The Sun. — London, England, 1819-01-18 00:00:00

V'-M r -= •_' FOR THES UN. THE BIBLE. MR. EntTon,-Vl ' llen accusations in general Sulu's are hronelii foe ward against an individlial, he has an siiiitonbted right to require a specifica i!tm Of the gitmods on width they are founded, ere he enter we a defence. Snell e the t . h , trge which STACK HousE has brought forwatil tit%self and his other opponents. All that I have ehareed hien with, he passes unnoticed, a. he ftt4 h the " dignity tat his subject." Si., as I have charged him with adopting the, language Hod arguments of a S vcirr i nn, and as lee does not disprore, or attempt to disprove, a charge u.hich would he of tee) light considelation to a It nr Ciiiistiati, I shall say no more on the such pet, only observing, that his ingiiments consi dertd, and the cliar, t ...tes against rcinaiiiitti; un answered, he must stand, in the eyes of all im pattbd prisons,' a self-contirted disciple of that school, whoie eternity to Christianity as a Faith, i• at least equal to that of 'Mohammedanism ; and therefore a most unfit Commentator on the Sacred Volume . whipli forms the subject of his luctibra tiona. • His two lines front l'oFt?, savour of the same school. 'l hey have been often quoted ; and &ten censured as containing a doctrine which, if -ad mitted, would cancel the necessity of a Divine Bektitation. If his Faith cannot lie " wrong, %%hose Life, is in the right," all Faiths must be alike right, provided the rules of morality are ob served ; it were indiffercnt whether a man be Christian 01 a Pagan ; and the scheme of Human Redemptiou (the ground-work of the Christian )!aith) had bruit toinrce•sary. 1 defy :•Tact:ttouss to wove itl 4iiy one of my Letters aught tit "shifting," " erasion," " wan dering," Btc.; or any thing in the temotest de f.:l.re savouring " Methodisar ;" a wont whose meaning he iieems little to compt:!iiend, but under which he appears to include all persons who are superstitious" enough to believe that ChrZl‘T was indeed the Saviour and Redeemer, as well its the great Teac'icr of 2%lankind. Could he have proved these charges, why did tie not ? As he most he aware that proof is more persuasive than torte " assertioa ;" and without which he can neither " vanquish" or " convince." thont4ll be gratuitously assumes that he has done both. .As to his et iticisms in favour of Mr. B LLAMY I shall only observe, that his (Mr. B's) impiove- Inciitc Ili either case mention4d by :_sTaCik Hollatt it. hts L;iglith L tier, are futile itt the first rn sr Alice (which is a mete Hypercriticism), and totally isnwarrant,d, by either Hebrew or Greek, in the other. The words in the StV,:ogint, p.sra s - 2..rpoc (to sleep or lie with) are solliciei,t lv anti can hear on other interpretation, as ST ACK H, , USE. it lie understand Greek, most know : And I presume the serenty Jews wh o trimslitted from the hebrew (anti who were employed by PTOLFMY as the most learned of their time), no detstood Hebrew at least us well as Mr. BELLA^ my. The Hebrew Lexicons do not warrant Mr. B.'s interpretation, the context dOCS BA admit it; rooot the word Noah. the name which IfiEr's eldest danghter gave to her sm., i.e. " the waters of the Fither ;" or, as the 70 explain it. Fr TOO vaqof pis, " out of my Father, " is further evi vence lii f:tvour of the received Interpretation The whole passage, as rein:-red by Air. 8., I boldly aver, is wholly unintelligible. As to his eNplanation of " being with child by their Fa ther," meaning '' they conceived unknown to their father," it is almost impossible to read it with gravity. If STACK HOUSE ever attend the Quarter Sessions (where perhaps lie will be more in hits element titan itt a Biblical Coniroveisy), he wtsold find it hard, I believe, to persuade the • B,ltch, that a women being with child BY a man meant that it %vas without his knowledge! To such wretched shifts are torn sometimes reduced when they are obstinately bent on maimaining a bad argiiment.* But to he serious, Mr. Editor. and it is a sub ject ‘4.ltich demands the most serious atteloion— with all possible deference to you, and the biebest respect and esteem for the pure and constitutional prolciples which pervade your colututts, allow me to submit, that the present subject is not alto rein, r calculated for this medium of discuss;on. Desirable, doobtless, as is, the promotion of troth in all things, i is not perhaps desirable that every subject should he equally exposed to vulgar and ,inlearned criticism. Do not let me he here mistmder...tood, or suppose that . it is fear for the revult tit such an enquiry that dictates this se mat k. Butt ready as are the INFIDP,L, the SCOFVER, the SCHISMATIC. to turn sacred things into ridicule, and to ptrvert the truth where it can be done, to serve their own rods, allow me to a•k, does not the present discussion, or ?ivy it nor, expose the most sacred of all subjects to this danger ? It is not every reader who reads Frith a good intention ; nor is every reader coin • per ent tit overthrow false reasoning or to detect etror. The present subject mmtands that learn ing, judgment, talents, should be brought into the field ; and there are doubtless many who coin man' them, by whom the subject will not be overlooked. To them, as their proper province, be it then reserved. When we consider how much of the New Testament depends on the right inter pretation sit the Old, let not those be allowed to enter the lists who seem " lightly to regard " many of its most important truths. 'l he argu ments which I have endeavoured to combat are those, I hesitate not to affirm, of the Socinian school, a more dangerous and subtle enemy to the Established Chinch titan Popery itself. Far he it front me, Sir, to accuse any man wrongfully; but till I see my charge publicly disclaimed, and its error established upon proofs; till the defence be as candid as the attack was open, I Must maintain my ground. STACKHOUSE'S moral cha racter I could not presume to impeach ; the sound- * If the propriety of admitting this, and some other pas sages of a like nature into the general text, were the ques tion, much might be said in favour of it. Under the present n►ene refined state of Society such alterations might he de anaole, dangerous though it be in such a subject to open a door to inattvation. Still, as these passages contain no thing essential to Christianity, they might be omitted ; but then let them be emitted altogether; nor let counnon sense be insulted, I may say, by such futile endea►ours (as in the present instance) to impose upon them a meaulog which they cannot bear, or to substitute 110114e713C in their ;stead. nesS of bis Christianity (as including something beyond morality) I certainly do. It I am mistaken, he alone is to blame ; let him prove I am mistaken, and I shall gladly acknowledge my error. Bit I cannot'but be sensibly alive to the impropriety of giving greater publicity to arguments of a nature so dangerous and erroneous in themselves, at a time, too, when Socinianism is busy amongst us. The cliar Q e of " bigotry " or of " self-interest," wlitch STACKHOUSE has formerly thro,vn out, I disdain, and toy letters, candidly examined, will abundantly disprove. But as a sincere believer in the doctrines of the Established Church, though not a professional teacher of them, I have coutri bitted inv humble endeavours to expose_ the dan ger of admitting, without a doe and close inves tigation, whatever may seem to militate against them. Pie critical eminiry into the subject must devolve on abler hands. But let nut the wolf enter " the fold " in ft iendly dit.guise; nor the " watch man" be found slumbering at his post. I am, Sir, with great respect, Your most obedient servant, Jan. 14, 1519. SCRUTATOR. FOR THE SUN BIBLICAL ERRORS. LETTER li. MR. EDITOR,—Why in particular a Writer in The Quarterly Review, and three or four more in THE SUN, should trespass on Mr. BELLAMY and his Translation of the Old Testament ; and why they should extend it 10 one who has stepped forth to declare his admiration of each, can best he answered by themselves. instead of the work, they strike at the Men, and falsely charge them with designs little short of sapping the Bible.- 0 shame, where is thy blush 1 The one they make a babbler in Hebrew, and a subverter of its texts; the other they set down as insane, giving occa sion to the tnemies of the Lord to blaspheme, shewiog his cloven foot, with intention to on hinge the faith of the multitude ; yet in the same to earl) calling hint a worthy man, whose school they discover by his writings. GOD forgive them, and place his supernal finger on their consciences, which will then be a mirror, in which they will see their own deformity. Who or what such men are, whether outwardly sincere, or inwardly the contrary, is not worth inquiry. Their evil spirit, and its productions on me, and Mr. BELLAMY, establish their Own condemnation ; and it were idle to notice them further, except wishing them more sense, better temprrs, and clearer minds, nith less occasion for their exertion. From them 1 now turn as from a barren waste, ne;thrt desirous to teach, or be - taught religion in any of its forms, bowing, as I must humbly do, TO ALL. It is Mr. BELLAMY'S Translation of Genesis that I have undertaken, uncalled for, to examine, and having examined, to approve. Hence, in continuation of my last, I ant charmed with the language he puts into the mouth of ()NAN, as authorised by the otiginal. lu ch. 38, v. 9,, he makes it—" but ONAN knew tile posterity was not for him. So it was when he went to the wife of his brother, who corrupted the land, that he gave not posterity to his bro ther." Verse 10, also—" He committed evil in the sight of JEHOVAH, therefore he died also be fore him." Hence the indelicacy of the old ver sion is taken away, and the end of the verse ren dered unnecessary. So that it was " when be had been to the wife of his brother that he cor rupted tbe custom of the land." How why, in not giving posterity to his brother. Also, in ch. 40, v. 3, o here in the old version it is said, that JOSEPH WAS bound, it is more properly stated !hat he was confined, not bound, because lie had the governintato of the whole prison, which he could nut exert had he been bound. In another parr of this chapter, that venerable patriarch NOAH is charged with being drunk of his own wine. Mr. BELLAMY, 011 the contrary, has truly substituted the more apposite word satisfied : " Then he drank of the wine and was satisfied.", Drunken means he was elevated beyond his usual spirits. Yet in other parts of scripture the word plainly conveys its own meaning, as in 1 Kings, where it is, "be WttS drinking himself drunk, &e." But probably no expression is more objectionable than that—" The Lord repented," which has been fixed on to prove that Moses did not write by inspiration, because repentance cannot be ap plied to Goo. In Hebrew it is—" he comforted himself ;" he was appeased and satisfied that be had made the man on the earth, notwithstanding he idolized himself at his heart. 'rims supporting the mind under calamity. Sorely, says Mr. BELLAMY, it is a reproach to all the Christian Nations to see the errors of th e early ages still retained in the Sacred Yates. It ws that neither the Translators before the time of JEROME, nor the Revisers in the tune of our King JamEs, were sufficiently impressed with the hallowed character of the ar%ful Majesty of lirayeu, or they would not have represented the omniscient Janovan, with whom there is no fu ture, as not knowing in the space of a few years that he should repent because lie had made man on the earth, and that it should grieve him at his heart. Can any one, except in a frenzy, say that this remark conies trom an enemy to the Bible Let it silence all leartul beings of the contrary, and be a comfort to them in their pious orgies, or peaceful slumbers. in ch. 8. v. 21. it is print ed, " the Lord smelled a sweet savour ;" but Mr. BELLAMY has changed these words,—" And Jll - accepted the incense of rest ;" which is better titan giving him the sense of smelling, as it is only applicable to his creatures ; yet the meaning is the same that the Lord accepted it, and Mr. BELLAMY shews, that in Hebrew the word is to accept, which, in common sense, is more pleaing to the eye and ear than to smell, and so, 1 doubt not, it will be admitted by the most captious critics, and snarlers too, as sweet savour means incense of rest, signifying that GOD had accepted this sacrifice, by the application of which to tile Messiah, man was to find true rest. Thus far is Mr. BELLAMY justified in his trans lation, and, from such happy bpecimens, it is rea sonable to expect he %yid be so throughout, to the discowfiture of ail his causeless enemies, of %% bleb wore hereafter. STACK HOUSE. LONDON JOURNALS; FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. [Morning Post.] SOUTH AMERICA. We have received a communication, signed " Puis Lopez Mendez," Deputy-General of the Supreme Government of .Venezuela, residing in London. Its extreme length, and the pressure of other subjects, cowlick us to give only a brief sketch of its contents, but this we trust will be found to comprise roost faithfully the whole sub stance of the communication, and beyond which it certainly possesses no interest. The Deputy- General describes the 'cuticle relative to the affairs of Venezuela, which was lately ex tracted by all the Journals of this metro polis from a Cork Paper, as a tissue " of horrible calumnies," from which he conceives it neces sat yto vindicate his character. He states, that as the Public will shortly he in the possession of the real truth respecting the occurrences that have taken place between Col. Wilson anti the Govern ment of Venezuela, be abstains from entering into the subject.. He declares, that he has never seduced, or attempted to seduce, any British officer or soldier into the service of his Govern ment ; and that neither he, nor any other per son having his authority and consent, has ever re ceived any sum of money from any individual to procure his admission into the Venezuelian ser vice. He adds, that he has never entered into any contract in his personal capacity, for the con veyance of Officers to Venezuela, but that he has always acted in such transactions in the name and on behalf of the Government, by which he has been invested with the fullest powers. He complains se verely of the conduct of certain British Officers who embarked for Venezuela, and whose passage was paid by the Venezuelian Government, but who never joined, whil,t some of them, he asserts, even ran a rtily with some important letters, and returned to this counts y to communicate them to " a Fo reigner of distinction," and to he employed by him in writing against the Patriotic Government. He states tha't the conditions on which British Offi cers were engsged were, that on their. arrival at Venezuela they should present to the Govern ment, besides the letters of terommendation which he had given them, the Commissions which they had held in the British army, and documents to prove their services. And he contends that those who publish the libels and calumnies of which Ise complains, are the persons who, not basing fulfilled those conditions, could obtain no employ ment at Venezuela. Others, he asserts, who had engaged to bring a certain number of men, failed in the execution of their promise, and are now become inimical to a cause which has rejected them as unworthy. He then descends to individual cases, and concludes with an eulogium on the mi litaty and administrative abilities of General Bo livar, the supreme head of the present Venezue lian Government. Such are the contents of this documient, on which we leave the Public to form their own opinion. TOPIC IN HIGH LIFE.—The Fashionable World will he surprised to bear that a matrimonial al liance is on the tapis between a young Btitisli Nobleman and the Sister of the Autocrat of All the Russias, the Grand Duchess Anne. Rumour states, in a high legal quarter, that the contract is now drawing up.— •(lbid.) [Morning Herald.] His Royal Highness the Prince Regent fol lows the example of his revered Father, by pro moting his own servants in preference to stran gers. His Royal Highness has lately been pleas ed to appointment two of his footmen, Charles Maxwell and John Stephens, to the rank of Pages. [The Times.] We are mach gratified in looking over the. last arrivals of newspapers from North America, to observe the high tone of just and honourable feeling which has been there called forth by the facts disclosed on the subject of the Seminole war —with its memorable episode of Arbuthnot's and Atnbrister's execution. The whole case has been taken up with becoming spirit and warmth, as well by i n di v id ua l s of the Legislative Bushy as by the Press. The war with the Seminoles, in so far as it was pushed beyond the litni:s of the United States, and into the Spanish tern ory, was declared by Mr. Cobb to be a breach of the Constitution, which, though it authorises the Exe cutive Government to tepress the Indians, con fines the exercise of that prerogative to the boun daries of the Union. The seizure and retention of Pensacola and St. Mark's ate equally pronounced, in thespeech ofthe above Gentleman, to he stretches of power not sanctioned by law ; because, when joined to the intrusion upon the Spanish territory, they 801011111 to acts of hostility against a foreign nation, which Congress alone can legally au ief n thor i is e r ahieeltiri( b a i la y nd murder of our country men arr aigned Of the American Jour nals on the same grounds whereon those deeds of violence have been universally reprobated here. It is admitted that the Englishmen could not be lawfully tried, even for treason to America, by a military Court but it is justly stated, that for the crime of treason they could not be tried at all by any Court of Justice in a country to which their allegiance was not owing. How much more aggravated and atrocious, then, was the act of capitally punishing, by a subordinate Tribunal, men who had not rendered themselves amenable to the very highest jurisdiction known amongst the United States. How much more dreadful still that one of them should be put to death in rank defiance of that very military code which had thus usurped a dominion over him, by the pure caprice of an armed Tyrant, who founded his determina tion to slay Awbrister on a charge wholly different from that on which he - was arraigned, viz, the charge of piracy, which the Court Martial never had before theM at all In our report of the dissensions between the Lord Mayor and others, we have stated, that upon the bill of indictment that had been found by the (rand Jury against Mr. Thomas Williams. his Lordship 's Deputy, that his Lordship upon that occasion became one of his bail : we are authorized to con tradict the latter kart of this statetuerit.—(lbid.) PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—SATununr, JAN. 16 ' 0 This day the SPEAKER entered the House san d after three o'clock, when upwards of a low lr h , Members attended, and took the oaths Witt' A r , usual ceremonies ; and, about five o' clock. BROGDEN moved that the House do adjon rrl ' o .. Au adjournment accordingly took pla ce till 1i 1 " ° 1,1 day, and the SPEAKER gave notice ih , tt be sh°6r, attend at three o'clock on that day, for the rjf pose of swearing such Members ai bad not o ,ll er . taken the oaths. THEATRICAL REGISTF,R. Performed on Sat ardor/ Night. THEATRE ROYAL, I)RURY-LANE.--(`2 2 d time), Bra" - Attgr cius Junius, Mr. Kean; Tarquinia, Mrs. W. West' which, The Silver Arrow. !r, THEATRE ROYAL, CovENT-GmtnEN.—The Jealous Mfe'iti;cr Oahlry, Mr. Youna ; Mrs. Oakley, Miss O'Neill. which, Harlequin Munchmisen. TO CORI:ESPONDENTS. °l l The Letter to the Right Honourable Lord REvEs°osl THE INSOLVENT ACT, &C. T o -morrow. it I Analysis and Commentary on The Insolvent Debtors' Ite possible, To-morrow. 0 As we have closed the Controversy on th e New Trills,j'ail°, of THE BIBLE, we hope our respectable Corresponder'ito will excuse us for not inserting his l etter, as it or° po in unavoidably produce an answer. His favours in OP to Roman Catholic ambition will he highly acceptable. IV For PRISCUS, see the First Pie• PRICE OF STOCKS THIS nAY AT TwELvr, n'er,ncw. .011 8 per Cent. Red . 75ii , India Stock..• • ***** is. I"' 3 per;Cent. Cons.. 7Bt I India Bonds ..... .86!• 0 ,, pr• 31 per Cent .B7i 8S Exch. Bills, 2d...19 5 • a i i p 1 4 per Cents. 9(;{ 97 Ornniuni ....... .••• •• • . 7 0 5 per Cent. Navy Ann.lo6liti Cons. for Account.• ••• Bank L. Ann..... 201 5- I 6 ths MAILS. A"lvn,-2 Dublin, 1 Waterford, I Hamburg!), 1 Fr 3 " t4 4 DUE-.-1 Waterford, t Guernsey and Jersey, 5 Swedem Hamburg - li, 1 Holland, I Flanders. Ulf . HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO•Mortnl, Morning, 52 minutes after 6. Evening TUE SUN. QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY IS, 1819. We received this morning t he Paris Popos at e Thursday last. Those of Friday, v vbich were (1 ` 1 , : have not arrived. The following are extract' • " ROYAL ORDONNANCES. " Louts, &c. " ART. I. There shall be a public ex hibition °I the products of French indust r y , at periods tob° determined by us ; the inte rvals not exceeding four years. " The first exhibition shall take place id JO the second in 1821. 2. The exhibitio n of ISI9 shall take place tbe 25th August, and following days, in the Salo ottf acid Galleries of our Palace of the Louvre. " (The other articles relate to the awarding of the prizes according to the verdict of a as Jury.)s' " Dated Jan . 13, 1819. (Signed) LO lO (Countersigned) " The Count DECAZ. ~Lo u ts,six. 0 : .e Th e Sieur Picb on, Master o f Requests it- .• is appointed Secretary- General to the n istry of J ustice. 4. Da t e d Jan. 13, 1 21 9. dinary, (Signed) cc 1,01-115. (Countersigned) cc DE 5F,31111. , " PARIS, JAN. 14.—Ycsterday the glob 110 loc i ‘ Council of Ministers, which sat trona on e 0 c till four. ° " There is at the presen t moment in .one f tb e apartments of the Hospital of St. Louis, the ' 65 ,1 descendant of Descartes, bearing that some, ° who has received a pension from his Majes t y` for " The Duke de Richelieu set out yesterdo the Chateau of Courteilles , 28 lea g ues from I r i l n; near Verreuil (Eure), which was inhabited du s the first years of the Revolution by the Counteu', de Rocheehounit and the Duchess de Riche°. it is said that the Duke i n t ends, after passillgof fortnight there, to take a journey to the Soutb tp France, to re-establish his health, and &bell travel in Italy. °l " The French Academy has lost its Elea"' Abbe Morellet , who died on Tuesd a y at Viar.si aged 92. th e " The Grand Duke Michael arrived 011 29th ult. at Milan, from Genoa. . The Duke of Gloucester, accomPa"le- ~f Marshal the Duke de Bellune , visited g.Ostert" the Military School. FIVE PER CENTS. Wednesday DEFERRED STOCK. Of the 22d March, 181 7, 7 9 f. 90 C. 92d Sept. 1817, 77f . 90 c. 22d March, 1818, 75 f. 90C. 22d Sept. 1818, 73 t. 80 c• t 16 (11 , "LA VALETTA (MALTA), J. 6.--- 0 ° -be 01 ult. there was a splendid fête, on the occasi°ll4o vy pr the establishment in this Island of a ne of Knighthood, by direction of his Britannic L oo , Tate jesty, in honour of the Maltese na tion. tip s vernor of the island is the Grand Master ; English Admiral, the President of the Court co Appeal, and the Auditor M. X erri, have bed appointed Grand Crosses of th i s new OfiNr S l i nt %ev erdi Th e ~ , 44 1 1 11i4 N ote al g ilt' t l e i tr) 1)1 Y' ie I, v 4 Iltr qr tltrk4tr, " Ter°. ti ' a . 1, 11 jtt, (1 % , ta u • I th,n tk -Ak e 1 1 4 4'p siu :11141:t