at anchor at Suda, on the 30th of May, 1793, the heat became so considerable from eight to eleven o'clock at night, during a gale of wind from the south, that people could scarcely breathe, and every one felt a general faintness. The iron guns of his ship had contracted so violent a degree of heat, that a person could not lean his hand on them without being forced to withdraw it immediately. This fact was certified to us by citizen Mure and the other Frenchmen settled at Canea. It is to be regretted that no one ascertained, by means of the thermometer, the true degree of heat which prevailed during this memorable evening.

Though the cold is sharply felt in winter, on Ida and on the summit of the White Mountains, and though they are covered with snow as early as the end of Brumaire, the temperature is, nevertheless, very mild in the plains and towards the coasts. There it does not freeze: there the rains are frequent, but of short duration. The sun appears almost immediately after the rain, and the sky is fre quently clear and serene. In summer it never rains, either in Crete, or in the islands of the Egean Sea. The dew is then sufficient for the support of the vegetation of the plants which grow spontaneously. in these climates. Almost all the others must be watered, if it be wished to cultivate them with any success.' Vol. ii. p. 295.

The history of Crete is not very interesting, if we except the late exploits of Lambro, which have much the air of fable, but are yet within the limits of probability. The population is supposed to amount to 240,000; but the number of Greeks is diminishing.

The rivers are chiefly mountain-torrents of melting snow. The famous labyrinth, it is said, may be taken for an old quarry of soft calcareous stone; or for a place of habitation, capable of containing a whole colony, had not ancient authors informed us of its object and its model. But we know the character of the Cretans, and cannot depend on their stories.-The commerce and the productions of Crete are particularly detailed. The productions are numerous and valuable, and most of the varieties of the animal kingdom are, in their different seasons, (fishes excepted) in apparent profusion; but corn, and whatever requires human industry to produce, is scarce; for this island is loaded with the severest chains of the despotic Ottoman.

On the whole, though in many parts this work cannot boast of novelty, or of a manner peculiarly lively or interesting, it contains some facts of importance, which have escaped or been overlooked by former travelers. The translation also improves in the progress; yet in no part does it appear free, easy, or elegant.

ART. X.-Introduction to the New Testament. By John David Michaëlis, &c. (Continued from p. 196 of the present Volume.)

RESUMING our review of this valuable work, we proceed to the EPISTLES styled CATHOLIC. In this number are in cluded the Epistle of St. James, the two of St. Peter, the First of St. John, and the Epistle of St. Jude, which acquired the general title of catholic from their not having been addressed to any particular community or person. Indeed the Second and Third Epistles of St. John are inserted among these, partly as being written by the author of the First, and partly from the danger of their being lost, on account of their brevity, if suf fered to remain detached from the rest.

The title of catholic is observed by Michaëlis to be of great antiquity, since Eusebius, in the fourth century, used it as then common; but in the sixth, the Latin writers applied to them that of canonical-the first instance of which is found in the writings of Cassiodorus. This change has been supposed by some to have arisen from the terms catholicus and canonicus having been confounded: our author, however, ascribes the origin of the term canonicus to the circumstance that the authenticity of five out of these seven epistles had been formerly doubted the First of St. Peter and the First of St. John having been the only two of indisputable authority. As, however, the doubts concerning the rest gradually subsided, the term canonical was no longer restricted to those just mentioned, but extended equally to the rest. Indeed, Michaëlis supposes it not impossible that they all might have been styled canonical, from the universality of their reception, and as being acknowledged in all books and all languages.

Eusebius,' however, in his catalogue of the writings of the New Testament, has placed only the First Epistle of St. Peter, and the First Epistle of St. John, among the quoλoysusva, or books universally received by the Christian church. The other five he has placed among the avriλsyoueva, or books which were not universally received. However the Epistle of St. James was admitted by the greatest part of those who rejected the remaining four. Whether they who rejected these epistles had good reason for so doing, will be considered in the proper places.' Vol. iv. P. 270.

After these and other remarks on the catholic epistles in general, Michaëlis opens his twenty-sixth chapter with observations relative to the James who was called the brother of Jesus, propounding the five different opinions which have been entertained on the subject:-1. That James and Judas, mentioned as brothers of Jesus, were sons of Joseph, not by Mary the mother of Jesus, but by a former wife 3-2. That

they were sons of Joseph by Mary the mother of Jesus; 3. That they were the sons of Joseph by the widow of a brother who had died without children;-4. That from James and Judas being called the sons of Alphæus, Alphæus might have been the name of Joseph's brother, by the marriage of whose widow the law required he should raise up seed to him;5. That, according to the opinion of Jerome, the term brothers, respecting James and Judas, is not to be taken in the literal and strict sense, but as signifying, according to the Hebrew language, cousin, or relative in general; deriving the relationship, in the present instance, not from Joseph, but Mary. Of these five opinions Michaëlis observes

-there are only two, which, in my opinion, are at all pro bable; and these are the first, and the last. Which of these two ought to be preferred, I will not undertake to determine. I was formerly attached to the latter, beeause I had been taught from my youth that it was the true one, and had heard it supported by very specious arguments. But the more I have examined it, the more I have doubted of its truth: and at present it appears to me less bable, than the first opinion. I shall leave the question however undetermined, and argue in the following sections hypothetically. Vol. iv. P. 276. w

pro

Extending his investigation concerning the author of this epistle, Michaëlis goes on to inquire, whether he were an apostle? and, if one, whether the elder James, or the younger? Having entered at large into the arguments appropriate to his subject, he terminates the section without deciding on the latter question, but inclines to the opinion that the writer was James the Elder.

Reverting to the five opinions already enumerated, and observing that the first was the most ancient, our author proceeds to remark, that, though there be no improbability in supposing the epistle to have been written by a brother-in-law of Christ, the epistle itself affords no warrant for such an inference. After a discussion of the circumstances connected with the subject, however, the professor concludes that the opinion that St. James, called the brother of Jesus, was the author of the epistle in question, is by no means. improbable; and adds:

The more I consider it, the more I am inclined to prefer it to that, which prevailed in the time of Jerom. A person, who was brother, that is, brother in law, of the founder of the Christian religion, who presided many years over the Christian community in Jerusalem, who was considered as one of the pillars of the church, and who at the same time was so delicate in his conduct toward the Jews, that even they, who did not believe, respected him, is exactly such a person, as the author of our epistle, as far as we may judge

from its contents, appears to have been. Absolute certainty how ever is hardly to be obtained, because our historical information is here defective. We have no writer to whom we can appeal on this subject; and Hegesippus, who lived in the former part of the second century, and who therefore had the means of procuring intelligence, has so blended his account with fable, that no dependence can be placed on it.' Vol. p. 291.

Having terminated this research, the next has for its object the persons to whom this epistle was written, and whom the author of it styles the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad-a compellation evidently applicable not to heathen converts, but native Jews, who lived out of Palestine, and as the epistle is written in Greek-who used the Greek language. The question, nevertheless, still remains: Was it addressed to the Jews in general, or only to those of them who were converts to the Christian religion?-Besides other arguments in favour of the former opinion, as urged by Lardner in particular, to show that the epistle was addressed to the Jews in general, he expressly opposes to the address of it to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,' what is advanced by the author in the third verse of the first chapter-the trying of your faith worketh patience, which is considered as scarcely applicable but to Christian faith; and likewise the caution in ch. ii. v. 1. not to hold their faith εν προςωποληψίαις της δόξης, which implies that his readers were at least ostensible believers in Christ, or he would not have cautioned them against an abuse of their faith in him. Hence, the professor thinks it certain that St. James wrote to persons who were already converted from Judaïsm to Christianity; at the same time believing, that, as this apostle was highly respected by the Jews in general, it was both his wish and intention to be read by them; and, therefore, that his desire to convert them had an influence on his mind in writing.

Having thus concluded his preliminary inquiries, the profes sor brings us to the epistle itself. As a prelude to an examination of its contents, he observes that St. James possessed more of the moralist than the dogmatist; and, remarking that this character is confirmed by his writing, he defends its authenticity and inspiration from the objections thence raised; and, after assigning satisfactory reasons for the diversity of the contents of this epistle from those of St. Paul, adds :

The precepts and exhortations, which are arranged, not systematically, but so as they occasionally occurred to the writer, may be reduced to the following heads.

1. St. James exhorts his readers, to bear with patience the mis fortunes and persecutions, which they endured on account of their faith and cautions them not to murmur against God, or to ascribe

to him their temptations to a renunciation of their faith, ch. i. z—214 The six last verses of this chapter, which may be summed up in the following words, "if ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them," form the conclusion of this exhortation.

2. In the next place he exhorts them to a contempt of riches (on which subject he had briefly touched, ch. i. 11. 12), as being the surest means of fortifying themselves against affliction. He knew probably that the Jews, to whom he wrote, set a high value on riches, and considered worldly prosperity as a mark of divine favour. He warns them therefore, not to be admirers of a brilliant exterior, nor to imagine, that wealth and honours are alone worthy of esteem, which he probably means by reoswGAIL THE DOES. ch. ii. 1. And, to render this precept more intelligible, he supposes the case of two strangers coming at the same time into the synagogue, the one poorly, the other richly dressed. If the value of their clothes determined the respect to be paid to them, the one might be treated with much less, the other with much greater honour than he deserved. The poor man might be a valuable and sincere member of the Christian church, and though indigent in this world, might be destined to be rich in the world to come. The rich man on the contrary might be an enemy of the Christians, an oppressor of the poor, and might have visited the synagogue, not to set an example of devotion, but merely to gratify his curiosity, or. perhaps to find an object for the exercise of his ridicule. St. James then proceeds, ch. ii. 10-26. to some general reflexions on the necessity of acting agreeably to our conviction, and asserts, that whoever wilfully transgresses one point of the law, shews a contempt for the whole law. This leads him to the consideration of the ne cessity of good works in general: and he concludes by saying, that faith without works is like a body without a soul.

In the fourth chapter he resumes the subject of love for worldly possessions and enjoyments, and censures those, who form to themselves imaginary schemes of happiness, without considering, that every thing depends on the will of Providence, and that all their plans may be defeated in a moment. This consideration leads him, ch. v. 1-6. to address the rich, who are too frequently oppressors of the poor, in severe, and at the same time poetical, language. The whole passage is a kind of apostrophe; for he addresses and threatens those, to whom he does not immediately write. In ver. 7—11. he returns from the rich to the poor, whom he comforts, and exhorts to bear adversity with patience.

• I believe likewise that the 12th verse of the fifth chapter (which appears to be a fragment of Christ's sermon on the mount) belongs to the same subject, and that it is connected with ch. iv. 13. 14. where St. James had said, "Go to now, ye that say, to-day or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow." If this supposition be true, ch. v. 12, contains not a prohibition of serious oaths, by which we bind ourselves to the performance of certain duties, but only of wanton oaths, by which we endeavour in common conversation to give energy to an assertion,