guished for his commentaries on the writings of the apostle John. He unites the learning, the steady aim and the tact of a philologist, with the deep views and, we trust, the unaffected piety of a Christian divine. In theological opinions, he is said to belong to the more moderate school of supernaturalists, a friend of Tholuck, but coinciding, in some points, more nearly with such men as Ullmann. His exposition of the Epistles of John is a very able work. We are sorry that he has not found a better translation. Mr. Repp is evidently a man of extensive learning and of orthodox sentiments. But he does not understand the English tongue. His version is the most unreadable of any which is to be found in the series. Uncouth barbarisms stare upon us on almost every page. Thus he speaks of "the epistle's nearest motive and principal object;" of the "doketic pseudology and skepsis;" "of Christ's human manifestation and history;" "of the practical and parænetical elenchus;" "the hermeneutic standard for the abridged cognate formula," etc., etc. Now for such things there is no excuse. The translation needs re-translating,-nobody but Dr. Parr could wade through it. It is such things, which are miscalled translations, that prejudice the English world against Germany and the products of her scholars. We understand that Tholuck has recently said, and we do not wonder, that he doubts whether it is expedient to attempt any further translations from German into English.

Umbreit's work on the book of Job forms volumes XVI and XIX. The translator is the Rev. John Hamilton Gray, of Magdalene College, Oxford. Umbreit is well known as a commentator on the Old Testament, and as co-editor with Ullmann, of the Theol. Stud. in Krit. His notes on Job are, probably, the best which have appeared in Germany. We have not examined the late commentary of Dr. Hirzel of Zurich. Umbreit's translation of the text is much inferior to that of De Wette. Some of his interpretations, also, seem to us to be forced and unnatural. His notes have the advantage of great conciseness. Many of them are very felicitous. The translator is more fortunate in his version of the notes than of the text. Much practice and long continued attention are necessary to present this venerable poem in a modern dress.

In the twenty-first and twenty-third volumes, we have Billroth's Commentary on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, translated, with additional notes, by the Rev. W. L. Alexander, of Edinburgh. Billroth was professor of philosophy at Halle, where he died March 28, 1836, at the early age of 28 years. His commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians was published, when he was but 25 years of age. He appears to have been a young man of extraordinary promise in various branches of knowledge. His Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion have been published since his death. The commentary before us is very respectable, and, considering the age of the writer, is marked by much ability. We should have preferred, however, the commentary of Olshausen, and, decidedly so, that of Rückert, which was published in 1836, two years before the translation of Billroth appeared. Mr. Alexander, who took the pains to visit and consult the author, appears to have done his work very creditably. He has made quite an improvement in the appearance of the pages, by transferring many of the Latin and Greek quotations to the bottom.

Volume XXII contains Krummacher's Lives and Characters of Cornelius the Centurion, and John the Evangelist, with notes, etc., by the Rev. J. W. Ferguson, of Edinburgh. Of the value of Krummacher's works, our readers are well aware.

The twenty-fourth volume includes the Dissertations of Witsius on the Lord's Prayer, translated by the Rev. William Pringle, of Auchterarder; the twenty-sixth is a Key to the Symbolical Language of Scripture, from Daubuz, Ewald, Vitringa, etc., by Thomas Wemyss, author of Biblical Gleanings; and the twenty-seventh is Rosenmüller's Historical and Philological Treatise on Biblical Mineralogy and Botany, translated, with notes, by T. G. Repp.

The remaining volumes in the series include Lisco on the Parables, translated by the Rev. P. Fairbairn, of Salton; Calvin's Commentaries on the Epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians, translated by Mr. Pringle; and Dr. Gess on the Revelation of God in his word, translated by the Rev. W. Brown, of Tobermore.

Of the great excellence of Calvin's Commentaries, no well-informed Biblical student is now ignorant. Lisco is

a Lutheran minister in Berlin. His work on the Parables

is designed, particularly, for ministers. He regards every parable as one whole, illustrative of some important truth, or obligation, or principle in the Divine government, and which the different parts of the parable only serve to develop. A full and able introduction is prefixed. The author seems to be imbued with the spirit which ought ever to characterize him who attempts to interpret our Saviour's words. In some parables, he injures the beauty and force of the thoughts by a too methodical arrange

ment.

Dr. Gess, assistant minister at Beutlingen and director of the school conference, is, also, a firm supernaturalist. His object was two-fold, first, to present a clear and practical introduction to the various books of the sacred canon, for the use of the mass of Christians; secondly, to combine with this, a statement of the results of the latest investigations in Biblical philology. He has paid particular attention to the Gospels and the Apocalypse. From a cursory inspection of the volume (which we have but just received), we think that the author has succeeded in his commendable object. It is one among many proofs, that the religious defection in Germany is by no means universal. Scattered among the villages of this land of the Reformation, there are, doubtless, many humbleminded Christians, many firm and intelligent defenders of

the faith as it is in Jesus.

We have thus given a brief account of most of the volumes embraced in the Biblical Cabinet, and our opinion of the value of some of the most prominent numbers in the series. We are disposed to accord great credit to the enterprising projector of the undertaking. It could not have been very liberal in its pecuniary promises. Learned works in Biblical science do not enjoy an extensive sale out of Germany. British and American theologians are, by no means, awake to its importance.

The plan, moreover, has been, in a good measure, successful. Many of the translations, especially those made from the Latin language, are well executed. Even the limited circulation of the works of Ernesti, Tittmann, Tholuck, and the like, must have a beneficial effect. few theologians in England and Scotland, thoroughly possessed of the sound principles of interpretation which

prevail among the best commentators in Germany, will be centres of healthful influence in the religious circles where they move. Thus sound and well-arranged systems of divinity will be built upon an accurate interpretation of the inspired, original text.

At the same time, this series of translations labors under some manifest disadvantages. There is need, in the first place, of an accomplished editor, thoroughly conversant with the German language, with German theological literature, with the state of religious parties and questions in Germany, and also with the needs of the British public. Thus he will know in what order and proportion foreign theology and commentary can be introduced. The thing must not be left at hap-hazard. A man but partially acquainted with the German mind could not be trusted. A native German, however learned or orthodox, would be liable to party bias, would recommend volumes for translation, because the authors of them belonged to his school. The interests involved in the publication of thirty or forty volumes of comments on the Word of God are too precious to be left to chance or caprice. A pernicious infidelity may be unintentionally introduced; or, on the other hand, a miserable prejudice may be fostered against every thing which bears the Teutonic impress.

In the second place, competent translators should be secured. We are tired of these nondescripts, called translations, which are neither German nor English, but a motley compound of interminable sentences, involved constructions, strange and uncouth words, as if German, Greek, Latin, English, and Mohawk had been cast into the seething pot together. We do not wonder that German books are an abomination in England, if we may judge from most of the specimens which have come to us from thence. A German translator has no irresponsible vocation. He should be, in some good degree, master of the two languages before he begins. He should become acquainted with the subject on which the book, which he proposes to translate, is written. He should be imbued, as far as possible, with the spirit of his author. He ought, then, to take all necessary time and pains to give a faithful version of the original, preserving the freshness and raciness of it, as far as it is consistent with the idioms of the language into which he renders it. His labor should

undergo repeated revision, and, if possible, should pass under the eye of some friendly but competent critic. A translator should be eminently conscientious. If he be negligent or ignorant, he does not sin against himself alone. He may be inflicting an injury on an innocent man four thousand miles off, provoking national prejudices and animosities, bringing the scholarship of his native land into contempt, or putting at imminent hazard the higher interests of truth and righteousness.

ARTICLE VIII.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE HEAVENS.

View of the Architecture of the Heavens, in a series of Letters to a Lady. By J. P. NICHOL, LL. D. F. R. S. E. Professor of Practical Astronomy in the University of Glasgow. Republished from the last London and Edinburgh Editions. To which have been added, Notes, a Glossary, &c., by the American Publishers. New York. 1840.

WHO has not gazed with admiration upon the starry firmament? And whose heart does not respond to the sentiment of the devout Psalmist, that "the heavens declare the glory of God?" Verily, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. The voice is heard by all men. Yet all do not equally understand its import. To the rudest intelligence it probably is not without some meaning. It intimates with more or less distinctness the existence of a Divine Being, and fills the imagination with dim and shadowy conceptions of his power; while, to the cultivated mind, it not only proclaims the existence of God, but, in the ascertained order, and harmony, and extent of the universe, unfolds the most impressive manifestations of his attributes.

A special intellectual preparation is necessary in order to understand the full meaning of that universal language in which the sublimest truths of nature are embodied. With