I fear, to some dullness of the faculties of the natural man upon spiritual subjects, and partly to the misapplied labours of modern expositors, who have employed much ingenuity and learning to find the immediate subject of every Psalm, either in the history of the Jewish nation, or in the occurrences of the life of David."

❝ of those [Psalms] which relate to the public bistory of the natural Israel, there are few in which the fortunes of the mystical Israel, the Christian church, are not adumbrated; and of those which allude to the life of David, there are none in which the Son of David is not the principal and immediate subject. David's complaints against his enemies are Messiah's complaints, first of the unbelieving Jews, then of the Heathen persecutors, and the apostate faction in later ages. David's afflictions are the Messiah's sufferings. David's penitential supplications are the supplications of Messiah in agony, under the burden of the imputed guilt of man. David's songs of triumph and thanksgiving are Messiah's songs of triumph and thanksgiving for his victory over sin, and death, and hell. a word, there is not a page of this book of Psalms in which the pious reader will not find his Saviour, if he reads with a view of finding him."

In

66 the spirit of Jehovah, described by David's utterance what was known to that spirit only, and that spirit only could describe. So that, if David be allowed to have had any knowledge of the true subject of his own compositions, it was nothing in his own life, but something put into his mind by the holy spirit of God; and the misapplication of the Psalms to the literal David has done more mischief than the misapplication of any other parts of the Scriptures, among those who profess the belief of the Christian religion."

Again:

"Some [of the Psalms] are ænigmatic, delivering the doctrines of religion in ænigmata, contrived to strike the imagination forcibly, and yet easy to be understood. In all these, the author delivers the whole matter in his own person. But a very great, I believe the far greater part are a sort of dramatic ode, consisting of dialogues between persons sustaining certain characters. In these dialoguePalms the persons are frequently the Psalmist himself, or the chorus of Priests and Levites, or the leader of the Levitical band, opening the ode with a proem declarative of the subject; and very often closing the whole with a solemn admonition drawn from what other persons say. The other persons are Jehovah, sometimes as one, sometimes as another of the three persons; Christ in his incarnate state,

Ps. xxv. 14, [in the Eng, vers. 13,] "his soul shall rest in bliss," pernoctabit. "The words seem to allude to the happy state of the good man's departed soul, while his posterity prosper in the present world; unless, indeed the earth or the land be put mystically for the true land of promise,-the Canaan of the future life; in which case, the sense will be, that both the good man himself shall rest in bliss, and his seed also, his mystical seed, those whom he shall instruct in the way of the Lord, and bring to be his children in goodness, shall inherit the promised land of everlasting happiness."

"Upon mature consideration, however, I am persuaded that this verse is spoken of Messiah. I take the whole plan of the psalm to be thus :”

"In the first twelve verses, the man Christ Jesus, (or, in the Hutchinsonian phrase, the humanity of Christ), prays to the Trinity. In the first three, to the word to which the humanity was united for support. In the 4th and 5th to the Holy Spirit to instruct and guide him. In the 6th, 7th and 8th, to God the Father, to spare him. The imputed guilt of man, in verse 7th, he speaks of as his own, because it was imputed to him. But what, it may be asked, were the trespasses and disobediences of Messiah's youth, which he requests may not be remembered? I agree with Mr. Hutchinson, that the sins of my youth [consult the original word], may be the sins, Juniorum, of his younger brethren, i. e. of Christians. In the 9th, 10th and 11th verses Messiah celebrates the mercy of Jehovah to the faithful. In the 12th, he prays for the deliverance of the true Israel from its afflicted state."

"In the 13th verse, a voice of one of the angelic choir, who has observed the extraordinary piety and devotion of the man, Christ Jesus, asks with admiration, what man is this who so perfectly fearetia God? and prophesies in the last line of this and in the following verse, of the bliss that awaits him; and that his seed shall inherit the earth, which will be. literally fulfilled in the millenary period. In the 15th verse, the same voice declares, that the true knowledge of God is with them that fear him, who are taught by Divine revelation.

In the 16th verse,

the humanity of Christ takes up his prayer again to the Divine word, or perhaps to the Godhead generally, for support and deliverance, and this prayer is continued to the end of the Psalm."

These paragraphs illustrate the principle and the style of the criticism pervading the volumes before us. So, on the 29th Psalm the Bishop observes that, "taken literally," it 66 seems to describe the effect of a great storm, from which, however, the people of Israel were providentially protected. But," adds he, "I have no doubt that the storm is mystical, describing the violent conflict between the gospel and it's opponents in the latter ages." In the remainder of this article we shall animadvert on the quotations that we have made: we shall present our readers with an example of Bishop Horsley's best manner of translating, and with one of his worst; and we shall conclude by offering some observations on a few passages in the Book of Psalms.

"

When our Lord was on the point of taking his leave of his apostles, "he said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you; that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.' According to the hypothesis of the late Bishop of St. Asaph, the reading should be, "which were written in all, or nearly all the Psalms." No supposition can he more arbitrary than what is here formed by this writer: it has neither external testimony nor intrinsic probability for it's basis, but contradicts both. The prelate's language betrays the weakness of his hypothesis. Is it conceivable that Dr. Horsley and the admirers of his mystical expositions partake not of the" dullness of the faculties of the natural man upon spiritual subjects?" Or is it only when "the pious reader" examines the Psalms," with the view of finding his Saviour," that he will discover"in every page of this book" the object of his search?

This author professes to be better acquainted than preceding translators and expositors with the meaning of the Psalms. Whence, it is reasonable to ask, did he obtain this superior know

ledge and discernment? His assertions are peremptory and unqualified. By what evidence does he establish them? We perceive none: and we are not yet prepared for subscribing implicitly to the dogmata of Bishop Horsley. It is not our practice to search for recondite senses when the signification is direct and obvious. No presumption can well be stronger than that the Psalms of David, Asaph, &c. relate, for the most part, either to the individual history of those authors or to the state of the civil and religious community of which they were members. sideration therefore affords a general rule for interpreting them: and with this principle the exceptions to it must not be confounded. The expositions offered by Dr. H. are almost completely mystical and allegorical: and when Fancy thus usurps the province of a sound and sober Judgment, the Scriptures have no longer a precise and definite meaning, but are made to speak a various and even discordant language, according to the imagination of the reader.

This con

With no propriety does this translator lay stress on the terms in which "King David, at the close of his life, describes himself and his sacred songs:"

David, the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised upon high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, the spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.'* "It was the word, therefore, of Jehovah's spirit which was uttered by David's tongue. But it should seem the spirit of Jehovah would not be wanting to enable a mere man to make complaint of his own enemies, to describe his own sufferings just as he felt them, and his own escapes just as they happened."

Here Bishop Horsley arbitrarily takes for granted that in this passage David asserts the general inspiration of his sacred poems; though the claim is manifestly restricted to the prophetic effusion of which these verses are the preamble.

That the Psalms are misapplied to "the literal David," has not yet been shewn and it is our firm belief that a mystical exposition of them has been signally injurious to the cause of Revelation.

2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.

wants and manners; at least, there is no evidence to this effect. Translate the clause then, "Jacob was a inan UNIFORM in his way of life." While the pursuits of Esau, as a man of the field, were greatly varied, those of Jacob, dwelling in tents, were few and similar to each other: he was a shepherd and perhaps a herdsman, but nothing more. Thus the force of the original term is preserved, and a consistent, intelligible sense, given to the passage.

xix. "There is no speech, &c." Better, no speech and no language, their voice is not heard. Yet their sound, &c. and so Rosenmüller, Horsley and Mendelssohn. The contrast, too, is admirably preserved in the paraphrase of this Psalm by Addison.

xxxiv. 16. "The face of the Lord, &c." Some years since, we had marked this verse as intended to be read in a parenthesis: and more recently we have been gratified by perceiving that Mudge considers it in the same light.

Ixv. 12. "the little hills rejoice, &c." Should it not be, gird themselves with joy? So Rosenmüller, sese accingunt, and Mendelssohn, gurten sich.

xc. 9. a tale. Compare with this passage Job xxxvii. 2, "the sound that goeth, &c." The Hebrew word is the same in both these texts: Mudge renders it, a sigh, Geddes, a breathing. The general sentiment is illustrated by Homer, Odyss. vii. 36,

ώσει πίερον με νοημα.

A thought, indeed, as it exists in the mind, is not necessarily fugitive: yet the sound, whether loud or soft, which conveys it, vanishes in a moment.

civ. 14. "herb, for the service of man." We are of opinion that the parallelism requires "herbs for the animals which serve man." See Rosenmüller's note (in loc.) and Lettres De Juifs, &c. Vol. II. 413, 414. This beautiful Psalm celebrates creation, in it's SUCCESSIVE appearances.

cxlvii. 9. "the young ravens, &c." The common rendering is tame and vague, and the subject and construction of the verse demand another translation;

*He giveth to the beast, his food,

To the young ravens, what they cry for. "Aux petits du corbeau l'aliment qu'ils demandent par leurs cris.". The French

Genev. Vers. Consult, too, Rosenmüller (in loc.), and Michaelis' Epimet. ad Lowth. Prælect. xix.

We conclude by requesting some of our learned correspondents to favour us with a translation of Psalm ci. particularly of the second verse. This and many other difficult parts of the book, are entirely passed in silence by Bishop Horsley.

ART. II.-Sermons, on Various Subjects.
By the late Richard Price, D. D.
F.R.S. London: printed for Long-
man and Co. 1816. 8vo. pp. 404.

UR desire of possessing another
Buds of Dr. Price's Sermons,

is at length gratified. A more welcome communication could not be made to the admirers of enlightened piety and of Christian eloquence. The talents of this illustrious man, as a preacher, were of the first order: and his discourses are models for addresses from the pulpit. His subjects

the most solemn and interesting truths of religion-con come home to every man's business and bosom. He wastes no time in elaborate or misplaced critical disquisitions, but proceeds without delay to state his purpose and unfold his plan. His style is easy and simple, yet dignified, energetic, affectionate and fervent; level to the understandings of his hearers, and penetrating their hearts. In a greater degree than we commonly observe, he employs the language and the manner which are appropriate to compositions of this kind. Sermons demand the use of the pronouns I and you: a decent familiarity becomes them, and the speaker must on no account overlook his relation to his audience. It is unjust and irrational to suppose that egotism consists in the frequent recurrence of the monosyllables which we have just mentioned; this weakness being rather chargeable on the speaker who restlessly and circuitously avoids these words; as the effect of his thoughts being turned perpetually_to himself. Who imagines that Dr. Price was an egotist?

We shall now proceed to an analysis of the contents of this volume, which is edited by Mr. Morgan, and introduced with a suitable and modes preface.

In No. I. (from Matt. xi. 25,-" I thank thee, O Father, &c.") Dr. P. discourses on the character of the apostles and first disciples of Christ, and the wisdom of preferring them to the more learned and wealthy men of the world in propagating his religion." The preacher's intention is to shew who are meant by the wise and prudent as opposed to babes; and then to inquire upon what particular reasons our Lord's thanksgiving on this occasion is founded. By babes we are evidently to understand such men as the apostles and first disciples:" these were likely to be free froin all the prejudices of the wise and learned, and therefore would necessarily be more open to instruction, and less in danger of mixing any thing foreign and corrupt with the Chritian doctrine. It was essential, to, that the persons whom our Saviour chose for the purpose of diffusing his gospel should attend him constantly during the time of his ministry. Besides, there is scarcely an argument for Christianity which does not receive additional strength from the consideration of the meann 3s of the instruments by which it was established in the world.

"But there is reason to think," says the preacher, "that what I have hitherto insisted upon, is not all that our Lord had in view in the words I am considering. By the wise and the prudent, he meant not merely such as possessed the wisdom and learning of the times, but also the men who were proud and conceited on that account, and under the influence of those vices which are sometimes united to wit and learning. By babes, on the contrary, it is evident, that he meant not merely persons destitute of the wisdom of this world, but also the meek, the modest and humble. **** He did not mean to prefer ignorance to true knowledge, or a weak to a sound judgment. It would be in the highest degree unreasonable to suppose this. But his intention was to express a preference of honesty and simplicity without learning, to learning without honesty and simplicity."

characteristic temper. In the follow ing sentences we discern the spirit of the preacher :

"The best disposition of heart may be joined to the richest furniture in the head. We may be children in respect of modesty, and lowliness, and teachableness, and yet men in understanding. We may be knowing and learned in the highest degree, and, at the same time, humble, meek, candid, and void of guile and prejudice.”

Such was Dr. Price himself! We could wish this discourse to be repeatedly and attentively perused by every minister of religion, every student and every private Christian.

The next in order (from 1 Corinth. xiii. 11. "When I was a child, &c.") is on the "analogy between our present state and a state of childhood." For example,

"Our present existence, compared with our future, is a childhood in respect of it's

duration, of improvement, and of power and dignity: it answers also to the idea of a childhood, as it is an introduction to, and a state of education for, another and a higher state. Man's existence is progressive. This life educates us for another by means of the instruction and the habits which are the necessary consequence to all of passing through the present world. As children are trained up by restraint and correction, the tendency of which they do not see, and which therefore they are apt to think hard and severe, so it is with us as probationers and candidates for eternity. This account of human life, leads us to reflect on the wisdom of God, in ordering the scenes of our existence. It should teach us patience under the trials of life, and reconcile us to all present difficulties. And hence we should be rendered earnest in our endeavours to make this life what it is designed, -a preparation for a better life. Lastly, we should bless God for giving us our present existence-the first step (so we may make it, through God's help) of an endless progress in dignity and happiness.

"This is indeed," says the preacher, ber, brethren, that the more transporting a transporting prospect. But rememit is, the more alarming is the reflection, that, like the prospect granted to Moses, on mount Pisgah, of the land of Canaan, danger of losing. God's goodness in it is a prospect of happiness that there is giving us our existence is, I have said, unspeakable. But it is a gift that may possibly be withdrawn. Vice throws a cloud over this extatic prospect. The loss of those thoughts that wander through