A HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REFORMATION.
A History of the Christian Church since the Reformation. By B. Oheetham, D.D. (Macmillan and Co. 10s. 6d.)—Dr. Cheetham has produced, as might have been expected, a very valuable book. It is impartial and it is comprehensive. It gives the history of three centuries and a half, to speak in round numbers ; it includes the great Churches of the East and the West, the • Anglican Church, the dissident communities here and abroad, though, of course, it has to give much in outline which it would be interest- ing to have in detail. Few things, for instance, would be better subjects for particular treatment than the story of the Russian Dissenters, the Stundists and other bodies ; but it has to be con- tracted here to the very narrowest limits. So, also, to speak of things which will more immediately interest English readers, F. D. Maurice has to be discussed in a page or so. What is said of him is reasonably appreciative ; but one has to read much between the lines, and an outsider will learn very little about the real influence which he has exercised on theological thought both within and without the borders of Anglicanism. This, of course, is not due to any neglect or narrowness of outlook on the part of the author. It is simply inevitable when the vastness of the subject and the narrowness of the space available are considered. Thirteen pages have to contain the history of each decade of years in the existence of all who "profess and call themselves Christians" from "China to Peru,"—or shall we say from Abyssinia to New York ? for the Abyssinian Church is not forgotten, though but one brief para- graph can be given to it. But every reader of intelligence will understand what he may and what he may not expect. He will get an admirable summary and guide to studies which he may extend as opportunity may offer. The one thing that might have been given is a well-arranged bibliography, not too vast for ordinary use.
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