as custom and practice have appointed to be read in the original Hebrew; but to follow such selections with a translation in Eng. lish, and a lecture or discourse upon the law, explanatory of its meaning, edifying to the young, gratifying to the old, and instructive to every age and every class of society. Is this abolishing our mode of sacred worship? Is this sapping the foundations of our venerable faith? No, my friends; this is stripping it of foreign and unseemly ceremonies; divesting it of rubbish, and beautifying that simple Doric column, that primeval order of architecture, which raises its plain but massy head amid the ruins of time, and the desolation of empires!' Discourse, pp. 5-7.

The past character of modern Israelites is thus rapidly vindicated.

'After the destruction of Jerusalem, our ancestors, though all political union was dissolved, were not unmindful of the promises of God, of the preservation of their name, their nation, and their religion. They still retained some patriarchs in Judea, and what they denominated Princes of the Captivity in the East. Wherever they were tolerated, they established colleges, and instituted various orders of learned men. They have mainly upheld and disseminated the beautiful institutions of Masonry, that universal link of brotherhood. Mindful of the word of God, and convinced of the unity of the Godhead, they have never been seduced from their allegiance to the supreme ONE. The manifold oppressions inflicted on their unprotected heads, have never caused them to apostatize [from] their religion. They exhibit the picture of a people scattered over the whole earth by the winds of heaven, divided from each other by interminable oceans and trackless deserts, yet preserving and venerating the religion, the customs, the antique simplicity, the language, and character of their ancestors, after a lapse of nearly eighteen hundred years!

Did my limits permit, or my subject require it, my respected auditors, I might carry you with me over those inhospitable climes, those despotic countries trod by the bleeding feet of this selected race, in their pilgrimage through a hostile world. Even during such a recital, I might find subjects for your admiration. I might speak of their academies, and of their eminent men; of their mathematical knowledge; of those sages who have done more for the Jewish name, than all the power and conquests of antiquity; of their experiments in chemistry, which science they so materially advanced; not merely analytical chemistry, but what they pursued with the most ardent passion, synthetical chemistry, in which their combinations were so admirable, that many of the Jewish doctors fell under the suspicion of being pos

sessed of the grand arcanum. This is the secret of the philosopher's stone, by which every metal is to be transmuted into gold. The elixir, by which this precious revolution is to be accomplished, was believed also to have the power of curing every disease (like some celestial julep), and to confer youth and immortality on the man who knew the synthesis, and who, cleansed by abstinence and prayer from every terrene incumbrance, would patiently watch for "the flame which wrapped the sacred birth in the bed of purification." Such was the extravagance of credulity. A proof at once of the mingled admiration and awe, with which the vulgar regard extraordinary learning, or striking experiments.

The Jews and Arabs, in the middle ages, became the physicians of Europe, and the confidants of princes. A Jewish physician has been charged with poisoning Charles the Bald; the king's death, however, is due to more royal hands. But Voltaire remarks, "What must have been the ignorance of Christendom at that period, when kings were obliged to send in search of physicians amongst the Jews and Arabs!"* And it may now be added, what might still have been the ignorance of Christendom, if the Jews and Arabs had refused to come!' pp. 17-19.

The following is at once eloquent and piquant.

But a remnant has escaped. The celestial fire was not all extinguished. With what pride and pleasure must the happy few who composed our immediate forefathers; the happy few, who were sufficiently enlightened to leave oppression, and go in quest of liberty; with what indescribable sensations must these pilgrims of the world have hailed the dawn of freedom, as it illumined the Western horizon. Here they have found a refuge and a home; in this happy land, where nature is profuse in all that can administer to the physical wants and pleasures of her creatures; where, after a few years' residence, they enjoy the rights of men; and, where the birthright of ourselves, their children, is equal liberty. Where is he that does not feel a glow of honest exultation, when he hears himself called an American? Who that does not offer praise and thanksgiving to Providence, for the contrast of what man is in these United States, and what he is under almost every other government? Thus appreciating, thus enjoying the natural and political blessings of our country, we are willing to repose in the belief, that America truly is the land of promise spoken of in our ancient Scriptures; that this is the region to which the children of Israel, if they are wise, will hasten to come. Not to some stony desert, or marshy island, or inhospitable clime, do we invite them. We point out no fixed spot for cultivation, or for peace. Let them, and the oppressed of all mankind, take their free choice. They leave behind no paradise, as did our first parents; they rather approach a garden of plenty and variety; where protection is above and around them; and whence the flaming sword of the cherubim has been withdrawn. Let them approach; in coming to America,

The world is all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.

'Let them select the city or the plain; the commerce beaten shores of the Atlantic, or the rich wilderness of nature, that spreads its prodigality throughout the West, presenting incitements to enterprise and stores of wealth, uncounted, unsurveyed, immeasurable.' pp. 26-28.

The peroration is yet more elevated.

But, be the promised land what it may; whether new Jerusalem mean old Judea, renovated and blessed by the munificence of heaven; or whether, with Chrysostom, we take it to signify the city of God, happiness hereafter; yet are we contented, while we remain on earth in this temporal state, to live in America; to share the blessings of liberty; to partake of, and to add to her political happiness, her power, and her glory; to educate our children liberally; to make them useful, and enlightened, and honest citizens; to look upon our countrymen as brethren of the same happy family, worshipping the same God of the universe, though, perhaps, differing in forms and opinions. We are contented and happy thus to act, and we hope and trust we act rightly and virtuously, until the annunciation of the Messiah shall reunite us into one nation, offering with all mankind, in the name of the universal Father, our common sacrifice on one common altar. Whether that annunciation be made this hour, or thousands of ages hence, let us, in the name of that Being, who out of the depths heard the voice of his people, and brought them into salvation; that Being, who created all men for happiness, and light, and truth; let us, in his name, live in friendship with each other, and in charity with all mankind. In the words of him, whose powers of harmony could exorcise the evil spirit from men's bosoms, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the dew of Hermon, and the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. pp. 31, 32.

""

There is a display of not unappropriate learning in the notes, and something of the same in the text. No part of the pamphlet appears to us liable to severe criticism. Perhaps there is a slight approach to mysticism on the subject of alchemy, and once or twice the style is a little more mounting, than suits our frigid northern taste. The author claims D'Israeli as an Israelite. His ancestors were such, but, if we are not mistaken, that prodigious book devourer is a decided advocate for the claims of Jesus of Nazareth.

It would be but fair to state, that Mr Harby's immediate opponents complain of him as wishing to expunge from the Jewish rituals a large portion of the Rabbinical contributions, which they contend are intrinsically valuable, besides being regarded as sacred, from long and reverent use. They further complain, that his party understand nothing of Hebrew, and so are unqualified to judge respecting the propriety or impropriety of any part of the ritual. This last conclusion may be true, but surely it only goes strongly to justify the demands of the reformers, to have the ritual translated, and employed in English. Then, if there be any beauty and merit in the Rabbinical illustrations, it would undoubtedly be perceived and appreciated, and cheerfully adopted.

After all, while our own habits and prejudices incline us to wish success to the new school of Jewish reform, we must not forget that there is something, which deserves our respect in the strenuous opposition it has to encounter. The existing institutions of this singular and interesting people are consecrated by tender and solemn associations of antiquity, and by affecting remembrances of the many sufferings, toils, and struggles of the Israelites of past ages. We do not wonder, that affection clings to those institutions as to the tabernacle, which accompanied the wanderers of old through the wilderness. But as the tabernacle itself was at length disused, and gave place to the glory, convenience, and beauty of the stationary temple, so we cannot but be persuaded, that the spirit of the age, like the voice of Jehovah, will gently and irresistibly convert the present synagogue, with its obsolete ceremonials, its unintelligible language, and its alleged unimpressive influences, into a more rational sanctuary, to which the understandings of ten thousands of votaries shall eagerly resort to be strengthened and enlightened, and their hearts to be warmed, consoled, and purified.

ART. V.-1. De vera Natura atque Indole Orationis Græcæ Novi Testamenti Commentatio, Auctore HENRICO PLANCK. Goettingen. 1810. [Reprinted in the Commentationes Theologica. Leipzig. 1825.]

2. Clavis Novi Testamenti Philologica, Usibus Scholarum et Juvenum Theologiæ studiosorum accommodata, Auctore M. CHRIST. ABRAHAMO WAHL, etc. Lipsiæ. 1822. 8vo. 3. Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Sprachidioms, u. s. w. Von GEORG BENEDICT WINER, der Theologie Doctor und Ausserordentlichem Professor an der Universität zu Leipzig. Leipzig. 1822.

4. Lexicon manuale Græco-Latinum in Libros Novi Testamenti, Auctore CAROLO GOTTLEIB BRETSCHNEIDER, Theologiæ et Philosophiæ Doctor, etc. Lipsiæ. 1824. 8vo.

5. A Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament, from the Clavis Philologica of C. A. WAHL, late Senior Pastor of Schneeberg, now Superintendent of Oschaz, Saxony. By EDWARD ROBINSON, A. M. Assistant Instructer in the Department of Sacred Literature, Theol. Sem. Andover. 1825. 8vo. pp. 852.

6. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, translated from the German of G. B. WINER, Professor of Theology at Erlangen. By MOSES STUART and EDWARD ROBINSON. Andover. 1825. 8vo. pp. 176.

THE progress of Sacred Literature in this country, has, of late, been rapid. Fifteen years ago there were few facilities for the pursuit of it; and a good apparatus for this department of study was a thing almost unknown, and altogether unattainable. For the literature of the Old Testament, there was here and there a copy of the Hebrew Lexicons of Parkhurst and Simonis, and occasionally, perhaps, some of an earlier date. Some of the older Hebrew grammars were also to be found; of which Buxtorf's was far the best. But a knowledge of the Hebrew language was confined to a few individuals; and in those schools where it was professedly taught, it was practically accounted as of secondary importance; was studied without the points; and was seldom pursued beyond the elementary