buted to Paul of Samofata. Origen. Cyr. and Lat. read as text." Here again is an important mifreprefentation of Griefbach's authorities" Sequentibus jungunt, fays Griefbach, 1, 83, 118, Ev. 6, 24, Alii. Fragm. Aldin. Syr. utr. Arm. Chryf. Damaf. Theophyl. Euthym. Scholion in 108. qui noftram interpunctionem Paulo Samof. tribuunt. Sed Orig. Cyr. et Latt. ut rec." Now, from Mr. P.'s reprefentation, it is utterly impoffible for the reader to collect by whom the prefent punctuation is attributed to Paul of Samofata; though Griefbach exprefsly refers this to Chryfoftom, Damafcenus, Theophylact, and Euthymius.

Mr. Pratt's third column, in his fpecimen of the New Teltament, is occupied by the Pefhito, or fimple Syriac version; but it is printed in Hebrew types, avowedly for the conveaience of the learner. This method of printing the Syriac verfion, for various reafons, we explicitly condemn. We are well aware, though Mr. Pratt has not pleaded fuch authority, that the practice has been fan&tioned by the example of Tremellius, of the editors of the Antwerp Polyglott, and of Le Fevre in the Paris edition, printed by Benenatus in 1584. It must be obferved, however, that in the Antwerp Polyglott the Syriac text is twice printed; first in its proper characters and with its proper points, and afterwards in Hebrew letters, with the Chaldee points. Moreover, in all these inftances the use of Hebrew, inftead of Syriac characters, was either the refult of neceffity, or founded on a pious but mistaken idea of facilitating the converfion of the Jews. This latter reafon is exprefsly avowed, in the cafe of Le Fevre, and the Antwerp Polyglott it is alfo attributed by Michaelis to Tremellius, who was himself of Jewifh origin; but his tranflator, Mr. Marth, with greater probability, fuppofes Tremellius to have ufed Hebrew inftead of Syriac types, rather from neceffity than choice, as no Syriac types at that time exifted, except those of the Imperial Printing Houfe at Vienna. Befides the accuracy with which Walton's Polyglott is executed, we have ever deemed it one of its great excellencies, that it prefents us with the Scriptures in different languages, in the proper characters of thofe languages. By this method their feveral peculiarities are preferved; and this, we are convinced, is no trifling confideration. It is therefore with us a ftrong objection to Mr. Pratt's plan, that he gives us the Syriac language in Hebrew characters. There are many words in this language, the plural of which is diftinguished from the fingular in no other way than by what are called plural points. Thefe points are alfo ufed over fome words whofe fignification is not ftrictly plural; and they are preferved in the oldest Syriac MSS. extant.

We

mult,

muft, therefore, confider them as effentials of the language. Thele points Mr. Pratt omits entirely, by the ufe of the Hebrew characters, and thereby frequently makes the language appear ungrammatical and abfurd. We will give an instance of this out of the fpecimen-John v. 26, p sp Here, the scholar meets with a word, whofe form is certainly fingular, as a nominative cafe to a verb plural-whereas, in Syriac characters, the conftruction appears natural and proper

00..9

ALDO LA POOL! The words, aqua, jo, jusjuran dum, equus, as well as feveral others, are of the fame kind. fång

But besides the plural points, there are others, called diacritical points, quorum vario fitu, fays Bishop Beveridge, pronunciatio et fignificatio vocabulorum variatur ; et quidem ambiguis dictionibus, plerumque cum alfint vocales, punctum afcribitur, ut facilius una ab altera difcernatur. Thefe points, as well as the others, are ufed in the oldeft MSS. and must be confidered as equally important. But all these are loft by the use of the Hebrew characters. Indeed, we think Mr. Pratt is completely miftaken in his idea of facilitating the knowledge of the language; and we boldly affert, that no proper and accurate Knowledge of it can poffibly be acquired, without the ufe of its effential points.

"The Simplex, or Pefhito Verfion," fays Mr. P. p. 14, " is, on many accounts, the most important of all the verfions of the New. Teftament. It contains the four Gospels, the Acts, the Epiftles of St. Paul (though that to the Hebrews appears to have been tranflated by a different perfon,) the firft Epiftle of St. John, the firft Epistle of St. Peter, and the Epistle of St. James. The first edition of this in valuable verfion was published by Widmanftad, in Syriac types, at Vienna, in quarto, 1555. All fubfequent editions are more or less interpolated, The text of this edition will, therefore, be exactly given in Hebrew for the convenience of the learner, after its typographical errors types, have been corrected from the tables of errata, which Widmanstad himself published with the work."

Now, after this grave and ferious complaint against the interpolation of all fubfequent editions-(a complaint, however, which must be received with confiderable caution, as many additions have been made by other editors, on the authority of better and more perfect MSS. than those which Widmanstad poffeffed)-after this most explicit declaration, that the text of Widmanftad fhould be exactly given-our readers will with difficulty believe, what we affure them is incontrovertibly true, that in the fpecimen before us, Mr. Pratt has not given the text of: Widmanftad, but that of fome one of the later, and,

as he calls them, interpolated editions. In proof of this, we refer to verfe 20 of the fifth chapter of St. John. That verfe is thus printed by Widmanftad

poll? od lambai: xpbaldo azpad xang pag höl ing

and may be thus literally tranflated-Pater enim diligit Filium fuum, et quicquid facit, oftendit ei, ut vos miremini. In Mr. Pratt's fpecimen the paffage is thus printed—

אבא גיר רחם לברה, וכלמדם רעבר מחוא לה : ודיתירין מן הלין עברא מחוא לה, דאנתון תתרמרון.

Pater enim diligit Filium fuum, et quicquid facit, oftendit ei;

ET QUÆ SUNT MAJORA HIS OPERA OSTENDIT EI, ut vos miremini.

The words, et quæ funt majora his opera oftendit ei, which are not to be found in Widmanstad, and the omiffion of which is not noted by him as an erratum, were firft added by Tremellius, as he himself informs us in the margin of his edition, from a very ancient MS. belonging to the Elector Palatine. We do not, however, fufpe&t Mr. P. of having confulted Tremellius on this occafion; fince, if he had, the information given in the margin would certainly have prevented his falling into an error, which affords fo pofitive and irrefragable a proof, that he has not done what he folemnly profeffed to do; that is, he has not expreffed the Syriac text of Widmanftad in Hebrew characters. If we may venture to conjecture what text Mr. P. has actually followed, we are ftrongly impreffed with an idea, that he has either copied Le Fevre's edition, to which we have already referred, printed by Benenatus at Paris in 1584, or that printed by Le Bouc, at the fame place, in the year 1586, and which is an exact repetition of the former. In this fuppofition we are confirmed, almost beyond the poffibility of doubt, by the following circumftance. In verfe 19. of Mr. Pratt's fpecimen, by a grofs and manifeft error, the word is printed inftead of . The very fame error is committed in the two Paris editions above mentioned, and, we believe, it is to be found in no other edition that is extant. If then our conjecture be well founded, it is not unfair to suppose, that Mr. P. might be induced to choose one or the other of thefe Paris editions for his private model, rather than that of Widmanftad which he publicly profeffes to follow, in confequence of their having already expreffed the Syriac in Hebrew characters, and of their poffeffing the very convenient appendage of a literal, interlineary, Latin verfion. At all events, it is indifputably certain that he has not followed the text of Widmanftad;

Widmanftad; and indeed had he himself tranfcribed the verfion into Hebrew characters, from any edition whatever that is printed in the Syriac character, he could fcarcely have fallen into this error-fince there is no fimilarity whatever betwen the Syriac, jod and vau 。.

The four Epiftles which are wanting in the edition of Widmanstad, are intended to be fupplied from Pocock's edition of a MS, in the Bodleian Library, publifhed at Leyden in 1639; and the Book of Revelations, from that of De Dieu, publifhed at the fame place, in 1627, from a MS. formerly in the poffeffion of Scaliger; though it is not yet determined by the learned to which of the Syriac verfions the parts contained in thefe MSS. really belong. The various readings of the Pefhito, and occafionally the readings of the Philoxenian and Jerufalem verfions, will be given at the end of the New Teftament.

Mr. Pratt concludes his Profpectus, by foliciting the fubfcriptions of all thofe perfons who are patrons, as well as thofe who are cultivators, of facred learning; and, by way of example, he fuggefts to their confideration the method adopted in the publication of Walton's Polyglott; "whereby confiderable fums of money were folicited and obtained from thofe opulent perfons who were defirous of advancing found learning and. religion; and for which fums they were to receive an adequate, number of copies.'

After this attentive and minute examination of the plan propofed by Mr. Pratt, and the manner in which it is executed, in the fhort fpecimen annexed to the Profpectus, we now feel ourfelves imperiously called on to discharge a very painful, though neceffary duty. We cannot but feriously queftion the ability of this author to execute, with propriety, the great work he has proje&ed. From an advertisement fubjoined to this publication, we learn that much of his time is occupied in the education of youth; but furely the extenive and arduous employment in which he is about to engage, requires all the attention, and all the energy, even, of the molt vigorous and active mind. We earnestly exhort him, therefore, difpaffionately to compare the magnitude and difficulty of the undertaking, with the time and talents he is able to devote to it— We befeuch, him to recollect, what nice difcrimination, what. profound and various knowledge, what unwearicd diligence, and inflexible fidelity, are indifpenfably requifite even to the tolerable execution of fuch a work as he has here ventured to delineate. If, after this deliberation, Mr. P. fhall determine to perfift in foliciting the liberal fupport of a generous public, let him endeavour to render his Polyglott more worthy of their patronage

patronage, by fupplying the defects, and remedying the imperfections, of his prefent plan; above all, fince he has thought it proper to call to their recollection the venerable example of Walton, let him anxiously labour to imitate, though he can never hope to equal, the excellencies of fo eminent and illuftrious a scholar.

ART. II. Afiatic Refearches: or, Tranfactions of the Society inftituted at Bengal, for enquiring into the Hiftory and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature of Afia. Volume the Fourth. 4to. Calcutta printed; and fold, in London, by Elmfly. 1793.

THE

HE first page of this volume of Afiatic refearches opens with the melancholy tidings of the death of the venerated founder and prefident of the Society, on the 27th of April, 1794; and announces the appointment of Sir John Shore to the vacant chair. The first painfully pleafing duty of the new prefident, was to pronounce an oration on the virtues and talents of his predeceffor, which ranks the twelfth in order of the articles in the prefent volume, and to which we fhall, therefore, devote particular attention, when it comes under confideration. But having frequently had occafion to mention, in our Review, this celebrated perfonage, and thofe im portant pursuits by which be was enabled fo nobly to fupport Religion, and fo widely to extend the limits of Science, we cannot refift the inclination which we alfo feel, to pay a small tribute of grateful refpect to his memory, in the following concise sketch, which principally relates to that line of his character in which he will defcend moft honoured and revered to pofterity.

The late Sir William Jones may juftly be confidered as one of the most diftinguished ornaments of the prefent century. The virtues of his heart could alone be equalled by the vigorous, the comprehenfive powers of his understanding his vaft knowledge, however, did not operate towards making him a fceptic. He drank deep at the fountains of eaftern science; but did not, at the fame time, imbibe thofe pernicious principles, which, in too many inftances, have affected the minds of Oriental travellers. It is furely a circumftance of no fmall weight, for the confideration of fceptics, that, while fuperficial enquirers prefume to treat with contempt or difregard the Mofaic writings, one of the profoundest Oriental scholars that