serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."-Gen. xxvii. 26–29.

"And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and the dew of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." -Gen. xxvii. 39–40.

THE BENEDICTIONS OF JACOB.

'Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey,

my son, thou art gone lion, and as an old lien; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk."-Gen. xlix. 8-12.

up: he stooped down, he couched as a

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel:) even by the God of thy father who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee

with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren."-Gen. xlix. 22-26.

Page 36.

"To us, perchance, is lost the flowing line."

Dr. Lowth appears decided in this opinion;- "As to the real quantity, the rythm, or modulation, these, from the present state of the language, seem to be altogether unknown, and even to admit of no investigation by human art or industry. It is indeed evident, that the true Hebrew pronunciation is totally lost. The rules concerning it, which were devised by the modern Jews many ages after the language of their ancestors had fallen into disuse, have been long since suspected by the learned to be destitute of authority and truth: for if, in reality, the Hebrew language is to be conformed to the positions of these men, we must be under the necessity of confessing, not only what we at present experience, that the Hebrew poetry possesses no remains of sweetness or harmony, but that it never was possessed of any. The truth is, it was neither possible for them to recall the true pronunciation of a language long since obsolete, and to institute afresh the rules of orthoepy; nor can any person in the present age so much as hope to effect any thing to the purpose by the aid of conjecture, in a matter so remote from our senses, and so involved in obscurity."

"Thus, not so much as the number of syllables, of which each word consisted, could with any certainty be defined, much less the length or quantity of the syllables: and since the regulation of the metre of any language must depend upon two particulars, I mean the number and the length of the syllables, the knowledge of which is utterly unattainable in the Hebrew, he who attempts to restore the true and genuine Hebrew versification, erects an edifice without a foundation." - See also Dr. Lowth's confutation of "Bishop Hare's System of Hebrew Metre.”

Whatever be the ultimate settlement of this question, it appears to me of very trifling importance. Had the Poetry of the Bible been of that class which derives it's leading fascination from the musical collocation of words, the resolution of this nodus would have become a momentous desideratum. But the Poetry of the BIBLE possesses that boldness of imagery. that grandeur of thought, that majesty of expression, that tout ensemble of augustness and ultra-sublimity, that sacred elixir of poetry; that versification cannot enrich it, translation cannot impair it. Hence in the SELECTIONS we have made, we have taken them as they stand in the "authorized version.” The testimonies in favour of the poetical character of many portions of the Holy Scriptures would, of themselves, occupy a volume. The reader may consult Simpson's "Sacred Literature." Dr. Watts avers that the Bible contains more beautiful language than any writings of Greece or Rome. In the estimation of Erasmus, Locke, Salmasius, Bacon, Newton, Boyle, Milton, Hervey, and many others, the greatest geniuses that the world ever knew, no book can be placed in comparison

with THE BIBLE. One testimony must not be omitted; it is that of a great poet, philosopher, and statesman, who knew twenty-six languages, and had studied the Scriptures with unremitted and elaborate attention; I allude to the great Sir William Jones, who declared, "I am of opinion that this volume (independently of it's divine origin) contains more sublimity and beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books in any age and language." We shall therefore introduce the reader to our selections from the poetry of the Bible, without adventitious observations; which, as they must have been voluminously great, so they are perfectly unnecessary.

Page 38.

"The reverend Moses rapt on holy ground."

THE SONG OF MOSES.

66 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord,

hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horseIn into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the