‘These triumphant observations,’ says the Bishop, ‘are founded on two propositions, both of which he takes for granted, and yet neither of them is true:
‘The one, That an inspired language must needs be a language of perfect eloquence;
‘The other, That eloquence is something congenial and essential to human speech[131].’
The Bishop then undertakes to shew the falshood of these two propositions. You, Sir, contend for the truth of the latter: and controvert the principles on which the Bishop would confute the former. That the reader may be enabled to judge for himself between you, I shall quote his Lordship’s own words, paragraph by paragraph, so far as any thing said by him is controverted by you; and shall then endeavour, with all care, to pick up the loose ends of your argument, as I find them any where come up in the several chapters of your Dissertation; intermixing, as I go along, such reflexions of my own, as the occasion may suggest.
‘With regard to the FIRST proposition (resumes the Bishop) I will be bold to affirm, that were the Style of the New Testament exactly such as his [Dr. Middleton’s] very exaggerated account of if would persuade us to believe, namely that it is utterly rude and barbarous, and abounding with every fault that can possibly deform a language, this is so far from proving such language not divinely inspired, that it is one certain mark of this original[132].’
By the manner, in which the learned Bishop introduces this affirmation, one sees that he foresaw very clearly it would be esteemed a bold one. Nay, in another place[133], he even takes to himself the shame, with which some readers, he well knew, would be forward enough to cover him, and in one word confesses his general notion of eloquence to be a Paradox: which yet, says he, like so many others, I have had the odd fortune to advance, will be seen to be only another name, for Truth. After this concession, it had been more generous in you to have omitted some invidious passages; such as that where you say, the Bishop in his reply to this objection [of Dr. Middleton] seems to have displayed that BOLD OPPOSITION TO THE GENERAL OPINIONS OF MANKIND, by which his learned labours are distinguished; Intr. p. ii. And again in p. vii. where you speak of his principles as paradoxical, and implying AN HARDY OPPOSITION TO THE GENERAL SENSE OF MANKIND.
But let the boldness of the Bishop’s principles be what it will, there is small hurt done, provided they turn out, what he seems persuaded they will, only truths. Let us attend his Lordship, then, in the proof of his FIRST Paradox.
‘I will not pretend, says he, to point out which books of the N. T. were, or were not, composed by those who had the Greek tongue thus miraculously infused into them; but this I will venture to say, that the style of a writer so inspired, who had not (as these writers had not) afterwards cultivated his knowledge of the language on the principles of Grecian eloquence, would be precisely such as we find it in the books of the New Testament.
‘For, if this only be allowed, which no one, I think, will contest with me, that a strange language acquired by illiterate men, in the ordinary way, would be full of the idioms of their native tongue, just as the Scripture-Greek is observed to be full of Syriasms, and Hebraisms; how can it be pretended, by those who reflect upon the nature of language, that a strange tongue divinely infused into illiterate men, like that at the day of Pentecost, could have any other properties and conditions[134]?’
Here, the features of this bold paradox begin to soften a little. We are something reconciled to it, 1. by being told, what the rudeness and barbarity is, which is affirmed to be one certain mark of an inspired language, namely, its being full of the idioms of the native tongue of the inspired writer: And 2. by being told, that these idioms are equally to be expected whether the new language be infused by divine inspiration, or acquired by illiterate men in the ordinary way. In the latter case, it is presumed, and surely with reason enough (because experience uniformly attests the fact), that a strange language, so learnt, would abound in the native idioms of the learner: All that remains is to shew, that the event would be the same, in the former. The Bishop then applies himself, in order, to this task.