of Superstition, or mailed in the chain armour of Infidelity. Therefore, my beloved brethren, "watch ye, stand fast in the faith-quit you like men-be strong." Victory may be delayed, but it is certain! The crown may be deferred, but it will yet be won, and worn in glory

“And they that with their Leader

Have vanquished in the fight,

For ever and for ever

Are clad in robes of white."

Our English Bible: its Origin and History.

A Lecture delivered in Cork in the year 1864.

HE History of "Our English Bible" is one which

THE

the circumstances of our Time contribute to invest with more than ordinary interest and importance.

The Spirit of the Age is, in a very marked and appalling degree, one of Scepticism and Infidelity. That it is an age of much heartfelt and anxious inquiry, whereby in many places a great door and effectual has been opened to the Gospel, is indeed true, and we thank God for it; but equally true is it that, as it was of old, so now likewise, "there are many adversaries ;" that not alone from without, but" of our own selves have men arisen, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them;" and that to all alike, whether the votaries of a blind Superstition, or the advocates of a daring and unholy Rationalism, the one common object of enmity and attack has been the Bible-the Truth of God, as contained in the Scriptures of His own inspired and Holy Book,

Moreover, when we consider that to us, as a community, our English translation is "The Bible," conveying to us, as it does, with marvellous fidelity, the Spirit and Truth of the original, the Book in which we may read

' every man in his own tongue, the wonderful works of God," and to which, from age to age, we are wont to appeal as the warrant of our Belief, and the standard of our Faith-when we consider all this, how important it is, that concerning this Book, we should be able "to give an answer to every one that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us;" that we should be able to estimate rightly the value of that from which are derived to us so largely our "means of grace," and on whose gracious Truths depend our "hopes of glory."

But there is yet another feature in the aspect of our time which serves to make this subject an important one. That liberty of thought, that free exercise of private judgment in matters of religion, which are our lawful birthright and our undoubted heritage, have a tendency, nevertheless, if not rightly disciplined, to transgress bounds, and to produce diversity in sentiment, where all should be union and harmony. Just as in the solar system, the several bodies of which it is composed would inevitably diverge from each other, and wander into space, were it not for the Law of Gravitation, by which they are attracted towards one common centre, and thereby towards each other-so is it likewise among ourselves. In the Authorized Version of the Word of God we have a centre of unity towards which converge

all the various sections of our Protestant Christianity, and in the sphere of whose happy influence all may harmonize. In "Our English Bible," we have thus, thank God, at a time when, more especially, "union is strength," a common platform, on which all who value Truth may stand consistently together as brethren. We have a watchword which we may all adopt in commona standard beneath which we may all rally, if we will, "in one spirit," "with one mind," to do battle for Christ, to make common cause for the truth of God, and “earnestly to contend for the Faith once delivered to the saints."

And if the following pages contribute in any degree to make you more diligent in "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," and to bind you closer to each other in drawing you nearer to Him of whom that Book testifies, then the object I have in view shall not have been altogether unaccomplished.

It was summer, and the glowing rays of the evening sun were pouring their golden light on the shining cliffs and rugged headlands of ancient Britain. More than nineteen centuries have passed away since that time, and yet those white cliffs and that rocky seaboard are unchanged to-day, as shining, as grand, as conspicuous, as they were on that memorable evening, nearly twice ten centuries ago. Swept onward by favouring winds, a hostile fleet was ploughing its way, bearing Cæsar and his invading army to the shores of England. To that eventful era, and the establishment of Roman rule in

Britain, may be traced, however remotely, in God's good providence, an order of things which served effectually to prepare the way for the reception of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the introduction of that blessed Book-God's precious gift-man's priceless treasure—that Book for which our fathers bled, and by which our nation has been exalted—"Our English Bible !”

To explain this it will be necessary to observe, that wherever the Romans gained a footing and established their sovereignty, they endeavoured with wise policy, by introducing colonists from Rome, and encouraging commerce and interchange between the dependencies and the metropolis, to rivet the chains of dominion more closely, and establish as firmly as possible the connexion between the Ruling Head and the subject province. In this way we can readily understand, without resorting to the supposition that St. Paul (as tradition would have it), or Joseph of Arimathæa, was the first Missionary to these islands—that either Romans who had made their way to Britain, or natives who had gone to visit the great city and returned home again-brought with them, and diffused among the people, the wonderful tidings of that new faith which had shed Heaven's light already on eastern lands, and gained adherents even within the walls of Cæsar's palace. And, inasmuch as wherever the Christian religion made its way in these early times, that Holy Book likewise, from which its facts and precepts are derived, was sure to accompany, or speedily follow, the preaching of the Cross, it is but reasonable to infer,