The  quality  and  permanent  value  of  Dr.  Spencer's  work
may  very  easily  be  over-stated.     While  it  may  be  fair  to
claim  that  his  book  is  "  by  far  the  most  important  ...  on
the  religious  antiquities  of  the  Hebrews  "  -  which  we  2'>ossess,
that  is  by  no  means  equivalent  to  saying  that  no  modern
writer  need  hope  to  produce  an  exposition  that  would  be
clearer,  fuller,  and  better !     On  the  contrary.  Dr.  Spencer's
contribution,   though   notable   and  praiseworthy,  does   not
approach  in  value  the  service  which  Professor  Robertson
Smith  himself  afterwards  rendered  to  international  scholar-
ship through  his  well-known  Burnett  Lectures,^ — in  which
lie  institutes  "  a  systematic  comparison  of  the  religion  of
the   Hebrews,   as    a   whole,    with    the    beliefs    and    ritual
practices  of  the  other  Semitic  peoples."-     We  can  never
be  sufficiently  grateful  to  the  Expert  who  undertook,  and  so
successfully  discharged,  this  complex  and  difficult  task :  and
wc  must  ever  regret  that  one  who  began  so  well  was  not
spared  to  see  his  labours  reach  their  natural  and  intended
completion.     Dr.  Spencer's  work,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a
promise  rather  than  a  performance.     It  seems  almost  rudi-
mentary when  we  set  it  beside  the  volume  in  which  we  find
it  so  generously  commended.      One  cannot,  therefore,  do
more  than  assign  it  a  place,  though  admittedly  an  honour-
able   place,   among    books   which    have    been    written    by
representative  Pioneers.
(2)  Alexander  Boss  (1590-1654). — Xot  u  few  liave  con-
tended, and   with   considerable   vigour,   that  in   Alexander

'■  ISSS-lS'Jl.  -  The  Jlclhj'wib  of  Uic  Semites.     Preface,  \).  vi.
