seem so vulgar and of every-day occurrence!" There is mystery in its beginning, in its duration here, in its end, in its impulses, its sympathies, its cares, its vicissitudes, its temptations, and the endlessly chequered scenes associated with it. Life, with which so many trifle, which multitudes never seriously regard, is the most solemn and mysterious thing imaginable; and how does it behove every intelligent and immortal being, as it is passing so rapidly away, to inquire, First, What is my Life? Secondly, How am I spending it? Thirdly, How and where will it end? See to it, we beseech you, reader, that when, with you, life shall be finished, the work of life shall be done-its true business executed-its true end accomplished. "Life is the time to serve the Lord." Properly and continually improve that Join, we request, we implore you, in the following simple but beautiful aspiration: "O let our lives, Great God, breathe forth T. W WYCKLIFFE AND THE SCRIPTURES. WHO that has ever trod the aisles of the venerable church of Lutterworth, or looked into its antique vestry, or ascended its oaken pulpit, a portion of which remains what it was five hundred years ago, but must think of the noble spirit that once breathed within its walls, and the illustrious man that there once proclaimed the "truth as it is in Jesus," when all was error and antichristian superstition around? Refreshing is it to visit that spot, to glance at those relics, to look on that memorial monument which the hand of pious affection has recently reared, and then to muse on the banks of the little stream which still there runs,-the "Swift," into which, after forty years' peaceful slumber in the grave, Popish malice, having caused his bones to be burnt, cast his ashes. "Thus," says Fuller, "the brook hath conveyed his ashes into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wyckliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over," Wyckliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, and the herald of God's mercy by it to this land, was evidently a man formed for great things, and peculiarly adapted to accomplish them in the times in which he lived. Calm, dignified, and persevering, he was not to be turned aside from any purpose which he formed; and endowed with patience beyond that of most mortals, he could endure all opposition, and abide the reproaches and malice of his adversaries. With these he had laid his account. He did not expect, nor seek to avoid them. Strong in the light of spiritual illumination vouch safed to him from above, and in the scantily supplied, that they were unconscious integrity of his soul, he en-known except to a few, and deposited countered all, in the love of truth, the more as literary curiosities in the love of God, and the love of man. colleges of the land. Alfred the Great, "Darkness covered the earth, and gross and Bede the Venerable, had both darkness the people." The land was attempted to supply the people with the full of idols. Superstition reigned. precious treasure of inspired truth; Monks and friars swarmed around. and another unknown individual is said And Popery had well-nigh extinguished to have translated, in the thirteenth the last ray of liberty, truth, and re- century, the entire Bible into the native ligion, as it lingered on our isle. tongue. But three manuscript copies of it alone were preserved; and, either for secrecy or for safe deposit, these were soon secured among the unknown productions which the library of one of the colleges at Oxford contained. The Pope forbade its circulation. The priests narrowly watched to suppress it, and to the great majority of the inhabitants of the land the Word of God was utterly unknown. Wyckliffe saw the desolation, perceived the want, and resolved in the strength of God to furnish the supply. Amidst labours, and sufferings, and dangers not a few, he found time to apply himself to this prodigious undertaking; and in his retirement, most likely in his parsonage at Lutterworth, he translated from the Vulgate the entire " scriptures of truth" into a dialect that all around him could understand. As yet the art of print In the midst of this deep obscurity, and of the spiritual slumbers which then overspread the realm, this "burning and shining light" was raised up, at first to render the darkness visible, and then to usher in the rays of morning. The gloom was dispersed. The slumbers were broken. The light of truth penetrated the one; and the thunders of a faithful ministry disturbed the others. Priests and friars, like the birds of night that are alarmed and confounded by the beams of day, fled about to ascertain the cause, and, if possible, roll back the rising sun. But in vain. The Almighty fiat that first said, "Let there be light," and light obedient was, had now designs of mercy to accomplish towards our favoured land, and no opposition, from earth or hell, could prevent their fulfilment. "The set time to favour Zioning was unknown. was come." "The people that walked in darkness" were to see "a great light." The principal means by which this was effected, and the splendour of day rose upon the British Isles, was the translation of the Word of God into the vernacular tongue, and the making the English language, for the first time, the vehicle of communicating, to all who knew it, the oracles of eternal life. Fill then, no complete version of the sacred volume had ever been made into the British tongue. Two or three detached portions of it had at different times been given by celebrated individuals in the Saxon dialect, but these were so few and far between, and so Copies were pro duced as fast as the scribes could perform the labour required; and, with all their diligence, we wonder not to be informed, that even for a New Testament alone the price was "four marks and forty pence, or two pounds, sixteen shillings, and eight pence,-a sum equivalent to more than forty pounds at the present time." Precious as the word of the Lord was in these days, the ecclesiastical and civil rulers rose up together against it. A Bill was brought into the House of Lords for the express purpose of suppressing it; and had it not been for the intervention of the Duke of Lancaster, Wyckliffe's noble friend and enlightened patron, would most likely have prevailed. But that illustrious and true-hearted man, who was the uncle of the King, and the most powerful noble of the realm, declared in a very solemn manner before that august assembly, "that he would maintain our having the law of God in our own tongue against those, whoever they should be, that brought in such a Bill." All honour to his memory! The right and truth prevailed. The bishops and priests of the day were half ashamed: their opposition was vain: and the followers and admirers of the pastor of Lutterworth proceeded to issue another and more correct edition of the sacred word. Separately and together, in the form of tractates, or in one bulky whole, the inspired volume was circulated through the land, till, in the century following, the discovery of printing facilitated its production, and multiplied copies both in the English and in other tongues. From that day to this, though often opposed, proscribed, forbidden, consumed in flames, and threatened with extirpation by the policy of Rome, the Word of God has never been lost, and now never will be, from our native land. In estimating the greatness of the work thus undertaken and executed by this immortal man, and honoured servant of the living God, it would be needful to consider attentively the difficulties at that time in the acquisition and translation of languages, compared with the facilities of literary operations now-the value of the boon itself-and the spiritual and ecclesiastical condition of the land in whose vernacular tongue the word of truth was then, for the first time, given. Had not Wyckliffe been a proficient and successful scholar among the alumni of Oxford-where, indeed, he acquired not only the honoured title of the "Evangelic Doctor," but also "the renown of a consummate schoolman"he would not have been equal, in point of literary attainment, to the mighty task. But this qualified him for it. This led him to it. And we cannot | sufficiently admire the providence of God which so ordered it, that whilst the few learned men of the day were employing their studies for their own gratification, or in laboriously doing nothing, there was one directing all the attention and powers of his vigorous mind, in secret, to this one thing-the understanding and elucidation of the word of God. At Oxford, it occupied his daily thoughts. He read and learnt the original tongues: and though his acquaintance with them was not sufficient to give him confidence in the translation of the sacred volume from them, yet the Latin was familiar to him; he had it all at command; and his scholarship in it few could rival, and none impeach. This gave him the advantage; and this, too, was eminently providential. It was at that time the written language of the Church, and of the world. It was that very tongue in which the Romanists believed, as being almost equal, if not superior, to the originals; and which, in their view, was rendered sacred, as the vehicle of the “lively oracles" already recognized and known. Wherever the Roman Church extended and ruled, there was the "Vulgate" accredited and extolled. It was the decreed and infallible, though hidden and neglected, standard of the priesthood of the Papacy. A miracle, they affirmed, had produced it. It was unparalleled in their esteem. So ignorant was the greater portion of them, that they did not know that the Scriptures were ever written in any other tongue. A translation from it, therefore, would, in the estimation of all the Papists of the day-priests, rulers, and people-be a more wondrous achievement, and far more influential than any other. It was all the more likely to be received, revered, and productive of effect on its readers. authority none would dispute. reverence for it Wyckliffe himself had been trained. His acquaintance with it, his knowledge of its idiom, his Its In competence to translate it, none could challenge or deny. Accordingly, of all the charges brought against him, we never hear him accused of misunderstanding or misrendering one verse in translating the Bible from the Latin into the English tongue. Alone he accomplished it. With much solicitude, and many prayers, he pursued his solitary work, nor ceased till he had given to his fellow-countrymen the privilege to read, in their own tongue, the open volume of "the wonderful works of God." "This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." But the principal thought that will suggest itself to every reflecting mind, and be dearest to the Christian's heart, is the value of the boon itself thus given to England; and especially when viewed in relation to the state of knowledge, of morals, and of religion, in our native land at that day. Dark and dreary was the reign of priesteraft and of the Roman imposture over many countries. It settled in its deepest night upon ours. It held in bondage the mind of the people, and it forbade them to think, to look, or to ask, for the light by which they might be saved. Priests and bishops, monks and friars, were an army of spiritual tyranny to suppress the first risings of thought, of emotion, or inquiry, in the public mind; and well did this ecclesiastical police perform the work of despotism and deception assigned to its care. The churches were seldom opened: and when opened, nothing but mimic services and a mock devotion were acted in them. The mass was said or sung by the surpliced few in an unknown tongue, many of themselves not knowing, or caring to understand, what they said, or whereof they affirmed. Unmeaning ceremonies, and endless genuflexions, filled up the hour professedly given to the worship of the living God; and when that hour was past, the Sabbath was spent, and the worship despised, as if there had been no Sabbath and no God in the land. Saints'-days and feast-days were abun dantly honoured. The Virgin had more votaries than the Saviour; and the benediction of the priest or of the father Abbot was deemed of far more importance than the blessing of the eternal God. The people were kept in darkness; and the priests loved to have it so. Thus did ignorance and superstition maintain their blended sway; and the night of Egypt's terrific darkness was the aptest emblem of that which covered our land. But in that night it was that the prophetic voice of mercy was heard, saying, "The morning cometh." Then it was that Wyckliffe arose, and this star of the dawn first began to emit its rays. Then it was that that prodigious work was accomplished at which we have thus glanced, and the incorruptible word of God, which "liveth and abideth for ever," was first given to Britons in their own vernacular tongue. It was like the rising of the "Sun of Righteousness on a benighted world. The fountain of saving light and knowledge was then opened, and the streams of its illumination begun to flow among the people. At once the power of truth was brought into contact with the weakness of error, and the "faithful sayings" of God with the superstition and impositions of man. At once the poor and hitherto mistaken worshipper was pointed to Him who is the "new and living way," instead of the circuitous and delusive medium of penance, merits, and saints, for acceptance with a holy God. At once the needy and famished soul was bid to slake its thirst at the waters of salvation issuing from "the throne of God and the Lamb," instead of being disappointed and deceived at the channels which human craft and corruption had prepared. " "A glory gilds the sacred page, That light then burst upon our land. "There consecrated water flows, To quench the thirst of sin; Then did that water begin to flow. Our light be not dimmed or prohibited to shine. All honour to the illustrious man who achieved for our fathers such a work, and was the instrument of conferring upon them such a boon. No mind can estimate its importance; no language describe its results. They reach through all time: they spread over all nations: they extend to all eternity. "The grass may wither, and the flower may fade;" the hand that wrote it, and the tongue that first preached it, be no more; but Britain's treasure remains imperishable and the same. "The word of the Lord endureth for ever." To Wyckliffe's God and ours be all the praise. M. C. FIRST-FRUITS: A WORD FOR MISSIONS. 'HONOUR the Lord with thy sub- | Hence arises the lack of burning zeal, stance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase," is a command binding on every Christian to observe. What can be done for the Missionary cause at the beginning of a New Year? The heathen are perishing for lack of knowledge, and souls are passing into eternity without even one ray of light breaking on their darkened minds. Appeals are made for increasing efforts for Caffraria and other benighted parts of the earth, and missionaries are ready to go forth to proclaim the glad tidings of the gospel. Much may be done, and more may be done than ever has been accomplished by the Church of Christ, if we look into eternity, and think how different will be our views when before the throne of God we shall fully know the worth of a never-dying soul. In this world, our loftiest ideas, when contemplating the value of the immortal spirit, are poor and contemptible, and sink into insignificance, compared with the full disclosure which will be made when the light of eternity unfolds to our wondering eye its infinite worth. ardour, and sacrifice, in order to send the lamp of truth to enlighten the dark spots of our globe, and gather in a people for the Lord. The want of faith, the lack of earnest thought on the condition of man, his woes and wants, the selfishness of the human heart, the absence of powerful sympathy on behalf of suffering humanity, all have a mighty influence in arresting the tide of generous benevolence in the cause of missions. And yet nothing can justify our want of faith and effort to send the truth where it has not been preached, when a special command has been given to preach the gospel to every creature. Individual responsibility is closely connected with the account hereafter to be rendered; and he who sows sparingly will, we are told, reap also sparingly All may do something to advance the glorious work. All may do more than they have hitherto done. All will surely accomplish greater things if they will faithfully put to themselves the question-Have we done what we ought? Have we done for the perishing heathen |