From the discourses here presented to the public, as well as from the memoir, we conceive Mr. C. to have been a man of talents and virtue, and more than commonly impressed with a sense of eternal things. His style, and manner of representing his ideas, the following quotations will exhbit.

In his discourse on the incompatibility of the love of pleasure with the love of God, he says,

:

"But remember, licentious sinner, remember, that if reason and conscience be once buried in the abyss of sensual indulgences, they may revive no more; once dead, and their death sealed by thy determined profligacy and impenitence, they are dead for ever; the sacred sentiments of virtue will no more live within thy breast: the flames of divine love will animate thy soul no more. All is over with thee as to heaven and eternity, and the few short hours that remain of mortal life, will add little to thy pleasure, but much to thy dishonour and when this world have resigned thee, where wilt thou be found? To whom wilt thou repair for comfort? Whither wilt thou betake thyself?-To heaven! alas, there dwells that God with whom in the day of thy probation, thou didst live at enmity: there dwell those holy spirits, who seek their happiness in the divine favour, and give up all their powers to the influence of his excellencies, and the fulfilment of his will: these in truth are the only mansions of light, and life, and joy; but there nothing enters that defileth; all is spotless purity, and ardent love.'

66

Beware, my friends, beware ye, of the carnal mind, it is enmity,' saith the Apostle' against God;' the completion of it is miserably fatal; its excesses are dreadfully dangerous; every degree of it wars against the soul, invades its peace, destroys its comfort, and threatens to disposses it of those divine affections which it is its duty, its honour, and its happiness to entertain. Like all other vicious habits, it begins, perhaps, insensibly, and proceeds by degrees to its completion: the first approaches therefore towards it, ought to excite your fear, and employ your vigilance."

In delineating the characteristics of those who are governed by the love of pleasure, Mr. C. addresses his audience in the following animated strain.

"My friends, you have much to do with God; yourselves and every thing in which you have any interest, are absolutely in his hands. You have far more important transactions with him than any that you are conscious of in this world; it will not be long, before the youngest of this audience will find it so. The time will come; I could tell the day beyond which it will not be deferred, but the day before which it will come I cannot tell; the time will come when you will find this world vanishing away, and another opening upon you, this world of trial ending for ever unto you, and a scene of everlasting recompence commencing. You know as well as I do, would to God you would let the idea sink deep into your hearts, that the round of this world's pleasures will not last for ever. The rose will fade, the eyes grow dim, and the heart grow faint, and all that is of this world become incapable of administering eyen a momentary cordial or amusement. You know as well as I

do,

do, would to God that you would let the thought take possession of your souls! that the time will come when the warmest appetites will be cold, when the acutest senses will be dull, when the liveliest fancy will be languid, when the giddiest sinner will be serious, and the drowsiest conscience awake."

The whole of the paragraph is too long for insertion; but it is all equally serious and impressive. While we with pleasure commend the excellencies of this volume, it gives us pain to be compelled to add, that there is a want, and such a want as deprives a book of religious instruction of more than half its value. Mr. C. is the Priest of Nature and Providence, (and a more sensible, serious and respectable Priest they have seldom had): but we are sorry that he can put in no claim to the title of a minister of Grace. He was, we are told, an assiduous student of the New Testament: but alas! its distinguishing principles seem to have had no place in his mind, nor in his heart. Nature teaches me, says the Infidel, that there is a God, and a future state, and that the righteous will be happy, and the wicked miserable' Mr. C. professes that he was indebted for the knowledge of these doctrines, to Jesus Christ, who confirmed them by his resurrection from the dead; but this is all the difference.-Our author preaches standing by the tomb of Jesus, and calls to his hearers, behold the place where the Lord lay:' but he can perceive nothing there but what might be seen at the tomb of Stephen. He is enraptured with the glory of the stars, and of the sun in the firmament: but he does not notice the splendour of the bright and morning star, nor do we hear of any glory which he perceives in the Sun of Righteousness. The atonement, and intercession of Christ, seem not to have obtained an atom of existence in the religion of Mr. C.

The Apostles and first Christians, in the views of death, were consoled by the presence, the care, and the grace of Christ. Mr. C. is tranquil and serene in the prospect of his dissolution, but we hear not a word of redeeming love, and the joy which it inspires. He derives bis tranquillity from looking up to the God of creation and of providence. Our hearts bleed at the painful sight of an amiable, serious, and able man, reading the sacred Scriptures from day to day, and yet blind to those sentiments, and saying not one word of those doctrines, which constitute its highest glory, and fill the disciple of Jesus with comfort, peace and exultation.

Mr. Wood and Mr. Wellbeloved, have, perhaps, been pupils of Mr. Cappe.

Art.

Art. IV. Dr. Holmes's Vetus Testamentum Græcum cum variis Lectionibus, continued from page 221.

IN

N our last Number, we laid before our readers a general Review of Dr. H.'s Prefuce to this work; and we are now to report, the assistance he has obtained from the public in his researches, the literary treasures he has opened, and the importance of the collections he has made, in order to redeem this venerable version from the corruptions, which the lapse of more than two thousand years had accumulated.

To ascertain the genuine readings of this ancient Greek Version, it was indispensably necessary to consult and collate all the MS. copies, which are still preserved in the different public and private libraries of Europe. This was a task truly herculean, and one that must unavoidably incur an expense fat beyond the abilities of any private individual. Dr. Holmes was well acquainted with the plan, and with the success of Dr. Kennicott in his edition of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, for which nearly seven hundred MSS. and early printed editions were collated. On this plan, already realized in reference to the Hebrew original, Dr. H. formed his own, for a similar edition of the Septuagint Version; and, desirous, as he says, (first Annual Account, p. 1.) of taking the opinion of the learned public on the expediency of such a work, and of ascertaining what encouragement and support would be given to the person who should undertake it,' he submitted the following proposal to the delegates of the Clarendon Press:

"It appears to be a prevailing opinion among the learned in sacred criticism, that the present means of determining the genuine tenor of the scriptural text would be much enlarged, if the MSS. of the Septuagint Version were collated, as those of the Hebrew original have been, and the collations published in one view.

"The reasonableness of this opinion depends upon considerations, with which it may be presumed that the public is already acquainted.

"1. Upon the antiquity of the Septuagint Version. For as this version was made long before the coming of Christ (about 287 years) the copies which the Seventy had in their hands, were necessarily more pure and perfect than any later transcripts.

"2. Upon the authority of the Septuagint Version. For as this version was admitted and long used singly by the Jewish church, it stands vouched and sanctioned as a true and faithful version of the sacred text.

"3. Upon the beneficial effects which have been actually found for a course of time, and particularly of late, to result from a critical application of this version to the Hebrew original. By the help of th ePacho

main

mian MS. interpolations in the prophetical text have been detected, mutilations of it discovered, and lost readings supplied so frequently, that beneficial consequences of the same kind may be justly expected from a similar application of other Septuagint MSS. to other parts of Scripture.

"4. Upon this circumstance also; that editors of the Septuagint have sometimes ventured to adjust the Greek Version to the Hebrew Text, and to the New Testament Citations, as they severally stood at the time, although it might be as it has since appeared to be the case, that neither the Hebrew nor New Testament text were free from corruptions.

"For these and other reasons which may be and have been assigned, it has been the hope of those who are most versed in biblical criticism, that the public would be disposed to encourage A COLLATION OF ALL THE MSS. OF THE SEPTUAGINT VERSION.

In order to accomplish this vast and momentous undertaking, Dr. Holmes proposed further:

"That all MSS. known or discoverable at home or abroad, if prior to the invention of printing, should be carefully collated with one printed text; and all particularities, in which they differed from it, distinctly noted.

"2. That printed editions, or versions made from all, or parts of that by the Seventy; and citations from it by ecclesiastical writers (with a distinction as to those who wrote before the time of Aquila, or after it) should also be collated with the same printed text, and all their variations from it respectively ascertained.

"3. That these materials, when collected, should be all reduced to one plain view, and printed either under the text, with which the several collations have been made, as by Dr. Kennicott; or without the text, as by De Rossi.t

*This MS. now in the British Museum, and marked 1 B. 11. contains the Septuagint Version of the Prophets. It was written about the tenth or eleventh century, and formerly belonged to Pachomius, Patriarch of Constantinople, from whom it is still named the Pachomian MS. This MS. was greatly valued by Dr. Grabe, Dr. Woide, and Bishop Lowth; and from it the latter received considerable assistance in correcting the Hebrew-text of the Prophet Isaiah. Next to the Codex Alexandrinus, Grabe thought it the most valuable MS. yet discovered:-Rev.

† John Bernard de Rossi, Professor of Theology and the Oriental languages in the Academy of Parma, undertook a work, which he afterwords published, in 4 vols.4to. entitled Varice Lectiones Veteris Testamenti ex immensa MSS. editorumque Codicum congerie haustæ et ad Samar. Textum, ad vetustiss, versiones, ad accuratiores sacræ critica fontes ac leges, examinatæ. Parmæ, ex regio Typographeo. 1784-86. For this work he collated nearly 700 MSS. and early printed editions of the Hebrew text, and published his collations with a Latin translation of each various reading, (citing MSS. &c. which contained this reading), without the Hebrew text at large, occasionally referring by numbers to, and correcting the collations of Dr. Kennicott. This work, for critical acumen and importance, is superior to that of Dr. Kennicott.-Rev.

"4. That

"4: That references should be made to MSS. by number; to versions, by name; to citations of writers by name, place and edition.

"5. That an account in Latin should be given of MSS. collated; containing such descriptions of them in all particulars, as may enable the reader to judge of the date and authority of each MS. respectively; and specifying the numbers by which it will invariably be referred to." First Annual Account, p. 2-5.

The Dr. observes, "That this disposition of materials will place the fact in all assignable respects before the reader; and leave the use and application of the whole in any case entirely to himself." As Dr. H. never intended to form a new or amended text of the Septuagint from his collations, the above plan was properly chosen, as every reader may now follow his own judgment in adopting such various readings from the most ancient and correct MSS. &c. as may appear most congenial to the integrity of the Greek text; rejecting those in the Roman edition of 1587, which evidently appeared to have been selected from authorities of less respectability and antiquity. This plan, however, would, in our opinion, have been very considerably improved, by placing, in the lower margin, after the manner of Wetstein, such various readings as are supported by the best authorities; indicating at the same time, by a smaller character, those words which they should supersede in the text.

When this Proposal was laid before the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, they came to a resolution, March 4, 1788, "To promote the intended collation, by allowing Dr. H. the sum of forty pounds annually, to be continued during pleasure, on condition that Dr. H. shall exhibit his collations to the Board, and deposit them in the Bodleian Library, subject to his use of them," &c. The example of Oxford was followed by the universities of Cambridge, Dublin, and Glasgow, by many of the colleges, most of the bishops, and a number of the clergy, and other respect.able individuals.

Thus encouraged, Dr. H. immediately undertook the work, and employed a number of collators of MSS. both at home and abroad. The libraries of Florence, Parma, Turin, Este, Ferrara, Rome, Venice, Bologna, Milan, Paris, and Oxford were first inspected, and in each place the collation of some important MS. was commenced the first year. In the following years, the examination was extended to the libraries at Tubingen, Vienna, the Hague, Augsburg, Zurich, Basil, Dresden, Moscow, Saxe-gotha, Leipzig, Konorra in Hungary, Evora in Portugal, Madrid, Copenhagen, Lorrain, Cherson in Russia, Moldavia, Munich in Bavaria, and Zittau. At this last place only one MS. has been discovered; but according to Professor Matthaï, one of the most singular and important yet known. "Ecquidem bona fide affirmo, me nullum unquam talem tamque præstantem ac plane singularem co