In 1592, he took the vows of the order of the Jesuits; and continued the intrepid defender of their principles till his death, which happened at Olmutz, in 1612, in the 70th year of his age, and the 50th of his religious profession. He was the author of a Catechism, in the Hungarian tongue. The Biblical labours of the BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, or Unitas Fratrum, who, amidst all the persecutions to which they were subjected, pursued the dissemination of Scriptural truth, are also highly deserving of our regard. They had so far back as the end of the fifteenth, or commencement of this century, been careful to obtain a vernacular translation of the Bible, which had been several times reprinted. The first edition had been printed at Venice, and the two succeeding editions at Nuremberg; after which, printing presses were established at Prague, at Bunzlau, in Bohemia, and at Kralitz in Moravia, where, in the beginning, nothing was printed but Bohemian Bibles. Editions of the ВоHEMIAN BIBLE were printed at Prague, in 1549, 1556, 1557, 1561, 1577, all in folio. There were also some editions of a smaller size, and consequently more portable." A translation of the NEW TESTAMENT into the Bohemian tongue was made from the original Greek, by JOHN BLAHOSLAUS, and printed in 1564, 12mo. It had the parallel passages noted in the margin. JOHN BLAHOSLAUS, or BLAHOSLOW, the translator of this New Testament, probably the first which had been made directly from the Greek, was one of the bishops of the Unitas Fratrum. His studies had been prosecuted under Trotzendorf, at Goldberg, at Wittemberg, Konigsberg, and Basil. He was the author of an History (54) Alegambe, p. 425. Le Long, I. p. 447. (55) Crantz' History of the Brethren, pt. ii. § xix, p. 35. Le Long, I. p. 438. Adleri Biblioth. Biblica, &c. Plut. xlvi. pp. 134-136. of the Unity; and The Lives of the principal Ministers. As the knowledge of Biblical literature extended, and the original languages of the Scriptures became more generally and critically understood, attention was excited to the Hebrew and Greek texts, and vernacular versions were made immediately from them. This was the case with the Bohemian Brethren; the publication of the Antwerp Polyglott Bible, and of the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius, with other similar works, had awakened a desire to have another Bohemian translation, made from the original texts. With this design they sent some of their young students to Wittemberg and Basil, to acquire the knowledge of these tongues; as some noblemen amongst them had previously done with their own sons, whom they had sent, under the inspection of a deacon, to the German and other universities, to study the languages and divinity. The learned persons selected for the great work of the Bohemian translation of the Scriptures, were JOHN ENEAS, M. A. one of the bishops or seniors of the Unitas Fratrum, and president four years, to whom was committed the chief inspection of the work. He died in 1594. ALBERT NICOLAI, a Silesian: LUKE HELITZ, or HELICEUS, a native of Posnania, in Poland, a learned and pious man, and a minister of the Gospel among the Bohemians. He was of Jewish extraction, his father being a converted Jew. ISAIAH CEPOLLA, a Bohemian ; and GEORGE STREGICIUS, or WETTER, a Bohemian, co-seniors, or bishops, the latter of whom died in 1599. JOHN EPHRAIM, a Bohemian, and senior of the brethren, who had studied at Heidelberg. He died in 1608. PAUL JESSENIUS, a Bohemian, born at Hunnabrod; and one of the seniors of the brethren. He died in 1600. And lastly, JOHN CAPITO, another Bohemian minister. (56) Crantz' Hist. of the Brethren, pt. iv. p. 79. Adler, ut sup. For the purpose of pursuing their important undertaking with the greater success, the castle of Kralitz, in Moravia, was assigned them by John, baron of Zerotin, or Sherotin, the great patron of the work, and at whose expense it was published. For the further convenience of the translators, and in order that the impression might be executed under their personal direction, he established a printing-office in the castle; his own residence being at Namest, in the vicinity. The translation was completed in fourteen years, having been begun in 1579, and finished in 1593. The first part, or volume, containing the Pentateuch, was published in 4to., May 29th, 1579; the second part or volume in 1580; the third, in 1582; the fourth, in 1587; the fifth, in 1588; and the sixth, containing the New Testament, with Annota tions, in 1593. The author of the annotations was JOHN NIEMCHAN, one of the seniors, or bishops of the Bohemian brethren, a Bohemian, born at Hunnobrod. He died in 1611. Other editions of this version were published in 1595, and 1596, in 8vo.; and in 1601, the translation was revised, and the annotations corrected and enlarged, by the bishop or senior, ZACHARIAS ASTON or ARISTON. This edition was in 4to.7 The first translation of the whole BIBLE into the dialect of LITHUANIA was also made during the latter part of this century. The translator was JOHN BRETKIUS, of Bammeln, near Friedland, and pastor of Labiau. He began with the New Testament, which he commenced October 9th, 1579; and having been called to the pastorship of the Lithuanian church, at Königsberg, he proceeded with the Psalms, and other books of the Old Testament, and completed the entire Bible, in (57) Clement, Bibliotheque Curieuse, III. pp. 437–442. Crantz' Hist. of the Brethren, pt. ii. p. 36, pt. iv. p. 79. 1590. Bretkius had not the pleasure of seeing his translation printed, but the MS. copy was deposited by him in the Royal Library of Königsberg; the New Testament with the Psalms occupying 3 vols. in 4to.; and the rest of the Old Testament, 5 vols. in folio. JOHN RHESA, the successor of Bretkius, assisted by some other ministers who were critically acquainted with the Lithuanian tongue, corrected the PSALMS of this translation, and published them with Luther's German version, in 1625. A preface was prefixed by John Behme, first chaplain to the elector, George William, by whose order it was written.58 The VANDALIC Scriptures next present themselves to our notice. Under this denomination are included translations into those dialects of the Slavonian language, which are spoken in CARNIOLA, CARINTHIA, STYRIA, CROATIA, and ISTRIA. The first of these versions was made by PRIMUS TRUBER, a Lutheran minister. The design of forming it appears to have originated with John Ungnad, baron of Sonneck, of the noble family of the counts of Weissenfelswoolf. He for some time governed Styria and Carinthia, under the emperor Ferdinand I. but for the sake of religious liberty quitted his native country, and retired into the dominions of Christopher, duke of Wurtemberg, by whom he was hospitably received. He resided at first at Arach, and animated by an ardent desire for propagating the truths of religion, in his own country, and the surrounding provinces, caused various works to be translated into different Slavonian dialects, and even into the Turkish language, and distributed at his expense. For the more successful promotion of his benevolent plans, he established a printing press, in 1561, at Tubingen, under the direction of Primus Truber; Anthony Dalmata, a priest from Servia; and Stephen Consul, a priest from Bosnia; for the express (58) Clement, Bibliotheque Curieuse, IV. pp. 166, 167. purpose of printing works in the Cyrillian or Glagolitic, and Latin characters. He was aided in this undertaking by the munificence of Maximilian, king of Bohemia, the electors of Saxony, Brandenburgh, and the Palatinate, the landgrave of Hesse, and the duke of Wurtemberg. The principal works which issued from this press, were the translations of the NEW TESTAMENT, and PSALMS, in the CROATIAN, or more probably the CARNIOLAN dialect, by PRIMUS TRUBER; for though said to be in the former, by Le Long and others, yet Dr. Pinkerton affirms that the Croatians "have no part of the Holy Scriptures in their language, except the Gospels for Sundays and holydays;" and Le Long notices an edition of "THE GosPELS FOR SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS," in the Croatian dialect, by Primus Truber, Anthony Dalmata, and Stephen Consul, printed at Tragurium, or Trau, in Dalmatia, 1562, 4to. And another edition of "the GOSPELS and EPISTLES for the year," printed at Venice, 1586, fol. Truber's New Testament was published at Tubingen, in two parts; the first, containing the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, in 1562; the second, comprising the Epistles, and the Revelation, in 1563, 4to. According to Le Long, an edition of this New Testament had been previously printed at the same place, in 1553. In the preface, Truber observes, "the inhabitants of Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria, have never hitherto had all the books of Scripture, nor any Catechism, translated into their tongue; they use only Missals, Breviaries, and other Liturgical books." In 1565, another edition of Truber's New Testament, (dedicated to Albert, marquis of Brandenburgh,) was printed at Tubingen, in 2 vols. 4to.; and in 1577, in 2 vols. 8vo. The PSALMS translated by Truber were also printed at Tubingen, in 1566, 4to. In 1581, Truber revised and corrected his translation of the New Testament, and dedicated this edition to Lewis, duke of Wurtemberg. The |