Sermons. By the Rev. F. C. Wills. (J. T. Hayes.)—There
is a cer- tain originality about Mr. Wills's sermons. The first begins thus :— "Perhaps this saying, What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' was suggested to our Lord by an ex- perience of His own. This offer was really only made to one person of the world in exehange for his soul" And he goes on to refer to the third of the three temptations. He seems, however, to have forgotten that ' soul ' means life,' by which word indeed it is translated in the previous verse. In the fifth sermon, again, "The Lesson of Nazareth," he appears not to be aware that the words" about my Father's business" in all probability mean "all my Father's house." The idea of the sermon, however, is not materially affected by the error. It lies in contrasting the scene in the Temple, where Christ was found among the Doctors of the Law, and that of the marriage in Cana, when He had, as it were, to be urged to show forth his power. "At twelve He would be released from authority, at thirty he cries, Not yet!'" The garments on "The Temptation Without" and "The Temptation Within "may be specially commended. Some, on the other hand, are quite unequal in merit to these. That on "School and Church," for instance, is quite of the " narrow clerical" sort. But the volume, on the whole, is above the average. Only Mr. Wills must not be so content as he seems to be with the Authorised Version. Gal. v. 12, to take another instance, "I would that they were cut off which trouble you," really means something quite different.
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