The Sun.
London, England, 1819-08-25 00:00:00

LITERA R LV ENV.

REASONS in FAVOUR. of a NEW TRANSLATION of
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.--.By Sir JAMES BLAND Burt-

LSS, Dart.

Though tve h rve thought it our duty to intro-
duce the present Work in the critical department
of our Misceihlny, we are not presumptuous
enough to suppose that we are qualified to deter-
mine on its. rum's. But Ers our Paper is suppos-
-0-o to be particidatly patronized by the Clerical
Older, and by those who have peculiatly directed
their attention to Biblical Studies, we feel it to
be a 'Rind of duty to submit it to the notice of
our lleadets, it is, however, so important in it-
self, with Teference to the awful nature of the
subject, that it is to bepresumed it will be 'uni-
versally Nat ent among' the Ecclesiastical Body.—
The work is qddressed, with a brief hut pertinent
:and elegant dedication, to Lord 'GRENVILLE.—
The Author, whom we have °fir u had occasion to
mdmite for his poetical, humorous, and
tic productions, .tor‘v comes forward in a tucre
solemn and impressive. character. It appears that
lie was induced to enter upon the present inquiry
by the ObservAtions tA•THE OVARTERLY I(tivlEW
on a New Translation of the Ohl 'Testament, by
11Ir. Bl:Lt.Ami, but he does not examine the toe-
tits of that Transhrion,:coiteeiviaz it rather
proper to point mit the general necessity Of a New
TransLition, Hod as a motto for his
work, the followin4 words o Ili,hop Low'ru,
f' Thar nece!,sacy tvoilt, a New Translation
of the Holy Set ip'ores."—The Author ColifilienCeS
islit work with the following observation, to which
All r.A.C,,-hle mut pious minds must heartily
assent, viz:—

•• As alt our de:zrest interests, both temporal
and eternal, depend Ott our o!redience to the com-
mareets of our Maker, revealed to us in the Holy
crintit! es, nothing can he of amore serious itn-
porauee than to ascertain the fidelity Of those
versions of rite Sacred Text, through which alone
knowle,'ge of those commands can be acquired
by the majority of mankind."
In the porsuit of his 'inquiry, he observes,
that the amount of our Icoo:vied4e on the snb-
ject is, 014 the story told by ARrsTzus (+vi,o
gives An ar7COOttt Of the Trauslation otoered by
PTOLEMY PHILADELPE-1138, and toiiowed, with vas-
ry other Biblical Historian') is false;
sit,d that though it is certain thar, 'it some time
between the years 336 and 141 8.0 Translations
of the Holy Scriptures were Made, they were
made by persons of whose names, qualifications,
Hay existence, We ate absolutely ignorant."
In the course of the Author's learned and ela.
hot ate investigation, be asserts that the Jews
employed persons to alter tl,e text of some pas-
sages of the Septuagint Version, and erase others,
in (trier to avoid the at ktiowledgement of CHRIST
as the ME”IAH ; but though he seems to have
proved the tact. we cannot conceive that such
could have been the object, for though there was
certainly enouell to prove the Divine :fission of
our SAVIOUR, the Jews peo!)ably did not think so,
anti therefore must have deemed the prototors
in"eolkient without any necessity of alteration ;
for otherwise they conic, have bad no reason for
refusing to acknowledge his Divine Origin and
Mission. Thc.Anthor proreedS to examine all
the Transla:ions of the Holy Scriptures, and
states that do pure version from the original
IV-brew has yet been presented to :he world. To
prove this position, he gives a table of tour parts, in
parallel order, consisting of nassageS, collated Iron)
a It era: TratiOation of the Hebrew„ from the Sep-
tnagiut Version; trout JEROME'S Version, and the
Received Version, by which it pl4ily appears, that
" there is an entire coiiiridenie between the Re-
ceived Vt.rsion, aml the Vulgate,
and as entire' a 41sagreement between them and
the Hebrew Original," and consequently he infers
she necessity for a Nt..‘sr Translation.. But the
most important. point of all is expressed in the
following pa"ge., which precedes a long colla-
tion of particeikrt to illustrate the conclusion.:—
" In ordt:r therefore to sheer yet More distinct-
ly the effect attributahle to these :misbrerpreta-
lions of the fexi,,l will conclude what I have to
.say on the' Snbject by a second collation of corre-
sponding. passages ; not, as before, fortuitously
"taken, but most intimately connected with the
very basis of Christianity, namely, The Uninter-
rupted Succession of the Priesthood. and Church
of GOD, and the equally Uninterrupted Practice
of the Sacrifice of Expiation and Atonement, sym-
bolical of the one great Sacrifice and Atonement
to be consummated by the death of our Blessed
Saviour."

After this long, striking, and convincing colla-
tion, ,he Author concludes in the fullowing

manner :

in the sacred original, these passages form a
connected„ chain of evidence, illostralive of most
important truths, and placing them in the roost.
luminous ai!il irrefutable point of view. In the
opposed translations, whatever may he the value,
of each separate text, as a whole they prove no-
thing conclusive on the subject. Should the
reader concur with ine in this opinion, he will be
disposed to thinkAbat the translation which bears
such inttrnal evidence of its truth, is in all pro-
bability the most faithful to the sacred original.
" The matter is highly deserving of attention.
It is b gaestion of no less magnitude, than the
choice between a Hind adhesion to error, and a
pure and pet feet knowledge of the revealed Law
of Goo. Which of thee is preferable, which of
them ir is no less the interest than it is the duty
of every reasonable and accountable being to
adopt, cii.nnot admit of a doubt. In such case,
let u~ not be alarmed by any vain fear of tempo-
rary inconvenience, which otiL4lit not for a moment
to weigh against the permanent ;Ind incalculable
ad vu it age attendant on such a measure. Let us,
on the other hand, entertain a lively, and I trust,
a well .founded hope, that should a similar convic-
tion be felt by those who govern our Chinch and
S,ate, they may be pleased to take the matter iuto
consideration, and, as the necessity may appear
to require, direct an immediate revision of our
Received Version, or whet might perhaps be more
recommeadable, a New Translation of the Ori-
ritial Text "
We should consider this Mak as far too " high
flatter'' for a Public Journal, it we were not