128 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



1834 the insufficiency of his support compelled him to resign his charge 

 at Brookfield. He then accepted a pastorate at Petersham, where he 

 had a peaceful, happy, and prosperous ministry of six years. In 1 840 

 he was invited to fill the chair of Hebrew and other Oriental Lan- 

 guages and Biblical Literature in Harvard University. He retained 

 this office till his death, and, though for many months he had suffered 

 from illness and physical infirmity, he remained in the full exercise of 

 his mental powers, and with unimpaired ability for his duties as a 

 teacher, till within a few days of his decease, which took place June 8, 

 1868. 



He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard Uni- 

 versity in 1889. He was chosen a member of the American Academy 

 in 1844. Elected to other learned bodies, he declined membership 

 from an unwillingness to be enrolled where he could not render active 

 service. 



Dr. Noyes's principal publications in his lifetime were the version of 

 Job, already mentioned, which passed through four editions ; a trans- 

 lation of the Book of Psalms, and a translation of the Hebrew Proph- 

 ets, of both of which three editions were published ; and a translation 

 of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles, of which there were two 

 editions. Besides these, he published numerous tracts, occasional ser- 

 mons, and articles in periodicals. His latest work, nearly ready for the 

 press when he died, and issued in the following autumn, was a trans- 

 lation of the New Testament, in which he condensed the results of his 

 life-long study of the Sacred Records, and which he regarded equally as 

 the ripest fruit of his scholarship, and as his last and best offering upon 

 the altar of Christian faith. 



These works are the most adequate memorial of their author's mind 

 and culture. They indicate untiring industry, profound study, keen 

 critical acumen, thorough grasp of the subject in hand, full command of 

 the materials and resources of critical inquiry, and that just apprehen- 

 sion of the intent and spirit of the books belonging to the sacred canon, 

 without which no amount of learning or skill could have made him a 

 good translator. We have no space for the minute examination of the 

 merits of his translations in themselves, or as compared with other 

 similar works. Suffice it to say that he who should pronounce either 

 of them superior to any other extant translation of the same books 

 might see ample ground for such an opinion, both in the tokens of 

 exhaustive research and in the marks of sound and sober judgment to 

 be found in them all. 



