Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 45.djvu/418

 version as could be conveniently done.’ Platt, however, made a few notes of the readings which particularly struck him. His notes only extended to the Gospels; for the Acts and the Epistles he used only one manuscript and Walton's text. In 1829 he also prepared an edition of the Syriac Gospels, and in 1844 edited an Amharic version of the Bible, using the translation of Abba Rukh for the Old Testament, and that of Abu Rumi Habessinus for the New.

In 1827 he defended the British and Foreign Bible Society from an attack made on their publications in the ‘Quarterly Review.’ In 1840, in a ‘Letter to Dr. Pusey,’ he described his conversion from his evangelical opinions to tractarian views. He, however, protested against the application by some of the tractarians of ‘mystical and spiritual interpretations to the prophecies of the Old Testament.’

Platt was one of the earliest members of the Royal Asiatic Society, and for many years acted as one of its oriental translation committee. He was also a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

He lived for many years at Child's Hill, Hampstead, but died at Dulwich Hill, Surrey, on 31 Oct. 1852, leaving an only son, Francis Thomas Platt.

[Gent. Mag. 1852, ii. 660; Luard's Grad. Cant.; Proc. Roy. Asiatic Society and Society of Antiquaries; Horne's Introduction to Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures, 10th edit. iv. 317–320, 733; Smith's Dict. of Bible, 1863, iii. 1614; Allibone's Dict. Engl. Lit. ii. 1606; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Platt's works; information kindly supplied by the librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge.]  PLATTES, GABRIEL (fl. 1638), writer on agriculture, said to have been of Dutch extraction, was one of the earliest advocates in England of an improved system of husbandry, and devoted much time and money to practical experiments. In 1639 he stated that he ‘was not necessitated to make begging letters, though not possessed of any great estate’ (Discovery of Infinite Treasure, ep. ded.), but he appears to have been extremely poor, and was relieved by Samuel Hartlib, to whom he left his unpublished papers. His ‘Treatise of Husbandry’ (1638) throws much light on the state of agriculture and the relations of landlord and tenant during the seventeenth century. His later tracts mainly repeat under new titles the information which he first published in his ‘Treatise.’ Though he influenced later writers, he was neglected during his lifetime, and is said to have been found dead in the streets of London during the Commonwealth, in a state of extreme destitution (, Legacie, 1651 pp. 125–7, 1652 pp. 87, 88). Besides the works mentioned, he wrote: 1. ‘A Discoverie of Infinite Treasure, hidden since the World's Beginning. Whereunto all men, of what degree soever, are friendly invited to be sharers with the Discoverer, G. P.,’ London, 1639, 4to. This also appeared under the title ‘A Discovery of Subterraneall Treasure, viz., of all manner of mines and minerals … and also the art of melting, refining, and assaying of them,’ London, 1639, 4to; London, 1653, 4to; another edition, with the title ‘A Discovery of Subterranean Treasure, whereunto is added a real experiment whereby every ignorant man … may try whether any piece of gold … be true or counterfeit,’ London, 1679, 4to; reprinted in ‘A Collection of scarce … Treatises upon Metals,’ 1739, 12mo; 1740, 12mo. 2. ‘Observations and Improvements in Husbandry, with twenty Experiments,’ London, 1639, 4to. 3. ‘Recreatio Agriculturæ,’ London, 1640, 1646, 4to. 4. ‘The profitable Intelligencer, communicating his knowledge for the generall good of the Commonwealth and all Posterity, &c.’ [London, 1644], 4to.

[Donaldson's Agricultural Biography, p. 21; Felton's Gardeners' Portraits, London, 1830; Johnson's Hist. of Gardening; Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture, p. 1207; Thorold Rogers's Hist. of Agriculture and Prices, v. 55; Work and Wages, pp. 455–8.]  PLATTS, JOHN (1775–1837), unitarian divine and compiler, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire in 1775. For seven or eight years he officiated as a Calvinist minister there, but afterwards became a unitarian, and acted as a unitarian minister at Boston from 1805 to 1817. In 1817 he removed to Doncaster. Platts supplemented his small ministerial income by teaching and compiling educational works. He was also an ardent liberal politician, and was a humorous speaker. He died at Doncaster, after a long illness, on 19 June 1837. His widow died in 1851, leaving five daughters.

In 1825 Platts published five volumes of ‘A new Universal Biography,’ containing lives of eminent persons in all ages and countries, arranged in chronological order, with alphabetical index. This work, founded largely on Aikin and Chalmers, extended only to the end of the sixteenth century; the rest remained in manuscript. In 1827 appeared, in 4to, Platts's ‘New Self-interpreting Testament, containing many thousands of various Readings and Parallel Passages collected from the most approved Translators and Biblical Critics.’ In the