IONIA : LAND OF WISE MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. By Alexander Craig. Illustrations and cover design by J. C. Leyendecker. Chicago: E. A. Weeks Co. 1898. Pp. 301.

"Ionia" shows close kinship to two well known works, "Utopia" and "Looking Backward." It lacks, however, the originality of the former and the strength of the latter. The title and cover designs would lead the buyer to suppose that he might look forward to a feast of wisdom, wit, pathos and passion, but all such expectations are disappointed.

The hero, Alexander Musgrove, who by the way is not much of a hero, is a young Englishman, the son of a wealthy and benevolent widow lady. He determines to devote his fortune to the cause of suffering humanity, and proposes, with two million pounds, to "abolish all the London slums and make tens of thousands of people happy." While in this laudable work he meets with a Mr. Delphian, a citizen of Ionia, who invites the young philanthropist to visit his country and observe their marvelous advancement and study their wonderful achievements. The rest of the book records Alexander's experience and observations while in this "other world."

The book is not worth reading. There is nothing new in it, and the old is not presented in a manner especially attractive. As in some other cases we are forced to wonder why the book was written. The edition is very attractive, and the mechanical work is good: the paper, printing and designs being especially good.

THE CHAPEL HYMNAL. Philadelphia: The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work. 1998. 8 vo.

The Northern Presbyterian Church has felt the need of a suitable hymn-book perhaps quite as much as our own Church is feeling that need to-day. Its Committee has already prepared a "Hymnal,” which is intended to be a complete manual of praise covering every character of church service. The "Chapel Hymnal" before us is a second book, in smaller compass, designed for use in prayer-meeting and social service. A third book in the series is yet to be issued and will be one specially fitted for Sunday Schools.

The "Chapel Hymnal" embraces three hundred and seventy hymns, with tunes appropriate to them. These are taken mainly from the "Hymnal," though a few not published in that collection are given here, as some of the popular "Gospel Hymns." The topics covered are many and varied, and a very full index is given, adding greatly to the facility of choosing hymns appropriate to occasion or topic. Fifty-two pages of the book are devoted to a selection from the Psalter, for use in responsive readings. The selections are from the version used by the American Bible Society. In the case of many hymns, the arrangement of the page is such that a choice of tunes may be made. The Indices are full and helpful. The collection embraces the more widely popular and well established hymns and tunes. The devotional element is predominant, and a much smaller proportion than usual is given of the objectionable modern jingles and rhymes. In clearness of type, for both music and words, and in binding and size, the book is a model.

EDITORIAL.

RECORD AND REVIEW.

THE SOUTHERN ASSEMBLY.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States met in Richmond, Va., Thursday, May 18th, at II a. m., and was opened with a sermon by the retiring Moderator, Rev. E. M. Green, D. D., on the words of Christ found in Matt. 10:34. "I came not to send peace, but a sword." The First Church is a typical Presbyterian building, solid and massive, and with one or two rooms secured outside furnished ample accommodations for the Assembly's need. Richmond was an ideal place of meeting for the Assembly, rich in historic interest, associated with such names as those of Patrick Henry, Washington, Marshal, Robert Ould, Jefferson Davis and Robt. E. Lee in the sphere of the State and with John Holt Rice, William S. Plummer and Moses D. Hoge in Presbyterian Church. circles; containing such monuments as the bronze effigy of A. P. Hill, the pyramid of granite in Hollywood, marking the graves of 30,000 Confederate soldiers, the equestrian statutes of Washington and Lee and the bronze figures of Jackson, The Howitzer, and the Private Confederate Soldier ; and such noted buildings as the Capitol, the State Library, the Davis Mansion, the Confederate Museum, the Soldiers' Home and Union Seminary Buildings-the city presented many attractions to the sight-seers. The city is beautifully situated, located on fine hills and plateaus at the falls of the James River. There are now ten active and vigorous Presbyterian Churches in the city and the suburbs, and the honor of entertaining the commissioners was shared by several. The hospitality of the city was unstinted and the general air of kindly feeling which distinguished the As

sembly was traced by one of the speakers to the atmosphere of refinement and Christian courtesy which were found in the homes from which the commissioners came to their work. At the opening service, the congregation filled the church and overflowed into the galleries. On the platform with Dr. Green were seated Rev. R. P. Kerr, pastor of the First Church, Rev. Jas. Woodrow, D. D., Rev. E. P. Palmer D. D., and Rev. Alexander Sprunt, D. D. After the invocation the congregation sang, "Before Jehovah's Awful Throne." Dr. Woodrow read the tenth chapter of Matthew. Dr. Palmer made the intercessory prayer, and Dr. Green preached the admirable sermon, which was printed in our Church papers and favorably commented on at the North.

After the sermon the Assembly proceeded to the election of a Moderator. Rev. Roger Martin, D. D., moved that the Assembly elect by ballot without nomination, after a prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This was amended so that after the second ballot it should be understood that the Assembly had been guided to one of the three names receiving the highest number of votes. Rev. John F. Cannon, D.D., from St. Louis, Mo., was elected on the second ballot and made one of the best presiding officers the distinguished body has ever had. With a thorough knowledge of parliamentary law and parliamentary law and a clear head, possessed of unfailing courtesy and tact, neither rushing the business through precipitately nor allowing it to be unduly retarded, he also made the Assembly proud of its choice when called upon, as he frequently was, to represent the Assembly in public address. But we feel that a protest should be made against the method of electing without nomination. It savors of Quakerism. There is no reason why the Holy Spirit should not guide a commissioner in making a nominating speech, nor why a voter should not be better guided after receiving information as to the qualifications for the Moderator's chair which the different

nominees possess. If it is once understood that no nominations are to be made, the eloquence which has been formerly bottled up for the use on the floor of the Assembly, will leak out in buttonhole electioneering, caucusing on the trains, or even nominations by newspapers-from all of which may the Southern Church be delivered.

One of the first acts of the Assembly was the adoption of a minute on the death of Rev. W. U. Murkland, D. D., who had been elected a commissioner. The Moderator was fortunate in the appointment of different committees. The Chairmen of the most important ones were: of Bills and Overtures, E. M. Green, D. D.; Judicial, Jas. Woodrow, D. D.; Foreign Missions, Russel Cecil, D. D.; Home Missions, W. M. Scott, D. D.; Publication, J. B. Shearer, D. D.; Education, Geo. Summey, D. D.; Colored Evangelization, R. F. Campbell, D.D.; Foreign Correspondence, J. H. McNeilly, D. D. There were fewer overtures presented than usually afflict an Assembly. Those that were received were given a fair and impartial hearing. The new Stated Clerk and his temporary assistants, Rev. Alexander Sprunt, D. D., and Rev. T. H. Law, D. D., were most efficient in the services they rendered. The venerable Dr. Farris was as accurate in method and as strong of voice as he has been for a generation of Assemblies, but we missed the figure that was so long a time his companion and friend, Dr. Joseph R. Wilson, one of whose principal claims to remembrance was his ability to veto an overture by his method of reading it, accompanied by an expression of countenance which said to the Assembly with comical emphasis, "What on earth was meant by sending such an overture to the Assembly?"

There were several outings and special entertainments which the Assembly enjoyed, and it received several invitations which it was compelled to decline. On the first afternoon of the Assembly the Ladies' Auxiliary of the First Church took the whole body on an excursion down the James River in the steamer"Pocahontas." It was an exceptional op

portunity for the commissioners to renew old acquaintanceships and to form new ones among themselves. The reception given by Union Seminary on Monday afternoon was of much interest and profit. Dr. Johnson made an address of welcome, which was of the sledge-hammer variety in its heartiness. He said that he was glad to welcome the Assembly, because its members were Christians, were Presbyterians, and were Southern Presbyterians. Only one Church in America could sympathize with the Southern Presbyterian Church in its devotion to the crown rights of Jesus Christ, and he sympathized with that minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, who "thanked God that his Church had never hung the rags of political expediency on the Cross of Christ." Moreover the Moderator and one-half of the Commissioners to the Assembly were Union men. Dr. Cannon's reply was most happy. He had words of hearty congratulation to the Seminary and its students for their beautiful buildings; he had words of commiseration also on the loss of those rural experiences which made the life of old Hampden-Sidney unique. His heart framed the wish that the Union Seminary in future should keep the spirit and genius of the Union Seminary of the past. There were two factors in the individuality of the old Seminary: First, the character of the Professors. They were simple in manners, spiritual in life, scriptural in thought. The second was the attention given to the spiritual life of the students. Dr. Dabney once brought to the students a message from the death bed of the sainted Dr. Ramsay: "Tell them from me, as from a dying man, not to allow their intellectual acquaintance with the word of God to outstrip their experience of its sanctifying power"; I hand the message on to you.

The reception given by the Covenanters, an organization peculiar to the Southern Church, and which promises by its business methods, its excellent constitution and its adaptation to the nature of the genus puer to spread widely, made a profound impression on the Assembly.