necessary, and there are many things to be learned, and some things to be suffered, before the Lord's anointed can show himself to be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.

Many ministers can be found to-day who have been divinely called, but who have not honestly obeyed that call by proper education and preparation. If Jesus needed the discipline of the wilderness and the purification of suffering, how much more do we need all preparation that can aid us in battling against the fearful numbers and deadly hatred of our vigilant foes. If, then, something besides the divine afflatus is needed, something more human, it is well that some competent man should give to the Church such directions and assistance as may be needed for the successful accomplishment of the great work of saving men from their sins. We know of no man more fully qualified for aiding and instructing young ministers in their grand vocation than Dr. Kidder, whose recent work is now under review. Few boys become successful teachers of a district school before they are fourteen years of age; and comparatively few men are found who are at once good preachers, successful teachers, and excellent pastors. Dr. Kidder is one of those few, and from his fourteenth year he has been unconsciously preparing himself for the making of just such a book as is now offered to the world. Dr. Kidder's arduous and successful labors as a pastor, missionary, editor of Sunday-school publications, and theological professor, certainly eminently fit him for speaking ex cathedrâ upon nearly all the duties and responsibilities that a Christian minister may meet in a long time of service. As is quite natural, we find in this book the author's own plan of work, such as he carried out as far as possible in his own pastoral life; and while it is in some sense a statement of his own practice, yet it may serve as a guide to those who are, or intend to be, ministers of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It will be observed that the book is not entitled the "Methodist," but the "Christian" Pastorate, and there was evidently a design in this caption; and the contents of the work show, clearly, that all pastors can find in its pages food for thought and rules for a successful ministerial life. The needs and desires of all people are very similar, and the method used by any successful pastor, in any one denomination, would make him a

success in any other congregation. If a man is a fine speaker, a superior orator, he will be prized for his talent by any community; if he is an excellent expositor, a clear-headed and warm-hearted minister, he will be welcome among any people; and if he is a faithful, tender, efficient pastor, any Church will love him and delight in his ministrations. So that the instructions, advice, and experience given by our author can well be used by ministers of all denominations, and thus the book ceases to be a denominational one, and it rightfully appeals to Christian ministers every-where for circulation and study. It is almost needless to say any thing concerning the style of our author, as his writings are so well known to the readers of the Quarterly. This much we will venture to say, that while Dr. Kidder rarely enters the region of real eloquence, he also rarely falls below the standard of correct writing. His style is unusually clear, and generally direct; and he is a master of pure English, although occasionally we find repetitions of thought that mar the purity of the rhetoric, and in a few cases there is an undue mingling of subjects. These imperfections are easily accounted for, when we remember the habits of the teacher, and reflect that the one who teaches successfully must repeat his words and ideas until the scholar grasps and holds the thought presented. Thus, we will find that our author occasionally very naturally bends, if he does not break, some of the rules usually insisted upon by precise writers. there are some passages of real beauty and power, where the didactic style can safely be laid aside, as in pages 38 and 39. One of the chief excellences of this work is the constant reference to Holy Writ, and nearly every debatable question is settled by direct quotation from God's word. In this way we have a perfect mine of wealth, and the positions taken are so fully established by divine authority that but little remains to be questioned or opposed.

Yet

The General Introduction, of twenty-eight pages, rapidly but clearly sketches the New Testament ideal of the Christian ministry, and investigates the primeval origin of sacrifices and their design. It also discusses the necessity of faith, the origin, diffusion, and consequences of idolatry, and brings the reader down through the types, shadows, and ceremonies of Jewish priesthood and Mosaic dispensation, until he is found face to face with the

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ministerial character of Christ; and then Jesus, as prophet, teacher, priest, and king, is held up to the gaze of the Church and ministry. Rarely does an Introduction cover so much ground and do it so well. In these opening pages we have the key-note to the whole book; and as Christ is the great model, so is he held up faithfully, throughout nearly every page, as the one for whom we are to labor, and by whom we are to have victory in all our conflicts here, and final triumph when done with earth. Our author finds in the Lord Jesus Christ the "sole and authoritative head of his own Church,' and in him discerns "the inherent and legal right of prescribing whatever ordinances or offices were necessary to the extension and perpetuation of the Church in the world."P. 53. The full and exhaustive proofs of this position are carefully drawn from the Scriptures, and every point is completely guarded by appropriate quotations. In the very inception of the apostolic idea of a Christian ministry the need of a Christian pastorate was found. Wherever sheep were to be brought into a fold or fed a pastor was needed, and Christ's instructions to his disciples were exceedingly definite on this point. Such commands as "Feed my sheep," "Feed my lambs," mean nothing less than an intense love of souls, to be manifested by such care and provision for the flock that none shall be lost through the neglect of the overseers. In elaborating this idea of preparing to care for the flock, it is not strange that our author inserts Mosheim's comment on schools of instruction for young ministers, or biblical institutes, as we term them; for the writer has been and is so closely identified with such schools, that, quite naturally, he can indorse nearly every thing looking toward the education of ministerial licentiates. He does not, however, insist with Mosheim that Paul and Timothy had charge of training schools, and that a part of their duties was the preparing of young men for the care and government of the Churches. Perhaps no portion of Dr. Kidder's book is of more interest or importance than that devoted to the discussion of the ministerial call. This he examines through two chapters, and three practical questions are asked and answered: (1) In what manner does God call his ministers? (2) How may an individual certainly know that he is called of God to the ministry?

(3) By what signs may the Church be satisfied of the divine call of a ministerial candidate?-P. 107. Some of us who are pastors know full well how we struggled, in years gone by, with doubts and fears; and we know, too, how often young men have come to us for light, and advice, and instruction on the questions asked above. Eternity alone can reveal the hours of mental anguish, the tears, the groans that have fallen to the lot of some who have become flaming heralds of the cross. In some cases importunate prayer has seemingly availed nothing in the settlement of this question, because, perhaps, God has given us certain tests by which we may determine for ourselves whether we are called of him to the office and work of the ministry or not. These tests are so clearly defined in these two chapters that almost any one with the ordinary illumination of the Holy Spirit can walk in the path of duty, free from harassing doubts and anxious fears.

The presentation of the historical view of the ministerial call very conclusively shows that a divine command to the work of the ministry was recognized in the Old Testament Scriptures, and that spiritual agencies were largely employed in the propagation of religion in the times of the Mosaic and prophetic dispensations. But passing from what we find taught between the time of Adam and Malachi, we are brought at once to the practice of the Apostolic Church. When we consider the call and appointment of Matthias, of the seven deacons, of the elders of the Church, and especially the amazing miracle displayed in the arrest, conversion, and call of him of Tarsus, who can longer question God's direct interference in the appointments of our lives? If so be that the Holy Ghost needs witnesses of a certain type, and peculiarly adapted to a peculiar work, why doubt that a divine call is given to that work? It is really unthinkable that God should need special men for a special work, and yet be either unable or unwilling to notify such men unmistakably of his purposes and plans. He who carefully studies the ecclesiastical history of the last eighteen centuries will see too many traces of the divine management, too many clear evidences of the hand of God in directing the Church and its ministers, to hesitate long about the theory of a divine call to the high and holy work of the Christian ministry. But leaving the historical view, we pass at once to the

practical aspect, or the internal call or bias toward the work of preaching the Gospel of the Son of God. Remembering that service at the altar does not constitute a priesthood, and that men are called to that service by the Holy Spirit and also by the Church, we have only to keep in mind the additional fact that God must have divers manners in which to call men into the service at the altar. This fact is admirably discussed by our author, and in this way relief will be brought to many a mind that has been in doubt because no call, like that given to Paul or Wesley, has been heard. As the Spirit deals with each person according to individual capacity or disposition, so will the call to the ministry differ as it comes to men of different minds and under different circumstances. If the Lord calls a man as he called the child Samuel, all that man has to do is to declare his readiness to hear what the Lord has to say, and an equal willingness to do whatever he commands. Usually we find there are three periods in the call to the ministry: (1) That of awakening and inquiry; (2) that of conviction, more or less clear; (3) that of settled purpose and determined action. Probably, in very many cases, the first two stages above mentioned will be practically one, as the conviction very frequently comes with the awakening. But, in many cases, the earnest seeker after God's will can find it by analyzing his mental states, by comparing his convictions with the rule as laid down in Holy Writ and as illuminated by the Spirit of truth. A careful study of this part of our author's proposition and argument will be of incalculable value to all who feel that they are, in the least, called to consider the propriety of entering upon the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the good results to flow from this clear and forcible presentation of this important subject will not be fully seen until the day that shall declare every man's work, of what sort it is. Not only is the fact proven that God does directly call men into the work of the ministry, but the distinction between the internal and external call is also lucidly set forth. The former is said to be the divine impulse communicated directly by the Spirit, and confirmed by the providence of God. The latter is the voice of the Church.

Whenever a converted man feels that the divine impulse urges him to make the calling of sinners to repentance his particular work, and when the Church adds to that impulse her voice of