boiling water, and therefore higher than any living organism could endure, and that he had then hermetically sealed the vessel in which the fluid was boiled, and on opening it after the lapse of some minutes had found in it living organisms of a low type. These experiments are considered to prove that there is such a thing as spontaneous generation or a biogenesis, and they probably do establish the fact that dead matter may be artificially brought into a state receptive of life, nor can this be considered wonderful, for regarding life as a spiritual force, it would be as absurd to suppose that it could be excluded by baking, boiling, or hermetically sealing, as it would be to dream, with the wise men of Gotham, of keeping out the cholera by a hedge. Three evening lectures, two agreeable soirees, an organ recital, and numerous excursions were included in the programme of the meeting, in our account of which we have been thus minute, because we believe New Churchmen generally are unaware of the excellent field afforded them by the British Association for bringing forward their views in well-considered and scientifically accurate papers. Next year the Association meets at Brighton on August 14th, under the presidency of Dr. Carpenter.

T. W. B.

Review.

THE PENTATEUCH ACCORDING TO THE TALMUD, IN HEBREW AND ENGLISH. By P. J. HERSHON and the Rev. Dr. M. MARGOLIOUTH.

ALTHOUGH this work is still in the press, and only known to us by a prospectus and preliminary notices, we wish to call the attention of our readers to its near appearance. The simplest among us must be aware of the fact that the Jews had made the Word of God of none effect by their tradition. But no one can pretend to estimate the modes by which they perverted it, nor the extent to which they carried their perversion, without considerable acquaintance with later Jewish literature. The Talmud, from its very nature, as the grand storehouse of Jewish tradition, is especially the work in which we should expect to find the most genuine and instructive examples of this systematic perversion. It is a meritorious labour of Mr. Hershon to lay before us the whole Pentateuch in a fashion that exhibits each passage of the text that is cited in the Talmud, and follows it up immediately by the special distortion to which Talmudical exposition has submitted it. This confronting of two such diverse witnesses renders his work a fitting instrument for the conversion of that portion of the Jews which the blind reverence for the Talmud does so much to keep in rayless darkness. This missionary use is the proximate object of the undertaking, and hence it is that Mr. Hershon has composed his work in Hebrew-the Jews, in their dispersion, being more widely accessible through that language; and hence Dr. Margoliouth's accompanying translation is needed to place it within the reach of mere English readers. The recent cold and wholly partisan view of the Talmud which appeared in the Quarterly Review has rendered it highly desirable that many Christians also should have such a reliable means of seeing the other side of the tapestry with their own eyes.

Those who feel any interest in this work, either as aiding the conversion of the Jews or as elucidating to Christians the wonderful subtlety and yet blindness of Rabbinical theology, may obtain ample information from the Messrs. Bagster, who are to publish it. The work will go to press as soon as 300 subscribers are secured, and will be issued in parts, each part, with the translation, 3s. 6d.

N.

Miscellaneous.

ON THE BEST MEANS OF DISSEMINATING TRUTH.

To the sincere lover of truth, whose mind is penetrated with a deep sense of the transcendent value of the heavenly doctrines, it becomes a matter of deep interest to determine in what aspect he ought to present them to others, so as to obtain for them an impartial hearing and a cordial reception. In the effort to do this we must bear in mind that most religious people have been trained to believe that spiritual truth, unlike scientific truth, is dogmatic chiefly; and that its evidences rest on authority rather than its own light; the result of which is that the perceptive faculty has not been trained in the same proportion to the perception of spiritual as of natural truth. In this state of mind they will necessarily measure true doctrine if presented to them by the standard of authority; and if we advance any doctrine as such, they will regard it as being our dogma only, and comparing it with their own it will be speedily rejected.

In a life's experience of more than half a century, during a large part of which it has been my constant effort to disseminate those heavenly truths almost indiscriminately, Ì may state that I have found that the most successful mode of introducing them to others is by stating at once that I belong to a church whose first teaching is, that by the New Jerusalem, predicted in the Revelation, is meant a new church or dispensation, which will not be limited by sect or party, but will include the God-fearing, the good and sincere of all religious communities; according to the teaching of the Apostle Peter, who had the heavenly vision of the sheet let down from heaven to teach him the broad catholic lesson that, "In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him;" of the Apostle Paul who teaches that "The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and he that in these things serveth Christ is accepted of God and approved of men ;" and of the Lord Himself who has taught the same doctrine: "And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me;" "He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out;" "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest; Many shall come from the east and the west, the north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God."

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Here then we have an exceedingly broad basis which prepares the mind for the insemination of the seeds of truth. Through this truth we can address ourselves, without antagonism to the creeds and the prejudices of men, to their consciences and rational perceptions. By adopting this mode I have found that, far from arousing prejudice, either against my religious views or personally against myself, numerous instances have arisen where animated conversations have resulted in earnest attention, and ended in warm and lasting friendships, even when the mind has not become fully receptive of the truth presented. Let any one try the experiment and see if it be not so.

Truth, to be truth, must be catholic, because it is derived from God, whose love is universal and impartial; and although men's minds are warped and narrowed by their hereditary creeds, yet there is a chord in every heart and mind which vibrates in harmony with that catholic truth, when it is not struck rudely, but with gentleness and love. Let us be more earnest to present the doctrine of life than of belief merely. Let us place foremost the grand fundamental doctrine of USE, as being the one law of the outward creation and of internal happiness and peace; because if we succeed in awakening and winning the affection for goodness, it is easy to shew that that only is true which tends to goodness, and which points to the Lord the fountain of goodness.

Another suggestion, as bearing upon this subject, which has occurred to my mind is, that in first presenting the doctrines in a printed form, it is better to present them as a whole, and not as separate and distinct doctrines; because if you present a tract on any one particular doctrine, however it may arrest the attention, yet, when the reader compares it with his preconceived opinions, and finds that it militates against them, he concludes that the new doctrine cannot

be true. We have in our short and pithy New Church tracts one or two such summaries of New Church truth, which can be printed for extensive circulation at a very cheap rate.

Finally, it is essentially requisite to the successful spread of New Church truths, beyond their living illustration in our everyday life, that we possess the intense love of them, and a thorough earnestness in the effort to impart them to others. When we witness the cold indifference evinced by some avowed receivers of the doctrines, can we wonder that those without should treat them with apathy or cool contempt? How common is it to say, What matters reading and talking about the doctrines so that we strive to live well! But how differently do they estimate worldly possessions and the means for their attainment. In too many instances, it is to be feared, it is because these absorb the affections that they find neither time nor inclination for the culture of higher and holier subjects. Even the children of this world are not slow to conclude that what we seem to lay little store by cannot be of much worth.

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"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," is a truth which applies equally to the spiritually-minded, as it does to the man of the world. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another;" and such will be the delightful practice of all who hail with thankfulness the glorious advent of the Sun of Righteousness; the ministry of which is committed unto us; and ought to be our highest happiness, as it is our supreme privilege.

THE FUTURE STATE.

One of the questions which the quickened mental life of the present times has brought into prominent review is the future which is before us. In a review of some of the prevalent materialistic sentiments, a writer in the "Literary World" says:-"It is idle to conceal that the immediate tendency of materialistic philosophy is to undermine all faith both in God and in Christianity. But it is reassuring to know that side by side with the growth of modern materialism, there is going on a not less striking growth of faith in the spiritual universe. The spiritualism of our own day, with all its grotesqueness and puerility, is an indication of the hold which the spiritual is taking of men's minds. The immense circulation of sensational books on the future life points in the same direction. The now well-known American book, "The Gates Ajar,' is the expression of opinions respecting the unseen state which have long been growing silently in many minds. The old idea of a dim and distant heaven, separated by immeasurable space from the earth, is giving place to the conception of a spiritual world adjacent to and permeating the material world. The principalities and powers of the spiritual universe are thought of, not as seated on jasper thrones myriads of miles away, but as busying themselves with all the ordinary interests of earthly life.

A correspondent of the Leeds Mercury has published a letter from Dr. Livingstone, the celebrated African traveller, to Sir Thomas Maclear, of Cape Town, in which, after expressing an apprehension of his death in the regions he was about to explore, he says:-"I have been thinking a great deal since the departure of my beloved one about the regions whither she has gone, and imagine, from the manner the Bible describes it, we have got too much mockery in our ideas. There will be work there as well as here, and possibly not such a vast difference in our being as is expected; but a short time there will give more insight than a thousand musings. We shall see Him by whose inexpressible love and mercy we got there, and all whom we loved and all the lovable. I can sympathise with you more fully than I did before. I work with as much vigour as I can, and mean to do so till the change comes; but the prospect of a home is all dispelled."