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Untitled Article
i very early , is evident from those celebrated lines in Virgil ; Mneld . 2 , 351 , &c . * Excessere ojrnies , Adytis Arisque re-Hctis , Dii , quibus Iajperium hoc steterat *
"On which words Servius remarks : * Romani celatutn esse voluerunt , ia cujus Dei tutellt urbs Roma sit ; et jure Pontificum cautum est > ne suis nominibus Dii Romani appellarentur , ne exaugurari possent : et in Capitolio fait Clype&s consecratus—Genio ( Jrbis Romse , sive Mas sit sive
Foemina . * Macrobius gives a whole chapter upon the words of the poet just cited , and says , * De vetustissimo Romanorutn more , et de occultissimis sacris vox ista prolata est : eonstat enitn omnes urbes in alieujus Dei esse tutela , moreinque Romanorum fuisse , ut cum obsiderent urbem
hostmm , certo carmine evocarent tufcelar ^ s Deos : propterea ipsi Ro mani et Dbum in cujus tutela urbs Roma est , ut ( et ) ipsius Urbis Latinum Nomen ignotum esse voluerunt ; caventibus Romanis , ne quod saepe adversus urbes hostium fecisse se
noverant , idem ipsi quoque hostili evocacatione patei * etftur / Lib . 3 , Gap . 9 . This , then , being the custom of the Romans at other sieges , and no such evocation having been practised at the siege of Jerusalem ; ' tis probable , that their omission of that custom at
a siege so remarkable , was occasioned by their ignorance of tlie true name of the God of Jerusalem . " If this be the real origin of the custom alluded to , we shall search in vain , I fear , for those " good reasons" in its favour , to which Mr . Frend alludes .
A practice arising from such a motive , although it may have encouraged the Jews to defend their city to the last extremity , when it was besieged by the Romans , and may thus have excited them to deeds of the most persevering
and heroic valour , could not produce any permanently good effect upon their moral and religious character ; but would have a natural tendency to harden and deprave their minds , and render them proud and supercilious in their conduct towards other nations .
These , however , form but a small part of the bad effects resulting from the practice in question . If we were
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careful to ttme its . influence npon the state of the Hebrew text , titewort superstitions , I apprehfeiid , mnild be found to express btLtf-feeWy and imperfectly the injury which the Sacred Writings have sustained ia couse * - quence " of its extensive prevalence among the Jews .
With regard to the famibar use of the name of the Deity , by which , as Mr . Frend observes , " our nation is disgraced above all the other countries of Europe , " there can , be but one opinion among the friends of genuine ,
practical religion . That this-name is frequently introduced it * a very wanton and thoughtless manner into common conversation ; by persons styling themselves Christians , and often coupled with the most dreadful oaths and
imprecations by the profane and irreligiDtfS , are facts of the greatest notoriety , which we should in vain attempt to palliate or justify : but , I cannot see that this general abuse of the
sacred name of God , bears at all upon the ntiaifi point at issue between Mr . Frend afid myself * To use any name appropriated to the Deity in a light and trivial manner , is , no doubt , highly censurable and deeply criminal ; but , € t as we find the term Jehovah in the
original Scriptures , without any caution to pronounce it but seldom , surely we ought to pronounce it whenever we find it : why else was it put there ?" See a paper in the last number of the Monthly Repository by Mr . Jevans ,
( p . 82 . ) in which that gentleman has treated the subject in a very sensible and judicious manner , and brought together a number of pertinent ai ^ d interesting remarks on the improper translation of the word Jehovah in
our common English Bibles . ' * What a moral lustre and dignity , " Says he , ' * would it give to the word of God , to have this most expressive of all terms scattered about four thousand times over its sacred pages t Such a translation would be far superior to any
oi ^ e now existing in the English language ; and its value woulq , I persuade myself , soon be felt and acknowledged by a discerning public . " In the spirit of this remark I cordiall y agree with the above-mentioned writer ; and , in the hope that the Version of the Bible now in common iis 6 in this country , may sooner or later be
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Mitf Mr . Wallace an the Reverence of the Jews for the Name of God ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1824, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2522/page/32/
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