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Worldly honours often have no relation to character, while the honour that comes from God is usually more within a man than upon him.2, Worldly honours lead to pride, while the honour which is of God has humility.—3, Worldly honours are unsatisfying, and tend to promote selfishness, while the honour which is from God is filled with peace and benevolence.-4, Worldly honours are temporary and perishing, while the honour which comes from God abides for ever. JOSHUA VIII, 1.-I. The necessity of freedom from fear. I, Confidence is necessary for active warfare; 2, Confidence is necessary for successful work; 3, Confidence is necessary for patient endurance; 4, Confidence is necessary for spiritual growth.-II. The ground of freedom from fear, "I have given," &c. 1, There is no other ground sufficiently philosophical; 2, There is no other ground sufficiently pleasing 3, There is no other ground sufficiently precious; 4, There is no other ground sufficiently proved.-III. The encouragements to freedom from fear. 1, There is error to be vanquished; 2, There is honour to be won; 3, There is reward to be gathered.

EXODUS VII, 4.-"My people: 1, Therefore God will hear their prayers; 2, therefore He will relieve their sorrows; 3, therefore He will free their souls; 4, therefore He will vindicate their right.

EXODUS V, 2.-I. Who is the Lord? 1, thy Creator; 2, thy benefactor; 3, thy Redeemer; 4, thy governor.-How may we hear His voice? I, in the works of Nature; 2, in the dispensations of providence; 3, in the warnings of conscience; 4, in the Bible.

ISA. XL, 3-5.—1, The state of the world at Christ's coming; 2, the preparation of His coming; 3, the manner and effect of His coming. THE PLATFORM.

THE PASSING BELL.

Its sound, so familiar to our ear, tells of the ending of a life. 1.-Life's activities are ended.-The hands that have wrought, the brain that has pondered, the feet that have trodden the busy ways of the city, all these have ceased their work, and the frame that bore many burdens, becomes itself a burden, and has to be carried to the grave. The night has come when no man can work. 2.-Life's troubles are ended." Born to trouble."

"Now the languishing head is at rest,

Its thinking and aching are o'er;

This quiet immovable breast,

Is heaved by affliction no more.
This heart is no longer the seat
Of trouble and torturing pain:
It ceases to flutter and beat,—
It never will flutter again."

3.-The bell speaks of bereavement.-Some are left behind-to mourn; to "sigh for the touch of a vanished hand," to hope,-perhaps to despair.

4.-It tells of a soul's entrance into eternity.—" Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."

REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES.

INTERESTING as Mr. Gough's "Autobiography" proved, his latest work is, if possible, still more so, and we hail Mr. Dickinson's cheap re-issue with much satisfaction (1). There are thirty-seven chapters, containing over 320 pages, every one of which contains matter that we should like to quote, containing, as it does, personal experiences and opinions, incidents and reminiscences, gathered from thirty-seven years' experience on the platform. The book could not fail to present hundreds of terse and telling anecdotes, of which it contains an almost inexhaustible variety.

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Of thoughtful and suggestive sermons we have some admirable specimens in the volume issued by Dr. Bevan, formerly minister of Tottenham Court Road Tabernacle, and now of New York (2). The subjects dealt with are "Religion and the Cultivation of the Intellect; "The Study of Science;" "Religion and Law;" "The Art of Healing; " "Religion and Art;" "Religious and Irreligious Theology;" and "Religion and Life," each topic being handled in a style which shows what an English congregation lost and an American one gained when Dr. Bevan removed from London to the United States.

In the "Logic of Christian Evidences," we have an old subject presented with a degree of freshness which almost makes the topic new (3). The book is essentially one for the studious; a superficial reader will derive neither pleasure nor profit from it; but any young preacher with a fair amount of intelligence, and with a real determination to master the subject before him, will find Mr. Wright's work exceedingly well adapted to give him sound and clear views on many important points connected with modern theological discussion. We have often had to thank Mr. Dickinson for his admirable reprints of American works, but we do not, at this moment, remember one that has more forcibly reminded us of our indebtedness to that gentleman (1) "Sunlight and Shadow; or, Gleanings from my Life Work." By John B.. Gough. Price 3s. London: R. D. Dickinson, 89, Farringdon-street.

(2) "Sermons to Students and Thoughtful Persons." By Llewellyn D. Bevan, LL.D., D.D. Price 2s. 6d. London: R. D. Dickinson.

(3) "The Logic of Christian Evidences." By G. Frederick Wright. Price 3s. 6d. London: R. D. Dickinson.

than the present volume. Notes and a carefully prepared index add considerably to its value.

That so eminent a man as the late Dr. Punshon will be suffered to pass away without some permanent memorial in the form of a complete biography can hardly be expected. Meanwhile, every one who admired his character and genius, and who loved him for his work's sake—and thousands did so outside the particular denomination to which he belonged-will be glad to welcome Mr. Longley's cheap volume (4). The sketch of Dr. Punshon's career is necessarily brief, but it contains, we believe, the main facts of his public life, and more could not well be expected in so small a volume. The sermons and lectures selected for publication are thoroughly representative of the style which rendered the deceased preacher so famous; and when we say that among the lectures are those on (6 Wesley and his Times," "Daniel in Babylon," and "Florence and the Florentines," readers will at once recognise the service which the publisher has done by placing such specimens of elegant oratory within their reach at so nominal a price.

The first two parts of the new issue of Dr. Clarke's Commentary have reached us. (London: Ward and Locke, Salisbury-square.) The brief memoir of the author somewhat disappointed us, but prefatory notes on Genesis show that the Rev. Thornley Smith had done his part well, and will fully bring this important work up to the present standard of Biblical knowledge. The general preface, which occupies upwards of forty pages, is peculiarly interesting in view of the modern revision of the English version of the Scriptures, the more especially as it contains a full account of the preparation and publication of the authorised version. The "Commentary" is to be completed in thirty-nine monthly shilling parts, forming in all six volumes of above a thousand pages each, and the method of publishing brings the work within the reach of every local preacher in the country.

The same publishers have sent us Part 7 of their "Universal Instructor," containing lessons in arithmetic, astronomy, botany, chemistry, grammar (English and French), geography, geology, history, German, Latin, music, &c. Any young man who takes up one or two of these subjects, and pursues them steadily during his leisure hours, may speedily lay the foundation for a fair education.

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Part 15 of the "New Testament Commentary for English readers (London: Cassell), carries us to the end of John vii., and Part 7 of the "Popular Educator," issued by the same firm, complete the first volume, and gives a large instalment of the second of that valuable work.

(4) "W. Morley Punshon, Preacher and Orator." Longley, 39, Warwick-lane, E.C.

Price Is. London: F. E.

ANECDOTES.

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HOW TO HELP THE MEMORY.-"I don't know," said a gentleman to Andrew Fuller, "how it is that I can remember your sermons better than those of any other minister; but such is the fact." "I cannot tell," replied Mr. Fuller, "unless it be owing to simplicity of arrangement. I pay particular attention to this part of composition, always placing things together that are related to each other, and that naturally follow each other in succession. For instance, suppose I were to say to my servant, Betty, you must go and buy some butter, and starch, and cream, and soap, and tea, and blue, and sugar, and cakes,' Betty would be very apt to say, 'Master, I shall never be able to remember all these.' But suppose I were to say, 'Betty, you know that your mistress is going to have some friends to tea to-morrow, and that you are going to wash the day following; and that for the teaparty you will want tea, and sugar, and cream, and cakes, and butter, and for the washing you will want soap, and starch, and blue,' Betty would instantly reply, 'Yes, master, I can now remember them all very well.'"

A SIGNIFICANT OMISSION.-Many years ago, at a time when infidelity was rife on the continent, and when Voltaire had filled the minds of men with blasphemies, it was ironically asked, "where is Nineveh, that great city of three days' journey?" The answer to that question has been given within the memory of many now living. An enterprising traveller (late English ambassador at Constantinople, Sir H. A. Layard) dug down and down into the sandheap that covered the reported site, until at last Nineveh in all its ruined magnificence was disclosed to view. But Rawlinson, the great oriental traveller, did more than this. He found out the meaning of the hieroglyphics inscribed on the walls of the buried city, and from the records on its stones was enabled to have the whole history of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. There was, however, one particular fact omitted in the stone history. The reason for that omission may be found in 2 Kings, xix, 32, 33: "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the King of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord." Although Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judæa, and that fact is recorded, his failure to take Jerusalem is passed over. God, as appears in the Bible, sent forth His angel and destroyed his army; and the king went back ashamed

to tell of his defeat.

ROOM FOR ONE.-Frankfort-on-the-Maine was formerly used as the place where the Emperors of Germany were crowned. The place contains a large town-hall, which has in it a banqueting-room, the walls of which are decorated with the portraits of the Emperors of Germany. For nearly a thousand years Germany was ruled over by Emperors; and as each monarch died, his portrait was placed in one of the vacant spaces on the wall. Gradually the vacant places diminished; and in 1705 there were only seven such spaces left. In 1792, Leopold II. died, and when his portrait was added to those of his predecessors, there remained only room for one. This empire, which had stood for

so many centuries, seemed likely enough to last for many more; but when Napoleon the Great rose to power he subdued Germany, and determined that Francis II., who was then living, should be its last Emperor. His portrait was put in the vacant place, and the title of Emperor of Germany was lost.

BELIEF TRUST,-In listening to a lecture on chemistry I heard it explained how it happened that water, if spilt on a bar of hot iron, would spread upon it and instantly dry up; but if the bar were much hotter it would form into a globule and run off; and this was said to be the spheroidal condition of liquids. Many experiments were shown, and we were all convinced of the truth of what was advanced. In one experiment, the lecturer's assistant having dipped his hands into a certain liquid, plunged them immediately thereafter into molten lead and took out a handful of it, thereby showing very strikingly the truth of the theory. At the end of the lecture a number of us went up to the lecture table and looked at the molten lead, and we were invited to try the experiment. For my part I was quite convinced of the truth of the doctrine of the spheroidal condition of liquids; but the molten lead looked remarkably hot, and I could not bring myself to plunge in my hand, merely after dipping it in the liquid. I thought, however, this is very absurd; for it must be either true or untrue. If true, my hand cannot be hurt; if not true, what has the lecture been about? and how did the experimenter escape? But I was convinced of the truth of it, and that the experimenter had bona fide plunged his hand with no covering on it but the moisture from the liquid. But still I could not do it. At last I thought I would try. So I dipped my little finger into the liquid, and then suddenly plunged it into the molten lead, and immediately pulled it out again, when I felt my finger even colder than before. After that I could trust my whole hand. A fellow student standing beside me, said, "Well, I believe and understand all about the spheroidal condition of fluids, and I believe that the lead would not injure me; but I can't do it." In this I think we have a simple and striking illustration. Many believe, but dare not trust their belief.

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