_The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined._ By the RIGHT REV. JOHN WILLIAM COLENSO, D.D., Bishop of Natal. London: Longman and Co., 1862-64. For three hundred years the Catholic Church has been denounced as the enemy of the Bible. This cry was first raised by Luther; it was taken up by Protestant sects of every denomination; it resounded through Germany, through France, through England; it passed from generation to generation; even at the present day its echoes are still ringing in our ears. No defence would be admitted; no arguments would be heard. The calumny, when once disseminated, was received by the enemies of the Church as a fact so patent, so elementary, that any inquiry would be superfluous, any proof unnecessary. It was taught by the preacher in his pulpit, by the divine in his writings, by the pedagogue in his school. Little children learned it on their mothers' knee; young men found it interwoven with history and romance; old men clung to it as a truth impressed upon their minds in tender infancy, and confirmed in the riper years of manhood. Meanwhile we were told that the Bible had found a home and a refuge in the heart of the Protestant Church. From the Bible, as from a pure fountain, the Protestant drank in the refreshing waters of divine faith; in the Bible he discovered a sure antidote against the idolatry and superstitions of Popery. To the Protestant, therefore, the Bible became an object of that religious veneration which was due to its sacred character. Not alone did he receive its doctrine, its history, its facts of every kind, but every word, every syllable, every letter, he regarded as stamped with the impress of Eternal Truth. But a great change seems to be now impending, and has, indeed, already commenced. The teaching of the first Reformers is forgotten, or neglected, by their disciples. The Bible has lost its charm. As Protestantism has advanced in years it has increased in boldness. The same spirit which three centuries ago _protested_ against the authority of the Pope, rises up to-day to _protest_ against the authority of the Bible. And once again it devolves on the Catholic Church to defend that sacred book, which has been preserved to the world by the blood of her martyrs, and illustrated by the eloquence of her confessors and her doctors.