the writer in the _Christian World_, there is one revelation
of God that can never be gainsaid; "while the Cross stands as earth's
most sacred symbol, there can be no utter hiding of his love." This,
however, we venture to dispute. That Cross which was laid upon the back
of Jesus poor mankind has been compelled to carry ever since, with no
Simon to ease it of the load. Jesus was crucified on Calvary, and in his
name man has suffered centuries of crucifixion. The immolation of
Jesus can be no revelation of God's love. If the Nazarene was God, his
crucifixion involves a complicated arrangement for murder; the Jews
who demanded his death were divinely instigated, and Judas Iscariot was
pre-ordained to betray his master; in which case his treachery was a
necessary element of the drama, entitling him not to vituperation but
to gratitude, even perhaps to the monument which Benjamin Disraeli
suggested as his proper reward. Looking also at the history of
Christianity, and seeing how the Cross has sheltered oppressors of mind
and body, sanctioned immeasurable shedding of blood, and frightened
peoples from freedom, while even now it symbolises all that is
reactionary and accursed in Europe, we are constrained to say that the
love _it_ reveals is as noxious as the vilest hate.

GENERAL JOSHUA.

(April, 1882.)

Mountebank Talmage has just preached a funeral sermon on General Joshua.
It is rather behind date, as the old warrior has been dead above three
thousand years. But better late than never. Talmage tells us many things
about Joshua which are not in the Bible, and some sceptics will say that
his panegyric is a sheer invention. They may, however, be mistaken. The
oracle of the Brooklyn Jabbernacle is known to be inspired. God holds
converse with him, and he is thus enabled to supply us with fresh facts
about Jehovah's fighting-cock from the lost books of Jasher and the Wars
of the Lord.

Joshua, says Talmage, was a magnificent fighter. We say, he was a
magnificent butcher. Jehovah did the fighting.

He was the virtual commander of the Jewish hosts; he won all their
victories; and Joshua only did the slaughter. He excelled in that line
of business. He delighted in the dying groans of women and children, and
loved to dabble his feet and hands in the warm blood of the slain.
No "Chamber of Horrors" contains the effigy of any wretch half so
bloodthirsty and cruel.

According to Talmage, Joshua "always fought on the