us, one book, but many books,
afterwards gathered into one book.[4] They were a library of separate
books, called by St. Irenaeus "The Divine Library"--perhaps {27} the
best and most descriptive name the Bible ever had. This library
consists of sixty-six books, not all written at one period, or for one
age, but extending over a period of, at least, 1200 years.

The original copies of these writings, or Scriptures, have not yet been
discovered, though we have extant three very early copies of them,
written "by hand". These are known as the _Alexandrine_ manuscript (or
Codex), the _Vatican_ manuscript, and the _Sinaitic_ manuscript. Where
may they be found?

One, dating from the latter part of the fourth, or the early part of
the fifth century, is in the British Museum--a priceless treasure,
which comparatively few have taken the trouble to go and see. It is
known as the _Alexandrine_ manuscript, and was presented to Charles I
by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1628. It consists of four
volumes, three of which contain nearly all the Old Testament, and parts
of the Apocrypha, and a fourth, containing a large part of the New
Testament.

A second manuscript, dating from the fourth century, is in the Vatican
Library in Rome, and is, therefore, known as the _Vatican_ manuscript.
{28} It contains nearly the whole of both the Old and New Testaments,
and of the Apocrypha.

The third manuscript, dating also from the fourth century, is in the
Imperial Library at St. Petersburg. It was discovered by Prof.
Tischendorf, in 1859, in a basket of fragments, destined to be burned,
in the Monastery of St. Catherine on _Mount Sinai_; hence it is called
the _Sinaitic_ manuscript.

These are the three earliest MS. collections of the Bible as yet
discovered--and strange stories, of mystic beauty, and, it may be, of
weird persecution, they could tell if only they could speak. Other
manuscripts we have--copies of ancient manuscripts; versions of ancient
manuscripts; translations of ancient manuscripts; texts of ancient
manuscripts. So they come down the ages, till, at last, we reach our
own "Revised Version," probably the most accurate and trustworthy
version in existence.

"The Scriptures," or "the Writings," then, consist of many books, and
in this very fact, they tell their own tale--the tale of diversity in
unity. They were written for divers ages, divers intellects, divers
nations, in divers languages, by divers authors