having divorced his queen, declared himself head of the church in England. He proceeded to abolish the monasteries, and confiscate their treasures and revenues; erecting, out of the latter, six new bishoprics and a college. Yet Henry, though a reformer, and a pope in his own kingdom, had not yet renounced the religion of Rome-he was equally an enemy to the tenets of Luther and Calvin, as to the pope's jurisdiction in England.

12. On the death of Henry VIII., 1549, and the accession of his son Edward VI., the protestant religion prevailed in England, and was favored by the sovereign; but he died at the early age of 15, in 1553; and the sceptre passed to the hands of his sister Mary, an intolerent catholic, and most cruel persecutor of the protestants. In her reign, which was of five years' duration, above 800 miserable victims were burnt at the stake, martyrs to their religious opinions. Mary was succeeded in 1558, by her sister Elizabeth, a protestant, the more zealous from an abhorrence of the character of her predecessor. In her reign, the religion of England became stationary. The hierarchy was established in its present form, by archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons. The liturgy had been settled in the reign of Edward VI. The canons are agreeable chiefly to the Lutheran tenets.

THE DUNGEON.

AND this place our forefathers made for man!
This is the process of our love and wisdom,
To each poor brother who offends against us-
Most innocent, perhaps-And what if guilty?
Is this the only cure? Merciful God!
Each pore and natural outlet shrivelled up
By ignorance and parching poverty,
His energies roll back upon his heart,

And stagnate and corrupt; till, chang'd to poison,

Who succeeded Henry VIII., and when?-What effect was produced to the Reformation by the accession of Edward VI. ?-Who succeeded Edward VI. ?-What religion did Mary favor?-How many persons were burnt in her reign for their religion?-Who sue seeded Mary, and when ?-What was the religion of Elizabeth?

They break out on him like a loathsome plague-spot-
Then we call in our pampered mountebanks-
And this is their best cure!-uncomforted
And friendless solitude, groaning and tears,
And savage faces, at the clanking hour

Seen through the steams and vapor of his dungeon
By the lamp's dismal twilight! So he lies,
Circled with evil, till his very soul

Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deformed
By fellowship with desperate deformity !

With other ministrations, thou, O Nature!
Healest thy wandering and distemper'd child.
Thou pourest on him thy soft influences,
Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets,
Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters,
Till he relent, and can no more endure
To be a jarring and discordant thing,
Amid this general dance and minstrelsy;
But bursting into tears, wins back his way;
His angry spirit healed and humanized
By the benignant touch of love and beauty.

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

1. THE principal translation of the Old Testament into the Greek language, is that which is called the Septuagint. This name is derived from the Latin word septuaginta, seventy, the version being related to have been made by seventy or seventy-two interpreters. It is recorded that, about the year before Christ 277, Ptolemy Philadelphus, being intent on forming a great library at Alexandria, in Egypt, sent to Eleazer, the high priest of the Jews, to request a copy of the Law of Moses; and, as he was ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, he further desired that some men of sufficient capacity might be sent to translate it into Greek.

2. The messengers who went upon this errand, and carried with them many rich presents for the temple, were re

Why is the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint?

ceived with great honor and respect, both by the high priest and all the people; and having received a copy of the Law of Moses, and six elders having been assigned out of each tribe (seventy-two in all) to translate it, returned to Alexandria. Upon their arrival, the elders betook themselves to the work, and first translated the Pentateuch, afterwards the rest of the Old Testament, into Greek. Whatever may be thought of the truth of this story, it is certain, that the translation called the Septuagint, was held in esteem and veneration almost equal to the original, and was not only used by the Jews in their dispersion through the Grecian cities, but approved by the great Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and quoted and referred to by our blessed Savior and his apostles.

3. The Latin translations of the Bible were in early times extremely numerous, but they were chiefly made from the Septuagint, and not from the original Hebrew, until St. Jerome, who was well versed in the Hebrew language, observing the errors of the many Latin translations, and their frequent disagreement with the original, undertook an entirely new translation, and, with great care and exactness, translated from the Hebrew all the Old Testament except the Psalms. This translation of St. Jerome was not universally received in the church; and at length another, which is composed of this and some former translations, and which is called by the Romanists, the Ancient Vulgate, came into general use.

4. There were several versions of the Bible into the Saxon tongue; but when the popes of Rome had established their spiritual tyranny, they forbade the reading of these translations; and in the fourteenth century, the common people had been so long deprived of the use of the Scriptures, that the latest of the translations were become unintelligible. Wickliff, therefore, who was a strenuous opposer of the corruptions and usurpations of the church of Rome, and from whom we are to date the dawn of the Reformation in Great Britain, published a translation of the whole Bible in the English language; but not being sufficiently acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek languages to translate from the

What translation is called the Ancient Vulgate ?-Who made the first translation of the Scriptures into the English language?

originals, he made his translation from the Latin Bib.es which were at that time read in the churches.

5. So offensive was this translation of the Bible, to those who were for taking away the key of knowledge, and means of better information, that a bill was brought into the house of lords for suppressing it. This bill, however, was rejected; but in the year 1408, in a convocation held at Oxford, it was decreed, by a constitution, "That no one should thereafter translate any text of Holy Scripture into English, by way of a book, or little book, or tract; and that no book of this kind should be read that was composed lately, in the time of John Wickliff, or since his death." This constitution led the way to great persecution; and many persons were punished severely, and some even with death, for reading the Scriptures in English.

6. During the sixteenth century, as the Reformation advanced, different translations of the Bible were made, the most distinguished of which was undertaken by royal command, and under the direction of archbishop Parker. Distinct portions, fifteen at least, were allotted to as many persons, eminent for their learning and abilities; they all performed the work assigned, and the whole was afterwards revised with great care by other critics. This translation was published in 1658, with a preface, which was written by the archbishop; and it is generally called the Bishop's Bible, because eight of the persons originally concerned in it were bishops.

7. In the conference held at Hampton Court, in 1603, before king James the first, between the Episcopalians and Puritans, Dr. Reynolds, the speaker of the Puritans, requested his majesty, that a new translation of the Bible might be made, alleging that those which had been made in former reigns were incorrect. Accordingly his majesty formed the resolution of causing a new and more faithful translation to be made, and commissioned for that purpose fifty-four of the most learned men in the universities and other places.

8. At the same time, he required the bishops to inform themselves of all learned men within their several diocesses, who had acquired especial skill in the Hebrew and Greek

What one was called the Bishops' Bible?-Under whose authority and direction was the translation now in common use made?

tongues, and had taken pains, in their private studies of the Scriptures, for the clearing up of obscurities, either in the Hebrew, or the Greek, or for the correction of any mistakes in the former English translations; and to charge them to communicate their observations to the persons employed, that so, the intended translation might have the help and furtherance of all the principal learned men in the kingdom. 9. Before the work was begun, seven of the persons no minated for it, either were dead, or declined to engage in the task. The remaining forty-seven were ranged under six divisions, and several parcels of the Bible were assigned to them, according to the several places where they were to meet, confer, and consult together. Every one of the company was to translate the whole parcel; then they were each to compare their translations together, and when any company had finished their part, they were to communicate it to the other companies, so that nothing might pass without general consent.

10. If any company, upon a review of the book so sent, doubted or differed upon any place, they were to note the place, and send back the reasons for their disagreement. If they happened to differ about the amendments, the differ ence was to be referred to a general committee, consisting of the chief persons of each company, at the end of the work. When any passage was found remarkably obscure, letters were to be directed, by authority, to any learned persons in the land, for their judgment thereon.

11. The work was begun in the spring of 1607, and prosecuted with all due care and deliberation. It was about three years before it was finished. Two persons selected from the Cambridge translators, two from those at Oxford, and two from those at Westminster, then met at Stationers' Hall, and read over and corrected the whole. After long expectation, and great desire of the nation, this translation came forth in the year 1611, the divines employed having taken the greatest pains in conducting the work, not only examining translations with the original, which was absolutely necessary, but also comparing together all the existing translations, in the Italian, Spanish, French, and other languages.

How many persons were employed in making it?