[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—All lovers of
good English and all seekers after " edification" will thank you for your article on the Revised Version of the New Testament. The N.T. in R.V. is so meticulously literal that its true place is in a super-class by itself in
"Mr. Bohn's publications so useful To the student of Latin or Greek."
In spite of my reverence and even affection for my old teacher, Bishop Westcott, I cannot refrain from saying that it looks as if R.V. were written by pedants for pedants. What but pedantry could alter the "Lord, is it I?" of Matt. xxvi. 22 (A.V.) into " Is it I, Lord?" of RN., simply because the latter is the order of the Greek words? I suggest that a few non- schoolmaster scholars with a competent knowledge of English should select the few cases in which R.V. really tends to edification, place them in the margin of A.V., and that either text or margin should be read at the discretion of the reader. Your readers will be interested to hear that the new Dean of one of our greatest Cathedrals, himself a master of pure English undefiled, deliberately discards the R.V. on the lectern and reads the lessons from A.V.—I am, Sir, &c., F.
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