having given me a copy of two inscriptions (Nos. 1 and 2), and a sketch of the spot where they were found, I attempted to translate them; not at that time being aware that M. Letronne had previously published an account of them. These inscriptions are the same as the first and second at p. 253 of your Journal, and which are nearly identical with those originally transcribed at the same place by the Count de Vidua, and from which Letronne made his comments. As Mr. Lemprière unfortunately copied these inscriptions incorrectly, in particular Mr. Porter's 1st (which is my No. 2), I had considerable difficulty in determining the latter; and how I succeeded you will learn in reading the first seven pages of my Memoir. Mr. Porter, at p. 250, is quite correct in regarding the Lysanias of Chalcis, and the Lysanias of St. Luke as two different persons; in fact, I believe the latter to have been a relation of the former. In my note at p. 8, I conceived it to be not improbable that the figure of the Assyrian, or Babylonian, or Chaldæan king, sculptured on the rock at Nahr-el-Kelb, might be intended for Nebuchadnezzar. I however now find that some consider it to represent Sennacherib— the monarch who lived about a century earlier; whilst others suppose it to be Shalmaneser, his father; a tablet to whom has lately been found in the opposite island of Cyprus (see Josephus, Antiq. Jud., lib. 9, cap. 14, s. 2), and is now placed in the Museum at Berlin. Mr. Porter gives, at p. 260, an interesting description of another Assyrian sculpture, which he thinks is meant for a priest, that has recently been discovered beside the remarkable hill, or mound, Tell e' Salahieh, not far to the east of Damascus. I wish this gentleman would favour us with a further account of both these remains; and especially a drawing, or a cast, of the stone, if he could not transmit the 'slab of white limestone' itself to our British Museum. I wish you would kindly communicate with him on this subject, and endeavour to procure from him a more satisfactory notice of it. I hope Mr. Porter will also send to England for publication his map of the Antilebanon and the two lakes near Damascus; all the maps give but one lake, Bahret-el-Merj (lake of the meadow), and they place it, I think, too much to the east of that city. Mr. Porter's description of the river Pharpar, and of the true site of Helbon, famed for its wine (see Ezekiel xxvii. 18) will be very important. It is, indeed, much to be desired that a translation of the work 'On Damascus and its Vicinity,' which the monk Bulâd has been so long in preparing, should be made, and published in this country. I presume the original is written in Arabic, although he is of the Greek Church, for Mr. Porter says he is totally unacquainted with European languages.' 6 Pray try what Mr. Porter's influence can obtain from him. Norton House, Stockton-on-Tees, Aug. 4, 1853. JOHN HOGG. TISCHENDORF'S NEWLY-DISCOVERED MSS. DEAR SIR,-Your readers may be aware that Professor Tischendorf has made a second journey in the East, for the purpose of searching for Biblical Mss., &c. The following brief account of the results may be interesting, as communicated by Professor Tischendorf himself, in a letter dated July 11, 1853: "I embrace this opportunity to give you some notice of the literary discoveries which have crowned my last expedition to Egypt, whence I returned two months ago. 'I have brought back with me seven Greek Biblical Mss. Three of these contain parts of the Old Testament. One, which is a palimpsest, as old as the fifth century, contains parts of the Pentateuch; a second, of the eighth or ninth century, is a veritable supplement [as to text] of the Vatican мs.; the third, the writing of which perfectly resembles that of the Dialogues of Plato, at Oxford, contains the whole of the book of Judges and that of Ruth; its text is very curious and important. 'But the others, which relate to the New Testament, will be of greater interest for you. Twenty-eight leaves of a palimpsest, in uncial letters of the fifth century, take a place amongst our MSS. of the highest class. Such readings as that of the MS. A, eiç Tòv TÓTOV (John xx. 25), are confirmed by this palimpsest. Two other Mss. are of the eighth and ninth centuries; one of these contains the two Gospels of St. Luke and St. John, the other fragments of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. John, and the whole of that of St. Luke. Both of these are more curious in a critical point of view than E G H KM SU V. One of them, in the passage St. Luke iii. 23-38, confirms almost all the readings of B L. The other has in John v. 1, ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων; it is enriched with scholia, which sometimes possess a critical value. My fourth New Testament Ms. is dated 1054; it contains the Acts of the Apostles, wanting six or seven chapters. I was much surprised at the perfect agreement of this Ms. with A B C, and the other ancient MSS. But I must tell you that I have not yet found more than a few moments to devote to an exact examination of all these мss., as well as of others which are not Biblical. Amongst the Arabic fragments which I have brought with me there is one Ms. of the eighth century (the date of another fixes the century of this one); it contains five epistles of St. Paul; this version is as yet unknown. 'I also possess a Syriac palimpsest of fifty leaves, as old, at least, as the fifth century. The fragments of the Gospels which M. Tuch has deciphered prove that this Syriac version adheres more scrupulously to the Greek than any other Syriac text that is known.' These discoveries of Professor Tischendorf appear to be of great value. Yours, very truly, S. P. TREGELLES. NOTICES OF BOOKS. The New Polyglott Bible with 50,000 references. Glasgow: We notice this work, which we know only by its title, for the purpose of calling attention to the glaring misnomer perpetrated by it. We wish we could have to review a new Polyglott Bible published in England; but this has only the misapplied name to boast of, being not a Bible of many languages, as that name would indicate, but simply an English one, with marginal references. For the nineteenth century, which may justly boast of its efforts in biblical learning this is really too bad. There is a little history connected with this matter, which we will briefly relate. Some years ago the Messrs. Bagster published a Polyglott Bible on a new plan- the only new Polyglott Bible which England has produced since the days of Walton and his illustrious colleagues consisting of the Scriptures in the originals and in various versions, so arranged that while published together in one folio volume, they could also be had separately, with this advantageous peculiarity, that they corresponded page for page, and could thus be used in ways which the folio collection did not allow of. Among these versions there was the English Bible, with many marginal references, on a new plan, and this, when published separately, was called by them, and is still called, the English Version of the Polyglott.' This edition of the English Scriptures became very popular, and being associated with the name Polyglott, others were set on foot on a similar plan, but without a similar reason have been called Polyglott Bibles. There is not only great ignorance in this, but also something that savours strongly of literary piracy. The Bible of Messrs. Bagster was really a part of a Polyglott, and therefore might with some propriety bear the name, but that of Mr. M'Phun can only appropriate it by a gross misapplication of terms, and by taking away what properly belongs to a neighbour. We have observed, too, in advertisements of Bibles by another publishing house, another instance of petty larceny at the expense of Messrs. Bagster. They first, we believe, adopted as their motto the line of Homer, which reads, in Latin 'Multæ terricolis linguæ, cœlestibus una ;' an inscription of great felicity, when applied to Bibles in various languages. Now we see this motto is pirated in connection with what are called Polyglott Bibles, by a London publisher, by no means, we think, to his credit. Surely there are terms enough applicable to Bibles without having recourse to one which cannot be used without an exhibition of deplorable ignorance; and inscriptions enough might be found in the compass of literature without filching one long appropriated by another party. Perhaps the term Polyglott is used by the publishers we have mentioned, not in ignorance of its meaning, but from the knowledge of the fact that the public attach to the word the idea of Bagster's very superior Bibles. This then, to say the least, is trading with another man's capital. It is to be regretted that the public should be taken in by a word totally misapplied, but so it is. Polyglott first means many-tongued, then it is applied to a Bible in one language, and we know an instance in which it was raised into a proper name. A lady had a handsome Bible presented to her, and when the question was asked, 'Whose edition is it?' the reply was, 'I believe it is MR. POLYGLOTT'S.' The intrinsic merits of Mr. M'Phun's Bibles render unnecessary any adventitious means for bringing them into circulation. Chronicles selected from the originals of Cartaphilus the Wandering Jew. Embracing a period of nearly nineteen centuries. Now first revealed to, and edited by DAVID HOFFMANN, Hon. J. U. D. of Göttegen, author of some legal and miscellaneous works. In two series, each of three volumes. Series the first. Volume I. London: Thomas Bosworth, 1853. THIS Volume of above seven hundred pages in large octavo, purporting to be the first of six of similar dimensions, has somewhat of novelty about it, even in these days of bookmaking. Then it has an air of antiquity in its typography, its binding, and its style of writing, and altogether, apart from its contents, challenges attention. The theme itself keeps up the interest, for what fiction can present greater promise of attractiveness than that of the Wandering Jew? Many have used the traditionary existence of this personage as the nucleus of their imaginings, as Croly, for instance, in his charming novel of Salathiel, some years ago; but it was reserved for the writer of this volume to throw around the legendary hero the events and opinions of nineteen centuries. It is seen at once that the subject admits of almost any development, and is capable of exercising great artistic skill. Apart from higher considerations Mr. Hoffman has succeeded in producing a volume of intense interest, and large as it is, and recondite as are portions of its contents, its readers will long to be speedily favoured with more. We looked with some anxiety into the book, to see how far religious truth was maintained in the imaginary history of a man who takes a part in the commencement and progress of Christianity, beginning with the life of Christ, and ending with our own times. We are happy to be able to say that the tone and spirit of the work is salutary, and while, of course, we have not been able to read the whole, what we have read enables us to recommend it as a first-rate production, generally true to history, and pervaded by a fine religious spirit. The legend itself of the Wandering Jew is traced and illustrated in the introduction, and the fiction becomes of high interest in the hands of the author. a specimen : Here is Thirteen years after this we again hear of him in Brabant, in the year 1575; when he is represented as still meanly clad, but as being a man of surprising knowledge, and of pleasing manners-as speaking the German in absolute purity; and also as so fine a Spanish scholar, that no nobleman in the Duke of Alva's court could equal him! But here again we find the Jew under the name of Isaac Lakedion, as is seen in the famed Brabantine ballad. Its English garb is probably a crude translation; but seems to have been nearly as current in Britain as in Brabant. It has much of that legendary and ballad interest which marks the effusions of those days. This poetic chronicle of twenty-four verses is quite too extended to be here given at length, and yet perhaps too germane to our subject to be wholly omitted. The ballad is descriptive of his person-his miseries, his travels, and of the conversation held by him with the worthy burgesses of Brabant. Possibly the reader may be pleased at the insertion of a few of the verses. The burgesses say unto the Jew: "We used to think your story Was but an idle dream; "Are you that man of sorrow Of whom our authors write- And wretchedness at night? Then he replied: "Believe me, "'Twas by my rash behaviour I wrought this fearful scathe; That instant from my home; "I have no home to hide me, No wealth can I display; Yet unknown powers provide me This always is my store- 'Tis never less, nor more!"-p. xxxiii. There are two passages we intended to quote, the account of the execution of St. Paul at Rome, and the description of the misery suffered at the siege of Jerusalem. We must confine ourselves to a portion of the latter, which will give our readers some conception of the way in which our author uses historical events to carry out his design. It is a remarkable book in every respect, the production of a thoughtful, imaginative, and well-stored mind. 'Now am I the better prepared to relate to thee, my good Aquila, the melancholy tale I promised, and which is so close a fulfilment of the prophetic words in Deuteronomy just given, and which during so many ages have been constantly read in all our synagogues. 'In the fourth month after Titus appeared before Jerusalem's walls, the famine had become so grievous that even those of the highest rank and greatest wealth were perishing for food. (Ab 9th, July15th.) Corn was then selling at sixteen manehs the bushel (about 1207. sterling); and in a few weeks after could not be had at any price. Their sword-belts, and the leathern coverings of their shields, their shoes, and various articles of apparel, were eagerly devoured. All the sinks, and every other receptacle of vile things, were searched with avidity, and raked up with care, under the hope of finding something to serve the purposes of digestion! The people were everywhere seen frenzied, and were often found reeling through the streets as if drunk with the sore disease of famine! 'During that calamitous state of things, certain robbers, in the recklessness of their wanderings, passed close by a splendid mansion, and were astonished and ravished with delight at the savoury smell of food, and of such as they supposed |