And the case was probably the same in other passages as in this. There was therefore some degree of hazard in the introduction of extracts from Theodotion into the Alexandrine version, under the sign of the asterisk. For such passages as had been once received by the public under the authority of the asterisk, as belonging to Theodotion, no one would thenceforth dare to assign to the LXX. as their original authors, although perhaps they might subsequently be found in other manuscripts of the Vulgate (Kown). Wherefore, when Masius, who was well skilled in matters of this kind, lays it down concerning the Aldine edition, "that it was really a copy of the vulgar edition of the Seventy interpreters, though not pure nor entirely free from mixture of Theodotion's translation," I have always been of opinion, that the latter part of this sentence ought not to be taken in too strict a sense; nay, I have been always afraid, lest Masius should in some cases have attributed solely to Theodotion what in fact that interpreter had himself adopted from the Septuagint version.

So far as it appears then, we of the present day ought to be on our guard concerning this point:

nor ought we so implicitly to-confide in the asterisk as altogether to lay aside the idea that a correspondence of readings might originally have subsisted between Theodotion and the Seventy, or be too precipitate in dispossessing the Seventy of all the supplementary passages transferred from his text.

Finally, it night surely have happened that the copyists, who had recently been transcribing the Hexaplar column, and had observed certain phrases in it, might occasionally prefix the asterisk, through carelessness, to the same phrases in manuscripts which they might afterwards have to transcribe, even though they might not be Hexaplar; and they would then give currency to the opinion that those words were peculiarly Theodotion's. For this, I suspect, has sometimes been the case; and hence it happens, that certain manuscripts, solely from the asterisk having been introduced here and there, have, been supposed to have borrowed from the Hexaplar, more than what they actually did borrow.

Here then, we will conclude our remarks concerning the Hexaplar asterisk, and Origen's second edition of the LXX. (To be continued.)

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

October 1st, 1821. IN the Christian Observer of today, there appears a communication from a correspondent, giving an account of a visit to Bunyan's Meeting-house; the perusal of which has afforded me the hint to trouble you with a few memoranda and obser-vations suggested by a visit which I recently made to Richard Hooker's parish and parsonage of Dray

ton Beauchamp, and which your readers may consider either as a counterpart to the above paper, or, if any of them think it necessary, as a lustration after it.-The name of Hooker is justly dear to all good men, at least to every conscientious churchman; and I trust, therefore, that the following particulars of the obscure parish where he first settled as a country pastor, and where he underwent those wellknown domestic persecutions which

are coupled as familiarly with his memory as the epithet of " judicious with his name, will not be thought uninteresting by your readers.

Drayton Beauchamp, as "honest Isaac" faithfully relates in his narrative," is in Buckinghamshire, not far from [namely, six miles east of] Aylesbury, in the diocese of Lincoln," and about thirty-three miles from London *. It is an extensive,

To save your readers the trouble of reference, I shall copy the passage alluded to, from Walton's Lives, with a part of the context, to which also allusion is made in the course of my remarks. Those who are most familiar with it will not grudge reading it once

more.

"But the justifying of his doctrine did not prove of so bad consequence, as the kindness of Mrs. Churchman's curing him of his late distemper and cold for that was so gratefully apprehended by Mr. Hooker, that he thought himself bound in conscience 10 believe all that she said; so that the good man came to be persuaded by her, that he was a man of a tender constitution, and that it was best for him to have a wife, that might prove a nurse to him, such a one as might prolong his life and make it more comfortable; and such a one she could and would provide for him, if he thought fit to marry. And he, not considering that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light,' but, like a true Nathaniel, who feared no guile, because he meant none, did give her such power as Eleazer was trusted with, when he was sent to choose a wife for Isaac, for even so he trusted her to choose for him, promising upon a fair summons to return to London and accept of her choice; and he did so in that or the year following. Now the wife provided for him was her daughter Joan, who brought him neither beauty nor portion; and, for her conditions, they were too like that wife's which is by Solomon compared to a dripping house; so that he had no reason to rejoice in the wife of his youth,' but rather to say with the holy prophet, Wo is me, that Į um constrained to have my habitution in the tents of Kedar!'

“This choice of Mr. Hooker's (if it

but very poor and thinly populated parish, stretching several miles in

were his choice) may be wondered at; but let us consider that the Prophet Ezekiel says, "There is a wheel within a wheel;' a secret sacred wheel of Providence (especially in marriages), guided by His hand, that allows not the race to the swift,' nor bread to the wise,' nor good wives to good men: and he that can bring good out of evil (för mortals are blind to such reasons) only knows why this blessing was denied to patient Job, and (as some think) to meek Moses, and to our as meek and as patient Mr. Hooker. But so it was; and let the reader cease to wonder, for affliction is a divine diet; which, though it be unpleasing to mankind, yet Almighty God hath often, very often, imposed it as good, though bitter, physic to those children whose souls are dearest to him.

"And by this means the good man was drawn from the tranquillity of his college; from that garden of piety, of pleasure, of peace, and a sweet conversation, into the thorny wilderness of a busy world; into those corroding cares which attend a married priest, and a country parsonage; which was Draiton Beauchamp, in Buckinghamshire (not far from Aylesbury, and in the diocese of Lincoln), to which he was presented by John Cheney, Esq. (then patron of it), the 9th of December, 1584, where he behaved himself so as to give no occasion of eyil, but (as St. Paul adviseth a minister of God) “in much patience, in afflictions, in anguishes, in necessities, in poverty, and no doubt in long-suffering, yet troubling no man with his discontents and wants.

"And in this mean condition he continued about a year; in which time his two pupils, Edwin Sandys, and George Cranmer, were returned from travel, and took a journey to Draiton to see their tutor, where they found him with a book in his hand (it was the Odes of Horace), he being then tending his small allotment of sheep in a common field, which he told his pupils he was forced to do, for that his servant was then gone home to dine, and assist his wife to do some necessary household business. When his servant returned and released him, his two pupils at-tended him unto his house, where their best entertainment was quiet company,

length, though containing little more than two hundred and fifty inhabitants. In Hooker's time the popula tion was probably much smaller. The manor was anciently in the fa mily of the Maignons; from whom it passed to the Beauchamps and Cobhams. Sir John Cobham gave it to King Edward the Third; who, in the year 1364, granted it, together with the manor of Helsthorpe, to his shield-bearer, Thomas Cheney, or Cheyne. It was one of this family, John Cheney, who, as Walton informs us, presented Hooker to the living, in the year 1584. To what source Hooker owed his influence with this patron does not appear. The living seems to have

which was presently denied them; for Richard was called to rock the cradle ; and their welcome was SO like this, that they stayed but next morning, which was time enough to discover and pity their tutor's condi tion; and having in that time remembered and paraphrased on many of the innocent recreations of their younger days, and by other such like diversions, given him as much pleasure as their acceptable company and discourse could afford him, they were forced to leave him to the company of his wife, and seek themselves a quieter lodging. But at their parting from him, Mr. Cranmer said, Good tutor, I am sorry your lot is fallen in no better ground as to your parsonage; and more sorry your wife proves not a more comfortable companion after you have wearied your thoughts in your restless studies.' To which the good man replied,' My dear George, if saints have usually a double share in the miseries of this life, I that

am none ought not to repine at what my wise Creator hath appointed for me; but labour, as indeed I do daily, to submit to his will, and possess my soul in patience and peace.

"At their return to London, Edwin Sandys acquainted his father (then Bishop of London, and after Archbishop of York) with his tutor's sad

condition, and solicits for his removal to some benefice that might give him a more comfortable subsistence, which his father did most willingly grant him, when it should next fall into his power." -Wallon's Life of Hooker.

been a miserable piece of preferment, and perhaps no one else was very anxious to take it; but, poor as it was, Walton adds, that this good man" behaved himself so in it as to give no occasion of evil, but, as St. Paul adviseth a minister of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in anguishes, in necessities, in poverty, and no doubt in long-suffering, yet troubling no man with his discontents and wants." Drayton continued to be one of the chief seats of the Chene family, till the death of William Chene, Lord Viscount Newhaven, in 1728. His lordship's represen→ tatives sold the manor to the Gumley family, in 1730; from whom it descended to the present Lady Robert Manners, who presented the Rev. Basil Woodd to the living in the year 1808, on the death of Dr. Lockman, who had held it for more than sixty years. The first rector is said to have been one Milo, in the reign of Henry the Third: there have been thirtyeight to the present. Such is the brevity of human life! such the importance of working while it is called to-day!

The manor-house, which stood near the parsonage, was, taken down in the year 1760; but the square of moats still survives, and retains somewhat of the "procul esto" dignity of the olden times. I observed, also, the remains of the fish-ponds in the ancient garden, and a few rows of trees, the successors of those under which Hooker perhaps walked with his patron when invited to partake of manorial hospitality. I trust, for the honour of the church, that Joan kept in the back ground on such occasions. She was no favourable specimen of what a clergyman's wife ought to be; and I question whether she possessed any one of the requisites which Herbert demands namely, "training up her children and maids in the fear of God, with prayers and catechising and all religious duties;" "providing for

her family in such sort, as that neither they want a competent sustentation nor her husband be brought into debt;" or even "a curing and healing of all wounds and sores with her own hand". certainly not moral ones. We may, however, without much doubt, apply to her Herbert's shrewd alter native where he says, speaking of "the parson in his house," that "his wife is either religious, or night and day he is winning her to be so!" Drayton Beauchamp is mention ed in the Valorum Book of Edward the Confessor, and the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror. In the survey of Pope Nicholas, in 1291, in the reign of Edward the First, the parish was valued at 87. 13s.4d., and a collection was made in it to support the crusade. The present incumbent has not forgotten this ancient precedent, but has been very diligent in making "collections" for the benevolent crusade now carrying on by our Bible and Missionary Institutions, and our Societies for promoting Christian Knowledge, against vice and ignorance and irreligion throughout the world; and he has stirred up in this indigent and sequestered parish, a spirit of zeal and liberarality which might well put to shame many richer districts. I need scarcely add, that among other plans of benevolence in his parish, he has instituted a village school for the children of the poor, which has been of great utility in civilizing the place, and preparing the ground for religious culture; and I am informed, that in many cases the instructions received at school have been eminently blessed to the children in after life.

The parsonage is an old-fashioned country building, situated in a sort of basin, within about a stone's throw of the church. It has un

dergone many repairs and additions since Hooker's time; but the room supposed to have been that good man's study still remains. Tradition has not handed

"

down the destination of the other apartments: so that I was obliged to content, myself with guessing which was the identical parlour in which "Richard was called to rock the cradle," when Edwin Sandys and George Cranmer came to visit him, as well as which was the "common-field" where they found him with Horace in his hand, "tending his small allotment of sheep," while his servant "went home to dine and to assist his wife to do some necessary household business.' With one part of the modern furniture of the parsonage, Hooker, could he have witnessed it, would have been greatly delighted; I mean a small parochial library, recently founded, for the use of all who wish to avail themselves of the privilege which it affords. The books, I was told, have been more extensively read than could reasonably have been expected, considering the character of the population. The whole parish, I afterwards perceived, has been amply stocked with useful publications: in every farm-house and cottage, I believe without exception, is to be found a Bible or Testament, a Prayer-book, and a few religious tracts; and not a labourer or beggar leaves the parsonage gate without being presented with some little publication which may instruct him and his family how to become spiritually as well as sacramentally "children of God and heirs of everlasting life." I mention these simple facts chiefly to encourage other clergymen, or respectable laymen, in parishes similarly situated, not to be weary in well-doing, for in due time they shall reap if they faint not; a declaration abundantly verified in this parish, in which the materials were, I am informed, of a very unpromising kind, but where the improvement of the people during the last few years has been highly encouraging to those who have laboured among them. The Bibles and Prayer-books in the

houses which I visited had generally the stamp of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge upon them, and have been supplied by the agency of the rector, through the medium of the Aylesbury District Society. How great would have have been the joy of such a man as Hooker, to have witnessed times like ours, in which all may possess, and all may learn to read, the Scriptures, which are able to make men wise unto salvation! In his day how little could the most zealous pastor effect beyond the limits of his own personal labours! he could not, in most cases, supply even his own parish with copies of the holy Scriptures, which few could purchase, and fewer could read; whereas now, by the agency of our charitable societies, the most retired clergyman may not only irrigate, if I may so say, his own immediate neighbourhood, but assist himself, and excite others, even the poorest, to assist also, in carrying the streams of life and salvation to the most distant and parched corners of the earth..

After duly inspecting the parsonage, and indulging for a time in those meditations which the associations connected with the place naturally awakened in my mind, I crossed the garden to view the church. It stands, as before mentioned, and as a church always ought to stand, near the parsonage, from which it forms a picturesque and pleasing object. The original part of it, which includes the nave and the tower, was built about the year 1213, in the usual fashion of those days; but there have been subsequent additions in different styles of architecture. I shall not, how ever, detain your readers with the particulars, but proceed with them to the interior, which I approached with something of that reverence which Mr. Cecil describes, when he says, "I never enter a Gothic church without feeling myself impressed with something of this idea - Within these walls has been re

sounded for centuries, by successive generations, Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!' The very damp that trickles down the walls, and the unsightly green that moulders upon the pillars, are far more pleasing to me from their associations, than the trim, finished, classic heathen piles of the present fashion." To have enjoyed the "damp and unsightly green" upon the walls of Drayton Beauchamp church in perfection, it should have been visited twenty years ago, when the admirers of such curiosities might, I am told, have been amply gratified; but the present incumbent-being perhaps of opinion with Mr. Cecil in another place, where he says, in public worship" attention should be paid to man as man: if he can sit easier on cushions, he should have cushions; I would not tell him to be warm in God's service, while I leave him to shiver with cold; no doors should creak, no windows should rattle "-has at considerable labour and expense divested the church of these picturesque accompaniments, and given it an air of more neatness and comfort than generally falls to the share of country churches. What, to the disgrace of the inhabitants, is the actual condition of some of these structures, may be learned from the following graphical description of one of them, contained in a somewhat curious pamphlet, lately published, intitled, "A friendly Remonstrance to his Parishioners on the State of their Church and Parish, by the Rev. L. J. Hobson, Perpetual Curate of Mexborough." That author remarks:

"No sooner had I entered upon the incumbency, than subjects of regret appeared on every side. I had the mortification to see throughout the church a general decay; the service-books quite in fragments; the pulpit and desk trembling under the weight of a minister, scarcely drawing ten stone; the floor of the clerk's desk actually sinking; the floors every where shewing fright