curacy and her blivity, and it here

litreate a neediaper; to whiatement attracomina

tains an interesting sketch of the state of the Jewish people on their return from the Babylonish captivity, and of the destipies still reserved for them, when God shall hereafter turn their longer and more sorrowful captivity, and Jerusalem shall again become “a rejoicing, and her people a joy."

A slight inaccuracy of statement attracted our notice in this interesting paper, to which, inasmuch as it is calculated to create a needless distrust in the value of our Authorised Eng. lish Version of the Scriptures, we think it right to advert.

Dr. Payne Smith observes, in p. 31, “In the Authorised Version there is always an ambiguity about the word Lord. Until you look at the Hebrew, you can never be certain what Hebrew word it represents.”

Now, we believe that, with the exception of Ps. Ixvii. 4, where the original (Jah) is untranslated, the word Jehovah and its abbreviated form Jah are uniformly represented in the English-printed Bibles (not in those printed in Scotland) by LORD, in small capitals, whilst the other word, Adonai, is as uniformly represented by Lord in ordinary type, in which type, also, a Chaldee word, which occurs twice in the Book of Daniel, and which is also translated Lord, is printed.

Amongst other interesting subjects for consideration which are suggested by Dr. Payne Smith's description of the degraded condition of the Jews within a few years after their return from Babylon, that of the chronology of some of the Psalms, which point to a revived temple-worship, naturally suggests itself. The improbability of the composition of these Psalms, under the circumstances detailed by the prophet Malachi, can scarcely fail to impress itself upon the minds of those who accept the description of his people, as given by the prophet.

The January Number contains an interesting paper on the Unity of Authorship of the Prophecies ascribed to Isaiah, from the pen of Mr. Stanley Leathes, who has devoted much time and thought to the elucidation of this important subject. We heartily commend the perusal of the paper to our readers, and we would refer those who are anxious to pursue the subject further, both to the Boyle Lectures for 1868, of the same writer, and also to the 8th of Dr. Payne Smith's Lectures on Prophecy, in a volume which was recently reviewed in our columns, which contains the Bampton Lectures of 1869.

The April Number of The Scattered Nation has a short but interesting paper, also from the pen of Mr. Stanley Leathes, on the Moabite Stone. For the contents of this paper the writer is mainly indebted to the able and exhaustive treatise of Dr. Ginsburg, of which we are glad to find that a second and enlarged edition is now in the press. As it is our purpose to review this work as soon as it appears, we shall content our

three the premis Nation ened to avoided iterati

selves with advising our readers to prepare themselves for its perusal by mastering the facts briefly set before them in the resumé of Mr. Stanley Leathes.

We are not disposed to animadvert with any severity upon the critical errors contained in the report of a lecture derived from a local paper. At the same time we would suggest to the editor of “The Scattered Nation," that it may reasonably be expected, and more especially at the present time, that the subject of Biblical Revision should either be handled with accuracy, or should be left untouched; and further, that inaccuracies in points connected with the literature of the Old Testament ought to be specially avoided in the columns of a periodical which is designed to subserve the best interests of - The Scattered Nation.”

Having premised thus much, we will briefly allude to two or three illustrations of the charges which we have to prefer against the “report” of a lecture recently delivered at Brighton, by Mr. Paul Warschawski, as contained in the March Number of this periodical.

We will not dwell upon the ascription to the pen of Joshua of the book which bears his name, further than to express our opinion that it is undesirable to assume as unquestionable, even on occasions when to assign reasons would be out of place, points which must, from the very necessity of the case, be open to differences of opinion. Again, the allusion to the compilation of the Sacred Scriptures into one volume as a reason for the study of Hebrew as “the language in which “Ezra was enabled to collect them," appears to us in the light of a twofold lapsus lingue-first, inasmuch as it is hard to understand how the several books could be collected in any language; and, secondly, because, as it is well known, Ezra wrote partly in Chaldee, and party in Hebrew.

The implied censure passed on King James's Revisers, for not consulting the Hebrew “exclusively," but having some regard to the “versions then extant," is one in which, we apprehend, few scholars of the present day will be disposed to adopt the views of Mr. Warschawski, whether his allusion be to the earlier or later versions to which the Revisers had access ; whilst, once more, the assertion of the necessity of correcting the striking irregularities of the English divisions into chapter and verse by recurrence to “the Hebrew original,” involves an assumption which it behoves Mr. Warschawski to substantiate, should he be in the possession of evidence not yet commu. nicated to the world, that the division into verses, for which such an original is claimed, existed in the inspired autographs, and has been preserved by the copyists of succeeding generations. As regards the division into chapters, it is needless to

Vol. 70.–No. 402.

do more than advert to the well known fact that that division is of Christian, and not of Jewish origin.

We notice these points, not in any hostile or censorious spirit, but because we deem it of special importance that the editor of a periodical devoted to the Jewish cause, and commended to the attention of the public by the names of so many men of undoubted ability and scholarship, should guard its pages against the admission of hasty opinions and inaccurate expressions on a subject such as that with which Mr. Warschawski has undertaken to deal.

A Plain Account of the English Bible, from the earliest times of its translation to the present day. By John Henry Blunt, M.A., F.S.A., Vicar of Kennington. Oxford : Rivingtons. 1870. MR. J. H. Blunt seems to take special pleasure in the production of hand-books; and if, as in the case of a certain description of medicines, we may judge of the extent of their circulation from the measures adopted to secure their notoriety, these hand-books would seem to have met with a more favour. able reception than their merits deserve.

We are glad to find that Mr. Blunt has corrected some few of the glaring blunders which disfigure his so-called “History of the Reformation of the Church of England," but we regret to find that he has preserved and perpetuated more than he has removed.

Thus, e. g., whilst he has at length discovered that the “Darham Book," which he represented in the work we have just named as a copy of the English Gospels, is, in fact, as he now describes it, a copy of the Latin Gospels, with an interlineal translation, or rather gloss, “perhaps of a rather later date than the age of St. Cuthbert ;'* we find that other, and equally incorrect statements as to the early translations and circulation of Holy Scripture still abound in the book before us.

The account of Tyndale's New Testament is almost as inaccurate as that contained in Mr. Blunt's History of the Reformation; and several of the same slanderous accusations against the illustrious Reformer are repeated which we exposed in our Review of the work just cited.

In the exercise of Christian Charity we are willing to ascribe these palpably absurd, and more than abundantly refuted, ac

* The difference being probably about three centuries. (See Christian Observer for 1869, p. 493.)

cusations to the ignorance rather than to the malevolence of the writer. We are the rather disposed to do so, in consequence of the existence of other statements which we can ascribe to no other source than the manifest unfitness of Mr. Blunt for the discharge of the work which he has undertaken. As a specimen of these we may refer to the somewhat extraordinary remark which we observe in a foot-note to p. 100, “ That to this day no Hebrew Bibles are known of a date earlier than the Middle Ages."'*

It would be simply a waste of time and labour, alike on our own part and on that of our readers, to do more than to suggest to those who have ill-advisedly become purchasers of Mr. Blunt's Manuals, Caveat emptor; and again to remind those who wish to master the interesting and important subject professedly treated of in the volume before us, of the existence of the able and interesting volume recently published by Canon Westcott, entitled “A general View of the History of the English Bible.”

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

My First Year in Canada. By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D., Bishop of Montreal, 8c. Third Thousand. London: Hatchards; Hamilton, Adams, & Co. 1871.-Probably few names among the English clergy have conciliated more affectionate regard than that of Ashton Oxenden. Exemplary in his parish as a Christian minister, he exercised throughout England a much larger and most salutary influence which extensively pervaded numberless homes, by manifold publications, characterised by sim e piety and wholesome doctrine. It was therefore with much pleasant anticipation that we took up this little volume, giving the author's first impressions of his new duties in his new home as Bishop of Montreal. We have read it throughout with interest, and rejoice to find traces of the same genial and loving spirit which distinguished him of old. It is quite impossible but that there should be allusions to the painful circumstances which preceded his arrival in the diocese ; but we do not doubt that much of the bitterness of feeling has been allayed by the Christian wisdom of the Bishop, and we do not care to allude further to it; it is far better, where possible, to bury in oblivion than to portion out blame. Throughout the volume there is a

simple record of duty faithfully discharged, narrated in an unpretending tone; there is also a genial account of the peculiarities which distinguish the performance of episcopal functions where the thermometer is below zero. Those who remember the pleasant missionary gatherings in the grounds of Pluckley Rectory, will not be surprised at hearing that, amidst the urgent wants of his new diocese, Bishop Oxenden has the wisdom and the large-heartedness to recognize the policy and the duty-may we not add, the privilege ?of not confining, what are called there missionary meetings, to the necessities of the Canadian Church. In his primary address to the members of his Synod, he says :

“I feel that there is yet another point which I dare not omit. I believe that no Church will thoroughly prosper, unless she enlarge her heart towards those nations which enjoy not the same spiritual blessings as herself. While trying then to meet our own pressing needs, we must not close our hearts towards those of our fellow men who are sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Let us make an effort, according to our means, to extend help to others, and then we may look for God's blessing on ourselves. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.'” (p. 114.) While visiting his stations, on more than one occasion, he speaks of the flatness and want of life and interest which marked Canadian as contrasted with missionary gatherings in parishes at home. In Canada, however, besides other causes, it seems that “the clergy were all in their surplices, and spoke from the chancel." We quote a short description of one outlying station, as a specimen of the peculiar nature of Clerical work in Canada :

“Sebrevois is supported partly by the Colonial Church Society, and partly by local subscriptions; and has been, and still is, extremely useful. It is in the midst of a French-speaking population; and consists of a large school, containing about fifty boys and girls, chiefly French Canadians, a few of whom are Roman Catholics. There is also a church which is a rallying point for the few Protestants in the neighbourhood. I subsequently confirmed twenty-eight persons, and was greatly pleased with the intelligence and Christian spirit which evidently prevailed there.

“We had Morning Service; the Litany being read in French; the singing half French and half English, and my sermon, which of course was English, although understood by most of the audience, was repeated in French by Mr. - , at least the substance of it. We afterwards dined at the simple parsonage-about twenty of us-and then returned to St. John's, and home to Montreal, thanking God for what we had seen and heard. The expedition had been a satisfactory one, and we had enjoyed it much.” (pp. 41, 42.)

On the Establishment of an Oratory in London. By the Rev. Orby Shipley, M.A. Third Edition. London: Masters. 1871. — The Oratory which Mr. Shipley proposes to establish is an institution which would be free from the tyranny of the State. It would be independent of Ecclesiastical interference.” In these points it would be a counterpart of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon's Tabernacle, and the Rev. Newman Hall's Chapel in Southwark, but in pompons paraphernalia and performances would emulate the Irvingite Church in