ZUINGER. DR. HORNE, the late venerable and learned Bishop of Norwich, in his Preface to his excellent Commentary on the Psalms, takes notice of a very beautiful paraphrase on the 122d Psalm, in Latin verse, by Zuinger. Zuinger was Professor of Medicine at Basil; he flourished in the sixteenth century; and the Bishop remarks, that this paraphrase was the dying and triumphant effusion of Zuinger's Muse. Dr. Horne had inserted in his work an excellent version of this Psalm by Merrick, and observes that it was some time before he could procure a sight of Zuinger's original. It is an act of justice to the memory and merits of the celebrated Buchanan, to make it known that this same original is, with a few slight alterations, particularly in the last stanza, the production of the Scotch Poet. Buchanan's Poetic Paraphrase of the Psalms was first published at Paris by the learned Henry Stephens in the year 1565. This was twenty-three years before the death of Zuinger, and seventeen years before the death of Buchanan. Melchior Adam, who wrote the life of Zuinger, affirms, that this was Zuinger's last song, and .composed composed by him on his death bed. But this is a mistake. Zuinger probably retained Buchanan's composition strongly in his recollection, and in his last hours, ut inspicienti patebit, had adapted the Jewish parts to the language and sentiment of the Christian dispensation. I insert the two versions, and the reader may determine for himself. BUCHANAN. Ps. 122. O lux candida, lux mihi Jam pleno stata tempora Jam festi revocant dies Augustam Domini ad domum: Jam sacri pedibus premain Jam visam Solymæ edita, Urbem, quam procul ultimis Terræ finibus exciti, Petunt Isacidæ ut Deum Placent more parentum, Jussam cœlitus oppidis Urbem jus dare cæteris, SOP'S FABLES. EVERY modern nation has been studious to produce ornamented editions of these favourite moral lessons. Barlow's Esop, in English, French, and Latin, (Fol. 1677) are particularly valued for the spirited etchings with which they were adorned by the Editor himself. There is also a French Æsop, published under the quaint title of "Esbatiment Moral des Animaux," from which Barlow seems to have caught the spirit, if not exactly the invention of his sculptures. They are in a very similar style, but more highly finished; and the frontispiece, representing a kind of theatre, where the lion and several other beasts appear on the stage, and a part of the audience is represented below, is a specimen of the most beautiful etching that can be seen; this principal print being surrounded by designs from several histories and fables, in very small medallions. The book was printed at Antwerp by Philip Galle, and the dedication is dated 1578. The engraver appears to have been Peter Heyns, who addresses a copy of verses to the reader, immediately after the dedication: each plate being marked with the initials P. H. Who the Poet was, does not appear, |