impurity, and remorfe; nor pledge her hand where, though the must obey, she can neither love nor honour. All grofs moral errors are in the fame ftrong fenfe infuperable objections; and furely women never would knowingly venture on fuch partners, but from an expectation of their being able to reclaim them. Alas! how much does youthful vanity here overrate female power! The tubborn clay of man is never pliant but in early life; the forms of contention, and the preffure of business, give it an impenetrability which, however fuited to the rude buffets that it is defigned to endure, prevent its being made malleable by the foft ftrokes of feminine influence. Whatever itself "wills to do, feems," in its own eftimation, wifeft, virtuoufeft, dif creeteft, beft." If we attempt to remodel the lords of the crea tion, we must begin before they have difcarded that emblem of fubjection, a petticoat. "Infidelity is frequently coupled with licentious conduct; but fometimes it doffs its grofs affociates, and affects the dignity of moral virtue. The woman who regards der eternal interests, and thofe of her future offspring, will tremble at fubmitting to the fuperintendance of a man whofe dark and cheerless mind is unitlumined by vifions of a better world. Even if the had good grounds to rely on the virtue, tenderness, and generofity of fuch a partner (which I greatly doubt); even if the be previously af fured that he will never feek to unfettle her faith, to restrain her devout exercises, or to interfere with the religious education of his children; even if the know that he always will pay an out, ward refpect to faith and piety, and oftenfibly comply with its forms; though affured that no word will ever efcape him," which fhall betray his fecret contempt and incredulity (what impoffibi lities am I now admitting); if her fears are luled, can her af fection fleep can fhe be happy, while the views in her kind and faithful partner, her bofom-friend, the father of her children, the fource of all her earthly happiness, a rebel to his God, the self-devoted fon of perdition, from whom, after death, the muft hope to be eternally disjoined, and to whom she must wish annihilation as a bleffing? The text, that "the believing wife fanctifies the un believing husband," has no reference to the cafe that we are confidering, but to the early fituation of Chriftian converts, when baptif did not diffolve the bonds either of marriage or fervi tude, but the new members of the Christian church continued to dif, charge the obligations which they had contracted in'the'r Gentile ftate, and this with additional carneftnefs, as a proof of their obedience to their heavenly Mafter. When we thus pervert fcripture, to ftrengthen the temptations of avarice, ambition, fenfual attachment, or from any other finifter motive, we imitate the conduct of the Prince of Darknefs, who is never fo danger. cus to our fouls, as when he wields" the fword of the fpirit, :even even the word of God." Surely it is far better that "the "rofe fhould wither on the virgin thorn," than that its tender leaves fhould be defiled, and excoriated, by being bound up with the filthy briers of vice or infidelity. "Next to thefe dreadful affociates, let the candidate for the wreath of connubial happiness fteadily reject the offerings of infuperable folly. There is a ftrangely erroneous jumble of ideas. refpecting a fuppofed combination of docility, good-nature, and weakness of intellect, in the minds of fome people, who are deplorably ignorant of life and manners. Folly is always felfish and obftinate; and I take thefe to be the standard compofitions of ill-nature, not of amiability. Can narrowness of intellect be capable of thofe enlarged and difinterefted views which produce good-will to all mankind, which refine the tender attentions of love, and invigorate the indelible impreffions of friendship? Can the fool forget his own dear felf fo far as to be truly benevolent; can he learn self-denial; can he be convinced of his own infirmi. ties, and set about reforming them? If you answer in the affirm. ative, you prove him not to be a fool." Vol. iii. P. 111. The thirteenth letter communicates fome excellent remarks on the duty of mothers; the fourteenth is on the no lefs interefting fubject of our duty, that is the duty of females to fervants and inferiors; the fifteenth and conclud. ing difcuffes the duty of declining life and old age. Our opinion of the writer is certainly rather increased than diminished by this laft work. We however repeat our caution about her ftyle, and our hope that the praife the has defervedly obtained may not relax her exertions to deferve it. We could eafily juftify by numerous examples the flight cenfure, we have thought proper to intimate above. We fhall only cite two paffages; vol. 1, p. 13. we read thus, "While the fprightly fpinfter waits till the coquetifh wife difmifles her wearied Cecifbeo, to yawn out an unmeaning compliment to the immature attractions of nineteen, the muft confole her chagrin by refolving to take the first offer that the can meet with, provided the creature poffeffes the requifites of wealth and fashion to enable her to revenge her prefent wrongs on the pat generation of beauties, and in her turn to triumph over the fucceeding." After twice reading the aboye we confefs ourselves unable to comprehend its meaning. Again vol. 3. p. 200. "Let her not be too anxious to form an infant Crichton; fhe will act more wifely in proportioning the ftream of information to the capacity of the recipient, than by drowning the judgment through the flood-gates of memory. What is this but affectation? nevertheless with thefe and a few other exceptions, the prefent volumes will be ftandard books, as indeed they ought, in the clafs to which they properly belong. ART. III. The Book of the Prophet Ifaiah, in Hebrew and CHAP English, &c. &c. HAP. XXIII. 13. Dr. Stock: "Behold the land of the Chaldeans: -Even thefe have reduced her to a ruin." "This people was not till the Affyrian founded it, for them that dwelt in the wildernefs;and he brought it to ruin. Pub. verf. In the common tranflation the reader is led to imagine that the Affyrian reduced to ruin that which he founded; whereas the Prophet meant to tell us that a people then fo contemptible in their origin, and on whofe rife to notice among the nations the Affyrian monarch was the fupporter, were the inftruments of the defolation of Tyre. A fimilar phrafeology is employed by St. Peter:-" Which in time paft were not a people.” “Οι ποτὲ ἐ λαὸς. Οι ποτὲ ἐ λαός. 1 Pet. ii. 10, Chap. xxiv. 3, 4. "For Jehovah hath pronounced this word. Mourning, withering is the land, languifhing, withering is the world." Dr. Stock. "The earth mourneth and fadeth away; the world lan. guifheth and fadeth away." Pub. verf. We flop here only to mark the happy effect of observing the Hebrew arrangement, that there is a life and energy far furpaffing the common tranflation, which, being clogged by conjunctions unneceffarily fupplied, muft make the words move heavily." Mourning, withering is the land," &c. V. 10. "The city is broken down, a void." Dr. Stock. "The city of confufion is broken down.” 'Pub, vers. Our tranflators have followed the Maforetes, who have joined the words by the maceaph in this manner, inn-nup city of confufion. Inftead of city governing the word confufion, Dr. Stock underftands it as in appofition. "The city is broken down; become a chaos." V. 15: "Wherefore in the ifles glorify ye Jehovah, in the ifles of the fea.?' Dr. Stock. "Wherefore glorify the Lord in the fires." Pub. verf. Some have understood by sa, glorify Jehovah in those countries where Chriftianity is profeffed in its pureft form. In two MSS. of the Septuagint, it is read, v rais vous, "in the iflands;" from which it would feem that they had in their Hebrew copy " Beiim. Chap. xxv. 8. "He fhall deftroy death for ever," Dr. Stock. "He shall swallow up death in victory." Pub. verf. We conceive that the prophet of exprefs purpose employed a rather than 78, the firft fignifying deglutire, the fecond, perdere; becaufe death feemed to be that monfter which still wallowed up, through every age, the children of Adam, devouring, as Young expreffes it, his thoufands at a meal." This fenfe the Apoftle Paul has expreffed, Karzólni Oávatos eis vixos. Corinth. xv, 54. Chap. xxvi. 13, 14. "O Jehovah, our God, other Lords have ruled over us befide thee. "They are dead, they fhall not live; deceafed, they fhall not rife." Dr. Stock. The Pub. verfion is nearly the fame. To the English reader, dead and deceafed mark no difference of meaning, but not fo, to a Hebrew, the two words Rephaim and Methim. This refers to the body, that to the foul. The Adonim that the prophet here complains of, were not those who had at any time exercifed over them any temporal domination, but the idol gods of the nations, who were once mortals, but now by fuperftition deified. The worfhip of these had, by Ahaz, in oppofition to the pious part of the Jews, been introduced into the land of Judah. unlike to the true God, the prophet pronounces they are dead. Such vicious characters, that he lays they are rephaim, reprobate; they fhall not rife. This laft expreffion feems to deny the refurrection of the wicked, although the contrary is expressly affirmed, Dan. xii. 2. But the verb p Kum, fignifies not only to rife, but to ftand with approbation; and fo it is rendered in Pfal. i. The ungodly fhall not So fland ftand in the judgment." p Lo Jekamu. So the word ought to have been rendered here, and then the amount would have been, that although raifed, they were never, 23 being rephaim, to lift up their heads in expectation of any redemption. V. 19. "Thy deceased fhall live; my dead bodies shall arife." Dr. Stock. "Thy dead men fhall live; together with my dead body shall they arife." Pub. verf. Buxtorf, along with our tranflators, underftands na in the fingular. My dead body. Admitting it to be in the plural, yet being feminine, it cannot be nominative to the verb pp Jekamun, which is mafculine. Chap. xxvii. 6. "The days are coming when Jacob shall take root; when Ifrael fhall bloffom and bud." Dr. Stock. "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root. Ifrael fhall bloffom and bud." Pub. verf. The common verfion is uncommonly harfh. It views the participle Dan Habboim, as in the conftructed state with Jacob, and yet preferving the abfolute form. Amidft the exifting difficulty, the emendation of both prelates is excellent. Dr. Stock fuppofes, that to Habboim," coming," days has been formerly joined, but now loft. Dr. Lowth adopts the Syriac lection, which has read wwn from the root; he takes the 1 from the front of p and joins it to the end of the preceding verb, in this way, w which then becomes a plural, and affumes habboim as its nominative. "They who fpring from the root of Jacob fhall bloffom," &c. Chap. xxviii. 4. Even the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim-fhall be as the early fig before fummer, which he eyeth whoever feeth it." Dr. Stock. -"Which, when he that looketh upon it feeth it." Pub. verf. Dr. Lowth adopts the ingenious emendation of Houbigant, which confifts merely in the tranfpofition of a letter, reading As he shall pluck, inftead of as he fhall fee. Which we prefer to the prefent reading. Chap. xxix. 13. "And their fear toward me is a leffon taught by the precepts of men." Dr. Stock. Similar to this is the public version.-Instead of the feventy appear to have read in Vatohu, which they render ns, taking the infinitive alfo as a fubftantive, μάτην. |