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him say that the realization of his acceptance in Christ took place in the chapel at Woodhouse Eaves when he was about the age of fifteen. He was baptized, Aug. 16, 1807, by the Rev. B. Pollard, after a sermon by Mr. Goddard, who was then pastor of the church at Woodhouse.

He did not take upon himself a profession of Christianity until he had well counted the cost, and hence to the end of his life he was most jealous to maintain inviolate his Christian reputation. In order to learn "what manner of person he ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness" he studied the law of Christ; and not, as is too commonly the case in the present day, the opinions and practices of men. He was ever ready" to appeal to the law and to the testimony," and a "thus saith the Lord" was with him the end of all controversy.

He mingled more or less with all classes, and wherever he went he was a welcome visitor for his cheerful piety and intelligence, but he never left any society without leaving the impression that he was eminently a man of God. He was "an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." He was often grieved with what he called "the lax morality" of some Christian professors in the present day; and when he spoke rather vehemently, as he did sometimes, against the growing desire for certain kinds of recreation, he was thought even by his dearest friends to be unjustly severe. He, however, defended himself by saying that he could find no evidence that Christ or His apostles sanctioned, either by precept or precedent, such practices. And then, with great gravity, he would say, "it has been my practice never to be found doing or saying anything, in the doing or saying of which, I should not like to meet death. I feel it essential to

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live by the day, and to give up my accounts every night, for life is so uncertain that it will not do to run long accounts in religion." When told that the tastes and inclinations of the youth of the present day were very different from what they were half a century ago, he would say that the same law which condemned conformity to the world" was binding now as then. Without any expression from the writer of his sainted fathers views of these matters, he cannot refrain from saying that his manner of life never marred his happiness, never injured his piety, never detracted from his usefulness, and never caused a single regret when he came to die.

His calling and numerous family precluded his devoting much time to self-improvement, but by great diligence he treasured up a good store of general knowledge. The Bible, however, was the study of his life. Perhaps few men have read the English Bible with deeper interest and greater constancy. He could truthfully say, "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

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Mr. Bailey could say, in all truthfulness," grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;" he, however, was very decided in his conscientious convictions. He was "ready always to give an answer to every man that asked him a reason of the hope that was in him with meekness and fear." In a communication he made to the writer a few years ago, he said, "In consequence of so much having been. said and written of late respecting the true church and apostolical succession,' I have been reading the New Testament with great care to find out what a Christian church is? and I am convinced that the

church to which I belong is the nearest to the New Testament model. I have composed two sermons from 'what is our hope?' and 'the church of the living God,' and I have been advised to deliver them wherever I go. The study of these subjects has given me clearer views of the Christian religion, and has been the means of establishing me in the truths of the gospel." "Preach the commandments". "declare unto the people all the counsel of God”was the last advice the writer received from his lips.

As a father he was deeply solicitous for the spiritual welfare of his children. His advice to parents was, "never say anything you would not like your children to repeat, never do anything you would not like them to do"-and this advice he carried out to the letter. He felt the loss of his children most keenly. When he received the intelligence that his fourth son, who died in the state of Wisconsin, North America, had left satisfactory evidence of his hope in Christ, he exclaimed, "O, what a blessing is this! had he died without hope I should have wept my life away."

Mr. Bailey took a deep interest in all the great questions that affected our own or other lands; and he was ever ready to advocate the claims of the Bible Society, missions to the heathen, and other kindred institutions. When the slaves were emancipated in Jamaica his joy knew no bounds, and one of the best hymns he ever composed was sung at the celebration held in the village.

The Sabbath school in which he was first a scholar and afterwards a teacher, ever shared a large measure of his sympathy and help. Hundreds of scholars, when leaving the school, received the teachers last and best gift from his hands. For many years he wrote one or more of the hymns for the anniversary, and his last

address was delivered to the teachers and scholars on one of the Charnwood hills only ten days before he died.

Mr. Bailey, however, was most extensively known as a lay preacher. There are few Baptist chapels in the county of Leicester where his voice has not been heard. Anxious

to improve his talent, he sought and cheerfully obtained (nearly fifty years ago) the assistance of the late Rev. T. Orton, of Hugglescote ; and many a weary journey has he taken over the (then) dreary forest, in the depth of winter, after. nightfall, to receive instruction from this great and good man.* His sermons, though he never called them such, were full of gospel truth, and some of them showed considerable originality. As a preacher he did not wear out, for his services, where he had preached the longest, were as much appreciated as when he had upon him "the dew of his youth." At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" many will be his joy and crown of rejoicing." When he had completed his "threescore years and ten," his friends entreated him to contract his labours, but while he had strength to walk he felt he could not comply. In answer to a similar request from the writer, he said, “I see but little fruit from my labours; the good may be known hereafter, when I sleep in the grave. While I do live I wish to preach the gospel of Christ, in which alone I hope to be accepted in the last great day; other refuge have I none—if saved it will be by the free grace of God." While out preaching he caught cold and was seriously ill for eighteen weeks. His system never recovered from this attack. In the spring of the year he had a second attack, and was brought to the gates of death.

* Though Mr. Orton was self-taught he attained considerable proficiency in the learned languages.

Those who visited him will never forget his calm resignation to the will of the Lord. Not a single murmur ever fell from his lips. "Some people," he said, "have much to say when they come to die, I have nothing. I am resting as a sinner saved by grace on the finished work of Christ. Sixty years ago I made a covenant with Him; I have no wish to break it, and as He has not I think it will hold good to the end." He partially recovered; but he was so conscious that the time of his end was at hand that "he set his house in order," and was just like the goodly servant who "stood with his loins girt and his light burning waiting for the coming of his Lord."

Five days before his death he met with a party of friends, and all were charmed with his cheerful look and interesting conversation, and it was thought then he might be spared for some time to his family and the church. We have often seen the little withered plant, on the parched soil in the East, rear its head and make an effort to blossom before it dies; and this brightening up of the now glorified one was but the last effort of nature before death. The next day he caught cold, which was followed by an attack of bronchitis,

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and on Wednesday, the 7th of August, he finished his course. few moments before his departure the Rev. J. Cotton repeated, "My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever;" faintly he replied, "I have not much strength to speak now, but all is well," and with these precious words upon his lips he closed his long and useful life. It was not Mr. Bailey's lot to bequeath to his children, or to her who did so much to cheer and help him for fifty-three years, a rich inheritance, but he has left them the remembrance of an honourable life. "He was an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." He was a "just man, upright in his generation, and walked with God."

He was interred by the Rev. E. Stevenson, and his death was improved from 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8, by the Rev. T. Stevenson. On both these mournful occasions there was a very large attendance, and many came from distant towns and villages to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." W. BAILEY.

A BIBLICAL PAPER: MISCELLANEOUS.

CURIOSITIES OF CRITICISM.-" And he (Paul) shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.' There was an ancient legend that the viper's flesh was the most effectual antidote for the

viper's bite. This legend has been thought to derive countenance from the verse above quoted. The Greek word for the viper here is thereon, from which comes the name of the cure, first as theriac, then triacle, and ultimately our modern word "treacle." Thus our

old divines were wont to employ the legend as an illustration of Christian truths. Jeremy Taylor says, "There is a hyper-nikomen in St. Paul. 'We are,' saith he, 'more than conquerors.' We kill the viper and make treacle of him; i.e., we not only escape from temptations, but get advantage from them." So Hales observes, "Wonderful is the power of a Christian, who not only overcomes and conquers and kills the viper, but, like the skilful

apothecary, makes antidote and treacle of him." Gurnall also says, "The saints' experiences help them to a sovereign treacle made of the scorpion's own flesh (which they through Christ have slain), and that hath a virtue above all others to expel the venom of Satan's temptations from the heart." In agreement with these sayings, one of our old divines begins a sermon on Rev. xiv. 13, by a Latin apothegm-"Ubi vuluus, ibi manus""Whence we took our wound, thence we receive the cure."

Some have objected to the idea of their being anything dangerous in the viper's fastening on St. Paul, because it is not explicitly said to have been poisonous. To this objection two answers may be returned. First, it is clear from the strain of the narrative that all who saw the viper regarded its bite as fatal. And second, that the Greek name by which this is spoken of was usually applied to venomous creatures. Those interpreters are therefore in the right who see here a fulfilment of Christ's promise—“ They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them." So far as we know, not one of the apostles was ever poisoned.

DIFFERENT RENDERINGS.-Much attention has been recently devoted by Biblical critics to the various readings found in the manuscripts which have been collated. It is satisfactory to learn that these various readings are unimportant so far as doctrines are concerned. Much greater attention is due to the different renderings found in our English version than to the various readings which are discoverable in the Greek manuscripts. In their curious but most interesting preface to the version, our translators justify the freedom they have practised, and avow their desire to avoid such "uniformity of phrasing" as some would consider essential to' strict correctness in the translation. If one word had been preferred to the exclusion of others, jealousy on the part of the unemployed words might have been excited. We may, however, doubt whether any logomachy could have come from such jealousy. But to our topic. The different renderings of the same Greek

verbs impose on us the necessity of carefully collating the passages in which they occur. One example may show this. Thus "driveth," in Mark i. 12; "send forth," in Matt. ix. 38; "bringeth forth," in Matt. xiii. 52; and "putteth forth," in John x. 4, are all renderings of one and the same verb in the original. But there are more varieties than these, such as "cast,'

""cast out," or "cast around,"

that might be added to the list. If any one of these instances is taken by an expositor who tries to make the most of his text, and whose acquaintance with the Greek furnishes him with the idea of power, energy of action, and even violent effort, as contained in the word ekballein, a mistaken sense of Scripture may be conveyed. Suppose the first cited text is selected. "The Spirit"-not the evil, but good Spirit-" driveth Him (Christ) into the wilderness." Driving is a very strong meaning of the verb, and therefore should not be exaggerated by representing it as violent motion-the exertion of force, but should be rather modified by the milder words used in relation to the event by Matthew and Luke, which the translators have rendered was "led up," or simply "led." Or take the next passage, which speaks of sending forth labourers. Lively preachers have often given loud utterance to their small learning when handling this text, and have declaimed about the force which the Lord sometimes employs in thrusting forth reluctant agents into the harvest field. We seriously doubt whether the Lord ever does so act on the unwilling. No farmer would force a sickle into a reaper's hand, and then push him amidst his corn that wanted reaping. And if men are not so strongly inclined to labour for the Lord as to "desire the office of a bishop," we question whether the Lord would employ them at all. The necessity of a sustained ministry may be to some a motive for entering it, but an inclination for it must be felt and fostered, until it becomes an aspiration which will brook no hindrance and endure no denial. It is only the willing worker that becomes a hearty labourer, and no other than these will the Lord of the harvest ever send forth.

BISHOP BEVERIDGE OR DEAN ALFORD?-The latter of these two eminent persons has recently written an excellent paper in "Good Words"

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called "The Christian Conscience." But while the paper is admirable as a whole, and in some parts surprisingly liberal for a churchman, there is one paragraph containing a little Biblical criticism which may be as mischievous as it is erroneous. We will first give the passage, although some of our readers may have the article in which it occurs. "The Greeks . pressed by the same term (psyche) the soul of man which he has to save and the life of the reptile which he crushes under his foot. And it would have been immensely for our profit if we had done the same. We should then have read in our Bibles not only, 'Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it;' but also (for the same word is used), 'For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life! or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?'"

If the authors of our English version were now on earth, they might be well able to justify themselves in using the word soul instead of life in the instances in which it occurs.

For as

a proof of their discrimination, and of their desire to be as accurate as possible, we may refer to an earlier passage in Matthew's Gospel, ch. x. 39, where they have used life as the equivalent of psyche, or soul; whereas in verse 28 of the same chapter, where soma and psyche occur, they have given soul as the sense of the latter term, in contradistinction from body, the meaning of the former. They have done the same in such passages as the following-"Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (psychōn)—“Which war against the soul" (psyche) "The Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (psychōn). Psyche being the word for soul as well as for life, the translators were compelled to use both these English words, or either of them, according to the occasion. that the word soul better expresses the sense of psyche in Matt. xvi. 26,

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than the word life would have done is obvious to any one who examines the context and notices the scope of our Lord's address to His disciples.

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Instead, however, of exposing ourselves to the charge of presumption in controverting the opinion of so eminent a critic as Dean Alford, we will now give what we think the better criticism of the learned and pious bishop Beveridge. In his sermons, which are held in as high repute by divines of the present day as they were by those who first read and admired them, there is one upon the text in Matt. xvi. 26. And when he comes to consider what our Saviour meant by the question, he says, "And there may be some question made of it, for a man may be said to lose his soul when he dies, and when his soul departs from his body; and so it is the same with a man's losing his life. when a man loses his soul even in this sense, he can receive no profit from anything he has in the world, because by death he is turned out of possession, and can enjoy it no longer. this cannot be the sense of the phrase in this place; for in this sense a man may lose his soul and yet be happy; yea, therefore happy because he loses his soul, i.e., loses it in a good cause, as Christ intimates in the preceding verse, saying, Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.' Whereas in the text He speaks of such a loss of the soul which is inflicted as a punishment. For so the word (zemiothé) here used plainly signifies. But this appears sufficiently from the words following; for our Saviour, having here asserted that although a man gain the whole world he is no way profited by it if he lose his own soul, in the next verse He gives the reason of this assertion, saying, 'For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according to his work.' From which it appears that He speaks of such a loss of the soul as men shall be punished with at the day of judgment, when they who have been more careful to gain the world than to save their souls shall be condemned to that everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels."

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