understood, in a fuller and clearer manner than is done in any other work of the kind that has come to my knowledge. In making use of this Grammar, the rules and examples, which are printed in the larger English and Greek types, should be carefully distinguished from those that are printed in the smaller. The former are the principal and most necessary, and are' all that even the youngest scholar needs to learn by heart: as for the others, it will be sufficient to read them over attentively two or three times, and to consult the Grammar for them as occasion may require. But since this work may not improbably fall into the hands of some persons who, though destitute of the benefit of a master, may yet be desirous of acquainting themselves with the original language of the New Testament, I shall, in this place, add some more particular and minute directions, to assist in such a truly laudable, and (I am persuaded) by no means impracticable, undertaking. It will be necessary, therefore, for such persons, after carefully perusing the two first sections of the Grammar, to make themselves perfect in the declension of the article, Sect. II. 14. They should then proceed to the IIIrd Section, and commit likewise to memory the examples of the three declensions of simple nouns, ruń; λόγος and ξύλον; δελφίν and σῶμα : but, on this first application to the Grammar, I would advise them not to trouble themselves at all with the contracted nouns under each declension, nor with the Attic nouns under the second. The principal rules of the IVth Section are so plain and easy, that reading them over two or three times will be sufficient; and Sect. V. and VI. should at present be entirely omitted. As for the declensions of uncontracted adjectives, in Sect. VII., they can occasion the learner but little difficulty, supposing him already perfect in declining the uncontracted substantives: the contracted and irregular adjectives in this Section should be left for future consideration; but the principal rules and examples in Sect. VIII. and IX. are to be now learned. The beginning of Sect. X. will require particular attention, and the active voice of a verb in w must be gotten by heart. The principal of the following rules should also be committed to memory. In Sect. XI., after reading the two first rules, the verb eiui and the passive voice of a verb in o must likewise be learned by heart, nor can the principal rules in this section be dispensed with. If the directions hitherto given have been duly observed, the formation of the middle voice, and of the deponent verb in Sect. XII. will be very easy; the principal rules, however, will here also require the same attention as in the preceding sections; and the learner, to try his knowledge of the Greek verbs, may now attempt to draw out several schemes or trees, as in Sect. XII. 16, but must not be discouraged if he finds that at first he makes some considerable mistakes: to be perfect in the formation of the Greek verbs requires long use and practice in the language, and greater readiness in the rules for forming the tenses than can reasonably be expected from a beginner. Sect. XIII. XIV. XV. and XVI. should be as yet omitted, and an attentive reading or two will suffice for the four following sections. This brings us to the Syntax, Sect. XXI., in which the learner should 1 Only observe that the examples of the active and passive voices of rúπrw (Sect. X. and XI.) and of the auxiliary verb eiμí (Sect. XI.), though absolutely necessary to be learnt by heart, are printed in a smaller character, in order that each of them might be presented to the learner at one view. commit to memory the principal rules. And the general observations in Sect. XXII. will, I hope, well repay his careful and repeated perusal ; but the XXIIIrd Sect., Of Dialects, is designed for his future instruction. And now he may, without further preparation, proceed to the Grammatical Praxis in Sect. XXIV., and should endeavour by the references to the foregoing parts of the Grammar, and by the assistance of the Lexicon, to make himself perfect master of every word in it, except only the contracted nouns and verbs, the verbs in μ, and the anomalous ones; and even for all these, when they occur, he would do well to consult the Grammar. Having thus mastered the first chapter of St. John, he may, with the assistance of the English translation, go on to the second' and following chapters, still taking care to account grammatically for every word in the manner of the praxis; and as he advances in reading, he must also peruse in order such parts of the Grammar as were before omitted, and learn by heart the examples of the contracted substantives, Sect. III.; of the contracted and irregular adjectives, Sect. VII.; of the contracted verbs, and those in μ in Sect. XIII., XIV., and XV. I would also particularly recommend to him, for six or seven months at least, to write down the Greek words (especially the primitives) that occur, and their English interpretation, in opposite columns, and to endeavour, by frequent repetition, thoroughly to connect these in his mind. And thus he may, ere long, be enabled, even without the assistance of a master, to read the New Testament in the language' wherein it was at first written, and obtain the satisfaction of examining for himself what were the real doctrines of Christ and his apostles, in the words not of a fallible, though truly excellent, translation, but in those of the infallible, because inspired, ORIGINAL. 'Hoole's edition of the Greek Testament, in which the primitive roots of the Greek words are printed in the margin, seems the best for the use of a beginner. ? I would here be understood to speak of the language of the New Testament in general, without dogmatically deciding that the Gospel of St. Matthew was originally written in Greek; on which subject the reader may do well to compare Dr. Lardner's History of the Apostles and Evangelists, chap. v., with Dr. George Campbell's Preface to St. Matthew's Gospel. ABBREVIATIONS IN THE LEXICON EXPLAINED. Att. et al. et al. freq. freq. occ. inter al. occ. 1. q. d. Attic. (et alibi) and in other texts. (et alibi frequenter) and in many other texts. (frequenter occurrit) denotes that the word occurs frequently. prefixed to one or more references, denotes that either the word itself, or else the word in the last-mentioned sense, occurs only in the text or texts referred to. (quasi) as if, as it were. (quasi dicas) as if one should say. |