"The following Poem, said to have been composed from his own experience, by an English Member of the present British House of Commons, (Ah! how rare a bird in that climate!),-well deserves a place here. "My guilty soul, how long beset with terrors all around; While law and justice claim'd their And I no payment found. I found each deed was sin. ON JONAH'S GREAT FISH. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. THE writer of the article on "The Great Fish," (Jonah i. 17,) in the No. for this month (November), is anxious to correct a mistake which he inadvertently fell into. Professor Owen was speaking of a shark, when he said that "the deglutition of a man would be easy to a large fish of that kind." He wrote, however, in the former part of the same letter, in which he expressed his opinion as above respecting the shark, as follows:-"The true whales (Balana, Balaenoptera) have very narrow gullets in proportion to their size, their food being small marine animals. The sperm whales have rather larger gullets, and, in the full-sized animal might dilate sufficiently to gorge a man." The Professor does not here appear to express any doubt about the matter. He goes on to say:-"A miraculous suspension of vital action for three days would enable him to pass so long a time in the mephitic gas and mucous of the stomach; and a concomitant miraculous suspension of the solvent action of the stomach of the whale might allow the torpid organism to resume respiration, &c., after being disgorged." With regard to these last observations, he seems to think or to assume that there must have been a suspension of active life in the prophet Jonah while he was in the whale's stomach-that he was in a torpid, unconscious state. But the Scripture narrative of the fact implies him to have been alive, and perfectly conscious. (Jonah ii. 1.) Nor does it require any greater exercise of faith on our part to believe this; nor is it in any degree more wonderful than that which is told us in Daniel iii., that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego walked in the midst of the burning fiery furnace, and received no hurt. P. DID ST. PAUL'S BOOKS, PARCHMENTS, AND CLOAK EVER ARRIVE AT ROME? To the Editor of the Christian Observer. DEAR MR. EDITOR.-When I wrote in your Numbers for September and December respecting St. Paul's books, parchments, and cloak, I intended only to show that a passage in an ancient manuscript may have conveyed more to a cotemporary than is discernible in after ages; and that therefore it is unreasonable for a scoffer to sneer at a text of the Bible because he cannot see its pertinency. But as some reverend brethren seriously think it not improbable that the cloak left at Troas was the toga virilis, I would ask whether it is not likely that Timothy obeyed the earnest request of the Apostle when he said, "Do thy diligence to come to me," adding the direction about the books, cloak, and parchments; and whether the narrative in the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles may not throw some light upon the matter? It is not necessary that I should touch upon controverted questions respecting the dates of St. Paul's travels, epistles, or imprisonments. I will only, as in my former papers, quote two or three passages, which the reader may dovetail, or otherwise, as he judges best. The Rev. J. Tate, in his "Continuous History of St. Paul," quotes Eusebius as saying, "Whereas the Apostle Peter was crucified, the Apostle of the Gentiles (as being a Roman citizen) was beheaded." The words, "being a Roman citizen," are Tate's interpolation; but they speak the current opinion of ecclesiastical historians ancient and modern, as to the alleged difference of the martyrdom of the two Apostles, and the reason for it. Even if St. Peter never was at Rome, the ancient inventors of the story express what would have been the Roman dealing with the two martyrs. Most readers of the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles feel surprise that a prisoner sent for trial was treated with unusual indulgence; but this might naturally be accounted for if Timothy arrived with proofs of his citizenship. What was there to prevent the Apostle wearing the toga virilis in public, or in his own hired house, in assertion of his just claim not to be treated as a servile person? But how about his being chained to a soldier; though perhaps that was only for a time? I will quote a few lines from Bishop Pretyman Tomline, that I may not seem to be unfairly parrying objections,— "Though a Roman citizen might not be bound with thongs by way of punishment, or in order to be scourged, yet he might be chained to a soldier, or kept in custody, if he were suspected of being guilty of any crime." I will also add a few lines from the Bishop to conclude the narrative : "It was the unanimous tradition of the Church, that St. Paul returned to Rome, that he underwent a second imprisonment there, and at last was put to death by the emperor Nero. Tacitus and Suetonius have mentioned a dreadful fire which happened at Rome in the time of Nero. It was believed, though probably without any reason, that the emperor himself was the author of that fire; but to remove the odium from himself, he chose to attribute it to the Christians; and, to give some colour to that unjust imputation, he persecuted them with the utmost cruelty. In this persecution Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom, probably in the year 65; and if we may credit Sulpicius Severus, a writer of the fifth century, the former was crucified, and the latter beheaded." NEMO. NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. The History of the Prayer Book. By the Rev. G. H. Stoddart, B.D. London: Longman, Green, and Co. 1864.-Few subjects have of late years so repeatedly engaged the attention of thoughtful members of the Church of England, as the question of the wisdom, not to say necessity, of some alterations and amendments in our Book of Common Prayer. To affirm that some portions of it are unexceptionable, and even sublime, while others are obsolete, or liable to misconstruction, and are in fact misapprehended, would be, we believe, but to express the convictions of the majority of the members of the Church of England. Ecclesiastical and national history seem alike to prove that the revision of a national book of devotions, venerable from age, must not be attempted inconsiderately, but with the utmost delicacy combined with sound judgment and discretion. Mr. Stoddart has written a little volume, entitled the History of the Prayer Book, which to the lay members of our Church will be of much value, inasmuch as it gives, in comparatively few pages, a correct general history of the Prayer Book; while the clergy can be scarcely less benefited by a perusal of it, from the calm and temperate manner in which it is drawn up, and the good spirit in which some alterations and amendments in a few of our present forms are suggested and discussed. Theological students of former days were known as the habitués of old book-shops. Monday morning was the time, and pleasant were the greetings; but the expense was such as the clerical purse could ill afford. But a wonderful change has taken place, and never was the theological student able to store his library with valuable theology at less expense of time, or at so low a cost. The reprints are many of them admirable; and their cheapness is, as the booksellers say, "without parallel." "Nichol's Series of Standard Divines, Puritan Period," is now completed in twenty-one volumes; and the same enterprising publisher (Nichol, of Edinburgh; Nisbet, London) is now entering upon a series of Commentaries in the old-fashioned small or crown quarto. Of these, a Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians, by Thomas Cartwright, father of the old Puritans, and another, by Airay, upon the Holy Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, are now published. Cartwright's book has long been very scarce; but it does not deserve in any degree to share the neglect into which his controversial writings have fallen. It is not superseded by what Bishop Davenant, or, in later days, Bishop Daniel Wilson, have written on the same Epistle; nor is the style antiquated. It may now be had, bound up with Dr. Airay's, for a few shillings. Airay, unlike Cartwright, did not separate himself from the National Church these lectures, we are told, were delivered in St. Peter's Church, Oxford, "by the reverend and faithful servant of Christ, Henry Airay, D.D., and late Provost of Queens' College," 1618. ; Our space forbids us to say more; and yet, much more might well be said. Besides, an enterprising publisher, who places such a store of learning within the reach of every student, deserves encouragement. Instead of further criticism, we will conclude with an extract Vol. 64.-No. 325. L from a Charge by the Venerable Henry Law, M.A., Archdeacon of Wells: "No common heroes in theologic learning issued from the cradle of the Reformation. Their best works now court perusal, reprinted at the lowest cost. (Nichol's Series of Standard Divines, Edinburgh.) Here students may glean copious variety of golden matter. Well do I know, that indiscretions, by all deplored, have linked their names with prejudice. They were not more than men, therefore they had man's failings. But these failings soil not their exegesis. As expositors, they are bright stars in the firmament of theology. They shine unrivalled in copious flood of idea-in breadth of range—in massiveness of mind-in piercing glance through the riches of a text-in acuteness to track the heart through tortuous windings-in skill to unmask self-deceptionin aptness to probe conscience-in sweetness to apply the Gospel balm-in unction to depict redeeming love. Read, and you will not blame these commendations as excessive. Their style indeed may not suit modern taste. their own, not ours. But their pious stores are world long-for all ages,-may they be wealth to us." It is Messrs. T. and T. Clark, of Edinburgh, have completed, in six volumes, The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Translated from the German of J. P. Lange, D.D.; and edited by the Rev. Marcus Dods, M.A.-We have noticed this work briefly in a former Number. We notice it again as a comprehensive and masterly production; the name of the English editor is an assurance to our readers that it is sound and evangelical. Of course we do not, nor would any upright critic, pledge ourselves to every opinion it expresses. It is a complete critical examination, as it professes to be, of the origin, contents, and connection of the Gospels. Its object is at once to refute the views of the Life of our Lord which have been propagated by negative criticism, and to substitute that consistent history which a truly scientific, enlightened, and incontrovertible criticism educes from the Gospels. It has received high praise from Bishop Ellicott, in his Lectures before the University of Cambridge. We must notice, in conclusion, a cheap library edition of the Works of John Howe, by the Tract Society. Howe is one of those writers who are more quoted than read; but he deserves to be often resorted to, though we confess he is but stiff reading. The essayist Foster, a dissenter, in his later days fell in with our Jeremy Taylor, and deliberately notes his preference of the latter to Howe in every respect. The comparison amuses us. They seem to have nothing in common. Both are great in their way; so are the lobster and the watercress; but the one crawls in the deep sea, and the other floats upon the surface of the sparkling brook; and it would perplex the wisest man to draw a comparison between them. After all, there are excellent men amongst us, who profess, in the words of Savage the poet, "to read but one book, but that book the best." It always will be so, even with men of the highest education; men, too, of firm and even powerful minds. We venture to remind such, if in the ministry, that theology is not now what it was a quarter of a century ago. A mere acquaintance with our English translation will not suffice. Something of criticism, and something of Church history, must be understood. Thomas Scott was at least an honest commentator, and upright in controversy; but he knew nothing of the Synod of Dordt; he thought the Remonstrants had been the Calvinistic party. Dr. Whitaker, of Blackburn, still more lately, was a great divine at Cambridge; but he thought Eusebius the historian was a heathen. Some of Simeon's criticisms would now provoke a smile; and High Churchmen are quite willing to let the divinity of their fathers of that day sleep in the dust. Without, then, what to some minds would be the fatigue of original research, there are now within their reach assistants which render some knowledge of the criticism of the New Testament so easy, that a want of it is unpar donable. Dr. Alford presents his Greek Testament in an English garb. Dr. Wordsworth's notes are equally accessible; and though we differ greatly from both these learned and able men on some important points, we cannot be insensible to their general merits as critical scholars. The Chronological New Testament according to the Authorised Version, of which a second edition is just published, (Simpkin and Co., and Longmans,) will be of great assistance to the English reader as well as to the scholar, though we think the compiler has carried too far the discovery, if such it is, "made by Bishop Lowth, and more fully shown by Bishop Jebb," viz., that the discourses of our Lord and the writings of the Apostles are constructed after the style of the ancient prophets, that is, in parallelisms. A Memorial Sketch of the Rev. Alexander McCaul, D.D. By the Rev. Joseph B. McCaul. London: Rivingtons. 1863.-This sketch of the life and labours of the late Dr. McCaul is written by his eldest son; and in a few pages the chief incidents and undertakings in the life of the late devoted missionary and scholar are succinctly recorded. The narrative before us is indeed but a sketch; and although we confess our strong disinclination to long biographies of men who, however estimable, have never shown either remarkable self-devotion or extraordinary ability, yet in the present instance we cannot but express a wish that at some future time a fuller biography of Dr. McCaul may appear. Here, however, are set down a few of the incidents of a very honourable and useful career. By the Christian public Dr. McCaul was for many years highly valued for his services in evangelizing the Jews: their conversion was, in fact, the main object of his life; and the proficiency he attained as a Hebrew scholar, combined with his peculiar knowledge of the mind and genius of the Jewish race, were the means, under God, of contributing greatly to his success among them as a minister of Christ. Highly gifted both as a linguist and a mathematician, and with a bright future before him, he, when quite a young man, relinquished all thought of earthly fame. For several years he laboured abroad as a missionary, chiefly among the Polish Jews; often for weeks together enduring great hardships and subsisting upon the coarsest food. As an author Dr. McCaul was well known; and the last production of his pen, "An Examination of Bishop Colenso's Difficulties with regard to the Pentateuch, and some reasons for believing in its authenticity and Divine origin," made his name familiar in many Christian homes. So great was the demand for this work, that a second edition was put in hand three days after the first appearance of the book, and we are glad to learn that up to the present time several thousand copies of it have been distributed. This was the final effort of his long and arduous life. In November, 1863, he passed from us, with these touching words upon his lips :-"When |