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The Christian hermits are out of countenance to-day. We do not understand them, and we do not try. They seem to us so un-Christlike, that we wonder if they were Christians. They seem to us so unmanly, that we wonder if they were men. The Rev. J. O. Hannay has been considering the hermits. We knew that he had been considering them from his excellent book on Asceticism. Now he has got at the heart of them, and has published their inmost thoughts in a beautiful little book which he calls The Wisdom of the Desert (Methuen ; 3s. 6d. net). Besides being a delightful book to read, it is a clear addition to the literature of early Christianity.

In quite a small book published by Messrs. Methuen (2s. 6d. net.) is to be found a charming account of all the plants that are mentioned in the Bible. The title is far too modest. It is Bible Flowers (by Rosemary A. Cotes). But the trees and the spices and the vegetables are here, besides the flowers. The little book is artistic rather than scientific. And yet there is care and knowledge in the making of it.

The English edition of the Epistle of St. James has up till now been Dr. J. B. Mayor's. Nor will Dr. Mayor ever be wholly superseded, for there will be no reason why subsequent editors should gather again for themselves the examples of the language and thought of St. James which they can find and cannot improve upon in Dr. Mayor. But next to Dr. Mayor's edition, and before it for the English reader who knows not Greek, must now be placed The Epistle of St. James, by Professor Knowling (Methuen; 6s.). No commentator of our day is more conscientious; no commentator is more in touch with the average preacher; no commentator refuses more resolutely to follow the will-o'-thewisp of barren novelty in the exposition of Scripture. Dr. Knowling is familiar with all the literature of his subject, and uses it, but his judgments are his own. If the Westminster Commentaries' will maintain this standard of every-day utility, they will serve their generation well. Driver's Genesis lifted them to a new level; Knowling's St. James maintains it.

How rich is Christianity in Ethics! Is there any other religion that makes an ethical topic of Rest? Is there any other religion that would

allow a man to write a book of 250 pages on it? The Rev. E. W. Moore has done that. His title is The Promised Rest (Nisbet; 2s. 6d.). So great is the Promised Rest that it seems to be Christianity itself. And yet no chapter could be omitted. It was a great conception to find the single subject of Rest sufficient for twenty-two sermons, and each sermon laden with exhortation and encourage

ment.

Dr. S. D. Gordon's Quiet Talks on Prayer (Revell; 2s. 6d. net) are as familiar as they are quiet. Of the passage, 'Thy will be done,' he says, 'Let us draw up our chairs and brew it over mentally, that its strength and fragrance may come up into our nostrils, and fill our very beings.' Yet there are words in it with which we are not familiar. There is that word brew. Again he says, 'This is the main drive of prayer'; and again he speaks of 'tending the stock' and 'doing the chores.' It is the familiarity of an American. No doubt God understands.

Messrs. Revell have published a volume of Letters of an Old Methodist to his Son in the Ministry, written by Robert Allen of Tippecanoe, Indiana (3s. 6d. net). The Old Methodist dislikes the new ways of preaching and promoting the gospel, as most old Methodists do. He expresses his dislike in language that is always unmistakable, though on the whole he writes more in sadness than in anger. But it does not follow that he is always right and his up-to-date son always wrong. The Institutional Church is doing something for the gospel in America. And even if it had proved a failure, it was worth a trial, since there were crowds upon crowds of young people who took no interest in the gospel as an Old Methodist was preaching it. And is not this one of the first duties of those who are most loyal to the gospel, to bring it into touch with the actual life of each succeeding generation?

Messrs. Revell have also published Thirty-One Revival Sermons, by Dr. Louis Albert Banks (3s. 6d. net); and Whittlers of the Word of God, by Perry Wayland Sinks (1s. 6d. net).

Mr. Grant Richards has published a little book with an unusual name. The author's name is unusual also. It is Roslyn D'Onston. The name

of the book is The Patristic Gospels (4s. net). It is further described as an English Version of the Holy Gospels as they existed in the Second Century. How has Mr. D'Onston obtained his version? By comparison of the manuscripts, the versions, and the Fathers; by a further comparison of all the critical Greek texts, all the English versions, and all the commentators who are worth comparing. And for all his renderings he gives his authorities. In the multitude of new translations it is one of the most notable.

Messrs. Rivingtons have issued the second volume of Principal Whitham's Handbook to the History of the Hebrew Monarchy (3s. 6d. net). It is the teacher's book, directing and stimulating. It is accurate history and it is sound theology.

The Lord's Prayer for Believers is a daring title. For its subject is the Intercessory Prayer of the seventeenth chapter of St. John. Perhaps the title has done something for the book. And yet there is no surprise that the book should have reached its fifth edition. It almost belongs to the world's literature of devotion. Mr. Thynne has just published the fifth edition of Rainsford's Lord's Prayer for Believers, with an introductory note by Mr. Griffith Thomas (2s. 6d. net).

Seven Sorts of Successful Sunday Evening Services. One sort is more than some of us can reach. We fear it is not the 'sort' that does it, but the man. Nevertheless let us hear what the seven sorts are. They are the men's Sunday evening club plan, the musical plan, the lecturesermon plan, the you-and-I plan, the many-handson-the-net plan, the stirring-of-the-spiritual-nature plan, and the going-out-into-the-highways-andhedges plan. The you-and-I plan is the puzzle. It is explained in this way: Father Taylor of the Mariners' Church in Boston, so quick in his sympathies, fell inevitably into the you-and-I plan. A widow with breaking heart and pressing need came to him, and in his exigency he turned to God in prayer and said, "Oh, Lord, we are a widow with six children." The Seven Sorts are described by the Rev. James L. Hill, D.D., of Salem, Mass., and the book is published by Messrs. Treat of New York.

How often are we asked to name a Hebrew

Grammar for Beginners-a real beginner's book. We can name it now. The author is Professor W. B. Stevenson of Bala, and the publishers Messrs. Young of Edinburgh.

Books for Christmas.

ONCE more Christmas is at hand, and once more there is the welcome inrush of Christmas books. Most of them are books for the children. And that is as it should be, for Christmas is the children's season. If there is the usual number, there is more than the usual variety. Let us see.

NELSON & SONS.

This year we shall have no difficulty in distinguishing the books published by Messrs. Nelson. They have all attractive royal blue paper covers to protect their handsome bindings. First comes Miss Everett-Green's annual historical tale. It is called Ringed by Fire (5s.), and is a story of the FrancoGerman War. Miss Everett-Green has one distinctive binding for her historical tales. It is a single colour, usually pale blue or red, ornamented with gilt lettering, and a shield on the back. We can imagine no handsomer present to any boy or girl than a set of these blue and red volumes.

This year coloured illustrations are at their best, and nowhere shall we find more realistic ones than in Mr. Finnemore's latest book In the Trenches (5s.). It is the account of the stirring adventures of Harry Stanley, a private in the Crimean War. When we leave him he is no longer an N.C.O., he is Lieutenant Stanley.

Highway Pirates (3s. 6d.) is by the well-known author of school stories, Harold Avery. It differs somewhat from his usual style, however. It is a story of last century, when cricket and football were unknown, and there were no monitors and no fags, but there was a great deal of wild fun and adventure.

Detective stories have not been very numerous this year, and so we welcome Mr. Fox Russell's book the more eagerly. In the Phantom Spy (2s. 6d.) we have the account of John Dare, a Government spy, who went by the mysterious name of Le Fantôme. Every chapter contains some thrilling adventure, and the last, where he escapes being shot by the French as a spy, is the most thrilling of all.

At last we have a story for the girls, Cromer Hall (2s.); by Raymond Jack berns. In it we have such a vivid picture of a girls' boarding school, with its affections and cliques and high ideas of honour, that we feel almost certain Raymond Jacberns must be a woman. If the author is a man', surely his recollections of kindergarten days must be very strong.

Another tale which will do equally well for boys or girls is Father M.P. (2s. 6d). It is the story of a very large and jolly family, the kind of family we all wish to belong to.

For children of nine or ten there is The Seymour Girls (9d.), by Geraldine Robertson Glasgow. And for the very little ones, at least for the most fortunate of them, there is The Twins (6s.). It is a large oblong book with a picture of the twins on the outside, the good one, Paul

Montgomery Vincent Green, tidy and well dressed, and the naughty twin, Peter Augustus Marmaduke Green, very untidy indeed, with his stockings hanging down to his ankles. The Twins is beautifully illustrated in colours by John Hassall, and the very amusing verses are written by Edward Shirley.

We have also two 6d. picture books, All Sorts of Animals and No End of Fun.

A. & C. BLACK.

Messrs. A. & C. Black have begun to publish a series of square crown 8vo volumes, with gilt top and artistic binding, at 6s. each. Their paper and printing and binding and all the rest are all that anyone could desire, but their illustrations are their greatest and most irresistible feature. Their illustrations are all in colour; they are a revelation of the excellence to which the art of colour printing has now reached.

Three of the handsome square volumes lie before usGulliver's Travels, with sixteen full-page illustrations by Stephen de la Bere; Uncle Tom's Cabin, with eight fullpage illustrations by S. H. Vedder; and Mr. Crockett's Red Cap Tales, with sixteen illustrations, also by Mr. Vedder. You know the first two books, do you know Mr. Crockett's Tales? He says they are 'stolen from the treasure chest of the wizard of the north.' There are seven tales from Waverley, four from Guy Mannering, three from Rob Roy, and three from the Antiquary. We do not know if Mr. Crockett has ever turned his talents to better purpose. There are some things he cannot do. He can do this.

EDWARD ARNOLD.

We look forward with expectation to Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick's novels. Their atmosphere is fresh, their scenes and characters unexpected. Scenes of Jewish Life (6s.) offers a number of short sketches of love and marriage. The most amusing one is the first, The Powder Blue Baron, where the German Count, with his superciliousness and his antiSemite weaknesses, is made ridiculous by the Jewess, Esther. The most tragic tale is the last, called Mr. Rosenthal, where he evil of arranged marriages is strenuously depicted.

DEAN.

How sorry we feel for the boys and girls who have never heard of Aladdin and his marvellous lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and the most marvellous of sailors, Sinbad. Mrs. F. G. Green has given these unfortunate children another chance by editing a new edition of the Arabian Nights, and this edition has much to recommend it. First, it is beautifully bound in dark red, with a great deal of gold lettering and a figure of Said on a magnificent charger on the cover. Then it has illustrations in bright Oriental colourings, and in spite of all these attractions it costs only 2s. 6d.

SEELEY.

Fortunate indeed are the authors whose works are published by Messrs. Seeley. In Diana Polwarth, Royalist, by J. F. M. Carter (5s.), the illustrations are works of art; they are clearly cut and beautifully shaded. The cover of

the book is a subdued shade of terra-cotta, with Diana and her spinning-wheel in gold. The whole effect is quaint and old-fashioned, and harmonizes with a story of the days of the Puritans. We can think of no book which would be a more beautiful Christmas present for any girl.

Messrs. Seeley have also published a book by the famous author of stories from the ancients, the Rev. A. J. Church. His new work is called The Crusaders (5s.). It is a story of Richard Coeur de Lion and the War of the Holy Sepulchre. The framework of Mr. Church's story is original. He has made use of an old legend that a certain Cartaphilus, keeper of the door of the palace of Pontius Pilate, was doomed to live till the Second Coming because he insulted Christ. Mr. Church puts into the mouth of the wandering Jew the story of the Crusades, and very graphically and picturesquely he describes them to us.

How difficult it is sometimes to find a suitable book for Sunday afternoons. We have read and re-read the life of Paton, and now we have the life of another great missionary written for boys and girls, the life of Bishop Hannington, by the Rev. E. C. Dawson, under the stirring name of LionHearted (2s. 6d.). For a time at least this will certainly displace Paton, it is so fresh and exciting, and is full of Bishop Hannington's fine humour. The illustrations are from the bishop's own sketches, and are most realistic.

GEORGE ALLEN.

Lily Work (2s. 6d. net) is for the children of understanding. And in our homes sometimes there are children of understanding who have not yet attained to many years. Lily Work is not for the children of imagination; for them the Arabian Nights is written. The children of understanding are practical; and when they read the parable of how the flax first envied the roses because their perfume was to be brought before the king, and then resolved to blossom and be made into the most delicate lace to adorn his arm, they will understand. They will understand all the parables which are written by the Rev. J. M. Blake, and all the pictures which, in their deep black and white, carry the meaning of the parable to the eye; and they will thank Mr. George Allen for publishing so beautiful a book of parables so beautifully.

LONGMANS.

How many fairy books is Mr. Andrew Lang going to be responsible for? This is The Brown Fairy Book (бs.). Already he has written the Blue, the Red, the Green, the Grey, the Yellow, the Pink, the Violet, and the Crimson. Where does he get them? The stories in this fairy book, he says, come from all quarters of the world, from the Red Indians and the Black Australians, from the Kaffirs and the Lapps, from the Persians and the Brazilians. Who writes them for him? He writes some of them himself or translates them; but most of them, he says, are written by Mrs. Lang, 'who does not give them exactly as they are told by all sorts of outlandish natives, but makes them up in the hope white people will like them, skipping the pieces which they will not like.' The Brown Fairy Book contains thirty-two fairy tales, with many illustrations, eight of which are coloured plates, twenty-two uncoloured plates, and twenty are in the text.

6

OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERrier.

Mr. Egerton R. Young is a specialist in one subject. He knows and understands the American Indians, and he gives us a vivid picture of the life they led before the coming of the hated paleface.' Children of the Forest (3s. 6d.) is a tale of love; it is also, as we should expect, a tale of missionary enterprise. We are tempted to wonder if Mr. Young sees through rose-coloured spectacles. If the original American Indians were as he paints them, surely the white traders and settlers have much to answer for. It is a book which every young person will enjoy, and it will form an attractive introduction to missions.

Eleven years ago, at the time of the jubilee of the Free Church of Scotland, Mrs. Simpson wrote an account of the Disruption for children. She called her book Marjory's Story of the Disruption (6d. net). She has republished it at this crisis in the Church to incite the children of to-day to be as enthusiastic and brave as were Marjory and Will and Charlie and Tottie, the children of the Disruption.

MELROSE.

Surely writing must come very easily to Evelyn EverettGreen. Perhaps it is that she works harder than anyone else. At anyrate, it is quite certain that she does not give us scamped work. Nor is one publisher sufficient for her; this year alone she has books published by Messrs. Nelson and the Religious Tract Society, and The Three Graces (3s. 6d.) is published by Mr. Andrew Melrose. It is the story of Lucile, Theo, and Kitty Grace, whose mother married the second time a very rich widower with an only son, Jim. In his father's opinion, and in that of most other people, Jim was a ne'er-do-well. How by the help of one of the girls he became a hero, is the plot of the book. somely bound in crimson and gold.

CASSELL.

It is hand

The first is

From Messrs. Cassell come three books. Robert Louis Stevenson's Wrecker (2s. net) in the pocket edition. Though this edition is small, the paper is not too thin and the type is clear and of good size. It is bound in dark red and gold, and would be a pretty little volume for a Christmas present.

Then we have a girl's story, by L. T. Meade, A Madcap. Mrs. Meade is so good at girls' stories that we almost wish she gave all her time to them. The heroine of this book is a very wild little Spanish girl, who came to England to stay with cousins, and went to school there. The illustrations are by Harold Copping, and they are most enticing.

The Bravest of the Brave, by H. Atteridge (Is. 6d.), took its name from a society formed by the boys of Westwick School. Their aim was to be brave, both morally and

physically. Let the little ones discover who turned out the bravest.

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.

First, Miss Everett-Green. Her R.T.S. book is called The Faith of Hilary Lovel (3s. 6d.). Miss Everett-Green's strong point is history, and in Hilary Lovel we are transported to Elizabethan times, and more particularly to Jesuits and their plots.

Let the boy who wants authentic history and excitement combined read Condemned to the Galleys, by Jean Marteilhe (3s. 6d.). It is the account of a French Protestant, whose name was Jean Marteilhe, and who lived in the eighteenth century. He wrote the account of his own sufferings, and it was afterwards translated and edited.

We have almost too many good things this month. We have two books by Amy Le Feuvre, the author of Probable Sons. The first of these is A Little Maid (2s.). It is the story of Peggy Perkins, who belonged to an unknown part of London, and who had two desires, the one to be a real servant and wear caps, and the other to be a missionary. She started with home missionary work, and here we have an account of it.

Amy Le Feuvre's second book is His Little Daughter (1s. 6d.). It is the story of a very lonely and very naughty little girl called Judy, who lived all alone with an old grandfather, whose only desire was not to be bothered with her. As we would expect from the author of Teddy's Button, we have in Judy a perfect study of an imaginative child.

Every year the R.T.S. gives us at least one book on missions. Last year it was a number of short sketches, by Annette Whymper, on How to Help Missions; this year it is The Children of Cathay, by Jennie Beckingsale (1s. 6d.), a story of the Boxer riots and the siege of Pekin. It is written very simply for children, and the facts are all woven round the life of T'ien En, the little Chinese hero.

COLLINS.

The three books which Messrs. Collins have already published for the Christmas season are wonderful, most of all for their cheapness. The first is an old favourite, but we have never seen it published so handsomely at this price. It is The Scottish Chiefs. It contains 646 pages and eight coloured illustrations; it is well bound, and it costs only two shillings.

Of the other two, one is a stirring book for boys, the other a charming book for girls. Two Old Sea-Dogs is the title of the one; Peerless Women the title of the other. The one is written by Mr. Herbert Hayens, the other by Miss Jeanie Douglas Cochrane. They are published at 1s. 6d. each. Who are the two old Sea-Dogs, do you think? They are Drake and Blake.

Ashteroth Karnaim.

BY THE REV. W. O. E. OESTERLEY, B.D., EDITOR OF 'CHURCH AND SYNAGOGUE.'

I.

THE name Ashteroth Karnaim ('Ashtaroth of the two horns') is one of considerable interest to the student of the Old Testament, as it raises the whole question of the character and attributes of the goddess Ashtoreth. The worship of this goddess was practically universal among the Semites 1; her original home was Babylonia, probably the northern part of it; here she was worshipped under the name of Ishtar, and in her were centred the attributes of a number of earlier goddesses. In the Old Testament her name assumes the forms Ashtoreth, Ashteroth, and Ashtaroth (these plural forms signifying Ashtoreth in her different representations), and Ashteroth Karnaim.

It is most important for the study of the question before us, namely, the meaning of the biblical Ashteroth Karnaim, to realize the fact that this goddess was not only differently represented in different localities, but that her attributes, and therefore her form of worship, varied very considerably. It will, perhaps, be well to indicate quite briefly some of the more conspicuous characters assumed by the goddess. She figures very prominently as the goddess of Love, as may be seen from the following quotations. In the Epic of Gilgames, the hero reproaches Ishtar on account of her many loves, thus

To Tammuz, the husband of thy youth,
From year to year thou causest bitter weeping.
Thou lovedst the bright-coloured Allala bird,
Thou lovedst also a lion, perfect in strength
Thou lovedst also a horse, glorious in war..
Thou lovedst also a shepherd of the flock
Thou lovedst also Isullanu . . .

And as for me, thou wouldst love me and (make me) even as these! 2

As the goddess of different localities her attributes, as one would expect, varied with the locality; thus, as goddess of Nineveh she was worshipped as the goddess of love, while as the Ishtar of

1 That the name is Semitic is not questioned by the vast majority of scholars, cf. Jastrow, Die Religion Bab. und Assyr., p. 81.

2 Pinches, The O.T. in the light of the Hist. Records of Assyr. and Bab., pp. 96, 97.

Arbele she was worshipped as the goddess of war 3; as regards this latter attribute, the words of Hammurabi, in the epilogue to his Code, are to the point: 'With the mighty weapon wherewith Gamama and Ishtar gave me . . . did I root out the enemies above and below (in the north and in the south).' 4 As goddess both of love and battle, Ishtar must be compared with the Greek Aphrodite, whose attributes were similar. attributes were similar. Ishtar also appears as the goddess of lust and of generation, though these characteristics are the natural accompaniments of love (see above, and K.B., vi. 63). These various qualities in the goddess are to be explained by the fact that among the Babylonians the attributes of a number of earlier deities became centred in Ishtar. Her general attributes are well summarized thus: 'She was the lady, or mistress, of the locality in which she was worshipped; queen of the gods, and princess of heaven and earth; a warrior goddess; the goddess of generation and productivity; and she was identified with the planet Venus. These aspects of her nature are retained as her cult travels westwards, sometimes one being more prominent than the other, sometimes several being combined.' 5

II.

Turning now to Ashteroth Karnaim, there are three theories held by different scholars as to what the two horns' in the name refer to.

i. In the first place, it is believed that the two horns refer to two mountains. On the analogy of some votive tablets to Baal Karnaim of Carthage, Professor Moore believes that the Karnaim of Gn 145 (see also I Mac 526, 2 Mac 1221, cf. Am 613) was a double-peaked mountain sacred to Ashtoreth.7 Again, Schumacher, in discussing the site of

Muss-Arnolt, Dict. 'Ishtar.'

4 Winckler in Der alte Orient, 4 Yahrg., p. 135; cf. K.B., iii. 13. See also for the attributes of Ishtar in general, Lagrange, Études sur les Rel. Sem., pp. 136–139. " Driver in Hastings' B.D., i. 169.

6 As to whether one or two cities are referred to in Gn 145, see Encycl. Bibl., i. col. 335; Gunkel Genesis, in loc.; Dillmann Genesis, in loc.

Journal of Biblical Literature, 1897, p. 155. See also Proceedings of the Soc. of Bibl. Arch., xxi. p. 173.

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