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To Coverdale, therefore, belongs the honor of having given to the English nation the first translation of the whole Bible into their native tongue. Four years after Coverdale's Bible was published, appeared a translation of the Scriptures purporting to be by Thomas Matthewe. The name is generally supposed to be fictitious, and of Matthewe's Bible, John Rogers, who was burned at the stake in the reign of Mary, was the real author.

Cranmer's, or the 'Great Bible,' as it was called, being printed in a large double folio volume form, appeared in 1539. This was a revision and republication from former translations of the Scriptures, by a number of scholars, but Bishop Cranmer had no farther connection with the work than to write the preface. In the same year appeared Taverner's Bible, the text of which was formed upon Matthewe's, or Rogers's translation, already mentioned.

Cranmer's Bible was now the favorite, and, accordingly, in 1541, Henry the Eighth issued a decree that the 'Great Bible' should be placed in every parish church in England, and all curates not already furnished with a copy of it, were commanded to procure one, and place it in a situation convenient for consultation in their respective churches, and all bishops were required to see that this command was strictly enforced. 'It was wonderful,' says the historian Stripe, 'to see with what joy this book of God was received, not only among the learneder sort, but generally all England over, among all the people; and with what greediness God's Word was read, and what resort to places where the reading of it was.' During the short reign of Edward the Sixth, eleven different impressions of the English Bible was made, but they were merely reprints of some one of the former versions. In 1560, the 'Geneva Bible' was published. This was a translation, with notes, by Coverdale and others, who, during the reign of queen Mary, had fled for safety from England to Geneva, in Switzerland, and while they resided there they effected this important work. This was long the favorite Bible of the English Puritans and the Scotch Presbyterians; and it is estimated that during the reign of Elizabeth, not less than fifty editions were published. The 'Douay Bible' is the only other version of the Scriptures of any note that preceded the present standard translation. Of this translation the New Testament was printed at Rheims, in 1582, and the Old, at Douay, from which the whole receives its name, in 1609.

This

Soon after the accession of James the First to the English crown, complaints of discrepancies in the various translations of the English Scriptures then in use, became so common, that on the twenty-fourth of October, 1603, that monarch issued a proclamation, 'Touching a meeting for the hearing and for the determining things pretended to be amiss in the church.' meeting, known as the 'Conference of the Hampton Court,' was held at that place in the middle of January, 1604, and on the third and last day of the session, Dr. John Rainolds, President of Corpus Christi College, a man of high and unblemished character, and at that time esteemed the most eminent scholar in the kingdom, 'moved,' according to Dr. Barlow, 'his majesty

that there might be a new translation of the Bible; because those allowed in the reign of Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth were corrupt, and not answerable to the truth of the original.' As the result of the Conference at Hampton, which was composed of the clergy of both the Puritan and the Established Church, fifty-four of the best scholars of the kingdom were designated to carry out the design contemplated. Of these, however, seven either died, or declined to serve before the translation commenced; and the remaining forty-seven were formed into five separate divisions.

The first division met at Westminster, and to them, with Dr. Lancelot Andrews at their head, was assigned that part of the Old Testament which extends from Genesis to the second book of Kings, inclusive.

The second division met at Cambridge, and at their head was placed Dr. Edward Livlie, who, for more than thirty years, was Regius Professor of Hebrew, in Cambridge University. The portion of the Old Testament assigned to this division extended from First Chronicles to Ecclesiastes, inclusive.

The third division met at Oxford, and under the direction of Dr. John Harding, then Regius Professor of Hebrew in the university, and afterward President of Magdelen College, had assigned to them that part of the Old Testament which extends from Isaiah to Malachi, inclusive.

The fourth division also met at Oxford, and with Dr. Thomas Ravis, Dean of Christ's Church, and afterward Bishop of London, at their head, undertook the translation of that part of the New Testament which extends from Matthew to the Acts, inclusive, and the Revelation.

The fifth division, under the guidance of Dr. William Barlow, Dean of Chester, held their sessions at Westminster, and to them was assigned the remaining part of the New Testament, extending from Romans to Jude, inclusive.

In executing their important task, each individual translator was required to translate the entire portion assigned to his division, and when all in any one division had finished, they met together and compared their several translations, decided all differences, and settled upon what they considered the best translation. When the several divisions had finished their labor, they all met together and appointed twelve of their number to revise the whole work. This being done, the new translation was published in 1611, under the following title:-The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New, newly translated out of the Original Tongues, and with the former Translations diligently compared and revised by his Majesty's Special Commandment.

As a specimen of the English language, this great work is, in the words of Spenser, emphatically, 'A well of English undefiled;' and as the learned Dr. Adam Clarke remarks :- The translators have seized the very spirit and soul of the original, and expressed this almost everywhere with pathos and energy they have not only made a standard translation, but have made this translation the standard of our language.' We have little to fear, there

fore, from the weak attempts of ephemeral minds to mar its accuracy and beauty.

The importance of a correct view of the English standard translation of the Bible, has led us into a more extended detail of the circumstances under which we came into possession of that invaluable treasure, than the range of these lectures would otherwise have justified. We now proceed to notice those clerical and other writers of the period at present under consideration, to whom we have not hitherto referred. Of these the names of Burton, Hall, Overbury, Selden, Usher, Hales, and Felltham are the first that occur.

ROBERT BURTON was of an ancient family of Leicestershire, and was born at Lindley, in that county, on the eighth of February, 1576. After pursuing the usual preparatory studies at a grammar-school in Warwickshire, he, in 1593, entered Brazen-nose College, Oxford, and six years after was elected student of Christ's Church College, in the same university. Having graduated and taken orders, Burton, in 1616, was preferred to the vicarage of St. Thomas, in the west suburb of Oxford, and received also, a few years after, the rectory of Segrave in Leicestershire, both of which he held, though with some difficulty, till his death, which occurred in January, 1639.

Burton was a man of great benevolence and learning, but of whimsical and melancholy disposition. Though at certain times he was a facetious companion, yet at others, his spirits were very low; and when in this latter condition he would go down to the river near Oxford, and dispel his gloom by listening to the coarse jests and ribaldry of the bargemen, which excited him to violent laughter. To alleviate his mental distress, he wrote a work, entitled The Anatomy of Melancholy, which appeared in 1651, and presents, in quaint language, and with many shrewd and amusing remarks, a view of all the modifications of that disease, and the manner of curing it. The erudition displayed in this work is extraordinary, every page abounding with quotations from Latin authors. Its publication was so successful that the publisher realized a fortune by it; and it delighted Dr. Johnson so much, that he said 'it was the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours before he wished to rise."

Prefixed to the Anatomy of Melancholy, is a poem from which Milton borrowed some of the imagery of 'Il Penseroso.' Of this poem the following are the first six stanzas:

ABSTRACT OF MELANCHOLY.

When I go musing all alone,

Thinking of divers things foreknown,

When I build castles in the air,

Void of sorrow, void of fear,

Pleasing myself with phantasms sweet,
Methinks the time runs very fleet.

All my joys to this are folly;
Nought so sweet as melancholy.

When I go walking all alone,
Recounting what I have ill-done,
My thoughts on me then tyrannize,
Fear and sorrow me surprise;
Whether I tarry still, or go,
Methinks the time moves very slow.

All my griefs to this are jolly;
Nought so sad as melancholy.

When to myself I act and smile,
With pleasing thoughts the time beguile,
By a brook side or wood so green,
Unheard, unsought for, or unseen,
A thousand pleasures do me bless,
And crown my soul with happiness.
All my joys besides are folly;
None so sweet as melancholy.

When I lie, sit, or walk alone,
I sigh, I grieve, making great moan;
In a dark grove or irksome den,
With discontent and furies then,
A thousand miseries at once

Mine heavy heart and soul esconce.

All my griefs to this are jolly;
Nought so sour as melancholy.

Methinks I hear, methinks I see
Sweet music, wondrous melody,

Towns, palaces, and cities, fine;

Here now, then there, the world is mine.

Rare beauties, gallant ladies shine,

Whate'er is lovely is divine.

All other joys to this are folly;

None so sweet as melancholy.

Methinks I hear, methinks I see
Ghosts, goblins, fiends: my phantasie
Presents a thousand ugly shapes;
Headless bears, black men, and apes;
Doleful outcries and fearful sights
My sad and dismal soul affrights.
All my griefs to this are jolly;
None so damn'd as melancholy.

Of Burton's prose the following brief extract will be a sufficient specimen :

MELANCHOLY AND CONTEMPLATION.

Voluntary solitariness is that which is familiar with melancholy, and gently brings on, like a Siren, a shooing-horn, or some sphinx, to this irrevocable gulf; a primary cause Piso calls it: most pleasant it is at first, to such as are melancholy given, to lie in bed whole days, and keep their chambers; to walk alone in some solitary grove, betwixt wood and water, by a brook side; to meditate upon some delightsome and pleasant subject, which shall affect them most; 'amabilis insania,' and 'mentis

gratissimus error.' A most incomparable delight it is to melancholize, and build castles in the air; to go smiling to themselves, acting an infinite variety of parts, which they suppose and strongly imagine they represent, or that they see acted or done. Blanda quidem ab initio,' ('pleasant, indeed, it is at first,') saith Lemnius, to conceive and meditate of such pleasant things sometimes, present, past, or to come, as Rhasis speaks. So delightsome these toys are at first, they could spend whole days and nights without sleep, even whole years alone in such coutemplations and fantastical meditations which are like unto dreams; and they will hardly be drawn from them, or willingly interrupt. So pleasant their vain conceits are, that they hinder their ordinary tasks and necessary business; they can not address themselves to them, or almost to any study or employment: these fantastical and bewitching thoughts so covertly, so feelingly, so urgently, so continually set upon, creep in, insinuate, possess, overcome, distract and detain them; they can not, I say, go about their more necessary business, stave off or extricate themselves, but are ever musing, melancholizing, and carried along, as he (they say) that is led round about an heath with a puck in the night. They run earnestly on in this labyrinth of anxious and solicitous melancholy meditations, and can not well or willingly refrain, or easily leave off winding and unwinding themselves as so many clocks, and still pleasing their humours, until at last the scene is turned upon a sudden, by some bad object; and they, being now habituated to such vain meditation and solitary places, can endure no company, can ruminate of nothing but harsh and distasteful subjects. Fear, sorrow, suspicion, 'subrusticus pudor,'-[' clownish bashfulness,'] discontent cares, and weariness of life, surprise them, in a moment; and they can think of nothing else; continually suspecting, no sooner their eyes open, but this infernal plague of melancholy seizeth upon them, and terrifies their souls, representing some dismal object to their minds, which now, by no means, no labour, no persuasions, they can avoid.

JOSEPH HALL, whom we have briefly noticed as a poetical satirist, was born in Bristow Park, Leicestershire, on the first of July, 1574. At the age of fifteen he was sent to Emanuel College, Cambridge, of which, after taking his degrees, he became a fellow. After remaining six years at College, Hall took orders, and was soon after presented to the rectory of Halsted, in Suffolk. In 1605 he accompanied Sir Edward Bacon to the Spa, and while residing there composed his Century Meditations, the most popular of his works. Hall's 'Meditations' greatly pleased Prince Henry, in consequence of which he selected him for his chaplain, and, in 1612, caused the degree of doctor of Divinity to be conferred upon him. The Prince would have retained his chaplain near his person, but about this time Hall received, from the Earl of Norwich, the vicarage of Waltham, in Essex, with the quiet retirement of which he was so much delighted that no prospect of preferment had any influence with him. In the delightful relations of a country parson he remained at Waltham for many years. In 1618 he was sent, by King James, to synod of Dordt. Indisposition, however, soon compelled him to return to England; but before his departure he preached a Latin sermon to that famous assembly, with which they were so much pleased that they soon after sent him a gold medal, having upon it a portraiture of the synod.

In 1624 Hall was offered the bishopric of Gloucester, which he declined; but three years after he accepted that of Exeter, from which, in 1641, he was transferred to the see of Norwich. In December of the same year, hav

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