We have in these instances made the above copious extracts, in order to convey to the reader a clear idea of the manner in which this valuable work is executed; but for fuller information even on these few points, he must refer to the work itself; for we have scarcely given one-fifth of the extracts which are to be found corroborating the above Scriptural truths. There can, we think, be but little doubt that a great deal of this information was transmitted to the Greeks and Romans, perhaps in disconnected fragments, of ancient Hebrew history and tradition, in the same manner as that in which Mr. Marsden, in the work lately published under the title of "The Influence of the Mosaic Code upon subsequent Legislation," attributes the influence of the Mosaic Code upon the legislation of those countries. In other instances, we mean where the language is that rather of inference and supposition than reasoning, we willingly ascribe it to the wisdom of these ancient philosophers; and no one, who has perused that part of this volume which relates to the Book of Proverbs, can fail to be convinced of the profound wisdom of some of these writers. But before directing attention to other subjects, we will briefly notice one or two more of the chief historical events recorded in the Old Testament which are here more or less corroborated. As to the flood, it was the prevalent impression that in the time of Deucalion, which is the name by which Noah was known, almost all flesh perished by a flood.

"In tales of ancient lore 'tis said

O'er earth the whelming waters spread."

The facts of the Deluge, as stated in Scripture-Noah and his family being alone saved in the ark-the ark resting on a high mountain, &c. &c.-are all pretty clearly established. And it is more than probable that the fact of the raven being considered a bird of ill omen, and the dove one of good omen, arose from the disappointment in one instance, and the joy in the other, which Noah experienced in his attempt to discover whether the waters had abated.

On the subject of the building of the tower of Babel, the mode of its construction, the confusion of the then existing families of the earth through diversity of speech, &c., Mr. Millington displays much research and ingenuity in explaining and placing before us many old fables and traditions which evidently arose from the above causes. In some cases the evidence is clear, in others but distorted reflections of the truth.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are confirmed by several writers, particularly by Tacitus, who says that it is his opinion that cities once very great and important were burnt there by fire from heaven, and that the adjacent soil is infected by exhalations from the lake. The fact of the Jews having come

from Egypt is repeatedly affirmed. And there are legends and traditions of the sea rolling back and making way for a vast army to pass through, and immediately afterwards resuming its wonted course; which fables, it is needless to say, arose from the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites. The cause of the death of Samson is corroborated in a similar way; as is also the fact of the strength of Samson lying in his hair, Moses striking the rock and water gushing out, and numerous other miracles.

As a Commentary upon the Bible, this work is equally valuable. It elucidates and throws light upon many statements contained in Scripture, which might otherwise appear strange and unaccountable. Thus, on reading the sixth chapter of the Book of Daniel, one can scarcely fail to be struck with the peculiarity of the decree made by Darius, viz., that for thirty days no one should ask any petition of God or man, save of Darius himself. The explanation is, that the Egyptians and Persians both worshipped their own princes; but they were never allowed to bow down to any but their own monarchs. In support of this custom, several instances are adduced. And the account we read of the punishment inflicted upon Nebuchadnezzar seems equally strange: his being driven from men, and eating grass as oxen, and his body being wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. In allusion to this, we learn from ancient medical writers that there was a disease, a sort of melancholy madness, and those afflicted with it were called wolf-men, for they wandered about howling like wolves. The daughters of Prætus were said to have been possessed, through the influence of Juno, with a similar kind of madness, fancying themselves to be cows, and running about the fields bellowing. There is a good deal of interesting information on the habits and mythology of the Egyptians, which tends to show that the plagues of Egypt, terrible as they were in themselves, had yet for the Egyptians a peculiar degree of debasement and horror, which it is impossible for us to imagine.

Among the customs of the Athenians we find that by the law of Solon men were permitted to marry the daughters of their fathers, but not the daughters of their mothers-evidently in accordance with the practice among the patriarchs. Thus Abraham, after calling his wife his sister, says,-" And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." Before closing our notice of that part of this work which relates to the Old Testament-for we find that the space of our present number will not permit us now to enter upon the New -we would call particular attention to the similarity of the

proverbs contained in the writings of those ancient authors from which this commentary is compiled, to those contained in our own Book of Proverbs. Thus, in the one we read, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" in the other, "There is no greater grief to a man than hope that is long in coming."

"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." (Proverbs.)

"Is there anything you can find more nearly allied to wisdom than truth?" (Plato.)

"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." (Proverbs.)

"He who covets riches, would grow rich speedily. But what respect for laws, what fear or shame, is ever found in the breast of the miser hasting to be rich ?" (Juvenal, Sat. XIV.)

The commentary on the closing books of the Old Testament shows how fully many of the events foretold by the Prophets have been accomplished.

FINCH ON THE FATHERS OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH
CENTURIES.

Concise Observations upon the Writings of the Fathers of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries. By George Finch, Esq. London: James Nisbet & Co. 1865.

THESE Observations are brief, but pointed, and evince an extensive acquaintance on the part of their author with the writings of the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, and with the internal condition of the Church during that period. General information on both these subjects seems just now to be much required, particularly by some of the lay members of our Church; for it was but in October last that a member of the Church of St. Mary-leTower, Ipswich, made the following public assertions in a local paper :"I claim to be a high Churchman, and I am content to leave my . priest to know what is best for me as well as himself;" with more to the same purpose. Thus it is plain that there are people who are so mystified as to who and what the Fathers were, as the early bishops of the Church are called, and what their authority was, that, rather than prove their minister's teaching by the Word of God, these people are content to leave their priest to know what is best for them as well as for himself, and to obey their priest with confidence; evidently labouring under the false belief, that the New Testament is not, in fact, a complete New Testament; but that several codicils were, after its completion, added by the Fathers, and that these, wherever you may be able to eliminate them from the vast mass of extraneous matter contained in these writings, are of equal authority with Scripture. The object of these Observations is to show who and what manner

of men the Fathers really were. There is much in their writings, it is candidly admitted, which is estimable, and may be read with advantage and even profit by Protestants; but there is much, too, which is merely wood, hay, and stubble, which will consume and vanish away like smoke, when brought in contact with the Word of God. The absurdity and utter impracticability of many of their views are unsparingly and tellingly shown by quotations from the writings of the Fathers themselves. These quotations are given in the original text. Had the English translation in each instance been also given, we cannot but think it would have procured for this volume a much wider circulation than it will otherwise have, and also have greatly increased its general usefulness.

As to Celibacy (one of the great doctrines of the Church of Rome), it is shown that the early Fathers were by no means unanimous in their admiration of such a state; for Jerome, in the following words, admits that there were bishops who would not ordain deacons unless they were married:-" Proh nefas, episcopos sui sceleris dicitur habere consortes, si tamen episcopi nominandi sunt, qui non ordinant diaconos, nisi prius uxores duxerint." Celibacy, however, continued to increase. It appears to have risen from the idea that Christians ought to live upon earth as angels do in heaven; and we are told that they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but we are also told that "there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." It was an attempt, not to control and regulate the appetites which are common to our human nature, but to exterminate them. To carry out this idea, men endeavoured to live as unlike man as possible: they forsook society, resorted to remote and desert places, clothed themselves scantily and coarsely, and endeavoured to exist almost without food. Thus, many in voluntary exile, neglect, dirt, and misery, wandered about the Egyptian deserts. The spectacle is thus described by Tillemont, in his Life of Anthony :- Les déserts de l'Egypte commencèrent ainsi à recevoir l'effet de la bénédiction que Jesus Christ avoit répandue sur ce pays lorsqu'il étoit venu dans son enfance, et à devenir un paradis peuplé d'une infinité d'anges, puisqu'on peut bien donner ce nom à tant de solitaires et de vierges qui les habitoient. C'est ce que S. Chrysostome nous représente amplement avec son éloquence ordinaire." We learn, moreover, that many of these ascetics became delirious through privation and exposure to the intense heat of an eastern sun; some, too, were laden with irons, and to complete this wretched picture, Jerome, in his letter "ad Eustachium," describes himself as being "as black as an Ethiopian through exposure to the burning sun, and as being nothing but skin and bones, owing to his fastings, and yet he declared that his lust boiled up within him." (p. 11.) To Chrysostom the scene appeared a paradise peopled with an infinity of angels; to our mind it conveys the idea of a place the most remote from paradise, peopled with beings the very reverse of angels, beings whose reason was unseated, and whose conscience was seared with a hot iron; "forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

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It was believed that the sons of God were angels. Chrysostom was of opinion that they were not by any means:-" Ανθρωποι μὲν γὰρ ἐκληθήσαν υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἄγγελοι δὲ οὐδαμῶς. Many of the other Fathers were of the contrary belief. Their opinions also on many of the most vital points were totally at variance; and numerous quotations are made from their writings which prove the truth of this. So much for their supposed unanimity of judgment, which is pointed out by most Roman Catholics as one of the main, if not the main, pillars of their Church! Dr. Delahogue, too, one of the Professors of Divinity at Maynooth, states that the Fathers are fallible, and adverts to the errors of Justin, Irenæus, Cyprian, Origen, and Tertullian. Yet, notwithstanding all this, and much more might be added, Roman Catholics are bound to interpret Scripture according to the unanimous assent of the Fathers. As Mr. Finch truly says, the Church of Rome is bound, therefore, to furnish her members with a list of the names of the Fathers; with an infallible interpretation of Scripture ; with a list of the genuine works of the Fathers; and also to publish their works in a corrected text. None of these things has she done, nor probably ever will do. For, as they now stand, we may argue anything or everything from the works of the Fathers. And as Mr. Finch observes, "hence, in all discussions in which the authority of the Fathers is appealed to, after a bellum plus quam civile among them, the Romanist and Protestant advocates leave the field of controversy with drums beating and colours flying, and the audience, almost blinded by the learned dust which has been flying about, are left in the most embarrassing doubt and perplexity:" and for two very good reasons; first, because Romanists take their stand on the written opinions of their bishops, extending over twelve hundred years, which writings have been grossly suppressed and interpolated from time to time to meet the rising exigences of the Roman Catholic Church; and secondly, because these very writings not only contradict each other, but, as they now stand, even contradict themselves.

The book is a most useful one, and we wish it a wide circulation. It shows that the Fathers did not consider either themselves or their writings infallible; but that many of them considered the Word of God written in the Scriptures alone infallible. It dispels that superstitious reverence in which their writings are held by some good people. It points out both the good and the false teaching which they contain, and leads us safely to the conclusion, that the Scriptures contain complete directions for Christian life and conduct, and a full exposition of our faith. Its object is not to detract from the merits of the so-called Fathers, but to place them in their true light. Mr. Finch wisely takes the following text, and bears it carefully in mind while commenting upon their writings,-" Prove all things.'