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they are the great ministers of Providence, never idle, but always employed in the preservation of the just. Their ascending means their going up to receive the divine orders and commands; and their descending, their coming down upon earth to put them in execution. So that it was a kind of hieroglyphic, in which it seems reasonable to imagine, from the declaration which God makes from the top of it, that there was a twofold design, viz. by a proper type to prefigure the incarnation of Christ, which like this ladder joined heaven and earth, the divine and human nature, together; and, by a proper emblem of the angels ascending and descending upon it, to give an evidence of the watchful Providence of God that attended him. Stackhouse's Hist. See also Fagius, &c. in Poole's Synopsis.

LIGHTNING is formed by the ferment and explosion of sulphureous and bituminous exhalations from the earth, mixing with nitrous acids in the air. Sometimes it burns the clothes without penetrating the body; at others it melts the sword without injuring the scabbard. In the first case the sulphur, in the last the salts, are predominant. Warburton's Julian.

Whosoever shall keep the WHOLE LAW, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all.. James, c. ii. 10. We must look back to that which gave occasion to these words, and follow the apostle's argument step by step. The whole depends upon the notion, which is common to the writers of the New Testament, that love is the fulfilling of the law. St James considers the whole duty of man to man as contained in one law,. namely, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: and then he argues rightly, he, who offends in one point, is guilty of the whole law; for, whether it be theft, or murder, or adultery, it matters not; for any of these crimes is inconsistent with the law, which. contains, and is the whole, thou shalt love, &c. In the eighth verse you read thus, if ye fulfil, &c.; where, first, you are to observe that he calls this the royal law, because the supreme, from which all others proceed and by which they are governed. 2dly. You must take notice what stress the apostle lays upon their fulfilling this royal law,

if ye ye do well; i. e. if you attend to it in all cases, so as not to offend against it

in any instance, ye then do well: "But, if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced," &c. The law in this verse is the same law that was mentioned before, i. e. the royal law. If, says he, you have any partial regards, you will not then fulfil the law of love, but will be transgressors of it. For, as it follows in-the tenth verse, whosoever shall, &c. In this verse he considers the royal law, thou shalt, &c. as the whole law. And what he says amounts to this; whatever regard you may have to the law of loving your neighbour, which all profess to walk by, yet assure yourselves you cannot keep that law if you offend against one rule of charity; for every such single offence is a breach of that whole law, thou shalt love, &c. In the eleventh verse he gives the reason of this assertion. The words in the original, here

translated,

translated, for he that said, should be rendered, for the law which said, do not, &e. and then here is a clear reason of what went before. For this law of loving thy neighbour, which says to thee, do not commit adultery, says likewise to thee, do not kill. Bishop Sherlock's Sermons.

Hariana regulæ METRICE HEBREE nullam habent auctoritatem, et omnem, quæcunque ea fuerit, hypothesin, quæ metrica Hebrææ leges tradere, et versuum numeros, pedes et scansionem definire aggreditur, facile everti posse existimo.

Poesin Hebræam in religionis famulatu natam et enutritam satis constat, cum a principio id præcipue munus illi demandatum esset, ut Dei laudes hymnis celebraret, utque cum musicâ conjuncta rem divinam sanctiorem quodammodo et augustiorem faceret, piisque colentium affectibus vim quandam efficacem redderet, et ardorem. cælestia spirantem. Primævum hunc hymnorum in sacris usum haud paruin momenti attulisse credibile est ad formandum universum hujusce poeseos charactera, eumque habitum ei inducendum, quem etsi isti quidem negotio præcipue accommodatum in cæteris tamen servat. Hebræorum scripta quædam non modo quodam spiritu poetico animata esse, sed numeris etiam et metro aliquo adstricta, quanquam in contrariam sententiam abierint eruditorum nonnulli, satis tamen clare opinor constabit. Nam ubique fere apparent eæ, saltem reliquiæ et quasi vestigia carminis, quæ vix in ulla alia lingua superesse, cujus, ita ut nunc Hebrææ, sonus ac pronunciatio propter varios casus, quos tanta fert vetustas, penitus obsolevisset. Ipsorum vero versuum proprietatem unam aut alteram liceat adnotare, quas uti quivis deprehendat in iis carminibus, quorum versiculi per literas initiales certo definiuntur, ita ad reliqua transferri conjectura saltein possunt. Primum quidem versus eo inter se dissimiles esse, quod alii aliis multo sunt productiores, brevissimos sex aut septem fere sillabis constare, longissimos ad bis totidem circiter excurrere, ita tamen ut unum atque idem poema versiculis (ut plurimum) non valde inter se imparibus continuetur; ibi denique fere intercidere ver- · siculorum clausulas, ubi distinguuntur sententiarum membra. Quod autem ad veros horum versuun numeros ad rythmum et modulationem attinet, id omne et penitus ignotum esse, et nulla unquam arte aut industria humana investigari posse ex ipsa rei natura apparet. Quanquam vero de versuum singulorum numeris nihil certo definiri possit, est tamen aliud simul pluribus sumptis animadvertendum, quod ad carminis artificium pertinet. Peculiaris est Hebræarum sententiarum conformatio, et fere integra membra integros versus conficiunt. Itaque ut poemata in periodos plerumque æquales quasi sua sponte se dispertiunt, ita periodi ipsæ per se dividuntur in suos versiculos, multo frequentius quidem binos, sed sape etiam plures.

Poetica sententiarum Hebræarum compositio maximam partem constat in æqualitate ac similitudine quadam sive parallelismo membrorum cujusque periodi; ita ut in duobus plerumque membris res rebus, verbis verba, quasi dimensa et paria respondeant. Quæ res multos quidem gradus habet et varietatem; ut alias accuratior et Dd 2

apertior,

apertior, alias solutior et obscurior sit: ejus autem tres videntur esse species. Primam constituunt speciem parallela synonyma cum proposita quacunque sententia, eadem denuo exprimitur aliis verbis idem fere significantibus. Cujus exempla præbent Ps. cxiv. Isai. lx. 1-3; liii. 1-5.

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Fit nonnunquain parallelismus per iterationem partis alicujus prioris membri. Vide Ps. xciv. 1-3. Judic. xv. 16 Nah. i. 2. Sæpe deest aliquid in posteriore membro e priore repetendum ad explendam sententiam. Vide Ps. cv. 20. Isai. xlix. 7.Frequenter totum membrum posterius parti duntaxat alicui prioris respondet. Vidé Isai. Ix. 1. Ps. xcvii. 1.

Tricola non habent ultra duo parallela synonyma, impar membrum vel inchoat periodum, vel pene concludit, et ad reliquorum utrumque sæpe referri potest. Vide

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In Pentacolis, quorum similis fere est ratio, medium nonnunquam locum habet membrum impar inter duo disticha. Vide

Isai. xxxi. 4.

Zach. ix. 5.

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כאשר .c& והכפיר .c

תרא .c& עזה .c&

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Tetracola fere constant duobus distichis; sed est ubi in his peculiare quoddam artificium cernitur in sententiarum distributione. Vide

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In quibus utrisque locis posteriora membra ad priora referenda sunt alternatim. Eleganter etiam Isai. liv. 5.

In sequentibus altérnát constructionis forma. Vide

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Hoc tetracolon est singularis exempli, ubi posterius membrum ad duo priora divisim tribuendum est, ut sit, qui altissime habitat in cælis, et humillime respicit quæ sunt in terná.

Secundam speciem faciunt parallela antitheta, cum opposito contrario res illustratur. Hoc, non uno modo fit; nam et sententiæ sententiis, verba verbis, singula singulis, bina binis, unum uni, opponitur. Vide

Prov. xxvii. 6, 7.

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Fit nonnunquam contrapositio partium inter se eadem sententia. Vide

Cantic. i. 5.

שחורה .c& כאהלי .c&:

Quod

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Quod etiam divisim sumendum est, "nigra ut tentoria Kedarensium, pulchra ut aulaa Salomonis."

Equidem totum hoc genus potissimum convenit adagiis, et dictis acutis, adeoque in parabolis Salomonis præcipue cernitur.

Tertia species est parallelorum, cum sententiæ invicem respondent non ejusdem rei iteratione, aut oppositione diversarum, sed solâ constructionis forma. Vide

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But see farther, on this subject of the metre, Dr Grey's Grammar, Hare on the Psalms, Bishop Horsley and Bishop of Killala on Isaiah.

In a council held at Trent, September 17, 1562, a question was started, whether Jesus Christ, when he first instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, did then offer and sacrifice himself? If he did not at that time offer himself a sacrifice, then the MASS, which is founded on the institution, do this in remembrance of me, is no sacrifice; and, if he did sacrifice himself, it must have been propitiatory, as it is said he offered himself but once, and then the sacrifice of the cross had been unprofitable and unnecessary, as the sins of mankind had been expiated by the sacrifice of the Eucharist. And, in the following session, nine articles were read concerning the doctrine of the mass; the sum of which were, that it had been instituted by Christ in the last supper; that it was propitiatory for the living and the dead; that it was offered only to God, though it might sometimes be celebrated in honour of the saints; that the canon of the mass, and the rites and ceremonies appointed by the church for its celebration, were all free from error; that the masses, in which the priest alone communicated, were common to all the hearers; that, in the chalice, water ought to be used for wine; that the mass ought not to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue, but that its mysteries ought frequently to be explained to the people; to all which articles anathe

mas

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