Jard the language of their fermons with fcriptural phrases; whilft another cenfor declares, that if they deal out the mere fcraps of heathen morality, the poor will run to the lefs learned, but more earnest inftructors-to thofe who fpeak to the heart, in terms intelligible to themfelves, though not fatisfactory to the refinement of tafte"!

From the fubject and ftyle of English fermons, the author proceeds to the manner in which they are delivered; and this he pronounces to be "extremely ungraceful" After reprefenting his countrymen as generally remarkable for doing very good things in a very bad manner, he asks why they are natural every where but in the pulpit? We can anfwer this question only by afking, in our turn, if men are every where natural by generally doing good in a bad manner?

"A clergyman," fays Mr. Smith, "clings to his velvet cushion with either hand, keeps his eye riveted upon his book, speaks of the ecftacies of joy and fear, with a voice and face which indicate neither, and pinions his body and foul into the fame attitude of limb and thought, for fear of being called theatrical and affected. Is it wonder (wonderful) then, that every femi-delirious fectary, who pours forth his animated nonfenfe, with the genuine look, and voice of paffion, fhould gefticulate away the congregation of the most profound and learned divine of the eftablished church, and in two Sundays preach him bare to the fexton ?"

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Yes, Sir, it would be truly wonderful, were it a fact, that by mere gefticulation the femi-delirious fectary preaches the learned divine "bare to the fexton"; but there is nothing wonderful in confirmed hypocrites, or determined finners, who cannot banish from their minds the idea of a future thate, leaving the church of the learned divine, who infifts upon the neceflity of good works, for the fchifm-fhop of him, who affures them that they fhall certainly be faved, if they firmly believe that as Jefus Chrift died for the elect in general, fo he died for themselves in particular." Let the fectary articulate with every limb, and talk from head to foot with a thousand voices," if the object of his talking be to perfuade his audience, that "faith without works is dead; that without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" and that it concerns not thein to enquire into election and reprobation, but to " work out their own falvation with fear and trembling," his gefticulations, however violent, will not long keep them within the pale of the conventicle.

Far, however, be it from us to plead for the practice of those preachers, whether established or fectarian, who, "when their hands by mifchance, flip from the orthodox gripe of the velvet, draw them back as from liquid brimstone, or the caustic iron of the law, and atone for this indecorum, by fresh inflexibility

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and more rigourous fameness." To the Chriftian orator we would fay, in the words of Cicero, Dicenda, demonftranda, explicanda funt omnia: caufa non folum exponenda, fed etiam graviter, copiofeque agenda eft. Perficiendum eft, fiquid agere aut proficere vis, ut homines te non folum audiant, verum etiam libenter ftudiofeque audient. All this cannot indeed be effected by him who keeps his eye rivetted on the book," or who does not exhibit fuch locks and gefturès as are difplayed by earnestnefs, indignation, or compallion, in the common intercourfe of life; but we would not fend the young preacher to the Tabernacle of the Methodist, or even to the play-houfe, to Study fuch geftures, left, instead of "ufing them gently," he fhould learn, as Shakspeare expreffes it, to "faw the air too much with his hand." The geftures and motions of a preacher ought all to carry that kind of expreffion which nature has dictated to him; otherwife they will infallibly appear stiff and forced, and aukward and ridiculous. Johnfon, fpeaking of Young's Poem on the LAST DAY, juftly obferves, that "the fubject makes every man more than poetical, by spreading over his mind a general obfcurity of sacred horror, that opprelles diftinction, and difdains expreffion." A fimilar remark might be made on ftudied gefticulation, when it attempts to pic ture a reuniting world, a refurrection of fouls, a rekindling of antient affections, the dying day of heaven and of earth, and to unveil the throne of God." To fuch fcenes no gesticulation that we have ever witneiled, or which it hath entered into the heart of man to conceive, can be fuitable.

Whilst we thus freely exprefs our difapprobation of this fingular and very reprehenfible Preface, truth requires us to acknowledge, that in the difcourfes themselves, many fentiments abound, with which every reader of tafte and virtue muft be pleafed. In their ftyle too we frequently perceive what the great orator calls the flores et lumina fententiarum; but we have as often to regret the almoft total absence of fcriptural phrases, which, when properly introduced, unquestionably add much to the eloquence, the dignity, and value of a Sermon. Such phrafes, fays Dr. Blair, "afford the preacher a fund of metaphyfical expreffion, which no other compofition enjoys, and by means of which he can vary his ftyle: they both give authority to his doctrine, and render his difcourfe more folernn and venerable."

Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. To the admirers of Ma Smith's Preface, we beg leave to recommend particularly, as a contraft, the 29th and 31ft Lectures, which treat of the eloquence of the pulpit, and contain the reflections of a man, whofe fame as a preacher will hardly be furpaffed.

The

The difcourfes in this volume are eight in number, treating of the following fubjects: 1. The Effects which Christianity ought to produce upon our Manners; 2. The Pride of Birth; 3. The Union of Innocence and Wifdom; 4. A farewel Sermon to a Country Parifh; 5. Vanity; 6. The Treatment of Servants; 7. Men of the World; 8. For the Swifs. We shall give the conclufion of the laft Sermon as a specimen of the author's manner, and a complete proof of his poffeffing genius, which, we truft, will in time be more completely placed under the controul of judgment."

After defcribing in picturefque terms the virtues of the Swifs, their happiness before the irruption of the French into their peaceful country, the heroifm with which they defended themfelves, and the favage atrocity of their defolating conquerors, Mr. Smith thus addreffes his audience:

"Is it, then, can it be neceffary, after this narrative, to make any long, or urgent appeals to your feelings? If ever the misfortunes of man were a care to you; if ever you have facrificed any pleasure to lighten the heavy heart; if a wretched face, and a wailing voice, have ever pierced your foul, and funk your gaiety to the duft, and filled your eyes with tears, have mercy, I beg you, on these poor forfaken people. I do not ask of you much, but give them a little, and their hearts will fing with joy; they have no bread, no shelter, no friends; they feel they have no right to petition you; but they fling themselves down on their knees before you, and beg you, through the gospel of Jefus Chrift, to have pity on them, or they muft die: And yet, if any one of you had been wandering in their mountains, they would have entreated you kindly, and gently; if you had been fick, they would have watched your bed; if you had been weary, they would have fheltered you in their cabins; if you had been hungry, their very children would have come to fhare their food with you, and their little faces would have been clouded with forrow, till the countenance of the poor ftranger within their gates was turned to mirth, and joy. Do not let these men perish; but though you have heard in thefe latter days many tales of mifery, be not wearied with doing good; but taught by that power which has ever pity on you, learn ye to have pity on them.

For

"The genuine foul of compaffion is fwift to figure, and to conceive; it glides into the body of the suffering wretch; it writhes with his agony, it faints with his hunger, it weeps with his tears, it bleeds with his blood, till blind with the wife, and heavenly delufion, it minifters to its own fancied forrows, and labours for another felf. get, then, for a moment, that you are living in a free country, in affluent circumftances, and under refpected laws; put yourselves in the fituation of thefe poor pealants; you would fee your children daily wafting before your eyes, for want of proper food; you would be forced to bear their looks; you would fee the little fpot where all your affections centred, the habitation of your forefathers, the pride of your life, broken down to a desolation, and a desert; you would fit down

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down on the ruins; you would remember the happy days of your infancy that you had paffed there; you would think your country was no more, your kindred was dead in battle; you would think of all thefe things, and your heart would break.

My brethren, farewel. I have done. I have faid every thing in my power for thefe poor creatures; I have faid it with all my heart, and foul, for I abfolutely believe they are dying from hunger. I humbly crave fome little charity for them: I beg you as Chriftians, as good, and kind men, to turn your hearts towards their wretchednefs; I beg you, as you hope for mercy from the good, and gracious Jefus, as you hope to fpend your latter days in peace, as you wish that your children in diftant lands fhould return home to you in good report, and bless your eyes once more before death. If there be here a parent who feels the warning of age, and lingers in heart round his dear family; if there be a child that knows how to cherifh the declining age of its parent; by all these hopes, by all these feelings, by all thefe paffions, I folemnly intreat your mercy; and may the God of Heaven, and earth, and man, by teaching you to pity, give you the right to implore." P. 256.

ART. XIII. A Collation of the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Pfalms, &c. By John Reeves, Efq.

(Concluded from p. 350.)

IN the paffages which we quoted on a former occafion*, from the learned and elaborate Preface of Mr. Reeves, one prominent feature can scarcely fail to have attracted the attention of the reader-we mean, the author's decided attachment to the Maforetic fyftem of the Jews. Now, as we ourfelves are not altogether free from the fame bias, we shall here venture to add a few remarks on that fubject; and we truft that they will not be confidered as entirely misplaced, or altogether useless.

Of all the tongues with which we have any acquaintance, that of the Chinese feems the moft extraordinary; as the language fpoken and the fame language written, have not the leaft connection together. This may be aptly illuftrated by our Arabic numerals. The character, 4, for inftance, is made up neither of confonants nor vowels: it has neither an f, an r, an o, nor an u in it. Such too are all the Chinese characters, which ferve them instead of alphabetic writing with us. And yet, notwithstanding all the difficulties attendant on this fyftem,

British Critic for April, 1801,

the

the Chinese, we are told, learn to read and write in their schools, and cultivate their language with the greatest care*.

Among the Jews, writing undoubtedly advanced one ftep further; and though it did not exprefs the vowels, yet it dif tinctly marked the effential parts of words, the confonants.

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With regard to the Chinese language, we beg leave to fubjoin the authority of the learned DE GUIGNES. Quoique nous comprenions difficilement qu'une écriture ait pu fubfifter fans voyelles, c'eft cependant un fait inconteftable; quoiqu'il nous femble qu'il foit impoffible, en conféquence de cette marche, d'enseigner à lire, je citerai ici l'exemple des Chinois, pour faire voir que malgré ces difficultés on peut parvenir à la lecture, puifque ces peuples, qui dans leur ecriture n'ont ni voyelles ni confonnes, ont encore des difficultés plus confidérables à furmonter. La langue parlée des Chinois n'a pas le plus léger rapport avec l'écriture de ces peuples. Les caractères Chinois, que l'on peut envifager comme des hieroglyphes, ne tiennent en rien au fon que les Chinois leur donnent, c'eft-à-dire qu'un caractère prononcé pien, par exemple, ne porte en lui aucune marque qui défigne les lettres p, i, è, n, de forte qu'on pourroit le prononcer tout autrement: il n'y a donc, dans cette écriture, aucune diftinction de confonnes ni le voyelles. Tels ont dû être les premiers hieroglyphes des Egyptiens, qui étoient un mot, ou une fyllabe. Il réfulte de-là une impoffibilité d'analyfer dans l'écriture le fon de pien, que j'ai cité. Comment font donc maintenant les Chinois pour apprendre dans les dictionnaires que rel ou tel caractère doit être ainfi prononcé pien, puifqu'ils n'ont aucune distinction de confonnes ni de voyelles, ou plutôt qu'ils n'ont aucune idée de ce partage de lettres? Ils le font cependant, et pour y parvenir ils prennent, par example, un caractère connu qui fe prononce pa, enfuite un fecond de la même espèce prononée mien; et ils indiquent par un troisième caractère, qui fignifie couper, divifer; qu'il faut couper en deux le fon de pa et celui de mien: ainfi de pa ôtez a, et de mien ôtez m, ce qui refte produit le fon de pien. Pour rendre un fon plus fimple, pa, par exemple, on prend un caractère prononcé pien, ou un autre femblable, avec celui de ma, ou de ta, ou de na, et en coupant en deux le fon, il en résulte pa.

"Malgré la difficulté du procédé des Chinois, que je viens d'indiquer, quoiqu'ils n'aient aucune connoiffance de confonnes ni de voyelles, et qu'il faille plutôt avoir recours à la mémoire qu'à la réflexion, ils apprennent dans leurs écoles à lire, à écrire, et cultivent leur langue avec le plus grand foin. Les difficultés qui doivent fe rencontrer dans cette manière d'étudier une langue, s'évanouiffent prefque toutes dans les langues Orientales, qui ont fait un pas de plus, puifque les parties effentielles du mot, les confonnes, y font diftinguées; que l'on peut les prendre les unes après les autres, et en former un mot: la feule difficulté que l'on doive éprouver, eft la fubftitution des voyelles. Mais dans une langue parlée et apprife dès le berceau, ces difficultés ne font pas auffi confidérables que nous le penfons, en ne confidérant que nos langues, dans lefquelles les voyelles marchent avec les confonnes."

In