The Sacred Steps of Creation. By the Rev. T. Marsden,
Barstow, Surrey. (Longman and Co.)—The author had a difficulty in reconcil- ing the early chapters of Genesis with science, so he studied Hebrew. The result is this volume. We cannot pretend to have studied it with that attention which it doubtless deserves, but at page 361 the reader will find a sample of the author's reasonings. Hs defends the story of Jonah and the whale. "I do not find it anywhere asserted that the dag, or fish, was alive; indeed, from the use of mehi, I should say that Jonah was in the ruins or floating carcase of a fish sufficiently denuded on its upper surface to swallcw up the prophet into its cavity or belly on his being thrown overboard." As the carcase floated on the surface of the waves, Jonah "seemed to go down" to the bottoms of tho moun-
tains, and "thought that the earth and her bars was about him forever." Out of the cavity therefore of this sheol he prayed, and "the Lord spake " to the dead fish, and it was driven by the wind against some rock near the shore, and "vomited or ejected" Jonah on tho dry land. It must certainly be a fine thing to know Hebrew. In conclusion, Mr. Marsden says of himself, "Why the Lord should have vouchsafed His aid to one in a very small degree only possessed of the necessary qualifications of learning, and in other respects disqualified, is a mystery known only to Him." We shall not be profane enough to attempt to clear it up. God does "choose the foolish things of the world to con- found the wise," but they very often astonish the wise without any special selection for that office.
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