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This edition of the Anglo-Romish Bible was commenced by a Romish bookseller at Cork, and circulated in numbers, under the authority of Dr. Troy, the titular Romish archbishop in Dublin, who deputed one of his clergy (the Rev. P. A. Walsh, of Denmark Street Chapel) to revise, correct, and approve the said Bible for publication. On the publisher's bankruptcy, his assignee, (a Protestant bookseller) purchased the unfinished part, and resolved to perfect the work in order to cover his own losses. He affixed to the title the name of a Romish bookseller in Dublin, who agreed to publish the work, on condition, that the same Romish clergyman continued to correct the unfinished part. In the mean time, copies of the New Testament found their way into England; where the murderous and implacable spirit of some of its notes, and also the characters of cardinal Allen and other traitors to their country, who were concerned in the original publication of the text and notes of the Rheimish Testament, were briefly but severely exposed in the British Critic for September 1817 (pp. 297–308.); and much more fully in the Courier London Newspaper of Oct. 11. and 23. 1817. The reader will find a detailed account of this edition of the Anglo-Romish Bible, and of the subsequent unsatisfactory disclaimer of the notes by Dr. Troy on the New Testament, in the Rev. Dr. Kenney's "Enquiry concerning some of the Doctrines maintained by the Church of Rome" (London, 1818), pp. 65-118., from which the above particulars are abridged.

4. The Holy Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate, diligently compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions, in divers languages: the Old Testament, first published at Doway, A.D. 1609; and the New Testament, first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582. With Annotations, References, and an Historical and Chronological Index. The whole revised and diligently compared with the Latin Vulgate. Dublin and London, 1825. 8vo.

This is the latest and most easily accessible edition of the Anglo-Romish version of the Bible. It has been altered for the better, and made conformable to OUR Protestant authorised version, in several instances, which had been stigmatised by Romanists as heretical! (See Mr. Hamilton's Observations on the present State of the Roman Catholic English Bible, pp. 19-21.)

5. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, newly translated out of the Latin Vulgate, and with the original Greek, and divers Translations in vulgar Languages, diligently compared and revised. Together with Annotations upon the most remarkable passages in the Gospels, and marginal Notes upon other difficult texts of the same, and upon the rest of the Books of the New Testament, for the better understanding of the Literal Sense. By C. [ornelius] N. [ARY] C. [onsultissimæ] F. [acultatis] P.[arisiensis] D.[octor.] 1718-19. 8vo.

This edition has no place or printer's name; but Dr. Geddes says that it was printed at Dublin. (Prospectus for a new translation, p. 11) See a full account of it in Lewis's Hist. of English Translations, pp. 356–363. (8vo. edition.)

6. The New Testament, translated from the Latin Vulgate, with Annotations. By R. W. [ETHAM] D.[uacensis] P. [rofessor.] 1730-33. 2 vols. 8vo. This edition also is without place or printer's name: it is supposed to have been printed at Douay. See an account of it in Lewis's History, pp. 363-365.

7. A New Version of the Four Gospels, with Notes Critical and Explanatory. By a Catholic. London, 1836. 8vo.

The author of this anonymous version, whose bias in favour of the Romish tenet of tradition is clearly announced in the preface, has availed himself of various critical aids in the execution of his work. The notes are not of a controversial character. "Their object" (as the author has truly stated in the preface) "is the elucidation of obscure passages, or the explanation of national customs, or a statement of the reasons which have induced the translator to differ occasionally from preceding interpreters." (Pref. p. xx.)

Welsh Version.

Y Beibl Cyssegr-Lan. Sef yr hen Destament, a'r Newydd. Imprinted at London by the Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1588. folio.

From an epistle of Dr. Richard Davis, Bishop of Saint David's, prefixed to the Welsh New Testament, printed in 1567, we learn that there was a British or Welsh

Sect. VI. § 3]

Welsh Version.

version of the Pentateuch extant about (if not before) the year 1527, though the Some other small and detached passages of Scriptranslator's name is not known. ture appear also to have been translated into this language in the reign of King Edward VI., which were printed, in all probability, for the use of his Liturgy. But it was not until the reign of Elizabeth, that efficient steps were taken to supply the inhabitants of the principality of Wales with the Holy Scriptures in their vernacular dialect. In 1563 an act of parliament was passed (5 Eliz. c. 28.), enacting that the Old and New Testaments, together with the Book of Common Prayer, should be translated into the British or Welsh tongue; and committing the direction of the work to the Bishops of St. Asaph, Bangor, St. David's, Llandaff, and Hereford. They were to view, peruse, and allow the translation, and to take care (under a penalty of 40%. on each of them) that such a number should be printed and distributed by March 1. 1566, as would furnish copies to every cathedral, collegiate and parish church, and chapel of ease, within their respective dioceses, where Welsh was commonly spoken. In 1567, was printed at London, the first translation of the New Testament. The translators were Thomas Huet, Chanter of Saint David's, Dr. Richard Davis, Bishop till of Saint David's, and William Salesbury, a man of great industry, learning, and piety. The person But there was no edition or version of the Old Testament in the British tongue more than twenty years after the publication of the New Testament. chiefly concerned in rendering this important service to the ancient Britons, was Wm. Morgan, D.D., who was bishop of Llandaff in 1595, from which see he was, in 1604, translated to that of Saint Asaph. He first translated the entire Old Testament, together with the Apocrypha, into Welsh, and also revised and corrected the former version of the New Testament, both of which were printed, in one volume folio, in 1588. During the reign of James I. the Welsh Version underwent a further examination and correction from Dr. Parry, Morgan's successor in the see of Saint Asaph. This corrected version, which is usually called Parry's Bible, is the basis of all subsequent editions. It was printed at London in 1620. Seventy years afterwards, another folio edition was printed at Oxford, under the inspection of Bishop Lloyd, in 1690. These folio impressions were intended principally, if not wholly, for the use of churches so that, for upwards of seventy years, from the settlement of the Reformation by Queen Elizabeth, there was no provision made for furnishing the country or people in general with copies of the Scriptures. The honour of the first supply of this kind is due to one or more citizens of London, at whose private expense an octavo edition was printed in 1630. In 1654 and 1678, two other octavo editions appeared; the latter of these consisted of 8000 copies, to the publication of which the Rev. Thomas Gouge, a learned nonconformist minister', not only contributed very largely out of his private fortune, but procured ample subscriptions from numerous opulent and benevolent individuals. The next octavo edition of the Welsh Bible was published in 1690, under the patronage of Thomas Lord Wharton, by Mr. David Jones; who was assisted in the undertaking by some ministers and citizens of London. This was the last edition that appeared in the seventeenth century, and also the most numerous; the editor, it is said, having distributed not fewer than ten thousand copies. During the eighteenth century, six editions of the Welsh Bible were printed, chiefly, if not wholly, at the expense of the venerable SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, viz. in 1718, 1727, 1746, 1752, 1769 or 1770, and 1799. This last edition consisted of ten thousand copies of the Welsh Bible, Common Prayer, and singing Psalms, besides two thousand extra copies of the New Testament. Ample as this edition was, in a few years, copies of the Scriptures became extremely scarce and dear in the Principality: and in 1802, some pious and benevolent individuals projected a new impression, the circumstances connected with which ultimately led to the formation of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.3 Their attention was immediately directed to the wants of the Principality: in 1806, a large and very correct stereotype impression of the New Testament was issued, which obtained a rapid sale; and subsequent editions have been printed, particularly a very neat pocket edition, executed for the Society by His Majesty's Printers, in 1825. In 1821, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge defrayed the expense of a large edition,

1 The reader will find a pleasing account of Mr. Gouge's various benevolent and pious undertakings in Archbishop Tillotson's Sermon on his death. Works, vol. ii. pp. 340-349. 8vo. London, 1820.

2 Llewellyn's Historical Account of the British Versions and Editions of the Bible, pp. 1-50.

3 See the Rev. John Owen's History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, vol. i. pp. 1-12. 138. 150. 262. 391.

in crown octavo, of the Welsh Bible, with the Liturgy and Psalms. It was executed at the press of the University of Oxford, and is one of the most beautiful specimens of typography ever printed; so that the inhabitants of Wales are now abundantly supplied with the Scriptures in their native tongue.

Irish Version.

The Books of the Old Testament, translated into Irish by the care and diligence of Dr. William BEDELL, late Bishop of Kilmore. With the New Testament, translated by William O'Domhnuill. [In the vernacular Irish character.] London, 1685-81. 4to.

The New Testament having been translated into Irish by Dr. William Daniel, archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Bedell (who was advanced to the see of Kilmore and Ardagh in 1629) procured the Old Testament to be translated by a Mr. King; who, being ignorant of the original languages, executed it from the English Version. Bedell, therefore, revised and compared it with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Italian version of Diodati. He supported Mr. King, during his undertaking, to the utmost of his ability; and when the translation was finished, he would have printed it in his own house, and at his own charge, if he had not been prevented by the troubles in Ireland. The translation, however, escaped the hands of the rebels, and was subsequently printed in 1685, at the expense of the Hon. Robert Boyle. What editions were printed during the eighteenth century, the author of the present work has not been able to ascertain. The British and Foreign Bible Society early exerted itself to supply the want of the Bible in the Irish language. In 1811, an edition of the New Testament was completed and in 1813, the Bible was stereotyped. A handsome octavo edition of the Irish Bible, in the Irish character, was printed by His Majesty's Printers at Dublin, in 1827.

Manks Version.

Yn Vible Casherick; goaill stiagh yn Chenn Chonaant, as yn conaant Noa: veih ny Chied Ghlaraghyn; dy Kiaralagh Chyndait ayns Gailck; ta shen dy ghra, Chengey ny Mayrey Ellan Vannin. Pointit dy ve lhaiht ayns Kialteenyn. Whitehaven, 1775. 4to.

Towards the close of his life, the truly venerable Bishop of Sodor and Man, Dr. Thomas Wilson, formed a plan for translating the New Testament into the Manks language; but he did not live to make a further progress than to procure the four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles to be translated, and to print, at his own expense, the Gospel of St. Matthew. His exemplary successor, Bishop Hildesley, revised the manuscript, and completed the version of the New Testament, which, by the munificent aid of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and of other benevolent individuals, he was enabled to print between the years 1756 and 1760. In 1766, he was encouraged, by the influx of benefactions, to undertake a Manks Version of the Old Testament, which was completed only two days before his decease, on the 30th November, 1772.2 In 1775, the entire Bible was printed at the expense of the same venerable society, at Whitehaven, in one volume quarto: it is very neatly printed in three columns on a page.

In 1819, a beautiful and accurate octavo edition of the Manks Bible was executed by His Majesty's Printers, for the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Gaelic Version.

Leabraichean an T-seann Tiomniadh, air an tarruing o'n cheud chanain

1 Biographia Britannica, article Bedell, vol. ii. p.136. 2d edition.

2 Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, vol. xvii. pp. 410-482. from Mr. Butler's Memoirs of Bp. Hildesley.

chum Gaelic alban naich; agus air an cur a mache le h-ugdarras ardsheanaidh eaglais na h-alba. Duneidin, [The Holy Bible in the Gaelic Language. Edinburgh] 1826. 4to.

The Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge has the honour of giving to the inhabitants of the Highlands the Holy Scriptures in their vernacular dialect. The New Testament was translated by the Rev. James Stuart, minister of Killin, and printed at their expense in 1765: it bears a high character for fidelity and The several books of the Old Testament were translated and published in accuracy. detached portions or volumes, at different times, as the Society's funds would permit, viz. The prophetical books, by the Rev. Dr. Smith, in 1783, and the remaining books by the Rev. Dr. John Stuart, minister of Luss (son of the translator of the New Testament), in three parts, which appeared successively in the years 1783, 1787, and 1801. In 1796, the first edition of the New Testament being exhausted, the Society published another, consisting of twenty thousand copies. And as some of the first printed volumes of the Old Testament were so much reduced in number, in 1802, as to be insufficient to supply the urgent demands of the Highlands in general, and of the Society's own schools in particular, a new edition of twenty thousand copies was printed. Three parts out of four, into which this portion of the Bible had been divided, were rendered from the Hebrew with great simplicity, and with as literal an adherence to the original text as the idiom of the respective languages would admit. As the style of the fourth part (containing the prophetical books), had receded from this simplicity, it was revised and corrected with the utmost care. From this corrected text (a copy of which was furnished by the Society in Scotland as soon as it was finished), the British and Foreign Bible Society executed their stereotype editions in 1807, which (as the Scottish Society was unable to supply the urgent and very numerous demands for the sacred writings) were purchased at reduced prices by the poor Highlanders, with the liveliest expressions of gratitude. In 1816, this Gaelic Version of the Bible received the approbation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The quarto edition, printed at Edinburgh, may be considered as the standard edition of the Gaelic Bible: it was revised by a committee of clergymen well skilled in the Gaelic language, who were appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to superintend the work. This edition, with a revised Gaelic Metrical Version of the Psalms and Paraphrases on certain portions of Scripture subjoined to it, was completed in the year 1826. It was then submitted to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who were pleased to approve of it, and to authorise its exclusive use in the churches and chapels within their bounds in which public worship is conducted in the Gaelic language.

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ON THE CONTINENT OF

EUROPE.

1. German Versions.

LUTHER'S VERSION,

And the Versions derived from it.

As Germany has the honour of being the country where the art of printing was first discovered, so it was distinguished in the annals of sacred literature, by being the first in which the Holy Scriptures were issued from the press in the vernacular language of its inhabitants. So early indeed as the year 1466, a German translation from the Latin Vulgate was printed, the author of which is unknown.2 Scarcely, however, had the Reformation commenced, when Luther meditated a new version of the Scriptures for the general use of his countrymen. His first publication comprised the seven penitential Psalms, from the Latin of John Reuchlin. These appeared in 1517; and were followed by the New Testament, in 1522; by the Pentateuch, in 1523; by the book of Joshua, and the remaining historical Books, in 1524 ; in which year also appeared the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and

1 Address of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge, 1803. Owen's In 1820, a Gaelic translation History of the Bible Society, vol. i. pp. 205, 206. 314-316. of the Book of Common Prayer was completed and printed at the expense of the London Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.

? A copy of this very rare work is in the splendid collection of Earl Spencer. See a description of it in Dr. Dibdin's Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. pp. 42-47.

:

the Song of Songs. In 1526, were published the prophecies of Jonah and Habakkuk; in 1528, those of Zechariah and Isaiah; in 1529, the apocryphal book of Wisdom; in 1530, the book of Daniel, together with the remaning apocryphal books; in 1531, the entire book of Psalms; and 1531 and 1532, the rest of the prophetical books. All these portions of Luther's translations are of extreme rarity in the revision of it he received very important assistance from the learned and candid Philip Melancthon, who also corresponded with eminent men on various topics of biblical criticism, in order to render the translation as correct as possible. Further to ensure its accuracy, a select party of learned men assembled daily with Luther at Wittemberg, to revise every sentence which he had made directly from the Hebrew and Greek. Melancthon collated the Greek original, Cruciger the Chaldee, and other professors the Rabbinical writings. Justus Jonas, John Bugenhagen, and Matthew Aurogallus, also contributed their aid. The whole bible thus revised was published in 1530, and again in 1534, 1541, and 1545. Luther made his version directly from the original Hebrew and Greek, and not one of his numerous contemporary enemies ever durst charge him with ignorance of those languages. His translation is represented as being uncommonly clear and accurate, and its style in a high degree pure and elegant. An able vindication of it from the puny criticisms of a Romish writer in the popish Dublin Review, will be found in the British Magazine for May, 1837, vol. xi. pp. 485-491. Having originally been published in detached portions, as these were gradually and successively circulated among the people, Luther's version produced sudden and almost incredible effects, and contributed, more than any other cause, to extirpate the erroneous principles and superstitious practices of the church of Rome from the minds of a prodigious number of persons. Since that time it has been printed times without number; and as the Reformation spread, it served as the basis of several other translations, viz.

(1.) The Lower Saxon Translation was printed at Lubeck, in 1533-4. Its authors are not known, 3 This version was undertaken at the suggestion of Luther himself, and under the direction of John Bugenhagen (or Bugenhagius), who wrote a preface, and supplied short notes, and also arguments to the different books.

(2.) The Pomeranian Version was printed in 1588, in quarto, by the command of Bogislaus XIII., duke of Pomerania; it was made from the Wirtemberg edition of Luther's Bible, printed in 1545.

(3.) The Danish Version was undertaken by command of Christian III., king of Denmark, and at the suggestion of Bugenhagen: it was printed at Copenhagen in 1550, and is of extreme rarity. Previously to the publication of this version, the New Testament 4 had been translated from the Vulgate, as well as the Psalms, and the five books of Moses. The Danish version was subsequently revised and corrected in the reigns of Frederic II. and Christian IV., kings of Denmark; the revision, made by command of the last-mentioned monarch, is, we believe, the standard of the succeeding editions of the Danish Scriptures, which, however, are said to vary considerably from Luther's German version. — In 1823, the Gospel of Matthew was printed at Copenhagen, in the dialect of the Danish language spoken by the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands: the Danish and Faroese texts are printed in parallel columns.

1 For further particulars relative to Luther's German Version of the Scriptures, the reader is referred to the Life of Philip Melancthon, by Francis Cox, M. A., pp. 206-213. (2d edit.) and also to Dr. Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, vol. ii. pp. 271-300. Of the editions of Luther's versions above noticed, the venerable Reformer bestowed the greatest care in revising and correcting that of 1541. It was beautifully printed in two folio volumes, and ornamented with wood-cuts. A Unique Copy of this edition, which had been Luther's own copy, and constantly used by him until his decease, was in the possession of the late Mr. Edwards (formerly an eminent bookseller), of Manor House, near Harrow-on-theHill. On the sale of his choice library by auction, in 1813, these precious volumes were purchased by Geo. Hibbert, Esq. for the sum of 89l. 5s. 6d. (See a description of them copied from the sale catalogue (No. 812.) in Mr. Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron, vol. iii. pp. 123, 124, or in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxv. part i. p. 254.) At the sale of Mr. Hibbert's library, in 1829, this copy of Luther's Bible was purchased for the British Museum, for the sum of 255l. Fac-similes of the handwritings of the venerable reformers, Luther, Bugenhagen, Melanctlion, and Major (into whose possession this copy successively passed), are given in the sale catalogue of Mr. Hibbert's library, p. 481. 2 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 60.

3 Another Lower Saxon Version from the Vulgate was printed at Lubeck in 1494, in two folio volumes. The reader will find a bibliographical notice of it in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. pp. 55-58.

* An interesting account of this version is given by Dr. Henderson in his "Dissertation on Hans Mikkelsen's (or the first Danish) translation of the New Testament," Copenhagen,

1813. 4to.

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