SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been swerved for reuiew in other forms.]
Horae Semiticae, I.-IL ((3. J. Clay and Sons. 15s. net.)—These two volumes contain the Syriac text of the " Didascalia Aposto- lorum" (there is no Greek text known), edited by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, LL.D., with a translation into English by the same hand. The "Didascalia" is attributed to the third century, having been expanded later into the "Apostolic Constitutions." The language on the subject of the authority of the clergy is very strong. "He [the Bishop] is your Head and Governor, and He is a powerful King to you. He governs in the place of the Almighty, but let him be honoured by you as God, because the Bishop sits for you in the place of Almighty God." (These words must be taken into account when we are- discussing the dignities attributed to the Pope.) The translator remarks that if this obedience is to be given, we must also restore the practice of the popular election of Bishops. "Let a Bishop be ordained having already been chosen by all the people." We may observe that the present system of appointment, nomination by the leader of the party in power, is as near to an election "by all the people" as it is practicable to get. The "Didascalia" says of the Bishop that " it is better that he should be and remain without a wife; but if not, that he be husband of one wife only."
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