12 DECEMBER 1891, Page 28

The Childhood of Religions. By Edward Clodd. (Kegan Paul, Trench,

and Co.)—This new edition of a well-known work has been largely altered, especially in the part that concerns the Aryan race, the author now adopting the view which locates this people in Europe, rather than, as the old theory had it, in Central Asia. We cannot agree with Mr. Clodd in his general view of the relation in which the various religions of the world stand to each other, but he has certainly the merit of expressing himself clearly and with moderation. If the Bible is no more the record of a revelation than the Rig-Veda or the Zend-Avesta, then the pre- tensions of Christianity are a fraud.