him "nodding" so frequently when he comes to relate these events. We are surprised that some of the errors (of which we may cite the following as an example) should have evaded detection. It was not to escape the general persecution under Herod Agrippa, A. D. 44, that "the Christians took refuge in Pella, beyond the Jordan" (p. 17), but in immediate anticipation of the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus, a. d. 70. That important event is altogether erroneously narrated in the sentences immediately following the statement we have just corrected:
"Bar-cochba led a final popular Jewish revolt against the Roman authority, A. D.. 132, but was defeated by Julius Severus, and Jerusalem became a heap of ruins. The Roman emperor Hadrian tried to destroy the attachment of the Christians to the sacred associations of the city by erecting on Calvary a temple to Venus, and, over the Holy Sepulchre, a statue to Jupiter. But his efforts, while pleasing to the Jews, had no material effect."
It is scarcely necessary to give a correct account of these events, so well known is it to readers of history. It was the insult offered by Hadrian to the religion of the Jews, in settling a Roman colony on the site of the Holy City which had been destroyed sixty-two years previously, that incited the revolt of Bar-cochba. Hadrian's establishment of the city of Ælia Capitolina on the foundations of Jerusalem, and a temple of Jupiter on Mount Zion, were very far from pleasing to the Jews, and to the Roman city the Christians, who had been expelled by Titus, were freely admitted with the first of their Gentile Bishops.
The utility of the work is seriously marred by omissions, of which a long list might be given. The organized existence of the Church of England in the fourth century, independent of the See of Rome, having been frankly admitted, the means by which Rome gained the supremacy, the continued protests of the Church of England against the same, and the part taken by that Church in the Reformation, are entitled to some attention. A paragraph is certainly inadequate treatment of the Council of Trent, even in a short history, and the omission of all mention of the Creed of Pius IV., and the consequent failure to define modern Romanism, are scarcely excusable. In relation to the Vatican Council of 1869 (which the author incautiously concedes to have been œcumenical), a magnificent opportunity for a clear statement of the decree of Infallibility is ignored. Such a statement would have conveyed information on a subject often referred to but popularly little known.
The suggestion of so many omissions might be taken to imply that the work should have been extended at the cost of its qualified title. On the contrary, however, the book would have been greatly improved by a regard for the rules of proportion, and the consequent omission of much of its present contents. The references to hymnody are so filled with errors and are so inadequate, and a half-dozen or so chapters upon Missions, Religious Literature, and cognate subjects are so partial, that the space they occupy might have been used to better advantage in the treatment of more important historical subjects. The author's prefatory misgivings regarding his treatment of the various American denominations are well founded, and suggest that the considerable portion of Part V., devoted to not very satisfactory sketches of about thirty different denominations, might have been profitably replaced by a comprehensive view of Christianity in America. A general re-arrangement of the chapters would have been of great advantage. The present derangement (of which let this serve as a sample: In Part II., Arnold of Brescia is treated of in Chapter XVI., Abelard, who was his teacher, is treated of in Chapter XXVIII.) is calculated to mislead readers as to the chronological order of the events narrated.
If we have been somewhat explicit in pointing out the shortcomings of this work, it is because we agree with the author, "that the popular taste for the condensed treatment of the secular sciences can be safely applied to the domain of Theological Science, and to no department with greater hope of success than to Historical Theology." We regret, however, that this book falls far short of serving that popular taste as it should, and fails of being of educational value to the constantly increasing number of students of Church History.
Mr. Cole's contribution to ecclesiastico-historical literature, "The Anglican Church," is a monograph with a definite aim in view, thereby giving it a decided advantage over the much more pretentious works above reviewed. It is a modest duodecimo of 110 pages, containing a catena of proofs of the facts implied in the title, viz.—that the Christian Faith was early introduced into the British Isles and has been continuously maintained therein. Its argument is for the identity of the present Church of England with the organized Church which Dr. Hurst admits was represented at the Council of Aries. It is an argument against both Romanists and Protestants, who, in the face of
