21 JULY 1877, Page 20

Religious Education. Four Sermons, with a Preface. By the Rev.

D. Melville. (Rivingtons.)—This little volume will give much satis- faction to the wise friends of religious education. Mr. Melville pleads for a religious teaching that shall be distinct without being distinctive, to use the phrases which he himself employs. He finds this in the "Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed," and main- tains that there is nothing in the Cowper-Temple clause to prevent these being taught in rate-supported schools. His main argument con- sists in the analogy which ho draws out between these three subjects, and the faculties of "love, duty, and knowledge" which are naturally, and in the order thus given, developed in the mind of every child. Canon Melville is a person of weight in the diocese of Worcester. His dis- courses were delivered under circumstances which gave them a special importance. And it is satisfactory to find that he is not an isolated instance of good-sense and liberality, but that the Diocesan Inspeetore are ready to act on the principle.