SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.]
The Credentials of the Pentateuch. By the late John Sealy Townsend. Edited by Mrs. Edward Townsend. (Marshall Brothers.)—This is a revised edition of a book published during the Colenso controversy. The "controversial features have been carefully removed "; no fault can be found with its tone. We do not, however, see any good reason for the republi- cation. We doubt whether the author was adequately equipped for his task; and it is improbable that an apologetic work of forty years ago can be profitably used now, when so many more discoveries have been made. We observe that the abolition of the gladiatorial shows is attributed to Honorius " in the fourth century." It happened in 404 A.D. This is a trifle, but it is significant. What is said about the " Anti-Semitism " of Tacitus is grossly exaggerated. How can "nec quemquam ex agnatis necare far est" be read as a censure for not practising infanticide ?
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