in apt illustration. The zeal with which he denounces the abuses prevalent in the church of his day, and particularly in the monastic orders, is not unlike that of the Protestant reformers. He shows acquaintance with many phases of life. He describes the corruption of judges, the prevalence of usury and avarice, the unchastity which especially characterized the upper classes, and the general hypocrisy of so-called Christians. His doctrinal discussions are apt to be diffuse; but he seldom loses sight of the bearing of doctrine on practical life. He judges with extreme severity those who argue about religion while neglecting its practice, and those who though stupid and ignorant dare to pry into mysteries which are sealed to the angels. "Not newly have we found Him, that we should search and pry into God. As He was He is: He changeth not with the times. ... Confess that He formed thee of dust: search not the mode of His being: Worship Him that He redeemed thee by His only Son: inquire not the manner of His birth." Some of Isaac's works have an interest for the historian of the 5th century. In two poems (Bickell II, 12 = Bedjan 48, 49), written probably at Edessa, he commemorates the capture of Beth-Uur, a city near Nisibis, by the Arabs. Although the historical allusions are far from clear, we gather that Beth-Uur, which in zealous paganism had been a successor to Uaran, had been in earlier days devastated by the Persians; but for the last 34 years the Persians had themselves suffered subjection. And now had come a flood of Arab invaders, sons of Hagar, who had swept away the city and carried all its inhabitants captive. From these two poems, and from the 2nd homily on Fasting (Bickell 14 = Bedjan 17) we gain a vivid picture of the miseries borne by the inhabitants of that frontier region during the wars between Persia and the Romano-Greek empire. There are also instructive references to the heathen practices and the worship of pagan deities (such as Baalti, Uzzi, Gedlath and the planet Venus) prevalent in Mesopotamia. Two other poems (Bickell 35-36 = Bedjan 66-67), written probably at Antioch, describe the prevalence of sorcery and the extraordinary influence possessed by Chaldeans and enchanters over women who were nominally Christians. The date of Isaac of Nineveh is now known from the Liber fundatorum of Ishoʿdnaḥ