ing it as a reflection both on his master and himself, that they could not share in the general sacrifice. The question of "who set fire to Moscow?" in our opinion, in that of contemporaries and posterity, is one which the governor of that capital can best solve. But will Count Rostopchins take on himself the terrific responsibility of a measure so audacious? Or were the orders issued by him, emanating from a still higher power? Whichever of these be the true hypothesis, as the salvation of the Russian empire is in general, attributed to the destruction of Moscow, we are bound to infer that the nation cannot be too lavish of its gratitude to this governor. A permission to travel abroad is the only recompence he has hitherto re"ceived, and this ostensible disgrace is imputed to the following circumstance: Before the arrival of the French, a Hamburgh Journal, containing a prediction that Bonaparte would soon be master of the two Russian capitals, was opened and read in the Post-office of Moscow. The son of the director or post-master shewed this article to one of his friends, who translated it into the Russian language, and put it in circulation. When informed of this publication, so very unseasonable, Count de Rostopchins, in a rage, sends for the author, loudly censures his conduct, strikes him several times with the flat edge of his sword, and at last, gives him up to the populace, who tear him in pieces. An act so outrageous made a deep impression on the public, (which, however, the Count seemed to make little account of,) but on the re-establishment of peace, more gentle sentiments prevailed, and the governor of Moscow, considered as a man distracted, in the above proceeding, has received letters of authorization to travel in foreign countries. The following notices relative to Moscow, &c. appear in the same Journal. In almost all the towns in the interior of the Russian empire, the houses are built, not of brick or stone, but with some very few exceptions, of the trunks of trees, which the forests of a country but thinly inhabited supply in abundance, and which arrive at their destination, sometimes by water carriage and sometimes by land. There is a market at Moscow, wherein are exposed to sale, pieces of timber already shaped to the form and dimensions suitable to building purposes, and very often even mortised already for adjustment, so that, in the procuring of materials for a tolerable dwelling-house, little more than a week would be sufficient. From the nature of such materials, Moscow must ever be liable to the ravages of fire; and indeed it so often takes place in the different quarters, that it is thought little of, unless a hundred houses are consumed. In the invasion of 1571, by the Tartars, much mischief was done in this way, but Moscow was afterwards rebuilt in a better style than before; though it is to be doubted whether the munificence of government contributed then, as powerfully as in our times, to the great work of its re-establishment. No sooner was the definitive treaty of peace concluded, than the Russian ministry set about the re-building of the Kremlin, the churches, the university (opened again in 1817) on a plan more costly and magnificent than ever; and even private individuals not in affluent circumstances, obtained pecuniary supplies for the re-construction of their houses. Although the population of Moscow has never exceeded 300,000 souls, the city, with its suburbs, comprehends a space of about seven leagues in circumference. In the streets, which are generally pretty wide, vacant spaces were so common that only one street exhibited a uniform and uninterrupted succession of houses. No where does the contrast appear so prominent, of wretched cabins or hovels in the same row with palaces or superb hotels. is in these latter, chiefly, that we can discern the traces of the late conflagration. It Although Petersburg has, for a century, been the residence of the emperor and the great officers of state, the immense establishments of the principal, nobles have ever been at Moscow. Some idea of their magnificence may be formed from the household servants of Count Orloff, who never had fewer than eight hundred. It is certain, however, that some of the noblesse have been hitherto prevented from re-building their palaces, from their insufficient means, and several have laid hold of this as a pretext for quitting their residence in the ancient capital, and retiring to their possessions in the country. No other European city abounds with such a profusion of Asiatic ornaments, statues, vases, columns, frescos, &c. In the the re-building, more regard has been paid to European uniformity and simplicity. The difference between the great and little buildings, is not so remarkable, as before the fire; the streets are now wider, but notwithstanding these and a number of other improvements, the aspect of New Moscow is the very reverse of regularity, taste and neatness. All here is in extremes; you hear at once the rough Sclavonian dialect, and the soft accents of the purest French. On one side, you are jostled by a petit-maitre, and on another, by a Mougik with a long beard. Summer is intolerably hot, and winter as pinchingly cold. Russians of every age and sex can indicate the degrees of cold and heat, with a kind of instinctive sagacity that approaches to scientific research. No population exhibits so strong a contrast of luxury the most unbounded, and poverty the most deplorable, as that of Moscow. The Treasury of the Kremlin contains a number of antient imperial ornaments, of rich armouries, and an immense collection of precious stones, many of which are thought to be counterfeits. In glancing your eyes from these objects, you have only to open a window, and survey in any adjacent street, hundreds of half naked paupers, shivering with cold, and greedily devouring a portion of soup maigre, prepared or cooked in the open air. From the top of the Tower of Iwan, which is the highest point within the precincts of the Kremlin, your view will first embrace the centre of the city or that part which escaped the conflagration, then the quarter called Semlianogorod stretching round about this centre, just like a circle of half a mile radius. This quarter has been rebuilt almost entirely. Beyond it, appear, like so many detached villages, the suburbs, several of which were consumed in 1812, but have since been rebuilt, on a plan more convenient and advantageous. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, N my communication respecting the I' Southwark Bridge, in your Number for March last, three words are omitted. The passage in my paper runs thus: and it seems, the immense rafters or joists which stretch from pier to pier, and form the arch, are, where they meet on the piers so firmly locked togeMONTHLY MAG. No. 340. ther, or by their immense weight, or both these [rendered immoveable, have] necessarily yielded to the irresistible power of the late severe frost, by flattening a little." Your correspondent, Mr. Playfair, in commenting on my solution in the succeeding number, p. 206, appears to have been misled by this omission. The use I proposed for screw-bolts he seems to understand was to secure the abutments to each other. I meant no such thing. The quotation correct will shew, that I understood these were already made fast to each other. My fastening related to the lamp-irons to prevent them being forced up in their sockets again, the utility of which, I again fearlessly assert. Mr. P. needlessly attempts to point out a mistaken inference. He says, "the lead is not strong enough, the expansion and contraction of metal with heat (I suppose Mr. P. meant to add, ‘and cold',) is superior to any human power to counteract." I am perfectly sensible, that nothing can prevent contraction and dilatation of metal, except the application of something to keep off the cold and heat. If Mr. P. has been misled, he has also committed a palpable error, for he must have seen my representation was, that the arches became flatter when the metal was shrunken by the intense cold, which at once indicated the arches being firmly joined together; for had they been detached the abutments would have receded from each other in the act of contraction, and the original curve have been preserved, in which case, the lamp-irons would not have been disturbed; and though the whole fabric is no doubt firmly united, “the cast-iron" has not "given way, nor has "the bridge fallen in," neither do I think it will" next season." April 25, 1820. W. BLOOR. 410 On the Necessity of a new Translation of the Bible. I would put the two following queries: 1st. Is there any friend to learning, to knowledge or to truth, who is content to read Pliny's Letters, Cicero's Orations, Seneca's Morals, the works of Aristotle, Plato, or Epictetus in the old editions of 1610, when he can have recourse to the excellent modern translations of Melmoth, Middleton, Beloe, Guthrie, &c. and ought we not to have the same advantage in reading the most perfect copy of a book as much superior to them in importance as the light of the sun is beyond any other borrowed or artificial light whatever? and 2dly. Has not the meaning of many words altered very much, since our present translation was made, by King James's order, in 1610? For instance, lett and prevent have each taken opposite meanings (and so has the word recluse)" prevent us O Lord in all our doings," &c. means just the contrary. In the 4th chapter of the 1st epistle to the Thessalonians, "I say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain to the coming of our Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." Here it means, that we Christians, who are living on earth at the second coming of Christ shall not go before those who are to rise from their graves. In the 23d Matthew. "He is guilty," means only "he is bound." What an uncouth phrase is used by the translators of the Corinthians! "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit," a phrase of speech long out of use, and only to be found in the old law books. And in the same two epistles, St. Paul, referring to the prophecies, instead of "it is said," "he said," is used, which renders the sense obscure. Lord Bacon, in a speech in Parliament, in 1605, when he was Lord Chancellor, begins," the king, my royal master, in graciously discoursing with me concerning Sutton's hospital and some other charitable and pious foundations, &c. which (says Bacon) he so much resented, that he afterwards issued his commands to," &c. Resentment here has a meaning not of anger but of approbation. Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, uses the word atonement in a very different sense to what we now do (and which occasions so many controversies at this very day between well-meaning Christians) not as a satisfaction or compensation for an offence, but as the means [Júne 1, of conciliation only. What endless disputes has this word's meaning occasioned amongst Christians! That which every sincere enquiring Christian chiefly is in want of, is, to have the true sense of Holy Scriptures so as to understand the clearly revealed will of God, in order to conform himself thereto. With regard to the word worship; what endless disputes has this word occasioned, while the true sense of it remains undefined! In King James's time it meant simply, respect, esteem, veneration. Now, it is considered by many as implying adoration. Formerly every magistrate was said to be a man of worship, and the mayor, to this day, is addressed as the worshipful. I have an old translation of the New Testament of Queen Elizabeth's time, where the 26th verse of the 12th chapter of John is thus rendered. "If any man serve me, my fader schall worshippe him." Again, the word Hell, has sometimes one meaning and sometimes another. In the 16th Psalm, "thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell," evidently means the grave. "In Hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments," must mean the place of punishment. In our Creed we profess to believe that after. Jesus Christ was dead and buried, “he descended into Hell," meaning the place of the damned. I cannot for myself conceive that even our present imperfect translation justifies this article of faith, not even 19th verse of the 3d chapter of St. Peter's first epistle, which is too obscurely expressed to lay any stress upon.* In Matthew 18 and 21. "And the Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors," gives too strong an idea of passion and cruelty, certainly not intended by the meek Jesus, and would have been more properly rendered, "And the Lord was angry, or highly displeased, and delivered him to the gaoler (to be kept in prison) till he paid the whole debt." 66 The word wrath seems also to have changed its meaning, as also the word torment, both being considered more in the extreme than when our translation took place. As to the word wrath, This article of faith was a long while resisted, and in the convocation of 1563, (according to Dr. Fuller's ecclesiastical history) was left out. in its present sense, it is an expression I could urge many other proofs of the absolute necessity of our having another more perfect translation, and shew the injustice and injury done to the purity and perfection of the Christian religion, from withholding it; but I fear it is to no purpose (having often urged the matter before). More than forty years ago, Dr. Kennicot was encouraged by bishops Louth and Secker, to search out and compile all the Hebrew and Samaritan copies he could procure, and all the most antient manuscript copies of the Scriptures, and this was upon the discovery of some great corruptions in our copy, for the purpose (as was supposed) of giving us a new and more correct translation. After twenty years incessant labor, and the patronage not only of his late majesty and several other crowned heads, but of many great men and some of the cardinals of Rome, he succeeded well and collated more than six hundred manuscript copies, from all parts of the world, from Venice, Padua, Syria, Constantinople, Warsaw, Mantua, Genoa, Stockholm, Hamburgh, and even as far off as Canton in China, and from societies of Jews both in this and on the American continent, tracing out thereby many errors and mistranslations which had crept into our copy. This valuable work was at length compleated and published about twenty years ago, and the public expectation was raised high. Dr. Kennicot concludes his work with observing:-1st. The great advantages the public might now derive from these antient copies of these Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts to improve that Latin copy from whence ours is taken, and 2dly: The duty incumbent on men in power to render such discoveries and corrections subservient to the public good, by putting forward a more perfect copy, a more correct and intelligible English transla tion, and lastly concludes with saying, Warminster, April 30, 1820. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine® SIR, end at CAPE HENRY the folAVING lately received from a lowing statement of the National Schools in Hayti, under the immediate patronage of his Majesty KING HENRY, and whose dominions have in the course of a few years made a most rapid progress in arts, sciences, and education in general, I shall esteem it a favour by your giving it a place in your valuable Miscellany for the ensuing month; as it must be pleasing to the friends of African liberty and civilization, to learn that so many schools are in active operation in that interesting kingdom. Such is the anxiety of the inhabitants for improvement in all the different branches of education, that his Majesty is about to establish a number of other schools upon the same system; and he likewise has it in contemplation to erect a university for the higher branches of learning, in the same manner as the colleges in England. A friend of mine, who is just arrived in London from Hayti, informs me that his Majesty is very desirous of giving every possible encouragement to married ladies in particular, who are inclined to settle in Hayti, as governesses and teachers of females. The necessary qualifications are a perfect knowledge of the French language and of the Lancasterian and Bell system of teaching. Music, dancing, painting, and needlework would be an additional recommendation to such ladies as would be willing to embark in so praise-worthy an undertaking. With such qualifications as the above, any person of sober and moral habits would be certain of realizing an ample fortune in the course of a few years. From my own knowledge of the West India climate, having visited most of the islands some years back, I do not know a more salubrious or productive island in any part of the globe than that of Hayti. Bell's Buildings, J. WEBB. LIBERTY LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE.-KINGDOM OF HAYTI, Chamber Royal of Public Instruction. Report of the general State of the Academy and National Schools of the Kingdom, from the 31st of January, 1819, to the 31st of January, 1820, N. B. Fifteen scholars have left since the last report was drawn up; and of these five have entered the schools of Sans Souci, Port du Paix, Saint Marc, Fort Royal, and Limbe. The sixteen students in Geography, and the eleven in Latin, form a part and are included in the number of the other classes. For Certified conformable to the report presented to the inspectors and superintendants. President of the Chamber Royal,.... DE LA TASTE. Vice President,. |