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    behaviour to Mr . Gibbon seems almost entitled to the appellation given it by Mr , Gibbon himself— that of « brutal insolence . ' Of ajl the opponents of the verse , he treated Newton with the greatest respect ; and yet , when discussing Newton ' s observations , this is his constant language : ' Jerome makes no gucfe confession . ' - ^ ' The premises , here , are as untrue as the former /—'Such assertions ( for they are not arguments ) are too extravagant for a

    serious confutation /— ' Jerome tells us no such thing /— ' This assertion is not just / &c , &c—After this account , I will not suppose it necessary to add another word , in vindication of Mr . Porson ' s proceedings with regard to the Letters to Mr , Gibbon , In one point of view , the consequences of those proceedings we very important . From the case of Mr . Travis , writers of aU succeeding times may draw this moral—that there is great wisdom in preserving something like equity in the censure of others , and some adherence to truth in the statement of facts :

    " Phlegyasque misernmus oinnes Admonet , et inagn& tcstatur voce per umbras , Pisdte jusUtiam mouiti , et lion temnere verum . " Pp . 338—341 . To one living at a distance from the literary world , and judging of the effect of books only by their contents , a vindication of Mr . Porson against the Bishop of Salisbury might seem a work of complete supererogation .

    But when we consider how fondly many persons cling to the text of the Heavenly Witnesses , how blindly others stupent in titulis and think every thing true that a bishop asserts , —above all , when we find Dr . Tomline confessing that " his opinion has been shaken , " and Dr . Huntingford declaring , that he " no more doubts the authenticity of 1 John v . 7 , than of John i . 1 , " ( Crito , p . 342 , ) we must acknowledge that it was time that some one should interpose and shew the true nature of those flimsy productions which , thus complimented , might have gained increasing credit with the world at large * The glory of Crito could not be great , but his success has been complete .

    Of all the extraordinary productions to which this controversy has given birth , that of Mr . Huyshe certainly bears the palm , both for style and matter . It is a specimen of a much larger work which the author appears to have been long preparing , but which might never have seen the light , had it not been for the annunciation of Crito ' s undertaking . Its object is to shew that both friends and foes have been in error in regard to Robert Stephens' MSS . in supposing that he had only the authority of fifteen and

    the Complutensian for his 3 d edition . According to Mr , Huyshe , the text of his two former editions was derived from the collation of fifteen MSS . ; the 3 d also from the collation of fifteen , but these were not the same ; the text pf the third edition , being in the main the same as the preceding , is founded on , the MSS , collated for them , while the margin of the third contains the various readings of the MSS . collated exclusively for it . This supposition , improbable on the face of it , is refuted at once bv the inspection of Stephens '

    preface to his third edition , where he expressly says , that he has recollated for it the same sixteen codices ( iterum et tertio cum iisdm coJlatum ) , It is true , that speaking afterwards of his various readings , he says , " in margine interior ! varies codicum Jectiones ajiclWirnys , " and does not expressly say , eorundem co < # cw ; but what ptbers cquJcUbey be , wfren he gives no hint of possessing p . r CQUatiflg any others , and immediately adda , " quarum unicuique nymm Gr £ ci nota subjuneta est , quae nomen exemplaris , unde sumpta est indjqe . t , a . ut e ^ emplarium nomina , quum plures svnt numeric Iis nanique pfacitft primx ) , se , Qunda

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    330 Rewew . ~ Vindkatwn of Porson ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1828, page 330, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2560/page/42/