F any apology were needed for a new and Illustrated Edition of the Holy Book now presented to the reader, it might be found

in the fact that no portion of the Inspired Record is possessed of greater interest, or is more affectionately venerated by the Religious World at large. From the days when these sacred strains first gladdened and comforted the worshippers who sang or listened to them, down to the hour when their excellences are thus for the ten thousandth time commemorated, they have been the cherished possession and the constant companion alike of the Jew and of the Christian-the Jew, for whose use they were primarily composed; the Christian, for whose blessing they were, we may gratefully add, more especially intended. The feelings with which they have ever been regarded have been those expressed by the Saint of old :-"O what accents did I utter unto Thee, my God, in those Psalms, and how was I by them kindled towards Thee! How did I weep, touched to the quick by the voices of Thy sweet-attuned Church! The voices flowed into mine ears, and the Truth distilled

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into my heart, whence the affections of my devotion overflowed, and tears ran down, and happy was I therein." (S. Aug. Conf. IX., 8, 14.)

Apart from the decorative borders, which are after the manner of the best specimens of early German work, the illustrations are of two classes :

1. Representations of those facts of Old Testament History which are recorded or alluded to in the Psalms. For example, the Death of the First-born in Egypt, at page 124; the Overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea, at p. 169; the Striking of the Rock in the Wilderness, at p. 115; the Watchman, at p. 210; and the Hanging of the Harps on the Willows of Babylon, at p. 220. These will be found to convey a most graphic idea of the scenes which they endeavour to delineate.

full.

2. Illustrations of those prophetical allusions of which the Psalms are so Among those which will prove specially interesting and acceptable to the majority of readers, not only from their intrinsic merit, but also as furnishing a New Testament commentary on Old Testament Scripture, will be found the various events in the Life of our Blessed Saviour, and the promised glories of His Church, to which the Sacred Writers were so constantly inspired to allude. These embrace, among many others, the Agony in the Garden, and the Standing before Pilate, at p. 52; the Bargain, and the Betrayal, at p. 84; the Ecce Homo, and the Rulers taking counsel together, at p. 2; the Falling under the weight of the Cross, at p. 76; the Crucifixion, and the Soldiers casting Lots, at p. 30; the Offering of the Vinegar, at p. 105; the Divine Husbandman, at p. 128; the Good Shepherd, at p. 33; the Kiss of Righteousness and Peace, at p. 135; the Cup of Salvation, at p. 187; and the Procession of the Kings of Tharsis and the Isles, and of Arabia and Saba, at

p. 110.

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While the groups of which many of these subjects are composed will delight the artist, the classical accessories will satisfy the scholar, and the religious treatment will be fully appreciated by the devout reader, who shall use these pages either amid the solemnities of the Sanctuary or in the privacy of his home. It may without impropriety be affirmed, that each of these designs is the tribute of Religion to a Record which is one of Her most valued treasures, and that therein two glorious Powers, like Righteousness and Peace here depictedJewish Inspiration and Christian Art-meet together and kiss each other; the one authoritatively commanding and solemnly suggesting, the other reverently accepting and dutifully transmitting, that which is for every age and for all time.