word having no vowel in it (in medio ejus) which would be abfurd if the Hebrew language itfelf had no vowels. Shall we then, determined by this clear and rational evidence, confider and pronounce thefe Hebrew letters,,,,,, as vowels; or, contrary to the analogy of all other ancient languages, affert on mere rabbinical authority, that four of them are confonants, and affirm that, the firft letter of the Greek, and moft other alphabets, and which in truth stands for the most natural and easy of all sounds, for the first found that children utter after they are born, that poor has no found at all.

O rem ridiculam, Cato et jocofam!

Ridiculous only would fuch affertions be, if their influence stopped at the abfurd manner of pronouncing a dead language; but fince they directly tend to make the language of a great part of God's revelation, and confequently this revelation itself, ridiculous, they deferve a much feverer name. Well then let the Hebrew have the fame vowels as almoft all other languages; but how, faith an objector, fhall we pronounce Hebrew fyllables, and even words, (and many fuch there are) wherein none of the vowels above-mentioned appear? I anfwer, with Dr. Robertfon, fupply in every fuch fyllable a short vowel, nò matter which. Thus call 7 děber, or dăbăr, p pequed, or paquad, &c. And as you pronounce the Jupplied vowels fhort, fo to diftinguifh them from the textual vowels, pronounce thefe latter always long.

Thus

Thus you may read and pronounce diftinctly the Hebrew Bible, from the beginning to the end. It is certain that the ancient Hebrews, who we have proved had not the points, muft have used fome fuch method. of reading, and so probably did all the *oriental nations, till after the time of Mahomet. Thus much for reading or pronouncing the Hebrew language, without the vowel points. That it may be conftrued and underfood without their aid is indifputable; because many actually do thus understand, and are able to conftrue it. And that this method of learning Hebrew is, beyond all comparison easier than the rabbinical one, is no lefs certain. The grammar of the Hebrew language without points, is of all others the most simple, easy, and concife: the grammatical diftinctions are in the textual letters themfelves. The various forms and deflections of nouns and verbs are in moft cafes abfolutely determined by the letters of the word itfelf, compared with the context. And I can affure your correfpondent, and am ready to prove it in any particular inftance, that there is not a fingle ambiguous expreffion in the Hebrew Bible, but the fenfe of it may be determined in a much better and furcr manner than by the points. I mean by close attention to the context, by confulting the ancient verfions, and efpecially by carefully examining in a concordance the

*For neither the ancient Arabic, Syriac, Chaldee, nor Perfic, had any vowel points, and the Samaritan has none to this day. See Walton's Proleg. III. § 48.

3 H 2

ufe

use and sense of the expreffion in other texts. This method will generally lead to the true fenfe of a du-. bious paffage; at least more frequently than it can be attained in any ancient dead language; whereas by confining one's-felf to the points, a perfon is tied down to the traditional interpretation of Jewish rabbins, the defcendants and fucceffors of those who had, thro' their traditions, made the word of God of none effect in our Saviour's time. But I repeat my ap-. peal to fact and experience, and of my own knowledge affirm, that several perfons have in a few weeks been taught the grammatical rudiments of the Hebrew tongue without points, fo as to be able to proceed in reading the original Scriptures without further affiftance. And there are others who hardly know, and perhaps never knew any thing of the points, who yet are in truth great proficients, yea the greatest critics and mafters in the facred language now living.Should any of your readers defire more particular information on this, which you juftly call an interefting queftion, I would recommend to their perufal Bishop Walton's Prolegomena, ch. iii. or Dupin's Difcours Preliminaire fur la Bible, liv. ch. iv. fect. 2. or Mafclef's Nova Grammatica Argumenta, ch. ii. at the end of the fecond volume and I think they can hardly fail of meeting with ample fatisfaction, even without having recourfe to the more diffufe treatises of Cappelus and Morinus.

:

J. P.

N. B.

N. B. The foregoing is thought to have been writ-
ten by the late learned Mr. Parkhurft, Author of the
Hebrew and Greek Lexicons, in English. For its
value we have thought it worth transcribing, from
the Chriftian's Magazine, for Oct. 1760.

POETRY.

THE REAL CHRISTIAN:

AN IRREGULAR ODE,

BY J. H. PRINCE.

HE Man that would a Chriftian be,

THE

Should first fit down and count the cost,

And fix this ftedfaft in his mind,

That he will many troubles find,

Yea find his choiceft withes often croft.
Not what he chooses must he have,

Not what he pleases must he do,
His will must as a cypher ftand,
THE WILL OF GOD his standard be,
He must submit to that alone:

Not only fo, but think it best,

That God is honor'd, than himself careft:
When this is once attain'd, he'll furely find
A calm contentment, and a quiet mind.

ON THE DEATH OF A YOUTH.

WE

HEN Age, all-patient, and without regret,
Lies down in peace, and pays the gen'ral debt,

'Tis weakness moft unimanly, to deplore
The death of those who relith life no more.
But when fair Youth, that every promise gave,
Sheds his fweet bloffoms in the blafting grave,
All eyes o'erflow with many a ftreaming tear,
And each fad bofom heaves the figh fincere.

INDEX.