Where the aggressive spirit of Christianity is wanting, there will, of course, be the want of a daily and constant reference to some of the noblest aims of the Gospel, as well as to some of the most grave and pressing demands of the Saviour. The mind is confined in its range, takes a limited view of the Gospel dispensation, beholds not the grandeur, loftiness, and broad expanse of the great system in which the Christian finds the grounds of his faith, the principles of his character, and the elements of his peace and hope. The ear of the inner man

listens not to the loud and clear tones in which the blessed Jesus calls upon every believer to sound the invitations of the Gospel. The prayers which are offered at the throne of grace, in the all-prevalent name of Jesus, for the coming of his kingdom, cannot, in the absence of the aggressive spirit of Christianity, breathe the warmth and earnestness which pertain to believing prayer. There is much spiritual loss sustained. Leanness of soul is felt and exhibited where the spirit is not realized and exemplified. Piety in such possessors is at a low ebb; hence we see in them inconstancy, much mysteriousness of character, and great inconsistency in their general deportment.

Without an aggressive spirit the Christian Church never did prosper, and never can. The absence of such a spirit produces feebleness and languor in the Church. Just as the Church has made inroads on the territories of sin and Satan, has she lifted up her head, and appeared fair, clear and powerful. But because this spirit is not seen and felt in our large towns, our Churches appear weak and prostrate. While the representatives of the popery of Rome and Oxford are straining every nerve to proselyte-while the lovers of pleasure, and gain, and ambition, in the all but numberless walks of dissipation, and commerce, and politics, and art, and science, are urging their career with vigour, and earnestness, and success, where, oh where are our Churches in the towns

of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and other counties-the Churches on which God has lavished the gifts of his providence and grace? Alas, alas! they are not holding forth their light as a blazing torch amid the darkness that surrounds them. They are not pushing their conquests. They want that comprehensiveness of thought, that expansion of heart, that depth of feeling, that anxiety of desire, and that activity of effort, which are ever associated with the principle of aggression.

We stand appalled at the thought of some officers and members, that in our large towns are to be seen in our chapels, who cannot think of any in heaven sent there through their instrumentality. Nor can they rest their eyes on persons in our congre. gations whom they have induced to become hearers, seat-holders, or members. We tremble as we write these lines. The absorbing thought with us at this moment is, men and women are perishing, who reside within a few yards of our chapels in our towns. Some chapels are not half occupied. And yet our people assemble and re-assemble; they listen, sing and pray, without realizing the thought that their townsmen are perishing. We hold our religion not only for our own good, but for the good of others. How few clearly perceive and powerfully feel this! Oh, the aggressive spirit must Christianize our Churches in the towns where we exist, before our Churches can Christianize the population of those towns.

Officers, members, and friends of our body! complain no longer of the smallness of our congregations, and the languishing state of our societies in our large towns. The language of complaint has been heard long enough. Resolve to take action. Make direct efforts to rescue your townsmen from the thraldom of sin. Put forth strenuous endeavours to lead them to Christ. To bring men to Christ, to introduce them to him, is the great design of that principle of aggression the want of which we deplore. Let us never forget it. Let all our prayers and efforts be concentrated on this important design.

Contemplate your responsibility in relation to this object. Do you know Christ? That very knowledge is imparted to you by the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of enabling you to communicate it to others. Oh that we could produce a conviction on this subject in some measure adequate to its magnitude! Your responsibility arises from your knowledge of the remedy-from the adaptation of that remedy to the teeming populations of our townsfrom your obligation to make it known-and from the direct appointment of Him who is the Physician of souls.

We would now remind you of your opportunities of acting on this responsibility. No man was ever disposed to do good who did not find ample opportunities to do it. However confined his sphere of influence, however limited his moral and physical powers, however little he was able to effect, no man ever honestly and sincerely felt the disposition to do good who did not effect it. And you have opportunities, opportunities of a personal and local character, in relation to your own direct and immediate exertions. The poor as well as the rich have opportunities of spiritually benefiting others.

But God has appointed, in order to promote these opportunities, Christian fellowship, the union of believers with each other, for the very purpose of acting out this influence.

QUERY. ON CHRIST DELIVERING UP THE MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM.-1 Cor. xv. 24-28.

REV. AND DEAR SIR,-I have read with great pleasure and satisfaction many of the queries and answers in your valuable publication; and feeling assured that you are ever ready to render a service to your readers, I shall esteem it a favour if you will explain 1 Cor. xv. 24-28, where the apostle says, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign until he hath put all

Why are Churches formed? Why is the Sabbath appointed? Why do you meet from time to time for social prayer? What is the great and ultimate result of all your social and public meetings? You reply, and justly, our personal and social welfare. But does the matter rest there? You are united in order to increase your moral power on the adjacent locality, to widen that fulcrum on which to rest a lever to move the thousands around you. Every Christian, therefore, should regard the Church as appointed for this great and important end, to make aggressions on the kingdom of darkness, and to lead sinners to Christ. Oh that we had more sanctified energy, more of holy zeal, more of an intrepid and honest determination to confess the Saviour whenever we have the means and opportunities of directing others to him as the Great Physician! This is not the time for our Churches to slumber. We must either succeed in our towns or sustain defeat. Of ourselves we cannot succeed. But God is in our midst. It is His will that success should mark our course. Let us all, then, preachers and people, consecrate ourselves afresh to the service of Christ, in the conversion of our townsmen to Him. Let us believe, act, and wait, as servants that are looking for their Lord's second and final advent. September 2, 1852.

ANSWER.

enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

Yours, &c.
Y. F.
Alnwick, April 15th, 1852.

ANSWER. In this passage there are two points requiring explanation,

namely, Christ's "delivering up the kingdom," and his being " subject to the Father." The kingdom referred to is not the universal dominion of our Lord, but the mediatorial kingdom, or, in other words, the dispensation of grace. It is of this, and of this only, that the apostle is speaking. This kingdom, from its nature and object, must be of temporary duration. It was undertaken for certain purposes, and when those purposes are accomplished it ceases to exist. When our Lord engaged to be our Saviour, the dispensation of grace was committed into his hands. As the Saviour of the world, and mediator of the new covenant, he was to redeem mankind, bruise the serpent's head, destroy the power of death, and accomplish all things pertaining to his office. The apostle, in the passage before us, is looking forward to this consummation; he is discoursing upon the resurrection of the dead, and the events which finish the work of Christ. At this solemn period the resurrection having passed, and death, the last enemy, destroyed; the proceedings of Judgment having closed; devils and impenitent sinners being cast out; the whole Church of God being glorified-the dispensation of grace will end. Then the Lord Jesus will resign his charge-will put off his priestly robes, and lay down the sceptre of his mediatorial government. That is, there being no more souls to save, no more enemies to subdue, no more triumphs to obtain, no more purposes to accomplish, his mediatorial offices will naturally cease. The Jewish economy ceased when, as a typical and introductory dispensation, its objects were answered by the death of Christ; and when the Christian economy has fulfilled its purpose, it will give place to a still brighter, more perfect, and glorious dispensation.

The phrase, "Then shall the Son also himself be subject to him that did put all things under him," refers, we believe, to the official act of his resigning the kingdom. It is only another form of expressing the same event. In his receiving that kingdom,

he assumed a subordinate position, and his resigning it is a recognition of that official subordination, and thus the union of purpose, of will, of affection, and glory between the persons of the Godhead is manifested and proclaimed before all angels and happy spirits. That this subjection implies merely a putting off of his official character is evident from the fact, that the attributes and perfections of divinity which are essential, are everywhere ascribed to him in the word of God, as may be fully proved; and also from the fact that the same glory and homage are ascribed to him after the termination of the mediatorial kingdom as during its continuance. At present, while our Lord sustains his mediatorial office, the whole host of heaven are described as worshipping him, saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory be unto the Lamb FOR EVER; and after laying aside that office when the transactions of the day of judgment are passed, and the whole Church of God are congregated in the New Jerusalem, the Lamb is still prophetically described as the Light of Heaven and the Glory of the Eternal City. Thus it is evident that in this divine nature he must for ever exist in indissoluble union with the Father and the Spirit, governing all worlds, and receiving the homage of angels and men.

The phrase, “That God may be all in all,” implies, as we conceive, that the glory of the Triune God shall be yet more fully and perfectly revealed, after the close of the mediatorial kingdom. In the twenty-fourth verse the apostle speaks of God, even the Father, thus distinguishing him from the Son and Spirit, as the person to whom the kingdom is to be delivered; but here, in the twenty-ninth verse, he makes no such distinction. This phrase, therefore, admits the whole Trinity, and seems to designate a new era, and a new dispensation, when, without mediation or intercession, we shall have more direct and immediate intercourse with God, and brighter discoveries of his glory.

PASTORAL THEOLOGY. The Theory of a Gospel Ministry. By A. VINET, Professor of Theology at Lausanne. Translated from the French. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clarke. London: Hamilton and Adams.

The volume before us contains the substance of a course of lectures which the pious and gifted author had prepared for delivery to the students of the academy at Lausanne. The general topic is "the Christian ministry," its nature, its duties, its difficulties, and its mode.

In the discussion of these topics, the author enters upon almost every practical question that can be conceived of as connected with the ministry. The work, it appears, was not prepared for the press as left by the author; but nevertheless there is a finish about it indicating the action of a thoughtful mind, a careful hand, and a sanctified heart. The publishers have done well to rescue these precious remains from oblivion. Strong sense, penetrating sagacity, and genuine learning, are manifest in every topic; and from the whole, both the student and the ordinary minister may gather many wise practical lessons on the duties and responsibilities of an office which, of all others, is the most solemn and important.

ECCLESIASTICAL MANUAL; or, Scriptural Church Government Stated and Defended. By LUTHER LEE, Minister of the Gospel. 12mo. Pp. 264. New York: Published at the Wesleyan Metho. dist Book-room.

THE REVIVAL MANUAL. BY LUTHER LEE, Minister of the Gospel. 18mo. Pp. 108. New York: Published at the Wesleyan Methodist Book-room.

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. BY LUTHER LEE.

The author of the three works now before us is a talented and laborious minister of the Wesleyan Methodists of America-a denomination almost identical with our own in Church government. For about nine years Mr. Lee sustained the office of editor of the True Wesleyan Newspaper and the Juvenile Magazine, both of which have an extensive circulation in the United States of America. In the three works now before us, Mr. Lee displays a grasp of thought and a power of argument

above the common order; and these mental qualities are directed, controlled and sanctified, by a supreme and unremitting regard to the spiritual interests of mankind. Diversified as are the topics presented in these volumes, the author seems quite at home on each, and his disquisitions and arguments are distinguished by clearness of perception, soundness of judgment, and cogency of reasoning.

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; or, Negro Life in the Slave States of America. By HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. With Forty Illustrations. Octavo. Pp. 380. London: C. H. Clarke, 148, Fleet-street.

This remarkable book has already passed through many large editions in this country, and continues to be demanded in a greater ratio than what the publisher has been able to supply them to the trade. The copy before us is a new edition, in octavo size, superbly got up, and enriched with forty superior engravings. Here the skill of the artist combines with the descriptive powers of the author, to delineate and pourtray some of those touching scenes and incidents which impart to this work its unparalleled interest. While the engravings clearly indicate the hand of a master in their execution, they are remarkably felicitous in the sentiments pourtrayed. Selfishness and benevolence, malignity and meekness, tenderness and heroism, cruelty and benignity, refinement and degradation, beastly sensuality and angelic spirituality, suicidal despair and the martyr's triumph-each finds a graphic representation in these artistic sketches, adding beauty and interest to a work which, of the kind, has had no parallel in modern times.

SCRIPTURE TEACHER'S ASSISTANT. With Explanations and Lessons. Designed for Sunday-schools and Families. By HENRY ALTHANS. 18mo. Pp. 164. London: Edward Butt, 60, Paternoster

row.

This work contains 160 Scripture subjects, with doctrinal and practical lessons, from the New and Old Testament. The former portion of this work is devoted to a sketch of the life of Christ, in fifty-two divisions, each sufficiently long for one lesson; and the remainder to an outline of Scripture

history, commencing with Genesis, and including subjects from the Books of Psalms, Proverbs, and the Prophets, in 108 divisions. The facts and lessons constitute a course of scriptural instruction which children from seven to twelve years of age are capable of receiving and understanding; and with which, if carefully taught by the method proposed, they can become thoroughly acquainted. The language and style have been carefully adapted to the capacities and previous attainments of scholars in Scripture-classes generally.

FIRE-SIDE HARMONY; or, Domestic Recreation in Part Singing. By HELEN S. HERSCHELL. Third Edition. London: Partridge and Oakey, 34, Paternoster

row.

Nothing contributes more to social virtue and happiness than the attractions of home, and innocent recreations which render home attractive deserve encouragement. The union of voices in which the members of the same family take their respective parts presents an emblem of the harmony which should ever reign under the domestic roof, and contributes to promote that desirable result. This is the praiseworthy object of the author in her "Fire-side Harmony."

A

SCRIPTURE MAPS. Published by B. L. Green, Paternoster-row, London. Map of Palestine in the Time of our Saviour, illustrating the New Testament.

A Map of the Countries mentioned in the New Testament, designed especially to Illustrate the Travels of the Apostle Paul.

These maps are very good for the use of teachers and elder scholars in studying the New Testament history. They are clear and well defined, and, while containing the name and position of every important place mentioned in the New Testament, they are free from that bewilderment and confusion which result from the surface being overcrowded with a multitude of names.

BLIND ALICE. By AUNT RETTY. 18mo, pp. 120. London: B. L. Green, Paternoster-row.

This is a cheap edition of an excellent little work, forming one of the series published some time ago by Mr. B. L. Green. It appears that the entire series of these beautiful books are now being reprinted by Mr. Green, and sold at half the original price; yet the paper, the print, and the general getting up of the books, are all good.

RIVAL CLAIMS; or, the Teachings of Truth on Common Subjects. By the Rev. J. P. HEWLETT. 12mo. Pp. 188. London: B. L. Green, Paternoster-row.

These essays are designed to illustrate the impressive declaration of our Lord, that "a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." It is the main object of the writer to furnish young persons with such considerations as may enable them to detect worldly fallacies, and incline them, with all joy and gratitude, to receive the substantial blessings of true religion.

A FORM OF BAPTISMAL SELF-DEDICATION TO GOD. By the Hon. and Rev. B. W. NOEL, M.A. 48mo. Pp. 16. London: B. L. Green, Paternoster

row.

THE PAPAL WORLD. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Pp. 8. London: B. L. Green, Paternoster-row.

The design of these little books is to convey, in simple language, a correct knowledge of Popery to children. We have made an extract from one for the present number of the "Juvenile Instructor;" and from this specimen our readers may judge of the character and tendency of the work.

MONTHLY SERIES. DUBLIN: a Historical Sketch of Ireland's Metropolis. 18mo. Pp. 192. London: the Religious Tract Society, 56, Paternoster-row.

This little volume gives an account of the rise, progress and present condition of a city which rules and graces one of the finest bays of the ocean-the metropolis of a country fraught with natural resources beyond what many others possess, and peopled by a race proverbial for intelligence and hospitality. At a time when the physical, intellectual and spiritual condition of Ireland is engaging so much public attention, a work like the present will be welcomed by thousands in this country and in Ireland.

MONTHLY SERIES. THE JESUITS: a Historical Sketch. 18mo. Pp. 192. London: Religious Tract Society, 56, Paternoster-row.

A seasonable production, giving an historical sketch of a class of men of all others the most deceitful, the most destitute of conscience, of moral principle, of every sentiment which lies at the foundation of religion, virtue, and the social welfare of mankind-a class which ought forthwith to be banished from our shores. The facts here furnished are drawn almost exclusively from Papal