T. GATAKER, Jun: 215 if by them, why not by the ancients ? " I could readily grant you that," says our divine, " and yet deny the conse- quence that you would draw from it. For 'the Greek lan- guage itself, was much declined, in the time of the apostles, by the admission of a multitude of exotic words and phrases borrowed from the Italians, Sicilians, Cyrenians, and Cartha- genians, partly from their being under the same government, and partly from their commercial intercourse with- thOse nations. But, after all," says he, " if Demosthenes could live again, it is most likely he would- find many obstacles in reading Paul's writings, and would object to many of the words and phrases." He then quotes a long passage from Beza's Annotations on the Acts of the Apostles, in which that learned commentator shews the reasons why the apostles were not studious about their style, but endeavoured to make them- selves understood by those with'whom they conversed,,rather than to render their discourses elegant from their pure and correct language. In the same manner he proceeds through the rest of his treatise, in which he explains, as they occur, a multitude of passages in sacred and profane authors, correcting some and commending other critics who have gone before ; but with so much mildness and moderation, with such apparent can- dour and respect to truth aboveall things, that it is impossible for the reader not to admire his excellent temper, while he ruins the reputatitin of the contrary party. In the forty- fourth chapter, Mr. Gataker gives a recapitulation of the whole dispute betweenhim and Pfochenius, and observes, that the true state of the questionis, whether the style of the New Testament in Greek is every where the same with that which was used by the ancient writers, at the time when the lan- guage was in its greatest purity ? Or, whether it is not such as frequently admits of Hebraisms and Syriasms ? Pfochenius affirms the former, and denies the latter ; while our learned critic maintains the opposite sentiments. Mr. Gataker con- cludesby observing, that, notwithstanding all that Pfochenius has urged, he does not doubt that nearly six hundred phrases might be produced from the New Testament, and a much greater number from the 'Greek version of the Old Testa- ment, the purity of which Pfochenius seems tacitly to main - tam, in which there are plain characters of the Hebrew or the Syriac tongues, and not the least resemblance of the ancient Greek, so faras men of thegreatest labour and erudition have hitherto discovered.. The venerable primate of Ireland, Biog. Briton. vol. iv. p. 2167-2169.
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