presence and favour of God; a sense of his eternal wrath, which burns like devouring fire. The second death treads in the footsteps of the first, and its shadow covers it; it is the infliction of the sentence of the eternal Governor of the universe; and the fear of it makes those who are aware they are sinners willing to struggle with a load of cares and sorrows, rather than fall into the hands of the living God. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. The penalty of death is conditionally abolished in favour of the whole, so that it is proclaimed throughout the world, that whosoever believeth in the Son of God shall never perish, but have everlasting life." And there is an earnest of immortality in the believer; as Jesus Christ, our substitute, took possession of immortality, and "became the first-fruits of them that slept;" so all his saints have in themselves an inward pledge, like that which Christ had on earth, an earnest of their alliance to eternal life.-Robert Hall.

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Suppose professors of religion to be ranged in different concentric circles around Christ, as their common centre. Some value the presence of their Saviour so highly, that they cannot bear to be at any remove from him. Even their work, they will bring up, and do it in the light of his countenance; and while engaged in it, will be seen constantly raising their eyes to him, as if fearful of losing one beam of his light. Others, who, to be sure, would not be content to live out of his presence, are yet less wholly absorbed by it than these; and may be seen a little farther off, engaged here and there in their various callings, their eyes generally upon their work, but often looking up for the light which they love. A third class beyond these, but yet within the life-giving rays, includes a doubtful multitude, many of whom are so much engaged in their worldly schemes, that they may be seen standing sideways to Christ, looking mostly the other way, and only now and then turning their faces towards the light. And yet farther out, among the last scattered rays, so distant, that it is often doubtful whether they come at all within their influence, is a mixed assemblage of busy ones, some with their backs wholly turned upon the sun, and most of them so careful and troubled about their many things, as to spare but little time for their Saviour.

The reason why the men of the world think so little of Christ is, they do not look at him. Their backs being turned to the sun, they can see only their own shadows; and are, therefore, wholly taken up with themselves. While the true disciple, looking only upward, sees nothing but his Saviour, and learns to forget himself.-Memoir of the Rev. E. Payson.

THE SOUL AFTER DEATH.

At death the spirit returns to the God who gave it. (Eccles. xii. 7). It goes to him to give an account of all it has thought,

and felt, and done, while in the flesh; of the use it has made of its own powers, and of the powers of that body over which it has ruled. He sent it here that it might know, and love, and serve Him; he sends for it again at death, to inquire. whether it has fulfilled its work. It goes to him to be judged -to appear at his bar, and receive its sentence; and then to enter on its final home. If found in Christ, clothed in his righteousness, and purified by his Spirit, it will dwell in a world where it shall sorrow no more. If found out of Christ, rising from its earthly tenement with the stains of sin polluting it, and the guilt of unpardoned sin testifying against it, it will be "driven away in its wickedness," far from the 66 presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power."-Rev. C. Bradley.

Ireland (Brown)

1535

England, completed, (Cranmer, Bucer, Fagius, &c.) 1547

Scotland (Knox).

Netherlands

1560

1566

1545 to 1563

1564

1582

1592

The Doway Bible, published

The Latin Vulgate, authorized by the Council of

1609

This English Translation has never been authorized by the Church of Rome, and is used subject to the restrictions of the 4th Rule of the Index. It is published with a variety of Notes. Dr. Doyle, in 1825, stated before the House of Lords, that they (the Bishops) were by no means pledged to the Notes, and that they carry no weight."

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Protestants! think of the degraded and debased condition of the Popish laity, and pray that the Lord may open their eyes!

W. E. PAINTER, STRAND, LONDON, PRINTER.

Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire.

THE original name of Thorney, which was Ankeridge, was derived from a monastery for hermits or anchorites, founded here in A.D. 662, by Saxulphus, abbot of Peterborough, who became its first prior. The abbatial building having been destroyed by the Danes, the site lay waste until A.D. 972, when Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, founded upon it a Benedictine abbey, in honour of the Virgin, which became so opulent, that, at the dissolution, its revenue was valued at 5087. 12s. 5d.

Of this abbey, which was a mitred one, the only remains existing are portions of the parish church, a gateway, and some fragments of the old walls.

The present parish church, which is dedicated to St. Botolph, originally formed the nave of the conventual church, and was built about A.D. 1128. It is partly of Norman, and partly of later English, character. A colony of French refugees settled here about the sixth century, having been employed by the Earl of Bedford in draining the fens. There are tombs erected to their memory in the churchyard. The living, in the gift of the Duke of Bedford, is a perpetual curacy.

C

Bible Notes.

NO. II.-MODES OF COMPUTING TIME.

Ir is important to understand the different modes of computing time amongst the Jews and Romans, in order to know the meaning of the allusions so frequently made upon this subject in the sacred writings.

The JEWS computed their days from evening to evening, agreeably to the command of Moses-"from even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." (Lev. xxiii. 32).

The ROMANS had two different computations of their days, and two denominations for them. The one they called the civil, and the other they called the natural, day: the first was the same as ours: the second, which was the common computation, began at six in the morning, and ended at six in the evening. The civil day of the Jews varied in length, according to the seasons of the year. It was at first divided into four parts (see Nehem. ix. 3); but afterwards into twelve hours, computed from six o'clock in the morning: thus their third hour corresponded with our nine o'clock, their sixth with our twelve o'clock, and so on.

The night was originally divided into three parts, or watches (Ps. lxiii. 6, xc. 4; Lam. ii. 19; Judg. vii. 19; Exod. xiv. 24), which, probably, were of unequal length. In our Lord's time, the night was divided into four parts, or watches, the fourth watch being introduced among the Jews by the Romans. Sometimes the expression "hour" implies the space of time occupied by a whole watch. (Matt. xxv. 13, xxvi. 40 ; Mark xiv. 37; Luke xxii, 59; Rev. iii. 3).

The Jews reckoned two evenings: the former began at the ninth hour of the natural day, or three o'clock in the afternoon; and the latter at the eleventh hour. Thus the paschal lamb was to be sacrificed between the evenings. (Exod. xii, 6; Levit. xxiii. 4).

The Jewish week consisted of seven days and seven nights. The Jewish Sabbath was the seventh day: in this respect differing from ours, which is the first.

The Jewish month was a lunar, not a calendar, one-that is, was measured by the revolutions of the moon, and consisted, alternately, of twenty-nine and thirty days. At first the Jews had no particular names for their months, but called them the first, second, &c. In Exod. xiii. 4, the first month is termed Abib; in 1 Kings vi. 1, the second is named Zif; in 1 Kings viii. 2, the seventh is named Ethanim; in 1 Kings vi. 38, the eighth is named Bul. On the return from captivity, they introduced the names which they found among the Chaldeans and Persians.

The Jews had four sorts of years; one for plants, because they paid tithe-fruits of the trees which budded at that time; another for beasts, in which they paid tithes of the beasts that fell within the year; a third for sacred, and a fourth for civil, purposes.

The sacred or ecclesiastical year commences in March, because they departed out of Egypt at that time. From that month they computed their feasts; and the prophets, also, occasionally dated their oracles and visions. (See Zech. vii. 1).

The civil year commenced in our September, because it was an old tradition that the world was created about that time. From this year the Jews computed their jubilees, dated all contracts, noted the birth of their children, and the reign of their kings.

It must be borne in mind that the Jews reckoned any part of a period of time for the whole, as in Exod. xvi. 35. Thus, a part of the day or year is used for the whole of the day or year. This will explain several apparent contradictions in the sacred writings; particularly the account of our Lord's resurrection, in Matt. xxvii. 63, and Mark viii. 31, three days after, with that of his resurrection on the third day, according to Matt. xvi. 21, and Luke ix. 22.

Besides the mode of computation by years, the Hebrews first, and the Jews afterwards, were accustomed to reckon their time from some remarkable era: for instance-1. The lives of the patriarchs. 2. Their departure out of Egypt. 3. The building of the Temple. 4. The commencement of the Babylonian captivity. In process of time they adopted, and for one thousand years employed, 5, the era of the Seleucida, which in the books of Maccabees is called the era of the Greeks; in later times (1 Mac. xiii. 42, xiv. 27), they computed according to the years of the Maccabean princes; and since the compilation of their Talmud, they have reckoned their years from the foundation of the world.

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Reader: soon Time shall be no longer." (Rev. x. 6).

EDUCATION.*

THE circumstance to which I would here allude, in reference to our brighter prospects, relates to the important subject of Education. The state of education has been low and unsatisfactory in the extreme. It is melancholy to reflect that the exact return, furnished since we last met by our diocesan

From a Charge of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester. 1844.