On the contrary, it quietly and calmly, but firmly, unhesitatingly, and certainly proposes itself as excluding the possibility of finding a better. It challenges acceptance. Instead of coming in the attitude of a probable conjecture, instead of supplicating, on bended knees, and in the guise of an humble suitor, that the shafts of criticism may be spared, — it sets all opposition from whatever quarter at defiance. It is true; and it claims to be acquiesced in as what it is."- p. 56. We have not been able to withstand the temptation of giving to our American readers these few, out of many, interesting specimens of Dr. Thom's appreciation of the value of his discovery. It is but fair to let the author speak for himself and be the introducer of his own book. Moreover, we should be guilty of withholding from the public most remarkable and valuable information, if we did not allow Dr. Thom to tell them through our pages that the mystery of the Revelation is at length clearly and certainly solved, and that henceforth Biblical scholars need give themselves no further trouble to investigate it, but have only to "acquiesce" in his solution as the truth. It was our intention to give a sketch of the contents of the Introduction and the two Books; but they are, in fact, merely preparatory to the announcement made at the end of the volume, all" commentary, exposition, or justification" of which is reserved for a future publication that shall constitute the Second Part of the work. The present volume is principally occupied with an examination of previous theories; and by any attempt at an analysis of its contents we should only detain our readers, who must be already impatient to be put in possession of the "discovery itself, the solution of the problem of problems." it is: "THE TRUE SOLUTIONS. Here "Only observing, that, in this thirteenth chapter of the Apocalypse, we have set before us the two grand principles of human nature which have a reference to religion, the Sadducean, and the Pharisaical, — the former asserting the supremacy of the human mind, and the latter substituting the external, the ceremonial, and the shadowy, for the internal, the heartfelt, and the true, I proceed to the statement of the solutions themselves. "THE FIRST BEAST. Rev. xiii. 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his horns, ten crowns, and upon his heads, the name of blasphemy." By sea, we understand, 1. Peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.' Rev. xvii. 15. That is, more limitedly, the Gentile world, as distinguished from the Jewish nation; and, in a more enlarged sense, human beings in general. 2. The internal. 3. The principle of the indefinite, or the creaturely internal, as distinguished, on the one hand, from the finite, or definite, that is, the creaturely external, and, on the other, from the infinite, or the divinely internal. 1849.] Notices of Recent Publications. 325 "Bearing in mind what I have said, we discover the first Beast in Η ΦΡΗΝ, THE MIND. "That is, not the mind of man with reference to any of its faculties separately considered, or viewed as a mere abstraction; but that mind considered as a whole, or as comprehensive of all its faculties of sensation, intellect, and volition, and as at once the shadow of spirit, and dependent upon flesh for its nature and manifestations. coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.' By earth, or land, we understand, 1. The people of Israel, or the Old Testament Church, or Dispensation. 2. The external. 3. The principle of the finite, or definite. "Thus is the number of both beasts the same: a circumstance which serves to account for the ambiguity of the language of Rev. xiii. 18; and which has materially added to the difficulty of finding out the true solution. "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six.' "— pp. 396 – 398. "Popular Readings" comprises twelve brief Lectures, which appear to have been written with the best intentions. They show no erudition and no originality, nor do they pretend to either. The author merely attempts to give, in a condensed and cheap form, the leading views of the commentators whose opinions he favors, such as Mede, Daubuz, Bishop Newton, Fleming, and Elliot. Each Lecture contains an exposition, interspersed with practical remarks, to which there is no objection so far as they go, but they are quite too brief, and lack both the richness which ought to characterize the gleanings from such a field and the pithiness which is needed to give them interest and efficacy. The author follows his guides with implicit reverence, and retails their views with unbounded confidence. Mr. Clarkin's book, so far as its practical character is concerned, is better than the preceding. The author's personal history, as given in the preface, is in some respects a recommenda tion of his work. Brought up under the influence of Popery and early imbued with its doctrines, he has succceded, by the study of the Scriptures and after a long and hard struggle, in breaking a bondage which he says was so strong that he almost wonders it was not as enduring as his life. He "opposes and detests the Athanasian creed." His interpretations and applications of the prophetic symbols, in which he follows the generality of English commentators who refer the greater part of the book to the Papal Church, we have no room to notice, and do not care to criticize. As a commentary, the style is easy. The Reflections have an air of unaffected seriousness, and indicate a mind thoughtful of religious themes, and a heart warm with Christian fervor. Chand. bins. 2. Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch zum Neuen Testament. Von DR. W. M. L. DE WETTE. Dritten Bandes erster Theil, 1847; zweiter Theil, 1848. Leipzig. [Short Exegetical Manual on the New Testament. Third Volume; first and second Parts.] 8vo. pp. vi. 156; viii. 207. THESE two Parts complete this elaborate work of De Wette, the former volumes of which were noticed in our March number for 1844. The first Part comprises the Epistles of Peter, Jude, and James; the second treats of the Apocalypse. Nowhere in the same compass, within our knowledge, can so much exegetical instruction be obtained as in these three volumes. The author has set an example very rare among commentators, and is as remarkable for condensation as most of them are for expansion. He has packed the materials for many old-fashioned folios in these three snug octavos. The art of condensing is shown marvellously in the treatise on the Apocalypse,-that mystical book, which has given so many scholars at once the garrulity and the folly of madness. All the literature of the subject is carefully collated, the various theories are tersely stated, their merits canvassed, and the critic's own opinions distinctly given. It would be hard to show a more marked contrast than that between this little brochure and Stuart's two huge volumes. 1849.] Notices of Recent Publications. 327 De Wette follows in the path of Ewald rather than of Eichhorn, yet takes very independent ground in his own exposition. He sees no sure proof that the Apostle John was the author of the Apocalypse, and is less disposed than most critics, even of the liberal school, to find minute references to historical events, the destruction of Jerusalem not excepted. He regards the book as aimed especially at the wants of the seven churches of Asia Minor, whilst, in reference to the condition and prospects of the Church at large, he considers it as written under the influence of the persecutions by Nero, and as denouncing the Roman Empire and priesthood as the chief foe of Christianity. He finds some reference to the hostility of the Jews, although their enmity seems to him, comparatively, of small account, and the hope is expressed that most of this race will be warned and reclaimed by the hard ordeal of adversity. We intend simply to call attention to this valuable contribution to sacred learning, and cannot now enter into further particulars. We are sorry to see such a vein of sadness in the author's preface to the closing Part. He states that he began it amidst the preparations for civil war in Switzerland, pursued it undisturbed when the throne of France fell and the thrones of Germany tottered, and completed it while anarchy waxed more fearful and spread its dark clouds over nations and kingdoms. He thanked God for the peace of mind granted him, but anxiety for the fate of the Church haunted his pen at every stroke, and the Antichrist of the Apocalypse stood before him in the new garb of the infidelity of the nineteenth century. The atheistic self-will of a reckless radicalism seems to him worse than the self-deification of the old Romish Antichrist, and bodily persecution by fire and sword appears less dangerous than the false and destructive freedom which is utter slavery. He laments the discords among Christians themselves. He claims no power and professes no desire to play the part of the seer in our time, yet hesitates not to say that in no other name than that of Jesus Christ the Crucified can salvation be found, and that for mankind there is nothing higher than the Divine humanity realized in him and the kingdom of God planted by him. "Christianity must become life and deed. How long will it be before we find our way to it out of the barren, narrow circle of abstract criticism and sickly sentiment ? More than seven, and seven times seven, plagues may be needed to teach us where true salvation is to be sought." Such is the last word of the greatest Biblical scholar of our age to his readers. A brighter day dawn on him, and may his evening be full of outward beauty as of interior peace! The date of this preface is "Basel, June 20, 1848." Already the horizon is somewhat brightened, and frigid winter is in its moral aspects far more genial than the past summer of discontent. Hope is always strength, and generally wisdom. Who would utterly despair in view of that closing book of the Bible, which presents the prospects of Christianity in the imagery of the ancient prophets, and in the darkest of ages hopes and strives for the light? aiyood 3. The Works of THOMAS REID, D. D., now fully collected, with Selections from his Unpublished Letters. Preface, Notes, and Supplementary Dissertations, by Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON, Bart. Text collated and revised; Useful Distinctions inserted; Leading Words and Propositions marked out; Allusions indicated; Quotations filled up. Prefixed, Stewart's Account of the Life and Writings of Reid; with Notes by the Editor. Copious Indices subjoined. Edinburgh. 1846. 8vo. pp. 914. By common consent among the historians of philosophy, Dr. Reid is regarded as the head and chief of the Scotch School; and as the present French or Eclectic School is but an extension of the Scotch, he must be allowed to have exerted a wide and controlling influence over the progress of modern thought. We have before us an elaborate edition of his entire works, which, when completed, will have this peculiar recommendation, that it will contain the writings of one of the most eminent among the dead metaphysicians, revised, commented on, and brought down to the present day, by one of the most eminent among the living. -- Among the new contributions supplied by the editor, we may mention, in the first place, a collection of hitherto unpublished letters of Dr. Reid, which are interesting in themselves, and also throw considerable light on the writer's studies and personal character. Then we have a multitude of brief marginal notes scattered throughout the volume, sometimes several on the same page, the purpose of which is to correct every inaccuracy of statement or expression in the text, or to point to later developments. But it is for the Supplementary Dissertations that we are under the greatest obligations to Professor Hamilton. In the first, we have a thorough and very learned discussion of "the Philosophy of Common Sense; or our Primary Beliefs considered as the Ultimate Criterion of Truth." The second, third, fourth, and fifth, are upon Sensation and Perception, and the Primary and Secondary Qualities of Matter. In these he states, and maintains with great ability and confidence, his own theory of perception, or of presentative and immediate knowledge, in opposition to that of representative and mediate knowledge, which generally prevails. The doctrine is the same at bottom with that contained in an arti |