or Cauder, i. e. a trunk, from its resemblance to the trunk of a tree, sawed into planks; but when they consisted of only two leaves, they were termed libri diptychi." (Vol. i. pp. 27-29, 31.) The variety of substances, used as materials for writing upon, rendered it necessary to employ different instruments for tracing the writing. For inscriptions on stone or metals, the chisel and graver were adopted, as in Job xix. 23, 24. Oh! that my words were even now written down; Oh! that they were engraven on a table; But for writing on boards, waxed tablets, bark, leaves, and similar substances, the style was used. This was an instrument sharp at one end, to write with, and broad at the other, to erase any mis-written words: it was variously made, of iron, gold, silver, brass, ivory, or even of wood. The iron styles, being dangerous weapons of offence, were prohibited by the Romans. When, however, they wrote with ink or coloured liquids, reeds or canes were employed, and in later times quills, and in some instances pencils made of hair. "The use of INKS, or coloured liquids, was early known among the ancients. JEREMIAH, who flourished about 600 years before the christian era, speaks of writing with ink; (ch. xxxvi. 18;) Then BARUCH answered them; He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. The term (deev) used by the sacred writer, signifies blackness; as does also the word ater, from whence atramentum, the Latin term for ink. But although black ink was evidently the first in use, yet afterwards, inks of different colours were occasionally used. Golden Ink was used by various nations, as may be seen in several libraries, and the archives of churches. Silver Ink was also common in most countries. Red, blue, green, and yellow Inks, were not uncommon. Metallic characters were also sometimes burnished, or varnished with wax." (Vol. i. p. 46.) Various were the methods adopted by the ancients, in order to preserve their writings, and to facilitate the reading of thein. "Those upon skins, papyrus," (paper made of the inner films of the Papyrus or Biblos, a sort of flag or bulrush growing in the Egyptian marshes,) were glued or sewed together, and rolled up, generally on cylinders of wood, and called Rolls, or Volumes, from the Latin Volvendo, to roll up. To this form of the ancient writings, there are many references in Scripture: (Ps. xl. 7, Jer. xxxvi. 2, Ezek. ii. 9.) The literal rendering of Luke iv. 17, would be, And unrolling the book, he found the passage, &c.' evidently attributing to our LORD, the action of unrolling a book, and afterwards rolling it up again. Rev. vi. 14, also refers to this mode of rolling up the ancient writings. "The Cylinder, on which the writing was rolled, was named Umbilicus, and was generally formed of wood, particularly ebony, cedar, box, or cypress; sometimes also of ivory or bone. The ornaments of gold, or silver, or ivory, with which the ends were capped, were termed Cornua; and the handle, or lower end, by which the roll was held in the hand, was probably, what was in ALFRED's time denominated, by our ancestors, the Estel. The side of the parchinent, or roll, which was written upon, was called Pagina, or Page, from pango to write, or compose; and as only one side of the roll was, in general, written upon, the written side was termed the Recto, and the blank side Verso, words still in use amongst Bibliographers. When the volume was rolled up, the outside was named Frons, and frequently decorated with paintings: the bands with which the roll was fastened, when rolled up, were denominated Lora, and were variously ornamented. Many of the Manuscripts which have been discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum, are in rolls; so are those also which have been taken out of Egyptian Mummies. The Hebrew MSS. are written in columns, and are unrolled and read from the right hand to the left, and usually attached to an Umbilicus, or Cylinder, at each end; many other Oriental manuscripts are unrolled perpendicularly. At present, books are seldom made to roll up in the East: many indeed, of the very fine Persian and Arabic MSS. are written upon a kind of thin pasteboard, like paper; and being jointed at the back and front, fold up like pattern-cards." (Vol. i. pp. 47, 48.) To the ancient modes of writing above described, and to the materials employed, the etymology of many words now in use may be traced. Thus, from papyrus, we have paper; volume from volvendo, rolling up; Bible from the Greek word Bißros (Biblos) or Buhos (Byblos), a book; which originally signified the bark of a tree. Our English word book is also derived from the Saxon Boc or Bocce, the Beech-tree, probably because its leaves, or the tablets made of it, were used for writing upon. Hence also the term leaf, applied to part of a book, and the application of the word style, to a person's manner of writing. The Jews continue to follow the example of their ancestors in their religious care of the Sacred Writings, and especially of the copies designed for their Synagogues. "It is a constant rule with them, that whatever is considered as corrupt, shall never be used, but shall be burnt, or otherwise destroyed: that a book of the law, wanting but one letter, with one letter too much, or with an error in one single letter, written with any thing but ink, or written upon parchment made of the hide of an unclean animal, or on parchment not purposely prepared for that use, or prepared by any but an Israelite, or on skins of parchment tied together by unclean strings, shall be holden to be corrupt; that no word shall be written, without a line first drawn on the parchment; no word written by heart, or without having been first pronounced orally by the writer; that before he writes the name of GOD, he shall wash his pen; that no letter shall be joined to another; and that if the blank parch ment cannot be seen all around each letter, the roll shall be corrupt. There are settled rules for the length and breadth of each sheet of parchment, and for the space to be left between each letter, each word, and each sec tion. Certain letters of the more splendid and highly finished copies, are ornamented with Tag in, or Crowns. These are certain fine radii, ascending from the tops of the letters, in the manner of horns, and are said to be done in imitation of the glory Moses saw in the divine writing, delivered to him on Mount Sinai." (Vol. i. pp. 57,58.) The synagogue-rolls are executed with singular beauty and accuracy: MR. TOWNLEY mentions some that he has seen, which are equal to any Hebrew typography, for their beauty and regularity. The Septuagint or Greek version of the Old Testament was made in Egypt about 280 years before CHRIST. MR. TOWNLEY very properly gives up the legendary account (ascribed to ARISTEAS) of its having been executed by seventy-two persons, equally skilled in Hebrew and Greek, who were sent from Jerusalem with a copy of the Jewish Scriptures, in consequence of an embassy from ProLEMY PHILADELPHUS to ELEAZAR, then High-Priest of the Jews. The Five Books of MOSES were first translated; the other books were rendered into Greek at different times and by various persons, as necessity required, or as Divine Providence appointed, and being added to the books already translated, were comprehended with them in the general term Septuagint, or the Septuagint Version, so called from the supposed number of the translators employed. By this translation of the Scripprepared the way for the preaching of tures into Greek, Divine Providence the Gospel which was then approaching, and facilitated the promulgation of it amongst many nations, by the instruand most correct language that was ever mentality of the finest, most copious, spoken, and which became common to all the countries conquered by ALEXANDER: and to this version many of the most celebrated heathen philosophers were indebted for their most correct notions of the being and perfections of GOD, as well as for their best and purest sentiments of moral duties. " (Vol. i. p. 62.) This version is of great value to the student who is desirous of studying the Greek Testament, critically. However some modern critics have attempted to depreciate it, it has grounds: for the Evangelists and high claims to attention on other Apostles have frequently, and the primitive Fathers of the church have wholly, made their quotations from it; all the Greek churches used it; the Latins, until the time of JEROME, (the fourth century,) had no, version of the Old Testament, but what had been translated from it; and nearly all the oriental versions, as well as several of the western, are derived from it. Two manuscripts of this venerable translation are extant, of singular value, and of acknowledged antiquity; viz. the Codex Vaticanus, (so called from the Vatican Library at Rome, where it is preserved,) and the Codex Alexandrinus, now in the Bri tish Museum. It derives its name from CYRIL, Patriarch of Alexandria, in Egypt, (of whose sufferings MR. TOWNLEY has given an interesting account,) who sent it as a present to King CHARLES I. Both these MSS. were written, either towards the close of the fourth, or early in the fifth century, in uncial or square (that is, capital letters, without any distinction of chapters, verses, or words. We have no reason to complain of MR. TOWNLEY's selections of subjects for his plates, which are, upon the whole, well chosen and neatly executed; but as he has given an interesting account of these precious MSS.,-the oldest which are known to be extant, we cannot but wish that he had favoured his readers with a specimen of their characters. We have not the requisite types for this purpose; but as our readers may wish to have an idea of the precise manner in which the Scriptures were anciently written, we subjoin a literal rendering of the first seven verses of SAINT JOHN'S Gospel, from MR. HORNE'S Introduction to the Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures, (Vol. ii. p. 79.) INTHEBEGINNINGWASTHEWORDANDTHEWORDWAS WITHGD ANDGDWASTHEWORD OUTHIMWASMADENOTONETHING THATWASMADEINHIMLIFEWAS ANDTHELIFEWASTHELIGHTOFMN ANDTHELIGHTINDARKNESSSHIN ETHANDTHEDARKNESSDIDNOTITCOMPRE [N.B. The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice vourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] to the ur fa The Works of JAMES ARMINIUS, D.D.: Translated from the Latin: With an Account of his Life and Character, and of the eventful period in which he lived. Part II. 4s. sewed. 8vo.-For a brief notice of Part I. see our Select List for March. This Second Part contains very copious Notes by the Translator, full of information, on the Synod of Dort, and the important points of Divinity which that Assembly undertook to decide. Elements of Thought; or, First Lessons in the Knowledge of the Mind; including Familiar Explanations of the Terms employed on Subjects relating to the Intellectual Powers. By ISAAC TAYLOR, JUN. 12mo. pp. 208. 4s. 6d. A Summary of MOSHEIM's Ecclesiastical History: with a Continuation of the particular History of the Church, from the middle of the Eighteenth Century to 1819. By the REV. C. T. COLLINS, M.A., Fellow of Baliol College, Oxford. 2 vols. 8vo. 21s. bds. The Young South Country Weaver; or a Journey to Glasgow: a Tale for the Radicals. By the REV. HENRY DUNCAN, Ruthwell. 12mo. pp. 239. 3s. bds. This very interesting little Volume is from the pen of a Scotch Clergyman, and was suggested by the prevalence of radicalism and infidelity among many of the operative classes in Glasgow, and the neighbourhood. The painting is, we doubt not, from real life, or at least the portraits are so true to the reality, that the counterparts may easily be detected by the observer, and on this account the moral of the whole is the more impressive and efficient. In a well-arranged and skilfully conducted story, the effects of bad political principles, with the passions they never fail to excite, and the irreligion and infidelity to which they almost uniformly lead, upon a poor family, are represented with equal strength and truth; whilst the effect is heightened by the contrast of the order, simplicity, and domestic felicity of a cognate branch, where the moral and religious habits of the old Scottish labourer have been preserved, and the head of the family discovers that good sense and discrimination which arise from the constant perusal of the Scriptures, a serious attendance on religious ordinances, and those habits of reflection which are induced by the existence of a strong religious principle. Many strong and happy sketches of character occur, and in some of the scenes exquisite touches of nature and feeling. The political delusions of that class of men, for whose benefit it was written, are exposed with great good sense and acuteness; and though perhaps few of them are hopeful subjects of cure, the whole is an admirable preservative, to the yet untainted, against the sophistries of disaffection, and the insidious assaults of infidelity. We can cordially recommend it, as a very pleasing and a very useful publication. The Scripture Character of God; or, Discourses on the Divine Attributes. By the REV. H.F. BURDER,M.A.,8vo.7s. bds. The Cottager's Conversations with his Children. By JOSEPH JONES, M.A. 1s. 6d. A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos: including a minute Description of their Manners and Customs, and Translations from their principal Works. By WILLIAM WARD, of Serampore. A new edition, arranged according to the original work printed at Serampore. 3 vols. 8vo. £1. 16s. bds. Farewell Letters to a few Friends in Britain and America, on returning to Bengal in 1821. By WILLIAM WARD, of Serampore. 3d Edit. 12mo. 6s. bds. An Examination of the Remonstrance addressed to the BISHOP of ST. DAVID'S, with Answers to the Questions addressed to Trinitarians generally, by CAPTAIN JAMES GIFFORD, R. N. By a TRINITARIAN. 8vo. 8s. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. REPORT OF THE SPEECHES Delivered at the Eighteenth Anniversary of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, held at the Freemasons'-Hall, London, on Wednesday, May 1, 1822. LORD TEIGNMOUTH, the President, opened the Meeting, by the following Address:-" Gentlemen, I have ever looked forward to the recurrence of this day, with anticipated feelings of unmingled gratification, and during the eighteen years in which I have had the honour to occupy the Chair of this Meeting, have never been disappointed. On the present occasion, however, there is a subject of regret, in which we must all participate, the absence of our respected Secretary, the REV. JOHN OWEN; his constitution, for the third time, has sunk beneath the laborious duties of his office, and he is now suffering the consequences of unremitted exertion in the discharge of them. The magnitude and extent of his services can be estimated by those only who have witnessed them; their value to our Society is incalculable. He has reluctantly yielded to a temporary suspension of his labours, and has been constrained to submit to that repose from which only he can hope, under Providence, for the restoration of his health. But his heart is with us, and I am sure that our affections are with him, accompanied by our most cordial wishes for his speedy and confirmed convalescence.I hold in my hand a letter addressed to me by one of the earliest, most constant, and most respected friends of our Institution, the Right Reverend the BISHOP of DURHAM, now in his eighty-ninth year, expressing his invariable attachment to it; and I also present you with a letter to the same purport from the Right Reverend the BISHOP of GLOUCESTER, whose episcopal duties in his diocese have deprived the Meeting of the honour and benefit of his presence. They will be heard with deep interest." (Copy.) "Cavendish Square, April 30, 1827. ́ "MY DEAR LORD, "A prolongation of life to a period, bnt rarely the lot of man, must plead my excuse for absence; and calls upon me to repeat to your Lordship, and the numerous friends of the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the ensuing Anniversary, my attachment to its most important object, in the only way in which a gracious Providence permits me to express it. From the commencement of the Institution, to its present wonderfully advanced state, it has had my good wishes: they remain unaltered, and will so remain during the short continuance of my mortal existence. 1 have the honour to be, "My dear Lord, "With truest regard and esteem, "Your Lordship's very faithful servant, "S. DUNELM." "P.S. Your Lordship will apply the enclosed draft for Fifty Pounds to any purpose of the Society which your Lordship may think most requires it." (Copy) "Palace, Gloucester, April 29, 1822. "MY DEAR LORD, "I am truly concerned to be obliged to decline attending the Anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. But indispensable Diocesan business, as usual, in the third year, detains me in the country. It may seem almost presumptuous to offer a testimony, so comparatively insignificant, to a Society whose operations are so extensive, and whose character has been so long es tablished. But I cannot resist the temptation of expressing to your Lordship what I should have expressed at the Meeting in the most open and decided manner, my continued and increasing regard for the Society, and my full approbation of its conduct; an The Report was then read by the REV. W. DEALTRY, Rector of Clapham; after which, The EARL of HARROWBY, Lord President of the Council, spoke as follows: My Lords and Gentlemen, I rise with much pleasure to move, that the Report be printed; and I am certain that the perusal of it will afford pleasure, not only to the persons now present, but to a large portion of the inhabitants of this country, and to that large portion of the inhabitants of Europe and the world, who take an interest in the proceedings of this Society. It is, indeed, a singular and a gratifying circumstance to perceive, by the abstract of the Report just read, what may be almost called the universality of the proceedings of the Society. Some of the very names of the places to which it has extended, are so little familiar to our cars, or to the eyes of the Reverend Gentleman who has read the Report, that he felt himself embarrassed in the endeavour to pronounce them. The first notice several of us have had of the existence of the places mentioned in that Report, has been the gratifying intelligence, that to those places the Gospel has been sent. It is not only to countries the most civilized in Europe, in Asia, in the new World, and to the poor inhabitants of Labrador, that the agents of this Society have extended their influence; but we almost say, they 'Have stretch'd their bounds from India to the Poles, And the vast surface kindles as it rolls.' It was the boast of a Spanish Monarch, that the sun did not set upon his dominions. It may not be the boast of this Society, but it may be said by it, that the sun does not set upon its vast labours. To attempt to expatiate on the merits and usefulness of this Society, before an audience so fully convinced of them, would be a useless waste of your time, I shall therefore content myself with moving this Resolution." This Motion was seconded by the Lord BISHOP of ST. DAVID'S. The Right Hon. the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER:➡“ I rise with plea |
