was exposed to the unrelenting persecution of the Holy Office, compelled to do penance in an Auto-da-Fé celebrated at Seville in 1552, and condemned to imprisonment for three years. After his death, which followed very speedily on the termination of his imprisoment, his bones were taken from the grave and committed to the flames, and his property confiscated by a sentence of the Inquisition. Previous to this time, Dr. Constantino had been appointed one of the chaplains of the Emperor, and deputed by him to accompany his son Philip in his progress through Flanders and Holland. This journey afforded to Dr. Constantino an opportunity, of which he was not slow to take advantage, of becoming personally acquainted with some of the German Reformers. It was during his visit to the Netherlands that the "Catechismo Christiano" appeared at Antwerp in 1556, with the "Confession d'un Pecador Penitente" annexed to it. When Dr. Constantino resumed his labours in Seville as preacher in the Cathedral, his popularity was so great that, though the public service did not begin until eight o'clock in the morning, the Cathedral was often filled by four, and even by three o'clock. For a time he managed, by his prudence and address, to thwart the schemes of the officers of the Inquisition; but, in consequence of the apprehension of Donna Isabella Martinez, a widow lady who had been imprisoned as a suspected heretic, and the confiscation of her property, the books which Dr. Constantino had deposited with her for security, were discovered, and amongst them a volume in his own handwriting, in which the points of difference between the Romanists and the Protestants were discussed at considerable length. Dr. Constantino acknowledged that the book was in his own handwriting, and that it expressed his own views. From that day the doom of the Reformer was sealed. For a time he was exempted from torture, probably in consideration of the position in which he stood towards the Emperor; but after the death of Charles, he was exposed to such severe and inhuman treatment that, after a confinement of about two years, his sufferings were terminated by death. The following is an extract from an account of "The Confession of a Sinner," drawn up by his friend and coadjutor, De Montes, with which Mr. Wiffen concludes the interesting biographical sketch from which we have selected the foregoing particulars : "Of all his works. . . . The Confession of a Sinner, not passing two or three sheets long, exceeded all the rest, both for zeale, learning, and eloquence uttered therein, most lively expressing the affections of a Christian man, incident to such an argument. First, he bring eth in a man before the judgment seat of God, making him to see, and lively to lament his owne filthiness and abomination, to cast off all whatsoever these Pharisees, flattering themselves with their own righteousness, were wont to cover our nakedness withall. . . . . In the end, he clotheth them with the wedding garment of Christ's righteousnesse by faith, wherewith alonely he encourageth and emboldeneth man before the face of God, as much as he discomforted him before, when as he brought him to the perfect knowledge of himselfe, and the consideration of his own case and estate." We have left but little space for any extracts from this interesting and important work. We commend it in extenso to the perusal of our readers. The following short extracts from the translation, made, as Mr. Betts observes, con amore at Seville, will suffice to show, in common with that which we have just made from De Monte's account of the work, how the same distinctive truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ become thestay and anchor of the soul of the believer, whenever and wherever that gospel is received, not in word only, but also in power:"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, . . . . that Thou camest into this world not to condemn sinners, but to save them; that being just, Thou art the Judge and Advocate of the guilty, and the Adversary of his accuser; . . . that Thou art holiness for the guilty; payment and satisfaction for the poverty-stricken one, wisdom for the deceived one, and the respondent for him that knew not how to reply." (pp. 63, 64.) We can only find room for one more extract: "Hast Thou, O Lord, not said and sworn that Thou willest not the death of a sinner, and that Thou hast no pleasure in man's ruin? Dost Thou not say that Thou hast not come to call the righteouse but sinners, not the whole, but the sick? Hast Thou not borne the chastisement of the sins of others? . . . . Is not Thy blood a sacrifice for the pardon of all the sins of the human race? ... Is it not true that the trea ures of Thy grace avail more for my welfare, than all Adam's sin and misery for my ruin?.... Since all the sins are mine, Thy death is wholly mine. Since I have committed the sins of all, I shall boldly confide in Thee, that Thy sacrifice and Thy pardon are wholly mine, although wrought on behalf of all." (pp. 100—103.) DELITZSCH'S COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews: by Franz Delitzsch, D.D., Professor of Theology, Leipsic. Translated from the German by Thomas L. Kingsbury, M.A. Vol. I. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. AMONGST the many and great services which Messrs. Clark, of Edinburgh, have rendered to the cause of biblical literature, we know of none for which English students are more deeply indebted to them, than for their translations of some of the invaluable commentaries of Professor Delitzsch. The reputation of this distinguished theologian rests upon so firm a basis, that any testimony which we could bear to his merits might well be regarded as a work of supererogation, whilst the first observations which it would be possible for us. to make upon his treatment of passages in which we should be disposed to differ from his conclusions might seem to savour somewhat of dogmatism. We prefer, therefore, in the place either of eulogium or of criticism, to lay before our readers a brief analysis of Delitzsch's interpretation of Heb. i. 6, together with one or two extracts by way of illustration of the manner in which he has treated one of those passages of considerable difficulty, in which the Epistle to the Hebrews pre-eminently abounds. Delitzsch assigns, at considerable length, the reasons which induce him to reject the ordinarily received interpretation of this passage, according to which the bringing in the firstbegotten" into the world is assumed to refer to our Lord's Incarnation, and the word náλiv, again, is regarded as having the same meaning as in ver. 5-i. e., as simply introducing a fresh quotation. He adduces reasons, both grammatical and exegetical, of no slight weight, against this interpretation. He shows, by reference to other passages, that orav, with an aorist conjunction following, corresponds to the Latin futurum exactum, and therefore that the passage cannot be rendered "when He brought in," but "when He shall have brought in." He observes, incidentally, that in the one doubtful passage-1 Cor. xv. 27—the same rule which applies to other cases in which a future (verb), or an imperative, or even a present involving a future signification, stands in the apodosis, holds good, and that we must translate, not "when He saith," but "when it shall be said"-i. e., when the promise contained in Ps. viii. 7 shall have been finally accomplished, "He will be still an exception who shall have thus subjected all things to Him." Again, with regard to máλ, Delitzsch observes that, when introducing a new citation, it always stands in this Epistle, as in the rest of the New Testament (and in Philo,) at the beginning of the sentence, and hence that we must not translate, " And again, when He bringeth in," &c., but "And when He shall have again brought in," &c. Our limits will not permit us to quote, as fully as we could desire, a passage in which Delitzsch points out the peculiar aptitude of the word "рwтóтокos, first-begotten, as applied to our Lord in a passage referring to His exaltation "as One who has been born of God into the new life of the Spirit and glorification-the first new man who has expe rienced a birth out of the womb of the grave, and the founder of a new humanity," p. 68. We should fail, however, to convey to our readers a just idea of the exhaustive character of Delitzsch's investigation of the meaning of Holy Scripture, if we were to withhold the following additional observations upon the passage under consideration :-"Moreover, on other grounds, the rendering "again when He bringeth in," is untenable. For (1) the sacred writer, having already applied (in verse 5) two passages of Scripture to the historical manifestation of the Son, would hardly with a simple dé go on to apply a third to this first (invisible) entrance into the world; and moreover (2) a glance at ch. ii. shows that he regarded the Son as in His historical manifestation for a time subjected below the angels, while their subjection to Him is always connected in the New Testament (Phil. ii. 9, &c.; Eph. i. 20-22; 1 Pet. iii. 21, &c.) with the status exultationis. We must therefore translate, "And when He shall have again brought in the first-begotten into the world, He saith, And worship Him let all the angels of God." (pp. 66, 67.) These short extracts can convey but a very imperfect idea of the character of a book which must henceforth take its place amongst the highest class of those exegetical Commentaries on this deeply instructive and (as bearing upon the controversies of the day) increasingly momentous portion of Holy Scripture, which have been brought within the reach of the English reader. Our immediate object will have been accomplished, if we should succeed in awakening a more general interest in the writings of that orthodox school of German theologians of which Delitzsch is one of the most distinguished representatives. POETRY. HYMN TO BE USED AT SEA. "O GOD of our salvation, who art the confidence of them that are afar off upon the sea."-Psalm lxv. 5. ALMIGHTY Father, hear our cry, As o'er the trackless deep we roam; O Jesu, Saviour, at whose voice The tempest sank to perfect rest, Bid Thou the mourner's heart rejoice, And cleanse and calm the troubled breast. O Holy Ghost, beneath whose power Thy fostering warmth, Thy quickening might. November, 1869. E. H. B. MARRIAGE HYMN. [To be sung after the blessing, "Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our first parents," &c.] "Being heirs together of the grace of life."-1 Pet. iii. 7. ERE the words of peace and love, Breathed on earth, are borne above, Hear our prayer: this union be This another link entwined Hearts and homes and heaven to bind In that mystic chain of love, Holding us, but held above; Knitting all that world to this, While we pour in chant and hymn |