sacred and most painful public duty, have deemed it necessary to stand forth as public accusers. I No one who heard the powerful speech of Mr. Abercromby, in his place in parliament, on moving for a Committee of Inquiry, could fail to be struck with the candour, temperance, and gentlemanlike tone which distinguished his remarks. In the opinion of impartial men of all parties, he delivered himself like one who felt the disagreeable nature of the task he had reluc tantly undertaken, who was conscious of the deep responsibility of his situation, who was actuated only by a paramount and overwhelming sense of duty, and who, as a Scotsman, was anxious to efface the stain which, in his opinion, attached to the administration of public justice in his native land. It was, however, open to any man who felt himself aggrieved, publicly to correct any misrepresentation which might have arisen in the course of a long and intricate statement of all the transactions in which the Scotch law-officers of the Crown were implicated. We could not therefore have blamed Mr. Hope, had he confined himself to a vindication of his own conduct. But his "Letter" is not so much a defence of himself, as a personal attack on a member of parliament. He impugns the conduct, and arraigns the motives of Mr. Abercromby, in a tone and style which we should hardly have expected from a man in Mr. Hope's station in society. His pamphlet is distinguished by a degree of overbearing petulance and intemperate bitterness altogether at variance with that modesty which ought ever to adorn the brow of youth. And the only point on which he attempts to vindicate his conduct, is one which does not materially affect the general statement of the case, even if it appeared that Mr. Abercromby had fallen into the mistake of which Mr. Hope complains. We must also be allowed to remark, that the manner in which Mr. Hope continually alludes to the fatal duel with Sir Alexander Boswell, does no great honour to the kindliness of his heart, and certainly will not exalt him in the estimation of the public. A statement regarding the conduct of Mr. Stuart towards the Printer of the " Beacon," is also very unnecessarily quoted from the "Sentinel;" but it has had one good effect; it has afforded an opportunity to Sir Ronald Fergusson to contradict this libel, and to shew, by a reference to the deposition of witnesses, that it was a malicious and atrocious falsehood.' As a literary composition, this Letter contains throughout such gross violations of every principle of correct taste, as to render it almost unworthy of notice. Mr. Hope is a young man, and will, we trust, in his future conduct, display more good sense and good feeling than is visible in this hasty and illadvised production. Every one must rejoice that the interference of the House prevented a meeting between Mr. Abercromby and either of the two Scotch advocates. The former has pledged himself to proceed in the investigation, careless of the peril to which he sees he must be exposed. But we trust that the House will discountenance and put down this system of bullying; and we can only regret that Mr. Abercromby, after having conducted himself in a way altogether worthy of the manly and independent charac-ter of his illustrious father, should have deemed it essential to the preservation of his honour, to countenance the practice of duelling, a practice alike repugnant to reason, and contrary to the law of God. Art. VIII. A New Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament, on the Plan of Dawson's Greek and Latin Lexicon. For the Use of Schools. By the Rev. Henry Laing, LL.D. 8vo. pp. 427. Price 10s. 6d. London. 1821. THAT a child should be set right in the beginning of his way, is a maxim which applies with equal propriety to moral culture and to literary education. We cannot but cordially approve of the design of the work before us, though we hesitate to give our unqualified sanction to the manner in which it has been executed. We are fully sensible of the advantages which the present Lexicon possesses from the circumstance of its adaptation to the earliest reading of the language,' and from its furnishing to the learner the proper quantity of a large ⚫ number of words most frequently in use; and we readily admit the utility of an elementary work by which the pupil may be led almost imperceptibly, and without additional la⚫bour, to adopt a pronunciation more fixed and accurate than 'could reasonably be expected from the use of a detached treatise on the rules of prosody.' Nothing can be more judicious than this plan of associating the correct attainment of quantity with the learner's acquisition of words. But we regret that the Author has constructed his work on the model of Dawson's Lexicon, which is much too liberal in the assistance that it provides for a young reader of Greek, whose research should be stimulated and wisely directed, but never superseded so far as is the case when the particular mood, tense, and person of a verb, and the several forms of other parts of speech, are distinctly and minutely prepared for his use. The Lexicon before us would have been more valuable as a work of elementary instruction, if it required more application on the part of those for whose benefit it is intended. The whole of the advantages of this "New Greek and English Lexicon for the "New Testament," might have been retained in a volume of less than half the number of pages, had the Author, instead of copying Dawson's method, included only the leading words with their principal varieties, and such forms of words as are of anomalous character; marking (as he has marked) in all cases the quantity of the doubtful vowels. We so fully approve o of Dr. Laing's design, that we take the liberty of recommending to him, the alterations necessary to render his work unexceptionable for general use. 1 We have noticed some errata which have escaped the Author's correction. Arida (p. 42.) appears without explanation; and Azad, the root to which reference is made, is omitted. (p. 39.) Διαζώνυμι for Διαζώννυμι. (p. 90.) εξεπορεύετω instead of εξεπορεύε TO. (p. 145.) ETayyλuatos occurs as the nominative (p. 148), Edu has the antepenult long instead of short (p. 156). The future of Ein should be in ž✩ (p. 161). évpnoere is said to be the 1 pl. instead of the 2 pl. AaXOVE is described as being compounded of a and EYEX; a very questionable etymology. The Author of this work has been careful to avail himself of the labours of the most accomplished scholars in matters of prosody, in aid of his own researches: he has correctly marked the quantity of the doubtful vowels, following the example of Dr. Maltby in the use of the double sign; and has added copious and instructive genealogical tables to illustrate the history of the New Testament. We should have great pleasure in noticing a revised and amended edition of this Lexicon on the plan which we have suggested. Art. IX. Plans for the Government and liberal Instruction of Boys, in large Numbers; drawn from Experience. 8vo. pp. 254. Price 7s. 6d. London. 1822. THIS publication contains a minute statement of plans adopted for the discipline and regulation of a large school; and they are said to have been attended with entire success. The great question, in all such cases, refers at once to the operation of the system; and if that can be fairly affirmed to work well, it is scarcely worth while to enter into an elaborate investigation of a complicated mechanism for the sake of detecting an occasional anomaly, or some casual arrangement which may wear the appearance of inefficiency. In the present instance, the Author comes forward to describe the nature and the effects of an extensive scheme founded upon the principles of strict police, and inviolable order and punctuality, maintained by different degrees of magistracy. We have Consta bles, Juries, Attorney-generals, Judges arranged before us; and considerable pains seem to have been taken to make the" 1. VOL. XVIII. N.S.P 1 offices efficient, and to guard against the operation of improper motives and feelings. It is quite impossible for us to enter into a minute analysis of the present volume. The multiplicity of its details, and the variety of the subjects to which they refer, can be adequately learnt only by reference to the book itself, which is well drawn up, and, as containing the plans and results of an experiment in education, is worth perusal. Art. X. Rules for the Construction of the Relative Qui, Quæ, Quod, with the Subjunctive Mood, established by a copious Selection of Examples from Classical Authors; with critical Notes. For the Use of Schools. By A. R. Carson, A.M. Rector of the High School of Edinburgh. Second Edition. 12mo. pp. 148. Edinburgh. 1821. THERE are two great evils by which those who seek instruction from elementary treatises or critical discussions on the nicer points of idiomatic construction, are perpetually embarrassed-rashness, and want of distinct definition. An incredibly large portion of the great and continually enlarging mass of grammatical criticism, consists of assertions boldly hazarded, but utterly untenable; and at least an equal share is made up of cautious and doubtful approaches, never closing with the point in issue, but, after a tedious parade of knowledge and acumen, leaving it in its original obscurity. The little volume now in our hands, and which, in its first edition, has long been a favourite with us, is not liable to either of these objections It illustrates, with admirable skill and completeness, a department of Latin construction which had been previously much unsettled; it furnishes a series of valuable exercises in classical composition; and we are sure, since it has now emerged from the limited sphere of its former circulation, that it will be extensively adopted as a class-book. Mr. Carson will not, we hope, stop here. There are many important philological inquiries in which his leisure might be profitably occupied; and from this specimen of his success, we anticipate further and still more acceptable exertions. We take this opportunity of recommending the edition of Ruddiman's Rudiments, printed at Cupar, 1819. The book seems to have been carefully printed, but it derives additional value from an Appendix, containing an elementary View of the Tenses of the Latin Verb,' contributed by Dr. John Hunter, to whose able revision the proof-sheets of the present edition were submitted. We think that this dissertation throws much light on the model and temporal structure of the Verb, and that it will prove of great service to students in the higher classes. Art. XI. The Book of Psalms, in Verse; with a Short Explanatory Preface to each Psalm, taken from the Works of different Writers on the Psalms, but chiefly from Bishop Horne's Commentary. post 8vo. pp. 302. Price 5s. London. 1822. THE design of this volume is to render the Book of Psalms at once more intelligible and more attractive, and to recommend the study of this portion of the sacred Scriptures to those young persons who may have leisure and opportunity to look more deeply into the subject, and to search for fuller information in the writings of learned and pious commentators. We cannot but warmly applaud the intention of the Writer. Of the merits of his performance, we shall enable our readers to judge for themselves. • PSALM XXIII. In this beautiful Psalm, David compares God to a shepherd, an image familiar to his own mind from his early course of life, and which is more than once used by our blessed Lord, to represent the relation in which he stands to his people. The Psalm has been supposed to have been written, while the Psalmist was expelled from the holy city and temple, owing to the allusion made in the 6th verse to his hopes of dwelling in the house of God; and, as it mentions a supply of provisions in the face of the enemy, it was probably composed when David, flying from the contest with his disobedient son, pitched his camp beyond Jordan, and was in danger of seeing his little army perish for want of provision in that uncultivated region, until his friends brought him a plentiful supply: see 2nd Sam. chap. xvij. verse 27, 28, 29. 1. The Lord, my shepherd, doth each want supply, 2. My feet by cooling streams he deigns to guide, 4. E'en in my passage through death's awful vale, E'en there will I defy th' approach of fear,- And in his house for evermore remain. p. 38. As all the Psalms are versified in the same metre, this short specimen will give a fair idea of the series. |