least colour a man's religion, it must affect its tone, whether he believes in there being but one Church, even visibly, one set of forms in which spiritual truths can be efficaciously embodied, one ecclesiastical constitution which is promised to be the channel of supernatural grace or whether he believes that the Church of Christ on earth has no visible definite boundaries, and was not intended to have such; that the forms in which truths should be embodied may and must be variable; that no particular ecclesiastical constitution has been divinely prescribed, but that any which is for good is of God.

"It surely must exercise a perceptible, if not an appreciable, influence on the private Christian's feelings, whether he believes that there are any rites of his religion which can convey grace without intervention of the faculties of man: and that there is between him and the one Mediator between God and men a fallible mediatorial order, with gifts neither ordinary nor supernatural, influential but invisible in their effects; and that through these rites and this order only he can be in nearest relationship to God: or whether he believes that the Church itself is the one Sacramental medium between heaven and earth, and that within this all improvement in his own spiritual state, while it comes to him of the mere mercy of God, comes also through the voluntary exercise of such faculties as are human, and though through the mysterious, yet not through the arbitrary, influences of the Holy Ghost: and that there is no mediatorial order, but only a ministerial, in the Christian Church: that there are no castes of any kind in Christianity, and that the only distinction of the clergy should be that they should be more like Christ than their brethren." (P. 148.)

"Give to primitive forms or traditions, or those of any age or ages, a character of universal obligation, or consider any ecclesiastical institutions as of essential

sacredness, and we at once cramp the energies, and confine the capabilities of the Church of Christ. By fixing the forms of a particular period, however dated, we make the Church the product of a single age: and by making it immutable, we prevent it from being Catholic. But considering nothing but principles as its laws, and the regeneration of man through the exhibition of the idea of God in Christ as its aim, and that all things necessary for salvation are written substantially intelligibly in that which professes to be the New Covenant and last Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ-then in all matters of the Church's earthly and outward existence, there is conferred upon it to all time the power of extension and self-adjustment; whenever its scheme of means for the edification of its members becomes impaired it may thus be restored; when its practical administration becomes corrupt it may thus be efficiently corrected. And this is an invaluable condition of its life, the only one perhaps which could fit it for indefinite duration and universal dominion: but thus, in a state in which change seems a necessity and growth a probability, there is provided an ample security for its permanence in its unlimited power of progression." (P. 149.)

The length of these extracts precludes us from doing more at this time than commend them to our readers as the experience of one who had no connection with our particular section of the Church, but who, from a different standpoint, had been led to see the immense importance of the trumpet giving no uncertain sound in relation to the constitution of the Church of Christ, and the danger of introducing into it the antiChristian notion of a human priesthood, or of a priestly caste, which must ever be destructive of the equality of spiritual privilege belonging to all believers.

EDITOR.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST.*

THE unusually large and rapid circulation of Farrar's "Life of Christ," seems to indicate at once that its publication was timely, and that the work is executed in a very interesting manner. The publishers to whom we owe the idea of the book have been happy in their choice of a writer who can be learned without being tedious, and attractive without being shallow happier still has it been for a large circle of readers that the work undertaken as a commission, became in Dr. Farrar's hands a solemn undertaking, and a labour of love.

Many must have been touched by the allusion in the Preface to the "deep and constant happiness" felt by the author" during almost every hour that has been spent upon it"; and numbers of his readers have experienced something of the same delight, as they have passed as it were with a new companion over familiar ground; sharing his enthusiasm, and learning from him to see the objects of their love and reverence in a new and striking light. Those who have travelled in the East assure us that, while they have experienced some disappointment as to the religious emotions excited by the scenes read of in Scripture, they have nevertheless been able to realize in a manner unknown before the human life of our Saviour; the very fatigues and incidents of such a journey tending, however unfavourable at the time to devotion, to bring before them His actual contact with the outward world while a thousand minor objects connected with Eastern

*The Life of Christ. By Frederic W, Farrar, D.D., F.R.S.

;

life, too small to be noted in books, are constantly presenting themselves to their attention, and giving fresh meaning to many allusions in the Bible. A similar experience has been felt by many "an untravelled traveller at home" in reading Farrar's "Life of Christ." The connected character of the narrative, and the vivid picturesqueness of the style, together with the abundance of information and illustrative matter, produce a very different impression from that left by the perusal of any ordinary commentary, and give the reader something of the feeling of having now seen that of which he had only read before.

And herein lies the especial value of the book. The fresh sense it gives of the historic reality of the life, and of the human presence of the Saviour, is strengthening and reassuring to many minds, which, though not really shaken as to the foundations of their faith, have been troubled by the doubts of others, and half afraid what might be taken away from them in these days of ruthless inquiry and research. This Life of Christ has not been written, like those of Neander and Pressensé, with the special object of answering objections and confuting errors. But it seems in a more natural and simple manner to work towards the same end. Most of us have perhaps sometimes wished that we could forget our early acquaintance with the New Testament, so as to taste in all its freshness the first novelty of its impressions. It is high praise to Farrar to say, that his book produces a little of the desired effect, and many a devout heart has, we doubt not, been quickened by its pages into a fresh glow of faith and love, and there are others to whom its perusal may render very important service. In the literature of the day there are many passing allusions inimical to the Christian faith, which have an influence on those who are themselves quite unqualified for the work of the philosopher or the student, and who are

but little acquainted with the arguments on the other side, and even with ordinary religious books.

Such as these will be attracted by this new form of the "Old Story," confirmed by it in the faith of their childhood, and led to take a deeper interest in the intelligent study of the Bible.

The book will be useful to another and very different class to young and ardent Christians who, in these days of fervent religious life, are in some danger of becoming absorbed in the emotional part of religion. Not that they forget its practical side, for nearly all of them are engaged in Christian work; but even in the midst of this it is possible to overlook the need of lowly walking, and of bringing forth fruit with patience. The study of our Saviour's life on earth is a corrective for any such tendency as this, serving, as it must, to quicken true self-denying devotion and zeal, and yet gently to dispel the illusion of those

"Who dream of celestial rewards and renown,

Who grasp at the triumph that blesses the brave"

without thinking enough of the hidden life of faith, and of the patient continuance in well-doing, which are needful for those who would walk in the footsteps of their Lord.

One reason of the vivid, we may say the stereoscopic, effect of this picture of the life of Christ is doubtless to be found in the combination of the four Gospel narratives. To attempt this kind of harmony is no new thing, and yet it is surprising how little notion of the sequence of events is retained even by those who have partially studied the subject; and how habitually we read each Gospel without thinking at the time of what is supplied by the rest. A clearer grasp of the history as a whole would certainly be an advantage; but, when we come to details, the difficulty of making a complete harmony presents itself, and it