FROM THE GERMAN.

THERE is a little mystic clock,
No human eye hath seen,
That beateth on-and beateth on,
From morning until e'en.

And when the soul is wrapped in sleep,
And heareth not a sound,

It ticks and ticks the livelong night,
And never runneth down.

O wondrous is that work of art,

Which knells the passing hour;

But art ne'er formed, nor mind conceived,
The life-clock's magic power.

Nor set in gold, nor decked with gems,
By wealth and pride possessed;
But rich and poor, or high and low,
Each bears it in his breast.

When life's deep stream 'mid beds of flowers,
All still and softly glides,

Like the wavelet's step with a gentle beat,
It warns of passing tides.

When threat'ning darkness gathers o'er,
And hope's bright visions flee,

Like the sullen stroke of the muffled oar,
It beateth heavily.

When passion nerves the warrior's arm
For deeds of hate and wrong,
Though heeded not the fearful sound,
The knell is deep and strong.

When eyes to eyes are gazing soft,
And tender words are spoken,
Then fast and wild it rattles on,
As if with love 'twere broken.

Such is the clock that measures life,
Of flesh and spirit blended;

And thus 'twill run within the breast,
Till that strange life is ended.

HISTORY OF THE BIBLE.

ITS TRANSLATION.

THE BIBLE was first translated by godly people who wished to make their neighbours, who did not understand the language in which it was originally written, or had lost it, acquainted with it, by being able to read it in their own language. It appears that after the return of the Jews from captivity when they had almost forgotten their native language, the scriptures were read and then explained to them, as we gather from various places in Ezra and Nehemiah. After a time these explanations were written down, till at length the whole was translated. The translations are divided into ancient and modern. The oldest that we have any account of is a Greek version called the Septuagint, which signifies "the seventy," because the fable is that seventy persons (the Sanhedrim) were employed in writing it. Many fables have been invented to give authority to this version; one of which is, "that seventy persons were shut up in different apartments while each of them was translating it, and when they were all compared together they agreed to the very word." This translation was begun about 285 years before Christ: it varies very much, some parts being translated well, others very imperfectly, according to the abilities of the persons by whom they were translated. The law of Moses and the Proverbs being translated the best, and the prophecies of Isaiah the worst. This version is a very important one-of great use to the learned, because in it is found the original Hebrew text, and the meaning of the Hebrew word. There is also the view that the Jews took of the prophecies concerning Christ. This was the version used by the Jews who spoke the Greek language at the time of Christ, and the one from which he and his disciples quoted. The

Greek fathers also used this version. In the first century, the christians used this version against the Jews, to prove the fulfilment of the prophecies concerning Christ. The Jews, therefore, assisted by Aquila, an apostate from christianity, set about another translation, by which they intended to set aside those prophecies and interpret them in a way more favourable to their own opinions. Several other versions were made about this time-the first and second centuries. Origen, assisted by Ambrose, a very wealthy man, collected all these versions, which took them twenty-eight years, as they had to go or send into many different countries, and had not the accomodations in travelling that we have; and when the book was finished, it was so large as to be accessible to very few. The Targums were other translations or paraphrases made by the Jews, and for their use. There were nine Targums, three of which were on the book of Esther, one on the second of Chronicles, several on the Law and the Psalms, but there was none on Nehemiah. The oldest was written about the time of Christ, and some were not made till the sixth or seventh century after, as may be seen from the reference to names, dates, &c. These versions, also, are of value to the learned.

The Syriac translation.-This was very much diffused through Syria, as the Jews and christians who lived in that country were very anxious to have the bible in the language that they spoke. It was written by different persons: the notes on the Psalms seem to have been written by a christian. This version was still in use in Syria as late as the year 1824; and is also of great value to commentators, and often quoted by them. There were other translations from the fourth to the eleventh century: the Persian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, and others. The first western translation was into old Italic, or Latin. Another was made by Jerome, in the fourth century, which was a very

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good one. It is used by the papists even now, and is called the Latin vulgate. There have been many different editions of this version, by popes and bishops: some passages, not agreeing with their opinions, they altered; so that some of these editions differed materially from others, and in every case the last was called the authentic version, and that alone allowed to be used in their public services. It is remarkable that Pope Sixtus the fifth, having sent out a new edition which he called the authentic version, his successor, Clement the eighth, gave another and different edition, and forbad the use of the former. The German translation of the bible was made by Luther, the great reformer. This was the first printed translation, and it was a very good one: the language is very fine and superior, considering the age in which it was written: the version now used in Germany differs very litle from it. This translation was begun in the year 1507, finished 1532, and revised 1540 or 1545. It did more to overthrow popery than any work that had ever been published.

We now come to the English translations. The first language used in England was the Welch, or ancient British; but we have no account of any translation of the scriptures into that language. The next language used in England was the Anglo-Saxon; the Psalms were translated into that language by the bishop of Sherborne, in the year 706. The next translation was of the gospels and other writings, by the venerable Bede, about the same time. Alfred the Great translated the Psalms and the ten commandments into the Saxon language in the eighth century. The Anglo-Saxon language is still prized by some learned men: there is a teacher in the university who has revived the study of this language, and teaches it there. After the Norman conquest, when the present language began to be spoken, some portions of the bible were translated into verse, some specimens of

which still exist; the rhyme is what would be considered as very bad now. When the scriptures were scarce and dear, an attempt was made to give the poor an opportunity of reading at least some portion of them. For this purpose a book was designed which consisted of three portions of scriptures, and an engraving, illustrating a certain subject, on a piece of paper, to be had separately; but as it was in Latin, very few except the priests could understand it. It was called the poor man's bible. The whole consisted of forty engravings, from blocks of wood; some of them are to be seen at the present day, and they are considered to be of great value, forty pounds being about the price at which they are sold. Tindal made a version of the scriptures into the English language, and knowing that he would not be allowed to have it printed in England, he went to Germany, had it printed there, and sent over the copies to be disposed of in England. The bishop of London publicly condemned it, saying that it was full of errors, he himself having counted 2,000: he bought all the copies he could get, and burnt them: this increased the desire of the people to read it, and enabled Tindal to get many more printed and sent to England. A person who sold them, having been condemned to die, was offered his life if he would tell by whom Tindal was supported and enabled to send so many copies to England: the man said, by the bishop of London, who had bought all the copies, and enabled him to get more. The man's life was, of course, saved. Any person found reading Tindal's translation was condemned to be burnt, after having burnt his bible; but the people loved it so much that, to make them desist from reading it, the king had to promise that he would have a correct translation made by his own authority. Wickliffe made a translation of the whole bible into our native language, to open the eyes of the people that they might see that the Roman Catholic religion