This is the suggestive title of the unique compilation by Judge B. F. Burnham. He selects nearly fifty subjects, all ending in tion,—like Consecration, Evolution, Premonition, Indoctrination, Allocution. Under each head he asks pertinent questions, such as: What is meant, in the Beatitudes, by the Kingdom of Heaven? and, What are the four principal theories of the Mind's knowledge of God? These he answers, not so much of himself, as by quotations, in poetry and prose, from writers of all ranks, churches, and nations. The very complete Index of Authors cites nearly nine hundred. Many sections suggest profound thought and the latest theories. Chapters of peculiar interest to Christian Scientists, though by no means setting forth their views, are those on Interpretation and Inspiration (of Bible), Annunciation and Conception (of Jesus), Harmonization and Expansion, Veneration and Supplication (or Prayer), Alleviation, Ministration, and Demonization (or Healing), Perpetuation and Resurrection (or Immortality), Regeneration.
Our mothers used to weave wire baskets, and dip them in dissolved alum till they were encrusted with diamonds. Judge Burnham provides a strong skeleton to outline the thought; and this he has dipped into the wonder-well of religious literature, till it sparkles with a thousand gems. Our respect for its author has grown with the contemplation of the book, and a consideration of the bee-like labor it has necessitated. It answers questions which would involve the ordinary inquirer in months of research. In this collection the author was largely assisted by his wife, Mrs. Celeste Shute Burnham, whose name appears on the title-page, but who died in 1880, before their joint effort was ready for the public eye. Her words, and those of other members of the Burnham family, peep out here and there.
If desirous of being critical, we should say that it would be better if the hymns were separated into their natural stanzas; I and the appearance to the eye "would be improved if each poetic selection had been centred, according to the rule of the best printing-houses. Nevertheless, the typographical arrangement is in the main excellent; and, for a wonder, the use of needless quotation-marks is avoided.
