Hebrew fcriptures that are written in verfe, from thofe that are written in profe. The firft and principal of thefe, is the correfpondence of one verfe, or line, with another, which he calls parallelifm. When a propofition is delivered, and a fecond is fubjoined to it, or drawn under it, equivalent, or contrafted with it, in fenfe, or fimilar to it in the form of grammatical conftruction, thefe he calls parallel lines, and the words or phrafes anfwering one to another in the correfponding lines, parallel terms. Parallel lines he reduces to three forts parallels fynonymous, parallels antithetic, and parallels fynthetic. Of each of these he gives a variety of examples, in order to thew the various forms, under which they appear: firft from the books universally acknowledged to be poetical; then correspondent examples from the prophet Ifaiah; and fometimes alfo from the other prophets; to fhew, that the form and character of the compofition is in all the fame. First, of parallel lines fynonymous: that is, which correfpond one to another by expreffing the fame fenfe in different but equivalent terms. As in the following examples: • O-Jehovah, in thy - ftrength the king fhall-rejoice; And-in-thy falvation how greatly fhall-heexult! The-defire of-his-heart thou-haft-granted unto him; And the-request of-his-lips thou-baft-notdenied. Pf. xxi. Becaufe I-called, and-ye-refufed;. I - ftretched - cut my hand, and-no-one Ifa. lv. 6. The author produces many other examples, from the prophets, in which, he obferves, the parallel lines fometimes confift of three or more fynonymous terms; fometimes of two; which is generally the cafe, when the verb, or the nominative case of the first sentence is to be carried on to the fecond, or understood there; and sometimes of one only. The terms in English, confifting of feveral words, are hitherto diftinguifhed by marks of connection; to fhew, that they answer to fingle words in Hebrew. Sometimes, he obferves, the lines confift, each of double members, or two propofitions. 'Bow thy heaven, O Jehovah, and defcend; Touch the mountains, and they fhall fmoke,' &c. Pf. cxiv. 5. And they fhall build houses, and shall inhabit them; And they fhall plant vineyards, and shall eat the fruit thereof, &c.' Ifa. Ixv. 21. Sometimes they are formed by a repetition of part of the firft fen tence. The lofty city, he hath brought her down: There are parallel triplets, when three lines correfpond together, and form a kind of stanza; of which however only two commonly are fynonymous. • The be hungry; And he shall devour on the left, and not be fatisfied; Every man fhall devour the flesh of his neighbour.' Ifa. ix. 20. There are likewife parallels confifting of four lines: two diftichs being fo connected together by the fenfe and the conftruction, as to make one fianza. Such is the form of the thirty-feventh Pfalm, which is evidently laid out by the initial letters in stanzas of four lines. Be not moved with indignation against the evil doers; Nor with zeal against the workers of ini- For like the grafs they fhall foon be cut off; The ox knoweth his poffeffor; In ftanzas of four lines fometimes the parallel lines anfwer to one another alternately; the first to the third, and the fecond to the fourth: As the heavens are high above the earth; So high is his goodness over them that fear him: As remote as the eaft is from the weft; So far hath he removed from us our A wife fon rejoiceth his father: sher.' Prov. X. I. Where every word hath its oppofite for the terms father and nother are, as the logicians fay, relatively oppofite. 'The memory of the juft is a blessing; But the name of the wicked shall rot." Prov. x. 7. Here are only two antithetic terms: for memory and name are synonymous. There is that fcattereth, and ftill encreafeth; And that is unreasonably sparing, yet groweth poor.' Prov. xi. 24. Here is a kind of double antithesis; one between the two lines themfelves, and likewife a fubordinate oppofition between the two parts of each. This form, he obferves, is peculiarly adapted to adages, aphorifms, and detached fentences, and that we are not therefore to expect frequent inftances of it in the other poems of the Old Testament; especially thofe that are elevated in the tyle, and more connected in adds a few examples from the higher the parts. The author however poetry. Thefe in chariots, and thofe in horfes; But we in the name of Jehovah our God will be strong. They are bowed down, and fallen; The bricks are fallen, but we will build replace them with cedars. Ifa. ix. 10. The third fort of parallels the author calls fynthetic, or conitructive, where the parallelifm confifts only in the fimilar form of construction: in which word does not anfwer to word, and fentence to fentence, as equivalent or oppofite; but there is a correspondence and equality between iffe est propofitions in respect of the thape and turn turn of the whole fentence, and of the conftructive parts; fuch asnoun anfwering to noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative to negative, interrogative to interrogative. is not often to be met with. The poem of Job, being on a large plan, and in a high tragic. ftyle, though very exact in the divifion of the lines, and in the parallelism, and affording many fine examples of the fynonymous kind, yet confifts chiefly of the conftructive. A happy mixture of the feveral forts Pf. cxlviii. 7. gives an agreeable variety; and they ferve mutually to recommend and fet off one another." • Praise ye Jehovah, ye of the earth; Ye fea-monsters, and all deeps: Fire and hail, fnow and vapour, &c. Is fuch then the faft which I choose? That a man fhould afflict his foul for a day? Is it, that he fhould bow down his head like a bulrush; He next confiders the diftin&tion of Hebrew verfes into longer and And fpread fackcloth and afhes for his fhorter, founded alfo on the aucouch, &c. Ija. lviii. 5, 6. In thefe inftances it is to be obferved, that though there are perhaps no two lines correfponding one with another as equivalent or oppofite in terms; yet there is a parallelifm equally apparent, and almost as ftriking, which arifes from the fimilar form and equality of the lines, from the correfpondence of the members and the construction; the confequence of which is a harmony and rhythm little inferior in effect to that of the two kinds preceding. "Of the three different forts of parallels, as above explained, every one hath its peculiar character and proper effect and therefore they are differently employed on different occafions . . . Synonymous parallels have the appearance of art and concinnity, and a ftudied elegance. They prevail chiefly in fhorter poems; in many of the Pfalms; in Balaam's prophecies; frequently in thofe of Ifaiah, which are most of them diftinct poems of no great length. The antithetic parallelifm gives an acuteness and force to adages and moral fentences; and therefore abounds in Solomon's proverbs, and elsewhere thority of the alphabetic poems; one third of the whole number being manifeftly of the larger fort of verfe, the rest of the shorter. He does not attempt exactly to define, by the number of fyllables, the limit which feparates one fort of verfe from the other; all that he affirms is this; that one of the three poems perfectly alphabetical, and therefore infallibly divided into its verfes; and three of the nine other alphabetical poems, divided into their verfes, after the manner of the perfectly alphabetical, with the greatest degree of probability; that these four poems, being the four first Lamentations of Jeremiah, fall into verfes about one third longer, taking them one with another, than thofe of the other eight alphabetical poems.Example of thefe long verfes from a poem perfectly alphabetical: I am the man, that hath feen affliction, by the rod of his anger: He hath led me, and made me walk in darkness, and not in light.' &c. Examples of the fame fort of verfe, where the limits of the verses are to be collected only from the poetical construction of the fen tences: The The law of Jehovah is perfect, reftor- The teftimony of Jehovah is fure, making even false idea of the real character of the author, as a writer; of the general nature and of the peculiar form of the composition? He next proves, in a number of examples, that this attention ta the peculiar turn and caft of the original, may be of ftill greater use to the interpreter, by leading him into the meaning of obfcure words and phrafes, and by fuggefting the true reading where the text is corrupted. With regard to the fidelity of the tranflation now offered to the public, the excellent author has entered very largely into the principles of criticism, and the method of interpretation, on which he has proceeded. It would be impoffible to do juftice to this part of his differtation without transcribing the whole; we fhall therefore content ourselves with faying, that the princir objects of his invaluable obfer ons are, the Maforetic ion, the ftate of the Hetext, and the ancient verfions Flatnefs, he obferves, and infipidity, will generally be the confequences of a deviation from the native manner of an original, which has a real merit and a peculiar force of its own. To exprefs therefore the form and fashion of the compofition becomes as neceffary in a tranflation, as to give the author's sense with fidelity and exactness: but with what fuccefs can this be attempted, when the tranflator himself has an inadequate or of the Old Teftament, 1 *The article from our very refpectable correfpondent at Liverpool, was, by fome accident, miflaid; but fhall be inferted in the next volume. VOL. XXII. THE THE CONTENT S. HISTORY OF EUROPE. CHA P. I. Retrospective view of American affairs in the year 1778. Expedition to Bedford, Fair Haven; and to Martha's Vineyard. Admiral Montague difpoffeffes the French of the islands of St. Pierre, and Miquelon, Lord Cornwallis, and Gen. Knyphaufen, advance into the enemy's country, ex both fides of the North River. Surprize of Baylor's light borf. Success of the expedition to Egg Harbour. Surprize of Pulafki's legion. Cruel depredations by Butler, Brandt, and the javages, on the back frontiers. Defiruction of the new fettlement at Wyoming, attended with circumftances of fingular cruelty and barbarity. Col. Clarke's expedition from Virginia, for the reduction of the Canadian towns and fettlements in the Illinois country. Confequences of Clarke's fuccefs. Expedition from Schoharit to the Upper Susquehanna. Destruction of the Unadilla and Anaquago fettlements. P. [1 Review of conciliatory measures pursued by the commiffioners for reftoring peace in America. Attempt to open and smooth the way to a negociation by private communications and correfpondence, fails in the effect, and is highly refented by the Congress. Refolutions by that body against holding any communication or intercourfe with one of the commiffioners. Gentleman in question declines acting any longer in the commiffion, and publishes a declaration in anfwer to the Congrefs. Declaration from the remaining commiffioners in answer to that body. Final manifefto and proclamation by |