l
study of all the religions under the sure impression that they will
prove to be one in origin and essence: and so a sweeter human sympathy
and a more complete unity are beginning to be realized among men.

No man has in most respects been better fitted for this study than was
the lamented author of these books. Mr. Johnson was almost or quite "a
religious genius," with an enthusiasm of faith in the invisible and the
idea, which few men have ever shown; and his devoutness was equalled by
his catholicity. His religious lyrics enrich our Christian psalmody,
while his published discourses, mingling philosophical light with fervor
of a transcendent faith in God and man, rank among the grandest
utterances from the American pulpit and platform. No American can afford
to miss the power and influence of such a mind; and no student of
religion should fail to have in his possession Johnson's _Persia_.

S.C. BEANE.

* * * * *

"THE OVERSHADOWING POWER OF GOD. A synopsis of a new philosophy
concerning the nature of the soul of man, its union with the animal
soul, and its gradual creation through successive acts of overshadowing
and the insertion of shoots, to its perfection in Jesus the Christ; with
illustrations of the inner meaning of the Bible, from the Hebrew roots;
offering to the afflicted soul the way of freedom from inharmony and
disease. By HORACE BOWEN, M.D.; transcribed in verse by Sheridan Wait,
with chart and illustrations by M.W. Fairchild. Vineland, N.J. New Life
Publishing Co., 1883."

This book of Dr. Bowen's opens into a field of thought that has
heretofore mostly escaped the survey of theologians and philosophers:
classes that are supposed to be in pursuit of essential truth concerning
both God and man. Its leading aim seems to be to present a reliable clew
to those truths by an unusual interpretation of the Scriptures as a
revelation of creative order. The author stands with a comparatively
small class of ardent explorers who have come to see "the light of the
world" under a new radiance; a radiance that actually gives it the
breadth and power of its claim.

Dr. Bowen's personal career in coming to this light, as related in the
preface, is full of interest; and this preface is impressively wrought
with the system of creative law that he aims to outline, and that the
verse of Mr. Wait labors to elaborate. This author is firmly loyal to
the sacred Scriptures as divine revel