After the translation of the Bible by the bishops, two other private versions had been made of the New Testament; the first by Lawrence Thomson, from Beza's Latin edition, with the notes of Beza, published in 1582, in quarto, and afterwards in 1589, varying very little from the Geneva Bible; the second by the Papists at Rheims, in 1584, called the Rhemish Bible, or Rhemish translation. These, finding it impossible to keep the people from having the scriptures in their vulgar tongue, resolved to give a version of their own, as favourable to their cause as might be. It was printed on a large paper, with a fair letter and margin: one complaint against it was, its retaining a multitude of Hebrew and Greek words translated, for want, as the editors express it, of proper and adequate terms in the English to render them by; as the words azymes, tunike, holocaust, prepuce, pasche, &c.: however, many of the copies were seized by the queen's searchers, and confiscated; and Thomas Cartwright was solicited by secretary Wallingham to refute it; but, after a good progress made therein, archbishop Whitgift prohibited his further proceeding, as judging it improper that the doctrine of the church of England should be com mitted to the defence of a puritan; and appointed Dr. Fulke in his place, who refuted the Rhemists with great spirit and learning. Cartwright's refutation was also afterwards published in 1618, under archbishop Abbot. About thirty years after their New Testament, the Roman catho lics published a translation of the Old at Douay, 1609 and 1610, from the Vulgate, with annotations, so that the English Roman catholics have now the whole Bible in their mother tongue; though, it is to be observed, they are forbidden to read it without a licence from their superiors.

The last English Bible was that which proceeded from the Hampton Court conference, in 1603; where many exceptions being made to the Bishops' Bible, king James gave order for a new one; not, as the preface expresses it, for a translation altogether new, nor yet to make a good one better; or, of many good ones, one best. Fifty four learned men were appointed to this office by the kings as appears by his letter to the archbishop, dated 1604; which being three years before the translation was entered upon, it is probable seven of them were either dead, or had de E. E. 5

clined the task; since Fuller's list of the translators makes but forty-seven, who, being ranged under six divisions, entered on their province in 1607. It was published in 1613, with a dedication to James, and a learned preface; and is commonly called king James' Bible. After this, all the other versions dropped, and fell into disuse, except the epistles and gospels in the Common Prayer Book, which were still continued according to the bishops' translation, till the alteration of the liturgy, in 1661, and psalins and hymns, which are to this day continued in the old version.

The judicious Selden, in his Table-talk; speaking of the Bible, says, "The English translation of the Bible is the best translation in the world, and renders the sense of the original best; taking in for the English translation the Bishops' Bible, as well as king James'. The translators in king James' time took an excellent way. That part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue (as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs): and then they met together, and one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, or Italian, &c. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on." King James' Bible is that now read by authority in all the churches in Britain.

Notwithstanding, however, the excellency of this translation, it must be acknowledged that our increasing acquaintance with oriental customs and manners, and the changes our language has undergone since king James' time, are very powerful arguments for a new translation, or at least a correction of the old one. There have been various English Bibles with marginal references by Canne, Hayes, Barker, Scattergood, Field, Tennison, Lloyd, Blayney, Wilson, &c.

III. WELSH. There was a Welsh translation of the Bible made from the original in the time of queen Elizabeth, in consequence of a bill brought into the house of commons for this purpose in 1563: it was printed in folio in 1588. Another version, which is the standard translation of that language, was printed in 1620: it is called Parry's Bible. An impression of this was printed in 1690, called Bishop Lloyd's Bible: these were in folio.

The first octavo impression of the Welsh Bible was made in 1630.

IV. IRISH. About the middle of the sixteenth century, Bedell, bishop of Kilmore, set on foot a translation of the Old Testament into the Irish language, the New Testament and the Liturgy having been before translated into that language: the bishop appointed one King to execute this work, who, not understanding the oriental languages, was obliged to translate it from the English. This work was received by Bedell, who, after having compared the Irish with the English translation, compared the latter with the Hebrew, the LXX, and the Italian version of Diodati. When it was finished, the bishop would have been himself at the charge of the impression; but his design was stopped, upon advice given to the lord lieutenant and the archbishop of Canterbury that it would seem a shameful thing for a nation to publish a Bible translated by such a despicable hand as King: however, the manuscript was not lost, for it went to press in 1685, and was afterwards published.*

V. GAELIC, or ERSE. A few years ago, a version of the Bible in the Gaelic or Erse language was published at Edinburgh, where the gospel is preached regularly in that language in two chapels, for the benefit of the natives of the Highlands.

The remaining languages into which the Bible has been translated are the Arabic, Armenia, Bengalee, Bohemian, Chaldee, Coptic, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Ethiopic, Flemish, French, Georgian, German, Gothic, Grison, Icelandic, Indian, or North American, Malabrian, Malayan, Persian, Polish, Samaritan, Sclavonian or Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Syriac, and Turkish,

Nearly THIRTY versions of various parts of the Scriptures are now preparing for publication, under the auspices of the BRITISH and FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY: not quite TWENTY of these have been issued from the press of the learned BAPTIST MISSIONARIES at Serampore, and the rest under the care of the Auxiliary Society at Calcutta.

* For some part of this sketch, we are indebted to Mr. Buck's very excellent Theological Dictionary, a third edition of which has been lately published.

Select Books on Theology.

1. On the Evidences of the Christian Religion in general, any of the compendious Treatises of Bp. Porteus, Dr. Beattie, Dr. Doddridge, Fawcett, Hare, or Leslie, may be advantageously read by those who have not time to peruse larger works.

Those, however, who possess leisure, may advantageously study the under-mentioned books, and in the following order. (1.) Soame Jenyns' View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion, 12mo. and Horne's Brief View of the Necessity and Truth of the Christian Revelation, 12mo, (Walker, late Sael), an excellent little manual, which ought to be in the hands of every young person. (2.) Paley's Evidences, 2 vols. 8vo. (3.) Grotius on the Truth of the Christian Revelation, in any translation, 8vo. or 12mo. (4.) Dr. Samuel Clarke's Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion, 8vo. (5.) Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity, 8vo. particularly the latter part of the Tract. (6.) Bp. Hurd's Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies, 8vo. (7.) Ld. Lyttleton on the Conversion of St. Paul; and (8.) Bp. Butler's Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, 8vo. (9.) Dr. Olinthus Gregory's Letters to a Friend, on the Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties of the Christian Religion, 2 vols. 12mo.

2. Miracles. Dr. Campbell on Miracles, 12mo. and Bp. Douglas' Criterion, 8vo.

3. Prophecy. Simpson's Key to the Prophecies is a useful digest on the accomplishment of Scripture Prophecies, which may be perused by those who have not opportunity to read Bp. Newton's Dissertations, 2 vols. 8vo, Bp. Hurd on Prophecy, (above noticed,) Kett's History, the Interpreter of Prophecy, 2 vols. 8vo. or Mr. Faber's recent publications on the Accomplishment of Prophecy, 8vo.

4. The Grandeur and Importance of the Doctrines of Christianity, are well illustrated in Mr. J. Scott's Prize Essay on its Internal Evidences, 12mo.

5. The Purity of its Moral Precepts, which is incidentally noticed in most of the writers above enumerated, is well displayed in Maltby's Illustrations of the Truth of the Christian Religion, 8vo. and in Dr. Ireland's Paganism and Christianity compared, 8vo. Mrs. More's Practical Piety and Christian Morals, 4 vols. 8vo. On this head, as well as on the preceding, many other most excellent writers might be mentioned; but the above, it is hoped, will prove sufficient for every purpose of general study

6. Christian Sects, see Ecclesiastical History, § 2, p. 225.