NEWCOME, Wm., D.D., Archbishop of Armagh, was the son of a clergyman at Abington, in Berkshire, where he was born in 1729. Edu cated at the grammar school of his native town, he soon passed thence to Oxford, where he became fellow and tutor of Hertford College, having C. J. Fox as one of his pupils. In 1765 he proceeded D. D., and, in the capacity of chaplain, accompanied his patron, the Earl of Hertford, when he went as Lord-Lieutenant to Ireland. Here he was soon made Bishop of Dromore, but was successively translated to Ossory, to Waterford, and finally to Armagh in 1795. He died in i800. He was characterised by affability, candour, moderation, and liberality of sentiment. A diligent biblical student, he became the author of several works on biblical and theological subjects, much more esteemed formerly than now. The principal are : I. An Harmony of the Gospels, in which the ori ginal text is disposed after Le Clerc's general man ner, with such various readings at the foot of the page as have received Wetstein's sanction, etc. Observations subjoined, tending to settle the time and place of every transaction, etc., and to reconcile seeming inconsistencies, London 1778, folio. This work involved him in a controversy with Dr. Priestly as to the duration of our Lord's ministry, Priestly contending for one, Newcome for three years. 2. An Attempt towards an Improved Ver
sion, a Metrical Arrangement, and an Exposition of the Twelve Minor Prophets, London 1785, 4to. 3. An Attempt towards an Improved Version, a Metrical Arrangement, etc., of the prophet Ezekiel, Dublin 1788, 4to. Both the translation and the notes proceed to a large extent on the vicious prin ciple ... of getting rid of difficulties in the sense by proposed emendations of the text.' Would cor rect the Heb. text from the Septuagint '— Fair bairn. 4. An Historical View of the English Biblical Translations ; the Expedience of revising by authority our present Translation, and the Means of executing such a Revision, Dublin 1792, 8vo. 5. An Attempt towards revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures, or the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, and towards illustrat ing the sense by philological and explanatory Notes, 1796, 2 vols. royal 8vo. Although bearing the above date, this work was not published till some time after the author's death. It was pro fessedly made the basis of the unscholarly and worthless production published by the Unitarians under the dignified title of 'The New Testament in an IMPROVED VERSION,' etc.—I. J.