6Q -Oriental Literature, 



able. Those who have attended to the progress of 

 knowledge in Great-Britain during the last age, 

 have probably been able to trace very distinctly the 

 influence of this visionary philosophy in producing 

 the effect which has been stated. 



Of the great number of Hebrew grammars which 

 have been published since the revival of letters, 

 that of Buxtorf, till near the close of the seven- 

 teenth century, had received by far the largest 

 share of public approbation. And though it was 

 dry, complicated, tedious, and of course difficult 

 to be acquired; yet as it was on the whole well 

 constructed, and contained an excellent body of 

 masoretical rules, it continued long to be the reign- 

 ing favourite among the teachers of this language. 

 Capellus seems to have been the first who made 

 a successful attempt to divest Hebrew grammar 

 of its superfluous precepts, and perplexing append- 

 ages. Since his time the system of simplification 

 has been carried still further by Masclef, and 

 many others, bot!c the advocates and opposers of 

 the points. 



At an early period of the century, Professor 

 Danz, of Germany, published a Hebrew and 

 Chaldeac Grammar, in which he almost entirely 

 departed from the methods before in use. Instead 

 of perplexing the learner with numberless minuiitf, 

 which are apt at the beginning to disgust and dis- 

 courage, he presented the elements of the lan- 

 guage in a simple, easy, and attractive form. 

 The Danzian method soon became general, was 

 adopted as the ground work in innumerable sub- 

 sequent grammars, and is yet the prevailing one 

 in the schools and universities of Germany. The 

 Hebrew grammars produced in Great-Britain, dur- 

 ing the last age, were numerous, and a few of them 

 highly valuable. Out of a Ions; list which might 

 he made, those oFFarkhurst, Robertson, Gray, 



