fact, no one known channel of truth was to be left unexplored; there was now to be a most practical answer given to the unworthy remark, "If every man's humour were to be followed, there would be no end of translating."

The work thus virtually commenced under the king's authority in the year 1604 was carried on in the most quiet and unobtrusive manner by the revisers, for about three years; each as it would appear desiring to keep back the formal part of the task until full time had been given to mature and perfect the section he had received. In the year 1607, the groups of men, two at Oxford, twe at Cambridge, and two at Westminster, began to meet for the purpose of settling and arranging the text according to the opinion of their members. A great deal of time was taken up in these necessary and important discussions, as no verse or word was permitted to stand unless its presence was supported by the strongest and best evidence. So careful were the revisers in their preliminary labours, that when they knew that a certain small word was a better equivalent for the original Hebrew or Greek than a longer, which was in the Bishops' Bible, they invariably made the change, their object evidently being to make the language of Holy Scripture as plain, clear, and simple as possible.

At the end of about three years, in the year 1610, copies of the Scriptures, as revised by each group of scholars, were handed over to a body of six of the most eminent of the labourers, two from Oxford, two from Cambridge, and two from Westminster, to be reviewed by them in consultation with certain other learned men chosen for the purpose. These picked men spent nine months in going over again what had been given to them with the most scrupulous care, one perchance reading whilst others would listen with Hebrew, or Greek, or Latin, or German, or French, or Italian versions before them. There was no shrinking from labour, no manifestation of undue haste, but a painstaking and conscientious desire to produce a version which might fairly challenge criticism and allay doubts and fears.

In the year 1611, there was prepared for the press the manuscript as finally corrected by Bishop Bilson and Dr. Miles Smith; and under their supervision the first edition of the Version, which goes by the name of the "Authorised Version," was imprinted at London by Robert Barker in the course of the same year. So great was the change for the better in many important passages, and so visible the improvement in the whole tone and character of the renderings, that the Revisers do not shrink from saying in the preface that their Version is "newly translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised by his Majesty's special command."

Since the first edition was printed and published in the year 1611, this "Authorised Version," known by us, has gradually displaced all other translations, and won it sway quietly to the position which it now holds, as that of the Standard of Truth, for all who speak the English language. There are doubtless in this, as in all former, translations, trivial errors which greater acquaintance with the original torgues enables us to discern, yet still, considering the

Origin and History of the English Bible.

age in which it was made, we may regard our present English Bible as a very marvel of perfection. Even those most diligent labourers who spent so much time and pains in its production did not claim for their work absolute freedom from fault: in their modesty, they prefixed these truthful remarks, "Truly, good Christian reader, we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, but to make a good one better .. or out of many good ones one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark. To that purpose there were many chosen that were greater in other men's eyes than in their own, and that sought the truth rather than their own praise.... Neither did we disdain to revise that which we had done, and to bring back to the anvil that which we had hammered; but having and using as great helps as were needful, and fearing no reproach for slowness, nor coveting praise for expedition, we have at the length, through the good hand of the Lord upon us, brought the work to that pass that you see."

It would be ungracious in the extreme to complain of a Version of Holy Scriptures which was brought out under the sanction of such profound scholarship, and has stood its ground under the most trying circumstances; and at the same time unwise to regard it as above all honest criticism. If, by the aid of a more advanced learning, any renderings can be made a more accurate interpretation of the original records; or if, by the help of more ancient and correct manuscripts, small points here and there may be made more intelligible, there should be no fear to accept these emendations, and to accept them in the most grateful spirit as special blessings to a later age. Literal accuracy is not to be scorned, though there stands out as a standing warning to idolaters of an exact text, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life;" and any time, perseverance, or genius spent in securing for us the most perfect transcript of the Divine will to man, should receive our heartiest thanks.

In the slight sketch of the Origin and History of the English Bible which has been attempted in these pages during the year, there has necessarily been omitted several of those more graphic episodes which have occurred in the long period which has been treated of; it is to be hoped, however, that the fragments which have been communicated may quicken in the minds of many a strong and abiding desire to follow up the study of such an important subject with a more lively and intelligent interest. Abundant means for so doing have been furnished during the last few years by able and accomplished writers, whose names are a guarantee for solid learning and patient research. Archbishop Trench on the "Authorised Version," and Canon Westcott on the English Bible, supply ample materials for a much more extended enquiry than could possibly be carried on in these pages; and for an account of the earlier Wycliffite Versions, the splendid book of Forshall and Madden supplies every tittle of information which the most industrious learner can desire.

If we have seen, in this imperfect history, some slight indica

tions of a providential watching over the Word of God, some few traces of a higher hand protecting these treasures of wisdom from hurt or harm, let us not be afraid to avow our convictions; or to allow our veneration to increase with every succeeding year of life. Death has been bravely faced, loss and imprisonment have been cheerfully borne by many a noble hero in defence of God's Written Word; and much pain has been secretly endured by those who have striven to hand down undefiled the streams of Gospel Truth. The fixing of the Canon, the preservation of Manuscripts, the translations into other languages, the exclusion of interpolated verses, have not been easy tasks at various times, and thankful ought each reader of the English Bible to be that such a glorious heritage has been bequeathed to him.

Living in times of change, when anxious souls are again claiming a removal of the few imperfections which disfigure pages of the Sacred Book, let us not be afraid to commend the task unto the hands of ripe scholars and religious men. If the Divines of the age of James I. supposed that improvements could be made in the future, and looked upon their work as a temporary and not a final effort, let us not shrink from the task which is set by men craving for truth, but earnestly and willingly, with God's help, pursue it. Fear, there need be none. God's word to His people is still, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. (Matt. xxviii. 20).

Sunny Days in Winter.

SUMMER is a glorious season,
Warm, and bright, and pleasant;
But the Past is not a reason
To despise the Present.

So, while health can climb the mountain,
And the log lights up the hall,
There are sunny days in winter, after all.

Spring, no doubt, hath faded from us,
Maiden-like in charms;
Summer, too, with all the promise,
Perish'd in our arms:

But the memory of the vanish'd,

Whom our hearts recall,

Maketh sunny days in winter, after all!

True, there's scarce a flower that bloometh

All the best are dead;

But the wall-flower still perfumeth
Yonder garden bed;

And the arbutus, pearl-blossom'd,
Hangs its coral ball:

There are sunny days in winter, after all!

Amen."

Summer trees are pretty-very,
And I love them well;

But this holly's glistering berry
None of those excel.

While the fir can warm the landscape,

And the ivy clothes the wall,
There are sunny days in winter, after all!

Sunny hours in every season

Wait the innocent

Those who taste with love and reason
What their God hath sent;

Those who neither soar too highly,
Nor too lowly fall,

Feel the sunny days of winter, after all!

Then, although our darling treasures
Vanish from the heart-

Then, although our once loved pleasures,
One by one depart-

Though the tomb looms in the distance,
And the mourning pall,

There is sunshine, and no winter, after all!

Hearty Hints to Lay Officers of the Church.

BY GEORGE VENABLES, S.C.L., VICAR OF ST. MATTHEW'S, LEICESTER. GUILDMEN.

S a general and very great principle, we would say, at the outset, that we regard every baptized person, on arriving at a fit age, as bound by every consideration to be confirmed, and then to become a regular and a frequent communicant, and that every communicant is, by that very act, a member of the best, the greatest, the truest, and the grandest of Guilds, being bound as a member of Christ to do something, however small, however great, however insignificant, or however important, for the advancement of Christ's kingdom, and for the benefit of the family of fallen Adam, whom Jesus, the second Adam, hath redeemed. And we believe that this truth, long neglected and almost forgotten, cannot be too much insisted on. If practically recognised, it would raise up such a band of lay helpers in the church as would, with God's blessing, effect a mighty reformation amongst the people, and would do much to spread true religion. One great means towards producing this result is found in numerous associations, societies and guilds, with which the church is teeming now. It matters little by what name we term these associations, for in practice most of them mean nearly the same thing. Some think that

"association" is the best term, while others think that the word has a very scientific ring about it; some fancy that the term "guild" smacks terribly of Popery, even as others, who have a sound and wholesome dread both of Popery and Romanism, consider the word as the most convenient and appropriate term that our vocabulary contains.

Dismissing such a question as a mere trifle amongst men in earnest, and a mere quibble amongst determined fault-finders, who will be neither silenced nor satisfied with any thing that earnest churchmen attempt to do, we rather throw our thoughts together upon the work to be done and the workers to do it. We hope the day is now quite near when permanent deacons will be ordained to minister within and outside the church; when unpaid subdeacons (who will not thereby put aside their condition as laymen) will also be carefully selected and ordered for work also within, and, perhaps, without the church walls. There is great need for some such proceeding. It would give an impulse to church work which is still needed. But there is, and there ever will be, a work to be done by the Church, the full discharge of which demands the action of every member of the Church, just because he or she is a member of it (1 Cor. xii. 21, 22).

The principle is one, the practical applications numerous and not altogether easy to enumerate. The principle is clear enough. The Church consists of many members, under the one great head, Jesus Christ. Every member, without exception, has its functions to perform within the one united body, and no member is so unimportant that the most comely member can do without it. There is such a combination amongst all the members as renders it impossible for one member to say to another "I have no need of thee." The great point of enquiry for every member of Christ's

Church, then, is, what is my fanction? What is that, in this great body of the Church of Christ, whereof I am a member, which I am called upon to perform?

It matters not whether you be poor or rich, learned or ignorant, blind or lame, or even bed-ridden. Every member of the Church of Christ can do something, as such, to the glory of his God and Saviour, and the good of his fellow-creatures. It is, therefore, at once your highest duty and your greatest privilege to feel that you have such a calling, and, the point to be decided by you is, what is your peculiar calling within the Church, and consistently with due order?

In very many instances (especially where the Guild simply demands that you be a communicant, and that you promise to do something every week to the glory of God and the extension of His Church), you will find a Guild will afford you the very platform for usefulness you desire.

And let me say to all hearty Guildmen, do whatever you undertake with perseverance, life, and reality. Never attempt anything in connection with the Church with hesitation, or doubt, or uncertainty. Do it because it is right, because you ought to do it, and with a happy conviction that it is useless without the blessing of God, and withal that God will bless it and any work done in His name and in reliance upon His grace.

This is the last of the set of "Hearty Hints" to my fellow brethren of the Church. I have endeavoured to write them all under a sense of the responsibility entrusted to me, and I have sought so to write them as to make men feel an interest in them. I am sensible of many shortcomings, but I can say, with a heartfelt consciousness of truth, that I have earnestly wished to avoid hurting the feelings of any one, while seeking to be as practical as possible. If, however, I have failed in this particular, I beg to assure every reader that it would pain me greatly to give needless offence, and that I have never once done so intentionally. May it please God so to bless all the readers of my Hearty Hints, that though unknown to each other, we all may work heartily in the great Anglican communion of the Church Catholic of Christ, in whatever part of the world we may be.

And hereafter, when our work is over, "having served God in our day and generation" here, may we rejoice in His presence, and praise His grace and love which made us "Hearty Workers" in His Church on earth. Till then, let our motto be "Be not weary in well doing, our labour is not in vain in the Lord."

Life.

We live in deeds not years, in thoughts not breaths,
In feelings not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

BAILEY.