"Biographical notice of Mr William Greenfield"

792 Little did we think when, in our Review for October, we attempted to demonstrate the learning, and prove the orthodoxy of Mr. Greenfield, that within two short months, we should have to record his death, and that too by a dis­ease, which, if not superinduced, was unquestionably aggravated by the cruel slanders of those, from whom, we now remember with melancholy satisfaction, it was our desire to defend him.

Mr. William Greenfield, the su­perintendent of the Editorial department of the Bible Society, died of brain fever, on the 5th of November, after an illness of ten days, and was thus removed from his sphere of active usefulness, at the early age of thirty-two. The shortness of the period that has elapsed since his decease, prevents us from presenting the public with an extended memoir of the life of that truly great and valu­able man. The following sketch will not, however, be unacceptable.

Mr. Greenfield was born in London, on the first of April, 1799. His paternal ancestors, natives of Scotland, for three generations had feared the Lord. His father was a member of the church over which Dr. Waugh presided, and, by his advice and recommendation, was em­ployed as a foremast man, on board the ship Duff, in his second missionary voyage, from which he returned in safety, but was unhappily drownedon a subse­quent voyage in another vessel, and the subject of this notice thus became an orphan, - when he had scarcely reached his third year. His mother, who was a pious woman, having relations in the North, removed in 1802 from London to the neighbourhood of Roxburghshire, where she obtained her livelihood in service, and her child was placed under the care of a cousin, who dwelt in the vicinity of her employer's resi­dence. Here the child was treated as one of the family, and had the advan­tage of the same education, which, in his case, laid the foundation for his future greatness.

At the age of ten, the mo­ther, who found her son altogether averse to an agricultural life, and that the metropolis alone was likely to af­ford him subsistence in any other man­ner, determined on quitting her ser­vice, and in 1810 accompanying him to London, where she obtained another situation, and he, after various trials, was, in 1812, through the influence of the late venerable Dr. Waugh, bound apprentice to Mr. Kennie, a respect­able book-binder, in whose family strict Christian discipline was uniformly maintained. In the interval between his removal lo London and the date of this engagement, the lad was taken care of by his two maternal uncles, young men, who having devoted themselves to God, were desirous of reading His word in the languages wherein it was originally written, and while thus employed, their nephew, who always showed a most in­quisitive spirit, and an ardent desire for information on subjects with which he had no previous acquaintance**,** expressed his desire to be taught the Hebrew language; this desire, as far as their slender means afforded, was gratified, and to this circumstance, trifling as it appeared at the time, was Mr. Green­field indebted, as a means under the blessing of God, for his future advance­ment in his literary pursuits.

It happened, that in the house of his master's workshops, there dwelt a Jew, who was a reader of the Law, in the Synagogue, at Denmark Court, Strand, and who was in the frequent habit of urging among the apprentices and journeymen, his objections against the advent of the Messiah, and the prophecies connected therewith, and consequently against the Christian dis­pensation; with this man young Greenfield held frequent disputations, as he subsequently did with many other Jews; and being pressed closely with objections to the translation of our authorized Ver­sion of the Old Testament, he offered to give up his opinions, if, upon being thoroughly taught the Hebrew by his opponent, he should find his assertions to be founded in truth. The Jew took

793him at his word, and thence being a most diligent student, he soon became so well versed in the language as to surpass his teacher, and though the re­sult of his labour was subversive of the arguments adduced by him, yet the learned Rabbi became so much attached to his pupil as ever afterwards to express his high sense ofhis worth and talents, in the discussions alluded to, which were always conducted by Mr. G. with good temper, he displayed great shrewdness, as well as an intimate acquaintance with his Bible. And as a mark of his carefulness to avoid argu­ments that might riot be conclusive, it may be stated, that whenever he found himself not sufficiently acquainted with the subject, or foiled in dispute, he applied to his friend and spiritual father, Dr. Waugh, for advice and assis­tance. That venerable man, by his in­tercourse, soon found young William to be a disciple indeed, and formed a great attachment for him. Young Greenfield's serious impressions led him to place himself under the Doctor's care, and for a con­siderable time he paid him weekly' visits for the sake of instruction in the prin­ciples of the Gospel.

In about two years he joined the church at the age of six­teen, and thenceforward maintained his character asa decided Christian until the end of his life. Having made great advancement in the knowledge of the Hebrew, during the study of which, he compiled a complete lexicon of that language, he next applied himself with equal diligence to the study of Chaldee, and some other cognate dialects. At this time he laboured very hard, working at his trade from six in the morning to eight at night in the summer, and from seven to nine in the winter, after which hours be used to devote himself at home to the study of the Hebrew, of which he was passionately fond. His next object was the attainment of the Greek and Latin, which he effected in class with several other young men connected with him in business, and in the Fitzroy Sabbath Schools, in which he was teacher; and the extraordinary facility with which heacquired a knowledge of these languages, and the perfect ease with which he overcame difficulties to others almost insur­mountable, was truly astonishing.

From the Latin, he next applied to the French, and from this time forward, he thought nothing of turning his attention to a strange tongue, and setting himself to acquire a knowledge of it. His extraordinary talents and acquirements be­coming known to Mr. Bagster, of Paternoster Row, he prevailed on him, in 1824, to relinquish his trade and in the employment of that gentleman, he found ample means of gratifying his literary taste. Amongst the numerous works which engaged his attention in connection with Mr. Bagster_,_ that which excited the greatest public notice, was "The Comprehensive Bible." This work of prodigious labour and research, at once exhibiting his varied talent and profound erudition, he commenced in 1824 and completed in De­cember I826. Of this book we shall not now speak, nor shall we say anything of the calumnies that were raised by misguided men to cry down the work, and its worthy and orthodox editor, by charging upon it incipient ne­ology, it is enough that they be left to reflect on their unhallowed treatment of a man in all respects worthy the Christian name, the meekness of whose cha­racter was strikingly displayed in the circumstance of his never having intemperately replied to any invective cast upon him or his works

Alter six years of literary connexion with Mr. Bagster, as an editor of various biblical works, and more particularly various editions of the Scripture, the attention of the Committee of the Bri­tish and Foreign Bible Society was di­rected towards him, they having resolved to appoint an officer, whose designation should be, "The Superintendent of the Translating and Editing Department of the Society." The inquiries of the Committee eli­cited the facts, that he was the author of the preface and notes to Bagter's Comprehensive Bible; and that, besides being the editor of that work, he revised for the press, or edited, the Syriac New Testament; the Polyglott New Testament, in Greek, Latin, English, and Portuguese; and that he read, for a second edition, the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate.

Added to these proofs of his attainments as a lin­guist, it was found that he possessed the knowledge of several other European and Asiatic languages; that his moral and religious character was most unexceptionable; and that, in the transaction of business, he had conducted himself so as to give satisfaction by his skill, diligence, and urbanity. The Committee, there­fore, with commendable promptitude, on March 22 1830 secured his services, alas! how brief, by appointing him to the above office, with a salary of £300 pounds per annum, which they announced in their Twenty-sixth Report, stating that it gave Professor Lee, of Cambridge, and J. P. Plait, Esq. , in common with themselves, much satisfaction in

The ardour with which he entered upon the duties of this appointment, so congenial to him, is evi­dent from the following statement of his proceedings, given in the appendix to the last Report of the Bible Society.

Proceedings of the Superintendent of the Editorial Department, during the Year ending 3lst March, I83 I.

In presenting the following brief statement of the operations of the superintendent of the editorial department, Mr. Greenfield, it is necessary to premise, that it does not comprehend the whole of his labours. In addition to his personal attendance at the meetings of the General Committee, the Sub-Committee for General Purposes and the Editorial Sub-Committee, he has cor­responded respecting, or otherwise attended to, the versions of the Sacred Scriptures in the Chippeway, Berber, Javanese, Breton, Cingalese, and other languages.

1. The Arabic Bible, the plates of which he has revised throughout; adopting such of the emendations proposed by Monsieur Garcin de Tassey as were found of impor­tance, according to the plan submitted to the Editorial Sub-Committee.

2. The Persian version of the Old Tes­tament, by the Rev. Mr. Glen; of which he has revised and carried through the press the books of Psalms and Proverbs, with the assistance of F. I. V. Seddon,
   Esq. and has corresponded with Mr. Glenn upon the other portions of this trans­lation.

3. The Catalonian version of the New Testament, which he has revised and cor­rected in its progress through the press, as far as the twelfth chapter of the gospel of St. John, assisted by Mr. Torras and the
   translator Mr. Prat, who has been corre­sponded with from time to time.

4. The French Bible of Ostervald, the plates of which he has revised for a new edition

5. The French Testament of De Sacy: examined and reported upon the editions of Leo and Smith, corresponded with Professor Kieffer respecting a revised edition, and prepared specimens of proposed cor­rections, consisting of several chapters of St. Matthew and the epistle of St. James ;
   also, with the kind assistance of Dr. Steinkopff, inspected and reported upon a portion of the edition published under the su­perintendence of Professor Kieffer, and again corresponded with him upon the subject.6. The Greek and Latin Testament of Dr. Leander Van Ess reported upon to the Editorial Sub-Committee.7. The German version of the New Tes­tament by Dr. Van Ess prepared, and for­warded a second copy to Dr. Pinkerton from which future editions arc to be printed.8. Gossner's German Testament, ex­amined and prepared a copy from which an edition was to be printed at Munich; a portion of which having been subsequently transmitted to the Society, it was inspected and found satisfactory.9.Brönner's German Bible, examined and reported upon,

6. The Ouichua, or Peruvian version of the Psalms, examined and reported upon, and corresponded with the trans­lator, Dr. Pazos Kanki, upon the sub­ject.

7. The Protestant Hungarian version of the New Testament, by Karoli Gaspar, reported upon, and prepared a copy from which an edition is to be printed in Hun­gary.

8. The Bohemian version printing at Leipzig, examined a portion, and found it to be in conformity to the laws of the So­ciety, and correctly printed.15. The Tartar-Turkish Testament, printed at Astrachan, 1825, examined and ascertained its conformity to the rules of the Society.16. The Hebrew Psalter, printed for the Society by Mr. Duncan, read and cor­rected.17. Examined the marginal references in the English version, in order to exclude all such as refer to the Apocrypha.I8. The Modern Greek Version of the Book of Psalms, translated under the su­perintendence of the Rev. Mr. Leeves at Corfu, revised by the original, and cor­rected in its progress through the press, with the kind aid of Thomas Fell Platt, Esq. In addition to these labours, it may he mentioned, that, animadversions having appeared, upon the versions of the New Testament printed by the Bible Society, for the negroes of Surinam, Mr. Green­field applied himself with such energy lo the acquisition of their language, that in a few weeks he was qualified to judge of the critical objections, to which, at his own expense, he prepared and published an elaborate article in reply. The ability which this work manifested, was an additional proof that the Bible Society had made no trifling acquisition in en­gaging the services of Mr. Greenfield. Besides these official labours, he issued from the press, but a short time ago, his Hebrew New Testament ; and he was laboriously employed in preparing 795 a Polyglott Grammar of thirty languages when seized by that fatal malady which terminated his estimable life.Being asked by a friend how he managed to obtain the knowledge of a language so soon, and with such apparent ease, he replied, "I will tell you: I first take the grammar of the language and read it; and having fixed certain points in my mind, which I find to agree with a language that I have already attained, and those points of agreement which I pertain to language in general, I read again to attain the knowledge of words--then study the grammar, take a lexicon, and commence translating into English. Afterwards I re-translate the English, and compare it with the original, by which I discover my errors, and apply the rules of the grammar with much rapidity. 796 the view of the Librarian T.P. Platt Mr Greenfield in carrying out this work through the press, has uniformly exhibited--I. A sound learning of critical judgment. II. A constant perception of the duty of faithful adherence to the very letter of the Sacred Original. III. Minute and unwearied diligence, extending itself to the accurate marking of every supplemental work introduced in the translation, and to the careful arrangement of stops and accents.

St John's, Antigua 7 January 1832

Four days after my arrival here, your kind letter reached me, and reminded me, that though absent from you I am not forgotten. The doleful notice contained in it was not new to me. It so happened that on the day we sailed from Ryde we received a London newspaper printed the day before namely the 8th Nov. When we were fairly out at sea on the evening of the same day this paper fell into my hands. After reading in it all that I usually read in newspapers, I turned to the register of deaths, a thing I very rarely do. Well, what should first meet my eye but No.6 Northumberland Terrace, Islington. On reading thus far, the person who lived there at once rushed into my mind, and next instant as I read on brought our late dear brother's name in full length before me. I could scarcely realize it, and should have been disposed to considered it somebody else had not the words "superintendent &c" taken away every doubt. Greenfield! said I to myself as I sat in my solitary cabin alone, Greenfield! Are you gone! You who I so lately saw in the full bloom of health, and with whom I spent an evening so pleasantly, and so recently too that it seems but last night! Yes – gone – alas! My brother! – The Lord keep me girded and ever ready for that hour which must come, and may come immediately. You have in truth suffered a great loss in the removal of Mr. Greenfield. His talents were indeed, as you justly observe most extraordinary, and yet in putting forth all his intellectual superiority, he did it with the unobtrusiveness and more to state of a school boy, and I hope profitably, in the many long sleepless nights of our tedious and stormy voyage. Be so good as to place Five Pounds from me to the fund collection for Mrs. Greenfield. May the Lord be a husband to her, and be a father to her children.

(Extract from James Thomson’s letter to Rev Andrew Brandram, BFBS)