liar difficulties of both. This is accomplished, not only by that Hellenistic idiom which is common to the LXX and the New Testament, but by showing whence that idiom is derived."-(pp. 53-57).

All the ancient versions of the Old Testament, with the exception of the Syriac, were exclusively made from the Septuagint and, when Jerome executed a Latin version from the Hebrew text, A.D. 400 (which gradually superseded the Septuagintal use of the Itala or old Latin version), the change was not understood by the Church as abrogating the previous authority of the Septuagint, but as combining the original with the version in the canon.

Mr. Grinfield then proceeds to show that the Hebrew language was understood by none of the Christian fathers, except Jerome and Origen; and that the study and knowledge of it continued dormant in the Church until the time of the Reformation further, that, as the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts have suffered alike in transcription, no argument can be raised, on that account, to debase the latter or to exalt the former: that the Eastern and Western Church unite in maintaining this conjoint canon of the Old Testament; and that the biblical authority of the Septuagint has not been abrogated amongst Protestants by any authoritative decision.

From the foregoing historical statements, of which we have necessarily given only a brief summary, Mr. Grinfield deduces the four following corollaries, viz. :—

"1. That the scriptural authority of the Septuagint is attested by the ancient Jewish Church, and by the writers of the New Testament.

2. That, to deny this authority, is to depart from the canon of the primitive Church, and thereby to invalidate our appeals to the fathers of the first three centuries.

"3. That, to deny this authority is to endanger the critical study of the Old Testament, and to impair the plenary inspiration of the New.

4. That the Church of England demands no such denial, adhering to the primitive Church, by retaining the LXX version of the Psalms in her Liturgy and Prayer Book."-(p. xii.)

An Appendix of Notes and Illustrations contains various proofs and authorities, on which the "Apology" is founded, together with some miscellaneous matters which could not be conveniently brought into the general statement. One of these notes, relating to the manner in which the Greek Testament is studied at our public schools, is too important to be passed in

silence:

It would scarce be credited (Mr. Grinfield remarks), that whilst

the most unremitting attention is given to the study of heathen authors, so little regular provision is made for the critical study of that peculiar Greek, in which the LXX and New Testament are confessedly, allowed to have been composed."

"The sacred Scriptures (he continues) require to be compared with Jewish, not with Pagan, writers. When the Greek Testament is the subject of study, the pupils should be told, they are standing on holy ground,' and no profane footsteps should be permitted to intrude. Till the plain line of demarcation is drawn between sacred and secular literature, there is little hope of the generality of elegant and accomplished scholars becoming profound and accurate diviues."-(pp. 174. 175).

To promote this union Mr. Grinfield suggests that some portion of the Septuagint be systematically introduced among the senior pupils of our public schools, and more especially at the college-lectures in our universities. Until this is effected, he thinks that there is but little hope of the critical study of the Greek Testament becoming prevalent among us. The Irish Presbyterian Church has recently instituted a professorship of Sacred Greek Literature in the college at Belfast: and we shall do well to follow her example.

Nearly a century ago the eminent critic, John David Michaelis, remarked that the book most necessary to be read and understood by every one who studies the New Testament, is, without doubt, the Septuagint; which alone has been of more service than all the passages from the profane authors collected together. It should be read in the public schools by those who are destined for the Church; should form the subject for a course of lectures at the university; and be the constant companion of an expositor of the New Testament."*

We shall rejoice if Mr. Grinfield's suggestion, for making the Septuagint a college class-book, should be realised, supported as it is by the authority and experience of Michaelis. At all events, those who are already possessed of Mr. Grinfield's Hellenistic Edition of the New Testament cannot too soon procure his "Apology," as a necessary supplement to that admirable work.

Mr. Grinfield's "Expostulatory Letter" to Dr. Wiseman, titular Bishop of Melipotamus in the island of Crete, must be considered as an appendix to his "Apology for the Septuagint." It contains a minute detection and proof of as flagrant an interpolation in the Vatican edition of that Version as any of the interpolations and falsifications of Scripture which we brought

Marsh's Translation of Michaelis's Introd. to the New Testament, vol i,

p. 171.

i.

before our readers in a former volume of this journal.* This interpolation is inserted in Deut. xxvii. 23." Cursed is he that lieth with his wife's sister." The inference drawn by Mr. Grinfield is most probably the true one, viz.-that this interpolation took place when penances for marrying a wife's sister were commuted into pecuniary fines; and "when, instead of debarring the guilty parties from the communion of the Church, the penalty was inflicted by avarice and extortion." Omnia venduntur Romæ.

A Summary of the Roman Civil Law, Illustrated by Commentaries on, and Parallels from, the Mosaic, Canon, Mohammedan, English, and Foreign Law. By PATRICK COLQUHOUN, Juris Utriusque Doctor, Heidelberg; M. A., St. John's College, Cambridge; and Barrister-at-Law. Part II. London: Benning. 1850.

We took occasion, in a recent number, to invite attention to the first part of this work, which we characterized as the result of vast industry and learning, and as claiming a place in the library of the gentleman as well as of the legal student, inasmuch as it possesses an historical and antiquarian interest which takes it out of the dry category of law books. We also remarked on the singular qualifications of the author for the work to which he has addressed himself; especially his long residence, in a diplomatic capacity, in those countries from the laws of which he draws his parallels and illustrations; and these are altogether independent, although inestimable auxiliaries, of the scholarship presumable from his graduation at two universities. We are not lawyers; and, therefore, do not profess to deal with the work before us upon its merits as a book of legal authority, though of its value to the student we entertain not the slightest doubt; that value being sufficiently established by its mulitude of quoted, and, we may add, authenticated facts. We have said that it possesses an interest apart from its bearings on the law; and we cannot better illustrate our assertion than by addressing ourselves to one subject of which it treats-we mean that of Marriage, and particularly to the customs characteristic of it in ancient times.

And first we learn that the use of rings did not originally belong to marriage, but rather to betrothal; that they were originally used as mere pledges and tokens of after perform

*See vol. xvi. pp. 433-445, Article VI. on "Popery the Enemy and Falsifier of Scripture."

ance. This custom is as old as the Athenian Republic; and we learn from Terence, who followed Menander, that young men, having agreed to sup together, deposited their rings with the caterer of the feast as a pledge that they would be present at the banquet. Indeed, the antiquity of the use of rings as pledges may be traced back to the Egyptians. In the imperial period of Rome, the marriage contract having been settled at the house of the bride, the man put his ring on the woman's hand as a pledge that he would redeem his promise. The ring, as now, was worn on the fourth finger of the left hand; but it is not established that rings were worn by women on any other occasion; and, therefore, it is inferred that they were redeemed on the ratification of the contract, or forfeited in the event of its non-performance.

With reference to the customs which marked the marriage ceremony we are told that the bridemaids provided a long white robe with a purple fringe, or trimmed with ribbons in which to dress the bride, whose hair was divided with the point of a spear, a practice to which we find an allusion in Ovid:

"Comas virgineas hasta recurva curas.

A wreath of yellow flowers was placed on her head and a veil thrown over it. The bride is conducted, towards evening, to the house of the bridegroom, bearing in her hand a distaff and spindle with wool, as a type that she will occupy herself in spinning, the duty of a housewife in the oldest times, as we gather from the Greek authors: hence, the English term spinster. In Scotland, our author tells us, the wife's side of a family is termed the "spindle side," and the husband's the "sword side." After some other ceremonies, baked farinaceous cakes were administered and the final oath taken: the keys were then delivered into the hands of the bride by the husband, in token that she was to preside over his house. Then came the marriage supper, at which the bridegroom threw nuts about the room for the boys to scramble for, signifying that he had left childish things for the graver affairs of life.

We have touched chiefly on those points of ancient marriage customs which exhibit an affinity to modern usage, referring our readers to the work itself for much curious and interesting information on the subject.

That portion of the work which refers to the relations between master and slave, exhibiting slavery in a much milder form than that in which we are accustomed to regard it, is

also full of interest; while the section devoted to corporations displays an industry of research not often exerted even in such works, and develops views of the subject at once original and sound, and commending it to the grave attention of all those who are, in any shape, interested in or connected with such establishments. A copious and well arranged index, referring to the two parts which form a volume, greatly enhances its value as a work of reference; and, looking to the vast amount of classical learning and legal knowledge of which there is evidence in every page, and to the great variety of subjects embraced, we cannot doubt that it will become a class-book wherever the study of the Roman civil law is cultivated. A work of this description has long been, we have reason to know, a desideratum at the universities, by many members of which the present attempt to supply it has been hailed and encouraged. We wish the author all the success which his industry and scholarship so eminently merit. The labour, of which the result is before us, must have been immense. The work extends to seven hundred closely printed large octavo pages, and abounds in marginal and foot notes. The style is remarkably clear, the arrangement judicious, and the treatment singularly popular for the description of work.

Pleasant Pastime; or, Drawing-room Dramas, for Private Representation by the Young. London: Hall, Virtue, and Co.

THIS is a very delightful little volume. The plot of each drama is full of interest, the moral unexceptionable, and the language unaffected. The "Eve of St. Mark's," the first drama in the volume, has an added interest derived from the information it conveys to our young friends on the subject of Venetian art.

My Old Pupils. London: Hall, Virtue, and Co. 1850. THESE pages embody a schoolmaster's recollections, exhibiting the varieties of dispositions and tempers in that microcosm, a school, and his mode of dealing with them. The interest of the story is kept up throughout, and it is replete with hints for the parent, as well as with instruction and amusement for the child.

The Three Patriarchs: a Series of Scripture Stories. By MARGARETTA. London: Longmans. 1850. ..

A VERY useful, interesting, and well-written series, which comes to us from the provincial press, under the auspices of the Bishop of Lichfield. The little book will be welcomed by our young friends, to whom it will form an appropriate present,