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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97086	The considerator considered: or, A brief view of certain considerations upon the Biblia polyglotta, the prolegomena and appendix thereof. Wherein, amongst other things, the certainty, integrity, and divine authority of the original texts, is defended, against the consequences of athiests, papists, antiscripturists, &c. inferred from the various readings, and novelty of the Hebrew points, by the author of the said Considerations. The Biblia polyglotta, and translations therein exhibited, with various readings, prolegomena and appendix, vindicated from his aspersions and calumnies. And the questions about the punctation of the Hebrew text, the various readings, and the ancient Hebrew character briefly handled. / By Br. Walton. D.D.	Walton, Brian, 1600-1661.	1659 (1659)	Wing W657; Thomason E1860_1; ESTC R204072	144,833	308

This is proved by sundry Reasons and amongst others by these That is were against the providence of God to permit the Scriptures to be corrupted and against the fidelity of the Church to whose care the sacred Oracles are committed That the Jews neither did nor could falsifie the Hebrew Text but that the fraud would have been presently discovered That it is incredible as Saint Augustine saith De Civit. l. 13. c. 13. ipsos voluisse codicibus suis eripere veritatem ut nobis eriperent auctoritatem vel in totum orbem dispersos potuisse in hoc conspirare nullo contradicente This is at large proved Proleg 6. sect 1. 12. and the Arguments to the contrary answered 2. That neither the Hebrew nor Greek Texts of the Old or New Testament are corrupted by Hereticks or others but that they remain pure and intire and that they alwayes were and still are the authentick rule in all matters of faith and Religion and that by them all translations are to be tried and examined to which end many arguments are produced among others That God at the first delivered to the Church not Translations but Originall Texts and those pure and free from all corruption and therefore those that say they are corrupt must prove them so to be and shew when and how they came to be corrupted and how they came to lose that authority which they once had otherwise they are to be presumed to be pure and authentick as being in possession of their authority Nor can any generall corruption be proved from a few particular instances but onely the casuall errors of the Transcribers which may well consist with the purity of the fountains Proleg 7. Sect. 15 16. 18. 22 23. c. 3. That though by the negligence or inadvertency of Transcribers some casuall mistakes or involuntary errors may creep into the Text from whence various Readings have risen both in the Old and New Testament yet the Originall Text romains pure and authentick because those varieties are not in matters of any moment whereby any point of faith or salvation is prejudiced in the least nor are there means wanting whereby such erros may be amended and the true Reading established That it was not possible that any error should have risen in matters of weight but it would presently have been discovered there being so many thousands of Copies dispersed all the world over which were daily read expounded and considered of and every word weighed and examined either in publick or private by learned men and others in all ages who esteemed these books as the Records of their salvation and the grand Charter of their inheritance in heaven And for other mistakes there are means to rectifie them when they are discovered as the Analogy of faith the Writings and Comments of the Ancients Collation of ancient Copies Consulting ancient Translations especially the Scripture it self the Comparing of parallel places considering Antecedents and consequents c That these various Readings seldome change the sence or if they do yet both are agreeable to the Analogie of faith and if notwithstanding these means both Readings seem equally ballanced there can be no danger to follow which we will These things are handled Proleg 6. Sect. 1 2 3 4 5 6 c. and Proleg 7. Sect. 15 16 c. III. By this it appears what the Author of the Prolegomena holds about the purity and authority of the Originall Texts Now seeing he is charged to deliver the contrary it may well be expected that evident proof be brought to shew that he contradicts himself and what proof is here brought No words as I told you before are alledged onely p. 158. he quotes in the Marg. Proleg 7. Sect. 12. and Proleg 6. Sect. 12. In both which places there is not one word of corruptions in the Originall Text much lesse of grosse corruptions or of correcting them by mens own conjectures unlesse errata mendae leviores signifie grosse corruptions quae aliorum codicum interpretum collatione aliisque mediis de quibus supra tolli emendari possunt do signifie correcting by mens own conjectures It s said indeed Prole 6. Sect. 12 that various readings may in some cases be gathered out of ancient Translations but that this doth not infer the corruption of the present Copies shall be shewed when we come to that particular In the mean time the reader may please to take notice that in that other place nor indeed any where else there is not one word of corruptions nor more said then what all men that will believe their eyes have said before That there have been casuall mistakes by Transcribers in matters of no concernment or that there are various Readings in the Hebrew and Greek Texts This is proved by the generall consent of all and by sundry instances and is by our Author frequently confessed as we shall see anon IV. For my part I do not know any at this day that is of another opinion The greatest Patrons of the purity of the Hebrew Text grant it without any scruple The Reverend and learned Usher Epist ad Capel p. 21. writes thus Sententia mea haec perpetua fuit Heb. vet Test codicem scribarum erroribus non minus obnoxium esse quam novi codicem omnes alios libros c Buxtorf d● punct antiq part ● c 16. and frequently in his vindiciae Textus Hebr. he affirms the same Non dicam quod Sanctus P●gninus olim in Praef Gram suae scripsit dixit Hebraica volumina nec in una dictione corrupta reperies neque enim existimo talia esse ut in nullo particulari punctulo apiculo aut litera a primis Mosis Prophetarum autographis apographum unquam decesserint aut nullum ●mnino vitium vel levissimum in ea irrep erit nam ne ipsi quidem Judaei hoc asserunt qui antiquitus jam exemplaria corrupta sed ab Esd●a iterum correcta restituta fuisse posterioribus temporibus cum inter celebres auctores tum inter exemplaria varia dissensiones discrepantes quasàam lectiones not●●t Tales sunt praeter notas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Keri uketif dissensiones de quarund●m vocum lectione inter Judaeos Oriental●● Occidentales inter Ben Ascher Ben Naphtali sic memorant aliquando nec dissimula●t varietates nonnullas ex libris quibusdam MSS. celeherimis magnae auctoritatis ut E. g. librorum Hierosolymitanorum Babylonicorum Hispaniensium Ex●mplar●● Hill●l●ani Pentateu●●● cujusdam Hiericuntini Sinaitici c. mentionem etiam faciunt punctat●rum cum in genere tum nominatim quorundam in specie R. Moses Londinates Rabbi Gersom Parisiensis c. dicunt quod unus sen liber seu punctator vocem hanc sio alius aliter punctet monuerunt etiam librorum correctorum per consequens minus correctorum Redarguunt etiam saepe exemplaria quaedam diserte erroris sed an p●opter istas varietates

uttered against the most prophane Atheisticall Pamphlets which this age hath produced against Hobs his Leviathan and the like What is this but to cast dirt in ones face and yet to perswade him that he did it not to disgrace him Bern. in Cant. 2. speaks of the slanderer that when he intends the most disgrace against any begins first to commend him which kind of slander is saith he tanto plausibilior quanto creditur ab iis qui audiunt corde invito condolentis affectu proferri when it serves but as a foyl to what follows as a shoeing horn to draw on some disgracefull aspersion the better and make the crime be thought the greater Saint Cyprian Epist 2. compares such to wrastlers qui antagonistas luctantes altius tollunt quo vehementius illidant who lift their antagonist the higher that they may give him the greater fall And therefore S. Hierome ad Pammach Ocean saith that such commendation is honorifica contumelia an honorable reproach It is callidum nocendi artificium as another calls it a crafty kind of artifi●e to do mischief In the mean time it is some comfort when ne inimici quidem vituperare possunt nisi simul laudent as Plin. lib. 3. Ep. 12. when our very enemies must make our praises a preface to their slanders If these be his commendations let him keep them to himself XIII But he saith p. 161. that these consequences are not charged upon the Workmen but upon the Work But I say if upon the Work then upon the Workmen The Work and the Workmen are so nearly related that what is said against the one must of necessity reflect upon the other If one should publish in Print that himself in his Treatise by rejecting what is by all Christians acknowledged for a main ground of their believing the Scriptures to be from God viz. miracles and the uninterrupted Tradition of the Church by equalling the Tradition of the Mahumetan● for their Alcoran with the tradition of the Church for the Scriptures and laying all upon the light and power of the word it self doth thereby make way for Atheists and phanatick persons c. and should think to salve all with this distinction that he charges not the Author but the Book with these inferences would not he think himself concerned in the Charge and the distinction to be a meer mockery XIV The truth therefore is whatsoever is by him pretended and so it is generally known believed by all that know either him or those that had a hand in publishing this Work That his quarrel is chiefly with the persons and with the Work for their sakes and that he therefore seeks to depresse the worth of the Book because such men have had the honour to bring it forth Whereas had himself and those of his judgement been the Publishers it would have been free from all these imputations and cryed up as the greatest monument of Religion and learning which any age hath produced Nor is it unlike but that there was some mixture of ambition with envy which pricked him forward he thought to raise his own credit upon the ruine of this Work and thereby to gain some reputation amongst his disciples that so from the lustre of this Work he might be better known and admired Nothing is more evident then that he hath studiously laboured to scrape together whatsoever might with any colour be objected against it and when he wanted reall grounds for his calumnies to feign whatsoever he thought might render either it or the Publisher obnoxious to popular hatred so that whatever motives he had it could not be the love of the truth that stirred him up XV. Whatsoever his ends or aims were the Work hath had approbation from all ranks of men both at home and abroad who are best able to judge of it so that it need not fear his censures but will remain impregnable against the assaults and batteries of all malignant spirits If this tree had not born good fruit there had been no stones thrown at it for as Plut. ubi nullum lumen ibi nulla umbra ubi nulla felicitas ibi nulla invidia I could produce the judgement of the best learned in Europe exprest by severall letters out of France Germany the low Countries Flanders Italy and other places concerning this work that one stiles it opus plusquam Regium another opus Divinum another opus Heroicum c. but I will content my self at this time with the testimony of D. Buxtorfe now Hebrew Professor at Basil a man inferior to none for his great skill in Hebrew learning and one with whom for divers years I have had intercourse by letters and fair correspondence notwithstanding our difference in judgement about the Hebrew punctation c. one whose testimony our adversary cannot suspect Thus he writes in one of his Letters Ad opus vestrum Biblicum quod attinet quotquot vident mirantur nihil in hoc genere simile ars Typographica hactenus excudit Nitida sunt omnia quantum deprehendere possum correcta Ita captus sum sanctissimi pariter elegantissimi operis aspectu ut si quid ad illud exornandum consilii auxilii conferre possum id non solum prompte sim facturus sed honori quoque mihi ducturus In another of March 28. 1658. St. N. Quanta cum voluptate ego sanctissimos incredibiles vestros labores inspexerim quanto cum gaudio eos exceperim illi testabuntur quibus ego opus vestrum ostendi commendavi c. This and more to his purpose writes this great Hebrician whose judgement is enough in the opinion of all knowing men to preponderate all the light and frivolous cavils of many Considerators CHAP. III. I. The particulars of the Charge many the principall are about various Readings and the Hebrew points II. The generall Charge of depressing the esteem of the Hebrew Copies proved false III. Ten particular Charges in the Considerations proved to be false the words of the Prolegomena set opposite to them The Prolegomena affirm the direct contrary to what is charged The Adversaries candor and love of the truth c. I. WE come now to the particular Charges and Criminations of the Considerator We find them severall times mustered up first in the Epistle p. 9. then in the Consideration pag. 157 158. and again p. 205 206. in all which places though many particulars are enumerated to make the greater shew yet in his Discourse he chiefly insists upon two things viz. The various readings of the Original Texts and the novelty of the Hebrew punctation and in the same Epist p. 25. he reduces all to those two heads from which he deduces the uncertainty of the Scriptures The corruption of the Originalls and those other consequences which he would fasten upon the Biblia Polyglotta For our more orderly proceeding we shall first lay down the several particulars charged upon the Prolegomena as they are

various Readings as well as others and upon this account all Copies that are or ever have been the Autographa of the sacred Pen-men onely excepted must be said to be corrupt because no Scribes or Printers ever had a priviledge of not ●rring and so all other failings though never so small must make the Text corrupt And as the Originalls so all versions by this reason must be corrupt and so there will be no Scripture in the world but what is corrupt and uncertain and by consequence unfit for a ground of faith or obedience for as Buxtorf sait● Vindi● Part. 1. c. 4. p. 67. Facile potuit error unius exemplaris corrigi ex alio meliore tandem emendatum satis exemplar cudi licet non ad extremum utque apicem istud enim facile concedo nec esse nec fuisse imo nec esse posse And Vindic. Part. 2. c. 12. p. 800. he saith The Scripture is so preserved ut nulla vel paucissima alicujus momenti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in iis demonstrare possint He that saith there are paucissima alicujus momenti grants that there are some that are of moment which is more then the Prolegomnea do any where affirm and in the same place he addes Libros sacros à Mosis Prophetarum Esdrae temporibus ad nos usque sine ulla lectionis varietate pervenisse quia nullibi asserimus nulla etiam ratione probatio à nobis exigi potest with these learned men concur Arnol. Bootius a fierce defender of the Hebrew Text against Capellus Epist ad Vsserium Sect. 64. and in his Vindic. Hebr cap. 23. p. 221. where he affirms our present Copies to agree with the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but excepts two cases Praeterquam in duobus casibus modo memoratis ubi vel de vitio vel de varia lectione apertissime constat VII Our Adversary notwithstanding proceeds upon this supposed Charge of which himself is most guilty to prove that which is not denied nay which was before proved to his hand Prolegom 7. where also the Arguments to the contrary are answered where the Reader if he please may finde the chief Arguments used in the Considerations with some others by him omitted to prove that the ●riginall texts are not corrupted so that I might spare both my own and the Readers further trouble and say nothing more upon the point But because they are urged in the Considerations to prove that there could be no variations in any Copies not in the least and by consequence that there can be no various Readings we will take a brief view of them VIII Chap 2. p. 168 169 c. 181. He objects The special providence of God The care and fidelity of the Church not the Romish Synagogue The care of the first Writers giving out authentick Copies which made it impossible for them to be corrupted either wilfully or by negligence The publike Copies preserved in the Synagogues and after in the Churches The daily reading studying and weighing every word The weight of every letter in this Book which the Translators knew to be the Word of the great God c The care of Ezra and his companions The care of the Masorites and Jewish Rabbins giving an account of every word and syllable The prodigious things related of their diligence The consent of all Copies of the World that not a word in the Mishna Gemara or either Talmud is read otherwise then in our Copies Our Saviours silence not reproving the Jews on this account when he spared them not for their false glosses which secures us that there were no mistakes voluntarily or negligently brought into the text before his coming The watchfulnesse of the Jews and Christians over one another c. All which as they prove the Text not to be wilfully corrupted and that not any errors of consequence could creep in by negligence to which end the most of these reasons are brought in the Prolegomena so they do not in the least prove but that by the negligence or inadvertency of transcribers some small mistakes of no moment might escape undiscerned and so are nothing at all to our Authors purpose of which we can have no cleerer argument then the experience of all ages that notwithstanding all the care and dili●●nce that could be used yet various Readings have been still observed in the best Copie● which must needs come at first from the negligence or involuntary error of the Scribe as is confessed frequently by this Author himself and by all others that write of these things so that to prove this were to hold up a candle to the Sun We have more Copies of the Bible now then ever were in any age and more that pretend to the knowledge or it for as S. Hierom. Epist ad Paulinum Scripturae ars est quam omnes sibi vendicant And Printing is a surer way to prevent errors then transcribing by far and yet have many errors daily escaped in Printing the Bibles and those undiscerned many passing for currant many years not observed and some of them altering the sence IX The multitude of Copies publike and private and of all such that studie and read them might rather prove the 〈◊〉 IXX which was in m●re ●requent use then the H●b●ew both among Jews and Christians to have been free from all error then the Originall Texts and so the Vulgar Latine the Syriack and other Translations of which were many thousands more Copi●s and those studied and read by thousands more then the Hebrew yet I know our Author will not grant that they were Translations free from all error for he inveighs against them all as most corrupt Cap. ult Our Printers also know as well as the Transcribers did of old the weight and worth of what they Print and yet we know they are not free from error The care taken amongst the Jews from time to time to get corrected Copies by which others were examined shews that there were still Copies that needed correction what needed Ben Ascher or Ben-Naphtali or R. Hillel or others have taken such pains and spent so many years in the accurate writing of one Copie if errors had not still crept into other Copies X That of the Mishna and Gemara which are the integrall parts of both the Talmuds the one being as the Text and the other as the Comment and yet distinguished here from the Talmuds that they never read one word otherwise then they are in our Copies is utterly void of truth though repeated p. 271. witness Buxtorf himself one that I believe is more versed in the Talmud then either of us Vindic l. 2. c 12. p. 808. Publice dico scribo inveniri quidem in Talmud quod Gemara in quibu●dam locis dissentiat à Masora hoc est à lectione in nostris codicibus recepta c. This cannot stand with our adversaries rash assertion nor would have been granted by Buxtorf to Capellus if it

is only a Metathesis of the same letters or ambiguity of a word without points a mistake might easily happen in the Copies Nor 3. Do we say we may gather the various Readings as out of the Originalls for there is an expresse difference made between those gathered out of the Originalls and those out of Translations and of these it s said Proleg 6. Sect. 8. Non pari certitudinis gradu incedere they are not of the same certainty with the other so that we see herein is nothing true either in the premisses or in the Conclusion I leave therefore this Consideration wishing he would hereafter consider better what he writes VI. In the third place he charges us with saying That the same fate hath attended the Scripture in its transcription as hath done other Books p. 173. and p. 206. That the Books of Scripture have had the fate of other books by passing through the hands of many transcribers for this he refers to Prol. 7. Se. 12. but never cites the words yet addes p. 173. This imagination asserted upon deliberation seems to me to border upon atheism surely the promise of God for preservation of his Word with his love care of his Church of whose faith and obedience that word is the rule requires other thoughts at our hands In this we finde the like truth and candor as in the rest For first He makes us to speak that of the Scripture in generall which is onely spoken of one particular wilfully leaving out that as he knows who did of old which would have proved all to be a pure calumny The words are Nam in hisce sacra volumina idem fatum cum aliis libris subiisse praesertim antiquis saepius descriptis experientia plane testatur Hoc à nemine hodie aperte negari video c. In hisce in these things that is to be subject to errata mendae leviores by negligence of Transcribers that is to various Readings Is this the same as to say That Gods Providence extends no more to the preservation of these Books then of all others which the Prolegom are so far from affirming as is here suggested that the contrary is both in the same place elsewhere frequently maintained VII The words precedent are Et si textus originarii non sint à Judaeis vel aliis studiose corrupti sed in omnibus quae ad fidem mores spectant puri incorrupti tamen scribarum incuria vel temporum injuria in textus originarios errata quaedam mendas leviores irrepere potuisse irrepsisse negari non potest quae aliorum codicum interpretum collatione aliisque mediis de quibus supra tolli emendari possunt Nam in hisce sacra volumina idem fatum cum aliis subiisse c. What is more said here then was said by all others before that have written of various Readings Buxtorf Sixtin Amama and others whose words are brought in the same Prolegom 6. de variis lectionibus LearnedVsher there also quoted Epist ad Lud. Capel p. 21. Sententia mea haec perpetua fuit Hebraeum V. Testamenti codicem scribarum erroribus non minus obnoxium esse quam Novi codicem omnes alios libros What difference is there between the Prolegomena and the words of this Reverend Primate And doth not the Considerator himself say the same thing when he grants various Readings in the original Texts which he also saith came from the failings and mistakes of the Scribes VIII As for Gods speciall providence in preservation of these Books the deniall whereof he saith borders upon Atheisme he might have read in the same Prolegomena 6. Sect. 15. That though there be such differences in some small matters of no consequence Ita tamen invigilavit providentia divina Ecclesiaeque diligentia ut in iis quae ad salutem necessariae sunt ad fidem mores spectant omnia pura integra sint And sect 3. in the same Prolegomena are cited the words of the Learned Bochartus in that admirable Work of his Geogr. Sacr. Part. 1. lib. 2. c. 13. who after he had said the same with the Prolegomena of various Readings in the Scripture as in other Books and that they do not inferre any uncertainty as some men fear adds Quamvis exemplum sit valde dispar nam multo aliter invigilavit providentia Divina ut sacros Scripturae codices praestaret immunes c. Thus we see in the same place which the Adversary alledges to make good his Charge the contrary directly proved which he could not choose but observe and therefore what honesty or fair dealing can be expected from him in other matters who hath so wilfully erred in this let the Reader judge I doubt not but that he hath read the Preface to the Bible there he might have observed the Publishers words p. 1. Etsi autem in librorum sacrorum conservatione Ecclesiae opera usus sit Deus tamen speciali providentia ita ●is invigilavit ut ab ipso primo inspiratos esse admiranda ipsorum conservatione monstravit dum Divina haec fidei speique nostrae monumenta tantis munivit praesidiis ut per tot seculorum decursus inter tot imperiorum ruinas tot regnorum mutationes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter tot librariorum transcriptiones exemplaribus inter nationes dispersis tanta terrae marisque intercapedine disjunctas contra Haereticorum fraudes Tyrannorum furores qui ea vel corrumpere vel abolere conati sunt sarta tecta ad nostra tempora conservatae ad ultimum temporis articulum permansura sint I appeal to all men even to the Adversary himself what could be said more fully concerning Gods admirable preservation of these Books and whether he hath not abused the Reader and Publisher in this crimination The Publisher wrote upon deliberation and need not retract any thing I wish his Adversary had as well considered what he hath charged him with for then the labour of both might have been spared IX The ninth thing charged upon the Prolegomena is p. 206. That when grosse faults are crept into the Hebrew Text men may by their own conjectures finde out various Readings and p. 159. It is declared that where any grosse faults or corruptions are befallen the Originalls men may by their faculty of criticall conjecturing amend them and restore the native lections that are lost though in generall without the authority of Copies this be not allowed For this he quotes Prolegom 7. Sect 12. I see our Author is still semper idem a thred of untruth and calumny runs through the whole Book yet in this of gathering various Readings upon meer conjectures he is lesse excusable then in some of the rest not onely because this whole charge is plainly rejected and disproved in Prolegom 6. Sect. ult and reasons are given why it cannot be allowed but also because the Adversary acquits

I have not failed of my ends as for those violent and heady spirits Turba gravis paci c. I know it is in vain to think of satisfying them or to hope that any thing will relish with them save what is ●itted to their own distempered palate for as Espenc in Tit. 1. ` Quibus os putet omnia putida sunt non alimenti sed oris vitio XXIII I shall not need therefore to Apologize either for him or for my self in publishing this Extract but shall observe that our Author will proceed in his usuall way of calumnies For first He cannot make it appear by any one word in the Prolegomena or Appendix that this was the end of publishing his Notes as an instance of gathering various Readings by conjectures when the Text is corrupt but meerly because of his great and generall learning which might make them acceptable to learned and moderate men for which cause I conceived they might justly deserve a place amongst the collections of other learned men of the like nature which are here exhibited Nor secondly do these Notes consist only or chiefly upon such conjectures there are scarce one or two in the whole Pentateuch nor doth he go meerly upon conjectures but usually upon some ancient Translations or Testimony of ancient Writers and reasons drawn from the circumstances of the Text and so for other books of the Old Testament the most of them are criticall notes about the severall Translations of others and about the literall sence and reading of the Text scarce one or two of the Keri's are mentioned in three or four books as we shall shew anon and therefore not served over and over yea our Author himself p. 348. contradicting what he said p. 313. and elsewhere after his usuall manner saith they are nothing lesse then various Readings of that learned mans own observation and therefore not such conjecturall various Readings as he saith are brought for instances in the Appendix Thirdly that those out of the New Testament which are the far greater part of that Extract are various Readings out of severall Copies not bare conjectures with his judgement upon them and the reasons for it and therefore our Author may cease wondering how these few sheets which are nothing lesse then a Volume as he calls them should come under the name of various Readings seeing the greatest part which may give denomination to the whole consists of various Readings of the New Testament and though there be other observations amongst them of great use and worth yet the greater part consisting of divers readings might well give the name to the whole Besides it is not said in the Title that they be all various Readings of the Hebrew but various Readings in generall and though there be few of the Hebrew in the Old Testament yet there are others of the Greek Sept. Symmachus Theodotion and Aquila the Vulgar Latine and other Translations besides those of the New Testament and therefore the Prolegomena needs no such way as is by him surmized to salve a difficulty which is not Fourthly the Publisher did never take upon him to defend whatsoever is said by any in their Notes which are added to the Bible he is not bound to maintain all that Nobilius Lucas Brugensis Mr. Young or any others have said in any of their observations but thinks it enough that in generall they are of great use and acceptable to learned men who know how to make use of them that to satisfie the desires of such he had just cause to annex them to this Edition but if any man shall meet with some things which he cannot relish let him not reject the Gold because of some drosse or reject the Wheat though there be some chaff The Publisher professes there are some things which he cannot wholly subscribe to yet he is far from rejecting the whole or thinking it therefore not fit to be published he proposes them to all let every man judge as he thinks fit and abound in his own sence whether they approve or reject more or fewer it shall be no offence to him CHAP. VII I. Divers Charges upon these various Readings here exhibited in particular II. The great bulk of them that they are served twice or th●ice over This calumny answered All those of the Originall Texts may be comprised in two or three sheets III. Neither all differences whatsoever nor those out of all books printed or written here collected The vast untruth of this Charge shewed for the Hebrew IV. And the Greek V. The comparing of many Copies usefull VI. Practised by others and commended by Origen Hierom Erasmus Beza Camerar Nobilius Stephanus c. VII The ●r●at use of collecting various Readings out of severall Copies VIII To prevent future mistakes IX Practised by the Jews X. Approved by Buxtorf XI His Critica Sacra now Printing at Basil The Title page sent over XII The difference of the Keri and Ketib in sundry Editions not by mistake of the Printer XIII The difference of divers printed Copies shewed in some instances XIV The great use of the two Catalogues of the Keri and Ketib not twice mentioned to increase the bulk XV. That the Copies are some of them the ancientest in the world They are all sufficiently altered XVI Of Beza's Copy XVII The MS. of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge The Adversaries mistakes That Morinus is an aspiring Jesuite That Ben Chajim corrected the impression of Faelix Pratensis c. XVIII That divers differences of Copies are omitted The Publisher not bound to give a judgment of those exhibited XIX In this Edition together with the chiefest Translations are exhibited the best and ancientest Copies The MSS. accounted great treasures in private Libraries now put into every mans hand I. BEsides these Generalls there are divers things which he findes fault with in those particular Readings here exhibited in the last Volume which we must consider before we passe from this head of various Readings He is offended with their multitude and great bulk questions the antiquity and goodnesse of the Copies and the fidelity of the collectors is angry that they are barely propounded and no choice made nor judgment given on them of all which in order First for the bulk he saith he was startled at this bulkie collection p. 146. p. 188. What a bulk or heap they are now swelled to we see in the Appendix so p. 206. and 349. a spurious brood that hath spawned it self over the face of so much paper as p. 192. yea what ever varying word syllable or tittle could be brought to hand wherein any books though but of yesterday varieth from the common received Copies though manifestly a mistake superfluous or deficient incon●istent with the sence of the place yea barbarous is presently imposed upon us as a various Reading ibid so p. 194. all differences whatsoever that could be found in any Copies printed or otherwise are equally given out yea p. 194. It

this day in the world And I can further aver that some Copies I ●aid aside which seemed to be of no antiquity or negligently written so far were we from taking up all that could be had though but of yesterday The greatest part of those of the New Testament were as said before with great labour and charge sought out and collated by the most Reverend Vsher and out of the best Libraries publike or private in England and I believe he was as able to judge of a Copy as another What thinks our Author of the Alexandrian MS. of the New Testament in Greek preserved in the Kings Library written in Capital Letters without accents or distinction either of words or sentences one of the Noblest MSS. in the world which kind of writing hath been out of use for above a thousand years as our best Antiquaries conclude and therefore this MS. must needs exceed that age What of the Codex Claromontanus and of that which Beza sent to Cambridge written in the same manner Most of the rest are of great Antiquity Not to insist upon that Greek MS. of the Chronicles brought out of Greece by Theodorus who was Archbishop of Cant. above a thousand years ago which is now in Cambridge Library nor of that ancient remnant of Sir Robert Cottons Greek MS. of Genesis esteemed by Learned Vsher the oldest MS. in the world because these concern the Greek LXX which is of no account with our Adversary But what attestation desires he of the Copies the most of them are in publike Libraries and may attest for themselves he may exhort whom he will to examine the Copies and the various Readings if he can finde them unfaithfully collected let him publish it to the world not spare us But how this will be done unlesse they mean to collate all over again I know not and I doubt it will be found a labour which neither he nor any of his novices will easily undergo XVI But he instances in some Copies Bezaes is stigmatized by himself but where had he this but out of Bezaes Epistle to the Vniversity which he had not known if I had not published it And if I had intended to deceive the Reader I might have suppressed it whereas I have plainly declared my judgement on that Copy about the Genealogie of Christ Prolegom 9. 65. that in that point it is of no credit yet why it might not be usefull in other matters I know not and considering the great antiquity of it why it might not deserve to be collated amongst other Copies Beza frequently makes use of it in his Notes and calls it Exemplar suum venerandae antiquitatis and those that please may finde it to agree with our Old Alexandrian MS. and other ancient Copies and with the reading of divers ancient Writers of the Church where our later Copies do read otherwise so that the concurrence of it with those ancient Copies may confirm the reading that is found in them and so it may be of great use And though Beza saith he found so great discrepance in it from other Copies in Saint Luke that to avoid the offence of some weak persons he thought fit rather to preserve it then to publish it which is all the stigmatizing here boasted of yet he addes In hac non sententiarum sed vocum diversitate nihil profecto comperi unde suspicare potu●rim ● veteribus illis Haereticis fuisse depravatum Imo multa mihi videor deprehendisse observatione digna quaedam etiam sic à recepta scriptura discrepantia ut tamen cum veterum quorundam Graecorum Latinorum Patrum scriptis consentiant quae omnia pro ingenii mei modulo inter s● comparata cum Syra Arabica Editione collata in majores meas Annotationes à me nuper emendatas brevi Deo favente prodituras congessi Here we see what use Beza made of this Copie and how he stigmatizes it If he had thought so basely of it as our Author he would never have thought it worthy to be presented to such an Vniversity nor they to preserve it as such a rare Monument of Antiquity XVII As for that MS. of St. Pauls Epistles in Emanuel Colledge though there was another MS. in the same Colledge of the Gospels and Acts whose name was casually omitted in the Catalogue yet he can never prove any falsification or indirect dealing Here is no obtruding of any various Readings out of a MS. which is not Only the name of that MS. of the Gospels and Acts was not noted among the rest and what great matter is this Is the Reader hereby deceived or abused with any forgerie or untruth The occasion of the omission was this Those Readings of that MS. came to hand after the rest were finished and after the Catalogue of the MSS. was drawn up ready for the Presse whereby the name of this MS. was forgotten to be inserted among the rest in the Catalogue Our Author himself confesseth that in a Work of this variety it were a miracle that many things should not escape the eye of the most diligent observer yet he cannot forbear to insinuate that there hath not been fair dealing in this collection nor to raise suspicions as if other things of the like nature might be found upon further search This omission is not so great as his mistake that says that Morinus now lately dead was a Jesuite a petulant Jesuite p. 207. an aspiring Jesuite p. 299. when any that reads the Title Page of any of his books may see he was of the Oratorian Order which was founded divers years after that of the Jesuites or that the Oracles of God were committed to the Jews under the Old Testament and all the Writings of the New as we find Ep. p. 3. and yet no notice taken of in the Errata or to write as p. 80 that the various Readings of the Eastern and Western Jews appeared first in the Edition of the Bible by Bombergus under the care of Faelix Pratensis gathered by R. Jacob Ben-Chajim who corrected that Impression which is as if one should say that the various Readings of the New Testament appeared first in Erasmus his Edition of the New Testament gathered by Stephanus who corrected that Impression Here are many mistakes which shew that he never looked into any Edition of the Venice Bible for Faelix Pratensis Ben-Chajim never joyned in one Edition of the Bible one was by Faelix Pratensis another by Ben-Chajim nor are those various Readings gathered by Ben-Chajim but were first published by Faelix Pratensis as he might have read in Prolegom 4. Sect. 14. or if he will not believe me let him read Buxtorf his Bibliotheca Babbinica pag. 228. c. or believe his own eyes I could instance in more of this kinde if I thought it needfull nor should I have mentioned these if he had not given me this occasion XVIII He objects that in these various Readings There

Church as it is now as appears both by the Hebrew Copies among them and by the Comments and Expositions and Translations of the ancient Writers of the Church The reading and Expositions therefore of Christians are not regulated by the Masorites or depend upon their skill and diligence in punctation for if their punctation had never been the reading had been the same it is Nor doe these rely upon the Masorites but upon the Text it selfe and the true reading of it continued and preserved in the Church of Christ which because the Masorites had well expressed by their points the Christian Church received their punctation not upon their authority but as I said because it expressed the true sense received in the Church of God and withal because they saw it conduced much to the more easie reading of the Text. VII Against this we have a maine objection pag. 292 293. That while the Hebrew language was the vulgar tongue of that Nation and was spoken by every one uniformaly every where it had been possibly upon a supposition that there were no points that men without infallible guidance direction might affix notes and figures which might with some exactness answer the common pronunciation of that language and so consequently exhibit the true proper sence and meaning of the words themselves But when there had beene an interruption of 1000 years in the vulgar use of that language and being preserved onely pure in our books to suppose that the true and exact pronunciation of every letter tittle and syllable was preserved alive by orall Tradition not written any where nor commonly spoken is to build Castles in the ayre After he saith that the reliefe is insufficient to say the Masorites affixed not the present punctation arbitrarily but according to the tradition they had received What weight is to be laid upon such a tradition for neere 1000. yeares above according to Morinus is easie to be imagined Nor let men please themselves with the pretended facility of learning the Hebrew Language without points and accents and not onely the Language but the true and proper reading and distinction of the Bible let the points accents be wholly removed and the restraint and distinction of the words as now pointed and then turne in the drove of the learned Criticks of this age upon the noted Consonants and we shall quickly see what wofull worke yea havock of the sacred Truth will be made among them were they shut up in severall Cells I should hardly expect that harmony and agreement among them which is fabulously reported to have been among the LXX in the like case VIII To this we answer 1. That though the Language ceased to be Vulgar for 1000. yeares yet there was still a succession of Priests and Scribes and other learned men who continued the knowledge of the Language and the true reading and pronunciation of the Text and do to this day with whom the Language was the same as it was when the common people spoke it and their study and profession was to write out copies of the Law and likewise to read and expound it or to teach the reading and true pronnnciation of it to others which they did successively from age to age as we see in the Greek and Latine which have a long time ceased to be vulgar and yet the knowledge of the tongues and the true reading and pronunciation is the same among learned men as it was when they were vulgar This was a great part of the Jewish learning the true reading of the Text and they who were most accurate and exact therein were honoured most among them and had their Schools and their Schollars and Disciples whom they instructed from time to time till at length in regard of their many dispersions and banishments that the true reading might not be lost with the language they began to affix points to the Text as well to facilitate the reading as to preserve it the better from any alteration or change And therefore it was all one to them who still preserved the true reading and sence of the Scripture to point and accent it as it was whilst the common people spake and understood it as well as they and therefore upon this concession that whilst the Language was vulgar the points and accents might have been affixed with certainty it follows undeniably that even in the time of the Tiberian Masorites the Rabbins and learned men among the Jewes might point the Bible as well as their Predecessors might have done whilst the Language was common This is a cleer truth to any common understanding and not to build Castles in the ayre 2. The true reading was not continued by orall or unwritten Tradition after the tongue ceased to be vulgar but by the Written Text which was alwayes preserved entire among them and the reading depended not upon Tradition otherwise then the reading of all Books in other Languages which depends upon the orall instruction of Masters and Teachers without which continued from hand to hand how could any know that such a letter or character stands for such a sound or that such a word hath such a signification The Samaritane Pentateuch Chaldean Paraphrase of the Pentateuch and Prophets and the Syriack Translation of the Bible continued above a thousand years before they were pointed and the Samaritan is not yet pointed as is certainly known confest by all which shews plainly how the Hebr. Text might be continued and the true reading preserved without pointing unless our Author can shew any difference as to this matter between the Languages For they have the same letters the same vowels Aleph Vau Jod with the Hebrew and the reading in every respect subject to as much ambiguity and uncertainty as is pretented to be in the Hebrew unpointed And that the true reading might be preserved above a thousand yeares is not against all reason but very reasonable to suppose since we see the ●ame done in the Samaritane Syriack and Chaldee for a longer time and the same may be said of the Arabick though not for so long a time after the Alcoran was written IX 3. The certain reading of the Text by diligent practice and use may be attained without points though with more difficulty then if it were pointed as hath been heretofore shewed by Martinius Capellus and others One that 's wholly ignorant of the Hebrew Tongue having some Translations as the LXX or vulgar Latine may by labour and industry and comparing the Translation with the Text and observing the Antecedents and Consequents find out the signification of each word by it selfe and the proper sence and meaning in connexion with others and may by degrees find out where the Translator varied from the Text and where he was mistaken Thus among others Clenard learned the Arabick without any Mr. or Instructer when that Language was scarce known in Europe by the Nubiense Psalter where the Arabick is without any pointed vowels

and use of them all is uncertain and not yet agreed upon among the Grammarians diverse of them apparently superfluous and yet in this plenty diverse notes are deficient which are used in other languages These things are largely deduced and handled in the same Prolegomena which I do only here name for brevities sake yet I cannot but take notice once more of our Authors sincere dealing in relating our Arguments Aben Ezra's words to prove the punctation by the Tiberian Masorites are brought Proleg 3. Sect. 4. In his Comment on Exod. 25. 31. He saith that some of the first Pointed Copies pointed by the Tiberian Masorites were extant in his time Vidi ego libros quos examinaverint sapientes Tiberiades de quibus juraverunt quindecim ex senioribus ●orum quod diligenter considerarent omnem dictionem omnem punctationem unamquamque vocem plenam defectivam Et ecce scriptum erat Jod in dictione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed non sic inveni in libris Hispaniae Galliae nec in ultra marinis These words he recites thus p. 270. Nothing can be spoken more directly contrary to what is intended then that which is urged out of Aben Ezra in Ex. 25 31. Where he affirms that he saw some books examined in all the letters and the whole punctation by the wise men of Tiberias namely to try whether it were done exactly according to the pattern they had Here we see he addes that which makes the words seem to contradict that they were brought for namely whether it were done according to the pattern they had of which words not one is in Aben Ezra nor in the Prolegomena for the meaning of Aben Ezra is plain that they examined every word letter and point whether all were rightly pointed according to the true and common pronunciation or Reading which our Adversary makes to be according to some former pointed Copy which is utterly contrary to Aben Ezra's meaning and words and yet they might re-examine their own Copie after it was finished as we know it is usuall for those that are carefull and exact in writing to review what they have written that they may amend such errors and faults as have escaped them before they make it publick If he may be allowed thus to adde and detract and change what he pleases he may easily make any Argument worth nothing and to prove the contrary to what it is brought Thus he falsifies the words of Aben Ezra and the Argument drawn from them in the Prolegomena IX Leaving his answers to our Argument against the Points let us see what Arguments he brings for their Divine Originall Here he referres us to Buxtorf and I do likewise refer ●he Reader to Scaliger Sixtin Amama Dr. Prideaux Vossius and others especially to Capellus his Punctationis Arcanum and also to the Prolegomena where whether Buxtorfs Arguments be all answered let the Reader judge Something more our Author pretends to adde which hath been omitted by others p. 252. c. The Argument though somewhat intricate and obscure as he propounds it seems to be this That all Grammars must be made after the language and gathered by observations out of the language which are reduced to rules of art and what is anomalous or irregular is excepted from the rest and that if the points and accents were invented and added to the Text being no part of the language then there must be some generall rules of art constituted and made before they could be added to the Text according to which they were fixed and added and so there must be some Grammar or art according to which they were contrived and made Now that this could not be he proves by two reasons 1. Because there are so many words anomalous irregularly pointed contrary to the Analogy of Grammar which they might have made all regular to their own great ease and advantage of the language facilitating the learning of it 2. Because the Masorites who curiously have reckoned up every word in the Scripture and the irregularity of every letter and tittle never mention any of those Catholick rules by which they or their Masters proceeded in the fixing of these points nor do any footsteps of that art appear in the Masora or any learned Jew which was their rule or Canon in affixing the points but all the Grammarians collect their observations and rules as they could by particular instances out of the punctation already made X. This objection at least in part was made long since by Buxtorf the elder and the answer given long ago by Capellus in his Arcanum l. 2. c. 10 11 19 c. and lately in the Prolegom 3. Sect. 54. For the first about words anomalous he may find among other things this answer given That they were so pointed by the Masorites non consilio sed c●su by casuall mistake which if they had observed they would have pointed all regularly and that in such a long Work this might easily happen that some words might escape their diligence which the succeding Masorites supposing out of reverence to their Predecessors whose diligence and learning they so admired that no Error could befall them gathered and noted conceiving that some great mysteries lay hid in these anomalous punctations like as about some letters as Mem clausum in medio Es 9. 7. and Nun medium in fine ●ob 38. 1. of which Prolegom 3. and 8. 7. which were at first casuall mistakes of the Scribes as is thought by the Learnedst Protestant Divines observations were made by those that came after as if they had been purposely so written by ●he sacred Penmen to signifie some great mysteries Besides it may be answered that the former Masorites pointed these words irregularly according to that Reading and Pronunciation which they were taught by their Masters whose words they accounted as Oracles though against the Analogie of ●rammar and that the following Masorites finding such Anomalous punctation left all as they found them onely made observations thereupon For the Masora as is proved in the Prolegomena and is confessed by all was not written all at one time nor the work of one man or perfected in one age but done by severall persons at severall times some distinguishing the Verses by two points which seems to have been the first work others adding points to signifie vowels others accents others gathering observations out of what was done by those before them XI To the second There are generall Grammar Rules in every Tongue and a particular Grammar Analogie in each particular Tongue before it be reduced into Rules These no doubt were considered by the Masorites in their punctation and accordingly they pointed the Text according to such Rules for the reading and pronunciation as they were taught by their Masters and invented the names and figures of the vowels and accents which they have left to Posterity though the later Grammarians herein differ from the ancienter about the names nature number and

by an Asterisk which being left out what remained was the meer and true Translation of the Septuagint as Hierome himselfe sometimes acknowledged Epist 11. ad Augustin The same Hierome was payd in the like coyne by others who rejected his Latine Translation the first in Latine that was made out of the Hebrew Text as appears by Ruffine S. Augustine and other learned men of those times who interpreted this attempt of his though in it selfe very laudable as done in contumeliam versionis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to disgrace that of the Septuagint as some now interpret all that is said of the use of ancient Translations as tending to the depressing of the Hebrew● whereupon he was often put to apologize for himselfe III. To come nearer to our owne times that Magnificent worke of the King of Spaines Bible by some styled Orbis miraculum was approved by the Pope himselfe to whom it was presented as by his Breves prefixed appeares yet all could not protect the Publisher thereof Arias Montanus a learned and moderate Romanist though he did nothing without the advice of the University of Lovaine and of sundry particular learned men from the jealousies and calumnies of malignant spirits of his owne Brethren against whom he was faine to write Apologies and hardly escaped the Inquisition Erasmus his extraordinary paines in publishing the Greek Testament by comparing ancient copies and Translations was sufficiently railed at by some Friers and ignorant Zelots as if he took upon him to correct the Word of God as appears in his Preface to his Annotations of 1535 whose very words are used as we shall see hereafter against the Biblia Polyglotta And that late splendid worke of the Parisian Bible published at the charges of Michael de Jay in seven languages which farr exceeds the Biblia Regia by addition of that ancient Syriack Translation of the Old Testament the Arabick of the Old and New and the Samaritane Pentateuch c. though it be not without its defects which ingenuous and moderate men would rather have excused then aggravated yet hath not wanted its detractors who envying that others should have the glory of that which themselves were unable to performe have defamed it what they could witnesse those bitter and virulent expressions of Simeon de Muis Regius Professor of the Hebrew at Paris in his Epistles publisht against it And to come yet nearer home The last English Translation made by diverse learned men at the command of King James though it may justly contend with any now extant in any other Language in Europe was yet carped and cavild at by diverse among our selves especially by one who being passed by not imployed in the Work as one though skild in the Hebrew yet of little or no judgement in that or any other kinde of Learning was so highly offended that he would needs undertake to shew how many thousand places they had falsly rendred when as he could hardly make good his undertaking in any one IV. Thus we see That for every good work is a man envyed of his Neighbour as the Wise man observed Eccles 4. 4. Our Saviour for the good works he had done had like to have been stoned by the people and the Scribes and Elders out of envie delivered him to be put to death Licet invenire regionem ubi venena non sunt quemadmodum affirmant de Cr●ta at non licet invenire Rempublicam quae non alat invidiam as Plut. in Moral Some Countries there be where no venom●us creature lives as they say of Candy but none where the poyson of envie is not found yea so monstrous is this sin that the envious man makes anothers vertue his vice and anothers happinesse his torment Invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni Majus tormentum Whereas he that rejoyceth at the good of another is thereby made partaker of it For Tolle invidiam tuum est quod hab●o Tolle invidiam meum est quod habes as Chrysost in Joh. V. It cannot seem strange then That this late Work of the Bible though generally approved by Learned men both in the first undertaking when the particulars whereof it was to consist with a specimen thereof were published to the World and since it was finished when not only all was performed which was undertaken but also more then could justly be expected should notwithstanding meet with some disaffect●● persons who seek to defame and blast it There have ever been some that would make themselves seem fairer by throwing dirt in the faces of others and acount themselves the better by how much they speak the worse of others For Gloriae comes invidia and it never was the hap of any Book yet to meet with no opposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alex. observed long since Deus omnibus placere non potest tu placere credis said Jul. Scal. God himself cannot please all men and how can any of us then hope for it Erasmus his complaint was just against his censurers Superbum est de libro sententiam ferre quem non intelligis superbius de eo quem ne legeris quidem Praef. eadem Yet we finde usually that this envious humor is attended with ignorance Vituperant quae ignorant said Tertul. Ignorance is the greatest enemy to any kinde of knowledge and Jos Scaliger met with such of whom he writes Quicquid eorum captum superat erratum vocant quod non intelligunt pro i●fcitia sua damnant how this may be applied I leave to the Judgement of others This I finde too true That though there never was so much done in any Edition of the Bible in any age absit invidia verbo as to exhibit the originall Text of the Scripture at one view attended with so many ancient Translations approved by the Church in her purest times and that according to the best Co●ies and Editions which bear witnesse to the ●●thority and Integrity of the Originalls and serve as so many gl●sses to represent the true sence and meaning of them to succeeding ages and to preserve the sacred truth to posterity as far as humane industrie can reach against the corruptions and false glosses wherewith Sectaries and Heretikes who in no age so abounded as in this would adulterate and imbase it yet this could not free the Work from the opposition of malicious tongues and pens of such whom the envious man hath stirred up to hinder the benefit which the Church of God might reap by it witnesse a late Pamphlet pretending to the integrity and purity of the Hebrew and Greek Text to which are added certain Considerations on the Prolegomena and Appendix to the late Biblia Polyglotta VI. In which I was sory to finde so much clean paper fouled with so many palpable untruths wilfull and studied calumnies such contradictions tautologies and impertinencies as appear in those Con●iderations that if they should be culled out of the Book we might say of it as

Apollodorus the Athenian of Chrysippus his writings That if one should take away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All that was either none of his own or nothing to the purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they would be empty of all matter for there is scarce any thing true or usefull concerning the subjects here disputed which was not formerly said in those Prolegomena nor any thing concerning the same which is added by the Adversary as his own which is not sufficiently confuted in the same Proleg Not to mention the incoherence of the things here handled the whole being rudis indigestaque moles a confused heap of Independencies VII In these Considerations we are told of a new Plot or Design amongst Protestants after they are come out of Rome a Design which they dare not publikely own Pag. 329. The leprosie of Papists crying down the Originall Texts is broken forth among Protestan●s with what design to what end or purpose he knows not God knows and the day will manifest Epist pag. 14. That this design is owned in the Prolegomena to the Bible and in the Appendix That they print the Originall and defame it gathering up translations of all sorts and setting them up in competition with it Epist p. 9. That they take away all certainty in and about all sacred truth Epist p. 25. That there is nothing left unto men but to chuse whether they will turn Papists or Atheists Epist p. 9. That there are grosse corruptions befallen the Originalls which by the help of old Translations and by conjectures may be found out and corrected pag. 205. as pernitious a Principle as ever was fixed upon since the foundation of the Church of Christ Epist p. 21. That it is the foundation of Mahumetanisme the chiefest and principall prop of Popery the onely pretense of phanaticall Antiscripturists and the root of much hidden Atheisme in the World p. 147. That he fears the pretended infallible Judge or the depth of Atheisme lies at the door of these Considerations p. 161. That they are enough to frighten unstable souls into the arms of an infallible Guide p. 196. That these various Translations as upon triall they will be found to be are such as many will be ready to question the foundation of all p. 207. and therefore he had rather all translations should be consumed out of the earth p. 318. then such a figment should be admitted That setting aside two Theses there is no Opinion ventilated among Christians tending to the depression of the worth and impairing the esteem of the Heb. Copies which is not directly or by just consequence owned in these Prolegomena p. 205. Hence are these tragicall exclamations of dreadfull distemper which may well prove mortall to the truth of the Scripture pag. 314. Of horrible and outragious violence offered to the sacred verity p. 315. That men take upon them to correct the Scripture pag. 344. to correct the Word of God p. 180. These are some of the expressions used by the Author of the Considerations who yet writes with all Christian candor and moderation of spirit p. 151. Candidly for the sake and pursuit of truth with a mind freed from all prejudice and disquieting affections p. 155. Now those dangerous Principles about which all this stir is made are chiefly reduced to two though many be pretended 1. That the Hebrew points that is the modern forms now used not the vowels accents themselves which are acknowledged to be coeve with the other Letters that the reading of the Text was never arbitrary but the same before and after the punctation were devised and fixed by the Masorites about five hundred years after Christ 2. That there are various readings in the Old and New Testament both in the Hebrew and Greek by the casuall mistake of transcribers yet in matters of no moment which by comparing ancient Cop●es may be found out and in some cases out of ancient translations and when they are discovered the true reading may be restored Hence is inferred the uncertainty of all Divine truth that the Scriptures are corrupt c. And hence are those fears and jealousies Epist pag. 19. which how justly deducible from these or any other principles in the Prolegomena or Appendix shal hereafter appear In the mean time our Author practises what Quintilian said of some Romane Orators who did causarum vacua convitis implere and instead of Arguments loads his adversary with reproaches like that Souldier in Darius his Army mentioned by Plutarch who instead of fighting with his hands imployed his tongue in railing upon Alexander whereupon the Generall struck him with his Lance and told him he hired him to fight and not to rail Who those Protestants are that concur with the Prolegomena in those Principles the adversary is ashamed to mention though he knew they were at large cited in the Prolegomena because their very names would have spoiled his whole project and make his charge appear a meere calumny They are no other concerning the novelty of the Hebrew punctation than Luther Zuinglius Brentius Pellican Oecolampadius Calvine Beza Musculus Paulus Fagius Mercer Cameron Chamier Piscator Scaliger Casaubon De Dieu Grotius Capellus Erpenius Sixtinus Amama Salmasius Schickard Martinius also Rivet Spanhemius Fest Hommius as appears by their Epistles to Capel in his Defensio Criticae c. and amongst our selves Archbishop Vsher Bishop Prideaux Mr. Selden Mr. Mead Mr. Eyres and many others not to name those now living the most eminent Divines that have appeared in the Protestant cause and most zealous defenders of the purity and authority of the Original Texts or the chiefest ●inguists that this age hath produced and best skilled in the Hebrew and other Orientall learning And for that other point of various lections not onely the same men but all others generally which will believe their eies two or three excepted grant the same which the author of the Prolegomena doth and that without any prejudice to the certainty or divine authority of Scripture as is shewed at large in the Prolegomena and shall hereafter be made manifest yea our adversary himself frequently confesses the same and saith that ocular inspection makes it manifest that there are various readings both in the old Testament and the new and it s confest there have been failings in the transcribers who have often mistaken and that its impossible it should be otherwise c p. 165 191. 178. 296. whereby he makes himself evidently guilty of the crimes which he unjustly charges upon others and of those consequences which he infers on the behalf of Papists Atheists Antiscripturists c. and so overthrows that which he would seem to contend for viz. the certainty and supreme authority of Scripture and therefore I may say unto him ex ore tuo out of thy own mouth shalt thou be judged and use the words of the Apostle Rom. 2. 1. Wherefore thou art unexcusable O man that condemnest another for hereby thou condemnest