9 
N E W C O M E. 
•with great reputation. At the fame time Mr. Newcome 
recommended himfelf to univerfal efteem, by the exem- 
plarinefs of his moral character, and the amiable decorum 
of his manners. As by his early inclination he was de- 
iigned for the clerical profeffion, he paid a particular at¬ 
tention to the ftudy of divinity, fcriptural knowledge, 
facred criticifm, the oriental languages, and the collateral 
branches of learning by which he might be qualified to 
fuftain the character of a Chriltian minifter with refpec- 
tability and ufefulnefs. Afterwards he was elefted fellow, 
and became tutor, of Hertford-college ; and among other 
pupils who were placed under his care, were lord Henry 
Seymour, and thelate right honourable Charles James Fox, 
who reflected great credit on the inftrudtions of their ex¬ 
cellent tutor, and always cherifhed a warm refpeft for his 
perfon and memory. While he continued at Hertford- 
college, he met with an accident which occaiioned the 
lofs of his left arm. By the fudden clofe of a door upon 
it, he received fo fevere an injury that a mortification 
enfued, and it was found neceflary that he ffiould fubmit 
to an amputation, in order to lave his life. Mr. Newcome 
accumulated the degrees of bachelor and doff or of divinity, 
in 1765. In that year he was appointed chaplain to the 
earl of Hertford, lord lieutenant of Ireland; and in the 
following year, upon a vacancy taking place on the Irifh 
epifcopal bench, he was nominated to the fee of Dro- 
more. In this fituation he continued during the greateft 
part of nine years, diligently and faithfully difcharging 
the duties of his epifcopal office, and fecuring the refpeft 
of all parties, and of all religious perfuafions, by the affa¬ 
bility, prudence, candour, and moderation, which were 
the invariable guides of his conduff. Soon after his pro¬ 
motion to this fee, he entered into the matrimonial con¬ 
nexion with an Englifn lady of a refpeffable family, who 
died not many years afterwards, leaving behind her one 
daughter. Some time after her death he married a fecond 
Englilb lady, of an ancient Berkfhire family, who furvived 
him, and by whom he had l'everal fons and daughters. 
In the year 1775, under lord Harcourt’s adminiftration. 
Dr. Newcombe was tranflated from Dromore to the bi- 
Ihopric of Ofl'ory. Hitherto he had not been known to 
the world as an author, excepting, perhaps, by the pub¬ 
lication of fome fingle fermons, on particular occafions ; 
but he now made preparation for laying before the public 
fome of the more important fruits of his learned and well- 
direfied ftudies. The firft of his valuable publications 
was “ An Harmony of the Gofpels ; in which the Englifh 
Text is difpofed after Le Clerc’s Manner, with fuch various 
Readings at the Foot of the Page as have received Wet- 
ftein’s Sanction in his Folio Edition of the Greek Tefta- 
ment. Obfervations are fubjoined, tending to fettle the 
Time and Place of the feveral Tranfaftions, to eftablith 
the Series of Faffs, and to reconcile fome Inconfiftencies,” 
1778, folio. This work refleffs great honour on the au¬ 
thor’s learning and ingenuity, as well as on the pains 
which he has taken in it, by the exercife of calm and 
rational criticifm, to contribute his efforts towards the 
removal of the difficulties in harmonizing the Gofpels; 
and we give entire credit to the preliminary declaration 
made by him when he faid, “ the advancement of facred 
literature is the end of my ftudies, and the object of my 
ambition.” In the courfe of it, the biffiop maintains the 
common opinion that our Saviour’s miniftry continued 
at leaft three years, and makes fome remarks on Dr. Prieft- 
ley’s Greek Harmony, publiffied in the preceding year, 
in which the author fupports Mr. Mann’s hypothefis, that 
our Lord’s miniftry did not laft more than one year. 
Soon after the bilhop’s Harmony appeared, Dr. Prieftley 
pubiiflied one in Engliffi, with a letter prefixed addrefied 
to the biffiop of Ofl'ory, defending the hypothefis which 
he had formerly adopted. In the year 1780, Dr. New- 
come, who in the preceding year had been tranflated to 
the fee of Waterford, anfwered that letter in a diftindt 
publication, entitled, “ The Duration of our Lord’s 
Vox., XVII. No. 115,7. 
Miniftry particularly confidered,” &c. umo. which pro¬ 
duced a reply from Dr. Prieftley, in “ A Second Letter to 
the Bifliop of Waterford.” To this fecond letter the 
biffiop pubiiflied an anfwer in the fame year, which was 
followed by a fecond reply from his opponent: and thus 
terminated a controverfy, conduced on both fides with 
great acutenefs and critical (kill, and with a degree of 
candour and good manners very honourable to both the 
difputants, who fat down each fatisfied with his own 
opinion. 
In the year 1782, biffiop Newcome publiffied, “ Obfer¬ 
vations on our Lord’s Condufi as a Divine Inftrudlor, and 
on the Excellence of his moral Character ;” in 4to. This 
fubjeft he has treated with equal judgment and piety, 
and entered into the true fpirit of our Saviour’s character. 
An improved edition of this work was publiffied in 1795, 
in 8vo. In the year 1785, our prelate rendered an ac¬ 
ceptable lervice to biblical fcholars by publifhing what 
he modeftly calls, “ An Attempt towards an improved 
Verfion, a metrical Arrangement, and an Explanation, of 
the twelve Minor Prophets,” 440. The manner in which 
this arduous tafk has been executed by him, affords fuf- 
ficient evidence of his intimate acquaintance with the 
idiom of the original, as well as of his judgment and 
candour. By giving to his verfion a metrical form, after 
the example of bifliop Lovvth in his New Tranflation of 
Ifaiah, he has preferved, as far perhaps as could be done 
in a tranflation, the grace and beauty of the Hebrew 
tongue; and he has rendered his performance valuable 
to the expoiitors of the facred writings, by keeping faith¬ 
fully in view, both in the body of the work and in his 
notes, an admirable rule which, with others, he has laid 
down as neceflary to a juft and true tranflation of the 
Scriptures. “ The critical fenfe of pafl'ages ffiould be 
confidered,” fays he, “ and not the opinion of any deno¬ 
mination of Chriftians whatever. The tranflators ffiould 
be philologifts, and not controverfialifts.” In the year 
1788, bifliop Newcome gave to the public,A11 Attempt 
towards an improved Verfion, a metrical Arrangement, 
and an Explanation, of the Prophet Ezekiel,” in 440. The 
work bears equal teftimony with the preceding, to the 
author’s learning, diligence, and impartiality. In a very 
admirable preface to this work, and on other occafions, 
bifliop Newcome recommends moft earneftly the cultiva¬ 
tion of the Hebrew language, on account of the vait im¬ 
portance of the treafures which it unfolds : “ The vene¬ 
rable books written in Hebrew are indeed highly curious 
and inftruftive, apart from religious confiderations. The 
hiftorian, the geographer, the chronologer, the antiquarian, 
the naturalift, the poet, the orator, the legiflator, the ob- 
ferver of human nature in its original fimplicity, of the 
fource 3 whence nations fprang, of fociety in its earlieft 
ftage, and of ancient Eaftern manners in their only genuine 
reprefentation; will here find their refearches amply re¬ 
warded, no lefs than the divine who raifes his eye to the 
adorable ways of Providence in the religious and civil 
hiftory of mankind.” And the worthy prelate adds, that 
“ Such a vein of Hebraifm runs through the writings of 
the Old Teftament, that even tbefe divine oracles cannot 
be accurately und.erftood, nor the anomalies of their 
ftyle explained, without fome knowledge of Hebrew 
literature.” 
In the year 1792, bifliop Newcome publiffied, “A Re¬ 
view of the chief Difficulties in the Gofpel Hiftory relating 
to our Lord’s Refurreflion: intended to retract fome 
Errors contained in the Author’s Greek Harmony, and 
to (how that Dr. Benfon’s Hypothefis is fatisfacfory;” 
quarto. In this piece, which difplays a very uncommon 
fpirit of opennefs and candour, biblical fcholars are pre- 
fented with a rational and perfpicious elucidation of a 
difficult and important part of the evangelical writings, 
accompanied with learned and ufeful notes. Another 
valuable work with which Dr. Newcome favoured the 
public in the year 1792, is entitled, “ An hiftorical View 
D of 
