"Oh!" sternutavit miles, "talem pugnam minus amo; Accepit draco militem egressum jam e claustro SELECTED POETRY. THE BATTLES OF TALAVERA. We present our readers with the following extracts from a recent poem, entitled the Battles of Talavera, written with much spirit, in the manner of Walter Scott. It opens with the following stanza, admirably descriptive of the repose of the three armies on the night previous to the battle. "Twas dark; from every mountain head The sunny smile of heaven had fled, And evening, over hill and dale Dropt, with the dew, her shadowy veil ; In fabled Tajo's darkening tide Was quenched the golden ray; And wearied all, and none elate, France, every nation's foe, is there, The onset of the Gallick army is described with much spirit. And is it now a goodly sight, Or dreadful to behold, The pomp of that approaching fight, And gleaming blades and bayonets bright, And warrior bands of many a hue, While cymbal clang and trumpet strain, And trampling squadrons beat the plain, As if the thunder rolled. In the description of the engagement, the following lines have peculiar merit, as detailing the horrour and uncertainty of a midnight conflict. 6 Darkling they fight, and only know If chance has sped the fatal blow, Or, by the trodden corse below, Or by the dying groan : Furious they strike without a mark, Save now and then the sulphureous spark That with the flash is gone! A circumstance which added new terrours to the most formidable of national calamities, is admirably described in the following extract, with which we close, hoping we shall ere long see an American edition of a poem, which would not discredit the reputation even of the author of Marmion. And sweeping turbid down the breeze And climb the dry and withered trees Oh! 'twas a scene sublime and dire, And from the mountain's height, Burghers and peasants in amaze Behold their groves and vineyards blaze! Are wafted on the dismal breeze Groans, not the wounded's lingering groan. Of terrour, torture, and despair, When to the very field of fight, The conflagration spread, Involving in its fiery wave, The brave and reliques of the brave The dying and the dead! FEB. Librum tuum legi, et quam diligentissime potui annotavi quae commutanda, quae eximenda arbitrarer. Nam ego dicere verum assuevi. Neque ulli patientius reprehenduntur, quam qui maxime laudari merentur. Plin. ARTICLE 18. Ἡ Καινη Διαθηκη-Novum Testamentum Graece, ex recensione Jo. Jac. Griesbachii, cum Selecta Lectionum Varietate. Lipsiae, G. J. Göschen. 1805. Cantabrigiae Novanglorum. 1809. Typis Academicis; Sumtibus W. Wells and W. Hilliard. pp. 615, 8vo. & 8vo. maj. The New Testament, in an Improved Version, upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation, with a corrected Text, and Notes, Critical and Explanatory, &c. &c. From the London edition. Boston, 1809. pp. 612. 8vo. Review of the Improved Version. From the Eclectick Review. Boston, published by W. Wells. 1810. pp. 55. 8vo. We take up these three articles together, not because there is any indispensable necessity of considering them at the same time, but only because they are so intimately connected, that in our review of one we shall find it convenient to make frequent references to the others. We consider the republication of this edition of Griesbach's Greek Testament at the University press, as an event not only important to the theological learning of the country, but infinitely honourable to the institution which patronized, to the publisher who undertook, and to those scholars who suggested or promoted, or superintended the publication. It is an honour to have taken the lead of Great Britain in a measure so interesting to the religious and literary world, by sending forth from an American press the first edition of Griesbach. If there is any clergyman, scholar, or christian among us who has yet to learn in what consists the superiority of Griesbach's text to that commonly received, we must refer him for complete satisfaction to the Prolegomena to the large critical edition.* A concise view of the subject may be obtained from some communications formerly made to this work,f and a very just idea of the value and importance of Griesbach's text is given in the learned Review of the Improved Version which has been republished here from the Eclectick. The following extracts from this pamphlet may satisfy for the present those who are in the habit of yielding only to a certain kind of authority. Page 22. "The Greek text of Griesbach's last edition has a just title, above every other yet published, to be received as a standard text." Page 23. "We hazard nothing in saying that the venerable professor has achieved that honourable and necessary work which has been for ages wanted, of liberating the sacred text of the New Testament from unauthorized intrusions and alterations; and that he has exhibited it in a state so nearly approaching to its original and native form, as to exclude all probable expectation of any material improvement from future collections and critical labours." Page 20. "In a word, we do not hesitate to say, that no man, in the present day, can justify himself to his conscience or to the publick, as a satisfactory interpreter of the scriptures, and a competent defender of christian truth, who does not, if he has it in his power, regularly consult Mill, Wetstein, and Griesbach, or at any rate one of the latter two." The nature and peculiar merit of the edition before us, which was superintended by Griesbach himself, cannot be more clearly stated than in his own words, which we shall translate from the short Latin preface which he has prefixed. 66 My second edition of the New Testament, which exhibits the text revised and amended by my latest labours, consists of two very thick volumes, and therefore seems less adapted to the use of young men in their academical studies, and in their attendance on the lectures of professors. Besides, many learned men had expressed a wish to have an edition of the text as by me constituted, which might be portable and convenient for daily use, and have urged me to undertake an edi * Second edition, printed at Halle. † Anth. vol. v. p. 18. lb. Oct. Nov. and Dec. 1808. |