Hitherto I had been a self-righteous Pharisee in my own esti mation, but now it pleased God to take at once every plea of merit from me, by convincing me of this one single sin. Now I found the truth of those words, "A wounded spirit who can bear?"

The next chapter relates the time and place at which he embraced the Christian religion, and gives an account of his being apprenticed to a shoe-maker. We must pass over his difficulties and hardships in this situation, to relate in his own words the particulars of his baptism, and of his obtaining an addition to his name:

any,

On the 8th of May, 1798, I was baptized publicly, and received as a member of the church. It has always been the custom, that at the baptism of a Jew some respectable persons should stand godfathers, who make him many presents; but I refused to receive as another proof that I did not embrace Christianity for the sake of worldly gain. It is also a practice in Germany, and which has been of long standing, for a converted Jew to receive new names when baptized; therefore, upon this occasion, the minister having preached from John, viii. 32. 36. " And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed," he gave me for a new sirname Frey, which signifies the same as free in English, but in the German language it is pronounced like Fry. Many in this country, attending

name,

more to the signification than to the spelling of my to my ce

former

it generally as if written Free. He likewise added name of Joseph Samuel, the names of Christian Frederick, the former expressive of the religion I embraced, the latter of his good wishes, namely, that I might be rich in peace."

Without detailing those occurrences in Germany which are mentioned as contributing to Mr. Frey's farther acquaintance with Divine truth, it will be sufficient briefly to state that, in consequence of his Christian connections, he was recommended to the Missionary Society at Berlin; that, after some education designed to qualify him for the office of a missionary, he was sent in 1801, with two others, to England, for the purpose of proceeding to join the venerable Dr. Vander Kemp, at the Cape of Good Hope; that he was detained in this country as a person singularly fitted to promote the conversion of the Jews; and that his labours, though not crowned with the desired success, have not been wholly in vain.

Of the long address to Christians in behalf of the Jews, with which this little pamphlet concludes, we shall take no other notice than to remark that, as Mr. Frey owns himself (see p. 79.) to be well acquainted with the peculiar objections of the Jews against the Christian religion,' we lament that he has not chosen particularly to combat them, rather than to amuse us by the vague and unmeaning assertion that the

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Jews

Jews believe in the transmigration of the soul, as efficacious to procure pardon and reconciliation for sin.' In short, we must earnestly advise a recomposition of the whole of Mr. F.'s nar rative, for the express purpose of giving his controversy with his brethren a more argumentative form, and in order to render it a publication which the rational part of the Christian world may peruse with satisfaction. We pass now to a work which will contribute more to Mr. Frey's literary reputation.

A Hebrew Grammar, in the English Language, by Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey, Editor of Vander Hooght's Hebrew Bible. 8vo. PP. 192. Ios. 6d. Boards. Gale and Co.

EVERY person, who is desirous of obtaining a knowlege of the

Old Testament, must thankfully receive a Hebrew Grammar published by one who has been educated as a Jew: because such a person can ascertain two very important circumstances, of which Christian divines are generally ignorant; viz. in what way the Rabbis teach the language of their sacred books to their youth, and, in the next place, how they pronounce it. Those who, with Mascleff, Parkhurst, and others, reject the vowel-points, will perhaps demur to being put into Jewish leading-strings: but it is to be considered, on the other hand, that, as a dead language, the Hebrew cannot be read without the vowel-points; and that, for instance, no good authority can be adduced for pronouncing the common name for God Aleim, instead of Elohim, for which the enemies of the points contend. To the anti-punctuists, Mr. Frey addresses himself in his preface; and it is reasonable to suppose that the Jews are best acquainted with the legitimate pronunciation of their own language. At all events, it is worth our while to ascertain how they pronounce it; because, if we are to quote Hebrew in conversation with the Jews, we should be able to pronounce it so as not to disgust them.

To promote a general acquaintance with the Old Testament, in the original tongue, is the object of the present work; which, we are informed, was originally composed for the instruction of the students of the Rev. D. Bogue's Missionary Seminary at Gosport, to which Mr. Frey was sent soon after his arrival in England, in order to be qualified for preaching to his brethren of the circumcision in the metropolis. It is

now

now revised and enlarged; and Mr. F.'s object has also been to render it simple and yet comprehensive.

From the office of Hebrew teacher, which the author sustained amongst his own nation, and from the numerous pupils he has since had amongst Christians, he has had opportunities of trying and altering the rules as long as the pupils met with any difficulty, and he humbly hopes he has, in some measure, succeeded in opening a way to obtain the knowledge of this most ancient and sacred language, in less time, and with far less difficulty and perplexity than any other language, whether ancient or modern. This Grammar is divided into distinct chapters, and each chapter followed by exercises according to the preceding rules, that practice and theory might go hand in hand. And to make the student perfect in the right pronunciation of the language, the author has given the pronunciation of the Hebrew words in English throughout the work.'

As in the common grammars, the power of the Hebrew letters is here shewn by corresponding Roman letters: but Aleph and Ayin Mr. Frey has not attempted to express by these means. The pronunciation of the sacred tetragrammaton

3.

is thus exhibited, Ye-ho-wah.' In other grammars, the Tseri or Tzai-ray () is directed to be sounded as the Greek η, but Mr. Frey sounds it ay, as in the word bay. It is an excellence of the present Grammar that the Hebrew words, expressive of the different parts of the language, are given in English but the meaning of these terms, as in Bythner's and other grammars, should also be subjoined. In chap. ii. § we have Da-gesh, which gives us sound without sense*. Bythner adds that Dagesh comes from a Chaldee word which signifies to puncture, or is a point in the body of a letter; and in this way the sense of every term, when it first occurs, should be explained. Buxtorf, in his Thesaurus Grammaticus, gives three modes of writing Hebrew; the first is the Biblical; the second, that which is adopted by the Spanish and Italian Jews; and the third, that which is in use among the German Jews. As Mr. Frey was born in Germany, we should have supposed that he would have afforded a specimen of the German Hebrew characters. The tables of Accents and Particles are very complete; and the Reading Lessons in Exercise ix. will shew how differently Hebrew is read by Jewish and by Christian scholars.+ According

*We observe that Mr. F. is not uniform in giving the sound of Hebrew words; for he calls the or long a, in his first account of the vowel-points, Ka-maitz, but at p. 27. he writes the word in the usual way Kametz.

+We transcribe three different modes of reading the first verse of the book of Genesis. The first is taken from Origen's Hexapla,

According to Bythner, the litera Heemanti (expressed by this vocabulum artis) are : but Mr. Frey increases them by the addition of a 1, terming them the Heemantiv letters.

At p. 31., speaking of nouns so related to each other as to require the preposition of between them, Mr. Frey points out the peculiarity of the Hebrew language in this particular, by observing that the former is governed and undergoes a change; and he then adds, these nouns are said to be in regimine, or contracted? but should he not have said in construction, or in statu constructo? It is true that he gives instances of contraction when nouns are in regimine: but the rule of regimen expresses the relation of these nouns to each other, or their being constructed or framed together.

In the chapter intitled, y Po-ail, or the Verb, Mr. Frey differs from all the grammarians by remarking that in the Hebrew language, correctly speaking, is but one conjugation, called Binyan: but this simplicity disappears when he adds that this one conjugation has seven significations, which are distinguished from each other by different names and characteristic marks that is to say, the student has seven different formulæ to learn in the conjugation of Hebrew verbs. The Pa-al or Kal, Pi-ail, and Hiphil, are active; Niph-al, Pu-al, and Hoph-al, are passive; and Hith-pa-ail is both active and passive. On this ground, Mr. F. disputes the propriety of calling these seven modes of forming the Hebrew verbs, Conjugations; no one,' says he, ever supposed that Amo and Amor are different conjugations, why then should the active and passive in Hebrew be styled so? We should have plea sure in this refinement, if it could shorten the labour or relieve the memory of the scholar. The directions for the formation of verbs through all their voices, modes, and tenses, are minutely given; and this part of the Grammar manifests the author's critical acquaintance with the language which he professes to teach.-In short, though we would not recommend this as superseding the use of other grammars, especially to the classical scholar, but would rather advise it to be compared with the best of those that are written in Latin, yet we must

by Montfaucon, in which the Hebrew is expressed in Greek letters; the second is from Parkhurst's Grammar prefixed to his Lexicon ; and the third from Mr. Frey's Grammar, Exercise ix.

1. Βρησιθ Βαρα ελωειμ εθ ασαμαιμ કદી καρες.

2. Berasit bera aleim at esamim uat earj.

3. Be-rai-shith ba-ra E-lo-him aith hash-sha-ma-yim we-aith ha-a

retz.

14

remark

remark that Mr. Frey's mode of teaching the Hebrew is very masterly; that it is singularly calculated to facilitate the student's intimate knowlege of that language; and that it makes us acquainted with the process adopted by the Rabbis in the education of Jewish youth.-The Hebrew Psalter, or Book of Psalms, called 'n 90, or Book of Praises, is subjoined to this Grammar, which considerably augments its value.

Mr. Frey has advertised a series of Hebrew Exercises, which will form an useful supplement to his Grammar; and we advise him to mark, in a subsequent edition, the places from which he has taken the several lessons and exercises given in his Grammar.

ART. XI. A Hebrew, Latin, and English Dictionary; containing I. all the Hebrew and Chaldee Words used in the Old Testament, including the proper Names, arranged under one Alphabet, with the Derivatives referred to their proper Roots, and the Significa tion, in Latin and English, according to the best Authorities. 2. The principal Words in the Latin and English Languages, with those which correspond to them in Hebrew. By Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey. Parts I. and II. 8vo. 8s. each, common Paper, and 128. each on Royal Paper, to Subscribers. Gale Land Co. &c.

N° o doubt can be entertained of the utility of such a work as this to the Hebrew student, if duly executed; and we are obliged to Mr. Frey for the attempt which he has made: but we must take the liberty of saying that we wish it had been more complete; and we trust that he will not be offended if we suggest a hint or two for his direction in this respect. We are aware of the value of a vocabulary which contains every word that occurs in the Hebrew Bible, with its root placed in an adjoining column: but it is desirable at the same time to have a reference to the book, chapter, and verse in which each word in question is to be found. It may not be necessary, in words of frequent use, to specify every text: but, when words occur only once, twice, or thrice, this is a circumstance which ought to be noticed. It would also greatly augment the utility of this Dictionary, if the words in the Greek Septuagint, corresponding to those of the Hebrew, were given in the third column, with the Latin version. The author is in a degree justified when he remarks that some dictionaries contain so much superfluous criticism, that, in seeking for the meaning of a word, the student is frequently bewildered in a maze of extraneous matter but we must observe that, in the present instance, the compiler has erred in the opposite extreme; and that his Dictionary, or rather Vocabulary, is too meagre, and, for

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want