13 JUNE 1863, Page 22

The Pentateuch and its Relation to the Jewish and Christian

Dispensa- tions. By Andrew Norton. Edited by J. J. Taylor, B.A. (Longman.) —The object of this small volume, which is written by the late Pro- fessor of Sacred History at Harvard University, is to state the conclu- sions arrived at by its author, after a long and careful study, respecting the genuineness and authenticity of the Pentateuch. These conclusions are unfavourable on both points. Mr. Norton makes some use of that class of internal evidence which has recently been put so prominently forward by Bishop Colenso ; but it is chiefly upon proofs drawn from sources external to the book itself that he bases his conviction that the Pentateuch is not the work of Moses. The summary of this latter class of evidence which he lays before the reader is remarkably careful and complete. It is worthy of note that Mr, Norton's views are the deliberate conclusions of a learned man, who was by temperament disinclined to rash and daring speculations. So far from being rashly given to the world, they were written more than ton years before they were published ; and their author was, we are assured, of a cautious and conservative cast of mind, and "had but little sympathy with that German school of thought which is regarded in this country as the special hot-bed of critical heresies."