more touching. A child of wealthy parents, little Beatrice, is in a passion of grief on her birth-day, because a wreath of lilies for her hair has not reached the mansion in time for the ball. The village maiden who had been sent with them, we afterwards find out, had been overcome by the cold, and sat down to rest on a fallen tree, and there sank to sleep in the bitter frost. She is discovered in time to save her life, but a rheumatic fever of many weeks follows. Little Beatrice is led by a kind uncle to visit the poor sufferer, and learns in the cottage, and by the sick bed, lessons which the mansion and the ball-room would never have taught her. Both the stories are well told, and the book is profusely ornamented, and in all respects well got up. A prettier present for a child of ten or twelve years of age, can hardly be imagined. We are glad that Mr. Ryle has resumed his pen, and given us a continuation of his Commentary. He is now on the first part of St. John's Gospel, and the volume just published extends to the seventh chapter. We can only say, that it continues to deserve the high character that Mr. Ryle has already gained as one of the most original, pious, and able commentators of the present day, and as a practical expositor of Scripture. Sometimes we hear the complaint, that he is hard, and wanting in tenderness. The reader will not find this to be the case in the present volume; let him judge of the spirit of the expositor who writes as follows:-"The history of Nicodemus is meant to teach us that we should never 'despise the day of small things' in religion. (Zec. iv. 10.) We must not set down a man as having no grace, because his first steps towards God are timid and wavering, and the first movements of his soul are uncertain, hesitating, and stamped with much imperfection. We must remember our Lord's reception of Nicodemus. He did not 'break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax,' which He saw before Him. (Matt. xii. 20.) Like Him, let us take inquirers by the hand, and deal with them gently and lovingly. In everything there must be a beginning. It is not those who make the most flaming profession of religion at first, who endure the longest, and prove the most steadfast. Judas Iscariot was an apostle, when Nicodemus was just groping his way slowly into full light. Yet afterwards, when Nicodemus was boldly helping to bury his crucified Saviour, Judas Iscariot had betrayed Him, and hanged himself. This is a fact which ought not to be forgotten." We turn to An Exposition of the 1st Epistle General of St. John, by Rev. John Stock, M.A., late Vicar of Finchingfield, Essex. London: Rivingtons.-Only a spiritual mind can understand, still less expound to others, this epistle beaming with heavenly light and love. Such an expositor is met with in Mr. Stock. It seems to have been written under trials such has often befall eminent ministers whose sorrows are the joys of the whole church; the readers of this commentary will feel that the writer of it has learned by experience the inestimable worth of the doctrines he expounds. There is here competent learning, and the fruits of diligent study, as well as a high tone of piety; and we receive it with much gratitude, and commend it to our readers. POETRY. "YE KNOW NOT WHAT SHALL BE ON THE MORROW." WE know not what shall be to-morrow; If pain or peace, if joy or sorrow: We know not what shall be to-morrow, Sufficient grace the Lord will give "Thy will, not mine, O Father!" High acts in which our trembling heart Our earthly fear and anguish! And we shall shout our welcome. And when, some precious gift possessing, And see the mighty ruin. Ere then, my mortal body, sleeping, Midst earth-born interests, hoping, fearing, We know not what shall be to-morrow; But the sweet hope shine bright and clear, E. P. S. PUBLIC AFFAIRS. AFTER having passed unharmed through all the perils to which we were exposed by the American war, and the disturbed condition of Europe, we seem to be at once upon the brink of new dangers unforeseen, and therefore unprovided against. A grievous murrain, after sweeping through the flocks and herds of the continent, has reached |