continued and completed in the next, and many things which are said respecting it are equally true of it as it exists in this and in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world that holy character, which it is the object of the Gospel to form here, will be perfected. There the pious spirit, which in the flesh has earnestly striven to rise up toward God, will be admitted to his nearer presence; the love, which the cares and interests of this world have too often impeded, shall flow freely and fully; the purity, which earthly imperfection mars and earthly pollution stains, will shine forth with unsullied and ever brightening lustre in the congenial climate of holiness.

C. P.

CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE ON OUR PERUSAL.

THERE was a period in the history of New England, when the Bible was a book of frequent and universal perusal. The old, the young, and the middle aged were all familiar with its contents. It was what its name imports-the Book, which was regarded with veneration, if it was not read with intelligence. That period was followed by another, when the Bible was less consulted, and of course less reverenced. A change, to which, first the increase of population, and then the interest of political events, gave effect, came over the habits of the people. The present generation have taken the places of their fathers, and the Bible-how is it treated among us? Have we gone back to the reverence of the Puritans, or do we imitate the neglect of the last century? There can be little doubt concerning the answer that must be given to this question.

That in former times the respect felt for the Bible excluded a want of discrimination in regard to its various contents is undeniable. But if it has been succeeded by an equally indiscriminate neglect, the change cannot be an occasion of joy to a Christian observer,—nor to any one who properly estimates the influences which form character or mould the aspect of society. The Bible, let some think or say what they will of it, is the great fountain of truth, the spring of improvement, and the source of hope for our world. Let a knowledge of its contents be struck out of men's minds,-let not only the book itself be forgotten, but the light which it has shed be extinguished, the

institutions which it has called into existence be overthrown, the influence which it is now exerting far and wide, in high places and in low places, be withdrawn ; and ignorance and wickedness would soon regain the dominion from which they have been driven. The Bible is at once the instrument of progress and the means of salvation for mankind. Without it we should relapse into barbarism, and they who do not now possess it could have no promise nor prospect of rising to the condition which we have reached. It is not the language of religious faith more than of political wisdom, which pronounces the Bible the main security of modern civilization. While such is its value and such its efficacy, to slight this volume certainly discovers no high degree of intelligence in any one. But that the believer in the divine authority of its revelations, the Christian, the religious man, should suffer it to be unopened or unstudied from week to week, is one of the facts which only the frequency of self-contradiction in human character can explain.

If we examine the claims which the Bible has on our regard, we find them almost as various as the intellectual tastes or spiritual wants of men. In the very lowest division we remark the narrative character which distinguishes a large part of its pages, and which affords inexhaustible entertainment to the curious reader. This word may not carry with it the associations that readers are accustomed to connect with the Scriptures, but its perfect propriety justifies its use. The Scriptures are full of the best sort of entertainment which can be drawn from books, because they abound in that vivid, picture-like, rather I should say, that life-like, kind of narrative, which presents the scene in all its genuineness, and of course in all its peculiarity. And this scene is not such as we can behold every day around us. We must cross the ocean and plunge into the deserts of Arabia, or wander among the hills and waters of the Holy Land, before we can with the bodily sense perceive that which Moses and the Evangelists set before the mind's eye. There is an indescribable charm (of which, however, few are unconscious) in these sketches of Oriental life. They are true to the scenery, to the manners, and to the characters which they exhibit. I doubt if there are any other books in the world so strongly marked by fidelity to the circumstances of nature and life which they reveal. Hence it is, that in reading the historical portions of either the Old or the New Testament, we are impressed with the conviction of reality, and remote from our

habits as were the ways of patriarchs and apostles, we entertain not the least doubt that we are reading about actual personages and occurrences. It may be affirmed without any hesitation, that the Bible has given us a deeper insight into the forms of Eastern life than we have derived, or could have derived, from all other writings. The tales that have been imported into European literature from the East are too gorgeous and extravagant to give us a distinct view of the condition of society, and the narrations of travellers are necessarily imperfect and artificial. While the simple stories of the Bible, written on the spot by those who it is plain had no other purpose than to tell the truth, place us at once in the midst of events, two, three, four thousand years ago, and give us the power of renewing in our own experience, through sympathy with the actors, the influences which they felt, to a greater degree than is enjoyed, probably, in the perusal of any other book of ancient or modern times. The tent of Abraham, the palace of Pharaoh, the encampment in the desert, the houses of Jerusalem, the vessels on the Galilean lake, are not strange places to us. We are familiar with them and with those who lived in them, and as we follow the steps of one and another through the journey of life, we are removed from this western continent, and-we scarce know how, yet plainly by the force of a few simple but truthtelling lines are transported to other lands and other ages, and dwell where David sang and Isaiah prophesied, where Jesus suffered and Paul taught. Now, if the Bible had no other recommendation than this, it would deserve and reward a large share of attention. It possesses, in an eminent, if not in an unequalled degree, an excellence which men of taste and curiosity, no less than children, are prone to admire.

One is almost ashamed to insist on this, the lowest title which the sacred volume has, to be regarded with interest. Yet we cannot but notice another, which still may be considered a claim addressed to literary taste, or to the intellectual rather than the spiritual appreciation of its worth. It is distinguished by various kinds of composition, each in its kind unsurpassed by any thing that has been produced by human genius. There are bursts of eloquence and strains of poetry in the Bible that have never been surpassed. There are passages that in sublimity and in tenderness have never been equalled. It would be easy to cite the opinions of scholars, who have acknowledged that they found in the Bible the most admirable examples of the forms of

strength and beauty into which language can be moulded. Few persons, however, are aware of the variety of composition which may be seen in this book. From the calmest prose to the most impassioned flights of poetry there is scarcely an intermediate style of writing, that may not be found here. The triumphal song, the hymn of gratitude, the funeral dirge, the elegaic ode, the plaints of a nation's penitential mourning, and the chorus of a people's glad worship, are all here. The loftiest, as well as the purest, inspirations of the muse have been recorded on the pages of Scripture. The prophet bards of Judea, while they soared far above the earthbound vision of Heathen genius, like the bird which the higher it rises pours forth deeper notes of harmony, seemed to acquire in their heavenward progress now more thrilling, now more subduing powers of expres sion. The lyre of David was swept by the hand of as mighty a master as that of Homer. In the New Testament, too, what exquisite similitudes are those in which Jesus clothed the truths, that he thought it wiser to present in this manner than to place in naked severity before the people. What close and earnest reasoning pervades the Epistles of Paul. What specimens of epistolary warmth and ease do we have in the letters of John. The Bible ought to be read, if for no better reason, for the same which induces so many in early life to undertake the study, and leads so many in advanced life to resume the perusal, of the remains of classical literature-because here lie the means of cultivating and gratifying a taste for the beautiful in sentiment and in expression.

To pass however from these considerations to others of a higher import; the Bible is the great source of spiritual instruction for man. It contains the truth which it is most needful for him to know. Other books teach us how to live for a little while, this teaches us how to live for eternity. This book alone explains the problem of life, unravels its mystery, declares its end. Here the character of God is revealed, his will exhibited, his mercy pledged and proved, his spirit promised. Here, while sin is at once exposed and rebuked, the way of pardon is opened. Here, while man's accountableness is enforced, his immortality is established. Here are seen the nature and compensation of obedience, the character and retribution of unrighteousness. Here a thousand questions of casuistry are solved, a thousand superstitious fears dispelled, and a thousand false hopes stripped of their illusion. Here man finds the way to happiness, to heaven, and to

God, the three objects of his most anxious search. The Bible gives him the light, the motive, the hope which he needs, and which he can get nowhere else. It is not uncommon to hear other sources of instruction mentioned in terms that seem to place them upon an equality with the Scriptures. Such language is injurious in its effect, if it be not false in its design. From the Bible the wise and good men of this age have drawn their best thoughts, and for want of the Bible the wise and good men of antiquity mingled doubt with all their speculations, and error with all their teaching.

We often hear the praises of Christianity uttered by lips that seldom speak of the Bible. But where would Christianity be without the Bible? Where is it now, if it be not there? Christianity is not that amount of opinion or sentiment which is afloat in the Christian world, nor that which distinguishes a particular church, nor even that which is witnessed in the character of one who makes Christ his standard; because all imitation is imperfect, and all doctrine either erroneous, defective, or ambiguous. Christianity exists in the New Testament, and no where else. It is what Christ said and did and was, and this we can learn only from the Christian Scriptures. To admire or reverence Christianity, and yet treat the Bible with neglect, is gross inconsistency. If we would understand Christianity, if we would put ourselves in a situation to appreciate it, if we would learn how to use it, and make it to our souls what God meant it should be to every believer the way, the truth, and the life, we must study the New Testament-must read it diligently and constantly. The more we read, as the more we shall imbibe of its spirit and the more we shall comprehend of its meaning, the more sincere and faithful Christians we shall become.

It is not an infrequent practice with those who disregard the Bible, and even attempt to subvert its authority, to speak of the character of Christ in language of the warmest admiration. Rousseau's comparison of Socrates and Jesus is well known,-more worthy however to be remembered for the confession which it involves, than to be quoted for the propriety of its language. But how did Rousseau, or how do we, know any thing of the character of Jesus except from the New Testament? Such a character would never have been drawn by the pen of fiction. We owe our conception, as well as our knowledge, of it to the Evangelists. The character of Christ is not what this or that writer of our times represents it to be; it is what appears on the