the island of Iona, which monastery was, for a length of time, the cathedral of the isles: whose bishops were thenceforward styled Episcopus Sodorensis, as some say, from a village named Sodor, in the vicinity of the abbey; but as is conjectured, with much more probability, by others, from the division of the isles into northern and southern, in the Norwegian language norde and suder, especially as it is ascertained to have been after the Isle of Man fell into the hands of the Norwegians that the bishops bore the title of Sodor and Man.' From the year 1151, an uninterrupted list is supplied, containing the names of Englishmen, Norwegians, Manxmen, and Scotsmen, during the reigns of the kings. Among those who have been appointed since the Stanley accession, we find John Merrick, in 1577, from whom Camden procured the account of the island which is published in the Britannia; John Phillips, in 1635, who translated the Bible and Common-Prayer Book into Manx; and Dr. Thomas Wilson, who was promoted to the See in 1698, and whose memory is still held dear by the Manx people. A short history of his life is given; and, while we admire his extensive benevolence and active exertions for the benefit of his flock, during fifty-eight years, (the long period of his episcopal office,) we cannot but lament that his virtues were shaded by a bigotry which not only shewed itself in a rigid adherence to established forms, and in cruel punishment of those who offended against them, but in an entire discouragement and even an absolute prohibition of the discussion of any religious subject of questionable authority. He died in 1755, and was succeeded by Dr. Hildesley; who is also highly praised. Previously to the introduction of various subjects connected with the present state of the island, chapters IX. and X. describe a tour round it, and thus furnish the reader with some knowlege of its scenery and inhabitants. Of the general aspect of the former, a very favourable account is not offered, though spots of particular beauty are pointed out: but the author combats the charge of a want of liberality and hospi'tality brought against the latter, with a zeal which proves that she has never found this deficiency. The island has four towns of some consequence; - Douglas, where visitors generally land, and where Mona Castle, the Duke of Athol's palace, is situated; - Castle-town, or, as it was originally called, Rushen, the capital of the island, where the venerable castle erected in 960 yet stands, and is now appropriated partly to the use of the Lieutenant-governor, and partly to the reception of prisoners;- Peel, which, when the smuggling trade was carried on, and before the castle was suffered to fall into ruin, was of more importance than it is at present; — and Ramsay, which is the seat of justice for the northern district. When When the author is describing the village of Kirkmichael, in which is the Bishop's palace, a remarkable example of want of coincidence in two learned antiquaries is related: Near the church-yard is an upright stone, of great antiquity, on which are chiselled various devices of horses, riders, dogs, and stags; on the upper part is a warrior, with his spear and shield; on the edge are some Runic characters, which are thus variously translated by different antiquarians. Sir John Prestwich asserts, that the words form the following sentence: "Walter, son of Thurulf, a knight, right valiant, Lord of Frithu, the Father, Jesus Christ." 'Whereas Mr. Beaufort, with equal confidence, reads the inscription thus: For the sins of Ivalsir, the son of Duval, this cross was erected by his mother Aftridi." In a chapter devoted to the state of Agriculture on the island, we find that it has still to contend against various disadvantages; among which are the deplorable condition of the roads, the number of hands which are annually and unnecessarily called off at the season of harvest by the herringfishery, and the want of a regular market for disposing of farm-produce. The establishment of such a market, in this age of improvement, will perhaps be soon effected, and then the other impediments would quickly disappear. The natives enjoy, however, the counterbalancing advantage of a freedom from all poor-rates, as well as other taxes. Of the Herring-fishery, the great source of trade, this volume supplies the same statements with those which we extracted from Mr. Wood's book, already mentioned. (See note, p. 75.) The other exports are trifling. A want of gold and silver coin is mentioned with regret; and copper, and cards in the form of promissory notes for 5s., 2s. 6d., and Is., seem to be the only currency. It is to be hoped that, in supplying this deficiency, there may be added the farther improvement of assimilating the value of the Manx and British money; fourteen-pence of the former being now equal to one shilling of the latter. A very favourable account is given of the improved state of the revenue, which appears to have advanced from 3,006l. 8s. 11d. in 1790, to 12,000l. in 1792. It arises from certain duties on the importation of all goods. The Manx still continue nominally to make their own laws, which are proposed and passed at a Tynwald court, constituted of the Governor, his Deputy, and the House of Keys; which consists of 24 members, being four for each of the six sheadniss or districts into which the island is divided, Every decree must be confirmed by his Majesty, and ultimately proclaimed in the English and the Manx language, before the people on the Tynwald Hill. The civil offices of the greatest antiquity seem to be the two Deemsters, or Judges presiding in the southern and northern divisions. We cannot but admire the Bill for the amendment of the criminal law, lately proposed in Tynwald; and the clearness with which it describes, in one act, all the offences that constitute treason, felony, or misdemeanor, awakens our regret that the death of Lord Stanhope has for a long period delayed, if not totally prevented, the accomplishment of a similar measure in England. Let us hope, however, that the proposition will not die with him: but that some individual will be found who, possessing that nobleman's ability, intelligence, and industry, shall have the inclination to exert them on an object which, in conferring a lasting benefit on Englishmen, would give immortality to his own name. Chap. XIV. contains a full and seemingly accurate account of the Manx laws; in which a few peculiarities are to be found, particularly as to marriages and the rights of inheri tance. The Bankrupt-laws have not yet been introduced. The native is free from arrest for debt; though, with extraordinary injustice, strangers, or persons not born in the island, are liable not only to be imprisoned, but to have all their property seized by the constable, and held till the question is decided: when he may sell it; and, first paying a year's rent if due, and the servants' wages for the same time, he may then satisfy the creditors, with all costs and charges, and afterward deliver the overplus to the right owner:- so that, on a disputed account, his trade may be ruined, his effects wasted, and his family starved, while the matter is under discussion. We are much obliged to the fair author for her recommendation of the island as a residence: but, though we are • moderate people,' and, like most of our critical brethren, would willingly live at a moderate expence,' we can never by choice subject ourselves to the settled ill-will or sudden anger of a Manx native, who may thus by a simple affidavit ruin us without notice. We trust that the Keys, in their wisdom, will lock up this iniquitous law as soon as possible. It is well known that this island was till very lately used by debtors as a safe asylum, where they were beyond the jurisdiction of English courts, but (as we have mentioned at the beginning of this article) such protection no longer exists. 6 Of the language, which is a dialect of the Erse, Mrs. Bullock gives little account; and, though she states that, from its being embellished with many Latin words and sentences, it REV. SEPT. 1817.. G bears bears evidence of the island having been once the Mansion of the Muses,' she admits that now Mona is not poetic ground.' Indeed, she adds that the character of the Manx will be found better adapted to solid attainments, than to those flights of fancy which carry the enthusiast into the regions of fiction.' We must now terminate our notice of this work, of which it will be seen that our opinion is in general favourable: but we would hint to the fair historian that rather too much freedom appears in her account of the individuals mentioned in the chapter on agriculture; - that a confusion occurs in numbering the Earls who were lords of the isle;-that more care should have been taken that the names of the places visited in the tour round the isle corresponded with those in the map, or vice versá; and that she should have given a list of the outer isles which were formerly subject to the King of Man, and which were included, according to her interpretation, in the term "Sodor." Some farther correction of language and punctuation would also be eligible. ART. XI. Nine Sermons, on the Nature of the Evidence by which the Fact of our Lord's Resurrection is established; and on various other Subjects. To which is prefixed a Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Messiah dispersed among the Heathen. By Samuel Horsley, LL. D. F. R. S. F. A. S. late Lord Bishop of St. Asaph. 8vo. pp. 352. 10s. 6d. Boards. Longman and Co. To whatever subject the late Bishop Horsley applied his attention, he brought with him a vigorous and highly cultivated understanding; and, though we may have occasionally suspected that some of his sentiments ought to be ascribed to the influence of his situation, still, whatever may be the opinion which he supported, it never wanted the aid of high argumentative powers, displayed in a clear and energetic style. Many active minds have been lulled into indolence by the soft fascination of episcopal lawn: but the mind of Horsley was not of that sort which could ever be rendered inert by the operation of external circumstances. His understanding was too elastic for repose; and, though he was prevented from expatiating in the regions of free inquiry, he shewed himself a giant within the boundaries to which his exertions were confined. To be precluded from doubt is, indeed, to be debarred from one of the surest means of detecting error and of vindicating truth; yet Horsley was such a legitimate son of the church that he never permitted himself to entertain, or at least to profess, any sentiment which was foreign to its doc trines, trines, but defended all its Articles with equal zeal and confidence. The presentDissertation on the Prophecies of the Messiah dispersed among the Heathen' was left in an unfinished state, but the editor says that he was strongly advised to publish it by some literary friends, as displaying the Bishop's thoughts on an important subject.' The R. R. author maintains the opinion that the Sibylline oracles and the Jewish prophecies contained a prediction of the same great personage: but he does not consider it as in any degree probable that the Sibylline oracles owed their origin to the Jewish prophecies, rather conceiving that they themselves were fragments of the most antient prophecies of the patriarchal ages;' though perhaps 'mutilated and corrupted." People in different countries, and at different periods, appear to have contemplated some happy time, some golden age, when life was entirely exempt from its present ills; when peace and harmony universally prevailed; and when the blissful horizon of man was not agitated by the tempests of the passions. The imagination, delighted with this picture of vanished enjoyment, fondly anticipated its return; and the human mind, the prey of perpetual delusions, and for ever cheated by the sorceries of hope, sought consolation under the pressure of tyranny and woe by fixing the period at which they would cease, and the reign of justice and of love would be restored. Undoubtedly, the fancies of the Jewish prophets were strongly impressed with these cheering ideas; and expectations of a similar kind have been supposed to be delineated in the fourth eclogue of Virgil. The resemblance,' says Bishop Horsley, between the images of this poem and those in which the inspired prophets describe the times of the Messiah, has ever been remarked with surprise by the learned, as indeed it is much too striking to escape notice, and many attempts have been made to account for it.' He does not coincide with the opinion of those who suppose that Virgil borrowed his imagery from the Jewish prophets. The poet himself indeed intimates that the oracles of the Cumaan sibyl were the source from which he derived the hopes of a new age, in which neither moral nor physical evil would be found. "Ultima Cumai venit jam carminis ætas ; Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo. Dr. H. observes: (Eclog. iv.) 'From the strain of the poet's compliments, we gather the particulars of the Sibylline prophecy in regard to the character which |