removed from the latter part of 1 John 2: 23, and that clause fully incorporated with the text; and the whole Bible has been supplied with a new series of contents of the chapters, and running heads of the columns.*

These changes have excited serious dissatisfaction. They are condemned by many of the best friends of the Society, are not warranted by its charter, and by a still greater number regarded as unwise and inexpedient. The attention of all parties is turned to the Constitution, and especially to its fundamental article already quoted.

Two opposite and incompatible theories prevail in respect to the powers and functions of this Society. According to one of these theories, the Society possesses certain inherent powers, in virtue of which it sustains a relation to the sacred volume analogous to that of a private editor of the Scriptures. It not only has the right, but it is bound to present the text in the purest attainable form; and, to this end, it may avail itself of such results in Biblical criticism as have the mature sanction of the Christian scholarship of the age; while it has plenary control over the uninspired accessories of the text, and may modify these at its pleasure. Inasmuch, however, as any change, whether in the text or its accessories, is, in itself considered, an evil, a sound discretion must preside over this matter, and no emendations be permitted except on weighty and conclusive grounds. Some such authority as this, it is argued, must appertain to the Society, or its petrified Bibles will gradually lose their hold upon the intelligence of the country, and become practically obsolete.

The fatal objection to this plausible speculation is, that it lacks authority. In the judgment of those who reject it, the true conception of the American Bible Society is essentially that of a Printing and Publishing Association, organized for a specific purpose, and clothed with certain limited and defined powers, as set forth in its charter. Its sole business is to print and circulate the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment; and the only copies in the English language to be circulated by it must be of the version in common use at the date of its charter. There is no hint in its Constitution of any authority to amend this version, or so to modify the text or its surroundings as to put a new meaning upon any part of it. The parties who framed this compact, and those who have since come into the copartnership, agreed to print and circulate the received version, and nothing else. Had they seen fit to empower their agents to alter and improve the book they wished to circulate, this would have been included in the contract. The absence of any such provision, especially as the same is interpreted by the events now passing around us, shows that it was never intended to confer a power of this kind. Should the managers of this or any other society form themselves into an association for the purpose of publishing and circulating a certain book, and thereupon employ a printer to carry their plans into effect, they would expect him to collate, from time to time, the best editions of the work, and to use all diligence in correcting the press; but they would think it a great stretch of power should he venture to alter the text or the notes on his own responsibility. What less than this will be done by the Managers of the American Bible Society, should they lend their formal sanction to the new "standard edition ?"

The claim, however, is, that the changes incorporated in this edition are not inconsistent with the terms of the Constitution. On this point, * These changes are all enumerated in the Report of the Committee on Versions. VOL. VIII. No. 7.

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let it be borne in mind that it is no exclusive prerogative of the Board of Managers to expound the Constitution. The contributors to the Society's funds are all copartners, and are entitled to be heard on the question of the true purport and design of the compact. No inconsiderable portion of them allege that this new edition contravenes the original agreement, and is in derogation of their rights. They maintain that until the present juncture the Board has never presumed to exercise any authority over the sacred text beyond that of preserving its accuracy and integrity according to acknowledged standard editions; that this is not only the limit of their authority according to the charter, but a restriction demanded by every consideration of reverence for the Bible, and of fidelity to this most responsible trust; since, if the principle here assumed be discarded, and the Managers are allowed to alter the text, at their discretion, in a single instance, the public can no longer feel any security as to the character of the Bibles issued by the Society. The discretion which to-day changes. the pointing of five verses so as to put a new sense upon them, may tomorrow, in the same way, alter the meaning of fifty other verses. The discretion which, in this edition, admits the concluding part of 1 John 2: 23 into the text, may in the next expunge 1 John 5:7 from the text. The door once open, no one can tell where the work of innovation will end. The Constitution wisely closed and sealed the door; to violate the seal is to trample the Constitution in the dust.

Many who will be prepared to accept this reasoning in so far as the text is concerned, may incline to a different view as regards the headings of the columns and the contents of the chapters. These, it is argued, cannot, upon any fair construction of the terms, be included in the controverted clause of the charter, "the version now in common use." And the Committee on Versions assume that, "as it is the text, and strictly nothing but the text, that constitutes the Bible," the Society has entire control over these accessories, and may modify, discard, or add to them at its pleasure. This revives the question of interpretation, and the point of inquiry, it will be conceded, is not the strict etymological meaning of the word "version," but, In what sense did the founders of the Society use the phrase "the version now in common use"? If we can ascertain what meaning they and their successors attached to this language, we shall not be far from a satisfactory solution of this problem; and, happily, this point is one which can be settled beyond dispute. It will be easy to show that what they had in view was, the received version, with the accessories found in the standard English editions.

The Constitution refers to the "version in common use" in this country in 1816. The founders of the Society had in view the Bibles which were then in circulation. A careful investigation of this point has shown that from the year 1782, when Aitken printed what may perhaps be called the first edition of the English Bible in the United States, to the year 1816, every Bible in folio and 4to., and many in smaller size, except in cases "where cheapness or convenience led to an omission of what are now called the accessories of the text," contained the headings to the columns, the contents of the chapters, and many of the references of the then current editions of the Oxford and Cambridge Bibles. In many even of the smaller volumes the headings and contents are printed in the two abridged forms generally found in the authorized English editions. In fact, all the large folios and quartos are expressly stated to be conformed, in all re

spects, to the last Oxford editions. The Bible published at Trenton, by Isaac Collins, in 1791, was supposed to be so exact a reprint of the English copy, that it was regarded in the light of a standard edition; and many subsequently reprinted by other publishers were recommended because conformed to his edition, as well as to the authorized English edition. The Bibles issued by other Societies, especially by the Pennsylvania Bible Society, both before and after 1816-certainly down to 1818-were actually printed from stereotype plates cast in England. As a general thing, they contain the accessories, especially the contents of the chapters, in full. This remark applies likewise to large Bibles issued by private publishers in 1816 and 1817; while some of smaller sizes have the headings of the columns only, and others the headings and also the contents of the chapters abridged, and some are without either.

Attention has been given also to the Reports of Bible Societies instituted previously to the year 1816. It would consume too much time to read all the extracts which might be made from these papers, in confirmation of the view just presented. Let it suffice to quote a single passage from the Third Annual Report of the New Jersey Bible Society, in the year 1812. It forms part of the Constitution of the Society, and is very particular in its description of the Bible then in common use. "The Bibles or Testaments selected for publication or distribution shall contain no other additions to the text of the Scriptures than the contents of the chapters, marginal references, and the tables of kindred, weights and measures, usually published with the Bible."

The first Bibles issued by the American Bible Society were printed from plates given to it by the New York Bible Society. It is to be regretted that copies of the early issues cannot now be found in the library of the Society. Of the five volumes in the library printed between 1816 and 1821, inclusive, none are supplied with the full contents of chapters, of the English editions. One in 12mo, 1816, bearing the imprint of the New York Bible Society, has abridged contents, many of which, so far as examined, vary from those in the English copies. Another for the same Society, in 12mo, 1821, seems to be a reprint of the edition of 1816;while in this latter year (1816) Collins & Co. printed an edition in quarto with all the accessories; and another in 1817 in the same form, which also contained all the accessories. In 1812 the Pennsylvania Bible Society printed a 12mo, and in 1816 an octavo, with full contents of chapters, &c. Matthew Carey had printed editions in quarto in 1814 and 1815, with all the accessories. Whether these books had rendered other editions, with the accessories in full, unnecessary at the time of the institution and first operations of the Society, cannot, perhaps, be determined. But the admission of the headings of columns and contents of chapters, even in the abridged form, shows that the Bible in "common use" contained more than the bare text of King James's Version. The first edition of the Scriptures issued by this Society with the accessories complete, was published in 1829-30.

It is well understood that the Bible in common use in 1816 was not an exact transcript of the edition of 1611. Many changes had been made in the intermediate period by the collation of standard copies, and especially by the labours of Dr. Blaney. This eminent divine and Hebraist, acting under authority of the University of Cambridge, made a thorough examination of the English Bible, the results of which were incorporated in

an edition first published at Oxford in 1769, and subsequently introduced (it is said) into the various standard English editions. It has been stated that some thirty years afterwards, Blaney's emendations and additions were thrown out, and the standard copies again conformed to the edition of 1611. This point requires further examination than we have yet beer able to bestow upon it.

From this review it appears that the Bible in common use in the United States in 1816, was King James's Version, with its headings of columns, marginal references, contents of chapters, and tables, not precisely after the original edition of 1611, but with such alterations as had been made by the collation of standard editions. This Bible the American Bible Society has published from the time of its organization down to the date of the recent recension. It has been printed in different sizes, without the accessories and with them, in order to adapt the volume, in form and price, to the wants of different classes of readers. A very few editions, probably not more than two or three, were published in the early years of the Society's existence, with abbreviated headings to the columns varying from those in current use. But as the plans of the Society were then but imperfectly organized, and it was dependent, in a measure, upon plates either belonging to the New York Bible Society or obtained from it, no adverse argument can be drawn from these exceptional instances. The whole current of the Society's practice has been to publish the simple text of King James's Version by itself; to publish it with the accessories in full; or to publish it with the abridged headings and contents of chapters, in one or the other of the two forms in which they appear in the standard English editions. To these forms the British and Foreign Bible Society has determined to confine itself. That great Institution, it is pertinent to add here, disclaims all authority to alter the headings and summaries of the chapters, as may be seen by the following extract from a recent letter of the Secretary of that Society, to the Rev. Dr. Brigham: "I am sorry to find that you are in some perplexity concerning the alterations introduced into your standard Bible. You ask, whether we 'consider the accessories of the text a part and parcel of the authorized version? You refer, I presume, chiefly to the chapter headings. It is generally, I think I may say universally, considered that the chapter headings are a necessary part of the authorized version. We should not think that we had any liberty to introduce any modifications. Indeed, we do not possess the power, as the privileged printers have the custody of the pattern copies, and they are responsible for the correspondence between the standard and the reprints. We cannot, as you are aware, print the English Scriptures for ourselves. All our copies are received either from the Queen's printers or the two universities." (London, Nov. 11, 1857.)

In this brief historical retrospect, reference has been made to two other Bible Societies of an earlier date than this Institution. The importance of this will be seen when taken in connection with Art. xviii of the Constitution of this Society:

"Art. xviii. The Board of Managers may admit to the privileges of an auxiliary, any Society which was organized, and had commenced the printing, publication, and issuing of the Sacred Scriptures before the establishment of this Society, with such relaxation of the terms of admis sion heretofore prescribed, as the said Board, two-thirds of the members consenting, may think proper."

Among the Bible Societies organized prior to 1816, were those of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Both of these Institutions had been engaged in publishing the Bible with the usual headings and contents of the chapters. By consenting, therefore, to receive them as auxiliaries, should they make application, the founders of the Society clearly indicated their sense of the phrase (Art. i) "the version now in common use."

If further testimony be required as to the meaning hitherto attached by the Society to the words in question, it is supplied in a most emphatic form by the Society's Annual Report for 1830-eighteen of the original Managers being still, in that year, members of the Board. In allusion to certain objections which had been made to some of the headings, the Report observes: "The minion Bible, the one intended for general distribution, contains headings or contents to the chapters, which, for the purpose of making a thinner and cheaper book, were omitted in the former minion Bible. The new nonpareil Bible also contains abridged headings to chapters, such as will serve as a partial index to the topics contained, without adding much to the expense. These headings referred to, as well as others published by the Society, are taken from King James's Bible, 'the version in common use,' mentioned in the Constitution. The Managers would not feel justified in publishing any other headings than those found in this version. These (following the example. of the British and Foreign Bible Society) they have always felt at liberty to publish in the same way as they publish other uninspired helps, such as the title-page of the Bible, the order of books, the Monthly Extracts, and the Annual Report. None of these helps were ever considered by the Board as being what is intended by note and comment.' These headings, therefore, were contained in the first books issued by the Society, and have never been omitted, except for the sole purpose of saving expense. But the complaints for this omission have been so numerous, especially from poor families who had no Concordance, that the Board have often regretted this sacrifice of utility to economy."

Again, in their Report of 1832, the Managers state, that to increase the cheapness of the Bibles, "the headings to chapters have been partially or wholly omitted in some kinds;" but to meet the demand for larger and better volumes, they have determined to issue "three additional Bibles, viz., a quarto, a royal octavo, and a large page duodecimo. These books are all to be printed after those of similar size and type published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and to contain the same headings to chapters and marginal references."

Here, then, are the grounds upon which it is maintained, that by "the version in common use," in the 1st Article of the Charter, is to be understood King James's Bible, with the usual headings and contents of the chapters: (1.) The Bibles in "common use" in the United States in 1816 were supplied with these "accessories," save only as they were omitted in small Bibles for the sake of cheapness or portability. (2.) They were contained in the Bibles issued by the Bible Societies which existed prior to 1816. (3.) They were included in one or the other of the abridged forms, in the early Bibles circulated by this Society; and in full from the period when the Society felt itself warranted, in a financial way, to print Bibles of a more expensive character. (4.) The Board of Managers, when called upon to alter some of those headings, refused, on the ground that they would not feel justified in publishing any other headings than those found in this version."