who say that the doctrine of the first resurrection is contained only in an obscure and highly figurative passage in the Revelation of St John. It is clear that the doctrine is not found there only. Whether that passage be so obscure as the objection seems to imply, we shall now proceed to consider. Of a certain class, whom we shall describe presently, it is said, in the fourth verse, that they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This,' it is added, 'is the first resurrection.' Now, there are several ways of getting rid of this testimony. One of them is to deny the apostolic origin of the book in which it occurs. But I can find no better reason for its rejection than its containing doctrines which are not to the taste of those who reject it-a reason which I hope most of us will pronounce to be inadequate. The other way is to interpret the passage differently, and we do not deny that those who differ from ourselves in interpretation have a right to be heard. The ordinary alternative, so far as I can ascertain it, is to make these words apply to a spiritual resurrection. Let us see whether such an explanation be admissible. The principal argument for it is found in the word souls. I saw souls,' says the seer. But, say those who deny that there is in this place a reference to the resurrection of the body, there is nothing here said of any bodies that St John saw; only souls are mentioned. True; but let us see what he says of these souls. I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and,' he adds,' they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.' Now what is the meaning of the words they lived?' It could not refer to a spiritual resurrection, because those who are spoken of are the most eminent of Christians. What then cau it mean? Let us ask rather in what sense any souls can be said to be dead. They are dead simply as being separated from their bodies. That is what we mean when we say that any one dies. And so, of course, when we say of disembodied souls that they live, we in like manner mean that they are united again to their bodies. Such, I think, is the natural meaning of the words; and such, I venture to affirm, is their meaning in this place. That this is not the view of millenarians only will be made plain by a quotation from the Commentary of the late Professor Moses Stuart, who was entirely opposed to their opinions. 'How can we well avoid,' he remarks, coming to the conclusion that noav, (the world translated 'they lived,') here must mean reviv ing, or rising from the dead? The use of 'aw, (the same verb,) elsewhere in the Apocalypse shows very plainly that it may mean revived, lived again, in reference to the body which had been dead. Thus the Saviour speaks of Himself (Rev. ii. 8) as being He who had been dead, Kai esnoe, and had revived, lived again, after the death of the body. Thus, too, it is said of the beast, (Rev. xiii. 14,) which had the deadly wound of the sword, that it revived (Snoe). So much for the mere language of this passage. Its connexion teaches us the same. The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.' Now it will not surely be denied that the resurrection in both of these cases is of the same kind. If the first resurrection be a spiritual reviving, then so must the second. If the second resurrection refer to the union of soul and body, then so must the first. The inference is clear. To say that they both refer to a spiritual resurrection would be not only to teach the baldest universalism, but to render the latter part of the chapter unmeaning. Nothing can be more certain than that St John refers in ver. 12 to the resurrection of the body, when he says he saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.' Must we not, then, conclude that the resurrection spoken of in the 5th verse is of the same kind, that it is a resurrection of the body?"

"Thus there are many good, amiable people, who are very decent members of society, very kindly neighbours, very respectable in all the relations of life, who have yet no idea of giving up any great portion of their time for the ac

Ask the

-or some

complishment of any ends or objects beyond their own interests. first half dozen, even of our communicants, what they have done for the extension of the kingdom of God, and what self-denial they have undergone, in order to do it, and you know beforehand what answer you may expect. They may have given some of their spare money-what they did not wantof their leisure time, for Christian work; but what have they denied themselves for it? Have they eaten plainer food, or worn plainer clothes, because they wanted to do the work of God with their money? Have they shortened their hours of relaxation or of sleep, because they wanted their time for the service of Christ? Many have done this-many thousands from the day when the gift of the Holy Ghost descended upon the Church to this day. Multitudes have made the will of God their first thought, and their earthly interest or pleasure their second, and multitudes have had no second thought. But they are the exceptions, even among those who have undoubtedly striven to walk in the footsteps of Christ, and trusted in His merits. Apply these words of the Apocalypse and the parallel expressions of St Paul to the ordinary type of Christian-I mean of real and true Christian-and you will see the ludicrous incongruity of the two characters. We may hope of very many, that they will be saved, that they will be owned as members of the flock of Christ; but the proportion of them who inherit the spirit of the martyrs, who literally and earnestly take up the cross and follow Christ, has probably never been large, and in our own day cannot be so considered. In this Church, for instance, we may hope there are many who will be saved, and find a place in their Father's house: we have no right to suppose that there are many who will have a part in the first resurrection, and reign with Christ."

Stones crying out, and Rockwitnesses to the Narratives of the Bible, concerning the Times of the Jews, the Evidence of the last ten years collected. By L. N. R. London: The Book Society. 1865. THOUGH We may not indorse the writer's adoption of Mr Forster's theory as to the written rocks, we can say that this is a most thoroughly readable, interesting, and profitable volume. There is a very large amount of curious and instructive information gathered together here; and no one can read it without being struck with the amount of collateral evidence that exists in a variety of forms, for the authenticity of the Bible record. A Christian reading it finds his faith strengthened by these many concurrent testimonies; a sceptic reading it cannot but find his unbelief shaken, and a prepossession (to say no more) created in favour of the historical accuracy of Scripture. We cordially thank the accomplished authoress for her volume.

The Bible Manual: an Expository and Practical Commentary on the Books of Scripture, arranged in Chronological Order; forming a Handbook of Biblical Elucidation, for the Use of Families, Schools, and Students of the Word of God. Translated from the German Work edited by the late Rev. Dr C. G. BARTII. London: J Nisbet & Co. 1865.

This is a wonderful volume, both for its amount of information and its cheapness. Only twelve shillings for an imperial octavo, of more than a thousand pages! We should not like to give an unqualified commendation to any commentary on the Bible. Nor do we propose in the present case to do so. But the reader will find it, upon the

whole, excellent; useful in its arrangement and satisfactory in its elucidations. A single paragraph will show its spirit:

"We cannot but be astonished at the decree of divine love manifested in the salvation, now that it has appeared. The work of creation is undoubtedly great; as he who does not yet understand may learn from Isa. xl. 12-26. Still more marvellous is the work of redemption. Not to speak of the plenitude of mercy towards an ungodly and sinful world which it presupposes, (Rom. v. 6,) nothing that bears the name of love can compare with that of God, in giving up His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life, (John iii.; Eph. iii.) Is the incarnation of the Son of God a riddle to you? The riddle is solved by the infinite love which is therein manifest. You cannot comprehend how the divine and human natures can have been united in one person. You say that either the human must have been at once absorbed by the divine, or that the divine must have been circumscribed by the human. You allege that what is infinite cannot, for that very reason, adapt itself to what is finite. Such language, however, shows that he who uses it does not understand what love is, and how its very nature is to restrain and deny self, and to suffer all things. He must himself have sparingly exercised self denying affection; for otherwise, he would have been better able to understand the love of God, relinquishing the throne of glory, and becoming man. To empty itself is the manner of love, (Phil. ii.;) and therefore it was that He who is the Son of Infinite Love (Ps. ii.) cheerfully undertook to accomplish the salvation of man by the most complete self-impoverishment. And for this very thing, it was given unto Him as a reward, that the humanity which He had assumed participated in His return to glory, and was exalted along with Him. No doubt this also is a riddle to many in our day; and there are reckless tongues which blasphemously designate the adoration of Jesus idolatry. They do not reflect that we are all called to the glory of God, (Rom. v. 2, Greek text;) and that, consequently, (Ps. viii.; Heb. ii.,) in the person of His Son made man, humanity also might be exalted to His throne."

The Opened Book.-Three-and-twenty Lectures on the Revelation of St John. By W. A. B. PRESBYTER. Dublin: Hodges, Smith, & Co. 1865.

As an exposition, this volume will not commend itself to any one; but as a book of fresh thought, it will win the favour of every one who reads it. It is perhaps fragmentary, or, at least, non-consecutive in its subjects as well as in its way of treating them. But it contains much that one likes to dwell on; and is really a book full of matter, written by one who has something to say.

Ertracts.

The Spanish Jews.

WE went over the pathless common to the Jews' churchyard, which, without any enclosure, looked like a field with low flat tombstones, upon each of which a Hebrew inscription was to be seen. Here the women assembled on the Sabbath, adorned the graves with burning lights, and sat in conversation, or sang choruses to the accompaniment of stringed instruments. The view

from this spot over the bay is inexpressibly beautiful. As we were standing here, the caravan, a long procession, passed over the beach, where the waves, white with foam, rolled up on the sands; we followed it, going through a ravine with towering, dusty cacti and fig-trees. Down by the sea, the billows were dashing high over the ruined mole; we got a good drenching once or twice. We were obliged to creep over, or get over as we best could, heaps of earth and broken walls, then again to mount and to seek a footing, till, at last, through thick and thin, we reached an opening in the wall of the town, which led to a tan-yard or slaughter house, or piggery might have been the most appropriate term; and we stood again in one of the rough, break-neck streets, whence we passed into a small lane, and entered the most considerable saleroom for embroidered slippers, worked cushions, studs, and brooches. Inside of the low outer door, the house was very handsome; there was a paved court-yard, surrounded by slender pillars; a stair-case, inlaid with squares of porcelain, led up to an open passage with small rooms-a complete bazaar, crowded with articles richly embroidered in gold, works of morocco leather and metal. The rooms were redolent of the perfumes of roses, musk, and myrrh. The young Jewish girl, who shewed us about, was very slender and pretty. Her mamma was on a larger scale: she might have sat as a model for Judith-that is to say, an old Judith,-relating to her grandchildren the story of Holofernes. Friday is a day kept sacred by the Moors; and therefore on that day the gates of Tangier are closed as long as prayers are being read in the mosques. Collin was not aware of this regulation, and, after our town wanderings, had set off on an excursion into the country. In the afternoon he came back, and went from gate to gate, but in vain, he could not get into the town. He had nothing for it but to stroll about, and in so doing he came to the Jews' burying-ground. The women had ranged their lights on the graves, and were sitting among them, singing, and playing their instruments. An old Jew showed him a path which led up to the castle, where the Pasha resides, and told him that it was only by this way he could enter the town at that time, for there was a little gate between the castle and the town always kept open. Through this gate he reached us, although the prayers were still going on in the mosques. I also ventured out into the streets and the campagna without a guide. No one was rude to me; indeed a couple of Jews were rather too pressing in their civilities; they pushed the little Moorish children to one side, although they were scarcely in my way. A Jew, very shabbily dressed, but grinning from ear to ear, insisted on my going with him into a side street. I asked him what was to be seen there. "A Jew's house," he replied, bowing humbly, and making many grimaces. My curiosity was aroused, and I followed him into one of the little narrow alleys; we were quite alone; he wished me to go further up within this inclosure; I became rather dubious whether I should trust him or not. With all his poverty, the man looked honest; yet I had a good many gold pieces about me-was I on the eve of meeting with an adventure? He stopped before a low door in the wall, took a step down, stood again, and again beckoned to me; I followed him. We entered a small paved court, where a dirty old Jewish female was employed in some household work. A few steps up a rude staircase brought us to a little open room; here lay a pale young woman, with a mat over her, and an infant in her arms. "A Jew's wife-a Jew's child!" cried the man, laughing and jumping about. He took up the baby and held it before me, that I might see it was really of the race of Abraham. I had to give it a little money. The woman took one of the cushions she was lying on, and gave it to me for a seat. The man kissed his pale pretty wife, then kissed his child, and looked very happy. The whole furniture of the apartment appeared to be composed of some rags and one large jar. The next day, I had an opportunity of seeing the contrast between the abode of a poor and a wealthy Jew. The richest

Israelite had invited me, through Sir John Drummond Hay, to come to his house and see how one of the leading Jews at Tangier lived. He came himself for me, because Sir John, with the English consul and many other friends, had gone to a large hunting party, which I did not feel inclined to join. More than one hundred persons had gone to hunt or to look on. Jonas Collin rode a fine-looking Arabian horse, a gift from the Emperor of Morocco; it had a pedigree tracing back through five hundred generations. They all set off at a furious gallop. The Israelitish merchant, dressed like myself, in the French style, took me to his house; it was situated in quite as confined an alley as that where, the day before, I had visited the poor Jew. The house itself, seen from the outside, did not look much better; there was a grated square hole in the wall, and a low door; but when I had crossed the threshold into the little forecourt, every. thing wore another appearance. The floor and the stairs were laid with slabs of porcelain; the walls seemed to be composed of polished white stone; the rooms were lofty and airy, with open colonnades leading out to the court. The light fell from above. Within sat the young wife, equipped in her costly bridal dress, evidently that I might see it. No eastern princess could have been more magnificently dressed; she vied with the splendour described in the "Arabian Nights," when Haroun-al Raschid went forth in search of adventures in Bagdad. She wore a long, open, green velvet dress, embroidered in gold, with a white silk petticoat under it; a long red silk scarf worked in gold; a brocaded bodice with several buttons, each button being a pearl; a veil of golden gauze hung over her bare arms, which were covered with splendid bracelets, as her fingers were with costly rings. Her hair, according to the Jewish fashion, was shaved off, but false curls hung from the blue silk turban on her head, in the centre of which, just over the brow, sparkled a large jewel. Her earrings were so massive that they resembled small stirrups. She really was quite a splendid sight to gaze at, and she was young and handsome, with coal-black eyes and shining white teeth. Her husband turned her round on the floor, that I might see her on all sides. She spoke Arabic to him, and a few words of Spanish to me. They were both very lively, but still more so was their little daughter, of three years of age; she was also resplendent in velvet and gold; laughingly, she offered me both her hand and her mouth; and after this cakes and orange liqueur were brought in. The wife's brother joined us, along with two older ladies, members of the family; they were not in their bridal apparel, but, nevertheless, were dressed in a peculiar style. The Bible, with the English and the Hebrew texts, was brought forth, and they were greatly surprised that I --as every schoolboy in our Latin Schools is able to do-could read the whole of the first verse of Genesis. My kind host conducted me again to my home; but when, on the way to it, we were passing another wellappointed Jewish house, in which his sister and brother-in-law resided, he wished me to go in. Here the inner court had a large glass roof, which rested upon green pillars, and rose to the height of three stories, forming an immense hall, which was hung with tapestry, and had matting under foot. Small open cabinets, one filled with a number of Hebrew books and manuscripts, one with views from the Bible, and others with articles of household use and luxury; all seeming to proclaim what a pleasant abode this must be. The lady of the house, who was no longer a young woman, was dressed in black, and wore a handsome head-dress, received me very kindly. There were other ladies present, and some children, but they all spoke Arabic; only the husband, who soon made his appearance, spoke English. One of the little Jewish boys amused himself very much during my visit: he hid his face behind dresses and curtains, bursting, however, constantly into fits of laughter, but he was very much embarrassed when I drew him forwards, and asked him his name, and every other question I could think of. His