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    ^ M ^ f fSnM ifcaYfe . < 2 > etH ^ anticipated . T ^ ^ g | o ^/ ta « aficH «^ tai produce a pen fefifes W $ k y re-exaraiues a doubtful pas jsa ^ e ^ i tfeyense q £ which ; he may think he , fcas jsajiisfactorjfy settled . . New ob ) - jectkms start up before him . Conflicting considerations hold the scale of criticism

    in equipoise ; and it is impossible to decide upon the translation in whose favour the balance of probability preponderates . The perplexities of a trans * lator of the Bible may be estimated from a curious anecdote of Luther : During his confinement in the Warteburg , he was engaged in translating the Bible ; but he found it so impossible to render some passages into satisfactory German ,

    that he was firmly persuaded the devil himself had spread a mist before his eyes , to hinder him from seeing the meaning of the sacred text , and extending the benign influences of so holy a book . We can imagine him a close prisoner , counting the letters , calling up the roots of each separate word , as the familiar spirits of an oracle . He reaches the Vulgate , the Alexandrine version for assistance ; but in vain . In the fever of

    excited thought , he saw , or fancied he saw , the arch- fiend come forth from the very spot , perhaps , ou which his eyes were fixed during the perplexed moments of his meditation ; and he is said to have hurled his inkstand at the intruder , the black spot from which yet remains , and is shewn to visitors , on the stone wall of the room in which he studied . *

    Mr . Wellbeloved ' s difficulties are increased by the double task of rendering his work acceptable to the general reader , as well as useful to the theological student . It requires much less skill to collect , from the inexhaustible store of critical theology , a mass of ponderous learning , designed merely for the use of the student , than to select judiciously and convey agreeably that information which

    every reader relishes and desires . That Mr . W . has been ^ eminently successful in this respect , as far as he has gone , will be admitted by all who are acquainted with his work . It will be admitted , that he has brought together , in his notes , a variety of information of the most valuable and interesting kind ; and that he has been exceedingly happy in his choice of observations to explain the

    • See Coleridge ' s Friend , where the passage 3 n question is said to have been one which the Roman Catholics urged in favour of transubstantiation .

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    difficult , or throw light upon the obscure portions of holy writ . More particularly , he baa shewn judgment and taste in his extracts from travellers in the East , who have written on the climate , soil , scenery , manners , &c , of Palestine . At the same time , it cannot be said that he has overburdened his work with

    notes and comments . It has certainly been a very common error with biblical critics , to fill their pages with paraphrases which encumber rather than explain the text ; and with notes which illustrate the erudition of the critic , much more than the meaning of his author . Into this error Mr . Wellbeloved has not fallen : perhaps

    it may be thought he has erred in the opposite extreme 5 and that many passages would have admitted with great advantage , if they did not absolutely require , more comment than he has given them . But , on the whole , he has certainly exercised great judgment in the selection of matter for his notes ; a

    merit of the very highest order , considering the boundless extent of his materials : the merit , in fact , which must , above all others , constitute the value of a translation of the Bible , particularly a translation designed for the use of families . And with the " Reflections , " which in themselves possess great excellence , both in chastity of composition ,

    and in their perfect harmony with the most enlightened principles and views of Christianity , he has succeeded in producing a most valuable , improving and delightful work—a work which , so far as it goes , is a great addition to our common resources for reading the Bible with pleasure and . profit . For the purposes of family religious instruction and devotion ,

    such a work has long been wanted ; and it fills up the void in as able and efficient a manner as could possibly be desired . There is no work of a similar kind , in this respect , to be compared with it ; certainly not for the use of Unitarians . It is a work which , if its author is permitted to complete it , will be long

    regarded as holding the very highest place amongst the theological productions of its class in this country . Let it not be forgotten that it is especially a " Family Bible ; ** and that every family , professing to hold the Scriptures in respect , and able to afford the purchase of such a publication , ought unquestionably to possess it .

    I fear , Sir , that these remarks have trespassed on your pages . A good review of this valuable publication , from

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    &MA 860 Occasional Correspondence .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1828, page 860, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2567/page/60/