thigh, O most mighty ... And in thy
majesty ride prosperously.

Or as we hear it in the Book of Common Prayer:

Good luck have thou with thine honour...
because of the word of truth, of meekness, and
righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee
terrible things....

All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia: out of
the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Anon they turn to the Bride:

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
forget also thine own people, and thy father's house....
The King's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is
of wrought gold.

She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework:
the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company. And
the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. Instead of thy
fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth.

For whom (wonders the young reader, spell-bound by this), for
what happy bride and bridegroom was this glorious chant raised?
Now suppose that, just here, he has a scholar ready to tell him
what is likeliest true--that the bridegroom was Ahab--that the
bride, the daughter of Sidon, was no other than Jezebel, and
became what Jezebel now is--with what an awe of surmise would two
other passages of the history toll on his ear?

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and
the dogs licked up his blood....

And when he (Jehu) was come in, he did eat and drink, and
said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is
a king's daughter.

And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her
than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This
is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah
the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat
the flesh of Jezebel ... so that (men) shall not say, This is
Jezebel.

In another lecture, Gentlemen, I propose to take up the argument
and attempt to bring it to this point. 'How can we, having this
incomparable work, _necessary_ for study by all who would write
English, bring it within the ambit of the English Tripos and yet
avoid offending the experts?'

LECTURE IX

ON READING THE BIBLE (II)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1918

I

We left off last term, Gentlemen, upon a note of protest. We
wondered why it should be that our English Version