The arrangements made by the Committee of the Convocation of
Canterbury for the revision of the Authorized Version of the Scriptures seem to be exceedingly wise. There are to be two companies ; one for the revision of the Old Testament, which is to begin work on the Pentateuch ; and one for the revision of the New Testament, which is to begin work on the three Synoptic Gospels. The Old Testament Company, consisting of the Bishops of St. David's, Lls.ndaff, Ely, Lincoln, and Bath and Wells, with four scholars from the Lower House, is to invite a number of scholars of all opinions, Churches, and sects, ranging from Dr. Pusey to Dr. Davidson, to join it. The New Testament Company, consisting of the Bishops of Winchester, Gloucester and Bristol, and Salis- bury, with the Deans of Canterbury and Westminster, and Canon Blakesley, invites a similar accession to its numbers from all theological schools,—from Roman Catholics (for Dr. Newman is invited), to Unitarians, who are represented by a learned Biblical scholar, the Rev. G. Vance Smith. The object to be aimed at is to make no alteration that is not really of import, and even then to make it as much as possible in the style of our Authorized Version, and to make none on the authority of any MS. reading for which there is not a decidedly preponder- ating evidence. The New Testament Company is already at work,—the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, who is the soul of it, having the work really at heart. Companies constituted as is proposed, if they can only really agree, should command the confidence of almost all Englishmen for their alterations ; so that we may at least get rid of all manifest errors, admitted to be errors by all scholars, without undermining the popular reverence for the Bible.
