themfelves to attempt. They had, as we all know, a method of writing, which conveyed in radical written characters, the vowels no less than the confonants; fo that their language conveyed its meaning as fully and completely in writing, as it did in fpeaking; and though there might, in the one cafe, as well as the other, be a doubt about the meaning, there could be none about the identity of a word in the Greek language, when fairly put into writing. "If we endeavour to conjecture about the reafons, that kept back the Jews from making the fame, or like advance, in improving their method of alphabetical writing, we fhould recollect, that the five books of Mofes, the earlieft fpecimens of alphabetical writing, were written, When thefe received from and in the poffeffion of the whole Jewish nation, many years before the Greeks had any ufe of letters at all. the Jews this invention, they took it as the Jews practifed it. Their first writing was probably without vowels, like the Hebrew; the first improvement might be to confider as vowels thofe letters, which the Jews have ever refused to acknowledge as any other than quiefcent letters, or afpirates, that must have a vowel annexed to them, before they can be brought into utterance. They might next proceed to contrive the prefent vowels, with that happy faculty, which they afterwards difcovered in all the arts and fciences, that have fince contributed to the ufes, and pleasures of life. We have no evidence of their manner of writing earlier than the works of HOMER; nor do we know in what precife form thefe came out of the hands of their venerable, of Pififand justly celebrated author. As a fpecimen of orthography, they I should think, be carried back further than the tratus, who reduced them to their prefent order; at which time, it fhould feem, the Greek orthography was completely fettled, as it has ever fince continued. This was about the year 560 before Chrift, at which period Daniel was prophefying, and more than nine-tenths of the Hebrew Scriptures were completed. cannot, age This habit, "In the mean time, the Jews appear not to have made any improvement whatsoever, in their mode of writing. By the nature of their polity, as well as their religion, the mind of every Jew was conftantly fixed on the writings of Mofes: "The words of this Law" were to be ever uppermoft in their thoughts, and they were to be fixed in their memory by tranfcribing, as well as by repeating. and the veneration always entertained for their great lawgiver, muft have kept the whole nation of Jews irrecoverably fixed to the mode of writing ufed in the Pentateuch; and this grand authority, no doubt, amounted, in their minds, to an abfolute prohibition upon all those improvements, which the Greeks felt themfelves at full liberty to make. All the prophets after Mofes, confined themselves to the mode of writing tranfmitted to them by their lawgiver; who, as they believed, either devised it for the purpose of writing the law, or received it from the very author of the law himself; either of which circumstances was fufficient to confecrate this divine gift in its native form; and to forbid any alteration in it, whether by adding, or diminishing. In confequence of which, there is this peculiarity in the ancient volume of Scripture, that it has one, undeviating, uniform orthography, from the beginning to the end; this compenfates, in fome degree, for the improvement which might have been made in the later of thofe writings, by the advantage refulting from their being all formed on a fingle plan, and their all mutually affifting in the interpretation of one an-' other. "It was not only in the vowels, that the Greek language thus lent its aid to fupply the defect of the Hebrew: this ancient writing had another defect, which, however, may be confidered as a mark of fimplicity, very natural and fit in the first attempt to form alphabetical writing. Many letters in their alphabet have fo near a refemblance, as to be eafily mistaken for one another, both in reading and in writing. The first quality in an invention like this, mult have been the facility of learning and teaching. This feems to have been particularly regarded in the formation of the Hebrew letters; for a fingle flroke, either by lengthening, or repeating, or reflecting it different ways, will form the two-and-twenty letters of this alphabet; it is found, upon an analysis of all the letters, they are formed by different modi. fications of the letter jod. But this quality of fimplicity feems unfavourable to difcrimination; and the Hebrew writing has, in confe quence of it, failed of that diftinétnefs, which is abfolutely neceffary. to precifion in writing. Another circumftance in Hebrew writing, which exposes it to be mifunderstood, is the fhortnefs of the words; their radical words confitting rarely of more than three letters, and sometimes only of two. If both, or one of thefe letters fhould happen to be a fimilar one, the identity of the word becomes ftill more difficult to be preferved, and > much more fo, than that of any word, in any of the languages, with which we are commonly acquainted. "For this ambiguity, arifing from the fimilar letters being miftaken, one for the other, in tranfcribing or in reading, the Malorites have found no remedy, and it remains to the prefent day. But the interpretation into Greek by the SEVENTY afforded a remedy even to this defect. Any word, liable to fuch change by tranfcribing, was at once fecured, when it had been previoufly tranflated into a language like the Greek, which was exempt from any fuch hazard. It might afterwards be adduced from the Greek verfion, to teftify what the Hebrew was, at leaft at the time of fuch Greek verfion." P. 12. From this principle the author deduces the peculiar utility of the LXX Tranflation, which he has placed in a novel, and, to our minds, a very ftriking point of view. "Impreffed with this comparative capacity in the two languages to preferve, and to convey down to pofterity the matter, of which they were made the depofitaries, I have been used to look up to the Greek tranflation by the SEVENTY, as a work of the highest importance. It is a verfion which fixes the words and fenfe of Scripture, at a period full 700 years, (and according to fome accounts 1100 years,) earlier than the Maforites of the fchool at Tiberias fixed it, by their method of of pointing. It was in public ufe during the whole of that period; first among the Jews, and, after the preaching of the Gofpel, among Chriftians; and it is diftinguithed, beyond all other interpretations of the original Hebrew, by one very particular fanction that has been given to it; I mean, the reference that evidently appears to have been inade to it by the Evangelifts and Apoftles in the writings of the New Teftament. This example was followed by the earlier fathers, molt of whom were unacquainted with Hebrew; notwithstanding their zeal for the Word of God, they did not exert themfelves to learn the original language of the Sacred Writings, but acquiefced in this Greek reprefentation of them; judging it, no doubt, to be fully fufficient for all the purposes of their pious labours. "Looking back to the period, during which this work has been ufeful to the caufe of Religion, efpecially fince the preaching of the Gofpel; and confidering the nature of the fervice it has performed, in the light in which I have juft defcribed it, I have, in my own mind, been difpofed to rank it (in one point of view) in the fame clafs with the work of the Maforetical fchool at Tiberias. Thefe learned perfons, befides the pointing of the text with the vowel marks, and forming thereon the prefent fyllem of Hebrew grammar, went also. through the anxious labour of afcertaining, enumerating, and registering the verfes, the words, and the letters of the Hebrew bible, in or der to keep a true account of the very text in the whole, and in every “ tradition;” part of it. This they denominated a MASORA, or and others, from a different etymology, have called it a fence, or hedge" to the law; thereby meaning, that it was defigned to keep at a ditance, as it were, all trefpaffers, whether wilful or negligent, who might be difpofed to intermeddle, and diminifh, or deface the body of the Scriptures. This is divided into the great and leffer Mafora. It has ever been in fuch estimation, and the learned perfons of Tiberias have been fo much valued for this particular inftance of their zeal and industry, that they obtained from this work their ti le of MASORITES; and from this the whole Jewith learning, which all comes from the fame fchool, the grammatical no lefs than this textual one above-mentioned, has obtained the title of Maforetical. Confidering the Septuagint verfion, and the ftudies belonging to it, and which accompanied that volume of Scripture among the Greeks, as fo many teftimonies of the contents, the fenfe, and the words of the Holy Scriptures, I am difpofed to look upon it in the nature of a GREEK MASO'RA, produced from the Greek fchool, but having this advantage over the Jewish, that it is much more ancient; and, being in a language more generally talked and read, has performed more extensive fervice to the caufe of religion; which entitles it to be regarded, as I think, by Chriftians, with as much reverence, and thankfulness, as are manifeited by the Jews, with refpect to the labours of their Maforetical teachers. "The nature of this, which I have fancied to myfelf, was a Greek Maforetical fchool,-its labours, its fruits, its extenfive influence,are now almost forgotten; and yet, it was by means of thofe, who were educated in this fchool, that Chriftian theology was taught in the Eastern and Western Empires. The Greek Scriptures were the only only Scriptures known to, or valued by, the Greeks. This was the text commented by CHRYSOSTOM and THEODORET; it was this which furmfhed topics to ATHANASIUS, NAZIANZEN, and BASIL. From this fountain the fream was derived to the Latin church, first by the ITALIC or VULGATE tranflation of the Scriptures, which was made from the Septuagint, and not from the Hebrew; and fecondly by the ftudy of the Greek fathers. It was by this borrowed light, that the Latin fathers illuminated the western hemifphere; and when the age of CYPRIAN, AMEPOSE, AUGUSTINE, and GREGORY JUCceffively paffed way; this was the light put into the hands of the next dynaty of the ioLifts, 1HE SCHOOLMEN, who carried on the work of theological difquifition by the aid of this luminary, and of none other. So that either in Greek or in Latin, it was fill the Septuagint Scriptures, that were read, explained, and quoted as authority, for a period of fifteen hundred years." P. 18. To a fhort, but juft, hiftory of Biblical Literature, from the beginning of the 16th century down to the prefent time, the learned author fubjoins the defign of his work. "About the commencement of the fixteenth century, a new order of things began to open. A curiofity for languages, and a tatte for found literature fuggefted to perfons of refearch, to confide lefs in the fecondary aids of ancient tranflations, however recommended; -and to feel them Ives the original fountain, and form their own judgment, upon the refult of their own examination. The fame propenfity led them to encourage new tranflations from the Hebrew; and in these they willingly placed fome of that reliance, which before had been confidently repofed in the Septuagint, and Vulgate. When men were thus brought back to the Hebrew text, it was of courfe for the Jewish Maforetical school to rife in estimation, and for the Greek one to lofe its afcendancy. This change of tafte took place more or lefs, as tree inquiry and learned investigation were more purfued. It was mostly in Proteftant countries that this change of fyftem obtained; there the Vulgate funk in credit; the commentaries of the Greek and Latin fathers, not being upon the text then brought into ufe, bad no longer the fame application, or the fame value. The text itself of the Septuagint, from being the reigning authority, funk into a state of mere toleration, and feemed to be preferved in that, only from fome particular circumftances, arifing out of the learning of the time. "Greek and Latin fcholars did not teel difpofed to acquiefce in an entire rejection of works, which gave splendor to their favorite ftudies, by fhewing they might be highly useful in furthering the interefts of religion. The cultivators of polite literature became thus the advocates of the Vulgate, and Septuagint verfions, and earneity withed to bring them back to their former reputation. Those of the Romish church had as much fuccefs as they could hope, in favor of the Vulgate. This verfion maintained the ground, that their church had for many centuries allowed it, unimpaired, as far as ecclefiaftical authority could fupport it. The Septuagint had not, amongst Proteftants, a fimilar fupport from authority, which in all countries went to the fice of of the Jewish text, either in the original, or in the verfions recently made from it. Learned individuals, however, of feveral Proteftant churches, united in upholding its credit, even in opposition to the Hebrew. In the early part of the last century there arofe a controverfy upon the character and credit of this version, contrafted with the credit and character of the Hebrew; this was conducted with fome of, that heat, which unfortunately mixes too often in philological debates ofte among men, who are fomewhat confident in their pre-conceived opiso, as nions. This heat paffed away with its authors; but the opinions and feder partialities in favor of the Septuagint, retained their ground among an learned men, who were refolved not to part with the fatisfaction they felt, in confidering their Greek Scriptures of the Old Teftament, as, fomething very like an original. "In our country, in particular, the Hebrew language has never been a regular branch of education, either in our fchools or univerfiA dead language, that ties, to the fame degree as Latin and Greek. is not learnt at fchool, is rarely attained afterwards; and one fo wholly to |