BUT as BENEDICTUS ARIAS MONTANUS published our Royal edition of the Bible, and made ufe of fome Complutenfian MSS. which the Cardinal's editors could not do, it will not be improper here to give fome account of that very great man.

MONTANUS was born at FREGENAL DE LA SIERRA; Sierra fignifies in Spanish a ridge of mountains, and therefore he was called MONTANUS; this village being under the jurifdiction of the city of HISPALIS, he therefore calls himfelf Hifpalenfis. MONTANUS was the firft perfon who obtained a lawrel crown in the University of SALAMANCA in the year 1552. He was a man of the greatest probity, strongest talents, and uncommon judgement; could write with a masterly ftyle, either in profe or verfe, and had amazing skill in languages: He was a master of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, Arabic, French, Dutch, English, and Teutonic languages. MONTANUS fays himfelf, in his comment on Ifaiah, that he knew thirteen languages. Befides this, he was a good poet, as well as a great scholar, and blended the Belles Lettres with his feverer ftudies. It was very fortunate therefore for SPAIN, that when the copies of the Complutenfian Bible began to be fo fcarce (FOR there never were more printed of that edition than 600 volumes, that is, as I understand it, about 100 copies; as appears by comparing the Letters of LEO X. to the Bishop of AVILA, and the Archdeacon of CORDUBA. It was the printing fo fmall a number, that has made the book fo fcarce,) that it poffeffed fuch a man as MONTANUS, who in conjunction with PLANTIN the printer, could ftir up the mind of PHILIP II. to a greater work than that of the Complutenfian Bible, though not fo expenfive. For PHILIP II. though he loved fame, was very covetous of his money; yet he confented to this work in 1578, and fent MONTANUS into HOLLAND with orders to re-print the COMPLUTENSIAN BIBLE, with improvements. For MONTANUS had made use of seven Hebrew MSS. which XIMENES procured from VENICE, but could not make use of himfelf: And MONTANUS had likewise a MSS. Latin Version of the Chaldee Paraphrafe.

BUT this undertaking procured MONTANUS many enemies; so that he was twice cited before the Pope at ROME to plead his caufe against a charge of Herefy. His chief enemies were *LEO DE CASTRO, a canon of VALLADOLID, Rhetoric Profeffor in SALAMANCA; and, what I am forry to fay, JOHN DE MARIANA, otherwise a great man; who out of envy to his learning, or his intereft with PHILIP II. accufed him to the Inquifitor General; and has left many marks of fpleen against MONTANUS, in his Defence of the Vulgate.

FROM the accufations laid to his charge before the Pope, MONTANUS easily cleared himself in an APOLOGIA, or defence of himself, wrote on that occafion, as COLOMESIUS tells us. This was written in Spanish; and when the English about that time made a descent at CADIZ, they found this work there, and carried it into ENGLAND, and depofited it in the Bodleian Library, and preserved it as the greatest curiosity.

THIS is the fame work which I defired your EXCELLENCE some time ago to procure for me out of ENGLAND, and which you told me could not be found at OXFORD. I ftill hope it will be found fome time or other.MONTANUS died in his own house at CAMPO FLORIDO, in the year 1598, and the seventyfirft of his age.

LIST of MANUSCRIPTS in the Cathedral Library at TOLEDO. I. LATIN Bible, in Gothic letter, upon parchment, large folio, written in 1026.

2. LATIN Bible, beginning with JOSHUA, and ending in the feventy-eighth PSALM, in folio, large parchment, and Gothic letter.

3. LATIN Bible, beginning with the fecond book of MACCABEES, then follows all the NEW TESTAMENT, and that is followed by TOBIAS; folio, large parchment, old character.

* See DE THOU, Lib. cxx. c. 18.

THERE

THERE are five Latin Bibles in all, one of them containing the third and fourth book of EXODUS.These are all written in the thirteenth century, and on parchment.

4. BIBLE in Latin, with an interpretation of fome Hebrew words, written on parchment, in the thirteenth century.

5. BIBLE in Latin, written on parchment, in the thirteenth century.

6. HEBREW Bible, containing all the Pentateuch, and the portions of the Pfalms and Prophets appointed for each Sabbath; the Canticles, Ecclefiaftes, Lamentations, Efther, and Ruth; written in the fquare Hebrew character, with the points or vowels; and with the Scholia of the Rabbins, on parchment.

OLIVA, June 1754.

Tt 2

LE T

LETTER XIX.

Of the ROYAL FAMILY and COURT of SPAIN. Of the preSent GENIUS, CHARACTER, and MANNERS of that Nation. Their HUMOURS, DIVERSIONS, and LANGUAGE.

D

ON CARLOS III. by the ftile of his Catholic Majefty, King of SPAIN, was born in MADRID the 20th of January 1716. He was proclaimed King of NAPLES May 15th, and King of SICILY August 30th, 1734; entered SPAIN the 10th of August 1759, and was proclaimed King in MADRID, on the 11th of September following. The Kings of SPAIN are never crowned: instead of it, they make a public entry into MADRID, with great expence, pomp, and magnificence, which pleases the people much more, as they have an uncommon paffion for fhews and pageantry. The prefent Monarch made his public entry July the 13th, 1760; for an account of which, fee Letter VII. p. 125. When he landed at BARCELONA, the Catalans ftiled him CARLOS Tercero, el verdadero, or CHARLES the third, the true Prince, to diftinguish him from the former CHARLES III.. the Austrian Archduke, who was afterwards Emperor. The Spaniards had at that time fo few failors, that they had great difficulty in manning the fleet which brought him over.-In coming from BARCELONA to MADR D, he drove fo faft as to make great deftruction of the mules and horses that attended him. It is no uncommon thing for the guards that attend the Royal Family in this country, when they travel, to break a leg, an arm, or a neck; and

when

when this happens, his Majesty says, Murio en fu officio, he died in his duty. A Mahometan, who made fome stay at NAPLES, happening to see the prefent King of SPAIN driving in this Febu tafte, faid to a friend" Sir, is it any wonder that we Turks "Sir, " think you Chriftians quite mad?"-Though his Catholic Majesty is now in his forty-fixth year, yet fhooting is fill his ruling paffion: He is the greatest Nimrod of his time; he facrifices every thing to this favourite pleasure; he was difgufted at his public entry, because it hindered him of four days fport. He stayed three days at TOLEDO, and killed fix wild mountain-cats, which, as I was well informed by thofe who had calculated the expence of that expedition, coft him exactly 1000l. a cat. He is fo eager at this diverfion, that when the days are short, he often shoots by torch-light, an improvement which our English sportsmen are not arrived at. He is in his perfon tall, round fhouldered, big boned, of a dark brown complexion, fmall eyed, and has a very large prominent Roman nose. From this description, it is easily feen that he is very plain.-His dress is as plain as poffible, too homely for a Prince; he commonly wears a plain cloth frock, a leather waistcoat, leather breeches, boots, (always made in LONDON) a large pair of tanned gloves, and ufually carries a gun upon his fhoulder, and is attended by fervants, carrying guns, powder, fhot, water, wine, victuals, cloaths, &c. and frequently dead game, fuch as wolves, hares, rooks, gulls, &c. &c.He rifes at seven in the morning, opens his own fhutters, writes what letters and difpatches he has to do, and then fets out, let it rain or fhine, for the chace, or rather shooting, for he never hunts as we do in ENGLAND. It is his Catholic Majefty's constant maxim, that rain breaks no bones, and for this reafon it never ftops or fufpends any thing he is engaged in, to the no small mortification of his attendants.His fuite on these occafions commonly confifts of the Infant Don LEWIS, the great officer in waiting, ufually the Duke de LoZADA, the Body-Guards, and three or four coaches and fix, with which there is always a chirurgeon, in cafe of any accident. He returns from this diverfion before noon, and dines regularly at eleven of the clock, and always in public, attended by the foreign minifters, and other people of diftinction about the Court. He ufually eats of fix things, drinks

three