Art. VII. Elements of Hebrew Grammar, in two Parts. Part I. The Doctrine of the Vowel Points, and the Rudiments of the Grammar. Part II. The Structure and Idioms of the Language. With an Appendix containing the Notation of the Hebrew Verbs in Roman Letters. By J F. Gyles, Esq. A. M. 8vo. pp. 211. Price 12s. Hatchard. 1814.

ETWEEN the plan of learning Hebrew with points, on

the ground of their being coeval with the language, and essential parts of it, and that adopted and recommended by teachers who discard them altogether, a middle course might, perhaps, with advantage be adopted. The points may not indeed be of primary consideration, nor possess those claims to antiquity and authority, which have been asserted and maintained by their zealous advocates; yet they may be of importance for critical purposes, and worthy of some attention, as affording aid in the attainment of Hebrew learning. Persons who have commenced the study of the Hebrew language on the plan recommended by Parkhurst and other anti-Masoretic Hebraists, would perhaps do well to make themselves acquainted with the opposite system, and to acquire at least so much knowledge of the points as will enable them to judge of their practical application. For the use of such students, as well as of those who are commencing the study of Hebrew, the work before us will be found well adapted.

The plan of this Grammar, Mr. Gyles informs us in the Advertisement prefixed to the work, arose out of the difficulties which opposed his progress in the Hebrew language. He has not, however, stated either the kind or the extent of these difficulties, and we are not able to explain them, since the principles he has imbodied in the first part of these Elements, are not distinguished for novelty; nor is less labour than was previously necessary, required on the part of the student. As an elementary work this publication has its advantages. The arrangement is good, and the rules and observations are conveyed in perspicuous language. Technical terms are explained as they occur: paradigms of the verbs are inserted. The Hebrew letter employed throughout the work, is neat and well defined. The notation of Hebrew verbs in Roman letters, will materially assist the student in acquiring the Masoretic pronunciation, though, on the whole, Mr. Gyles affords him scarcely sufficient aid in this department of the Grammar. It would have been of service to the beginner who has no instructor, if Mr. G. had furnished a few examples of parsing.

The second part of the Elements, comprises nearly sixty pages of observations and examples on the syntax of the noun, pronoun, verb, and participle. This portion of the book is judiciously executed, aud will be found very useful. Many idi

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omatical phrases and words which occur in the Heberw Bible, are here explained; and the Author has conferred additional importance on the work, by his illustration of the Hebraisms of the Greek New Testament.

A list of books for the use of the student is given in the concluding pages of the second part of the work, in which we are pleased at finding Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, and Noldii Concordantiæ Particularum, Jenze, 1734. These are important books for the successful prosecution of Hebrew learning, and Mr. Gyles has shewn his concern for the solid proficiency of scholars, by recommending them to his readers. We concede to him the superiority of Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, as combining the advantages of a grammatical institute; but for the specific purposes of a concordance we should prefer Buxtorf's, as it brings the original passages in which each word occurs, directly under the eye: it is besides more easy of purchase than the former.

To the list of errata given at the conclusion of the Preface, the following may be added. P. 80, 7 instead of . P. 157. Thy, for my. P. 191. zain is twice substituted in place of nun

final.

We need scarcely add that this well arranged and perspicuous Grammar is entitled to our approbation.

Art. VIII. The Triumph of Faith; or Christ exhibited in his Death, Resurrection, Ascension, Sitting at God's Right Hand, and in his Intercession; together with a Treatise, displaying the affectionate Tenderness of Christ's Heart, now in Heaven, to Sinners on Earth. By Thomas Goodwin, D.D. Revised and corrected by the Rev. T. Smith. 12mo. pp. 224, Price 4s. 6d. Gale and Co. 1814.

THE

HE science of Theology differs from every other science, in its unvarying perfection: it admits not of progressive improvement. What it is after the lapse of ages, it was immediately on the completion of the canon of Scripture. The truths of Revelation may be brought to light; they may be arranged and applied, but no additions are made, no amendments, that are the result of experiment or of human sagacity. We allow that modern writers have an advantage, but it is an advantage chiefly of manner and of style; their aim is more direct, their method is more clear, their statements are frequently more concise and correct, and their whole diction is more pure and attractive. Yet, in favour of their predecessors, and especially of men like Dr. Goodwin, it must be maintained that they have excellences to which later authors rarely attain. Their writings possess a peculiar depth of thought and richness of sentiment, which are the fruit of sound learning, close study, and diligent

investigation of the Sacred Volume. Those men, confirmed in the faith of the Gospel, and matured in personal religion by the privations and adversities which they endured, entered into the spirit of revealed truth: they felt its incalculable worth, their souls were absorbed in the subjects they discussed, and they wrote without fear or restraint.

'These considerations lead us cordially to approve republications like this before us. It consists of two short treatises. The first is founded on the triumphant challenge of the Apostle, in Rom. viii. 34. and contains much important matter on the doctrine of Justification by faith. The other unfolds with admirable judgement and tenderness, the heart of Christ in heaven towards sinners on earth.' The language is a little improved from the original edition, and the title is changed to

one

more concise but equally appropriate. The Rev. G. Burder, in a recommendation of the book, has prefixed the following short account of its highly respectable author.

'Dr. Thomas Goodwin was a very learned and eminent divine of the seventeenth century, and President of Magdalen College, Oxford; where he made it his business to promote piety and learning. He was a member of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and one of the triers of ministers. Being dismissed from his situation at Oxford, on the restoration of Charles the Second, he removed to London, where he was pastor of an Independent Church for many years. He died in 1679, in the eightieth year of his age, in the fullest assurance of faith, and with such expressions of joy, thankfulness, and admiration of God's free grace, as extremely affected all who heard him.'

Art. IX. The Sick Man's Pious Assistant; or Aids to Devotion in the Time of Affliction. By John Renals. pp. 149. Price 3s. Printed, Wellingborough. Sold by Conder, London, 1815.

THE

HE avowed design of this publication, is to edify plain 'people.' On the whole, it is adapted to the object, and we hope will obtain a wide circulation. It is divided into thirtynine sections, consisting chiefly of close inquiries and devout aspirations, something after the manner of Doddridge's Meditations in his Rise and Progress of Religion. The Author has confessedly availed himself of the aid of Doddridge, Edwards, Hallyburton, and others, in his composition; and it must be admitted that more pious and evangelical sources he could not have found. We cannot speak highly either of the correctness or the energy of the style, nor have we always perceived the exclusive appropriateness of the matter to circumstances of affliction. The sentiment however is good, and devotional simplicity pervades the whole. A tolerably accurate notion

may be formed of the book by the following extract from the fourth section.

• Can I do no more than I have done for God? He gave me all I possess. He deserveth all praise, love, and obedience. He seeth my heart, my duties, my sins, and puts me on trial for his service, and for his sake. Can I love him no more, obey, watch and pray, no better?

Can I do no more for Christ's sake, who has done so much for me? Who lived so exactly, and obeyed the law so perfectly, walked so inoffensively and meekly, despising all the temptations and honours and riches of the world. Who loved me to death, and now holds forth all the promises of the Bible, and the blessings of his throne, to make me happy. What careless, poor, and cold endeavours my best returns are for all his mercy! Wherein have I kept close to my pattern?

Can I do more when heaven and hell are set before me in the Holy Scriptures that I may see what is prepared for the diligent and the negligent? What work there will be in heaven and in hell on these accounts! when "the lukewarm will be spewed out," and they who have done his will on earth, "shall have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven." And could I do no more if my house were on fire, than I do when my heart is enflamed with lust or temptation? or when my estate, or life, or friend is in danger, than I do to "work out my own salvation?”

Art. X. Catechisms for Children, adapted to their different Ages and Capacities, and designed to lead them gradually to the Knowledge of Scripture Doctrine and Christian Duty. Compiled by Anthony Kidd (Cottingham). Fourth Edition. 12mo. pp. 36. Price 4d. 3s. 6d. per Dozen. 11. 8s. per 100. Williams and Son.

WE

E are sincerely happy to announce a fourth edition of this valuable publication. It consists of three distinct Catechisms, designed to facilitate the instruction of children in the principles of Christianity, and to aid their progress in the knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. No other recommendation is necessary to the first and second of the series, than to intimate their selection, with a few judicious alterations, from Dr. Watts. The third also, is partly compiled from respectable authors, but it contains a considerable share of original matter. We certainly regard this little work, as an excellent compendium of evangelical truth; and we very cordially recommend it to the use of Christian families and schools, among many of which it has already obtained an extensive circulation.

Art. XI. 1. Ilderim, a Syrian Tale. In four Cantos. 8vo. pp. 74. Price 4s. 6d. Murray. 1816.

2. The Naiad, a Tale. With other Poems. 8vo. pp. 63. Price 4s. Taylor and Hessey. 1816.

THERE certainly has never been a period in the history of English Literature, when the compositions of the day exhibited so high a degree of general cultivation and taste, as the present. We speak now in reference to poetical compositions, the average quality of which will be found to correspond pretty nearly to the progress made in the cultivation of other branches of literature. As to those extraordinarily-gifted individuals, the phenomena of every age, whose appearance forms an era in the science or in the language of their country, they present no criterion of the degree to which the diffusion of knowledge has advanced in the nation at large; any more than the wealth of Croesus was a criterion of the prosperity of his subjects. The earlier periods of national civilization have been judged peculiarly favourable to the development of the more lofty and original kind of genius; but this is, perhaps, a prejudice founded on the fact, that the early history of nations has been characterized by the birth of such extraordinary individuals. Every age has its great men, and the present age is not an exception. But what determine the general advancement of society, in regard to intellectual attainment, are not some one or two super-eminent productions: it is, if we may so express it, the standard of mediocrity. It is obvious that this will be estimated, not by the intrinsic quality of the production as a work of art, but by the previous perfection to which the art has been carried, and by the facility of the performance. Mediocrity is a relative term, implying, in reference to works of imagination and art, that which it requires no distinguishing exercise of the faculties to achieve. Much of the poetry which in the present day must be termed médiocre, would, it must be confessed, in the time even of Waller and Denham, have obtained and deserved considerable celebrity, while by far the larger proportion of the Works of the English Poets, edited by Dr. Johnson, possesses the humblest degree of merit, and is interesting only from the date. The merit, however, of those works, is greater than their excellence; for, doubtless, they were the compositions of men who possessed talents quite equal to those of many of our modern versifiers, with whose productions theirs will not bear comparison. It would, perhaps, be difficult to account for the inferiority, wholly on the ground of less advantageous circumstances. One principal reason that modern poetry is, generally speaking, of a higher character, is, we believe, that a more naVOL. VI. N. S.

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