first disposed to avoid the difficulty by accompanying the work with notes, and giving in them my own remarks, on whatever would probably be considered objectionable by the lovers of divine truth. I soon found, however, on considering the nature of the subjects that would require to be noticed in this way, that I must either give a naked opinion, where a sense of propriety would not permit me to do so, or enter into discussions of a philosophical and theological kind, unsuited to the character, and beyond the proper limits of the work. My belief is, moreover, that such is the character and spirit of the work, taken as a whole, as to give it an influence highly beneficial to the cause of truth and of sound Biblical learning among us, if only it be read in the spirit that dictated it, and to correct in the general result, whatever individual errors of opinion it may contain. It is only to be regretted, that the author had not completed the plan which he had sketched, and we could then, no doubt, have judged more fairly, of the proportions and bearings of the parts which we have.

What, and how comprehensive his plan was, will be seen from his own sketch of it, immediately following this preface. It seems, too, to have been his favourite enterprize, and cherished with fondness, as he remarked to one of his friends, from his very childhood. His hopes, however, were never fully realized, and only a part of the general plan was ever executed. During the latter part of his life, when he had hoped for leisure to accomplish it, he was so much oppressed with other duties, as at last to be removed in the midst of his labours, when he had scarcely entered upon the third division of his work.

Even the two first divisions still required some important additions and corrections from the author's hand. The work however was published by him, and nearly in its present form, at Dessau, in 1782 and 1783. After his death, which took place in 1803, a second edition with such additions, as could be made from the papers, which he had left, was published by his friend J. G. Mueller of Schaffhausen, in 1805 and 1806. The third edition, with some small contributions of his own, was published in 1822 by Prof. Justi, of Marburg, in two vols. 8vo. This is esteemed the best edition, and from it the present translation has been made.

Of my own undertaking as translator I have no disposition to say any thing further, except that I have been very well aware of its difficulty, and have aimed to perform it with all reasonable exactness and fidelity to the original. As a work of taste, it requires more care and labour than would be necessary, where less regard was had to elegance of composition, and I have aimed, as far as as I was able, to give a fair expression of the original. The numerous translations from the Hebrew, and other poetical effusions especially, I have endeavoured to exhibit with as much accuracy as could well be attained in a matter of so much difficulty. These were regarded by the author, as the chief object of his work, and his translations from the Hebrew were made with peculiar care. He aimed to preserve and exhibit, as far as possible, not the thoughts merely, but their form and colouring, and the precise tones of feeling which were associated with them in the minds of the authors, and of those for whom they were originally written. In this he has succeeded, undoubtedly, far better than Lowth, whose poetical paraphrases

serve only to convert the simplicity of the Hebrew into the more artificial forms of expression, which belong to the classick poetry of more modern times. It was a matter of course, therefore, in giving a translation of Herder, to consider this as the part of his work, which he would most value himself, and to preserve, as far as possible, his peculiar views of the sentiment of the original Hebrew. Yet, in so regarding it, I have thought it necessary also to have reference to the language of the English translation, and have always preferred it, where it could be done without misrepresenting the sense of Herder. Regard to this has led me also to be less careful of metrical arrangement, than I should otherwise have been. Herder has for the most part, though not uniformly, adhered to the Iambic measure, though with little regard to the length of the lines. When this could not be done without giving the translation a more artificial colouring than suits our notions of simplicity in such things, I have in most cases merely preserved the parallelisms, and aimed only at the most simple rhythm. In translating other poetical effusions, than those from the Hebrew, a few of which the author has inserted in the work, I have merely followed the form of the original. My aim has been in all things of importance, to give a faithful representation of the author's work in regard both to matter and form. I could not learn till quite recently, that a version of any portion of the work had been previously made either in England or this country; but within a few days have received a copy of a work under the title of "Oriental Dialogues," which is a translation of a part of the first volume of this work. Several of the dialogues are omitted, and

the order of the remainder changed by the translator, so that it can hardly be considered a satisfactory account of the original, and, had I known of its existence, would not have saved me the labour which I have bestowed upon the work.

The first volume, which is now ready for publication, it will be observed by comparison with the plan of the work, contains only the introduction and a brief account of the life and character of Moses. The other volume, containing the first and second parts of the work itself, will be prepared for publication, as soon as the pressure of other duties will permit. That it may do something to promote a genuine taste for ancient learning, and the simplicity of primitive antiquity generally, and more especially love for those inspired records of Hebrew antiquity, which have so many and so peculiar claims upon the regard of every student, is the sincere wish of the

TRANSLATOR.

PLAN OF THE WORK.

The beautiful and justly celebrated work of Bp. Lowth, de sacra poesi Hebraeorum, is universally known, and might seem to preclude the necessity of the present undertaking. A nearer comparison of its contents, however, will show, that the present work is neither a translation, nor an imitation of it. Whether the sphere, which it occupies, be of equal or inferior importance, it is at least sufficiently distinct, and cannot be without its interest and use to the lovers of the most ancient, simple, and sublime poetry in general, nor indeed to all, who cherish a liberal curiosity respecting the progress of knowledge, divine, and human, as connected with the earlier history of our race.

In a prolonged introduction are investigated three principal particulars, from which in its origin the character of the poetry of the Hebrews was derived. In the first place, are exhibited the poetical characteristics of their language in its structure and copiousness; then the primitive conceptions, which they had received as a legacy from the most ancient times, and which constitute, as it were, a cosmology as sublime as it is poetical; and third, the history of their patriarchs down to their great law-giver, and whatever in it was fitted to distinguish, as well the whole nation generally, as more particularly their writings and the spirit of their poetry.