advanced with unparalleled rapidity in the career of glory, prosperity, and happiness, fostered by those free institutions which were planned by the wisdom and won by the valour of our fathers, some of whom still linger among us, full of years and full of honours, blessed with our grateful recollections. Let the lively demonstrations of joy which mark this day as the jubilee of the people, be chastened with holy dignity and sobriety, and accompanied with submission to thy laws; so that thy favour may be continued, and the inestimable blessings of civil and religious freedom perpetuated, to the latest generations. Grant especially, we beseech thee, that by thy providence and grace we may all be fitted for uniting, when the revolutions of time have ceased, in that spiritual jubilee which, through the age of eternity, will be celebrated by the redeemed of mankind, restored by thy power from the bondage of error and sin, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. On this day, when we commemorate the great event which proved to the world that a nation who wills it, guided and fortified by thee, shall be free, we forget not the oppressed of our race in other lands; and we implore thee, Father of all men, in thy good time to send them deliver ance. "Bless now to our moderate use and thankful enjoyment the bounties of thy hand, which filleth all things with good, and mercifully pardon and accept us, through the merits of Jesus Christ thy Son our Saviour." Obituary Notices. Died in this city, on Sunday, July 16, 1826, in the 26th year of his age, Mr. JAMES DAVIDSON SWORDS, Son of Mr. James Swords, one of the publishers of this Journal. By a natural amiableness and sweetness of disposition, and tenderness of affection, he was peculiarly endeared to his parents, his family, and his friends. In the regularity of his attendance on public worship, while his health allowed it, and the Christian consistency of his character and deportment, he set a bright example to those of his own, and to those of a more advanced, period of life. In his endurance of the long and distressing illness, of nearly four years' continuance, which terminated in his dissolution, he excited the admiration of all who wit nessed the calm, meek, and even cheerful, resignation, with which he bowed to the will of his heavenly Father; and the pious equanimity with which he anticipated his approaching death. Of the sure foundation on which his resignation and his hopes were built, evidence is afforded in the following memorandum, kindly furnished by a venerable and pious clergy man, for whom he cherished the highest respect, and with whom he was on terms of the most affectionate intercourse : "Several months ago, when in private conversation with Mr. James Davidson Swords, he freely disclosed to me the feeling of his mind under the pressure of his affliction. I know, Sir,' said he, 'my case is very hazardous; but I have indulged those reflections which convince me of my duty to submit with cheerfulness to the will of my heavenly Father; and try to curb every disposition to choose for myself. Soliciting the favour of his stating the ground on which his submission was placed, he replied, 'Very cheer. fully, Sir; I know and feel that I am a sinner, and need a divine Saviour. I have nothing to plead as my own merit. The perfect work of Christ's redemption, and his grace, form the ground of my hope; and this is the only true comfort I enjoy.' -I have no doubt but this confidence in his God and Saviour, not only cherished his prospects for future felicity, but diffused its sacred influence upon his heart, which produced such charming serenity and cheerfulness that accompanied him to the vale of death." In such a death, there is no cause for grief for the departed; and much, surely much indeed, to mitigate that which the bereaved cannot but feel for themselves; much to minister resignation to the will of Heaven; and much to encourage them in that walk of faith, whose end is the rest, and the glory, and the joy, to which he has been called before them. Death of Adams and Jefferson. Our obituary notices are, for obvious reasons, confined almost exclusively to persons of our own communion. The remarkable coincidence in the decease, on the 4th of July, 1826, of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the joint authors, as we are informed, and two of the three surviving signers of the Declaration of American Independence, and both successively presidents of the United States, justifies a departure from that rule; and we accordingly make this record of events that will long be held in remembrance by the American public.-JOHN ADAMS, in the 91st year of his age, died at his residence in Quincy, near Boston, at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of July, 1826. A remarkable particular in the closing scene of his life is thus stated in a Boston paper" On the jubilee of independence his declining faculties were roused by the rejoicings in the metropolis. He inquired the cause of the salutes, and was told it was the 4th of July. He answered, 'It is a great and glorious day.' He never spake more. Thus his last thoughts and his latest words were like those of his whele life-thoughts and words which evinced a soul replete with love of country and interest in her welfare." THOMAS JEFFERSON, in the 84th year of his age, died at his seat at Monticello, Virginia, at 10 minutes before 1 o'clock on the 4th of July, 1826. The following notice of this event is copied from the New-York American of the 8th: "Another of the sons of our heroic age has passed to the tomb. By a coincidence marvellous and enviable, Thomas Jefferson, in like manner with his great compeer John Adams, breathed his last on the 4th of July. We remember nothing in the annals of man so striking, so beautiful, as the death of these two timehonoured' patriots, on the jubilee of that freedom which they devoted themselves, and all that was dear to them, to proclaim and establish. "The Philadelphia National Gazette states that Mr. Jefferson 'expired at Monticello, at 10 minutes before 1 o'clock, on the 4th of July, within the same hour at which the Declaration of Independence was promulgated in the hall of congress, FIFTY YEARS AGO. His demise was expected for three or four days before it took place: he was sensible of its approach, and prescribed the mode of his own interment.' "The Philadelphia Gazette however says, in reference to the hour at which the Declaration of Independence was promulged,' that it was first read in the yard of the Philadelphia state-house, at about a quarter before 5 o'clock." For the Christian Journal. SOLITUDE, The place for serious contemplation. Hail, lonely hours! blest Solitude, in thee A soothing balm for all my woes; Absorb'd, I plunge into the boundless sea Of heavenly contemplation, sweet repose. Drawn off from things of time, I soar away-Celestial scenes burst on my raptur❜d sight; My joyful soul anticipates that day, When she shall climb those tow'ring hills of light; Where she shall see her Saviour face to face, Who on the great Redeemer's mercy rest. Adieu, vain world! let me enjoy my God; His love enjoy'd is the extreme of blissTransporting views of heaven! Oh that I could But live and die in such a frame as this. For the Christian Journal. A SONNET. 1 Tim. i. f. "The Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope." Now dawning hope, and faith begin; My Saviour deign'd to bleed and die. And hear me, when for help I cry? For that blest hope that smiles on me The blood of Christ its source and spring :- MA. W. If I would walk my God to please, I must not covet wealth or ease, Not as the world would say; Be praising God with every breath, For the Christian Journal. Polyglotts. A copy of the Complutensian Polyglott having been recently imported for the library of the General Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in the United States, the following account of the four principal Polyglotts, (all of which are in this infant library.) taken from the Hora Biblica of Charles Butler, esq., of Lincoln's-Inn, may be acceptable to our Biblical readers, and evince the obligations which modern students of divinity owe to the giants of sacred literature of former ages :— From the manuscripts of the New Testament, the passage is to the printed editions, commencing with the PoLYGLOTT EDITIONS, by reason of their superior importance. The first is that of Complutum or Alcala. It is divided into six parts, and may be comprised in four volumes folio. It has the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, in three distinct columns; the Chaldee paraphrase, with a Latin interpretation, is at the bottom of the page, and the margin is filled with the Hebrew and Chaldee radicals: the fourth, or last volume, contains the Greek Testament, with no other translation than the Latin. It was begun in 1502, the impression was printed off in 1517, and it was published in 1522. The expense of the work, which amounted (it is said) to fifty thousand ducats, was wholly paid by Cardinal Ximenes, one of the noblest and fairest characters that ever appeared on the theatre of the world. The variety, the grandeur, and the success of his schemes, leave it doubtful," says Dr. Robertson, "whether his sagacity in council, his prudence in conduct, or his boldness in execution, deserve the highest praise. His reputation is still VOL. XI. [VOL. XI. high in Spain, not only for wisdom but sanctity; and he is the only prime minister mentioned in history, whom his contemporaries reverenced as a saint, and to whom the people under his government ascribed the power of working miracles." An interesting and pleasing account of his earnestness in promoting the success of the work is given by the writers of his life. The principal persons employed by the Cardinal in the work, were Ælius Antonius Nebrissensis, Demetrius CretenStunicâ, Alphonsus, a physician of Alsis, Ferdinandus Pentianus, Lopes de cala, Coronel, Zamora, and Vergara. It was printed by Arnoldus Brocarius. "I have often heard," says Gomecius, the Cardinal's earliest biographer, "John Brocarius, the son of Arnoldus, relate to his friends, that, when his father had put the finishing stroke to the last volume, he deputed him to carry it to the Cardinal. John was then a lad; and having drest himself in a very elegant suit of clothes, he approached Ximenes, and delivered the volume into his hands. I render thanks to thee, O God!' exclaimed Ximenes, 'that thou hast protracted my life to the completion of these Biblical labours;' and, conversing with his friends, the Cardinal would also observe, that the various difficulties of his political situation, so successfully surmounted, afforded him not so much solace, as that which arose from the finishing of the Polyglott."-It is mentioned in one of the Letters of Erasmus, (tom. ix. 228, and see Hist. Lit. Reformationis Pars I. 60, 61,) that Stunicâ, having found Cardinal Ximenes reading Erasmus's edition of the New Testament, expressed his surprise, that his eminence should vouchsafe even to cast a look upon a work so full, as he termed it, of faults and monstrous errors; that 33 the Cardinal with great gravity reproved Stunicâ for his insolence; and desired him, if he were able, to produce a more valuable work, and, in the mean time, not to defame the labours of others. The anecdote does honour to the Cardinal's memory, as it shows his candour, and how free he was from that little jealousy of authors, which was one of the strange blemishes in the character of the great rival of his political fame, the Cardinal minister of Lewis the XIIIth.-Cardinal Ximenes died in 1517, not long after the Polyglott was finished. It is certain, that, Cardinal Ximenes spared no expense in collecting both Hebrew and Greek manuscripts; but whether he had any that were truly valuable, has been much doubted. The doubt gave rise to a literary controversy in Germany, which was chiefly managed by Semler and Goeze; the former denying, the latter asserting, the value of the Cardinal's manuscripts. Griesbach, in his Prolegomena to his last edition to the New Testament, and Mr. Marsh, in his notes to Michaelis's Introduction, side with the former. In 1784, when Professor Birch was engaged in his edition of the Bible, Professor Moldenhawer went to Alcala, for the purpose of discovering the manuscripts used in the Ximenian Polyglott. After much inquiry, he discovered, that, about thirty five years. before, they had been sold to a rocket maker, of the name of Toryo; and the receipt given to him for his purchase was produced.. Another objection made to the Complutensian Polyglott is, that its editors, in consequence of too high an opinion of the Vulgate, and a. mistaken zeal for the Christian religion, introduced sometimes, into the Greek text, readings of the Vulgate, which they did not find in the Greek. manuscripts; they are likewise charged. with having altered the Greek according to the Hebrew. Both these accusations are shown to be ungrounded; the former by Michaelis Prient und exeget. Biblioth. vol. ix. p. 162, vol. xii. p. 120; the latter by Eichorn, Einleil. ins. A. T. vol. i. p. 351. Six hundred copies only of the Complutensian Polyglott were printed off. The common price of a copy is from forty pounds to sixty: it is exceedingly. difficult to procure complete copies of it; in most copies the part containing the Hebrew-Chaldaic lexicon is wanting. A small number (it is thought not more than four) were printed on vel-lum. One of these, at the sale of the Pinelli library, was sold to Mr. Macartney, for four hundred and eightythree pounds. For a typographical description of the work, see De Bure's Bibliographie Instructive, Theologie, Art. I. The Complutensian Polyglott was followed and excelled by the Polyglott of 4ntinerp, printed in that city in 1569-1572, in eight volumes folio, including lexicons, grammars, and other literary apparatus, under the direction of Arias Montanus. It contains, besides the whole of the Complutensian. edition, a Chaidee paraphrase of part of the Old Testament, which Cardinal Ximenes, having particular reasons for not publishing it, had deposited in the Theological Library at Complutum.. The New Testament has the Syriac Version, and the Latin translation of Santes Pagninus, as reformed by Arias Montanus. Copies of this Polyglott also are very rare, five hundred only having been printed, and a considerable number of those having been sent to Spain and lost in their passage. The Polyglott of Paris, printed in 1628-1645, in ten volumes folio, is one of the most splendid works that ever issued from the press. It was printed at the expense of Monsieur Le Jay. Cardinal Richelieu offered to defray the whole cost of the impression, and to give Le Jay the whole profit of the sale, on condition that he should let it pass under his name. On the other. hand, the booksellers of London offered him very advantageous terms, on condition, that it should be called the London Polyglott: he refused both of fers. Unfortunately the work had not a sale, so that the editor was completely ruined by it. It contains all that is in the Polyglott of Alcala and Antwerp, with the addition of a Syriac and Arabic Version of the greatest part of the Old, and of the whole of the New 'T'es The Chaldee paraphrase (but not the corresponding Latin translation) was likewise corrected in this Polyglott, from the Venetian and other editions; but the Hebrew text is extremely inaccurate. Less beautiful, but more accurate, and comprehending more than any of the three preceding Polyglotts, is the Polyglott of London, printed in 1653 -1657, in six volumes. The editor of it was Dr. Bryan Walton, afterwards Bishop of Chester. Twelve copies of it are said to have been printed on large paper: one, of great beauty, is in the library of St. Paul's Cathedral; another, was in that of the Count de Lauraguais; another, is in the library of St. John's College at Cambridge. The title expresses its contents. Biblia Sacra Polyglotta, complectentia Textus Originales, Hebraicum cum Pentateucho Samaritano, Chaldaicum, Græcum, versionumque antiquarum, Sama ritana, Græcæ LXXII Interpretum, Chaldaicæ, Syriaca, Arabica, Ethiopica, Persica, Vulgate, Latina, quid quid comparari potuit. Thus nine languages are used in this edition; but not one book of the Bible is printed with so many. The antiquarian and critical apparatus or appendix in the sixth volume, is extremely valuable, as is also the lexicon, particularly in the Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic parts. The Hebrew and Syriac have been published separately, at Goettengen, in quarto; the Hebrew by J. L. F. Trier, a pupil of Michaelis, in two parts, 1790-1791; the Syriac, with additions and improvements, by Michaelis himself, also in two parts, in 1788.We are informed by Castell, in the preface to his lexicon, that, if Walton and Clark had lived, it was their intention to have added another volume to the Polyglott. An account of the materials of which it was intended to be composed, is given in a letter of Castell's to Lightfoot. (Op. Postkum. Franeq. 1690, p. 180.) The following works, Discours historiques sur les Editions des Bibles Polyglottes 1781, 12mo., Paris ;Dissertations sur les Prolegomenes de Walton, 8vo., Liege ;-Mr. Bowyer's Origin of Printing, 8vo., 1776, London-and particularly Mr. Adam Clarke's Succinct Account of Polyglott Bibles, from the publication of that by Porrus in the year 1516, to that of Reinneccins in 1750, &c., 8vo., 1802, Liverpool, mention several curious facts respecting the London Polyglott. From the last of these publications, it appears, that the publication of it was begun to be carried into execution in the year 1652, seven years after the year 1645, when Le Jay's Polyglott was published; but that before this time, Dr. Walton had collected and arranged his principal materials, and had subscriptions for it to the amount of four thousand pounds. He then, under the sanction of the English Bishops, published his proposals for the publication, with a printed letter signed by himself, Archbishop Usher, and four other distinguished literary characters, and dated the first of March, in the year 1652. The Protector greatly encouraged the undertaking: the council of state gave permission to import the paper duty-free;-this permission was continued by the Protector, after he had dissolved the Rump Parliament; and there is reason to suppose the Protector and council contributed, out of the public money, one thousand pounds to begin the work. The four thousand pounds subscribed before the proposals for subscription were issued, were doubled before the September following. The whole was paid into the hands of Mr. William Humble, the treasurer of the work. The first volume was put to the press about the beginning of October, 1653, the whole work was finished in 1657, three years before the Restoration. After the Restoration, Doctor Walton presented the work to King Charles the Second, who made him his chaplain in ordinary, and, in 1661, promoted him to the Bishopric of Chester. His obligations to the Protector and council, who had so nobly encouraged his work, the Doctor acknowledged in his preface, as it stood originally, in very handsome terms; after the Restoration, the two last leaves of the preface were |