and at other times it described large circles in the air; but in every movement it was speedily followed by its vigilant pursuer. The children were deeply interested in its fate. Sometimes they expressed joy at the prospect of its escape, but when they saw how easily its pursuer overtook it, they feared lest it would be seized and eaten.

"There, there! he has got it,' said they, as the pursuer made a rapid pounce upon, and apparently seized its prey. Just at that moment something was seen to fall from them. There, he has bitten its leg off,' said one; see it fall!' "I think not,' think it is a fish.'

said his father;

I

It had not fallen far before the pursuer relinquished its hold of the other bird, and darted down through the air like lightning, caught the object that was falling in his beak or talons, and then flew off with it, leaving the other bird to go on its way unmolested.

"That certainly was a strange sight,' said the mother of the children,—' I d› not know that ever I saw such singular movements before.'

"Do you know what kind of birds they were, and what they were doing?' asked William.

"I am not certain that I do,' said his father, for they were so far off that I could not see them distinctly; but I thought that one of them was a fish-hawk, and the other a white eagle. The fishhawk had probably just caught a fish

The Osprey gets its living by catching fish, water birds, &c.; and although a powerful bird, is not courageous in proportion to its strength. It, therefore, is frequently pursued by other birds, and made to let its prey go. This is then seized by the "robber" and borne off in triumph. A few years ago an Osprey was attacked and killed by an American red-tailed Buzzard in the Zoological Gardens in London. For full description and drawing of the Osprey, see Young England, No X., New Series.

from the water for its breakfast, and the eagle, seeing its success, and being hungry himself, immediately gave chase, in order to steal that fish.'

"Then it did not want to kill the fishhawk?' asked Emily.

"No, it only wanted to rob it of its breakfast. The white eagle gets many a good meal in this thievish way. Sometimes, when a bird which has caught a fish is pursued in this manner by another, it flies till it gets perpendicularly over a small collection of water, and then lets it drop. If the other bird does not fly swift enough to catch it before it reaches the earth, the fish falls into this small pond or puddle, and afterwards the bird which let it drop returns and eats it up at leisure.'

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'Why does it let it fall into a little puddle of water?' asked one of the children.

"Because then the pursuer cannot get it. These robbers in the air are generally those kinds of birds which do not go into the water. They cannot swim, and therefore when a fish is dropped in water they cannot get it. Besides, by dropping it in water, it will be kept alive, and when the bird returns to feast upon it, will have a fresh meal.'

"I call that a pretty sharp trick,' said Robert.

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"Yes, the birds of the air know more than we think they do.'

"The Osprey is an inhabitant of the northern countries of both continents, but is particularly abundant in America, and would be common in Britain were he not so persecuted. At the Lakes of Killarney, in Ireland, he is invariably called the eagle, and an abrupt and striking clift is called the 'Eagle's Nest,' doubtless from his using it as a favourite resort."-Abridged from Chapters on British Birds," by EDWARD NEWMAN, Esq.

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CRITIC'S

Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew. By JAMES MORISON, D.D. (pp. 698, 8vo.)

London: Hamilton and Adams. THIS is a work of rare merit. From beginning to end, it bespeaks the scholar and the philosopher, the critic and the expositor, the metaphysician and the divine. Dr. Morison is happily free from the prejudices and the phraseologies of the schools. He is a man of independent mind and thought, and is not afraid to give unfettered expression to his convictions and conclusions. While he expatiates, almost revels, in the great field of Revealed Truth, he is yet ever forward to take the sandal from off his foot, remembering that the ground on which he stands is truly holy. His every step bespeaks reverence, humility, and dependence on supernatural light and guidance. The result is, that he has produced a work in Biblical interpretation which cannot be but invaluable to every student of Scripture.

We have examined most of the critical and difficult passages to be found in the narrative of the first Evangelist, and can therefore speak with confidence as to the fulness and the fidelity of the exposition. Did our space permit, we could give several quotations to show with what thoroughness Dr. Morison deals with every question and every topic. We select one founded on the words of our Lord in the institution of His own Supper-"THIS IS MY BODY."

Dr. Morison says "Almost a worldful of super-refined absurdities has unhappily been heaped on this simple affirmation. And if Christianity had not been really divine, its life would have long ago been utterly crushed out of it under the immen

QUILL.

sity of the load. Rhetoric, as Selden remarks, has been mistaken for logic, and the is has been insisted upon as demonstration that the thing given by the Lord into the hands of His disciples was not bread at all, butliterally-His own body. Hence the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Others have insisted that if the thing given was really bread, it was also at one and the same time the literal body of the Lord. This is the doctrine of Consubstantiation. The substantive verb, 'is,' it has been contended, must be taken as the copula of substantive existence. All this is sad, for it would hence follow: (1) That one substance is another; (2) that a thing is not itself - Christ's body, for instance. At the time that He uttered the words of the institution, He was in His body; and therefore He did not hand it, in His hand, to the disciples. It would follow (3) that a part of the whole is yet the whole of which it is a part. the whole cake is the body, and the broken cake is the broken body, and if yet every morsel of the broken cake is also the body, then a part of the body is the whole of the body. It would follow (4) that a thing which is one, and but one, is yet more than one; for if the cake be the one body, and yet each morsel of the cake be also the one body, then Christ's one body is many bodies. It would follow (5) that a thing which is, by its very essence, limited to a certain spot in space, is yet not limited to that spot; Christ's body, for instance, when with His own hand He gave it into the hands of His disciples, while yet it remained where it was before, at an appreciable distance from His disciples' hands. It would follow (6) that the percipiency of the soul, operating through the senses of the body, while these senses are

If

A RATHER fanciful title to what is otherwise a good and meritorious work. The author tells us, that—

"Besides giving all the explanatory information usually found in a Biblical Commentary, this work is intended to supply the Bible Student with the results of the latest criticism in condensed and suggestive explana tory notes; the Preacher with subjects and outlines of sermons; the Sunday-school Teacher with illustrations in the form of anecdote and quotation; and the general reader with a practical commentary on the Holy Scriptures. No work has yet appeared which presents in so compact and comprehensive a form the many essential features which constitute a complete commentary."

If it be a commentary, then why call it a "Museum,” which conveys no idea of the author's purpose and design? The omission of the received textas introductory to the exposition, is a grand mistake. Notwithstanding, the work promises to be one of great practical value to every Biblical student, and has our hearty recommendation.

The Real Objective Presence:-Questions suggested by the Judgment

delivered by the Right Hon. Sir Robert Phillimore, D.C.L., in the case of office of the Judge promoted by G. Sheppard v. Bennett. By AN ENGLISH PRESBYTER. Both Sides of the Question; or, Discussions with a Friend upon various Points of Ritualistic Doctrine and Practice. By the REV. OCTAVIUS ELLIS, M.A., Author of "Some Time among Ritualists." London : William Macintosh and Co.

WE very earnestly commend these clergy of the National Church, in tractates both to the laity and the her present transition state from a spiritual and living Protestantism to a degrading and superstitious Romanism. The Anglican Communion must either undergo a second and more thorough Reformation, or lapse into the darkness and bondage of the Middle Ages. The voice of her true children, the voice of the nation, is for reform, as essential to her continued existence and influence. Let her faithful ministers and members at once choose their side, and resolve rather to die than to yield.

Addresses for the People. By FRed.

HARPER (pp. 108). London: W.
Macintosh and Co.

IF sound and nutritious food be essential to the health of the body, we must much more have sound

knowledge for the mind-Divine instruction for the heart. The press is prolific in the production of a light and frivolous literature. A great deal of what now appears in the form of pamphlet, periodical, and volume, is positively deleterious-prejudicial to the intellectual health and moral life of the people. We, therefore, hail the appearance of these short, pointed evangelical "Addresses," as adapted to bear directly, and with salutary effect, on the higher spiri