upon it, we find more of this trifling. True it is that trifles, light as air,' are to the legiflator, and ought to be, matters of ferious confideration. But the legislator has before him matters of ftill more ferious confideration than trifles; and will have little time to attend to Mr. Bentham's differtation, however ingenious, on temporary and perpetual marks,' or upon inherent marks produced by either mechanical means or chymical.' Nor will a legiflator have much attention to give to this gentleman's treatife, however learned, upon the partial fhaving of a part of the face,' or the fhaving of one eyebrow; especially, as it is wifely added, that, as to the former plan, it is inapplicable to boys and women'-and, as to the eye-brow scheme, we are moft gravely informed that,

Some per

In the first place, it is not abfolutely a fure one. fons have naturally fo little hair on their eye brows, that, if the whole of it were taken off from both, it might not be miffed : and artificial eye brows are faid to have been made of mousefkin, or in other ways, and that so natural, as not to be detected without previous fufpicion. In the next place, there is fome danger that a mark continually renewed, as this must be, by repeated fhavings, would be in fome degree perpetual. If the fame eye-brow were to be conftantly fubjected to the operation, the hair might be fo thickened as to appear different from the other eye-brow. If fometimes one eye-brow and fometimes the other were to be fhaved, there must frequently be times when the growth of them will be alike, and the distinction no longer apparent. As far then as it goes, the beft expedient feems to be the keeping them conftantly both fhaved."

The differtation is elaborate, and the conclufion wonderful! -One precaution clearly would be proper-to take the most minute defcription of every offender immediately upon his confinement, that, in cafe of an escape, he might be 'advertifed fo particularly as almoft to infure his being re-taken.

Emblematical devices, we are afraid, would have as little effect upon the spectators of a hard-labour house, as mufic upon the inhabitants of one.-As to a fuitable motto over the door,' there can be no good objection to it; but, with regard to any emblem or device, the plaineft is the beft; and the best we remember is a kind of ornament or finishing, over the door of the new Newgate in London, formed only of real fetters and chains, and which would have had an appearance ftill more aweful to the eye of a spectator, had they been left to the common influence of wind and weather, and not been prevented from growing rufty, and looking confequently more terrible, by being painted white.-Such an emblem feelingly perfuades' us what it means. Of those which Mr. Bentham would recommend, explanations must be printed

and

and diftributed to every fpe&tator, in, the fame manner as the metaphorical frontispieces to magazines, &c. are always accompanied by their interpretations.

But the thanks of fociety are justly due to the veriest trifler, if he was betrayed into trifling by a defire to serve fociety; even though he should not difcover those abilities which are evidently poffeffed by this writer.

We fhall tranfcribe a note from another part of the work, on account of the ufeful hint it contains, which we hope to fee executed by fome friend to fociety.

A few years ago, I began sketching out a plan for a collection of documents of this kind, to be published by authority under the name of bills of delinquency, with analogy to the bills of mortality above fpoken of: but the defpair of feeing any thing of that fort carried into execution foon occafioned me to abandon it. My idea was to extend it to all perfons convicted on criminal profecutions. Indeed, if the refult of all law proceedings in general were digefted into tables it might furnish ufeful matter for a variety of political fpeculations.'

By this note it appears that our author has long dedicated himfelf to the fervice of the public; and from his preface we learn that he is employed alfo in finishing a work of fome bulk, in which he has been treating the subject of punishment more at large. Hoc eft vivere-fic itur ad afira! The present hafty performance is an ample fpecimen of this writer's abilities; and gives us room to form the greatest expectations of the work he has in hand.

FOREIGN

ARTICLES.

Wilhelm Friedrich Hetzels Gefchichte der Hebræifchen Sprache une Literatur; nebeft einem Anhange, welcher eine kurze Einleiting in die mit der Hebræifchen Sprache verwandten orientalischen Dialecte enthelt; or, The Hiftory of the Hebrew Language and Literature; with an Appendix, containing a bort Introduction to the Hiftory of those Eaftern dialects that are related to the Hebrew Tongue. 8vo. Halle. (German.)

THE judicious and fenfible author of this book begins with fome obfervations on the name and origin of the Hebrew language; with afferting that it is, under certain restrictions, the first or most ancient language in the world, and with fome fenfible remarks on its pretended fanctity. He then proceeds to an hiftorical account of its nature, fate, and revolutions through all ages, first as a living, and afterwards as a dead language. From the beginning to the total deftruction of the Jewith ftate, foon after Jefus Chrift, the Hebrew language was a living or mother tongue; and from that time to the prefent it has been a dead one. Its history therefore naturally divides itfelf into two fections, each of them fubdivided into several diftinct periods.

In its first fection, Mr. Hetzel diftinguishes four periods: the infancy of the Hebrew language, from the creation to the deluge; its youth, from the deluge to the times of Mofes; its maturity, from Mofes to the Babylonian captivity; its old age and decline, from that period to the deftruction of the Jewish ftate, during which time it infenfibly decayed, and at length ceased to be a living or mother tongue: for he refutes the affertion of its having been extinguished during the feventy years of the captivity of Babylon, and Thews, that it was not till after the return of the Jews under Efdras and Nehemias, that by the transportation of thousands of Jews into Egypt by Ptolomæus Lagus, by the Alexandrian verfion of the Bible, by the furious perfecutions of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, and by the fubfequent fovereignty of the Syrian kings over Judea, arofe, from a mixture of the old genuine Hebrew dialect with the Syriac, a new language, the Chaldean. Thus during the period that elapfed from the time of the Syrian kings to that of Chrift, the old Hebrew dialect infenfibly died away, and was fucceeded by the Chaldean.

The hiftory of the Hebrew as a dead language is now divided into eight periods. During the first period, or the firft, fecond, and third centuries of the Chriftian æra, the Hebrew language was cultivated chiefly by Jews, in their flourishing schools in Palestine, and in Babylon; and by fome Chriftians. Here we meet with the Jerufalem-Talmud, Pfeudo Jonathan's Targum, Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus, and Origenes; and with an account of the Greek and of the Syriac verfions of the ancient Teftament, During the second period, or the fourth, fifth, and fixth centuries. the Jews ftill appear, in general, as affiduous, but lefs fuccefsful in this ftudy. The author relates the origin of the Targumin or Chaldean paraphrafes, of the greater and lefler Mafora, and of the Babylonian Talmud. Among the Chriftians the ftudy of the Hebrew tongue declines rapidly during this period, till it is at last entirely confined to Hieronymus. The third period, or the feventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, comprize the darkeft age for every branch of learning. The Mahometans deftroy all the fchools in Syria and Paleftine; the Hebrew mufes emigrate fo far as Spain; only two rab bis diftinguish themselves among the Jews. The ftudy itfelf undergoes an internal and effential revolution; the Bible, and of course the genuine original tongue, are now entirely neglected for, and almost fupplanted by, the Talmud. The Chriftians, on the other hand, are univerfally involved in ignorance, fuperftition, darkness, and wars. During the fourth period, or the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, the fugitive Hebrew mufes at length fettle in Spain, and in Africa, and now begin to learn a kind of grammar, from the Arabic grammarians, efpecially among the Saracens in Spain. Twelve learned rabbis, here enumerated, diftinguish themfelves by their study of the Bible, and of the pure Hebrew dialect: and now the rabbin dialect infenfibly arifes. The Chriftians ftill continue in their former ignorance and fuperftition.-During the fifth period, or the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, the Jewith scholars, notwithstanding all the oppreffions and perfecu fions to which they and their nation are expofed, ftill, affiduously and fuccessfully, continue their ftudies. The Chriftians alfo now infenfibly begin to refume them; to which they are prompted by a number of learned Jews converted to Christianity, by the powerful encouragement of the ftudy of the oriental tongues in many univerSties then lately founded, and by the invention of the art of print

ing.

ing. The most eminent among the feven Chriftian Hebrew fcho lars here enumerated, is the famous German, John Reuchlin, one of the first restorers of learning in general.-During the fixth period, or the fixteenth century, the diligence and fuccefs of the Jewish ftudents begin to decline; but the ardour of the Chriftians in this study is increafed by Luther's reformation, by the then patrons and promoters of learning in general; and particularly by feveral very learned and liberal printers, fuch as Bomberg, Robert Stephanus, Chriftopher Plantinus, &c. Henceforward our author claffes the Chriftian Hebrew fcholars into Germans, (who are, upon the whole, evidently, the most numerous and most eminent), İtalians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, and English. Under the article of Spain he occafionally gives fome account of the Complutenfian Bible. During this period too, the Chriftian Hebrews are, indeed, affiduous and ardent, but very blind adherents to their Jewish mafters, whom they still confider as infallible guides.-During the feventh period, or the feventeenth century, the fame ardour, but the fame prejudices alfo ftill continue. Samuel Bohle, indeed, pretends to reform the ftudy, and especially the dictionaries of the Hebrew language, but by affigning a multitude of abstract, fanciful, pretended, radical fenfes to the words, expofes himself to cenfure and ridicule. Some ftudents of the Hebrew, however, efpecially among the Dutch, now begin to ftudy alfo the other oriental dialects, to apply them to the Hebrew tongue, and thus to explore a better path; particularly both the Buxtorfs, Hottinger, Glaffius, Cappellus, Bochart, Guffetius, Erpenius, Louis de Dieu, Walton, Lightfoot, &c. The eighth period contains the prefent century, during whose first moiety feveral aukward or vain attempts to reform dictionaries and grammars were made, till at length the celebrated Albert Schultens arofe, who traced out the best method of the ftudy of the Hebrew tongue and literature, in which he was followed by the chevalier John David Michaelis, at Goettingen, and by feveral other fcholars eminent in this branch of learning.

The appendix contains a fhort hiftorical introduction into those oriental dialects that are related to the Hebrew language; viz. the Syriac, the Chaldean, the Samaritan, the Arabic, and the thiopic tongues, whofe respective names, origin, ufe, and affinity with the Hebrew language, are concifely pointed out by our author, together with the refpectively beft fubfidiary helps in the study of

each of them.

The knowledge of the Syriac language is valuable, on account of the Syriac verfion, and other works, and for Hebrew dictionaries and grammars. Its affinity with the Hebrew is here illuftrated by a very useful alphabetical parallel table of Hebrew and Syriac words. The Chaldean language early divided itfelf into the Babylonian dialect, which is a mixture of the Hebrew and the Syriac tongue; and into that of Jerufalem, a yet stronger mixture of the Syriac and other languages.

The Samaritan dialect is a mixture of that language which was imported by the colonists fent by the Affyrian monarchs into Palef tine, with the Hebrew; confequently very nearly related to the Chaldean. We here find a short account of the origin of the Samaritans, of that of the Samaritan Codex, or Hebrew Codex written in Samaritan characters; and of the Samaritan verfion.

The Arabic language is very nearly related to the Hebrew, and very useful, not only as it ferves to illuftrate the Hebrew, but also for the great number of works of learned Arabian writers. Its af

finity, to the Hebrew tongue is here likewise fhewn in a very accurate and useful alphabetical table.

The Ethiopic language is nearly related to the Arabic, fince the Ethiopians, or Abyffinians, as they call themfelves, were originally Arabs. It contributes towards a more accurate determination of the sense of many Hebrew words, by an Æthiopic verfion of the Bible. But Job Ludolf is almoft the only writer ferviceable to ftudents of the thiopic tongue.

From this concife abftract, the contents of this book will appear to be interesting and ufeful. The author's method is very perfpicuous, and his diction agreeable. He has faithfully quoted his aus thorities; and given his readers a variety of literary, biographical, and critical information: and he intends to préfent them foon with a history of the Hebrew writing characters, vowels, and accents, and with fome other ufeful works.

Doctrina Civilis Analyfis Philofophica, Autore Joan. Olivier, J. C. Carpentoract. 4to. Romæ.

The author in a former work, Principes du Droit Civil, printed lately at Paris, attempted to render the study of civil laws plain and acceffible to every reader: in the prefent performance he propofes to fhew the affinity between philofophy and jurifprudence, and the method of confidering jurifprudence in a philofophical light.

The first part of his work confifts of three differtations. The first fhews the affinity between jurifprudence and philofophy, The author begins with proving, that the most ancient philofophers made legiflation the principal fubject of their meditations: he then fucceffively attends the Greek philofophers from the beginning of the philofophical æra, fixed by him at the time of the feven fages, and points out, how far every one of them has applied himself to the tudy of the laws; how the legiflators have availed themselves of the progress of ethics, and how ethics came to the support of the laws. He afterwards compares the fentiments of the ancient philofophers with the fentiments of thofe lawyers whofe works have been used for Tribonian's Compilation, which has been preferved among us as the foundation of civil laws. He first confiders the ge neral definitions of law, its principal divifions, and especially that into the law of nature, and civil law; and after having spoken of the most effential points of the law of nature, he proceeds to treat of the principles of civil law, taken from the works of philofophers, in the following methodical order. Of the principles of civil law, relating, 1. To perfons. 2. To marriage. 3. To lawful fucceffions. 4. To wills. 5. To obligations. 6. To Donations. 7. To the ingratitude of donataries. 8. To the law of fervitude. 9. To judges. 10. To actions, or pleas; and finally, of opinions relating to various other fubjects. In this differtation he has freely availed himself of the labours of his predeceffors; but added many valuable remarks of his own to their obfervations,

In the second differtation, the author explains the fentiments of the Stoics, which were chiefly adopted by the ancient lawyers, It contains fewer original remarks than the firft, and its principal merit confifts in its method and accuracy.

In the third and last differtation of this firft part, he affigns to Cicero the palm of having beft fucceeded in uniting the ftudy and knowledge of law with that of philofophy. Here he prefents us with a fhort analysis of the doctrine of law, which an attentive and judicious reader will find difperfed throughout the works of that VOL. XLVI. August 1778,

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