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1831.1

Cambridge Prize Compositions.

νεφελῶν ἐφιππεύοντα δέρκονται θεὸν, πτεροῖσι ναυστολοῦντα κόλπον αἰθέρος. Ι. ὦ Ρωμέων, τί δῆτα Ρωμέων ἔφυς;

bright,

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πατέρα τ' ἀναίνου κὤνομ”· εἰ δὲ μὴ θέλεις,
ὄμνυ φιλήτωρ τῆσδε πιστὸς ἐμμενεῖν,
καγώ δόμων τε καὶ γένους ἐξίσταμαι.
ROMEO. JULIET. (Act 11. Sc. ii.)
R. He jests at scars that never felt a
wound.-
[dow breaks?
But, soft! what light through yonder win-
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than
Be not her maid, since she is envious! [she.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it! cast it off!
It is my lady; Oh! it is my love!
Oh that she knew she were!- [that?
She speaks; yet she says nothing! what of
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.-
I am too bold; 'tis not to me it speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do intreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her
head?
[those stars,

As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so
[night.
That birds would sing, and think it were not
See how she leans her head upon her hand!
Oh that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek.
J. Ay me!

The brightness of her cheek would shame

R. She speaks:

O speak again, bright angel! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds,
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

J. Oh Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art
thou Romeo?

Deny thy father, and refuse thy name:
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

EPIGRAMMATA,

Numismate annuo dignata, et in curia Cantabrigiensi recitata comitiis maximis A.D. MDCCCXXX. auctore Gulielmo Fitzherbert, Coll. Regin. schol.

"" ÆGRESCIT MEDENDO."

Φυλλίδος ἠπιάλῳ καμνούσης, Δάφνις ὁ παιὼν,
ήίθεος Δάφνις, φάρμακ ̓ ἔδωκε κόρη

ὡς δ ̓ ἴδεν, ὡς ἐμάνη· τότε δή πυρὸς ἤσθετ ̓ ἰατρὸς
καὶ νόσον, ἧς παιὼν ἤλυθεν, αὐτὸς ἔχει.

"6 SPATIIS INCLUSUS INIQUIS."

In Appium candidatum honorum in Literis Humanioribus minus felicem.

Jam mense tantum perbrevi, nec amplius

Certamen atrox abfuit :

Exin Minervæ crassioris Appius
Miserum caput vocabulis

Gravare, normis, lexicis, tutoribus,
Et cæterâ farragine.
Non ambulabat indies miserrimus
Trans milliare proximum :

Dec. 23.-The Norrisian prize for the present year was on Monday last adjudged to Thomas Stone, B.A. Scholar of St. John's College, for his essay on the following subject: :-"The Christian Religion the last Revelation to be expected of the will of God."

Dec. 31.-On Monday last, the Hulsean prize, of one hundred guineas, was adjudged to Frederic Myers, Scholar of Clare Hall, for his essay on "The futility of attempts to represent the Miracles recorded in Scripture

Non tempus illi ut rideat vel dormiat :
Non tempus illi ut cogitet:
Clepsydra semper adsidet jentaculo,
Dum rodit ungues et legit;
Arctis ubique terminis includitur;
Dies propinquat horridus.

Quid ergo restat? heu, rei fastigium!
Cuneatur inter ultimos.

as effects produced in the ordinary course of nature."

The subject of the Hulsean prize essay for the ensuing year is, "The Evidences of the Truth of the Christian Revelation are not weakened by Time."

The subject of the Seatonian prize poem for the present year is, " David playing the harp before Saul," 1 Sam. xvi. 23. And the examiners have given notice that, should any poem appear to possess distinguished merit, a premium of £100 will be adjudged.

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CLASSICAL Literature.

A New Translation of the Book of Psalms,
from the original Hebrew, with explana-
tory Notes, by William French, D. D.
Master of Jesus College, and Geo. Skinner,
M. A. Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College,
Cambr. 1830; printed by J. Smith,
Printer to the University. 8vo. pp. 253.
THE Book of Psalms has, in every
age, deservedly engaged the peculiar
attention of the cultivators of sacred
literature; since, from the very na-
ture of its contents in general, it is cal-
culated to be, in a greater degree than
any other portion of the Old Testa-
ment, interesting alike to the learned
and the unlearned reader. Surely that
book which is more than any other,
prophetical of our Redeemer-that to
which His references were more fre-
quently made than to any other, and
with a sentiment from which He yield-
ed up his spirit, claims a proportiona-
bly greater share of the investigation
of the learned, and the devout study
of all faithful Christians. Nor, indeed,
has the case been otherwise; for on
no portion of the Old Testament has
so much attention been bestowed as
on this divine book. Not to advert to
the merits, little known and less ap-
preciated, of the early Jewish para-
phrasts and commentators, it has been
translated into the language of almost
every Christian civilized people. Since
the glorious æra of the revival of let-
ters, and that of the Reformation, it
has been annotated on by some of the
most consummate Hebraists and emi-
nent commentators; of whose recondite
labours another and scarcely less use-
ful class of scholars have amply availed
themselves, in order to establish the
true sense, and illustrate the real
force of these sacred oracles, for
the use of Christians at large, and
the instruction of general readers.
Should this seem to show that no
great advantage can be expected to
accrue from any further endeavours to
interpret these Divine compositions, it
must at the same time be considered,
that the existence of such a vast body
of annotatory matter as that to be
found on the Psalms (very far exceed-
ing in bulk that on any other book
of the Old Testament) must not only
attest the high importance of the
book, but imply its difficulties; which
indeed are such, that even after the
learned labours of many generations
of interpreters, they yet remain, in a
far greater degree than might be ex-
pected, unvanquished. It would be

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[Jan.

not uninstructive, but foreign to our
present purpose, to trace the origin
and progress of sacred commentation
as it respects the Old Testament,
from the times of the early Jewish
expounders, and that of the Chris-
tian fathers. Suffice it to say, that the
rapid progress which has been made
in oriental literature from the time of
Schultens to the present day, though
it has enlarged our sphere of know-
ledge, and furnished us with much va-
luable annotation, has perhaps scarcely
given us one work which can be re-
ferred to, as supplying, in a moderate
compass, whatever is really essential
towards the interpretation of the book
of Psalms. That of Rosenmüller is
(at least in its first edition) upon
the whole a failure. And what is
true of learned commentaries will like-
wise apply to these vernacular trans-
lations, whether with or without notes,
which must be, more or less, founded
on the erudite researches before ad-
verted to. With these alone we are at
present concerned. Our two authorised
versions of the Psalms have, on many
accounts, a claim to high respect and
veneration; and, considering the im-
perfect state of oriental literature at
the time when the first at least of
them was formed, they may justly be
pronounced one of the most wonderful
works of a wonderful age. Yet it was
long ago felt, that something more
might and ought to be done, as to ac-
curately representing the sense; and the
deep study, which for nearly a century
has been devoted to oriental literature,
together with the progressively in-
creasing attention paid to Biblical Cri-
ticism, has called forth, and justified
the various attempts, more or less suc-
cessful, which have, from time to time,
been made towards a correct transla-
tion of the Book of Psalms. Among
these the principal are the following:

Mudge's Translation, 1744, 8vo. ; Edwards's, 1755, 8vo.; Fenwick's, 1759, 8vo.; Green's, 1762, 8vo.; Merrick's, 1768, 4to.; Street's, 1790, 2 vols. 8vo.; Wake's, 1793, 2 vols. 8vo.; Geddes', 1807, 8vo.; Goode's, 1811, 2 vols. 8vo; Bishop Horsley's, 1815, 2 vols. 8vo. ; and lastly, Mr. Fry's, 1819, 8vo.; all, we believe, more or less noticed in our pages. Each of these contributed a no inconsiderable accession, especially those of Mudge, Street, Geddes, and Horsley. Yet Street, though ingenious, is somewhat shallow, and too fond of novelty

1831.]

Translation of the Psalms, by French and Skinner.

and hypothesis; Geddes was a professed innovator, whose judgment and tact were far inferior to his learning; though that scarcely rose above mediocrity. As for Horsley, he was too dogmatical, and too apt to be carried away by a system, which, though well founded, was pushed too far; not to say that he was by no means a profound Hebraist, and that his work was left a posthumous one, and in a state far less perfect than it would have been, had it received the last corrections and

the δεύτεραι φρόντιδες of his mighty mind. Besides, the work, like most of the above, was intended, not so much for vernacular readers, as for scholars and Hebraists. At all events, there was room for a work which, in a moderate compass, should impart to English readers the results, as far as regards the Psalms, of that improvement in the knowledge of oriental literature and biblical criticism which distinguishes the present age, by presenting our countrymen with a Manual of the Book of Psalms, which should contain as accurate a representation of the original as could be attained by the use of the valuable helps and advantages enjoyed in the present day, accompanied, too, with notes, suited alike to unlearned readers, and to those who are enabled to exercise their judgment on the sense of the original. Now such a work could not have been successfully accomplished by a mere painstaking plodder, who, with but a scanty knowledge of the original, should seek, by a sort of eclectic labour, to make out the sense, and illustrate it by the aid of the commentators. It required a consummate Hebraist-one able to discern the sense, where it had been missed by all the interpreters, and to decide, as one having authority," in those numerous cases where our present translations so marvellously differ from each other, and where it often happens that one only can be right. It was requisite, too, that the work should be performed by one intimately conversant in Classical as well as Oriental Literature, by a familiarity with the best writers, especially poets, of the antients-one in whom profound learning and a thorough knowledge of verbal criticism should be controuled by a sound judgment, and guided by a natural sagacity, and

a correct taste.

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In fact, capabilities for much greater things were requisite in one who

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should hope to supply what might very well be termed one of the greatest desiderata in vernacular sacred literature.

Great, accordingly, is our satisfaction, that not one but two such should have been found; in whom all those great endowments, natural and acquired, are eminently centered; and what is more, in an University which has ever stood (absit invidia verbo) foremost in the dissemination of religious light, as well as classical and scientific knowledge, and whose "Hinc Lux et Pocula Sacra" is not an empty boast; in a College, too, which has, in proportion to its size, contributed at least its full quota to that illustrious band, of which all faithful Cantabs are justly proud. And when we consider that the work in question has been a Symbola Sacra from the Master and Senior Tutor of a College, it presents an example worthy of imitation, and may well suggest the use which ought more frequently to be made of academical "otium cum dignitate."

We are thus, in fact, reminded of the method pursued by the learned Benedictines, in giving those admirable editions of the ecclesiastical writers which will immortalize their fraternity. The work now before us, however, presents only the first part of the plan abovementioned; being a new Manual Translation of the Psalms, accompanied with short notes, presenting important various versions, more literal and idiomatic expressions than those adopted in the translation, and explanations and illustrations of passages of greater than ordinary difficulty or doubt. The aim of the translators has been to present a faithful rather than a highly-coloured representation of the original, and such as should be always agreeable to those sound principles of grammatical interpretation with whose laws they are intimately conversant, and of the high importance of which they are fully aware. The latter part of the above plan is intended to be shortly accomplished in a volume of philological annotations.

The text from which the translators have formed the present version, is that of Van der Hooght, the most correct of all the impressions of the textus receptus, having never indulged in conjectural emendations, nor adopted unwarrantable alterations. They have no where departed from the above text without sufficient authority from MSS., ancient versions, and other testimonies.

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CLASSICAL LITERATURE.

The translation is judiciously distributed into lines corresponding to the verses of the original. Few of our readers can need to be told that the original is in poetry, though it may often be difficult to ascertain the kind of metre, and the laws by which it is regulated. In proving, however, the point, as to the metrical form of the original, there has, we believe, been little adduced except from modern writers. The testimony, therefore, of an ancient, and one of all others best qualified to decide on the question, may be very acceptable; and we give it in the words of the Father of ecclesiastical history. Ο Δαυΐδης ὡδὰς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν και ὕμνους συνέταξε, μέτρου ποικίλου τοὺς μὲν γὰρ τριμέτρους, τοὺς δὲ πενταμέτρους ἐποίησε. Joseph. p. 319, 38, Ed. Hudson.

But to proceed to particulars. In the 7th Psalm, ver. 14, Dr. F. and Mr. S. well render-" Behold he conceiveth iniquity, And travaileth with mischief,-And bringeth forth delusion.” On which they remark that "here is described the progress of the wickedness of the wicked man, and in metaphors similar to those employed in other parts of Scripture." And they aptly cite Job, xv. 35, and James, í. 15. We would add, that this passage of the Psalms, and that of Job, seem to have been in the mind of Philo Jud. 7, in a beautiful passage (p. 147, E.) cited by Pott on the place of James. The finest passages, however, in which this figure predominates, are three adduced by Dr. Bloomfield in his Recensio Synoptica in loco; namely, Plato Epist. 3, Leonidas ap. Brunck, Anal. 2, 190, and (instar omnium) Eschyl. Pers. 826 : — Ύβρις γὰρ ἐξανθοῦσα ἐκάρπωσε στάχυν "Ατης, ὅθεν πάγ κλαυτον ἐξαμᾷ Θέρος.

On Thucyd. III., 45, Dr. Bloomfield adds another illustration of the passage of James, observing that "hence may be found the true key to the understanding of a most sublime but obscure passage of Æschyl. Agam. 772-9, where Κότος, Θράσος, and ̓́Ατα are personified as sons of Ὕβρις, and where, for Kórov, Dr. Bloomfield conjectures Kópov. We would add Diog. Laert. (of Epicurus) Kodivwv TV ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος Καύχησιν τῶν σоOLOTIK@V. See also Zonara Hist. T. III. 21, 745 (of Julian).

We will now proceed to lay before our readers an entire Psalm, and it be that noble one the 19th:

[Jan.

1. The Heavens declare the glory of God, And the expanse displayeth the work

of His hands.

"2. Day after day it poureth forth instruction,-And night after night it pointeth out knowledge.

"3. They have neither speech nor language, They have not an audible voice;

4. Yet their lesson goeth forth throughout the earth,—And their eloquence unto the extremities of the world!-In them He hath placed a pavilion for the sun,

"5. And he is like a bridegroom issuing from his nuptial chamber,-Like a strong man who delighteth to run his course.

"6. His going forth is from one end of the heavens,-And his circuit unto the other end of them;-So that there is nothing hidden from his heat.

"7. The law of Jehovah is perfect, reviving the spirits ; -The revealed will of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple.

"8. The statutes of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart ;-The precepts of Jehovah are clean, giving light unto the eyes.

9. The religion of Jehovah is pure, enduring for ever;-The judgments of Jehovah are true, all of them are righteous;

"10. They are more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold;-And sweeter than honey, even the droppings of the honey-combs.

11. By them, moreover, is Thy servant enlightened ;-In keeping them there is great

reward.

"12. Oh that I might discern mine errors!-Cleanse Thou me from those which are hidden from me.

"13. From wilful transgressions also restrain Thy servant,-Let them not have dominion over me;-Then shall I be upright, And cleansed from much sin.

14. Let the words of my mouth be acceptable,-And the breathings of my heart present unto Thee,-O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer."

On the 10th verse, which is very happily rendered “More to be desired are they," &c., it may be observed that by the "they" are meant all the above particulars, the law, the testimony, &c. And we would compare a noble passage of Plato, Leg. v. p. 205, Πᾶς ὁ τ ̓ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ὑπὸ γῆς χρυσὸς ȧρerns ovк áνтážios. Also Eschyl. Choeph. 369: ταῦτα — κρείσσονα dè χρυσου μεγάλης δὲ τυχῆς καὶ ὑπερβορέου.

We wish we could find room for the translation of that difficult Psalm, the 22d, which (as the Translators remark) is sublimely prophetic of the sufferings and subsequent exaltation of the Messiah, the allusions to whom are traced with piety, enlightened by learning and judgment. The words "May your hearts live for ever," are

1831.]

The Greek Sapphic Ode.

most ingeniously, and, we think, justly, said to be a friendly salutation addressed to those who came to partake of the sacrificial feast.

Our narrow limits permit us not to lay the 40th Psalm (so strikingly prophetic of the Messiah) before our readers. Though we in general approve of the custom of the present translators in changing harsh Hebraisms into more intelligible correspondent idioms of our own language, yet there are a few cases in which, by the rules which they have themselves so judiciously laid down in their preface, no change need have been made. Of course this applies in a still stronger degree where the Hebraism contains any emphasis. On one or other of these grounds the change ventured on at Ps. xlii. 2, “I am athirst for God," instead of " My soul is athirst for God," is ill judged. There is surely an intensity of sense expressed by this use of WD, which was felt and beautifully expressed by Cowper in his Task, where, describing the sailor returning from long traversing the ocean, and approaching land, he represents," his very soul athirst for nature in her green array." So in a noble passage of Eschines Socrat. Axioch. 5—ἡ ψυχὴ τὸν οὐρανὸν ποθεῖ, καὶ ξύμφυλον αἰθέρα καὶ (even) διψᾷ, τῆς ἐκεῖσε διαίτης καὶ χορείας ὀριγνωμένη.

On Ps. xliii. 7, there is the following interesting remark. "The deeps on either side of him are described as agitated by torrents of water descending into them in the form of water-spouts, and the roarings of these last are poetically represented as the voices of the angry seas calling upon each other to join in overwhelming him."

The version in ver. 1, of the 45th Psalm, "My heart is overflowing with a goodly theme," is greatly preferable to that of our two authorized transla

tions, the framers of which, as well as the antient interpreters, mistake the ratio metaphora. The literal sense is" boiling up with," which is illustrated by Herodo. vii. 46- veórηs ἐπέπεσε, ὥστε ἀποῤῥίψαι ἕπεα ἐs &c. So in a passage cited by Matthiæ, Gr. Gr. § 425-éπ€Žeīv Tivi, to be warm upon any subject.

On Ps. xlix. 14, "The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning," we have the following instructive

note:

"In the morning: i. e. of the resurrco

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tion. The doctrine of a resurrection, as collected from this and other passages of the earlier Jewish scriptures, appears to be, that the just and upright, the true worshippers of Jehovah, should, after death, wicked, who would for ever continue to dwell be taken to Him, and thus triumph over the in the grave, and would not again see the light. This resurrection is poetically described in Ps. xvii. 15, as an awaking from sleep; and, here, as a morning succeeding to the night of death."

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Mr. URBAN,

Jan. 4.

the masterly judgment pronounced by I WAS very much delighted with duction to the Study of the Greek Mr. H. N. Coleridge, in his "Introstyle and dialect of the Sapphic Odes, Classic Poets," (p. 7, note,) on the which have been so long elaborated for Sir William Browne's prize at Cambridge; and I cannot but hope that the appeal to the Greek Professor and to the Vice Chancellor in the last Gent. Mag. p. 513, may be attended even yet with some practical good effect.

I may well be forgiven for taking a more than common interest in the

subject, when reference is made to my own labours on this curious and somewhat difficult question. In the "Classical Journal," Nos. ix. and xiii. (1812 and 1813,) there was inserted a regular Essay of mine on the Composition of the Greek Sapphic Ode, under the five following heads.

1. The scansion of the Sapphic verse, as to the feet composing it.

2. The structure of it, in the arrangement and division of words.

3. The prosody, to determine the long and short of single syllables.

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