Gent. Mag Supp. LXXXV. P. II.p.577. Scene in the Island of Little Van Dyke, near Tortola, with the House in which D'Lettsom was born. Testimonies in Favour of following words: "I have regularly and attentively pe rused these Holy Scriptures; and am of opinion that this volume (independently of its Divine origin) contains more true sublimity, - more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and fuer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age of language they may have been written. The unstrained application of them to events which took place long after the publication, is a solid ground for belief that they are genuine productions, and consequently inspired." Mr. Addison, speaking of the supe, rior perfections of the Sacred Volume to every human work, says, the great and glorious truths which it discovers to us, are, compared with those which we elsewhere acquire, as the Creator contrasted with his works. "Had Cicero," says he, " lived to see all that Christianity has brought to light, how would he, who so fondly hoped for immortality, have lavished out all the force of eloquence in those noblest of contemplations, the Resurrection, and the Judgment that will follow it! How had his breast glowed with pleasure, when the whole compass of Futurity, revealed in these pages, lay open to his view! How would he have entered, with the force of light ning, into the affections of his hearers, upon those glorious themes which are contained in the Bible! Themes which, when enlarged on by a skilful Christian Orator, make us break out into the same expressions as those of the two disciples who met our Saviour after he rose from the dead: Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened unto us the Scriptures ?'" The learned Mr. Locke (after demonstrating the truth of the Holy Scriptures in various ways) thus expressed himself, in a letter to a friend, just before he died: Study the Holy Scriptures, espeeially the New Testament; for therein are contained the words of eternal life. The Bible has GOD for its author; Salvation for its end; and Truth for its matter, without any mixture of error." Similar testimonies, in favour of the Bible, might be adduced in the GENT. MAG. Suppl. LXXXV. PArt II. B immortal Bacon, Lord Verulam; in the great Sir Isaac Newton, who wrote to prove the excellence of the Scrip means to elucidate their truth; in the subject of the Resurrection; in Mr. West, who wrote a treatise on George Lord Lyttelton, whose illustrious rank received splendour from his talents, and who has done essential service to the Christian Cause by his admirable work on the Conversion of St. Paul all these, you will ob serve, were Laymen, and therefore cannot be suspected of any undue partiality for the Scriptures. And, to such distinguished names, I might add those of a Milton, Johnson, a Hale,· -3 —a Cowper, —a Bryant, — a Beattie,a Cumberland: - Laymen also,most eminently distinguished for their learning and science, yet who deemed all their learning, all science, of little worth, compared with what they derived from the Book of God. The excellent Dr. Watts (in his Advice to a Young Man) says: be in this world, value the Bible as "Whatever your circumstances may your best treasure; and, whatever be your employment, look upon Religion as your best business. The Bible con tains eternal life in it; and Religion is the only way for you to become possessed of it." Dr. Leechman, upon his death-bed, thus addressed the son of a Nobleman who had been under his care:—“ You see, my young friend, the situation in which I now am. I have not many days to live, and am happy that you witness the tranquillity of my last moments. But it is not tranquillity alone, it is joy and triumph ; nay, it is complete exultation."-His features brightened, and his voice rose in energy as he spoke. “And whence," said he, "does this exultation spring ?-From that Book," said he, pointing to the Bible:-" from that blessed Book,-too much neglected indeed, but which contains invaluable treasures!-treasures of bliss and rejoicing; for it makes us certain that this mortal shall put on immortality." Edward the Sixth, King of England, a young prince of uncommon genius, highly reverenced the Sacred Volume. One day, in the Council Chamber, a person having taken a Bible Bible which lay by, and stood upon it, to reach a paper that was wanted, the King was displeased with him for making such a use of the Bible, arose from his seat, took up the Bible, kissed it, and in a very, reverent manner put it in its place again. - Judge Hale, in a letter to his Children, says: "It has been my practice to require you to be frequent in reading the Scriptures with due observation and understanding, which will make you wise for this world and that which is to come." And in a letter to his Son, he says: "There is no book like the Bible for excellent learning, wisdom, and use; it is want of understanding in them who think or speak otherwise." Lord Rochester, in his late illness, would frequently lay his hand on the Bible and say;-There is true philosophy. There is the wisdom that speaks to the heart. A bad life is the only grand objection to this book." Sir John Eardley Wilmot, in a letter to his eldest Son, expresses himself in these words: "Let me exhort you to read, with the greatest attention, both the Old and New Testaments; you will find your mind extremely becalmed by so doing, and every tumultuous passion bridled by that firm belief of a resurrection, which is so evidently marked out and impressed upon mankind by Christianity." Dr. Samuel Johnson, in his last illness, called a young gentleman, who sat up with him during the night, to his bed-side, and addressed him in these words: "Young man, attend to the advice of one who has -possessed a certain degree of fame in the world, and who will shortly appear before his Maker. Read the Bible every day of your life." Mr. URBAN, Blandford, Oct. 25. N perusing the introduction to the are Bishop Horsley's Commentary on the Psalms, I was much struck with the following remark, inserted, by the editor, from that learned author's observations, and expressing a decisive preference of the Old Version of the Singing Psalms, by Sternhold and Hopkins, to that by Tale and Brady, now more generally used: a preference, indeed, substantially and justly grounded; for so it must appear when duly considered as the result of critical knowledge and learned investigation, closely directed to the subject in question, and terminating in a conviction of the nearer affinity the former Translation bears to the original Scriptures of the Old Testament. "It" (says the learned Author, speaking of the Book of Psalms,)" is a complete System of Divinity for the use and edification of the common people of the Christian Church. In deriving this edification from it, which it is caleulated to convey, they may receive much assistance from a work which the ignorance of modern refinement would take out of their hands. I speak of the Old Singing Psalms, the metrical version of what I believe it is now generally sup、 Sternhold and Hopkins. This is not posed to be, nothing better than an awkward versification of a former English Translation. It was an original Translation of the Hebrew text, earlier by many years than the prose Translation in the Bible; and of all that are in any degree paraphrastic, as all verse in some degree must be, it is the best and most exact we have to put into the hands of the common people. The authors of this version considered the verse merely as a contrivance to assist of the harmony of their numbers, or the the memory. They were little studious elegance of their diction; but they were solicitous to give the full and precise sense of the sacred text, according to the best of their judgment; and their judgment, with the exception of some few passages, was very good and, at the same time that they adhered scrupulously to the letter, they contrived to express it in such terms, as, like the original, might point clearly to their spiritual meaning. It was a change much for the worse, when the pedantry of pretenders to taste in literary composition, thrust out this excellent Translation from many of our churches to make room for what still goes by the name of the New Version, that of Tate and Brady, which in many places, where the Old Version is just, accurate, and dignified by its simplicity, is inadequate, and, in the poverty of its style, contemptible. The innovation, when it was first attempted, was opposed, though, in the end, unsuccessfully, by the soundest divines, the most accomplished scholars, and the men of the truest taste at that time in the seat of authority in the Church of England." &c. &c. The deep impression this observation immediately made on my mind, arose arose from its peculiar coincidence with my own sentiments (long before I had met with the passage abovecited) on the subject of a portion of the 19th Psalm, which, for its grandeur and simplicity, may vie with any in the whole collection, and seems peculiarly adapted for versification, and on this part of which, moreover, the immortal Addison has produced a justly-admired paraphrase. The verses in question, Sir, run thus: "There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard; their line* is gone out into all lands, and their words into the end of the world." verses 3, 4. Thus rendered by Sternhold and Hopkins, in exact conformity to the purport of the text. "There is no language, tongue, or speech, Where their voice is not heard; In all the earth and coasts thereof Their knowledge is conferr'd." In the New Version by Tate and Brady, we find the same thus passage given: "Their powerful language to no realm Or region is confin'd, 'Tis Nature's voice, and understood Alike by all mankind.” The meaning here is surely not only weakened, but perverted to the very style of Deism, whose advocates so often maintain the all-sufficiency of the book of Nature, without the assistance of Revelation. The voice I grant, agreeably to the prose version, and that of Sternhold and Hop kins, is heard, but the text does not say it is understood in all lands. The privilege of rightly understanding the sublime language of the skies, is reserved for those on whom "the sun of righteousness" has risen “ with healing under his wings," in conformity to the previous language of prophecy and the express declarations of the Holy Spirit speaking by Holy men of old. Is it then, I would ask, so well understood by those who “worship the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of Heaven," thus adoring and serving "the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." Is it so well understood by those Pagan Idolaters, who, as they "behold the sun when * Bible Translation, Sound. Com mon, Prayer Book, ditto. it shineth, or the moon walking ia brightness," instead of looking, as they ought to do, “through Nature up to Nature's God," give tokens of belief that these are, in themselves, entitled to divine honours, even erecting temples to their honour? Is it, I will even add, so well understood by those who, while they draw from the works of Creation a system of what is properly denominated Natural Religion, refuse their assent to that glorious Dispensation afforded to the world by the mission of Jesus Christ. Surely that man must, at least for the moment, overlook the distinguishing excellencies of Divine Revelation, as well as shut his eyes against the light that is to be derived from the united testimony of all history, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, who will venture the assertion that the language of astronomical science is "understood alike by all mankind." Let us confess, in its fullest extent, the beautiful language of the Poet to be strictly true, that, "The unwearied Sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land, The work of an Almighty hand;" As well as that, The Moon takes up the wondrous tale, Let us also, owning the force of the same delightful writer's assertion, that all these orbs seem to say in reason's ear, "The hand that made us is divine." But let us at the same time gratefully receive the fight of Revealed Truth, to which we are indebted for the knowledge of God and his Christ. With this just comment the book of Nature is clear and conThis sistent: without it, obscure. great truth we should never lose sight of, in our researches into Nature. With all its excellence, which we mean not to deny, the volume of the Universe even requires the note and comment of Scripture, to assist mankind in the right application of its most obvious lessons, and to prevent that science, which, under such guidance, redounds so sublimely to the |