id est, Eucharistico, et de Maria virgine, in Ruth figurata,' 1614. Schleupner's liLtle 'Explicatio,' 1632, need not be overlooked. To English students the works of Edward Topsell, Richard Bernard, and Dr. Thomas Fuller, all of the seventeenth century, will afford more interest. The first and second are conspicuous for conscientious and earnest elaboration, the third for a delightful might, mastery, and sparkle of thought. Topsell's volume is entitled, 'The Reward of Religion, delivered in sundrie Lectures upon the Booke of Ruth, wherein the godly may see their daily both inward and outward trialls, with the presence of God to assist them, and his mercies to recompense them,' 1613. The author,'in his 'Epistle Dedicatorie,' speaks humbly of his "slender studies, which are but as smoak, being compared with the burning coales of others' knowledge." There are certainly but few scintil- lations in the work. Richard Bernard's work, a quarto, is entitled, 'Ruth's Recompense; or, a Commentarie upon the Book of Ruth, wherein is showed her happy calling out of her owne country and people, into the fellowship and society of the Lord's inheritance, her virtuous life and holy carriage amongst them, and then her reward in God's mercy. Delivered in several Sermons, the brief sum whereof is now published for the benefit of the Church of God, 1628. Elaborately earnest, and earnestly elaborate, like Topsell's volume, but with more mental grasp in it; albeit, like Topsell's, of scarcely any exegetical value. Bernard, unlike Topsell, could emit flashes, and he did emit many of them. But there is often something lurid in them, as when he takes occasion to strike out against "the roaring boys and damned crew "-" the tobacconists, the drunkards, the riotous," who "congee and compliment, or hunt and hawk, and then curse and swear as the furies of bell" (eh. ii. 17). Dr. Thomas Fuller's 'Comment on Ruth,' 1650, unfortunately breaks off at the end of the second chapter. It bears evidence of having been hastily thrown off, but nevertheless it is aglow with wit and bright felicities of illustration and practical applica- tion. The commentaries of both Bernard and Fuller were republishe~ in 1865 bv James Nichol of Edinburgh. A different style of book altogether is John Drusius's 'Historia Ruth, ex: Ebrreo Latine conversa, et commentario explicata. Ejusdem Histori:e Tralatio Grreca ad exemplar Complutense, et notm in eandem,' 1632. The dedication to Archbishop Whitgift is dated Lambeth, 1584. This thin quarto is a gem in its way, so far as the sphere of grammar is concerned. Drusius said of himself, " I am no theologian, and I am not sure whether I am capable of sustaining the character of a grammarian ; but," adds he, "I am a Christian." An invaluable book to the student is John Benedict Carpzov's 'Collegium Rabbinico-biblicum in libellum Ruth,' 1703, published in Leipzig. It contains, on verse after verse-(1) the Chaldee Targum of Jonathan, in the original, and translated into Latin; (2) the notes of the lesser and larger Masora, with transla- tions and explanatory annotations; (3) the expositions of the great Hebrew INTRODUCTION TO
commentators R.ashi and Ibn Esra, as also of Ibn Melech and others, all in the original, and translated into Latin; and then ( 4) Carpzov's own elaborate expo- sition, in which he discusses the views of preceding expositors and critics. The author belonged to a literary family. He himself was John Benedict Carpzov the Second. The latter part of the work was compiled from the author's class- room notes by John Benedict Carpzov the Third, father of John Benedict Carpzov the Fourth, the famous Helmstiidt professor of poetry and Greek, who wrote 'Theological and Critical Strictures on the Epistle to the Romans,' and 'Sacred Ex:ercitations on the Epistle to the Hebrews, out of Philo of Alexandria.' The great scholar, Gottlob Carpzov-greater· than all the Benedicts-was cousin to John Benedict the Third. Perhaps the best of all helps for such as have just begun to study Hebrew is Werner's 'Liber Ruth illustratus, duplici quidem interpretatione, quarum altera. verba. sacra. in fonte exhibita de verbo ad verbum exprimit, altera se- cundum idiotismos lingum sanctie,' &c., 17 40. The book is full of sound, old-fashioned scholarship. To the same eighteenth century belongs C. A. Heumann's ' Spicilegium ad Historiam Ruth,' 1722-1725. It was published in three successive parts of his 'Precile,' voL i pp. 177-187, 353-376; vol. ii pp.153-170. Heumann was a Free Lance, and of great capacity; but he was too hasty, too self-assert- atory and self-assured, too fond of differing, and too little aware that there is a. moral element in literary taste. Toward the beginning of the same eighteenth century, in 1711, Outhof's 'Exposition of the Book of Ruth,' in Dutch, was published. It was much prized by his own countrymen for its profusion of erudition. Toward the end of the century, in 1781, John Macgowan's 'Discourses on Ruth, and other important subjects, wherein the wonders of Providence, the riches of grace, the privileges of believers, and the contrition of sinners are judiciously and faithfully exem- plified and improved,' was published. The author, says Mr. Spurgeon, " is well known for originality and force." "The discourses," he adds, "are good reading." Coming down to tae nineteenth century, there is quite a considerable group ot practical and homiletical works, such as Lawson's 'Lectures on the whole Book of Ruth,' 1805; Hughes' 'Ruth and her Kindred,' 1839; Macartney's 'Observ• ations on Ruth,' 1842; Dr. Stephen Tyng's 'Rich Kinsman, or the History of .Ruth,' 1856; Aubrey Price's' Six Lectures on the Book of Ruth,' 1869; B. Philpot's 'Ruth-Six Lectures,' 1872; Bishop Oxenden's 'Story of Ruth,' 1873; and W. Braden's 'Beautiful Gleaner,' 1874. The oldest of these, viz., Dr. George Lawson's Lectures, is as fresh as the latest. The excellent author had the pen of a ready writer, and, guiding that pen, a large endowment of sanctified common sense. Two other recent works fall to be added to the same group, only the publishing firms from which they are issued desire them, for other than THE BOOK OF RUTH. TVU