The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
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occupied the c

MEMOIR

The era of the Refor
cipality, as well as in i
remarkable men, eminent for ta!ents, leant _
In Wales, as in other parts of Great Britai
mind then awoke from the torpor of r.c:s.

as illustrated in the Pri,

igland.

rarice of Ti

.he human
d rejoice()

like a giant to rGn a new course of intel
went. Of th

ual improve

highly-gifted men, whose memory will

ever be ec-1

ed in tti

ratcfol recollection of Wclsli-

men, no one was more distinguished for profound erudi-
tion, and the devotion of great attainments to the best
interests of his country, than Dr. Jan Davies, of Mali-
wyd.

He was born in the parish of Lianferres, in the county
of Denbigh. Common tradition represents him as the
son of a weaver, while contemporary poets, to whom he
was probably a liberal patron, describe him as descended
from the native princes of Wales, and connected by blood,
as he was afterwards by marriage, with some of the best
families of the country. With every allowance for the
proverbial adulation of poets, we cannot suppose that this
description was altog,ther fictitious, since the origin and
circumstances of his family must in those days have been
generally known, and any gross deviation from the truth
would have conveyed an insult rather than a compliment.
The two accounts are, however, by no means incompati-
ble with each Ler. His family may have fallen by the
usual custom of Gavel kind from its termer respectability,
while the trade of a weaver, before the fabrics of Man-
chester and Yorkshire were imported into the Princii
lily, would occupy a higher rank than is usually -
to it by the fastidiousness of modern notions

,ssigned

His birth must have taken place before the year 1570,
but the precise date is unknown. According to corotocn
report he was educated at Ruthin school, under Parry,
afterwards Bishop Parry. To this statement there are
insuperable objections. Davies had entered the Univer-
sity of Oxford six years before the grammar-school of
Ruthin was founded (in 1595); and Parry, who then en-
joyed a high dignity in the church, was never Ina,ter of
that seminary, to which so many erdnent persons were
afterwards indebted for their early classical attainments.
Davies was originally a member of Jesus College, but
afterwards removed to Lincoln College, and eventually
proceeded to the degree of D.D.

He was brought into public notice, before he entered
the University, by his connexion with Bishop Morgan's
translation of the Scriptures into the Welsh language.
This translation was published in 1588. Previous to this
event the Old Testament was a sealed book to the natives
of the Principality. In this work, which required a rare
union of learning and skill in the original ',menages of
the Scriptures, as well as in the ancient British tongue,
Dr. Morgan had very few associates. Among those whom
he selected to assist hint in this arduous undertaking, was
Mr. John Davies, th-n a very young man; and the se-
lection was honourable to hob parties.
Though the publication of Dr. Morgan's translation
constituted a most important era both in the literature
and religion of Wales, his version was not free from the
imperfections which attend a first, and often a hurried,
attempt of this nature. The successive improvements in
the earlier editions of the English Bible 'ire general',
known ; and it is in no wise derogatory to the great met-
tits of Bishop Morgan and his fellow-labourers, that
several corrections were deemed necessary in a subsequent
edition of the Welsh Bible. The lapse of thirty years
had enabled the clergy to become more familiar with the
learned languages, and to acquire greater proficiency in
sacred criticism. Another translation, or at least a very
extensive revision of the former one, was undertaken
under the auspices of Bishop Parry; but the principal
responsibility is commonly supposed to have been en-
trusted to Davies, on account of his Greek and Hebrew
learning, and his established reputation as a most exact
critic in his native language. The revised version was
published in 1620, and in this as well as the preceding
edition the translators availed themselves, with consum-
mate skill, of that similarity of idiom which is so remark-
able in the Hebrew and Welsh languages, and produced
a work which, for general fidelity, and the idiomatic pu-
rity and nervous simplicity of its language, has never been
surpassed, and which reflects immortal honour upon
themselves and their country.
In the following year (1621) Davies published a gram-
mar, under the title of " Antiguae Lineure Britannic
nunc communiter dictee Cambro-Britannicre, a suis Cvni-
rrecre vel Cambricre. sib aliis Wallicre Rudimenta." This
grammar, composed in Latin after the fashion of those
days, exhibits his classical attainments to great advan-
tage, and is particularly distinguished for the elegance of
its style, and the skilfulness with which it expresses the
peculiarities of the Welsh tongue in a language of very
different structure. It has formed the groundwork of all
succeeding grammars of the Welsh language, and conti-
nues to this day a standard authority to which our gram-
marians generally appeal. Foreigners were thus wade
acquainted with the genius and copiousness of a language
which they had previously deemed barbarous and unwor-
thy of regard, and led to honour the Carnbro-British as a
respectable descendant, and probably the purest specimen
of that venerable tongue which was spoken by the earliest
inhabitants of Europe. The author takes frequent oppor-
tunities to point out the great affinity between the Hebrew
and the Welsh, not only in single words. but also in their
n.
ppsiawnycleohtna:e,intatcrranieyitxstoatt,
ntigtnsgeehgusecc,eil their prosody,
on
lanpirdlrbloatyrrtbssoi os,ieebhdßreeykvery
ecdiEdod
iit:(ivio, tn. A strikiii g, rese in blance
between several of our Welsh metres and those of Hebrew
n
e
itish
phi-
lological researches have teen etruuieiirginsc,it,(iknii'e:b..r:sit:ty,ilfai ekEseeansdwtaLtsni:
afvilrhdegnEreuparittoei:_e
penetrated
tkrit.eoadtveedds
a,tgliatrcomut
gyuisiwt
theibthe
darkness of antiquity, and, with eery 131st tad opportuni-
I ties,, anticipated to a certain extent the discoveries and

conclusions of the present age.
These remarks apply also to the Welsh and Latin die-
tionary, folio, (" Dictionarium Britannico-Lattnutn,")
which he published in 1632, accompanied with another
part entitled " Latino-Britannicum." The chavettr of
this learned work is too well known, and too firmly esta-
blished with every Welsh scholar, to render it necessity
to add a single word in its favour. The preface, in Latin,
is replete with very interestii.g. information, and may be
confidently recommended to those who are unacquainted
with the Welsh language, arid yet are desirous of learning
the author's opinions concerning the origin of the Cam-
bro-British tongue, and tl
of other languages. WI

ye change.
;15h lexico-

graphers and grammarians
has been erected upon the f

obtained, in after times,

author;

and they hai'e generally sun
tempts, as they have adhen
principles which he promulg
Other works, though of
which have been mentioned

d or failed in their at:
, or departed from, the

le than these
ed by him at

different periods of his 1;1
that he contributed liberall

J doubt

.king which

tended to the advancemen

he temporal

and spiritual welfare of hi:
the value of his exertions, i

n estimating
rgotten that
.kness, when

they were made itTlina;

there were few reed

1 conse-

guently little enco

rint books.

for their us,

11 is subseq

he Quiver

may be comp.r.

own declaration that he

We know from his.
no period in South

Wales, and it is expr(
bard, in a poem add

preaCher; and we

Office in the cathedral -cliutcli-T1

it he held soma
ldaff. This is in
ithorities, and is
;inal patron, Dr.,
se. In 1604 he

some degree countenanced 19.

rendered more probable 1),

Morgan, was then bishop

was presented to the rector

1, in the cour

of Merioneth, which -1:

Asaph and other. r

:luring the

remainder of his life at Maqwyd, wtu,
inseparably connected, and where his tnemor
lapse of two centuries, continues to be descry
with the highest veneration, on account of his privat.
charities and his liberality towards objects of publicA to
lity. The rectory-house was erected by him, and t 4
initials of his name may still he seen in the parlour. The
Poor of the parish are annually reminded of " the good
Dr. Davies " by the produce of a benefaction which is-
distributed on St. Thomas's day. A neighbouring bridge,
and the chancel and tower of the church, were built at
his expense. His independence of spirit was manifested
by removing, in defiance of Laud, the communion table
from the east end to the middle of the church. where it
remains to this day. He died on the 15th of May, 1644,
and was buried on the 19th in the chancel of Mallwyd
church, where the following inscription was engraven
upon his grave-stone :

[,is name is
after the

ly regartl

Johannes Davies, S.T.D., Rector Ecclesim Parochialis de
Maliwyd, obiit 15 die Maii. ct sepultus Wit Iy, A.D. 1144, in
virtutis potius quam nominis memoria."

The preceding inscription has been lost for many years,
and his remains lie undistinguished by any memorial,.
True it is that he has erected for himself imperishable
monuments in these immortal works, which his country-
men peruse, and will alwnys continue to peruse, with
unabated ileasure and instruction. It was, however,
deemed but little creditable to their patriotism, that no
public tribute cf gratitude should have commemorated a
person so distinguished for his virtues and high attain-
ments. On this account, and with the view of holding
him forth as an example to future generations, a subserip-
tion has been raised to erect a tab'et to his memory, and
thus tardily to pay a tic bt of two centuries.
Mr. Gibson, of Liverpool, is cot
the tablet, according To a plan desig
Tudor gothic style, and selected at
by the Camden Society of Cam'rid

tied to execute

y himself in the
host appropriate
a which will be

engraven the followinz ii
"H.S.E. John nes Day

n ngro Di-
XXX. Vir

novicemsi flatus. U

multarum literarum:rel

caritate in datriam speetatissfir
Episcepis, mr rum integritas c
Cambrice vertendis. Grmea. Lat

uuP. propugnator,
temporis
HO.

t, et in SS

Licae. magnus et incorruptos investi;,
patefeci , art antiqui Serniouis usurn ct s
Arian) posteris muniv it. Annum agens
M.DC.XLIV.* Cives xre Coll to, pCst
memorise. viri egrecie de patria tneritl
inentum, honoris pietatie que cansa, tit

uno opera

A . D . N,

neribus et
.et Leona-

And they 1
T

For rn-ny sc
By the tides
Who oft in t

and sot

e borne

'es and crowded marts

Their ruins still remain
But scorched b

,sen track

nt hearts

re and stained with tears

And has the world

the gathered lore of centuries

he past,

NOTICES

Look to the End. By Mrs. Ellis, 2 vols. London

Fisher, Son and Co

The name of Mrs. Ellis ranks deservedly higb, and is
too well known to make it necessary for us, in noticing
the present work, to do more than describe its aim and
tendency and the degree of success with which these are
worked out. In the preface to the book the authoress
states, that during a journey to Rome and Naples, and a
residence of some months at the former place, her mind
was often forcibly impressed wiai the conviction that a
deep sense of the beautiful, as it is displayed both in na-
has more to do with our enjoyments than is
apoosed by those who, in England, occupy the
'ife. With this idea in her mind Mrs. Ellis
task of bringing before her readers the
.ifis sense of the beautiful gradually developing
itself in the mind of a young English lady of the mercan-
tile class, during a tour upon the continent in search of
health, until at length it becomes a passion influencing all
her actions and thocghts, and threatens to destroy that
equipoise of the moral and intellectual being without
which no real happiness can be enjoyed. The check to
this dangerous feature of such a love of the beautiful in
nature or art, which would otherwise assume the form of
intense selfishness, she shows to be a corresponding or
collateral love of what is morally as well as physically
beautiful.

hire and art
generally s
busy walks
sets her,eif to t`
effect of

• This design is very cleverly wrought out by Mrs. Ellis ;
and throughout the instructive and entertaining descrip-
tions with which the volumes are filled we still see in the
background, discl,sing itself link by link, the moral which
it is ber intention to convey. The incidents of the story
itself are not many or of great interest. Several of the
Characters, however, are excellently drawn, and inde-
pendently of the objects for which they are introduced to
us, are fine studies. The character of Eva herself—the
heroine, if we may so term her, of the work—necessarily
an unfounded, or rather an unfinished, one until the close
of the story. is beautifully traced step by step, shade by
shade throughout its growth from th.t of the simple affec-
tionate girl, full of impulse and sentiment to the perfect
woman to which she arrives at last. Mowbray, too, is an
attractive and interesting person, and Sir Charles Leigh
is well sketched. The female characters, however, are the
best specimen's of Mrs. Ellis's powers, and in individual-
king which she is most at home. Her Margaret Burnice
is an inimitable specimen of the ornament and treasure of
a household. Her training of the Bennets to the endu-
rance of their straitened circumstances, and of Eva to the
sacrifice of fortune to pay off her father's debts, is well

?mann ged and as well described

We trust we shall meet Mrs. Ellis again in the same
walk of literature. Her Women of England and Wives
and Daughters have become standard works of training
and education ; and in the volumes before us she has
proved her ability to combine romantic interest with those
Moral lessons which ber works ever aim to convey. We
may add that the present work is beautifully printed, with

line clear type and excellent paper

The Infla ence

Nations

of Aristocracies on the Revolutions of
s S. Macintire. London : Fisher,

By Ja

Son, and Co.
This is a singular work of great pretension, not unsup-
ported by considerable talent, but conveying what we con-
ceive to be very unsound views of politics and political
economy, and drawing very erroneous conclusions from
correct historical premises. The reader may draw from
its pages a great mass of valuable information, mingled,
however, with partizan views and distorted conclusions.
The work is beautifully got up; and to those who can
coincide with the writer's opinions will, no doubt, be very
acceptable.

The " Effects" and Adventures of Roby Rattler, Gent.
London : Saunders, Otley and Co.
have from time to time noticed this work, whilst
al title of the " Li-
efore us, however,
h better able to form
iracter of a tale, pos-
t has no claim, and it has evi-
nplation of the author to put
areer of Mr. Rattler having been
exhibition, not only
them very whim-

publishing in numbers under its origin;
verpool Policeman." It comes now '
as a complete work, and we are n

a judgm

'ming a

it of Er

.stained in

dently not been in the c
forth ench claim, the
used as a kind of frame,

of that gent

sical and accu
sketches of cha

Companions

so of several episodes,
ores of himself and his
iiry forcibly told,—some
n intimate knowledge of

too forcibly
the kind of
gled with Si
♦ation. 7
and B
drels
bow

e characters

shes of sarea
asters f Mr

ch they paint, min

I hurnoious Obser-
;inson, Mr. Floss

cies of scoun-

wife, thrilling

will be read
For the it

Lions of the work where
nore refined and virtuous
doubt that Raby Rattler

tint it has
111u4r.ted
S. P. Flet

o may be ;disposed to
perusal of occasional

me may mention
J. It is

royal octavo
ley and Clar
good taste a
arm.

nsman, Mr

in one volume

And do infinite credit to the
kmanship of that celebrated

SELECTIONS

Parliament t

repor

declares

calumny
the last I
Punch.

s been circulated

me a pe

A gentleman, who
rt to be a shameful

a piece.
Peter)-
out of

He asst

tt the income tax would be
rouble an Irish member.—

chiefly by the

my care