On this Account it was , that whereas no Man better understood his own Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Affairs than Charles the First , of blessed Memory , yet , though he designed the utmost Honour to the Memory of his Father , when the new Translation of King James the First was made publick , he only allow'd and recommended it to common Use ; which , as Experience shew'd , was not enough to break in upon Inveterate Custom , or , to exclude that which had for so many Years , gotten Possession of our Bibles and Common-Prayer-Books of all Volumes , and of our Worshipping Assemblies .

The Standart of our English Language having been so much alter'd of late ; and Poetry especially having reach'd its utmost Height , by that noble Genius appearing in the Writings of Sir John Denham Mr. Waller , and Mr. Cowley , and some later Authors , the Roughness : and Uncorrectness of the Ancient Version has appear'd the more evident and notorious : The Observation of which made Mr. Sandys , Mr. May , Mr. Burnaby , Bishop King , Mr. Barton , Sir John Denham himself , Mr. Smith , Mr. Goodridge . Dr. Patrick , Dr. Woodford , and Dr. Ford , and now very lately . Mr. Brady and Mr. Tate , make their several Translations with different Success . Mr. Burnaby's Book and Mr. May's Essay , I have seen : Mr. Sandys's and the Reverend Dr. Woodford's are above our ordinary Musick , the last especially , whose Author seems to breath with David's Spirit , and to aspire to Raptures almost equal with that Divine Psalmist ; and whose Steps are as nobly follow'd by that Masculine Poet , as well as Painter , the incomparable Mrs. Beal . Mr. Barton's Version is generally apposite enough to the Text , but exalted little above the Old . Sir John Denham's I have not seen , but find the admirable Dr. Woodford ( a sufficient Judge ) giving them a noble and , doubtless , a deserv'd Character . That of the Right Reverend Bishop of Chichester labours under the unhappy Choice of his Rhyme ( as Others have observ'd ) so far , as to render , that otherwise excellent Work ungrateful to the Ear. Mr. Smith is very gay , and perhaps too affected , if the Reverend Doctor Patrick may be Judge , whose own is pious indeed , and generally plain ; but an almost Unpoetical Translation of the most exalted Poetry . For Mr. Brady's and Mr. Tate's , since they are now publishing a New and Corrected Edition of their Translation , I shall pass no Judgment on that Work , whose Errours and Excellencies I must be content to be ignorant of till it is published . Among those which I have hitherto seen , which are fitted to common Tunes , the best , the most Elaborate , and the most Musical , is , that of Dr. Ford ; that Reverend Person having a truly Poetical Genius , attended with great and solid Learning , and Exemplary Piety ; excellent Qualifications for a compleat Paraphrast . Nor ought Mr. Goodridge , for his Zeal and Piety in promoting more Correct Church Musick , to be passed without a just Commendation .

What might be said of the Use and Excellency of Psalmody , is so exhausted by Dr. Woodford , Mr. Goodridge and Dr. Ford , as to supersede any thing I can say . The Question only recurrs now , Is Psalmody a real Part of Divine Worship , or is it not ? If not , 't is no matter whether David's Psalms , or only Arbitrary Spiritual Philadelphian Hymns , be sung ; whether any , or none at all . If it be a Part of Divine Service , how comes it to pass that our Ecclesiastical Representative have not thought Uniformity in singing of Psalms as beautiful , and as valuable , as in any other Part of the Publick Service ? Why not in the Poetical , as well as in the Prose-Version ? This would take the Choice of them out of the Parish-Clerk's Power , and make it the Priest's Business , whose Discretion might be farther relied on in it . Admit the Translation of Sternhold and Hopkins was rejected by the Convocation or Commissioners of Edward the Sixth , as appearing too mean ; that could not preclude a more agreeable One. And though it might seem a very hard Work , which few of the Clergy ( though the fittest for it ) durst undertake ; yet , since at this time there are several Versions of the Psalms extant , why may not some One , or a choice Collection out of All , be made by Learned and Judicious Persons , skill'd in Divinity and Poetry too , appointed for that purpose , in a Convocation ? Why may not such a Committee examine them severely as to Clearness of Sense , Purity and Decency of Language , Agreeableness of Stile , Orthodoxy of Doctrine , Suitableness to the Original Text , and Smoothness and Musicalness , of Numbers ? And may not these , after such an Examination , be approved by the Convocation , as the whole Liturgy formerly was , and so be recommended by them to the Three Estates in Parliament , and to His Majesty as Head of the Church ; and so receive a Just and Legal Sanction , and become one Part of our Publick Unity and Uniformity ? Would such an Action bring them under a Premunire , merely because it was not particularly commanded by His Majesty ? I may , perhaps , be too fond of my own Thoughts ; but I conclude , this Piece of Uniformity would give less Offence to Dissenters of all sorts , than some other Things which are yet justly stood upon ; for they are not about Laying down the last Translation of the Bible : The nicest Pretenders to Conscience would have no-nothing to object to pure Scripture-Forms : Nor would they , when commanded under a Penalty to sing David's Psalms , of the best Version , complain of the Mischief of Impositions .

This is such a Point of Uniformity , as all Churches , our own only excepted , agree in : The Scots have theirs ; the Dutch and French , theirs ; the last , indeed , corrected by Mr. Conrart , the Standart of their Language having been much alter'd by the Academy , since Marot and Beza translated them ; yet their Work being still good and intelligible , Monsieur Conrart's has taken only among particular Persons , without any Intrenchment upon the general Harmony . The Lutherans too keep up this Uniformity ; though , besides David's Psalms , they have about 750 Spiritual Songs and Hymns , Stated , and Occasional . And who knows , but now that Singing of Psalms by Rule grows so much in Fashion , this Settlement might somewhat temper and cicurate the Humour of Separation in other Matters ?

If such a thing should be thought fit , there is no doubt but that , of particular Versions , the best ought to be chosen : Of all in general , the best particular Psalms ; for one Man's Spirit might be raised , where another droop'd ; and Men would commonly perform best , where they were most affected by the Matter . But to enjoin Unity or Uniformity in a worse Translation , where a better might be had ; or to cull out meaner Performances , where , out of our present Variety of Choice , excellent Things might be drawn , would dash us upon the same Rock again ; and the next Age might complain , that the Names of our Psalmographers were alter'd indeed , but the Defects continued : This is a Failure which a Convocation , assisted by the good Spirit of God , could not easily fall under the Suspicion of .

That I , as now an Ancient Presbyter of the Church of England , might contribute my poor Offering to the Adorning of this part of Sacred Worship , I put this into your Hands , Most Reverend , Right Reverend , and Reverend Fathers and Brethren ! A Work of some Pains and Care ; and on which my most serious Thoughts were for a considerable time engag'd , God's Honour , and the Church's Service , was my End ; and his Grace , earnestly and humbly implor'd , both in the Beginning and Continuance of the Work , my Assistance . The Original was my Text ; the Polyglot Bible and Criticks , my Interpreters , where needful ; and the Double Translation of the Reading Psalms , in that called the Bishops Bible , and the last in our common Bibles , my Correctors : Though I have not tied my self so superstitiously to any , as not to use my own Judgment sometimes ; and in some Things to stem the Current of Paraphrasts , and other Writers on that Divine Book . Particularly , I have adhered to those Applications made of several Passages here , by the Inspir'd Pen-men of the New Testament ; whom to quit for over nice and Socinianizing Criticks , I think absurd and dangerous . I have , in general , made the Sense and Coherence so plain , that this Version , perhaps may be as serviceable to some as a Commentator .

The Measures I have used are the Old , neither so hard , nor so harsh as some have thought : The Rhymes are every where double , sometimes more ; such being , when unforced , more pleasant , and more grateful , I have generally avoided the Clashing of Consonants , as Unmusical . About 50 are twice Translated , some thrice ; by that Means sometimes taking in those different Senses of particular Texts , of which 't is hard to fix the best ; Paraphrasing some lofty Psalms more fully , and using higher Expressions than a single Version could have admitted of . Hence every Psalm has one Translation so close and plain , as may be sung in the plainest Country-Congregations ; and yet I have used such Variety of Measures , as may answer all the Tunes in Playford's Edition : And that the Work might be the more compleat , I have given all such of Mr. Sandys's Measures , with their Tunes in Two Parts , which could not be sung by the common Notes . The whole , indeed , may be an entire Body of Church-Musick : No Old Tune lost several New are added ; and the Words so sitted , as to be more agreeble both to the Dutch , French and English Tunes , as sung in any of our Churches , than any former Version has ●een .