We may be permitted to enquire why a person, so often thought worthy of the highest rank in his profession, should on no occasion have been nominated for one of the Dioceses of his native country. Had he, indeed, been proposed in the Primacy of Parker, we must suppose he would have been kept back from this honour, for a reason which operated strongly with that personage, and is mentioned by his Biographer. "On the vacancy of the See of Bangor, the Arch-bishop recommended one Hewet, a Welshman, but, a few days after, his mind changed, having conferred with some wise men of the same country, who, in respect to the good to be done there in that Diocese, wished no Welshman at Bangor, they banded so much together in kindred, that a Bishop could not do there as he would, for his alliance sake.”

That he had, however, an interest in the spiritual welfare of the Principality, such, as in conjunction with the wisdom of his character, would have made him a blessing in so high a station, we cannot doubt, from the next patriotic, pious, and liberal act we have the satisfaction of recording to his honour. It was very materially owing to the aid he afforded, that the Welsh translation of the Scriptures was effected in the year 1588.

Though the antient British Church can justly boast a truly Protestant spirit, in very early times, even as early as the period when Austin arrived to convert its Saxon neighbours, which is discernible for many years after, yet, we fear that in time, like the English Church, she profoundly slept in the darkness of ignorance and superstition, for we do not find that the early spirit she boasts, ever produced even the most partial attempt at translating the Bible into the vernacular tongue, before the commencement of the English Reformation. Doctor Llewellyn tells us in his historical account of the Welsh Bible, on the authority of Doctor Richard Davies, Bishop of St. David's in the early part of Elizabeth's reign, that a MS. translation of the New Testament into Welsh existed about the middle of the reign of Henry VIII., but of course, from its nature, was not generally known. Ile throws out a hint that Tyndal, the first Protestant Translator of the Bible into English, was the author, for Tyndal was a Welshman. The same person tells us, that some detached passages of Scripture had been translated into Welsh in the days of Edward VI., and printed for the use of his Liturgy, or Service Book; and also another small work, containing the

Epistles and Gospels for the Communion, published in 1551, by William Salesbury, a native of Denbighshire, and very eminent in his own country for his learning and piety. This seems to have been all the effect the Reformation produced in Wales, till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in the fifth year of which an act was passed for "Translating the Bible and the Divine Service into the Welsh Language." This act provides, that the work, when completed, should be perused and allowed by the four Welsh Bishops, and the Bishop of Hereford, part of whose Diocese was included in the Principality. It also provides, that it should be printed and used in the Churches, by the first of March in the year 1566, under a penalty of forty pounds, to be levied on the goods and chattels of each of the said Bishops; and that one copy of this translation should be had for and in every Cathedral, Collegiate, and Parish Church and Chapel of Ease throughout Wales, to be read by the Clergy in time of Divine Service, and at other times, for the benefit and perusal of any who had a mind to go to Church for that purpose, and that not only during this interval, but for ever after, English books should be had and remain in every Church and Chapel throughout that country.

This injunction, however, was not carried into effect, at least in respect to the Scriptures, till more than twenty years after, and for a very obvious reason. No provision was made for defraying the expence of the undertaking. The fine of two hundred pounds on the five Bishops, even if it had been meant as a direct tax for the purpose, which can hardly be supposed, was inadequate to the charge of employing a body of learned men, to give themselves wholly to the work, and printing and publishing it when complete. For it must be observed, that when the English Bible was to be prepared, and particularly that of King Jaines, all necessary expence was provided for by a large grant from the Treasury. This act of Parliament, then, never could have been complied with, but for the zeal and liberality of private individuals, among whom Dean Goodman was one of the most conspicuous. Meanwhile, but not till one year after the time fixed by Parliament for completing the whole Bible, the same zeal and liberality of private persons, not retained or remunerated by public authority, produced a translation of the New Testament. These were Doctor Davies, before mentioned, Bishop of St. David's, Thomas Hewet, Precentor of St. David's, (the

same that Parker rejected as Bishop of Bangor), and William Salesbury before mentioned, a private Gentleman of an eminent Family in Denbighshire, a Member of one the Inns of Court, Author of several treatises in the British Language, and much meriting of the Church and of the British Tongue. Doctor Davies was a Confessor, and an Exile for his religion in the reign of Mary. He was restored to his country on the accession of Elizabeth, and made successively Bishop of St. David's and St. Asaph. He is given by Strype as one of the English Translators in the Bishop's Bible, the initials R. M., or, Richardus Menevensis being prefixed to the second portion. Of Hewet little more is known than this honourable mention of him.

Thus, for more than twenty years after this decree of Parliament, was the Principality without the blessing of the whole of the Bible in it's native tongue. To remedy which lamentable deficiency, and to put the Inhabitants of Wales on an equality in this respect with their English fellow subjects, did Providence raise up the very learned Doctor William Morgan, a native of Penmachno in Carnarvonshire, Vicar of Llanrhaidr in Mochnant, Denbighshire, and supply this private person with liberal and patriotic friends to aid him in his great undertaking. Who these were, Doctor Morgan tells us in the Dedication of his work. First in order was the Archbishop Whitgift, and when we consider the intimacy of Dean Goodman with this Primate, we cannot doubt that he must have zealously instigated him to extend his important encouragement to this necessary work, for the spiritual welfare of his native country. The others, he tells us, were the Bishops of St. Asaph and Bangor, (Hughes and Bellot), Doctor Gabriel Goodman, Doctor David Powel, Vicar of Ruabon, Denbighshire, Author of a Welsh history, or rather Editor of a Welsh Chronicle in English, Mr. Edmund Pryse, Author of the present Welsh metrical Psalms, Archdeacon of Merioneth, and Mr. Robert Vaughan, Master of St. John's Hospital at Lutterworth, and successively Bishop of Bangor, Chester, and London. These Worthies assisted and supported the Translator, revised and corrected his work, granting him free access to their Libraries. While attending the Press, he tells us, he lived with the Dean of Westminster, "qui, he adds, relegenti mihi ita fuit assiduus, ut et labore et consilio me plurimum adjuverit," who paid such attention while I read it over to him, that he greatly assisted me by his labour and advice.—[Preface to Morgan's Bible.] The Translator, in reward of his service, was advanced succes

sively to the Sees of Llandaff and St. Asaph, in which last station he died in 1604. Thus, if the name of Morgan be the disgrace and calamity of the British Church, the more modern Pelagius is its honour and blessing.

The translation of the New Testament in Morgan's Bible, is only a corrected edition of that by Davies, Hewet, and Salesbury, before mentioned. One copy of this Bible was presented to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, in return for the civilities the Author had received from that learned body, and particularly from Dean Goodman, and yet remains in their Library. A revision of Doctor Morgan's Bible was accomplished by Doctor Richard Parry, his successor in the See of St. Asaph, and was published in 1620, which is much the same with the present authorized version. In this the Bishop was assisted by Doctor John Davies, the very learned Author of the Welsh Grammar and Dictionary, who tells us in the Preface to the former, "Utrique S. S. Bibliorum Interpreti indignus fui administer." I was an unworthy assister to both the Welsh Translators. We may wonder, therefore, why his services, which, from such a Scholar, must have been considerable, were not. acknowledged by Morgan. Bishop Parry's Bible, in the opinion of Doctor Llewellyn, contains alterations from Bishop Morgan's, sufficient to entitle it a new translation, as much as the English Bible of King James's Translators now in use, is so in comparison of the Bishop's Bible, which preceded it.

In this year, so memorable in the Annals of the Welsh Church, we find the name of Gabriel Goodman in conjunction with that of his eminent Friend Arch-bishop Whitgift, as Overseer of the Will of the Lady Frances Sydney, Daughter of Sir William Sydney, and Wife of Thomas Radeliffe, Earl of Sussex, also, Aunt of Sir Phillip Sydney, and Robert, Earl of Leicester. Under the direction of these Overseers, Sydney Sussex College in Cambridge, was founded, and called after the maiden and titular name of its Foundress. The quaint Fuller would have had it called Benjamin College, as being the least, and last in time, and born after the death of its Mother. The Charter of its Foundation is dated 1593. Doctor Fuller, who was one of its original Fellows, mentions in his History of Cambridge, a singular piece of address, as making a part of the Foundress's Will. A Jewel, like a Star of Diamonds, with a Ruby in the midst valued at a hundred and forty pounds, having

on the backside a Hand delivering up a Heart to a Crown, she directed, should be presented by the Executors to the Queen, when the mortmain for founding the College was requested. It seems, however, not to have produced the desired effect, as the History of the College presents no memorial of the success of this expedient. The Foundress was one among the many learned Ladies of that age, and the intimate Friend of the two Daughters of Sir Edward Coke, Anne, Wife of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, and Mildred, the second Wife of the Dean's Patron, Lord Burleigh, both, we are told, eminently skilled in the Greek and Latin Languages. This intimacy accounts for the selection of Doctor Goodman, as an Overseer of her design for the advancement of religion and learning in the Foundation of this College.

Ten years after, he was joined in the same office as Overseer of the Will of his beloved Friend and Patron Burleigh, who died the fourth of August, 1598, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. This was deemed no slight honour. Doctor Fuller observes in his panegyric of Goodman, in his Worthies, "there needs no other testimony of his honesty and ability than that our English Nestor, the Lord Burleigh, made him one of the Executors of his Will, (Overseer he should have said, which was an office frequently superadded to the Executorship at that time), to dispose of great sums to charitable uses, which trust he most faithfully discharged." And the Dean's Protege, Camden, records the same in his History of Elizabeth. "He made Overseer of his Will, says he, Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster, a most upright man, and Thomas Bellot, Steward of his Household, leaving great sums to be disposed in religious uses." On investigation, it very probably would be found, that this Thomas Bellot was a brother Welshman of the Dean and a native of his own County. The name leads us to conjecture he may have been Brother, or a near relation of Doctor Hugh Bellot, who was successively Bishop of Bangor and Chester, and Vicar of Gresford, whose antique Monument appears in the Chancel of Wrexham Church, and who died in the year 1596, at his Mansion of Berse, now called Plâs Power, near Wrexham, and on which it is recorded, the Family was originally from Morton in Cheshire. His residence, however, and his minor preferment indicates him to have been a Welshman. Dean Goodman then, it is probable, introduced both these Bellots to a participation in the same patronage he himself enjoyed, and was the means of