spurning arbitrary and fanciful imputations of meaning, in shewing himself free alike from the bondage of undue reverence for human authority, and from the allurement of plausible novelty, Calvin was above his contemporaries, and still further above his successors. Indeed, upon the latter, for several generations, his example seems to have been lost. For more than two centuries, just views and undeviating practice in the art of eliciting the true sense of the Divine word, seem to have gone lamentably backward. We may quote a single paragraph, which will at once furnish a specimen of Calvin's exegetical principles, and a proof of the defective attention which has been paid to them by many wise and good men in following time. It is from the conclusion of his Commentary on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. "Neither is there any sufficient evidence for another allegorical application, which has however been found so generally agreeable, that it has been almost universally received, even with a reverence due only to a revelation from heaven. Certain persons "have entertained the fancy, that, by this Samaritan, Christ is re' presented, because he is our Deliverer. They have represented the application of oil and wine, as signifying the healing work ' of Christ, by repentance and the promises of grace. They have ' also invented a third secret, namely, that Christ does not restore 'converted souls to spiritual health all at once; but that he 'commits them to the care of the Church, as the benevolent Samaritan to the host of the inn, that they may be properly ' attended to, and in due time restored to health. All this, I 'confess, is very pretty but it is our duty to maintain a greater reverence for the Scriptures, than that we should take leave 'thus to disguise their true and natural sense.' Because the endeavour to ascertain, by plain grammatical means, the simple and only sense of Scripture, has been often professed by men unfriendly to the essential truths of Revelation, or whose writings indicate no sense of vital and practical religion, a prejudice and a dread have been produced against those principles of interpretation, in many excellent minds. This feeling has been strengthened by the fact, that some of the German Bible-critics, whose works furnish important aid to the study which we are anxious to recommend, have been, or are, anti-supernaturalists, that is, scarcely disguised infidels. But this is a melancholy and distressing fact, chiefly on account of those unbelievers themselves. The principles and rules which they lay down, as critics and philologists, are sound; and those writers have indeed rendered good service to the cause of Christian truth, by their frequently establishing, as a matter of historical fact, that the doctrines asserted or implied in the New Testament, are the very sentiments which form the leading principles of the Evangelical or Orthodox system; while those unhappy persons do not defer to the authority of the New Testament as a positive revelation from God. Thus, in many important instances, truth is elicited or confirmed by not merely the concessions, but the elaborated and decided declarations of its adversaries. The whole case, also, goes to confirm, instead of weakening, the momentous fact, that learning, talent, and exegetical skill, will not qualify a man to discern the beauty and feel the power of heavenly doctrine, unless his mind is imbued with the spirit of humble piety and practical holiness. But let it not be thought, that the baptized infidels of the German universities are the only men of high attainments, unsparing diligence, and admirable skill, in sacred philology. Far, very far, is this from being the fact. In the darkest period of the apostatizing mania of Germany and other parts of the Continent, there were always some men of intellectual and literary power equal to that of the Neologistic party, who were the firm friends of pure faith and unfeigned piety. Within fifteen years, and still more within the last five, there has been a gratifying increase in the number and in the public activity of such accomplished scholars, endowed with fine talents of understanding and reasoning, and who are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, knowing it to be the power of God unto salvation. We may mention, premising that this is by no means a complete enumeration, Bengel (the son of the excellent man of that name in the last century), Harms, the Tittmanns (father and son, both dead), Orelli, Planck, Lücke, Schott, Strauss, Scheibel, Geibel of Lübeck, Flatt, Neander, Twesten, Theremin, Tholuck, Guericke, Hahn, Hossbach, Olshausen, Grundtvigt, Pelt, and Steiger; this last a young man of wondrous promise, known to great advantage by his Refutation of Wegscheider's Institutiones and his Commentary on the First Epistle of Peter, and who has last year removed from Berlin, to be one of the Professors of Exegetical Theology in the new Theological Academy at Geneva. It has afforded us great pleasure to learn, that some of the ministers in Edinburgh or its neighbourhood, both of the Established and the Dissenting denominations, including also the Episcopalian, have formed a kind of association for the translating and publishing, in an elegant and uniform manner, the most valuable of the smaller works of the German sacred critics, chiefly those of recent production. The First Volume, which has not yet fallen into our hands, contains a part, we presume about one half, of Ernesti's Institutiones, or "Principles of Interpretation of the New Testament; with copious Annotations, by the Rev. C. H. Terrot, A.M. late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge." This is the work of which a translation was published in 1824 by the American Professor Stuart; with many elucidations and notes, partly selected from the Acroases of Morus and the works on Scripture-Interpretation of Seiler, Keil, and Beck, partly from the pen of Mr. Stuart himself, and partly, (in a London republication of 1827,) from that of the English editor, Dr. Ebenezer Henderson. For the reason just mentioned, we are unable to form any estimate of Mr. Terrot's translation, as compared with Mr. Stuart's. There is abundant room for a useful diversity of plan and topics, in whatever illustrations Mr. Terrot has added, or may propose for the remaining part, which is announced to form a future volume of the "Biblical Cabinet." We have been informed, that his plan is to include all the Notes of Von Ammon, with subjoined observations of his own, for which he will find no small reason. The Editor of this interesting collection, which will be as valuable for its internal excellence as it is beautiful in its external form and its typography, is Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh; a minister beloved and revered for his own attainments, talents, and personal religion, as well as for the hereditary representation of his devoted father and his grandfather, the holy and indefatigable divine of Haddington. 'Sensere quid mens rite, quid indoles Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis.' The Treatises contained in the present volume, and now first given in an English dress, are: 66 I. Pfannkuche on the Vernacular Language of Palestine, in the Age of Christ and the Apostles; translated by T. G. Repp. This was originally published, more than thirty years ago, in Eichhorn's Universal Library of Biblical Literature." The student will not have satisfied himself on this subject, without attentively considering the arguments advanced by Hug in his "Introduction to the New Testament," (Vol. II. Sect. X.,) with a view to prove that Greek was so commonly spoken in the cities of Palestine, during the period under consideration, that it was nearly, if not quite, of coequal currency with the Aramaic; that this was the proximate reason why the New Testament was written in Greek; that the original of St. Matthew's Gospel is the Greek which we possess; and that the discourses of our Lord were very often delivered by him in Greek. It should also not be forgotten that a similar set of positions was maintained by the late Dr. John Jones, a man whom we cannot remember without respect and sorrow, and who, with all his eccentricities and unhappinesses, frequently manifested great sagacity on philological questions. The Section of Hug, to which we have referred, is republished from Dr. Wait's translation, very much improved, in No. IV. of Professor Robinson's "Biblical Repository;" a work which is an honour to America, such as may well make the mother-country feel ashamed and humbled. II. Planck on the True Nature and Genius of the Diction of the New Testament; translated by A. S. Patterson, who is, if we mistake not, a nephew of Dr. Brown. III. Hints on the importance of the study of the Old Testament; by Dr. Tholuck; translated by R. B. Patton. Every thing of Tholuck's is interesting and instructive. He is a man of exquisite learning, classical, biblical, and oriental; of powerful mind, of that genius and poetical tact without which no man is qualified to enter into the spirit of the sublimest parts of the Bible; and, above all, a man of warm and vital piety. The Editor and his associates will confer a distinguished value upon the Biblical Cabinet, by bringing into it as much as they may be able of Tholuck's various productions, both his separate works and the chief papers in his (Anzeiger, &c.) "Literary Indicator for Christian Theology and Science in general,"—a periodical work which he publishes every five days. IV. Remarks on the Interpretation of the Tropical Language of the New Testament, by Dr. Beckhaus; translated by Mr. Perrot. This is a very useful and indeed necessary appendage to Ernesti's chapter on Tropical Language. Our wishes are justly called forth, and our recommendation is cordially given, that this new contribution to the science of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation may be received by the public as it deserves; and that will be, with warm approbation and extensive support. We are happy to see announced, for early publication in a subsequent volume, the inestimable work of the younger Tittmann, (who died December 30, 1831, at the age of 57,) on "The Synonyms of the New Testament;" translated by the Rev. Edward Craig, one of the Ministers of the Episcopal Church in Edinburgh. We assure ourselves that the small but important Supplement, published since the Author's death, will not be omitted. Brief editorial notices of the lives and writings of the authors brought forward, would be a welcome addition to the plan of the "Biblical Cabinet." Art. III. An Exposition of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians. By the Right Rev. John Davenant, D.D. Lord Bishop of Salisbury; President of Queen's College, and Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in Cambridge: originally delivered, in a series of Lectures, before the University. Translated from the Original Latin; with a Life of the Author, and Notes illustrative of the Writers and Authorities referred to in the Work. By Josiah Allport, Minister of St. James's, Birmingham. To the whole is added, á Translation of Dissertatio De Morte Christi, by the same Prelate. In 2 vols. 8vo. pp. lxiv. 1148. Price 17. 8s. London, 1832. WE E apprehend that comparatively few of our readers know much of Bishop Davenant. Few, perhaps, are more than slightly acquainted with his history; and fewer still may have looked into his writings. A short sketch of the one, and some brief account of the other, may, therefore, be an acceptable as well as appropriate introduction to the remarks we intend to offer on those works which are included in the present publication, as well as on the manner in which his present Biographer and Translator has achieved his task. Bishop Davenant belonged to the third generation of English prelates from the Reformation: he was, ecclesiastically speaking, amongst the grandchildren of the Reformers. He may justly be ranked, therefore, though not amongst the fathers of the English Church, yet, amongst her most venerable names. He was born in 1572, in Watling Street, London. His family boasted of not only an ancient, but a highly respectable pedigree. His father was an eminent merchant. Of his earlier years little is known, except that he even then gave indications of that candour, frankness, and integrity which afterwards so highly distinguished him. In 1587, when no more than fifteen, he was admitted of Queen's College, Cambridge; and he took his degree of A.M. in 1594. In the same year, he was offered a fellowship; but his father, nobly unwilling that his son should appropriate the public revenues of literature while an expectant of a large fortune, would not permit him to accept it. Long afterwards, when president of the college, Davenant had the magnanimity to follow his father's example. He voted against one of his cousin's receiving a fellowship, softening his opposition by saying, "Cousin, I will shew your father that you have worth, but not wants enough to belong to our Society." In 1597, however, he was himself elected fellow against his will. In 1601, he obtained the degree of B.D.; in 1609, that of D.D.; and at the same time was elected, against seven competitors, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity. At the same time, Archbishop Abbot presented him with the rectory of Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire. In those public disputations which, in conformity with the spirit of the age, then took place, Davenant was more than once chosen moderator; an honour which was at once a testimony to his learning and a compliment to his temper. In 1614, he was chosen president of his College. Four years afterwards, he was appointed by James I. one of the representatives of the Church of England at the celebrated Synod of Dort. Four others were associated with him; George Carleton, Bishop of Llandaff; Hall, then Dean of Worcester; S. Ward, Master of Sydney College, |