Page images
PDF
EPUB

and by their monarch to the luxurious capital of France. But some influence must have been at work, more powerful and permanent than the accidents of war; and I am inclined to believe, that to their intercourse with Poland we may trace much that is substantial and positive in their civilization. "The country which gave birth to Copernicus and Casimir," (I use the words of an estimable Polish friend,) "men not our pride only, but the pride of mankind,-a country whose historians wrote a Livian Latin,-a country which had two celebrated academies at Cracow and Wilna, many learned seminaries, and schools in every parish,-must have been to Russia what Greece was to Rome, and have operated beneficially on the rude minds of those barbarous hordes, who had so long the Tartars for their masters, by whom they were not only oppressed, but despised." There are many who profess to believe that the form of government has little influence on the happiness of a people: and if it were possible to conceive that a nation could possess a wise and benevolent administration of justice, and a code of laws founded on the public weal, the name and character of the supremely dominant power would be a matter of little moment. But nothing can be worse than the chaos which exists in Poland. There, law is any thing which may suit the dispensers of the law; the ukase of to-day overturns the ukase of yesterday; and sanction can be found for any decree whatever, out of some authority recognized in the Polish tribunals. The Constitutions of the Diet, the Jus Magdeburgensis, the Prussian and Austrian usages, the Code Napoleon,each in its turn is applied to as an authority in all the "glory of that uncertainty" which to some has appeared a charm in the English system.

[ocr errors]

Though the prospects of political melioration for Poland are remote and shadowy, yet this consolation is left,-that of any situation in which a chance of redemption has offered itself, the Poles have at all times availed themselves. They may have erred in their calculations; but they have been prodigal of their existence wherever they indulged a hope. They have made great sacrifices; and that is the best evidence of their sincerity. The improvement of the people is going on under a most extensive system of education: and while the history of Poland is present to the minds of Poles, it is impossible that a patriotic feeling should not grow up spontaneously.'

Bowring's Specimens, pp. xx-xxvi.

By the Treaty of Vienna, Napoleon's Grand Dutchy of Warsaw was erected into the Russian Kingdom of Poland; and on December 24 of the same year (1815), a constitutional charter was granted to the Poles, the articles of which were 'of so liberal 'a description as to astonish all Europe.' Yet, they withheld trial by jury, and the competency of either chamber to originate laws, the initiative being confined to the king and the council of state. The Poles appear to have been tolerably satisfied, however, with their new situation, and with the semblance of national restoration which it presented, until the fatal change took place in the counsels of Russia, ascribed to alarms of meditated revo

lutions, which began with abolishing the freedom of the press, and issued in the reign of terror under that brutal despot of whom the Cholera has happily rid the world. For eight months, Europe has beheld with astonishment, a nation comprising less than four millions of souls,* sustaining the unequal and desperate conflict with the Sovereign Lord of sixty millions, distributed over more than a third of the circumference of the globe! The plains of Poland are 'covered with ruins, or washed with blood; her resources are exhausted; her abundance has given way to ' wretchedness.' Pestilence has at last appeared in the train of war; but, to the Poles, she has hitherto seemed to act the part of a terrible and dangerous ally, rather than that of an enemy. Dreadful already has been the waste of life on both sides; and should the Russian Autocrat succeed in crushing the insurrection, it will be, at best, a fatal and infamous conquest, the actual cost of which, in blood and treasure, will itself be a sore punishment of the grasping ambition of the Muscovite, while its ultimate results will probably entail severer and more awful retribution.

IT

Art. IV. A new Translation of the Book of Psalms from the Original Hebrew, with explanatory Notes. By William French, D.D. Master of Jesus College, and George Skinner, M.A. Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College. 8vo. pp. viii. 254. Cambridge. 1830. Tis refreshing to meet with a Biblical Translation, more especially a translation of the Psalms, which, if it does not exactly meet our wishes, bears the marks of sound learning, simplicity of intention, and entire sobriety of judgement. The total disregard of all sound rules of interpretation, the violent perversion or mystification of the text, into which some critics of high reputation and undoubted learning and piety have been betrayed by their wish to establish a favourite theory, or by the adoption of erroneous philological principles, has had a most mischievous influence upon Biblical criticism, throwing back the study into the obscurity and uncertainty of the most imperfect knowledge, and conducting us to the very threshold of scepticism. In the present day, it is the fashion with persons of a certain school, to declaim very loudly, often very ignorantly, against what is called Neologism. With them, every theologian or Biblical critic who dissents from their canons of interpretation or their wildest flights of theological conceit, is a neologist; every form of expression of which they may not approve, has a neological tendency; and

*The population of the Kingdom of Poland, according to the census of 1829, exclusive of the army, was 4,088,290, of whom the real Poles' formed about 3,000,000.

such critics and expositors as Blayney, Lowth, and Newcome are spoken of in much the same terms as the 'German Infidels.' Such persons are little aware how completely they are playing into the hands of infidels, by thus confounding sound learning with rash and perilous scepticism, and by proscribing common sense itself as a heretic. No reader of our Journal will suspect us of any bias in favour of the German school of Biblical interpretation; but were we asked who had done the more disservice by their respective principles of Scriptural criticism, Lowth and Michaelis, or Parkhurst and Horsley, we say at once most explicitly, the latter. Yet does Bishop Horsley rank with a certain class of interpreters, as the prince of commentators; and his crude, rash, and paradoxical mode of translation and exposition, which is often no better than criticism travestied, passes for all that is orthodox and spiritual.

Of the Authors of the present volume we know nothing, beyond what may be inferred from the character of their labours, which bear the stamp not only of solid erudition, but of evangelical sentiment and unaffected piety. Most honourably to themselves have they engaged in a work which has for its simple aim, to present an accurate and faithful rendering of the inspired text, according to the sound and established principles of grammatical interpretation. Their volume has, however, been fiercely and unwarrantably attacked by a reverend critic, who writes in the Record Newspaper, and who deems himself particularly 'called' to the work of watchfully presiding as Censor-general over the biblical literature of the day, although destitute alike of the solid learning, the modesty, and the good temper which are indispensable qualifications for such a task. By this self-sufficient gentleman, the Authors of this new Translation have been, we understand, ranked with the German neologists; -upon what ground, we cannot even conjecture, not having seen his lucubrations; but, from our inspection of their volume, we do not scruple to say, that the imputation is as gratuitous as it is calumnious. We presume that the notes only can be referred to; and in these, we have in vain sought for any expressions that could afford even a pretence for the charge of neologism. If any such tendency lurked in the mind of a Translator, it could hardly fail to manifest itself in the version of the xlvth Psalm; and we shall therefore, for the satisfaction of our readers, cite at once the entire Psalm with the subjoined notes.

'PSALM XLV.

My heart is overflowing with a goodly theme;

I will recite my song, made in honour of the King.

goodly theme-Heb. a good matter.

my song, made in honour of-Heb. my works upon.

<2

3

May my tongue be as the pen of a skilful scribe!

THOU art exceedingly beautiful, beyond the sons of Adam ;
Grace is diffused upon Thy lips;

Therefore hath God blessed Thee for ever.

3 Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty Warrior ; Gird on Thy splendour and Thy majesty.

5

And in Thy majesty, ride on and prosper

In the cause of truth, meekness, and righteousness;
And let Thy right hand teach Thee dreadful deeds.
Sharp-pointed are Thine arrows;

They enter the hearts of the enemies of the King.

The nations fall beneath Thee!

THY throne, O God, is for ever and ever;

The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a sceptre of rectitude. 7 THOU lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity,

8

Therefore hath God, Thy God, anointed Thee

With the oil of gladness, above Thy fellow-kings.

Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all Thy garments,

Brought out of palaces, rich in Armenian ivory, to adorn Thee.
Bearing Thy precious treasures, appear the daughters of kings;
At Thy right hand the queen-consort hath her station,

Arrayed in gold of Ophir.

beautiful-In ver. 7. this characteristic is shewn to be moral excellency.

Grace &c.-This refers to the divine power of Messiah's teaching, and to the extraordinary effect produced upon His hearers. "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth." Luke iv. 22. "The officers answered, Never man spake like this man." John vii. 46.

Thy splendour &c.-Compare Ps. xciii. 1. and civ. 1.

4 teach Thee-i. e. enable Thee to atchieve.

5

They enter-Heb. (Thine arrows are) in.

6

O God-Messiah is here addressed as God.

"His Name shall be

called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, &c." Isai ix. 6.

7 above Thy fellow-kings—“ And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Revel. xix. 16.

8

perfume all Thy garments—Heb. (are) all Thy garments. brought out of-Heb. out of. Compare Ps. vii. 5. Notes 1 and 2. adorn-Heb. gladden.

9 Bearing Thy precious treasures, appear.-Heb. With Thy precious things (come). i. e. With the costly offerings made to Thee, come &c. Captive women graced the court of a conqueror.

Arrayed in-Heb. in. See ver. 13.

gold of Ophir-The distant lands, Ophir and Armenia, are probably

10 Attend, O daughter, and observe and incline thine ear, And forget thine own nation and the house of thy father, So shall the King be enamoured of thy beauty;

Because He is thy Lord, bow thyself down before Him. 12 The princess of Tyre shall bring thee presents;

The wealthiest of the nations shall propitiate thy favour.

13 All-glorious is she, the daughter of a king, within the palace; Her raiment is embroidered with gold.

14 In robes of needle-work she is conducted unto the King; The virgins in her train,

Her companions, are brought unto Thee.

15 They are conducted with joy and exultation;

They enter into the palace of the King.

16 In the place of Thy fathers, Thou shalt have children;
"THOU shalt constitute them princes over all lands.
17 "I will cause Thy Name to be remembered,
"Through all succeeding generations;

"Therefore shall the nations praise Thee,

"For ever and ever.'

We shall not offer any criticisms upon the above version of this very beautiful but very difficult composition; but, as introductory to some general observations, we shall venture to lay before our readers a metrical version of the same psalm, which will be found, if we do not deceive ourselves, scarcely less close to the text, while it accords substantially with the rendering of the present Translators.

named as well to shew the great extent of Messiah's dominion, as to point out the fine quality of the gold and ivory possessed by the King.

10 O daughter-Upon this appellation consult Ps. xxxiv. 11. Note 1. thy father-thy royal father. See ver. 13.

11 enamoured of Thy beauty-i. e. delighted with thine excellency. See ver. 2. Note 1. "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it... that He might present it to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Ephes. v. 25, 27.

12 propitiate thy favour-Heb. soften thy countenance.

13 she i. e. the

queen-consort.

See ver. 9.

within the palace-Heb. within. i. e. in the inner chambers, the apartments appropriated to women.

is embroidered &c.-Heb. is of embroidery of gold.

16 This and the following verse contain God's promise of future and perpetual dominion to King Messiah. Compare Ps. lxxii. 17. children The whole Christian race is the fruit of this mystical union of Christ with His church.'

« PreviousContinue »