and would have made her so; but the 2d Dec., believing that revolution would not have much tenderness for him, having been combated by him, and wishing to have refuge near a friend, abandoned Italy at Villafranca. The France of the Marseillese and of the country in danger, called to all the oppressed of Italy-be all solliers to-day, to be citizens to-morrow; but the 2d Dec. would give back the oppressed to their masters, made the more cruel and inept, from the fear they have experienced. France, the friend of America, of Greece, and of Belgium, died at Palestro, at Magenta, at Solferino, for an idea; but the 2d Dec., pre-occupied with the good effect that a little territorial aggrandisement would make on the Chauvinisme of France, has asked for Nice and Savoy, of which I assure you no one else thought. France, warlike, chivalrous, and liberal, followed Garibaldi with her whole heart from Marsala to Naples, and would have followed him beyond, if he had been allowed to act, to Venice, and also to Rome; but the 2d Dec., faithful to the office of pedagogue to Europe, which Europe has allowed him to assume, reinforces and extends the Roman occupation, and keeps Francis II. at Gaeta. He was well recompensed for this, the day when Francis declared in the face of Europe, that the 2d Dec., alone was able to understand him. Let him then keep this compliment for himself; France has nothing to do with it. Finally, if you permit me to cast my eye a little on the future, I can tell you that France would applaud with all her heart, if she did not aid also with her own blood, in the complete liberation of Italy. But I fear that the 2d Dec. may intervene, to subject her—at least indirectly to the regime though ameliorated, which we undergo in France. Cavour is too much the friend of the 2d Dec., not to have his sleep disturbed a little by the governing laurels of his friend. Some French Garibaldians, who have returned to the country, assure us that the Neapolitan Police of Piedmont is very much the same as that of Francis, and you know that Francis and the 2d Dec. understand each other well. Nationality is certainly an excellent thing, but there is no need of forgetting liberty, which is a necessary thing. But to return to France and to the 2d Dec., I have heard some Italians say, your Emperor is a great man, but France will be always fond of invading. As for the personage, I have always asked foreigners, who thought him so great, if they would like him to govern themselves. As for the ambition of France, I have already, I think done it justice. To conclude, I would only ask Italy, if the blood of France has not flowed on the fields of battle, if the money of France has not been expended,—and I should ask them if it is just and charitable to raise statues to this man, and misjudge a friendly people."

Italian liberals are not ungrateful for British exertions in their favour. The Unità Italiana, 14th Feb. '61, expresses deep gratitude to Lord John Russell for the sympathy indicated by him in Parliament, in the name of Britain, for the attainment of the Unity of Italy!

We have now attempted to give our readers some idea of the difficulties, as they have come to our knowledge, that lie in the path of those who seek the freedom and unity of all Italy. These sometimes

appear to us so great, and the honesty and sincerity of Victor Emmanuel, or rather of his ministers, so little to be relied on, while their relations with other sovereigns so tie their hands, that we are inclined to doubt the possibility of Italy becoming free under one monarch; and that to enable her to shake off her shackles, she will be forced to become a republic. A very short period must show in what form we are to look for her freedom, in the accomplishment of which, undoubtedly, in any case, the party called republican, must have a considerable part. It has been often to us a cause of astonishment, the dread and horror the very names of republic and republican seem to inspire in most of our fellow-subjects in free constitutional Britain! It would seem that we have forgotten, that among the many changes we have passed through as a nation, ere we attained to our present highly-favoured condition, we too have passed through the trial of a republic, in not the least glorious period of our history, some of our best men of the period, being driven into republicanism by the insincerity and arbitrariness of Charles I. Should our Italian brothers have to go through the same, or should they, like their Swiss neighbours, continue to prefer such government, it is surely not our part to withhold our sympathy or our friendliness from them on that account? While we now so justly love monarchy, they have certainly had no reason to look with an admiring or loving eye upon it, as it has shown, or still shows itself in Italy! Still let us hope for the best, and as Italy undoubtedly at present seeks a king, if he will give her unity, let us hope that Victor Emmanuel may yet assert the dignity of a monarch, cast off all subserviency to the ruler of France, put the trust they merit in Garibaldi, Mazzini, and the people of Italy, and with Rome and Venice won, be hailed at last at the capitol as truly king of Italy!

But even should he continue to pursue the course along which he has been hitherto led by Cavour, a course so little consistent with the dignity of a king, and the patriotism of an Italian; still we cannot but hold that ultimately Italy's hopes of freedom and unity shall find accomplishment, though, perhaps, long delayed, though for a time cruelly crushed. There is a Ruler of events above all, in whose hands alone are the destinies of nations. It may be His will to permit evil to triumph for a time, yet we know retribution must come. He who has created a Mazzini and a Garibaldi, has not done so without a purpose! They have their work, their mission given them to accomplish, and they shall assuredly do so, even should they not live to see the result of their labour. And He who has made the Italian nation to desire liberty and unity will most assuredly at last work out its accomplishment at the time He sees most fitting. Prospects not for Italy alone, but for Europe, we confess it, look dark to us at present, but we may confidently and hopefully trust them in His hands. And God grant that the good wishes and the work of our beloved country, and of all who act in her name, may be ever henceforth on the side of justice, of truth, and of good will to our brethren of other lands!

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL.*

Ir was almost by a very hair's breadth that we were not deprived of another treatise on the Restoration and Conversion of the Jews under the euphonic title of The Hope of Israel. The subject had long occupied the writer's attention, and a considerable amount of matter had been prepared, when, from circumstances not necessary for us to know, the project was interrupted, the materials were laid aside, and the idea of completing his design was all but abandoned. Several years afterwards some friends of the author becoming acquainted with his sentiments on the subject, and the worth of the materials prepared, urged him to resume his intention of publication, and so "influenced by their judgment, and concurring in the validity of the reasons assigned by them as sufficient motives to the undertaking, he was led to believe it to be his duty to merge his own feelings in the matter, and comply with their suggestions." Now we doubt not such was the fact, but we cannot see the propriety of parading all this before the world. We always disapprove of this apologetic mode of an author's introducing himself to the public, as it is often but the expression of a false modesty, and instead of winning a favourable ear, it induces a severer scrutiny, whereby blemishes, if there are any, are certain to be detected, which might otherwise have passed unnoticed, and if there are none, the natural consequence is a feeling of contempt. Mr M'Causland did not require to make any apology for what he has done. The subject is at all times, and especially the present, one of great importance, and his treatment of it is clear, forcible, and full. We may not agree with him in all the sentiments he entertains, or consider the way in which some of his arguments are put forth as the best that could have been adopted, but nevertheless his volume is generally well thought out, well reasoned, and well expressed. Though the reader may not discover any thing new in the arguments adduced, yet he will find interest and freshness in what is brought before him.

The author is a literalist in the strictest sense of the term. He is not only disposed but determined to give a literal interpretation to every prophetic reference made to the Israel of God. Along with others he affirms that the terms Israel and Zion are never in Scripture applied to the Gentile Church in any way whatever. The use, therefore, of the expression "the Israel of God," so frequent in theological discourse with reference to true believers of every country, is a misnomer, and but an accommodation of terms without any Scripture authority, except in so far as it applies to the Jews and to them alone. Though it is said there is now no difference between Jew and Greek, or Jew and Gentle, that they are one in Christ Jesus, this is only with reference to a community of spiritual privileges and nothing more. It must not be imagined that what is said of the Jew is meant to apply

*The Hope of Israel: or the Testimony of Scripture to the National Restoration and Conversion of the Jews. By J. C. M'Causland, M.A., Rector of Clonmore. Hodges, Smith, & Co., Dublin. 1860.

equally to the Gentile. The covenant blessings promised to Abraham and to his seed for ever, and which had not been realized at the time when the middle wall of partition was broken down, are yet to be fulfilled in the experience of the peculiar people and of no one else. The author has pointed out very effectively the inconsistency of the too common practice among Christian writers on this subject of taking the calamities which befel the Jews in their literal acceptation, and the promises of future glory predicted for them in a figurative sense, and appertaining to the whole Christian church, and he asks, "How can one reasonably hope to convince the Jew, who, naturally and consistently expects as literal an accomplishment of the promised blessing, as has been accorded to the threatened curse?" There is too much truth in the following statement of the late Rev. Lewis Way, who was a zealous missionary among the Jews in Poland and elsewhere, and who, at an anniversary meeting of the Jews' Society in Exeter Hall, on learning that that institution was in considerable pecuniary difficulties, asked for a pen on the platform and wrote a cheque for Ten Thousand Pounds, clearing away the whole amount of the debt. "The condition of the Jews," says he, "is viewed only as a standing miracle, and is thus allowed to remain; that neglected part of the community, regarded by the world with scorn and derision, supplies the Christian with an argument for the truth of his own religion; while the promises concerning their restoration are admitted into his creed, so far only as their accommodation ministers to his own spiritual requirements, and furnishes manna for himself, under the privations of his figurative wilderness. He takes up his station on Gerizim, and, engrossing all its blessings, consigns to its original occupants the possession and curse of Ebal. The Gentile, enjoying the figure, overlooks a literal fulfilment to the Jews."

Mr M'Causland has no great faith in commentaries, and considers that they are too much trusted to, and the Bible itself too little. They are generally too open to the remark, that they tend to create a vitiated vision rather than aid that which is imperfect. With regard to a certain class of commentaries the remark may apply, but taken generally, it is too sweeping to hold good. He therefore takes the Bible as it is, although not undervaluing all human aid, and considers that "He who gave us our intellects, and knows far better than man can possibly know, the extent of their capacity, would not mock his people by giving them a communication of His will above their comprehension, and then requiring them to receive that unintelligible communication, under the awful penalty annexed to the alternative." He takes the Bible literally in its sentiments and in its terms. The very term Revelation, he argues, compels him to do this. As the Jews have been dispersed so will they be again gathered,-as they have had calamities so shall they have blessings. Nothing can be more explicit than the Scriptures upon this point. The language of all the prophets is similar to that of Jeremiah :-" Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them, saith the Lord."

The author, anticipating the objection which is sometimes raised from the language occasionally found in Scripture, which would seem to imply that the present rejection of Israel shall have no end, as when it is said they shall be "a perpetual hissing," proceeds to define the term perpetual, and to show that it is not a synonyme of everlasting. It is always a critical matter to lay down definitions, for unless one is very accurate, he is sure, sooner or later, to involve himself in difficulty. If the foundation is defective the building will soon fall. A man pulling with all his might at the end of a strained rope must be very certain of its strength, otherwise he may be very certain of meeting with a catastrophe more humilitating than graceful. If the true meaning of perpetual is as he says, "merely the uninterrupted continuance of that of which it is predicated while it lasts," then we have no necessity to rack our brains any longer in attempting to discover the "perpetual motion," but to put our hand in our own watch pocket and produce it. The example given of this is amusing. When a man is said to have consigned himself to perpetual celibacy, it is not meant "that he shall live for ever in the present state, but merely that while he survives he will not change his condition." If then his celibacy extends till his death, or "while he survives," it is indeed perpetual in the widest sense of the term, even everlasting, for we do not know of a single scripture authority which warrants the belief that at the resurrection any shall marry, or be given in marriage. We are farther told that it is in this sense "the casting off of Israel is perpetual;"-if so, then we say there is little prospect of their restoration, and the author is spending his labour in vain, in proving that such an event is still awaiting the once chosen of God. And just as he says" perpetual" and "everlasting" are not synonymous, so also "everlasting" and "eternal." "Everlasting" refers only to the future, "eternal" embraces both past and future. What does he make of the passages, "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God?" A very distinguished author and divine, the Rev. Charles Kingsley, makes them synonymous. In his Good News of God, he says, "What does everlasting mean? It means

exactly the same as eternal. The two words are the same: only everlasting is English, and eternal Latin. But they have the same sense. Now everlasting and eternal mean something which has neither beginning or end. That is certain. The wisest of the heathen knew that but we are apt to forget it. We are apt to think a thing may be everlasting, because it has no end, though it has a beginning. We are careless thinkers if we fancy that." How careful should one be when he lays down definitions and proposes to act upon them!

The Scripture testimony to the restoration and conversion of the Jews is introduced by a reference to the call of Abraham, and the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which was the everlasting possession of the Land of Canaan, and those to whom this possession was promised were the literal descendants of these patriachs. Glancing at several statements in Numbers, Deuteronomy, Kings, and Chronicles, he comes to the book of Psalms, which refers principally if not solely to the Redeemer's coming kingdom on the Earth. More than