brethren. But, as time went on, accommodation seemed less necessary, and his utterances became more and more outspoken. With this there went a tendency to more extreme positions, and a growing impatience, not perhaps untouched by scorn, with those who adhered to a more moderate attitude. More and more of the Old Testament literature was relegated to the post-exilic period. More serious still was the growing recklessness of his textual criticism. This crossed at last the boundary beyond which sanity ceases. He had undertaken, in collaboration with Dr. Sutherland Black, to edit the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1899-1903). In the second volume (1900) the ‘Jerahmeelite theory’ made its appearance in a comparatively modest form. It was omnipresent in his contributions to the later volumes (1901, 1903), and in all his subsequent Old Testament work. The writing of numerous articles on proper names had convinced him that many had been incorrectly transmitted; while Hugo Winckler’s theory of a North Arabian land of Musri caused him to attribute to North Arabia an exaggerated part in Hebrew history. The whole of Cheyne’s work on the Old Testament from this point has little value except for specialists. The development is one of the most tragic episodes in the history of scholarship.
Cheyne had a philological equipment of great range and high competence, a profound and intimate knowledge of the Old Testament, an amazing familiarity with the literature upon it, and a willingness to consider novel theories, however extravagant. He had a singular exegetical gift; his commentaries are marked by originality, sympathy, and insight, and delicate literary instinct. His command of the whole field saved him from the danger of isolating its individual problems. His theological position became in his later years more and more indefinite. His last work, The Reconciliation of Races and Religions (1914), was not concerned with the Old Testament, but was noteworthy for its sympathy with Babism and the Bahai movement. He still spoke of himself as an anglican Christian; but he considered most of the synoptic narrative, including the Crucifixion, to be open to the gravest doubt. It may accordingly be questioned whether at the end he could be regarded as a Christian in any tenable sense of that elastic term; but at least his heart was set on the highest things, and in a world tortured by the strife of nations and distracted by the conflict of religions he cherished the vision of unity and peace.
[A. S. Peake in Expository Times, vol. vi, 1894-1895; G. A. Cooke in Expositor, May 1915; R. H. Charles in Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. vii, 1915-1916. There is much autobiographical matter in the prefaces to many of Cheyne’s books.]
CHILD-VILLIERS, VICTOR ALBERT GEORGE, seventh Earl of Jersey and tenth Viscount Grandison (1845-1915), colonial governor. [See Villiers.]
CLANRICARDE, second Marquess of (1832-1916). [See Burgh Canning, Hubert George De.]
COHEN, ARTHUR (1829-1914), lawyer, was born in London 18 November 1829, the youngest son of Benjamin Cohen, a prosperous bill-broker. His grandfather, Levy Barent Cohen (1740-1808), came to London from Holland about 1770. Through his mother, Justina, the youngest daughter of Joseph Eliahu Montefiore and sister of Sir Moses H. Montefiore [q.v.], he was connected with the great Jewish families of Montefiore and Mocatta. At an early age he was sent to a tutor at Frankfort. When about seventeen he became a student at University College, London. His family, conscious of his ability, were anxious that he should go to Cambridge. Entrance to Trinity College was found to be impossible for a Jew, and it required the help of his uncle, Sir Moses, who invoked that of the Prince Consort as chancellor of the university, to secure his admission to Magdalene. Even then he had to pass in Paley’s View of the Evidences of Christianity, as part of his entrance examination. He became a fellow-commoner in 1849, wore the gold-laced gown and velvet cap of that rank, and dined at the high table. He had not hitherto enjoyed much youthful companionship, and, furnished with a good allowance, he entered with zest on the life of an undergraduate. He was secretary of the Union Society in 1852, and its president in 1853. He rowed for at least one year in the Magdalene boat, and this is the only recorded instance of his indulgence in strenuous exercise. It was probably due to these diversions that his name appeared only as fifth wrangler in 1853, to the disappointment of his family, who with reason hoped to see him in a higher place, if not in the first. As a Jew he could not take his degree until
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