and simple in its precepts; the deep-founded and everlasting truth is there; but it is not philosophically developed; it has not the form of philosophy. On the contrary, the Bible is a collection of writings the most miscellaneous and desultory; of a cast as free and popular as that of any writings in the world. And while it thus gives the widest scope to all the peculiarities of mind and style, we are to remember, that the several ages which have so freely stamped their character upon the book are all ancient; that the manners, customs, and circumstances, which give their complexion to it, are those of distant nations; that the writers are all Oriental, foreign to us, strange to us, in the aspect of some of their thoughts, and many of their modes of communication. While the substance of the communication is, indeed, sacred truth, and truth, as coming from God, of supreme interest, it is, nevertheless, mixed up with the history of various nations, with narratives of personal experience, details of ritual usages, allusions to contemporaneous events and circumstances; and from all these, the substance of the communication is to be extracted. It is not to be identified with them; still less is it committed by them, or pledged for their accuracy or propriety. Let it only be admitted that there have been interpositions of God for the moral guidance of an ancient people, that a light has thus been lifted up and borne onward amidst the nations, that the way of past generations has thus been marked with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, and it matters little with what circumstances and facts the record of all this blended. The interposition surely is not, in the least, responsible for the conduct of those, for whom it was made. It is none the less certain or divine because it was surrounded by human errors and follies. As well deny the course of the sun through the heavens, or disparage its gladdening light, because mists and clouds rise up from the earth and sometimes obscure its path. Grant that the Bible contains accounts of bad men and of bad actions, of foolish and absurd superstitions, of vulgar prejudices and now useless ceremonies, of gross misdeeds, the relation of which may offend the taste of more refined ages; what is all this to the great manifestation, the manifestation of one God of infinite perfection, and of his paternal interest for his hu

man family! This bare fact admitted, we know not how it may be with others, but with us, this bare fact is one that sinks every thing else, in the history of all past times, to comparative insignificance. It is a fact which, admitted or even suspected, would lead us to open the Scriptures with We should ask sacred curiosity and profound reverence. for those old ways,' and for the footsteps of God in them, with far more eager inquiry than for all the treasures of ancient art and learning.

These views, we think, are needed as preliminary to an intelligent reading of the Scriptures. A blind veneration for them, which asks no questions, a superstitious and slavish reading of this book because it is the Bible, may not stand in need of any such views. As it seeks no sense, and has none, it may not require any to help it out. But he who would intelligently peruse this volume, must make this discrimination between the substance and the form. And, fairly making it, he will be neither disappointed nor offended at what he meets with; he will not find stumbling-blocks at every step. He will not wonder that the prophet, after having declared that the Lord said' thus and thus to him, should then go on and use language that appears to be low or familiar, or unworthy of the Infinite Majesty in whose name he speaks. He will not wonder at this, because he will understand that while the prophet delivers a message from heaven, he clothes it in a language of his own choosing, and for which his taste alone is responsible. He will not be shocked at those freedoms of an ancient and Oriental style, by which God's displeasure against the wicked is compared to an animal's rage or a man's revenge; by which it is set forth in a tone of menace, and even of pointed irony; he will not be shocked at this, because he will be aware that all this is mere style, and, as such, is human, and is designed to be considered as human and not as divine.

But we proceed to observe, that the general views which have been presented of the Scriptures will open to the intelligent reader another kind of discrimination; and that is of the different objects and ends for which they are to be read.

The light of revelation which seems to be sometimes obscured, as in the narrative of the historian or the dim visions of the seer, at other times shines forth clearly, as

in the devout meditations of the Psalmist, and in those sublime representations of God that break forth amidst the dark sayings of prophecy. These may be read for the mere purpose of devotional excitement. They are comparatively easy to be understood. Their general import may be comprehended without much labor of criticism, or protracted attention to the series of discourse. There are, in the Bible, 'golden sentences to meditate upon; a few of which will be sufficient to fill the mind with rich and holy themes, with bright and glorious thoughts. Doubtless there is something in the simplest passages that requires explanation. But we may take the sense, though the drapery of figure and illustration that clothes it, is not always simple nor easily unfolded. We may pluck the fruit, though the foliage of an eastern clime waves in rich and almost overshadowing luxuriance around it.

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One part of the Scripture, then, and in this we are to include the practical portions of the New Testament, is comparatively plain. He that runs may read. He may read all that is essential to guide his course to heaven. But there is another portion which is not plain. And here the object in reading must be to investigate the sense; to gather the intent of the inspired teacher from the narratives, discussions, and descriptions of ancient ceremonies and institutions with which it is bound up. The investigation is to be pursued with patient attention to the course, whether of the history or of the argument, and the reader must avail himself of the helps which learning offers him.

And this brings us to the final and principal suggestion under the head of knowledge, as a means of remedying the difficulties that prevail with regard to the reading of the Bible, the use of helps. It is impossible to understand considerable portions of the Epistles, of the prophecies, and even of the historical narratives of Scripture, without assistance from the labors of learned men, and a good deal of study besides. And we should not hesitate to recommend to those who cannot or will not use these means, to give their exclusive attention to the more simple portions of the sacred volume. There are such portions, doubtless, even in the more obscure books; as in the writings of the Prophets and in the Apostolic letters; here and there a chapter is practical. But, beyond these, a slight and cursory reading can

not go into those books with any advantage. It is better to stop short. What lies beyond is out of the reach of the general and cursory reader, and we think he cannot be told so too soon or too plainly. Plato is scarcely harder to be understood than Paul. There are no moral disquisitions of ancient times, that are mixed up with circumstances so peculiar and so likely to involve them in obscurity to modern eyes, as the letters of the Apostles. And yet they are constantly read, with as little resort to means and helps for understanding them, as letters addressed to the American churches but yesterday would be, or as the yearly Epistles of the Friends are. Nay, even in these cases, one of another country or of another sect, would find a good many peculiarities in the turn of thought or of expression, that would require explanation. But what shades of obscurity must intervening ages have added to all such peculiarities! Thus, again, and still more emphatically, with regard to the Old Testament; it certainly would be as absurd to expect to understand the Justinian code without study, as to expect to understand the Mosaic code without study. The Commentaries of Michaelis on Jewish law are, at least, as necessary to be read for the comprehension of it, as the Commentaries of Blackstone on English law are for a like purpose. And yet, law, political economy, history, geography, poetry, philosophy, every thing, do men expect to understand, without any labor or preparation, because, forsooth, it is in the Bible!

It is better at once to confess the simple truth, and let the Fapist on the one hand, and the unbeliever on the other, make what they can of it. Here is a body of writings, embracing momentous communications from God; this we believe; but there are dark passages, and clouds of obscurity in it, as there are in the other works of God. We may travel through the one as through the other, through the field of revelation as through the field of nature, by a clear and certain light; by a light that is poured down from heaven upon the whole land through which our journey. leads; and if we would turn aside, as well we may, without the distrust of the Catholic, or the disbelief of the infidel, if we would turn aside to examine the dark passage, or to penetrate the cloud of obscurity, we must apply ourselves as to a task, and employ the aids necessary to bring the in

vestigation to a successful issue. If any one shall say, 'Why these obscurities?' it is sufficient to answer, that they are, from the very nature of the case, unavoidable. Moral teachings could not have been given to successive ages, adapted to their special wants, without becoming, in some particulars, obscure, as they become old. It might just as well be asked, why one language was not made universal and perpetual, and why the circumstances of all men in all ages were not made to be the same. If the successive revelations from Heaven were to contribute to the moral education of the world, they must have been just what they are. But the difficulties, let us add, the most of them at any rate, are not insuperable. If we cannot find commentaries such in all respects as are to be desired, we can at least use such as we have. An ordinary exposition would impart much valuable information to the general reader; and the Commentaries of Locke, Bishop Pearce, and Kenrick,* all of them together less voluminous than the single Exposition of Scott, are not ordinary, and could not fail to be useful.

Some general reading too of the proper books would clear up a multitude of passages, which to many are now worse than useless and uninteresting. It would be impossible, we think, to read such a work as Lowth's 'Lectures on Hebrew Poetry,' without taking a new interest in the Psalms and the finest portions of the prophetic writings; or such a work as Campbell's Dissertations,' prefixed to his Translation, without seeing new light and beauty in the Gospels; or any good treatise on Oriental customs and antiquities without feeling a new acquaintance with the Scriptures at large. And some of this reading is indispensable to any tolerable understanding of them.

We put it to the consistency, then, of those who profess a desire to be better acquainted with the Scriptures and

* We are less acquainted with Kenrick than with Locke and Pearce among the English expositors (upon whom, of course, we draw for instances), but we would not say any thing to the prejudice of what we understand to be a valuable commentary. In calling for a new commentary, we have had in view one which should be complete, and embrace a new translation, which Kenrick's work does not, and one especially that should cover the ground which his does not, where the principal difficulties and obscurities offer themselves to the unlearned reader.