The fecond chapter treats of Theological Reafoning; and is divided into four fections, 1. Of the grounds and method of reasoning in divinity. 2. Of the ftudy of the Holy Scriptures. 3. On their general interpretation,' (which is diftributed into fubdivifions, on the learned languages, the fcripture fyles, the analogical ftyle, and the parabolical fiyle); and, 4. ‘On the particular interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.'-Here we arrive at the valuable and important part of the work: for though, as the author justly obferves, thofe who expect entertainment from his labours will be miferably disappointed,' he muft mean to confine the term to that lighter order of readers who require mere amufement of the imagination.

Allowing what Dr. Tatham ftrenuoufly contends, that theology fuperfedes not the exercife of reafon, that the province of this faculty is merely confined to the afcertainment of dates and facts, without the power of reasoning on fublimer fubjects, we are happy in acknowledging, as fome counterbalance to our former cenfures, that his fecond chapter is a valuable compendium of theologic inftruction, abounding with ingenuity and research. The following are, without doubt, very interefting questions: whether the witneffes of the Chrif tian miracles were competent judges of their reality; whether their credit is to be relied on, as faithful and honest relators; whether the autographies of the written record were the genuine production of thefe witneffes, or their friends, whofe names they bear, whether thefe writings were infpired, and whether they are faithful tranfcripts of the originals?

In difcuffing these points, our author is very diffuse on the pernicious purposes to which the indifcriminate use of logic continues to be applied; and, in the plenitude of his zeal against the ancient fyftem, declares-what, addreffed to the univerfity, all the doctors and both the proctors, must have had a strange effect on their countenances that "it is time to fhut up, or pull down, the schools, thofe monuments of ignorance !* Diruit, ædificat.

The notes attached to fome excellent remarks on the Greek language are worthy of tranfcription: though we pledge not ourfelves to fupport the conclufion.

• When young men are fent to the university without having been well grounded in the rudiments of this various and extenfive language, it is feldom indeed that the industry of a college-tutor, if he will stoop from the higher departments of his office to this neceffary task, can produce the defired effect: for, whilst they have before their eyes fuch frequent and popular inftances of men admitted, first into the facred offices, and then into the best benefi ces, of the church, much more ignorant and unqualified than themfelves,

felves, the tutor may employ his labour and exhortation to little purpose: They will rely upon the intereft which will be made for them with the bishop; or, if they have not friends on whom they can ground this hope, they can, however, advance with confidence, encouraged by the band of Reverend Captains and others, who have fo fuccefsfully taken the field before them. And this indolence is confirmed by the cruel and mortifying reflection, that, whilst they behold these men feizing the first emoluments of the profeffion, they would be themselves deftined, without friends, to languish away their lives, with all the Greek of Cyril, upon a cure of 401. a year.

'These are evils, which have too long been a ftain upon the credit of the church of England, the fupport and glory of our conftitution, and which are not entirely removed. But, if too many of its clergy are deficient in this fundamental branch of theological learning, what are we to fay of that formal and pompous class of men, the Diffenting Minifters, who maintain, upon all occafions, the utmoft folemnity of profeffion, and, on all fubjects, the profoundest affectation of learning; whilft, the smell of Greek' has fcarcely paffed upon their garments :' Instead of wasting their time in breeding civil mutiny and fomenting diffenfion in the state, if thefe fuperficial and oftenfible, but induftrious, men would make the Greek grammar the subject of their labours, the nation might be more free from faction for fifteen years to come.'

In his review of bifhop Lowth's critique on the facred poetry of the Hebrews, Dr. Tatham difplays much judgment and acumen. Yet, though he bestows on its intention and compofition the most lavish encomiums, he cenfures it as reducing the divine writings to the ftandard of human judgment, and as a claffical rather than facred work. He contends that the fcriptures are above all canons of criticism, and muft be judged by laws peculiar to themselves, or rather by no laws at all; for reafon is exprefsly excluded from this province. The memory of the learned prelate, however Dr. Tatham may differ from him, is, in our opinion, rather indecoroufly treated by fuch expreffions as fanciful and fentimental criticism-vain and vifionary criticism founded on claffical and fentimental taste.-The prelections have furely their use and importance. It is one part of facred criticifm to difplay the external garb, or language of prophecy; and another, to illuftrate its internal or parabolic meaning.

The fourth fection contains a fund of instruction as to the mode of tranflating the fcriptures. In this employment, Dr. Tatham obferves, we are to hold in awful recollection, that the volume of infpiration is divine in its original, and myfterious in its form; and must be interpreted by rules different

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from

from all which direct the judgment in deciding on human compofitions. These rules he difcriminates according to the above favourite maxim; in which he finds himself supported as ufual by Bacon, but at variance with the elegant attempts of Caftalio and Lowth. Dr. Tatham admits that a new verfion, or rather revifion of the facred originals is, by means of the unavoidable difficulties under which the ingenious tranflators laboured, and of the numerous obfcurities which time has of neceffity induced on their labours, become very defirable. His language on this fubject is liberal and judicious,

One of the many bleffings which providence hath bestowed on this favoured country, in different periods of its hiftory, is the English Translation of the Bible appointed to be read in Churches, which for fome ages it has enjoyed: and, whilft gratitude compels us to put a high value upon a work by which our forefathers were inftructed to ferve their God, juftice will oblige us to think and to speak favourably of its intrinfic merit. They, to whofe learning and labour we are indebted for this translation, were men felected for the task by the difcernment of a pious and learned prince, endowed with every qualification of heart and understanding, and poffeffed of every advantage of learning and erudition. for the execution of the work, that the ftate of biblical knowledge, and the religious complexion of the times, afforded. They avail ed themfelves largely and judiciously of the learning and labours of former tranflators, both Latin and English and it may be confidered as an encomium adequate to the best efforts of human ability, if we fay, that, upon the whole, they excelled all that went before them. Their language is plain, nervous, and dignified; and, whatever the defects of this tranflation may be in other refpects, this in general will ever remain the object of our admiration and imitation.

After paying this tribute of praife, fo juftly due to our English verfion, truth obliges us to own, that the tranflators, however able, laboured under unavoidable difficulties and difadvantages, by which they were at that time obftructed in the execution; but which are now removed; and if, from the prefent improved and improving ftate of biblical learning, the change of circumftances in favour of the prefent age, and the affiftance of their excellent tranflation, we prefume that, as they improved upon their predeceffors, they may be improved upon in their turn, the prefumption, or at least the hope, will neither appear ungenerous towards them, nor unreafonable in itself.'

The first object of the translator is stated to be an accurate and perfect copy.

• Such a copy can only be obtained by a learned investigation,

and

and critical examinatton, of the most authentic monuments and authorities of the facred text, by an extenfive collation of ancient. manufcripts, and by the collateral elucidations of more ancient verfions made from manufcripts more perfect than any that now. exist.

The uncultivated ftate of biblical learning at the time, particularly grammatical, thwarted the fuccefs of our English trans lators; for want of which, they could not have recourse to fuch monuments and authorities in order to prepare a copy so correct-. ed and improved. Too confidently prepoffeffed in the genuinenefs of the Maforetic text, corrupted by the ignorance and inaccuracy of tranfcribers, and difguifed by the punctuations and finifter practices of the more modern Jews devoted to rabbinical prejudices which it was made to countenance, they tranflated from falfe and imperfect originals: and, however exact and fcrupulously faithful in rendering them word for word, by depending entirely upon them and neglecting more ancient and genuine authorities, their verfion must inevitably poffefs all their prejudices and defects. And by confulting modern lexicons too much, they misreprefented the meaning of many words.'

Attachment to sect and the love of fyftem, inflamed by habits of difputation and school-divinity, are alfo allowed to have confiderably biaffed their judgment.

To these radical and permanent causes of imperfection in the tranflators of the prefent verfion, another may be added, which is temporal and accidental. In the conftant flux of the English, as of every living tongue, fome of their words have loft their meaning and are become obfolete; others have changed it, and are now antiquated; and, in many places, the grammatical construction is aukward, and, in fome, confused.

From thefe caufes, and others that might be affigned, parti cularly the want of uniformity, without any difrefpect to the memory, or derogation from the acknowledged merit, of thefe very pious and learned men out of whose hands it came, we need not hefitate to pronounce, that, in our present tranflation, mistakes and imperfections were unavoidable.

With this fense of these numerous defects, and convinced, as every one must be, of the universal importance of the facred volume, and of the duty incumbent upon us to preferve the genuine meaning of every word which it contains; it would be almost as difgraceful to the improved learning and reformed religion of the prefent age, in which the remains of every claffical author are brought forward in elegant verfions, to fuffer the bible to remain under thefe imperfections of tranflation, as it was to that of ignorance and fuperftition which prohibited its being translated at all?

Our

Our author next furveys the different attempts on this important fubject, by Capellus, Houbigant, Lowth, Michaelis, Newcome, Blaney, Geddes, and Campbell. The three laft are ftated not to be perfectly agreed in fentiment on the juft and true method of fcriptural translation: but that from the liberal, friendly, and unaffuming spirit which they breathe towards each other, we may cherith a pregnant hope, that one uniform, rational, and judicious plan will be fettled, and invariably pursued.'

But to this purpose Dr. Tatham contends that the most reverential caution is neceffary.

• Prefuming that human judgment is at all times commensurate to a human compofition, the tranflator, if fitly qualified for his office, fits down to the task of rendering it in another language on terms of familiarity, and almost equality, with his author. That the new dress which he is making may fit with ease, and appear with the elegance to which he is intitled; that it may lose the ftiffness which the peculiarities of the original language would en tail upon it, he gives both the words and fentences fuch an idio, matical change, as will enable him to caft the fenfe freely in the mould of the translation, and to give it an air of originality. In fhort, he takes the thoughts of the author, and presents them in his own expreffion.

So far from prefuming that his judgment is equally commenfurate to a divine production, the judicious translator of the Holy Scriptures will fit down to the work impreffed with a sense of this awful truth, that "the thoughts of God are not as man's thoughts, nor his ways, or words, as thofe of men; that the matter of revelation is more the object of his faith than of his understanding; and that the manner is facred and frequently concealed. He will not therefore find himself upon the fame terms of eafe and familiarity with his author, nor represent his words and sentences with that freedom of change, which his own judgment might direct, his fancy fuggeft, or which he might think the genius and elegance of his language would require; conscious that, as they stand in the original, they might be intended to convey a meaning, which, by fuch change, might be loft or injured. He will, therefore, endea vour, firft, to find the true literal, and grammatical fense, and then content himself by making choice of fuch words and fentences as will, in the new language, most fully and literally exprefs it. In the propriety of this rule our tranflators feem agreed; though, from the difference of judgment in its execution, they vary in the practice of it.'

The topics of liberal and literal tranflation are next difcuffed at fome length; and the affinity is remarked, which fortu

nately