POETRY.-Life's Answer, 616. Oh, Sing again that Simple Song, 616. Sea Bathing, 616. Lady Killers, 616.

SHORT ARTICLES.-Daring of Alpine Guides, 585. Portrait of Junius, 599. Mental Digestion, 599. Christmas Carol, 602. The Bonaparte Family Register, 608. The Graceless Florin and the Potato Disease, 608. Nicean Barks, 608.

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TO BRIDES AND BRIDEGROOMS.

THE following admirable picture of a negro wedding sermon at the South, is from the advance sheets of "My Southern Friends," by Edmund Kirke, author of "Among the Pines."

"My chil'ren, love one anoder; bar wid one anoder; be faithful to one anoder. You hab started on a long journey; many rough places am in de road; many trubbles will spring up by de wayside; but gwo on hand an' hand togedder; love one anoder; an' no matter what come onter you, you will be happy-fur love will sweeten ebery sorror, lighten ebery load, make de sun shine in eben de bery cloudiest wedder. I know's it will, my chil'ren, 'case I'se been ober de groun.' Ole Aggy an' I hab trabbled de road. Hand in hand we hab gone ober de rocks; fru de mud; in de hot, burnin sand; ben out togedder in de cole, an' de rain, an' de storm, fur nigh onto forty yar, but we hab clung to one anoder; we hab loved one anoder, and fru eberyting, in de berry darkest days, de sun ob joy an' peace hab broke fru de clouds, an' sent him blessed rays down inter our hearts.

you why? You hab heerd Massa Robert talk 'bout de great law dat make de apple fall from de tree, de rock sink in de water; dat bines our feet to de round 'arth so we don't drop off as it gwo fru de air; dat holes de sun an' de stars in dar 'pointed places, so day after day, an' yar after yar, dough dey'm trabblin' fasser dan de lightnin' eber went, dey'm right whar dey should be.

He call it 'traction, an' all de great men call it so, but dat ain't de name. It am love. It am God, fur God am love, an' love am God, an' love bines de whole creashun togedder. An' shill I tell you how to do it? Does you see dis hand! how I open de fingers; how I shet'm up; how I rise de whole arm? Does you see dis foot, dat I does wid jess the same? Does you see dis whole body, how I make it, in a twink'l'n, do jess what I like? Now what am it dat make my hand move, an' my whole body turn round so sudden, dat I'se only to say: Do it,' an' it'm done? Why, it am me. It'm me dat libs up yere in de brain, and sends my will fru ebery part-fru ebery siner, an' muscle, ebery little jint, an make all do jess what I like.

likes.

"Now man am made in de image of God, and dis pore, weak ole body am a small pat"We started jess like two young saplin's tern obe de whole creashun. Eberyting go on you's seed a growin' side by side in de woods. jess as it do. Eberyting am held togedder, At fust we seemed way 'part, for de brambles, an' moved 'bout, jess as it am-but it'm God an' de tick bushes, an' de ugly forns-dem dat move it, not me! He libs up dar in de war our bad ways-war 'tween us; but love, sky-which am his brain-wid de stars fur like de sun, shone down on us, an' we grow'd. his hands, de planets fur his feet, an' de whole We grow'd till our heads got above de bushes; univarse fur his body; an' he sends his will till dis little branch an' dat little branch-which am love-fru ebery part ob de whole, dem war our holy feelin's put out toward one an' moves it 'bout, an' make it do jess as he anoder, an' we come closer an' closer togedder. And dough we'm old trees now, an' "So you see, it am my will sent fru ebery sometimes de wind blow, an' de storm rage muscle, an' ebery little siner, dat moves my fru de tops, and freaten to tear off de lims, body; so it am His will sent fru what de an' to pull up de berry roots, we'm growin 'stronomers an' de poets call de heabenly closer an' closer, an' nearer an' nearer to- ether, dat moves his body-which am de 'arth, gedder ebery day. And soon de old tops will an' de sun, an' de stars, an' you an' me, an meet; soon de ole branches, all cobered ober ebery libin' ting in all creashun! His will wid de gray moss, will twine round one move 'em all; an' his will am love! An' anoder; soon de two ole trunks will come to- don't you see dat you can't do widout his gedder 'an grow into one foreber-grow into love? Dat it am de bery breaf ob life? Dat, one up dar in de sky, whar de wind neber'll blow, whar de storm neber'll beat; whar we shill blossom an' bar fruit to de glory ob de Lord, an' to his heabenly kingdom foreber!

"Yes, my chil'ren, you hab started on a long journey, an' nuffin' will git you fru it but love. Nuffin' will hole you up, nuffin' will keep you faithful to one anoder, nuffin will make you bar wid one anoder, but love. None ob us kin lib widout it; but married folks want it most ob all. Dey need it more dan de bread dey eat, de water dey drink, or de air they breafe. De world couldn't gwo on without it. De bery sun would gwo out in de heabens but fur dat! An' shill I tell

ef it war tooken 'way from you, fur jess one moment, you'd drop down, an' die, an' neber come to life agin-no, not in dis worle, nor in any oder worle?

"It am so, my chil'ren; an' de more you hab ob dat love, de happier you'll be: de more you'll love one anoder; de easier you'll gwo fru you' life-de more joyfuller you'll meet you deaf'-de happier you'll be all fru de long, long ages dat am comin' in de great Yereafter! Den', O my chil'ren! love God, love one anoder! You can't be happy widoui you love God, an' you can't love him widout you love one anoder."

From Good Words.

WICLIF'S VERSION OF THE NEW TESTA

MENT.

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names of both persons and places without an initial capital. Perhaps "pilat of pounce may easily be made out; nor does "farao " Ir was in or about the year 1380 that Wic-puzzle us much; nor is it hard to recognize lif published his English Bible. Of all the in" tite" the good man whom Paul left in books that have been published in this land, Crete; but it is no easy matter to discover in Wiclif's version of the Scriptures is certainly in "sache," "Zaccheus ; in 66 caym," one of the most interesting to British Chris-" Cain; in "astirak,' "Aristarchus ; in tians, partly because of the light which it "oold poul,' "Paul the aged; ' throws on the character and growth of the mighti ̧ man,' "Tyrannus; " in the "cheEnglish language, but chiefly because of the pinge of Appius,' ‚""Appii Forum; " in " great influence which it exerted in bringing child mak," " Aceldama.' about the Protestant Reformation. It is intended in this paper to lay before the readers of Good Words, a few of the peculiarities of Wiclif's version, and, lest the field should prove too extensive, all the instances referred to will be taken from the New Testament.

a

Again, the reader is sometimes perplexed by the fact that there are words which Wiclif has not translated, and for which English equivalents are given in the Authorized Version. For instance, the gospel is often with Wiclif "the evangeli; "the pearl of great Wiclif translated from the Vulgate, and his price is "o precious margerite;" the music version, therefore, partakes of the Vulgate's which the elder brother heard in his father's imperfections. It is almost needless to ob-house is "symfyone; " the napkin in which serve, that it is in many respects inferior to the pound was laid up is a "sudari;” the that which was published in 1611, and which governor of the wedding-feast at Cana apis called the Authorized Version. It is to be pears as the "architriclyn;" the feast of tabpresumed that each translation and revision, ernacles is the "senofegia; " the place that from 1380 to 1611, was an improvement on is called the pavement is the lithostratos;' its predecessors, and, without entering into the festival of the new moon is the " the question of the expediency of a new trans- mynye." There is, however, one word which lation or revision, this much may be said, that Wiclif has very sensibly translated, and which there is no reason to suppose that in the ver- in the Authorized Version is untranslated: sion of 1611 perfection was attained. In that word is Mammon. Wiclif leaves the unmany respects, then, Wiclif's version is not learned reader in no doubt as to this word, equal to the authorized, but in a few it is "ye moun not serve God and ricchesse." perhaps superior. I have noticed a considerable number of passages to which, I think, this remark applies; to some of these passages I shall presently refer, and the reader shall judge for himself.

The change that has taken place in the English language during the last five hundred years is certainly very great. Many words that were commonly used in Wiclif's time have utterly disappeared; many others have been strangely altered in their orthography; and others, again, are no longer used in the sense which they formerly bore. In the course of a few generations Wiclif's version will be as unintelligible to the unlearned Englishman as the Vulgate from which it was taken.

Already it is difficult for the English reader to recognize in Wiclif's version some of the proper names in Scripture with which he is most familiar. The difficulty is enhanced by the fact that Wiclif so often gives proper

neo

Occasionally, too, a Latinism of unusual form, perplexes the plain unlettered Englishman, as he reads Wiclif. He will meet with the " loaves of proposisioun," instead of the shew-bread; for principality and power, "principat and potestat; " for idols, "symylacris." Generally, however, this last word is rendered by an equivalent even more perplexing to the English reader than "symylacris." Wiclif's almost constant word for idols is "mawmets; a very curious word with a very curious history, as will be seen on consulting the following extract from Selden's Table Talk, Art. Popery: "We charge the prelatical clergy with Popery, to make them odious; though we know they are guilty of no such thing; just as, heretofore, they called images mammets, and the adoration of images mammetry, that is, Mahomet and Mahometry; odious names; when all the world knows the Turks are forbidden images by their religion." Anything, however false, that

could bring the Mahometans into disrepute, is preserved by Wiclif. Verse 2, "A servant was welcome, and so they were represented of a centurion, that was precious to him, was as worshippers of idols, although iconoclasm sike." Verse 7 (here the centurion speaks), was a main article of their religion. Ma-"Seie bi word, and my child schal be heelid." homet, mawmet, and idol, became equivalent How beautifully does the affection, asserted terms, and Wiclif, falling in with the general in verse 2, come out in verse 7, where this prejudice, adopts this product of spleen and misrepresentation, and says, "Little children, keep yourselves from mawmetis."

word has full justice done to it. Here, I think, Wiclif is decidedly in advance of the Authorized Version. Dean Trench complains of the Authorized Version, that it often renders by one English word several not perfectly synonymous Greek words. He mentions in particular two cases, in each of which there are twelve Greek words, and but one English equivalent in the Authorized Version. Now, on consulting Wiclif, it will be found that for the first twelve he gives six English words, and for the other twelve, seven. In these cases, notwithstanding the enrichment of our language, which took place between the years 1380 and 1611, we find the earlier version much wealthier than the later.

Wiclif's version has also much of this defect, viz., the numberless multiplication of English words where there is but one in the original. Our own version is by no means free from this fault. In one verse we have the untranslated word Areopagus, and three verses afterwards the very same word is translated Mar's Hill. One of the noblest words in Scripture is, without any reason, sometimes rendered by love, sometimes by charity; another is translated atonement here, and reconciliation there. Dean Trench, in his work on the revision of the New Testament, points out many cases of the needless multiplication of It is very curious to observe what extraorEnglish words, where one would have an- dinary alterations have taken place, since Wicswered better. This fault appears often in lif's time, in the accepted meaning of words, Wiclif. Thus the chief priests are sometimes Thus the verb to sue has now an almost excalled the Princis of Priests," sometimes clusively legal signification; to sue a man is "Bischopis "-" the Bischopis answeride we to prosecute a man for the payment of a debt. have no kyng but the emperour." For the But this is Wiclif's word for follow, although sop that was given to the traitor we have he uses follow as well. Christ said to Matthew, three words, "soppe," "mossel," and "mus- "Sue thou me: and he rose and followed sel;" and for one and the same word we have him." In connection with Matthew's call, “eldermen,’ ," "senyouris," and "preestis." we have another word which is used in a very Wiclif, however, does not commit the egre- different manner now. In our version we gious blunder of calling the passover Easter; read that Matthew, when called, was sitting with him the passover, I believe, is always, at "the receipt of custom." Wiclif tells us or almost always, "pask." And I have ob- that he was sitting "in a tolbothe." The served instances in which two words given in word tolbooth now means a Scotch prison, the original, which are translated by one in but it was originally applied to a hut erected the Authorized Version, are properly distin- at a fair for the purpose of accommodating the guished by Wiclif. For example, in the be- takers of tolls or customs; and, so, Wiclif is ginning of Luke 7 we read of the centuri- perfectly correct; and, indeed, the "tolon's servant whom Jesus healed. In the bothe" is a rather better rendering than“ the Authorized Version the word servant is used receipt of custom." As Wiclif calls the all through the narrative. But in the orig-" receipt of custom," or, rather, the custominal, two words are used: one denoting a servant or slave; the other also denoting a servant, but having, in addition, the sense of child, a term indicative of affection. Now, we read that the servant was dear to the centurion. In the first place, the servant is spoken of as a servant; but when the centurion speaks of him in verse 7, the word indicative of affection is used. This distinction, which is overlooked in the Authorized Version,

house, a "tol bothe," so, when he translates the passage "custom to whom custom,”. he renders it, "to whom tol, tol." The word duke is another that has been somewhat altered in its range of application. Wiclif applies it to Christ in Matt. 2: 6. Sovereign is a word of very high import now, and is set apart for the greatest person in the state; but Wiclif gives it to Christian ministers. "Have ye mynde of youre sovereyns that have spokun