UNCONSCIOUS ADDITIONS TO THE BIBLE.
A CORRESPONDENT of the Sun writes, “Our Bible says ‘Charity should begin at home.’” The chapter and verse are not given. It is astonishing how many passages of Scripture that do not exist are quoted. One would suppose that “Honesty is the best policy” had been ridiculed often enough to prevent any one from believing that the passage is in the Bible, but it reappeared a short time ago in quite a dignified article. “God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb” is sometimes attributed to St. Paul, and on one occasion we heard it quoted, “God tempers the shorn lamb to the wind.” Years ago a converted sailor astonished a congregation in London by stating that often in the wildest storms at midnight, when he thought all was lost, he had been strengthened and encouraged by remembering the passage of Scripture, “Faint heart never won fair lady.” “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is supposed by many to be in the Bible, but it is not. None can give its origin. Wesley quoted it in 1772, but does not give its source. A friend of ours was summoned in haste to preach a funeral sermon. His carriage being ready he started at once, and prepared an admirable discourse during the twenty miles or more traveled. The text was highly appropriate, and the sermon fitted to it with the precision characteristic of the man. To his dismay on arriving he could not find the passage in the Bible. It was, “In the midst of life we are in death.” It is in the Prayer Book of the Church of England and the other denominations that use that part of the funeral service. To avoid embarrassment he announced the passage, without stating where it could be found—and probably spread the idea that it is in the Scriptures.—Christian Advocate.