LESSON XVIII.

THE BIBLE.

1. THE word Bible means book, and the sacred volume is so called because it is the book of books, the best book. The word Scripture signifies writings. The Bible was not written at one time, nor by one person; but consists of various parts, written at different times, by different men.

2. It is divided into two testaments, called the Old and the New, chiefly with reference to the time when they were published, the Old being published before the coming of Christ, and the New after his death.

3. As a testament, the Bible is the will of our gracious Redeemer, full of noble gifts and legacies, confirmed to us by the death of the testator.

4. The great promise of the Old Testament is a Savior to come; the New shows us that this Savior is come, and gives us another great promise, though his promise is not excluded from the Old the promise of the Holy Ghost.

5. The Apocrypha, sometimes bound up with the Bible, is no part of the inspired volume, and has no divine authority. The books which compose it were not admitted into the sacred canon until the Council of Trent, which was held in the year 1456, under Pope Paul III; and they have therefore no claim to be considered a part of the Word of God.

6. The canon of Scripture is that body of sacred books which serves for the rule of faith and practice. It is the authorized catalogue of sacred writings. The word canon is derived from a Greek word, signifying rule.

7. The Old Testament was written chiefly in the Hebrew language, and the New Testament in the Greek. The present authorized English Bible was translated out of the original languages in the reign of King James I.

8. Where Lord is printed in capital letters, it is in the original, Jehovah, or the self-existent and independent Being. The word God in the common characters, is in the original Adorai; that is, ruler or sustainer. This distinction may be observed Psalm cx, 1, and elsewhere.

9. Such words as are printed in italic, are used to complete the sense in the translation, there being no corresponding original words. In the margin of the larger Bibles, there are references to parallel or similar passages, the knowledge of which often helps us in understanding the Scriptures.

10. There are also various readings; for, when the excellent translators of the Bible thought any passage might justly bear different construction, they have put this in the margin; and where they thought that the idioms of the English language would not permit them to translate the Hebrew literally into English, they still put the literal translation in the margin.

11. This is pointed out in the Old Testament by putting Heb. before it, that is, literally in the Hebrew; and in the New Testament, Gr., that is, literally in the Greek.

12. The Books of the Bible, when first written, were not divided into chapters and verses. This was a modern invention, useful in many respects, but the sense is frequently "obscured by it. Thus the first verse of the Second Corinthians, seventh chapter, should be read along with the sixth chapter.

13. In order to obtain a general view of the plan and connection of any particular book, we should disregard this °arbitrary division.

14. The names in the New Testament are sometimes differently spelt from what they are in the Old: thus Isaiah is called Esias; Joshua, Jesus; Hosea, Osee, &c. This should be kept in mind to prevent us from mistaking the names that frequently occur in reading.

BICKERSTETH.

1. A YEAR is a division of time, which has been observed from the remotest ages. The first years were uncertain and irregular in their length, and the attempts that were made to remedy the evil were without success, owing to the want of proper instruments for observing the heavenly bodies.

2. It has, indeed, required all the ingenuity and learning of astronomers for many centuries, to lay down accurate rules for the measurement of time, and to enable them to correct dates, so as to make the year perfect.

3. The early observers of the course of the sun, remarked that it occupied a certain number of days in its apparent journey through the heavens; and in the track of the imaginary circle traced out by it in its progress, lie many clusters of stars, twelve of which were particularly remarked.

4. In the form of each of these a supposed resemblance was traced to that of some animal or other object, the names of which were accordingly given to the respective clusters, or constellations, as they were termed, and figures were drawn to represent them.

5. All of these had reference to the state of the earth, or to the labor of the husbandman, the hunter, or the navigator, at the particular time of the sun's passage through the constellation.

6. The circle itself was called the Zodiac, (from a Greek word meaning animal,) and the twelve constellations are therefore called the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac. The names of these, and the characters by which they are now represented on globes and in almanacs, are as follows:

7. Aries, Y, the Ram, the figure of which is used to denote the month of March, when the sun enters the sign.

Taurus, 8, the Bull, denoting in like manner the month of April.

Gemini, II, the twins, corresponding with May.
Cancer,, the Crab, with June.

8. Leo, S, the Lion, with July.

Virgo, my, the Virgin, with August.
Libra,, the Balance, with September.
Scorpio, m, the Scorpion, with October.
9. Sagittarius, f, the Archer, with November.
Capricornus, V, the Goat, with December.

Aquarius,, the Water bearer, with January; and
Pisces, , the Fishes, corresponding with February.

10. These names and figures may soon be committed to memory, and are indeed necessary to the understanding of many works on scientific subjects.

11. The Indians or the Egyptians are believed to have invented the Zodiac, and though very many centuries have

elapsed since the names were given, and our climate is not quite the same as that of the country to which they were first applied, they are found to correspond, pretty correctly, with our seasons, and to what is going on in the different months.

12. Thus, the Water bearer, into which the sun enters in January, denotes the heavy rains of winter; the Archer, a figure half man, and half horse, armed with a bow, points out the hunting season, and belongs to November; and the Balance signifies the equal length of day and night, as though they had been weighed and properly adjusted.

13. This sign is appropriated to September, in which this equality happens. Every month the sun appears to enter one of the signs of the Zodiac, and the year is thus divided into twelve periods, and these are again arranged in four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

14. Spring includes March, April, and May; the 21st of March being the Spring Equinox, at which time the night is equal to the day in length.

15. Summer includes June, July, and August; the 21st of June being the Summer Solstice. Solstice means a point at which the sun appears to stop, the days being there for some time of nearly equal length.

16. Autumn includes September, October, and November; the Autumnal Equinox happening on the 21st of September. 17. Winter embraces December, January, and February; the 21st of December being the Winter Solstice.

LESSON XX.

SONG OF THE MOSQUITO.

1. In the dreamy hour of night I'll lie,

When the hum is hushed of the weary fly,