Nireús, the handsomest man who came to Troy of the other Πὰρ δ ̓ αὐτὸς κλισμὸν θέτο ποικίλον, ἔκτοθεν ἄλλων Μνηστήρων ; where Telemachus is represented as placing for himself a seat apart from the other suitors, as if he himself had been one of them. In the Odyssey, XI. 469, of Ajax it is said: ὅς ἄριστος την εἶδος τε δέμας τε Τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, etc. "Who was noblest in appearance and form of the other Greeks; and in the same canto, line 550, almost the same expression occurs: Αἴανθ, ὅς πέρι μὲν εἶδος, πέρι δ ̓ ἔργα τέτυκτο Τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, etc. 'Ajax, who, in form and deeds, was the most distinguished of the other Greeks;" and these same two lines occur again in Odyssey, XXIV. 17, 18. Again, in his 'Peloponnesian War,' I. 1, Thucydides characterises that contest as ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων ; “ the most worthy of mention of all those which had preceded it;" as if it could be described as being itself one of these contests. Horace, in Satires, I. i. 100, described the freed-woman of Ummidius, who clove that worthy to the chine with an axe, as 'fortissima Tyndaridarum,' thereby implying only that she had by that deed displayed a spirit exceeding even that of the daughters of Tyndareus; in allusion, of course, to Clytemnestra, who slew, or helped to slay, her husband Agamemnon. Still another poet, whose name I cannot at present recall, writes of Diana as 'comitum pulcherrima,'-" the fairest of her own attendant damsels." Tacitus, in his History, I. 50, says of the Emperor Vespasian: 'Solus omnium ante se principum in melius mutatus est: that is, that he was the only one of the princes who had preceded him who was converted to a better course, as if he himself could have been one of those princes. So much for the ancients. Among modern writers, we have as a palmary example the lines of Milton cited above. Shakespeare, too, in Midsummer Night's Dream, V. i. 252, has: "the greatest error of all the rest," instead of, a greater error than any of the rest; and very likely he may have other examples of the same construction. Newton insists that it would not be incorrect to describe a man as "the most learned of all others; while, in Elrington's Life of Archbishop Ussher, Prynne is quoted as writing to the following effect: "This Archbishop (of Canterbury) was the very worst of all his traytorous (sic) predecessors;" as if a man could be one of his own predecessors. Thus it is apparent that there is plenty of precedent and authority, both in ancient and modern times, for this most curious construction. And yet, when all is said and done, and no matter who began it, or who continued it-not if fifty Homers and Miltons did so-it must be admitted that this construction is absolutely erroneous and absurd. It may possibly be palliated by authority, or defended under the plea that "communis error facit jus"; yet it is intrinsically vicious, and full of original sin. At all events, they who hold this view are in pretty good company, since it was censured by Addison, and totally condemned by Bentley. The Roman satirist warns us against indulgence in crambe repetita, and in the Odyssey, XII. 452, the many-wiled Ulysses himself expressed to Alcinous his horror of old stories-nevertheless, the humours of Bible-printing are such good crambe that they can bear reproduction. No doubt most people have heard something of the various queer Bibles which have acquired special nicknames by reason of certain strange misprints or grotesque expressions which occurred in them; and it may seem almost too hackneyed a theme for discussion here. It is pos sible, however, that some persons have not been introduced to all the eccentric versions of Holy Writ; and even those wellinformed people who know everything may not be sorry to see their old friends again, especially in the form of a tolerably complete list, illustrated, in some cases, by the latest comment on the subject. Well then, first we have 'the Vinegar Bible,' so called because in the twentieth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, the headline of the page where the parable of the vineyard occurs, describes that narrative as "the parable of the vinegar." Then there is 'the Printers' Bible,' so named because, in the 161st verse of the 119th Psalm, the Royal psalmist is made to exclaim: "Printers have persecuted me without a cause"-a statement which, however impossible in the case of King David, might well be uttered at the present day by many a suffering writer. Next is the Placemakers' Bible'-sometimes also called, with rancorous political motive-'the Whig Bible.' This version derives it name from the fact that, in the 5th chapter of St. Matthew, verse 9, among the beatitudes, instead of "Blessed are the peacemakers," it says: "Blessed are the placemakers." The Wicked Bible' is justly so termed because, in Exodus xx. 14, the word 'not' is omitted, and the commandment stands as follows: "Thou shalt commit adultery." It is said that when Archbishop Laud brought this monstrous misprint to the notice of Charles I., his Majesty directed the entire impression of this Bible to be suppressed, and imposed a heavy fine on its erring printers. 'The Judas Bible,' which, by the way, is very rare, was so dubbed by reason of the fact that, in the 67th verse of the 6th chapter of St. John, the name of Judas is substituted for that of Jesus, and the verse runs thus: "Then said Judas unto the twelve will ye also goe away?" 'The Breeches Bible,' according to most authorities, derives its name from the circumstance that in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, verse 7, it is written: "and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves breeches." Doubtless the word 'aprons,' which is used in our present version, besides being a somewhat more refined expression, denotes an article of dress better suited than breeches to our common mother, however well the latter garment may have been adapted to her spouse. Some authorities, however, explain the title of this Bible by reference to Judges, 5th chapter and 17th verse, where it is written: "Asher continued on the sea shore and abode in his breaches," in which passage, instead of 'breaches' the printer put 'breeches.' 'The Treacle Bibles '-for there are several which bear that name-are very curious, and somewhat difficult to explain, since the exposition of the term 'treacle' hangs on a very obscure bit of etymology; but, when once understood, we find that there is nothing whatever which is laughable in their use of that term. In the 8th chapter of Jeremiah, verse 22, the prophet exclaims: "Is there no balm in Gilead?" but these Bibles, instead of 'balm,' employ the word 'treacle,' or 'triacle,' or 'tryacle,' for in them it is spelt in all these ways. Coverdale's Bible, 1535, has the passage as follows: "I am hevy and abashed, for there is no more triacle at Goload;" putting the statement in the form of an assertion. The Great Bible, 1541, spells the word 'tryacle,' and puts the matter in the form of a question, thus: "I am hevy and abashed; is there no tryacle at Gilead?" Triacle' again is used in 'the Bishops' Bible, 1561; and also in the Bible printed by Hamilton at Rouen in 1566. Now, in order to understand the use of the word 'treacle,' however spelt; and in order to perceive that when first employed in this passage its employment was perfectly appropriate, we must dismiss from our minds the quite modern restriction of the sense of that word, whereb molasses, or a syrup of sugar, as immortalise 'brimstone and treacle' of 'Dotheboys Hall The archaic form triacle' was a somewh from the Greek Onpiaký (theriaké), wh (antidote) understood, meant a remedy, or venom of any noxious animal, but especial said antidote being supposed to be extract itself; just as crapulent topers call another dog that bit them." It may be noted th (therion) is expressly used in the 28th cha the Apostles, verse 4, to denote the viper the fire, fastened on the hand of St. Paul. I have the Latin theriaca'; and our deriv means an antidote against the poison of venomous creature, and, in a wider sense, an against any evil or suffering whatever. Hence it appears that the term 'treacle old Bibles had, at the time when they wer ridiculous about it; the sum of the matter be like so many others in our language, has changed its meaning. I think, however, that that the etymology of the word is undoubted is hard to see how it came to be evolved from the 'e' came into it; but that it is so deri agreed. "The Rosin Bible' is the name applied to 1609, because in the passage of Jeremiah just 'balm,' the word 'rosin,' or 'resyn,' is used, to denote a soothing balsamic gum. And th 'Gum Bible,' since in Wycliffe's version, circa 'balm,' the word 'gumme' is employed. Then we have the 'cider' or 'cyder' because in Wycliffe's translation the word 'c |