1881.] Christening of the Princess Bridget, 1480. Borne At Westmester In the Seyntwary, A° D'ai Miiije Ixxj Was Borne My lady Margarete, And Dyed yonge, And ys Berryed at the Auter ende fore Sainte Edwardes Shryne At Westmester. A D'ni Mije lxxij, ao xij, Was Borne my Lorde Richarde Duke of Yorke, At Shrowesbury on the xvijth Day of Auguste. Ao D'ni M iiije lxxv. Was Borne my Lady Anne At Westmynster the ijde Day of Nouembre, And Crystenned in the Abbay churche there. The ladye Katheryne was borne 147. A D'ni Miiije xlij the xxvij day of Aprell's Was Borne the noble Kinge Edwarde the iiijth, at Rone, and Christenyd in the Cathedrall churche there. On Seynt martyus day 1480 Ao 20 E. 4, was borne at Eltham the ladye brygytt. This last entry is by a second hand; but at folio 73 of the same MS. we meet with a more correct notice of this Princess's birth, to which is added the ceremonial of her Christening, and as it is short, and has never been noticed, I shall transcribe it here. Md that in the yere of our lorde Miiije iiij And the xxth yere of the Reigne of Kinge Edwarde the iiijth on Sainte Martyns even, was Borne the lady Brigette, And Cristened on the morne on Sainte Martyns daye In the Chappell' of Eltham, by the Busshoppe of Chichester in order As ensuethe. Furste C Torches borne by Knightes, Es quiers, and other honneste Parsonnes. The Lorde Matreuers, Beringe the Basen, Havinge A Towell' aboute his necke. Therle of Northumberlande beringe A Taper not light'. Therle of Lincolne the Salte. The Canapee borne by iij Knightes and A Baron. My lady Matrauers dyd bere A Ryche Cry- Princesse. My lorde Marques Dorsette Assisted her. 25 My lady the Kinges Mother, and my lady Presente, theise noble men enseuenge. The lorde Hastinges, the Kinges chamber- The lorde Stanley, Stewarde of the Kinges house. The lorde Dacres the quenes chamberlein, and many other astates. And when the sayde Princesse was christened, A Squier helde the Basens to the gossyppes, and even by the Fonte my lady Matravers was godmother to the conformacion. And from thens she was borne before the high' aulter, Aud that Solempnitee doon she was Borne eftesonys into her Parclosse, 10 Accompenyed wt the Astates Aforesayde. And the lorde of Sainte Joanes brought' thither A Spice plate. And At the sayde Parclose the godfather and the godmother gaue greate gyftes to the sayde princesse. Whiche gyftes were borne by Knightes and esquiers before the sayde Princesse, turneng to the quenes chamber Againe, well' Accompanyed As yt Apperteynethe, and after the custume of this Realme. Deo gr'as. It must be remarked, that the above memoranda confirm the order of the births of King Edward's children, as stated by Mr. Nicolas, and prove Sandford to have been mistaken. The name of George of Shrewsbury, the the date of his birth is unknown; third son of Edward, is omitted, and but on making an excavation in St. his body was found in a leaden coffin, George's Chapel, at Windsor, in 1810, which fixes his death to March, 1473. and an inscription, partly obliterated, Lysons's Berksh. p. 471.. Yours, &c. F. M. Sandford and Nicolas state her birth to have taken place the 19th of April, 1472. She died the 11th of December following. 6 The exact date of this Prince's birth is unknown both to Sandford and Nicolas, although the latter assigns it very justly to this year. 7 This date also is not to be found in either of the above writers. Mr. Nicolas only says, "subsequent to June 1475." The time of her decease is unknown, but is stated, on good authority, to have occurred in 1512, or early in 1513. See Dr. Nott's edition of the Earl of Surrey's Poems. 8 This line is added by a second hand. She was born before August 1479, and died November 15, 1527.-Nicolas, p. xxiv. 9 Sandford states his birth to have taken place April 29, 1441, p. 403. 10" Parclos to parte two roumes, separation."—Palsgrave. GENT. MAG. January, 1831. [ 26 ] CLASSICAL LITERATURE. CAMBRIDGE PRIZE COMPOSITIONS. [Jan. As we are desirous of calling the attention of the Universities and other scholastic institutions to the Classical Department of our Miscellany, we propose to give insertion to such short Prize Compositions as have sufficient merit to appear in our columns. As a commencement, we now (though late) insert the Shakspearian Iambics and the Epigrams, which were the successful compositions at Cambridge in the year 1830. It is our intention to continue the series. SENARII GRÆCI, Præmio Porsoniano quotannis proposito dignati, et in curia Cantabrigiensi recitati, A. D. MDCCCXXX. auctore C. R. Kennedy, Coll. SS. Trin. schol. ΡΩΜΕΩΝ. ΙΟΥΛΙΑ. Ρ. Οὐλαῖς γελᾷ τις τραυμάτων ἄπειρος ὤν. φάος τόδ ̓ ἐστιν, ἥλιος δ ̓ Ἰουλία. 1831.] Cambridge Prize Compositions. νεφελῶν· ἐφιππεύοντα δέρκονται θεὸν, πατέρα τ ̓ ἀναίνου κὤνομ ̓· εἰ δὲ μὴ θέλεις, ROMEO. JULIET. (Act 11. Sc. ii.) 27 As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven R. She speaks: O speak again, bright angel! for thou art J. Oh Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art Deny thy father, and refuse thy name : EPIGRAMMATA, Numismate annuo dignata, et in curia Cantabrigiensi recitata comitiis maximis A.D. MDCCCXXX. auctore Gulielmo Fitzherbert, Coll. Regin, schol. ÆGRESCIT MEDENDO." Φυλλίδος ἠπιάλῳ καμνούσης, Δάφνις ὁ παιὼν, ὡς δ ̓ ἴδεν, ὡς ἐμάνη· τότε δή πυρὸς ἤσθετ ̓ ἰατρὸς 22 SPATIIS INCLUSUS INIQUIS.” In Appium candidatum honorum in Dec. 23.-The Norrisian prize for the present year was on Monday last adjudged to Thomas Stone, B.A. Scholar of St. John's College, for his essay on the following subject:- "The Christian Religion the last Revelation to be expected of the will of God." Dec. 31.-On Monday last, the Hulsean prize, of one hundred guineas, was adjudged to Frederic Myers, Scholar of Clare Hall, for his essay on "The futility of attempts to represent the Miracles recorded in Scripture Literis Humanioribus minus felicem. Quid ergo restat? heu, rei fastigium ! as effects produced in the ordinary course of nature." The subject of the Hulseau_prize essay for the ensuing year is, "The Evidences of the Truth of the Christian Revelation are not weakened by Time." The subject of the Seatonian prize poem for the present year is, " David playing the harp before Saul," 1 Sam. xvi. 23. And the examiners have given notice that, should any poem appear to possess distinguished merit, a premium of £100 will be adjudged. 28 . CLASSICAL LITERATURE. A New Translation of the Book of Psalms, from the original Hebrew, with explanatory Notes, by William French, D. D. Master of Jesus College, and Geo. Skinner, M. A. Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, Cambr. 1830; printed by J. Smith, Printer to the University. 8vo. pp. 253. THE Book of Psalms has, in every age, deservedly engaged the peculiar attention of the cultivators of sacred literature; since, from the very nature of its contents in general, it is calculated to be, in a greater degree than any other portion of the Old Testament, interesting alike to the learned and the unlearned reader. Surely that book which is more than any other prophetical of our Redeemer-that to which His references were more frequently made than to any other, and with a sentiment from which He yielded up his spirit, claims a proportionably greater share of the investigation of the learned, and the devout study of all faithful Christians. Nor, indeed, has the case been otherwise; for on no portion of the Old Testament has so much attention been bestowed as on this divine book. Not to advert to the merits, little known and less appreciated, of the early Jewish paraphrasts and commentators, it has been translated into the language of almost every Christian civilized people. Since the glorious æra of the revival of letters, and that of the Reformation, it has been annotated on by some of the most consummate Hebraists and eminent commentators; of whose recondite labours another and scarcely less useful class of scholars have amply availed themselves, in order to establish the true sense, and illustrate the real force of these sacred oracles, for the use of Christians at large, and the instruction of general readers. Should this seem to show that no great advantage can be expected to accrue from any further endeavours to interpret these Divine compositions, it must at the same time be considered, that the existence of such a vast body of annotatory matter as that to be found on the Psalms (very far exceeding in bulk that on any other book of the Old Testament) must not only attest the high importance of the book, but imply its difficulties; which indeed are such, that even after the learned labours of many generations of interpreters, they yet remain, in a far greater degree than might be expected, unvanquished. It would be [Jan: not uninstructive, but foreign to our present purpose, to trace the origin and progress of sacred commentation as it respects the Old Testament, from the times of the early Jewish expounders, and that of the Christian fathers. Suffice it to say, that the rapid progress which has been made in oriental literature from the time of Schultens to the present day, though it has enlarged our sphere of knowledge, and furnished us with much valuable annotation, has perhaps scarcely given us one work which can be referred to, as supplying, in a moderate compass, whatever is really essential towards the interpretation of the book of Psalms. That of Rosenmüller is (at least in its first edition) upon the whole a failure. And what is true of learned commentaries will likewise apply to these vernacular translations, whether with or without notes, which must be, more or less, founded on the erudite researches before adverted to. With these alone we are at present concerned. Our two authorised versions of the Psalms have, on many accounts, a claim to high respect and veneration; and, considering the imperfect state of oriental literature at the time when the first at least of them was formed, they may justly be pronounced one of the most wonderful works of a wonderful age. Yet it was long ago felt, that something more might and ought to be done, as to accurately representing the sense; and the deep study, which for nearly a century has been devoted to oriental literature, together with the progressively increasing attention paid to Biblical Criticism, has called forth, and justified the various attempts, more or less successful, which have, from time to time, been made towards a correct translation of the Book of Psalms. Among these the principal are the following: -Mudge's Translation, 1744, 8vo.; Edwards's, 1755, 8vo.; Fenwick's, 1759, 8vo.; Green's, 1762, 8vo.; Merrick's, 1768, 4to.; Street's, 1790, 2 vols. 8vo.; Wake's, 1793, 2 vols. 8vo.; Geddes', 1807, 8vo. ; Goode's, 1811, 2 vols. 8vo; Bishop Horsley's, 1815, 2 vols. 8vo.; and lastly, Mr. Fry's, 1819, 8vo.; all, we believe, more or less noticed in our pages. Each of these contributed a no inconsiderable accession, especially those of Mudge, Street, Geddes, and Horsley. Yet Street, though ingenious, is somewhat shallow, and too fond of novelty 1831.] Translation of the Psalms, by French and Skinner. and hypothesis; Geddes was a professed innovator, whose judgment and tact were far inferior to his learning; though that scarcely rose above mediocrity. As for Horsley, he was too dogmatical, and too apt to be carried away by a system, which, though well founded, was pushed too far; not to say that he was by no means a profound Hebraist, and that his work was left a posthumous one, and in a state far less perfect than it would have been, had it received the last corrections and the devrepaι opóvrides of his mighty mind. Besides, the work, like most of the above, was intended, not so much for vernacular readers, as for scholars and Hebraists. At all events, there was room for a work which, in a moderate compass, should impart to English readers the results, as far as regards the Psalms, of that improvement in the knowledge of oriental literature and biblical criticism which distinguishes the present age, by presenting our countrymen with a Manual of the Book of Psalms, which should contain as accurate a representation of the original as could be attained by the use of the valuable helps and advantages enjoyed in the present day, accompanied, too, with notes, suited alike to unlearned readers, and to those who are enabled to exercise their judgment on the sense of the original. Now such a work could not have been successfully accomplished by a mere painstaking plodder, who, with but a scanty knowledge of the original, should seek, by a sort of eclectic labour, to make out the sense, and illustrate it by the aid of the commentators. It required a consummate Hebraist-one able to discern the sense, where it had been missed by all the interpreters, and to decide, as one having authority," in those numerous cases where our present translations so marvellously differ from each other, and where it often happens that one only can be right. It was requisite, too, that the work should be performed by one intimately conversant in Classical as well as Oriental Literature, by a familiarity with the best writers, especially poets, of the antients-one in whom profound learning and a thorough knowledge of verbal criticism should be controuled by a sound judgment, and guided by a natural sagacity, and a correct taste. In fact, capabilities for much greater things were requisite in one who 29 should hope to supply what might very well be termed one of the greatest desiderata in vernacular sacred literature. Great, accordingly, is our satisfaction, that not one but two such should have been found; in whom all those great endowments, natural and acquired, are eminently centered; and what is more, in an University which has ever stood (absit invidia verbo) foremost in the dissemination of religious light, as well as classical and scientific knowledge, and whose "Hinc Lux et Pocula Sacra" is not an empty boast; in a College, too, which has, in proportion to its size, contributed at least its full quota to that illustrious band, of which all faithful Cantabs are justly proud. And when we consider that the work in question has been a Symbola Sacra from the Master and Senior Tutor of a College, it presents an example worthy of imitation, and may well suggest the use which ought more frequently to be made of academical "otium cum dignitate." We are thus, in fact, reminded of the method pursued by the learned Benedictines, in giving those admirable editions of the ecclesiastical writers which will immortalize their fraternity. The work now before us, however, presents only the first part of the plan abovementioned; being a new Manual Translation of the Psalms, accompanied with short notes, presenting important various versions, more literal and idiomatic expressions than those adopted in the translation, and explanations and illustrations of passages of greater than ordinary difficulty or doubt. The aim of the translators has been to present a faithful rather than a highly-coloured representation of the original, and such as should be always agreeable to those sound principles of grammatical interpretation with whose laws they are intimately conversant, and of the high importance of which they are fully aware. The latter part of the above plan is intended to be shortly accomplished in a volume of philological annotations. The text from which the translators have formed the present version, is that of Van der Hooght, the most correct of all the impressions of the textus receptus, having never indulged in conjectural emendations, nor adopted unwarrantable alterations. They have no where departed from the above text without sufficient authority from MSS., ancient versions, and other testimonies. |