ASKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN REEVES, Esq. FOUNDER AND " PROMOTER OF ASSOCIATIONS FOR PRESERVING LIBERTY AND PROPERTY AGAINST REPUBLICANS AND LEVELLERS. (Continued from page 328.) FTER the detail that has been given of the proceedings in Parliament, and in Court, on the supposed libellous nature of our author's pamphlet, it seems proper and necessary to state something on the matter and manner of this publication. It is intitled, "Thoughts on the English Government; addressed to the Quiet Good Sense of the People of England, in a series of Letters. Letter the First. On the National Character of English men-The nature of the English Government-The corruptions caused in both by the introduction of French Principles-The effects produced by the Reformation, and the Revolution upon Political Principles-The Conduct of the Whig Party-The Character of the modern Democrats." Such is the titlepage of this publication. The matter of the book is thus clearly intimated to the reader; for the manner of it we must search into the author's pages. He begins thus. "To the Quiet Good Sense of the People of England. I address myself to you in that temper of mind, which is produced, when we contemplate what may be considered as the cause of all the happiness we enjoy in this country." He then goes on to ascribe good sense to the people of this country, beyond all others, and to account for the happiness we enjoy from the form of our government, above other nations, by the prevalence which the quiet good sense of the people has, in one way or another, to influence the proceedings of our Govern ment. With this prepossession he goes on to discover, and explain the true structure and operation of our govern ment, and to expose the misconceptions that many entertain, who think, that they, and they only, have a right notion of our Constitution. He concludes his Letter with a promise to follow up, what he had thus opened, by further discussions; in these words. But I will not detain your attention any longer, at present. To exhibit the Constitution of the English Government in its true form; to sepa rate the corrupt glosses, and construcEurop. Mag. Vol. LXXIV. Nov. 1818. tions, that have, from time to time, been imposed upon it; to expose the pretexts of parties; to take off the mask from Patriots, and Reformers; and to pursue the machinations of the Jacobins; these make an employment, to which I shall return in due time; and such Further Thoughts 1 shall address to you. These are matters, above all others, that call for the consideration of those amongst us, who are friends to order; love QUIET, and are possessed of the GOOD SENSE, by which Englishmen are used to be guided." [pa. 79.] Such a promise as this, to keep up a further supply of the good sense, sound argument, and incontrovertible law, that was discernable in this first publication, was reason enough for those (who had been used to go on without, and in spite of, such strict principles of constitutional knowledge) to interpose, and stop, at the beginning, the presumptuous orthodoxy of this new statesman. Both parties in politics joined in the like feeling on such a subject; and so it was, they united in picking out certain expressions, imposing upon them a sense that did not belong to them, and calling that sense libellous; which libellous sense certainly is not in the words of the passage, and most certainly is not supported by the tenor of the context, nor by any thing in the whole of the pamphlet. Of that opinion were the jury, when they had to pronounce, whether the writer was guilty of any libellous intention. With this verdict in his favour, and with the plain sense of the misconstrued passage in his favour without the aid of any verdict, our author, yielding to the suggestions of that quiet good sense, which he so much admired, did not rise upon this victory over his enemies; he forbore to give to the public a new publication, till a sufficient time had elapsed to cool the extreme feelings on the subject; when the question of law, and of constitution, might be ar gued, like any other, with the view of attaining the truth, and nothing else. The trial was on 20th May 1796. It was not till March, 1799, that there came before the public a Second Letter, for discussing, and enlarging upon the subject of our Constitution, Laws, and Government The following are the contents of the Second Letter, as stated in the titlepage. "Letter the Second. The de 3 G Prerogative does not properly signity the Royal Authority-POSTSCRIPTThe Critical Review censured for Falsification." This fourth Letter was not followed by any other. The author now discontinued his discussions upon the Constitution, his attention being drawn off to other pursuits, which now more particularly called for the va cant time that could be spared from his official employments. sign of the First Letter vindicated-pared with an amended one-The Word Authorities from Records, Law Writers, and others, to support its Doctrines Hale, Coke, Clarendon, Whitlock, Hooker, Mr. Burke, Mr. Pitt, Lord Thurlow, the present Attorney General -The Expression of Three Estates, Three Branches of the Legislature, and King, Lords, and Commons, considered -Censure of Opinions from Montesquieu, Locke, and other philosophising Politicians-Criticism on Blackstone and Wooddeson-Defence of the Paragraph prosecuted as libellous-The Author's Accusers proved guilty of Præmunire - The Author's political Creed delivered in nineteen Propositions-Expostulation on the Prosecution of Mr. Reeves." No animadversion was made by either House of Parliament on this Second Letter; but Mr. Wooddeson, late Vinerian Professor of the Law at Oxford, took offence at some parts of it, and published a criticism upon them. This publication of Mr. Wooddeson was replied to by our author in a Third Letter, the contents of which are thus stated in the title-page. "Letter the Third. Character of Mr. Wooddeson -Reply to his Brief Vindication-His Manx Halfpenny-Description of a Law yer's Argument-Mr. W. suppresses two Passages of the Attorney General's Speech-The Form of Proceedings in Council-Mr. W. mutilates a Passage from Hale-Form of Prayer for the High Court of Parliament-Mr. W. is reproved-Of Tellurian Politicians Expostulation with Mr. W. on the Manner of his Brief VindicationReasons that induced the Author to write these Thoughts on the English Government-His Reason for being a little severe with Mr. W.-Encomium on Mr. Whitaker's Origin of Goverument." This was followed by a Fourth Letter, the contents of which are thus stated in the title page. "Letter the Fourth. Blackstone's Commentaries deficient in Constitutional Information-The probable Reasons of the Commentator's Deficiency in this Branch of Knowledge -Certain Speeches criticised for unconstitutional Expressions-Parliamentary Phrases-Examination of the first seven Chapters of Blackstone's Commentaries-Their Arrangement-The King is not a Magistrate-Ours is not a Constitution of Balances and ChecksA Paragraph of Blackstone's Text com Indeed, his next voluntary exertion for the public was, according to his sense of duty, deemed, in some sort, to be an official employment. In the new grant of the office of King's Printer in 1799, his name was inserted; and being thus in the joint ownership of an office, where he derived a profit, without sharing in the daily labours of the service, he was anxious to do something that might be useful to the public, and be deemed suitable and appropriate to his new official situation. He considered, that the Bible, and Prayer Book were copyrights of his office, and of the two universities. As none could print such works, but the authorized printers, it seemed to him a laudable exertion to devise new forms and modes of printing those works, that should make them, if possible, more commodious for use, and better provided for the attention and study to be bestowed upon them. Of the biblical works he was projecting, the first that appeared in print, was A Collation of the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Psalms," published in July 1800. This work has the name of Mr. Pitt prefixed to it, with a Dedication, beginning in this manner, "Sir, The printing of the Holy Scriptures being one employment of the King's Printer, I determined, as soon as I should have an interest in that concern, to set forward some biblical works, that would be useful, not only to English readers, but to scholars, and thus serve at once the cause of literature and religion. A specimen of one of these designs I had the honor of laying before you some months ago. Out of that design bas arisen this COLLATION of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Psalms; which I now beg leave to present to you. You are the person by whose advice his Majesty was pleased to confer upon me the situation, where I thought some such duty as this was incumbent upon me; and it is to you I wish to manifest my endeavours at least to fulfill such duty in a suitable manner." While these biblical works of learning were projecting, those which were designed for the English reader were going on. In January 1801, came out an edition in twelves of the Common Prayer, with an Introduction prefixed to it, containing observations on the method and plan of our Forms of Prayer, which the author, in his Dedication to the Queen, says, he hopes "will contribute to add knowledge to devotion; and satisfy, in some particulars, a rational curiosity respect ing the structure of our Liturgy, which may well be indulged by the most pious reader." Subjoined to the volume are notes on the Epistles and Gospels, and on the Psalms. Bible were intitled to every accom. modation of this sort; and further, that it was an experiment worth trying, whether persons might not be attracted, by such means, to the reading of the Bible. Such sentiments as these suggested to me, to put to the press an edition of the Bible in separate vo lumes, that would make a manual, commodious for perusal, like the edi tions of our best English books. "There still, however, appeared to me another obstacle to the Bible being generally read, with the same degree of facility and satisfaction as other English books; and that arose from the division of the matter into chapters, and more particularly into verses. This very often interrupts the current of the sense; it sometimes misleads with a false appearance, as if it presented for & complete sentence, or aphorism, what is only the fragment of a narrative, or the sentence of an argument, both of which suffer by such mutilation." In another part, he goes on thus. In January 1802 came out his edition of the Bible in nine volumes octavo. The peculiarity of this edition is in the size of the book, and in the disposition of the matter, which differ" These observations upon the si from every former publication of the Scripture Text. What were the considerations that led him to make the experiment of such a novelty, may be best seen in his own words, at the opening of his Preface. The design of this publication is to provide the public with an edition of Our CHURCH BIBLE, which, according to what appears to be the taste of the present time, may be deemed a more convenient book for reading, than any of the Bibles now in use. "It has ever seemed to me a just cause of complaint, that while every English book of any character has had the advantage of being printed in various forms, and sizes, to suit the different tastes of readers, THE HOLY BIBLE has been still printed in no other form, than that of one single book, which, from the bulk of the contents, must necessarily make an unhandy and inconvenient volume, even if printed in a small type. All other books, that are of any length, and are in much request, whether for instruction or amusement, are divided into convenient volumes, and generally have bestowed upon them the advantage of a larger print; from which it may reasonably be concluded, that this is a prevailing taste; and that for a book to have readers, it must have these recommendations. It ap peared to me, that the readers of the and fashion of our Bibles will, perhaps, be questioned by some; but the justness of them may be tried by put ting a few questions. How many of us would be at the trouble of reading our best English authors in such an inconvenient volume as the Bible? Who would endure to read our best prose writers, if divided into verses like the Bible? We all know what answers must be given to these questions. Why then should the Bible be calculated less for perusal than all other books?” Again. "There is another disadvantage, which the Bible labours under beyond other ancient books. Like other productions of high antiquity, the sa cred writings stand in need of expla nation. The ancient writings of Greece and Rome are constantly published with more or less of explanatory notes, in all sizes. But all our authorized Bibles, published by the King's Printer, and by the Universities, are wholly without explanatory notes." He remarks, that "Under these disadvantages from the size, the fashien, and the want of explanation in our common Bibles, many serious persons, who are desirous of acquainting them. selves with the contents of the Bible, are induced to seek them any where, rather than in the Bible itself; they go to Histories of the Bible, to Expositions, to Paraphrases, and the like substitutes; turning to the Bible only on particular occasions, as a book of reference, to verify passages, and to determine in the last resort." He was anxious to devise something that should bring studious persons to the very text of the Bible; and he says, “It was in an humble but earnest endeavour to furnish such a book, that I have put myself to the trouble and expense of preparing and publishing this edition of the Bible." He speaks of his labours as Editor of this new form of the Bible with great humility. "In giving this new form to the English Bible, I claim little merit to myself beyond that of the labour and expense; the authorship is of a very humble sort; it is that of bringing forward the works of others, and placing them in a situation where they may be more useful to the public. The sub stance of every thing, that may be thought valuable in this edition, is to be found in books a century old; little of it is mine, but the selecting, adapt ing, and wording. If there has not always been judgment in the choice, nor every where success in the execution; if I have done too much in one place, and too little in another; I hope allowance will be made for such inequalities, considering that the work is long and various, and the attempt new. "I beg leave here to repeat, what I have said on a former occasion,* by way of apology for presuming to meddle with the Bible and Prayer Book, as Editor, or Commentator, that I desire in these publications to be considered as acting only officially, and more in the character of a printer than an author. It is the performance of a suit and service, which I thought due for my share in the office to which I belong." Such is the explanation of motive and design in this biblical publication, which appeared proper to be given to the reader of this narrative in the words of the author. The work was executed in nine volumes; the matter is divided into sections, without regard to the chapters and verses; the chapters and verses are numerically preserved, for the sake of reference, but without division of the matter as in the common Bibles. At the end of each volume are explanatory notes. Respecting Meaning in the dedication prefixed to the Collation, as before mentioned. He these notes, the rule laid down by the Editor was, "that they should be very numerous, and very short; so that nothing might be passed over, that appeared in the least to need annotation ; and that no annotation should digress from the text; but, on the contrary, that every note should keep the text closely in view, and should bring the reader back to it, as soon as it had served the purpose of explaining the difficulty that occasioned it." "resolved to keep out of these notes every thing that was learned, or cu rious, or novel. Formed upon this principle, they aim at nothing, but to give a plain interpretation of scripture, such as has been known, and well received for many years; and as they are intended for English readers of every class, so both learned and unlearned," he thought, "may find something in them that will be useful." It appears, there were four editions of this Bible printed in the year 1802. One in nine volumes royal octavo, finely printed; one in nine volumes crown octavo; one in nine volumes quarto, finely printed; and one in four volumes octavo: this last is without the Notes, and without the Apocrypha. In the same year, additions were made to the stock of his Common Prayer Books. An edition was very finely printed in royal octavo; another in octodecimo. He caused also to be printed a Psalter; where the services are contracted, so as to make the smallest possible prayer book for carrying to church. Having completed these publications of the Prayer Book, and Bible for the English Reader, he felt himself at liberty to turn to the biblical works he had in contemplation, when he published his Collation of the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Psalms. This produced, in the year 1803, an edition of the Greek Testament, in two vOlumes duodecimo; the matter divided into the same sections, that he had adopted in his edition of the English text. In the year 1804, he published the Psalms in Hebrew, under the title of Psalterium Ecclesiæ Anglitance Hebraicum; being the Hebrew Psalms divided according to the verses of the Psalms in the Liturgy: this was intended as a church going book, like a Greek Testament, for such as like to see the original text, whenever the scripture is to be read. The Greek Testament, and Hebrew Psalter, as well as the Bible, were humbly presented to the King, as an official contribution from a servant of his Majesty. The Common Prayer Book, as the work next in estimation to the Holy Scriptures, was humbly addressed to the Queen. In both cases, it was with the permission of the Royal Personages. After the above publications, no more biblical productions were given to the public by Mr. Reeves. The time of account was come, and it appeared, upon a settlement of the whole concern, that the expenditure exceeded the receipt more than two thousand pounds. Mr. Reeves acquiesced contentedly in this, regarding it not as a loss, but as the official contribution to the public, for which, together with the labour of the work, he had prepared himself, when he originally planned, and entered upon, his biblical publications. Mr. Reeves parted with his stock of unsold books, together with permission to reprint his Prayer Book and Bible, to persons in the trade, who were better qualified for what now remained; namely, the retail dealing with the public. From this permission to reprint have proceeded the Prayer Books and Bibles, that may be seen in small forms, with Mr. Reeves's name in the title-page, but without his additional matter, which alone could properly make them Mr. Reeves's Prayer Book, or Mr. Reeves's Bible. We are informed, this omission has been a source of great dissatisfaction to Mr. Reeves, no less than of disappointment to those who meant to be purchasers of the whole matter in Mr. Reeves's books. But this permission is at an end; and no one has now a right to make use of Mr. Reeves's name in printing Bibles and Prayer Books. The complete editions of Mr. Reeves's Bible and Prayer Book are such as are notified in the title-page to be SOLD BY GEORGE AND WILLIAM NICOL, BOOKSELLERS TO HIS MAJESTY, PALLMALL. The first impression of the Prayer Book has in the title page, SOLD BY J. WRIGHT, PICCADILLY. This is also complete. None but these, bearing the name of Nicol, or Wright, contain the work of our author complete. Though our author discontinued his undertaking of printing Bibles in a new form and fashion, he did not change his mind, as to the utility and necessity of improvement in printing the sacred text. Having provided a new sort of Bibles for those who were able to purchase them, he now endeavoured to excite others to provide, for our poorer brethren, a better sort of Bible, than is at present distributed by the Bible Societies. This design may be seen in a pamphlet, which he published in April 1805, intitled, "Proposal of a Bible Society for dis tributing Bibles on a new Plan. Submitted with the hope of making thereby the Holy Scriptures more read, and better understood." He addressed this Proposal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, then recently come to his high station at the head of the Church. He complains, that "number and price are the two scales, by which alone the distributors of Bibles measure the Sacred Volume: and the greater the number, that is distributed at the smallest price, every year, the greater is deemed to be the exertion and merit of the Society, and the praise they are intitled to from the public. But what is the result of all this mistaken exertion? The result is just adequate to the effort; the object is number; and number is attained to the full; but the book is of such mean paper and print, that it is a Bible only nominally; for no eyesight, no perseverance, not the most ardent piety, can support a person, of any age, in a steady, continued perusal of it. The kingdom is inundated with these nominal Bibles. It is always the worst printed book, even in the meanest house; for if a cottage has a book of songs, or of tales, together with the Bible, the former is ever the better printed book of the two; and it is, for that reason, the last to be destroyed." [pa. 7.] He further complains, that "it is not only by these defects of paper and print, that a Bible may become an useless gift; for if it is unaccompanied with some annotation to guide the reader to the true sense, what progress can an unlettered person make in the perusal of an ancient book, destitute of such assistance ! He suggests, that "the old rule of low price must be abandoned, and a new and opposite one must be adopted; instead of a maximum there must be a minimum of price; no Bible should be provided for distribution under a |