hin which this small kingdom was enclosed when it
was created does not allow of that intellectual spring and flight which
is necessary for the accomplishment of the views and wishes of those who
see in Greece the most active and enlightened propagator of civilization
among the peoples of the East. Lord Beaconsfield has said of us
recently, that we ought to hope, because _the future belongs to us_. I
know not whether these words are a biting irony of the author of
"Coningsby," or whether they express his sincere opinion on the future
of Greece in the East. Doubtless the future belongs to those who hope
and work; but no nation can produce anything great by struggling on a
soil so small, so barren, and so narrow, just as no individual can work
efficiently if deprived of every resource, and kept without air and
light.

Such is the position of Greece to-day. She can neither work sufficiently
for her physical and moral development, nor become powerful and capable
of contending against the Panslavist invasion in the East. Europe will,
no doubt, understand this at last; but it will then be too late.

N. KASASIS.

FOOTNOTES:

[76] See CONTEMPORARY REVIEW, December, 1876.

[77] "Histoire de la Civilisation hellenique," 399, 400.

CONTEMPORARY BOOKS.

I.--BIBLICAL LITERATURE.

(_Under the Direction of the_ Hon. and Rev. W. H. FREMANTLE.)

The Bishop of Natal has published his seventh and final volume on the
Pentateuch (_The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua critically Examined_, by
the Right Rev. J. W. Colenso, D.D., Bishop of Natal. Part VII. Longmans:
1879). In the preface he notices the various works, including the
Speaker's Commentary, the work of Alford on the Pentateuch, and those of
Kalisch, Graf, and Kuenen, which have appeared of late years, together
with the New Table of Lessons, and explains the method of the present
volume. The body of the work consists of an examination of the
Scriptural books from Judges to the Canticles, undertaken with the view
of showing what testimony they yield to the views maintained by the
author in the earlier part of the work. Incidentally, however, the books
themselves come under review, and the opinion of the author on their
age, authorship, and purpose is given. The general results of this
laborious criticism may be given as follows:--

It is believed that five persons or sets of persons, at five different
periods, composed or rehandled the Pentateuch and the other histo