-was published under the assumed name of Le Sieur de Royaumont, Prior of Sombreval; but it was, in fact, a joint production, the principal author being Nicholas Fontaine,* who composed it whilst confined in the Bastile; in writing it, he received some assistance from his fellow-prisoner, M. le Maistre de Sacy, to whom, on this account, the entire book has sometimes been erroneously attributed.

It will thus be seen that the claims to authorship of the learned ecclesiastic with whose name the work in its English form is now indissolubly and indeed most justly associated, were not of a character to present any substantial obstacle to the production of a revised Edition.

It remains only to express my deep indebtedness to my venerated friend, the Very Rev. Dr. Whitehead, exVice-President of this College, for the kindness with which he undertook the task of revising this volume, as its official censor; but still more for the many valuable suggestions he so kindly imparted to me during its progress through the press, placing, indeed, at my disposal,—so far as it was possible for me, within the limits of so small a work, to draw upon them-his vast stores of biblical erudition, the accumulated result of so many years of close study of the inspired record itself, and of the many works, whether of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, or of her approved commentators, by which that record has been, even in its most minute details, so copiously illustrated.

W. J. W.

ST. PATRICK'S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH,

13th March, 1878.

*See Barbier, Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes, nn. 2980, 2981, Paris, 1806.