possess the same benevolence in principle, which leads him to seek his own good, and that of his domestic relations, and let him employ his abilities to dispense good, in the widest, possible extent, and see his efforts successful, and you have a practical commentary upon the text. You see a man whose talents are out at use, and which produce large interest without wrong to any one. He who gave them receives his own, and the improver becomes rich by employing what was lent him, and the circulation of the blessing has conferred happiness and joy upon many. This is indeed the exercise of the true self-love. Its beginnings are small, but its latter end is greatly increased. That this is the true divinity, I am as certain for myself, as I am that it is practically good, in society. The Savior had the promise, that he "should see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." It was the prospect of the reward which inspired his zeal, and animated his efforts. The salvation, the happiness, the glory of the universe formed the crown for which he ran the race, set before him. For "this joy be endured the cross, and despised the shame." Thy five talents have gained five talents more. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

That the neglect or misimprovement of our talents endangers their forfeiture, is too evident to require much time to prove. I am not certain that this, however, implies any direct agency, or immediate act of Deity. The result may be accounted for in another way. Talents neglected lose their value. They are taken away when they become useless in the hands of the possessor. There is no object, temporal or spiritual, but what we may as well be entirely destitute of it, as to misuse or neglect to employ it in doing good.

To encourage us in the discharge of duty, and in the faithful improvement of our respective talents, we are presented with the plaudit which the Lord bestows, and the reward which he confers upon the fidelity of his ser

vants, when he takes account of their services, and the means which they employed have wrought their full end. "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Every man that exerts himself for the promotion of human welfare knows something of this; if he has given but a cup of cold water in a disciple's name, his reward is sure, his talent has produced its proper avails and this enabled him to judge, in some degree, of the satisfaction which will result from a life devoted to God, and employed in acts of love. On the other hand, the subject employs dissuasives from the contrary course: "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This denunciation is now in execution upon the people to whom the parable was originally addressed. We are to take them for an example, and profit by their errors. We are to remember, that time, opportunities, talents, and blessings unused, or improperly employed, will assuredly add to the poignancy of our feelings, and increase the infelicity of our condition, when we become sensible of our delinquency. May we be watchful and active; may we "study to show ourselves approved unto God," and "in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, have our conversation in the world."

From the Introduction to the Improved Version of the New Testament by a Society in England.

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE RECEIVED TEXT.-EDITIONS OF THE GREEK TESTAMENT BY CARDINAL XIMENES, BY ERASMUS, ROBERT STEPHENS, BEZA, AND ELZEVIR. If this Version of the Christian Scriptures possesses any merit, it is that of being translated from the most correct Text of the original which has hitherto been published.

A text perfectly correct, that is, which shall in every particular exactly correspond with the autograph of the apostles and evangelists, is not to be expected. We must content ourselves with approximating as nearly as possible to the original. The utility of this is too obvious to need either proof or illustration.

The Received Text of the New Testament is that which is in general use.

The degree of credit which is due to the accuracy of the Received Text will appear from the following brief detail of facts.

The New Testament was originally written in Greek, perhaps with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews; of which books, however, the earliest copies extant are in the Greek language.

Previously to the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the Greek copies were grown into disuse: the priests used an imperfect Latin translation in the public offices of religion, and all translations into the vulgar tongue for the use of the common people were prohibited or discouraged.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Cardinal Ximenes printed, at Alcala in Spain, a magnificent edition of the whole Bible in several languages. In this edition was contained a copy of the New Testament in Greek; which was made from a collation of various manuscripts, which were then thought to be of great authority, but which are now known to have been of little value. This edition, which is commonly called the Complutensian Polyglot, from Complutum, the Roman name for Alcala, was not licensed for publication till A. D. 1522, tho it had been printed many years before. The manuscripts from which it was published are now irrecoverably lost, having been sold by the librarian to a rocket-maker about the year 1760.*

*See Dr. Marsh's edition of Michaelis's Introduction to New Testament, vol. ii. p. 441.

A. D. 1516, Erasmus, residing at Basle in Switzerland, for the purpose of superintending the publication of the works of Jerome, was employed by Froben the printer, to publish an edition of the Greek Testament, from a few manuscripts which he found in the vicinity of that city, all of which were modern and comparatively of little value. Erasmus was not allowed time sufficient to revise the publication with that attention and care, which the importance of the work required: he complains that the persons whom he employed to correct the press, sometimes altered the copy without his permission, and he acknowledges that his first edition was very incorrect. He published a fourth edition A. D. 1527, in which, to obviate the clamor of bigots, he introduced many alterations to make it agree with the edition of Cardinal Ximenes.

A. D. 1550, Robert Stephens, a learned printer at Paris, published a splendid edition of the New Testament in Greek; in which he availed himself of the Complutensian Polyglot, and likewise of the permission granted by the king of France to collate fifteen manuscripts in the Royal Library. Most of these manuscripts are to this day in the National or Imperial Library at Paris, and are found to contain only parts of the New Testament: and few of them are either of great antiquity or of much value. They were collated and the various readings noted by Henry Stephens, the son of Robert, a youth about eighteen years of age. This book, being splendidly printed, with great professions of accuracy by the editor, was long supposed to be a correct and immaculate work: but upon closer inspection it has been discovered to abound with errors. The text, excepting the Revelation, in which he follows the Complutensian edition, is almost wholly copied from the fifth edition of Erasmus, with very few and inconsiderable variations.*

* Robert Stephens was the person who divided the New Testament into verses. He performed this task while he was upon a

A. D. 1589, Theodore Beza, professor of Theology at Geneva, and successor to John Calvin, published a critical edition of the Greek Testament, in which he made use of Robert Stephens's own copy, with many additional various readings from the manuscripts collated by Henry Stephens. Beza was also in possession of two most ancient and most valuable manuscripts; one of which, containing the Gospels and the Acts in Greek and Latin, he afterwards gave to the University of Cambridge and the other, called the Clermont manuscript, which contained the Epistles of Paul, was transferred to the Royal Library at Paris. Beza took but little pains, and exercised but little judgment, in the correction of the text and the selection of the best readings. Nevertheless the text of Beza being esteemed the most accurate of those which had been then published, was selected as the standard of the English version published by authority. Beza's text, however, appears in fact to be nothing more, than a republication of Robert Stephens's with some trifling variations.

A. D. 1624, an edition of the Greek Testament was published at Leyden, at the office of the Elzevirs, who were the most eminent printers of the time. The editor who superintended the publication is unknown. This edition differs very little from the text of Robert Stephens. A few variations are admitted from the edition of Beza, and a very few more upon some unknown authority; but it does not appear that the editor was in possession of any manuscript. This edition however, being elegantly printed, and the Elzevirs being in high reputation for correctness of typography, it was unacjourney from Lyons to Paris, in order to adapt it to a Greek Concordance which he was then preparing for the press. He placed the figures in the margin of his page. The first edition, in which the verses were printed separate with the number prefixed to ach, was the English New Testament, printed at Geneva, A. D. 1557. The division into chapters had been made in the thirteenth century by Cardinal Hugo, to adapt the New Testament to a Latin Concordance.