men; more extraordinary appearances of inspiration and prophetic powers on the part of the Pagans, we may safely say, never engaged the attention of mankind; Dr. Gray very concisely, but very satisfactorily sums up all that has been written and conjectured concerning both; not omitting Bishop Horseley's last supposition, with regard particularly to the Sibylline verses, namely, that they might be composed from written patriarchal prophecies extant in a very early age, and providentially intended to keep up that expectation of a deliverer in the person of the Messiah, which may be justly said to have commenced with the fall of man. How far the agency of spiritual Beings may have been concerned in the oracular responses and decrees, the learned author does not attempt to decide, but he manifestly inclines to think that they might be reckoned amongst the delusions of a more elevated race of Beings.

In chap. xxxvii. vol. i. we felt disposed to regret (so great a reliance have we on the judgment and critical abilities of Dr. Gray) that he had not given us his opinion relative to the doctrine of an intermediate state, between death and the resurrection, which seems undoubtedly to have been common to the Hebrews, Grecians, and Romans; though modified according to circumstances, and much depending on the exact interpretation of the Sheol of the former, (b) the adns of the Greeks, and the orcus or Inferi of the Romans. In chapter xlvii. vol. ii. indeed, Dr. G. notices the opinion of those who had fancied they could discover in the sixth book of the Æneid, much that seemed nearly to approach to the purgatory of the Romanists, but on this very account we could have wished that the learned author, had indulged us with his own sentiments more at length upon a point which affects one of the articles of our creed, and which when sifted to the bottom, seems to us not to give any support to the doctrine of a regular purgatory, though it certainly seems to favour the doctrine of a general receptacle for souls after death, divided indeed into two mansions, but in both instances awaiting a final judgment and separation of the pious and the wicked, the righteous and the unrighteous. Our English, or rather Saxon term, Hell, is known to have occasioned some confusion in men's ideas upon this point, and, though we are far from intending to charge the learned author with any palpable omission in a work of such labour and research, yet it appears to us that an opportunity has been lost to the public of having the benefit of Dr. Gray's opinion, where it might have been thrown in with singular propriety. In Whiston's translation of Josephus there is a curious extract from what is stated to be Josephus's discourse to the Greeks concerning

Hades; of the authority of this paper we are not prepared fully to speak; we find no references to it in works, where we might expect it to be adduced as a strong argument in favour of the doctrine of an intermediate state, but at all events it is very curious, as immediately applicable to the subject in question.

As far as Dr. Gray is able to trace such co-incidences between the sacred and profane writers, as may seem to indicate some common source of information, he may be said to be supplying us with positive evidence in support of revelation; but he is careful to go somewhat farther, and to examine into the reasons, why certain authors have been silent in regard to facts and persons, which might naturally have been expected to have engaged their attention. This is a very important point, because it has been made a handle of by infidels and sceptics, to invalidate the authority and impeach the veracity of the sacred writings. But it is extremely certain, and Dr. Gray has ably proved the point, that there existed many reasons why the Jews and their laws should not be noticed by certain writers. Some disdained to speak of them out of contempt; some out of ignorance of their customs and manners; some even out of reverence, and for fear that their institutions might after all be as awfully sacred as they themselves pretended; some kept silence out of resentment, and some probably out of policy. The latter in all likelihood was the case with Josephus; on whose works, character, and opinions, as well as on those of Philo, the learned author in the three last chapters of his first volume discourses largely. Josephus himself had been struck with such omis sions in regard to his own nation, particularly in the case of Hieronymus, who though a Governor of Syria, and a contemporary of Hecatæus, (who had expressly written about them,) never mentioned the Jews in his book concerning the successors of Alexander. The short but curious history which Dr. Gray has given us of Josephus is highly satisfactory in these respects. That celebrated writer as far as he goes, has contributed largely to the support and elucidation of the sacred history of the Jews, has confirmed some curious passages in the evangelical history, and if he has not plainly spoken of our Saviour, which still remains a doubt with some, his silence is to be accounted for, and explained by the circumstances of his life, both as a Jew, and if we may so call him, a Roman; but at all events, by his close connection with Vespasian and Titus. The work entitled Prætermissa a Josepho, by Ottius, annexed to his Spicilegium, might be consulted on this head. As for the disputed passage, to which we have already in some degree

VOL. II. NO. IV.

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alluded, our limits will by no means admit of our entering into a discussion, which has so repeatedly occupied the attention of the critic, but we may briefly observe that Dr. Gray inclines to regard it as genuine, and we see no reason to object to his conclusions.

If we were to present our readers with extracts from this part of Dr. Gray's very learned work, we should be strongly tempted to introduce what he says, of the extraordinary situation of Josephus, as a witness to the dissolution of the Mosaic dispensation and destruction of the temple, beginning page 353. But in the last chapter of his first volume, the learned author has ventured upon a conjecture which cannot fail to be interesting to every lover and explorer of history, sacred or profane. From certain circumstances in the life of Josephus written by himself, Dr. Gray is much disposed to think that the Jewish historian might have actually been a fellow passenger with St. Paul in his memorable voyage to Rome, as related in the Acts of the Apostles. chap. xxvii, xxviii. ; and that after the shipwreck they met again in Italy, and travelled in company together from Puteoli to Rome. It is not pretended that the accounts are exactly accordant, but the differences appear to be such as to admit of no very far fetched explanation, while some of the co-incidences are undoubtedly very striking; particularly as to the leading fact of all, namely, the date; both voyages appearing certainly to have taken place A. D. 68. It may be amusing to investigate this point further; for it clearly appears to have been very possible, if not actually very probable, that the two voyages, hitherto considered to be distinct, were in truth identical. The learned author very fairly states the difficulties which stand in the way of his conclusion, as well as the most striking concurrences, leaving it with great modesty as a point still open to the researches and criticisms of the learned.

In the second volume of this very curious work, Dr Gray confines his view and enquiries entirely to such authors as are characterized exclusively by the denomination of classics, beginning with Hesiod and ending with Macrobius. Independent of the chief object in view, there is much to be learned from the very arrangement of these authors, extending through a period of very many centuries, and accompanied with short biographical notices of their situation in the world, and of the circumstances in which they may be presumed to have written their several works; and in which a few points are of leading importance; namely, what opportunities they might have had of imbibing either Jewish or Christian principles; what mo

tives they may have had for suppressing matters of fact, and how far they may or may not have been in the way of personal communication, with either Jews or Christians, the Prophets of old, or the Apostles of our Lord, or their successors, in the different churches. It is impossible for us to follow the learned author through such a mass of references, citations, and historical remarks, but we can safely assure the reader that he may derive most valuable information, from such a perusal of the work as we have ourselves with pleasure bestowed upon it. Indeed, the name of the author alone must, to a very wide extent, be sufficient to stamp a merit on the work, and to raise an expectation amongst the learned, that they cannot possibly be disappointed, in going through its pages.

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Before we conclude, we are anxious to repeat that the author is extremely cautious in the prosecution of his plan. In the midst of his anxiety, as a christian, a divine, and a classical scholar, to establish a connection, which must add force and support to the cause of revelation, he is by no means backward to give credit to the heathens for having very possi bly, in their moral precepts, proverbs of instruction, &c. drawn their information from their own experience, or contemplation of the affairs of human nature generally; but for the most part he inclines to think that the same source was originally opened to all, though in course of time, and in the progress of communication, such differences took place, that in looking back upon the literature of the ancient world it would seem, (to apply Dr. Gray's own words,) that "the Hebrews drank of the fountain, the Greeks of the stream, and the Romans of the pools." Preface to Vol. II. p. 2.

Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain. Engraved from Authentic Pictures in the Galleries of the Nobility and the Public Collections of the Country. With Biographical and Historical Memoirs of their Lives and Actions, by EDMUND LODGE, Esq. F. S. A. 1823-4. 4to. 2 vols. Harding, Triphook, and Lepard,

WE believe that there is no other country on the face of the globe which shews such a patriotic, if not heroic, attachment to its illustrious ANCESTRY, as Great Britain. The memory of those who have been great in arms, in arts, in legislation, and in literature, is dear to the enlightened mind of an Englishman.

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But how doubly keen is the delight, when, as in the present instance, and as if effected by the touch of a necromancer, the EFFIGIES of these "illustrious dead" appear before us executed with all the truth and all the power of the art of engraving! To see the original Paintings, we must travel from one end of the kingdom to the other, with jaded spirits and flagging memories-but here, we see them concentrated, and almost speaking to us; inferior, it is true, to the paintings, but inferior only in that degree in which the paintings are to the ORIGINALS themselves.

This Work has been long before the public; but the Edition now to be described is of a comparatively recent date; and we are desirous of making it very generally known and widely distributed;-because we think that the commodiousness of its form, the reasonableness of its price, and the general beauty of its execution, honestly warrant a hearty recommendation of it to every elegant collector. First, however, of the Lives. They are brief, but pregnant with pithy matter and useful remark. They are also written in an easy and graceful style. It is evident that Mr. Lodge has his favourites, and that some figures are placed in the foreground, in the full breadth of sunshine, while others are graduated in the middle ground, or distance, with a certain proportion of shade. This is, and ever will be, in the nature of things; but few writers have contrived to steer clear of violent and offensive partialities more than the author of these graceful pieces of biography.

Secondly, of the decorations. They are uniformly in the stippled manner: each part (of which eight are published) having five portraits, and these parts at 12s. 6d. each, or 2s. 6d. for each portrait. Holbein takes the lead in the earlier subjects; and with the intervention of a few from Sir Antonio More, Zuchero, and Jansen, we come to the splendid pencil of Vandyke, which has furnished half the galleries in our kingdom with their choicest treasures. To institute comparisons between the several living Engravers who have executed the plates, might be at once invidious and uncharitable; but we think it but fair to express our satisfaction in meeting again with our friends Messrs. Agar, Cooper, Scriven, Picart, Freeman, and Holl. Meanwhile we witness, with unfeigned pleasure, the rapid strides which are taken by Mr. Thomson. His burin has more colour than that of the generality of his brethren; and in the softness of his female flesh we are not sure if he be not unrivalled. In a word, the entire publication cannot fail to find its way rapidly— not only in our own country but over civilized Europe: and we should not be at all surprized if, at the very moment of penning