his own conceptions, but as a humble and fervid interpreter of the will of God-whose leading object it is to communicate to those that hear, the grace of God which bringeth salvation.

Philosophical, occasional, and hortatory preaching, are not to be neglected by those who would commend themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God; but expository preaching should hold the prominent place, and furnish a foundation for all the rest. The exclusively philosophical or hortatory preacher is apt to become like the spider, "which" (as my Lord Bacon saith) "spinneth her flimsy web, entirely from her own. bowels." While the expository preacher like the bee extracts the honey from the various flowers which grow in the garden of God, and prepares it for the sustenance and pleasure of man.

The expository was the prevailing mode of preaching with the apostles, and in the primitive church. The apostles preached not themselves, but Christ; that is, they told their hearers who Christ was, what he had done, taught, and suffered, and their simple narrative of the deeds, teachings, and sufferings of the Redeemer, enforced by that deep eloquence of nature which springs from strongly excited benevolence, became the power of God, and the wisdom of God unto salvation. Afterwards, when those narratives were committed to writing, the teachers of the primitive church in their public instructions, read entire portions of the sacred Scriptures, and in their addresses to the congregation followed the track of thought of the portion read, and enforced the sentiment by earnest appeals to the conscience and the affections. In the early Christian church, the mode of worship was derived from the synagogue, and in this the principal part of the service consisted in the audible reading of the Scriptures. It was a rule among the Rabbins that not less than twenty two verses of the prophets should be read in the synagogue at any one time. This indeed was Jewish superstition, but it was a higher principle than Jewish superstition which made the word of God the foundation and the model of public religious instruction.

We believe the Bible is the word of God, and that the wisdom of God was employed through many ages not only in communicating the sentiments of the Bible, but in causing them to be spread out on the page of inspiration in the form and manner best adapted to secure universal acceptance among men. divine wisdom in the adaptation of means to the end, is no less strikingly manifested in the form in which the Bible is given, VOL. V. No. 18.

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The

"The preacher touched upon Schleiermacher's youth and remarked, that the whole tendency in the religious character of the deceased was to be ascribed to the fact, that his first theological education was received in the Brethren's church; in that little circle whose light is silently and beneficially diffused through the church of Jesus Christ.' He then adverted to his life and actions, his letters on religion, which arose in their time to shed their beams upon a very dark night. He it was, said the speaker, that first again confessed the name of Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God. His hearers were chiefly of the cultivated class, and he expounded the gospel to them in a scientific method, suited to their intellectual character. Thousands were awakened by him and brought to a knowledge of themselves. He was blamed for not going farther, because many of those, who were originally the fruits of his ministry, turned away from him to other preachers of the gospel; but he seemed to know that the part which the Lord had assigned to him, was to proclaim the gospel to the educated portion of the community. To lead inquirers further, he thought, must be left to the Spirit of God, by the reading of the holy Scriptures and the hearing of the gospel. Finally, the preacher related how the deceased had finished the circuit of his life with the profession, that the blood of Jesus Christ was the ground of his faith and his salvation."

Fifty students of the University were employed as marshalls to preserve the requisite order at his funeral. The catechumens of Dr. S. obtained liberty to walk next to his corpse, as orphans bereaved of their spiritual father. These were followed by his relatives; then the clergy; then other friends; and finally by 130 coaches in mourning, among which were several State coaches of the royal princes.

At the grave, Pischon delivered a brilliant eulogy upon the deceased, as a professor, teacher of religion, and preacher.

The whole account shews both the state of Dr. S's mind in his later and latest hours, and the state of public feeling towards him, which was so universally expressed. Can it be, that a man who lived thus and died thus, was not a disciple of Jesus? The answer to this question we must leave to the great day that will reveal the secrets of all hearts. Whatever Dr. S's speculative errors were, (and I cannot help believing that he did cherish some that in themselves would be dangerous to most minds), yet can we feel that a man who died thus was no believer in the Saviour of sinners? I feel constrained to say, that I mourn his loss to the world as an efficient and powerful writer; but I cannot mourn as one without hope for him. May his er

of revival in Great Britain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were times of high biblical effort, and produced some of the noblest biblical scholars and expository preachers the world has ever seen; we need but mention such names as Selden and Milton and Lightfoot and Usher and Baxter and Howe and Leighton. The spirit of Bible piety we hope is now again reviving. Christians are again beginning to labor for the conversion of the world with sufficient faith in the divine promise to believe that "their labor will not be in vain in the Lord." The Bible is beginning again to assume its proper place as the sufficient and only rule of Christian faith and duty, and as such to be made the basis of religious instruction in the family and in the sabbath-school; and we hope the time is not far distant when it will hold its proper place as a text book of morals and religion in every stage of education, from the nursery to the professional institute. To keep pace with this growing biblical spirit, and to urge it forward, expository preaching must be revived. And is there a minister of Christ whose soul does not exult in the prospect of engaging in so delightful a work? Let no one object that he cannot qualify himself for it because he has not the means to purchase an extensive library, nor time to turn over ponderous volumes. It is one of the distinguishing excellencies of biblical science, that if there be a love for the study, and diligence and perseverance in the prosecution of it, the greatest and most valuable attainments are within the compass of moderate means, and limited opportunities. Every minister who begins in season, can make himself acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek languages-and he can also afford to purchase a Hebrew and a Greek Testament with an appropriate lexicon for each, and a good reference Bible in English.This is all the preparation, and all the apparatus absolutely necessary for the best kind of attainment in Biblical science. Even the itinerant missionary can carry this precious library in his portmanteau, or wagon-box, and make use of it in the scraps of time not taken up with other duties, while detained by storms, or retiring from the fatigues of constant journeying and excite

ment.

With these means let any one faithfully study the Bible in its original languages, let him compare book with book, narrative with narrative, chronology with chronology, and sentiment with sentiment; let him turn his thoughts within upon his own soul, and explore its dark chambers of imagery into which the Bi

ble often flashes so startling a light, let him be watchful of the developement of character in all with whom he is thrown in contact, and compare the mode of these developements with the illustrations of human nature, which breathe and move on the living page of the Bible; let his eyes be open to the wonders of the physical creation, and let him compare the instructions which he there reads with what he finds in the written word; let him pursue this course with diligence, and perseverance and constancy, and he will find ready access to all the deep mines of inspired truth sparkling as they are with gems and precious ores on every side, and he will come forth to his people laden down with the riches of this divine treasury.

Let us now turn our attention to the investigation of the principles which should guide in the accomplishment of this important and delightful work.

1. Expository preaching should aim at direct moral effect. A cold and formal delineation of the course of thought in a portion of the sacred writings, a heartless dissection of its words and phrases without the glow, and feeling, and high religious sensibility of the inspired penmen, without ardent love for the souls of men and an earnest desire to bring them to a knowledge of the truth, can answer none of the purposes of expository preaching. It is holding up a cold and mangled corpse instead of the warm and living body.

2. Expository preaching should be regulated by a knowledge of the depths of human nature and should touch the secret springs of the human soul.

The Bible itself is remarkable for these characteristics, and it is the greatest of mistakes to imagine that the Bible can be interpreted by a knowledge of words alone. No book has ever gone so deeply into all the windings and corners of the soul and touched so many of the vibrating chords of the heart. To think of spreading out the hidden glories of inspiration by the mere study of languages without the study of man, is like attempting to bring music from the organ by blowing the bellows without touching the keys. It is the lamentable mistake so frequently made on this point, that has often brought expository preaching into disrepute and disuse.

3. Expository preaching should be free from all appearance of pedantry.

If it be the object of the preacher to get a vain reputation for learning among people more ignorant and foolish than him

self, he may be pedantic; but if it be his object to do good he will avoid every appearance of this kind. No possible good purpose can ever be accomplished by it, and it is an odious clog, counteracting all good, even when attended with many excellencies. Those who have the least learning are generally most fond of its semblance; and perfect simplicity is the unfailing characteristic of superior excellence. If a man cannot exhibit the results of learning without the appearance of pedantry, it is because his attainments have never been made his

own.

4. Expository preaching should give accurate results, without a detail of the process by which they are obtained. In most cases the detail of the process, is not at all necessary to the developement and substantiating of the result. And when unnecessary it is tiresome and without utility to the learned, and to the unlearned utterly unintelligible and worse than useless. Yet, judging from the practice of some, they would seem to think that this is the very purpose of expository preaching; they would lose the credit of their labor if they did not exhibit it in all its details, and so poor do they feel themselves that they cannot afford to lose one particle of credit which they think may be their due. Such should remember that biblical investigation is for utility, not for show. The thorough biblical scholar despises an artifice, and in a line of Milton, or a sentence of South you may often find the result of a most elaborate and learned investigation expressed in the fewest, simplest, and most unpretending words.

5. Expository preaching should be conducted on sound and severe principles of interpretation. Here is the greatest liability to failure, and this part of the subject we shall investigate with more care and minuteness than we have thought necessary in regard to the preceding topics. Extravagancies, and inconsistencies, and looseness of interpretation, destroy the value of expository preaching and render it positively injurious, giving wrong ideas of revelation, and driving some to infidelity, others to fanaticism.

What then are the true principles of interpretation to be applied to the Bible as a revelation from God? To answer this question intelligently we must first settle the idea of revelation itself. What, then, is revelation?-To reveal is to make known something that was before unknown-and Divine revelation is the direct communication of truths before unknown from God