Death of Dr. Tischendorf.
THE foreign mails bring intelligence of the death, on the 1st of December, of Dr. Lobegott F. K. Tischendorf, the well-known German theologian and Bible student. Dr. Tischendorf was born at Langenfeld, Saxony, in January, 1815, and graduated in 1838 at the University of Leipsic. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity when only twenty-eight years old. In 1840 he was commissioned by the Government of Saxony to collect materials for a revised critical edition of the Greek Testament. His researches, undertaken for this purpose, carried him into all parts of Europe and the East, and he brought back with him copies of the most ancient manuscript translations of the Scriptures to be found in the great libraries, some of which, through his edition, reached the theologians of Western Europe for the first time. With how much faithfulness and thoroughness he labored, and how great was the value of the edition of the Greek Testament resulting from his labors, it is hardly necessary to say; since his work has long since been accepted among scholars as a standard authority, and has proved to be a most useful auxiliary in the work of Biblical criticism and investigation. In a later journey, undertaken under the auspices of the Russian Government, he discovered a manuscript, on vellum, containing several books of the Old Testament, the Epistle to Barnabas, and the Pastor of Hermas, and also the only complete copy of the New Testament Scriptures extant from the fourth to the ninth century. This manuscript is regarded as the first in importance of any now known and its study has resulted in many modifications of religious belief. Dr. Tischendorf, at the time of his death, occupied the chair of Theology and Biblical Literature at Leipsic. The world loses in him a faithful student, who has accomplished more in his department than any man now living.—Boston Journal.