Christian will be shocked to hear such a libertine principle promulgated to the world. I do not know any of the clergy in the church of England (except this writer) who have dared to publish opinions so contradictory to her creeds and articles, and to Scripture; and if there were any of this description, I do not wish to know them. The creeds and articles are clear and decisive as to this Scripture doctrine, and her clergy declare with the Apostle that in Jesus Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In no pulpit is the divinity of Christ held forth in greater purity than by those who are orthodox in the church of England, where by such, it is shown to be perfectly consistent with the declarations of the inspired writers, and with Christ himself, who says, no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man who is in heaven. The true Christian builds his faith on this rock, and I am not ashamed, nor do I feel unpleasant on being branded by this writer with the term "fanatic" on this account. We are told that there is a blessing attends every one thus persecuted. Matti 5. 11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. There is another passage in Deut. 5. 24. (English translation) in which I differ from the translators, because they make it appear that God talked with the whole nation of Israel at Sinai, though it appears that he only talked with Moses; this has been objected to by Deists for that reason: but when we turn to the original, the objection vanishes. The translators have omitted noticing the he, prefixed to Adam, which is emphatic, viz. the, and the passage is truly rendered thus; God doth talk with the man, and he liveth. I thought in doing this, I was doing what might be useful to the cause of religion, but Dr. G. S. C. without elucidating any difficult passage whatever, must find fault: and in my own defence, I must give the reader another sample to add to the list of unpardonable blunders he has made in charging me with being a "misquoter." He asserts that I refer to Deut. 5. 23. that God dock כִּי יְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם וָחָי for the passage TT ттт talk with the man, and he liveth, and says, "let the reader consult Deut. 5. 23. in any Bible for such a passage, at the end of ver. 24. the words appear," but as the words really do appear, whether in verses 21, 22, 23, or 24. is of very little moment; it shows the weakness of this gentleman's objection. However, agreeably to this hasty writer's recommendation I "consult" Leusden's Hebrew Bible, Amstelodami, 1501. and there I find that the above passage does not "appear at the end of verse 24." though he is pleased to say it does. To be sure "the words appear at the end of verse 24." in the Bible which Dr. G. S. C. consults, viz. the English Bible: but I have quoted from the Hebrew, as is my custom. This writer being "aware" of what I have said in a former number on the words D D Deut. 5. 23. proving the word God, to be a noun singular, and being sensible that this word cannot be rendered plural, brings in his hacknied phrase "plural of intensity," intimating that the word "may be translated singularly as a plural of intensity," and therefore he would render the words "the great God everlasting." But this is a gloss, and cannot be admitted, for neither the adjective, nor the adverb Dy are in the passage. The words are unexceptionably rendered in the English Bible. As to "plurals of intensity!" whether a plural relates to things high, or things low, it is still plural, and a singular, in all languages, must ever remain a singular. i I shall, to conclude, briefly notice another error this gentleman has committed, and which can only be accounted for on the ground of his not having sufficiently acquainted himself with the Hebrew language. In the 2nd chapter of Isaiah, ver. 2. it must be obvious to the learned that the masculine pronoun postfixed to the preposition, refers to the Lord, and not to a house, the remote noun in the sentence as it stands in the original. I therefore read the verse agreeably to the Hebrew syntax; no one but G. S. C. can doubt its propriety, and it certainly is far more elegant than it is in the English translation; it reads truly thus: The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flock N UNTO HIM. Whereas the English translators by transposing house, and placing it after Lord, have rendered the masculine pronoun by the neuter pronoun IT, and have made it refer to house, instead of Lord; and thus have translated the passage: and all nations shall flow unto IT. This gentleman however has found that berosh, is a more proximate noun than Lord, to which he says, I “point as the proximate noun," and not. Really, Sir, it is scarcely possible to have patience, when gentlemen either wilfully, or by carelessly reading what I have said, misunderstand me. I have said that the syntax of a noun with a noun is their agreement in person and gender, that there is no agreement either in person, or gender between the masculine pronoun suffix in him, and house neither can there be any agreement between unto him, and in the top. Therefore he cannot with any truth say, that I have referred to ; the pronoun prefixed to the preposition, always, throughout the Scriptures refers to the most proximate PERSONAL NOUN, as this writer would have known, had he attended to the rudiments of the Hebrew language. I most cordially recommend this gentleman to perfect himself in the grammar, and syntax of the language before he publishes what he calls his "Classic Moses," and with this I take my final farewell of Dr. G. S. C. JOHN BELLAMY. OXFORD PRIZE POEM. COLONI AB ANGLIA AD AMERICE ORAM MISSI. TERTIA jam rediens vix maturaverat Estas Ilicet instructam conscendit navita classem 2 Ille relinquendæ Patriæ veterumque Penatum Occiduum, ut perhibent, trananti protinus æquor 1 Robertson's History of America, book ii. p. 129. 2 In the year 1496 the Cabots sailed from Bristol, and discovered Newfound fand. Vellera per sudum; mox arva nemusque virescens Quin cursus inceptum adeò servare tenorem Quippe exardenti lustrare latentia nautæ 2 Quin verò immemori tandem lux inclyta seclo Constituit, misitque rates, et mœnibus urbem Hinc posuisse suam Nova dicitur Anglia sedem, 1 The obstacles, which at that period prevented the prosecution of British discoveries in America, seem to have been the inactivity and parsimony of Henry VII-Foreign wars-Reformation. 2 Queen Elizabeth. 3 Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh. 4 James I. granted two charters, under the sanction of which, Virginia was re-established, and New England founded. I Hospitium profugæ pietatis, et, unde bipenni Salve igitur, gens nostra, adeò fausto omine rursus Nec tamen has inter sedes feliciaque arva Ira olim indigenas erepta ob pascua vindex Impulit; ergò aderat quæ gens procul accolit agris Ontarius, seu quà præceps Niagara sonantes The English Puritans, who had at first taken refuge in Holland, afterwards settled in New England, under the sanction of one of the above charters. 2 Discovery of the direct passage to America, by Gosnold, in 1602. 3 Madeira. 4 A milk pressed from the wall-nut is a favorite beverage among the Indians. "Purchas his Pilgrimes." 5 Cochineal. 6 Robertson's Hist. Posthumous Vol. book ix. p. 189. |