Sometimes people seem to talk as if no effort for God were of any value, unless a large number of souls could at once be influenced by it; but surely this is not in accordance with the spirit of our Blessed Saviour's teaching. Each soul is of infinite value in the sight of the Father, who created it, the Son who redeemed it, and the Holy Spirit who longs to sanctify it. The same God, who said by the mouth of Ezekiel, 'Behold all souls are Mine,'* has written the same truth upon the heart of the Church in all time since. It was in this spirit then that St. Paul watched the struggles and prayed against the temptations of each one, whose spiritual history he knew. Our Lord seemed to gather up into His own sympathy the special need of each soul. He proposed an apparently stern ordeal to prove the ambitious request of the sons of Zebedee; He had a word of infinite sympathy for the penitent Magdalene; and a look of reproachful love for the Apostle who in a moment of weakness had denied Him. In short, He had ways of dealing with individual souls only consistent with His perfect knowledge as God of the wants of those souls. St. Paul, in his measure, though of course at an infinite distance, tried to catch this spirit, and hence his power of adaptation to the wants of individual souls, and his ready ministry to their special necessities.

II. This keen appreciation of the value of each soul did not lessen the Apostle's zeal for dealing with men in the mass. His ministry combined at once the special treatment of individuals and the universal proclamation of the good news of God.' Care for individuals did not cramp his ministry, or diminish its breadth in any way, nor did his ever-growing love for souls, widening as it naturally did, the sphere of his action, lessen his interest in the soul of each one to whom he ministered.

In this twofold spirit we seem to have the grand principle of Christian work set out by the Apostle. The mission of the Minister of Christ is to each soul, and yet it is to the whole world. That Ministry must have sympathy for each, and yet it knows no bounds to that sympathy. It is not mere fellow-feeling,' no mere genial kindliness, which springs out of a heart loving by nature; but it is the offspring of grace, and the outflow of a heart constrained by the love of Christ, and quickened by the spirit of His Compassion. In this spirit surely we ought to ask God that we, whether Clergy or Laity, may work. We must not undervalue the importance of great and united efforts, such as organised assaults on the kingdom of Satan; neither, on the other hand, can we afford to despise the detailed dealing with souls for Christ's glory. Each has its place in the ministry alike of the Clergy and their lay-helpers. What we all need, and what each of us should strive after, is the spirit of Christ-like love to all souls, and the spirit of Christ-like sympathy for each soul. So when the last great in-gathering comes, as we behold souls gathered for ever into the peace of God, and the unending praise of Heaven, each yearning shall be satisfied, all longings shall be fulfilled, and we shall know in Heaven, as we never knew on earth, the meaning of that expression, the compassion of Jesus Christ!'

Ezekiel xviii. 4.

The Butcher's Horse.

HENEVER I take my few minutes' stroll, before setting down to work, I am amused and interested by watching the horses and their drivers in the service of the various tradespeople who supply the daily wants of our neighbourhood. Sometimes I am pleased, often I am vexed, according to the way in which I see men and boys treat the animals When I think how much we depend upon entrusted to their care. the good nature and forbearance of animals, so much stronger than ourselves, I feel angry with those who drive a willing horse too fast. A boy is apt to forget how helpless he would feel if the pony which he is cruelly driving beyond its pace (being assisted in lashing it by some companion whom he has picked up on the road), were suddenly to turn round and upset the cart. In single harness there is nothing to prevent a horse from doing so.

I am happy to say that most of the men I meet are kind and gentle with their horses, and it is pleasant to see the recognition with which the latter greet each other, as they meet day after day at the different houses of the customers.

Butchers who ride are getting scarce now, as it is more convenient to man and horse to travel about in a light cart with the meat. Nevertheless, sometimes a return to the old fashion becomes He stood there as stolid necessary, and hence it was that I saw the old grey of our illustration waiting all by himself for his master. as Old Time. All of a sudden his ears were pricked forward, and his head bent round towards the well-known and evidently welcome footsteps which he heard. As I approached him I said to the man a few words in praise of his horse, and hoped he was kind to him, feeling convinced beforehand that such was the case. not wait for me as he does, if I were not," was the reply, which proved what I had before surmised. The man further told me that he had been three years in the place, and that he was going to have a photograph made of his four-footed friend. Being on good terms with his horse, made his work pleasant to both.

"He would

It is not only right to be kind to one's horse, but also advantageous; for the horse, when well treated, lasts longer, and does his work better. If one thinks of the nervous temperament of a horse, we may be sure that it is no trifling effort to him to keep still and in one place when left to himself. I was one day watching a small pony outside a butcher's shop, in a lively and somewhat narrow street of a country town. The pony was waiting for the little boy in blue and his basket to be got ready. Every passing object seemed to make his whole nervous system quiver, but he would not move, and only betrayed his uneasiness by the twitching of his ears and shaking of his head. His greatest trial seemed to be when the rival butcher-boy came trotting past on his old white pony, yet even then he did not stir.

One of the happiest beings in existence must be a little, goodhumoured butcher-boy, out in the morning sun on a fast little pony. I wish I could instil into every such boy how much he is indebted to the willing animal which carries him, and that he should not make so free with spur and whip on an animal that will bear it, and to remember how frightened he would be on a resolute horse, which a child could not ride. There is a little urchin, on

Origin and History of the English Bible.

whom I keep my eye, who has managed with his one spur and little whip to make a very tidy pony a confirmed jibber. I foretold him how it would be, and there are now half a dozen turns in his beat where he has to get help and have the pony led round.

On the Origin and History of the English Bible.

BY DENHAM ROWE NORMAN, VICAR OF MIDDLETON-BY-WIRKSWORTH. A.D. 1536-1660.

T was in the extremely unsettled days of the reign of Henry VIII. that such surprising advances were made in the work of supplying the English people with copies of the word of God in their own tongue. It was hardly to be expected, that a monarch who had begun his career as a staunch supporter of Roman pretensions would eventually be so thoroughly altered in his sentiments as to permit a free circulation of the Holy Scripture throughout his dominions; and yet that change was effected.

Coverdale had undertaken a translation of the Old and New Testament, and had brought his labours to a successful issue, delivering to his countrymen the first complete Bible in English. The demand for this valuable treasure was so eager and sustained, that not many months had passed over before the edition was completely exhausted. In many respects inaccurate, in many passages at fault, the first batch of Coverdale's Bible readily found purchasers, even at a comparatively exorbitant price, and in the face of a keen opposition to its sale offered by the bishops and clergy.

In the year A.D. 1537, two fresh editions of Coverdale's Bible were brought out which were overseen and corrected by James Nycolson, in Southwarke." In these volumes occur for the first time the words "set forth with the king's most gracious license." There had been in preceding years an unwritten sanction to circulate the Bible in English, but now a bolder step is taken, and what may be called the first "Authorised Version" was put forth and commended to the clergy in a Royal injunction, which required that before "Aug. 1 next coming every parson or proprietary of any parish church within this realm shall provide the whole Bible in Latin, and also in English, and lay the same in the quire for every man that will to look and read therein."

This translation of Coverdale, as the author himself contemplated, was soon followed by another from the hands of men who had devoted much time and money to its completion. Various former translations were made use of by John Rogers and T. Matthew in executing their task, Tyndale's and Coverdale's especially; so that this large folio edition, though bearing the name of Matthew, must be regarded merely as an attempt to improve the work of others rather than an original work of the joint labourers. This Bible, dedicated to the king, appeared in the year A.D. 1537, and soon created a favourable impression on the mind of Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who made no secret of his despair of any translation ever proceeding from the bishops of England, writing

thus-that he hoped this edition of Matthew may be allowed in use "until such time as we bishops shall set forth a better translation, which I think will not be till a day after doomsday."

There was now taken one further step with this translation of Matthew. Coverdale's Bible had been issued under the license and with the approval of the King, but now this of Matthew and Rogers was allowed to be "bought and read within this realm." All pains and penalties were now removed, and for the first time the Holy Scriptures were permitted to the use of all who were disposed to obtain them. This fresh-gained liberty on behalf of lay readers soon manifested itself in the rapid disappearance of the first edition, which had been brought out under the auspices of Grafton and Whitchurch, merchants, and subsequently book publishers. What tended to make this translation popular was the large body of notes and comments with which the margin was studded, many of which were of a homely and striking kind.

Even now, with these several translations before them, there was in the minds of many an increasing desire to possess another, and, if possible, a more perfect and trustworthy copy of Holy Writ than any that had yet appeared. The more highly educated and more influential portion of the people were not content with Tyndale, or Coverdale, or Matthew and Rogers, and demanded another translation which should be more strictly in accordance with the original writings. In the early part of 1538, Cromwell, the King's secretary, who took a lively interest in the work of translation and spread of Holy Writ, prevailed on Coverdale, who had been improving his knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, and other languages, to undertake another English edition of Scripture. Entrusted with such a work by a man in so high a position as Cromwell, Coverdale went about his task in a most determined manner. As it was impossible to produce a Bible worthy of the time, with the materials found in England, Coverdale travelled to Paris, taking with him Grafton, the publisher. The earlier translations were diligently compared with the Hebrew and Greek, and with those versions which had been recently made by Luther and others in the German and French languages. Numerous alterations and improvements were introduced, and the work was rapidly advancing to completion under the license of Francis, the King of France, when an order from the Inquisitor-general was received, demanding an instant cessation of the work. Fortunately the greater part of the sheets on their issue from the press had been sent by Bishop Bonner to England and thus escaped from harm; and not long after the receipt of the Jesuit interdict, presses, types, and printers were brought over to England. This translation, completed about the month of April, 1539, is sometimes called "Cranmer's Bible," but more generally goes under the name of "The Great Bible."

This translation appeared in a little while after-in the year 1540 -with a preface, which had been written by Cranmer specially for it; and subsequent editions have also intimations that they had been overseen and perused by Tunstall and Heath." So great was the demand for this edition of Holy Scripture that it was found almost impossible to supply it in the quantities required. The utmost