" be criticised. Out of ninety-nine MSS. "By the Trent was selected by the adjudicators as the best Temperance tale; and the prize of £250 awarded to the author by the directors of the Scottish Temperance League. As a tale, we can testify to its absorbing interest; and whether our readers are total abstainers or not, we advise them to get it and give it a perusal. Mrs. Oldham must not let her pen rest. She possesses no ordinary gift. She greatly reminds us of Mrs. Stowe. We hope soon to welcome another volume from her able pen. WORSE THAN DEATH; a Tale. By Harriet Power. London: Partridge. The title of this book suggests painful reflections. In how many homes has intemperance proved a more terrible visitor than death itself! We marvel not that strong language is employed to fix the attention of the public on this gigantic evil. Mrs. Power has depicted some of the consequences of intemperance in the homes of the rich and the poor; and we sincerely hope her effort may be greatly blessed. STORIES ABOUT ST. PAUL. By Emily G. Nesbitt. London: Hatchard and Co. A companion volume for "The Peep of Day." We cannot give higher commendation. OLD OSCAR, the Faithful Dog. By H. G. Reed. London: S. W. Partridge. Should be bound up with "Rab and his Friends." The "Society for preventing Cruelty to Animals" should circulate it by thousands. SYMBOLS OF CHRIST. By Charles Stanford, Author of " Central Truths," ". Joseph Alleine," &c. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder. A faithful, eloquent, and experimental exhibition of Divine truth. Mr. Stanford is no ordinary thinker; and he is as spiritual as he is thoughtful. Our readers will know what to expect in this volume if they will turn to "Heart Cheer for Home Sorrow," page 248. It is seldom we have to welcome such an addition to theological literature. The work is a treasure indeed. THE PREACHER'S PORTFOLIO. Second Series. London: Marlborough and Co. 66 Outlines of Sermons by eminent Preachers. We can thoroughly recommend them to those Outlines;" but we would remind who can use all who do use them, that "what we borrow from another must be born again in our own minds, before we can call it our own." THE REFLEX BENEFITS OF MISSIONARY EFFORT. By the Rev. John C. Miller, D.D. London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday. A sermon worthy of its topic. Those who do not interest themselves in missionary work, either abroad or at home, sometimes cavil at what they consider "telescopic zeal," and say that we have eyes, and hearts, and hands, and purses, for Africa and Tahiti, but not for 66 the sunken masses of London or Birmingham." Dr. Miller's sermon appeals to facts which prove the contrary. He argues out, to demonstration, the opinion expressed by Bishop Harding,-"It were hard, perhaps, in some respects, to say which have been most benefited, the heathen through us, or we through them." ONCE AND THEN; or, Christ Suffering, and Christ Perfectly Glorified. By A. W. W. London: H. J. Tresidder. We would advise our readers to make this little book a closet companion for devotional purposes. It cannot be too widely circulated. Could it not be published in a still cheaper form, as a tract? RIPE FOR THE SICKLE; or, A brief Day, and a bright Sunset. With an Introductory Preface, by J. R. Macduff, D.D. London: James Nisbet and Co. These "Memorials of Mademoiselle Désirée Jallot" constitute a biographical gem; and the setting is worthy of the gem. CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. By the Rev. Edward Hoare, M.A. London: Hatchard and Co. A very difficult subject treated in a very able and Scriptural manner. We strongly recommend Mr. Hoare's Address to our readers. BAPTISMAL REGENERATION and the Final Perseverance of the Saints. A Letter of Bishop Davenant's. Translated from the Latin, by the Rev. J. Allport. London: W. Macintosh. A very valuable pamphlet. A vast deal of light is thrown upon the vexed question of Infant Baptism. Bishop Davenant concludes with Cassander (De Bapt. Infant.), that “regeneration is to be regarded far otherwise in infants than in adults." Mr. Allport has done good service in his translation of this Letter. "IN HEAVEN:" Glimpses of the Life and Happiness of the Glorified. London: W.Kent and Co. A compilation from the works of several able writers. We notice the names of Dr. Winslow, John Angell James, and John Stoughton. THE PASTOR AND THE PARISH; or, The Minister as Preacher, Pastor, Catechist, &c. By John B. Heard, M.A., Perpetual Curate of Bilton, Harrogate. London: S. W. Partridge. This is a Prize Essay. The award of One Hundred Guineas to the writer was made by Canon Miller, Dr. Sidney Smith, and the Rev. W. Pennefather. The work does not therefore require our criticism: but if our reference to it should extend its circulation amongst the younger clergy, we shall be thankful. It abounds with practical suggestions, and is rich in biographical reminiscences. [We have received an "Illuminating Colour Box" from Mr. Beal, 47, St. Paul's Churchyard. We cannot "review" this; but we can recommend it as the cheapest box of colours we have ever seen.] The Christian Home. A FIRESIDE HYMN. "In the evening, and morning, and at noon day will I pray, and that instantly; and He shall hear my voice."—Ps. lv. 18. TRIFLES. BY JOHN C. MILLER, D.D., BIRMINGHAM. "It is but the littleness of man that seeth no greatness in a trifle."-PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. WE are living in "sensational" times,-times of sensational paragraphs in our newspapers; sensational stories in our works of fiction; sensational pictures in our exhibitions; sensational dramas in our theatres; sensational risks of human life in our public entertainments; sensational sermons from our pulpits. Such times bring with them the danger of neglecting little things; ordinary duties and enjoyments. Nature teaches us, on every side, the greatness of little things. Dewdrops, raindrops, and snowflakes are little things, but great in their combined results. A paragraph in a recent number of The Times gives us the calculation of an inch of rainfall: "WHAT IS AN INCH OF RAIN?-The last weekly return of the Registrar-General gives the following interesting information in respect to rainfall:"Rain fell in London to the amount of 0.43 inches, which is equivalent to 43 tons of rain per acre. The rainfall during last week varied from 30 tons per acre in Edinburgh to 215 tons per acre in Glasgow. An English acre consists of 6,272,640 square inches; and an inch deep of rain on an acre yields 6,272,640 cubic inches of water, which at 277 274 cubic inches to the gallon makes 22, 622-5 gallons; and, as a gallon of distilled water weighs 10lb., the rainfall on an acre is 226, 225lb. avoirdupois; but 2,240lb. are a ton, and consequently an inch deep of rain weighs 100-993 tons, or nearly 101 tons per acre. For every 100th of an inch a ton of water falls per acre.' If any agriculturist were to try the experiment of distributing artificially that which nature so bountifully supplies, he would soon feel inclined to 'rest and be thankful.'" Coral, in all the exquisite delicacy of its structure and in all the beauty of its form, is made up of the united strong cells or habitations of countless little insects. We are going to talk to our readers, not sensationally, but of little things. And I. Of little things in God's dealings. "God hangs great weights upon slender wires." The histories of Scripture abound in illustrations of this saying. The earliest incidents of Israel's history are intertwined with Jacob's partiality for Joseph, with the "coat of many colours," with Joseph's dreams, and the consequent envy of his brethren. Saul's lot and the election of the first king turned upon the loss of a herd of asses; David's greatness, upon the sending of a few cheeses to his brethren in the camp; Naaman's bodily cure and soul's salvation, upon the captivity of a Jewish maid; the deliverance of the Jewish nation from extinction, under the maliginity of Haman, upon the contumaciousness of Vashti and the beauty of Esther. In England, the great Reformation hinged, in some measure, upon a trifle. Henry VIII. had had his scruples about his marriage, as minor, with his brother Arthur's widow; and, when he came of age, had lodged his protest with the Bishop of Winchester. But, when he came to the throne, he was re-married to her, and she was crowned. His passion for Anne Boleyn proved more powerful than his qualms of conscience, and was a main link in the well-known chain of after results, momentous in their bearing upon the Reformation. So thought Shakspeare "Chamberlain. It seems his marriage with his brother's wife has crept too near his conscience. "Suffolk. No, his conscience has crept too near another lady." Henry VIII., Act II. sc. 2. Another poet writes of him"And gospel light first beamed from Boleyn's eyes" Luther had been two years at Erfurth. He took down many of the books from their dusty hiding-places. Among them, THE BIBLE. "In that Bible," writes D'Aubigné, "the Reformation lay hid." What book stands next to the Book of |