The History of the Bible, Title page – To the reader
THE HISTORIE OF THE BIBLE, BRIEFly collected by way of Queſtion and anſvver.
Read and corrected by the Author.
Deut. 11. v. 18. 19. 20. 21.
Ye ſhall lay vp theſe my words in your heart & in your ſoule, and bind them for a ſigne vponupon your hand, that they may be as a frontlet betweene your eies.
And ye ſhall teach them your children, ſpeaking of them, when thou ſitteſt in thine houſe, and when thou walkeſt by the way, and when thou lieſt downe, and when thou riſeſt vp.
And thou ſhalt write them vponupon the poſtes of thine houſe, and vponupon thy gates.
That your daies may be multiplied, and the daies of your children, &c.
Printed by IOHN LEGATE Printer to the Vniuerſitie of …mbridge. And are to be ſold in Pauls Churchyard at the ſigne of the Crovvne by Simon Waterſon.
To the Chriſtian Reader.
CHriſtian Reader, this booke was lately publiſhed in print, and giuen forth to be mine, wherein they hauehave iniured both thee and me. Thee in publiſhing a Pamphlet ſo faultie and with ſo many wants. The iniurie to me is, becauſe that was giuen forth to be mine, which I did neuer write, nor read ouer written by others, vntill I ſaw it in print. When my children firſt began to ſpeake for the furtherance of them and my ſeruants in the knowledge of the Hiſtorie of the Bible, after a Chapter read at our meales, at dinner out of the old Testament, at ſupper out of the new: I gaue thē by word of mouth onelyonly, ſuch obſeruations as I thought fit for their capacitie & vnderſtanding, and by their anſwers to my queſtions, I daily tooke an account how they vnderſtood and retained theſame in memorie. After 26. yeares continuance in this exerciſe, by ſome vnaduiſed youth, or vndiſcreete ſeruant of mine, ſome Printer gate it: wherof whē I had an inckling, I trauelled to ſome in authoritie, and by labouring with them gat it ſtaied not to be printed in Londō: yet it comming forth, they printing it otherwhere without my knowledge or liking: I thought it my dutie beeing thereto intreated alſo by others, to read it ouer, and in ſome ſort to redreſſe the abuſe offered vntounto thee by the former Impreſſion. And I beſeech the Lord to bleſſe this and all other my labours in ſome meaſure to be profitable to thee & his church.
From my houſe at Deptford the 9. of Auguſt. 1602. The L. vnprofitable Miniſter, lame Euſebius Pagit.