lament any discouragements that are thrown in the way of learning, as none can feel them more than some of us, yet we must confess that on this head we see no cause for much regret. How the Hebrew language can be considered, either by the learned or the unlearned, as an almost unattainable science, when so many worthy tailors, shoemakers, &c. of the Methodist persuasion, attain to great proficiency in it merely by the employment of their vacant hours, is not easy to be conceived. In truth, it is so easily attainable, that, at the expence of a couple of shillings for a Schickard's Horologium Hebræum, or a Buxtorf's Grammar, a man may, in a short time, make a great figure from the press as a profound Hebrew scholar, and talk as piously of the difficulties and mysteries of the language as the veriest adept. In the six or eight weeks during which he has been acquiring this accomplishment, he must naturally either maintain or reject the utility of the masoretic points; let him now collect all the arguments that have been advanced pro and con, with ample quotations from the writers on both sides of the question, making a great stir about Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Solomon Ben Yarchi, (whom he will call R. Schelomoh,) and Rambam, which, he will gravely say, when divested of its mysterious contraction, implies Rabbi Mosheh Ben Maimon, vulgarly called Maimonides; let him, lastly, maintain with vehemence the opinion which he has adopted, and treat with contempt the reasons adduced on the other side as absolutely futile and vain, and then his fame, as a great Hebrew critic, will be established, yy, for ever and ever. Like the famous Dr. Bragg, he will be able to draw a solemn mystery from every patch in Joseph's coat, and shew the doctrine of the ever-blessed and undivided Trinity in every occurrence of the number three, from Moses to Malachi !—Mr. Benjoin's elucidation of the word Jehovah, and many other particulars, are noble specimens of what may be performed in this way. We next come to an historical account of the Hebrew language;' which might almost as properly have been called by any other name, as there is very little if any thing about the Hebrew language in it. To this succeeds a translation from Maimonides, of A copious description of such Hebrew manuscripts, as are written according to the rules of Ezra,' making not fewer than 33 pages of directions for writing, mostly. of similar importance with the following: Not one letter is to be written without its being first pronounced by the writer. The writer must not speak to any one while he is writing. Then Then follows A new plan for a correct translation of the Old Testament;' in which the author proposes that fellows of colleges, who have made themselves capable of being translators, shall either be immediately honoured with a doctor's degree, or indulged with leave of marrying without forfeiting their fellowships. Next comes A dissertation on the book of Jonah;' in which nothing is proved; and then the 'translation itself, amply displayed, only one verse to a page, but in which, we will venture to advance, no reader of taste will perceive, on the whole, any material improvement on the version at present eceived. For a specimen, we copy v. 4, 5, 6, and 7, of chap. I. both of the new translation' and the old version.' NEW TRANSLATION. Chap. i. v. 4. Then the Lord spread a high wind over the sea, and there was a great tempest in the sea; and the ship appeared as if it had been breaking. 5. And the mariners being frightened, cried every one to his god; and they threw on the sea the vessels that were in the ship to be unburthened of them: while Jonah, who had descended and laid himself down in one of the corners of the ship, was fallen asleep. 6. And the master of the vessel approached him, and said to him What ails thee? sleeping! Arise; call thou unto thy God: perhaps THE LORD will have compassion upon us, and then we shall not perish. 7. But the mariners said one to another, Let us go and cast lots, and we shall know who has brought this evil upon us. So they cast lots, and THE LOT repeatedly fell upon Jonah.' OLD VERSION. 4. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay and was fast asleep. 6. So the ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us, So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.' The rest of the book is occupied by notes on Jonah; an extract of the verbs occurring in that book, and a chronological abstract of kings, priests, prophets, and rabbies. The style of the work is throughout incorrect: but for this imperfection, as we have already noted, an apology is made by the author. ART. ART. VIII. Supplement to the Anecdotes of some distinguished Persons, chiefly of the present and two preceding Centuries. 8vo. pp. 300. 5s. Boards. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1797. 7E must confess that, when we saw this additional volume advertised, we were somewhat alarmed for the reputation of the compiler. We much doubted whether, with all his diligence and good taste in selection, it was possible to keep alive the interest which the former volumes had excited: but, instead of the gleanings, this supplement seems to contain the best grain in the fields of literature in which he had been reaping; or, to have recourse to another homely metaphor, it seems as if the richest cream had been reserved, pour faire bonne bouche. There is one estimable peculiarity in these Anecdotes, which distinguishes them from the generality of those that have been published by preceding compilers: for such only have been chosen as display the virtues, abilities, talents, and goodness of heart, of illustrious men; no recourse having been had to their follies, vices, or infirmities, to render the book more piquant and amusing:-such anecdotes of Great Men only tend to reconcile the Little to their own defects, and, perhaps, to point out new roads to corruption and depravity. We have met with only two instances in which this judicious compiler seems off his guard, in speaking of illustrious men. Sir Isaac Newton's character had come down to this present period so pure, clear, and unclouded by human imperfections, that a story little known, and not well authenticated, of his wish to increase his property,-not indeed either by pillage, extortion, or fraudulent means, but by a plausible scheme of commerce, which had deceived the Parliament, and the most honest and artless individuals in the nation,-might have been spared; or the fact should have been ascribed to that abstraction from the common concerns of this little world, which all his biographers record, by his elevation of mind to objects infinitely more important in the system of the universe.-The next instance of seeming unfairness, or inadvertence, occurs in speaking of the admirable Fontenelle, p. 253; where, after having said most truly that Fontenelle's dramas are very elegant in their style and in their thinking;' and that his Eloges are excellent;'-the editor adds that his other works are of no great value:'-we would remind him of La Pluralité des Mondes, and Dialogues des Morts. This volume, however, abounds with so many curious, amusing, and, we may add, instructive anecdotes, that we know not where to begin to commend; nor, had we room for much quotation, should we know to what articles to give the preference: preference: but we cannot help specifying those of the Cardinal de Brienne, the present venerable Dean of Gloucester, Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Hunter, Boerhaave, Montesquieu, and Nicolas Poussin. Having room for only one article, we shall take our leave of this agreeable work by inserting from it that which concerns the celebrated painter, Nicolas Poussin; as there is annexed to it a glowing note, containing a just tribute of praise on a gentleman of our own country, to which all the artists of every country, who have the honour of his acquaintance, will readily subscribe. NICOLAS POUSSIN. "During my residence at Rome," says the ingenious author of "Les Melanges de Litterature," which go under the name of Vigneuil Merveille, "I often saw Poussin, both at his own house, and at that of the Chevalier del Poso, one of the most accomplished gentlemen of Italy of his time. "I have often beheld with astonishment the great zeal that this excellent painter had to become perfect in his art. I have often met him, at a very advanced age, amongst the ruins of antient Rome, and often in the Campagna, and often on the banks of the Tiber, observing and drawing what he found there most to his taste. I have often seen him bringing home in his handkerchief flints, moss, flowers, and such like substances, which he was anxious to paint after the objects themselves. "I remember to have asked him one day, by what means he had arrived to that great degree of eminence in his art which had placed him so very high amongst the great Italian painters. He modestly replied, "Je n'ai rien negligé," I have neglected nothing that in any way related to my art. And, indeed," adds the Chevalier del Poso, "it appears by his pictures that he neglected nothing that could enable him to become one of the best painters in the world." According to Felibien, who was an intimate friend of Poussin, his pictures did not very much please the Romans; so that, for a picture painted by him, representing a Prophet, he was paid only eight livres, whilst a copy of it, made by a young artist, was sold for four crowns. He was, however, no complainer of his want of patronage, and used occasionally to return money to those persons who, in his opinion, had paid him too much for his labours. Poussin was a man of great simplicity in his manner of living and in his conversation. His whole mind was occupied with his art, and rendered him insensible to those gratifications of luxury of which some refined minds are but too fond. He was an Athenian in his taste, yet a Spartan in his habits of life, and united the elegance of the one with the austerity of the other. Poussin, whose dissolution was approaching very fast, had received from M. de Chambrai his Treatise on Painting. He wrote with difficulty, on account of his bodily infirmities, and thus addressed him: 4 "I must "I must, Sir, endeavour to rouse myself after so long a silence, I must make myself understood by you whilst my pulse has still power to beat a little. I have read and examined at my leisure your book On the Perfect Idea of Painting, which has served as a kind of nourishment to my disordered mind; and I am rejoiced that you are the first person of our nation who has opened the eyes of those, who, seeing only by the eyes of other persons, permitted themselves to be deceived by public opinion. Indeed, you have so well explained and enlightened a subject very harsh and difficult to manage, that, perhaps, by-and-by some one may be found who will be able to improve the art of painting.". "There are nine things in painting," adds Poussin, in his letter to M. de Chambrai," which can never be taught, and which are essential to that art. To begin with the subject of it, it should be noble, and receive no quality from the person who treats it; and, to give opportunity to the painter to shew his talents and his industry, It must be taken as capable of receiving the most excellent form. A painter should begin with disposition, then ornament should follow, then agreement of the parts, beauty, grace, spirit, costume, regard to nature and probability; and judgment above all. These last must be in the painter himself, and cannot be taught. It is the golden bough of Virgil, that no one can either find or pluck unless his happy star conducts him to it. These nine points contain many things worthy to be described by good and by intelligent pens." The great Prince of Condé was desirous to have a picture painted by this master. Poussin thus wrote to his friend upon that occasion: "I thank you very much for your remembrance of me, and the kindness you have done me in not reminding His Highness of his intention to have one of my pictures. He applied too late to have justice done to his application. I am become too infirm, and the palsy prevents me from working. It is now some time since I have left off painting, and I think of nothing but of preparing myself for death. My body is already gone. There are no hopes of life: it is all over with me!" *This person, indeed, we have the honour to possess at present in this country: an ingenious Critic," as Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Milton, with great justice designates him; a gentleman whose ardour for art is exceeded only by his intelligence in it; whose extreme delicacy of taste is restrained by his candour; whose great power of judging critically is suspended by his earnest desire to find out beauties, and whose liberality towards the professors of art is bounded only by his faculty of extending it. In whom the love of the beautiful yields only to the love of the good; in whose intellectual character sagacity is combined with investigation, and knowledge with ingenuity; and whose moral character the union of the Graces with the Virtues renders no less amiable than exemplary. The sketch of this character must have been delincated with more than the usual infelicity of the pen that attempts it, if it should be necessary to ap pend to it the name of WILLIAM LOCK, Esq. of Norbury Park, Surrey.' 13 • The |
