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queftion amounts to this; whether we shall supply Chriftian readers and Chriftian congregations with new means of inftruction and pleasure, by enabling them to understand their bible better and let all who can promote a work of fuch moment, confider this queftion with due ierioufnefs and attention.'

To give fome general idea of the manner in which the author has executed his undertaking, we shall felect the third chapter of Habakkuk, with notes on the fix first verses annexed. The noble and animated address to the Almighty, which it contains, is fcarcely inferior, in point of fublimity, to any paffage in the royal pfalmiit it is conceived, indeed, much in his manner; and a German commentator thus roundly afferts it to have been written in imitation of him. * Hæc oratio fcripta fuit ad imitationem odarum Davidicarum: quod, teftantur voces in ea repertæ, odis illis peculiares; ut funt + Sigionoth, v. 1. Selah, v. 3. Lamenaffea, v. 19. Neginoth in

eodem verfa.

1 [A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet upon Shigionoth.] O Jehovah, I have heard thy ‡ speech;

2

I have

1. A prayer-] The title seems a Jewish annotation of a later age: and the infertion of it interrupts the connection.

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-Shigionoth] The word is probably derived from the Syr. 1, mutavit, variavit: and thus may denote a mufical inftrument of great compafs, with which the Jews accompanied this piece of poetry.

2.-thy fpeech] Which thou haft communicated to me: c. i. 5II. ii. 4-20. See Obad. i. I.

-thy work] I have been ftruck with fear, because of the judgments denounced againft, Judah and Jerufalem: c. i. 5-11. ii. 4, 5, 8, 17. One MS. reads, because of thy work.

"Jehovah, I have feen thy work." Dr. Wheeler.

He places over feen. 6. have xarivóna and in MS. Pachom. and ed. Ald. we find Kugie, natɛvónja

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-approach Cappellus prefers the reading of 6. and Aquila: iv T ἐγγίζειν, ἐν τῷ παρειναι: 1193.

thou haft fhewn it] Cappellus ingeniously conjectures, hew it. I prefer ', thou hast fhewn it. ó. have wv, which word reprefents 1. One MS. has at prefent 11, another perhaps 11, another 1, which reading Jerom alfo found. Kenn. diff. gen. 84. 13.

thou makeft it known] One MS. reads, notum facies id. -thou remembereft Obferve the topics of confolation, c. ii. 4. 14: and the several woes denounced against Babylon.

‡ Hebr. bearing.

*Crit. Sac. tom. iv. p. 6815.

+He tranflates the firft verfe, oratio Habaccuci canenda fecundum odas quas figionoth vocant; which he supposes derived from a word that fignifies errare. It may, however, be obferved, that the tranfitions in this chapter are lefs abrupt than in moft other poetical paffages of the prophetic writings.

I 2

3. God

3

I have feared, O Jehovah, thy work.
As the years approach, thou haft fhewn it;
As the years approach, thou makest it known.
In wrath thou remembereft mercy.

God came from Teman,

And the Holy One from mount Paran: [Selah.]
His glory covered the heavens ;*

And the earth was full of his praise.

4 His brightnefs was as the light:

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Rays ftreamed + from his hand:

And there was the hiding-place of his power.
Before him went the peftilence:

And

3. God came-] Bishop Lowth obferves that this is a fudden burst of poetry, in the true fpirit of the ode; the concealed connection being, that God, who had formerly displayed fuch power in delivering the If'raelites from Egyptian flavery, might fuccour their posterity in a like wonderful manner; and the enthusiasm of the poet leading him to neglect all obvious ways of entering on his fubject. Præl. Hebr. xxviii. v. 3-7 contain a fublime description of God, when he conducted his people to the land of Canaan. The grandeft circumftances are selected; and the diction is as splendid as the fubjects.

-Teman] Firft perhaps the name of an encampment, and afterwards of an Idumean city. Numb. xx. 21. Jer. xlix. 7. Job iì. 11. ← —Paran ] See Deut. xxxiii. 2. A part of Arabia Petrea : Gen. xxi. 21. -Selah] See Pol. fyn. Pf. iii. 6. render the word diáfanμa, which, fays Suidas, is éλuç ivaλλayn, cantus immutatio.

-glory] On mount Sinai, and in the pillar of fire.

-praife] On account of his majefty and power. Bishop Lowth, ubi fupr. renders the word fplendour; and Green's verfion is, "And his glory filled the earth.”

The verb, in Hiphil, fignifies to Shine.

M

"And his praise filled the earth." Dr. Wheeler. 4. His brightnefs] Ar. Syr. Chald. Houbigant, read et Splendor ejus. V. has fplendor ejus. The vau may be confidered as converfive of, and may be omitted in an English translation.

Rays] The verb p, fignifies to Shine: Ex. xxxiv. 29, 30, 35: and a pencil, or cone, of rays, iffuing from a point, diverges in the shape of a horn. See Deut. xxxiii. 2:

"From his right hand iffued streams of light:"

the original word being, from in Syr. and Chald. to pour forth. See the learned Dr. Durell's note on the place. Twenty MSS. and one ed. read, and rays.

And there-] In the place whence the light proceeded he gloriously concealed his presence. Three MSS. originally, and V. Chald. read DW, there.

of his power] Keri, many MSS. and some editions, read ¡y, or lily, laxvos aula. ó.

Capellus understands the verse of the lightning on mount Sinai; but I rather refer it to the brightness which occafionally issued from the Shechinah. Ex. xvi. 7, 10.

5.-the peftilence] See Numb. xi. 33. xiv. 37. xvi. 46. It was occafionally inflicted on the Ifraelites for their guilt.

† Hebr. to him from his band.

-flashes

And flashes of fire went forth after him.

6 He flood, and measured the land;

He beheld, and difperfed the nations :

And the everlasting mountains were broken afunder;
The eternal hills bowed down:

The eternal paths + were trodden by him.

7 Thou faweft the tents of Cushan in affliction : The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

8

Was the anger of Jehovah kindled against the floods? Was thy wrath againft the floods?

Was thine indignation against the fea,

When thou didst ride on thine horses, and on thy chariots of deliverance?

9 Thy bow was made bare,

10

II

12

According to the oath unto the tribes, even the promise.
[Selah.]

Thou didst cleave the ftreams of the land:
The mountains faw thee and were in pangs :
The overflowing of waters paffed away :
The deep uttered its voice:

It lifted up its hands on high.

• The fun and the moon ftood ftill in their habitation : By their light thine arrows went abroad;

By their brightnefs, the lightning of thy fpear.

In thine indignation didst thou march through the land;

flashes of fire], quicquid volando adurit et inflammat. Caft. lex. Ardor vibrans ac corufcus. Schultens, on Job v. 7. See also Guffetius; who, by comparing Pf. lxxviii. 48, with Ex. ix. 29, collects that has the nature of, fire: but thinks it id, quod in igne vehementiori fefe vibrat; flamma rubens. Lev. x. 2, Numb. xi. I, xvi. 35. the Ifraelites were confumed by a fire which went out from Jehovah. And Lev. ix. 24. the burnt offering was consumed by a fire which came out from before Jehovah.

6. —measured] Divided it out, like a conqueror. Pf. lx. 6. Green, 6. have aún, and Chald. y, from y, movit. Hence Cappellus

וירד,et concludit, or וירגז ,and Houbigant ; יכודן conjectures

et fubjecit. Poffibly, and moved.

-difperfed] One fignification of the Arabic root in Caft. lex. is fparfit, difperfit; and in Syr. Chald. Arab. the word fignifies defluxit, decidit. It may therefore be rendered in Hiphil. defluere, vel decidere, fecit.

the nations] All who oppofed his people; and particularly the feven nations.

-mountains-hills.] This may be understood of cleaving the rock for water: Ex. xvii. 6: and of God's wonderful display of his power on Sinai, when the mouuntain fhook Ex. xix. 18.

"-eternal paths] Literally, God occupied the fummit of the eternal mount Sinai; and led his people over the eternal mountains in Arabia Petræa. And this fenfe is preferable to the figurative one; that his ways, or doings, are predetermined from everlasting.'

* Hebr. at his feet. † Hebr. were his. + Hebr. under.

tent-curtains.

13

$ Or,

• In

In thy wrath didst thou* tread the nations.

13 Thou wenteft forth for the deliverance of thy people, Even for the deliverance of thine anointed ones.

• Thou didft wound the head out of the house of the wicked:

Thou didst lay bare the foundation to the rock: [Selah.] 14 Thou didst pierce with thy rod the head of his villages. They rushed as a whirlwind to fcatter us;

Their rejoicing was, as if they should devour the poor. fecretly.

15 Thou didst march through the fea with thine horses: Through the heap of mighty waters.

16

17

When I heard thy fpeech, my bowels trembled:
At the voice my lips quivered:

Rottennefs entered into my bones, and I trembled in † my
place;

Because I fhall be brought to the day of trouble,

To go up captive unto the people who fhall invade us with their troops.

But although the figtree fhall not flourish,

And there fhall be no produce in the vines;
The fruit of the olive fhall fail,

And the fields fhall not yield food;

The flocks fhall be cut off from the fold,
And there fhall be no herd in the stalls;

18 Yet will I rejoice in Jehovah,

I will exult in the God of my falvation.

19 The Lord Jehovah is my ftrength;

And he will make my feet like hind's feet,

And will caufe me to tread on mine high places.

[To the chief musician on my ftringed inftruments.}'

Whoever will compare our cld translation with the above, must be convinced that it fhould at least be carefully revifed and corrected. The flyle of it, which age has in fome degree confecrated, and is poffeffed of a certain kind of dignified fimplicity, cannot poflibly be much improved; but its inaccuracies are too great and numerous, not to reflect dishonour on the prefent enlightened age, if fomething is not done by public authority towards the removal of them. Such an undertaking would lay the foundation for other neceffary amendments in our church establishment; which, if conducted with candour and moderation, would tend to obviate the cavils of fectaries, and blunt the arrows of infidelity.

* Hebr. threb.

t Hebr. under me.

Ob

Obfervations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and the Means of making it a Benefit to the World. To which is added, A Letter from M. Turgot, late Comptroller-general of the Finances of France: with an Appendix, containing a Tranflation of the Will of M. Fortuné Ricard, lately published in France. By Richard Price, D. D. LL. D. 8vo. Cadell.

IF

2s. 6d.

F we have sometimes differed in opinion from Dr. Price, we have never questioned his candour and fincerity: if he has mistaken the proper means to attain his end, and, in that career, injured the country to which his firft allegiance was due, he probably was influenced by a warmth of zeal for what might appear to him, the caufe of virtue and innocence; a warmth that often miileads, and a zeal that frequently blinds the judgment. The caufe of our disagreement is now at an end; and we can look on the United States as a new nation, in its infancy; on America as a new world, which requires to be foftered and inftructed. In the difcufions on this fubject, we would wish to avoid all reafoning from events the impartial pen of hiftory will delineate the late fcenes of war in different colours from thofe which either the warmth of enthufiafm, or the gloom of difappointment may employ; America will probably not appear the land of patriotism and virtue, nor England the haughty tyrant and unjuft oppreffor. If we exclude then, thefe little points, the veteris veftigia flammæ,' and look on the Americans with an impartial eye, as citizens of the world, we must allow a confiderable fhare of merit to these Observations: they are often clear, candid, and judicious. The author, however, is not always able to avoid the extravagancies of fpeculative politi cians; and in the management of his new Utopia, he seems to expect more than those who are acquainted with the natural depravity of mankind will allow.

Perhaps the author's title promifes too much; for the great object of his precepts is to fecure the happiness and profperity of America. The world' in general may be benefited by their example; but it is not easy to say, how far his advice can be with advantage adopted in different ftates of fociety. Perhaps Dr. Price, in his fondness for this new world, having been engaged in rearing it, at the risk of much abuse, and fome danger,' may have forgot that there is any other: we are forry to have had reafon for fuppofing that there was a time when, in the fame enthufiafm, he forgot that he had a coun try. There is another oversight in this pamphlet. The United States are fuppofed to be exempted from the danger of wars;

14

fince

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