Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-03-16
Bible Revision

J"dSe for himself. Upon the Puritan question A'pha and myself l imagine would not differ very W'ueiy; but as he has drawn Bucks Theo- | lo9ical Dictionary upon me- 1 will make few remarks upon the subject, aud refer the reader 10 Nel's history of the Purtans for further in Struchon l was not writing upon the orioin of Purtanism, but merely referred to it in nassin, as having been, if not directly, indirectly the re. suit of the translation of the English Bihl. and the reading of the same by the great mass of the people. l will accept of Alpha, de6ni- ton of Puritan which is almost universally understood by every one; that is .those who were proiessed tavorers of further degree of reformation, and purity of the church before the act of uniformity in 1862. y and l think the reader will agree with me that there IS nothing new or unaccounta- ply strange III the assertion that Purtansm sprung np m consequence of the translations of the Bible. The learned Moshiem. carryiuo ont the same idea, (page 112, vol. 2d,) says the name of Puritan was given to certain perso IS " from their insisting upon form of worship more exempt from superstition and of a purer kind than the liturgy of Edward seemed to them to be-" At this period the great light of Gods moral universe had been con- cealed from the comprehension of the mass of the people, and England had been spell bound by Papal Rome, the light of Gods truth had been taken away, all was moral darkness when John Wickhtf attempted to restore it, and in the language of Romsh writer. Knv- ton, the gospel which Christ committed to the clergy and doctors of the church. that they might sweetly dispense 1t to the laitv according to the eXigencv of the times and the wants of men. this Master Jno. Wicklitfhas translated into the Ang- lie tongue, thereby making 1t more open and com mon to the iaty; aud to l0oDaen lChocan read hton yf0meFy 1t was to the best instructed anao7q the clergy. And thus the gospel pearl is cast forth. and IS trodden under foot of swine. and what was once reverenced by the clergy and laitv is become as it were, the common jest of both: and the jewello of the clergy their peculiar trea- sure is made .forevey common to the ttjty
 Another writer of eminence says: " Wickliff's Bible was the prophecy and earnest of Protes- 1 taniSm, like the awakening breath of heaven. the beginning of days to the common people of Englard." 1t was the effect of these early translations upon the common people of Eng land to give them new ideas which worked like leaven and caused them to break the spell which had held them bound so long, the clouds of ignorance and superstition which had dark cnei the moral horizon ot Eng aland for SD many centuries were rapidly dispelled as Gods word
 
 of Wick!f ard Tyndal It was with these weal ons that Palal Rome was made to bleed from every pore until she was shorn of her power. s. sensible was she of the iafuence of these trals'aions upon the mind of the masses, that every means was employel to sup press them which the ingenuity of man could invent, ald every individual who was found with copy of these tralslatious Was either imprlsouc! or burned al the stake The au. th"rs ot these were hunted like wild beasts and Wicklltt's top es were taken up after ht had bean buried for years and burned together with as many copies Of his translation as could be found
 Tynda was strang)cd at the stake, and hi body afterwards burned. The reader can read fly rom this statement, that as the word of God WIS gwen to the masses, and they began to read and understand it, just in the same ratio did they reject the Superstitous worship and ar rogant pre;entons of Papal Rome and did they contend for farther degree of reformation and purity in the church, and form of worship more exempt from superstition, and hence Pu. ritauism Alpha, in reply to my remark that the 41 revsors had left no monuments of thei learng and scholarship, devotes nearly one fourth of his response to telling us what Mile. Smith had done, as if he had been one of the AZ revisors. He then refers to Andrews and Sanderson and tells us of the number of folio, ot sermons published by them, toge her witt some other works. He tells Us that an abun dance of like character can be given as mon. umcnts of their learning and scholarship.
 If this is the great evidence of their Iearnin! and scholarship, truly much of the wisdom O this world died with them As aa adlitioua evidence of Sadersors learning and sc olar- ship, he speaks of his repeating Cicero's writing without the hooE many school boys have done the same. Alpha seems to have fallen into tn, error that any one who can write books and sermons must necessarily be q very learned and a great scholar. 1T this ht true, our country abounds in scholars aud learned men. tor the facility with which books and sermons are mauu- tac,ucd would make this the golden age oi leaning and scholarship. The writings of An drew. and Sau. are uot to he found in one library in th"usaud; they do rot live as tho works of other learned and great men have done, mi ly for the reason they nave not the merit, they have long since become ob,ole,c.- No one doubtel but that the name, and wri. tiugs of the 47 could be found, although Alpha had to consult his biographical dictionary Mir. McCieur, who spent twenty wears ju search o information concerning the + in hls Trans la- tors Revised, says "all that could be gathered about them was to be found in little scraps here and there," and of Bishop Andrews h. says, :" hls style atomds in qulps, qurks and puns according to the false taste of his time; and that his once admired folos have long been doomed to the dusty dignity of the lower shelf in the ibrary.' To the loos of another he applies Robert Halls famous comparson,a con. tinent of mind." This is fair specimen o what he says of the others
 Ii ihOuuh lpba spprnS to thinl, bo hoe c,u d enough to satisfy any reasonable mind upor this subject in enabling him "to correct mistake. and set things in their proper light, yet he seems f anything more unfortunate in placing Selden Doddridge aud Clarke. Alpha says "uow ii Clarke, Doddrdge and Selen speak thus o Mug James translation, 1t Is very strange that they would condemn it a bad translation , Strange as this may seem to A pha 1t is no less true.
 What have said of Selden l need not now repeat as l have given it upon the best of all- thority, nor do l think Alpha's quotation from Horne affects my position, as in that passage Seden testies to its many excellencies, and as being the best translation in the world at that time, and so do l. My quotations from him Were in his own language. Doddrdge, seeing the imperections of the common version, un- dertook to do just what the revision association Is now attempting to do, and accordingly in 1765 he published his translation of the New Testiment, and about the year l798 he pub liahed his trarsatous of the minor prophecies. His Acts of the Apostles have now before me. In his preface to the New Testament u speaking of the importance of revising King James version, he says, :" till this is undertaken uLder the patronage of superior authority, il will be a useless attempt for private divines to IL | |
 slons ot this most important of all bookS."-- Dr. Clarke, Walton, Cudworth, Cdstell and others were appointed by the British Parlia u.ent near two hundred years ago to revise the common version, and had met at the house Butstroe Whitlock to engage in the work when the King dssolvel the Parliament and the work stopped (Joural of the House o Commons aud WhtlocN's memorials of Eng lish adars) Dr. Clarke puts ths matter be-