De la Christallotechnic: on Christallotechny, or an Essay on the Phenomena of Chrystallisation, and on the Modes of con-mentary geometry, will certainly desire ducting that Operation, so as to obtain com- an acquaintance with Archimedes. plete Chrystals, and the different Modifications of which each Species is susceptible. By the late Nicolas Leblanc, &c. pamph. in 8vo. pp. 90, with three plates. Poris.

perstition. It was thought a sin to learn the language of their oppressors! It was considered a sin to learn to read English! The Hebrew alone was taught in our schools. Was

wop wopos piwx 70; or, Elements of the Hebrew Language. In two Parts. Part I. Orthography, illustrated by a Va-it then to be wondered at, that a youth, thus riety of interesting Notes, with the addition of an extensive Vocabulary, designed for the Use of Schools, as well as Beginners in general. By Hyman Hurwitz, Master of the Jewish Academy, Highgate. Svo. pp. 140. Price 5s. 6d. Fine paper, 7s. 6d. London, printed for the Author,

1807.

At length the English Jews are taking steps to cultivate their literature; and with that good sense in which they are not deficient, they are endeavouring to unrivet some of those shackles, under which they have long groaned. As the statement that we might offer of the degradation to which they have been reduced, would be liable to some suspicion of exaggeration, we shall give it in our author's own words.

When our ancestors first settled in this country, they imported the various languages of the countries whence they came, and continued to use them among themselves; now, although in the course of time they acquired an imperfect knowledge of the English language, still either the German or Spanish was current among them. These languages their children understood as well as the Eng lish; nay, even better. It was therefore no wonder, that the parents should have preferred the before-mentioned languages to the English, as the medium of instruction. The period, however, when these languages were used in private families, is long since passed. They are therefore as unintelligible to our youth as the Arabic or Chaldean, and as no one would have the folly to recommend either of these languages as the medium of instruction, because they were spoken by some of our ancestors a thousand years ago; I do not see why we should make use of the German or Spanish, merely because they were the languages of our ancestors a hundred years ago.

Besides, times and circumstances are totally changed. In those dark ages, when the name of Jew was considered only as another epithet for every thing vile and despicable, when oppression followed oppression, and persecution succeeded persecution, that loveof learning, which, in more prosperous days, manifested itself so strongly amongst our nation, began to vanish; the arts and sciences were neglected; ignorance took the seat of learning, and produced her never-failing progeny, suVOL. III. [Lit. Pan. Dec. 1807.]

drudging whole years in the acquisition of a language, should have learned something of it? Happily for our nation, those times are no more. The condition of our people has been considerably ameliorated in every part of Europe, and no where more so than in this country; in consequence of which, our whole system of education has experienced an

entire revolution. We look no longer on the acquisition of the English language as a sin; but, on the contrary, we look upon it as a most necessary and indispensable part of education. To this is added, a knowledge of languages in general, such as the Gerinan, French, and Latin. Nor are the liberal arts and sciences excluded: we begin to appreciate their value and importance, and consider them as essential parts of education. In proportion, therefore, as the sphere of our instruction has been enlarged, the time formerly allotted for the acquisition of the Hebrew becomes abridged. Unless, therefore, we thod of teaching the knowledge of this imadopt a more judicious and expeditious meportant language, it must, in the course of another generation, become totally extinct; and with it must perish that very religion which has stood the test of ages, and for which our ancestors suffered so many persecutions, and shed so many torrents of their blood.

Hebrew is the want of proper elementary Another obstacle that greatly retards the books, suited to the various ages and capací ties of children.

Although we are not deficient in men of learning, fully competent to the task, no one has yet devoted his time and talents to a purpose so laudable. An imperfect scale of the alphabet, in which not half of the elemen tary sounds are represen el, a prayer book, and a Hebrew Bible, are the only books we have to instruct our children in the Hebrew' language: and how ill calculated these are for the purpose, without previous preparation, has, I believe, been clearly demonstrated.

We hope, that after this confession, no Jew will think it strange that his nation has experienced contempt. It is useless to enquire which party was first guilty of this breach of humanity, and benevolence: but, surely, it may remind us of t: Roman poet's representation, that the Jews despised their fellow-men so greatly, that if any one had lost himself, they would not so much as shew him the way. It gives us pleasure to think, that we live in happier times, S

This is the first Hebrew grammar, man Jews had also begun to see the improcomposed in our language, for the Jewish priety, and to substitute an English translapeople; and it is the first in which we tion for the German; and hopes were enterhave seen it recommended to teach learn- tained, that this practice would be entirely abolished. But, this dawn of reason is threaters by the power of the letter; i. e. to ened to be obscured by the cloud of former call A. ay, instead of Aleph; B. be, prejudices; the old system has latterly found instead of Beth, &c. This is another in-advocates, disposed to restore it to its pristine stance of prejudice vanquished: and that vigour. there was a necessity for vanquishing other prejudices also, Mr. H. bears ample testimony.

themselves that they were English, while By what logic the Jews could persuade they maintained such a custom, exceeds our comprehension: it seems to us, that they merited neither the distinction of Hebrews, nor Germans, nor English: no wonder they spake reflecta Babylonish dialect." Mr. H. very properly observes :

The reading of the Hebrew being at length moderately acquired, the scholar is immediately set to translate portions of the Pentateuch, not into the English, which the pupil understands, but (what will astonish every ing man) into the German or Spanish; the former language being made use of by the Polish and German Jews, and the latter by those who originally came from Spain and Portugal.

Of these languages the pupil is generally as ignorant as he is of the Hebrew which he is to learn through their means, and consequently does not understand one word he says; notwithstanding which, he is made to repeat daily as many verses or chapters, as his teacher may think proper to impose on him.

As none of the faculties of the mind, except the memory, participate in this instruction, and as the memory, unless assisted by the judgment, is very fallacious, it follows, that the pupil no sooner learns one chapter than he forgets the other. But, even supposing him to possess a very tenacious memory, and capable of rendering the whole Bible into the above languages, where lies the benefit? The parent, to whom these languages áre known, may, indeed, be pleased with the seeming proficiency of a darling son, may be charmed with his apparent progress, not reflecting, at the same time, that the boy knows no more of what he is repeating, than if he were reciting so many sentences from

the Zendavesta.

66

As all our prayers are recited in Hebrew, and as it is of the utmost importance that our vouths should understand those sentiments of praise and gratitude which they daily offer to our Glorious and Bountiful Creator, I have selected a number of short prayers (with an English translation) by way of reading les

sons.

As to the execution of the work itself, we find in it much to praise. It must be considered by all who know the effort required in composing elementary treatises, as a very useful and respectable performance.

The author leads his pupil in a step-bystep manner more gradually, and we think more effectually, than other writers. Nevertheless, we suspect, that his own superior knowledge has hardly suffered him to place himself in the true situation

of the unlearned: and that he would have

done well had he held out his assisting hand, somewhat further, at the entering on this study. For instance, he should have printed the Roman letters which denote the sound of the vowels, not merely Thus it is evident, that the most valuable in the three introductory tables, but in the part of the pupil's life is wasted to little pur- fourth table of syllables. There is plenty pore; and what is worse, that by being thus of space between his lines, and this asaccustomed to repeat what he does not under-sistance to the student, by being continued stand, a most pernicious habit of attending to sounds, instead of the instructions conveyed by them, is acquired, which renders the youth ever after incapable of obtaining a perfect knowledge of any art or science with out the greatest difficulty and exertion.

somewhat further than it is, would have been useful. We should also have recommended, had we been of his counsel, the introduction of some of those common place phrases, which being of daily occurrence, are not liable to any difficulty as to their import, and are not only useful, but amuse the imagination.They are adopted in the grammars of all other languages, why not in the Hebrew ?—I pray J. Mocatta's Address to the Congrega-you-give me some bread-some butter. tion of Portuguese Jews.

These absurd methods had indeed begun some years ago to decline. A very respecta ble gentleman amongst the Portuguese Jews had published his thoughts very freely and properly on this subject. Many of the Ger

-How do you do? [Is it peace to thee`}

Good morning, &c. Where pronunciation is in question, nothing can be more adviseable than to attract the student's use of his tongue; and those of his fellow scholars whom he addresses, will soon set him right, with little trouble to the master, and sometimes more effectually than a tutor, whose office to a youth is always somewhat aweful.

and he has not stated the opposite arguments in their full strength. His reasonings, to prove that the present Hebrew letters are of pristine antiquity, we must pronounce incompetent: and he will feel our objections at once, when we ask him, what he would have thought, and said, had these letters and no others appeared on the public coins of the Maccabees, Simon, &c? who were priestsas well as civil rulers, and who, most surely, cannot be suspected either of defective knowledge, or of any inclination in favour of heretics. "These priests," he would have said, "used the priestly, or sacred letters;" let him then given this fact its full force, in favour of the Samaritan type. Mr. H. has added a specimen of the Rabbinical type: he should have given onė, with the Hebrew interlined, by way of lesson, that the eye might have understood it at once,

Our readers will perceive that the preface (and we may say the same of the work) is composed in a respectable English style, yet there is a trip or two in the language, which leads us to wish that some competent English critic had stood by Mr. H.'s elbow while he was inditing it, to whom he might have referred for opinion and advice. Such an assistant might also have given a correctness to other particulars, which would have been pleasing: for instance, Mr. H. renders lebush a garment"-whereas it is a particular species of garment: he renders txebi" a Our readers will perceive, that this stag"-whereas it is the gazelle or ante-grammar contains a variety of learning: lope. He would have done well, had heit does honour to the master of the Jewish rendered caphur by hoar frost instead of "rime;" or had he added frost in explanation; as we doubt whether every young Israelite can distinguish between the English terms rime and rhyme.

Mr. H. retains the " for Jehovah, and orders its substitute, adonái, to be used: this he does, by a subterfuge, in a manner we did not expect from him. He says, "this word is pronounced as if it were written adonai" when he very well knows that pronounciation has no place in the inatter. Mr. H. has rendered behemah "domesticated cattle:" but this class includes the elephant, the hippopotamos, the rhinoceros, &c. whether tame or wild. We are obliged to Mr. H. however, for his vocabulary; and think it among the most useful parts of his book. We believe the late well known David Levi, was the first who composed a vocabulary, Hebrew and English: and that has recommended his work to some of our acquaintance. The present appears to us to be equally useful, and Mr. H. will certainly find his advantage from it.

Our author enters at large into the question concerning the antiquity of the vowel points: he stops short at Ezra, himself, as the author of them, but he gives us the old story of David and Joab: not forgetting the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. His arguments are not original:

school; and we take a pleasure in announcing that a second part, which will complete the work, inay be expected. That will contain the etymology, and syntax of the language, a complete paradigm of the nouns and verbs, &c. We have spoken our opinion the more freely on this work, because we attach to it considerable consequence: and because Mr. H. may, in his second part, take advan tage by our suggestions, and those of other friends, and augment the merit of his labour, as a whole, by such additions, or corrections, as in his free and liberal judgment he may think proper.

Sermon, preached at the Consecration of the Chapel of Salesbury, in Lancashire, September 8, 1807, by Thomas Dunham Whitaker, LL. D. F. S. A. Minister of Holme. Royal quarto, pp. 20. Price 3s 6d. London: Hatchard, 1807.

We are not such rigid disciplinarians, as to refuse the pulpit some liberty of subject, matter, and manner, on incidental occasions: the preacher, therefore, is safe from any rebuke on our part, for introducing a greater proportion of political than of theological disquisition into this discourse; especially as new chapels are not opened every day. It contains some things with which we agree; but we are

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