Foreign Missions. By R. H. Malden, M.A. (Longman and Co.
3s. 6d. net.)—This study of the principles and methods of missionary work is a valuable contribution to the literature of the subject. Mr. Malden pays due honour to the work of men outside the Anglican Communion, not Xavier and the Jesuits only—this comes easily enough to most Anglicans—but English Noncon- formists (a word might have been given to Schwartz, who did so much for India). Sometimes, we think, Mr. Malden's language is a little hazardous. "It may be doubted whether superstition may not be the first channel through which the truth is to enter the mind" of the savage. Preachers of Christianity have done too much in this way. There are regions where Christendom is paganism with other names. How does the Sicilian who flings the image of his patron saint into the street differ from the Arcadian who flogged the statue of Pan ? There are some excellent suggestions for kindling missionary zeal in the ordinary parish. We see with some surprise that among the causes to which the lessened spirituality-of the German Reformed Church is traced back is Luther's interpretation of "Give us this day our daily bread" as referring to " material temporal benefits only." " The tone of Such teaching is bound to tell eventually." But surely Luther was right. The fact is that for a large class of society the words are very bard to realise,—how can a millionaire feel them ? And if they are made metaphorical the difficulty is increased.
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