1851.] Great Britain. 459 measure from Tischendorf. He has paid great attention to the Gospel of John, to the Acts, and to the text of the Apocalypse. A Greek Testament on a similar plan to that of Dr. Bloomfield has been commenced by Rev. Henry Alford. It contains a critically revised text, a digest of various readings, marginal references to verbal and idiomatic usage, and a copious critical and exegetical commentary. Vol. I. only is published, at the high price of 24 shillings. Dr. Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Jan. 1851, contains, among other articles, Nineveh, Remains of Jansenism in Holland, Human Progression, Letter and Spirit of the Old Testament, Calvin, and an Exposition of 1 Cor. 7: 25-40. Olshausen on Acts has been translated by Rev. W. Lindsay, D. D., with additional notes by the translator. On p. 600 of the last volume of the Bib. Sac. we mentioned that a royal commission was about to be appointed to inquire into the state of the English universities. The commission, since appointed, consists of the following members, viz: for Oxford, Dr. Hinds, bishop of Norwich, Dr. Tait, dean of Carlisle, and late master of Rugby school, Dr. Jeune, master of Pembroke College, Oxford, H. G. Liddell, one of the authors of the Greek Lexicon, and master of Westminster school, Rev. Baden Powell, professor of geometry in Oxford, Rev. H. S. Johnson, of Queen's College, Oxford, and J. L. Dampier, Esq.; for Cambridge, the bishop of Chester, Dr. Peacock, dean of Ely, Sir John F. W. Herschel, Sir John Romilly, attorney general, and Rev. Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology, Cambridge. The Oxford commission sent a Circular to the authorities of the university, requesting information on the following, among other points: The possibility of diminishing the ordinary expenses of the university; The sufficiency of the power of the university to enforce discipline; The power of the university to make, repeal, or alter statutes; the mode of appointing the vice-chancellor and proctors; The government of the university, and its relation to the colleges as finally settled by Laud's statutes; the means of extending to a larger number of students the privileges of the university, by erecting new colleges and halls, by permitting undergraduates to lodge in private houses more than at present, by allowing students to be educated at Oxford without the expense of becoming members of a particular college, and by permitting persons to attend the professors' lectures, without any other connection with the university; The expediency of requiring an examination previous to matriculation, of diminishing the time required for the first degree, and of rendering the higher degrees real tests of merit; The expediency of combining the professorial with the tutorial system, of rendering the present professorships more available, of increasing their number, and of providing pensions for retired professors; The most eligible mode of appointing professors; The existing limitations in the election to fellowships; The expediency of abolishing the distinction between noblemen, gentlemen commoners, and other students; To provide means for more fully qualifying students for holy orders, without the necessity of establishing other schools; The system of private tuition; How the Bodleian library may be made more efficient; and, The expediency of laying periodical statements of the condition of the university before the convocation. Other questions were also addressed to the professors, and a series was sent to other persons who were able and disposed to reply. It is understood that both commissions will soon be prepared to report. The works which are now publishing in England, on the history and literature of ancient Greece, are a striking proof of the utility of combining the extensive and profound investigations of German scholars, with the taste, the good sense, the clear and vigorous style and the political wisdom which characterize English writers. Grote, Thirlwall, and Mure show on almost every page how much they owe to the varied researches of their German cousins. Equally prominent in these works are the good sense, the spirit of independent investigation, uninfluenced by theory, and the large and practical views of social and political life, which have been sadly wanting in the speculations of many German scholars. The Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece, by Col. William Mure, of Caldwell, M. P. for Renfrewshire, Scotland, extends to three volumes. These comprise the first two of the six periods (the Mythical and Poetical) into which the author divides the literary history of Greece. The subject is brought to the age of Solon. His analysis of Homer's Poems is said by the Quarterly Review to be more keen and searching, as well as genial and liberal than they, or perhaps any uninspired writings of antiquity, ever underwent before. The 6th volume of the new edition of Thirlwall's History of Greece is in press. An abridgment of the whole work, for schools, in one volume, has been made by Dr. Schmitz of Edinburgh. The 8th volume of Grote's History of Greece, the last published, closes with the death of Socrates. Several additional volumes are in preparation. A new edition of the first volumes is passing through the press. This, we are happy to say, is reprinting, in a cheap and handsome form, volume for volume, by J. D. Flagg of Andover. Published by J. P. Jewett & Co. of Boston. The third volume of Dr. Chalmers's Life is in preparation. The author's works, as edited by himself, amount to 25 volumes. The posthumous works, 9 volumes, and 4 volumes of the memoir, will make in all 38 volumes. The first part of the 2d volume of Traill's Josephus, interrupted by the lamented death of the translator, is published, under the editorial charge of Isaac Taylor. It is illustrated with nine plates. We also observe a notice of the third edition of Dr. R. G. Latham on the English Language, "the result of much solid learning and acute criticism;" also, Addresses and Charges of the late Dr. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, with a Memoir by his son, Rev. A. P. Stanley; and the Architecture of Ancient Egypt illustrated and described, by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, eighteen plates, with descriptive text. In the use which English classical scholars have made of German resources, two stages are to be noticed. In the first place, we have direct, unaltered translations, e. g. the Greek grammars of Matthiae, Rost, Thiersch, the Ro 1851.] Great Britain. 461 man History of Niebuhr, Böckh's Economy of Athens, Müller on the Dorians, Ritter's History of Philosophy, etc., and secondly, where the knowledge drawn from German sources is worked over and incorporated, so as to result in the production of works more or less independent. In some cases, the multifarious materials have not only been wisely selected, but incorporated with English modes of thought and expression, so as to lose their foreign air. Independent scholarship and sound judgment have shaped and transformed the entire mass. A conspicuous instance of this is the Greek Lexicon of Liddell and Scott. We may name as another instance the Classical Dictionaries of Dr. William Smith. They are constructed with so much judgment and learning, and come out in a form so attractive, that they will probably soon displace all other works of the kind in the language. Dr. Smith studied some time in Germany; subsequently he has had several years' experience as a writer, and a teacher of the classics. He is now the classical professor in the new Dissenting College in St. John's Wood in London. The first work in the series is a Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities in one volume, 8vo., with 500 wood-cuts. The second edition contains large additions and many improvements. Prof. George Long contributed the articles relating to Roman Law. Dr. S. was aided by seventeen writers, some of them eminent in particular departments. The second work in the series is the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, in 3 vols., 8vo., 3700 pages in all. To say that the work is superior to any of the kind in the language is not saying much, for all previous attempts were very meagre. The work embraces History, not only of Greece and Rome, but of the Asiatic kingdoms, down to A. D. 1453; Literature, or a full account of the lives and writings of the Greek and Roman Authors, including the Byzantine; Ecclesiastical writers, lives of the Greek and Latin fathers; Arts, lives of painters, sculptors and architects, with an account of their principal works, so far as known; and Mythology. Some of the articles are of considerable length, e. g. Euclid 22 pages, Aristotle 52 pages, Cicero 74 columns, Phidias 24 columns. The last work of the series, now in the press, is a Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, or rather of Ancient Geography, not excluding Scriptural Names. It will include an account of the political history both of countries and cities, the history of the more important public buildings, and an historical atlas, containing, in many cases, several maps of the same country. It will probably be published during the present year. An abridgment of the Dictionary of Antiquities has been published in 16mo., for the use of junior pupils; also an Abridgment of the Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, which is noticed on p. 447. The following is the series of Rev. J. E. Riddle's Latin Lexicons: 1. A Copious and Critical Latin-English Lexicon, founded on the work of Dr. Freund, 50 shillings, quarto; 2. English-Latin and Latin-English Lexicon, 36s. 6d. 8vo.; 3. Young Scholar's English-Latin and Latin-English Lexicon, 12s. 12mo. bound; 4. Diamond Latin-English Lexicon, 4s. 32mo. bound. Dr. Donaldson, master of the grammar school at Bury St. Edmunds, has published the 6th edition of his " Theatre of the Greeks," and the second edition, one vol. 8vo. 694 pages, of the "New Cratylus, or Contributions towards a more accurate Knowledge of the Greek Language." Mr. Barnes's Commentaries continue to have an undiminished sale in England. It is stated that nearly 100,000 copies of "Cobbin's edition” have been sold. The Isaiah and the New Testament, in 12 vols., are sold for $5.00. We hope that the sense of justice and honesty on the American side of the Atlantic will soon be strong enough to lead to an international copyright law. GERMANY. As the "paternal" sovereigns of Germany are becoming more firmly seated on their thrones, and the inconvenient disturbances of 1848, are subsiding, the number of political books and pamphlets is diminishing, while the general book trade is increasing. After the convulsive efforts to construct political systems, the Germans are retiring to the abstract realms, where kings and ministers will allow them to be unmolested. The catalogue of the last Leipsic book-fair contained 5023 works. The last annual meeting of the German Oriental Society was held in Berlin, from Sept. 30th to Oct. 4, 1850. The opening address by Böckh, the president, was "splendid and masterly." Some of the high functionaries were present, and took part. After the reading of the annual report by Prof. Rödiger, Humboldt made some remarks in his "usual instructive and kind manner." The Antigone of Sophocles was acted before the Society, by order of the king. The number of members present was 353. These are interesting, social, as well as literary reunions. The Germans enter into the matter with the whole heart. We are glad to perceive that the Commentary begun by Dr. Hermann Olshausen, is to be completed. The Epistles to the Philippians, to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, have been explained by Licentiate Augustus Wiesinger, in a volume of 743 pages; and the Epistle to the Hebrews, in a volume of 496 pages, by the well known professor Ebrard of Erlangen, some time a colleague of Olshausen. The Commentary of the latter, in 5 vols. and two parts, is in the process of translation, in Clark's Theological Library, Edinburgh. The translation of the Gospels and Acts, is in 4 vols., Romans in one vol., and the two epistles to the Corinthians, in one vol. Price of the six volumes is about fifteen dollars. Among the most entertaining works which have lately appeared is Hagenbach's "Lectures on the Church History of the 18th and 19th Centuries, viewed from the position of Evangelical Protestantism." The second edition in two moderately sized octavos was published in 1848, 1849. The first volume contains twenty-two lectures, the second, twenty. The view is of course mostly confined to Germany, yet some interesting sketches are given of the religious history of England, France, Holland, etc. The author, who is a German Swiss, and since the death of De Wette, the best known of the theological professors in the university of Basil, writes in a lively manner, with considerable power of imagination, with a happy intermixture of anec 1851.] Germany. 463 dotes and biographical incidents, and, as far as we can judge, with a very commendable degree of fairness towards the different schools and parties. Certain aspects of church life, e. g. the propagation of Christianity, History of Missions, etc., he proposes to consider in a separate work. Dr. Thenius of Dresden, author of the Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Kings, in the "Condensed Exegetical Manual of the Old Testament," is evidently a painstaking and thorough scholar, familiar with the stores of philology, deeply interested in his subject, and anxious that the reader should be so also. But the commentary hardly meets the wants of the English and American student. The extreme condensation, the crowding together of textual, verbal and grammatical criticism and of historical and exegetical remarks, into so small a compass, without paragraphs, and with many abbreviations, disfigure the page and weary and perplex the reader. On the difficult texts, a more extended commentary is needed. We wish also to have the author's own view stated more distinctly, unmixed with the speculations of others. If he cannot solve a problem, let him give the best light which he has, and inform us precisely where the difficulty lies. Thenius, too, belongs to the class of subjective critics, who can divide a book into fragments, and determine what is historical, what traditional, etc., as though he had been recorder to Josiah, or one of Ezra's assistants. In this dislocating process, we have little faith. Still, the commentary is important to the practised philologist. It has materials which a skilful architect could shape into a goodly edifice. The volume on the Kings was published in 1849, in 471 pages, besides an appendix of 45 pages, describing Jerusalem and the temple, as they were before the captivity. There are several plates and a chronological table. The second edition of Meyer's Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1849, pp. 364, is "amended and enlarged." The author speaks of having carefully consulted not only the most recent commentaries and monographs, but of having thoroughly reviewed the earlier interpreters, the Greek and Latin Fathers, etc. He alludes in terms of high commendation to the labors of Tischendorf on the text of the New Testament. Several writers, e. g. Rodatz, Schenkel, Räbiger, Goldhorn, Dähne, Kniewel, have lately discussed some special topics in this epistle, with more or less ability. The excellencies of the author as a commentator, exact philological knowledge, acuteness, and in general sound judgment in marking the connections of the discourse, apposite historical and antiquarian illustrations, an independent use of other commentators, etc., are conspicuous in this revised labor. The author is now at work on the Apocalypse. Dr. Lünemann's Commentary on the two epistles to the Thessalonians, 1850, pp. 233, appears to be thoroughly elaborated. "The commentators from the earliest to the most recent times, have been compared with independent care, and in greater number than was possible for my predecessors, in consequence of the rich treasures of the university library here at Göttingen." Koch has lately written a Commentary on the First Epistle. Dr. L. concludes that the first epistle was written at the beginning of Paul's resiVOL. VIII. No. 30. 40 |