thy purpose unchanged; receivest again what thou findest, yet didst never lose; never in need, yet rejoicing in gains; never covetous, yet exacting usury. Thou receivest over and above, that thou mayest owe; and who hath aught that is not thine? Thou payest debts, owing nothing; remittest debts, losing nothing. And what have. I now said, my God, my life, my holy joy? Or what saith any man, when he speaks of thee? Yet wo to him that speaketh not, since mute art even the most eloquent!"*

But, replies the unsatisfied caviller, if Jesus Christ, as God, suffered on the cross, then God punished himself, which surely is an absurdity not to be received in the nineteenth century. To this we reply, that the sufferings of Christ were not a punishment, but an expiation; not the natural and necessary consequence of personal guilt, but the voluntary sacrifice for the benefit of the guilty. But allowing your irreverent expression to be a just one, let me ask, does the father punish himself when he voluntarily assumes the debt of his erring child, the payment of which strips him of all he has, and reduces him to want? Does the friend punish himself, when he consents to die for his friend? Does the patriot punish himself when he plunges, like an ancient Grecian king, into the abyss to save his suffering country? What if God had spared his own Son-his other self-and not given him. up to the death for us all? What if he had refused this infinite sacrifice for our redemption, as much the sacrifice of the Father, as the sacrifice of the Son? "For a righteous man will one die? Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Hence he made, if you will have it so, the nearest possible approach to self-punishment; for it was self-sacrifice, the deepest, the most amazing the world

* The original is still more expressive "Quid es ergo, Deus meus? Quid rogo, nisi Dominus meus; aut quis Deus, præter Deum nostrum ? Summe, optime, potentissime, omnipotentissime, misericordissime et justissime, secretissime et præsentissime, pulcherrime et fortissime, stabilis et incomprehensibilis, immutabilis, mutans omnia, numquam novus, numquam vetus, innovans omnia, et in vetustatem perducens superbos et nesciunt; semper agens, semper quietus, colligens et non egens, portans et implens et protegens, creans et nutriens et perficiens, qua erens quum nihil desit tibi," etc. Confessionum, Lib. I, Cap. 4.

has ever seen. "How hast thou loved us, good Father, who sparedst not thine only Son, but deliveredst him up for us ungodly! How hast thou loved us, for whom, he that thought it no robbery to be equal with thee, was made subject to the death of the cross! He alone, free among the dead, having power to lay down his life and power to take it again for as to thee, both victor and victim, and therefore victor, because the victim; for as to thee, Priest and Sacrifice, and therefore Priest, because the Sacrifice; making us to thee, of servants, sons, by being born of thee and serving us." Confessiones Augustini, Lib. X, c. 43.

Before we close our review, we must say a word upon a point of great difficulty, connected with the question under consideration. It will be observed that thus far we have endeavored to establish a fact, without discussing the mode of it. We have affirmed the proposition. that Christ suffered in his whole nature, divine as well as human; but we have not ventured to affirm what it was, or how it was he suffered. The external aspects of his suffering the "marred visage "-the failing eye-the flowing blood,-the contorted limbs,-the agonizing cry, -the drooping head, and the ghastly paleness of death, are obvious to all. But these are merely symbols and expressions of deeper sufferings within. "His soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." "His soul was made an offering for sin." What then was his agony? How, especially, did his pure and infinite spirit endure such suffering? To this, we frankly reply, we cannot tell. The subject transcends all our reasoning. The Scriptures have veiled it in mystery. We regard it, therefore, as an infinite presumption to speculate upon it. Better far that we kneel down in Gethsemane, with the suppliant sufferer, or placing ourselves, in rapt adoration, beneath his cross, exclaim with the heathen centurion, "This is the Son of God!"

In this connection we would respectfully ask the author of "The Sufferings of Christ," whether he has not transcended the limits of ascertained truth, and indulged his imagination, by describing the sufferings of Christ as the very same kind of sufferings which "all the redeemed" would, but for his interposition, "have endured in hell to all eternity, pang for pang, sigh for sigh, groan for groan,

spasm for spasm"? Where in the word of God, is it even hinted that Jesus suffered the pangs of "the second death"-"the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched"? Is it necessary to expiation, that the sufferings of the Mediator should be of precisely the same. kind as those of the lost? Was not the death of Jesus rather an atonement than a punishment, a moral rather than a commercial equivalent for the punishment of the ungodly? But why should we speculate upon a point like this? Why not leave it, just where the Bible leaves it; satisfied that what God accepts as a substitution for the punishment of the guilty, must be a full and adequate atonement? Upon this subject, we much admire the sentiments of Bishop Butler, who with equal modesty and acuteness has said,--" If the Scripture has, as surely it has, left this matter of the satisfaction of Christ mysterious, left somewhat in it unrevealed, all conjectures about it must be, if not evidently absurd, yet at least uncertain. Nor has any one reason to complain for want of farther information, unless he can show his claim to it."

"Some," he adds, "have endeavored to explain the efficacy of what Christ has done and suffered for us, beyond what the Scripture has authorized; others, probably, because they could not explain it, have been for taking it away, and confining his office, as Redeemer of the world, to his instruction, example and government: whereas the doctrine of the gospel appears to be, not only that he taught the efficacy of repentance, but rendered it of the efficacy which it is, by what he did and suffered for us: that he obtained for us the benefit of having our repentance accepted unto eternal life; not only that he revealed to sinners that they were in a capacity of salvation, and how they might obtain it; but morever that he put them into this capacity by what he did and suffered for them; put us into a capacity of escaping future punishment, and obtaining future happiness. And it is our wisdom thankfully to accept the benefit, by performing the conditions upon which it is offered for our part, without disputing how it was procured on his." Works, p. 179-English edition.

We now bring this review to a close, and in doing so,

wish to say, that while we have commented, with entire freedom, upon the work of "a Layman," we feel that we owe him a debt of gratitude for his able and eloquent discussion of a most important subject, and beg to commend his volume to the serious and prayerful examination of all who love our Lord Jesus Christ, and especially of clergymen and theological instructors.

ARTICLE IX.

R. T.

LITERARY NOTICES.

1. Gesenius's Hebrew Grammar. Fourteenth Edition, as revised by Dr. E. ROEDIGER, translated by T. J. CONANT, Professor in Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y., with the modifications of the editions subsequent to the eleventh, by Dr. DAVIS, of Stepney College, London, to which are added a Course of Exercises in Hebrew Grammar, and a Hebrew Chrestomathy, prepared by the translator. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 8vo.

Hebrew Grammar of Gesenius, as edited by ROEDIGER, translated, with additions, and also a Hebrew Chrestomathy, by M. STUART, Professor of Sacred Literature, Theological Seminary, Andover. dover. Allen, Morril & Wardwell.

An

The Hebrew Grammar of Professor Conant has already an established reputation. It has been successfully used under able and skilful instructers for several years. The new edition, as the title indicates, contains the latest improvements, by Dr. ROEDIGER. In its present form, therefore, it embraces all that is most desirable in an elementary Hebrew Grammar. The scholar will find in it a sufficiently condensed mass of facts and principles to make him a thorough master of the rudiments of the language. The teacher will, of course, avail himself, in addition, of the admirable philosophical Grammar of Dr. Nordheimer. The paper, print and binding are all worthy of commendation.

The Grammar of Prof. Stuart is an independent translation of Roediger's Gesenius, and of course contains substantially the same matter as the Grammar of Prof. Conant. Prof. Stuart is essentiaily the father of Hebrew learning in this country, and we rejoice to see him in advanced life presenting to the public an elementary work on the subject of his earlier studies, with all the freshness and vigor of

his youth. He has exhibited in a generally clear and correct manner, the sense of his author; and the method of printing is calculated to impress the principles stated upon the mind of the learner. The brief Chrestomathy at the close must have been made with much labor, and is admirably suited to give the student a well-grounded knowledge of the principles of the language.

It would be a delicate task for us, at present, to institute any comparison between the Grammars. We feel, however, entire confidence in heartily commending them both to the favorable notice of the community.

2. A Comprehensive Lexicon of the Greek Language, adapted to the use of Colleges and Schools in the United States. Third Edition, greatly enlarged and improved. By JOHN PICKERING. Boston. Wilkins, Carter & Co. 1846. 1456 pp. 8vo.

The first edition of this Lexicon was printed at Boston in 1826. It was a translation of the Lexicon of Schrevelius, through which, by a roundabout process, most students, twenty or thirty years ago, obtained their knowledge of Greek. That translation was found by young scholars to be seriously defective, not so much in the definitions of words, as in the extent of the vocabulary. It was reprinted, however, at Edinburgh with additions, and recommended as "a very useful and popular work." The next edition appeared with the addition of "more than 10,000 entire articles, and very numerous parts of articles." It remained, for a season, in the market, but was supplanted by the introduction of Donnegan, which the publishers, owning both works, found it more profitable to circulate. In the gradual advancement of Greek studies in this country, a progressive improvement of the Greek Lexicons has been demanded. The extent to which classical learning is pursued in schools has materially improved; and the consequence is that the school dictionaries which once afforded to the student ample information, are no longer competent to meet the necessities of the case. The present edition, prepared by the distinguished author for the press, and carefully revised a short time before his death, contains a preface written by him, detailing the methods by which it has been brought up to a high standard of excellence. From this preface, one cannot but be impressed with the extraordinary care and labor bestowed upon the work, to make it as nearly perfect as possible. The list of words embraces the entire vocabulary of the smaller Lexicon of Liddell and Scott, and of Prof. Dunbar. In the revision of the book, constant use was made of the larger Lexicon of Liddell and Scott, the original German of Passow, as enlarged by Professors Rost and Palm, and the Lexicons of Professors Jacobitz and Seidler and of Pape, as well as the Paris edition of Stephens' Thesaurus. With all these helps, together with the aid to be derived from the excellent Greek Grammars of recent date, it would be surprising if so mature a scholar had not produced a noble specimen of Greek lexicography. Such, indeed, we believe the volume to be--a great advance upon the works that have preceded it. It is printed in the small, clear Scotch type, which, in our judgment, is far more pleasant to the eye, as well as more readable than the German. We have examined several of the articles, 53

VOL. XI.-NO. XLIV.