the fact that some have been found who have attended to the neglected and remembered the forgotten. But since ordination is in no way, ordinarily, dependent on a knowledge of the language, the consequence is plain-it is complimented as valuable, but scarcely any labour to attain it. We are not far from the truth when we state that most Hebrew scholars are self-taught, simply from the want of any efficient system of training in the language, owing to the greater importance attached to other studies. At Oxford, and Cambridge, and Dublin, some machinery exists, with deeply learned men ready to bring it into use; but, unfortunately, there is little demand, and the study of Hebrew, though on the advance, is far from being in a state of prosperous efficiency.b

We think, then, the real state of the case in reference to the competency of the clergy as Biblical scholars is this :-Some of them are highly gifted, both as regards the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Testament, but the number is small; very many are complete masters of the latter, but quite ignorant of Hebrew; a considerable proportion can employ the Greek Testament judiciously when a controverted matter comes before them; but the largest proportion of all have never so far mastered the subject as to find it easy and productive of pleasure and profit, and it is consequently neglected. Expositions and comments take up the time which might be so much more profitably employed, both for themselves

b We have had some reason to suspect that the Hebrew rewards are given, at Oxford at least, for a very slender knowledge of Hebrew; but we would not draw such a conclusion from an isolated case. We refer to the fact that, in a provincial magazine intended to furnish intellectual food for Sunday-school teachers and others, the editor of which styles himself Late Hody Hebrew Exhibitioner, &c., &c., Wadham College; and Pusey and Ellerton Hebrew Scholar, Oxford,' the following paragraph occurred in July last:

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1 Chron., i. 3. Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah." It is sometimes asked, of what service to mankind are (sic) the frequent occurrence of long genealogies in our sacred books? Perhaps it has never occurred to our readers that one of the most remarkable prophecies respecting our Saviour is latent under the names of the Antediluvian patriarchs. The translation of their names from the original, substituting the proper vowel points, runs as follows. Man being rendered miserable, shall still be a gainer; the mighty God shall descend, teaching that by his death he shall bring unto the weary rest. The occurrence of such a prophecy, so incapable of being forged, is to us a stronger evidence in favour of revelation than the most laboured arguments resting upon purely metaphysical grounds.'

As the editor under whose supervision this piece of utter ignorance is promulgated for the benefit of Sunday-school teachers, may have let it slip in unwittingly, and as we believe him to be a well-meaning man, we will no further reveal the matter. The gross violation of all Hebrew grammar which must take place before anything like the verbiage of such a prophecy could be gained is bad enough; but it is worse, as a clerical friend observed on reading the paragraph, to make the Almighty utter solemn and affecting truths in the form of conundrums. Such nonsense, we dare say, never had occurred to the editor's readers, and it is a sad pity he should have taken pains to supply their lack of knowledge.

and the Church. Remote streams, often so much mixed with baser matter as scarcely to maintain a perceptible relation to the original waters, supply the place of an application to the living fountain as it gushes from the rock. This is to be lamented for the sake of those whose personal loss is so immense, and also for the sake of the influence of such a deprivation on their minis

trations.c

We insert here some admirable remarks by the venerable prelate, Dr. Maltby, the Bishop of Durham. They occur in a Charge delivered in Durham in the month of August last. Most of them refer to topics kindred with those discussed in this paper, and all of them are nearly related to our object.

'Here, again, I must enforce the advice I have felt it my duty to urge upon all candidates for holy orders as to the importance, indeed the absolute necessity, of devoting as much time as possible to the improvement of their minds, and the acquisition of knowledge suited to their profession. I believe that some of the hours which are given up to visiting in the houses of the parishioners-except in case of illness, and where the presence and advice of a clergyman may be otherwise required-would be passed in a manner more profitable, and more conducive to the effective discharge of their professional duty, if they were devoted to a wide and systematic course of theological study. Such a course-varying, no doubt, according to taste, opportunity, and facility, should embrace the whole body of the Scripture in its two original languages-the subjects and occurrences of the Old Testament, as leading to a more intimate acquaintance with the peculiar Greek of the New, Scripture History, Chronology, and Geography, with the best critical and practical commentaries upon the language and meaning of Holy Writ. I confine my remarks to Scripture itself, and to the most available method of arriving at a knowledge of its true meaning in contradistinction to the superficial and false habit of aiming at a knowledge of religion from books of controversyfrom pamphlets or periodical works on the disputed questions of the day, or from the popular but delusive representations of those who appeal to the imagination rather than to the reason. I strongly urge upon the clergy the importance of cultivating these studies, for otherwise they cannot be acquainted with what it becomes a clergyman to understand, and because if they do not employ their time thus rationally, and thus profitably, there may be a danger in some few but melancholy instances of their degenerating in taste from low companions, or stiil lower habits.

"There is, moreover, another reason, at the present time more especially, why the clergy of the Established Church should labour to acquire such an amount of knowledge as may enable them to maintain the character for learning, and for a wise and useful application of it, which was attained by our forefathers, and which has made the name of an English divine so highly honoured. Our dissenting brethren of the present day are, greatly to their credit, sensible of the value and the influence of knowledge, as applied to the service of religion, and have become, many of them, not only entitled to the praise of lofty attainments, but also of a most proper anxiety to extend similar advantages to the youth with whom they are connected. The seminaries which they have founded, are not only conducted by learned and able teachers, but are so entirely conducted under such wise arrangements, that they promise healthy and promising scholars. If, therefore, our own clergy are as assiduous as they ought to be in maintaining the superiority which they formerly possessed, or even desire to rank upon any point with theologians among the dissenters, they will feel it incumbent on them not to reject any opportunity for strengthening their minds, and extending the sphere of their knowledge, and so becoming worthy of the profession to which they belong. I am well aware, and heartily regret, that from the increase of population, and from other causes, the time of the clergy has become much more occupied-from one cause, indeed, highly creditable to them, from a keener perception of duty, and a more intense cetermination to discharge it; so that there is not that equal

Having thus, as we imagine, made good our position, we shall endeavour to indicate what we think may be done to remedy the defect thus established. We desire to avoid all Utopian and impracticable schemes, and shall merely point out what, in our opinion, may be reasonably expected of the clergy in reference to sacred literature. We deprecate Optimism, in this, as well as in other matters, and hope to mark out a path, not accessible merely to soaring geniuses, who can raise themselves above the rough places of the way, but which may be comfortably and successfully trodden by all men of ordinary minds. Excuses for idleness we will not admit, nor allow the circumstance that what we seek has seldom been attained to entail the conclusion that it is generally impracticable.

amount of leisure, perhaps, which was formerly enjoyed. Nevertheless, in all cases there must be some hours to be employed in study. I have already endeavoured to guard against one cause which may tend to diminish the amount of available time; yet much more would I deprecate all unnecessary waste of time by unprofitable reading, or by an inconsiderate desire for recreation and amusement. I can assure my younger brethren, that as there is nothing more insipid than mere reading, so is there nothing more delightful than hours past in meditation upon what the Almighty has been graciously pleased to reveal to us, and in the study of the precious volume in which his will is written.

'It must be unnecessary for me to say, that in thus earnestly directing my younger brethren to the means of obtaining sound Scriptural learning, my object is to preserve them from what is superficial and unsound. I believe that the greater part of the controversies on religious subjects, which have even from the first distracted the peace of the Church and impaired its usefulness, owe their root to the imperfect and erroneous views of the meaning and intention of this most gracious boon to mankind. Alexander and others, in the days of St. Paul and Timothy, were but the prototypes of many others who, in every succeeding age of the Christian dispensation, have overthrown the faith of some. To the early perversion of the designs of the Gospel from the secular motive of aggrandisement may we ascribe the origin of the Papacy, with all its unscriptural tenets and its practical mummeries. From a notion of a similar kind, but yielding as it would seem to an abstract love of error, we may impute that most unhappy and uncalled for rupture in the peace and unity of our Church, against which I have felt it my duty, and still feel myself strongly impelled, to lift up my voice. I expressed my apprehension of its consequences long before, and though it is a matter of comfort and congratulation to ourselves that the evil has been felt far less in this diocese than in many others, nevertheless, even here it has been experienced in more than one parish, in the withdrawal of confidence from the clergy, in heart burnings amongst the parishioners themselves, and in the diminished influence and comfort of our blessed religion. I must, therefore, impress upon your minds the seasonable admonition delivered by the Church herself at the time of ordination :"Consider how studious ye ought to be in reading and learning the Scriptures,' "that by daily reading and weighing of the Scriptures, ye may wax riper and stronger in your ministry." If all who are employed in the work of God, not merely in this diocese, but throughout the kingdom, would lay to heart this weighty advice, and carefully follow it, the differences unhappily existing would speedily abate-our thoughts would no longer be perplexed by the reasonings of men who, however eminent, and however well-intentioned, are still fallible, but we should have recourse with increased diligence and increased faith to the unerring word of God-we should be enabled to give more undivided attention to the duties of our sacred calling, and labour with more effect in the glorious endeavour to prepare human souls for Heaven.'

We remember an adage somewhere, Expect great things, and perform great things; and nothing is more true than that a high standard is sure to elevate those who are around it, or, in other words, that our aspirations after excellence are the measure of our success. We will even go further than this (for it may be said with some correctness that if the aspiration is formed the work is virtually done), and say that the higher the requirements demanded of men, the more they will be proportionably stimulated to master them. If then we should propose more than can be found to be attainable in practice, our labour will not be thrown away. If the mark is not quite reached, it will be something to have brought men to a nearer approach to it.

Now, remembering that the Bible is THE BOOK of the clergy-man, and that, though a somewhat extensive collection, it is but small compared with the written authorities which have to be mastered by a student of the law, is it unreasonable to expect that he should be thoroughly master of its languages, its contents, and its literature, so far, at least, as to be able himself to criticise and explain it, or to judge of the interpretations of others? Surely, as the professional authority, so to speak, of a Christian minister, as much as this is demanded by it; and the consideration is made stronger when we remember that the highest possible interests depend upon it, that the clergyman takes it as his own guide and that of his flock to immortal happiness. Further, there is claimed for this book, by itself, and generally by those who take it as their guide, an inspiration of a character which makes it of the utmost importance to know the ipsissima verba of the writers. If inspiration only meant, what some contend for, a general truthfulness of the statements of the Bible in regard to the religion it reveals, the value of the precise words of the writers would not be so great as when a verbal inspiration is admitted. But as all clergymen take what may be called the orthodox view of this subject, and are presumed to believe in the full guidance of the Holy Ghost both of the thoughts and pens of the sacred writers, by the argumentum ad hominem they are compelled to attach importance to the original documents. We confess that there is an irreconcileable contradiction, in our minds, between this high and proper claim, so universally made by the clergy, of a full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and their very general neglect of the original texts for translations, in which no such complete inspiration can reside.

The celebrated J. D. Michaelis, in his Introduction to the New Testament, gives us his idea of what should be expected of a clergyman in relation to Biblical knowledge, and we quote the passage to show that we are not singular in our opinion. Having treated of the language of the New Testament, he gives what he considers

the requisites for a fundamental and critical acquaintance with it, so that a man may decide for himself, and not rely on the opinions of others. These are, 1. An intimate acquaintance with the Greek classics; 2. A knowledge of the inestimable treasures which lie hid in ancient inscriptions; 3. The close study of the Septuagint; 4. A knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac, of which he says, 'Divines who confine their studies to the Greek Testament alone, and, without learning the Oriental languages, aspire to the title of theologians, lead not only themselves astray, but those also to whom they undertake to communicate instruction; and I may venture to affirm that no man is capable of understanding the (Greek) New Testament, unless to an acquaintance with the Greek he joins a knowledge of, at least, Hebrew, Syriac, and Rabbinic.' He then proceeds to sum up what he has said on the subject in the following way :

It may be replied, that if requisites like these are indispensable, it is no easy matter to attain a knowledge of the Sacred writings. The fact is not to be denied, and few profane authors are so difficult as the New Testament. But I shall be less exposed to the charge of derogating from the perspicuity of the divine oracles, as a very learned Theologian, the celebrated Esnesti, has maintained the same opinion in his "Dissertatio de difficultate interpretationis grammatica Novi Testamenti." It may likewise be objected that in delineating the character of a Theologian I have laid down qualifications as necessary which lie beyond the reach of common abilities. Now every artist in forming an image which is to serve as a pattern of beauty endeavours to render it as perfect as possible, although its excellencies were never united in a single object. But the description I have given of a consummate Theologian is by no means ideal; the qualifications I have enumerated have been attained by many, and ought to be attained by all who undertake to expound the Word of God. If proper alterations were made in the public schools, the students in divinity might, on leaving the university, be provided with a sufficient fund of Biblical Literature. It is true the knowledge acquired in these seats of learning must be considered only as a beginning, which future study must bring to perfection; but when a good foundation has been laid, the scholar will hardly suppose that idleness is to be the reward of former industry. Even the clergy who reside in the country might prosecute these studies with advantage, and make great advances in the knowledge of the Bible, if a faulty education threw no obstacles in the way, which they have no inclination to surmount.'

"Those who have neither opportunity nor abilities to acquire sufficient knowledge to investigate for themselves, must at least be in possession of so much as is requisite to enable them to profit by the learned industry of others, and to apply to the New Testament those treasures of Græcian and Oriental literature which their predecessors have presented to their hands. But a man unacquainted with the Septuagint