Mofes to Malachi, compared with the Acts of JESU's recorded in the New Tef tament, will irrefragably prove, that they have been altogether fulfilled in HIS perfon," and altogether in no other-when it shall please God, in his own good time, to remove "the veil" ftill caft over the Jewish and Chriftian Scriptures, by human traditions and human authority, blended heterogeneously with divine revelation. XV. Nor is Doctor Priestley's Creed implicitly or unanimoufly admitted to contain all the articles of Unitarian faith: and he is too ready to obtrude himself officioufly on the Public, as the unwarranted and unauthorized fponsor of the opinions of his brethren of the various Unitarian fects.-Listen to the following excellent ftrictures of the independent Wakefield, putting in his caveat against the rejection of Matthew's and Luke's Introductions: Enq. p. 47. -"Some, I know, have been difpofed to difpute the genuineness of this part of Matthew's Matthew's narrative; but upon no premifes, I think, that will warrant fuch a dangerous conclufion. The Ebionites, indeed, rejected the two first chapters of this Gofpel, because their notion of the human generation of Chrift could not otherwise be digested. St. Luke's account was equally incompatible with this scheme; and therefore, to avoid the appearance, I prefume, of too much fingularity and prejudice, they difavowed with confiftency enough all the three other Gospels." It will fuffice to obferve, that Hegifippus acknowledged thefe chapters to be genuine, (Iren. i. 26. Eufeb. E. H. III. 19, 20.)— that they are found in all the old [unmutilated] MSS. (1)—and are retained in the Syriac, Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Arabic and (In the Tranfactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Antiquities, vol. i. p. 121. is a curious and valuable Memoir, read Nov. 20, 1786.-on a newly discovered fragment of a most ancient manufcript of Matthew's Gofpel, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, written in round and fquare uncials, like the Alexandrian, Ephrem and Cambridge MSS, and moft fortu nately and Perfic verfions. They reft therefore upon the fame foundation as the other Scriptures, and fhould be regarded with equal respect, until better proof of their spuriousness can be produced. Surely we may now retort on the herefiarch his own pointed motto, addressed to his most intemperate difciple Evanson, whofe extravagance of Scepticism would, as he juftly remarks, cut up all hiftorical evidence both facred and profane by the roots nately fupplying deficiencies in them; efpecially the vifit of the Magi to Jerufalem. See the fac-fimile taken from Matt. ii. 15, 16.—where the permutation of the vowels and the diphthong a-as in "eveTexON" 66 for "evenaixen," is alfo cuftomary in the most ancient ενεπαίχθη, MSS. extant, and found likewife in one of the Corcyrian inscriptions. Vide Diarium Ital. p. 424. This precious fragment, which contains a confiderable part of Matthew's Gospel, was ordered by the College Board to be engraved, from the curious facfimile-furnished by the learned and lynx-eyed librarian Doctor Barret-who difcovered it, under written, under fome modern Creek MSS.--And furely, if of "the fixty-four pages" which he has decyphered, no lefs than fifty-nine contain parts entirely wanting in the roots with a flight interpolation, and Milton's tranflation thereof: Expende HANNIBALEM: quot libras in duce fummo Atqui vultus erat multa et præclara minantis- "On the other fide, up rofe Belial, in act more graceful and humane: XVI. I fhall close thefe curfory gleanings, with the last, and not least respectable on the German lift, the celebrated GRIES the Alexandrian," to withhold fuch a treasure from the literary world is utterly unpardonable; especially when the authenticity of Matthew's Introduction has been fo peremptorily impeached, and which this Manuscript goes fully to establish.—Unfortunately for the cause of literature in Ireland, the University has no fund appropriated to printing, as in Oxford and Cambridge.—But even this is no excuse for a delay of thirteen years!-Surely, if their finances will not afford the expence, it might, and I am persuaded would be, gladly fupplied by private fubfcription-even in IRELAND, where Sacred Literature, unpatronized and neglected, ftill languishes. BACH, BACH, to whofe valuable labours we owe a useful manual edition of the New Teftament, and an excellent felection of various readings, ingeniously appreciated by different figla, but fometimes unfortunately difgraced by hypercriticifm.-I fhall select one or two inftances of moft moment to the Chriftian faith. As the Evangelift John ftates the antecedent character of JESUS CHRIST, under the title of : 205@ THE ORACLE, by way of eminence, in his fublime Introduction, i. 1. whom he perfonifies as ὁ λογο το Θεό, THE ORACLE OF THE DEITY," Rev. xix. 13.—and expressly afferts, that eos voλo“ A GOD WAS nv THE ORACLE” (m) — where Priestley, betraying grofs ignorance of the Hebrew 66 66 Scriptures, (m) In that noble and copious language, the Greek, the definite and indefinite fignifications of words are critically diftinguished by the infertion or omiffion of the article "the," borrowed from the Hebrew "bua," as our English most probably from the emphatic "ath," which reverfed is plainly "the." 66 -Unfortunately that imperfect dialect, the Latin, taken |