and Coverdale's tranflations, and forbad the use of any other than what was allowed by Parliament. This was the laft act of Henry the Eighth relative to the fubject in queftion. Our enlightened readers will obferve, with pleafure, the ardour that was difplayed in the profecution of religious knowledge, and the progress it made, notwithstanding the difficulties and obftructions with which it was encompaffed.

On the acceffion of King Edward the Sixth, great encouragement was given to the reading of the Scriptures. A royal injunction was published, that the whole English Bible should be placed in churches; and it was farther enjoined, that the paraphrafe of Erafmus in English, to the end of the four Evangelifts, fhould occupy the fame fituation. We cannot but remark, to the honour of Erasmus, that this great man, whofe fervices to general literature were fo eminent and extraordinary, was thus a' peculiar benefactor to our own country, in a matter of the utmost importance. During the courfe of Edward's reign, which was lefs than eight years, eleven impreffions of the whole Bible were published, and fix of the New Teftament. It is worthy of observation, that the Bibles were reprinted agreeably to the preceding editions; whether Tindall's, Coverdale's, Matthewe's Cranmer's, or Taverner's. Hence it is evident that they appeared with a different text, and with different notes; the reformers feeming more defirous of gratifying the tastes of all readers, than fearful of perplexing them by flight variations. It is doubtful whether during this reign any fresh attempts were made at a translation.

No public encouragement to works of this kind could be given under the popish government of Queen Mary: but the Proteftant exiles at Geneva formed the design of a new verfion of the Bible, which was completed in 1560, and printed in that city. Notwithstanding Queen Mary's decease, and the acceffion of Elifabeth to the throne of EngVOL. LVIII.

land, fome of the English refugees con-
tinued at Geneva for the fole purpose
of finishing the undertaking. The three
moft learned of the tranflators were
Bifhop Coverdale, Anthony Gilby, and
William Whittingham; and they were
all of them zealous Calvinifts, both with
regard to doctrine and difcipline. This
tranflation was fo popular, and was fo
much ufed in private families on account
of the notes, that, from the year 1500
to 1616. there were more than thirty
editions of it, in folio, quarto, or oc-
tavo; not to mention the impreffions
of it that took place at Geneva, Edin-
burgh, and Amsterdam.
It was. a
work of great labour; but fome of the
marginal notes gave offence to very
high churchmen and the zealots for
prerogative. For this reafon King James
the First spoke of it, at the conference
at Hampton-court, in terms of peculiar
diflike. Whatever may be thought of
it in this refpect, Doctor Geddes does
not hesitate to declare, with relation to
the verfion itself, that he thinks it in
general better than that of King James's
translation.

In 1568, appeared the Bible, which, upon account of eight Bifhops, befide other perfons, being employed in it, has been called the Bishops' Bible, This edition was undertaken by royal commandment, and was executed under the aufpices of Archbishop Parker, who exerted all his weight and talents upon the fubject. In the accomplishment of the defign, diftinct portions of the Bible (being at least fifteen in number) were allotted to felect men of learning and abilities; and other critics were employed in comparing the work with the original languages, and with the former tranflations. One of thefe critics, the names of most of whom are now little adverted to, was Giles Laurence, a man of great celebrity at that time for his knowledge of the Greek tongue, and whose caftigations were exactly followed. The Archbishop fent inftructions concerning the method which the tranflators were to observe; and he re4 E

com

commended the addition of fome fhort
marginal notes, for the illustration and
correction of the text. He did not,
however, trust to others; but took upon
himfelf the principal direction of the
affair, reviewed the performance, and
perhaps gave it the finifhing hand. It
was not fo much his province to tranf-
late, as to overfee, direct, examine, pre-
pare, and complete the whole. So
highly pleafed was our good prelate
when this great work was brought to
a conclufion, that, in the spirit and the
words of old Simeon, he expreffed the
tranquillity with which he should now
meet his diffolution. Most of the edi-
tions of the Bishops' Bible are in folio
and quarto;
the reafon of which is,
that it was chiefly defigned for the ufe

of churches.

effect of the Hampton-court conference. and the only point wherein the contending parties agreed. On the second day of that conference, Doctor Raynolds, the principal speaker for the Puritans, moved the King that a new version of the Bible might be undertaken; and the reasons affigned by him for his motion were, that the tranflations which had been allowed in the reigns of Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth were corrupt, and that other exifting tranflations were not conformable to the truth of the original. The King answered, that he had never yet.feen a Bible well tranflated into English, and expreffed his with that the most learned men in both the Universities would engage in the work; which, when revised by the Bifhops, might be prefented to the The zeal of the English Proteftants council, and then receive the fanction for tranflations of the facred writings of his authortity: that fo the whole at length stirred up the Roman Catho- national church might be bound to that lics to the fame bufinefs. It was im- verfion, and not to be permitted to use poffible any longer to refift the torrent; any other. On the fuggeftion of Bishop and therefore, inftead of oppofing it, Bancroft, marginal notes were forbid they refolved to have a verfion of their den. In 1604, fifty-four learned men own making: nor were they afhamed of Oxford, Cambridge, and of other to confefs that they were driven into places, were commiffioned to confer tothis measure contrary to their will. In gether, fo that nothing should pass with1582, an English New Teftament, in out a general confent, and every meaquarto, was printed at Rheims, tranf- fure be adopted that might contribute to lated from the Vulgate Latin, and re- the perfection of the undertaking. taining many Oriental, Greek and Latin words, with an apparent intention of rendering the tex: lefs capable of being understood by common read, ers. The Old Teftament was after wards publifhed at Douay, in two quarto volumes, the firft of which appeared in 1609, and the fecond in 1610. William Alan, Gregory Martin, and Richard Briftow are understood to have been the tranflators; and it is faid that the annotator was Thomas Worthington. The verfion of the New Teftament has by fome writers been chiefly afcribed to Will Raynolds.

We come now to the authoritative tranflation of the Holy Scriptures, which was accomplished in the reign of James the First, and which was the only good

"

The number of actual tranflators was reduced by death to forty-feven, who were divided into fix claffes, according to the following arrangement: "Ten were to meet in Weftminifter, and to tranflate from the Pentateuch to the end of the fecond book of Kings. Eight, affembled at Cambridge, were to finish the rest of the Hiftorical Books, and the Hagiographa. At Oxford, feven were to undertake the four Greater Prophets, with the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and the twelve minor Prophets. The Epiftles of St Paul, and the re maining canonical epiftles, were allotted to another company of feven at Weft minfter. Another company of eight,st at Oxford, were to tranflate the Four Gofpels, the Acts of the Apostles, and

the

the Apocalypfe. Laftly, another company of feven, at Cambridge, had affigned to them the Apocrypha, including the Prayer of Manaffeh." In this appointment it was intended that the divines employed fhould not be too many, left one fhould trouble another; and at the fame time, that they should be fo numerous as to prevent any important object from efcaping their attention. The prelates were likewise enjoined to inform themselves of fuch learned men in their feveral dioceses as had knowledge in the Hebrew and Greek tongues, and had ftudied the Scriptures; and the king's pleafure was fignified, that their obfervations fhould be fent to one of three perfons fixed upon for the purpofe of receiving any occafional communications.

and to fee that the rules laid down were ftrictly regarded.

Nearly three years were employed in making this verfion, the progrefs of which was not a little retarded by the death of a Mr Lively, a Cambridge fcholar, upon whom the weight of the work greatly refted, on account of his fkill in the Oriental languages. It is to be regretted, that the memory of a man of fuch eminent literature, and whofe affiftance was of fo much confe quence in this great undertaking, fhould have funk into almoft total oblivion.

When the traflation was finished, two perfons were chofen to refine and polish it, from each of the joint companies which had affembled at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster. The two from the Cambridge companies were Mr John Boys, fellow of St John's college, and Mr Andrew Downes, Greek philofopher; who daily met their fellow labourers in Stationers' Hall, London, and in nine months completed their talk. Laft of all, Bilfon Bi fhop of Winchester, and Dr Miles Smith, who, from the beginning had been very active in the affair, again re viewed the whole, and prefixed argu guments to the feveral books. Smith, who, for his indefatigable pains in the work, was fpeedily advanced to the bishopric of Gloucester, was ordered to write the preface. Mention is made of a chief overfeer and taskmaster, under his Majefty, to whom not only the tranflators, but alfo the whole church, was much bound. The perfon intend ed was probably Archbishop Bancroft..

Dr

For the encouragement of the tranflators, provifion was made that they fhould be promoted to ecclefiaftical benefices, as opportunity offered; and, in the course of a few years, feven of them rofe to the epifcopal dignity. To invigorate their ardour, and to accelerate, their fpeed, the Bishop of London informed them, that his Majefty was not fatisfied till the work was entered upon; and that his royal mind rejoiced more in the good hopes which he had for its happy fuccefs, than for the peace concluded with Spain. Notwithstand ing these inducements, the tranflation was not actually begun till early in the year 1607, and indeed it must have required a confiderable degree of previous preparation. Certain rules were prefcribed to be carefully obferved in the undertaking, the generality of which The English divines, who, in 1618, were judicious and proper, though to a were commiffioned to attend the fynod few of them, perhaps, objections might of Dort, delivered a paper to that af be måde. It was likewife the king's fembly, containing an account of this pleafure, which had been fignified to matter; which in fome few circumthe vice-chancellor of Cambridge fo ear- ftances differs from that already given, ly as the 13th of Auguft 1604, that It is faid, in particular, that after each befide the perfons employed for the Hebrew and Greek, there fhould be felected three or four of the moft emi nent and grave divines of the univerfity, to be overseers of the tranflations,

individual had finished his task, twelve men affembled in one place, and revifed the whole; and only seven rules are mentioned as prefcribed to the interpreters, whereas there is the most authen 4 E2

tic evidence that the rules were four- which has fince continued to be the teen in number. national standard. It was a great work, highly to the honour of the kingdom, and of the theological knowledge of our country.

In the year 1611, every thing was completed, and that version of the Holy Scriptures was published by authority

THOUGHTS ON BOOKS,

"Of making many books there is no end."

SOLOMON.

WHEN we confider the vast quan- of reading; and it is in vain to say, that

tity of publications which are every day coming from the prefs, and when, upon a just appreciation of their intrinfic value, we difcover very few original fentiments in them, we cannot but admire that happy faculty in man, whereby he can vary and new-drefs old arguments and precepts, fo as to give them the charms of novelty, and often the force of conviction. It has been observed, of late years, that the publications of the English prefs have multiplied tenfold, and that even their fuccefs as to circulation has very nearly kept pace with their number. It is a fair inference that the number of readers is increased; for although there may be fome perfons who purchase books merely as ornaments to a room, fuch a cafe cannot often happen, and I think that confidering the improved ftate of converfation, the other inference is the more juft one,

How far the interests of true literature are concerned in the increase of publications is another question. Without entering particularly on the solution of it, I fhould imagine that literature is fpread over the kingdom in small portions fitted to the wants and to the leifure of its inhabitants, but that the number of real scholars, and of affiduous tudents, is very far from being greatly increased. We are greatly behind the writers of the last century in the magnitude of our productions. An author now is very well content to produce an octavo volume within a time, half of which would have been fufficient for a scholar of the last century to produce a folio, Indeed the scholars of the laft and preceding centuries, produced more works than many who think themselves students now, could undergo the fatigue

in fuch voluminous compofitions there is a great deal very fuperfluous, a great deal of no value, and which it would be a waste of time to read. The fact proves, at least, that they were more affiduous ftudents, and that they devoted a portion of time to their studies, which we fhould think equal to the horrors of an imprisonment. They allowed little time for converfation, while we are fatisfied to study just as much as will enable us to frine in conversation.

But the authors of the laft and preceding centuries, it must be confeffed, were rather compilers than original writers. Emerging from the long night of darkness which overfpread Europe, they had to ranfack the ftores of antiquity for materials, which however crudely digefted, formed a foundation for the more fimplified learning of the prefent day. Their minds were too much shackled by prejudices of the philofophical and religious kind to allow them to expand their own thoughts, inftead of those of others; and, however much they improved on their originals, they were ftill led by authority. An agreeable author of our days fays, that the number of those writers who can with any juftness of expreffion be term. ed thinking authors, would not form very copious library, though one were to take in all of that kind, which both ancient and modern times have produc ed, "Neceffarily," fays he, "I ima gine, must one exclude from a collec tion of this fort, all that numerous under-tribe in the common-wealth of literature that owe their existence merely to the thoughts of others.". Were we, indeed, to be as faftidious as this writer proposes, what would be the fate of the Vatican and the Bodleian libraries.

I

I fear we should be thought as great of them. Whether ought he, who gives favages as those who burnt the library an entertainment, to place his guests at of Alexandria, a lofs, by the by, of table, or to fuffer them to place themmuch less confequence than has gene- felves? Which was first, a hen or an rally been fuppofed, if we may reafon egg? Why are women very long in from what was left to what was loft. getting drunk? Why are men, when half-drunk, more restless and disorderly, than when they become quite intoxicated? Why are there many guests invited to a wedding dinner? Why is no faith to be given to dreams in autumn? Is it confiftent with the good manners that ought to be obferved at a fympofium, for a man to fall asleep, before he gets drunk?"

Voluminous as the European authors of the last two centuries have been, what are they in comparison with the ancients? but mere pigmies in literature, mere phamphleteers! We are told that Epicurus left behind him three hun. dred volumes of his own works, all original; for Aulus Gellius, quoting Varro, fays, there was not a citation among them. Didymus, the grammarian, wrote no less than four thoufand

wrote fix thousand treatifes. Of fuch works what can we think? We may furely very fairly judge from what is extant, and fay that if they did not bear the ftamp of antiquity, many of them would have no currency at all.

So much for this great philofopher. Origen A man in our days, provided he were not debarred the use of pen and ink, might fill up many reams of paper with fuch difquifitions; but I quetion whether the most liberal of our bookfellers would be induced to hazard the expence of publication. We owe much, undoubtedly, to the laborious compilations of ancient writers, but unless we employ the niceft discrimination in felecting the gold from the drofs, our time will be fpent to as little purpose in reading as theirs was in writing.

Plutarch wrote above one hundred and fifty treatises, of which we have no remains. I cannot offer a more just opinion of him than I find in a scarce and curious tract of the late Lord Hailes. Of Plutarch he says, "His reading was, at least, equal to his judgment. His works are treated with a fort of traditionary respect, by perfons, who poffibly know him merely as a biographical compiler, fo that one can hardly venture, even in this free age, to fpeak freely of him. But if a father of the church, or a modern antiquary, had written profeffed differtations on the following fubjects, what should we have faid of his genius, or of the manner in which he chose to employ himfelf, and edify the public?" His Lordfhip then quotes the following ridiculous queftions, which the reader will find gravely difcuffed in Plutarch's morals. "Why do the Roman women falute their relations with a kiss? Why does a man, returning from the country, or from a journey, send before to advertise his wife of his return? It has been fug gested to me, that it is to tell her to get dinner ready; but Plutarch affigns four reafons for the custom, and that is none

It is, at the fame time, no reproach, no difhonour to the voluminous writers of past ages, that their works are now feldom feen, and seldomer read. They gave us all they had, the learning of their own times, but they could not give us what they never had, the fuperior light and knowledge of more modern times.

The mind of man is in a state of progreffive improvement. The prefent age knows more than the last. The next will know more than the present ; and the immortality of the foul has been beautifully illuftrated by the author of Clio, who fays (I quote from memory) that as we die long before our faculties are exhausted, long before we learn all that we are capable of learning, is it not highly probable that there is a future ftate of existence, where our progrefs in learning fhall never be interrupted, and where perfect knowledge fhall be perfect happiness?

N.

ON