XX1V MEMOIR
before him, and this on lines once more modified to
present circumstances. The call to the work, as he
liked to remember, came from without. Through the
introduction of Mr. Reeve, Editor of the Edinburgh
Review and late Secretary to the Privy Council,
Dr. Edersheim had become acquainted with Mr. T.
Norton Longman, and it was at the request of this
gentleman that the ‘Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah’ was set in hand. In the same year
Dr. Edersheim received the degree of D.D. from the
University of Giessen, and removed to Loders, a
country parish in Dorsetshire, presented to him by
the late Lord Chancellor Cairns. It was during the
seven following years of rural retirement and health-
ful life that his book was written. At the same time
the ‘Bible History’ (Old Test. Series, now complete in
seven vols.), which he had previously commenced, was
continued, and many other literary engagements were
fulfilled; as, for example, his article on ‘ Josephus’
for Smith and Wace’s ‘Dictionary of Christian
Biography,’ contributions to the ‘Bible Educator,’
the Edinburgh Review, and many other minor writ-
ings.
In the charge of his poor parishioners, and in