Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-03-10
TERCENTENARI OF
Greatest Of Anniversary CeIe-
bTatiOlS Of 1911 to Be OBJ
SeTVed In March by Church
eS OF America and England
BY JAMES \. EDGERTON.
THE present year cannot quite
81 vie with 1903 in the matter Of
centenaries, but has the edge

si1THE present year cannot quite
si Il vie with 1903 in the matter Of
* centenaries, but has the. edge
over any other year of the new
century. If this thing keeps up we
shall get the centennial habit. There
: will be centenaries every week OF
births, Of deaths and Of notable hap
penings between centenaries of coro-
. nations and inauguratio1s, Of war and
peace, OF inventions and revolutions.
( Civilization VIII come to look Ike a
garden Of century plants with some
festival or celebration constantly burst
ing into bloom.
In 1911 it IS the semicentennial of
the first inauguration Of Lincoln and
the centennial Of the birth Of many
notable men-tO wit: Charles Sumner.
Jan. c; Horace Greeley, Feb, 3; Meis-
sonier, the celebrated NapoIeonic paint
er Feb. q, all Of which. by the way,
are over and gone; David Hume, the
British free thought historian, April
&c; William Makepeace Thackeray,
July IS. Franz List, oct. %; John
Bright Nov. 16, and Wendell Phillips,
Nor. 20.
Nor does this end the list. On Nov.
Z we celebrate the centennial Of Har-
rison's victory at Tippecanoe and on
Dec - the tercenteuary OF the acces-
sion OF GustavUs AdoIphus. I had al
most forgotten the bicenteuary Of the
appearance Of Addison's Spectator on
March I.
Last and greatest Of all IS the ter
centenary OF the first issue of the King
james version Of the Bible Nobody
knows exactly in what month the orig
iUui publication occurred. 50 the ceIe-
Bratjon viii be observed at different
times in various parts Of the world.
II England and America il H. fixed for
March.
Transitions Were Numerous.
There had been several English
TRANSACTIONS Of the Bible prior to the
King James or authorized version,
but none Of them had been quite sat
isfactory. The first of these worth
mention was the Wycliffe Bible trans.
lated by John Wycliffe. the original
English reformcr and martyr, in the
fourteenth century and circulated in
manuscript William Tyndale. an0th-
er refOrmer and martyr, followed this
with another translation in the six
teenth century. II is somewhat sig
nlflcant that both Of these tranSatOrs
were counted hcretics. and not the
least of the charges against them was
this very desire to give the Scriptures
to the common people. Tyndale was
prescribed and went TO live at Worms
with Luther, whose follower be was.
There his translation was completed.
The Tyndale Bible became in large
decree the basis Of subsequent Eng
lish versions It was published in
1926. and during the same century six
other transladons were made and a
seventh begun. The reformation was
bearing abundant fruit.
s The next translation after Tyr5ale's
was that OF Miles C0verdale. which ap-
peared In 1885 1t has been claimed
that CoverdaIe worked with Tyndnle.
but this is in dispute. In popular
parlsnce the Coverdale version has
come to be known as the bug Bible
because Of the following translation
Of a verse from one OF the Psalms:
$50 that thou shalt not nede TO be
afraid for any Bugges by nighte nor
for the arrow that fyeth by day"
The Matthews Bible followed IN
1887. It was translated by John Reg-
eTS another Protestant martyr. The
Taverner Bible. named for one Of irs
publishers. Richard Taveruer, appear
&c in 1880.
Cromwell Bible Next
The next year. 1910, came the
great Bible. likewise called Crom-
wells, also Cranmers This was es-
sentially COverdale's translation with
few changes. 1t was published by
Thomas Cromwell's order and was the
first Bible appointed TO be used in
the churches" likewise the first TO be
chained 10 the reading desks No
wonder there was subsequent
movement for religious freedom when
the Bible was in chainsi
Twenty years after the publication
of the great Bible appeared the Gene