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 ii s. vi. AUG. n, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

139

records that Sir Robert "dyed February 12th and was buried February 23rd," 1709/10. In D.N.B.' the date is 18 Feb., 1709, and in Foss 18 Feb., 1710. 'It is satisfactory to give for the first time the authentic dates. It will be seen that Sir Robert was within a few weeks of completing his ninetieth year. ROLAND AUSTIN.

Gloucester Public Library.

on IGooks.

The History of the People of Israel in Pre-Christian Times. By Mary Sarson and Mabel A. Phillips. (Longmans & Co.)

IT is no light task to assimilate and reproduce hi popular form the immense amount of Biblical criticism which recent years have produced, and we have nothing but commendation for the judicious and efficient manner in which these two Oxford ladies have performed it. It was a work which needed to be done, as teachers have come to see more and more that they cannot afford to ignore the results of progressive scholar- ship and give lessons in Scripture on the old con- ventional lines with which the last generation was content. The authors have written their history with competent knowledge, in a pleasant style, and in excellent taste ; and we cannot doubt that a large and increasing number of teachers of the higher classes in schools will be grateful to them for supplying such an informative manual. The Head Master of Rugby, speaking with wide experience, gives it his hearty commendation in a Prefatory Note. The way in which the Old Testament difficulties are dealt with seems eminently wise and discreet. Instead of accen- tuating these by formal discussion, the authors, by a few incidental and parenthetic words, sufficiently indicate their point of view, and set the pupil on the right track for arriving at a satis- factory solution. Thus the apparent command to Abraham to slay his son no longer offends the moral sense when it is added that " a righteous impulse (of self-sacrifice) was to the patriarch no other than the voice of God." The same principle explains the ruthless order to extermin- ate the Canaanites. The sojourn of Jonah in the interior of the sea-monster and his strange en- franchisement are merely referred to as a deliver- ance from the monster Babylon, i.e., from captivity Dr. Cheyne's suggestion being here adopted. This illuminating hint will not be lost on the careful teacher. Similarly, the old cruxes of the standing still of the sun, the falling of the walls of Jericho, the speaking of Balaam's ass, are traced to the subjective impressions made upon the consciousness of the witnesses, as wonders wrought in the psychical sphere rather than the material and objective. We are not sure if the same explanation would not be extended to the theophanies so frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch. A word of special commendation is due to the thoughtful note upon miracles, which shows that their value consists not so much in being a revelation of the presence and power of the Deity as in affording indications of His character and will (p. 73) ; and there are some excellent observations on God's hardening

Pharaoh's heart (p. 65). We notice two errata Abrech, when it first occurs, on p. 51, is printed " Abechr " ; " Chokmah," wisdom, and " hakamim," wise men, on p. 281, ought to have the same initial letter.

Letters of Robert Southey : a Selection. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Maurice H Fitzgerald. (Oxford University Press.) WRITING in 1804 to Rickman, Southey, in his slightly pompous way, declares : "I look upon the invention of reviews to be the worst injury which literature has received since its revival.^ If this be so and it is at least arguable Southey himself has something to answer for, perhaps more to complain of ; but at any rate what he has left us, even if not many now 'turn to look at it, lies more or less beyond the range of this injury, and his letters need not at this time of day be appraised or criticized. Yet one may welt wish them to be better known to the general non- literary public than they seem to be, and we welcome this pleasant little volume, which con- tains 268 of them, together with a dozen pages of careful appreciation, a few notes (chiefly bio- graphical), and an excellent biographical table which gives year by year the principal events- of Southey's life, and also events in the lives of his contemporaries.

There are people in whom achievement, or, in general, the exercise of power, produces a con- sciousness inadequate to the reality ; they are greater and do better than they know. There are others in whom the consciousness of power is^ produced somewhat in excess, and Southey was of these. This, though by no means the same thing as vanity, has, in these unreserved letters,, almost the same slightly ludicrous effect as vanity has, and, with the antiquated and narrow political views so tartly expressed, makes up whatever- there is unsympathetic in this intimate portrayal of a singularly generous and amiable mind ; wise,, too, with the forthright, uncompromising wisdom which comes with study and meditation, rather than from practical knowledge of men and affairs- We may smile now and again, as in reading the- letters to Shelley ; but, for all that, we are bound to confess that those letters are sound, noble,, and not a little courageous. Southey's humour, of which there is plenty here, is conspicuously- aided by his nervous and easy style. The diction, though so lively, is never fetched from a distance ,. and yet, when one pays attention to it, it is aston- ishing how many odd words he uses : " tarri- ance." for example ; " devotemeut," " remein- berably," " unrealize," " poemet," and others.

One might have worse in the way of a companion! at the Lakes than this little book in one's pocket.

Kent Records : the Parish Registers and Records in the Diocese of Rochester. A Summary o Information collected by the Ecclesiastical Records Committee of the Rochester Diocesan Conference, with an Introduction by W. E. Buckland. (Published by the Kent Archaeo- logical Society ; printed by Mitchell Hughes & Clarke.)

AT the Sevenoaks session of the Rochester- Diocesan Conference in 1910 a resolution was passed instituting an inquiry into ecclesiastical records in the custody of the incumbents and other officers of the Church in the diocese. A form containing some twenty-four questions was sent