16 MARCH 1889, Page 23

Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion, as Illustrated

by Celtic Heathendom. By John Rhys. (Williams and Norgate.)—It would be rude to pass by this learned book without notice. As for a review, that would be a task which is certainly beyond our powers, and which probably very few persons besides Professor Rhys himself could undertake. Such inspection as we have been able to give to it—it contains the Hibbert Lectures of 1886—has shown us the vastness of the author's accumulations of curious knowledge. He seems to find a way through the labyrinth, and to mako out that these strange legends and myths do actually furnish an illustration of his subject ; but the average reader will probably find himself much perplexed. The subjects of the six lectures are "The Gaulish Pantheon," "The Zeus of the Insular Celts," "The Culture Hero" (two), "The Sun Hero," and "Gods, Demons, and Heroes."