respect; and the second of them will show us his opinion of a subject on which learned men have been much divided. "JAN. 26, 1725. "I have some time since designed an edition of the holy Bible in octavo, in the Hebrew, Chaldee, Septuagint, and the Vulgate; and have made some progress in it. What I desire of you on this article is, 1. That you would immediately fall to work, and read diligently the Hebrew text in the Polyglott, and collate it exactly with the Vulgate, writing all, even the least variations or differences between them. 2. To these I would have you add the Samaritan text in the last column but one; which is the very same with the Hebrew, except in some very few places, differing only in the Samaritan character, which I think is the true old Hebrew. In twelve months' time, you will get through the Pentateuch; for I have done it four times the last year, and am going over it the fifth, and collating the two Greek versions, the Alexandrian and the Vatican, with what I can get of Symachus and Theodotion," &c. Mr. John Wesley was in the twenty-second year of his age, not yet ordained, nor had he attained any preferment in the university, when he received this letter from his father. It gives a pleasing view of his progress in biblical learning at this early period of life, and shows his father's confidence in his critical knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. The following letter was written in 1731, and very clearly states the old gentleman's opinion of the translation of the Seventy, after a most laborious examination of it. "I find in your letter an account of a learned friend you have, who has a great veneration for the Septuagint, and thinks that in some instances it corrects the present Hebrew. I do not wonder that he is of that mind; as it is likely he has read Vossius and other learned men, who magnify this translation so as to depreciate the original. When I first began to study the Scriptures in earnest, and had read it over several times, I was inclined to the same opin ion. What then increased my respect for it was, 1. That 1 thought I found many texts in the Scriptures more happily explained than in our own or other versions. 2. That many words and phrases in the New Testament, can hardly be so well understood without having recourse to this translation. 3. That both our Saviour and his apostles so frequently quote it. These considerations held me in a blind admiration of the Septuagint; and though I did not esteem them absolutely infallible, yet I hardly dared to trust my own eyes, or think they were frequently mistaken. But upon reading this translation over very often, and comparing it verbatim with the Hebrew, I was forced by plain evidence of fact to be of another mind. That which led me to it was, some mistakes (I think not less than a thousand) in places indifferent, either occasioned by the ambiguous sense of some Hebrew words, or by the mistake of some letters, as daleth for resh, and vice versa; which every one knows are very much alike in the old Hebrew character. But what fully determined my judgment was, that I found, or thought I found, very many places which appeared purposely altered for no very justifiable reason. These at last came so thick upon me, in my daily reading, that I began to note them down; not a few instances of which you will see in the dis sertation I shall send you in my next packet. I would have you communicate it to your learned friend, with my compliments, earnestly desiring him, as well as you, to peruse it with the greatest prejudice you can; and after you have thoroughly weighed the whole, as I think the subject deserves, to make the strongest objections you are able against any article of it, where you are not convinced by my observations. For I should not deserve a friend if I did not esteem those my best friends who do their endeavors to set me right, where I may possibly be mistaken, especially in a matter of great moment." These two extracts give an interesting view of this gentleman's learning, diligent study of the Scriptures, and candor, in each of which he holds forth to us an example highly deserving of inita tion. Mr. Wesley was a voluminous writer, which in most cases is a disadvantage to an author, whatever his abilities may be. His Latin commentary on the book of Job is a most elaborate performance; but the subject of this book, and the language in which the commentary is written, are but ill adapted to the generality of modern readers. As a poet he has been censured by Garth and others; though when he failed, it was perhaps as much owing to the difficulty of the subject, as to want of poetical abilities. In an early edition of the Dunciad, he and Dr. Watts were associated together, and involved in the same censure. But it is well known that the earlier editions of this poem were all surreptitious, in which the blanks were filled up by the mere caprice or envy of tho editors, without any regard to the intention of the author. Thus, in a surreptitious edition printed in Ireland, the blank in the 104th verse of the first book was filled up with Dryden instead of Dennis, which, no doubt, was far enough from the intention of Mr. Pope. With the same propriety and good judgment, in the surreptitious editions, the nanies Wesley and Watts were inserted thus, W―ly, W—s, in the 126th line of the same book, but they never appeared in any edition published by Mr. Pope. The lines originally stood thus: "A Gothic Vatican! of Greece and Rome, Well purg'd, and worthy Withers, Quarles, and Blome." In a London edition of the Dunciad, printed in 1729, there is the following note on the last of these lines, "It was printed in the surreptitious editions W-ly, W3, who were persons eminent for good life; the one writ the life of CHRIST in verse, the other some valuable pieces of the lyric kind on pious subjects. The line is here restored according to its original." Of Mr. Wesley's larger poetical performances, his son Samuel passes the following candid but impartial judgment, in the elegy above mentioned. "Whate'er his strains, still glorious was his end, He sung how God the Saviour deign'd t' expire, Deduc'd his Maker's praise from age to age, Most of his smaller pieces are excellent. I shall insert the following, both for its intrinsic beauty, and as a specimen of his poetical talents. EUPOLIS'S HYMN TO THE CREATOR. THE OCCASION. Part of a (new) dialogue between Plato and Eupolis* the Poet-the rest not extant. Eupolis. But is it not a little hard, that you should banish all our fraternity from your new commonwealth? What hurt has father Homer done that you dismiss him among the rest? Plato. Certainly the blind old gentleman lies with the best grace in the world. But a lie handsomely told, debauches the taste and morals of a people. Besides, his tales of the gods are intolerable, and derogate in the highest degree from the dignity of the Divine Nature. Eupolis. But do you really think that those faults are inseparable from poetry? May not the ONE SUPREME be sung, without any intermixture of them? Plato. I must own I hardly ever saw any thing of that nature. But I shall be glad to see you, or any other, attempt and succeed in it. On that condition, I will gladly exempt you from the fate of your brother poets. Eupolis. am far from pretending to be a standard. But I will do the best I can. THE HYMN. Author of Being, source of light, Thy steadfast being still the same. Thee when morning greets the skies * EUPOLIS was an Athenian. He is mentioned several times by Horace, and once by Persius; and was in high estimation at Athens for his poetical compositions, though he severely lashed the vices of the age he lived in. He was killed in an engagement at sea between the Athenians and Lacedemonians, and his death was so much lamented at Athens, that they made a law, that no poet should go to battle. He lived about four hundred years before Christ. Thee will I sing, O parent Jove, And teach the world to praise and love. Yonder azure vault on high, All their mighty Maker bless. Thou shak'st all nature with thy nod, Yet does thy pow'rful hand sustain Both earth and heav'n, both firm and main. (For thee their silver harps are strung) Angelic forms their voices raise And through heav'n's arch resound thy praise. The feather'd souls that swim the air, And bathe in liquid ether there, Source of light, thou bid'st the sun So smooth his course, oblique or straight, The solar virtue shines by thee. Eiresione, we'll no more Imaginary pow'r adore; Since oil, and wool, and cheerful wine, *This word signifies a kind of garland composed of a branch of olive, wrapt about with wool, and loaded with all kinds of fruits of the earth, as a token of peace and plenty. The poet says he will no more worship the imaginary power, supposed to be the giver of these things; but the great Pan, the creator from whom they all proceed. Thy herbage, O great Pan, sustains Wisdom and bounty to mankind. O ye nurses of soft dreams, O ye immortal woods and groves, Whose shrine is shaded from the skies, Omen, monster, prodigy, Famine, plague, or wasteful war. Laugh ye profane, who dare despise The threat'ning vengeance of the skies, Whilst the pious on his guard, Undisinay'd is still prepar'd: Life or death his mind 's at rest, Since what thou send'st must needs be best. No evil can from thee proceed! 'Tis only suffer'd, not decreed. Darkness is not from the sun, Nor mount the shades till he is gone: Then does might obscure arise From Erebus, and fill the skies, Fantastic forms the air invade, Daughters of nothing and of shade. |