^:!^\

w

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

A N
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
of the
BRITISH or WELSH
VERSIONS ««^ EDITIONS
of the
B I B L E.
With an
APPENDIX
Gontaining the Dedications prefixed to the firft
ImJ)reflions.
By THOMAS LLEWELYN, L.L.D.
* ¦ * •»
Pro Patria.

LONDON:
Printed by Richard Hettj
And Sold by J. Buckland in Pater-nofter Row,
and T. Becket and Co. in the Stra^id.
MDCCLXVIII. ,

t iii ]

A D V £ R T rs £ M E N t.

J^)^)^JT will appear from thd
M I ^ following account, that it
k^K^^S^' is frequently impofTible to
procure Bibles for Proteftarits in
Wales ; and that this has been the
cafe more or lefs ever fince the
Reformation : in which time, the!
years of fcarcity have been many
more, than the years of plenty.
Was this fufficiently known, it
would not remain long (it is ap
prehended)' without^ a remedy 5
A 2 efpe-

[ IV ]
efpecially if an objedlion to fucf?
a remedy, ariiing from imagined
inconveniences attending the pre-
fervation of the Welfh tongue,
could be removed.
To inform the public of this cafe
and to remove this objedtion, was
therefore the firft and principal
intention of the author. He will
own himfelf much miftaken/ or
the objedion is here fhewn to be, in
general, very trifling to the inhabi
tants either of England or Wales.
The prefcnt was thought a fit fea-
fon for an attempt of this kind ;
as the Society for promoting Chrif-
tian Knowlege are now foliciting th^
ajfiftance of the able and the generous y
for the^ republication of the Welfh
Bible. This firft and principal' in
tention.

[ » 1
tention, it is believed, will Heed no
apology. It needs none to the
writer's own mind. It will need
none to the friends of religion, of
virtue, and of knowlege  none
therefore to any perfon, Whofe ap
probation is worth having.
The beft way of conveying in
formation of the above cafe, was
thought to be, by an hiftorical de-
dudtioix of the verfions and editions
of the book.' But here materials
were very deficient. The tranfla-
tion had been made near two hun
dred years ago. No hiftory had
ever been given of this fubje<5t.
It was, perhaps, never confidered
as important enough to deferve it.
It might be deemed fufficient that
there was a tranflation : and pro
vided

t vi ]
voided that was well done; na mat
ter when; or by whom. If the edi
tions of ' the book had been as re
gular and plentiful, as the verfion
is good; the hiftory of them would
have ftill remained unattempted :
and the Want of it would not have
had weight enough to prefs the
author to this fervice, or to trouble
others in this way. If the hiftory
feems defedlive; let its novelty, let
the diftance of the event, let the
fewnefs and fcattered condition of
the materials be its apology. If
the manner of its execution be
faulty, the writer alone is to blame*
But he h^s no great notion of mul
tiplying apologies : and is of opi
nion, that any part of this, and of
every other work, which cannot ftand

[ vii ]
ftand without propping^ fhould
even be fuffered to fall.
He has no claim to the ap
pendix but that of an editor ; nor
any right to that, except the right
of occupancy. He profefles a great
regard for the memory of the ori
ginal proprietors: and would be
glad to do them honor, by pub-
lifliing any of their remains, which
may have that tendency; more ef
pecially in the^prefent cafe, fince
thefe their remains may be confi
dered as vouchers for the hiftory ;
and alfo agreeable to the reader,
for their antiquity or curiofity.

AN

[ - ]

A N

Historic Aj:, Account

O F T H E

BRITISH, ^c.

THE vulgar verfions of the Bible
are in general owing to the Re-
formiation from Popery, and were -made
either in the fixteenth century or fince :
an inquiry therefore of this kind is
¦bounded by that- important event j and
can reach no farther back than the reigns
of Elizabeth, of Edward the Sixth, or
at moil of Henry the Eighth. '
From an epiftle of the Biihop * of
St. David, prefixed to the Welfli New
B Teila-
; » Dr. Richard Davis.

C 2 ]
Teftament printed in 1567 We learri, that
there was a ^ritifh manufcript verfion of
the Pentateuch, eXUht in the reign of
the laft-mentioned Iting. " I remem-
** ber," fays the Bifliop, "to haVe feen,
" when a lad, a tranflation of the five
" books of Mofes in the Britifh or
" Welfh tongue, in the pofTeifion of
" a learned gentleman, a near relation
** of* our family."
If we fuppofe the author to be fixty
years of age, at the time of writing this
epiftle " i and if we dediidt from the date
of it forty years, in order to bring us to
the time to which he refers ; we fhall find
that the above verfion mufl have been
feen as early as 1527, about the middle
of the reign of Henry the Eighth, and
mufl have been made fome time fooner.
It was extant therefore a confiderable
time, before the printmg of any part -of
the Bible in Welfh, and even prior to
any
>• He was fixty fix. Le Ngve Faft. Anglic, p. 514,

[ 3 ]
any printed edition of it in Englifh, It
is not faid who was the author of this
ancient verfion, and there may be no ufe
or end of conje6luring : I cannot however
forbear obferving that Tyndal, the firfl
Proteflant tranflator of the Bible into
Englifh, w'as a native of Wales, and
Jived about this time,
Some other fmall and detached pafTages
of Scripture feem to have been tranflated
into this language, in the days of Edward
the Sixth, and printed probably for the
ufe of his liturgy or fervice book. One
little thing of this fort was publifhed in
1 55 1, in that King's reign, and is men
tioned by the late Mr. J. Ames, , Secre
tary to the Antiquarian Society. The title
of it, a.s printed ' in Ames, is extremely
incorreifl ; it fignifies, in my way of read
ing it. Certain portions of Scripture, per
haps the epiflles and gofpels, appointed to
^e read in churches in the time, of commu-
B 2; nion
F Typograph. Antiq. p* %'}%.

I 4 J
nion and public ^wor/hfp, &c. by._W- S-
This, httle and inconfiderable a$ it-may
be thought, feems to have been ^11 the
efFea: the reformation had in this way,
on that part of the kingdom, till the
reign of Queen Elizabeth ; but that pros
mife4 and produced fomething": more
confiderable. : '. .';
In the year 1562 rather 1563, it was
ifenadled by Parliament \
*' That the Bible , confiflirig: of the
" ;New Teflarnent arid the Old. together
"with the Book of Common Prayer
** and the Adminiflration of the Sacra-
" merits fhould be; tranflated into the
" Briti|h or Welfh tongue — fhould be
" viewed perufed and allowed by the
" Bifhops of St Afaph Bangor St David
" LandafF and Hereford -^ — ^fhould be
" printed and ufed in the churches by
" the firfl of March in the year fifteen
*« hundred and fixty-fix under a penalty " iri
* 5 Elij. ,c. -28;-

i '5 ]
*f, in dafe of ; failure of forty pounds to
,** be ilevie4 on each of the above JBi-»
*' fhops ^'It i:v:> ' : ; ;.. » =
" That one printedcopy at leafl, of this
" tranflation fhould be had for and in
**. every cathedralr collegiate and /parifh
*• church and chapel ^f eafe thuoughout
tt jWales to be read by the clergy in time
" of divine fervice and at other times
" for the benefit apd perufal of any who
f*. had. a mind to go to church for that
^^purpofe > - ^ r.4 ; ...
. ." That> till this vferfion of the Bible
" -and Book Of Comritiori Prayer' flioulcj
-*' be compleated , and- publifhed the
**,,>Clergy of th^t country fhould read in
-" time of public worfhip the Epiflles
** and Gofpela the Lord's Prayer the
". Articles of the Chrifl:ian Faith the
." Litany and fuch other, parts of the
" Corrimon Prayer Book in the Welfh
*f tongue as fhould be diredled and'apr
.** pointed by the abovementioned Bi-
" fhops" And„\ _ '
!* That not only during this interval but

[ 6 I
" but for ever after Englifh Bibles and
*< Cenimon Prayer Books fhould be had
** and remain in every church and eha-
** pel throughout that country."
In what manner the latter part of this
ftatute has been complied with is not
jny bufinefs now to inquire. As to the
former part, one year after the time
fixed by Parliament, ^he Ndw ' T'ejia-
menti tranjlated into the Britifh tongue,
was printed in a handfome quarto of 29<^
leaves - — in black letter as it is called'-—
difpofed and divided, as to books and
chapters, like our, prefnt Tejiaments-^
ijoith arguments and contents to each
book and to each chapter — laith explana^
tions' of difficult words in the margin,
but no references to parallel paffages, as
indeed- there could not be; for there is
no diJiinSlion of verfes, except in fome
books towards the latter end, ' which is
the more remarkable, as Englijh editions
of the Bible, before this time, have in
general that diJiinSlio^. -' • ' Of

[ 1 ]
Of this verfion the book. of the Re-
yelation was tranflated by.T. H. C. M. '
perhaps Thomas Huet, Chantor or Prae*-
center of Menew, that is, St. David ^
The fecond epiflle to Timothy, the epiflle
to the Hebrews, the epiflle of St. James,
and both the epiflles of St. Peter, were
tranflated by D. R.'D. M. that is Dr.
Richard Davis Menevenfis Or Bifhop of
Sti David K AH the refl of this tranf
lation was the work of W. S. that is
William Salefbury \ very eminent in his
day, and amongfl his own nation, for hi^
great induftry learning and pietyl
This Teflarnent was printed in Lon
don, in the year 1567, by Henry Den-
ham, at the cofls and charges of ' Hum
phrey Toy ^ To it is prefixed" a Calen
dar and an Englifh dedication ** To
" the
' Rev. begin. Marg. of this Teft.
*¦ Le Neve Faft. Anglic, p, 515.
s Marg. Note in this Teft. begin, of Epift. to Heb-
' I John begin. 2 Tim. begin. 2 Theff. end.
* Teft.itfelfattheend.

[ a J
" the " mofl virtuovis rand noble Prince
*' Elizabeth, &c." by the principal tranf
lator : and a long. epiflle in Welfh to his
countrymen, by the Bifhop of Sb David.
From thefe two pieces and the title-page
we underfland— that this verfion was made
from the .Greek collated with/the Xalih —
that it was made with fidelity and dili
gence—and that Salefbiiry had the oYer-
jGght; of the whole,, efpeciallyl of the
publication, *^ by the appointment," as
he fays, " of o^r mofl vigilant Pallours
" the Bifhops of Wales."
But there was no edition, or verfion of
the OldTefJainent into the Britifh tongue,
till above twenty years after this publica
tion of the New : this muil.feem ex
traordinary, and we . cannot .but be fur-
pijzed at fuch a delay, at fuch an inllance
of non-compliance with an aft of Par
liament. For the honor of the Bifhops of that
time in Wales I would hoj^, .and; from
.'vi- ¦ ¦" " an

[ 9 1
an expreffion ufed by Salefbury above I
might conclude ; that this delay did not
proceed from any want of difpofition in
them to promote and forward this good,
this neceffary work. For the credit of
my country I would hope, and from the
little I know of the hiflory of that period
I believe^ that this delay did not pro-'
ceed from want of perfons of Ikill and
abUityj at that time among the Welfh,
to undertake and execute a work of this
kind. And for the honor of flill greater
folks I could wifh fuch a non-coiripliance
may not have proceeded from want of
fufficient time allowed, or from any o-
¦ ther want of proper and neceffary pro-
vifion made, for the due and timely exe
cution of it.
I have, however, fome fufpicions that
all here was not as it ought to have been ;
and let it affed: whom it may, I fhall lay
my fufpicions before the Reader j and as
this will be done with fubmiffion to the
judgment of others, and with due defer
ence to all proper Autority, it is pre-
C fumed,

[ 10 ] ,
frimed, I fhall neither deferve nor incuK"
blame. Not to infifl on the peculiarity of ap
pointing, for the examination and peru-
fal of this verfion, five Gentlemen, who
were to do it, in virtue of their offices j
who may have often, if not general
ly been all Englifh, but perhaps were
never all together Welfh, or Maflers of
the Welfh Language j not to infifl, I
fay, on this very peculiar appointment :
my firfl doubt refpefts the Time allow
ed, by the Statute, for undertaking and
compleating this bufinefs. This was be
tween three and four years.
The tranllating and printing, of the
whole of Lu-ther's Gerriian Bible took
him up from 1522 to 1532 \
The tranflators of the abovemention
ed Britifh New" Teflament afTure us, that
it was done with diligence, that is, vnth.
all expedition poffible ; yet it was not
finifh-
" Le Long. Biblioth. Sac. vol. ti, p. 201..

I II ]
finifhed and publifhed, in lefs than four
•or five years time.
The Englifh Tranflation of what is
galled Parker's, or the Bifhop's Bible was
Jbegun in 1559 ; but it was not finifhed
till 1568. Bifhop Burnet fays indeed
that it was printed in 1561. But that is
a miftake, as may be known from Lewis's
Hiftory xDf the Tranflations of the Bible
into Englifli '. And
King James's new verfion o£ the Eng
lifh Bible was ordered as early as 1604;
but it was not compleated and publifhed
till 1613''.
Both thefe verfions, it fhould be re
membered, were not properly fpeaking
new tranflations, but only revifions or
corred:ions of former verfjons ; yet they
took lip each of them {as did alfo Lu
ther's) nine or ten years ere they were
compleated : but according to the above
Statute, The whole Bible, , confiftirig
C 2 of
• Lewis's Hift. of Engl. Tr.anf. p. 240.
^ Ibid, p, 3J0.

I 12 ]
of the New Teftament and the Old, and
very probably the Apocrypha, togethd?
with the Book of Common Prayer and
the Adminiflration of the Sacraments,
is to be tranflated for the firft time, into
the Britifh or Welfh Tongue — is to be
viewed and perufed by five different per
fons — is to be printed, to be bound and
to he fet up, in every church in the
country, in the fpace of four, if not of
three years.
In this preferit Century, the bare print
ing of the Bible in that language has
taken up as much, if not more time.
The edition. of 1746 was begun in 1743:
and the edition of 17 18 was fet about
in I7I4«
Suppose the time allowed, by the
Statute, to have been fufficient for the
purpofe; I fufpeft there are here other
omiffions or t^egleBs of feveral thii;igs ne^
ceffary for accomplifhing this bufinefs ;
which negledts or omiflSons might not
pnly have thus procraftinated and de
ferred

[ U }
ferred it, but have even prevented its
being effected.
For the due performance of our Eng
lifh verfions, with care and expedition j —
a regular plan is laid down — the whole
Bible is divided into feveral portions —
a certain number of perfons, almoft a
.Septuagint> of known learning and abi
lities, are appointed by name to under
take and ej^ecute the work — their table
and other neceffary expences, wbile em
ployed (eftimated at above One Thoufand
Marks, near Seven Hundred Pounds " ),
the table, I fay, and other neceffary ex
pences of thefe tranflators are defrayed
by the Public — and from the beginning
orders are ifllied out by His Majefty ;
that they be fpeedily and amply rewards
ed with the firft Parfonages, Prebends
or other goodly Livings, which fhould
become vacant °. But, here no fuch pro-
vifion is made. Nothing of this kind
feems
" Wilkins. Concil. Mag. Brit. vol. iv, p. 408,
® Ibid. p. 407.

[Hi
feems to have been thought of. NO
royal mandates are iflfued out. No care
taken for rewarding or fupporting the
perfons employed. No divifiion of Scrip-r
ture or parcelling it out among a cer-r
tain number of perfons. No plan at all
laid down. No appointment of any one
perfon to xlndertake the whole or any
Part of it. It is ordered — it is ordered
to be done — but unfortunately to be done
by Nobody.
It may be faid, that thefe things are
left to the care and diredlion of the
Welfh Bifhops -, and ought to have been
provided and xegulated by them. 'They
are, fays the Statute* for the foul's health
of the flocks committed to their charge,
to take fuch Order among tbemfelves, that
this may be done : that is, " They are to
meet and confult together. They are to
nominate and appoint proper perfons to
undertake this affair. They are to require
and enjoin them to do it. They are to
' view and perufe the tranflation, when it
i?

[ IS ]
is done j and if it appears to be right, they
are to approve and allow it, and then get
it put to the prefs and publifhed. But,
It fhould be confidered, with what
fund and at whofe expence all this is to
be accomplifhed. How are the Bifhops
to engage and prevail upon able and fuf
ficient perfons to undertake it .? — How are
the tranflators to be maintained and fup-
ported, while they are employed .'* Or,
How are they to be paid and rewarded
afterwards ? Who is to defray the ex-
pence of the prefs and publication, and
other expences neceffarily to be incur
red, befoire the Book can be ready for
the ufe of the public ?
It fhould be remembered likewife, what
is the penalty to be inflid:ed on the Bi
fhops, in cafe they did not choofe to do
all, or any of thefe things. Is it Degra
dation ? Is it Deprivation of their Liv
ings ? Is it the Xofs of their Eftates, or
any confiderable part of their Property ?
No. It is no fuch thing. It is a fmall, ^
a trifling penalty. It is a fine of Forty
Pounds

t i6 J
Pounds each, which they muft fi^-^ iii
cafe of non-performancC. And what
niiuft be the confequence of performing
what is enad:ed ? Why a much . greater
Sum expended; which, for aught ap-*-
pears to the contrary, muft all come out
of their own pockets.
Suppofe any five perfons, at this day
in the Kingdom, required by the greateft
Autority on earth* to fee any thing exe
cuted of a finiilar kind, or to take fuch Or^
der among themfelves, that fuch a thing
may be done ; or elfe to forfeit Forty
Pounds apiece : would they not much
fooner lay down their forfeit money, than
engage in an aflfair, which would coft
each of them fome Hundreds. Juft a
century from this time, when the prei
fent Statute came to be re-enadled, by
the A£t for Uniformity, with a particular
view to the Book of Common Prayer;
this claufe of the penalty was wholly
omitted as inadequate, improper or
trifling. When

i 17 ]
. When I confider tHefe things, my
Wonder ceafes at the delay in this cafe;
and I am almoft tempted to afcrlbe the
verfion and publication of the Bible, In
the language of .Wales — not to the au
tority or efficacy of the Statute, In that
cafe made and provided — but to the good
difijofition, to the generofity, to the
zeal and a(fllvlty of particular, of pri
vate perfons;
T w o or three of thefe worthy patriots
and beneifacaiors to their country have
been named already. The firft of thefe,
Huet, Is only gueffed at and little known.
" Davles was a confefTor and an exile
" for his religion, in the reign of Queen
" Mary; he was reftored to his country,
" on the acceffion of Queen Elizabeth,
" and made fucceffively Bifhop of St.
•* Afaph and St. David'. Salefbury was
" a private gentleman of an eminent fa-
" mily in Denbighfhire, of liberal edu-
D " cation,
f Wood. Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 202.

[ i8 J!
" cation* for a time at the Univerfity^
" then at fome of the Inns of- Court
" near London; author of feveral trfiatifes
" in Welfh and for promoting that lan-
** guage ; much meriting, feyg Wood, of
" the church and of the Britifh tongue. " *
The next perfon concerned, in doing
his country and the churqh this fignal fer
vice, was William Morgan D. D. vicar of
Llan-Rhaiadr In Denbighfhire, promot
ed in 159.5 to the See of Landafi^ tranf
lated to St. Afaph in 1601, and in 1604
to a better place. This Gentleman for
the firft time finte the Reformation
tranflated, at leaft had the principal hand
in tranflating the whole Old Teftament
and alfo the Apocrypha into Welfh ; he
likewife revifed and corredled the former
verfion of the New Teftament, and had
them well and handfonaely printed to^
gether, by Chriflx)pher and Robert Barker,.
in the ever memorable year of 1588'.
One *copy of this book he prefented to
the Dean and Chapter of ' Weftminfter ;
in
' Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 153.

[ 19 ]
in return for the civilities which hfe had
received from that Learned Body* parti
cularly from Dean Goodman, It yet re
mains in their Library. It is printed in
folio and on black letter-— it contains the
Old Teftament, the Apocrypha and the
New Tefiament — it has contents prefixed
to each chapter — it is diftinguiftoed into
verfes throughout — it has fofie marginal
references — has prefixed to it a Latin de
dication to ^een Elizabeth— has a calen
dar, one or two tables- befides->-and like
the preceding Tefiament, it is numbered
not by pages but by leaves, which amount
f^ 555-
How Morgan came to undertake this
bufinefs doth not appear. He doth not
feeni to ha^e been employed in it by
Autority. He doth not feem to have.
been nominated by the Bifhops, com-
.mlflloners for this affair. It fhould
rather feem, that he engaged in it fpon-
taneoufly, or influenced only by the
ufefulnefs and neceffity of the work, and
by, the wifhes and prayers of the good
D 2 people

[ 20 ]
people of the land. ¦ ^This may be infer
red, I prefume, from the' preface or de
dication to his Bible. He Is quite filent
as to any order or Injunftlon upon him,
for this purpofe : he fays nothing of his
being appointed by the Bifhops his fu-
periors, as Salefbury does in his dedica
tion to the Queen.
It doth not appear when, that is In
what year, he undertook and fet about this
tiranflatlon. We have no reafon to think*
that he began foon after the eriadlirig of
Queen Elizabeth's Statute ; or that he fet
out with the tranflators of the New
Teftament, It is probable, that he had
done nothing about it, till a long while
after the pub'licatibh of their verfion. He
had not done ¦ much* if any thirig in it,
before Whitglft was made ArChbifhop
Of Canterbury. This I infer from the
above dedication. He would have fiink, he
fays, under his difficulties and difcourage'^
ments ; he would have thrown up and re-
llnquiflied the whole ; or he would have
brought to the prefs and publifhed only
the five' Books of Mofes ; had It not been for

I 2^ ]
for the Archbifhop's fupport arid encou
ragement. This Is not the language of
a perfon retained and employed by men
in power. It is .the language of one
who had engaged himfelf freely, and
who had it in his own option to perfe-
vere or not. And it; fhews too, that he
had not done much before 1583, when
Whitgift was promoted to Lambeth.
Neither doth it fully appear, vvhat.af-
fiftance or affoclates he had In this work.
It may feem an undertaking too laborious
and tedious for one man. Three perfons
were employed in tranflating the New
Teftament, though. fome parts of that
had 'been tranflated before ; I mean the
Epiftles and Gofpels printed In Edward
the Sixth's reign, which very probably
were incorporated Into the firft edition
of the Teftament, and perhaps may be
the part of it undifiinguiftied by verfes.
The Old Teftament has the Apocrypha
connedted with it — by itfelf it is a much
larger book — and the original language of
it is lefs generally underftood. The tranf lation

I 22 J
latlon of it muft be a work of more tImQ
arid difficulty. It is probable therefore^
that Morgan was only a Principal in this
bufinefs, to whom others fhould be ad-»
ded as aflfocIateS or affiftants. But who
thefe affiftants were may not be fully
known ; and It Is ftill le/s known what
they did.
Wood tells us% that he was aided by
Dr. R*. Parry, afterwards Bifhop of St.
Afaph : but that I imagine to be a mif
take occafioned by the part Parry adl-
ed, above 'thirty years after, on a fecond
verfion or edition of the Welfh Bible.
However that be, Morgan himfelf fay^
nothing of Parry ; though he has taken
care to mention and to make due ac
knowledgements to feveral Gentlemen,
his worthy patrons or affiftants. Thefe
were the Archbifhop of Canterbury he-,
fore named — the Bifhops of St. Afaph
and Bangor (Dr. Hughes and Dr. -Bel-
lot I fuppofe)  Dr. Gab. Goodman,
Dean of Weftminfter— Dr. David Powel

a Diff-

Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 727.

t: ^3 1
a Dignitary, fays Wood, in one of thd
Cathedrals In Wales '. Mr. Edmund
Pryfe, Archdeacon of Merioneth, author
of the Welfh Pfalms In metre — and Mr.
R"*. Vaughan, Red:or then of Lutter
worth, afterwards Bifhop of Baflgor, of
Chefter and of London.
Thefe Gentlemen encouraged and fup-
ported our tranflator in his work ; they
abetted and affifted him ; ppem tulerunt,
fays he, non contetnnendam. They grant
ed him Free aecefs to their libraries,
which muft be of confiderable advantage^
They perufed and examined his verfion*
They revifed and corredled it for him."
While attending the prefs, he lived with
the Dean of Weftminfter ; qui, as he tells
us, relegsnti mihi it£t adfuit afjiduus, ut &
labor e: & confilio mephrimum adjuverit.
Thefe particulars are known from Mor
gan's dedication of his book, where he
makes the moft honorable mention of
his chief patrons- and aflbciates;- One
would have expefted to fee, in this lift-,
-•- ¦ the
« Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 245.

[ 24 ]
the name, of Salefbury : perhaps he tvas
dead by this time; as. was alfo Bifhop
Davies. Dr. John. Davles, we .know*
had; fome hand In this.verfiori, . . And fo
might fome other perfons, whofe names,?
for reafons unknown tons, may n0;t have
been here inferted., -^ .
Thus after a long delay of near thirty
years, was the Holy Bible tranflated in
to the Britifh or Welfh tongue; thus it'
was printed and publifhed for the -firft
time In that language, and the intention
of the Statute enadled for that purpofe, at
length accomplifhed ; which intention
after all makes no pro vifion* but for
places of public worfhip, but for the
chapels and churches throughout Wales.
A very fcanty, a very poor proyifion fure-
ly, for a Reformed a Proteftant country^
It provides, qnly for the church, that is,
for one houfe in a parifh, and that a
houfe hardly ever frequented by all the
inhabitants, and in common, not fre
quented above once in a week by any of
them. How

C 25 ]
How far the preferit publication prov^
ed an adequate Supply, even in this re-
f^e&i may be doubtful; and cannot be
preelfely determined without knowing
the 'number of places appropriated to re
ligious worfhip in Wales, and the number
of Billes printed at this time. The num
ber' of parifh churches in that country, is
fuppofed to be about eight hiindred *. Add
to thefe at randorh the chapels of eafe,-
and the churches cathedral and Colle
giate; and the whole number may a-
mourit to nine hundred- or a thou'fand.
But r much queftion whether this' publi
cation was numerous enough tofupply fo-
Hiariy. "places. The fame caufes which
procraftinated and delayed the verfion,
riiight alfo cramp and leffen the impref-
fi^Ori; and render it fmall, fcanty and in
adequate* even -to the public wants of
the country.
ImprefSoris of books in -general were
not at that period, fo nuttierous as they
are at prefent, when reading* is much
E more
*"Walker fays, 965. Sufferings of Clergy, p. 166.

[ 26 ]
more in fafhion. I remember to have
read fomewhere, that Grafton the prln-
ter^ when foliciting, an, ejfclufive Charter
to vend Englifh Bibles, made ufe of this
plea; That he had, at a great expenqe^,:
printed.; a large impreffion of that b.poki;
confifiing of fifteen hjifidred copies.. If'fif',
teen hundred Bibles were |-eckoned-: -a;
large number for England; half that
number, a quarter of that number might
be thought a very large- " impreffion for
Wales : and If fo. If only five or fix hun
dred copies were printed off at this time,
there might, and notwithftanding ; this
fupply, there would b& a great many,
chapels and churches in tliat. country, yet
deflitute of Welfh Bibles. • We may
imagine, that the proviiion nq^Y made.
was adequate to ..the number of places in-_
tended to be fupplied ; becaufe that feems;
tO' be required by law; and becaufe- It iS;
right it fhouldbe fb : but this will not
follow, any more than it follows, that
the tranflation and impreffion. Itfelf was
finifhed by the ift of;March, 15^6 ; be
caufe

[ 27 ]
catife it is Ordered by Parliament ^that It
fhoiild -be. ¦ But however thefe things
-may have been — let the provlfion of this
time have been adequate or not : this
verfion has fince received confiderable al^
teratlons. The tranflation of the New Teftament
printed In th^ edition of 1588 had been
made, as we have feen, by Salefbury and
Davles ; and only revifed and corredled by
Morgan. For fome reafon or other,
Morgan revifed and corredled it again ;
and it was ready for the prefs, when he
died In 1604 '. Whether he intended to
have the whole Bible reprinted ; and in
cafe that was his intention ; whether he
propofed only a further fupply for the
cb-jirches, or a more general provlfion for
the country. Is and probably njuft be for
ever unknown , — and it is likewife un
known whether thjs corrected verfion of
the New Teftament was ever publifhed
or not. But, E ? In
'Ames Typogr, Antiq. p. 435.

r ^8 ]
In- the reign of James tlje Firft, the
tranflation pf the New, together, with
that of the Old Teftament, underwent
the examination and correlation of Dr.
Richard Parry, Morgan's fuccefTqr in the
See of St. Afaph, The alteratiotis made
in confequence of this examination, feem
to have been confiderable enough to
juftify us, fhould we call wha^ was then
publifhed a new verfion of the Bible into
Welfh: as King James, and the perfons
employed by him, in the Englifh impref-
fipn of about this time, call their cor-
reidlions and alterations a new .tranflation
of the Bible Into Englifti.
This corfed:ed or new verfion of the
Britlfli Bible is much the fapie with that
in ufe at this day. It may be deemed
the ftandard tranflation for that language,
as King James's Verfion is confidered
with regard to the Englifh. ' It was
printed in London by Norton and Bill,
pointers to his Majefty, In the year 1620,
The copy of this impreffiojj prefented to
tlie Kln^ is now, in that noble repofitory of

[ 2f ]
of antiquities and curiofities, th^ Britifh
Mufeum. It is a large handfome foJia-^
it is printed m hlack letter — it is divid
ed like the former edition'— it has large
contents of chapters, and the references of
King James's Bible in the margin — the
ftieets of the Old Teftament and Apocrypha
run E e e e 3 — and the fleets of the New
Tefiament run Y 2— it has prefixed to it a
calendar and a Latin dedication facro-
faHSia & individuee Trinitati, &c. and to
King James : in which the editor gives us
fome account pf the edition, and of his
inducements to undertake it.
He took confiderable liberties, he there
tells us, wit^i the former tranflation : vary-^
ing and altering it, in fuch a manner,
that it might feem dpubtful ; whether the
verfion by him now publifhed fhould be
reckoned Parry's, or his predecefTors.
*f • ^ad^m," .fays he, ** cum prcecefioris
** laude retinui; qucedam in Dei nomine
*• mutavi atque fie compegi i ut & bicfit
^' diJi.fiS'ii^iilJi.ivoy'Trx^ix.S^iyfta, & di5tu fit
" diffi-

[ 3° ]
^'difficile, num vetus'^an nova, Morgani
" an meadicendafit verfio" - -' ;
• His Inducements or motives for urtder-
taking'this publication* he adds In the
following remarkable words, ""Bibliis in
" plerifque apud nos Ecclefiis, aut deficit
*• entibus -aut tritis ; & nemine, quantum.
'^¦ego audire potuii de excudendis novis
*' cogifante i id pro virili conatus fum, in
" Britannica Bibliorum ver/ionCi quodfa-
*' licit er faSium efi in Anglicana." That.
is, the. former impreffion of the Bible
being exhaufted, and plerifque apud nos
Ecclefiis, many or mofi of our churChes
being either without any, or having only
worn out and imperfeft copies ; and no
body, as far as I could learn, fo much as
thinking of a republication : in thefe clr-
cumftarices of this matter, and induced
by thefe confiderations, I fet ?ibout re-
vifing our tranflation;- and, as had been
lately done for England, about providing
a fupply, for the wants of my country,
by. a new edition of the Britifh Bible, In
a better and more corredl verfion. When

[ 31 ]
. When I firfl heard ^of this edlt^orij
printed ; l^ut a little while afjter King
James, had had the , Scriptures trafifl^ted
anew into Englifh, from the original
Hebrewr.and Greek, and publifhed. for a
more. corre«5l and- more perfedl Englifh
ftan4ard; ; when. I .heard of this correc
tion: and new edition of the fame book
in the.-rW&iftli rtOngue; I made ( no doubt
but . thjs muft have proceeded, 'fi'Prii the
care of. government, and had been Jpar-
ticularly planned and Ordered by his Mar-
j^fty, 1 How much muft I therefore 'have
been furprized on finding, from. what is
quoted above, that this was fo far from
being the cafe, thaf^ it. feems, nobody had:
fo much as thought of fuch a thing-, that
Parry was: entirely a volunteer In this 'af
fair, induced to, undertak,e it merely from
the cpnfideratlon of the abfolute wants
and neceffities of his country. Many, if
not mofi of the churches, were without
Bibles ;_ ^nd we may refl afllired there
were none elfe where; yet, no provlfion is
made, or likely to be made for their fup-

t 3i ]
ply; but for the voluntai^, . but for the
fpontarieous undertaking, ^ of this truly
Proteftant and very Venerable Bifhop.
Dr. John Davies, 'the WrUed afuthor
of Didtionar. Latlno-BritaftniCf was chap
lain to the above Biflic^. In 162 1* th^
year after the date of Parry's Bible,
Diavies publifhed in Latin his GramhiaF
for the Britifh tongtte. He dedicated
hi& book to the BiifeiOp his patrofi-. In
the preface to that book he telfe us, that
fbt above thirty years, he had fpent much.
of his time in ftudying the language of
hh own country, aind had fome ccncerrt
in both the verfions d the Bible into k^
**' XJtrique S. S. BibUorum Interpret! Brit.
** indignus fui adminifier." Thus mo-
deftly doth he fpeak of himfelf. Othersf^
fpeak of him in a different ftrain; "InBib^
*' liorum ( Britain, fcilket) ultima W em&n^
** data! editione, Jq^ Da. peruMlem impendit
** dperam," fays a chancellor of St. Afaph
and Bangor, few years after this time *.
He^
*Di£l. Lat. Brit, inter Encom. Marg,

[.33 ]
He was therefore affifting to both our
principal Biblical tranflators.. He had a
confiderable fhare in the fecond verfion
and edition of the Welfli Bible, and
ought not to be omitted in an attempt
to refcue from oblivion and darknefs th'e
¦memory and names of the perfons con
cerned in it. He feems to have been
eminently fitted for fuch a work. He
was a thorough mafter of the Britifh
tongue. " He was efteemed, fays Wood,
well verfed in the hiftory and antiquities.
of his own nation, well verfed In the
Greek and Hebrew languages* a moft
exa(9: critic, an indefatigable perfon, and
well acquainted with curious and rare
authors ^."
All fubfequent impreffions have, in
general, accorded with this edition of
1620. There may be fome fmall varia
tions* but they are not material : they
affedl the fize, the letter, or the paper ;
F (though
y Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 597*

t 34 J
(thotigh here we have very little variety;)
they affedl the fpellirig, or the change
in the initials of words, which In this
language is remarkable : they refpedt fup-
plementary words* or the printing in ca^-
pltals fuch words as anfwer to Jehovah,
to Lord, to God, &c. printed in capitals
in Englifh ; Or, they refpedl. readings and
references In the nlargln, or the divlfion
of chapters into paragraphs : fome edi
tions have the year of the world. printed
at the top, or the fide of the page : fome
ddd maps, chronological tables* and ta
bles of coins, weights and meafures, He
brew* Greek* arid Roman : to adapt
the book to 'the Liturgy,, fome mark the
pfalms for the day of the month, and for
morning and evening fervice; and like-
wife the chapters appointed for morning
and evening leflTonp, throughout the Old
Teftament. In thefe and fuch like in-
ftances, there may be ' fome variations ;
but in other refpedls and In general* all
impreffions fince have been only tran-
fcripts, or copies of the verfion and edi*
tion of 1620. There

[ 35 ]
There has been but one more folio
impreffion of this book. It came out in,
'1690, feventy years after this time. It
was printed at Oxford, not like the forT
mer on black letter, but on a common,
or good Roman charadler: otherwife it
is fo fimilar as not to need a particular
defcrlptlon. This is fopietlmes called
Bifhop Lloyd's Bible ; and it Is fuppofed,
that he had fome concern in its publica
tion. He Is, I find, the author of the
chronology, and of many of the refer
ences printed in moft of our Englifh
Bibles, particularly the Quarto ones^.
This chronology and thefe references are
added, I am told, to this edition of the
Welfti Bible. What elfe it has of the
learned Bifhop's I cannot find. The
condudl of the Impreffion, If my infor
mation Is right, was intrufted with Mr.
Pierce Lewis, an Anglefey gentleman,
then at Jefus College, who it is faid has
difcharged his truft accurately and well '.
F 2 The
^ Biogr. Brit. Lloyd, F. ,
\ MS Account, penes R. Mortis, of the Navy-
OfEce, Efqi

, [ 36 ]
The. quantity of books in any of thefe
folio impreffions Is not known. They
were principally, if not folely intended
for public worfhip ; and for various rea-.
fons, I fhould Imagine the number of
copies printed never much exceeded. If it
equalled the number of churches. But
I fhall difmlfs, perhaps full late, this part
of my fubjedl, and proceed to give fome
account of the odlavo editions of the fame
book. FOR upwards oi feventy years,,
from the fettlement of the Reformation
by Qj_ Elizabeth ; for near one hundred
years, from Britain's feparation from the
Church of Rome — ¦. there were no Bibles
in Wales, but only in the cathedrals or in
the parifto churches and chapels. There
was no provlfion made for the country, or
for the people in general ; as if they had
nothing to do with the word of God, at
leaft no farther than they might hear It,
in their attendance on public worfhip,
once in the v/eek. This is aftonifhlng !
The

[ 37 ]
The Bible itfelf may be reckoned a
much more ufeful book. In the fmaller
than in the larger fize. In folio It Is ex-
penfive* it is bulky, it is heavy and un
manageable,' and not veryconvenlent even
for.churches. A quarto would be much
more handy for this purpofe ; that is the
fize generally ufed in the churches in Hol
land — 'if I miftake not, that Is the fize moft
commonly ufed In the Englifh cathedrals,
and in the royal and many other chapels.
In the fmaller fize It is moft read, and
comes into moft hands. It Is beft adapt
ed to the ufe of Individuals, of fchools,
of families, and of many places appro
priated for public worfhip. I fuppofe,
there may be twenty times the number
printed in odtavo and under, to what
there Is printed in folio. Bibles In oc
tavo and under, become portable and
convenient for the pocket, and they be
come at the fame time cheaper and more
reafonable. The honor of providing, for the firft
time a fupply of this kind, for the inha
bitants

C 38 J
hitants of Wales, is due to one or
more citizens of London : who, from a
generous and noble concern, for the goOd
of their fellow-fubjedts, procured at thein
own expence an odlavo impreffion of the
Welfh Bible in 1630, in the reign of
Charles the Firft.
It gives me particular pleafure that I
can mention fome of thefe perfons by
name : I do it with gratitude and great
veneration for their memory ; and I
could wifh the names of all concerned
might be recorded with honor, and had
in everlafting remembrance. It was a
noble inftance pf generofity and public.
fplrit : though it Is neither the firft nor
the only inftance, wherein citizens of
London have taken the lead, and fet o-
thers an example worthy the imitation of
the greateft perfonages. Should the rea
der have an opportunity, let him run
over the thirtieth chapter of Stow's Sur
vey of London, and fee there the noble
adls of Its citizens. If that lift was con
tinued

C 39 ]
tinuied to the prefent time, I might defy
the world to produce Its equal, or any
thing near It.
The indefatigable Mr. Strype tells us ^
that Mr. Rowland Heylln* an Alderman
of London, fprung from Wales, charita
bly and nobly, at his own coft and char
ges* in the beginning of the reign of
Charles the Firft, caufed the Welfti Bible
to be printed In a more portable bulk ;
being only printed In a large volume be
fore, for the ufe of churches. The firft
edition In a portable fize is the edition of
1630, and muft therefore be the edition
referred to by Mr. Strype, and under-
ilood by. him to have been printed at the
fole charge and expence of that worthy
Alderrnan. Mr. Strype was miftaken in
afcribing this matter wholly to Mr. Hey--
lin : Sir Thomas Middleton, a native of
Wales, a Magiftrate alfo, and Alderman
of London, was a coadjutor, and a ge
nerous contp,butor to this good defign :
to
* Survey of Lond. vol. ij. b. 5. p. 142. edit. 172c.

[ 40 1
to thefe two Aldermen, the late Rev"",
Mr. Griffith Jones joins other citizens of
London, whofe names he wifhes to have
had, but had not in his power to men
tion ". To the joint and united benevo
lence and liberality of thefe Gentlemen,
Wales is indebted, for the firft impreffion
of the Bible, In a portable bulk and of a
fmall price.
In the year 1654, there was a fecond
edition of this Bible in odlavo, confifting
of fix thoufand copies. This is the firft ac
count we have met with, of the number
of copies contained in any impreffion.
For this we are indebted to Mr. Charles
Edwards, author of a Welfh book called
Hanes y Ffydd, wrote In the laft century,
feveral times printed, the firft time with
an Oxford imprimatur, Auguft i, 1676.
Edwards doth not Inform us to whom
we are particularly obliged for this very
confiderable fupply, as it muft be then
deem-
« Welfh Piety for 1742*

I 41 ]
deemed. And for want of particular be-
riefadtors to whom we might refer It, I
have fometlmes been difpofed to amufe
myfelf with afcribing it* to the temper
of the nation, and of the times in which
it was granted.
This Bible was publifhed in the year
1654*- the firft year of the protedlorate
of Oliver Cromwell ; whofe anceftors
ai*e faid to have come from Wales, and
whofe family name Is faid to have beeri
originally Williams. At this period the
caft of the times, the difpofition of the
people, of the people in power, and of
the people in general was religious. At
tachment to fcripture was the general
profeffion. Scripture knowlege was In
Vogue ; and fcripture language the lan-^
guage in fafhion. Scripture phrafes are
tajken up and applied to every occafion
and events The Lord of hofis — God with
us-^&cc were the mottos of the times,
the word of battle, the cry of ari;nies,
and the ftile of coins, medals/ and in-
fcriptions. Thefe very times produced
G the

[ 42 ]
theLondo'n Polyglott Bible. This temper
and genius of the people produced an aSl
for the propagation of the gofpel in Wales ;
and feveral regulations refpedling religion.
No wonder then, it fhould alfo produce
the publication of the Welfti Bible, as
proper and neceffary to enforce and efta-
blifh their own adl and regulations.
In a little time this impreffion was ex
haufted, and Bibles became fcarce and
dear. IJpon enquiry In 1674, not above
twenty copies could be found on fale. In
the city of London; and npt above
thirty-two to be purchafed, through
out England and Wales. This occafion
ed another odlavo edition, which came
out in 1678, and confifted of eight
thoufand copies, by much the moft nu
merous impreffion yet publifhed : one
thoufand of which were immediately
given away among the poor ; and the reft
were referved and difpofed in proper
places, to be fold at four fliillings per
Bible bound. The

[ 43 ]
The account of this impreffion, of the
number of books it contained, and of
the manner of difpofing them Is better
known, and probably will continue to
be more generally known, than the ftate
of any other edition of the fame book.
This is owing to the merited reputation
and fame of Archbifhop Tillotfon; a-
mong whofe works there is a fermon on
the death of Mr. Thomas Gouge, who had
a principal hand in this publication of the
Britifh Bible.
Mr. Gouge was a moft benevolent and
generous man. Out of an annual in
come of one hundred and fifty pounds,
he ufed to give away one hundred a year
in charity. He made Wales In a parti
cular manner the objedl of his charitable
regards. When between fixty and fe
venty years of age ; he ufed to travel in
to that country, and with his own hands
diftribute his bounty among the poor
and indigent inhabitants. He fet up a-
mong them a great number of fchools,
(it is faid between three and four hund-
G 2 red)

[ 44 ]
red) to teach people to read Welfh and
Englifh., And he fupported and contl-r
nued thefe fchools for feveral years. . To
render thefe fchools the more ufeful, he
took care to fupply the people with
Welfh books. When he could meet with
none fit, in- their own language ; he.caufed
fuch to be tranflated from the Englifh,
and printed for their ufe. The Whale
Duty of Man, the FraBice of Piety, and
fome other pradllcal Erigllfh books are
mentioned as tranflated, and printed by or
for him, with this view. And books of
religion, deVotlon, &c in the ,Welfh
language, which were not to be had, or
very dear; thefe he caufed tp be reprint
ed, particularly the Book of Common-
Prayer, the New. Tefiament, and the a-^
hove edition of the Welfto Bible ^.
TIs not to be fuppofed, that he did all
this at his own coft and charge, Ten
times his fprtune would riot have been
fufficient to defray fuch an expence. The
? Tillotfon on Death of Gouge : and Calamy%
Account of Ejeded MinifterS, vol. ii., p. 8.

[ 45 I
fupport of fo many fchools, of fo many
publications and difiributions, muft have
been the work of a number of perfons ;
who excited to this charity by .his ar
guments* and more by his example, might
employ him to manage and difpofe of
their joint contributions. Dr. Calamy
has preferved a paper, containing an ac
count of his faithful djfcharge of this
truft, audited or attefted by Tillotfon,
Whichcot, Stiningfleet, Pool, &c. *
Befides thefe Gentlemen, eminent for
their ftation, learning, or goodnefs ; there
was another perfon not included in the
above lift, yet very adtlye In prornoting
thefe charitable defigns, for the advant
age pf Wales : I mean Mr. Stephen
Hughes of Swanfey, Glamorganfhire.
He feems to have done In the country,
what Mr. Gouge did in London. He
procured fubfcriptions and donations for
this purpofe, and contributed liberally
himfelf. He tranflated feveral Englifh
books into Welfh. He publifhed, it Is
faid,
* Calamy ubi fupra.

[ 46 ]
faid, near twenty Welfh books, feveral
of thein at his own expence. Among
the reft he coUedled together and printed
the excellent ^o^^j of the Rev. Mr.
Rys Prichard ofLandovery : a book the
moft known, and the moft read of any
in Wales; the Bible alone perhaps ex
cepted. The preceding edition, Crom
well's Bible if I may fo call it, had been
printed very incorredtly. Whole words,
and parts of fentences had been omitted '.
To redlify thefe miftakes, and to prevent
others on the prefent publication, Mr,
Hughes took upon him the care of the
prefs : arid as he was a man of learning,
and thoroughly acquainted with the Bri
tifh tongue ; this edition was well print-^
ed, and came out very corredl ^ <.
These pious and vigorous endeavours
of Gouge, Hughes, and others, muft
have had a confiderable efiedl on that
country. The fchools fet up and con
tinued
• Hiighes's Preface to Llyfr-Ficar.
' jCalamy's Account of Ejedled Minifters, vol. ii,
p. 718. - ¦

[ 47 ]
tinned in various parts of itj and the
books tranflated and publlffied for the
ufe of its inhabitants, muft have . fpread
knowlege ai;nongft them^ and given
them a tafte for reading. The confe
quence of which was, this numerous
impreffion of the Bible was In few
years exhaufted, and the book became
again fcarce and dear. Mr. Gouge
died, 1681, two or three years after
the above edition came out, and confe-
quently before any want of another coidd
be fenfibly felt ; but Mr. Hughes lived
long enough to difcover It, and to exert
himfelf a fecond time in this affair. He
fet on foot another impreffion* but did
not live to fee it finifhed. He died a-
bout the year 1687, but the next odlavo
edition of this Bible was not publifhed
till 1690.
This impreffion was more numerous
than any of the preceding. I cannot
find the exadl number of copies which it
contained, but we are told by Calamy %
that
« Account of Ejeded Minifters, vol. ii. p. 720.

t 48 i
that about ten thoufand were dlftrlbut-
ed In Wales, by the editor Mr. David
Jones ; who it is faid took a great deal of
pains, in printing and fpreading Welfh
Bibles. It feems, that the principal pa
tron of this publication was a noble
Lord of the Wharton family ; I fuppofe
Thomas Baron Wharton, afterward Vif-
count Winchendon, Earl and Marquis of
Wharton ; a zealous Proteftant and pro
moter of the Revolution ; a faithful fer'-
vant to King William ; and one of Queen
Anne's minifters, in the glorious part of
her reign. Jones was patronized in this
undertaking by other perfons of quality,
befides Lord Wharton ; and generoufly
aflifted by fome minifters and citizens Of
London ''.
The edition of i6go was the lafi in the
feventeenth century. It made the fourth
impreffion in an oSlavofize ; and the f event h
in all of this book, before that period, ft .
is not fo handfomely printed ; not onfo good.
papery
^ Calamy ubi fupra.

i 40 ]
paper, nor ibithfo neat a chardSl^f ai the
preceding : otherwife for fize, for type^
and for number qfjheets, they are much a-
like among themfelves i and like to feveral
Englifts irHprefjioni of the Bible of about
the fame date : they are printed pretty
clofe and the letter is rather fntall, and
therefore not quite fo well for the eye i
but yet the book is fo portable, fo corvue^
nient in many refpeStsi that I have often
wiftsed, HMe had the fame book again
printed in this form, bath in Welfti and
in Englijhi
I F We attend thl§ fiibjedt into thds
prefent century, V^e fhall firid the ftatd
of it altered nauPh for the bett^i'. Mil-
liohS fterllri^ have "heen expended on
v^orks of benevolence in this- country
firice' the year ryoo* Should any one
queftSbil- tlilSi" arid think the prodigious
fUtti too erioi^moui ; fet him reflect ori; the
riuriiber of hofpltals eftablifhdd ih iotstiivi
andicouiiitry : let him niake ah e^ftiinate
H a«

[ so I
at randPm of the expence of eredling
and fupporting thefe hofpltals : let him
add to thefe our fchools of charity; for the
inftrudlion and fupport of the children of
the poor and deftitute : to thefe ftill add
our numerous companies and charitable
inftitu tions (fome of which diftribute an
nually thoufands of pounds) and befides
, thefe* the private diftributlons of indivi
duals : and when all this is confidered;
the above affertlon of millions being ex
pended in charity, fince the commence-^
ment of the prefent century, (though the
fum muft feem vaft and prodigious) will
not be thought to exaggerate.
; To furnifh with Bibles a nation of
Proteftants ; a nation in the neighbour
hood of London and part of Britain ; a
nation confifting, it may be, of fixty
thoufand families, or of no lefs than three ,
hundred thoufand individuals : to furnifh
fo many perfons with Bibles is a. defign
fo excellent and fo noble that it cannot
but have met with attention and regard in

[ 51 3
in this age of benevolence. In this exu
berance of charity.
Within thefe fifty years laft paft, there
have been four impreffions of this book.
Thefirfi was publifted in 1 7 1 8 . The fecond
in 1727. The next in 1746. And the laft
in 1752. ^hey are all in oSlavo. The fe
cond is rather fmaller than the others.
It is likewife without contents of chapters,
and without marginal references : and for
that reafon, it was never fo much valued
by the pepple for whom It was publifh
ed : fuch Is their attachment, fuch Is
their prejudice to thefe contents and re
ferences; with which except In this
fingle inftance they have hitherto ever
been gratified. The three other editions
are large handfome oSlavos, on good paper
and letter. They have the Apocrypha,
contents, and references. They have the
ye<zr of the world on the top of the page :
the church left'ons .marked in the Old Tef,
tament; and the' Pfalms for morning and--
evening fervice, for every day in the month.'
They have alfo annexed a fcripture index or
H 2 chro-

[ 52 ]
chronology ' — tables of weights and mea
fures — the Pfalms in . metre — and fome
hymns and forms of prayer *.
The Bible of the impreffion of 1718
is cornmonly palled Mofes Williams's
Bible, from the Rev*. Mr. Mofes Wil
liams, curator of the prefs t# that edi-i
tion. He was vicar of Dyfyhog, in thq
pounty of Brecon ; a gentleman pf good
literature, who well underftood the Britifh
^nd the learned languages, lie tranflate4
feveral books into Welfh, fie affifted
Dr. Wotton in publlfhing the Leges
Waliica. He gave at the end pf his Bible
a gloffary, or interpretation of Hebrew
^nd Greek names — ;and his iinpreflion is >
reckoned corredl and w^ell done.
The Bible of either of the two laft
im^s
' This Indefc is an epitome of Archbijhop UJher's Chro-
pology by Bijhop Lloydr—It is taken from the Englijh im-
prejfton of the folio Bible of 1701— rrflB^ was tranflated
by S, Williams, '
M3 Apcount pcfies Mr. Morris compared with
Lewis's Engl. Tranflat, p. 350,
^ The edit, of 1752 had no Apoc.

I 53 ]
impreffions may for a like reafon be cal
led Mr. Morris's * Bible, from the name
of the Gentleman whp was curator of the
prefs to both i a gentleman well verfed
in the language and hiflory of his coun
try ; the moft critically acquainted of any
within my knowlege with the fubjedl of
thefe papers ; as communicative as he is
knowing ; to whom the author, to whom
the reader is obliged for many particulars
contained in this account. The edition
of 1746 was printed at Cambridge, and
has feveral literal errata occafipned by the
curator's living in London, at a diftance
from the prefs. The edition of 1752 was
more under the curator's infpedllon, be
ing printed in London ; (as were all the
other editions of this book, except the a-
bove and the folio of 1690 :) and it is I
believe as corredl as any edition whatever
of this book.
I F I am not miftaken, Wales is more or
lefs indebted to the Society for promoting Chriftlan
f Supra, p. 35,

[ 54 ] ,
Chriftlan Knowlege, for every impreffion
within this century. They were the prin
cipal promoters of the edition of 171 8-:
others were admitted to fubfcribe, and at
a certain price had any number of books,
in proportion to their fubfcriptions. This
appears from the propofals for the Im
preffion thrown out by the Society In
1 7 1 4 ' ; and feems very fair and likely
to take. But what number of copies
were printed at this time doth not ap
pear. With regard to the edition of 1727
I have no particular intelligence. I af
crlbe it to the Society, as the moft likely
perfons I can think of, to have been its
patrons and promoters. The two other
impreffions are well known to have
been undertaken and executed at their
expence. They confifted of thirty thou
fand Bibles, and . ftood the Society In
fix thoufand pounds : which large ex-
pence it was enabled to bear, through the
generous contributions of multitudes of
indir
' MS Account penes Mr. Morris.

[ 55 ]
Individuals in town and country. The
book was diftributed In Wales, moftly
by the Society's members or correfpond-
ents ; and ordered to be , fold at Four
Shillings and Six-pence per Bible bound.
And for this large and liberal fupply,
that Society deferve the grateful acknow
legement of every Briton ; and they are
hereby defired particularly to accept the
thankful acknowlegement of One, with
the warmeft gratitude, and the higheft
fenfe of natipnal obligation. .
Besides thefe feveral editions arid ver
fions of this book taken together; .there
have been other tranflations,. or impref
fions of fome parts of it feparately pub-
llftied. A metrical verfion of the Pfalms by
Captain Middleton. London printed in
1603, by Thomas Salefbury'^. The book
is in: the poffeffion of Mr. Morris.
In 1 647, the New Tefiament was print-
' .ed
» Ames Typpgr. Antiq. p. 435.

[ J6 1
td atone in i2mo, without contents of chap'^
ters or marginal references ".
In the year following nvere printed Mr,
Archdeacon Pryfe's Pfalms in metre of the
fame fi^se ". I fuppofe thefe Pfalms muft
have been printed before; but of this I
have no account.
The New Tefiament was printed fepa
rately in 1654, of a larger ehardSler than
the Bible ef the fame date ^.
The fame Tefiament was pnUifhed to-"
gether with the Pfalms, in frejk an^
metre, by means of Mr. Gouge, &c in
16-72'. The famje Part was agaM fepm-'ately
printed im 1752, by means of the Society
for promoting Chriftlan Knowlege; And
I believe It has been frequently publifh-*
ed by Itfelf at Shrewlbuiy : and may be
hadT- imagine at any time, HAVING
» MS Account penes Mr. Morris,
« Ibid.
P Tefte Charles Edwards.
« MS Account penes Mr. Morris, &c»

[ 57 ]
' ^ fjAVlNG thus attended tills
fubjedl tp the prefent time, and given
the beft hiftorical dedudlion of It, In my
power ; I fhall beg leave to hazard fome
Tew refledlions upon It* and fubmit them
to the judgment and caridid confideration
of the public.
I begin with obferving* that thP Britifh
verfion of the Bible done in the mannerj
and under fuch circumftances as have
been mentioned* does great honor to the
perfons who undertook and effedled it. It
does honor to their piety and patrlotlfm*
it does honor likewife to their literary a-
bilities," and to the knowlege of the
times. Our tranflators Were men of real learn
ing and knowlege. Salefoury we have
feen was a perfon of liberal edrtcationi
He feems to have been a ^ood linguift
for the age in which he lived : and his
tranflation was made diredlly from the
Greek collated with the Latin. Bifhop
Diavies was employed in tranflatirig, from
I th#

[ 58 ]
the Hetrew into Englifh* part of the
Old Teftament, for what is called Par->
ker'fe or the Bifhop's Bible*. Parry,
Wood tells us, was on account of his
learning promoted by King James to the
See of St. Afaph'. Dean Goodrriari* Dr.
^P6wel, Dr. John Davles and others, af
fiftants in this bufinefs, are known to
have been men of good literature, and
¦general knowlege. And I conclude frorri
various confiderations, that Dr. Morgan
was a perfon of found learning, and well
acquainted with the original languages
x)f the Old and New Teftament.
He was a Cantabrigian. But Cam*-
brldge has had no Wood, no Athenee
Cantabrigienfes : for want of which, we
are often at a lofs for little anecdotes re
lating to fuch as are brought up* at that
univerfity. Here howeVer Morgan had
his education ; and here he received the
teftimonials ufually given. In thefe feats
of learning, to capacity and improvement.
After this, we hear nothing of him till he
' Burnet, Lewis, &c.
' Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 727.

[ 59 }
he is encouraged, at his living fome hunr
dreds of miles from the capital, as a pro
per perfon to undertake the tranflation of
the Bible, efpecially of the Ofd Tefta
ment into the Britifh tongue, His en-
couragers and approvers are an Archbi
fhop, two Bifhops and others, perfons of
learning themfelves, and proper judges of
learning and merit of this kind In others.
And Vi^hen he had compleated his ver
fion^ Queen Elizabeth gave him a bi-
fhopric, as the due reward of his labor.
Thefe are ftroiig prefumptions of his be
ing equal to the work he undertook. Be
fides, there are I think Internal proofs,
in the tranflation Itfelf, of its being made
diredtly from the original. I cannot read
the Firft Chapter of Genefis in He,brew
and In Welfh without coming to this
ponclufion. Every competent jiidge of
this matter may perhaps be fatlsfie4 here
of, by the turn of one fentence fre-?
quently repeated in that chapter '. Here
I 2 "the I
' Ver. 5, 8, 13, &c.

r 60 i^
the Welfh Is more like the original than
any modern tranflation I know.
I fhould not have taken notice of thefe
things, had it not been for an idle ftory
recorded In Ames "'; which feems to infi-
nuate, that Morgan tranflated only from
the Engliffi. It is grounded on a fingle
word. Rev. chap. v. ver. 8. of the edition
of 1588 ; and npt as Ames has it, of the
Teftament of 1567. Here, inftead of
Phialau the Welfh for fictXeci in Greek,
or vials in Englifh, Crythau is ufed,
which fignifies violins ; arid this is fup
pofed to have happened, through the
tranflator's having only the Eoglifh be
fore hirti ; arid miftakirig even that, and
taking vials for viols, and that again for
violins, and then rendering it Crythau.
This undoubtedly Is a veirygrofs miftake:
but whomfoever it may affedl, it fhould
riot affedl Morgan ; who did not tranf-
late the Revelations, nor^theNew Tefta
ment. Nor does it affedl the real tranf lators
" Tvpogr, Antiq. p. 321,

r 6i 1
Jators of that part of fcripture. In the
firft edition it Is printed right. It Is Phia
lau and not Crythau : and the introduc
tion of it into the next impreffion Cannot
have proceeded from Ignorance ; but may
have been the effedt of extreme carelef!^
nefs, or which may be more likely, of
meer wantonnefs.
Again, I cannot help lamenting the
difadvantages of my countrymen in this
refpedl, for a confiderable time after the
reformation, and in fome meafure even
to this day. Their fellow-fubjedls in
England had great numbers of Bibles-
of different prices and bulk publifhed In
the reigns of Elizabeth, of Edward VI.
and of Henry VIII. In the next cen
tury, they had as I may fay an infinite
quantity, not only of books, but of edi
tions printed for their ufe. At prefent,
(befides what is done in Scotland ^nd'
elfewhere) the prefs Is continually going
at three different places in England for
|his end. Their fupplies are as various -as

[ '62 }
^S they can wifh : they are as regular and
as plentiful as the harveft, or their daily
bread. But for the fupply of Wales,
there was but One quarto Impreffion of
tjie New Teftament ; and one more of the
whple Bible in folio (probably neither of
^eipi numerous) during the courfe of
the fixteenth century. They, had no
Bible of a portable fize and of eafy pur-
chafe, for near one hundred years after
the reformation. They had but two folio
and four odlavo Impreffions, In all the
feventeenth, and till a good way in the
eighteenth century. The whole number
contained, in thefe fpveral impreffions,
might amount tp about thirty thoufand
Bibles ; which, if they had come out all
together, and wefe divided among three
. hundred thoufand inhabitants, would be
only one book between half a fcore per
fons. But that would be a wrong me
thod pf. calculation in this cafe. This
may be- the fum of what came out at
different periods, during one hundred and
Ijfty years. Some part of Which timej, there

I 63 ]
there might not be as many Bibles' as
parifhes : and perhaps no fingle fupply
before this century yielded more than at
the rate of ten books, fome of them
probably not above five books, for a
parifh. Happily, the ftate of things at prefent
is different. There have been four im-
preffiohs within the fpace of the laft fifty
years ; two of them very numerous, con
taining as many as all the editions before
1700. But ftill there is not the plenty,
nor the variety enjoyed In other parts of
the kingdom. There Is frequent fcarcity
and dearth : generally fpeaking and for
years together, there Is no Bible to be had,
except by accident. The fupplies of it,
when they come, come by intervals, and
at confiderable diftances : they proceed
from the benevolent, the generous efforts
of particular perfons or focietles, which
are irregular and uncertain : and which
if they are plentiful, and efpecially if the
¦books are given away, occafion a glut for
the prefent ; and in few years want again. Con-

I 64 ]
Corifidering the prevailing Ch^rltablP
difpofitlori of the times, I Cannot prefage
any thing very bad In this cafe, for the
future. Suppofing this difpofition to
continue, no fcarcity or want will long
remain uriprbvlded for. But ftill I could
wifh to fee this matter fet upon fome-
what a different footing. Iriftead of fup
plies, be they ever fo large, thrown out
at long and uncertain intervals, , I could
wifh to have fupplies tegular and ftated.
I could wifh to have fupplies for the
people In general, and nOt for any de
nomination or part of them only ; fup
plies adequate to the wants, at leaft to
the demands of the country ; and fo dif
pofed, that any perfon may have recourfe
to them, and proqure any quantity he
pleafes, either for himfelf or others. Such
is the ftate of this matter In England :
fuch I wifli it to be in Wales : but fuch
hitherto it has not been.
The printers to the King's moft excel
lent Majefty have had a fucceffion of pa
tents, to the exclufion of all others, ex
cept

[ 6j j
iiept the two Univerfities, for printing
Bibles &c in the Englift tongue. One
or two of thefe patents, in a reign of pa
tents and of James the Firft fay ; or in
any other language "". Thefe patents, it is
faid, convey an exclufive right to print
Welfh Bibles. I would fay nothing to
the contrary^ I only wifh the patentees
would be fo good as to take full poffef-*
fion of their right, and put it to fome
ufe. Hitherto they do not feem to have
done itj In one hundred and fifty, or
two hundred years time; they have
printed (at their own rifk and charge)
as many Bibles for Wales, as they have
printed .Hebrew Tefljaments for the
Jewifh Synagogue : that is, none at alL
As to the folio editions, it may not be
quite fo plain ; but as to the o(9;avos, we
know at whofe expence they were print
ed* Suppofing the . patent-makers ori
ginally meant to convey this right; if
it is not taken up, there may be fome
• ' , : K danger
* Bafkett v. Univetfity of Cam. in Burrow's Re
ports, vol. lu and in Burn's Ecclef. Law* vol. i. p. 34;7„

[ 66 ]
dahger of incurring a forfeiture: if 3
non-ufer fhould not be incurred already.
But I would make no objeftlon to any
thing, provided tbe Country be duly fup
plied. But if it is not fupplied ; and if
its not being fupplied be owing to any
exclufivk grant for printing ; there is
then ground of complaint; there is a
grievance, a national grievance,- which
Ought to be redreffed.
But it will be faid, patents like pen-
fions are beneficial thirigS. If they are
not for the honor, they fhould be for the
profit of the penfionee, or the patentee.
No grants made to a meritorious grantee
fhould be to his detrlhierit. And rio pa
tent can be fuppofed to oblige a gentle
man to do any thing to his own hurt.
Very true. And I im^aginfe the obftruc-
tlon in this cafe arifes, from want of fuf
ficient profit atteriding it. I do not
uinderftand this bufinefs of printirig. I
will howeyer venture to fay, that It feems
very ftrange to me* that this matter
fhould not promote private profit and ad
vantage, as well as public benefit.

[ ^7 J
Suppofe In two hundred years time,
or fince the reformation, -fixty or feventy
thoufand Welfh Bibles to have been
printed : this, though little In comparl-
fon with the wants of the country, is yet
a confiderable number, and at the rate of
three or four hundred Bibles per annum :
befides Teftaments and Common-Praver-
Books. More than this ; fince the year
1746, no lefs than thirty thoufand of
thefe Bibles have been printed. In the
prefent year of 1768, and fome years back,
that is in twenty years time and under,
they are all taken up and not a book
left for fale. Inquiry has been made In
London, and not one is to be found ; and
I believe none in the country, except by
accident. Now this is at the rate of fif
teen hundred books per annum : fliould the
ftated demand be only two-thirds, or but
one half of that number, even that would
be confiderable; and it may be imagin
ed worth any one's while to attem^pt to
fatisfy. Thoufands of Engllfli Bibles are
given away annually by generous Indi-
K 2 viduals

[ 68 ]
viduals and by generous Societies ; and I
cannot help thinking but fome hundreds
in the Welfh language would be annually
diftributed by focieties or individuals of
fuch a difpofition, if they might have
them for that purpofe at a moderate
price. **
But to any provlfion whatever of this
Jklrid for the inhabitants of Wales, it is
objedled : That it would be the befi way to
prevail with them to negleSl and forget their
mother-tongue '-^^ to learn and become well
acquainted with the Englift language — and
thus in time to become of one fpeech, and
more entirely one people with the refi of their
fellowrfubjeSls. This feems to be the wifh
and defire of many, at prefent ; and this
feems to have been the aim and intention
of government ever fince the reformation.
For this end, an Adl of Parliament al
ready mentioned requires Englifh Bibles
and Englifh Common Prayer Books to
be fet up and remain in every church
dud chapel throughout that cpuntry, Ani

[ 69 ]
And with this view, have been proje<a-^
ed and attempted methods taken notice
of, by the patriotic and fpirited Author
of Confiderations on the Illegality , of pre
ferring Clergymen unacquainted with the
Welfh, &c. '
This Is a principal point, and It has
materially affedled this fubjedl from firft
to laft. It has in fadl deprived that
people of the adminifiration of jufiice in
their own tongue. And it was like to
have prevented their ever hearing the
laws of God and the gofpel pf Chrifi, as
well as the laws of the land, in their own
language. This, It is faid, was folemnly
debated at a very honorable board in Q^
Elizabeth's time. From the iffue of this
debate, and from Dr. Morgan's dedica
tion, I conclude that her Majefty was on
the fide i of Wales, upon this occafion.
Her fucceffor here trod In her fteps. K.
James, though he iffued out no com
mands about the Welfh, as he did about
the Englifh Bible, yet was gracloufly
pleafed to acquiefce in the publication of
it. Two Archbifhops of Canterbury at
' ' leaft

I 70 ]
leaft have thpughtit right that the Welfti
Ihould have a Bible. One diftinguiflied
patriot and peer of the realmj feveral
bifhops, and many private gentlemen are
mentioned as patrons and abettors on
this fide: I have wifhed, I have tried tp
find out others on the fame fide, but can
find none : here hiftory is filent ; and I
muft be filent alfo.
It will be more agreable to me, an4
more to my purppfe tp remove. If I am
able, this capital objedlion agalnft the
publication of the Britifh Bible. For
this purpofe I fhall attempt to fhew — the
infignificance of the end here intended —
the impropriety and inefiicacy of the mea
fures here propofed to accomplift this end^
fuppofing the end to have been ever fo
important — and that there are other me
thods much more fuit able, and that will
be more effeStual to ^nfwer this end,
Whatever veneration I may have
for my mother's tongue ; fPr an ancient;,
expreffive, and fonorous language; the
original, and once the general language pf

[ 7t 3
bf this country, and perhaps of Europe ;
I would yet willingly give It up for im
portant, for valuable confiderations. The
objedtion propofes the forgetting of the
Welfh and the learning of the Englifh as
fomething good and beneficial; as befi
for fomebody. Let us confider therefore
the ad:vantages attending It : and who are
like to receive the benefit.
Thefe advantages cannot extend to all
the numerous fubjedls of his moft gra
cious Majefty King George, throughout
the feveral parts of his extenfive domi
nions. This is of no more confequence
to the generality of them* than to the
dwellers in Mefopotamia, or in Patagonia.
Not to fpeak of our American colonifts,
(who I dare fay care very little what lan
guage is ufed among the mountains of
Wales) »-*Not to fay any thing of our fel
low-fubjedls at a great diftance — What
doth it fignify to a perfon refiding in
Scotland, In Yorkfhire, In London, or
even in Briftol ; whether the inhabitants
of Yfcyrid-Faur, or of Pen-Man-Maur talk

[ 72 J
talk Welfh or any other language tothtehr.
Own families or neighbors ? Whether
they pray to God, read his word, or
tranfadl their civil affairs In their own, or
in the Englifh tongue? If they could
talk twenty languages, or do their bufi-*-
nefs without any language, it is nothing
to thpfe who have no connexion, or cor-
refpondence with them. To fuch as have
occafion to go into that country, whe
ther North or South-^Brltons : to itine
rants in law, in phyfic, or divinity : to
itinerants for bufinefs, for curiofity, for
fome purpofe, or to no purpofe, it may
be of confequence. It might be well*-
it would be convenient for them, if his
.Majefty 's good fubjedls in Wales were all
Englifh : but however it can hardly be
defired, that a whole nation fhould for
get their own tongue, and learn another
for them : and the only reafonable and
eafy method, for removing this Inconve-'
*riience would be for fuch perfons, before ¦
they go to that country, to take care to
learn Welfh, If

[ 73 J
: If this is pf little or no cPnfe^uencd
to his Majefty's fubjedls refiding in Eng
land, Scotland &c : let us confider what
may be the confequence, with regard to
fuch of thefe as are refiding in Wales ;
the people here particularly intereflfed.
Here again I own It feems to m# of very
little moment ; I mean to thefe who are
refidents, or ftay at home ; who In every
country muft be by far the majority. The
general, the common bufinefs and con
cerns of civil, of religious and foclal
life may be tranfadted, I fuppofe, as well
in Welfh as In Enghfli. A Cambro-
Briton may mind his farm and his mer^
chandife. If he has any ; he may fow his
corn and bring home his harveft ; he may
live as long, and do as much good, with
only his own mother-tongue, as If he had
twenty tongues befides. But as to thofe
who are non-refidents, who leave their
native country and come over to Eng
land ; as to thofe who crofs the Severn*
the Wye or the Dee; thofe who come
up to London, and have a mind to di-
¦ L ftingulfb

[ 74 I
ftirigulfh themTelves in the metropolis i
to them the Welfh, or another language
is not indifferent. The Englifh is of
advantage, is neceffary, and it is their
perfonal concern to learn and attain It.
This matter in this way of confidering
it, cannot appear of any great confe
quence. It is a meer affiair of conve
nience, of convenience comparatively to
few, to one in a hundred, to three thou
fand, may be, out of three hundred thou
fand inhabitants ; to whomi in general
it is of little importance. It might be
convenient,, if all the world was now,
as it was in the days of Noah, of one
fpeech and of one language. This might
facilitate travelling; it might promote
trade and correfpondence among the dif
ferent countries and nations of the earth :
but for all that, I never heard of any
law made, nor of any bill brought into
any Senate j for extirpating tongues in ge
neral, and eftablifhing fome one common
and unlverfal language. If a formal decree
may have been proper for the- purpofe of

[ 75 ]
of extirpating the Welfh tongue; why
not another equally formal and weighty
to abollfh all dialedls of the Englifh but
one ? to put an end to Irlfh inaccuracies
and blunders ? and tp give a pure pro
nunciation and a fweet accent to the in
habitants . of Edinburgh, of Northum-
bprland or Devonfhire .? Again,
If we grant the end here to be worthy
and of greater importance than it feems
to be ; the methods made ufe of . to ac-
cOmplifh this end will yet remain very
improper and difproportloned. To bring
about an uniformity of language between
two neighbouring nations, fubjedls of thp
fame fovereign, in a fla,te of perfedl har
mony and peace : What muft be done t
Why, The Holy Bible muft be with-held
from one of them ; the word of God muft
be withdrawn from one people, till they
can all underftand it, in another tongue :
that is,- it muft be for ever with-held
from thoufands who never cari, nor will
learn any other. To defcribe here, is to
L 2 , ex-

[ 76 ]
expofe. The very naming of thefe
means muft furely be fufficient to flieW
them to be, to the laft degree, improper
and prepofterous. They affedl the reli
gion of a people j they' infringe the rights
of confcience ; they interfere with their
duty to God, the care of their fouls, and
their eternal falvation : with which no
fchemes of human policy fhould interfere,
en any account, much lefs on account
of.a meer trifling convenience.
Here lies the great, the unanfwerable
objedlion to thefe meafures for a change
pf langu;age. They affedl, they deprive
a man of, what he confiders as effential
to his , moft important Interefts for a
trifle, for nothing to him, He is born
in a certain country, he learns the lan^
guage of his parents, and of his country,
as naturally and as innocently, as he fucks
his mother's breafts, or breaths the com-r
mon air, He has neither opportunity nor
ability to learn any other tongue. ' And,
what is the confequence ? He muft never
h^ar pf a Savior or falvation : not be
caufe

[ 77 1
caiife the gofpel was never heard in the
land : nor becaufe he is under an Anti-
chriftlan government. No. His fupe-
riors are Chriftians, are Proteftants : the
gofpel is in his neighbourhood ; and may
be preached in his language as well as
in any other. But it muft not be read
nor preached in It ; becaufe, fhould it be,
it will obftrudl the fpread and progrefs of
another language. Thus dlfproportioned;
are the means to the end. They appear
highly abfurd and prepofterous, when
confidered only in their afpedl or relation
one to another.
They appear ftill worfe, if confidered
as coming from a Chriftlan magiftracy or
government. They are diametrically op-
pofite to the genius and fplrit of Chrif-
tianlty. The wife, the divine author of
that fcheme of, grace and of mercy con-:
ferred upon .his minifters the gift of ,
tongues,, the power of conveying their
dodlrines and Inftrudllons In every lan
guage : that they, might fpeedily fpread
Jjls religion among the heathens, Per-^
fedlly

r 78 J
fedlly rieedlefs fuch a nsieafure,. lay the
wifer abettors of this fcheme. Let peo
ple forget their original language : let
them endeavor to learn and become ac-
quainted with another : and then, if
they live long enough : let them be in-
ftrudled in ..the principles and duties .of
Chriftianity. This is the genuine voice
and language of fuch a condudl ; and I
know no way of excufing; or palliating
thefe meafures, except upon the prin
ciples of heathenifm or popery. If the
defign was to abollfh Chriftianity, and to
introduce the Pagan religion ; then let the
Bible be taken away from the people.
Or, if the defign was to extirpate the
Proteftant religion, and to promote the;
eftabllfhment and growth of popery ; then
let the light of the fcriptures be put out 1
and let the wOrd of God be had only in
a language not underflood. This in a
Papift may be the more readily excufed
and tolerated, as it Is perfedlly in cha
radler. He is enga.ged in an oppofition,
he avows an oppofition to fcripture ; and
would

t 79 1
Would withold it not only from one, but
from every nation. He Is confiftent, he
is uniform and impartial. In his enmity to
this light of the word; and in- his at
tachment to darknefs and Ignorance. But
in a Proteftant this Is Inexcufable. It Is
not to be tolerated. It is contrary to his
profeffion and principles s. For him, to
withold the Bible frorii a- part of a king
dom* or of a people, is not only a little
pitiful partiality; but quite inconfiftent
with his religion and charadler.
¦ After all', thefe dlfproportioned and
prepofterous, thefe unprotefiant and un^
chriftian methods, though purfued with
rigor and feverity* will not infure the
end propofed. Suppofe neither the name
nor the religion of Chrift to be known or
Jieard of, in the principality of Wales ;
yet the language of it might fubfift, and
I believe would fubfift, in fpite of every
effort of this nature to deftroy it. Violent
meafures hardly ever anfwer the expedta-
tion; In general they foon fpend them felves

[ 80 j;
fclV6s and end In nothing. They may do
mifchlef; they may diftrefs a perfon or a
party ; .they may fhew the difpofition and
temper oflthe times ; or they may gratify
the rage of a perfecuting tyrant : and but
very little more. The thing principally
aimed at is yet unaccompllfhed, perhaps
retarded and not forwarded. WItnefs
the heathenifh perfecutlons of the apoftles
and primitive difclples of Chrift. ; WIt
nefs Chriftlan perfecutlons of Heathens,
of Jews, and of one another. WItnefs
Poplfh perfecutlons of Proteftants ; and
Proteftant perfecutlons of their own
members and of Papifts. I don't mean
to infinuate, that any fuch violence and
feverity has been pradllfed. In the prefent
cafe. I only fay, that frippofe they had
been pradllfed, they would very probably
have proved frultlefs and ineffedtual.
Britons in Wales, without the Bible,
preferved their language and diftindllon
for hvmdreds of. years,- preceding the Re
formation. The inhabitants of the Ifle
of Man have never had a Bible, in their
mother-

t 8t i
Mother* tongue ; yet they hav^ retairie4
it, through many generations down to the
prefent time; -; And now at laft, in the
eighteenth century of Chriftianity, they
are likfe to begin to read the fcripture in
their own language. I don't fi.nd, that
there ha? been above one edition of this
book ever printed* for the ufe of S.cotland
and Ireland : yet the Irlfh or Erfe Inha^
bitants- of both thefe countries do ftill '
retain their original language^ They ufe
it in comjtlOn at this day; and abundance
of them underftand not a word of Englifh*
This probably, may I not fay ? this cer-
tainiy* would • have been the cafe with
the Inhabitants of Wales, If they had
never been favoured with the word of
God. They are the moft confiderable
body (^ ancient Celts pn- the face of the
earth. They are much more numerous
than the! Manksi They are more confix
derable for number than the Erfe in Scot
land, ot their brethren in Ireland. They
are more ^cdSedled together, and more
diftindl from their neighbours, than either
M -of

[ 8^ 3
of the two laft mentioned people. And
for that very reafon I conclude^ that .they
would have retained their language to
this day, though they never had had a
Britifh verfion of the Bible.
It will be faid, the Cornifh have whol
ly forgot their original tongue, and are
become entirely Englifh. I know it:
but I will not allow this to be entirely,
if at all owing to the non-exiftence of
the fcripture in Cornifh. Other caufea
more fuitable, more efficacious^ may be
affigned for thls^ event. The; inhabi
tants ,of C.ornwal are not fo numerous as
the inhabitants of Wales. They were
never fo diftlndl and feparate frPm others,
as their brethren on the other fide of the
Briftol channel. No Off as dyke in that
part of Britain. They have never been
cooped in by hedges and ditches, or o-
ther : barriers lefs ruftic indeed, but more
dif agreeable and hofiile. They were' ne
ver fiaughtered by multitudes for afong ^.
They ipere never punifted for being Cor-^.
nifh 3
¦ V Welfli Bards maffacred by Edward I.

I ^3 1
nift : never excluded the proteSlion of go-
nyernment : never denied legal redrefs on
complaints of injufiice and opprejfon .-• nor
ever difqualified as a people^ by A5i,s of
Parliament, from holding places of honor,
or of profit in any part of the kingdom^.
The abfence of thefe things, with' re--
gard to Cornwal, kept open a free
communication with England; and fa
cilitated a coalition and famenefs of lan
guage. Commerce, and a reciptocatlon
of benefits, always fubfifted between
that county and the counties adjoining:
and the Cornifh tongue i gradually and
infenfibly gave Way to the fiiperior ge
nius pf the Englifh. Four hundred
years ago, it feems to have extended
much beyond the prefent limits of the
county. In Richard of CIrencefter's
map ', Somerfetfhire was occupied by the
Cimbri, probably the Cornifh, who are
M 2 firiCQ
* Statutes of Henry IV. and Greafs of Prince
|i.lewelyn, &c. in Powel's Hiftory of Wales, p. 346,
&c.
» AboUft the year 1 340.,

I »4 ]
finee retired beyond the Tamat ; but" fa
infenfibly, that hiftory has taken no non-
tice of their retreat. In the laft century
they retained fonaethlng of their original
tongue ; but at prefent it is quite exr
tindl * : and this feems to have been the
natural and fure effedls of their friendly
intercourfe with their neighbours.
But the exif^ence of the above re-
ftridllons and hardfhips long prevented
the fanie efledls from taking place, with
yegard to the principality. While thefe
reftralnts, &e continued, they promoted
fnmlty and refentment; they were the
occafion of ill blood and 111 offices ; of
endlefs depredations and mifchiefs. They
feem to have fubfifled with the greateft
rigor and feverity under the princes of
the houfe of Lancafter ^ probably on gp-j
pount of the attachment pf the Welfli
to thd contrary party. Under the Tu-
dors* they were partly repealed, and it
piay be totally (lifufed; but yet they
'ivere not entirely abrogated, till the ye^r
1623 ;
> Boflafe's Nat. Hift, of Cornwal, p. 3^6-,

f 85 }
1623*: not a century and a half ago^
They ftlH fubfift in the ftatute books of
this realm ; to j|bew, we will fuppofe, how
fubjeSts of England were treated in days of
yore. I would beg leave to recommend
the printing of them in future — not In
bhck — but In rf"^ letters — as more de-
fcriptlvp of their true charadler and Dra
conic feyerity : and the better to diftinguifh
them, from the more equal and more gen
tle laws of Britannia to her children.-
Though difagreeable* it was neceffary
to take notice of thefe particulars ; In or
der to come at the real caufes of the ex-
tindlion of the Cornifh, and of the pre-
fervation of the Britifh tongue. For the
reafons abovementioned, the ftate of the
two languages muft be very different, at
the time of the Reformation. The Gor-
pifh had been long on the decline, and
was approaching • to its exit ; but the
Welfh was in full ftrength and vigor.
The people of the former language* as
ac-
f 31 James I. chap. 28,

f 86 J
acquainted in general with the Englifh,
might do without any verfion of the
fcripture for their ufe. The other peopler
wanted it, and had It ; but notwithftand
ing that, their language has ever fince
been on the decline. And fo little has
the Bible affedled this matter, that th&
language has declined -the moft, wheix
there has been the greateft quantity of
Welfh Bibles. Since the commencement!
of this century* the Welfh tongue has
loft, and the Englifh hath gained ground
more than, in any other period of the fame
duration. The caufes of this decay of
the one, and of the progrefs of the other,
are in my view of the matter the prefent
good underftanding and friendfhip, the
prefect daily intercourfe and reciproca
tion of benefits happily fubfifling be
tween the two nations. 'May this difpo
fition and condudl ever fubfift ! May this
temper and behavior ever continue and
prevail ! though this declining condition
of the language fhould prove mortal and
end in Its death.. Though

t 87 3
Though I muft confefs,, wheri I con
fider the prefent ftate of the trade and
interCotirfe between thefe twP nations ;
I cannot fee that England will gain much
by the^ utter extindllon of the Britifh
tongue., From Chepftow weftward, round
by Mrlford to Holy-head and Chefter ;
Wales is environed by the Briftol and the
Irlfh channel, or the ocean. In all this
lenglh of coaft, not a Welfh veffel is to
be feen bound to or from any diftant part
of the globe ; and hardly a boat or a
coafter, except for London, Briftol, or
fome other place in England. Through
out the whole extent of the principality,;
hardly a perfon is to be feen but has-
fomething, and many of them have al-
mofi every thing Englift about them.
The lower and midling fort of people-
maybe clad in cloth, flannel, &c. manu-
fadlured at home : the inhabitants of the
towns, and the gentry in, the' country
may eat their own bread and mutton, and
drink their own home-brewed ale : but in

t 88 3
in general they are clothed after the Erig*'
llfh fafhion, and in the manufadlures
of England. Hence iffofi of the goods
in every fhop in that country. Hence
the principal of their clothing, of their
furniture, and of their beverag.e, &c^
Hence many of the .articles of common
life, and sJl the articles of luxury. I
would fain know, what England would
have more ? What more could it have, if
every individual In that , country fpake
nothing but Engllfli .? What more can
its trading cities and towns expedl, . from
any part of the king's dominions ? ^
: Ireland and Scotland wear much of
their own manufadlures ; and provide
confidecahly for others. Scarce a county
or confiderable village in England but is
noted, for fome particular . manufadlure
and article; of commerce. But Wale^
maoiofadlures next to nothing: its iron,i
ks moft confiderafete article, it w©rfe^
little farther than to make horfeHsfiiocs-
and plow-fhares. What Is wifhed to take
place and to continue,, buit wifhed j^rrei
haps

[ 89 ]
haps In vain, with regard to our colonies
in America, Is;adlually, Is notorioufly the
cafe in the Principality. It fends to Eng
land for every thing. : Whatever ^ieproaeh
this may be to the Welfh ; If is no dlf-
honor, at leaft no difadvantage to the
Englifh — and they know their interefts
too well not, to fupply every deriiand
readily and plentifully. And Welfh Bi
bles, confidered as an article of com
merce, may have been perhaps the .only
commodity, they ever granted grudgingly
or fparingly. I.
¦ Upon the whole, in whatever, view I
confider this defign of difcontinuing the
language of Wales, and of eftablifliing
the Englifh in its ftead ; I cannot think
it any way fo important as Is pretend
ed. It feems to me to be very immate
rial, efpecially to England ; and I fhould
therefore be a good deal unconcerned a-
bout it. But when I confider the mea
fures, propofed to accomplifh this end, I
can no longer be indifferent. I feel, I a-
N vow

[ 90 ]
vow a warmth and emotion ; and I think
it becomes me. Was I an Englifhman
or a Scotchman, my feelings here, I ap
prehend, would be the fame. And I
fhould look upon it as a duty, to thp ut-
tnoft of my power, to bear a public tefti-
mony agalnft meafures fo prepofterous
and Ineffe'dlual ; agalnft meafures of fuch
pernicious and deftrudlive confequences ;
againft meafures tending, not to anfwer
the end propofed, or to make the people
of Wales ceafe to be Welfh, and become
Englifh — but tending to make them ceafe
to be Proteftants— 'to make them ceafe to
be Chriftians — ceafe to be loyal fubjedls
and good men.

A P P E N,

{ 91 ]
APPENDIX. N°. I.
Dedication prefixed to the New
Teflament printed in 1567.
To the moft vertuous and noble Prince
Elizabeth, by the grace of God,
of England, Fraurice arid Ireland,
QuEENE, defender of the Faith &c.
WH E N I call to remembrance, as
well the face of the corrupted re
ligion in England, at what tyme Paules
Churcheyarde in the citle was occupied by
makers of alabafter images to be fet up
in churches; and they of Pater-nofter-
rowe earned thieir lyving by makyng of
Pater-nofter bedes only ; they of Aue-
lane by felling Aue-bedes ; of Crede-lane
by m'akying Crede-bedes : as alfo the
vaine rites crepte Into our countrey of
N 2 Wales,

Wales, whan, infteade of the lyvyng God,
men worfliipped dead images of wood
arid ftones, belles and bones, with other
fuch uncertain reliques I wot not what :
and withal confider our late general re
volt frbm Goddes , moft holy wOrde once
receaued, and dayly heare of the lyke en
forced uppon our brethern in forain coun-
tryes, having moft piteoufely fuflpined
great calamities, bitter afflidllons and
merciles perfecutlons; under which verye
many doe yet ftyll remalne : I cannot,
moft Chriftlan Prince, and gracious So-
' ueraine,* but even as dyd the poore blynde
Bartimeus or Siimarltane lepre to our Sa-
uiour, fo I com before your Maiefties
feete, arid there lying proftrate, not onely
for myfelf, but alfo for the delluery of
many thoufandes of my countrey folkes,
from the fplritual blyndnes of ignoraunce
and fowl infedllon of olde idolatrle arid
falfe fuperftition, moft humbly and duti
fully to ackriowlege your incomparable
benefite beftowed upon vs in graunting
the facred fcriptures (the verye remedle and

[ 93 3
iarid falve of our ghpftly blyndnefs arid le-
profie) to be had in our beft knowen
tongue : which as far as euer I can- ga
ther (thoughe Chrlft's trewe religion
fometyme floorifhed emong our auncefters
the old Britons) yet were neuer fo en-
tlerlye and uniuerfallye 'had, as we now
God be thanked have them.
Our countreymen in tymes paffed were
indede moft loth (and that not wythout
good caufe) to receaue the Romlfh reli
gion, and yet haue they nowe fynce (fuch
is the domage of euyll euftome) 'bene loth
to forfake the fame, and to receaue the
gofpell of Chrift. But after that thys
nation, as it is thought, for their apofta-
fie had ben fore plagued wyth long
warres, and finally vanquifhed and by
rigoroufe lawes kept vnder, yet at the
laft it pleafed God of his accuftomed cle-
mencle to looke down agayne upon them,
fending a moft godly and noble Dauid
and a wyfe Solomon, I meane Henry the
Seventh and his foiine Henry the Eight,
(both kynges of moft famous memorie, and

C 94 ]
and your Graces father and grandfather)
who gracloufly releafed their paynes and
mitigated their Intolerable burthens, the
one with charters of liberties, and the
other with Adls of Parlyament, by a-
bandoning from them al bondage and
thraldome, and incorpPratIng them wyth
his other louing fubiedls of England.
Thys, no doubt, was no fmall benefit
jfouchyng bodyly Welth : but thys bene
fit of your Maiefties prouidence and
goodneffe excedeth that other fo far as
the foule doeth the bodye. Certaine
jioble women, (whereof fome were chlefe
rulers of thys nowe your ifle of Britain,)
are by antiquliie ynto us for their fingu-
Jer learning and heroical vertues hyghely
commendedi as Cambra the Fayre, Mar-
tla the Good, Bunducia the Warlar,
Claudia Rufina mentioned In S. Paules
epiftle, and Helena, mother of the great
and fyrft Chrift:ian emperor Conftantinus
Magnus* and S. Urfula of Cornwal, with
foch other who arcalfo at thys day ftyl
renowmed : but of your Maieftie, Iinay, as

[ 95 ]
as I thynk, right well ufe the wordes of
that king who furnamed himfelfe Lemuel.
Mi^ny daughters haue dori vertumfty : but
thou, fiirmounteft^ them all. Fauour . is
dec eiptf fill, and beautie is vanitie : but a
woman that feareth the, Lord, ftse Jhall be
pray fed. For If M. Magdalen for the
beftowing of a boxe of material oynt-
ment, to annoyndl Chrlftes carnal body^
be fo famous thorowe out all the world
where the gofpell is preached, how6
muehe more fhall your munificence by
conferring, the undtion of the holy ghoft
t»^ annoyndl his fplritual body the
churche, be euer had in memorie ?
But to conclude and to drawe neare to
offer up. my vowe: wher as I, by our
moft vigilant paftours the Bifhopes of
Wales, am called, ancj fubftituted, though
vnworthy* fomewhat to deale in the pe-
rufing and fetting fourth of thys fo wor
thy a matter, I thynk it my moft boun-
den duetie here in their name, to pre
fent to your Maieftie (as the chlefeft fyrft
fruLdl) a boofce of the Newe. Teftament of

f 96 J
>rde Jefvs Chrift, tran
1 language, which is o
'^yfhyng and moft hun
ig, ir It fhall fo feme good to your
yfedome, that ; it myght remayne in
our M. Librarle, for a perpetuall monu-
iment of your gracioufe bountle.fhewed
;reln to our countrey, and the churche
Chrift there. And would to God; that
UI 'rraces fubledtes of Wales might
fo h^ue the : whole booke Of Gods
'oord brought to like paffe : then might
leir felow fubiedles of England re-
•yclngly pronounce of them in thefe
'ords. The people that fate in dwknes,,
¦zue feen a great lyght : they ^hat dwel-
d in the land of the ftadowe of death,
f)on them hath the lyght ftyned. Blefi'ed
'•e the people that ¦ be fo, yea bleffed are
he people, whofe God is the Lord.' Yea,
len wold they both together thus bro-
lerly fay. Come, and let us go up to the
ountaine of the Lord, to the. houfe of
'aacob, and he wyll teache us hys wayes^
fid we wyll walke in his pathes &c.
And

[ 97 ]
And thus to ende, I befeeche Al-
myghtye God, that as your Graces dr-
cumfpedt providence doth perfedllye ac-
coriiplifh, and difcharge your princely Vo
cation and gouernaunce towardes all your
humble fubiedls ; that we alfo Pn our part
may toward God and your highnes de-
meane ourfelves In fuch wyfe, that his
iuftice abrydge not thefe halcypns and
quiet days (which hetherto fince the be-
gynnlng of your happie reigne haue moft
calmely and peaceably continued) but
that we may long enioy your gracious
prefence and moft profperous reigne over
us : which we befeche ,God, for our
Saulour Jefus Chrlftes fake mofte merci-
fullye to graunt us. Amen.
Your Maxes tie's
Moft humble and
Falthfull Subled
William Salefbury.
O

t 98 ]
N°. II.
Dedication prefixed to the Bible
printed in 1588.
llluftrlffimffi, PotentlffimsB, Serenef-
fimaeq; Princlpl Elisabet hm,
Dei Gratia, AngHae* Galllse, &
HIberniae Reginse, FIdfei verse & A-
poftolicEB Propugnat. Sec. Gfatlam
& Benedidllpnem in Domino Seni-
piterriam.
QUANTUM Deo Optimo Maximo
Majeftas veftra debeat, Auguftiflima
Princeps , (ut opes potfentiam & admirabi7
lem ingenii ac naturas dotem taceam)
non folum gratia, qua apud plurimos pel
let rariffima; & erudltlp, ,qua; pra3 ceteris
ornatur varia; & pax, qua pras vicinis fru-
itur alma, ejufque numquam fatis adml-
randa protedlio, qua & hoftes nuper fu-
gavit alroces, & multg. ac magna pericula
femper evafit felicifllme: verum etiam cum

[ 99 ]
cum prlmis eximia ilia pietas tota orber
celebrata, qua ipfe V. M. Imbuit & orna-
vitj nee non Ver?e religloriis & propa
gandas & propugnandse ftudiulft pj-open-'
fiffimum, quo femper flagraftis, cjarif-
fime atteftantur.
Nam (ut & gen tea alias & reliqua pras-
clara a vobis gefta jam prsteream) quam^
pia«i curam , veftrorum Britannorum ha-
bult y . M. hoe unum, quod facro-fandti
Dei verbi Inftrumenta Utraque, vefeus fci-
lieet & novum, una euni Illo libro, qui
precum publicarum formam, & facra-
raentorum adminiftrandorum rationem
praefcriblt. In Britannleum fermonem
verti non modo benigne permiferit, fed
fummorum inclytiffimi hujus regnl co-*
mitiorum autoritate follcite fanxiverit,
femper conteftarl valet. Quod Idem no-
ftram ignaviam-& fegnitiem fimul pro-
dlt, quod nee tam gravi neceffitate mo-
veiri, nee tam commoda lege cogi po-
tuerlmiis ; quin tam diu res tanti (qua
majoris effe momenti riihil unquam po-
tuerit) intadla pene remanferit. Nam II-
O 2 lam

[ 100 }
lam litufgiatri, cum Novo Teftamerito
duritaxat, Reverendus ille Pater Richardus,
plje memoriae MeneVenfis Epifcopus (auxi-
liante Gulielmo Salefourlo, de noftra ec-
clefia viro optlme merito) annis abhinc
viginti Britannice interpretatus eft.
- Qua re quantum noftratlbus profuerit,
facile dici non poteft. . Nam praeterquam
quod vulgus noftrum, quae Britannice at
que Angllce fcrlpta tunc erant invlcem
comparantes Anglici fermonis nuper eva-
ferunt peritiores : ad verltatem turn do-
eendam tum difcendam ifto labore con-
duxlt plurlmum. Tuncvero vix unus &
alter Britannice concionarl valebant, quod
verba quibus Britannice explicanda'- erant
quae in fcripturis facrls facra tradlantur
myfteria, vel letheis ¦ quafi aquis . deleta
prorfus evanuerant, vel defuetudinis quo^
dam quafi cinere obdudla atque fepulta
jacuerant ; ut nee docentes quae vellent
fatis aperte expllcari, nee audientes quae
expllcabantur, fatis ; fffiliciter intelligere
valerent. Scripturarum;praBterea quae ef-
fent teftimonia, quaeve earundem expli-?
c^tioneS|

cationes', fcripturis minus affueti dijudi*
care nequibant: adeo ut quum ad con-
clones convolarent avidi, & iifdem.inte-
reffent feduli, incertl tamen dubilque dif-
cedebant plerlque; ac fi thefaiirum inve-
nlffent amplum, quern effodere non po-
terant, aut epulis interfuiffent lautls, qui->
bus vefci non daretur.
- Jam vero, D. O. M. benignitate exi
mia, veftraque cura egregla,!& pr^fulum
folicltudine pervlgill, & hujus interpretis
labore & induftria effedlum eft ; ut et con-
clonatores Ipnge plures paratiorefque, &
audi tores magis doclles habeamus. Quae
utraque ut piis funt cordi, ita ^dhuc e-
orum voto neutrum vel medlocriter ref-
pondet. Quum enim prius illud inftru-
mentum:, alterlus occultata praedidllo, a-
dumbrata figura, &.indublus teftis noflra-
tlbus hadtenus ddfideretur: Quot (pro do
lor) exempla latent.? Quot promlffiones
delltefcunt .? Quot confolationes occul-
tantur ? Quot der^Ique monitlonlbus* ex-
hortationlbus, deh^rtatIonibus,veritatIfque
^ftimoniis invitus caret populus nofter? quos

[ 102 ]
quos Y>. M. regit, curat & amat : quorum
aeterna falus Satanae foil, ejufque fateJlitibus
in vlfa, hadtenus perlclitata eft plurlmum;
quum vivat quifque per fidem, fides vero
fit ex auditu, audltus etiam per verbum
Dei, quodhucufque fermoneperegrlnode*
litefcens noftratibus parum infonuit.
Quum igitur reliquarum fcrlpturarum
interpretatlonem In linguam Britannlcam
tain utilem, imo taria ri,epeffariam effe VI-
derem (etfi & proprlae imbeciUitatis, &
ipfius rei magnltudlnis, & quorundam in-
geniorum xaito{pvitx,s recordatio me diu de-
terrult) plorum precibus acq[uiefcens, ut
hoc ' opus gravlffimum, moleftiffimum,
nee non ingratlffimum multls, aggrede-
rer, memet exorari paffus fum. Quod
cum vix aggreffus effem, & rei dlffioul-!
tate & impenfarum magnltudine. preffus
in limine (quod aiunt) fuccubuiffem,
& folum pentateuchum ad prelum per^
duxiffem ; nifi Reverendiffimus in Chrifto
Pater ^ Cantuarienfis Archiepifcopus, ll-f
terarum M^cenas optlmus, veritatis pro-^
pugnator acerrimus, & ordinis ac decoriobfer-:
* Johannes Whitgift,

[ 103 ]
obfervator prudentlffimus (qui ex quo
Britanriis, fub veftra majeftate* tam prii-
dentiffime quam juftlffime prgefuit, noftra-
tium tum obedientlani tum acumen anl-
madvertens, animo benigno eos poftea
profequutus eft : ficuti & IllI ejus laudem
femper decantant:) ut progrederer effeclf-
fef, & adjuviffet llberalltate, autoritate &
confilio. Cujus ad, exemplum, alii boni
viri opem mihi maximam tulerunt.
Quorum hortatu, induftria atque labore
motus, fultus, & adjutus fxpe ; qiium non
modo vetus inftrumentum totum, Inter
pretatus fim* fed novum etiam, inemen-
data quadam fcribendi ratlone (qua plu
rlmum fcatebat) repurgaverim, cui eadeni
dicare fas atque confentaneum fit, du-
blus haefito. Quum vel meae Ipfius In-
dlgnitatls fumms recorder, vel V. M.
iplendorem eximlum Intueor, vel ipfius
Dei (cujus vices gerit) numen quoddam
in eadem fplendens animadverto ; ad tarn
facrum accedere fulgorem refofmldo.
Contra vero, rei ipfius dignltas (quae fuo
quafi jure veftram tutelam vendicat) novas
mihi vires auget. Delude cum alteram inftru-

[ 104 ]
inftrumentum Britannice impreffum, tam
aequo, benigno, & regio animo dlgnabi-
mlni, huic alium venari patronum ; 6e Im-
prudentiae, & injurlas, & Irigratltudlnis effe
judico. Sic etiam quas inter fe tantopere
cohasrent atque convenlunt, fejungenda
non effe, quin, quae, revera eadem funt,
eadem quoque In bibliotheca, eorum re-
ponantur exemplaria, cenfeo. Quod idem
ut Veftra cenfeat M. fupplex rogo & ob-
teftor, necnon fummis precibus contendo,
animo benigno conatibus mels ut adfpiret ;
quippe qui veftrarum legum autoritate
nituntur, veftrl populi faluti inferviunt, &
veftrl Dei gloriam fpedlant ; quos etiam
veftrl tum pro verltate, tum in Britannps
ftudii, monumentum perpetuum, nee non
Britannorum erga V. M. amorls propen-
fiffimi tefferam, fore confido.
Si qui confenfus retlnendi gratia, nof-
trates ut anglicum fermonem edifcant a-
digendos effe potius, quam fcripturas in
noftrum fermonern vertendas effe volunt ;
dum unitati ftudent, ne veritati obfint
cautlores effe vellm : & dum concordiam
prompvent, ne religlonem amoveant, ma-

t 10$ ]
i^is effe follcltps Opto. Quamvis enim
fejufdem infulae Incolas, gufdem fernionis
& loquelas effe magnopere optandum fit ;
seque tamen perpendendum eft, Iftud ut
perficiatiir, taritum temporis & negotii
peti, lit interea Dei pOpulum, miferrlma
illiiis Verbi fame," ' interire velle aut pati*
himis fit fsvurii atque crudele^ Deinde
non dubium eft* quin religloriis quam
fernionis ad urtitatem plus valeat fimlli-
tudo & coriferiflis-. Unitatem praeterea
pietati, utilitatem' religioni, & externam
quandam in'ter homines concordiam exl-
misB Uli paci* quam Dei verbum humanis
ahimis iniprimit ptaeferre, non fatis pium
tft. Poflremoi ^uam iiori fapiunt, fi verbi
divirii in rriaterna lingua Jiaberidl prohi-
bltionem* alienk rit-fedifcatur, qulcquam
hiovere - opinanttif? Religlo enim nifi
Vulgari lingua edoceatur, Ignota latitabit.
Ejus vero rei quam quis ignorat iifum,
dulcedirieiri & pretium etiam nefcit, nee
ejus acqulrendae gratia, qulcquam laborls
fubiblt. Quamobrem roganda eft V. M.
U0E riullius rationis fpecle impedlatur (nee
impedietur fat fcio) quin quos ccepit beare
P bene-

[ io6 3
beneficils^ augere yelit; quos; uno Inftru-
mento ditavit, altero dignetur ; quibus u-
num veritatis uber prasbuit, alterum con-^
cedat; & quod, efficere fliudult, : perficere
eonetur : nempe ut oinnis vefler; populus
mirahllia Dei fuo fermone. audiat, ,& orn-
nis lingua laudet Deum. ,,,
: Coeleftis ille pater, (qui Imbecillltatem
humanam, foemineum fexum, ;& vlrgl-
neam Indolem, tam herpicis virtutih\is in
V M. ornaffp dignofcitur, ut & .jn^feris
folamen & hoftibus terrpr,: & mundi
Phoenix eadem hadtenus extiterit) propi-
tius concedat; ccelefli fpiritu ita regatur,
divinis donis adoi-netur, -& alls altiffimi
protegatur Impofterum, ut longaeva ma
ter In Ifrael, pia Ecplefiae nutrix, ;6c ,ab
hoftibus femper tuta, vitiorum boftis ea-i
deni permaneat; adD.O.M. fernpiternam
-gloriam : cui omne imperium, .hpnps,[;§c
laus in omne aevum. Amen^. , .
Serenlffimae Veftrae Majfftati,
omni Reyerentia, ^
Subditiffimus Gulielmus Morgan. Nomina

f{ 107 ]
Nomina eofum, qui prce ceteris hoc 0-
pus promovere conatifunt.
Reverendi Patres, Afaph. & Bang. Epif-
CQpi,.libros qupspetil mutuo conceffere, &
.iftud opus examlnare, perperidere & ap-
probare dignati funt.
G. Goodman Weflnapnaft. Decanus, vir
re & nomine valde bonus, omnique pie
tati dedltlffimus, quae interpretatus fue-
ram relegenti ita mihi adfuit affiduus, ut
fc labore & Confilio me plurimuni adju
verit; fuorum llbrorum plurimos mihi
dcdit, reliquorum liberum conceffit ufum,
atque totum annum, dum fub praelo liber
ifte erat (collegis humaniffime affentien-
tibus) hofpitio. me accepit ; quam huma--
nitatem a Reverendiffimo ArchiepifcopO,
(de quo prius In ip^ epiftola memini,)
benigniffime oblatam, ut repudlarem co-
eglt Thamefius fluvius, Illius dpmum a
praelo divldens atque fejungens.
Sic opem tulerunt non contemnendam
D. Powelus Sacrae Theologiae Dodlor.
E. Pr/V^«j Archidiaconus Melrion,
JR*. Vaughams HOfpItll dlyi Johannis,
- quod eft Literurths, Pfaeledtijs
P 2 ' ' ' N".

[ 108 I
N°. in.
Dedication prefixed to the Bihk
printed in 1620.
Sacrofandts & inciividuae Trinitati, uni
Deo Optimo Maximo, nominis;
Sandllficationem. J A c o b o, Dei e-
jnfder^ gratia, Mag. Brit. Franc. &
Hiber. Regl Auguftlflimo, faelicftan
tem omnem precatur creatura hu-
niills, fubditus fidells.

Q

U I una tantum state vivit brevem,
qui ingratus miferam* qui fibi foli
parcam, quique otiofus vero nullam vitam
agit. Hie enim vivens mortuus eft, &
memoria ejus perit cum eo. Idcirco egoi,
grati in Det^nl &; Regem animi teftimoni-!
urn,- conterraneis commodum, meque
vermem n^ri hominem in terris repen-
tem, bene pro facultatula ^cclefiae Chrifti
yolulffe, indicium aliquod relinquere con-
cupivi. Ad haec nihil in fe dignius* Deo.
¦ "''  ¦'*  " ' ' &

^ Regi ut rebar gratius, Bfitannis ad fbl tf*
Jem accommodatius,^ me facere poffe crcr
didl ; quam fi id pro virili conarer in Bri-
tannlca bibllorum verfione, quod faeliciter
fadtum eft in Anglicana; & nunc praefer-
tim* blbllis in plerifque apud nos eccle-?
fils, aut deficientibus aut tritis ; & ne-r
inine quantum audire potui dp excuden-
dis novis cogitante.
Pene me ab inftitutp terruit illud D.
pieronynii de opere fuo confimill ; Peri^
culofum opus ^certe efi & obtreSfatorum
latratibiis patens ; & illud ejufdem, Non
parwn efi fcire quid nefcias. Prudentis
hominjs efi noffe njienfuram fuam, nee im--.
peritiee fuce cunflum orbem tefiem. facere.
Verum haefitantern ^niinayit illud Do-
jnlni ad Mofem, Ego adero ori tuo : &
illud ^d apoftplum. Virtus mea in infirmi-
tate perficitur. "Tuo igitur, Gratlofe Deus,
auxilip fretus j & tuo Rex, mandato An-
glis (ut ad lau^lem pietatls veftrae tef-
tantur) dato incitatus ; nee non plo re-
verendorum praeceffprum exemplo adduc-
tus : viz. Rich. Davies, primo Afaphenfis
poftea Menevenfis Epifcopi, qui (auxiliante
' Gull-

Gulielmo Salefourlo) Novum Teftamen-
tum; & Gulielmi Morgani, Afapheftfi's
nuper Epileopi, qui facra Biblia fermorie
Britannico iii lucem edidit. Ad illorum
tranflatlones, noVlffimam ppgefertim ma-
nus movi, atque ubi opus videbatur, tan-
quam vetus edificium, nova cura inftau-
rare ccepl.
^id igitur? ut inquit Hieronymus^
damnanius veteres f minime : fed pofi il
lorum fiudia, in domo Domini quod pof-
fumus, laboramus Llcltapoft vindemi-
am racematio, poft Meffem Spicarum
colledllo, & in aedificio cum laude con-?
ditorls ad faftigium perdudlo, licebit farta
tedla curare, fuperflua tollere, collapfa
reftaurare, male haerentia cpnnedlerei.
Quemadmodum igitur Athenienfes navi-
glum Thefei confervarunt, ligna * vetuf-
tate confeSla tollentes, firmiora fufficientes
atque ita coagmentanies, ut navem alii
eandem, alii non eandem effe contenderent i
fimiliter ego certe, quaedam cum prae-
eeffoiis laude retinui; quaedarh In Dei
nomine mutavi atque fie compegi ; ut 6e
hie
* Plutarch, in Thefep,

i III ]
hie fit ety.(ftS'o^BfJt.evoy •^a.^etS^eiyfJi.a & didlu
fit difficile, num vetus au nova, Morgani
an mea dicenda fit verfio.
.- CujusGunque fit, tua primo Deus eft :
ex quo, .per querii ,& in quem omnia.
Nos enim fiftulae, tuus eft fplritus; Tu
autor, nos organa;.per quae Britanni fua
qua nati funt lingua, audiunt Dei mag-
nalia. Homo dextram porrigit, fed Deus
manum- guhernat -j- : ergo quodcunque eft
bene*- npftrls manibus* fed tuls Jviribus
fadlum eft. In hoc non fum inlquus in
te, non modo regum Auguftiflime, f^d vl-
rorum Optlme, quod tibi Deum, qui te
fecit & praefeeit, anteferam. Nullius e-
nim injuria efi, cui Deus omnipotens ante-.
fertur. %. ;;ji;
Poft Deum. proxime Rex tua eft, qiii
nemlnem nifi Deum fuperiorem babes;
fi vetusi tua eft jure haereditarib ; fi no
va, tua eft jure acqulfito : praeterquam
enim quod ego tuus fum cum caeterijf
fubditus, mea quails qualis eft, majeftati
veftra debetur induftria, - propter fingula-r
rem veftram & omnimodo gratultam erga
IT - ¦¦¦' m?
f Chryfeflotnu§. % Ambrpfiws.

iiie gratiam j erga" m& inquam homuii-
cioriem intfpem* ab 'Auk -atienikiiy ruri iri^
ter Britannoruni' reliqmas commcirantemi
quod femper> & ubique agnofeo hrimll-
lime & cum Orriai gratiafuriii adlioris&i
Etfi ergo tiec quod debetur comperifari^
nee qulcquam a parvit'ate mea, ^^ignum
Majeft. Veftiri expPdtari ppffit; 'fperd
tamen devotitgiis^ mp& voluntaterh hoc
conatu dlgriofcl ppffe.' ' Cui* fi d6t'ui' De®
& Regi placere, Britannis prode^ habeP
quod fuit In votfe prkn^m* in•^^pd^e ftu-^
dium, & erit quamdiu Vlxero "folfetlurrit
Deus is, qui folus fapiens & fumme^riaife*
ricors eft, te-Rex fereneMftie, & tuos ill
folio, fubditos oBiriJe^ ift obfequio*.quani
fasllciffime cuftodiat, ufque ad adlrentum
Chrifti ^Itafiofutfi : ia iquo a^os paidifice re-
gentes, nos ex an imo MobtfempeiCantes* \vmx
veiiffirit,; inveniat, is xujus eftiJ^um patre
&. fpiritu fandlP, regnum, pfasteaitk tfis
gloria in fecula f©euk*«tov: Ameft;
Riehardus Afaj^^j^J^^
T HE END*

E UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ^
)2 01273 2476 g