ART. IX. A Grammar of the Greek Tongue, on a new Plan. By John Jones. Third Edition. 12mo. pp. 299. 6s. Longman and Co. 1815.

WITH the merits of Mr. J. Jones as a theologian, we have already acquainted our readers at considerable length: we are happy to meet him at present in a new character, and to pay our respects to him as a grammarian. Mr. Jones informs us, that this volume is not the crude and undigested effusion of a hurried pen, but that he has now, for the third time, recomposed it; "and he now presents it to the public, in a form, he presumes, not less useful to schoolmasters, than to those who study Greek in their closets." Our readers will be desirous of witnessing the effects of this re-composition, and the fruits of these rpiral Opovrides, of Mr. J. Jones. In the third page, we find the following account of the apostrophes.

"An apostrophe is the elision of a final vowel when succeeded by another; as παρ' εμου for παρα έμου. The mark of an apostrophe is a comma over the place of the vowel cut off.

"The vowels and, when final, instead of being apostrophized, assume y; as εδίδαξεν αυτον, for εδίδαξε αυτοr; and τισι ήμων, τισιν ήμων.” Ρ. 3.

It will certainly be a piece of news both to schoolmasters, and to those who study Greek in their closets, that and a, both of which we presume to be vowels, suffer elision by the apostrophes. We should certainly advise a boy to beware how he gave this information to the former. We have also a sort of prejudice, that the vowels ɛ and 4, when final, are sometimes apostrophized: we cannot say to Mr. Jones, as to Telemachus,

E

Τηλέμαχ', οὐδ ̓ ἔπιθεν κακὸς ἔσσεαι, οὐδ ̓ ἀνοημων.

Mr. Jones, in his recomposition, has presented us with various novelties of this nature. In p. 35, we are told, in the enumeration of defective nouns, that those words which occur in the dative only, are “ πρόβασι, δενδρεσι, ἀνδραπόδεσσι derived from the obsoletes προβας a sheep, δενδρος a tree, ανδραποδης servile.” We believe that we have read in Homer,

Πολλὰ δὲ οἱ πρόβατ ̓ ἔσκε.

And in a fragment of Euripides,

Δένδρη, πετεινά, θῆρας οὕς θ ̓ ἄλμη τρέφει.

Among the adjectives which change as into av, is enumerated aivas, divay ever-flowing. We suspect this word to be found only in the inventive genius of Mr. Jones. In his next recomposition, we trust that he will give us his authority.

As

As a proof of the judgment of Mr. J. Jones, he has selected Tious as his model for the passive voice, a word used but in comparatively a few tenses, and for the best possible reason, from its confusion with the more common tenses of rienu. So we have τιθήσομαι, ἐτίθην, τίθητι, τιθείην, &c. gravely given us as parts of τίομαι.

In his Syntax, p. 167, Mr. J. Jones is exceedingly amusing.

"When a person or thing is represented in discourse, as the subject to which a quality belongs, or the agent concerned in the performance of any action, it assumes a termination, appropriated to this purpose, called the Nominative Case." P. 67.

Now in σκοπεῖτε τὴν τοῦ Γραμματίκου ἄγνοιαν, “ see the ignorance of the grammarian," we should conceive that the grammarian (i. e. Mr. J. Jones) was the subject to which this ignorance belonged, and yet ypappalínov is not in the nominative case.

We have not time to go through all the rules of Mr. Jones, we will take one at hazard.

"RULE IV. Nouns connected with other nouns, to limit their signification, assume the nature of adjectives.

"Exλx win, Greece-tongue, i. e. Grecian tongue; xoupidin añoxe, a virgin-wife; Marrea orod, prediction-ashes, i. e. prophetic ashes; ardees pass, heroes-men, i. e. heroic men; Toxades xuves, teeming bitches; UxTides i, yoke-horses, i. e. a pair of horses; Ορειάδες νυμφαι, mountain-nymphs; Ολυμπιάδες μουσαι, Olympian-muses; panac voonpass, with madness-fury, i. e. mad fury; ibu aripa, arrogance-man, i. e. arrogant man." P. 171.

If xoupidin be not an adjective, Homer has made a strange blunder; for we find it applied also in another gender and termination to a man,

Κουρίδιον ποθέουσα πόσιν, τὸν ἄριστον Αχαίων. Ι. Ε. 414. to say nothing of μαντείος ̓Απόλλων, or of two or three other of his examples, which are sufficiently doubtful.

The Greek language is indeed obliged to Mr. J. Jones, not only for many transformations, but also for many useful additions; one especially, of an ablative case.

"RULE XXI. Nouns expressing the medium or the instrument by which an action is performed, are used in the Ablative Case.

σε Χερσι παρευθυνοντες, Directing with our hands. Λόγος ιάπτων, Tearing me with words. Κουφος πνευμασι βοσκε, Feed thyself with the light air. Ου γαρ αργυρίω και χρυσῳ μακάριον το θείον ουδε βρονταις και κεραύνοις ισχυρον, αλλά επίσημη καὶ φρονήσει, For the Divinity is not rendered blessed by silver and gold, nor strong by the roar and bolts of thunder, but by knowledge and intelligence. Plutarch." P. 216.

We

We will not quarrel with Mr. J. Jones about a term. He may call Xɛps the ablative case, or the subjunctive case, or the transitive case, or another case, which he chooses. It is rather unfortunate, however, that, wherever the vis auferendi is to be expressed in Greek, the genitive case is constantly used after the verb or the preposition, in the stead of the Latin ablative: to which, in nine instances out of ten, as every school-boy knows, it generally corresponds.

It would be hardly credible, that the author of a Greek Grammar should omit to assign to yɛ, its constant sense of " at least," or to give av and xe their potential or indefinite power; or, what is worse, should confound y and xe as having the same

sense.

“T, x, and by adding, ", and probably xa, are taken from the Hebrew na, ge, and primarily signified this.

"Hence the use of y or x is to render emphatic or prominent the word which goes before it; or, in other words, it is employed for the purpose of inviting the attention to rest on the preceding term-y, this man." P. 279.

Mr. J. Jones, with his usual modesty, proceeds, in p. 288, to

correct Homer.

"Homer should thus have described the horses of Rhesus. Τα δε ἱπποι καλλιςοι, ών ίδον, ηδε μεγίσοι, λευκοτεροι χιου θεσεις Bron, The horses of this man were the handsomest and largest I have ever seen, being whiter than snow, and like the wind in swiftness.- -But instead of this he says, Te dig nahlısut ἱππως ίδον, ηδε μεγίςως, λευκότεροι χιον, Π. x. 436.”

If he had thus described the horses of Rhesus, Homer would have committed as gross a blunder as Mr. J. Jones, in putting vidov for ous idov, besides making a most straggling, inelegant sentence, in which the omission of the verb is infinitely more glaring than as it stands at present.

We could amuse ourselves much with Mr. J. Jones's grammatical improvements, did we not hasten on to the bonne bouche of the whole, viz. ten pages on the subject of quantity, a subject which Mr. Jones appears to understand almost as well as gramWe will give the reader a spiceligium of Mr. J. Jones's discoveries upon this part of Greek literature. Discovery I. "All diphthongs are long."

mar.

Not a single qualification. Aristophanes then has committed

Αλλ' αὐτᾶι σπονδαὶ τριακοντουτίδες, Ach. 194.

And a worse in the following line:

Καὶ τῷ ξυναντᾶς δητα;-τουτῷι. Plat. 44.
Kai

Discovery

Discovery II. "A final is short; as sau: except in the first declension, where a is equivalent to n."

We think that we have read in Homer,

Ιση μοῖρα μένοντι, καὶ εἰ μαλά τις πολεμίζει.

Bad news for Mr. J. Jones, who is so sturdy a warrior against quantity and grammar.

Discovery III. A, preceding the final s, is short, except the "nominative cases of participles, as ruas, and all cases of the first declension, as φιλίας, μουσας.

We should recommend to the notice of Mr. J. Jones, the following line, when his fancy runs away with him:

*Αγκε δέ μιν πολύκεστος ἱμᾶς ἀπαλην ὑπὸ δείρην.

Discovery IV. "A is long before a vowel.”

"A is long in the penultimate of verbs in dw, if preceded by for ε."

Mr. J. Jones's discoveries flow, as Hesiod expresses it:

Κρήνης τ' ἀενίου καὶ ἀπορρύτου

Oin ofǎas, Mr. J. Jones, that A may be short in the penulti mate of verbs in aw, though it be preceded by p? at least Homer did, II. H. 448.

Discovery V. "A penultimate in the genitive of the third declension, is often long, as τιταν : gen. τιτανος, κέρας, κερᾶτος, but short in all neuter nouns; σωμα σώματος.”

Then κερας is not a neuter noun; and φύσις κέρατα ταύροις is a blunder of Anacreon.

Discovery VI. "Y penultima is long-in nouns before рад or in adjectives before pos, as ἀγκυρα, ἰσχυρος, οιζυρος.”

Surely the genius of absurdity, μειδιοῶν βλοσυροισι προσωπασι, was present, when Mr. Jones made this notable discovery: μopos, ixupos, &c. might have stared him in the face.

Discovery VII. "Y final is short; except in the imperfect and second aorist, where is a contraction of ve; as v; in the names of the letters μυ, ου ; in συ or τν; in the adverbs v, as μεταξύ; in nouns of a double termination, popxus and ❤ogxu; in nouns in τη, 25 πυρ, μαρτυρ; and in the monosyllables μυς, συς, together with many others." P. 291.

Mr. J. Jones was thinking probably of the Latin tu, which is certainly long, as a boy of eight years old would inform him. The same boy, after an advance of two years, would also inform him, that ou and to were equally short.

Νυν δ' ἐκ τοι ἐρέω συ δ ̓ ἐνι φρέσι βαλλεο σῇσι.

Or, if Mr. J. Jones entertains any hope of credit from these bis recompositions, we will hint to him,

Πολλὰ μεταξύ πέλει κυλικᾷ καὶ χείλεῶν ἀκρυ ;

to say nothing of μéonyyũ, &c. &c.

G

Let

VOL. VI. JULY, 1816.

Let these few notable discoveries upon the subject of quantity serve as a specimen of this portion of what Mr. J. Jones is facetiously pleased to denominate a Grammar. In the mean time we can assure our readers, that we hold the accuracy of Mr. Jones as a grammarian in as high respect as we do his orthodoxy as a theologian. If, indeed, his divinity was to be rated by his Grammar, a more just appreciation of its merits could not be made.

Mr. Jones modestly observes of his work, that "the author conceived it susceptible of much improvement ;" and that therefore he recomposed it, and produced it in its present amended form. Perhaps we should be of opinion, that it is now at its highest pitch of perfection, for we certainly conceive, that all improvement would be thrown away upon it. The only amendment of which it is susceptible is that which would arise from the

Emendaturis ignibus.

ART. X. A Sermon preached in Lambeth Chapel, at the Consecration of the Right Rev. Robert, Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia. By Joseph Holden Pott, A.M. Archdeacon of London, and Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields. Pub·lished by Command of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. 4to. 28 pp. 2s. Rivingtons. 1816.

THE Archdeacon has selected for his text Eph. i. 19,

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: and are built up upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

His first object is to shew the perversion of this precept by the Church of Rome, in requiring the whole Christian Church to be so framed and organized as to bring it in subjection to one earthly head. This from the very nature and constitution of the moral world never could have been within the view of the Apos tle. The Archdeacon then proceeds to consider those strict ties of discipline, of fellowship, and of order, which ought to subsist between Christian Churches, so as stili to preserve that harmony of design, that co-operation of purpose, and that unity of faith, which together form the idea of one household and one temple, whose maker and builder is God.