transactions connected with the committees of Bible, Tract, Missionary, Education, and various other societies, which leave them no time for the prosecution of literary studies.*

The real progress of the study may, however, best be learned from the demand for Hebrew works. Messrs. S. Bagster and Sons, the eminent publishers, have kindly informed us that the study of Hebrew in this country is certainly spreading.' 'Gesenius's Grammar,' they wrote, (April 26, 1852,) is in its second edition: Gesenius's Lexicon is about to enter its third edition: the Analytical Lexicon will soon be in its second edition. Of the smaller lexicons, lesson books, &c., a moderate but steady sale has been secured.' We are glad to learn that, while about fifty copies of Bagster's small Hebrew Bible, with points, are sold every year, only about half-a-dozen are sold without points. Messrs. Ward and Co., the publishers of Conant's Gesenius, have sold, since 1841, 4000 copies at 9s., and about 1000 at 6s. 6d., the reduced price. Of Dr. Lee's Hebrew Grammar three very large editions have been sold off since 1827, and another published, while the sale of that eminent scholar's Lexicon has reached from 1000 to 1500. Three editions of Hurwitz's Hebrew Grammar have been sold off, and another is out. Professor Gibbs' translation of Gesenius's Lexicon, printed by Mr. Duncan about twenty years ago, is out of print. There is also a steady sale for Dr. Robinson's Gesenius's Lexicon. Of Dr. M'Caul's Hebrew Primer, published about 1828, there were sold up to 1845 about 2000 copies, and since then about 1250. Talboys' Oxford editions of Professor Stuart's Grammar and Chrestomathy have sold somewhat largely. Besides

*Drs. Pye Smith and Henderson, the one now no more, the other retired from College duties, were among these capable and earnest instructors. Dr. Davidson, Professor Gotch, Hebrew examiner at London University, and others, eminently qualified to raise the study of Hebrew amongst us, are still actively engaged. Would that our learned friend Dr. Davies, translator of Roediger's Gesenius's Grammar, were in a situation to extend to us his valuable aid!

We are glad to see that Mr. R. Young of Edinburgh has received sufficient encouragement to publish several very useful Oriental works.

the large sale of Hebrew works printed in this country, very many are imported from Germany. Bohn, the purchaser of Vanderhooght's Hebrew Bible, offered to supply the Bible Society with his edition at sixpence a copy over cost price, but they declined his offer and went to Germany. Indeed, many booksellers, not only in London but elsewhere, correspond directly with German houses, and obtain at once Hahn's Hebrew Bible, Theile's Biblia Hebraica, &c.

As far, then, as the sale of Hebrew books is concerned, the prospect is most encouraging. May we not, notwithstanding many discouragements and much, very much, superficial acquaintance with the language,* indulge the hope that in process of time the disgrace, which is verily ours, of encouraging Oriental literature less than almost any other country,† will belong to us no more. We had an honorable name two centuries ago for biblical learning; may we merit it again and keep it. My knowledge of the Hebrew language,' said Luther, 'is but limited, yet I would not barter it for all the treasures of the world.'

We close with the remarks of the Quarterly Reviewer (vol. xliii. p. 391): It is not a little extraordinary that, at a period of so much religious excitement, and while the Scriptures are disseminated and translated into foreign languages with such unceasing and meritorious activity, our Hebrew biblical learning should be at so low an ebb. We might almost assert that a single Leipsic fair produces more Hebrew critical works than have issued from the English press for half a century.

This great school (the German) of Hebrew literature, the only one in Europe, it is well known, has adopted a system of interpretation in diametrical and, it is generally es

Why has not Dr. Nicholson received encouragement enough to bring out a second edition of his translation of Ewald's Grammar, from an English press. Nearly twenty years have passed since the first edition was printed at Gottingen. Our quotations from Ewald are taken from Dr. Nicholson's translation.

'Oriental literature, I am sorry to say, is in no country so little encouraged as in this.'—Dr. Lee, in the British Magazine' for March, 1847, p.

291.

teemed, dangerous opposition to that which has long and universally prevailed in this country. . . . . . . We are far from desiring to set ourselves up as arbiters in this great controversy our only object is to express our regret that the opponents of this school do not take higher ground, and meet their antagonists more fully in the field. It surely would be a more dignified course, instead of passing a hasty and sweeping condemnation on the whole school, and placing their works in an index expurgatorius, to array ourselves in their strong armor, to wrest their weapons from their hands, and so, in fair fight, win the field from adversaries, to conquer whom might certainly do honor to the most redoubted champion of learning.'

ART. VII.

BRIEF REVIEWS.

The American press is teeming with a great variety of useful books. The list below will give the reader some idea, however faint, of its activi ty. Our table, for this quarter, contains as many specimens as we can conveniently spread upon our pages. The class of works, too, is rapidly improving. This is a most auspicious omen. We have been drugged and nauseated with literary imbecilities and pollutions until a healthful reaction is beginning to demand, at least, a measure of more profound and substantial aliment. We are happy, as editor of this Journal, to have it in our power, in some degree, to enable our patrons to select such reading matter, fresh from the types, as will repay their expenditure and their pains. Without farther preliminary, we introduce at once to their notice,

1. The Works of James Arminius, D. D., formerly Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden. Translated from the Latin. In three volumes. The first and second by James Nichols. The third, with a sketch of the life of the author, by Rev. W. R. Bagnall, A. M., of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Auburn and Buffalo: Derby, Miller and Orton.

1853.

The name of Arminius has divided the Christian world. It has given its designation, on radical principles, to, perhaps, the larger portion of all the reformed churches. It is the theological antithesis of that of John Calvin. Each stands at the head of the two vast sections of professing Christians who differ from one another on the question of predestination. Arminius is the expositor of the negative of this question; and all who adopt his views, in general, though they disagree in others respects, are Arminians. They consist of a great number of the clergy and laity in the Church of England, in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, in minor ecclesiastical bodies, and of the entire Methodist family throughout the world, with one exception. The doctrinal opinions of such a man must be of transcendent importance to those who embrace them. Nor can it be doubted, that those in this country will hail with unmingled satisfaction the appearance of these volumes from the American press. The Methodist E. Church, North and South, especially, have cause to congratulate themselves that Arminianism can speak for itself, on their own soil, that its authentic exposition is accessible to all, and that a Methodist clergyman has the honor of bringing out the work, and of translating the third volume, for the first time, from the Latin. It is strange that the complete writings of this celebrated man never before assumed an English, and no part, an American dress, amidst all the controversies which have raged concerning his theological tenets; while the institutes and commentaries of John Calvin are found in almost every well selected library. On this account, in part, it is, that the egregious error is so often committed by our opponents of confounding Arminianism and Pelagianism, while on the question of salvation by grace alone, none were more orthodox than Arminius, or are more so than we now are. If some under the prestige of Arminianism have been Pelagians or Socinians, it is certain that the system is not responsible for their heresies, as the books now published will show. They will demonstrate, that on the doctrine of salvation by grace, Arminius and his genuine followers are sound to the core, while they constitute the armory of polemical weapons against the Calvinian hypothesis. Every Methodist minister and all our reading members ought undoubtedly to secure a copy of this work. The edition is superior in every respect, consisting of three portly octavo volumes, in clear, open type, and on fair paper. There are some unimportant errata, occasioned by the distance of the editor from the press, which, though they mar the perfection of the issue, do not affect its value. We have now the rare opportunity of supplying ourselves, with the ipsissima verba of the great divine, and we shall be inexcusable if we do not. We make our acknowledgment to the publishers for the beautiful copy before us, and hope that the patronage of a discerning public will fully compensate their enterprise.

2. A Treatise on Biblical Criticism, exhibiting a systematic view of that science. By Samuel Davidson, D. D., of the University of Halle, and

LL. D. 2 volumes. Old and New Testament. Boston: Gould and Lincoln.

1853.

Biblical criticism, as a science, has taken its rise with the past and present centuries, and has been gradually approaching the maturity in which it now exists. From its nature, it is the most difficult and most responsible of all kinds of Sacred Literature. Its design is to ascertain the integrity of the Sacred Text; to eliminate the various errors which have crept into it by transcription and mutilation, and to restore it, as nearly as possible, to its original purity. The sifting scrutiny to which the mental activity of the age has subjected it, has led to the ascertainment of many such errors which, though not affecting the cardinal doctrines of the Bible, involve its clear and consistent interpretation. Biblical Criticism consequently, is the foundation of Hermeneutics, and must not be confounded with it. If we would expound the word of God accurately, we must know exactly what it contains, and the object of this science is to put us in possession of that knowledge. A vast amount of erudition, a discriminating judgment, and an unbiassed purpose are requisite to the execution of this task. That Dr. Davidson possesses these, in a high degree, his very elaborate treatise gives ample proof. He has devoted many years of painful and laborious research to the investigation, and places before the English reader, a mass of materials, gathered from every quarter, and especially from Germany, hitherto entirely beyond his reach. From such rich and copious sources, a new impulse must necessarily be given to the critical study of the Scriptures, and a new era of light burst upon the world. These, and similar efforts, are fast gathering all the scattered rays of Divine Revelation into one grand focus, and bringing it to bear upon the mind and heart of the church, enlarging its views, strengthening its faith, and stimulating its exertion in the propagation of the unadulterated truth as it is in Jesus. To students and ministers of the Gospel, it has now become indispensable both to know and to defend the genuine text of the Bible. The whole tendency of the times makes it necessary to sound the very depths of the well of salvation, and draw thence its crystal draught for the healing of the nations. We must be profound as well as pious; skillful as well as zealous; "workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God, giving to every one his portion of meat in due season. Providence has made our helps so numerous, and so thorough, that it were a stigma upon our profession to be ignorant of the rapid improvements in the work which it is our special vocation to promote. It is time for the ministry of our own church to become more generally conversant with this species of literature, and to be mighty in the knowledge as well as in the power of the weapons of their warfare. The first of these beautiful and learned volumes, is occupied with the criticism of the Old, the second, with that of the New Testament. We cannot pretend here, to give any account of their contents, but only to awaken a desire to know them.