BS 455 .B85 
 
 A brief history of the 
 versions of the Bible 
 
WORKS PUBLISHED 
 BY WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO. 
 
 9, Upper Sackville-street, Dublin ; 
 
 Sold by Hurst, Chance and Co. London ; Oliver and Boyd, Edin- 
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 TRAITS and STORIES of the IRISH PEA- 
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 little House under the Hill— Shane Fadh's Wedding— Larry M'Far- 
 land's Wake— The Battle of the Factions— The Funeral— The 
 Party Fight— The Hedge School— The Abduction of Mat Kavanagli 
 — The Station. 2 vols, crown 12mo. with Etchings by W. H. 
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 Genuine and capital Traits and Stories these are. What between 
 Brooke's felicitous designs, and the Author's naive and native talent, 
 we have here a publication which may be placed on the shelf with its 
 most popular contemporaries. — London Literary Gazette. 
 
 Admirable, truly intensly Irish — never were that strange, wild, im- 
 aginative people so characteristically described ; and amidst all the 
 fun and folly, there is no dearth of poetry, pathos and passion.— 
 Blackwood's Magazine, for May. 
 
 They afford a faithful and most amusing exposition of the character 
 and habits of the rural population of our country, — Dublin Literary 
 Gazette. 
 
 We know of no one who has so completely succeeded in engaging 
 the attention of his readers by the force of the pictures he lays before 
 them. — AthencEum. 
 
 We have before us a very delightful publication, which it would be 
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 SKETCHES in IRELAND, descriptive of 
 
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 By the Rev. CyESAR Otway. Post 8vo. 10s. Qd. bds. 
 
 An able and delightful volume, which most certainly, if Ireland 
 were in a tranquil state, could not fail to draw thither annual shoals of 
 'picturesque Toux'isis.— Quarterly Review, No. 76. 
 
 There is much that is amusing — and, with reference to the political 
 ^tate of Ireland, much that is valuable in this Work. The Writer has 
 
visited two of the most remote and romantic districts in that King- 
 dom, the Counties of Donegal and Kerry, and he imparts to his 
 «lescriptions of the natural scenery of these places, the warmth of a 
 genuine feeling for its pleasures. — Monthly Review, No. 19. 
 
 Our readers who may not have seen this volume, may thank us for 
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 THE NORTHERN TOURIST, or STRAN- 
 
 GER'S GUIDE to the North and North- West of Ireland, contain- 
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 Enniskillen, &c. &c. with a Description of the Giant's Causeway, 
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 TEN VIEWS of PICTURESQUE SCENE- 
 
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 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES, 
 
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 LECTURES on the FOUR LAST BOOKS 
 
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 AN EPITOME of the GENERAL COUN- 
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 year 1563, when the Roman Council of Trent finished its sittings ; 
 with incidental mention of other Councils, &c. By the Rev. Rich- 
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 The Author has supplied a very important desideratum in our 
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 brary.— Wesley an Methodist Magazine. Oct. 1828. 
 
 AN ANALYSIS of BISHOP BURNETS 
 
 EXPOSITION of the THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES, with Notes, 
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AN APOLOGY for the ESTABLISHED 
 
 CHURCH in IRELAND, being an Attempt to prove that its Pre- 
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 in a series of Letters addressed to the Earl of Mountcashel. 
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 Mr. Newland's Book contains more valuable and authentic infor- 
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 PRACTICAL REMARKS on the BOOK of 
 
 EXODUS, for Family Worship, by M. M. author of " Remarks on 
 the Book of Genesis." 8vo. In the press. 
 
 AN ECCLESIASTICAL CATECHISM of 
 
 the United Church of England and Ireland, showing the conformity 
 of its constitution with Scripture and the primitive Church. By 
 the Rev. Isaac Ashe, jun. 8d. 
 
 We give our opinion with all sincerity in its favor, deeming it 
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 objections, which are daily presented, and which might perplex, 
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 A BRIEF VIEW of ECCLESIASTICAL 
 
 HISTORY, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. Se- 
 cond Edition. ISmo. Is. cloth. 
 
 This little abstract is as free from imperfections as any Work of the 
 ■kind we remember to have seen, and will supply the reader with 
 much valuable information, perspicuously written in a very limited 
 space. — Baptist Magazine, August, 1829. 
 
 PRAYERS for PRIVATE WORSHIP, se- 
 
 Jected from the Holy Scriptures, the Liturgy of the Established 
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 THE IRISH PULPIT, a Collection of original 
 
 Sermons by Clergymen of the Established Church of Ireland. Svo. 
 10s. 6d. boards. 
 
 MY OWN STORY. 18mo. with Frontispiece, 
 
FATHER BUTLER— And The LOUGH 
 
 DEARG PILGRIM— Irish Sketches. 18mo. with frontispiece. 
 
 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 We like this little Volume exceedingly. — Glasgow Free Press. 
 
 Father Butler is written with great ability, and is evidently the 
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 higher merit. — Spirit and Manners of the Age. 
 
 The story of Father Butler is very interesting. — Aberdeen Observer. 
 
 EDMUND O'HARA, an Irish Story. By the 
 
 Author of *' Ellmer Castle," with Frontispiece. 18mo. 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 We have not, since the perusal of " Father Clement," read anything 
 equal to Edmund O'Hara. We strongly recommend it to our readers, 
 and can assure them, that their perusal of it, will not disappoint any 
 expectations which our description of it may raise.— CArwfoaw Exa- 
 oniner. No. 43. 
 
 The present Author, who is evidently a man of talent, has exe- 
 cuted it in a masterly style, and with much power, both of thought 
 and of expression.— Sco«M Literary Gazette. 
 
 ELLMER CASTLE, a Roman Catholic Story 
 
 of the 19th Century. Fourth Edition, with Frontispiece. 18mo. 
 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 A VISIT to my BIRTH-PLACE. By the 
 
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 THE ABBEY of INNISMOYLE ; a Story of 
 
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 RETROSPECTIONS ; a Soldier's Story. One 
 
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 LITTLE MARY, a true Story by a Sunday- 
 
 School Teacher. 18mo. 6d. sewed. 
 
 INSTRUCTIVE STORIES, in words of one, 
 
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 young Children. By Marianne Nevill. 18mo. 4d. 
 
 THE VISIT to TUNBRIDGE ; or the HIS- 
 
 TORY of FANNY NORCOTT, a Tale for Children of Four and 
 Fi^e Years of Age, in words not exceeding three Syllables. By 
 Marianne Nemll. ISmo. 6d. 
 
J 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE 
 
 ENGLISH AND ROMAN CHURCHES. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 WILLL4M CURRY, JUN. AND CO. 
 
 9, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET. 
 
 1830, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages form the subject of 
 the first two of a course of Lectures given 
 by a country Clergyman to his congrega- 
 tion ; and as he has been led to think that 
 they are upon an important subject, and 
 likely to be useful by publication, he com- 
 mits them to the Press in a spirit of prayer, 
 and of dependance on the goodness of the 
 Most High. They pretend to very little 
 originality, as they have been, for the most 
 part, compiled from different authors, and 
 were selected and put together to suit par- 
 ticularly the circumstances of that part of 
 tlie country in which they were originally 
 
IV 
 
 delivered. May the blessing of God ac- 
 company them — may the Spii'it of God 
 directly apply them, — and may we be ac- 
 tuated by a zeal for His Glory, and by an 
 earnest desire for the spiritual welfare of 
 those who are committed to our pastoral 
 care, 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY^ 
 &t. &c. 
 
 ACTS xvii. 2. 
 
 " And Paul, as his manner was, reasoned with them out of tlie 
 Scriptures." 
 
 Although "the heavens declare the glory 
 of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy- 
 Work," (Ps. xix. 1) — -although " the invisible 
 things of God, such as his etenlal power and 
 godhead, can be clearly understood by the 
 things which he has made," (Rom. i. 20) — yet 
 much evidence could be adduced to prove the 
 necessity of a revelation from the Most High, 
 over and above that which is made known to us 
 by the light of nature and of reason ; also that 
 the Lord has given a revelation, and that the 
 Bible is that revelation. " All Scripture is 
 *' given by inspiration of God, and is profitable 
 " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 " instruction in righteousness ; that the man of 
 " God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 " all good works ; it also maketh wise unto 
 
" salvation," (2 Tim. iii. 15-17.)—" The law 
 *' of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; 
 " the testimony of the Lord is sure, majking 
 " wise the simple ; the statutes of the Lord are 
 " right, rejoicing the heart ; the commandment 
 " of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 
 " more to be desired are they than gold, yea, 
 " than much fine gold ; sweeter also than honey 
 " and the honey-comb. Moreover, by them is 
 " thy servant warned, and in keeping of them 
 " there is great reward," (Ps. xix. 7-11); and 
 " the prophecy came not in old time by the will 
 " of man ; but holy men of God spake as they 
 " were moved by the Holy Ghost," (2 Peter 
 i. 21.) 
 
 This revelation, or word of God, is called the 
 Bible, from the Greek word JSiblos, which sig- 
 nifies a book, and it is called t/ie Bible, or the 
 book, by way of pre-eminence, as far more 
 valuable and of greater importance than any 
 other book whatsoever, and as containing exclu- 
 sively and collectively that very revelation which 
 God in his mercy has given to the sons of men. 
 
 This revelation was also committed to writing 
 partly by God himself as the Ten Command- 
 ments, (Ex. xxxi. 18, xxxiv. 1), and partly by his 
 command, (Isa. xxx. 8 — Hab. ii. 2 — Rev. ii. 1); 
 hence it is called Scripture, ^Vich signifies writ- 
 ing, and by way of eminence and distinction, the 
 Scriptures; and they are respectively called Ilolf/ 
 Scriptures and Holi/ Bible, because they not only 
 have proceeded from an holy being, but are holy 
 
in themselves, and have as their peculiar object 
 the promotion of holiness. And how admirable 
 is the invention of the art of writing, *' to paint 
 speech as it were, to speak to the eyes, and by- 
 tracing out characters in different forms, to give 
 colour and body to thought," Great is the 
 blessing then that this revelation was committed 
 to writing, for we are thus in possession of a 
 sure and lasting standard of divine truth, and are 
 not left to rumour, hearsay, tradition, or uncer- 
 tainty respecting the will of God, (Isa. viii. 20, 
 xxxiv. 16 — Matt. xv. 9 — Luke, i. 4 — 1 Thes. v. 
 21) ; and so plain are the saving truths of the 
 Gospel, so easy to be understood, and so raised 
 above the surface of all earthly tilings, that he 
 may run who reads them, (Hab. ii. 2 — John 
 V. 39.) 
 
 The Jews call their traditions the oral law, 
 and pretend that God delivered them to Moses 
 by word of mouth upon Mount Sinai, at the 
 same time that he gave him the written law, and 
 they say, that they were afterwards handed downv 
 by word of mouth from generation to genera- 
 tion. In the second century of the christian 
 era, about a.d. 180, the famous Rabbi Jehuda, 
 fearing lest the Jews might depart from the tra- 
 ditions of their Fathers, committed them to 
 writing for their more faithful preservation; but 
 this was done after a lapse of nearly 1 700 years 
 from the giving of the law, although Joshua, 
 Samuel, Ezra, and the Prophets who lived in the 
 intervening period, take no notice of their exist- 
 
8 
 
 eiice. Tliis work is called the Mishna, and a 
 commentary which was written upon it some 
 time after, is styled the Gemara ; these, hoth 
 together, constitute the T&Imud, so celehrated 
 among the Jews, and so much more valued and 
 studied by that people than the Old Testament 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The Church of Rome is very near akin to the 
 Jewish Church respecting tradition. She holds, 
 that besides what is written in the New Testa- 
 ment, the Apostles delivered by word of mouth 
 to the Primitive Church many things which 
 have been since that time transmitted from 
 generation to generation, and to observe which 
 Christians are as much bound as they are to 
 obey the written word of God ; and yet it is 
 not agreed upon, what those apostolical tradi- 
 tions are, or where they are to be found. But 
 as St. Paul's words, " stand fast, and hold the 
 traditions," &c. (2 Thes. ii. 13,) together with 
 one or two more similar texts, are frequently 
 quoted by Roman Catholics in favor of tradition, 
 we would hereupon acknowledge that St. Paul 
 does desire the Thessalonian Church to hold fast 
 the traditions or instruction which either by 
 word of mouth and by letter he had delivered 
 to them, and any thing which can be even now 
 proved to have been spoken by the Apostle, 
 althougii not recorded in the written word, 
 should be greatly valued and firmly believed. 
 ^«ut how can we be sure of sucli things at the 
 pre nt day, except as they are written ; the 
 
9 
 
 Cahoii* of Scripture is now closed, and there- 
 fore oral tradition, which cannot be satisfac- 
 torily traced to the x\postles of our Lord, or 
 which contradicts in any way the written word^ 
 is not to be regarded. We see into what an 
 awful state the Jewish Church was brought by 
 reason of tradition ; for our Blessed Lord expressly 
 charges that people with thereby making the 
 commandment of God of none effect (Matt. xv. 
 6), and therefore Christian Churches should be 
 on their guard respecting it, as many designing 
 persons would be glad to impose upon the people 
 by its means, and thus enjoin doctrines and 
 practices as having come from God, and as 
 having been handed down from generation to 
 generation, to advance their own inteiests, and 
 to promote their spiritual power and influence. 
 But what says our Blessed Lord ? — " Every 
 plant which my Heavenly Father hath not 
 planted shall be rooted up," and " if the blind 
 lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch," 
 (Matt. XV. 13, 14.) What says St. John ? — 
 " But these are written^ that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that 
 believing, ye might have life through his name," 
 (John, XX. 31.) And what says St. Paul? — ' 
 " Beware lest any man spoil you through philo- 
 sophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, 
 after the rudiments of the world, and not after 
 Christ," (Col. ii. 8.) Although some early 
 
 * Those Books of the Bible are called canonical, which are the in- 
 fallible rule of our faith, and perfect square of our actions. 
 
10 
 
 Christian writers are quoted by Roman Catholic* 
 in favor of tradition, yet it appears evident from 
 their works that their idea of tradition was very 
 different from that maintained by the Chm*ch of 
 Rome ; also that they differed widely upon some 
 subjects, and speak of customs which are now 
 rejected ; and that the Gnostick heretics, for the 
 purpose of supporting their erroneous opinions, 
 were the true inventors of the doctrine of a 
 tradition distinct from and independent of the 
 written word. Neither does it appear that any 
 of the Apostolical Fathers (those early Chris- 
 tians who had conversed with the Apostles 
 themselves, and were their immediate successors 
 in the superintendence of the Church) ever 
 asserted that any such traditions were delivered 
 to them ; nor do their writings contain a single 
 passage which may be fairly understood to signify 
 or to suppose any system of doctrine transmitted 
 to them merely by oral communication. Those 
 therefore who succeeded them could not reason- 
 ably pretend to have received any thing of the 
 kind from them, and yet the Fathers are accus- 
 tomed to be considered as a collective body, and 
 testimonies are taken from their writings without 
 any reference to that order of succession which 
 is indispensable to the consideration of any 
 question of history. 
 
 The notion of a secret store of theological 
 knowledge is not to be regarded, when it is 
 remembered that our Blessed Saviour directed 
 his disciples to preach in the light and in unco- 
 
11 
 
 vered places what tliey should hear in darkness 
 or in secret, and declared himself that it was not 
 customary to put a candle under a bushel, but on 
 a candlestick, for the benefit of those in the 
 house, (Matt. v. 13.) Is it therefore reasonable 
 to suppose that he would have adopted in the 
 Christian dispensation a mode of communication 
 which had* been productive of such evil among 
 the Jews, and especially when it is considered 
 that all the causes of misconception, and the 
 opportunity to deceive others, co-operate greatly 
 to lessen the value of such oral communication, 
 when compared with testimony committed to 
 writing, and consequently permanent and inva- 
 riable ; besides, if tradition be indispensably 
 necessary to discover the meaning of the written 
 word, as is represented by Roman Catholics, 
 then those persons who do not possess it, or 
 who are not well acquainted with it, should not 
 venture to search the Holy Scriptures, lest they 
 should misunderstand them, and those who might 
 possess it have no great occasion to read the 
 Sacred Volume at all. In the early ages, tra- 
 dition was never looked upon by the orthodox 
 as in any degree constituting the standard of a 
 Christian's faith. 
 
 From the following texts, (to which a great 
 many more could be added) we may learn the 
 great value of the ivritlen word, the little respect 
 to be paid to tradition, and how our Lord and 
 his Apostles appealed upon all occasions to the 
 Scriptures, and not to tradition: — Matt. xi. 10^ 
 
12 
 
 XX vi. 24— Mark, xi. 17, xiv. 27— Luke, x. 26, 
 xxiv. 27, 44-46 — John, x. 34— Acts, xiii. 29, 
 xviii. 24, 28— Rom. iv. 23, xv. 4—1 Cor. x. 11, 
 XV. 45—1 Pet. i. 18—1 John, v. 13— Rev. i. 3. 
 
 The Bible consists of two parts, the Old and 
 New Testaments; the former was originally 
 written in Hebrew, long before the birth of 
 Christ, and gives not only an account of the 
 creation of the world, the origin of nations, the 
 laws of God, and many things connected with 
 the coming of the Messiah, but also a general 
 though concise history of tlic world for nearly 
 4000 years, and in particular, an account of the 
 Jewish people, " to whom were committed the 
 oracles of God," (Rom. iii. 2.) It consists of 
 39 books, which together are called the Law, 
 the Prophets, and the Psalms. Of this threefold 
 division, Josephus, the celebrated Jewish histo- 
 rian, and who was himself a priest, speaks 
 expressly; and it is also i*ecognized by our 
 Blessed Lord and Saviour, who lived a little 
 before Josephus, (Luke, xxiv. 44.) 
 
 The New Testament was originally written 
 in Greek, and after the birth of Ciuist. it con- 
 sists of 27 books; the first four of which give 
 us a detailed account of the life, death, and 
 resurrection of our Blessed Redeemer, and the 
 remainder consists of the acts of the Apostles, 
 together with several letters or epistles, which 
 were addressed by some of them to different 
 Christian Churclies or individuals, and concludes 
 with the revelation made to St. John, the 
 
13 
 
 beloved disciple, respecting the Christian Churcli 
 from its first establishment to the end of time, 
 and entrance upon the indescribable glories of 
 eternity, including the rise and overthrow of those 
 systems of religion which have for so long a 
 time disgraced the christian world, and liave 
 brought ruin upon the souls of many. 
 
 The Septuagint version of the Bible is very 
 celebrated and ancient. It is a translation of 
 the Old Testament from the Hebrew into the 
 Greek language, which was made at Alexandria 
 about 282 years before the birth of Christ, and 
 was undertaken in the reign of Ptolomy Phila- 
 delphus, King of Egypt, for the benefit, it 
 appears, of the many Jews then living in that 
 country, and speaking the Greek language, and 
 also for the pui-pose of having it in his celebrated 
 library in that city. It is called Septuagint, 
 from there having been 72 persons employed in 
 the translation — that word signifying 70 in the 
 Latin tongue. 
 
 In the text selected, we see what St. Paul's 
 manner was — that he reasoned out of the Scrip- 
 tures — that he referred to the word of God, and 
 not to tradition or human authority, but took the 
 Bible as his unerring standard; and as in the 
 proposed Lectures, to which these are introduc- 
 tory, the Sacred Volume will be repeatedly 
 quoted, and Scriptural arguments frequently 
 advanced, we shall first give a concise account of 
 the Bibles of the Roman and English Churches, 
 that so a just estimate may be formed respecting 
 
14 
 
 them, and that tlie deference may be paid to the 
 pure word of the Most High, which is due by 
 erring, short-sighted mortals to their Almighty 
 Creator and Redeemer, with whom there is no 
 variableness, neither shadow of turning, and who 
 J8 the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Genesis hath Chapters ... 50 1 Ecclesiastes 
 
 Exodus 40 I The Song of Solomon . 
 
 Leviticus 27 ! Isaiah 
 
 Numbers 36 ! Jeremiah 
 
 Deuteronomy 34 
 
 Joshua 24 
 
 Judges 21 
 
 Ruth 4 
 
 I. Samuel 31 
 
 II. Samuel 24 
 
 I. Kings 22 
 
 II. Kings 25 
 
 I. Chronicles 29 
 
 II. Chronicles ...... 36 
 
 Ezra . . 
 Nehemiah 
 Esther . . 
 Job . . . 
 Psalms . . 
 Proverbs . 
 
 Lamentations /> 
 
 Ezekiel 48 
 
 Daniel 12 
 
 Hosea 14 
 
 Joel 3^ 
 
 Amos 9 
 
 Obadiah 1 
 
 Jonah 4 
 
 Micah 7 
 
 Nahum 3 
 
 Habakkuk 3 
 
 Zephaniah 3 
 
 Haggai 2 
 
 Zechariah 14 
 
 Malachi 4 
 
 THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Matthew hath Chapters . . 28 
 
 Mark 16 
 
 Luke 24 
 
 John 21 
 
 The Acts 28 
 
 The Epistle to the Romans . 16 
 
 I. Corinthians 16 
 
 II. Corinthians 13 
 
 Galatlans 6 
 
 Enhesians 6 
 
 Philippians 4 
 
 Colossians . 4 
 
 I. Thessalonians 5 
 
 II. Thessalonians : . . . . 3 
 
 I. Timothy 6 
 
 II. Timothy 4 
 
 Titus 3 
 
 Philemon 1 
 
 To the Hebrews 13 
 
 The Epistle of James ... 5 
 
 I.Peter 5 
 
 II. Peter 3 
 
 I. John 5 
 
 II. John 1 
 
 IIL John 1 
 
 Jude I 
 
 Revelations 22 
 
15 
 
 THE LATIN VULGATE, OR ROMAN 
 CATHOLIC BIBLE. 
 
 At a very early period of the christian era, 
 there was in the Roman or Western Church a 
 Bible, in great repute and much circulation, from 
 its clearness and fidelity, called the old Italic 
 version of the Scriptures, and which was a trans- 
 lation from Greek into Latin, the general lan- 
 guage of the people at that time, owing to the 
 conquests and vast extent and power of the 
 Roman Empire — so gi-eat was the demand, and 
 so numerous were the copies, that before the 
 end of the fourth century many errors were 
 introduced, and several alterations were made in 
 it, either designedly or accidentally, and this 
 was owing to the great number of transcribers 
 who were employed in writing copies of it from 
 time to time ; for it must be remembered that 
 the art of printing was not discovered until 
 about the year M^O, and that before the inven- 
 tion of this valuable art, every book was obliged 
 to be written with the hand, (hence the word 
 manuscript) . at considerable labour and expense, 
 and was therefore liable to much inaccuracy from 
 the inadvertence or wilful omissions and addi- 
 tions of the transcribers. To remedy so great 
 and encreasing an evil, this translation was 
 revised by the famous and learned Jerome, who 
 completed his work in the year 384; but not 
 being altogether satisfied with the version, he 
 
16 
 
 commenced, wlien upwards of sixty years of 
 age, a new translation from the original Hebrew 
 into Latin, in order that the western Christians, 
 who used this language only, might know tlie 
 real meaning of the Hebrew text, and be thereby 
 better qualified to engage in controversy with 
 the Jews ; and the great St. Augustine, Bishop 
 of Hippo in Africa, says that this version was 
 introduced only by degrees into the churches, 
 for fear of offending weak persons. This trans- 
 lation of St. Jerome from the Hebrew into Latin, 
 and which surpassed all former translations, is 
 what is called the Latin Vulgate, so called from 
 Latin being the vulgar or common tongue spoken 
 by the people ; for in early times they were not 
 only permitted, but earnestly exhorted to read 
 the word of God ; and ever since the seventli 
 century, at which time it acquired authority from 
 the approbation of Pope Gregory L it has been 
 warmly commended by the Church of Rome. 
 The universal adoption of Jerome's new version 
 throughout the western Church rendering a mul- 
 titude of copies necessary, errors were introduced 
 in the course of time by the intermixture of tliis 
 with the old Italic version, and though some 
 endeavours were made in the eighth century 
 to remedy this evil, and check its progress, 
 yet we find that in the eleventh, twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries, the text again became 
 much confused, and was disfigured by innumera- 
 ble mistakes of the transcribers. The Council 
 of Trent commenced its sittings in the year 1545, 
 
11 
 
 and not only pronounced the Vulgate authentic, 
 hut commanded that this version alone should be 
 used whenever the Bible was publicly read; 
 and in all sermons, disputations or expositions, 
 though at the same time not determining what 
 particular Bible or edition was that authentic 
 Vulgate, and though before, as well as ^fter, the 
 holding of this Council several editions of the 
 Vulgate were in print.* Pope Sixtus V. not 
 approving of those already published, com- 
 manded a new revision of the text, ordered 
 that it should be executed with the greatest care, 
 and devoted to it much time and attention him- 
 self — the work being finished, was published at 
 Rome in the year 1590, he declaring it to be the 
 authentic Vulgate, which had been the object of 
 inquiry in the Council of Trent ; and ordering, 
 with the usual display of authority, that it 
 should be read and made use of throughout the 
 Roman Catholic Church. It is a curious fact, 
 that notwithstanding the labours and proclama- 
 tion of Pope Sixtus V. this Bible was disco- 
 vered to be so exceedingly incorrect, that in a 
 
 * Some of the most celebrated and valuable were those of Robert 
 Stephens, published in 1528, 1534, 1540, and 1545 ; of the Louvain 
 Divines in 1547, 1573, and 1586 ; and of Isidore Clariu?, first pub- 
 lished at Venice in 1542, and reprinted at the same place in 1557, and 
 15G4. This writer not only restored the ancient Latin text, but also 
 corrected it in a great many places, so as to make it conformable to 
 the original Hebrew ; and though, as he states in his Preface, he cor- 
 rected more than eight thmisand passages, yet he omitted some others, 
 lest he should offend the Roman Catholics by making too many altera- 
 tions. And here we would obsei-ve, that the first printed edition of 
 the entire Bible, in any language, bearing the name of a printer, and 
 the place and year of its execution, is said to be that of the Latin 
 Vulgate, published at Mayntz in Germany, in 1462, and in which 
 eity it is also said, the art of printing was first discovered. 
 

 18 
 
 very short time after it made its first appearance. 
 Pope Clement VIII. ordered that it should be 
 suppressed, and had a new authentic Vulgate 
 published in 1592, which is that now used in 
 the Church of Rome. He, as well as Sixtus, 
 issued a proclamation upon the occasion, claim- 
 ing infallibility, as well as his predecessor, a cir- 
 cumstance which is not overlooked by Protestant 
 Divines, when they enter into controversy with 
 Roman Catholics, and of course is brought for- 
 ward with great success. It appears that there 
 are, at least, 2,000 differences between the Six- 
 tine and Clementine Bibles, consisting of addi- 
 tions, omissions, contradictions, &c. and it is 
 worthy of remark, that this last edition has 
 never had the sanction of a general Council, 
 none having sat since the Ccuncil of Trent, 
 which was held some years previous to its pul)- 
 lication, and therefore the Clementine edition of 
 the Scriptures has never been declared an au- 
 thentic Vulgate by the usual and joint authority 
 of a Pope and general Council. Several editions 
 of this work have been published, and though 
 generally speaking, it is a very faithful and va- 
 luable translatioii, and though, in consequence 
 of the decree of the Council of Trent, before 
 noticed, it had been substituted for the original 
 Hebrew and Greek texts, yet some important 
 errors are to be found in the Clementine edition 
 of the Latin Vulgate. 
 
 * The English translation of this version, and 
 
 * Besides the Apochrypha, there is an apparent difference between 
 
19 
 
 which is now much used hy Roman Catholics 
 in the United Kingdom, has been mistranslated 
 in several passages, for the purpose of deceiving 
 the ignorant and unsuspecting, and of supporting, \/ 
 by every practical means, the peculiar opinions 
 of the Church of Rome. It having been found 
 impossible to prevent the introduction of Pro- 
 testant translations among the Roman Catholics 
 in England, the New Testament was first pub- 
 lished at Rheims in 1582,* and to this was after- 
 wards joined the Old Testament, published at 
 Douay in 1609, and both being a translation of 
 a translation, much of the genuine spirit and 
 meaning of God's true word has been lost, besides, 
 in the former a great many Greek words are un- 
 translated, such as Azymes, Pasche, Paraclete, 
 and Holocaust, Matt. xxvi. 17; Luke,xxii. 1 ; John i ^ 
 xiv. 16 ; Heb. x. 8 ; &c. &c. under the pretext '/ 
 of wanting proper and adequate terms by w:hich 
 to render, them, but it would appear for the 
 purpose of making the text unintelligible or 
 mysterious to common readers ; and hence it 
 
 some of the canonical books in the authorised and Douay Bibles. It 
 relates, however, to the name only, the subject matter being the 
 same. Those Books, commonly known as the 1st and 2nd Books of 
 Samuel, are known by Roman Catholics as the 1st and 2nd Books of 
 Kings ; and the 1st and 2nd Books of Kings, in the authorised ver- 
 sion, are the 3rd and 4th Books of Kings in the Douay. The Books 
 of Samuel, however, in both, are entitled either Samuel or Kings. 
 Also, the 1st and 2nd Books of Chronicles are, in the Roman Catho- 
 lic Scriptures, named Paralipomenon, so called, because they give an 
 account of some things passed over or omitted in the Books of 
 Kings. The names of the ])rophets, also, vary somewhat in the spel- 
 ling and pronunciation. The word Apocalypse means Revelation. 
 
 * Rheims and Douay, two cities in Franco, in which celebrated 
 universities were established for the education of young men from 
 Great Britain and Ireland for the Koman Catholic rriesthood. 
 
^0 
 
 Jias been remarked, that this translation needs 
 to be translated, and that the editors were de- 
 nirons to suppress the light under some pretence 
 or other ; nor were they ashamed to confess at 
 the time, that Protestants had forced them to 
 translate the Scriptures into English against 
 their will. It is a curious fact, that there ap- 
 pears, at this moment, to be no one translation 
 of the Bible into English authorised by the Ro- 
 man Catholic Church, and that some of the edi- 
 tions approved of and sanctioned by Roman Ca- 
 tholic Archbishops vary considerably from each 
 other, there being, it is said, upwards of one hun- 
 dred variations in the first ten or twelve chapters of 
 St. Matthew's Gospel, of the editions of 1582 
 and 1804; whilst others, and especially the 
 later editions, have been largely corrected, 
 even from the authorised version of the Estab- 
 lished Church ; so that it is not fair for Roman 
 Catholics to charge with wilful corruption that 
 source from whence they have derived so many 
 corrections for their own Bible ; and hence it 
 appears, either that every Prelate may introduce 
 any editorial alterations which he pleases, or else 
 that the clerical superintendence of every Dublin 
 edition has been very ignorant or inattentive. 
 Besides what confidence can be placed in the 
 notes, when it appears that the original Latin 
 Vulgate is without any, that they are longer or 
 shorter as suits the editor best, that they have 
 never received general approbation, that it is 
 not even known who the author of many of them 
 
21 
 
 are,"* that they are often affixed to passages clear 
 and determined in themselves, but withheld from 
 others which would require explanation, and are 
 oftentimes composed of probabilities and uncer- 
 tainty,f thus leaving the reader in doubt respect- 
 ing the meaning of the passage — although this 
 Church styles herself the true and proper inter- 
 preter of Scripture. In some editions of the 
 New Testament they also vary considerably as 
 to their number. In the edition of 1748 the 
 number of notes is 390; in that of 1803, 402; 
 in that of 1820, 281 ; in that of 1823, 429; 
 and in that of 1826, 253 notes. Thus then may 
 Roman Catholics purchase both Bibles and Tes- 
 taments published by authority, and approved of 
 by their prelates, which yet differ considerably 
 from each other, not only in the notes but also 
 in the text, and though these differences may be 
 for the most part verbal, unimportaftt variations, 
 
 * In the examination of the Right Reverend Doctor Doyle, Ro- 
 man Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, before the Committee 
 of the House of Lords in London, in March 182.5, is the following 
 remarkable passage : — " You consider yourselves pledgefl to all matters 
 contained in those notes?"— "No: not by any means. On the con- 
 trary, there were notes affixed, I believe, to the Rhemish Testament, 
 which were most objectionable ; and on being presented to us, we 
 caused them to be expunged. The notes carry, in our edition of the 
 Bible, no weight, for we do not know the writers of many of them." 
 
 t A few instances wiU suffice— See notes to Gen. iii. 15, Deut. x. 6, 
 Joshua xxiv. 29, Judges xi. 31, Plalms iv. 1, Dan. ii. 40, Joel i. 4, 
 Mark xvi. 2, John v. 2, I Cor. xv. 29, Rev. xiv. 8— xxi. 17. And 
 here it should be observed, that these quotations are taken from the 
 edition of the Douay Bible lately published by R. Coyne, with the 
 approbation, and under the patronage of Dr. Murray, Roman Catho, 
 lie Archbishop of Dublin ; and if the Roman Catholic Church be 
 infallible, as is asserted, and the true and proper interpreter of Scrip- 
 ture, why does she not give to each text a clear and determinate 
 meaning— why is the reader left in such uncertainty; and why are 
 there even three meanings given in some notes to a particulas 
 text? 
 
22 
 
 or unworthy of notice, yet they are of conse- 
 quence, when it is remembered that they proceed 
 from a Church which styles lierself infallible, 
 and the mother and queen of all Churches, and 
 which condemns the Protestant authorised ver- 
 sion, as well as every other Bible but her own, 
 (see Appendix, No. 1) ; and as to the before- 
 mentioned charge of mistranslation, a few re- 
 marks will illustrate this most satisfactorily ; as, 
 for instance, in Matt. iii. 2, where in this, as in 
 many other passages, the words " do penance" 
 are substituted for "repent," although the origi- 
 nal Greek word signifies a change of onind, and 
 the Latin word signifies penitence or repentance, 
 and though in Acts v. 31, xi. 18, 2 Tim. ii. 25, 
 and Heb. xii. 17, where the very same Greek 
 word occurs, it is obliged to be, and is translated 
 repentance, from the obvious meaning of the 
 passage. Compare Matt. iv. 17, with Mark i. 
 15, where the very same Greek word is in both 
 texts. Also, in Eph. v. 32, the word sacrament 
 is inserted instead of wys^er^/, evidently to support 
 the doctrine of the seven sacraments; and although 
 in four other passages of this same epistle the 
 very same Greek word is rightly translated mys- 
 tery, viz. Eph. i. 9, iii. 3-9, vi. 19. Besides, in 
 James v. 14, (as is the case in some other pas- 
 sages) the word Priests is substituted for Presby- 
 ters or Elders, evidently for the purpose of ex- 
 alting the office of the Roman Catholic Priest- 
 hood, and of supporting, if possible, the erro- 
 neous doctrine of Extreme Unction, whilst, in se- 
 
23 
 
 veral other texts where the very same Greek 
 word occurs, it is translated ancients, viz. — ^ 
 Acts XV. 23 — XX. 17; 1. Tim. v. 1, 2 ; Heb. xi. 
 2; 1. Peter, v. 1, 5 ; Rev. iv. 4, 10— v. 6, 8, 
 11, 14— vii. 11, 13— xi. 16— xiv. 3— xix. 4. 
 And in John ii. 4, the words " what is it to me 
 and to thee," occur instead of " what have I to 
 do with thee," although the same words are 
 translated in this manner, as the more proper use 
 of that kind of speech in Holy Writ, in Judg. xi. 
 and xii.; 2. Sam. xvi. 10; Ezra, iv. 3; Matt, 
 viii. 29 ; Mark v. 7 ; Luke viii. 28 ; the passage 
 here has been thus mistranslated, evidently for 
 the purpose of preventing the effect likely to be 
 produced upon those who think so extravagantly 
 of the Virgin Mary, it having been manifestly 
 the intention of our Blessed Lord, upon this oc- 
 casion, to check her interference, and to discou- 
 rage her interposition in matters connected with 
 liis charge and commission from the Father, to 
 preach, work miracles, &c. &c. and to give her 
 to understand she should bear in mind, that 
 though her son according to the flesh, yet as 
 God, he was her Creator, Sovereign Lord, and 
 King ; that the acts of his Godhead had no 
 dependence upon, nor were to be influenced in 
 any way by her ; for that he was not to be tied 
 to flesh and blood. See the note on this text in 
 the Douay Bible, published by R. Coyne, in 
 1816, under the patronage of the late Dr. Troy, 
 Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin — and see 
 Appendix, No. 2. 
 
24 
 
 A very remarkable instance of the insincerity 
 of the Roman Catholic Clergy in deliberately 
 sanctioning giossly incorrect versions, occurs in 
 the ^t'ench New Testament, published by the 
 Jesuits at Bourdeaux in 1686, with the permis- 
 sion of the ecclesiastical authorities of that 
 place. In this work several words are most un- 
 justi6ably added to the text, which are not to be 
 found in the Vulgate, nor in the original Greek, 
 and this has been done for the purpose of sup- 
 porting the peculiar doctrines of that Church. 
 A few passages literally translated from the 
 French into English will fully prove the justice 
 of these observations. 
 
 Luke iv. 8. — Him only sbalt thou serve with 
 Latvia ; thus preserving their distinction between 
 Dulia and Latria, two degrees of worship. 
 
 Acts xiii. 2. — Now as they offered unto the 
 Lord the Sacrifice of the Mass. 
 
 Monsieur Veron, when asked respecting this 
 text, why he had wrested it from its natural 
 meaning, replied, because he had been often 
 asked by Calvinists, what Scripture affirmed that 
 the Apostles said Mass. 
 
 1 Cor. iii. 13. — But he shall be saved himself, 
 yet so as by the fire of purgatory. 
 
 1 Cor. vii. 10. — But those who are joined by 
 the Sacrament of Marriage, I command. 
 
 1 Cor. ix. 3. — Have we not power to lead 
 about a sister, a wife to serve us in the Gospel, 
 and relieve us out of her goods. 
 
 2 Cor, vi. 14. — Join not yourselves, by the 
 Sacrament of Marriage, with unbelievers. 
 
25 
 
 2 Cor. viii. 19. — And not only that, but was 
 also appointed by the Churehes the companion of 
 our pilgrimage. 
 
 1 Tim. iv. 1. — Now the spirit says distiifctly 
 that in the latter times, some shall depart from 
 the Roman faith. 
 
 Heb. xi. 30. — By faith the walls of Jericho 
 fell, after a procession of seven days. 
 
 1 John, V. 17. — But there is a sin that is not 
 mortal but venial. 
 
26 
 
 THE APOCRYPHA. 
 
 There are several books acknowledged as 
 divinely inspired by the Roman Catholic Church, 
 which are not so considered by the Church of 
 England, and other Protestant Churches. The 
 names of these books are as follows : — Tobias — 
 Judith— part of Esther — Wisdom — Ecclesiasticus 
 — Baruch — part of Daniel — 1st and 2d Mac- 
 cabees.* They are called it appears Apocrypha 
 from a Greek word, which signifies hidden or 
 concealed, and this is expressive of the uncer- 
 tainty and concealed nature of the origin of 
 these books, and of their being concealed from 
 the generality of readers, their authority not 
 being recognized by the Church. Though very 
 ancient, they were not admitted into the Bible 
 of the Jews, " to whom were committed the 
 oracles of God" (Rom. iii. 2) ; and the Jews to 
 this day adhere to the same Bible which they 
 possessed in the time of our Blessed Lord. 
 Nor do we find our Saviour or his Apostles ever 
 accusing the Jews of a breach of trust in dis- 
 carding or in not acknowledging these books, 
 though we find them frequently rebuking that 
 people for other transgressions of this kind — as 
 for example, " making of none effect, or trans- 
 
 * The Prayer of Manasseh, and the two Books of Esdras, are not 
 considered canonical, even by the Church of Rome. There is, 
 therefore, no mention made here of these Books ; and the reader 
 should observe, that the texts respecting the Apocrypha are quoted 
 from tlie Roman Catholic Bible. 
 
27 
 
 gressinf( the law of God by their tradition," and 
 " teaching- for doctrines the commandments of 
 men," &c. (Matt, xv. 3, 6, 9). 
 
 These Apocryphal books constituted no part 
 of the ancient Septuagint version of the Scrip- 
 tures ; and it is further worthy of remark, that 
 they are not quoted, acknowledged, nor even 
 alluded to by our Blessed Lord or his Apostles 
 in the New Testament. Josephus and Philo, 
 both Jews, who lived in the first century, (and 
 the former in the lifetime of several of the 
 Apostles) do not mention these books as forming 
 a part of God's word ; indeed, so far from it, 
 that the former particularly excludes them ; for 
 after mentioning the several Canonical books 
 which we have in our English Bibles, and speak- 
 ing of their contents, and how far they go down 
 in the Jewish history, he then goes on to say, 
 " Our history, indeed, has been written since 
 Artaxerxes very particularly, but it has not been 
 esteemed of equal authority with the former 
 history by our forefathers, because there had 
 not been an exact succession of prophets since 
 that time." And again, when speaking of the 
 inspired books, he says, " During so many ages 
 as have already passed, no one has been so bold 
 as either to add to them, to take from them, or 
 to make any change in them, and it is become 
 natural to all Jews immediately and from their 
 very birth to esteem these books, as containing 
 divine doctrine, to persist in them, and if it has 
 necessary, willingly to die for them." 
 
28 
 
 The Apocryphal books are not mentioned in 
 the catalogue of inspired writin^^s given by the 
 Fathers of the Greek and Latin CImrches, who 
 flourished in the first three centuries of Chris- 
 tianity; nor have they been ever generally 
 admitted into the Canon of the Greek Church.* 
 In the first general Council held at Nice, a.d. 
 325, non« of these books appear to have been 
 admitted as Canonical in any sense of that 
 word ; and in the list of sacred books drawn up 
 and recognized by the Council of Laodic^a, held 
 in A.D. 364, and whose Canons were accepted by 
 the Universal Church, the Apocrypha is not 
 mentioned, and those books only were acknow- 
 ledged which the Protestant Churches at present 
 receive. Even St. Jerome, who flourished in 
 that century, and who was the translator of the 
 Latin Vulgate, expressly omits them ; and though 
 he and Athanasius, who was his contemporary 
 in the Greek Church, speak of them with 
 respect, as do some others in succeeding gene- 
 rations, yet they were never given the same 
 authority, or judged Canonical in the same degree 
 as the books of the Old and Nev/ Testament, 
 and they were always looked upon as inferior to 
 them, until the Council of Trent, which was 
 
 » The Greek or Eastern Church, in contraxliction to the West- 
 ern or Roman Church, is dispersed throughout Euro])e, Asia and 
 Africa. A vast number of its members acknowledge for their head 
 the Patriarch of Constantinople ; and tlie Greek ChuiVh diftbrs, in 
 many respects, from the Church of Rome. It has existed ever 
 since the Apostles' times, for we read of its foundation in the New 
 Testament, and it appears from authentic sources, that the members 
 of the Greek Church throughout the world at the present day 
 amount to at least thirty millions of souls. 
 
29 
 
 liekl in the sixteenth century, at which tirae they 
 were all admitted into the Canon of the Church 
 of Rome, and pronounced by an unadvised and 
 indiscriminating decree as equal in authority to 
 Moses and the Prophets (Luke xvi. 31), to 
 those books, always allowed to have been inspired-, 
 and frequently borne witness to by our Blessed 
 Lord himself, and his apostles and disciples after 
 him — thus placing them in equal rank with the 
 writings of those who, as St. Petei' says, " spake 
 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 
 Pet. i. 21) ; the Council of Trent expressly 
 declares those accursed who do not receive the 
 Apocryphal books in all their parts as sacred 
 and canonical Scriptures; and it was in the 
 fourth session of this celebrated Council that the 
 Apocrypha was pronounced canonical, there 
 being present at the time but forty-eight Bishops 
 and five Cardinals. 
 
 None of these Apocryphal books ai*e extant 
 in the Hebrew ; most of them were never even 
 written in that language, but they are all m 
 Greek; and even the most learned Roman 
 Catholic writers themselves confess that they 
 were never acknowledged by the Jewish Church. 
 They are not mentioned in the catalogue of the 
 inspired writings made by Milito, Bishop of 
 Sardis, who flourished in the second century, 
 who is the first christian w^riter that has given us 
 a catalogue of the books of the Old Testament, 
 and who, it is said, travelled through the East, 
 and where the Apostles principally preached, in 
 b3 
 
30 
 
 search oF the entire and true Canon of Scripture; 
 neither are they in those of Origin, Hilary, 
 Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius^ Gregory Na- 
 zianzen, Jerome, Athanasius, Rufinus, and many 
 others of the third and fourth centuries, and 
 who flourished in the Eastern and Western 
 Churches; nor were they, it appears, even read at 
 all in the Christian Church until the fourth cen- 
 tury, and then not as the inspired word of God, 
 but only for the same purpose for which the 
 Church of England ever now reads tliem ; and 
 even upon such occasions, we learn from St. 
 Augustine, who flourished in the fifth century, 
 that when they were publicly read, they were 
 given to inferior officers, who read them in lower 
 parts of the Churches than those which were 
 universally acknowledged to be inspired, for 
 these were read by the Bishops and Presbyters 
 in a more eminent and conspicuous manner. 
 
 And although some Fathers speak very highly 
 t)f several of these Apocryphal books, yet they 
 often in like manner speak highly of other books 
 as capable of furnishing much instruction, such 
 as the Book of Enoch, the Doctrine of the 
 Apostles, the Shepherd' of Hermas, the Acts 
 of the Martyrs, and the Epistle of Clement, 
 which we know are none of them by any 
 Church considered canonical, although they were 
 occasionally read in the Churches; and it is fur- 
 ther worthy of remark, that those books just 
 mentioned were included in what were formerly 
 called the Ecclesiastical Books, as well as those 
 
31 
 
 tvhich are now deemed Apoci-yphal by all Pro- 
 testant Churclies. And although the third Coun- 
 cil of Carthage, held in a.d. 397, is cited by 
 Roman Catholics in their favor as giving autho- 
 rity to those books, approved of by their Church, 
 but considered uninspired by all Protestant 
 Churches, yet in the decrees of that Council 
 more or less are inserted than are at present 
 acknowledged, for the third Book of Esdras is 
 expressly mentioned, whilst Baruch and the 
 Books of the Maccabees are altogether omitted, 
 and the others are evidently considered as 
 canonical only in a secondary sense of the word, 
 and merely as useful to be read. Besides this, the 
 infallibility of this Council falls to the ground by 
 the important fact, that the Books of Wisdom and 
 Ecclesiasticus are pronounced in its decrees as 
 the fourth and fifth Books of Solomon ; whereas 
 it will appear, by reference to what is hereafter 
 said of these books, that such is manifestly not 
 the case, as they could never have been written 
 by that king; and, strange to say, the Council of 
 Trent has confirmed this statement in its noto- 
 rious and iiifallible decrees, and consequently 
 these two books are placed in the Douay Bible, 
 with the undoubted writings of that monarch. 
 
 The Council of Florence, held in a.d. 893, is 
 also adduced as authority by Roman Catholics, 
 but this, like the third Council of Carthage, was 
 not an ecumenical or general Council, and though 
 other authorities are sometimes mentioned, yet 
 the Canons of partial Councils or provincial 
 Synods were never generally received. The 
 
32 
 
 opinions of individuals also are not esteemed 
 decisive, and we know that at a very early 
 period, error began to creep into the Church, 
 (1 Cor. xi. 18— Gal. i. 6—2 Thes. ii. 2—2 Pet. 
 ii. 1 — 1 John iv. 1 — Jude 4.) 
 
 From the external evidence thus brought for- 
 ward, it is very evident that the books called 
 Apociyphal should not be admitted into the 
 Sacred Canon, and accordingly, like the Primi- 
 tive C arches, the English Church rejects them 
 from her catalogue of the books of the Bible of 
 the Eternal God, and she only reads them as 
 lessons whenever they are read, (and she does 
 not read all of them, and never any part of them 
 on the Lord's-day*) as St. Jerome says, " for 
 example of life and instruction of manners, but 
 
 * Some Books of the Apocryi>ha are not read by the Church of 
 Eiigkind L/L'u on the week days, .such as the two Book^ of Esdras> 
 the Prayer of Menasses, the additions to tlie Book of Esther, the 
 tjong'of the three Children, and the two Books of the Maccabees j and 
 lliough tliey are sometimes annexed to the Canonical Books, it is 
 only because of their antiquity and contents, valuable in some rc- 
 si)ects, but they are always placed in a separate division and b> them- 
 selves, and called the Apocrypha, and after the words " the end of the 
 Old Testament or of the Prophets ;" whereas the Church of Home 
 has dispersed them through the Canonical Books, and has given them 
 a place in the heart of the inspired writings; nor can we too often 
 repeat the important truth, that the Church of England does not 
 receive them as oracles of faith, to sanction opinions, nor to deter- 
 mine religious controversies, and still less as of equal authority with 
 the Law and the Prophets. These Books of the Apocrypha, in the 
 authorised version of the Bible, are translated directly from the 
 Greek into English ; whereas in the Roman Catholic Church they 
 have been translated from Greek into Latin, and from Latin into Eng- 
 lish, andthough very judiciously many editions of the Protestant Bible 
 are published in which the Apocrypha is not inserted, yet its introduc- 
 tion has been oftentimes found extremely convenient for the puqiosc 
 of comparing with facility each part with the Canonical Scriptures, 
 and of detecting contradiction, and showing its want of inspiration. 
 Immediately after the Reformation in many editions of the Bible, (as 
 well as at present), were published in England, in which the 
 Apocrypha was not inserted. The Books called ApocrjphaL 
 
33 
 
 Mot for the purpose of establishing any doc- 
 trine ;" for this was the use made of them in St. 
 Jerome's time, as he himself informs us, and 
 though they contain some noble sentiments and 
 useful precepts, yet are they chiefly valuable as 
 ancient wiitings, which contain some things that 
 throw considerable light on the phraseology of 
 Scripture, and on the history and manners of the 
 East and the Jewish people. 
 
 THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 Besides the remarks now made on the External 
 evidence against the Apocrypha, much can be 
 said also upon th^Tnternal evidence against these 
 books, to prove that no confidence can be placed 
 in them, that they should not be considej-ed as a 
 rule of faith, and that those act wrong, and have 
 fallen into a gi-eat error, who make them of equal 
 authority with the word of God, and hold them 
 up as a part of the inspired writings for a lamp 
 to the feet and a light to the path." 
 
 It is to be observed, that the books of the 
 Apocrypha contain no prophecy ; they contradict 
 themselves, or each other, contradict authentic 
 history, and even contradict the Canonical Scrip- 
 tures, for there are passages in them which 
 express notions inconsistent with the doctrines of 
 
 are much more pure in the Roman Catholic Bible, notwith- 
 standing ^trhat is here adduced, than in the authorised ; for those in 
 the former were much altered and corrected by St. Jerome and other 
 persons^ and yet they abound with errors, whilst those in the authorised 
 Version remain altogether in their natural and incorrect state. 
 
34 
 
 tlie Bible. It appears also that they were for 
 the most part written by Ahjxandrian Jews, and 
 after the cessation of prophecy, though pre- 
 viously however to the coming of Christ, and 
 the promulgation of the Gospel. There exists 
 much difference of opinion amongst the learned 
 as to the authors of these books, and the times 
 and places in which they were first written, and 
 it is very evident that they were written by 
 persons who displayed no characteristic marks of 
 inspiration. In the prophet Malachi, iv. 4-6, it 
 seems to be intimated, that after him no prophet 
 should arise till John the Baptist, the harbinger 
 of the Messiah, should appear in the spirit and 
 power of the great Elijah ; and though the Jews 
 unanimously agree that the prophetic spirit 
 ceased with Malachi, yet the Roman Catholic 
 Church considers these books as canonical, 
 though written after this last of the prophets. 
 
 TOBIAS. 
 
 This book, it appears, was originally wiitten in 
 the Chaldaic language, but there is no authentic 
 information respecting its author, or the time in 
 which he lived, though lie professes to relate the 
 history of a family which was carried into capti- 
 vity to Nineveh by Shalmanezer, King of Assyria. 
 All the versions of this book vary so much from 
 each other, that they must have suffered many 
 corruptions; even St. Jerome affirms that the 
 Jews of his dav censured him for translating a 
 
Sij 
 
 hook which was not in their Canon ; for this 
 Apocrypha] hook, as well as the others, was 
 translated hy tliat celehrated person into the 
 Latin language, hut not however for the purpose 
 of forming a part of his celebrated translation of 
 the Bible, for he did not admit the Apocrypha 
 into it. If we compare v. 18, with xii. 15, we 
 shall find an angel of the living God deliberately 
 uttering a falsehood, saying one thing at one 
 time, and another thing at another time. Be- 
 sides, the author of this book has added to the 
 views of God and Providence, as delineated in 
 the Old Testament, some tenets of Babylonian 
 or Assyrian origin ; and Tobias the elder is said, 
 in xiv. 2, to have lived 102 years, whereas from 
 what is said he must have lived considerably 
 more, for he was taken captive by Shalmanezer, 
 i. 2, 13, and when about to die he insinuates that 
 the time was near for the return of the Jews 
 from their captivity, and for the rebuilding of 
 the temple, xiii. 11, &c. xiv. 7. Though many 
 learned men consider this book as an ingenious 
 and amusing fiction, it was probably begun by 
 the father, continued by the son, and finished 
 by some other members of the family, and after- 
 wards digested into the order in which it is at 
 present. According to St. Jerome, it was ori^ 
 ginally written by some Babylonian Jew; and 
 surely the account given in the sixth chapter of 
 the effects produced by the fish's heart, gall and 
 liver, in driving away devils and restoring sight, 
 
36 
 
 are absurd and ridiculous in tlie extreme. The 
 most ancient copy of this book known to be in 
 existence is in the Greek language. 
 
 JUDITH. 
 
 The author of this book, the time when, and 
 the place where he lived, are totally unknown. 
 Various opinions have been formed upon the 
 subject; some imagine that it was written by 
 Joacim or Eliakim, a high priest in the reign of 
 Manasseh; others attribute it to Joshua, the son 
 of Jozedech, the companion of Zerubbabel, and 
 some place it in the reign of Am on, or in that 
 of Josiah, whilst others contend for the time of 
 Jehoiachin, or of Zedekiah. Josephus, who is 
 always anxious to mention any thing that would 
 do credit to his countrymen, takes no notice 
 whatever of the great victory mentioned in this 
 book to have been achieved by Judith over the 
 Assyrians ; and Philo is equally silent respecting 
 it. Also the peace procured by her must have 
 been at least of 60 years continuance, according 
 to this book, although we do not read in the 
 Sacred Volume of the Jews having enjoyed at 
 any time so long a peace. Besides this, in the 
 •ix. 2, the circumstance of the massacre of the 
 kSakchemites is justified, whereas we know that 
 it is strongly condemned in Gen. xlix. 7. Nor 
 is the 3 1st verse of the sixteenth chapter to ho 
 
37 
 
 found in the Greok, Syriac, or ancient Latin 
 versions; nor is the festival therein alluded to 
 mentioned in any authentic Hebrew calendars. 
 So many geographical, historical, and chronolo- 
 gical difficulties attend this book, that some emi- 
 nent and learned men have considered it rather 
 as a drama, or parable, than as a real history. 
 It is doubtless, however, a very ancient book, 
 and was originally written in Chaldee. 
 
 PART OF ESTHER. 
 
 Seven chapters, viz. part of x. xi. xii. xiii. 
 xiv. XV. xvi. have been introduced into this 
 book, and declared authentic by the Council of 
 Trent, although they are not to be found in 
 either the Hebrew or the Chaldean languages — 
 although the copies vary so much from each 
 other, that Cardinal Bellarmine fancied that there 
 must have been two original histories, and 
 although Jerome did not admit them into his 
 version, because he confined himself to, and fol- 
 lowed the Hebrew Scriptures. These chapters 
 it appears were never extant in Hebrew; they 
 are supposed to be a compilation from the his- 
 tory of Josephus, from the similarity of style or 
 subject treated of; and this conjecture is much 
 confirmed from the mention of Ptolemy and 
 Cleopatra, who lived not long before this cele- 
 brated historian. It appears that these additional 
 chapters were first inserted in the Greek copies, 
 c 
 
38 
 
 and interwoven with ingenuity into the body of 
 the work, for the purj^ose of giving embellish- 
 ment to the history ; and this was the opinion 
 even of St. Jerome, who considered them a 
 mere fiction. These chapters also appear super- 
 fluous additions to those persons who take the 
 pains of examining them, for they are written 
 in a diflFerent style from the authentic ones, and 
 partly consist of a repetition of circumstances 
 contained in them. The forgery however is 
 occasionally betrayed by the introduction of cir- 
 cumstances at variance with the authentic parts. 
 Compare ii. 16, 21 with xi. 2, and xii. 1 — iii. 1 
 with xvi. 10 — iii. 13 with xiii. 6 — v. 2 with xv. 
 10 — and vi. 3 with xii. 5 ; also by comparing xv. 
 9, 10 with verses 16, 17, it is evident that the 
 historian either lies himself, or puts lying and 
 flattery into the mouth of Esther. 
 
 WISDOM. 
 
 The Council of Trent having declared this 
 and the following Book of Ecclesiasticus as in- 
 spired, and therefore part of the Word of God,^ 
 and having considered them as the fourth and 
 fifth Books of Solomon, they are placed in the 
 Roman Catholic Bible immediately after the 
 three genuine books of that monarch ; and yet 
 this book, though ascribed to King Solomon, can 
 be easily proved to have been never written by 
 him, for it was never extant in Hebrew, nor is 
 
39 
 
 the style like that of Solomon. The prophets, 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah, are frequently quoted, or 
 alluded to, throughout it — as, for instance, xiii. 
 11-19 — and surely all those persons who are 
 acquainted with their Bibles, must be well 
 aware that those prophets did not live, much 
 less prophecy, until long after that king's reign. 
 Besides this, the author of the Book of Wis- 
 dom describes his countrymen as being in sub- 
 jection to their enemies, (ch. xv. 14); whereas 
 we know from sacred history, that Judah and 
 Israel enjoyed great prosperity and peace in the 
 lifetime of Solomon, (3 Kings, iv. 20-23). To 
 this we may add, that allusions to Grecian mytho- 
 logy and intimations of Grecian writers, together 
 with several words borrowed from the Grecian 
 games, are introduced into this book ; whereas 
 such were not in use until long after his decease ; 
 and from a few passages, we are tempted to 
 suspect some fictitious additions to the accounts 
 of sacred history, (xvi. 17-19, xvii. 3-6,) and a 
 taint of that false philosophy and ancient hea- 
 thenish opinion, that the souls of men pre- 
 existed and descended into suitable bodies, (viii. 
 20.) It has been much disputed whether this 
 book was composed before or after our Saviour's 
 time; but St. Jerome informs us, that several 
 ancient writers of the first three centuries ascribe 
 it to Philo the Jew, a native of Alexandria, who 
 flourished in the first century, although the 
 author would fain be considered King Solo- 
 mon (ix. 7.) 
 
40 
 
 ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 This book, like the preceding, has been con- 
 sideretl as the production of Solomon, from its 
 resemblance to the inspired works of that writer ; 
 and in the Latin or Western Church, or Church 
 of Rome, it was esteemed as the last of the five 
 books attributed to that monarch, and is cited as 
 the work of that enlightened king by several 
 of the Fathers. The Council of Trent has 
 ordered its admission into the Bible as a part of 
 the Word of God ; although in the prologue to 
 this book, the son of Sirach entreats the favor of 
 the reader, and requests his pardon for any 
 errors in the translation into Greek of this work 
 of his grandfather. This book, therefore, can 
 only be supposed to contain, perhaps, a few 
 scattered sentiments of Solomon, collected with 
 other matter, by a person named Jesus, who 
 travelled much in pursuit of knowledge, and who 
 professes himself as the author, (ch. l. 29,) but 
 who imitates the style of Solomon, and, like him, 
 assumes the character of a preacher. There is 
 also a great diversity of opinion as to who this 
 Jesus was, and where he lived. Further, it is 
 manifest that this book could not have been 
 written by King Solomon, from an allusion to 
 the captivity, (xlvii. 22-25, xlix. 6-8,) which we 
 know did not take place for about 400 years 
 after the death of that monarch. It must have 
 
41 
 
 been composed long after his time, from the 
 circumstance respecting himself and his succes- 
 sors mentioned, (xlvii. 15-31); from the men- 
 tion of the Kings Hezekiah, Sennacherib, and 
 Josias — of the Prophets Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor Pro- 
 phets — and of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, &c. in 
 ch. xlviii. and xlix. all of whom lived long after 
 his time; from the High Priest Simon, who lived 
 a little before the Maccabees, being spoken of, 
 (l. 1); from Malachi, the last of the Prophets, 
 being quoted, (xlviii. 10); and from the author 
 describing himself in circumstances that cannot 
 be considered applicable to this wise monarch, 
 (xxxiv. 11, 12, li. 6.) Besides, all the copies of 
 this book now extant vary considerably from 
 each other, and the Latin especially has many 
 additions and repetitions. 
 
 From what has been said, we may conclude, 
 that though its precepts are excellent, and its 
 instruction admirable, yet it cannot be con- 
 sidered as an inspired book, nor as the work of 
 King Solomon, though many passages are quoted 
 from the sacred writings, and especially from 
 those of that monarch. 
 
42 
 
 PART OF THE PROPHET DANIEL. 
 
 Song of the three Children — Sicsannah — Bei and 
 the Dragoru 
 
 These three subjects, although there is no 
 evidence of their ever having been extant in the 
 Hebrew or Chaldaic languages, have been added 
 to the Book of Daniel by the Council of Trent, 
 and now form a part of that prophet's writings 
 in the Church of Rome. A direct misstate- 
 ment occurs, (ch. iii. 38,) in which it is said, 
 that at that time there was no prophet ; whereas 
 we know that Daniel and Ezekiel both pro- 
 phesied in Babylon, and yet this song of the 
 three children is placed between the 23d and 
 24th vei-ses of chap. iii. of the authorized ver- 
 sion. Though some Fathers considered the his- 
 tory of Susannah as fabulous, yet the Council of 
 Trent has placed it as the 13th chap, of the 
 Book of Daniel, with certainly little regard to 
 chronology ; for this history, if founded on truth, 
 must be supposed to have taken place when Daniel 
 was very young, and probably, according to some 
 accounts, not above twelve years of age ; and, by 
 the same authority, the 14th chapter is made to 
 contain a subject which St. Jerome gives no 
 better title to than the Fable of Bel and the 
 Dragon. These three subjects, it appeals, were 
 originally written in Greek. 
 
43 
 
 BARUCH. 
 
 It is now impossible to ascertain in what lan- 
 guage this book was originally written, or by 
 whom, though the author professes himself to be 
 Bai'uch, and whether the contents are historically 
 ti-ue, or whether the whole is not a fiction. The 
 principal subject is an epistle, or letter, pre- 
 tended to be sent by Jehoiakim and the captive 
 Jews in Babylon to their brethern in Judea and 
 Jerusalem. Baruch is said, in ch. i. 1, 2, to have 
 been carried into Babylon at the time when 
 Jeremiah says (xliii. 6, 7) that he was earned 
 into Egypt. St. Jerome and others were of opi- 
 nion that this book was not written by Baruch, 
 nor in the Hebrew language, but by some Hel- 
 lenistical Jew, (using the Greek language) who 
 assumed his character, and that the letter, which 
 forms a part of the book, was fabricated by his 
 own invention. The 6th chapter, it appears, 
 did not originally belong to this book, nor does 
 it appear that Baruch was a prophet ; indeed 
 some conceive that Jeremiah, xlv. 3, alludes to a 
 fruitless desire upon his part to be favored with 
 the prophetic spirit. 
 
 Though Banich is referred to in some ancient 
 Greek catalogues, yet it is not certain that it is, 
 as the Apocryphal Book, said to be written by 
 him, but for a still more full description of 
 Jeremiah's prophecy, in which Baruch is often 
 
44 
 
 mentioned, and in the writing of whicli he was 
 himself employed, and the epistle spoken of may 
 be the one recorded in the 29th chapter of that 
 prophet. It also appears that the members of 
 the Council of Trent were more perplexed, and 
 deliberated longer about the admission of Baruch 
 than of any other of the Apocryphal Books, 
 because they acknowledge that it was not in the 
 Latin copies of the catalogue. It was not 
 received by the Council of Laodicea, by that of 
 Carthage, nor by the Roman Pontiffs ; and they 
 were withholden from rejecting it only by the 
 consideration that parts of it were used in the 
 service of the Church. 
 
 FIRST MACCABEES. 
 
 The two Books of the Maccabees were cer- 
 tainly composed after the succession of prophets 
 had ceased among the Jews ; for it appears that 
 at the time this book was written there was no 
 prophet in Israel, (iv. 46, ix. 27, xiv. 41.) They, 
 it seems, are thus denominated, because they 
 relate the patriotism and gallant exploits of Judas 
 Maccabeus and his brethern. The author of 
 this first book is not certainly known ; some 
 conjecture that it was written by John Hyicanus, 
 who was Prince and High Priest of the Jews 
 for nearly thirty years ; others ascribe it to one 
 of the Maccabees, and many are of opinion that 
 it was compiled by the great Synagogue. If the 
 
45 
 
 first and second Books of the Maccabees be 
 true, Antiochus must have been killed, or have 
 have died thrice over. First, he dies in his bed 
 at Babylon, (1 Mac. vi. 8, 16); secondly, he is 
 stoned to death in the temple of Nanea, in 
 Persia, (2 Mac. i. 16) ; and thirdly, he dies in 
 the mountains by a fall from his chariot, (2 Mac. 
 ix. 7, 28) ; and thus we find that the two Books 
 of the Maccabees contradict each other. Com- 
 pare also 1 Mac. ix. 3, 18, with 2 Mac. i. 10. 
 Besides, the assertion in 1 Mac. viii. 16, that 
 the Roman Government was committed to one 
 man every year, &c. is contradicted by every 
 Roman historian, without exception; and the 
 Imperial Government was not established until 
 more than a century after the time in wliich this 
 book was written. Also, the account of the 
 death of Alexander the Great, as stated in i. 6, 
 7, is not supported by the historians who have 
 recorded his last moments. This book is sup- 
 posed to have been originally written in the 
 Chaldaic language. Amongst the works of St. 
 Augustine are three books, called " The Won- 
 ders of the Scriptures," and in the second of 
 which the author thus concludes : " The Books 
 of the Maccabees, though containing divers won- 
 ders, are, nevertheless, excluded out of the divine 
 canon of Scripture." 
 
 c5 
 
46 
 
 SECOND MACCABEES. 
 
 This Book is said to be an abridgment of the 
 five Books of Jason of Cjnrene, supposed to be 
 a Jew of Alexandria, (2 Mac. ii. 24,) and yet 
 we learn not who this Jason was ; and if he were 
 inspired, we know that a curse would attend the 
 abridgment of his writings, so as to make such 
 abridgment a substitute for them. Neither do 
 we possess the original writings of this same 
 Jason ; nor do we know who was the compiler 
 of this book, though it is evident that he was a 
 different person from the author of the preceding 
 first Book of Maccabees. This Book is not 
 arranged in chronological order, and is some- 
 times at variance with the inspired writings. It 
 is very evident that the letter said in i. 10, to 
 have been sent by the Jews at Jerusalem to their 
 brethern in Egypt, could not have been written at 
 the time there mentioned ; for we find the name of 
 Judas stated, and yet we learn from 1 Mac. ix. 
 3-18, that he was not living at the time of that 
 date. In xiv. 41, 42, suicide, though condemned 
 by the law of God, is mentioned with approbation ; 
 and in 2 Mac. xv. 39, the author concludes his 
 narrative with these remarkable words, utterly 
 inconsistent with, and unworthy of an inspired 
 writer, and, as if conscious of the fallibility of 
 his judgment, and distrustful of his powers : — 
 *' If I have done well, and as it becometh the 
 
47 
 
 *' history, it is what I desired ; but if not so 
 " perfectly, it must be pardoned me." And if 
 any of the writers of the New Testament had 
 thus expressed themselves at the end of their 
 writings, who would be able to withstand such 
 evidence against their inspiration ? or who could 
 sustain Christianity itself against so formidable 
 an argument. 
 
 From what has been said, and considerably 
 more could be advanced upon the subject, is it 
 not extraordinary that the Council of Trent, not- 
 withstanding the testimony of all Jewish anti- 
 quity, and contrary to the sense of the Primitive 
 Church, should think fit to pronounce these 
 Apocryphal Books, together with the unwritten 
 traditions relative to faith and manners, as strictly, 
 and in every respect canonical, and of the same 
 authority with those undisputed books which 
 had been copied from the Jewish into the Chris- 
 tian canon, and which received the attestation 
 of our Blessed Lord and his Apostles, and 
 the inspiration of which was manifested by the 
 characters of the writers, and proved by the 
 accomplishment of those prophecies which they 
 contain? — Is it not wonderful, that, notwith- 
 standing the external and internal evidence which 
 can be brought forward against these books, so 
 justly called Apocryphal, that the Roman Ca- 
 tholic Church should receive and circulate them 
 as the word of God, as part of the inspired 
 volume, and should pronounce such severe ana- 
 themas and curses against these who should 
 
48 
 
 presume to reject them ? — It would appear that 
 the Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, 
 introduced the Apocrypha into their Bible, for the 
 purpose of giving, if possible, some little coun- 
 tenance and colour of authority to some of those 
 absurd and unscriptural doctrines,* (many of 
 which are evidently remnants of heathenish prac- 
 tices) which she has added to the faith which 
 was once delivered to the Saints, thus obscuring 
 the " truth as it is in Jesus," and thereby endan- 
 gering the salvation of the souls of those who 
 are misled by her usurped authority ! — See Ap- 
 pendix (No. III.) for the decree of the Council 
 of Trent respecting the Canon of Scripture. 
 
 It has been before stated, that the third and 
 fourth Books of Esdras, and the Prayer of 
 Manasseh, are not included among the books of 
 the Roman Catholic Bible, and that they were 
 rejected even by the Council of Trent ; but as 
 they form a part of the Apocrypha, which is 
 frequently attached to the authorized version of 
 the Holy Scriptures, we here take notice of 
 
 # A very remarkable instance of this occurs in 2 Mac. xii. which is 
 carefully quoted in favor of Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead, &c. 
 but surely what confidence can be placed in this book, from what has 
 been already said respecting it ! On examination, however, it "will be 
 found, that this passage does not admit of the interpretation given to 
 it, for those sjwken of, being idolaters, died in mortal sin, v. 40. 
 and therefore could not have gone to purgatory, even according to the 
 Roman Catholic system. It was also of the resurrection of the body 
 that Judas is said to have thought well and religiously, v. 43, 44, and 
 the t.entiments expressed in the last verse of this chap, are those 
 merely of the author or compiler himself, of whom we know 
 nothing, and who, as before stated, was evidently uninspired. 
 
49 
 
 a few of the reasons why they are rejected as 
 uncanonical Scripture, and considered as unin- 
 spired by the Church of England. 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS, 
 
 Sometimes called the Third Book of Esdras. 
 
 In the sixth Article of the Church of Eng- 
 land, and which relates to the Holy Scriptures, 
 the 1st and 2nd Apocryphal Books of Esdras 
 are called the 3rd and 4th Books of Esdras ; 
 the canonical Books of Ezra and Nehemiah being 
 there called, as in the Roman Catholic Bible, 
 the 1st and 2nd Books of Esdras. This book is 
 generally supposed to have been written by 
 some Hellenistical Jew ; that is, by a Jew resi- 
 dent in some country where the Greek language 
 was spoken, but at what period is uncertain ; and 
 as Josephus relates many of the particulars 
 which it contains, it was, probably, written be- 
 fore the time of that historian. Although this 
 Book contains many extracts from the Sacred 
 Writings, it was, certainly, never admitted into 
 the Hebrew canon, and is not even known to 
 have been extant in that language ; it bears the 
 name of Ezra, and is thus attributed to a man 
 deservedly respected by the Jews ; but, in conse- 
 quence of his reputation, many suspicious works 
 were written, at diiferent times, under his name, 
 and were received as authentic by the credulous 
 and the unlearned. The 1st Book of Esdras 
 
50 
 
 was read in the Greek Church, and was annexed 
 to some copies of the Septuagint. It includes a 
 period of about 90 years ; but many of the par- 
 ticulars therein mentioned are utterly inconsis- 
 tent with probability, chronology, and the rela- 
 tions of Scripture ; and contradict, in many re- 
 spects, the authentic works of Ezra and Nehe- 
 niiah, from both of which it appears to be com- 
 piled. 
 
 SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS, 
 
 Sometimes called the Fourth Book of Esdras, 
 
 It is uncertain when, and by whom, this Book 
 was written ; and as it differs in style from, and 
 has no connexion with, the preceding Book of 
 Esdras, there is every reason to suppose that it 
 was not written by the same person. The 2nd 
 Book of Esdras is now to be found in Latin, but 
 not in any Hebrew or Greek manuscript ; nor 
 can it be proved to have been ever seen in the 
 former language. It is, however, supposed to 
 have been originally written in Greek. 
 
 Although this Book contains much sublime 
 instruction, and many noble sentiments, yet the 
 author's pretensions to inspiration are destroyed 
 by many false and absurd particulars. In chap, 
 ii. 40, we find the name of Malachi, and yet it 
 appears, that Malachi did not prophecy for 100 
 years after the decree of Cyrus ; and in the 39th 
 verse, the Prophets are enumerated, not accord- 
 
31 
 
 ing to the order in the Hebrew Bible, but ac- 
 cording to the Septuagint, a circumstance which 
 bespeaks this Book to be of later date than the 
 time of Ezra. Besides, in chap. xv. 46, Asia 
 is mentioned, a name probably not known in his 
 time. This book was never published or gene- 
 rally acknowledged in the Greek or Latin 
 Churches; it was never inserted in the Sacred 
 Catalogue, by either Councils or Fathers, and is 
 expressly rejected as Apocryphal by St. Jerome. 
 From the many Evangelical expressions which 
 it contains, and passages corresponding with the 
 New Testament, it is supposed that the whole, 
 or at least the greater part of it, was written 
 after the promulgation of the Gospel, and for the 
 purpose of promoting the cause of Christianity. 
 Its pretended prophecies are not produced in 
 evidence by Christian writers, striking as such 
 testimony would have been, had they been genu- 
 ine. It is also doubted whether all this Book 
 was written by one person, as the style differs 
 much in the two last chapters. 
 
 THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH. 
 
 Although this short prayer contains nothing 
 inconsistent with the circumstances of Manasseh, 
 nor with the time in which he lived, yet it is not 
 supposed to be the production of that monarch. 
 It is uncertain in what language it was origi- 
 nally composed. It is not to be found in the 
 
52 
 
 Hebrew, and can be traced no higher than the 
 Latin Vulgate, into which probably, or into some 
 Greek copies, it was inserted by some writer, 
 desirous of supplying the loss of the authentic 
 prayer. It was not received as genuine by any 
 of the Councils or Fathers, and is rejected, as 
 well as the preceding Books of Esdras, even by 
 the Council of Trent. 
 
 THE ENGLISH BIBLE. 
 
 Though Christianity was introduced into Eng- 
 land at a very early period, and though some go 
 so far as to say, and not upon slight grounds, that 
 the Gospel was preached in Britain by St. Paul 
 himself, yet we cannot ascertain the earliest time 
 when the Scriptures were translated into the lan- 
 guage of the inhabitants; however, we have 
 every reason to believe that they were very early 
 favoured with the possession of a part, at least, 
 of the inspired volume in their own tongue ; for 
 the Saxon Homilies exhort the people to an at- 
 tentive reading of the Holy Scriptures. Some 
 of the earliest and most remarkable versions of 
 which we have any authentic account, are said 
 to be a translation of the Psalms into the Saxon 
 language, about the year 706, and of the Gos- 
 pels, a very few years after. The venerable 
 Bede, about the same time, translated a consi- 
 derable part, if not the entire Bible, into the 
 same language. Nearly 200 years after this a 
 
53 
 
 new translation was made, by order of King 
 Alfred the Great, who undertook the version of 
 the Psalms himself; and another translation of 
 several Books of the Old Testament into the 
 Anglo Saxon was made by Elfred, Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, about the year 995. And here 
 it is to be observed, that alterations in the lan- 
 guage itself, and change as to the meaning of 
 words in the course of time, the advance of 
 learning, and innumerable errors of the tran- 
 scribers, frequently called aloud for either a new 
 translation altogether, or for, at least, corrected 
 and standard copies. 
 
 A chasm of some centuries afterwards ensued, 
 during which, the Word of God seems to have 
 been buried in oblivion, the general reading of it 
 being prohibited by the Pope of Rome, and the 
 country also having suffered considerably from 
 the successful invasion and ravages of the Danes. 
 The first English translation of the Bible now 
 known to be extant, and of which three manu- 
 script copies are preserved, took place, it is said, 
 about the year 1290. Richard Rolle, a hermit 
 of Yorkshire, and who died in 1349, is said to 
 have translated a part of the Inspired Writings 
 into the English language, as spoken after the 
 conquest ; and about the year 1380, the famous 
 John Wickliffe, Rector of Lutterworth, in Lei- 
 cestershire, not being sufficiently acquainted 
 with the original Hebrew and Greek languages, 
 translated the entire Bible from the Latin Vul- 
 gate, into the English tongue. This man was. 
 
54 
 
 therefore, a peculiar blessing to England — he also 
 opposed several of the errors of the Roman Ca- 
 tholic Church, and had a great many followers.* 
 His translation was so very oifensire to those 
 who were for taking away the key of knowledge 
 from the people, that in 1390 a bill was brought 
 into parliament for the purpose of suppressing 
 it, and of prohibiting altogether the use of Eng- 
 lish Bibles ; but, through the influence of John 
 of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, uncle to the King, 
 (Richard II.) and the patron of Wickliffe, the 
 bill was rejected ; and the Duke is reported to 
 have said on the occasion — " We will not be 
 the dregs of all, seeing other nations have the 
 Word of God, which is the law of our faith, 
 written in their own language" — and in this he 
 was seconded by othei-s, who declared — " that if 
 the Gospel, by its being translated into English, 
 was the occasion of running into error, they 
 
 * The followers of Wickliffe were caUed Lollards; they were very 
 numerous in some parts of England, and suffered great persecutions, 
 several having been burnt to death, and amongst them the excellent 
 Lord Cobham. Wickliffe was born in Yorkshire in 1324 ; was at 
 one time Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, and 
 died in 1387. It is said that his writings were carried into Bohemia, 
 where they spread rapidly, by one or more of the natives of that 
 country, whom the marriage of their Princess with Richard II. had 
 brought to England ; and hence did the famous John Huss, and 
 Jerome of Prague, imbibe those sentiments respecting the Church of 
 Kome, which ended in their martyrdom, by being burnt alive, by 
 order of the Council of Constance, which was held in 1414, and by 
 the same authority, the Sacramental Cup was ordered to be withheld 
 from the laity, and the bones of Wickliffe were sentenced to be igno- 
 miniously dug up, and publicly burnt, which was, accordingly, carried 
 into execution. It is worthy of observation, that this opposition to 
 the doctrines of the Church of Rome took place a considerable time 
 before even the births of Luther, Calvin, and Henry VIII. and that 
 in all ages there were many persons who earnestly contended for the 
 faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.— Jude3. 
 
55 
 
 might know that there were more heretics to be 
 found among the Latins than among the people 
 of any other language, for that the decretals 
 reckoned no fewer than 66 Latin heresies, and 
 so the Gospel must not be read in Latin, which 
 yet was allowed by the opposers of the English 
 translation." About 1408, in a convocation held 
 at Oxford, by Arundel, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, it was decreed, that no one should trans- 
 late any text of Holy Scripture into English, by 
 way of book ; and further, that no book of this 
 kind should be read, that was composed in the 
 time of John Wickliffe, or since his death. This 
 decree was enforced by severe persecutions; 
 many persons were punished, even with death, 
 for reading the Scriptures in English, and as 
 about the same time. Pope Alexander V. con- 
 demned all translations in the vulgar tongue 
 throughout the world, they were, as much as it 
 was possible, suppressed, till the time of the 
 Reformation, and so hard was it to obtain a copy 
 of the Word of God in England, and so much 
 pains were taken to suppress it by Acts of Par- 
 liament, imposing penalties of the forfeiture of 
 life, lands, &c. that in 1429 the price of one of 
 Wickliffe's New Testaments was equal to up- 
 wards of £40 of our money ; and so little were 
 the Scriptures used in the time of WickliiFe, 
 that some secular Priests of Armagh, who were 
 sent by Archbishop Fitzralph, to study divinity 
 at Oxford, about 1337, were obliged to return, 
 because they could no where find a Bible, or any 
 
66 
 
 other profitable book of divinity, meet for their 
 study. The art of printing was discovered 
 about 1440 ; after which, as the Bible was 
 more easily published, the number of translations 
 throughout Europe considerably increased, and 
 the copies of the Sacred Volume were greatly 
 multiplied ; and although every exertion was 
 made in England to suppress the Sacred Volume, 
 and that by burning and persecuting those who 
 presumed to read it, and by committing to the 
 flames as many copies of the Word of God as 
 could be found — yet as the Lord has said, " My 
 word shall not return unto me void, but shall 
 accomplish that which I please, and prosper in 
 the thing whereunto I send it," Isa. lv. 1 1 — so 
 they were not able to put out that lamp which 
 God had lighted, or to extinguish altogether that 
 fire which his spirit had kindled. And so little 
 acquainted with the Scriptures were the people, 
 about this time, and so ignorant even of the lan- 
 guage in which they were originally written, that 
 upon the appearance of printed editions of the 
 Scriptures, in the Hebrew and Greek originals, 
 some of the more illiterate monks declared from 
 the pulpits, that " there was now a new language 
 discovered, called Greek, of which people should 
 beware, since it was that which produced all 
 heresies ; that in this language was come forth a 
 book called the New Testament, which was full 
 of thorns and briers ; and that there had, also, 
 another language now started up, which they 
 
57 
 
 called Hebrew, and that they who learned it 
 were turned Jews." 
 
 The Reformation having commenced in Ger- 
 many about the year 1517, by the preaching of 
 Luther, who appealed, upon all occasions, to the 
 word of God, to prove his assertions, and to bear 
 him out in his opposition to the Church of 
 Rome, the rays of this heavenly light reached, 
 among other places, the English shores in the 
 reign of King Henry VIII. from thence a flame 
 soon spread throughout the entire kingdom, and 
 though much was done by this monarch to ex- 
 tinguish the fire, and to root out this true reli- 
 gion, yet it was only smothered and kept under 
 for a time, as it afterwards, and particularly in 
 the reign of his son and successor, Edward VI. 
 Imrst forth successfully with an increased and 
 more brilliant light, bringing glory to God in the 
 Highest, and eternal salvation to the souls of 
 men. 
 
 The following are the most remarkable trans- 
 lations of the Bible, published in the English 
 language after the Reformation reached Eng- 
 land : — 
 
 For the first printed English translation of 
 any part of the Holy Scriptures, we are indebted 
 to William Tindal, a native of Wales, a learned, 
 pious, and good man, who having left the king- 
 dom on account of his religious principles, re- 
 tired to Antwerp, where he translated the New 
 Testament into English, and published it in 1526. 
 In this work he was ably assisted by two learned 
 
58 
 
 men, John Fry, and William Roye, both of 
 whom, in some time after, were burned to death 
 on a charge of heresy, the former in England, 
 and the latter in Portugal. Tindal's translation 
 having made its way into England, and several 
 editions of it having been published in Holland, 
 and from thence brought over, great pains were 
 taken to suppress and to destroy it. Acts of Par- 
 liament were enacted for the purpose — Tonstal, 
 Bishop of London, had numerous copies burnt — 
 Cardinal Wolsey declaimed against the art of 
 printing, as that which would diminish the honor 
 and profit of the Priesthood, by making the peo- 
 ple as wise as themselves — the Clergy repre- 
 sented the New Testament in English, as perfect 
 poison to the souls of Christians, whilst some 
 who were suspected of importing or of selling 
 such books, were sentenced to ride with their 
 faces towards the tails of their horses, with pa- 
 pers on their heads, and their books hung about 
 their cloaks, which they were obliged to commit 
 to flames, prepared for the purpose, and after- 
 wards to be fined at the King's pleasure, the 
 amount of which was 5^18,840 Os. lOd. Not- 
 withstanding, however, all this opposition, the 
 zeal of the Christians of those days was great ; 
 in many instances persons were known to sit up 
 all night for the purpose of hearing or reading 
 the word of God. Large prices were given for 
 single copies, and some even gave a load of hay 
 for a few chapters of St. James' or of St. Paul's 
 Epistles. Tindal also published several parts of 
 
59 
 
 the Old Testament in English ; but as the know- 
 ledge of languages was, at that time, in its in- 
 fancy, as the English tongue had not arrived at 
 that degree of improvement which it has since 
 attained, and as biblical knowledge was at a very 
 low ebb, it is not surprising that there should 
 have been some faults in this as well as in for- 
 mer translations. By the influence of Henry 
 VIII. and his council, means were contrived to 
 have this good man seized and imprisoned, and 
 after a long confinement, he was strangled near 
 Brussels, and his body was, immediately after- 
 wards, reduced to ashes. He expired praying, 
 and repeating earnestly, " Lord, open the eyes of 
 the King of England !" It is said that his ex- 
 emplary life, and conversation, during his impri- 
 sonment, so far influenced the jailor, his daughter, 
 and others of his family, as to induce them to 
 embrace his opinions. 
 
 In 1535 Miles Coverdale, a man greatly 
 esteemed for his leaniing, piety, knowledge of 
 the Scriptures, diligent preaching, and unble- 
 mished character, published a translation of the 
 whole Bible, which was printed on the continent, 
 and dedicated to King Henry VIII. This is the 
 first English Bible allowed by royal authority. 
 It is also the first translation of the entire Bible 
 printed in the English language, and the Papal 
 restrictions being no longer respected in this 
 country, Lord Cromwell, Keeper of the Privy 
 Seal, &Ce in 1536 issued a proclamation to the 
 Clergy, by the King's authority, directing, that 
 
60 
 
 before a certain day, every proprietor of a parish 
 CFiurcli, within tlie reahn, should provide a book 
 of the whole Bible, both in Latin and in Eng- 
 lish, to be laid in the same for every one to read, 
 at his pleasure. Some towns and parishes not 
 obeying the first proclamation, it was enforced 
 by a second, with severe penalties ; and it was 
 also directed that no man should be discouraged 
 from reading the Bible, but rather comforted, 
 exhorted and admonished to do so as the very 
 word of God, and the spiritual food of a man's 
 soul ; and to effect this desirable object, Bibles 
 were even chained in several Churches, that the 
 people might, at all times, have access to their 
 contents. Miles Coverdale became Bishop of 
 Exeter in the succeeding reign of Edward VI. ; 
 was deprived of his see by Queen Mary, who 
 succeeded Edward, and cast into prison ; but 
 having been, afterwards, permitted to go into 
 banishment, he retired to Geneva, where he was 
 much engaged with others in a new version of 
 the Scriptures, with notes ; and afterwards, in the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth, who succeeded Mary, 
 returned to England, where he died, aged 81. 
 
 There were some other editions of the Bible 
 published at different times, in the reign of 
 Henry VIII. and freely circulated, such as Mat- 
 thews', or Rogers', Taverner's, and Cranmer's. 
 The King, on account of his quarrel with the 
 Pope, and by the advice of his Minister and 
 favourite, Lord Cromwell, and of Cranmer, the 
 eminent and excellent Archbishop of Canter- 
 
61 
 
 bury, at length, attending to the wishes of hi* 
 subjects, to have the Holy Scriptures in a lan- 
 guage which they could understand, gave per- 
 mission to the people generally to purchase Bi- 
 bles, and to keep them at home for the use of 
 themselves and family. Vast numbers, therefore^ 
 bought the Bible ; read it openly for themselves, 
 or got others to read it for them ; and many 
 who were elderly, learned to read for the pur- 
 pose, that so they might read, in their own 
 tongue, the wonderful works of God. Besides, 
 the Clergy throughout the kingdom were again 
 strictly enjoined to have the largest sized Bibles^ 
 in their Churches, for the benefit of their pa- 
 rishioners ; and a royal declaration was also pub- 
 lished, which they were required to read aloud 
 to their congregations, informing them that it 
 had pleased the King's Majesty to permit, and 
 to command the translation of the Bible, which 
 was to be sincerely taught by them, and to be 
 openly laid forth in every parish Church. We 
 learn, however, that the Bishops were greatly 
 displeased and alarmed at these innovations ; 
 that the Clergy were very cold in complying 
 with the orders given ; that they read the injunc- 
 tion and declaration in such a manner as to be 
 scarcely understood by those present ; also, that 
 they read the Word of God confusedly, and told 
 their parishioners, notwithstanding what they 
 read, being themselves compelled to read, " to 
 do as they did in times past, and to live as their 
 fathers had done : the old fashioned way being 
 
G2 
 
 the best." Richard Taverner was eihicated for 
 the law, and was afterwards taken into tlie ser- 
 vice of Cromwell. Rogers was a beneficed 
 Clergyman, and had the honor of being the first 
 martyr who suffered in Queen Mary's reign — he 
 was burnt to death in London : February 4th, 
 1555. 
 
 Cromwell, who had been created Earl of 
 Essex, having been put to death in 1540, and 
 the Bishops who were most firmly rooted in the 
 Roman Catholic Faith, and most hostile to the 
 new order of things, having gained considerable 
 'strength and influence, the English translation of 
 the Scriptures was represented to King Henry 
 as very erroneous and heretical, as destructive of 
 the harmony and peace of the kingdom, and as 
 deserving of being suppressed altogether. The 
 exertions of Cranmer were strenuously opposed — 
 the high Romish party prevailed also in Parlia- 
 ment, and a law was enacted which condemned 
 and abolished Tindal's translation, and only 
 allowed the others to remain in force under 
 certain restrictions. Besides all this, the King's 
 printer was imprisoned ; nor was he released 
 without giving a bond for j€300 that he would 
 not sell nor print any more English Bibles till 
 the King and Clergy should have agreed on a 
 translation; and in 1546, the year before this 
 Monarch died, he issued a proclamation, pro- 
 hibiting the having or reading the translations of 
 WicklifFe, Tindal, or Coverdale, and forbade the 
 
63 
 
 use of any other whatsoever than what was 
 allowed by Act of Parliament. 
 
 Although Henry VIII. lived and died a Ro- 
 man Catholic — even wrote against Protestant- 
 ism — and for this reason obtained from the Pope 
 the appellation of Defender of the Faith, (a 
 title ever since that period borne by all the 
 crowned heads of England, the faith, however, 
 being now of a very different nature,) yet he 
 strenuously opposed the interference of the Pope 
 with any thing temporal within his kingdom — 
 tried to annoy him in many ways — shook off his 
 authority in a great degree — obliged his subjects 
 to do the same — and would not permit him in 
 any way whatever to exercise that power which 
 former Bishops of Rome had usurped, and in 
 consequence of which they had had all Europe 
 at their feet ; and thus did this monarch, though 
 evidently unintentionally, pave the way for the 
 firm establishment of Protestantism in the British 
 Empire — a religion which stands the test of 
 God's word, whose doctrines are those of the 
 Primitive Churches, founded by the Apostles of 
 our Lord and Saviour, and whose tenets were 
 even those of the Church of Rome in the days 
 of her purity, when her faith was spoken of 
 throughout the whole world, (Rom. i. 8,) and 
 ere her " most fine gold became dim, her silver 
 dross, and her wine mixed with water," (Isa. i. 
 22.) Nor is the licentious character of this 
 depraved and cruel king any argument against 
 the Protestant religion, which was established in 
 
64 
 
 England in the reign of his son and successor, 
 Edward VI., for the most noble designs, and 
 oftentimes those of Divine Providence are permit- 
 ted to be brought about })y the most vicious instru- 
 ments, whose wickedness is overruled by God 
 for good ; and we know that even covetousness, 
 cruelty, and injustice, in the persons of Judas, 
 Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, &c. were the means of 
 effecting our glorious redemption by our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ ; — so true is it, that the 
 wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder 
 of wrath he restraineth, (Ps. Ixxvi. 10.) 
 
 On the accession of Edwaid VI. to the throne 
 of England, on the death of his father, in 
 January, 1547, by the influence of Cranmer, the 
 Acts of Parliament were repealed which pro- 
 hibited the translation of the Scriptures. All 
 persons were allowed the free use of them ; and 
 every Ecclesiastic, under the degree of a Bachelor 
 of Divinity, was enjoined to provide a New 
 Testament in Latin and English, with the Para- 
 phrase of Erasmus ; whilst the Bishops were 
 ordered to examine and to enforce their progress 
 in Scriptural knowledge. Gardner, Bishop of 
 Winchester, for refusing to comply with these 
 measures, was committed to the Fleet prison, 
 and afterwards deprived of his see. Orders 
 were also given to have the Churches well sup- 
 plied, to have the Gospel and Epistle of the 
 Mass read in English, with some chapters of the 
 Sacred Volume, in the hearing of the congrega- 
 tion. In this short reign of six years, the Holy 
 
6d 
 
 Scriptures were printed according to the fore- 
 mentioned editions. A vast number of copies 
 were circulated through the kingdom ; and thus, 
 by degi'ees, was Protestantism advanced, the 
 light of divine truth shone upon the people, 
 and the Gospel went through the land in the 
 length and in the breadth thereof, bringing glory- 
 to God in the highest, and making men wise 
 unto salvation. There is a remai'kable anecdote 
 recorded of this excellent young Prince, who 
 died in the 16th year of his age, which deserves 
 to be here related : — At his coronation, when 
 the three swords for the three kingdoms were 
 brought for the purpose of being carried before 
 him, he observed, that there was one yet want- 
 ing, and immediately called for the Bible. 
 " That," said the king, " is the sword of the 
 spirit, and ought in all right to govern us, who 
 use these for the people's safety by God's 
 appointment. Without that sword we are no- 
 thing — we can do nothing : under that sword we 
 ought to live, to fight, to govern the people, and 
 to perform all our affairs. From that alone we 
 obtain all power, virtue, giace, salvation, and 
 whatsoever we have of divine strength." 
 
 But in Mary's reign different principles pre- 
 vailed. All books considered as heretical were 
 condemned — the general perusal of the Bible 
 was discouraged — the Roman Catholic faith 
 flourished once more, and several persons, who 
 nobly stood out against the errors and corruptions 
 of the Church of Rome, were committed to the 
 d3 
 
66 
 
 flames, thus sealing the truth with their blood. 
 Among the martyrs of those times, were the emi- 
 nently learned and pious Cranmer, Archbishop 
 of Canterbury ; Ridley, Bishop of London ; La- 
 timer, Bishop of Worcester; Farrer, Bishop of 
 St. David's ; and Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester. 
 During the persecutions of this Queen, (who, by 
 the good providence of God, reigned but five 
 years,) many of the principal Reformers liaving 
 fled to Geneva, there published an English New 
 Testament in 1557; and which was the first in 
 this language that marked the distinction of 
 verses by numerical figures. 
 
 On the accession of Elizabeth, however, in 
 
 1558, things bore a new aspect altogether. On 
 her public entrance into the city of London, the 
 Queen was presented with an English Bible, 
 which she immediately kissed, and, after holding 
 it up with both her hands, reverently laid it upon 
 her breast, to the great joy of the beholders. In 
 
 1559, the Bibles were restored to the Churches — 
 an inquiry was instituted whether the Clergy 
 discouraged the reading of the Scriptures — 
 Ministers were enjoined to study it themselves 
 daily; and in 1560, the entire Bible was pub- 
 lished at Geneva, some of the Protestant refugees 
 from England having continued there for the 
 purpose of finishing the work ; and by way of 
 preface, besides the dedication to the Queen, 
 they addressed an interesting letter to their 
 brethern in England, Scotland, and Ireland. In 
 this Queen's reign, editions of the Bible mul- 
 
67 
 
 tiplied greatly. It was also translated into the 
 Welsh language;* and in 1568, Archbishop 
 Parker's English translation appeared, under- 
 taken, it appears, by the royal command, exe- 
 cuted with much care, and with great assistance 
 from the learned, and which, from the circum- 
 stance of its having been revised by some Bishops, 
 was called " The Bishop's Bible." For nearly 
 forty years, this Bible was used in the public 
 services of the Church, whilst that of Geneva 
 was much used in private ; and thus has a Church 
 been established in England which is built upon 
 the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, 
 (Eph. ii. 20,) whose influence is felt in every 
 quarter of the globe, whose " walls are salva- 
 tion, and whose gates are praise !" 
 
 Objections having been raised against all the 
 preceding translations, as well as against others 
 made in opposition to them, it was determined, 
 in the beginning of the reign of James I., who 
 succeeded Elizabeth in 1602, and when the prin- 
 ciples of the Reformation were thoroughly esta- 
 blished, to have a new version of the Bible, 
 which should be as much as possible free from 
 all the errors and defects of former translations. 
 On his coming to the throne of England, a 
 memorial was therefore presented to him at 
 Hampton Court Palace, to order a new transla- 
 tion ; and accordingly the King commanded that 
 a new version should be undertaken and exe- 
 
 * See Appendix, No. IV. 
 
68 
 
 cuted with the greatest care and exactness. This 
 blessed, great, and glorious work was commenced 
 in 1607; the completion of it occupied about 
 three years, and it was first published, by royal 
 authority, in 1611. Fifty-four persons were 
 appointed, out of whom 47 were employed — the 
 others having died, or from diffidence having 
 declined the task. They were all men pre- 
 eminently distinguished for their piety and pro- 
 found learning — men who were higher in other 
 men's eyes than in their own, who sought the 
 tnith rather than their own praise, and who went 
 to their work in a spirit of prayer, and not 
 trusting in an arm of flesh. They were well 
 acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
 guages, from which (being the originals) they 
 were ordered to translate into English ; and not 
 only were they permitted to call to their assist- 
 ance any other learned persons whom they might 
 wish to consult, but also the Universities were 
 warned, and all the Bishops in the kingdom were 
 directed to admonish their Clergy of this transla- 
 tion in hand, and to charge and urge the most 
 skilful in the languages to send their observations 
 to the translators. They were divided into six 
 companies, and were directed, in the proclama- 
 tion issued on the occasion, to have recourse to 
 and to consult the most esteemed former trans- 
 lations ; but to follow the ordinary Bible read in 
 the Churches, commonly called " The Bishop's 
 Bible," as nearly as it might be consistent with 
 fidelity, and to alter it as little as the original 
 would permit. They were ordered to assemble 
 
69 
 
 at three places — Westminster, Oxford, and Cam- 
 bridge. According to the rules and regulations 
 laid down, each individual translated every book 
 that was allotted to his division ; they were 
 afterwards compared, one with another, and the 
 reading to be adopted was approved of by the 
 entire bo<ly. Each book also passed the scrutiny 
 of all the translators ; for they were handed from 
 one division of translators to another, and that 
 as soon as each book was finished ; and no pains 
 or labor whatever were spared to have them 
 correct and faithful. The entire was then referred 
 to a committee in London of six of their own 
 body, and was finally revised by Doctor Miles 
 Smith, afterwards Bishop of Gloucester, who 
 wrote the preface, and by Doctor Bilson, Bishop 
 of Winchester, both of whom prefixed the argu- 
 ments to the several books ; the marginal refe- 
 rences and chronological index, annex(3d, were in 
 some time afterwards fui'nished by Bishop Lloyd, 
 and the tables of Scripture weights and mea- 
 sures by Bishop Cumberland. Thus, then, is 
 our authorized version of the Bible free from 
 dangerous errors and wilful corruptions ; and 
 hence it is that the learned of every age and 
 sect, since the work was finished, have not 
 ceased to commend it, and speak highly in its 
 praise, declaring it, as a general work, faithful, 
 excellent, and beautiful, and even a fine standard 
 of the English language. A vast number of 
 editions of this Bible have been published at 
 different times, since its first appearance in 161 1 ; 
 
70 
 
 and millions have been thereby blessed with the 
 light and comfort of the Sacred Volume. Also 
 several eminent and excellent men have fur- 
 nished notes, together with a vast number of 
 additional marginal references, and much has 
 been done in a variety of ways to elucidate the 
 meaning of the text, and to promote a knowledge 
 of the Word of God, by comparing Scripture 
 with Scripture, and by reference to the manners 
 and customs of the East. Several of the trans- 
 lators were created Bishops in the course of a 
 few years ; and surely " blessed are they, and 
 most honored are their names who break the ice, 
 and give the first onset upon that which helpeth 
 forward to the saving of men's souls,"* 
 
 * The ConstitutiOTi of England in Church and State is also greatly 
 indebted, under the Divine blessing, to the following seven justly 
 respected Prelates, who nobly stood forward in the time of King 
 James II. and in the presence of that Monarch, and of his Privy 
 Council, with christian meekness, but with steadiness of Protestant 
 principle, presented a petition, refusing to comply with the royal 
 declaration, the object of which was to render the government arbi- 
 trary, and the Church Papal. The great champions of truth, in this 
 service of danger, were Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterburv, Lloyd, 
 Bishop of St. Asaph, Turner, Bishop of Ely, Lake, Bishop of Chi- 
 chester, Kenn, Bishop of Bath and Wells, White, Bishop of Peter- 
 borough, and Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol; and the King was so 
 indignant and incensed at their conduct, that he committed them to 
 the tower of London, and afterwards brought them to trial in West- 
 minster-hall, for " having consulted and conspired to diminish the 
 royal authority, prerogative and power, and for having unlawfully, 
 maliciously, seditiously and scandalously, composed a false, feigned, 
 pernicious and seditious libel, in manifest contempt of the King and 
 of the laws." The jury, however, having been locked up in delibera- 
 tion for an entire night, brought in a verdict of " Not Guilty," to the 
 great satisfaction and joy of thousands, who rent the air with their 
 acclamations. Soon atler the King had first shown his displeasure, 
 the same sentiments were also subscribed to by the Bishops of Lon- 
 don, Norwich, Glocester, Salisburj-, Winchester and Exeter, and 
 after the trial, the Bishop of Rochester withdrew altogether from the 
 court party, declaring that he would rather suffer with his brethren, 
 than concur himself in making them suffer, the King being deter- 
 mined to proceed to still further extremities, and having already 
 
71 
 
 The British and Foreign Bible Society, esta- 
 blished in 1804, is also a wonderful instrument 
 in the hands of God for the dissemination of his 
 glorious Gospel both at home and abroad. By 
 its means the Holy Scriptures have been trans- 
 lated into a multitude of languages. Societies 
 of a similar nature have sprung up in every 
 quarter of the globe — an almost incredible and 
 increasing number of copies have been circulated 
 throughout the United Kingdom ; and thus has 
 many an immortal soul not only been made wise 
 unto salvation, but others have been built up and 
 comforted in their most holy faith ; for " trans- 
 " lation is that which openeth the window to let 
 *' in the light — which breaketh the shell, that we 
 " may eat the kernel — which putteth aside the 
 " curtain, that we may look into the most holy 
 " place — which removeth the cover of the well, 
 *' that we may come by the water, even as Jacob 
 " rolled away the stone from the mouth of the 
 
 shown his high dissatisfaction at the result of the trial, by the re- 
 moval from their places of two judges, who had delivered an opinion 
 in favor of the Bishops, This celebrated event (so famous in 
 English history,) and the resolute and well-principled conduct of 
 those seven Prelates (who were called, at the time, the seven stars of 
 the Protestant Church), had a powerful influence in bringing about 
 the Revolution of 1688, when King James was dethroned, and when 
 King William III. and his Queen Mary 11. succeeded to the Crown of 
 England. Besides the distinguished individuals hitherto mentioned, 
 the christian world is much indebted to the following Archbishops and 
 Bishops of the Church of England, who, in their respective times, 
 were burning and shining lights, remarkable for their piety or learn- 
 ing, or for both united : — Jewel, Hooker, Bedell, Hall, Usher, Walton, 
 Leighton, Taylor, Pearson, Barrow, Patrick, Hopkins, Tillotson, 
 Burnett, Stillingfleet, Tennison, Beveridge, Marsh, Sparrow, Atter- 
 bury, Wilson, Sherlock, Saunderson, Berkeley, Butler, Seeker, Po- 
 cocke, Lowth, Hurd, Isewton, Newcome, Home, Horseley, Porteus, 
 &c. &c. Also a vast number of the inferior Clergy have enriched the 
 Protestant world with their learned and pious writings. 
 
72 
 
 " well, by which means the flocks of Laban were 
 " watered." 
 
 Great pains have been, and are taken, to keep 
 every edition of this Bible correct, and agreeable 
 to the authorized standard. In 1813, a beautiful 
 edition was published by Messrs. Eyre and 
 Strahan, his Majesty's Printers, which approaches 
 as nearly as possible to what Bibliographers term 
 an immaculate text ; and it is further interesting 
 to learn, that it has been recommended by the 
 general convention of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States of America to be 
 adopted as their standard edition, to which future 
 editions of the English version of the Holy 
 Scriptures, for their own use, are to be made 
 conformable. DissenteVs of all denominations in 
 the British dominions adopt in like manner the 
 authorized version of the Church of England. 
 
 The Holy Spirit has recorded, in Mark, xii. 
 87, that the common people heard our Saviour 
 gladly ; and surely, then, it cannot be wrong for 
 the poor of the present day to read what the 
 poor of that day heard. Nor should instruction 
 heard in public, as soon as it is committed to 
 writing, be considered as unfit for general perusal ; 
 and especially when it is remembered, that that 
 very instruction is intimately connected with our 
 well-being here, and our everlasting happiness in 
 the world to come. Why should it be unfit to 
 jead at home, the very same word which it is 
 considered fit to hear in a place of public wor- 
 ship ! and when, from our common intercourse 
 
73 
 
 with t}»e world, we learn tliat there is oftentimes 
 more likelihood of mistmderstandirig- what we 
 hear than what we read ; for that a few words 
 not heard, or a want of memory, or of an acute 
 apprehension, may naturally alter the meaning 
 of a sentence, and consequently lead to a con- 
 siderable misapprehension, whilst that which is 
 written and read can be duly weighed and con- 
 sidered. Would the Clergy of the primitive 
 times have been justified in withholding from the 
 Churches, or the individuals to whom they were 
 addressed, the Epistles or Letters of St. Paul, 
 and of the other Apostles ? Do we not find for 
 several hundred years, that the laity were not 
 only permitted, but earnestly exhorted, to read 
 the Holy Scriptures ? And is it not a fact, that 
 from the* Clergy and learned in different ages, 
 sprung those many heresies which appeared in 
 successive centuries, and disgraced the Christian 
 
 * The Arian Heresy was condemned by the first General Council 
 held at Nice, A. D. 325, Ariits was a Presbyter of the Church of 
 Alexandria. 
 
 The Macedonian Heresy was condemned by the second General 
 Council, held at Constantinople, A.D. 381. Macedonius was the 
 Bishop of that See. 
 
 The Nestorian Heresy was condemned by the third General Coini- 
 cil, held at Ephesus, A.D. 431. Nestorlus was Patriarch or Bishop 
 of Constantinople. 
 
 The Eutychean Heresy was condemned by the fourth General 
 Council, held at Chalcetlon, A. D. 485. Eutyches was a Monk, and 
 Ablwt of Constantinople. 
 
 We also read, in Ecclesiastical History, of the Marcian, the Mani- 
 chean, the Saljellian, the Novation, the Apollinarian, the Pelagian, 
 and several other Heresies ; and Marcian was son to the Bishop of 
 Pontus ; Manes, or Manicheus, was a Persian, educated among Ihe 
 Magi, and was himself one of those celebrated persons before he 
 embraced Christianity ; Sabellius was either an African Bishop, or 
 Presbyter; Novatian was a Presbyter of the Church of Rome; 
 Apollinaris was a Bishop of Laodicea j and Pclagius was a Monk of 
 great repute, resident at Rome. 
 
 £ 
 
74 
 
 Church ? And with respect to 2 Pet. iii. 16, so 
 frequently advanced by the Roman Catholic 
 Priesthood, we would here observe, that although 
 there may be some things contained in God's 
 word " hard to be understood," viz. prophecies 
 not yet fulfilled, or tniths about which the Lord 
 in his wisdom has revealed but little, or which 
 appear to the natural mind of man in the same 
 light, perhaps, that the great subject of Christ 
 crucified did, when ii proved a stumbling block 
 to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness ; 
 yet, if some persons, unlearned in the things 
 of God, and unstable or unsteady in their own 
 conduct, wrest and torture Scripture so as to 
 misunderstand or wilfully misapply it, and so 
 make it speak what the Holy Ghost did not 
 intend, the perversion should not be charged 
 upon the Bible itself, but on those persons who 
 so pervert the passages, contrary to their real 
 meaning and tendency. But this is no reason 
 why the Epistles should not be read, or that the 
 Scriptures should be laid aside entirely ; for do 
 not men pervert and abuse every other good gift 
 of God? the sun is worshipped, dress is made 
 administer to vanity, and food to gluttony and 
 luxury; and yet men, for this reason, do riot 
 reject them altogether, or forbid their general 
 use. It is to the Church of Rome herself that 
 this charge applies particularly, for it is she in- 
 deed that wrests and tortures Scripture, to display 
 to her deluded votaries an apparent agreement 
 between it and her erroneous doctrines, to give 
 
15 
 
 some colour of authority to those many cunningly 
 devised fables which she has added to the faith 
 once delivered unto the Saints, and which could 
 be easily detected, were the people but permitted 
 to search the Scriptures, and were they well 
 acquainted with the Sacred Volume ; and how 
 can people beware lest they be led astray by the 
 errors of the wicked, and lest they fall from their 
 own stedfastness, but by " trying the spirits 
 whether they be of God," ( 1 John iv. 1,) and 
 by " proving all things, and holding fast that 
 which is good?" (1 Thes. v. 21.) How can a 
 man be learned in any thing, if the books of 
 instruction be kept from him ; and does it not 
 expose the insufficiency of that instruction given 
 to the people by the Roman Catholic Clergy, 
 when, after the lapse of a number of years, 
 attending at mass, confession, &c. they are gene- 
 rally considered as still unfit to read the Word 
 of God! The remedy prescribed in v. 18, for 
 any little obscurity that may occur in Scripture, 
 does not recommend the laying aside of the Bible 
 altogether for human compositions, as some would 
 persuade men to do, but to " grow in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 The following are a few of the many texts 
 which might be easily brought forward, to point 
 out the duty, importance, and obligation of all 
 classes of persons reading, and being well in- 
 structed in the Word of God. Some of the 
 Epistles are addressed not only to Churches col- 
 
76 
 
 lectively, consisting of both clergy and laity, but 
 also to individuals who did not belong to the 
 ministerial office : and even children and servants 
 are addressed by St. Paul, who took it for 
 gi'anted that they should not only hear, but also 
 read for themselves, his writings ; and our Blessed 
 Saviour having so repeatedly said, in his dis- 
 courses, " have ye not read," is a convincing 
 proof that the people in general, and even the 
 poor, with whom he principally associated, were 
 in the habit of reading the Sacred Volume ; and 
 we find that our Lord encouraged them to do 
 so, and that the Apostles followed his divine 
 example. 
 
 " And these words which I command thee 
 this day shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt 
 teach them diligently unto thy children, and 
 shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine 
 house, and when thou walkest by the way, and 
 when thou liest down, and when thou risest up ; 
 and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine 
 hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine 
 eyes ; and thou shalt write them upon the posts 
 of thy house and on thy gates." — Deut. vi. 6-9. 
 
 " Thou shalt in anywise set him king over 
 thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose; and 
 it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of 
 his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of 
 this law in a book out of that which is before 
 the priests the Levites ; and it shall be with him, 
 and he shall read therein all the days of his life : 
 that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to 
 
77 
 
 keep all tlie words of this law, and these statutes, 
 to do them." — Deut. xvii. 15, 18, 19. 
 
 *' If thou wilt not observe to do all the words 
 of this law that are written in this book, that 
 thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, 
 the Lord thy God ; then the Lord will make thy 
 plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, 
 even great plagues, and of long continuance, and 
 sore sicknesses and of long continuance." — Deut. 
 xxviii. 58, 59, 
 
 " When all Israel is come to appear before 
 the Lord thy God in the place which he shall 
 choose, thou shall read this law before all Israel 
 in their hearing. Gather the people together, 
 men, and women, and children, and thy stranger 
 that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and 
 that they may learn and fear the Lord your God, 
 and observe to do all the words of this law ; and 
 that their children, which have not known any 
 thing, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your 
 God as long as ye live in the land, whither ye go 
 over Jordan to possess it." — Deut. xxxi. 11-13. 
 
 " To the law and to the testimony, if they 
 speak not according to this word, it is because 
 there is no light in them." — Is. viii. 20. 
 
 " Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord ; 
 and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in 
 pieces ; therefore, behold I am against the Pro- 
 phets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every 
 one from his neighbour : Behold I am against the 
 Prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues 
 and say, he saith ; behold I am against them that 
 
78 
 
 prophecy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do 
 tell them and cause my people to err by their 
 lies and by their lightness ; yet I sent them not, 
 nor commanded them ; therefore they shall not 
 profit this people at all, saith the Lord." — Jer. 
 xxiii. 29-32. 
 
 " Jesus answered and said unto them, ye do 
 err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 
 of God."— Matt. xxii. 29. 
 
 " And have ye not read this Scripture ; the 
 stone which the builders rejected is become the 
 head of the corner." — Mark, xii. 10. 
 
 " But when ye shall see the abomination of 
 desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, 
 standing where it ought not, let him that readeth 
 understand." — Mark, xiii. 14. 
 
 " No man when he hath lighted a candle, 
 covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a 
 bed ; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they 
 which enter in may see the light." — Luke, 
 viii. 16. 
 
 " But these are written, that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that 
 believing ye might have life through his name." — 
 John, XX. 31. 
 
 " And a certain Jew, named Apollos, born at 
 Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the 
 Scriptures, came to Ephesus.'' — Acts, xviii. 24, 
 
 " For whatsoever things were written afore- 
 time were written for our learning, that we 
 through patience and comfort of the Scriptures 
 might have hope." — Rom. xv. 4. 
 
79 
 
 " But though we or an angel from heaven 
 preach any other Gospel unto you than that 
 which we have preached unto you, let him be 
 accursed." — Gal. i. 8. 
 
 " And take the helmet of salvation and the 
 sword of the spirit which is the Word of God." 
 — Eph. vi. 17. 
 
 " And that from a child thou hast known the 
 Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee 
 wise unto salvation through faith, which is in 
 Christ Jesus." — 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 " If any man speak, let him speak as the 
 oracles of God." — 1 Pet. iv. 11. 
 
 See also Exodus, xxiv. 7 — Num. xxiv. 13 — 
 Deut. viii. 3 — Jos. viii. 34, 35 — 2 Kings, xxiii. 
 2— Neh. viii. 2, 3— Job. xxii. 22— Ps. l. 17; 
 Ixxviii. 5-7; cxix. 105 — Prov, xiii. 13 — Is. v. 
 24; xxx. 8; Iv. 11— Jer. vi. 19;xxix. 31; 
 XXXV. 13 — Ezek. xxxiv — Hab. ii. 2 — Zech. vii. 
 12, 13— Mai. iii 16. 
 
 Matt. xii. 3 ; xiii. 15 ; xix. 4; xxi. 16. 
 
 Mark, viii. 38. 
 
 Luke, i. 4; iv. 16; x. 26. 
 
 John, V. 39; vii. 42; viii. 47. 
 
 Acts, viii. 28; xiii. 15; xvii. 11. 
 
 Rom. iv. 3 ; xi. 2 — 1 Cor. xv. 3—2 Cor. i. 13 ; 
 Gal. iv. 30; Col. iii. 20; iv. 16— Rev. i. 3. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that might be said upon 
 this subject, we find that the Roman Catholic 
 Clergy do not allow to the laity the free use of 
 their own Scriptures, that they may " prove all 
 things, and hold fast that which is good." 1 Thes. 
 
80 
 
 V. 21 ; altliough in their catechisms and other 
 books there are numerous quotations therefrom, 
 as if they were desirous to persuade the people 
 that every thing which tfieir Churcli teaches is 
 perfectly Scriptural. In the table of controver- 
 sies, placed at the end of their Testament, texts 
 are introduced, which, in reality, have no refer- 
 ence to the points in which Protestants and Roman 
 Catholics differ, whilst they appear, perhaps, sa- 
 tisfactory to minds unacquainted with Scriptural 
 truth, and ignorant of the Word of God. The 
 words of our Blessed Saviour may be, therefore, 
 well applied — "Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye 
 have taken away the key of knowledge ; ye 
 entered not in yourselves, and them tliat were 
 entering in ye hindered," Luke xi. 52. — And what 
 says the Almighty ? — " The Priests' lips should 
 keep knowledge, and they should seek the law 
 at his mouth ; for he is the messenger of the 
 Lord of Hosts ; but ye are departed out of the 
 way ; ye liave caused many to stumble at the 
 law, ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, 
 saith the Lord of Hosts, therefore have I also 
 made you contemptible and base before all the 
 people, according as ye have not kept my ways, 
 but have been partial in the law," Mai. ii. 7-9. 
 This, however, was not always the case in the 
 Church of Rome — there was a time when her 
 doctrines feared not the light of divine truth ; 
 but this was before her silver became dross,* 
 and her wine became mixed with water, Isa. i. 22. 
 
 * There were many Churches in the time of the Apostles, and 
 among them the Cliurch of Rome, whose faith was at that time 
 
81 
 
 It is tlie^doctrine of the Church of England tliat 
 " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary 
 to salvation;" so that whatsoever is not read 
 therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be 
 required of any man, that it should be believed 
 as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or 
 necessary to salvation. — Article 6. Considera- 
 ble portions of Holy Writ are, therefore, intro- 
 duced into each of her services, and great pains 
 are also taken to distribute the Holy Scriptures 
 amongst her members, that they may know the 
 certainty of those things, wherein they have been, 
 and are instructed, Luke i. 4 ; and search the 
 Scriptures daily, whether those things are so, 
 Acts xvii. 11. 
 
 But to bring forward a few quotations from 
 the Word of God, to point out the impor- 
 tance, wisdom, beauty, comfort and instruction, 
 contained in the Sacred Volume, where first 
 could we begin? — what leave unto the last ? — 
 how could we make choice but of a few pictures, 
 where so many are presented to us therein, all 
 richly coloured, beautifully designed, and ex- 
 quisitely wrought? — how could we gather but a 
 few flowers from a garden so bountifully sup- 
 plied, so carefully provided, and all so fragrant, 
 or select, but a few gems from the precious 
 
 spoken of throughout the whole world, Rom. i. 8 : the errors of that 
 Church, however, together with the rise, the progress, and overthrow 
 of the Popedom, and which, according to prophecy, is to continue, it 
 appears, for 1260 years, from its rise, in or about A. D. 606, are 
 wonderfully foretold by the Spirit of God in Dan. vii.; 2 Thes. ii. ; 
 I Tim. iv. 1-5 j Rev. xiii-xvii-xviii. 
 
 e5 
 
82 
 
 casket which contains so invaluable a treasure ? 
 for the Sacred Volume has God for its author, 
 truth for its subject, and the good of man, com- 
 bined with the glory of the Almighty for its all 
 important end. 
 
 And the most beautiful system of morality or 
 religion, by the most celebrated Heathen philo- 
 sophers, is no more to be compared to the Word 
 of God than the feeble glimmering of the little 
 glow-worm to the brightness and splendour of 
 the meridian sun, or the plant of hysop that 
 springeth out of the wall, to the majestic oak 
 which stretcheth forth its boughs, and extends its 
 branches over the plain, affording a retreat for 
 the birds of the air, which exult in the rich lux- 
 uriant foliage. 
 
 Thousands of souls now in glory, could they 
 but address the human race, would gladly 
 dwell upon the happiness, advantages and privi- 
 lege of searching the Holy Scriptures, and 
 would urge mankind to dig deep into these re- 
 cords of the Most High, to read, mark, leani, and 
 inwardly digest them. And many there are at 
 present in this world who find the Bible pecu- 
 liarly calculated to meet their spiritual wants, to 
 gratify their renewed spiritual tastes, to enlighten 
 their minds, to purify their hearts, and to make 
 them account all things but loss for the excel- 
 lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their 
 Lord. 
 
 Oh I blessed is that nation which is governed 
 by the laws of the Bible, for it is so complete 
 
83 
 
 a system, that notliing can be added to it or 
 taken from it; for the afflicted it is full of com- 
 fort; for the desponding it is full of encou- 
 ragement ; for the proud and self-sufficient it is 
 full of rebuke ; for the great and worldly minded 
 it is full of warning ; for the poor it is full of 
 promises ; and for the contrite it is full of con- 
 solation. 
 
 The king here learns how to rule, and the 
 subject is taught how to obey ; it lays down the 
 several and respective duties of husbands and 
 wives, parents and children, masters and ser- 
 vants, friends and neighbours, and promises the 
 blessing and protection of its Divine Author to 
 all those who walk by its sacred rules. It is 
 the first, the best, and the oldest Book in the 
 world; is a brief recital of all that is past, antl 
 a certain prediction of much that is to come ; it 
 is the power of God, and the wisdom of God ; 
 it is sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 
 iv. 12,) and is able to make man wise unto 
 salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus. 
 It is a Book of laws to show what is right and 
 wrong; a Book of truth which detects all lies, 
 and confronts all errors ; it is the heavenly rule 
 and compass, plummet, and correcting square, to 
 ensure our spiritual building being in due pro- 
 portion, and a book of life, which shows the way 
 from everlasting death and condemnation ; for it 
 speaks largely of the Saviour of mankind, the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
 world. To understand it, is to be wise indeed ; 
 
84 
 
 and to be ignorant of it, is to be buried in dark- 
 ness. It is a lamp for the feet, and a Hgbt for 
 the path, and may well be considered as the 
 young man's best companion, (Ps. cxix. 9, 105); 
 and blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy, and keep those 
 things that are written therein, (Rev. i. 3.) And 
 if the Almighty God has declared that His Word 
 shall not return void, but accomplish that which 
 He pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto 
 He sends it, (Is. Iv. 11,) who can presume 
 to refuse to read it? — who can presume to 
 neglect to read it? — who can dare to make 
 efforts to prevent its free circulation, and its 
 general perusal? — to fight against God, (Acts, v. 
 39,) and do injury to the souls of men? — Oh! 
 who can be so wicked as to cast it from them, 
 Or to turn it out of doors — to curse what God 
 hath blessed, and to try to extinguish what the 
 Lord hath kindled? — Ought not the whole 
 human race rejoice to read, and to hear in their 
 own tongues, the wonderful works of God? — 
 (Acts ii. II.) 
 
 Holy Bible, book divine, 
 Precious treasure, thou art mine ! 
 Mine to tell me whence I came. 
 Mine to tell me what I am : 
 Mine to chide me when I rove. 
 Mine to show a Saviour's love. 
 O, thou precious book divine — 
 Precious treasure, thou art mine ! 
 
 Search the Scriptures, (John, v. 39.) 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 The Reverend George Hamilton, Rector of Kil- 
 lerraogh, in his valuable and interesting- Letters, 
 addressed to Dr. Murray, Roman Catholic Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, on the present confused and un- 
 settled state of the English Roman Catholic Bible, 
 has collected the undermentioned six editions, for 
 the purpose of showing that they not only differ 
 from each other, but from that one which was pub- 
 lished at Rheims, and is referred to as the standard 
 of correctness ; and also, that in several instances 
 corrections have been made from the authorised 
 version of the Church of England. 
 
 1. Rheimish Testament, published in 1582. 
 
 2. Douay Bible, published in Dublin by Cross, 
 in 1791, and under the sanction of Dr. Troy, Ro- 
 man Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 3. New Testament, seventh edition, pubHshed in 
 Dublin by Cross and Wogan,in 1803, and sanctioned 
 by Archbishop Troy. 
 
 4. New Testament, stereotype edition, published 
 in Dublin by Coyne, in 1820, and sanctioned by 
 Archbishop Troy. 
 
 5. Holy Bible, published in Dublin by Haydock, 
 in 1824, and sanctioned by Archbishop Troy. 
 
 6. Holy Bible, stereotype edition, published in 
 Dublin by Coyne, in 1825, with the sanction of 
 Archbishop Murray. 
 
86 
 
 Sonic of the variations between these six edi- 
 tions he has noted and reduced into the six loilovv- 
 ing classes: — 
 
 1. Trivial and verbal differences. 
 
 2. Important variations. 
 
 3. Proofs that later editors have abandoned the 
 principles laid down in the preface to the Kheimish 
 Testament, as those which ought to guide all Ro- 
 man Catholic translators. 
 
 4. Proofs that Bishop Challoner's emendations 
 M'ere not invariably followed, and that words and 
 phrases which he rejected have been restored. 
 
 5. Proofs that Dr. Troy's editions vary, and con- 
 sequently that they were not edited upon a regular 
 and uniform plan. 
 
 6. Proofs that Archbishop Murray's edition dif- 
 fers from each of the preceding. 
 
 CLASS I, — Trivial and Verbal Differences. 
 
 Matt. viii. 2. Came and adored him — Ed. 1582, 
 
 1820, 1825. 
 Came and worshipped him — Ed. 1 752. 
 Coming, adored him— Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 Matt. viii. 3. Stretching forth his hand, touched 
 
 him— Ed. 1582, 1791, 1803, 1820, 1824, 
 
 1825. 
 Put forth his hand and touched him — 
 
 Ed. 1752. 
 And forthwith his leprosy was made clean — 
 
 Ed. 1582. 
 Immediately his leprosy was cleansed — Ed. 
 
 1791, 1824. 
 Forthwith his leprosy was cleansed — Ed. 
 
 1820, 1825. 
 Matt. viii. 9. For I also am a man subject to 
 
 authority, having under me soldiers— Ed. 
 
 1582, 1820, 1825. 
 
87 
 
 And I say to this, go— Ed. 1.38-4:;, 1820, 
 
 1825. 
 For, I also am a man under authority, 
 having soldiers under me — Ed. 1791, 1803, 
 1824. 
 And I say to this man, go— Ed. 1791, 1803, 
 1824. 
 Mark iii. 18, Simon Cananseus— Ed. 1582, 1791, 
 1803, 1824. 
 Simon the Cananean— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 34. And that he raised hira up from 
 the dead, not to return now any more 
 into corruption, thus he said. That I will 
 give you the holy things of David faithful 
 —Ed. 1582. 
 And that he raised him up from the dead, 
 to return now no more to corruption, he 
 said thus ; That I will give you the holy 
 faithful things of David— Ed. 1791, 1803, 
 1824. 
 And to show that he raised him up from 
 the dead, not to return now any more to 
 corruption, he said thus : 7 will give you 
 the holy things of David faithful — Ed. 
 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xxvii. 2. We going up into a ship of Adru- 
 metura, beginning to sail about the places 
 of Asia, loosed from the land — Ed, 1582. 
 Going on board a ship, &c. — we launched, 
 meaning to sail by the coast of Asia — 
 Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 We weighed anchor, being about to sail by 
 the coast of Asia— Ed. 1791, 1803,1824. 
 Acts xxvii. 20. And neither sun nor stars appear- 
 ing for many days, and no small storm 
 being toward, all hope was now taken 
 away of our saving — Ed. 1582. 
 
88 
 
 And neither sun nor stars appearing for 
 many days, and no small storm threaten- 
 ing, all hopes of our safety were now lost 
 —Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 
 And when neither sun nor stars appeared for 
 many days, and no small storm lay on us, 
 all hope of our being saved was now taken 
 away— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xxvii. 30. Pretending as if— Ed. 1582. 
 
 Under pretence as though — Ed. 1791, 1803, 
 1824, 
 
 Under colour as though— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 
 CLASS II. — Important Variations, 
 
 John ii. 4. What is to me and thee woman ? — Ed. 
 1582. 
 Woman, what is it to me and to thee ? — Ed. 
 
 1820. 
 Woman, what is that to me and to thee ? — 
 
 Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 Woman, what is to me and to thee ? — Ed. 
 1825. 
 "Because this speech is subject to divers senses, 
 " we keep the words of our text, lest by turning it 
 " into any English phrase, we might straighten the 
 " Holy Ghost's intention to some certain sense 
 " either not intended, or not only intended, and so 
 " take away the choice and indifferencie from the 
 " reader, whereof (in Holy Scripture specially) all 
 " translators must beware." — Note in loco, Rhemes 
 —Ed. 1582. 
 
 John viii. 1 9. Perhaps you might know my Father 
 also— Ed. 1582. 
 You would know my father also— Ed. 1791, 
 
 1803, 1824. 
 Perhaps you would know my Father also — 
 Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 
89 
 
 John xiv. 10. But my Father that abideth in rae — 
 Ed. 1582. 
 But the Father who abideth in me — Ed. 
 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 
 John xiv. 13. Whatsoever you shall ask in my 
 name— Ed, 1582. 
 Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my 
 name— Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 
 John xiv. 17. But you know him — Ed. 1582. 
 
 But you shall knowhim— Ed. 1791, 1820, 
 1824, 1825. 
 
 Acts xiii. 25. And when John fulfilled his course, 
 he said, whom do ye think me to be ? I 
 am not he, but behold there cometh after 
 me, whose shoes of his feet I am not 
 worthy to unloose — Ed. 1582. 
 And when John was fulfilling his course, he 
 said, I am not he whom you think me to 
 be ; but behold he cometh after me the 
 shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to 
 loose— Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 And when John was fulfilling- his course, he 
 said, I am not he whom you think me to 
 be, but behold there cometh one after me, 
 whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy 
 to loose— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 
 CLASS III. — Proofs that later Editors have aban- 
 doned the principles laid down in the Preface to 
 the Rhemish Testament^ as those which ought to 
 guide all Roman Catholic Translators. 
 
 " In this our translation, because we wish it to 
 " be most sincere, as becometh a Catholic transla- 
 " tion, and have endeavoured so to make it : we 
 " are very precise and religious in following our 
 
90 
 
 " copy, the old vulgar approved Latin ; not only in 
 " sense, Avhich we hope we always do, but some 
 " time in the very words also and phrases, which 
 " may seem to the vulgar reader and to common 
 " Enghsh ears not yet acquainted therewith, rude- 
 
 " ness or ignorance : 
 
 it 
 
 " And how is it possible to express Evangelizo, but 
 " as we do. Evangelize ? — for Evangelium being the 
 " gospel, what is, Evangelizo or to Evangelize^ but 
 " to show the glad tidings of the gospel, of the time 
 " of grace, of all Christ's benefits ? All which sig- 
 " nification is lost, by translating, as the English 
 " Bibles do, / bring you good tidings — Luke ii, 10. 
 " Therefore vre say, Depositum — 1 Tim. vi. And, 
 " he exinanited himself— Phil. ii. And, you have 
 " reflourished — Phil. iv. And, to exhaust — Heb. ix. 
 " 28, because we cannot possibly attain to express 
 " these words fully in English, and we think much 
 " better, that the reader staying at the difficulty of 
 " them, should take an occasion to look in the table 
 " following, or otherwise to ask the full meaning of 
 " them, than by putting some usual English words 
 " that express them not, so to deceive the reader. 
 
 " Moreover, we presume not 
 
 " in hard places to mollify the speeches or phrases, 
 " but religiously keep them word for word, and 
 " point for point, for fear of missing, or restraining 
 " the sense of the Holy Ghost to our phantasie, as 
 " Ephes. vi. against the spirituals of wickedness in 
 " the celestials, and Jno. ii. what to me and thee 
 " woman ? whereof see the annotation upon this 
 " place — and 1 Peter ii. As infants even now horny 
 
 " reasonahlcy milk without guile desire ye 
 
 " Likewise, Mark 
 
 " xiii. Those days shall be such tribidation, &c. — 
 " not as the adversaries, in those daySy both our text 
 
91 
 
 " and 1 heirs beiiifj otherwise. Likewise, James iv. 
 " 6, and giveth greater grace^ leaving- it indifferent 
 " to the Scripture or to the Holy Ghost, both going 
 " before."— Preface to Rhemish Testament, 
 Mark xiii. 9. For those days shall be such tribula- 
 tions—Ed. 1582. 
 For in those days shall be such tribulations — 
 Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 Luke ii. 10, 11. Behold I evangelize to you great 
 joy, that shall be to all the people ; because 
 this day is born to you a Saviour, which is 
 Christ our Lord— Ed. 1582. 
 Behold I bring you good tidings of great 
 joy, that shall be to all the people, for this 
 day is born to vou a Saviour, who is 
 Christ the Lord— Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 
 1825. 
 Ephes. vi. 12. Against the spirituals of wicked- 
 ness in the celestials — Ed. 1582. 
 Against the spirits of wickedness in the high 
 places— Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 Philip, ii. 7. But he exinanited himself — Ed. 
 1582. 
 But emptied himself— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 But debased himself— Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 Philip, iv. 10. That once at the length you have 
 reflourished to care for me — Ed. 1582. 
 That now at length your thought for me 
 hath flourished again— Ed. 1791, 1820, 
 1824, 1825. 
 1 Tim. vi. 20. O Timothy, keep the depositiim, 
 avoiding the profane novelties of voices, 
 and oppositions of falsely called know- 
 ledge—Ed. 1582. 
 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to 
 thy trust, avoiding the prophane novelties 
 of words, and oppositions of knowledge 
 
92 
 
 falsely so called— Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 
 1 825. 
 
 James iv. 6. And giveth ^eater grace. For the 
 which cause it saith — Ed. 1582. 
 But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he 
 saith— Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 
 1 Peter ii. 2. As infants even now bom, reasonable, 
 milk without guile desire ye — Ed. 1582. 
 As new born babes (infants, 1791, 1824) 
 desire the rational milk without guile — 
 Ed. 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 
 Rom. ii. 25, &c. But if thou be a transgressor of 
 the law, thy circumcision is (made, 1791, 
 1820, 1825) un circumcision. If then the 
 uncircumcised keep the justices (ordi- 
 nances, 1791, 1824) of tlie law, shall not 
 this (his, 1791, 1824) uncircumcision be 
 counted (reputed 1791, 1824) for circum- 
 cision ? And shall not that which by 
 nature is uncircumcision, &c. ? — Ed. 1791, 
 1820, 1824, 1825. 
 See Rom. iii. 30 — iv. 10 — 1 Cor. vii. 18, 19 — 
 Gal. ii. 7— V. 6— vi. 15— Col. ii. 13— iii. 
 1 1 — Ed- 1582 ; in all which places the Ed. 
 of 1791, 1820, 1824, 1825, read tincircum- 
 cision, instead of the word used in that 
 first translation. 
 
 CLASS IV. — That Bishop Challoner^ s emendations 
 were not invariably followedy and that words and 
 phrases which he rejected have been restored. 
 
 Matt. i. 11. 12. 17. Transmigration of Babylon — 
 
 Ed. 1582. 
 Carried away, carried, carrying away, to 
 
 Babylon— Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 Transmigration^ of Babylon — restored Ed. 
 
 1820, 1823. 
 
93 
 
 Matt. vi. 9. Thus therefore shall you pray — Ed. 
 1582. 
 
 You therefore shall pray in this manuer — 
 Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 
 Thus therefore shall you, (shalt thou— 1820) 
 pray— restored Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Mark xiii. 14. He that readeth, let him under- 
 stand—Ed. 1582. 
 
 Let him that readeth understand — Ed. 1791, 
 1803, 1824. 
 
 He that readeth, let him understand — restored 
 Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 1. Doctors — Ed. 1582. 
 
 Teachers— Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 
 Doctors— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 9. Saul, otherwise Paul — Ed. 1582. 
 
 Saul, who also is Paul— Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 
 Saul, otherwise Paul — restored Ed. 1820, 
 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 34. And that he raised him up from the 
 dead, not to return now any more into 
 corruption, thus he said, That I will give 
 you the holy things of David faithful — 
 Ed. 1582. 
 
 And that he raised him up from the dead, to 
 return now no more to corruption, he said 
 thus : That I M'ill give you the holy faith- 
 ful things of David— Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824. 
 
 And to shew that he raised him up from the 
 dead, not to return now any more to cor- 
 ruption, he said thus: I will give you the 
 holy things of David faithful — Ed. 1820, 
 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 50, Coasts— Ed. 1582. 
 
 Territories— Ed. 1791, 1805, 1824. 
 
 Coasts— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 
94 
 
 Acts xxvli. 2. We going up into a ship of Adrii- 
 
 metum, beginning to sail about the places 
 
 of Asia, loosed from the land — Ed. 1582. 
 Going on board a ship of Adrumetum, we 
 
 weighed anchor, being about to sail by the 
 
 coast of Asia — Ed. 1791, 1803, 1824, 
 Going on board a ship of Adrumetum, we 
 
 launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of 
 
 Asia— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xxvii. 6. Removed us into it — Ed. 1582. 
 Put us aboard her— Ed. 1791, 1805, 1824. 
 Removed us into it — restored Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Acts xxvii. 21. Gained this hurt and loss — Ed. 
 
 1582. 
 Suffered this harm and loss — Ed. 1791, 1805, 
 
 1824. 
 Gained this harm and loss— Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 Rom. viii. 22. Travaileth- Ed. 1582. 
 
 Is in labour— Ed. 1791, 1805, 1824. 
 Travaileth in pain — Ed. 1820. 
 Travelleth in pain— Ed. 1825. 
 Rom. viii. 33. Who shall accuse against the elect 
 
 of God?— Ed. 1582. 
 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of the 
 
 elect of God ?— Ed. 1791, 1805, 1824. 
 Who shall accuse against the elect of God ? — 
 
 restored Ed. 1820, 1825. 
 
 CLASS y.— Proofs that Dr. Troy's editions 
 (1791, 1820, 1824) vary y and consequently that 
 they were not edited upon a regular and u7iiform 
 plan. 
 
 Matt. viii. 10. Jesus hearing this, wondered — Ed. 
 1791. 
 Jesus hearing this, marvelled — Ed. 1820. 
 
95 
 
 John ii. 10. Well drank — Ed. 1791, 1820. 
 
 Well drunk— Ed. 1824. 
 John vii. 2. The feast (of, 1791) the Jews called of 
 the tabernacles (tabernacle 1824) — Ed. 
 1791, 1824. 
 The Jews feast of tabernacles — Ed. 1820. 
 John vii. 16. Not mine, but of him that sent me — 
 Ed. 1791. 
 Not mine, but his that sent me — Ed. 1820. 
 Acts V. 31. To give penitence — Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 
 To give repentance — Ed, 1820. 
 Acts xiii. 26. Sons of the race of Abraham — Ed. 
 1791. 
 Children of the stock of Abraham — Ed. 1820. 
 Acts xiii. 30. But God raised him up fi'om the 
 dead the third day ; who was seen for 
 many days by those — Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 But God raised him up from the dead the 
 the third day— Ed. 1820. 
 Acts xiii. 3 1 . Who went up together with him — 
 Ed. 1791, 1824. 
 Who was seen for many days, by them who 
 came up with him — Ed. 1820. 
 Rom. ii. 25. Thy circumcision is made uncircum- 
 cision — Ed. 1791. 
 Thy circumcision is uncircumcision — Ed. 
 1824. 
 In this Class it is unnecessary to multiply proofs — 
 for all the former Classes exhibit differences between 
 1791 and 1820. 
 
 CLASS "VI. — Proofs that Archbishop Murray^ s 
 edition (1825) differs from each of the "preceding. 
 
 Acts V. 31. This Prince and Saviour, God hath 
 exalted with his right hand, to give peni- 
 
96 
 
 tence to Israel, and remission of sins— Ed. 
 1791. 
 Him hath God exalted with his rig^ht hand, 
 to be Prince and Saviour, to g-ive repent- 
 ance to Israel, and remission of sins — Ed. 
 1825. 
 Matt. viii. 2. Coming adored him— Ed. 1803. 
 
 Came and adored him— Ed. 1825. 
 Matt. viii. 3. Immediately his leprosy — Ed. 1 805. 
 
 Forthwith his leprosy — Ed. 1825. 
 Matt. viii. 4, 7. Jesus said — Ed. 1 803. 
 
 Jesus saith — Ed. 1S25. 
 Matt. vi. 9. Thus therefore shalt thou pray— Ed. 
 1820. 
 Thus therefore shall you pray — Ed. 1825. 
 John v. 39. That gave testimony of me — Ed. 1 820. 
 
 That give testimony of me — Ed. 1825. 
 John vii. 2. The feast the Jews called of the taber- 
 nacle—Ed. 1824. 
 The Jews feast of tabernacles -Ed. 1825. 
 John vii. 8. My time is not yet fulfilled — Ed. 1 824. 
 
 My time is not accomplished — Ed. 1825. 
 Acts xiii. 48. As many as were preordained to 
 eternal life, beheved — Ed. 1824. 
 As many as were ordained to life everlasting, 
 believed— Ed. 1825. 
 Rom. viii. 11. Because of his spirit dwelling in 
 you — Ed. 1824. 
 Because of his spirit that dwelleth in you — 
 Ed. 1825. 
 Rom. vii. 18. For to will good, is present with 
 me — Ed. 1824. 
 For to will, is present with me — Ed. 1825. 
 John ii. 4. Woman, what is {that 1791, 1824) (it 
 1820) to me and to thee— Ed. 1791, 1820, 
 1824. 
 
 Woman, what is to me and to thee ? — Ed. 
 
 1825. 
 
97 
 
 Rhemish Testament. — (True English accordinn^ to 
 Ward.) — Rom. viii. 18. Not condign to the glory 
 to come. 
 
 Authorised, or Protestant Bible, — Not worthy to 
 he compared with the glory, &c. ^ 
 
 Archbishop Murray's Bible. — Not worthy to be 
 compared with the glory, &c. 
 
 Rhemish Testament. — (True English according to 
 Ward.) — Heb. ii. 9. But him that was a little les- 
 sened under the Angels, we see Jesus, because of 
 the passion of death, crowned with glory and 
 honour. 
 
 Authorised, or Protestant Bible. — But we see 
 Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels, 
 for the suiFering of death, crowned with glory and 
 honour. 
 
 Archbishop Murray's Bible. — But we see Jesus, 
 who was made a little lower than the Angels, for the 
 suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour. 
 
 Rhemish Testament, — (True English according to 
 Ward.) — 1 Pet. i. 25. And this is the word that is 
 evangelized among you. 
 
 Authorised, or Protestant Bible. — 1 Pet. i. 25. — 
 And this is the word which by the Gospel is 
 preached unto you. 
 
 Archbishop Murray's Bible. — And this is the 
 word which by the Gospel hath been preached unto 
 you. 
 
98 
 
 The following- table will show at one view the 
 number of Notes, in five editions of the Roman 
 Catholic Testament, and in what proportion they 
 have been reduced or increased, as published, by 
 authority, in the years 1748, 1803, 1820, 1825, 
 1826 :— 
 
 
 1748 
 
 1803 
 
 1820 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Matt. . . 
 
 . 73 
 
 75 
 
 39 
 
 76 
 
 30 
 
 Mark . . 
 
 . 9 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 Luke . . 
 
 21 
 
 25 
 
 16 
 
 29 
 
 13 
 
 John . . 
 
 28 
 
 29 
 
 22 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 Acts . . 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 12 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 Rom. . . 
 
 49 
 
 50 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 45 
 
 1 Cor. . . 
 
 36 
 
 35 
 
 32 
 
 36 
 
 31 
 
 2 Cor. . . 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 Gal. . . 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 Ephes. . . 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 Phil. . . . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 Coloss. . . 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 1 Thes. . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 Thes. . . 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 1 Tim. . . 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 2 Tim. . . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 Titus . . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Philemon . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hebrews . 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 22 
 
 28 
 
 21 
 
 James . . 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 1 Peter . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 Peter . . 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 John . . . 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 2 John . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 John . . . 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 Jude . . 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Apoc. . . . 
 
 29 
 
 31 
 
 23 
 
 34 
 
 24 
 
 390 402 281 429 253 
 
99 
 
 In editions of the Old Testament, published by- 
 authority, a similar difference exists respecting the 
 number of the Notes, as will appear from those 
 attached to the few undermentioned Books, in two 
 Roman Catholic Bibles; the one published in 1816, 
 under the sanction of Archbishop Troy, and the other 
 in 1825, under the sanction of Archbishop Murray. 
 The same kind of disagreement may be observed in 
 the remaining Books of these Bibles, as well as in 
 other editions : 
 
 
 1816 
 
 1825 
 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Genesis 
 
 89 
 
 85 
 
 Exodus 
 
 56 
 
 53 
 
 Leviticus 
 
 33 
 
 28 
 
 Numbers 
 
 42 
 
 44 
 
 Deuteronomy 
 
 37 
 
 38 
 
 Joshua 
 
 21 
 
 24 
 
 Judges 
 Ruth 
 
 48 
 
 45 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1 Kings 
 
 54 
 
 48 
 
 2 Kings 
 
 34 
 
 32 
 
 3 Kings 
 
 45 
 
 38 
 
 4 Kings 
 
 41 
 
 40 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 78 
 
 72 
 
 1 Maccabees . 
 
 27 
 
 25 
 
 2 Maccabees . 
 
 36 . . 
 
 35 
 
 
 645 
 
 610 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that in the Rhemish 
 Testament words have been added by the transla- 
 tors, which are not to be found in the original 
 Greek; as " that by good works," (2 Pet. i. 10); 
 also, those words which they were necessarily- 
 obliged to supply from the idiom of the language. 
 
100 
 
 they have not put into Italics, but into the same 
 character with the text itself, without any mark or 
 note whatever by which they mij^ht be distinguished 
 as « their :" Matt. iv. 20—" are," v. 3, 4, 5, &c.— 
 " garments," xi. 8 ; and, in some instances, they 
 have even omitted words, though found in the 
 original Greek; as "weeping," Matt. ii. 18 — 
 " Elders or ancients," xxvi. 59 — " Church," Acts, 
 ii. 47 — " But if of works then is it no more grace, 
 otherwise work is no more work," Rom. xi. 6. But 
 What says the Sacred Volume upon this subject? 
 " What thing soever I command you, observe to do 
 it ; thou slialt not add thereto, nor diminish from 
 it," Deut. xii. 32. " For I testify unto every man 
 that heareth the words of the prophecy of this 
 book, if any man shall add unto these things, God 
 shall add unto him the plagues that are written in 
 this book ; and if any man shall take away from the 
 words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take 
 away his part out of the book of life, and out of the 
 holy city, and from the things which are written in 
 this book," Rev. xxii. 18, 19. Even Dr. Walmsley, 
 who wrote his Church History under the assumed 
 name of Pastorini, and was a strenuous supporter of 
 the Church of Rome, admits that the Rheimish trans- 
 lation differs from the Greek in many passages; and 
 in pages 20 and 120 of that work, candidly acknow- 
 ledges that " riches," (Rev. v. 12,) and " with the 
 beast," (Rev. xvii. 12,) are the true reading, accord- 
 ing to the Greek, (and such is the translation in the 
 authorised vei-sion,) and not " divinity," and " after 
 the beast," which is the reading in the Rheimish 
 Testament. Examples need not be multiplied. 
 
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114 
 
 From the foregoing cx)llation of some of the prin- 
 cipal texts, which are the cause of controversy 
 between Protestants and Roman Catholics, it ap- 
 pears — 
 
 1. That the words metanoeq & metanoia occur 
 at least tifty-tive times in the New Testament, in 
 seven of which they are translated as in the autho- 
 rised version ; whilst in two passages the translation 
 is omitted altogether, not being found in the Vul- 
 gate ; and that in forty-six places they are rendered 
 by do penance and penance. 
 
 2. That the 12mo. edition of 1810 differs from 
 the 4to. edition of 1816, in the translation of this 
 one word, in at least live instances. 
 
 3. That when we refer to the texts in which the 
 Rhemish agrees with the authorised version, we 
 discover two particulars which ought seriously to 
 impress the minds of Roman Catholics, viz. that 
 as in all such texts, the translation by penance 
 would have made nonsense of the passage they were 
 consequently obliged to be rendered by repent and 
 repentance; and that if it were possible, these, as 
 well as the others, would have been mistranslated, 
 for the purpose of obtaining a still further apparent 
 Scriptural authority in favor of the doctrine of 
 penance, as taught in the Church of Rome. 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that in every instance, 
 without a single exception, the interlined Latin 
 and Greek edition of Benjamin Arias Montanus, a 
 learned Spaniard of the Church of Rome, agrees 
 with the Protestant authorised version in the sense 
 of the passages. 
 
 The following are the seven passages in which 
 the Rhemish agrees with the authorised version of 
 the Church of England : — 
 Mark i. 15. Repent, and believe the Gospel. 
 
115 
 
 Luke xvii. 4. And if he sin against thee seven 
 times in a day, and seven times in a day^ 
 turn again to thee, saying, I repent; for- 
 give him. 
 
 Acts iii. 19. Repent^ therefore, and be converted, 
 that your sins may be blotted out. 
 
 — V. 31. Him hath God exalted with his right 
 hand to give repentance to Israel, and 
 remission of sins. 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 25. If peradventure God may give them 
 repentance to know the truth. 
 
 Heb. xii. 17. For he found no place for repentance j 
 although with tears he had sought it, 
 
 Apoc. ii. 21. And I gave her time to do penance, 
 and she will not repent of her fornication. 
 
 In the edition of 1810, published by Coyne, in 
 Dublin, the following translations occur : 
 Luke xiii. 3. Unless you be penitent^ you shall all 
 
 likewise perish. 
 — xvii. 3. If thy brother sin against thee, 
 reprove him ; if he he penitent, forgive him. 
 
 Surely it is self-evident, from what has been said, 
 that the translation of this Greek word must be 
 frequently incorrect in the Roman Catholic Testa- 
 ment, as it cannot possibly bear the three significa- 
 tions given to it ; do penance, repent, and he penitent; 
 for to repent and to do penance are very different 
 acts; the one referring to the mind, and the other 
 to the body. 
 
 It should also be remarked, that the works of the 
 early Christian writers prove that the sense in 
 which they understood this word w^ not penance, 
 but penitence, or repentance* 
 
11& 
 
 Similar observations may be made respecting the 
 word nPE2BTTEP02, which occurs at least sixty-nine 
 times in the New Testament, in six of which places 
 it is rendered, by the word Priest, to answer the par- 
 ticular purposes of the Church of Rome ; although 
 this Greek word differs materially from 'iepets, 
 which signifies a sacrificing Priest, such as were 
 employed under the Mosaic dispensation, or were 
 appointed to offer sacrifices to the deities of the 
 heathens; but we boldly affirm, that a sacrificing 
 Priest has no existence under the Christian dispen- 
 sation, the Lord Jesus Christ alone being the High 
 Priest of our profession, who by one offering hath 
 perfected for ever them that are sanctified, (Heb. x. 
 
 Acts xiv. 22. And when they had ordained to them 
 Priests in every Church. 
 
 — XV. 2. They determined that Paul and Bar- 
 
 nabas, and certain others of the other side 
 should go up to the Apostles and P? tests 
 to Jerusalem about this question. 
 1 Tim. V. 17. Let the Priests that rule well, be 
 esteemed worthy of double honour. 
 
 — 19. Against a Priest receive not an accu- 
 
 sation, but under two or three wit- 
 
 Titus i. 5. For this cause I left thee in Crete, that 
 thou shouldest set in order the things that 
 are wanting, and shouldest ordain Piiests 
 in every city, as I also appointed thee. 
 James v. 14. Is any man sick among you, let him 
 bring in the Priests of the Church. 
 Thus we find that this word is translated in diffe- 
 rent ways in the Roman Catholic Testament, and 
 that in one passage it is not translated at all, though 
 found in the original Greek. 
 
117 
 
 Although the word mtstepion is found in at 
 least twenty-four texts, we find that in one passage 
 only it is translated Sacrament, in which place it 
 was considered indispensable, to support the doctrine 
 of marriage being a Sacrament; and the same may 
 be observed respecting the expression Ti emoi kai 
 201, which occurs six times in the New, and about 
 four times in the Old Testament, and which, in 
 every instance, is rendered agreeably to the autho- 
 rised version, " what have I to do with thee," with 
 the solitary exception of John ii. 4, where it would 
 affect the unscriptural honour given to the Virgin 
 Mary. 
 
118 
 
 No. UI. 
 
 When divers abuses in religion began first to be 
 reformed in Germany, through the instrumentaUty 
 of Luther and others, who had been raised up by 
 Divine Providence for this very purpose, Pope Leo 
 X. not only did what he could to counteract their 
 exertions, but also issued a Bull of Excommunica- 
 tion, wherein all men were commanded to drive 
 the reformers and their adherents, (among whom 
 was Frederick, Duke of Saxony,) out of their 
 lands and countries. It being the desire of the 
 Princes of Germany and many others, that a general 
 Council should be held in some convenient situa- 
 tion, the very thought of such a circumstance out 
 of the Lateran palace was dreadful to Pope Leo, 
 who, living in magnificence and ease at Rome, 
 feared consequences similar to those which befel his 
 predecessors at the Councils of Constance and Basil; 
 but while he was deliberating how to decline it 
 altogether, or to put it oflf for a time, he died, and 
 was succeeded by Adrian VL, who in former times 
 had been the emperor's schoolmaster. 
 
 This Pope, having considered what was best to 
 be done in so important a matter, and how he could 
 satisfy the princes and people of Germany, sent his 
 legate to the Diet of Norinberg with letters and 
 promises to the princes there assembled, " that if 
 they would proceed against Luther, (in case they 
 could not otherwise reduce him) as their predeces- 
 sors had done against John Huss and Jerome of 
 Prague, in the Council of Constance, his own inten- 
 tion and full resolution was, to set his chiefest cares 
 
119 
 
 upon reforming^ the abuses of the Church, and the 
 abominations of the See and Court of Rome, from 
 whence, peradventure, all the present mischiefs had 
 proceeded ; and that this he would the rather do, 
 because he saw that all the world did earnestly 
 desire it." He received for answer, that there were 
 no better means to reduce all things to tranquillity, 
 than a free Christian Council, to be appointed by 
 the emperor's consent, in some convenient part of 
 Germany, where every one mio^ht have liberty to 
 go and give that advice which should most tend to 
 the honour of God, and the advancement of true 
 religion. But Adrian had no leisure to begin his 
 pretended reformation, or to determine any thing 
 respecting the Council; for he soon afterwards died, 
 when Clement VII. was raised to the papal chair, 
 who was also averse to the calling of a Council, 
 or proposed such conditions as he knew would not 
 be taken ; and thus did he endeavour to pass away 
 the time, until he, like his predecessors, was attacked 
 by a severe iUness, which ended in his death. 
 
 To him succeeded Paul III., a prelate remarkable 
 for his dissimulation — pretending that he feared not 
 a Council, as Clement had done, and feeling assured 
 that he could at all times, by his influence, manage 
 matters to his satisfaction, he seemed by all means 
 to desire such an assembly; and on the emperor 
 going to Rome, to have a conference upon the sub- 
 ject, he went so far as to send forth a bull, directing 
 that a synod should assemble at Mantua, in Italy. 
 The King of England and the Princes of Germany 
 sent in their remonstrances against this place, and 
 the Duke of Mantua refused to admit the Council 
 into his city, except upon terms too costly for the 
 Court of Rome. Another bull was therefore issued, 
 to have the Council held at Vicenza, a city under 
 the dominion of the Venetians ; but this was also 
 
120 
 
 afterwards changed for the city of Trent, on the 
 <;onfines of Italy, and thither, by a third bull issued 
 for the purpose, were all Bishops, Abbots, and other 
 privileged persons, who had taken an oath to be 
 obedient to the Pope and See of Rome, ordered to 
 repair, there to attend and meet the Pope's legates 
 for the celebration of a general Council. 
 
 The Pope's determination having been thus made 
 known, the princes and all the reformed churches 
 in Germany, together with the kingdoms of Den- 
 mark and England, and other places, immediately 
 sent in their solemn protestations, alleging, among 
 other things, that the calling of this Council, by his 
 own authority alone, was contrary to the rights of 
 kings, and the ancient customs of the church ; that 
 he summoned no persons, nor intended to admit any 
 to debate or give their votes there, who had not 
 first sworn obedience to himself; that he took upon 
 himself, in a most unjust manner, thus to be the 
 Judge in his own case, and that the whole was only 
 a device to delude the Christian world with the 
 name of a general Council. This celebrated Council 
 soon afterwards commenced its sittings, and did 
 not scruple to put forth its decrees, although there 
 were present, it appears, besides the three legates 
 and the Cardinal Bishop of Trent, not above fifty 
 persons. 
 
 At this Council, there were private assemblies, 
 held in one of the legate's houses, for the purpose 
 of debating and of framing the decrees before they 
 should be brought into the public session; and 
 amongst other subjects introduced on these occa- 
 sions, the Canon of Scripture was proposed, and 
 freely discussed in four congregations. A great 
 <iiversity of opinion reigned ; some urging the dis- 
 tinction of St. Jerome between the Canonical and 
 Apocryphal Books; and others declaring that both 
 
121 
 
 should be received, and proclaimed to be of equal 
 and of Divine authority. But in the end, the voices 
 of the latter prevailed ; and in the fourth session a 
 decree was passed to that very purpose, and a curse 
 pronounced upon all those persons in the world 
 who should not receive this new Canon of Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 The following is a part of the decree drawn up 
 and voted upon this occasion : — 
 
 " That the Council doth receive, with equal vene- 
 ration, all the books of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment, together with the unwritten traditions be- 
 longing both to faith and manners, as proceeding 
 from the mouth of Christ, or dictated by the Holy 
 Ghost; .... that among these books, Tobit, Judith, 
 Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, and the Maccabees, 
 together with the parts of Daniel and Esther, 
 ought to be numbered; .... and that if any person 
 doth not receive them all, as sacred and canonical^ 
 let him be accursed." 
 
122 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 THE IRISH SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Not only was the Word of God translated into 
 the English and Welsh, but also into the Irish lan- 
 luage; a brief account of which is here sub- 
 joined : — 
 
 Richard Fitzralph, an excellent and enlightened 
 man, and who was made Archbishop of Armagh, in 
 1347, is the first person on record, known to have 
 had in his possession any part of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, in the Irish tongue. It is said that, having 
 been cited, on a certain occasion, to appear before 
 the Pope and Cardinals, on his leaving Armagh, he 
 concealed a version of the New Testament, proba- 
 bly made by himself, in one of the walls of his 
 cathedral, with the following remark at the end of 
 the manuscript : — " When this book is found, truth 
 will be revealed to the world, or Christ will shortly 
 appear" — and we learn that it was found about A.D. 
 1530, 170 years after his death, on repairing the 
 church at Armagh, not many years after the refor- 
 mation commenced in Germany, and before it was 
 introduced into Ireland. 
 
 In 1571 a fount of Irish types was provided, and 
 sent to Nicholas Walsh, chancellor, and John Kear- 
 ney, treasurer, of St. Patrick's, Dublin, "in hopes 
 that God in mercy would raise up some to translate 
 the New Testament into the mother tongue of the 
 Irish people." This most interesting and impor- 
 tant work, it is said, was commenced by them, and 
 was continued by Nehemiah Donnellan, Archbishop 
 
12S 
 
 of Tuam; but it remained for William O'Donnel 
 or Daniel, his immediate successor in that see, to 
 complete the translation, and it was, according-ly, 
 published in 1602, he having- devoted himself alto- 
 gether to the work, and being a man of distin- 
 guished learning. This translation was made from 
 the original Greek — a great interest was excited 
 on its account, and several editions have been pub- 
 lished since its first appearance, and distributed 
 throughout Ireland, thus blessing and refreshing 
 many an immortal soul with the glorious light of 
 divine truth. 
 
 But of all those persons who engaged in this 
 cause, none entered into it with more ardour than 
 the good Bishop Bedell, an excellent Irish scholar, 
 who, while he presided over the dioceses of Kil- 
 more and Ardagh, superintended a translation of 
 the Old Testament, which he completed in 1640, 
 but did not live to see published. So great was the 
 respect and esteem shown for this excellent man by 
 the Irish people, that he was styled by them the 
 best of English Bishops, and great were the marks 
 of honor which he received from all persons. He 
 died in 1641, during the great rebellion, and the 
 rebels not only suffered him to be interred in his 
 own burial place, but gave permission to his friends 
 to have the funeral service performed over his re- 
 mains, and according to the rites of the Church of 
 Ireland. 
 
 The rebel chiefs attended on the occasion, and 
 having collected their forces, accompanied the body 
 to the church-yard in great solemnity, when they 
 discharged a volley over the grave, crying out, in 
 Latin, " may the last of the English rest in peace," 
 whilst one of the Priests (Edmund Farilly) who 
 was present, exclaimed — "Let my soul be with 
 Bedell." 
 
124 
 
 The manuscript of Bedell's version having been 
 entrusted to the care of Dr. Henry Jones, Bishop 
 of Meath, was, in some time afterwards, published, 
 through the exertions of the Honorable Robert 
 Boyle ; and thus were the Irish people enabled to 
 read, in their own tongue, the wonderful works of 
 God — Acts ii. 2. Since the first publication of 
 Bedell's Bible, several editions of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures have been published, at different times, in the 
 Irish language. 
 
A FEW TESTIMONIES 
 
 ^rom early Christian Writers, in favour of the 
 
 reading of the Holy Scriptures by all 
 
 manner of persons. 
 
 St. CLEMENS, called ROMANUS. Fint Century. 
 
 " Look diligently into the Scriptures, the true 
 oracles of the Holy Spirit." — Ad. Corinth, i. 45. 
 
 St. IGNATIUS. 
 
 " Fathers, educate your sons in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord, and teach them the Sa- 
 cred Writings." — Ad. Phil. ep. 9. 
 
 ORIGEN. 
 
 " in the two Testaments, every word that apper- 
 taineth unto God may be found out and discussed}' 
 and all knowledge of things out of them may be 
 understood. But, if any thing do remain which 
 the Holy Scripture doth not determine, no other 
 kind of Scripture ought to be received, to give au- 
 thority to any knowledge." — In Levit. Horn. 5. 
 
 St. ANTHONY. Fourth Century. 
 
 " The Scriptures are sufficient for doctrine."— 
 From his Life, by St. Athanasius, 
 
 I 
 
126 
 
 Anstvcr by EUSEB PAMPHYLI, in the name of three hundred and 
 eighteen Fathers, at the first Council of Nice, a.d. 325. 
 
 " Believe the things that are written ; the things 
 that are not MTitten, neither think upon, nor in- 
 quire after." — Act. Cone. Nic. Par. 1644, torn. ii. 
 p. 402. 
 
 EUSEBIUS PAMPHYLI. 
 "Many at that time," the first century, "going 
 abroad, a^vay from their native country, undertook 
 the work of Evangelists, to preach Christ to those 
 who had not yet heard the word of faith; and 
 were ambitiously desirous to deliver the books of 
 the Holy Gospels."--^cc/. Hist. lib. iii. c. 33. 
 
 St. ATHANASIUS. 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of 
 God, are of themselves sufficient to the discovery 
 of truth." — Or. Cont. Gentes. Tom. i.p. 1. 
 
 St. basil. 
 
 To the Question—*'' Whether it were expedient 
 that novices should presently learn those things 
 that are in the Scripture ?" 
 
 " It is fit and necessary that evert/ one should 
 learn out of the Holy Scriptures that which is for 
 his use ; both for his full settlement in godliness, 
 and that he may not be accustomed unto human 
 traditions — In Reg. Brevoir, c. 95. 
 
 Let us obey the Lord, who says, (John v. 39.) 
 " Search the Scriptures." — De Baptismo. 
 
 St. AMBROSE. 
 " The Lord bears witness, that the reading of the 
 Sacred Scriptures is life, sayings The wordS which 
 
127 
 
 I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 
 —Serm. 35. 
 
 St. G'RE.GOKY—Epis. Nyssen. 
 
 "Let US search, as we are able, the Scripture 
 before us ; for he who g-ave the precept of search- 
 ing- them, will also perfectly give us strength to 
 obey it." — In Eccles. horn. 1. 
 
 St. JEROME. 
 
 " Plato wrote, yet not for all, but for a few, for 
 scarcely can three individuals understand him; but 
 they, that is, the chief men of the church and of 
 Christ, wrote not for a few, but for the whole 
 people." — In. Ps. 86. 
 
 " At seven years old let her learn the Psalter by 
 memory ; and, at her age of puberty, let her make 
 the books of Solomon, the Gospel, the Apostles, 
 and the Prophets, the treasure of her heart." — Ad 
 Gaudentiuniy on the education of his young daugh- 
 ter y Pacatula. 
 
 St. CHRYSOSTEM. 
 
 "I do p^'vays exhort, and will never cease to 
 exhort you, that you will not here only attend to 
 those things which are spoken ; but, when you are 
 at home, you continually busy yourselves in reading 
 the Holy Scriptures : which practice also I have 
 not ceased to urge upon them which come privately to 
 
 me For, to these ends hath the Spirit of God 
 
 so dispensed and provided this word, that publicans, 
 fishers, tent-makers, shepherds, and goatherds, plain 
 unlettered men, should have composed these books ; 
 lest any of the simpler sort should pretend this ex- 
 cuse ; ' what gain have we then, if we understand 
 jaot those things which are contained in those 
 
128 
 
 Books ;' that all things which are said, should be easy 
 to discern ; and that the workman, the servant, the 
 poor widow, and the most unlearned of all other, 
 by hearing of the Word read, might get some gain 
 and profit." — Concio de Laz. 3. 
 
 " Hear, I beseech you, all ye secular men ; pro- 
 vide you Bibles, which are the medicines of the 
 soul : at least, get the New Testament." And in 
 cap. 4. — " This is the cause of all evils that the 
 Scriptures are not known." — In Coloss. 3 et 4. 
 
 " The Apostles and Prophets, as the common 
 teachers of the world, made all that they declared 
 manifest and clear, that every one may learn for 
 himself those things which are said, by reading 
 alone." — Concio de LazarOy 3 et 4. 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures require not the aid of 
 man's wnsdom to make it understood, but the reve- 
 lation of the Spirit." — In. Gen.c. 4, Horn. 21. 
 
 " Who is there to whom all is not manifest 
 which is written in the Gospel ? Who that shall 
 hear, Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the mercifuly 
 Blessed are the pure in hearty and the rest, would 
 require a teacher, to learn any of these things 
 which are here spoken ? As also the signs, mira- 
 cles, histories, are they not kno\vn and manifest to 
 every man ? This pretence and excuse is but the 
 cloak of our slothfulness. — Thou uuderstandest not 
 those things which are wTitten — how shouldst thou 
 understand thera, which wilt not so much as 
 slightly look into them ? Take the book into thy 
 hand ; read all the history ; and, what thou know- 
 est remember ; and what is obscure go often over." 
 Concio de Lazaro, 3. 
 
 " The Scriptures are the door ; they lead us to 
 God, and open to us the knowledge of him ; they 
 make the sheep, they keep thera, neither do they 
 
120 
 
 permit the wolves to break in. For, as a most 
 strong door they keep off heretics, and keep the 
 fold in safety ; and do not permit us ever to stray 
 from thence, unless we will do so. — Hence we may 
 know who are true pastors and who are not; for 
 whosoever does not use the Holy Scriptures, but 
 g-ets in elsewhere, is a thief." — Horn. 58, in Job. 
 
 St. AUGUSTINE. 
 
 " Whatsoever is in the Scriptures, believe me, is 
 high and divine ; there is verily truth, and a doctrine 
 most fit and refreshing for the renewing of men's 
 minds ; and truly so tempered, that every one may 
 draw from thence that which is sufficient for him, 
 if he come with a devout and pious mind, as true 
 religion requireth." — De utilit. credendi, 
 
 " In those things that are plainly set down in the 
 Scriptures, all such matters are found that concern 
 Faith, Hope and Charity." — DeDoctr, Christ. 
 
 " The manner of expression in which the Holy 
 Scripture is framed, although it is to be penetrated 
 but by few, is accessible to all. Those plain things 
 which it contains, it speaks to the heart of the un- 
 learned and learned, like a familiar friend without 
 disguise. That mind which is inimical to this doc- 
 trine, is either erroneously ignorant that it is most 
 wholesome, or loaths the medicine from disease." — 
 Epist. 137, ad Volusianum. 
 
 " God has bowed the Scriptures even to the capa- 
 city of babes and sucklings, as he hath said in ano- 
 ther psalm, *he bowed the heavens and came 
 down.' " — Infol. 8. 
 
 " I do not desire to prove the Holy Church by 
 human documents, but by divine oracles. If the 
 Church of Christ is marked out in all nations, by 
 the divine and certain evidences of the canonical 
 Scriptures ; whatsoever they may adduce or repeat 
 
130 
 
 from any source, saying, Lo, here is Christ, or there 
 — let us rather, if we be his sheep, hear the will of 
 our Shepherd, sayings, believe them not, for we 
 should seek that in the holy canonical Scriptures." 
 — De unit. eccl. c. 3. 
 
 St. CYRIL. Fifth Century. 
 
 " Even boys that are bred up in the Scriptures 
 become most religious." — Ed, Basil, 1546. T. iii. 
 p. 162. 
 
 " The Holy Scripture is sufficient to make them 
 that are brought up in it wise, and most approved, 
 and furnished with most sufficient understanding." 
 —p. 159. 
 
 SEDULIUS SCOTUS, an Irishman. 
 
 " Search the law, in which the will of God is 
 contained." — " He would be more wise than is 
 meet, who searcheth those things that the law doth 
 not speak of." — In Ephes. v. §• Rom. xii. 
 
 St. THEODORET. 
 
 " It is not the will of God, who giveth liberally 
 and is rich in mercy, that only 5, 10, 15, 100, or 
 even 200 persons should be refreshed with waters 
 of life, but that all men should be plentifully sup- 
 plied : not those who have studied, but also coblers, 
 weavers, artizans, smiths, and other mechanics; 
 even slaves, and beggars, peasants, woodcutters, 
 and also women, rich persons, and such as 
 scarcely subsist by their daily labour." — Ser. 8. De 
 Martyribus. 
 
 " You should admit of no reasoning which is not 
 confirmed by the testimony of the Scriptures." — 
 Dial. I, 
 
131 
 
 St. ISlTiORE—Pelmiota. 
 
 " God, since he prescribed laws to men, who 
 possess a nature infirm and weak, and required the 
 use of human words, did therefore temper his divine 
 teachings with plain speech, that both women and 
 boys, and the most imlearned among mankind, 
 should receive some benefit from the hearing 
 thereof. — Bpist. v. Lib. ii. 
 
 SOCRATES. 
 
 " Ulphilas invented the Gothic letters ; and, 
 translating the Holy Scriptures into the Gothic 
 language, taught the barbarians the Word of God.'* 
 —Hist. EccL L. iv. c. 33. 
 
 St. FULGENTIUS. Sixth Century. 
 
 " In the Word of God there is abundantly enough, 
 both for men to eat and children to suck. For 
 there is at once the milk, by which the tender in- 
 fancy of the faithful may be nursed, and the solid 
 meat, by which the robust youth of the perfect age 
 may receive spiritual increase of holy virtue." — 
 Serm. de dispens. Domini. 
 
 St. GREGORY the GREAT, Bishop qf Rome. 
 
 " What is the Sacred Scriptures but an epistle of 
 the Omnipotent God to his creatures ? The Go- 
 vernor of Heaven, the Lord of men and angels, 
 hath sent you letters affecting your life, and yet 
 you neglect to read anxiously those epistles. I 
 beseech you, therefore, study and meditate daily on 
 the words of your Creator." — Epist. Lib. 4, indict. 
 xii. ep. 31, in Ed. Par. 1705. 
 
 " As the Word of God contains mysteries capa- 
 ble of exercising the most discerning minds, so it 
 includes truths fit to nourish the most simple and ig- 
 norant. It carries in its surface wherewithal to 
 
132 
 
 nourish its children, and keeps in its recesses that 
 which may wrap up in admiration the most exalted 
 minds ; being Uke a river, broad and deep, in which 
 a lamb may walk, or an elephant can swim." — Let- 
 ter to LeOy Archb. of Seville. 
 
 Of St, COLUMBKILL. 
 
 ** So within his breast were laid up the treasures 
 of the Holy Scriptures, that within the compass of 
 his youthful years, he composed an elegant expo- 
 sition of the whole book of Psalms." — Jonas in vit, 
 ejus, c. ii. 
 
 St. ISIBORE—Hispalens Epis. Seventh Century. 
 
 " The Holy Scripture is varied to suit the under- 
 standing of every reader; as the manna to the peo- 
 ple of old gave a varying flavour according to their 
 several tastes, the words of the Lord ai*e suited 
 to each according to their capacities. And, 
 while it is different according to the intel- 
 lects of individuals, it is one in itself. There- 
 fore, in the Sacred Books some obscure things, 
 and some plain are found, that the understanding 
 and the study of the reader may be increased." — 
 Sent. Lib. \. c. 18. de lege. 
 
 St. ANASTASIUS SINAITA. 
 
 " It is a great evil to be ignorant of the Scrip- 
 tures, and to be carried about as brute beasts ; for 
 innumerable evils arise from ignorance of the Scrip- 
 tures ; hence the great pest of heresy propagates, 
 hence a thoughtless life, mental darkness, and de- 
 vilish error." — Qucest. 65. 
 
 VENERABLE BEDE of St. AIDAN. Eig/ith Century. 
 
 " All such as went in his company, whether they 
 were of the Clergy or of the Laity, were tied to 
 
133 
 
 exercise themselves, either in the reading of Scrip- 
 tures, or the learning of Psalms."— £cc/. His. Lib. 
 iii. c. 5. 
 
 Same of St. FURSEY. 
 
 " From the time of his very childhood he exhi- 
 bited great cai'e in the reading of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures." — Ec. His. Lib, iii. c. 19. 
 
 " In the language of five nations it," Britain, 
 " did search and confess one and the same knowledge 
 of the highest truth of the true subhmity ; to wit, 
 of the English, the Britons, the Scots or Graelic, 
 the Picts and the Latin." — Hist. Eccl. Lib. I.e. 1. 
 
 CLAUDIUS SCOTUS. Ninth Century. 
 
 An Irishman, said to be one of the founders of the University of 
 Paris. 
 
 " Men therefore err, because they know not the 
 Scriptures ; and, because they are ignorant of the 
 Scriptures, they consequently know not Christ, who 
 is the power of God, and the wisdom." — Bi Mat. 
 Lib. 3, quoted from Usher. 
 
 THEOPHYLACT. Eleventh Century: 
 
 " Say not the Bible is for Clegymen only : it is 
 designed for every Christian, and for those who 
 have intercourse in the world in particular, who, 
 like persons toiling in a tempest, require greater 
 support ; therefore it becomes that your children 
 should have the Scriptures, for they will there learn 
 — Honor your father and mother ." — In Ephes. 
 
 " He who has learned the sacred writings from 
 his infancy, as he ought to do, is never overturned." 
 — In 2 Tim. iii. 
 
 " Observe that we should employ experience, 
 and meditation in the knowledge of the Scriptures, 
 
134 
 
 if we would form ajud^ent what things are here- 
 tical and what not." — In Heb. v. 14. 
 
 ST. BERNARD. Truelfth Century. 
 
 " You will find the words of none so to adapt 
 themselves to the strong and the weak, that is, to 
 the wise and the simple, as the words of the most 
 learned Word — our Lord Jesus," — Tract, de pass 
 Dom. c. 15. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 P»ge 'o&, line 26, for Sackchcraites, rcad.Shechemitcs. 
 
BS455 .B85 
 
 A brief history of the versions of the 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00081 2059