Church and State ; Chiefly in notation to Scotland. By
Robert Rainy, D.D., lord Moncrieff, and A. Taylor Innes. (Nelson and 601113.)—Wo can speak highly of the ability and candour with which these essays, for the most part, arc written. The authors are of the Free Church, and they review the ecclesiastical aituation in Scotland with an amount of discrimination and fairness which are quite admirable. Dr. Rainy's essay goes back to what may be called the first establishment of the Church, when Constantine pro. fessed Christianity ; end is a thoughtful and penetrating re- view of the relations, as they then were, between the Church and the State. The second, by Lord Moncrieff, deals especially with the Scotch Church, from the formation down to the Dis- ruption, and its purpose is to show, by a review of tho history of this period, that the great movement which closed it was justified. The third lecture is by Mr. A. Taylor hums, and deals with tho sub- ject of "Church and State in the Present Day." Naturally it is more controversial than the others. It criticises, among other things, the views of the Spectator, and finds a contradiction between our " Erastianism " and our opposition to the Falk Laws. The criticism is one which we cannot accept, but we quite appreciate the reasonable- ness and courtesy with which it is expressed.
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