half a century ago by Gallandius? In addition to all these sources from which a future editor of Origen can enrich his pages, much still remains to be done by "a painful" scholar, who would undertake the task of examining thoroughly the treasures still remaining hid in the various libraries of Europe. A serious task, we admit, but one whose drudgery would be well rewarded.

XIV. Sermons preached at Winchester College.

By GEORGE MOBERLY, D.C.L., Head Master of Winchester College, &c. London: Rivingtons.

WE are sure that no one can rise from the perusal of this volume without feeling the blessing enjoyed by the scholars of Winchester College, in instructions so persuasive, so affectionate, and so sound as those which are here addressed to them. The volume includes twenty sermons on the following subjects: "The Isthmian games—The temptation of St. Peter-The temptation of Judas Iscariot-Diversities of gifts-Confessing Christ before men-Denying Christ before men-The woman of Canaan-The hidden life-The Queen of the South-The times of visitation," &c. We extract the following passage from the discourse on "Confessing Christ before men:"

"Consider the situation which many a boy occupies when first he enters upon a school life; makes, as it were, his first venture into a little world, from the more confined and healthy atmosphere of his own home. Suppose him the son of anxious and religious parents, bred from his very cradle in the strictest paths of uprightness, of diligence, and religion, and having learned, by early and long-continued habit, to feel the yoke of God not grievous, but, rather, light and easy, and delightful to him; and that it were possible to seal up, as it were, hermetically, the character at that age, and so to make the boy the father of the man, that the same heart, and love, and frankness, and devotion, which characterize that childish time, might last on, pure and uncontaminated, through the dangerous days of boyhood and youth, to strengthen and purify the age of manhood! But it must not be. God has ordered it otherwise. The world, its dangers, its seductions, its menaces, its troubles, must be known, be met and conquered. The trial which God has appointed for us is a more fiery and difficult one than this would be. And many a father, sending his son for the first time from home into so new and strange a scene, sends him with the clearest knowledge and anticipation of the sort of dangers to which he will be exposed there. . . . . And he comes-comes cheerful, affectionate, and full of good resolutions and purposes: and where does he find himself? I desire to speak faithfully, and not exaggerate; to exhibit the picture truly, and certainly not darker than the reality. He finds himself in the midst of much carelessness, much indifference, and much sin. . . . . And truly the innocence of the dove must be joined to the

wisdom of the serpent-an union rarely joined in the simple and inexperienced character of young boys,-if, in the attempt to keep his duty, and carry out his principles and resolutions, he does not offend, by some indiscretion, some of those who are too willing to be offended, who feel themselves rebuked by holier living on the part of so near a neighbour, and who will readily avail themselves of any such handle to annoy, discredit, or distress him, and by degrees to make him like themselves. He will find also many-a daily increasing and daily more influential number, I trust-who, in different degrees, and with different stedfastness, are maintaining themselves in habits and principles like those which he desires to maintain."-pp. 77–81.

The preacher then proceeds to show, that filial affection, ignorance of sin, and habits of early purity, will not support him in this contest; and that there is safety only in cherishing the baptismal gift-the inward life communicated by the Spirit of God.

xv.-Bokhara: its Amir and its people. Translated from the Russian of Khanikoff. By the Baron CLEMENT A. DE BODE. London: Madden and Co.

THIS work comprises a very complete description of the limits and extent of Bokhara, its mountains and rivers, climate, tribes and population, its topography, industrial resources, commerce, government, laws, and civilization; with a sketch of the life of Nasr-Ullah the present Amir of Bokhara. It also includes a map of the country. At the present time, a publication like this will, no doubt, have considerable interest for all who are immediately connected with India, and to whom the condition of the countries intervening between Russia and our possessions in the East must be a matter of much importance. It would seem that civilization has made more progress than we had anticipated in this country. There are at Bokhara alone upwards of one hundred colleges containing 10,000 students; the city of Samarcand possesses many remains of ancient grandeur. The author estimates the number of troops in Bokhara at 40,000, of which not more than one-third are completely armed. There is much curious information about the condition of the Mahommedan religion, amongst the rest of a sect which places its principal merit in repeating the name of God with great rapidity, in a mode which, we confess, rather puzzles us.

"During our stay at Bokhara there was one of particular celebrity, who could keep his eyes shut with greater ease because he was blind, but it was affirmed that he could, without fetching breath, pronounce 3000 times, with his heart, and under the pit of the stomach, and with

his liver and brains, the words 'La-Allah-il-Allah.' But from the great effort it occasioned, the respiration of his nostrils became so heated, that as I was told very seriously by a Mullah, if a pen was approached to his organ of smell it got singed!"-p. 260.

XVI.-Parochial Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Heversham, Westmoreland. By the Rev. ROBERT WILSON EVANS, B.D., &c. London: Rivingtons.

THIS little volume contains thirty-five sermons, which from their practical character and their brevity we can recommend for use in private families. The name of the respected author affords a sufficient pledge for the soundness of their doctrine, and the excellence of their spirit. We select the following illustrative passage from the Sermon "On the walk of faith"

"What a new, what a glorious world does it (faith) open to our eyes! how does it refresh them, pained as they are with the miserable sights of this world, and wipe every tear away! It carries us forward in thankful adoration, in joyful resignation, in cheerful obedience, from the lookback upon the day when the worlds were framed by the word of God, to the look-forward to the day when the elements of the world shall be dissolved. . . . . Such, in brief, are the objects of faith. And let us turn to the walk which is ordered according to them.

"In walking through this outward world of the body, do we not keep its objects carefully in sight; can we go right or straight without looking at that which lies before us? Make we not all use of the sun, all advantage of the direction of roads, and put to account continually our knowledge of the places, and experience of the ways? It is not so very different in the walk by faith in the Spirit. We must have the presence of the objects of faith in our heart, we must have the spiritual world before us,' we must go by its light; we must be guided by its directions; we must be familiar with its places, times, and seasons. We are on the road to eternal life; the road is lighted up by the heavenly light which comes from Him, that is the light and the sun of righteousness on it we follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is marked out by his cross and his grave; and before us is ever the glorious appearance of the Author and Finisher of our faith, sitting on the throne of his glory."-pp. 192—194.

And then the preacher directs attention to the appointed method of attaining such a heavenly frame of mind, viz., study of Scripture, use of the means of grace, obedience.

XVII. Incidents of the Apostolic Age in Britain. London:

Pickering.

THIS tale appears to be very well told. Its scene is laid in Britain in the first century, and it describes the mode in which Christianity may have been supposed to have penetrated into the

country, and the perils of the early believers. The description of the manners and customs of the Romans and of the Britons seems to be accurate.

XVIII.-Poems sacred and miscellaneous: to which is now added,

An Appendix. By RICHARD PARKINSON, B.D., Canon of Manchester. London: Rivingtons. Manchester: Sowler. THE principal poem in this volume is "The Ascent of Elijah," a Seatonian prize poem, which certainly exhibits considerable poetical genius, though there are some few expressions, which we are sure the able and respected author could not have intentionally retained. We allude more particularly to the concluding lines of the poem, in which it is said of Elisha,

"And stood that day before the Lord,

His Power on earth-his Wisdom-and his Word!"

It seems to us that such language exceeds the usual poetic license, and that it requires correction. Nor do we exactly like such expressions as "the Robe of magic power" applied to the mantle of Elijah." With such exceptions, however, which we do not wish to notice further, because the poem in which these passages occur was a juvenile composition, we must say, that there is considerable merit in the poem. The following passage describes the passage of the Jordan by the prophet:

"With solemn brow, and terror-boding eye,
To the dark Jordan, rushing wildly by,

The Prophet turned; and as he smote the stream,
Scatter'd like mists before the sunny beam
The parting waters severed-leaving there
For human foot a path as dry and bare,
As that which leads the fainting camel on,
From clift to clift, o'er sun-scorched Labanon !
With look that menaced danger-sighs that tell
Faint though the greeting, 'tis a last farewell,
Wrapped in his magic robe, the Prophet sped,
With hasty steps, o'er Jordan's rocky bed.

Yet not alone;-for, though each wave swelled high,
And trembled as Elisha's foot passed by-

Though Egypt's mightiest, weltering in the stream,
Rose on his memory with a withering gleam-

Still with unshaken zeal, and rapid stride,

The faithful servant kept his master's side;

And ere the spell that bound the wave was o'er,

His foot stood scatheless on the further shore."—pp. 11, 12.

The lines on "Easter-day" and "Bolton Abbey," and "a Tribute to the Memory of a Friend," are very pleasing.

XIX.-A Supplement to the authorized English version of the New Testament; being a Critical Dissertation of its more difficult passages from the Syriac, Latin, and earlier English versions; with an Introduction. By the Rev. FREDERICK SCRIVENer, M.A. Vol. I. London; Pickering.

WE Confess to looking with considerable jealousy and some little antecedent prejudice upon any propositions for a new translation of the Bible; and therefore it was no small relief to us (having previously happened to learn the drift of Mr. Scrivener's book) to find him at the very commencement declaring his conviction, that "they rightly judge," who agree that it is "at once unnecessary and dangerous to unsettle and perplex the simple by attempting to improve," by any new and authorized translation, our present version; a version " cherished as their best treasure by our countrymen and kindred, in every spot on the globe where our language is spoken or our name respected," and "the only bond which unites our Dissenters at home with the Church of their fathers." Still we are not blind to the fact, that however excellent as a whole, "like every other work of man, it is far from being faultless;" for that in the two hundred and thirty years which have passed since its completion, ample has been our improvement, if not in theological learning, yet in knowledge of the critical niceties of the Greek language, in our discrimination of the peculiarities of style in the writers of the New Testament, and in acquaintance with the many manuscripts brought to light by the diligence of modern research. Accordingly, the design of the work before us is "to collect and review those passages of our authorized version of the New Testament, which a diligent collation of the original may show to be inaccurate or obscure;" "a production intended for," and from its very nature likely to be confined to "the student in the closet." These inaccuracies the author comprehends under three general heads I. Errors of criticism, arising from false readings of the Greek text. II. Errors of interpretation, from mistaking the sense of the original Greek. III. Errors of expression, where the language of the English translation itself is ambiguous, ungrammatical, or obscure. In the Introduction, consisting of 127 pages, the author considers at some length each of these leading divisions of the subject. Under the first head we have an account of the Textus Receptus, and critiques upon several of the principal foreign editions, such as that by Scholz, Lachman, and others; together with a very interesting examination of Griesbach's famous theory of recensions, or families of MSS. and of Archbishop Laurence's masterly refutation of it. The