FOUR THEOLOGICAL BOOKS.
Christianity as an Ideal. By Rev. P. Hately Waddell. (W. Black- wood and Sons. 3s. 6d.)—There is a want of crispness about Mr. Waddell's style which makes the effect produced by his book rather vague. He gives the impression of a man who has some- thing to say, but never quite arrives at saying it, though he goes round and round his subject with patient reiteration. Neverthe- less, we find a good deal of interesting thought in Christianity as an Ideal, thought which we should think would come with help- ful light to some who find their way through the world dark and difficult. It is cheering to be shown that our very discontent with things as they are is a sign of capacity for their improvement,— that the ideal is within us, at least in desire, and that we may individually, as well as corporately, do something to further its attainment. When we come to Mr. Waddell's application of his views to daily life in the final chapters on "The Ideal in the Church" and "The Return of the Ideal," we must allow that it is difficult to get hold of any definite point to act as guide, or even suggestion, as to how such application is to be worked out. But in his appeal to men to think Mr. Waddell strikes at one of the real needs of our day, and by his lofty tone and strong sense of the high possibilities which lie within the powers of develop- ment of each one of us, he makes his appeal at once inspiring and attractive.
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