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fulerahle faults, nntl very mucli needs anotlier rcvfew." Dr. 

 Wills, ill his gcne'^al prelacc to trie O. T. profclTes to cor- 

 real it, " eitlKT where it docs not give the true Ictife of the 

 or'ginal, or where the true fciife is not well expieffcd," ac- 

 corJiiig to the modern idiom. The autlior of an " Effay for 

 a New Tranflatiou of the Bible, &c." 1727, after fpcaking 

 in praife of this verfion, recommends the attempt to give a 

 more exaft tranflation than any that has hitherto appeared ; 

 and he adds, " it were indeed to be wifliod, tliat thnfe who 

 are in power did employ men of true learning, and folid 

 piety, free from bigotry and lilind zeal, in fo noble and necef- 

 farya work." " Innu.ticrabie iiiflanccs," lays Blackwall in 

 his " Sacred Claffics," might be made (in tlie Engliih Bible) 

 of faulty tianflations of the divine original ; which either 

 weaken its fenfe, or dcbale and tarnifli the bcantv of its 

 language." He alfo obferves, that " a new tiandation can 

 give no offence to people of found judgment and confidcra- 

 tion ; becaufe every body, converfant in ihefe matters, and 

 unprejudiced, mud acknowledge, that there was Itfs occalioii 

 to change the old verfion into the preferit, than to change 

 the prcfent into a new one." — " Such an accurate and ad- 

 mirable tranfiation, proved and fupoorted bv found criticifm, 

 would quadi and filence moil of the objtdions of pert and 

 profane cavillers, which chiefly proceed from their want of 

 jiciietration and difceniinent ot the connexion of the argu- 

 ment, and their ignorance of the manner and phrafe, of the 

 divine writings. It would likewife remove the fcriiples of 

 many pious and confcientious Chriftians." — " A new divi- 

 flon of the facred books into chapters, feftions, and periods, 

 might be fo contrived and managed as to make a new edition 

 very commodious and beautiful ; which would overbidance 

 eU inconveniences which fupciilition and weaknefs could pre- 

 tend might arife from alterations, and make a viclorious and 

 fpeedy way to the favour and full approbation of the world." 

 There is hardly one chapter in the N. T., fays this author, 

 that is not faultily divided, in confequcnce of which, the 

 conneflion and meaning of particular pafTagcs are rendered 

 confufcd and obfcure ; whilil the ftyle is materially injured. 

 •' It is, with pleafure and jull veneration," he continue?, 

 " to the memory of our learned and judicious tranflators, 

 that I acknowledge their verfion in the main, to be faitliful, 

 clear, and folid. But no man can be fo fnperftitioufly devo- 

 ted to them, but muil own that a confiderable number of 

 paffages are weakly and imperfeflly, and not a few falfely, 

 rendered. And no wonder ; for fince their time there have 

 been great improvements in the knowlec'.ge of antiquity, and 

 advancements in critical learning, &c." " If ever" (favs Dr. 

 Waterland, Scripture Vindicated,) " a proper time fhould 

 come for rcvifing and correding our lall Englifh tranflation, 

 which, though a very good one, and upon the whole fcarce 

 inferior to any, yet is undoubtedlv capable of very great 

 improvements. &c." Doddridge, Wefley, Wynne, Pilkino-. 

 ton, Purver, Worfiey, Prieflley, Sec. &c. exprefs themfelves 

 to the fame purpofe. " 'I'o confirm and illuftrate the holy 

 fcriptures," fays the eminently ingenious and learned bifhop 

 Lowth (Vifitalion Sermon at Durham, 1758.) " to evince 

 their truth, to fhew their confillence, to explain their mean- 

 ing, to make them more generally known and lludicd, more 

 eafily and perfectly uiiderftood by all ; to remove tlie diffi- 

 cultieF, that difcouiage the honell endeavours of the un- 

 Icirned, and provoke the malicious cavils of the half-learned : 

 this is the mofl worthy"t)bje(il that can engage our attention ; 

 the moll important end to which our labours in the fea^ch 

 of truth can be dlrefted. And here I cannot but mention 

 that nothing would more cffeflnally conduce to this end, 

 than tlie exhibiting of the holy fcriptures themfelves to the 

 people in a more advantageous and jull light, by an accu- 

 6 



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rate revifal of our vulgar tranflation by public authority. 

 This h.alh often been reprefcntcd ; and, I hope, will not 

 always be reprefented in vain." The late archbifli>)p 

 Seeker delivers fimilar fentiments in his " Latin fpeech in- 

 tended to have been made at the opening of the Convoca- 

 tion in 176:, printed at the end of his charges;" London, 

 1769, p. 3^1^. To the fame purpofe are the declarations 

 of Dr. Durell, in his " Critical Remarks on Job, Sec." 

 Oxf. 1772. pref. p. 6. ; of bifliop Lowth, in his " Prelim. 

 Diff. to Ifaiah," 410. Lond. 1778, p. 69. ; of Dr. White, 

 in his " Revifal ol the Englifli Tranfiation of the O. T. re- 

 commended," Oxf. 1779, p.?. 9, &c. &c. Dr. Keimicott, 

 Green, and Blarney, excellent judges on this fubjeiit, have 

 concurred in the fame opinion, of the ncccfllty and util'ty 

 of cither a new tranflation or a revifal of the old one. Tlie 

 late Dr. Gtrddes, in his " Pr. fpeftus of a new Tranfiation 

 of the Holy Bible," 410. Glafg. J786, p. 2. exprefics him- 

 felf in the following language. " The higheft eulogiums 

 have been made on the tranflation of James I., both by our 

 own writers, and by foreigners ; and indeed, if accuracy, 

 fidelity, and the itrickil attention to the letter of the text, 

 be fuppofed to conllilute the qualities of an excellent verfion, 

 this, of all vcrfions, mull, in general, be accounted the mofl 

 excellent. Every fcntJiice, every word, every fyllable, every 

 letter and point, feem to havebeen weighed with theniccil ex- 

 atlitude, and expreffed, either in the text or the margin, with 

 the greateft precifion. P.'gninus himfelf is hardlymore literal; 

 and it was well remarked by Robertfon, above 100 years 

 ago, tliat it may fervt for a lexicon of the Hebrew language, 

 as well as for a tranfiation. It !•=, however, confefiedlv, not 

 wiihout its faults. Befides thofe that are common to it with 

 every verfion of that age, arifing from faulty original.^, and 

 Maforetic prepofitions ;" it has its own intrinfic ar.d pecu- 

 liar blemifiies, which Dr. Gtdde3 enumerates. From a fu- 

 pcrllitious attention to render the Hebrew and Greek into 

 literal Englifh, its authors adopted modes of c xprcffion which 

 are abhorrent from the Englifh idiom ; and perhaps from 

 that of all other modern tongues. There is alfo a msiiifell 

 want of uniformity in the mode of tranfiating, which is 

 owing to the variety of perfons employed. The books called 

 apocrypha are, in Dr. Geddes's opinion, generally tranf- 

 lated better than the reft of the Bible ; for wSiich one rea- 

 fon may be, that the tranflators of them were not ciamptd 

 by the fetters of the Mafora. The tranflators of this ver- 

 fion millook the true meaning of a great many words and 

 fentences by depending too much on modern lexicons, and 

 by paying too little attention to the ancient verfion?. For 

 various reafons they encumbered their verfion with a load of 

 ufclcfs Italics ; often without the leatl ncceflity, and almoft 

 always to the detriment of the text. Like other tranflators 

 of their day, they were too much guided by theological 

 fyflems, and leem, on fome occafions, to have allowed their 

 religious prejudices to have gotten the better of their judg- 

 ment. Befides, through the coiiflant fluftuation and pro- 

 grefs of hving languages, there are many words and plirafes, 

 in the vulgar verfion, now become obfolete, of which mo- 

 dern vvriters have felcaed a great variety. The conflruftion 

 alfo is lefs grammatical than the prefcnt ft:ate of our language 

 feems to allow; and the arrangement of the words and fen- 

 tences is often fuch as produces obfcurity and ambiguity. 

 Dr. Campbell, in his preface to " The Four Gofpels tranf- 

 lated ;" Dr. Sym.onds, in his " Obfervations on the Ex- 

 pediency of revifing the prcfent Englifli verfion of the four 

 Gofpels, and of the Afts of the Apoilles ;" Mr. Wakefield, 

 m his " Tranflation of the N. T. ;" and Mr. Ormerod, in 

 his " Short Specimen for an Improvement in fome parts of 

 the prefent Tranflation of the O. T. ;" unite in recommend- 

 ing 



