rageth more; nothing so sweet as the patience and goodness of God, and nothing so terrible as His wrath, when it takes fire.—Gurnall.

LESSON XXXVI.-Points for illustration :-Each Commandment, and the whole of the Commandments (75, 76, 77, 78.)

75. The broken chain.-Mr. Leupolt, of India, preaching to the people, pictured a boat whirled along by a furious river torrent. "Those on the shore look anxiously around, and discover a chain near them. A man instantly fastens a stone to a rope, binds the rope to the chain, and flings the stone into the boat. The rope is caught. The people eagerly lay hold of the chain, while those on shore begin to draw them, amid the raging element, towards the creek. They already rejoice at the prospect of deliverance; but when they are within a few yards of the land, one link of the chain breaks. I do not say ten links, but one link in the middle of the chain. What shall these distressed people do now? 'No, No!' says one of my hearers, 'overboard with the chain, or it will sink them sooner.' What then shall they do? 'Cast themselves upon the mercy of God,' exclaimed another. True, I replied, if one commandment be broken, it is as though all of them were broken. We cannot be saved by them; we must trust to the mercy of God, and lay hold on the mighty hand of Christ, which is stretched out to save us."-Biblical Museum.

76. The Fourth and Eighth Commandments.-The late worthy Dr. Lockhart, of the College Church, Glasgow, when travelling in England, was sojourning in an inn, when the Sabbath came round. On entering the public room, and about to set out to church, he found two gentlemen preparing for a game at chess. He addressed them in words to this effect: "Gentlemen, have you locked up your portmanteaus carefully?"—" No, what! are there thieves in this house?" "I do not say that; only I was thinking that if the waiter comes in and finds you making free with the fourth commandment, he may think of making free with the eighth commandment." Upon which the gentlemen said "There was something in that," and so laid aside their game.-Leisure Hour.

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77. Short Memories.-A gentleman was going along a road one Sabbath, when a person came up to him, and, bowing politely, said: Sir, did you pass three men driving a flock of sheep along this road?""Yes, sir," replied the gentleman; "and I noticed that one of them had a blue jacket on, and that they all had short memories." "Short memories!" said the stranger; "I don't see how you could tell what sort of memories they had."-"Certainly I could," said the gentleman, "for you know God has said, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy!' But these men had all forgotten it. They had short memories.”—Biblical Treasury.

78. The Fifth Commandment.-A lady having requested her three sons to furnish her with some token of their affection, one brought a costly tablet with her name engraved upon it; another presented her with a rich garland of flowers. Mother," said the third, "I have neither tablet nor garland, but I have a heart; here your name is engraved, and your memory is precious; this heart, filled with affection, will follow you wherever you go."

THE

SABBATH SCHOOL MAGAZINE.

REVISION OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE.

THE reader will have observed, from occasional notices in the newspapers of late, that the proposal, which was first brought before the country fifteen years since, to revise the authorized version of the Sacred Scriptures, is at present in active progress, two companies of divines and scholars being engaged in the work,-the one on the Old Testament, the other on the New Testament. These companies consist of members of the Convocation of Canterbury, together with a large and liberal infusion of clergymen and scholars of other churches, amongst whom may be named here Dr. W. Lindsay Alexander, Edinburgh; Rev. Dr. Weir, University of Glasgow; Principal Fairbairn and Professor Douglas, Free Church College, Glasgow; Professor A. B. Davidson, New College, Edinburgh, in the Old Testament company; and the Rev. Dr. Milligan, University of Aberdeen; Rev. Dr. Brown, Free Church College, Aberdeen; and Rev. Dr. Eadie, of Glasgow, Professor of Divinity in the United Presbyterian Church, in the New Testament company. Our English Bible has always stood high in the estimation of scholars as a faithful and critical translation; and there is no book in the language which embodies so perfect a representation of primitive unadulterated English. Such is the confidence of the English-speaking race throughout the world in the fidelity of the translation, and their affection for its grand old Saxon purity, that any attempt to intermeddle with the integrity of the version, in regard either to matter or manner, would be universally resented and repudiated. It is satisfactory, therefore, to be assured that the revisers contemplate nothing more than the correction of known and acknowledged errors and defects in the existing translation, and the substitution of modern words for those which have become obsolete, or have had their meaning changed. All anxiety as to the nature and extent of the revision has been set at rest by the publication of the terms upon which it is to be NO. IX.] [VOL. XXIII.

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conducted. In the report adopted by the originators of the undertaking, in the Convocation of Canterbury, it is proposed that the revision shall "not contemplate any new translation of the Bible, or any alteration of the language, except where, in the judgment of the most competent scholars, such change is necessary;" and that, "in such necessary changes the style of the language employed in the existing version be closely followed." Further, in the formal statement of general principles to be followed by both companies, it is agreed that they shall "introduce as few alterations as possible into the text of the authorized version, consistently with faithfulness;" and as regards the style, they are "to limit, as far as possible, the expression of such alterations to the language of the authorized and earlier English versions." The revision is also to include "the headings of chapters, pages, paragraphs, italics, and punctuation." When it is considered desirable by either company, reference is to be made for their opinions to divines, scholars, and literary men, whether at home or abroad.

The revision has been undertaken solely on the responsibility of the revisers, the result of whose labours will doubtless pass through a trying ordeal of scholastic criticism before it is finally adopted (if such is its destiny) by the people of Great Britain. When the subject was first mooted in 1856, an attempt was made unsuccessfully in Parliament to obtain a Royal Commission to deliberate upon the best means of attaining the object. The present arrangement was entered into in 1870, and the work of revision was commenced on the 22nd of June in that year. But eight days previously, Mr. Buxton moved in the House of Commons that an address should be presented to the Queen, praying that she would be pleased to invite the President of the United States to concur with her Majesty in appointing a Commission to revise the authorized version of the Bible. This proposal, after much discussion, was withdrawn. The question of "authorizing" the revised version will no doubt be discussed on a future occasion, should the version meet with general acquiescence. When that time comes, we trust that the momentous question will be considered with the solemnity due to its importance, by competent representatives of a nation which owes to its precious English Bible greater benefits than it has derived from all other books that ever existed. And as the history of the older English translations, the best features of which were ultimately embodied in our present authorized version, very manifestly indicates the watchful care of the Head of the Church over His own Word, may we venture to suggest, as a becoming duty on the part of the friends of Divine Truth, that there should be

much prayer, that the men engaged in the work of revision may be abundantly endowed with wisdom and grace for their delicate and responsible undertaking.

We shall avail ourselves of the interest excited by this subject to devote one or two papers to a familiar account of the old translations, and their merging in the existing version.

NOTES ON POPERY AND THE POPE.

FROM the year 1848 to 1870, the Pope was maintained in Rome as a temporal prince by the bayonets of the French army. The war betwixt France and Germany last year put an end to that unnatural state of things. The imperial power of Louis Napoleon and the temporal power of Pio Nono fell together. Whatever political end the aggressive war of France last year was meant to serve, it was at first hailed with sanguine expectations by the Romanists; and the Empress Eugenie, who, more than her husband, was the hope of Popery, is said to have patronized the conflict with Germany as "my war." Victor Emmanuel now reigns in Rome, which is once again the capital of free Italy. The Pope is allowed to continue in undisturbed possession of his authority as head of the Church of Rome. Religious freedom-freedom of conscienceprevails in Rome for the first time since the city fell under the malign influence of Popery. The education of the people has been taken out of the hands of the priests, and the Government is co-operating with private enterprise in setting up schools for secular instruction. The circulation of the Sacred Scriptures has "free course." The English, Scottish, and American churches, hitherto barely tolerated, and that only outside of the walls, enjoy perfect liberty, and in certain instances are contemplating the erection of chapels within the city. The French war, the downfall of Napoleon, the termination of the Pope's dominion as a political prince, the possession of Rome by the King of Italy, and the prevalence of free thought in the capital, are events which have followed hard after each other within the same year which heard the Ecumenical Council at Rome declare the infallibility of the Pope! Can any man contemplate the connection of the links in this chain of events without the conviction heing pressed in upon bis mind that verily there is a Divine Providence in history? Peace was no sooner restored to France than an attempt was made in the French Chamber, by the Archbishop of Cambrai and some dozen of other Romish prelates, to induce that body to intervene in behalf of the Pope in Rome. M. Thiers, the temporary chief of the French

Government, and to whom the Romanists, not without reason, look for such support as it is within his power to bestow, feels it necessary to discourage the movement just now, inasmuch as any interference on the part of France in the affairs of Italy would inevitably involve the French in another war. M. Thiers, therefore, could venture no further than to promise, not that he would exert himself to restore the political power of the Pope in the city of Rome, but only that he would use every means at his command to secure the Pope's independence in his spiritual actions. But this is exactly the privilege with which nobody shews any inclination to interfere, although the Pope pretends to the contrary, and, in order to keep up the make-believe, shuts himself in the Vatican, and declares himself a prisoner. Meanwhile he exercises his spiritual functions without let or hindrance. He has just completed the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate, a thing unparalleled for a Pope to do; and so far from anybody wishing ill personally to the old gentleman, even the Queen of Great Britain and the Emperor of Germany telegraphed to him their congratulations on the event. All he has to do is to maintain quietness, to shew due civility to those about him, and to give up once for all the hope of recovering the temporal power. The Roman Catholic paper, the Univers, published in Paris, in commenting upon the debate in the French Assembly, says it is useless to disguise the fact that the cause of the temporal power is lost in that body. "All our hopes have been disappointed," it adds; "in the only nation upon which the Papacy could count, the last support fails it. Humanly speaking, all is over." So the people feel, not only in Paris, but in Rome. "As I was passing," says a newspaper correspondent, "through the Piazza Colonna, six or seven foreign priests, together with some two or three ladies, were looking at the column. Two shoeblack boys accosted them, and touching their caps, offered their services to the religious tourists. One of them drew from his pocket a sou, and, handing it to the boy, said, in a loud tone of voice, 'Here, my young fellow, take this, and say an Ave Maria for the re-establishment of the temporal power.' The boy looked around and refused the money, saying, 'No, no, that would be lost time.'"

Our readers must have watched with interest the progress of Dr. Döllinger, the eminent German ecclesiastic, who, having courageously resisted from the beginning the dogma of the Pope's infallibility, has been excommunicated from the Church of Rome, although the report goes that the Pope would give not a little to subdue his opposition and get him back into the Papal hierarchy. Dr. Döllinger has taken up a distinctive position, which we may, for the sake of brevity, describe as