irrelevant, offensive, and revolting conjectures, touching the leading significations of "the glorious and awful names of THE LORD "OUR GOD;" which ought not to be “taken "in vain" by idle or licentious "imagina66 tions," as tend to cast unmerited contempt and ridicule on the useful elementary study of Etymology, and materially to injure the cause of Sacred Criticism; as if Theology itself was built on precarious and uncertain principles, since its most sacred and venerable terms, the primitive names of God, will not (as has been asserted) submit to be tried by the rigid rules of grammatical analogy; but

66

are of the number of those, in which it is "much easier to detect error, than to discover "the truth and if the truth be discovered [discoverable] at all, it can only be by the "slow process of the method of exclusion.” -British Critic, 1802, February, p. 137.

66

Such is the unfavourable and discouraging representation of " the difficulties" attending the inquiry into " the true etymology of these "words, and the notions radically involved "in them;" which, say the B. C." have I 66 never

"never yet been satisfactorily resolved, and "which we pretend not to clear entirely.” Having myself, at an early period of my theological studies, laboured as a hardy and industrious pioneer, to "clear" or disembarrass sacred etymology from the rubbish of unskilful or fanciful criticism, carefully and anxiously endeavouring to acquire rational and correct ideas of the leading significations of those DIVINE NAMES, through the channel of which are conveyed, in the sacred oracles, the mysterious nature and attributes of THE DEITY, and the wonders of creating, redeeming, sanctifying LOVE: and having at length satisfied myself with the results, after no short nor slight research and consideration, in which I was principally guided and protected by the pole-star of the Hebrew Scriptures themselves, and the ancient versions (especially the venerable Septuagint) illustrative thereof; the appearance of an elaborate "critical disquisition on the ety"mology and import of the divine Names

ELOAH, ELOHIM, EL; JEHOVAH "and JAH," in the British Critic (referred

to

to in the foregoing citation), strongly excited my curiosity: I perused it with avidity, hoping to find "the method of exclusion," at least, skilfully and exhaustively applied by those master-critics, and established arbiters of public taste, and guides of popular opinion in matters of Literature, and some original and valuable lights thrown on the present gloom and obscurity of the subject; but was much disappointed to find they had scarcely ventured to forsake the beaten track, and in some instances had rather contributed to embarrass what was sufficiently intelligible; I thought it therefore my bounden duty to offer such strictures thereon, as might lessen the weight of such imposing and dis

heartening authority on

"Orthodox" stu

dents, especially among

the younger clergy;

for whose sake chiefly I undertook my IN

SPECTORIAL office

VATIBUS addere calcar

Ut studio majore petant HELICONA VIRENTEM.

And even proficients in Oriental Literature, and the reviewing B. C. themselves, perhaps may find this Dissertation not altogether de

void of new, curious, solid, and useful information, towards the more satisfactory prosecution of their biblical and even classical studies, and the more faithful discharge of an office of such high trust and responsibility to GOD and their COUNTRY, as that of Literary Reviewers; who cannot be, in reason, offended, if they in turn be occasionally and respectfully inspected themselves in momentous cases.

Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim.

The grand and leading cause of erroneous opinion, on this most abstruse subject, is, I apprehend, the long " received hypothesis*," that in Hebrew, and its kindred Dialects, Verbs are the roots or themes of all other words; and that these are, in general, triliteral, supposed to consist of three consonants, or elementary letters; and, according to this plan, have all our Oriental Lexicons been constructed hitherto..

*See Locke's Essay, book iv. chap. xx. On the Causes of Error.

I shall

I shall therefore bring this hypothesis itself to the rigid test of, 1. Logic, or Universal Grammar. 2. History, sacred and profane, recording the actual rise and progress of language. 3. The Analogy of Languages, discoverable in the nearer and remoter Dialects of the East and West. 4. The concessions of the ablest advocates of the received system: and, 5. The discordances and contradictions of Etymologists and Hypercritics.

1. Every Logical proposition consists of a subject and predicate, corresponding respectively to the nominative case and verb, in a grammatical sentence. But surely the subject of discourse must, in the natural order of conception and learning of language, precede its predicate or attribute, as substances are the foundation of their qualities or accidents. And hence Nouns, or the names of things, must necessarily be prior to Verbs, denoting their active, passive, and reflex operations. And such is the natural and judicious arrangement of Grammarians in every language, who, however they may differ from each other, in assigning the number and or1 3

der