must assume that form which general suffrage pronounces to be most graceful and attractive. The greater proportion of Psalms are lyric poems, according to the opinion of the most able critics; an English version, therefore, should be, for the most part, in the lyric measure; but in our language, lyric metres are thought to be too heavy, unless they have the assistance of rhyme and it is for this reason that the Bishop has presented his translation in rhyme. In the execution of his work, the learned prelate has never lost sight of what he notices at large in the Introduction, viz. the multiform character of "the Songs of Zion." The ode, the elegy, and the idyll, the historical, the ethical, the enigmatic and the dramatic pieces, are distinguished in his version. The stanza is diversified as the subject changes, and pursues with it a solemn or animated, a lofty or sedate, a tender and plaintive, or a rapturous and inspiring strain. We select the first verses of a few Psalms in illustration of the felicity with which the Bishop has adapted his numbers to his argument. The solemn strain. Psalm 1xxx. "Shepherd of Israel, hear, whose gentle sway, Beam with thy radiance forth, thou King supreme, That the peculiar characteristic of the Psalms, which Bishop Lowth calls" parallelism," is well preserved by the Right Rev. Translator, will appear from the following specimens, which we shall insert under Lowth's own observations and literal readings. "When a proposition is delivered, and a second is subjoined to it, or drawn under it, equivalent or contrasted with it in sense, or similar to it in the form of grammatical construction, these I call parallel lines. Parallel lines may be reduced to three sorts;-parallels synonymous, parallels antithetic, and parallels synthetic. "Parallel lines synonymous, that is, which correspond with one another by expressing the same sense in different but equivalent terms. Psalm xxi. 1, 2. "O Jehovah, in thy strength the king shall rejoice: "Thy strength shall be the king's delight! "The second sort of parallels are antithetic; when two lines correspond with one another by an opposition of terms and sentiments, when the second is contrasted with the first, sometimes in expressions, sometimes in sense only. Psalm xxx. 5. "For his wrath is but for a moment, his favour for life : Sorrow may lodge for the evening, but in the morning is gladness." Dr. Mant's Version. "For his wrath a moment stays, Weeping may endure a night, Shouts of gladness hail the light." "Synthetic parallels, where the parallelism consists only in the similar form of construction, where there is a correspondence and equality between different propositions, such as noun answering to noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative to negative, and interrogation to interrogation. Psalm cxxxv. 6. "Whatsoever Jehovah pleaseth That doeth he in the heavens and in the earth, Dr. Mant's Version. "Pow'r supreme Jehovah shows, Heav'n and earth his word fulfil, As a further example of the Bishop's close adherence to the construction and imagery of the original, we will subjoin a few stanzas of his 104th Psalm, the introduction to which explains, that it consists of parts sung alternately by two companies. The parts are easily distinguished, inasmuch as one semichorus always speaks of God in the third person, and the other addresses him in the first." First Semichorus. "1 Bless, O my soul, Jehovah bless! Second Semichorus. Jehovah, Thce thy works confess, 2 His robe of light he round him flung; In wat'ry mists' compacted shade. With whirlwind-blasts, and light'ning flame." Sometimes the embarrassing nature of his rhyme obliges the Bishop to use a periphrasis, instead of the simple term which is found in the authorized version; but he takes care to select an expression which shall correspond closely with the primitive or radical signification of the Hebrew word. Thus, "as for the world, and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them," is rendered, "This mingled mass of land and sea -Psalm lxxxix. 11. ban is the word which translators have expressed by the term, orbis, or world, and it is derived from the verb a literally to mix or mingle. For "the stars which thou hast ordained," Psalm viii. 3. we read in Bishop Mant's version, "those orbs of radiant flame I see." This periphrasis also is a literal interpretation of which Parkhurst says comes from the Arabic "which signifies to glitter, glisten, or shine; and as a noun, any glittering thing, but generally a round one." In the choice of his epithets, when the Bishop wants to fill up a line, he is equally scrupulous, in using none, but such as the sacred text will warrant him in applying. One example will suffice. "Thus my heart was grieved."-Psalm lxxiii. 21. My heart ."-Mant. The original word which is here rendered, "heaved with sharp fermenting pains," is yon from yon, which Parkhurst translates, "to ferment, as liquors do, hence as a N, vinegar, which is made by strong fermentation." In the above instances we have consulted Parkhurst, because his Lexicon is referred to almost exclusively by Bishop Mant; not, be it understood, because we are inclined to rely implicitly on his dicta, or yet reject the lexicographers who use the vowel points. The notes, with which the Bishop has enriched his volume, are copious, well selected, instructive, and, in many places, extremely interesting from their illustration of local and temporary allusions. "I am willing to hope," the learned prelate modestly says, "that the reader may find a pleasing variety in the elucidation of national customs, and of the local peculiarities of natural history. In this respect, as in others, Parkhurst's Lexicon is a valuable and entertaining work, and has contributed numerous annotations." Bishop Lowth's Prælections on Hebrew Poetry, Bishop Horne's Commentary on the Psalms, and Bishop Horsley's Translation and Notes, are the sources from which Dr. Mant professes to have derived his principal assistance; but his own observations are such as will deservedly stand by the side of those of any of his predecessors. We cannot conclude this notice of one of the best metrical versions of the Psalms which have yet appeared, without quoting the Right Rev. Translator's last sentence in his Introduction: "It would be my highest delight to believe, that, in the opinion of those, whose piety, taste, and learning, qualify them to be judges, I have not materially disgraced my original." A Paraphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes, first published in the Year 1768, and entitled Choheleth, or the Royal Preacher. A Poem, most humbly inscribed to the King. With Notes Philological, Critical, and Explanatory. To which are added, the Text of the Authorized Version, Supplementary Notes, Corrections and Improvements. By NATHANIEL HIGGINS. 8vo. 150pp. 5s. Rivingtons. 1824. THE editor's preface hints that this reprint has been published in consequence of the high opinion which the late John Wesley, Dr. Adam Clarke, and the Rev. Samuel Lee, Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, have expressed of its merits. It is one of those laborious undertakings which has not much attraction for common readers; and though it display considerable learning, and an honest desire to give a faithful interpretation of the original, yet its loose nature as a Paraphrase, will not admit of its being consulted as authority. The author's preface, which occupies twenty closely printed pages, contains an analysis of what he supposes to have been the Preacher's object in the composition of this sacred poem; and discusses some of its peculiarities with the tone of a person who is familiar with his subject. His observations on Hebrew poetry will be thought in general correct, and very much to the purpose. The beginning of the Second Book is a fair specimen of the general plan and execution of the work. "As when the weary trav'ler, having past |