THE BIBLE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1162, 15 July 1885, Page 4

THE BIBLE.

The f* London Times,'! in an article on William Tyn&ale,' ; the, translator of the first; printed Bible in the English language, says :.r It w,as he who laid the foundation of the, book which for three centuries and a-half has held its place in this country with increasing influence, and which today is the mainstay of English, faith and morality., Establishments have been shaken and cut, down; institutions, have been reformed * opinions have been discarded or toned down ; systems have been searched ,'tpT their first principles, and creeds have been, put on their defence. All human,handiworks have suffered somewhat xn the universal scrutiny. The Bible, too', has full share of friendly or unfriendly .examination. ' -Perhaps it may be conceded that few regard it exactly as they did fifty^years ago. But, immensely as the literature of this country has increased this, century, the Bible now occupies a larger, proportionate space in that^lite^ature than ever it did. No book raises. ko- many enquiries., or touches so many ; interests. > The Bible Bends • the studenttd.librarieaand-arohives^ To the Bible weofn much,,oi the intense and spreading^interesvin languages and in the originals of customs and of peoples. It directs -the traveller to buried cities; to the jtombs- of kinga,/' to the, records of states once great; rand well-nigh forgotten. Wherever the battle of 'opinion is iiow the liveliest,^b-erever the;racefor< discovery is the -most;, eager, wherever the earth at last, reveals her buried r history, it is to add to our knowledge of the sacred story j and to our- understanding of the sacred volume. So fa,r as the people are concerned— that is, so far as all except; a very few learned men are concerned — all this literature dates from William Tyndale's translation of the New, Testament^, intp ourj vernacular tongue. "', '' ' ' ' i, ."Lady.; ."Dear me,-how cold it is standing pn theseflags.".' Beau : " ; Ah madam ! wete I i but a, sorcerer,: I would at once transform ., myself into a tiger, so that I might spread my <skin under your feeti" Lady :'"iGracious me! why all that fuss ? A sheepskin' would do as well:"- ■■'<■ '■ >