The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 30, 1864.

Now ready all at the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
11.1 A. T T I E. A STRAY.
.131. By the Author of "No Church," "Owen : A Waif," &c.
" There is great ability in this book."—spectator.
" The story is worthy of the author's high reputation. The
interest is well sustained throughout. It bids fair to be one
of the most popular novels of the season."—John Bull.
Hurst and Blacke t, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

Now ready at al: Ihe Libraries, in 3 vols.,
NT DEAD YE T.
By J. C. JEAFFRESON, Author of "Live it Down," &c.
" Mr. Jeaffreson's present novel is in every respect satis-
factory. We have read it through with interest, and can
recommend it to our readers. It is a pleasant, healthy
bouk. " A thenteum.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

ÜBLIN

No. 379. FOR a
corm

Now ready at all the Libraries,
MYSTERIOUS LEGENDS of EDINBURGH.
Now for the first time told in Print. By ALEXANDER
LEIGHTON, Author of "Curious Storied Traditions," &c.
Edinburgh : William P. Nimmo ; London Simpkin, Mar-
shall, and Co.

This day is published, price 10s. Gd., Vol. 11. of
MR. CHARLES KNIGHT'S AU rOBIO-
GRAPHY. "Passages of a Working Life during
Halt a Century."
London: Bradbury and Evans, 11, Bouverie-street, E.C.

WILL BE READY AT ALL THE LIBRARIES, JULY 1.
In 2 vols, crown Bvo., cloth, price 21 ~
SUPERIOR TO ADVERSITY; or, THE
ROMANCE OF A CLOUDED LIFE. A Novel. By the
Author of "Blackfriars ; or, The Monks of Old," &c.
London : Trubner and Co., 60, Paternoster-row.

MR. W. S. WOODIN'S
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The late Canon Cureton, D,D„ F,B.S.

By the death of Dr Cureton the world has lost a ripe and
accurate scholar. and the Church of Eng and an earnest and
laborious minister. On the 29th of May, 1863, he met with
a severe railway accident while returning with his family
from Eastbourne, from the effects of which he never reco-
vered; every improvement was followed by a more severe
relapse, and he finally sank at 1 o'clock )f the morning of
Friday, the 17th inst., in the 56th year d his age,
William Cureton was born at Westbuy, in Shropshire,
in the year 1808, and was the second son of Mr William
Cureton, of that place, He was educatedat the Free Gram-
mar School of Newport, in his native aunty, whence he
proceeded to Oxford with a Careswell Exhibition at the age
of 18. He had intended to join the University as a com-
moner, bat his father having died about this time, leaving
the family property much embarrawd, he entered Christ
Church as a servitor, kninreter tha;,,Wanother might enjoy
fie i Xll prOCeesraionis patrimony: In c act he displayed
that independence, affectionate nature, and practical good-
ness which characterised him through life. He was a dili-
gent student, and graduated in 1830. He was ordained
deacon in 1831 by Dr Bagot, Bishop of Oxford, and priest
by Dr Murray, Bishop of Rochester, in 1832. He took the
degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Di Anity by accumulation
in 1858, having been previously created Doctor of Divinity
by an honorary diploma of the 'University of Halle. Dr
Gaisford, then Dean of Christ Church, who was much at-
tached to him,made him achaplain of his college, and in 1834
introduced him to Dr Bandinel, the Bodlean Librarian, as a
good son and a fit person to be under-librarian. He con-
tinued in that post until 1E37, when he succeeded Sir Fred.
Madden as assistant keeger of the manuscripts in the
British Museum. He was selected for his office on account
of his special acquaintance with Oriental languages, parti-
cularly Arabic, to the study of which he had devoted him-
self from the year 1830, when he took his B.A. degree;
In the British Museum Dr Cureton found employment
suited to his tastes and studies, The duty assigned to him
was the preparation of a classed catalogue of the Arabic por-
tion of the collection. The first part of this work, com-
prising Christian writings and the divisions of Mahornedan
theology, jurisprudence, and history, and in which every
volume noticed was minutely described in Latin, was pub-
lished in the spring of 1846. Muth also of the material for
the remainder of the catalogue hal been prepared by him
before the year 1850, when ho resigned his appointment.
Bat the preparation of this catalogue was not the most
important nor the most laborious o: Dr Cureton's duties at
the British Museum. As early as the year 1841 his work
on the Arabic catalogue had been interrupted, through the
acquisition by the trustees of that nstitution of a very re-
markable collection of manuscripts in the Syriac language,
obtained through the agency of Dr. Tattam from the
Monastery of St. Mary Deipara, in the desert of Nitria or
Scete, not far from Cairo. This event furnished him with
materials for researches, at once varied and profound, in a
new field. On the arrival of the XlSS.—the first portion
in 1841, the second in 1843--he threw himself heart and
soul into the study of the Syraic language and literature.
On him in the first instance devolved the task of classifying
the volumes, of gathering together, collating, and arranging
the numberless fragments and loose leaves of which the
Nitrian Collection consisted, and of drawing up a brief
summary of their contents for the catalogue of additional
MSS. in the Museum.
One of the first results of these labours was an article in
the Quarterly Review, No. cliii,, December, 1845, giving
an account of the way in which the MSS. were procured,
and a rough sketch of their =tents ; and in the same
year appeared the first edition of the ancient Syriac
version of the epistle of St. Ignatius to St. Polycarp, the
Ephesians, and the Romans. The views propounded by
Dr. Cureton,—that we have here the genuine epistles of
St. Ignatius in their original form ; that the previously-
known recensions of these three epistles are much altered
and interpolated ; and that all others ascribed to tha t
Father are suppositious —views each as these were eel,
tab to excite much controversy in the theological world.
Commenced by Wordsworth in the English Review, No.
viii., July, 1845, the strife was continued by Samuel Lee
(British Magazine, vol. xxx ), Bunsen, Baur, liilgenfeld,
Denzinger, Hefele, Jacobson, and others, of whom the firs
two supported Cureton, while the rest combated his views.
Cureton himself took the field against Wordsworth in his
" Vindiciso Ignatiance" (1846)—a calm but crushing refu-
tation of his opponent's allegation
.that the Syriac version
was a miserable epitome by an Eutychian heretic." The
year 1849 saw the publication of the "Corpus Ignatianum,"
an enlarged edition of the work of 184.5, almost contempo-
raneously with which appeared Petermann's edition of the
Ignatian epistles. Since then discussion has been continued
by Lipsius (1859) on the site of Cureton, and Merx (1861)
on that of his opponents, and is not even yet brought to a
final settlement. Cureton, however, remained steadfast to
the views stated with such clearness and learning in the
" Corpus Ignatianum," and would, if his life had been
spared, have once again stepped forward to sum and con-
clude the Controversy.
While the Ignatian controversy
was at its height Dr
Cureton edited the text of a portLn. of the Syriac version
of the long-lost " Festal Letters of St. Athanasius," of
which he had been the fortunate discoverer. The preface
to these letters contain an interesting account of the Nitrian
Collection, more especially of a third portion, which reached
the Museum in 1847. These letters have been translated
into English by Burgess (1854), and form one of the vo-
lumes,of Pusey's Library of the Fathers. A German trans-
lation from the pen of the well-known Syrian scholar
Larsow appeared in 1852.
In 1851 Cureton edited for the trustees of the British
Museum the palimps est fragments of the " Iliad of
Homer," contained the Nitrian MS., now numbered
" Add. 17, 210."

In 1853 there issued from the University Press of Oxford
an important contribution to our historical knowledge—the
third part of the " Ecclesiastical History of Sohn Bishop of
Ephesus," edited by Cureton, from the Add. MS. 14,640.
Of this he intended to publish a translation, but other
labours prevented hfm, and his wishes were carried
out by the ReV. R. Payne Smith, sub-librarian of the Bod-
leian Library, whose version appeared in 1860. There is
also a German translation by Schonfelder (1862).
Two years later this indefatigable scholar published his
" Spicilegium Syriacnm," containing remains ascribed to
Bardesanes, Melito Of Sardes, Ambrose, Ste., with an Eng-
lish translation and notes. The first of these, called in the
MS. the "Book of the Laws of CountrieS," is the Syriac
original of the celebrated "Dialogue on Fate." A German
translation of it has been given by Merx,hown that it is in
in his work " Bar-
degauss von Edessa" (1863), who has s
reality the production of a disciple of
Bar desanes named
Philip. The second tract contained in the cc Spicilegium" is,
in all probability, not the "Apology"of IVlelito, but, as Ewald
and Land have maintained, the treatise of that Father
7rEpl eitiOcias. The third is the same, with some
Os EX/kip% which is
smomodeitfiimceastiaotntrsituates
dthteo XOyo ITP
Justin
Martyr.
In 1858 Cureton edited, perhaps, the roost Valuable of all
his works, and one which has given rise to scarcely less con-
troversy than the Ignatian Epistles, 11e discovered in the
Add. MS. 14,451, Which belongs to the latter half of the
fifth century, the remains of an ancient recension of the
Syriac Gospels, differing notably Mtn the ordinary Pehito
version. In his preface he dwelt on these ditergencies,
more especially in the text of the Gospel of St. Matthew—
summed up the evidence In favour of the Hebrew original
of that Gospel, than which, perhaps, no fact relating to
the history of the New Testament is more fully and
satisfactorily established ; and endeavour, to prove that
this particular MS. represented the Hebrew far more
faithfully than the Peshito does—at least in the shape
it is generally known to European scholars, His views
have been warmly espoused by that able critic Dr. Tregel-
les. It was Dr. Cureton's intention to have returned in
after years to this subject, and made known additional evi-
dence which he had collected upon these points.
Three years later Cureton bought out!the last work that
he was destined to finish—" The History of the Martyrs in
Palestine," by Eusebius of Caasarea, taken from the same
of that father.
venerable MS. from which Dr S. Lee edited the Theophanza

The last years of his life were employed in completing a
work which he had announced in the preface to 2'he Festal
Letters of St Athanasius, p. xxiii., note. The text and
part of the translation were printed at the time whenhe met
with the railway accident that ultimately caused his death,
Fortunately ho was able to finish the translation and notes
before his health altogether gave way; but the preface, in
which the results of the work were to have been summed
up, and his views regarding various questions stated, has we
fear never been written. According to his own statement
the book contains, among other things, "a considerable por-
tion of the original Aramic document which Ensebius cites
as preserved in the archives of Edessa, and various passages
from it, quoted by several authors, with other testimonies,
which seem to be sufficient to establish the fact of the early
conversion of many of the inhabitants of that city,and among
them of the King himself, although his successors after-
wards relapsed into paganism.' The unwritten preface

would have set forth Dr Cureton's reasons for believing
that the epistles ascribed to our Lord and King Abgar of
Edessa were not improbably genuine. Whether right or
wrong, he had certainly studied the question most care-
fully, and no man was more competent to form a correct
opinion upon the subject.
The eminence attained byDr Cureton was mainly founded
on his publications from those ancient Syriac manuscripts,
distinguished as they are by the intrinsic value of the
works selected, by the accuracy of his editions, and the
scholarship and honesty displayed in setting them forth and
illustrating them. In these qualities of judicious selection,
accuracy, scholarship, and freedom from prejudice Dr Cure-
ton standspre-eminent amongall Englishmen and foreigners
who have followed him in the work of editing these Syriac
writings. We may add too that he was most liberal in com-
municating the notes he had brought together of the con-
tents of the collection to fellow-students who sought his
assistance, and that not a few or the least important of the
publication from these manuscripts by other editors were
undertaken at his suggestion.
We have thought it well to bring into one view all the
important results of Dr. Cureton's examination of the Syriac
manuscripts in the British Museum. But these do not em-
brace all his labours in the field of Oriental literature. He

was an active promoter, if not the founder, of the Society
for the Publication of Oriental Texts, of which he was tire
honorary secretary until about the year 1850, and for which
he edited Al Sharastani's "Book of Religious and Philos°.
phical Sects," published in two parts in 1842 and 1846 ;
Rabbi Tanchum's " Commentary on the Book of Lamenta-
tions," published in 1843, and in the same year en-Nasafi's
" Pillar of the Creed of the Sunnites." He was also an
active member of the committee of the Oriental Translation
Fund) of which ha beeame-clepatar nhairman. in 15( ie.: and
chairman in 1863, on the death of Mr. Beriah BotfLud. In
1859 Dr. Cureton was appointed by the Queen the Crown
trustee of the British Museum. In 1855 Dr. Cureton was
elected a corresponding member of the Institute of France,
to supply the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Gaisford,
and in 1860 he succeeded Professor Wilson as Foreign As-
sociate of the Institute. He was also a member of many
other learned societies of Europe, and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of London.

Had Dr. Cureton been able to indulge his inclinations,
they might, perhaps, have led him to confine his attention
to his favourite branch of Oriental learning; but the duties
of a minister of the Church of England were laid upon him,
and he did not neglect them. The first curacy which he
served was that of Oddington, in the county of Oxford. In
1840 he was nominated one of the select preachers of the
University of Oxford. In 1847 he was appointed chaplain
in ordinary to the Queen, and in the following year he was
selected by the Prince Consort, by whom he was held in
much esteem, to preach the anniversary sermon before the
corporation of Trinity House. To Earl Russell is due the
credit of recognising the claims of Dr. Cureton to substan-
,e,anthdrßonegehtorhol
his lordship,
Mar-
garet's, Westminster.
inlsnteirB,4R9urhaelbDecaeanin CtialanponreofefrWmeensttm.

He felt a deep interest in all those committed to his
spiritual charge. Through his exertions the Church of St.
Andrew, in Ashley-place, Westminster, was built and con-

secrated. The parish is also indebted to him for convenient

school-rooms for boys, girls, and infants, in which, in addi-
tion to the instruction given to the children, a lecture,
founded by him, is delivered weekly to the adult working
classes. And it must be borne in mind that this was
accomplished under the disadvantage of an exodus of the
more wealthy part of the inhabitants which took place
between the years 1847 and 1850, and was caused by the
increase in the value of the houses in Great George-street
and Parliament-street, which were required for railway
offices. lie exerted himself with much success to promote
habits of economy and saving among the poorer classes.
The following extract from his last report for the Provident
Fund and Schools, issued in March, 1863, will show with
what success his exertions were crowned :

" In the year 1853 the amount of the sums deposited in
the Provident Fund was £144, and in the year 1862 it has
reached £1,358, although during the same period the num-
ber of persons for whose benefit the Provident Fund was
established has been reduced to less than half of what it
was 10 years ago by the great demolition of houses in the
rectory district."

We have also reason to believe that in the appropriation of
the capitular funds he was always ready to contribute to all
schemes for the interests of the poor, either by the erection
of churches or schools. He was most anxious to bring to-
gether in occasional social intercourse the different classes as

parishioners, and thus identified himself more closely with
all. The kindly feeling engendered by this course manifested
_ _

itself on many occasions. The parishioners ht.d his portrait
painted by subscription, and presented it to Mrs Cureton,

and on the day of his funeral showed their respect for his
memory by closing their houses, Dr iJureton's life was

one of labour well directed; the bread which he has

thrown upon the waters will be found after many days.—
Times.

RACING AND RACEHORSES.